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Uday Shankar, the CEO of the Star Group that bagged the broadcast rights for Indian cricket for 2012 to 2018 for approximately $750 million, speaks to ESPNcricinfo

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Apr-2012Uday Shankar, CEO, Star Group: ‘Our confidence comes from the popularity of cricket [in India].’•Associated Press

How big a deal is this for Star TV?
Indian cricket is the biggest property in the game. The frequency and consistency of the BCCI’s calendar is its biggest strength. It is a very important investment.Star TV does not have an exclusive sports channel. Where will Star telecast the matches?

The decision is that we will exploit [the rights] or we will broadcast in collaboration with ESPN STAR Sports* [ESS].The BCCI has always controlled production. Will the board continue to produce international matches?
Yes, the board will continue to produce matches. That does not mean it will hinder our approach. Somebody has to produce the cricket. It is a question of working along with them and I do not see any issues arising out of this. As for the question of allowing the BCCI to have an authority to appoint commentators, I cannot answer that at the moment. We have just made the deal. In any case, we will be taking such decisions in collaboration with ESPN STAR Sports, who are a lot more experienced in this regard.You are paying 40-odd crore per match. The bid almost defies the market situation currently. What did you have in mind when you worked out the figure?
Given the viewership that cricket has in this country we feel that the value that we have attributed to it [each match] justifies itself. Our confidence comes from the popularity of cricket. And we think as the reach of media grows in this country, the penetration and popularity will automatically grow.You also have to recover the money and in the recent past we have seen how Nimbus struggled to pay the BCCI its dues on time for various home series…
What Nimbus did or did not do is not something for us to talk about. Star is the most robust and the most dynamic media company in this country. We have a bigger reach than any other media company. We could not have built up that reach if I had not satisfied our viewers over a long period of time.Excessive intrusion of advertisements has been a major irritant for viewers in the past. How will you ensure it will not happen?
There are very clear norms for advertising in cricket, which the Indian board has laid out. Naturally, the rights holders have to follow the norms. We at Star and ESS are very, very particular about ensuring that the viewing experience is not compromised.*ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.), the parent company of ESPNcricinfo, and News Corporation Limited (STAR)

Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has said that his team will target Australia’s new captain, Michael Clarke, during the three-ODI series, which begins on April 9 in Dhaka

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2011Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has said that his team will target Australia’s new captain, Michael Clarke, during the three-ODI series, which begins on April 9 in Dhaka. The Australian team left for Bangladesh today and they will play a warm-up game on April 7 before the series begins.”Every team targets the captain and we will be wanting to get rid of him [Clarke],” Siddons told the . ”If we get to him, it means we will have got through the openers and [Ricky] Ponting, and we’ll be happy to have a crack at him. Obviously if you cut off the head the rest will fall. That’s the theme – to take the captain out.”Bangladesh will focus on stalling Australia with their spinners, and Siddons was hopeful that the left-arm options at his disposal, and the captain Shakib Al Hasan in particular, would play a crucial role in the series.”He [Shakib] doubts himself very little against the best players in the world and he is probably the best left-arm spinner I’ve seen. He and [Daniel] Vettori are very close. [Shakib] spins the ball a lot more and as far as street-smarts go, he is the same as Vettori, I reckon.”I’ve got a long memory so I remember all these things from when I was on tour with the [Australian] boys. We just think we can hold them up a bit with our left-arm spinners and make some inroads into their batting order.”Bangladesh had a disappointing World Cup: they were eliminated from Group B after winning only three league matches, though one of those victories was against England. Siddons’ contract as Bangladesh coach is up for renewal in June but in the event it is not renewed he said he would accept a position at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence.

Mark Cosgrove has missed out on a contract with South Australia to end an eventful eight years with the state

Cricinfo staff13-Apr-2010Mark Cosgrove, who played for Australia in 2006, has missed out on a contract with South Australia to end an eventful eight years with the state. A gifted left-hander, Cosgrove has often struggled with the demands of first-class cricket, with his weight and fitness analysed as closely as his batting average.While still only 25, Cosgrove has been over-looked because Jamie Cox, the state’s director of cricket, said he had not fulfilled his potential. “Mark has made a valuable contribution to South Australian cricket over many years, and I certainly hope there are other opportunities out there for him,” Cox said. “We have worked hard with him during this time, but the unfortunate reality is that we were unable to help him fulfil his full potential.”The decision comes after Cosgrove scored 511 first-class runs in 2009-10, including two hundreds, and also averaged more than 40 in the one-day competition. He contributed as South Australia progressed to the Twenty20 domestic final, but will not be part of the squad for the lucrative Champions League later in the year. The good news for Cosgrove, who appeared in three ODIs in 2006, is he has interest from two other states.

