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South Australia’s interest in the Victorian legspinner James Muirhead has cost them a $15,000 fine after they were found to have breached Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements. Muirhead, 19, was given a rookie contract by Cricket Victoria in July last year and made his Sheffield Shield debut against the Redbacks in Adelaide in January.But a Cricket Australia grievance tribunal has found that during the 2012-13 season, the South Australian Cricket Association held discussions with Muirhead before informing Cricket Victoria, thus breaking the rules regarding to contracted players. The tribunal made its ruling on April 3 but delayed a decision on its penalty until reconvening this week.Rule 4 of Cricket Australia’s Rules for Interstate Competitions states that a “state association must not (and must ensure that its constituent clubs do not) hold discussions with a CA contracted player or a state contracted player who is bound to another state association concerning the possible transfer of that player without first informing the player’s home state association”.Keith Bradshaw, the SACA chief executive, said: “SACA has always maintained that it has not breached Rule 4 of the Rules for Interstate Competitions but accepts that the Cricket Australia grievance tribunal process is now complete and a $15,000 penalty issued”.Muirhead had made his BBL debut for the Adelaide Strikers in the 2011-12 summer before he was given his rookie deal with Victoria. However, he switched to the Melbourne Renegades for the 2012-13 season.

Durham have given up the chance to host India and Australia during the 2014 and 2015 seasons in the latest sign that the newer international venues in England and Wales are finding it a struggle to balance the books in what are costly ventures.They have handed back a Twenty20, which had been allocated to them against India in 2014, and an ODI against Australia for the following year. These matches will now be put back into a tender process for other grounds to host.When Durham initially bid for matches the package they earned included matches against Sri Lanka (2014) and New Zealand (2015) which the club will retain. They were then offered the India and Australia contests at a fixed sum which they accepted but have now decided are not in their best interests.”They are attractive fixtures, but how lucrative they are is another matter,” David Harker, Durham’s group chief executive said. “We decided to be cautious over what we could expect to sell to the public when the matches were reasonably close together.”The club were given an indication of potential problems when last year’s Twenty20 against South Africa did not sell out. Finances are currently stretched at the club and they have not been able to afford an overseas player this season.Durham will host their first Ashes Test later this year and retain the Test they are due to host against Sri Lanka in 2016. “We have a very good track record in tickets,” Harker said, “and are confident in selling the matches we retain.”David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said: “Today’s announcement is in line with Durham’s long-term business plan and means that the club will host an optimal number of major matches over the four year period whilst allowing the North East region to continue to benefit from regular international cricket.”In March this year, Durham’s Labour-controlled county council, agreed in principle to invest £2.8m in the club to help it through straitened financial times. The decision came against a backdrop of job losses and planned cutbacks amounting to £200m by 2018.The council justified the investment on the basis of an independent impact report which concluded Durham would contribute almost £20m to the local economy this year, and a further £40m over the next three years.It was also incumbent upon Durham, however, to show that unnecessary risks were not being taken with taxpayers’ money.Durham are not the first county to find hosting international cricket financially difficult. Yorkshire opted not to bid for 2013 and 2015 Ashes Tests because of the cost, while Glamorgan were plunged into financial problems after becoming a Test venue when the 2011 match against Sri Lanka was badly hit by weather.Cardiff had been due to host the first Test against West Indies last summer, but it was put back out to tender after Glamorgan said they would be late paying their staging fees for the Sri Lanka match although they have been awarded a 2015 Ashes Test.When the bidding process for international matches was first introduced it was done on a blind basis which often forced counties into levels of financial commitment they could not afford. The latest allocations, which took place last year, had set packages that counties could bid for ranging from £200,000 to £12 million and they were then judged against various criteria.Additional information was added to this story on May 4

Ross Taylor has been through his fair share of ups and downs in recent months but he could yet cap an eventful season by being part of a New Zealand side that beats England in a Test series at home for only the second time in their history.Taylor was not born on the previous occasion in 1983-84 – a series decided when England were shot out twice for double figures in Christchurch – but at 29, he is now one of the most experienced players in a developing New Zealand team. There appeared little chance of them competing with England only a few months ago, when they were being dismantled by South Africa in the wake of Taylor’s sacking from the captaincy, but while there remains an uneasy truce between Taylor and the coach Mike Hesson, they have proved far more competitive at home.There were a few warning signs in Wellington, where New Zealand’s bowling lacked penetration on the first day and the batsmen could only manage 254 on a docile surface before being asked to follow on, but it was by no means certain that they would have lost if the weather had not turned. Taylor, in partnership with Kane Williamson, was leading a stubborn second innings and they have brought the series down to a one-game playoff.”It’s a position we haven’t been in for a while and we’ve played some good cricket,” Taylor said. “We know we’ll have to be at our best to compete with this English side and we have five more days of tough cricket. If we can play to our potential we are a chance.”You don’t need much motivation, it’s nil-nil in a series against England, playing on our home turf and it’s the first time we’ve played at Eden Park for a few years, so there’s a lot to play for.”Ross Taylor was unbeaten in New Zealand’s second innings in the Wellington draw•Getty Images

Much of the debate has centred around why England have not won rather than why New Zealand have not lost, but neither team can really claim any ascendancy going into the final match. “It’s a probably a fair reflection on the way the series has gone,” Taylor said. “Another day either way could have allowed both teams to win.”More bounce is expected on the drop-in pitch at Eden Park, which is hosting its first Test since 2006, although similar sentiments were made in the build-up to the second Test and the bounce was steady rather than steep. The back-foot techniques of the New Zealand batsmen have yet to be really tested in this series, but they do not lie awake at night worrying about what may happen.”I’m sure our bowlers will look forward to bowling on a bouncier wicket,” Taylor said. “I think it was bouncy in Wellington and I can’t see it being too much more so here.”Dean Brownlie, who learnt his cricket in Western Australia, would actually enjoy the prospect of a quicker pitch. “It definitely suits my game,” he said. “We have to be good all around the world and this is another opportunity to learn in bouncier conditions.”In the past I’ve played a few T20s here and it’s been flat with good carry and bounce. I’m not sure how it will go for a five-dayer, but playing four-day games on Eden Oval No. 2, there has been great bounce and carry.”In another boost to New Zealand, Doug Bracewell returned to action on Wednesday in a Ford Trophy match against Canterbury as he aimed to prove his fitness ahead of the third Test. He took 1 for 55 from his 10 overs and, if he comes through the outing without any reaction to his foot injury, he will join the New Zealand squad in Auckland on Thursday.

Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India’s Test side for the first time since he made an emphatic comeback to the long format with a century in Adelaide in 2007-08. That, incidentally, remains his last century outside Asia. No replacement has been named for Sehwag for the remaining two Tests of the series against Australia, which makes Shikhar Dhawan a favourite to open in the Mohali Test starting on March 14.The two remaining Tests of the current series, which India lead 2-0, are the last ones they are scheduled to play before they go on four continuous overseas tours beginning with South Africa later this year.In his first reaction, Sehwag – who had been dropped from the ODI side for the series against England in January – tweeted: “Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that, ‘I’ll be back.’ Best wishes to the team.”Since his comeback, Sehwag’s performance outside Asia might have been questionable, but he kept his place in the side with typically dazzling match-winning knocks on the lower and slower tracks. Outside Asia, since Adelaide, Sehwag has scored just 523 runs in 12 Tests, at an average of 22.73 with a highest of 67. In Asia, though, over the same period he has amassed 3622 runs at 57.49, at a game-changing strike rate of 94.1.However, over the last two years, the big innings began to dry up even in Asia. After his 173 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in November 2010, he had to wait more than two years for another Test century. In November 2012, Sehwag earned another lease of life with a typical century against England again in Ahmedabad but, between then and being dropped, he has had scores of 25, 30, 9, 23, 49, 0, 2, 19 and 6.This is a big fall for India’s most prolific opening combination in Tests: Gautam Gambhir was dropped before the start of the Australia after three years without a Test century. Now India are possibly looking at a raw opening combination going into South Africa.Not even naming a replacement opener is a big statement made by selectors who don’t seem to have other options available but have still gone ahead and omitted him. Dhawan, his Delhi team-mate, is now a front-runner for Mohali, but Ajinkya Rahane can’t be ruled out either. Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, did say before the start of the England series that Rahane was picked as a middle-order batsman, but the Indian team management has been flexible and doesn’t always stick to statements made in the press.India squad: MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Cheteshwar Pujara.

