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Shane Bond has said New Zealand will review their notes from the Champions Trophy semi-final ahead of the series against Pakistan

Cricinfo staff02-Nov-2009While a one-off victory does not always indicate future form, Shane Bond has said New Zealand will review their notes from the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final ahead of the series against Pakistan.The two sides meet for the first of three ODIs on November 3 having recently completed a close tussle in South Africa, where New Zealand came out on top by five wickets. Both teams will play each other in the UAE before heading back home for three Tests, and Bond, the rehabilitated fast bowler, is targeting the limited-overs fixtures.”We’ll redraw the stuff we had last time on them,” he said. “It worked pretty well in terms of the bowlers, we knew what we had to do. Obviously this time we’ll have to adapt to the surface which will be flat and slow like Pakistan conditions.”New Zealand’s batting has not been noticeable for anything outstanding of late, and the absence of an injured Jesse Ryder has been a serious blow. This put more emphasis on the bowlers, said Bond. “The bulk of the experience is now in the bowling line-up. In terms of being a bowler coming back into the team we have to lead from the front and do well which puts pressure on us but we quite enjoy that. If we don’t lead we can’t rely on the inexperienced blokes to do it all the time.”Bond was confident that he had quickly adapted back to the pace of international cricket after nearly two years on the sidelines due to his ICL deal. Bond, 34, collected six wickets at 40.33 in New Zealand’s Champions Trophy campaign. Although at times expensive, most notably when his nine overs against Sri Lanka cost 82 runs, he also proved that he remains a potential matchwinner, as when he grabbed 3 for 21 from ten overs against England. It has been just short of two months since Bond’s comeback to the New Zealand team, having previously not played an international match since late 2007.His captain, Daniel Vettori, has already said Bond will not be rushed back into Test cricket. New Zealand conclude their UAE tour on November 13, after which the players join their domestic sides for the first-class competition. Bond will have an opportunity to acclimatise when Canterbury play Otago from November 17.”It’ll be quite nice to get a full run of cricket in this series and then get back and get into some four-day cricket as well. I’m expecting the more I play the better I’ll get. I haven’t hit top form but it’s not far away,” he said. “Everyone goes on about the speed, I’m happy with the pace I’m bowling. The more I bowl the more consistent I’ll get. I haven’t put in a consistent performance yet. I’ve been good in the odd spell then I’ve come back and haven’t been as sharp as I’m supposed to be.”

Stuart Clark has conceded his international career is all but over, but says recent opportunities to captain New South Wales have convinced him to play on

Alex Brown14-Dec-2009Stuart Clark has conceded his international career is all but over, but says recent opportunities to captain New South Wales have convinced him to play on. Clark, who has been overlooked by national selectors since Australia’s defeat at The Oval, has identified IPL and county cricket stints among his new career objectives, along with leading the Blues in the absence of first-choice skipper Simon Katich.A back injury will prevent Clark from playing until after Christmas, but the 34-year-old paceman insists retirement is not on the agenda. The selection of Clint McKay, the rookie Victorian fast bowler, in the squad for the recent Adelaide Test against West Indies appeared to represent the final nail for Clark’s international aspirations, however the lure of playing domestic cricket across three countries has proven enough incentive to persuade him to continue in the game.”If I woke up in the morning and the desire wasn’t there, I would probably give it away,” Clark said. “But that’s not the way I’m feeling at the moment. There probably won’t be many international opportunities coming up anymore, but I still love playing for New South Wales and the idea of playing IPL and county cricket is exciting.”There are a whole heap of new challenges out there for me. The opportunity to captain New South Wales has been fantastic. Just to see the enthusiasm in the young blokes, and remember being in their position a few years ago, is a lot of fun. This is a new experience for me and one I’m really enjoying.”Clark is hopeful the back injury sustained last week before the Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland will not prove season-ending, and he has targeted a January comeback. He then plans to take up a one year contract with Kent – the county that courted him ahead of this year’s Ashes series – while exploring opportunities in the IPL.”That is the furthest thing from my mind,” he said of retirement. “It is unfortunate what has happened over the last week with my injury but hopefully given that the rehab has gone to plan, then after Christmas I will be doing some light training and getting back into it.”Australia’s selectors have not completely discounted an international recall for Clark who, just four Tests ago, played a leading role in Australia’s three-day victory over England at Headingley. He was named Man-of-the-Series following Australia’s 5-0 Ashes rout in 2006-07, and with England’s return just ten months away, there remains a slim chance he could come into calculations.Clark, though, is aware that age and injuries are counting against him. Some within Australian cricket feel surgery to remove a bone spur from his bowling elbow last year has robbed him of a few yards of pace, and the man himself is not counting on a phone call from Andrew Hilditch’s panel anytime soon. “I do agree it is looking very unlikely,” he said.

England gave themselves a much-needed boost before heading to Australia to participate in the Ashes series when beating India by 90 runs to take third place in the World Series of Women’s Cricket at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University today

