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New Zealand’s lack of cricket in coming months may not be an ideal situation for many, but Daniel Vettori is unlikely to be arguing about it.The Black Caps are not scheduled to play any international cricket till October, when they take part in the Champions Trophy in India and that break allows Vettori ample time to successfully recover from a stress fracture of the back.Vettori arrived back in New Zealand earlier this week, having had to cut short a county contract with Warwickshire after just one game due to his injury and he now begins the long road back to full fitness.”It’s just the process it has been in the past of resting and once the pain subsides I can get back into rehab,” Vettori told the . “I’m fortunate there’s no international cricket till October and I’m confident of being back for the Champions Trophy.” New Zealand cricket said recently they expect Vettori to resume training in approximately 12 weeks, which would give him another month before the start of the Champions Trophy to regain fitness.Having broken down once already with a stress fracture of the back – in 2000 which eventually compelled him to remodel his action – Vettori said he was aware that it might be something similar during his first game for Warwickshire.”I’ve grown accustomed to a bit of pain but it got a little sorer in England and I thought I needed to do something about it.”New Zealand open their Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa on October 16 in Mumbai in a difficult group which also includes Pakistan.

If today Mumbai are embarrassed to find themselves scraping the bottom of the IPL barrel they have no one but themselves to blame. If they faltered during the bidding process – for example, forsaking local boy Wasim Jaffer for Ashwell Prince – equally baffling was the decision to pick a coaching staff that has only Lalchand Rajput with any international credentials. Sameer Dighe, Atul Bedade and Subroto Banerjee have played international cricket but would agree they still are novices when it comes to coaching at the highest level.It can be seen in the team’s limitations on the field. Mumbai are yet to win a game in four attempts so far. Not one of the Mumbai batsmen has recorded even a half-century (the highest so far has been Robin Uthappa’s 48 against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Mumbai). No wonder no Mumbai name features in the top-five run-getters so far in the tournament. And apart from Harbhajan’s 3 for 32 against Kings XI Punjab no other Mumbai bowler has had a telling impact on the opposition.Martin Crowe, who was famous for being innovative during his tenure as the New Zealand captain, and now with the Bangalore team, said Twenty20 is all about tactics. Sadly, Mumbai have displayed none of that, thereby increasing their strife.Despite the constant failure of their opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi – 15 is the highest opening partnership – Mumbai have persisted with the duo. In Twenty20 cricket, flexibility in not uncommon. Dwayne Bravo, Uthappa and Abhishek Nayar, their three most reliable batsmen, have all shown aggressive intent, with the first two having opened in ODIs, but the think-tank is reluctant to shuffle the batting order.John Buchanan, coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai’s opponents on Tuesday, felt it was relatively too early to work out the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, but said “the top sides have shown the tendency to have a strong top-order batting and also have bowlers strike fast”.Buchanan said Mumbai have lagged on that front. “When you look at Mumbai they are lacking at the top of the order. Jayasuriya hasn’t really got going and he is definitely a key player. And in terms of the strike bowling capacity, possibly, Shaun Pollock and Ashish Nehra haven’t fulfilled the expectations”.Pollock, the stand-in captain on Sunday, said his team lacked the attacking instincts that would provide the thrust. “We are not firing yet and once we do that we will get the inspiration”, Pollock said minutes after Adam Gilchrist’s whirlwind century had floored Mumbai on Sunday.Successful teams have been boosted by the fire power of the top-order batsmen or the top bowlers. Instead whenever Mumbai have batted first they have failed to raise the total anywhere in the vicinity of the 200-mark, which is now the par score on the flat wickets here. The two times they batted first they set 166 and 155 as targets. It didn’t help the team’s cause when Harbhajan Singh won the toss twice and both times put the opposition in when the thumb rule is: win the toss, bat first.The team’s performance also exposed the flaws in their selection policies. Jaffer, a Mumbai lad, was bought by Bangalore for just $150,000 while Mumbai picked up the South African pair of Prince and Loots Bosman for $175,000 each. Even if critics might point out Jaffer’s limitations as a Twenty20 player, what’s puzzling is that Sachin Tendulkar didn’t stress on recruiting local players like Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma, who were all allowed to be snapped by rival franchises.It’s also strange why Bosman wasn’t picked for their previous game against Deccan Chargers, despite him arriving on time for the match from South Africa. Bosman has established a reputation for himself as an explosive batsman at the Twenty20 competition in South Africa.It is not too late for Mumbai, with ten more games to go, as Pollock said there was no need to push the panic button yet. “We have worked out if we go on to win seven games we still are favourites to end up as the fourth semi-finalist”, Pollock said. Buchanan agrees too, and felt the nature of the game is such that fortunes can swing either way. According the former Australian coach, teams will soon work out the winning methods.For Mumbai to start wining they need Tendulkar fit and playing, especially in these difficult times when they know one of their senior players has been banned. Shane Warne has proved that inspiration can make a player believe in his abilities and forget about pressure. Rajasthan Royals’ success has been the story of the IPL so far, after being labeled as the weakest franchise before the tournament began.Mukesh Ambani, the richest Indian and one of the top-20 billionaires in the world wouldn’t have put his money on Mumbai Indians without giving it a thought. But before he enters the dressing room the team needs to work out a winning script soon.

Matthew Hobden, the Sussex pace bowler, has died at the age of 22. The news was announced by his county club late on Saturday evening.Police Scotland announced on Sunday that Hobden had died in the Forres region in north-east Scotland, about 25 miles east of Inverness. They said his death was being treated as “unexplained” but preliminary enquiries did not suggest suspicious circumstances.”Sussex Cricket is deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Matthew Hobden,” a Sussex statement said.”Matthew was an exciting young cricketer with a big future ahead of him in the game. He was a fantastic individual who had progressed through Sussex’s Youth and Academy ranks, having been born locally in Eastbourne.”He made his first-class debut for Sussex in 2014 and had represented the county across all three formats over the past two seasons. He will be greatly missed.”Sussex would like to offer their deepest condolences to Matthew’s family and friends at this difficult time.”Players and staff will be offered as much support as is possible and we would like both Matthew’s family, and everyone connected with Sussex Cricket, to be respected with privacy at this time.”Angus Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, said: “The PCA are deeply saddened to hear about the death of Matt Hobden at the age of just 22 and our thoughts and sympathy go out to his family, friends, colleagues and all at Sussex.”Matt was a young seamer with immense potential and he had been identified by Sussex as a player with a bright future in the game when he took two five-wicket hauls playing for Cardiff MCCU.”The PCA will work closely with Sussex to ensure that their players and coaching staff are supported during this difficult period for the club.”Hobden made his first-class debut in 2012 for Cardiff MCCU and his first-team debut for Sussex in a one-day match against Nottinghamshire in 2013. His first-class Sussex debut came in 2014 and in 2015 he played in 10 Championship matches. Overall he claimed 48 first-class wickets at 39.35. He had been named in the fast-bowling group for the Potential England Performance Programme late last year.Kevin Shine, the ECB’s lead fast bowling coach, said he has seen enough to Hobden during his time around the PEPP to say he would be an England bowler of the future.”As a player, I remember the first time I saw him just thinking ‘wow’. He was the strongest, most powerful cricketer I’ve ever seen on that programme – up there with elite athletes from different sports. His potential was huge, he was improving rapidly and I’m certain that he would have played for England.”But for all that, my over-riding memory of Matt will be of his character, he was a wonderful lad. It’s devastating for all who knew him to have lost him so young.”Tributes were quick to come from fellow cricketers. Matt Prior, the former Sussex and England wicketkeeper, tweeted: “Thoughts & prayers with all of Matt Hobden’s family at this tragic time. A great guy with a huge future taken far too soon. #riphobsy.”Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, posted: “Thoughts and prayers are with Matt Hobden’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time.”

