All posts by csb10.top

The Benson and Hedges quarter final defeat at the hands of Yorkshire was a "massive disappointment to all of the players" Somerset coach Kevin Shine said. "With no cricket for the next few days the players have got time off to go away and relax." He went on: "over the next few weeks Somerset have a huge schedule of matches, all of which are away from Taunton."During June Somerset play four vitally important County Championship matches and four National League matches. If the Cidermen are to retain their high-flying position at the top of the CricInfo Championship they will be hoping to gain substantial points from the match at Leicester starting on May 30th, whilst they will be looking to kick start their Norwich Union challenge by gaining revenge for the defeat they suffered at the hands of Kent when the travel to Tunbridge Wells on June 3rd.”It’s most important that the players put their disappointment aside and focus on the next series of matches. It’s crucial that we get back to our winning ways" said Kevin. "The return to fitness of Matt Bulbeck and Richard Johnson are huge plusses for the team, and will enable us to choose from almost our full strength squad. We will be looking to put out our best side for each game. Richard Johnson is likely to have final tests before the Leicester game on Wednesday and if he comes through then he will play. If not he will wait another game, he’s too valuable to risk."Regarding Matt Bulbeck he said: "Matt is a first class bowler and we should be getting him playing first class cricket. He’s performed well for the Seconds and in the Academy games but he’s a first team player. He’s fit for selection and has the quality that we would like to add to the attack. Now it’s up to Jamie."Two other players who are also back in contention for the team on Wednesday are teenager Peter Trego and Mark Lathwell who both performed well in the 4 day Championship match against Kent. "Both Trego and Lathwell will be in the "shake up" for the Leicester game," the coach added.Meanwhile after a few days of reflection, during which time he had spoken to Captain Jamie Cox, Coach Kevin Shine and Chairman of Cricket Vic Marks, Chief Executive Peter Anderson said: "Once again in front of a full house at Taunton we gave an uninspired performance. Did we play poorly or did Yorkshire play brilliantly? The truth lies somewhere between the two."He went on: "For Yorkshire Michael Vaughan and Darren Lehmann were brilliant, whilst collectively and individually nobody from Somerset stood up to be counted when it mattered. All we can do now is to continue to prepare in the way that we have done, which is professional."Were there going to be any changes? "Both the captain and the coach are reassessing their selection policy and the way we line up the batting side,"he said.He pointed out however: "All is not lost. It must be remembered that we finished top of our Bensons group, and this year qualified for the quarter final stages whereas last year we didn’t even qualify, and we are currently top of the County Championship table."Mr Anderson concluded: "Unfortunately we haven’t performed well at home, which is disappointing. I have every sympathy with our loyal home supporters who have not seen Somerset at their best this season."Meanwhile, after reading and reflecting upon the recently-published Condon Report into corruption in cricket, Peter Anderson made the following comments."As Lord Condon says in his report he hasn’t got any powers to investigate offences that have taken place in any other country. All he can do is liaise with them and try to assess how widespread the process is in that particular country. His report shows that in each and every country allegations have been made about the influence of bookmakers trying to fix cricket matches. The conclusions in the Condon report contain common sense interim measures aimed at helping cricket todeal with the situation.”There is no escaping the responsibility of those who play international cricket. They only have one question to ask themselves , "Am I bent or not?” It’s that simple. What people have to do is to stop thinking of being "Jack the Lad" and that I’m only committing a disciplinary offence. What they are involved in is a crime, a conspiracy to cheat, with cheat being the operative word.I’ve been at Somerset since 1989 and as far as domestic English cricket is concerned I haven’t seen any sign of this either on or off the field, or any disproportionate wealth to suggest that bookmakers are having an undue influence on the game."

Yorkshire’s unsuccessful bid to host a Tier 1 team in England’s new domestic women’s structure does not amount to the club being “punished for past sins”. That is according to ECB chief executive Richard Gould, speaking after Yorkshire’s board said they were “shocked and disappointed” to learn they would not receive funding for a fully professional side until 2027.Northern Diamonds, the regional side in the north east, have predominantly been based at Headingley since formation although they will also play home games at Chester-le-Street, Scarborough and York in 2024. Durham will host a Tier 1 county in the initial eight-team structure from 2025, which Yorkshire’s board described as “tough to take”.”We believe we hit all of the criteria set out as part of the tender, so we will be taking time to investigate and understand the detail behind the decision,” Yorkshire’s board said in a statement, which also highlighted Yorkshire’s large active playing base of women and girls, and the county’s success in producing players that have gone on to play internationally for England.Yorkshire were heavily fined and deducted points last year over the club’s failings in response to allegations of institutional racism, and cited their disappointment that they would not be able to use a Tier 1 women’s team to help them achieve their ambition to become “the most welcoming and inclusive cricket club in the country”.But Gould denied that was a factor in the ECB’s decision. “It’s certainly not [that Yorkshire are] being punished for past sins,” he said, at an event launching a national tape-ball competition. “That’s not our role. Our role is to promote the game, not punish. We have responsibility when we have an opportunity such as this to get the best outcomes nationally.”Yorkshire said that the news was “frustrating and upsetting” for Northern Diamonds players and staff, with Heather Knight, England’s captain, confirming that the prospect of having to relocate from Leeds to Durham had caused “quite an unsettling time” for some of the Yorkshire-based domestic players. “It’s important that the girls are looked after and helped to transition into the new structure,” she said.Gould, however, insisted that such tough decisions would have to be part of the process. “This is professional sport,” he said. “It’s no bad thing. If you want to be paid to be a player in this set-up, you’re going to be a Tier 1 player.”Related

• Lauren Winfield-Hill set to sign long term contract with Yorkshire

• Yorkshire granted women's Tier 1 team from 2026, one year ahead of schedule

• Smale sets out to cause a storm in allrounder ranks

• Yorkshire fined £400,000, handed points deductions following racism charges

• Essex focussed on 'future-proofing' after being awarded Tier 1 women's status

The Professional Cricketers’ Association anticipate some “teething problems” and have also, along with the ECB, pledged to hold counties to account in delivering on the proposals that formed part of their bids. “I’m in a region [Western Storm] that has three different counties,” Knight said. “You don’t have one county that’s accountable for you. Hopefully, that’s going to change.”Gould said he welcomed scrutiny from the PCA on counties. “There are always local issues: who gets into the gym at what time, who uses the nets at particular times. Those are small things, but they’re important things that need to be ironed out. This is all part of the education that we’re going through, but people will be held to account.”As well as Yorkshire, seven other counties were unsuccessful in their bids – though Glamorgan, like Yorkshire, have been told they will receive funding to host a Tier 1 team from 2027. Kent, Leicestershire and Middlesex all issued forthright statements in response. “Lots of clubs are disappointed,” Gould acknowledged.Knight believes the scale of that disappointment is a “sign of the progress that has been made” since she first played in Berkshire’s age-group system.”It sounds like there are some counties who are disappointed, which is a shame – but also pretty cool,” she said. “When I was playing a long time ago, a lot of counties weren’t interested.”The ECB say that their investment in women’s domestic cricket – which will be around £19 million per year by 2027 – could grow the number of female professional players in the country by 80% in the next five years, and Knight believes there is enough talent to sustain that structure. “It’s always an argument that the depth isn’t there… but it’s an argument that shoots itself in the foot,” she said.”If you don’t invest, you don’t grow the talent. There’s so many girls that have seen cricket and want to get involved, so they need that structure to get them in and keep them in the game. Hopefully, this will do that. Investment is key to growing the depth. There’s a lot of sports out there and it’s important that cricket is a viable [career] option.”Knight believes the revamp is “the next logical step” in the professionalisation of women’s cricket in England and Wales. “It’s going to be really interesting to see how it plays out. It’s super exciting to see the plans that have been presented, and I guess now it’s about seeing how they’re enacted and how women’s cricket is put alongside the men and given that equal opportunity.”

Big Picture

Coming off two defeats in as many matches, both West Indies and Bangladesh will be aiming to open their account in the Super 12s of the T20 World Cup when they meet in Sharjah on Friday. Bangladesh and West Indies are currently placed fifth and sixth respectively in Group A, and they have to get over their losses quickly if they are to advance to the semi-finals.Batting has been a concern for both teams. After their batting blow-out in the first match against England, West Indies bettered their 55 by 88 runs against South Africa. However, that was also not enough to notch up a win. In a line-up consisting of Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo in the middle order, Lendl Simmons’ 16 off 35 against England hurt the team and gave others little time to recover. Though captain Kieron Pollard did not blame Simmons alone for West Indies’ batting meltdown, he admitted that the team have to bat as a unit to move up in the points table.Related

• Dwayne Bravo is reinventing himself in T20, age be damned

• The Simmons no-show chokes up West Indies

• Bangladesh bungle with match-ups obsession

For Bangladesh, they need to fire in all departments. Despite posting a competitive total of 171 for 4 against Sri Lanka, they lost the game due to sloppy fielding and poor bowling. In the second game, Bangladesh toiled against England with both and ball as they lost the match by eight wickets after posting a below-par 124 for 9. They will be hoping that the likes of Mohammad Naim, who hit two fifties in four matches, and the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim come good against the defending champions.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)Bangladesh LLWWLWest Indies LLLWL

In the spotlight

Nurul Hasan hasn’t quite hit big scores in the T20 World Cup after a good domestic performance and a couple of promising knocks against Zimbabwe and Australia. The wicketkeeper-batter will be looking to find his groove sooner than later.Evin Lewis kept West Indies afloat when Lendl Simmons struggled at the other end against South Africa. Lewis struck six sixes and three fours in his 35-ball 56. The innings reflected his form and state of mind. The team desperately needs him to carry forward this form in their three remaining matches.

Team news

Bangladesh can think about a shuffle in the batting line-up. Soumya Sarkar’s lack of form isn’t the only reason for their top-order problems, while picking young Shamim Hossain at this point would be throwing him at the deep end.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Liton Das, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Nasum Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur RahmanWest Indies have Roston Chase and Andre Fletcher as other batting options, while Jason Holder was recently drafted in to replace the injured Obed McCoy.West Indies: (probable): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Chris Gayle, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shimron Hetmyer, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Hayden Walsh, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Ravi Rampaul

Stats and trivia

• Simmons’ 16 off 35 balls is the slowest innings by a West Indian in T20Is, among those who faced at least 30 balls.
• Bangladesh’s 6.23 average run-rate in the powerplay is the second-lowest in T20Is in 2021 among teams who have played at least 10 matches.

Quotes

“We speak about the batting failure. We are unable to score runs in the first six overs, which is keeping us behind the game. We are also losing wickets (in the powerplay). Everyone wants to do well but we are not able to do it.”Bangladesh left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed on their T20 World Cup campaign

England have recalled Chris Woakes to the Test squad to face India at The Oval, but Jos Buttler will miss the match due to the expected arrival of his second child. Sam Billings has been called up as wicketkeeping cover, with Jonny Bairstow set to take the gloves.Woakes was named PCA men’s Player of the Year for his performances with England in 2020 but has not played a Test since last August. He missed out on selection for the first three Tests against India after suffering a heel injury when falling down some stairs.”After the victory at Emerald Headingley, the Test series is beautifully poised against a strong India side going into the next Test at the Kia Oval,” Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, said.”It is very pleasing that we have Chris Woakes returning to the Test squad. He has bowled well over the past week with Warwickshire without any real concerns with his heel injury. He is an asset we have been missing both with the ball and his ability to score runs in the middle order. We are looking forward to seeing him prepare at The Oval as we go into back-to-back Tests.”Mark Wood will continue to be monitored after jarring his shoulder during the second Test. Saqib Mahmood has been released to Lancashire and will be available for their County Championship match against Warwickshire starting on Monday.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The availability of Woakes and, potentially, Wood could allow England to rest either James Anderson or Ollie Robinson for the fourth Test. The pair are England’s leading wicket-takers in the series, each having bowled more than 115 overs, and head coach Chris Silverwood said he did not want to “break them”, given the lengthy list of seamers currently absent through injury.”Mark Wood is making excellent recovery from his jarred right shoulder. He bowled in the middle on the last day at Headingley with our bowling coach Jon Lewis and was starting to get through his spells pain-free,” Silverwood added. “For the first time in this series, it is pleasing to have several options with our bowling stocks as we approach the latter stages of the series.”Buttler’s absence could open up a return for Ollie Pope in the middle order, with Bairstow set to keep wicket for the first time since the 2019 Ashes. Billings will remain with Kent, who play Leicestershire in the County Championship, before joining up with England on Thursday.”We would like to wish Jos and his family all the very best for the impending birth of their second child,” Silverwood said. “Unfortunately, he will miss this Test, and we’ll then see if he returns for the final Test at Emirates Old Trafford.”Jonny Bairstow will take over wicketkeeping duties, which he is relishing. As we all know, he has the skills to seamlessly take over from Jos and the ability to score crucial runs in the middle-order if called upon. Sam Billings, who was in the Test squad for the New Zealand series earlier this summer, returns as reserve keeper. He understands how we want to approach our cricket and is a popular member of the group. He will fit in well with the rest of the group.”England squad for fourth Test against India: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Hampshire’s teenage batting prodigy Tom Prest inspired his side to only their second Vitality Blast win of the season with an unbeaten 59 helping seal an 10-run victory over high-flying Gloucestershire at the Ageas Bowl.The visitors needed 20 from the last over but fell short thanks to some fine death bowling from Chris Wood to secure a morale-boosting success for the bottom-placed Hawks who earlier won the toss and elected to bat.Prest, who recently scored a triple century in a second XI match, showed maturity above his years in only his third senior appearance after the hosts lost their much-vaunted opening duo of James Vince and D’Arcy Short cheaply once again.The 18-year-old anchored the innings superbly after the hosts were teetering at 34 for 3 when Colin de Grandhomme chipped a Josh Shaw delivery to Benny Howell at mid-off for 1.Joe Wetherley’s breezy 30 off 24 balls breathed some life into the Hampshire innings alongside Prest before he fell lbw to Tom Smith who then immediately dismissed Lewis McManus for a first-ball duck as the Hawks slumped to 90 for 5 after 12 overs.But a crucial 53-run stand between Prest, who hit six fours and two sixes off 42 balls, and 38 from James Fuller saw the Hawks motor to 163 for 6 before Wood thumped 11 from five balls to help his side finish on 176 for 6 – their second-highest total of what has been a difficult season.Hampshire dismissed Miles Hammond and Benny Howell inside the first four overs for the powerplay but an 82-run stand for the third-wicket from Chris Dent and in-form New Zealand international Glenn Phillips put the visitors in a good position to push for victory.But Dent fell for 42 when he was stumped by McManus off Short before Phillips, who scored 94 in back-to-back innings last month, fell for 57 when young quick Scott Currie tempted him into a pull shot which he mistimed and was caught on the boundary edge by Fuller.Needing 47 from the last four overs, skipper Jack Taylor did his best to push for victory with 30 off 18 balls,but some tight bowling from Brad Wheal and Wood got their side home – much to the delight of the home crowd who witnessed a first T20 win by their side in 22 months.

Faf du Plessis was fed a spoonful of his own medicine when he fell to a superb catch – the likes of which he would have been proud of taking himself – by Tom Latham.Du Plessis had premeditated a paddle sweep against Mitchell Santner, who held his length back a touch. The South African captain could not get to the pitch of the ball, and instead of playing it along the ground, lobbed it to the right of Latham at short leg. Almost all short-leg catchers begin to take evasive action when a batsman shapes up like du Plessis did, but Latham moved to his right instead and snatched it one-handed.”It was a good catch, good athleticism, and reading the game really well,” Neil McKenzie, South Africa’s batting coach said after the second day’s play. “That’s one of Faf’s go-to shots, and if you get out in your game plan, or with a shot that you play that gives you a lot of runs, you’ve got to pack up and wait for the next innings. Latham took some good catches, and it looked like it sparked something and he batted beautifully in the late evening. We’d like to see him get 40 and out.”Later on in South Africa’s innings, Latham took a low catch with both hands at second slip to dismiss Vernon Philander. And after the visitors were all out, Latham made his highest score of the series, not out on 42 at stumps. After struggling in the first two Tests – 24 runs in three innings and dropped chances in Dunedin and Wellington – Latham has regained confidence, and it is showing.”Tom has worked really hard. He had quite a few sessions working on some specific things and got some confidence even with his fielding,” Shane Jurgensen, New Zealand’s bowling coach said. “His slip catching was excellent. He was aggressive and vocal, and I think he took that into his batting today. Those things are important in international cricket. He’s walked into the dressing room tonight after a great partnership and there was a lot of support for him.”

ScorecardVirat Singh delivered East Zone the title with his unbeaten 58•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Virat Singh and Ishank Jaggi zoomed to half-centuries as East Zone chased down 150 in just 13.4 overs against West Zone to clinch an eight-wicket win and the 2016-17 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter Zonal title. East Zone ended their tournament with a spotless record, winning all four of their matches to finish with 16 points, four ahead of second-placed Central Zone.The duo’s efforts came after right-arm pacer Pritam Das snared 2 for 25 to restrict West Zone to 149 for 5 after they were asked to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.Jaggi walked out with East Zone having made a blistering start to the chase through an opening stand of 61 in just 5.2 overs. Shardul Thakur ended the burst when he had Karthik caught behind for a 14-ball 24. Virat and Jaggi then slammed 80 runs off just 44 balls to shut the doors on a West Zone fightback. Jaggi took over as the dominant partner, scoring 56 of them himself, off 30 balls and with the help of three fours and six sixes.Thakur returned to take out Jaggi in the 13th over, but East Zone were only nine short of the target. They required only six more balls to close out the game, with captain Manoj Tiwary hitting two quick boundaries, while Virat stayed not out on 58 off 34 balls, having struck five fours and three sixes.Thakur took two wickets, but was expensive, giving away 31 runs in three overs, as were all of West Zone’s six remaining bowlers, who ended wicketless.When West Zone batted, Sheldon Jackson tried to hold the innings together with a half-century, but West Zone lost frequent wickets and made slow progress. Deppak Hooda helped Jackson add 40 for the third wicket to lift them from 36 for 2, but their stand came at only a run a ball. When Jackson fell at the start of the 15th over, caught off the left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha, West Zone only had 92 on the board. That they got to 149 was down to Rujul Bhatt, who struck an unbeaten 36 off 20 balls.East Zone’s bowlers shared the wickets around, with Pritam Das returning 2 for 25, while Suryakant Pradhan, Sayan Ghosh and Ojha took a wicket apiece.
ScorecardFile photo – Harpreet Singh’s 92 made the difference for Central Zone in a tense chase•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the second match of the day, Central Zone scraped through by two wickets in a high-scoring clash against South Zone.After being inserted, South Zone rode on solid contributions from their middle order to post 181 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Harpreet Singh led Central Zone’s reply with a career-best 92 off 51 balls that included 10 fours and four sixes.After Vishnu Vinod set the tone for South Zone’s innings with a 15-ball 31 at the top, the trio of Dinesh Karthik (35), captain Vijay Shankar (40) and Pavan Deshpande (33 not out) formed the bulwark of the innings. Their efforts ensured South Zone finished with a strong total in spite of late strikes.Ankit Rajpoot, Aniket Choudhary and Karn Sharma took two wickets each, although Rajpoot was the most economical, giving away just 28 in four overs.Central Zone lost Naman Ojha in the second ball of the chase, before Harpreet and Amandeep Khare steadied them with a 67-run second-wicket stand. Following Khare’s dismissal for 39, the onus fell on Harpreet as none of the other batsmen made an impression. Harpreet nearly saw the team through, and though he fell at the start of the final over, Amit Mishra and Rajpoot fought nerves to knock off the remaining four runs.South Zone used six bowlers, all of whom were among the wickets, but Rahil Shah and Swaroop Kumar impressed the most with returns of 2 for 20 and 1 for 20 respectively.

Ireland have selected a full-strength squad for their Intercontinental Cup fixture with Afghanistan in March, with legspinner Jacob Mulder in line for a first-class debut. Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien and Tim Murtagh are also included, having missed the Desert T20 – where Ireland lost to Afghanistan in the final – earlier this month.Ireland are currently top of the Intercontinental Cup table with four wins from four, leading Afghanistan by 19 points. The Intercontinental Cup is expected to provide a pathway into Test cricket, with the winner facing a play-off with the lowest-ranked Test nation in 2018.Ahead of the four-day match, Ireland and Afghanistan will play three T20s and five ODIs; all of the fixtures will take place in Greater Noida, India. Two ODIs have also been arranged against UAE on March 2 and 4 as part of Ireland’s training camp.”It’s great to have such a wealth of experience to choose from,” Ireland’s head coach, John Bracewell, said. “We had a full squad available which hasn’t been the case with injuries in recent times but it’s great to have everyone back with such a busy programme in March.”While we haven’t been at our best in limited-overs cricket in recent times we have a great record in the Intercontinental Cup where we’ve won all our four games taking full points.”The players are all fully focused on winning the competition for a fifth time, especially with the chance of playing Test cricket on offer. Ed Joyce has been in supreme form in the tournament with two double hundreds and he clearly looks like a man on a mission.”Young Jacob Mulder was the stand-out bowler in the T20 and the selectors felt he deserved his opportunity in the longer format. With the conditions in India likely to be spin-friendly his legspin gives us added variety which could be so important.”Boyd Rankin will be rested for the matches in the UAE, but will join up with Ireland during the 10-day training camp to prepare for the Afghanistan games.Australia-born batsman Nick Larkin, who played twice for Ireland in 2014, has however ruled himself out of involvement for the time being.”After a lengthy period of discussion between Cricket Ireland and Nick Larkin, the player has finally clarified that his focus right now is on advancing his career with the NSW Blues in Australia,” Cricket Ireland’s performance director, Richard Holdsworth, said. “He is contracted there until 2018 and is not therefore available for Ireland during that period.”Ireland Intercontinental Cup squad: William Porterfield, John Anderson, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson, Craig YoungIreland ODI squad v UAE: William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig YoungIreland ODI squad v Afghanistan: William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.T20I squad v Afghanistan: William Porterfield, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Jacob Mulder, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Greg Thompson, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

At the Gabba five years ago, Mitchell Starc and Mickey Arthur made their Australia Test debuts together: Starc as a player, Arthur as coach. A new era was beginning. The Argus review was complete, the fiasco of the 2010-11 Ashes was in the past. That year’s Gabba Test also marked David Warner’s debut, Nathan Lyon’s first home Test, and Michael Clarke’s first home Test as full-time captain.Now, Arthur is back at the Gabba as coach – but not of Australia; his tenure famously ended on the eve of the 2013 Ashes in England with a surprise sacking and the installation of Darren Lehmann as his replacement. And so, just as Starc, Warner, Lyon and Usman Khawaja entered the Brisbane Test of 2011 with Arthur their mentor, now they approach the Gabba with Arthur in charge of their opposition: Pakistan.It is not a unique situation in international cricket and not even for Arthur, who had coached South Africa and then in 2012-13 coached Australia against them. Starc remembered Arthur as “a nice guy”, but said the Australians had moved on from his tenure, and described the group as “a lot closer” under Lehmann.”He has been a coach of an Australian cricket team, he spent some time in domestic cricket in Australia, he’ll have a bit of knowledge around the Gabba and some of our players,” Starc said of Arthur. “But our team has changed immensely since he has been put out of the job… we’re a lot closer.”Boof’s [Lehmann] obviously brought his own coaching theories and concepts into the group, so the group has obviously changed personnel-wise as well. We’ve developed massively as a squad since the time of Mickey Arthur, and I think all for the better.”Starc’s own Test career has taken off since Lehmann joined the squad. Under Arthur, Starc was in and out of the side and collected 30 wickets at 34.03. Under Lehmann, he has picked up 99 wickets at 25.73 and become one of the most effective bowlers in world cricket. This is not to suggest a correlation, for Starc was young and still developing his game during Arthur’s reign, but Starc said there were clear differences between the two coaches.”One probably rode the game a little bit more and I think at times found it hard to watch,” Starc said. “Whereas Boof instils a lot of confidence in you, he has got that laid back old-school attitude but doesn’t sugar coat anything. I think that’s what this young group needs as well, with some hard truths sometimes.”Obviously over the last couple of months we haven’t played our best cricket but having a nice win in Adelaide and a good amount of cricket in the last 10 days to win that series against New Zealand pretty solidly. So I think we’ve got a bit of momentum behind us and Boof has been great to contribute to that.”Pakistan enter this series ranked fourth in Test cricket while Australia are third, but notably both sides have spent time at No. 1 this year. Australia are searching for their first series win since the tour of New Zealand in February, having lost away to Sri Lanka and at home to South Africa, while Pakistan are coming off a series defeat in New Zealand.”They’ve played some really good cricket over the last year-and-a-half to fight to the top of the world rankings in the last couple of months,” Starc said of Pakistan. “They’ve struggled in New Zealand and probably struggle a little more away from home – they’re really comfortable in the UAE.”So it’s a good opportunity for us in this Test match in Brisbane to assert our dominance first up, make an impression in the first Test of the series, which we all know goes a long way to working out the final result.”

ScorecardSteve O’Keefe picked up his eighth first-class five-wicket haul•AFP

Steve O’Keefe has bounced back from a tough few months by claiming five wickets as New South Wales dismissed Western Australia for 216 on the first day of their Sheffield Shield clash at the SCG. It was O’Keefe’s first match in any format since the Pallekele Test against Sri Lanka in July, during which he suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the rest of the tour.After returning home from that trip, O’Keefe was fined $10,000 by Cricket Australia for a drunken incident at a Sydney hotel, after which he said he would stay off alcohol for the whole Australian summer. However, a finger injury ruled him out of the Matador Cup and the opening Sheffield Shield round last week.His 5 for 65 was the perfect comeback, and he was ably supported by fellow spinner William Somerville, who collected 4 for 61 after Western Australia won the toss and chose to bat. The Warriors had wobbled to 6 for 99 before a 90-run stand between Hilton Cartwright (59) and Ashton Turner (81) rescued the innings.In reply, New South Wales had reached 1 for 24 at stumps, with Daniel Hughes on 16 and Kurtis Patterson on 1. Opener Ed Cowan had fallen to the spin of Ashton Agar for 7.