All posts by csb10.top

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken measures to ensure that no persons without valid tickets will be allowed inside the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium tomorrow for the second ODI between Pakistan and India. The board’s statement comes after reports that the first ODI at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar was seen by many people without a valid ticket for the ground.Shaharyar Khan, the board chairman, said in a press conference: “Measures have been taken to ensure that the paying public is given its right and due share in viewing the match. I am conscious of the fact that in Peshawar this wasn’t fully achieved and we are going to make sure that there will be no element that comes into the ground without a ticket. Simply you have to have a ticket to get in.”There were reports, confirmed by Khan, that as many as 32,000 people made their way into the ground on Sunday. The stadium’s capacity is 16,000. On the morning of the match, many fans were left outside the ground and not let in, while others with valid tickets entered only to find their seats occupied by people without tickets. A large number of fans even attempted, soon after the match started, to enter the press box and occupy seats in there.Khan added that all tickets for the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which holds 19,000 have already been sold. He added: “The public should not come to the ground if they don’t have a ticket so there won’t be any unnecessary crowding. This will not be allowed to happen. Once you have the ticket we are ensuring that you get to the seat that is yours. It should never happen that someone has bought a ticket for a certain amount and when they get to that seat it is occupied by someone else. This happened in Peshawar. I have been assured by the administration that this will not happen again. No-one will be allowed in the outer ring of the stadium and if you don’t have a ticket please don’t come.”Despite the fact that the crowd at Peshawar was mostly good-natured, Khan once again called on fans to be on their best behaviour during the match. “I would like to call on the people of Islamabad and Pindi to show discipline and also show that they are a welcoming public who can appreciate good cricket. This has happened in the series up to now and the only problem was in Peshawar where instead of having 16,000 people we somehow had 32,000 people. The extra 16,000 were occupying seats that legitimately belonged to those who had paid for them.”

Bangladesh are toying with the idea of sending Mashrafe Mortaza up the batting order in the upcoming T20s against Zimbabwe. The idea is a first, at least for Bangladesh, for thinking out of the box has not always been high on their agenda in a format where they have been a few steps behind the times.It is understood that Mashrafe’s floating batting position is still in the discussion stage, and will only be used as a surprise option. While Mashrafe has been batting regularly in the nets, the idea gained momentum when he struck an unbeaten 32-ball 56 for Comilla Victorians during the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League. Given the emphasis is clearly on experimentation ahead of the World T20, Zimbabwe can expect the unexpected.Chandika Hathurusingha, the Bangladesh head coach, held his cards close to his chest, but is understood to be the man to have floated the idea. “Mashrafe has done good things for himself and he is telling me all the time that he can bat, so I asked him to prove it to me,” he said. “He is doing well in the nets.”Mashrafe underlined the challenge of trying out the new role, but was open to moving up the order if the situation demanded it. “It is hard to start something new at this stage of my career,” he told . “It was a different story when my batting was at its best. It is hard to adapt now. But I am trying for the sake of the team. I am confident and the rest depends on how much I can do.”In the build up to World T20 campaigns in the past, Bangladesh have promoted and tried out players with reputations of being big-hitters. However, apart from the 2007 tournament, where they famously beat West Indies, Bangladesh have failed to make an impact in each of the other four editions. This time, the thought process has not really bordered on the outlandish. But keeping Mashrafe as a batting option is forward thinking given how the captain has inspired the team.In any case, Bangladesh’s 14-man squad for the Zimbabwe series has been training on specific areas for the last five days at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, in a bid to get the players used to the idea of playing T20s. Batsmen have been practicing their big-hitting skills, while the fielders have been made to work on the busy areas of the ground like the deep leg-side boundaries and the cover region.Along with the front-line batsmen, who have spent plenty of time on the centre-wickets in front of the bowling machine, Mashrafe getting a sizable amount of time with the bat has intrigued fans and media alike. The inclusion of Nurul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom and Abu Hider further states their intent of bringing the big-hitting flavour to an otherwise industrious batting unit.Mashrafe, who said that Bangladesh’s experimentation was focused on the forthcoming Asia Cup T20s and World T20s, was open about using the matches against Zimbabwe as a trial run leading into the bigger battles. “All of those in the squad will be getting a chance,” he said. “We will not try anything that will look odd. We are only thinking of doing things that will help us in the forthcoming tournaments. We have to try something different, test ourselves looking ahead.”It is hard to deny that BPL didn’t have an impact. But I think now they are hitting the ball well, especially in the nets in the last few days. It makes me positive. I think we can do well if they bat and bowl in this way. At the same time there’s the pressure of international cricket so it is important to implement with cool heads.”

