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The majority of New Zealand’s World Cup squad are playing in the IPL in the build-up to the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2019Tom Latham will captain a shadow New Zealand squad in their three World Cup warm-up matches against Australia in Brisbane next month.With nine of the World Cup 15 playing in the IPL and Ross Taylor signing a deal with Nottinghamshire, the 13-man squad for the trip across the Tasman includes just five of the players who will be heading to England later in May.Latham is joined by Henry Nicholls, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham and Tom Blundell from those named in the World Cup squad.While Australia, who name their World Cup squad on Monday, will call back IPL players for the three matches, New Zealand allow their players a full stint in India and are using the time in Brisbane as a chance for fringe players to impress. Apart from Will Young all the squad have international experience.”It’s an exciting challenge ahead of this group who I know will relish the chance to take on the Australians at home,” selector Gavin Larsen said. “The matches will be a stern test and provide quality preparation for those players bound for England and a great opportunity for the rest of the squad to show their wares.”Tim Seifert, who narrowly missed the cut for the World Cup when Blundell was preferred as back-up wicketkeeper, was not considered for the trip due to his finger injury. Adam Milne and Corey Anderson, both part of the 2015 World Cup, are also injured.Todd Astle, who lost out to Ish Sodhi in the main squad, will head to Brisbane as will Doug Bracewell who would be a possible World Cup call-up if any of the incumbent allrounders got injured.The three matches, which won’t be official ODIs, taken place on May 5, 7 and 9 at Allan Border Field. The New Zealand players then return home for a few days before making the trip to England.New Zealand squad Tom Latham, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Doug Bracewell, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Hamish Rutherford, Blair Tickner, George Worker, Will Young

Steyn has seen a shoulder specialist, Ngidi has resumed bowling after his side strain and Duminy has begun playing for the Cobras again

Liam Brickhill30-Apr-2019South Africa’s anxious wait for an update on Dale Steyn’s injured right shoulder continues, but the fast bowler has seen a specialist in Cape Town since his early return from the IPL. In two weeks, the Proteas will meet for a pre-World Cup camp, and the selectors have until May 23 to name a potential replacement – if Steyn is not fully fit by then.”As it stands, we are aware that Dale Steyn has seen the shoulder specialist since he got back from India,” National Selection Panel convener Linda Zondi told ESPNcricinfo. “But at the moment we’re just waiting for our medical team to keep us updated in terms of his progress. He’s still due to meet up with the team for camp on the 12th, and as the selection panel, we’ll be guided by the medical team, and then we’ll take it from there.”Zondi said the coach Ottis Gibson will be part of the decision making as well. “Ottis is also a specialist from the bowling point of view, so he will definitely take Dale for a run in the nets to see how he’s doing with his shoulder and how far he might have to go. We still have enough time before the 23rd of May to decide whether we need to change the team or not. But for now that’s where we are.”Steyn, 35, played two matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore before his right shoulder – which has previously been seriously injured – flared up. He had already been named in South Africa’s World Cup squad, and had been expected to lead the attack alongside Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, with Anrich Nortje as back-up.Nortje is himself recovering from injury and told ESPNcricinfo that he bowled six overs in a match against the touring Afghanistan Academy team last week and that he is “still busy with rehab and building and getting closer to bowling fitness. Really happy with how things have gone but still have a bit of work to do”.Ngidi, who has been recovering from a Grade II muscle strain in his side, also got some overs in his legs against the touring Afghanistan side. JP Duminy’s rehabilitation from shoulder surgery continues, and he has returned to competitive action with the Cape Cobras at the tail end of the CSA T20 Challenge. Definitive news on Steyn, however, is yet to emerge, and in the meantime CSA have potential replacements on stand-by – though they don’t want to say exactly who just yet.

