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He finished with 3 for 74; he got through 15 overs in the day at full tilt, exceeding his average number of overs per innings in the Ranji Trophy

Ankur Dhawan at the Wankhede Stadium14-Dec-2018With the jury still out on India’s decision to field an all-pace attack in Perth, one man who could have arguably helped the balance of the side hit his straps from the get-go upon returning from a back injury suffered during the Asia Cup. While the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium for the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Baroda was never likely to bear any serious resemblance to the one in Perth, it had a deceptive tinge of green, only revealing its true colours a little later.Perhaps hoodwinked by that early impression, Baroda captain Kedar Devdhar opted to bowl, handing Hardik Pandya the new ball – only the eighth such instance for Pandya in the Ranji Trophy – and giving him a field more attacking than the one India had to kick off the second session in Perth: two slips, a gully and even a short leg, as compared to India’s two slips and a gully for Umesh Yadav after lunch.Prior to his return for the clash against Mumbai, Pandya was clear about his goals; testing himself through the course of four days in order to be considered for the third and the fourth Test was priority. While first impressions, as Devdhar found out with the Wankhede pitch, cannot always be trusted, Pandya showed no discernible discomfort. In fact, whatever little assistance the surface offered, Pandya extracted it expertly in his first two spells, justifying at least the decision to be given the new ball.Pandya struck twice for Baroda within the first hour, and could have had another 40 minutes before lunch had a diving Yusuf Pathan clung onto a chance to his right at second slip in the 22nd over. Preceding that, Pandya made the ball wobble off the seam both ways to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of openers Aditya Tare and debutant Vikrant Auti.Off just his second delivery, he teased Tare’s outside edge, squaring him up with one that jagged away belatedly. In the same over, he induced an outside edge from the left-handed Auti that went between second slip and gully. The final ball of the first over shaped back in nicely but was let through uncertainly by Auti. It was not too dissimilar to the ball that eventually accounted for the debutant, as he shouldered arms to one that cut back off the seam and reared disconcertingly off a length to kiss the top glove on the way to the keeper. The difficulty in negotiating it was perhaps compounded by the fact that Pandya had delivered it from wide of the crease, an angle from a right-armer that usually pushes the ball wide off the left-handers’ off stump.Soon after, he pinned Tare lbw with a full inducker, as the batsman erred in playing across the line. His figures when he finished the first spell of six overs read 2 for 21, a fair reflection of how well he had bowled. His second spell was no less incisive as he cranked it up, testing not just Shreyas Iyer and Siddhesh Lad but also his back. First over back into the attack, he had Lad fending at one awkwardly, that took the shoulder of the bat and lobbed over the slips. At that stage, Iyer and Lad – the beneficiary of the dropped chance – who went on to get fine centuries had started tearing into the Baroda attack, except Pandya still had them poking and prodding tentatively, evidenced by another delivery in the same over that squared Iyer up, just before Lad’s costly let-off.Pandya returned for two more spells, a short two-over burst post lunch, and his fourth with the second new ball, in which he had Shivam Dube bowled through the gate with an inswinger. Although a bit of inconsistency had crept into his bowling by then, shown by a high economy rate of nearly five runs per over, he could not be faulted for the intensity with which he ran in all day. He finished with 3 for 74 his reward, however, was more intangible in nature: in that he got through 15 overs in the day at full tilt, exceeding his average number of overs per innings in the Ranji Trophy.

Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav helped Goa cling on, while Himachal were thwarted by Punjab debutant Abhishek Gupta’s double-hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2017
Scorecard
A 239-run partnership between debutants Abhishek Gupta and Abhishek Sharma narrowed Punjab’s overnight deficit of 245 to 128, before they were bowled out for 601 in response to Himachal Pradesh’s 729. Himachal offspinner Gurvinder Singh finished with a career-best haul of 6 for 162. Himachal then batted out 40 overs in the second innings play as the match ended in a draw in Dharamsala.Having begun the day on 484 for 6, the overnight pair were separated when Sharma fell six short of a century, managing to add only 13 to his overnight score of 81. Wicketkeeper-batsman, Gupta, however, converted his overnight score of 129 into a near run-a-ball 202 on debut. He hit 24 fours and five sixes in his knock to left-arm spinner Akash Vashisht.Handed a lead of 128, Himachal wobbled early in their second innings, losing six wickets for 81 by the 22nd over, with medium-pacers Sandeep Sharma, Manpreet Gony, and Barinder Sran taking two wickets each. Paras Dogra and Vasisht then put up an unbroken 64 runs for the seventh wicket to take Himachal through to stumps. They picked up three points for their first-innings lead, while Punjab took home one point.Prashant Chopra was adjudged Player of the Match for his triple-hundred for Himachal in the first innings.
ScorecardA half-century from Vikas Hathwala ensured a draw for Services against Bengal in Delhi. Bengal’s second innings declaration at 161 for 5 left Services with a target of 355 but the latter kept losing wickets to give Bengal a glimmer of an outright win.Wickets from the pace-bowling line-up of Ashok Dinda, Mohammed Shami and Kanishk Seth had left Services at 124 for 5, before Hathwala and Muzzaffaruddin Khalid battled in a 75-run sixth-wicket partnership. Where Hathwala was brisk, scoring 64 off 71 deliveries with nine fours and two sixes, Khalid played out 99 deliveries to remain unbeaten on 9 at stumps.
Scorecard
Goa scrambled for a draw on the final day in the face of Chhattisgarh left-arm spinner Sumit Ruikar’s first 10-wicket match haul in first-class cricket. Following on after conceding a 181-run lead in the first innings, the home team averted a loss after the eighth-wicket pair of Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav played out 80 balls to force a draw.An early collapse on the final day saw Goa lose six wickets for 54 runs, having finished on 223 for 4 overnight. Ruikar started the collapse with the wicket of Reagan Pinto in the third over of the day, and ran through the line-up with thereafter. He’d begun the day with only one wicket to his name.
In their second innings, Goa’s resistance came from opener Sumiran Amonkar and Darshan Misal’s 54-run stand for the fourth wicket, before No. 6 batsmen Saurabh Bandekar and wicketkeeper Samar Dubhashi made scores in excess of 20 to keep them alive.

David Miller slammed his fourth List A century to help South Africa A nail a 288-run chase with five wickets in hand against National Performance Squad

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2016
ScorecardFile photo – David Miller stroked his fourth List-A century in a big chase to give South Africa A a five-wicket win•AFP

David Miller slammed his fourth List A century to help South Africa A nail a 288-run chase with five wickets in hand against National Performance Squad in the quadrangular series on Wednesday. Both teams are out the race for a spot in the finals, however, after Australia A sealed the second spot with a one-run win over India A on Tuesday.Miller’s unbeaten 124 off 104 balls took South Africa to 288 for 5 in 46.3 overs at the Ray Mitchell Oval in Mackay. That was after the NPS batsmen put together a collective display to steer them to 287 for 7.Miller strode out with South Africa having lost both their openers with 54 on the board. That would soon become 62 for 3, when he was joined by Qaasim Adams and the pair strung together a 91-run partnership in 102 balls. Adams was dismissed for a 52-ball 44, before Andile Phehlukwayo joined Miller for a 35-run stand. Thereafter, wicketkeeper Dane Vilas and Miller shut the door on NPS, coming together for an unbroken 100-run sixth-wicket partnership. Miller had hit nine fours and six sixes; Vilas stayed not out on 45 off 39 balls, helped by four fours.The spinners Matthew Short and Kyle Gardiner took two wickets each, while Hilton Cartwright accounted for opener Khaya Zondo.NPS had to rebuild early after choosing to bat with Matt Renshaw perishing in the fourth over for 16. Caleb Jewell and Sam Heazlett then struck half-centuries and added 115 for the second wicket, before the rest of the middle order made handy contributions to drive NPS to 287.The two teams will clash again in the third-place play-off on Saturday. The final takes place the following day at the same venue.

