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For the first time in their notional home series, Pakistan had a crowd to strengthen their resolve. They came in their thousands after Friday prayers and sat on the grassy banks at the Sheikh Zayed stadium

The Report by David Hopps27-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAzhar Ali made an unbeaten 46, sharing 71 with Asad Shafiq as the pair fought back to put Pakistan into the lead•AFPFor the first time in their notional home series, Pakistan had a crowd to strengthen their resolve. They came in their thousands after Friday prayers and sat on the grassy banks at the Sheikh Zayed stadium. What they witnessed was Test cricket at its most attritional but they also witnessed a clue to Pakistan’s batting future.Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq came together at 54 for 4 with Pakistan still 16 runs in arrears and England’s bowlers coming to terms with the rigours of playing Test cricket in Asia. It is a rare sight to see England with two spinners bowling to an attacking ring. With Pakistan faltering, they were even beginning to think they might like it.This time Azhar and Shafiq did not have Misbah-ul-Haq at the non-striker’s end learnedly chiding them to be patient but they were patient all the same. They ground out 71 at barely two an over and when the third day closed they had drawn the fire from England’s attack. Shafiq treated Pakistan’s supporters to two successive boundaries off Monty Panesar, Azhar offered a couple of serene drives and a skip down the pitch to loft Graeme Swann over long-on but it was stern-minded stuff.Their response was essential. Much was made of England’s flimsy top-order batting during their 10-wicket defeat in Dubai; Pakistan’s looked just as brittle. Panesar and Swann have not been as magical as Saeed Ajmal, nor have they turned the ball as sharply as Abdur Rehman, but in their first Test together for two-and-a-half years they laid down a challenge.Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar fell to nothing more substantial than artfully-pitched straight balls; a substantial sandstorm could blow through the gap between Taufeeq’s bat and pad. Younis Khan got a beauty from Panesar which turned to uproot his off stump. Then the old fox, Misbah, fell: a third wicket for Panesar. Misbah looked for a reprieve on DRS but the dispassionate conclusion had to be that the third umpire, Billy Bowden, was right to conclude that the ball had hit pad before bat.The growing quality of pitches in the UAE has contributed to two engrossing Tests. It was widely anticipated that this could be a tedious series on unresponsive pitches. Instead, there has been enough life for bowlers to relish an even contest. For those watching from England, whichever side they have been rooting for, it has been well worth an early alarm call.Smart stats

Sixteen batsmen were dismissed bowled or lbw in the first innings of both teams, which equals the record for the first two innings of a Test. The record for an entire Test is 26, in last year’s game between West Indies and Pakistan in Providence.

Saeed Ajmal is playing his 19th Test, and has taken 97 wickets at 27.92. After 19 matches, Graeme Swann had taken 85 wickets at 30.84.

Of the 25 Test wickets that Mohammad Hafeez has taken, 20 have been of left-hand batsmen. He averages 21.30 for each of those wickets; against right-handers he averages 91.20.

Stuart Broad’s batting average at Nos.8 and 9 is 30.43. With a cut-off of 40 innings at those two positions, only four batsmen have done better in Test history.

But the main benefits have come from the advent of DRS. Technology is rapidly making defensive pad play a thing of the past as umpires grant lbw decisions where once they would have looked askance. The game is different now: livelier, more combative and eminently more watchable. The downside is that lbw decisions are at an all-time high but with the future of Test cricket in such doubt, technology has provided a timely shot in the arm.That England were able to put the squeeze on Pakistan owed everything to Stuart Broad, whose enterprising, unbeaten, 58 from 62 balls gave them a 70-run first-innings lead. England made 116 runs in the morning session at a rate of nearly 4.5 runs an over as Broad poured his frustration with England’s careworn batting in the series into every shot. He had made some mildly provocative remarks about his England batting colleagues after Pakistan had been bowled out for 257, remarking on Twitter that it would make no difference if the batsmen did not frame themselves.When Ajmal had broken England’s dominance with three quick wickets on the second evening, frustration had been etched into Broad’s face as he watched from the boundary edge. At such times there is something endearing about his unabashed desire to win a cricket match.He batted like a man on a mission. If it was up there he would hit it, old ball and new. He needed good fortune on 33 when he survived the narrowest of run out decisions by the third umpire Bowden. Azhar pounced on the ball from cover and threw down the stumps as Broad chanced a single off Junaid Khan. As he dived for the crease it was debatable whether his bat was grounded. But he brought up England’s 300 by slog-sweeping Abdur Rehman’s left-arm spin for six into the Knocking Area – a sanctuary perhaps for the England batsmen he had previously chided.The old ball was 84.5 overs old at start of play but Misbah entrusted the task of dismantling England’s lower order to his spinners. Matt Prior was intent on playing them off the back foot whenever possible but Ajmal had his measure. He was badly dropped at deep square-leg by Junaid and then spared from an lbw decision by the tiniest inside edge. By the time Ajmal had him lbw on the back foot, a decision upheld after an England review, it was apparent he needed to be put out of his misery.Ian Bell was also dropped, a rasping return catch to Rehman which flew through his hands for four, and was also beaten several times by Rehman’s sharp turn. His tremors against Ajmal’s doosra were less apparent but he fell to Gul and the second new ball, England failing with DRS for the second time.Pakistan finally parcelled up England’s innings one over into the afternoon as Hafeez, an increasingly redoubtable all-round cricketer, took two wickets in three balls. Panesar, whose last Test innings had been a heroic rearguard action against Australia in Cardiff, this time managed a more prosaic second-ball duck. Panesar, lbw, signalled that he had hit it, but England had omitted to save a review for him.

