Pakistan lost a referral after an lbw appeal against Grant Elliott was turned down due to Mohammad Asif overstepping, something which the on-field umpire overlooked

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009The fourth day’s play between New Zealand and Pakistan in Dunedin revealed a minor loophole in the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), making its official debut in this Test. When Mohammad Asif challenged Billy Doctrove’s decision – in favour of Grant Elliott – the replays showed that while the batsman was plumb lbw, Asif had marginally overstepped. It would have been a successful challenge but for the no-ball that was originally missed by Doctrove. Yet it ended up costing Pakistan a run and, more importantly, it counted as an unsuccessful challenge.It raised the question of whether the bowling side should be expected to keep an eye on no-balls, or actually be penalised for having missed one. The ICC’s regulations remain silent on the issue. A guide to the system circulated several days ago by the ICC offered this: “If the original decision of ‘out’ is upheld but for a different method of dismissal than the on-field umpire originally intended, then the review will still be regarded as being unsuccessful.” But it doesn’t advise on cases when the original decision of “not-out” is upheld for reasons other than originally intended by the on-field umpire.The ICC’s Umpires and Referees Manager Doug Cowie admitted a solution for the blip had yet to be found. “We’ll look into that one,” Cowie was quoted as saying in the “It might be one of the things we fine tune when we look into the whole business later on.”We did explore that idea about what happens in a no-ball situation. It’s an interesting one, but I don’t know how you get around it.”When contacted after Friday’s incident, Dave Richardson, the ICC’s cricket operations manager, said it was not a loophole but an issue that needs sorting before every series. “It was something that was not covered specifically in the playing conditions. But I know that in the Australia series it was decided beforehand if that happens [a no-ball which is initially overlooked], the fielding team would not lose out on a review. Obviously in the New Zealand series they haven’t decided, and now they can’t introduce it in the middle of the play.”The umpires followed the book in New Zealand, and Doug Cowie, the ICC’s umpires manager, said that the final decision remained not-out so it is counted as unsuccessful.

The leading umpire Mark Benson iss planning to retire from the game with immediate effect following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test

Alex Brown at Adelaide Oval06-Dec-2009Mark Benson is planning to retire from umpiring with immediate effect following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test. The Sunday Times has reported Benson was upset over several incidents involving the Umpire Decision Review System on day one of the second Test between Australia and West Indies, one of which led to his original decision being overturned.Benson twice ruled Shivnarine Chanderpaul not-out to caught-behind appeals on Friday, both of which were challenged by the Australians. The third umpire, Asad Rauf, upheld Benson’s first ruling, prompting an angry response from the bowler, Doug Bollinger, and the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. But it is the second video review, which resulted in Chanderpaul being ruled out for 62, that is understood to have most upset the English official. Hot Spot replays showed no evidence of the ball striking the outside edge of Chanderpaul’s bat, however other camera angles provided Rauf with enough evidence to reverse Benson’s original ruling.Cricinfo has been told an irate Benson “ranted” to colleagues in the umpire’s room after the first day’s play about his dissatisfaction with the UDRS. He is believed to have said at the time that the new system “just makes (umpiring) harder”, however ICC officials were remaining tight-lipped on the matter on Sunday.David Morgan, the ICC president, told Cricinfo Benson was “poorly” and referred other questions to David Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, and Vintcent van der Bijl, the umpire’s manager. Chris Broad, the match referee who is presiding over the Adelaide Test, denied Benson’s swift departure from Adelaide was the result of unhappiness over the UDRS. “There is absolutely no truth in that at all,” Broad said. “The review system is new to everyone and you’ve got to get used to it. He was an advocate of the review system to help umpires out.”We spoke on the second morning and he said that he was feeling unwell. I was in India with him as well where he was unwell. We thought this might well be another situation like that we were in in India. We chatted about it and he said he didn’t feel as though he could go on the field again. We decided to leave him back in the hotel. I phoned Dubai and they decided that if it was a recurrence of high blood pressure or stomach problems he had in India he needed to get it sorted out. That was the reason that I was aware he went home.”ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat also denied Benson’s return to England was related to the UDRS. “This is completely untrue. Benson has been a strong supporter of the system and his return home has nothing to do with it,” he told . “”He is not well and that’s why he is returning home. I’m sure once he reached England, he would issue a clarification.”ICC sources have told Cricinfo, however, that report is indeed accurate, and an announcement from Benson is expected after his arrival into Britain. Precisely why Benson opted to leave Adelaide before the conclusion of the second Test remains unknown.Benson stood down from two one-day internationals involving Australia and India this year due to migraines, and previously experienced heart palpitations during a Test between South Africa and India in Durban. It is understood he did not visit a hospital in Adelaide before his departure on Saturday, despite “ill health” being cited by the ICC as the cause for his departure.Controversy has always followed umpires, but scrutiny has escalated of late. Darrell Hair resorted to legal avenues after he was sidelined by the ICC for his role in the forfeited Test at The Oval between England and Pakistan two years ago, while Steve Bucknor was benched for the latter stages of the Australia-India Test series two summers ago after the BCCI complained of errors.”There’s probably less pressure on the umpires now with a review system than there was beforehand,” Broad said. “Umpires would stand out there in the morning and captains and fielders would strut around not really knowing the result of it. With the review system they know the result straight away.”

