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Ireland have announced a 14-man squad for the one-off ODI against England in Dublin on August 25. Andre Botha, who retired following the World Cup, is the only player missing from the 15-man squad that travelled to the subcontinent.Boyd Rankin – the Warwickshire fast bowler who made his debut for England Lions earlier this week against Sri Lanka A – will lead the Irish seam attack, which also includes Trent Johnston who has recovered from a knee niggle. Offspinner Albert van der Merwe has also recovered from an elbow injury, while Alex Cusack’s concerns about his back have eased.Ireland coach Phil Simmons was happy to have a full-strength squad going into what he called “the biggest game in our calendar this summer.” “It’s going to be a historic game with England playing in Dublin for the first time,” Simmons said. “We’re hopeful that the team will give the fans plenty to cheer about on the day.”I’m sure England will be coming with revenge very much on their minds following the World Cup. The days of teams coming over to Ireland and taking us lightly have long gone – we’ve earned their respect with our performances over the past decade, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”Ireland captain William Porterfield said Ireland were looking forward to performing against an England team that has thoroughly dominated India in the ongoing Test series. “This is the game everyone in Irish cricket has been talking about and really looking forward to. It’s been a sell-out for five months, and there’s sure to be an incredible atmosphere at the ground. We’ve long shaken off the enthusiastic amateur tag – there are now eight of us plying our trade in county cricket and turning in consistent performances.”All but two of our squad earn our living from cricket, making us virtually a full-time outfit, and our cricket has improved year on year, as our results show. This is a vastly experienced squad, with nine of the guys having played 100 times or more for us – even George (Dockrell), who just turned 19 last month, has made 46 appearances, while Paul Stirling at 21 has played 81 times.”We’re all aware we’ve lost the element of surprise, and also that there’s now a real expectation from the cricketing public for us to perform. We’re confident that we have the players in this squad to do just that, although we do realise that it won’t be easy against an England team showing such great form against India.”Ireland squad: William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Scorecard
Overcast conditions and a sporting pitch gave the bowlers the edge inCanterbury, where 15 wickets fell on the opening day of Kent’s CountyChampionship Division Two clash with neighbours Essex.Having rolled over the visitors for 144, Kent limped to 160 for 5 for ameagre lead of 16 on a wicket that might yet catch the eye of ECB pitch liaisonofficers come day two. Responding to Essex’s modest first-innings total, Kent – who were withoutinjured captain and opening batsman Rob Key – posted 51 for the first wicketbefore Daniel Bell-Drummond was stumped by James Foster off former Kent seamerDavid Masters.In-form Joe Denly coasted to a 48-ball 50 and appeared in little until anotherone from Masters kept a little low to snare the right-hander leg before and makeit 79 for 2. Sam Northeast fenced at one from Masters that climbed off the pitch to steer acatch to first slip, then Darren Stevens paid the price for an ambitious driveagainst Ryan ten Doeschate that rattled middle and off stumps.Martin van Jaarsveld limped to 17 before he too went leg before, although heappeared to get a slight inside edge on the delivery from ten Doeschate, butJames Tredwell (15 not out) and acting skipper Geraint Jones (16no) took Kentinto the lead in surviving through to the close.Visitors Essex lost five wickets during an overcast first session after winningthe toss and electing to bat first. After an accurate new-ball stint from Matt Coles and Stevens, it took the sixth ball of the day from on-loan David Balcombe to fashion Kent’s first breakthroughafter 14 overs.Billy Godleman’s late decision to shoulder arms proved costly when the balljagged back in to trim the left-hander’s off stump and make it 25 for 1. Owais Shah lasted five deliveries before he pushed down the wrong line of a swinging delivery to go leg before to Stevens.And, with 31 against his name, Tom Westley drove airily at a Steven’s awayswinger only to snick to second slip. Balcombe, in the second month of his temporary move from Hampshire, impressed again by having Adam Wheater caught at backward point after the diminutive right-hander had seemingly checked and sliced an attempted cover drive.In the over before lunch Jaik Mickleburgh, in trying to withdraw his bat, onlysucceeded in gloving the ball onto his stump to give Balcombe a third wicket.The batsman then spent much of the afternoon having his hand X-rayed.The Essex innings simply unravelled after the break as they lost their lastfive wickets for 69 runs to be dismissed just after 3pm. Captain James Foster top-scored with a watchful 38 from 75 balls before skying a slower ball to extra cover as Balcombe marched towards career-best figures of 6 for 51.It was Balcombe’s third haul of five wickets or more in an innings in his fourchampionship starts for Kent, and took his championship wickets tally to 20.

