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Kent are to take legal advice as they seek to appeal the decision to readmit Hampshire to Division One of the County Championship in place of Durham

George Dobell03-Oct-2016Kent are to take legal advice as they seek to appeal the decision to readmit Hampshire to Division One of the County Championship in place of Durham.Kent, who finished second in Division Two of the County Championship, were under the impression that they would be considered for the position after Durham forfeited their place as part of a financial rescue package agreed with the ECB.They were especially disappointed to discover the news via Twitter rather than receive a call from anyone at the ECB.”We will consult our lawyers,” Kent chairman, George Kennedy, told ESPNcricinfo. “We need to find out how we can appeal against a decision we consider unfair.”We are very upset. We expected we would be given an opportunity to present our case to the ECB. It seems to be an arbitrary decision and the ECB are hiding behind regulations that nobody appears to have seen.”While the ECB claim the decision was taken “in accordance with competition regulations”, it is not immediately clear what those regulations are. Indeed, in Section 4, paragraph 4.2 of the ECB’s regulations for the 2016 County Championship season, it states: “Promotion and relegation arrangements will be separately confirmed.”With the shape of the domestic season changing, it was only agreed in March that one team would be promoted from Division Two. Kent are insistent that the ECB has not so much followed protocol as made a deliberate choice to favour Hampshire.It is understood the decision to readmit Hampshire was taken at an ECB board meeting at which county representatives and the new MCC representative, Matthew Fleming (a former Kent player) were barred from voting.”It is the second time this year a decision has gone against Kent,” Kennedy continued. “The previous one concerned an abandoned match at New Road for which we were given just five points despite it being clear that the ground was unfit for play the day before the game.”The fact that there is no right to appeal makes the ECB like the Star Chamber.”I am also considering my own position in the game. Unless you have confidence in the governing body, there seems little point and I have almost completely lost confidence in the ECB.”An ECB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: “Today’s decision to reinstate Hampshire was in line with the two-down, one-up relegation and promotion rules for this season’s County Championship which were notified to all counties and published prior to start of the 2016 season.”

Each squad will be allowed a maximum of 24 players, and unlimited Covid-19 substitiutes

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2020IPL 2020 will take place in the UAE from September 19 to November 10, pending clearances from the Indian government.During its meeting on Sunday, the IPL governing council decided to set a 24-player limit for each squad, and approved the use of unlimited Covid-19 substitutes.The window makes IPL 2020 a 53-day event, three days longer than the last two seasons, and the longest of all the eight-team editions of the tournament. Ten of the 53 days will involve double-headers. The matches will be played across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with night matches starting at 7.30pm IST (6.00pm UAE time), and afternoon matches at 3.30pm IST (2.00pm UAE time).A franchise told ESPNcricinfo that detailed fixtures would be sent to them on Monday, and that the first leg of the tournament will be played behind closed doors. The Emirates board, earlier this week, had shown a keenness to fill the stadiums to 30-50% capacity.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A BCCI release said the Women’s T20 Challenge would also take place alongside the IPL, featuring three teams playing four matches during the final week of the tournament. The release added that the governing council would finalise and publish its standard operating procedures (SOPs) “in due course, including the agencies to execute and deliver a bio-secure environment for safe and successful conduct of IPL 2020 Season.”In the lead-up to the meeting, it was understood that the date for the final was a toss-up between November 8 and November 10. With the latter date chosen, the IPL will for the first time have the final on a weekday – Tuesday.The BCCI said a meeting with the franchises would be called shortly, and among the logistical and operational issues that will be discussed before the SOPs are ready, three franchises – Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Kings XI Punjab – will likely be seeking clarity on the squad limit, given that all three of them currently have 25 players listed in their squads on the official IPL website.The IPL will retain all its major sponsor, including the Chinese mobile company VIVO, the title sponsor. The topic of Chinese sponsors has been a contentious one in recent weeks, given the cross-border tensions between India and China.ALSO READ: What to expect from the IPL governing council meetingIn April, the BCCI postponed the 2020 IPL season indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The board’s first preference was to stage the event in India, but the rapidly increasing count of coronavirus cases in the country has made that unfeasible. The total count of confirmed cases in India has shot past the 1.75 million mark, which puts the country place behind only the USA and Brazil worldwide.On July 21, Brijesh Patel, the chairman of the IPL governing council, announced that plans were afoot to hold the tournament in the UAE. Part of the 2014 edition was also held in the UAE, since it coincided with the general elections in India.

