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Ireland have delayed announcing their squad for next month’s quadrangular series to allow Boyd Rankin time to secure his release from Derbyshire.Rankin is currently out of action with a stress fracture of the fibula, but there is hope that he’ll have recovered in time for Ireland’s opening match against Netherlands on July 11. However, he still needs to confirm that Derbyshire will let him go even though the matches will be full one-day internationals.Without Rankin, Ireland’s attack struggled during their weekend double-header against India and South Africa. Roger Whelan and Thinus Fourie shared the new ball, but provided nothing like the threat that Rankin and David Langford-Smith did during the World Cup.Rankin is one of a host of players who haven’t been available for Ireland this week, including Langford-Smith (injury), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) and Jeremy Bray (opting out).The quadrangular tournament also involves Netherlands, Scotland and West Indies with matches split between Stormont in Belfast and Clontarf in Dublin. Ireland’s squad is now expected to be named on Friday.

South

Surrey maintained their 100% record with a thumping defeat of Kent at The Oval in one of the most one-sided match in the competition’s history. James Benning led Surrey’s charge with 88 and Mark Ramprakash chipped in with 58 as they posted a daunting 198 for 6. Kent started well, reaching 40 for 0 before collapsing to 91 in 11.4 overs as Nayan Doshi and Ian Salisbury shared five wickets in less than four overs.While England were in freefall, Darren Gough, who many think should still be in the side, helped Essex to a resounding 87-run win over Sussex at Chelmsford. Set a target of 197, Sussex were on the ropes from the first over when Gough took two wickets with successive balls, and Andy Bichel (4 for 23) ensured that there would be no fightback, although Sussex’s tail at least saw them to three figures.

Midlands/Wales/West

Glamorgan were another side to maintain a winning start with a six-wicket win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Glamorgan had seemed to be slipping to defeat when they slid to 15 for 3 chasing the home side’s 170 for 9, but then David Hemp (60*) and James Franklin (69*) saw them home with ten balls in hand in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 106.

North

Durham subsided to their second defeat in as many days as they never challenged Nottinghamshire’s 175 for 7 at Trent Bridge, going down to a 52-run loss.

Alok Kapali is back in favour with the Bangladesh selectors, after being named in a 14-man squad to face New Zealand in the first Test at Dhaka, beginning on Tuesday.Kapali, one of the more gifted players in the Bangladesh set-up, was dropped ahead of the Champions Trophy, although he was later reinstated following the finger injury to the captain, Habibul Bashar.Bashar, who underwent surgery to correct the problem, is back to lead the side, although he will undergo a late fitness test on Monday, to determine whether he is fit enough to play.The opening batsman, Hannan Sarkar, is also back in the squad, alongside the medium pacer, Alamgir Kabir. The former Under-19 captain, Nafis Iqbal, is another notable inclusion and could yet make his Test debut.Bangladesh Habibul Bashar (capt), Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mashud (wk), Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Manjurul Islam Rana, Tapash Baisya, Mushfiqur Rahman, Mohammad Rafique, Tareq Aziz, Nafis Iqbal, Hannan Sarkar, Alok Kapali, Alamgir Kabir.

Sri Lanka 456 for 7 (Atapattu 170, Jayasuriya 157) lead Zimbabwe 199 by 257 runs
Scorecard

