Mumbai have all but sealed a place in the top two after maintaining a clean sheet at home

The Report by Sidharth Monga15-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
On a slightly surreal night, Rahul Dravid lost his cool and shouted at the umpire, Kieron Pollard mocked Shane Watson so much he made him leave the dugout and go into the dressing room, Pollard was run out for the first time in the IPL, Mumbai Indians scored just 34 in the last five overs, but their bowling might won them the match comfortably and all but sealed a place in the top two. Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings now have one more win than Rajasthan Royals, and also a higher net run rate accumulated over 15 matches, which will take some doing to overcome.Mumbai might not have finished their innings well despite 59 off 37 balls from Aditya Tare, who had replaced the injured Sachin Tendulkar, but it was their start with the ball that eventually sealed the game. Two wickets each from Mitchell Johnson and Dhawal Kulkarni reduced Royals to their worst Powerplay score of all time: 29 for 4. Watson wasn’t one of those wickets, but he top-edged a Pragyan Ojha long hop before he could cause much damage.Royals were 58 for 5 in the 10th over when Watson fell but Brad Hodge, held back to No. 8, and Stuart Binny tried to put the chase on track, and even brought the equation down to 38 off three overs. However, Lasith Malinga bowled two of those overs and he went for five and eight in them.Royals could claim similar success with their bowling towards the end of the first innings, but the start wasn’t that good. Mumbai opened with the new pair of Tare and Glenn Maxwell, who weren’t pretty but were effective. After Maxwell for 23 off 17, Tare took over and went after all Royals bowlers without discrimination. However, he was only 24 off 15 when Dravid dropped a catch at short midwicket. He rubbed it in by pulling Binny over Dravid’s head next ball.When he finally fell, at 108 for 3 in the 13th over, Tare had set Mumbai up for possibly a score of 200. Some superb fielding and canny bowling from Royals, including Pollard’s run-out by Kevon Cooper and James Faulkner’s last two overs for just 11 runs, kept Mumbai down, but not for long.Having recovered from his poor game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Johnson was creating breakthroughs at the top. In the first over, he might have got Dravid caught at the wicket without the edge, but it was a sharp bouncer nonetheless. Royals continued holding Watson back, and Mumbai kept running through the rest.When Watson finally arrived, Pollard started talking to him immediately. While Watson seemed furious, Pollard seemed to be laughing almost mockingly. Watson hadn’t even faced a ball. The umpires had to tell Pollard off, but he eventually had the final mock when Watson – under the pressure of falling wickets and rising asking rate – mis-hit Ojha to Pollard. After celebrating wildly, Pollard went to his boundary post and seemed to have another conversation with Watson, who sat in the dugout behind him.Eventually, Watson left the place in disgust, and finally Hodge got to bat when Royals lost another wicket. Royals needed 79 from 43 when he came in, but he and Binny brought the target down with sensible hitting. Hodge hit Ojha for four fours in the 16th over, which included a drop by Ambati Rayudu, but Malinga ensured Mumbai’s clean sheet at home.

New Zealand have accepted they must manage the later stages of Daniel Vettori’s career with care after he was ruled out of the Headingley Test