Brett Elliot, the Kookaburra managing director, has said that the pink ball is ready for Test cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-20153:03

Archive: Iain O’Brien and Ajit Agarkar weigh in on pink balls and day-night Tests

Brett Elliot, the Kookaburra managing director, has said that the pink ball is ready for Test cricket. In 2009, the MCC made a recommendation to experiment with pink balls and since then it has been used by the ECB and CA as well.”The Kookaburra turf pink ball has been extensively tested over the past five years by the MCC, ECB, CA, and I believe the ball is ready for an international Test match,” Elliot told the . “We have also supplied a number of other ICC members like CSA and WICB, and have been equally happy with its performances at domestic level.”After staging a day-night round of Sheffield Shield matches in November, Cricket Australia is looking to provide the setting for the first day-night Test against New Zealand later this year with Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart the possible venues.Elliot has said that the pink ball is as hard as the red and white balls but an additional dye is added to improve the brightness of the ball, which is believed to promote swing as well.”To ensure the best visibility whilst also preserving the natural wear characteristics of the ball throughout the course of the game, we add additional colour to the pink ball and also the white ball. This enhances the brightness of the ball although some say also encourages early swing,” Elliot said.During the Sheffield trials the pink ball had swung longer than the red ball and had undergone broadcast trials, with Cricket Australia and Channel Nine hoping to attract bigger crowds.The board is expecting a reply from New Zealand Cricket by the end of the month on the use of pink balls and day-night Tests though some New Zealand players aren’t too keen on it, describing the night format as “gimmicky”.

Russell Domingo, South Africa’s assistant coach, has been promoted to the role of head coach for the national Twenty20 side

Firdose Moonda07-Dec-2012Russell Domingo, South Africa’s assistant coach, has been promoted to the role of head coach for the national Twenty20 side. In a managerial split similar to England’s, Gary Kirsten will retain overall accountability of all squads but Domingo will take some of the burden off him in the shortest format.His rein begins in little over two weeks when South Africa host New Zealand for three T20s, starting on December 21. The three-match series also includes the Boxing Day T20, which replaced the traditional Test this year. South Africa will also play two T20s against Pakistan in March 2013.”I believe this decision is a positive move to creating a more sustainable and balanced coaching approach,” Kirsten said. “It’s common best-practice around the world, and we feel it will give us the platform to spread our coaching resources efficiently.”Domingo was appointed at the same time as Kirsten and bowling coach Allan Donald in June last year. At the time, Kirsten had made his intention clear to delegate responsibility, especially because his wife was expecting their third child and he wanted to spend sufficient time with his young family.Before any drastic changes could take place though, Kirsten’s immediate priorities were to oversee South Africa’s rise to No.1 in the Test rankings and aim for ICC T20 glory. He only managed one of those goals as South Africa claimed and retained the mace in England and Australia but faltered at the World T20 in Sri Lanka, where they did not make it out of the second round.Now, there is a suggestion that South Africa will look to completely overhaul the T20 set-up, starting by putting Domingo in charge. “He fully understands the team culture and will be able to build that culture with the new crop of T20 players we will be blooding this season,” Kirsten said of Domingo.South Africa threw all the resources into capturing the ICC silverware, even recalling stalwart allrounder Jacques Kallis for the tournament in Sri Lanka. But having failed in that quest again, they are planning ahead for the 2014 edition of the tournament.A significant number of promising players could expect to be injected into the T20 side this summer as a new-look squad is created. These may include allrounder Chris Morris, left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso and Titans captain and opening batsman Henry Davids.Domingo, who managed the Warriors franchise before his national appointment, has intricate knowledge of players on the South African domestic circuit from that experience. Notably, he was also in charge when Warriors won their first trophies of the franchise system: T20 and one-day cups in the 2009-10 season.Warriors qualified for the Champions League T20 in 2010 and under Domingo reached the final at home. While Kirsten already knew of Domingo’s coaching calibre from back when Domingo employed Kirsten as a consultant, those results also influenced Domingo’s ascendance to the international stage.”Coaching at the highest level has always been a goal of mine and I’m looking forward to building on the foundation we have set for this format,” Domingo said.Kirsten will remain involved in selection and strategic planning of the T20 squad but Domingo will be involved in the day-to-day activities. This will also give Kirsten more time off to accommodate his family responsibilities. Kirsten remains in charge of the one-day squad though, with an eye on the 2015 World Cup.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has said that his team can do well in South Africa if they can manage to put runs on the board

