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Jos Buttler’s whirlwind 47 from 16 balls against New Zealand at Trent Bridge last week was one of the most brilliantly unconventional innings ever played by an England batsman. In its dexterity, strength and quick-wittedness, it had reminders of racquet sports and baseball with a spot of cricket thrown in.If Lasith Malinga is reverse swinging the ball at the end of England’s innings at The Oval on Thursday and Buttler is on strike, he could be about to face his greatest challenge of all.Buttler’s knock at Trent Bridge was not as much an innings as an escapade, a tricksy collection of outlandish shots, as dapper as they were mischievous. In less than half an hour at the crease, he surely joined Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan as the type of England batsman to whet the appetite of many an IPL owner – if only they could find a way to get England players on the field.Buttler is suddenly the England batsman the world wants to see – but next up comes Malinga as England seek to overcome Sri Lanka and all but assure themselves of a place in the Champions Trophy semi-finals.He will attempt to unveil his collection of scoops, swivel scoops and reverse scoops, with an occasional straight slug for good measure, against the bowler with the thickety hairstyle of the jungle and a yorker that can be suitably ferocious.Buttler did not sound as if he is about to forego the challenge as he prepared for practice in the refined atmosphere of Dulwich College, an independent school in south-east London, where there were more artificial practice strips – a casual count brought 15 – than in any county ground in the land, as well as a square of first-class standard.”Any shot is harder against reverse swing, but the scoop is a big part of my game,” Buttler said. “I practise it a lot and if I feel the situation is right I won’t be afraid to play it.”I played against Malinga in the Champions League for Somerset against Mumbai and also in the World T20. I didn’t score many against him in the Champions League.”He’s a world-class bowler and everyone knows how good he is. But I’m confident I can put in some good performances against him. He’s different, but he’s been around a while so people are more used to him now than when he first came on to the scene.”Mention to Mahela Jayawardene, the great protector of Sri Lanka cricket, that Buttler and perhaps Eoin Morgan too might unveil their scoop shots against Malinga and he smiles at the prospect. He knows it would stretch batting ambition to the limit.Jayawardene himself does not pretend to have the capacity to do it, and there are few more serenely talented players in the game, and he has never seen Tillakaratne Dilshan – Buttler’s TV inspiration when he joined Somerset as a raw teenager – attempt it either.

Tricksy Buttler

• The scoop: Buttler’s version of Dilshan’s Dilscoop. Also referred to as the ramp shot, it needs immense bravery and a touch of madness. The bat is pointed at the bowler, with the blade virtually flat on the ground to flip a straight, good-length ball over the wicketkeeper’s head.

• The swivel scoop: Buttler aims to play this to a much fuller delivery. He plants his back leg across to the off side and swivels 90 degrees to face the leg-side field, depositing the ball over fine leg. This combats bowlers looking to cramp him by bowling full and outside off stump to a predominantly off-side field.

• The reverse scoop: This is a rescue shot – and his most innovative of all. Buttler plans to play the ramp shot, prepares to scoop but finds the ball is shorter and wider than expected so flicks it wristily, almost back-handedly, over short third man.

“Well, let them try it and we’ll see,” he grinned. “It is a big chance if you want to go for it. It is a calculated risk and a few guys have tried. Some have come off and some haven’t and some have got hurt.”I wish them all the best with it, I wouldn’t do it against Malinga but if they want to do it then that is up to them. I remember a few tried and got hit on the toe and hit on the wrist and all that stuff so you’ve got to be very, very careful.”I don’t play it. Dilshan doesn’t play it against him either, not at all and not in the nets. Why would you want to do that? That is ridiculous.”Buttler is committed to far more than novelty these days. He is now absolutely committed to developing his wicketkeeping and his steady improvement, although he has a long way to go, is slowly changing perceptions.Paul Nixon, a former England keeper, dismissed Buttler and Jonny Bairstow in January as having a long way to go before either could be regarded as a regular gloveman for England in one-day cricket. Five months later, Nixon has floated the possibility that Buttler could develop into the long-term successor to Matt Prior.”Keeping wicket is a huge part of my game and there’s a lot of scope for improvement still. I’m excited about that,” Buttler said. “The nature of my game means I’m going down the wicketkeeping route.”If Somerset do not satisfy his ambition to keep in Championship cricket early in the season, he will face a tough decision about whether to remain with the county when his contract expires. “Decisions will be have to be made and there will be talks, but at the moment I’m only focusing on the Champions Trophy,” he said.Buttler has also adopted a more meaningful approach to his batting in the Championship. He has dutifully reined himself in all season during a traumatic start for Somerset and, although it does not yet seem entirely natural to him, the result has been 426 runs at an improved average of 42.60, including a century and two near misses.”I had a sit down and looked at my Championship cricket,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious that I’ve underperformed so far. Maybe I had been using one-day cricket as a bit of an excuse, to say I’m a one-day player and shot maker, those kind of things.”They were an easy way out and it was a lazy attitude, so I’ve sat down and thought of a way to transfer into four-day cricket. I was doing myself an injustice because I’m a better player than that. I’ve been happy with my Championship form so far this year.”I do get as much pleasure from making runs in the Championship. It’s great to be adaptable and show that to other people who may question that element of my game.”But that is for the future. Malinga was narrowly fought off by New Zealand, who inflicted a one-wicket defeat on Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Sunday, leaving them desperate to overturn England and maintain a realistic hope of reaching the semi-finals.

