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Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has thrown his weight behind Steven Smith making the No.3 position his own in Test matches

Arun Venugopal13-Sep-20156:27

‘Australia need to be more mature as a Test side’ – Waugh

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has thrown his weight behind Steven Smith making the No.3 position his own in Test matches. Smith himself had admitted to being uncertain about his batting spot immediately after being named captain, noting it would depend on the team’s makeup.That line of thinking, however, has been met with opposition from the likes of Ian Chappell and Ricky Ponting who have backed Smith to continue batting at No.3.Waugh felt Smith was improving at No.3, and likened his appetite for run-making to Sachin Tendulkar’s. “I don’t mind him batting at number three. He is improving all the time,” Waugh, who is in India to launch his company’s property portal, told ESPNcricinfo.”His last year has been quite phenomenal. His technique will tighten up a bit. But, he has got a great eye and he has got good placement of the ball. Never seen a batsman hit the gaps as well as he does.”Smith first moved up to No.3 against West Indies in June and has since amassed 791 runs in 13 innings at an average of 71.90. He has scored three centuries, including a double-hundred at Lord’s and a 199 in Kingston.”He has got really good hands and that compensates perhaps for his footwork not being as sharp as some of the other players,” Waugh said. “He is not technically a perfect player, but he has got that inner desire more to score runs, a bit like a Tendulkar. Once he gets a hundred he wants to go on and get a big score every time.”Waugh said Smith the captain needed to find his own leadership style – one that perhaps conformed to his batting philosophy. “I think he’s pretty much an aggressive batsman with a good mindset. I think he takes it into the captaincy as well. He loves batting, he loves scoring runs and the other guys they like his leadership, they follow what he is doing.”Allan Border was a leader by what he did on the field; he led by example. Mark Taylor was more of a talker. I guess I was a pretty aggressive captain. We tried to win at all costs. And then you have got Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting. But he [Smith] has got to do it his way. He can’t copy what I’ve done or what Mark Taylor has done or Ricky Ponting. He has got to find out what his style is.”Smith’s golden run, though, has not altogether rubbed onto Australia, who trudge through a difficult phase marked by the Ashes loss and the retirement of players like Clarke, Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin. In two of their three defeats against England, they lasted no more than three days, which included an embarrassing capitulation for 60 in the first innings at Trent Bridge.Waugh admitted Australia needed to “mature” as a Test side. “We are very good on flat wickets at the moment, but when the ball turns or if there is a bit of swing we seem to be struggling as a batting unit. That’s all about just working a little bit harder, and putting more value on your wicket,” Waugh said.”I think Indian batsmen do that very well. Australians, we have got to learn to do that, and perhaps it’s about acknowledging the tough moments in the game where you just got to get through whichever way you can. And, it’s ok to lose a session, but you can’t lose it disastrously. You can’t lose seven or eight wickets. That is what the team’s been doing. “Waugh, however, believed Australia, with quality personnel at their disposal, would bounce back soon. “We won’t be far away. We have got an exceptional crop of young bowlers who, when they get their maturity and strength together, will be able to take 20 wickets.”The batsmen will come through. I think Usman Khawaja will have a good year this year. He has not picked as yet, but I believe he is a quality Test player. I think Joe Burns can do well. We just need people like the Marsh brothers to lift a bit because they have got a lot of talent. If they can do that, along with Smith and [David] Warner and some other players, we won’t be far away.”

Mitchell Johnson has admitted to contemplating retirement after watching several of his mates shuffle out of the dressing room

Daniel Brettig14-Oct-2015As he watched Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin shuffle out of the dressing room for the final time, Mitchell Johnson wondered whether he should join them. Seriously drained after a year in which he could not follow up World Cup success with retaining the Ashes, he pondered the possibility of retirement.