Match facts

February 22-26, Chennai
Start time 9.30am (0400GMT)The final home series for Sachin Tendulkar?•BCCI

Big picture

For a rivalry that has produced plenty of gripping cricket over the past decade or so, the run-up to this series has been strangely muted. The Indian captain hasn’t spoken to the press even once before the series, there have been no major controversies in the warm-up matches, there hasn’t been too much of the pre-series mind games, and even the broadcasters’ TV campaign has changed from the taunting tone it had before the England series to a more sober, cricket-centric one.Both India and Australia are going through a generational change in the batting, but when it comes to the bowling, the Chennai Test could feature two of the most contrasting line-ups in any match. Though the surface at the Chidambaram Stadium is expected to have plenty of turn, Australia are going in with only one specialist spinner in Nathan Lyon, and with three fast bowlers and medium-pace bowling allrounder Moises Henriques. India, on the other hand, are almost certain to start with only one quick bowler in Ishant Sharma, and play three, or even four, spinners. Unexpectedly, India announced a day ahead of the Test that Harbhajan Singh, Australia’s nemesis on so many occasions, will be in the XI for what will be his 100th Test.The series also presents a huge challenge for both captains.In Chennai Michael Clarke, without the reassuring presence of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, will be leading a XI of which only three players have played a Test in India. The other eight all have 20 Test caps or less. For MS Dhoni, whose stocks have steadily declined since the high of the 2011 World Cup, another high-profile home series defeat could trigger the end of his Test captaincy.When these two teams faced off in a Test series last year, the consensus in India was that the tour offered the best chance to beat Australia in Australia. It ended with India losing all four Tests, some of them in an abjectly one-sided manner. This will be a much closer contest – India have been flaky in Tests over the past couple of years but still have a formidable home record, while a re-building Australia briefly flirted with a return to the No. 1 spot but have traditionally found the going difficult in India.

Form guide

(Last five matches, most recent first)
India DLLWW
Australia WWWLD

Watch out for…

A spate of injuries to India’s quick bowlers has thrust Ishant Sharma into the role of pace spearhead. The only other fast bowlers in the squad are Ashok Dinda and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, neither of whom have made their Test debuts. Indian cricket has given Ishant a long rope, but nearly 50 Tests into his career, his bowling average is a disappointing 38. Television ads building up to this series are still replaying his famous spell to Ricky Ponting from five years ago. Over the next month, Ishant needs to deliver on the promise that heady performance showcased.Shane Watson is another player who is in a more senior role than he would have expected. The departure of Ponting and Hussey means that he is the only batsman besides Clarke who has played Tests in India. In addition to his responsibilities as an experienced member of the side, Watson will also have to adjust to playing as a specialist No. 4 batsman in this series. He has spent much of his Test career as an opener who also bowled medium-pace, and his decision to not bowl in this series will have critics pointing to his lack of centuries and questioning whether he is good enough to be in the side as a pure batsman.

Teams

India’s two major decisions are over who will partner Virender Sehwag at the top of the order, and the identity of the No. 6 batsman. M Vijay is the front-runner for the opening slot, ahead of Shikhar Dhawan, while the No. 6 position is likely to be a toss-up between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja.India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Ravindra Jadeja/Ajinkya Rahane, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Pragyan OjhaAustralia announced their XI two days ahead of the Test, picking Moises Henriques for the allrounder’s spot, ahead of Glenn Maxwell.Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon

Pitch and conditions

For a city that is one of the major cricketing centres in the country, and one that is reputed to have a Test-appreciating crowd, it is a bit surprising that Chennai hasn’t hosted a Test match since the famous chase of 387 against England in December 2008. The Chepauk pitch is completely devoid of grass and is expected to be spinner-friendly. Temperatures are expected to be around 30 degrees and no rain is predicted over the next week.

