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Intikhab Alam, Pakistan’s coach, has changed his mind about the leadership credentials of Shoaib Malik, believing that his tenure should be extended beyond the end of the year.Malik’s performance is due to be reviewed by the Pakistan board’s governing committee on December 31 though it is widely expected that he will be persisted with, as Pakistan’s lack of international cricket has prevented a rush to judgement.Alam’s input is expected and he said he had no doubt the allrounder should continue to captain Pakistan. “I am crystal clear in my mind that Malik should continue as captain,” Alam told AP.Malik has been criticised by Mohammad Yousuf and, privately by other senior players, for being a poor communicator. But Alam said he was learning. “His attitude has changed toward other players in the team and I think that’s a good sign. Malik is still learning but he will gradually be more confident if his captaincy tenure is extended,” Alam said.It represents a turnaround from Alam’s comments made in September before he became coach. Then he had complained that Pakistan did not “have captaincy stuff in the present lot” and suggested Shahid Afridi as a candidate.But he admitted that after he was appointed coach and had long meetings with Malik, he discovered a different man, particularly during the ODI series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi last month.”I admit that I had criticized Malik a lot, but he is a changed person now, who believes in himself and his team players,” Alam said. “He showed a lot of guts in batting, bowling and leading his side. He has a good thinking cap and I think he should be given an extended run.”Malik has been impressive recently in domestic cricket, leading Sialkot Stallions to the domestic Twenty20 title and Punjab Stallions to the Pentangular ODI cup. He has led Pakistan in two Test series both of which were lost since he becoming captain last year.He led Pakistan to a country record 12 successive ODI wins though the bulk of them came against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh earlier this year.”Now that’s not the fault of Malik if we couldn’t compete against stronger teams this year,” Alam said. “I firmly believe that against Sri Lanka he will give a good performance if he retains the captaincy.”

Scorecard

Dwayne Smith continued his superb form in the WICB Cup with an all-round performance which helped Barbados crush Leeward Islands and progress to the final. Smith smashed a 65-ball 82 to guide Barbados to their highest total in the tournament before he took three early wickets to wreck Leewards’ chances at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.Barbados got off to a poor start after winning the toss, captain Jason Haynes falling lbw for a duck. However, half-centuries from opener Dale Richards and No. 3 Ryan Hinds – his fourth fifty in five games – put Barbados on top, but Leewards fought back with three wickets for 25 runs. Barbados regained their grip on the match with a 101-run stand between Smith and Kevin Stoute (40*). Smith slammed three sixes, including a short-arm pick-up over midwicket, before being holing out to long-off.Smith then shone with the ball, inducing each of Leewards’ top three to edge to the wicketkeeper: aggressive opener Austin Richards was the first to go, captain Runako Morton fell first ball, and Kieran Powell was dismissed three balls later. Smith’s show ensured Barbados didn’t miss the services of experienced fast bowler Corey Collymore, who was ruled out with a knee injury. Pedro Collins, who shared the new ball with Smith, also chipped in with two wickets to reduce Leewards to 27 for 5. No. 5 Tonito Willett hit five fours and a six in his 51 but couldn’t prevent Barbados from getting their revenge for the defeat in the preliminary round.Barbados will now take on Trinidad & Tobago in Sunday’s final.

Early excitement of the day
Jason Krejza, Australia’s most successful bowler on day one, was given the first over this morning even though the second new ball was only six overs old. Mahendra Singh Dhoni went after him immediately and tried to drive the ball hard. He got an inside edge and the ball, after hitting his boot, went straight to Krejza. The Australians appealed but Aleem Dar wasn’t convinced and consulted with Billy Bowden before eventually asking for replays. The slow motion showed the ball thudding into ground just before hitting Dhoni’s shoe.Contrast of the day
Virender Sehwag started at a cracking pace on day one, finding the boundary regularly with a flurry of attacking strokes. The start on day two was far more subdued. Australia bowled 7.2 overs before Brett Lee strayed on to Dhoni’s pads, allowing the batsman to flick behind square to get the boundary counter ticking again. Sehwag and M Vijay had hit five fours within the same number of overs on Thursday morning.First crowd catch of the day
Krejza isn’t the wiliest spinner Sourav Ganguly has faced but his approach against the debutant was cautious when compared to the disdain that Sehwag displayed. However, in the 99th over, Ganguly decided it was time. He moved smoothly out of his crease, reached the ball as it pitched, got under it and, with a clean swing of his bat, hit it into the stands beyond long-on. There were a couple of catches spilled on the field in that region last evening and the fan in the crowd didn’t catch this one either.First Australian cheer of the day
It came in the 30th over today, from who else but Krejza. The Australians were struggling after the Ganguly-Dhoni partnership had gone past 100. Dhoni seemed keen to attack and Ponting brought mid-on and mid-off up, tempting him to go over the top. Instead, he went back and across to nudge the ball on the leg side. Krejza’s delivery was flat and quick and it beat the bat to hit leg stump. Krejza had his fourth wicket. Little did he know that the fifth would arrive two balls later.Record of the day
Krejza was the most successful Australia bowler on show, but he was also the most expensive. So expensive, in fact, that he was creeping up on Omari Banks’ unenviable record of conceding the most runs on Test debut. Banks had gone for 204 in 40 overs against Australia in Barbados in 2003. Krejza had given 201 by the end of his 40th over and Harbhajan Singh cut to the backward-point boundary to take him past Banks. At least he had plenty of wickets to show for those runs.

First ball of the day
Amit Mishra made his debut in the second Test in Mohali and played inDelhi as well but he hadn’t faced a ball in Test cricket until he walked out with India 437 for 8 in Nagpur. He prepared to face his first ball from Krejza, who had six Indian scalps already. The first ball was straight, Mishra played inside the line, saw the ball pass his bat and hit wood, giving Krejza his seventh wicket.Attacking field of the day
Krejza was on a hat-trick when No. 11 Ishant Sharma came out to bat. Ponting called his men close and stationed them at silly mid-off, silly point, first slip, leg slip, leg gully, forward short leg and silly midwicket. The anticipation reached a crescendo as Krejza ran in but itfizzled after Ishant defended on the front foot. Ponting kept his fielders close, however, and in Krejza’s next over the inside edge flew low to Simon Katich at short leg. Krejza’s 215 runs were the most runs conceded in an innings by a debutant but his eight wickets also made it the eighth-best figures in an innings on debut.Hurry of the day
Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich could not afford to wait for Krejza to leadthe team off. They were the first players off the field, running towardsthe dressing room to get padded up, and they were the first back on to thefield. Their hurry carried into the first over: Katich drove Zaheer Khanto the long-off boundary and then reached out for a wide delivery for four more.Untested arm of the day
The Australians didn’t know what to expect of M Vijay with the bat and hemanaged to score 33. They probably didn’t know what to expect of him inthe field either. They learnt soon enough when Hayden pushed the balltowards mid-on and sprinted for a single. Vijay covered ground quickly andunleashed a direct hit to catch the Australian opener a couple of inches short of hiscrease.Fitting victim of the day
Harbhajan Singh v Ricky Ponting has been one of cricket’s premier bowler-batsman battles since 2001. And it resumed in Nagpur with Harbhajan on 299 Test wickets. Ponting scored the first point, lofting Harbhajan with the turn over midwicket. But it was the offspinner who won the round by turning an offbreak past an attempted cut to hit the stumps and notch up wicket No. 300. It was the tenth time Harbhajan had dismissed Ponting, the first time bowled.

Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive, has said the county does “feel penalised” by rules that would prevent their leading players from taking part in the Champions Twenty20 League in India in December.However, Codrington was quick to dispel any thoughts that he is in disagreement with the ECB over the likely unavailability of Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah, who will be part of the England Test squad at the time of the Champions League.”We have had meetings with the ECB and the Professional Cricketers Association regarding Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah and the Twenty20 Champions League,” Codrington said. “Both organisations have been extremely helpful and supportive.”We perfectly understand the situation regarding Andrew and Owais, as the players do themselves,” he added. “We would never stand in the way of a player’s career, and if the ECB feel unable to release either or both of them, then we also understand that the Indian Test series takes precedence.”We are working alongside the ECB and the PCA and are in complete agreement with the way forward.”Middlesex will be affected by a tournament rule under which they can use only those players on their books when they qualified for the Champions League. That rules out Neil Dexter, who was signed post season from Kent, and Neil Carter, a short-term loan signing from Warwickshire. Dirk Nannes is also missing from the squad as he is representing Victoria.”Chennai [Super Kings], for example, have got four internationals while it doesn’t look like England are going to release Shah and Strauss, so we have look at alternatives and we do feel penalised,” Codrington told the . “We are also only allowed one overseas player while Chennai can pick Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Muttiah Muralitharan so we are starting behind the eight-ball.”The guys will go out early and we are having to pay for that as they will not fund us being there until the 30th [November] but we want to give ourselves the best chance of competing,” he said. “We let the Trinidad match get away from us and we were stuffed by the Stanford team, although not as badly as England were.”

