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A string of drink-driving offences and a serious knee injury rocked Bracewell’s career, but Northants have given the New Zealand seamer a chance to put that behind him

David Hopps26-Jan-2018Northamptonshire have given Doug Bracewell a further opportunity to rehabilitate his cricketing career after a troubled year that included a third drink-driving offence and identified him as one of cricket’s most untamed characters.Bracewell’s career is on the up again after he was restored to the New Zealand side for an ODI against West Indies in Whangarei in December, seeking to put behind him a period in which he suffered a serious knee injury and undertook 100 hours of community service after he was found guilty of driving more than three times over the legal limit.Bracewell told Hastings Crown Court last March that he had driven home from a function when his girlfriend called him in distress after their cockatoo had been killed by dogs she was looking after for a friend.At 27, he still has the opportunity to resurrect his career and will join Northamptonshire in time for the start of the Championship season, stepping in for the veteran South African Rory Kleinveldt who will arrive in time for the start of the Steelbacks’ Royal London One Day Cup campaign in mid-May.Bracewell’s strong-willed, seam bowling style should be perfectly suited to an English spring and Northamptonshire, who have a good track record in unearthing value signings, will gamble that his gratitude for an opportunity will show through on and off the field and help them mount a second division promotion campaign.He has appeared in 27 Tests, taking 72 wickets with best figures of 9 for 60 in Hobart, leading New Zealand to their first Test win in Australia in 26 years. He also has a handy record with the bat, making 2914 runs in 82 games with a high score of 105.Head Coach David Ripley said: “Doug is highly skilled and vastly experienced, with plenty of international experience under his belt, and he will give us the additional firepower we need alongside an already high quality attacking unit. We’re delighted to be getting him over.”Bracewell responded: “It’s a great opportunity to challenge myself in different conditions and I am hoping to improve as a player but also make a difference at the club while I’m there.”Northants will be well aware that Jesse Ryder, another Kiwi with a tarnished reputation, made a great impact at Essex, contributing to the promotion of a side that then went on to win the Championship in his absence last summer.Early in his career, Bracewell twice suffered penalties after drinking incidents with Ryder. He was also ruled out of the Dunedin Test against England in 2013 when he stepped on glass while cleaning up after a house party and gashed his foot.But by going where some counties would definitely fear to tread, Northants, who have recruited shrewdly in recent years on a tight budget, have given themselves a chance of a strong start to the season.As yet there is no suggestion that Ben Duckett, who has also attracted a headline or two recently, has been appointed Bracewell’s minder. But with Northants you never can tell.

The former allrounder has worked with the team in the past after his retirement and has also coached many of New Zealand’s elite women cricketers

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2018New Zealand women have roped in former allrounder Jacob Oram as their bowling coach. Oram has accepted an 18-month contract, which will see him join the team for incoming and outgoing tours as well as training camps.Oram has worked with the team in the past after his retirement and has also coached many of New Zealand’s elite women cricketers.”I’m really excited to come on board with the White Ferns and join Haidee Tiffen’s coaching team,” Oram said. “There’s an immense amount of talent and potential in the team and I’m looking forward to working with the bowlers in particular, and seeing what improvements we can make.”Oram represented New Zealand from 2001 to 2012 and played in 229 international matches. He was one of the three shortlisted candidates for the interview and head coach Tiffen said he was appointed because of his experience with some of the present players.”Jake’s a great guy and builds strong relationships,” she said. “We’ve seen what he can do through his work with Hannah Rowe at the Central Hinds and we’re looking forward to having him with us on a full-time touring basis.”Matthew Bell, the side’s batting coach, has extended his contract until the middle of next year.”Matt’s been working with the White Ferns since 2014 and always brings great energy and knowledge to the group,” Tiffen said. “I know the batting group, especially, will be excited to see him stay on in his role.”The team currently holds a 1-0 lead in the home ODI series against West Indies in the latest round of the Women’s Championship. They are also expected to tour England later this year before the World T20 in November.”I’m really keen to spend some time with the players in camp and get an idea of how we can all improve,” Oram said. “To go to any world tournament is a real buzz and I think it will be just as exciting as a coach.”

