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Worcestershire duo reach unbeaten fifties in response to Rhodes’ 207, while Charlie Morris claims five-for

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2020Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes scored his maiden double century before Worcestershire openers Daryl Mitchell and Jake Libby launched a powerful response on day two of the Bob Willis Trophy encounter at Blackfinch New Road.Rhodes extended his overnight 142 not out – already a career best – to 207 before he became one of five victims of Worcestershire paceman Charlie Morris. The 25-year-old helped Warwickshire secure three batting points as they reached 355 for 9 declared shortly after lunch.It was an impressive and composed contribution from the former Yorkshire CCC all-rounder who replaced Jeetan Patel as Bears skipper during the winter.Rhodes gave only one chance – on 123 off Mitchell yesterday evening – and received excellent support from England Under-19 player Dan Mousley, who reached, 47, during a fourth wicket stand of 128 in 40 overs.Mitchell would have admired the powers of concentration shown by Rhodes, who batted for more than eight hours, as someone renowned himself for occupying the crease. He demonstrated for the umpteenth time the same sort of qualities in making a half century – his third of the campaign – as he and Libby posted a century partnership in 39 overs.By the close Mitchell had moved onto an unbeaten 85 from 183 balls with 10 fours and Libby 80 not out from 167 deliveries with seven boundaries.Home keeper Ben Cox collected five more catches to take his tally to 22 – the highest in the competition – as Warwickshire lost late wickets in an effort to force the pace in their 120 overs.But on a sluggish, unresponsive pitch, offering little encouragement to the bowlers and described as “turgid” by Warwickshire batsman Sam Hain, it is hard to imagine anything but a draw particularly with an uncertain weather forecast on the horizon.Rhodes, whose previous highest score of 137 was achieved against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston two years ago, reached his 200 with a pull for a single off Ed Barnard 15 minutes before lunch. It was completed from 321 balls and contained 21 fours.Warwickshire, who resumed on 228 for 3, stepped up the tempo today in search of bonus points on a slow pitch.Rhodes brought up the 250 with a pull to the ropes at Worcestershire captain Joe Leach’s expense and then collected 4-2-4-2 off successive deliveries from the same bowler.Mousley was playing only his second first-class match and showed the promise evident when impressing in the winter Under-19s ICC World Cup beforeWorcestershire broke through with two wickets in successive overs.Morris induced an edge from Mousley, who faced 134 balls and hit five fours, through to Cox who then held onto a nick from Michael Burgess in the next over from Ed Barnard.But Worcestershire had to be content with one bowling point as Warwickshire ended on 319 for 5 from 110 overs.New batsman Tim Bresnan made a breezy 17 before pulling Morris into the hands of Libby at deep square leg.Rhodes eventually succumbed to Morris when he nicked through to Cox after going for a big hit down the ground. In total he faced 328 balls and struck 22 boundaries.Morris completed his five-wicket haul when Craig Miles skied a catch to Brett D’Oliveira at mid-wicket shortly before the declaration.When Worcestershire launched their reply, Mitchell and Libby, recruited last winter from Nottinghamshire, continued their recent good form and posted a century stand in 39 overs.Neither batsman was particularly troubled with Mitchell first to a half century off 103 balls with a steer to third man off Oliver Hannon-Dalby for his seventh boundary.Libby followed him to fifty with a single off Ryan Sidebottom – from 122 balls with four fours.

Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed has said that he is fit for the ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe next month

Mohammad Isam29-Oct-2015Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed has said that he is fit for the ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe next month. He bowled in the Bangladesh nets at full pelt, leaving him quietly confident of returning to the senior side for the first time since June 21. Taskin is one of the 18 players in the preliminary squad for the Zimbabwe series starting on November 7.Eleven of the players turned up for training on Thursday since six will travel back to the country from South Africa on Friday as part of the A side and Shakib Al Hasan is expected to arrive from the USA on Saturday evening.Taskin suffered a tear on his left side during Bangladesh’s second ODI against India in June. He recovered and was sent to India with the Bangladesh A squad but after five overs in the first game on September 16, suffered the same injury and returned home from Bangalore the next day.”There aren’t any problems now,” Taskin said. “I bowled with full effort on Wednesday and today so I am hoping there won’t be any problems ahead too. I could bowl with my usual pace. I didn’t complain to the physio. I will be more confident if I can bowl like this in the next couple of days.”I am confident that since I am free of injury and I don’t feel pain while bowling, I will do well if I get an opportunity to play.”He may, however, be chosen for only one of the formats against Zimbabwe, so as to not put pressure on his body, which has been susceptible to major injuries in the past.Taskin felt he had hurried his return from the side injury in June, which caused a relapse in India.”I didn’t recover fully and had put myself under pressure. But now I have worked hard on my rehabilitation in the past five weeks. I have found rhythm in my bowling too.”

Aditya Tare, the Mumbai captain, has dismissed suggestions that his team enters the Ranji Trophy final against Saurashtra as overwhelming favourites

Shashank Kishore23-Feb-2016Cricketers often talk about how pressure changes the equation in a knockout clash. Most times, they want to “keep it simple” and “stick to the basics.” It wasn’t any different ahead of the Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Saurashtra in Pune.The two sides have met 53 times, with Mumbai winning on 26 occasions, while also taking the lead in 22 out of the 26 drawn games. Going by the numbers, one would not be mistaken into believing Mumbai are the overwhelming favourites for this one. But Aditya Tare, the captain, insisted, like mutual fund advisories do, that past performances do not necessarily guarantee same results in the future.”Numbers are stacked in our favour, but the message is simple. We may have beaten them last time, but that was a team that had a few legends of Mumbai cricket,” Tare told ESPNcricinfo. “Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Jaffer and Ajit Agarkar’s combined experience was much more than some of our players. We can only draw inspiration from the past; we can’t really take credit.”Barring three or four of them, no one has really won a Ranji trophy so I don’t think we have the right to carry the tag on us. The teams in the past have won it 40 times; we are still young and we haven’t won it yet so it will be a good challenge for us to do something special this season. Yes, we’re in the final, but we have a lot to do as a team still, so you can’t really judge us at the moment.”One of the things Tare underlined was the importance of driving it into everyone the fact that Mumbai were taking a fresh start after the disappointment two years ago, where they were ousted in the quarter-finals by Maharashtra. Last season, Mumbai were knocked out cold in their opener for the first time ever in Ranji Trophy history by Jammu & Kashmir, and were faced with a threat of relegation halfway into the season.Reports of tiff between a few players and an eventual captaincy shift from Suryakumar Yadav to Tare meant a team in transition was dealt another blow. The final nail last season was hammered by Karnataka when Mumbai slumped to their lowest-ever total – 44 all out – to be blown away inside three days. That prompted an overhaul of sorts, with Chandrakant Pandit taking over from Pravin Amre for his second stint as head coach after leading Mumbai to back-to-back titles, in 2003 and 2004.”I took over captaincy at a difficult time, but the boys backed me throughout,” Tare explained. “It was a challenge back then, but the team has shown tremendous character to bounce back like they did. We ensured the base that we have built with the younger group has been carried forward. We wanted to ensure everyone gets their opportunity. To that extent, the way the younger players have grabbed their chances has been brilliant, we couldn’t have asked for anything better.”Shreyas Iyer is currently on top of the Ranji run-charts, with 1204 runs from 10 matches•K Sivaraman