Ikram Ali Khil named as replacement wicketkeeper for remainder of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2019
Mohammad Shahzad, Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper and opening batsman, has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury.Shahzad, whose hard-hitting exploits at the top of the order have been a major factor in Afghanistan’s rise through the ODI rankings, fell for a duck in their opening fixture against Australia last week, and made 7 from 11 balls in their low-scoring defeat to Sri Lanka in Cardiff.The ICC’s Event Technical Committee has approved Ikram Ali Khil as Shahzad’s replacement in the squad for the remainder of the tournament.Khil has played just two ODI matches, having debuted against Ireland in Dehradun in March this year. The 18-year-old was also part of Afghanistan’s squad at the 2016 U19 World Cup in Bangladesh, and the 2018 event in New Zealand.He played a pivotal role in Afghanistan’s Asian Cricket Council U19 Cup triumph, scoring an unbeaten hundred in the 2017 final. He also has one Test cap to his name, after playing in Afghanistan’s maiden victory over Ireland in March.The World Cup’s Event Technical Committee consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives).

Mustafizur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin ensured that Bangladesh kept fighting, but too many of their batsmen failed to build on starts in a chase of 315

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy02-Jul-2019
As it happenedBangladesh are out of the 2019 World Cup. They’ve beaten the teams they were expected to beat, and also a couple they may not have been, but they haven’t managed to win any of their meetings with the tournament favourites, despite looking impressive and coming close on a couple of occasions. They came close against India at Edgbaston, but not close enough, falling 29 runs short in a chase of 315.With this result, India become the second team after Australia to seal a spot in the semi-finals. They won an important toss, and got to a hugely advantageous position via a 180-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma, who scored his fourth hundred of this World Cup, and KL Rahul. Bangladesh kept chipping away at that advantage, with Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters limiting the damage India could do in the slog overs, and their batsmen keeping them close to the required rate right through their chase, but they never completely nullified it.Bangladesh lost a few too many wickets off not particularly threatening deliveries, and though seven of their top eight got past 20, only two of them went on to score half-centuries: the unfaltering Shakib Al Hasan and their No. 8 Mohammad Saifuddin. That, in the end, sealed the deal.Tamim Iqbal and Mosaddek Hossain played on, done in by the slowness of the pitch but also their angled bats, while Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim hit aggressive shots straight to fielders on the 30-yard circle. Shakib, using the pace of the bowlers smartly and going at close to a run a ball despite only hitting six fours in 74 balls, kept Bangladesh in the chase despite all these setbacks, but when he was sixth out with 136 still to get, foxed by a clever slower ball from Hardik Pandya, the game looked over. Pandya, the fifth bowler with no sixth bowler in the XI, did a stellar job, varying his pace, hitting the pitch hard, and finishing with three wickets.Despite Shakib’s dismissal, Bangladesh’s required rate hadn’t yet gone out of hand, and Sabbir Rahman and Saifuddin kept the game alive with an entertaining stand of 66 in 56 balls. The partnership may also have given India a couple of pointers for future matches: it showed the value of having a useful batsman at No. 8, and also the tendency of Mohammed Shami to go for runs in the late overs. Should they go back to playing two spinners, the Shami vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar question – despite the wicket threat of the former – probably has a straightforward answer.Runs were harder to come by against Bhuvneshwar and Jasprit Bumrah, and a slower offcutter from the latter ended Sabbir’s innings in the 44th over. Saifuddin needed one of the tailenders to stay with him if Bangladesh were to get 70 off 41, but they didn’t, not for long enough anyway.The equation came down to 29 off 14 when Saifuddin took a single to bring the No. 10 Rubel Hossain on strike for the last two balls of Bumrah’s quota of overs. Those two balls was all Bumrah needed, two inch-perfect yorkers proving too good for Rubel and Mustafizur.Rohit Sharma sends Mohammad Saifuddin over the extra-cover boundary•Getty Images