‘I don’t think it’s the best preparation’

Mitchell Johnson has questioned Australia’s preparation for the New Zealand Test series, with only a two-day red-ball camp in Sydney offering relevant practice before the squad assembles for the Gabba.
The postponement of the Bangladesh tour means Australia’s Test players are warming up in the Matador Cup 50-over tournament but are then subject to a round of day-night Sheffield Shield matches with the experimental pink ball before the first two Tests of summer are played in daylight with the red ball.
Johnson’s scepticism about the day-night concept is well known. While he hesitated to comment too freely on the Adelaide match at this point, he questioned the wisdom of switching from red to white to pink to red ball again ahead of what is shaping as New Zealand’s best chance to unseat Australia at home since they last did so in 1985.
“I don’t think it’s ideal us playing a day-night Shield game coming into a three-Test series, two with a red ball and one with a pink ball,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s ideal, especially guys missing out on Bangladesh, they’re probably needing to bowl with a red ball and we’re playing this now, then going down to Tassie to play with a pink ball.
“I don’t think it’s the best preparation, but I guess that’s why we have this camp as well to get a bit of a feel with the red ball again.”
Earlier in the year Johnson responded to questions about the pink ball by saying: “One thing is I love the tradition of Test cricket, things like the Baggy Green and little things like wearing the woollen jumper. We had an option to change that but we wanted to keep that as a tradition. I think tradition in the game is very important.”

But, in the six weeks since the Ashes have passed, Johnson has found himself feeling the old urge to train, to compete, and most importantly to bowl fast. He is now eager to do so once more, as the senior pro in what has now become a young and much changed team. Johnson has clear ideas on how and how much he should be used, and has set his sights upon matching the wickets tally of his mentor Dennis Lillee.”It definitely has crossed my mind, especially with the guys retiring,” Johnson said at Australia’s training camp in Hurstville. “A lot of those guys I played a lot of cricket with [have moved on] and it definitely makes you question yourself. I definitely have questioned myself in the six weeks I’ve been home, but I had that desire when I saw the young guys out there performing and it really urged me and pushed me to get out there and play. I actually went for a run and was pushing myself.”Brett Lee changed it a little bit because he played for a while longer. Speaking to some other people like Dennis, he seems to think I can go for a few more years as well. It depends on the individual to be honest, I had that year out of the game really with my toe injury, I was a late starter to the game. So I think it’s more mind than anything, my body’s still holding up pretty well.”I’ve had little niggles here and there but i’m able to get through them. It’s more mind. I’m really looking forward to the summer, getting back on fair wickets with a bit of pace and bounce, good for batting and for bowling. I’d love to get a few wickets and get that tally back up again.”At the end of a two-year period in which he played 18 of a possible 19 Tests besides sundry ODIs and Twenty20 fixtures, Johnson’s body was holding up reasonably. But his mind had begun to waver – even though he felt he had stored up enough mental energy for the Ashes campaign, he found himself getting drained midway through the series, not helped by the constant toll of English crowds and batsmen.”I was definitely worn down physically but I think I can always manage physically though,” Johnson said. “It’s more mentally that I felt myself really drained even through the England tour at times. Constantly getting hammered by the crowds does take its toll, but also the long year we’ve had with the World Cup. It was a huge build-up, to win that and then I went to IPL and played there. Was pretty flat throughout that, and then got to the West Indies and started to pick up a bit.”The Ashes always takes it out of you anyway, it’s such a huge occasion, and was definitely great to get back home after that. I personally think if I’d played that one-day series there was a chance of burnout or injury, that’s how I felt within myself. That’s why I missed that one-day series, getting fresh to be ready for a big summer and hopefully be in really good form and play really good cricket.”I know New Zealand are going to be a tough opposition, then we’ve got a few Test matches after that against West Indies then over to New Zealand. So it’s a really hectic time, but the little break I’ve had has definitely freshened me up and I’m ready to go.”There were other issues that had crept into Johnson’s mind as well. The handling of Haddin’s exit from the team rankled, and so did the haziness that often surrounded how Johnson was to be used in the bowling attack. Seldom was he able to simply charge in at top pace and intimidate as he had done against England two years ago, as much for the fact that there was no Harris or Peter Siddle keeping things tight at the other end as anything else.Johnson will be speaking with the coach Darren Lehmann and the new captain Steven Smith about this concept. Already it appears Lehmann understands the need for control as well as pace, stating that Australia will retain an allrounder throughout the Test summer while also picking their most balanced attack to keep the scoreboard tight.”I spoke to Boof about it, it’s something I thought about,” Johnson said. “I think it works best if I bowl short spells and I can bowl that high 140s or mid 140s, then I think that’s the plan we should go with. I’m going to sit down and speak with Boof and Smithy about that and see what they think.”But I’ve always got a plan B and I think I learned that a lot more over in England to have a plan B, just try to use the ball a bit more in certain conditions. You can’t always blast teams out but when that time’s right I’m definitely still putting my hand up for that role.”That sort of outspokenness can be expected more often as Johnson begins the final phase of his career. No longer one of many 30-somethings in the Test team, he is now an elder statesman, a leader and a keeper of tradition. There is much he can pass on to a young team before he is done.

