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JP Duminy led with an all-round performance to help South Africa pull off a 12-run win in the low-scoring opener of the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka

The Report by Firdose Moonda02-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details South Africa’s bowlers were miserly as only two Sri Lankan batsmen managed double-digit scores•AFPReplay the manner in which South Africa were defeated four times on their tour of Sri Lanka so far and you would have expected them to lose this match as well. The top order failed, the middle order was exposed but only just hung together and the bowlers had too little to work with. But this time, they pulled off a heist despite all their deficiencies.JP Duminy followed up his half-century with a match-winning bowling performance while Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell finally showed capabilities of bowling at the death. Kumar Sangakkara’s 59 was one of only two double-figure scores on Sri Lanka’s card as the rest battled on a slow surface.South African fans would not have expected that, after their team seemed to have lost the match before the first innings powerplay was even complete. Sri Lanka’s offspinner Sachithra Senanayake plucked three wickets from a top order that has yet to find their confidence. Their bowlers, though, had theirs boosted after they defended a low total which required Sri Lanka to score just 37 runs in the last five overs.Sri Lanka looked set to chase down the total without much fuss when they scored 13 runs in the first two overs. Kusal Perera showed attacking intent but his temperament gave way when he mis-hit Morne Morkel to point.Dinesh Chandimal also seemed in a hurry. He hit two boundaries before bottom-edging Lonwabo Tsotsobe, after struggling with the extra bounce.With early setbacks, Sri Lanka’s seniors Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara knuckled down and tried to pick singles off Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir. But all the patience Dilshan showed in the ODI series vanished when Duminy was introduced, as in an attempt to take the bowler on, Dilshan only managed to offer AB de Villiers a catch at long-on.Sri Lanka needed to score 70 runs in the second-half of their innings but with the in-form Sangakkara at the crease, they would have thought it more than possible. While he found the boundary, the rest found the fielders.Angelo Mathews gave Duminy a tame return catch and then Jeevan Mendis swept him to deep square leg the next ball. Duminy didn’t complete a hat-trick but he wouldn’t mind that.Lahiru Thirimanne and Thisara Perera holed out within six balls of each other and suddenly, South Africa had the upper-hand. With 21 runs to defend off 12 balls, Parnell mixed up his pace in a double-wicket maiden and Morkel bowled a few full to ensure run-scoring opportunities were unavailable. Sangakkara hit two fours off the last over but he could not do it alone and in the end, Sri Lanka ended up with a worse batting performance than South Africa.That hardly seemed possible after Senanayake’s start. He exposed Quinton de Kock’s inexperience and had the young wicket-keeper batsman playing down the wrong line to one that straightened to get him lbw.Henry Davids also could not read Senanayake. After trying to work him to leg and push him to cover, he went for the sweep to a full delivery and was trapped in front. And then, Faf du Plessis’ lean series became leaner. After constant shuffling at the crease, he tried to play inside the line of a straighter one and was bowled.De Villiers and JP Duminy posted a small stand of 27 and Duminy took on the responsibility of anchoring the innings. He hung around for long enough to accelerate slightly and along with David Miller, helped South Africa manage 21 runs off the 16th and 17th over.Miller became Lasith Malinga’s 50th T20 victim but Duminy notched up a more favourable record. He brought up his fifty with a slog-sweep off an Ajantha Mendis full toss, which took over 1,000 T20 runs and made him South Africa’s leading scorer in the format, overtaking Graeme Smith, and giving the team a morale-boosting win during a tough tour.

Seamer Shafiul Islam and allrounder Ziaur Rahman have been called up to the Bangladesh Test squad, as cover for pacers Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2013Seamer Shafiul Islam and allrounder Ziaur Rahman have been called up to the Bangladesh Test squad, as cover for pacers Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain. Shafiul and Ziaur will fly to Harare on Sunday night.Rubel, who had back trouble during the tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year, hurt his shoulder during the first Test here, while Shahadat had missed the Test due to a knee injury. They do not have much time to regain full fitness, with the second Test beginning on Thursday, thus prompting the team to call for back-up.Bangladesh’s other injury concern is opener Tamim Iqbal, who also missed the first Test. However, his thumb injury is coming on well and indications are he should be fit in time for the second game. On Saturday, captain Mushfiqur Rahim said: “He is doing really well.”Ziaur had featured in the limited-overs leg on Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka, but is yet to debut in Test cricket. Shafiul last played in the home series against West Indies, in December last year. He had made a comeback in that series, following a long injury layoff to recover from a shoulder injury that he picked up while fielding in the Asia Cup in March 2012.Bangladesh lost the first Test by a whopping 335-run margin, within four days, and will have to win the second match to squad the series.

