It’s not the first time that Claire Taylor has had her name in lights after rising to the big occasion, but she ranked her two matchwinning fifties up there in what she described as “one of the best Tests to play in.”England won the one-off Test by six wickets to retain the Ashes – only their third series win in Australia – and the victory must also be considered in the context of losing their head coach Mark Dobson, wicketkeeper Jane Smit and premier allrounder Jenny Gunn beforehand. “To fight with those eleven and stand nose-to-nose it’s great to actually win the Test match,” said Taylor. “To get in the right situation and actually close it down that feels really good. It was fairly nerve-wracking, the Aussies don’t give you anything.”She credited stand-in coach Mark Lane with helping them to victory in a form of the game neither they nor Australia play often. “Mark’s being really good for us over the last week, he’s kept things really simple. We talked on a session-by-session basis and that’s made it easier for us.”Isa Guha, the player of the match, and therefore the series for her nine wickets, agreed. “He’s been great the whole way through. It’s been a tough ask for him to suddenly step into the coach’s shoes and he’s been really great for us, so positive, brilliant.”Guha was on for a ten-wicket match haul when Karen Rolton declared to give Australia a chance in their must-win encounter. “Obviously it would have been nice to get ten wickets but I’m just glad that the batters went out there and did the job.”She said victory was all the sweeter because their attacking intents had been written off prior to the match, despite Charlotte Edwards saying they would go all-out to win. “We got a lot of stick,” Guha said, “but we knew all along that we wanted to win this game and it’s so sweet to win and be the rightful owners of the Ashes. It’s a bit unfortunate that we can’t play more games but at the same time it’s such a special venue and it just means so much. You can see that in everyone. We all wanted to win this game.”The last time England won the Ashes in 2005, the country erupted in a spontaneous parade and bestowing of OBEs. This time around the celebrations are slightly more low key – and not just because it’s not a joint bash with the men nor because England have another series against New Zealand in six days. That obviously doesn’t help, says Guha: “We’ll be having a few drinks tonight, obviously not too many because we’ve got to be preparing for next week .”But Taylor revealed the true reason: “We’re just going to hang out with each other because it’s a Monday night in Bowral, a country town in Australia, so I don’t know that there’s that much going on. It’s not going to be a London, is it? A quiet night, barbecue and a beer, I think.”

Former West Indian players Ian Bishop, Desmond Haynes, Andy Roberts and Courtney Walsh are back on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) cricket committee. The four players from the era when West Indies dominated world cricket were replaced last November but WICB president Julian Hunte has confirmed they were reinstated after he met with them in Antigua on February 22 to discuss the issue.Haynes said the meeting had been “very frank”. “We got to understand each other’s position,” he said. “We have always been very keen to contribute to the advancement of West Indies cricket and felt that we could more properly do so as full members of the committee, rather than as consultants as the president originally offered.”Hunte asked the four to meet with him “in the spirit of inclusiveness” after a report by this correspondent last month in which they expressed surprise and disappointment at their removal.”I would be the last person to deny our former great players the opportunity to contribute at any level of West Indies cricket,” Hunte said at the time.Hunte pointed out that the WICB had drafted a new strategic plan and that the cricket committee had to be at the centre of “plans, policies and programmes for cricket, not just the playing and player aspects, but in terms of our development”.Hinting at the reason why the four had been replaced, Hunte told Bishop that the committee needed to meet face-to-face frequently to deal with “the many issues confronting us now and to develop the blueprint for the future”.The implication was that the four had not always been available for committee meetings but this had been refuted by Roberts and Walsh.Whatever the differences, they were settled at the February 22 meeting and four individuals with 338 Tests between them are now back on the committee that is headed by Clive Lloyd, captain in the era of excellence in the 1970s and 1980s.

