Former South African international Ashwell Prince has been named as Bangladesh's full-time batting coach till the end of the Twenty20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Prince was hired as Bangladesh's temporary batting coach for the Zimbabwe series in July. He later also stayed with the team during Bangladesh's historic 4-1 series triumph over Australia. The BCB has extended Ashwell Prince's contract till the next year’s ICC's mega-event, stating his performance as satisfactory. Let's take a look at Ashwell Prince's coaching and professional cricket career to discover his potentials to assist Bangladesh cricket as a batting coach.   Who is Bangladesh's New Batting Coach, Ashwell Prince? Former Proteas international Ashwell Prince has been named as the Tigers' batting coach, succeeding Jon Lewis, who left Bangladesh Cricket as a batting consultant in May this year. Early Life Ashwell Prince was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1977. He made his first-class debut for the Eastern Province side on October 27, 1995. In the mid-1990s, Prince went from Eastern Province to Western Province on the advice of Duncan Fletcher. Ashwell also spent two seasons with the English cricket club Morecambe Cricket Club in his earlier career. Read Ashwell Prince named Bangladesh’s full-time batting coach International Career Ashwell Prince made his Test debut against Australia at the Wanderers in February 2002. He justified his inclusion in the playing XI lineup by scoring 49 runs. He just missed out on a half-century in the third Test in Durban, but his 48 was crucial in his team's triumph. Ashwell Prince played 66 Tests (3,665 runs at an average of 41.64) and 52 One-Day Internationals (1,018 runs with an average of 35.10) during his ten-year international career.   Coaching career Ashwell Prince began coaching at the domestic level following his retirement from international cricket. He was the head coach of the Cobras (a team that has now merged into Western Province) before becoming the permanent batting coach of Bangladesh's national team. The Cobras did not win any trophies during Prince's reign, but they did develop some national team players, notably the Kyle Verreynne, George Linde, Malan brothers, and Zubayr Hamza.   Read Tamim Iqbal signs as brand ambassador of IPDC What to Expect From Ashwell Prince Ashwell Prince has been assigned a key role by BCB. His main responsibility will be to instill confidence in the batters when they are up against a strong opponent. Bangladesh are eager for big hitters in the Twenty20 format. So, Ashwell Prince has to develop some good hitters prior to the actual T20 World Cup in the October-November window. He also needs to identify the primary causes for failure in the T20 format. Ashwell Prince may motivate the upcoming talents to develop their approach in the twenty20 format. Then he will be able to teach them everything they need to know about power-hitting in this format. His appointment will be useful if the players respond by getting proper lessons from him. Read Shakib Al Hasan Reclaims No.1 Spot in T20I Rankings, Wins ICC's POTM Award for July 2021 Bangladesh players must be attentive and sincere to play the longer version format. They need to understand the importance of playing multiple sessions in Test cricket. In order to succeed, batters must play the game with the mindset of putting all of their energy in the contest. Batsmen must also be able to switch their attention quickly from one format to another. The Bangladesh Cricket Board will be satisfied if Ashwell Prince can bring consistency to the players' batting approach.   Verdict    Bangladesh Cricket Board is set on forming three different teams for the Test, One-Day International, and Twenty20 formats. Each format has its own traits, and batters must be aware of them. Bangladesh's batsmen have played well in the previous series under Ashwell Prince's supervision, winning four bilateral series in a row. Young batters who have been given opportunities to play for the national team are doing well at the international level. The majority of the players appear to be confident, and they are not afraid to express themselves in front of giant international opponents. BCB believes that Bangladesh's batters would improve under Ashwell Prince's guidance. Therefore, his contract has been extended till the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2022.    Read When Aussie coach chided staffer for posting Bangladesh's celebrations online

England and India will play the second match of the ongoing bilateral Test series at Lord's Cricket Ground, starting on August 12 (Thursday). The first Test match of the five-match series ended in a stalemate on the last day due to rain, despite the fact that it seemed to be a match on the brink of being decided as India dominated for the most part of the game. Therefore, the second match will be important for both sides in order to attain a series lead. The second match preview of the ENG vs. IND Test Series 2021 is discussed in this article. ENG vs. IND Test Series 2021: Team News for the Second Match England    England captain Joe Root scored a superb century in the second innings of the first Test, but he was the only player to exhibit any stability in the batting order. Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran had contributed with the bat, but their efforts were not good enough to stamp the authority over the Indian bowlers. England will need to maintain their composure if they want to take control of the second match. England are expected to make two changes for the second Test. Moeen Ali could make the starting lineup. He is a very good all-rounder who can frustrate opposition bowlers by playing a big knock. England have a strong bowling attack led by veteran pacer James Anderson. The young sensation Ollie Robinson made a strong start to the series and he will play a crucial role for England once more. READ: Shakib named ICC Player of the Month, No. 1 all-rounder in T20 Expected Playing XI (England) Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Daniel Lawrence, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson   India The in-form Ravichandran Ashwin was not selected for the first Test because India's playing XI contained four pacers. Ashwin may be featured in the playing XI for the second Test. Ravindra Jadeja will play in the Lord's Test following a strong showing with the bat. Shardul Thakur or Mohammed Siraj may be dropped to make room for Ravi Ashwin. The rest of the players will remain the same in the bowling lineup.   KL Rahul was given the opportunity to play the first match of the series in place of injured Mayank Agarwal. KL Rahul and veteran Rohit Sharma did a good job in the opening partnership. They will once again be important members of India's batting lineup. All eyes will be on Virat Kohli who made a golden duck in the first innings. Virat will come back strong, and he has the ability to play a great innings on a special cricket ground. Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rishab Pant will all be vital in the middle order to push the innings to a huge total. READ: Is Cricket Returning to the Olympics After 128 Years? Expected Playing XI (India) Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah    Pitch Report, Weather Forecast, and Head to Head Record The weather appears to be good from the 12th of August to the 16th of August. There will be some clouds, but rain is unlikely. According to some reports, there will be a green top with plenty of grass on the pitch which means the Lord's pitch may favor pacers more than spinners. The two teams have faced 127 times in the Test format. England leads the head-to-head record with 48 victories. India have won 29 games and 50 matches have ended in a draw. READ: Big step towards becoming a big team: Shakib Verdict Both England and India will take the series seriously in order to boost their ICC Test rankings. England will definitely want to take its home advantage during the match. It could be a blessing in disguise for India if England produce a pace-friendly surface. Because India have a number of high-quality pacers on their team who can change the scenario of the match. We can expect a tight battle between England and India during the second match of the ENG vs. IND Test Series 2021. Read BAN vs. NZ 2021: New Zealand Announce Squad For the T20 Series against Bangladesh  

The Ageas Bowl in Southampton will host the inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand from June 18-22. In the lead-up to the final, New Zealand will be locked in a Test match against England in Birmingham. This will definitely make New Zealand battle-ready before the final. At the same time, this will give the Kiwis a fair chance of ascending to the top of the ICC Test Match Team Rankings -- of course, if they win the Test against England. Let's analyse New Zealand's chances of being the world's top Test team Advantage Kiwis? New Zealand can climb to the top spot of the ICC Test Match Team Rankings only if they beat England in the second Test of the ongoing series. The first Test at the Lord's ended in a draw, where opener Devon Conway scored a double century and experienced pacer Tim Southee bagged six wickets in the first innings. One bad news is that New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the second Test due to an elbow injury. Tom Latham will instead lead the Blackcaps in the series-deciding match against England. Will Young is likely to replace Kane Williamson in the playing XI. Read  Who is the favourite to win ICC Player of the Month Award for May? However, the New Zealand team management hopes that Kane Williamson will be ready for the World Test Championship final. This is essential as Kane Williamson has the potential to make a difference in the crucial championship match against India. With the exception of Kane Williamson, New Zealand have some outstanding cricketers who may cause problems for England. In addition to veteran Ross Taylor and Tim Southee, the team also has some great players like Tom Latham, Henry Nichols, Trent Bolt and Neil Wagner. New Zealand will have to put in a lot of effort to win the match against a highly competitive English team. On the other hand, India now lead the ICC Test team standings with 121 points. New Zealand are in the second place with only one point separating between the first and second positions. Winning the second match against England will increase New Zealand's ratings by four points, putting them in the first place in the ICC Test Match Team Rankings with 124 points.  Read International Fixtures Which Could Help Bangladesh's T20 World Cup Preparation India, in such a scenario, will drop to the second position. Australia is likely to move up to the third place. Among the other teams, Pakistan are ranked fifth in the ICC Test Match Team Rankings, followed by the West Indies and South Africa. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe are ranked eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively. Among the players, Kane Williamson leads the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen. Australian pacer Pat Cummins leads the rankings for bowlers and West Indian player Jason Holder is the best Test all-rounder in the world, according to the latest ICC player rankings for the longer format of the game. Read Prime Doleshwar continue their winning run in DPL T20 2021 Verdict New Zealand would definitely want to win the series against England before facing India in the World Test Championship final. Defeating the host England will no doubt boost the confidence of the Kiwis.  Further, if New Zealand can play as the ICC's number one team, they will be psychologically ahead in the match against India. However, we can expect a fascinating clash because the top two teams are competing in the final, and hopefully, the best team will win the inaugural edition of the tournament. Read Mahmudullah, Rubel, Nurul Spark in DPL T20 2021