Mahela Jayawardene has said Daredevils’ injury issues had prompted him to bat in the middle order at the start of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2013Delhi Daredevils finally have their first points of IPL 2013, after cruising to a nine-wicket win against Mumbai Indians on Sunday. While it was quite a poor showing by Mumbai’s new-ball bowlers, credit would have to go to Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene for captialising on the chances offered them and allowing Daredevils to close out the chase of 162 with three overs to spare.Daredevils rejigged their batting line-up, reuniting Sehwag and Jayawardene at the top, and the pair went on to become only the third combination in the IPL to put together a second century opening partnership – they added 151 at almost 10 an over. Speaking after the match, Jayawardene said Daredevils’ injury issues had prompted him to bat in the middle order at the start of the tournament. “Losing Kevin [Pietersen] and Jesse [Ryder] prompted me to go down the order as we needed some solidity in the middle. But since our batting unit did not click, it was a call that I had to take,” he said. “I spoke to David [Warner] about it and told him that I wanted him to play the role that Kevin played last year.”Sehwag’s style suited him, Jayawardene said: “We complemented each other very well. As it is, Viru took a lot of pressure off me and my job was to give him more strike. His batting also allowed me to play freely and I could control the innings. We kept talking to each other, that we should not get carried away with good start.”After scores of 12, 25 and 17, and time out due to a recurrence of back trouble, Sehwag finally clicked, slamming 95 off 57 and batting through the innings. “I have seen how passionate Viru was about performing well. There is a lot of fire in his belly,” Jayawardene said. “He was also coming off injury, the back spasms. So you’ve got to give him a bit of time [to get back into touch].”Mumbai Indians captain Ricky Ponting was disappointed in the lines his bowlers delivered at the start. While Jasprit Bumrah bowled a lot outside off, Munaf Patel kept straying onto leg stump with fine leg up. “I think we could have stopped Sehwag getting off to the kind of start he got off to. With Sehwag, what’s important is to tuck him up at the start,” Ponting said. “Today, we gave him too many scoring options early on and let him get away. All the line and lengths that we spoke about, we weren’t able to execute.”

The Islamabad High Court has upheld the suspension of Zaka Ashraf and ordered the Pakistan inter-provincial committee to name an interim PCB chairman

Umar Farooq13-Jun-2013The Islamabad High Court has upheld the suspension of Zaka Ashraf and ordered the Pakistan inter-provincial coordination committee to name an interim PCB chairman to represent the board in the ICC annual conference in London later this month. The next hearing on the matter will be on June 19.The court, at its initial hearing last month, suspended Ashraf from “exercising his power within his incumbency” due to what it called the “dubious” and “polluted” process to elect him. It was responding to a petition filed by a former official of the Rawalpindi Cricket Association against the Pakistan board’s elections that were held in May, through which Ashraf was elected to a four-year term as chairman.The PCB lawyer argued against the suspension order, saying that Ashraf needed to represent the PCB at the ICC annual conference, but the court turned down the request. “In the peculiar circumstances, the inter-provincial coordination committee is directed to appoint some acting chairman [of the] PCB, fully qualified to be appointed as chairman, till final disposal of instant writ petition, with the authority to attend forthcoming meeting of the ICC so Pakistan may be represented in the meeting,” the judge said.However, bringing in an interim chairman will not be a straightforward matter. The PCB, being an autonomous body, isn’t regulated by the government and is directly linked to the president of Pakistan, the patron of the board.The PCB constitution states that, “(i) during the absence of chairman for the period of more than 45 days or in the event the chairman tender his resignation or in case of his death or in the event of the office of the chairman falling vacant for any other reason, the board of governors may elect and appoint an acting chairman from amongst its members, who may only have limited powers during the absence or till the appointment of the chairman; (ii) the chairman during his leave from office or otherwise, may delegate any of his power, in writing to any other member of the board of governors or the chief operating officer.”Given the court’s order, there is no procedure defined in the board’s constitution to appoint a chairman through the inter-provincial coordination committee.Ashraf was elected in the first week of May – the first election of a PCB chairman – under the new board constitution that replaced the system of appointing the chairman by the patron. The process was conducted without any prior announcement, the PCB revealing Ashraf’s appointment through a press release, and Ashraf’s election was challenged in three different courts in the country.