Tim May’s removal from the ICC cricket committee following allegations of pressure exerted by the BCCI to install their preferred candidate Laxman Sivaramakrishnan should be the subject of an ICC ethics committee enquiry, according to the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) of which May is the chief executive.Ian Smith, FICA’s legal advisor, has also said that the players’ body is aware the ICC warned member nations not to interfere with the voting process but then did nothing when those warnings were ignored, accusing Boards of applying “direct pressure on their captains to amend their votes.” He said there had been been a “very clear distinction” between routine “lobbying” before an election and “threatening an employee to change their vote.””In light of media reports that five ICC full member boards applied direct pressure on their captains to amend their votes in the recent elections, FICA’s official stance is that these allegations must warrant careful and independent scrutiny,” Smith said. “Especially because we understand ICC specifically instructed the Boards not to interfere in the voting process.”The actions, allegedly instigated by BCCI, are a timely and stark reminder of the very serious shortcomings in governance at ICC highlighted more than a year ago by the Woolf Report and about which ICC has done nothing in the intervening period.

May wants ICC governance to be the focus

Tim May, who was ousted from the ICC Cricket Committee and replaced by former Indian spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, has said the perception that he is anti-BCCI was wrong.
“There are some aspects of BCCI that I am a strong supporter of and there are other aspects that concern me and others,” May told PTI. “Unfortunately, only the negative stuff gets publicised.”
When asked whether he felt a particular board was influencing others, May said: “This is an issue that has been identified and raised by a number of parties for a significant number of years, including Woolf Committee’s report on ICC’s governance. Indeed I am more focused on the ICC policing its own stated standards in terms of governance – this is the real issue, not whether I got voted onto this committee.”

“It is further apparent from statements made by unnamed ICC Board sources overnight that they are trying to position the involved Boards’ actions as ‘lobbying’, but there should be a very clear distinction made between a candidate lobbying for a vote and an employer threatening an employee to change their vote.”May, a staunch advocate of players’ rights for more than a decade, lost his place as one of two current players’ representatives on the cricket committee following a captains’ vote to Sivaramakrishnan, who is employed by the BCCI as a television commentator.Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain and FICA president, said the process by which May was ousted has raised major questions of the ICC’s ethics. He also questioned how the game’s governing body had the right to stand in judgement over the actions of the players when its own moral compass is so often found to be lacking.”How can the players of the world look to ICC for leadership in these circumstances and how does the spirit of cricket apply to the organisation itself?” Adams said. “Board members didn’t like how their captains intended to vote, so they apparently ordered them to change that vote. This type of behaviour from the game’s ruling body makes a mockery of their motives behind the procurement of the Woolf report.”FICA want ICC to use its own processes to deal with this. It has a Code of Ethics with which Directors and Members need to comply – the reported actions of some of the Member Boards and ICC directors, at the very least warrant investigation under this Code. We call on ICC to hold itself up to the high standards of moral conduct it constantly tells the players and officials it expects from them.”Ultimately, these actions are symptoms of poor governance at the top level and a blatant disregard for what most would regard as the necessary ethical standards required to run a prominent international sport – cricket deserves a lot better.”Comment has been sought from the ICC and the BCCI.