Prospect of full houses at height of summer, including India Tests and first season of the Hundred

George Dobell22-Feb-2021Relief and cautious optimism appear to be the dominant reactions from around the English game, after Boris Johnson announced the UK’s intended roadmap out of lockdown.With Prime Minister Johnson outlining his intention to lift all restrictions on social contact from June 21, English cricket can look forward to the realistic prospect of full-house crowds for the Test series against India (which starts in August) and the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan (which get underway on June 23). Recreational cricket should also be able to resume from March 29, boosting hopes of an uninterrupted season for club and school cricket.There are various caveats in place should a new wave of Covid-19 take hold. However, it currently seems likely that grounds will be able to welcome crowds to the inaugural season of The Hundred (which starts in mid-July) and the majority of The T20 Blast (which starts in mid-June).”It seems like good news for cricket fans,” Surrey’s chief executive, Richard Gould, said.The changes would appear to come too late to allow full houses for England’s Test series against New Zealand, however. The first Test gets underway at Lord’s on June 2 with the second Test following at Edgbaston on June 10. Government guidelines currently state that outdoor seated events will be able to operate with 25 percent capacity from May 17. There will also be constraints on indoor hospitality, which is generally a crucial source of revenue at such events.It is possible, however, that Lord’s and Edgbaston will argue their Tests should be viewed as pilot events for the return of full crowds and, as such, request that 50 percent capacity is permitted. It is likely that discussion on the subject will take place between the game’s representatives and The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) in the coming weeks.There could be a similar request in regard to County Championship spectators. Although the competition generally attracts a modest number of spectators – a maximum of 3,000 might be expected for a typical day’s play at an early-season match – attendance is probably disproportionately important to many county members, whose fees continue to play a crucial part in the survival of some clubs. News that they will not, at present, be able to attend matches before May 17 will therefore result in frustration.At present, shops, outdoor zoos and theme parks will be permitted to open from April 12. Cricket is sure to argue that it seems illogical to allow shoppers indoors but prevent a modest number of county cricket spectators watching a match while sitting outdoors. As a result, the ECB may request permission to hold trial events during this period which could result in a limited number of spectators attending Championship games before May 17. The County Championship season is scheduled to start on April 8.”With outdoor leisure attractions like Thorpe Park, London Zoo and pub beer gardens all allowed to reopen on Monday April 12th, we very much hope that we will be permitted to open up the Kia Oval to some Surrey Members for our first home game of the season, three days later,” Gould said.”After this, we will continue with a phased reopening of the ground, working towards the government’s subsequent key dates of Monday May 17th and Monday June 21st, when we host a T20 match against Essex.”Related

• English cricket anticipates Government bail-out in Wednesday's Budget

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• Somerset's points deduction revisited after rejig

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The chances of a major reworking of the schedule have diminished, however. There had been talk, in recent weeks, that the counties might seek to amend the domestic schedule to increase the chances of welcoming spectators to the T20 Blast competition which plays such a key role in their cashflow. But with the Blast starting on June 9, less than two weeks ahead of the proposed date for the lifting of regulations, the initial reaction to Johnson’s announcement was that most want to stick to the domestic schedule which has already been published.There is, however, one other option. It could be that the two rounds of Championship cricket scheduled for the weeks beginning July 4 and July 11 are swapped with rounds of T20 fixtures planned for the weeks starting June 7 and June 14 respectively to optimise the number of spectators at T20 games. This option will be discussed in the coming days.”The ECB welcomes the Government’s decision to permit grassroots cricket to return across England in time for the start of the 2021 season,” the ECB said in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government on the return of recreational cricket in Wales.”We are also very pleased to see the return of spectators to grounds from mid-May. Our leading venues strongly believe they have the technology and know-how to return capacity crowds and we look forward to working in close partnership with the Government to identify ways in which this can be achieved in a safe and controlled manner this season.”There was also relief around the counties at the prospect of being able to renew the conferencing and events strands of their businesses which make up such an important part of the finances at many of the first-class counties. There will, however, be hopes that the government furlough scheme is extended until June 21, at least, so that staff costs can be minimised until clubs are able to open fully again.So, there are complications and there is room for improvement. But, after a grim few months, the game can look to the future with more optimism than for some time.

