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The Titans beat the Lions by 45 runs to win the MiWay T20 challenge final at the Wanderers on Sunday to mark the end of South Africa’s domestic season

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers01-Apr-2012
ScorecardThe Titans beat the Lions by 45 runs to win the MiWay T20 challenge final at the Wanderers on Sunday to mark the end of South Africa’s domestic season. Both teams qualify for the Champions League T20 in September.Fad du Plessis spun the Titans to victory with a return of 4 for 24 after his team posted an imposing 187 for 6, batting on the same pitch that was used for the Twenty20 between South Africa and India on Friday night. The Titans had the advantage from the get-go when Lions’ international signing Dirk Nannes was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury. Ethan O’Reilly replaced Nannes and battled with his lengths throughout, conceding 45 runs in his three overs.Henry Davids and Heino Kuhn started aggressively, blasting 42 off the first 20 balls, before Davids was bowled off the pad by Chris Morris. Kuhn was caught behind in the next over and Roelof van der Merwe holed out to deep midwicket two overs after that, off the bowling of Aaron Phangiso.The left-arm spinner was the Lions’ only economical bowler, giving away just 14 runs in four-over spell. Dwaine Pretoris chipped in with the wicket of du Plessis, who Pretorius dropped the ball before the South African middle-order batsman pulled to Morris in the deep. The wickets allowed the Lions to pull things back and they had the Titans cornered at 115 for 5 after 15 overs.Farhaan Behardien shared in two sizeable partnerships to ensure the score soared. He put on 42 runs for the sixth wicket with Albie Morkel and 33 for the seventh, in 14 balls. The Titans blasted 72 runs off the last five overs, in which the Lions dropped Behardien once and had him caught off a no-ball from Pakistan international Sohail Tanvir.The Lions made an already tough task even more difficult as they collapsed to 24 for 3 after three overs. Jonathan Vandiar was caught at third man off the second ball of the innings and Alviro Petersen and Quinton de Kock were both victims of Albie Morkel in the same over.Neil McKenzie and Jean Symes put the Lions back on track with a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket, the biggest of the match. Then, the dominoes began to fall. Symes was bowled by a du Plessis googly that kept low and Pretorius went the same way, in the same over. When Neil McKenzie was bowled, by Roelof van der Merwe in the next over, the Lions’ fate had been decided. du Plessis added the scalps of Morris and Thami Tsolekile to his haul to finish as the second highest wicket-taker for the Titans in the competition.The Titans have enjoyed their most successful summer in three seasons. They also won this season’s first-class competition, the SuperSport Series, under new coach Matthew Maynard. The Titans will now compete in their first Champions League. They were due to play in the 2008 version which was cancelled after terror attacks in Mumbai.The Lions defeat extends their trophy drought to six years. The last cup they won was in 2006, when they beat the Cobras in the final of the domestic twenty-over competition. They have had some recent success though and qualified for the Champions League T20 two seasons ago, when they lost to the Warriors in the final.

Luke Pomersbach, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman who was detained by police for allegedly assaulting a US national and her fiancé, has been granted bail

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2012Luke Pomersbach, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman who was detained by police for allegedly assaulting a US national and her fiancé, has been granted bail by a Delhi court. Pomersbach, however, has had to surrender his passport and deposit a surety of Rs 30,000 (approximately $550).The case was filed on Friday by a US national, who alleged that Pomersbach assaulted her and her fiancé in their room at the team hotel on Thursday night after the match against Delhi Daredevils. Pomersbach was produced in a Delhi court the same day, when he was granted interim bail. He has also been suspended by the IPL franchise for the rest of this tournament.Bail was granted as the hotel CCTV cameras could not establish trespass. The Delhi Police have submitted in court footage from the CCTV and a medical report regarding the nature of injury caused to the woman and her fiancé.”Obviously, I am very relieved after what happened in the court today,” Pomersbach said. “I am happy with the support I have got from my family and girlfriend back home and the RCB. I am looking forward to get to the bottom of the investigation.”

James Cameron’s terrific half-century helped Worcestershire to their second win in this year’s Friends Life t20 with a 14-run victory over Northamptonshire .

