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A tournament billed as a clash between three of the teams most likely towrest Australia’s crown at next year’s World Cup will now in all probability giveway to a bilateral one-day series between Sri Lanka and India. This follows a bombblast in Colombo on Monday afternoon which prompted the South African team toreassess their presence on the island.Unless the ICC threatens them withpunitive measures, the South Africans – already rattled after an explosionkilled three on the final day of their Test series – will head home on theadvice of their consulate and the security firm in charge of theirsecurity. The players are united in their desire to curtail the tour, andGerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board of SouthAfrica, is sympathetic to their stance.The explosion, triggered by a Claymore mine, took place in front of the popular Liberty Plaza shopping mall, killing seven and injuring 17. Four of the dead were army personnel providing an escort to, Bashir Wali Mohamand, the Pakistani High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, who escaped unhurt. According to the Sri Lankan government, the target was the Pakistani High Commissioner as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was disturbed about the close cooperation existing between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in defence matters.Sri Lankan cricket officials and security experts said as much in ameeting with both the Indian and South African team managements, assuringthem that the blast was a one-off. They insisted that security for bothteams would be further beefed up. But with the blast taking place lessthan 2km from the Cinnamon Grand hotel where South Africa are staying, andjust over 3km from the Taj Samudra which houses the Indians, there weremore than a few worried players by mid-afternoon.Torrential rain throughout Sunday night and much of Monday morning hadalready dampened any hopes of the tournament starting on time, and MickeyArthur, South Africa’s coach, said after the meeting with Sri Lankanofficials that his team continued to be jittery.”We are pretty worried,”he said. “They tried to explain how a cricket event or the teams wereleast likely to be targetted. But this was quite close to home. It’s fairto say that if we hadn’t been playing today, a lot of our boys might havebeen over at Liberty Plaza.”With India having cleared a massive contingent for the South Asian Games,which starts here on Friday – the football team is already in town,staying at the same hotel as the South African cricketers – the stancefrom New Delhi was quite different. Having spoken to BCCI officials backhome, Rajan Nair, India’s media manager, announced that a further meetingwas planned for Tuesday morning, and that the Indian team was protected bythree layers of security at their hotel.When asked if the prospect of ablast en route to the ground – Liberty Plaza is on the way to the SSC,where India were scheduled to practise on Monday afternoon – worriedthe players, he said: “Sri Lankan security officials are responsible forsafety when we are travelling, and they have assured us that nothinguntoward will happen.”Though Sri Lanka Cricket officials quickly came out and said that thetournament was unaffected, with Sri Lanka and South Africa expected togive it another go on Tuesday, the feeling of unease in the South Africancamp was palpable. Players hung around the lobby, waiting for news andasking their friends in the media for updates. By late afternoon, itbecame known that the team were keen to leave, and that officials backhome in South Africa were weighing up the ramifications of a pullout.Gordon Templeton, the team’s media manager, told Cricinfo: “Our cricketboard is in consulation with the consulate here and also our securityfirm. They will come to a decision based on that.” Asked whether thatmeant not waiting for the meeting announced on the morrow, he said: “Thedecision will be taken by the board, and it may happen before that.”Several of the South African players voiced their fears privately. Onetold this correspondent: “Before we came here, we were assured that theproblems were all up north. But this is the second bomb in a week, andwe’ve also read of numerous assassinations.” His views were echoed byArthur, who said: “The situation seems to be getting worse too, if youwatch the news and read the papers. We saw today that a truck full ofexplosives had been stopped just outside of Colombo.”The Indians, though, sang from an altogether different hymn sheet,perhaps acutely aware of the fact that they will be hosting the ChampionsTrophy in October, less than three months after the serial blasts onMumbai’s suburban railway network.Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, saidthat it was the host nation that had to take a decision, while Lalit Modi,the vice-president of the board, told Cricinfo: “What South Africa decideis their business. Let us not speculate. Let us wait for the facts andthen decide. The series is on and we haven’t heard anything to thecontrary.”By nightfall, the South Africans were more or less ready to pack theirbags. An ICC spanner in the works was unlikely, given that neitherAustralia nor West Indies was punished for boycotting matches in SriLanka during the 1996 World Cup. With such a precedent to fall back on,it was a near-certainty that the triangular would become a South Asianface-off, inclement weather and terror attacks permitting.

It has been some time since you last saw MS Dhoni with jet-black hair. While the greying of hairs around the temples can be masked by cosmetic methods, the more striking sighting is a visibly trimmer, fresher Dhoni. It was the Dhoni you saw during the seven matches he turned out for Jharkhand in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy.Dhoni has relished the mini-breaks he has earned in the past, often speaking of how they have helped heal niggles which would have otherwise developed into more serious injuries. But 2015 was the only year in recent memory where he had a substantial break without any cricket in between. Dhoni played 22 limited-overs games last year – he played 28 international matches, including nine Tests, in 2014 – but the real difference was the three-odd months of downtime after June.”Ideally I should lie so much that I should just talk about how much hard work I have been putting in to look a bit slimmer,” Dhoni began with a Dhoni-esque wisecrack before letting on what he had been up to. “Now with no more Test cricket, it gives me that extra time because what happens is when you are continuously playing cricket what you do is mostly top up your fitness and keep working, but now you can actually look to extend your fitness level.”By “top up”, Dhoni refers to the pastiche of quick fixes and not a comprehensive overhaul, which is what the chunky break afforded him. “You get that break, you know five, 10 or 15 days you can take completely off and slowly you can get into a mould, a routine. I feel that the break has helped me.”Dhoni, by his own admission in the past, has never been big on gym work. That side of him, he said, had changed over time, and that was part of a concerted fitness plan. “You have to do a few changes as you spend more and more time in international cricket,” he said.”I have been doing a bit of planning when it comes to my body and my fitness, but I look slimmer I am not lightweight. I have been 86, 87, 88 [kilograms] for the last 15 years. I have not lost weight. It’s just that I have tried to tone down myself, and I have enjoyed doing it.”He later told ESPNcricinfo that he had spent a lot of time playing “alternate sports”, including badminton, a sport he has always fancied playing.Dhoni said the break had helped him mentally as well when it came to detaching himself from the grind and revisiting his plans. “I feel switching on and switching off is very important in cricket and this break actually gives me ample time to do that. No point switching off for two days and straight away getting back. This break helped me get back into the groove with the one-day domestic tournament.”Looking ahead to the Australia series, Dhoni revisited one of his favourite themes – the need for quality seam-bowling all-rounders. “When it comes to performances at the international level they [other teams] have got good seam-bowling allrounders,” he said. “That is something we are lacking to some extent.”He was, however, happy with the competition in the spin-bowling department between the recalled Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. He reckoned that their batting abilities would eventually determine which one would feature in the playing XI. “You will have different criteria for judging performance when it comes to the players performing outside the subcontinent, and in India because the spinners will get a lot more assistance here.”I think Jadeja has been bowling really well, Ashwin has been our premier spinner irrespective of where we have played. We have two spinning allrounders who are competing for a spot which I feel will be very good for the team. It’s an open opportunity for both of them.”Dhoni typically played down speculations surrounding his retirement, opting to channel his energies towards the immediate challenges of the Australian series and the World T20. “I am somebody who has always believed in the present,” he said. “You won’t get answers regarding the future that’s too far ahead. As of now the Australia series is important and after that once we get in T20 groove we need to move in one direction as to what we need to do as a team so as to have the best chance of winning the WC. So those are the primary concerns as of now.”There are a lot of things you need to think about, and I don’t think this is the right time. All the energy needs to go there. It’s a very important three months and after that we will see what happens.”

The ICC has engaged a top firm of management consultants in its bid to find a successor to Malcolm Speed who steps down as chief executive in July.Egon Zehnder International were appointed after six companies were interviewed by senior ICC officials. An ICC recruitment committee, made up of Ray Mali, David Morgan, Sharad Pawar and Creagh O’Connor, Cricket Australia’s chairman, will oversee the process.That process will see the recruitment committee make a recommendation to the ICC board for approval, and it is envisaged the successful candidate will take up the role vacated by Speed at the conclusion of ICC annual conference.”Malcolm Speed has helped spearhead the growth of the organisation to the point where we can now boast 101 members with the game buttressed by a long-term broadcasting agreement covering our major events,” said Morgan. “Now, with Malcolm stepping down after seven years in the role, we need a person to continue cricket’s positive momentum in what will be an exciting and challenging future.”We are looking for a candidate who can continue to help us deliver on the objectives of the ICC’s strategic plan, someone who understands the major issues confronting the game, and someone who can ensure continued unity among our diverse membership to help our strong sport grow even stronger in the years to come.”