As part of their rebuilding exercise towards the end of last year’s campaign, the team rejigged their personnel. Balwinder Sandhu, who had last represented Mumbai in November 2013, was called up to complement Shardul Thakur and Dhawal Kulkarni, as was Nikhil Patil, who formed the bedrock of the team’s batting in Abhishek Nayar’s absence due to multiple injuries. Harmeet Singh, who impressed in the Buchi Babu invitational tournament, also seemed to have received second wind.At the top of the order, Wasim Jaffer’s absence for most parts of the season created a void. The side had already tried out three different openers in Kevin Almeida, Bravish Shetty and Sushant Marathe. As a part of the rotating wheel, Herwadkar’s inclusion came about by chance. Herwadkar, the burly left-hander, was in the wilderness after his debut in 2011-12 during which he was a part of the Indian team at two Under-19 World Cups. He returned to the Mumbai fold and immediately made an impression at the top with his solidity.”At the start of the season, we had defined roles to each individual, we wanted to see them flourish in their own space,” Tare explained. “Playing without a worry has helped us evolve as individuals and that has reflected well.”Almost in direct acknowledgment, Herwadkar has delivered, scoring 879 runs and is currently second on Mumbai’s run-charts, only behind Shreyas Iyer. With the ball, Sandhu and Thakur have been steady, if not spectacular, even as the spinners have come into their own. That they have used a pool of just 20 players, the least since they last won the title in 2012-13, points to growing signs of a settled unit.”Mumbai looks different in the five-day format because we have grown into that mentality,” Tare said. “Teams in the past have dominated the longer versions. Our support structure is really good; playing long form cricket from a young age has helped us evolve. Enjoying each other’s success has been a hallmark of our team. There is no bigger sign of a team’s evolution than when you see a young group of players put their hand up and deliver match.”Tare refers to youngsters often that it is convenient to forget he himself is just 28. But the manner in which he has turned around a team that was struggling to stay afloat to one that is gunning for a 41st title has been nothing short of remarkable. Now for them to reclaim silverware.

Combatants decry move towards four-day cricket after thrilling finish at Newlands

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2020If, as the curious saying goes, Test cricket has a habit of biting you on the backside if you disrespect it, then the timing of the Newlands cliffhanger could hardly have been more apposite. A mere days after it emerged that the ICC is considering the introduction of mandatory four-day Test cricket, England and South Africa served up a fifth-day finish to savour, to leave their series all square at 1-1 with two to play.And speaking in the aftermath of an emotional finish – in which England sealed victory with just 8.4 overs left in the final day’s play – both captains Joe Root and Faf du Plessis, as well as the Player of the Match, Ben Stokes, praised the format for its ability to produce such soaring contests, in spite of the numerous threats posed by player workloads, crowded scheduling and finances.”When you have series in which the first few games are results, it makes things very interesting,” said Stokes during the post-match presentations. “And that’s why five-day cricket should always be around.”It’s the best format of the game. And with games like these, it makes cricket just unforgettable. And we will remember this for a long time and I’m sure South Africa will remember it for a long time as well. It will go down as one of the greats.”On the final morning of the match, Cricket South Africa issued a strongly worded rebuttal to a report, in the Daily Mail, stating that the board was not in favour of the move to four-day cricket, and pointed out that they had, in fact, hosted the first official four-day Test match against Zimbabwe in 2017.However, du Plessis made it clear that he was not keen on any reduction in the status of the sport’s oldest format.”I am a fan of Test cricket going five days,” he said. “The great draws of the game go five days. I understand there is a lot of money being burnt on day-five cricket because a lot of Test matches are not going five days. But I am still a purist of the game because I have been part of some great draws and today is no different.ALSO READ: Stokes is a ‘golden nugget’ – Root“There would definitely not have been a result in four days on this pitch,” he added, after England had declared on the fourth afternoon on 391 for 8. “That’s what makes it special, to have Stokes, shattered and still running in and we are trying to survive. That’s what makes the extra day so special.Joe Root oversaw England’s first win in Cape Town since 1957•Getty Images

“Obviously I’m sad that we are on the losing side, but all I’m asking for from a team-mate today is that we fought and fought really hard. And we did that, and over five days. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner and a loser, and credit for England for having just a little bit more in the tank than we had. It was a great Test match, and in big series like these, you want two teams to bash it out for five days, and the next Test will be very exciting.”Root, whose young side showed immense character to bounce back from a dispiriting loss in the series opener at Centurion, added his own support to the five-day formula.”Some people might think there’s a place for [four-day cricket] but you don’t want to miss out on days like today,” he said. “You don’t want to miss out on games like this. This is what makes Test cricket what it is. To go right down to the wire, nearly a full house at Newlands, half of it English support, and what a great finish to a brilliant game of cricket.”

