Somerset believe they have played an important part in giving England a head start to the Test series against India after being able to “bully” India for three days in Taunton

Andrew McGlashan17-Jul-2011Somerset believe they have played an important part in giving England a head start to the Test series against India after being able to “bully” the visitors for three days in Taunton. The Indians were never a threat in their lone warm-up match before Lord’s as their bowling was twice taken apart and the batting folded for 224.For most of the contest, once they had lost the toss on a flat pitch, the Indians didn’t appear to have their heart in the game whereas the county side took it very seriously. They were determined to limit the value India could take from the outing, which is why they didn’t enforce the follow-on. Then Peter Trego embarrassed them with a 57-ball 85, which left them looking well short of readiness for the first Test.”I fully understand it’s quite difficult for Test sides to get themselves up for these games, however it’s about practising good habits,” Andy Hurry, the Somerset coach, said. “They are going to come up against a stern test against a side challenging to be No. 1, so they’ll have to lift their game. I’m sure they will, playing at the home of cricket, but it’s been interesting – their approach and how that reflects in the way they performed.”It was important that we gave it our best shot and really put them under the pump. We won the toss on a great batting pitch, dominated the game and started to bully them, which is a great position for England to sit back in their seats and appreciate what we have done for them.”We had an opportunity to build scoreboard pressure, then got our rewards and bowled them out,” he said. “They were looking for the follow-on but we weren’t giving them that. It was an opportunity for us to go in again and reinforce our position before giving them a little dart at the end to try and bowl them out.”Andrew Strauss, preparing for the Test series with a guest appearance, made the most of his time with scores of 78 and an unbeaten 109 to ensure he enters the main contest in good spirits following his lean time against Sri Lanka earlier in the season. Hurry couldn’t praise Strauss highly enough for his short spell with the team and the benefit it brought to the younger players.”It’s been a perfect three days for him,” Hurry said. “We kept the Indians in the field for a number of overs. He looked really busy at the wicket and built his innings. He’s been outstanding to have in the changing room. The boys have thrived on having him around. He’s been a real good egg.”It’s had a huge positive effect on the younger players. Guys who have aspirations of playing for England now understand what the England captain is about. He has an aura about him. [As he] sat in the changing room, the guys were listening to everything he said about batting and the England set-up. It’s been positive from all sides.”

Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma are the latest additions to India’s long list of injured players during their tour of England

Nagraj Gollapudi at Chester-le-Street03-Sep-2011Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma are the latest additions to India’s long list of injured players during their tour of England. Tendulkar missed the first ODI at Chester-le-Street because of an aggravation of an old toe injury, while Rohit fractured his right index finger off the first ball he faced, an injury likely to rule him out of the series.”Sachin Tendulkar is suffering from an inflammation to the bone in his big toe on the right foot,” Shivlal Yadav, India’s manager, told ESPNcricnfo. “In the past he had a fracture to this bone and yesterday, after the training, he felt a little pinch. In the morning he went for a light jog and felt pain. Immediately he spoke to Ashish Kaushik, the Indian team physio, and both felt it would be safe to rest him for this match. On Monday Tendulkar will visit a surgeon in London.”Rohit was struck on the glove by a short ball from Stuart Broad off the first ball he faced. He received some attention from the physio and grimaced when the swollen index finger on his right hand was touched. He left the field immediately and went to the hospital, where scans revealed a fracture.The extent of the damage will be ascertained when Rohit visits a hand specialist, Rupert Eckersley, in London on Monday, after which a decision will be taken on his continued participation on the tour. However, India’s captain, MS Dhoni, was not optimistic. “It does not look like Rohit will feature in the series,” he said after the game was washed out.India have been rocked by a series of injuries on this tour of England, beginning with Zaheer Khan’s hamstring pull on the first day of the Lord’s Test. Following his withdrawal from the series, the BCCI said he not only suffered from a recurring hamstring problem, but also required surgery on his right ankle. Yuvraj fractured a finger on his left hand, while Harbhajan strained his stomach muscle, during India’s crushing defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge, ruling them out of the rest of the tour.Opener Virender Sehwag, it was understood, had not completely recovered from the shoulder surgery he underwent immediately after the IPL in May, and was suffering from hearing problems in his left ear, after being exposed to a loud sound on July 24, according to the team management. In another major setback, Gautam Gambhir failed to recover from a concussion he picked up while fielding on the third day of the final Test, subsequently missing the limited-overs leg of the tour. He had also missed the second Test at Trent Bridge after being struck on the elbow at Lord’s.Praveen Kumar had also joined India’s long list of injured, missing the fourth Test at The Oval because of an injury to his left ankle, before recovering in time for the Twenty20 international on August 31. Ishant Sharma wasn’t as fortunate, returning home after the Tests following a ligament injury to his left ankle, which will require surgery, during the third Test at Edgbaston.