David Hopps23-May-2013Daniel Vettori’s distinguished Test career is not about to be “swept away”, in the words of his captain Brendon McCullum, but even as he returns to fitness New Zealand have accepted they must manage the later stages of his career with care after reluctantly ruling him out of the second Test against England at Headingley.Vettori was enthusiastic enough to jump on a plane and travel around the world to try to bail out New Zealand but not fit enough to play. He has sat on the bench throughout the 2013 IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore and now, eight months after his last New Zealand appearance at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, New Zealand are facing up to the fact that, at 34, his workload will never be the same again.”It’s something we’re going to have to discuss down the track,” McCullum admitted. “It’s going to be a rolling conversation that we need to have with Dan as to what he needs to prioritise with where he’s at in his career.”It would be nice to think that he’d be able to play every game in all three forms but it’s not realistic. I certainly see a place for him in the team. It would be silly for us to sweep away 112 Test matches, nearly 400 wickets and six Test centuries.”He jumped on a plane as soon as he got the phone call. He’s a great guy to have around, a tremendous player and he’s always keen to help out the NZ cricket team. But he didn’t scrub up that well today and the confidence to go into a five-day game with the workload he’s had was just a bridge too far.”It was a very rational decision from all of us on Dan. He wasn’t quite confident he’d be able to get through the entire five days and he didn’t want to let the team down.”McCullum was honest enough to admit that the wish to protect Vettori’s fitness for the Champions Trophy influenced their decision. When it comes to surviving a five-day Test, there is no substitute for match practice, especially if that substitute is in an inactive series at the IPL and a lifestyle based upon lightweight training sessions, internal flights and a room service menu.”I guess that was one of the things we looked at as well,” McCullum said. “In terms of his playing opportunity in this game, would we sacrifice the coming few weeks? That wasn’t the right thing for Dan or for us.”

Lancashire extended their winning run in the Yorkshire Bank 40 to three matches
with a routine seven-wicket win against Scotland at Old Trafford

18-Jun-2013
ScorecardAshwell Prince made an unbeaten 98 as Lancashire cruised home•Getty Images

Lancashire extended their winning run in the Yorkshire Bank 40 to three matches
with a routine seven-wicket win against Scotland at Old Trafford. The Lightning have shot up the Group B table with wins against Surrey, Essex
and now the Saltires, who were restricted to 217 for 9 after electing to bat
first.Although the visitors’ total was much improved on their 91 all out against
Durham on Sunday, they will rue the loss of six wickets for 24 runs in 27 balls
inside the last five overs of their innings as they slipped from 191 for 3
in the 36th over.Ashwell Prince top-scored with 98 not out off 102 balls with seven fours and
two sixes to anchor the reply, while Stephen Moore’s 53 represented his first
half century in any form of first-team cricket since last August. Lancashire
won with 21 balls to spare.Scotland, who have now lost seven matches in a row, looked on course for a
target in the region of 250 ahead of the last five overs of the innings. Opener Freddie Coleman top-scored with 63 off 70 balls, Calum MacLeod added 55
off 70 and captain Preston Mommsen chipped in with 46 off 38.Coleman and MacLeod had put their side in a healthy position with a
third-wicket partnership of 90 inside 17 overs to take the score from 57 for 2
in the 12th over to 147 for three in the 29th. But Wayne White led the way for the Lightning with 4 for 38 from eight
overs, including the wickets of Mommsen and Moneeb Iqbal in the space of five
balls in the 38th over. Five of Scotland’s wickets fell to catches off the top
edge.Prince and Moore then got Lancashire’s reply off to a commanding start with an
opening stand of 105 inside 17 overs, their highest of the season so far. The pair hit offspinner Majid Haq for straight sixes towards the new pavilion
before legspinner Iqbal trapped Moore lbw and had captain Steven Croft caught
at square-leg to leave the score at 117 for 2 in the 19th over.Mommsen later took a stunning one-handed catch having turned to run towards the
point boundary to help Haq get rid of Karl Brown but Prince eased
Lancashire home ahead of the break for Twenty20.

Pakistan will host Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between December 2013 and January 2014 for a bilateral series that includes three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2013Pakistan will host Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between December 2013 and January 2014 for a bilateral series that includes three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s. The series, the second bilateral contest between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the UAE, will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.The T20s and ODIs have been scheduled before the Tests. The T20s will be played on December 11 and 13 in Dubai, while Sharjah will host the first ODI on December 18. The last two ODIs will be played in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan will take on Afghanistan in a T20 match before the start of the Sri Lanka series, although the venue for the match has not yet been announced.The first Test has been scheduled for December 31 in Dubai, while Abu Dhabi and Sharjah will host the second and third Tests, from January 8 and January 16.”The tour itinerary has been approved after consultation between Pakistan Cricket Board and its counterpart Sri Lanka,” the PCB said in a statementSince the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, Pakistan have been forced to play their home series overseas, with UAE being the preferred venue. The last time the two sides played in the UAE in 2011, Pakistan won the ODIs 4-1 and won the Test and T20 series 1-0. Pakistan enjoyed little success on their tour of Sri Lanka in June and July 2012 – the last bilateral series between the teams – losing the Tests (1-0) and ODIs (3-1), while the T20 series was tied.Fixtures
1st T20I: December 11, Dubai
2nd T20I: December 13, Dubai
1st ODI: December 18, Sharjah
2nd ODI: December 20, Dubai
3rd ODI: December 22, Sharjah
4th ODI: December 25, Abu Dhabi
5th ODI: December 27, Abu Dhabi
1st Test: December 31-January 4, Dubai
2nd Test: January 8-12, Abu Dhabi
3rd Test: January 16-20, Sharjah

