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David Peever, the Cricket Australia chairman, has delivered a pointed message to nations opposing proposed changes to the structure of international cricket – tradition must not stand in the way of progress

Daniel Brettig in Galle03-Aug-2016David Peever, the Cricket Australia chairman, has delivered a pointed message to nations opposing proposed changes to the structure of international cricket – tradition must not stand in the way of progress.Speaking at the official banquet to mark Australia’s series in Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, Peever stressed the importance of keeping the game relevant and balancing tradition with progress. Sri Lanka Cricket and its president Thilanga Sumathipala have been outspoken critics of the proposal for two-tier Test cricket and radical changes to the game’s financial model.”There is no better community of people than the cricket community. But I have to say I think in terms of responsibility and the place that cricket needs to hold globally today and tomorrow,” Peever said. “I do respect traditions but am conscious of not loving them at the expense of progress. Progress and tradition, in our view, need to have at least equal weighting.”Cricket is the people’s game. Without fans it would have little value or relevance. Fans provide the money for us to sustain the game, to invest in the pathways, to help us support the grass roots. We have to always be guided by what they want, but also continuing to stay ahead of the curve and keep the game relevant, in all parts of our society. We need to continue to be a sport of choice for all, men women, boys and girls and girls of all backgrounds all over the world.”Since replacing Wally Edwards as the CA chairman, Peever has kept a low profile, but his words at the dinner marked a statement of intent, even as he sat next to Sumathipala. The pair are expected to hold further talks over the next two days, with SLC’s opposition to ICC reforms likely to be a major topic for discussion. The ICC chairman Shashank Manohar is believed to desire any constitutional and structural change to be approved by unanimous vote.”Sri Lanka Cricket has decided not to support two-tier Test cricket as we have decided it’s detrimental to SLC and for its future,” Sumathipala said last month. “We feel that to make it a top seven – you are virtually relegating the bottom three to a different level.”Among other topics in a wide-ranging address, Peever pointed towards day-night Tests as a major reform, and thanked Australia’s cricketers for taking part in the inaugural pink ball match in Adelaide last year. At the same time he admitted the concept “needs some further refinement”.”In Australia recently we embarked on innovation in our last season and held our inaugural day-night Test in Adelaide,” he said. “We did this to encourage more fans to the game, both watching at home and attending the ground at times when it fits their lifestyle, to make the game more accessible to fans.”We do accept the concept needs some further refinement, and I want to thank the New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa players and their boards for helping us with this important reform. In particular I want to thank our Australian players for the way they have helped lead this change in putting the long term health of the game first. They’re leading change in a way that was similarly led back in the World Series Cricket era.”Peever also argued that international cricket had to be maintained as the game’s pinnacle, rather than allowing further erosion of contests between nations by domestic Twenty20 leagues. We’re very lucky in cricket that we have three viable formats of the game,” he said.”T20 cricket is enticing kids and families to become fans, and I want to take the opportunity to stress here the importance and primacy of international cricket to continue nourishing the game. Money is fundamental to our game, but it has to follow strategy and not the other way round.”

Sri Lanka Cricket will invite Muttiah Muralitharan to present awards at the conclusion of the ongoing series against Australia, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has said

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Aug-2016Sri Lanka Cricket will invite Muttiah Muralitharan to present awards at the conclusion of the ongoing series against Australia, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has said. The move is ostensibly an attempt to repair the board’s relationship with Muralitharan, following the war of words between the two parties that preceded the series.”I have asked the secretary Mohan de Silva to invite Murali to give away the awards on the last day of the final Test match,” Sumathipala told . “Murali is welcome to witness the entire Test. At least we want him to remain present on the last day of the match on August 17, or on the day if the Test finishes early.” The third match of the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy begins at SSC on Saturday.Tempers had flared ahead of the series when Murali took on a ten-day consulting role with Australia, which ended just prior to the first match. Sumathipala had originally said he was not opposed to Murali’s consulting with Australia, but later suggested that the spinner had made an ethical breach by working in opposition to Sri Lanka, citing in particular the trials he had endured regarding his action, in Australia. Murali had then slammed the board for, among other things, its treatment of local coaches.Now, however, there is an appetite to patch up the relationship and move on.

Mitchell Johnson hopes to pursue a mentoring role in Australian cricket, with the aim of helping young players adjust to the major lifestyle changes that come with reaching the elite level

Brydon Coverdale14-Sep-2016Mitchell Johnson hopes to pursue a mentoring role in Australian cricket, with the aim of helping young players adjust to the major lifestyle changes that come with reaching the elite level.Nearly a year on from his international retirement, Johnson is preparing for his first home summer as a spectator, although he will still have a playing role after signing with the Perth Scorchers for the BBL. However, he also believes he has plenty to offer off the field, given his own personal experience of a rapid rise to the big time.”I came from not much money and to all of a sudden earn big cash was really exciting, and you want to spend it and do this and do that,” Johnson told reporters in Perth on Wednesday. “But I had good people around me … Through cricket I’ve experienced all the highs and lows. I’m in the process of figuring out where to go with the mentoring side of things and hopefully in the next year or so I can be part of guiding these young guys.”Johnson used the example of controversies in the National Rugby League to highlight the need for off-field assistance for players, who could easily find themselves led towards questionable behaviour without proper guidance.”I think we’re seeing a lot of sportsmen falling into the trap of earning big money and there’s gambling and there’s drinking and there’s lots of things going on,” Johnson said. “Definitely there’s a real challenge there, looking at it from a cricket point of view, for Cricket Australia and the ACA to bring in some past players and hopefully mentor. I’m definitely looking into that at the moment. It’s something that’s at the front of my mind.”It’s been like this for a long time, it’s not just now. But I guess there’s more opportunities now. There’s more money involved in sport. I guess the example that I see is growing up in north Queensland and seeing what the [NRL team] Cowboys have gone through now.”Getting that good coin now and you see in the papers there’s a bit of trouble with a few players, they come from nowhere to all of a sudden earning big money and I think just a bit of guidance would be great. I don’t think a lot of sportsmen are getting that guidance or mentoring at the moment.”

India captain MS Dhoni blamed the absence of big partnerships for his team’s six-run defeat to New Zealand

Arun Venugopal20-Oct-20161:34

‘If anyone batted 15 minutes more, we would have won’

India captain MS Dhoni blamed the absence of big partnerships for his team’s six-run defeat to New Zealand on a Feroz Shah Kotla pitch that was slow and had variable bounce.After New Zealand had made 242, India stitched together sizeable partnerships in their chase but lost clumps of wickets on two occasions. First, Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey departed in the space of four balls in the 19th over, and then Dhoni, Axar Patel and Amit Mishra fell in a nine-ball span during overs 40 and 41, with Martin Guptill accounting for the last two of those dismissals in his only over of the match.”If you see there were quite a few partnerships, but we kept losing wickets after every partnership,” Dhoni said. “When you are chasing a score like this it is important that you need to keep a few wickets because the runs were coming. Even if you need six or seven runs an over in the end it can easily be achieved but our problem was that we kept losing the wickets. In fact in the 41st over we lost two wickets.”It’s not about one batsman, I felt we lost wickets throughout. Any batsman could have said that had I contributed 10 percent more we would have won the game. So it was the responsibility of the whole batting unit. I felt the bowlers did well.”Dhoni said the pitch continued to slow down despite the dew, which generally ensured the ball came on to the bat better. “I felt it was best to bat in the day time as the game kept progressing the wicket got slightly slower and slower with a bit of variable bounce,” he said. “Also, if you lose one or two wickets that slows you down to an extent. Then, if you have that partnership and still lose a wicket again, again you have to start from scratch.”He defended the decision to bowl first and said 242 was a par score on the pitch. “If any of our batsman had batted 15 minutes more we would have won the game,” he said. “The bowlers did well to come back into the game. Initially it was difficult to contain their batsmen and they played some proper shots, not to forget we dropped two catches off [Kane] Williamson. That also has a bit of a bearing. Overall I was happy with 240-245, because that was very much something we could have achieved.”Dhoni also lauded Jasprit Bumrah’s ability to bowl inch-perfect yorkers, and said his consistency made him his go-to man, particularly at the death. After a tight spell up front, Bumrah returned to clean up New Zealand’s lower order with yorkers and slower deliveries and finished with figures of 3 for 35.”Right from the time he began his international career he has always been someone who can bowl yorkers at will, and that’s why he has been someone I can always bank upon,” Dhoni said. “A lot of times I had to see how every bowler is bowling and then decide who will bowl the last few but with Bumrah be it any condition or situation he has always been someone who gives me those last few overs. He practices that way, he has an awkward action. Still credit to him for consistently bowling those yorkers.”