23-Jun-2012
ScorecardCameron White’s IPL experience nearly got Northants over the line at New Rd•AFP

James Cameron’s terrific half-century helped Worcestershire to their second win in this year’s Friends Life t20 with a 14-run victory over Northamptonshire.Zimbabwean Cameron hammered 57 off 39 balls – his highest T20 score – as Worcestershire posted 142 for 5 from their 20 overs with Chaminda Vaas and Oliver Stone each taking two wickets. And despite a superb 62 not out off 42 balls by Australia international Cameron White, Northants fell short of their target as they closed on 128 for 5 to remain winless in the competition.Worcestershire won the toss and chose to bat but they lost Vikram Solanki for 8 in the second over when Stone’s delivery crashed into his leg stump. Mooen Ali was next to fall on 14 when Alex Wakely took a sharp catch at extra cover off the bowling of James Middlebrook.Cameron then completed an explosive half-century off 31 balls and Australia batsman Phil Hughes joined him on 50 off 47 deliveries as the third-wicket pair piled on 101 between them. But they departed in consecutive balls in the penultimate over when Cameron launched Vaas to Cameron White at long off before Hughes edged to Stone at short third man on 52.Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell then smashed Stone to Rob Keogh at deep square leg in the final over as the visitors gave the visitors a target of 143.The hosts lost Vaas for 9 in the fourth over when he was bowled by ex-Northants man David Lucas and their captain Alex Wakely departed cheaply by blasting Gareth Andrew to Alexei Kervezee at deep midwicket.Scotland international Kyle Coetzer went for 33 when was easily taken by Ali at long on off the bowling of Mitchell as the required run-rate crept up. Mitchell struck again when Rob White, on 4, chipped him to Netherlands international Kervezee at midwicket.James Middlebrook went for the same score when he was caught by Cameron at long on off Jack Shantry before Cameron White completed his half-century off 37 balls. But it was not enough as Northants fell to their fourth straight defeat. Their quarter-final hopes now look very slim.

The payments issue of the BPL has been stirred once again with Ian Pont, the Dhaka Gladiators coach, claiming he has not received half the money due to him

Mohammad Isam23-Jul-2012The payments issue of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has been stirred once again with Ian Pont, the Dhaka Gladiators coach during the inaugural season, claiming he has not received half the money due to him. Pont’s allegation came two days after the six franchises missed the latest deadline – July 21 – to complete all payments.”I am personally missing 50% of my contracted amount and others are still awaiting re-imbursement of flights, expenses and original fees,” Pont wrote in an email. “Pieces of paper kept being produced showing bank transfers by the franchise, but they never took place. Players and staff have been given a whole host of excuses. Deadlines and promises remain broken.”The franchise, run by the Chowdhury family, has just stopped communicating. It’s not only very sad but totally unprofessional to run a business this way in my view.”However, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, the BPL governing council chairman, said that Pont had received his payment in full, though he wasn’t aware of any other clauses in his contract.”As far as I know, he [Pont] was the highest paid coach in the tournament and already got the full payment of $20,000,” Ashraf said. “I don’t know if there was a promise of any additional amount in the contract. If such a thing exists, I will still say that our priorities are player payments and tax issues. We will look into his claim afterwards.”In response, Pont wrote another e-mail: “I don’t really wish to talk about specific sums as they are and should be private. I can confirm that I have received half the amount stated in my contract. I don’t get the obsession with the amounts. If someone is owed a dollar, they are owed money.”Pont also claimed some Dhaka Gladiators’ players were willing to boycott their semi-final against Khulna Royal Bengals because they were not being paid. “The overseas players came to me and we had an emergency meeting where it was felt that boycotting the semi-final was a genuine option,” he said. “So much money was missing that the guys didn’t know what else they could try. But the players did not want to let the BPL down or the fans, which was the right thing to do.”I am amazed we remained focused enough to win the whole competition and it’s a testament to the players – overseas and local – when the only talk was about payments. It was hard to concentrate on the cricket with such an enormous distraction. After all, this is not simply a game for the players and staff, but it is their living.”Pont said he’d like to work in the BPL again but would quit the Dhaka franchise. “I anticipate returning to hopefully win the BPL again. It just won’t be with the Shihab Trading Company’s franchise. The fact is you cannot have players worrying if they are going to get their money. It just sends the wrong message.”Ashraf was disappointed with the irregular payments after the franchises missed yet another deadline. “We are a little frustrated with the payment issue. It would be nice for us if we could finish the inaugural tournament without any controversies, but still we have five months in hand before the next event to solve all the issues.”We have got verbal assurance from some franchises. Actually most of the franchises are now focusing on the revenue issue. You know a huge financial deal was involved in the event, so it’s not unlikely that they face some setback. I think we are in a learning process which will help us to arrange the next edition smoothly.”When asked whether the BPL would take tough action against a franchise that failed to settle the issue, Ashraf said: “The governing council will review all the things before taking any action. We hope the franchises can understand everything, so we are not in hurry.”

