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A round-up of the third day of the sixth round of Ranji Trophy Group C matches

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2012
ScorecardServices dismissed the last five Goa batsmen in time to take the points for first-innings lead in Porvorim and maintain their position at the top of the Group C table.They broke the 119-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ravikant Shukla and Rohit Asnodkar in the first over of the day and then took the remaining four wickets for 60 runs. Continuing with his overnight score of 52, Asnodkar added another 31 which took the team total to 381 in reply to Services’ 473. Right-arm medium bowler Yashpal Singh finished with figures of 4 for 12.Services came out to bat for 39 overs in the second innings and were 99 for 2 when the match ended in a draw.
ScorecardHimachal Pradesh and Assam ended up sharing one point each after only 50 overs were possible on the last day of the Group C tie in Guwahati. Himachal started the day 158 behind Assam’s first innings total, lost only one wicket and ended the day on 316 for 5, only 38 short of Assam’s total. Amit Kumar was out in the 10th over of the day, but Rishi Dhawan and Aatish Bhalaik shared an unbeaten 143-run stand.Allrounder Dhawan continued his good form scoring his third century of the season and taking his total to 460 runs. He earlier took four wickets in the match which made him the highest wicket-taker of the season so far with 32 wickets.
ScorecardSeventeen wickets fell on the third day at Malappuram and at the end of it Jammu & Kashmir had beaten Kerala by 74 runs. It was the first time J&K had won a second Ranji Trophy match in a season since 2000-01.The day had begun with J&K on 68 for 3 in their second innings, leading by 120. They were dismissed for 151. Padmanabhan Prasanth took 5 for 16 in 14.4 overs, while KR Sreejith claimed 3 for 56.Chasing a target of 204, Kerala had reached 44 for 0 before they began to collapse. They lost five wickets for 21 runs, and their last four wickets for 15. Apart from the openers, no one else got past 20 and Kerala were dismissed for 129. Parvez Rasool took 5 for 43 in 18 overs and Manik Gupta claimed 5 for 26 in 9.4

Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan Twenty20 captain, has said the 97-run partnership between Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni was turning point of the match, but also pointed to other significant moments where the visitors came out second best

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2012Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan Twenty20 captain, has said the 97-run partnership between Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni was turning point of the match, but also pointed to other significant moments where the visitors came out second best. “Although they went off to a promising start, we were hopeful of restricting them to 160-170… But Yuvraj was exceptional today. The way he batted was outstanding. He also struck a good partnership with Dhoni. We were not expecting the partnership to go that further,” Hafeez said.Yuvraj and Dhoni added 97 in just 44 balls to propel India to 192. Pakistan began promisingly in the chase but an 18-ball spell from India’s spinners between overs seven and 10, during which only 16 runs were scored, increased the required-rate significantly. “It was a very small period in the match where we got stuck… Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina didn’t give the batsmen any space to hit. It really did affect our run chase later in the match.”Ashok Dinda bowled an excellent second spell towards the death, picking up three wickets and containing Pakistan at a time when they had wickets in hand and were pushing for a win. “Their bowlers didn’t perform well in the last couple of matches. But they did the basics right and were on target today,” Hafeez said. “Dinda was good in the last two overs… He bowled perfect yorkers and it was difficult to hit him. In the penultimate over of our innings, he got the vital wickets of Kamran and mine. If either of us had scored a boundary, then it would have eased the pressure. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”Yuvraj smashed seven sixes in his 72 off 36 balls. “It is just that in T20, you get less time to get set and you have straightaway start hitting the balls,” Yuvraj said. “That is why batting averages aren’t high and you don’t get time to set in and hit those balls. But today, I got to bat in seventh over and got three to four overs to get set and that really made the difference.”

