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Max Sorensen has been ruled out of the remainder of Ireland’s tour of Zimbabwe and Namibia due to a back injury.Sorensen, the 29-year-old allrounder, was slated to play the four-day fixture against Zimbabwe A starting in Harare on Saturday, but will now return to Ireland immediately. He will also miss the Intercontinental Cup clash against Namibia in Windhoek starting October 24.Stuart Poynter, the wicketkeeper who was to leave the squad after the Zimbabwe leg of the tour, has provisionally been named as Sorensen’s replacement, subject to an approval from the ICC’s technical committee.Sorensen, who last represented the country in a T20I against Scotland in June, did not play a part in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, which Ireland lost 2-1. His last ODI was against South Africa, during the 2015 World Cup in March.

Maharashtra held Mumbai to a draw in the Under-14 West Zone leaguematch played at the Pune Club in Pune on Saturday. The hosts tookthree points while the visiting Mumbai lads went home with five pointsowing to their first innings lead.After Maharashtra skipper AkshayOak won the toss and invited the visitors to bat,Mumbai declared their innings at 434/8 off 105.4 overs on the secondday of the match. The highlight was a mammoth 209 run partnership forthe fifth wicket between Shoeb Shaikh and Prashant Naik. Shoeb scored100 off 127 balls with 14 boundaries while Naik piled up 148 off 221balls with 20 hits to the fence.Maharashtra were skittled out for 260 in 92.5 overs. Opener NikhilMunde scored 60 off 121 balls with nine hits to the fence. ChetanKasbekar was unbeaten on 53 off 92 balls. Pratik Kar bagged four for44.Conceding a 174 run lead, Maharashtra followed on. Their secondessay was similar to the first one as they were bundled out for 203 in84.5 overs. Nikhil Paradkar scored 55 off 134 balls with nine hits tothe fence. Rohit Kakde topscored with 60 off 65 with a dozen hits tothe fence. Sanket Chavan picked up three for 34.Mumbai were set a target of 30 runs in three overs to win the matchoutright. They managed to score 22 off the three overs for the loss ofone wicket.

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.

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.”

Rageb Aga, Kenya’s stand-in captain, has warned that nothing less than victory will do, as they prepare for their Intercontinental Cup semi-final clash against Scotland, which begins in the United Arab Emirates on November 17.”It is vital for the future of Kenya cricket,” said Aga, 20, who has been handed the captaincy in place of Hitesh Modi, who is getting married in London on the final day of the match. “It is important that Kenya shows its potential and does well. The bigger picture for Kenya is attaining Test status and winning this tournament will be astepping-stone towards achieving this goal.”Kenya’s preparations have been clouded in controversy, with several of the country’s leading players going on strike after a pay dispute with the Kenyan Cricket Association. But Aga is eager to put the unrest to one side. “We have a blend of youthful exuberance and experience,” he said of his squad. “We are a team willing to take up any challenge and a team willing to work for each other.”Kenya’s match against Scotland takes place at Abu Dhabi, while the other semi-final, Canada against UAE, is being held at Sharjah. The final will take place at Sharjah from November 21.

The announcement by Ten Sports in India that it would be televising live the forthcoming tri-series between Kenya, India A and Pakistan A surprised many, not least the officials of the Nairobi Gymkhana (NG) where the games are scheduled to be played.The Nairobi Gymkhana ground is the only one of international status in Kenya, and was the venue for the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy. But the acrimonious dispute between various Nairobi-based clubs and the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) meant that last year the Gymkhana authorities took the decision that it would not allow the stadium to be used for any KCA events.The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Gymkhana ground is also home to the offices of the KCA, and that rent for those offices, as well as outstanding ground-admission fees, have apparently not been paid for at least three years.The deal to televise the tri-series was done through Media Plus, a company controlled by Sharad Ghai, who also happens to be the chairman of the KCA. Media Plus is believed to take a 20% cut for handling such deals. And the KCA, which is broke, desperately needs the funds.It soon became clear that without the agreement of the Gymkhana authorities there would be no television monies. Although Ravindra Patel, the Gymkhana Club’s secretary, specifically forbade his board to deal with the KCA, it seems that while he was in London an agreement was struck between Ghai and Raj Thaker, the Gymkhana chairman.When Patel returned he was livid that Thaker had acted without his – or his board’s – consent, but the deal had been done. The KCA, however, still owed around 2.5 million schillings for back rent, and Thaker insisted that until this was paid, there would be no matches.The word of the KCA that the monies would be paid after the event counted for little, as all previous attempts to get the debt settled had been answered with a wall of silence.Ghai was in a corner as the KCA couldn’t pay. So, in desperation, he gave the board his personal cheque for one million schillings as a part-payment, with the balance, which he disputed, subject to arbitration at a later date. What worried some was that Ghai insisted that the cheque was post-dated until after the tournmament. One Gymkhana official said that suspicions remained that once the tri-series was over that the cheque might be cancelled, but it is extremely unlikely that Ghai would act in that way.And so the tournament will go ahead, and the television rights, which according to sources close to the KCA were sold for US$1.5 million, will give Kenyan cricket a much-needed financial boost – once Media Plus have taken their cut.

Russel Arnold will skipper a Sri Lanka A side against Pakistan in a one-daywarm-up at the P. Sara Oval on May 7.For Arnold, dropped from the national squad after a low scoring World Cup,the game will provide an opportunity to convince the selectors that he isready to return to international cricket.Dilhara Fernando, who is still recovering from a back injury, is alsoincluded in the 14-man squad, which includes several one-day specialistsvying for a place in the triangular series that starts on May 10.Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad:Avishka Gunawardana, Michael Vandort, Jehan Mubarak, Russel Arnold(captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Upul Chandana, KaushalyaWeeraratne, Dinusha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Anushka Polonowita, SahanWijeratne, Ranga Dias, Thilina Thushara.

Resuming on 54 for 2 in reply to the West Indian first innings total of 166, England’s young batsmen were swept away in a fashion that was all too reminiscent of their seniors in the Ashes series.Eight wickets fell for the addition of only 61 runs in the face of some steady bowling from Kenroy Peters, who took 5-41 in 27 overs with his left-arm medium pace.Durham’s Nicky Peng, who had just been announced as a member of the National Academy team, appeared to be batting positively before becoming the second of opening bowler Jermaine Lawson’s victims.Of the later batsmen, only James Tredwell of Kent offered serious resistance, facing 93 balls to reach 25. He was eighth out as off-spinner Ryan Austin picked up three tail-end wickets.Tredwell then had to turn to his main trade as an off-spinner to try to curtail a sparkling start from the West Indians in their second innings, taking only 13 overs to add 91 to the lead. He took 1 for 37 from 17 tidy overs and, along with left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, did something to keep England in touch.Even so, with captain Brenton Parchment recording his third fifty in as many matches after an opening partnership of 76 with Devon Smith, and Tonito Willett undefeated on 54 at the close, the spinners’ efforts were in vain.With the West Indies leading by 222 runs and still two days remaining, England’s chances of squaring the series appeared slim.

James Pattinson was a notable omission from Australia’s Test squad for next month’s tour of Bangladesh, but captain Steven Smith hopes he will be back in the mix once he has become more accustomed to his new bowling action. Pattinson played two ODIs on the recent tour of England but failed to claim a wicket, and he is expected to turn out for Victoria in next month’s Matador Cup.Two severe back injuries over the past two years contributed to Pattinson reworking his bowling action to be more side-on, and it remains a work in progress. He showed some encouraging signs on this year’s Australia A tour of India, but national selector Rod Marsh said when announcing the squad for the Bangladesh tour that Pattinson was down on confidence.”According to the reports I’ve got from [selectors] Trevor Hohns and Darren Lehmann in England is that he’s lacking a bit of confidence,” Marsh said on Monday. “It won’t hurt him to go back to Matador Cup and Shield cricket and find that form that made him a very, very hot prospect a few years ago.”Smith captained Pattinson in the one-day series in England and agreed that he would benefit from some more time refining his action with Victoria.”I think for Jimmy it’s just about playing a bit more cricket first,” Smith told reporters in Sydney after arriving home from the England tour on Tuesday night. “Hopefully he can get back and play in the Matador Cup and the first couple of Shield games.”He’s got a different action at the moment and he’s got to get himself comfortable with that, keep looking to get better with that and more consistent. I’m sure we’ll see him in the future.”Smith has a week and a half at home before flying out to Bangladesh for his first tour as Test captain, and he will be in charge of a squad with a vastly different look to the one that lost the Ashes in England. One of the most surprising inclusions was the Tasmania fast bowler Andrew Fekete, who has played only 18 first-class matches and is a mystery not only to the public, but to his captain as well.”I haven’t seen a lot of him bowl, to be perfectly honest with you,” Smith said. “I heard he bowled really well last year in the Shield season, and in India for the A stuff as well. I think the conditions are likely to be quite similar to what the A team faced in India, and he got the ball to reverse over there and bowled really well. I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes.”One man who Smith is pleased to see back in the Test squad is his New South Wales team-mate, the left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in the UAE last year. O’Keefe was overlooked for the Ashes tour but impressed on the A tour of India, where he claimed 14 wickets in the two first-class matches in Chennai.”Stephen O’Keefe has been the stand-out performer with the ball as a spinner in the first-class system for quite some time now,” Smith said. “He had a very good tour in India with the A squad, he bowled really well over there. It’s nice to have him back in the squad.”Australia will have a new opening combination in Bangladesh due to the retirement of Chris Rogers and the thumb injury suffered by David Warner, with the uncapped Cameron Bancroft in the running along with Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh. Bancroft and Burns are the least experienced of the quartet but Smith believes they could both turn out in the same XI.”I think it’s a good opportunity for both of them to come in and potentially play in the same line-up,” Smith said. “There’s going to be spots up for grabs. It’s a new team. But I think that’s really exciting for us going forward.”

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.”