Durham’s Phil Mustard blasted 143 from just 91 balls as Durham crushed Surrey by 142 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street

12-Aug-2012
ScorecardDurham’s Phil Mustard blasted 143 from just 91 balls as Durham crushed Surrey by 142 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street.After being overtaken by Hampshire at the top of Group B the previous evening, Surrey’s hopes of a quick return to the summit were snuffed out. Durham were on course to beat their record 40-over total of 325, set against the same opponents at the Oval last year, until Mustard was out with the total on 271.The remaining six overs brought only 27 runs for the loss of five more wickets and Durham finished on 298 for 9. If Surrey thought they had clawed their way back into the game they quickly shot themselves in the foot as both openers departed carelessly with the score on 10.Jason Roy revived them with 43 off 24 balls, but the visitors were all out for 156 in 29.1 overs, completing an unhappy week in the north-east following their innings defeat in the LV= County Championship.Mustard led a charmed life early in his innings. On 1 he went down the pitch to Matthew Spriegel and edged the ball just out of Steve Davies’ reach and on two he survived a very confident lbw appeal from Jade Dernbach.The same bowler put down a simple return catch with Mustard on 16 and the left-hander went on to hit seven sixes. When Durham chose to bat Mark Stoneman initially dominated the strike, cutting, driving and pulling Dernbach for three fours in the fourth over on his way to 50 off 50 balls with seven fours.The stand was worth 87 when he skied a return catch to Zander de Bruyn, who cleaned up at the end of the innings to finish with five for 46. Mustard’s first six, over long-on off Gareth Batty, took him to 49 and he reached 50 off 45 balls before accelerating to 100 off 74.He put on 118 in 14 overs for the second wicket with Ben Stokes, who made 45 before he was stumped off a leg-side wide by Murali Kartik. Mustard, whose previous one-day best was 139 not out at Northampton last year, hit three sixes on his way from 121 to 142 before he was out in the 34th over, skying a catch to point.At the start of Surrey’s reply Rory Hamilton-Brown slashed at a short ball from Mitch Claydon and edged to slip then Davies shaped to pull Chris Rushworth and lobbed a catch to mid-on.Roy and Gary Wilson put on 68 but after Roy hit three successive fours in Mark Wood’s first over the young seamer picked up three wickets. When Roy went for a big hit and skied a catch to Mustard it effectively signalled the end of Surrey’s challenge.

Harbhajan Singh took five wickets as Essex avenged their CB40 defeat against the Netherlands earlier in the season with a comfortable victory in their Group A tie at Colchester.

19-Aug-2012
ScorecardHarbhajan Singh took five wickets as Essex avenged their CB40 defeat against the Netherlands earlier in the season with a comfortable victory in their Group A tie at Colchester.Ravi Bopara’s return to action following a month’s absence for personal reasons lasted just 11 balls from which he gathered only a single. Bopara had missed England’s second Test with South Africa at Headingley and also pulled out of a an England Lions fixture.A loose stroke outside the off stump against Mudassar Bukhari ended with wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi taking a fine diving catch to send him back to the pavilion. Bopara later found consolation with three wickets.In contrast, half-centuries at better than a run a ball from Tom Westley, Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster lifted Essex to a total of 314 for 8, their highest total in 40-over cricket. Netherlands could only respond with 197 all outWestley smashed nine fours and a six while making 59 from 40 balls as he opened the innings, before being dismissed when he offered a return catch to the first delivery sent down by left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar.Ten Doeschate made 52 from 46 balls with the help of three fours and a six before he also fell to Seelaar, this time leg before.Foster upped the tempo with 79 from only 48 deliveries before departing in the last over of the innings when bowled by Logan van Beek.Faced with their huge task, Holland did manage to get off to a fine start and the first 50 was raised in the sixth over thanks to Stephan Myburgh whose quickfire 33 included three sixes before he was caught in the deep attacking off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.That was followed by a partnership of 69 in a dozen overs between Michael Swart and Tom Cooper before the latter also became a victim of Harbhajan, trapped lbw for 35 reverse sweeping to give the bowler his second wicket.Swart’s commendable effort came to an end shortly afterwards. Immediately after completing his half-century from 51 balls, he departed lbw to Bopara and following his dismissal, the visitors never threatened to find the acceleration needed to pose any sort of threat.

