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Younis Khan, the Pakistan batsman, has said he was not aiming for a double-century on the third day of the Chittagong Test and only started thinking about it when his captain Misbah-ul-Haq and coach Mohsin Khan told him to go for it. Younis started the third day on 96, completed his century with a boundary off the third ball, and then switched gears to reach 200 and give Pakistan a 459-run first-innings leads.”This morning my focus was on getting four runs to complete my hundred,” Younis said. “I was lucky to get them off the third ball. Then suddenly the captain and coach changed the plan and told me to go for the double-century.”I missed two double-hundreds against India in Pakistan in 2006, once when I scored 199 [in Lahore] and once when I made 194 [in Faisalabad]. But this time I was sure that I will get my double-hundred.”During his innings Younis went past 6000 Test runs, and notched up his 19th Test century and third Test double-century. Younis, 34, said he was not focused on breaking any Pakistan batting records but just wanted to play 100 Tests. “It’s my dream to play 100 Test matches. If I am lucky enough to play 100 Test matches maybe I will be close to [some records].”Younis dedicated his double-hundred to his family and the Pakistan coaching staff and team management. He also reserved special praise for his captain Misbah, who he said was respected by the rest of the team.”I will give Misbah 100% marks on his captaincy because he is an educated person and he has the respect of the team. Everybody listens to him and if you want to give him advice he takes it with an open heart.”

Australia could realistically have a permanent head coach before the start of the home summer, according to Cricket Australia’s new general manager of team performance, Pat Howard. The first Test against New Zealand begins on December 1, just a week after the Test squad returns home from South Africa, where Troy Cooley has been the acting head coach.Howard started his new role this week and immediately flew to Cape Town to meet the Australian squad, including the fielding mentor Steve Rixon and the assistant coach Justin Langer, who are both likely to be candidates for the head coach position. Rixon is considered a front-runner due to his strong relationship with captain Michael Clarke.The new position is an expanded role compared to the job that was occupied by Tim Nielsen. Following the appointment of Howard and the national selection manager John Inverarity, it is the one remaining major role to be filled. The new coach will report to Howard, who said he was optimistic about finding a candidate before the New Zealand series.”The process is well and truly in train,” Howard said. “It is realistic yes, it is better than hopeful, but we have to get it done and as part of the process is to make sure not only that they are appointed but that they hit the ground running so part of the process is thoughts of how are we going to able to do this and move it forward.”But the reality is there are always negotiations, contract negotiations, current employment status. When I left my job I had two months’ notice but fortunately my previous employer were good and let me go early. There’s a whole heap of conditions but to know where we are going for the New Zealand Test is the absolute ideal.”In one of his previous jobs, as high-performance chief with the Australian Rugby Union, Howard was central in the appointment of several coaches including Robbie Deans, the current Wallabies mentor. Cricket Australia have launched a global search for Nielsen’s replacement and Howard said it was important to keep an open mind.”Often the trap in sports is names come to mind first,” he said. “But any time you go and recruit in a normal sense and a corporate sense and a world sense, you think what are the skills I need in this situation and let’s get those right first. So that’s been the start of the process, getting that right and trying to steer people away from names, know what you want then start dealing with the recruitment process.”Head coaching experience matters and I mean that in terms of there’s assistants and there’s heads … success, demonstrated success and the ability to consider where Australia is today and where we want to go to. Those factors have all got to be weighed up.”If Australia want someone with previous head coaching experience, that would enhance the prospects of Rixon, who led New Zealand during a successful period and also won titles during his time in charge of New South Wales. He has also spent time in charge of Surrey and has been an assistant to Stephen Fleming at the Chennai Super Kings.The other major positions that need filling are the two part-time selector roles, which Howard said Inverarity would have a say in determining. For the time being, Andrew Hilditch’s panel remains in a standby capacity – Hilditch is the selector on duty in South Africa – but Inverarity is expected to choose his first squad for the Test series against New Zealand.”John’s heavily involved in the process,” Howard said of picking the other two selectors. “There are some areas the Argus review talks about and so we can say, John, here are some frameworks here are some ideas. There are a long list of candidates to get through.”

Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, does not believe Pat Howard’s lack of cricket experience will be a problem after he was appointed to one of Cricket Australia’s most senior positions. Howard, a former rugby international, was on Thursday unveiled as the general manager of team performance, a newly-created role in which Clarke and the head coach will report to him.A self-confessed “terrible legspinner” whose main cricket experience came at school, Howard will be responsible for installing Australia’s new coach and full-time selector, and faces the challenge of helping the team rise back up the Test rankings. Clarke said Howard’s off-field record, which included a high-performance position with the Australian Rugby Union, was impressive, and his new job was not a role that required someone with cricket expertise.”His job is not to be the head coach or the captain, he’s been very successful in this role and he’s done it before [in rugby],” Clarke told reporters in Sydney, before flying out for Australia’s tour of South Africa. “He’s played a lot of sport and he knows his cricket well enough, so I’m not concerned at all that he hasn’t played cricket at the highest level. Now it is about communication between the CEO, James Sutherland, the head coach, the chairman of selectors and the captain to work out what we need to do to continue going forward.”The most pressing issue now is the appointment of a coach, after Tim Nielsen stepped down following the tour of Sri Lanka. The expanded head coach position features much more responsibility, in line with recommendations from the Argus review, with the new mentor set to direct the coaching strategies throughout elite cricket in Australia as well as within the national side.The former South Africa coach, Mickey Arthur, and Australia’s fielding coach, Steve Rixon, are likely to be among the leading candidates, although it could take up to two months for an appointment to be made. On Thursday, Howard indicated the importance of ensuring Clarke and the new mentor could work well together, and Clarke confirmed he would have some input into the appointment.”I’ll probably have an impact in regards to the coach, and it is down to James [Sutherland] and the general manager to make these decisions, but I’m confident there will be communication as we try and get the best people for the job,” he said. “We all want to see Australian cricket get back to being number one in all forms of the game and whoever gets these selection roles will have that mindset.”

Stuart Law, the Bangladesh coach, has said he was surprised by the removal of Shakib Al Hasan as Bangladesh captain. Law, who joined the team in late July, has had a tumultuous start to his tenure with Bangladesh losing the one-off Test and the ODI series in Zimbabwe last month. Law said he was not consulted about the decision to sack Shakib and vice-captain Tamim Iqbal and that it had been taken not just based on the on-field performance of the team in Zimbabwe.”It was a surprise,” he said. “The cricket board has made a decision so we have got to run with it. I was not [consulted] but I was on leave, so I was not contactable at the time. The board has made a decision not just based on events in Zimbabwe but, from what I understand, some other ongoing situations.”The BCB had said there had been reports of indiscipline surrounding Shakib and Tamim which had been part of the reason for their removal. Shakib had always had an uneasy relationship with the board and selectors, having initially refused the captaincy and later questioned team selection more than once. Law, however, said Shakib and Tamim had the support of their team-mates. “I’ve observed that the Bangladesh dressing-room is no different than any other I’ve been involved in. Captain and vice-captain are basically the leaders of the group. They have the respect of the players and they dish out their respect as well.”What you guys have been told and what is being reported is far from the truth about what’s going on inside the dressing room. From what I’ve seen, they are a very disciplined bunch of boys. They enjoy a good time and they’re allowed to. We’re dealing with very young men in that dressing room and they should be given their chance to grow up.”Law also said the performance in Zimbabwe did have positives, since Bangladesh won the last two ODIs, and previously uncapped players Nasir Hossain and Shuvagoto Hom both impressed.”While we didn’t perform well in Zimbabwe, it steadily improved. We unearthed two youngsters who came in and did a great job. There’s a lot of positive things that came out. The feeling has definitely been good.”Bangladesh have not named a new captain yet, and Law believes it could be any one of “six people”. He said whoever the captain was would have the full support of the team and would find having Shakib around to be an advantage. “Cricket teams run themselves. It is the captain who makes the decisions but very rarely will he make it by himself. He’ll consult his players out there. It is great to have a guy like Shakib in your locker for advice in the field. That’s going to be a positive.”

Clyde Duncan, the West Indies umpire, died in Trinidad, where he had been undergoing treatment for cancer. Duncan, 57, had officiated in two Tests, one each against Australia and England in the early 90s. He also stood in 21 ODIs and six Twenty20 Internationals, the most recent being when West Indies hosted South Africa in May 2010.Guyana Cricket Board’s president Chetram Singh said Duncan’s loss would be felt across the Caribbean. “Clyde has contributed so much to umpiring in the West Indies and Guyana,” Chetram told . “He was always willing to impart his knowledge to the youngsters.”WICB president Dr. Julien Hunte said: “It is with immense sadness that the Board has learnt of the passing of Clyde. We extend deepest condolences to his wife Fay and their four children.”Clyde served West Indies cricket faithfully for over two decades and was always humble in his service. He was a consummate gentleman, always kind and pleasant and he will be missed in the cricketing fraternity. The West Indian cricket family is poorer with this immense loss.”

Australian cricketers would be loaned between states in an effort to ensure the nation’s best 66 players are consistently appearing in the Sheffield Shield, under a proposal outlined in the Don Argus-led Australia team performance review.A loan system, and the use of incentives to encourage strong states – namely New South Wales and Victoria – to allow fringe players to ply their trades elsewhere are key to the review’s recommendations about strengthening the pathway that underpins the Test side.Many figures within Australian cricket, the Tasmania captain George Bailey among them, argued that every effort should be made to get the best players playing first-class cricket, irrespective of their state. NSW in particular have an abundance of talent that may be better utilised by the greater flow of players to other teams.”Australian cricket must consider innovative ways of dealing with the geographical imbalance of talent resulting from the widely varying populations of states,” the Argus review said. “Consideration should be given to: a loan system at first-class level, perhaps managed by the National Talent Manager; mechanisms to encourage states to export under-utilised talent, for example: State Talent Managers being required to recommend players for transfer at the end of the season, where it is unlikely they will be selected by their current state; financial incentives for states for each first-class player they produce, regardless of whether the player plays for that state.”The rate of serious injuries among fast bowlers was also addressed, as the panel concluded that more needed to be done to manage the transition between short and long-format cricket. This conclusion shines harsh light on the scheduling of the expanded Twenty20 Big Bash League head-to-head with the home Test programme in December and January.Australia’s fast bowling stocks are believed to be strong, particularly in terms of the talent that is starting to emerge. However many fast bowlers, either young or more experienced, experienced serious injuries in recent times, and the panel argued that better and more thoughtful management was required, particularly to bridge the fitness and conditioning gap between the three formats.”Feedback suggests that fast bowling injuries are and have been caused by a combination of factors: absolute match schedule and workload; changes in workload and intensity (eg. shifting between from Twenty20 to Shield); intrinsic factors such as age, bone density and skeletal strength; bowling action; lower proportion of overs being bowled by spinners.”The ‘gut feel’ of most of the fast bowlers we spoke to, and others, was that: fast bowlers should be screened for the intrinsics above; workloads should be graded accordingly, with a bias to building players up over time through regular bowling (plus core strength work etc.) at higher levels than currently; workload management should be focussed as much on changes in workload than absolute volumes.”While the review’s recommendations to restructure the selection, coaching and management processes around the national team attracted the most attention initally, Argus and company looked far more deeply into the reasons why Australia had stopped producing players of substance.Among the other longer term plans outlined by the review panel were ways to encourage senior players to remain in grade cricket, while also discouraging the emergence of a “graduation mentality” that has seen first-class and Test players show reluctance to return to their local clubs.It was concluded that more had to be done to keep senior players involved, so better to keep standards high and so educate young players. Research has been recommended to ascertain why older players have been leaving the game earlier than in the past. First-class and international players should also be reminded that they are not exempt from playing at the grassroots level.”[We should] also reinforce that state players are not exempt from grade cricket and should play as often as possible,” the report said. “A ‘graduation’ mentality among players – ie. a belief that once they have played at a higher level, they are no longer obliged to play, or were above, the previous level they played – is unacceptable.”James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, will arrive in Sri Lanka this week to speak to the players and officials on tour about the review. He sought to clarify that the review, while scathing about so many aspects of the Australian team’s structure, performance and organisation in recent times, did not blame individuals.”The report does not and did not seek to blame individuals – it says we have the wrong high performance structure and need to change the design of that structure,” Sutherland said. “It doesn’t and nor should it blame individuals such as Andrew Hilditch, Tim Nielsen and Greg Chappell.”Take Greg Chappell for example – a person of stature – all the report says is that the job we created and then hired Greg to do should be structured differently to have a singular focus on national talent management. Similarly, Hilditch has previously argued Australian cricket needs a full time head of selection in the full knowledge that he would not be available should his recommendation be accepted.”

Eric Simons, the India bowling coach, is pleased with the resurgence in Ishant Sharma’s bowling in the ongoing West Indies tour, leading up to his maiden ten-wicket match haul in the Barbados Test. Ishant’s revival – after a poor tour of South Africa – began in the IPL and has continued in the Caribbean, a transformation Simons attributed to vital technical changes in the bowler’s action, including his body and wrist position.”Ishant had already started taking big strides in South Africa,” Simons told the . “From a technical perspective, what I saw of him in the IPL gave me a lot of confidence.”Sometimes pressure forces players to try and change too many things technically. And in trying to do that, he lost some of his shape as a bowler. To identify what is wrong is only 10% of the problem; fixing it takes time. That is why the improvement through South Africa, and in the IPL and even more so here.”His body position forced his grip to change. Now he’s more upright, and his wrist is in a better position. Only when you are confident about the technique and start bowling at the pace you are capable of, you can be at your best.”In the absence of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, India came into the series with a depleted seam attack and Munaf Patel’s injury following the ODIs made matters worse. Simons said Munaf – whose suspect fitness levels have restricted him to the shorter versions in recent times – has a lot to offer at the Test level.”I am disappointed about Munaf’s injury here,” Simons said. “We have been working hard on increasing his pace. His accuracy, particularly in Tests, would have been an advantage.”We have seen how integral Munaf has become to our one-day attack. He’s going to do the same in Test cricket. Barbados would have been an ideal wicket for him, and England will be the same. We are happy to add one or two dimensions to his style. He has to bowl more and more in Test cricket, and that will happen from the training we have been doing.”The absence of first-choice seamers gave Praveen Kumar a chance to break into the Test side, and he impressed with his ability to move the red ball for long periods of time. With Zaheer and Sreesanth returning for the England tour, Simons was confident that India would have the depth to trouble the in-form home side in seaming conditions.”If I were in the England side, I would certainly be respectful of the Indian attack,” Simons said.”I’d imagine they would respect our seam attack as much as they respected our spin attacks in the past.”Simons defended spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh, who has had an ordinary series so far, picking up only five wickets in four innings. “You have to look at the role a spinner has to play sometimes in a four-man attack,” Simons said. “It’s not just about taking wickets. Harbhajan is so crucial to us. People see him as an attacking force and tend to play him defensively as well.”