The finals of the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup have been re-scheduled following the double postponement late last year

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2012The finals of the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup have been re-scheduled following the double postponement late last year.Rwenzori Warriors will take on the Nile Knights in the final of the EAPL on Saturday January 28, while the Knights are also scheduled to tackle Kongonis in the EAC Final a day later, Sunday January 29. Both games will take place at Nairobi Gymkhana Club. Torrential rain in Nairobi led to the postponement of the finals twice in late 2011.Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears said: “After such poor weather at the end of last year we are very pleased to be able to announce the new dates for the finals. The events have proved extremely popular and we have had positive feedback from all over Africa and beyond.”The finals will be a great start to the year and we look forward to two days of highly competitive cricket and crowning the first champions of the East African Cup and East Africa Premier League.”

John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2012John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions. Ryder was dropped from the third ODI against South Africa after breaking team protocol following New Zealand’s defeat in Napier. He went out to a hotel after the game, along with Doug Bracewell, who was also dropped, and got into an argument with a patron.When asked if Ryder, who has had problems with alcohol and has been involved in three other such indiscretions as an international cricketer, was testing his patience, Wright said, “It’s fair to say that.” He added: “He’s a talented cricketer and it’s up to him and certainly everyone has the opportunity to play if they perform and are fit and abide by some of the rules that go with being in the team.”The door is open for any player but there are standards you need to reach.”It’s a distraction to be honest. We have talked about it, we are over it and we have a big game tomorrow – we are up against a good side. You do get a little bit disappointed. But it’s part of life and people make mistakes and you get on with it. We wouldn’t want this to be happening regularly.”Ryder was recovering from a split webbing in his hand and Bracewell from a hamstring injury; team protocol dictated that players “rehabilitating from injury should not consume alcohol.” Asked if other players should be looking out for Ryder, Wright said, “That can be difficult. Most players at that time of night are in bed … the professional ones.”Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman and captain for the ODI series, also expressed his disappointment. “You’ve got a very disappointed bunch of players, and hopefully New Zealand Cricket will take that on board as well,” he told .”There’s obviously some contractual obligations which need to be met along the way, which Jesse isn’t meeting at this stage, and I’m sure that there’ll be some intense discussions between Jesse’s people and New Zealand Cricket around that contractual stuff.”The players wanted Jesse back when he was playing well and in the right head-space, but the team did not want these sorts of distractions’.”From our point of view, we’d just suffered another tough loss, our fourth in a row, and it certainly wasn’t the time to be out socialising and being seen in public drinking.”Ryder has also been left out of the first Test against South Africa, though for form reasons. McCullum, however, admitted such breaches were frustrating for the team. “This is probably one of the more minor events, but ultimately it’s probably one of the more definitive ones as well. So from a team-mate perspective, it is frustrating because you just want your team performances to be doing the talking rather than any off-field behaviour.”Bracewell’s father Brendon Bracewell, who played six Tests for New Zealand, said his son was “extremely embarrassed” by the incident. “Hopefully he’ll learn a lot from it. I said, mate, you’ve got to take this kind of stuff on the chin. Doug’s a young guy and it’s a steep learning curve but there’s no excuse not to stick with the team protocol.”Edited by Siddhartha Talya

