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Chris Gayle has been reappointed West Indies captain for the upcoming tour of Australia later this month, marking the end of the contractual dispute between the striking players and the West Indies Cricket Board. Senior players such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo also returned to the squad for the three-Test series following the strike, while youngsters such as Adrian Barath, Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge made the cut as well.The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) met in Barbados on Saturday to approve the selectors’ recommendation of Gayle as captain and made the announcement on Monday. Gayle, 30, has not played international cricket since the home series against India in July due to the ugly contractual dispute between WICB and the players’ union. In his absence, the selectors fielded depleted teams led by Floyd Reifer against Bangladesh and in the Champions Trophy.Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, said he was confident of the team’s prospects in Australia. “I think we have a good combination and an experienced team which I expect to do very well,” he said. “We have selected a balanced team … we have a quality bowling attack, and a very good batting line-up with players who have performed on the international stage. We believe the players all have the ability to deliver at the highest level.”There are only two uncapped players in the squad, Barath and Tonge. Barath, the Trinidad & Tobago batsman, came into prominence by scoring a century for West Indies A against the touring England side earlier this year. He was then included in the squad for the first home Test against Bangladesh in July but didn’t play. However, Barath shone for T&T during the Champions League in India. There is no third opener in the 15-man squad – Devon Smith and Lendl Simmons haven’t been picked – so Barath could well open with Gayle in Brisbane.Tonge, a 26-year old fast bowler, and Roach were handed their debut against Bangladesh during the strike and impressed with their speed. They proved a handful on the fast pitches in South Africa during the ICC Champions Trophy and those performances won them their spots on the plane to Australia. The trip will also be an interesting one for Brendan Nash, who played for Queensland before qualifying to become a West Indies international.Fast bowler Fidel Edwards was not named in the squad because of a knee injury. Edwards had a problem with his knee after returning from the Champions League in India and missed the ongoing WICB President’s Cup.The announcement puts a lid on speculation over whether Daren Ganga, who captained Trinidad & Tobago to the final of the inaugural Champions League, would be handed the West Indies position. Ganga’s leadership in India had been widely commended and fuelled the speculation but John Dyson, the recently deposed West Indies coach, revealed selectors had previously baulked at moves to restore him to the captaincy over concerns that his batting was not up to the rigors of international cricket. Ganga scored three centuries in 48 Tests between 1998 and 2008, averaging just 25.71.”There was certainly some hesitation there,” Dyson told Cricinfo before the confirmation of Gayle’s captaincy. “Daren is obviously an impressive bloke and he is well suited to leading the Trinidadian side, but from my talks with selectors, the feeling was that he had not really grasped his opportunities in his 48 Tests.”Dyson, who predicted Gayle would hold on to the job, said it would be “wise of the selectors” to gauge his commitment to it. “Many of the things that have happened to the West Indies team haven’t been his fault,” Dyson said. “A lot of people would be tempted by the IPL and other leagues, and I think more and more players will let it be known that they are not totally committed to their teams. If Chris is committed to international cricket, I think he could yet be a good captain.”Gayle has had mixed results as captain, winning three Tests out of 14 and 13 ODIs out of 38. He led West Indies to two series wins in one-dayers, including an away victory against England last year, and against the touring Sri Lanka. He presided over a surprise win in the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg but his side went on to lose the next two games and the series. His other Test wins came against Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain to level the two match series and a deciding win over England at home earlier this year, before West Indies handed back the Wisden Trophy when they toured just after.Squad: Chris Gayle (capt), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Gavin Tonge.

