Jamie Harrison, the first chief executive of the American Cricket Federation, abruptly resigned from the position over the weekend after 20 months in the role

Peter Della Penna20-May-2015Jamie Harrison, the first chief executive of the American Cricket Federation, resigned from the position over the weekend after 20 months in the role. Harrison and the ACF issued separate statements on Monday to confirm his departure with the 51-year-old citing a desire to refocus his time and energy on his other role as the president of the US Youth Cricket Association.”I return to my first love, leaving individuals far more capable than I to manage the minutiae of national cricket governance,” Harrison wrote in his press release. “Understand, I was never a true CEO in the way in which, say, Microsoft has a CEO. I am more Che Guevara than Satya Nadella, more community organizer than boardroom suit.”The decision comes just a few weeks after Harrison and the ACF executive board had a teleconference with ICC global development manager Tim Anderson as part of Anderson’s report for the ICC Annual Conference in June on the state of cricket in the USA. Harrison had been a consistently strident critic of the ICC and advocated early on in his reign that it was the USA who should be relinquishing its association with the ICC rather than the ICC having the authority to suspend USA. In recent times though, he campaigned hard for the ACF to become the ICC’s officially recognized governing body in America in place of USACA.The ACF stated they were searching for a CEO to replace Harrison. It is a necessary position listed under the ICC’s Associate Membership criteria guidelines and without a full-time paid administrator it may make the challenge of taking over from USACA as the ICC’s recognized governing body in the USA more problematic. However, USACA has not had a CEO since the resignation of Darren Beazley in March 2014.Harrison’s time with ACF saw the organization grow from a fledgling offshoot of USACA when he joined in September 2013 to one whose membership blossomed in its first year under his leadership. By the spring of 2013, ACF had recruited enough new members to join its ranks to initiate a national interleague competition featuring 17 teams. Harrison touted it as a great success, but the competition endured its share of hardships.Among those were a series of forfeited games due to lack of interest from participating teams as well as a struggle for teams to travel for out of state matches independent of financial assistance from the ACF. One of the six division winners, Arizona Cricket Association, which qualified for the 2014 ACF National Championship in Florida only arrived with 10 players due in part to the costs of players funding their own travel. The ACF interleague competition’s web site currently lists 13 teams for the new 2015 season which got underway on May 9, down four from its first season including the disappearance of the South West Division. However, ACF officials claim that the full schedule has not been released and that there will be 20 teams.In November, Harrison announced the ACF’s formation of a new Team USA national program in which he stated that a general manager would be hired within weeks to oversee the management of the operation as well as a series of sponsors. Six months later, the project is stagnant with no general manager or significant sponsorships. The only subsequent announcement made regarding ACF’s Team USA program came in February to state that only players who played in the ACF interleague competition would be eligible. This effectively would eliminate the talent rich northern California and Pacific Northwest regions from consideration as there is no ACF member league representation in that part of the country.Aside from the uncertainty surrounding the ACF interleague competition, this spring also saw the first significant defection from the ACF with Dr. Vincent Adams, who was part of the ACF’s honorary advisory board, leaving his role in March for an unsuccessful USACA presidential bid. Adams was subsequently named to lead an ICC liaison panel for USACA and was in attendance at the ICC Americas T20 in Indianapolis. Harrison’s departure, officially on Saturday May 16, also coincided with the ACF’s web site being offline for five consecutive days starting on May 12 due to what Harrison claimed was a cyber-hacker attack.Although the ACF is not saddled with more than $4 million in debt that belongs to USACA, they are also not generating nearly enough money to fund and sustain programs. According to sources, the ACF’s total revenue generated in the last year was less than $50,000 while USACA’s latest tax returns from 2013 show $95,000 in membership revenue, separate from the roughly $400,000 USACA received in ICC grant allocations.Lesly Lowe, president of the New York Commonwealth League which joined ACF last year and is America’s largest amateur cricket league, said his backing of the ACF will not be affected by Harrison’s departure.”I’m still one of the biggest supporters of ACF, that will not change,” Lowe told ESPNcricinfo. “Jamie resigning, he’s done a lot for ACF and he was the face of ACF. We all know that but I will continue to support ACF. We’re on the right track and I’ve written to the ICC to tell them they’re backing the wrong horse. If they really want to promote cricket in the USA, they should look closely at the ACF.”

