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Australia’s season of change has continued with Phil Jaques, the New South Wales opener, picked to make his debut in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Jaques will open instead of the injured Justin Langer after Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, decided Michael Hussey would stay batting out of position at No. 5.Hohns said Jaques demanded selection when Langer was ruled out with a left hamstring injury. “His form has been outstanding for New South Wales over the past few seasons and he thoroughly deserves the opportunity,” Hohns said. “We have taken the option of selecting a specialist opener in Jaques, enabling us to stabilise the middle order where Hussey has been doing a great job.”Stuart Clark, the 12th man in Perth, was dropped to make way for Stuart MacGill and Andrew Symonds, who currently averages 12.62, has been given another chance to seal the allrounder’s berth. “MacGill’s inclusion allows the option of us playing two spinners if the conditions in Melbourne suit,” Hohns said.Jaques, who will be the third batting debutant in five Tests, showed fine timing when he scored his third ING Cup century in a row on Sunday, and he also has 400 Pura Cup runs at 50 this summer. Langer was rated a 50-50 chance by Errol Alcott, the team physiotherapist, of playing in the third Test at the SCG starting on January 2.Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath.

Chittagong Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal said that a missed run-out chance and a dropped catch cost the side dearly in their 33-run loss to Barisal Bulls on Monday.Ziaur Rahman was involved in both incidents, in the 14th and 16th overs of Barisal’s innings. He first bungled a run-out chance against Mahmudullah, who was on 27 at the time; Mahmudullah went on to score 51. Ziaur appeared to have disturbed the stumps just before the throw hit the stumps, but the TV replays were inconclusive in determining if the bowler had broken the bails.

Cooper pleased with Barisal’s team effort

It was expected that much of Barisal Bulls’ strength would come from Chris Gayle, who is scheduled to arrive later this week, but they have won three out of four games without him, which led Kevon Cooper to highlight Barisal’s bench strength.
“We don’t have the big-name players yet but we are still playing good cricket,” Cooper said. “Hopefully when Chris games for the next games, the guys embrace him and we bat better and go on to win this competition.”
Cooper also praised captain Mahmudullah, whose 51 kept Barisal afloat after they lost three early wickets.
“I am around a great bunch of guys. [Mahmudullah] Riyad is a great leader. I played with him in Chittagong a few years ago. He has the dressing-room, the guys respect him.
“His innings was very important for us. Myself and Sami hit a couple of sixes in the end but it was important for him to steady the ship. He is a guy that I look up to in terms of leadership. He bats for the team. He has improved a lot as a player.”

Two overs later, he dropped Seekkuge Prasanna on 22, and parried the ball for six at long-off. Naeem Islam, did a similar thing a few deliveries later, conceding a six over long-on. Chittagong’s overall cricket was also sloppy – Elton Chigumbura bowled a nine-ball over and Kamran Akmal was run-out for a duck after he failed to slide his bat in while attempting a single.”We made a beautiful start, especially in the first six overs but then it was the same old story. We missed a simple run-out of Mahmudullah and Prasanna survived an easy catch. And they took the game away from us in that Elton [Chigumbura] over. But I don’t want to take the credit away from Mahmudullah and Barisal,” Tamim said.Chigumbura had already given away 16 runs in his first over when Tamim recalled him in the 19th over. He gave away 22 runs, which included a four that was hit off a no-ball and was followed by two wides.”We have some plans in the team meeting,” Tamim said. “We knew that [Kevon] Cooper loves to hit over cover and straight. When Elton was bowling, I was trying to tell him to bowl in such a way that he hits towards square-leg or the midwicket area, where he had a better chance to get a wicket or give away singles as it was the larger side of the ground. But, unfortunately, he bowled the wrong line.”Tamim said that Akmal’s dismissal was a “schoolboy error”: “All I can say is that Kamran’s run-out was a schoolboy error. All of our foreign players know what to do. They can improve. I really don’t have an answer for Kamran’s run-out. If someone like Dilshan, a batsman rated as high as Chris Gayle in T20s, did the job with bat and ball, we would have been in a good position. We depend a lot on them, which they have to understand.”

