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Shane Watson’s chances of finally dominating an Ashes series in the way his talent has always suggested will hinge on avoiding the lapses that have conspired to leave him with only two Test centuries in 41 matches. So long as he can stay at the other end, Watson’s opening partner Chris Rogers believes he can help close the concentration gap that has kept the allrounder from turning good into great.Opening with Watson for the first time against Worcestershire at New Road, Rogers was awed by the crispness and power of his new partner’s strokeplay. But he was also alert to the fact that Watson can make batting appear so natural that comfort becomes his enemy – a shot played too presumptuously or too soon has often resulted in his demise.”I was trying to drive him,” Rogers said in Nottingham ahead of the first Test. “Only because he was in many respects far better than their attack but his challenge is to bat for long periods of time, which he certainly has the skill and the temperament to do. It’s up to him now. Hopefully if I get the chance I can help with that a little bit as well.”He was outstanding – I haven’t seen a bloke down the other end hit the ball as well as that for a long time. So it’s a good sign, he’s in excellent form and I thought we got on well and communicated well, so that was a good start for us.”That communication included Rogers advising Watson to be careful loading up to play cross-bat strokes against shorter balls on a wicket that was given to the occasional variation in pace. The next short ball duly behaved oddly as Watson swayed out of the way, drawing a smile and nod of appreciation towards the non-striker. Watson still rattled to three figures before lunch, enhanced concentration reaping a first-class hundred for the first time since the 2010 Mohali Test match.Contrast that with Rogers’ 60 first-class centuries, including two in England so far this summer for Middlesex, and there is plenty for the Watson the hare to learn from the tortoise. “I think with batting it’s about keeping in your own little bubble and making sure your focus is strong and that you’re setting yourself to bat for a long time,” Rogers said. “Over my career that’s been one of my skills, so maybe I can just give a little bit of insight into that.”You can’t concentrate [constantly] for that amount of time and it’s about focusing. That’s a skill as well. To bat long periods of time you have to be able to do that there’s no doubt, and there’s techniques to that, and at times I’ve been able to do that well.”This is not to say that Rogers is after an unofficial coaching commission within the team. He has enough on his mind readying himself for a first Test match since 2008. “I think the fact Darren Lehmann and Michael Di Venuto [the batting coach] have been in and about England and able to pass on plenty of info has been good,” he said. “I’ve been able to do my own thing and just help out when and if required.”

The ICC has apologised to the United States Youth Cricket Association (USYCA) after withdrawing a payment of more than $8000 accidentally made to the volunteer body.In an embarrassing episode, a wire transfer of a little more than $8100 had to be returned to the ICC Americas headquarters in Toronto this week after it was revealed to have been intended for the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA).”An administrative error resulted in funds from the ICC Americas regional office, meant for the USA Cricket Association (USACA), being sent to the USYCA,” an ICC spokesman said. “USACA is the governing body for cricket, and the ICC’s Member, in the United States. ICC Americas has apologised to both the USYCA and USACA for this confusion, which is now being rectified.”The mix-up had momentarily left the USYCA’s president Jamie Harrison hopeful of a more constructive and mutually beneficial relationship between his association and the ICC, but he was left discontented when Ben Kavenagh, ICC Americas Regional Development Manager, requested the money be returned.”I was excited that the ICC had sent us $8100,” Harrison told ESPNcricinfo. “But the money itself isn’t a big deal – they shovel $300,000 a year into USACA, and $8000 even in our budget isn’t a make-or-break kind of thing. To me what was more exciting was the thought that the ICC wanted to get involved in cricket development in the United States.”Now I’ve got notification from the ICC that that money was destined for USACA and they wanted their money back. That was disturbing not from the money perspective, it was disturbing as I thought there was going to be a partner to work with us to develop cricket in the United States.”The USYCA was formed by Harrison in 2010 with the intention of making a more vigorous effort to grow the game in the US, and has since reached around 250,000 school students. The association has distributed more than 1,500 cricket sets to schools across the country. However Harrison said he had found his efforts to push the game at the grassroots level had not corresponded to the way he feels the ICC sees the US – primarily as an extra marketplace for the current Full Member countries.”USYCA on the other hand, our purpose in life is to turn the United States into a cricket playing nation, to raise up a generation of cricketers who will one day play on the international stage.” said Harrison.For their part, the ICC and USACA have stressed their desire to develop the game in the US.”As part of its global development strategy, the sustainable growth and improvement of domestic participation programmes in emerging cricket nations is a key priority of the ICC,” the ICC spokesman said. “This focus has resulted in participation numbers in ICC’s Associate and Affiliate Members increasing from 500,000 to over 900,000 since 2010.””This strategic objective is shared by USACA, who together with ICC, has recently committed resources to the implementation of a joint participation programme pilot in the US. This pilot project will commence in the coming months, with further information about it to be released in due course.”

Dave Richardson, the ICC’s chief executive, has urged banned Pakistan duo Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif to “publicly accept their parts” in corruption and to cooperate with the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ASCU) and begin a rehabilitation program. Butt and Asif had appeals against their bans from cricket dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week.Richardson’s comments came after the ICC had received full, written decisions on the verdicts from CAS, in which it was suggested that Butt had for the first time admitted to his involvement in spot-fixing during the 2010 Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan.”The guilt of these men has now been established on three separate occasions, in three separate sets of proceedings, and in three separate forums,” Richardson said in a statement. “The time has now come for them to stop misleading the members of the public, especially the supporters of the Pakistan cricket team, and to publicly accept their parts in this corrupt conspiracy.”I am certain that both Mr Butt and Mr Asif have information that can be of great assistance to the ACSU and its ongoing fight against corruption in cricket. I would, therefore, urge them, without any further delay, to start the process of rebuilding their lives and reputations by apologising for their actions and meeting with ICC’s anti-corruption officials to come clean about what actually happened.”After a hearing in February, CAS took two months to reject Asif and Butt’s appeals against the ICC bans they received in 2011 for their part in the spot-fixing scandal uncovered by an English newspaper in 2010. Asif had wanted the ICC ruling overturned while Butt asked for his ban to be reduced but CAS did not find any evidence to support either claim.”We are pleased to note that the CAS panel rejected each and every one of the allegations that were made of prosecutorial misconduct by the ICC, and bias and incompetence on the part of the independent anti-corruption tribunal, thereby reinforcing that the players were treated fairly and in accordance with the principles of natural justice at all times,” Richardson said.”In addition to the CAS finding Mr Asif a party to the conspiracy to act corruptly, it is also pleasing to note from the decisions that Mr Butt acknowledged his part in the fix before the CAS panel.”ESPNcricinfo understands that if during the first five years of their bans the players do not take part in any educational programme, the extra suspended element will come into effect – five years for Butt and two for Asif. The extensions can be waived only if they take part in a PCB anti-corruption education programme. Both players have so far refused to accept their part in public, despite being found culpable on three separate occasions: first, by the ICC’s independent anti-corruption tribunal, then in the English criminal courts, and finally before CAS, the ultimate appeal body in sport.Butt apologised in public only for a “failure to report to the ICC” on his return to Lahore from London, after serving seven months of his 30-month jail sentence. Asif was also imprisoned in the UK, serving half of a 12-month term. Butt was recently asked if he admitted his part in the notorious spot-fixing episode but the former captain refused to respond.

ScorecardJosh Cobb struck a confident hundred and followed that with three wickets•Getty Images

Niall O’Brien and Josh Cobb both hit centuries as Leicestershire launched their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign in style with a resounding victory against Gloucestershire at Grace Road.Cobb smashed 107 and O’Brien hit 104 in an opening partnership of 193 that was the cornerstone of the Leicestershire’s total of 289. It proved too much for Gloucestershire, who never recovered from a nightmare start to their innings and were dismissed for 174 to lose by 115 runs, with Cobb following up his heroics with the bat by taking 3 for 34Cobb, the Leicestershire one-day captain, and O’Brien, on his one-day debut for the county, gave an electrifying display after Gloucestershire won the toss and decided to field first. They raced to a 50 partnership off 35 balls with O’Brien hitting five boundaries and Cobb four. By the end of the power play it was 63 without loss, and the runs continued to flow.Cobb was first to his half century off 47 balls having hit a huge six off David Payne. O’Brien soon followed, reaching his 50 off 44 balls, and both batsmen then put their foot on the accelerator. They pierced the field at will with O’Brien offering the only chance when he was dropped in the deep off Benny Howell on 86.He reached his century off 79 balls with a six and 12 fours before holing out to long off in the 27th over. Cobb went to his century off 89 balls with eight fours and three sixes. But he too perished going for another big hit.After that wickets fell at regular intervals with only Matt Boyce (28) offering much resistance as Leicestershire lost their last eight wickets for 74 runs in 10 overs with Payne taking 3 for 45.Gloucestershire made a disastrous start to the runs chase slumping to 44 for 5 in 10 overs with both Michael Klinger and Chris Dent run out by some sharp fielding from the Foxes. Then Cobb came on to bowl his offspin and capped a Man of the Match performance by taking the wickets of Ian Cockbain, Gareth Roderick and Will Gidman to finish with competition best figures. Robbie Williams also took 3 for 34 and the game ended with 35 balls remaining.

