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Such is England’s current strength in depth that even a man with a double-century in his last Test innings cannot avoid the imminent prospect of demotion.In the absence of Jonathan Trott with a shoulder injury, Ian Bell was promoted to the No. 3 position towards the end of the Test series against India last year and responded with two centuries in three innings. The last of them, a sublime contribution of 235 at The Oval, underlined his maturation into one of the finest – and most attractive – players in Test cricket.Bell understands, however, that he is highly likely to drop back down the order to allow Trott to return to the No. 3 position which he has made in own over the last couple of years. With Trott, the current ICC Player of the Year averaging 54 (with 1,412 runs and four centuries from 30 Test innings) at No.3 and Bell averaging 40.97 (with 1,434 runs and two centuries from 36 Test innings) in the same position, it’s an understandable decision from England. By contrast, Bell averages 65 when batting at No. 5.Long-term Bell admits that he retains ambitions to bat at first wicket down. With an aspiration to be rated the No. 1 Test batsman, Bell feels he needs to prove himself higher up the order to silence the doubters who suggest – with ever decreasing justification – that many of his Test runs have come against tired attacks in low-pressure situations.”My goal is to bat three,” Bell said from the ICC’s Global Academy in Dubai, where England are preparing for the Test series against Pakistan. “I think that’s where you can test yourself, and certainly there is a part of me that wants to bat there. I’ve had success at five, I’ve had success at six and I’m very happy to bat there. I’ll bat wherever the team want me to bat.”My long-term goal is I want to bat in the top three. But for me now, it’s just a matter of scoring runs in this series. I’m clear in what I need to do. At the end of the day, we’re a batting unit and we have to score runs to give our bowlers a chance of winning a Test match.”So whether it’s three or five, I’ll be prepared to bat there. But I’m pretty sure it will be number five.”Compared to Chris Tremlett, however, Bell might still consider himself fortunate. Since returning to the Test side just before Christmas 2011 during the third Test against at Perth, Tremlett has bowled superbly and claimed taken 36 wickets in seven Tests at an average of 24.Due to a couple of untimely injuries Tremlett now finds himself behind Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan in the tussle for a fast bowling position in the Test side and fighting with Steven Finn for the position of first reserve.

Batting camp: batsmen sitting around a bonfire telling stories of bowlers they’ve faced, hundreds they’ve made, bonding, pledging their allegiance to the group ethos. Not quite. The reality is that Australia’s batsmen have simply spent a few extra days in the nets, although there has been a back-to-school element as they returned to the basics of how to handle swing bowling, specifically the angles of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.As a former teacher, Michael Hussey probably enjoyed the sessions more than anyone. This is a man who, years ago, decided he needed six hours of practice a day and duly took his batting coach Ian Kevan to the nets one weekend. He trained in the nets with time out for lunch and tea. During one of the breaks, Kevan fell asleep, exhausted. Hussey went for a run.The tune-up at the MCG over the past few days might be just what he needed. Hussey, 36, is in a strange position, bracketed together with Ricky Ponting as the two old, out-of-form men of the middle order, playing for their positions. And it is true that Hussey has made fewer runs in his past two series, against South Africa and New Zealand, than in any of the other 20 Test series in which he has played.But his previous two series, last summer’s Ashes and the tour of Sri Lanka, were the most productive of his Test career. He was Man of the Match in all three Tests in Sri Lanka. It is a turn of events that Hussey himself cannot explain, other than to put the sudden slump down to difficult pitches and a lack of good fortune.”I feel like I’m in a good place mentally,” Hussey said. “I feel like I’m batting well in the nets. Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck early in your innings and you can go on and get a big score. I’m hoping to get a little bit of luck early in the innings and I can go on and get a good start to the series.”We had some tough conditions for batting in South Africa, so you needed a little bit of luck to get through there. The first couple of pitches out here in Australia [against New Zealand], it’s been hard work for the batters as well. I haven’t been able to get through that initial period.”That’s definitely been the focus for me, to work hard early in my innings and my training has been all about being really tight and tough early in my net sessions. If you can just get through that initial period it gets easier after that.”At No.6, Hussey should at least be coming in when the ball has stopped swinging, but Australia’s top-order struggles have meant that hasn’t always been the case in recent times. Against India, left-arm pace has been a problem for Hussey in the past, with RP Singh dismissing him four times from four Tests, and Zaheer three times.Part of the curriculum at batting camp was to replicate as closely as possible the lines of Zaheer and Ishant, the two key men in India’s attack. Zaheer has an especially strong record against left-hand batsmen – 10 of the 14 batsmen he has dismissed most in Test cricket are lefties – and Australia have four of them in their top six, including Hussey.”We did focus a little bit on [Zaheer] in the batting camp,” he said. “We had the bowling machines cranked up and Justin Langer was getting the ball to swing around a lot. We did a little bit of work there. I think in our previous tours the bowlers have had two-piece balls, so they can swing a little bit more as well.”We have faced Zaheer in the past. We’ve watched a lot of footage on him as well, seeing what he likes to do and which way he likes to swing. He’s a class bowler and a very good exponent of bowling with the new ball, and probably more particularly with the old ball.”The Australians will also face a challenge from India’s two spinners, R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, and Hussey said he expected the slow men to do plenty of work for India.”We haven’t seen a lot of Ashwin,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to play with him at Chennai Super Kings, so I’ve seen a little bit of him. Certainly it’s going to take our batsmen a little bit of time to get to know his variations and his subtleties. I’m confident that our guys will play their spinners very well.”

Tasmania edged ahead of Victoria, into third place on the points table, with a 93-run win at the MCG. Victoria had resumed on 226 for 4, chasing a mammoth 412. Centurion Chris Rogers could add only 12 runs to his overnight score of 106, and the lower order could not get going. The only contribution down the order came from Clint McKay, who hit a smacked a few boundaries in a knock of 45 to reduce the margin of defeat.Rogers was eventually snapped up by rookie Jackson Bird. He edged behind as the quick, who was in his second first-class game, went on to complete a five-for in the innings and ten-wicket haul in the match. He was named Man of the Match for his efforts.Only 30 overs of play were possible on day one of the South Australia v Queensland match at the Adelaide Oval. The hosts chose to bat and had four of their top-order batsmen knocked over before rain forced an early close. New-ball bowler Matthew Gale caused most of the damage, trapping Daniel Harris lbw, and getting Tom Thornton and Callum Ferguson to edge to the keeper. South Australia finished the day on 4 for 75, as Luke Feldman had Tom Cooper bowled just before play was called off.In another rain-affected match, Western Australia got to 0 for 37 against New South Wales on day one of the game at the SCG. The openers Marcus Harris and Wes Robinson played patient innings, with strike-rates in the 20s, after New South Wales had put them into bat.

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSri Lanka only half-recovered from Umar Gul’s early burst•AFP

On the 59th anniversary of their first Test win, Pakistan’s fast bowlers moved on sensationally from the demoralising fielding debacle in Abu Dhabi, but the spinners didn’t enjoy such good fortune. Even though Misbah-ul-Haq took three slip catches off the quicks, Taufeeq Umar dropped Kumar Sangakkara on 27 and Younis Khan reprieved Rangana Herath off the first ball he faced. Consequently 73 for 5 became 154 for 6, and 154 for 8 turned into 239 all out. However, the early damage was so severe that the day still belonged to Pakistan, especially because the openers brought the deficit under 200 in the nine testing overs bowled at them.That the successful completion of regulation catches came as a huge relief in the morning tells the story. Three days after they had been ground into the Abu Dhabi dust thanks largely to their own fielders, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan somehow found the heart to create opportunity after opportunity once again. It was a new-ball pitch, and the two hit the seam with regularity to take five wickets in the first session.Both teams misread the track to an extent. Pakistan dropped the big-hearted Aizaz Cheema in favour of left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Expecting a flat track, Sri Lanka chose to bat first. As it turned out, with the ball seaming around in the first session, Gul and Junaid had to make up for the absence of the third seamer with 10-over spells before lunch, including a wicket in the last over of the session.The Sri Lanka top order was left with the task of seeing the new ball off. While not quite a demon, the pitch had enough seam and variable bounce in it to keep the Pakistan fast bowlers in business. True to their nature, they exploited every bit of life on offer. Gul got the ball to swing into the left-handed top three, and on the odd occasion got it to seam away after shaping up to swing in. The variable bounce was obvious from how two early edges didn’t carry to the cordon, and how on two occasions Gul missed out on lbws because of extra bounce.The top order bar Sangakkara came up short. Both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana made the instinctive correction of planting the front foot across to cover the movement, leaving them prone to the balls moving in. Thirimanne survived one such shout because of the height, but was trapped dead plumb immediately after. Paranavitana played himself into a shell before finally playing a reckless cut off Gul. At first slip, Misbah held the ball close to his chest. Finally someone other than the wicketkeeper had taken a catch in 178 overs of bowling.More chances would soon come. Mahela Jayawardene got the classical Gul delivery that angled in, pitched short of a length, drew him into the shot, then held its line, and took a healthy edge. Misbah was there to accept the low catch again. Dilshan played a loose punch outside off to give Misbah his third. Junaid’s contribution to the dismissal cannot be overstated, though. In his sixth over, he went round the stumps, angled the ball in, making Dilshan play, and the open face did the rest.At 45 for 4, after six overs each for the new-ball bowlers, Pakistan would have wished they had Cheema to bowl first change. In his absence, Gul and Junaid put in the extra hours. After Gul’s unbroken 10-over spell, Junaid came back to trouble Mathews from round the stumps. Even as Mathews walked down the track to counter the movement, both his edges were beaten repeatedly until he nicked Junaid to Adnan Akmal, the only catching man Pakistan haven’t had to worry about.In between, Sangakkara played a rare loose shot, an uppish square-drive off Ajmal, but Taufeeq was late to attempt a high catch to his left at backward point. Missing his partner in crime from the first Test, the injured Prasanna Jayawardene, Sangakkara had no option but to score as many as possible before he was left stranded. He scored 49 of the 76 runs that came during his time after lunch.Even though Rehman trapped the debutant keeper Kaushal Silva to end a 54-run partnership, the pitch had settled down and the ball had become soft. Pakistan stopped trying to get Sangakkara out, but at the same time they were lousy enough to forget to bring the field up for the last ball of an over. Sangakkara gladly retained the strike, but exposed Dhammika Prasad to Saeed Ajmal for four balls of the next over. Prasad had no clue which way Ajmal was turning the ball, and despite a customary drop from Mohammad Hafeez, a thick edge from him was accepted by Akmal. Sangakkara took a risk against the first ball of the next over, but holed out to long-on. It could have become three wickets in four balls, but Younis Khan let through a low chance from Herath.The highest partnership of the innings, 75 for the ninth wicket, followed. Chanaka Welegedara and Herath fought bravely after tea, taking blows on their bodies, and putting behind them the plays and misses. Welegedara in particular drove well through the covers, hooked Gul for a six during a heated over, and slogged Abdur Rehman for another even as he fought cramps. He added 48 to his career 67 runs. Ajmal, though, kept coming at them, and made sure Sri Lanka were again dismissed inside the first day.

Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm seamer, who picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, has said he is keen on filling the void left by Mohammad Amir, who hasn’t played for Pakistan since the spot-fixing controversy broke out last year. Junaid, 21, who plays for Abbottabad on Pakistan’s domestic circuit, grabbed 5 for 38 to bowl out Sri Lanka for 197 in conditions favourable for batting and put his team in control.”I will do my best to fill the void and do as well as my team needs,” Junaid said after the day’s play. I am delighted with my effort but all the bowlers did well, no one man can get a team out.”His wickets included the two Jayawardenes: Mahela was caught stabbing to slip while Prasanna was cleaned up by a superb yorker. There was a bit of assistance from the track, Junaid said. “There was a little bit of seam early but otherwise, I used the yorker and mixed the bowling up. It’s pleasing to get them out for a low score.”Junaid has toured with Pakistan’s youth teams and also played for Lancashire. He was grateful to some of Pakistan’s fast-bowling greats, whose guidance he’s received and benefitted from. “I am quite lucky that way. During the [2011] World Cup, there was Aaqib Javed and Waqar, and alongside them Wasim also gave tips on how to bowl. I started playing cricket only after watching Imran.”When I went to Lancashire, Wasim used to call me and tell me how to bowl, how to use the conditions,” Khan said. “That stint was very helpful. There I learnt how to seam, how to swing the ball, how to bowl a yorker.”Angelo Mathews, who top-scored with 52 for Sri Lanka, said the track was a good one for batting and admitted Sri Lanka batted poorly. “We lost our way in the second session, the batsmen did not bat well,” he said. “The second session made a huge difference where we lost about six wickets in four-five overs.”It was a pretty good batting wicket. Whoever hits the wicket hard had a bit off a nip off the wicket. All in all it was a very good wicket, Khan did hit the deck hard and got the reward.”

Chirayu Amin, the current IPL chairman, is likely to step down from the position at the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting that will be held on September 19 and 20 in Mumbai, ESPNcricinfo has learned. Amin has reportedly told the BCCI he does not have the time to devote to the job and Rajiv Shukla, the current board vice-president from the Central Zone, is the person tipped to take over from him.Shukla is a union minister in the Indian government and it is believed he could help smooth communication between the BCCI and the government in light of the controversies surrounding the IPL.Amin may not withdraw into the background, however, and could be interested in the post of treasurer of the BCCI, sources said. To this point, the position had appeared to be a contest between current West Zone vice-president Niranjan Shah and the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, Ajay Shirke, who is on the IPL governing council, with Shah thought to have the inside track.The other positions up for grabs at the AGM are those of the honorary secretary, the honorary joint-secretary, and the five zonal vice-presidents. The post of secretary will be vacated by N Srinivasan, who will take over as president from Shashank Manohar. The current frontrunner to replace Srinivasan is Ranjib Biswal, the Orissa Cricket Association president. Biswal was on the 2010-11 IPL governing committee and has served as East Zone’s representative on the selection committee in the past. But he does not appear to have the support of the Cricket Association of Bengal and that might affect his chances. The current joint-secretary, Sanjay Jagdale, is also thought to be in the fray, as well as Shivlal Yadav, the vice-president from the South Zone and a former India spinner.Meanwhile Anurag Thakur, the president of the Madhya Pradesh Association, is thought to be the sole candidate to replace Jagdale as joint-secretary. Thakur was largely responsible for building the cricket stadium at Dharamsala and was on the BCCI’s finance committee this past year.If Shukla does become the head of the IPL, that would open the door for Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of the late Madhavrao Scindia, a former Union minster and BCCI president, to be elected the vice-president from the Central Zone. Jyotiraditya has now attended two AGMs, the minimum required for those wishing to be elected to an official position.There has also been talk of Sundar Raman, the IPL chief executive, being given an official position on the board. Raman was the BCCI’s representative at the ICC Chief Executive’s Committee meeting on September 12.The nominations have to be filed between 10am and 3pm on Sunday, September 18. They will then be scrutinised with candidates able to withdraw until 6pm. The final list will be published at 7pm and voting will take place during the AGM the next day. However, one board official suggested to ESPNcricinfo that there might not be a need for an election as “the president will decide everything”.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka batsman, has called for stability in the team after they gave themselves a chance of staving off a Test match and series defeat by Australia in Pallekele. While he acknowledged the team’s poor performances with the bat so far in the series, he said the batsmen needed to be given extended runs without the constant fear of being dropped. Only that, he said, could bring positive results – Sri Lanka have not won a Test match since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan..”The first thing is the guys have to be pretty solid in their minds about what their roles are,” Sangakkara said. “They’ve also got to be comfortable in the fact they’re here because they’re good enough and also that they’re going to be given a nice, long-lasting run to prove what they can do. No-one comes here easily, everyone’s done the hard work in the A side or in first-class cricket to get to this level and earn a Test cap for Sri Lanka.”But it’s hard for batsmen to play looking over their shoulders; they need to be told ‘we trust you enough to go out and do the job for the country’ and these guys will respond to that. I think [Tillakaratne] Dilshan’s done that pretty well. You’re seeing slow results, but at all times the senior guys have to keep putting their hands up and performing; that’s what’s going to allow the newcomers to perform even better.”Sri Lanka started the fourth day in Pallekele 237 runs behind after a first-innings surrender for 174. By the close they were 223 for 2, just 14 behind, with Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in occupation on the cusp of the second new ball.”It was important we showed some character in this innings,” Sangakkara said, “especially since the last three innings we’ve had opportunities to try to win Test matches but we haven’t done that with our batting. Today was another opportunity for the guys to go out there and graft the runs and if we get a good start again tomorrow morning we can put some pressure back on the Australians.”Under a new captain in Michael Clarke, Australia brought an inexperienced bowling attack to Sri Lanka, but Sangakkara expressed genuine respect for the way the visitors have gone about their work, forcing the hosts to accept that hard graft was the only path to runs.”It’s pretty disappointing but we can’t point the finger at anyone else but ourselves [about the batting so far]. Test matches are usually won or lost on first-innings totals; very rarely do you see huge comebacks in the third and fourth innings. As a batting side we’re going up against an Australian attack that’s come out here and showed us how disciplined and well planned they are in their bowling. We’ve got to be up for the fight.”It is not just a case of batting a session or batting two sessions, it is about batting five, six, seven sessions against these guys to build up good totals. It’s hard to allow bowlers to dominate the course of things throughout, but they’ve done a really good job of bowling straight, bowling great areas and bowling to their fields. This is not a side against whom you can score a hundred in a session or two, it is a case of pushing the Australia bowlers into their third or fourth spells, tiring them out and then grafting your runs.”The DRS caused some more headaches for both sides on the fourth day, as Tharanga Paranavitana was first the beneficiary then the victim of its vagaries. In both instances replays suggested there might have been a deflection to the keeper but there did not appear to be conclusive evidence of an edge; however, while Paranavitana survived the first review, the second not-out decision was overturned. Sangakkara said technology was not yet 100% accurate, and therefore a state of compromise had to be reached between those providing technology and those compelled to use it.”We’ve all seen technology; we’ve seen the good and the bad of it. We’ve seen Hawk-Eye not picking up the turn of the ball, depending on the distance between where the ball pitches and where it hits the pad; you’ve seen Hotspot sometimes fail in the India-England series, so the debate will go on.”Today we saw Paranavitana given not-out on the field and the decision overturned by the third umpire, so that’ll probably be another point of debate. I think everybody’s got to come to a middle ground, where you’ve got to accept that it’s not 100% if you’re using it and be comfortable with that, or go back and say we’ll wait until technology is 100%.”

ScorecardRavi Bopara was a class apart on a unforgettable day of cricket•Getty Images

It is fashionable for those who rarely bother to attend such fixtures to suggest that the quality and entertainment offered by Division Two cricket is of little value.But, in the unlikely setting of Garon Park in Southend, a hardy bunch of spectators were treated to outstanding performances by two fine cricketers, which underlines the counter-view: that quality and skill continue to run deep into the county game. This was an unforgettable day’s cricket.Perhaps the most eye-catching performance came from David Masters. The 33-year-old seamer, a journeyman pro if ever there was one, returned the exceptional figures of eight wickets for just ten runs as Leicestershire were blown away for only 34 in their second innings.It was the lowest score this season and the lowest Leicestershire total since 1965.But, just as impressive, was the batting of Ravi Bopara. There may be a temptation to overlook his contribution in favour of Masters’excellence but, on a pitch where all other batsmen struggled to even survive, Bopara provided a remarkable demonstration of temperament and technique that should serve as a reminder of his enduring class.The pair combined to sentence Leicestershire to a crushing 280-run defeat in just three days. It’s a result that leaves them rooted to the bottom of Division Two and raises serious questions about the recent management of the club. They finished last season in acreditable fourth position, after all, but after losing theirchairman, chief executive and head coach at the end of the campaign, have clearly lost their way. It is, it should be noted, barely six weeks since they were dismissed for 48 by Northants.For Essex, however, this is a result that revives their promotion hopes. They still have ground to make up but they have the talent – and, it would seem, the spirit – to do so.Leicestershire were never likely to reach their fourth-innings target of 315. The pitch was simply too demanding. But to subside so feebly was testament not just to Masters’ excellent bowling, but to their own spineless batting. Masters, gaining movement in the air and off the pitch, would have troubled any batsman in these conditions, but the tentative prods and the gaps between bat and pad that Leicestershire exhibited made life too easy for him.Still, he took advantage of the helpful conditions and dispirited opposition superbly. Bowling gun-barrel straight, he simply allowed the conditions, and the flimsy batting, to do the rest. He was twice on a hat-trick as he dismissed Matt Boyce, James Taylor and Wayne White in the same over and Nathan Buck four balls later. Then, the over after that, Josh Cobb and Jigar Naik followed to successive balls. That meant he had taken six wicketsin just 16 deliveries; all but one of them a batsman with afirst-class century to his name.But, as a modest Masters admitted afterwards: “Ravi’s batting set it all up, really. It was a good pitch to bowl on – it was seaming andswinging – so his innings was outstanding. It’s an unbelievable dayfor me, too; the sort of thing you dream about as a kid.”With the dramatic fourth innings, it would be easy to overlook the effort from Bopara. Some will point to the modest opposition and the lack of intensity in the fixture and conclude that such a performance bears little relation to the rigours of the Test arena.But that would be wrong. 26-year-old Bopara was forced to utiliseevery ounce of his technique and temperament to survive on thissurface. What is more, he produced this performance on his maiden appearance as a captain in the Championship and with his team’s whole season in danger of fading away.After all, when he came to the crease on the second day, his side were two down and ten in arrears. Even when Adam Wheater, driving loosely to cover, was the sixth Essex man out, his team were only 127 ahead and Bopara was left with just the tail to accompany him.Yet Bopara scarcely played a false stroke. His defence was superbly solid, his concentration utterly unwavering throughout his seven-and-half-hour vigil and, when the opportunity arose, he showed he could still time the ball with a sweetness granted to very few.The successive pulls to the boundary off Nathan Buck were imperious; the on-driven four off Nadeem Malik simply beautiful. Surely Bopara is young enough to come again at Test level?Masters showed some skill with the bat, too. The pair added 111 in 40 overs for Essex’s seventh wicket, with Masters contributing his highest score since April 2010 and Bopara going on to register his highest score since August 2009; the month he was dropped by England.It was, in all, his 20th first-class century and his third of theseason. Tellingly, however, it was his first since he was omitted from the Test squad in May.He did survive one moment of fortune. When he had 80, he played back to a delivery from Wayne White only to see the ball roll back off the face of the bat and on to his off stump. Somehow, however, the bails remained unmoved. He didn’t give another chance until he had 172.Indeed, it was an innings of which Trevor Bailey would have beenproud. Bailey, the Essex legend who was famous for his obduratebatting, lived just down the road until his untimely death inFebruary, and was a regular visitor to this festival. But, much ashe’d have enjoyed Bopara’s batting, he would have been appalled by Leicestershire’s.

Pizzazz – that’s Kirk Edwards for you. He made a debut century, swaggered into the press conference room and gave a delightful talk. He didn’t say much, but it was he spoke. Some might have called it arrogant going by the quotes alone. But he was actually humble, especially in speaking about VVS Laxman and the Indian team; yet you could sense it’s a proud mind that’s buzzing inside Edwards. This writer is not qualified to talk about how he will be viewed in the Caribbean but suffice to say that while old India might have arched its eyebrows, modern India may just love him.It was in his appreciation for the Dominica crowd that his angst came out, revealing also how it has shaped his reactions and perhaps his character as a player. “I have had a brilliant reception in Dominica and have enjoyed it,” Edwards said. “It has really helped. Around the Caribbean you usually hear a lot of negatives. We are a new young team and guys are learning on the job. I take all the negatives and transfer it to positives. The more the people tell me I can’t, I feel I can. You drive to the supermarket and people are saying, ‘you can’t play … can’t,’ and you feel you can. And you want to prove all the people wrong. I guess people should keep saying I can’t.”Test cricket can be cruel. Ask Dwayne Smith. He scored a hundred on debut against South Africa in Cape Town but couldn’t hold down a permanent spot after that. He came to be known as a ‘cowlasher’, because of his tendency to slog to cow-corner, and doesn’t play for West Indies anymore. So it’s too early to say how Edwards’ career will pan out but, in the here and now, it was refreshing to hear a cricketer show some excitement and joy about his debut hundred. There was no fancy, trained talk from him: he