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Less than five days after Pakistan’s 1-2 defeat by England in the NatWest Challenge, the voices of dissent have already started against Rashid Latif, the captain, and the entire team management.Imran Khan suggested that Latif wasn’t a good bet as a long-term captain, and recommended a bowler or an allrounder as the next captain, as he would have a better understanding of when to bowl specific bowlers.Speaking to reporters while on a visit to a cricket clinic at Peshawar, Imran opined: “We need to have a man who knows how to field the bowlers during the tough matches. The approach of the captain must be aggressive. He has to accept every challenge and should take bold decisions and should go all out for victory. The fighting and challenging approach is a key factor in crucial encounters,” he said. “I accept the qualities of Latif as a wicket-keeper but as captain, he cannot run the team for longer duration.”Earlier, Aamer Sohail, the chief selector, had held Pakistan’s team management responsible for the series defeat, saying that the inclusion of too many allrounders resulted in the losses. Latif refused to respond to Sohail’s charge. According to The News, a Pakistan daily, Latif said: “I don’t want to make any comments. It is for the board to look into this. The series is over and we were expecting such things. It is not a big surprise for us.”Reiterating the fact there was no lack of commitment from the team, Latif stated that he had no idea what had prompted Sohail’s comments. “The defeat at Lord’s was heartbreaking but we went down fighting and showed we can challenge any team.”I didn’t ask for the captaincy, but once the board gave me this responsibility I have tried to do my best with a team which is a blend of some experience and youth. I don’t know why people are criticising my captaincy or want me out. It really does not bother me because they are also a lot of other people who have called me up and encouraged me and appreciated the hard work put up by the team.”

Yorkshire officials are to meet Darren Gough early next week to discuss his future after speculation that he may leave Headingley.Last weekend the England fast bowler claimed the questioning about his commitment to the county had become “almost unbearable.”Gough suspects there is a campaign to secure his departure, and has already held talks with chief executive Chris Hassell.”I’m expecting to meet up with him early next week – he’s gone away for a fewdays to think about things,” Hassell said.”We’ve not given him a deadline or anything like that, but we do want to sortthings out as soon as possible.”There’s no panic or anything like that except that while it remainsunresolved, the rumblings continue and the whole thing gets dragged on andon.”Hassell added: “He’s got himself wound up about comments that people havemade. We’ve told him that we want him to stay at Yorkshire and he really has toignore things like that.”

