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Phil Jaques has said he has no regrets over his decision to have surgery on his back in 2008, a move that effectively ended his international career

Brydon Coverdale01-Feb-2012Phil Jaques has said he has no regrets over his decision to have surgery on his back in 2008, a move that effectively ended his international career. However, Jaques said it was “very disappointing” that his injury prevented him from playing any more than 11 matches in a Test career that brought him three centuries, including one in his final innings.At 32, Jaques has realised his opportunities with New South Wales would continue to dwindle with the rise of young batsmen like Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson. And the potential shrinking of the Cricket Australia contract list could have meant Jaques was no certainty to win another state contract, with the possibility of several fringe Australian players returning to the state list.A two-year deal with Yorkshire was on the table and Jaques, who holds a British passport, chose the security and signed as a local player. It was a decision that will mean the end of his Australian career when this summer finishes, but Jaques will leave the Australian scene pleased with his achievements for New South Wales and in the baggy green.He became a permanent member of the Test side when Justin Langer retired, but carried a serious back injury through his entire international career. It became so severe in late 2008 that he had surgery that kept him out for nearly a year, and he never played for Australia again, stuck on 11 Tests with an average of 47.47.”I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to play more Test cricket at the time,” Jaques told ESPNcricinfo. “It was very disappointing. Ten months out of any career, anyone would be disappointed. But I’m pretty happy and proud of the things I achieved in the game.”I won a few Pura Cups, one-day comps, played for Australia, toured overseas, scored a couple of hundreds – I can’t complain about my career. I was probably just unfortunate I played in the era when I did, when we had guys like Hayden and Langer who did so well.”In the end, Jaques had no choice but to have an operation, such was the seriousness of his injury. His time out of the game allowed Simon Katich to consolidate his place as Test opener, before Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson also moved in at the top of the order. It was hard for Jaques to let his opportunity go, but cricket was secondary in his decision.”I just couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t stay in bed, I couldn’t walk around, I couldn’t sit. There was just nothing that I could do that made it comfortable,” he said. “It was starting to affect my sleeping and you can’t live without sleep. It was becoming a real issue and it was something I worked really hard at trying to fix and trying to manage, and I stayed in there for as long as I could. I probably had the back injury the whole time I played for Australia.”I played with it for two or three years, on really high doses of anti-inflammatories, which weren’t good for me. I made the decision to get it operated on based on my health. It got to the point where the drugs didn’t help me anyway. It was about getting my life back ahead of actually playing cricket. It was life first, cricket second. I’ve been blessed that it’s all gone really well and I’ve got my life back first and foremost. Cricket is a bonus.”Unfortunately for Jaques, he hasn’t hit the same batting peaks since his surgery, at least, not consistently enough to attract the attention of Australia’s selectors. He said it took him some time after the operation to get back into the swing of top-flight cricket, particularly learning what he physically could and could not do, but he is confident he has plenty to offer Yorkshire.”I’m feeling really good at the crease again,” he said. “I got a few hundreds last year in the Shield, I got back-to-back hundreds in a game, which I’d never done in my whole career. I hit 170 in a one-day game. So I can still play, it was just a matter of being able to work out what I could and couldn’t do with my training and modify it accordingly.Now the challenge for Jaques, the son of a Yorkshire-born father and a Lancastrian mother, is to find consistency in all three formats in the county game. Technically he could still qualify to play for England, but he knows his Test days are over.”I’m done with international cricket,” Jaques said. “I’m just focused on Yorkshire and playing some good cricket there, playing all three forms of the game hopefully and enjoying my cricket. I want to help them get back up into the first division where they belong.”

