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Marvan Atapattu has, as expected, been named as Sri Lanka’s new Testcaptain. The 33-year-old Atapattu took over the one-day leadership 12 monthsago but will now inherit control of the Test team too after the resignationof Hashan Tillakaratne following Sri Lanka’s 3-0 whitewash byAustralia.Atapattu’s first assignment will be a tour to Zimbabwe in April and May, during which they will play five ODIs and two Tests. Atapattu’s deputy will be named later, but Mahela Jayawardene, the current one-day vice-captain, is expected to be appointed.Atapattu’s appointment is subject to ratification by the government, inaccordance with Sri Lanka’s sports law.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 13 AFP – Controversial Indian cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya raised the stakes in the Zimbabwe World Cup boycott crisis today by accusing the world governing body of going out of its way to help England.Dalmiya, a former head of the International Cricket Council (ICC), criticised the current leadership of “bending backwards” to favour England in its bid to shift its scheduled clash with Zimbabwe away from Harare.”Let the ICC decide whether it is safe to play in Zimbabwe or not,” Dalmiya said one day before the tournament technical committee meets here to decide on the affair.”If it is not safe, then it should shift all matches out of that country. But if it is safe, England should be docked four points.”England refused to play their Group A match in Harare, which was scheduled today, due to security concerns and claimed they had new evidence to support their claim which was being presented to the technical committee.”It appears the ICC is bending over backwards to protect the interests of England at the cost of other competitors,” Dalmiya said.”We had waited for so long because we wanted an amicable solution and give the ICC enough time to sort out the matter.”Being a competitor team playing in the same group, India could be put to a lot of disadvantage if England do not play in Zimbabwe.”England’s intention appears to be an intentional delay so that they can pursue a wait and watch policy to see how the other results in the group go before they make up their minds about playing in Harare.”Meanwhile, New Zealand, who have refused to play their Group B game against Kenya in Nairobi on February 21, eased their fears about having to reluctantly make that trip with a 20-run victory over the West Indies at Port Elizabeth.The Kiwis, semi-finalists in two of the last three World Cups, made 241/7 from their 50 overs, with Nathan Astle top scoring with 46, before they dismissed the West Indies for 221.Ramnaresh Sarwan hit 75 and Ridley Jacobs 50, but a tigerish display in the field ensured victory for the Kiwis.The World Cup lost one its top fielders today when South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes was forced out of his country’s squad because of a broken hand.The 33-year-old, who suffered the injury in a fielding accident against Kenya in Potchefstroom on Wednesday, was dropped from the squad to be replaced by Graeme Smith.”It was one of the toughest conversations of my life,” said Omar Henry, convenor of the South African selectors.”Jonty wanted to stay in the squad and he was positive that he could be fit again in three weeks. But the medical specialists could not give me that guarantee. We had to make a decision.”Smith, 22, a tall left-hander who usually opens the batting, was regarded as the unluckiest player to miss the original World Cup selection.

