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You know the dice are loaded in favour of batsmen when a bowler that’s taken four wickets in the innings speaks of feeling ‘cheated’ at the lack of bounce on offer. That said, few expected a West Indies batting line-up missing its only experienced campaigner – Shivnarine Chanderpaul – to make India toil more than six sessions to dismiss them. But with Darren Bravo crafting a marvellous 166 and sterling support from Kirk Edwards, Kieran Powell and Marlon Samuels, the hosts were left to play catch-up all day.Bravo was reprieved on the first evening when he had 33 – a low chance to Rahul Dravid’s left at slip – and India were given ample time to regret that lapse as he continued his stupendous form on this tour of the subcontinent. In Kolkata, his 136 had been about saving face. Here, having come in after the openers gave the team a tremendous start, he could set the tempo. “Once he’s set, he can be an ominous batsman to bowl to,” said R Ashwin, who spent much of the press conference speaking about the “disheartening” nature of a pitch that he once thought of as the “most sporting in India”.Having fallen for 195 in Bangladesh, it appeared as though a double-century was on the cards for Bravo when he had a swipe at a Varun Aaron delivery that angled across him. “I became a little tired,” he said. “I’ve had a bit of flu and that took its toll on me.”Till then, though, he had seldom been troubled, unveiling some lovely drives and whiplash cuts when the opportunity presented itself. Ashwin kept offering the bait outside off stump, but he was seldom tempted. When the ball pitched in line, he made sure the bat was well in front of pad.Once they survived the second new ball, he and Edwards piled on the agony, one all left-handed elegance and the other a muscular right-hander with a no-nonsense style that reminded some of Clive Lloyd.Powell was no less impressive, announcing his intent with an audacious loft down to the sightscreen. At one point, he had 28 from 28 balls and it needed a superb afternoon spell from Aaron to drag the hosts back into the game.”Kirk’s finding his feet in the international game,” said Bravo. “He and I have a good understanding when we bat together.” Their cause was undoubtedly helped by a sizeable opening partnership. “We just had to continue where they left off,” said Bravo.Having lost two Tests as a result of poor shot selection and losing wickets in clusters, West Indies will look at this scorecard with great satisfaction. Bravo stole the headlines, prompting more Brian Lara comparisons, but over six sessions, five others also stood tall and ensured that they were counted.Bravo and West Indies now find themselves in a position from where they can dictate terms. “We’ll go out there with high energy and see what our fast bowlers can do,” he said, looking ahead to the prospect of an all-too-rare victory away from home. “It’s a decent batting wicket, but there’s a bit of turn. It played much better today. If you apply yourself, there are runs to be had.”Bravo illustrated that, with a fluency and swagger that suggested we should see a lot more of him in the years to come.

John Inverarity, Australia’s new national selector, has not ruled a line through Simon Katich’s name but he has signalled the need for Australia to look to the future when choosing squads. On a day when Katich scored a match-saving Sheffield Shield century at the SCG and then said his 2009 dressing-room scuffle with Michael Clarke was a key reason for his axing, Cricket Australia unveiled Inverarity as its full-time selector.A former Perth headmaster who saw Katich play during his school days, Inverarity was handed a three-year deal and will pick Australian sides almost until the 2015 World Cup. That period will feature two Ashes series, with back-to-back contests scheduled in England in 2013 and in Australia later that year to avoid a clash with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following summer.Inverarity’s five-man panel will face the challenge of managing a succession plan for several older players. By the 2013 Ashes, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey will both be 38, while Brad Haddin will be 35, and the timing of the retirements of any or all of those men will be critical to Australia’s preparation for their battle to regain the urn.Katich, 36, was moved on by the previous selectors this year as they aimed to start the transition process, a decision that sparked an angry reaction from several quarters, including from Katich himself. While Inverarity was reluctant to speak about individual players, he said he would keep an open mind, while also balancing the short-term needs of the side with long-term goals.”The