Medium-pacer L Balaji has been named bowling coach and player for Tamil Nadu for the 2015-16 domestic season. Balaji, who was contemplating retirement after last season, has been roped in to play a mentoring role to the team’s seamers. TNCA sources said his vast experience would prove useful for a young bowling attack.Balaji said he accepted the role because it gave him a “sense of direction in his next chapter.””I felt I can definitely contribute on the subject. I have played enough to know how to help the fast bowlers, from my state especially. Whatever role I am going to take, it’s going to be a stepping stone and I am also learning.”Balaji, 33, did not play all the Ranji Trophy games in 2014-15 when Tamil Nadu reached the final, picking up 15 wickets in eight matches. While he is likely to be used in a similarly sparing manner this season on pitches that assist seam bowling, there is also a possibility he might not play at all. Balaji has had some game time recently, turning out for India Cements in the pre-season Moin-ud-Dowla tournament and picking up three wickets in the final against hosts Hyderabad.Balaji cited the examples of Justin Langer, Ryan Harris, Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid as players who performed mentoring roles even while playing competitive cricket. “As a current player you can bring equal chemistry to the players playing alongside you.”This is just a role that has been given, but I have been having a good rapport with these youngsters and pass on my experience from the time I was captain. [But, the] fast-bowling department hasn’t really blossomed, hasn’t really lived up to the expectation in the past 10 or 15 years, so we want to create a good environment for newcomers.”The Tamil Nadu team for their first three Ranji Trophy matches was also announced at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting of the TNCA, with Abhinav Mukund being retained as captain and B Indrajith his deputy.RI Palani was appointed Tamil Nadu’s cricket manager and M Sanjay, who served as WV Raman’s assistant last year, was named coach. The decision ended speculation surrounding the coaching staff after Raman’s contract was not extended. While Palani will decide team composition and strategy, Balaji and Sanjay will be in charge of organising practice sessions.Palani, who is also the joint secretary of the TNCA, was Tamil Nadu’s cricket manager during the 2011-12 season, when they were finalists. “They offered me [the job] one month back,” Palani told ESPNcricinfo. “I took time. There were two reasons. I was not watching too much cricket for a while, so I wanted to know if I would be able to do justice, so that’s why I went with the team to the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament. I had my hernia operation recently as well, so I had to see if my recovery was complete.”I also wanted to check with my sister if she could take care of my father in my absence. Also, I was waiting for an official offer [from the TNCA] which I got only today.”For more than a month, there had been confusion surrounding Raman’s position. It began immediately after he reportedly expressed his interest in coaching the TNCA academy. “Raman didn’t want to continue initially as the state coach and was interested in becoming a match referee,” a TNCA official said. “After that when he said he wanted to come back to coach Tamil Nadu, the TNCA was not interested because members felt he didn’t have the same motivation.”The dominant theory on why Tamil Nadu have not opted for a new head coach is that prospective candidates demanded huge sums as remuneration. “The people that the TNCA approached were quoting too much,” a TNCA insider said. “Also not a lot of people were coming forward from outside Tamil Nadu. [Former Karnataka and India batsman] Sujith Somasundar was discussed, but not much came of it. Nothing went to the final stage.”Another TNCA source said that while money was an issue, they didn’t want to change the core group. “[Apart from Raman], the support staff hasn’t changed. It’s a young team that has been doing well and I feel we didn’t want to disturb it. The dynamics of the new person will definitely be different. We also didn’t get anyone in that time frame.”Tamil Nadu play their opening game against Baroda on October 1 in Chennai.Squad for first game: Abhinav Mukund (capt), B Aparajith, K Bharath Shankar, B Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, R Prasanna, Dinesh Karthik, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil Shah, DT Chandrasekar, Aswin Crist, L Vignesh, M Mohammad, J Kousik

Paul Stirling celebrates after notching his fifth ODI ton•Peter Della Penna

In a coaching tenure pockmarked by a lack of victories over Full Members, John Bracewell signed off on his time as Ireland coach with two straight wins in Sharjah as Ireland took the series decider by five wickets on Sunday night. George Dockrell’s first four-for in nearly three years was followed by a disdainful century from Paul Stirling, who finished as the leading run-scorer in the series.Afghanistan’s innings started in assured fashion with Dockrell being hit for six by Javed Ahmadi in the second over. In the sixth over, he carved Boyd Rankin through the off side for a series of boundaries. But the slightest pressure applied by Tim Murtagh resulted in the first mistake, Ahmadi forcing a pull in the seventh over to mid-off for 27. Rankin had Noor Ali Zadran dragging on in the next over and from there Ireland grew taller in the field.Whereas most of the Irish damage came from pace in the first two games, Dockrell and Stirling stepped up to take half the wickets. Stirling struck first, getting Asghar Stanikzai to skew a drive to backward point for 5 in the 18th over. Rahmat Shah then got out in arrogant fashion to give Dockrell his first, attempting to bring up a fifty with a six and instead picked out the tallest man on the field, Rankin at long-off.But it was the wicket of Mohammad Nabi that demonstrated Afghanistan’s lack of respect for Irish fingerspin, falling in identical circumstances to Stanikzai as a sliced drive found its way to Kevin O’Brien at short third man. Nasir Jamal picked out square leg with a sweep he middled, to give Dockrell his third and put Afghanistan on 109 for 6 with nearly 20 overs left.Rashid Khan fought gamely to keep Afghanistan in the match. He wound up finishing with a joint-top score of 44 and ended the series as Afghanistan’s second-highest scorer, a major indictment of the recognised batsmen. While he played orthodox strokes, his frustration grew as his remaining partners showed little willingness to apply themselves as Barry McCarthy ran off three straight wickets, two of those in the 41st over. Rashid began turning singles down in the 42nd over and stretched the innings into the 49th, giving the crowd a rise with a huge six off McCarthy into Second Industrial Street, before he was caught in the deep off the same bowler to end the innings.With Dawlat Zadran out nursing a niggling shoulder injury, Afghanistan made the curious call to bring in Shapoor Zadran, who had only played three ODIs since taking the new ball in the 2015 World Cup. Based on his performance on Sunday, he may have wrecked his chances of being in the touring party to Zimbabwe for the World Cup Qualifiers after he was dismantled single-handedly by Stirling. The bruising opener drove Shapoor through extra cover for the first of his 11 fours in the third over, and then nearly took Shapoor’s head off with a searing straight drive in the fifth to knock him out of the attack.Afghanistan’s spinners made inroads in the interim with Mujeeb Zadran bowling William Porterfield for 4 in the next over to land a hopeful blow. Nabi was curiously held out of the attack until after drinks but struck in his second over, drawing Andy Balbirnie into a dance down the pitch for a stumping. Rashid had Niall O’Brien lbw to a legbreak that held its line to make it 96 for 3.But Gary Wilson and Stirling teamed for a half-century stand to straighten Ireland’s chase once more as Afghanistan went crooked with the return of Shapoor to the attack. Stirling hooked the first ball of the 29th over a statuesque Rahmat at long leg for a six that could have been a wicket. But Stirling showed his disdain for Shapoor’s medium-pace two balls later, getting on a knee to slog sweep him over the square-leg rope for six more.Stirling’s hammering of Shapoor culminated in the 36th over. In the space of four balls, he moved from 81 to a century with hooks for four and six over long leg, then a tennis swat over cover for six more. A front-foot pull over midwicket finished the sequence to bring up his sixth ODI century, off 93 balls.Stirling fell to a Rashid googly to end the next over and several of Afghanistan’s players graciously shook his hand before he exited the field to more applause from the Afghanistan fans who remained. Two fours by Kevin O’Brien off Mujeeb in the following over sealed the win with 12 overs to spare.For Ireland, the back-to-back wins after a humiliating loss in the series opener were a major confidence boost in their final scheduled series before the World Cup Qualifier. The series loss for Afghanistan, only their second in nine ODI series since the 2015 World Cup and first since a 2-1 defeat in Bangladesh in October 2016, may dent their standing as one of the pre-tournament favourites heading into Zimbabwe.

Craig McMillan has retired from international and domestic cricket, citing personal reasons and health problems as contributing factors. McMillan, 31, said he wanted to go out on a high and would now spend time with his family before making any further decisions on his future.”I have decided that the time is right for me to retire from cricket to spend more time with my family, as well as look after my health, as I have had ongoing issues related to diabetes,” McMillan said. “I feel that the past season has been one of the best of my cricket career and I am happy to be retiring on a really positive note.”There had been reports that McMillan would quit to take up a contract with the Indian Cricket League and he said he would consider that option but it was no certainty. “I will now spend time with my family before deciding what direction I will take with my future,” he said.Justin Vaughan, the CEO of New Zealand Cricket, said although McMillan still had plenty to offer he had been released from his national contract on compassionate grounds. “We are disappointed to be losing Craig at this point,” Vaughan said. “His performances at the recent Twenty20 World Cup were tremendous. I understand his reasons for wishing to retire and wish him all the best for the future.”McMillan sits fourth on New Zealand’s all-time ODI run-tally, behind his contemporaries Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns. In his 197 one-day internationals he scored 4707 runs at 28.18, an average that perhaps did not reflect his full potential.His Test career petered out after the home series against Australia in March 2005, however his 3116 runs at 38.46 from 55 appearances made him a valuable part of the side for much of the past decade. McMillan backed up his three ODI centuries and six Test hundreds with more than useful medium-pace bowling which brought him 28 Test wickets at 44.89 and 49 one-day victims at 35.04.A destructive, though sometimes inconsistent batsman, McMillan was 20 when he was first called into the national limited-overs side in 1997 during a quadrangular tournament in India. His striking power was soon obvious – his maiden ODI half-century featured five sixes but no fours against Zimbabwe at Harare.

A Test call-up followed on the 1997-98 tour of Australia and in his first appearance McMillan showed his promise with 54 against an attack led by Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. McMillan usually brought the same aggression to Test cricket as he did to the limited-overs game, and in March 2001 he broke the record for the most runs in a Test over with 26 off Younis Khan’s part-time legspin at Hamilton.However, he could also show fight and determination when his team needed it. In October 2003, after being dropped from a tour of Sri Lanka earlier in the year, McMillan justified his recall with an unusually cautious 83 not out from 190 balls as he and Nathan Astle rescued New Zealand from what looked like certain defeat against India at Ahmedabad.He twice set a record for the fastest ODI century by a New Zealand player – first from 75 balls against Pakistan in 2000-01 and then from 67 deliveries against Australia in this year’s Chappell-Hadlee Series in February. The latter effort was another case of McMillan justifying his recall; he had lost his national contract in June 2006 and considered a career as a salesman before the selectors gave him another chance.Although he had a quiet Caribbean trip at his third World Cup, McMillan sparkled in the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. During what would be his final international tournament he was New Zealand’s leading run-scorer with 163 at 40.75 and a strike-rate of 181.

Stuart MacGill’s interrupted start to the season has continued after he injured his nose in a fielding accident while training on Saturday. The mishap forced him out of New South Wales’ Ford Ranger Cup match against Tasmania on Sunday and will also keep him from playing the FR Cup game against Western Australia at the SCG on Wednesday.MacGill has had a less-than-ideal three months after hurting his knee in Australia’s boot camp in the Queensland bush in August and incurring a two-week ban for a verbal stoush in a Sydney club game in October. The New South Wales selectors will wait for a report on his injury before deciding if he will play in the Pura Cup clash with the Warriors starting on Friday.Nathan Hauritz, who replaced MacGill in Sunday’s game and took 3 for 25, will again be the front-line spinner for the one-day match. The selectors have named a 13-man squad including Michael Clarke. However, if Clarke is required by the Australia team ahead of the first Ashes Test starting on Thursday, the 13th man Ed Cowan could replace him in the New South Wales team.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Simon Katich (capt), Michael Clarke, Dominic Thornely, Ed Cowan, Aaron O’Brien, Brad Haddin (wk), Daniel Christian, Moises Henriques, Aaron Bird, Nathan Hauritz, Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger.

Nathan Reardon, the 20-year-old allrounder, has been catapulted into Queensland’s ING Cup season opener against New South Wales on Friday following an injury to Chris Simpson. Simpson was named in both the one-day and four-day squads yesterday, but was ruled out this morning with a side strain that prevented him from batting at the weekend.”We were confident that Chris was going to be right but following discussions with the medical staff it was felt it would be an unnecessary risk this early in the season,” Ray Phillips, the chairman of selectors, said. Reardon, a rookie-contracted player, is expected to make his debut as the side’s super sub as the competition adopts the ICC’s one-day rules for the first time.A left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler, Reardon has enjoyed a successful off-season that has included impressive performances on tour for the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence in India and Sri Lanka.Queensland ING Cup squad
1 Jimmy Maher (capt), 2 James Hopes, 3 Andrew Symonds, 4 Clinton Perren, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Chris Simpson, 7 Chris Hartley (wk), 8 Andy Bichel, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Michael Kasprowicz, 12 Nathan Reardon.New South Wales
1 Phil Jaques, 2 Matthew Phelps, 3 Dominic Thornely, 4 Corey Richards, 5 Ed Cowan, 6 James Packman, 7 Brad Haddin (capt, wk), 8 Aaron O’Brien, 9 Matthew Nicholson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Doug Bollinger, 12 Stuart Clark.

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