Stats and trivia

• In 12 Tests against Australia at home, Harbhajan Singh has 84 wickets at 24.48, including seven five-wicket hauls
• Henriques is set to become the second Portugal-born Test cricketer, after South Africa’s Dick Westcott
• In the past 28 years, India have lost only one Test in Chennai – the iconic 1999 match against Pakistan

Quotes

“I said we can beat Australia 4-0 and why not? If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? I believe we can do it, and we can work towards it. you have got to believe in yourself.”

“I’m not that bothered about what’s happened in regards to the Indian series against England. I watched a fair bit of it … but we’re a different team to England.”

The problem of plenty. That’s what every team hopes for going into a big tournament. Going by the first two games of their World Cup campaign, New Zealand Women seem to have one on their hands as far as their bowling department is concerned.After thumping South Africa by 151 runs in their tournament opener two days ago, New Zealand made two changes to their bowling line-up going into Sunday’s game against Pakistan. Sian Ruck and Morna Nielsen, the two most successful bowlers against South Africa with figures of 4 for 31 and 3 for 34, respectively, made way for Rachel Candy and Kate Broadmore. And both replacements made utmost use of the opportunity.While Broadmore bowled an economical spell of medium-pace bowling, with figures of 1 for 15 off her 10 overs, Candy walked away with a rich wicket haul. Playing her first World Cup match, Candy was handed the new ball on a low and slow Barabati Stadium pitch, and went on to register her personal best: 5 for 19.As a result, the New Zealand team management will have plenty to ponder before finalising their team combination for the last group game against Australia, which will determine the group topper. “We’ve got some competition with our bowling [department],” captain Suzie Bates said after their seven-wicket victory. “The way Rachel Candy bowled today, it’s going to be tough to pick our bowling side. We’ve got the bowlers who can do the job.”Pakistan, meanwhile, would be wondering who can deliver with the bat for them, going into Friday’s must-win game against South Africa; if Pakistan have to progress to the Super Six stage, they will not only have to beat South Africa but win with a big margin. And with totals of 84 and 104 in their first two outings, the task seems to be a little too difficult.Pakistan captain Sana Mir remained positive, though, drawing inspiration from the past. “The tournament format is such that there’s not much time to recover in between the games. But I am sure we can bounce back against South Africa,” Mir said. “We have beaten them in the World Cup qualifiers and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. It’s just a matter of playing out the 50 overs. The day we can do that, I am sure we will end up on the winning side.”It was disappointing to see hardly any Pakistan batswoman putting a price tag on her wicket for the second time in succession. In the last game, it resulted in the bowlers’ good work being undone against Australia, while today they failed to put up a total that could have put a formidable New Zealand batting line-up under any pressure.Trying to explain the batsmen’s lack of application, Mir said: “After the World Cup qualifiers, early on in the year, we didn’t play any 50-overs cricket. And before the World Twenty20 [in September-October], we were in the 20-overs mould.”After World T20 also, we didn’t play any tournament or a bilateral series of ODIs coming into the World Cup, so that could be a reason why the girls are struggling to really apply themselves.”

MS Dhoni’s participation in the final ODI against Pakistan is in doubt after he complained of soreness in his back during practice at the Kotla in Delhi. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has been called up as back-up for the Indian captain.”If at all somebody is doubtful, it’s me,” Dhoni said when asked about the absence of Yuvraj Singh at the practice session. “Since it was an optional practice session, Yuvraj did not come.”The issue of who will take over the captaincy will come to the fore if Dhoni misses out on Sunday. Over the last year, India have had three alternatives: Virender Sehwag when Dhoni was out with over-rate bans in Australia, Virat Kohli was vice-captain in Asia Cup, Gautam Gambhir in Sri Lanka, and now there is no official vice-captain. When asked, Dhoni said, “Let’s hope that I play. We’ll see tomorrow.”The final decision on Dhoni’s fitness will be taken on the morning of the match.The news will be a setback for the Indian side who have already lost the series to Pakistan, and are looking to avoid their first home ODI series whitewash since 1983-84.Dhoni was the only India batsman who showed form in the previous two matches. He has scored 167 runs – 106 more than Suresh Raina, who is second – in the series without being dismissed.Only twice in his career before he has been ruled out due to injury. Both times, it was the back problem that kept him out – once against New Zealand in Napier and against Bangladesh in Chittagong. In 2012, Dhoni missed two matches because of over-rate penalties, but played every other series, including the IPL and Champion League Twenty20.Karthik, who has 1008 ODI runs against his name, last played for India in August 2010.

