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Jake Doran, the 17-year old New South Wales batsman who faced England earlier in the Ashes tour, is part of Australia’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2014Jake Doran, the 17-year old New South Wales batsman who faced England earlier in the Ashes tour, is part of Australia’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup in the UAE.Doran has been involved in the U-19 set-up throughout the past year and was part of the tour to India last September. He made 17 against an England XI playing for the Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs at the end of November. Wicketkeeper Ben McDermott, the son of Australia’s Test fast-bowling coach Craig, also makes the squad.Greg Chappell, Cricket Australia’s national talent manager, said: “The balance and flexibility of this squad is pleasing, containing a solid core of Australia’s most exciting cricketers.”Jake Doran and Ben McDermott are skilful stroke-makers, who also provide excellent glove work as wicketkeepers, and join a number of genuine all-rounders selected in the squad who will provide solid depth with bat and ball.”Alex Gregory and James Bazley can bat up the order and bowl pace, helping make up a strong bowling contingent, including Billy Stanlake, Ben Ashkenazi, Matt Fotia, Cameron Valente and Guy Walker. The depth of Australia’s fast bowling stocks is in good health and indicative of the high level of talent that continues to come through our system.”The squad will be coached by Graeme Hick, the former England batsman, who now works as the high performance coach. They will prepare with matches in Sri Lanka before heading to the UAE where their opening pool match is on February 15 against Namibia in Abu Dhabi.Squad Thomas Andrews (NT), Ben Ashkenazi (VIC), James Bazley (QLD), Jake Doran (NSW), Matthew Fotia (VIC), Alex Gregory (SA), Benjamin McDermott (QLD), Jaron Morgan (WA), Damien Mortimer (NSW), Matthew Short (VIC), Kelvin Smith (SA), Billy Stanlake (QLD), Cameron Valente (SA), Guy Walker (VIC), Sean Willis (TAS)

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh T20 captain, defended Farhad Reza’s bowling in the final over of the second T20 against Sri Lanka, saying they had planned to bowl a bouncer off the last ball to set up a catch in the deep

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong14-Feb-2014Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh T20 captain, defended Farhad Reza’s bowling in the final over of the second T20 against Sri Lanka, saying they had planned to bowl a bouncer off the last ball to set up a catch in the deep.Reza came on to bowl the final over of a frenetic T20 with Sri Lanka needing nine off the last six balls. With the batting side needing two off the final ball, Reza bowled a short-of-length delivery that was put away by Sachithra Senanayake for four. It was the second time in three days that Bangladesh had lost a match off the last ball.”In the last ball we all planned that rather than tying, we wanted to win the match,” Mashrafe said. “We wanted it to be a bouncer but the ball was wet and soft, he gave his full effort but it became slow on impact.”Farhad actually bowls the bouncers well in practice. We wanted him [Senanayake] to mis-time it, that was the plan. He could have bowled a yorker and it could have been the same thing, but our aim was to get a wicket.”Mashrafe conceded that the T20 losses were due to moments that didn’t go their way but stressed that the performance of the youngsters was the biggest positive for Bangladesh from this series.”We missed a number of players but after the young players came and performed, there is a lot to gain from these two matches,” Mashrafe said. “We can take a number of positives from here to the World T20s.”The wicket was good. After getting a good flow, Shakib’s and Bijoy’s catches were really good. We have to take it on our own back, because we couldn’t bat properly. We needed 10 to 15 runs more. Hopefully we can do better in the one-day tournament.”For Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, the series was a chance for the team to gather information about Chittagong, their World Twenty20 venue in the first round.”I am really happy at the way we played,” Chandimal said. “We never underestimated the Bangladesh team. They are good in the shorter format. Sometimes we need luck as I said. For us, as a unit, everybody did their bit. I think we got some good experience for the World Twenty20s.”It’s a really good opportunity for us before the World Cup. We are playing in the same venue so we got the advantage, especially with respect to when the dew factor will come into play, how the wicket is behaving, we got something in our sleeves.”