Big Picture

Forever the underdogs, Rajasthan Royals is one team that has always looked like a team since the first season. They have always had big impact players and there is something in the leadership that brings out the best from them. A fairytale first season aside though, they have struggled to find consistency and have been consigned with the reputation of arguably being the best of the second-tier teams.Unlike the men from Chandigarh, Pune and Hyderabad, they have never have had disastrous campaigns; the strong leadership may have changed hands from Shane Warne’s flamboyance to Rahul Dravid’s more methodical, process-driven management style, but it has kept the team cohesive and focused on cricket.The team this year again comes in with a battery of overseas players who are experienced and effective in Twenty20s. They have men like Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg who have, quite profitably for themselves, carved out a career playing the short format. Throw Shane Watson, Kusal Perera, Kevon Cooper, Fidel Edwards and James Faulkner into the mix, and the team starts appearing as a strong contender. However, with only four of these trumps available at a time, the team management will have to identify which card to pull out when.Their fortunes, though, would depend on how the local group supports the imports. Rahul Dravid led with passion last year, but he hasn’t played cricket since and this season could well be his last. Then there is Sreesanth, who will be eager to make an impact after sitting out during last year’s IPL. However, it won’t be a surprise if both are inconsistent. But one guy who is expected to fire straightaway is Ajinkya Rahane and the team would look forward to the kind of starts he generated last year.What they have lacked is the stamina to maintain their intensity through the tournament. They have always had decent starts but they tend to lose steam when the race gets tighter towards the end. Take last season for example where they were in the running to qualify for knockout stage with two games to go, but they were tripped by Deccan Chargers, the poorest team in the competition. This year, with most players available from the first match and all games being played in Jaipur, Royals are in a position to give the tournament their best shot.

Key players

The man of the tournament in the first edition, Shane Watson is among the few players who have stuck with one franchise and he hasn’t fared badly at all. He has scored 1242 runs from 39 games and taken 35 wickets for Rajasthan and is in the same league as someone like Chris Gayle in dismantling any bowling attack. More importantly, this season he is available for the entire duration of the tournament, although he is likely to miss the first game. It is unclear as to why he is unavailable, but it is understood that he will be catching a flight over the next couple of days to join the team ahead of their second game against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 8. He had a tough time during the recent Tests in India and didn’t bowl at all, but he had indicated earlier that he might start bowling during the IPL.He may neither be a hard-hitting batsman nor a tearaway fast bowler, but allrounder Stuart Binny‘s role will be an important one among the second string locals in the team. He bowls gentle medium pace with a lot of variations in speed and is coming off a decent showing in domestic cricket, with 622 runs and 27 wickets off 11 matches this season. Royals would hope Binny brings the same value to their team as Rajat Bhatia does to Kolkata Knight Riders.

Big name in

Kusal Perera‘s recent run of scores (64, 56, 18*, 42, 336, 97, 203) is not the only exciting part about him, it is the manner in which he scores the runs that can set this tournament alight. The Sri Lankans have been calling him the next Sanath Jayasuriya and the similarity is not just limited to the whiplash square cut. Royals may have spent the most for James Faulkner ($400,000) but Perera, bought for a steal at $20,000, could well be the investment of the tournament.

Big name out

The departure of Johan Botha from Jaipur to Delhi has left Royals poorer in the spin department, but Botha’s absence will be felt in the batting as well, as he was versatile enough to come up the order. He played 24 matches for Royals, in which he scored 335 runs and picked up 19 wickets.