The first Australian ever to coach England, Trevor Bayliss is scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Thursday less than a fortnight before the start of the Investec Ashes series

David Hopps25-Jun-20155:51

Ashes Key Battles: Bayliss v Boof

The first Australian ever to coach England, Trevor Bayliss is scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Thursday less than a fortnight before the start of the Investec Ashes series. The pre-Ashes clamour is growing, the hype and the anxiety are there for all to see, but it is a sure fire bet that the Australian alighting from the plane at Heathrow will look calmer than most.He is an unthreatening type, the sort who will be waved through at customs with barely a second glance. He might be taken perhaps for an Australian estate agent which is no surprise because four years ago, in a brief interruption to his coaching career, he was precisely that. He is well qualified then to complain about London house prices.In Bayliss and his assistant Paul Farbrace, England have assembled a coaching team committed to creating a relaxed environment. After the stern outlook of Andy Flower and the caffeine-loaded organisation of Peter Moores, cricket’s Chuckle Brothers are in town, committed to reminding highly-pressurised international cricketers that to relish their job, and play accordingly, is paramount.When Bayliss was in negotations with Andrew Strauss, director of England cricket, shortly after a World Cup debacle, relaxing England seemed a challenging task. Things were so bad it seemed worth giving mass Reiki healing a go. But after a pleasurable Test series against New Zealand, capped by an extraordinarily free-spirited one-day series, Farbrace has already tilled the ground for the harvest he hopes will follow.”It’s been quite exciting, the series against New Zealand, the Tests and the one-dayers – got some new, young players in there with plenty of skill, plenty of enthusiasm,” he said at Sydney airport. “I’m confident of putting up a good show and if they play some good cricket they’ll be a chance of winning.”Bayliss has street cred. He might have coached a multitude of teams, but it has brought him along the way an impressive list of trophies: the Sheffield Shield with New South Wales, the IPL as coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Big Bash and the Champions League Twenty20. He could not quite break Sri Lanka’s habit of perennial near misses, but here, too, there were two losing limited-overs finals and a Test ranking of No 2.He has recent inside knowledge on many Australia players thanks to a short-term assignmen last November when he stood in as coach for Darren Lehmann for a Test against Pakistan in the UAE and a Twenty20 against South Africa at home two days later.He said at the time: “Players at this level are good players: that’s why they get selected, so it’s about creating a good, honest, hard-working environment, and that allows the players to function without being under extra pressure to perform or not to make mistakes. That type of environment allows the players to use the skills they’ve got.””To me yelling at players or being angry at players is just making things worse. If you’re in the dressing room throwing things and going off your head, that just makes the environment even more edgy. Players are under enough pressure as it is and they don’t need the coach shoving it down their throats or getting angry: that doesn’t help anyone.””My whole mode of operating is trying to get the guys to play good cricket by taking pressure off them – they’re under enough pressure as it is to perform and do well – and about combinations,” he says. “Whether we’ve had the right combinations over the last few years in T20 stuff is debatable.”If planning is one of the hallmarks of a good England coach then Bayliss has made a good start: he got the obligatory Kevin Pietersen question out of the way at Sydney airport before catching his flight to Heathrow to take up his role as England coach.”Look, apparently, he’s unavailable for selection, so that’s all I know at this stage,” he said. “He is a good batter but at this stage he is unavailable, so that’s all I know.”His priority will be to build a relationship not just with Strauss but with England’s Test captain, Alastair Cook, before leaving for Spain at the weekend for a pre-Ashes camp. He only knows Eoin Morgan, the one-day captain, who played under him at Kolkata Knight Riders. There is much discovery to achieve elsewhere.The last time England went abroad before a home Ashes series in 2009 involved a visit to the Flanders war memorials, an occasion when Andrew Flintoff missed the team bus after a roistering night. Flower preferred to survival training camps before trips to Australia in 2010-11 and again three years later.This time there will be getting-to-know you chats, discussions about how England wish to play their cricket, interspersed with a bit of golf.Trevor Bayliss chats with the media before leaving Sydney airport•Getty Images

At some point, England will discuss sledging. The New Zealand series was relished by many players and supporters alike for its virtual absence. Australia have a different culture. England respond in kind; New Zealand now choose to disdain it. So what will Bayliss conclude?James Anderson was heavily criticised for his spat with Ravindra Jadeja in the Test series against India last summer. In the last Ashes series, he became such a hate figure among the Australians that Michael Clarke told him to “prepare for a broken arm.” He used to believe that he needed to sledge to break out of his passive nature. Now he is not so sure.”We’ll chat about it as a team – what is the right way to go about it,” Anderson said on a visit to his former school, Blessed Trinity RC Secondary in Burnley as a Chance to Shine ambassador. “Whether we completely ignore them or try to get under their skin. It’s important that whatever we do, we do as a group.”Over to you, Trevor.

