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Australia’s captain Steven Smith has opened the possibility of a recall for Josh Hazlewood after declaring the Bangalore pitch to be more akin to an IPL surface than most of the turning tracks prepared so far at the World Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2016Australia’s captain Steven Smith has opened the possibility of a recall for Josh Hazlewood after declaring the Bangalore pitch to be more akin to an IPL surface than most of the turning tracks prepared so far at the World Twenty20.Smith’s words may mean a rapid demotion for the left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who bowled only one expensive over in the loss to New Zealand that has left Australia needing to beat Bangladesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday night or risk a swift exit from the tournament.”I’m sure he will be talked about,” Smith said of Hazlewood. “He’s got the skills, he hits the seam, and if there is still some grass on the wicket, you’ll see him coming into contention. There’s a little bit of grass in it. It’s still quite wet at this stage, but it’s pretty hot here, so it dries out pretty quickly.”Looking at how dry it is and that kind of thing, I don’t think this will take as much turn as the last couple that we have seen. It looks a pretty good wicket. The day before it looks very similar to what a lot of the IPL wickets look like. Generally those games are pretty high scoring. I think you’ll see something like that tomorrow.”Australia’s leaders have laid their opening defeat largely at the feet of the batsmen, who contrived to lose from the strong foundation of 50 for 1 chasing 143 to win. Smith argued that an improved batting display would go a long way towards kickstarting Australia’s campaign, which will otherwise be headed for a quick an ignominious end.”We haven’t played as well as we would have liked in this format of the game,” he said. “I still think we have the right personnel here to get the job done. We’ve got a strong squad of 15 players. We have a lot of power in the sheds.”For us it’s about making sure we improve in the middle overs and keep the wickets in the shed so we can use that power to have some success over here. We didn’t do that the other night. If we can, I’m confident we’ll get enough runs and our bowlers will do the job to get us a few wins in this tournament.”The match will be a reunion of sorts of Smith and numerous team-mates, as the Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha was highly regarded as an assistant coach for New South Wales before he took up his current job.”They are a very much improved side and they have learnt a lot under Chandika Hathurusingha,” Smith said. “I had the pleasure of working with him at New South Wales and he has taught them quite a lot. They have improved a lot over the last couple of years and they will be a big challenge for us tomorrow night.”[Hathurusingha] was a good influence on me when he was with New South Wales. I think he reads the game really well, he understands batting really well, he was really good in the time he had at New South Wales. He’s obviously done well to get an international job with Bangladesh and he’s had a bit of success since he has been there, which is great.”

Sixty-six players were put through a full day of skills and fitness tests at Indianapolis World Sports Park in the initial evaluation process to compete for a spot in an ICC Americas Combined squad

Peter Della Penna20-Sep-20151:30

‘These kids want it so bad’ – Young

Sixty-six players were put through a full day of skills and fitness tests at Indianapolis World Sports Park in the initial evaluation process to compete for a spot in an ICC Americas Combined squad for January’s WICB Regional 50-over competition. ICC Americas High Performance Consultant Tom Evans was impressed by the way the candidates responded to some of the obstacles on the day.”I thought it was a really good day,” Evans told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a pretty long day. With a little bit of weather around, it made it extra challenging from a logistical standpoint but I thought the coaches and the players were able to adapt to that really well. To go to the indoor centre and do the fitness testing there and using St. Vincent Sport Performance (SVSP), who were excellent doing the testing, I think they showed that level of professionalism that we’re keen for these guys to strive towards.”The ICC brought four strength and conditioning coaches from SVSP, renowned for their training and testing methods to improve speed and agility in NFL, NBA and track athletes, to test all participants. Due to morning rain in Indianapolis, the players were brought to an indoor training facility and measured on a broad jump, a 20-metre sprint and a modified shuttle run to simulate three runs between the wickets.”When we look at this group today of cricket players, what impresses me is that when you challenge people to be athletic and they respond,” said Ralph Reiff, executive director of SVSP. “They were very attentive, they were ready to go, no one was an outlier on the backside of the bell curve so no one demonstrated that they don’t belong here so I was impressed by that. There was a very high level of athleticism within this group.”Rain cleared by the afternoon to allow the trial to shift back to the Indianapolis World Sports Park. The players were divided into seven groups, with one coach specifically assigned to track each group. Separately, the four specialist evaluators – Mike Young for fielding, Courtney Walsh for pace bowling, Venkatapathy Raju for spin bowling and Evans for batting – each ran a station checking on specific skills.”The love that these guys are showing in wanting to be here, the pride, it’s kind of blown me away a little bit,” Young said. “I didn’t know what to expect but they made me more excited as well. I was pumped up to start with but I’m like, man these kids want it so bad. Talking to Courtney and all the other coaches, they all agree. They’ve just been fantastic.”Though 83 players were invited to come to Indianapolis, 17 were absent from Saturday. Among those were four Canada players – Hiral Patel, Jeremy Gordon, Shaheed Keshvani and Srimantha Wijeratne – and two USA players, Japen Patel and Mrunal Patel, who were part of their country’s respective squads at July’s World T20 Qualifier. Evans said some withdrew due to injury and others might show up by Monday but may find it more difficult to make it into next weekend’s second phase.”There were a variety of issues why people didn’t come and we expected that when you ask people to get themselves here,” Evans said. “We really respect the fact that 66 did and even more wanted to but just couldn’t do it. But we were really pleased that people were willing to make that investment. In terms of the guys who might be late arrivals, they’ll be putting themselves under more pressure because they’re going to get seen less so they’ll probably have to do something outstanding when they get here.”Players will compete in trial matches on Sunday in the next step of the phase one evaluation process before more trial matches are scheduled for Monday.