Despite coming under pressure from the England and Indian boards, the UK-based players who have signed up to the Indian Cricket League have insisted that they will not renege on their contracts.In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Nixon said that Leicestershire have been under increasing pressure from the ECB to block him taking part. “At this stage of my career it’s an exciting challenge to play in the ICL,” he said. “Surely it’s a good thing for any county player to experience high-pressure cricket on surfaces where our national team has traditionally struggled?”Nixon entered into the deal with ICL after consulting with the Professional Cricketers Association in the summer, but since then the Indian board has upped the ante and threatened to bar anyone participating from its own official Indian Premier League. That has led to the ECB starting to flex its muscles but one county chairman stated that attempts to obtain clarification from the board had proved unsuccessful.The ECB has fallen into line with its Australian Pakistani and South African counterparts in taking an increasingly hard line towards players allied to the ICL. The official reason given is that the ICL has no drug-testing or anti-corruption controls and “would threaten media and sponsorship revenue generated by official competitions”.Darren Maddy is the only other England-qualified cricketer known to have signed. Two county-contracted Irish players – Surrey’s Niall O’Brien and Warwickshire’s Boyd Rankin – have also joined and a fifth as yet unidentified person is thought to have signed. While the Irish board will not take action against its pair, the problem comes if their counties qualify for the IPL as the Indian organisers will almost certainly block their participation.

“I signed up at the end of August,” Rankin told The Daily Telegraph. “I knew there was a bit of uncertainty, but I’ve been speaking to the Proffesional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) and I’m fairly happy about the position. I can’t do much about it now in any case …””My sympathies are with the players,” Neil Davidson, Leicestershire’s chairman told the paper. “I can’t see any point banning them because they appear in independent tournaments out of season, when they’re out of contract.”The ECB were forced to back down on their decision to deselect Maddy from the England side for last month’s Hong Kong Sixes when approached by the PCA’s lawyers. “The ECB seem to be going further in supporting the Indian board over the ICL than any other board and it is not clear to us why. We would like some clarification as to why,” Ian Smith, the PCA’s lawyer, said last week.What will be at the back of the ECB’s mind are the similarities with World Series Cricket, which ironically launched 30 years ago this month. Attempts then to block players who signed with Kerry Packer were overturned in the High Court in a legal case which cost English cricket a fortune. Their ultimate sanction this time – banning those involved with ICL – could well again be construed as restraint of trade.

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

The burning question at the start of play, considering the poor weather forecast for the next couple of days, was when Sri Lanka would declare. The answer may not have been a popular one, at least not in Bangladesh, but it went according to the script. Sri Lanka ground down the visitors in humid conditions, with 125 runs coming in the first session, 107 in the second and 118 in the third as the lead swelled to 488.Mahela Jayawardene allowed Prasanna Jayawardene and Chaminda Vaas to bring up their maiden centuries before finally declaring 15 minutes before the close. The Bangladesh openers safely played out three overs before the close.Prasanna, who scripted a fluent knock, and Vaas, who played a chanceless innings, stitched together an unbroken 223-run stand while Michael Vandort got to his third hundred. Just for good measure, Jayawardene reached his 17th century as Sri Lanka indulged in a run orgy.Sri Lanka had started off with a positive intent in the first session: Vandort batted aggressively, Tillakaratne Dilshan belted the ball around and Jayawardene upped the ante. Things slowed somewhat in the second session and meandered along at a leisurely pace in the third but the writing was on the wall. The first Test was limping towards a predictable conclusion.The attack was more incisive once the new ball was taken in the second session. It helped that Jayawardene fell almost immediately, slashing uppishly at a swinging delivery well outside the off stump. Mashrafe Mortaza made the batsmen poke tentatively, Shahadat Hossain got it to kick up from short of a length, and Prasanna and Vaas went quiet. Only 19 runs came in eight overs before both men pulled Shahadat in the ninth over to break the shackles.The stranglehold was broken as Vaas began to pull with purpose when Shahadat hurled in a few bouncers. Mohammad Ashraful, the captain, sent down a few long hops, and they too were promptly dispatched.In the morning, with the sun out and a light breeze blowing, the pitch was perfect for batting. Ashraful started off with a pace and spin combo – Mortaza and Abdur Razzak. Mortaza kept pinging the full length, while Razzak sent down one arm-ball after another. But a comatose pitch and aggressive batsmen resulted in the ball being dispatched all around the field.

Dilshan carved the fifth ball of the day, from Mortaza, to the point boundary and two overs later, Vandort waltzed down the track to send Razzak’s floaters over the rope twice. A ball later, he brought up a convincing hundred with a sweep shot. It was an innings that hinted at a promising future.Ashraful, leading for the first time, was aggressive – there was a slip, short-leg and a silly point for the spinner, while only one man was out for the seamer. Perhaps, looking at the dark clouds that the weathermen promised, he could have had an inside-out field and delayed the declaration.No one could fault his bowling changes though. He rotated the spinners well, giving two spells to Mortaza, but the dead track and the high-quality batsmanship didn’t help. The busy Dilshan was, as always, on the look out for the runs. He chose to go back to the spinners to cut, forcing them to bowl fuller, upon which, he drove them nuts.He showed a strong preference to the off side, scoring nearly three-quarters of his runs in that region. A complete mess-up ended his breezy knock. He square-drove to left of sweeper-cover where Mortaza fumbled, creating thoughts of a second run in Dilshan’s mind. But Jayawardene, who retired hurt yesterday due to cramp, stayed rooted to his crease.Vandort had departed early, after setting the tempo. Using his height, he stretched forward well to drive anything remotely full. He also swept the spinners impressively but he fell, against the run of play, when he pushed a touch lazily at a Mohammad Rafique delivery.Jayawardene was unhurried and classy, and used the pull shot well to accelerate the scoring. By the close of play, only one team could lose and that was not Sri Lanka.

Scorecard
Half-centuries from Lisa Sthalekar and Melissa Bulow steered Australia to a comfortable six-wicket win against England at the IIT Chemplast Ground in Chennai. Sarah Taylor had struck 101 to boost England to 268 for 8 but Australia reached their target with 20 balls to spare.After being asked to bat, Sarah provided the ideal start. England lost Laura Newton for 38 but Sarah added 119 runs for the second wicket with Claire Taylor. Sarah struck her century off 111 balls and hit 15 fours. Claire’s 54 took just 56 balls but her dismissal led to a steady fall of wickets.”My 41 against New Zealand helped me get into a rhythm. I tried to hit fours and take as many singles as possible,” said Sarah after her maiden ODI century. “What I have concentrated on is the mental aspect of batting when practicing at the nets. The wickets in India are different from those in England in the manner that the ball comes on a little more and the pitches are harder.”All of England’s middle-order batsmen got into double figures but no one made it count. Beth Morgan struck 23 off 20 balls at the death to push England to 268 when at one stage they looked set for much more.”We were probably lucky that England didn’t get to 300,” said Karen Rolton, the Australian captain, echoing that sentiment. “On this ground the game can really change any time. It looked like we would go down to the last over but some good hitting by Cathryn Fitzpatrick right at the end meant that we got home with three overs to spare.”Australia started off well, with it’s top-order making nuggety contributions with Bulow and Sthalekar scoring 52 and 77 respectively. The openers, Bulow and Shelley Nitschke, added 80 in quick time before both fell on the same score. Rolton joined Sthalekar for a 71-run stand for the third wicket before Kate Blackwell and Sthalekar added 75 for the fourth.Australia now face India on Saturday in what is effectively a semi-final. The winner of that game will play New Zealand in the final on March 5.

