<p><strong>Andy Flower backs Andrew Strauss – Cricket News Roundup – April 30, 2012 – Part 1</strong></p>
<p>England’s Head Coach, Andy Flower, believes that the media's criticism of Andrew Strauss' performances is justified, despite having little effect over his place in the national side for the upcoming home summer.</p>
<p>The current Test skipper has failed to score a century since November 2010, and had an appalling time with the bat on the Poms’ recent tours to the UAE (against Pakistan) and Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>He started this year’s County Championship campaign on a disappointing note, leading many to question his place for the team’s home series against West Indies.</p>
<p>"But I think people are questioning him for not scoring heavy enough runs, and I can understand that. To say that he was close to resigning, retiring or being dropped is inaccurate,” said Flower.</p>
<p><strong>West Indies’ inform veteran batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is relishing the prospect of facing England after regaining his top position in the ICC rankings for Test batsman.
</strong></p>
<p>The left-hander had a remarkable recently concluded 3-match Test series against Australia, topping the series chart with 346 runs, at an average of 86.50. It further helped him to leapfrog the likes of Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers as the no.1 batsman
in Test cricket. </p>
<p>The player is hopeful that his side can perform well against the no.1 ranked Poms. The series starts from May 17. “I’m feeling confident as we get ready for England and, like everyone else in the team, my eyes are fixed on the next few weeks and what we
want to achieve,” said Chanderpaul.</p>
<p><strong>Deccan Chargers’ overseas Australian player, Cameron White, praised teammate and skipper Kumar Sangakkara after he opted to sit out the side’s previous game against Mumbai Indians.
</strong></p>
<p>The original skipper decided to hand over the captaincy to White after having consultation with coach Darren Lehmann, regarding the best possible XI. The move however, backfired after the Chargers were bundled out on 100, with Mumbai completing the target
in 18.1 overs.</p>
<p>“It was a very selfless thing for Kumar to do, to pick that team," said White after the defeat. “Unfortunately we were not good enough tonight. And Mumbai were too good tonight." </p>
Tags: