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So, farewell then, 40-over cricket (until you reappear at some point down the line). History will need to come with its notebook and pen to Lord’s on Saturday, when Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire will contest the final of the Yorkshire Bank 40, the last time the competition is played in its current form before the return in England of 50-over domestic cricket next season.The rise of Twenty20 has steadily diminished the presence of one-day cricket in the calendar – little more than a decade ago, counties would compete for three List A titles: NatWest/C&G Trophy, Benson & Hedges Cup and National League. The B&H was stubbed out as Twenty20 came into being and four years ago the remaining two competitions were amalgamated.The change of sponsor this year from Clydesdale to Yorkshire Bank led some wags to dub it the Why Bother 40, but 40-over cricket, which began with the John Player League back in 1969, continues to be a draw for the public. The counties had stubbornly resisted attempts to revert to a 50-over tournament but, with team England increasingly flexing its financial muscle and protection of the Championship taking on a higher priority, an agreement with the ECB was reached.Some argue that playing 50-over cricket in occasionally damp, seaming conditions doesn’t really aid England’s chances at global tournaments (unless they are at home). You can go further, and suggest that the added pressure of having to score at a higher rate for a shorter period has helped to create some of England’s more destructive current players, such as Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright.That is just as likely to have been the effect of T20, however, and those that have played internationally are particularly inclined to espouse the benefits of reflecting the ODI template in England’s domestic game.”I’ve enjoyed it but I think it’s key for young lads coming through, or anyone who gets an opportunity to play for England, that they’re playing the right cricket,” says Simon Jones, the former England seamer who is hoping for a winning send-off with Glamorgan at Lord’s.”Fifty overs is what they play at international level and I think that’s what should happen at county level, just to prepare people. You’re bowling ten overs rather than eight, the Powerplays are different, there are different strategies, it’s a totally different game. I think they’ve made a bold decision to go back to 50-over cricket and I think it’s the right one.”It is probably fair to say that the two counties who have reached the YB40 final do not have outstanding one-day CVs, however many overs are involved – which makes the match-up all the more appealing from a neutral perspective. For all their respective excellence this year, Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire are the unusual suspects, with just a few pieces of one-day silver between them.Nottinghamshire are firm favourites, their impressive squad bolstered by the availability of two of England’s Ashes winners, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, though it is 24 years since the club last appeared in a Lord’s showpiece, when they beat Essex to lift the B&H Cup. Notts won their sixth Championship in 2010 but only have three List A titles in their history, the most recent being the Sunday League in 1991. However, as the captain, Chris Read, says “over the last few years we’ve been improving in this form of the game”.Jim Allenby has been a key player for Glamorgan with bat and ball•PA Photos

Having won Group A, Nott crushed Somerset by eight wickets in their semi-final. In James Taylor and Samit Patel they have two England internationals with over 500 YB40 runs this season; in Michael Lumb and Alex Hales, they have England’s T20 openers; at No. 5, there is David Hussey, veteran of more than 100 limited-overs internationals for Australia.Although a back injury has ruled out their joint-leading wicket-taker, Jake Ball, Swann and Broad are likely to provide a high-class sticking plaster. Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, has said they will play the “best eleven players” and that could see Broad make his 40-over debut for the county, with his only previous List A appearance coming in the 2008 FP Trophy. How well a bowler with 160 ODI wickets (out of 185 in List A cricket) makes the quick switch down from 50-over competition will be an interesting subplot.For Glamorgan, who booked their place in the final by beating the reigning champions, Hampshire, on their own turf, there will be fewer selection issues. Marcus North, the limited-overs captain this year, has left to take part in Perth Scorchers’ Champions League campaign but in Michael Hogan they have the tournament’s leading wicket-taker and Jim Allenby a one-day allrounder fit to lace Dimitri Mascarenhas’s (recently hung-up) boots. Ben Wright has been dismissed twice for 165 runs at a strike rate of 133.06 and Chris Cooke has also hit the 500-run mark.Glamorgan’s journey to London should also be a little less arduous, though Notts avoided having to fly down from Durham on the eve of the final by contriving to be heavily beaten inside three days. Whatever the result at Chelmsford, it is only an hour’s drive up the A12. The Welsh county will doubtless be greeted by an armada of passionate supporters who have made a significantly longer journey from the west. It is 13 years since they lost to out in the B&H Cup to Gloucestershire and their only other final appearance, in 1977, also ended in defeat. There will plenty hoping Glamorgan can lose their white-ball cherry at Lord’s.On the 50th anniversary of Sussex lifting the inaugural Gillette Cup, another chapter in the story of domestic one-day cricket is about to come to a close.

The PCB governing board has provisionally approved a budget of approximately rupees 3 billion ($29 million approximately) with a deficit of rupees 500 million for the year 2013-14. The much-awaited budget announcement, which came after a delay of almost two months, is a relief for the contracted players who, after not being paid their retainerships since January this year, have now been promised a 15 percent hike in their monthly retainerships. The budget hasn’t offered a hike for the PCB employees.Najam Sethi, the interim PCB chairman, presided over the governing board meeting to approve the provisional budget with three regional and three departmental/services heads, two technocrats and one of two former cricketers. Former wicket-keeper batsman Imtiaz Ahmad was not present due to personal commitments. The meeting went on for six hours at the National Cricket Academy and budget was the major agenda that dominated the meeting.Compared to the previous budget, the PCB had a flat year as it failed to find any revenue, but it was also a less expensive year as Pakistan hosted only one limited-overs series against Australia in the UAE in August 2012. Pakistan also saved further expense as it did not host any international junior team tournament in the previous fiscal year.The PCB had hoped the limited-overs series in India and the Pakistan Super League would help it overcome a shortfall of 70 crore rupees ($6.7 million approx) in last year’s budget, but it didn’t go as per plan. India refused to share its revenue from the ODIs and the T20s, while the PSL was postponed over logistical issues. ESPNcricinfo, however, understands the reduction in deficit was the result of the abandoned home series with Bangladesh and various under-19 team tours to Pakistan within the fiscal year.The budget was delayed over the Islamabad High Court’s judgement which barred the interim PCB chairman to take major decisions. However, the PCB, after consultation with Pakistan Attorney General and the Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination, has decided to approve the budget with a provision that the new full-time chairman can review it further.IHC in its order, while disposing off a writ petition of removing Zaka Ashraf as the PCB chairman, had given a detailed decision on July 4 under which it has ordered the interim chairman Sethi to work as caretaker and hold election in 90 days to bring in a full-time elected chairman.The chances of the generation of revenue in the upcoming year appear bleak but the PCB is hoping to further reduce the deficit by agreeing to cuts in administrative expenses. The PCB is set to sell its broadcasting rights for the South Africa and Sri Lanka series on August 31 but the value is unlikely to hike up the budget.The PCB has been facing a financial crunch mainly because of teams refusing to tour Pakistan due to security concerns following the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009. Since then, Pakistan has been forced to host teams at neutral venues. The 2010-2011 budget was also in the red, before it was boosted by the hefty compensation that the ICC paid the board, following Pakistan’s removal as co-host of the 2011 World Cup.