Chris Gayle, the Stanford Superstars captain, is confident his team can beat England in the US$20 million Stanford 20/20 for 20 on November 1. Gayle knows the visitors begin the one-week Stanford Super Series as favourites, but says anything could happen in the shorter form of the game.”England are strong favourites,” Gayle said. “They are well balanced and very talented, it will not be easy.”But against [favourites] South Africa, England won 4-0 [in the ODIs] and we can do it as well.”In Twenty20 cricket there is no comfort zone and anything can happen, regardless of who are favourites,” Gayle said. “One delivery can change the game.”The Superstars squad includes a few West Indies regulars alongside those who have performed in Twenty20s on the domestic circuit. “It is a good mixture and I think we have the talent to get out there and get the job done. Everybody is looking forward to the tournament over here. We are really excited.””To be honest I never thought that when I started to play cricket, I would be playing for so much money. Credit must go to Sir Allen Stanford for organising and developing the game here.”Gayle also had time to kick off some verbal talk with his opposite number. “He [Pietersen] already has plenty of money so he should make it easy for us. This is a life-changing amount of money for us. If we win, it’s important we spend it wisely.”Our preparation has been going well so we are just waiting on the big day.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a ten-year ban for 13 of its top cricketers for joining the unauthorised ICL, and is now hoping that the IPL and the Champions Twenty20 League will help it revive and boost the game in the country.An emergency meeting of the board on Wednesday afternoon decided to ban “players, officials and technical staff of the BCB who participate in events not authorised by the ICC and BCB”. A press release said the board was examining legal technicalities “for taking appropriate proceedings” against the ICL players and has also decided to “review the existing format of the contracts with players to discourage such abrupt action by cricketers in the future”.Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, a BCB executive board member who was part of the meeting, told Cricinfo that the ICL ban would act as a “deterrent” and set an example “in the interests of Bangladesh cricket”. He also termed suggestions that the country’s Test status would be affected by the exodus as “terribly unfair”, and claimed it had adequate replacements to ensure that New Zealand, who are visiting this month, is “in for a surprise”.Admitting that Bangladesh will have to “accept the reality and move on”, Alam said: “We now hope that one of our teams will be able to participate in the Champions League in another year or so, and that will be a huge boost for the country and its players. In fact we have received some kind of an assurance from IPL officials that they would look at recruiting more of our players so that they don’t feel left out financially. We are also in touch with other cricketing boards on how they can help us.”Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinner, is the only Bangladesh player currently in the IPL and was signed up by Bangalore Royal Challengers for US$50,000. Although national boards don’t get a share of IPL revenues, they will receive a significant sum for participating in the Champions Twenty20 along with a separate participation fee for their domestic Twenty20 champion teams that are invited. The Champions League is hoping to expand from eight teams this year to 12 in 2009.Alam, who also heads the BCB’s media committee, said an example had been set in the interests of Bangladesh cricket. “We want this ban, which is in line with the ICC’s policy on unauthorised cricket, to act as a firm deterrent for others.”Alam said that allegations from some of the ICL recruits that they were mistreated by the BCB were “ridiculous” and added, “These players should be honest and admit openly they did this just for the money. That’s the main reason. Why can’t they be forthright about it? These players have let down their country and its people and opted to join a commercial venture which will benefit a group of individuals and nobody else.”There have been demonstrations and meetings here by fans who feel cheated by these players,” Alam said. “We have received so many phone calls from fans expressing disgust at what these players have done. These are cricket lovers who have sacrificed a lot for the game; people who have thronged the stadiums to watch these players play; who have paid money to do that – money that has gone into the development and upbringing of these players.”The 13 Bangladesh players who signed up for the ICL will be part of the Dhaka Warriors team that was unveiled in New Delhi on Tuesday. The team, which will compete in the second season from October 10, will be led by Habibul Bashar, the former national captain, and included recent internationals Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Farhad Reza, Dhiman Ghosh and Mosharraf Hossain.