Zimbabwe rope in pacer Victor Nyauchi with the bulk of the squad remaining similar to the one that won the 2022 T20 World Cup Qualifier

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2022Zimbabwe will miss the services of fast bowlers Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh at home. The rest of the squad, though, is similar to the one that won the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier earlier this month, in Bulawayo.Muzarabani sustained a tear in his thigh while Chatara suffered a collarbone fracture during the tournament that saw Zimbabwe book one of the last two spots for the T20 World Cup that will be held in Australia in October.Related

• Raza, Madhevere, bowlers give Zimbabwe 1-0 lead

• Raza takes 4 for 8 as Zimbabwe win T20 World Cup Qualifier

• ICC FTP: Bangladesh land Test and ODI jackpot in 2023-2027 cycle

• Sikandar Raza: 'Nightmare of not qualifying for 2019 World Cup never went away'

• Zimbabwe to host India, Bangladesh before a tour to Australia after 18 years

With their two spearheads ruled out, Zimbabwe have roped in pacer Victor Nyauchi in the 15-member squad. While Nyauchi has played only six Tests and a solitary T20I, he has a decent T20 record with 25 wickets in 20 matches at an average of 18.92. Allrounder Tony Munyonga and fast bowler Tanaka Chivanga, who had replaced Chatara and Muzarabani respectively in the squad during the qualifiers, have also been retained.Zimbabwe had an excellent time at the qualifying tournament, where they remained unbeaten through the group stages before knocking off PNG in the semi final to book their place in the marquee tournament. They then brushed aside Netherlands in the final by 37 runs to lift the trophy, with Sikandar Raza starring with the ball.Raza, the leading run-scorer and joint leading wicket-taker for Zimbabwe in the qualifiers will once again form the fulcrum of the unit alongside captain Craig Ervine and Sean Williams.The series against Bangladesh, which consists of three T20Is and three ODIs, sets off a busy couple of months for Zimbabwe, who will be hosting India in mid-August before travelling to Australia for three ODIs – their first visit to the country in 18 years.The three T20Is against Bangladesh will take place on July 30, 31 and August 2. All matches will be staged in Harare.Squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (wk), Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams

Darren Sammy, captain of West Indies’ World Twenty20 team, has reiterated his view that the players in the side are not happy with the remuneration offered by the West Indies Cricket Board for participating in the tournament next month

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Feb-2016Darren Sammy, captain of West Indies’ World Twenty20 squad, has stressed that his side has never said they would strike or not take part in the tournament in India due to an ongoing contract impasse with the West Indies Cricket Board. Sammy reiterated that the players are unhappy with the remuneration offered by the WICB for participating in the tournament, which starts from March 8.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in Dubai, where he is playing in the inaugural Pakistan Super League, Sammy also questioned the comments made by WICB CEO Michael Muirhead, who had said it was not possible for the West Indies board to identify how much it would be paid by the ICC with respect to the 2016 World T20.”We players are not happy with the remuneration offered by the WICB to participate in the World Twenty20,” Sammy told ESPNcricinfo. “We have not given any authorisation to WIPA to negotiate on our behalf. A large number of players in the squad do not receive any significant remuneration from WICB at all, so we want the opportunity to negotiate fairly the financial terms within the contract.”In the past 25% of the income received by the WICB for participating in ICC tournaments was distributed to the squad. The remuneration being offered now compared to previous World Cup events is shocking to say the least. We are being offered now just $6,900 per match across the board irrespective of experience. Players are being asked to start providing services from nearly four weeks ahead of the World Cup and be guaranteed just $27,600 if they play all the guaranteed matches (which) is a staggering reduction. What happens to a player who does not feature in a match?”The WICB say they cannot figure out what 25% of the participation fee is as the ICC’s formula has changed. Surely they (WICB) must know a figure. What is it? We want the match fees to be doubled. I have also written to the WICB asking if they have got a sponsor for the team, and what is the sponsorship revenue. We need answers.”Responding to Sammy’s letter on February 9, Muirhead had stated that the sums mentioned by the player were incorrect. Replying to Sammy’s estimate of the payment expected from the ICC for the team’s participation in the World T20, Muirhead said that the $8 million figure quoted by Sammy was incorrect. He further stated that following the ICC’s revamp in 2014, the manner of distributing payments to Full Members for ICC events had changed and was spread over an eight-year cycle, instead of “being paid out in a lump sum and attributed to any one event.”Sammy also stated that the team had not backed out of participating in the World T20: “Under my watch, players never said they would strike or not take part in the World Cup. All we’ve said is we don’t accept the terms given or agreed by an association that doesn’t represent us.”Fourteen of the 15 members of the West Indies squad for the World T20 are not members of the WIPA and, despite Muirhead’s statement that WIPA was the “recognised collective bargaining representative” of West Indies cricketers, Sammy said the body had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the players.”Still they [WIPA] are the ones WICB negotiates with on player issues. But 14 of the 15-member World Cup squad is not part of WIPA,” Sammy said. “West Indies cricket has gone through a lot and it will continue to go through a lot. I don’t see things changing anytime soon.”

The legal wrangle ahead of what is expected to be an interesting BCCI annual general meeting (AGM) continued on Monday, with developments in two separate court cases

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2013The legal wrangle ahead of what is expected to be an interesting BCCI annual general meeting (AGM) continued on Monday, with developments in two separate court cases. While the BCCI has challenged an order restraining it from holding its special general meeting (SGM) on September 25 to decide the fate of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma has moved the Supreme Court, pleading that BCCI president N Srinivasan not be allowed to contest the board’s election.A Delhi trial court had issued an order on September 21, barring the BCCI’s SGM on Wednesday, and expectedly the board has now moved the Delhi High Court. Even though the lower court had stayed the SGM, it had declined to pass an order on Modi questioning the appointment of Sanjay Patel and Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI’s secretary and head of day to day affairs, respectively, by president N Srinivasan who had stepped aside in the wake of IPL spot-fixing scandal.After hearing the BCCI’s argument against the trial court’s order, which was based on the court having no jurisdiction to pass the same, Justice VK Shail decided to continue the hearing on Tuesday and also hear Modi’s cross petition against the appointment of Patel and Dalmiya.Senior advocate CA Sundaram, on behalf of the BCCI, told the judge that since the SGM was slated to be held in Chennai, a trial court in Delhi could not pass an order staying it. “The Delhi court has no jurisdiction to pass such an order as the BCCI headquarters is in Mumbai and SGM was to be held in Chennai where Srinivansan resides. Just because the disciplinary committee meeting [which found Modi guilty on eight different charges] was held in Delhi, Modi has approached the city court,” Sundaram was quoted as saying by . “In the SGM, the report of the disciplinary committee will be considered and if the report will be accepted, then a show cause notice will be issued to Modi to make his defence.”Even if the High Court gives the go-ahead for the BCCI to conduct the SGM on Wednesday, the BCCI camp is expecting Modi to move Supreme Court in what is believed to be “delaying tactics”.In the other case, CAB secretary Verma moved an application in the Supreme Court seeking an interim injunction against Srinivasan from contesting the BCCI election pending the verdict on the special leave petition (SLP) filed by Verma against the BCCI. The Supreme Court, on September 12, had run out of time and hence failed to hear the SLP where the BCCI lawyers were expected to enter final arguments against the CAB petition that had challenged the Bombay High Court order for failing to appoint a fresh probe panel to investigate corruption in the IPL despite ruling the BCCI probe panel was constituted illegally.On Monday, Verma, through his counsel Gagan Gupta, entered a prayer in the Supreme Court asking it to restrain Srinivasan from not only standing for the BCCI president’s polls (scheduled to be held during the board’s AGM on September 29) but also bar him from being part of any of the board’s committees. The court is expected to give a date of hearing on Tuesday.The Bombay High Court had pointed out in its order that Srinivasan had “prima facie” a hand in the appointment of the two-man probe panel that had cleared the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals of corruption charges. The High Court had called the finding “illegal”. The BCCI had filed its own SLP challenging that order. The Supreme Court is yet to announce the next date hearing for this.The main reason behind the BCCI’s SLP was to erase the black mark on Srinivasan left by the High Court order. Lawyers on both sides confirmed that Srinivasan was free to attend the BCCI AGM as well as stand for the president’s elections despite the CAB petition.The significance of the CAB prayer cannot be determined at this stage. Verma’s intention from the beginning has been to restrain Srinivasan from performing his BCCI duties till the courts conclusively clear him of all allegations.

His 75 from 51 balls leads record chase of 205 in first-ever Roses semi

David Hopps16-Jul-2022What do we know about Keaton Jennings? A long-game accumulator, good enough to win 17 England Test caps. So highly valued by the former England coach, Andy Flower, that he saw him as a future England Test captain. A good man, with good habits, but 30 now and has never had a sniff in the limited-overs formats. Nobody has ever expected him to.What might have passed us by? He now has three half-centuries on Finals Day, and nobody has made more. The latest – 75 from 51 balls – was enough to guide Lancashire into the Blast final by six wickets with eight balls to spare. His range is extending, he played with elegance and equanimity and, in the heat of a Roses T20, neither quality is seen in abundance.Jennings certainly arrived at Edgbaston in blissful form. If you must drag yourself wearily from the field on Thursday evening after a four-day Championship match, only 40 hours before a semi-final, as these two sides did at Southport and Scarborough respectively, then do so with a triple-century to your name.Yorkshire’s 204 for 7 was the second highest total on Finals Day, where nerves are often a handicap, but they never looked like defending it. Lancashire took heart in the fact that they held the highest (217 for 4 vs Surrey in 2005). More relevant was a golden summer’s day and the vulnerability of Yorkshire’s pace attack in the absence with England of their T20 captain, David Willey, who leaves for Northants at the end of the season, has bowled the most critical overs all season and has offered wise counsel to the rest of the attack. He was badly missed.Alongside Jennings, Dane Vilas saw things through, his contribution an unbeaten 63 from 36 balls. He is one of the temperamentally strongest T20 performers, a shrewd manipulator on both sides of the wicket. And he had the satisfaction of standing tall and proud and punching the matchwinning six off Matthew Revis over deep cover. There were a couple of dicey moments on the way – a top-edged sweep against Shadab Khan dropped wide of short fine leg and Harry Brook, the stand-in skipper, nearly clung to a half-chance at short extra – but he shared in a low-risk partnership of 112 in 65 balls.An immense Powerplay of 89 for 2 had released the pressure, Yorkshire’s bowling flaky from the outset. Phil Salt was the main provider, 36 from 15 balls. Revis, in his first full bowling season, found him impossible to contain as he conceded 25 from four balls. The first six only just cleared Will Fraine at deep square leg, but by the time he suffered a free-hit six over long-on, the over was coloured a deep shade of extreme red. He responded spiritedly, a back-of-a-length ball that had Salt caught at the wicket, only for Steven Croft to take up the cudgels to take the runs tally to 29.Jordan Thompson was unable to repeat his quarter-final rescue act against Surrey with the ball – this time he did his utmost with the bat. His 50 from 18 balls was an adrenalin-fuelled affair, sweeping Yorkshire past 200 when they would have settled at one stage for 20 fewer. He has the prodigious appetite of a bona fide seam-bowling allrounder, but he has been employed by Yorkshire further down the order this season, especially in the Championship. A season’s tally of 88 runs at an SR of 107 hardly identified him as a danger, but he was promoted to No. 6, a nod to his appetite for the big occasion, and necessary, too, because Yorkshire were light on batting resources.He came in at 124 for 4 after Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who is leaving for Somerset had dished up a farewell performance of 66 from 44 balls. At his height, he took five sixes off seven balls, the first three off Danny Lamb, the next two from Gleeson, brought down to earth a week after his England debut, his four overs leaking 54. Gleeson ended it with his final delivery – a bouncer hooked to deep square – and the energy departed from Yorkshire’s innings, the final over becoming a scramble for whatever they could get.The quick departure of Adam Lyth, slicing Luke Wood to deep point, was a blow; only four players had outdone his 525 tournament runs. Dawid Malan, in the other opener’s berth, was in good fettle for his 33 from 22, his guarded dink to third man operating at peak efficiency. Lancashire conceded 67 for 1 in the Powerplay – their second worst outcome of the season.Lancashire entrusted 12 overs to their three pace bowlers, who were well below their normal standards, on a day when their spinners might have been given more licence. Matt Parkinson bowled Malan as he made room to force through the offside, lost Lancashire’s review as he sought an lbw against the advancing Brook, who was then bowled by Luke Wells, chopping on. Brook’s imperious form has faltered during a month in and out of various England squads.Kohler-Cadmore took time to work out the surface. A nervy single off the mark against Gleeson would have seen him run out without scoring if Vilas’ had hit the stumps from mid-on, and a couple of mishit pulls fell safely into the legside. But gradually he found his touch and crucially won his battle with Gleeson, repeatedly pummelling him down the ground. Shadab Khan summoned his best score of the season (34 from 24), but with bat or ball never suggested he was about to transform the game.And so Lancashire, comfortably the more consistent of the two Roses rivals this season, went through. They do so as county cricket’s frenzied day out celebrates its 20th anniversary with reason for disquiet. Blast crowds have been 15 per cent down compared to a record year in 2019 and, however positively the ECB try to spin it, that was a summer of 24 abandonments compared to only six this year. Accommodation with the Hundred is just about possible, but only if the desire is there.

