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Zaheer Khan, the India fast bowler, has said his recovery from ankle surgery has been slow but positive so far, and that he has not set a time-frame for his return to international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2011Zaheer Khan, the India fast bowler, has said his recovery from ankle surgery has been slow but positive so far, and that he has not set a timeframe for his return to international cricket.”The first phase of my rehab programme went off pretty well,” Zaheer told the media after receiving India’s Arjuna Award from the country’s sports minister in New Delhi on Monday. “I have started with the second phase of my rehab. I will soon be going to the National Cricket Academy. My progress has been slow but positive.”To start bowling, I have to get back the full strength in my ankle. Then I might play a few club matches or first-class matches. I am taking one day at a time and not setting any targets.”Zaheer was originally diagnosed with a hamstring injury during India’s first Test against England at Lord’s in July this year, but was later ruled out of the remainder of the series with a right ankle impingement that required surgery followed by a 14-16 week period of rehabilitation. When asked whether he was eyeing India’s tour of Australia later this year as a target for his return, Zaheer said he was simply taking it day by day.”I have not decided on any date but I will be back very soon. It’s frustrating not to play at the highest level. But you can only control [only] the ‘controllables’ and be patient.”Commenting on the India team for the home one-day series against England, Zaheer said he expects the dropped Harbhajan Singh to fight his way back into the squad. “Harbhajan has produced great performances for the country. I am sure that he will be back soon, as he is too good a player to be left out. He has a lot of fire in him and he is a strong character.India’s bowling attack struggled in England without Zaheer’s leadership and ability, and he said knowing how much the team needs him spurs him on to perform better. “It always acts as a motivation when your team needs you. I don’t think the over-dependence on me adds to any pressure, rather it feels good to go to sleep with this kind of expectation. Hopefully, I will be back soon to play that role again.”

A senior anti-corruption officer for the ICC told a court on Tuesday that his department had no evidence of any match-fixing carried out by the Australia team

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court11-Oct-2011A senior anti-corruption officer for the ICC told a court on Tuesday that his department had no evidence of any match-fixing carried out by the Australia team.Alan Peacock, who has been with the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit since its inception in September 2000, was asked a question by Salman Butt’s legal team as to whether he had evidence that Australia fix matches or parts of matches. “We have no evidence,” he replied.The line of questioning came from Butt’s lawyers as they were seeking to discredit agent Mazhar Majeed, who is at the centre of spot-fixing allegations involving Butt and who claimed in secret recordings played in Southwark Crown Court that Australia are the biggest match-fixers and fix ten “brackets” a day. The claim caused an angry backlash in Australia overnight as players and officials leapt to the defence of the team.That allegation by Majeed was one of several outlandish ones heard in court on Monday that included being “very good friends” with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and tennis champion Roger Federer.Ali Bajwa QC attacked the credibility of Majeed as Butt sat in the dock next to former team-mate Mohammed Asif.Both face charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal should be fit to play in the first ODI against Pakistan, team coach Stuart Law has said