Adam Gilchrist, Australia’s stand-in captain in the last two games, admitted the team never managed to hit the stride after a long lay-off since the World Cup win in the West Indies.”A bit stuttery for us, wasn’t it? A bad start and then a win and a loss and a win … We never really got into a great rhythm,” Gilchrist said after the semi-final loss to India at Kingsmead. “Probably to be expected from the break we had – and the lack of preparation. But by the time tonight came around, we’d played enough to be ready.”Gilchrist singled out Sreesanth’s dismissal of Matthew Hayden as the turning-point of the semi-final at Kingsmead. “I felt Sreesanth was the difference in that game. I felt like we were in control, particularly with Matty [Hayden] and Symmo [Andrew Symonds] there, but then that big over. Getting Matty out just turned things their way.”Unsurprisingly, he also praised the form of one particular Indian batsman: “Yuvraj is in a great mindset. He’s confident, he’s seeing the ball well, he’s just trusting himself. Crowds love [cricketers who] play without fear.”And there was admiration, too, for his opposite number as captain. “I thought [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni captained beautifully tonight. He just chose the right times to bowl those bowlers in the last three or four overs.”But when encouraged to pick a winner of Monday’s final in Johannesburg, Gilchrist refused to be drawn. “Both teams are playing with a high level of skill. The Indian batting is so dangerous – and Pakistan are bowling beautifully … so I can’t pick a winner because it’s that type of game. A little bit of luck does help teams get over the line in the big game. I’m sitting right on the fence.”There was a moment’s hesitation when he was asked if he thought Twenty20 was cricket dumbing down. “I’ve been wrestling back and forwards with it … I do think it’s going to improve one-day cricket. I’m not sure it’ll do much for Test cricket, but Test cricket’s still a pretty good product.” But, warming to his subject, he declared, “I think it’s very much a positive for the game.”However, he did call the worth of individual, non-tournament Twenty20 games in to question. “It’ll be interesting to see the one-off Twenty20 games now, what rides on those if there’s nothing really up for grabs.”

Division One

Day 2
Callum Thorp took six sharp wickets and Phillip Mustard six keen catches to bring Durham right back into their match against Hampshire at Southampton. This was Thorp’s second six-for in a week, after he wrecked Scotland in the C&G match on Sunday and it was a timely one, too, after his side had been dismissed for 234 in the first innings. Hampshire had looked threatening, their openers putting on 59 for the first wicket, but after that things swung Durham’s way. Their own openers, John Lewis and Jimmy Maher, soon erased the first-innings deficit of 22 and by the close Durham had made a solid 165 for 3 on a pitch that was beginning to show signs of wear.Matthew Walker and Neil Dexter joined Martin van Jaarsveld as centurions as Kent passed 600 for only the second time at Canterbury – the first time was against Somerset in 1996. Dexter’s maiden Championship hundred was well made but he survived a run-out appeal when he appeared well short, but the umpire was unsighted. Nottinghamshire began their reply well, losing just Jason Gallian for 7 before stumps, as Darren Bicknell (44*) and David Alleyne (27*) took them to 79 for 1.Day 1
Sussex’s decision to put Yorkshire in on a bowler-friendly pitch was rewarded when the visitors were nipped out for 238 at Arundel. Jason Lewry bowled well – he jagged one back between bat and pad to bowl Michael Vaughan, one of four scalps for him. But Craig White and Richard Dawson led a counterattack to lift Yorkshire from 101 for 6 to 200 for 7. The pitch did a bit early on, but flattened out during the afternoon as White, who was the last man out, and Dawson put on 99 between them. After Dawson fell, though, the momentum fell away, too. Sussex had reached 55 for 2 by the close.Full a full report of Middlesex‘s first day against Lancashire click here.