A ninth-wicket partnership between Keith Barker and Jeetan Patel gave Warwickshire the momentum, which they maintained by reducing Yorkshire to 148 for 7

Jon Culley at Headingley04-Aug-2013
ScorecardChris Woakes took four wickets to take his match tally to seven•Getty Images

Andrew Gale’s disappointment at letting a strong position slip away to hand Warwickshire the chance to claim a third straight win would have been felt more sharply had events elsewhere not favoured Yorkshire. Derbyshire’s surprise win at Hove guarantees his side stay top, while Durham’s defeat at Lord’s leaves the title rival whose results were concerning them most with some ground to make up. Moreover, he left the ground in steady rain, which he will not have minded at all if it is a foretaste of what lies ahead on the final day.Even so, it had been a poor day compared with the opening two, beginning with a sloppy opening session for which Gale could offer no excuse, not least because he was guilty of one of two bad drops that enabled Jeetan Patel to score 63 when he should have been out on 37 or 42. Jack Brooks spilled the first chance, on the square leg boundary, and Gales the second, at short midwicket. Adil Rashid, the legspinner, was the bowler feeling the pain.Those chances came during a stand of 99 between Patel and Keith Barker, who played some fine cricket shots in making 49 and felt he was unlucky to be given run out as he came back for a second to a firm stroke through cover off Rashid retrieved by Brooks. Patel, with less finesse, hit 10 fours and a six over long-on off Ryan Sidebottom that gave Warwickshire an unexpected lead.It was the kind of turnaround that gives one side a fillip and creates uncertainty for the other and it was no surprise in that respect that the eight overs Yorkshire had to negotiate before lunch brought more problems as Chris Woakes removed both their openers. Alex Lees, failing to move his feet, edged to third slip before Adam Lyth, playing across a full length ball, was leg-before.Yorkshire fought back after lunch, Gale seeking to make amends for his drop and Gary Ballance continuing to enjoy his run of form. They added 76 before Gale, trying to adjust to extra bounce, fended a ball from Boyd Rankin that looped to William Porterfield at gully.Yet more wastefulness followed as Rashid, whose early season form with the bat seems to have deserted him, fell to a poor attempted hook and Azeem Rafiq – batting despite a damaged wrist – was caught off bat and pad. When Ballance was bowled by a full-length ball from Woakes off an inside edge, Warwickshire were again firmly in control. Woakes then had Liam Plunkett caught behind – much to the obvious anger of the batsman, who was adamant he had not hit the ball – to finish the day with 4 for 31.When bad light and then rain curtailed play early, Yorkshire’s advantage looked dangerously small at 141, raising the prospect that Warwickshire might need less than half a day to forge a path to victory, should the weather be kind to them. If they pull it off, the gap between themselves and Yorkshire will be 21 points.”We were not at our best this morning, it was uncharacteristic,” Gale said afterwards. “We missed a couple of easy chances, my own included, and we did not bowl well enough, and we probably took a bit of that into our batting.”It would have been nice to be four or five down rather than seven but if we can get anything over 200 I think it will be game on tomorrow. And if there is rain about, results elsewhere have gone for us and it might be one of those days you look back on and think that things have gone our way even though we didn’t play well.”