With the rumour mills working overtime, India’s next captain will, it seems, be decided by either a straight shoot-out between Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni or a split between the two. With Tendulkar, the question is whether or not he wants the job for the shorter version of the game. With Dhoni it’s a question of whether he is ready for the job just now. Either way, with no other real candidate presenting themselves, it seems that the selectors will have to go with someone who is reluctant, or someone on whom the job is thrust before his time.A reluctant leader is usually not a good one and Tendulkar’s stance on one-day cricket has been pretty clear in the recent past. In a widely reproduced interview to the , London, a fortnight ago, Tendulkar had spoken in some detail about how difficult it was for him to recover between one-day matches. It is learned that Tendulkar has spoken to Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the national selection committee, about these problems, and asking if there was a chance he could be used a bit more sparingly in the shorter version of the game. Vengsarkar would not confirm this.However, with India playing 12 ODIs at home in the next two months, seven against Australia and five against Pakistan, there was every chance Tendulkar would have been rested at some point. This was the scenario before Rahul Dravid stepped down from the top job.Whether this has changed or not is anyone’s guess. If Tendulkar thought he wasn’t keen on playing every ODI that India played, it’s tough to see him accepting the additional responsibility of captaincy. However, the lure of reclaiming a job that was once his, in the evening of his career, might just be too much to resist.If not Tendulkar, the selectors are almost certain to go with Dhoni. This could well result in a scenario where the Indian captaincy is split for the first time. For the moment, the selectors have to decide merely on the captain for the ODIs against Australia, which gives them some breathing space. They’ll need to pick a Test captain soon enough, though, with Pakistan arriving in India in early November for a Test and ODI series.Cricinfo has learned the selectors could well persuade one of the seniors – and Tendulkar is the leading candidate here – to “hold the fort” as far as the Test captaincy is concerned while Dhoni grows into the job leading the team in ODIs. The serious concern over handing Dhoni the captaincy in both forms of the game is that the next two Test series India plays are its most demanding, against Pakistan and in Australia. The Australians’ reputation of targeting captains for special treatment adds to the selectors’ concerns, and they don’t want to throw Dhoni in at the deep end.If they do decide to split the captaincy and are forced to look beyond Tendulkar, two well-qualified fringe candidates emerge in VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble. Both have leadership experience, and both command the respect of their peers. The only problem in this case is that neither is a 100% certainty to play all Tests. When India have tinkered with their combinations – playing an extra seamer or an extra bowler – Kumble, and more so Laxman, have been left out.With Harbhajan out of the mix at the moment, though, Kumble’s place in the Test side, both home and away, is set. In Laxman’s case, the likelihood of India playing six batsmen against Pakistan and Australia, makes him a sure starter.Kumble’s obvious advantage is that he has won more matches for India single-handedly than anyone else in this squad, and commands respect. He has always considered it an honour to lead the team, and it’s only a mixture of timing and circumstance that has meant that this thinking cricketer has never been captain. What’s more, Kumble is sure to be a non-parochial captain, non-controversial, non-confrontational (off the field) captain, and this will make things smooth for the selectors and the board.What’s more, if either Kumble or Laxman is given the job, it will clearly be only on an interim basis. They will merely be warming the chair for Dhoni, who can take up the job when India are faced with smaller mountains to climb. Giving the reins to a Tendulkar or a Ganguly might make that transition that much more difficult. Ganguly has already had his run as captain and achieved more than anyone else has in the job. At the moment he is enjoying his batting, and producing results, and might not even want the job, if it’s offered to him.From the outside, it seems like a rather complex choice before the selectors. But that’s only because it’s unclear whom they have sounded out and what the responses have been. When they meet in Mumbai on Tuesday, they might just buy themselves some time by appointing Dhoni for the one-dayers, and leaving the larger decision till later.

