Hot Spot inventor Warren Brennan has called for protective coatings to be removed from bats in order to achieve the most accurate thermal imaging results

Brydon Coverdale10-Aug-2013Hot Spot inventor Warren Brennan has called for protective coatings to be removed from bats in order to achieve the most accurate thermal imaging results. Brennan has broken his silence on the Hot Spot debate of the past week, releasing a statement that did not mention silicone-tape but said the thermal signatures of cricket bats were “unquestionably” affected by their protective coatings.A number of edges have failed to show up on Hot Spot during the ongoing Ashes series, leaving the players uncertain of whether to use reviews or not. Following the Old Trafford Test, Channel Nine in Australia reported the ICC was investigating the possibility that players were using silicone-tape on the edges of their bats during this series in a deliberate effort to fool Hot Spot.However, the ICC dismissed those claims and the captains of both sides rubbished the idea that any of their players would set out to cheat the DRS. Brennan, who had initially declined to comment on the debate, has now released a statement in which he said that his company, BBG Sports, had tested a range of the latest cricket bats over the past week and found that their protective coating can reduce the likelihood of edges showing up on Hot Spot.”Following the Manchester Test match earlier this week, BBG Sports analysed contentious Hot Spot decisions from the Ashes series and decided to purchase several of the latest generation of cricket bats to undertake thorough testing,” the BBG statement said. “BBG Sports observed that the majority of bats had some form of protective coating that would wrap around onto the edges of the bat.”Strangely enough, this protective coating would cover only half of the edge of the bat and not the entire edge of the bat. BBG Sports believed this could cause the front edge of the bat to have a different thermal signature than the back edge of the bat. BBG Sports’ own internal testing over the past three days utilizing the latest generation of cricket bats has, in their opinion, provided conclusive findings.”The type and thickness of the protective coating unquestionably affects the thermal signature of the Hot Spot system. In layman’s terms, the protective coating definitely diminishes Hot Spot marks. BBG Sports advised the ICC earlier this week on these initial findings and has committed to further testing over the coming weeks.”BBG Sports believes that in order to achieve optimum Hot Spot results the removal of protective coating from bats and edges needs to occur. This will allow for the best thermal signatures between cricket balls and natural timber cricket bats.”However, the ICC is unlikely to enforce any such rules, given that batsmen have been using protective coatings on their bats for many years. Earlier this week, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke said that every bat he had owned since he was about 12 had featured a protective layer in order to increase the bat’s longevity, and most bats these days incorporate some form of such protection.The ICC’s umpires manager, Simon Taufel, also said earlier this week that for the past three years, Test umpires have carried out random bat inspections roughly 12 times per Test and not once has a batsman been found to have used silicone-tape in an attempt to trick the technology. Taufel said if such tape was found on the edges, a player would be liable for a breach of the Code of Conduct.Hot Spot was again the centre of attention on the first morning of the Chester-le-Street Test, but this time the system worked as intended. Joe Root was adjudged not out by the on-field umpire Tony Hill but after Australia asked for a review, a faint edge showed up on Hot Spot and the decision was overturned.

Ned Eckersley inspired Leicestershire’s fightback against Worcestershire in the Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road

30-Aug-2013
ScorecardNed Eckersley closed in on a second century in the match•Getty Images

Ned Eckersley inspired Leicestershire’s fightback against Worcestershire in the Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.With Thilan Samaraweera hitting a season’s best 144 not out, Worcestershire totalled 338 all out to claim a first-innings lead of 64. And when Leicestershire plunged to 120 for 6, the visitors looked in complete control with the chance of clinching victory inside three days.But Eckersley followed up his first-innings 106 with an unbeaten 91 off 159 balls and shared an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 70 with James Sykes that gave Leicestershire a lead of 126 runs going into the final day as they closed on 190 for 6.Samaraweera, resuming on 99 not out, cut Hoggard’s first ball for two runs to reach his century off 203 balls with 11 fours. It had been a chanceless innings and he remained immovable even as wickets fell at the other end.Hoggard trapped Michael Johnson lbw and then bowled Shaaiq Choudhry for a duck before left-arm spinner Sykes chipped in with two wickets in two balls. Jack Shantry was snapped up off a thin edge by wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien and Graeme Cessford had his stumps shattered by a quicker delivery.Ollie Freckingham brought the innings to a close by knocking back Alan Richardson’s leg stump, leaving Samaraweera unbeaten on 144 off 262 balls with 17 boundaries.Worcestershire’s lead was 64 and Leicestershire were four wickets down before they wiped off the arrears, with openers Greg Smith and O’Brien back in the pavilion with only 23 runs on the board. Cessford, wicketless in the first innings, accounted for both of them. O’Brien top-edged a catch off a miscued pull and Smith was bowled by a ball that nipped back.Leicestershire’s problems mounted with Shiv Thakor lbw to Jack Shantry and Tom Wells bowled, shouldering arms to the same bowler. Josh Cobb and the ever-reliable Eckersley, took Leicestershire into the lead with a stand of 34 before the former was caught at cover by Samaraweera off Cessford in the last over before tea.Ben Raine looked in good touch making 19 out of stand of 23 with Eckersley before being dismissed in bizarre fashion by Choudhry. He played a routine defensive shot only for the ball to somehow spin back and roll into the stumps dislodging the off bail to leave the hosts staring down the barrel.But Eckersley remained unflappable, reaching his half-century off 106 balls with six fours. He finally found some support as well in Sykes. The two of them put on 70 runs in 23 overs, Sykes making 22 not out off 87 balls and Eckersley 91 not out, leaving Leicestershire 126 runs ahead.