Instead of being weighed down by the pressure of playing the biggest game of their lives, Bangladesh were buoyant after a week of stirring performances

Siddarth Ravindran in Mirpur21-Mar-2012The morning after what Mushfiqur Rahim described as “the most incredible day in our cricketing history”, Bangladesh were grappling with the prospect of an even more incredible day. Ahead of Thursday, there’s only one topic of discussion in Dhaka: how to get tickets to the Asia Cup final. The Shere Bangla stadium seats about 25,000 but judging by the frenzy for tickets and passes, the stadium would have been full even if its capacity was increased multi-fold.Instead of being weighed down by the pressure of playing the biggest game of their lives, Bangladesh were buoyant after a week of stirring performances. “The way we have played all through the tournament shows that as a team we have improved in the last three weeks,” Mushfiqur said. “Not only in performance but we have also overcome mental barriers, like winning two close matches. If you win matches like that the confidence of the whole team lifts. Also, it helps self-belief when you perform well consistently against top teams. The most important challenge for us was to perform well in every match.”The other source of motivation for Bangladesh was their constant improvement in every game. “If you noticed, we lost a very close match to Pakistan, then the next match [against India] we played better and played even better in the last match [against Sri Lanka],” he said. “This was our aim because if you play consistently well against the big teams then you will be able to win matches regularly.”Mushfiqur tipped Pakistan as favourites and called for another collective effort from his team-mates to topple them. “The secret of the success in this tournament so far is simple – not just one or two [players] are performing, which used to happen in the past,” he said. “In this tournament, Tamim [Iqbal], [Mahmudullah] Riyad, Shakib [Al Hasan], Nasir [Hossain] in the batting department have been playing well together. In the bowling department Raj [Abdur Razzak], Mashrafe [Mortaza], Nazmul [Hossain] in the one match he played, Shakib, everyone is performing. So if we can keep that up tomorrow, we are hoping we will win.”Mushfiqur picked the Pakistan openers, who have put on two big stands already in the Asia Cup, and offspinner Saeed Ajmal as big threats to Bangladesh. “Pakistan’s bowling attack is obviously very strong, and at the same time their top order is very strong with the likes of [Mohammad] Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed,” he said. “So if we can take some early wickets we can put them under pressure. And against their bowling we have to handle Saeed Ajmal well – which we did in the first match although he took two wickets at the end – and hopefully Umar Gul, then we can do well.”Though this is only Bangladesh’s second appearance in a tournament final, Mushfiqur said the team wouldn’t be fazed by the occasion. “The pressure is always there,” he said. “After winning the second match and before the match against Sri Lanka people were saying that ‘You must win against Sri Lanka’. As if after beating India, Sri Lanka were a team like Kenya or Scotland, that we would win in a canter. But as I said the way we are playing, with five or six of us performing well together, even if one or two fail you have the confidence.”While the word ‘upset’ featured heavily in newspaper headlines over the past week, Mushfiqur was keen to point out that qualifying hadn’t been a fluke. “When you reach the finals of a tournament with three top teams, and you win twice and play pretty consistently, I don’t think it’s an upset,” he said. “It was a well-planned and well-executed progress.” That progress has already given their supporters two reasons to celebrate; all they want is one more.Edited by Abhishek Purohit

Tillakaratne Dilshan remains convinced he did not edge the delivery to which he was given out on the fourth day against England