Stuart Broad averaged over 36 with the ball in 2017, his worst year since 2010, but currently sits on 399 Test wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2018Stuart Broad has been honing his bowling action ahead of England’s Test series in New Zealand next month where he will arrive sitting on 399 wickets.In a pair of tweets posted on Tuesday, Broad explained how he was working on getting more side-on on his delivery stride. In recent times he has found it harder to move the ball away from right handers.”Working on my action to get more side on. More twist in my shoulders to get my front arm more towards the target, helping my feet align much better,” Broad wrote alongside a short video. “Walk throughs give me a great feel of how my body is moving. Some balls come out great, some horrible, but I always say try different things in training cause if something clicks for you it can help your game, no one cares if you get it wrong in the aim for improvement!”The Ashes was largely a struggle for Broad as he claimed 11 wickets at 47.72 – five of them coming in the fourth Test at Melbourne – his most expensive return in a series of more than three matches, while he finished with his worst Test figures of 0 for 142 in Perth.
Broad came in for heavy criticism after the performance in Perth, with former England captain Michael Vaughan questioning his place in the team, but responded with his best outing of the series in Melbourne.Throughout 2017, Broad found Test wickets harder to come by than previous years, finishing with 30 scalps at 36.06 – his highest average since 2010.Broad claimed his 399th Test wicket early in Australia’s first innings at the SCG last month – when he bowled Cameron Bancroft with his second delivery – but remained short of his next landmark through 29 overs as Australia amassed 649 for 7. He will become the second England bowler after new-ball partner James Anderson to reach 400 wickets.The first Test against New Zealand, a day-night match at Eden Park, starts on March 22.

Leach came close to an England call in India before it was found he needed remedial work on his bowling action but continued to be the leading spinner in the County Championship

Andrew McGlashan16-Mar-2018Legspinner Mason Crane has been ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand after being diagnosed with a stress fracture lower back with Somerset’s left-arm spinner Jack Leach called up.Crane, who was unlikely to feature in the series, felt discomfort earlier this week during training in Hamilton. He had initially been named in the squad for the first two-day warm-up match with the pink ball, and as recently as Thursday was bowling on the outfield at Seddon Park, but was sent for two scans which revealed the injury that will rule him out of the start of the domestic season for Hampshire.”The scan results have shown he has a partial stress fracture of the back, we’ve caught it relatively early so unfortunately, he’s going home,” Chris Silverwood, England’s bowling coach, said. “Like anybody would be, he’s a little bit upset he’s going home but that’s life and part and parcel of professional sport.”Leach, 26, was the standout performer on a poor tour for the Lions in West Indies, where they were beaten 3-0 in the four-day matches, with 18 wickets in the three matches convincingly out-bowling Crane. He has finally secured his first England call-up having come close in India in late 2016 only to find he needed remedial work on his bowling action.After working on his action, Leach claimed 51 wickets in Somerset’s 2017 County Championship campaign – the best haul by a spinner in the Championship – to take his tally over the last two seasons to 116 wickets, but was overlooked for the Ashes tour as England went for Crane who made his Test debut in Sydney.Crane claimed 1 for 193 in that match and then struggled on the Lions tour taking just one wicket in the first two four-day matches, in which he sent down just 26.4 overs. Stuart MacGill, the former Australia spinner who has acted as a mentor to Crane, had arrived in New Zealand on Friday to work with England’s spinners for a week.James Anderson, who suffered a serious stress fracture early in his career, offer words of encouragement. “It’s tough, especially when you have a chance on a tour like this but it happens unfortunately,” he said. “Around that age you are susceptible to those stress injuries but the advice the lads will be giving him is that he’s young, has plenty of time on his hands, is a serious talent and if he works hard I’m sure he’ll come back strongly.”Until recently England would have had another legspin option to call on but Adil Rashid announced during the limited-overs leg of this tour that he was shelving first-class cricket to focus on the white-ball, although even if he had been available it is unlikely he would have been selected.Leach will not arrive in New Zealand until early next week and it remains unlikely he will earn a Test debut in this short series unless Moeen Ali is injured.