Ian Bell conceded that England were “disappointed” to lose three late wickets to surrender a strong position towards the end of the first day of the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord’s.England were progressing smoothly at 271 for 4 when Bell, having made a high-class century, edged a leg-break in the first over from part-time spinner Steve Smith. Bell’s dismissal precipitated a decline that saw England lost three wickets for 12 runs and sees them start the second day with no specialist batsmen remaining.But Bell also suggested that England had recovered well from a poor start – they were 28 for 3 within the first 40 minutes – and that they probably would have settled for a total of 289 for 7 by stumps at that stage.Bell, with the 19th Test century of his career, was the mainstay of the revival and, after centuries in the final Test of the previous series between the sides at Sydney and in the first Test of this series at Trent Bridge, became just the fourth England batsman to register centuries in three successive Ashes Tests. The others are Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond and Chris Broad.”It was disappointing to lose those wickets but it wasn’t a bad day,” Bell said. “We would have taken that at three down early on.”The important thing is to win the first hour in the morning. We could do with getting to 350 and we do have a bit of batting to come, but it is a bit disappointing to lose those wickets to the late strikes.”It’s very satisfying to play a big innings. It’s what I have wanted to do over the last couple of years and you need as big a first-innings score as we can on a that wicket. I had to leave as well as possible early on and then try to cash in as the day went on.”I’ve only just found out about the record. It’s incredible; a real honour to be with those names. Lord’s is a special place and to go back into the dressing room and see that the lads have put your name in tape on the honours board is really special. The innings came at a time that was important for me and the team.”While Bell was understandably dismayed to lose his wicket to a spinner who, before this game, had only four Test wickets and had all but given up bowling, he could see the silver lining in his dismissal.With Smith getting a leg-break to turn sharply and take the edge of Bell’s bat on the first afternoon, he felt that Graeme Swann may also find some assistance later in the game.”It’s a good sign there’s a bit of spin from straight,” Bell said. “That’s nice. He took one wicket with a full toss and then bowled a couple of good deliveries but it’s a good sign to have a bit of spin from straight. I’m a little bit surprised by the amount of turn. It usually skids on more at Lord’s.”It’s a lot drier than a normal Lord’s pitch and looks much different. It’s difficult to know what a par score is but the longer we get this weather it will be very dry and hopefully there is more pace by the time we get to the fourth or fifth day.”If England fall below 400 in their first innings, they will have failed to reach that total for nine innings in succession, stretching back to Wellington. While Bell could provide no explanation for that run of form, he felt England’s batsmen were “not far away” from a collective return to form.”Sometimes it happens like that,” Bell said. “The work ethic is always there with his group. It’s been my turn to get runs, but in the past our top three have been outstanding at setting a platform. We’re not far away and when it does happen we’ll find ourselves in a good position.”

Match Facts

Friday, June 28
Start time 0930 (1430 GMT, 2000 IST)The crowd will be behind Dwayne Bravo as he leads the team for the first time at home•WICB Media/Randy Brooks Photo

The Big Picture

Ideally, West Indies and Sri Lanka should have been playing a Test series at the moment, but economic forces have meant that not only have the Tests been scrapped, but a third participant – India – has joined to make it a tripartite ODI competition. It’s not all gloom though. A triangular competition can produce more twists and turns than a monotonous five-match series and a closely-contested first match between these two contrasting teams could be the caffeine kick the fans in the subcontinent need to follow a series being played halfway across the planet.For Sri Lanka, Tests or no Tests, it’s a big tour. It’s not often that they travel to the western edge of the cricketing world – this is only their sixth trip to the Caribbean, including the 2007 World Cup – and the last time they were here five years ago, they drew the Test series 1-1 but failed to win anything in the three-match ODI series. A team in transition, Sri Lanka have had mixed results this year under the new leadership of Angelo Mathews. The big positive came in Australia where they drew the five-match series, but they suffered a setback at home soon after, failing to win the ODI series against Bangladesh. They found their A-game during the Champions Trophy, making it to yet another semi-final of a big tournament, before bowing out to India.That run in England was largely based on their senior players repeatedly leading the team to safety. What was keenly awaited, but never came in England, was an innings, a spell, or a moment of brilliance from the new generation of Sri Lankan cricketers. Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Shamida Eranga – the list is full of promise that is yet to show its worth. In this series, on the slow-low pitches of the Caribbean, against two tough opponents and away from the peering eyes of the media, they have a glorious opportunity to make some progress.West Indies are a strong side in limited-overs, or so it seems because of the presence of a number of power-packed players. However, most of these players have earned their reputations playing in faraway lands for an assortment of teams. The truth is, West Indies, much like Sri Lanka’s younger generation, has teased with sporadic flashes of brilliance for far too long. Yes, they won the T20 World Cup, but soon after they lost an ODI series in Bangladesh, before Australia blanked them in a five-match series.They were at touching distance of a semi-final place in the Champions Trophy, but even there, they didn’t impose themselves with either bat or ball. One silver lining for them is that they have tasted some success in home conditions. However, given the strength of the other two teams, West Indies won’t mind considering themselves underdogs.