The match was played on the same pitch that hosted the England-India match on Sunday, and it remained the same kind of pitch: flat but progressively slower. It also meant the square boundaries were the same – short on one side, long on the other. Both teams picked their teams with the boundaries rather than the surface in mind: spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Mehidy Hasan went out, and seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rubel Hossain came in.Batting first was a no-brainer, and Rohit and Rahul gave India the perfect start. Bangladesh’s bowlers took a while getting used to the conditions, and offered plenty of hittable balls, with Rohit in particularly damaging form, pulling Mashrafe Mortaza and launching Saifuddin over extra-cover for big sixes in the first six overs. Bangladesh could have dismissed him in between, for 9, but Tamim dropped a sitter at deep square leg when he miscued a pull off Mustafizur. That miss will go down alongside the no-ball from the 2015 World Cup quarter-final in the annals of what-if moments in Rohit v Bangladesh.Rohit made Bangladesh pay for the miss, and much as he did against Pakistan batted at a higher tempo than is usually the case in the early parts of his big ODI innings. There were drives all around the ground and a number of his trademark pulls, but what was also apparent was a willingness to go hard at balls wide of off stump, as seen in a couple of sliced boundaries backward of point early on.This aggression may well be a product of having Rahul – who is still finding his feet as an ODI batsman – rather than Shikhar Dhawan at the other end. Rahul began in more circumspect fashion, before unfurling a series of pretty drives and flicks once he was past 20.The only Bangladesh bowlers to come to terms with the conditions initially were Shakib – who bowled to the right-hand batsmen with the short boundary to the leg side, and almost never gave them the chance to pull or slog-sweep – and, oddly enough, Soumya. Unlike his quicker colleagues, Soumya varied his pace – between gentle medium and gentler medium – and bowled into the pitch, asking the batsmen to manufacture their own power. A slower ball ended Rohit’s innings at 104, off 92 balls, just when whispers about 200 were growing more audible.As in the England game, the pitch began slowing down around the halfway mark of the first innings, and the other bowlers also began following Soumya’s example. Runs became harder to come by, and a frustrated Rahul nicked off trying to slash Rubel.Virat Kohli looked bright and enterprising in scoring 26, before failing to get enough power into his shot while trying to pull Mustafizur: this time the fielder at deep square leg held on. Pandya came and went in the same over, edging Mustafizur’s cutter to wide slip, and suddenly Bangladesh were back in the game.Ben Stokes put England back on track after a similar stutter on Sunday, and Rishabh Pant threatened to play that role for India today, smoking three successive fours off Saifuddin immediately after Mustafizur’s double-strike. But he fell for 48, trying to slog-sweep Shakib to the longer boundary, and India’s innings lost momentum. MS Dhoni showed flashes of brilliance in a 33-ball 35, but Mustafizur took both him and Dinesh Karthik out with his cutter-bouncer, and he eventually finished with 5 for 59 – his fourth five-for in ODIs and his third against India.India only made 63 in their last ten overs. It left Bangladesh chasing far less than they might have been – 350 looked a distinct possibility when Rohit was still at the crease – and on another day they might well have pulled it off. They just didn’t manage it on this most important of days.

Recovery started by Steven Davies and Dom Bess is continued with the ball as Warwickshire stumble to 146 all out

Jon Culley at Edgbaston20-Aug-2019Somerset need precisely 250 runs on the final day here to stay neck and neck with Essex in a race for the County Championship that might yet rival the excitement of three years ago when Middlesex so memorably pipped Yorkshire at Lord’s and left Somerset heartbroken runners-up.Essex, winners of an extraordinary contest at Canterbury, have the upper hand, but they are due at Taunton in the final match of the season and with only four rounds remaining the chances of the outcome determining the title must be quite high.Much may depend, though, on what happens here. Somerset, having trailed by 111 on first innings, have given themselves a clear opportunity by dismissing Warwickshire for 146 but chasing runs on the last day at Edgbaston is seldom straightforward.Jeetan Patel and three tall seam bowlers will see to that. This Somerset side is packed with batting talent, yet it would be a surprise if this were not one of their trickier assignments and an absorbing last day beckons.Day three, with the balance tipping one way and then the other, was engaging enough. At the start, needing to add 11 to his overnight score, Steven Davies completed a fine hundred when he drove Oliver Hannon-Dalby to the cover boundary off the last ball of the eighth over of the morning, his 15th four.He celebrated by lofting Jeetan Patel over long-on for his first six but the Warwickshire offspinner had his revenge the very next ball, which turned and bounced and took the edge to be caught by Will Rhodes at slip, a good reaction catch given that wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose flashed his gloves right across Rhodes’s eyeline and may even have nudged the ball on its way.Somerset were still 77 away from avoiding the follow-on at that moment and when Roelof van der Merwe perished via a loose drive after scoring only a single, Warwickshire could claim to have the upper hand. Yet they missed an opportunity to strengthen their grip before lunch by dismissing Dom Bess.Facing a ball from Henry Brookes that jagged away from him as he shaped to play to leg on 29, Bess was fortunate that Ambrose did not quite have the reach to make a diving catch after the ball took the edge.Had it stuck, Somerset would have been eight down for 229. Instead, Bess and Craig Overton were able to extend a valuable partnership eventually worth 65 by 38 runs either side of the interval, picking up a second batting point along the way, before Overton was leg before to Hannon-Dalby with the new ball for 36.Brother Jamie then chipped in with more useful runs, helping Bess complete a 133-ball half-century, pass the follow-on mark, and secure a third bonus point, shortly before the innings ended with Jamie Overton caught at gully and Jack Brooks at slip in quick succession.Nonetheless, Warwickshire took a handy lead of 111 into the second half of the match along with seven bonus points, which gave them the confidence of knowing that, whatever the outcome, the gap between themselves and bottom-of-the-table Nottinghamshire was likely to be larger at the end of this round of matches than it was at the beginning.Somerset, though – more so after learning that Kent had been dismissed for 40 by Essex at Canterbury – had thoughts only of carving out a position from which they could win.Dismissing the much-touted Dom Sibley cheaply for the second time in the match, leg before to Jack Brooks trying to work to leg, they had early encouragement as Warwickshire began their second innings midway through the afternoon and two wickets in two balls by Tom Abell shortly before tea set them up nicely for the final session.A loose shot by Rhodes sliced the ball to slip, where James Hildreth plucked it out of the air high to his left, then Sam Hain, the other batsman Warwickshire might have fancied to help them into an ascendant position ahead of the final day, stepped into his first ball to be lbw.Those two scalps sent Somerset back to their dressing room with confidence brimming and it was not long into the last session when Brooks struck another blow, having Adam Hose caught behind.Rob Yates, after his maiden century in the first innings, further consolidated the good impression he has been making since his debut in May by passing 50 for the second time in the match.Yet the life he was given on 49 when Craig Overton, diving to his left at second slip, could not quite hold on to a catch was only a foretaste of what was to come in a sharp spell from his brother Jamie that saw Warwickshire slip from 107 for 4 to 113 for 7.Striking three times in 12 deliveries, Jamie made sure the chance his brother let go cost only four runs, trapping the left-handed Yates leg before both Michael Burgess and Brookes paid the price for a couple of awful swipes at balls wide of off stump.For all that Somerset were so full of purpose, it was turning into a pretty feeble innings by Warwickshire, who faded quickly as Abell followed his earlier two in two by removing Patel and Hannon-Dalby for career-best figures of 4 for 39.Bad light meant that Somerset faced only 17 balls instead of the seven overs still scheduled to be played, yet Abell and Davies did not look too eager to take on Hannon-Dalby and Brookes in the half-light. With no wickets lost, the match is nicely poised.