Liam Dawson, the uncapped Hampshire spinner, has been named in England’s 15-man squad for the World Twenty20, which gets underway in India next month.Dawson, 25, who impressed the selectors during the recent England Lions series against Pakistan A in the UAE, was not originally chosen for the current senior tour of South Africa. However, he will link up with the squad ahead of the two Twenty20s next week, when England’s coach, Trevor Bayliss, will get to assess his merits properly.”I haven’t actually seen him play a game,” Bayliss said after the announcement. “I went to one or two of the Lions practices and saw him in the nets. From a bowling point of view, he gets a bit on the ball and he looks as though he’s got something about him personality-wise. He can bat as well and he’s a good fielder apparently.”Dawson admitted the call-up came out of the blue. “I wasn’t expecting it,” he told BBC Radio Solent. “I did pretty well for the Lions in the two months I was there with them in the UAE for 50-over cricket and also the T20 series.”In the back of my mind, I thought potentially I might have a very small, outside chance, but thankfully I’ve been selected and I’m very excited about it.”

England squad for World T20

• Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (Capt)

• Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

• Sam Billings (Kent)

• Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

• Liam Dawson (Hampshire)

• Steven Finn (Middlesex)

• Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)

• Chris Jordan (Sussex)

• Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)

• Joe Root (Yorkshire)

• Jason Roy (Surrey)

• Ben Stokes (Durham)

• Reece Topley (Hampshire)

• James Vince (Hampshire)

• David Willey (Yorkshire)

Steven Finn, who was forced to withdraw from the tour with a side strain, has also been named in the 15, alongside six other players with previous experience of a World Twenty20. Eoin Morgan, the captain, is the only survivor from England’s victorious campaign in the West Indies in 2010, with England choosing, as expected, to overlook Kevin Pietersen despite his impressive recent form in both South Africa’s Ram Slam tournament and Australia’s Big Bash League.There is no place, either, for Stuart Broad – another veteran of the 2010 campaign – who has not played a 20-over match for England since 2014 but had been an outside bet for selection after being drafted into the limited-overs leg of the South Africa tour following injuries to Finn and Liam Plunkett, who also misses out.Reece Topley and David Willey, the left-arm seamers who have been England’s regular new-ball pairing in 50-over cricket, both make the trip, with Chris Jordan and the allrounder Ben Stokes providing England’s other fast-bowling options.James Vince, the Hampshire batsman who also impressed in the UAE with both the senior side and England Lions, is also included in the party, alongside Sam Billings, who will provide hard-hitting back-up to the likes of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy and is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League. James Taylor, however, does not make the cut despite impressive form for England’s 50-over team in recent months.Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka batsman, will once again join England’s coaching team for the first ten days of the tournament as a consultant, with Paul Collingwood, England’s trophy-winning captain in 2010, working alongside Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson for the duration.”The limited overs cricket played in the last eight months has been incredibly exciting to watch and these players deserve the honour of representing England at a global event,” said James Whitaker, the national selector. “We have made significant progress during recent series with plenty more to come over the next few years.”Liam Dawson has been selected after consistently strong performances for the Lions recently against Pakistan A. As a left arm spinning all-rounder he will be a very useful addition particularly in sub continent conditions.”Congratulations to all selected and on behalf of the selectors good luck to Eoin and Trevor.”Andrew Strauss, director of England Cricket, said: “Mahela Jayawardene and Paul Collingwood proved very popular additions to the coaching team when they spent time with England in the UAE earlier this winter and I’m delighted that they are both able to help our T20 side. Their international experience, previous success at World T20 tournaments and, particularly in Mahela’s case, knowledge of conditions make them ideal resources to tap into and I have no doubt the players will gain a huge amount from having them around the dressing room.”

Pakistan A fast bowler Mohammad Sami has been fined Rs105,000 for reporting late on Thursday and Friday during the ongoing Test match against Australia A at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.Aaqib Javed, Pakistan A coach, said that Sami was handed a Rs5,000 fine on Thursday for joining the team 35 minutes late. However, on Friday, Sami reported almost an hour after the scheduled start time and was consequently fined Rs100,000 in keeping with the clause of the players’ central contract.

