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If the views on the White Rose Forum are any guide, forgiveness will not come easily at Headingley for England’s rotation policy when they face the West Indies in the final one-day international. The debate on Yorkshire’s official forum touched well-worn themes. Younger Person: “I’ll forgive anything if we’re winning”. Older person: “We used to win in my day and we kept fit by bowling.”From England’s point of view, at least the players who are attracting most of the flak are, by the nature of the debate, the ones who will be absent and so unable to hear the protests. Stuart Broad, in some eyes, has sinned not only by being rested, but also by going onto Twitter and saying that he understood the decision because he wanted a long career. That could be regarded as loyalty, but the most trenchant view being aired in Yorkshire is that Them That Are Resting should keep their mouths shut.Some people will be grateful just to see a game of any sorts. It hosed down again in Leeds on Thursday. Yorkshire’s Australian coach Jason Gillespie has barely seen the sunshine since he arrived. “Got caught in the rain near home! What is with this weather,” he tweeted as Headingley’s groundstaff prepared for a troubled night.Yorkshire, who are under financial strain, kept alive because of the largesse of their chairman Colin Graves, will have been relieved that barely 1,000 tickets remained when England opted for experimentation. England are hardly making wholesale changes, but umbrage will have been taken for all that.Graves, who is not the sort to leave stones unturned, has contacted Geoff Miller, England’s chief selector, to discuss the policy. “I can understand their decision from a cricketing point of view,” he said. “I am not having a go at them or criticising but from the host county’s point of view it’s a disappointment.”Resting Tim Bresnan, alongside the Nottinghamshire pair of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, could also see England face West Indies without a Yorkshire player in the side; it is hard to see how Jonny Bairstow can break into the XI when Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel seem to be essential picks to share the fifth bowler’s duties.Bresnan has played only twice for Yorkshire at Headingley in each of the last two seasons. More than any other player, he epitomises Yorkshire’s pride in their ability to produce decent cricketers, but supporters long resigned to the fact that they cannot see him at county level now find they cannot see him for England either.England’s director of cricket, Andy Flower, has argued that the limited changes do not emphasise that this match is a dead rubber, rather than proactively bring it alive again, not only by resting bowlers faced by a punishing schedule, so ensuring maximum benefit, but by discovering more about those on the fringes of the side, grasping an opportunity to road-test the squad and plan for the future.Steve Finn was the latest England player to be delivered up to the media to offer support for resting players in the sort of sensitive, understated fashion that will ensure no demonstrations outside the Hutton Gates before the game, apart, that is, from those who cannot get into the car parks.Ian Bell fulfilled the same role 24 hours earlier. England’s new-ball attack when it comes to defending the rotation policy has comprised the two players who can be most relied upon to say nothing controversial at all so draining the debate of interest.Finn, a regular in the one-day side these days, sought this positive slant, suggesting that he would benefit from having more responsibility thrust upon him. “I’ve opened the bowling for a little while in the one-day team. I’m enjoying the responsibility. Having those senior players missing gives me an opportunity to be an even more senior player within the group. It’s an exciting experience – any experience I get of being a senior player is great.”It puts that added bit of responsibility upon me. Pressure comes with that but pressure is something I enjoy. I feel like I’m getting better at dealing with that and other pressures on the pitch and as you get more experienced at international cricket and are exposed to more experiences you become better.”There is also the little matter of a five-match one-day series against Australia, a series in which England, who have won their last six ODIs, can test themselves against the side ranked No. 1 in the world in one-day cricket. “That series is going to be a great gauge of where we are moving forward,” said Finn, his hurried coda that right now he was only concentrating on the series against West Indies not entirely convincing.Ottis Gibson, West Indies’ coach, was a former England bowling coach and he shares Flower’s philosophy. “Not really,” he replied when asked if he was insulted.”The English system has been a well-oiled machine for some time now,” he said. “It’s the envy of the world, let’s be honest. They are the top team in the world and they have the luxury of being able to rest players and it’s a credit to them and all the people that work behind the scenes.”They are the No. 1 team in Test cricket, they have an abundance of talent and good players and they can rest a few players and bring a few in and for them it’s all good. For us it’s just trying game after game to get the right balance and try and win a game. We lost 2-0 in the Test series and we certainly don’t want to lose 3-0 in the one-day series.”The tour has not gone too well, but we’re playing cricket in England against a very good English side. Yes, on paper we’ve got the makings of a great one-day side but England have just been that little step ahead of us all the time. We’ve just been a little off the pace.”