Division Two

Day 1
The unstoppable Phil Jaques struck a splendid double-hundred to give Worcestershire the upperhand against Northamptonshire at New Road. He was joined by fellow run-machine Graeme Hick with Worcestershire 139 for 3 and together they put on 245, gunning down Northants’ bowlers on a day of toil for them. Of the four wickets to fall all day two of those were run outs, which put paid to Stephen Moore and Ben Smith in their twenties. Matthew Nicholson and Monty Panesar picked up the only bowlers’ wickets, Nicholson removing Vikram Solanki for 23 and Panesar finally prising out Jaques. If Hick, 93 not out overnight, complete his century. it would be his 100th for Worcestershire and his 130th in all, taking him past Len Hutton’s first-class total.Day 2
Varun Chopra continued to show what he’s made of, striking his fourth half-century for Essex in his first seven innings at a cold and windy Derby. Chopra, who is keeping Grant Flower out of the first team, just keeps blossoming and today, on his 19th birthday, he put on 92 with Mark Pettini for the first wicket until Graham Wagg broke their partnership to remove Pettini for 30. Chopra finally fell for 65, removed by Mohammad Sheikh, but by the time Ravinder Bopara (50) and Andy Flower (84*) had also made fifties, Essex had made decent inroads into Derbyshire‘s 312, reaching 271 for 4 before bad light stopped play. Travis Birt had added nine more runs to his overnight score of 121 before falling to Andy Bichel, which brought Derbyshire’s innings to an end.Glamorgan squeezed into a slender first-innings lead against Surrey at Sophia Gardens. While three Glamorgan players made fifty – Mark Cosgrove, Nicky Peng and Alex Wharf – none of them were allowed to progress from there; they were each out shortly after bringing up the milestone. But Robert Croft remains unbeaten on 48 by the close, with Glamorgan leading by 15, with just one wicket remaining. Ian Salisbury struck a flighty 42 from No 9 to add some spice to Surrey’s tail – they added 32 in the morning before he was finally removed.A frustrating day for Gloucestershire‘s batsmen at Grace Road, as most of them made starts, but none failed to go on to fifty. Stuart Broad did the bulk of the damage for Leicestershire, grabbing the last four wickets in 24 balls to claim a career best 5for 83. Gloucestershire declared on 282 for 9, giving Leicestershire a lead which they had extended to 105 runs by stumps, with just one wicket down.

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

After the run-fest at the Wanderers on Tuesday night, it was back tonormalcy and worse for Kenya at Kingsmead. New Zealand may have enjoyed alengthy off-season and gone through a change at the top, with DanielVettori taking over from Stephen Fleming, but out on the pitch, it wasvery much normal service as the World Cup semi-finalists romped to anine-wicket win after bowling Kenya out for the lowest-ever score inTwenty20 internationals, 73.Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin and Vettori exploited the extrabounce on a well-grassed pitch to bowl the hapless Kenyans out with 19balls remaining of the 20 overs, and it took New Zealand just 7.4 overs toannounce their intent. But for a 36-run partnership for the fifth wicketbetween Thomas Odoyo and Collins Obuya, it might have been immeasurablyworse. A late flourish from Rajesh Bhudia and Jimmy Kamande nudged thetotal further towards respectability, but it was never going to stretch apowerful New Zealand line-up.Predictably, it was Bond’s pace that started the slide, with a balldarting back into Maurice Ouma and crashing into the stumps via the elbow.When the promising Tanmay Mishra then slashed one to point, it brought thecaptain, Steve Tikolo, to the crease.But worse was to follow as Gillespie took over. David Obuya went gingerlyback to the first ball, and ended up treading on his stumps, and fourballs later came the biggest blow as Tikolo was trapped plumb in front bya delivery that swung in at pace.Odoyo and Obuya revived matters somewhat, taking Jacob Oram for two foursin an over when he came on, but New Zealand had too much in reserve. ChrisMartin had Odoyo miscuing a pull to mid-off, and Nehemiah Odhiambofollowed in identical fashion before Vettori decided to get in on the act.

Obuya was smartly stumped off a leg-side wide, and Alex Obanda bowled offthe pad, and after Budhia slammed a six to slightly tarnish Martin’sfigures, two full tosses from Gillespie finished things off.Kenya needed early wickets, but after two vociferous appeals from Odoyowere turned down, Lou Vincent and Brendan McCullum made short work of aminiscule target. Vincent crashed four fours and a six in his 27 beforesmashing one low to mid-off, and after Peter Fulton survived an excellentshout from Peter Ongondo, two huge sixes off Bhudia put the seal on anemphatic display.Bond’s figures of 2 for 12 were the best for a completed spell in aTwenty20 game, but Gillespie’s 4 for 7 fetched him man of the matchhonours. And the four zeroes at the top of the Kenyan order were anominous sign as Vettori’s team illustrated just why the All Blacks aren’tthe only team in with a chance of a world title in the not-too-distant future.