Club expect to confirm signing early next year with paperwork yet to be completed

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2019Somerset have confirmed that they have agreed personal terms with South Africa seamer Vernon Philander ahead of his signing as a Kolpak player, although the club do not expect to complete the signing until the new year.It had been widely reported that Philander would move to the county following news of his international retirement at the end of the ongoing Test series against England, and the seamer mentioned in a post-match press conference on Friday that he was on the cusp of joining on a “year-by-year basis”.Somerset confirmed in a club statement that they are on the verge of signing Philander, and that they will be “working through all of the necessary processes with the ECB in order to be able to register him as a Kolpak player” following this series. “The official paperwork required to complete the deal is being finalised with the ECB,” the club said. “[We are] working towards the full procedure being completed successfully in the New Year.”ALSO READ: The stats stack up as Philander approaches his endgamePhilander played five games for Somerset as an overseas player back in 2012, taking 23 wickets at 21.43.It remains unclear what will happen to players on Kolpak registrations after the UK leaves the European Union, but it is highly likely that counties will be unable to register new players via that loophole after January 31, 2020. Kolpak players will continue to be eligible to play as local players throughout next season, but may only be available as overseas players thereafter – though the ECB is understood to be considering allowing teams to field two overseas players, rather than one, in the County Championship to compensate.Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said: “Vernon is undoubtedly a genuinely world-class performer and we are delighted to have agreed terms with such a talented player. When the possibility of signing him presented itself, and considering the challenges that we feel lie ahead of us with regards to achieving our aspirations, we felt that it was too good an opportunity to miss.”To put it simply, he is one of the very best bowlers in the game and he would add quality to any team in the world. His experience and knowledge of the game will also be of huge benefit to our bowling group, especially the young players looking to break in to the first XI.”The signing of Philander may seem to block first-team opportunities for some of Somerset’s seamers, with Lewis Gregory, Craig and Jamie Overton, Josh Davey and Jack Brooks already competing for places in the Championship side. But Hurry suggested that with the several bowlers – including spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess – in international reckoning, another signing was needed to ensure the squad was deep enough to compete on three fronts.”When we consider the development that a number of our senior bowlers have made in recent years, and the number of those bowlers who are now playing international cricket or on the cusp of playing international cricket, it is vital for us as a club to ensure that we have the quality and depth in our squad to fulfill our aims of winning silverware in all three formats,” he said.”The addition of Vernon to our bowling unit will enable us to continue to manage the workloads of all of our quality seamers through the demands of a full and demanding season even more effectively.”Philander said: “I’m really pleased to have agreed personal terms with Somerset. It’s a great club and I really enjoyed my time there a few years ago.”I know that they won the 50-over cup last year and came close in the Championship and hopefully I’ll be able to help them to another successful year in 2020. Right now, I am 100% focused on the series against England and then my focus will turn to my next chapter.”

The tournament, which will be held from September 7 to 29 in Kanpur and Lucknow, will be played with the pink ball under lights for the second successive year

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2017Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Abhinav Mukund will lead the India Blue, Green and Red teams respectively in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, which will be played with the pink ball under lights for the second year in succession. The tournament will be held from September 7 to 29 in Kanpur and Lucknow, the BCCI announced on Thursday.The new Lucknow International Cricket Stadium will host two matches, including the final, while Kanpur will host two round-robin games. The three round-robin fixtures will be played over four days, and the final, to be played from September 25, will be a five-day contest.

Duleep Trophy 2017-18 schedule

• September 7-10 – India Red v India Green (Lucknow)

• September 13-16 – India Red v India Blue (Kanpur)

• September 19-22 – India Blue v India Green (Kanpur)

• September 25-29 – Final (Lucknow)

M Vijay and Karun Nair will feature in the Green team, while Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav and Manoj Tiwary will turn out for Blue. The 15-member Red squad includes Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant and Dhawal Kulkarni.The BCCI’s swiftness in announcing the fixtures comes after it had earlier decided to scrap the tournament this year, citing a cramped calendar and shortage of venues. On Tuesday, however, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators asked the board to retain what it felt was an “important” tournament in the 2017-18 domestic calendar, following which the BCCI reversed its decision and published the itinerary a day later.Squads
India Red: Abhinav Mukund (capt), Priyank Panchal, Sudip Chatterjee, Ishank Jaggi, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), B Indrajith, K Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Basil Thampi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ashok Dinda, Rahul Singh, CV MilindIndia Green: M Vijay, R Samarth, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Ankit Bawne, Parthiv Patel (capt & wk), Shahbaz Nadeem, Parvez Rasool, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Dagar, Nitin Saini, Aniket ChoudharyIndia Blue: Suresh Raina (capt), Samit Gohel, KS Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Manoj Tiwary, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jayant Yadav, Bhargav Bhatt, Kaushik Gandhi, Ishant Sharma, Ankit Rajpoot, Sagun Kamat, Jaydev Unadkat