The ECB have created a new anti-corruption team to monitor domestic one-day cricket. Seven officials will oversee matches in the Friends Life t20 and Clydesdale Bank 40 competitions.The new team has been set up as part of the ECB’s anti-corruption unit and will be deployed at televised and non-televised matches, performing a similar role to the ICC’s regional security managers in international cricket. They will operate from the first round of FLt20 matches, which begins on June 12, to the final round of CB40 games on August 27.”The officials will be a visible presence at matches,” David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, said. “They will act as a constant reminder to players, officials and club personnel of the need for constant vigilance with regard to this issue as we seek to identify, prevent and eradicate corrupt practises from our domestic game.”Providing an increased security presence is part of the ongoing anti-corruption drive by the ECB, which began following the conviction of Mervyn Westfield for spot-fixing in February. The ECB opened a three-month amnesty period for anonymously reporting any information linked to corruption – from which there were no major developments – and all professional players in England, including overseas signings, were required to complete an online anti-corruption tutorial.The move also coincides with the impending sale of ECB broadcast rights to Asia. The lucrative deal, which is expected to run from 2013, will see some county matches televised on the subcontinent.”ECB has been at the forefront of efforts to stamp out corruption in cricket,” Collier said. “The creation of a dedicated team of officials to monitor our domestic limited overs competitions demonstrates our determination to protect the integrity of the sport.”Limited overs matches, many of which are televised live, have been identified as the fixtures most at risk to corruption. Westfield was convicted after accepting £6,000 to concede a set number of runs in an over playing for Essex against Durham in a CB40 match in September 2009 and allegations of corruption have been made against players involved in the IPL and Bangladesh Premier League.In light of Westfield’s arrest in 2010, the ECB created a new anti-corruption unit last year, headed by Chris Watts, a former Metropolitan police officer.

Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain, will miss “a minimum of six or seven weeks” cricket as a result of the injury he sustained in the County Championship match against Nottinghamshire.Trescothick, 36, will undergo surgery to repair tendon damage in his right ankle. He fell to the floor in pain when running after a ball in the field on Friday and was diagnosed with a recurrence of the ankle injury that troubled him towards the end of the 2011 season. The club hope the operation will prove a long-lasting solution.”Following a scan in Derby, Marcus saw a specialist in Exeter,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo. “It was decided that he required surgery on his damaged tendon and that he will probably not be available for a minimum of six or seven weeks.”Our first game in this summer’s T20 competition is on June 13, so I suspect that will become the target for his come back.”James Hildreth will captain Somerset in Trescothick’s absence.The club had better news of Steve Kirby, who was unable to bowl on the final day in Nottingham, and Vernon Philander, who missed the game after suffering back spasms. Philander will play against Lancashire starting on Thursday, while Kirby will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday, but remains optimistic he should be fit. Geemal Hussain is also expected to be available to return in about 10 days.

ScorecardStuart Broad was unhappy about the manner of his dismissal by Simon Kerrigan•Getty Images