Barely a day after they named him in the squad for the crucial final Test against England, South Africa’s selectors have withdrawn Imran Tahir, the uncapped legspinner, owing to his ineligibility to represent the country

Andrew McGlashan in Johannesburg09-Jan-2010Barely a day after they named him in the squad for the crucial final Test against England, South Africa’s selectors have withdrawn Imran Tahir, the uncapped legspinner, owing to issues over his eligibility for the country.Tahir, who was born in Lahore, qualified for South Africa on April 1, 2009 as he is married to a local woman and a Cricket South Africa spokesman said his withdrawal was due to issues with his residency paperwork. “His permanent residence papers have not come through yet, so we will just have to put him on hold until they do,” he said.It is unlikely that Tahir would have featured in the final Test, but Mickey Arthur is known to be keen to assess the legspinner ahead of the tours of India and the West Indies and this situation is likely to be cleared up in time for the India trip in February.Tahir’s original selection was a shot across the bows for Paul Harris, the current No. 1 spinner, after his disappointing display in the second innings at Newlands as South Africa finished one wicket short of victory for the second time in the series.Although Harris took three wickets in the final innings at Newlands, his length was erratic and he delivered several full tosses. He was out-bowled by JP Duminy, whose part-time offspin sparked England’s collapse with the wickets of Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior.Duminy’s offspin has been more than handy during this series, fetching him six wickets at 26.50, compared to Harris’s 11 at 40.36. Mike Procter, the convenor of selectors, admitted there was concern over the form of the frontline spinner.”To a certain extent, yes. Paul Harris has done well for South Africa over the years and it is a little disappointing when your frontline spinner wasn’t able to extract more on a wicket that turned,” Procter told Cricinfo. “We want to look at Tahir for the future as well. He hasn’t been around the squad before and he could be useful in the series to come. He’s only been playing amateur cricket really this season, he’s at the Titans but he’s moving at the end of the season.”However, Tahir’s inclusion comes at a time when he isn’t making first-team appearances for the Titans. He is set to move franchises at the end of the season, having played just two of the eight Supersport matches this campaign for a return of seven wickets at 51.With the domestic season currently in MTN40 mode, Tahir was not part of the Titans side and has been playing most of his cricket for Easterns in the amateur three-day tournament. His form has been impressive with 36 wickets at 15.61. Tahir was prolific for Hampshire in his recent stint in county cricket, claiming 52 wickets at 32.90. He played two matches for Pakistan A back in 2005, and has also featured for Middlesex and Yorkshire.South Africa’s squad is now down to 14 names and includes left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell, who was released from the squad for the first Test in Centurion, in favour of Friedel de Wet. De Wet, however, has been struggling with a back injury that required an injection on the final day at Newlands. He was noticeably down on pace throughout his last-day spell, and his place in the XI will depend on the outcome of a scan. Makhaya Ntini was another name in the frame for a last hurrah, but his latest omission has all but confirmed his international retirement.South Africa squad Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Friedel de Wet, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn.

MCC has awarded five former and current players Honorary Life Membership in recognition of their cricketing achievements. In an Ashes year, it’s an Anglo-Australian list featuring Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher and Graeme Hick.