Chris Doig, the former New Zealand Cricket CEO, has died in Christchurch at the age of 62. Doig had struggled with cancer for some time before his death. He had headed the New Zealand board for six years, before Martin Snedden took over in 2001.Doig had also previously worked on the New Zealand Rugby Union board, was active with New Zealand Rowing and was a prominent opera singer who founded Southern Opera. He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in June.Paying tribute to Doig, New Zealand prime minister John Key said this was a loss to the country’s sports and art fields. “Chris has had a remarkable career in the arts and in sport,” Key said. “His commitment to cricket and to rugby, and to the city of Christchurch, has been truly breathtaking.”NZC’s current chief executive Justin Vaughan praised Doig’s contribution to cricket in New Zealand. “It was an honour and a privilege to have known Chris, ” he said . “He was a great servant of New Zealand Cricket and an insightful and astute administrator. He will be fondly remembered for his contributions not only to cricket but his service to other sports, the arts and the community.”

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand seamer, will miss the one-off Test against Zimbabwe due to a torn abductor muscle. A replacement has not been named as the Test squad has enough cover in the fast-bowling department, team manager Mike Sandle said.Mills had initially developed discomfort in the muscle during the first ODI on October 20, and was rested for the next two games, before scans revealed the extent of his injury. “Kyle developed some discomfort during the first one-dayer in Harare,” Sandle said. “Initially it was thought to be a strain but a scan has shown a slight tear to his abductor muscle. Kyle will undergo further assessment by the New Zealand Cricket medical team once he returns home.”The decision has been made not to bring over a replacement player as there is sufficient cover in the current squad.”New Zealand are also without fast bowler Tim Southee, who is recovering from cartilage damage in his left knee, which he suffered while preparing for the Champions League T20. New Zealand’s national selection manager Kim Littlejohn had been hopeful that Southee would recover in time for the one-off Test that begins on November 1, but as he had not shown enough improvement, Graeme Aldridge was included in the Test squad. Apart from Aldridge, Chris Martin, Andy McKay and Doug Bracewell make up New Zealand’s pace department.Mills’ career had been dogged by injury. He had been out of international cricket prior to the Zimbabwe tour after picking up a quadricep strain half-way through the 2011 World Cup, which ruled him out of the knockout stages of the tournament. During the 2009-10 season, he underwent shoulder and knee surgery, and has not played a Test since March 2009.”Clearly it is disappointing for Kyle who was looking forward to making a return to the Test team,” Sandle said. “We are hopeful he will be available for selection for the upcoming Test series against Australia.” New Zealand play two Tests in Australia from December 1.

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has questioned the bad light call that ended day two of the first Test against New Zealand at 4.38pm local time with blue sky still visible above the Gabba.A crowd of 11,103 and a far larger television audience was staggered when the umpires Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf led the players from the field, ostensibly because their light meters were showing the same reading that had called play off early on day one minutes before a storm engulfed the ground.Rauf told ABC radio that “it looks brighter than yesterday but we have to follow the light meter”, but Sutherland was as miffed as many other observers and said the decision had shown little regard for spectators, who seem less likely to support Test cricket the more often such decisions are made. Sutherland said: “Cricket needs to be looking after fans as our first priority, we need to work harder to give them more, not less”.A CA spokesman said Sutherland also intended to take the matter further.”James Sutherland intends to take up the ‘bad light’ issue with the ICC, and will argue that cricket needs to take better care of putting fans first,” the spokesman said. “Sutherland has spoken to the match referee [Andy Pycroft] tonight to understand bad light decision, respects their decision but wants ICC review.”Nathan Lyon, the Australian offspinner, said there was frustration among the players as well as spectators under current regulations that take the matter of bad light out of the hands of the two teams and entirely at the discretion of the umpires.”It’s certainly frustrating that’s for sure,” he said. “But saying that it is difficult to pick the ball up, especially when it is overcast and it is dark and I know it’s frustrating for all the players. But it comes down to players’ safety and at the end of the day it is only cricket, but certainly frustrating.”New Zealand’s spinner Daniel Vettori reckoned there would always be complaints about bad light, irrespective of who had the power to decide on continuing play.”When it was the other way people complained about that, now it’s this way people complain about this, it’s just the way it is,” he said. “They set a number for the game yesterday and it reached that, so they have to be consistent. It is different when you’re fielding to when you’re batting, so yesterday it got really dark and it got tough to see, if the light was exactly the same as that it would’ve been tough to see.”

R Ashwin, the India offspinner, has said he felt cheated by the lack of bounce on the Wankhede pitch in Mumbai as the West Indies batsmen batted out two days in succession to reach 575 for 9. West Indies made their highest score in the three-Test series, helped by Darren Bravo’s 166 and half-centuries by the rest of the specialist batsmen in the side.”You can’t expect the wicket to turn on the first day of a Test match. But you do expect some bounce,” Ashwin said. “This game, I was definitely expecting some bounce. So I felt cheated in that regard.”The Wankhede pitch is known to offer bounce, unlike other Test venues in India. However, the theory was proved wrong on the opening day as West Indies chose to bat and ended the day at 267 for 2. Ashwin broke the opening stand of 137 and also took the only other wicket to fall on the day. The rest of the bowlers struggled to penetrate the top order on a pitch that was unhelpful to seamers and spinners.Ashwin, playing in only his third Test, said he was baffled by the nature of the pitch, having come with bigger expectations.”This is my eighth game at Wankhede and this is the first time I am seeing a wicket like this. I am quite surprised. It is very much like the practice wicket to the left. I was praying it wouldn’t be like that but … It is [usually] one of the most sporting wickets in India. So it is disappointing to see it behave like this.”West Indies’ dominance on the second day was built around a stand of 160 between Kieran Powell and Darren Bravo. Pragyan Ojha broke the partnership when he dismissed Powell for 81, before the debutant Varun Aaron, who had a difficult opening day, went on to claim three wickets. Ashwin returned to add two more wickets to his tally, including that of Marlon Samuels, to end with 4 for 154 off 51 overs.”In first-class cricket, you turn up everywhere and you expect the tracks to be like this,” he said. “But there is a pattern to it as in if you bowl a good set of 40 overs from one side and not give away too many runs, you know you will end up with a few wickets at the end of the day.”He said his wickets came at a cost. “Yesterday I thought I went for much more as we had to go for wickets. If I hadn’t tried in that last spell we might have gone without a wicket on the day. Today it was more of a catch-up game. We had to restrict them at some point. Fortunately Varun bowled really well and got us those wickets in the middle of the innings. I thought Bravo did wonderfully, in partnership with Edwards and Powell.”With West Indies batting themselves into a position of safety, Ashwin said India’s task will be to make the most out of this surface, which hasn’t changed in nature. He joked that India will have to adopt the strategy often used in high-scoring domestic games.”Like Ranji Trophy cricket we have to get the first-innings lead, bat as long as possible and see what we can do on the fifth day.”

