Newell replaces Giles as selector

Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, is to succeed Ashley Giles as a member of the England selection panel. Giles was overlooked for the England head coach's position, losing his job in charge of the limited-overs teams as a result, and he has now decided he will no longer continue as a selector.

Giles had been a selector since 2008, at first combining the role with being Warwickshire's director of cricket. He was made England's limited-overs coach at the end of 2012, with Andy Flower focusing on the Test team, but lost out to Peter Moores during the ECB's recruitment process to appoint a successor to Flower who would regain control across all three formats.

Newell, who was also interviewed for the head coach's position, he will join the selection panel with immediate effect, working alongside James Whitaker, Angus Fraser and Moores. Like Fraser, who is Middlesex's director of cricket, and Giles before him, Newell will retain his county role.

"Ashley Giles has informed ECB today that he intends to step down from the panel and I would like to thank him for all his hard work and dedication to the England cause over the past six years both as a selector, and more recently as our limited-overs coach," Whitaker said.

"We welcome Mick to the panel and his passion, cricketing knowledge and in-depth understanding of our county game will be invaluable as we seek to identify potential international talent and develop outstanding England teams across all three formats of the game."

Newell is the longest-serving coach on the county circuit, having been in charge at Trent Bridge since 2002. He has twice led Nottinghamshire to the Championship title and last season saw his team lift the YB40 trophy at Lord's. Newell has also coached the England Lions and England U-19 teams, and in 2012 he was linked with the Bangladesh job, despite never having played international cricket.

Newell said: "It's a tremendous privilege and a great honour to be invited to join the England selection panel and I am really looking forward to working more closely with James, Peter and Angus. I would also like to thank Nottinghamshire CCC for their support in allowing me to take on this role and play a part in shaping the future direction of the England team."

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Dwyer resigns as Bangladesh trainer

Bangladesh trainer David Dwyer has stepped down from his position after 14 months on the job. Akram Khan, the BCB's Cricket Operations Committee Chairman, confirmed the receipt of the resignation letter two days ago.

Dwyer is understood to have asked for immediate release. He joined Bangladesh as the head of strength and conditioning in February last year, a week before the team left on a tour of Sri Lanka. Like the rest of the coaching staff, Dwyer's contract was due to expire after the 2015 World Cup.

"He has done a great job for the Bangladesh team," Akram said. "It is up to the board to accept his resignation, but I think we have to start looking for a new trainer immediately. We have a lot of cricket ahead."

Bangladesh's next assignment is a three-match ODI series against India in mid-June. The tour schedule, however, hasn't been confirmed.

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Mohammad Irfan not in need of hip surgery

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan's latest medical report has indicated that he does not need surgery for his injured hip and could be a chance for the 2015 World Cup. Irfan's hairline fracture seems to have healed after six weeks of rehab and he has started training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where he was not bowling at full tilt but seemed to be enjoying being back in action.

The PCB is organising a month-long summer camp and Irfan will be invited to rebuild his fitness. "He [Irfan] isn't available immediately for national selection as yet but we have made a plan for him ahead of 2015 World Cup," Mohammad Akram, the NCA head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. "We are targeting the one-dayers against Australia and New Zealand for him later this year to give him the required tempo."

Irfan, 31, has been sidelined since he injured his hip during the second T20 international against South Africa in Dubai in November 2013. After six weeks of rehab following the hairline fracture, Irfan made a swift return during the domestic Twenty20 Cup in Rawalpindi, but only aggravated the injury, resulting in to more fractures to his hip.

Since then, Irfan has been at the NCA, working with doctors on a specialised rehab programme. If he had failed to show enough progress the PCB could have flown him to Australia for surgery.

Irfan's height - 7'1" - made him the tallest person to play Test cricket. He was given a debut in 2010 but could not hold down a spot in the team because of fitness issues. Irfan managed his longest international streak in the UAE in 2013, when he bowled 65.5 overs in two Tests against South Africa and 13 overs in a game against UAE. In the last four years, Irfan played four Tests, 27 one-day internationals and seven T20s.

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USACA, ACF asked by ICC to prove membership

The feud between the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation has taken a new twist, as both governing bodies have been asked to supply letters of allegiance from their members to the ICC.

The ACF was created out of the ashes of the 2012 USACA election and their membership has grown to the point where they formally sought recognition in February from the ICC as a national governing body.

Since 2012, there has been a lack of clarity between the number of leagues the USACA has claimed to be its members, and those which actually are, particularly with respect to those who haven't paid annual membership dues to USACA in the last three years. The ICC's request for USACA and ACF to supply confirmation letters could play a deciding factor in the ongoing dispute in order to decide which body is legitimately in control of cricket in the USA. Having two national governing bodies could potentially result in an ICC suspension for the USA, a fate that occurred in both 2005 and 2007.

According to the recently-released minutes from USACA's last board meeting on March 23, ICC president Alan Isaac sent a letter dated March 11 to USACA president Gladstone Dainty requesting updated information on a series of topics including USACA's current membership. USACA board member John Thickett sent a notice to all USACA member leagues requesting them to provide a letter to USACA chief executive Darren Beazley, to pass on to the ICC, in which the USACA member leagues confirm USACA as the sole governing body for cricket in the USA.

ESPNcricinfo has obtained communication from an ACF member league in which ACF chief executive Jamie Harrison reached out to ACF members on March 29, asking for each ACF league to supply a similar letter confirming ACF as the governing body for cricket in the USA.

"As part of the process by which a new national governing body will be certified for the United States, the ICC has requested that each ACF member league submit a letter asserting that it recognizes the ACF as the USA's national governing body," Harrison wrote to his members.

The communication is an indication that the ICC is willing to step in to mediate the dispute that is growing between the two factions. USACA is currently the ICC recognized governing body for cricket in the USA, but the ACF has grown considerably in the last 12 months as more and more member leagues have left USACA to join the upstart ACF. This includes America's largest league, the 72-team Commonwealth Cricket League in New York City.

USACA continues to claim on its website that it has 52 member leagues, but those figures are dated 2012, before USACA disenfranchised 32 member leagues ahead of the 2012 election. A dozen of those leagues have since joined ACF while many others have stopped paying membership fees to USACA. Seven leagues that were not previously affiliated with USACA have also joined the ACF.

A separate layer also exists with leagues like the Southern California Cricket Association, which has hedged its bets by paying membership fees to both organizations while the dispute over national governing body superiority is ironed out. SCCA hosted the inaugural ACF National Championship in 2012, but has still maintained USACA membership in an effort to allow their star players to remain eligible for selection to the USA national team.

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Chamari Atapattu to lead Sri Lanka Women

Chamari Atapattu has been named captain of Sri Lanka Women. She takes over from Shashikala Siriwardene, who relinquished the role earlier this month. Udeshika Prabodhani was named vice-captain.

Twenty-four-year-old Atapattu, a top-order batsman, has played 29 ODIs and 35 Twenty20s. Prabodhani, 28, is a left-arm pacer, with 28 ODIs and 34 T20s to her name.

Siriwardene had resigned following Sri Lanka's average show in the Women's World T20, where they finished eighth. She had led the team since December 2005, and had been in charge for 80 limited-overs matches.

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Atapattu tipped to coach SL in England

Sri Lanka's chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya issued the strongest indication yet that Marvan Atapattu would be appointed coach for the tour of Ireland and England, following Paul Farbrace's resignation on Tuesday.

Jayasuriya, head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne, and cricket committee chairman Ranjit Fernando have been appointed in a three-member committee to formulate SLC's next move.

The panel is expected to recommend a coach - in at least an interim capacity - to the board on Monday.

Atapattu had applied for the head coach position when Graham Ford announced he would vacate the job, and had progressed to the final round of interviews in November, before Farbrace was appointed. Atapattu has been Sri Lanka's batting coach since for three years, and was promoted to assistant coach in March 2013.

"We should look to give responsibility to Marvan because he's been around for a few years," Jayasuriya said. "But we haven't taken any decisions yet. The first step is to have a discussion with Marvan and clear up how to approach this issue, particularly in light of the fast-approaching England tour.

"We had had a plan for the tour, part of which was to send a group of about six players to England early, which we were hoping Paul would facilitate. Now that he's gone, we've got to find another way to do that.

Atapattu has earned a reputation for his technical acumen - as a coach, as he had been as a player - but he was deemed unready for head coach role late last year. Both Farbrace and Ford have publicly lauded his work ethic.

"We need to ask Marvan what he feels, and how he's going to do things before we make any decisions," Jayasuriya said.

SLC also confirmed it would not receive compensation from Farbrace nor the ECB, for Farbrace's early departure. His contract had stipulated he give six months' notice before leaving the role, but as he had quit within his six-month probationary period, that former clause was made void.

SLC will in effect have also lost a figure believed to be around Rs. 8 million (USD $60,000) on hosting the Yorkshire county side for a pre-season tour. The costs of tour had been the bulk of the compensation SLC paid for having Farbrace released early from his Yorkshire contract.

"We had the probation clause to benefit both parties," SLC assistant secretary Hirantha Perera said. "From our side if he hadn't gelled well with the team, we would have had the chance to terminate his contract. What we had been after is a settled coach for the 2015 World Cup"

SLC were recently compelled to cough up an undisclosed sum for terminating Geoff Marsh's contract, three months into his tenure in 2011. Marsh's contract had not carried a probationary period.

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Few can adjust their game like Thirimanne - Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya made a resounding endorsement of Lahiru Thirimanne's temperament and talent, one day after his panel had appointed the 24-year-old batsman vice-captain across all formats. Thirimanne replaced Dinesh Chandimal as vice-captain of the ODI and Test teams, and Jayasuriya confirmed Chandimal's removal from those positions, and from the T20 captaincy, had been driven by their desire to see him focus on snapping a poor run of returns with the bat.

Jayasuriya admitted Chandimal had been overburdened by the captaincy, but was certain Thirimanne would have a firmer handle on his own performance as he took on more responsibility.

"Thirimanne is a different kind of a player," he said. "He has batted all over the place and performed when we have given him the opportunity. When somebody is injured in the top of the order, he opens. When someone is being rested at No. 3 or 4, he bats there. In some situations, he bats at No. 5 or 6. He has the mentality to adjust to any situation. Everyone has seen that. There's no doubt that he can take the vice-captaincy as just another experience, so he's the best choice. His technique, the way he works - everything up to date is very good."

Though Thirimanne has played fewer matches than Chandimal in the past year, he has made the more telling contributions, particularly in limited-overs cricket. He had struck two hundreds in the Asia Cup - including one in the final - and had also made an important 44 in the World T20 semi-final against West Indies.

"Thirimanne has been able to adapt his game to Tests, ODIs and T20s, and bat like an experienced player under pressure," Jayasuriya said. "There are very few players like that."

Jayasuriya said he had been in contact with Chandimal when he left himself out of the side for the World T20 semi-final and final in Mirpur but, ultimately, Chandimal's inability to make meaningful contributions had sealed his demotion.

"We had talked at length as a selection committee before making that decision. We had tried to get the most out of him as a captain with a long-term view, but after some time passed, we realised that bearing the captaincy had put some added pressure on him. We knew his talent, so we gave him the support to keep leading the team. We thought he would come out of that pressure at some stage. But unfortunately he wasn't able to do that, so we decided, with his consent, that we would give Lasith Malinga the captaincy during the World T20.

"I talked with Chandimal in Bangladesh, and the decision to relieve him of leadership was taken in light of those conversations. I think he had some idea of what we were about to do. As a selection committee we'll need to sit with him soon and talk about the future."

Chandimal had been perhaps the most promising young batsman upon his arrival in the national side, and had had encouraging innings in ODIs, as well as Tests, in his first 12 months. Though his Test form has largely been satisfactory, it has been his decline in limited-overs matches that has been most worrisome for the selectors.

"We need to take pressure off him and help him play like he used to," Jayasuriya said.

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Akram shifted to academy role

The PCB has relieved Mohammad Akram from the role of national bowling coach only to appoint him as head coach of the national cricket academy (NCA).

Akram has also been drafted into a six-man selection committee, headed by Moin Khan, along with former wicketkeeper Saleem Yousaf and batsmen Shoaib Mohammad, Ijaz Ahmed and Wajahatullah Wasti.

Akram earlier this year signed a two-year contract as bowling coach but was facing an uncertain fate with the coaching panel as another former fast bowler Waqar Younis was expected to roll in as head coach of the national team. But PCB abolished the role of bowling coach. The position of head coach had been vacant since 2010 after Aqib Javed was named Pakistan assistant coach.

The PCB has also announced a six-man selection committee, inducting Wasti who was working as head coach of departmental team ZTBL while Yousaf has been working in the Customs department on an executive post.

Shoaib was the fielding coach with Pakistan during the Asia Cup and World T20 and has been brought in to work as a selector while Ijaz - who is NCA's fielding coach - was also included on the selection panel.

For Yousaf and Shoaib, this is their second stint as a selector having been involved in 2003 when the committee was headed by Aamir Sohail. Wasti, who last played for Pakistan in 2000, has been coaching on the domestic circuit since he retired from playing in 2010.

The PCB setup has been in extensive transition after the Zaka Ashraf regime. The newly-announced selection committee will be the first full-time panel in the last 10 months after Iqbal Qasim decided to not renew his contract and since then, an interim selection panel has been working.

The new selection committee effectively replaces the trio of long lasting members - Azhar Khan, Saleem Jaffar and Farukh Zaman - who had been engaged in selection affairs since 2007.

The selection committee's first assignment will be to pick the squad for the Sri Lanka tour in August this year following the upcoming two-month summer camp from May 6 to June 6 in Lahore.

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Moores the merrier as Lancs escape

Warwickshire 324 (Bell 75, Chopra 52, Smith 4-67) and 95 for 5 (Chopra 50, Kerrigan 4-38) drew with Lancashire 247 (Horton 83, Woakes 5-63) and 196 (Horton 84, Patel 4-44)
Scorecard

It has been a tough start to the season for Warwickshire. Beaten by Sussex in their first game and deprived for various medical reasons of Ian Westwood, Jonathan Trott and Rikki Clarke, they perhaps needed a spring fillip.

Fortunately for Ian Bell's men, Lancashire's batsmen have begun this County Championship campaign in accommodating mood and it was their dismissal for 196 in the second innings of this game which set up a victory opportunity for the visitors. Much less fortunately for Warwickshire, neither Simon Kerrigan nor the Manchester weather were anything like so amenable and the match ended in an absorbing draw.

As Varun Chopra led the pursuit of 120 in 29 overs, Lancashire's slow left-armer Kerrigan revived memories of previous heroics by taking four wickets, including the vital scalp of Ian Bell, caught at long-off by James Anderson. When Chopra, helped by a resourceful Ateeq Javid, had reduced the requirement to a mere 25 runs off 27 balls, bad light intervened to bring a premature end of what had threatened to be one of the finishes of the season so far.

It was gripping stuff in the Manchester gloom and it even overshadowed, as you might say, the fact that this was Peter Moores' last match as Lancashire coach.

For his part, Warwickshire coach Dougie Brown may feel deeply aggrieved. Denied in similar circumstances against Somerset when chasing the title last August, Brown had seen his players establish a winning position here by dint of fine, purposeful batting and accurate, penetrative bowling. Few things in this game were as rewarding as analysing Bell's intelligent deployment of his attack on this final day, notably his withdrawal of Javid when the part-time offspinner had removed Jos Buttler in his single over.

For all that Lancashire may be comforted by the acquisition of nine points from this game. Desirous of giving Moores a warm farewell before he leaves Old Trafford, their batting frailties will be a cause for concern, even this early in the season. On what was effectively a third-day wicket - it spun, but not outrageously so - Glen Chapple's side lost all their second-innings wickets for 150 runs in 63.2 overs and their last six for 39 runs in 86 balls.

Following their first-innings failures in both their matches so far, Lancashire do not seem to possess the proficient, reassuring top- order upon which successful Division One campaigns are based. If Ashwell Prince fails or Paul Horton is unable to drop anchor, it is not always easy to see how Chapple's batsmen can put together substantial totals. For all that people will remember this game for Bell's batting, Chris Woakes' bowling, Horton's limpet-like resistance and Moores' departure, the dismissals of Prince for 0 and 3 were vital in shaping the architecture of the contest. The South African was third out in the second innings, beaten in the flight and stumped playing defensively to Jeetan Patel.

As for Horton, he followed his 83 in the first innings with a 220-ball vigil for 84 in the second as he sought to save the game. The problem was that once Luis Reece had been caught at slip by Bell off Keith Barker in the third over of the day, no one seemed particularly keen on staying with the watchful opener. At times during the final day it seemed that Horton almost suffered the same fate that befell Mickey Rooney: he nearly ran out of partners.

Instead, Horton was perhaps emboldened to an act of outrageous daring by hitting two boundaries in three balls off Woakes. He gallivanted down the pitch to Patel, was beaten in the flight and heard the death rattle. That dismissal left Lancashire on 157 for 5 and it marked the beginning of the end of their innings.

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Cook confirms groove with second ton

Essex 306 (Dunn 5-60) and 258 for 4 dec (Cook 127) drew with Surrey 237 (Smith 65, Mills 4-45)
Scorecard

An inevitable draw to what could have been a compelling encounter came to pass at The Oval. Were it not for an England captain registering a second consecutive hundred, having been battered from pillar to post in the winter and since, there would have been little to cheer but the afternoon sunshine and pre-rush hour finish.

Alastair Cook's was an entertaining century - 127 coming off 202 balls in more than four hours at the crease - not least because it gave us an indication of what kind of form he was in. His biggest tell is the drive; out of nick, he seems almost allergic to it. Here, he was getting his nose to the ball, breathing it in before thrashing it to the boundary. "To me, it indicates I've got good balance," he said afterwards.

Another comfort for Cook was the ECB announcement confirming Paul Farbrace's role as England's new assistant coach. Cook, who was coached by Farbrace at England age-group level, is currently satisfied with his own game. Work away from the limelight has benefitted him greatly.

"The most important thing for me personally is I've gone back to hitting the ball nicely," he said. "I had a good month-and-a-half away from playing in the public eye, working in the nets with Paul Grayson.

"You never turn a corner as such but to get two hundreds at the start of the season, especially in April, is pleasing. I'm genuinely quite chuffed with how things have gone in the past few weeks."

Cook will meet Peter Moores and, presumably, Farbrace on Friday, before Essex's game against Gloucestershire. That might be his last county appearance for a while, with an England training camp being planned for the first week of May, ahead of the ODI with Scotland on May 9, which clashes with Essex's game at Leicestershire.

He looked relieved - a word he corrected himself from using - even taking time to talk shop with young Surrey opener Dom Sibley. Elbows were raised, in the batting, not the football sense, as they discussed technique and Sibley hung on every word. At the end, they shook hands and Cook wished Sibley good luck. Whatever you think of his leadership, Cook has his moments of excelling as a statesman.

Essex made light work of finishing off Surrey's first innings in the morning. While Jason Roy was able to take 14 off David Masters' second over of the day, a sharp over from Mills saw Chris Tremlett's stumps splattered and Jade Dernbach caught on the off side, going for a wild hack to leg. Graham Napier's first ball was full and straight to trap Roy in front and, with Zahar Ansari not batting, Essex took a lead of 69 into the second innings.

While Jaik Mickleburgh took some time to get used to the pace of the pitch, which was also displaying some variable bounce, Cook was in his element. He was troubled once by a ball that died a touch and hit him in front but the vociferous appeals were turned down; it looked to have pitched outside leg stump.

Everything else that strayed on to his pads was dispatched accordingly. Full balls were defended or driven; balls there to cut were, well, you know the rest. Matt Dunn was unable to get the better of him this time around, but the young Surrey quick had his sixth victim of the match when Mickleburgh, who had started to look settled, edged behind.

That the afternoon resembled square practice to Cook is no fault of the home attack. Assistance off the pitch declined with each over and the England captain was more committed with his footwork than at any point. In the 44th over, he hit Dernbach through extra cover and signed off the shot with an outlandish flourish that had his bat finishing parallel to his back.

It was a cathartic moment, a release through flamboyancy - a trait he is not associated with. He was almost apologetic after, playing out the rest of the over in dot balls, before returning to manoeuvring the ball from his back-foot base. A guide behind point, follow by a cut in front of it took him to 96, before a procession of singles, culminating in a squirt into the leg side, got him to three figures.

Those that remained in the ground awoke 20 minutes before the close when Dom Sibley let out a dull shriek for his maiden first-class wicket, as Ravi Bopara attempted to guide a ball on off stump down to third man, but missed. If both had the opportunity to do it all again, you hope they would decline.

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