Essex’s trio of seam bowlers dove-tailed brilliantly to hound Kent out for 107 in their first innings and give them a chance to beat the weather that is forecast to shorten this match

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Canterbury12-Sep-2013
ScorecardDavid Masters has put Essex in a position to try and force a quick victory and dodge the poor weather which is forecast•Getty Images

It’s the lot of a bowler that much of their success can be attributed to batsman error. With video clips and a modicum of technical nous, even the most memorable deliveries can be stripped of their pomp: “Why was Michael Clarke trying to work Steven Harmison’s slower-ball through the leg-side, anyway?”As such, it’s important that displays like Essex’s on day two, when their trio of seam bowlers dove-tailed brilliantly to hound Kent out for 107 in their first innings, are treated with the respect they deserve. Much of the plaudits will go to David Masters for his 6 for 41 – his third five-wicket haul of the season – but Graham Napier and Reece Topley deserve recognition for their parts in a relentless display.Forever the leader of the attack, Masters instigated the rout with two spells before tea – taking two wickets in each – that gutted the hosts’ top order with consummate ease. He looked almost unplayable, either beating batsmen outright, or luring them into a false sense of security with some smart approach play, and reaping the payback. The wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond summed up the disparity between bat and Masters in this mini-session perfectly.With Bell-Drummond unable to score a run off Masters’s previous eight deliveries, playing and missing outside off stump as he tried to remain positive on the front foot, James Foster had a cunning plan.Reinforcing the slip cordon to four, with a man at point, he asked Jaik Mickleburgh to helmet up and come in – quite literally – under Bell-Drummond’s nose. With the man in place at daft-cover, a bat-pad dismissal was now in play. Perhaps realising that only a perfect forward defence would avoid such a demise, Bell-Drummond played away from his body, leaving an inviting gap. Masters is too good not to exploit even the minutest of flaws, and took out the middle stump.A switch to the Nackington Road End only provided a change in backdrop, as he bowled Rob Key and then trapped the dangerous Darren Stevens in front. Along with Napier’s wicket of Brendan Nash, the pair had seen off Kent’s three key batsmen – each with over 900 Championship runs this season – for just 11 runs between them.Napier bagged the sixth wicket, trapping Geraint Jones in his crease, and then treated us to one of the balls of the day; a sharp inswinger from the Pavilion End that uprooted the left-handed Callum Haggett’s leg-stump with such malice that middle and off needed counselling.Topley was then rewarded with his first wicket of the day when Mark Davies swiped wildly to become the fourth batsmen to fall bowled. He was unlucky not to have more, bowling with great control and minimal luck, particularly in his third over, when a hat-trick of lbw appeals were turned down against Key.Fittingly, Masters finished what he started, with two wickets in two balls to leave Kent with a first innings deficit of 169. Naturally, with a forecast of rain over the next two days, Essex enforced the follow-on. Just three hours after they first came to the middle, Sam Northeast and Rob Key were out again to see out the day.Credit, too, for Foster, who ensured he used all 10 of the overs left in the Kent second innings, with four going to spin, with the umpires ready to walk off for bad light in the second over, just as Topley was loosening up to share the new ball.Earlier in the day, Foster scored 46 of the 90 runs that Essex’s last six wickets added. Owais Shah could only add one to his overnight score, while Ben Foakes scored his third fifty of the season, before he chased a wide ball from Charlie Shreck which he could only edge to slip. Once Napier fell, the onus was on the captain to shepherd the tail, and he did so impressively; rotating well with the more-than-capable Masters, before farming the strike when in partnership with Panesar and Topley.Should they replicate today’s bowling performance tomorrow, they will comprehensively trump Kent and Mother Nature.