Sri Lanka, as expected, took little mercy on Zimbabwe’s inexperienced bowlers on the second day of the first Test at Harare. The highlight was a superb opening stand of 277 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who both passed 150. But it did not go all Sri Lanka’s way, as Zimbabwe had a few surprises for their middle order in the final session. However, Sri Lanka closed a good day’s work on 456 for 7.Atapattu and Jayasuriya provided the backbone of Sri Lanka’s innings. They batted throughout the morning session and Zimbabwe were firmly on the back foot. But just as minds started to wander about record team and individual scores, Zimbabwe did at least gain some pride as the last four wickets of the day fell for only 27 runs.The opening pair chose to compile their total by steady accumulation rather than the explosive power for which Jayasuriya, in particular, is renowned. He reached his half-century from 56 balls, and it took him only another 34 to reach his 12th Test hundred. In that time, he suddenly decided to erupt when in the 70s, hitting Mluleki Nkala for 18 in one over and racing to his hundred off only 90 balls.Atapattu was not to be overshadowed, and in a less spectacular way he too began to accelerate after reaching his half-century, having been dropped on 43. He made Zimbabwe pay, reaching his 13th Test ton in the last over before lunch. Accuracy of bowling may have saved this Zimbabwe team from too much pain during the one-day series, but it was proving totally inadequate on a good pitch against quality batsmen with time on their hands.It was Tatenda Taibu, the captain, who surprisingly made the breakthrough after he handed over the wicketkeeping duties to Alester Maregwede and came on to bowl. Jayasuriya hit his first ball past midwicket for four, but perhaps a touch of complacency set in as he misjudged the third ball and played an indeterminate shot which lobbed off his gloves to Douglas Hondo in the gully (281 for 1). His 157 came off only 147 balls, including 28 fours and three sixes.Kumar Sangakkara, the most successful batsman on tour until now, may have been hindered by his long wait, as he had made only 11 when he top-edged a sweep off Stuart Matsikenyeri’s occasional offspin to give Taibu an easy catch at backward square leg (312 for 2).Taibu should have taken the gloves back, as Maregwede dropped both Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene shortly before tea. But after the interval, the bowlers rocked the Sri Lankan middle order, due partly to their own efforts, and partly from complacency by the batsmen.

Jayawardene was the first to go, pulling a short ball from Elton Chigumbura a little carelessly directly to Prosper Utseya at midwicket for 37 (369 for 3). Shortly afterwards, Zimbabwe took the second new ball which triggered a minor collapse. With his fourth ball of a new spell, Hondo took the prized wicket of Atapattu for 170, clean bowling him as he played a loose shot without any footwork. However, it was a magnificent innings of 170 from 253 balls, including 24 fours.Tinashe Panyangara then chipped in with two wickets in quick succession. Good outswingers accounted for Thilan Samaraweera, caught behind by Taibu (399 for 5), and Prasanna Jayawardene, who was bowled (403 for 6). Tillakaratne Dilshan then fell in the same manner as Mahela Jayawardene, pulling a short ball from Blessing Mahwire straight to Utseya at midwicket (414 for 7).Although Sri Lanka were by that stage over 200 runs ahead, play continued as if Zimbabwe were on top, with Chaminda Vaas and Farveez Maharoof playing very carefully before the close.

Eden Park’s Outer Oval is going to be the latest ground in New Zealand to implement portable pitch technology for its cricket.The need has arisen from the struggle to accommodate cricket and rugby on the ground.The same reason for its introduction on Eden Park’s main ground and at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.Normally rugby is played on the Outer Oval ground in an east-west direction, which leaves about a third of the cricket block exposed on the rugby ground.That provides problems for both codes. If the wicket block gets too dry during the winter it becomes too hard for rugby, and if it gets too wet it can become very soft.Cricket, on the other hand, finds that if damage is done to the wicket block, it is that much further into the summer before the ground can be used for first-class cricket.In order to accommodate both teams, the rugby ground has been re-aligned to run north-south and on the part of the cricket block where the rugby pitch runs, a portable pitch will be installed. That will account for four turf pitches on the side of the rugby ground and five free turf pitches outside the rugby ground.Auckland Cricket’s chief executive Lindsay Crocker said two issues were sorted with that approach – the rugby accommodation issue and the chance for more experimentation of the portable pitch technology.At the moment it is only used for international matches at Eden Park on the main enclosure.”Having the portable facility means that we will be able to get going earlier in the season. There are a number of advantages that are going to be of benefit to us,” he said.Crocker didn’t think it would be an especially expensive idea for the Eden Park Trust Board which administers both grounds because all the raw materials were available at the ground.While there was talk of a longer term development for the Outer Oval nothing had been decided on that, but the work being done now would not impact on anything that might be planned for the future.Crocker said he was aware of the comments that were made as the last rounds of the State Championship were played in good weather around most of the country that more cricket should be played in late-March.But he said it was necessary to remember that much of the first-class programme is aimed at providing support for the international team and getting them ready for Test matches or One-Day Internationals.That was why the State Championship started in November, because there were always Christmas-New Year Test matches now.Auckland had made a policy of attempting to play its first round Championship matches on the East Coast at Gisborne or Napier, or even in Dunedin, where the weather tended to be better in the early part of the summer.But even that plan was foiled this summer when the Auckland-Northern Districts match at Gisborne was rained out.The idea of all teams playing away at a venue like the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University was not a new one but it came down to the logistics of pitch use at the three grounds there, he said.