The coach John Dyson has defended his bowlers after they let Sri Lanka off the hook in the second Test, leaving West Indies needing 253 to level the two-match series. The visitors were struggling at 32 for 4 before recovering through Thilan Samaraweera’s 125 and boosting their chances of a 2-0 cleansweep.The West Indies bowlers gave away too many opportunities to score and struggled to maintain their line and length when Samaraweera and Chaminda Vaas completed a 138-run partnership. “In talking about patience, when I watch Caribbean cricket all round, that’s an aspect that’s not there in any Caribbean cricket,” Dyson said. “So to suddenly take these players and put them in the Test arena against some very good teams and expect them to have that patience is a tall order.”Dyson said the players have talked about the zones they need to hit, but the changes “don’t happen overnight”. “It takes time for people to get confidence in bowling plans,” Dyson said. “Maybe my ideas are different to the people who were there before, but we’re consistently working on the areas we bowl and the patience involved in the whole game.”The guys do work hard in the net sessions we have, I’ve seen consistency with that. In the middle sometimes we bowl some brilliant stuff, at times perhaps too good, where players just can’t nick them. We need to achieve more consistency throughout the whole innings. We tend to bowl some really good spells and then let ourselves down with bowling a bad hour that cost us a lot of runs.”Jerome Taylor was the best of the home attack, picking up 4 for 52, and Dyson was pleased with his progress. “Jerome is a very good cricketer,” Dyson said. “If you look at him as a total package he is a bit like ‘Vassy’. He has the ability to bat and I’ve seen him change his approach in his batting, and his bowling is always very, very good.”The performances of Taylor have also impressed Samaraweera. “The most difficult right through this series has been Jerome Taylor,” Samaraweera said. “He bowled well, lovely line and length, and his balls move both ways.”West Indies have a tough challenge to level the series and Dyson was hopeful of a successful chase. “What I’d like to see,” he said, “is some good sensible batting over the whole day.”

Yorkshire have confirmed Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistani fast bowler, will be available to play for them in the 2008 season. Naved-ul-Hasan’s participation was in doubt after he signed up for the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL).Meanwhile, another ICL player from Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed has been given the go-ahead to appear for Sussex. In Mushtaq’s case, the confirmation was a mere formality, as the Pakistan board had issued a second No Objection Certificate (NOC), which the county had forwarded to the England board.Yorkshire revealed in a statement that the decision on Naved-ul-Hasan had been conveyed to them after protracted negotiations between the England and Pakistan boards. The move means the PCB has issued an NOC for Naved-ul-Hasan to play in England’s county season. It had been thought the PCB would refuse an NOC in view of his ICL links, and even when Mushtaq was granted it last week, it was believed that was not relevant to Naved-ul-Hasan as he had played international cricket more recently.Naved-ul-Hasan’s registration with Yorkshire is subject to his obtaining a valid work permit, which the county believes will not be a hurdle given his previous spells at Sussex. “I have maintained throughout the last few weeks that I would be allowed to play cricket for Yorkshire and that my participation in the Indian Cricket League would not get in the way of that dream,” Naved-ul-Hasan said. “I am not contracted to the PCB and could not see why they should wish to prevent me from playing the game I love in Yorkshire.”Yorkshire have said that they will give the player time and assistance to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained while playing for Sussex at the end of the 2007 season. He has been bowling for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, but Yorkshire will take no chances. “We are conscious that he needs time to fully recover from his shoulder injury, which is why we have Morne Morkel for the early weeks of the season, but a fully fit Rana will be a huge boost,” Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire coach, said. “He has proved in India recently that he can bowl and take wickets but we want to be satisfied that he can also cope with the demands of fielding, especially throwing, before we play him in the first XI.”He is a very determined man and his desire to play for this club and cut through all of the politics involved, has been particularly impressive.”