Pakistan A took control of the first unofficial Test in Colombo, claiming three Sri Lanka A scalps in 21 overs, after having posted 401

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2015
ScorecardFile Photo – Fawad Alam’s 72 was key to stabilising Pakistan’s innings•PA Photos

Pakistan A took control of the first unofficial Test in Colombo, claiming three Sri Lanka A scalps in 21 overs, after having posted 401. The visitors resumed on 244 for 5, and captain Fawad Alam drove the innings forward with his 72. He struck up a 67-run seventh-wicket stand with Shehzad Azam, who hit 47 not out, before Tharindu Kaushal had him caught behind.Kaushal was by a distance Sri Lanka A’s best bowler with figures of 6 for 117. He was especially effective against the tail, after having taken two top-order scalps on day one. He had also been impressive in the List-A series.Sri Lanka A lost their first wicket in the third over, when Mir Hamza had Dhananjaya de Silva caught behind. Hamza also dismissed opener Udara Jayasundera, before Madawa Warnapura was out to Zia-ul-Haq. Sri Lanka finished the day on 95 for 3. Kithuruwan Vithanage was unbeaten on 35 from 33 balls.

Craig Miles collected his second five-wicket haul of the match as Gloucestershire bowled out Lancashire for 253 on the third day of the LV=County Championship clash at Bristol

ECB/PA09-Jun-2015
ScorecardCraig Miles continued to enjoy facing Lancashire•Getty Images

Craig Miles collected his second five-wicket haul of the match as Gloucestershire bowled out Lancashire for 253 on the third day of the LV=County Championship clash at Bristol.The 20-year-old seamer took 5 for 60 to complete match figures of 10 for 121 and leave his side chasing a victory target of 252. Karl Brown top scored for Lancashire with 56, while Ashwell Prince contributed 43 and Jordan Clark 48.By the close Gloucestershire had reached 26 for 1 in the quest for a Championship double over their visitors this season, with the in-form Michael Klinger unbeaten on 15, and a compelling contest was still in the balance.It was Miles’ day. In addition to the wickets he picked up with some disciplined bowling from the Ashley Down Road End, he produced a fine piece of fielding at mid-on to run out Prince as the batsman attempted a quick single.Miles likes playing against Lancashire. He has now claimed 24 wickets in four Championship games against them at an average of 16.70.
Lancashire began the day on 14 without loss and progressed to 93 for 2 by lunch, Miles pinning Paul Horton lbw for 6 playing no shot and forcing a misjudgement from Alviro Petersen, who looped a catch to point having reached the same score.Brown and Prince produced a solid stand of 77 either side of the interval, ended by Prince’s rash call. With the total still on 117, Steven Croft fell for a duck, leg-before to Miles pushing forward defensively.Brown moved to his second patient half-century off the match, from 161 balls, with nine fours, before edging an attempted cut off Benny Howell and offering a catch to wicketkeeper Cameron Herring, on as a substitute for the injured Gareth Roderick.James Faulkner fell for 4 to a sharp one-handed catch by Howell at cover off Matt Taylor and a 147 for 6 Lancashire led by only 145.
They were indebted to Clark and Alex Davies for adding 53 before Davies, on 28, carelessly clipped a Howell half-volley straight to Will Tavare at midwicket.Clark fell to the second new ball after a handy 65-ball innings, and Tom Bailey produced some clean striking to finish unbeaten on 27 after Glen Chapple and Kyle Jarvis had perished cheaply.Jarvis struck a quick blow as Gloucestershire began they victory bid, bowling Tavare for a duck off an inside edge as he looked to drive through the covers. But Klinger and Chris Dent saw things through to the close, with their side requiring a further 226 on the final day.