Four wickets in five overs at the end of a keenly contested day almost put hopes of a surprise Somerset victory to bed

David Hopps at Hove06-Sep-2012
ScorecardMurray Goodwin received warm applause for what is likely to be his last innings at Hove•Getty Images

Somerset have finished second so often that Brian Rose resigned as director of cricket this week by mutual consent, in the belief that a fresh approach is needed at first-team level, but for a few fleeting moments they must have fondly imagined they could yet pull off an improbable runners-up finish in the Championship as a powerful testimony to the quality he has assembled during his eight years in charge.Four wickets in five overs at the end of a keenly contested day almost put those hopes to bed. Ah well. “This is for you, Brian, another runners-up gong,” might not have been the most subtle parting speech. But Somerset have made substantial progress under Rose’s leadership, developing young players, playing attractive cricket and furthering the sense of pride that is never far beneath the surface in Somerset cricket.To steal that second place from Sussex, Somerset would first have to chase down a target of 396 to win here. When Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah assembled 147 in 43 overs without too many alarms, there was definitely a game on. The excellent Steve Magoffin had been repelled and Chris Nash, the potential partnership breaker, had come close but ultimately broken nothing other than the faith of the Sussex members. “Silly season,” muttered one as the ball disappeared to the boundary.If Somerset could have survived unscathed until the close, the final day would have been evenly balanced. They were half-an-hour away from doing just that. Warwickshire had been confirmed as champions and perhaps a collective gloom would have descended as a result over the south coast. But then Sussex’s players would share more than £150,000 for finishing second so perhaps not.Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah fell on the same score, Trescothick dragging on as he envisaged clumping Monty Panesar over long-on and Suppiah caught by Matt Prior, a rebound off his chest at first slip off Magoffin, seven balls later.Magoffin, a rangy Queenslander of immense reliability, began with five successive maidens up the slope before having a rare outing downhill in an attempt to change his luck. It came off, first Suppiah then Chris Jones, bowled for a single, and the nightwatchman, Steve Kirby, softened up with a blow on the helmet and then caught at short leg. By the close he had 3 for 15 in 14 overs. He concedes runs in Division One at 2.30 per over; few can match such economy.Somerset fought with commendable spirit before lunch to keep their target of 396 down to such proportions. Assumptions had been that Sussex would grind towards a tea declaration but the Great Alfonso came to the fore, Thomas taking 4 for 7 in 28 balls (two with the old ball, two with the new) and Sussex’s last eight wickets were spirited away for 78 in 29 overs.There was no farewell hundred for Murray Goodwin, although he did fashion his best Championship score of a meagre season, 78 from 187 balls, before Thomas had him caught at the wicket. His Sussex career finishes with 14,573 first-class runs at 49.23 with 48 centuries.Sussex have retired Goodwin’s No. 3 shirt as a mark of respect to “a great cricketer and a fantastic team man”. But whether they have retired Goodwin is another thing. Another county might yet come looking. He certainly wants them to. He is even clinging to the “slim chance” that Sussex might change their mind. He said only found out on Sunday that his contract would not be renewed after indications six weeks earlier that he would be retained. As for the collapse in form that has caused his release, he blamed the abysmal English weather.”Not many batsmen have made runs this year,” he said. “I started with a broken wrist and then there were light issues and wet wickets. When you are on and off the field all the time, it plays with your preparation, your mindset and your rhythm. I have struggled with the weather, maybe more than most. But I still think I have more to offer the county game.”If he had to leave Sussex, and he has no wish to, this was not far short of how he might have imagined it: another glorious late summer’s day, a standing ovation from a decent, appreciative crowd and his young sons, Jaydon and Ashton, dashing to greet him as he crossed the boundary rope. Sussex even flew his parents over from Australia for the occasion.”I had been doing some fielding and I came off the field and saw them there,” he said. “It was a nice touch although I was hoping it would happen next year when they could also come over for the Ashes,” he said. Jaydon, 10, is already playing Sussex age group cricket and his father remarked with a grimace: “Jaydon has been giving me stick that he has more hundreds this season than I have.”Goodwin was treated to a gracious lunchtime speech in his honour and, even more impressively, it didn’t go on as long as the rival speeches blaring out of a marquee adjacent to the media centre. Corporate support is necessary for the survival of the county game, and it was all for an excellent good cause apparently, but by the time the auctioneer began to boom “Going… going… gone,” there could barely have been a soul within earshot who did not mutter, “Oh I do wish you were.”Not many at Hove have ever said that about Murray Goodwin.