While Imrul Kayes has been told to prepare to bat at one-down against Australia and is happy to perform the role the team wants him to, he admits it’s not the easiest switch to make

Mohammad Isam22-Aug-2017Imrul Kayes has been told to prepare to play at No. 3 in next week’s first Test against Australia, but hasn’t been given any guarantees by the team management. He will continue at one-drop, the position he played in against Sri Lanka in Bangladesh’s last Test in March, though he said the relatively new role will take time to adjust to.”Coach has told me that I will be batting in this position,” Kayes said. “I am preparing for it although it is difficult to adjust to No. 3 after being an opener. I feel lucky to be playing for Bangladesh and while there can be a personal choice in terms of batting position, I also have to understand the team’s needs. I am okay batting in any position really, opening or No. 3.”Kayes will be playing a stop-gap role, replacing regular No. 3 Mominul Haque after he had a poor outing in the first Test in Sri Lanka. Kayes has one century at No. 3, but after that ton in 2014 he has averaged 18.60 in his next five innings at that position. As an opener Kayes has featured in 25 off his 28 Tests, and has formed Bangladesh’s most-prolific opening pair with Tamim Iqbal – their association includes a 312-run stand against Pakistan in 2015.Despite Mominul’s late addition into the 14-man squad after much drama, he is most likely to be spending time on the bench as Kayes pads up. Kayes explained that transferring from the opener to No. 3 is a big deal since openers are used to getting out in the middle and not waiting for their turn to bat.”I become rather excited when I am sitting padded up in the dressing room,” Kayes said. “Tamim won’t be able to do it and even I have trouble doing it. Still, I had to do it [switch batting roles] for the team.”Tackling the new ball can be tricky but there is an advantage. Sometimes the opening batsmen and bowler don’t know much about each other’s strength, but when the No. 3 comes to bat, the bowler [has already settled into a rhythm]. But there are great batsmen who do a fine job at No. 3.”

After historic victory, West Indies coach says he’s “tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games”

Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2021West Indies coach Phil Simmons says he wants his side to keep up the intensity after a win so that it doesn’t become a solitary highlight in the Test series against Bangladesh. West Indies took a 1-0 lead after their historic three-wicket victory in Chattogram, with the second and final Test to be played in Dhaka from Thursday.”I am tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games,” Simmons said. “We need to improve on some things and continue the intensity in our preparation. We have to make sure we don’t go backwards again. We are trying hard to put things in place so that we don’t go in that direction.”West Indies have won just 12 Tests in the last five years, which includes just two Test series wins: 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2018 and 2-1 against England in 2019 – both at home. In as many as six series, they ended up winning only a solitary Test against teams like Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The most recent such occurrence came in England in 2020, where despite taking a 1-0 lead in Southampton, they lost the series 2-1.Related

• West Indies stretch lead despite wobble after Rahkeem Cornwall five-for

• Nkrumah Bonner's 74* leads West Indies' fightback on a slow day

• Kraigg Brathwaite hopes West Indies don't get 'carried away' in Dhaka after Chattogram success