A Michael Klinger century guided Gloucestershire to a three-wicket win over Somerset at Bristol and maintained their strong position in the Royal London Cup Group A

ECB/PA02-Aug-2015
ScorecardMichael Klinger continued his prolific limited-overs form (file photo)•Getty Images

A Michael Klinger century guided Gloucestershire to a three-wicket win over Somerset at Bristol and maintained their strong position in the Royal London Cup Group A.The experienced Australian mastered a tricky pitch to score 107 off 133 balls, with five fours and four sixes, as his side chased down a target of 245 with two deliveries to spare. Kieran Noema-Barnett contributed 34.Somerset had looked out of it at 88 for 6 after winning the toss, but James Hildreth’s unbeaten 85 off 95 balls and 62 from Lewis Gregory gave them a competitive total. Benny Howell returned 1 for 24 from 10 overs.The outcome was in the balance until the penultimate over of the Gloucestershire reply when Jack Taylor launched two sixes off Tim Groenewald. Strangely, Somerset skipper Jim Allenby bowled only six overs, having conceded just 20 runs.The visitors’ top-order batsmen failed to come to terms with the slow wicket, although Tom Abell was unlucky to be caught behind down the leg side off David Payne with the total on 16. James Fuller beat Peter Trego’s defensive shot to bowl him from 14 and then yorked Adam Hose after the young opener had moved to 21 in the 14th over.Tom Cooper was bowled playing across a ball from Howell before Allenby played a dreadful shot to be caught behind off Craig Miles. When the recalled Alex Barrow was bowled playing forward defensively to Miles for 17, Somerset were in danger of being embarrassed.Hildreth and Gregory were forced to play watchfully and were content to preserve their wickets for a while to rebuild the innings. It was a plan that bore fruit in the closing overs. Their half-centuries were almost identical statistically, Hildreth’s coming off 72 balls, with four fours, and Gregory’s off one fewer deliveries with the same number of boundaries.A century stand in 22 overs paved the way for a late assault that saw 65 runs come off the last five as Gloucestershire’s bowling lost its previously commendable discipline.When Gloucestershire replied, Groenewald produced a superbly accurate six-over spell of 1 for 9, including three maidens, from the Pavilion End, having Chris Dent well caught at short fine leg by Gregory for 16.Gregory was unable to match Groenewald’s immaculate line and length, but when Jack Leach replaced him the left-arm spinner quickly trapped Gareth Roderick lbw to make it 43 for 2 in the 11th over.Klinger was content to rein himself in, particularly against the impressive spin off Max Waller, but put his team in sight of victory with a 123-ball hundred that mixed fine application with the occasional sweet boundary. Noema-Barnett was dropped on 23 and leant good late support in a fascinating, if low-scoring, contest.

David Warner is contemplating the end of one partnership while pondering the start of another one

