Dhoni 'best in world' - Cook

Alastair Cook, England's captain, described MS Dhoni as one of the hardest players in the world to bowl to at the death after his counterattacking 72 from 66 balls late in India's innings provided the platform for their 127-run victory in the second ODI. Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja added 96 in ten overs for the sixth wicket, taking apart England's inexperienced attack during the closing stages of the innings, and Cook said that coming up with a field and a bowling plan for his India counterpart was extremely tough.

"He [Dhoni] is probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions," Cook said. "He does it time and time again. He's incredibly hard to bowl at and with that extra man in the circle, it's very, very hard to stop on these flat wickets."

Although James Tredwell conceded just nine runs combined from the 42nd and 44th overs, Cook opted for his pace trio of Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes at the death but they failed to keep a lid on India's scoring rate.

"You're always going to have hindsight, but probably one batsman you don't want an offspinner bowling to is Dhoni," Cook said. "We've seen him a number of times and with a spinner at the end, it's very hard to bowl to him. So, look, clearly when you get hit for 68 runs in the last five overs, you think, maybe you could have done things differently. But at the time, for me, it was a very big gamble to make."

The win drew India level at 1-1 in the five-match series but, despite the emphatic result, the top order again struggled, falling to 119 for 4 just past the midway stage of the innings before Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Jadeja rebuilt. The bowlers bounced back from conceding 325 in Rajkot to dismiss England for 158 but Dhoni said problems remained in both departments and they could not hope for the dominance of recent ODI series between the two sides in India.

"We're going through a stage when we don't have the same firepower when it comes to the bowling department. Our batting department is not able to convert those starts into a big innings. But we're fielding really well, and that's a big positive for us," he said.

Dhoni described the failure of the batsmen to go on when well set as a "big problem". He said: "If three or four batsmen make 50, then it's important at least one or two of them go on to make at least 75. So that the new batsmen coming after them, when say two quick wickets fall, then they won't feel that much pressure. I think it's very important. If you look at the good side, our batsmen are getting starts. Yes, I would like them to convert their starts to a big innings so that it won't put pressure on the rest."

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Taylor good enough for second XI - Alleyne

Sarah Taylor will create history later this year if she is selected as the first woman to play for a men's county side and Mark Alleyne, the MCC head coach who has Taylor under his charge at Lord's, believes it is important to take her out of her comfort zone.

Taylor is widely regarded as the best cricketer in the women's game and will play men's league cricket for a Birmingham League side at the start of the season while training at Sussex with a realistic view to being called into the second XI. The MCC had already explored the option of getting Taylor a men's game over the last year.

"I think for her it would be a relevant challenge just to see how she would get on," Alleyne told ESPNcricinfo. "It's something that we talked about over 12 months ago to be honest. We think she's good enough and I'm confident her skills can stand out in the second XI.

"Putting someone in an uncomfortable position and just seeing how they can deal with it could stand her in good stead for some of the tougher moments in women's cricket. If she can deal with it, there should be nothing she can't deal with in the women's game."

The greater power of men's cricket will be an adjustment Taylor would need to make and she will not be too far away from the next sledge. But Alleyne is confident she can live with it. "We know she's got the skills to cope."

Technically, Taylor will face a larger, and half an ounce heavier, ball to which she has had little exposure. But Alleyne does not see that making a insurmountable difference. "Her experience using the larger ball isn't great at the moment," Alleyne said. "But such are her keeping skills, the different ball shouldn't affect her at all. She keeps well to spinners and seamers."

It is with the bat where Alleyne knows Taylor will have to make a significant step up. "The pace is consistently quicker than she's used to. Batting in the top order against pacier bowlers with a bit more bounce can attack areas where she hasn't really been tested before.

"Whether she can put together high quality performances against consistent pace will be one of the questions to answer."

Alleyne oversees the MCC Young Cricketers at Lord's, where Taylor is on the staff, and has been in close contact with the England Women's head coach Mark Lane.

"Sarah has been with MCC for two years and she's right on top of her game at the moment, playing particularly well," Alleyne said. "Everyone's curious to see how she can continue to improve and how she can benchmark herself with the boys."

Alleyne looks for new opportunities for all the MCC staff and said the conversations he has with Taylor are no different to anyone else. "We're always looking for opportunities for them to up their game with lots of different challenges. At the time of talking with Sarah, it was just another conversation that we would have with any other players."

Taylor had subsequent talks with Sussex and an opportunity could arise for her to provide wicketkeeping cover this season. She and fellow England international Holly Colvin, who is also on the MCC staff, have been invited to train with Sussex when they return from the Women's World Cup in February.

Sussex are a wicketkeeper lighter in 2013 after Andrew Hodd left for Yorkshire and with England commitments ruling Matt Prior out for large parts of the year and both Sussex academy wicketkeepers unavailable at the start of the season, Taylor could well be needed.

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Sussex temper Taylor debut frenzy

Sussex have acted to temper media excitement at the prospect that Sarah Taylor will become the first women to play county 2nd XI cricket next summer.

As Taylor prepared to leave with the England women's side on Thursday for the World Cup in India, where she is already bound to become the centre of attention, Sussex insisted that no guarantees had been given about a 2nd XI debut and that it was subject to further assessment of her ability.

In a carefully-worded statement, Sussex said: "Whilst the club can confirm that initial and informal conversations have taken place between Sussex coaching staff and England women's coach Mark Lane it needs to be stressed that these are at a very embryonic stage.

"Sussex hold the abilities of Sarah, and indeed her Sussex and England playing partner - Holly Colvin - in very high regard, and to this end Sarah could, theoretically, solve our short-term dilemma surrounding our 2nd XI wicketkeeping place with both Academy keepers Callum Jackson and Leo Cammish still in full-time education and therefore unavailable for the early part of the season.

"Sussex at the moment are going look at all available options including the possibility of using Sarah. In her case the first step would involve practising with the 2nd XI and to re-evaluate from there."

Media worldwide recorded Taylor's likely opportunity as a pivotal moment for women's cricket with The Guardian even carrying the story on page one, where it hailed the likelihood as "a groundbreaking move for women's sport".

Although Taylor herself stressed that talks were only at an informal stage, Sussex's director of cricket, Mark Robinson, still felt the need for Sussex to regain control of its own selection process.

"Our 2nd XI coach Carl Hopkinson has spoken to Mark Lane about the fact we might be short of a wicketkeeper for the early part of the summer," he said. "There may be an opportunity for Sarah in the future but at the moment the key thing is for her to train with the 2nd XI. Then we can see if she has adapted to the environment and then if we have an opportunity to play her, we can potentially take it a step further."

Clare Connor, the head of England women's cricket, is also a board member at Sussex. She suggested that Taylor and Colvin both needed challenges outside the women's game, saying: "Sarah Taylor and Holly Colvin are highly-skilled cricketers who have progressed through the Sussex system, including the Sussex Academy, under the guidance of Keith Greenfield. Their potential, as with most young cricketers, is still to be fulfilled despite both players having already achieved so much for England in World Cups and Ashes Series.

"Any opportunity for our players to be challenged and for their development to be accelerated beyond the norm would be welcomed, so long as those opportunities tallied with the player's stage of development.

"There is no getting away from the fact that this dialogue with Sussex is a hugely positive step for the game and our players. It is indicative of how the women's game has progressed in recent years if players are turning heads in this way. I think it is also fantastic to know that first-class counties are open to such possibilities."

"As a Board Member of Sussex, it is pleasing that the club is demonstrating an open-minded and innovative outlook to the game. Everyone at Sussex is a champion of the women's game."

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Sarwan recalled after 18-month absence

Last year Ramnaresh Sarwan was a litigant of West Indies cricket. Today he is again a representative of the region, having been recalled to the limited overs team for the tour of Australia.

Sarwan's return follows an 18-month absence from the team, during which he claimed to have been hurt "mentally and emotionally" by national team's coaching regime.

In September it was revealed that Sarwan had won $161,000 in damages from the WICB after his fitness was publicly denigrated by the board when they dropped him from the list of centrally contracted players in 2010.

The return of Sarwan to the national team had appeared unlikely last year, when he turned out for Leicestershire rather than the West Indies during their tour of England early in the northern summer. At the time Sarwan spoke of the low ebb he had reached prior to being dropped, and the scant support he felt he had received.

"The coach said some negative stuff that hurt me mentally and emotionally," Sarwan told BBC Sport in May last year. "Mentally I was broken down, not from the stress of playing, it's just certain individuals have drained me mentally. It took a toll on my confidence and the way I play. Everything went away.

"I'm away from all those problems, my mind is at ease and I have had nothing to worry about, no coach to say any negative things. At one point I didn't know which was my back foot and which was my front foot. Now I'm much better, more precise with my movements, everything crystal clear in my head.

"I never spoke about this because I was caught up in a shell and I used to not come out of my house for up to three days. My dad was the one to inspire me to start back playing."

Sarwan prospered in England, making 294 runs at 36.75 for Leicestershire in limited overs matches and 941 at 40.91 in first-class competition, though his recent run in the Caribbean domestic T20 have been less promising - score of 8, 1, 2 and 7 in four matches for Guyana.

The serious facial injury suffered by Marlon Samuels while playing for the Melbourne Renegades during the Big Bash League ruled him out of selection for the tour, which includes five ODIs and one Twenty20, opening the way for the left-handed batsman and right-arm off spin bowler Narsingh Deonarine to be included.

Otherwise the squad is largely as expected, Darren Sammy leading a team that will also feature Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach after their BBL exploits down under this summer. The tourists will arrive in Australia on January 26, and play a warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on January 29.

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Thomas

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Man found guilty of racism at ODI

A man has been fined after racially abusing three young spectators during the ODI between England and South Africa at West End on August 28.

John Guinelly, a 44-year-old from Portsmouth, was ordered to pay each victim £500 by Southampton Magistrates' Court, with his actions towards the children described by magistrates as "threatening and abusive".

Hampshire Police launched an investigation after the incident when the three children, aged 11, 13 and 14, returned to their seats having purchased food during the match only to find that Guinelly and two other men had taken their places.

Guinelly first pretended he could not understand the children - the court heard he said "are they talking Dutch or something?" - and then used racist phrases when stewards asked him to move. Later, as Guinelly was being spoken to by stewards and police, he spotted one of the children and delivered another racist insult.

While Guinelly did not attend court, he send a letter stating that he would plead guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. He claimed his comments were "friendly banter". He was also ordered to pay £65 court costs.

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Ticket resale site questions ECB touts stance

Viagogo, the leading ticket marketplace, has struck back at the ECB's Touts Out campaign ahead of the Ashes and Champions Trophy contests next summer, arguing that online ticket resale sites are providing a valuable service in promoting capacity crowds and protecting fans from fraud.

The ECB launched a poster campaign last week which vowed to monitor online ticket resale sites and threatened to cancel tickets if they were sold on at more than face value.

But Ed Parkinson, viagogo's head of marketing, claimed that the ECB's campaign had actually made them busier than ever. "We have seen a spike in the number of people searching for cricket tickets," he said. "We would attribute that to the publicity that the ECB has generated. We expect thousands of fans from all over the world to buy their Champions Trophy and Ashes tickets through viagogo."

At a time when many sports and music operations have opted to work with ticket resale sites in the belief that they are minimising the chances of fraud - as well as taking a percentage of the resale price - Parkinson described the ECB's continued hostility as "highly unusual".

Among their portfolio, viagogo works alongside 10 Barclays Premier League teams as well as 10 teams in the German Bundesliga, French Open tennis and were official partners for Madonna's 2012 European tour.

"There has to be somewhere the fans can go to try to get tickets when games are sold out," Parkinson said. "Before the arrival of viagogo, people had to take their chance with buying tickets outside the ground with no guarantees that they were genuine or by using an unsecured site like eBay.

"Fans want a safe place to get tickets. There is a chance to clean up the buying and selling on the streets by working with us. There is a chance to manage the market well. People need to minimise their chances of receiving fraudulent tickets.

"The measures we take are pretty robust. We don't pay out on behalf of the purchaser until people have successfully been to the event so fraudsters know they are wasting their time on sites like ours. We also take credit card details and have financial recourse if things go wrong. It is much easier to commit fraud on the streets.

"We don't set the ticket prices - the seller does. Ultimately, the buyer makes a personal choice about the tickets which are the right price and location for them. But the majority of tickets sold on viagogo are priced very near to or below face value and are often available at the last minute. If people list their tickets for extortionate prices, they rarely sell."

Viagogo contends that the reasons people sell on tickets are many and varied and owe more to changes in personal circumstances then people out to make a quick killing.

"People resell tickets for all manner of reasons. Often for major sports events they have to buy them months in advance and then live moves on and they find they cannot go for all manner of reasons. People fall ill or get invited to weddings or their friends say they can no longer come.

"We are giving them a safe and secure platform in which to sell on their tickets. Our studies suggest that 15 to 20 per cent of tickets will be resold for major sports events. The bigger the event, the bigger the need for a resale service. The alternative to selling those tickets on is an empty seat."

Viagogo is a secondary ticketing partner of ESPN EMEA

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Vaughan tips Root to open in New Zealand

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, has called for Joe Root to open the batting on England's tour to New Zealand in March.

Root made his England debut in the fourth Test against India in Nagpur and Vaughan saw enough evidence to suggest he will be opening the batting with Alastair Cook sooner rather than later.

"He looked an England player from the minute he went out to bat in the Test match," Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. "He looks like he'll have a tremendous future with the team."

Root made a composed 73 to help England out of trouble in the first-innings in Nagpur and demonstrated the attacking side of his game in a second-innings unbeaten 20 that saw England safely to a draw.

Vaughan, a batting mentor for Root, also began his career at the same Yorkshire League club, Sheffield Collegiate. He would like to see Root's talent immediately utilised at the top of the order - a move which would also create space in the batting line up for another young, talented Yorkshireman.

"I would go for Root in New Zealand and bring Jonny Bairstow back at No. 6," Vaughan said. "Jonny was unlucky to miss out in India with what he did against South Africa and probably has to do a bit of work on playing spin but if you look at the next 10 months - New Zealand and Australia home and away - it's seam bowling conditions which Johnny plays so well. You'd want to get him back into the team."

Bairstow only played the second Test against India as cover for Ian Bell, who returned home for the birth of his son, and has not travelled with the England ODI squad because of a family illness.

His absence gave Root the chance to make his ODI debut in a winning start for England in the opening match in Rajkot; a performance that impressed Vaughan. "Since the first Test defeat England have been quite outstanding and winning the first ODI was very important to get their confidence back. It was a big win for the team.

"It's a good sign that players are playing to their natural ability. The batting is strong, there is such depth. They can all hit the ball out of the park."

The victory continued England's excellent form in ODIs; form they will hope to carry through to the Champions Trophy in June and an Ashes summer - the ODI leg of which Vaughan will be following on his cycle challenge to raise funds for Chance to Shine and the Laureus Sport for Good foundation.

Vaughan will be joined by other cricketing personalities on a five-leg route from Leeds to London, via Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton.

"Chance to Shine have done a great job of getting cricket played in state schools and the more funds you raise the more expertise you can provide," Vaughan said. "Along the journey we'll be dropping into schools and doing some coaching and getting involved with some of the Laureus projects as well. It's a great opportunity to cycle around the country, raise some money and watch a bit of cricket."

The ODI series follows the Ashes, for which Vaughan has England favourites by a good distance but warns of the ability of Michael Clarke to stir up a new group of players. "In Clarke they have a captain who's very positive, he's very vibrant and has a young set of players around him that are all going to work and play for him and the baggy green. They'll be very well led but I don't think they'll have enough experience to compete against England in English conditions."

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BCCI likely to take decision on Azharuddin

More than two months after the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the life ban imposed on former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, the BCCI is set to take a call on whether to terminate or retain it on Tuesday. The Azharuddin case is one of the main issues on the agenda of the BCCI working committee that will be convened at the board's headquarters in Mumbai.

After the High Court termed BCCI's punishment to Azharuddin for alleged involvement in match-fixing as "unsustainable", the last working committee of the BCCI had deferred the decision. The working committee decides all issues pertaining to the governance of the game in India; it felt the legal cell needed more time to study the court order.

Since the Azharuddin issue is "on the agenda", as revealed by a BCCI insider, the committee's decision today could be significant. "If the legal cell is convinced that the decision can be challenged in the apex court, the board may do that. Otherwise, it would depend on what the members feel on floor," the source revealed.

Despite speculation in the media, the working committee is unlikely to discuss the fate of Duncan Fletcher's tenure as the India coach. While most of the board members are convinced that there is "no way" Fletcher's contract will be renewed after it expires at the end of the Australia Test series in March, the issue is unlikely to be discussed officially. "In the middle of an international series, it's not fair to discuss such issues. But if a member raises a concern with the permission of the chair at the end of the meeting, it can be discussed," another source revealed.

Meanwhile, the IPL governing council, which is also set to meet on Tuesday, is likely to finalise the venue for the player auction slated to be held on February 3. Though the date of the auction was announced during the workshop with IPL team owners last month, the venue hasn't yet been confirmed, with Kolkata and Chennai being favourites.

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Witness says he told fixing inquiry 'different story'

Henry Williams, the former South Africa bowler who was involved in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing case, has admitted he was never offered a specific amount of money to fix games but had told a different story to the King Commission in 2000. Williams was banned for six months after the investigation but did not play for South Africa again.

At the inquiry, Williams testified that he had been offered US$ 15,000 from his captain Cronje to concede more than 50 runs in his 10 overs in the fifth ODI between South Africa and India in Nagpur. The same amount of money had been offered to Herschelle Gibbs to score less than 20 runs. However, while speaking to ESPNcricinfo during the practice match between the South African Invitation XI and the New Zealanders in Paarl two weeks ago, Williams claimed that no such details were discussed. Instead Cronje had joked with Gibbs and him, according to Williams, who said they were later convinced to pad up their stories for the King Commission.