Pakistanis were bowled out for 247 on the first day of their tour game against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI, with seven wickets falling to spin

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2015Spin was the Pakistanis undoing, as they were bowled out for 247 on day one of the three-day warm up against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at Colts Cricket Ground in Colombo. Only Ahmed Shehzad and Younis Khan crossed fifty, as the visitors lost seven wickets to spin – five of them to legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay. The Board XI went to stumps at 44 for 1, after Junaid Khan had trapped Dimuth Karunaratne in front second ball.Mohammad Hafeez was lbw to right-arm seamer Nisala Tharaka in a rain-affected first session, before Azhar Ali was caught off Milinda Siriwardene’s left-arm spin to leave Pakistan at 39 for 2. Shehzad and Younis then set to work on the only substantial partnership of the innings, hitting 113 in each other’s company, for the third wicket.Younis was the more aggressive batsman, hitting three sixes and five fours to progress to 64 from 78 balls, before falling to Siriwardene himself. Vandersay then laid waste to the middle order, first having Shehzad caught for 82, before dismissing Misbah-ul-Haq soon after. Asad Shafiq was stumped off Vandersay for 27, and with Sarfraz Ahmed also having been run out, the tail provided little resistance, giving up the last four wickets for 15 runs. Vandersay finished with 5 for 73.Upul Tharanga remained unbeaten on 29 at stumps, with Kaushal Silva for company.

Birmingham moved back to the top of the North Group of the NatWest Blast – level on points with Worcestershire – after a six wicket victory over Yorkshire with eight balls to spare.

George Dobell21-Jun-2015
ScorecardRecordo Gordon’s three wickets limited Yorkshire’s total•PA Photos

Birmingham moved back to the top of the North Group of the NatWest Blast – level on points with Worcestershire – after a six wicket victory over Yorkshire with eight balls to spare. It was their 11th victory in 13 completed T20 matches. For a side about to be boosted by the arrival of Brendon McCullum, it is quite a foundation.Yorkshire never recovered from losing four wickets in the Powerplay overs. While Jack Leaning, the latest off the Yorkshire production line of talented young players, took them to something approaching a competitive total, it never looked likely to be enough. It left them seventh them in the table – they have lost four of their seven games in the competition – and facing an uphill fight to qualify for the quarter-finals.”We never really got going,” their captain Andrew Gale said afterwards. “I’m very disappointed with our batting. “I thought 160 to 165 was par on that pitch – it looked a belter at the toss – and in the end we scraped our way to 130. We never found the pace of the pitch and, when the pace was taken off the ball, we found it hard to score.”It’s so frustrating. It feels like we’re banging our heads against a brick wall. I’d rather we were bowled out for 80 trying to score 160 than make 130.”There are some mitigating factors. No club has been hit harder by England call-ups – Gary Ballance was rested form this match on the orders of the ECB – and this pitch, the same one used for Friday’s match against Leicestershire, was not the easiest. But their overseas players are struggling for form. Glenn Maxwell has passed 20 only once in six T20 matches and has not been selected for the Yorkshire side in this week’s Championship match against Nottinghamshire, while Aaron Finch, with 41 in three innings, is struggling for fluency and will also miss that game and represent the club’s second XI against Worcestershire seconds instead. “He needs red ball cricket,” Gale explained.That means that Maxwell will miss out even on second XI selection. Regulations state that only one overseas player can take part and, with Finch already included, there is simply no room for him.The most pleasing aspect of this result from a Birmingham perspective was the contribution of their younger players. With Jonathan Trott consigned to a role in the commentary box, Chris Woakes still a little way off a return from injury – he will not, as reported elsewhere, play second XI cricket this week – and Ian Bell falling in the first over of their reply, they were instead grateful for the disciplined bowling of Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Recordo Gordon and Josh Poysden.Gordon was especially impressive. Having impressed with his raw pace last year, he was obliged to remodel his action after pretty well founded suggestions that he threw his quicker ball. But months spent working with the club’s bowling coach, Alan Richardson, has reaped their rewards and here he looked an intelligent bowler with good variations, a calm head and, crucially, an unimpeachable action.Having had Alex Lees caught behind with one angled across him, he dismissed Maxwell – top-edging a pull off a cutter – first ball and came back at the death to have Leaning caught at mid-on. With his cutters, his hint of inswing and an ability to bowl a much sharper ball, he looked a handy cricketer.Poysden, a legspinner who relies more on change of pace and control than turn, also impressed in three frugal overs and claimed the memorable wicket of Finch, whose torturous innings was ended when he chopped one on to his stumps.From 36 for 4 at the end of the Powerplay, though, Yorkshire could be modestly relived by their eventual total. Leaning and Finch, who took 14 off a Keith Barker over that contained a no-ball but was generally cramped for room by the bowlers, added 43 for the fifth wicket – albeit at under a run-a-ball – before Leaning and Tim Bresnan added 39 in five overs.When Maxwell, who might be disappointed he cannot get a game for Yorkshire as a spinner, claimed both openers in his first nine balls, it seemed Birmingham might struggle. But William Porterfield looked in good form, Tim Ambrose calm and Laurie Evans explosive. Any tension there might have been was released when the 18th over of the innings, bowled by Bresnan, cost 15 and Birmingham cruised home with relative ease.With Bell also available to play in Friday’s game against Lancashire, their coach, Dougie Brown faces a tough decision over who to select and where. Ian Westwood and Sam Hain will also return from injury for the second XI this week.There were just under 9,000 at Edgbaston for the game. The club is currently standing third – behind the two London teams – in ticket sales for this year’s event. It will undoubtedly be a record years in terms of T20 attendances, but you wonder if everyone at the ECB wants this competition to work. After all, if it did, it might prove far harder to justify the changes they are keen to make.

Such is the pressure on groundsmen in an Investec Ashes series in which pitches have dominated the agenda, Warwickshire have turned to an unlikely source of inspiration ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston

Will Macpherson at Edgbaston27-Jul-2015Such is the pressure on groundsmen in an Investec Ashes series in which pitches have dominated the agenda, Warwickshire have turned to an unlikely source of inspiration ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston. Head groundsman Gary Barwell, who is preparing his first Ashes pitch, is using lights normally used for the cultivation of cannabis in the hope of preparing the perfect surface.This is not the first time the Edgbaston officials have used the hot lamps, which are borrowed free of charge from West Midlands Police after being confiscated from local cannabis growers.The hope is that the lamps help encourage grass growth and dry an outfield which has suffered heavily at the hands of the torrential rain that has swept the UK in the last week. That Edgbaston’s vast pavilion also can leave the outfield shadowed exacerbates the issues.

Wood cleared after fitness test

Mark Wood is available for selection having come through a fitness test on his ankle ahead of the third Test.
Wood, who looked jaded at Lord’s where he picked up one wicket for 132 runs in the game, underwent the test on the outfield at Edgbaston ahead of training on Monday. His ankle was heavily strapped during the second Test.
He suffered no reaction and has been cleared for availability for the match starting on Wednesday.

The pitches at Cardiff – where a Mitchell Starc delivery in the match’s first over bounced twice on the way through to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin – and Lord’s – where Australia amassed 337 for 1 on the first day – have been one of the main talking points of the series although both matches finished inside four days.Just as notable on the outfield as the teams trained on Monday was the sight of the ECB’s pitch inspector, Chris Wood, and Lord’s groundsman Mick Hunt, who has come under fire for the surface for the second Test, which Australia won by 405 runs.The lamps were handed over to the club in the winter of 2013-14, after Barwell had seen similar techniques in action while working on the staff at Notts County FC, and they have been used since in order to create pitches that suit Warwickshire’s varied attack, which contains the pace of Boyd Rankin and the spin of Jeetan Patel.Amid accusations that the ECB have ordered placid surfaces to nullify Australia’s vaunted seam attack, Starc accused England of “not knowing what they want to do” with the type of surfaces they are preparing.”We’ll find out on day one, but the way it is at the moment, I guess the quicks on both sides will be happy to see it stay the way it is,” Starc said, of a pitch that two days out was grassy, but will be well mowed ahead of the Test.From the England camp, Joe Root said: “I want to see a result pitch where we can play some good competitive cricket and put a show on.”

The ten members of the South Africa A touring party who were hospitalised for food poisoning, have been discharged and the players have been cleared fit to face Australia A tomorrow

Alagappan Muthu in Chennai10-Aug-2015The ten members of the South Africa A touring party who were hospitalised for food poisoning have been discharged, and the players have been cleared fit to play their match against Australia A.

Revised fixtures

August 12 – South Africa A v Australia A
August 13 – India A v South Africa A
August 14 – Final

