Chris Cowdrey recovering after heart attack

Chris Cowdrey, the former England captain, is recovering after suffering a heart attack last week while visiting a hospital to have stitches in his knee

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2011Chris Cowdrey, the former England captain, is recovering after suffering a heart attack last week while visiting a hospital to have stitches in his knee.Cowdrey, 53, played six Tests and led his country once during the 1988 season against West Indies, along with three one-day internationals, and had a 16-year career with Kent.”People always said I was lucky player – well if you’re going to have a heart attack anywhere, then the middle of a hospital is probably it,” Cowdrey said in a statement issued through the Professional Cricketers’ Association. “I only went there to have three stitches in my knee. I suppose this is all about doing too much of what I shouldn’t have been doing and not enough of what I should have been doing for the last 30 years.”I hate letting people down, pulling out of dinners and speaking engagements is not my style but I hope everyone will understand that my priority is getting back to full health and that I have to take it easy.”

Watson to open in South Africa – Clarke

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke is adamant his deputy Shane Watson will open the batting in the Test series against South Africa, despite Watson’s concession that his role in the team is changing

Daniel Brettig04-Oct-2011Australia’s captain Michael Clarke is adamant his deputy Shane Watson will open the batting in the Test series against South Africa, despite Watson’s concession that his role in the team is changing.Having bowled plenty of important overs for Australia in Sri Lanka, and seen his batting returns diminished as an indirect result, Watson is again toying with the concept of moving down the order, as he plays exclusively as a batsman for New South Wales in the Twenty20 Champions League in India.However, Clarke has no intention of messing further with the balance of a batting order that underwent significant change in Sri Lanka, where Shaun Marsh staked a strong enough claim for the No.3 spot to push Ricky Ponting and Clarke himself down to Nos.4 and 5.”My mind hasn’t changed since Sri Lanka,” Clarke said. “Right now I think he’s best for the team opening the batting and that’s certainly where he’ll bat in South Africa.”Prior to the upheaval wrought by the Argus review, Watson and Phillip Hughes had been identified by the national selectors as Australia’s preferred opening pair from now until the next Ashes series. Simon Katich was acrimoniously dumped in the process.Hughes settled speculation about his place with a fine century in the third Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and can now look forward to South Africa, where he first made his name as an unorthodox but destructive international opening batsman in 2009.”When we left Sri Lanka he was excited he made some runs at the end of that tour and got another hundred for Australia which is fantastic,” Clarke said. “He knows he’s had some success over there, so I think he’s pretty excited to get over there and bat in those conditions again.”Hughes’ success on that tour was emblematic of Australia’s unexpected 2-1 series victory over the South Africans, and those memories will now be fused with the confidence derived from a committed, organised and thorough team display in Sri Lanka.”I think we can take a lot of confidence out of it, but we went there planning and hoping to win the series, whether it be the one-day game or the Test series,” Clarke said. “So we weren’t shocked but we knew it took a lot of hard work.”That’s probably what it did more than anything else, it showed us how hard it is to win in those tough conditions and I’m certain South Africa is going to be the same, a really tough test to have success over there.”We won’t be slackening off, if anything we’re going to be working harder. We’re trying to get better every day, so there’s certainly no room for taking things for granted.”Australia’s batsmen face the challenge of adjusting back up to the higher bounce to be found on the veld, after a succession of low wickets on the subcontinent, both in Sri Lanka and during the Champions League. To this end, Clarke and others will make the most of the next two weeks before departure ahead of the ODI series that precedes the Tests. Cameron White’s T20 team will depart on Saturday.”It’s as big a challenge no doubt, conditions are a lot different,” Clarke said. “I’ve had the opportunity to look at Sri Lanka and look at the pros and cons, the areas we need to improve, and that’s really important for me over the next week to make sure planning with Troy Cooley and the other coaches, that we are trying to improve a few of those areas.”But South Africa are going to be tough, their own conditions, I think the wickets will probably suit us a bit more, our own fast bowlers I know are looking forward to getting over there and seeing a bit more pace and bounce than there was in Sri Lanka. But it’s going to be a really tough tour.”I think the advantage we have for the guys that are home can now prepare in Australian conditions, which are very similar to South African conditions. The next week or so that’ll be my plan, to do as much batting as I can, whether it be the SCG on outdoor wickets or indoor nets with the bowling machine, and hopefully that’ll hold us in good stead.”