Prenelan Subrayen, the 22-year old Dolphins offspinner, has been suspended from bowling in domestic cricket with immediate effect because of an illegal action

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2015Prenelan Subrayen, the 22-year old Dolphins offspinner, has been suspended from bowling in domestic cricket with immediate effect because of an illegal action. All his deliveries were found to exceed the 15-degree limit by an analysis conducted by an ICC-accredited human movement specialist at the Powerade CSA Centre of Excellence in Pretoria.Subrayen was reported for a suspect action after he picked up four wickets against Titans in the Ram Slam game on November 1. He played three more games, and took another four-for, against Warriors, before his action was deemed to be illegal.Subrayen can’t bowl in domestic cricket until he remedies his action and clears the reassessment. Subrayen was earlier suspended for a suspect action in December 2012 but was later re-instated by Cricket South Africa the following month, after clearing his action. He was also pulled up for a suspect action in the Champions League T20 in 2014.

Tendai Chisoro and Nevill Madziva pulled the plug on Bangladesh’s chase after Hamilton Masakdza’s unbeaten 93 helped Zimbabwe post 180 in the fourth and final T20I in Khulna

Mohammad Isam22-Jan-2016Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said losing four wickets in the first three overs put paid to their chase of 181 in the fourth T20I against Zimbabwe in Khulna.Bangladesh were 17 for 4 sixteen balls into their innings and Mashrafe reasoned that a flat track had made his batsmen drop their guard. “I think the problem was that they became overexcited seeing the wicket,” he said. “It is hard to go after the bowling without getting set, regardless of how the wicket is. I think everyone rushed into playing their shots. I thought [Mahmudullah] Riyad batted well and he took us close. I think we could have made it had we needed 15-16 off the last over with a batsman at the crease.”Mahmudullah, who struck 54 off 41 balls, and Imrul Kayes attempted to pick up the pieces after the Powerplay, but Kayes was dimissed in the seventh over and Bangladesh lost momentum again.”The possibilities go down when you lose four wickets in three overs chasing 181 runs,” Mashrafe said. “Still, Imrul and Mahmudullah batted well together. We got behind the game after Imrul’s dismissal but we were on the backfoot after the first four wickets.A lot has been said, from both sides, about this series being used as a means to figure out their best XIs, but Mashrafe insisted that Bangladesh placed enough emphasis on winning the series too. “Whether we were experimenting or not, our goal was to win the game. We didn’t bat well in the last two games. Our balance wasn’t right, and the same can be applied to the bowling effort.”Bangladesh tried 18 players in the four-match series and it has helped narrow down their selections for future series. “We needed to see a few places, because at least eight or nine of the 15-man squad remains confirmed. We got an idea of their potential. We have to be ready for the challenge that will come in the Asia Cup. We have to mentally prepared about a T20 game swinging in an over or two,” Mashrafe said.Mashrafe also hoped the team could develop the mental strength needed to chase totals upwards of 170 and 180 against bigger teams in the Asia Cup T20 and World T20. “We did well in the third game chasing 187, and perhaps would have been successful had there not been the middle-order collapse. We got some idea about chasing. Bigger teams will make 170-180 against us in the World T20 or Asia Cup so we have to create the ability to chase these totals.”Nobody wants to lose wearing the Bangladesh colours,” Mashrafe said. “But we have time on hand before the Asia Cup, so that we can work on those areas. I think we can correct our mistakes.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended fast bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake for two months and barred Gayan Wishwajith totally from participating in any capacity in Sri Lankan cricket in the future

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2016Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended Anusha Samaranayake, a fast bowling coach with their National Coaching Department, for two months and barred “main suspect” Gayan Wishwajith totally from participating in any capacity in Sri Lankan cricket in the future.Wishvanath is being investigated by the SLC for allegedly approaching several national players for match-fixing and is understood to be linked with Samaranayake, who was suspended after a preliminary inquiry conducted by the board.SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has ordered a report on the incident and Samaranayake’s role in it. “Sri Lanka Cricket has received several complaints regarding close acquaintance of Mr. Anusha Samaranayake with the main suspect Gayan Wishvanath who had approached several national players for the alleged illegal activities of match fixing,” an SLC release said.Samaranayake is a long time fast bowling coach and played a role in the emergence of several Sri Lankan bowlers, including Lasith Malinga.Earlier this month, Sri Lanka’s sports ministry had reported an alleged fixing approach made to Kusal Perera and another national player, to the country’s Financial Crimes Investigation Department. The two players had been approached by a net bowler during West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka last October.

Cameron White’s unbeaten century and Scott Boland’s unbeaten half-century helped stall a Victoria collapse after they had conceded a 401-run lead to Tasmania earlier in the day

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Cameron White’s century saved Victoria from an embarrassing collapse•Getty Images

Cameron White’s unbeaten century and Scott Boland’s unbeaten half-century helped stall a Victoria collapse after they had conceded a 401-run lead to Tasmania earlier in the day. But defeat was still imminent for Victoria, as they ended play still trailing by 162 with just three wickets in hand.Right-arm pacer Evan Gulbis starred with the ball for Tasmania, picking up four of the seven wickets that fell. Victoria stumbled to 5 for 92 after openers Aaron Ayre and Travis Dean put on a 51-run partnership. Gulbis then removed Daniel Christian and Chris Tremain quickly as Victoria slid further to 7 for 115. White then combined with Boland to add 124 for Victoria’s eighth wicket; resisting stoutly, the pair was yet to be separated by the end of play. White chose the route of counterattack: his unbeaten 100 off 118 balls included 15 fours and a six.After starting the day at 5 for 506, Sam Rainbird’s 22-ball 24 helped Tasmania quickly reach 8 for 556 declared, a mountainous first-innings lead of 401.

Sri Lanka Women defended 129 to register a crucial win – their first of the tournament – against Ireland Women in Mohali

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2016
ScorecardCaptain Chamari Atapattu set the tone for Sri Lanka’s win with a 22-ball 34•International Cricket Council

Sri Lanka Women defended 129 to register a crucial win – their first of the tournament – against Ireland Women in Mohali. Three run-outs and three wickets from Sugandika Kumari helped keep Ireland to 115 in the chase, thereby completing a 14-run win.Left-arm spinner Kumari, who returned career-best figures, removed Clare Shillington and Cath Dalton early before solid cameos from Cecelia Joyce (29), Isobel Joyce (24) and Laura Delany (29) took Ireland closer. With 43 required off the last five overs, a succession of wickets took the game away from Ireland. Kumari finished with 3 for 24.Earlier, Sri Lanka got off to a flying start after opting to bat. The openers – Chamari Atapattu (34 off 22) and Yasoda Mendis – added 45 in just 32 balls, of which Mendis contributed 9.Legspinner Ciara Metcalfe then dismissed both openers in the space of four balls to bring Ireland back into the contest. Metcalfe produced another double-strike in the 10th over to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 59 for 5. A 49-run stand between Prasadani Weerakkody and Eshani Lokusuriyage, who struck a 28-ball 35, resurrected Sri Lanka and helped them post a total of 129 for 7. Metcalfe also produced career-best figures to finish with 4 for 15.

The capture of two wickets in as many overs by Surrey’s spinners, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, dented an otherwise sturdy reply from Durham

Andrew Miller at Kia Oval02-May-2016
ScorecardMark Stoneman hit a brisk half-century•Getty Images

Much like the weather that started and finished with a blanket of cloud but burst, ever so briefly, into blue skies and sunshine, there was an isolated moment on the second afternoon at the Kia Oval when the prevailing conditions looked as though they were about to give way to something more amenable for this contest’s hard-worked bowlers.Sure enough, the capture of two wickets in as many overs by Surrey’s spinners, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, meant that, by the time an early close was confirmed shortly before 6pm, Durham’s otherwise sturdy reply to a hefty first innings of 457 had been undermined by the knowledge of the trials that might yet be in store as this match works towards its conclusion.At stumps Durham had reached 156 for 2, thanks to half-centuries from both openers, Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings, and a confident pair of opening gambits from Scott Borthwick, who reached stumps unbeaten on 20, and the teenager Jack Burnham, who displayed both technique and confidence in taking on Ansari with a brace of straight sixes. The first nearly took out a spectator in the pavilion; the second came right on the stroke of tea, a delicate pop back over the bowler’s head, as if to show the way to the dressing room.However, it was the nine-ball hiatus that bridged the two partnerships that could prove to be the key to the outcome of this contest. After a lively start to the day from Surrey’s lower-order, who added 86 runs to their overnight 371 for 7, Stoneman and Jennings negotiated Surrey’s seamers with aplomb before becoming unstuck as the slow men twirled into the game.First to go was Jennings for 53, who sized up a pre-meditated sweep but was beaten all ends up before swishing his bat in fury over his shattered stumps. Then, in the very next over, Stoneman propped half-forward to be adjudged lbw to Batty for 57, the end of another fine innings in which he had rattled along at not far shy of a run a ball without ever really seeming to be in a hurry.On a curious looking wicket which has been shaved at both ends in a bid to encourage some turn, Surrey’s spinners will expect to come into their own in the second half of the game, and Ansari in particular is eager to make up for lost time after his horrible thumb injury last season.Ansari may have missed England’s winter campaigns in the UAE and South Africa, but with the national selector James Whitaker and Peter Such, the ECB’s spin coach, both watching his efforts on Monday, he’ll be encouraged that he remains high in their thoughts for the summer campaigns against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.Batty, meanwhile, had a no-less prominent part to play with the bat, as his 40 from 81 balls helped to secure Surrey’s full haul of batting points and apply a glossier finish to an innings that looked to have lost its way a touch in the latter stages of the first day.With Ben Foakes setting the early agenda with a brace of boundaries in Chris Rushworth’s first over of the day, Surrey were eventually prised out by the hard-working Ben Stokes, who finished with figures of 4 for 117 in a 33.4-over spell that was a world away from his short-but-sharp efforts at the World T20 last month.After Brydon Carse had claimed his third of the innings to remove Foakes for 38, Stokes extracted the final two scalps – Surrey’s debutant seamer Mathew Pillans was well caught by Borthwick at second slip for a well-compiled 15 that had included an uppercut off the eyebrows for four, before Batty – giving himself room to have a mow with the No.11 Matt Dunn for company – lost his middle and leg stumps soon after swiping a Stokes bouncer over backward square for the only six of the innings.

A diligent half-century from Alex Hales, coupled with some home-ground know-how from Jonny Bairstow, helped England to regroup with a 88-run stand for the sixth wicket

The Report by Andrew Miller19-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIf Dasun Shanaka was an English seamer, he might well be on the endangered species list. His unassuming line and length, delivered with a high action and at a pace in the mid-to-high 70mphs, is precisely the sort of fare that the ECB – with this season’s new toss and pitches edict for domestic cricket – is looking to phase out of the county game. Such skills don’t cut the mustard at Test level these days, apparently.Ironic, then, that Shanaka’s sensational maiden spell in Test cricket was the stand-out performance on a truncated opening day of the first Test at Headingley – a ground synonymous with medium-pace marvels down the years, most famously, Neil Mallender’s debut against Pakistan in 1992. Three wickets for one run in the space of eight deliveries – including England captains present and future, Alastair Cook and Joe Root – ripped open a contest at a venue where Sri Lanka boast an improbable 100 percent record, following their series-winning victory in 2014.It required a diligent half-century from Alex Hales (another player whose output today belied the pre-conceptions) coupled with some home-ground know-how from Jonny Bairstow, for England to regroup with a 88-run stand for the sixth wicket, after their ambitions had been dramatically dented by the loss of five wickets for 34 runs either side of the lunch break.By tea, when Yorkshire’s dank weather swept in across the Pennines to wipe out the final session, Hales was unbeaten on 71, his second Test half-century in nine innings and his highest yet, beating the 60 he made against South Africa at Cape Town in January. It had been an innings of intense application, studded with 12 fours, as he battled initially to adapt his hard-handed technique to the overcast conditions before growing in confidence as his innings progressed.At the other end was Bairstow, who arrived at the crease with England’s innings in crisis at 83 for 5, but responded with the sort of sparky counter-punching that Matt Prior, in his own pomp, had so often provided from No. 7. With his confidence glowing following scores of 246 and 198 in his two most recent innings for Yorkshire at Headingley, Bairstow’s 54 not out from 67 balls took the attack back to Sri Lanka, who nevertheless remained firmly in the contest at 171 for 5, thanks to Shanaka’s stunning arrival.After being put into bat on a morning when bowling first was a no-brainer for both captains, England’s openers were obliged to rein in the extravagant strokeplay that has coloured so much of their cricket in recent months, and that situation might as well have been tailor-made for Alastair Cook. He began the match needing another 36 runs to reach 10,000 Test runs, and after getting off the mark with a sixth-ball clip for four through midwicket, appeared well set for the long grind until Shanaka tore up the script.Alex Hales stayed firm while others around him fell•Getty Images