LONDON – A mooted one-day cricket series between Australia and India inSeptember has been scrapped.Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland made theannouncement with regret at Lord’s today.”India has withdrawn from the Super Challenge series,” he said.”From an ACB point of view we are quite disappointed, given thatpreviously we had undertakings from the board in India that it would goahead and we had put plans in place for it to go ahead.”It was a great opportunity for Australian fans to see the great Indianplayers that we saw in the series just gone.”Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president AC Muttiahinformed the ACB by fax that his players were unavailable because of analready congested schedule.The three-game series would have been held in Brisbane and Melbourne,indoors at Colonial Stadium.A replacement for India will not be sought.Australian captain Steve Waugh had previously questioned theavailability of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and himself because theirwives are due to give birth in September.”They were all available to play and they were all going to play subjectto nature taking its course,” said Sutherland.”It was a full strength Australian side but if someone went into labourat a time that clashed, we were going to be as understanding aspossible.”Sutherland also said playing Test and limited overs matches in winter intropical areas like Darwin, Cairns and Alice Springs was “a goodoption.””One of the great things about the country we live in is that we canplay cricket all year round if we find the right place,” he said.”I wouldn’t like to put time frame on it, wouldn’t like to be definitivebut we’ve certainly looked closely at it.”

BCCI president Shashank Manohar has sought a report from the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) over the crowd disturbance incident that marred the second Twenty20 between India and South Africa. Manohar sought an explanation after match referee Chris Broad’s report was made available to the BCCI, and received a reply from the OCA on the same day – as it had done with ESPNcricinfo earlier, the association cited the harsh weather conditions for allowing plastic water bottles to be taken into the stands.*The T20 was disrupted twice due to a section of crowd pelting water bottles onto the field on three occasions following India’s batting collapse. Allowing water bottles into the stands is not the norm in Indian stadiums.”The board had given us two days to reply but we have sent our reply in just two hours,” OCA secretary Asirbad Behara told ESPNcricinfo. “We have written to the board that considering the comfort of the spectators who were sitting in sultry heat for the match, we decided to allow water bottles to be carried in the stands.”Since a handful of spectators turned nasty and caused disturbance to the match, we have regretted the decision and have assured the BCCI that we will never repeat such an act.”It will be interesting to see if the BCCI acts against one of its full members based on this report.The ICC has no role to play in the matter and has no powers to take any action against the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The onus instead is on the host board, the BCCI, to conduct its own investigation and determine if the venue should be penalised. With respect to the safety and security of the teams in a bilateral series, it is agreed that it will be the responsibility of the host board.Although the ICC has its own guidelines as to what can be permitted inside the ground for fans, they only apply to ICC tournaments. During bilateral series, the host board has its own sets of rules and regulations that the venues need to adhere to, so it is for the BCCI to determine whether there was any violation on part of the OCA for allowing the spectators to carry plastic bottles into the ground. However, the ICC match officials – referee and umpires – are always encouraged to make sure the match is completed.In the event of an incident like the crowd trouble witnessed during the Cuttack T20, the protocol demands that the match referee include a blow-by-blow account of the same in his report. It is then passed on to the ICC, which then forwards it to the BCCI. The BCCI will then submit a report based on its findings and the action it took along with the learnings from the incident to the ICC. This report will then be discussed at the chief executives’ meeting. Considering the next CEC meeting is scheduled to be held later this week in Dubai, the Cuttack incident would come up for discussion only at the next round of meetings.Sachin Tendulkar has already expressed disappointment over the incident, calling for “more responsible behaviour”. “What happened during the game is definitely not good for the game. It has happened earlier also,” Tendulkar told . “We need learn from these mistakes.”We are all passionate about the game. We all love the game so we get disappointed and frustrated at times. There are ways to express that but what happened in Cuttack is certainly not the to way show your emotions. I would request all the fans to think about it [the incident], show some maturity.”*16.00GMT, October 7: This article was updated after the OCA replied to the BCCI.