It’s like an impossible dream come true, but unless Adrian Barath is watching, listening and learning from all that is going on around him during a hectic few days in London, he may just become another one of those many talented but inconsistent performers in this long, nightmarish period in West Indies cricket.The 17-year old must be the envy of millions right now. A special guest of batting legend Brian Lara, he is experiencing the life of the sporting superstar in one of the most fashionable and historic cities in the world. From the luxury hotels to the VIP treatment every step of the way to the lavish receptions in exclusive company, it surely seems too good to be true for the Presentation College schoolboy who still has another three seasons to go at under-19 level.For all the disappointment of seeing West Indies capitulate once again on Sunday, the no-contest out in the middle in the first ODI against England may have actually been a distraction from rubbing shoulders with many of the former and contemporary greats of the game in one of the executive boxes at Lord’s. Coming a day after he sampled the Centre Court atmosphere from the extremely privileged position of the Royal Box while watching defending Wimbledon women’s singles champion Amelie Mauresmo in action, Barath already has enough experiences to fill several pages in a “What I did on vacation” essay.But for a young cricket fanatic who aspires to join the ranks of the immortal heroes of the West Indian game, the best of it all comes tonight when he sits alongside his hero in exalted company at a glittering gala function in the Lord’s Long Room honouring Lara’s record-breaking contribution to the game.You can only imagine what it must be like for him. Unless he is super cool (that title already belongs to Chris Gayle, so it would have to be something else) or supremely confident in his own ability to blaze a trail of glory in time, it can almost be intimidating to indulge in old talk with the likes of Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar or observe from close quarters as the Australian champion legspinner and Indian batting maestro laugh and joke in the midst of an unending succession of anecdotes recalling on-field duels and off-field antics with Lara.But for all of the gilt-edged opportunities for autographs and photographs that will become cherished mementoes or expensive memorabilia in years to come, the real value of this star-studded evening will come from absorbing all that these outstanding performers have to say about the game. Much of it will seem like foolishness and general old talk.However, in between, he should be able to get a feel of the personalities behind the imposing auras and staggering achievements, an understanding of the degree of self-belief and the burning desire to excel that have propelled these players to heights that everyone else can only aspire to.

Sometimes, all it takes are a few words in a receptive ear to make all the difference. In an era when the evidence is there in black and white in a succession of scorebooks that listening and learning are not very high on the list of priorities among current Caribbean cricketers, Barath would have committed that same cardinal error if enlightenment from the function came only in an understanding of the irrelevant, nonsensical intricacies of hoity-toity table manners.These are the moments that can change a young man’s life, in either direction. Already hailed in some quarters of a local media desperate to anoint a successor to Lara as our next great batting gift to the world, Barath has a very long way to go to even begin to approach the dizzyingly high standards set by the players he admires most. But, significantly, he has the considerable benefit of youth on his side, so the challenge for him is to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as part of the greater goal of fulfilling long-term objectives and not joining the majority of the mindless crowd who continue to live fast and loose, only to recognise the folly of their ways when it is too late.Not everyone gets the chance to be a VIP guest of Lara or Dwight Yorke or Ato Boldon or Stephen Ames. But wise words and sincere counsel are also available at the more modest and anonymous levels of the home environment. Although the perspective of having excelled at the highest level is an invaluable one, there are certain fundamental truths that have never changed, whether batting in the nets at Presentation College or in front of a full house of 90,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.In a culture that almost automatically ranks anything external as better than the homegrown variety, well-meaning advice is often dismissed on the basis of the adviser not having the track record of achievement to suggest that any credibility should be attached to what he or she is saying. Yet when you read many of the stories of the great achievers in all sports, there is almost always reference made to the invaluable contribution of some ordinary but well-respected person – parent, coach or mentor – on the road to greatness.Very few ever achieve such greatness, but once we are prepared to listen and learn, we won’t have to rely on the generosity of a sporting superstar to inspire us to previously unattainable heights of excellence.

Now comes the chance of Trinidad, which hosts the appropriately named Brown Package, the group of the subcontinent, and the closest these feeble opening-round pools can come to producing a group of death. It is also the chance for Bermuda, to bask in the first five of their fifteen minutes, and for Sri Lanka, to join West Indies and Australia in their opening statements of intent.About time play began too. When a gas leak at the team hotel was not reducing the world’s finest cricketers to hanging about the parking lot in boxers and slippers, the coaches of Pakistan and South Africa were contemplating calling off a practice match because of a dicey pitch. When there has not been mild heartburn about the government’s disinterest in securing a sexier second-round package of matches, there has been downright indignation about the overt Jamaicanisation on Sunday’s opening ceremony. All that remains is the for the cricket to start, and to watch what it does to the notorious traffic on this oil-rich island.The Queen’s Park Oval looks bright-new lovely. It has not always looked so, despite its delightful location at the feet of the Northern Range. The greyness inside has been dispelled. The steaming concrete cycling track around the field has been replaced by an inviting grass bank. Bucket seats have been installed everywhere in vivid colours. The building hosting the Party Stand, in such a shambolic state a month ago that it earned a stern reprimand from the venue development chief Don Lockerbie, has miraculously been put together.Only the surface may be sluggish, as it has been. Sri Lanka may still put up a big score given their relative strength but it is not, by obscene modern standards, a high-total pitch. The last two one-day internationals here were on India’s tour last year; the highest score in four innings was 255. In the only limited-overs played here this domestic season, Trinidad bowled out Guyana for 183.

Sri Lanka will reappear with those two little giants of theirs, Vaas and Murali. A full strength side, playing to full intensity, the coach Tom Moody made clear. “It is always a good sign if you cannot finalise your eleven on the first day of a tournament.” They have never played Bermuda before, and “there are a couple of bowlers who might surprise you, but nothing I don’t expect our boys not to adjust to.”Bermuda have some happy memories of this patch, playing – and narrowly winning – their debut one-day international against Canada here last year. Naturally expectations are sufficiently grounded now. So the coach, Gus Logie, in charge of West Indies a couple of seasons ago, can talk of his team as having no particular strengths but being a united team, and having no particular gameplan except to keep things simple; and the captain, Irvine Romaine, can cheerfully say that while there would be no work in Bermuda tomorrow once the cricket starts, “we hope we can make it last the entire work day!”It is their amateur charm that makes minnows loved as much as denounced. Referring to the beautifully rotund spinner Dwayne Leverock, Logie said: “We’ve seen already in the two warm-up games that we’ve played one of our players is, you know, larger than life and everybody been talking about him for different reasons. But the fact of the matter is that he’s bowled pretty well; and if he can do that again over the next few days I’m sure the world is going to be talking about him again. If two or three players can come out of this World Cup and shine above the ordinary I think it will be well worth it. We’ve seen it in the past with John Davison of Canada, you know people are still talking about his hundred. So hey, why not Bermuda?”TeamsSri Lanka (likely)1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Marvan Atapattu, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Russel Arnold, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Lasith MalingaBermuda (from)Irvine Romaine (capt), Delyone Borden, Lionel Cann, David Hemp, Kevin Hurdle, Malachi Jones, Stefan Kelly, Dwayne Leverock, Dean Minors (wk), Saleem Mukuddem, Steven Outerbridge, Oliver Pitcher, Clay Smith, Janeiro Tucker, Kwame Tucker (wk)

Herschelle Gibbs’s appeal against the ban imposed by Chris Broad following an incident during the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan at Centurion has been rejected by Richie Benaud, the ICC’s code of conduct commissioner.The original punishment was a two-Test ban, but this will now be one Test, one Twenty20 and one ODI as the ban has to apply to the next matches the player is scheduled to play. By appealing, Gibbs was able to take part in the second Test.He will now miss the third Test starting at Cape Town on Friday as well as the first two fixtures of the limited-overs series between the two sides that follows. Cricket South Africa have said they accept the decision and have withdrawn from their own disciplinary process against Gibbs which was announced before the ICC’s hearing.Gibbs said: “I am really disappointed to be missing the Test match in front of my home ground and the next two matches. However, I am glad that I have now had a proper opportunity to explain myself. I feel it is important that Mr Benaud has confirmed that I am not racist.”I have apologised if my remarks inadvertently