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2011Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal should be fit to play in the first ODI against Pakistan, team coach Stuart Law has said. Tamim was forced out of the only T20 game between the sides at the last minute because of a knee injury, but Law said the knee had “responded well to the treatment and at this point it looks that he [Tamim] can take his place in the top order”.Tamim’s absence for the T20 meant Naeem Islam opened alongside Imrul Kayes, while Alok Kapali batted at No.3, where he made a three-ball duck. Law admitted that last-minute changes in the batting line-up tended to destablise a side, but said rather than seeing it as a negative that Kapali had to be pushed up the order, it was more of a “positive because it’s an opportunity for him to play in the side and get a opportunity to bat and its unfortunate the way it worked out last night”.Law did not blame the wicket for Bangladesh’s poor batting performance, saying that while it wasn’t what they expected, it was understandable given how much cricket had been played at Mirpur over the last three weeks.”There has to be some self blame in there as well,” Law said. “We have to be able to score runs under difficult conditions to be able to beat good teams around the world.”Bangladesh lost the T20 by 50 runs and Law said it would be tough to beat a Pakistan team that was coming off a confidence-boosting tour against Sri Lanka in the UAE, where Pakistan claimed series wins in all three formats. At the same time, he said Bangladesh was not there simply to make up the numbers.”We are not here to lose and not here to go into the series thinking that we can’t compete. We are into the series putting our plans together and if we can stick to the plans and play good cricket, anything is possible.”It’s going to be tough. They had a very good series win against Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankans have got some great players in their line up. We know that we have to play very good cricket to beat Pakistan. But we can’t think this way. We should be thinking that we should put scores up in the board and defend totals and fight them the way we really need to. Pakistan are a world-class team. If we can start emulating them then that would be really good.”Pakistan are riding a rich vein of form at the moment, and Younis Khan said that if the batting keeps clicking alongside the bowling, then they could win every series they play.”The good thing about these youngsters is that they want to learn,” Younis said. “Guys like Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, they’ve already performed in the top level so I think our future in batting looks very bright at the moment.”I think we have a good combination of young and old. Especially in the bowling, the bowling wins you matches. We have a lot of quality spinners now in [Saeed] Ajmal, [Shoaib] Malik, [Mohammad] Hafeez, and [Shahid] Afridi. And also a very good pace attack with Aizaz Cheema, Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir. So that’s why I think we are winning matches consistently now.”Still, he was not prepared to completely write-off Bangladesh’s chances in the series. “In international games you have to take the opposition seriously. After the series you can say weather it was an easy series or a hard one. I think it will be a good one.”

Bhushan Chauhan and Jayadev Shah kept the Mumbai bowlers toiling through the bulk of the day, before Saurashtra struck in the lead-up to stumps to assume full control

Nagraj Gollapudi in Rajkot07-Dec-2011
ScorecardZaheer Khan’s return to complete fitness was the most important development of the day, but Saurashtra took control of the game•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai have themselves to blame for getting distracted in the final half hour of the Saurashtra innings when the hosts’ tenth-wicket pairing of Sandip Maniar and Siddharth Trivedi looted 57 runs from seven overs, which frustrated and exhausted the visitors. Then, in a smart move, Saurashtra captain Jayadev Shah declared the innings, leaving Mumbai a tricky interval of six overs to negotiate before stumps. Mumbai duly lost two wickets in opener Sushant Marathe, and Abhishek Nayar, the best batsman so far this season, in the final over of the day, giving the hosts complete control.Saurashtra had put themselves under pressure after having scored at a run-rate of under three per over on the first day. But today, their batsmen, led by Jaydev, played with a combative spirit, scoring at a four-plus rate consistently. His 135-run alliance for the fourth wicket with Bhushan Chauhan, the overnight unbeaten batsman, ensured Mumbai toiled for a second successive day.Having already crossed the 500-run mark, Saurashtra’s lower order used the long handle fearlessly. Mumbai paid the price for taking the tail lightly as Maniar and Trivedi rubbed the salt openly. Trivedi charged Ramesh Powar confidently, lofting the offspinner for two sixes and three fours in an over. Surprisingly, Powar and Dhawal Kulkarni played into the opponents’ hands, failing to bowl a wicket-to-wicket line. Adding insult to injury were the Mumbai fielders, including senior players like Zaheer Khan, who failed to show the pro-activeness to convert the half chances.If the day ended on a promising note for Saurashtra, it had started in a similar vein for their opponents. Zaheer Khan angled his third delivery of the morning across the bat of a helpless Cheteshwar Pujara. The thin outside edge was snatched nicely by Marathe who did well to move to his right quickly before throwing himself head-on and latch on to the catch with his outstretched fingers. But even if Zaheer had instantly found his lengths and line, and was bowling at his desired pace, the pitch had not changed nature.Still the onus was on Saurashtra to set up a contest considering Mumbai were comfortably perched atop Group A with sixteen points, and were favourites to make the knockout stage. Saurashtra, with just eight points, had to force matters to gain the maximum points from this game.Once Zaheer finished his first spell of four overs, Chauhan and Jaydev understood the dangers had diminished drastically. Chauhan, who already had scored a Ranji century against Mumbai during his record 275-run opening stand with Chirag Pathak in 2008-09 season, scored his third first-class century, which he brought up with a lofted straight drive for four. He flashed his blade all across the empty Khanderi ground, the new base of the Saurashtra Cricket Association.It was the second time the opening pair of Pathak and Chauhan had got hundreds in the same innings against Mumbai. In fact it was the third occasion when two Saurashtra openers achieved that feat in a Ranji Trophy match. Pathak and Sagar Jogiyani had compiled centuries against Bengal last season.At the other end Jaydev, normally an aggressive batsman, was happy to snatch easy doubles and fours as the opposition bowlers failed to keep him in check. With runs ticking fast, Iqbal Abdulla started pitching behind Chauhan’s stumps. He did not mind the wides, considering his sole aim was to make Chauhan impatient. The strategy paid dividends at the stroke of lunch when Chauhan went for the paddle sweep, top-edged, and was caught easily by Suryakumar Yadav at short fine-leg.Six overs into the second session, Zaheer got the ball to reverse just that bit to hit Jaydev’s off stump and pick up his third wicket. That Zaheer was back to complete fitness was the only bit of good news for Mumbai, and a welcome development for the Indian squad and selectors.