It may seem like a harsh question, but what is it with South African sides and tournament semi-finals? Trinidad & Togabo needed 91 to win off the last ten overs and lost Lendl Simmons soon after. The boundaries dried up and the asking-rate rose to more than ten an over. The situation was ripe for the Cape Cobras to finish the contest, but they couldn’t, mainly because, like they have been doing all tournament, T&T found a player for every situation. Today, it was Dwayne Bravo: he had scored 21 runs in four innings going into the semi-finals, but rose to the challenge with an unbeaten half-century.When Bravo joined his captain, Daren Ganga, at the crease and found it difficult to raise the tempo, it seemed as though T&T’s colourful journey in India was about to come to an end. But the Cobras took their eye off the ball – Justin Ontong’s miss off Bravo when he was 17 was the third dropped catch of the innings – and Bravo made them pay. He hit consecutive sixes off Vernon Philander, brought up his half-century with a four off Charl Langeveldt, and finished the contest with a boundary against Rory Kleinveldt.Bravo, however, wasn’t the only player to step up when T&T were faced with a problem today. T&T had been relative underdogs in their earlier games, but for the first time in the tournament they came into a match with a reputation. And the pressure that brings was evident from the start, when Cobras’ openers got stuck into the new-ball attack. It needed Sherwin Ganga, who had bowled the first over, to pry out Andrew Puttick in the fifth.That breakthrough did not stem the run flow, as Herschelle Gibbs finally found form, taking Bravo for 18 runs in the final Powerplay over. As the run-rate hovered around nine an over, Ganga kept shuffling his bowlers to find someone to control Gibbs, and then JP Duminy. The search was futile, until he gave the ball to Lendl Simmons, who bowled a wicket-to-wicket line and kept Duminy and the other power-hitters in check. Simmons struck with his first ball, and conceded only 17 off his three overs, eight of which came in the last.T&T, however, suffered a severe setback in the penultimate over, when Duminy and Vernon Philander took 20 runs off Bravo. But just when the Cobras looked set to push close to 200, T&T had another player fighting back for them, Ravi Rampaul conceding only two off the final over.There was an edginess during the start of T&T’s chase, as William Perkins and Adrian Barath flayed at every ball. Their team-mates and coaching staff sat with their hands to their faces in the dugout not knowing what was in store. But both youngsters met in the middle and calmed each other.Perkins and Barath proceeded to tear into the Cobras attack and by the end of the Powerplay, T&T were 57 for 1. But Barath fell a run later, and Simmons with the score on 85, leaving Cobras with an opportunity to fight back. They failed to take it, and Bravo pounced on his reprieve and led T&T into the Champions League final with an outstanding 58 off 34 balls.Bravo rising to the challenge today wasn’t a one-off, though, for different players coming good when it matters has been a distinctive aspect of T&T’s campaign. Sherwin Ganga, Dave Mohammed, Kieron Pollard and Barath had been match-winners in previous games and today someone else took the opportunity. “We have got players who step up their game and deliver. Dwayne and myself, we hadn’t done much batting wise so far, but I knew when the situation required we would do it,” Ganga said.While T&T’s players stepped up, the Cobras wilted. Henry Davids dropped two catches off Simmons in the space of a few deliveries. Ontong also spilt a sitter, and later missed a run-out against Ganga. The dew did not help, but the Cobras were poor. “They played the pressure situations a lot better than us,” Puttick said. “The way they batted and bowled in those situations made a lot of difference. Trinidad has that X-factor. They are very difficult to play against and they a play a different style of cricket. Our fielding too needed to be a lot tighter.”Shukri Conrad, the Cobras coach, went a step further and said: “I hate to use this word, but we choked.”

The England Lions batsmen, Stephen Moore and Michael Carberry, have moved a step closer to international recognition after being named, alongside the seamers Mark Davies and Amjad Khan, in the top grade of the ECB’s enhanced England Performance Programme that gets underway in November.In total, the ECB have named 41 players whom it regards as the best up-and-coming prospects in the country, and divided them into a range of different squads according to the players’ differing stages of development.Moore, Carberry, Davies and Khan, who made his Test debut in the Caribbean earlier this year, are the only players to be named in the top-tier ‘A’ Grade. “This is great news for me,” said Khan. “It goes to show that I am still highly thought of by the England selectors. Theoretically, I guess, I’m only a couple of injuries away from playing international cricket again.”The ‘B’ Group players include the Middlesex seamer, Steven Finn, and Leicestershire’s Young Player of the Year, James Taylor, and are described by the ECB as “those with experience of first-class cricket and are perceived to be 1-3 years away from the England team”. The ‘C’ Group players are, on the whole, younger and with less experience of first-class cricket, but are likely to have taken part in the ECB’s Elite Player Development Programme.The ‘A’ graded players will receive individualised support programmes, meeting their specific developmental needs, and will link up with Ian Bell, Steven Davies, Ryan Sidebottom and Liam