Daniel Brettig11-Aug-2015David Warner is contemplating the end of one partnership while pondering the start of another one.Barring a late change of heart by Chris Rogers, the Oval Test will be his last in the company of an opening batsman Warner’s senior in terms of years and the opening batsman’s art. Barring a left-field call by the national selectors, the tour of Bangladesh will be Warner’s first as Test vice-captain to Steven Smith.These are jarring thoughts for those with memories stretching back a couple of years, when Warner was the subject of enormous fascination, given his questionable disciplinary record and tendency to shoot his mouth off. He had also been demoted, if briefly, in the Australian batting order, and seemed to be facing the most uncertain of futures.In their own distinct ways, Rogers and Smith have been influential in helping Warner to see more to his life and game than power and pugilism. In Rogers, Warner found a counterpoint he could work successfully alongside, as eight century opening partnerships and seven of better than 50 attest. In Smith, Warner saw how a fellow NSW brat-packer could evolve as both batsman and man, emerging as the outstanding leadership candidate to replace Michael Clarke.”We’ve played a lot of cricket together – I’ve played under Smudge,” Warner said. “He’s got great ideas and I feel that I definitely can work with him. But at the end of the day it’s up to the board and selectors to move forward with that. Go back two years my life probably wasn’t in the right direction. I was playing cricket for Australia. It’s a boyhood dream. But I needed to be put back in my place a little bit.”Since then I think I’ve turned a lot around. I’ve got a lot of hundreds and I’m playing a good brand of cricket. There’s been a little bit of a hiccup with the Rohit Sharma stuff but at the end of the day that was on the field and I’ve learnt to bite my tongue a little bit now. And I’ve got to keep moving forward and that’s my job is to score runs. And if I can keep doing that the rest will take care of itself.”How he goes about scoring runs appears to be changing and evolving, partly in response to English conditions but also as a nod to the longer term demands likely to be placed on Warner by Australian cricket. As Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Rogers look set to exit the stage, Warner will have less licence to attack without any thought about the remainder of the innings. In this Ashes series he has shown more application than others considered more likely to possess it. Rogers can be viewed as one reason for that.”We’ve come a long way and we’ve shared a great bond together out in the middle,” Warner said. “I’ve loved every single minute batting together out there. I think we have eight opening hundred stands now and it’s something we’re very proud of as a – I won’t say couple – as a duo out there.”He leaves this international game and I hope he goes another year or two either in either county cricket or back home because 24,000 first-class runs, 73 hundreds is an amazing achievement by anyone and I don’t think he gets as much credit as he deserves.”I think there’s a few names that are going to be brought up. You heard Ricky Ponting mention the other day Usman Khawaja, Cameron Bancroft scored a great hundred the other day in Indian conditions. Joe Burns scored a great hundred the other day in the one-day stuff.”Warner has looked like going on to a hundred three times this series, such has been his command of the bowling, but in contriving to get out he has shown there is still plenty of improvement to be made. In particular a shovel shot used to good effect in Australia and on the subcontinent has had Warner skying catches twice. He does not expect to repeat the mistake at the Oval.”In one-day cricket, I’m probably looking to hit that over the fence and I think I have to replicate that in Test match cricket,” Warner said. “It’s more like a half-hearted shot, I see two people go back and I look for the one. I think with the ball moving around over here I’ve really got to work hard on trying to play with a straight bat.”I think that’s what I really have to work hard on. In Australia I can probably definitely get away with that. But it’s something in my game I have to work on and that’s something me and Michael Di Venuto will address.”Warner spoke in the West Indies about also re-adjusting his persona, and in this Ashes series he has been notably absent from any obvious confrontations in the middle. There was one brief collusion with Nathan Lyon to goad Ben Stokes in Cardiff, but nothing to attract the attention of the match referee. Warner acknowledges this will be even more a case of necessity winning out as he thinks more about how to get batsmen out and less about provoking them into open conflict.”I don’t think it’s so much it gets easier [not to sledge], it’s more you’re trying to work out ways of getting batsmen out that are in and going back to the notes that you talk about before the game,” he said, “making sure they’re still in your mind and making sure you’re concentrating on the ball ahead.”The way someone like Joe Root has been batting exceptionally he’s been scoring a lot of runs square of the wicket, nothing down the ground. So it’s obviously something we as players in general we should be addressing as well. In respects to biting your tongue, it’s easy at times. But sometimes it can get frustrating when you’re getting walloped around the park.”Warner can remember being walloped around the park during a brief stint as vice-captain of the ODI team in February 2012. “I think that game we were all out for 150, so it wasn’t a great game,” he said. “I think Ricky at the end of the game put his arm over my shoulder and said welcome to international cricket mate, this is what happens. It can be a good day or a bad day.”A couple of months from now and it might be Warner doing the same for a young turk beside him. Things have changed.