caused offence, and that apology still stands. I regard the matter as now closed, and I will now concentrate on cricket”.The charge against Gibbs, which was laid by Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, related to an incident that took place shortly before the lunch interval on the fourth day of the match, when Gibbs’s comments were overheard through a stump microphone on the ground.Graeme Smith said that South Africa were disappointed to lose Gibbs. “It’s a tough one. We have one or two gripes with the ICC, I guess, and maybe this is not the forum to discuss it.”Maybe we need to get on the phone with Dave Richardson and Malcolm Speed and discuss these things. We just want to see consistency in decision making around the world. We’ve experienced things that haven’t been dealt with.” That latter remark seems a clear reference to the crowd problems the South Africans experienced in Australia last year.Benaud spoke at length on the telephone to Gibbs and his legal representative on Wednesday, and announced his decision today.”It was put to me that the fact the remarks in question were heard through stump microphones on the ground should invalidate the whole matter,” Benaud said, explaining that the ICC was aware that there were issues with stump microphones not being switched off at the right times. “That though is ICC policy rather than a Law or Playing Condition of the game and Chris Broad, in his decision, gave Gibbs full mitigation for the fact that the stump microphones had been left on by the television network.”With the benefit of some experience I am able to add that players, no matter where they may be, should always bear in mind that a microphone could be live. That does not just apply to stump microphones used by television networks, but it could be in a radio studio or in a press conference with the print media. There is no malice about it, but it could happen just because someone has not pushed a button or pulled a switch.”It is precisely the same in the television commentary box for a television commentator. If you do not use the words, they do not get to air.”But Benaud was at pains to stress that he did not believe there was any evidence that Gibbs’ comments were in any way racial motivated. “I certainly do not consider Herschelle to be a racist and I take great exception to the suggestion, in the same way I believe Chris Broad would object [to suggestions his finding would do the same].”Benaud also expressed surprise South Africa’s players did not draw the attention of match officials to the abuse they were receiving from sections of the crowd. “I find it extraordinary that apparently the umpires were never brought into the problem by the captain, or the players. Or by Gibbs himself.”On the question of procedural matters, I am satisfied that Chris Broad handled those in straightforward fashion, that no justice was denied, the player admitted using the words and unfortunately they went to the world. My view is that the sentence imposed by Broad is correct and accordingly the appeal is dismissed.”

A day after refusing to confirm his retirement, Glenn McGrath has decided to walk away after the World Cup. McGrath will join Shane Warne in playing his final Test at his SCG home ground starting on January 2 to end a spectacular career that has been crucial in pushing Australia to the top of the Test and one-day trees.McGrath, the leading Test fast bowler with 555 wickets, has endured a week of speculation that he will step down and he made it official at the MCG after Australia’s training session and team meeting for the Boxing Day Test. The scene was not as hectic or dramatic as it was for Warne on Thursday, but he will also be sorely missed.”The plan I had come up with Shane was he would go before Melbourne and me before Sydney, but with the hearsay and the scrutiny we wanted to get it out of the way,” he said at the MCG’s indoor nets. “Trying to deny about retiring is a bit tough, I’ve always been honest.”McGrath will step down from all forms of cricket and came to the conclusion it was time to go during the Ashes series. “It’s the perfect or fitting ending to play my last Test at Sydney, my favourite ground in the world,” he said. “It’s only in the last couple of games I made the decision to hang up my boots. It’s been a tough decision and an easy decision. The body feels great and I couldn’t be happier with my bowling, but it’s made by easier by all the training and the travel, especially with Jane and the kids growing up.”In two weeks Australia will have lost two bowlers with more than 1250 wickets between them. Regaining the Ashes at Perth on Monday has meant a number of Australia’s senior players have achieved a significant goal after they were responsible for handing over the urn at The Oval in 2005. McGrath was injured in both the matches that were lost, but he has gained revenge over the past month.McGrath will now aim to reach the World Cup and collect his third consecutive trophy after being part of the 1999 and 2003 successes. In South Africa he earned a career-high 7 for 15 against Namibia and he has appeared in 230 matches. His 342 wickets are the most by any Australian bowler and he is sixth on the overall list.”I still place more importance on Test matches, but