Match facts

January 6, 2012
Start time 1200 (0630 GMT)India haven’t been able to duck Pakistan’s barrage•BCCI

Big Picture

India couldn’t have chosen a better venue for the last ODI of the series. It is cold in Delhi. In the morning, there is fog. In the afternoon, light doesn’t stay. A bit like the Indian cricket team right now, caught in the winter, looking desperately for that small window between fog and fading light.This winter has gone on for too long, though. It all began in the West Indies in 2011 when they aborted a chase, and now almost every week they lose another bit of the remaining pride. Test series in England and Australia: lost. CB Series and Asia Cup: not even close to finals. World Twenty20: didn’t even try to make the next round. Then came a home Test series loss to England. And now they are staring at only their second whitewash in a home ODI series, the first since 1983-84. If India lose in Delhi, all they will have left to cherish is bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka and the fact that an Indian team is always going to win the IPL.On the other side has been warm winter sunshine. Only rarely do you see modern ODI attacks that provide no weak link. Least of all, Pakistan, because you expect – it’s more a fear but it often comes true – at least one of the bowlers to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Here, all four, plus Mohammad Hafeez, have applied collective pressure, not through defensive bowling but by looking to get batsmen out. The fielding and wicketkeeping, which has often let Pakistan down, has been faultless too. India have had no escape, and it shows in the results.What is more commendable is that they have done so without any warm-up, without much cricket, and with a shaky batting line-up. Now they are one more such display short of sealing the first whitewash in a bilateral ODI series between India and Pakistan.

Form guide (Completed games, most recent first)

India: LLWWW
Pakistan: WWLWL

In the spotlight

India under MS Dhoni turned sitting back into an artform, a successful artform, both with the bat and with the ball. A huge part of their ODI success was that they did well in the middle overs with bits-and-pieces players. Now that comfort has been taken away, and MS Dhoni the tactician has looked rattled. The new regulation of having at least five players inside the circle has been more in tune with Pakistan, whose nature it is to attack.Dhoni, however, has a sore back now, and might not even captain on Sunday. And India don’t even have a clear deputy should he not recover in time. Asked who will captain if he doesn’t make it, Dhoni said, “Let’s hope that I play. We’ll see tomorrow.”*If Dhoni does miss out, India will surely miss Dhoni the batsman, who has almost been the sole fighter, but in a perplexing manner he went from being the boy on the burning deck he was in Chennai to the violinist on the sinking Titanic in Kolkata. Towards the end, he didn’t hit, he didn’t take singles, and just blocked his way through. Was it a message for the rest of the side? We will never know. Being the best ODI batsman in the side, he at least needs to take more responsibility and bat higher in the order so that he is not always firefighting from five down for nothing.The Pakistan XI is too small a place for both Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq, their only weak link so far. Perhaps they have both Azhar and Misbah as emergency back-up when the more attacking batsmen fail, but so far in the series they have only been part of spells that have taken away momentum from Pakistan. Perhaps they are both still in the side because of the injury to Asad Shafiq and the unreliability of Umar Akmal, but this is not a bad time for them to show they are relevant on their own.

Team news

India will be under pressure to give Ajinkya Rahane a game. Or they might want to give the misfiring openers one final chance before they drop – as is widely being anticipated – at least one of them in the selection meeting that will happen on the same day. In the bowling department, India are not exactly brimming with options.The Dhoni decision will be made on the morning of the match.India (possible): 1 & 2 Two out Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk)/ Dinesh Karthik, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.Pakistan didn’t make any changes to the combination when the series was alive, but their chairman of selectors, Iqbal Qasim, has hinted at a few experiments now that the series is won.Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Junaid Khan, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Irfan.