Test victories do not come easy for an underdog striving to cause an upset, and Younis Khan capitalised on his reprieves to bury Zimbabwe’s chances with his fourth double-century

The Report by George Binoy06-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan and Adnan Akmal steered Pakistan out of trouble with a century stand•AFP

Margins of error are miniscule for an underdog striving to cause an upset in a Test, and Younis Khan capitalised on his reprieves to bury Zimbabwe’s chances with his fourth double-century. He set the hosts the challenge of making their highest total in the fourth innings, in a little over three sessions, on a wearing pitch, against an attack led by Saeed Ajmal. Battling for a draw, the more realistic objective, was demanding in itself.Zimbabwe had hope at the start of the day. Pakistan were 90 ahead and four down, and Tendai Chatara bowled Asad Shafiq in the first over. Another wicket in the next few overs would have exposed Pakistan’s tail just around when the second new ball was available. Younis, however, found reliable company in Adnan Akmal, whose career-best 64 was the larger contribution in their 118-run partnership that swung the Test.Zimbabwe had an early opportunity too, but they were left wondering what could have been if only they had taken it. On 83, in the first half-hour, off the first ball of the 76th over bowled by Hamilton Masakadza, Younis slashed and edged. Tino Mawoyo was not low enough at first slip, and the ball scurried between his legs.There were no more chances in the first session. The new ball was given to Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara, and though they were disciplined, the pitch was placid and there were no alarms barring the odd delivery that held its line to beat Akmal’s bat.Younis slowed down against the new ball, and he eventually brought up his century by flicking the last delivery of the 85th over to the boundary. He did not play another rash shot but soon began to score more briskly, while Akmal broke stretches of defence with the occasional boundary, including a reverse sweep.Zimbabwe did not go to pieces but the bite in their bowling was not as sharp and run-scoring was largely risk-free. At the end of the first session, Pakistan were ahead by180 and Zimbabwe had only one wicket to show for their morning’s effort.After the break, Younis and Akmal remained content with blocking. The first ten overs post lunch produced only nine runs and during that time Younis, on 117, slashed at Hamilton Masakadza once again, and once again he was dropped, this time by Malcolm Waller at gully. Pakistan’s lead had not yet got out of hand, but Younis ensured it did.Akmal brought up his third Test half-century and made 64, a personal best. He struck the first boundary of the second session, pulling Hamilton Masakadza, only in the 111th over. Younis, meanwhile, scored only three runs in the first hour but if his slow strike-rate was bothering him, there was no evidence of it. The key player in keeping the scoring down was Panyangara, who finished the innings with 14 maidens in 30 overs.The wicket, when it finally came, was via a run-out. No other mode of dismissal seemed likely and even this error was out of the blue. Both batsmen were guilty of ball-watching after Akmal played to deep point and turned for the second without looking at his partner. The partnership had taken the lead beyond 200.Pakistan had only scored 51 between lunch and tea and so when four wickets fell in a clutch – three to Prosper Utseya – Zimbabwe could have limited their target to around 250. Their bowlers, however, were tiring and Younis, batting with the last man Rahat Ali, began to open up. After passing 150, he began to slog sweep to the boundary and play the reverse of that shot too. And once he realised Rahat was making clean contact, striking several blows to and over the boundary, he didn’t bother with farming strike.The question remained about when Pakistan would declare and the longer they left it the more likely it seemed that Younis would be given the chance to score a double-hundred. Eventually, with ten overs remaining, Misbah-ul-Haq signalled from the dressing room that he had one more over. Three balls later Younis mowed one over the midwicket boundary and left the field with arms raised in triumph. His last-wicket stand of 88 with Rahat had set Zimbabwe a target of 342.The day, which had begun so promisingly, got worse for Zimbabwe. Their openers survived seven of the remaining eight overs unscathed but Saeed Ajmal spun one into Tino Mawoyo’s pads, trapping him plumb in front. Ajmal now has eight wickets in the Test, and has nine more tomorrow from which he can swell his tally.