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 matches played on February 17, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsQuinton de Kock starred with an unbeaten 126, the highest by a South African in Twenty20s, as the Lions beat Cape Cobras to register an opening win in the tournament in Potchefstroom. The Cobras had set a target of 184, but their chances of winning the game were quickly quashed by a 124-run opening stand between de Kock and Gulam Bodi. After Bodi fell, de Kock took most of the strike, as he went from 74 off 48 balls to 126 off 69, scoring 52 runs in just 21 balls. De Kock sealed the match by striking three consecutive boundaries off Charl Langeveldt, as the Lions won inside of 19 overs.The Cobras were asked to bat as opener Richard Levi (40) and Dane Vilas gave them a solid start. Aaron Phangiso then struck with two wickets in two balls, claiming Owais Shah first ball. Justin Ontong and Vilas helped stabilize the innings before Ontong fell to Phangiso. Qaasim Adams was sent in, and proceeded to score a rapid career-best 43 off 22, helping the Cobras score 183 in their quota of 20 overs.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA 109-run stand between Christiaan Jonker and Colin Ingram earned a comfortable victory for the Warriors against the Knights in a rain-affected match in Kimberley. As rain intervened, the target was reduced from 137 to 127 from 18 overs, and a half-century from Jonker, took Warriors home with 11 balls to spare.The Warriors started abjectly when Ashwell Prince was out lbw on his first ball to Johan van der Wath. Jonker and Ingram batted briskly as they effectively took the game away from the Knights. Jonker scored a career-best 66 off 44 balls, striking six fours and four sixes. Ingram played a vital supporting role with 46 off 43. In the end, Davy Jacobs sealed the match with a six off the first ball of the 17th over, to give the Warriors an opening win in the tournament.The Knights were put in to bat, with Rilee Rossouw and wicketkeeper Gihahn Cloete putting on a 65-run stand for the second wicket after Loots Bosman was dismissed in the third over. However, once Cloete was run out in the 12th over, the Knights had a difficult time putting together substantial partnerships. They ended up reaching 136 for 7 at the completion of their 20 overs. Rusty Theron finished with figures of 2 for 23, at an economy of 5.75.

Steve O’Keefe has forfeited the captaincy of New South Wales in order to more vigorously pursue a place bowling left-arm spin for Australia

Daniel Brettig04-Mar-2013Steve O’Keefe has forfeited the captaincy of New South Wales in order to more vigorously pursue a place bowling left-arm spin for Australia.Towards the end of his second summer leading the Blues whenever Michael Clarke is not available, O’Keefe volunteered to give up the job ahead of the state’s final two Sheffield Shield matches, reckoning it would give him a greater chance of taking the wickets he needs to push for an international spot.The Blues will instead by led by the batsman Ben Rohrer, who enjoyed success as interim captain last month when O’Keefe was briefly injured.O’Keefe stated recently his disappointment at being passed over for a place in the Test squad to tour India, despite his possession of the most persuasive first-class bowling figures among all slow bowlers in the Sheffield Shield.However apart from an eight-wicket match haul against Western Australia at Blacktown Oval recently, O’Keefe’s bowling and batting returns have diminished during his time as captain, occasionally leaving selectors to ponder his best role in the NSW side.O’Keefe’s decision to abandon the captaincy also follows two years of largely barren results for NSW, and a raft of recent changes at the state association, which now has vacancies for the positions of chief executive and head coach plus a new chairman in John Warn.Taking on the captaincy at the start of the 2011-12 season, O’Keefe was an unexpected choice to replace Simon Katich, who was keen to continue as state captain but was encouraged by the former CEO David Gilbert that the time was right for a change.This left O’Keefe and the new coach Anthony Stuart as the inexperienced duo in charge, contributing partly to a poor summer. When results did not improve this season, Stuart was dismissed, and Gilbert and the chairman Harry Harinath have also now left.

Kevin Pietersen’s absence from the IPL will affect Delhi Daredevils both on the field and off it