called it as he saw it.Sample this: Are you [Edwards] always this frank even in the dressing room with all these players from different islands?”In life. It’s me. Always.”On using his feet to Harbhajan in the final session … “I use my feet. Whether it’s Harbhajan or not … I don’t play names.” Arrogance or joyous exuberance? Take your pick.And there were moments when he ceased to sound like a young man. Was he angry with people who kept putting him and West Indies down? “No I am not. In all fairness to people they have seen West Indies win and then it’s hard to swallow us losing. So I am not angry with them; I sympathise with them. I understand life in a different way, I just think youngsters need support. You are not going to come and go boom.”What was his ambition, his destination? “I visualise what I want and go after it. I want to be a pillar of West Indies cricket. I played three ODIs [against India]; I was rusty in the first, in the second I got a good ball, and I was out off the second ball in the third game. I never spent time [at the crease]. Such is international cricket, it’s never easy.”Edwards’ fun personality came through when he described his early days and the kind of cricket he watched. “Growing up I watched a little bit of Viv Richards. To be honest I only saw Viv in the highlights packages. I love Viv. I never saw Viv leave a ball because I only saw highlights. When I grew up I saw Brian Lara and Carl Hooper. It was a proud feeling to go to the Kensington Oval as a young boy and watch the guys warm up and think to myself that one day I would be there. It’s like a dream come true. I am grateful.” His answers were to get more fuzzy and sentimental.Edwards was asked about the time he spent with VVS Laxman during the Test. “[He is a] brilliant player. To have half the ability that VVS has would be great. I had a brilliant chat. To understand the thinking behind the great man [was great].”And his personality came through in the follow-up question. What did Laxman tell him? “Nothing that I have never heard before, but to hear it from him was something special.” Laughter. Edwards was just warming up.Then there was a question about batting with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. “It’s inspiring to bat with Shiv; someone with his kind of experience. I enjoyed every moment of it. I hope to see him at the crease sometime soon.”And what was all that drama over that single to get to the hundred? “[It was a] terrible thing. I hit the ball to mid-off and I thought to myself, ‘I am quick and I can get there’, but I forgot that Shiv wasn’t that quick. Things worked out well and I am happy about it.”Edwards was really tested during the second session. The Indians bounced him and he was initially iffy but got better and better as the day progressed. What was happening during that tough phase? “At first I wasn’t getting into a good position. Such is life. Fortunately with time I got cracking. To be honest I bat time; I bat session by session. Runs will come if you are at the crease.”His father, who used to be a club cricketer, and a stylish batsman from what the locals say, was there at the ground to watch Edwards reach his century. “He deserves it. I don’t prefer to discuss my goals but what I can guarantee is that I will give 100% every time.” He was full of praise for the Indian team and the way they have developed. “I have seen them come a long way especially in fielding. They have always had good batsmen. I am very impressed to see how they are fielding. It’s a joy to see them.”Debut hundreds are special but would he have perhaps felt even better if he had stayed right till the end of the day? His exit opened the doors for India to gatecrash into what was turning into a West Indian party. “It’s mixed feelings right now. We are behind the eight-ball. So If I had hung in there and we were on top of the game, I would have liked to go and have a beer. Now it’s still at a difficult stage.”We can still make a game out of this. We have lots of fighting characters. I am a fighter. We will fight.”

Maurice Holmes, the Warwickshire offspinner, has been reported for a suspect bowling action and could face remedial work for the second time in his short career.Holmes, 21, was twice reported last month and the umpires will now examine footage to see if they want to uphold their decision. If they do Holmes will then be examined by the ECB and may be forced to remodel his action.He has been dubbed the ‘English Murali’ because of his ability to bowl a doosra and was recruited by Andy Moles when he was coach of New Zealand to help their batsmen prepare to face Muttiah Muralitharan. However, it is the doosra that is believed to be the cause of most cocern.Holmes’ initial registration with Warwickshire was delayed as the ECB previously investigated his action although in the current situation he is allowed to continuing playing until a final ruling.