Robson rues missed opportunities

Robson proud of first England summer

Sam Robson admitted there had been a few "missed opportunities" for him to silence all the debate about whether he is the long-term solution as a Test opener for England, but was content with how he had handled his first spell at international level and will take plenty of "special" memories with him into the winter.

As England fought back comprehensively to take the Test series against India 3-1 - capped with a three-day, innings-and-244-run trouncing at The Oval - after being 1-0 down following an horrendous performance at Lord's, Robson arguably headed the list of players who finished the Test campaign with a question mark, rather than a tick next to their name as England enter their lengthy absence from the five-day game before the Caribbean tour in April.

His tally against India was 165 runs at 23.57 and for the seven Tests in the season it read 336 at 30.54 that included his maiden hundred against Sri Lanka at Headingley. But after reaching three figures in just his third innings and following that with 71 at Trent Bridge he started to struggle against India's seamers.

When he negotiated the first evening at The Oval, alongside Alastair Cook, to walk off with a solid 33 to his name he appeared to have set himself the base to put a more definitive stamp on his season. But five balls in the second day he was bowled by Varun Aaron and England's subsequent demolition job meant he did not get another chance.

"I got myself in a position where I could have gone on with it - in Southampton and then at The Oval, getting through that first evening - so I suppose there were a few missed opportunities but you look back and a lot went our way so it was a pretty positive feeling," Robson told ESPNcricinfo.

"It was such a special couple months. I didn't play as well I would have liked in my first Test against Sri Lanka but put it right in the next Test with 120-odd and then to back that up at Trent Bridge, I was pretty happy with that.

"I would have liked a big score in there towards the end of the series to back up a decent start, but it wasn't to be. Having said that to walk away from your first Test summer with a hundred and a series win, and a convincing one, was pretty special. The hundred gave me the belief I could perform but you have to score runs week in, week out so that's my next challenge."

As the runs dried up towards the end of the Test series, there was the technical analysis of Robson's game with issues dissected ranging from a weakness around off stump to a tendency to be trapped on the crease but it was also often said how intense he appeared at the crease.

But Robson said he played no differently for England than he had done for Middlesex during the time when he was scoring the volume of runs to force the selectors' hand and he insisted he will continue to play in the same way.

"I don't think I'm the most intense character off the field, but that's the way I play on the field," he said, speaking at the Investec Inner City World Cup at Lord's. "I've got my own idiosyncrasies but it's been the way I've played for Middlesex and has worked for me. At the top level people will have their views, but that's the beauty of it and why we want to play Test cricket in the spotlight. I'll just be sticking with what's worked for me."

As one of few Test-only players within the England set-up, Robson will now finish the 2014 season in the Championship for Middlesex that will provide the chance to end with a flourish. He will then face a lengthy wait - likely to be interspersed with a Lions tour of South Africa in the New Year - before finding out whether his own confidence in the summer is reflected by the selectors when they pick the squad to tour West Indies. But before then he is looking for to some time off.

"It has been a big couple of years for me, a massive summer and there's still an important month left with Middlesex," he said. "The Test matches have been draining so I think this will be a good chance, once the season is done, to take a couple of months away from the game, recharge my batteries and go from there."

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England face dilemma in fine tuning attack

With Chris Jordan blowing more cold than hot, England could turn to Steven Finn or Harry Gurney at Trent Bridge but both present their own issues

Hope Cook and I feed off each other - Hales

The ability to play tunes on your teeth, which occasionally found its way onto the bottom of the bill in the old Music Halls, is now most commonly seen from bored teenagers on YouTube. England's bowling coach, David Saker, has so far only been seen scratching his, but he might well be playing a tune or two by the end of the Royal London one-day series if England's pace bowlers give him any more cause for angst.

If Saker does rap out a tune on his molars then Elvis Presley's Trouble might be a good place to start. "If you are looking for trouble, you came to the right place" is a suitable warning as England consider the attributes of the three pace bowlers thought to be contesting the final place in the third Royal London ODI against India at Trent Bridge.