Sourav Ganguly has been left out of the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy match in what Cricinfo has learnt is a signal from the national selectors that it is time to start phasing out India’s veteran middle-order. Other notable exclusions for the season-opener are Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath – but Mohammad Kaif has returned to the reckoning after his 94 for India A against Australia A.The Rest team for the match against Delhi, which starts in Vadodara on September 24, is meant to feature probables for the Australia Test series in October. Ganguly’s exclusion raises once again a question mark over his international future – he is already out of the ODI picture.A national selector and a senior BCCI official whom Cricinfo spoke to said the selectors consulted Anil Kumble, the India Test captain, and Gary Kirsten, the national coach, before dropping Ganguly. Both Kumble and Kirsten were completely on board with the decision, they said.One of the selectors also spoke to Ganguly about the decision and the former India captain has “accepted it”, the selector said.”The decision to drop Ganguly is a signal to the team,” the selector said. “He’s 36-37 and we felt it was getting increasingly tough for him to cope with the fielding and fitness levels expected at the international level. We spoke to Kumble and Kirsten too, and they were with us on this. We felt we should put in place the process of bringing in the next set of players.”While the decision to drop Ganguly was based on a dip in form and his diminishing fielding skills, they said, the selectors were not convinced that Yuvraj was completely fit.However, both insisted that Ganguly’s Test future could still be revived by the new national selection committee, which will pick the Test team for the four-Test series against Australia starting on October 9.Apparently, the selectors are hoping that Mohammad Kaif, who impressed them with a well-made 94 in the India A vs Australia A match in Bangalore last week, will fill Ganguly’s slot in the middle. “There is also a good chance for Badrinath (the India A skipper),” the selector said. “Badrinath came up with a convincing display in Sri Lanka last month and he is a fantastic fielder too. But again, it is up to the new selection panel.”He said that Yuvraj’s fitness was the main reason why he was dropped – the left-hander has been dogged by a knee injury, and is also believed to be nursing a shoulder injury.Meanwhile, Ashok Dinda, the Bengal medium-pacer, got a surprise call-up to the squad while Sachin Tendulkar, who declared himself fit for the match has made it along with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Parthiv Patel, the other promotion from the India A side, is likely to open the batting with Wasim Jaffer.Badrinath, meanwhile, will continue leading India A side, in the limited-overs tri-series, involving Australia A and New Zealand A, starting on September 15. His deputy will be Suresh Raina, fresh from impressive showings in the Asia Cup and in Sri Lanka. Dinesh Karthik, who lost out on the Irani Trophy slot to Parthiv, will be India A’s keeper in the tri-series.There were rewards for those who did well in the inaugural IPL: Swapnil Asnodkar, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Yusuf Pathan and Wriddhiman Saha found themselves in the 15-member squad. Hyderabad opener DB Ravi Teja was included, as was Saurashtra’s Jaydev Shah. Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar, India’s ODI regulars, will also play in the series, while Piyush Chawla and Robin Uthappa, dropped recently, get another chance to impress the selectors.Rest of India squad: Anil Kumble (capt),Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Mohammad Kaif, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, RP Singh, Ashok Dinda, Harbhajan SinghIndia A squad for tri-series: S Badrinath(capt), Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Swapnil Asnodkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Abhishek Nayar, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Piyush Chawla, Ravi Teja, Yusuf Pathan, Jaydev Shah, Wriddhiman Saha