Plunkett for a training camp at the CSA High Performance Centre in Pretoria, ahead of the Test series in South Africa this winter.The ‘B’ and ‘C’ Group players will undertake separate training camps at the National Cricket Performance Centre (NCPC) at Loughborough and Pretoria respectively. Both camps will feature some competitive cricket opportunities.The players on the South Africa training camp before Christmas will have the opportunity to work alongside Graham Gooch, Allan Donald and Saqlain Mushtaq, who will support the full-time coaching team of David Parsons, Kevin Shine, Dene Hills and Bruce French, at various stages throughout the camp.Furthermore, a group of young fast bowlers selected as part of the Programme will also spend time at a conditioning camp in Florida and at the MRF Fast Bowling Camp in Chennai under the guidance of Australian legend Dennis Lillee. Those players include the Surrey pairing of Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker, as well as the Ireland paceman, Boyd Rankin.”I am really excited about the depth of the programme we have put in place for our most talented young players this winter,” said the ECB Performance Director, David Parsons. “We will be offering a greater range of training and support than before and have carefully tailored the programme to ensure that we can cater to the specific needs of individuals and their stages of development.”To see eight players who were part of the England Performance Programme last winter selected for England’s tour of South Africa next month is a good indication of the importance of the programme for a player’s development,” added Parsons.”With players like Eoin Morgan, Jonathan Trott and Graham Onions having made an immediate impact in the international arena this summer, having spent time with EPP and England Lions squads recently, we are keen to identify other players within County Cricket who can make a difference to the full England side. “‘A’ Players Mark Davies (Durham), Amjad Khan (Kent), Stephen Moore (Lancashire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire)‘B’ Players Steven Finn (Middlesex), Andrew Gale (Yorkshire), Rory Hamilton-Brown (Sussex), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Chris Nash (Sussex), Joe Sayers (Yorkshire), Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire), James Taylor (Leicestershire), David Wainwright (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)‘C’ Players Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Vikram Banerjee (Gloucestershire), Keith Barker (Warwickshire), William Beer (Sussex), Alex Blake (Kent), Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire), Billy Godleman (Essex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Richard Johnson (Warwickshire), Richard Jones (Worcestershire), Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Jake Mickleburgh (Essex), Sam Northeast (Kent), Ollie Rayner (Sussex), Ian Saxelby (Gloucestershire), John Simpson (Middlesex), Tom Smith (Sussex), Max Waller (Somerset), Adam Wheater (Essex), David Willey (Northamptonshire)Fast Bowling Programme Jade Dernbach (Surrey), David Griffiths (Hampshire), James Harris (Glamorgan), Stuart Meaker (Surrey), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tim Paine goes down the ground during his steady innings•PA Photos

Tim Paine’s maiden one-day international century and two spectacular, direct-hit run-outs from Ricky Ponting sent England tumbling to their third heaviest all-time home defeat and a sixth consecutive loss to Australia. In a thoroughly dispiriting display, England were bundled out for 185 in pursuit of the tourists’ 296 for 8, allowing the Australians a chance at an unprecedented seven-game series whitewash and moving them into a first-place tie with South Africa atop the ODI rankings.England seemed resigned to another punishing outing when Paine and Michael Hussey combined for Australia’s highest third-wicket partnership (163) in limited overs matches against England. That sentiment was mercilessly driven home when Ponting capitalised on the confused states of mind of England’s middle order to gun down Matt Prior and Ravi Bopara during the fielding Powerplay; dismissals from which they would never rebound.England’s run-chase began disastrously when Andrew Strauss was incorrectly ruled out for the second successive match by Asad Rauf, but the hosts had only themselves to blame thereafter. Prior was caught off-guard at the non-striker’s end by a sublime Ponting turn-and-throw at extra cover, while another mix-up from the combustible duo of Owais Shah and Bopara led to the latter’s demise six balls later. Bopara’s departure rounded out a depressing sequence in which England lost three top-order wicket for 15 runs in the space of 26 deliveries, and when Eoin Morgan fell with the England total on 100, another home defeat seemed assured.The 111-run loss was England’s heaviest home defeat in eight years, and 11th worst in their 517-game ODI history. It was, by some distance, the nadir of England’s already lamentable series, and will prompt much soul-searching barely a week out from their Champions Trophy opener against Sri Lanka.Earlier, Paine and Hussey posted Australia’s highest third-wicket partnership against England to lead the tourists to a near run-a-ball total from their 50 overs. Paine notched his maiden one-day international century in just his seventh match, while Hussey blasted a brisk 65 as part of a 163-run stand that eclipsed the previous record set by David Boon and Allan Border in Sharjah 22 years ago.Australia’s prospects of a sixth consecutive victory over England were significantly boosted by the