Andrew McGlashan in Colombo06-Apr-2012Tillakaratne Dilshan remains convinced he did not edge the delivery to which he was given out on the fourth day against England at the P Sara Oval and has called for Hot Spot to be made mandatory in all Test and one-day cricket.Dilshan was adjudged caught at slip off Graeme Swann by Bruce Oxenford and immediately signalled for a review. The third umpire, Rod Tucker, took an age looking at the images but without the infra-red cameras he ruled there was no conclusive evidence to advise the on-field umpire he had made an error.”I feel 100% that I didn’t edge the ball that’s why I went straight for the review,” he said. “I can’t control the decisions. You have to respect it. But I can suggest one thing. The DRS that applies to Test or one-day cricket should have Hot Spot then there will be more correct decisions. Unfortunately Hot Spot is not there and a few decisions were very difficult for the umpire without it.”When Oxenford confirmed his decision Dilshan stood, dumbstruck, at the crease for a moment before slowing trudging to the pavilion where he threw his helmet to the ground. Graham Ford, the Sri Lanka coach, also visited the match referee to demand answers about the incident.Earlier on Friday Dilshan had been fined 10% of his match fee for excessive appealing during the third day and his frustrations at his dismissal could prompt another word from the match referee. “I was just a bit disappointed and my helmet when a bit further than I meant,” he said. “I wanted a big score and that’s why I was disappointed.”It is the second time in the match that the lack of Hot Spot has been highlighted. On the first day England thought they had Thilan Samaraweera caught at short leg and asked for review but it remained a not out decision. Following that Steven Finn, who was the bowler involved, said he would like to see Hot Spot available all the time.However, due to the cost of the cameras, which is carried by the host board and host broadcaster, that remains out of reach for the likes of Sri Lanka, who are struggling financially. The full DRS, including Hot Spot, was only available for the Pakistan-England series in the UAE because the PCB found a sponsor to offset the cost.Sri Lanka’s mood stemming from perceived injustice at Dilshan’s decision will not have been improved by the two late blows from Swann that left them 33 runs ahead with four wickets left and struggling to hold onto their 1-0 series lead. However, Dilshan was confident they could still save – or even win – the match, especially after England’s failed attempt to chase 145 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.”We believe if we can bat the first session tomorrow we can win the Test,” he said. “It’s not an easy wicket and won’t be easy to chase 130-140. They couldn’t chase 140, this is a five day wicket and Rangana Herath is in good form.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Ottis Gibson and Darren Sammy are targeting continued improvement on West Indies tour of England

Nagraj Gollapudi03-May-2012It was an interesting question put to Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach. What would he consider to be a successful series for his side in England? Gibson started by admitting the visitors would have a tough time against the No. 1 Test team in cold conditions, before finishing his answer with a witty retort. “The last time we played at Lord’s, I was in the England dressing room, and the game was over in two-and-a-half days. If we can take this Lord’s Test to four days, that will be great,” Gibson said pithily.Gibson cannot, and does not, have a defeatist mindset. He was simply being realistic as he made it clear immediately that West Indies have a far better chance during the ODI leg of the tour considering the squad would be bolstered by the return from the IPL of first choice players like Chris Gayle.”It seems that not much is expected of us, which is good, in a sense. We can just go out and play and enjoy our cricket,” Gibson said from Hove, a day after landing in England. “We know what we are capable of. The Test series is going to be tough but we believe we have a one-day team that is more than capable of winning the ODI series. The one-day series is where I think the success is more likely to happen.”However Gibson assured that West Indies would aim to be competitive during the three-Test series, starting at Lord’s on May 17. Gibson, who was the England bowling coach during West Indies’ 2009 tour, has taken the same kind of approach he learned under Andy Flower. Gibson has remained his own man, taken hard decisions and not relented despite the outside pressure since taking the coaching reigns with West Indies. His public criticism of Gayle as soon as he took over is still raw.Darren Sammy and Ottis Gibson concede that England will be difficult opponents for their developing side•PA PhotosGibson has laid emphasis on installing a professional platform in the West Indies dressing room, giving priority to fitness above anyone and anything. He did not relent when a senior batsman like Ramnaresh Sarwan was dropped after a bad bout of form; he only played the hardworking Ravi Rampaul in one Test against Australia as the fast bowler was not completely fit.Gibson’s biggest supporter in the team has been Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, and the coach’s right-hand man. Today Gibson sat to his left and Sammy vocally described the respect for his coach.Though ‘Gayle v WICB’ dominated the headlines over the last 12 months, in the background Gibson and Sammy worked hard to establish an atmosphere where every player put the group ahead of himself.Even though West Indies did not cause any major upsets, they have come close. Last year during the Test series in India, in Delhi and then Mumbai, the batsmen posted a good first-innings score only to lose their spine in the third innings; the same mistake was repeated in Barbados against Australia this April. They lost both those series.England, and England in May, will not be forgiving. The same cold and damp conditions experienced in 2009 have been forecast this time around, too. Only three players – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin and Fidel Edwards – in the current 15-member squad toured England on the last trip. Still, the visitors are not exactly shivering in the cold.Sammy is not bothered by inexperience or the elite status of the opponent. He believes his fast-bowling attack, comprising Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and the young, untested Shannon Gabriel, is capable of giving England a scare.”Oh, yes, no doubt,” Sammy responded, when asked if the fast bowlers can cause problems for England’s batsmen. “We have been taking 20 wickets in Test cricket for the last year-and-a-half. I must give coach Gibson credit for that. All the bowlers commend him on the work he has been doing with the bowlers. We are a much improved bowling team. The conditions up here do tend to aid fast bowling and swing bowling and I am quite confident that our guys can put the English batsmen under pressure.”Captain Sammy has overseen an overhaul of West Indies’ team attitudes•Associated PressAt the same time Sammy willingly admitted his own top order is more than vulnerable, as seen against Australia during the three Tests at home earlier in April. “It is a fair comment. Stats don’t lie. Our top order did not click against Australia, but the selectors have shown faith in two of them [Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell]. They are quite young, they are still learning on the job. Yes, they will fail sometimes. But there is one thing we won’t do and that is give in. We are going to come out there and work hard for every run and every wicket.”Gibson, too, echoes Sammy’s words, but highlighted the fact that it is important to erase errors to make progress. “If we can eradicate some of those mistakes, I think we’ve shown enough of ourselves that we can be competitive here in England.”Despite England’s lukewarm Test form, losing 3-0 against Pakistan and then fighting back to level the series in Sri Lanka, both Gibson and Sammy are not under any illusions. Both agree England are No. 1 in the Test rankings for a reason. They said they are more concerned with getting their own house in order.This is part of the new culture, Sammy pointed out, which someone like Gayle will need to fall in line with: the culture of discipline, hardwork and focus and team bonding.”Guys work hard for each other,” Sammy said. “Ever since coach Gibson came on board he has tried to instil the professional attitude. One of our team mottos is to display a positive, can-do attitude at all the times. As you could see the way we have played recently, normally when we have had our backs against the wall we would kind of crumble. But so far, somehow we have found a way to get out of the situation. That is because of the constant drilling of the team, that is why that is happening. The whole mindset about doing it for the West Indies people, the guys are taking it on board. That is at the forefront of our minds.”

Worcestershire will host their championship fixture against Surrey at New Road as originally planned as the flood that struck the ground again last week has receded.

George Dobell08-May-2012Worcestershire will host their championship fixture against Surrey at New Road as originally planned as the flood that struck the ground again last week has receded.The club had decided to switch the match which starts on Wednesday to Kidderminster following flooding at New Road. But a spell of improved weather and the utilisation of improved drainage since the last major flood in 2007 has seen a swift improvement in the state of the outfield and spectator facilities and Worcestershire have made the decision to return to New Road.While some areas of the outfield are likely to remain damp, the pitch for the game is on the far side of the square – near the cathedral – and most of the affected areas are beyond the boundary. The flood waters never reached the pitch that has been allocated for the game.”The outfield is actually bone dry,” Worcestershire’s chief executive David Leatherdale told ESPNcricinfo. “We had half a million litres of water on there at one time, but it has drained completely and we could have played out there on Monday. The forecast still isn’t great, but the rivers are back down to their normal levels and there is no prospect of another flood.”The last week or so has been painful and it has cost us some money. But, with a new pavilion out of the floodwater, with new drainage and with the notification we had before the flooding, we were able to move everything out of the way, The flood in 2007 cost us over a million pounds; this one will have cost us thousands or tens of thousands.”The big difference this time was that the flood water was pretty clean. In 2007 we were left with a layer of silt over everything. This time you could hardly tell there has been any water here.”The game is also notable for the reappearance of Kevin Pietersen on domestic duty. Pietersen, who has been performing in the IPL, will be playing his only first-class match ahead of the Test series against West Indies. Former Worcestershire players Gareth Batty, who was given a hostile reception on his previous return to New Road, and Steven Davies also both return to their former club.George Edwards, a seamer who has been impressing in the 2nd XI, is included in Surrey’s 13-man squad. Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker are not available, however, as they are required for the England Lions fixture against West Indies.