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Mar-2013Kevin Pietersen’s absence from the entire IPL 2013 season is a big loss for Delhi Daredevils, and not just on the field. Pietersen’s contract with the Daredevils indicated he would have played 11 of their 16 league matches before leaving for the home series against New Zealand.”It is very difficult for any team to replace a player of that stature,” TA Sekar, the Daredevils’ team director TA Sekar, said. “He was encouraging the youngsters, taking a lot of initiatives, talking in team meetings, and was a positive influence. He had a good rapport with Viru and gelled well easily into the team.”Last year, the Daredevils had come close to making the IPL finals in 2012, but lost in a close match in the second qualification game (play-off) against eventual runners-up Chennai Super Kings. Daredevils had topped the points table at the end of the league phase and Pietersen had played a key role in their progress in the eight matches he played – Pietersen scored 305 runs including a century (a victorious 103 against Deccan Chargers), the third-best figures for his team in terms of runs behind his captain Virender Sehwag and narrowly behind the Mahela Jayawardene.Pietersen’s popularity in the IPL is a contrast to his standing in England which plummeted following his stand-off with the ECB and a section of the England team last year. In England, Pietersen continues to be an outsider despite playing for the country, but in India he has been embraced much more easily, perhaps because the Indian fans love a character who performs.Despite having spent just three weeks with Daredevils last year, Pietersen managed to quickly become a heartthrob. “It was very early in the competition. KP got a hundred and Delhi won the match. And after that every time Pietersen would walk in the whole stadium would chant “KP, KP”. I have not seen this happen except with Sachin [Tendulkar] and some of the other big India players like Viru. I certainly can’t remember a foreign player getting that kind of response from Indian crowd. He was genuinely loved by the fans, I felt,” Amrit Mathur, the former Daredevils’ CEO and currently one of the advisors with the franchise, said.Well groomed and a natural entertainer, Pietersen, Mathur said, was a “hit” with the corporates, too. “The sponsors would want him at promotions or any such event. He speaks well, he is polite, he is very good with corporate heads. So he is exactly what a commercial franchise-based entity requires: somebody who is hot on the field and equally good off the field.”Star power, charisma, mass appeal make the 6’4” Pietersen stand out in the IPL crowd. Among overseas players, Pietersen is up there with Shane Warne as a global brand and is in the top bracket of most expensive players. “He is undeniably a star. A lot of it flows from the way he performs and conducts himself on the field. He is a match-winner. People like Shane Warne and KP are standout performers,” Mathur said.Six matches away from finishing 100 Tests, 32 years old, a father, Pietersen might be a veteran in the cricket business to many, but he continues to display the verve and burning desire of a youth driven to make an impact. He has been in the IPL from the first edition in 2008, but managed just 329 runs in the three years he was with Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2011, he was bought by the now defunct Deccan Chargers, but injury prevented him from playing that season. In 2012 he was traded to the Daredevils.Even before the knee injury, the Daredevils management had put in place replacement plans for Pietersen by buying New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder and South Africa allrounder Johan Botha, Sekar conceded they can only be expected to do “60 to 70% of the job Pietersen did”. It is hard to find a man-to-man replacement. “KP is very big in international cricket. He can intimidate the opponents in a big way. Psychologically he makes an impact,” Sekar said.According to Mathur, Pietersen remains the right kind of advert for the IPL. “KP is a star not just as a player and performer but also as a personality and a person. He is a great with fans. People come to watch him. He is a confident, extroverted player. The sponsors love him. He is an absolute asset. He is the right package for the IPL.”

A collective batting performance from the Australia Under-19 top order helped the side beat New Zealand Under-19 by eight wickets, as they took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2013
ScorecardA collective batting performance from the Australia Under-19 top order helped the side beat New Zealand Under-19 by eight wickets, as they took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.Chasing 241, the Australia openers got off to a strong start, as Matthew Short and captain Damien Mortimer added 109 runs at over six runs per over. Short struck a brisk 73 off 60 balls, which included 12 fours, before being dismissed by Rakith Weerasundara in the 18th over. After Mortimer fell in the 26th over, Sean Willis and Kelvin Smith added 101 runs for the third wicket, hitting well-paced half-centuries, to take their side home with more than five overs to spare.Earlier, Australia pace bowlers Matthew Fotia and Guy Walker took three wickets each to restrict New Zealand to 240 for 8. Walker was particularly effective against the top order, dismissing opener Weerasundara for 36 and then Shawn Hicks and captain Leo Carter in quick succession. A 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Henry Collier and Ken McClure revived the New Zealand innings, with Collier scoring a solid 133-ball 86. However, the loss of quick wickets towards the end of the innings meant that Australia were left with a modest total to chase.

Preview of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata

The Preview by Sidharth Monga25-Apr-2013

Match facts

Friday, April 26, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Will Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan get more bouncers from Kings XI Punjab bowlers?•BCCI

Big Picture

Kolkata Knight Riders have to be smarting from their last match against Kings XI Punjab. They had the game done and dusted when the Kings XI bowlers began to bounce Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary, and pulled off a heist. The pitch for the return match, in Kolkata, will not afford that kind of bounce, and Knight Riders will be keen to get their own back.However, this is no longer about just revenge. The defending champions are fading fast. After losing their last three matches, Knight Riders are languishing with just four points from seven games. Only Pune Warriors and Delhi Daredevils have been worse than them. The crown is slipping fast, and Knight Riders need to get a grip on it.Unlike Kings XI, for whom lesser names like Mandeep Singh and Manpreet Gony have been making contributions, Knight Riders haven’t had much of note from their non-internationals. Forget their choice of overseas players, forget Jacques Kallis’ strike rate of 106, forget whether Brendon McCullum should play or not, Knight Riders need contributions from Yusuf, Tiwary, L Balaji and others.Kings XI, on the other hand, have started to build momentum, with David Miller providing them that X-factor. Now for Adam Gilchrist to fire …