Chris Gayle played the sort of innings only he can to give Royal Challengers Bangalore the sort of win they desperately needed to keep their Champions League Twenty20 campaign alive

The Report by George Binoy03-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle hit eight sixes during his 86 off 46 balls•Associated Press

Chris Gayle played the sort of innings only he can to give Royal Challengers Bangalore the sort of win they desperately needed to keep their Champions League Twenty20 campaign alive. Gayle’s assault ensured the margin of victory – 51 runs – was the largest of the tournament, and not only did it earn the Royal Challengers their first points but also dragged their previously negative net run-rate ahead of that of three other teams in Group B.The Royal Challengers now need only to win their remaining game, against South Australia, by a reasonable margin to make the semi-finals. Despite the severity of today’s defeat, though, Somerset also need only to win their last group game against Warriors to progress.After defeats in their first two matches, the Royal Challengers were the only team without points, and Daniel Vettori lost the toss on a ground where teams prefer to chase. The trace of dismay in Vettori when Alfonso Thomas asked the Royal Challengers to bat, however, had disappeared long before they finished with the tournament’s highest total – 206. It would have disappeared when Gayle was hitting eight of RCB’s 14 sixes, on his way to 86 off 46 balls.Somerset had their chances early in the match – two of them were difficult – to prevent this suffering but they didn’t take them. Gayle was dropped in the second over, two balls after he had hit his first four to get off the mark. He miscued a loft off Steve Kirby over extra cover but Jos Buttler couldn’t run back quickly enough. In Kirby’s next over – the fourth off the innings – Gayle survived two run-out attempts off the same ball, both at the same end. He was on 8 at the time.Tillakaratne Dilshan, Gayle’s opening partner, was also let off. He initiated the acceleration by scooping Peter Trego over short fine leg, but when he tried to repeat it next ball, he didn’t connect as well. Kirby, who had to run back from the circle, dived and pushed the ball towards the boundary. Dilshan then charged to blaze through cover, the third consecutive four, and also slogged over the long-on boundary to take 19 off the third over.Gayle had thumped the ball to the boundary every now and then but his start was relatively sedate: only 29 came off his first 25 balls. By that time, Roelof van der Merwe had bowled Dilshan round his legs and Virat Kohli had begun striking the ball splendidly on a true pitch and a quick outfield. Kohli lofted Murali Kartik’s left-arm spin for a four through extra cover and a six over long-off to take Bangalore to 87 for 1 after 10 overs.A few minutes later, Gayle had teleported to 53 off 31 balls, bringing up his half-century with a leg glance off Trego to the boundary. He plundered George Dockrell’s left-arm spin to get there, launching three sixes in the 11th over, over midwicket, long-on and the sightscreen. He celebrated his fifty by sending Trego over the sightscreen and dismissed Kartik over midwicket and square leg as well. Gayle moved to 86 as early as the 17th over with another six over long-on off Trego and a century seemed imminent. It wasn’t to be, though, for Thomas induced a top edge off a pull that was held by Arul Suppiah at deep midwicket.Useful contributions from Mayank Agarwal and Arun Karthik – who replaced Mohammad Kaif for this match and hit a six in the final over – took the Royal Challengers past 200.Even though Somerset were faced with the most daunting chase of the competition, Trego was not about to give up. He had been hit for 50 runs in three overs and he wanted to return the punishment. Trego and Craig Kieswetter gave the innings a powerful start, adding 42 in 4.1 overs before Kieswetter was dismissed. He had charged to attack Vettori and edged to the wicketkeeper Karthik.van der Merwe entered and dispatched his second ball, from Vettori, into the stands at midwicket. The third, he skied straight up in the air and Karthik held his second catch.Somerset were not done yet though. Trego took charge of the chase and in the tenth over, bowled by Gayle, he ransacked 22 out of 24 runs, hitting two sixes and two fours. Somerset went past 100 in that over, earlier than the Royal Challengers had. Trego went past 50, by cutting Vettori for four, off his 31st delivery, just as quick as Gayle.Trego, however, had little support from his team-mates and, as wickets fell at one end, the asking-rate soared to 16 by the end of the 15th over. When it touched 19 for the first time, Trego lashed at Raju Bhatkal and skied a catch to Vettori at mid-off. Somerset’s chase was over.