selectors’ role is always a very demanding role,” Inverarity said. “If you’re going to bring in youth and invest opportunity in young players, well you’ve only got a certain number in the squad, so people have got to come in and people have got to go out. As far as I’m concerned, the book is closed on nobody.”When you sit down to select the side you select for that next week, for later in the season, later in the year, the next year and probably two or three years hence. You need to keep all of those in balance as you make selection. Generating youth is the lifeblood of all sports. You need to keep an ideal balance in terms of age profile and how much longer people have got in their careers.”You need to exercise very good judgment in managing that and making appropriate decisions, investing opportunity wisely. All games in all forms the Australian team play, they are all of great importance. But there are some especially important times. Those times would be World Cups and Ashes series and playing against very strong sides like India. You try to manage it so that you’ve got plenty of talent who are experienced and available when you need them most.”Inverarity’s panel, which will include Clarke as captain, as well as the coach and two yet-to-be-named part-time selectors, will need to manage some of the youngest players Australia’s team has fielded in recent years. Pat Cummins, 18, could make his Test debut during next month’s series in South Africa, and Inverarity said it was important to balance the concerns of age with the benefits that could be gained by such a young man being exposed to the highest level.”I don’t think you can say how young is too young,” he said. “It depends on them and their general maturity. It depends on what it is, whether it’s a fast-bowling load or a batting load or a wicketkeeping load. Selection is based on merit. You select on the expectation of how well that person is expected to perform and contribute to the team, but at the same time you’ve got to invest opportunity wisely.”For example, I recall Steve Waugh … didn’t do particularly well for a number of Test matches but opportunity was invested in him and as it turned out it was invested very, very wisely, because there was an obvious identification there of talent, and not only talent but the right character and attitude that was going to come through. Of course it bore wonderful fruit.”Waugh came into the national side at a time when the Australians were struggling, and there are similarities to current era. Inverarity said that while in an ideal world players would be ready for international cricket when chosen, sometimes patience had to be shown to young men finding their way.”A lot depends on what’s available,” he said. “It’s all very easy to select when there’s a wealth of talent available. Sometimes that’s not the case… There’s always a case for being patient for talent to develop. You hope that develops at a lower level and it’s ready when that person is selected to play for Australia.”

Shaminda Eranga has been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s Test series against Pakistan in the UAE with a shoulder injury to his right arm, and will be replaced in the squad by uncapped seamer Kosala Kulasekara. Eranga had looked dangerous on Test debut, picking up four first-innings wickets against Australia in Colombo and his absence is a blow to Sri Lanka.Kulasekara, a tall 26-year-old, has been a regular member of the Sri Lanka A squad over the summer, and impressed with a five-wicket haul in Leicester. He was also part of the Sri Lanka Board XI that played Australia during their recent tour, and took two wickets. He plays for Nondescripts Cricket Club in Sri Lanka’s domestic competitions and has 148 wickets in 72 first-class matches.”I have developed and matured quite a lot as a fast bowler,” Kulasekara said. “Former national fast bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake has helped me to improve on my technique, pace and ball release.” He also said he had worked hard on his batting. “I love playing the lofted on-drives and off-drives and I have made a lot of runs by just hitting straight. I have learnt to be more patient and to wait for the bad balls to hit.”Sri Lankan team physio Steve Mount said that Eranga had damaged his cartilege on his right shoulder while fielding (throwing) during the one-day international series against Australia and is presently under treatment. “He will be fit in a few weeks. We are trying to get him ready for the South African tour later this year,” Mount said.Sri Lanka do have cover in the fast-bowling department with Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep all in the squad.The first Test of the series starts on October 18 in Abu Dhabi.