Melbourne Stars captain says new BBL rules will allow teams to “show the tactical side of the game”

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2020Glenn Maxwell endured a torrid IPL with the Kings XI Punjab, managing just 108 runs across 11 innings with a highest score of 32. He seemed to struggle for fluency right through the season, and ended it without a single six.Just before the IPL, Maxwell had cracked 186 runs in three ODIs against England, including a match-winning, series-clinching innings of 108 in the third ODI at Old Trafford. Maxwell is confident of getting back into that sort of form ahead of Australia’s limited-overs series against India starting next week.”Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be fine. I was just hitting the ball fine, but wasn’t getting much of a crack,” Maxwell said during a media interaction. “And [I’m] just looking at the bigger picture and understanding my role within the Australian side; trying to put the IPL aside and think about… what I need to do to get ready for every game. And [I] just know that I’m doing the right things and that when the time comes, when I need it, I can still perform really well.”Maxwell reckoned his lean run in the IPL was largely down to the situations he batted in.”It didn’t have anything to do with the pitches at all,” he said. “I suppose it was more to do with the amount of time I had left in the game most of the times. I was either rebuilding or trying to go from ball one with only a couple of balls left. If you don’t hit it, you’re in a bit of trouble. I don’t take too much out of it. I’m still training as hard as ever and still working on the right things. But I came from arguably one of the best innings I’ve played in my career [at Old Trafford] to not being able to clear the ropes. I don’t take too much out of that.”Two days after the third T2OI against India on December 8, the BBL is scheduled to begin. Maxwell, who will captain the Melbourne Stars, is excited by the new rules that will be in place during the tournament.Glenn Maxwell falls on the floor after attempting an unorthodox shot•BCCI

“It’s going to be different that’s for sure,” Maxwell said. “It’s going to be hard work for captains to implement them as well as they can to get an advantage on the rest of the competition and that presents a good challenge for teams to have good squad depth to be able to use their 12th and 13th players. I think it’s exciting.”It’s a different way of playing the game. It’s not going to be the traditional T20. For me personally, I find it exciting to show the tactical side of the game and it’s a good opportunity for teams to show their technical nous and find ways to get ahead of the game.”ALSO READ: Darren Lehmann backs BBL’s X-Factor over previous one-day SupersubThe new rules have come in for criticism from former players including Shane Watson, who termed it a “misguided attempt to re-invigorate the tournament”. But as captain, Maxwell looks forward to using the Power Surge – where the traditional six-over Powerplay will be scrapped and replaced by a mandatory four-over block at the start of the innings and two overs to be chosen by the batting team after the 10th over.”I will just wait for the time,” Maxwell said. “A guy like Nic Pooran who I’ll probably try and use in that space a lot. He’s an extremely powerful hitter and I’m looking forward to seeing him in the Big Bash.”The first game of the 2020-21 BBL will be played between the Hobart Hurricanes and the Sydney Sixers on December 10, with Maxwell’s Stars to open their campaign a day later against the Brisbane Heat.

Devdutt Padikkal and CM Gautam bring Bellary Tuskers close before they collapse

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2019Vinay Kumar may have moved on from Karnataka, but continued to make his presence felt as a leader, inspiring Hubli Tigers to their maiden Karnataka Premier League crown on Saturday. They beat Bellary Tuskers in the final by eight runs in Mysore.Tuskers started poorly in their chase of 153 but recovered through 19-year-old Devdutt Padikkal (68) and CM Gautam (29), before the Tigers applied the choke through the pace duo of Abhilash Shetty (3 for 34) and Aditya Somanna (3 for 24).Earlier in the evening, Vinay may have rued for a while his decision to bat as pacer Prasidh Krishna and KP Appanna, the left-arm spinner, left their mark with some exceptional bowling. Tigers were then powered by a 62-run stand between Somanna (47) and Luvnith Sisodia (29). The late lift was provided by Praveen Dubey (26*).Tuskers lost three wickets inside the first four overs. Then, Padikkal and Gautam added 75 in just 66 balls to come within 53 runs of victory off the last five overs, before the stutter set in again. It proved to be costly, but Padikkal had some consolation as he walked away as the highest run-getter in the tournament with 310 runs.

