England selectors to decide between Nick Compton and Tom Westley in crucial No 3 spot for first Sri Lanka Test at Headingley

Nick Compton will dominate one of the most intriguing selection meetings in years on Wednesday when England must decide whether to stick with those who won in South Africa or revamp their under-performing top order.

It has long been expected of Anderson, but Root has now emerged as a senior player in his own right after 12 months full of runs in all forms of the game.

Four years ago, Root was identified by Graham Thorpe as the most promising batsman of his generation and he is living up to that billing with more than 2,000 Test runs.“Obviously it's not going to work every time and you do have to be flexible but I'm in decent nick at the moment,” Root added on his ECB.co.uk blog.

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It is based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. The primary focus of Ayurvedic medicine is to promote good health, rather than fight disease. But treatments may be recommended for specific health problems. In the U.S., Ayurveda is considered a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

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“I thought it was really important to catch up with him as a friend and see how life is,” added Cook. “It was a ­really nice meal.”

Nick Compton, will be worried about holding on to his place as he takes on Alex Hales and Nottinghamshire at Lord's in what looks like a last-chance saloon.

“We went and won in South Africa, which gives the guys in the side credit in the bank, but we didn't score the runs in the top order that we'd have liked.

“I'm going to this selection meeting. It's not as clear as I hoped it would be by this stage, but that's probably ­because we could go two or three ways. It will be an interesting meeting. There might be some tough calls, but they might give some players another chance. I don't know which way it's going to go.”

Fabregas 'flicked Spurs players in groin' while Dier 'made threatening gesture' to Spaniard in ugly scenes at Battle of the Bridge

SAMI MOKBEL: Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier made a threatening 



gesture to Cesc Fabregas in the aftermath of Monday night's Battle 



of the Bridge. The England international's gesture shocked eye-



witnesses as both teams clashed by the entrance to the tunnel 



after the final whistle.

Blistering Steve Smith and Rising Pune Supergiants's death overs woes

For the third game in a row, Steven Smith, Rising Pune Supergiants' No. 3 batsman, had to come to the crease before the third over. When RPS, one of two latest entrants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), started their maiden season, it was with a 78-run opening stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis. Supergiants' opening stands in the subsequent games haven't even crossed 30, but that fact has been masked by solid second-wicket partnerships, and Smith has had an important role in that. Apart from the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, when the second-wicket stand was worth zero runs because Kevin Pietersen had to retire hurt, the rest have all been over 40. Among them, six have been over fifty, four have been 80 or more, with three such involving Steven Smith. Smith, who batted down the order for the first few games, had an inconsistent start, but he made up for it as he grew from strength to strength with each passing game. The injury to Pietersen, which ruled him out of the IPL, meant that Smith had to take over the crucial No. 3 position, which was his place during Australia's World T20 campaign. While he did not do much at that position for Australia, knocks of 46 not-out, 101 and 45 - the last two coming at strike-rates of close to 200 - is a clear indicator that Smith relishes batting higher up the order. While the Australian has been going great guns in the last few games, and Rahane has been solid at the top of the order, RPS's inability to capitalise on the good starts has been one of their problems. A problem that has been now exacerbated by Steven Smith's injury and being ruled out of the IPL. Each time the Supergiants have batted first in the ongoing edition, they have ended up on the losing side, which is as many as five losses. The chief contributing factor for that has been their death overs batting as much as the shoddy performance of their bowlers. In the matches that they have batted first, the IPL newbies have scored 75 or more at the half-way stage in four games out of five, with three scores at the end of the 10th over being in excess of 80. But in three such matches, their batting in the death has not complemented the superb starts, which has meant that the Supergiants have ended up with totals that haven't met their expectations. Their average score in the last five overs while batting first is a touch below fifty, and they scored 60 apiece in the last five overs against Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions before their home match against Mumbai Indians. However, on the two occasions before those scores, RPS's scoring rate was just a touch above eight during the death