Shaun Pollock, the former South Africa captain, has joined the MCC’s World Cricket Committee. He is currently playing in the Indian Premier League and accepted the invitation from Tony Lewis, the cricket committee chairman.Lewis, together with the MCC secretary and chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, and head of cricket, John Stephenson, has been in India to conduct talks with three World Cricket Committee members actively involved in the IPL. Pollock and Rahul Dravid on the playing side and Martin Crowe, who is chief cricket officer of the Bangalore Royal Challengers.”I am honoured and delighted to be joining the MCC’s World Cricket Committee at such an interesting time for the sport,” said Pollock. “The challenge for cricket is to embrace change for the good of the game whilst celebrating its rich heritage and the MCC’s World Cricket Committee has a huge role to play in this respect.”A lifetime’s involvement in cricket has given me so many great experiences and I hope my knowledge of the game can be beneficial. It’s a huge honour to be asked to contribute and I’m greatly looking forward to my next challenge in the game.”The next World Cricket Committee meeting will take place at Lord’s on May 12 and 13. The discussions will cover a range of issues including technology, the worldwide Twenty20 leagues and the conduct of players.”The strength of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee is in its independence, its ability to freely think and recommend change for the benefit of the sport,” said Lewis. “It is also a body that combines a huge array of talent from all over the world. Importantly, the MCC has the resource to support the work of the committee, with its increasing investment into research and development of the game. We look forward to discussions next week and anticipate a healthy debate and some forthright opinion.”

ScorecardA century from Amandeep Khare laid the platform for India Under-19s to wrap up a four-run D/L win over Sri Lanka Under-19s at the Premadasa Stadium. Khare, who came in to bat after a 77-run opening stand between Washington Sundar and Ishan Kishan, made 102 off 98 balls, with nine fours and a six. He added 107 with Washington, who was out for 77, and a further 82 with Virat Singh (30) to take India to 266 for 2 with 3.1 overs remaining. Sri Lanka struck back, taking five wickets and conceding only 18 runs off the last 19 balls of India’s innings to limit them to 284 for 7.Set a revised target of 255 in 47 overs, Sri Lanka began well, with Avishka Fernando (75, 89b, 4×4) adding 60 for the first wicket with Salindu Ushan and 94 with Charith Asalanka (74, 86b, 7×4) for the second wicket. When Fernando was run out in the 31st over, Sri Lanka needed 101 from 99 balls. Though Shammu Ashan (23), Wanidu Hasaranga (27) and Kamindu Mendis (15 not out) all made useful scores, they fell just short, ending on 250 for 5. Rahul Batham (2 for 32) and Zeeshan Ansari (1 for 32) played key roles in India’s defence, maintaining a combined economy rate of 3.96 across the 16 overs they bowled.