Jamie Overton injury offers route to recall for 35-year-old allrounder, with Hartley also set for inclusion

Vithushan Ehantharajah and Matt Roller29-Apr-2024Chris Jordan is set for an England recall as part of their provisional T20 World Cup squad, which will be announced on Tuesday.Jordan earned the last of 88 T20I caps at the end of the 2023 summer against New Zealand, and missed the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December. However, with Jamie Overton ruled out through injury, Jordan is the beneficiary as a bowler capable of valuable cameos with the bat lower down the order.ESPNcricinfo understands that Jordan’s recall is expected to spell bad news for Chris Woakes, who is yet to feature for Punjab Kings at the IPL this season. Ben Duckett has also made the cut as England’s spare batter – and a rare left-hander – while the uncapped Tom Hartley is expected to edge Rehan Ahmed out as the second frontline spinner, behind Adil Rashid.Jordan brings a wealth of experience, with five previous World Cups under his belt and two seasons as Surrey’s T20 captain. The 35-year-old played two matches in England’s successful 2022 campaign, which was his fourth global T20 tournament. Though he is likely to feature sparingly in the Caribbean, he remains an exceptional fielder – often used as a sub – and a willing death bowler.Possible England World T20 squad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England tracked Overton closely through the winter and were keen on him as a genuine allrounder. But inconclusive scans on a back injury have resulted in his omission from the provisional squad. In his absence, Jordan’s recent improvement with the bat is a relevant factor: since the start of the 2023 Vitality Blast, he has averaged 30.05 and struck at 160.53 in all T20 cricket.Despite his omission from England’s squad that lost 3-2 in the T20I series against West Indies, Jordan had a busy winter, representing Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Gulf Giants in the ILT20 and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League. He has not played since March, but will tune up for the World Cup with England’s four-match T20I series against Pakistan from May 22.Related

• England at the IPL: 'Refreshed' Buttler, rusty Livingstone, and WC tune-ups for fringe players

• Rashid: 'Things change quickly… we have the mindset of champions'

• Jamie Overton back injury hands England T20 World Cup selection dilemma

• India's T20 World Cup squad: IPL form unlikely to heavily influence selection

• South Africa's batting options for T20 World Cup: de Kock? Hendricks? Du Plessis?

England are expected to pick a top four comprising Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow, all of whom have found form at the IPL. Buttler (twice), Jacks and Bairstow have all hit centuries for their respective franchises, while Salt’s first eight innings brought him three half-centuries and a strike rate of 176.08.Jofra Archer is also expected to feature in the provisional squad, despite a long-standing elbow injury that has prevented him from playing a competitive fixture since May 2023.Though Archer recently admitted that another “stop-start year” could lead him to consider his future at the age of 29, the ECB hope the four-match Pakistan series can offer him a return to international cricket, ahead of a World Cup campaign that could include a maiden England appearance in front of his friends and family in his native Barbados. There is the possibility that he will warm up with some T20 appearances for Sussex’s 2nd XI in the coming weeks.England will also be missing the services of Ben Stokes, their matchwinner in both the 2019 (50-over) and 2022 World Cups, who announced last month that he would not be making himself available as he continues his rehabilitation following recent knee surgery.Possible England T20 World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali (vice-captain), Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Reece Topley

WPL player auction expected to take place in first week of February

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2023The 2023 IPL final is likely to be played on May 28, with the start date likely to be March 31 or April 1. ESPNcricinfo has also learnt that the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is likely to be played from March 4 to 24.The window for the WPL has to be squeezed into the gap between the women’s T20 World Cup, which will be played in South Africa from February 10 to 26, and the start of the men’s IPL, which will be played on some of the grounds that will host WPL games too. The idea is to finish the WPL around a week before the men’s IPL starts, to allow the grounds to be fresh.On Wednesday, the BCCI sold the five WPL teams at an auction in Mumbai, with the owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, as well as the Adani Group and Capri Holdings winning the bids.Related