After losing the first unofficial Test to West Indies A in Mysore, India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara admitted that his decision to bowl first had backfired

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2013After losing the first unofficial Test to West Indies A in Mysore, India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara admitted that his decision to bowl first had backfired. The match was dominated by the West Indies spinners who exploited a slow pitch and shared 19 wickets between them to bowl out the hosts for 152 on the final day to win by 162 runs.India went in with three seamers – Mohammad Shami, Ishwar Pandey and Ashok Dinda – but the conditions didn’t assist them as expected. West Indies picked only two specialist seamers but the bulk of the bowling was done by the spinners Nikita Miller, Veerasammy Permaul and the part-timer Narsingh Deonarine.”We went in with three pacers and found nothing in the pitch for them, not even reverse swing,” Pujara said. “Personally, I thought we should have batted on winning the toss. Opting to bowl was a mistake.”The seamers picked only two wickets in the first innings, but the offspinner Parvez Rasool was the most effective bowler, bowling 45 overs for a five-wicket haul. West Indies piled on 429 and India in response conceded a lead of 184. West Indies batted again and set India a target of 315 to chase on the final day, but the hosts’ batting faltered again to spin. Pujara said the plan was to go for a win.”If we had wickets in hand we could have chased the target,” he said. “We needed a very good start for that. But we lost three wickets before lunch. Later, as the ball became older, it was tougher to bat.”Manpreet Juneja was the only Indian batsman to impress in both innings, with scores of 84 and 70 and Pujara praised him for his application on a tough wicket. “He batted really well, given the kind of wicket he was batting on. He has a lot of talent and I think he has a good future.”West Indies A captain Kirk Edwards praised his side for a “clinical” performance with a special mention to his spinners. The left-arm spin duo of Permaul and Miller took five-wicket hauls in the first and second innings respectively, the latter bowling 36.4 overs in the final day and conceding only 40.”Miller was top class. Every time I called on him he responded in a positive way,” Edwards said. “He delivered in the first innings and when I asked him to use the new ball in the second innings he responded as well. He’s one of the most experienced members of the team and he stepped up with the bat in the first innings and with the ball both times when we bowled.”Permaul is a very confident player and is always relaxed. He helps to take the pressure off his team-mates and keep the pressure on the opposition, as we saw on both occasions when we bowled. He has played at the highest level before and is showing the benefits.”The teams head to Shimoga for the second unofficial Test starting on Wednesday.

Imrul Kayes believes Bangladesh will need a “bigger comeback” than the one they made in Khulna if they are to save the second Test against Pakistan

