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How Aaron's spell shook Mumbai's top order

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Fourteen overs spread over three sessions is not much to go by but Varun Aaron’s furious seven-over burst before lunch against Mumbai was another indication that his comeback from a long injury layoff is progressing well. Aaron returned to first-class cricket after two years this Ranji season following his recurrent back troubles. Into his fourth match, he’s taken 13 wickets at an average of 20.30. More heartening than the numbers was the pace, bounce, seam and swing he generated in those seven overs before lunch that claimed Wasim Jaffer and Sushant Marathe.Aaron was unplayable at times during that spell, straightening the ball on a tight line around off stump and getting it to climb sharply. He also slipped in the surprise yorker, nearly claiming Siddhesh Lad after making him think a short ball was forthcoming with a short leg in place. Often, deliveries took off from good length and flew high into the keeper’s gloves.”I think the first spell was very fast,” Shahbaz Nadeem, the Jharkhand captain, said. “I was standing at point and there were one or two deliveries that I could not spot at all. I saw them being released and then straight in the hands of the keeper. He bowled even quicker against Karnataka. If Varun is in rhythm, the nature of the pitch does not matter to him. What he did in the first spell was tremendous. The first two wickets were very important for us.”This wasn’t a helpful pitch, as Mumbai’s seamers had discovered and their keeper Aditya Tare admitted. To beat as good a batsman as Jaffer with pace and bounce on the cut needed some effort. “That [Aaron’s spell] shook us,” Tare said. “Wasim is a big batsman and in good form. That was a big wicket. The pitch isn’t all that great for a fast bowler and is kind of slow. But he bowled quick. But I think Umesh [Yadav] bowled a bit quicker [for Vidarbha in Mumbai’s previous game].”Aaron was used quite sparingly after lunch. He bowled two spells of two overs each in the second session and sent down only three overs after tea. Given his frequent breakdowns, Jharkhand did not want to extend their premier fast bowler as he seeks to rebuild his career. Aaron also did not go flat out like he had before lunch.”He is returning from injury after two years,” Nadeem said. “He is not a bowler who can bowl long spells. He is a bowler who will come for three-four overs and bowl quick. He requires more effort. In the two overs he bowled after lunch, he saw that the ball was not swinging. So I suggested that you stop and I’ll try the other bowlers.Nadeem did not think Aaron was holding himself back at all. “He goes all out each time he plays a game,” he said. “This season, every game he’s delivered spells where you can see he’s bowling quick and is on top of the batsmen. But as your shoulders tire, you automatically slow down. You lose your freshness. A fast bowler cannot bowl 145-146 kph every spell in days’ cricket. It can happen in one-day cricket, but in days’ cricket the second and third spells will come down to 140-141.”As long as Aaron can deliver a similar, energetic spurt on the third morning, Jharkhand will be glad to manage his workload for the remainder, if any, of the Mumbai innings.

Stokes inspires England to much-needed win

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBen Stokes followed up 70 with the bat by taking four wickets in England’s first win over Australia on tour•Getty Images

It has happened. It’s not an apparition. England have beaten Australia. After 91 days on a gut-wrenching tour that has brought defeat and despair, they can at least remind themselves what winning a cricket match feels like after securing a 57-run victory at the WACA.Two players with huge roles to play in the future were central to the success. Ben Stokes hit his maiden ODI fifty, a steady 70 in his new role at No. 3, then followed it with four wickets, and Jos Buttler had given England the breathing space they needed with another brilliant late-order display. Buttler hit 71 off 43 balls just when the innings was threatening to lose its way after the top three had laid the best foundation of the series.Buttler struck four sixes, including one off Mitchell Johnson, whose 10 overs cost 72, as the final six overs of the innings brought 69 runs, with Eoin Morgan playing his part in a stand of 71. Buttler’s scoop came out but it was his straight hitting that was most eye-catching and his status continues to rise, day by day. It was Buttler, too, who held the final catch to bring a rare smile to the fact of Alastair Cook and his team.After the series was decided in Sydney, Cook said he would consider his future as one-day captain when the tour was finished but at the toss today he admitted it had been the emotion speaking and, having reflected on things for a few days in Perth, he was now “desperate” to continue in his current capacity. A win here, albeit against an Australia side without four senior players, will have lifted his spirits further.Although there was a superbly composed hundred by Aaron Finch, his second of the series, to anchor Australia’s chase there were no pyrotechnics from James Faulkner to steal the game away. This time Faulkner fell for 2, getting a thin edge as he tried to cut Stokes, much to the relief of those playing in red. The moment got the better of Stokes, who gave Faulkner a send-off, and the umpires felt they needed to step in.