ScorecardLahiru Thirimanne’s unbeaten innings guided Sri Lanka in their chase•Getty Images

Rangana Herath’s 4 for 37 and an unbeaten 82 for Lahiru Thirimanne took Sri Lanka to a 28-run Duckworth-Lewis victory in the opening match of the tri-series in Kandy. The tournament is primarily aimed at preparing the Sri Lanka side for the Champions Trophy in June but only six of the players picked to travel to England can participate, as the remainder are playing in the IPL. Sri Lanka, captained by Dinesh Chandimal, were well ahead of the D/L par score, at 195 for 3 from 35.1 overs, when bad light stopped play.Sri Lanka Combined began strongly, having been sent into bat, as Mahela Udawatte and captain Dimuth Karunaratne combined for a 111-run opening stand, which came at 5.5 an over. Udawatte made 63 from 76, while Karunaratne hit 49, but both men were undone by Herath, who trapped them lbw in his first spell. Herath also quickly dismissed wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva, who had been in supreme form during the first-class competition that finished in April.A 91-ball 79 for Jehan Mubarak helped restore calm to SL Combined’s innings, as he built a partnership with Sachithra Serasinghe, before stepping up the tempo alongside Chaturanga de Silva. At Mubarak’s demise in the 49th over, SL Combined were on 260, and a burst from de Silva before his dismissal for 42 from 31, helped elevate the score to 277. Nuwan Kulasekara took two wickets for Sri Lanka but went at more than six an over, and Chanaka Welegedara took the other scalp.Sri Lanka began poorly in response, losing both openers inside the first five overs, but Chandimal joined Thirimanne at the crease to contribute 52 from 63 to a 124-run stand. Notable in Chandimal’s innings was that he only made 12 runs in boundaries, which may be evidence of technical improvements, owing to the work he had foregone the IPL to do. He has in the past relied on boundaries for a large percentage of runs – often to his detriment in limited-overs cricket.At his fall in the 26th over, Sri Lanka were at 135, and would not lose another wicket. Thilina Kandamby was unbeaten on a run-a-ball 34 alongside Thirimanne, who had hit seven fours and a six in his innings. The teams play again on Monday, at 9.45am, before Sri Lanka play Sri Lanka A on Tuesday and Thursday.

A few tweaks to his bowling technique after a poor home series against England have helped R Ashwin recover his form, he said after India won the fourth Test against Australia in Delhi.Ashwin finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series with 29 scalps, at 20.10 – a turnaround from his performance during the England Tests, when he finished with 14 wickets at 52.64.”Actually, my delivery stride was too long and it got worse during the Test series against England,” he said. “I had to sit back and work on the videos and I was lucky to have a coach (Sunil Subramaniam) who identified the problem pretty quickly. Credit also goes to Duncan Fletcher and Joe Dawes. I needed a kick on my backside and they gave me one.”This was the first series that India won with a margin of 4-0 and Ashwin believes the critical moment of the series came in Hyderabad, where India thumped Australia by an innings and 135 runs. “Dhoni’s double hundred (in Chennai) gave us the perfect start to the series, but we nailed it in Hyderabad,” he said. “It was one-sided and we did it in an innings.”Ashwin was happy with his performance during the Delhi Test and said that he enjoyed bowling on a wicket that was “as tricky for the bowlers as it was for the batsmen”. He also praised Cheteshwar Pujara for his unbeaten 82 that was central to the Indian chase on the third day.”You didn’t know which ball was going to bounce and turn and which one was going to scoot along the surface. You had to try and make sure you increased your pace so that the batsman didn’t have time to adjust. It was easier on the third day, compared to the previous evening. Having said that, the chase was tricky and I think Pujara deserves a lot of credit for what he did today, in spite of batting with a fractured finger.”He also stressed the value of Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in the context of the game. “He (Jadeja) definitely knows what he’s doing and he’s pretty consistent. He’s caused a lot of trouble to the frontline Australian batsmen and I think he deserved the Man-of-the-Match award he got today. It was a fantastic second spell that he bowled today.”Ashwin, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, said he was keen to carry this momentum into the Twenty20 tournament and later into the Champions Trophy. “Cricket is a game where you can take form into any format,” he said. “Any kind of rhythm or momentum helps. For instance, when we went into the last IPL, we had lost a lot of games in Australia and we were being put down. The last IPL was probably one of the toughest that I played. This year, the momentum is going to take us forward into the IPL and later on into the Champions Trophy. Hopefully, everyone can stay mentally and physically fresh.”

