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Essex are being sued by a former youth team coach for wrongful dismissal after he warned of inappropriate standards of care at a festival at which a convicted paedophile was one of the organisers.ESPNcricinfo understands that Doug Frame, a former manager of the Essex Under-13 and Suffolk Under-17 teams, alerted the club to his concerns after the Essex Under-15 side played in a tournament run by the London Schools Cricket Association at which Wasim Aslam was an organiser.Aslam was sentenced to four years imprisonment in 2004 after indecently assaulting two teenagers.Frame has also alleged that the adults escorting the Essex Under-15 side, one of which is understood to be a well-known former player, left the team unattended until late in the evening as they went out for dinner.When Frame, who is also an employment lawyer, reported his concerns to the club he was told his services were no longer required. He argues that the reason he was given – that his son was in the set-up – is inconsistent with the county’s invitation for him to work with them at a time when his son was already involved.He is claiming wrongful dismissal under Section 43 of the Employment Rights Act. It is a section that is designed to protect whistleblowers who warn of criminality or health and safety issues.An Essex official, while declining to comment on the record, insisted Frame’s departure was mutual, that young players were cared for at all times and that the club’s actions and protocols have been approved by both Essex Police and the NSPCC. They have admitted, however, that they will not be taking part in further events organised by the London Schools Cricket Association.The case is due to be heard between 11 and 13 July.

Match Facts

February 22, 2017
Start time 11.00am local (2200GMT)New Zealand’s Trent Boult was one of the biggest buys at the IPL auction•AFP

The Big Picture

Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult are now significantly richer men after big deals at the IPL. On the flip side, players from both sides – notably Imran Tahir, Ish Sodhi and Ross Taylor – can probably count themselves unfortunate not to have gained any interest, especially Tahir as the No. 1 white-ball bowler. Most players insist they don’t take much notice of the auction as it’s out of their hands, but it will surely have been a topic of conversation in Christchurch today.However, of more immediate importance is the second one-day international. Especially for New Zealand who can’t afford to go 2-0 down against a South Africa side with 12 wins on the bounce. New Zealand fought hard to almost steal victory in Hamilton, but their top order – save Kane Williamson – was worryingly exposed by Chris Morris. For their own piece of mind, they need a century from someone in the top five.South Africa were not perfect in the opening match – the death overs were a touch wayward and there were a few loose shots to make the chase tight – but, as confident sides tend to do, they found a way to win. And being put in a few tight corners during this series is probably no bad thing in preparation for the Champions Trophy.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWWW
South Africa WWWWW

In the spotlight

Tom Latham has hit a tricky period with his last three ODI innings reading 7, 0 and 0. He was pinned on nought for ten balls in Hamilton before being trapped lbw by an inswinger from Morris. But he will have good memories of this ground: he made 137 against Bangladesh in December. He also has his second string as wicketkeeper, a role he and Luke Ronchi could alternate depending on the balance of the side.It was a rare wicketless ODI for Imran Tahir two days ago – his first since South Africa’s previous overseas one-dayer, against West Indies in Barbados, back in June – which was followed by not being bid for at the IPL. Neither will worry him much, but it was instructive to see how Williamson quickly tried to stamp some authority over him in Hamilton with a slog-sweep for six. What has the world’s No. 1 white-ball bowler got in response? You suspect plenty.AB de Villiers is 50 runs away from being the fastest to 9000 runs in ODIs•Getty Images

Team news

New Zealand have previously played Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi together at Hagley Oval – against Sri Lanka in 2015-16 – although they were barely needed. The odds favour an extra seamer being brought in although the larger playing-area works in Sodhi’s favour. If they retain Latham as keeper, it creates room for another bowler.New Zealand (probable) 1 Dean Brownlie, 2 Tom Latham (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 James Neesham, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi/Lockie Ferguson, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent BoultSouth Africa will also have to decide whether to retain Tabraiz Shamsi or return to another of their allrounders, either Wayne Parnell or Dwaine Pretorius who is now available having arrived following the birth of his child. David Miller’s finger was assessed and he passed a fitness test, but he remains an uncertain starter.*South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

This is the only day-game of the series, on a ground that has provided some high scores. Five of the nine first-innings totals at Hagley Oval have been over 300 – in the previous ODI, when New Zealand faced Bangladesh, they piled up 341 for 7. The threat of showers has subsided and there is a high forecast of 29 degrees with some sunshine for most of the day.

Stats and trivia

• AB de Villiers needs 50 runs to become the fastest to 9000 in ODIs, although there is no innings pressure on the feat with Sourav Ganguly’s current mark being 228 innings. De Villiers has batted 203 times.
• This will be South Africa’s first international match at Hagley Oval. The last time they played in Christchurch was 2004.
• In his short international career, Colin de Grandhomme has scored 319 runs off 285 balls across the three formats.

Quotes

“It’s just bizarre. A huge honour, but my focus is still heavily on concentrating on the game tomorrow.”
“New Zealand don’t give you much, they’re a seriously good fielding unit and all New Zealand sides seem a close knit bunch of guys and really fight.”
*13.20GMT, February 21: The preview was updated after David Miller’s fitness test.

Rishabh Pant has been named Delhi’s captain for the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-overs tournament that begins on February 25. Pant, 19, takes over from Gautam Gambhir, who led Delhi to the final last season. Delhi coach KP Bhaskar said it was a “consensus decision” to blood Pant for the future.”The selectors are looking at the future and they think Rishabh is the right choice,” Bhaskar told ESPNcricinfo. “They were thinking that there are four-five seniors in the team who can groom him. All the seniors – Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma – are there, and this is the right opportunity, so looking forward to the future.”Bhaskar also said the decision was made with a view to reduce Gambhir’s workload. “We think Gambhir still has a lot of cricket left in him, so let him concentrate on his batting and get runs for us. Let him have a free mind.”Pant has had a breakout season in 2016-17 that saw him finish as the fourth-highest run-getter (972 from eight matches at an average of 81.00 and a strike-rate of 107.28) in the Ranji Trophy. Pant also earned his maiden international call-up for the T20I series against England and made his debut in the final game in Bangalore.Delhi, who have named 42 probables, take on Tamil Nadu in Cuttack in their opening fixture.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBen Hilfenhaus’ unbeaten 32 off 24 balls helped Melbourne Stars stave off an accurate bowling performance from Adelaide Strikers•Cricket Australia

Six nights ago, Eoin Morgan drove Ben Hilfenhaus down the ground for six to secure an unlikely win for Sydney Thunder over Melbourne Stars.Thus it felt poetic that Hilfenhaus’ fraught, violent innings of 32 saw his team over the line by two wickets and with three balls to spare against Adelaide Strikers at the MCG, moving the Stars to third on the BBL table.On New Year’s Eve, 152 had been enough for Strikers to pull off an unlikely heist against Sydney Sixers. Against the Stars, despite the best efforts of their new signing Ish Sodhi, that same figure – which looked underpar at the innings break – was not quite enough. With four defeats to their name, their hopes of making the knockouts are all but over.Strikers’ fast start … and slow deathDavid Hussey stuck the Strikers in and 41 balls later, he’d have been wondering if he made the right call. Ben Dunk, the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer, had lost his opening partner Jake Weatherald, but raced to 35, and looked in fine touch. He had run twos hard, and picked the gaps; Strikers were 60-1, and cruising.But Hussey’s trump card, 19-year-old Liam Bowe, tossed the last ball of his first over up and Dunk bit – a touch of dip saw him fail to get to the pitch and he picked out mid-off, where the captain took a fine catch. From there, everything slowed up for the Strikers. With Dunk gone, they failed to score a boundary for seven overs. Brad Hodge and Tim Ludeman struggled for fluency and slogged their wickets away in the same Scott Boland over.With all Stars bowlers impressing (all six who bowled finished with an economy rate of 7 or 7.50), a low total was always on the cards. It took until the 18th over for Jono Dean to hit the Strikers’ first six, but he became Boland’s fourth wicket two balls later. In the following over, Ben Hilfenhaus found himself on a hat-trick.A spinner called elbowEven Kevin Pietersen admitted it was the first time he had seen Bowe, the bespectacled lad from Bendigo, bowl. But, with his funky chinaman bowling and subtle variations, he proved a triumph – and, as if to prove a point, immediately became Twitter’s top trend in Australia. His performance would have eased the Stars’ worries about the absence of Adam Zampa for the rest of the tournament.The bespectacled Liam Bowe finished with 1 for 21 on debut•Cricket Australia

Ish’s instant impactThe big difference between this year and the last – when they topped the table – for the Strikers has been the absence of their spin twins, Jon Holland (injured) and Adil Rashid (with England). So when Chris Jordan went down with a hamstring injury to compound their depleted bowling stocks, Jason Gillespie turned to Ish Sodhi.His debut could barely have gone better. He belted the final ball of Strikers’ innings for six that took the score over 150. Then, in his first over had Peter Handscomb bowled with a topspinner, and shed just two singles. His second went for five. David Hussey hit the first ball of his third down the ground for six, but the second was caught brilliantly at midwicket. In his final over, Evan Gulbis smote a six, then nudged into the leg side, with an eye on two. Sodhi sprinted across to midwicket. Pietersen hesitated turning for the second, Sodhi turned and threw to the bowlers end, where Hodge had crept in to remove the bails. It was a spectacular piece of fielding to complete a spectacular debut. It was not quite enough.The vital 18th How often does the 18th over of the chase turn a T20? Wes Agar, debutant and brother of Ashton, had been savaged by Quiney in the first over of the chase, but returned in the 16th, and bowled five dots to Hilfenhaus. Hodge trusted the youngster with another over.He nailed four down the ground, scampered two to long-on, then slogged four more through square leg. He swung and missed, then two more were slashed through the covers. A slower ball ended the over, and Hilfenhaus flat-batted it down the ground for six.There was still time for a twist. Ben Laughlin bowled Gulbis and Boland in the 19th, meaning three were required from the last. Hilfenhaus and Beer traded singles, and the game was done.

Newland’s favourite son, Jacques Kallis, didn’t say goodbye to the ground when he retired abruptly at the end of 2013 but almost three years later, he was there to say hello as the South Africans conducted their first training session of 2017. South Africa’s coach Russell Domingo asked Kallis to come in to consult at what became an extended optional net session. He spent time with every batsman, was in the team meeting then even helped to pack up at the end and Domingo’s hopes that the greatness will rub off.”He’s probably the greatest cricketer who has ever played and he’s in Cape Town. For us not to get him down to practice is stupid. He’s keen to come and watch and see what’s happening and share his experiences with some of the younger players who have never met him before,” Domingo said. “A lot of guys think of him and go, ‘Jeez – can’t he play tomorrow? Is he available?’ He’s a great player and it’s great to have him around the team.”While Kallis is most definitely not considering a cricketing comeback, he has had dalliances with coaching through T20 leagues. Kallis has coached at Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinidad in the CPL and although he does not think he wants a full-time role just yet, he admitted it is something he has started to enjoy. “It’s very rewarding. Towards the end of my career, I found I liked passing on knowledge to the guys. That’s the nice part – seeing the guys’ game develop,” he said.One player whose game Kallis has an intricate knowledge of is Hashim Amla, who he saw debut and played alongside for almost a decade. With Amla in the midst of a slump of sorts – he has not scored a century in 11 innings and a fifty in eight – Kallis spent a significant amount of time in his net and gave him “little pointers” on how to ensure he pushes on from a start. Kallis was convinced a big score is looming for the holder of South Africa’s highest individual Test score.”He is hitting it pretty well, he just needs to push on but generally he is hitting it as well as when I was playing,” Kallis said. “He has got a few 40s in that and he just hasn’t kicked on. That happens. But he is hungry, I can tell you that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went on and got a big hundred in the next Test match or two. It’s pretty much assured.”Similarly, Kallis was certain that South Africa are not in danger of slipping into complacency after a convincing win over Sri Lanka in the first Test. It was only a year ago that South Africa were on a downward spiral after losing 3-0 in India and then being beaten by England at home. Kallis believed it was a case of lesson learnt.”It’s nice to see us bouncing back from that,” he said. “One thing you can learn from that is that when you do go through good periods like we are going through now, don’t give it away. Throw your mind back to India where we were struggling. The guys certainly don’t seem complacent, they seem very hungry to keep going. They’ve learnt from that experience in terms of taking their form forward and not giving it away. They are in a very good space.”South Africa have admitted they feel better about themselves than they have for a long time and that is largely because they have unearthed some depth. From going through the 2015-16 season with many frontline bowlers injured, they now have Vernon Philander back and several others in reserve with Morne Morkel also turning up at the New Year’s training. What they have not really found is an allrounder in the Kallis mould and for that alone, even Domingo wishes Kallis was still around.”As good a batsman as he was we can always scrape together his runs but to scrape together the 15 or 16 overs he bowled is not that easy,” Domingo said. “Look at England, they’ve got Ben Stokes who plays as a fourth seamer. Angelo Mathews bowls 15 overs. Australia have Mitchell Marsh. It is one area where he has been missed.”But there have been signs in recent times that South Africa are finding another way to ensure their main quick bowlers have someone to play a supporting role. “It has presented an opportunity for a spinner to step up,” Domingo said. “Instead of the spinner bowling 10 overs the spinner’s now bowling 25 overs a day. Kallis’ greatness probably limited the opportunities for a spinner. Having him not there now means the spinners have to front up. That’s why it’s so good to see a guy like Keshav Maharaj come in. We’ve got the confidence to bowl him 25 overs a day and rotate the three seamers.”

English cricket’s ceaseless search for a solution to stress fractures suffered by fast bowlers has a new ally because of the ECB’s partnership with a global leader in athlete analytics.England teams – both men’s and women’s – have the opportunity to wear micro-sensors underneath their shirts in a three-year partnership with Catapult, a leading analytics provider.Raph Brandon, the ECB’s head of science, medicine and innovation, and Andy Flower, the former England coach, introduced the system to England Lions at the national performance centre in Loughborough this week and Brandon says the tie-up, which goes through to the 2019 World Cup in England, has already had “major benefits”.”Lower-back stress fractures will always be a challenge for us,” Brandon said. “It is particularly important for the U-19s that we monitor them very closely and do our best to protect them from injury.”Get the insight and then you can change your decisions. It is a series of learning. Thanks to the Catapult data, we have a comprehensive picture now of combined workload and training and we are establishing that joined-up picture for the best England bowlers, whether they are on contract or on the international pathway.”The challenge facing young fast bowlers as their growing bodies comes under enormous strain is the subject of a two-year research programme at Loughborough into how a young player’s spine adapts to the rigours of fast bowling.Evidence already gathered before the Catapult tie-up is that the spine of a successful England fast bowler such as James Anderson or Stuart Broad becomes as thick as any comparable spine in international sport in order to withstand the constant demands it has to bear.Brandon said: “What we know is if you get to become a Broad or an Anderson your spine on the opposite side of your bowling arm is the thickest spine in world sport. It is thicker than that of a rugby forward or any sports spine that we know. That is based on years of MRI scans with our international group.”As a young fast bowler, you will have your growth spurts where your spine grows but where it is not fully thick. You have to have a super-adapted spine to become an international fast bowler. The challenge is how to get from this thin piece of bamboo spine when you are 18 and very talented to the super-thick spine of Jimmy Anderson.”The bone adapts to loading cycles and gets stronger. You need to load it and then you need to rest and recover. The quality of data we can now capture and analyse means we now have far more facts to support the ‘feel’ we get from the expertise of our coaches in their support of the players.Catapult work with Miami University in 2015•Getty Images

“We can measure run-up speeds, the amount of acceleration going through the body, the amount of rotation going through their trunk, and so much more – in practice as well as matches. We will always have something to learn about the science behind the elite cricketer.”The decision about when to bring a player back from injury is now also likely to be built on many factors other than the old question: “Do you think you can get through okay?” being asked by a coach.”Selection is not dependent upon such data,” Brandon said, “but selectors are aware that we do have this information now. We are adding facts to the feel and the knowledge and the insights that the expert coaches and the players themselves have.”We understand the demands on individual players intimately. So when we are bringing players back from injury we know what demands they will face. If they are coming back to a Test match we have to build them up so they can cope with a certain amount of running, a certain amount of time on their feet, the total distance they are likely to travel and the likely amount of high intensity work. This very detailed work allows us to individualise our training for the players and that gives them confidence.”Although the collaboration with Catapult was motivated by the desire for fast-bowling analysis, it has also provided other insights.”Scoring a century in a one-day international will generally involve between seven and 12 miles total distance on your feet, including many sprints,” Brandon said.Such evidence has informed England’s coaches, and indeed the players, of the fitness demands involved. They will continue to give England ammunition when they chose to pull contracted England players out of county cricket – a regular bone of contention – and they are likely they played a part in Mark Robinson’s demands for better fitness levels when he took over as coach of England women earlier this year.

Australian cricket is bracing for a grim week as the New South Wales Coroners Court holds a public inquest into the circumstances surrounding the blow that killed Phillip Hughes in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November 2014.Players on the field at the time of the incident, including the likes of Brad Haddin and bowler Sean Abbott, are expected to be among witnesses called to speak. The Hughes family is also expected to be present at the inquest.Hughes’ death has already been the subject of a Cricket Australia-commissioned review, which found that no amount of increased head protection could have changed the course of events. However that review steered clear of issues surrounding the bowling of bouncers and the laws of the game, lines of enquiry expected to be pursued this week.”The State Coroner will examine the manner and cause of death,” a spokesperson for NSW Coroners Court said. “He also has jurisdiction under section 82 of the Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) to make recommendations, particularly in the interest of public health and safety.”Some of the issues that will be examined include how the fatal injury occurred, the nature of play and whether it exacerbated the risk of injury and whether or not a protective helmet would have minimised the risk of Phillip Hughes dying. It will also examine emergency planning and response, as well as training.”At this stage, the State Coroner has not decided whether findings will be handed down at the end of next week.”When the CA review, conducted by David Curtain QC, was handed down, CA chief executive James Sutherland explained how his terms of reference had been limited in order to preserve the fabric of the game.”You’ll see in the brief terms of reference we gave David Curtain that we needed to draw a line about the laws of the game and to have some perspective around that,” Sutherland said. “You can make the game of cricket a lot safer by playing with a tennis ball, but that’s not how Test cricket has been played and it would obviously be a very different game.”We’re not wanting to go there, but we do need to find the right balance in the circumstances to not compromise the way the game’s played and not compromise the way in which the players are best equipped to show their skills.”

The Supreme Court has told the BCCI to stop issuing funds to state associations that will not comply with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. It told the board that no further money should be given unless the state association passes a resolution to implement the recommendations and submits an affidavit before the court.In an interim order issued on Friday, the court also said that funds disbursed by the BCCI to certain state associations after the board’s annual general meeting in November 2015, should go into a fixed-term deposit until further directions.On Thursday, the court was told by amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium that the BCCI had disbursed “substantial sums” to state associations before putting in place a disbursement policy, which was one of the recommendations the board had to adopt by the September 30 deadline. Subramanium said the action was in defiance of the Lodha Committee’s directives.Kapil Sibal, the lawyer representing the BCCI, had said in his client’s defence that the disbursement was an “ordinary and routine matter” and not “forbidden” by the Lodha Committee. The interim order said Sibal had revealed to the court that the BCCI had got INR 2500 crore as compensation from the broadcaster on account of termination of the Champions League T20, which was discontinued last year.Sibal had told the court that about INR 1500 crore went towards taxes and other liabilities, leaving BCCI with a net amount of Rs.1036.78 crore. “He submitted that in terms of a decision taken in the AGM held on 09.11.2015, 70% of balance amount of Rs.718.24 crores was to be disbursed to 25 Associations in the country @ Rs.28.73 crores per Association,” the order said. “A sum of Rs.12 crores out of the said amount was released to each one of the Associations pursuant to the said resolution leaving the balance amount of Rs.16.73 crores unpaid.”Subramanium contended that the disbursement of such large amounts was not a routine matter and was done on an “ad-hoc basis” with the intention to “appease and possible induce” the board members to “oppose” the Lodha Committee recommendations.In its order, the court said it did not want to take a “final view” on whether any action should be taken against the BCCI and its office bearers.However, the court found fault with the BCCI’s position that it could not adopt the Memorandum of Association and Rules, a step that would signal it had adopted the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, because of the “reluctance” of state associations to do so.”If that be the position, there is no reason why the State Associations that are opposed to the reforms suggested by Justice Lodha Committee and accepted by this Court should either expect or draw any benefit from the release of grants by the BCCI,” the order said.Arvind Datar, another lawyer representing the BCCI, argued that only 13 state associations had received the balance amount of INR 16.73 crores each. The court said: “No further amount in terms of the Resolution passed in AGM on 09.11.2015 or any subsequent resolution by the BCCI or its Working Committee shall be disbursed to any State Association except where the State Association concerned passes a proper resolution to the effect that it is agreeable to undertake and to support the reforms as proposed and accepted by this Court in letter and spirit.”Such an “unequivocal” undertaking needed to be signed by the president of the state association and presented both to the Lodha Committee and the court.”It is only after such affidavits are filed, that BCCI may transfer the balance amount of Rs.16.73 crores payable to the State Associations. As regards the 13 State Associations to whom the payment has already been disbursed, we direct that the State Associations concerned shall not appropriate the said amount except after they have passed a resolution and filed an affidavit as mentioned above before Justice Lodha Committee and before this Court. In case the affidavits are not filed, the amount disbursed to the State Associations shall be invested by the Associations in a term deposit subject to further directions of this Court.”On October 1, the BCCI had held a Special General Meeting to consider the Lodha Committee’s recommendations and said it would only accept a selection of them. The board said it could not accept recommendations such as the age cap of 70 for office bearers, the nine-year limit for term of office broken into three, three-year terms with a cooling-off period between each term, and the one-state-one-vote policy. These recommendations, the BCCI said, had not been accepted by the board’s members – the state associations.It later emerged that the BCCI had also held an emergent working committee meeting on September 30. After hearing about decisions supposedly taken at that meeting, the Lodha Committee directed two banks to stop two specific transfers to the state associations because the BCCI had not put in place the new fund disbursement policy.The BCCI responded by claiming the ongoing India-New Zealand series was under threat because the Lodha Committee had frozen its accounts. The committee said it had done no such thing and issued a clarification to banks to not freeze the board’s accounts in total. However, several of the transfers the Lodha Committee had objected to had already been made, which prompted the committee to issue a directive to the states telling them not to touch these funds or risk being in contempt of court.These events culminated in the hearing on October 6, when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur gave the BCCI a day to agree to fall in line with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. On Friday, however, the hearing was deferred to October 17 but the interim order was damaging to the financial future of the state associations, unless they adopted the Lodha Committee recommendations.