Scorecard
MS Dhoni waged a lone struggle for Jharkhand•PTI

MS Dhoni showed glimpses of his best during his 70 not out on the burning deck, but opening bursts from Navdeep Saini and Ishant Sharma helped Delhi comfortably defend what looked like a modest score of 225 in the second quarter-final of Vijay Hazare Trophy, played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on, but Delhi would have been disappointed with the score, especially after an opening stand of 53. Saini and Ishant, though, made full use of variable bounce and pace in the pitch by running through the Jharkhand top order. Dhoni waged a lone struggle from 9 for 4, looking to bat deep into the innings, but ran out of partners.Varun Aaron had won the toss and asked Delhi to bat in a bid to exploit the 9am start, but the batting seemed the easiest in the morning. Debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who will be India’s vice-captain in the Under-19 World Cup, set a foundation with Shikhar Dhawan as both the Jharkhand new bowlers erred in line often to allow the openers easy boundaries. In contrast to Dhawan, Pant showed favour for the on side, and struggled to play forcefully on the off. The two, however, struggled to rotate the strike, as a result of which they went at only four an over, despite all the big shots.With the introduction of spin the variable pace began to show, and although Aaron went out for the toss, Dhoni took charge of the team. Five wickets fell for 47 runs including that of Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir who was caught sleeping while taking a single, and was left stunned by a throw at his end. Nitish Rana then repaired the innings in the company of Manan Sharma. The pair added 74 in 18 overs, but more importantly provided Pawan Negi the license to hit in the end. The three spinners used by Jharkhand gave away only 85 runs in 23 overs, but Rana, who scored 44 off 76, made sure Delhi could go after the quicks.Negi did that with aplomb as the wides and the extras mounted. Negi hit three fours and three sixes in his 16-ball 38 as Delhi struck 51 in the last five overs. The total, though, would have begun to look paltry if Jharkhand had put together one decent partnership at the top. However, their top order couldn’t handle the pace of Delhi’s opening bowlers and trickery of the pitch. Ishank Jaggi fell in the first over, playing all around a full ball from Saini. In the second over, Ishan Kishan, who will lead India in the Under-19 World Cup, did the same to one short-of-a- length ball from Ishant Sharma.It wasn’t the wicket-taking deliveries that represented the true nature of the pitch. Instead, it was the ones in between that would either fly through to the keeper or bounce well short. Even in the first innings Dhoni had to repeatedly pull out his famous legs-together stops. However, the exits of Saurabh Tiwary and Kumar Deobrat were meek. Tiwary drove to extra cover, giving a head-high catch, and Deobrat fended awkwardly at Ishant to get caught at short leg.Then it seemed clear that Dhoni wanted to take the game as deep as possible. He found some support from Kaushal Singh and Ankit Dabas through 23-run partnerships, but their resistance didn’t last long enough. At 55 for 6 Dhoni began to farm the strike a bit, but wickets kept falling. He brought out the big hits in the end, sending left-arm spinner Manan twice into the stands, reaching the highest individual score of the match.Dhoni’s blows brought some entertainment to the sparse Chinnaswamy faithfuls in the P4 Stand. In isolation, the cat-and-mouse game between Dhoni’s advances and Manan’s darts made for good fun. Despite just the last man for company, Dhoni kept clearing the field, hitting Ishant for two sixes and a four in one over.A shrewd Gambhir then reacted by bringing on Negi to bowl darts into the pads from over the wicket. The 25-year-old Suboth Bhati, who took three lower-order wickets, went on to impress by not letting Dhoni get under his slowish yorkers. He ended the match with an lbw verdict against Vikash Singh, although the batsman had hit the ball. Dhoni was left stranded, with a teasing thought in the mind: what if there had been some more support from the other end.

Usman Khawaja believes Sydney Thunder are reaping the rewards of the work of Michael Hussey and general manager Nick Cummins, following his quickfire hundred in the semi-final against Adelaide Strikers. After a horror run in the early years of the BBL, Thunder made their first final, and Khawaja admitted he had once considered his future with the franchise.”It was tough because you play cricket to win and you’re trying your best and that’s still not happening,” Khawaja said. “It was a bit of a helpless feeling and there were times when I thought ‘do I want to be in this team still?’ But when Huss came on board I thought we had a really good chance of picking the team up from the bottom. I talked to Huss when he first came on, and I said the Thunder was close to my heart, having grown up in Western Sydney and that we could do this, but it might take a bit of time.”I think the overall roster has seen a big change and is a lot more balanced now. We have hitters, batsman, pace and spin. A lot has gone on behind the scenes too – Nick Cummins, our GM – has done a lot over the last three years, hiring good people, and there’s a good vibe. That’s helped the guys on the field – there are a lot of hidden heroes behind the scenes who don’t get the congratulations that we do.”Saturday’s final, against either Melbourne Stars or Perth Scorchers, will be Hussey’s final game in Australia.