Pitch and conditions

Staging cricket in north India is a challenge in winter. Ranji matches have all been hit by fog and bad light. The groundsman, Venkat Sundaram, has been quoted in saying he has always asked the BCCI to not stage matches in Delhi at this time of the year. In fact, Feroz Shah Kotla has hosted only three international matches in January.However, Sundaram says the pitch is ready. The match strip produced a result in three days and a bit in the first-class match between Delhi and Odisha in November, but don’t expect such help for seamers in the ODI.The temperature is likely to swing between 4C and 15C. Fog and dew will be factors too, which is why we have the game starting at noon.

Stats and Trivia

• India have been whitewashed at home only once, by West Indies, who were intent on payback after the World Cup-final loss, in 1983-84.
• Pakistan and Australia are the only teams to have beaten India in a home ODI series in the last 10 years.
• Younis Khan needs 108 runs to become the seventh Pakistan player to reach 7000 ODI runs
• This series is shaping up to be the first in India since early 2007 with not a single score of 300

*1100GMT, January 5: The article was updated after it emerged that Dhoni had a sore back

ScorecardBrendan Taylor scored an aggressive ton in Mid West Rhinos’ second innings and Ed Rainsford picked up 10 wickets in the match, but a lack of support from the other batsmen meant the contributions went in vain as Mountaineers completed a comfortable eight-wicket win at Mutare Sports Club. Rhinos, who were 148 runs behind Mountaineers after the first innings, were put into early trouble in the second innings as Calum Price struck in his first, third and fourth overs to remove Rhinos’ top three batsmen with 48 runs on the board. Another two wickets went down soon to put the Rhinos in danger of losing the match by an innings, but Taylor combined with Simon Mugava, who scored 28, in a 99-run sixth-wicket stand to briefly resurrect hopes of a turnaround. However, wickets started tumbling soon after Donald Tiripano broke the stand and Rhinos finished on 247, setting up an easy target of 100 for Mountaineers.Hamilton Masakadza and Mark Pettini then took Mountaineers home with an unbeaten half-century partnership after Ed Rainsford had removed both the openers early.In the end, it was Rhinos’ first innings below-par total that was the difference between the two teams. Rhinos had chosen to bat first but lost six wickets for less than 50. Only Malcolm Waller, who scored 78, and Neville Madziva, who scored 39, were able to get into double-digit scores and it was their 98-run stand that gave some respectability to Rhinos’ total. Natsai Mushangwe was the most successful bowler with 4 for 11. In response, Pettini scored a century and shared a 122-run stand with Masakadza, who scored 78, to set-up Mountaineers’ total of 299 despite Ed Rainsford’s eight-wicket haul, his best figures in first-class cricket.

Darren Sammy may have only led West Indies to four Test victories in his two years as captain, though with two of those wins having come in his last two matches, the visitors have plenty of confidence coming into the series in Bangladesh. Sammy’s Test place has frequently been questioned by critics but the recent upswing in the team fortunes should keep them at bay for a while.”My plan is always simple, I want to perform,” Sammy said in the pre-match press conference in Mirpur on Monday. “I make sure that the players are in the right frame of mind and perform for the Caribbean people. But I think it is always a team effort [which is needed], like when we won the T20 World Cup. We just want to go ahead and do our best for our country and our particular regions.”Every team member knows what their role is and we just have to be ready to perform that particular role. All the spinners and part-timers have a crucial role to play. We are a developing team, we still got to find the ways of winning Test matches against higher oppositions.”Sammy now returns to the place where he won his first Test as captain, a country where West Indies have generally faced little competition, having taken the Test series on both the previous occasions they toured. The pitches too haven’t troubled the side as they have been similar to some of the tracks back in the Caribbean.”I think our team is quite balanced. Whatever combination we come up with, we believe the bowlers can take 20 wickets and that will help us win the Test match.”Our best fast bowler [Kemar Roach] got injured, but we have Fidel [Edwards] who did well last time in Bangladesh. My record [as a bowler] against Bangladesh isn’t too bad either. We just have to go out there and play good cricket. At the end of the day if we don’t execute on the pitch, it won’t matter.”