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Durham batsman Mark Stoneman enjoyed another red-letter day against Sussex togive his side a measure of control on the first day of the CountyChampionship Division One match at Hove.The left-hander has now scored two of his three first-class hundreds againstSussex after making his debut against the county in 2007. He was out six overs before the close for a career-best 128 from 254 balls with 19 fours and a six as Durham closed on 360 for nine, with Callum Thorp unbeaten on 33.It was often hard going for the 24-year-old, who came in in the sixth overafter Michael Di Venuto was caught behind trying to force off the back foot togive James Anyon the first of three wickets. Stoneman had reached 49 at lunch but after completing his half-century in the first over of the afternoon he concentrated on watchful defence, particularly against Monty Panesar, and only added 14 runs in the next 100 minutes while 73 were being added at the other end.He broke free from the shackles briefly by taking 11 when Amjad Khan returnedto the attack and then tucked into the new ball with three boundaries in a rowoff Wayne Parnell and another eight runs in the next over from Khan beforecompleting his hundred with a boundary off Parnell, the 15th of his innings.It was no surprise that Durham opted to bat first on a slowish pitch but theydid not really impose themselves until a fourth-wicket stand either side of teabetween Stoneman and Benkenstein who added 99 in 30 overs, Benkensteincontributing 64 off 99 deliveries with 10 fours.The partnership ended unnecessarily when Stoneman dabbed the ball into theoff-side and set off for a high-risk single. Benkenstein’s momentary hesistationcost him as Murray Goodwin returned the ball accurately with the batsman wellshort of his ground.It was a much-needed breakthrough for Sussex, who struck again two balls laterwhen Ian Blackwell top-edged a sweep to square leg to give off-spinner ChrisNash only his fourth Championship wicket of the season. Anyon, the pick of Sussex’s seam attack, returned with the new ball to have Phil Mustard caught behind and Scott Borthwick taken low down by Luke Wells for a duck four balls later.Stoneman apart, none of the Durham top order had gone on after making decentstarts. Opener Will Smith was well held by the diving Matt Prior at second slip as theEngland wicketkeeper returned to domestic duty to play only his fourthChampionship game of the summer. Paul Collingwood found the boundary twice off the first 33 balls he faced by hitting Anyon through the offside for successive fours.The former England player also pulled Parnell for six but the South Africanleft-armer had his revenge when Collingwood played back and edged to first skip,where skipper Michael Yardy held a juggling catch.

Ricky Ponting has said that he encouraged Rahul Dravid to fight through his struggles and continue playing when their sides met in the two-Test series in India last October. Dravid was going through a lean patch at the time – his only century in 2010 up till then had been against Bangladesh and he managed just one half-century during the series against Australia – but Ponting said he urged Dravid to ignore critics who wrote him off.”I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished,” Ponting told . “I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said ‘don’t you even think about retiring’ because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player. I just said ‘don’t let them wear you down, don’t let them get you down’. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well.”After that home series against Australia, Dravid scored two centuries against New Zealand before a string of low scores in South Africa. Since then, he has been prolific in tough conditions, with four centuries in seven Tests spread across West Indies and England. In the second of those tours, where England humbled India to claim the No. 1 Test ranking, Dravid was easily India’s best batsman, with three centuries and 461 runs over the four Tests.Ponting, 36, has not scored a Test century since January 2010, said it was nice to see the 38-year-old Dravid doing well. He believed players like Dravid were as much an inspiration for senior players like himself, as for youngsters.”There are a few [who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years]. Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Jacques] Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now. It’s not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it’s good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you’ve got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game.”While young players have role models to look up to, Ponting said he worried that an excess of Twenty20 cricket played at youth level would hinder the development of Test batsmen.”The big worry I’ve had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids’ careers is that it won’t teach them the art of concentration. Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that’s how long it took them.”Now, even Under-17s and Under-19s are playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two-day games. Good state players these days are averaging 35; if you were averaging 35 when I was playing your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there are areas of concern there; I don’t know how you change them.”Ponting is one of the few senior members left in what is a transitional Australia team that goes up against Sri Lanka in a three-Test series. He said India, who lost their No. 1 Test ranking in England, could also enter a similar phase once their experienced batsmen retired, but believed their barren bowling reserves were a bigger cause for concern.”India still haven’t reached that point that I thought they’d get to yet. They’ve still got that crux, those great batters in that side. Time will tell with India now. Dravid was probably one who was in the gun before the rest of them and he’s found a way to come through. They [Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman] are all about the same age and they won’t go on forever. They will be tested more than anything with their bowlers. I think we found even in the last few years that a lot of their spin bowling probably isn’t as strong as it used to be, and if you take Zaheer [Khan] out of their fast bowling stocks there’s not much left there either; so they’ve got an interesting couple of years ahead.”India’s whitewash in England has led to criticism that there is too much emphasis on the shorter formats of the game in the country, and Ponting, who has not played in the IPL since the end of its first season, said the tournament was affecting India’s cricket.”They’re probably prioritising Twenty20 cricket as much as anyone aren’t they, with the IPL being based there and the commitment some players have to certain franchises and tournaments going on around that. I reckon a good example of where their cricket is now is the fact they played RP Singh in that last Test match, when he hadn’t played a first-class game since January.”While India have got the great players they’ve had they’ll remain competitive, but once those guys move on it’ll be really interesting for them, and I think South Africa will be exactly the same. Once [Graeme] Smith and Kallis and [Dale] Steyn go out of that team it’ll be interesting to see how they rebuild as well.”

Nitish Kumar racked up the tournament’s highest score, 150, only to see it bettered by Christopher Kent, who scored 166 to help Papua New Guinea Under-19s chase Canada Under-19s total of 261 at Woodvale Road with two balls to spare. Kumar’s knock, and starts from both openers, had put Canada in a strong position at 172 for 2 in the 35th over. But late wickets meant Canada could not push on as they might have wanted to, but they still managed a challenging total, which looked more imposing when PNG slipped to 13 for 3. Kent counterattacked, playing shots all around the wicket, and reached his half-century in 40 balls. He steadied himself in the middle overs, before launching into another attack in the end. PNG needed 15 runs off the last two overs, and Kent got boundaries off the first two balls of the 49th. They still needed five in the last over, and Toua Tom finished things off by crashing a boundary to midwicket.Kent, who was declared man of the Match said PNG’s focus would now be to end the tournament on a high. “I was just thinking of playing every ball on its merit,” he said. “I wanted to bat right through the innings. Two more good days and our dream could well be true.”Nepal Under-19s have caught up with Ireland Under-19s on five wins after beating them by 10 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method at the Bready Cricket Club. Nepal only managed 187 for 7 after a spell of 10-4-15-3 from Ireland captain George Dockrell, but Nepal’s own left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma came up with figures of 4 for 28 to wipe out Ireland’s low order, and go to the top of the tournament’s wickets-chart in the process. Vishwakarma’s four scalps completed a collapse that had been begun with the run-out of Adam Coughlan for 48 and the dismissal of Dockrell for 55. Those two had taken Ireland out of trouble to 161 for 4. Ireland still needed 25 runs off 19 balls to be ahead of the D/L par score at the end of 46 overs when Coughlan departed, and the late wickets ensured they did not get there. Nepal’s total had been built on Sagar Pun’s half-century, and contributions from Vishwakarma and Krishna Karki down the order.Soctland Under-19s took advantage of Ireland’s slip-up, and went to the top of the table, after a 40-run victory versus Namibia Under-19s at the other ground at the Bready Cricket Club. The game was reduced to 43 overs, and was another low-scoring affair with Scotland only managing 180 for 9, and then bowling Namibia out for 140 in 39.5 overs. Scotland’s top order laid a solid base, with each of the top three getting starts, but the middle and lower order did not contribute much. Namibia lost wickets in a cluster at the beginning of their chase and then again at the end. Pelham Myburgh scored 43 and battled till the 24th over but his side were never in the game after the early blows.United States of America Under-19s handed Vanuatu Under-19s their seventh-straight defeat in a rain-affected match at the Drummond Cricket Club. The match was initially reduced to 32 overs, and Vanuatu managed 128 for 8 after being put in to bat. USA scored quickly in the chase, and when rain stopped play after 22 overs they were 42 runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score. Steven Taylor who made an unbeaten 33 for USA was named Man of the Match. “In the last three games I had not done well,” Taylor said. “I was glad to have made a contribution to the side’s win again. The side is gelling well now and we are looking good as a combination right now.”In another shortened match, at the Limavady Cricket Club, Afghanistan Under-19s put together a whirlwind chase, going past Kenya Under-19s’ total of 154 for 5 in just 18.4 overs. The match had been reduced to 24 overs, and Kenya scored at 6.41 in their innings, with Rahul Vishram scoring 59 off 40 balls. Afghanistan scored at 8.30 in the chase; Javed Ahmadi smashed five sixes in his 86 off 51 balls, while Hashmatullah Shaidi got 63 off 58 balls.