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has narrowed his focus on high performance failings as a reason for the national team’s dire recent displays in Asian Test matches, adding scrutiny to the roles of the team performance manager Pat Howard and the selection panel.In response to repeated questioning about Australia’s three-nil hiding at the hands of an unfancied Sri Lanka in their recent Test series – a result that cost Steven Smith’s side their No. 1 ranking in the longest format – Sutherland’s rhetoric has shifted from patience to a more urgent tone.His latest words, on the day CA announced an additional $500,000 in funding for the Growing Cricket for Girls fund, followed a raft of criticism from former players, including the ex-CA Board director Mathew Hayden and the recently retired captain Michael Clarke, about the decision to rest Smith from the latter limited overs portion of the Sri Lanka tour. While Sutherland defended that decision as a matter of necessity, he was more questioning of how Australia’s players did not appear to be adding the requisite adaptability to their games.”Are some of the fundamental things that we are doing to prepare our players to perform well and be highy competitive in subcontinental conditions passing the test?” Sutherland told “I think that’s where the review gets a little bit more meaty and challenging and more fundamental, going right down into questioning our high-performance systems as well.”To be a bonafide international cricketer in this day and age, you need to be able to adapt to conditions in Australia, conditions in England, conditions in the subcontinent … wherever you play,” he said. “And that adaptability is something that needs to be reviewed because some are adapting and some aren’t.”Speaking about the longer term, Sutherland stated that Australian cricket had to reach a point where “in 10 years’ time when we tour India there is a pool of hundreds of players that could be on that tour”. These words will not be lost on Howard, out of contract next year, or the selection chairman Rod Marsh, also with a deal due to expire in 2017. CA recently hired Graham Manou to manage the junior talent pathway.On the subject of Smith, Sutherland described the captain’s imposed rest as a product of the game’s increasingly cluttered schedule. “It’s obviously far more preferable for him to stay and see that through,” he said, “but the nature of international cricket today and the calendar is that at times we need to make decisions that are in the best interests of the individual and the team.”In coming weeks at the next round of ICC meetings, Sutherland will re-embark on a task he has championed for some time – that of changing cricket’s global structures to allow more room between matches, and greater context so each contest has an easily understandable reason for existing, and by extension greater value for fans and broadcasters.

ScorecardSean Dickson buckled down to the job•Getty Images

It was a day for the purists in Royal Tunbridge Wells where bowlers toiled in the heat and dirt while Kent’s batsmen played the ball on its merits to reach 310 for 3 on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship clash with neighbours Sussex.A sluggish, two-paced pitch coupled with an outfield at The Nevill Ground that could do with a good mowing ensured an honest battle between bat and ball and, with great joy, the introduction of leg-spin before lunch as the visitors vied for a second breakthrough.Kent certainly won the cat-and-mouse tussle of day one courtesy of a second-wicket stand worth 162 in 57.2 overs between Joe Denly (78) and Sean Dickson (81) who could only muster 12 boundaries between them.Dickson, Kent’s top-scorer on a hard-working day, said: “Joe Denly and I had a chat when we were batting and we came to the conclusion that the pitch was two-paced and seemed a bit quicker from the bowlers from the Pavilion End.”Whittingham bowled me a bouncer earlier that over and, if I’m honest, I didn’t play it that well. I knew in the back of my mind he’s probably bowl me a second bouncer but I never really got into a good enough position to deal with it. I was caught between the steer and leaving it alone and did neither. I should have just ducked out of the way.”Dickson added: “I’ve been getting decent starts of late without going on beyond 50. Okay, I didn’t bat on to reach three-figures today but, looking at the bigger picture, I’ve at least helped set us up nicely for a big total.”In these conditions the pitch will only get dryer and start to break up. So the prospect for Sussex, of facing Kagiso Rabada and our two spinners on a dry wicket, isn’t going to be an inviting one.”Batting first after winning the toss, Kent lost their makeshift opener Adam Ball to the 10th ball of the match. Standing in for Daniel Bell-Drummond who is away on England Lions duty together with Sam Billings, Ball drove at his fourth ball of the day from Chris Jordan to edge to Ross Taylor at first slip and depart without scoring.Denly and Dickson saw off the new ball pairing of Steve Magoffin and Jordan, then Stu Whittingham’s first delivery of the game proved eventful, a beamer, it flew over Joe Denly’s head for six no balls leading to an official warning from umpire Nick Cook.The hosts re-grouped either side of lunch through Denly and Dickson who set out their stall to bat time. Playing back, the South Africa-born player in two minds against a short delivery and only succeeded in spooning it to Will Beer positioned in the gully.After batting over four hours Denly was also guilty of giving up his own wicket. Aiming to pull a length ball from Whittingham, he skied a top-edge to Taylor at mid-wicket to make it 199 for three. It proved to be the last success of the day for Sussex.Northeast and Stevens dug in through to stumps, Northeast passing his 50 in 77 balls while Stevens posted his first-half century since mid-May from 75 deliveries and with six fours and six.