• USA to host additional 2023 FairBreak Global Invitational T20 in September

• Women's IPL – All you need to know about the bidding process and auction

• Healy – 'Women's IPL is going to change women's cricket for the better'

The schedule and itinerary for the tournament, as well as a decision on how many grounds would be used, are a “work in progress”, Arun Dhumal, the IPL’s chairman, said after the Wednesday auction. Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, said that the player auction would most likely be held in the first week of February.”With regard to [the venues for the] first season, we are still talking,” Dhumal said. “That is work in progress. We will have to see logistical challenges involved in case it [WPL] has to be multi-city value or single-city value.”The WPL team owners will have an auction purse of INR 12 crore (USD 1.47 million approx.) each to build their squads, which will have between 15 and 18 players.

Sophie Molineux gave Australia the breakthrough after they had dropped Shafali Verma three times

Andrew McGlashan30-Sep-2021After a 15-year wait for these two teams to face each other again in Test cricket, Smriti Mandhana’s square drives and pulls were the highlight as India took the early honours on pink-ball Test debut. The less pleasing aspect was the Gold Coast rain which arrived shortly after dinner in torrential style and never really left, wiping 56 overs from the day to leave everyone frustrated.After Meg Lanning put India in, Australia had a first hour to forget as Mandhana latched onto some loose bowling with a 51-ball half-century brought up before the drinks break. The home side offered a considerable helping hand by giving Shafali Verma three lives as the opening stand reached 93 before the spinners, Sophie Molineux and Ashleigh Gardner, offered Lanning some control – probably not Plan A at the start of the day. They had already used seven bowling options in 44 overs.The heaviest rain arrived with India 114 for 1, causing close to a two-hour delay, and there was only a brief resumption possible during which Mandhana added to her boundary count with two crunching pulls off Tahlia McGrath, the first of them whipped off her hip for six backward of square. She made 66 of her 80 runs in boundaries. Showers then returned and there were no gaps big enough to get further play. There are 100 overs a day in women’s Tests, which are played over four days, and time can also be made up, but Friday’s forecast isn’t promising either.After six new caps were handed out between the teams India had raced away, reaching 70 without loss at drinks, but Australia were then able to dry up the scoring rate. That brought the reward of Shafali’s wicket when she was taken at mid-off against Molineux, trying to go over the infield. It ended an opening stand of 93 which followed the 167 the pair had added against England in the first innings in Bristol earlier this year.Shafali’s three lives came on 3, 19 and 25. The first was a tough, low outside edge to Lanning at first slip off Ellyse Perry who produced a far steadier performance in her seven-over opening spell than she managed in the ODIs. She was then dropped by Lanning again, this time off left-arm spinner Molineux, before the easiest of the three chances was put down by debutant Annabel Sutherland at mid-on.Mandhana’s innings was full of superbly timed shots off the front and the back foot although the Australia bowlers fed her with too much width and, overall, were too short with the new ball. She had been out of the blocks quickly by pulling Darcie Brown’s first ball in Test cricket through midwicket and in Brown’s fourth over took her for four boundaries.Brown’s opening spell ended with 4-0-28-0 while fellow debutant Stella Campbell went for 14 in her first three-over burst where the slowness of the surface negated her attempts to bang the ball in. Lanning was forced into more defensive fields to try and slow the rate and she was given some control by Molineux and McGrath, and then by Gardner with 18 overs up to lunch bringing 31 runs.The pressure showed on Shafali, who had found life tougher than Mandhana throughout her innings, when she tried to break the shackles with Australia, in the form of McGrath, taking a catch at the fourth attempt. It was a good piece of bowling from Molineux, but with India in such a strong position it was an unnecessary risk from Shafali especially with a similar stroke bringing her third reprieve.Punam Raut played herself in cautiously and was 1 off 22 balls at dinner but during the brief period of play possible afterwards was building a useful stand with Mandhana just as the ball was starting to nip around with the floodlights taking hold.The home side handed out four debuts – Brown, Campbell, Sutherland and Georgia Wareham – with Mitchell Starc helping with the cap presentations while India fielded two new players in Yastika Bhatia and Meghna Singh who had both impressed in the ODIs. Spin-bowling allrounder Sneh Rana, who made a rearguard 80* against England in the Bristol Test, was left out.