In a season where New Zealand’s bowlers kept dropping like flies, Jacob Duffy emerged as the leader of the pace pack. During the T20I series against West Indies, Mitchell Santner, the white-ball captain, called Duffy the leader of the attack along with Matt Henry in the shortest format. In the absence of Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke, Duffy stepped up as the spearhead once again, this time in the longest format to lead New Zealand to a 2-0 series win against West Indies in Mount Maunganui.Duffy is usually known for his swing and accuracy, but on a day-five Bay Oval pitch he showed that he could also hit the deck and hit it hard, like Neil Wagner used to do back in the day. He generated vicious bounce off a length and made West Indies’ batters, who had pulled off an epic draw in Christchurch not too long ago, look like amateurs.”I’m just enjoying my career, I don’t know. I don’t look at things too holistically I guess,” Duffy said after bowling New Zealand to victory in Mount Maunganui. “It has been an awesome ride; it’s been testing with all the bowlers going down and obviously the workload is pretty high “But I guess the fact that Tommy [Tom Latham] keeps asking me to bowl the ball, I’d like to view that as a bit of a privilege. You just get to trust you to keep bowling and doing the good stuff, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”Duffy finished the three-match Test series against West Indies with 23 strikes at an average of 15.43, snatching the New Zealand record from Trent Boult for the most wickets over a single home series. It extended his tally to 81, surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee’s record for the most wickets in a calendar year for the Black Caps.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Duffy has had a long and winding journey to this summit. Hailing from Southland, a region that isn’t necessarily known for producing sporting icons, Duffy made his T20 debut for Otago when he was 17. But he had to wait until he was 26 to make his international debut for New Zealand. On his T20I debut, he bagged 4 for 33 against Pakistan, but had to wait until he was 31 to play Test cricket for New Zealand. In four Tests, he has displayed the traits to lead this attack in the post-Southee-and-Boult era.”I guess that’s probably the Southland kid in me,” Duffy said. “I think you grow up down there and even playing for Otago seems ridiculous when you’re growing up. To come on to the international stage and I guess start to feel like you belong, that’s really cool.”I guess it was probably out here last year, this time of year against Sri Lanka, I guess I started putting in some match-winning, match-changing spells and stuff in 2020 and you start to feel like you belong internationally. It’s a really cool feeling, it gives you that trust and belief in yourself and you know you’re worth it.”Related

• Jacob Duffy makes big impact at small Eden Park

• Report: Duffy, Ajaz rip through West Indies

• 'Series by series' – Williamson on his international future

Duffy’s international success has now landed him an IPL deal as well. In the recent IPL mini-auction last week, he was picked by defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 2 crore as a potential replacement for Josh Hazlewood, who is currently injured.”I think it’s always going to be a surprise isn’t it, you see your name on that weird auction screen, that was an interesting experience but yeah, like I said it was a very weird experience,” Duffy said. “It was quite cool, still a surprise, you just never know what’s going to happen.”It’s such an odd experience but pretty cool and we’ve got a big series in India before that and then into the [T20] World Cup and then there’s a lot of time in India coming up, it’s an amazing place so I’m looking forward to all of it.”Before that, Duffy will enjoy Christmas with his wife’s family in Te Anau and with his mother in Cromwell in Central Otago.The emergence of Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Matthew Fisher has provided more depth to New Zealand•Zimbabwe Cricket

The New Year then brings new opportunities for Duffy. Apart from the India tour and IPL gig, he could be among the frontrunners to be picked in the attack for marquee Test tours of England and Australia.”It’s amazing, there’s Test cricket [against] India at home as well, that’s a huge series,” Duffy said. “It’s exciting for the group and definitely I’ve done two-and-a-half England tours now where I’ve not played, so to go over there and potentially maybe do that and Aussie away too – those are the pinnacles I think. Those are the highlights of your career potentially, especially in the red-ball scene.”Duffy is also particularly enthused about the growth of Zak Foulkes. Though Foulkes went wicketkless in Mount Maunganui, he showed how good he can become with his ability to swing the ball both ways. He also earned an IPL deal, with Stephen Fleming’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) picking him for INR 75 lakh. Duffy sees Foulkes as a player with a high ceiling.”He’s awesome,” Duffy said of Foulkes. “I think we’ve all forgotten, what is he 22-23? I think we’ve all forgotten that. I certainly couldn’t be doing what he’s doing at 23 so just the load on itself is pretty crazy and his skills obviously through the roof. He’ll be better for it, to know what your body can go through.”I guess I’ve been lucky, I’ve had those experiences at domestic level for Otago for a lot of years but I’ve relied on him a lot so I guess it can only be good for him going forward but he’s a special talent and he’s got another 15 years of it, so he’s got a lot of time to learn about him.”While Kane Williamson’s future remains uncertain, Duffy and Foulkes promise a bright future for the Black Caps attack.