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LLLWL (most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab WWLWL

Players to watch

Rest assured Yusuf Pathan won’t get to face much spin from Kings XI. Mumbai Indians gave him Harbhajan Singh in the last match and he feasted. Then he got out to the first ball of pace. Once called a “magical player” by his captain Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf last scored an IPL fifty in 2010, and his fielding against Mumbai cost his side crucial runs in a tight chase.Adam Gilchrist would have seen his Test captain Ricky Ponting sit himself out in the last match in Kolkata. It is not outlandish to think Gilchrist himself will be grappling with similar questions. He has scored just 67 runs in seven matches, and has even managed to drop a sitter, which would have cost them a match if it hadn’t been for one of the young batsmen, David Miller, who missed out on the first few matches possibly because Gilchrist had taken up one overseas slot. If Shaun Marsh is available, it will be a tough call to make for Gilchrist.

Stats and trivia

• Among bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 250 balls in the IPL, Sunil Narine is the only one to have an economy rate of under six: 5.54.
• Playing for Knight Riders against Kings XI, David Hussey averaged 32.33, but when playing for his new team against the old one he has managed an average of only 17.25. More significantly, the strike rate falls from 144.77 to 86.25.

Quotes

“Now we have got three of the most fancied teams in the competition in KKR, Mumbai and Chennai in a row. It’s a nice way to start this trip. We have made a step in the right direction.”

Ravindra Jadeja restricted West Indies to 234, and Shikhar Dhawan saw India through the chase to take them to the semi-final

The Report by Sidharth Monga11-Jun-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
I’ll take five: Ravindra Jadeja could do no wrong•AFP

Four years ago, almost to the day, in the same city of London, Ravindra Jadeja was a hare caught in the headlights. He could neither get out nor hit out, and his 25 off 35 in that Twenty20 match against England – India were knocked out of that World T20 – earned him what seemed like a lifetime of ridicule. He wasn’t supposed to succeed at international cricket. He did. He wasn’t supposed to succeed outside Asia at least. He has, for now.When Jadeja was introduced in this Champions Trophy match, West Indies had marched to 92 for 1 in 17 overs, and Johnson Charles, an awkward batsman to deal with, was timing everything he hit. He had carted Bhuvneshwar Kumar, deflected Umesh Yadav and lofted Virat Kohli and even R Ashwin. India were staring at a big total, but Jadeja twirled that ball like he does his new ‘tache. Some turned and some didn’t; most of them were headed for the stumps, but at different speeds; five of them got wickets, two lbws and one bowled; West Indies went from 102 for 1 to 182 for 9, and India into the semi-final of the Champions Trophy. West Indies now need to beat South Africa to progress; Pakistan were knocked out.The target of 234 – thanks to Jadeja and despite Darren Sammy’s 56 off 35 towards the end, proved no inconvenience for India – whose openers were almost in a contest to outdo each other’s attractive shots. Their 101-run stand was the first time since 2007 that India had put up back-to-back hundred openings outside Asia. Rohit Sharma might have fallen for 52 off 56, but Shikhar Dhawan went on to score his third century in his last three international innings, all reached at a strike rate of 100 or more

Fletcher departs for mother’s funeral

India coach Duncan Fletcher will fly home to South Africa on Tuesday evening to attend to the funeral of his mother, who passed away on Sunday. She was 93 and had suffered from a long-term illness. According to India’s media manager, Fletcher had opted to stay back for the match against West Indies. The funeral will be held in Cape Town on Wednesday and Fletcher will rejoin the India squad in Birmingham on Friday, on the eve of their final group match against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