Ian Bell had a disastrous 2017, resigning from the Warwickshire captaincy and overlooked by England for the Ashes, but he began a new season in seductive fashion

George Dobell14-Apr-2018
ScorecardIt is centuries, not 70s, that grab the attention of selectors.But on a day when only one other man could reach 30, Ian Bell provided a reminder of his considerable qualities with an innings of charm and substance to help his side to the brink of a third batting point in testing conditions. For a side that managed only 19 such points in the 2017 season – the fewest in either division – it represents a decent effort.It is, you would have thought, too late for Bell to make a return to England’s Test side. He is 36 now and, while it is probably true that he has never been satisfactorily replaced, selectors tend to look to younger men for solutions. Whoever the new head selector turns out to be – it is understood Mick Newell is in the final two and a decision will be announced in the next few days – it will probably require a barrage of three-figure scores from Bell if he is to convince them to look beyond the likes of Joe Clarke and Liam Livingstone.But context is important. And, in conditions where the ball moved in the air and off the pitch, Bell demonstrated the technique and temperament to flourish against an attack containing India’s Ishant Sharma. Tim Ambrose, who was badly missed in the slips when he had five, was the only other man to pass 25.It is easy to be seduced by Bell in such form. The cover drives he unfurled off Stuart Whittingham, a fast bowler with a hint of Dale Steyn about him, and the on drives he pushed off Ollie Robinson were the sort to have spectators purring with pleasure. And while it is true he did not hit any of his 14 boundaries off Sharma (he took six off Robinson and five off Whittingham), Bell played him off relatively comfortably. As David Wiese put it: “He looked as if he was batting on a completely different wicket.”The selectors would have loved Bell to have given them an excuse to pick him for the Ashes tour. But a campaign that produced just 596 runs (at an average of 25.91), without a century, gave them little opportunity. He did look more fluent than at any time last year, however, and will have noted the struggles of James Vince to cement a position. It might also be noted that he started the first-class season with a century – albeit against Durham MCCU – which is more than he managed last year.Ian Bell steers through the covers•Getty Images

Perhaps more pertinently, he also gave Warwickshire a strong platform in a game that, weather permitting, could yet prove intriguing. Despite all the talk of a new era at Edgbaston, it was notable that it was two men in their mid-30s who provide the bulk of the runs. Ambrose, out of form at the end of the season, also produced an innings of character against his old club, but was honest enough to admit afterwards that Bell’s innings was “a class above” anything else on show.But for Ambrose and Bell, Warwickshire would surely have struggled to register even a single bonus point. With Sharma bowling beautifully – hitting a nagging line and length and nipping the ball around – and Wiese jumping wide of the crease, angling the ball in and gaining sharp movement away, batting was desperately tough for the first half of the day. Will Rhodes shaped up nicely but edge to slip, Dominic Sibley was caught behind trying to withdraw the bat and Jonathan Trott was beaten by a beauty that drew the stroke and left him sharply. With Adam Hose playing across one, Sam Hain leaving another and Bell finally undone by one that drew the stroke but nipped away to take the edge, Warwickshire were 147 for six and in some trouble.But Sussex will kick themselves for their errors. Not only did the dropped chance – it was Harry Finch, at slip, who put down Ambrose off Wiese – prove crucial, but they donated 16 runs from no-balls and 12 from wides. In a low-scoring contest, that could prove defining. Both Chris Jordan, who helped bowl Warwickshire out for 87 here four years ago in similar conditions, and Jofra Archer, who are currently non-playing members of their IPL sides, were sorely missed.As it was, Ambrose led the way as Warwickshire added an unbroken 62 for the tenth-wicket with the obdurate Chris Wright. Now aged 35 and one of many Warwickshire men to find himself out of contract at the end of the season, this is a big year for Ambrose. But he has shown, again and again, that he relishes such situations and whoever Warwickshire bring in as his successor – they are sure to be in the market for another keeper – may face a year or two on the sidelines yet.

The ICC is looking into a media report alleging that an individual involved in preparing pitches in Galle made surfaces according to instructions from bettors

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2018Sri Lanka Cricket will cooperate fully with the ICC in its investigations into allegations of pitch-fixing in two Test matches in the past, and potentially one later this year against England.The board’s response came after TV news channel claimed that a person involved in preparing the pitches in Galle for the Tests against India in 2017 and Australia in 2016 had tailored the surfaces according to instructions from a person involved in betting. The report also alleged that the Galle pitch for the Test against England later this year would also be made to order for betting.”Mr Ashley de Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket is in contact with the CEO of the International Cricket Council Mr. David Richardson and the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit on the matter,” SLC said. “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to state that it has zero tolerance towards corruption and will take immediate action against any person involved in the alleged incident, if found guilty.”In the meantime, Sri Lanka Cricket is constantly engaged with the ICC and is following its guidelines on how to handle anti-corruption operations for the forthcoming tours in Sri Lanka.”The ICC confirmed it was investigating the report. “The ICC is aware of an investigation into corruption in cricket by a news organisation and as you would expect we will take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make very seriously,” Alex Marshall, ICC general manager Anti-Corruption Unit, said in a statement. “We have already launched an investigation working with anti-corruption colleagues from Member countries based on the limited information we have received. We have made repeated requests that all evidence and supporting materials relating to corruption in cricket is released immediately to enable us to undertake a full and comprehensive investigation.”According to another head curator in Sri Lanka, however, the individual mentioned in the Al Jazeera report is not a curator, but someone in charge of the temporary staff working at the Galle stadium and was not in charge of either of the two Test pitches specified in the report.The Al Jazeera report claimed that the individual – under instructions from the bettors – had made a batting-friendly surface for the India Test and a spin-friendly one for the Australia Test, but ESPNcricinfo can confirm the Sri Lanka team had in fact requested the actual curator for such surfaces. Additionally, Galle surfaces have often tended to be very spin-friendly, and are routinely result-oriented pitches, the last draw there having come in 2013.

Edgbaston will host the first Test of the 2019 Ashes, with England also due to play their inaugural Test against Ireland

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2018Edgbaston will host the opening match of next year’s Ashes, with Old Trafford and Headingley joining Lord’s and The Oval as the other venues for a series that will be prefaced by a historic maiden Test match against Ireland at Lord’s – a four-day match from July 24-27.The Ashes, which will follow the completion of the 2019 World Cup, be the first to be played as part of the new ICC Test Championship.The series gets underway on August 1 in Birmingham, the venue of arguably the most famous finish in Ashes history, when England beat Australia by two runs in 2005.

England’s Test schedule 2019

Lord’s, July 24-27, Only Test, Ireland
Edgbaston, August 1-5, 1st Test, Australia
Lord’s, August 14-18, 2nd Test, Australia
Headingley, August 22-26, 3rd Test, Australia
Old Trafford, Sept 4-8, 4th Test, Australia
The Oval, Sept 12-16, 5th Test, Australia

After a week’s break, the teams will then move to Lord’s for the second Test, beginning on August 14, before heading north to Headingley – which by then will have been fully refurbished following the rebuilding of the new Football Stand – for the third Test on August 22-26.Old Trafford will host the fourth Test from September 4-8 – the ground’s first Ashes Test since 2013 – before the series is wrapped up at The Oval from September 12-16.There is, as expected, no Ashes Test allocated to arguably Australia’s least favourite venue in England – Trent Bridge, where they succumbed to 60 all out on the first morning of the 2015 Ashes, and where they have lost each of their last three Tests dating back to 2005.”Next summer’s schedule – with an ICC Cricket World Cup and an Ashes Series at its heart – is truly a season to savour for cricket fans of all ages, nationalities and cultures,” said Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive.”It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to build an even bigger following for all formats of the game.”There is nothing more important to England cricket fans than an Ashes Series. With the added element of being England’s first Test series in the new World Test Championship, it’s a hugely exciting prospect and we anticipate unprecedented demand for tickets.”We would love to see fans from all over the world getting to experience the unique atmosphere of an Ashes Test match after the ICC Cricket World Cup.”On the prospect of a maiden Test match against Ireland, who played their inaugural match against Pakistan at Malahide in May, Harrison added:”We fully supported the ICC’s decision to award Full Membership to Cricket Ireland and we expect next summer’s inaugural Test Match at Lord’s against our neighbours to be an historic celebration for all Irish cricket fans.”It will also provide excellent Ashes preparation for England against an Irish team whose impressive performance against Pakistan earlier this year showed they can compete strongly in this form of the game.”England’s schedule is completed by a five-ODI and one T20 series against Pakistan in May, which will serve as a warm-up for England’s World Cup campaign, which begins with an opening fixture against South Africa at The Oval on May 30.

Eyeing a return for Tests against Pakistan in October, the 25-year old said he had taken time to consider how sustainable it was for him to turn out for Australia across the three formats

Daniel Brettig09-Jul-2018As he plots a path towards fitness for Australia’s Test appointment with Pakistan in October, Pat Cummins has admitted to pondering whether it is possible for fast bowlers to maintain a place in the national team’s plans across all formats, following a 15-month stretch in which only Kagiso Rabada bowled more overs in international cricket.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Cummins (back), Josh Hazlewood (back) and Mitchell Starc (right leg) are all at varying points of their rehabilitation stress-related injuries picked up towards the end of last summer, with recent results in England and Zimbabwe showing how much the “big three” are missed. After early injuries and then careful preparation to ensure he reached fast bowling maturity without chronic problems, Cummins said he had taken time to consider how sustainable it was for him to turn out for Australia across all three formats.There will be a hefty ODI emphasis for Australia over the next 12 months, with series against South Africa, Pakistan and India ahead of the World Cup in England. But there are also two Tests in the UAE and six at home against India and Sri Lanka, before the rapid transition from the knockout stages of the World Cup to an Ashes tour of England. Cummins, 25, reckoned it’s going to be “really hard” for him and his pace bowling colleagues to do it all. Having not played a T20 match for Australia since February last year, the shortest format appears to be the sacrificial one.”I think it’s really hard. Especially for Australian bowlers it seems like our Test matches always go for basically the full five days and the bowlers are bowling lots of overs,” Cummins told ESPNcricinfo. “I think certain tours, like India last year, in some games the pace bowlers didn’t bowl heaps of overs, Bangladesh the same. I feel like the Australian summer is pretty brutal, there’s lots of pretty flat wickets, hard wickets and it’s a lot of bowling.”It’s about finding that balance, you want to play as much as you can, you also need to keep bowling, you can’t just play a game and have a few weeks off. I’d love to play every single game for Australia, but realistically I think you get up for the Test matches and then make sure you’re 100% for the ODIs and then taking one series at a time. You’re making sure you’re 100% right to go but knowing if you’re not, it’s not worth it. There’s so much other cricket and so many other guys that are banging down the door, you can’t play unless you’re 100% right to go.”What may change for Cummins is a pivot from 50-over matches to T20Is, after next year’s World Cup but before the World T20 hosted by Australia in 2020. “I know for example this year we’re playing a lot more ODIs leading into the World Cup and therefore the schedule allows us to really put an emphasis on that and play lots of ODI cricket leading into the World Cup,” Cummins said.”I know Pat Howard, one of his big things talking about the schedule is trying to give us the best opportunity to perform in those big tournaments leading up. I’m sure for the T20 World Cup we’ll have the same, a bit more time where the T20 side can really play together, work out their combinations and have a good run in. Even now we’ve seen this tour [of England and Zimbabwe], its good there’s a big chunk of T20 cricket, getting five games in a few weeks with one team, one coaching staff all together. Hopefully we’ll see a bit more of that.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The amount of cricket Cummins played, starting with the limited overs portion of the 2016-17 summer, then tours of India, Bangladesh, the home Ashes and limited-overs series, and then a traumatic tour of South Africa, dwarfed all his previous international experience. Having played one Test in six years, he then played 13 in a row. Mentally, Cummins said this made a huge difference in terms of feeling like he had a strong record to call on, rather than “faking” the confidence of a young fast bowler.Alongside Starc and Hazlewood, Cummins is on course to return to bowling by the end of July, then building gradually towards a level of fitness and confidence that will be hardy enough to withstand the likely challenge of flat pitches and scorching temperatures in the UAE, where Pakistan trounced the Australians on their previous Test tour in 2014.”We’re still hoping to make the UAE,” Cummins said. “Hoff and Starcy and I are all on a pretty similar programme, we’re all hoping to start bowling by the end of July and that’ll give us a two or three-month lead-in to the Tests. We’re all on track for that, just got to get a final scan in a few weeks and get the final sign-off that my back’s alright.”It’s one of those weird injuries in that you feel fine and I’m pain-free, don’t feel my back at all, but you’re basically dictated by a scan because it’s bone and a bit of a waiting game. You can try and rehab everything around it as much as you like, but you’ve just got to wait for it to be right. Still hoping to start bowling by the end of the month and be right for the UAE.”A Test match is brutal, especially over somewhere like there, it’s high intensity and you can be out in the field for a few days at a time, so it’s not a matter of getting right and then starting to bowl and playing a couple of weeks later, you do need a good two or three months of build-up. A nice gradual build-up and then be flat out to go is the plan. You’ve always got to be pretty careful with it.”

