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Four-fors from Varun Aaron (4-20) and medium-pacer Rahul Shukla (4-32) helped Jharkhand defend a total of 125 to beat Saurashtra by 42 runs at Eden Gardens. Saurashtra’s chase lasted only 25.1 overs with all ten wickets falling to pace. Aaron prised out key wickets in the middle order, before Shukla and left-arm seamer Jaskaran Singh cleaned up the tail.Like Saurashtra, Jharkhand, too, lost all their wickets to pace. Kushang Patel carved up the top order, first getting the early wicket of opener Anand Singh and then breaking a 43-run, second-wicket stand to trigger a Jharkhand slump in which they lost nine wickets for 64. Kushang, who was on a hat-trick in the 10th over, finished with 4 for 39, while Shaurya Sanandia cleaned up the lower order for career-best returns of 5 for 47. Jharkhand were propped up by a 40-ball 53 from Ishan Kishan and MS Dhoni’s 24-ball 23.Ashutosh Singh’s 98-ball 65 was in vain as Chhattisgarh suffered a four-run defeat against Hyderabad in Kolkata. Ashutosh’s wicket off the first ball of the final over left Chhattisgarh needing eight runs from five balls, of which they could only manage three. His half-century, however, had helped them rally after they were struggling at 78 for 5 in the 20th over. Ravi Kiran, Chama Milind and Mehdi Hassan and Mohammad Siraj took two wickets each for Hyderabad.Bavanaka Sandeep’s unbeaten 70 off 99 balls was the top score in Hyderabad’s innings as they were bowled out for 197 despite starts from the top order. Three run-outs and a slump in the middle overs – they lost four wickets for eight runs between the 25th and 28th overs – limited Hyderabad’s total.Jammu & Kashmir suffered a 24-run defeat against Services. Chasing 215, J&K were bowled out for 190, having lost their middle order during a four-wicket slide for only 20 runs between the 21st and 27th overs. Puneet Bisht and Ram Dayal resisted for J&K but once Bisht was dismissed for 45, J&K collapsed quickly and were out in the 46th over. Ahmed Bandy top-scored for them with 59 off 65 balls, having contributed heavily at the start. Left-arm spinner Vipin Singh took 3 for 41.Services, too, crumbled in the middle overs, after their top order, particularly Nakul Verma (68) and Shamsher Yadav (52), had done the hard work of establishing a platform with a 99-run partnership for the third wicket. They lost five wickets for only one run between the 37th and 40th overs, collapsing from 164 for 2 to 169 for 7, before eventually being bowled out for 214. Parvez Rasool took 3 for 36 while Mohammed Mudhasir and Manzoor Dar took two wickets each.

Uncapped fast bowler Billy Stanlake and batsman Chris Lynn have been included in Australia’s squad for five ODIs against Pakistan, while experienced batsmen George Bailey and Aaron Finch have been axed. Usman Khawaja has been included, having not been part of the squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Series last month.The demoting of Finch and Bailey marks a significant selection shift for Australia: both men are currently in the top 20 on the ICC’s ODI batting rankings, an indication of their performances over a long period of time. In fact, in the past four years, Bailey has been Australia’s leading ODI run-scorer with 2603 at 40.67, and Finch third on the list with 2520 at 35.00.”Big call,” Australia’s coach, Darren Lehmann said of the decision to drop Finch. “Obviously he’s been an integral part since the World Cup but performances for Aaron have not been what we would’ve liked and what he would’ve liked to be perfectly honest. He hasn’t made a hundred since Canberra last year. The challenge for him is to make big runs in the BBL and get back into the side.”Tough call on George as well. He’s a ripper bloke, he’s fantastic around the group and he’s been fantastic as a leader as well. Again, it’s down to performances from George. He’s got to go back and make big runs. The door is not shut on any of those players by the way when you’re looking at this form of the game with Champions Trophy coming up. George has got to perform well and really put his case forward.”In announcing the squad, the interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, noted that Bailey had scored only one half-century in his last ten ODIs. While Khawaja appears the most likely candidate to replace Finch as David Warner’s opening partner, the position of Bailey in the middle order could be filled by Lynn, who has played Twenty20s for Australia but is yet to make his ODI debut.Lynn has lit up the BBL this summer and is the tournament’s leading run-scorer, but remarkably has not played a domestic one-day game since 2013, as in each of the past three years he has suffered pre-season shoulder injuries that have ruled him out of the Matador Cups. He has, however, played List A games for Australia A during that time.”Everyone loves what he’s brought to the T20 format, now the challenge for him is to do that in the one-day format, which we know he can,” Lehmann said. “He’s had some injury concerns in the past but he seems to be batting well and deserves his spot.”The other new member of the ODI squad is Stanlake who, like Lynn, is from Queensland. A very tall fast bowler with limited state and BBL experience – he has played only two first-class matches and four List A games – the 22-year-old Stanlake is the most speculative pick in the 14-man squad. He too missed last year’s Matador Cup through injury, in his case, a back complaint.”He’s tall, he’s fast, he’s got some bounce. So that’s a pleasing thing for us,” Lehmann said. “He will more than likely only play a couple of games depending on the make-up of the side and where we play. It’s a good challenge for a young kid coming through.”Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have both been included in the squad, but are expected to be rested at some stage during the series after their heavy workloads over the Test summer. The first of the five ODIs takes place at the Gabba on Friday next week.Squad Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa

Seamers Rahul Shukla and Ashish Kumar combined to knock Assam over for 299 on the fourth morning before Jharkhand chased down the target of 110 with five wickets in hand. The win pushed Jharkhand to first place on the Group B points table with 32 from seven matches. Resuming on 269 for 5, Assam lost Arun Karthik in the second over of the morning. Overnight batsman Sibsankar Roy was subsequently dismissed for 86 as Assam lost their last five wickets for 30 runs. Shukla returned figures of 3 for 74, while Kumar chipped in with two wickets.Coming in at 52 for 3, Ishank Jaggi quelled any hope of an Assam fightback with a 15-ball 34 that included four fours and two sixes. Arup Das claimed 3 for 49.Karnataka offspinner K Gowtham ripped out four wickets and gave Saurashtra a bit of a scare but couldn’t prevent them from wrapping up a four-wicket win in Patiala and climbing off the bottom of the table. Karnataka began the day 168 for 5 – effectively 9 for 5 – in their second innings, and their last five wickets only managed to add 48 to their total as the left-arm spinner Jay Chauhan finished with 4 for 71 to end with match figures of 7 for 123 on debut.Apart from two overs from their captain Vinay Kumar, Karnataka used spin throughout in a desperate bid to defend a target of 58. Gowtham took four wickets in 7.4 overs and left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi two in eight, before Arpit Vasavada and first-innings centurion Prerak Mankad steered Saurashtra home with an unbroken 22-run stand for the seventh wicket. The defeat meant Karnataka slipped to second place, two points behind Jharkhand.Only 19 overs were possible on another rain-hit day at the SSN College of Engineering ground in Chennai, where Delhi picked up three points for their first-innings lead against Vidarbha. With day three washed out completely, Delhi declared on their day-two total of 250 for 8, with a lead of 67. Vidarbha lost three wickets in getting to 37, with seamers Sumit Narwal, Navdeep Saini and Vikas Tokas picking up one each.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:36

Ganguly: Jayant’s temperament was spot on

India’s bowlers required just 38.1 overs to wrap up a 246-run victory on the final day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, as England’s resolve – fatally weakened by the loss of two wickets late on the fourth evening – was finally cracked with nothing but pride left to play for. The damage had been done in a frantic morning session in which they slumped from 87 for 2 to 142 for 7, and the tail succumbed meekly after lunch, with only Jonny Bairstow showing any real resistance with 34 not out.The margin of victory perhaps overstated the gulf between the sides – the key difference, in every sense, was India’s captain and Man of the Match Virat Kohli, whose aggregate of 248 runs single-handedly accounted for the deficit in England’s balance. But, having fought so hard for so long, especially in the second half of the contest, the speed of their final-day demise was dispiriting for England, with the third Test in Mohali looming large next week.Contrary to all pre-match predictions, the pitch still wasn’t spinning dramatically by the final day, but it was skidding through at a hustling pace to match India’s turbo-charged over-rate – they bowled 33.4 in the morning session, including an extraordinary ten in the first half-hour alone as Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin tied England in knots at a rate of knots.The devastating dismissal of Alastair Cook, in the last over of the fourth day, had left England fearing the worst when play resumed, and there was an inevitability about the identity of the first victim of the morning. Ben Duckett’s rich strokeplay and inventive attitude will doubtless serve him well as his England career progresses, but in this situation – and particularly against his nemesis, Ashwin – those attributes had roughly the same value as an INR 500 note.Sure enough, having withstood 15 deliveries without opening his account, Duckett dropped to one knee in a bid to hit his way out of a corner, but succeeded only in gloving a sweep onto his thigh pad and into the gloves of the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. As he trooped disconsolately off the pitch, Duckett might as well have walked straight onto the England bench. His record against Ashwin alone in this series made grim reading – 40 balls, 15 runs, three wickets. He’ll be back, but perhaps not in Mohali next week.Jayant Yadav clipped Ben Stokes’ off stump with a beauty•AFP

Moeen Ali was the next to go, his technique against the spinners looking solid right up until the moment Jadeja got one to grip in the rough outside off, and accelerate onto his inside edge for Kohli to complete a lobbed catch at leg gully. From 75 for 0 after 50 overs, England were now in freefall at 101 for 4 after 74 – the flip-side of their siege mentality being that India were now camping as many as five close catchers under every new batsman’s nose.Such close attention didn’t bother Ben Stokes at first. He had been so solid in defence in the first innings, and continued his tried-and-trusted methods in a 33-ball stay. But, when India turned to the second new ball – and in the process, gave Jadeja’s fingers a rest after 25 overs on the trot had left him with the outstanding figures of 34-14-35-2 – the lankier offspin of Jayant Yadav conjured the ball of the match.A faster, flatter offbreak from around the wicket drifted as Stokes played back, then spat past his edge to clip the outside of his off stump. Stokes nodded his appreciation as the bowler hurtled past in celebration, and when Root was nailed by Mohammed Shami nine balls later, the teams might as well have shaken hands there and then.Root had once again been England’s most accomplished technician on the day. But, having survived an early reprieve when Kohli spilled a sharp chance at leg slip, he was pinned on the crease by a zippy nipbacker from Shami and sent on his way for 25 from 107 balls.There was time for one more breakthrough before lunch, as Adil Rashid top-edged an attempted ramp over the slips, to give Shami his second wicket of the innings, and the denouement came in a resigned procession after the resumption.Zafar Ansari completed a match every bit as ignominious as Duckett’s when Ashwin skidded a flat offbreak into his off stump for a duck, before Jayant produced a carbon copy of England’s demise in the first innings, trapping Stuart Broad and James Anderson with consecutive lbws. Anderson completed his comeback Test with a king pair, remarkably the first by an England batsman for 110 years.That wasn’t the sort of history that Cook’s men had targeted at the start of the tour, but with three matches to come and some clear signs of life amid the ruins of today’s effort, there will be chances to atone in the coming weeks. But a few correct calls at the toss would be a start.

Medium-pacer Jessy Singh scored a crucial 37 not out at No. 10 after entering at 141 for 8 and followed it with 3 for 29 to help USA defend 208 and beat Oman by 13 runs to win the final of ICC WCL Division Four at Severn Cricket Field. Jessy was named Man of the Final for his efforts as USA became the tenth host team to win a World Cricket League tournament title.USA elected to bat first but got off to a disastrous start, slipping to 5 for 3 inside five overs with both openers leg-before and Ravi Timbawala run out without scoring after sacrificing himself in a mix-up with Alex Amsterdam, who had scored a hundred against Jersey on Friday. Amsterdam delivered again, making 50 off 73 balls to steer USA out of the early hole before miscuing a drive to midwicket off Zeeshan Maqsood’s left-arm spin to be sixth out with the score 103.USA then had their second mix-up of the day, as Timil Patel didn’t respond to Timroy Allen’s call for a second run to third man. Timil gave himself up for 22 by leaving the crease with both men at the same end so the big-hitting Allen could stay in for a late surge.Allen wound up scoring 45 off 32 balls before he was caught at long-on off medium pacer Mohammad Nadeem to start the 44th over after adding 41 for the ninth wicket with Jessy, who had come into the line-up in place of the injured Danial Ahmed. Last man Prashanth Nair blocked from one end while Jessy continued playing shots, allowing a 27-run tenth-wicket stand to take USA into the final over and reach a defendable total before Nair was caught slogging to long-off with two balls left to play.Jessy took the new ball and struck in the fourth over, bowling Arun Poulose with a full-length delivery that beat the batsman for pace as he flicked across the line. USA had Oman three down in the 14th over and continued to create chances but poor fielding once again allowed an opponent to stay in the game as Swapnil Khadye was dropped twice during a 51-run fourth-wicket stand with Zeeshan Siddiqui that took Oman past 100.It took Timil’s legspin to break the partnership with Khadye held by Allen after top-edging a slog and two overs later Timil pinned Lalcheta on the back foot with a flipper to make it 115 for 5. The legspinner landed his biggest punch of the day in the 38th over when he coaxed the set Siddiqui into a charge down the wicket and had him stumped for 58 leave Oman needing 45 off the last 75 balls but with only four wickets in hand. Timil’s 3 for 38 gave him 14 wickets on the week, tied for the tournament lead with Denmark’s Bashir Shah.Oman had held star batsman Jatinder Singh back to No. 8 but Timil and medium pacer Elmore Hutchinson choked the run rate over the next six overs and created two run-out chances. The required rate finally climbed to a run a ball after 44 overs when Jessy was brought back for a late spell and he struck with his first ball, bouncing out Nadeem. Two balls later, another run-out chance presented itself and this time Steven Taylor seized it with a direct hit from point to send Amir Ali off without scoring.With Jatinder running out of partners, he tried to heave Jessy over long-off in the 47th but Timbawala took in a skier to make it 178 for 9. Jessy then pinned down No. 11 Sufyaan Mehmood in the 49th over, conceding just one run from it to leave Oman needing 23 off the final over. Only four runs came off the first four balls bowled by Allen, clinching victory before an inside-edge for four by Rajeshkumar Ranpura off the final ball resulted in Oman ending on 195 for 9.Oman’s Khawar Ali was named Player of the Tournament after taking 13 wickets while also scoring 168 runs at 33.60. Khawar’s 74 and 5 for 37 against Denmark on the last day of round-robin play helped Oman to a win that clinched promotion to Division Three.In the third-place game at Wright Cricket Field, Denmark avenged an earlier loss in group play to defeat Bermuda by 44 runs. Playing his first game of the tournament, Taranjit Bharaj top-scored with 68 not out in Denmark’s total of 269 for 8 after they chose to bat first.Former England Test medium-pacer Amjad Khan then took out Bermuda’s top order with three wickets to leave them 50 for 3 in the 12th over and they struggled to recover from there. Jordan DeSilva made an unbeaten 52 after entering at No. 8 with Bermuda 137 for 6 and they eventually finished their 50 overs on 225 for 8.Jersey won the fifth place playoff, defeating Italy by 42 runs at Wong Cricket Field. Injuries had left Jersey’s squad decimated, forcing 46-year-old team manager Tony Carylon out of retirement and into the starting XI having not played since 2011. It allowed a special moment for Carylon, though, as he was able to take the field with his 15-year-old son Harrison, who earlier in the week had become the youngest player to debut for Jersey.Jersey made 250 for 6 as captain Peter Gough opened to top-score with 65 after electing to bat. Corey Bisson added an unbeaten 63 off 47 balls at No. 5 and finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 242 runs at 80.66. Italy were bowled out for 208 in reply with captain Damian Crowley providing their best contribution with 39. Charles Perchard claimed 4 for 22 to lead the way for Jersey in the field.USA and Oman will now play in WCL Division Three in the first half of 2017 and will be joined by Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and hosts Uganda in the next phase of qualification for the pathway to the 2019 World Cup.

Sri Lanka Women head coach Lanka de Silva has criticised the country’s domestic format, which allows a maximum of five matches a season for a women cricketers. His comments came in the wake of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs capitulation to Australia Women at home; they lost the ODIs 4-0, and the one-off T20 by 10-wickets in what was a record win for the visitors.”How can you compete with countries like Australia, England and New Zealand when you play so little cricket? Where is the exposure and the experience?” de Silva said.One of the main reasons for Sri Lanka’s ODI losses to Australia was their batsmen’s inability to bat long periods or build an innings. They batted out the full quota of 50 overs only once in the four matches. Sri Lanka’s hasty approach cost them, de Silva said.”The difference between Australia and us was that we were quite content hitting boundaries rather than running the singles,” de Silva, a former wicketkeeper/batsman who played three Tests and 11 ODIs in the late 1990s, said. “If you run the singles and twos only can you build an innings and occupy the crease, that’s what Australia did. They would score a fifty but it would comprise only two or three fours, whereas our women would make a quick 30 with six fours and get out.”It all came down to Sri Lanka’s relative inexperience, he reiterated. “This happens due to our women cricketers’ inexperience and that can be countered by playing more matches. There are eight teams in the domestic tournament and they play in two groups. If you are lucky to reach the final, you will get a maximum of five matches. If not, only three for the entire season.”There are moves to make the domestic tournament matches two-day affairs, the sooner it is done the better for our cricket. Our women cricketers have the skill and the talent, what they lack is match experience.”Another obstacle for the women’s team, de Silva said, was the age at which the players take to the game, but he was hopeful of that changing with the current efforts being made in schools in a drive led by the wife of former Sri Lanka Test captain Hashan Tillakaratne.”On an average they start by the age of 18 and by the time they mature, they are almost 30,” he said. “It is not an age to start teaching the basics of cricket.”[But] there are moves to get schools to start playing [women’s] cricket and, at the moment, there are about 30 schools playing fifty-over cricket in a competition. Mrs Apsari Tillakaratne is spearheading the drive.”

Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s stand-in captain, has added to the growing chorus calling for Test cricket to become the focal point among administrators and players. Although du Plessis is among the players who feature in T20 leagues across the world, he maintains Test cricket is his top priority.”Test cricket is the best thing to play,” he said. “That is the challenge you want. You want to sit after a day’s play as a bowler…..your toenails are bleeding and you are extremely tired and you want to, for the guys that drink beer, have a sip at the end and say we gave it everything. You can’t copy the feeling of winning a Test match in any other format, especially in T20s.”Du Plessis was among the first to voice his disappointment after the Durban Test was abandoned because of an unsafe outfield. Du Plessis said he respected the officials’ call but rued the fact that the Centurion Test becomes a winner-takes-all affair.”Two-test series is too short. With the current schedule, a five-Test series will be hard to slot-in going forward. For me a three or four-match series is ideal. When you play two Tests, you just get going, there’s always a great match and then the series is finished. Two is just too short especially now that we’ve had one rained off.”Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, also called for more matches to constitute a series. “I don’t know if you have too many lotteries in Test cricket,” he said. “Over five days, the team that plays more consistent cricket over a period of time wins the match but it is a shame that we aren’t able to play two full Tests, perhaps even more.”South Africa, currently placed sixth in the Test rankings, may also be wary of being tripped up by a familiar foe. “Definitely, there is more pressure, especially because we are a team that is very disappointed with where we are lying on the rankings at the moment” du Plessis said. “We’ve got much higher standards. We want to win as many Tests as possible to try and jump up that ladder again.”South Africa will have an opportunity to win Tests as they’re set to play 11 Tests this season, even though it may not be as many as some of the other sides, particularly at home.”We don’t play a lot of Tests at home. If you look at India, this season they have got 15 Tests coming up in their country you want to try and make use of your own conditions and play as many Tests as possible,” Du Plessis aid. “We play a little bit and then there’s a big break. With the space the team is in now, we would like to play as much Test cricket as possible and try and build something. We have a mission as a team and we are trying to get there.”Du Plessis also admitted to being concerned that the administrators were not listening to the players’ call for more Test cricket, but hopes the moves to resurrect the idea of a Test challenge will be one step in that direction.”Yes, I am (concerned that the message is not getting through). When we fill those anonymous forms, the general thing that comes out is to play Test cricket. It’s still the No.1 thing for international players,” he said. “To create a structure for the Test championship, that’s a great step in the right direction but you need to play as many Tests as possible.”

Dambulla Stadium is set to become a viable day-night venue again, after Sri Lanka Cricket announced plans to beef up the ground’s floodlights ahead of the ODIs against Australia in late August. The lights upgrade will cost SLC roughly 50 million rupees (USD $352,000 approx), and will be carried out by DIMO.*Dambulla had hosted day-night ODIs until 2010, but players had been critical about the lights’ lack of intensity, which affected batsmen in particular. The venue’s floodlights were later ruled to be inadequate for international cricket, as they produced substantially less than the 2500 lux of light required as a minimum by the ICC.The upgrade will involve installing high-wattage lamps on the eight floodlight towers at the venue, as well as increasing the number of overall bulbs. Previous plans to carry out the necessary upgrades had not been carried through, but as the two Dambulla ODIs in the forthcoming Australia series have been scheduled as day-night encounters, SLC said it was committed to a solid deadline on this occasion. The first of the two games is set for August 28.The return of day-night cricket to Dambulla is significant because it is one of only two limited-overs venues in the island’s dry zone, and receives substantially less rainfall than grounds near Colombo and Kandy. The Hambantota Stadium is also situated in the dry zone, but is less accessible than the Dambulla venue, though Hambantota also has newer facilities.*03.40GMT, July 7: The article had erroneously stated that DIMO had provided the floodlights for the Hambantota stadium. This has been removed.

Following his unbeaten 51 in the second innings of the Antigua Test against India, Carlos Brathwaite’s Test record looked like this: five innings, three half-centuries, a batting average of 45.25. Any specialist batsman would be proud of numbers like that, but Brathwaite isn’t a specialist batsman. He has batted no higher than No. 8 so far, and his primary role in the West Indies team is to bowl seam.At the end of the Antigua Test, Brathwaite had taken only one wicket in his three Tests, at an average of 242.00.Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, has played 14 Tests. He has scored one hundred, three fifties, and averages 27.18 with the bat – perfectly good returns for a lower-order batsman, but, like Brathwaite, his primary job is bowling. At the end of the Antigua Test, he had taken 21 wickets at an average of 42.95 and a strike rate of 93.9.In Antigua, Holder and Brathwaite weren’t third and fourth seamers. They were, respectively, new-ball bowler and first-change. Between them, they finished with figures of 0 for 163 in 49 overs in India’s only innings.Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, ESPNcricinfo’s expert analyst on the tour, had suggested on Saturday that West Indies were misusing the talents of Holder and Brathwaite. Taking the example of Ravi Shastri, who began his career primarily as a left-arm spinner but ended up as more of a top-order batsman than a bowler, Manjrekar suggested that West Indies push both up the order and pick an extra fast bowler to strengthen their bowling.Speaking to the media after West Indies’ innings-and-92-run loss inside four days, Holder defended West Indies’ selection, and said it was the execution of the bowling attack’s plans that had gone wrong, and not its composition.”In hindsight you can say a lot of things,” Holder said. “The combination we played had four bowlers and an allrounder in Roston Chase, who bowls some offspin. But execution is the name of the game. I don’t think we executed well enough.”Holder’s answer did not stop further questions about West Indies’ bowling attack. Asked specifically about his own bowling, and that of Brathwaite, he said they weren’t necessarily West Indies’ strike bowlers, and that their role was instead to hold an end up and build pressure by drying up the runs.”To be honest, myself and Carlos are going up to a certain point in terms of what our roles are, bowling areas together and pick up one or two wickets,” he said. “But if runs are leaking from both ends, primarily from the other end, it makes cricket a little easier for batsmen.”Having said that, we tried to get some wickets. But it just didn’t come together. There is no doubt we need to take some wickets going forward into the next Test match. You must give the Indian batsmen credit. [Virat] Kohli and [R] Ashwin played well. We put Ashwin down. Had we taken that chance you never know [what] the game could have brought. It’s cricket again. Just need to hold our chances in terms of Carlos, me and other bowlers. Just make sure we chip in.”Eventually, while maintaining that execution was the biggest issue in the Antigua Test, he conceded that West Indies may have needed to play another bowler.”In cricket, it’s down to execution,” he said. “We need to execute as bowlers. [In earlier matches], we have played five bowlers. To me, in this day and age, you need an extra bowler. But, having said that, it still boils down to execution. You can play five bowlers, you can play four bowlers, but if you don’t execute at the end of the day you will still be at the first stage.”Jason Holder: “You can play five bowlers, you can play four bowlers but if you don’t execute at the end of the day you will still be at the first stage.”•Associated Press

With West Indies only managing totals of 243 and 231 on a good batting surface, Holder said the batsmen hadn’t strung together enough partnerships.”We tend to get 20-30-run partnerships but haven’t been able to convert it to 50 and then onwards,” he said. “Test cricket is about occupying the crease and spending time, but we never showed up for long periods. Some players got starts but were not able to kick on. It’s important for one of the top four batsmen to actually set the tone.”In the first innings, Kraigg Brathwaite did a decent job of it, but we were not able to string together partnerships upfront and set up a good foundation for a good first-innings total. And we were playing catch-up from there.”It would be important for senior batsmen such as Darren Bravo, who failed in both innings, and Marlon Samuels, who scored a half-century in the second innings, to lead the batting unit going forward in the series, Holder said.”Ideally that’s what we would expect from top-order batsmen,” he said. “To be fair, they have to carry the demands of this young batting side. Unfortunately, Bravo didn’t get any runs in this Test. Marlon showed some form in the second innings. Important for those two guys to carry the batting and lay the foundation. But I couldn’t agree more with you that the onus is on them. Having said that, we have more than enough capable batsmen.”Given the inexperience running through the side, Holder felt it was important for the players to have “personal pride” in order to lift themselves up from the defeat.”I think it boils down to personal pride,” he said. “Roston, Shane [Dowrich] and [Rajendra] Chandrika, myself, [Jermaine] Blackwood are quite young players. We are all looking to make a mark in the international circuit. For us it’s just personal glory, personal pride. Just execute and performing well, you know, having a good Test career.”That’s what each person coming to Test cricket is looking to do. I think all of us want to do that. I think we need to come up with a strong collective effort. As I said we just need to execute, stick together, look at our weak areas, strengths as well, and try make those stronger. In terms of the weaker areas, just tighten up on them.”

He has kissed a few frogs in recent times, but perhaps, at last, Alastair Cook has found his prince.Alex Hales was the eighth opening partner Cook has had since the retirement of Andrew Strauss and, although one or two flattered briefly, perhaps only Nick Compton in New Zealand in early 2013 has produced as consistent a series as Hales did against Sri Lanka.It wasn’t just the three scores in excess of 80. It was that Hales showed he had learned from his mistakes in South Africa. Gone were the tentative prods outside off stump; gone was the uncertainty over which balls to play and which to leave. He increased his average of 17.00 in South Africa by more than 40 in this series and showed, in the final innings at Lord’s, that he had also learned from his mistakes in over-attacking against spin.

Cook on…

Nick Compton: “He’s shown glimpses. He is as frustrated as anyone. He’s got to go away now and score big runs in county cricket. Obviously, there will be a decision to be made on him. He knows that.” 
Pakistan: “They’ve got a very good pace attack, backed up with spinners. But we’re ready for them. We scored a lot of runs against Australia’s attack here last year. I think it’s going to be a brilliant series.”

It would be premature to state that Hales has cemented his position, but he has earned the right to an extended trial covering the rest of the summer. And, if we mitigate against the failings of the Sri Lanka top order in the acceptance that batting in early season England is not easy, it seems only fair to praise Hales for succeeding in those same conditions.It is true that tougher challenges await but he will face them now secure in the knowledge that his judgement around off stump is such that he can see off the new ball. He is learning that he has the time, in Test cricket, to withstand periods when the bowler is on top and gradually build an innings.Under that amiable exterior there is impressive steel in Hales. It took a certain amount of courage and self-awareness to ask for an extra couple of County Championship games off after he returned from a winter with the England squads. Whereas other men on the fringe of the side might have felt the need to jump at the chance to be seen to do the right thing, Hales reasoned that he would benefit more from a refreshed mind than another couple of weeks of cricket.So, having taken some time off, he returned to the nets at Trent Bridge to work – often with Peter Moores – on improving an off-stump technique that was exposed by South Africa. Crucially, he started to stand straighter at the crease, which brought his head back in line with his body and gave him more certainty about the position of his off stump. In South Africa he had crouched to such an extent that his head had started to fall several inches outside off stump and saw him defending balls that he could have left with ease.And, while he had been billed as something of a dasher ahead of the South Africa series, he has also had the courage to play the game at his own pace. He is not, at first-class level, anything like the David Warner figure some had suggested. Instead, he had the strength to play as an accumulator. It may not be exactly what some aspects of the media wanted, but it gives him the best chance of succeeding at this level.Hales’ development was, in Cook’s view, the major plus England could take from the series victory. While Nick Compton’s Test career faded to a conclusion and James Vince made an uncertain start, Hales at least answered one of the questions facing England a few weeks ago: they know their opening pair for the series against Pakistan now.”Three scores of 80 and above from Alex Hales was really pleasing,” Cook said. “He’s certainly tightened up his game from South Africa and probably just learned about Test cricket.”It’s great when you see someone who maybe doesn’t quite nail it in the first four games but then goes away and shoes the hunger to work on his game away from the spotlight.”Alex Hales made three 50-plus scores the series•AFP

England have various options as they consider the No. 3 position for the Pakistan series. They could pick a specialist opener – Sam Robson would appear to be the strongest candidate at present – and move Hales to No.3, but that would appear an unusual response to his recent form. Or they could push Ben Stokes, one of the best players of pace in England, up to No. 3 on the basis that he tends to react well to responsibility.Realistically, though, it seems Scott Borthwick will benefit from Gary Ballance or Ian Bell failing to amass enough runs to nudge the selectors and win a chance at No. 3. His legspin bowling will do him no harm in selection debates, either.There is a danger that James Anderson’s excellence in such conditions could be taken for granted, so it is worth remembering that he came into the series with one or two questions to answer over his long-term future. He endured a tough trip to South Africa, claiming seven wickets at 43.00 apiece, and was keen to prove that all the miles in his legs were not beginning to show.He will rarely have conditions more in his favour than he did at Headingley, but he exploited them with surgical precision and showed in the second innings at Chester-le-Street that, even on slow, flat surfaces, he retains the skill and control to threaten. In finishing with the best bowling average of an England bowler with more than 20 wickets in a three-Test series since Derek Underwood in 1969, this was a reassuring return from Anderson.Cook also celebrated the advances made by Chris Woakes in the last couple of Tests. Not only was he the quickest member of the attack, but he showed impressive control and demonstrated that his batting can be a force at Test level. He may not have done enough to force himself into England’s first-choice side – Mark Wood and Stokes join Steven Finn in fighting for a similar position – but he did prove he deserved to be considered among the pack of seamers England will require to see them through their arduous schedule. He seems likely to play the first Test of the Pakistan series, at least, ahead of Stokes’ return for the second or third match.”Chris Woakes has really impressed me,” Cook said. “He is a different cricketer to Ben Stokes, not as dynamic, but he is still very effective. I said before Durham we hadn’t seen the best of Chris Woakes in an England shirt, but I thought he made really big strides in this series and proved to himself he can do it.”Jonny Bairstow was named Man of the Series for his exploits with the bat. He thumped two centuries that not only helped the side rebuild from top-order wobbles, but snatched the first and third Tests away from Sri Lanka within a couple of hours. So impressed was Cook with Bairstow that he compared him to “Matt Prior at his best”.”It’s a brilliant achievement,” Cook said. “And it’s great to have an attacking batsman coming in and taking it to the opposition.  He’s been very similar to Matt Prior when he was at his best. We could often be 100 for five and he’d change the momentum. It’s great to see someone who works so hard at his game getting his rewards.”Progress was not smooth, though. Cook admitted that England had found themselves three or four wickets down for few runs “more often than we would have liked” and he admitted that Bairstow’s role as keeper remained a discussion point after seeing a couple of relatively straightforward chances go down.”He knows how hard he has to work at his keeping,” Cook said. “That is a conversation we do have. He knows a couple of chances have gone down, but you don’t become a world-class wicketkeeper overnight. He’s made big strides since that South Africa series and is certainly heading in the right direction. But yes, there is always the thought that he could play as a specialist batsman with a guy who scores as many runs as he can.”It might be forgotten amid the one-sided results in the first two games, but the last time Sri Lanka visited England they won the Test series.For that reason alone, England have cause to celebrate this victory. Yes, conditions were stacked in their favour and, yes, this is a Sri Lanka side in a transitional phase. But England are not so strong, or so successful, that they can take anything for granted. It is only 13 months since they were held to a draw in the Caribbean. They remain the fourth-ranked team in the ICC’s Test table.But when you add the emergence of Hales, the development of Woakes and the dominance of Bairstow, they have made some tangible progress in this series. Progress is fitful and holes remain, but they are heading in the right direction.