The three-member Lodha Panel will, on Tuesday, announce the quantum of punishment for Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra and their respectively franchises, for the pair’s alleged involvement in the IPL 2013 corruption scandal

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2015The three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha, will, on Tuesday, announce the quantum of punishment for Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra and the teams they were part of – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals respectively – for their alleged involvement in the IPL 2013 corruption scandal.The Lodha committee was appointed on January 22 by the Supreme Court to decide on the punishment for Kundra, Gurunath and their respective franchises. Kundra and Gurunath had been found guilty of betting by the Supreme Court. The committee had been given six months to pronounce its decision.Gurunath had been chargesheeted in the IPL 2013 corruption scandal and though Kundra wasn’t among those chargesheeted, he was found guilty by the first Supreme Court-appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal committee of betting on IPL matches.The court had also directed the Lodha panel, which also includes former judges Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran, to make recommendations and suggest amendments to the processes followed by the BCCI. The panel is likely to seek more time to announce its findings on the restructuring of BCCI administration. Senior BCCI functionaries are likely to discuss the possible ramifications of the Lodha panel findings in a conference call on Sunday.

Trent Copeland, the Australia seamer, will return to boost Northamptonshire’s hopes of achieving promotion

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2013Trent Copeland, the Australia seamer, will return to boost Northamptonshire’s hopes of achieving promotion. Copeland was initially signed for the first half of the season, claiming 36 Championship wickets in seven games, and he will now return for Northants’ final three fixtures.Copeland returned to Sydney in June with Northants unbeaten and top of the table, having averaged 49.3 with the bat and 16.25 with the ball. Since then, the club have drawn once and lost twice to Lancashire, who have also overtaken them as Division Two leaders.In all competitions Copeland claimed 50 wickets but he was replaced for the FLt20 by Australia allrounder Cameron White and South Africa opener Richard Levi. Northamptonshire’s head coach, David Ripley, had previously indicated they might try to re-sign the tall fast bowler, who has played three Tests for Australia.”This news will give everybody involved with Northants a lift,” Ripley said. “Trent made an outstanding contribution in his first stint with us, both on and off the field, we look forward to welcoming both him and his wife Kim back to the County Ground.”Northamptonshire currently lie second in Division Two, a point behind Lancashire having played a game more than the teams around them. With six fixtures left, they are 38 points clear of Worcestershire in the race for automatic promotion.

Club legend takes the reins on two-year term after 16-year career

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2022David Lawrence, the former England fast bowler, has been unveiled as the new President of Gloucestershire.Lawrence, whose five-match England career was cut short by a horrific knee injury in 1992, claimed 625 wickets in 280 matches for Gloucestershire between 1981 and 1997, in which time he formed a feared pace attack alongside Courtney Walsh and Kevin Curran.He was announced as the club’s new president at their AGM on Thursday, and in taking over from the outgoing Roger Gibbons on a two-year term, is the first Black president in Gloucestershire’s 152-year history.”I’m a local boy, born in Gloucester itself and I came to Bristol when I was 16, so to be back as President is a great honour for me,” Lawrence said. “It does show you how far we’ve come as a Club, it shows me where the game is going and needs to go.”But I’m not here just as a token gesture, and what I mean by that is a lot has happened in cricket over the last six months, and we know we need to do more within the game. I’m happy to be making sure we are going in the right direction.”It’s time for more diversity and I know that I’m going to be the first President of colour at Gloucestershire and that means a lot to me.”
Syd has also outlined his ambitions to help inspire the next generation, from all backgrounds, to get involved in cricket with Gloucestershire during his time as Club President.Lawrence intends to play an active role in the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) Programme, among other community schemes, as well as working as a mentor for the club’s next generation of cricketers.”I think it’s important that we get more inner-city kids playing the game, black, white, male and female”, he added. “I would love to see a local boy walk out to play for Gloucestershire. That would give me immense pleasure to see that happen and that’s what we want; we all want to see more local boys and girls playing for Gloucestershire.”Despite his huge popularity as a player, Lawrence suffered from racist abuse and prejudice during his career, and last year he told the Sky Sports’ documentary “You Guys Are History” how a fellow player had left a banana skin outside his hotel room during his first away match with the club in 1981.The club contacted Lawrence immediately after the documentary had been aired, and issued an unreserved apology soon afterwards.

England coach Trevor Bayliss has backed Ben Stokes to bounce back from the pain of being taken for four sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over the World T20 final

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-20161:40

Butcher: Stokes would put his hand up again

England coach Trevor Bayliss has backed Ben Stokes to bounce back from the pain of being taken for four sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over the World T20 final, and said he is the “heart and soul” of the England team.Stokes, who had become a key figure in the death overs for England during the World T20 as he delivered telling spells against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, had 19 runs to defend when he faced up to Brathwaite. However, four balls later the title was West Indies’ after each of the deliveries was dispatched into the Kolkata stands.Stokes was left distraught and, before hauling himself to the crease for what became the final delivery, he sank to his knees when Brathwaite had levelled the scores. A few hours later he tweeted his thanks for the support he had received and the morning after Brathwaite himself offered some consoling words. As England flew out of India, Paul Collingwood posted a photo of him alongside a relaxed Stokes on the plane.Over the last 12 months, the form of Stokes has become central to England’s success with key match-winning performances against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa before the World T20. Bayliss is in no doubt that he would front up to a similar final-over situation again.”He is one of those blokes – if we had a game tomorrow, he’d put his hand up to bowl the last over again,” he said. “No one is blaming Stokesy for anything. To be honest, he is the heart and soul of this team.”If everyone put in half as much as Stokesy does, we’d go a long way. You can’t fault Ben’s leadership in the team or the effort he puts in. It doesn’t matter whether he is batting, bowling or fielding, he gives you 100% until there’s nothing in the tank. The more of those type of cricketers we can produce, the better for England cricket.”

The closing stages of the tournament brought Stokes face-to-face with Marlon Samuels to reignite a tempestuous relationship which began a year ago on England’s tour of the West Indies, where Samuels saluted Stokes off the field after a dismissal in the Grenada Test.Samuels was fined 30% of his match fee for using foul language towards Stokes during the final over and in the press conference further fanned the flames by saying that Stokes “doesn’t learn” about how engaging with him provides motivation.”They keep telling him when he plays against me, do not speak to me because I’m going to perform,” Samuels said. “I didn’t even face a ball and he had so much to say to me that I know I had to be right there at the end, again.”However, Bayliss will not be attempting to change Stokes’ on-field persona and believes it goes hand-in-hand with what makes him such a valuable player.”Ben’s one of those players that feeds off that. Some players sometimes say things and they can’t really back it up. But Stokesy is one of those players… that’s what turns him on, that’s what gets his juices flowing and makes him as good as he is.”He’s not the only one around the world. There are a number of other players who do the same thing – almost create their own controversy, or whatever you want to call it, to psyche themselves up and get their head in the game. It brings the best out of him.”On the tournament overall, and while wanting to give the chance for the dust to settle, Bayliss believed that England will find regular success if they continue playing in the style they have done since the start of the last English season.”Obviously the final was disappointing but I’m extremely proud of the way they played through this last few weeks,” he said. “As long as we keep playing good cricket and someone has to do something remarkable to beat us, we’ll win a lot of games.”England’s next assignment is back in the Test format when a three-Test series against Sri Lanka starts on May 19. Most of the players will return to action with their counties over the next couple of weeks.