Saker's teeth scratching on the England balcony was caught by the TV cameras during India's trouncing of England at Cardiff as Chris Jordan purveyed an over including five leg-side wides. He bowled 12 in all, treating his loss of line firstly with smiles and then with baffled shakes of the head.

That Jordan blows hot and cold is something England might have to get used to. The question is how hot and how cold. His technical oddity in which he often places an additional finger behind the ball has always been with him and has been blamed for occasional forays down the leg side. One or two can be forgiven as long as his hot spells continue, but 12 wides is more than England would want their entire attack to bowl in a series.

The defence for Jordan is that to some extent MS Dhoni was old-manning him by moving across to the off side as he prepared to release, but if that sometimes made his line look more exaggerated, it did not make the calls of wide any less justifiable. Jordan lost his line at a critical time and was wayward enough, in normal circumstances, for his place to be jeopardised as a result.

The issue for England is that the potential replacements, Harry Gurney and Steven Finn, have had issues of their own. Finn's have been well chronicled - the collapse of his action in Australia last winter which meant that he did not play a single Test and left the tour early for remedial work on his action back at Middlesex.

Finn's progress throughout the county summer has been solid, if unspectacular. By mid-July, he was able to discuss it for the first time, telling ESPNcricinfo that he began to over-analyse every aspect of his action and that Saker, who is generally regarded as a tactical rather than a technical coach, was unable to find a solution.

At some point in this series, England surely must play Finn. There has been so much emphasis upon stable planning, particularly when the subject turns to the one-day captaincy of Alastair Cook, that it has been overlooked that the build-up to the World Cup offers England not just the chance to plan, but the chance to discover.

If there is a limited appetite for discovery when it comes to England's batsmen, such a policy is essential for Finn. England's next one-day series is against Sri Lanka in November and December and that is hardly the easiest place for an out-and-out fast bowler to make an impression. To take Finn to Australia - the scene of his technical torment - in January for the tri-series against Australia and India still not road-tested would be a failure of planning and, if his problems recurred, would throw England's plans into disarray a few weeks before the World Cup. Only by thrusting Finn into the pressure of international cricket can England measure the extent of his recovery.

That leaves Harry Gurney, who would add variety to England's attack by virtue of being a left-armer and who would also be a natural call-up on his home ground at Trent Bridge. Gurney played in England's Spring ODIs, making his debut against Scotland in Aberdeen, playing five ODIs against Sri Lanka and returning nine wickets at 22.55. He hit his yorkers more reliably, but there is a lot that could go wrong in such an idiosyncratic action.

But Gurney's form has not been short of concerns. He was unimpressive during Nottinghamshire's Royal London domestic campaign and in his last outing disappeared at eight an over against Warwickshire, a match Nottinghamshire won thanks to one of four recent one-day hundreds for Alex Hales. His net sessions have not made an irresistible case for his recall.

It is a tough choice for England. That Jordan has displayed star quality is incontestable. Finn must be given a chance to prove himself. Gurney has logical hopes of a recall in front of his home crowd. Outside the squad, Northants' allrounder David Willey has not entirely given up hope of making a late push. Which one to recommend? Even now. Saker's teeth must be beginning to grind.

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WI name 13-man squad for first Bangladesh Test

The new WICB selection panel led by Clive Lloyd has named a 13-man Test squad for the West Indies ahead of the first of two Test matches against Bangladesh beginning on September 5 in St Vincent. The only change to the squad from the West Indies' previous Test assignment against New Zealand in June was dropping reserve batsman Leon Johnson while all other players have been retained.

In the release announcing the squad, the WICB noted that two other players were considered for selection but instead opted to play in the Champions League Twenty20 competition which begins September 13 in Raipur, India. Since the tournament is in an ICC-approved window on the international schedule, the WICB said the decision of the players will not have any impact on future selection.

Aside from representatives in the Caribbean Premier League champion Barbados Tridents squad, seven other West Indies players are participating in the Champions League Twenty20. Among those possibly in line for Test selection out of that group are Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo.

Narine was not considered for selection for all three Tests against New Zealand in June after opting to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL Final on June 1. It caused him to miss the start of a West Indies training camp ahead of the first Test starting on June 8. It paved the way for both Shane Shillingford and Sulieman Benn to make their returns to Test cricket during the series.

Earlier this summer, Bravo expressed his desire to return to the Test cricket following recovery from a shoulder injury suffered at the start of this year's IPL. The West Indies ODI captain has not played Test cricket since 2010 on tour in Sri Lanka.

West Indies squad: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Chris Gayle, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine Blackwood, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Sulieman Benn, Shane Shillingford.

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Billings lights up Kent's big night

Kent 242 (Northeast 78, Billings 61, Payne 5-44) beat Gloucestershire 218 (Roderick 43, Harmison 3-40) by 24 runs
Scorecard

Highlights: Kent seal tight win to advance to semis

Kent were not to be denied. As Gloucestershire added 93 for the last four wickets, nerves were stretched tight and the crowd shouted themselves hoarse. With 32 required from 23 balls, Ben Harmison could not hold a diving, one-handed catch a long-off. Benny Howell was the batsman to survive but he was bowled off the final delivery of Mitch Claydon's over, leaving Gloucestershire nine down.

When Rob Key stooped to take a catch off Craig Miles from the first ball of the 48th over, cheers rang around the ground, only for the third umpire to rule that he could not be sure it was cleanly taken. Two balls later, David Griffiths broke the bails of last man David Payne and victory was sealed.

The plight of the British seaside town has been brought into focus this week by confirmation that Ukip leader Nigel Farage will stand for parliamentary election in South Thanet, the constituency adjacent to Canterbury and Whistable. It is tempting to see this decline as in some ways mirroring county cricket's struggle for relevancy - both are pleasures from simpler times - but at the St Lawrence Ground, just a few miles from Farage's prospective Ramsgate base, it was possible to witness something resembling hope.

Kent were one-day kings during the '70s, which was about when it was last cool to spend your holidays messing about with a bucket and spade. They have not won a lot since but reached the semi-finals of the inaugural Royal London Cup with a 24-run win. Farage was spotted at the Tunbridge Wells festival earlier this season, though it is unknown whether the association is mutual. It seems unlikely that real ale and the fight against EU bureaucracy are central to the philosophy of Jimmy Adams' side.

The whirlwind batting of Sam Billings certainly is and his rambunctious 61 made Kent's wicketkeeper the third-highest scorer in this season's competition. It was the most fluent innings of the night by a comfortable majority, as both sides battled on a treacle surface that did not benefit from a cloudburst before the start of play.

Gloucestershire began with a flurry of boundaries from Chris Dent but, in their haste to make a statement, got ahead of themselves. With the assorted mysteries of Ben Harmison, Darren Stevens and Fabian Cowdrey - as well as the more classical merits of Adam Riley's offspin - ranged against them, the visitors slipped to 125 for 6 at just past the halfway point of their chase.

A stand of 53 between Will Gidman, the folk hero who is set to leave Gloucestershire for the bright lights of Nottingham next season, and Howell ensured home nerves remained taught but Griffiths followed a run of three successive wides by yorking Gidman. Without Michael Klinger, their overseas player and captain who broke an arm in last week's final group game, this was a chase too far for the last side remaining from Group A.

Billings has thrived on the return of 50-over cricket, averaging over 100 at a frankly indecent strike rate of 162.64. With a golden blond quiff and schoolboy grin, he radiates energy. Billings is from Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells, but played the sort of shots that would put creases in the locals' freshly starched linen.

His half-century came from 29 balls, with Dent's left-arm spin twice crunched over the midwicket boundary. He was lucky not to drag the ball on to his stumps in the following over, bowled by Jack Taylor; he proceeded to launch a six like a mortar round over long-on, followed by a rubber-wristed reverse-sweep for four. Billings is packing heat, that much is clear, though England do not want for an explosive keeper-batsman right now.

For both these sides, the Royal London Cup represented an opportunity to gloss another season of bobbing along in the quieter reaches of the county circuit. Kent are the only Division Two Championship side left in the competition. The prospect of a first knockout semi-final in five years and, potentially, a trip to Lord's thereafter should add frisson to the final few weeks.

Kent were without Doug Bollinger, who has returned to Australia ahead of the Champions League, and James Tredwell, on England duty. Suggestions that Tredwell has asked to be released from his contract and allowed to join Sussex, where he has been on loan for Championship cricket, were rebuffed by the club.

In preparation for this match, Kent had fielded a strong XI against New Zealand A earlier in the week. They were dismissed for 67, their second-lowest score in List A cricket, to lose by 172 runs. Nevertheless, Key chose to bat on winning the toss, only to become the first of two wickets in two balls for Payne. A score of 11 for 2 in the fifth over did not augur well for the chances of Kent posting something more substantial.

Key was back in the side after missing most of the campaign with a hamstring problem, replacing Daniel Bell-Drummond. After his brief return, it was left to vice-captain Sam Northeast and 21-year-old Cowdrey - the name of whose grandfather, Colin, looks down from the stands - to repair the early damage. Northeast is developing into an increasingly proficient limited-overs cricketer and played tidily for 78 but, perhaps inflamed by Billings' bloodlust, missed a straight ball attempting an ungainly swipe as Kent lost their last six wickets for 27 runs.

Will Gidman was treated disdainfully by Northeast and Cowdrey but he removed the latter when a ball stopped in the pitch, after a stand worth 106. Alex Gidman took the catch, a moment for the brothers to savour. There will not be many more.

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Bailey defends Lyon exclusion

George Bailey, Australia's stand-in captain, defended his team's decision to leave Nathan Lyon out of their playing XI against South Africa, insisting that the offspinner's absence "did not turn the match".

Without Lyon, the part-time spin of Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell leaked 40 runs in five overs and the seam attack fared little better as centuries from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis helped South Africa to a seven-wicket win.

"I certainly think 327 could have been enough, but knowing that it's a pretty good wicket and only having four out and two new balls, it's always going to be a challenge," Bailey said. "You've got to keep trying to find a way to take wickets, and unfortunately we couldn't do that. I could have probably bowled our part timers a little more, or got them into the game a little earlier, but you can only have XI unfortunately."

The Harare Sports Club pitch played slow and low in the Test featuring South Africa and Zimbabwe earlier this month, and though it has quickened up a touch since then, it remains a track where the toss as well as the quick bowlers' variations once the shine comes off, remain important.

Australia were not helped by losing the toss and being sent in this morning, but Bailey admitted that their attempts to use bowling variations to temper du Plessis and de Villiers had fallen short.

"We tried taking the pace off the ball a little bit and it didn't seem to have too much effect at different times," he said. "There's no doubt that variation is going to be a key, and that's down to mixing up your pace and lengths, and how you bowl at different stages. But we've got to give a little bit of credit to Faf and AB, I thought they batted beautifully."

One thing Bailey and Australia will be pleased about is the performance of their top order in the series so far. Three batsmen passed fifty against Zimbabwe, while Phil Hughes complemented Aaron Finch in an opening stand of 92 before Finch went on to a century today.

"Hughesy batted really well, and particularly once we were sent in I thought that was a really important start for us. It was a little bit challenging at the start and I thought those guys got us off and running.

"They've been pretty consistent. Hughesy has had limited opportunities but keeps putting his hand up. Finchy seems to be getting better and better, and it was great to see him go on and turn that into a hundred today. That's something that we've spoken about, and he'd be pretty satisfied with that. I think that's the challenge for all of our top order players: to get hundreds. As you saw in the chase, it makes it so much easier when you get someone you can bat around for the majority of the innings."

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Kent blown away after Brownlie ton

New Zealand A 239 (Brownlie 112, Rutherford 56, Griffiths 3-49) beat Kent 67 (Craig 3-6) by 172 runs
Scorecard

Kent were bowled out for 67, their second-lowest score in List A cricket, as they lost to New Zealand A by 172 runs. The innings lasted for less than half the allotted overs and only two players, openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Rob Key, made double-figures.

The 50-over match had replaced the scheduled three-day fixture, after the first two days were washed out. Kent chose to deploy something approaching a full-strength side, in preparation for their Royal London Cup quarter-final on Friday, but Brendan Nash was unable to bat due to injury and the ten other batsmen failed to make much more of an impact on the scorecard.

New Zealand offspinner Mark Craig picked up three wickets in his three overs to finish the innings, after the pace trio of Hamish Bennett, Doug Bracewell and Matt Henry and shared the first six. At 56 for 7, Kent were in danger of being dismissed for less than the 60 they made against Somerset at Taunton in 1979.

After being asked to bat, the New Zealand A effort was founded on a stand of 124 in 20 overs for the second wicket between Hamish Rutherford and Dean Brownlie. Three wickets then fell for seven runs, during a typically miserly spell from Darren Stevens, but Brownlie went on to reach his second century of the tour before becoming a third victim for David Griffiths.

New Zealand A were dismissed with ten balls unbowled but their score of 239 was to prove more than enough. Kent will hope for a better performance when they take on Gloucestershire at home on Friday.

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Aftab Ahmed announces retirement

Bangladesh batsman Aftab Ahmed has announced he will retire at the end of the 2014-15 season. He said that his focus will turn to coaching and setting up an academy in his hometown of Chittagong.

He will play the upcoming season's Dhaka Premier League for Brothers Union after switching over from Gazi Tank Cricketers on the first day of player transfers being held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The decision comes as a surprise, since Aftab is a few months short of his 29th birthday and still fit. But he said that the state of his playing career was what prompted the decision. Last season he averaged 23.81 for Gazi Tank and 18.20 in three first-class games.

"This is my last Premier League, I don't wish to play any longer," Aftab said. "It wasn't based on any emotional factors. It is completely a personal decision. This is my last year. You all please pray that I can leave on a high."

"Cricket has become tough. Club officials think in a different way. I got a very low offer this year. So by putting everything into consideration, I thought this is the right time. If I had taken a bit longer, it wouldn't be good for me. This is how I came to this decision."

He is yet to gain higher level coaching credits, but wants to help Chittagong get out of the mire in cricket development. Not since Nazimuddin, who debuted in 2007, has Bangladesh's second-largest city produced an international cricketer.

"I am setting up a cricket academy in Chittagong, which will be opened in the near future," he said. "I want to take my coaching career to a very good level. Currently cricket in Chittagong is in bad shape, so I wish to take it to a better place."

Aftab played just 11 Tests for Bangladesh but he was more of an ODI player, winning 85 caps. He famously hit Jason Gillespie for a six in the last over of Bangladesh's miraculous win over Australia in Cardiff in 2005.

But three years later, he would join the rebel Indian Cricket League and be shunned by the BCB. He did make it back to the Bangladesh team in 2010, only to play two more Tests, averaging 17.00, and making just 80 runs in five ODIs. His last international match was in the World T20 that year.

"The start of my career doesn't really reflect what I eventually became as a player," he said. "The ICL had a profound effect on my career at a crucial time. I mean, I couldn't really end my career as I would have wanted. Still, I think people loved me for the way I played the game."

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Bangladesh bat, Mashrafe injured

Toss Bangladesh chose to bat v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim chose to bat first against West Indies in the only T20 at Warner Park. It was the logical thing to do, and will be some respite as they would now look to post a big total.

Shamsur Rahman and Mohammad Mithun have been included in the team at the cost of Imrul Kayes and Mominul Haque who played in the third ODI. Mashrafe Mortaza has been sidelined with a groin injury while Sohag Gazi has been dropped. Abdur Razzak, thought to be out of Bangladesh's T20 plans, remains in the side.