Form guide

(Most recent first, last five completed matches)
West Indies TLWWW
Sri Lanka LWWLL

In the spotlight

Upul Tharanga was a regular in the side after making his debut in 2005, but lean returns in 2011-12 and the rise in the reputation of Perera, saw the latter edge Tharanga out for the home series against Bangladesh. A sparkling debut by Perera meant Tharanga was left waiting for an opening in the side, which has now come due to Tillakaratne Dilshan’s injury. Tharanga can take encouragement from the fact that there are places in the batting order still up for grabs – Perera’s form has disappeared too – and that there are at least four matches to make his case.The appointment of Dwayne Bravo as the captain of the ODI side raised a few eyebrows around the world, but Bravo brushed doubts aside saying it was part of rotation policy. He promised proactive captaincy with ‘strange’ tactics before the start of the Champions Trophy, but the team missed out on a semi-final spot when Kieron Pollard lost his wicket off what proved to be the last ball of the innings. Bravo was at the non-striker’s end then and walked off dejected. However, having spent some time in England as a leader, Bravo has a chance to establish his style of leadership in home conditions.

Team news

Mathews had said the injury to Dilshan would be an opportunity for others to step up and the most likely player to lend solidity at the top could be Tharanga. Although the pitches in the Caribbean are not going to be markedly different from the ones laid out in England this season, Sri Lanka could include either Sachithra Senanayake or Ajantha Mendis or both in their squad.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Ajantha Mendis, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Nuwan Kulasekara, 11 Lasith MalingaWest Indies settled into a combination that worked for them in England after the suspension of Denesh Ramdin. Although Ramdin is available for selection, West Indies are unlikely to disturb that arrangement, which means that Darren Sammy is likely to remain in the team while Johnson Charles will keep wickets.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Devon Smith, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Darren Bravo, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tino Best/Kemar Roach, 11 Ravi Rampaul

Pitch and conditions

Wet weather is expected to further interfere with the cricket. However, the warmer temperatures and the subcontinent-like pitch conditions will suit Sri Lanka’s game.

Stats and trivia

• Upul Tharanga is 46 runs short of completing 5000 runs in ODIs. He has scored 12 centuries and his average is marginally better than Mahela Jayawardene’s.
• West Indies’ head-to-head record against Sri Lanka at home stands at 4-4
• Only two batsmen – Brian Lara and Sanath Jayasuriya – have scored hundreds in Sri Lanka-West Indies matches in the West Indies.

Quotes

“It’s to put those little mistakes that we made in England away. We felt we had a good opportunity to win that tournament and we want to win this one and prove ourselves right.”
“West Indies and India are two very good teams in the shorter format of the game and I think that we really need to play some good cricket to win against them.”

Match facts

May 21, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Chennai Super Kings sent Mumbai Indians packing in last year’s playoffs•AFP