Below the radar

It is not all just about his name; Kerala allrounder Sachin Baby recently flogged a 19-ball 48 against Delhi in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy (India’s domestic T20 tournament) to pull off a tough chase. His T20 strike rate is over 150 and he can fill as an offspinner too. Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, who impressed Ian Chappell during last year’s Under-19 World Cup, could also be in the spotlight.

Availability

Royals are well-placed this year with all their players available throughout the season.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur has said the selectors would welcome Michael Hussey back if he decided to make a return for this year’s Ashes series, given the lack of experience in Australia’s Test squad. However, Arthur said he was confident that in time the younger members of Australia’s team would be capable of filling the vacuum left by the retirements of Hussey and Ricky Ponting, although their absence had contributed to the slipping team culture over the past few months.Arthur also conceded he had put his job on the line with the uncompromising decision to leave four players out of the Mohali Test due to their failure to complete a task in which they were asked for ideas on how they and the team could improve. But he said such a move was necessary to bring the culture of the team back to where it needed to be following the departures of Ponting and Hussey, whose intense work ethic served as examples to their younger colleagues.A Hussey comeback appears unlikely given his decision to retire was made largely due to his desire to spend more time at home with his young family, and the Ashes tour would require him to be away for two and a half months. But the Australians have missed Hussey badly during the ongoing Indian tour and given that he has remained a solid run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield, Arthur said the door would be open if he wanted to return.”We’d certainly listen to Mike Hussey if Mike Hussey came knocking at our door,” Arthur said. “But that’s a hypothetical at the moment. He’s retired. We’ve moved on now, you know. Yeah we miss him. We miss the aura of Ricky Ponting. But I’m hoping that these younger players will take over that mantle in time to come. They’re nowhere near ready yet.”But in time to come they’ve got to step up and take on those mantles because they’re going to be the role models for the next generation of cricketers. I’m confident we’ve got the best players here. These guys just need to be given that confidence and just need to stand up. I’m pretty sure they will.”However, the young squad did need a rev up from Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and team manager Gavin Dovey last week when those four players were left out of the team. The bold decision was described by Arthur as a line in the sand after standards had slipped among the wider playing group during the Indian tour, from players being late to meetings to wearing the wrong uniforms, to giving back-chat.The decision has split opinion in the cricket world and although Cricket Australia’s board backed the team management in their move, Arthur is well aware that it could be a make-or-break moment in his coaching career. Arthur took the reins of the Australia team in late 2011 but it is 2013 that will define the Arthur-Clarke leadership team, with two Ashes series coming up. Things have not started well in India.”I would say I’ve put my neck on the line,” Arthur said. “But I’ve put my neck on the line because I’m really passionate about Australian cricket and I’m very passionate about this team. I want this team to achieve ultimate success and that’s to get to number one in the world. It was needed. It had to happen and the responses have been fantastic. I’m comfortable. It was a week of massive pain. It really was. But I’m comfortable.”I sit here now knowing that this team is going in the right direction. People will say why did it take so long. It took so long because the team was running itself, because we had some senior players around it; we don’t have those senior players around this team any more. This team needed to be shown direction and it got a pretty clear message of that before this Test match.””We’ve got to understand where we’re at at the moment with a very young group of players that needs to be shown the right way to go. If you’ve got older, senior players the team governs itself and then it’s easy just to run and coach. If you’ve got a young team you need to grab the team and really make the players understand what their responsibilities and ownerships are of the side.”Although Arthur is happy with the response from within the squad after the tumultuous past week, his hardline stance has brought him plenty of criticism from former players, fans and the media. In fact, the online abuse became so bad that Arthur decided on Tuesday to delete his Twitter account.”I think if you’re on it you just open yourself up to that [abuse],” he said. “There has been some very positive stuff as well, but it’s not worth it. I’ve got bigger things to worry about than Twitter to be honest.”

Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe captain and current England team director, has spoken openly about his black armband protest at the 2003 World Cup to mark 10 years since he and Henry Olonga stood against “the death of democracy” in Zimbabwe.Flower reflected on the events of February 10, 2003, in Harare, when Zimbabwe played Namibia, in a programme and spoke in detail for the first time about what prompted him to don the armband. He said that “given the same circumstances,” he would “without a doubt,” do it again.During one of Zimbabwe’s worst periods of oppression in the early 2000s, a friend of Flower’s, Nigel Huff, took him to see the devastation on his farm caused by land reform. He also told Flower the national cricket team had a “moral obligation not to go about business as usual during the World Cup but to tell the world what was going on in Zimbabwe.”Flower approached Olonga for two reasons. He thought Olonga would have “the courage of his convictions to take a stand,” and wanted to have two people of different races making the same protest. “I also thought the fact that it would be one white Zimbabwean and one black one operating together gave the message the most eloquent balance,” Flower said.Together with David Coltart, then a human rights lawyer and now the country’s minister of sports, education, arts and culture, the idea of armbands was conceived. Nobody in the team or elsewhere knew what Flower and Olonga were going to do until the morning of their opening match against Namibia.Before play, a statement was handed to the media containing details of the symbolism in their gesture. It contained an explanation: “Although we are just professional cricketers, we do have a conscience and feelings. We believe that if we remain silent that will be taken as a sign that either we do not care or we condone what is happening in Zimbabwe. We believe that it is important to stand up for what is right.”In doing so we are making a silent plea to those responsible to stop the abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe.”A copy of the statement is framed and hangs in Flower’s study where he occasionally re-reads it. “I love the way it was written – the meaning in some of those sentences is very sad because it is a reminder of what was happening in that country at that time and some of the people who went through agony and lost their lives,” he said.During his interview with Alison Mitchell, she asked him to read it aloud and he did. She recalled that he “struggled to keep his voice from cracking,” and “the emotion was evident in his eyes.”Although Flower said he knew his international career would end and he would have to leave Zimbabwe, Olonga thought his life would go on in his homeland. “I had in my own naivety thought I could carry on in Zimbabwe – maybe my career would come to an end but I could still live there. But that all changed when I got death threats two or three weeks after the World Cup. I realised the game was up,” Olonga said.Olonga now lives in England where he works as a singer and public speaker. He would like to return to Zimbabwe with his wife and two daughters but would “need some guarantees that people who wanted to harm me a few years ago do not still want to harm me,” he said.Flower would also like to return and hopes to go back to a better place. “We can’t all change the world, but if we all do little things along the way and make the most powerful decisions we can then I think we can bring about change,” he said.Andy’s brother, Grant, is the current Zimbabwe’s batting coach so the family connection with the national team remains. However, Grant he will not travel to West Indies on the forthcoming tour because of what ZC termed a “technical change” to their structure.

Australia have shored up a place at No. 3 on the ICC’s Test rankings as a result of a 3-0 sweep of Sri Lanka. The difficulty their captain Michael Clarke now faces is the team that took them there will not be the one he leads first to India, and then to the Ashes beyond.Losing Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting in the space of a single summer, while at the same time grooving a policy of fast-bowler management has made it a draining six Tests for Clarke, and in the wake of the five-wicket victory at the SCG he acknowledged the size of the task ahead. He also admitted to the difficulty of guiding the team while shedding such an enormous amount of experience.If Clarke was more emotional at the time of Ponting’s exit in Perth, he was clearer headed about what Hussey’s retirement meant for the tours of India and England – increased difficulty. “Another man down unfortunately,” Clarke said. “It’s been a tough summer to be honest. It’s been nice to have some guys come in and make their debut but it’s been tough to see two fantastic players in Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey leave the game.”We certainly have a tough year ahead, that’s for sure. I think on our good days we’re very good and can cut it with the best, like the No. 1 team in the world South Africa, but on our poor days there’s a lot of areas we need to improve, both individually and as a team. I think what you’ve seen of the Australian team this summer probably sums up where we’re at. We’re fighting to get better every day, that’s the positive.”Australia’s performance in Sydney rather summed up the patchiness of their summer. Making an indifferent start after eminently debatable decisions both in team selection and at the coin toss, Clarke’s men wrested back an advantage via the counter-punching of Matthew Wade and then pressured Sri Lanka’s batsmen into a series of grievous errors on the third afternoon that ultimately determined the outcome of the match.”The days we aren’t performing as well as we can, whether that be with the ball or with the bat, we’re letting ourselves down,” Clarke said. “At the moment there’s a bit of a gap between very good and not so good but we’ve got a team that’s working very hard. Every day we get out of bed we’re trying to get better.”I certainly can’t have a go at the boys. I think the commitment throughout the whole summer has been outstanding – the way we’ve trained and prepared, the role the support staff have played … We know we’ve got some work to do but we’re up for the challenge.”While Jackson Bird’s emergence as a commendably reliable paceman against Sri Lanka was arguably the most significant find of the Tests, Clarke and his fellow selectors will have some other revelations to consider ahead of India. One of the least convenient was the struggle of several batsmen against spin, notably the opener Ed Cowan, and another was the top order’s lack of precision when running between the wickets. Shane Watson’s future, and the team’s balance, is clouded by his reluctance to continue bowling.Clarke said the spectre of slow bowling on turning Indian pitches was something that would take plenty of skill and application to overcome, particularly now that Hussey has left the scene. “It will be really tough, especially in the second innings on the subcontinent is generally very tough to play spin bowling. I think we’re improving,” Clarke said. “There are areas we need to continually get better at. Spin bowling is one of those areas. In a couple of months, we’re going to be faced with conditions that spin a lot, so there’s no better place to get better than on the subcontinent.”I’m really impressed with the way we finished this summer in the Test format. I was really proud of the way we fought it out against the No.1 Test team in the world. I think we have taken a lot from that series and I think we’ve shown improvement throughout this series.”The ODI team will be led by George Bailey for the first two matches of the series against Sri Lanka, as Clarke rests a tender hamstring, but he felt sure he would be fit and refreshed in time to return for game three in Brisbane. It will be the next phase of a year in which Clarke has now become more pivotal than ever.

