All nine players who were nominated in two teams in next month’s Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa have opted to represent their respective IPL teams over their domestic sides

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012All nine players who were nominated for two teams in next month’s Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa have opted to represent their respective IPL teams over their domestic sides.This includes the Trinidad and Tobago players Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who will now turn out for Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. The other players who have confirmed their participation for their IPL teams include Faf du Plessis, Albie Morkel and Michael Hussey (Super Kings), Mitchell Johnson (Mumbai), Brett Lee (Knight Riders) and Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils).According to the tournament rules, the IPL franchises which have acquired the nine players will have to pay US$150,000 as compensation to the ‘home’ teams of the players. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board may gain financially, but will be considerably weakened by the loss of three key players, all of whom are integral to West Indies’ limited-overs setup.Trinidad is among the six teams that will play a qualifying round, starting October 9. The other teams in the mix are Yorkshire, Uva Next, Auckland, Sialkot Stallions and Hampshire. The top two teams in the qualifying round will join the remaining eight sides for the group stage, starting October 13. The final will be played on October 28, in Johannesburg.Meanwhile Virender Sehwag, who led Daredevils to the top of the table in the league phase of the IPL this year, has stepped down as captain, with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene taking over. Sehwag has been Daredevils’ regular captain for most seasons, except in 2010 when Gautam Gambhir was put in charge.Auckland Aces: Gareth Hopkins (capt), Andre Adams, Michael Bates, Brad Cachopa, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Anaru Kitchen, Mitchell McClenaghan, Azhar Mahmood, Bruce Martin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Lou VincentChennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, S Anirudha, M Vijay, V Yo MaheshDelhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Virender Sehwag, Varun Aaron, Ajit Agarkar, Unmukt Chand, Morne Morkel, Pawan Negi, Naman Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Kevin Pietersen, Andre Russell, Venugopal Rao, Ross Taylor, David Warner, Umesh YadavHampshire: James Adams, Shahid Afridi, Kabir Ali, Michael Bates, Daniel Briggs, Michael Carberry, Liam Dawson, Sean Ervine, David Griffiths, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Hamza Riazuddin, Bilal Shafayat, Glenn Maxwell, James Vince, Christopher WoodHighveld Lions: Temba Bavuma, Gulam Bodi, Zander de Bryun, Quinton de Kock, Neil McKenzie, Pumelela Matshikwe, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ethan O’Reilly, Alviro Petersen. Aaron Phangiso, Dwaine Pretorius, Sohail Tanvir, Jean Symes, Thami TsolekileKolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Iqbal Abdullah, Shakib Al Hasan, L Balaji, Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shami Ahmed, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary

No break for some Australians

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke had stated that the Twenty20 Champions League would be an equal impediment for both his side and South Africa’s ahead of their Test series down under in November. However the announcement of the squads for the club competition has shown that in this case, one side is slightly more equal than the other.
Seven Australian Test players have been chosen for T20 duty in South Africa: Ben Hilfenhaus and Michael Hussey (Chennai Super Kings), David Warner (Delhi Daredevils), and Pat Cummins, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Starc and Shane Watson (Sydney Sixers). The five South African Test players to be involved will be Morne Morkel (DD), Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions), Jacques Kallis (KKR), AB de Villiers and Jacques Rudolph (Titans).
Two likely Australian Test players, Ed Cowan and James Pattinson, hold T20 contracts but were not chosen for their respective sides. Players participating in the final of the Champions League on October 28 will have little more than three days to change gears before South Africa’s tour match against Australia A at the SCG from November 2. The first Test begins in Brisbane on November 9.

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Mitchell Johnson, Dinesh Karthik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Richard Levi, Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Thisara Perera, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Suryakumar YadavPerth Scorchers: Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Paul Collinwood, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ryan Duffield, Ben Edmondson, Herschelle Gibbs, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Joe Mennie, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Nathan Rimmington, Luke RonchiSialkot Stallions: Shoaib Malik (capt), Qaiser Abbas, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Mohammad Ayub, Umaid Asif, Bilawal Bhatti, Raza Hasan, Ali Khan, Imran Nazir, Faisal Naveed, Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman, Haris Sohail, Shahid YusufSydney Sixers: Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Michael Lumb, Nathan McCullum, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Phil Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic ThornleyTitans: Martin van Jaarsveld (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, Paul Harris, Heino Kuhn, Eden Links, Ethy Mbhalati, Mangaliso Mosehle, Rowan Richards, Jacques Rudolph, Roelof van der Merwe, Alfonso Thomas, David WieseTrinidad and Tobago: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Shannon Gabriel, Sherwin Ganga, Jason Mohammad, Evin Lewis, Yannick Ottley, William Perkins, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Navin StewartUva Next: Thilina Kandamby (capt), Fawad Alam, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dilhara Fernando, Umar Gul, Charith Jayampathi, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Andrew McDonald, Dilshan Munaweera, Jacob Oram, Seekkuge Prasanna, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sameera Zoysa, Sachithra Senanayake, Upul TharangaYorkshire: Joe Root, Moin Ashraf, Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Andrew Gale, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Dan Hodgson, Phil Jaques, Adam Lyth, David Miller, Steve Patterson, Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Iain Wardlaw

The preview of the CLT20 final between Lions and Sydney Sixers, in Johannesburg

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran27-Oct-2012

Match facts

October 28, 2012
Start time 1730 local (1530 GMT)Sydney Sixers’ attack will be led by Mitchell Starc who has been among the best bowlers of the year in Twenty20s•Associated Press

Big Picture

The Champions League T20 may be the ugly step-sister of the cricketing world, with most fans giving it the cold shoulder, but for many of the players involved the final will be the biggest payday of their lives. With the champions getting a cool $2.5m, the money on offer will bump players, especially those who aren’t part of national teams or aren’t globetrotting T20 specialists, up a tax bracket or two. Adding to the occasion will be the sell-out crowd at one of cricket’s iconic venues, the Wanderers Stadium, which will make it among the biggest audiences some of the domestic players will play in front of.And contesting the final are the two most consistent sides of the tournament. Lions weren’t topping anybody’s list of favourites when the tournament began, but they have exceeded expectations through a combination of teamwork and temperament, keeping their head when things start to get tight. They have plenty going for them. The Wanderers is their home ground, and no one knows the conditions there better than Lions. The diversity in their batting – Twenty20 batting doesn’t get too much more of a contrast than the leg-side biffing of Ghulam Bodi and the surgical precision of Neil McKenzie – has been married to consistency through the tournament. And the bowling has four match-winners: their two imports Dirk Nannes and Sohail Tanvir, their best bowler in the domestic tournament, Chris Morris, and one of the bowlers of the CLT20, Aaron Phangiso.Their one reverse in this tournament came against their opponents in the final, Sydney Sixers. When the Big Bash League was launched a year ago, Sydney Sixers were the butt of jokes for their flamboyantly pink outfits, a colour which they started to refer to as ‘mangenta’. A year on, they have earned the respect of Twenty20 fans after winning the inaugural BBL, and are yet to drop a game in the CLT20.They came into the tournament as one of the leading contenders and have so far lived up to the tag, despite losing the services of Dwayne Bravo and Brett Lee to IPL teams, and that of possibly the most valuable player currently in T20 cricket, Shane Watson, midway through the tournament. They could also be without their captain, Brad Haddin, for the final, as he picked up a thumb injury – though he was fit enough to bat on Friday.

Watch out for…

Steve O’Keefe has opened the innings only three times in T20s: the semi-finals and final of the BBL, and Friday’s CLT20 semi-final against Titans. On all three occasions he has made a significant contribution, including a Man of the Match performance against Titans. In addition, his left-arm spin has been taken for less than a run-a-ball this tournament.Fast bowler Chris Morris was the top wicket-taker in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition last season, and he came into the CLT20 on the back of a 12-wicket haul against Dolphins in a first-class game. He started off quietly in this tournament but hit the headlines with his spell against Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals, helping his team defend a sub-par score by taking the key wicket of David Warner and then killing off the game with scalp of Kevin Pietersen.

Weather and conditions

Despite gloomy weather forecasts, the showers thankfully stayed away during both semi-finals. The organisers will hope that trend continues for the final as well, when light rain is predicted.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc is the leading wicket-taker not just in the tournament but in all Twenty20s this year, with an astonishing 56 wickets in 26 matches
• Six of the Lions players who were part of the semi-final have a batting average over 26 in T20s, while the highest among Sydney’s players in the semi-final was Nic Maddinson’s 25.76

Quotes

“I think the middle overs will be important. We’ve dominated that period in almost all our games and I think that will play a massive role once again.”

“Lions are very desperate to win. This is a chance for the domestic teams to showcase their skills at the international stage.”

Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order

Daniel Brettig16-Nov-2012Shane Watson’s return to the Australian Test squad for Adelaide has ramped up pressure on David Warner to hold his spot at the top of the order, as the national selectors consider the possibility of pairing Rob Quiney with Ed Cowan.While Watson is still considered unlikely to return in time for the second Test against South Africa, it is far from certain that Quiney will be the man to drop out of the hosts’ XI to make room for the vice-captain and No. 3 batsman. Warner’s place in the team may hinge in his display in Adelaide, and another brief stay with the bat would be likely to have Quiney walking out to bat with Cowan in Perth.The national selector John Inverarity was unable to guarantee Warner’s place ahead of the Adelaide Test, in marked contrast to his supportive words for Cowan before the Brisbane Test squad was even announced. “We’ll make the decision closer to the time,” Inverarity said. “I mean we’re here at the WACA. Less than 12 months ago David played a wonderful innings here. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Australia Test squad

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Ed Cowan, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Quiney made only nine in his one innings in Brisbane, but impressed the selectors with his gully fielding, part-time medium pace and an unruffled, mature demeanour that fitted neatly into the Australian dressing room. His upright, powerful batting would make a neat balance with the more obdurate Cowan, while offering a little more restraint than Warner.Watson’s preferred place in the team remains as an allrounder. Inverarity explained that if Watson was not fit to bowl, he would more than likely also not be fit to run swiftly between the wickets or show the required level of agility in the field. This, as much as the team’s desire to have him bowling, will influence the selectors in their deliberations, which will likely reach a decision by Wednesday.”Yes he could [play as a batsman],” Inverarity said. “He’ll have to be fit to perform regarding running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving. It’s unlikely – I’m not saying it’s not possible – but it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to build his workloads so that he’ll be able to bowl in the Test.”If you’ve got the continuum there, there’s only a small margin in which he’s fit to perform as a batsman but not able to bowl. We’re hoping he’ll be beyond that, he’ll be able to bowl. But he may not be able to. And if he’s not able to, there’s a fair chance he won’t be able to be fit to perform in terms of running between the wickets, chasing in the field, diving in the field. We’ll just wait and see.”Mitchell Starc’s chances of earning a place in the team for Adelaide have been enhanced by a four-wicket haul for New South Wales against Victoria at the SCG. Ben Hilfenhaus, the man considered most likely to make way for Starc, is working closely with the bowling coach Ali de Winter to try to eradicate the flaws picked up in his bowling action during the Gaba Test.”I thought the bowlers bowled much better the second day they bowled, and then on the final day I thought they all improved again,” Inverarity said. “So they’re running into some form and you need to get some bowling under your belt and I thought in particular Ben Hilfenhaus got better as the game went on, so we’ll just have to assess how they go and what sort of shape they’re in and make a decision a couple of days before the Test.”Inverarity indicated that whichever bowler was 12th man in Adelaide would then be a probable inclusion for the third Test in Perth, given that only three days separate the end of the second match with the start of the final one. Australia played four quicks and omitted the spinner Nathan Lyon for the Perth match against India last summer, and that possibility will depend on the preparation of the surface.”I think it’s very difficult to go Brisbane, Adelaide and then a break of just a couple of days and then to Perth for the same bowlers to do all of that,” Inverarity said. “It’s not unlikely that a different bowler will come in for that Test and you would recall that last time in Perth we played four fast bowlers and we’ll just have to wait and see what the wicket is like. The decision last year I think was the right decision and we’ll have to wait and see what happens this year.”

Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs

Daniel Brettig20-Dec-2012As he set about the task of throttling back Usman Khawaja from Twenty20 to Test matches, Australia’s batting coach Stuart Law spoke of his desire to return to the nation’s batsmen the sort of collective “ruthless streak” that limited him to one Test in a career that ultimately reaped more than 27,000 first-class runs.Law had the help of Ryan Harris, recuperating from shoulder surgery, plus Ben Cutting and Nathan Hauritz to bowl to Khawaja at Allan Border Field, while time was also reserved for the Pro-Batter technology that allowed the left-hander to face up to a bowling machine synchronised with video footage of Sri Lanka’s pacemen and spinners.He defended Cricket Australia’s decision to pull Khawaja and the rest of the Test squad out of the BBL, and spoke with the passion of an unfulfilled international batting talent of the opportunities afforded to batsmen by the retirement of Ricky Ponting, who he debuted with in Perth in 1995.”We’re trying to get a ruthless streak back into our batters that we had going through domestic cricket 20-25 years ago,” Law said. “If we can get that back where players aren’t just scoring 60s and expecting the next step to happen, but they’re scoring 100s, 150s and doing it consistently, not just once or twice but three, four times, that will put their names up in lights.”What an opportunity now? Ricky Ponting, one of Australia’s greatest has retired, you’ve got an opportunity to take over his position – you’d cut your own leg off to have that opportunity, and you want to be doing everything you possibly can to get it. I know Big Bash is a big part of the Australian cricket calendar now, but we’re in the middle of a Test series.”We just got beaten by South Africa, we’ve gone 1-0 up, we want to put everything into winning this next Test match so we can take a series. That’s our whole objective. If that means sacrificing a few players who don’t play in the Big Bash, there’s more games after this Test series to be involved in and surely we’re all for the greater good of Australian cricket – the Test team is the No. 1 team to play for.”Khawaja’s time in Brisbane is geared more towards getting his batting rhythms and routines more right for Tests, after last summer’s disastrous India series for Shaun Marsh, who came back into the national team via the BBL. Marsh made an audacious 99 for the Perth Scorchers in Melbourne, then cobbled a measly 17 runs in six innings against MS Dhoni’s team, a contribution so meagre that it has probably ended his Test career. Law noted that if anything Khawaja’s international shortcomings so far have been more as a fielder, runner and athlete than as a batsman, but that he would benefit from deliberate time to adjust.”He’s one of the better batsmen technically going around, he’s very sound, [but] there’s other things these days to playing cricket,” Law said. “You’ve got to be able to do more than one skill. If you’re not bowling you’ve got to be able to field, and that was pointed out to Usman a while ago that he has to improve in certain areas, as well as going back and scoring runs.”He didn’t really have a problem with his batting, he didn’t get the big scores that would have kept him in the side. Usman’s joined the Australian team for the Boxing Day Test, so we’ve got to get him prepared as best as possible for that to take place. To get him out of Twenty20 mode and back into Test mode is pretty important.”Australia’s team performance manger Pat Howard, meanwhile, has spoken of how fervently CA are seeking ways of reducing the chances of the national team going a man down in mid-Test match. The loss of James Pattinson in Adelaide arguably cost Michael Clarke’s team the chance to defeat South Africa, while injuries to Ben Hilfenhaus and Clarke very nearly did the same against Sri Lanka in Hobart.”Absolutely the reality is the current situation’s not good enough,” Howard said of the injury toll. “We want to be better than that, and I’m really disappointed with where we’re at the moment. I’m not shying away from that, and we’re making sure that any issues we’ve seen come up have been raised. We need to be better.”