Sports ministry to intervene in CSA bonus dispute

South Africa’s sports ministry will establish a committee to look into CSA’s handling of the bonus dispute

Firdose Moonda16-Oct-2011South Africa’s sports ministry will establish a committee to look into Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) handling of the bonus dispute. The issue was thought to be closed yesterday after former president Mtutuzeli Nyoka was removed by a vote of no-confidence, supposedly ending a 16-month long spat with chief executive Gerald Majola.However, the government has decided to intervene after CSA chose not to make public the findings of the forensic audit into bonus payments conducted by KPMG, and ignored subsequent legal advice by advocate Azhar Bham. The ministry called Nyoka’s removal a “decisive action of the board,” but is displeased with CSA’s overall handling of the saga.”Nothing has been resolved,” Fikile Mbalula, the sports minister, told reporters in Johannesburg. “Our cricket is diminishing, we don’t have sponsors, we don’t have a program of action in terms of what needs to be done, all because of a board of people who differ among themselves. We are intervening.”Mbalula said the ministry would act in accordance with the Sports and Recreation Act to appoint a committee under a retired judge, whose name has yet to be announced. The terms of reference will be announced next week and he hopes the matter will be concluded “before Christmas.” He said the ministry is choosing to intervene because they feel they have given CSA “a chance to resolve their issues within a reasonable period of time.”The differences pertain to the payment of R4.7 million (US$ 671.428) in bonuses to 40 CSA staff members, including Majola, for hosting the 2009 IPL and Champions Trophy. However, those payments were not authorised through CSA’s remunerations committee (REMCO) and were picked up as irregularities. Nyoka had repeatedly pushed for an external audit and had already lost one vote of no-confidence and had to win a court battle to be reinstated.KPMG were eventually tasked with looking into CSA’s financial affairs and found that Majola may have breached the Companies’ Act on four counts. They recommended legal advice which resulted in a severe reprimand for Majola. However, the spat between Majola and Nyoka had not cooled, as Nyoka struggled to gain access to various documents. Nyoka was then removed for a second time on Saturday, with CSA claiming he had breached media protocol and the Companies’ Act by taking his honorarium in advance.Although the KMPG report and Bham opinion have not been released to the public, Mbalula said he has viewed both documents. “Bham endorsed the fact that sections 234 and 235 of the Companies’ Act were breached by Majola and this constitutes serious contraventions of the Act. CSA has possibly not applied its mind properly to the relative seriousness of the findings,” he said. Another advocate, Paul Pretorius, also presented opinion to CSA, which concurred with Bham’s findings. Mbalula indicated that the ministry did not feel CSA took the advice seriously enough, both in their own internal inquiry under acting president AK Khan and when presented with outside, expert opinion.”That commission never came with its recommendations that there are irregularities of payment of bonuses,” he said. “KPMG says there are irregularities, the board goes and takes another decision.” He also implied that the personal spat between Majola and Nyoka may have played its part in the board’s thought processes.”It’s quite interesting that the board can decide to dismiss somebody [Nyoka] but they can’t take action on allegations of corruption. It can take a decision about somebody who is challenging its own decision, run to provinces but it can’t act to protect good governance within its own body. It just says that people should be reprimanded.”Mbalula also said he received telephone calls on Saturday evening from influential people asking him not to intervene. “I got calls last night from people saying, ‘What are you going to say, get out of it, don’t be involved,'” he said. “But I was in the police, nobody can touch me. I am not going to be threatened.”Known for his heavy handed discipline, Mbalula said that arguments that bonuses have been paid in this way at CSA for years, did not sway him. “If a minister in the past ignored that they were paying bonuses irregularly, two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said. “I can’t ignore it now.” Insiders claimed that the reason CSA paid bonuses without the approval or knowledge of their remunerations committee was because of precedents set in both the 2003 World Cup and the 2007 World T20.”What are we going to say to the next federation that gobbles money?” Mbalula asked. “We must be decisive against corruption. I am prepared to leave my job but I will not turn a blind eye to it. If you have done well, you must get a bonus, but it can’t be done against corporate governance. Corporate governance means the board must meet and decide.”He asked for sponsors to “hold their breath” and be patient while the issue is sorted out. CSA have not been able to secure backers with for the T20 series against Australia, do not have ODI or Test event sponsors and two of the three domestic competitions are without sponsors. Corporates have said they do not want to associate with the body until a line has been drawn under the ongoing scandal.CSA may have thought that the line was drawn with the ousting of their biggest critic, Nyoka, and the appointment of Khan, but they appear to have been wrong. Mbalula refrained from lauding Khan’s appointment, saying that it would not be appropriate in the current context “You only congratulate somebody who has been elected in a democratic process not out of crisis.”CSA has stated it will cooperate fully with the ministry’s investigation into the board’s handling of the independent audit. “I can promise the Minister our full co-operation,” Khan said in a statement. “We will be studying his full statement once we have received it and I look forward to discussing the matter further with the Minister when we meet this afternoon.”

Daren Ganga steps down as T&T captain

Daren Ganga has resigned as the captain of the Trinidad & Tobago national team with immediate effect after nine-years at the helm

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011Daren Ganga has resigned as the captain of the Trinidad & Tobago national team with immediate effect after nine-years at the helm. He made the announcement in a press release issued on Saturday.”It is with great humility and a deep sense of gratitude that I announce my resignation from the post of captain of the Trinidad and Tobago team, a position I have held with pride, passion and commitment over the last nine seasons,” Ganga said. “One of the most fulfilling aspects of my captaincy was the opportunity to contribute to Trinidad and Tobago’s rise from the lower tiers of West Indian cricket to the regional powerhouse it is today.”Ganga steps down as the country’s most successful captain so far, leading the team to multiple championships during his tenure, including back-to-back WICB 50-Over Championship in 2008 and 2009, the Stanford 20/20 in 2008 and Caribbean T20 earlier this year. He also led the team to the finals of the first Champions League T20 in 2009. This season, in addition to winning the T20 tournament, T&T also reached the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Tournament and were beaten finalists in the Regional Super50.According to Ganga, “the emergence of a pool of potential leaders within the team” led him to conclude that now was the right time for him to give up the captaincy. However, he remains committed to the side and offered his support to whoever takes his place.”I wish to make it abundantly clear that I am not retiring from cricket and I continue to make myself available for selection on the national cricket team and pledge my support to the new captain.”

West Indies chase elusive victory

ESPNcricinfo previews the third one-dayer between India and West Indies in Ahmedabad

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran04-Dec-2011

Match facts

Monday, December 5
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Can West Indies lift their performance and close out a match to keep the series alive?•AFP

Big Picture

It’s been more than a month since West Indies landed in India but they are yet to win a game. They haven’t been pushovers though, and have made India work hard for victory in most of the matches. Their captain, Darren Sammy, has regularly lauded the never-say-die spirit and character of his team, but another defeat on Monday will leave them with only dead rubbers to break their duck. West Indies’ ODI successes in their previous two home series have also come only once the trophy was lost.India have far less to worry about. While the form of the openers is a little concerning, most of their experiments have paid off. They can’t complain too much about the manner in which their new-look pace attack has fared in the first two matches, Rohit Sharma has played two match-turning innings on his comeback, and Ravindra Jadeja has flourished as an allrounder at No. 7. The team management would like some runs for Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, though, before the series is over.The massive crowds at the previous two matches in Cuttack and Visakhapatnam have sparked off talk about how India needs to play more at smaller cricketing centres. With the scheduling once again ignoring the weekend, it will be interesting to see what the response is on Monday in Ahmedabad. The Sardar Patel Stadium has already hosted three World Cup matches this year, including a high-profile India v Australia quarter-final. Will the fans show up for a one-day game in which the biggest names on both teams are missing?

Form guide

India WWWWW (Most recent first)
West Indies LLLWW

In the spotlight

When India toured the West Indies earlier this year, Suresh Raina was the captain of the side, on the back of crucial innings in the quarter-final and semi-final of the World Cup. He failed in the one-dayers in the Caribbean, but had a more fruitful time against England. Still, Virat Kohli’s outstanding form all year, and Rohit’s recent resurgence means Raina could find himself out of the XI when MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh return. He needs a solid innings or two in the remainder of the series to make his case for a place in the starting XI for the Australia tri-series.It’s only two months since Denesh Ramdin made his comeback to the West Indies side after more than a year on the sidelines, partly as a result of not scoring runs. His batting in the few chances since his return haven’t merited him a position as high as No. 6 in the line-up, and he needs to tighten up his keeping as well – dropping Kohli early on proved very costly for West Indies in the second ODI.

Pitch and conditions

The track at the Sardar Patel Stadium will allow the bowlers to extract pace, curator Dhiraj Parsana said on the eve of the match. “The wicket here has always been good for batting, but the bowlers would also have a good time I believe, as they would be able to get good pace,” Parsana said. “The side that wins the toss should bat first.” However, dew could be a factor here, prompting the captains to decide otherwise. “Efforts have been made to keep the [effects of] dew to a minimum,” Parsana said. “We have stopped watering the field three days prior to the match and have also sprayed [the outfield with] a special kind of chemical.”

Team news

For the home side, the person whose place is most under the scanner is Parthiv Patel. The lack of an alternative wicketkeeper in the squad, though, will keep Parthiv in the XI for only his second international game at his home ground. It is unlikely there will be any experimentation in the make-up of the side that won the first two games.India (possible) 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Umesh Yadav.West Indies have to decide whether they need to play two specialist quicks when they have three medium-pace bowling allrounders – Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell – in the side. There’s also Lendl Simmons to turn to in case a few overs of medium-pace are needed. Marlon Samuels alone isn’t enough for the spin department, particularly in the subcontinent. How they will find a place for an extra spinner remains to be seen.West Indies 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Adrian Barath, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Danza Hyatt, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Andre Russell, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Sunil Narine/Ravi Rampaul.

Stats and trivia

  • India have now won 11 successive one-dayers at home, comfortably a record, beating their previous longest victorious streak of seven matches between 1981 and 1983
  • Viat Kohli is now 57 short of Jonathan Trott in the race to be the highest run-getter of the year in one-dayers
  • West Indies have played India at the Sardar Patel Stadium four times, winnings on three occasions

    Quotes

    “It’s difficult to say I am satisfied when you are losing. But we have shown a lot of spirit and created opportunities to win.”

    “McGrath is my hero. I am inspired by him and trying to bowl like him.”

Four added to Lions squad

England Lions’ winter tour continues to Sri Lanka with a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka A beginning on January 27. After losing 3-2 to Bangladesh A the Lions have made four changes to the squad.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2012England Lions’ winter tour continues to Sri Lanka with a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka A beginning on January 27. After losing 3-2 to Bangladesh A the Lions have made four changes to the squad.Jade Dernbach, Craig Kieswetter, Samit Patel and Chirs Woakes have been called up, in preparation for England’s ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in the Middle East. Simon Kerrigan, Tom Maynard, Tymal Mills and Jason Roy all return to their counties.Surrey’s Dernbach will be hoping for a return to England’s one-day side. He took a combined 1/168 in the first three ODIs on England’s tour of India in October and was dropped for the final two matches and the T20.Samit Patel, the Nottinghamshire all-rounder, was one of few players to come out of the India tour with credit with 160 runs at 40 in the ODI series. Woakes, the Warwickshire bowler, hasn’t played for England since taking 0 for 20 and scoring 19 not out in England’s victory over Ireland in August 2011.”The Sri Lanka tour will provide a further opportunity for us to assess players in the 50-over format before we finalise selection for the senior team’s one-day series against Pakistan next month,” ECB national selector Geoff Miller said.The Lions begin the Sri Lanka tour on January 27 in Dambulla. They play the second one-dayer in Dambulla before moving on to Welagedera for the third match and Colombo for the final two games of the series.England Lions squad to tour Sri Lanka

James Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Scott Borthwick, Danny Briggs, Jack Brooks, Nathan Buck, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Vince, Chris WoakesSri Lanka A v England Lions

Friday, January 27, Dambulla

Sunday, January 29, Dambulla

Tuesday, January 31, Welagedera

Friday, February 3, Colombo

Monday, February 6, Colombo

Ross Taylor out of series with calf injury

Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has been ruled out for three to four weeks after picking up a calf strain

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2012Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has been sidelined for three to four weeks after picking up a calf strain on the second morning of the only Test against Zimbabwe in Napier. Taylor will miss the rest of the Zimbabwe series and is hoping to be fit for the home one-dayers against South Africa in late February.Taylor was injured attempting a single and was forced to retire hurt on 122 early on the second day. Only 15 overs of play was possible before rain intervened with New Zealand at a strong 392 for 5.Paul Close, the New Zealand physio, said that Taylor would have further tests before starting a rehabilitation programme. “While it is early days, our target is to have Ross available for the one-day series against South Africa in late February,” Close said.Opener Brendon McCullum is expected to take over the captaincy from Taylor, although no official vice-captain has been named for the Zimbabwe series.

Yasir Hameed shines in rain-ravaged game

A round-up of the third day of the fourth round of Pentangular Cup matches

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2012The contest between Baluchistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPP) finally began after two rained-out days at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. After KPP were inserted, Yasir Hameed scored a fluent 150, while Adnan Raees hit an unbeaten fifty to help KPP along to 265 for 4 at stumps, with one day to play. Baluchistan’s Ahmed Raza did most of the damage, picking up three wickets with his left-arm spin.At the Sind v Federal Areas match at the Rawalpindi Stadium, it was another wet day with no play possible.

Essex defend Petersen signing

Paul Grayson, Essex’s head coach, has defended the club’s signing of South Africa opener Alviro Petersen for the first two months of the season

George Dobell10-Apr-2012Paul Grayson, Essex’s head coach, has defended the club’s signing of South Africa opener Alviro Petersen for the first two months of the season.Essex have received criticism in some quarters for allowing Petersen the chance to familiarise himself with conditions ahead of this summer’s much-anticipated Test series against England. The series could well decide who is ranked as the No. 1 Test side.But Grayson, who must cope at the start of the season without Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara (both of whom are on England duty) and Owais Shah (who is a member of the Rajasthan Royals squad in the IPL), has insisted that Essex’s record of producing young players is excellent and that it was only fair the club, which is desperate to achieve Championship promotion in 2012, utilised the available overseas talent.”We give a lot to English cricket,” Grayson said. “At the moment we’re just thinking about Essex. Alviro was here last year with Glamorgan and had a very successful season. We wanted a top-order batsman and we have been a little bit short of runs in that area over the last couple of years. So we’re delighted to get him on board. I’ve no issue with the England situation. I know they’re playing South Africa later in the summer.”Petersen was also bullish about his arrival. The 31-year-old, who could well open the innings with Cook in a few matches, suggested the presence of overseas players in the county game had improved the standard of county cricket and helped develop the England Test side.”Joining Essex does help with preparations ahead of the Test series against England,” Petersen said. “It makes sure I go into that series ready mentally, physically and technically.”If it wasn’t for overseas players in the past, I don’t think England would be the team they are today. I think it’s important that you get overseas players to come and play here as it helps England cricket in the long run. Playing with guys who have played international cricket is always going to help. It helps the county circuit. It has been that way for years. It helps the standard and the young guys, too.”Essex are not alone in signing one of the South Africa squad ahead of the series. Somerset have brought in the seamer Vernon Philander, while Surrey have signed Jacques Rudolph. Ashwell Prince has also joined Lancashire, though he may not feature in the Test series. All four of them have enjoyed previous spells in English domestic cricket.”We’re very proud,” Grayson said of Essex’s record of producing players. “Our academy structure is very good under John Childs and Barry Hyam, who do lots of good work, and we try to produce our own players. People say it’s a down side when Cook and Bopara go off and play for England, but we want to produce England players. We’re really happy with that. There’s a nice balance in our squad between youth and experience.”James Foster (England), Graham Napier (uncapped but an England squad member in the past), Tymal Mills (England Lions) and Reece Topley (England U-19s) are among the other leading home-grown players in the Essex squad.Grayson also explained the decision to sign veteran South African Charl Willoughby. With young fast bowlers Topley and Mills pressing for places, the 37-year-old seamer could seem surplus to requirements but Grayson felt the depth and experience in the bowling attack required strengthening.”Charl is 37 and has a terrific record in first-class cricket,” Grayson said. “We felt we needed another experienced bowler to support Graham Napier and David Masters. Reece Topley is away now with England U-19s for three-and-half-weeks and is away again in mid-summer for the U-19 World Cup. So that leaves us five quick bowlers for the summer. History will tell you at some stage they will pick up an injury, so it’s vital we have a conveyor belt of five or six quick bowlers so we can rotate them and keep them fit and fresh.”We’re hoping to make a good start this year. Last year we started the Championship a little slowly, but all our preparations this season have been really good.”Our number one priority this year is Championship cricket. It always has been since I’ve been coach. We’ve been a side that has been promoted and then been relegated and I really want us to become an established Division One side in that format. All our focus has been about four-day cricket.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Finn hopeful of England recall

Steven Finn is keeping his fingers crossed that he is the man chosen to replace the injured Stuart Broad for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo

Andrew McGlashan31-Mar-2012Steven Finn is keeping his fingers crossed that he is the man chosen to replace the injured Stuart Broad for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Broad was forced to fly home on Friday with a calf injury leaving England needing to fill a fast-bowling slot as they aim to level the series and cling onto their No. 1 Test ranking.Finn, who has taken 50 wickets at 26.92 in 12 Tests, has endured a frustrating time on the sidelines of the five-day team despite consistently impressive one-day form against India and Pakistan. Since being dropped after the third Ashes Test in Perth he has played just one more match, against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, but has made sure he has channelled his disappointment into a drive to improve.”We don’t know who is going to play, but if I get my opportunity I’m ready to take it,” Finn said. “I have felt as though I have been ready for a little while now. I have done a lot of bowling this winter and a lot of work on becoming a better bowler. Hopefully I can reap the rewards of that if I get a chance.”Despite not yet playing a Test during England’s overseas campaigns in 2012 Finn hasn’t been short of bowling. He was the stand-out performer during the 5-0 one-day whitewash against India, taking eight wickets at 31.62, before a trip to New Zealand to play domestic cricket for Otago. He didn’t fill his boots in the Plunket Shield – taking nine wickets in four matches – but it kept him ticking over. Then, after sitting out the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, he claimed an outstanding 13 wickets at 10.30 in the four-match ODI series. Finn admits to moments of frustration but has learned to be patient.”When you have the ups and downs of being in the mix but not playing you can feel down pretty quickly but it’s a team game and we need to have a strong squad,” he said. “We have to be able to compensate for injuries as we’ll have to in this next Test match. All I can do as a back-up player is to be ready when the opportunity comes.”However, it may not be quite so simple as a straight swap of Finn for Broad. That one change would give England a tail of Finn, James Anderson and Monty Panesar which could leave Andy Flower uneasy. Tim Bresnan is an all-round option, although to play him as one two quicks may not be enough given Bresnan’s lack of bowling in recent months so they may have to consider dropping Monty Panesar.”Broad is a huge and important player for us but we’ve got a group of guys in the wings who can cover for him,” Finn said. “But Broady is a massive part of the team and will be missed.”Finn also repeated the mantra from the dressing room that the team remains in good spirits despite four straight Test defeats. Another reversal in Colombo and England will concede top spot in the rankings to South Africa and it could get worse than that. If Australia then go on and whitewash West Indies in their three-Test series, they will move above England into second.”Yes, we’ve lost four Tests this winter but we’ve been in positions to win three of them,” Finn said. “We are not out of the hunt. We got to No. 1 for a reason and we just have to keep the belief. A lot of things over the last two or three years have gone our way and we realise it does come around to even itself out.”Edited by Alan Gardner

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