Cameron Bancroft, who could become Australia newest Test opener, has said that he will do “everything in your power” to play his own game and be successful

Brydon Coverdale14-Sep-2015They don’t make them like Chris Rogers any more, batsmen who can dig in, bat ugly, occupy the crease for hours upon hours, days upon days. So went the prevailing wisdom when Rogers retired last month. But was it right? Cameron Bancroft’s record suggests that he boasts more than a little bit of the Rogers mentality. Sixty-nine fewer first-class hundreds, yes, but a hint of the dogged Rogers patience.At 22, Bancroft could become Australia’s newest Test opener after being named in the squad to tour Bangladesh next month. He is certainly more Rogers than David Warner, with only one Twenty20 match to his name. Four times over the past year, Bancroft has played first-class innings of around the six-hour mark, including a 150 against India A in Chennai in July.If your weakness is losing focus as you approach six hours at the crease, that’s no bad thing. But he can go longer – much longer – as he displayed in an epic 13-hour innings of 211 against New South Wales at the WACA, an immense feat of concentration that helped secure Western Australia a place in the Sheffield Shield final.”I think it was really, really big,” Bancroft said of that innings after being picked in the Test squad on Monday. “We had to win that game to make it into a Shield final. So I think the belief I’ve got in myself that I was able to concentrate and stay sharp for as long as I did in that innings was probably the biggest belief I got out of that.”I think it’s important that if I do get an opportunity that you absolutely take it and believe that you have what it takes and do everything in your power and in your own game to be successful. That’s all you can do.”National selector Rod Marsh said Bancroft’s 150 against an India A attack featuring Test bowlers Varun Aaron and Pragyan Ojha was a key reason he was chosen for a Test series in Asia. Asked whether Bancroft’s youth had also played a part when he was weighed against older candidates such as the in-form Michael Klinger, Marsh said it could not be ignored.”He was preferred because we are looking for a young player,” Marsh said. “He had a very good season last year. He got a very good 150 against a strong India A attack, which contained two or three very good spinners. That in itself probably got him chosen ahead of some more senior players, shall we say.”In Bangladesh, Bancroft will be vying for Test selection with Joe Burns, who played two Tests against India last summer, and Usman Khawaja, who last played Test cricket on the 2013 Ashes tour of England. Marsh said the departure of Rogers and Michael Clarke meant that it was time for some of the younger batsmen in Australia to grab their opportunities.”We’ve got to develop a young batsman or two,” Marsh said. “Now it’s time these young blokes grab hold of their opportunity, take it up and do well. That’s what we’re after. Rogers has retired, we have to find someone else at the top of the order. Whether [Steven] Smith will bat at 3 or 4 going forward, that’s his decision, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he bats at No.4. So there could be two spots we have to fill at the top.”Should Bancroft win a chance in Bangladesh, it will come largely as the result of a breakthrough 2014-15 in which he was the third leading run scorer in the Sheffield Shield with 896 runs at 47.15. It was quite a turnaround from the 2013-14 summer in which he struggled and managed only 450 runs at 22.50 without a century, despite playing all 11 Shield games of the year.”I’m actually kind of glad and kind of blessed that I was able to go through something like that,” Bancroft said. “I probably felt that I was depressed at that stage. It’s certainly not nice to go through things like that, but that’s cricket, that’s the ups and downs and things you deal with in elite sport.”So to go through that and work out for myself what I needed to work on to get better and work with mentors and coaches and things like that, is something I am really glad I went through. It can only make you a better player.”

The early signs of who will replace Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president point to someone from within the East Zone, which has first right to pick a candidate

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Sep-20153:39

Ugra: No clear successor because Dalmiya had no rival

The early signs of who will replace Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president point to someone from within the East Zone, which has first right to pick a candidate. Since it is the East Zone’s turn to nominate the next president, as Dalmiya died while serving his term, a majority of its six members – comprising Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura and the Kolkata-based National Cricket Club – believes that a candidate of their own, rather than one from outside, should fill the vacancy.Four of the six East Zone members ESPNcricinfo spoke with, however, asserted that it was too premature to sit together and decide on a candidate, and wanted the BCCI to first call the Special General Meeting to pick an interim president. The BCCI’s Memorandum and Rules and Regulations stipulate that the notice to hold the SGM needs to be sent by October 5 with a 21-day notice.

Ganguly meets West Bengal chief minister

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday amid speculation that he may take over as the Cricket Association of Bengal president to succeed Jagmohan Dalmiya. Currently the joint secretary of the CAB, Ganguly arrived to meet Banerjee with Dalmiya’s son Avishek.
“To discuss something like this [three days after his death] is not right,” Ganguly said. “Speculation will be on, someone will run CAB. It’s too early to comment because it has just been three days… It’s very early to say.”