Mohinder Amarnath, the former India selector, has said it was the BCCI president, N Srinivasan, who overruled the selectors’ unanimous call for sacking of MS Dhoni as captain after the two whitewashes in England and Australia. “The Board President did not approve the unanimous decision to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni,” Amarnath told .Post the Test debacle in Australia, Amarnath said, the selectors wanted to appoint a young captain for the triangular one-day series that followed, but their decision was overturned.”We selected the team for the triangular series, selected 17 players but we did not select the captain,” he said. “The captain was selected by somebody else.”Asked whether he questioned the decision, Amarnath said, “When you respect a person you don’t ask questions. But my question is, you have a selection committee those who think what is best for Indian cricket then why they are not given a free hand.The selectors thought about stepping down then, Amarnath said, but decided against it as they, “did not want to create a big stir there as the team was playing abroad and the series was going on there.”There was massive speculation that this was the reason Amarnath’s term as a selector ended abruptly when he was actually expected to be the new chairman of the selectors. When asked about that, all Amarnath said was: “I don’t miss it.”Amarnath was asked to clarify a rumour doing the rounds that he was cited the BCCI constitution that stated he could not sack Dhoni without the higher-ups clearing it. “Neither will I say yes nor will I deny it, okay,” he responded. “I know the facts, and I will tell you the facts when I feel the time is right.” He did go on to say, though, that he was not aware of the constitution. Clause 13(a)(iv) of the BCCI constitution states that: “The President shall approve the composition of a team, selected by the Selection Committee.””When somebody becomes a selector, I don’t think you are aware of the constitution of the BCCI,” he said. “I was not aware. I don’t think even the current committee is aware of the constitution.”According to the , Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani and Raja Venkat, during a meeting in January this year for selecting the squad for the CB Series in Australia, wanted to sack Dhoni.”Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary and convener of the national selection committee, consulted BCCI president N Srinivasan who shot down the proposal. Srinivasan made it clear that though the majority of the selectors felt that Dhoni didn’t inspire confidence as Test skipper the time was not right to remove him,” a selector told the paper.Why does Amarnath think Dhoni doesn’t deserve a place in the Test side? “If you see his track record for the last one year as captain, I am talking about Test matches, not one-day, he hasn’t done anything,” Amarnath said. “You give a run to a guy. I am not saying you should remove a guy overnight, but if you see a guy is failing again and again, I don’t think it is going to be possible to continue with the same guy.”I think he should be replaced in Test cricket. I am not talking shorter versions. He is an asset there, he has done very well, he is a match-winner, but with the technique he has I don’t see him do any wonders in Test cricket.”You have to look at contribution of the players, where you are playing and what opposition you are playing. We have to move ahead with times, and we have to look forward. People who have contributed to the game, we respect them, we adore them, but what is important is future of Indian cricket and not to live in the past. Cricket has changed, age has everything to do in life. We have to look ahead.”I believe in fresh blood. I was looking forward for a guy like Virat Kohli to take over as captain in one day cricket. I think he is a fantastic player, he is the future.”When Amarnath spoke about moving forward, he was asked about Sachin Tendulkar and what his future should be. “Sachin has been a great cricketer, a great ambassador, he has achieved everything but I think they way he is playing we see a shadow of Sachin Tendulkar,” he said. “And I don’t accept him to play in the same fashion as he has done in the past. Age is a factor. He is not alone. Look at all greats. Once you cross mid-30s, things become little bit difficult, a little bit more demanding. He is no exception. He has to take it very seriously, and I think the selectors have to have a word with him, what are his plans. Then they should take a call and then decide.”

It is not uncommon to see two fast bowlers hard at work in the nets, competing for one spot. At the WACA on Wednesday, Australia took the idea to the extreme. Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, John Hastings and Josh Hazlewood were all running in and doing their darnedest to impress the selectors ahead of Friday’s third Test. None of them knew how many positions would be up for grabs. It could be one, it could be four. It could be anything in between.The first deciding factor is how Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus handle their training runs on Thursday, the end of a short turn-around following their heavy workloads in the Adelaide Test. The other issue is whether Nathan Lyon will be required, or if the selectors will choose a four-man pace attack, as they did with great success against India last summer. Lyon would enjoy the drift provided by the Fremantle doctor, the sea breeze that blows in the mid-afternoon in Perth, but he’s not the only one.Johnson has had success at the WACA, notably against the South Africans in 2008-09, when he took 11 wickets and was unplayable late on the second afternoon. But his fellow left-arm seamer Starc could justifiably expect to have the inside running, having been 12th man in the first two Tests. He used the cross-ground breeze to his advantage in Perth last season, when it helped him curl the ball in towards India’s right-hand batsmen, and one delivery that swung in and trapped Sachin Tendulkar lbw was especially memorable.”I have fond memories from last year,” Starc said. “It’s a nice place to come and bowl, a bit of extra pace and bounce than you get at the SCG where I play. There’s more in it for the bowlers but last year it was a pretty good cricket wicket. Hopefully if I get the chance to come out here again I can bowl similar to what I did last time.”Certainly, one of Starc or Johnson should play. Even if the only position available is as a replacement for the injured James Pattinson, the left-arm variety would ask different questions of South Africa’s batsmen. Graeme Smith, in particular, has been troubled by left-arm seamers in recent years. Not that Hastings and Hazlewood are out of contention.Should an all-pace attack be employed – a distinct possibility given the success the Australians had against India, and the likelihood that the pitch will need to spend time under cover with rain forecast on match eve and the first day of the Test – Hastings and Hazlewood might be battling each other for one spot. Both are tall men who extract impressive bounce, but do not deliver the ball at express speed. Neither has played Test cricket before.Hazlewood, 21, has been viewed as a national prospect since he first played for New South Wales at the age of 17. Nothing in his first-class form this summer – nine Sheffield Shield wickets at 46.33 – suggests he is quite ready for Test cricket, but the selectors have a hunch about him. By his own admission, his height is a key weapon, along with his consistency, but at 196 cm he has no discernible advantage over Hastings, who stands 195cm.Hastings, 27, has the form that Hazlewood lacks. This summer, he has collected 22 Shield wickets at 19.09. Having missed all of last season due to a shoulder reconstruction, Hastings spent countless hours in the gym and has returned better for it. Compared to state team-mates Pattinson and Siddle, Hastings can appear innocuous, but he has lifted his pace this season and has reaped the rewards.”When I wasn’t bowling or batting I spent a lot of time on my fitness, working on my strength and conditioning in the gym with David Bailey, the now Australian strength and conditioning coach,” Hastings told ESPNcricinfo last month of his time on the sidelines. “We worked our butts off to try to get me back. I think a yard of pace has probably helped me get a few more wickets than I normally would have in four-day cricket, and a little more durability as well, so I can continually back up my spells.”Although it is difficult to see Hastings and Hazlewood both playing, there is the outside chance that a full swap of Australia’s attack could take place, should Siddle and Hilfenhaus struggle at training on Thursday. One certainty is that Australia’s batsmen can expect a torrid time in the nets on match eve.”The guys in and around the squad know there’s a few places that might be up for grabs so they’re certainly having a good crack in the nets,” Shane Watson said on Wednesday. “That’s good for the batsmen because we certainly get a competitive, high quality net session, but it’s also great to be able to see how they’re travelling as well.”