Yorkshire’s final day of the season was also their most successful as a glittering career-best performance from Ryan Sidebottom paved the way for an emphatic six-wicket victory over Somerset at Headingley

10-Sep-2011
ScorecardYorkshire’s final day of the season was also their most successful as a glittering career-best performance from Ryan Sidebottom paved the way for an emphatic six-wicket victory over Somerset at Headingley. But the home celebrations were somewhat muted because Worcestershire, despite their defeat at the hands of Sussex, need to pick up only one point against Durham next week to send Yorkshire tumbling into the Second Division.Even so, Yorkshire could not have wished for a better end to their campaign. They polished off the last four Somerset wickets for the addition of only eight runs in the morning and then cantered to their 203 target with 22 overs to spare.Three of the wickets were claimed by the unstoppable Sidebottom who finished with figures of 7 for 37 to give him a match return of 11 for 98. It was the third time that he has enjoyed a match haul of 10 wickets or more and his 63 wickets in the season was easily a personal best. Furthermore, Sidebottom’s match analysis was the best by a Yorkshire bowler at Headingley since he himself grabbed 11 for 43 against Kent in 2000.The game was still evenly poised when Somerset resumed on 124 for 6 with an overall lead of 194, but it quickly went Yorkshire’s way as Sidebottom struck by having Alfonso Thomas caught at slip by Adam Lyth before Craig Meschede’s off-stump was flattened by Ajmal Shahzad, leaving the rampant Sidebottom to polish off Murali Kartik and Steve Kirby.With plenty of time at their disposal, Yorkshire were able to make a careful start through Joe Root and captain Joe Sayers, the openers having put on 49 in 16 overs by lunch. Root continued to do the lion’s share of the scoring and he had contributed 46 to the 85 partnership when he was lbw to one which nipped back from Thomas.Further pressure was then applied by left-arm spinner Kartik who picked up two wickets as a result of excellent catches, Arul Suppiah tumbling over at mid-on to get rid of Adam Lyth and Peter Trego swooping to pluck up a left-handed catch at slip from the obdurate Sayers.Yorkshire soon got back on top as Anthony McGrath and Jonny Bairstow took control and by tea they had moved the score on to 151 for 3, with McGrath on 19 and Bairstow 29. McGrath plundered three consecutive fours off Kirby, the second of them going through the outstretched hands of Alex Barrow at third slip, and when Bairstow reached 39 he became the only Yorkshire batsman to score 1,000 Championship runs in the season.Bairstow celebrated with three consecutive fours off Thomas but McGrath was caught behind attempting to hit the winning runs with a six, leaving Gary Ballance to finish things off with a boundary.During the lunch interval it was announced that Bairstow had won the club’s player of the year award with Ballance taking the players’ player of the year award. The fielding prize went to Lyth, the young player of the year was Bairstow, and the Academy player of the year award went to Alex Lees.

Pakistan will play two Tests, three ODIs and one Twenty20 between November 29 and December 21, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2011

Pakistan in Bangladesh 2011-12

• Twenty20, November 29, Mirpur

• 1st ODI, December 1, Mirpur

• 2nd ODI, December 3, Mirpur

• 3rd ODI, December 6, Chittagong

• 1st Test, December 9-13, Chittagong

• 2nd Test, December 17-21, Mirpur

Pakistan will play two Tests, three ODIs and one Twenty20 between November 29 and December 21, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced. The series was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan, but the BCB swapped it with a return series that’s scheduled for April 2012.Pakistan arrive in Bangladesh on November 26, and play the one-off Twenty20 on November 29 at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The first and second ODIs are at the same venue on December 1 and 3, while the third is on December 6 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. The first Test is from December 9 in Chittagong, and the second from December 17 in Mirpur. There are no tour games scheduled.This is the first full series between the two teams since 2003, and the first time Pakistan will tour Bangladesh since 2001-02.