India won with 10.5 overs to spare. It didn’t start off that easy after they put West Indies in. Johnson Charles, who scored 60 off 55, was an irritant for India, who had managed to get past Chris Gayle before he could do any real damage. Charles is not a pretty batsman. Nor is he a rhythm player. Form and run of play don’t matter much to him. Once he starts hitting them sweetly, though, he can find unusual spaces on a field of play. He is a man you want out early, and as his stats suggest it hasn’t been difficult to get him out early. However, until today whenever he had reached 50, he had crossed 100.Charles was already 50 when Jadeja came on to bowl. That included a burst from 6 off 17 to 30 off 26 in six boundaries in the ninth, 10th and 11th over. After that, he didn’t let Ashwin and Kohli – the latter bowled before Jadeja – settle at all. On came Jadeja, and bowled a maiden to Darren Bravo. On the face of it, there was nothing special about that over: just accurate and quick spin bowling.In Jadeja’s next, Charles tried to sweep him hard. He connected, but Jadeja had square leg positioned at the right spot. The next ball was quick, went with the arm, and Charles played all across it. Gone. Trademark Jadeja dismissal. Charles should have known better. Now Jadeja began to employ the vice grip, bowling quick, at the stumps, not knowing himself which will turn and which won’t.Ishant Sharma – match figures of 10-1-43-1 was an able ally at the other end. He bowled short of a length on a dry pitch, and slipped in a maiden with the unsure Marlon Samuels. In the next over, Jadeja got another dart on target, but the umpire saw an inside edge. Jadeja insisted on a review, convinced MS Dhoni, and found out that the ball had hit the pad first, and plumb in front.Dhoni returned the favour in Jadeja’s next over when he went down the leg side to superbly catch a deflection from Ramnaresh Sarwan. It wasn’t the best delivery Jadeja had bowled, but West Indies had nonetheless gone from 102 for 1 to 109 for 4. Darren Bravo now got stuck even as Dwayne Bravo batted industriously leading up to the Powerplay. Darren Bravo finally threw it away just before the Powerplay as he danced down to Ashwin and was stumped for 35 off 83.After India got lucky with Dwayne Barvo’s wicket, others lost their heads and their wickets. Not Sammy. He lifted that bat high, and began to swing. He had to do a fair bit of farming of the strike because Kemar Roach had joined him with 4.3 overs still to go. He rearranged some analyses, hit four sixes and five fours, and without any tangible contribution from Roach, added 51 for the last wicket.This total was supposed to give West Indies hope. Dhawan and Rohit were to dash that hope soon. From the moment Rohit cut Roach for four in the first over and Dhawan drove Ravi Rampaul through cover for another in the fourth, the match was going only one way. West Indies were either too short or too full, the openers matched each other stroke for stroke, and the only matter of uncertainty towards the end was whether Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik would get to their personal milestones.Dhawan was 96, Karthik was 47, and India needed eight when Bravo bowled short. Dhawan upper-cut it over third man, took off the helmet, stood with his arms aloft, and then played out five dots to let Karthik get to fifty in the next over. Karthik did so with a drive over extra cover.

Worcestershire overcame Gloucestershire in Friends Life t20 thanks to a flush of form for Alexei Kervezee, who has had a difficult summer since he retired from international cricket with the Netherlands.

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2013Worcestershire 120-5 (Kervezee 42*) beat Gloucestershire 119-8 (Mitchell 3-21) by five wicketsAlexei Kervezee had found runs hard to come by since wearing Netherlands colours for the last time•ICC/Ian Jacobs

Worcestershire overpowered Gloucestershire to register their first Friends Life t20 win of the season by five wickets at New Road.Gloucestershire’s dismal batting performance on a slow, dry pitch mustered only 119 for nine and that proved to be plain sailing for Worcestershire, who won with five overs to spare thanks to a flash of form for Alexei Kervezee, who has had a difficult summer since he retired from international cricket with the Netherlands.Kervezee went into the match with one half-century in 26 previous innings in all formats – that arriving in a Yorkshire Bank 40 meeting with his former Dutch team-mates – but he held his focus in cruising to an unbeaten 42 from 32 balls.Worcestershire dominated the game from the outset but created some pressure in
the way they lost wickets at key times.Moeen Ali, following a successful spell of 2 for 14 with his off-breaks, was going well on 22 when he swept Tom Smith to deep square leg.But there was no more careless dismissal that that of Andre Russell, who hit a rapid 18 before he was run out in mind-numbing fashion, ambling towards the bowlers’ end with his bat off the ground when looking for a single off a no ball from Dan Christian and beaten by a trundling direct hit.When Gareth Andrew chipped Smith to mid-wicket, giving the left-arm spinner two for 22, the home side were on 93 for five but Ben Cox completed the job with a straight six off Benny Howell.Comprehensively beaten in their first two group games, Worcestershire selected three spinners in an attempt to take advantage of a dry, sparsely-grassed surface.The slow surface meant there was scant entertainment for the New Road crowd as Gloucestershire foundered but the plan worked to perfection in the case of Moeen, who delivered 14 dot balls in four overs. Daryl Mitchell later turned in a spell of three for 21.Six batsmen got into double figures but no one could break free as Worcestershire backed up their bowlers with slick catching, none better than Kervezee’s overhead take from Howell in front of the rope at mid-wicket.