I still enjoy one-dayers,” he said. “It would have been tough to have walked away mid-season. To win the World Cup for the third time would be amazing. I intend to finish my duties under the current contract, purely because I enjoy it.”Having returned from an 11-month Test lay-off to start the current series, McGrath opened with 6 for 50 at the Gabba, but even though he has produced some important spells he has been below his best. Aged 36, McGrath has spent 13 years in the Test set-up after making his debut as a stringbean fast man against New Zealand at Perth.He started with match figures of 3 for 142 and was immediately dropped and it wasn’t until he was part of Australia’s first series victory in the West Indies for 32 years that he became an essential team member. In the 1994-95 Caribbean campaign he refused to be intimidated by the home side’s bowlers and fearlessly bounced them despite his limited ability with the bat. Australia sealed the series and McGrath’s reputation continued to be enhanced.Employing a simple action and applying regular check-ups, he was able to nag away with an unrelenting line and pick up kitbags full of wickets with movement off the seam. A shy and calm man off the field, he had no problem firing up when bowling and his behaviour often came under scrutiny. In the West Indies in 2002-03, when he arrived mid-tour after his wife Jane was diagnosed with cancer, he had an angry, finger pointing exchange with Ramnaresh Sarwan. He admitted to “carrying on like a pork chop” at times but Australia would not have changed anything about their long-term spearhead.McGrath passed Dennis Lillee’s 355 Test wickets – it was the most famous Australian bowling milestone until Shane Warne overtook it – at The Oval in 2001 and became the country’s first fast man to play 100 Tests when he achieved the mark at Nagpur in 2004. It was a particularly satisfying record as he was out for a year with a serious ankle problem requiring two bouts of surgery. He briefly considered retiring and there were questions over whether he could return to his best. It became a repeated theme during the past couple of years.Following his long break to care for his family when his wife experienced another relapse of the disease in January, McGrath’s comeback ability was doubted again. He started slowly in the Malaysia tri-series and was part of Australia’s first Champions Trophy victory in India before re-setting his sights on England.

Supporters in the United Kingdom did not understand the McGrath fuss when he first toured England in 1997 and Australia lost the opening Test at Edgbaston. He stepped in quickly to assure them he was a player of the highest quality. In the rain-ruined second Test at Lord’s he was responsible for knocking England over for 77 with his incredible 8 for 38.Michael Atherton was a victim, one of 19 times in his career, and they were McGrath’s best figures until he produced 8 for 34, the second-best haul by an Australian, against Pakistan at the WACA in 2004-05. When it comes to wickets he has an almost photographic memory and his removal of the opposition’s best players are recalled proudly. Brian Lara was taken 15 times in Tests while Alec Stewart was also high on the list at 10. His comedic 61 against New Zealand two years ago also showed the hours of work he put into his often-ridiculed batting.McGrath beat Courtney Walsh’s fast-bowling world record of 519 wickets during the one-off Super Test against the World XI in 2005-06. It was suitable company for such a wonderful competitor. A country boy from central New South Wales, McGrath has grown from a spindly adolescent who was told he couldn’t bowl into one of the most durable men in Test history. His record over 122 matches is amazing and will always be treasured.

The England chairman of selectors David Graveney has given his backing to Geraint Jones, the England wicketkeeper, ahead of the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s on Thursday.England’s choice of wicketkeeper has again come under scrutiny following a superb hundred from Chris Read, who Jones replaced in 2004, in England A’s warm-up match against the touring Pakistanis. In his last ten Tests, Jones has reached fifty just twice and averages a mere 19 – some distance behind an already meagre career average of 26.67.”We have selected Geraint Jones, because we believe he is the best wicketkeeper,” Graveney told Sky Sports yesterday. “What he brings to the team is what we want at the present time. Geraint Jones is our man, and we will give him our full support.”Read, though, has plundered runs heavily in domestic cricket: since 2003, he has amassed 2357 runs for Nottinghamshire and England A at an average of over 50. Graveney and Geoff Miller, both selectors, were at Canterbury to see Read’s unbeaten 150 but the notable absentee was Duncan Fletcher. It was Fletcher who initially stated his preference for Jones when Read, so faultless with the gloves, struggled with the bat during his 11 Tests and was famously bowled by Chris Cairns’ slower ball.”Chris has done really well,” Graveney added. “It has been said that he does not get enough runs – but since he was left out of the team he averages 50 in the first-class game. He got a fantastic hundred at Canterbury.”

Shoaib Akhtar’s troubled career has taken yet another twist following a decision by the Pakistan board to send him back from Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 after a dressing-room scuffle in which he was alleged to have hit fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif with a bat.The Pakistan Cricket Board has responded by handing Shoaib an indefinite ban, pending a disciplinary hearing that will be conducted once the team returns from South Africa.”Shoaib’s ban is an indefinite suspension,” Nasim Ashraf, the board chairman, told Cricinfo. “There is no question of Shoaib returning to South Africa for the latter half of the tournament [in the event of Pakistan playing more than five matches].””When the team management returns [from the tournament], the board will launch a full investigation and disciplinary hearing into the matter. Further action based on that is likely,” Ashraf said.A press release issued on Friday by team manager Talat Ali in Johannesburg said, “The decision [to send him home] has been taken on an incident that took place yesterday [6th September] afternoon at the Centurion Park after the practice session of the Pakistan team. It was reported to us by Asif that Shoaib had hit him on his leg with a bat and abused him.”The bowler was already on six weeks’ probation following a breach of discipline last month after he left a training camp in Karachi without informing officials. Two hearings were held, after which it was decided that a monetary fine would be suspended pending his behaviour. Ashraf indicated that action would be likely.The sorry development means that Pakistan finds itself in the spotlight at a major international tournament once again for all the wrong reasons. Shoaib and Asif were sent back on the eve of their opening match at the Champions Trophy last year, after they had tested positive for banned anabolic steroids. During the World Cup in March, Pakistan’s disastrous performance took backstage to the death of Bob Woolmer.The decision will be a blow to the team’s chances at the tournament, as Pakistan’s strength was widely considered to lie in a pace attack that included Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum. AFP, citing team sources, reported the PCB has picked Sohail Tanvir, an allrounder, as Shoaib’s replacement.In any case, a replacement will also depend on approval from the ICC’s technical committee. The Participating Nations’ Agreement, which every team signs when taking part in ICC tournaments, refers to the replacement of players and there is provision for a player to be replaced for reasons other than injury: “Except for medical grounds, players may only be replaced in exceptional circumstances such as family bereavement or where a player is suspended and such suspension relates to an incident which is unrelated to the event.”

Bangladesh U-19 210 for 6 (43.5 overs, Saqibul Hasan 82, Mehrab Hossain jnr 62*) beat England U-19 208 (49.4 overs, Ali 70) by four wickets
ScorecardA superb 62-ball 82 from 15-year-old Saqibul Hasan guided Bangladesh to a four-wicket win over England in the opening match of the tri-nation Under-19 tournament at Savar.Hasan came in with Bangladesh struggling on 19 for 2 chasing a target of 209, but the next six overs produced 60 runs as he cut loose. Although Mehdi Hasan was then dismissed for 28, Hasan was joined by Mehrab Hossain jnr , and they added 85 for the fourth wicket at a little over four an over. By the time Hasan, who hit 13 fours and two sixes, fell in the 28th over, Bangladesh were almost home and dry. Although two wickets in successive balls by Moeen Ali caused a few jitters among the home crowd, Bangladesh eased home with more than six overs in hand.England won the toss, but Varun Chopra, the captain, must have questioned the wisdom of his decision when he edged the first ball of the match to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. The innings never really gathered any momentum against some good bowling, although Ali’s 70 did ensure that they passed 200.It was another setback for the England side who came into this tournament on the back of a whitewash in a five-match series against a BCB High Performance side.The next fixture will be between England and Sri Lanka on Friday. Sri Lanka will be confident as they beat Bangladesh when the sides met in the Afro-Asia U-19 tournament in India earlier this month.