Ken Gordon, the chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board, has agreed to meet with the two sides battling for control of US cricket in a bid to find an end to the row which has seen the USA suspended from the ICC.The two factions – the USA Cricket Association, led by Gladstone Dainty, and the regional league presidents – have been asked to come together in Washington on the weekend of June 9-10.In a letter to all those concerned, Paul de Silva, the USACA secretary, wrote:”Mr. Gordon is of the view that an important first step would be to have a general airing of views from USACA membership so that there can be a clear understanding of whether problems exist.”Gordon and the WICB were asked to intervene by the ICC in March when the USA were suspended for the second time in as many years.The timing of the meeting is important as should a resolution be worked out then it will enable the WICB to report this to the ICC executive when it meets in London at the end of June. If all goes well, it is possible that the ICC executive might recommend that the suspension be revoked.

Barbados and Jamaica are into the finals of the West Indies Under-19 tournament but not without controversy. Confusion initially reigned over who would contest the final of the limited-overs series after both semi-finals were wrecked by torrential rain and strong winds in St Kitts.Guyana’s team management said that on the basis of the tournament’s playing conditions, they had qualified for the final because of their No. 1 seeding from the preceding three-day tournament.Barbados, meanwhile, assumed they too had missed out on a spot in the final, based on the playing conditions laid down for the tournament. However, Derek Nicholas, the West Indies Cricket Board’s operations officer, revealed that Barbados and Jamaica would contest the final, based on standings after the three-round preliminary campaign.Barbados finished top of the standings with ten points while Jamaica and Leeward Islands were joint second on eight. Guyana were fourth with six points.Jamaica, sent in by the Leewards in overcast conditions at Cayon, had reached 70 for 3 after 21 overs when rain and wind, associated with the passage of Hurricane Dean, swept across the ground bringing a swift end to the contest. With the pitch waterlogged along with most of the outfield, umpires Cornelius Sam and Rudolph Wattley had no choice but to call off play.Before the abandonment, Shacoya Thomas, unbeaten on 24, and Andre Creary, on 5, were leading a revival after Jamaica had slipped to 53 for 3.In the second semi-final at Conaree there was even less play in the game between Guyana and Barbados. Sent in by Barbados, Guyana reached 22 for 2 before adverse weather lashed the ground rendering conditions unfit for play. Umpires Steadroy Techeira and Troy Mills made an inspection at 1.15 pm before making their final decision.Earlier, play began 66 minutes late due to late preparation of the playing area occasioned by extremely windy conditions. Barbados started positively when fast bowler Diego Stuart bowled Chris Pattadin for 4 with the third ball of the match to leave Guyana on 6 for 1. When the rain finally came the pitch was left uncovered as the ground staff, like the players and spectators, rushed to safety indoors as the wind speed increased rapidly.

India’s defeat in Durban triggered off the sort of hystericalover-reaction that has become a sad accompaniment to the country’scricket, but Rahul Dravid, who has faced much of the flak – along withGreg Chappell, the pet peeve – was philosophical when asked about theviciousness of some of the criticism. He insisted that his team were doingthe best, and that he couldn’t afford to expend energy thinking of thingsbeyond his control.”My team is not pretty aware of what is happening,” he said. “We’re verymuch focused on our cricket. It’s a country of extreme reactions andextreme emotions. We’re trying to play good cricket. We know we can playbetter and we’re focused on trying to put up a better performance on tour.We’re not aware or worried about what’s happening back home.”We’re always feeling the pressure to win, but that does not change thesituation. We need to win after that loss and we needed to win beforethat. We need to win all the time.”An official of the Indian board had gone on record to say that the playershouldn’t be paid for the Durban match, and the parliament in New Delhihad resonated with voices calling for Chappell’s head on a platter – withor without an apple in his mouth. “Can I be worried about something whichI cannot control?” said Dravid with a shrug, when asked about the flamesbeing fanned back home. “Somebody’s going to make a comment and someone’sgoing to react. We’re all entitled to our opinions, and I’m just asentitled not to react.”He also rubbished suggestions made by an Indian TV channel that he andChappell had a serious altercation prior to the Durban game. “I’m havingto laugh at some of these things,” he said. “There’s absolutely no issuebetween us. It feels funny to even deny such things. Everyone is allowedto say anything they want. You don’t have to prove it [these days].”Asked whether the criticism would act as a spur to his players, Dravidreiterated that it shouldn’t be the case. “I don’t think that should be amotivating factor for anyone,” he said. “It has never been for me. Everytime you walk out to play for India, you should be proud enough to go outthere and compete. You might not always do well and succeed.”There were some similarities to be drawn with 2003, when India followed upa disastrous 2-5 reverse in New Zealand with an embarrassing nine-wicketdefeat against Australia in their first big game of the World Cup. Perhapsstung by the vitriol, the players put together an eight-match winningstreak that only came to an end in the final. “I’d like to think that wefought back because we played good cricket and not because we werecriticised,” said Dravid. “You shouldn’t need anything other than the factthat you’re playing for your country to motivate you. I’m pretty confidentthat my boys have really worked hard, irrespective of the results. They’veshown enthusiasm, energy and a lot of desire to get things better.”