A knee injury has ruled West Indies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul out of the Caribbean Twenty20 starting this weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2013A knee injury has ruled West Indies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul out of the Caribbean Twenty20 starting this weekend. Rampaul is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks, and his place in the Trinidad & Tobago squad has been taken by quick bowler Rayad Emrit.”After a medical assessment and an MRI scan, it was decided that he would not be fully fit for the tournament,” T&T manager Omar Khan said, “and the recommendation is to rest him rather than taking a risk and playing him and he breaks down during the tournament which could put him out for a longer period of time.”T&T are defending champions of the Caribbean T20, and have a squad full of renowned players, including Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine. Still, Khan said the absence of Rampaul will be a big loss. “It is a disappointment because Ravi is a West Indies bowler and he is one of our main bowlers in terms of opening the bowling and bowling at the death. We obviously have to make some adjustments and the technical staff will be looking at different strategies having lost Ravi as an option.”T&T open their campaign on Sunday against Jamaica, another of the frontrunners for the tournament.

West Indies Women notched up an eight-wicket win against South African Women in a Twenty20 match in Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Saturday.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2013
Scoreboard and ball-by-ball detailsDeandra Dottin was playing in her 50th T20 international•WICB

West Indies Women notched up an eight-wicket win against South African Women in a Twenty20 match in Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Saturday. West Indies chased down a target of 114 with ten balls to spare.South Africa could only muster 113 runs in their 20 overs, after choosing to bat, thanks largely to a 57-run fourth-wicket partnership between Mignon du Preez and Cri-zelda Brits, who were also the top-scorers for their side. Fast bowler Shanel Delay, offspinner Stafanie Taylor and legspinner Shaquana Quintyne picked up two wickets apiece for West Indies.The home team never looked in trouble chasing the modest target, in spite of losing a couple of wickets. Opener Kycia Knight and number four batswoman Deandra Dottin kept the innings on track. The latter struck three fours and three sixes in her unbeaten innings of 48 and was ably supported by Knight, who scored 33 off 46 balls.This was Dottin’s 50th Twenty20 international, making her the first West Indies Women’s player to the landmark. Dottin was felicitated for her achievement by the WICB, and later said she had enjoyed the occasion: “It felt special when I was batting out there. I was a little nervous but I settled quickly. It was a special occasion, with me becoming the first woman from West Indies to play their 50th match, and I was made to feel really good by my team-mates, the fans in the crowd and the WICB.”The two teams will play their next T20 match on Sunday.

Two attacking knocks and a collapse secured Dhaka Gladiators’ 29-run victory over Chittagong Kings in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Shakib Al Hasan led Dhaka Gladiators to a strong total•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Two attacking knocks, by Shakib Al Hasan and Tillakaratne Dilshan, and a collapse – eight wickets for 37 runs – secured Dhaka Gladiators’ 29-run victory over Chittagong Kings in Mirpur. The win gave the Gladiators second spot in the points table at the end of the group stages.They suffered an early blow after being put in to bat, when opener Joshua Cobb was dismissed cheaply in the second over. However, Dilshan helped steady the innings, with a 66-run stand with Anamul Haque, who scored 23. After Dilshan departed in the 12th over for 49 off 38 balls Shakib, who ended with 59 off 29 balls, added 75 runs with Darren Stevens, dominating the partnership, and lifting the run-rate to 8.40 by the end of the innings. Ryan ten Doeschate was the most expensive bowler, conceding 45 runs in his four overs.The Kings, however, were in the contest when Nurul Hasan and Marshall Ayub added 72 runs for the second wicket in 48 balls. But spinners Mosharraf Hossain and Dilshan brought the home side back with two quick wickets each, and the Kings couldn’t recover. Six of the last seven batsmen scored in single digits, and they slipped from 92 for 1 to 129 for 9 in the penultimate over. Four bowlers took two wickets each.The match did not hold much consequence, however, with both teams already in the final four.

The curator at the MA Chidambaram stadium has expressed satisfaction with the way the pitch for the Chennai Test, which was termed “ugly” by the two captains, behaved over the duration of the Test

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2013The curator at the MA Chidambaram stadium has expressed satisfaction with the way the pitch for the Chennai Test, which was termed “ugly”, behaved over the duration of the Test. The pitch took turn from the first day, but held together till the fifth.”I like to see a result in Test cricket, and the fact that the game went five days says to me that it’s a pretty good Test match wicket,” K Parthasarathy, the curator, told the .”We started by making the entire pitch firm. After that we watered it selectively. The areas on either side of the stumps were kept dry, and so turned out to be loose. The line of the stumps was watered and rolled, so it stayed firm through the Test.”Australia lost all their wickets in the Test to the spinners, with R Ashwin inflicting maximum damage. “Australia need Raffa Nadal here in Chennai on the clay,” Shane Warne had tweeted with a picture of the third-day pitch. But James Pattinson, with his extra pace, also managed a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Both the captains also said the pitch played better than expected.”If I had kept the entire pitch dry, people would have called it under-prepared. But now nobody is complaining,” the curator said.Parthasarathy had used the method of selective watering back in 1998 when Australia lost to India by 179 runs. Warne, who frequently bowled round-the-wicket line during that series, struggled to make an impact as Sachin Tendulkar took the attack to him.”I kept the square patches outside the leg stump, on either side of the wicket, really hard. It was difficult to get turn from that part as there would be no rough there.””After that game, Warne came to me and asked why he wasn’t getting the turn and others were. I told him it was because of his dodgy shoulder, that was to be operated later in the series.”

Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh batsman, has been ruled out of the rest of the ODI series against Sri Lanka due to a hairline fracture on his right thumb

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2013Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh batsman, has been ruled out of the rest of the ODI series against Sri Lanka due to a hairline fracture on his right thumb. Tamim picked up the injury while fielding in the first ODI in Hambantota, a match in which he had earlier hit his first one-day century in three years.Tamim was hurt attempting to stop a powerful shot from Kushal Perera in the seventh over of the chase. He started wringing his hand in pain after being struck by the ball and went off the field. He was taken for scans to a hospital, where an X-ray revealed the fracture.”It is a fracture which normally takes around 4-6 weeks,” Tamim later said. “For further information, I will go to Dhaka day after tomorrow. I will have an MRI, but it is definitely a fracture.”The news is a major blow for Bangladesh, who are already without two of their most experienced players in Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza. Tamim had returned to fitness little over a week ago after a wrist problem that he suffered at the Bangladesh Premier League forced him out of the opening Test in Galle.Sri Lanka are currently 1-0 up in the series, with two more ODIs to play. The tour ends with a Twenty20 on March 31 in Pallekele. Bangladesh’s next assignment is a Zimbabwe tour, with the first match scheduled to start on April 17.

Northamptonshire’s early season form has suggested that are promotion candidates as David Willey runs through Essex

Tim Wigmore at Wantage Road19-Apr-2013
ScorecardDavid Willey grabs a caught-and-bowled during his five-wicket haul•Getty Images

After missing out on Championship promotion by a point in 2011, Northamptonshire endured a miserable 2012, with only two Championship victories and dire performances in both the CB40 and Twenty20. But a squad that could be backed at 20-1 to be Division Two champions before the season started has so far hinted at possessing the quality, balance and depth to justify talk of Championship promotion.Under conditions that remained good for batting, David Willey produced a compelling display of left-arm swing bowling to seal an innings victory over Essex halfway through the third day. The highlight was when Ravi Bopara, whose 41 had been a rare source of solace amid the disintegration of Essex’s top order, was deceived into playing at a ball that shaped away from him. The dismissal came only a few deliveries after Willey had changed his angle from around to over the wicket, and was his fifth of the innings.In a match-clinching spell of 6-2-15-3 shortly after lunch, Willey showed an array of talents. He displayed the classic left-armer’s trait of being able to shape the ball back in from around the wicket, but it was a ball that went straight on that accounted for James Foster, playing for swing that wasn’t there. A spectacular caught-and-bowled then claimed Greg Smith.It completed Willey’s best first-class game yet: match figures of 8-110 to complement a perky 76. As an allrounder and left-armer there may be those saying he could be considered for England, but Willey’s bowling, impressive as it was, could do with a little extra pace – and coach David Ripley believes he could yet put on another yard – to trouble batsmen less complicit than Essex’s were here. But he would not be undeserving of an England Lions call-up for their match against New Zealand next month.After bowling out Essex for 183 in the first innings, Northants will have been even more thrilled to have dismissed them for 207 in the second. While the pitch offered some assistance for seamers on the first day, it flattened out – as it often does at Wantage Road – on the second and third. Northants displayed unrelenting discipline, seldom straying from their line outside off stump and trusting that rash shot selection from Essex’s batsmen would do the rest.That it certainly did. Of Essex’s top order in the second innings only Bopara and – at a push – Foster could not honestly claim culpability for their dismissals. The wickets of Rob Quiney, who had played well for 56, and Mark Pettini, both swiping outside the off stump attempting to cut balls when more attritional batting was required, were particularly disappointing. They could learn from Maurice Chambers, who played with admirable disciple for his 65-ball 3.

Copeland may return

Trent Copeland will play as Northants’ overseas player for the first seven Championship matches of this season, but coach David Ripley explained that the club plan to review the situation with a view to signing another overseas player – Copeland returning could be one possibility – for the final five Championship games of the season, from August 20.

“We’re not a bottomless pit, our budget is tight,” he said. “We’ve done very well and the club’s been very supportive to get the squad together that we’ve got. There’s not a lot of money left in the budget for us to take that on. Realistically we’d certainly have to be in the top half of the league and pushing.”

Reflecting on the victory, admitted “it was a good toss to win” and said that the 228 runs added for their last two wickets proved decisive. “They’re good players and we said they’re good players but they batted – rather than sulking because they’re down the bottom – with purpose and that swung the game our way. The match-winning effort was that few hours where the game swung massively in our favour.”Ripley believes Northants could win Championship promotion. “Absolutely. I’ve said right from the start we’ve been very competitive generally over the years in four-day cricket. We perhaps haven’t been the same in one-day cricket and we’ve focused hard on our one-day skills.””We’ve got a good balance in that seam attack. Trent Copeland is relentless and has got good skills; Andrew Hall is a master of hitting the seam; David gives us left-arm and swing; and Steven Crook gives us a bit of cutting edge and a bit of pace so I think we’ve got a good variety in that attack.”On Willey, Ripley added: “He’s come a long way in 18 months. He’s a good professional, he looks after himself very well off the field. He’s an absolute athlete – his caught-and-bowled, not many in the country would have taken a catch like that.”Based on this evidence, there is every chance a disciplined side with the longest batting line-up in the country – and, in Matthew Spriegel and Olly Stone, some solid players who have yet to appear – may yet challenge for promotion. For Essex, this performance, coming on the back of conceding 409 for 5 against Gloucestershire at Chelmsford last week, will raise some serious questions. Their coach Paul Grayson was unavailable for comment.Instead, it was left to Bopara. “They bowled relentlessly on a length, they bowled very well as a unit which we can learn from I think,” he said. “It really showed us how to get stuck in with the ball. I didn’t think anything was special when it came to their batting – we had them 170 for 8 but unfortunately their last few batters played really, really well and you’ve got to give it to them.” He admitted that “we kind of did lose control” during Northants’ game changing lower-order intervention.Compounding their problems, Essex could yet face a points penalty on account of their slow over-rate in this match.