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Shane Warne has become an informal informant to England’s selectors who quiz him on the country’s spin stocks. David Graveney, the chairman of the panel, told England’s Sunday Telegraph he had been asking Warne for information about who should be the back-up slow bowler for the tour to Sri Lanka.”He sees a lot of players and has always been very good whenever Geoff Miller or I have asked questions, especially about England spinners,” Graveney told the paper. “He understands our predicament.”Warne, who has 35 County Championship wickets for Hampshire, told Graveney he had been impressed with his early encounters with Adil Rashid, the 19-year-old Yorkshire legspinner. “Like everyone else, we have spoken to him about Adil, and Shane thinks he has what it takes to play at the highest level,” Graveney said. “We have swapped telephone numbers and will stay in touch.”Graveney also spoke to Warne about Chris Tremlett, who made his Test debut against India at Lord’s this month. “It might have been Stuart Clark [the Australian bowler also at Hampshire] who suggested Chris shorten his run-up, but Shane seems to have had some input into making him think about his career,” Graveney said. “He made him question what he wanted to get out of the game and how far he wanted to go.”While Warne has been happy offering tips to England, his management team told the Australian he has not been chasing a job with the ECB. He also has not signed with the Indian Cricket League that has been chasing players for its Twenty20 competition.

ScorecardA fine century from Virat Kohli, combined with half-centuries from Parvez Aziz and Tanmay Srivastava, put India Under-19 in a dominant position against the English counterparts at Canterbury. Having dismissed England for just 231 on the first day, India consolidated their position through valuable partnerships all day.Kohli, who’s already made news with his big hundreds while playing for junior teams in Delhi, struck 18 fours in a steady 123. He was ably assisted by Aziz, an opening batsman from Assam, who contributed a vital 73 of his own. Aziz left with the Indians in a spot of bother at 130 for 3 but Kohli got more support from Srivastava, the captain, who managed an important half-century. Srivastava, who like Mohammad Kaif has learnt his cricket in the hostels at Kanpur, produced three fours and a six in his 115-ball 53.The lower order chipped in with handy contributions but it was Karan Singh, the legbreak bowler from Chandigarh, who impressed the most, clattering five fours and a six in his entertaining 37. Graeme White, the left-arm spinner from Northamptonshire, was the most effective bowler of the day, snapping up three wickets and was also the only one who conceded less than two-and-a-half runs an over.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has invited Zimbabwe A to participate in Duleep trophy to be played in October. This development comes following requests made by Peter Chingoka, the president of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, during his visit to Kolkata.”We have taken the decision to have Zimbabwe A as an extra side in this year’s Duleep Trophy,” Goutam Dasgupta, the joint-secretary of the BCCI, was quoted as saying in PTI report. “Zimbabwe do not have any international assignment at that time. So, it will not be a problem for them to include some top-notch players in the A side.”The BCCI has been inviting a foreign squad as the sixth team in the inter-zonal Duleep Trophy since 2003, with the object of raising the level of competition, and giving domestic teams a feel of international cricket. An England XI paticipated in the inaugural year, while last year Bangladesh took part.

Sri Lanka 239 (Gunawardene 73, Khuram 4-32) bt UAE 123 (Rai 39, Chandana 4-22, Muralitharan 3-21) by 116 runs
Scorecard

It was a rout, but it need not have been. The United Arab Emirates bowled with a maturity far beyond their experience to take regular wickets after Sri Lanka chose to bat first, but the one man they couldn’t stop was Avishka Gunawardene, whose fine 73 helped Sri Lanka to 239. That was enough for the win, and UAE’s batsmen were easily dismissed for 123 in 47.5 overs.Gunawardene came in to bat in the eighth over of the day, and was aggressive right from the start – but not in an irresponsible manner, as he sometimes has been in the past. He was severe on anything pitched outside off, and repeatedly pumped Syed Maqsood and Ali Asad through the off side, favouring the region between mid-off and cover. He batted at a run-a-ball pace for the first half of his innings, but played more watchfully in the middle overs, when the spinners bowled with some guile and a lot of discipline. Wickets fell around him as he stood firm, until he finally decided that the time had come to seize the momentum, and hoicked Khuram Khan to deep midwicket, where Sameer Zia took a beautifully judged diving catch. Sri Lanka were 190 for 7 then, well out of trouble.Many of the Sri Lankan batsmen spent time at the crease, settled in well, but could not capitalise on their effort. Saman Jayantha (18), Sanath Jayasuriya (21), Kumar Sangakkara (17), Mahela Jayawardene (26) and Upul Chandana (21) all promised, and deceived. Sangakkara could at least complain that he was at the wrong end of a bad umpiring decision, but the others had no-one but themselves to blame.Jayawardene, captaining in place of Marvan Atapattu, who decided to skip this game along with Chaminda Vaas, began the day by winning the toss and choosing to bat. Asad was impressive at the start of the innings, as he had been yesterday. Asim Saeed, the left-armer, also seemed to be getting into his rhythm when Peter Parker, the umpire, not Spiderman, got into his way. Saeed, while beginning his third over, brushed against Parker’s shoulder and, unable to keep his balance, fell over, clearly spraining a muscle somewhere as a result. He was assisted off the field, and when he did bat later in the day, needed a runner.Maqsood came on to bowl in Saeed’s place, and struck early, getting a ball to pitch outside off and nip back in to hit the off stump of Jayantha, who played inside the line (39 for 1). Shortly afterwards, Jayasuriya was trapped lbw to a ball from Asad that pitched on middle and straightened (41 for 2).Sangakkara then added 64 with Gunawardene, but his confident innings came to an end when he was the victim of a shocking decision, adjudged lbw to a ball from Zia that pitched well outside leg stump (105 for 3). Jayawardene began with a lovely late cut, and hit a run-a-ball 26, an innings of class and finesse, before he was run out following a mix-up (143 for 4).The spinners dominated the next ten overs. First, Khuram bowled Dilshan Tillekeratne (6) with a lovely ball that pitched just outside off and snaked past Dilshan’s outside edge to kiss the off stump (151 for 5). Then, Thilina Kandamby (4) chipped Khuram to Maqsood at midwicket (161 for 6). The weight on Gunawardene’s shoulders got heavier with each wicket, until he too was out, with Sri Lanka in sight of 200.Chandana played a sprightly cameo, but was bowled trying to slog Asad (214 for 8). Nuwan Zoysa, with 21, played a useful innings at the end, but holed out off the last ball of the innings – which made this the first time in an ODI that UAE had bowled a side out. Khuram ended with 4 for 32, and showed that given the opportunity, UAE’s bowlers could shine on the world stage.But not so their batsmen. Zoysa got the early wickets of Arshad Ali and Fahad Usman, after which a battle began – not between the two sides, though, but between Sri Lanka and the weather. Apparently thinking that it might rain, Jayawardene brought his spinners on from the eighth over in order to finish 25 overs quickly, so the game could not be rained out. The batsmen did not try to delay them much by taking a lot of runs, playing with the circumspection of Geoff Boycott on sedatives.Ramveer Rai was the top-scorer of the innings, with a dour 39, off 124 balls – he was going at a strike-rate of 10 at one point, with 5 off his first 50. Preparing, no doubt, for the harsh environs of Test cricket, Rai defended stoutly, as wickets fell around him. It took a jaffa to get him out, an unplayable ball from Chandana that pitched outside leg and spun back to hit off – much like that famous Warne-Gatting collaboration. He was the eighth man out, with the score on 99, and although UAE did reach three figures, they could not achieve their pre-match objective of surviving 50 overs. But Sri Lanka didn’t keep all their wickets intact either, and that should be enough cause for cheer for UAE, who now catch a long flight home.Amit Varma is managing editor of Wisden Cricinfo in India.

The Reverend Wes Hall will step down from his role as president of the West Indies Cricket Board on health grounds within the next few days, according to a report in yesterday’s Barbados-based Sunday Sun newspaper.Hall is understood to have advised all the various members of the board of his decision, and the timing of his decision means that a new president can be chosen at the board’s AGM in Dominica next month.Hall, 65, took over in July 2001 at a time West Indies cricket was suffering from infighting. His predecessor, Pat Rousseau, had resigned following a decision to reinstate team manager, Ricky Skerritt, who had been fired.In his two years at the helm, Hall was instrumental in getting the 2007 World Cup awarded to the Caribbean.It is unclear who will emerge as Hall’s likely successor. Val Banks, the current WICB vice-president, is not thought to be interested. Some reports have indicated that Tony Marshall, a former president of the Barbados Cricket Association and a WICB director, might throw his hat into the ring.