Bangladesh looked like continuing their discouraging streak of failures since their inception into Test cricket in the second Test against Pakistan at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. The hosts found themselves blown away for 148 just before the tea break and, by stumps, Pakistan had steadily advanced to 99 for just the loss opener Shadab Kabir.Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who bowled little and unsuccessfully in the first Test at Dhaka, was the chief architect of the Bangladeshi collapse, luring five Bangladeshi batsmen to their doom and conceding only 35 runs in the process. At the other end, continuing his strategy of torment against Bangladesh, was Danish Kaneria, who claimed 4-62.Bangladesh were most comfortable in the day only between Khaled Masud winning the toss and the openers taking strike against Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. First strike on a flat, dry batting surface that promised to aid spin later in the match was an advantage that Bangladesh badly needed. It was also an advantage that was to be squandered.Javed Belim, the right-handed opener playing in place of Mohammad Ashraful, opened with an injured Al-Sahariar. The pair added 21 runs for the first wicketbefore Waqar induced a nick from Al-Sahariar and sent him back for 13, caught behind by Rashid Latif.Mehrab Hossain and Belim then proceeded to give their supporters a rare moment of cheer. Batting patiently and steadily, they saw off the opening pace salvo and then looked comfortable when spin was introduced into the attack. Just before lunch, however, Belim, then on 17, misread the bounce from a Saqlain delivery, offering a catch to silly point Shadab Kabir.One of Bangladesh’s more dependable bats disappointed on the day. Habibul Bashar’s dismissal mirrored Belim’s, with Shadab Kabir taking yet another catch at silly point off the bowling of Saqlain. Their best batsman gone for just 2, the remaining members of the batting line-up crumbled in the face of fine spin bowling from Saqlain and Kaneria.Aminul Islam and skipper Khaled Masud did offer some resistance further down the order, adding 27 runs for the seventh wicket. Aminul ground out 27 runs, while Masud top-scored in the innings with 28.Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis was in particularly attacking vein on the day, setting suffocating close-in fields to entice the batsmen into playing big shots. The plan worked brilliantly, with almost all the batsmen fell into that very trap. The home side’s innings lasted only 56.4 overs.Mohammad Sharif brought slight cheer with his early success, removing Shadab Kabir caught behind in the sixth over. Shadab appeared suspect outside the off-stump from the very start, prodding at deliveries that were meant to be left alone. His mode of dismissal, thus, came as little surprise.That was to be Bangladesh’s last success of the day. Younis Khan and Taufeeq Umar consolidated their side’s position to run up 99 runs by the close of the play. Both were unbeaten on 47, taking eight boundaries each off a Bangladeshi attack that appeared unlikely to set things up for a series-squaring win by bowling Pakistan out twice.