As is the norm in arbitration cases such as this, the winning party claims legal costs from the losing side, which the BCCI had done

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2018Having suffered the injury of a lost claim for damages from the BCCI, the PCB now has to face up to the added insult of paying the India board nearly USD 2 million in legal costs.Last month, the PCB’s attempt to claim USD 63 million from the BCCI for two bilateral series that did not take place in 2014 and 2015 was rejected by the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC).As is the norm in arbitration cases such as this, the winning party claims legal costs from the losing side, which the BCCI had done. Those claims were submitted a week after the decision.As with the final decision, there was a morsel of consolation for the PCB in that the panel decided they would not have to pay full costs. The Pakistan board had earlier spent close to USD 1 Million on the case alone.”The Dispute Panel,” an ICC statement said, “has determined that the PCB should pay 60 percent of: “(a) the [BCCI’s] Claimed Costs; and (b) the administrative costs and expenses of the Panel… (including, without limitation, the fees of the Tribunal members, and the costs and expenses they incurred in relation to this matter), the figure whereof is to be supplied to the PCB by the ICC.”Though neither party has made the total amount public, 60% is understood to come out to roughly USD 2 million. For a board that already does without playing India at bilateral cricket, or at home in Pakistan, that will be an especially unwelcome blow.”The PCB notes the ICC Dispute Panel’s decision on BCCI’s claims for their legal expense incurred on the PCB-BCCI dispute,” the board said. “The award of significantly lesser costs than claimed by BCCI reflects that PCB’s case had merits. The PCB, however, reiterates its disappointment in the original decision/award given against it.”

The complimentary-tickets issue remains a worry for the BCCI, however, with Sourav Ganguly, the CAB president, saying he would not compromise even if the first T20I were to be shifted away from Eden Gardens

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Oct-2018A dispute over the allocation of complimentary tickets has resulted in Indore losing out on hosting the the second ODI between India and West Indies. Visakhapatnam will now host the match, which is scheduled for October 24.The matter came to a boil after the simmering dispute over complimentary tickets, between the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and the BCCI, came to light last week. Under the new constitution of the BCCI, which has been approved by the Supreme Court, only 10% of tickets for each category can be distributed as complimentary. The MPCA argued that the BCCI’s request for complimentary seats in the pavilion block for sponsors and official partners exceeding the 10% entitlement.Unable to get a convincing response in time from the BCCI, whose “decision making” it called “unilateral, arbitrary, mysterious and leisurely”, the MPCA refused to signed the mandatory venue agreement and also told the board it was in no position to host the match.ESPNcricinfo understands former BCCI and MPCA secretary Sanjay Jagdale attempted to play the mediator’s role this week, asking Milind Kanmadikar, the MPCA secretary, to meet BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to sort out the issue. But Kanmadikar remained unconvinced and opted to wait for the BCCI’s final decision.According to an MPCA official, the BCCI, in its last communication to the state association on September 29, stated that the venue needed to adhere to the 10% entitlement for each category while making the remaining 90% of the tickets available for the public.While the MPCA has blamed the BCCI for asking for more tickets than the 10% limit, the state body does not want any cap on the distribution of complimentary tickets, because it needs to cater to the demands of its own patrons, members and government officials.Although shifting the match out of Indore may have temporarily resolved the dispute, the BCCI’s troubles are far from over. The MPCA is not the only association to cry foul over the allocation of complimentary tickets. Even the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), which is headed by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, has stated that the 10% limit on complimentary tickets is arbitrary. The CAB owns Eden Gardens, which is scheduled to host the first T20I of the West Indies series on November 4.Ganguly warned that the CAB would not “compromise” on the distribution of the complimentary tickets, even if the BCCI wanted to shift the match away from Eden Gardens. “We will have to give the complimentary tickets which we have been giving. We cannot compromise on that,” Ganguly told the .Ganguly said that the MPCA grouse was “legitimate” and pointed out that the CAB distributes almost 30,000 tickets, which is nearly half the capacity of Eden Gardens, as complimentary tickets to various government agencies that play a part in organising an international match. “I cannot go and ask the government agencies, bureaucrats – people who make the match happen – to collect tickets and pay,” he said.Asked if the CAB would be willing to forsake the game if a solution could not be found, Ganguly said he was keeping an open mind. “I don’t know what they (the BCCI) will do. If they want [to take the game away], they can. But we are not going to compromise.”It is understood that the CAB has not sent any communication to the BCCI, but one board official pointed out that state associations ought to understand it is not the board but the staging units that earn the gate receipts.The BCCI is not surprised by Ganguly’s comments, but has said the state associations should have raised the issue of complimentary-ticket allocation in front of the court, when the matter was being heard, if they were so concerned by it. The BCCI, which is currently being overseen by the two-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), has sent a communication to all the state associations recently, pointing out that staging venues would need to make public the distribution of tickets, including the complimentary quota, on their websites.

Australia face a selection headache at the World Cup with Usman Khawaja and David Warner vying to partner the captain at the top of the order.

Alex Malcolm15-Apr-2019Australia captain Aaron Finch believes the defending champions will head into the World Cup with a left-hand right-hand opening combination, but just which left-hander – David Warner or Usman Khawaja – will partner him at the top of the order remains to be seen.Australia named their 15-man World Cup squad on Monday and as expected Warner and Steven Smith were named alongside Finch, Khawaja and Shaun Marsh as the specialist top order batsmen, with Peter Handscomb the unfortunate man omitted.One of the biggest conundrums for Australia is how to configure the top order. Warner dominated one-day international cricket for two years prior to his suspension and has returned to the IPL in devastating form scoring 400 runs in seven games to be the tournament’s leading run-scorer halfway through the season.But Finch and Khawaja built a formidable partnership across the two successful ODI tours of India and the UAE combining for partnerships of 209, 193 and 134, as well as four other half-century stands in just 10 matches.ALSO READ: Pattinson, Warner, Smith handed central contracts; Mitchell Marsh dropped
Finch did not know what combination Australia would go with for the start of the World Cup although all-but locked himself in to open.”There’s going to be plenty to think about over the next six or eight or 10 weeks, working back from that first game, and trying to find our best combination and the best way to structure up our side,” he said. “Davey’s record at the top is unbelievable. Uzi’s been in great nick recently. I think whichever way we go there’s probably scope to mix and match that throughout the tournament as well as we see fit. I think we’ll work that out. There’s nothing set in stone right now.”When asked which of the three players would be best suited to batting at No.3, Finch did suggest it was unlikely to be him.”I think all three of us could do it. I’ve probably got the least experience out of everyone in that position in limited overs cricket. Like I said, it’s something that we will juggle and we’ll tinker with. I think a left-hand right-hand combination will be the way that we’ll go. Just depends on which left-hander…we’ll wait and see.”Finch and Warner have never batted at No.3 in ODI cricket but combine for 27 centuries at the top of the order, both with a superior strike-rate to Khawaja.Khawaja has opened 20 times in 30 innings averaging 53.63 and striking at 85.66 with two centuries and eight half-centuries. He has batted at No. 3 on 10 occasions scoring just two half-centuries at an average of 24.33 and strike-rate of 71.80.The argument for Finch and Khawaja to remain together is strong. They combined for 817 runs at an average of 81.70 in the last 10 ODI’s.However, the combination of Warner and Finch was equally destructive in the same conditions. The pair have combined for 437 runs at 72.88 in six games in India and the UAE with a double-century stand and two half-century stands.Overall, Warner and Finch have batted together on 48 occasions, combining for 2126 runs at 44.29 with five century-plus stands and 10 half-century partnerships. They were also the opening combination when Australia won the 2015 World Cup.But Finch spoke glowingly of the chemistry he built with Khawaja over the last 10 matches.”We’re both pretty relaxed out in the middle,” he said. “We’ve known each other a long time and we’ve played quite a bit of cricket together. That’s what makes partnerships quite unique at times. The ability to sort of have personal relationships as well that goes quite a long way on the field.”Being friends for 15-16 years, that’s a lot to fall back on and when you’re under pressure you go back to your default. And knowing someone inside-out is crucial I think and that helps. You read each other a lot better, you get a sense of body language and how they’re feeling without actually having to talk about it. I think that’s the real advantage of having good close relationships.”Finch was adamant Warner would deliver for Australia in the World Cup on his return from a 12-month ban from international cricket. He was also confident Steve Smith would find his best form despite the pressure of expectation.”As world class players you always put pressure on yourself to perform and I think that’s what great players do well, they perform under pressure when they’re needed. Obviously the form that Davey has been in has been unbelievable in India. I know that he’s as hungry as he’s ever been to perform well for Australia. I don’t see that being an issue at all for him.”Steve has probably been a bit slower to start and his injury has probably held him back slightly. But we’ve seen in the past that they are two of the great players in international cricket. I’ve got no doubts that they’ll be up and going and firing.”