James Anderson led England to victory in the first Investec Test as he took the last four wickets to fall in a steadfast spell of fast bowling on a nerve-shredding final day at Trent Bridge

The Report by David Hopps14-Jul-2013
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Anderson secured victory for England with his tenth wicket in the match•Getty Images

James Anderson led England to victory in the first Investec Test as he took the last four wickets to fall in a steadfast spell of fast bowling on a nerve-shredding final day at Trent Bridge. But Australia took some silencing. A last-wicket stand of 65 between Brad Haddin and James Pattinson took a wonderful match, against expectations, into the afternoon session before Anderson struck for the final time.Haddin’s valiant innings, 71 from 147 balls, deserved better than a dismissal by virtue of DRS. But it was better than an umpire getting it wrong; the system worked. Aleem Dar, the on-field umpire, understandably did not spot an inside edge about which only the wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, seemed convinced but England had two reviews in the tank and replays clearly proved Haddin nicked it.England raced into a jubilant huddle, a capacity crowd cheered with delight and Haddin, his helmet removed, looked pale with exhaustion and regret.The importance of Anderson to England was doubly emphasised when he finally took a break. At that stage, Australia still needed 64 but, with Anderson withdrawn, the last pair immediately sensed they could hit their way to victory. Haddin, strong on the slog-sweep, was dropped at deep square leg by Steven Finn on 64, Graeme Swann’s premature visions of victory banished.England were so shaken they ended the session with a shameless display of timewasting – Stuart Broad to the fore, under his captain’s instructions, with needless boot repairs. The umpires made them have another over anyway.Much is made of Anderson’s skill, but it was his stamina that was also to the fore as he produced a gruelling spell of 13 overs off the reel and was then asked for 11 more deliveries after lunch. Anderson was entrusted first with the old ball, then dismissed Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle with the new. He has bowled 55.5 overs in the match, taking ten for 158 in the process, and passed Fred Trueman in England’s all-time list during the game.Turn to your leading bowler when it most matters. In relying upon Anderson, England’s captain, Alastair Cook, was returning to basic principles, and aware also of his excellent record at Trent Bridge but he would have had a few qualms about giving Anderson such an arduous spell with the Lord’s Test only four days away.There is no doubt who is most invaluable to England in this Ashes series. It is not Cook, Jonathan Trott at his most unflappable or even Swann, whose superior spin bowling gives England an obvious advantage. It is Anderson. Once limited if the ball did not swing conventionally, he has grown into the best dry-wicket pace bowler in the world.All three pre-lunch wickets fell to catches by Cook at first slip, as Anderson found away swing from both around then over the wicket. The best of them was a diving effort to his right to dismiss Peter Siddle, atonement for dropping Siddle in the same position in Anderson’s previous over. When you have set a field with a solitary slip – generally justifiable on this low pitch, but not necessarily when Siddle was having a lash – it is advisable to develop spring heels.Trent Bridge has lapped up one of the great Tests. It was sold out for all five days, and with Australia, six down overnight, needing another 137 to win, there was enough in the game for the vast majority to turn up for the final phase of a gripping Test.There is more than one way to seek to turn a Test that seems to be tipping against you. Agar, with the eagerness we have already come to expect, fancied scampering a single or two to get the intensity up. The old timer, Haddin, wanted to do nothing of the sort, preferring to hunker in and communicate a sense that Australia would not yield. Twice, Agar almost ended up in mid-pitch, leaving his older – and slower – partner to have a calming word.The ball was 71 overs at start of play, the floodlights broke through the morning haze and a slow pitch was as inhibiting for the batsmen as ever. Cook was satisfied enough to watch Australia make painstaking progress, so cautious that he even set a long-on and long-off for Swann’s offspin, but it was deadlock.In 11 overs, Australia made 17. Haddin slog-swept Swann for four, Agar, driving with big backlift and loose limbs, deflected Anderson to the third boundary. After 82 overs, Cook had seen enough and took the new ball. But Anderson, his go-to bowler, had already bowled five overs with the old one. Finn had become an option that Cook did not entirely trust. Swann’s threat was subdued, his home ground still reluctant to bear favours. Anderson faced a footslog.If the harder ball did not swing, Australia had an opportunity to step up the scoring rate for more than an hour before lunch. Instead, with the fifth over of the new ball – Anderson’s eighth of the morning – Agar fell to Anderson.Agar prefers to stay leg-side of the ball, foot not always to the pitch, to free up his off-side drives; Anderson, shaping the ball away from around the wicket, found the perfect retort and Cook held the edge at first slip. His 14 had taken 71 balls, in sharp contrast to his first-innings spree, but it was not just the increased pressure second time around, but could also be put down to the debilitating nature of the pitch.Australia’s lower order is no pushover: their bottom three – Starc, Siddle, and Pattinson share a combined Test average of 70. But Anderson had not finished. Starc received another excellent delivery which left him – this time from over the wicket – and Cook again held on.With eight down, and 100 still needed, Siddle decided that adventure was called for. Cook missed an inviting opportunity to his left at slip, but then caught a blinder in Anderson’s next over. At 240 for 9, Anderson finally had to stand down.With 70 needed, Haddin spotted his moment. A concerted assault upon Finn, who has been thoroughly out of sorts throughout this Test, was Australia’s last remaining hope. He took 15 off Finn’s first over, passing 50 in the process, crunching him over the leg-side on three occasions. Finn looked insipid. His second over went for nine, including four byes. Broad responded better.England could afford one bowler to be broken; they could not afford two. Pattinson slogged Swann over midwicket for six as the last-wicket stand reached 50. England turned to Broad, but any longing to return to Anderson had to wait when he tried to stretch and limped off to the pavilion.England then missed a run out with 28 needed, Haddin and Pattinson caught in mid-pitch as they became mixed-up over a leg-side single, only for Jonny Bairstow’s shy at the stumps at the keeper’s end to miss the target.Finn allowed a challenging running catch to slip through his hands at deep square-leg with Haddin 64 and 26 needed. Watching from the Australia dressing room, the coach, Darren Lehmann played with a stress ball.At lunch, a late lunch, too, this Test would just not lie down. A lie down was probably just what Anderson fancied. But he roused himself for a final time and the faintest of nicks – seen on Hot Spot, heard on audio, unofficially spotted on Snicko and perhaps even suspected by the batsman himself – put England 1-0 up in the series.