Back-to-back Ashes series in 2013 may arrive too soon for Pat Cummins’ young body to cope with, says Australia coach Mickey Arthur

Daniel Brettig02-Jul-2012Back-to-back Ashes series in 2013 may arrive too soon for Pat Cummins’ young body to cope with. Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur has forecast another two years of injuries and brief international appearances for Cummins until the 19-year-old’s body matures to deal with the demands of fast bowling.Cummins returned to international duty against Ireland for the first time since his Test debut last November, but suffered a side strain against England at Lord’s and is now on his way home to recover. His performances so far when fit have been enough to suggest that Cummins will be a fast bowler of the highest quality, but Arthur said Cricket Australia and the game’s followers would have to be patient in waiting for his body to be up to the rigours of the task.”We forget he’s only 19, he’s still growing,” Arthur said. “It’s disappointing him coming back and then picking up another injury but we’re just going to have to live with that for another couple of years until he gets stronger and his body is used to the workloads. We’ve just got to keep giving him the opportunities because he’s going to be very, very good. I definitely see him playing all three forms.”Australia has deemed Cummins so important to the national side’s future that the team performance manager Pat Howard has drawn up a three-year plan for his management and development from his teenage beginnings into adulthood. Arthur said the plan included selective exposure to conditions around the world, from this year’s brief England visit to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later in the year and potentially the Test tour of India in 2013.”We’ve just got to find out what works for him and expose him to conditions around the world,” Arthur said. “We’ve got an important tour here next year so it’s really important he has a look at English conditions. Hopefully he’ll be ready for the World T20, we can expose him to bowling in the subcontinent a little bit and we know he’s proficient in our conditions. But we’ve got to live with the fact he is going to break down, he is 19.”The example of Brett Lee is relevant to Cummins’ case. Lee made his first class debut while still a teenager in the 1994-95 season but a series of injuries and adjustments to his bowling action meant he was a far more hardened bowler by the time he earned his first Test cap against India in 1999. Lee has previously stated that young bowlers have to experience pain and injury over time to understand their limits, rather than being nursed through by medical and fitness staff.”Most importantly, you don’t want guys at 17 or 18; the first time they feel a niggle, they go to the physio and say ‘my calf’s hurting me’ and they have three weeks off,” Lee said last year. “They don’t know where the line is.”Arthur said Australia’s management of fast bowlers was becoming more individualised all the time, highlighting the individual player plans brought in under Howard from the New Zealand rugby team.”I don’t think there’s a blanket rule, everyone’s different,” Arthur said. “A lot of guys bowl better by bowling all year round but you’ve still got to monitor their workloads. Sometimes when guys rest and then spark then that’s when they go into a major danger area so it’s a conundrum and I think everybody is different.”That’s why we’ve got these individual player plans for our guys now, we’re trying to work out what’s best for every guy to make sure they’re ready to perform.”

Just when Ireland thought they finally had the beating of Bangladesh, a savage batting assault by Mashrafe Mortaza ended their hopes and gave the visitors a 3-0 win in the series.

Ger Siggins at Stormont21-Jul-2012
ScorecardJust when Ireland thought they finally had the beating of Bangladesh, a savage batting assault by Mashrafe Mortaza ended their hopes and gave the visitors a 3-0 win in the series. That margin was unfair to the Irish, who took two games to the very last ball.It was a game that defied the notion that there can be none of the subtle changes in Twenty20 that make the longer forms of the game so captivating. This was a game that swung and shifted over 240 balls of mostly high-quality T20 cricket.”The last two games were probably a better reflection of where both teams are,” said Bangladesh coach Richard Pybus. “Ireland were out of sorts in the first game but the last two both went down to the wire,” he said of a series which saw Bangladesh pull off victory margins of 71 runs, one run and two wickets.Bangladesh needed 32 off 16 balls when Mortaza smashed three sixes off four balls from the left-arm spinner, George Dockrell, the last of which Kevin O’Brien misjudged and eventually knocked over the rope for another maximum.With eight balls left Mortaza was bowled by Kevin O’Brien, leaving just four needed off the last over. And while Trent Johnston and his fielders made sure every run was hard-earned, the scores were tied with one ball left. A scampered single by Elias Sunny and a whisker-missed shy by Kevin O’Brien saw another close win for Bangladesh.It was desperately disappointing for Ireland, who are using the games to build towards the ICC World Twenty20 finals in Sri Lanka in September. They play far fewer T20s than full members – this series was their first home games in the shortest format since 2008 – and their aim will be to up that number rapidly in the future.Bangladesh were unchanged, but Phil Simmons gave Tim Murtagh a first T20I cap, replacing Alex Cusack, and recalled Niall O’Brien in place of Ed Joyce. Although O’Brien hit a frisky 22 he, like most of Ireland’s batsmen, got in and then got out. The middle order crumbled yet again, with Kevin O’Brien struggling in a sequence that has seen him get out five times in the last ten balls he has faced for Ireland. He was out first ball here to Mortaza, the man of the match, whose career best 4 for 19 ensured Ireland totalled just 140 for 8.Early wickets were essential, but Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Mohammed Ashraful settled in from a testing start to record their nation’s first fifty opening stand in this format. Tamim also recorded his best score in 18 T20 internationals.They had taken the score to 62 in the 10th over, with the spinners on, when Ashraful needlessly carted the ball to John Mooney at long off, and within two overs the score was 69 for 3.Another flurry of wickets saw Bangladesh collapse to 89 for 6 as Stirling and Dockrell exerted pressure. But just as the vociferous Irish crowd started to dream of a third win over these opponents, Mortaza and Mushfique Rahim put together a stand of 46 in 16 balls, which included the 21-run butchering of Dockrell’s final over.”I’m very happy with the spin quartet”, said Pybus, “and the tour was good for our seamers too, who got experience of bowling in northern hemisphere conditions, learning that they have to get their lengths right.”Our batting was pretty solid too, but we have a little work to do before the World Twenty20.”