Australia’s vice-captain Shane Watson has left the tour of India just hours after being told he and three other players would not be considered for the third Test for ignoring team orders

Brydon Coverdale11-Mar-2013Australia’s tour of India went into crisis mode on Monday with the team management axeing four players, including vice-captain Shane Watson, from the third Test in Mohali for ignoring team orders following the defeat in Hyderabad. The other players are James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja. Hours after that announcement by the coach Mickey Arthur came news that Watson was heading home, though Cricket Australia insisted it was connected with the birth of his first child.The baby was due shortly after the end of the Indian tour and Watson had already been granted leave to fly home early if required. A Cricket Australia spokesman said that process had been “accelerated” due to a change at home and that it was yet to be confirmed whether Watson would return to the tour ahead of the fourth Test, which starts in Delhi on Friday next week.The four players were told by Arthur of the unprecedented decision on Monday morning. After the Hyderabad loss, inside three and a half days, Arthur asked every member of the squad to let him know three points on how their individual performances and those of the team could be improved.The players were informed of the task on Tuesday night and were asked to ensure it was done by Saturday evening. Every other player completed the requirements, either by emailing or texting Arthur their points or by slipping a note under his door. However, as of Monday morning the four players had neglected to comply. Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and team manager Gavin Dovey met and discussed how to handle the situation and decided that it needed to be a “line-in-the-sand moment”.”After Hyderabad the whole team was really hurting, we were discussing ways of getting back into the series,” Arthur said. “We were particularly aware of where we were as a team and how we were going to get back. I asked the players at the end of the game to give me an individual presentation. I wanted three points from each of them technically, mentally and team as to how we were going to get back over the next couple of games, how we were going to get ourselves back into the series.”Unfortunately four players didn’t comply with that. We pride ourselves on attitude. We have given the players a huge amount of latitude to get culture and attitude right. We believe that those behaviours with what we want to do with this team, how we want to take this team to be the best in the world, teams that are the best in the world have best attitudes and best behaviour patterns and a good, hard, ruthless culture. I believe those four players unfortunately did not meet my requirements so those four are not available for selection for this Test match.”That’s a line-in-the-sand moment. We have given these guys absolute clarity. We have given this team a huge amount of time to buy in with what we want to do for the Australian cricket team. We have given a vision to these guys that is spelt out. We’ve given an expectation that is spelt out and although this incident might seem very small in isolation this is a line-in-the-sand moment for us as a unit in our quest to become the best in the world.Australia’s Test squad

Available players: Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon, Brad Haddin (wk)
Doubtful: Matthew Wade (wk)
Out: Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja

“I think the best thing that these three days off have given me is reflection time, to reflect on how well have I been going in my job, like I expect everyone else to do when you’re 2-0 down in the series. Myself and Pup came to the conclusion that we have been so focused on winning cricket games that maybe some people have been cutting corners. Perhaps there have been some soft options taken.”We decided that we needed to really get that in line.”One of the most surprising aspects of the decision is that it was not necessarily related to previous indiscretions by the players involved. Although there have been ongoing questions about Khawaja’s attitude, Arthur said Watson, as one of the senior members of the side, was usually extremely professional with his preparation. But on this occasion, given the nature of the loss in Hyderabad, the team management was not prepared to accept such laxity.”I have never ever doubted, not for one moment, the drive of Shane Watson,” Arthur said. “Not for one moment. Shane Watson prepares well. He’s very professional and he goes about his business in a very professional way. I’ve not ever been in a position to doubt Shane Watson the person or Shane Watson the cricketer. Usman Khawaja is different. This will be the catalyst I think for Usman Khawaja to realise we’re pretty serious in the Australian cricket team.”It’s extremely tough to sit here and make that decision. I wish it wasn’t the vice-captain, I wish it wasn’t Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson, they are leaders within the team and are very professional with the way they go about their business. But this was a moment where we had to make a statement irrespective of who the players were.”I wanted to make 100% sure that it wasn’t stuck in the outbox and under the door, and it wasn’t. Shane was going to talk to me today about it, as was James Pattinson apparently. Mitchell and Usman forgot about it. But I wanted it by Saturday night. As severe as a consequence it is, if we remove the names, it sends a proper statement of what we want to do with this cricket team.

“That’s a line-in-the-sand moment. We have given these guys absolute clarity. We have given this team a huge amount of time to buy in with what we want to do for the Australian cricket team”

“They could do it in any way. It could be in writing and putting something on email, it could have been sending an SMS followed up by an email. I wanted to make sure the players went back and reflected and looked themselves in the mirror and said ‘this is what I want to do to take this team forward. This is how I want to change this series and this is my positive contribution to the attitudes that we want to create in this cricket team’.”I wanted three things – a lot of guys came to my room and did a presentation, a few guys have written fantastic emails, some guys put notes under my door, it was their preference. As a leadership group, myself, Michael Clarke and Gavin Dovey made these decisions together. We as leaders feel we need to project a united front and we need to be ruthless if we want to achieve our objectives.”The players were informed of the decisions individually on Monday morning before the news was broken to the rest of the playing group prior to training. Arthur said it was a very difficult decision.”They are absolutely gutted, as I was having to deliver a message like that,” he said. “We were all gutted by it, but this is the expectation if you want to play cricket for Australia.”The decision leaves Australia with only 13 players available for the third Test, which starts on Thursday. However, Matthew Wade may yet be ruled out due to injury, which would leave only 12 available when Brad Haddin joins the group. The unavailability of the quartet is only for the Mohali Test; they will again be considered for selection for the fourth and final Test in Delhi.

Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies in July 2013 is likely to be split into two parts in order to accommodate the PCB’s plan of hosting India in August

Umar Farooq19-Dec-2012Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies in July 2013 is likely to be split into two parts in order to accommodate the PCB’s plan of hosting India in August for a series that is yet to be confirmed. Pakistan were due to play two Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s in the Caribbean in June and July but now they will only play either Tests or limited-overs matches to create a window for India.According to the FTP, West Indies are scheduled to host Pakistan from the last week in June to the last week in July but they also have a tri-series against India and Sri Lanka during that time. To avoid the clash with Pakistan, the WICB had asked the PCB if their Caribbean tour could be rescheduled to August. That, however, would interfere with the PCB’s hopes of hosting India, so Pakistan’s West Indies tour had to be split.ESPNcricinfo understands that after the upcoming limited-over series in India starting on December 25, the PCB is hoping to invite India to play another series in Pakistan.”The limited-over series isn’t [just] what we wanted,” a PCB official said. “We wanted long-term bonding with India on reciprocal basis, and to extend our relationship we will invite India to play a series next year in August. We will find a way to at least keep the window open.”Cricket ties between Pakistan and India were put on ice following the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai and the upcoming series will be the first in four years.Pakistan had also sought a postponement of its scheduled tour of Zimbabwe later this month so that they can tour India. Pakistan were scheduled to tour Zimbabwe before their South Africa visit in 2013, but Zimbabwe Cricket agreed to put it off.

A round-up of HRV Cup matches played on January 11, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2013
ScorecardCanterbury put up just about enough runs on the board to beat Northern Districts by eight runs in a high-scoring match in Hamilton. This was their third win in the competition while Northern Districts conceded their fourth loss in nine games.The win has put Canterbury in with a mathematical chance to make it to the finals if they win both their remaining matches. Northern Districts, who came into the match placed third in the table, are now left in a must-win situation in their last league match against Wellington.Deciding to bat first, Canterbury were off to a rapid start but lost Rob Nicol in the third over. His more aggressive opening partner George Worker fell for 27 an over later, but Bradley Cachopa and Andrew Ellis added 39 runs for the third wicket off just 28 balls. The rapid start gave Tom Latham and Brendon Diamanti the foundation to launch from, and they blasted the next 70 off just 38 balls. Latham struck 52 off 29 balls which included three sixes off consecutive balls off an Anurag Verma over, giving Canterbury a competitive 184 in 20 overs.Brent Arnell took four wickets for 22 runs but none of the other Northern District bowlers could make an impression on Canterbury. The story continued with the batsmen too.Canterbury left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira then took three key wickets to scuttle Northern District’s fall, taking 3 for 16 in four overs. Brad Wilson’s 36 and 25 each from James Foster and Jono Bolt were not enough contributions in a big chase.
ScorecardOtago maintained their position at the top of the HRC Cup table with their seventh straight win as they sidelined second-placed Wellington by 12 runs at the Basin Reserve.Otago made a quick start, adding 36 for the opening wicket in 4.2 overs, after they won the toss and elected to bat first. The fall of the wicket didn’t slow the team down as skipper Derek de Boorder joined Hamish Rutherford to keep the scoring-rate up. Even after the fall of Rutherford, Otago kept coming up with regular partnerships that didn’t let the scoring slow down. De Boorder was the last wicket to fall in the innings, off the penultimate ball, after he had scored 67 off 44 balls to set up a strong total.Wellington’s chances of getting a good start were struck a blow when seamer James Fuller got the big wicket of Jesse Ryder. There were useful contributions from Tamim Iqbal and CA Borgas, but none of them were allowed to break free. In the end, Grant Elliot made a late effort with an 18-ball 36 but Wellington fell short by 12 runs.Wellington need to win their last match against Northern Districts to qualify for the finals, but a loss would leave them vulnerable to Auckland’s and Canterbury’s results.

By this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country

Ivo Tennant at Taunton21-Aug-2012
ScorecardBy this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country and hence there is highly optimistic talk of a call-up for the final international match. It is axiomatic that he remains the best opener in the County Championship. For no fault of his own, the scenario has been altogether different this year.If Trescothick was going to be severely injured, as he was at Trent Bridge in May, it was best that this should happen this sodden summer. He was out of action for three months. In seven championship innings, which has been all he has managed owing to his ankle problem, he had not made a half century. He had not looked especially out of touch, but his had been a long lay-off and there was an instantaneous requirement to pick up his game, however late in the season and however bowler-friendly the conditions.Such encumbrance fell away now. In making an unbeaten 89, Trescothick rocked backwards and forwards and propelled the ball through to the cover boundary. There were the customary flicks off his legs, dabs to third man, which was not always tenanted, and, since he has managed to keep pretty fit, some good running between the wickets. A couple of winters ago he was offered £1m by his then bat sponsor if he cleared the pavilion at Lord’s. You would not have bet against him in this touch.Statistics can appear skewed and none more so than when the realisation dawned that Trescothick was approaching the 50th first-class century of his career. Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash are more or less contemporaries, are not nearly such successful international batsmen, and yet each has more than double that tally.Anyway, he will be pleased with this innings, for not only did it signal a return to form, but it was not scored on the kind of flat Taunton surface of old.There was appreciable turn before lunch for Monty Panesar, who thought he had had Trescothick caught at short leg on 60, following through as if he was a fast bowler. Umpire Nick Cook had a word with him at the end of the over. That was the one discordant note on a day when the ball constantly seemed to be hitting the sweet spot of his bat and go pinging off towards the boundary.The other Somerset batsmen did not fare so well. Arul Suppiah was soon bowled by Steve Magoffin, playing an indeterminate pushed drive; Chris Jones was caught at cover, not to the pitch of a rare ball that Panesar did not push through; and James Hildreth, going back to the same bowler and trying to square cut, was taken by Ben Brown. That was131 for 3.Just before 3pm torrential rain began, preventing any further play. Sussex had not looked like dismissing Trescothick, surely still the best opening batsman in England, but they are in need of wickets, lying as they are 11 points behind Warwickshire, the Division One leaders. Last season Trescothick scored 1,673 first-class runs at an average of 79.66. Before his eighth innings of this season, he had mustered just 94 at 13.42. This innings will have brought about a significant improvement on those figures. He has hit 16 fours thus far.

The BCCI’s working committee will meet on September 4 to decide on the future of the beleaguered Deccan Chargers IPL franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Sep-2012The BCCI’s working committee will meet on September 4 to decide on the future of the beleaguered Deccan Chargers IPL franchise. The meeting comes after the franchise owners sought the board’s help in finding a new buyer, conceding they could not carry on running the franchise given their financial problems.At the meeting, board president N Srinivasan – who met the franchise owners recently – is likely to explain the BCCI’s future stand. “They have thrown up their hands. They met the BCCI president directly and said that they cannot get their house in order,” a BCCI working committee member, told ESPNcricinfo.On August 14, the IPL governing council had asked the Chargers management to explain why the franchise had been mortgaged to two leading Indian banks when the BCCI held the ownership rights for the franchise. Granting a month to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), the board asked the Chargers’ owners to come back with a reassurance that they were in a strong position to continue owning the franchise. T Venkatram Reddy, DCHL chairman, who was present at that meeting was confident the crisis would be resolved soon.But earlier this week, Reddy revealed to that DCHL were in advanced talks with potential buyers and the franchise was in safe hands. However, according to the board official, the issue had become “complicated” with the investors in the franchise having asked the board to get involved.”The lenders do not want the team to die. Nine lenders have written to the board saying they do not mind the team being sold and the board should try and help. The BCCI just wants now to facilitate in finding a buyer. We want to see if there is an amicable sale of the franchise,” the official said.In June DCHL had appointed Religare Capital Markets to look for potential investors who might be interested in buying a part or the entire stake in the franchise. But the board official pointed out any sale could not be a straightforward process. “It is not an easy task because there are some legal proceedings against the Deccan Chargers owners. There are also a number of lenders, number of people who have a stake in the team. One of the lenders has even filed a company winding-up petition,” the official said.Asked if the IPL could be in the danger of being reduced to eight teams, the official said that would be the final step. “We are trying to see and find out an amicable way out. If not, there is no other option. It is a complicated issue and is likely to be discussed during the working committee meeting,” he said.However not all board members are impressed at the sudden “soft approach” being thought about by the BCCI top brass. “Less than a month ago we had stated and issued a notice to the Deccan Chargers owners that in case they would not settle their dispute the board would auction for a new team. Now apparently we have to take a softer route. How are we concerned? The lenders are knocking at the BCCI doors because they are in trouble,” a working committee member said.

The next edition of South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition will include a seventh franchise, and will feature ten foreign players

Firdose Moonda13-Feb-2012It’s not quite the same as the IPL, BBL, BPL or any other cricketing premier league, but South Africa’s domestic MiWAY T20 challenge has ensured it will have an added edge in its next season. The competition will include a seventh franchise, and the glamour factor will come from ten foreign players who will be spread around the squads. The new franchise is called Impi, a Zulu-word which means an armed body of men.The new team was unveiled at a low-profile launch at a hotel next to OR Tambo International Airport, a far cry from the usually lavish affairs associated with Twenty20 competitions. It probably fit the occasion, though, because Impi will be based at the equally unspectacular Willowmoore Park in Benoni.Former England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood will lead Impi and they have so far signed one other international: Ryan ten Doeschate, the South-African born Netherlands allrounder. The team has been allowed to contract four overseas players and are in advanced negotiations with another two. The idea behind the additional franchise is to give opportunities to players who just miss out on franchise selection and compete in the semi-professional leagues.”There are too many players we are missing,” Vincent Barnes, coach of Impi, told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve been travelling around the country to watch players and strategise the compilation of this team and I had about 30 names in the end of players I thought could play. We could only contract 11 but we definitely have enough players in South Africa.”The 11 players include eight from major unions – four hail from the Johannesburg-based Gauteng union, three from Western Province and one from Kwa-Zulu Natal – and three from lesser-known areas. Adrian McLaren and Charl Pietersen from Griqualand West in Kimberley and Cobus Pienaar from the Benoni-based Easterns are in the squad.”It’s a big stage for them and I want to make it clear that we are here to compete and to win,” Barnes said. Should Impi make it to the final, they will qualify for the Champions League T20, an even bigger stage.Some of the other foreign players that will feature in the T20 tournament are not really foreigners at all. Alfonso Thomas and Martin van Jaarsveld, both of whom started their careers at what is now the Titans franchise but now play in England, will play as overseas players for TitansCobras have retained the services of Owais Shah and have added Brad Hogg to their squad. Lions have signed Dirk Nannes and will welcome Sohail Tanvir in time for their third match while the biggest drawcard of the event belongs to Dolphins, who have snagged Chris Gayle. Warriors and Knights were both unable to afford any internationals and will play with their regular domestic squads.The competition was at risk of going unsponsored as CSA’s much-talked about bonus scandal battles through its second year. However, short-term insurance company MiWAY came on board at the last minute to back the event. Impi have also managed to secure funding from the newspaper, which recently completed its first year.Their first match will be on February 17, against Lions, while the competition itself kicks off on February 15, with the first match featuring Warriors and Cobras in Port Elizabeth.Impi squad: Paul Collingwood, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adrian McLaren, Dominic Hendricks, Richard Cameron, Cobus Pienaar, Charl Pietersen, Khaya Zondo, Siya Simetu, Beuran Hendricks, Craig Alexander, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ryan Canning

Lancashire are close to concluding a deal to secure the return of Junaid Khan, the highly-rated Pakistan left-arm seamer, as their overseas player for this season’s Friends Life T20.

Myles Hodgson03-Apr-2012Lancashire are close to concluding a deal to secure the return of Junaid Khan, the highly-rated Pakistan left-arm seamer, as their overseas player for this season’s Friends Life T20.Recruited last season on the recommendation of Wasim Akram, Junaid made a big impact on the Flt20 and helped Lancashire reach finals day for the first time in four years, only to miss the climax to the competition after being selected for Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe.His absence was felt, particularly his ability as a death bowler, with Lancashire losing the semi-final at Edgbaston to Leicestershire in a one-over eliminator. Despite the interest of other counties, Lancashire are confident of securing Junaid’s return later this summer.”We’ve got some paperwork with Junaid at this moment in time, so hopefully we’ll get that back soon and square that bit of business off,” Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s Cricket Director, explained. “That’s important for us really because if you look at the depth of our squad, we feel we’ve got the quality to compete in all three competitions, but we need a little bit of a buffer for our bowlers.”Glen Chapple, Saj Mahmood and Kyle Hogg bowled a lot of overs last season and if we get Junaid on board, he showed what he can do last season in the T20 competition and proved to be an outstanding performer bowling at the death. That’s something we’re a little bit short of, so we’re looking forward to having him in the bag and then we can see where we are from there.”Junaid’s time at Lancashire last season proved beneficial for both parties. Signed on a meagre contract due to the financial restrictions imposed by the ongoing legal battle with Derwent Holdings and the redevelopment of Old Trafford, Junaid impressed enough to break into Pakistan’s Test side. Sri Lankan all-rounder Farveez Maharoof was also signed on a similar deal earlier in the summer and impressed sufficiently to play in the Test series in England and has since reclaimed his place in their one-day international squad.While financial restrictions have eased enough for Lancashire to re-sign South African batsman Ashwell Prince to help with the defence of their LV County Championship title, Watkinson conceded they may have to look for further bargains if they are to strengthen the squad further.”In an ideal world the squad could stand somebody else given the amount of cricket we’re going to play and how intense the season is but whether that happens or not, we’re not really sure,” he said. “We have proved last season that there are players out there who are willing to play for the opportunity and to further their own careers, so we’ll weigh that option up.”Prince will miss Lancashire’s three-day match against Cambridge University, which starts on Friday, but is expected in time to feature in their opening championship match of the season against Sussex at Aigburth next week.It will be his third spell with Lancashire, having averaged 52.60 from five first class matches in 2009 while he also returned for an interim period the following year, and his familiarity with an already close-knit squad – in addition to the chance to impress South Africa’s selectors ahead of their tour of England in the second half of the summer – was a key factor in securing his arrival.”You can’t pick and choose who’s available and obviously Ashwell has played for us before and we loved having him,” explained Lancashire captain Chapple, who shares an admiration for Prince as a cricketer with a mutual support of Liverpool Football Club.”He worked hard; he was a dedicated cricketer and has obviously got proven international class. He supports Liverpool as well so there’s a bit more support in the dressing room and we’re looking forward to having him back. He was good for us when he played for us before and we’re sure he will be again.”Chapple may miss the Cambridge University match after contracting a cold during Lancashire’s recent trip to Abu Dhabi for the champions’opener against MCC but remains in good spirits ahead of Lancashire’s title defence.Asked what would be different this summer as champions at the annual media day, where the traditional opening question was always to enquire whether Lancashire could finally win the title, Chapple responded by saying: “We’re answering different questions!”

Andrew Strauss has insisted he has no qualms over the squad Pakistan have selected for the Tests in UAE

Andrew McGlashan at Heathrow02-Jan-2012Andrew Strauss has insisted he has no qualms over the squad Pakistan have selected for the Tests in UAE despite links to the spot-fixing trial which led to Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt being handed jail sentences.Three further players whose names were mentioned during the trial at Southwark Crown Court – left-arm quick Wahab Riaz, opening batsman Imran Farhat and middle-order player Umar Akmal – are part of Pakistan’s 16-man squad for the three Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which start on January 17. No charges were brought against any of those players.Strauss has previously spoken about needing to move on from the controversy which began at Lord’s in 2010, when the now defunct exposed the spot-fixing scam involving deliberate no-balls, and he again talked about a fresh start as the England squad prepared to fly out from Heathrow.”It’s their obligation and duty to pick the best side they think is available to them,” Strauss said. “I think the spot-fixing stuff is something we are desperately keen to move on from. I don’t think there’s any good that can come from churning it all up again and it’s time to just concentrate on the cricket. We will play whichever XI is selected.”Even before spot-fixing the history of contests between these two teams was littered with controversy including the abandoned Test at The Oval in 2006 and the infamous altercation between Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana in 1987. Strauss, though, is very keen to ensure that the next couple of months don’t add another reason to remember the occasion for the wrong reasons.”This perception that there are always issues between Pakistan and England, we should see this as an opportunity to eradicate that,” he said. “There’s no reason why that should be the case. If we approach it in the right spirit then that should be good for relations between the two teams and world cricket in general.”Pakistan are playing a lot of good cricket and that’s going to be the challenge for us to overcome them, on the field. What’s happened before is water under the bridge and I hope both sides can play in the right spirit and produce an entertaining and exciting Test match series.”Pakistan’s recent form has included Test victories against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and while that trio doesn’t represent the toughest challenge in the game it is the consistency of a notoriously unpredictable team that caught the eye in the second half of 2011.They have compensated for the absence of Amir and Asif with the emergence of Junaid Khan, a left-arm quick who faces a fitness Test to see whether he’ll be available to play against England, while Aizaz Cheema was a releative late-comer to international cricket at the age of 31. Throw in the skills of Saeed Ajmal, currently the world’s leading spinner, and they remain a potent attack.”They are probably one of the form teams in world cricket at the moment. I think their bowling attack has been pretty impressive,” Strauss said.” They seem to have a production line of good quality bowlers and Saeed Ajmal in particular has done well in those conditions. They have got a good balance to their side and they are playing some good, sort of smart cricket at the moment.”There is also the advantage of having played a considerable amount of cricket in UAE which is now their home away from home, although Strauss wasn’t too concerned about the unknown quantity of what England will encounter.”The conditions aren’t tremendously foreign they are sub-continental definitely,” he said. “I suppose it’s fairly attritional cricket and that’s what you need to get used to doing in those sort of conditions. Taking 20 wickets is going to be the key and I’m very thankful that we go out there with a well-balanced bowling attack that has challenged teams continuously over the last couple of years. I’m sure they will continue to do that.”Strauss said that England are likely to select three of the five quick bowlers in the tour party when the Test series begins which, coupled with the likelihood of them retaining six specialist batsmen and Matt Prior at No. 7, means Monty Panesar will need to wait a bit longer to resume his Test career.England’s two warm-up matches, the first against an Associates and Affiliates XI starting on Saturday, will give Chris Tremlett and Steven Finn a chance to push their claims for a recall but they face a tough task to break up the attack that completed the 4-0 whitewash against India. For whichever bowlers do play, it will be a tough few weeks.