Smart Stats

  • This was England’s first win in ten international matches, since their win against Australia in an ODI at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff last year.

  • Ben Stokes’ all-round performance in this match is only the seventh instance of an England player scoring fifty-plus and taking four or more wickets in an ODI. The previous such instance was by Paul Collingwood, against New Zealand in 2008.

  • Jos Buttler’s 71 runs and five catches in this match is the eighth instance of a wicketkeeper scoring a fifty and collecting five dismissals in an ODI, and the second such instance by an England wicketkeeper. Geriant Jones hit 71 runs and took five catches in an ODI, also against Australia, at Lord’s in 2005.

  • Buttler’s 71 was the second highest by an England wicketkeeper in ODIs in Australia after Alec Stewart’s 77 against South Africa at the MCG in the 1992 World Cup. Buttler’s score was also the highest by an England No. 7 in ODIs in Australia, beating Michael Yardy’s unbeaten 60 against the hosts at the WACA in 2011.

  • Aaron Finch’s century in this match was the 11th by an Australia batsman at the WACA in ODIs and the seventh by an Australia opener at this venue. Adam Gilchrist was the last Australia opener to hit a century here, against Sri Lanka in 2008.

Stokes also removed George Bailey, Australia’s stand-in captain, through smart use of the DRS after he had spotted a thin edge on a leg-side glance, dispatched the power Glenn Maxwell who played a an ugly swipe to leg and bowled Johnson. The over in which he claimed Maxwell, the 40th of the innings, became a maiden and it was a show of his character after being one of Faulkner’s victims at the Gabba although his copybook was blotted a little when he shelled Nathan Coulter-Nile for what would have been the winning moment.Australia had raced out of the blocks in their chase as Chris Jordan struggled with his run up and Stuart Broad continued to search for rhythm. Both bowlers improved during the innings. Tim Bresnan provided the first breakthrough when Shaun Marsh carelessly guided to second slip and England’s cause was helped by a stuttering comeback innings from Matthew Wade who never found his timing before finding mid-off.At the other end, however, Finch was playing an outstanding hand and constantly scored above a run-a-ball. His first boundary was an airy drive over cover, but there was due respect shown to good deliveries then the decisiveness to pick off boundaries when they were needed. He forced Cook to change tack when he deposited James Tredwell for consecutive sixes and also drove Bresnan back over his head.His hundred came from 97 balls but the game started to edge England’s way when he guided Bresnan to third man where Broad held a good running catch.The way England’s batting order is constructed provokes much debate; this was almost the ideal formula for how they see it working. The opening stand of 87 in 12 overs was more than has been delivered of late; in the early stages, Australia’s quick bowlers varied between too full and too short, which is often a failure of visiting attacks.Stokes’ innings, his maiden ODI fifty was an excellent response after he’d struggled in his first innings at No. 3 in Sydney. This time he was quickly into double figures and the brisk start he arrived on the back of allowed him time to settle. He had some tricky moments against Johnson, and on 29 edged a very tough chance to Marsh at slip, but also unfurled some eye-catching drives which were a feature of his Test century on this ground last month before top-edging a sweep off Faulkner.Cook and Ian Bell, with 47-ball fifty, had led the positive start, hitting 12 boundaries in the first 10 overs, and Australia were as ragged as at any time in the season. Bell was given lives on 48 and 52 although neither miss was costly, as Bell flicked a poor delivery from Daniel Christian straight to short fine-leg.There had more than a hint of anger and frustration in the England captain’s batting, especially when he plundered three consecutive boundaries in Coulter-Nile’s first over, but for the third time in a row he fell to Maxwell. He left with an angry swish of the bat but, by the end of the day, being England cricket captain will have felt just a little bit better.

Ghadigaonkar guides Rizvi to title

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ScorecardThe Rizvi Mumbai team celebrate their win•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sumit Ghadigaonkar scored 55 to guide Rizvi Mumbai to a comfortable five-wicket win over MMM College of Commerce, Pune, in the tournament final in Chandigarh. Chasing 123, Rizvi got home with 27 balls to spare.Ghadigaonkar struck four fours and four sixes in his 48-ball innings, and added 80 runs with Rao Manish for the third wicket after Shubham Ranjane had struck twice to reduce Rizvi to 23 for 2. Rizvi lost two more wickets after Manish was out for a run-a-ball 25, but the Ghadigaonkar-Manish partnership had done its job by then.Put in to bat, MMM College never really got any partnerships going, their highest being a 33-run seventh-wicket stand between Naushad Shaikh and top-scorer Tushar Shrivastav, who made a 25-ball 33 with four fours. For Rizvi, medium-pacer John Ebrahim was the most successful bowler, picking up three wickets.

Harris bowls Australia to last-gasp win

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRyan Harris goes under the knife for knee surgery after this series – he does not know what the future holds. He may play Test cricket again, but at 34 there are no guarantees. Whatever happens, he has delivered one of the great triumphs in Australia’s recent Test history, bowling the team to a series victory over South Africa, the world’s No.1-ranked side, when it seemed almost inevitable that Graeme Smith would be farewelled by his men with a fighting, fitting draw.Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn batted together for 75 minutes as Australia sought the two remaining wickets they needed for victory and as the shadows grew longer, the looks on the faces of Michael Clarke and his men became more desperate. With five overs left, Clarke asked Harris for one last effort and he delivered, yorking Steyn first ball and then slipping one past Morne Morkel’s bat two balls later to clatter the off stump and deliver a 245-run win, and a 2-1 series success.Harris finished with 4 for 32 from 24.3 overs, a remarkable achievement for a man who looked spent. At times throughout the day he was hobbling and he pulled up in his delivery stride once late in the day, stretching and checking on his knee as he walked back to his mark again. Mitchell Johnson picked up three wickets but Harris was the man who delivered when it mattered most, including by getting rid of the stonewalling AB de Villiers after lunch.Ryan Harris delivered for Michael Clarke on the last day•Getty Images

For much of the day it seemed that South Africa might just pull off one last draw for Smith. Under his leadership they won a lot but just as notable has been their ability not to lose. Their last series defeat before this was against Australia five years ago. Smith will leave the game having lost only two of his last 27 Test series as captain. That is some sort of record. In the end, his men were unable to keep the Australians out for long enough.That a day on which only 194 runs were scored in 93.3 overs could be so gripping is encouraging for Test cricket. This day was never going to be about the runs; South Africa could have batted until day seven and not reached their target of 511. It was simply a question of wickets – could Australia claim the six they needed throughout the day. South Africa’s ability to bat out a draw in similar circumstances in Adelaide a year and a half ago suggested that it would be tough work.And as in Adelaide, de Villiers and Faf du Plessis did their best to deny Australia. They came together after the nightwatchman Kyle Abbott frustrated the Australians during a near two-hour innings of defiant defence. At times when he faced Johnson all nine fielders were in catching positions. Eventually he fell for 7 from 89 balls when he shouldered arms to a James Pattinson ball that nipped in and clipped the top of off stump.De Villiers was laborious but effective for South Africa’s purposes, using up 326 minutes and 228 balls for his 43. Harris was the man who got rid of de Villiers, who pushed half-heartedly outside off stump and got a thick edge behind off a ball that nipped away just enough off the seam. It was a vital breakthrough after lunch, although an equally important one came just before tea when Steven Smith struck in the first ball of a new spell, drifting one in and turning it just enough to have du Plessis lbw for 47.That left four wickets needed in the final session. Worryingly for Clarke, Nathan Lyon was having no impact, just as had been the case in that Adelaide draw. At times he bowled too quick, and like his colleagues, offered up too many balls that the South Africans could leave. The Australians became frazzled and frayed, but Clarke managed to manufacture a wicket by placing a leg slip, Lyon, who pouched a leg glance off Johnson to end JP Duminy’s innings on 43.But Philander and Steyn were not going to fold quickly. Philander was the only South African who really played his shots throughout the final day, but rarely did he create a chance. Even more impressive was that he spent part of the innings battling a painful blow to his hand after an accidental beamer from Pattinson jammed him on the right glove. Another glove-related incident was to come.Immediately before the final hour began, the Australians won an out decision from Aleem Dar when Johnson banged in a short ball that tickled Philander’s thumb on the way to being caught, but Philander asked for a review. The third umpire, Richard Illingworth, felt there was enough evidence that Philander’s hand was off the bat at the time when the ball struck his glove and overturned the decision, much to the dismay of the Australians, and things really heated up on the field after that.Whatever Clarke tried did not seem to work. Philander and Steyn just batted on and on. The bowlers wearied, and sent down ball after ball that could be left alone. Until Clarke asked Harris to finish the job. Two wickets in three balls, both hitting the stumps. An emotional series win for Australia, whose summer ended with seven wins and one loss. A gut-wrenching loss for Smith in his final match.But mostly, it was a fittingly tight way for the campaign to end. Australia had the better of the series, but South Africa made them earn it. It was not until the last five overs of the last hour of the last day of the last Test of the series that the outcome was determined. And if every Test series was like that, the game would be in pretty good shape.

