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Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has called for a complete rethink of Australia’s cricket system after the team’s crushing defeat in the ongoing Investec Ashes series in England. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Chappell said Australia were now worse off than they were before the Argus review of 2011, and he has forecast dark days ahead due to the lack of batting depth in the domestic system.The retirement of Michael Clarke and likely departure of Chris Rogers will leave Australia needing at least two new batsmen in their top six after this series, but their replacements are far from obvious. Chappell said the fact that so many of Australia’s new Test batsmen in recent years were older – including Rogers, Adam Voges, Ed Cowan, George Bailey and Rob Quiney – was evidence of a failing system.”Normally you’d be highly critical of the selection panel for doing that, but you have to have sympathy for the selection panel, because what they would obviously like is a lot of young players churning out runs regularly in first-class cricket, and sadly that’s just not happening,” Chappell said. “That to me is where the major concern is.”I think there are some guys there with a lot of skill. But whether they would do any better against the moving ball than what we’ve seen lately – you wouldn’t want to be betting your house on it.”The Argus review was, in my opinion, from the time it was done, a complete waste of time. We’re now back in the same boat. In fact I think we’re behind the eight-ball because what they did was they added another layer of management. The system is wrong, the Argus report was a waste of time.”Australia’s major failures in recent years have come when the ball has moved, either in spinning conditions or against seam and swing. Chappell said during his playing days, batsmen were exposed to enough variety in conditions during Sheffield Shield cricket that they had confidence in their techniques when asked to tour countries such as England or India, which he believes does not happen now.”Young players are going to be playing with an IPL contract in mind,” Chappell said. “If I can show that I’m a terrific hitter of the ball and I can score at eight an over, that could get me a big IPL contract. So the question you’ve got to ask yourself is, are they developing techniques that make it easier to play in that manner, to score at eight and ten runs an over and be terrific hitters?”Every time I hear people say the batting is better now, I nearly throw up, because the batting is not better. The hitting is better, but the batting is not better. We’ve seen that with Australia. The art of survival is on the way out fast. I don’t blame the young guys.”But this is what the officials, the administrators, have got to work out – is that going to help you in Test cricket? And the answer is no, not unless you have absolutely flat pitches in Test cricket, which I’m not sure we want.”Chappell said one key to improving Australian cricket would be to boost the numbers of 17- and 18-year-olds playing Sheffield Shield cricket and honing their games at that level. However, he felt it could be years before Australian cricket would begin to reap the rewards and in the meantime, the new captain Steven Smith would face some serious challenges with his Test team.

Nearly a year ago, Australia arrived at Eden Park for their only away match of the World Cup. The 55-metre straight boundaries had their batsmen licking their lips and their bowlers scratching their heads. Big scores were expected. Instead, Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc provided a reminder that if the ball is swinging the boundary size is irrelevant, as they rattled stumps throughout the game. In all, 19 wickets fell for 303 runs.This time there is no Starc, as he continues to recover from ankle surgery, though Boult is available for New Zealand. In fact, none of Australia’s three frontline bowlers from that match will be playing – Pat Cummins is also injured and Mitchell Johnson has retired. Instead, the pace attack will be made up of some combination of Josh Hazlewood, John Hastings, Scott Boland, Kane Richardson, James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh, who played in that game but bowled only one over.Swing will again be key in Wednesday’s match, the first in a three-game Chappell-Hadlee series ahead of the two Tests. Australia are coming off a 4-1 series win at home against India, in matches where 295 was the lowest first-innings score made, and New Zealand are coming off a 2-0 win over Pakistan, which ended with Sunday’s win at Eden Park, where Pakistan made 290 and New Zealand chased a Duckworth-Lewis target of 263 inside 43 overs.Australia’s recent form against India will give them confidence that they can chase almost any target on the smaller grounds in New Zealand, although that will also depend on what kind of pitches are served up after the flat tracks in Australia. Faulkner, who was Man of the Match in the World Cup final against New Zealand but missed the Auckland game through injury, said conditions would determine whether this series swayed towards enormous totals or lower ones.”There’s no reason why… teams can’t get 350 or 400,” Faulkner said. “A lot of it just comes down to conditions. If it’s swinging around, which we think it would over there, the ball will be moving like it did throughout the World Cup. It’s obviously a lot tougher and early wickets tend to fall. Every team at the moment is setting up to go hard in the first 10, consolidate through the middle and try and have wickets in the shed to try and launch.”Especially with the smaller boundaries, I think if you find the ball isn’t moving, there will be high scores. But if it is, it’s obviously a lot tougher for the opening batsmen to adjust. More times than not at the moment 300 tends to be the base and every run over that is so valuable because every single batter in most teams can bat these days, so it makes it really tough for the bowlers.”Faulkner himself was reminded of the challenges faced by bowlers in ODI cricket last month against India, when he leaked more than a run a