The allrounder explains Sri Lanka’s odd but effective bowling plan which helped them squeeze out a three-run victory over South Africa

Andrew Fidel Fernando 09-Aug-2018With six overs left in the rain-hit fourth ODI, the ball was wet, and South Africa were ahead of the game, with 43 runs to get, and five wickets in hand. So what did Sri Lanka do? They bowled as if they were playing a Test.It sounds like an odd move, but in the situation, it turned out to be an inspired one. South Africa had David Miller – one of the cleanest strikers in the world – at the crease, and another batsman to come. Yet they could muster no more than 39 from those 36 deliveries, as Sri Lanka claimed four wickets and squeezed the visitors out in Pallekele.Suranga Lakmal’s final over was delivered with an especially unusual limited-overs field. Sri Lanka had six men on the off side and only three on the leg. Lakmal dared Miller to hit across the line, and bowled him with a cutter. His death-bowling partner, Thisara Perera, explained how the senior players had hatched this Test-match plan on the fly.”In the 15th and 16th overs, we realised that the ball was swinging from one end,” Thisara said. “The ball was still new. So we decided to bowl wicket-to-wicket from that end, and it’s not easy to bat when you bowl like that. We noticed that in our innings as well. So we planned to stick to that line as fast bowlers because they [the batsmen] then have to take the risk to try and hit over the field. What we did in the last few overs was to forget about yorkers, and try to bowl a Test-match line and length. That’s what worked out for us.””The bowling had to be good because 190 [191] is a very easy target given the wet conditions, especially after they had hit 21 in the first two overs. But somehow we won.”That South Africa were even chasing as many as 191 from their 21 overs was thanks in large part to a breakneck seventh-wicket stand between Thisara and Dasun Shanaka earlier in the evening. The pair came together with the score on 195 for 6, with just under 12 overs remaining. But instead of knuckling down to ensure Sri Lanka batted out the full 39 overs, they soon began to attack, hitting seven sixes and seven fours between them. Their partnership of 109 was Sri Lanka’s best of the series, and came from only 67 deliveries.”As soon as Dasun came, I told him that we shouldn’t stop playing our shots,” Thisara said. “We are both positive batsmen. We planned three overs by three overs at the start. And then after a while, we realised that we were seeing the ball well. So we decided on a target of 280, but we both batted well. Dasun was especially good at hitting boundaries, so we were able to pass 300. A 100-run partnership is not easy, because their bowlers were bowling well and we had lost six wickets already. But as soon as Dasun came, I told him let’s try and hit straight in the first few overs and get ourselves set, and then see after that.”Shanaka provided the better hand in the partnership, hitting 65 off 34 balls, while Thisara made 51 off 45. It was an especially important innings for Shanaka, who had not played an ODI since November 2016. This knock may go some way towards convincing the Sri Lanka selectors that he should be part of their World Cup plans.”Actually what I had wanted to do was to support Thisara, because he is the best death-overs batsman in Sri Lanka – he can hit a six at any time,” Shanaka said of his knock. “I wanted to stay with him till the end and play that supporting role. When he started batting well, I got a few loose balls. When they tried to bowl short at him, they also bowled short at me, so I was able to hit sixes.”

The former captain picked up a serious Achilles injury while shooting a commercial

Daniel Brettig07-Sep-2018Ricky Ponting will miss the Twenty20 leg of Australia’s UAE tour against Pakistan and his medium-term future in the head coach Justin Langer’s plans has been placed under a cloud after he suffered a serious Achilles injury while shooting a commercial.Considered one of Langer’s closest confidantes, Ponting and his management team have had a long-term dialogue with Cricket Australia about how he is to best serve the national team while also juggling a host of other corporate and broadcasting commitments post retirement.While he had previously worked with Australia’s T20 team with some success and was also involved with the team on their ODI tour to the UK earlier this year, discussions about whether Ponting would be going to the UAE were still taking place when he suffered an Achilles tear kicking a football during a shoot for one of his sponsors.Having undergone surgery to repair the tear last week, Ponting’s mobility will be restricted for three to six months, making it difficult for him to fulfil the sort of assistant coaching roles Langer had envisaged for him whenever available. Nevertheless, CA and Ponting will continue to discuss ways of involving him in the Australian team set-up.The injury is not expected to interfere with Ponting’s new role as Channel Seven’s biggest commentary signing for their free-to-air coverage of Australian cricket this summer, which commences with the first Test against India in Adelaide in early December.The unavailability of Ponting is a blow to the developing coaching tenure of Langer, though, given the pair’s closeness. Langer spoke recently of how the magnitude of the job – rehabilitating Australian cricket after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal and amid two concurrent reviews into the culture of the team and CA – was keeping him awake at night, and that he needed to know who he trusted.”It’s the first time in my adult life I’ve woken up in the middle of the night,” he told . “I did it a few times in England. I’ve done it a few times since I’ve been home. It’s bizarre but hopefully as I start getting my feet under the table and I start knowing who I trust around my new team of people at Cricket Australia, hopefully I start sleeping better.”Certainly I’m gaining greater clarity in the foundations of what we are trying to achieve in the team for the next few years. I’m getting clarity about leadership. My huge focus is organic leadership and it can’t just be about the title C or VC, it’s got to be about developing these young blokes.”If I leave this role and there’s probably six or seven guys who you could make captain tomorrow then I reckon I’ve done a pretty good job because if we do that … then not only will we be playing good cricket and I reckon the Australian public will be proud of us again, we’ll have earned respect and there will be plenty of heroes out there for Australian kids, and that’s the way it’s always been in Australian cricket.”The support staff Langer takes with him to the UAE will be largely unchanged from the group that his predecessor Darren Lehmann took on the fateful trip to South Africa, with David Saker as assistant and bowling coach, Graeme Hick as batting coach and Brad Haddin as fielding coach. All are under contract until the end of the 2019 Ashes in England.Cricket Australia declined to comment.