'Our match awareness has to improve' – Lehmann

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Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach, has said his team had to develop better situation awareness in the shortest format, an aspect that was missing from their first two games in the World T20, against Pakistan and West Indies. Australia have two losses in as many games and must win their last two matches, including one against India on Sunday, and hope Bangladesh beat Pakistan to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.”I think we under-clubbed with the bat in both games to be perfectly honest,” Lehmann said. “I think we needed 75 off ten [overs] in the first game with eight wickets in hand. And our match awareness has got to improve in this format. Again we got 178 [against West Indies] and we didn’t bat very well. Our top six have got to take the shoulder of that, especially the times they got out, more so than anything else. The last couple of balls off [Sunil] Narine’s over, those sort of things they’ve got to get better at. That’s about learning, but in this tournament, this format you can’t afford to learn, you’ve got to win.”Lehmann was also disappointed with the way Australia had let themselves slip from strong positions against both Pakistan and West Indies, which had all but put them out of the World T20.”We beat ourselves in these games. It’s as simple as that. Obviously credit to West Indies and Pakistan but we should’ve won both of those games. We’ve got only ourselves to blame.”We had played pretty good T20 cricket at home and then in South Africa just before we came here. We were probably 70% in all three formats and it’s a good learning curve. But, as I said, you’ve got to win those games. We have got to be on the mark each and every time, especially in this knock-out format. You find out about some players in pressure situations, which is good and bad for a coach and a captain. At least we learned.”Lehmann also said that allrounder James Faulkner would need to be wiser about the words he chose while bantering with the opposition. Before the match against West Indies, Faulkner’s comment that he did not particularly like the team brought out an aggressive, in-your-face celebration from Darren Sammy’s men after their tense victory on Friday. Lehmann also did not approve of West Indies’ wild celebrations, saying it was not something Australia would have done.”From my point of view, James has probably got to choose his words a little bit better but that’s just part and parcel of the banter of the game, isn’t it? We’re in the entertainment business and if I could dance like Chris Gayle I’d be dancing every night of the week,” Lehmann said. “We play our cricket hard and verbally that’s what is going to happen. But we play it fair. That’s just part and parcel. You live and die by the sword, don’t you? You win, you lose, you’ve just got to cop it and move on.”At the end of the day, you’re going to get emotional with winning. We’ve certainly been through those stages but we’re really respectful of that as well. When you win, you’ve got to win in the right way and act appropriately. If that’s the way they do that, that’s fine. That’s not our choice. That’s certainly not what we do. They certainly dance very well though, I’ll give them that.”Australia have lost wickets to spin in both games so far, but Lehmann did not think this was a weakness. When asked about the challenge the Indian spinners would present in their next group game, he said the experience of an ODI series in India last year would help.”[It’s] not a weakness, because certainly spinners didn’t get us out, we got ourselves out. So we’ve got some work to do in that area, but that’s like every area: fast bowling, playing short-pitched bowling. It’s no different. The wickets certainly haven’t spun as much as we thought, so that’s no excuse for our batters.”We’re lucky enough that we’ve played some decent one-day cricket against India, in India, not too long ago in October. So we know them very well, and they know us very well. It’s going to be a great challenge for our batters and bowlers to put a complete performance together. If we do that, we can compete with anyone in the world.”