West Indies have four medium-pace bowling allrounders filling up the spots from No. 5 onwards. Andre Russell who was one of the standout players in the recent Caribbean Premier League has been picked, while Sulieman Benn and Andre Fletcher have been benched. They will have two left-arm pace bowlers - Krishmar Santokie and Sheldon Cottrell - in the playing XI while Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo are back in the T20 side.

West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Krishmar Santokie, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Shamsur Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Mohammad Mithun, 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Abdur Razzak, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Al-Amin Hossain, 11 Rubel Hossain

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Tait one-day comeback on the cards

Fast bowler Shaun Tait could come out of one-day retirement this summer, having declared himself available for South Australia's 50-over campaign for the first time since 2010-11. Tait retired from one-day cricket after the 2011 World Cup and for the past three seasons has focused exclusively on Twenty20, but he wants to help his state win more silverware before his career ends for good.

The physicality of Tait's bowling action made first-class cricket a challenge to sustain and he retired from the longer format in 2007-08, but continued as a one-day player for another three years. Now aged 31 and having stayed active in T20 with the Adelaide Strikers and other teams around the world, Tait said he would be available for up to four matches of this year's Matador BBQ's One-Day Cup in October.

"I was playing T20 cricket and I thought in a couple of years if I'm retired, would I regret anything?" Tait told the Advertiser. "The only thing I could think of was not having some success with South Australia.

"It's been a while since I've been really determined to do something in cricket and this is one of them. I'm determined to play for South Australia and be successful, because I think the state needs it as well."

Tait was a key part of Australia's successful 2007 World Cup campaign in the West Indies, where he collected 23 wickets and was third on the overall tally, and he also took part in the 2011 World Cup. And while Australia's coach Darren Lehmann wants his fast bowlers to have genuine pace, a call-up for next year's home World Cup is not likely to be on the horizon for Tait.

"I suppose if everything is going well, if my body is going well and I'm bowling 155kph and taking wickets, why not? But it might not go that way," Tait said. "Cricket Australia have got their group of players who are pretty good at the moment, the attack against Zimbabwe on Monday night was very good, Johnson, Starc, Richardson and there's probably five other blokes in the wings.

"So they might go down a completely different path even if I am doing well. But if everything was going well, and they came to me and said 'We've got a couple of injuries, come and play' -- brilliant, I'd love to."

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'I want to play all three formats' - Lyon

Before Monday, offspinner Nathan Lyon had played 33 Tests and two ODIs for Australia. On Monday, 29 months after his previous ODI, he did not have the most effective of comebacks in the Zimbabwe triangular series, conceding 42 runs in seven overs while the hosts bowled out for just 152. His one-day bowling, Lyon explained on the eve of Australia's match against South Africa, was a "work in progress", and he said that he still wants to play all three formats for Australia.

"I was pretty nervous and excited, playing again after two years. The main aim was to try and help Australia to victory, and the challenge now is to back it up against South Africa tomorrow," Lyon said. "I want to play all three formats for Australia. I'm just always looking forward to the next opportunity. The main message I have received from the coaches is to work on my consistency. I have also been working on different variations, so it's currently a work in progress."

In his 33 Tests, Lyon has 112 wickets at 32.99, and that experience he said is a plus for him as he tries to showcase his ODIs skills to the selectors ahead of the 2015 World Cup. "I've had a few different challenges at Test level. In ODIs, things are a lot more compact and things happen a lot quicker. But I feel I've grown as a player and my experiences in Tests have definitely helped me."

It has also helped him having Muttiah Muralitharan around, he said. Murali, who has been signed on as Australia's coaching consultant for this year's Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, had worked with Lyon in Sri Lanka a couple of months ago, reportedly helping him develop a carrom ball. "Listening to Murali provides you with confidence," Lyon said. "He backed me up by saying that my skill set was heading in the right way. Getting such a compliment from him is very special."

Lyon said he expects South Africa to try and go after him, and he is prepared. "South Africa are a world class side, so it's going to be a great challenge. We need to put our best foot forward," he said. "There's no doubt they're going to target me, but I'm ready for it. It's a good opportunity for me to take some wickets."

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