The opening batsman Phil Jaques, who played 11 Tests for Australia before a serious back injury ended his international career, will retire from first-class cricket in Australia at the end of this summer

Brydon Coverdale31-Jan-2012The opening batsman Phil Jaques, who played 11 Tests for Australia before a serious back injury ended his international career, will retire from first-class cricket in Australia at the end of this summer. Jaques, 32, will continue his career with Yorkshire, where he will be classified as a local player due to his British passport.His decision will mean the end of a career spanning 12 seasons with New South Wales, for whom he scored 5659 first-class runs at an average of 41.30. He was even more successful in Test cricket, where he made 902 runs at 47.47. Jaques scored three Test centuries, including one in his last innings for Australia, in Barbados in 2008.Jaques had been given the opening role after the retirement of Justin Langer, and he looked set for a long career in the baggy green. However, he was ruled out of the 2008 tour of India due to a long-standing back injury that required surgery, and he never quite returned to his peak form – or to the Australia side. In the past three seasons in Australia, he has averaged 35.17 in first-class cricket.”I have made this decision with my family in mind and I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my career,” Jaques said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time playing cricket for New South Wales and Australia and have always considered it a privilege. I have also made plenty of great friends along the way.”I hope to remain involved with Cricket NSW in some capacity in the future. My years playing for NSW have helped me to grow as a player and person and I appreciate all of their support I have received over the years. I walk away with no regrets knowing that I have given 100% every time I have walked onto the ground and I will continue to do this until the end of the season.”Jaques played in two successful Pura Cup finals for New South Wales, in 2004-05 and 2007-08, as well as the state’s 2005-06 one-day triumph. He scored 2340 one-day runs for the Blues at 39.66, and at one stage held the state record for the highest one-day score, with his unbeaten 171 against Queensland in February 2010.A regular in the county competition, he has spent time with Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, but this will be his first season playing as a local player. Jaques was born in Wollongong in New South Wales to English parents, which allowed him to acquire a British passport.

The fast bowler James Pattinson is confident he will be fit to play in the second half of the Commonwealth Bank Series

Brydon Coverdale01-Feb-2012The fast bowler James Pattinson is confident he will be fit to play in the second half of the Commonwealth Bank Series. Pattinson is recovering from a foot injury that ruled him out of the final two Tests against India after he made an outstanding start to his Test career, with 25 wickets at an average of 18.12 in his first four matches in the baggy green.After the Sydney Test, scans showed Pattinson had the early signs of stress fractures in his left foot and he was declared unfit for the rest of the Test series. However, Pattinson now believes he will be able to return in time for the end of the triangular one-day series, which would also make him available for the tour of the West Indies that follows.”My recovery is going really well at the moment,” Pattinson said on the Cricket Australia website. “I’m about three weeks away from coming back. My foot is feeling good. I’m back running and doing some bowling. I’ll hopefully be back for the one-day international series about halfway through it, about the fifth one-dayer and then hopefully we can get into the finals and I’ll be right for them.”Australia’s fifth match in the series is against India in Brisbane on February 19, but even if Pattinson does not come up for that game he could be in the mix for the last few matches and the finals, which are scheduled for the first week of March. That Pattinson’s injury does not appear to be long-term is good news for an Australia side already missing the vice-captain Shane Watson and the fast man Pat Cummins.Cummins has been all but ruled out of the Australian summer due to a heel injury but he believes he could be fit for the Caribbean tour in March. Watson has been told not to rush back too soon and he said earlier this week that his calf injury was proving difficult to shake, and at this stage there is no clear time-frame for his return.