ball throughout the series. However, the Australians still managed to win the series comfortably due to the success of their batsmen, and Faulkner noted that the evolution of the one-day game had meant bowlers had to accept that their figures would balloon significantly compared to a few years ago.”I think it’s just the way the game has changed,” he said. “When the first rule came out with only four fielders outside the circle and the Powerplay between 35 and 40, it really shook the game up and I think initially it was a bit of a shock – a lot of people were seeing bowlers going for 70 or 80 off their 10 overs and thinking gee they’ve been whacked around the park compared to what it used to be back in the day of 40-45.”I think it’s just the public and all the players understanding how the game has evolved and T20 has had a hell of a lot to do with that. I think every bowler depending on where they’re bowling, whether it’s up front, whether it’s at the death or through the middle, will have their own little goals but I think now people aren’t really looking at how many runs necessarily; it’s about when they are bowling and how successful they are to certain batters at certain times.”I’ve definitely noticed it at the back end in particular, when you’ve got wickets in hand, it’s so hard to defend. It doesn’t matter how good you are and if you execute, teams can still hit you for a minimum of 10-12 runs an over. So if you’re going into the last 10 only two down, if you’re not getting 100 plus off that I don’t think you’ve done well enough with the bat.”The success of Australia’s batsmen against India meant that Faulkner’s batting was hardly required during the series, although he did play one key innings during the win at the MCG, seeing Australia home in their chase alongside Glenn Maxwell. Faulkner’s finishing with the bat could be important for Australia at the World T20 in India next month and while the selectors may consider form in this ODI series when choosing that squad, Faulkner said his focus was purely on the ODIs.”I just think it’s going to be a great series all around,” he said. “I think obviously after both teams playing in the World Cup final and what New Zealand achieved… I’m expecting a really tough series. I think you’re going to see a really good brand of cricket with bat and ball, and a really good fierce competition.”

When the Indian team for the first three ODIs of this seven-matchseries was named, the one big name missing was Virender Sehwag. WithHarbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan returning to the team on the basis ofperformances in the ICC World Twenty20, it was widely assumed – and theselectors speaking privately did nothing to dispel the notion – that therewas no reason for Sehwag to worry and that in the course of the one-dayseason he’d get a look in. As of now, though, there’s still no place forhim.”This is the best batting line-up we’ve got. Sachin, Sourav, followed byRahul, then Yuvi, myself and Robin,” said Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indiancaptain, at the end of the fifth match, when asked about why the line-upwas changed around. “It just didn’t work today. We didn’t get thepartnerships we wanted early on.” Obviously he was referring to theline-up he had on his hands, and not whether Sehwag figured in the plans, but it’s interesting that the talk over Sehwag has died down almost completely as the series has progressed.What’s more, with India still in with a chance of levelling the series3-3, although that’s unlikely given just how hard the Australians haveplayed each of these games, it makes it extremely difficult for the teamto think about resting one of its senior batsmen. The results, however, donot change the fact that India have a large volume of cricket – both ODIand Test – in the coming year. In fact this was the rationale behind theselectors and the team management contemplating a rotation policy in thefirst place. In the 12 ODIs India would play against Australia andPakistan, it was believed that each of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly wouldsit out at least one match.With Dravid struggling for runs, and he’s hardly been at the crease enoughto judge what kind of form he is in, the selectors have a tough decisionon their hands. In different circumstances, with the series decided oneway or the other by the time game six came around, Dravid would have beenrested. But now, with only 44 runs from five matches, there’s hardly acase to rest him, and dropping him in the first series after he steppeddown as captain would be cruel to someone who has served the team’s causeexceedingly well in both forms of the game for several years now.If India win the next game then the temptation to rest someone willrecede further as the seventh match will provide an opportunity to level aseries that once looked gone for all money. If Indialose, then again it will be hard to consider someone like S Badrinath inplace of one of the senior batsmen, for a solitary win from seven gameswould hardly be acceptable returns for Dhoni in his first series ascaptain. However, the temptation to play Badrinath will be strong, forDhoni will remember how Rohit Sharma could barely get a knock in England,and delivered so brilliantly when drafted in the ICC World Twenty20.Robin Uthappa’s case was no different, with him sitting out the best partof the one-day series in England, only to turn matchwinner at the firstopportunity he was afforded. In short, it’s a tricky conundrum, and onethat Dhoni will have to deal with delicately and sensibly.Australia, for their part, have their own selection dilemmas, buttypically have their own way of dealing with these things. Brad Haddinmight have scored 156 from his two innings, scoring half-centuries ineach, but when the time for Ricky Ponting’s return from injury came along,he was left out, with Brad Hodge, the more senior batsman, retaining hisplace in the team despite a string of poor scores. Few teams other thanAustralia would have chosen this path, and on top of this they’ve evensent Adam Voges, who was in the squad as cover for Ponting, back home.Already, he’s in action, playing domestic cricket for the WesternWarriors.

A report in The Sunday Telegraph has claimed that comments made on Sky Sports by Rameez Raja during the fourth afternoon at The Oval may have sparked Pakistan’s protest which led to them forfeiting the Test.Rameez was outspoken on air about the actions taken by the on-field umpires and repeatedly cricticised their actions. “It was a big decision [by the umpires] and I totally disagree with what happened out there,” he said at the time. “I am disgusted with the way the laws have been interpreted. You cannot tell whether the ball was scratched, unless you catch somebody in the process. It’s a needless controversy.”As Rameez let rip, the article claims that the players inside the dressing-room quietly listened to the broadcast. “After watching the television and hearing what Rameez had to say, Inzamam was very angry and wanted to do something,” a source inside the dressing-room was quoted as saying.”Inzy asked Younis Khan [Pakistan’s vice-captain] what he thought about a protest and Younis said he would support whatever decision was made. Inzy then asked the team whether they agreed with staying off the field and everyone said they would support him.”Until August 2004, Rameez was CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Shane Watson, the Australia allrounder, will finally make his debut for Queensland in the ING Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide on Sunday. Returning from the India tour last week after playing in the one lead-up game, Watson will represent his home state after spending three seasons in Tasmania boosting his international prospects.Watson, 23, is the only change to the Bulls team that defeated the Redbacks two weeks ago and he will replace the fast bowler Shane Jurgensen. The left-handed batsman Brendan Nash, a replacement for the injured Martin Love against South Australia, has retained his spot.A Greg Blewett back problem has forced South Australia to name a 13-man squad and he faces a fitness test later this week. Following the retirement of Mick Miller and the omission of Mark Higgs, the Redbacks have named two uncapped players in Chris Duval, the 21-year-old Northern Districts fast bowler, and the batsman Jack Smith.Queensland Jimmy Maher (c), Andy Bichel, James Hopes, Brendan Nash, Ashley Noffke, Aaron Nye, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Wade Seccombe, Chris Simpson, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.South Australia Graham Manou (c), John Davison, Nathan Adcock, Greg Blewett, Ben Cameron, Mark Cleary, Matthew Weeks, Mark Cosgrove, Chris Duval, Callum Ferguson, Ryan Harris, Jack Smith, Shaun Tait.South Australia have made one addition to the Pura Cup side that beat Victoria, with Nathan Adcock coming in for Matthew Weeks for the match against Queensland, which starts in Adelaide on November 9.South Australia Pura Cup squad Graham Manou (c), Paul Rofe, Dan Cullen, Nathan Adcock, Callum Ferguson, Greg Blewett, Ben Cameron, Mark Cleary, Mark Cosgrove, Tom Plant, Jack Smith, Shaun Tait.

