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Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said his batsmen had given West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo “eight soft wickets” during their second-innings collapse on the fourth day of the day-night Test in Dubai. Having taken a 222-run lead in the first innings, Pakistan were dismissed for 123 in 31.5 overs, losing their last six wickets for 11 runs. Chasing 346, West Indies were 95 for 2 at stumps with senior batsmen Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo at the crease.Arthur praised Bishoo but rued that the collapse had given West Indies a chance to win the game. He said Pakistan’s plan when they chose not to enforce the follow-on was to score about 180 runs in 45 overs and shut West Indies out of the match.”I am not going to take anything away from the way Bishoo bowled because he bowled really, really well,” Arthur said. “I thought we gave him eight soft wickets. We were cutting against the spin, some lazy shots. That is something we have spoken hard about because that’s not how we play the game. We worked so hard to get ourselves in front of the game and then in one session we lost 6 for 11 and that gave West Indies a sniff. We want to be better than that. We want to be a team that closes the opposition out when we get the opportunity and we didn’t.”The message was very simple: we wanted a score of 180 in 45-50 overs. We felt that would have given us 25-30 overs tonight and a full day tomorrow. So we were looking at 180 in probably 45 overs at the most and we played poorly.”Bishoo, whose returns of 8 for 49 were the best by a visiting bowler in Asia, said he had reflected on his performance in the first innings – 2 for 125 in 35 overs – and decided to bowl straighter, targeting the stumps, in the second innings.”Last evening I spent some time thinking about how I had bowled in the first innings and I was bowling most likely fourth-fifth stump and they were cutting the ball down to cover for a single all the time,” Bishoo said. “So I tried to bowl straighter on the stumps. I expected the ball to spin more on the fourth and the fifth days, and that’s exactly what happened. I used the rough a little and I tried to use the crease a bit more and tried to bowl more on the stumps.”Arthur said the batting implosion had forced Pakistan to play slightly defensively when West Indies came out to chase on the fourth evening. He said the team was working towards eradicating issues, like the sudden collapse, from their game.”We’ve batted really well, certainly through the Test matches in England I thought we were excellent, and we were brilliant in the first innings here. So that is something we are trying to eradicate. We want to get this completely out of our game. Consistency is something we need to keep working on, we are talking long and hard about it.”We were disappointed that we took our foot off their throat and gave them a glimpse into the game when we should have put them out of it. Because what that would have done for our spinners tomorrow is it would have allowed us to have close catchers for longer. So tonight we have a man at sweeper and we haven’t got a silly point to Bravo and that’s simply because the game is getting closer.”

Pakistan have appointed the former wicketkeeper-batsman Wasim Bari team manager for their upcoming series against West Indies in the UAE. Bari will replace Intikhab Alam, whose contract with the PCB is set to expire this month.”Intikhab Alam’s contract with PCB as team manager is concluding this month,” the PCB said in a statement. “PCB would like to express its thanks and appreciation to Mr. Alam for his contribution to the Pakistan cricket team. The team has received a lot of plaudits for their conduct on the recent tour of England and were appreciated as positive ambassadors of their country. Mr. Alam’s role as head of the Pakistan contingent was key to the PCB’s efforts to ensure an incident-free tour of England.”The decision not to extend Alam’s contract, ESPNcricinfo understands, was taken midway through the England tour, as the result of a controversial decision he took. Alam allowed the family of bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed to reside in the middle-order batsman Ifthikhar Ahmed’s room during the Test series, forcing the player to share a room with Mohammad Rizwan. The incident was a direct violation of the code of conduct, with Alam found to be lenient in enforcing the code. The tour otherwise was a success unlike some previous tours of England.Bari played 81 Tests and finished with 228 dismissals, the most by a Pakistan wicketkeeper. He captained Pakistan in six Tests – the drawn home series against England in 1977-78 and the tour of England in 1978, which Pakistan lost 2-0. Like Alam, he has been a significant figure in Pakistan cricket, serving as player, captain, chief selector, director of the PCB’s human resource and education departments, and imparting anti-corruption training. He also served a stint as the chief operating officer of the PCB, the second-highest post behind only the chairman.Alam has been involved with Pakistan cricket through most of the last six decades. He made his Test debut in 1959 against Australia in Karachi, and played 47 Tests in all in a career that stretched until 1977. He captained Pakistan in 17 Test matches, and after his playing career served as manager, selector, coach – helping Pakistan to a World Cup title in 1992 and a World T20 triumph in 2009 – and as director of the National Cricket Academy and the PCB’s director of international operations.

MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, believes his break from international cricket has given him ample time to work on his fitness. Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in December 2014, was last involved with the national team during a short limited-overs series in Zimbabwe in June.”When you have a break, it’s easy to maintain fitness because there’s enough preparation time,” Dhoni said in Lauderhill ahead of the first Twenty20 against West Indies on Saturday. “There has been a lot of rain in India, which is a good thing since we needed that. So I trained indoors with the bowling machine when it came to the skill aspect.”Dhoni, who will be involved in just a handful of games in India colours this season owing to a prolonged Test run at home from September to March, believes the breaks have helped him remain fresh in his quest to prolong his international career.”During a packed season, maintaining fitness becomes tough because you can’t put too much effort into it. You’re constantly monitoring workloads. When you have a break, you can plan your schedules. That’s what I’ve done so that it helps prolong my career. Overall, it’s important to relish the in-between time.”Back from the break during which he had briefly mentored his state side Jharkhand at a first-division tournament in Chennai, apart from promoting his yet-to-be-released biopic, Dhoni is now faced with the prospect of facing the current World T20 champions, which he felt would be “quite a challenge”.”West Indies is an extraordinary team in the limited-overs format,” he said. “Sometimes having one allrounder can give you balance. They have two or three. Power-hitters become crucial in the smaller formats, and they have so many of them. They also play an entertaining brand of cricket, so it will be a challenge for us.”Among the things he is most looking forward to on his return, Dhoni said, was the opportunity of working with new head coach Anil Kumble, from whom he had taken over the Test captaincy in 2008.”He is a straightforward guy who will tell you what he has to to your face,” Dhoni said. “I learnt a lot from him while playing with him. One of the things that struck me was how he planned dismissals and went about his game. I was amazed at his consistency and the thinking aspect he brought to the game. It will also help him as a coach because you can’t have the same plan across different formats.”I feel, the more time I spend with him, the more I’ll get to know him. I’ve known him as a player. Now, I will know him as a coach. We’ve seen previously how people are slightly different in both cases. He’s calm, composed and confident, and that will only help the team.”

ScorecardSam Hain continued his excellent limited-overs form•Getty Images

Birmingham put their NatWest t20 Blast campaign back on track after three straight defeats with a 28-run victory over Leicestershire at Edgbaston.The Bears’ 186 for four was built on an opening stand of 125 inside 13 overs by Sam Hain, who scored 79 off 52 deliveries, and Ian Bell, who made a 35-ball 57.While those two were together the Bears looked set to total over 200 but the Foxes, led by Clint McKay’s one for 16 off four overs, fought back well to leave a target around par on a good batting pitch.But though a string of Foxes batsmen got a start, none played the decisive innings the team needed as they fell short on 158 for nine.A Bears attack including Keith Barker for the first time in the competition this season kept taking wickets at important times to reassert theirqualification bid and extinguish the Foxes’.After the visitors won the toss, Hain and Bell began in measured fashion, with the latter still to score after two overs, before accelerating past 60 in the sixth over.The century partnership arrived in the 12th over, both openers having taken advantage of a short boundary to clear the ropes on the off-side.Hain was first to his half-century, from 36 balls, Bell’s following from 32, but the latter’s dismissal after striking four fours and four sixes in his 57, edging Rob Taylor behind, signalled a sharp drop in momentum.Bell’s wicket was quickly followed by that of Matt Wade, on his home debut, as the Australian fell lbw to his countryman McKay for five.When Hain sought another six – his third of the innings to go with nine fours – off Cameron Delport but found only the hands of Ben Raine at deep extra-cover, three wickets had fallen for 26 runs in 18 balls.Laurie Evans perished in similar fashion to Hain and although Rikki Clarke (24 not out) landed a couple of hefty blows, a skilful final over from McKay sent the Foxes into the mid-innings break in perky mood.The Foxes reply started briskly with Mark Cosgrove and Mark Pettini adding 36 in 27 balls before the latter pulled Oliver Hannon-Dalby to Jeetan Patel at deep mid-wicket.Delport’s 18-ball 20 included an audacious reverse-swept six off Josh Poysden but the South African perished attempting a repeat off Ateeq Javid.As the required run-rate rose, greater risks had to be taken. Cosgrove (42 from 29 balls) hoisted Patel to long off, Lewis Hill charged the same bowler, missed, and was adroitly stumped by Wade and when Farhaan Behardien lifted Clarke to long-off all that remained in the Foxes’ locker was some futile swishing.