Match facts

Sunday, February 14, 2016
Start time 0900 local (0300 GMT)4:21

Dikshit: Kishan’s form will be a worry for India

Big picture

Two questions will most probably be answered in the final of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. How long can West Indies Under-19s continue their World Cup campaign with flair? And are the India Under-19s are saving their best game for the final?Ishan Kishan’s side have won all their matches in the tournament so far and in the few times that they have been tested, for instance in the first 45 minutes of their semi-final against Sri Lanka Under-19s, their awareness of the match situation helped them get through. Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant and, at times, Armaan Jaffer have led the team’s batting front but there hasn’t been a combined effort that pushes the opponent out of the contest. The India team management has had to take the tough call of dropping Ricky Bhui, who made only 47 runs in the first three games. His replacement, Anmolpreet Singh, though, has done the job at No. 3 and will target a big score in the final.India’s bowling attack, Mayank Dagar, Avesh Khan and Mahipal Lomror, have done well together and will be expected to stop West Indies’ fast-scoring batsmen. Keeping Gidron Pope, Shimron Hetmyer and Shamar Springer quiet for long periods of play will be a stern test for India, and will be the most interesting sub-plot in the final. Pope has regularly given West Indies strong starts with the bat, while Springer and Hetmyer have held together West Indies’ middle order.West Indies’ bowling, too, has flair, especially with Alzarri Joseph and Chemar Holder who bowl with pace and bounce in the first ten overs. Keemo Paul has been effective in the death, which means that India will have to do much of their scoring in the middle overs. Given the strength of the sides, and a Mirpur pitch that offers bounce but remains slow, the final will be a compelling match.

Form guide

India: WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)West Indies: WWWWL

Talking points

Collectively India are still to put together a great batting performance, but their bowlers have done a good job of keeping the opposition at bay. Avesh, Dagar and Lomror have come together well while Rahul Batham and Khaleel Ahmed have been useful supporting acts.The West Indies batsmen have shown the ability to bat together to form a good total or chase down a target. They would like a big knock from at least one of their in-form batsmen but the side has the ability to win through fifties and cameos from their batsmen.

Star performers

Left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar is not high up on the wicket-taking charts but has the lowest average (9.75) among the bowlers with a minimum of eight wickets. West Indies have said that they are more confident against spinners now but Dagar offers a big challenge.Shamar Springer enjoyed his match-winning role against Bangladesh in the semi-final, and will once again be West Indies’ go-to all-round talent in the final. He bats with a lot of freedom, and has shown the ability to find gaps under pressure. His medium-pace will also come handy, backing up the first spells from Joseph and Holder.

Key players

Anmolpreet Singh said after the semi-final that he wants to play a long innings and the final will be a great chance for him to do so. He has so far played two good knocks in knockout games, after replacing Ricky Bhui in the side. His offspin and fielding have also been impressive.Gidron Pope has been consistent in giving West Indies a fast start with the bat, though he has struck only two half-centuries so far. If he can carry a fiery start into the middle overs of the final, it could put West Indies in an dominant position.

Underperformers

Washington Sundar has had limited opportunities with the bat coming in slightly later in the innings, but in the final, he will be expected to bat at a higher strike-rate and pick up wickets with his developing offspin.Now that Shimron Hetmyer has found form, West Indies would like Michael Frew to do better than his 27 runs and two wickets in the five matches so far. His side would feel safe knowing that when the opportunity comes up in the final, he is prepared and in good touch to get them to a good score.

Pitch and conditions

West Indies and India pace bowlers have extracted bounce from the Mirpur pitch which is likely to be a slow surface. There will be less focus on the toss if the weather doesn’t dramatically turn on the morning of the final, as otherwise teams have won batting and bowling first four times each.

Quotes

“If initially me and [Rishabh] Pant stay till the 12th over then 300 is possible because we know how to rotate the strike, and when to hit. Our calculation is good. So, the focus will be to concentrate for the initial part of play. [A score of] 270-280 will be good, but we will go for 300.””We have talked about it yes, but nobody tends to have that pressure in them. The team is very confident and positive after the last two wins, going into the final. Pressure has not got into anyone and let’s hope it stays that way.”