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010MCC has awarded five former and current players Honorary Life Membership in recognition of their cricketing achievements. In an Ashes year, it’s an Anglo-Australian list featuring Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher and Graeme Hick.They all feature on the Lord’s Honours Board with the surprising exception of Warne, who took 19 wickets in his four Tests at the ground, but never managed more than four in an innings. His total of 708 Test wickets has enshrined him as one of the all-time greats, however, and he was back at Lord’s in 2009 when the Rajasthan Royals became the first IPL side to play in England.”I am so honoured to be granted life membership by MCC, and was really surprised, but very thankful when it was offered to me,” said Warne. “Lord’s is an amazing place with its history and tradition and to be given such a special privilege really has humbled me.”McGrath excelled at Lord’s, picking up a five-wicket haul each time he played there and taking his 500th Test wicket during the 2005 Ashes series. Vaughan, England’s most successful Test captain, also enjoyed particular success at the ground. He played 12 Tests there – more than at any other venue – and plundered six centuries, averaging over 50.”It is a huge honour and one which I regard as right up there with all my on-field achievements,” said Vaughan. “Lord’s is a place I have a love affair with, and I will be using my membership to visit on a regular basis!”Hick, who was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last year, was one of the most prodigious run scorers in all first-class cricket. He made 136 first-class centuries, eighth on the all-time list, scoring 41,112 runs before his retirement.Hick had his name written onto the Honours Board with a century against the country of his birth, Zimbabwe, in the course of England’s innings-and-209-run win in May 2000. Butcher, whose finest innings – an unbeaten match-winning 173 at Headingley in 2001 – came against an attack containing both Warne and McGrath, also scored two Test hundreds at Lord’s.Honorary Life Membership is granted by the MCC Committee to cricketers, umpires and administrators in recognition of the service which they have given to the game, often over a very long period. There are now more than 300 Honorary Life Members out of a total membership of 18,000.

The man who tackled Khalid Latif to the ground during a one-day game at the WACA last month has been fined $9000 after being convicted of assault and trespass

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010The man who tackled Khalid Latif to the ground during a one-day game at the WACA last month has been fined $9000 after being convicted of assault and trespass. David James Fraser, 37, of Yangebup, pleaded guilty to the charges and his lawyer said he had been dared by a mate to run on to the ground.Fraser was fined $6000 for the trespass charge and $3000 for the assault following the incident on January 31, which his lawyer said was alcohol-induced. He was also banned for life from the WACA.The incident led to calls from Cricket Australia and the WACA for harsher penalties for pitch invaders. Following the court hearing, the WACA released a statement saying that it would continue to lobby the state government for greater fines for field invaders.”Field of play invasions by spectators during major sporting events are dangerous, disrupt major public events and can influence the outcome of those events, whilst also damaging Australia’s and Western Australia’s reputation in the eyes of international viewing audiences,” the statement said. “The ICC has the power to revoke the WACA Ground’s accreditation to host international cricket matches, and the WACA supports harsher penalties that would encourage members of the crowd to think twice before attempting to enter the field of play.”

Jonathan Trott eased to a trouble-free century as England finetuned their preparations for next week’s first Test on a sleepy second day in Chittagong

Andrew Miller in Chittagong09-Mar-2010Bangladesh’s most-capped cricketer, Mohammad Ashraful, has been omitted from the Test squad for the forthcoming series against England, after failing to convince the selectors that he is in the right frame of mind to resume his international career.Ashraful, 25, missed last week’s ODI series in a bid to recapture his form following a poor tour of New Zealand, but in consecutive first-class matches for Dhaka Division, he made 21 runs in four innings, including three ducks.His final chance to impress the selectors came during his captaincy stint for Bangladesh A against England at Chittagong, but having managed just 1 in the first innings, he was bowled by Amjal Shahzad for 30 on the third and final morning of the match.Ashraful has played in 53 of Bangladesh’s 64 Tests to date, having made his mark with a debut century against Sri Lanka in November 2001, when he was just 16 years old. However, he has never yet featured in a home Test against England, having been dropped for the 2003 series, again due to a loss of form.The Bangladesh selectors have named a 14-man squad which includes the centurion from the warm-up match, Raqibul Hasan, as well as no fewer than three left-arm spinners – the captain Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak and Enamul Haque Jr – in response to Kevin Pietersen’s much-publicised problems against that style of bowling.Ironically, Pietersen fell to Ashraful’s spin for 20 on the final afternoon of the tour match.Bangladesh squad Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Aftab Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Enamul Haque Jr, Shahadat Hossain.

Kevin Pietersen doesn’t do humble pie as a rule, but on this trip it’s been forced down his gullet by the shovel-full

Andrew Miller in Chittagong12-Mar-2010Kevin Pietersen doesn’t do humble pie as a rule, but on this trip it’s been forced down his gullet by the shovel-full. He was once able to give the impression that his game had no weaknesses (other than an occasional tendency towards over-confidence), but in Bangladesh he has been carved open by the unlikeliest opponents of them all.Even in his hour of apparent renaissance, his new and unfamiliar vulnerability manifested itself as he fell for 99 to the left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak for the third time in three innings. But after the month he’s endured, he was simply grateful to have overcome the worst.”Probably at the end of your career you look back and think one run could have made a difference to me personally, but I’d have taken 99 this morning, that’s for sure,” he said. “Sometimes you hit a patch when you don’t know where your next run is coming from, and I’ve had that for the last couple of weeks. But I knew I needed to work on something, and I’ve done it.”That something was his weakness against left-arm spin, and to Pietersen’s credit, he didn’t even try to shy away from his uncertainties. In the past, to discuss such a topic openly would have been an unacceptable show of weakness, but he has realised as acutely as anyone that his problems are way out in the public domain. Recognition, as they say, is the first step to recovery.”I’ve had to make an adjustment to the way I play left-arm spin,” he said. “With umpires giving more lbw decisions on the front foot, and the boys bowling a lot more for lbw, you have to make adjustments. I’ve made them with some really hard work with Andy Flower, who was a really fantastic player of spin, and some really kind words from Rahul Dravid. I just got a really nice message from him today saying ‘it worked’.”Duncan Fletcher has also been offering his tuppen’orth, as England’s former coach revealed in his Guardian column this week, and with an assortment of advisors of that calibre, allied to Pietersen’s unstinting appetite for hard work, it’s little wonder that he’s managed to turn his form around. Nevertheless, he first had to digest his glut of information, and churn through countless hours in the nets, before the dividends could be revealed at the crease.”At the end of the day they don’t bat for you but you’ve got to find information,” he said. “I’ve played with Rahul in Bangalore, and I’ve played a lot of Test match cricket against him, and in two weeks, I’ll be spending four weeks with him [at the IPL]. It’s great to spend time speaking to people like that and he’s helped a heck of a lot.”I’ve felt fine against the seamers since [the Twenty20s in] Dubai, but it’s just been left-arm spin I’ve had to work out. I won’t stop learning and I won’t stop working hard, which I love, because you are never too good for anything. This morning I figured the hours I’ve put into net practice this week were bound to pay off at some stage.
“Everyone is human, everyone goes through a patch where they struggle, but I’ve never stopped trying,” he added. “I’ve missed [being in form]. It’s been a terrible 12 months in terms of my injury and my form in South Africa, where I was losing my balance, feet going nowhere. I feel really good at the moment, really rock solid, but that’s not going to stop me working on my game.”On the subject of his dismissal for 99, which was the second time he had made that score and the fifth time he’d fallen in the nineties all told, Pietersen was equally philosophical. “Funny things happen to cricketers on 99 all around the world. I’ve had a 99, I’ve had a 97, I’ve had a 96, I’ve had a 92 … yeah, it’s not nice. But I can tell you getting out for 20 the other day wasn’t nice, getting out for 1 in the one-day series wasn’t nice. It’s never nice getting out.”One man who hasn’t had that feeling so far in this game is Alastair Cook, who emulated Pietersen’s feat of a century in his first Test as captain, and has the chance to resume on Saturday on 158 not out, with a double-century in his sights and the opportunity to push for, in the words of his mentor, Graham Gooch, a “daddy”.”Alastair has done an amazing job today and first of all ‘Chef’ needs to get his highest score in Test cricket and then go and get 250,” said Pietersen. “It was brilliant. I did say to him that emotion took over my hundred [on captaincy debut] at The Oval and I got out the next ball. So I said to him to dig deep, I said ‘you’ve got a big, big hundred to score here’. A hundred is great, but 158 is even better.”

Officials of the Income-Tax department have visited the IPL offices in Mumbai on Thursday in what is being described as an “inquiry” of a preliminary nature

Cricinfo staff15-Apr-2010The IPL has come under the scanner of India’s income-tax department with officials visiting the league’s office in Mumbai and also the office and residence of its commissioner, Lalit Modi. The activity, which is being described as an “inquiry” of a preliminary nature, comes a day after the Central Board of Direct Taxes said it had ordered an investigation of the Kochi franchise sale issue but is expected to be wider in scope.”There is an inquiry, it is not a raid,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, told . “The I-T officials are possibly looking for the details of the tender (for the Kochi team). We will extend them all possible cooperation.”The I-T department’s intervention follows several days of allegations and counter-allegations involving Rendezvous Sports World, the holding company of the Kochi franchise, the composition of its ownership and its shareholding pattern. The shareholders were named by Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, over the weekend, an action that sparked off the subsequent furore.There was some good news for Modi in a public vote of confidence from Sharad Pawar, the former BCCI president and the ICC’s president-elect. Pawar told on Wednesday, Tharoor said there was no question of him resigning. Tharoor denied that his party had left him out in the cold, and added that “resigning would mean I’ve given up.”

Lancashire’s hopes of winning their opening three Championship games for the
first time in 15 years remain very much intact despite the efforts of Darren
Stevens whose unbeaten century frustrated Glen Chapple’s bowlers on the second
day of their Champions

28-Apr-2010

ScorecardLancashire’s hopes of winning their opening three Championship games for the
first time in 15 years remain very much intact despite the efforts of Darren
Stevens whose unbeaten century frustrated Glen Chapple’s bowlers on the second
day of their Championship match against Kent at Old Trafford.Replying to the home side’s first-innings total of 320, Rob Key’s batsmen had
struggled to 97 for 7 before Stevens’ 92-run eighth-wicket partnership with
Matt Coles changed the contest.Stevens had made 101 not out by the time Kent were bowled out for 213.
Lancashire added 68 to their first-innings lead of 107 before bad light and rain
ended play 15 overs early, but they had lost Tom Smith, for his sixth successive
single figure Championship score, Paul Horton and Stephen Moore in the process.This leaves Glen Chapple’s side with a lead of 175 with seven wickets in hand
and two days of this fluctuating contest still to play. However, while Lancashire’s Sajid Mahmood will look back on the day with pleasure – he claimed 5 for 55 from 18.5 overs – it was Stevens’ innings which altered the balance of the game.Mixing doughty defence with uninhibited aggression, the former Leicestershire
all-rounder, who had taken four wickets in Lancashire’s first innings, clubbed
two mighty sixes and 10 fours in his 129-ball stay at the wicket.When Makhaya Ntini was last man out – caught at leg gully off the back of the
bat attempting to avoid a Mahmood bouncer – Lancashire’s lead had been reduced
to a healthy advantage, but nothing like the abundance they had envisaged
earlier in the day.Stevens needed his luck – Chapple dropped a steepler at deep mid-on when he was
53 – but he perhaps deserved a little good fortune and his performance spiked
the guns of a home attack led by the fired-up Mahmood.Most of Kent’s top order were unable to cope with Lancashire’s purposeful and
well-directed new-ball bowling in the pre-lunch session. Only Geraint Jones survived for long, and even he came in for lunch knowing he had ridden his luck.Chapple started the rot, and also claimed his 700th first-class wicket for the
county, when he moved one away from Key and in the next over, Joe Denly received
a savage lifter from Mahmood which he gloved to Sutton.Martin van Jaarsveld then fell for Chapple’s three-card trick and tamely gave a
catch to backward short-leg Simon Kerrigan, who had been deliberately placed
there a few balls previously.When Sam Northeast sliced Tom Smith to Ashwell Prince in the gully, Kent were
53 for 4 and thoroughly in the cart. Jones’ irresponsible slash gave Mahmood his second wicket three overs after the break, Smith’s swing then accounted for James Hockley and a stunning one-handed diving catch by Steven Croft in the gully saw the end of Simon Cook.While wickets fell at the other end, Stevens had been adopting a policy of
selective aggression and he maintained this policy in company with Coles, who
offered useful support with 33, as Lancashire’s hopes of enforcing the follow-on
sagged.

There are two ways to look at Andrew Strauss’s optional break from international cricket, which comes to an end when he leads the side out in the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s on Thursday

Andrew Miller at Lord's26-May-2010There are two ways to look at Andrew Strauss’s optional break from international cricket, which comes to an end when he leads the side out in the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s on Thursday. On the one hand, his decision has been vindicated by the remarkable success that the squad achieved in his absence – culminating, of course, in the ICC World Twenty20 victory in the Caribbean earlier this month.On the other hand, the serenity of the team’s progress since Strauss’s last appearance, in the fourth Test at Johannesburg back in January, raises uncomfortable questions about his actual importance to the side – or at least, may threaten to do so if he is slow to rediscover the form that helped haul the team out of the doldrums that he inherited at the start of his tenure in 2009. Such is the nature of international sport. Today’s men can become yesterday’s heroes with a haste that would be unseemly in any other walk of life.On the eve of his comeback, however, Strauss did not look like a man who feared that his authority had been ebbing in his absence – far from it. With a subtle emphasis on the bigger picture, namely the twin peaks of the Ashes and the 50-over World Cup in less than 12 months’ time, he set the agenda for a tough summer of momentum-building, while repeating the mantra first uttered after the victory over Australia last summer, that every new success is just another stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of becoming the best team in the world.”I’m incredibly excited to be among the group again, especially after what they achieved in the West Indies,” said Strauss. “There’s a real vibrancy and enthusiasm about things, and it’s great to be part of it again and start putting in place some of things I’ve been thinking about while I’ve been away, and speaking to Andy Flower about what he wants to implement. It’s an important summer for us, one we really need to get a lot of our thinking and planning right, and it all starts this week.”We’ve had quite a lot of success over the last 12 months, but we’re still No. 5 in the world in Test and ODI cricket, so it’s not all about slapping each other’s backs and telling everyone how brilliant it is,” said Strauss. “It’s about continuing to do what we’ve set out in the last 12 months – and there are clearly areas we need to improve on in Test cricket. There’s huge room for improvement, and we need to do that right now.”When Bangladesh last toured the country in the spring of 2005, they encountered an England side with a similarly ruthless agenda and were bundled aside by an innings in each of their two Tests. Strauss acknowledged that a repeat of those performances was expected in conditions that are likely to favour swing and seam bowling, but insisted that his players would be judged by more stringent criteria than mere scorecards.”You can’t underestimate Bangladesh,” he said. “They’ve got some very dangerous players, but in this series it’s important we concentrate on our own game and set our standards very high. Sometimes if the conditions aren’t in our favour it’ll be hard work against them, but we’ll be marking ourselves not on whether we win or lose, but how close we get to playing the type of cricket we want to play. If we do it, I’ve no doubt we’ll win the Tests.”For all his positivity, Strauss knows that the best way to restate his credentials is to lead from the front. “You always need a big score,” he said. “That’s the way it is in international cricket, but I don’t feel any extra pressure. As a captain, it helps if you’re scoring runs as you can lead by example more, and I’ll be making every effort to do that, but mentally, I’m very hungry and that’s a pretty good starting point.”Machiavellian conspiracy theorists might suggest that Strauss’s authority will be aided by the absence of Paul Collingwood, the man who captured the Twenty20 crown, and whose stock as a leader of men never looked higher than at the moment of victory over Australia in Barbados. He has been rested for the first Test on account of a shoulder problem, but Strauss dismissed the notion that the pair would have been treading on each other’s toes.”I don’t think it makes any difference,” he said. “Paul was always an important part of the decision-making process anyway. He’s one of leaders in the team, and a good friend. We’ve had a couple of good chats since he got back, and he’s always been an incredibly loyal source of advice. I don’t think that’ll change.”The reason I didn’t make myself available for the Twenty20s is probably the very reason they went on and won it,” he added. “The first six overs are so crucial, and it’s not a massive strength of mine to be whacking the ball straight over the bowler’s head, which is why I didn’t feel myself among the best 11 Twenty20 players in the country. I had no regrets at not being there, but I had a huge amount of enjoyment and satisfaction out of seeing them doing so well and playing that way.”He’ll be satisfied, too, at the manner in which many of England’s players have developed in his absence – not least Tim Bresnan, who was a fringe squad member at the turn of the year, but has suddenly become an integral figure in all three forms of the game. “He looks very confident, at ease with his game,” said Strauss. “He’s overcome an important hurdle in Test cricket, proving he can go and take wickets consistently on flat wickets. It’s been great to see him come through as he has capabilities with bat and ball.”And then there’s Alastair Cook, Strauss’s stand-in in Bangladesh, and a player whom he feels has benefited immeasurably from the responsibility of leadership. “There’s no doubt you learn a lot about yourself and the game of cricket when you have the chance to lead a side,” he said. “Alastair has learned a lot of lessons and has come back stronger for it. He will be a very valuable source of help and advice over the summer.”