At the end of day two, Sourav Ganguly had said that South Africa’s collapse in the first innings, during which they lost nine wickets for 113 runs, boosted India’s confidence in the second. Perhaps he knew the bowlers had got the measure of the Green Park pitch, something Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captaining in his first Test, reiterated today after the dramatic win.”In the second innings, everybody knew what lengths to bowl, and from what spots they would get variable bounce,” Dhoni said, “The fast bowlers especially deserve a lot of credit in the second innings.”A major change from the first innings was that India opened with Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma, neither of whom gave anything away. They made sure there were no free runs on offer to let off the pressure that a 60-run deficit would have put on the South Africans. India applied what Dhoni termed as ‘mindgames’ with that lead in their bags, and delayed its erasing as much as possible, knowing the wickets would just be a matter of time if they could push South Africa into a shell. The approach was rewarded fully, as South Africa had lost four of their best batsmen by the time they were only 12 ahead. “Although this was the third day of the match, this was not a third-day pitch,” Dhoni said. “The way Harbhajan and Viru [Virender Sehwag] bowled, we knew it was going to be just a matter of time. There were no easy singles on offer, so we put a lot of pressure on them. We made sure they didn’t take a single and go off strike.”This is where the efforts of Ganguly and VVS Laxman provide a stark contrast to the South African batsmen, and also proved crucial in the final equation, as they controlled the innings, consciously looking to score more often than they usually would. “To play positively on this wicket is very important,” Dhoni said. “You can get out irrespective of whether you are playing your shots or not, the way it happened to Rahul Dravid. So you have to keep scoring on such tracks. It was very crucial the way Sourav batted on this track, and the 60-odd lead was very crucial, because it changes the whole mindset of the team that is batting next.”Almost all the bowling changes he made seemed to work. In the first innings, Piyush Chawla got wickets in his first over on two occasions. In the second, Sehwag got a wicket with his first ball and Ishant got two in the first over of his second spell. But Dhoni said it was easier to captain on this pitch, especially with the way the bowlers bowled.”Viru is much more than a part-timer on this kind of wicket. He continuously kept bowling the right areas, in the rough. It was a deliberate move, and we knew that with him and Yuvraj in the team we would not need an extra spinner.”He had a pretty difficult job of replacing Anil Kumble as captain, and also playing without Sachin Tendulkar and Kumble for the first time since the latter’s debut. “It’s pretty hard to replace a man like Kumble, and especially on such a wicket,” he said. “Had he been playing, I don’t think this would have lasted three days.”Well we did well, but it doesn’t mean we are better off without Sachin or Anil. Who is there to replace Sachin? Who is there to replace Kumble? It is better to have them in the side than not, but the credit goes to the boys who stood up in their absence.”It was also an extremely difficult match for Dhoni the keeper, and to his credit he did himself no shame during the last three days. “The wicket was turning square, and most of our spinners were bowling in the rough,” he said. “So you find yourself keeping to some balls that would spin and some that wouldn’t. I was quite happy with the way I kept, because some balls were kicking and some were keeping really low. The way our fast bowlers were bowling, it could hurt your fingers pretty badly. It was good fun though.”This series was part two of a potential rivalry that India had started in South Africa last year. India needed a tailor-made track to come back on level terms on a series that they were expected to win easily. Dhoni, though, agreed with the South African coach Mickey Arthur that there was nothing wrong in playing to your strengths. “If we go to Australia, we get bouncy tracks; when we go to England, we get swinging tracks. When you come to India, you expect turning and bouncing tracks, and that’s what this one was. It’s better to stick to the specialties of certain places.”India fighting South Africa on a greentop at Kingsmead should make for an equally gripping a battle, if India can fight as hard as South Africa did at Green Park.

Kenya Select 147 and 14 for 0 trail Zimbabwe A 234 (Dabengwa 92, Varaiya 3-43) by 73 runs
ScorecardKenya Select turned in a more impressive second-day performance at Harare Sports Club, restricting Zimbabwe A to a first-innings lead of 87.Zimbabwe were bailed out by Keith Dabengwa. He has been the star of the Logan Cup with the ball, the leading wicket-taker by some way, but this time he shone with the bat. His 92 ensured that Zimbabwe, who at one stage were wobbling on 85 for 5, gained what could be a match-winning first-innings lead.Nehemiah Odhiambo and Alfred Luseno bowled really well in the morning session to get rid of the two overnight batsmen. Eric Chauluka added nine to his overnight 18 before being bowled by Odhiambo. Hamilton Masakadza was dismissed fishing outside off stump to Luseno, nicking to wicketkeeper David Obuya for 20.Regis Chakabva never settled, getting off the mark with an edge off Luseno. He scored three more boundaries in his 20 before he fell first ball after lunch, getting a faint edge off Jimmy Kamande.Dabengwa freed his shoulders and smacked a pulled six and a couple of fours as he switched into attacking mode. He put on 63 for the eighth wicket with Blessing Mahwire but with a second first-class ton in sight, he perished to a sloppy slog-sweep off Hiren Varaiya, skying the ball to Elijah Otieno at deep midwicket.Varaiya, who finished with 3 for 43, removed Blessing Mahwire next over and Collins Obuya brought himself into the attack for the first time in the match and trapped Trevor Garwe with his second ball to end the innings.In their second innings, Kenya safely batted out four overs before bad light ended play with three overs remaining.