Jimmy Hansra will lead Canada’s 14-member squad for the Caribbean T20 in January. The team will be participating in the tournament for the third consecutive year, which will be held in Antigua and Barbados.Canada managed just one win out of four in last year’s edition, beating Hampshire, and finished fourth in their group. The squad will leave from Toronto on January 6 and start the tournament five days later against Winward Islands. The other teams in their group are Leeward Islands, Guyana and defending champions Trinidad and Tobago.Squad: Jimmy Hansra (capt), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Manny Aulakh, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Salman Nazar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq

Shaun Marsh has reflected on a horrific Test summer as he begins his batting rehabilitation in the Sheffield Shield, admitting that by the time of the final match in Adelaide he was “almost a walking wicket”.Marsh is taking the field for Western Australia against Queensland at the Gabba this week, intent on regaining the form and confidence that drained so completely from his batting against India. He has acknowledged that the selectors’ call to send him back to his state, far from the madding crowd, was the right one.”I would love to be playing for Australia but it is going to be good for me to get out of the spotlight and train hard for WA,” Marsh told Brisbane’s . “I am not going to go hiding in this period. You can go two ways. You can take the easy option and go hide behind a brick wall or you can go about your business and go and get some runs again.”I am at the bottom of the barrel right now but other people have been in this position and come back and had nice careers for Australia. I know if I keep doing the right things it will change.”Having begun his Test career with so much poise in Sri Lanka and South Africa, Marsh battled to overcome a back complaint and was hurried back into the team for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, where he commenced a series that would reap a meagre 17 runs in six innings.Things were never worse than the first morning in Adelaide, when he missed a straight ball from R Ashwin to be bowled. Of that moment, Marsh said: “By the time of that dismissal I was just so tentative in the middle. I was almost like a walking wicket.”So much had changed from the first innings of the Cape Town Test against South Africa in November, when Marsh held his own against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander on a treacherous pitch in the company of his captain Michael Clarke.”I was having the time of my life,” Marsh said. “I was just starting to feel at home in Test cricket. It was fantastic. It was tough but I was loving every minute of facing two of the best bowlers in the world in [Morne] Morkel and [Dale] Steyn on a very difficult wicket.”However a blow to the groin unbalanced Marsh, and soon after he began to feel growing pain and immobility in his back, losing his wicket soon after. He made a lame duck in the second innings, and has been unable to relocate his Test match touch since.”Two balls before lunch I got hit in the groin area,” Marsh said. “I felt myself seizing up in the lunch break. Just after lunch I felt a pop in my back. It got worse and worse and I got out shortly afterwards ([or 44].”

Shane Watson has said captaining Australia in his first match back from an extended injury lay-off helped him think less about his temperamental body. The 87-run defeat of India at the SCG was Watson’s first match as captain of Australia, and he looked at home leading the hosts despite a remarkably thin resumé as a leader prior to this.Watson was aware he might be leading the team on match-eve, as he awaited the latest update on Michael Clarke’s tender back. In his first international game since November 2011, he found that when he was in the field, his thoughts, which usually revolve around his fitness and flexibility, were now shifted towards team imperatives. It helped his bowling, which was neatness itself; he claimed 2 for 9 from five overs.”The last few weeks and months have been very frustrating,” Watson said. “I’ve had a few false starts coming back, so to be able to play first of all and get through it is another day down and another day that my body adapts to doing what I want to do with it. Also to have the captaincy in my first game back took my mind off my body.”I didn’t have time to think about what was going on with my body; I was thinking about not only where I wanted to bowl but also where the fielders were and who was going to bowl at the other end, so it was actually a good distraction.”My effort balls were getting into the late 130s [kph], which is my normal pace with my effort ball, so I felt the most comfortable I have over the last two-three weeks.”The last time Watson played India, Australia were knocked out of the World Cup by them, in Ahmedabad. The Sydney ODI was Watson’s first encounter with the unhappy and ineffective unit that conquering team has deteriorated into over the course of the Australia tour. He said a lot had changed between the World Cup and now.”It was nice that there was a bit of pace and bounce in the pitch, compared to Ahmedabad,” Watson said. “But a lot has passed since then, especially during the Test series; you could see that watching it from afar. Things do change, times do change and playing at home as well is a big advantage,”Definitely [confidence levels are] very different. To see the way a few of their guys got out tonight; throughout the period of time they were doing so well guys like Virat Kohli and [MS] Dhoni were scoring big runs pretty consistently, as well as Sachin [Tendulkar] and Virender Sehwag.”So for a few of those big guns to miss out pretty consistently through this whole summer is something you don’t really see with this Indian team because normally one or two of those guys are getting big scores in the majority of the games. I think that’s really where they’re lacking compared to when they are at their best.”Watson does not yet know whether Clarke will be fit in time for Australia’s final group match, against Sri Lanka on Friday. But he does know that in the time he has been away Australia’s fortunes have risen, and his priority now is to find a spot in Australia’s Test side during the West Indies tour, wherever one might be found.”To get out and play is the most exciting thing for me, wherever I fit in, whether it’s opening or not. I’d love to be able to bat in the top order, there’s no doubt about that, but in the end I just want to fit in because what I saw from afar [from the Australia team] was very impressive.