As for who can stand for election, the rules say presidential candidates should have attended at least two AGMs and been an office bearer (president, secretary, treasurer, joint secretary) or vice-president. That makes Arindam Ganguly and Gautam Roy (Assam), Chitrak Mitra, Gautam Dasgupta, KP Kajaria (Bengal), and Amitabh Choudhary (Jharkhand) top of the long list of eligible candidates to replace Dalmiya.Choudhary, currently the BCCI joint secretary, acknowledged his desire to stand for election, but also took care to say he was willing to support any other member from the East. “It is in keeping with the philosophy behind the provision in the [BCCI] constitution,” Choudhary said.A senior official at the Cricket Association of Bengal, where Dalmiya was the president, said it was too early to finalise a name. “But this is the East Zone’s term so it will not be good if somebody [from outside the zone] is hijacking that. I would prefer a person from the East naturally, doesn’t matter who.” Asked if Choudhary could emerge as front runner, the CAB official said there were “question marks” about such a decision, but he would keep an open mind.The CAB and the NCC (another club where Dalmiya was the president) are two important votes that could tilt the balance not just for an East Zone nominee, but even for an outsider wanting to throw his hat in the ring. The CAB official pointed out that according to the constitution an election for the president’s post has to be convened within 60 days preceded by an SGM. The date for the SGM and road map for the election, he said, would be chalked out after the condolence meeting for Dalmiya, which is likely to take place next week.The official said he would also consult Dalmiya’s son Avishek about whether his father had suggested any names that were eligible to lead CAB and the NCC. According to the official, Dalmiya’s word always meant the last word and that would not change even after his death and the reason Avishek was being kept in the loop was because he had been working closely with Dalmiya after he became the BCCI president in March 2015.

Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja did their chances of a Test call-up no harm with unbeaten centuries on the first day of a non-first-class two-day fixture against the touring New Zealanders in Canberra

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2015
ScorecardJoe Burns and Usman Khawaja did their chances of a Test call-up no harm with unbeaten centuries on the first day of a non-first-class two-day fixture against the touring New Zealanders in Canberra. On a pitch that offered little for the attack, New Zealand’s bowlers claimed only two wickets as the Cricket Australia XI finished the day at 4 for 325 – the other two wickets were batsmen retiring out.Unusually for such a tour game, there is arguably more competition for Test spots from within the CA XI than the visiting side, as recent retirements and the cancellation of the Bangladesh tour has left Australia’s selectors wondering about their best batting line-up. Burns, Khawaja, Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges were all hoping to impress against their Test opponents.The match took on even greater significance after Burns, Khawaja and Bancroft all fell for single-figure scores against New Zealand in the Prime Minister’s XI match on Friday. On Saturday, Bancroft moved along to 42 before he was caught behind off Doug Bracewell, but Burns and Khawaja made full use of the good batting conditions.Burns struck 15 fours on his way to 102 from 155 deliveries, at which point he retired out to allow Adam Voges some further time in the middle. Having already managed 55 in the PM’s XI game, Voges did not hog the opportunity in this match and also retired out once he had reached 33 from 53 deliveries, in turn allowing Shaun Marsh to spend some time at the crease.However, Marsh was one of only two batsmen to fall to New Zealand’s bowlers, caught at mid-on off the bowling of Mark Craig for 11. Mitchell Marsh finished unbeaten on 18 at the end of the day, alongside Khawaja on 111. Khawaja, captaining the CA XI, spent 168 balls at the crease and scored 20 boundaries, in the process making it all but certain that he will play in the first Test at the Gabba.The number of positions up for grabs in Australia’s Test team will depend on whether David Warner proves his fitness in his Sheffield Shield comeback from a fractured thumb, but at the very least there will need to be replacements for the retired Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers. The New Zealand Test side will feature a slightly different attack, though, with Tim Southee rested from this game after leading the team against the PM’s XI.”They’re a very skilful group, they’re well led by Brendon McCullum and they’re always searching for ways to get you out,” Burns told reporters after scoring his century. “To play against them and see the way they play the game, to find ways to counteract that and keep scoring with what they’re coming at you with it’s been really valuable experience today.”They are constantly trying to get you out, and it’s quite refreshing really, you need to not just find a way to not get out, but also to counteract and score, to knock them off those aggressive plans. I felt in control of the tempo of my innings, which for me in long-form cricket is a big thing.”