While the number of contracts has dropped, their value has increased across categories A, B and C

Danyal Rasool05-Jun-2020The PCB has increased salaries across the board for the country’s top women cricketers, as well as more lucrative financial incentives for domestic cricket. Bismah Maroof retains the captaincy, while Anam Amin and Umaima Sohail get full contracts. Maroof finds herself promoted to the highest category A, as does Javeria Khan, while Nida Dar, who became the first Pakistan women’s player to participate in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia last year, drops down from Category A to C due to a “below par season”, according to women’s chief selector Urooj Mumtaz. A sustained run of poor form with the bat appears to have cost 28-year old Sidra Ameen a central contract, while 22-year old left arm spinner Nashra Sandhu also drops out of the 9-woman list.

The contracted players

Category A: Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan
Category B: Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig and Sidra Nawaz
Category C: Nida Dar, Umaima Sohail, Anam Amin and Nahida Khan
Emerging: Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Kainat Hafeez, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir, Sadia Iqbal and Syeda Aroob Shah

Sana Mir’s retirement means nine central contracts this year, as opposed to 10 last year but it also means that in two years, the number of centrally contracted women’s cricketers has nearly halved. Two years ago, 17 women were awarded central contracts, a number the current PCB administration brought down last year. Mir’s exit ostensibly leaves a hole no player has been able to fill, and the trade-off is an increase in the quality of the contracts. Category A players see their earnings rise by a third, while Category B and C players will have their remuneration increased by 30% and 25% respectively. Domestic cricketers experience a significant boost as well, with match fees and event prize money doubling at that level, while daily allowances increase by 50%.In addition, an emerging contract list of nine promising women’s players has been created. ESPNcricinfo understands they will be paid retainers, with the category in effect serving as a vote of confidence to the players believed to be knocking on the door of centrally contracted players most earnestly.Mumtaz said: “On behalf of the selection committee, I would like to congratulate all the players who have received the central contracts. The selection committee had detailed deliberations prior to announcing the central contracts. International performances over the past 12 months, fitness standards and the players’ ability to contribute in both white ball formats were key measures that formed the criteria for the selection.”Bismah and Javeria have been promoted to Category A, following leading performances with the bat in the last year. Diana Baig has been promoted to Category B and she joins Aliya Riaz and Sidra Nawaz – both of whom have been retained in this category – as she topped the T20I bowling charts for Pakistan in the last 12 months.”We had to take some tough decisions and would like to emphasise and encourage those who have missed out to take this as an opportunity to improve their game and make a strong comeback. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Bismah Maroof on retaining her leadership role in both ODI and T20 formats for the upcoming season. She has been a phenomenal performer and has risen to the occasion whenever the situation demanded.”I am extremely delighted to announce the emerging contract category. The addition of this category will incentivise players to remain dedicated to the game, importantly increasing the pool of players and creating a competitive environment at the junior level.”The Pakistan national women’s team is scheduled to feature in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier and the ACC Women’s T20 Cup in the next 12 months, while an U19 team will feature in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.

Assistant coach integral to development of new white-ball philosophy set to take charge at Warwickshire next month