That clash was to be held on Tuesday, but it is understood that even though they had recovered, the South African players wanted an extra day of rest, and so the match will instead be held on Wednesday. As a result, the final group match, between India A and South Africa A has also been pushed back by a day, to Thursday. The final will take place on Friday as originally planned.As per the original schedule, South Africa A were to play Australia A today, but a CSA press release yesterday said the squad had been “ravaged by food poisoning.”Half the side had taken ill prior to South Africa A’s game against India A on Sunday. However, the likes of Reeza Hendricks, Omphile Ramela and Mthokozisi Shehzi still had to play because the team did not even have 11 men to put on the park, and they ended up aggravating their problems. Quinton de Kock, who had only flown in to Chennai on Saturday afternoon, scored a gritty century, but he too suffered from cramps and had to be withdrawn from the field in the 32nd over of the second innings.Things were so dire that South Africa A’s video analyst Hendrikus Coertzen and India A’s Mandeep Singh had to be roped in as substitute fielders. South Africa A’s reserves list for the game included Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks, Cameron Delport, Cody Chetty and Keshav Maharaj, but only Hendricks and Maharaj came out as substitute fielders.*17:20 GMT: This story was updated following the change in fixtures

James Taylor has described Mahela Jayawardene’s knowledge as “invaluable” as England prepare to put up a better fight in the UAE

Alan Gardner03-Oct-2015For the majority of England’s young squad, the upcoming series against Pakistan in the UAE is a step into the unknown. But while they attempt to adjust to the heat and conditions in the nets at the ICC academy in Dubai, there is another new face in the group with plenty of experience to draw upon.Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka captain who is being employed as England’s batting consultant on tour, made more than 9000 of his 11814 Test runs in Asia. He is also familiar with the opposition, having played more Tests against Pakistan than any other country. Over the last four years alone, Jayawardene was involved in four Pakistan series, including two in the UAE.His appointment to a first coaching role by England was based upon his batting expertise in the subcontinent – England also have tours to India and Bangladesh in the next 18 months – and he has already been working closely with his charges. Only Alastair Cook and Ian Bell remain from the top order who were confounded by Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in 2012 and James Taylor described Jayawardene’s knowledge as “invaluable” as England prepare to put up a better fight this time.”He’s been outstanding,” Taylor said. “He’s very approachable. I’m fortunate enough to have played against him as well, so he knows me a little bit. That helps that relationship, he knows how I play.”His experience is invaluable. It’s brilliant to have him around – especially a guy who is a similar stature to me, that helps me personally as well playing spin. All the lads have spent plenty of time working on their game with him.”How England’s batsmen fare against slow bowling will be one of the key battlegrounds, with Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah lining up to emulate Ajmal and Rehman. Shah posted a timely reminder of his ability with 6 for 26 in an ODI in Harare shortly after England landed in the UAE and even Jayawardene, who retired before the legspinner’s Test debut last October, will only be able to help in general terms.Mahela Jayawardene will bring his vast experience of batting in Asia to help England’s cause•Getty Images

“I saw him in the World Cup briefly, but I haven’t seen him so much in red-ball cricket,” Taylor said of Shah, who recently became the fastest Pakistani to 50 Test wickets. “I know he’s obviously performed really well recently. It’s another challenge we’re all looking forward to.”It is three years since Taylor made his two Test appearances to date but he forced his way back into the squad via an impressive one-day series against Australia. Although it seems unlikely that he will find a route into a middle order that is set to comprise of Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, his ability against spin could see him come into contention, starting with two warm-up games against Pakistan A scheduled for next week.Taylor first won a sustained run in an England shirt on the ODI tour of Sri Lanka last winter, battling the oppressive heat and slow surfaces. He has not yet had an extended opportunity to make a case with the Test side but nimble feet and a diminutive stature are useful attributes in this part of the world – as Jayawardene can attest.”I love playing spin. It’s something I really enjoy,” Taylor said. “Obviously, there’s potentially going to be quite a lot of spin bowled out here. So I hope I do what I have previously.”It’s going to be tough conditions, but it’s a chance for me to stake a claim and try to get back in the side. We have two opportunities in the warm-up games, so it’s up to me to pull my finger out and score some runs.”I’m delighted to be back in. It’s been a long few years … But I’ve worked really hard, and I’m definitely a better player than I was in 2012.”Winning away from home has become harder than ever and, as visiting teams have found over recent years, there are few tougher propositions than taking on Pakistan in the UAE. England’s recent success has come on the back of a high tempo game played since the start of their home season but they may have to find a lower cruising speed if they are to last the distance in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.With temperatures rising to as high as 45C, the England players have taken to draping themselves in towels and wearing neckerchiefs to try and stay cool during practice. As Autumn begins to strengthen its grip back in England, it is another challenge that Taylor is willing to endure.”We’re giving it our best to get acclimatised as soon as possible,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of tough training sessions. But the boys are loving it – we’d prefer to be out here in 40 degrees than in the cold in England. Also, you get to work on your tan, which is perfect.”