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Mohsin Khan has dismissed the suggestion that a lack of coaching qualifications has rendered him unsuitable for the position of Pakistan coach on a permanent basis.Mohsin, who will be 57 next month and is the veteran of 48 Tests and 75 ODIs, was appointed as Pakistan’s interim coach in October after Waqar Younis resigned for health reasons. Now it appears inevitable that Mohsin will be replaced by Dav Whatmore after the conclusion of Pakistan’s limited-overs games against England, with the PCB citing the need for a coach with formal qualifications.Mohsin and his captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, have been widely acclaimed for bringing stability and contentment to a Pakistan dressing room so often riven by conflict. Pakistan recently beat England 3-0 in the Test series to leave them unbeaten in seven series. But the chairman of the PCB, Zaka Ashraf, said: “No doubt the team has achieved tremendous success under Mohsin, but we need a qualified coach. We need to have foreign or locally qualified coaches in every department.”Clearly Mohsin does not agree. While he is still keen to remain in the role, he said he was “not at all interested” in taking the requisite coaching qualifications. “Any cricketer who has played for his country for nine or ten years and played 40 to 50 to 80 to 100 matches does not need any qualification,” Mohsin said. “I don’t need to do any coaching courses. If you have played as much cricket as I have, your experience is worth more than any coaching course.”As an ex-Test cricketer, whenever my services are required for my country’s cricket it should be there without any hesitation. It was there, it is there, and it will be there whenever my cricket board requires my services.”Do I want to remain as coach? Well if my cricket board wants, yes, definitely. I have been doing this for the last four months and I think the team has done well, apart from the previous three ODIs, which I feel very disappointed about because we haven’t played to our potential. But if my cricket board wants me to do the job, fine, I will definitely do it.”Just a little of the gloss has been taken off the Misbah-Mohsin partnership by Pakistan’s travails in the ODI series. Heading in to the final match on Tuesday, they are facing the possibility of a 4-0 loss, with England having won the first three games.Pakistan’s preparations for the final ODI have been hampered by illness. The virus that rendered Younis Khan unavailable for the third ODI has swept through the team with six or seven of the players currently feeling unwell. The entire squad was given a day off training on Sunday, with Mohsin stating that “they are better than they were, but flu does not go away in a day”.The players are also suffering from homesickness. The security concerns that have prevented Pakistan hosting games in their homeland have left the team spending months living in hotels in the UAE. While the hotels and facilities are excellent, the strain is starting to tell and the high levels of morale that propelled Pakistan through the Test series appear to have ebbed.”Even our home series are actually away series,” Mohsin said. “Pakistani cricketers are coming home for a week or ten days and then going again for a long tour. All possible comforts have been given to the Pakistan team by the UAE administration and that is very good. But nothing can take away homesickness. You can stay in a palace, but [even] if you live in a small two-bedroom house, your home is always home.”It is, perhaps, telling that the standard of Pakistan’s fielding has slipped in the ODI series. Fielding often provides a window to the soul of a team and Mohsin is painfully aware that Pakistan have been substantially inferior in that aspect of the game.”I will not take anything away from England, because they have played some tremendous cricket,” he said. “But we should have played much better. We have been giving away 20 to 25 runs away while fielding and England are saving that many. So it easily comes to a difference of 40 to 50 runs. That is a big difference. Especially in one-day cricket where containment is the most important thing.”Fielding is the most important department in whatever format. And, when you come to the shorter version, it becomes more important because in shorter versions, if we can contain the opposition we have achieved our [goal]. We did not bowl properly, we did not bat properly and we did not field properly. We haven’t played to our potential.”The England batting has slowly and gradually improved. First it was only Cook and Bopara [who batted well] but later on Pietersen did a marvellous job for his team. England are converting small scores into big scores but we are lacking at the moment. Every batsman is trying, but we are struggling at the moment.”Beating England 3-0 in the Test series is not a joke. That means we played tremendous cricket; hats off to my boys and to my captain. But we have to raise our standards in one-day cricket, too.”We must be more professional and more aggressive. It is as simple as that. I believe that hard work always pays and if we are lacking in that then we have to improve. We are working hard. We had a decent chat – the team and the management – and we will be definitely be trying our best.”