Duncan Fletcher has been handed a one-year extension as India coach. He had taken over after India’s World Cup win in April 2011, signing a two-year contract. Trevor Penney, who joined as the fielding coach in May 2011, also gets a new one-year deal.The decision to keep Fletcher in charge was taken at the BCCI’s working committee meeting in Mumbai. India’s engagements over the next year including a challenging tour of current No. 1 South Africa, a tour of New Zealand, the Champions Trophy in England and the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.”The board has decided to extend his contract,” BCCI president N Srinivasan told reporters after the meeting. “But we have to discuss the terms. I can’t tell you the deliberations of the board. All I can tell you is what is the decision. We have decided to extend it.”Fletcher’s extension had a lot to do with continuity during the team’s re-building phase, a board insider said: “He knows all the youngsters, including the fringe players, very well by now, so it was important to keep the same bond going for a developing side. The fact that virtually every youngster respects him a lot also played a part.”It hasn’t been a smooth ride with India for Fletcher. When he was appointed India were at the top of the Test rankings, but they quickly slid down the charts after comprehensive defeats on tours of England and Australia. There were home victories against relatively lightweight opposition in West Indies and New Zealand, but the pressure increased in late 2012 after England won their first series in India since 1984-85.India have fared better in the one-day format, winning five bilateral series under Fletcher and are currently ranked No. 1. However, they recently lost a high-profile ODI series against Pakistan at home.

Suresh Raina, who was dropped from the India Test squad for the England series, believes he can extend his Test career to 50 Tests if he continues working hard.Raina started his Test career with a century in Sri Lanka in 2010 and followed it up with two half-centuries in the next two Tests. In the following 14 Tests, however, he managed 459 runs at an average of 19.95 and lost his Test spot to Yuvraj Singh for the home Tests against England.”I have played just 17 Test matches,” Raina said. “I am the sort of guy who always believes in hard work and discipline. I know if I work really hard on my game, I will be able to play at least 50-60 Test matches.”Raina is part of the Virender Sehwag-led Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup and sees the match as another opportunity for him to push for a place in the Test squad. He had an average Ranji season – 304 runs from six matches – but scored four consecutive half-centuries in the recent one-dayers against England and was the man of the series. Raina hopes to translate this form to the longer version ahead of the Australia Tests.”I have been scoring runs in last 10 matches,” Raina said. “This is the chance. I need to do well in this game; then I can come back to the Test team.”Raina is one of the players who have been in line for the No. 6 spot in Tests, but hasn’t been able to maximise his opportunities. He said though, that he is looking to be more solid in his game.”I did well initially in the West Indies but didn’t get runs against England (in England, 2011). I have been batting well. I need to be more solid and mentally stronger.”The Irani Cup match features a number of players aiming to stake their claims for the Test team ahead of the Australia series that starts on February 22.”It’s an important game. If you look at the last series, we didn’t play well against England in Test matches. You have got the best team from Mumbai and all the players in Rest of India are trying to make a comeback. Viru bhai [Sehwag] is leading us, so his experience is there for us.” [Sachin Tendulkar] is playing in the other team . They have [Wasim] Jaffer and Ajit Agarkar has captained well. We have all youngsters in our team. Our coach, Vikram Rathore told us to just enjoy the game. This is a good challenge before the Australia series.”

Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, is hopeful of his inclusion in the Indian squad to face Australia at home in February-March.* Praveen, who has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, is undergoing rehabilitation from a tennis elbow that also forced him to miss the World Cup.Praveen had fruitful tours of West Indies and England in 2011, but then missed the tour of Australia due to a chest injury. Although he played in the Commonwealth Bank series, the Asia Cup and the IPL this year, his form dipped, and he hasn’t played any international cricket since.”It’s painful when you miss big matches for the national side. To prove that I am match fit, I will be targetting the Ranji Trophy knockout game to come back into the national side,” Praveen told the . “I have recovered and am looking forward to an opportunity ahead of the Australia tour.” He has played just one match this Ranji season.Praveen, who expressed his frustration at being ignored for the series against New Zealand in August, scored a half-century and took three wickets in the Challenger Trophy in September.”I am a bit unlucky. It (injuries) happens whenever I am planning something big in my career. But this time, I am not going to lose the opportunity as this is the right time to stage a comeback.”*10:17pm, December 28: The piece had initially stated that Praveen Kumar is an allrounder. This has been corrected.

ScorecardAllrounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar needed just 11.4 overs to take his eighth first-class five-wicket haul as Baroda crumbled either side of lunch on day three in Kanpur. After UP had stretched their first innings to 361 from their overnight total of 310 for 6, Bhuvneshwar ran through the Baroda top order, claiming the first three wickets. Imtiaz Ahmed then removed Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Devdhar, the two batsmen who had resisted in the first innings, in the space of three deliveries. There was swing, seam, bounce, both high and low, on the grassy Kanpur pitch, and Baroda had no answers. A run-out later, Baroda were 44 for 6, still needing 63 more to avoid an innings defeat. Abhimanyu Chauhan and Gagandeep Singh ensured UP would bat again, but the hosts needed just eight to win as Baroda were bowled out for 114 in 32.4 overs. The win was achieved with all ten wickets remaining, giving UP the bonus point and taking them top of Group B with 17 points from four games.
ScorecardHaryana were boosted to an overall lead of 250 by a timely half-century from their captain Amit Mishra in Lahli, Rohtak. Three strikes from left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra and two from medium-pacer Sumit Narwal had reduced Haryana to 109 for 6 before Mishra’s contribution. Mithun Manhas’ fifty had earlier helped Delhi post 224 from their overnight 165 for 6. Medium-pacers Mohit Sharma and Harshal Patel took three wickets each while Mishra got two.
ScorecardCenturies from Niranjan Behera and Biplab Samantray gave Odisha a first-innings lead of 126 over Maharashtra in Sambalpur. Deepak Behera chipped in with 49 and despite the lower order crumbling to Samad Fallah, Odisha were able to post 441. They got 26 overs to bowl at Maharashtra in the second innings, but the visitors lost just one wicket, that of Virag Awate to medium-pacer Basant Mohanty. Harshad Khadiwale took them to 73 for 1 at stumps.
ScorecardFaiz Fazal’s century led Vidarbha’s strong reply to Tamil Nadu’s 443 in Nagpur. Tamil Nadu declared on their overnight score, after which Fazal and Shiv Sunder Das put on 151. The first wicket came through a run-out, Das falling for 62. Urvesh Patel did not last long, but Fazal and Shalabh Shrivastava saw out the day without further damage. Vidarbha are still adrift by 229 runs, and will need to bat the better part of the day if they are to take three points from the match.

A six-wicket haul from Shingi Masakadza led Mountaineers to a 30-run win against Matabeleland Tuskers at Mutare Sports Club. The performance – 6 for 16 – was Masakadza’s best in domestic T20s and the fifth best in all T20 cricket.Defending 136, Tendai Chatara struck the first blow for Mountaineers, dismissing Moeen Ali for 1 in the second over. In the third, Masakadza had the captain Gavin Ewing caught and Tuskers were 11 for 2. Craig Ervine made 41 but had no support from his team-mates. Tuskers had slipped to 104 for 7 when Masakadza bowled the 19th over and took four wickets to end the innings. He struck with the second, third, fifth and sixth ball to dismiss Tuskers for 105.Mountaineers had also batted poorly after they won the toss. Mark Pettini was the only batsman to pass 30 and he made only 31. They were struggling at 110 for 7 in the 17th over and Masakadza’s 16 lifted them towards 135 for 9. Tuskers’ bowlers shared the wickets around, with Keegan Meth, Glen Querl, Njabulo Ncube and Ali taking two each.The match between Southern Rocks and Mashonaland Eagles was washed out at at Masvingo Sports Club without a ball bowled.

West Indies allrounder Stafanie Taylor has become the first woman to be nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the Year award after being included in the 2012 longlist for the ICC’s top accolade. This is the first time the men’s and women’s voting academy and awards have become fully integrated and puts Taylor, who was named Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2011, in contention for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy along with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Australia captain Michael Clarke, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, England’s Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad and India’s Virat Kohli.Taylor also features in two new categories of women’s awards that will be introduced this year: the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. Ajmal, Amla, Clarke, Sangakkara and Cook lead the nominations for male cricketers, after being featured in three categories – the ICC Cricketer of the Year, ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year longlists.The shortlists for the awards will be announced towards the end of August and the longlists will be pruned to four per category. The People’s Choice award, though, will retain the current five nominations: Sangakkara, India’s Sachin Tendulkar, Philander, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and England’s James Anderson.This year’s awards include 11 individual prizes and will also feature the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year. The awards ceremony will be held on 15 September in Colombo ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.The longlists of nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd. The panel also included former international players Clare Connor of England, Tom Moody of Australia, West Indies’ Carl Hooper and Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu.