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Mohammad Zaka Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, is due to take charge on Monday, ten days after his appointment was confirmed

Umar Farooq21-Oct-2011Mohammad Zaka Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, is due to take charge on Monday, ten days after his appointment was confirmed. Ashraf has been winding up affairs in his former job as chairman of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) but his relative silence on cricketing matters since his appointment has increased the sense of enigma, especially in contrast to the colourful and controversial regime of Ijaz Butt.When he does take charge, Ashraf will find a pretty full in-tray left by his predecessor. At the international level, Ashraf’s job will be to win some credibility back for the PCB, handle the results of the spot-fixing case currently on in London and also balance out the various lobbies in the ICC in Pakistan’s best interests. His immediate task will be to negotiate with the Bangladesh Cricket Board over the choice of the vice-president’s candidate for the ICC. ESPNcricinfo understands that while the PCB is currently involved in internal turmoil, the BCB has already begun working on firming up its choice.Butt’s tenure exposed the loopholes in the PCB’s administration, with the power of the chairman being exercised and exposed with dramatic consequences. There is an anxiety in the PCB offices because the new broom may want to sweep clean, starting with key personnel within the selection committee, the post of director of international cricket – currently held by Intikhab Alam – and the Chief Operating Office Subhan Ahmed. Zaheer Abbas, who was keen on Ashraf’s job, is said to be a leading contender for the COO’s job with Basit Ali finding his way on to the selection committee. The important job of head coach of the national team will perhaps be the single most discussed decision early on in his tenure.Ashraf’s ascent to the highest position in Pakistan cricket is, as always, a political appointment – he is famous for his proximity to President Asif Zardari – but given a fresh twist by the fact that, unlike his predecessors, he has had no links with cricket other than as a normal viewer. It is perhaps why there is some anxiety in the PCB and across Pakistan cricket that Ashraf will apply a more corporate stamp on the game; while possibly free of the upheaval of the Butt years, it may mean no more than a cosmetic administrative reshuffle at a time when foresight and clear decision-making are required.However, there are signs of hope, most significantly from Ashraf’s role as head of ZTBL, whose cricket team signed on several key players – including internationals Imran Nazir, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Hameed, Rao Iftikhar and Mohamamd Khalil – to establish its name in first-class cricket. Among his peers in the banking and agricultural sectors he is respected and considered to have maintained some degree of integrity; given his political connections, though, genuinely neutral appraisals of the man are hard to find.Instead, comparisons are drawn between his and his predecessor’s cricket experience. Butt played Test cricket and had been part of the national administration since the 1980s, and a figure in Lahore cricket even before that. Ashraf’s slate is comparatively blank but one of his predecessors, Gen Tauqir Zia, says being a ‘cricket insider’ is not a mandatory qualification for the job.”From the administration point of view I don’t think a cricketing background is a must for the chairman,” Zia told ESPNcricinfo. “In our cricketing history and even around the world most of the chairmen or presidents aren’t cricketers; it’s a plus point if you have two qualifications in one person but passion towards the game is must.”Zia then spoke of Ijaz Butt. “He is a former cricketer but the PCB had a poor experience with him. So it’s not really a matter of concern whether you are a cricketer or executive, what’s important is you must be good enough to carry on the administration with the correct strategy and the right frame of mind. You have to be professional enough to deal with any variety of cricketing matters. And, given that you’re working with a large bunch of top sportsmen, you must have extensive man-management skills. “Ashraf will need all those skills over the coming weeks and months to try and tackle everything that is on his plate.

He’s targeting the role of a finisher in the Indian team and has been training with that in mind

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-202032:18

‘I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete’

Robin Uthappa, who last played for India in July 2015 on a tour of Zimbabwe, believes he “still has a World Cup” left in him, and is targeting a comeback to the Indian team in the T20 format.Uthappa, 34, has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is, and was part of the 2007 50-over World Cup campaign as well as the inaugural T20 World Cup played later in the same year. However, he was dropped from the team in mid-2008 and his international appearances since then have been sporadic, with a total of eight ODIs and four T20Is since his first comeback in October 2011.”Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well,” Uthappa told ESPNcricinfo. “I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I’m pursuing that, especially the shortest format. The blessings of Lady Luck or God or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor. Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don’t think it is evident when you’re playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident.”You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off. Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance. I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well. Those dreams are still alive and I think I’ll keep playing cricket till that is alive.”Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94 and a strike rate of 90.59, while in T20Is his corresponding numbers are 249 runs at 24.90 and 118.00. He has had great success in the IPL, initially with Royal Challengers Bangalore and then in more sustained fashion with Kolkata Knight Riders. He was the top run-getter in the IPL in 2014, and central to Knight Riders’ title run that year. However, underwhelming returns in 2019 meant the team released him, and he was picked by Rajasthan Royals in the last auction.On his numerous short comebacks in the Indian team – he played one T20I in 2011, one in 2012, five ODIs in 2014 and finally three ODIs and two T20Is in 2015 – Uthappa felt he had been batted out of position.”When I played for India [in 2007 and 2008], I scored all my runs opening the batting. Then [in his comeback phases] I ended up playing for India in the middle-order, which seems so… from one perception it seems very unfair,” Uthappa said. “That kind of cycle has repeated itself maybe three or four times in the three or four comebacks that I’ve made in the Indian team. I scored all the runs up the order, and I got to bat in the middle-order when I got back in the Indian team.”Stats-wise, Uthappa has slightly better numbers when he has not opened the batting for India. In the 16 ODI innings in which he batted at the top of the order, he has an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 88.31 with four half-centuries. In 26 ODI innings in which he has batted lower down, he averages 26.30 at a strike rate of 92.44 with two half-centuries.Uthappa has opened only twice in T20Is, making 1 and 18* at less than a run a ball. When not opening the batting, he averages 25.55 at a strike rate of 121.69.In his comebacks in 2011, 2012 and 2014, Uthappa played as an opener and crossed 20 once in five innings. On another comeback in 2014 and a subsequent one in 2015, he batted in the middle-order.Uthappa said he was targeting the role of being a finisher for the Indian team and had begun training with that specific goal in mind, till the coronavirus pandemic enforced a standstill.”What I’ve been trying to do is to make sure that I’m well prepared,” he explained. “Opening the batting is something I can do at any point of time. I’m trying to make sure I’m well equipped to bat in the middle order as well. One of the things that we need today in Indian cricket is a good finisher, and that’s something that I’m pursuing and working hard on. It’s something I’m looking forward to improving on a day to day basis.”I’m actually missing practice really bad right now because that was one of the aspects I was working on and I felt like I was beginning to get somewhere. Because you know it’s a process. These kinds of things don’t just turn up on their head. You need to work on it and get better at it on a day to day, week to week, month to month basis. I felt like I was getting places. A small kind of sweet spot. God willing, I believe it will happen at some point in time.”

England’s bowling options for their five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka have been given a boost following Tim Bresnan’s recovery from a calf strain

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2011England’s bowling options for their five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka have been given a boost following Tim Bresnan’s recovery from a calf strain. He has been included in the squad after completing a successful rehabilitation, and will be available for selection for Tuesday’s first match at The Oval.Bresnan was a key member of the team that won the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean last May, but he really shot to prominence during England’s Ashes and World Cup winter in 2010-11. He played a pivotal role in the decisive Test win over Australia at Melbourne, and went on to claim five cheap wickets in the thrilling tie against India at Bangalore.However, Bresnan missed the ODI series in Australia due to his calf problem, and underwent a further scan prior to England’s ten-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the World Cup quarter-final in Colombo. Since returning to England, he has been dogged by the problem, and was ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka after suffering a tear while bowling for Yorkshire against Hampshire in mid-May.”We always had the intention of bringing him back when he was fit. We wanted him to play for Yorkshire so we didn’t take any risks,” Alastair Cook, England’s one-day captain, said. “I saw him a couple of days ago and he looks in good shape. To have a proven performer back in the side is great for us.”Bresnan’s nagging accuracy and deceptive pace, not to mention his confident lower-order batting, make him an invaluable member of England’s one-day set-up. After England’s toothless display in the one-off Twenty20 at Bristol on Saturday, there will be a strong temptation to pitch straight back into the starting line-up.

Dhawan, who was first-choice opener prior to a grade two injury to his shoulder, will report to Bangalore for rehabilitation

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2020Prithvi Shaw could be in line for an ODI debut in New Zealand having replaced the injured Shikhar Dhawan for the three-match series set to begin on February 5. Both teams play a five-match T20I series prior to that, for which Sanju Samson has been picked as the BCCI confirmed Dhawan, who was first-choice opener before a grade two injury to his shoulder, will report to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for rehabilitation.Shaw, who made a Test century on debut in 2018, is already in New Zealand with the India A team and has been in excellent form. The 20-year old opener struck a compelling 150 against New Zealand A in a warm-up game on Sunday to follow a double-hundred for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He did suffer a minor injury scare a few weeks ago, having fallen on his shoulder while fielding, but judging by that hundred in Lincoln, which included 22 fours and two sixes, there appears to be little discomfort.Prithvi Shaw has been called up to India’s ODI squad for the first time•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shaw has been on an upward track since his return from doping violation in November 2019. His first innings back was a half-century which he celebrated by pointing at his back and then making a talking gesture. The BCCI, while imposing a back-dated sanction, said Shaw had accidentally taken a forbidden substance commonly found in cough syrups. Should he make it to the XI during this three-match series against New Zealand, he will make his ODI debut in the same place where he led India to the Under-19 World Cup title in 2017. Outside of his inclusion, India kept faith in the same squad that beat Australia 2-1 at home.Samson, meanwhile, has been on the fringes of national selection for several years. The wicketkeeper batsman played his first international in July 2015 and that had been his only game for India until earlier this month when he made the squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Both Samson and Shaw may yet be confined to the reserves considering India still have Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open the batting and Rishabh Pant to keep wicket.Sanju Samson has replaced the injured Shikhar Dhawan in India’s T20I squad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mohammed Shami is the only other addition to the T20I squad that beat Sri Lanka 2-0. He has shown great improvement in his limited-overs skills, some of which were display on his last tour of New Zealand when he picked up nine wickets from four ODIs. He joined a fast-bowling line-up which includes Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur. India were spoiled for choice in the spin department as well with Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar all part of the squad for the five-match T20I series.

Andrew Flintoff, the man whose greatest years as a Test cricketer coincided with England’s last sustained run of excellence in five-day cricket, believes the team of 2011 is a better outfit than the 2005 side that won six series in a row

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2011Andrew Flintoff, the man whose greatest years as a Test cricketer coincided with England’s last sustained run of excellence in five-day cricket, believes the team of 2011 is a better outfit than the 2005 side that won six series in a row and regained the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.England’s current run of form has carried them to a 2-0 series lead against the current No. 1 Test team in the world, India, and if they maintain or improve that two-match margin in the remaining two Tests of the series at Edgbaston and The Oval, they will themselves climb to the top of the world rankings.In Flintoff’s estimation, however, that handover has already been achieved. “England are the best team in the world already,” he said. “Not just in ranking, but also in strength. They have got everything. I don’t see why they can’t dominate for a long time. They have strong enough players to do it. Australia and West Indies did it and England should be able to do it for the next few years.”The key difference between 2005 and 2011 is the breadth of the squad that England are able to call upon. Six years ago, England’s first XI was formidable, with players such as Flintoff and Simon Jones peaking at precisely the right moment in their careers. However, they lacked the reserves to maintain their rise towards the top. Jones went lame with one Ashes match remaining and never played again, while the subsequent losses of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Flintoff himself for long periods led to a long slide back towards mediocrity.”This is a better side than the one we had in 2005,” said Flintoff. “The strength of it and the depth is incredible. In 2005 we had 11 players who had a memorable few weeks and played at their best for a period, but we never played together again.”In the past 12 months, England have demonstrated a formidable pack mentality, particularly when it comes to their fast bowlers. When Stuart Broad was injured during the Ashes, he was replaced superbly by Chris Tremlett, who had himself risen to become the leader of the attack by the end of the recent Sri Lanka series. Then, when he suffered a back spasm on the eve of the Trent Bridge Test, Tim Bresnan – another Ashes reserve – stepped in to seal the match with a career-best 5 for 48.”This side have a squad and they are so strong in and out of the side,” said Flintoff. “We’ve seen them replace players without blinking and it has made no difference to the performance and that has been happening for a while now.”There are no weak links. They are playing with a confidence and a swagger that goes with being the best. They’ve got every department covered and if someone gets injured then another one comes in and does a job.”

The IPL closely following the World Cup has meant that the franchises’ squads have not had much time to prepare as a unit, but that, says Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, means the players can hit the ground running

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2011The IPL closely following the World Cup has meant that the franchises’ squads have not had much time to prepare as a unit, but Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said that it also means the players can hit the ground running.”With most of our players being in action during the World Cup, lack of match practice will not be an issue,” he said. “Playing the best teams in the world and on our home grounds is the best build-up any player could hope for. We are quietly confident of our prospects. Our core team remains the same, so we look forward to another successful run [Chennai are the defending champions].”Captain MS Dhoni also said he is pleased with the team composition, but a lot will depend on players’ fitness, with key players like Doug Bollinger and Dwayne Bravo currently on the injured list. “The new team is very good. But I have always maintained it’s not about how good the team looks on paper, but how we’re doing on the field. If everyone is fit and all 24 players are available for selection, it’s a very good side.”Chennai retained Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel and M Vijay from the first three seasons’ squad and bought back Michael Hussey, Bollinger, R Ashwin and S Badrinath, among others, during January’s auction. New players in the squad include Faf du Plessis, Bravo, Suraj Randiv, Ben Hilfenhaus, Scott Styris and Tim Southee, while the biggest loss remains Muttiah Muralitharan who will play for Kochi this season.”We have Vijay to start off, and Badri, me, Raina, Albie, Du Plessis … Scott Styris is an allrounder. Michael Hussey [who is in Bangladesh with the Australia team] will also be joining us shortly,” Dhoni said. “So I think we have quite a few players who can get runs when it matters. Murali is a great cricketer, a very good influence in the dressing room, with plenty of ideas. We’ll definitely miss him. We’ll also miss Balaji [who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction].”One player they bought at the auction who will not be available is Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, who is out of the tournament with injury, according to the team’s website. Tim Southee, who was added to the team after the auction, following his strong show in the World Cup, will take Hilfenhaus’ spot in the side.Chennai play Kolkata in the opening IPL match on April 8 at home.

England’s “cursed” tour continues with Zak Crawley in line to replace injured opener

George Dobell in Cape Town02-Jan-2020England’s troubled tour of South Africa has taken a further turn for the worse, with the news that Rory Burns has been ruled out for the rest of the trip*. Burns, England’s senior opener, sustained ankle ligament damage during a game of warm-up football before training on Thursday, and is set to return home for treatment at the earliest opportunity.The beneficiary of Burns’ misfortune looks likely to be Zak Crawley. While there might have been a case for promoting Joe Denly to open and retaining Jonny Bairstow, it instead appears England will stick with Denly at No. 3, recall Ollie Pope in place of Bairstow and give Crawley, who batted at No. 6 on debut in Hamilton a few weeks ago but opens for Kent in the County Championship, a chance in his favoured spot.An opening partnership of Crawley and Dom Sibley already sounds like the answer to a quiz question in years to come. But Crawley can bat. While his opportunity may come a year or two before is ideal – he is just 21 and has a modest first-class average of 30.79 – he has played a couple of innings, notably centuries against strong Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire attacks, that really caught the eye. Crucially, he seems to play pace well and has impressed with his equable temperament.ALSO READ: Hosts’ strengths back in spotlight as England start againIt was Ben Stokes, in his Mirror column, who first referred to this as England’s “cursed tour.” And as Burns was carried from the field at Newlands, the day after Jofra Archer was revealed to be suffering from an elbow problem, you could see what Stokes meant.Burns was initially diagnosed only with a twisted left ankle and sent for a scan and X-ray. The manner in which he left the field – in obvious pain and unable to support his own weight – did not augur especially well, however, and it would have been a surprise to see him in the team on Friday morning.England have been coy about the involvement of Archer in the second Test. But, for the second day in succession, he took almost no part in training and must be considered highly unlikely. He, too, has been sent for a scan on his troublesome elbow and, in the circumstances, it would be a surprise if he was risked. As Joe Root put it, “we need to make sure we don’t blow him out for six months.” Mark Wood, who might have been the man to replace him, is not yet fit to do so.For a team 1-0 down in the series to lose their highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker from the previous Test would be a considerable blow. But such has been England’s fortune on this tour – 11 players have been struck down with illness in the last couple of weeks – that it’s getting to the stage where you expect little better. During training the coach, Chris Silverwood – who claimed his only Test five-for here 20 years ago, bowling at a pace (around 95 mph) that would impress even Archer – narrowly missed a collision with a fork-lift truck. He responded with the rolled eyes of a man who isn’t expecting a lottery windfall any time soon.Much of these setbacks have simply been poor fortune. But the Burns incident may well revive calls to abandon football in training. Notably Ashley Giles, the director of England’s men’s teams, has raised doubts about the wisdom of the activity. This episode will do nothing to dissuade him, though it is worth clarifying that Burns was not the victim of a tackle, but instead landed badly after kicking the ball. To some extent, these things happen.But, as Root is wont to say, such setbacks provide opportunities for others. And the plucky young bowler likely to benefit from Archer’s absence is 37-year-old James Anderson. For, odd though it sounds, he was most likely to miss out had Archer been available. His record in South Africa – he has a bowling average of 41.25 here – is notably worse than Stuart Broad’s – 25.16 – and another look at the pitch has rendered it essential to include a spin bowler. It looks flat, slow and dry. It should be full of runs. And the captain that wins the toss should elect to bat.Zak Crawley looks on during training at Newlands•Getty Images

That spinner will almost certainly be Dom Bess. While he was not an original selection for this tour, he was called up as cover for Jack Leach and has impressed sufficiently in the nets to edge ahead of Matt Parkinson in the pecking order. Leach, while back in training, is not considered fit to be considered for selection, while Parkinson, who has few pretensions as a batsman or fielder, is seen by the England management at this stage of his career as much more of a white-ball prospect. Increasingly his selection for this tour is looking puzzling; he was picked for just four first-class games by Lancashire in 2019.It’s an incredible opportunity for Bess. A few months ago, he was so frustrated with his lack of opportunity at Somerset – where his progress has sometimes been blocked by the presence of Leach – that he went on loan to Yorkshire. He only won a recall to the Somerset side when Leach was selected by England. But he is seen as fiercely competitive, unlikely to be intimidated by the occasion – and a full-house crowd at one of the world’s great Test venues really does promise to be quite the occasion – and made scores of 57 and 49 in the two Tests he played at the start of the English summer of 2018. As a result, he will strengthen the tail considerably and is expected to come in at No. 9. He is also an outstanding fielder, as he showed when claiming a superb catch off Anderson in his second Test.The only concerns relate to his bowling. All six of his five-fors in Championship cricket have come on a Taunton ground tailor-made for spin bowling and the concern is, on a flatter surface, he may lack the weapons to counter high-quality batsmen. The England camp feel he has progressed substantially for the time he has spent working with Rangana Herath at a spin camp in Mumabi, but he is yet to have an opportunity to put such learning into practice; he played his last first-class game in September. While Simon Harmer and Leach both claimed five-fors in the game, he claimed 1-34 from 17 overs in Essex’s first innings and 1-8 from seven in the second. If he can, in the first innings, go for under three-an-over and allow his captain to rest and rotate the seamers, his selection can probably be considered a success.But there’s no pretending that any of this is ideal. For reasons that are, in general, beyond the control of the captain and the coach, there is a makeshift look to this team and a chaotic feel to the tour. Cursed? Let’s see how the next week goes.*1930 GMT – This story was updated with news of Burns’ injury

Jade Dernbach knows he won’t be featuring in England’s Test squad early this season, but was delighted to be able to play a part in giving the Sri Lankans a tough warm-up

Andrew McGlashan at Derby20-May-2011Jade Dernbach knows he’s unlikely to be featuring in England’s Test squad early this season, but was delighted to be able to play a part in giving the Sri Lankans a tough warm-up ahead of the series which starts next week in Cardiff. His 5 for 44 helped remove the vistiors for 266 and leave the Lions with the option of enforcing the follow-on in the morning.Having watched the Lions pile up 493 for 8, the Sri Lankan top order then subsided to 97 for 6 before lower-order resistance gave some respectability to their total. However, it will be a concern that the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara only have one more innings before the Test match and Sri Lanka’s problems against a strong pace attack will have been noted.”Anything we can do to hamper their preparations is amazing,” Dernbach said. “So if we can put them on the back foot leading into that first Test that will be job done for us. The boys came out with a real intensity and it was a great effort to bowl them out in under a day.”Dernbach’s figures were boosted by clean-bowling the final two batsmen with consecutive deliveries, leaving him on a hat-trick in the second innings. The earlier job of dismantling the top order was shared with Graham Onions and Ajmal Shahzad who claimed two apiece. Shahzad is the leading contender to be named in the 12-man Test squad on Sunday in place of the injured Tim Bresnan.Much like Eoin Morgan’s 193 which set up the Lions’ strong position, Dernbach’s success is unlikely to mean very much in the short-term planning of the selectors. He is more likely to come into consideration for the one-day internationals following his late World Cup call-up, but is just keen to keep his name firmly in Geoff Miller’s thinking.”I’m just new on the scene so all I can do is put performances together and keep my name there or thereabouts,” he said. “Things are out of my hands but if I can keep performing other things will take care of themselves.”We’ve got four top-quality seams vying for one position so it’s just nice to put yourself on show and to come out with five wickets was great.”

Lockie Ferguson took three wickets on his return from injury ahead of the T20I series

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2019Jonny Bairstow wants to use the T20I series against New Zealand as a route back into Test cricket, after his omission following a lean summer, and he has started the tour with an unbeaten 78 off 45 balls as England XI chased down 173 with 11 balls to spare at Lincoln.After a somewhat ragged and rusty display in the field on a blustery day – which included four dropped catches, three off Pat Brown – England slipped to 51 for 3 in the chase. Lockie Ferguson, returning to action after a broken thumb, removed Tom Banton, who struck his second ball for six, James Vince and Joe Denly to sit with 3 for 8 off two overs.Bairstow and newly promoted vice-captain Sam Billings then steadied things with a stand of 61 with Sam Curran then helping close out the chase with 28 off 15 balls, including the winning six. Ferguson’s figures were damaged when his last over was taken for 21. Captain Eoin Morgan opted to give others a hit as he slid down the order.”I’m on this tour to naturally score as many runs as possible,” said Bairstow. “That’s what’s going to be the key to winning games of cricket.”Selection is gone now. I’ve got some things to work on, I’m working very hard and I’m really enjoying that challenge.”Morgan had opted to bowl with a new-look attack feature Brown and Saqib Mahmood. It was the more experienced Chris Jordan who struck first and then Adil Rashid claimed a wicket with his fourth delivery in his first match since the World Cup final.However, the New Zealand XI put the visitors under pressure with Anton Devcich and Anaru Kitchen striking enterprising half-centuries off 35 and 36 balls respectively as they benefited from England’s poor catching. Having suffered the most with three drops, Brown managed to claim his first wicket off his final delivery when Christian Leopard was caught in the deep.Josh Clarkson gave the innings a strong finish by sending Mahmood, who was guilty of two of the missed chances, for sixes off the last two deliveries.

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West Bromwich Albion are set to travel to Stoke City this weekend after suffering back-to-back defeats against Middlesbrough and Brighton.

What’s the word?

The Baggies are firmly in the race for promotion this season under Darren Moore. They currently sit just seven points adrift of top spot with a game in hand ahead of their trip to the Bet365 Stadium.

Ahead of the fixture, EFL pundit David Prutton has delivered his pre-match prediction and tipped the Baggies to bounce back from their recent defeats with a vital victory, as per Sky Sports.

‘West Brom suffered a bit of a blow against Middlesbrough last week and again in the FA Cup on Wednesday, but Darren Moore is an upbeat boss and his side generally responds pretty well to setbacks.

‘I fancy them to go up to the Potteries and sneak all three points.’

A win away at Stoke would hand them the morale-boosting three points they need to heap pressure onto the Championship pace setters, and his assessment of Moore is telling about their promotion credentials.

Moore’s positive attitude holds key to West Brom’s promotion campaign

With so many clubs vying for just two automatic promotion places it looks like the race could go right down to the wire.

There is very little to separate the teams who have their eyes set on the top-flight right now, but a lack of mettle and bouncebackability could see a handful of clubs falter as the pressure begins to intensify.

As Prutton has alluded to, though, West Brom are a side who seldom allow a setback to tarnish their progress, and the fact they have lost back-to-back league games on just one occasion this season speaks volumes about their consistency.

Moore should be held responsible for that impressive record, as the manager is largely responsible for boosting morale within the dressing room and finding solutions to ensure one defeat does not signal the beginning of a rot.

Barring the defeat against Boro last weekend, Moore has guided his side to four victories in the six games which followed their league defeats this season, so the form guide reads well for the supporters ahead of the Stoke clash.