Michael Vaughan admitted that England’s batting form, or lack of it, had become a serious concern after they were shot out for 147 and 101 in successive matches of the NatWest Series. The latest reverse, a seven-wicket thrashing by New Zealand, meant that England stayed rooted to the bottom of the table, with bleak prospects of making the July 10 final.Vaughan was in no mood to gloss over the display afterwards. “You get bowled out for 147 and then 101. It’s not good enough, especially on a wicket when 180-200 would have been a real competitive total with the likes of Stephen Harmison in your team,” he said. “You’ve just got to hold your hands up and say as a group we are not playing well enough at the minute.”England have missed the big-hitting contributions of Andrew Flintoff – out for the entire series with an ankle injury – but Vaughan suggested that he wouldn’t be looking for excuses. “You can talk batting orders, different personnel, but the be-all and end-all is the eleven in the team aren’t batting well enough as a unit to give our bowlers enough chance to win a game of cricket when we are batting first.”James Franklin, the left-arm swing bowler, devastated England with career-best figures of 5 for 42 and though Vaughan praised him – “You’ve got to give Franklin a bit of credit for the way he swung it” – he suggested that it was a lack of application from the batsmen, rather than the toss, which had decided the game. “I’d have batted first today if we’d won the toss because we have to get used to doing it,” he said. “If you want to be a good team, you have to get used to doing both, whether you are chasing or setting totals.”England now need to win two of their remaining three matches to reach the final, They meet West Indies in another day-night match at Headingley on Thursday, and Vaughan, for one, was relieved that there was an immediate opportunity to turn things around after the team was booed off by a disappointed Chester-le-Street crowd on Tuesday.”That’s the one positive, that we’re back on the horse quickly to put things right,” he said. “When you play well, as we have done in the Tests, you take all the praise and when you play badly as one-day team, as we have, you are going to have to take criticism.”

Stuart Carlisle celebrated his 31st birthday with the best century of his first-class career, a dogged marathon of 139 runs. He left the field unbeaten with the Zimbabweans on 296 for 8 in reply to Worcestershire’s total of 262.A brief light shower at about 10 am resulted in the start of play being delayed for 15 minutes. The Zimbabweans quickly lost the wicket of Barney Rogers, who dabbed at a ball from Australian Mark Harrity into the slips to depart for 4, leaving them on 75 for 4, having added only six to their overnight score.Tatenda Taibu, as usual, looked to take the initiative, and hit one particularly superb cover drive to the boundary. Both he and Carlisle had to handle dubious light, though, conditions far removed from their normal experience. Carlisle moved slowly to his fifty, working hard for every run, and then the rain returned briefly.Gradually after lunch the batsmen tried to accelerate, although whether it was wise to do so – against good bowling extracting movement off the pitch – was debatable. Carlisle got away with a top-edged hook over the keeper’s head and a snick over the slips, both going for four, but these should not detract from an excellent innings of concentration and determination. Taibu too had a couple of narrow escapes, and had any of these blemishes gone to hand, there would have been an inappropriate end to a gallant innings.Frustrated, the Worcestershire bowlers resorted to an overdose of short-pitched bowling, forsaking pitch movement. Taibu reached his fifty with a hard slash over the slips for four, and in the same over another slash over gully brought up the hundred partnership, which took 35 overs. However, within minutes he was on his way, caught at the wicket off Kabir Ali for 57. The Zimbabweans were 178 for five.Andy Blignaut scored only 2 before he was brilliantly caught at first slip by Andrew Hall in the same over. Joined by Travis Friend, Carlisle began to open up, surviving a hard chance at backward point on 92, and brought up his first century in England in remarkable style, cutting a six off Kabir into the stands below the Worcester pavilion behind backward point. It took him 221 balls.Friend too played a few handsome drives and Zimbabwe took the lead with six wickets down, an achievement that had not appeared very likely when play started. They survived the new ball until Friend was well caught at first slip for 39. Raymond Price made 5, but Douglas Hondo stuck around with Carlisle, who even now did not look fully in touch, playing and missing with some regularity.Unlike many players in the modern era, the batsmen did not appear over-eager to leave the field as the light worsened, and were discussing the matter with the umpires when bad light dissolved into rain. The lost overs could not be made up, so Zimbabwe finished 34 runs ahead with two wickets to fall – although it is not certain Heath Streak, still suffering back spasms, will decide to bat.

Looking forward to the final two matches at The County Ground, Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me, “Whether we survive in the top division of the National League will all depend on the final match of the season against Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Sunday. The weather could well play a part in the situation. We have made representation to England Coach Duncan Fletcher to see whether or not Andy Caddick can be released to play for us, which would be a tremendous boost.”Regarding the County Championship match which starts on Wednesday he said, “We have to take 5 points from the Championship game to be certain of securing second place, which we are hopeful of doing. This would round off a pretty good season for us.”

