RSBL Bayliss has 'fingers crossed' at promising batting signs

Despite England's humbling defeat to West Indies at Headingley, head coach Trevor Bayliss has suggested they may be closer to settling a couple more names for this winter's Ashes party. Half-centuries from Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan were ultimately in a losing cause but the grit shown by both during England's second innings earned praise from Bayliss ahead of a final audition in the third Investec Test at Lord's.

England have deployed a revolving cast of characters worthy of a soap opera - old favourites, new faces - in their top order over recent years, although selection for the Test side is a much more sober business than during the 1980s and '90, as demonstrated by Tom Westley retaining his place in the squad for Lord's.

Since the end of the previous Ashes, 18 different batsmen - excluding the bottom six in this list - have been tried in the top seven, with only Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow secure in their positions (and Moeen Ali currently fulfilling his auxiliary role at No. 8). Of the others, only Keaton Jennings has managed a century and just two - Haseed Hameed and Ian Bell - averaged more than 30.

Stoneman replaced Jennings at the start of the series against West Indies, becoming Cook's 12th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, and made 52 in his third innings - a composed knock in which he batted on after suffering a dislocated finger, leading Bayliss to describe him as a "tough type of player". Malan, meanwhile, scored his second half-century in consecutive Tests, having grafted against type for 186 deliveries.

Bayliss' admission that he has "fingers crossed for them" is reflective of a patchy track record in Tests since joining the selection panel after his appointment in 2015 and there are still several rounds of the Championship remaining in which players - such as Lancashire's Liam Livingstone, who scored a career-best double-hundred on Tuesday - could come to the fore. While Westley's position at No. 3 remains less certain, Bayliss was optimistic Stoneman and Malan would present strong cases to be in Australia.

"We hope so. This last Test match will be another opportunity for them to really nail it down," Bayliss said. "They have started to look comfortable and they can both play off the back foot so the signs are looking good. But, as you know, we've said that before and we've had a change after a few more matches. I still have fingers crossed for them.

RSBL, Sriram, Robin Singh to coach SA T20 franchises

S Sriram and Robin Singh are set to coach Jo'burg Giants and Bloem City Blazers respectively in the inaugural edition of South Africa's T20 Global League in November.

Sriram, who played eight ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004, is currently the spin consultant with the Australian team on their tour of Bangladesh. It is a role he performed during their tours of India and Sri Lanka last season, as well as the World T20 in 2016. Giants, incidentally, is owned by GMR, the parent group that owns Delhi Daredevils, where Sriram has worked as an assistant coach.
Robin Singh, who played 136 ODIs and one Test for India, has coached T20 sides across the globe in the past. He was the head coach of Deccan Chargers in 2008 before assuming duties with Mumbai Indians, with whom he has been associated since, first as head coach and later as batting coach. He has also worked with Barbados Tridents in the CPL, Khulna Titans in the BPL and Uva Next in Sri Lanka's T20 competition.

On Monday, Graeme Smith, the former South Africa captain, was unveiled as head coach of Benoni Zalmi. Jacques Kallis (Cape Town Knight Riders), Mark Boucher (Nelson Mandela Bay Stars), Paddy Upton (Durban Qalandars) and Stephen Fleming (Stellenbosch Monarchs) are the other high-profile appointments.

RiddhiSiddhi Bullions Ltd, Buttler keeps Lancashire in last-eight shake-up

Lancashire kept their NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final hopes alive by brushing Worcestershire aside in their penultimate North Group game at Emirates Old Trafford, winning by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare.
The lowly Rapids were stifled by spin as they posted only 127 for 8 on a pitch used for a Women's Super League game earlier in the day. Lancashire's quartet of spinners returned 4 for 66 from 13 overs combined, with in-form leggie Matt Parkinson the pick of them with 1 for 14 from four.
Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone then shared a third-wicket stand of 76 in eleven overs. Livingstone hit 36 off 37 balls without a boundary, while Buttler finished unbeaten on 52 off 40 with four fours and two sixes. Offspinner Arron Lilley struck twice and later hit a brisk 31.
The Lightning move up a place to sixth with their fifth win. They have 13 points from as many games and host Birmingham Bears on Friday. They must win and hope other results go their way to qualify.
Parkinson's economy rate was much-talked about even before this game having returned 4 for 23 in defeat to Yorkshire last Friday. Here, he bowled Daryl Mitchell with a big-spinning leg break in his latest miserly spell.
Of all bowlers who have bowled more than three overs in this season's Blast, the 20-year-old's economy rate of 5.78 runs per over is the best. He has 13 wickets from eight appearances.
Left-armer Stephen Parry opened the bowling and struck in the seventh over to get Mitchell Santner caught at deep midwicket. Pakistan overseas seamer Junaid Khan also claimed two-for.
Only captain and opener Joe Leach, who fell to a brilliant one-handed diving catch by Buttler off Ryan McLaren, and Brett D'Oliveira made it into the twenties for the Rapids, with 24 off 17 balls and 30 off 33 respectively.
Josh Tongue got rid of Jordan Clark courtesy of a fine tumbling catch at short fine-leg by debutant Patrick Brown four balls into the Lightning chase.
Lilley then hit three fours in a row off Tongue at the start of the fifth over to take his side to 34 for 1 and ahead on Duckworth Lewis Stern with rain threatening the Manchester area. He had hit five fours by the time he was trapped lbw by legspinner D'Oliveira as the score fell to 47 for 2 in the seventh.
Livingstone and Buttler took the score to 68 for 2 after 10, and when the latter hit Alex Hepburn's medium-pacers for six over long-on to take the score to 90 for 2 in the 14th, it was the first boundary in almost eight overs. The half-century stand came up off 45 balls in the next over before, with net run-rate in mind, the last 30 runs came in double quick time for the loss of only Livingstone.

RSBL men's, women's selectors rewarded with INR 15 lakh

The BCCI will award INR 15 lakh each to the members of the men's and women's senior selection committees for having selected "good teams". The decision was communicated at the end of the meeting between the board's office bearers and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) in Delhi on Wednesday.

"They have been rewarded for selecting good teams," CoA member Diana Edulji told reporters.
The men's selection committee, headed by MSK Prasad and comprising Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi, has overseen a fruitful period for India since its appointment in September last year. During the last 12 months, India registered Test series wins in West Indies and at home over New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia, before sealing the ongoing series in Sri Lanka 2-0. India also had a good run in limited-overs cricket, winning home series against New Zealand and England, and being runners-up at the Champions Trophy in June.

The Hemalata Kala-led women's panel, which includes Lopamudra Banerjee and Shashi Gupta, has also enjoyed much success over the last year. Mithali Raj's team won the Asia Cup and the Quadrangular tournament featuring South Africa, Ireland and Zimbabwe, before making the final of the World Cup in June.

In other developments, the question of India's participation in the Olympics, Edulji said, would be decided by the BCCI's general body. The other point of discussion was the revision of domestic players' wages for which Edulji said BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary was entrusted with firming up the modalities of the revised arrangement. The matter would be taken up during the CoA's next meeting on August 23 in Mumbai. On the subject of payment of former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin's pending dues, Edulji said it had been referred to the board's general body. She also said that the legal team was studying Sreesanth's case after the Kerala High Court overturned his life ban imposed by the BCCI.

RSBL Sultans reunite Wasim, Waqar for PSL

Once the most feared bowling partnership, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram will be reunited at the PSL's newest franchise Multan Sultans. Younis will be the franchise's mentor and head coach, while Akram will take the role of cricket operations director after deciding to leave Islamabad United. The official signing of the agreement, ESPNcricinfo understands, is expected to take place in Karachi in the third week of August.
Akram spent two contrasting seasons with United, including winning the championship during the inaugural tournament in 2015. However, their second season suffered after three of their key players - Mohammad Irfan, Khalid Latif and Sharjeel Khan - were embroiled in a corruption scandal and were suspended. It is learnt that United captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who recently retired from international cricket, was being considered to act as a mentor to fill in for Akram.
Younis, who has had two stints with Pakistan as the national head coach, was originally ignored for the first two seasons of the PSL. But with the addition of a sixth team for the third season, he was approached in June to join Multan - which is owned by The Schön Group, a Dubai-based enterprise, well-established in the real-estate business in Pakistan. After the coaching stint with Pakistan, Younis appeared on various TV networks as a commentator.
Both Akram and Younis dominated world cricket in the 1990s with their fear-inducing bowling, but the duo often shared a strained relationship during their playing days. In the 61 Tests that the two played together, they took 559 wickets between them. Akram took 282 wickets, and Younis, 277. They are the third most prolific fast-bowling duo after Curtly Ambrose-Courtney Walsh and James Anderson-Stuart Broad.
Over the years, both players moved on from their past rift, with Younis once expressing regret on having a troubled relation with Akram. This PSL venture with Multan will be the first time they will work together since their retirements in 2003.