• Mayers' knock brings father Shirley Clarke to tears

• Five reasons WI's Chattogram win is one of their greatest

Simmons, who is in his second spell as West Indies coach, said he was looking forward to seeing a better opening partnership and more consistency from the spinners. “I think one of the areas [of concern] is we haven’t had an opening partnership of note. It would be nice to get a big opening partnership to set up how things go with the other batsmen,” he added.”I don’t think our spinners were as consistent as they can be. They bowled well but there’s room for improvement in our bowling. I think we 90% nailed down how our field placing will be for different batters but we have to be consistent. More than likely, Dhaka is going to spin more than Chattogram.”Simmons said West Indies’ improved self-belief came to the fore during the two critical partnerships in the game. During the first innings, Jermaine Blackwood and Joshua Da Silva put on 99 runs for the sixth wicket that took them past the follow-on mark. The second innings then featured a 216-run stand between debutants Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner, the pair taking West Indies to the doorstep of an unlikely victory while chasing 395.”The main thing is trusting our ability,” Simmons stressed. “I will highlight the partnerships in the first innings between Blackwood and Da Silva. A lot of pressure was put on us in that partnership, and they trusted themselves to come out of it.”In the second innings, there was a lot of pressure on Mayers and Bonner. They also trusted their ability and believed in themselves. It is the biggest takeaway from this [game]. In the time of challenges during the innings, they trusted their ability and fought through it.”Simmons hailed Mayers for his double-century, but also reminded him that come the Dhaka Test, he would have to make a fresh start. “I think the last time [a West Indies batsman made a double-century on debut] was Lawrence Rowe. It is an amazing feat,” he said. “It is all right to do it in the first innings, but to have the temperament in taking us to winning the game made it extra special.”It is in the history books. You don’t start from 210, you start from zero,” Simmons cautioned. “I know people will forget his double-hundred by the time the next Test is finished. You have to start from zero and do everything you did two days before the game. Most cricketers will know to start over. Sometimes we get into this hype when we have done well. Over the next few days, we have to get back down to earth and know that the game starts from zero again.”Simmons also said that Bonner’s 86 was crucial to setting up the West Indies win, but he would have liked to see him get the extra 14 runs.
“I think he played a special innings too. I am disappointed he didn’t get a hundred,” Simmons said. “The way he batted, he deserved one. I am sure that will come if he continues to play this way. The partnership is what matters.”Kyle may have scored a double-hundred but Bonner’s partnership with him is what set things up. The fact that we didn’t lose a wicket in the first two sessions gave us that push. We were the only team that could win the game.”

Out-going England coach questions ‘whether the county game is producing the players we need’

George Dobell18-Sep-2019Trevor Bayliss believes a reduction in the number of first-class counties could help England bridge the “huge gap” between county and international cricket.Victory at The Oval ensured England maintained their unbeaten home series record in Test cricket under Bayliss’ five seasons as head coach, though he will probably be remembered best for coaching the side to their maiden World Cup victory earlier in the year.But in a wide-ranging exit interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bayliss has questioned “whether the county game is producing the players we need” and suggested a reduction in the number of teams from 18 to ten in a bid to improve the quality of competition. He also feels the quality of county pitches must improve if developing players are going to be given the best opportunity to prepare for the higher level.”You have to ask whether the county game is producing the players we need,” Bayliss said. “Is the competition underneath [the England team] doing the job it should be? There’s a huge gap between county and international cricket. Huge.”Again and again, we’ve picked the best players in the county game. And again and again, they’ve found the gap too large to bridge. Our top players come back from county cricket and they’re not complimentary about the standard. They don’t think it helps prepare them for international cricket.”The pitches are soft and damp. So bowlers get far too much assistance and batsmen don’t get into the habit of building long innings. Those same bowlers then come into Test cricket and they find the pitches do almost nothing and the ball won’t swing round corners. And the batsmen find the pace of the Test bowlers a shock.”If you had better pitches – pitches that offered less to bowlers – you might start to see some fast bowlers developing. You might see more spinners developing. You might even see some better slip catchers because I think the big problem in English cricket is concentration. Players have forgotten how to concentrate for long periods of time. They just don’t have to do it at county level.”I’m not criticising groundsmen. They have a tough job, because there’s too much cricket and the Championship starts in early April.”But no one seems to want to get their head down and guts out a score. The attitude seems to be, ‘I’d best get on with it before an impossible ball comes along.’ But maybe that’s partly because society has changed. Everything is quicker now.”The ECB and the counties have to pull in the same direction. There has to be a collaborative approach ensuring that England is at the heart of it. Ultimately, a successful England team, across all formats, will naturally benefit the game at county level and even have a positive impact on grassroots.”I think there are too many teams. If you had fewer – maybe ten – the best players would be in competition against each other more often and the standard would rise. I think you’d see tougher cricketers develop. Cricketers who are better prepared for the Test game.Bayliss also expressed his incredulity over counties offering stints to overseas players who will, later in the same season, use that experience in Test series against England. Marnus Labuschagne, for example, prepared for the Ashes by representing Glamorgan and adapted to conditions so well that he finished the series as Australia’s second-highest run scorer.”I find it incredible that Marnus Labuschagne, Peter Siddle, Cameron Bancroft, James Pattinson and the like are invited over to play county cricket ahead of an Ashes series,” he says. “There’s no way Australia would allow England players to acclimatise in the Shield ahead of an Ashes series. And quite right, too. I think the ECB should have a look at that.Bayliss he suggested there should be more knockout cricket at age-group level to help prepare players for high-intensity moments in the professional game. “Australian cricketers are tough and robust. They come up through a system which prepared them for Test cricket. From age-group cricket into club and Grade cricket, they play semi-finals and finals. So they get used to played knock-out cricket. They get used to playing under pressure. I think England could do with more of that.Read the full interview here

‘You look back at Tommy’s 264 in Wellington, and for him to come out yesterday in the second innings and basically hit reset and do all that hard work again is pretty cool’

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Christchurch28-Dec-2018Two Christchurch boys putting on a 214-run stand on their home ground, in a Boxing Day Test – one learning off the other. This is roughly how Henry Nicholls summed up his fourth-wicket stand with friend Tom Latham, on a third day in which New Zealand took the second Test against Sri Lanka by the collar.Both batsmen made big hundreds; Latham produced 176 to follow his 264 not out in Wellington, while Nicholls hit a career-best 162 not out, two Tests after his most recent ton in Abu Dhabi, a world away.In this innings, Nicholls, who began cautiously against the second new ball before gaining momentum after lunch, said Latham’s discipline had “inspired” him.”It was pretty special to be out there for so long with Tommy,” Nicholls said. “We’re really great mates, we carpool every morning together to the ground, so to be out there and put on however many we did, a couple of hundred, and obviously the way he batted yesterday and continued that on today like he did at the Basin last week gave me a lot of inspiration to try and do the same and put us a team in a position where we’re now in a chance to win the game with a lot of time left.”ALSO READ – The importance of Henry NichollsNicholls batted 225 balls for his score, only twice having faced more balls in his Test career. Latham faced 370 deliveries for his, which takes his series tally to 889 – the third-most balls faced by anyone in a two-Test series.”You look back at Tommy’s 264 in Wellington, and for him to come out yesterday in the second innings and basically hit reset and do all that hard work again is pretty cool.” Nicholls said. “He’s a very resilient guy and is one of the most hard-working guys I know. To see him have the discipline to do that for another 300 balls in this innings, and to be out there batting with him, was pretty special.”Every New Zealand batsman who came to the crease in the second innings was involved in a 50-plus partnership at the very least, with the lowest individual score being Ross Taylor’s 40. Nicholls said the runs that had been scored prior to his arrival made his job that much easier at No. 5.”Guys at the top like Tom, Jeet Raval and Kane Williamson batted for long periods of time and made their bowlers – especially the seam bowlers – come back for more spells. We saw the fatigue factor with that later on. It was important for me and Tom to keep things really simple and know that when they do come back, you’re going to get scoring opportunities.”Immediately before New Zealand’s declaration, Nicholls put on an unbroken 124 off 87 balls with Colin de Grandhomme, who hit New Zealand’s fastest Test fifty, reaching the milestone off 28 balls.”The wicket here has a bit more pace than the one at Wellington and allows you to score quicker at times,” Nicholls said. “For Colin de Grandhomme to come in and show the class and X-factor he has, to really put that total to a big number was great.”