Firdose Moonda in Benoni07-Dec-2011Sri Lanka’s Test squad have arrived in South Africa with an obvious weakness – their bowling. Tillakaratne Dilshan, their captain, chose to say almost nothing about it.”Any fast bowler who comes to South Africa likes to bowl here,” Dilshan said in Benoni, where Sri Lanka are preparing to play a warm-up match against an Invitation XI starting on Friday. And that was that.He made no reference to their missing quintet of seamers that includes Suranga Lakmal, their carrying of the perennially under-performing Dilhara Fernando, the responsibility that will sit on the shoulders of Chanaka Welegedara or the adjustments Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath will have to make to be effective in South Africa. He made no comments about the need to take 20 wickets to win a Test – something Sri Lanka have never done in South Africa.Instead, Dilshan’s plans for success in a country with some of the most seamer-friendly, pacy and bouncy pitches in the world did not involve the ball at all. “If the batting unit can put some runs on the board, we will do well in South Africa,” he said.Except that even in the batting department, Sri Lanka have not been their usual powerful selves. Only Kumar Sangakkara scored a century in their recent three-Test series against Pakistan, which they lost 1-0. Sri Lanka were bowled out in five of the six innings, three times for less than 260. “We know in the last few series, batting didn’t click,” Dilshan admitted.Yet when asked to identify the area which could prove match winning for Sri Lanka, Dilshan was adamant that it would be batting. If the line-up could use Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara as their kingpins and perform around them, Dilshan predicted they would do well. “The batting unit is experienced; Mahela and Sanga have played a little bit in South Africa. Those are experienced guys. We can build around them. Thilan [Samaraweera] has come back into the side, he is experienced guy in the middle order. Myself and the youngsters, like Chandimal, have to put their hands up.”Jayawardene and Sangakkara are two of the three players (the other being Fernando) to have played a Test in South Africa before, Sri Lanka last toured the country nine ago, in 2002. Dilshan admitted that his team will have to make a speedy adjustment to the conditions that are foreign to them. “We have played on and off one-day series in South Africa and that has helped a little bit,” he said. “But, everyone should get ready for these conditions as soon as possible.”The warm-up match will be Sri Lanka’s only opportunity to acclimatise to conditions and the pitch in Benoni should provide them with a good introduction to South African surfaces.Although not a particularly spicy pitch, it has recently produced a match in which wickets fell heavily. The SuperSport Series contest between the Titans and the Cobras in October saw the Titans dismissed for 112 in their first innings and nine wickets fell on the second day.Dilshan did say that some of his batsmen, including him, are already comfortable with such pitches. “Sanga, Mahela and myself really like bouncy tracks,” he said. “If we get runs on the board as a batting group in this three-day match and everyone can come into form, that will be important for us. We have to play our brand of cricket. If we can play our brand of cricket we can beat South Africa.”At the same time, Dilshan recognised that Sri Lanka had no room for mistakes. “We can’t make any mistakes. We have to be at 100% commitment for this series. Everyone should put their hands up and take responsibility.” Hopefully, that includes the bowlers as well.

Round-up of the fourth day of the fifth round of Division Two of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2010Peshawar barely hung on for a draw against Pakistan Television at the Arab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. A century from Raheel Majeed and his 154-run stand with Awais Zia had propelled PT to 271 for 7 in just 38.4 overs. Both scored at better than a run-a-ball and were intent on trying to force a win, as PT extended their lead to 322. And Peshawar were brave enough to make a dash for it. In a thrilling chase, opener Gauhar Ali set the tone with 48 off 54, while Sajjad Ahmed (67 in 97) and captain Akbar Badshah (80 in 100) consolidated what Gauhar had begun. At 224 for 4, there was still hope for Peshawar, on the back foot since conceding a first-innings lead, but a collapse followed where five wickets fell for 46. Seamer Saad Altaf and left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza shared six wickets and took their side to the brink of a win, but the last-wicket pair of Mohammad Farooq and Sajjad Ahmed batted out a nervy phase to draw the game. Peshawar are second from bottom, while PT are seventh.

Australia’s aura may have vanished but the players’ self-confidence remains untainted, with Shane Watson insisting the team still has a chance of victory