Maharashtra teenager Vijay Zol, who recently hit an unbeaten 451 in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, is one of five Indian youngsters signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming IPL season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2012Maharashtra teenager Vijay Zol, who recently hit the headlines for scoring an unbeaten 451 in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, is one of five Indian youngsters signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming IPL season.”I was told that Anil Kumble sir had seen me play during the domestic season and he had asked for my number after the match,” Zol told the . “It was during the knockout stages of the Cooch Behar tournament that I got a call from the RCB officials. They asked me to come down to Bangalore and play a few matches for the team.”Playing for RCB in the IPL is huge, and getting an opportunity to just be around players like Anil Kumble sir, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and Daniel Vettori is even bigger. But my ultimate dream, like any other player in the IPL, is to don the national colours.”The Royal Challengers had seven vacancies in their squad including one overseas player after the player auctions on February 4. Apart from Zol, they also included left-arm spinners KP Appanna and J Syed Mohammad who played for them in prior seasons. Appanna was part of the Royal Challengers set-up in the first three years of the IPL, before missing out in the 2011 edition. He forced his way back into the reckoning with a haul of 28 wickets in the recently-concluded Ranji Trophy season, where he was the joint fourth-highest wicket taker. Syed Mohammad had an impressive debut IPL season in 2011, when he joined the side as a replacement midway through the tournament.The two other slots went to allrounders Karun Nair from Karnataka and S Thiagarajan from Tamil Nadu.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Asia Cup game between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Mirpur

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit14-Mar-2012

Match facts

March 15, 2012
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Pakistan cannot depend on their bowlers to bail them out each time the batting misfires•Associated Press

Big Picture

The best and worst of Pakistan’s unpredictability were on display against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener on Sunday. The batting was a rollercoaster ride from a high of 135 for 1, a low of 198 for 7 and a surge to 262 for 8. Pakistan then saw the opposition eyeing a win at 224 for 5, before Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal averted what would have been an embarrassing loss with a burst of 5 for 17. The game was Bangladesh’s to lose, and they went ahead and lost it. Sri Lanka will not be so helpful to Pakistan.Pakistan’s ODI batting has recently been shaky against fast bowling even in Asia, one of the main reasons for their 0-4 whitewash against England in the UAE. On Sunday, the hard work done by Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed was undone by Pakistan losing three wickets – two of them to hooks off short deliveries – in three overs to Shahadat Hossain.Their new-found ability under Misbah-ul-Haq to absorb blows and build steadily has worked superbly in Tests; ODIs on the subcontinent have unfortunately degenerated into hitting bouts decided by whose batsmen are more powerful. Back in conditions which their batsmen love, India outgunned Sri Lanka on Tuesday.Pakistan’s batting looks thinner when compared to the two other Asian heavyweights, and they cannot depend on their bowlers to bail them out each time the batting misfires. Certainly not in these conditions.Sri Lanka’s worry is not that they lack the firepower in their batting; the issue at the moment is that it is unevenly distributed, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene opening and Kumar Sangakkara coming in at No. 3. While Jayawardene, batting with much more freedom at the top, has earned the right to continue to open, Sri Lanka need one of their three senior batsmen to drop down the order to guide the inexperience of Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne. The case for that has become stronger with the exit of Angelo Mathews from the tournament.