Michael Hussey, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting and Ben Hilfenhaus will be among the beneficiaries in Australia’s Test team after the decision to move two Sheffield Shield fixtures forward by a day

Daniel Brettig22-Oct-2012Michael Hussey, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting and Ben Hilfenhaus will be among the beneficiaries in Australia’s Test team after the decision to move two Sheffield Shield fixtures forward by a day to allow extra time to prepare for the start of the South Africa series.The elimination of the Perth Scorchers from the Twenty20 Champions League allowed Victoria’s match against Western Australia at the MCG to be shuffled forward from November 2 to November 1, while Tasmania’s Bellerive encounter with South Australia had already been slated to make the same move. A domestic limited overs match between the teams has also moved, to Tuesday, October 30.Siddle and Pattinson will turn out for Victoria, while Hussey is expected to be named for the Warriors, having already returned home from the CLT20 for personal reasons. Chennai’s early exit also means Ben Hilfenhaus will be available to join Ponting in the Tasmania side to face the Redbacks – an important outing for the swing bowler given it will be his first non-T20 match since the West Indies Test tour in April.The only match of the last Shield round before the first Test at the Gabba not to be moved is Queensland’s match against New South Wales at Allan Border Field. This game might also have been shifted had the Sydney Sixers been eliminated from the CLT20, but their progress has prevented such a change.Nevertheless, the NSW and Queensland selectors will be able to nominate replacement players for the final day of the game, and the players’ presence in Brisbane prevents the need for any travel time between the end of the Shield game and the start of Test training at the Gabba. The first Test squad will be announced in advance of this round of matches.Pat Howard, the Cricket Australia team performance manager, had flagged these changes last week in explaining how the team performance hierarchy was doing all it could to prepare players for the Tests while still having the squad assembled in Brisbane on the Monday of Test match week.”Results at the Champions League Twenty20 have enabled us to move these matches and while we would’ve liked to move the match between Queensland and NSW as well, that hasn’t been possible due to the Sydney Sixers’ good performances,” Howard said.”Any player playing in that Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and NSW who is selected in the first Test squad will leave on Sunday and the state will be permitted a replacement player. NSW and Queensland will obviously know how this may affect their selection once the squad for the first Test is announced later this month.”These changes have been adapted to give those players selected in the squad for the first Test the best preparation we can.”An Australia A fixture has also been scheduled for November 2-4 in Sydney against the South Africa tourists, with some members of the Test squad likely to be chosen for this match. The opening batsmen Ed Cowan and David Warner may be among those considered.

Alastair Cook admitted he wished that England had been confronted with more spin bowling as they completed their warm-up games ahead of the first Test of the series against India