Shanaka, who was the last of the five bowlers used by Angelo Mathews, launched his Test career with a maiden before striking with the first ball of his second over. Cook had been leaving the ball with his usual sangfroid for most of his 52 deliveries, but having creamed one cover drive off Nuwan Pradeep, he was drawn into another from the slower, wobblier Shanaka. The full length outside off left him a touch, and Cook scuffed an edge through to Dinesh Chandimal, the keeper. He was gone for 16, and still needs another 20 runs to notch up a landmark that has been on his conscience since the start of the South Africa tour in December.Three balls later, however, such thoughts had been whisked out of England’s minds. Nick Compton, out of form for Middlesex so far this season with 100 runs at 20.00 in four matches to date, had been advised by his captain to “just relax and play” as he attempts to extend his stuttering Test career. However, his anxieties cannot have been aided by his team-mates’ struggles to impose themselves, and when his turn eventually came, it proved to be short and cruel.Compton’s third delivery was on a perfect off-stump line and length, and demanded a shot in response. Attempting the deadest of dead-bat pokes, he squeezed a low edge through to Lahiru Thirimanne at first slip and was gone for a duck as Shanaka became only the third bowler in Test history, and the first since Richard Johnson in 2003, to claim two wickets before conceding his first career run.And, as if that was not enough of an impact on debut, Shanaka then added England’s main man to his tally, as Joe Root – in such golden touch in all formats – was also drawn into a drive that scudded to Kusal Mendis at third slip.It was a dream start for Shanaka, who had been awarded his Test cap by Mahela Jayawardene before the start of play, and a timely boost for a beleaguered Sri Lanka squad too, who began the match knowing that Dhammika Prasad, their matchwinning seamer on this ground two years ago, will miss the whole Test series after flying home to resolve a shoulder injury.But the clatter of wickets at the other end served, perversely, to boost Hales’ confidence, as if validating his watchful outlook. He had opened his account with a well-timed clip through midwicket off Pradeep, then followed that up with a rather streakier edge through the vacant third slip off Shaminda Eranga. An emphatic punch through the covers dented Mathews’ figures after a tight start to his spell, then, having notched his first single of the morning from his 48th delivery, Hales added two more fours in the space of three balls off Mathews, each drilled through the covers off the front and back foot respectively.After the break, however, England’s problems deepened before they could improve. James Vince, on debut, had dug in to lunch, blocking out his first 15 balls, and then a further three after the break, before square-driving Pradeep into the covers to get off the mark in Test cricket. But, despite punching two well-timed fours in three balls off Eranga, Vince was suckered by the bowler’s full length and controlled outswing to become Mendis’ second catch at third slip.Into the fray strode Ben Stokes, never a man to die wondering in a crisis. After a watchful first-ball block, Stokes spanked fours from each of his next three balls, including a loose clip off the pads that flew agonisingly close to the man at short midwicket. That, however, was as good as his innings would get. Seeking to get onto the front foot, both literally and metaphorically, he clipped a tame catch to Mathews at mid-on to deepen England’s gloom.By tea, however, Hales and Bairstow had provided their team with a steadying hand, with Bairstow in particular striking the perfect balance between attack and defence. He survived one moment of genuine alarm, on 40, when he was adjudged lbw to Mathews only for the delivery to be shown on review to be sliding down leg. His response, three balls later, was to gallop down the track to Rangana Herath and deposit him back down the ground for six, and when he opened the face to glide his sixth four through third man off Mathews, he brought up a 60-ball fifty that England will hope is the harbinger of much, much more.

Ian Healy and Brad Haddin headed a group of former and current wicketkeepers conducting a week-long wicketkeeping camp at the Bupa National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2016Ian Healy and Brad Haddin headed a group of former and current wicketkeepers conducting a week-long wicketkeeping camp at the Bupa National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Brisbane.Eight young wicketkeepers – six men and two women – attended the camp, which also featured mentors such as Australia’s current Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, South Australia wicketkeeper Tim Ludeman and former South Australia coach Mark Sorell.

Wicketkeepers camp participants

Josh Inglis, Sam Harper, Alex Reardon, Jake Doran, Lewin Maladay, Tom Healy, Beth Mooney, Megan Banting

Haddin, who retired from international cricket last year, had the chance to get a taste of coaching, having just completed his Level III coaching certificate at the NCC.”I’m just trying to help the guys understand the basics of wicketkeeping, and showing them drills that will help them get better but also explaining why you do this and that,” Haddin told .Haddin praised the youngsters at the camp for their attentiveness and emphasised the importance of smart training, as opposed to simply logging the hours. “What I like to see is they’re always training to get better,” he said. “I think sometimes [you can fall] into the trap of training for long periods of time rather than concentrating on training to get better.”All the training we do here is so that when we’re put under pressure in a game we don’t second-guess our techniques, and in those big moments we go back to basics and we’re confident we can get through.”Jake Doran, a promising young wicketkeeper from Tasmania and one of the participants in the camp, said the opportunity to pick the brains of accomplished wicketkeepers like Haddin and Nevill had been invaluable.”It has been good to have that experience there to get their knowledge and pick their brains,” Doran said. “The main thing they’ve reiterated to us is the importance of the basics – be really, really good at your basics and then, anything else that happens outside of that, your natural instincts will take over.”