contributions of Paine and Hussey, although James Anderson (4 for 55) ensured the tourists did not have it all their own way. Anderson, clearly rejuvenated after his enforced two-match break, removed Shane Watson and Ponting early and bowled Callum Ferguson with the first delivery of his third spell to apply a degree of restraint to Australia’s total.But the afternoon belonged to Paine. Called in as a late replacement for the injured Brad Haddin, the wicketkeeper-batsman displayed temperament far beyond that of a man playing just his third week of one-day international cricket during a 148-ball innings of 111. He batted methodically in the tense, early exchanges, relying on cover and square drives for the bulk of his runs before expanding his repertoire to include a deft reverse sweep off Graeme Swann and a series of well-struck cut-shots. Patience and placement were his major weapons, although Paine did dip into the power reserves on occasion, most notably when he dispatched a Dimitri Mascarenhas slower ball over the long-off rope.Paine was ably supported by Hussey, who operated on a higher gear to his younger partner throughout his 69-ball stint in the middle. Hussey weathered a testing period early before hitting the accelerator to bring the previously subdued Trent Bridge crowd to life. Glides behind square were complemented by withering blows in front of the wicket – his sixes of Ryan Sidebottom and Mascarenhas a highlight – as Australia’s third-wicket partnership swelled to 163.Hussey’s dismissal to Swann sparked a nervous period for the tourists during which they lost 3 for 17 in 24 deliveries. However, a late surge from James Hopes (38 off 22 balls) and Cameron White (35 off 23) allowed the Australians to take 54 runs from their final Powerplay. The pair combined for a sixth-wicket stand of 53 from 27 deliveries.

ScorecardUmar Amin scored an unbeaten century but Sri Lanka A still held the advantage against Pakistan A at the end of the second day of the first unofficial Test at Dambulla.Sri Lanka added 46 runs for the last three wickets to finish on a challenging 417 from their overnight score of 371 for 7. In reply, Pakistan got off to an excellent start through openers Khurram Manzoor and Amin. An opening stand of 158 gave Pakistan the perfect platform to get close to the Sri Lankan first-innings score. However, after Manzoor was dismissed for 65, the middle order failed to grab the initiative with Pakistan then falling to 193 for 4.The middle-order collapse did not stop Amin, as he went on to score his century in the company of lower-order batsmen Sheharyar Ghani and Sarfraz Ahmed, both of whom scored vital 20s to push the Pakistan score forward. Amin remained unbeaten on 128 at the end of day’s play to carry Pakistan’s hopes into the third day.Offspinner Suraj Randiv was the most successful bowler for Sri Lanka with three wickets.

Four fast bowlers steam in, bang the ball short and put batsmen on the defensive. There is repeated glory for the quick men, while the spinners wait patiently on the sidelines, chipping in wherever necessary. The West Indian team of yesteryear, right? Think again, and before you fall off your chair laughing, we are talking about India. The time of looking back fondly at the spin quartet, at dusty tracks and long spells from tweakers is threatening to be put to rest by a brigade of young fast bowlers who refuse to be denied.The Indians take on Zimbabwe with pacers Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Tinu Yohannan, seamer Sanjay Bangar backing his faster colleagues up. It seems that India has such an embarrassment of riches that there is no place in the side for Ajit Agarkar or Ashish Nehra, leave alone those further on the fringe like Baroda’s Rakesh Patel or Tamil Nadu’s L Balaji.

But what brought about this dramatic revival? After all, not long ago, India were struggling in this very department. Madan Lal, former India medium-pacer and now national selector, explains that things have changed. “It is a question of having someone to follow. Kapil Dev was the role model for us. After him there was Srinath, who has done so well, and Venkatesh Prasad for a few years too. The pace bowlers these days get much more chances also, and that helps, “he began, speaking to CricInfo from his residence on the outskirts of Delhi.It is not only a question of role models, though; there is also the small matter of the lack of quality spinners coming through the system. Sure, Anil Kumble motors on manfully, Harbhajan Singh shines every now and then, and Sarandeep Singh is rapping loudly on the door. “In the last 4-5 years, things have improved for medium-pacers because there haven’t been too many qualityspinners coming through. When I was playing, we had a lot of high-class spinners, and they were doing most of the bowling. The trend was changed with Kapil, and then Roger Binny, Karsan Ghavri and myself taking wickets in the big matches,” says Madan Lal, explaining why medium-pacers play a much larger role in matches these days.Not too many will acknowledge it, and it will remain a source of debate, but the MRF Pace Foundation at Chennai has also played its part in developing a base for fast bowling. Former Australian great Dennis Lillee has been closely involved with the foundation, regularly conducting camps for fast bowlers from all over the world. Former India medium-pacer TA Sekhar, the head coach at the Foundation, has overseen the training for many years, and his views on the subject are just as interesting.”Basically, what has happened is that there is now a formal set-up in place for coaching fast bowlers,” he began, referring to the Foundation.