George Dobell16-Feb-2019Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, is to leave in the next few weeks to take on the role of sport director at Warwickshire. He will start his new job at the conclusion of England’s Caribbean tour in mid-March meaning he will not be with the team during the World Cup.Farbrace was a key architect in England’s improved white-ball form. Although he was in position during the debacle of the 2015 World Cup, having been appointed in April 2014, his period as interim coach, between the sacking of Peter Moores and the arrival of Trevor Bayliss, saw England play a far more aggressive style of cricket and results improve sharply.He previously led Sri Lanka to the World T20 title in 2014 and had spells coaching England women, England Under-19s and Kent. He has also turned down approaches from several counties and at least one country, Bangladesh.”I have had five fantastic years with England,” Farbrace said. “It has been a brilliant experience working with world-class coaches, players and support staff. I have been fortunate to taste some genuine success and be part of the development of some excellent players, who have the world at their feet this summer.”There is never a great time to leave an international set-up and despite what will be a fantastic summer for English cricket, the opportunity to shape the future of one of the game’s biggest counties was too much to resist. It would have been tough for me to have turned down the opportunity once Warwickshire showed an interest in me.”I am very grateful for the opportunity that Warwickshire’s Chairman Norman Gascoigne and Chief Executive Neil Snowball have offered me and I am looking forward to starting a new chapter in my career development.”Finally, I would like to thank the ECB, and in particular, Trevor Bayliss, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root and Ashley Giles for their support in what has been a difficult decision to make. I wish them every success this summer. I believe they have the right attributes to create history by lifting the World Cup in July and winning The Ashes that follows it.”While his departure, ahead of a World Cup for which he had been planning for four years, is unfortunate it is not a complete surprise. Farbrace, like several of the other England coaches, was out of contract at the end of September. With no job security and his chances of gaining the England head coach role apparently diminishing – there seemed to be a view that a new voice was required – he has taken the chance to leave. His predecessor was Ashley Giles, who is now managing director of England men’s cricket at the ECB.”I would like to thank Paul for all his efforts over the last five years as a key figure in England’s success across the red and white ball formats,” Giles said.”Paul was integral, alongside, Andrew Strauss, Trevor Bayliss and Eoin Morgan, in transforming our white-ball strategy, which has seen us become the best team in the world leading into a World Cup year. His efforts in developing players in the elite environment will benefit him in his new role at Edgbaston.”He is an ambitious professional and highly regarded and respected in the game and the opportunity at Warwickshire is something that would have been difficult for him to turn down. I respect his desire to take this on and wish him every success in leading the county on their return to the top flight of Specsavers County Championship.”I will now start the process to find a successor and work closely with our existing set-up to ensure we have everything in place ahead of a busy summer of international cricket.Other candidates for the Warwickshire role included former England head coach Andy Flower and David Parsons, the ECB performance director.

A team source told ESPNcricinfo that the pitch on day four was the flattest out of all the days of the Test, which didn’t make sense to them; the dampness, they felt, was extraordinary and helped bind the track

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg02-Feb-2018India’s win at the Wanderers might have seemed like a matter of breaking one partnership in the final innings and running through the rest, but the ​”​surprising​”​ dampness on the pitch on the fourth morning left them fuming and made them work much harder for wickets than what they felt was par for the course.A team source told ESPNcricinfo that the pitch on day four was the flattest out of all the days of the Test, which didn’t make sense to them because the surface had got progressively difficult to bat on, to the extent that the umpires, worried about the players’ safety, suspended play on the third evening. The team believes the dampness helped bind the pitch.There had been heavy rain on the third night, which left the outfield wet and unfit for the usual 10am start, forcing play to begin at 11am. “The other thing they are worried about, which is interesting, is that the pitch is a little bit… just a slight bit of dampness on the top of the surface,” Mike Haysman said in his report on , announcing a delay in the start of play. “That’s all. With a bit of sun, I guess there is no breeze… So just a slight bit of dampness on the top of the grass.”A Gauteng Cricket Board source told ESPNcricinfo: “The ground staff normally remove the covers by 7am but because of the rain they removed it later with the result that the normal sweating under the covers had not completely dried by 10am.”India feel this was more than normal sweating. “When we looked at the pitch first thing in the morning, it was wet,” an India team source told ESPNcricinfo. “It was very wet to the ​touch.”India believe the dampness delayed the return of the pitch to its natural self. “The way the ball misbehaved after tea, it should have started that after the first half hour,” the source said. TV experts also felt the pitch had become less unfriendly to bat on, with Sunil Gavaskar lying down on the pitch during the lunch break, suggesting it had gone to sleep.On the first day, 25 balls beat the bat in the opening session of 27 overs according to ESPNcricinfo logs, 40 times in 25 overs on day two, 18 times in 23.5 overs on day three, and 12 times in 19.2 overs on day four. The first session of day four – truncated to 90 minutes – was the only one of the match without a wicket; the first sessions on the first three days consumed two, two and three wickets.​​In the face of a “”, a flat pitch, India say sealing victory came down to “our patience and our skill”​, especially with the sun coming out late on day four​. To the extent that, in the middle session, they rested it all on the second new ball. They wanted to have as many to defend when the second new ball became available. For the first time in the match, India used Hardik Pandya for a longer spell, and Pandya mostly bowled wide outside off, conceding 15 runs in six overs. When Pandya was done with his spell, South Africa needed 127, and the new ball was 31 overs away.India were prepared to go all out with the new ball, but eventually things began to happen sooner. Ishant Sharma dismissed Hashim Amla to a catch to short midwicket, ending the only century-run stand of the match, worth 119 runs. About 15-20 minutes before tea, the uneven bounce became more pronounced, claiming AB de Villiers with a rising delivery before the break and Faf du Plessis with one that stayed low after it. Mohammed Shami then ran through South Africa’s resistance.It was a sticky situation for Cricket South Africa and GCB. After the suspension of play on day three, they were left hoping the pitch would not misbehave further because if play had been abandoned – although it might have saved the home team from a defeat – it would have resulted in heavy sanctions from the ICC, including no international cricket at their premier venue for a year. That also may have affected the sold-out Pink-Day ODI, scheduled on February 10. In the end, Wanderers got away with just a poor rating and three demerit points, keeping the rest of the cricket for the season.