Peter English at the SCG05-Jan-2010Australia’s aura may have vanished over the past year but the players’ self-confidence remains untainted, with Shane Watson insisting the team still has a chance of victory. Pakistan have controlled the second Test for three days and should level the series on Wednesday after the hosts scrambled to an 80-run lead by finishing at 8 for 286.Michael Hussey, who reached an unbeaten 73, is the last major hope and will have Peter Siddle (10) and Doug Bollinger as his only allies. “I definitely think we’re still in it,” Watson said. “It’s obviously not a day that we really were hoping for. It would have been nice to get 200 in front, but while Hussey and Siddle are there we are still a chance to get, hopefully, best-case scenario, 150 ahead. It would be a target that if everyone goes well and bowls well, it gives us an opportunity to win the game.”Watson was the standout batsman with his smooth 97 and after the strong performance showed he was a student of the history of his adopted home ground. He remembered the time in 1993-94 when a team was bowled out in the fourth innings for 111 at the SCG in a chase of 117. The only problem was that it was Australia doing the tumbling that day.”We’ve got to still give ourselves a chance to try and have a decent enough target to bowl at,” he said. “The wicket is still doing a bit, the new ball is still seaming and bouncing and some are keeping a bit low, there’s still enough there for the bowlers.”The legspinner Danish Kaneria provided the main trouble for Australia with 4 for 117 before hobbling off shortly before the end with cramp, but Australia have the bigger impediment. Starting their second innings 206 runs behind, their journey was always uphill, but after Watson and Phillip Hughes (37) put on 105 there was hope of the 400-plus total needed to scare the Pakistanis.While only three wickets had fallen when the deficit was wiped out, the problems began with Michael Clarke’s exit, lbw to Mohammad Asif on 21, and in 18 overs Australia lost 5 for 40. “The way Phil and I started I thought we were going to be able to bat the way we wanted to,” Watson said, “but we weren’t able to string the bigger partnerships together.”Unless rain or a Hussey-inspired miracle intervenes, the hosts will end their ten-match winning streak against Pakistan, the world’s No.6 side, and continue their recent trend of losing momentum as soon as they start looking good. The ruthless Melbourne win was last week, but it was also a year ago.

Former fast bowler says passive demeanour of players suggests they don’t care about defeat

Valkerie Baynes23-Jul-2025England Women have been forced to defend their attitude in the wake of a 2-1 ODI series defeat to India, after former fast bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt questioned their desire and discipline.England lost the third and final ODI by 13 runs at Chester-le-street on Tuesday, after India amassed 318 for 5 off the back of captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s century. The hosts lurched to 8 for 2 amid Kranti Goud’s six-wicket haul, which helped bowl them out for 305 with one ball left.Sciver-Brunt, wife of England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, called on the hosts to show more fight.”It’s hard for me to understand some people sometimes, and their attitudes, because to me it looks lazy and like they don’t care,” Katherine told . “Are they actually feeling like that? Or do you actually care a lot and that is your way of showing it? I struggled a lot with that.”It came across to me as bad attitude and no discipline. That is definitely not what I’m seeing from everyone but at times there are examples.”Scrappiness in the field remains an issue for England, who bowed out of the T20 World Cup last October amid a woeful fielding performance against West Indies and, apart from Sophie Ecclestone’s 1 for 28 from 10 overs, their bowlers all conceded more than 60 runs from their 10-over allocations for one wicket each in their latest match.Were it not for Nat’s 162-run partnership with Emma Lamb, chasing what would have been a world-record target, England’s margin of defeat would have been much heavier.”When the pressure gets to them they go external and what comes out is not good cricket,” Katherine continued. “They are being crippled inside and suddenly they are not switched on or they suddenly don’t want the ball because they are scared to fail.”A lot of versions like me have left the team, and a lot of different versions have come into the team. Nat is captain now and she’s the polar opposite to me, she’s very quiet, inside and patient. She is everything I am not. You know how I feel but you wouldn’t know how Nat is feeling.”I wouldn’t say that nobody in this team wants it, they all want it and to do their best. There is a lot of timid people and not many front-footed people who are willing to do anything.Katherine and Nat Sciver-Brunt were longstanding team-mates, including during the 2022 World Cup•ICC/Getty Images

“I don’t think everyone is doing everything they possibly can. And the key to that question is why? I don’t think there is anything malicious in that, it is a mental thing. We just need to be stronger internally and be more outwards with our fight.”Asked about the comments in her post-match press conference, Nat, who scored 98 off 105 balls to give England a fighting chance in the match, said her team were trying their best.”I’ve actually been put in that situation before when I was a lot younger – ‘she’s so relaxed, she doesn’t look like she’s that interested’ – but on the inside that’s not what’s true,” she said.”I guess from the outside people might look in certain ways, but you never know what’s going on inside. I know everyone on that pitch is committed to doing the best they can for England.”Related