He stressed that no board official had been in touch with him since theDurban loss, and added that criticism was par for the course no matter howaccomplished a player you were. “I’ve withstood a lot of criticism as abatsman,” he said. “I’ve been out of the team for a year. I was goingthrough a period in 2001 and 2002 where I attracted a lot of criticism. SoI’ve had my share. It’s not always been smooth sailing as a player. It’sno different [as captain]. It’s not hard to accept as long as you know youare doing your best and trying to get the best out of your players.”You’re going to make mistakes, and things won’t work out as planned. Youhave to accept that some amount of criticism is justified, and some of itis obviously over the top as well. There’s only so much you can do as aplayer or a captain. You have to take some of the criticism with a pinchof salt.”And with the axe being sharpened for the likes of Suresh Raina, Dravidsaid that it was hard to draw a line when it came to success and failure.”If you fail consistently at this level, then the decision will have to betaken by the selectors,” he said. “Some will be better off going back todomestic cricket.”Some of these guys have been through that. It happens constantly. Youcan’t put a number to it, but there does come a time you have to reassessand look at your game. Probably with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar,everyone in this team has gone back to domestic cricket, and come back abetter cricketer for it. And sometimes, they haven’t come back.”If Andrew Flintoff and friends think that they’re having a hard time of itin Brisbane, they have no idea. Along with English football and SouthAfrican rugby, Indian cricket remains sport’s biggest soap opera, withfickle fans and inflated expectations making for an incendiary cocktailthat even Molotov couldn’t have thought up.

Kenya’s players have finally received about two-thirds of the money owed to them from the 2003 World Cup and the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy after the government, and not, as reported elsewhere, the Kenyan Cricket Association, paid a lump sum of US$41,000 to help clear the arrears.Wellingtone Godo, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Sports, said he hoped the payment would boost the team’s morale ahead of next week’s Intercontinental Cup tournament in Namibia. “The money may not be enough,” he said, “but we hope it will motivate the team to do well in the coming event.”It was these arrears which led to the players’ strike in 2004, an action which help escalate the demise of the old KCA regime headed by Sharad Ghai.The news came at the same time that the ICC finally released the remaining US$100,000 it owed under the old Project Kenya scheme. That had been withheld after serious issues arose about the way earlier funding had been used by the old regime. A strict condition of the final payment was that the money had to be put towards identified development projects and could not be used to clear existing debts.The KCA has inherited debts of at least US$500,000 from the Ghai regime, and there are almost no assets. Much of the paperwork for the final period of Ghai’s tenure has gone missing, and as a result it has not been possible to finalise accounts for 2004. As a result, the ICC is withholding quarterly payments of US$13,000 due to the KCA, arguing that without such financial details, it cannot hand over any more money. In the meantime, Ghai is due in court soon to face changes of stealing around US$3.3 million from the KCA in 1999.

Match facts

Tuesday, May 6 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

Four days ago, the Chennai Super Kings were sitting on top of the points table with four wins out of four. Two defeats and a Trans-Tasman exodus later, they’ve slipped to No. 4. Chennai’s loss of form, with the bat in particular, has been dramatic. They were swung out for 109 by Sohail Tanvir in their previous game, the lowest score by a team batting first in the IPL. On paper, they have batsmen who can fire, and bowlers who have shown the ability to contain. All teams are entitled to their bad days and Chennai would do well to erase those bad memories as soon as possible. They will take heart from the fact that their opponents Deccan Chargers are languishing right at the bottom of the points table. However, Deccan have several impact players such as Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi who, can single-handedly change the course of a match. The middle-order also needs to back up the efforts of Rohit Sharma, who is among the leading runscorers of the tournament.

Watch out for …

… Adam Gilchrist taking on Makhaya Ntini. Ntini bowled a maiden over against Rajasthan Royals and was one of the few bowlers who returned decent figures after the assault. Rohit taking on Muttiah Muralitharan should be another interesting battle in the middle overs.

Team news

Shahid Afridi has had a rough time with the bat so far but his saving grace is his contribution with the ball so one would expect him to retain his place. Chamara Silva has been warming the bench since he arrived in India and could be slotted in instead of Herschelle Gibbs. Moreover, Rohit could use some support in the middle order and Silva’s finishing abilities could be just what Deccan need.Deccan Chargers: 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 VVS Laxman (capt), 3 Scott Styris, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Arjun Yadav, 8 Sanjay Bangar, 9 RP Singh, 10 P Vijaykumar, 11 Pragyan OjhaAs the only specialist foreign batsman in the side, Stephen Fleming needs to fire after two failures. Parthiv Patel hasn’t really pushed on after making starts. With only four overseas players to choose from, they are likely to retain their line-up from the previous game.Chennai: 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Stephen Fleming, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 S Vidyut, 5 Albie Morkel, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 S Badrinath, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 Manpreet Gony, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini

IPL form (last five matches)

Chennai Super Kings: WWWLL
Deccan Chargers: LLWLL

Stats and trivia

Kevin Pietersen has claimed that racial quotas forced him into making the biggest decision of his life, to quit his native South Africa and move to England.In an exclusive extract from his new book Crossing The Boundary, being serialised in the Daily Mail, Pietersen said that he was left out the Natal side in 2000 because of the prevalent quota policy and that led to him making up his mind to seek his career in England.”I was dropped because the quota system was brought into South African cricket to positively discriminate in favour of ‘players of colour’ and to fast-track the racial integration of cricket in the country,” he said. “To me, every single person in this world needs to be treated exactly the same and that should have included me, as a promising 20-year-old cricketer. If you do well you should play on merit. That goes for any person of any colour. It was heartbreaking.”Even though it was very hard for me to take in at the time, it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened.”Not that that seemed to be the case when he was told that he was being left out so that Goolam Bodi could play. “I flew into a rage,” he admitted,” flinging a water bottle across the dressing-room and shouting ‘I’m leaving here’.”Pietersen said that he and his father tried to reason with Phil Russell, Natal’s coach, but got nowhere. And as for Goolam? “I’m not aware he’s made much impact … certainly not with the South Africa team.”Pietersen admitted that he had spoken to Nasser Hussain about the possibility of playing cricket in England when he played against the touring side earlier that season, and that by the time he fell out with Natal there was already considerable interest from several counties in England.Some players advised him to go, but the decision finally came after a meeting with Ali Bacher, at the time the key man in South African cricket. “He was rude to me in that meeting and he was rude to my dad. I had never met the man before. As far as I was concerned the least he could do was be polite.” Bacher failed to offer any encouragement that things would improve. “As soon as we left the meeting my dad said to me: ‘You’re going … the quota system will never finish’.”Pietersen immediately rang Clive Rice, the Nottinghamshire coach, and agreed to join them. He had an English passport which enabled him to do that, although he knew he still faced a delay before he could qualify for England. He also knew that he had played his last game for Natal and that his move had to be for good. “I wouldn’t call it an agonising decision,” he added. “It was well thought out. I’ve always been a confident bloke and I was sure I would be successful.”Pietersen also speculated that had he remained in South Africa he might not even be playing cricket now. “I would have been frozen out of the system … I would have gone out and done something else.”