England expect James Anderson to be fit for selection for the second Test in Manchester.Alastair Cook, the England captain, admitted there had been a temptation to play Anderson in the Lord’s Test, but ultimately it was decided, on the advice of the medical team, not to hurry his recovery from a fracture in his right shoulder.Anderson, the world’s No. 1 rated Test bowler and the leading wicket-taker in England’s Test history, bowled in the nets at Lord’s on Tuesday and Wednesday and expressed confidence in his own ability to play. But the selectors decided that it was better not to risk him on a Lord’s surface that often offers little to bowlers and could demand some long spells.”He was fairly confident,” Cook said. “Of course there is always a temptation to take that gamble with a bowler who has taken 450 Test wickets.”He’s not quite at full pace and there is a risk of going into a five-day Test match with that injury – an injury that not many people have had – so the selectors have decided it’s too much of a risk to go for it. They’re concerned that if he has one of those stints at Lord’s, the sun’s out and it’s a flat wicket, he could be bowling 30-odd overs in an innings and we’re not quite sure how his shoulder will stand up to that.”The medical people are asked their opinion and I imagine they will err on the safety side. If they make the other call and it blows up, there are repercussions. When you are responsible for making decisions on players’ welfare, it must be really tough. You do not want to be responsible for it.”There are other games. He should be fit for Old Trafford. He does understand the situation.”While Anderson’s absence is clearly a setback, it does offer the chance of freshening the England attack for the second of these back-to-back Tests. There are only three days between the games, both of which are expected to be played on good batting tracks, so Anderson might be used to boost a jaded seam quartet.Ben Stokes is also close to full fitness and should also be available for selection for the second Test. Stokes, who underwent surgery on his knee in May, has been cleared to play a full part with bat and ball in the Championship match against Lancashire starting on Saturday, while Mark Wood, who has had two bouts of surgery on his ankle, will play for the Lions in the tri-series also involving Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A that starts on Monday.It is possible, though unlikely, that Anderson could feature in the same Championship match as Stokes, as England are reluctant to allow him to play a full part in a match that ends a day later than the first Test. He is more likely to continue his rehabilitation in the nets and away from the cameras.”Ben needed another week or so in terms of being confident of his knee when bowling and batting,” Cook explained. “He didn’t feel that confident on his knee yet and you get that from playing. He’s had an operation on it so it was quite a major thing. It was discussed [whether to pick him as a specialist batsman] in the selection meeting but we decided not to go that way. He plays a four-day game for Durham and will bowl.”Shivil Kaushik, the Gujarat Lions left-arm spinner with an action reminiscent of Paul Adams, was also among the net bowlers, but Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Sachin who has become a regular at such sessions in the last few years, was reduced to the role of spectator. He has sustained a significant back injury and has been told not to bowl for at least six months.

ScorecardEd Barnard’s nightwatchman stint saw off Derbyshire•Getty Images

A career-best 73 from nightwatchman Ed Barnard helped Worcestershire save the Division Two match against Derbyshire at the 3aaa County Ground, Derby.Barnard and fellow former England Under-19 team mate Joe Clarke, who made 63, shared a third wicket stand of 146 to rescue the visitors after Brett D’Oliveira had gone in the first over of the day.Will Davis removed them both but Alexei Kervezee made 41, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore 48 in 40 overs as Worcestershire closed on 294 for 6 , denying Derbyshire a first home Championship win since the end of the 2014 season.The day had started so well for Derbyshire with Tony Palladino striking with the sixth ball of the morning when D’Oliveira played across the line and was lbw without a run added.But that was the last success until 13 overs into the afternoon session as Barnard and Clarke played with impressive judgement and maturity to raise Worcestershire’s hopes of saving the game.Derbyshire used seven bowlers but could not break the concentration of the two 20-year-old’s whose approach and application was an example to some of the senior batsmen.Barnard completed the second first-class 50 of his career before lunch and the pair had been together for nearly 44 overs when Derbyshire finally broke the stand.Will Davis was rewarded for an aggressive spell from the Racecourse End when he tempted Clarke into a mistimed pull which ended in the hands of midwicket and Barnard’s admirable innings ended when he was succoured into taking on another short ball.If Alexei Kervezee had been taken down the legside off Davis on 13, Worcestershire would have been 188 for 5 but it was another 25 overs before Derbyshire broke the fifth wicket stand.The second new ball was always likely to be Derbyshire’s last chance and Ben Cotton broke through when Kervezee tried to play the ball off his hip and this time Tom Poynton made no mistake.The light was murky enough for the floodlights to be switched on but Kohler-Cadmore dug in and although he edged a big drive at Chesney Hughes with seven overs left, Ross Whiteley faced 59 balls to finally close the door on his former team.Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman said: “I’m really proud, other than the first couple of hours on the opening day it was a very flat and slow wicket so for us to have taken 16 wickets having made them follow-on and bowled 120 overs plus on the trot is an exceptional effort.”We’ve played a lot of four day cricket this year where we’ve been either fighting to stay in the game or losing the game so to be playing on the last day and to be in charge and dominating definitely gives us a lot of confidence going into the game against Kent.”