Form guide

Pakistan WLLLL

Sri Lanka LLWLW

In the spotlight

Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers allowed India to convert a good total into a challenging one with a variety of full tosses at the death and MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina plundered 78 runs in 43 balls. The bowlers kept going for the yorkers and more often than not, kept missing the blockhole. The short delivery wasn’t tried much. Sri Lanka need an improved performance from them tomorrow; another loss in this short tournament could end their chances of making the final.Mohammad Hafeez was the Man of the Match against Bangladesh for his 89 in an opening stand of 135 and two important wickets. Before that, the last time Hafeez made a fifty was also the last time Pakistan had had a century opening partnership, in November 2011. This shows how important Hafeez’s contribution has become, and will be tomorrow, for this Pakistan side.

Pitch and conditions

Chasing is not proving to be that difficult in Bangladesh, though the results of the first two matches don’t show it. MS Dhoni said on Tuesday that the Shere Bangla Stadium had been a difficult ground to defend against Sri Lanka with the fast outfield and some dew making batting second relatively easier. But with two sides now having lost after choosing to field, it will be a difficult choice at the toss tomorrow for the winning captain.

Teams

Mathews’ departure from Bangladesh with a calf injury is a severe blow for Sri Lanka. They missed his calm head during the chase when wickets fell in a heap during the batting Powerplay. With Thisara Perera still uncertain, Sri Lanka’s lower middle order does not inspire confidence.Lasith Malinga’s absence from the XI against India was a major talking point. Malinga bowled and batted in the nets today and should come in for Suranga Lakmal.Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Upul Tharanga, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Seekkuge Prasanna, 11 Lasith MalingaPakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema

Stats and trivia

David Morgan, the man recently tasked with the latest review of English domestic cricket, has been appointed Glamorgan’s president for the next four years

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2012David Morgan, the man recently tasked with the latest review of English domestic cricket, has been appointed Glamorgan’s president for the next four years.Morgan, a former ICC president and former chairman of the ECB as well as Glamorgan, was unanimously voted in at the county’s AGM at the end of last month and will serve until the 2015 Ashes Test at Cardiff.He said: “I’m greatly honoured to serve Glamorgan as its president and will do all I can to help the chairman and other officers of the club in their quest for future success.”Club chairman Barry O’Brien said: “I was delighted when David accepted our invitation to be our president through to the Ashes Test in 2015. David is one of the world’s great cricket administrators and his continuing contribution to Glamorgan will be of enormous value”.

England won their seventh successive home series as they made stately work of their target of 108 to win the second Test at Trent Bridge

The Report by David Hopps28-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryOnce again Tim Bresnan made a key breakthrough for England as they bowled out West Indies for 165•Getty Images

England won their seventh successive home series as they made stately work of their target of 108 to win the second Test at Trent Bridge by nine wickets with more than a day to spare. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook made the game safe in an opening stand of 89 after dismissing West Indies for 165 shortly after lunch on another sun-drunk day in Nottingham.A hard-earned but ultimately convincing victory put England 2-0 up with Edgbaston to play, but they are under no illusions that the real challenge lies in wait later this summer with the visit of South Africa. West Indies restricted the first-innings deficit to 58, only for a crazed batting session on the third evening to prevent them contesting the Test keenly deep into the final day.Strauss, unsurprisingly, was the more confident of England’s openers after centuries in the first two Tests and three boundaries in an over, including two pulls, in Kemar Roach’s third over, asserted that there would be no final twist. England’s captain, though, did not quite see his side home, out for 41 as Marlon Samuels picked up a soft wicket when he drove a full ball to extra cover.Apart from one other hairy moment for Strauss, on 34, when an edged cut against Darren Sammy flew close to the left hand of Denesh Ramdin, a motionless wicketkeeper, that was England’s only blemish. They will now seriously consider resting James Anderson at Trent Bridge to give Steven Finn an opportunity ahead of the South Africa series.West Indies’ only prolonged resistance came from Samuels who, as he approached his fifty, told England’s close catchers in relaxed enough fashion to shut up because he was going to make back-to-back centuries.He finished unbeaten on 76 as predictably he ran out of partners, his final note of defiance before West Indies’ innings ended to take 16 from an over from Graeme Swann, sallying down the pitch to strike him over long on three times, one of the two sixes leaving an elderly lady in a sun hat looking with some concern at a blow on the hand.Samuels’ reputation has grown throughout the series. He looked as if he had the capacity to bat through the innings, barring something special from an England bowler, but his choice was to seek miracles, farming the strike and attempting a counterattack, or to play with sensible enterprise and provide his team mates with a pointed batting lesson.