Big Picture

After 72 league matches – mismatches, in some cases – we’re into the final week of the IPL. The most important week. The week Chennai Super Kings have negotiated five times previously, with more success than failure; they’re the only team to progress past the league stage in every edition of the IPL so far, losing once in the semis, finishing runners-up twice (including last year), and winning the title in 2010 and 2011. Of the 10 playoff matches they’ve contested, they’ve won seven. They will go into the first qualifier knowing just how to win these big games, and with the cushion of having a second chance at making the final should they need it – both huge pluses.But, in Mumbai Indians, Super Kings face the only IPL line-up that is arguably even stronger than their own. While the two teams match-up on the batting front – both in terms of proven performers and power-hitting – Mumbai hold the clear edge in the bowling department. This season, especially, Mumbai’s bowlers have been lethal as a unit (as opposed to Lasith Malinga being the single biggest threat), with Mitchell Johnson swinging it at pace, Harbhajan Singh striking consistently while being economical, and Pragyan Ojha and Dhawal Kulkarni providing reliable support. They’ve already demolished Super Kings’ line-up once this season, rolling them for 79 – the tournament’s lowest total – at the Wankhede.Both teams are coming off losses after seemingly letting their guard down in inconsequential matches, but before being tripped up in Dharamsala Mumbai had five comfortable wins in a row. Super Kings, on the other hand, have an up-and-down record of late after posting an record-equalling seven consecutive IPL victories earlier in the tournament. That has prompted talk of them having peaked too early.Both teams have injury concerns to key players: Albie Morkel and Sachin Tendulkar. If Morkel is fit, he is likely to slot in as one of three overseas seam-bowling allrounders for Super Kings. If Tendulkar is fit, Mumbai will have to take a tough call – his replacement, Aditya Tare, has made two handy contributions, scoring rapidly as opener for a team that has got off to slow starts more often than not. Ambati Rayudu, who has 196 runs in 16 matches at 17.81, could be the one to miss out.

Form guide

Chennai Super Kings: LWLWL (most recent first)
Mumbai Indians: LWWWW

In the spotlight

M Vijay has had a woeful IPL 2013 so far. He came into the tournament having enjoyed much success in India’s home Test series against Australia, but his form has fallen away rapidly. More than his stats – 271 runs at 22.58 in 13 games – it has been the manner in which he has batted that has inspired very little confidence: he has swung and missed, scratched around, and hardly ever dominated the bowling. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday, Super Kings seemed more interested in allowing Vijay to bat his way back into form than going after the steep target in the eight-over shootout. The team, and Vijay, will be quietly hoping for a repeat of last year, when he followed up a forgettable league stage with 113 off 58 balls in the qualifiers.Lasith Malinga, by his standards, has had an average IPL. He has not been in contention for the purple cap at any point, and is only third on Mumbai Indians’ bowling charts in terms of wickets taken. But his record of 17 wickets at 21.05, with an economy rate of 6.71, is far from poor and it would be silly to underestimate him; it is still likely to be Malinga who causes the most telling damage if he gets those killer yorkers right.

Stats and trivia

• Mumbai are comfortably ahead in the head-to-head against Super Kings, winning eight off 13 games. In their last six encounters, Super Kings have won only once. But, revealingly, Super Kings have won both the playoff games between the two
• On Saturday, Malinga became the first bowler to 100 IPL wickets. Harbhajan Singh and Albie Morkel, with 73 wickets apiece, are joint-third behind Malinga and Kings XI’s Piyush Chawla for the most wickets taken for a single team in the IPL

Quotes

“I have been given the role of bowling in the Powerplays. But the only instruction I was given was to stick to whatever I have been doing so far, not think too much and try to remain as blank as I can. The coach and captain told me that whatever I have done on the cricket field so far has brought me into the IPL and the same will take me forward in my career.”