A round-up of the action from the first day of the sixth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011Waqar Ahmed and Noor-ul-Amin took four wickets apiece as Peshawar skittled Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) for 164 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. Waqar ran through the top order to reduce KRL to 91 for 6, with none of the top six batsmen making more than Yasir Arafat’s 32. Zulfiqar Jan, the captain and wicketkeeper, battled to make 36 not out and take his side past 150 as Noor-ul-Amin cleaned up the lower order. Points leaders Peshawar stuttered a bit in their reply, losing two early wickets before ending the day on 34 for 2.Saeed Bin Nasir made an unbeaten 103 to keep Karachi White‘s innings together against Multan at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi. Karachi lost wickets in a heap early on, and were 51 for 5 when Mohammad Hasan joined Nasir at the crease. They slowly rebuilt the innings, adding 101 for the sixth wicket before Hasan fell for 43. But Nasir found a second willing ally in Faraz Ahmed (31*), and they added a further 70 to take their side to 222 for 6 at the close of the first day.Naeemuddin and Usman Arshad helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to a strong position at 262 for 3 against Lahore Ravi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Openers Azeem Ghumman and Naeemuddin got SNGPL off to a steady start, adding 66 before Ghumman was trapped in front by Saad Nasim for 44. SNGPL lost two quick wickets after that, but Arshad and Naeemuddin made sure there were no further losses. At the close, Naeemuddin was 126 not out while Arshad was unbeaten on 60.There was an unbeaten century from an opener at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground as well, where Irfan Haider’s 111 was the cornerstone of Lahore Shalimar’s first-innings effort against Hyderabad. It was the 29-year-old Haider’s maiden century, playing only his third first-class match, though he had a brief domestic limited-overs career between 1999 and 2002. Haider was ably assisted by Adnan Raza’s 82, with the pair adding 150 runs for the third wicket after Lahore lost two early wickets. Hyderabad struck three times after that, to restrict Lahore to 266 for 5 at stumps.Only 47.1 overs of play was possible at the National Ground in Islamabad, where United Bank Limited crawled to 123 for 4 against Quetta. UBL’s top order struggled against Quetta, with none of the top five making it past 20 and their No. 3 Adnan Baig being forced to retire hurt. Thair Mughal’s unbeaten 49 added some respectability to the UBL total.

Nathan Lyon and Daniel Vettori bowl with opposite hands and could not be further apart in the volume of their Test match experience. Yet their intelligence and application were at a similarly high level on day two in Brisbane