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur07-May-2015Imrul Kayes believes Bangladesh will need a “bigger comeback” than the one they made in Khulna if they are to save the second Test against Pakistan. Imrul made a rapid 32 after the visitors declared on 557 for 7 at the stroke of tea on the second day, but failed to build on it, as Bangladesh slumped to 107 for 5.”As a top order we failed in this innings but we still have the second innings,” Imrul said. “We came into a good position after being on the back-foot in the last match. If we can get set in the second innings, it will be an even bigger comeback.”Two of us took the team to a good position in the last match, from a similar position. We have Soumya Sarkar to come and Shakib Al Hasan still at the crease. I think if we have set batsmen in the middle, like Shakib is a big player. If he and Soumya can put together a good partnership, we can reach a good position.”Earlier this week, in the first Test in Khulna, Bangladesh came back from a 296-run first-innings deficit to post 555 for 6 by batting out the last five sessions of the game comfortably. Apart from helping Bangladesh to their highest ever second-innings score, Imrul and Tamim added 312 runs for the opening partnership, breaking a 55-year old record for the highest first-wicket stand in the second innings of a Test.Imrul, having scored 150 in Khulna after keeping wickets for 120 overs, has reasons to be confident of another such comeback. But in Dhaka, the hosts are currently still 450 runs adrift of Pakistan, and 250 runs short of the follow-on mark with three days remaining in the game.Imrul said Bangladesh were looking to reach at least 358 before going any further. He felt that the discipline of Pakistan’s attack, who bowled slightly wide of the wicket, lured the Bangladesh batsmen into playing shots and giving away their wickets.”Our first target will be to avoid the follow-on and take it from there. They bowled well and with discipline. The match situation would have been different had it not been the umpire’s call in Tamim’s dismissal. But we can’t do anything about what has happened. We just have to look forward.”We were not batting in a hurry. We played our shots as they were bowling away from the body. It wasn’t that there was a lot of good balls, there were some. It is nothing more than that. They bowled well in Khulna. They bowled well here too but we got out and put ourselves under pressure. The batsmen try to take responsibility, but it doesn’t always come off.”The questions in the press conference on Thursday, however, hovered back to the start of the Test match and Mushfiqur Rahim’s decision to bowl first with just two seamers. Imrul felt that despite the bad luck associated with Shahadat Hossain’s injury, Soumya Sarkar did a decent role as the second fast bowler. He added that any captain will end up using a lot of bowlers if one of his specialists goes missing from the attack.”We have an experienced captain who understands the game well. We have coaches and a team management. There was something in the wicket on the first day. It was our bad luck that (Shahadat Hossain) Rajib got injured. We were playing with three pace bowlers. We had two catches taken which were eventually no-balls. If we could have properly used the conditions, they wouldn’t have scored so many runs.”The team selection is made with a plan in mind. A captain is in trouble if one of his bowlers can’t bowl any more from such an early stage. He has to make up the bowling attack in that injured bowler’s place. If our top bowlers had done a better job, there wouldn’t have been any need of the others. Soumya did his job as a bowler. He would have been the third seamer had Shahadat been able to bowl. I think the decision (to pick two front-line seamers) was taken to extend the batting line-up.”

James Faulkner’s afternoon hat-trick helped Lancashire dominate the opening day of their Second Division championship match against Leicestershire at Old Trafford

ECB/PA14-Jun-2015
ScorecardJames Faulkner took Lancashire’s first Championship hat-trick for 12 years [file picture]•Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

James Faulkner’s afternoon hat-trick helped Lancashire dominate the opening day of their Second Division championship match against Leicestershire at Old Trafford.Faulkner became the 29th Red Rose player to achieve the feat in first-class cricket and the first since James Anderson against Essex on the same ground in 2003 as the visitors were bowled out for 207 in 50 overs.Left-arm seamer Faulkner had Ben Raine caught at point with the last ball of the 43rd over and Jigar Naik and Charlie Shreck lbw with the first two balls of the 45th, finishing with 3 for 53 from 15 overs.Faulkner, who missed out on a hat-trick in the recent one-day World Cup semi-final against India, is not the first Australian to take a hat-trick for Lancashire, with fellow Tasmanian Ted McDonald taking the last of his three for the county in 1930.”I didn’t know until I was walking back to my mark after the second wicket and the umpire told me I was on a hat-trick,” Faulkner said. “The rest of the boys didn’t know either. The first wicket was a wide half-volley – probably the worst ball of my spell. It wasn’t a great ball, and you take them any way you can.”Tom Bailey also claimed 4 for 69 from 20 for the Division Two leaders, who lost the toss, as they reduced the visitors to 78 for 5 before lunch.Forty four overs were lost to the weather, including 42 to bad light. Lancashire did not get the chance to start their reply.Former Lancashire batsman Andrea Agathangelou was the only Leicester batsman to make it beyond 30 as his composed 54 off 66 balls frustrated the hosts either side of lunch. He shared 87 inside 21 overs for the sixth with Raine, who made 26.Agathangelou played 21 first-class matches during his four-year stay in Manchester between 2011 and 2014, scoring two fifties and one hundred – against Hampshire at Southampton in 2013. But this was his maiden first-class fifty on his ground.Bailey and Kyle Jarvis shared five morning wickets as Leicester failed to capitalise on winning the toss against a Lancashire side including spinners Simon Kerrigan and Arron Lilley.Jarvis, who later picked up his 50th Championship wicket of the season, got openers Niall O’Brien and Angus Robson caught behind. Bailey had Ned Eckersley caught at first slip, Umar Akmal caught behind and Mark Cosgrove lbw. His fourth wicket was that of Agathangelou, caught behind to leave the score at 165 for six in the 38th over.Jarvis then picked up his 50th wicket to wrap up the innings in the early stages of the evening when he had Atif Sheikh caught behind by Alex Davies, his fifth victim behind the stumps.