The first County Championship match at Old Trafford since the square was rotated 90 degrees was hardly less eventful than the last one at its former angle, upon which Nottinghamshire clinched the 2010 title 17 months ago.The talking points all involved a different England player, and none of the storylines they generated was in any way contrived, which is not always the case. James Anderson suffered an injury scare, Stuart Broad landed himself in (another) potential disciplinary pickle and Samit Patel, who desperately needs some runs, managed to get some, shoring up an otherwise — all too familiar — dismal batting performance from Nottinghamshire.In the event, what was feared to be a broken right thumb for Anderson turned out not to be and, provided the X-rays did not lie, England’s principal fast bowler should be fine for the opening Test against West Indies, which begins on May 17. He had not played competitively since the second Test in Sri Lanka a month ago but bowled beautifully, sending down 17 exemplary overs that lacked only wickets.He left the field first at the end of his 10-over morning spell, having moments earlier winced in pain as he fielded a drive from James Taylor off his own bowling. After his trip to hospital, he bowled a further seven overs between lunch and tea before another bang, more or less on the same spot, precluded any further activity.”I felt I bowled really well and felt good so it’s good news there is no real damage,” he said afterwards. “It’s pretty sore but I’ll just have to man up and get on with it. If I carry on bowling like that the wickets will come.”Broad, whose enforced absence goes back six weeks to the calf strain that ended his Sri Lanka tour early, was also wicketless, but it was his one-ball innings with the bat that brought him unwelcome attention. Given out caught at short leg by Steven Croft as he attempted to sweep Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner, he made it absolutely clear he disagreed with the verdict.Broad is not without form, of course, in matters of dissent. He has twice been fined half his match fee for transgressions in Test matches and has gone close to being punished on other occasions.This time he was convinced the ball had hit the ground before Croft scooped it up. Lancashire celebrated en masse but Broad waited for umpire Stephen Gale to consult Rob Bailey, his colleague at square leg, before reluctantly walking off, appearing to aim words at both Croft and Gale as he did.Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, believed Broad would escape censure on this occasion. He said: “Stuart has been to the umpires to explain his behaviour. He told them he felt it was not unacceptable and they have not come back to us to say that it was, so hopefully the matter is closed.”We have looked at the replay and you can’t tell [if it was caught cleanly]. You would like to go back to the days when Stuart might ask if it was a catch, Croft would tell him it was and he would walk off. But sadly I think those days have passed.”Gale encountered more dissent only minutes later when Graeme Swann, another England player making his first domestic appearance of the season, lingered in his crease after being given out leg-before to Kerrigan.At least Patel made his news by doing what he set out to do. His was the batting performance of the day amid another Nottinghamshire innings characterised by batsmen underperforming, the only difference from their previous sub-par returns this season being that Chris Read won the toss and chose to bat.With Glenn Chapple bowling as impressively as Anderson — and getting wickets — Nottinghamshire slumped to 16 for 3 and 50 for 4 as the veteran worked his magic. Even Read, normally their doughtiest fighter, succumbed to a poor shot. In this context, Patel’s four hours-plus at the crease was a valuable vigil. He applied himself with the conviction he has to show to stand a chance of pipping Ravi Bopara – or Jonny Bairstow – to a place in the first Test team, although he was suckered a little at the end, hitting Luke Procter for one six but fatally going for another as Chapple dropped back the field.The immaculate Chapple took 4 for 44, the hugely promising Kerrigan 4 for 45, although it is not all good news for Lancashire on the bowling front. Their allrounder Tom Smith who is playing his first match of the season after hamstring problems, pulled up after three overs with another injury of the same nature and will not bowl again in this match.Lancashire are in a potentially strong position, nonetheless. Their openers put on 48 before Paul Horton was leg before to Andre Adams to the last ball of the day.

Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association working committee have called for the resignation of the current chairman, Muhammad Aslam Goni, and for fresh elections to be held by the end of next month in the wake of alleged financial scam that was uncovered earlier this month.On March 10 the police registered a case filed by association chairman Muhammad Aslam Goni against general secretary – and former treasurer – Ahsan Mirza and chief administrative officer Mohammad Saleem Khan for allegedly opening and operating bogus association bank accounts into which money received from the BCCI had been siphoned off.On Wednesday, a substantial majority of the 62 working committee members of the JKCA demanded that Goni resign. “He has mismanaged the affairs of the association and is even misleading [association president] Farooq Abdullah,” Mehboob Iqbal, a former chairman of the association said. We demand stern action against those office bearers against whom the association has lodged an FIR against.”Coupled with the chairman’s removal, the members also demanded that the existing management committee be dissolved and new elections held so that an independent inquiry into the alleged scam could held. However, while some of the members wanted India’s investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, to examine the case, others preferred an internal inquiry into the matter.Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the BCCI’s marketing sub-committee and a member of the country’s central government, had been dragged into the dispute when the Jammu & Kashmir bank produced a document showing he had authorised a loan worth Rs 1.91 crores to Mirza in 2008. While Abdullah confirmed to television channel Times Now on March 12 that a case has been filed, he claimed that the money transferred to Mirza’s account was to repay the money Mirza had lent the association when the court had frozen its accounts back in 2006.The police have raided the houses of Mirza and Khan in Srinagar and have also seized the bank accounts allegedly opened by the pair. Meanwhile the chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank has said that they are examining the opening of bogus accounts and the subsequent withdrawals of cash as well.Edited by Tariq Engineer