Smart stats

• England won their eighth Test against West Indies by a margin of nine or more wickets. Four of these wins have come in Tests played since 2000. They have won four each in England and West Indies.

• Since the beginning of 2008, England have won eight of nine home series. Their last home series defeat came against South Africa in 2008.

• West Indies have won just two Tests against top Test teams (excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) since 2009. Their last win came against Pakistan in Guyana when they won by 40 runs.

• West Indies have now lost 17 of their last 26 Tests played against England since 2000. They have managed only two wins in the same period – the first was in Edgbaston (2000) and the second in Jamaica (2009).

• In Tests played since 2008, West Indies average 27.71 in their second innings but 31.24 in their first innings. In the same period, they have been bowled out for sub-200 scores in the second innings on ten occasions.

• Marlon Samuels became the eighth West Indian batsman to make a century and half-century in the same match in England. George Headley and Gordon Greenidge are the only West Indian players to score a century in both innings in England.

• Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook took their partnership aggregate in Tests past the 5000-run mark. Among the five batting pairs who have aggregated more than 5000 runs, the Cook-Strauss pair has the lowest average of 41.34.

England removed Sammy and Roach in the morning session, a wicket apiece for Tim Bresnan and Anderson, as they brought the number of lbws to five in succession and six in all. The pitch remained sound for batting, but there was a little swing and seam about, the bounce was relatively low and West Indies had a tendency of wandering self-destructively across their stumps.Sammy and Samuels represented West Indies’ last hope at start of play. Their first-innings partnership dragged West Indies from 136 for 6 with a stand of 204 and the situation was even worse second time around as they emerged from the venerable Trent Bridge pavilion with the scoreboard at the Radcliffe Road end of the ground, soon to be demolished, showing 61 for 6.West Indies were, in effect, 3 for 6, and required another double-century stand to shift assumptions that they were out of the match. The pitch was still good for batting, whatever the scoreboard might have suggested, and England had to work hard, with Strauss switching ends for his fast bowlers more than once, to achieve a breakthrough.Sammy and Samuels have offered a wonderful contrast in this Test. Samuels has been lithe and perfectly poised, not moving around the crease much but doing so as if on casters; he bats with the serenity of a man lolling under a tree. Sammy has had none of his nimbleness, but his footwork has been determined, if cumbersome, as he has tried to avoid the errors of several of his team-mates in getting stuck on the crease; he swings his bat with the power of the lumberjack who has come to chop Samuels’ tree down.They built resistance in their own ways, Samuels inviting reveries by driving Stuart Broad dreamily through extra cover, Sammy intruding on any dreamlike state as he clunked Bresnan through point. The partnership survived until the first over after drinks, adding 49, at which point Bresnan, targeting the stumps insistently, gained his fourth successive lbw decision when Sammy was struck on the back leg. It was tight, but Sammy’s review did not save him.Roach was England’s second wicket of the morning, lbw to Anderson as he shuffled across his stumps and the ball brushed his back leg. An England review overturned umpire Asad Rauf’s decision.Swann’s inactivity during the morning was surprising, even allowing for the ability of England’s pace attack to find just enough seam movement to keep their optimism high. Samuels’s authority against him throughout the series might have been a contributory factor. He appeared immediately after lunch and took the wicket of Shillingford in his third over, a little bounce and drift enough to provide a catch for Anderson at slip.Samuels’ authority was undiminished. With nine wickets down, he took 16 from one over by Swann, two sixes and a four all over longon, but Anderson found the edge of Ravi Rampaul’s limp bat to ensure there would be no more damage.