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Ravi Bopara has been ruled out of the final two one-day internationals against India and the ICC World Twenty20 after dislocating and fracturing his right thumb during the fifth ODI, at Headingley, on Sunday.He picked up the injury trying to take a return catch off Gautam Gambhir and immediately left the field one ball into his second over. He batted with the aid of a painkilling injection, but with a rapid turnover between the one-day series and the Twenty20 there was little chance of him recovering.England will be able to name a replacement with Dimitri Mascarenhas probably topping the list as a like-for-like swap for Bopara. His availability for the five-match one-day series in Sri Lanka, starting on October 1, is still uncertain.”Four to six weeks is the medical prediction – which falls around about the one-day tournament,” said England chairman of selectors David Graveney. “It’s an injury to his bowling hand, bottom hand batting-wise. But let’s not be pessimistic; let’s hope it recovers quickly.”It’s desperately disappointing for him to miss out on a trip to South Africa. He’s definitely out of Twenty20 – but there are possibilities he will be available for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka.”There are also continued concerns over Andrew Flintoff, who missed the Headingley match after experiencing soreness in his left ankle. He is a doubt for Wednesday’s clash at The Oval, and therefore his place at the Twenty20 must also be in jeopardy.

West Indies are hoping that Chris Gayle, their opening batsman, recovers quickly from a stomach bug after he was forced to miss his side’s warm-up game on the Pakistan tour.”Gayle caught a stomach bug during the final of the Champions Trophy in India,” Imran Khan, the media manager of the West Indies team told AFP, adding the player was resting for the two-day game. “We hope he recovers in time for the first Test.”West Indies opened the tour with a two-day match against the Pakistan Cricket Board Patron’s XI here Wednesday. The first of their three Tests is scheduled to start on November 11 at Lahore.Gayle, 27, was declared Man of the Tournament in the recently concluded Champions Trophy in India, where he smashed 474 runs in eight matches with three centuries. He backed that up with some tidy offspin, snapping up eight wickets and restricting the run-flow, and was instrumental in leading his side into the final. He couldn’t continue his fine run in the final as Australia overwhelmed West Indies by an eight-wicket margin.

A Melbourne court heard that David Hookes, the former Test cricketer, had treated the bouncer accused of fatally punching him last year with “arrogance and disdain”.During the ongoing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne, the barrister Terry Forrest, QC, summarised the defence case, arguing his client, Zdravko Micevic, was trying to move Hookes and a group of friends away from a St Kilda hotel on the night of January 18 last year. Micevic has pleaded not guilty, maintaining that he only struck Hookes in self- defence. quoted Forrest as saying that Hookes and his friends had created “an atmosphere of hostile arrogance and aggression” in the moments before Micevic first ejected Hookes and then punched him outside the hotel. Hookes, at the time the coach of Victoria, fractured his skull on the footpath as he fell and died the next day in hospital.Forrest added that “Hookes was in a mood,” and he “dealt with a 21-year-old security officer with arrogance and disdain”. Forrest argued that in the seconds before Hookes was hit there was a “volatile, dangerous and violent episode unfolding,” a period during which Micevic had been “intimidated and outnumbered”.Asserting that the punch was thrown in self-defence, Forrest told the court it was the fall, not the punch, that killed Hookes. He said Micevic had hit him with “mild to moderate force” with his non-dominant left hand. The use of the left hand, Forrest explained, suggested that Micevic was grappling with Hookes at the time with his head down, causing him to throw a “defensive punch, not an attacking punch”.The defence also cast doubts on the evidence given during the trial by Hookes’s friends who were present on the night of the incident. In a scathing attack, Forrest called their evidence an “extraordinary cocktail” that was “selective, mischievous, revisionist history”.Forrest concluded his case by saying the Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the punch was not thrown in self-defence. “We say the punch was lawful, it was administered in lawful self-defence.” The jury is expected to consider its verdict tomorrow afternoon.

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s match against England at the Rose Bowl, Marvan Atapattu advised his batsmen: “play your natural game. That has been your success.” Atapattu seemed relaxed and quietly confident when he spoke to the media on the eve of the England match.Atapattu gave England their due, and when asked whether they were a team Sri Lanka feared in the Champions Trophy, he replied: “Definitely. England have been playing well, and now they are playing at home. They’ll have that advantage but sometimes when you are on top, and playing at home, the expectations are too high.”Atapattu added that his team were not particularly overawed by Steve Harmison. “He’s bowling well and is on top of his game at the moment. But we don’t face Steve Harmison, we just face the ball that is coming from his hand. So we have to play accordingly.”The gap between Sri Lanka’s performances at home and away has drawn plenty of attention, but Atapattu felt the problem was not unique to his team. “It happens to every country. Sri Lanka is no exception. Any country playing away is not as comfortable as playing at home. To call yourself a good cricketer you have to adapt to any sort of conditions and wickets. That’s the beauty of cricket – you don’t get to play in similar conditions every day.”Muttiah Muralitharan’s absence has not hurt Sri Lanka as much as it used to a few years back, and Atapattu drew attention to this. “I’m sure any team is pleased to see a Sri Lankan team without Murali. After all, we all know what Muralitharan is capable of. But to perform this well without him has been a good team effort. Obviously when Murali is there everyone is looking to him to pick up wickets. So much pressure is put on him by everybody, including the press. But when he’s not there everybody has to chip in and get the job done.”Atapattu also expressed his desire for more Sri Lankan cricketers to be called up by counties, as the experience of playing in England would hold them in good stead when they played international cricket. “It helps if players have played a bit of cricket here. It’s surprising to see some of our guys not being offered or being asked to come over and play here. It would’ve been an honour to be asked by one of the counties, and some of the guys would definitely have considered playing here.”Friday’s weather forecastEngland (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Vikram Solanki, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Geraint Jones (wkt), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Alex Wharf, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Steve Harmison.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Avishka Gunawardene, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Saman Jayantha, 5 Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), 6 Mahela Jayawardene, 7 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Zoysa.

Canada will host the U-19 Americas tournament at King City, Ontario, one hour’s drive north of Toronto at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club. The MLCC formerly hosted the inaugural Americas Cricket Championships in 2000 and subsequently also hosted many of the games of the ICC Trophy in 2001.Maple Leaf Cricket Club has four turf squares specifically installed by the Canadian Cricket Association from special assistance funds donated by India, Pakistan and IMG/TWI from the second and third Sahara Cup series of games. Subsequent cancellation of the fourth and fifth years of the Sahara Cup has prevented further planned development of turf squares across Canada, a National Coach/Technical Director and other improvements vital to Canada’s drive to ODI status by 2006.The winners of the U-19 Americas Tournament are expected to be selected to participate in the U-19 World Cup. Canada was the Americas representative to the previous World Cup in New Zealand but can expect strong challenges from Argentina, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and the United States.Prior to that U-19 World Cup, the Americas, with ICC’s kind permission, were represented on a one off basis, by players from Argentina, Bermuda, Canada and the United States. Cayman Islands, blessed with a full time coach, Theo Cuffy, is the newest Americas’ Associate and with very credible showings in the Americas 2000 Championships and in the U15 Orlando Event, are again expected to be very strong contenders.Bermuda and Argentina, both also with full time national coaches are expected to do well. By a strange twist of fate, Canada and the United States of Americas, the largest ICC Associate Countries and both disproportionately large countries with huge numbers of teams and cricketers, receive minimal or no government or private sector support, yet struggle on at present with no National Coaches.Americas cricket cannot blossom until these glaring inequities are corrected. Canada, the leading Americas Associate, in fact, despite hosting the ICCT 2001 at great expense, qualifying for the CWC 2003 in South Africa, and defeating Bangladesh and showing great potential has not seen any private or public support to mirror on-field accomplishments and the vast potential in the Americas.Fixture Schedule

A much better week for the boys, well, in the Championship that is.We had a crucial midweek game with Warwickshire who, like us, are pushing hard for a promotion to division one.After our recent drop in form we were determined to play well in our last CricInfo Championship game at Lord’s for the 2001 season. I was extremely motivated to perform having only returned meagre pickings in my innings to date at the home of cricket.We batted first knowing that we had to post something substantial on what looked to be a very good batting wicket.The other reason we needed some big numbers was that Phil Tufnell would not be with us having been called up for the last Ashes Test at the Oval.Without him our chances of taking 20 wickets during the match were hugely reduced so we felt if we could bat ‘The Bears” out of the game we might be a able to wear them down by sheer attrition.Well, we managed 502 and felt very confident when we had them 6/2 late in the second day.Little did we know that we would still be fielding a day and a half later with Warwickshire declaring at 630/8.It also didn’t help that we had a mini heatwave with temperatures in the 30’s for all four days. In the end we drew the match and both took away 10 points which will be valuable come two weeks time.I achieved what I was after, scoring my second 100 at Lord’s and my first for my county at our home ground. I also backed up with 65 in the second innings and was perhaps a little guilty of trying to score quickly enough to achieve three figures for the second time in the match.There has been a lot happening over here this week in the world of cricket. Australia, after being stung in the fourth Test, came back in emphatic style to finish off a very impressive Ashes campaign. The Waugh twins, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne all leaving these shores with performances to remember. It has been reported throughout that it will probably the last time that this group of players will tour England.Speaking of players that won’t be touring, Darren Gough and Alec Stewart will not be coming to New Zealand after the ECB ruled them out of this winter’s programme. The pair did not want to be considered for the first tour to India but both wanted to come to New Zealand.It has been seen as picking and choosing what tours a player wishes to go on and that can set a dangerous precedent.One player who definitely won’t be there is Michael Atherton after he announced his retirement this week. Athers is a popular figure who was known for his fighting qualities especially when a game needed to be saved.But I remember him for two innings he played in Christchurch when I was captain for the first time. He scored a 94 not out and 118 in his two innings and set the platform for an England win after being set 305 to win.A big week ahead for the Crusade and I would love to emulate Atherton’s performance and grab some very valuable points.

Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin may have played his last Test match after being formally advised by the national selectors that they will retain Peter Nevill as gloveman for the third Ashes Test in Birmingham.Haddin was informed of Nevill’s ascension to first-choice by the selection chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann during the Australians’ tour match in Derby. Nevill and Haddin both played in that match, but Haddin took part as a batsman only while the younger man kept wicket for Derbyshire’s sole innings.It is a hard call on Haddin after he made himself unavailable for the Lord’s Test when his ill daughter Mia was admitted to a London hospital, but demonstrates the resolve of Marsh and Lehmann to continue regenerating the national team. Given his chance in difficult circumstances, Nevill shone with seven catches and a fluent 45 with the bat, while also showing the ideal temperament for Test matches.The captain Michael Clarke is not a selector, but said he was consulted by Marsh and Lehmann before the decision was made. Clarke and Haddin have formed a fruitful professional union over the past four years, with Haddin serving as vice-captain for much of that time. Nevertheless, Clarke said he supported the decision to retain Nevill.”Rod and Boof came and spoke to me and told me what they were thinking,” Clarke said. “It’s obviously a lot harder for me because I have that attachment to Hadds, I’ve grown up playing cricket with him, we’ve spent a lot of time together and I love the fact that he’s still here working hard. If an opportunity comes he’ll grab it with both hands.”On the other hand, Nev made the most of his opportunity in the second Test, I thought he batted really well and I thought he kept exceptionally well. So it’s a tough one when you sit in the middle, but that’s the way the selectors have gone and I respect their decision.”The case for choosing Nevill ahead of Haddin was a strong one. Since his near-mythical displays in the 2013-14 Ashes series, Haddin’s returns had been depreciating, and he was a notable struggler during the Cardiff Test. A critical drop of Joe Root on the first morning of the series was to be compounded by a pair of low scores, and a rash shot to be dismissed in the second innings as Australia sank to a 169-run defeat.Even so, there is room for Haddin to be viewed sympathetically, most pointedly for the fact this is the second time he has found himself out of the team for personal reasons then not chosen by the selectors when he then became available once more. In 2012, Haddin left a West Indies tour to be with Mia and his wife Karina, but then waited another year before returning to the team as the selection panel – at the time including Clarke – preferred the younger Matthew Wade for 10 Tests.There is also the fact that as an exceptional vice-captain, Haddin never had the chance to lead Australia in a Test match, though he quite easily could have after Clarke was ruled out of the remainder of last summer’s Border-Gavaskar series due to a hamstring torn in the Adelaide match. Instead the selectors went with the youthful option of elevating Steven Smith, a decision Haddin supported as one of the 26-year-old’s chief mentors.This time around, Haddin is also in the position of being close to the man who has stepped in front of him. Nevill has been his back-up for New South Wales and Australia, and the pair have a strong relationship. The team have taken the decision well, though there is plenty of sympathy for Haddin’s predicament as a senior player nearing the end. The retired Ryan Harris and the dropped Shane Watson have also found themselves out of the team on this tour as the XI is refreshed even in the midst of an Ashes series.For now, Haddin is taking his new role as Nevill’s back-up with equanimity, but he is yet to decide on what shape his future will take. He is also believed to have knocked back the Sydney Sixers coaching job. “He still wants to play that’s for sure and he has a great relationship with Nev,” Clarke said. “So I think he sees his role over the last couple of days leading up to this Test to hep Nev as much as possible and they are really good friends so there’s certainly no lack of respect there.”Hadds will certainly wish Nev all the best and hope he does well, and if there’s an injury or there’s another opportunity then I’ll know he be ready. I can’t be any more complimentary for what he’s done for the Australian team, the New South Wales team as a player.”He’s a great man Hadds, he’s been an awesome vice captain, I’ve really loved having him as vice captain and he’s performed exceptionally well. He’s done himself and his family really proud in the way that he’s represented Australia and New South Wales and I hope he keeps playing.”

Gazi Group Cricketers regained the lead in the Super League after beating closest rivals Abahani Limited by six wickets, courtesy Nasir Hossain’s all-round show – a three-for coupled with a half-century – at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar. The victory puts Gazi Group Cricketers only one win away from clinching the 2017 edition of the Dhaka Premier League, with the final round of matches to be held on June 5.Gazi Group’s decision to bowl received validation, with their spin contingent accounting for eight of Abahani’s batsmen and skittled the side out for 156 in 41.2 overs. Abahani’s innings, however, received its first jolt as left-arm pacer Abu Hider trapped Saif Hassan in front in the first over of the game. Hossain Ali inflicted the second dent to Abahani’s effort the very next over, cleaning up Shadman Islam. With both the openers having been removed for a duck, offspinners Mahedi Hasan and Nasir denied Abahani any real chance of a consolidation, as they chipped away at the middle and lower order to finish with a three-wicket haul each. Among the Abahani batsmen, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Afif Hossain and Shuvagata Hom all fell between 23 and 32, with a 40-run fourth-wicket stand between Mithun and Liton being the only partnership of note during the Abahani innings.In reply, Gazi Group stuttered intermittently during chase, despite Anamul Haque having set the platform with a 54-ball 41. While he lost his opening partner, Munim Shahriar, in the third over to Manan Sharma’s left-arm spin, Mominul Haque couldn’t sustain his innings beyond a 25-ball 21, as Hom had him caught by substitute Kazi Anik. Subsequently, Mohammad Saifuddin’s dismissal of Anamul and Manan’s removal of Jahurul Islam had Gazi Group struggling at 84 for 4 by the 21st over. Gazi Group captain, Nasir, however, took charge of his side’s chase thereafter, notching up an industrious 56 off 92 balls to overhaul the target with 13.2 overs to spare, in the company of Nadif Chowdhury (26), with whom he put on 73 unbroken runs for the fifth wicket.Mehedi Maruf’s 127 headlined Prime Bank Cricket Club’s five-wicket win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar, as he made short work of a 243-run chase.Maruf set the tone for Prime Bank’s innings, with an array of confident strokes, negating the impact of the early breakthrough that Dhanmondi Club had garnered through opener Shanaj Ahmed’s dismissal off Rubaiyat Haque in the fourth over. Maruf, whose marathon knock lasted nearly 47 overs, anchored the chase with three crucial partnerships, including a 44-run third-wicket stand with Rafatullah Mohmand (24) and another worth 64 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Asif Ahmed (26). The most significant, however, was his 115-run second-wicket partnership with Zakir Hasan, who fell one short of a half-century in the 24th over.Maruf clobbered ten fours and four sixes en route to his 143-ball knock, before he holed out to Tanbir Hayder off Sohag Gazi. Ariful Haque and Arifur Rahman then closed out the chase for Prime Bank with two overs to spare. Five out of the seven bowlers Dhanmondi Club used finished with one wicket apiece.Earlier, Prime Bank’s Al-Amin Hossain and Taibur Rahman forged a potent partnership with the ball to restrict Dhanmondi Club to 242 for 7 in 50 overs. The duo scalped five out of the opposition’s top six, after offspinner Nahidul Islam made the first strike in the sixth over of Dhanmondi Club’s innings. Having lost half their side inside 21 overs, with 100 runs on the board, Tanbir Hayder (58) resuscitated the innings with captain Elias Sunny (57) by means of a 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket. No. 8 batsman Mehedi Hasan Rana chipped in with a 21-ball 20 to help Dhanmondi Club near the 250-run mark.

Kevin Pietersen has said that England’s encouraging performance so far in the one-day series is a sign of better things to come for England as a one-day team. England are leading the seven-match series 2-1 after their comprehensive 42-run victory in the third ODI at Edgbaston, which also marked the first time England have scored in excess of 280 in three successive games.”In the nearly three years I’ve played for England there have not been many mornings when you wake up thinking ‘we could win a one-day series’ – and a big series at that,” Pietersen said at the launch of an Urban Cricket arena in Birmingham. “In three games we have scored around 900 runs and I haven’t played in an England team that could say that.”England have had mixed fortunes as a one-day side in the last year. They had a slow start to the CB Series in Australia earlier this year before edging out New Zealand and beating Australia 2-0 in the finals. However, they failed to maintain their momentum in the World Cup, despite making the Super Eights. Against India, they’ve been particularly impressive in the field and the top order has shown consistency.Pietersen singled out the performances of Alastair Cook, Chris Tremlett and Ian Bell. Cook scored his maiden ODI century in the first match at the Rose Bowl and has been getting the side off to good starts. Bell followed his ton in the first match with two half-centuries while Tremlett has chipped in with vital wickets at Edgbaston after being taken to the cleaners in the second ODI at Bristol.”In the last three games we’ve got guys like Alastair Cook, who we know can play, scoring a hundred, and guys like Ian Bell starting to fulfil his potential,” said Pietersen. “He [Tremlett] had taken some stick and not started too well but he’s a wicket-taker. I know from facing him in the nets at Hampshire it’s not fun facing somebody who bowls from seven-and-a-half feet.”Pietersen shrugged off concerns over his own form with the bat after failing to convert his starts. After his breezy unbeaten cameo 33 at the Rose Bowl, he scored 25 and 9 in the next two matches, though he pointed out that it didn’t matter as long as the team was winning.”I’ve always said no matter how many runs I score if England are winning that’s when I’m happiest. Right now I’m happy. The hundreds I’ve scored are in losing causes…they’re good for stats. But everyone wants to be in a winning dressing room.”Pietersen gave due credit to Piyush Chawla, the legspinner who dismissed him on both occasions. He referred to an instance in a 2005 Challenger Trophy match in India where Chawla shot to prominence after getting Sachin Tendulkar stumped with a big legbreak.”You can play in the nets against spinners from the subcontinent who can make you look like a bit of a clown because they’ve got variation,” he said. “Fair play to the bloke. One of the reasons he’s here is because he knocked [Sachin] Tendulkar over in a trial game a couple of years ago. He’s a good little bowler.”

Crispen Tsvarai and Bruce Makovah have revealed the reasons they quit Zimbabwe Cricket in an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent.The departure of Tsvarai, who was head of ZC’s technical and player welfare committee and chairman of the Bulawayo Metropolitan province, led to yesterday’s press conference where Themba Mliswa outline dhis plans to remove Peter Chingoka as ZC chairman.Tsvarai’s exit seems to have been triggered by a document he drafted in which he recommended the dismissal of Kevin Curran, the coach, and Andy Pycroft, the A-team coach.The reasons were unclear, although Mliswa hinted that Curran held an Irish passport.Tsvarai’s report was submitted to a ZC executive meeting on September 20 which he failed to attend. The other members of his committee are said to have distanced themselves from his comments.Although Tsvarai declined to tell Cricinfo the reasons for his subsequent decision to quit, and said: “Should you want to know of the reasons why please contact Mr Chingoka.”But the Independent quoted his resignation letter: “I find it hard to continue to chair a committee whose decisions are not respected by what I would call an ‘inner board’ for lack of a better term,” Tsvarai explained to Chingoka.Chingoka fired back in a typically bullish manner. “You talk about transparency in your letter. However, we are struck by the coincidence of your resignation at the time your [technical and player welfare committee] and the board had rejected your personal and unilateral wishes to dismiss Curran and Pycroft.”Meanwhile, Makovah, who had been the chief selector, revealed that he had also stepped down because of Chingoka. “Where there’s lack of policy and lack of professionalism, I have problems,” he said. “I have always had problems with fellow selectors, but my main problem is Peter. When a fish dies it’s the head that starts rotting.”ZC officials subsequently claimed Makovah had not been reappointed rather than resigned.Cricinfo was told that he had opposed attempts to lure back former players who had walked away during the ongoing crisis, and also that he opposed “too many whites in the team”.Another source told the newspaper: “Selection was chaotic and shambolic … Makovah was not attending matches yet he wanted to select players. Even in West Indies he was refusing to watch practice matches but he still wanted to have the final say.”It now seems that Makovah was instrumental in the dismissal of Terry Duffin as captain ahead of the Bangladesh series against the wishes of Curran and there were other rows over selection throughout the series.Makovah has been replaced by Kenyon Ziehl.