New Zealand’s need to regroup after their Test defeat against England before the Champions Trophy has been made doubly difficult by the possibility that they will lose Trent Boult for the tournament because of injury.Boult has carried the fight for New Zealand with 19 wickets at 25.47 in five Tests, home and away, against England, but his side strain is not responding to treatment and he will have a scan in London on Wednesday to assess the damage.”He’s not looking great,” New Zealand’s captain, Brendon McCullum, lamented. “He is still not moving that freely which is a shame because he’s been a revelation for us this season.”Until a fateful Sunday at Lord’s, New Zealand had pressed England all the way, but their capitulation for 68 in only 22.3 overs against Stuart Broad and James Anderson was an experience from which they never recovered.”Right up until that point our self-belief was very high and that ripped our hearts out and just started to create some self-doubt among us, which is a horrible thing in this game,” McCullum said. “That’s what unfolded in this Test. We still had periods where we dominated but they didn’t last long enough and the periods of England dominating seemed to last a lot longer.”We saw in this Test match England flexing their muscles and us not being able to respond. It’s incredibly disappointing. If you look back on the last five Test matches we’ve played some good cricket and taken some strides forward but it’s fair to say this one was a step backwards.”McCullum has seen enough to favour England in the Ashes later this summer. “England are red-hot favourites at home, their ability to swing the Dukes ball is huge,” he said. “Any team that plays at home is familiar with the surroundings.”There will be no overreaction to New Zealand’s batting failures if McCullum gets his way. He insisted that he retained faith in the potential of the group that, until the past ten days, had begun to promise a brighter Test future.”If you fast forward 18 months, we’ve got the makings of a very good cricket team,” he said. “I’m a big fan of protecting the people who have performed for a period of time and that’s what we’ve seen from this group of players. We’ve got the right mix and the right balance in this group and we need to keep improving as a team and smooth out some of our rough edges.”Brendon McCullum’s early dismissal helped England push on for victory on the final day•Getty Images

He dismissed suggestions that New Zealand, six down overnight, were caught on the hop when they did not bother with morning nets before the Test resumed under sullen Leeds skies. The forecast had left Leeds on the edge of a bank of heavy rain but it only suffered light drizzle and a delayed start and a couple of interruptions were not enough to halt England’s charge to victory.McCullum, one of the not-out batsmen overnight, fell early to a superb return catch by Stuart Broad, who dismissed him in all four innings in the series. After that, Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell chose to counterattack – Southee seems to know no other way – and then Neil Wagner and Boult sought to block. As rain was a constant threat, it seemed an idiosyncratic approach towards trying to save a Test.New Zealand’s emphasis now turns to the Champions Trophy. They have eight squad changes but the first player McCullum needs to consider when it comes to reintegration is himself. Having stepped in as wicketkeeper because of an injury to BJ Watling, he now has to decide whether to continue in the role or hand over the gloves to Luke Ronchi.”I’ve always said I’d never have any regrets through my career and that doesn’t change,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t as fluent as I would like to be, like when I was 21, and I wasn’t able to contribute with the bat as much as I wanted, but it was a decision we made and I’ll stand by it. It didn’t affect my batting, I’d love to say it was an excuse for why I didn’t get runs but I can’t claim that.”The keeping role is something we need to talk about in the next 24 hours before we start to nail down the one-day team. It’s definitely up for discussion. Luke is definitely going to play as an opener. We need to work out what’s comfortable for both of us and the team.”

Tim Southee has emerged as an injury concern ahead of the opening Test at Lord’s next week after picking up a foot injury against England Lions which led to a decision that he would not bowl again in the match after lunch on the third day.Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, remains confident that Southee will be fit for the Test match, which begins on Thursday, but the opening bowler will see a specialist on Saturday afternoon to get a more detailed verdict on the problem.Southee, who did not play against Derbyshire, had not appeared hampered during the second day, where he claimed the wicket of Varun Chopra, and sent down 19 overs before being withdrawn.The loss of Southee for the first Test would be a significant blow for New Zealand as he has become a key part of their attack and is expected to be a threat with the Duke ball having produced some telling spells during the previous series in March.If Southee was ruled out, either Doug Bracewell or Neil Wagner, who currently appear to be vying for one place, would both play at Lord’s.