“From a few years ago, methods of coaching fast bowling have improved dramatically. I’ve been coaching for 14 years and can see that these techniques have spread all over the country as well. Srinath, Prasad and Zaheer Khan have all done well, and this is encouraging more people to take up fast bowling,” explained Sekhar, concurring with Madan Lal on this count. His point iswell taken too, given the fact that it takes any system, and indeed any academy, some time to start producing results.For years now, critics have demanded, “Show me one fast bowler that the Pace Foundation has produced.” Now that there are at least two – Zaheer Khan and Yohannan – Sekhar can safely counter that line of criticism. He instead pointed to the indirect benefits of having such an academy in place. “Because there is expertise available, people feel more comfortable taking up the art. In India we have plenty of expertise and legends when it comes to spin bowling, but there really isn’t one definitive place you can go if you want to fine-tune your art.”There is, however, still one major stumbling block that needs to be overcome if India are to be a force to reckon on the world stage of fast bowling, to wit, the appalling condition of wickets that domestic cricket is played on. Sekhar’s frustration at this is plain.”Making pitches is not in our hands at all. Dennis Lillee has been talking about the need to improve pitches in India since 1987. For example, if it were up to me, I would certainly have played the Zimbabwe tour game on a greentop,” he said. “If we had played 3-4 fast bowlers on a wicket that was conducive to fast bowling, we would have known where our bowlers stand against an international team.”Talking specifics is certainly a good way forward in this case. Anyone who watched the tour match that Zimbabwe played on the flattest of tracks at Vijayawada would have seen the futility of it all. “I appreciate the fact that our batsmen have done well on a good batting track, but really, what is the use of watching Abhijit Kale make 90 or Gautam Gambhir 218 if they are not even in the reckoning?”The more pressing case, as Sekhar pointed out, is using matches like this as an opportunity to blood promising youngsters. “Take the case of L Balaji. He is a promising fast bowler and has been taking wickets consistently. If he had played in the side game and taken 4-5 wickets, he would have been in the reckoning. Now he has to wait till next season to get a chance against a touringside,” explained Sekhar.

The talk of Balaji being a fast bowler to look out for have been doing the rounds for a while now. His omission from the squad for the Zimbabwe series certainly raised a few eyebrows.One does hope, however, that young fast bowlers like him will get their chances. Only then will youngsters continue to throng the with dreams in their heads and a new ball in their hand. There is a tale that Sir Richard Hadlee carried a picture of Lillee in his kit-bag; we all know what Hadlee managed to achieve. Perhaps, one day, there will be a starry-eyed lad with a picture of Srinath in his kit-bag…

The West Indian players currently boycotting the series against Bangladesh have asked the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) to help solve the impasse with the WICB over player contracts. The West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) hopes that Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo, the current chairman of CARICOM’s heads of government, will be able to intervene and resolve the dispute.”We at WIPA are fully conscious of the importance of cricket to the economy and unity of the region, and the psyche of its peoples – matters in which you and other Heads of Governments are continuously and intrinsically involved,” WIPA chief executive Dinanath Ramnarine wrote in a letter to Jagdeo. “Our players are deeply mindful of this responsibility they shoulder on behalf of this important group of stakeholders. It is, therefore, in this context that we at WIPA wish to have a speedy resolution to these issues.”A meeting between all three parties has reportedly been suggested though it is unclear whether the board has agreed.CARICOM – a nodal organisation of the region’s national governments – has in the past played a leading role in similar disputes, particularly when Keith Mitchell, the former Prime Minister of Grenada, was the chairman of the Heads’ sub-committee on cricket.Meanwhile, the WICB said it would start paying the players for the England tour and the home series against India according to agreements it believed it had already established. Although there are no contracts in place, payments will be made on the basis of verbal agreements and written undertakings the board had with WIPA.”At present, the situation remains the same,” WICB vice-president Dave Cameron told the . “We are not going to negotiate under duress and that is final. What we have done, however, is to make arrangements to pay players for their services. Presently, the wages for the England tour and the India tour are being processed and we will get it to the players as soon as possible.”Cameron said payments for the ICC World Twenty20 would be made when the WICB received its money from the ICC. The next ICC event is the Champions Trophy in September, for which the selectors are due to pick a provisional squad of 30 soon.