Fifties for Alex Hales and Ben Duckett set up Nottinghamshire before left-armer claims T20-best figures

ECB Reporters Network26-Jul-2019Alex Hales and Ben Duckett scored half-centuries before Harry Gurney took five wickets to carry the Nottinghamshire Outlaws to a 27 run victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in the North Group at Derby.Hales made 63 from 42 balls and Duckett 64 from 40 as they added 92 in nine overs to lift the Outlaws to 198 for 5 after the Falcons had put them in. Luis Reece scored 61 from 42 balls but Gurney bowled superbly to claim 5 for 30, his best T20 figures, as the Falcons could only manage 171 for 8.The Outlaws had made a measured start with Hales and Joe Clarke selecting placement over power until Clarke skied a big drive at Fynn Hudson-Prentice in the sixth over. Duckett drove Matt Critchley for the first six in the ninth over as the Outlaws engaged the turbo with Hales driving Alex Hughes onto the media centre balcony and lifting Mark Watt for another maximum.The Falcons lost Logan van Beek with a shoulder injury before Duckett survived a swirling catch to cover on 32 off Watt who kicked the air in frustration when Hales drove him straight for his third six.Duckett pulled Critchley over the midwicket boundary but the leg-spinner broke the stand in the 15th over when Hales was caught at wide long-on and Dan Cristian became his second victim when he sliced a drive to mid-off.Tom Moores was bowled behind his legs by Ravi Rampaul and Duckett was brilliantly caught on the cover boundary but Samit Patel struck 14 from five balls to set a challenging target.Hudson-Prentice took two fours from Matt Carter’s opening over and Billy Godleman pulled Gurney for six but the seamer responded by having Hudson-Prentice caught at cover off a sliced drive.Reece drove Carter over long-off and pulled Jake Ball for another six to take the Falcons to 53 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay. Godleman was reprieved on 19 when Duckett just failed to take a diving one-handed catch at cover, injuring himself in the process, and the Outlaws turned the screw to leave the Falcons needing 115 off the last 10 overs.The climbing run rate forced Godleman to pull Gurney to deep square leg and although Reece drove Patel for his third six to reach fifty off 29 balls, Wayne Madsen became Imad Wasim’s first victim for the Outlaws in the 14th over.Reece and Leus du Plooy took 14 from a Carter over but Reece was caught behind trying to scoop Gurney who settled it by removing Critchley and du Plooy in his final over as the game finished in pouring rain.

Falcons secure nine-wicket win after restricting Foxes to 124 for 9

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2019Derbyshire Falcons all but sealed qualification for the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast after comprehensively beating East Midlands neighbours Leicestershire Foxes by nine wickets in the crucial North Group clash at the Fischer County Ground.Captain Billy Godleman led the way with an unbeaten half-century, his third of the competition, after seeing his side dismiss the Foxes for just 124.Leicestershire captain Colin Ackermann opted to bat first after winning the toss, and it was quickly apparent that the pitch, which had been used for the match against the Nottinghamshire Outlaws two days earlier, appeared to have quickened under glorious sunshine. It certainly suited Mark Cosgrove, who looked in sublime form, stroking seven fours through the off-side and clubbing a huge straight six during a Powerplay that yielded 59 runs.He did lose two partners, Harry Swindells caught behind and Arron Lilley caught at mid-off, but the game turned when Ackermann, having clipped a Matt Critchley delivery straight to Logan Van Beek at backward point, looked up to see Cosgrove half-way down the wicket.Quite what the Australian was thinking was hard to fathom, as Van Beek threw the ball back to Critchley and Cosgrove was left standing in mid-pitch, his 45 having come from just 27 balls.The shift in momentum from that point was dramatic. With Alex Hughes and Critchley taking the pace off the ball, just 17 runs came off the next five overs, and wickets continued to fall to ill-chosen shots. Ackermann holed out to long-on, Lewis Hill was bowled making room to cut and Aadil Ali was caught at long-on, leaving the tail to gather what runs it could.When Derbyshire batted, Godleman and Luis Reece took 24 off the third over of the reply, bowled by left-arm paceman Dieter Klein, and from that point there was never any concern for the visitors, though they did lose Reece, caught at long-on.Leicestershire’s travails continued in the field, Hill dropping the most straightforward of chances to dismiss Wayne Madsen behind the wicket before the South African helped Godleman see the Falcons over the line in the penultimate over.