Johnson ponders limited-overs future

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Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has said he might consider quitting one or both limited-overs formats in order to prolong his Test career, with the 2015 Ashes in England in mind. Though Johnson is yet to make up his mind on which format to drop, he hinted at reconsidering his T20 career first, as he has ambitions of spearheading Australia’s bowling attack for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.”I think I’ve got to be a lot smarter now. Twenty20, I will quite happily say, is not my favourite format – I would rather play Test cricket,” Johnson told . “And maybe one-day cricket I have to look at as well.”But my main goal now is to get to that 2015 Ashes series in England, so I’ll be doing everything I can to reach that goal.”Johnson proved the difference for Australia as they reclaimed the Ashes at home with a 5-0 thrashing of England. He missed the previous Ashes in England, which the hosts won 3-0, but Australia’s turnaround in the return series was largely due to his hostile bowling spells that left the England batsmen shell-shocked. He finished the leading wicket-taker with 37 wickets and his lethal spells continued in South Africa, where he yet again finished on top of the wicket charts with 22, guiding Australia to a 2-1 series win.Johnson missed the recently concluded World T20 in Bangladesh due to a toe injury he sustained in South Africa. Having recovered, he is gearing up for a full season of the IPL, having being bought by Kings XI Punjab. He said he was looking forward to taking part in the World T20.”Twenty20 cricket you don’t play a lot of anyway, it just happened at this time there was a World Cup straight after the South Africa series which I was looking forward to being involved in before I got injured,” Johnson said.Johnson is yet to experience a World Cup win as an active member of the squad. Though he was part of the winning 2007 World Cup squad in the West Indies, he was benched through the tournament, and in the 2010 World T20, Australia finished runners-up.”I’d like to win a World Cup. I’ve been involved in the West Indies in 2007 which was a well-paid holiday apparently,” he said. “And while it was tough work, the campaign we went through, it was a good place to be and a great experience.”So I would love to be a part of Australia’s 2015 World Cup and I certainly think we’ve got the team to win it. We’ve played some really good one-day cricket and given that it’s being played at home, it would be a great opportunity.”Johnson’s rebirth as a lethal new-ball bowler for Australia began in the ODI series in England following the Ashes defeat. Prior to that, he was in good form for Mumbai Indians in the 2013 IPL, where he finished the joint second-highest wicket-taker for the team with 24 wickets, helping them to their maiden title.”I’ve had confidence with the white ball and been pretty consistent in the limited-overs format,” Johnson said. “You can get the white ball to swing, but really it’s just good to get out there and enjoy some cricket which is how I see the IPL – it’s really just a form of entertainment.”Australia’s next Test series will be against Pakistan in the UAE in October, before they host India for four Tests.