Australian batsman Ricky Ponting has been given a suspended £2,000 fine and banned for three matches as punishment for his part in a nightclub brawl.The 24-year-old Tasmanian has already missed two of Australia’s one-day internationals against England and Sri Lanka after being dropped because of the incident, when he was knocked out in a Sydney nightclub. Ponting has admitted a drinking problem and is seeking counselling.Australian Cricket Board chief executive Mal Speed said the board suspended the fine on condition that Ponting underwent alcohol rehabilitation, but said the batsman had already forfeited £1,300 in match payments.Ponting will be available for selection again following today’s one-day match against England here.Ponting said after hearing of his punishment: “I live for playing cricket for Australia. It’s hurt me not doing so. I’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”Test captain Mark Taylor has been named Australian of the Year. Taylor says he will be making a decision about his international career “one way or the other” within the next week.England A continued their Zimbabwe tour from Harare to Kwekwe 130 miles south-west yesterday in the knowledge they had not been too far from losing three players – Jason Lewry, Graeme Swann and Vikram Solanki – physiotherapist Ann Brentnall and fitness consultant Nigel Stockill.The five were buffeted by the previous night’s violent electric storm while they were flying back from the Victoria Falls, their six-seater plane dropping to below 1,000ft at one stage.England play their first four-day game today, with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union President’s XI as their opposition. Despite Kwekwe’s name – it means croak of the frog, a throwback to former, more rustic times – the pitch and outfield were surprisingly dry.The President’s XI include three established Test batsmen, Andy Flower, today’s captain, his brother Grant and Murray Goodwin, but it would be surprising if England fail to dominate. Only Paul Hutchison, with a back injury, was ruled of the tour party’s selection.Officials and scorers were at loggerheads yesterday over whether or not Pakistan batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq scored a century in the first innings of their drawn three-day match against India A in Gwalior.Pakistan captain Wasim Akram declared the first innings at 334 for 6 on Saturday and the scorers logged Inzamam’s score at 98 not out. Pakistan officials later said Wasim had declared because the stadium scoreboards showed Inzamam’s individual total at 100.Pakistan manager Shahryar Khan said yesterday that the Indian officials had agreed to correct what he said was a communication gap, saying Inzamam had indeed completed his century. But the scorers are sticking to their version. “We have not changed anything. We have spoken to the umpires as well. If there is anything between Pakistan and the board, it is between them,” said scorer Sunil Gupta.Pakistan have called off a visit to India by their women’s team after Hindu militants dug up one of the pitches. The Pakistan Women’s Cricket Association cited security worries for scrappingthe tour of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh two days before the start of a three-nation tournament.