ESPNcricinfo’s live updates on the fourth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches

Danyal Rasool05-Oct-2019

Subhan Ahmed had been a central figure in the administration in a number of roles

Umar Farooq22-Nov-2019Subhan Ahmed, one of the PCB’s longest-serving officials, has decided to part ways with the board, after 25 years. Ahmed was currently the board’s chief operating officer but over the years has been a central figure in the administration in a number of roles – and until Wasim Khan’s arrival, he was effectively the board’s CEO.He had been on leave for the past three weeks, and on Friday, PCB chairman Ehsan Mani informed the Board of Governors that Ahmed would not be returning. As per the constitution of the board, a new appointment for the COO’s post has to be made within 90 days.”It has been a wonderful journey and an honour to represent the PCB at international forums as well as to contribute in the PCB’s transformation from a semi-professional to a thoroughly professional and one of the best-performing organisations of the country,” Ahmed said in a statement. “I am grateful to all my colleagues and peers for their support and guidance, and the role they played in my development as a professional and progression from a junior officer to the Chief Operating Officer. Without their backing and patronage, I would not have achieved my career targets and objectives. I will remain a well-wisher of the PCB.”Ahmed started his career as a statistician in 1994 in PCB’s Karachi office, and then moved to Lahore in 1996 to take up a role in PCB’s international operations. He has served the board in various capacities during his long tenure, being the general manager, senior general manager, and even acting director of human resources and administration. He was installed as the COO in 2010 by Ijaz Butt, then the PCB chairman, replacing the retiring Wasim Bari.From 2010 to 2018, Ahmed became a key figure in the administration. He was instrumental in ensuring a stable relationship with the ICC and the international community during an especially tumultuous period in Butt’s tenure. Ahmed was often the man the ICC reached out to – even relied on – in its dealings with the PCB through a number of major moments, including the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka side in 2009 and the spot-fixing scandal the year after that. In the ultimately failed battle against the Big Three changes at the ICC in 2014 too, Ahmed played a key role, negotiating the PCB’s position with the BCCI, CA and the ECB.Since the arrival of Wasim Khan as the new chief executive officer, however, Ahmed’s powers had been drastically curtailed. The new PCB constitution, which was implemented this year, mandated that the COO’s functioning had to be prescribed, or directed by, the CEO in consultation with the chairman. Ahmed was overseeing four departments in the PCB administration: legal, security, infrastructure and real estate, and administration – a demotion of sorts as Khan took over the major responsibilities.Ahmed still retained influence within the board among other officials, which, it is believed ultimately became an issue. There was talk within the board of a growing “mistrust” between Ahmed and Khan which was brought to the attention of Mani. The situation became so that ultimately, it was clear that Ahmed would have to leave for Khan to have the space to work in his position.Mani, though was effusive in his praise for Ahmed’s years of service, and hinted at involving Ahmed for specific projects in the future.”Subhan has made outstanding contributions to the PCB with respect, humility and integrity. Over the past so many years, he was at the forefront when the PCB made changes to how it operated and negotiated lucrative commercial deals to ensure the sport continues to remain healthy and thrive in Pakistan. In this background, it is sad to see him depart,” Manis said in a statement.”Subhan will reflect on his time at the PCB with a lot of pride as the organisation came out of age during his watch and earned the reputation as one of the most respected cricket bodies in the world. That is his legacy and an inspiration for all those who are or will serve this great institution in years to come. On behalf of the PCB, I thank Subhan for his untiring services and wish him well for the future. The PCB would like to continue to benefit from his experience and we will be discussing a role based on specific projects.”