Steven Smith, Australia’s captain, praised Travis Head for taking his opportunity at No. 6 in Australia’s 68-run victory over New Zealand in the first match of the Chappell-Hadlee series

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2016Steven Smith, Australia’s captain, praised Travis Head for taking his opportunity at No. 6 in Australia’s 68-run victory over New Zealand in the first match of the Chappell-Hadlee series. Smith said the decision to prefer Head in the middle order had nothing to do with Glenn Maxwell’s comments about team-mate Matthew Wade ahead of the match, describing Head’s batting as “beautiful” after the two put on a century stand to revive Australia from 92 for 4 in Sydney.Head made 52, his highest international score and second half-century in 13 ODIs, to help set up the Australia innings, while Smith went on to record 164 – a record at the SCG – as New Zealand conceded a total that proved to be well out of their reach, despite a fighting hundred from Martin Guptill.”It was more about giving Travis another opportunity, he played well last week, scored a hundred in Shield cricket so he’s in good nick,” Smith said of the decision to pick Head ahead of Maxwell. “I guess it was about giving him an opportunity first and obviously he played pretty well, so he’s taken that opportunity.”Asked about the relationship between the two Victorians, after Maxwell’s criticism of Wade, Smith said: “I think they’re okay. I made some comments in here the other day about him, the comments that he made were disappointing and disrespectful towards Matty and I think we’ve moved on from that now and it’s about focusing on this series. It was great for us to get a win tonight and hopefully we can play some more good cricket in the nation’s capital.”Maxwell has not played an ODI since the tri-series with West Indies and South Africa in June, during which Head made his debut. Since then, Head has made a number of handy starts – only twice failing to reach double-figures – but he needed some luck in Sydney, with Matt Henry fluffing a simple catch when he had 7.”When he came out to bat, we were just communicating, saying that we’d try and get through to about 40 overs and then we’d have a bit of a crack at them,” Smith said. “We were able to still play quit positively through that period and score five an over, so we set ourselves up nicely with that partnership and I thought the way he played was beautiful, he obviously got dropped that one at mid-off, but besides that I think he played some really good cricket. And it was nice to see Matthew Wade come in at the end and play a good little cameo as well.”It looks like [Head’s] improving every game, he’s in good form, coming off the back of a hundred last week in the Shield, so he’s playing some good cricket and I’m sure he’s going to continue to improve.”Smith chose not to dwell on his own innings, calling it “pleasing” and saying he preferred the century he made at the SCG during the 2015 World Cup semi-final. He was also grateful for the indecision among the New Zealand ranks after Trent Boult appealed for an lbw when Smith had made 14 – Kane Williamson chose not to review, possibly on the suggestion of a team-mate that there was bat involved, only for Hawk-Eye to show it would have been overturned on DRS.”I was pretty glad they didn’t review it. I think it was out, so yeah, of course I’m glad,” Smith said. “But not much was really going through my head, I let it go pretty quickly and moved on. Thought he set me up pretty well, actually, Boult wasn’t swinging any so I was moving across even further and then he got one to come back quite late. So set me up pretty well and fortunately it got given not out, and unfortunate for NZ that it was.”I think someone said that I’d hit it, from point, I reckon I heard someone say that I’d hit it, and I think they ran with that. I may have looked at my bat at one point as well, to throw them.”