Daniel Brettig at the Gabba02-Dec-2011Nathan Lyon and Daniel Vettori bowl with opposite hands, in contrasting fashions, and could not be further apart in the volume of their Test match experience. Yet their intelligence and application were at a similarly high level on day two of the first Test, as Lyon claimed the best figures by an Australian finger spinner at the Gabba in 80 years, and Vettori kept New Zealand in the match with a typically feisty 96.After an eye-catching few overs on the first day, when he spun the ball on a moist pitch and could easily have had more than his one wicket, Lyon was rewarded on the second morning, and might have done better had Mitchell Starc not allowed himself to be diverted from a chance offered by Vettori. His loop, spin and bounce were beguiling, and maintained the strong progress he has made since a notable debut against Sri Lanka in Galle.Just as importantly, Lyon responded to his coach Mickey Arthur’s assertion that in his sixth Test, he needed to take a more senior role in the attack that has been reduced to four bowlers by the absence of Shane Watson’s versatility. Cradling figures of 4-69, Lyon agreed he had been ready to step up.”Yeah you could say that, I’m pretty confident with my own skill set and the way the ball’s been coming out of my hand at training,” Lyon said. “I’ve been working pretty hard, but saying that there’s still a lot of work to do on my bowling as far as I’m concerned. I’m not going to settle there, I’m going to strive to get better and more consistent.”Much was made of Lyon’s lack of Gabba experience, but he quietly pointed out that he has been playing at new venues all year, not only for Australia but South Australia, too.”It’s just like everywhere else I’ve played Test match cricket where I haven’t played on any other venue,” he said. “So it’s just getting used to the conditions as quick as possible and trying to adapt. I certainly spoke to Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer especially.””We had certain plans for certain batsmen, but Ricky was pretty big on me finishing my action, which is big for myself to get the revs on the ball and hopefully get the bounce out of the wicket, that’s the big thing Ricky and myself spoke about. I was really happy with the way the ball came out of my hand, but there’s still more work for me to do.”Vettori faced enough of Lyon during his innings to be impressed, describing the 23-year-old as aggressive in the best way.”I think he looks like an aggressive spinner and I think that’s what you want,” Vettori said. “He’s a guy who has the ability to take wickets and I think he bowled really well, he got some bounce and turn and he put pressure on us, particularly early yesterday. So that’s what you want to see in a spinner and he did a great job.”He flights it up and he bowls the occasional quicker one. It’s what we all do. It is not always easy to face, but on this wicket I thought he bowled in the right areas and put some pressure on us.”Vettori made his own history when he took the new ball moments before lunch, the first spinner to do so at the Gabba since Bill O’Reilly during the Bodyline series in 1932-33. The gambit worked indirectly, as David Warner failed to adjust from spin to pace in time to avoid gloving a Tim Southee lifter.”Warner on debut, the ball looked like it had spun a little bit, and as an opening batsman I guess you prepare to face fast bowling all the time, particularly at the Gabba,” Vettori said. “So it was just trying to mix it up as much as we can, and we probably would have done it no matter what the situation, but it worked out well, one over before lunch and one after lunch.”Vettori’s own batting has developed enormously over his long career, to the point that he can now be counted among the most dangerous No. 7 batsmen in the world, if hardly one of the most orthodox. He said the genesis of his improvement had been the fact he did not want to be cringing when reminded of his record.”I was embarrassed with my own statistics,” he said. “I thought I was a better player than that. I was probably a bit loose and probably a bit nervous when I went out to bat, and I tried to turn those things around, tighten up my technique and be a lot more positive when I walk out to the middle.”It has allowed my game to flourish, be aggressive and hopefully put teams onto the back foot, because you see all the good players who’ve come in seven, eight or nine, they’re always aggressive and take the game away from you. I tried to model myself a bit on that.”The only disappointment of Vettori’s innings was the manner of its conclusion, a scampered single attempt allowing Michael Hussey to throw down the stumps. Vettori said he was more disappointed to have thrown away comfortable batting conditions than his seventh Test hundred.”It was probably more about how batting was getting easier and easier,” he said. “So to be dismissed in that manner was pretty disappointing because I thought Dean [Brownlie] and I could’ve batted for a long time.”

James Anderson has said his desire to win a recall to the England Twenty20 squad was the motivation behind his decision to enter into the IPL auction

George Dobell in Dubai02-Feb-2012James Anderson has said his desire to win a recall to the England Twenty20 squad was the motivation behind his decision to enter into the IPL auction.Anderson, a key figure in England’s ascent to the top of the world Test rankings, is one of several members of the squad who will appear in the auction to be held in Bangalore* on Saturday. Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior and Chris Tremlett will also be involved in the auction. Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen already have IPL contracts in place.Anderson, currently third in the ICC Test bowling rankings, said concerns over his hectic schedule had provoked him to think long and hard about whether to put his name forward. He eventually reasoned that if he were to have any chance of earning a recall to the England side that will seek to retain its World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka in September he needed to gain more experience in the format. His last T20I appearance came against South Africa in 2009.”At the end of the day, I’ve not played T20 cricket for God knows how long and I want to get back into the England T20 side,” Anderson said. “It was a hard thing to weigh up but that’s what I went for in the end.”Having the odd T20 stuck on to the end of a tour isn’t going to prepare us for a world tournament. The more exposure guys can get to T20 cricket, the better it is in the long run.”Though Anderson joked he would be handing his phone to the umpire at square leg to ensure he was kept up to date with events at the auction, he insisted that talk of the potential big money on offer would not distract England during the third Test against Pakistan. Anderson has a reserve price of $300,000 in the auction, which will take place on the second day of the Test.”I think we’re professional enough not to talk about something like that during a Test match,” Anderson said. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue at all. It’s something completely separate from what we’re involved in at the minute and it’s for individuals to talk about outside of the Test match. We won’t be talking about it as a team.”Anderson also outlined England’s motivation for an improved performance in the final Test of the series against Pakistan. Although Pakistan have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, England require at least a draw to be certain of retaining their top-ranked status. If England lose 3-0 and South Africa subsequently beat New Zealand by the same margin, South Africa would leapfrog England. South Africa would also then win the $175,000 prize money allocated by the ICC to the Test team that is top of the rankings on April 1.”We don’t want to just be one-hit wonders,” Anderson said. “Becoming the No. 1 side has been our goal for a number of years. We don’t want to have six months of lapping up everyone saying how good we are and then disappearing. We want to stay there as long as we possibly can and that’s why we need to win the game on Friday. We also want to be in a really good position when South Africa come to England in the summer.”Our goal was to become No.1 and, when we became No.1, we wanted to set new goals. As a team we’ve chatted often about wanting to become the best England team there has ever been. We’ve not got off to a great start doing that but the beauty of this team is we have got strong characters in the dressing-room, guys that can face up to the pressure.”*05:00 GMT, Feb 2: This story previously said the auction would be held in Mumbai. this has been corrected