Australia’s limited-overs captain has absolutely no fear of bias being shown by new selector Bailey

Alex Malcolm27-Nov-2019Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch believes that George Bailey’s quality as a person and a cricketing judge will transcend any danger of bias towards his Tasmania or Hobart Hurricanes team-mates as the newly appointed selector alongside Trevor Hohns and Justin Langer.Cricket Australia confirmed on Wednesday that Bailey has been appointed as the third national selector alongside chairman Hohns and coach Langer.Bailey, 37, is currently still playing domestic cricket and will begin his tenure as a full-time selector in early February when he retires from all forms of cricket after the BBL. He will be available to play in Tasmania’s last two Shield games prior to the BBL and the Hurricanes entire BBL season before fully committing to his new role.In the interim, he will serve as a National Teams advisor and work closely CA’s head of National Teams Ben Oliver, Langer, and Hohns. Bailey has already had conversations with Finch as his main brief will be focussing on the T20 team ahead of the 2020 World Cup.Finch said he had no concerns that Bailey would give preferential treatment to his current team-mates from a selection standpoint.”Not at all, no, I haven’t heard anyone even doubt the decision,” Finch said. “I think everyone, all the players I’ve spoken to, are rapt with the decision. To have someone who is obviously still playing but he’s a professional, he’s been around the game for a long time, he might get sledged a bit less though.”No doubt that will not be an issue.”Bailey captained Australia in both the 2012 and 2014 T20 World Cups, leading them to a semi-final in 2012 before being bounced out in the group phase 2014.Finch is delighted to have someone with those experiences on the panel. With the exception of when former captain Michael Clarke formally sat on the panel for a brief period following the Argus review in 2011, no previous Australian selector had played a T20 international. Langer, Darren Lehmann, Andy Bichel and Jamie Cox all had limited T20 playing experience at domestic level. But Langer and Lehmann have both won BBL titles as coaches.”(It’s great to have) someone who has been heavily involved in T20 cricket, in particular, someone who has captained Australia and knows what it takes to be an elite player and someone who hasn’t always done it the easy way,” Finch said.”He’s challenged himself technically a lot of times, George, and I think just the way that he played the game is brilliant and to have that talent identification as well is really important.”Finch did not think Bailey’s appointment would spurn a generation of Australian batsmen who stand with their back turned to the bowler as Bailey has done in recent years.”I don’t think you can teach that to anyone, nor would you,” Finch said.Bailey’s appointment rounds out the selection panel. Hohns and Langer have been picking teams as a two-man panel since the end of the Ashes series, which has its own challenges. Previously, with Greg Chappell as the third member, on the rare occasion a contentious or line-ball decision arose a vote would be held with the majority holding sway. That hasn’t happened in recent times, although Langer is well known for consulting widely among trusted confidants and coaches around Australia before making any key selection decisions in conjunction with Hohns.”I think that what’s important is that everyone gets on the same page,” Finch said. “Having three selectors now, I think it’s a good mix. When there’s two, it’s just up to an opinion isn’t it, and one of them always wins out over the other. So having three, it probably creates a sense where you can challenge opinions a lot more and, I suppose, get a really streamlined process in selection.”Bailey beat out contemporary Michael Klinger for the role. Klinger advanced well into the interview process with CA, before withdrawing after being appointed as the Melbourne Renegades new head coach.Bailey said in a statement that he was delighted to take on the new role.”I am passionate about the long-term success of the Australian cricket team and advancing the cause of Australian cricket in general,” Bailey said. “I have been fortunate enough to contribute as a player for quite a few years, and to now have the opportunity to continue in the role of selector is a tremendous honour.”I’m confident I can add value to the selection process and that my experience will be complementary to that of Trevor and Justin. I am really excited to be joining them in the coming months.”