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

On a pitch and in a series where the fast bowlers have only been making upthe numbers, a hostile and quick Ishant Sharma helped India seal an incrediblecomeback after they had slumped to their third-worst defeat ever in thefirst Test.In the first session of the day, Muttiah Muralitharan andAjantha Mendis had made sure India didn’t take their lead into the realms ofthe impregnable, but with Ishant bowling the way he did, the target of 307 stayedsecure. Ishant got good support from Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh; thelatter finished with his fifth ten-wicket haul.Sri Lanka were attacked from a quarter they would have least expectedhostilities from, and after having done well playing catch-up throughoutthe match, they finally fell short. The match was much closer than the 170-run margin indicated.Ishant was accurate, he hit the bat hard, gave Dinesh Karthik some moredifficulties behind the wicket, and most importantly, kept producing his specialdelivery repeatedly: the one that holds its line after having pitched on alength.Ishant began with a wicket with the third ball he bowled, sending down aperfect right-armer’s ball to a left-hander, pitching it around leg andmoving it away, making Malinda Warnapura play and edge. Zaheer, in the nextover, produced a legcutter for Sangakkara similar to the one he did in thefirst Test, with similar results. And in his next over, Ishant got thebiggest wicket of them all for India – Mahela Jayawardene, who looked tocounterattack and cut straight to gully, where Rahul Dravid held on to a sharp chance.Dravid was exuberant at having taken the catch – he had dropped MichaelVandort in the first over, and had also been pushed out of the cordon.Ishant and Zaheer then tightened the screws. Ishant, in particular,seemed to be bowling on a different pitch from the one that had been ondisplay on the four previous days. At one point, the preceding 12.3 overs hadcost India 11 runs and featured two huge lbw shouts, one catch off ano-ball, and most importantly, robust fast bowling. Harbhajan took advantageof that period, and trapped Vandort with an arm-ball in his first over.But there was one final twist left in the match, and Ishant it was whopulled India out of a threatening situation. Thilan Samaraweera andTillakaratne Dilshan had put together a swift 76-run stand, pulling SriLanka out of the shell they had played themselves into. Dilshan, inparticular, hustled the bowling, briefly changing the texture of the game.Ishant came up with a special over after tea, bowling at high pace, extracting extra bounce,and getting the ball to hold its line. After having beaten Dilshantwice, he finally got him to edge one, and it was all downhill for Sri Lankaafter that.Harbhajan took control of the situation then; both lower ordershave, on this pitch, been hard pressed against quality spin bowling.Samaraweera, who scored a resolute half-century, could not do much aboutwhat happened at the other end. The last five wickets fell for 23 runs,Harbhajan taking three of them. When he got Mendis, he completed histen-for, and a successful redemption after his recent misadventures.

Mendis, incidentally, had finished his first ten-wicket haul by takingHarbhajan’s wicket earlier in the day. That was the end of a collapse inwhich India lost their last five for 17 runs. India had started the daytentatively, but the overnight batsmen – VVS Laxman andSourav Ganguly – kept the runs coming. They hadn’t yet played themselves inwhen Mendis nailed Laxman with another one of his special carrom balls -pitching within the stumps, breaking rapidly, and heading for off stump.Laxman’s pad intervened, but the umpire had no hesitation in sending him onhis way.Karthik came out aggressive, stepping out and hitting both Mendis andMurali for sixes, and also pulling out a reverse-sweep. He might even havehad a hand in suggesting to Ganguly that he ask for a review when Gangulywas given lbw to one that seemed to be missing off stump. But just whenit looked like the two might get too many, too fast, Murali pulledthem back. Karthik, going for a third six, was beaten in the flight andcaught in the deep. Ganguly was suckered out of the crease by a flighted,fiercely dipping delivery, and Prasanna Jayawardene’s quickness with thestumping made the dismissal look more even more comprehensive.The rest contributed enough only for the so-called psychological advantage:when Karthik got out, India’s lead was 292; they finished on 306. Ishant,though, rendered the tussle in the first session superfluous.That India came into the fourth day still alive had all to do with anear-solo effort by Virender Sehwag, who reached his fifth double-centuryin the first innings, and for the first time in his career scored a fiftyin a match in which he had also scored a century. India, out of habitperhaps, managed to waste a fiery start from Sehwag, but he had doneenough, as was proved when India went on to win only the third Test inwhich he had scored a century.

This column aims to discuss Australian players in England’s contributions to the counties, but little did we expect that this week we would be featuring someone’s feats for the country itself. As if Darren Pattinson’s call-up to England’s long list for the Champions Trophy wasn’t enough, he was then handed a shock Test debut which caused controversy up and down the land.The problem in some eyes wasn’t that he grew up in another country – after all, so did Kevin Pietersen – but that he hadn’t exactly pledged his allegiance to England nor had he much first-class experience (11 heading into Headingley). People were also quick to point out Pattinson’s younger brother, James, plays for Australia Under-19s and their dad said his son was Australian. Darren, born in Grimsby, nevertheless got the nod.Also, there were sniffs that Matthew Hoggard had been overlooked on his home ground, while Steve Harmison, Chris Tremlett and Saj Mahmood would have been justified in feeling a touch snubbed.Pattinson took two wickets in South Africa’s only innings but will have to see if this horses-for-courses selection goes the distance when the squad is announced for the third Test at Edgbaston. If not, he will shrug his shoulders and finally get the trip to Alton Towers he had promised his family prior to the surprise call.But one player who will be kicking his heels on Tuesday evening is Jason Gillespie after Glamorgan opted not to risk him in their Twenty20 quarter-final. The side were brought in to play Michael Di Venuto’s Durham following the debacle which saw Yorkshire exit the trophy aftet fielding an ineligible player. Glamorgan don’t want to risk being ineligible for the big-money Champions Trophy through playing an ICL player like Gillespie.Speaking of Di Venuto, he helped Durham to move to the top of the Championship table with a ten-wicket win over Surrey at Guildford. Surrey appeared to be well on course towards batting their way to a draw as they reached 261 for 3, but lost their last seven wickets fell for 62. Set 134 in 45 overs, Durham wasted no time Di Venuto (57*) laid into a listless Surrey attack along with Mark Stoneman (60*), the duo reaching their target with more than ten overs in hand. Di Venuto had made 10 in the first innings.Justin Langer had led Somerset top earlier in the day when they completed a 246-run win against Kent at Taunton but their stay was to prove brief. The ever-reliable Langer made a fifty in both innings to set the home side well on their way, and was 12 short of a century in the second innings when he was caught behind for the second time in the match.First place could all change again in the next round as it’s still tight at the top with nine points separating the leaders and fifth-placed Lancashire, Stuart Law’s side. Pattinson and Adam Voges’s Nottinghamshire are in fourth, eight points behind and both have a game in hand on the top three.Meanwhile, Sean Ervine could do little to stop Hampshire sliding to a ten-wicket defeat at the hands of champions Sussex at Arundel. He hit 17 in the first innings and 14 when they followed on.In the lower division, Jason Gillespie was also on the wrong end of a ten-wicket result, when Glamorgan sank against Worcestershire at Worcester. Gillespie failed to penetrate the Worcestershire attack in neither his 28 first-innings over nor his five second time out. Chris Rogers’ second century of the season forced stalemate between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire at Northampton and more than made up for his first-innings 1.The highlight of the opening week of the Pro40 competition, yet another domestic tournament, was Adam Voges’ run-a-ball 85 to put Nottinghamshire beyond the reach of a subdued Hampshire at Trent Bridge, as they eased to a comfortable 31-run victory. He made 64 not out earlier in the week to beat Worcestershire at Worcester, a match in which Pattinson also took two wickets.

Mitchell Johnson will remain a Queensland player despite his decision to move from Brisbane to Perth. Johnson is keen to live in Western Australia to be closer to his partner Jessica Bratich, a Perth-based karate champion, but he did not want to switch to the Warriors.Queensland Cricket has agreed to the move, which leaves Johnson in a similar position to his Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who lives in Sydney but plays for Tasmania when not required for international duty. Johnson will probably have less state responsibilities in coming seasons as he is a first-choice player in the Test and ODI side and he believes the arrangement will be workable.”I’m really pleased we’ve been able to reach this outcome,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to the move to Perth but didn’t want to cut my ties with the Bulls. I’m confident the arrangement will be beneficial for both parties.”Trevor Barsby, the Queensland coach, said there was no reason Johnson had to live in Brisbane to remain a Bulls player. “We spoke to the players about it and they were very open to the idea,” Barsby said. “As Andy Bichel pointed out, we are in a highly professional era that brings with it different issues, and we should support our international players the best we can. Mitch can bunk down at my place for the week before a game if he happens to come back.”Graham Dixon, the CEO of Queensland Cricket, said Johnson had informed the state of his intention to move and discussed with them the possibility of occasional commutes across the country. Dixon said there was no way Queensland wanted to lose Johnson.”He is a Queenslander through and through,” Dixon said. “Having come through our development system, he is a most popular player within our organisation and we certainly want to keep him in the maroon cap whenever possible. We anticipate we would still see Mitchell on a semi-regular basis because he has close family ties in Townsville, and we are happy to go with the long-distance relationship.”