Sri Lanka Cricket is set to introduce annual contracts for close to 70 cricketers, including players in the youth and emerging categories, in a bid to encourage them to press for places in the national side

Sa'adi Thawfeeq11-Oct-2016Sri Lanka Cricket is set to introduce annual contracts for close to 70 cricketers, across the youth, emerging and senior categories, in a bid to encourage them to press for places in the Sri Lanka team. The new contract system does not include the current national players already contracted with the board.SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said that the new contract system will cover the period between November 1, 2016, and April 30, 2017, after which the cricketers could play in any part of the world. Under this system, the cricketers will be paid between SL Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000 per month ($170 – $680).”There are so many categories of players who are playing cricket so we must look after them,” Sumathipala said. “We don’t want the players who have not played for Sri Lanka to be idling in club cricket but to start putting pressure on the national players and make every effort to play for the country as well as their clubs.”We have decided to look after these cricketers and put them on a national contract. We met about 70 players last Saturday and gave them a proposed agreement and we are informing our member clubs that if there are anybody whom they feel are worthy of contract to inform us.”We will sign the contracts on October 30. The contract lasts from November 1 to April 30. After that date the cricketers are free to play in any part of the world. We want to see that our domestic [structure] is stronger and protected and give the players something they can be happy about. Apart from the national players we are also looking after the other players as well.”The board also announced that it had suspended financial grants for nine member clubs and associations, including Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and Badureliya Cricket Club, for a variety of administrative faults, including the failure to submit an audit report. Both Bloomfield and Badureliya CC are prominent domestic teams that participate in the Premier League tournaments. The other associations are: Southern Province Cricket Association, Negombo Cricket Club, Matara District Cricket Association, Puttalam District Cricket Association, Kollupitiya Sports Club, Nomads Sports Club and Peterson Lane Sports Club. Sumathipala clarified that the teams could continue participating in SLC-conducted tournaments.”From the month of January we have informed the clubs and associations to have their audit reports and to hold their AGM in time,” Sumathipala said. “They have not complied with our request so we have to suspend funding them.”We are not funding any money until they rectify their administration. But for the sake of cricket they will be allowed to play in SLC-conducted tournaments. Until they get their accounts up and running and they submit the audit reports the SLC has decided not to grant them any money.”

Tom Westley and Ben Foakes relished an absorbing contest with Afghanistan’s spinners on a hard-fought first day of England Lions’ first-class match in Abu Dhabi

ECB Reporters Network07-Dec-2016England Lions 279 for 9 (Westley 84, Foakes 70, Alsop 40, Rashid Khan 4-48) v Afghanistan

ScorecardTom Westley played a controlled innings to revive England Lions after an early stutter•Getty Images

Tom Westley and Ben Foakes relished an absorbing contest with Afghanistan’s spinners on a hard-fought first day of England Lions’ first-class match in Abu Dhabi.Westley made the most of his first Lions appearance of the winter with a patient 84, sharing a fifth-wicket partnership of 125 with Foakes before the Surrey wicketkeeper was dismissed for 70.But the Afghans hit back after tea to reduce the Lions to 279 for 9 at the close with Rashid Khan, an impressive young legspinner who has been playing in the Bangladesh Premier League, earning figures of 4 for 48.”I knew that after three weeks out here I might only have this one innings, or maybe two, so it was an important innings for me,” said Westley, who was the only member of the Lions squad not to appear in the three-match one-day series against UAE.”There was a bit of pressure on and plenty of noise when Foakesy came in, so it was enjoyable to put on a decent partnership. I thought the openers had played well early on as well to give us a start. It’s just a shame one of us top three couldn’t have gone on to something a bit bigger so we could be 320 for 5 rather than 280 for 9.”Credit to Afghanistan though. I remember playing against them for Essex second XI a few years ago, but now they are respected as a good side, with players who play in competitions like the BPL. They showed that with the way they played today, especially the legspinner.”The start of play was delayed by 15 minutes because of thick morning fog in Abu Dhabi. But Toby Roland-Jones, who followed Keaton Jennings and Nick Gubbins as the Lions’ third captain in four matches on this trip, chose to bat despite the unusual desert moisture, and openers Gubbins and Tom Alsop justified that decision with a stand of 67 in 15 overs.Alsop, the 21-year-old Hampshire left-hander who was selected ahead of Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond, made a flying start by taking 12 including two boundaries off the first over of the match, and continued in that positive manner to reach 40 from 46 balls.However he went back to the first ball after the first drinks break of the day and was pinned lbw by Rashid. The legspinner then switched ends to strike twice in the space of three balls, bowling Gubbins for 26 and then Joe Clarke for a duck to leave the Lions on 85 for three.
It was 97 for four when Liam Livingstone, having recovered from the illness which confined him to bed on Tuesday, fell caught behind to seamer Yamin Ahmadzai.But after a few nervy early moments Westley and Foakes gradually got on top of the Afghan bowlers and quietened the excited chatter in the field.Foakes was lbw trying to sweep the veteran offspinner Mohammad Nabi after facing 137 balls and hitting nine fours, and Westley grafted on for 13 more overs before he also fell to Nabi, caught at short leg.Rashid then trapped Sam Curran lbw for 17 and Afghanistan’s seamers chipped in with the second new ball, taking the wickets of Roland-Jones and Ollie Rayner – who had passed a morning fitness test on a knee injury.

James Anderson has played down Virat Kohli’s brilliance with the bat, suggesting home conditions have suited his game

George Dobell in Mumbai11-Dec-2016He may have scored more than 600 runs in the series, but Virat Kohli’s excellence with the bat appears to have left James Anderson cold.Kohli, whose 235 in Mumbai has left him averaging 128.00 in the four matches so far, came into the series with a point to prove against England. In nine previous Tests against them, he averaged just 20.12 with a single score over 50.He struggled particularly badly on the 2014 tour of England. With England frustrating him with a line outside off stump, he was drawn into dangerous, impatient strokes against the moving ball and ended the series with an average of just 13.40. Anderson dismissed him four times.Speaking before the start of this series, Kohli said: “I can put it very simply as that was a phase I didn’t perform very well, and it happened to be England. Could have been any other country in the world. I just take it as a setback in my career, and not motivate myself in a way that I have to prove people wrong or have to do something special against a particular opposition. For me, I’m playing a cricket ball, be it any game, any opposition, anywhere in the world. Those things do not change for me so I don’t put those things in my head.”Kohli has made his point even more eloquently with the bat. On the same surfaces on which England have, since Rajkot, struggled, he has two centuries and four others scores of 40 and above. He has consistently proved a significant obstacle for England and, having ensured his team would leave with a draw in the first Test, made centuries in Visakhapatnam and Mumbai.Perhaps his best performance came in the second innings in Visakhapatnam, where he made 81 out of a total of 204 despite a pitch of uneven bounce and against an England attack gaining lateral movement with the ball. It was masterful batting and further evidence that Kohli is a vastly improved player since the last time he faced England.Anderson, however, remains unconvinced. He suggested that Kohli is not so much an improved batsman, as a batsman playing in conditions that do not exploit his “technical deficiencies”.”I’m not sure he’s changed,” Anderson said. “I just think any technical deficiencies he’s got aren’t in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation.”We had success against him in England, but the pace of the pitches over here just take any flaws he has out of the equation. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement. Pitches like this suit him down to the ground.”When that’s not there, he’s very much suited to playing in these conditions. He’s a very good player of spin and if you’re not bang on the money and don’t take your chances, he’ll punish you. We tried to stay patient against him, but he just waits and waits and waits. He just played really well.”Anderson took a similarly unflattering view of India’s spinners. While R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have 39 wickets between them in the series, Anderson said: “I’m not sure they’re too difficult to handle.”He did admit, however, that England had endured their “worst morning of the tour from a bowling point of view” on the fourth day in Mumbai.”It is immensely frustrating,” he said. “Coming to the ground this morning, we needed to get three wickets. If we could get them we’re still well in the game. Unfortunately we didn’t bowl as well as we could have first thing. The ball started flying around and then they got settled and managed to put on a big partnership.”Despite going into the final day 49 runs behind and with only four wickets in hand, Anderson insisted that England still had a chance of the win they need to stay in the series.”We’re going to come and try to fight our way back into this game if we can,” he said. “We’re 50 runs behind. If we can bat with the positive intent we showed today, there’s no reason why we can’t get a hundred ahead of them and then try to put some pressure on them with the ball.”

Tom Smith, the Lancashire allrounder and former captain, has been forced to retire following medical advice

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2017Tom Smith, the Lancashire allrounder and former captain, has been forced to retire following medical advice. Smith made a comeback in 2016, after missing most of the previous season and giving up the captaincy, but has now decided to call time on a 11-year career.His retirement will come as a blow to Glen Chapple, who was last week appointed Lancashire’s new head coach. Smith, 31, was Chapple’s successor as captain and would have been one of the senior players in the dressing room. He will remain involved with the club, however, assisting Gary Yates in the academy.Lancashire have also been linked with signing South Africa wicketkeeper Dane Vilas on a Kolpak deal to add experience to their squad.”It’s with great sadness that I’ve had to retire from the professional game due to injury,” Smith said. “Following medical advice and recently becoming a father my long-term health is most important at this time.”I would like to take this chance to thank the whole of Lancashire County Cricket Club for 10 amazing seasons. To my team-mates, coaching staff and especially the medical team you have all had a massive influence on my career and I’d like to thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in over the years. To all the members and supporters I can’t thank you enough for all the support and encouragement you have given myself and the team. I now look forward to joining you as a fan and watching from the sidelines.”Smith, a Lancashire academy graduate, battled injuries throughout his career. He was an influential member of the side that ended Lancashire’s 77-year wait for an outright Championship title in 2011 and also won selection for England A – on their 2006-07 tour of Bangladesh – and England Lions in the summer of 2014, when he had his best season with 773 first-class runs and 54 wickets to help secure promotion.He was named as captain in all formats at the start of 2015 but only played one match that season before requiring back surgery. He fought back to fitness to feature again in 2016, describing the experience as “like making my debut all over again”. Smith gave his full blessing to Steven Croft taking over the captaincy.”Over the last 10 years I’ve been lucky enough to take to the field with some great players, childhood idols and at the same time create some fantastic memories,” Smith said. “2011 will always be remembered as a great highlight from my career, but to have the honour of captaining this great county, albeit for a brief period is something that I’m very proud of.”Chapple has been putting together plans for the coming season, having taken charge after the departure of Ashley Giles to Warwickshire. As well as Vilas, who has played six Tests for South Africa, Lancashire have reportedly looked into the possibility of signing Shivnarine Chanderpaul on a Kolpak deal and could bring in a marque overseas signing as player-coach for the NatWest T20 Blast.”It’s very sad that Tom has had to retire,” Chapple said. “He has made an outstanding contribution to Lancashire County Cricket Club.”He is a product of Lancashire’s local leagues and graduated through our academy. He is one of the nicest guys I know and it has been a privilege to play alongside him and then coach him. He was always 100% committed to the club and he will always be welcomed back at Emirates Old Trafford.”

AB de Villiers led the run charts and Martin Guptill recovered from a hamstring injury to play perhaps his best innings. But neither of them will feature in the upcoming three-Test series

Firdose Moonda05-Mar-2017In a one-day series dominated by bowlers, two batsmen in particular stood out. AB de Villiers led the run scoring and Martin Guptill recovered from a hamstring injury to play perhaps his best innings. But neither of them will feature in the upcoming three-Test series between their two countries, albeit for different reasons.De Villiers has opted out of the series – and most of Test cricket for 2017 – as part of a workload management program while Guptill has not been selected despite his finding form, after he lost his Test place late last year, and the contest may be poorer without them.”Anybody, any coach, would want AB de Villiers in their side but he has made a decision and we respect that decision,” Russell Domingo, the South Africa coach, said. “He plays such a lot of cricket around the world, at such a high level all the time and he has got a young family so you can understand those decisions. We all definitely wanted him to stay but it’s a decision he has made for family life.”De Villiers, who has had lengthy breaks over the last eight months with an elbow problem, appeared close to his best in the last three weeks. His 262 runs came at 87.33 and included two half-centuries but that was not enough to change his mind about his Test hiatus. “I can’t wait to get home. I am really looking forward to get to my family. A three-week tour works really well. A couple of weeks at home before more cricket starts again is coming at a great time for me,” de Villiers said. “I will really miss the boys and I will watch the cricket but it’s a great time for me to get back and rest the mind.”He will have the next few weeks off before joining up with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL and then reuniting with his national team-mates as they prepare for the Champions Trophy – a tournament de Villiers “believes in my heart” they can win. Even if they don’t, he will see the competition as a valuable marker for his ultimate goal of lifting the 2019 World Cup, which will take priority over all other cricket for now. “He needs to freshen up and he needs to try and win the World Cup in 2019 – that’s a big ambition for him. It’s his decision and we respect it,” Domingo said.Without de Villiers, South Africa have already won three Test series, against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka, and although they will miss their star batsman, Domingo is confident they can cope without him “We know when he is here, he gives absolutely everything, there’s no doubt about it. He will be missed but we’ve gone through a series against Sri Lanka and a series in Australia without him so the game goes on. As good as anyone is, the game goes on,” Domingo said. “Somebody will in time get to de Villiers’ level. When that is we don’t know, but someone will get there at some stage.”South Africa’s Test middle-order is made up of JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock with Theunis de Bruyn included as a reserve batsmen. Of those, only Bavuma has struggled of late but he found some form domestically during February with two fifties in his last four matches.Those numbers pale in comparison to Guptill’s but he was never going to be considered for a Test recall after being dropped at the start of the season, so while the unbeaten 180 reignited the debate the decision had been made. New Zealand coach Mike Hesson explained Guptill could be tried in the middle-order, where Henry Nicholls is currently establishing himself, but will first have to stake his claim in domestic cricket with Auckland.Guptill had a reputation for being loose outside the off stump and, as a result, is a favourite for the South Africa attack. In Tests, no bowler has dismissed him more than the absent Dale Steyn (six times in seven matches) and Vernon Philander is encroaching on that, having accounted for Guptill four times in six matches. Guptill has only scored one fifty against South Africa in 13 Tests innings but his two ODI hundreds – coming in the space of three innings – and one T20 century have served as enough warning of what he can do. Domingo was not complaining that they will not face him again over the next three weeks.”You always feel maybe you can bowl to the rest of the guys [in one-day cricket] whereas Martin is a guy who can dominate you straight away. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor will try and get themselves in but Martin is a guy who, from ball one, can take you apart,” Domingo said. “He is a hell of a player and that was one of the best one-day hundreds I’ve seen. His ball striking is phenomenal. I know his Test record hasn’t been as good as he would have hoped for but we always think a team without Martin Guptill is probably not the same.”

Max Holden and George Bartlett earned a select place in the history of England Under-19s cricket with a new batting record in the Youth Test against India in Nagpur

ECB Reports Network14-Feb-2017Max Holden and George Bartlett earned a select place in the history of England Under-19s cricket as they extended their marathon partnership on the second day of the first four-day match against India in Nagpur.They were finally separated after a stand of 321 in 82 overs, a new record for any wicket for England which has only been beaten once in all international Under-19 cricket, in 2001 by an Indian opening pair including Gautam Gambhir who put on 391 against an England attack including Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett, and captained by Ian Bell.Bartlett was the first to go, stumped for 179 off 249 balls including 25 fours and three sixes. That became the highest score by an England Under-19s batsman overseas, beating 170 by Nasser Hussain against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 1986-87.There are still 10 batsmen ahead of Bartlett in the all-time England list, but all of them made their runs on home soil – including his Somerset seniors Marcus Trescothick with 206 against India at Edgbaston in 1994, and James Hildreth against Bangladesh in Taunton a decade later.After Bartlett’s dismissal, Holden batted on, for almost 20 more overs and into a fifth session, until after eight hours and 47 minutes at the crease the opener was finally dismissed for 170 – leaving him joint second with Hussain on England’s overseas list.Still the agony wasn’t over for India as Delray Rawlins, the Sussex allrounder who had been England’s batting star of the one-day series ended unbeaten on 70 from 94 balls before Holden declared on 501 for 5 – England’s second highest total against India in Under-19 cricket, and the third highest by anyone in India.