Pakistan are considering Grant Flower for the position of batting coach. While Flower is currently fulfilling a similar role with the Zimbabwe team, ESPNcricinfo understands that he is out of contract in August and Zimbabwe Cricket are prevaricating over a new deal.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Flower is in the frame for the role, but he is still just one of a few candidates; the PCB might look to fill the position some time before Flower becomes available in August.In response to the PCB advert last year several former Pakistan Test batsmen, including Zaheer Abbas and Saleem Malik, applied for the role but the PCB was looking to hire a candidate with at least Level 3 coaching accreditation and a minimum of five years’ experience working with top cricketers.Flower, 42, the younger brother of England coach, Andy, has been Zimbabwe batting coach since October 2010. He applied for the head coach position but lost out to Andy Waller. Flower previously played 67 Tests and 221 ODIs for Zimbabwe.

Michael Clarke has confirmed that he will move up the order from his customary No. 5 position after Australia’s shambolic display in both innings in Hyderabad. Clarke is the joint leading run-scorer in the series with 268, the same tally as India’s captain MS Dhoni, and more than double scored by any other member of Australia’s top six.He scored 130 in the first innings in Chennai and followed that with 91 on the first day in Hyderabad but neither effort could prevent a heavy defeat. Despite his outstanding form since taking over the captaincy in 2011, Clarke has steadfastly remained at No. 5, but given the struggles of Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson at Nos. 3 and 4 in this series, that will change for the third Test.”I think I have no choice,” Clarke said after the innings loss in Hyderabad. “Again, it hasn’t been about me, it’s about trying to do what’s best for the team, and I think now, especially in these conditions, I have to bat higher.”When asked if that would mean first drop or second drop, Clarke said: “I’ve got nine days to work it out. Wherever I can go and put some runs on the board to help the team.”Although Ed Cowan showed some signs during the second innings that he had learnt from his first three efforts and occupied the crease for nearly three hours, the rest of the batting order collapsed. So far in this series Watson has made 28, 17, 23 and 9; Hughes has scored 6, 0, 19 and 0; Cowan has managed 29, 32, 4 and 44 and Warner has tallied 59, 23, 6 and 26.”I don’t think picking your batting order can revolve around one person, the team needs the team to play well,” Clarke said. “We need our top six batters to be scoring runs, we need our four, five or six bowlers to be taking wickets. It can’t be about one person. I’ve never played cricket that way and I don’t want this team to go to that.”We have enough talent, but we have to get better, every single one of us. I would have liked more runs in the first innings and more runs today in the second innings, so I have work to do as well. I don’t want it to be about the individuals, I want it to be about the whole team improving.

The WICB and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) have been given a financial boost by signing an agreement with the ICC under the Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP), which is aimed at developing more competitive teams in international cricket. Under this programme, the WICB will be awarded US$3 million and Zimbabwe Cricket US$1.5 million over the next three years.The funding will aim to provide enhanced support to the current elite West Indian players and future generations. “We are delighted to be signing a TAPP agreement with the ICC, and are grateful for this enhanced support to help WICB achieve our high performance objectives,” Julian Hunte, the WICB President, said. “We have started to make progress on the field over the past year and this support will allow us to build on that by investing more resources than ever in the development of emerging talent in the West Indies.”For Zimbabwe, on the other hand, the amount would be used to support an expansive schedule of their ‘A’ team and identify and support future international players. Wilfred Mukondiwa, the ZC managing director, said the funding would help them become more competitive at international level. “Zimbabwe Cricket is grateful for this support and looking forward to being able to strengthen our high performance pathway with this investment,” he said. “We believe the TAPP award will help us become more competitive in the international arena and facilitate the continued growth of the game in our country.”David Richardson, ICC chief executive, said he was eager to see the impact of the funding on the two teams. “It is very important to the long-term prosperity of international cricket that we have competitive teams at the highest level and both the West Indies and Zimbabwe have been very clear in identifying the factors that will support improved performance,” Richardson said. “The TAPP agreements provide an opportunity for both Members to increase their investment in high performance and we look forward to witnessing the impact of these programmes.”The agreements with the two boards were similar to the ones signed by the ICC with Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland.