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MCC decide against bat Law change

It’s become a batsman’s game they say but the MCC have no plans yet to change the Law on the size of bats

Alex Winter16-Jul-2014It has become a batsman’s game they say but the MCC have no plans yet to change the Law on the size of bats.The MCC World Cricket Committee debated the impact of modern bats and, despite mixed views, concluded that a Law change was not yet necessary because the balance between bat and ball has yet to tip sufficiently far enough in favour of the batsman.It is often commented upon how the thickness of modern bats and the sizes of edges have transformed the game, with batsmen now able to hit the ball further, more consistently and often without remotely finding the middle.This was investigated by Imperial College London, who were commissioned by the MCC to conduct a study into the size of cricket bats through the ages.The report compared by a 1905 Gray Nicholls Ranjit bat the 1980 Powerspot and three more modern versions. It demonstrated that modern bats have bigger sweet spots, with much larger edges, and that the ball goes further when hit closer to the edge.In the five bats tested, the size of the sweet spot varied from only 80mm to 215mm in the middle and 60mm to 165mm for a thick edge. Not only was the 1905 bat was the least effective and the most modern bats possess the largest ‘middle’, there had been a measurable improvement since 2009.A scrutiny of ODIs since 1979 by Imperial also revealed the boundary count, and especially sixes, has increased dramatically.The cricket committee assessed the findings of the report and debated the consequences, such as the benefit of a greater number of boundaries for television viewers against the fairness for bowlers of more apparent mis-hits finding the rope.Consensus could not be found and it was decided to retain the current Law on the size of bats, contained in Appendix E of the Laws of Cricket, which only limit the length of the bat to 38 inches and the width to 4 ¼ inches.But it was noted that boundaries should be pushed out as far as is possible under heath and safety regulations to prevent batsmen gaining further advantage.

Rituraj Singh leaves Rajasthan for Jharkhand

The turmoil in Rajasthan cricket has resulted in fast bowler Rituraj Singh moving to Jharkhand

Amol Karhadkar06-Nov-2014The turmoil in Rajasthan cricket has resulted in fast bowler Rituraj Singh moving to Jharkhand. Rituraj had no hesitation in spelling out his reasons behind changing states, saying he felt the Rajasthan team is far from being stable or in the right mindset to tackle the 2014-15 season.”The team hadn’t been in a great shape. Even though it was confirmed that Rajasthan will feature in the domestic season, I was getting a feeling that the team was far from stable. And when a team is in such a mindset, the players may suffer, so I thought it was best to see if I could get an opportunity anywhere else,” Rituraj told ESPNcricinfo, adding, “And I am glad that Jharkhand happened – I was born in Jharkhand, formerly Bihar.”As a result, while Rajasthan XI will open their one-day campaign in Nagpur on Friday, Rituraj will be training with his new team-mates in Kolkata ahead of Jharkhand’s one-day opener on Sunday.Rajasthan XI was put together courtesy a court ruling, after the BCCI had suspended the Rajasthan Cricket Association and subsequently left Rajasthan out of its domestic programme for 2014-15. The BCCI had suspended the RCA in May for electing Lalit Modi, an expelled administrator, as its president. The sequence of events resulted in much angst among the players, and eventually the filing of a writ petition. The Rajasthan High Court then passed an interim order appointing selection committees to pick teams to represent the state in various BCCI domestic tournaments, but not under the RCA banner.Against this background, Rituraj, who has emerged one of the most promising young pace bowlers in domestic cricket over the last three years, made his move. He is not built like a fast bowler but he has displayed on numerous occasions an uncanny ability to generate pace and bounce. The highlights of his career so far were his memorable spells in the Ranji semi-final and final of in his debut season: his match figures of 12 for 80 helped Rajasthan scrape past Haryana and make it to the final, and then in the final against Tamil Nadu Rituraj emerged as Rajasthan’s highest wicket-taker to help them register their second successive Ranji title in 2011-12.RCA’s issues with the BCCI aside, Rituraj had also had personal issues with Rajasthan’s selectors previously. Reportedly, as a result of that, even after representing India A in New Zealand in 2012-13, he was selected for only four of Rajasthan’s eight league games.Rituraj didn’t want to elaborate on the treatment meted out to him by the selectors, but confirmed that it was a factor in his decision to turn professional. “I have had some issues with the association, so I thought it would be in my interest if I look for a team where I can focus solely on cricket,” he said.The pitches in Jaipur, be it the Sawai Mansingh Stadium or the KL Saini Stadium, are conducive for fast bowlers. The conditions in Jharkhand, though, both in Ranchi and Jamshedpur, are considered to be a nightmare for the bowlers. But Rituraj isn’t bothered.”When you want to excel at the highest level, you have got to pick wickets in all conditions,” he said. “And I am confident that I have it in me to come good irrespective of the conditions. I hope I can deliver for Jharkhand.”Jharkhand have had a topsy-turvy ride in the Ranji Trophy over the last few seasons. After finishing second in the Group C in 2012-13, Jharkhand were promoted to the top tier last season but were relegated to the lowest rung again after finishing at the bottom of Group A. However, the team is considered to be a better limited-overs unit, and Rituraj feels the fact that the one-day tournament will be played before the Ranji Trophy will help the team. “Let’s hope we can do well and carry that confidence into the Ranji Trophy. I hope I can contribute handsomely and justify the faith Jharkhand cricket fraternity has shown in me.”

Ghana vs Nigeria: Five Black Stars who can wreck Super Eagles

Ahead of Tuesday's 2022 World Cup qualifying decider in Abuja, we look at five of Otto Addo's possible weapons against the Super Eagles

GettyJoseph Wollacott

The Swindon Town goalkeeper put up a fine display in Friday’s first leg fixture in Kumasi, producing some crucial saves, particularly on Moses Simon’s goal-bound shot. Another good day at the office on Tuesday can massively frustrate the hosts.

AdvertisementGettyDaniel Amartey

The most experienced man in Ghana’s backline, the Leicester City defender kept Nigeria danger man Victor Osimhen quiet on Friday. Should the centre-back find his rhythm again, he could significantly contribute to spoiling the Super Eagles’ party in Abuja.

Goal Kenya.Thomas Partey

By his own standard, Partey did not exactly live up to expectations on Friday. But by what he has shown at club level for Arsenal in recent times, the former Atletico Madrid man is more than capable of silencing Nigeria’s midfield.

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GettyMohammed Kudus

Kudus had a quiet first half on Friday but raised his game after the break. A repeat of his second half performance on Tuesday, or probably something even better, could spell doom for the hosts.

England ready to repay fans – Morgan

England’s summer begins in earnest with a T20 against world champions Sri Lanka before five one-day internationals and two Tests ahead of the visit of India

Andrew McGlashan19-May-20140:14

‘A huge opportunity to impress’

England hope to give the fans something to smile about in the first home international of the summer•Getty ImagesThe last time England were at The Oval it concluded with some of the players urinating on the pitch during their late-night celebrations of the Ashes series victory. Even if it was a ‘lads’ moment in the afterglow of success, and they were perhaps unlucky to be caught in the act, that is not the point: it was crass and disrespectful.In hindsight, the malaise which was to destroy their winter had already started to set in during last summer, both in terms of how England played their cricket and perceived themselves. The success which led to that late-night leak on the 22 yards now feels a lifetime ago, after six months around the world where England were battered, beaten and broken.They are now back in south London to begin their new home season. The team did what they had to do in Scotland – show willing and avoid defeat – and now the summer begins in earnest with a T20 against world champions Sri Lanka before five one-day internationals and two Tests ahead of the visit of India.The players will walk out in front of a packed 24,500 at The Oval. Surrey have reported a weekend rush for the final batch of tickets, perhaps a combination of the warm weather (which, as if on cue, is not set to last) and the start of the T20 Blast to whet the appetite for the format. However, London venues rarely struggle to fill up to the rafters for England matches so the ECB – and this case its public face, the team – would be foolish to rest on their laurels and believe the punters will continue to turn up regardless.Eoin Morgan, leading England for the T20 in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad, was aware how lucky the team was to have loyal support but acknowledged that they needed to be given something in return.”We have always had great support, even when we travel around the world and the arenas are not full, and every time we come home it has always been to a packed stadium,” he said. “That’s great, it shows how much we cherish the game”Having heard it will be a sell-out, there’s always great support here from the English fans and it’s great to see it’s no different this summer. To repay a little bit of what happened in the winter, a win would go a long way tomorrow and start off our season properly.”In the bigger picture there is little riding on the game, especially as England have declined the opportunity to throw caution to the wind and play a young side with an eye on the next World T20, staged in India, during 2016. Recalling Michael Carberry, however deserving, is not a revolution.Still, it is a match against the team who recently walked away with the world title during which England were the only team they were beaten by, courtesy of Alex Hales’ unbeaten 116 – although Sri Lanka do not appeared overly perturbed by that reversal given how the tournament panned out for them. “We had a tough match against them, but it is in the past now,” Lasith Malinga said. “It feels good to be world champions.”The opposition will have a notably different look this time, Sri Lanka having lost the retired Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara while Rangana Herath is rested, but victory would still be a good marker to lay down.”There’s huge confidence to take from the game we played in the group stages of the World Cup,” Morgan said. “They’re a notable T20 team; they have great variations. We’ve seen and played against the majority of their side and to turn them over in the World Cup was a great effort. If we can put in a similar performance tomorrow that will go a long way.”With that aim in mind, England have been trying to gain an extra advantage by tapping up the inside knowledge of Paul Farbrace who, until a few weeks, was Sri Lanka’s coach. While the visitors have continued to toe the line that his move to the opposition makes little difference -Malinga said it was just down to the players to perform in the middle – England have certainly been making use of the information available.”He has been key in our preparation,” Morgan said. “He knows their guys inside out, as he should do, and his knowledge and applying our skills in countering things they do has been really good. He has gone through the majority of their players and probably given us a bit more background than we would be able to access, which is brilliant.”However, even if Farbrace’s dossier on the Sri Lankans helps England secure a victory, the only reason one of the players will be caught short this time will be going for a quick single.

No broadcaster in India yet for Bangladesh series

Lack of interest from Indian broadcasters could result in the three-match ODI series between India and Bangladesh that starts from June 15 not being available on televisions in India, the has reported

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2014Lack of interest from Indian broadcasters could result in the three-match ODI series between India and Bangladesh that starts from June 15 not being available on television in India, the has reported. Bangladesh’s Gazi TV, which owns the rights for cricket in Bangladesh, had approached Star Sports and Sony Six.Star Sports reportedly made an offer of less than a million dollars (Rs 5 crore) for the three matches, which was deemed too little by the host broadcaster. Sony Six, on the other hand, didn’t show interest owing to a busy football World Cup schedule.”Star has offered a less than million dollars for three matches. That is too less in comparison to the cost of the rights,” Salahuddin Chowdhury, CFO and head of operations of Gazi Group, told . “Because of the BCCI’s problems with Neo and Ten, we can’t sell the rights to them. Unless, something dramatic happens over the next two days, I cannot assure you that the matches will be telecast in India.””There would be a lot of overlapping time between the World Cup matches and ODIs,” Prasanna Krishnan, the chief executive of Sony Six, told the . “We’ve a planned a few pre-match shows for the World Cup and we could not have spared our channel for cricket.”India has chosen to rest MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja for the series.

BCCI to review away performances

The top brass of the BCCI is likely to meet MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher to discuss India’s overseas performances which have been consistently on the decline in the last three years

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Feb-2014The top brass of the BCCI is likely to meet MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher to discuss India’s overseas performances which have been consistently on the decline in the last three years. It is understood that the BCCI is concerned, but is not at all thinking about replacing the pair whose positions have come under the scanner once again after the 1-0 Test defeat in New Zealand.”We want to take stock of the situation,” a BCCI insider told ESPNcricinfo. “We want to know what is going wrong. We would like to know from them what is required to improve.” According to this official, despite the public criticism of the roles of Dhoni and Fletcher in the past week, the BCCI still retained the confidence in the combination which started work formally from India’s tour of England in 2011.Since then India have lost every overseas tour. India suffered 4-0 whitewashes in England followed by Australia, lost 1-0 to South Africa last December and the series against New Zealand by a similar margin recently. Fletcher’s overseas record says 10 defeats in 15 matches while Dhoni has lost nine out of the 14 Tests he has led India in overseas, since Fletcher’s appointment.Fletcher’s contract is up for renewal from April 1 and there has been speculation in sections of media about his future. A media report on Friday suggested the BCCI had contacted former England coach Andy Flower. However, the BCCI official denied the report and called it mere speculation.The overseas defeats have triggered a wide-ranging debate including some scathing remarks from two recent former India captains: Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.  “Our reputation has been tarnished, but Dhoni needs help,” Ganguly told TV channel . “I don’t know what Duncan Fletcher is doing. The approach needs to be right, and Fletcher needs to help Dhoni. He has clearly struggled and he needs to be more involved. He needs to plan better and the selectors have to assess and get the right squad.”Joe Dawes, India’s bowling coach, was also pulled up by Ganguly who felt that the Queenslander’s working style was not entirely convincing. “I saw Allan Donald in South Africa, walking around the boundary line, talking to his bowlers. But I don’t see Joe Dawes doing that.”If Ganguly was severe on the coaches, Dravid felt Dhoni had grown defensive in his approach abroad. “I think he’s got to realise this very quickly, that if he wants to win Test matches abroad, he’s got to risk it all,” Dravid told ESPNcricinfo reviewing the New Zealand Test series. “He’s got to take that chance that he’s going to have to lose some Test matches. The only way you can win abroad is to take a few risks, take a few gambles.”

Tuskers squeeze past Rocks

A round-up of the Logan Cup matches that ended on March 21, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2014Nkosana Mpofu scored an unbeaten century to guide Matabeleland Tuskers to a thrilling one-wicket win over Southern Rocks in Bulawayo. Chasing 279, Tuskers were 244 for 9 when Mpofu was joined by last man Steve Chimhamhiwa. The pair saw Tuskers through to victory, putting on 35 in 13 overs. Mpofu, the left-handed opener, was not out on 130, having faced 317 balls and struck 13 fours.Mpofu had shared half-century stands with fellow opener Bornaparte Mujuru and No. 3 Brian Chari, and kept one end going as wickets fell regularly after that, with medium-pacer Luke Jongwe picking up four. Chimhamhiwa scored the winning single , and was unbeaten on 21.Chimhamhiwa had given Tuskers the early advantage after Rocks won the toss and chose to bat. The right-arm seamer picked up six wickets to help bowl Rocks out for 190. They might not have gotten that far had Richmond Mutumbami not scored a 108-ball 87.Tuskers did no better in their first innings, being bowled out for 166 with Godwill Mamhiyo top-scoring with 51. Mutumbami, the Rocks skipper, extended their advantage with an unbeaten third-innings 123. Wickets kept falling around him, with offspinner John Nyumbu taking six for 59, but Mutumbami extended Rocks’ total to 259. Mutumbami’s twin efforts nearly won Rocks the match, but Mpofu and Chimhamhiwa had other ideas.Mashonaland Eagles moved to the top of the points table with a convincing 187-run win over Midwest Rhinos at Kwekwe Sports Club. Seamer Taurai Muzarabani and left-arm spinner Brighton Mugochi shared 13 wickets between them in the match as the Rhinos were bowled out for 162, chasing 350.The Eagles were struggling at 117 for 5 after choosing to bat, and were revived by Nathan Waller who hit 76. Tinotenda Mutombodzi chipped in with 43 as the Eagles were bowled out for 227 with Kudakwashe Munyede taking 4 for 49. Early strikes by Muzarabani reduced the Rhinos to 26 for 3 and it required a fifty by Neville Madziva to take them to 170. Waller and Mugochi took three wickets apiece.The Eagles built on their lead of 57 with a fifty by Mark Vermeulen and a century by the wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva. Vermeulen’s 77 came off 130 balls while Chakabva’s 111 came off just 120 balls as the Eagles looked to declare and set a target. The script was similar in the Rhinos’ second innings as Muzarabani’s early strikes reduced them to 35 for 5. Madziva scored another half-century but lacked support as the Rhinos were bowled out within 61 overs.

Narine threat gives WI advantage

West Indies threw New Zealand their stiffest challenge of the series in the third and final Test

The Report by Abhishek Purohit19-Dec-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:00

McGlashan: West Indies spinners found turn

West Indies threw New Zealand their stiffest challenge of the series in the third and final Test. First, their last two wickets added 60 to stretch the innings to 367. And then, Sunil Narine dealt the home batsmen a serious examination by spin. Narine picked up only two wickets, but he could easily have had more in an unchanged spell of 22-9-43-2. Kane Williamson made a fluent half-century before suddenly turning clueless against Narine. Ross Taylor went past 400 runs for the series with another calming fifty; he also had better fortune than Williamson and managed to survive the day.Narine and Veerasammy Permaul sent down 45 of the 64 overs New Zealand played, and West Indies are yet to use their two part-time spinners. The pitch remained unhelpful for the fast bowlers, but afforded quick and sharp turn for the slow bowlers.Taylor and Williamson started quite positively against the spinners from 43 for 2 after New Zealand lost their openers for contrasting knocks. Hamish Rutherford fell to his own premature exuberance and Peter Fulton went in Narine’s first over after failing to rotate the strike for an hour and a half. Both wickets owing more to Darren Sammy’s excellent catching than the quality of the deliveries.Shivnarine Chanderpaul completed his 29th Test hundred•Getty ImagesSammy first bent low in his follow through to pluck a low catch as Rutherford drove hard in the sixth over. In the 22nd over, he snapped up an extremely sharp reflex chance at backward short leg as Fulton flicked Narine. Fulton batted 71 deliveries to make just 11. While he left well, he also hit deliveries hard and straight to the fielders.Williamson wasn’t free-flowing as well in the company of Fulton, but opened up as Taylor came in. Both batsmen looked to take singles every over against both spinners after Sammy gave way following a spell of 10-5-17-1. They would stretch forward not looking to just smother the spin but to eagerly work the ball into gaps. Anything slightly short outside off was cut and guided for boundaries.Even initially, though, there were problems. Taylor survived a review for leg-before by West Indies in Narine’s second over, and Williamson escaped a few times, uppishly driving Permaul perilously close to fielders. The singles continued to accrue, though, and both batsmen motored towards fifties.Sammy was moved to bringing back Tino Best for a four-over burst which was wayward but things turned around suddenly after that. Williamson first began to have difficulties against Narine, unable to handle the sharp turn on the offbreaks. He just escaped being bowled twice in succession, and then decided to move outside off stump to try and tackle the spin. He soon played outside the line of an offbreak to be trapped in front, his review going in vain, and the partnership ending on 95.Narine had sparingly used the carrom ball till then. Now he began ripping them across the right-handers from round the wicket. Brendon McCullum was given three successive such balls when he came in; he missed the first two by a long margin, the third he managed to edge for a single. Taylor was left groping at a few straighter ones as well and New Zealand would have been relieved that most of the drama happened towards the close.In the morning, Shivnarine Chanderpaul equalled Don Bradman’s 29 Test centuries, went past Allan Border’s tally of 11174 runs and remained unbeaten for the 45th time in 260 innings. Best and Permaul contributed twenties to push West Indies past 350, a mark that had seemed unimaginable at 86 for 5 on the first afternoon.New Zealand could have ended the innings on 339, but Fulton dropped Best in the slips off Corey Anderson, another blot on the hosts’ catching in this game. Best was on 4 then, and went on to make 25, his innings a mix of typical slogs and unusually sensible batting, before edging a heave to the wicketkeeper off legspinner Ish Sodhi in the 117th over. Permaul clubbed a run-a-ball 20.The efforts of Nos 10 and 11, along with the indefatigable Chanderpaul, turned around a poor morning start for West Indies. Tim Southee began with his outswingers on target, getting Sammy to nick behind in the sixth over of the day. Sammy blocked his way to 3 off 28, following from his pair in a day in Wellington. But in the second session, he made some amends with his catching and bowling, setting the stage for Narine.

Skillful NZ and Pakistan in final showdown

New Zealand and Pakistan have managed something special over the last week and a half – a bilateral one-day series that does not want for context

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu18-Dec-2014Match factsFriday, December 19, 2014
Start time 1500 local (11 GMT)1:02

Pakistan and NZ set for decider

Big pictureNew Zealand and Pakistan have managed something special over the last week and a half – a bilateral one-day series that does not want for context.Throughout this tour, both teams have been in a see-saw battle that is yet to have a winner. The Test series was drawn. So was the T20 series. The ODI series stands at 2-2 with one match to play because of a riveting showdown in Abu Dhabi. In some ways, Wednesday’s ODI summarised the tour so far: one team got the upper hand, then the other picked itself up and fought back vigorously.Key individuals have also stepped up. Shahid Afridi has shown an awareness of how match-changing a 30- or 40-ball stay from him can be. Kane Williamson has developed the kind of consistency that adjectives can’t catch up to. Sarfraz Ahmed has been fearless and calculating. And for a bowler who regularly touches the 150kph-mark, Adam Milne’s accuracy has been striking.New Zealand’s ability to adapt to the UAE conditions has been matched by Pakistan’s doggedness and whatever happens on Friday, the gains from this series is likely to stand both teams in good stead for the upcoming World Cup, and perhaps beyond.Form guide(most recent first, completed matches only)
Pakistan LWLWL
New Zealand WLWLLIn the spotlightIt should not have taken an injury to accommodate Umar Akmal into Pakistan’s XI. A player with over 100 matches to his name should be able to command a regular place in the side, but it shows that he is still considered a gamble. And some of his dismissals corroborate that. He did well in Abu Dhabi and would need to build on that if he wants to compete for a middle-order position, especially when it is likely that that Sohaib Maqsood and Misbah-ul-Haq might slot back in once they regain fitness.Martin Guptill is tall, strong and a typically stand-and-deliver batsman whose game is built around power. The only problem is that he tends to have some starting troubles. New Zealand have struggled to find a settled opening combination, so much that their regular captain Brendon McCullum is mulling a move to the top of the order. Should Guptill devise a way to increase his consistency, New Zealand might just have one of the most explosive opening pairs in the World Cup.Team newsShahid Afridi has thrived as Pakistan captain•AFPThe experiment with Nasir Jamshed as opener did not yield a good result and also forced Mohammad Hafeez to occupy an unfamiliar batting position. Pakistan might go back to the Hafeez-Ahmed Shehzad combine at the top and either use Jamshed in the middle order or bring back Asad Shafiq.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Asad Shafiq/ Nasir Jamshed, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Anwar Ali, 11 Mohammad IrfanDaniel Vettori left the UAE on the eve of the final ODI for his brother’s wedding, which opens up a spot for Nathan McCullum.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Dean Brownlie, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Adam Milne 11 Mitchell McClenaghanPitch and conditionsAbu Dhabi tends to be a slow but flat track and batting first has been a marked advantage.Stats & trivia Shahid Afridi has a strike-rate of 165.51 with the bat and an economy rate of 4.22 with the ball in this series – the best among both teams Mitchell McClenaghan, with 55 wickets from 27 matches – is the only bowler from either side to be among the top-10 wicket-takers in the last two years. Mohammad Irfan with 52 is 11thQuotes”This series is for us to utilise and get the clear picture who are the final 15 [players for the World Cup] and besides that win this series.”
“Last night, once again, in quite foreign conditions, he showed how clever he is and then at the end how destructive he can be”

Don't scapegoat Flower – Strauss

Andrew Strauss, whose alliance with Andy Flower was at the heart of England’s success, has insisted he remains the best coach available and that he should not be made a scapegoat for a humiliating Ashes series.

David Hopps29-Dec-2013Andrew Strauss, whose alliance with Andy Flower was at the heart of England’s success, has insisted he remains the best coach available and that he should not be made a scapegoat for a humiliating Ashes series.Flower’s role has been brought into question after England’s eight-wicket defeat at the MCG left them facing the possibility of a whitewash if they lose in Sydney. The last time that happened, seven years ago, Duncan Fletcher clung on as coach for a disastrous World Cup challenge before resigning three months later. Strauss, whose retirement has coincided with England’s steady decline, remains convinced that England should do everything to convince Flower to remain.”Andy Flower is one of the great coaches in world cricket,” Strauss told . If he is not the man to take England forward I don’t know who is.”The only question is whether he has the hunger and the energy to continue in the job. He is not a guy to give up easily. He will be hurting as much as anybody.”That is the territory you enter at 4-0 down. You get scapegoated.”Darren Lehmann, the Australian coach whose adventurous and aggressive style has left England in a state of tactical confusion, also give strong support to his vanquished opponent.”It is a very stressful job, but he is a very good coach and he has a done a fantastic job for England over a period of time,” Lehmann said. “I am sure he will come up with solutions.”We regard their structure very highly and we may have copied it in some shape or form.”

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