McCullum has acted 'quite properly' – ICC

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The ICC has said it will “urgently investigate” the leaking of evidence in its match-fixing inquiries and has confirmed New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is not under investigation and should be commended for his actions.Details of McCullum’s statements to the ICC’s anti-corruption investigators were leaked to the media earlier this week, including that he had turned down offers of up to $180,000 to underperform in matches. Testimony given by former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent on alleged fixing around the world has also found its way into media reports.Although the ICC’s usual policy is not to comment on corruption investigations, the speculation has led the ICC’s chief executive David Richardson to clarify that McCullum had done nothing wrong. Richardson also said the ICC “deeply regret” the fact that parts of McCullum’s statements had been made public.”Obviously the ICC considers any leak of any kind of information to be an extremely serious matter,” Richardson said, “particularly, as in this instance, when the nature of the information that has found its way to the media is highly confidential and has been provided in tightly controlled circumstances by individuals to the ACSU as part of ongoing investigations.”We are taking all steps available to us to urgently investigate how certain information in the form of statements has come to find its way into the media, so that we can provide reassurances to the stakeholders within the sport so that they can continue to place their trust in the hands of the ACSU and the anti-corruption units of the respective member boards in protecting the integrity of the sport.”We wish to emphasise that Brendon McCullum is not under investigation in this matter. Whilst we have privately offered our full support to Brendon, we do so now publicly not only to confirm that, by assisting with the ACSU’s enquiries, he has acted quite properly in accordance with his responsibilities as a professional cricketer, but also correct any misperception that he is somehow under suspicion. He is to be commended for his actions and we deeply regret that aspects of his statement are now in the public domain.”Richardson did not comment further on the investigations or whether it was likely that charges would be laid. However, he said Vincent had “co-operated fully with the ACSU’s investigators” and that he could not expand on the situation surrounding Vincent at this stage.Richardson said the ACSU had made “very good progress” since its inception and had received 472 intelligence reports in 2013, more than double the 222 it received two years earlier. He said he believed the increased number of reports made to the ACSU “indicates an increased awareness of the threat of corruption and how it can be addressed”.

Gibson hopeful of Gayle's fitness

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Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, is hopeful Chris Gayle will be fit for the first Test against New Zealand, which starts on June 8 in Kingston. Gayle had suffered a back injury after the World T20 in Bangladesh and missed a few games for his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2014. After his team’s run in the T20 league ended, he travelled to Germany to consult a specialist for his injury.”He’s here. He was told he had to be at the camp on June 1,” Gibson said. “He went to Germany to see a specialist so over there, he had some injections for his back. The specialist said he would need to take a couple of days rest and after which he should be able to take full part in cricket. The first Test match starts on June 8, so he has enough time to get enough cricket. He had a couple of hits in the nets today and he did some catching on the field, so he has enough time, once we get to Jamaica, to get himself settled down.”Apart from Gayle, the squad for the first Test also has fit-again pacers Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach and a spinner Sulieman Benn. Taylor and Roach returned from long injury layoffs, while Benn has not played a Test since December 2010.Shane Shillingford, who was cleared for an international return after rectifying his bowling action, is likely to play his first Test since the suspension. With Sunil Narine absent from the squad, the spin-bowling department comprises Shillingford and Benn but Gibson was reluctant to commit to a two-spinner strategy in Jamaica.”We have to get there first. What we do is we tend to get there first and see the conditions and then think of the make-up of the team,” Gibson said. “We have three quality fast bowlers who have done well this week and two world-class spinners, with Benn coming back into the team after a long absence and Shane, who’s had his issues with his bowling action and stuff. We are very happy we have two of those guys in our midst. If the wicket suits two spinners, then I guess two spinners can play. If not, we have three quality seamers that will take the field.”Gibson was pleased with the form of the batsmen and bowlers during the practice matches against local opposition, held as part of the preparatory camp in Barbados.”Darren Bravo got a hundred in the first game, Kraigg [Brathwaite] came in and he got some runs yesterday. Shiv [Chanderpaul] spent some good time in the middle,” he said. “The reason why we come here and prepare ourselves physically and then we do a lot of technical work is to make sure that when we get to Jamaica it is just about performing. In Jamaica, we will have a look at the conditions, the pitch we are likely to play on we pick the best possible team from the 13 guys we have and we work really hard and try and win the first Test match.”