In the match in question, Williams injured his shoulder and only bowled 11 balls while Gibbs scored 74, and neither received any money.

Williams admitted to being afraid of what might have happened to him and that he thinks there was a lot of pressure to produce a more detailed story to prove Cronje's guilt. "It was serious then, and after that I thought, alright, life must go on: it can't stop," he said. "But at that particular moment there was fear.

"When we testified to our lawyers what the story really was, they came up with a threat that we could be prosecuted for doing something like this. So it means we actually lied to our lawyers, who had to tell another story to get to somebody. I believe that was to get to Cronje and whoever was involved in this.

"I had never been in a court before. We gave our Senior Counsel the story. We had to come back and testify to the King commission - a different story. I don't know if we were forced to lie to get to somebody else. I'm still confused today.

"When people ask me I will tell them the truth. I'll say, 'That's what I said to my lawyers; what really happened'. Then, to the King commission, a different story. I don't know why, because we were forced by the prosecution. I didn't know what the hell was happening, what can happen to me. So I came up with a different story."

The version of the story Williams said is true was never heard by the King Commission, but he did expand on the details of what happened, almost 13 years later. "By the time I was in the shower [the morning of the Nagpur match], I heard Cronje in the room speaking to Herschelle but I don't know what they are talking about.

"When I put my shirt over my head, he [Cronje] said, 'Hey, let's throw this game'. I said, 'Ja, let's throw this game'. Because now he's smiling with me and I'm smiling with him - if you're going to bullshit me I'm going to bullshit you, so fine. There was nothing involved.

"At lunchtime, he [Cronje] came to me and said, 'We scored too many runs'. I looked at him and said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'Guys, the deal is off'. I said, 'So what?' He never spoke to us about money - you're going to get this and you must go for that."

The lawyers who represented Williams and Gibbs at the King Commission, senior counsel Mike Fitzgerald and attorney Peter Whelan, deny that they had convinced Williams to lie on the stand. "That's outrageous," Fitzgerald said. "Why would I give my own client a version that implicates him? If I somehow persuaded him to lie, to whose benefit would that be?" Whelan called the allegations, "fundamental rubbish".

The King Commission secretary John Bacon said it was unlikely the investigations will be reopened unless they received something from Williams in writing.

Williams currently works with the Boland Under-19 team, while Gibbs plays in various Twenty20 leagues around the world. He is at present with the Perth Scorchers for the Big Bash League and refused to get involved in the current issue. "I spoke to Herschelle and he wasn't interested in commenting," Scorchers media manager Daniel Davini said from Perth yesterday. "He said, 'I have nothing say about that and I don't want to have anything to do with that'."

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Second, du Preez shine in Knights' win

Knights 475 (Second 210, du Preez 118, von Berg 4-117, de Villiers 4-73) and 42 for 0 beat Titans 335 (Davids 92, Malan 65, Siboto 4-47, du Preez 3-41) and 181 (van der Merwe 65, Kuhn 51, du Preez 5-53) by ten wickets

A double-century from Rudi Second and an all-round performance from Dillion du Preez led Knights to a ten-wicket victory against Titans in Benoni. The result put Knights fourth in the league, while Titans remained last, having lost five out of six games.

Titans won the toss but their first-innings suffered because no one went on to convert a start into a massive score. Five of their top six batsman made more than 30 but the top score was Henry Davids' 92. Pieter Malan and Graeme van Buuren also scored half-centuries, van Buuren being a witness to a slump that sent Titans from 245 for 4 to 335 all out. Du Preez took 3 for 41 while Malusi Siboto claimed 4 for 47 for Knights.

Not as many batsmen got starts for Knights but Second converted his into a double-century, the second of his career. He did not have much support though, and Knights slipped to 190 for 7, until du Preez came to the crease. Du Preez scored his second first-class century and added 253 for the eighth wicket with Second. By the time they were separated, Knights were leading by more than 100. Second was the last man dismissed, for 210, with Knights on 475.

Trailing by 140, Titans lost three second-innings wickets before they had scored. Johan van der Wath struck in his first over and du Preez bowled two batsmen in the sixth. There was no coming back from 0-3. Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe scored half-centuries but du Preez worked his way through the line-up to finish with 5 for 53. Titans were bowled out for 181. Knights had to chase 42 for victory and their openers did the job.

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