The stage is set for the clash of the titans at Lord’s tomorrow when Australia meet Pakistan in a re-run of the 1999 World Cup final.With both teams in tremendous form – although Steve Waugh claims his side are still not firing on all cylinders – a sell-out crowd expected and even decent weather forecast, the prospects for a final to remember are excellent.However, everyone was expecting an exciting game when the sides last met at Lord’s, only for the match to result in a terribly one-sided affair as Australia won by eight wickets in 20 overs to lift the World Cup trophy.But Pakistan coach Richard Pybus says that on this occasion, things will be very different.”It will not be the World Cup final on Saturday but we have some bittermemories from 1999 and we played incredibly poorly in the final.”That was not a reflection on the way we had performed in the tournamentbefore that, when some of our cricket was outstanding.”The Australians actually started off poorly in that competition and builtmomentum as it went on.”But in the final we played so badly whereas the Australians just playednormal cricket – and we have to re-address that on Saturday.”As any coach will tell you, it’s about performance on the day. If we play toour potential we can beat anybody. It’s as simple as that.”Pakistan will claim that they already have the psychological advantage over Australia after beating them at Trent Bridge on Tuesday. Although Australia rested Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting for that game, Pakistan were without Inzamam-ul-Haq through illness.Pybus said: “To beat Australia, like on Tuesday, is always sweet, although weknow they will come back hard in the final at us.”But Australia skipper Steve Waugh said: “If Pakistan think they’ve got a psychological boost from Tuesday, then they’re going to be mistaken.”In that game we weren’t with it from ball one. We were slipshod with ourfielding and bowling and we had ourselves to blame for the loss.”I know people say it didn’t matter because both teams were in the final, butit still hurts to lose and we were disappointed to lose our unbeaten recordagainst Pakistan.”But it will be different on Saturday. We’ve got good memories. We played andwon the World Cup final at Lord’s and we’ll be confident of winning again onSaturday.”If Australia are to win they must find a way of countering Waqar Younis who has suddenly struck an incredibly rich vein of form.The Pakistan captain has taken 13 wickets in the last two games and Pybus said: “Waqar has bowled magnificently in this competition. A couple of years ago people were writing him off and he did not play in the World Cup final.”Shoaib was in the pound seats then and bowling brilliantly – but anyone whoever doubted Waqar Younis has been answered handsomely. He bowled superbly inthe Second Test and in this one-day competition.”Now he wants to help Pakistan win this tournament especially after whathappened in the World Cup final two years ago on the same ground.”Waqar said: “We have to play aggressive, positive cricket. If we put things together there’s no reason why we can’t beat Australia. Australia are playing good cricket and are very professional. But we are capable of beating any side in the world. We have the potential to beat them.”Pakistan expect to have a full-strength squad to choose from. Inzamam should be fit while Yousuf Youhana is expected to have recovered from the twisted ankle sustained at Trent Bridge.Australia are keeping nothing under wraps in terms of selection; Shane Warne,Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie will replace Andrew Symonds, Matthew Haydenand Damien Fleming from the side which trounced England at The Oval on Thursday.Teams:Australia: Steve Waugh (capt), Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn, Ian Harvey, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath.Pakistan (from): Waqar Younis (capt), Saeed Anwar, Salim Elahi, Fazl-e-Akbar, Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq.

Bangladesh Under-19 cricketer Nihaduzzaman, who was injured in a bus accident earlier this month, has been passed fit to play for Rajshahi Division in the side’s first match of the National Cricket League 2015-16 against Barisal Division on Friday. Nihaduzzaman had suffered head injuries and needed 12 stitches to his skull and forehead after a bus he was traveling in, from Bogra to Rajshahi, suffered an accident on September 9.According to the BCB’s chief physician, Dr Debashish Chowdhury, Nihaduzzaman’s CT scan did not show any reason for concern. “He stayed back in Rajshahi because he got the medical support there. The CT scan didn’t show anything of concern so he can resume playing,” Chowdhury said.Nihad’s stitches were taken off earlier this week and he resumed practice soon. Rajshahi manager Akbar Amin confirmed the left-arm spinner will be considered for selection.”He has made an excellent recovery after the horrific accident, and feels a lot better. He will be ready for selection tomorrow,” Amin said.

Bosman sent back due to incomplete paperworkLoots Bosman, the South African batsman signed by the IPL, was forced to return to Johannesburg late on Tuesday night after immigration officials at the Mumbai airport found that he had incomplete paperwork. Bosman, who is a member of the Mumbai Indians outfit, has now sorted things out with diplomatic officials and is expected to land in India on Thursday.Warne’s birthday wish for SachinShane Warne has wished Sachin Tendulkar as many playing years as he wants. This came a day before Tendulkar’s 35th birthday. “He is a great player. We may have to wait for many-many years to have another player like him. He should be allowed to continue till he wants to,” Warne was reported as saying.Maxwell misses the point
Neil Maxwell, the CEO of the Mohali franchise, can’t understand the fuss over members of the side being given preferential treatment with regard to the hotels they are staying in. “I could stay under the table to play alongside some of the best in the world,” he was reported as saying in the . This comes in the wake of reports about lesser-known players of the franchise being asked to move out of the five-star hotel to accommodate important guests.Meanwhile, Maxwell, while talking to the Sydney Morning Herald, said that Australia cannot sustain its own version of the IPL since its market is too small. Maxwell, who is the chief executive of Kings XI Punjab, said it would be a good idea if the Australian board charged a transfer fee for players signing on with domestic leagues like the IPL.Gayle arrives but still uncertainChris Gayle has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad but his participation in team’s next few games is still uncertain. He didn’t take part in the net session on Wednesday. His groin injury, which he picked up in the recent home series against Sri Lanka, is still being monitored and he remains a doubtful starter for the next match against Chennai on Saturday.McGrath looks to expand breast cancer foundationGlenn McGrath and wife Jane are looking at expanding their breast cancer foundation into India to help tackle a soaring incidence of the disease, the reported. “Obviously there’s huge opportunities for us to get involved with something over here,” he said. “I think we need to do our homework. It’s doing amazingly well back home, so if that could be a blueprint for other countries, that would be great.

Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, and Kumar Sangakkara, currently playing county cricket in England, will be available for selection for the home Test series against Bangladesh.Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chairman of selectors, said the selectors wanted to look at every angle before they decided on the squad. The availability of the three senior players, de Mel said, meant that Sri Lanka would have a well-balanced squad for the series. Murali, playing for Lancashire, Vaas for Middlesex, and Sangakkara for Warwickshire, will miss the Afro-Asia Cup, hosted by India in early June, due to their county commitments.Meanwhile,the venue for the first Test in Colombo, starting June 25, has been moved from R Premadasa Stadium to the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. The second Test will be played at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo from July 3 to 7 and the third at Kandy’s Asgiriya Stadium from July 11 to 15.

The Sri Lankan tourists are braced for a pace onslaught in England’s unfamiliar early-season conditions, after arriving in the country for the start of their ten-week tour. After a two-week break to recharge their batteries, the coach, Tom Moody, and the captain, Mahela Jayawardene, fronted up to the press just hours after arriving at their team hotel near Lord’s.England lost 1-0 in the last encounter between the two teams, on the 2003-04 tour of Sri Lanka, but Moody accepted that the return leg would be a much tougher proposition for a young and largely inexperienced team.”Conditions are pretty extreme in Sri Lanka and we know our backyard inside out, but stepping out of that is a challenge,” he admitted. “In the past, that hasn’t been taken as well as it could be, but we’ve got some fresh faces on this trip who haven’t experienced the same issues away from home, so now’s the time to turn a leaf.”Sri Lanka travel as distinct second-favourites, certainly in the Test series, where the loss of two of their most experienced campaigners, Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, will be felt keenly. “There are positives and negatives,” insisted Moody. “[Marvan and Sanath] are two wonderful players, but the door is open to a couple of youngsters who could be the future of Sri Lankan cricket.”At present no decision has been made as to which of the three openers – Michael Vandort, Upul Tharanga and Jehan Mubarak – will take their place in the first Test at Lord’s, but whoever it is will have to expect a hostile reception from England’s pace battery.

“We expect aggression,” stressed Moody, “and we’d be alarmed if we didn’t get it. The ball will move around, but it can move around everywhere in the world, even in Colombo at times. A lot of our players enjoy facing pace, and it’ll be no surprise if the ball whistles around their ears. Sri Lankans are renowned as wonderful players of spin, but when they’ve come across Brett Lee or Shane Bond, they’ve equipped themselves very well.”Moody’s assertion was backed up by his captain, who pointed to the team’s recent visit to Australia, where they reached the final of the VB Series and even won the first match of the rubber. “It was one of the best Australian summers for Sri Lanka ever,” insisted Jayawardene. “Brett was bowling very quick, on very quick tracks, but we settled ourselves and knew exactly what to do. We worked very hard to get used to those conditions, and we will do the same here.”Moody’s own experience of England will prove invaluable to his team’s preparations. He was a regular at Worcestershire throughout the 1990s, and won the World Cup with Australia in May and June 1999. “It’s more of an advantage than a disadvantage,” he conceded, “but the bottom line is how the team executes its own game-plan. Preparation-wise, we’ll be well-equipped.”Though Moody insisted Sri Lanka were here to win, more realistically they are here to learn and compete. “We’re in a transitional time as a team, with retirements to key players in both forms of game,” he said. “Our main focus is the first three Test matches, then we’ll get our head around one-day cricket, but we’re here to prepare the next generation.””In one-day cricket we are planning towards [the World Cup in] 2007, and we’ve got certain players earmarked in that campaign. We’ve come here to win, and compete against a good English side in challenging conditions, but along the way, we’re here to develop as a team and take advantage of the experience that we get from playing here in England.”In the circumstances, a huge onus is once again going to rest on the shoulders of Sri Lanka’s veteran bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, who has been sidelined through injury in recent weeks. “He’s got 600 wickets so of course he’ll be a key bowler,” said Jayawardene of Murali, “but Vaas coming back is great. He’s got inside knowledge of English conditions, and he’s a great asset because he knows exactly what to do here.”The rest of the attack is somewhat raw by comparison, but Jayawardene was upbeat about their prospects. “These are the young guys who will take us into the next five-six years of Sri Lankan cricket,” he said. “Guys like [Farveez] Maharoof are going well, [Nuwan] Zoysa is coming back to form, Lasit Malinga is awkward to face anywhere in the world, so he’ll be something new, while Malinga Bandara, the legspinner, had a good season at Gloucester last year.”