Arun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super Over finish

The Report by Nitin Sundar05-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli, who played a key role in RCB’s chase, celebrates an extraordinary finish•Associated PressArun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super-Over finish. It featured an astonishing century from Daniel Harris – only the third in Champions League history. It had a five-for from Shaun Tait, in a game where 429 runs came off 40 overs. It also featured sublime stroke play from Virat Kohli, who played his best T20 innings. It had strong helping hands from Callum Ferguson and Tillakaratne Dilshan.It all boiled down to the last ball, off which six were needed, and Karthik stepped up to smash Daniel Christian into the stands beyond midwicket. The crowd went up as one, the RCB dug-out exploded in joy, and even the usually laidback Chris Gayle walked out shirtless with a broad smile.In a game that unfolded like a Hitchcock whodunit, it was fitting that the winning blow came off the bat of someone who was playing only because AB de Villiers was injured. At the other end was S Aravind, the worst bowler of the day, who got close to redemption with a boundary off the third ball of that electric final over. Christian bowled a slower ball on the fourth, which Aravind slogged for two, making it seven needed off the last two. Aravind couldn’t connect with the fifth, but the batsmen scrambled through for a bye. Six needed off one, and Christian delivered a slower ball as hittable as Chetan Sharma’s infamous full toss to Javed Miandad in Sharjah. Karthik coolly stayed in his crease and heaved with all his might over midwicket to become a hero.It was heartbreak for the Redbacks, who had somehow regrouped after a virtually unstoppable 100-run stand between Kohli and Dilshan off 8.5 overs. By the time Kohli fell, he had reduced the equation to 50 off the last five overs, but RCB’s light-weight middle order gave the Redbacks a chance. Nathan Lyon piled on the pressure with a four-run 16th over, but Tait ceded the advantage with two sixes in the 17th, though he managed to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary. The next over from Aaron O’Brien also produced two sixes and a wicket, making it 18 required off 12 balls. Tait then lasered Dilshan’s stumps with a stunning yorker and got Daniel Vettori to miscue, before completing his five-for with Raju Bhatkal’s wicket. That set up the last-over climax, Christian blinked after five balls, and Karthik held his nerve to complete the first win for an IPL side against an Australian team.The performances from Tait and Karthik dominated the ending, but the contest got its substance from Harris and Kohli. Both produced innings that had no business featuring in an unabashed exhibition for T20 batting. Harris’ effort stood out for the shots he didn’t play – he went almost 18 overs without trying to hit a six, and yet coasted to a century with time to spare. Kohli’s was elevated by the shots he chose to play. Faced with an asking-rate nearing 11, and with Gayle dismissed, Kohli unfurled a series of astonishingly correct strokes.Equally telling were the chalk-and-cheese support acts from Ferguson and Dilshan. With the spinners pulling things back after Harris’ Powerplay boundary blitz, Ferguson took his time settling in before opening up in style. Dilshan, on the other hand, ignited RCB’s chase with a series of outrageous strokes, which included a couple of trademark scoops.Gayle was more subdued at the start, but he gradually found his range to muscle three sixes, before Michael Klinger caught him in the deep even as he collided grievously with Tom Cooper. Kohli walked in like he belonged in the cauldron, and opened his account with a pulled six through wide long-on. The slowness of the pitch and the variations of the Redbacks attack could not stop him from hitting through the line, and repeatedly in front of the wicket. He charged out to O’Brien and launched him with the turn over long-off, before carving Richardson for the shot of the day – an inside-out six into the stands behind extra-cover. He then gave Harris a taste of his own medicine, taking him for two sixes and three fours in the 13th over to put RCB on course for a heist.The script was completely different in the first half of the match as, for the second night on the trot, an IPL side took a hiding from an Australian batsman. Aravind’s pathetic lengths made this considerably easy – he finished with figures of 4-0-69-0, the second worst in T20 history – but that could not take any credit away from Harris.The floodgates opened in the second over, when Aravind sent down a series of slow freebies angled into the hitting zone. Harris gratefully opened up his stance and carved boundaries straight, square and fine through the off side to set the Redbacks on their way. Kohli missed a run-out in the next over, and Harris celebrated by smashing seven of his next eight balls for fours. Vettori daringly persisted with Aravind for the fourth over, only to see him repeat his predictable lengths from either side of the stumps. Harris indulged himself to move to 43 off 19 balls by the fourth over, and Vettori was left playing catch-up for the remaining 16.With the spinners coming on, Harris settled into cruise-mode, while Ferguson assuredly got his eye in. Just when the momentum seemed to be flagging a touch Aravind returned, and the Redbacks resumed their run-glut. Having taken two fours and a six off Aravind’s 16th over, Ferguson thumped Nannes emphatically for a six off the first ball off the 17th. He holed out in the 18th over, prompting Harris to finally attempt a big hit. He pounded Bhatkal over midwicket for his first six, before dumping Nannes behind square-leg to bring up the century. Incredibly, Aravind got the 20th over, and Christian duly bludgeoned five more fours to take the Redbacks to 214.Twenty overs later, Christian and Aravind had their roles reversed. And how.

Virat Kohli has said India have been playing good cricket from the one-day series in England and were confident ahead of the ODI in Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2011India’s 126-run win against England in Hyderabad was a dramatic turnaround after they had been battered by the same opposition all summer, but Virat Kohli said they had been playing good cricket from the one-day series in England. Rather than any drastic change in approach, Kohli said it was the fact that the team had continued to stay positive through the 0-3 loss in the ODIs in England that allowed them to win the game.”I think we played really well in the ODIs in England,” Kohli said. “It was just a matter of crossing the line which we couldn’t do there. Unfortunately, a few times we had rain and Duckworth/Lewis coming in at the wrong time, though we can’t really blame that. We fought hard through that series and kept our heads high; and that probably made the difference in this first game here.”India were also helped by home conditions in Hyderabad and Kohli said the spinners would be the key through the series. The second ODI, on Monday, is at Kohli’s home ground – the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, where the pitch had been quite inconsistent during the IPL in April-May.”This pitch has always been on the slower side and there isn’t much bounce,” Kohli said. “Apparently it’s improved from before. You might not see too much bounce but it should be better than before.”In Hyderabad, it was slow and it spun, and the spinners did well. That’s our strength and we would like to exploit it as much as we can. The spinners know the conditions in India really well; it’s about them expressing their skills and if they get it right it’s very difficult to tackle them on Indian wickets.”England lost six wickets to the spinners in Hyderabad, and though they had more than a week in India to prepare for the series, Jade Dernbach says they are still adjusting to conditions. “Conditions here are very different from what we experience back home,” he said. “We have just got to adapt; we can’t use the different pitches as an excuse. We know what to expect and have had good preparation for ten days.”The pitch does play a part in how quickly I bowl, and how much pace I take off the ball for the slower ones. If the pitch is very slow, then obviously you get a lot more pace taken off if you bowl a slower ball, so it gives the batsman a bit more time to see it. Those are the things you have to adapt to in terms of deciding what variations to use, and you also have to consider boundary sizes and other things.”After the first one-dayer, MS Dhoni had said that while the pitches would help the spinners, the possibility of dew could play a big role in the series, as that would affect the spinners’ ability to grip the ball. “There will be some dew here in the winter,” Kohli said. “The team batting second will also have an advantage as the wicket will settle down. This is my home ground but I have played just two games here this year so I’ll have to see what happens in the match tomorrow.”England’s coach Andy Flower admitted his side had been out-fielded by India in the first ODI, something he said did not happen often. India have a young squad for the one-day series with several senior players missing, and Kohli said there had been a concerted effort to raise the standard of fielding.”We have started to warm-up for practice sessions with fielding now. It’s a daily routine though it’s left up to the individuals how much time they want to spend on fielding practice. Whenever you have time before nets or after practice, you go and put some time in on fielding.”All of us are trying to improve as a fielding unit because it makes a huge difference if you can save 10-15 runs in the first ten overs. It sends the opposition a message and from then on they are wary of taking you on for an extra run. It’s enjoyable fielding at home because you have 60,000 people backing you. If you are feeling a bit off one day the crowd lifts you. You can’t really teach someone to enjoy fielding as it comes from within.”

Sussex thrashed champions Nottinghamshire by nine wickets in three days at Hove to secure their second win of the season in Division One of the County Championship

12-May-2011
Scorecard
Sussex thrashed champions Nottinghamshire by nine wickets in three days at Hove to secure their second win of the season in Division One of the County Championship.Openers Chris Nash and Ed Joyce continued their impressive start to the seasonwith their fourth century stand of the season as Sussex cruised to their targetof 184 in just 39.5 overs. The pair added 119 in less than 27 overs, with Nash reaching 50 for the seventhtime this season.However, he has yet to convert one of his half-centuries into a hundred andtrudged off in frustration again when he was stumped, giving Samit Patel thecharge having hit seven boundaries in his 57. New batsman Luke Wells was dropped on nought but managed to avoid a king pair by hitting Graeme Swann for six.Wells and Joyce added an unbeaten 68 for the second wicket with the latter finishing not out on 88 after he hit his 14th four to secure victory with three overs of the third day remaining.Earlier, Nottinghamshire had been bowled out for 342 although opener NeilEdwards was unable to bat after he suffered a broken wrist when he was struck byAmjad Khan.Sussex’s target would have been a lot smaller had it not been for a stand of 80in 12 overs between Adam Voges and Andre Adams. New Zealander Adams was the main aggressor, smashing 64 in 44 balls with four sixes, three of them off Amjad, and seven fours.He was eventually caught on the boundary by Amjad and Voges followed shortlyafterwards for a gritty 58 off 130 balls when he feathered a catch to give JamesAnyon his eighth wicket of the innings.Anyon finished with four wickets for 104 runs and was the pick of a perseveringattack which claimed five scalps before lunch to put Sussex in control. Monty Panesar bowled 27 balls at the start of the day without conceding a run and the pressure told when Patel cut to backward point shortly after reaching his second half-century of the game.Nightwatchman Swann swatted Anyon to fine leg and Amjad took his first wicketof the game when Chris Read top-edged a pull to leave his side 213 for 5. Steven Mullaney, who had suffered a hairline jaw fracture after being struck by Amjad on the second day, showed his bravery by hitting his first ball for six.But he was soon caught off a leading edge and Stuart Broad’s breezy innings of26 ended when he was caught behind off an Anyon delivery which nipped back. When Adams and Voges came together their side led by just 95 but Sussex struggled to contain the former, even when they took the new ball.Adams eventually played one aggressive shot too many, although the umpires onlyconfirmed Amjad had taken a clean catch after referring to the third umpire.

Chris Tremlett wants the grounds in England which are hosting Tests against India to produce lively pitches

Andrew McGlashan23-Jun-2011Chris Tremlett wants the grounds in England which are hosting Tests against India to produce lively pitches so that the hosts can make the most of home advantage with their strong pace attack. The matches will be played at Lord’s, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and The Oval and Tremlett hopes the visitors feel uncomfortable.Tremlett said the recent surface at the Rose Bowl – where he took a career-best 6 for 48 against Sri Lanka to seal the Man-of-the-Series award – was the “perfect” Test pitch with help on offer for the bowlers, but runs available for quality batsmen as Ian Bell and Kumar Sangakkara showed with their hundreds. Tremlett knows England never get any favours from India in their home country and believes the same should apply in this series.”I think that it’s important when you are playing in your home Test matches that you should be able to produce the conditions you want,” he told ESPNcricinfo at a Chance to Shine event in London. “India are used to playing in their conditions and we find it tough when we go over there so it’s about trying to use things at home to our advantage.”The Rose Bowl was the perfect Test wicket in my opinion. It had some pace, had some carry and there was a bit in it with the conditions. The lads who batted on it said the ball was coming on nicely. Generally cricket is more entertaining to watch with a pitch like that. Maybe Lord’s and Cardiff were a tad slow and the cricket a little stale at times, but hopefully there will be pace and bounce against India and we can take advantage.”However, Tremlett knows that even if conditions help England that India are going to be a tough batting line-up to break down. In his debut series in 2007 – against a line-up including Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni who will return this time – he remembers toiling hard on some flat pitches. He believes patience will be the key to bringing England success this time as they aim to overturn the 1-0 loss four years ago.Chris Tremlett hasn’t been selected for England’s one-day squad so already has an eye on India’s arrival•Getty Images”We had to be very patient and I think it will be the same this time,” he said. “They have a couple of very attacking players in Dhoni and Sehwag, but guys like Dravid and Tendulkar we know are very patient batsman and hard to remove. I think I’m good at banging an area consistently, being aggressive, but mixing it with patience and hopefully my past experiences will help.”The Test matches against India are now going to be the next cricket Tremlett plays for England after he was omitted from the Twenty20 and one-day squads to face Sri Lanka over the next three weeks. Given his form it was a surprise there was no place for him, especially with the experienced Tim Bresnan injured, but Tremlett is seeing it as an opportunity to ensure he’s at his peak for India’s arrival.”I’ve been given a rest but I also think they want to give other guys a go,” he said. “I’m disappointed, I felt I bowled reasonably well in Australia and played a couple of games at the World Cup. My focus is now to move onto the India series and be ready for that.”Even though I’m having a bit of a rest I think it’s important I keep ticking over and get some overs under my belt by playing a few Twenty20 games for Surrey and there’s a four-day game against Kent which will good preparation. There’s a chance for me to get some bowling but also to do some work in the gym and make sure I’m ready to for India.”There was a significant shift of hierarchy within England’s fast bowlers during the Rose Bowl Test with Tremlett promoted to the new ball in the second innings at the expense of Stuart Broad. It was a role he performed creditably during the Ashes, and in the second innings at Cardiff when James Anderson was injured, and while Tremlett is happy with any role in the team he does enjoy having first crack at the opposition.”I think I can play a role either way, sometimes conditions dictate that,” he said. “I feel I can offer quite a bit with the new ball with my bounce. At the same time I don’t mind using an older ball because you can get some swing when the lacquer has come off. However, I do feel I’ve done well with the new ball whenever I’ve been given the chance.”That next chance will come against one of the strongest batting line-ups in world cricket, but Tremlett won’t be fazed by the challenge. He has returned to England’s Test ranks as a close to complete fast bowler, and a successful series against India will cement him among the finest pacemen in the game.Chris Tremlett is an ambassador for Chance to Shine and was speaking on ‘Brit Insurance National Cricket Day’. Chance to Shine supported by Brit Insurance has brought cricket to over 1 million state schoolchildren. The programme costs £5million, or £15 per child, to run each year. To make a donation visit the Chance to Shine website

Twelve teams could contest the 2015 World Cup as the ICC is considering a compromise between the 14 teams of 2011 and a tight 10-team model currently on the table

Daniel Brettig and Nagraj Gollapudi04-Apr-2011Twelve teams may contest the 2015 World Cup as the ICC is considering a compromise between the 14 teams of 2011 and a tight 10-team model currently on the table for the tournament’s next edition.The ICC’s executive council is meeting in Mumbai on Monday and on the agenda is the format for the next World Cup, to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand, following the rousing success of this year’s edition, which was won by India.Following much discussion of the 10-team tournament favoured by organisers, and an outcry by Associate nations given their likely exclusion, the ICC may now be leaning towards a 12-team event, possibly with two pools of six teams followed by quarter-finals, semis and the final.”At the moment it is still 10 teams but we are discussing the 12-team option,” an ICC official told ESPNcricinfo.The same format was used in the 1996 tournament, co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and won by the Sri Lankans. Another path is to choose a round-robin model where each team plays each other once before the semi-finals, as was the case when Australia and New Zealand hosted in 1992.Prior to his team’s departure for Bangladesh, new Australian captain Michael Clarke reiterated the desire of most international players to see Associate nations given their chance on the limited-overs game’s biggest stage.”I really enjoy seeing the minnow teams getting an opportunity to be honest, I guess it’s up to the ICC to work out whatever they think is for the betterment of the game, that’s obviously their priority,” Clarke said in Sydney.”For me I think the two World Cups I’ve been involved in have been fantastic, it certainly does feel between games like you have a long period, when you’ve got six and seven days between games, but I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the minnow teams or all of the minnow teams play.”I think we’ve seen throughout this World Cup that there were a few upsets and some great cricket played, so I just hope and am certain that the ICC are looking to improve the game of cricket.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said the executive council meeting would finalise much of the discussions surrounding the next event, plans for which are already being mapped out by the Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket.”The length of 50 overs will find certain teams out but I think there are 10 teams that can seriously compete in that format,” Lorgat told Sky Sports News. “That’s a debate we are still finalising; in fact the board meeting over the next two days will consider that and will determine which teams will play in the 2015 World Cup.”Ireland were the best Associate nation at each of the past two tournaments, and their chief executive Warren Deutrom had said the deferral of a decision on the tournament format until after the 2011 event was a sensible one.”I think that is the right decision,” Deutrom said. “What it does is allow the ICC board to make a decision based on all the evidence, rather than no evidence whatsoever. We are pleased because if two or three teams do perform well during the group stages, that does provide an option to look favourably on qualification, and to see if the number of teams is quite right.”

Steve Harmison took three wickets on his Yorkshire debut as the visitors fought back late in the day at Chesterfield

Nigel Gardner at Chesterfield18-Jul-2012
ScorecardPhil Jaques made 61 for Yorkshire but no other batsman reached fifty•PA PhotosAlthough this has been a summer most will want to forget, it has been a decent one for Derbyshire and their followers. The sun has been obscured by rain clouds but this “unfashionable” county have basked in the warm glow of County Championship success.It has been 13 seasons since Derbyshire sat down at domestic cricket’s top table but they showed why they went into this contest with a 25 point lead in Division Two. Until that is, Yorkshire and Steve Harmison came roaring back in the final sessionHarmison had endured another chastening day on his second appearance for Yorkshire who had collapsed in startling fashion on a pitch that is a decent one to bat. Harmison swung the bat breezily to help his new team-mates to a batting point but when he ran in from the Lake End with the ball in his hand, the radar was clearly not functioning.His fourth ball was a wide and there was one more before his opening over ended. There was another in his next as the ball shot away down to the leg side to the boundary and when Jaques took him out of the firing line, he had bowled five wides and two no balls in three overs which cost 27. The fact that Derbyshire’s bowlers did not concede a wide or a no ball between them made it even worse.But how quickly the tide of fortune can turn in this game and he responded in the best possible fashion when Phil Jaques brought him back in the 27th over. It proved an inspired piece of captaincy as he took 3 for 0 in 11 balls although it has to be said, Derbyshire gave Harmison generous assistance.First Jon Clare was tempted into a rash drive at a ball he should have left alone and then in his next over, Wes Durston chased one he should have ignored and edged to second slip. It was hardly vintage stuff but after all his recent problems, Harmison will not mind how the wickets come.As Yorkshire opener Joe Root said: “They might not have been the most pleasing-on-the-eye balls that got the wickets but the pace he was bowling at obviously put a lot of doubt in the batsmen’s minds. You could see they weren’t comfortable so you’ve got to give him a bit of credit.”At least his third victim was the result of a decent bouncer which former Yorkshire batsman David Wainwright helped on its way into the hands of Moin Ashraf who did well to take the catch and stay inside the ropes.By the time stumps were drawn at 7pm, 17 wickets had fallen but rather than convene a pitch panel, the ECB should summon a batting inspector to delve into what unfolded on the opening day of this top of the table clash.Yorkshire’s position after lunch matched the unusual sight of blue skies over picturesque Queen’s Park as Jaques and former Derbyshire batsman Gary Ballance proceeded in untroubled fashion and appeared to be setting the visitors up for a score of around 350. But all that changed in the 40th over as Mark Turner tore in from the Lake End to instigate a startling collapse that saw the visitors crash from 175 for 3 to 219 all out on the stroke of tea.Turner took the first three of those seven wickets to fall to fully justify the decision to give him his first Championship appearance of the season in place of a batsman, Chesney Hughes, who was originally down on the scorecard to play.Yorkshire appeared to be in even more trouble as Derbyshire replied by moving to 43 without loss but then they also hit the self-destruct button to leave the visitors holding a slight advantage at the end of a remarkable day.

Kevin Pietersen will return to action for Surrey in Sunday’s CB40 match against one of his previous clubs, Hampshire, at West End

George Dobell17-Aug-2012Kevin Pietersen will return to action for Surrey in Sunday’s CB40 match against one of his previous clubs, Hampshire, at West End.Pietersen, who was dropped from the England side for the final Test of the series against South Africa at Lord’s following an incident where he sent what he termed ‘provocative’ texts about England captain Andrew Strauss to members of the South Africa team, is anxious to win a recall to England’s limited-overs squads. The ECB will announce the squads for the World Twenty20 and the limited-overs series against South Africa on Tuesday.The ECB have also released Pietersen for the CB40 against Glamorgan at the Oval on Tuesday, a game which will be used to launch the Tom Maynard Trust, a charity founded in memory of the Surrey and Glamorgan batsman who died in tragic circumstances in June aged just 23. No decision has yet been made about the playing commitments of any of England’s other contracted players beyond Tuesday.Surrey will be grateful for Pietersen’s return. Their form has deteriorated since the death of Maynard, with Mark Ramprakash retiring and Rory Hamilton-Brown taking extended compassionate leave and relinquishing the captaincy. They can still retain the CB40 trophy they won last year, however, and go into Sunday’s game against Hampshire just a point behind the hosts with a game in hand.Quite what reception Pietersen can expect remains to be seen. He left Hampshire under something of a cloud in 2010 having complained about the distance of the ground from his Chelsea home and the events of recent weeks will have done little to win over those who were unimpressed by him then.

Journalist Dean Jones has provided an update on the future of Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus amid reported interest from Premier League rivals Arsenal.

What’s the word?

Speaking to GiveMeSport, the respected insider suggested that a transfer is not a certainty for the Brazilian this summer, despite the recent speculation linking him with a move to the Emirates Stadium.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed last week that the Gunners are “exploring the possibility” of prising the 25-year-old from the Etihad Stadium in the upcoming transfer window, while football.london suggested that both the £45m-rated marksman and AS Roma’s Tammy Abraham are on the north Londoners’ striker shortlist.

However, Jones has now raised hopes that the former Palmeiras man may still be lining up for the reigning Premier League champions next term, as he revealed that the player may still have a “future” under Pep Guardiola.

He told GiveMeSport: “It’s true that dialogue is open, but nothing is going to progress quickly with Arsenal. There’s a feeling among people around the club that he has a future at the club – he’s only 25 and is often used in big games.”

Huge boost for Guardiola

The £91k-per-week star has at times become something of a forgotten figure amid all the star-studded attacking talent at Guardiola’s disposal, although the former Barcelona manager will surely be delighted that the striker could still be on City’s books next summer.

Doubts had been cast over the 54-cap international’s future owing to the persistent links between City and Borussia Dortmund’s prolific marksman Erling Haaland, although on recent evidence Jesus has shown he still has a part to play at the club, even if the towering Norwegian is signed this summer.

Almost as if he had been awoken by reports of a potential reunion with former City assistant Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, the 5 foot 9 hotshot has been in blistering form in recent games. He thumped in a brilliant four-goal haul in the 5-1 thrashing of Watford last weekend, following that up with another early strike in the thrilling 4-3 win over Real Madrid in midweek.

While his five goals across those two outings have stolen the headlines, team-mate Bernardo Silva insisted that the forward is much more than simply just a goalscorer, saying: “He is a great player and he deserves the best for the way he trains and plays for the team. With his talent, his attitude to helping the team is admirable. He is one of our most important players.”

Despite making just 17 Premier League starts this season, the Sao Paulo-born star has still chipped in with an impressive tally of seven goals and eight assists thus far, while his total record for the club now stands at 94 goals and 46 assists in 231 games in all competitions since his £27m arrival back in 2016.

A reported fee of around £35m could see him depart after six hugely successful years for the Cityzens, but Jesus – who has been dubbed a “superstar” by BT Sport pundit Steve McManaman – still appears to have a role to play at his current home, which would surely be music to Guardiola’s ears given how well the 25-year-old has been performing.

AND in other news, Man City now plot exciting move for £33.5m “monster”, Stones could be in trouble

England’s coach, Andy Flower, believes his team was right to ask India to rethink their controversial run-out of Ian Bell at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2011England’s coach, Andy Flower, believes his team was right to ask India to rethink their controversial run-out of Ian Bell at Trent Bridge, adding that it would have caused an “international incident” had Sachin Tendulkar been dismissed in a similarly bizarre fashion.Bell’s 159 was the cornerstone of England’s revival in the second Test, as they turned a first-innings deficit of 67 into a thumping 319-run victory. However, he might have been sent on his way for 137 on the stroke of tea, when a half-hearted throw from Praveen Kumar the boundary’s edge led Abhinav Mukund to remove the bails with Bell already walking back to the pavilion.Bell conceded he had been “naive” in failing to wait for the umpire to signal the end of the over, but with boos ringing out around the ground, Flower and England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, took the decision to visit the Indian dressing room to request a change of heart. Such an approach was at odds with England’s attitude during an ODI at The Oval in 2008, when New Zealand’s Grant Elliott was run out after colliding with Ryan Sidebottom. Flower, however, said that those who criticised England’s actions on this occasion were guilty of “double standards”.”We didn’t think sitting in our changing room and fuming quietly to ourselves was going to do any good,” Flower told reporters at Trent Bridge. “We thought communicating like that would be the way to go. We felt that Bell wasn’t attempting to take a run and therefore we wanted to ask the Indian side to reconsider their appeal.”Dhoni was asked three times by the umpires whether he was happy for the appeal to go ahead, and though he later suggested that he had changed his mind before England’s intervention, it has since been claimed that Tendulkar was the instigator of the retraction.Perhaps India were mindful of the potential for controversy had Bell remained out. During England’s 1974 tour of the Caribbean, Tony Greig ran out Alvin Kallicharran in the final over of the day, only for the batsman to be reinstated overnight at the behest of the British high commissioner, after angry spectators had stormed the ground and laid siege to the pavilion.”I’m not convinced there wouldn’t have been uproar,” said Flower of such a scenario. “If an England side had done that in Mumbai [against Tendulkar], I think there would have been a proper international incident on the cards. I don’t think that’s being overly dramatic. We’ve seen similar things happen before. In evaluating the situation, I don’t think you should have double standards.”England’s crushing victory has left them needing just one more victory, or back-to-back draws, in the final two matches of the series to be crowned the No. 1 Test side. Flower refused to think that far ahead, though, and reiterated that the series had not even been won yet, let alone by any title-clinching margin.”I would like to emphasise right now that we’re ahead in the series but we’re only halfway through the series,” he said. “So there is no point in triumphalism, we don’t even know if we’re going to win the series yet. At the forefront of our minds right now should be resting and recuperating after the back-to-back Tests and then getting our minds and bodies ready for the next challenge at Edgbaston. It’s actually not only pointless looking further ahead than that, it’s dangerous.”With the Edgbaston Test starting on August 10, England have a week to determine the fitness of Jonathan Trott. Flower said he was “still in a bit of discomfort and nowhere near 100% yet” after landing heavily on his shoulder while fielding during the second Test. Trott’s possible replacement is the uncapped Leicestershire batsman, James Taylor, who stole a march on Ravi Bopara by making 76 for England Lions against Sri Lanka A in Scarborough on Tuesday. However, there may yet be the temptation to play five bowlers, given that Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan both racked up more than 100 runs in Nottingham.The expected return to fitness of Chris Tremlett means that Bresnan may yet have to make way. “If we keep with three seamers and a spinner, it will be a difficult call to make,” said Flower. “We need to see conditions first but our four seamers are all performing exceptionally well. Bresnan, Tremlett, [Jimmy] Anderson and [Stuart] Broad are battling for the top spots in a very healthy way. That sort of competition is a great thing for English cricket.”