New Zealand captain Ross Taylor is expecting a green top for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Napier, starting on January 26

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2012Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, is expecting a grassy pitch for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Napier, starting on January 26. The pitch at McLean Park is one of the country’s finest for batting, but New Zealand may prefer playing to their strengths – pace – following their success in the Hobart Test against Australia where they played four fast bowlers.”I think there’s going to be a lot more grass left on this pitch than there has been in the past,” Taylor told . “We saw how we played in Hobart in seaming conditions. It’s not easy with the bat but it’s a nice test of our mindset.”We’ll have to wait and see. Napier’s weather is pretty good, but I’m sure whatever surface we get will be a little bit different, or a lot different, from the last one.”The previous Test at the venue, in December 2009, ended in a draw, with both New Zealand and Pakistan scoring over 450 in the second and third innings respectively.New Zealand played a one-off Test during their tour of Zimbabwe in November 2011 and managed a tense victory on the final day as the hosts fell 34 short in their chase of 366.New Zealand surprised Australia in seaming conditions in Hobart, thanks to their four-pronged seam attack comprising Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Chris Martin and Tim Southee. Taylor, however, wasn’t sure yet if they would serve up seaming pitches against South Africa later in the summer.”We’re not thinking too far ahead. They [South Africa] are pretty good on any conditions really,” Taylor said.Taylor expressed concern over his own batting form ahead of the one-off Test. He managed one half-century in four innings in Australia and began the HRV Cup, New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 tournament, with 95 for Central Districts. He hasn’t scored a half-century in six innings since.”We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up, but I thought that where my game is at the moment I wouldn’t mind spending a bit of time on my feet,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to get a gauge [on my form]. Twenty20 is all about momentum – not only how you’re playing, but how the team’s playing. With Central Districts, we didn’t play too well and I had an average campaign. There’s still a long season ahead and I still feel okay.”With the Twenty20 season on in New Zealand, Taylor volunteered to captain a New Zealand XI in the three-day match against the touring Zimbabweans, starting on Saturday, to get himself Test ready.”People say it’s easy to change up from Twenty20 to Test cricket. But I disagree. It is a lot harder than you think. It’s more a mindset change than technique.”For me, personally, you get into bad habits playing Twenty20. Little things creep into your game. That’s the good thing with a warm-up game and the nets with the red ball. You get a chance to iron out those flaws.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has signed as Leicestershire’s overseas player for the 2012 season

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2012Ramnaresh Sarwan, the former West Indies captain, has signed as Leicestershire’s overseas player for the 2012 season. He will join the county for the entire season, subject to gaining clearance from the West Indian Cricket Board and a UK work permit. He will be a part of Leicestershire’s pre-season tour of Barbados in mid-March, before flying to the UK.Sarwan has not been a part of the West Indies setup since the home series against India in June 2011, and has not played any cricket since then due to confusion over his fitness. The Guyana Cricket Board left Sarwan out of their squad for the Caribbean T20, saying they were unsure of his fitness, but Sarwan criticised the board, saying he was fit and had informed the board of that. Sarwan has also had his differences with the WICB in the past.Leicestershire have had Australia allrounder Andrew McDonald as their overseas player in the Championship at various stages of the past two seasons, but McDonald has not played for Australia since 2009 and hence cannot get a work permit to play in England. Sarwan, who has previously played for Gloucestershire, will be his replacement.”We are delighted to have completed the signing of Ramnaresh Sarwan,” Leicestershire chief-executive Mike Siddall said. “He has an impressive Test record and his availability to play all forms of the game for us during the 2012 season is an added bonus. We wanted to sign an experienced overseas batsman and Ronnie certainly fits the bill.”Sarwan has played 87 Tests and has scored 5842 runs at 40.01.