The Worcestershire offspinner, Gareth Batty, has been called into England’s squad ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, as cover for Ashley Giles, who has a hip injury.Batty, 27, played the last of his five Tests in Antigua in April 2004, at the end of England’s triumphant tour of the Caribbean. But he toured South Africa last winter with both the Tests and the one-day sides, and has been in good form for Worcestershire in the County Championship. In their current match against Essex at Chelmsford, he has made 54 and taken 3 for 26.Giles, meanwhile, has been troubled by a hip problem since Warwickshire’s Championship match against Sussex at Hove on May 10. “Ashley’s fitness will be re-assessed by the England medical team tomorrow when the Test squad reports for practice,” said David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors. “Gareth has been added to the squad as a precautionary measure.”Giles was restricted to 11 overs in the match against Sussex but batted in both innings and was confident of making the Test side. However, he is now feeling discomfort again and will be put through his paces by England’s medical team on Monday. He began the season in superb form, taking 24 wickets at 18 apiece, including three five-wicket hauls.Giles’s injury could increase the chances of England playing a full hand of seamers at Lord’s. Simon Jones has bowled 34 overs for Glamorgan in their game against Hampshire, to suggest that he has recovered from his back injury. The vulnerability of the Bangladesh batting to the county seamers they have faced may encourage the selectors to pick an all-pace attack, therefore giving Jon Lewis a Test debut and reducing the workload on Andrew Flintoff.Duncan Fletcher has said that England will need to make sure they do not take Bangladesh lightly at Lord’s. He believes Bangladesh have the ability to make things awkward if England are not on top of their game.He told : “They are a side that will make some progress. Cricket is a strange game and you can never underestimate anyone. It’s important we appreciate there are some good players in their side. There have been other sides who have been in the same position when they’ve entered the international arena and look where they are today. On any given day if one or two of their bowlers bowl in the right areas, you’ve got to make sure you’re at the top of your game.”

Derbyshire have signed James Bryant, the former Somerset batsman, on a two-year contract. The deal was originally agreed back in September last year, but only sealed this week.Bryant, 27 and born in South Africa, had a disappointing last season for Somerset, averaging under 30. However, he has impressed for Eastern Province, the South African domestic side this winter, scoring 163 and two half-centuries.Bryant, whose parents were born in the UK, qualifies as a domestic player after he granted a British passport last year.

Well its tuesday morning the temperature is about 35, there’s not a cloud inthe sky another awful day in Perth!I’m just taking my morning off to write a report on how things are going over here. I’ve been here since October and loved every day, Perth is a fantastic place with great weather and lots to do. But I don’t want this to sound too much like a holiday because I’ve put in some hard work.There are fourteen cricketers on the Paul Terry scheme or “Aus CricketManagement” and that has made it great fun to train with the other guys.Chris Liptrott, Stevie Peters from Worcestershire, James Hamblin and DimiMascarenhas from Hampshire and plenty more from other counties. Fourteen may sound a lot, but Paul seems to have got things just right. Mixing one to one coaching with Team training sessions. Along with Fielding, Pschycology and being laid back enough to cope with the shenanigans that go along with fourteen cricketers.My cricket has been going well, I’m playing for a team called Gosnells in the Waca Perth grade league. This is a good standard and regularly play against WA and sometimes international players such as Ryan Campbell, Brad williams Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and Mike Hussey.Gosnells are’nt having A great season, But they have a very young side andwill be much better in a few years. We are “The Baggy Blues”, Aussie leagueplayers are very proud of who they play for and passionate about winning.Personally things have gone well, I’ve taken wickets all summer and bowledwith good control. I have worked with Bret Mulder on my bowling, And likehis approach to spin. He’s been helping me fine tune my action and get theball up and down With a better loop.Paul has worked with my batting. Focusing on my balance and making mymovements quicker and more decisive. Although i haven’t had the same successwith the bat for Gosnells as I have with the ball I feel to be playing welland more solid from the work im doing.Paul employs a fitness trainer called Craig Wilson. He’s come to be known aslots of other things that are unprintable as he screams at us towards theend of every session. I thought the training would be quite scientific beenin Australia but Willo runs the sessions like boot camp. The fitness is veryvaried and ranges from sprints, boxing, swimming to Jacobs Ladder! A particular favorite. The ladder is 220 stairs that lead up to kings park, combine this with a slope called Heartbreak hill, do six ladders followed by sprints up Heartbreak and you have a great little workout.That’s all for now looking forward to the season, See you all soon.