SLC confident of Senanayake return

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Sri Lanka Cricket remained confident that their spinner Sachithra Senanayake’s action could be remedied, and that he could be reintroduced to international cricket before the World Cup, despite a harsh biomechanical assessment. There has also been displeasure in some parts of Sri Lanka’s cricket establishment about Senanayake’s testing procedure.SLC’s cricket committee met on Monday to discuss the route forward for Senanayake, but will not arrive at any concrete decisions until the biomechanical report has been unpacked in full over the next few days.That report states Senanayake exceeded the 15-degree elbow flexion threshold on all analysed deliveries – even those in which the biomechanical experts were not satisfied that Senanayake was bowling with the same action observed in the match in which he was reported. In the two overs Senanayake delivered with the action which the experts felt “more closely resembled the match action”, the bowler was found to be flexing his elbow between 36 and 43 degrees.That would seem to be a severe indictment on Senanayake’s action. However, a report on the testing procedure from spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge, who had accompanied Senanayake to the test, said Senanayake had been put under immense pressure from the co-ordinators of the test. There have also been suggestions that Senanayake was effectively asked to flex his elbow more than he ordinarily would, in order to adhere to the experts’ view of what his action looked like in the match he was reported.SLC and Senanayake have the option of lodging a notice with the ICC within 14 days, in order to request a hearing with a Bowling Review Group (BRG). A BRG usually includes a human-movement specialist, a former player, a former umpire, a current match referee and two ICC officials.However, despite some complaints about the manner in which the test was performed, early indications from SLC are that the board is keen to eschew the appeals process, in order to put Senanayake into remedial work as soon as possible. The board has appeared to target the seven-match ODI series against England in November and December as an opportunity to reintroduce Senanayake.”We will have to begin remedial action immediately,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told . “First he will be seconded to the coaching department where he will undergo the initial work on his action. Only thereafter would we request the ICC to assess his action once again at one of their facilities.”Senanayake will have to be cleared in another biomechanical test before he can bowl again in internationals, but SLC will also be wary of rushing him back to the top level before significant changes have been made to his action. If in the next two years Senanayake plays internationals again, and is then reported and found to be breaching the ICC playing conditions in another round of testing, he will be banned for one year.SLC, however, is confident of the effectiveness of their remedial process and appear assured the bowler will be playing for Sri Lanka again shortly. Senanayake had undergone remedial work under coach Wijetunge in 2011 and had subsequently been cleared in a biomechanical test conducted at the University of Western Australia.

Dhoni slams Jadeja's guilty verdict

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MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said the guilty verdict against Ravindra Jadeja for his role in the incident involving James Anderson at Trent Bridge was hurtful and negligent.In his verdict, the match referee David Boon had said he was “not comfortably satisfied” that Jadeja’s role amounted to a Level 2 charge, and punished him for a Level 1 offence. The allrounder was found guilty of “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” and fined 50% of his match fee.For the first time, one side’s account of the incident that occurred as the players were walking off for lunch on day two of the first Test has emerged. “To me, it is a very hurtful decision,” Dhoni, who was witness to the incident, said. “A lot of things were neglected in judging the case. If you see, what exactly happened, the umpires called for lunch and we started walking. I don’t want to take any other individual’s name. We started walking, and the other individual started using foul language against Jadeja. I had to step in the middle. And by the time we reached the ropes I thought the thing has diffused.”By the time we were going through the members’ area I was ahead of Jadeja. Jadeja was a couple of yards behind me. Again something happened. Something was told to him. And he just turned across to the individual, and after that he was pushed. And he barely gained his balance, and he turned to see as to what is happening. And on the basis of that he is fined.MS Dhoni has come out in strong support of his allrounder Ravindra Jadeja•Getty Images

“It was said that it was against the spirit of the game, and everything. What we have to see is, we can’t ignore what has happened. If someone is saying something to you from behind and you just turn and you look, that is not aggressive. Especially the fact that the bat was under his armpit throughout – right from [calling of] lunch till he entered the dressing room. Not one word was spoken by him.”Dhoni insisted Jadeja had not been aggressive in his conduct. “So a lot of things were neglected,” he said. “It’s for you guys to decide the things I am saying and if I have not lied. When it comes to factual matter, Jadeja – whatever he did – was not aggressive. I don’t think there was even a little bit of aggression in that, and that is why I am very hurt by the verdict that has been given.”Dhoni was also unhappy about not being allowed an appeal because the first guilty verdict for a Level 1 offence does not have a provision for an appeal. “That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “Allegation is of Level 2, and Jadeja gets punished under Level 1. The beauty of Level 1 is you cannot appeal against it. But BCCI and legal are working things out. We are definitely not at all happy with the verdict. I have dictated what the facts were.”India had pressed Level 3 charges against Anderson, who will have his hearing on August 1. England’s response was a Level 2 charge against Jadeja. India’s accusation was that Jadeja had been abused and pushed by Anderson; England said Jadeja had turned around and approached Anderson in an aggressive manner.