Chris Lewis has been released from prison in Surrey after serving six years of a 13-year sentence for drug smuggling

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-20159:25

‘I made the wrong choices’ – Lewis

Chris Lewis, the former England allrounder, has been released from prison after serving six years for drug smuggling.Lewis, 47, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment in May 2009 for smuggling liquid cocaine valued at more than £140,000 into Britain hidden in fruit juice tins in his cricket bag. He was stopped at Gatwick airport after a flight from St Lucia the previous December.A former basketball player, Chad Kirnon, was also found guilty.”On a physical level jail has not been hard,” Lewis said after his release from High Down Prison in Surrey. “It’s a hard mental exercise to stop yourself from thinking negatively. For 24 hours a day you’re a prisoner. It’s nice to be back – and I don’t mean being outside – I mean back being me.”Far from excluding Lewis from its midst, English cricket – in the guise of the Professional Cricketers Association – plans to work with him to educate young players. Lewis will speak to first year county professionals at next year’s PCA Rookie Camp and also join the PCA team on the Association’s programme of pre-season county visits.This is the latest example of the PCA’s willingness to rehabilitate former cricketers who have committed a crime by involving them in education processes. Mervyn Westfield, who was found guilty of spot fixing, has also addressed young professionals about the dangers.Lewis, born in Guyana, retired from county cricket in 2000 after playing 32 Tests and 53 ODIs. Widely regarded as a talented maverick. He last played first-class cricket the summer before his arrest when he attempted a Twenty20 comeback with Surrey.He worked for Nottingham City Council and was also involved with coaching in Slough when he retired in 2000 but admitted he became afraid of what the future held and he ended up making poor decisions that led to him being jailed.”You are playing cricket, perhaps even hoping to get back into the England team, and within the space of a few months it’s actually all over,” he said. “There wasn’t a great deal of information around then for young players about what they should be doing or trying to do.”Yes, you heard the stories about having to plan for your future because cricket doesn’t last forever but what does that mean?”At the time I thought that planning was taking out a pension or taking out a life insurance which are things that I actually did. Standing here now you know planning is a lot more and it takes a lot more time and effort.”You try different things to try to generate cash. You are not talking about the same level of cash as when you played. You are talking about a level of cash that, now you are living a normal life – to sort that out. Coming back to play T20 for Surrey, that didn’t work and at the same time the old hips played up.”I had spent a bit of money. I had been away to Australia to train to try to get fit to come back to do the Twenty20 so money had been spent and nothing had been earned. I became afraid of what the future held and at that point the thinking actually went awry.Chris Lewis will work with the PCA educating young players after his release from prison•Getty Images

“I made choices that I shouldn’t have made and that were the wrong choices and that, in the end. I should say sorry for because they were the wrong choices, and I do say sorry for.”Jason Ratcliffe, assistant chief executive of the PCA, has remained in contact with Lewis throughout his time in prison and hopes that Lewis’s willingness to speak about his experiences will help current county players.”Whilst we can’t ever condone the trouble Chris got himself into, it’s our duty to help our members wherever we can,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s time to move forward and his story will prove to be a strong message for all current and future professional cricketers.”Lewis has been quick to express his gratitude. “The PCA has been extremely supportive right from the beginning of this situation,” he said. “Going ahead, I would like to become a part of that, whether it’s giving advice or whether it’s just tugging on the grey matter to find out what happened at this particular time.”If any of that can help any young player going ahead I am in. I am in 100 per cent.”As his career drew to a close, Lewis made revelations in the News of the World about spot-fixing within the England Test team, also claiming that he been offered money on behalf of Indian bookmakers to help fix an England vs New Zealand match at Old Trafford. He was not in the side at the time.