The spin duo shared four wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 88 before Nahida Khan and Javeria Khan steered the visitors home

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2018ACC

Nashra Sandhu and Nida Dar led Pakistan to a series-clinching seven-wicket win in Cox’s Bazar. The spin duo proved too much for Bangladesh, sharing four wickets while giving away just 32 runs in their combined eight overs.Nashra removed Fargana Hoque and Nigar Sultana before Nida took the wickets of Sanjida Islam and Fahima Khatun as Bangladesh stumbled to 81 for 8 in their 20 overs. There were two run-outs as well, and a wicket each for Aiman Anwer and Anam Amin. For the home side, Nigar top-scored with 19 off 29 balls.Pakistan banked on two of their top three batsmen to reach their target in 18.1 overs. Nahida Khan made 33 off 40 balls with three fours while captain Javeria Khan finished unbeaten on 31 off 37 balls. Legspinners Rumana Ahmed and Fahima took a wicket each for Bangladesh.The fourth T20I will be held at the same venue on October 6, before the solitary ODI on October 8.

The former Australia captain believes Bancroft ‘has shown great character’ in coming back from his ball-tampering ban

George Dobell04-Apr-20190:43

Cameron Bancroft as Durham captain? Marcus North explains

Steven Smith has insisted Cameron Bancroft will prove a “good choice” as captain of Durham.News that Bancroft, who like Smith has recently returned from suspension for his role in the Newlands ball-tampering episode, had been appointed ahead of the 2019 county season raised eyebrows in some quarters, with former England fast bowler Darren Gough labelling it “disgraceful.”But Smith feels Bancroft has shown “great character” in the manner he has returned to the game and will prove an astute choice for the role.”Cam is a good choice for captain,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders and has shown great character in the way he has come back after his time out.”It has been a tough time for him no doubt, but he’s a good guy who will do his best for Durham and will lead them well. He gets the game pretty well and has a good understanding of strategy and players.”He’s found a bit of form with the bat and will be able to use his experience in a positive way.”While Bancroft’s role in the ball tampering episode appeared to be the source of Gough’s displeasure, there is also some unquiet within the English game at the number of Australians gaining experience in county cricket ahead of the Ashes series.Around 10 Australian players – not all of them realistic Ashes candidates – are likely to appear in County Championship cricket in the coming weeks which will only serve to reignite the debate over whether counties should be slightly less obliging to England’s overseas opponents in such circumstances. In Durham’s case, however, their director of cricket is the former Australia allrounder, Marcus North, who played with Bancroft at Western Australia.”He is good mates with Marcus North from WA and he will know what Cam is all about,” Smith, who seemed bemused about recent reports suggesting he could play county cricket this year, said. “They will work well together to get the best out of the team.”It is obviously a shame that he is missing the first game with a prior commitment to WA, but I’m sure he is itching to get out there and show what he can do and give his best. County cricket is a great environment and Cam will make the most of his chance I’m sure to show what it means to him.”While Smith’s recommendation of Bancroft is hardly surprising, he also had warm words for Rajasthan Royals team-mate Ben Stokes. While the relationship between England and Australia players had appeared to have soured by the time the last Ashes series ended, recent days have seen David Warner and Jonny Bairstow form an effective opening partnership for Sunrisers Hyderabad and now Smith and Stokes gelling well at the Royals. That has fuelled hopes the forthcoming Ashes series might be played in somewhat better spirit than the last.”He’s a great guy to have on your side,” Smith said of Stokes. “He has amazing energy – he does everything at 100 miles an hour – and his fitness is fantastic. He’s always in the game, whether with the bat, the ball or in the field, and he’s the sort of guy who can lift a dressing room.”Smith and Warner are expected to be named in Australia’s World Cup squad later this month which would mark their international returns following the year-long bans. They both underwent elbow surgery earlier this year and are using the IPL as a stepping stone to the World Cup. Warner has been in outstanding form with 264 runs in his first four matches while Smith has been more subdued with 86 runs in three innings.