Andy Flower, the England team director, admitted the Decision Review System “hasn’t worked well at all” in the Investec Ashes series but does not advocate a return to the days of no technology

George Dobell06-Aug-2013Andy Flower, the England team director, admitted the Decision Review System “hasn’t worked well at all” in the Investec Ashes series, but does not favour a return to the days when umpires did not have access to technology.The series has been notable for a series of controversial umpiring decisions, most of them involving the TV umpire. Hot Spot, the technology that is meant to clarify whether a batsman has edged a ball, has been exposed as flawed and raised doubts about its medium-term viability, leaving players and umpires confused and frustrated following a catalogue of mistakes.But Flower, a consistent advocate of the DRS, does not favour abandoning the system now. Instead he favours ensuring that TV umpires are equipped with the best possible technology available and, if necessary, the assistants to enable them to utilise it to the optimum. Flower is adamant that a return to the days when TV viewers had access to more evidence than umpires would be a retrograde step and maintains the system, generally, helps get more decisions right than the days before it was introduced.And, though the words may have been characteristically measured, Flower also hinted that the underlying fault in the system during the current series was human error on the part of the TV umpires. But he rejected the idea that the TV umpire should be a technology specialist, instead reiterating the view that they should first have proved themselves as an experienced on-field official.”I thought the DRS had worked pretty well in international cricket prior to this series,” Flower said as he reflected on England retaining the Ashes following the soggy draw at Old Trafford. “But in this series it hasn’t worked well at all. I wouldn’t necessarily blame technology. What we have at the moment is the best we’ve got. I might question whether we’re using it as wisely as we can. I think we, the cricket community, can use it better.”There is technology there to use and there are protocols that go with it. I think the people in charge of using the technology have to make very calm, clear decisions.”I think we also know and understand that going back to using just the two umpires in the middle is not the answer because that isn’t going to get us a greater percentage of correct decisions. Just being smart about how we use the technology – where the third umpire sits, who he sits with, is he sitting with experts in technology so that he sees the best pictures and can run forwards and backwards the various screens and the pertinent screens – those are the things that the ICC need to get right.”I think the person sitting as the third umpire has to be an experienced on-field umpire to understand what is going on in the middle.”Flower also welcomed the contribution of Kevin Pietersen in Manchester. Exactly a year on from the debacle at Leeds where Pietersen’s relationship with his team-mates reached an all-time low, he produced a century that helped England avoid the follow-on and therefore played a large role in securing the draw.But while Flower delighted in Pietersen’s positive impact on and off the pitch, he did admit to fears over the batsmen’s long-term availability due to injury concerns. At present, it seems neither player nor team are looking further than the Ashes series in Australia.”He’s been excellent,” Flower said. “Unfortunately he’s had a couple of injuries, but he’s been very dedicated in the way he’s responded to getting those right and it’s great to see him bat like he did not only here but when he got a really important 60 in the context of that game at Trent Bridge.”It’s been another vital innings here, so it’s great to see him bat like that. He’s a very entertaining guy to watch and a brilliant international batsman. It’s great that he’s fit and firing.”He’ll have to look after himself as well as possible because he’s in his early 30s now and, from experience and talking to guys who have played at that age, everything seems to hurt a little bit more after long days in the field and after big innings. He wants to play in the World Cup of 2015, but I don’t think any of us can determine what happens in the medium to long-term. He, like all the others, will be desperate to do well in the rest of this series and looking forward to the Ashes away and not looking miles beyond that.”We do try to look after the players that play all three forms of the game in as wise a way as possible. Kevin’s one of those guys so we do take him out of certain competitions when it’s necessary, just like we do with Jimmy Anderson and might do with Alastair Cook in the future.”