Scorecard
Sanjay Bangar returned career-best figures of 6 for 41 after to dismiss Vidarbha for 106 before Tejinder Pal Singh steered Railways into the lead on day one at Nagpur. Bangar, at the age of 34 and after 13 years on the circuit, rocked Vidarbha’s middle order with his medium pace variations. Amit Deshpande, the top-scorer with 23, was trapped lbw before Bangar snared three more victims in his next six overs. In reply, Railways stuttered at the start but Tejinder buckled down for a 106-ball 65 to help them take the lead just ahead of stumps.
Scorecard
Led by Sangram Singhs’ superb unbeaten 132, a hungry Himachal Pradesh top order powered on the ignominy against Jammu & Kashmir and finished the first day on 337 for 2. Sandeep Sharma, the captain, got the ball rolling with a polished 65 after his opening partner Manish Gupta was forced to retire hurt early on, but it was the unbeaten 191-run stand for the third wicket that really punished the hosts. Taking the innings by the reins, Sangram smashed 132 from 128 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes, and was ably partnered by Maninder Bisla, who carted 86 from 114 balls. Neither batsman had really gotten going this season – Sangram’s highest was 37 and Bisla had just one fifty – but the duo stepped it up in style and promised plenty more on day two.
Scorecard
Niranjan Behera’s 77 and a solid lower-order rally helped Orissa overcome a jittery start and post 265 for 6 on the first day’s play against Tripura at Agartala. Reduced to 60 for 3 by Vineet Jain, Tripura’s opening bowler, Orissa regained ground thanks to Behera’s 207-ball effort – a career-best knock, incidentally – and handy contributions from captain Pravanjan Mullick (39) and Rashmi Das (27). Behera and Rashmi both departed with the score on 189, but Debasis Mohanty (44 not-out) – who hit 67 in the last match against Jharkhand – and Halhadar Das (25 not out) added a vital 76 to varnish their efforts.
Scorecard
Yashpal Singh, Services’ middle-order batsman, continued his good form with a crucial 103 out of a total of 216 against Jharkhand on day one at Jamshedpur’s Keenan Stadium. A feeble top and middle order crumbled against the spin trio of Sunny Gupta, Shahbaz Nadeem and Shahid Khan, but Yashpal, his side’s highest run-scorer this season by far, held the innings together. He watched batsmen come and go – three fell between overs 31 and 34 – but in Ashish Mohanty, who cracked 57 from No. 8, he found an able ally and the two added 123. Shahid wrapped up matters with 4 for 31 before Jharkhand’s openers played out eight overs to finish the day on 15 for no loss.
Scorecard
Half-centuries to Somasetty Suresh and Sreekumar Nair formed the crux of Kerala’s first-day effort against Goa at Margoa, with the tourists finishing on 204 for 8. Hurt at the top of the innings by Saurabh Bandekar and Anil Naik, Kerala owed much to Suresh’s dour 58 and Nair’s gritty 65 and an 88-run stand for the fourth wicket. Once both departed, there was another mini-collapse with three wickets falling in the last seven overs of the day.
Scorecard
It was slow moving on the first day’s play between Assam and Madhya Pradesh at Dibrugarh, with Assam inching along to 117 for 4 from 65.4 overs. Jagadeesh Arunkumar, the captain, top-scored with an unbeaten 44. The only wicket-takers for MP were the opening bowlers, Sanjay Pandey and Taduri Prakash Sudhindra, with two each. Rahul Bakshi, the wicketkeeper, had three catches to his name.

Steve Harmison believes Darren Gough would make the perfect replacement bowling coach for Troy Cooley. Gough, 35, who last night won the BBC’s show, is uncertain whether he will be picked for England’s tour of India in March.”I still believe he could do a job for us as a bowler and I think he would be a great addition to the squad for India,” Harmison told the . “Whether or not he is picked again as a player, I would love to have him as coach.”England are actively seeking a replacement bowling coach after Troy Cooley’s decision to return home to Australia. Yesterday, Cooley suggested it was the ECB’s hesitancy in offering him a renewal which forced him to leave; he had requested a two-year deal in May which was turned down by the board.Gough retired from Test cricket in 2003, but has remained available for selection in one-day internationals, where he has been an exceptional exponent of bowling at the end of the innings.”He is a master of the art of bowling with the new ball and ‘at the death’ and some of that knowledge would be invaluable, particularly in the one-day game,” Harmison added. “He would have the instant respect of all the bowlers because he’s been there and done it, the kind of man you would always go the extra yard for.”