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Australia have altered their focus from swing to Twenty20 as they try to find a way for their bowlers to cope at the World Championship in South Africa. Troy Cooley is hosting a camp for the fast men at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane this week to prepare for the two-week tournament in South Africa.This time last year the bowlers were working on traditional and reverse-swing in a bid to tackle England, but the unforgiving nature of Twenty20 has forced some experimenting. “We are really trying to develop plans to help the bowlers survive in the game,” Cooley said in the Courier-Mail. “It’s a pretty tough one for bowlers to survive in.”We have been doing a lot of talking about that and we are working on some technical things as well. Last year we worked on swing bowling, this year we are working on Twenty20.” Bruce Reid, the former Australia bowler who was a part-time coach with India, is also at the camp where Brett Lee is continuing his return from ankle surgery.

On the day Pakistan landed in India for the Champions Trophy, in Delhi onOctober 8, Younis Khan and Bob Woolmer addressed the media. In theprevious 24 hours, the country’s cricket captaincy had been changed twiceand the chairman had changed once and one would have expected them to bediscussing serious matters before the press conference took place. Formost of it, the two communicated by scribbling messages on a piece ofpaper but don’t be fooled into thinking they were matters of nationalinterest. It was simply a discussion about whether to grant a televisionchannel an interview.On the day before Pakistan’s opening encounter of the Champions Trophy, inJaipur yesterday, the same duo addressed the media. In the previous 24hours, the team’s two premier fast bowlers had failed dope tests, nobodyknew what the future held in store and one would have, again, expectedthem to be discussing serious matters before addressing the press. Beforethey began the press conference, both – coughing intermittently -communicated some thoughts in hushed tones. Surely this time it wasserious. Instead they were trying to out-guess each other on the number ofquestions that were likely to be posed. One of them said 60; the otherreckoned it would be 70.These may appear insignificant incidents but they convey quite a bit abouthow this bunch managed to stay cool when the roof had blown off. Over thelast week, of the seven teams that visited Jaipur, it’s been Pakistan whohave, ironically, appeared most relaxed. People spotted them inrestaurants, movie halls and tourist sites. It was a side that appeared tobe thoroughly at home with their surroundings, thriving amid the fans andbanter.Younis spoke passionately about the period, adding that it had no doubthelped alleviate the pressure. “We’ve had a lot of fun over the lastweek,” he said at the end of a thoroughly satisfactory day. “We playedhard cricket, practised hard and had some competitive games amongstourselves. What I couldn’t do as a youngster, I wanted my boys to do. Iencouraged them to see movies, to have fun. We missed Inzamam a lot andspoke a lot about him, about his captaincy and his professionalism. But wewanted to forget the pressures. One day before the game we got another joltbut I always felt the boys were fit and wanted to play good cricket. Forme, before this game, winning or losing wasn’t important, all I wantedthem to do was to play good cricket. And we did.”And good cricket they played. A packed house of neutrals rejoiced inPakistan’s fightback with the ball before cheering every run in theirrun-chase. Their very unpredictability, their sheer bloody-mindedbounce-back ability, was a joy to watch. Just when the tension reached thehighpoint, they found in Abdul Razzaq a matchwinner who sliced through itlike a Rajasthani sword through silk. The standing ovation they grantedPakistan after the triumph was in direct contrast to the afternoon’sevents when the Shiv Saniks, a Hindu fundamentalist organisation, heldbanners asking Pakistan to ‘Go home’.Younis Khan didn’t make much of a contribution with the bat but his coolcountenance no doubt proved crucial. “There was definitely a bit ofpressure,” he said, “but I don’t normally put myself under pressure. Ofcourse, if we’d lost people would have got a chance to say things againstus. But the boys stood together, even though they were under pressure. Iwas asked at the toss if I’d slept OK and honestly I slept very well.Whatever pressure was there, it didn’t affect my sleep.”Over the last few years, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s monk-like cool, with an emphasison religion, has played a vital part in keeping the side together. It cameas no surprise when the side got together for a after thegame, thanking the God almighty for this fine win. Younis mentioned theimportance of faith, he added that their religious beliefs always keptthem strong. He didn’t mention it but sometimes you wonder what this teamwould do if controversies decide to take a back seat. The more thetrouble, more the joy.Comment on this

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It was a day for bowlers at Mutare Sports Club where Midlands, after losing the toss, bowled out the home side Manicaland for 181, and then finished the day on 161 for 7 themselves. The weather was hot and dry, the ground in good condition and the pitch, usually a featherbed, gave a little help to the seamers, but on the whole there was too much poor batting by both sides.The offspinner Prosper Utseya took his best first-class figures of 5 for 32 when Manicaland batted, the top-scorer being Dion Ebrahim with a fluent 38. Eight batsmen reached double figures, but none went on to play a major innings, so they had only themselves to blame for their inadequacies.Midlands began with 69 for the first wicket, Vusi Sibanda scoring 62, and reached 95 for 1. At that point Ryan Bennett and Blessing Mahwire bowled superbly in tandem to break through the middle order and transform the innings, with only Craig Ervine (40) showing much resistance.

Ronnie Irani will miss Essex’s season opener against Yorkshire next week as he continues to recover from knee surgery.”My knee is still not quite 100% right after the operation I had last September,” Irani said. “The rehab has gone extremely well, but I will miss the Yorkshire game next week – which is a huge disappointment.”But I’m looking at the situation positively in the sense that we have a long season ahead and if I miss the first game of the season but play over the majority of the summer then I’ll be absolutely delighted with that.Irani targeted Essex’s first home game of season, against Somerset, starting on Wednesday April 28.

Please note that ICC Communications Manager Mark Harrison will be returning to the UK from this evening, Tuesday 18, until Thursday 27 February. While Mark is away from the World Cup, please direct media enquiries to Brendan McClements, General Manager Corporate Affairs and Project Officer Jon Long, who is now in South Africa.As a reminder, Brendan can be reached on SA cell number 083 417 5492 and Jon Long on 083 417 5518.

Expectations of a keen final were belied as East Zone romped to aneight wicket victory over West Zone to win the Col. Hemu AdhikariTrophy for the Inter-Academy title at the RSI grounds in Bangalore onMonday.Electing to bat, West Zone were shot out for 101 in 35 overs. Theywere given a good start with openers S Kukreja (21) and P Valthaty(47) putting on 65 runs off only 10.3 overs. The in-form Valthatydominated the stand and before he was first out, he had faced just 36balls and hit nine fours.After Valthaty’s fall, little went right for West Zone who actuallylost ten wickets for 36 runs off 24.4 overs. Apart from the openers,only R Solanki (11) reached double figures. Four batsmen failed toscore and N Behera brought the innings to a swift end by taking fourwickets for 15 off eight overs. T Saha gave a helping hand with twofor 10 off seven overs. Three run outs compounded West Zone’s misery.East Zone did not experience any difficulty in reaching their modesttarget. Openers A Garai (14) and R Jaiswal put on 58 runs off 11.5overs and the objective was achieved in just 21.5 overs. Jaiswalremained unbeaten with 60, compiled off 74 balls with seven hits tothe ropes. Both wickets to fall were taken by skipper Uday Karavadra.

Sri Lanka is fast emerging as the likeliest venue to host a shortened bilateral series between Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka Cricket has been sounded out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and appear very keen to host the series.Things have moved fast since BCCI president Shashank Manohar and PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan met at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Sunday afternoon to break the deadlock over where the series should be held. The BCCI has made no comment as yet on the meeting, and Manohar left Dubai this morning to return to India.Shaharyar left too, and was meant to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Monday, to brief him on the discussions in Dubai. But the meeting could not take place as Sharif was busy. “I could not meet him as he was very occupied with various things, so I will communicate to him in writing all that transpired at the meeting,” Khan said. He also pointed out that he would not be travelling back to Dubai on November 25, as originally planned, to meet ECB president Giles Clarke, who is acting as a mediator between PCB and BCCI.*Shaharyar and Najam Sethi, PCB’s head of executive committee, had come out of the Dubai meeting sounding optimistic, but they did not divulge any details. Those were supposed to be provided by Clarke at a media briefing today in Dubai but it is understood that will not happen. The ICC also confirmed there was no media conference scheduled.The biggest hurdle to the series was the venue: the BCCI had made it clear that it would not play Pakistan anywhere else but in India. Rejecting that offer, the PCB responded by saying the memorandum of understanding signed by both countries in 2014 clearly stated India would travel to the UAE. Then, last Friday, Shaharyar added that the final decision would be taken by the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.The UAE has not been dropped as a venue, officially speaking, but Manohar’s opposition to play there remained. So holding the series in neutral ground like Sri Lanka was one of the proposals the PCB placed at the Dubai meeting. Also with South Africa’s tour of India finishing on December 7 and India travelling to Australia for a limited-overs series from January 12, both boards decided to modify the original schedule. The best possible option was playing three ODIs and two T20Is. In the ICC FTP Pakistan are listed to host India for a full tour comprising two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.According to an official privy to the details of the meeting, a final decision on the series would be made by November 27. He added that dates and stadiums haven’t been chalked out yet but indicated the matches would be played towards the latter part of December to avoid washouts.A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said Khettarama and Pallekele were the likeliest venues to host the tour. It has rained almost daily in both Colombo and Kandy this month, but the weather is expected to clear towards the end of December. The northeast monsoon typically tapers off quicker in these cities than in Hambantota or Dambulla.There is a potential clash since Khettarama is scheduled to host domestic T20 matches on December 23rd and 30th, but those games may be moved elsewhere. Pallekele’s schedule is wide open in the window for the Pakistan-India series.Since Pakistan would play the host, the series would be broadcast by Ten Sports. No official from Ten was available for comment. Although no definite plans have been made yet, the Sri Lankan official said SLC would expect significant compensation for the use of their stadiums.*12.30GMT, November 23: This article was updated.

The Pakistan Cricket Board completed its out-of-competition dope tests on 26 leading players, including Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, almost a week before naming the final 15-man squad for September’s Twenty20 World Championship.Sohail Salim, the PCB’s medical officer, said urine samples had been collected from all players featuring in the Karachi-leg of the training camp. The samples will be sent to a WADA-accredited laboratory in Malaysia.”All the samples have been collected and we hope to get the results of the tests in about a week’s time,” Salim told the .Four players from the probables haven’t yet given samples as they are currently playing county cricket in England, though Salim said a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) representative will collect their samples on behalf of the board soon.Results of the tests will be available with the board before the national selectors name the final squad on August 6, thus avoiding the situation that arose during the Champions Trophy last year when Shoaib and Asif were included in the squad only to pull out a day before the first match because their positive results came late. This is the third time that the board has opted for out-of-competition dope tests on the country’s leading players in less than a year.The tests weren’t without controversy as it emerged later that the board may not have adhered strictly to WADA regulations during its testing, despite claims that its policy was now fully WADA-compliant.Doubts were raised in a radio report because samples from some of the players were taken on Monday evening while others were asked to be available for the procedure on Tuesday. The WADA code says that an athlete must present himself for testing within one hour after being notified in writing.The code reads: “The players have a maximum of one hour to present themselves at the Doping Control Room for testing. During this time, they will be free to attend any post-match commitments, such as a presentation or press conference, but they will always be accompanied (albeit discreetly) by Sampling Officers, including inside the dressing rooms. All Team Managers and the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit are aware of these protocols.”Dr. Danish Zaheer, a WADA accredited officer told Voice of America that if the one-hour notice protocol has been done away with, WADA can challenge the collection of players’ samples.

The Indian board is likely to use the services of Rudi Webster, the renowned sports psychologist, to help the team prepare for next year’s World Cup.”We are yet to enter into discussions with Webster, though we hope to get him to have a few sessions with the players during next month’s Champions Trophy,” Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, was reported as saying in various Indian newspapers.Webster, who has worked with several top athletes, is most noted for working with the all-conquering West Indies side of the late ’70s and early ’80s.Shah said the proposal had come from coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid in preparation for the World Cup in West Indies. The Indian team had a few sessions with Webster during their recent tour to the Caribbean, where they recorded a Test series victory for the first time in 35 years.

The English cricket team is set to give Australia a fight inthis season’s Ashes series, former West Indies great all-rounder SirGarfield Sobers said today.But the man who skippered the Windies in 39 Tests was not prepared tosay the Englishmen would be able to beat Australia.”England this year will give Australia problems,” he told the NationalPress Club.”I’m not saying they will win.”I have watched them in England and I think they are a different team.”Sir Garfield, who today launched his latest book, said he had noticed adifference in the English team’s approach and attitude.”To me, they seem now to put bat to ball, instead of putting pad toball. I think that is a great improvement,” he said to chuckles from theaudience.”So don’t be too surprised if they really give the Australians a bit ofa fight.”Sir Garfield was clearly impressed with the current Australian team andsaid its 37-year-old Waugh brothers Steve and Mark should not be droppedpurely because of age, but should be judged only on their form.He also believed it was not a problem for the current team to be withouta recognised all-rounder.”Australia over the years have been doing so well without anall-rounder,” he said.”It’s not necessary to pick an all-rounder if you don’t need one.”And I don’t think that Australia needs one at the present moment.”He suspected players had now decided to specialise in either batting orbowling because they were playing a lot more cricket now than in hisday.”That is probably the reason why you don’t have people doing that kindof donkey work we used to do years ago.”Sir Garfield also tossed aside suggestions cricket was waning inpopularity in the Carribean and that young men were taking up basketballand other North American sports.”Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it is a myth,” he said.”Whoever it was who made that statement, really doesn’t know what theywere talking about.”He said that in his native Barbados, there were Under 13, Under 15 andUnder 18 levels, as well as an international boys team which travelsaround the world to play, outside of the West Indies side and WestIndies A.”There’s a lot of cricket being played in the West Indies. The WestIndies cricket team has a lot of players that have a lot of ability.”It just needs to be brought out.”I think that in two or three years you will see a very, very strongWest Indies team again.”