George Dobell in Ahmedabad11-Nov-2012Alastair Cook admitted he wished that England had been confronted with more spin bowling as they completed their warm-up games ahead of the first Test of the series against India. While England’s captain declared himself satisfied with his team’s preparations, he did suggest that “a message” had been conveyed to the opposition to ensure the tourists were denied meaningful exposure to spin bowling ahead of the series.A draw against Haryana meant England had drawn all three of their warm-up matches. But, although every batsman in England’s top-order has enjoyed a lengthy innings at some stage, Cook knows that such success may prove deceptive. Some of the opposition has been surprisingly modest.The absence of spin has been particularly noticeable. Fewer than 11% of the overs bowled against England in the second innings of the three matches has come from spinners and, arguably, none of it has come from what might be described as a quality spinner. It was typical that, in England’s second innings against Haryana Amit Misha, the legspinner who has played 13 Tests for India, did not deliver a single ball. It means that England, with a less than illustrious record against top-quality spin bowling in recent times, will go into a series in which spin is expected to play a major role, having had very little meaningful practise against it.”Clearly we can’t control the standard of the opposition,” Cook said. “We would have liked to have faced more spin in the matches but that hasn’t happened. If anyone has been watching our training sessions while these games have been going on, we’ve had some good spinners bowling to us in the nets. We’d rather them in the middle but they’ve been turning out there and all the lads have been putting in some really good practice.”I don’t know who it has come from but clearly there’s been a message of some sort. Obviously we’ve had Amit Mishra missing here. I don’t know if he was injured or not but he didn’t bowl that many overs, so clearly there’s been a message of some kind.”England could have tried to force the win against Haryana. Not only did they decline to enforce the follow-on, but they agreed to an early finish when they had a minimum of 10 more overs to take only four more wickets. Instead, though, Cook opted to rest his bowlers in case they were required on Thursday.”Clearly we would have liked to have won a game but sometimes common sense has to be used,” he said. “There’s no point busting a gut today on a very flat wicket with a Test match just around the corner and with [the condition of] our fast bowlers at the moment, especially with a few injury concerns as well.”Cook’s caution was understandable. While Steven Finn and Stuart Broad both returned to bowling in practice, there are still question marks over the availability of both of them. Cook is adamant that they will not be selected if there are any doubts over their fitness. Indeed, the fact that there are doubts over both of them renders the decision even more tricky for England.”It’s great to see them back bowling,” Cook said. “The next few days are vital for them and we must go into that game with a fully fit attack. They have to be 100%. You’ve seen how hot it is out here and how flat the wickets are. They won’t be in the ideal state, the preparation period hasn’t quite gone right with those two not playing and getting overs under their belts. We’re going to have to see over the next few days and make a decision on that, but clearly we’ve got to be very careful. In an ideal world, they’d certainly have liked to have more match bowling.”But what we do know is that they’re quality performers. Stuart, especially, has got a lot of experience. He knows what he’s doing and he knows when his body is right. We’re going to have to assess these guys over the next 24 hours and then make a decision. As a captain, you’d want them to have more match practice but they are world-class bowlers. It would be great if they were fully fit and had some overs under their belt but they haven’t.”The performance of Tim Bresnan in Haryana’s second innings may have made England’s decision a little easier. Bresnan bowled with good control, decent pace and, along with Stuart Meaker, gained enough reverse swing to trouble all the batsmen. His 2 for 13 took his tally to nine wickets in two tour matches.”In the last session, with the reversing ball, all three of them – Bresnan, Graham Onions and Meaker – showed good control, which is encouraging,” Cook said. “We’ve got six bowlers out here fully fit and on a tough tour like this I’m sure we’re going to need that. Tim Bresnan has been an integral part of our attack for last couple of years and he’s certainly done himself no harm in this game.”Cook was also encouraged by the news that Graeme Swann returning to India having flown back to the UK due to a family illness. “All the reports have been good and he is coming back on Monday. That’s fantastic for us and it’s fantastic that all’s well at home as well. He’s an experienced campaigner and he knows what’s he doing. I have no doubts or concerns about Swanny.”

Jonny Bairstow will miss England’s ODI tour of India in January due to a family illness. Joe Root will replace him in the squad.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2012Jonny Bairstow will miss England’s ODI tour of India in January due to a family illness. Joe Root, who made his England debut in the fourth Test in Nagpur, will replace him in the squad.Bairstow was in England’s Test and T20 squads before Christmas but flew home before the second T20 on compassionate leave.He will now remain at home with his family but is expected to join the England one-day squad for the T20 and ODI series against New Zealand in February.Bairstow played the latest of his five Tests in Mumbai but was replaced by Ian Bell who returned from paternity leave to play the third Test. He didn’t play again on the tour having been left out of the opening T20 after which he returned home.Bairstow made an immediate impression on international cricket with a matchwinning 41 not out on debut against India in Cardiff in September 2011. But he has only scored another 78 runs in six matches since – five of them against India in October 2011.His replacement Root is another talented young Yorkshireman. He was a surprise pick to make his Test debut in the fourth Test in Nagpur but played with confidence for 73 in the first-innings and closed out the draw with a brief unbeaten knock in the second innings. He then made his T20 debut in Mumbai. Root is yet to play an ODI but has scored 748 List A runs at 34.00.Root joins a squad that includes Kevin Pietersen for the first time since England swept Pakistan 4-0 in the UAE in February. England will have to decide on a return to the opening partnership of Pietersen and captain Alastair Cook that averaged 84.50 against Pakistan with two centuries each or remain with Bell who was given a second life in the ODI side when he replaced Pietersen against West Indies and averaged 54.90 throughout the summer.With no Jonathan Trott in the squad, either Pietersen or Bell will bat at No. 3 with Eoin Morgan at No. 4. Root could be picked to make his debut at No. 5 if England decide against playing both Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler – both played the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Dubai, Buttler’s only ODI appearance, but with his good showing in recent T20s and Kieswetter’s failure to make a half-century in 2012, Buttler could be asked to keep wicket, paving the way for Root to be selected.