Barbados Tridents’ spinners Ashley Nurse and Shakib Al Hasan, picked up five of the eight Antigua Hawksbills wickets to fall and led their side to their second victory

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShoaib Malik continued his good run for Barbados•Getty Images

Barbados Tridents’ spinners Ashley Nurse and Shakib Al Hasan picked up five of the eight Antigua Hawksbills wickets to fall to set up a 12-run victory, their second in as many matches at Kensington Oval.A stunning catch at mid-off from Devon Thomas, who leaped into the air and snatched Dwayne Smith’s lofted drive, put Barbados, who had won the toss, at 11 for 1 in the third over. Shoaib Malik steadied the innings with Jonathan Carter, adding 42 runs for the second wicket before Antigua captain Marlon Samuels struck in successive overs, accounting for Carter and Shakib – both caught by Thomas again.Umar Akmal joined Malik in a brief union, which produced 22 runs. Malik fell in the 13th over, however, with the captain Kieron Pollard coming in and Akmal striking well, Barbados looked set to reach a big total. Left-arm seamer Sheldon Cotterrell ended their 33-run stand in the 18th over, duping Akmal with a slower ball and Pollard became Thomas’ fourth catch, before No. 10 Jason Holder hoisted the last ball for a straight six to end the innings on 146 for 8.Antigua followed a similar trend of losing wickets regularly, though their opener Johnson Charles produced the highest score of the match with 44, including five fours and a six. His partner Thomas faced a maiden from Shakib and only managed 2 from his 13 balls.Ricky Ponting could not to reproduce his county form in his first match for Antigua, and edged Shakib to slip. Samuels laboured for 23 off 31 balls, striking only two fours before he charged at Nurse’s first ball and was stumped to leave his side at 88 for 4 in the 16th over. Nurse got thumped for six by Ben Rohrer in his next over but exacted immediate retribution, the second slog finding Kieron Pollard at long-off. With 28 needed off the final over, Nurse made quick work of Dave Mohammed, and with 26 needed off four balls Kemar Roach hit two sixes before his third attempt found deep midwicket.

The BCCI has decided to extend the one-time payment it announced in 2012 for former cricketers to five more players

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2013The BCCI has decided to extend the one-time payment it announced in 2012 for former cricketers to five more players. The decision, which was taken during the board meeting in Kolkata on September 1, is set to benefit Sairaj Bahutule, Sanjay Bangar, Amol Muzumdar, S Sriram and Wasim Jaffer.Jaffer will be the biggest beneficiary of the board’s decision, having featured in 31 Tests and 211 first-class matches, but he will be eligible for the payment of Rs 60 lakh ($87,900) only after his retirement. The same applies to Muzumdar, who, although never made it to the national side, has played 166 first-class matches. He is set to gain Rs 30 lakh.Bangar, Bahutule and Sriram, all of whom have retired, are eligible for immediate payment.”Those cricketers who retired before 2003-04 had got the one-time benefit,” Ravi Savant, the BCCI treasurer, told . “There were few who retired after that, so the board felt it would extend the scheme to these players.”The scheme, first announced at the IPL 2012 opening ceremony, had benefited around 160 former cricketers. The payments were made in seven categories, with the top payments going to players who had played more than 100 Tests.

New Zealand have just three Test wins against the top eight nations in the last five years, and Richard Hadlee doesn’t think that record will improve unless the side gets to play more five-day matches

Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore17-Aug-2013New Zealand have just three Test wins against the top eight nations in the last five years, and Richard Hadlee, their former allrounder, doesn’t think that record will improve unless the side gets to play more five-day matches. During those years New Zealand have had just one away series with more than two Tests, something which Hadlee thinks is affecting their progress.”Our Test cricket is of great concern right now. We are rated, I think, at No 9 [New Zealand are No 8] which is our lowest ever ranking in Test cricket.” Hadlee said in Bangalore. “What doesn’t help us is when we travel overseas to play Test series, we invariably get a one-off Test or two-match Test series… Unless we get more Test cricket at home and away, particularly away, we are not going to get any better. Particularly the specialist Test players who want to play but are denied that opportunity.”Hadlee said the perception in other countries that New Zealand are not box-office material was hurting the team. “It appears our value to other countries is not significant enough to keep us long enough in their country to make decent money. I think there should be some commitment to honour future tour programmes.”What heartened Hadlee about New Zealand’s Test prospects was the crop of emerging quick bowlers in the country. “Very inexperienced, very young. [Trent] Boult can swing it both ways, [Tim] Southee is really coming on, [Neil] Wagner is a good trier and there are a couple of good seamers in the background. Give us five years, I think we will be knocking over sides quite regularly, provided we score enough runs.”New Zealand have recently overhauled their selection process with former Australia coach John Buchanan and former Australia lawn bowls administrator Kim Littlejohn moving out. Earlier this week former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar was named the country’s general manager of national selection. “It’s nice to get some of our former cricketers back on the block,” said Hadlee, who was on the panel that interviewed Edgar. “Stephen Boock, who was a left-arm spinner, is the president of New Zealand Cricket. So, that’s good. You will find on the board, one or two former players who want to be involved. When you’ve got cricket people involved, you can make cricket decisions.”Hadlee was in Bangalore, the venue where he broke the record for most Test wickets in 1988, on an invite from the Karnataka State Cricket Association as part of its platinum jubilee celebrations.Over a nearly hour-long chat with journalists Hadlee reminisced about his career, and gave his views on many of the challenges facing the game today, including the problem of fixing. Rahul Dravid, in an interview to ESPNcricinfo earlier this month, had called for fixing to be made a criminal offence, but Hadlee proposed a different solution.”It’s a shame that it goes on and it has to be stamped out very quickly and people have to be made examples of and clearly banned, even take it a step further, even have their records erased for life in the game,” Hadlee said. “I think the most severe penalty that can happen – even more than going to jail – is to have your record erased from the game.”

Mitchell Johnson has rattled England’s top order whenever rain has allowed during this one-day series, but he has admitted that regularly pushing the speedgun over 90mph has taken even him by surprise.

Andrew McGlashan13-Sep-2013Mitchell Johnson has rattled England’s top order whenever rain has allowed during this one-day series, but he has admitted that regularly pushing the speedgun over 90mph has taken even him by surprise.Johnson’s new-ball spell in the rain-ruined third match at Edgbaston had Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott hopping around and it followed an eye-catching display in Manchester where Trott gloved a short delivery behind and another delivery zipped through almost decapitating wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.Although he is trying not to get sucked into talk of a Test comeback in the return Ashes he hopes his performances with the white ball will leave England’s batsmen “wary” of him as he continues his quest to intimidate.”Consistently my pace is definitely up there,” he said. “I think the bounce that I’m getting is probably the key. That’s something I remember from when I first started playing cricket for Queensland, getting extra bounce brought me a lot of wickets. Being consistent with that pace, it was a bit of a surprise for me as it wasn’t something I was actually working on, but because I’m strong and fit that’s where the pace has come from. It was a surprise, but I’m happy with it for sure.”I have that confidence and belief in my bowling,” he added. “Whoever I’m up against I’m confident I can get them out and intimidate them, that’s what I’ll be doing here and in every game going forward. That’s how I bowl and will continue to bowl. Hopefully they are wary of me. I just have to keep being aggressive and keep it simple, that’s it.”At Edgbaston, Johnson beat Pietersen for pace to have him caught at square-leg pulling and gave Trott, who has battled against the short ball during the latter half of the season, a tough working over. Trott saved himself with a review when he was given lbw to a ball that pitched outside leg, then Australia used up their review on one that was just clipping the bails. To cap a tough innings, Trott was struck in the grille as he tried to pull.”I bowled a couple of cross-seamers and it seemed to skid through nicely but when you can get those guys out with the short ball it can be very intimidating and the short ball is part of my armoury,” Johnson said. “As a fast bowler, when I’ve been at my best being aggressive I bowl that armpit ball or to the throat of the batsman, and then I try to use the ball swinging, getting it up there for the lbws or bowleds or catches behind, I try to keep it as simple as I can.”Johnson remains a figure of fun for the English crowds but has learned to embrace his pantomime villain status which dates back to his nightmares in the 2009 Ashes when his game fell apart at Lord’s. After firstly struggling to accept the vocals from the fans – which extended to the 2010-11 Ashes in Johnson’s own backyard and finished in a first-ball duck at Sydney to chants of “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right” – he now finds himself humming the tunes in his head.”It’s pretty catchy,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t like it when I first came over. I didn’t expect it. I’d been in some pretty good form throughout 2009 and I didn’t really expect to cop as much flak as I did. Now, it doesn’t bother me. It’s all part of the game, I know what to expect over here now. Wherever I am now in the world I know what to expect. I just take it on board and move on with it.”I think I’m always going to cop it over here now. As soon as I bowl a wide I get it but it’s all part of the game and I’ve learnt to live with it and enjoy it.”Having been through the rough times more than once, Johnson is also aware of how quickly fortunes can change having felt hard done by to not make the cut for the recent Ashes. Although the injuries to James Pattinson and, particularly, Mitchell Starc have opened up a clear route back into the Test team for Brisbane in November he knows that his impressive performances here will count for nothing if his form falls away over the next few months.”I know my action is watched a lot at the moment, so as soon as something isn’t quite right it gets picked up and could backfire on you,” he said. “It was disappointing to find out I wasn’t in the squad because I thought I’d been performing, coming back from the injury. Watching the first ball of an Ashes series was quite hard, but then I got over it and knew I had to keep working hard.”I feel like I’ve been performing and now I have to perform at the right times. I want to play Test cricket, that’s my No. 1. Hopefully I get the chance to play against England and win an Ashes series.”

Essex suffered a second defeat in the space of 24 hours as they went down by 44 runs in their T20 Blast match against Surrey at Chelmsford.

ECB/PA16-May-2015
ScorecardSteven Davies made his second fifty in two days•Getty Images

Essex suffered a second defeat in the space of 24 hours as they went down by 44 runs in their T20 Blast match against Surrey at Chelmsford.After the visitors posted 205 for 5, Essex, who lost to Hampshire on Friday, never seriously threatened to deny Surrey their first success in the competition.After losing Jason Roy in the opening over, Surrey seized the initiative with a series of punishing strokes from Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara. They put on 80 from only seven overs, with 27 coming from a seven-ball over sent down by left-arm seamer Reece Topley.

Insights

Chelmsford is traditionally a high-scoring ground and although they cannot afford to be chasing 200-plus every week it was Essex’s batting that was the most concerning aspect of their defeat. The scoreboard put pressure on their top order but to be two wickets down within three overs of their run-chase for the second successive match was concerning. Indeed, Essex’s first two matches have been opener Nick Browne’s first, while Daniel Lawrence, replacing the injured Jesse Ryder, was playing his first T20 match against Surrey. The return of Ryder, along with Mark Pettini and Tom Westley, cannot come soon enough.

It included two successive sixes from Sangakkara who went on to clear the ropes for a third time before he was to provide Topley with his only success. Sangakkara’s 38 arrived from 21 balls but even he was upstaged by Davies who completed a half-century from just 23 deliveries before he was out for 53 two balls later.Davies was caught at long-on by Graham Napier and although the tempo slackened following the departure of the second-wicket pair, Surrey still breezed along in excess of six an over. Gary Wilson contributed 41 from 34 deliveries with the help of five fours and a six while Zafar Ansari collected an unbeaten 31 from 21 balls.Essex’s hopes of laying a solid foundation disappeared in the second over of their innings when paceman Matt Dunn struck twice. First he persuaded Nick Browne to put up a simple catch to James Burke in the covers before breaching the defence of 17-year-old Dan Lawrence.Greg Smith and Kishen Velani did their best to retrieve the situation with a partnership of 70 but they were never able to get near the required rate.It took them 10 overs to gather those runs before the arrival of Tom Curran saw both dismissed in the same over. First he bowled Velani for 22, before rattling the stumps of Smith to end an innings that brought him 44 form 35 balls.With Graham Napier and James Foster going cheaply, Essex’s last hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of Ryan ten Doeschate. Briefly the Dutchman threatened to keep his side on course for what would have been an astonishing triumph as he plundered his runs in rapid fashion. The fireworks were ended by Burke who had ten Doeschate caught by Gareth Batty and, with his departure, Surrey were left breathing a huge sigh of relief and able to coast to a comfortable triumph.Curran wrapped up the innings by getting rid of Shaun Tait and Topley in the final over to finish with 4 for 35.

Bangladesh are unlikely to make many changes to their squad for the solitary Test against India, which starts from June 10 in Fatullah

Mohammad Isam31-May-2015Bangladesh are unlikely to make many changes to their squad for the solitary Test against India, which starts from June 10 in Fatullah. The national selectors, who met on Sunday to discuss the final names from the 23-member preliminary squad, are expected to submit the 14-member squad to the Bangladesh Cricket Board by June 3 and an official announcement could be made in a couple of days after that.The preliminary squad has been training since the end of the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class matches, on May 27. The selectors were concerned about injuries to Tamim Iqbal (knee), Mushfiqur Rahim (finger), Rubel Hossain (side), Shakib Al Hasan (shin bone) and Shafiul Islam (hand) but the players have reportedly recovered after resting during the last round of the BCL”We are definitely going to select from 23 fit players,” chief selector Faruque Ahmed said. “Mushfiqur batted an extra hour on Saturday after everyone had completed training so he looks fine. So does Tamim, Rubel and Shafiul.”Apart from injury concerns, the two Tests against Pakistan threw up a few performance-related questions. Shuvagata Hom took five wickets and scored 71 runs in the Tests against Pakistan but a nine-wicket haul for Central Zone against North Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League could keep him in the squad, despite an undefined role in the playing XI.Soumya Sarkar had made just 70 runs in the Test series but had scored a scintillating unbeaten 127 against Pakistan in the preceding ODI series. If there was some concern about his position in team as the No 7 batsman, a knock of 127, which helped South Zone become BCL champions, will work in his favour. Mahmudullah too had made just 119 runs in the two Tests but again, his century in the BCL would push the case for his retention. Mahmudullah did well enough in the only first-class match before the Test in June, scoring a first-class hundred for Central Zone.Jubair Hossain, Litton Das and Abul Hasan – who were in Bangladesh’s Test squad against Pakistan but didn’t play any of the matches – will also be discussed and at least two of the players seem uncertain of a place in the team. Jubair hasn’t played a game since appearing for BCB XI in a practice match against Pakistan in mid-April while the return of Shafiul Islam in the preliminary squad means that either he or Abul could be picked for the India Test. Abul, however, took six wickets for East Zone recently while Shafiul’s last competitive match was in February, after which he suffered a hand injury.”I cannot talk about who we are considering. Shuvagata certainly has a good chance. He took nine wickets in the first-class match. Jubair is a concern since he hasn’t played for a while so let us see what happens,” said Faruque.Litton meanwhile struck 38 and 74 for East Zone and could be kept in the squad against India as the selection committee has shown a willingness to continue with the combination. Rony Talukdar was in the ODI squad against Pakistan without playing a game while Nasir Hossain has been out of the Test squad since the West Indies series in September 2014. The latter hasn’t impressed with the bat in domestic cricket.Sabbir Rahman could be an interesting choice in the Test team as he has improved his batting in international cricket in leaps and bounds since his selection last year. However, he has been deemed a limited-overs specialist by the selectors.Bangladesh’s probable squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Shuvagata Hom, Mohammad Shahid, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan/Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Litton Das.

Pakistan have been given back the review they lost due to an umpiring oversight on the first day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo

Umar Farooq and Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jun-2015Pakistan have been given back the review they lost due to an umpiring oversight on the first day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. The review – which was used to refer an unsuccessful appeal against Kaushal Silva – was restored to Pakistan at the start of the second day, leaving them with the full quota of two reviews.The rare decision to compensate a team for suffering an umpiring error was made because suboptimal use of the DRS had cost Pakistan the wicket of Silva in Sri Lanka’s first innings of the second Test.Umpire S Ravi had given Silva not out – after which Pakistan reviewed the decision – off the bowling of left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar on the fourth ball of the 19th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. The players were ostensibly appealing for a bat-pad catch to slip, and that seemed to be what the on-field umpire had prompted the third umpire Paul Reiffel to review. But though Silva appeared not to edge the ball, replays showed him to be an lbw candidate.Reiffel did not check for an lbw at the time, however, and Ravi was not instructed to change his decision. Replays and projections showed that Silva had been hit in line with the stumps, that the ball would have gone on to strike middle-and-leg stump, and that the point of impact on the pad was less than three metres from the stumps. This meant the not-out decision could have been overturned had Reiffel checked for an lbw dismissal.Section 3.3(f) of the ICC’s Test match playing conditions state: As the clause does not suggest umpires must check for all possible modes of dismissal for a review, Reiffel’s mistake seemed an error of judgement, rather than a failure to follow protocol. He may have overlooked the possibility of an lbw dismissal during his consultation.The Pakistan coach Waqar Younis went to Chris Broad, the match referee, to seek an explanation for the decision. ESPNcricinfo learned Broad and Reiffel apologised for the oversight, and it was reluctantly accepted by the team because nothing could be done after play carried on.