Ireland did not come to Trent Bridge hoping to cause an upset against Bangladesh. Despite being an Associate member, they believed they were the better side and fully expected to win. They duly executed their skills, ousted Bangladesh, a Full Member country, from the competition and secured a place in the Super Eights.Ireland had beaten Bangladesh during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, and although Mohammad Ashraful said his players were not as anxious now as they were before that match, there was a remarkable difference in how both teams approached the game. While Bangladesh’s batsmen forgot their batting plan, falling to shots that angered their coach Jamie Siddons, Ireland showed calm even when their chase got off to a less than ideal start. It appeared as though Bangladesh were playing nervously, to avoid errors on the field, while Ireland were having fun but always kept their eye on the ball.Their success was heartening, for the struggles a cricket team like Ireland faces are different from those faced by the major nations. For instance, Ireland have only two centrally-contracted professional cricketers – Trent Johnston, who came out of retirement, and Alex Cusack – and only a handful of others that play county cricket.”We don’t have the funds to get the lads on full time contracts,” said captain William Porterfield. “It’s crucial for Ireland cricket to move forward that we get more lads on professional contracts, playing against better opposition, training day in and day out.” And now that they’ve qualified for the next round, several members of their squad might have to organise more leave from their regular jobs, something that Porterfield said the players hadn’t thought about yet.The O’Brien brothers – Kevin and Niall – played a significant part in Ireland’s success. While Kevin started the day poorly, dropping Mohammad Ashraful at first slip, Niall was excellent behind the stumps. His speed in getting to the ball forced indecision between the Bangladesh batsmen and led to the run out of the well-set Tamim Iqbal but it was his lightning stumping to dismiss Mahmudullah that left watchers gasping.Niall O’Brien was standing up to the medium-pacer Alex Cusack when Mahmudullah was beaten by a full ball. The batsmen’s back foot was always behind the line but he raised it for the briefest of moments. And during that smallest of openings, he whipped off the bails. He later revealed it was part luck but there was no denying the speed of his reflexes.”I was happy enough just to catch it and I thought I might as well take the bails off for good measure,” O’Brien said. “Nigel Llong and I, we just said ‘not out’. I was pretty surprised when it was given out. It just shows that you never quite know, do you.”He made an even more important contribution to Ireland’s victory with the bat. The innings had failed to pick up momentum after the early dismissal of Jeremy Bray and Ireland were 18 for 1 after four overs, chasing 138. O’Brien, who was struggling with an injury, attacked Mortaza, hitting the fast bowler for three leg-side sixes in an over. He scored 40 off 25 balls despite taking painkillers after hurting his ankle – Niall said he “heard a crack” – in the final over of Bangladesh’s innings. It put Ireland’s chase on track and they never lost course.”In Twenty20 cricket you’ve got to take a bit of a gamble every now and then,” he said. “Hitting towards that part of the ground, it was the shorter boundary for me. I hit him with the swing. It was a calculated risk, sometimes it got goes straight up in the air, fortunately for me today it went straight over the boundary.”O’Brien, however, only provided the acceleration. He didn’t finish the job, falling in the 10th over with the score on 61. That responsibility was left to his brother Kevin, whom Niall described as one of the best hitters in the game. Kevin O’Brien lived up to that billing, scoring a 17-ball 39 and finishing the game with ten balls to spare.”He [Kevin] came up to me yesterday and said, ‘I’m playing really badly’. I said there’s no point in worrying about how you are playing before the tournament started,” he said. “Once the game starts and you cross the pitch, that’s what counts. He’s done it for us again today. He’s as big a hitter as any.”Ireland’s next match, against the world champions India, counts for little since the two sides have already made it past the first round. Ireland, however, are determined to enjoy every match on the world’s biggest stage. “If you can’t get up and enjoy a game against the World Champions, there’s no point coming here. If you can’t enjoy 20 overs in the field and hitting sixes while batting, what are you going to enjoy? We’ll give it everything we’ve got on Wednesday.”Ireland may not be as skilled as the more reputed sides, as Bangladesh claim to be, but they’ve got belief. And sometimes that can make up for a lack of ability.

Ryan Watson has resigned as Scotland captain following their failure to reach the 2011 World Cup.Watson, who took the role following the 2007 tournament in West Indies, led the side for two years, but couldn’t guide the team to a top-four finish in the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, which means they miss out on the next World Cup in Asia.He captained Scotland in their opening Friends Provident Trophy match against Middlesex, at Lord’s, on Sunday but feels it is now right to let a new captain bed in and take the team forward.”I have really enjoyed my two years as captain of the side, but the time is now right for the team to have a new leader,” Watson said. “It is vital we start planning for the future now and give a new captain the opportunity to stamp his own mark on the side.”I would like to thank all my team-mates, coaches and Cricket Scotland for their support over the last couple of years. We have shared some great moments together and I will always look back on my time as national captain fondly. The most important thing now is for me to get back to scoring runs for Scotland, and I look forward to working closely with the new captain.”Peter Steindl, the head coach, said that he still sees Watson playing a major part in Scotland’s future. “Ryan has taken this decision after long discussion with his team-mates, coaches and friends. He is an important member of the Scotland squad, now and in the future, and I am sure he will play a major role as one of our top batsmen in the next few years.”It says a lot for Ryan that he has made the decision to rejoin the ranks, where he will play an invaluable role in supporting any future captain.”Scotland’s next match is against Warwickshire on Sunday and the new captain will be named along with the squad later this week.