As the curtain came down on a seven-week adventure that has put Irish cricket firmly on the world map, their outgoing coach, Adrian Birrell, warned that Ireland’s cricket administrators will need to take radical steps to ensure that their top players, many of whom are now contracted to first-class counties, are available for future international engagements. Birrell, who hands over this month to Phil Simmons after five years at the helm, believes that the only solution may lie in playing the bulk of Ireland’s fixtures outside the county season.Ireland’s ninth appearance of the World Cup ended in disappointment as Muttiah Muralitharan and Farvez Maharoof led a demolition job that was all over by the lunch interval, but the achievements of this squad has ensured that the coming season is set to be their busiest yet. In addition to their nine matches against county opposition in the Friends Provident Trophy, Ireland are set to take on Canada in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in May, a triangular one-day series with Holland and West Indies in mid-summer, and two further one-off games against India and South Africa at the end of June.But Birrell said that Ireland would struggle to match their recent achievements, let alone improve on them, without the services of key performers such as Niall O’Brien, who is contracted to Northamptonshire, Eion Morgan (Middlesex) and Boyd Rankin (Derbyshire). Another of their key players, the opener Will Porterfield, is in talks with Gloucestershire, while the captain, Trent Johnston, 32, who works in the textile industry, dropped a broad hint that he would soon be announcing his retirement. Given the unparalleled experience that this squad has enjoyed in recent weeks, he is unlikely to be the only one.”There’s got to be a strategic decision by Irish cricket to hold onto their players, and how they are going to do that I don’t know,” said Birrell. “I don’t see a solution other than playing out-of-season, where there’s no clash [with county cricket]. We are at a disadvantage playing in our season because we will never be at full strength – three or four of best players are playing for counties. Obviously players who are ambitious want to play cricket at the highest level, as in Test cricket. And it’ll be hard to stop them.”It’s a tricky one,” he added. “On the one hand you want to piggy-back onto the counties with their professional game, but on the other you want to have all your players available for every match. Going semi- or fully-professional is the route, but this is all new to us. We’ve only recently got into the Super Eights, and now the world rankings. All of these problems are good problems to have, but I’m sure the ICU will be attending to that very seriously.”In the interim, the solution being advocated by Birrell and Johnston was to postpone the Irish international season until the end of the English county season, with a view to playing fixtures in countries such as UAE, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. If it sounded like an ad-hoc solution to an unexpected conundrum, that’s largely because it was – after all, it’s hardly a move that would establish the sport in the affections of the newly cricket-crazy Irish public. But the confusion reflects the maelstrom into which Irish cricket has been pitched. The road ahead is unlikely to be as full of fairytales as the past few weeks have been.

Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has applauded the man-management skills of the current Indian coaching staff and was pleased that the tour has proceeded without any “hiccups”.Ganguly, who had some major differences with former India coach Greg Chappell, was happy with the current atmosphere in the dressing room, adding that the team did not need a “professor” to coach them at this level.”The youngsters have enjoyed themselves,” Ganguly told Cricinfo when asked about the dynamics in the team. “It’s been a lovely dressing room, a free dressing room. No hiccups, not many controversies off the field, not too much rubbish going around, which has been good. It’s been fantastic.”Did he think the lack of a head coach had affected the team in any way? “We have coaches – Robin [Singh] and Venky [Prasad] have been superb,” he said. “They’ve been nice, their man-management skills have been worth watching. Chandu Borde has been nice. Lot of people said he’s 73 when he got appointed. He may not be the most active because of his age but thebatting ideas he gives – stands behind in the nets, watches every ball – that’s all you need.”You don’t need a professor at this level. You don’t need to treat international players like students. What are you going to teach Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble? What are you going to tell them? [There are] minor things which you notice in the nets you come and tellthem, ‘This is what I feel, this is how you can do it better’. And Mr Borde does it perfectly.”After India’s Test series triumph at The Oval, their captain, Dravid, had also acknowledged the efforts of Prasad, Robin and Borde. However, when asked about the lack of a coach before the first game of the one-day series, he was guarded with his stance. “We’ve had some goodsuccess on this tour, but it will be too simplistic to say it’s because we haven’t had [a coach],” he said. “There are other factors that have gone into us playing well. You can’t just focus on the coach.”Sometimes you’re in the team and looking at it from one perspective. People from outside can look at a team and see the direction it’s going in. They must provide some intelligence and input as well.”

Ashley Giles, the England left-arm spinner, has flown home to England and will play no further part of the Ashes following news that his wife, Stine, is suffering from a brain tumour.Jamie Dalrymple, the Middlesex allrounder, has been drafted in from the England Academy in Perth. He is the second Academy player to join the senior squad after Ed Joyce replaced Marcus Trescothick who flew home at the beginning of the tour.”The news came to me [last night] that his wife had a bit of a problem,” Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, said. “And it was confirmed that it could be a potentially very serious problem, so he asked to go home. Our thoughts and sympathy are with him and he flew out this morning. We’ve called up Jamie Dalrymple and he’ll join up with us on the Melbourne leg.””I’ve been involved with England for seven years and I rate him probably the most professional cricketer I’ve dealt with in England, or in the top three,” added Fletcher. “He really wanted to play, he got upset when he wasn’t, but he came back and took the flak. And so this news must be hard, but he handled it very very well. When he left last night, we wished them well, and hope everything turns out fine for the family.On a day when England’s Ashes hopes were brutally extinguished this is a further blow to their morale.

Scorecard

South Australia held all the aces thanks to Mark Cosgrove’s fabulous 184 that propelled them to 389, securing a massive first-innings lead of 240 against Victoria at the Junction Oval. At stumps, Victoria were 0 for 7, still 233 runs short of avoiding an innings defeat.Resuming overnight on 2 for 58, Shane Deitz and Cosgrove put on another 101 in the morning before Deitz (78) finally fell to Gerard Denton, but not before their 158-run stand had taken South Australia ahead. Mick Lewis and Allan Wise prised out Callum Ferguson and Graham Manou relatively cheaply but Cosgrove, who hammered 14 fours and four sixes, stood firm at one end and strung together a couple of handy partnerships. When he brought up his century, Cosgrove added another impressive display to his fine run of scores since his return after being suspended for being unfit.Darren Lehmann, who had been ruled out of action for six weeks after injuring his thumb on the first day, was expected to bat only if necessary and walked out at 5 for 236. He struck six fours and was dominant in an 87-run partnership with Cosgrove that battered Victoria before he eventually fell to Wise for 49. Cameron White dismissed Matthew Weeks after some resistance before Jason Gillespie defied Victoria for 70 balls for his 20.Cosgrove batted on and extended the lead past 230 before Wise had him caught by Michael Klinger. Wise, who ended with figures of 4 for 78, finally dismissed Gillespie, whose stubborn batting is now a trademark, on 389 and White followed up with the wicket of Dan Cullen to end the innings.

Ireland have announced a squad of 13 for their opening fixture in the Friends Provident Trophy against Nottinghamshire at Clontarf this Sunday (April 27).As expected, William Porterfield has been confirmed as captain for the game, taking over from Trent Johnston. Nineteen-year-old James Hall makes his first appearance in the squad, while 17-year-old opener Paul Stirling retains his place, giving the line up a youthful look.Ireland haven’t named an overseas player for the match, and coach Phil Simmons explained: “It’s been difficult to get the right player because of the IPL. I hope however to be in a position to confirm a signing on Tuesday, and he will be available for the seven other games in the competition.”It’s hard when you lose players of the calibre of Trent Johnston and Dave Langford-Smith, but it does give some of the other players a chance to make a name for themselves, and cement a place in the team. It’s a new era, and captain, William Porterfield will be able to assert his style on the team.”Ireland squad William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Phil Eaglestone, Thinus Fourie, James Hall, Gary Kidd, Kyle McCallan, Kevin O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Reinhardt Strydom, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

The Australian board has suggested that umpires from England and Australia be allowed to stand during this year’s Ashes series. The ICC rules stipulate that all Test matches should have third-country umpires, but the Australians believe that the quality of decision-making will be better if the umpires from the two countries are part of the panel.According to , though a formal request hasn’t yet been placed, Cricket Australia directors have been exploring the option with the ICC. Peter Young, a spokesman for Cricket Australia, said that a contest between the two best teams in the world should have the best officials as well. “It’s one of those issues that is frequently discussed socially. Australia and England are the two top-ranked sides in the world, and by chance the top-ranked umpires in the world … won’t be able to umpire in that series.”In a perfect world, it would be great for a series that will not only determine who wins the Ashes but could decide the world No. 1 ranking to be officiated by the world’s top-ranked umpires.” Australia’s Simon Taufel is regarded as the best umpire in the world at the moment, while England’s Mark Benson – their only representative in the Elite Panel – is highly rated as well. Daryl Harper and the controversial Darrell Hair are the two other Australian umpires currently in the Elite Panel.