New Zealand A were looking for heroes to get themselves out of a fix in their Buchi Babu tournament match against Indian Railways and Lou Vincent and Shane Bond answered the call.As a result of dismissing the home team for 145, New Zealand A achieved a 23-run victory and will now contest the final of the Indian pre-season tournament against the Cricket Association of Bengal XI, starting tomorrow evening (NZ time).After being dismissed for a paltry 129 on the first day, the result of some individual batting problems more than anything else, according to coach Ashley Ross, the side conceded more runs than they wanted when the Railways XI made 279.With a deficit of 150 runs, New Zealand A were 216/6 at stumps on the second day.”Once we had lost the first innings advantage we knew we couldn’t make the final unless we got the outright victory,” Ross said.”We planned out where we wanted to be and it was a case of checking the signposts as we went along, but we were not quite where we wanted to be at stumps on the second night,” he said.The side had failed to realise the fine line between achieving a suitable scoring rate and keeping wickets intact.The aim on the final morning was to get a lead of around 180 and Vincent and Kyle Mills did an outstanding job while giving the bowlers enough runs and time to do the job.”We had worked out a few things with their batsmen that we wanted to expose them to with our faster bowlers,” Ross said.Mark Richardson, who had been much more impressive in his first innings of 59 not out than earlier in the tournament, was still not at his best.But in his second innings he was a batsman transformed and much more impressive and his 71 was reward for the work he had been doing on playing spin bowling.”He was using his feet well. He has been working hard on that part of his game with the Pakistan tour, and Shane Warne, coming up later. He and Matthew Bell worked well in adding 100 and set the run rate where we wanted it.”They both got out and then Lou came in and started brilliantly. He played quite beautifully but we lost more wickets than we needed to on the second evening.”However, he was absolutely spectacular in the morning and it was worth charging people to see it. Some of his shot making was breathtaking,” Ross said.Vincent was left 102 not out, off 102 balls as New Zealand A reached 318/8 before declaring. That left a target of 169 for Indian Railways to win.”The bowling effort was quite outstanding. Shane Bond had huge penetration on the first day but the wickets were being taken at the other end. But he was intimidating people.”Yesterday he was putting the ball past the batsmen’s nose and that is not easy on Indian pitches,” he said.Ross said it was known that Bond had a big heart and the whisper had got around the first-class scene last year that he was probably as quick as any bowler around in New Zealand.He had worked hard at the High Performance Centre during the winter and when Scott Styris was unavailable to make the tour, Bond was keen to make the trip and to bowl fast.”He bowled an intimidating length and of the eight wickets he took in the game four or five would have been caught at short leg or in the slips-gully region from balls lobbing off the bats or fingers.”It was a very courageous effort. He was physically unwell at lunch but demanded the ball when we went back out afterwards,” he said.The problem for the side was the emotion spent in achieving what was a tight victory.”The big thing now is to refocus and make sure we go forward in the final. We are very excited about the way we are playing and it was a great day yesterday,” Ross said.

David Richardson, chief executive of the ICC, and the former England one-day coach Ashley Giles have been identified as potential candidates for the role of chief executive at Warwickshire.While the role has not been advertised – and it would therefore be incorrect to suggest the pair have applied for the job – head-hunters have been appointed to identify a short-list of candidates and both men are thought to be viable options.Richardson is in the final 12-months of his ICC contract, where he has limited executive powers, while Giles, director of cricket with Lancashire, has a long history with Warwickshire as player and coach.Richardson, contacted by ESPNcricinfo in connection with the news, insisted that “it was the first he had heard of it” and stated “my contract with ICC is until at least the end of June next year and I have no desire to leave prematurely.”That fell a long way short of raising expectations that he saw his future at ICC as long term.A Warwickshire official, while refusing to confirm any of the candidates, did state intriguingly that “it is about getting the right person; not about getting the wrong person available on the right date.””It is always flattering to be linked to such jobs,” Giles told ESPNcricinfo. “But I have a huge job here with Lancashire and I’m really thinking of nothing else at present.” Lancashire are involved in T20 finals day on Saturday and are all but certain to clinch Championship promotion.Colin Povey, the current Warwickshire CEO, has announced his intention to retire at the end of the year after a decade in the role.While Povey has overseen a successful redevelopment of Edgbaston and sustained success on the pitch, the job he leaves behind will remain challenging. While Warwickshire have an excellent allocation of major matches over the next few years including an Ashes Test and a World Cup semi-final in 2019, an India Test in 2018 and a Champions Trophy semi-final in 2017, they will also have a major debt problem long into the future.Warwickshire borrowed around £20m to finance their ground redevelopment. They have already taken advantage of a “payment holiday” with their main creditor – Birmingham City Council – and are thought to have pre-sold their Ashes revenues from this year to generate cash flow in previous months. It would be no surprise if they approached the ECB in 2016 for financial assistance.That is not especially unusual and does not necessarily mean the club is in trouble. But it does underline the fact that the job will be demanding and may require a candidate with a track record of financial management.The club’s finance director, Craig Flindall, and the club’s commercial director, Gareth Roberts, are also thought likely to apply though the interview panel may conclude that, with such experience already available to the club – and the club chairman, Norman Gascoigne, also comes from a banking background – they are better served with candidates of cricketing pedigree such as Richardson and Giles.

Rajasthan’s stars consider returning home
Darren Berry, the Rajasthan Royals’ team manager, says there is a “real option” three of the team’s highest profile players – Shane Warne, Shane Watson, and Graeme Smith – will not return to Jaipur following a series of bombs that killed about 80 people in the city on Tuesday. Berry is on a four-day break in Goa along with the three players, and said the group had considered “getting on the plane and getting out of here”.Carry-bags banned from IPL matches
According to a report in , the IPL organisers have banned spectators from bringing carry-bags to their venues in the wake of the Jaipur blasts. The organisers reportedly decided to take the measure following an advisory from various security and intelligence agencies.Kolkata taken to court for alleged copyright violation
The Kolkata Knight Riders franchise have been taken to court by the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) on grounds of copyright violation for playing 14 popular Hindi songs without its permission during the IPL matches at the Eden Gardens. However, Justice Sanjib Mukherjee of the Calcutta High Court refused to grant an injunction against the use of the songs, and directed the parties concerned to file affidavits stating their position. Appearing before the judge, Kolkata’s counsels said that the franchise already had permission to play nine of those songs from Super Cassettes, whom they said had the copyright. Kolkata will now have to file their affidavit within two weeks, after which the IPRS will be given a week to submit its reply. The matter will then come up for hearing in July, by which time the inaugural edition of the IPL will be over.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul – 9
One man can’t make a team, but it can stop them from being humiliated.The one match Chanderpaul missed West Indies were bowled out twice inthe equivalent of less than a day. He then proceeded to bat nearlythree days’ worth of time before being dismissed. His concentration andapplication was unbelievable (even though it was the third time hebatted more than 1000 minutes without being dismissed) against, attimes, some very testing bowling and on lively surfaces. Brian Larahas gone, but it could be the best thing to happen to Chanderpaul. Hecan come out of the shadows and be acclaimed as the wonderful batsmanhe is. Only loses a mark for exposing the tail at Old Trafford … andeven that feels harsh.Darren Sammy – 8
Something of a surprise selection at Old Trafford but responded with 7for 66, the second-best figures by a West Indian on Test debut, andshowed a glimpses of some batting talent, too. His enthusiasm lifted aside that hit rock bottom following Headingley and he didn’t shirk thehard work, sending down an 11-over spell to rip out England’slower order. He would have been a handful at Chester-le-Street but agroin injury kept him out.Dwayne Bravo – 7
A constant heartbeat in a side that threatened to flat line.Technically he is as proficient as any of the top order and has theshots to match. Played Monty Panesar better than anyone except Chanderpauland had the skill to survive in bowler-friendly conditions. Hisbowling didn’t offer a cutting edge, but he never stopped trying andwas sorely missed at Chester-le-Street when injury limited him to twoovers. During that match he sought out Ian Botham for advice and is aplayer constantly trying to improve his game.Fidel Edwards – 6
It’s no coincidence that the best passages of play during the seriesinvolved Edwards. As in West Indies during 2004, England’sbatsmen were kept on their toes by his mixture of yorkers andbouncers. Deserved his five-wicket haul at Chester-le-Street, but canonly be used in five-over bursts and is a dangerous liability in awayward attack. Despite being considerably shorter than the previousgeneration of West Indian quicks, he provides occasional reminders ofa time long since past.Runako Morton – 5
Exasperating at every turn. He clearly has the shots, perhaps too manyof them, and showed in the second innings at Old Trafford that he canadd the application. But it was one innings in eight. The others endedwith a mixture of poor footwork and poor shot selection. Took a coupleof sharp catches and his pounding of the ground when a chance wentdown was one of the images of the series.Denesh Ramdin – 5
His batting went downhill after a bright 60 in the first innings atLord’s and he was soon found out by the moving ball. However, manybetter players than Ramdin would have fallen to Panesar’s delivery inthe second innings in Durham. While he caught the chances that camehis way, his glovework didn’t instill confidence and he’s another youngplayer who’d benefit from wise words.Corey Collymore – 5
The years have not been kind to Collymore, who now doesn’t lift hispace above the mid-70s. At least he can put two balls in the same areaand when the ball swings he still causes problems. But it’s a sadindictment of West Indies cricket when they are relying so heavily ona medium-pacer to carry their attack. Gains a point for his gutsydisplay with the bat at Durham when others didn’t show thenous to support Chanderpaul.

Chris Gayle – 4
With an inexperienced side, Gayle needed to take responsibility at thetop but never found his feet. In early season conditions his staticfootwork was always going to cause problems and loose drives were acommon form of dismissal. His only half-century, in the second inningsat Chester-le-Street, was more a warm-up for the one-day series -where he will be captain – than an effort to save a Test. His offspinwas useful, but isn’t the answer to West Indies’ slow bowling options.Devon Smith – 4
Possesses one of the most powerful cover-drives in the West Indiesteam and occasionally hinted at being able to replicate his debutcentury, against England, at Sabina Park in 2004. Again, though, themoving ball was a foreign concept and when the swing didn’t get himPanesar caused problems out of the rough.Ramnaresh Sarwan – 4
A chance to stamp his mark on the post-Lara era ended after littlemore than a Test. Chasing the ball to the boundary at Headingley hefell awkwardly and damaged his shoulder. Without him, West Indiesfolded in Leeds and continued to suffer without his experience. Theseries has shown Sarwan, if he didn’t know before, that the task ahead is daunting.Daren Powell – 4
Had led the attack strongly during the World Cup and began promisinglyat Lord’s when the rest wasted overcast conditions on the first day.His commitment couldn’t be doubted, however consistency was a majorissue and he paid with his place at Old Trafford, although that was anerror on a surface with pace and bounce. His return for the final Testwas a typically mixed performanceJerome Taylor – 3
Promised much but delivered little. He was slower than what heis capable of and, as with his fellow pacemen, couldn’t build pressureon the batsmen. At times both Sarwan and Daren Ganga appeared reluctant touse him and when he did produce a wicket-taking ball it only increasedthe frustration. Fielding started poorly – with a crucial drop offPaul Collingwood at Lord’s – and got worse.Daren Ganga – 3
Lost out in a close race to be captain before the tour but was thrustinto the role when Sarwan injured himself at Headingley. It had adisastrous effect on his batting as he failed to reach double figuresafter Lord’s. He couldn’t cope against the swinging ball, trappedleg-before five times in the series (once to Panesar), and washampered in the field by an attack that failed to offer him anycontrol. Overlooked for the one-day side, his future is doubtful.Marlon Samuels – 2
Threw his toys out of the pram when he wasn’t allowed more time in thenets after arriving as Sarwan’s replacement. Had to wait untilDurham for his chance and supported Chanderpaul briefly inthe first innings, but was spun out by Panesar second time around. Hisoffspin was friendly, and that’s being friendly.Sylvester Joseph – 1
Thrown in at the deep end when Chanderpaul was ruled out at Headingleyand was completely out of his depth.

Pakistan’s Rana Naved-ul-Hasan will miss the first Test against England at Lord’s after his coach Bob Woolmer confirmed that he wasn’t ready to submit the player to a proposed fitness test at Canterbury.He reasoned that though Rana showed encouraging signs in his recovery from a groin injury, it would be a risk to rush him into the squad this early, especially since he is yet to regain his full pace at the nets. He added that the fitness test has been postponed by a few days to gauge his recovery.”Rana’s fitness test has been put back a few days as he is recovering well and we are prepared to give him more time”, said Woolmer. “He won’t be available for the first Test match but could certainly be available after that. We were going to see how fit he really was and put him through it. But we have just knocked that back two or three days because the groin is getting better and we don’t want to rush it too much.”The absence of Rana and Shoaib Akhtar gives Mohammad Asif the chance to shoulder the responsibility. Asif had a rewarding tour of Sri Lanka recently picking up 17 wickets in two Tests. His swing and cut prompted Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, to draw comparions with Australian Glenn McGrath.”I wouldn’t be surprised if Asif made a big impression on this England tour”, Younis told bigstarcricket.com. ” We are obviously missing Shoaib (Akhtar) and also probably Rana Naved for the first Test at least but Asif will make an impression, I’m sure. He is looking like a young Glenn McGrath at the moment. He is not very fast but he’s accurate, knows about line and length and has a good, mature cricket brain for a youngster.”Asif is one of the six fast bowlers in the Pakistan squad, and Younis remained upbeat after the performances of Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami in the tour match against Leicestershire. “Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami are also looking very good, fit and confident”, he said. “It shows that our squad is becoming stronger and that we can cope when key players are missing.”On Pakistan’s chances, he observed that unlike their previous tour this time they would be playing during the second-half of the English summer, which would help his side acclimatise faster. He added that the dry wickets would assist his spinners.”The conditions are very good for us at the moment, which wasn’t the case back in 2001 when we were confronted with a moist pitch at Lord’s in the middle of May and were beaten by an innings after failing to come to terms with England’s seamers.”