Misbah-ul-Haq attributed Pakistan’s defeat to their bowlers’ inability to put pressure on Sri Lanka

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur08-Mar-2014Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has attributed his team’s Asia Cup final defeat to his bowlers’ inability to put pressure on Sri Lanka’s batsmen. Chasing 261, Sri Lanka, led by a century from Lahiru Thirimanne, cruised to a five-wicket win to take their fifth Asia Cup title.Only Saeed Ajmal posed a threat to Sri Lanka, as Pakistan looked to defend a hard-earned total. Ajmal took 3 for 26 in 10 overs, but apart from him and to an extent, Mohammad Hafeez, the rest of the attack – Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha and Shahid Afridi – were all ineffective.Misbah had to take Ajmal off after the offspinner had taken two quick wickets in his first spell of four overs. He had given away just ten runs, having delivered two maiden overs as well. The Sri Lankan batsmen opted against attacking Ajmal, prompting Misbah to switch bowlers to try and wrestle a wicket.”They were just consuming his [Ajmal’s] overs, just blocking him,” Misbah said. “I thought I would take a chance with someone else, to get the wicket. But I think it was a bad day for all the bowlers. They couldn’t really put pressure, and you can’t win matches with just one bowler. You need to bowl well as a unit.”Gul and Talha have now had two poor games back-to-back after bowling ordinarily against Bangladesh. Junaid went for 56 in nine overs, only picking up Ashan Priyanjan’s wicket very late in the game.”We sought early breakthroughs which Saeed Ajmal finally provided us. Bowling too requires partnerships but none of the bowlers could build that sort of pressure on the batsmen. I think it became easy for them, and they won the game.”We didn’t bowl wicket to wicket, and build pressure. Sri Lankan bowlers did that. It was a slow wicket so you had to bowl straighter. Our lengths were quite short too. And we gave a lot of width too, which made it easy for them.”But Pakistan’s real problem, as the captain recognised, was their start with the bat. Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shehzad and Hafeez all got out in 4.3 overs, leaving the middle- and lower-order far too much to do in a final.Lasith Malinga was the man responsible for Pakistan having a poor start, picking up a five-wicket haul just as he did in the tournament opener against the same team in Fatullah. Incidentally, Thrimianne too had scored a century in that game.”Thirimanne played really well and Malinga’s first spell was a good one as he swung the ball. He put us under pressure, but we did play some bad shots.”It was our plan not to give Malinga wickets, but we failed to execute that. He again took five wickets and put us under pressure.”Despite losing the first and last game of the tournament, Pakistan will leave with a happy batting line-up after the wins against India and Bangladesh. They successfully chased 245 and 327 respectively, the latter having broken the record for their biggest chase.”The team really played well, especially the batting department. Ahmed Shehzad played well. Fawad Alam played two very good innings. Shahid Afridi finished two games. Hafeez and Umar Akmal are in good touch. These are positives. We chased well in two games. Before the World T20s, we are in good shape and are confident.”

Cool innings from Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene made sure the final hoodoo was finally broken after the bowlers stifled India to 130 for 4