England fast bowler James Anderson has said that having another stint as national captain would not be the “best thing” for Kevin Pietersen.Pietersen was named England captain in August 2008 but his stint ended in acrimony barely five months later after a much-publicised falling-out with then-coach Peter Moores. Andrew Strauss took up the role ahead of England’s tour of the Caribbean in February 2009, and soon formed a formidable partnership with the new coach Andy Flower, another man about whom Pietersen had expressed reservations.Though Pietersen had expressed his desire to captain England again after rumours emerged that Strauss would give up the limited-overs post earlier this year, he was passed over for the position, as the ECB chose to go with Alastair Cook as ODI captain.In his column in the Anderson wrote: “Having seen him before, during and after he did the job, I believe he is actually much better suited to having a smaller but still important leadership role within the team, without the extra pressure of captaincy.”Perhaps the biggest lesson the experience [of captaincy] has taught him is the value of team spirit and togetherness. His period in charge under the new coach Peter Moores was not a great time for the team; there were some big characters, big egos and big opinions in the dressing room. To me, too many people were bothered about who was the coach when they should have been focusing on performances on the field.”Anderson wrote there was “a big change in Kevin’s attitude since he suffered the disappointment of being sacked as England captain”.”While he will probably say different, there may have been a time in the past when Kevin was possibly not the perfect team player. He still has a big voice in the dressing room but these days he is a strong team man.”Anderson observed Pietersen “has had to contend with a lot more on and off the field than most other players,” brought on by, as critics would call “‘KP, the brand’, but that “when he’s with us, there is no ‘brand’ in sight.Following a dip in form Pietersen made a hard-fought 72 in the second innings of the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka and while “one score doesn’t mean you’re back in form”, Anderson wrote that Pietersen “has been looking so good in the nets and he is so talented that we knew it was only a matter of time before he started scoring runs again, those runs still have to be scored and last week’s effort will have done him and England a lot of good”.

Stuart Law, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, has labelled England the “best Test team in the world” but promised his side won’t take a backward step during the upcoming series. Law took charge following the World Cup final which marked the end of Trevor Bayliss’ tenure and he is also working alongside a new captain with Tillakaratne Dilshan having replaced Kumar Sanagkkara.The visitors began their tour with a four-wicket victory against Middlesex, who included Andrew Strauss, but aren’t expected to cause England too many problems over the three Tests. Law accepts his team are seen as underdogs but the determination to prove people wrong is clear.”It’s no easy task going up against the best Test team in the world at the moment, they’ve had a fantastic 18 months,” Law said. “We know we are up against it here but we aren’t here to lose. We can match them if we apply ourselves and keep things simple. We can be a devastating team and that’s what we are planning on doing. We are here to play cricket the way Sri Lanka play cricket and if we do we’ll be successful.”Law also knows a successful tour will do his chances of a full-time position no harm and confirmed he would be keen to taking charge in the long term. “At this stage it’s a wonderful opportunity to work with one of the best teams in the world so, yes, I am keen,” he said. “I’ve got this tour to show what I’m capable of.”Sri Lanka bring with them an inexperienced pace attack but a powerful batting order backed up by some useful spinners who, Law hopes, can flourish if the dry weather continues. The bowlers made an unconvincing start at Uxbridge, conceded 321 for 5 on the first day, but bounced back to skittle the hosts for 161 and set up the run chase on Monday.”These boys bowl in 45 degrees back in Colombo so to ask them to bowl in 10 degrees was a massive ask,” Law said. “When it was a bit warmer [on the last day] they got the ball to swing a little more. Hopefully the sun does shine and if it stays dry our spinners will come into it.”Chandaka Welegedara impressed with 3 for 39 in the second innings and Dilhara Fernando, the designated leader of Sri Lanka’s pace attack, will be available to face England Lions in Derby this week having completed his IPL stint. He is due to arrive on Tuesday evening along with Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Thisara Perera and offspinner Suraj Randiv.Law has few concerns about his two main batsmen being able to adjust to conditions ahead of the first Test in Cardiff on May 26, but admitted it would have been ideal if Fernando, Perera and Randiv were already here.”It’s not ideal but the main players we are talking about, Mahela and Kumar, have played here a million times,” he said. “They know what to expect. It’s a shame the others haven’t been playing much cricket in the IPL so it would have been nice to have them here and for them to get two bites of the cherry. It would be nice to have everyone here two weeks before a big Test match but circumstances don’t allow that these days.”Another player who is likely to face the Lions is Nuwan Pradeep, the 24-year-old fast bowler, who Law has tipped as a potential successor to Lasith Malinga after he retired from Test cricket. “Filling Malinga’s boots will be tough. We’ve got a young kid on our squad who’s similar and hopefully he stands up to take his place. He’s the future. We have to find someone else who wants to play for 10-15 years.”Although Sri Lanka have never won a full Test series in England they have embarrassed the hosts before, notably at The Oval in 1998 and again at Trent Bridge in 2006 when they levelled the series. A drawn contest on this occasion would be a commendable result, but Law isn’t a man to settle for anything less than victory.

Match Facts

April 23, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Start time 0930am (1330 GMT)Lendl Simmons. Does he look much like Chris Gayle to you?•AFP

The Big Picture

Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Umar Gul, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal. The list of players missing from West Indies’ home ODI series against Pakistan, for all manner of reasons, is long. It’s been a somewhat incongruent start to the tour for Pakistan, who have enjoyed the far smoother preparation, having planned to rest Gul and Younis ahead of the subsequent Test series, while also cutting ties with the iron-gloved Kamran. The only kind of disquiet was created by the captain Shahid Afridi’s change of heart over making the trip to the Caribbean.Gayle has of course been at the centre of a perfect storm surrounding his non-selection and subsequent flight to the IPL, where the in-demand Pollard had already chosen to play ahead of national duties. Dwayne Bravo will join them when the Test matches start, painting an altogether unhealthy picture of West Indies unity, or lack thereof.However, a strong victory in the opening Twenty20 match suggested that Darren Sammy’s side is not entirely without hope, and will fancy their chances of overturning an ugly World Cup quarter-final loss to Pakistan in Mirpur, 31 days ago. Notable too is the return of Marlon Samuels for his first ODI since being banned for inappropriate dealings with an illegal bookmaker. It is nearly a year since Samuels became eligible to return.

Form guide

(most recent first)West Indies WWLLLPakistan LWWWL

Watch out for…

Lendl Simmons showed plenty of vim at the top of the order for West Indies in the Twenty20 prelude to this match, and will need to keep that up in the absence of Gayle. The circumstances of Gayle’s departure indicate that he might not be back, so Simmons has the chance to make the opening spot his own.Umar Akmal will also be hoping to raise his game in this series. A joy to behold at the batting crease, Umar must continue to grow and mature in the knowledge that the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq and the absent Younis are ageing all the time.

Team news

West Indies expressed the desire to try a younger side against Pakistan in this series, but their manner of doing so caused all kinds of ructions surrounding the future of Gayle and Sarwan. Samuels, older and wiser, is back in the team, while Simmons will have the task of replacing Gayle at the top of the order. Pakistan have also plumped for youth, though in the case of Younis and Gul theirs is only a temporary absence. Hammad Azam is the man charged with replacing Abdul Razzaq as the allrounder.West Indies (possible): 1 Devon Smith, 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kirk Edwards, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Ravi RampaulPakistan (possible): 1 Taufeeq Umar, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Hammad Azam, 7 Mohammad Salman (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Tanvir Ahmed, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

The St Lucia surface lost pace noticeably over the course of the Twenty20 match that opened the tour, meaning more of the same can be expected in the first ODI – Ajmal and Bishoo take note.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have not beaten Pakistan in a bilateral ODI series since a 2-0 success in Pakistan over three matches in November 1991 – the second match was tied.
• Pakistan won the only two matches between the two nations to be played in St Lucia, by 40 and 22 runs during the 2005 series won 3-0 by the visitors.
• West Indies’ short-term batting coach Desmond Haynes has made the most runs in limited-overs matches between the two countries, racking up 2390 at 41.92 in 65 matches, though his strike-rate of 60.86 now appears a little dated.
• Samuels’ last ODI appearance was also in St Lucia, against Sri Lanka in April 2008. He finished 3 not out as the match was wiped out by rain.

Quotes

“I have served West Indies for many years, but I was disrespected a lot, and I have been playing under a lot of pressure. I can’t sleep properly. I need to get this off my chest. I want everybody to print what I said, I want to clear the air and I want them to ease up. WICB… back up offa my back.”
“I had decided to skip the tour because I wanted to take a break from the game, but some former players and my family and friends told me to change my decision at this crucial time for Pakistan cricket.”