India batsman Yuvraj Singh has been named in India’s T20 squad for the home series against New Zealand and the ICC World Twenty20 next month in Sri Lanka, marking a return to cricket after battling with cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2012India batsman Yuvraj Singh has been named in India’s T20 squad for the home series against New Zealand and the ICC World Twenty20 next month in Sri Lanka, marking a return to cricket after battling with cancer. VVS Laxman, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Piyush Chawla and Ajinkya Rahane have been included for the home Tests against New Zealand later this month. Rohit Sharma has been left out of the Test squad after a lean period with the bat.Yuvraj, who last played for India during the home Tests against West Indies, was passed fit when the selection committee met in Mumbai to pick the respective squads. During his recovery from cancer, Yuvraj said last month that Twenty20 would be ideal format to mark his return to competitive cricket. However, he was picked despite lacking in match practice.The Twenty20 squad had a few surprises, most notably the recall of the legspinner Chawla (in both squads), offspinner Harbhajan Singh and the seamer L Balaji. Chawla last played for India during the 2011 World Cup, and his previous Test goes back a further three years. Balaji, who suffered career-threatening injuries through the previous decade, last played for India in 2009. What may have boosted his selection was a successful IPL 2012, during which he played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title win.India’s squads

Test squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma
T20 squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Dinda

Harbhajan was dropped after failing to make an impression on the tours of West Indies and England last year. His form in domestic cricket wasn’t encouraging either. He was ignored for the Tests, but the T20s will give him a chance to stage a comeback in all three formats. He also lends experience to India’s spin attack.Laxman’s future as a Test batsman was in doubt after a poor tour of Australia, where he only managed 155 runs in eight innings. Rohit did not get a chance in any of those games, but Rahul Dravid’s retirement opened the door not just for him but for a few other young batsmen hoping to break into the Test team. However, Rohit failed to make a mark in the recently concluded limited-overs series in Sri Lanka, possibly jeopardising his Test selection. Pujara’s batting for India A in the West Indies made it hard for the selectors to ignore him. He was already earmarked as a Test middle-order prospect.Rahane, who sparkled during the IPL, was left out of the Twenty20 squad but included for the Tests as a reserve opener. Ishant too returns from a layoff, after skipping the IPL to recover from an ankle surgery. Suresh Raina is back in India’s Test plans, after being ignored for the Australia tour.Kris Srikkanth, in his last selection meeting as chairman of selectors, said: “We have picked the best possible Test team. We looked at the conditions (in Sri Lanka) for the World T20. We feel that we have picked a team that will win us the World Cup. We are very happy Yuvi (Yuvraj) has been declared fit. In 2011 World Cup, he was the Man of the Series. He is a crucial factor from India’s point of view.”This selection marks the end of a long and traumatic period for Yuvraj. His issues began with breathing difficulties, nausea and bouts of vomiting blood during India’s successful run through the 2011 World Cup, which he ended as the player of the tournament. Six months later he was diagnosed with a rare for of cancer – mediastinal seminoma – and subsequently underwent chemotherapy in the US. He returned to India in April and began training at the NCA in Bangalore in June.India play two Tests and two Twenty20s against New Zealand before heading to Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20.