The Report by Sidharth Monga06-Apr-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sweet ecstasy: It feels sweeter after it has teased you for so long•ICCWinning world events is an ugly business. Even aspiring to win is. Ask Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Before tonight they had reached finals four times, wanting desperately to win, and ended up with broken hearts each time. On a night that these two champion players finally got that monkey off their backs – in their last Twenty20 international match – another champion player played a poignant, cagey innings that cost his side the final. Yuvraj Singh, India’s limited-overs talisman for so long, came in at 64 for 2 in the 11th over, scored 11 off 21, denied the unstoppable Virat Kohli the strike, and that spell of play resulted in the lowest first-innings total in a World Twenty20 final and the second-lowest score for the loss of only four wickets.Title matches consume the vanquished. This final may have put down one of the all-time limited-overs greats, but just ask Jayawardene and Sangakkara, the redemption didn’t come easy. India defended the small total admirably, preying on the Sri Lankan nerves, fielding everything down, spinning a web around the batsmen, but the two champions somehow had enough in them to take their side over the line. Under palpable pressure, against a shrewd limited-overs captain, Jayawardene settled the early nerves with a run-a-ball 24, and Sangakkara saw the chase through with an ice-cool unbeaten 52 off 35.Big finals are a cruel business, though, and history will remember Yuvraj’s knock as much as it will Sangakkara’s. He has won India matches from nowhere on innumerable occasions, he has buried sides with his cameos, he has turned around games in 10 balls, which is why he was still part of the team in the final. MS Dhoni trusted his match-winner, and sent him in ahead of Suresh Raina and himself. Kohli, now the leading run-scorer in any World Twenty20, had just begun to put behind him a slow start against disciplined Sri Lankan bowling. He had even been dropped by opposition captain Lasith Malinga on 11. He was in a mood to make them pay.Sri Lanka, though, kept their wits, and gave Yuvraj nothing to score off. That too after Kohli had laced the otherwise frugal Nuwan Kulasekara for six, four and six in the 16th over to make it 111 for 2. That over featured another slip in the fielding when the fielder at cow corner was lobbed after misjudging a catch. Normally you would expect teams to fall apart at these times, but Sri Lanka produced four superb overs.In the 17th, Yuvraj faced two dots from Sachithra Senanayake, who gave him no pace or room to work with. Malinga bowled the next over, and was happy with a single to Kohli first ball. Then came a yorker outside off. The dugout began to become edgy by now. They badly needed Yuvraj to come off now, and make up for the 9 off 17 he had made till now. You can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like being Kohli there, the best batsman of the tournament, but now without the strike to make the difference. When Kohli got the strike fourth ball, Malinga again produced a low wide one that he couldn’t get under, and went on to bowl another dot to Yuvraj before the over ended. That dot was a yorker wide outside off, which went past and very near Yuvraj’s outside edge, and that Sangakkara didn’t appeal loudly for it said all you needed to know about Yuvraj’s innings.When Yuvraj finally hit a full toss down the throat of long-off, Darren Sammy tweeted, “Not sure this catch needed to be taken.” You felt for the batsman who would once have put these in the stands blindfolded and with one arm tied behind his back. This time, though, Sri Lanka’s plan had come off, bowling full and wide, just inside the tram lines, stifling India. Kohli and Dhoni tried their best, but were second-best to the execution by Malinga and Kulasekara. Kohli faced only eight balls in the last four overs. Only 19 came off them, and if this had not been a final and if this had not been Sri Lanka, it was game over right there.An all-time limited-overs great, caught in the headlights•ICCSri Lanka, though, were entering unchartered territory. The fear of winning does strange things. They looked for the easy route. Kusal Perera tried to smash everything, smashed one out of the first six, and went out to the seventh. Jayawardene brought sanity to proceedings with a tickle here, a nudge there, and with the required run-rate in grasp it began to become a stroll, until R Ashwin, the bowler of the tournament, produced a top edge from Tillakaratne Dilshan, which was caught excellently by Kohli at the square-leg boundary. Two men who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side were keeping India alive.Jayawardene and Sangakkara then added a run-a-ball 24. Jayawardene began to toy around with the fields. Cricket lovers all around the world now began to dream of a fairy-tale finish. What could be better than these two stalwarts, much like Arjuna and Aravinda 18 years ago, being there in the end? This, though, would take more sweat and tears yet. Jayawardene toe-ended a sweep off part-timer Suresh Raina, and Ashwin produced a diving catch at midwicket. Soon Dhoni took a sensational low catch to send Lahiru Thirimanne back. Dhoni’s team had never lost a world final; it was now sensing the kill at 78 for 4 in the 13th over.This was tense stuff. Wouldn’t the dugout have revisited that familiar sick feeling of coming so close and finishing second-best? They tried the desperate now. Not having the emotional strength left to take this to the deep bitter end, they sent in the big hitter Thisara Perera ahead of Angelo Mathews. They were banking on the fact that India would soon have to bowl spinners that would bring the ball in to the left-hand batsmen.Sangakkara had been going smoothly at one end, but it was the other end that was causing the trouble. The risk was taken. You couldn’t change it even if you wanted to, with Perera scoring just two off the first six, and with 47 still required off the last six overs. This was the moment, though. Mishra, two overs for four runs till now, was bowling to two left-hand batsmen. The first ball Perera got from Mishra, he shimmied down a touch and let out an almighty swing. As it flew into the night sky and over long-on, relief came back into the camp. The cool Sangakkara then guided Mishra past fine leg, and this was now turning Sri Lanka’s way.In the next over, Sangakkara played probably the shot of the match. India had relied on Ashwin’s accuracy through the day and had got themselves an extra fielder by not placing a fine-leg at all. This time, though, Sangakkara moved inside the line of one, took it in front of middle, and closed the face at the exact moment to tickle it through that fine-leg gap for four. Now some luck appeared too with edges landing safely in the home stretch. You couldn’t fault Sangakkara for wondering where the hell this luck had been when Gilchrist, Gambhir, Afridi and Samuels had broken his heart. This night, though, was for him to rejoice. All those defeats will hurt a little less now.

James Vince eased Hampshire’s nerves with a careful innings to steer them past a target of 67 against Glamorgan and send them top of the Division Two table.

Press Association14-May-2014
ScorecardHe couldn’t prevent Glamorgan’s defeat but Ruaidhri Smith took a career-best haul•PA PhotosJames Vince eased Hampshire’s nerves with a careful innings to steer them past a target of 67 against Glamorgan and send them top of the Division Two table.Hampshire were given a straightforward chase but lost three wickets to the new ball, leaving Vince – surely in the form of his career so far – to play a careful innings and wrap up the win before lunch.Glamorgan came into the final day with a lead of 64 but could only add two runs to that before James Tomlinson wrapped up their second-innings by removing Tom Helm. That left Hampshire a simple enough task and, while four wickets fell as they struggled with the new ball, an unbeaten 29 from James Vince steered them home.Hampshire needed just 16 balls to end the Glamorgan innings as Tomlinson got Helm to edge to slip where Liam Dawson took a smart catch.A target of 67 was never likely to cause the home side too many problems but captain Jimmy Adams was gone for a duck off the fourth ball of the innings as he was bowled by Ruaidhri Smith.Opening partner Michael Carberry, who was named to the England limited-overs squad on Tuesday, was next to go for 14 as Stewart Walters took a fine diving catch in the slips off Smith, who took career-best figures of 3 for 38; his third wicket two balls later when he trapped Dawson lbw and reduced Hampshire to 27 for 3.Glamorgan opener Gareth Rees then claimed his first wicket in any format as Walters caught Will Smith at mid-on as he was trying to hit over the top but Hampshire now needed just 11 runs to win.And they had them in the next over as Vince finished the game off with back-to-back fours through extra cover to keep his average above 100 for the season and hand Hampshire their first home win of the campaign.

South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir is confident the experience of playing on subcontinent tracks during the World T20 will hold him in good stead as he prepares for his first IPL stint with Delhi Daredevils

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2014South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir is confident the experience of playing on subcontinent tracks during the World T20 will hold him in good stead as he prepares for his first IPL stint with Delhi Daredevils. Tahir, who was the leading wicket-taker in the World T20 in Bangladesh, was brought in as a replacement for the injured pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile.”The wickets are looking the same. Even in Bangladesh there were no spin-friendly wickets. I have that experience and it would help,” Tahir said. “Spinners have a main role whether in the IPL or world cricket. But it’s hard to be a legspinner, you have to be accurate. The Kotla wicket suits spinners, I will try to do something special.”His addition is important for Daredevils who are currently struggling at the bottom of the table with six losses in eight games and need to win most of their remaining games for a shot at the play-offs. Slow-bowling is one of Daredevils’ glaring weaknesses with frontline spinner Shahbaz Nadeem struggling for wickets. JP Duminy, a part-timer, has had to chip in to balance a bowling attack that has relied largely on pacers.Tahir comes into the squad with 12 wickets in five games at the World T20 at an average of 10.91. He has 99 T20 wickets from 91 games with a strike rate of 19.5 and an economy rate of 6.42. Moreover, he also has the experience of having played in T20 leagues in Pakistan, South Africa and England. He also said that while he did not have a lot of experience of bowling in the Powerplay overs, he would be willing to do so for Daredevils.”I know the team is not doing well. I want to do something for the team,” Tahir said. “They are working hard, [it’s] just things are not going their way. But you can’t do much about it. Destiny, too, has a role to play in it. Even if we can win four out of six games, we will be able to justify.”I have not bowled in Powerplay but if the captain asks me then it has to be considered in the interest of the team. I would like to put myself in that situation. If not, then I would like to bowl after six overs.”The presence of his South Africa team-mates, Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Wayne Parnell has made the transition smoother for Tahir.”It is an advantage. They know how I play and they also know what they can to do help me as I am new in the side,” he said. “I have also played against some of the Indians in England.”

Leicestershire suffered their second batting failure in four days as they were shot out for just 109 on the opening day at Cardiff.

Press Association25-May-2014
ScorecardJim Allenby took 3 for 20 as Glamorgan ripped through Leicestershire•Getty ImagesLeicestershire suffered their second batting failure in four days as they were shot out for just 109 on the opening day at Cardiff. Following their crumbling at the hands of Hampshire on Wednesday, Leicestershire carried their slippery form over the Severn Bridge.No Leicestershire player managed double figures until no. 6 Niall O’Brien, whose 17 turned out to be their joint-highest score of the innings alongside Anthony Ireland, as the wickets tumbled steadily throughout the day.Glamorgan produced a fine display with the ball with all four seamers contributing. Tom Helm saw off two of the visitors’ top three on his way to 2 for 9 from six overs, with Jim Allenby and Will Owen sharing three wickets each. Michael Hogan, back from paternity leave in Australia, accounting for the others.Leicestershire captain lost the toss again – he has not won one all season – were invited to bat and could hardly have made a worse start when play belatedly got under way as Hogan gotrid of Greg Smith for a duck with just the second ball of the day.Fellow opener Angus Robson followed suit soon after the first of several rain-enforced interruptions, trapped leg before wicket by Helm for 5. And Helm was not done there, bowling Ned Eckersley for 9 to leave the visitors reeling on 17 for 3.Josh Cobb contributed only 4 before becoming Owen’s first victim from the bowler’s second ball, caught at mid-off by Will Bragg, and Sarwan did not fare much better, making just 7 before nicking to wicketkeeper Mark Wallace off the bowling of Allenby.O’Brien and Rob Taylor brought a little respite when they shared the best partnership of the visitors’ innings with a 28-run sixth-wicket stand, before both falling with the score on 62 – both caught behind, off Allenby and Hogan, respectively.Jigar Naik and Ireland hung around for eight overs before the latter was tempted into an ill-fated pull by Owen, who further added to his wicket haul by having Nathan Buck caught behind for 2 in his next over.Naik and Charlie Shreck eked out a 19-run final-wicket stand to at least get Leicestershire into treble figures, but there will have been little celebration of that landmark at the tea interval.Tom Lancefield was making his county debut at the top of the Glamorgan order alongside Jacques Rudolph and, although he provided Leicestershire with their only moment of joy with the ball when he edged to wicketkeeper O’Brien off the bowling of Taylor before the showers again returned, it was very much the home team’s day.Rudolph, one 26 not out, will resume alongside the in-form Bragg on Monday, with Glamorgan in good shape to build a healthy first-innings advantage.

Stirling will become the home of Scottish cricket after an agreement between Cricket Scotland and Stirling council

George Dobell16-Jun-2014Stirling will become the home of Scottish cricket after an agreement between Cricket Scotland and Stirling council. The development will see a new pavilion and indoor training facility built at New Williamfield, the home of Stirling County Cricket Club, with Cricket Scotland relocating its headquarters from the National Cricket Academy at Ravelston, Edinburgh.It is hoped that the redevelopment of the ground will start later this year, with the intention being to upgrade it to international match standards. Scotland will play the majority of their home international games at the ground, starting with the World T20 qualifiers in the summer of 2015.”This is an exciting year for cricket in Scotland, with the national team qualifying for the 2015 World Cup and more and more people participating in the sport every year,” Keith Oliver, Chairman of Cricket Scotland, said. “We very much look forward to moving into a new world-class centre for cricket in the heart of Scotland, with excellent facilities and an upgraded ground.”The new facility, which will be of one-day international standard, will serve as the perfect training centre for Scotland’s players at all levels and international teams seeking a training base out of their own season. It will provide a world-class facility for players, members of the club, the local cricket community and visitors to watch matches at all levels and to truly engage with our increasingly popular sport.”The hope is that the facility will also form part of Stirling’s planned Sports Village at Forthbank, which is set to be the home of Scotland’s National Centre for Curling.”We’re thrilled at the prospect of welcoming Cricket Scotland to Stirling and very much look forward to progressing this project with them,” said councillor Corrie McChord, convenor of Stirling council’s community planning and regeneration committee, which has given approval to the agreement in principle. “As Scotland’s city for sport, Cricket Scotland couldn’t find a better home.”

Vusi Sibanda has been dropped from the Zimbabwe squad for the remaining two ODIs against Afghanistan. Richmond Mutumbami has been named as Sibanda’s replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2014Vusi Sibanda has been dropped from the Zimbabwe squad for the remaining two ODIs against Afghanistan. Richmond Mutumbami has been named as Sibanda’s replacement.Sibanda made 4 in the first match of the series and was not included for the second one-dayer. A release from Zimbabwe Cricket said that Sibanda had been left out following “indifferent performances.”Givemore Makoni, the convener of selectors, told Sibanda that he could remain in Bulawayo and train with the squad, but the batsman chose to return to Harare to work on his game. Makoni said that Sibanda will join the squad again for the forthcoming tours by South Africa and Australia so that the selectors can look at him again.Sibanda is one of the most experienced Zimbabwe batsmen, and has made 2710 runs in 112 ODIs at an average of 25.09. He averaged 36 in 13 ODIs in 2013 with one hundred and three fifties.Mutumbami made 73 for Zimbabwe A in the second tour match against Afghanistan last week. He is yet to play limited-overs cricket for Zimbabwe, although he has figured in four Tests.Zimbabwe squad Brendan Taylor (capt), Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Shingi Masakadza, Natsai M’shangwe. Richmond Mutumbami, Tinashe Panyangara, Donald Tiripano, Prosper Utseya, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams

The ECB has awarded central contracts to six new players, Moeen Ali, Gary Ballance, Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2014The ECB has awarded central contracts to six new players, bringing the number up to 12 for 2014-15. England have brought in several new faces over the last year and that regeneration is reflected in Moeen Ali, Gary Ballance, Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes being contracted for the first time.Steven Finn is also retained, having barely played during the past 12 months. Finn’s technical problems meant he returned home from the Ashes tour without playing a game and he only returned to international cricket in August, during the ODIs against India.All of the six new centrally contracted players took part in England’s most recent Test series, against India, as well as being involved in the subsequent one-day series. With the focus turning to the World Cup at the start of a packed 2015 which also includes a home Ashes, England have upped the number from 11 last year.Five players have been awarded increment contracts, with Ravi Bopara’s inclusion hinting at a possible recall ahead of England’s World Cup campaign.Players left off the previous list include Graeme Swann, now retired, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior and Tim Bresnan. Pietersen was effectively sacked in the wake of England’s disastrous Ashes tour, which also saw Trott return home with a stress-related illness – although he has begun to show some of his old form with Warwickshire. Prior stood down from England duty during the summer due to an Achilles injury, which eventually required surgery, while Bresnan has not played since the World T20.Notably absent is Sam Robson, who opened in all seven Tests alongside Alastair Cook but failed to fully convince. England do not play their next Test until April and Robson is expected to face competition for his place from Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth, with both potential Lions tourists in South Africa over the winter.After losing 12-1 across all formats in Australia, leading to the Andy Flower stepping down as team director, and a disappointing World T20, Peter Moores was brought in for a second spell as head coach. Defeat to Sri Lanka in the early part of the summer was followed by a 3-1 Test series win over India, although optimism has since been tempered by England’s continued struggles in ODI cricket.”The awarding of contracts enables the selectors and team management to plan for the next 12 months of international cricket,” James Whitaker, the national selector, said. “We have been hugely encouraged by the rapid development of a host of younger players in the last year and this is reflected in a total of six players being awarded 12-month central contracts for the first time.”England central contracts: Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alastair Cook (Essex),Steven Finn (Middlesex), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)England increment contracts: Ravi Bopara (Essex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), James Tredwell (Kent)