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Charlotte Edwards, England Women’s head coach, added: “I couldn’t be happier with where the squad’s at at the moment, in terms of their attitude and effort and professionalism they’ve shown. That was something that I made very clear when I came into this role and I couldn’t be happier.”The comments came on day that the increased scrutiny on England’s women’s team was laid bare, first when Ecclestone addressed her off-field dispute with former England spin bowler turned broadcaster Alex Hartley.In a pre-match interview aired on Sky Sports shortly before the start of play, Ecclestone suggested she had not spoken to Hartley for a TV interview during England’s 16-0 points defeat in the Ashes in January, because she wanted to focus on her warm-up.At the time, Hartley had said Ecclestone had refused to be interviewed by her and that she had been “given the cold shoulder” by England players since criticising their fitness following their T20 World Cup exit.After the Ashes, Clare Connor, managing director of England women’s cricket, described the incident as “unfortunate”, vowing that it wouldn’t happen again.”Our players in general… embrace their media obligations,” Connor said. “As professional women’s cricket has developed at the rate that it has over recent years, that scrutiny is something that we will all have to embrace and accept.”With the World Cup starting in India in 10 weeks’ time, England can be sure that the spotlight will only intensify.

He is hopeful of being the player chosen to replace David Warner in the Test side

AAP31-Dec-20230:52

Clarke: Warner seemed ‘bothered’ by the criticism

Cameron Bancroft insists a specialist opener would be best placed to take over from the retiring David Warner, believing experience at the top is crucial in the difficult role.Australia have named an unchanged 13-man squad for this week’s third Test against Pakistan at the SCG, but crunch time is coming in the quest to replace Warner as he bids farewell to the Test arena.Bancroft remains one of the leading contenders, with selectors set to make a decision ahead of the Adelaide Test against West Indies on January 17.Related

• Bancroft has no concerns over relationships with Australia's bowlers

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• 'I'm pretty keen' – Steven Smith wants to open the batting in Tests

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• Warner picks Warner's replacement: 'Harris has always been next in line'

Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw can also make a fair claim for the job, but coach Andrew McDonald has refused to rule out going with a non-specialist opener instead.McDonald on Saturday left the door ajar for Cameron Green to replace Warner, while another batter could theoretically shift to the top to accommodate Green’s return.But when asked whether it would be an easier job for a specialist opener, Bancroft was adamant that was the case.”Yeah, absolutely,” he told AAP. “I’ve opened the batting in Shield cricket for over 10 years. It’s not an easy place to bat.  It comes with challenges, and my whole career I’ve problem-solved trying to find ways to flourish in those sort of circumstances.”Some players have switched and gone and opened the batting and done really well. But not everyone puts their hand up to go and open the batting.”I feel like it probably is a specialist position and it’s certainly a really challenging one. But a very rewarding one as well.”Cameron Bancroft has had two very productive Sheffield Shield seasons•Getty Images

Bancroft’s comments come after Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Mike Hussey each made similar arguments this week.If Australia do go with a specialist opener, Bancroft has made the strongest case of any contender in recent years.He was the leading run-scorer in last summer’s Sheffield Shield with 945 runs at an average of 59.06, and again tops this season’s charts with 512 at 56.88.Harris and Renshaw have both been part of Australian squads in that time, while Bancroft has not featured since being dropped during a poor 2019 Ashes.”I’ve had some conversations [with selectors] over the last 12 months or so and asked some questions about what I can do to improve,” Bancroft said.  “I’m always looking to improve and get better. I wanted that feedback from them.”But I guess it always comes down to scoring runs, so I’ve just tried to go out and do the best I can no matter what format of the game that I’ve been playing.”Bancroft is also hopeful runs in the BBL will help his cause, with Sydney Thunder to play games against Hobart and Perth before the Adelaide Test.The opener is the competition’s second leading run-scorer, with 181 from his opening five games.”Runs are runs,” Bancroft said.  “There’s no red-ball cricket, obviously. So coming out and playing in the Big Bash is the format of the game that I can play in right now.”Selectors have always talked about players scoring runs and things like that, and that runs count. And I’d agree with that.”Anyone that’s in a position to go to the next level, you want them to be scoring runs. I’ve just tried to tried to do that no matter what format of the game.  Hopefully that puts me in a position to be selected.”