Assured batting from the trio of Keith Dabengwa, Bonaparte Mujuru and Dion Ebrahim, in addition to Chris Mpofu’s match-haul of seven wickets, were the highlights in Matabeleland Tuskers’ seven-wicket win over Mashonaland Eagles at Bulawayo. Asked to bat first by the Eagles, the Tuskers’ top order set up a strong platform to dominate the match. Mujuru and Ebrahim contributed 70s before Dabengwa took centre-stage. His score of 136 included 13 fours and three sixes, and in the company of Charles Coventry, guided his side to an imposing 425 for 8 declared.Despite Prince Masvaure’s 94, the Eagles’ reply was always behind the eight-ball, as a concerted allround effort from the Tuskers’ attack pegged them back. John Nyumbu picked up three wickets, while Mpofu and Ebrahim scalped two apiece to ensure that the Eagles fell just short of avoiding the follow-on. They fared marginally better in the second dig, reaching an even 300 thanks to Ryan Butterworth’s 102, but would be disappointed with the way they collapsed from the strength of 192 for 2. Mpofu was in the thick of action, striking body blows on either side of a promising third-wicket stand between Butterworth and Forster Mutizwa. Mujuru and Ebrahim struck their second fifties of the game to ensure that the victory target of 140 was achieved in the 33rd over.Sean Ervine marked his comeback to the Zimbabwe domestic scene with a grand display that yielded 364 runs as Southern Rocks managed to hold on for a draw against Mid West Rhinos at Masvingo Sports Club, a middle-order wobble late on the fourth day notwithstanding. The Rhinos had their backs against the wall from the outset, as Blessing Mahwire and Tanyaradzwa Munyaradzi reduced them to 56 for 5. Malcolm Waller then put his head down to score a hundred and take his side from dire straits to respectability. A final score of 267 still looked under-par and required a lion-hearted performance from the bowlers. That was exactly what the Rhinos’ attack provided, reducing the Rocks to shambles at 13 for 4. Enter Sean Ervine.In the company of his brother Craig, Sean counterattacked in majestic style. Craig matched Sean shot for shot in the stand of 178 before falling 19 short of a century. There was to be no letting up from Sean though, as he brought up three-figures and then doubled his score in a batting display of rare dominance. After 22 fours and 3 sixes in 274 balls where he had given his side a lead in excess of 100, he was finally run out, the last wicket to fall. The Rhinos had a tough task on hand, and responded in fitting fashion as Innocent Chikunya and Brendan Taylor added 235 for the second wicket to take their side out of the red. Chikunya was the more sedate partner, striking 75 before falling to Tafadzwa Kamungozi, but Taylor was in a zone of his own. Striking at a rate better than a run-a-ball, he carted the bowlers to all corners, his four sixes and 24 fours standing testimony to the havoc he wreaked. He brought up the second 200 of the match, before falling to the man who had scored the first one. The Rhinos declared at 443 for 5, setting a sporting target of 337 for the Rocks.Early wickets fell again – two on this occasion – leaving Sean to do the repair-work for the second time in the match. And he responded in earnest yet again. Steve Marillier helped him add 131 for the third wicket and raise visions of a stunning chase. The Rocks were then set back by the losses of Marillier and Craig in quick succession, but Sean kept them in the hunt with another audacious display. Tendai Chisoro supported him, as he blasted 17 fours and a six to bring up his second three-figure score for the match. Graeme Cremer sparked a late collapse where three wickets fell for nine runs, prompting Sean to adopt a safety-first approach. His dismissal in the dying stages, for 160, put paid to hopes of a result in what had been a game of fluctuating fortunes.

A former South African national player has been charged with corruption involving match-fixing, ESPNcricinfo has learned.The player, who has yet to be named, is understood to be the same “intermediary” who was the subject of a CSA press release in December, following attempts to influence results in South Africa’s domestic competition, the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.In their original statement, CSA said the intermediary had been charged under its anti-corruption code with “contriving to fix, or otherwise improperly influence aspects” of the 2014-15 domestic Twenty20 competition.The person involved had also been charged with “failing, or refusing without compelling justification, to cooperate with an investigation carried out by an anti-corruption official.”South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act Law was introduced in 2004 and included a so-called “Hansie clause” to tackle corruption in sporting events, such as those for which Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s former captain, received a life ban from cricket in 2000.ESPNcricinfo also understands that other players involved in the competition will face the lesser charge of failing to report an approach, a breach of the ICC anti-corruption code that carries a ban of up to five years if found guilty.”Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance and we are confident that we have the necessary structures in place to effectively deal with any corrupt activity,” said Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, in December.”We will relentlessly pursue under our code and the law of the land any persons we believe to be involved in corrupting the game and, with assistance from the police, we will also seek criminal prosecution.”