Tasmania’s squad has had a significant overhaul ahead of next season as they aim to defend the Sheffield Shield title with a new-look group. Nine players are gone from last year’s contract list, including the fast bowlers Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith and Gerard Denton, who have all retired, and Tim Macdonald, who has been delisted.Also cut from the squad were the opening batsmen Jon Wells and Rhett Lockyear, the wicketkeeper Brady Jones and the rookie bowler Hamish Kingston, while the batsman Travis Birt has headed to Western Australia. The Victorian allrounder Evan Gulbis has joined the Tigers, along with Matt Johnston from Western Australia and Jackson Bird from New South Wales.The gloveman Tom Triffitt has been upgraded from a rookie deal to a full contract, effectively making him the backup to Tim Paine, while Nick Kruger and Matthew Day have also been named in the squad. Sandy Rogers, from New South Wales, has been given a rookie deal, as have the Tasmanian duo of Sam Rainbird and Marc Simonds.”I am really comfortable with our new signings and the list that we have put together for 2011-12,” the coach Tim Coyle said. “We have obviously cut some players from the squad, lost some to retirement at the end of 2010-11 and have also recruited from interstate, but we are also backing our outstanding local talent to keep the Tasmanian Tigers at the top of Australian domestic cricket.”We have some experienced players on the list who will play big roles for us, but we must not forget that we have an exciting bunch of young cricketers as well, and we are committed to seeing these young players get opportunities to play at the highest level throughout the upcoming season. I feel that we have got our list right with a mix that will set us up for years to come, and with five Tasmanians with Cricket Australia contracts I think the current strength of Tasmanian cricket is evident.”Tasmania squad George Bailey, Jackson Bird, Luke Butterworth, Steven Cazzulino, Mark Cosgrove, Ed Cowan, Matthew Day, Xavier Doherty (Cricket Australia contract), Alex Doolan, Brendan Drew, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus (CA), Matt Johnston, Jason Krejza (CA), Nick Kruger, Adam Maher, Tim Paine (CA), Ricky Ponting (CA), Tom Triffitt.Rookies Ashton May, Sam Rainbird, Sandy Rogers, Jeremy Smith, Marc Simonds.

England captain Andrew Strauss and team director Andy Flower have been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire), while opening batsman Alastair Cook received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s birthday honours list released on Saturday.The trio was rewarded for their efforts in England’s historic victory in the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia – their first series win in the country in 24 years. Strauss captained the team to three innings victories in the five-Test series, which England took 3-1, apart from scoring 307 runs at 43.85. Cook topped the batting charts, with 766 runs at an average of 127.66.”It is a great honour to receive this accolade,” said Strauss, who received an MBE after England’s 2005 Ashes victory at home. “It’s one of the better items of post you get through the letterbox – certainly better than a gas bill. I’m very proud to receive it and, more than anything, very proud of how the team performed out there in Australia.”Our guys really stood up under the pressure. We have achieved something, but are nowhere near the end of the road yet, and will continue to strive to improve.”Flower said it was “a lovely surprise to receive this honour.””My family and I feel very thankful to have been welcomed into this country since moving here in 2003. I feel a great privilege and responsibility to be involved in a leadership role in English sport.”Former England offspinner Jack Birkenshaw, who played five Tests and 490 first-class games between 1958 and 1981, before turning to umpiring and coaching, also got an MBE.

ScorecardRain thwarted Glamorgan’s efforts to bat Surrey out of the match on day three of their County Championship match at The Oval. The visitors were 46 without loss in their second innings – 181 ahead overall – when play was called off for the day at 4.15pm.Less than 14 overs were bowled before the weather put paid to any further play before lunch, in which time Glamorgan made short work of mopping up the Surrey tail as Chris Ashling claimed career-best figures of 4 for 47.Gareth Batty fended the second ball of the day low to the left of Gareth Rees at short leg to hand Will Owen a third scalp and then Ashling plucked out Chris Jordan’s off stump to make it 267 for 8. Three overs later, Chris Schofield spared Surrey the ignominy of following on when he took a single to long-on against Dean Cosker.But, having progressed to 30, Schofield skied an ugly slog-sweep to Cosker running in from cover. Tim Linley departed moments later as Cosker drew a line under Surrey’s 284.Heavy showers limited the afternoon session to little more than 11 overs’ action. Setting out with a 135-run first-innings lead, Rees and Will Bragg added an unbeaten 46 for Glamorgan’s first wicket before the heavens opened at 3.15pm.Bragg cut and then straight drove Jade Dernbach for successive boundaries as Tom Maynard carried out a creditable job behind the stumps in the absence of Steven Davies, who withdrew with an ankle problem, until Rory Burns, Surrey’s 2nd XI wicketkeeper arrived at The Oval.

Gerry Alexander, the former West Indies captain, has died at the age of 82 in Jamaica.Alexander was a wicketkeeper-batsman who represented West Indies in 25 Tests in a five-year career that began in 1957. He led the side in 18 of those matches, beginning with a home series against Pakistan in 1958 and stepping down after England’s visit in 1960.”He [Alexander] was a stalwart in Jamaica and West Indies cricket and made a tremendous contribution to the game as captain and a player on the field. He was an inspiration to many people off the field as well,” Julian Hunte, the WICB president, said. “He displayed a true love and passion for West Indies cricket and gave his all for the good of the game. He was a dignified and reliable leader of the West Indies team and a committed supporter of the game at all levels. He excelled in the 1960-61 Tied Test Series in Australia and will always be remembered for the fantastic role he played to help ‘save Test cricket’.”At a time when the West Indies and the world beyond it were undergoing great social change, Alexander was the last white captain of the team. He was replaced first temporarily and then permanently by Frank Worrell in time for the legendary 1960-61 series in Australia, which featured Test cricket’s first tie at Brisbane.Prior to that he courted controversy by choosing to send home the fast bowler Roy Gilchrist from the West Indies’ 1958-59 tour of India and Pakistan for reasons of indiscipline, including the bowling of repeated beamers. Gilchrist did not play for the West Indies again.In his final series as captain, before being succeeded by Worrell, Alexander equalled the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a series with 23 victims against England. He followed that up by supporting Worrell grandly with 484 runs at 60.50 in the 1960-61 series, scoring at least one half-century in each of the matches and his only first-class century in the third Test at the SCG, won by the West Indies. Alexander finished his Test career at the conclusion of the series with 961 runs at 30.03, and 90 dismissals.Away from cricket, Alexander studied and worked as a veterinarian, rising to the position of chief public sector veterinarian in his homeland.In 1982, he received the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica for his outstanding contribution to sports. He was also a skilled footballer, winning an England amateur cap and an FA Amateur Cup winner’s medal.