Lynn McConnell25-Dec-2009England gave themselves a much-needed boost before heading to Australia to participate in the Ashes series when beating India by 90 runs to take third place in the World Series of Women’s Cricket at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University today.The final between Australia and New Zealand will be played on the same ground tomorrow.It was a win based around a fine innings of 80 played by opener Kathryn Leng, her highest in One-Day Internationals. Her previous best were two scores of 46, one in the 2000 World Cup against South Africa and last summer in England against India. Her 50 took 82 balls and when she was out, bowled when playing the ball onto her stumps, she had scored 80 off 109 balls.Leng looked to attack as often as possible during her innings which was a refreshing sight from an England side that had largely under-performed until the last two games of the tournament.She shared an opening stand of 35 with Sarah Collyer and a second-wicket stand of 65 with Charlotte Edwards, who was out for 21 after suffering an injury in the latter stages of her innings.England could have really shut the gate on India, but their middle and lower-order batting folded badly and they lost their last seven wickets for 39 runs in 66 balls. India’s left-arm spinner Neetu David was outstanding and took three for 42 from her 10 overs. Nooshin Al Khadeer took two for 32 from her 10 while Jhulan Goswami took two for 24.Given the fact that India had been on the receiving end of the dramatic last ball, one-run loss to England yesterday, it was going to take a mighty effort to score the 192 they were set to win.That cause was not helped when Sunetra Paranjpe was trapped leg before wicket from the third ball of the innings by Lucy Pearson. Mithali Raj was India’s biggest hope and she started in typically dashing style but she was the fourth batsman dismissed when the score was only 55, and that made the job very difficult for the rest of the side.A player capable of taking the attack to all the sides in the world, she was unstuck by Laura Harper and bowled for 26 off 45 balls. Earlier, Jaya Sharma, who had played some memorable straight drives based on the quality of her timing more than any power associated with the shot, scored 16 and Anjum Chopra, another key wicket, was leg before wicket to Clare Connor.The England captain’s left-arm slow bowling resulted in her having the second best bowling performance of her career as she finished with three wickets for 16 runs.Her loyal ally through the middle stages of the innings was Collyer, who at one stage was on target for the fewest runs off a bowler in ODIs but some lusty lower order hitting denied her of that and she had to be happy with four for nine off 9.5 overs.Chopra was very disappointed with the two losses to England at the end of the tournament and said her side had difficulty with the way umpiring decisions throughout the tournament had tended to go against her side across the gamut of decision-making, leg before wicket, stumpings and run outs. She was still upset about a stumping decision given against Raj at a vital stage of the game against New Zealand and she was also disappointed in some of the run out decisions in the first loss to England.But overall she said the side’s batting had let them down. She said the tournament had been very valuable in giving exposure to international play for India’s younger players. They had played against the world’s best and it had given them a good platform to improve their game.”The tournament is a good idea. We don’t play many international games. At least teams like Australia and New Zealand can play each other,” she said.England captain Connor said the last two games had been much more like the real England.She said her side was guilty of playing well only in patches for 20 minutes to half an hour when they needed to be able to perform for much longer.”Yesterday’s game was a thriller, the sort of game everyone wants to play in as long as they are on the winning side.”Our coach John Harmer has looked at the stats and he said if you score 180 you have a 70% chance of winning, if you score 190 you have an 80% chance of winning and if you push over 200 you have a 95% chance of winning,” she said.Connor said the side had benefited from having six players out in New Zealand and Australia playing over the summer and she believed the side had the potential to beat those two countries if they could put together longer periods of dominance.Mental toughness was one advantage the trans-Tasman nations had over England.She agreed with Chopra that the tournament concept was a winner and she added that the Lincoln University venue for New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre was outstanding for this type of event.”It has been brilliant. We knew it would be intense, but that is what we play cricket for,” she said.Her side now heads to Brisbane to start the Ashes series with Australia and while she had been pre-occupied with the World Series it was now time to start looking at the Ashes.She admitted it would be tough especially as the Australians had such a good bowling attack which was dominated by Cathryn Fitzpatrick, but the other bowlers were not so much of a handful while the key batsmen were Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar was emerging.”If we play well, and if we’re consistent we have got every chance of doing well,” she said.

A round-up of the seventh day’s games of the HRV Cup, New Zealand’s domestic Twenty20 competition

Cricinfo staff12-Jan-2010Otago charged to No. 1 on the points table with a 10-run win against Northern Districts (ND) at Queen’s Park in Invercargill. Otago batted first and were boosted by a late-over blitz from Craig Cumming and Neil Broom, who combined well for the third wicket to lift them up to 160 for 3. They added 92 after Otago looked on edge at 62 for 2 in the 10th over. However, Cumming took charge in the last stages and ended with 56 not out from 32 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Broom had to battle harder for his 41 from 37 balls with three fours and a six.ND were off on the wrong foot during the reply, with opener Anton Devcich departing for 2. BJ Watling succumbed to Yasir Arafat for 20 and Michael Parlane was run out by Nathan McCullum to leave ND at 38 for 3 in the seventh over. McCullum went on to remove James Marshall and Daniel Vettori to finish with 2 for 19. Some lusty hitting towards to the end from Tim Southee got ND to the point where 23 were needed from the last over. But Ian Butler’s pace proved too much and Southee was left on 35 not out.

Shane Bond and Wayne Parnell, two of the most sought after players at the IPL, recount the thrills of auction day

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Jan-2010Sitting in Christchurch and Port Elizabeth respectively, Shane Bond and Wayne Parnell were full of nervous excitement as both were following the IPL auction live, taking place in Mumbai. Their names were part of the first two pools that went under the hammer when bidding started at noon on Tuesday.The auction had already got off to an eventful beginning; the first man on the list, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, was ignored by all eight franchises. Before you could swallow that shock the auctioneer announced “Kieron Pollard”. For the next 25 minutes the Trinidad giant imposed himself across the auction hall as four teams battled for his services. Eventually the Mumbai Indians snapped him up through the silent tie-breaker for an undisclosed sum.Bond was getting edgy. “I did have sweaty palms and was little nervous to begin with,” he told Cricinfo. “There were a couple of players before me but once it unfolded it became really exciting.”He had to hold on for some more time because Parnell’s name was called up for the bidding. Immediately, Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers jumped in the fray. Only 20, Parnell became the youngest South African to get a national contract last year and featured in the series-levelling Test against England at the Wanderers last week, where he picked two important wickets of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen in the second innings. Considering his inexperience, it was surprising to see Delhi and Deccan wanting to shell out more than US$500,000 for him. Parnell himself was stunned at the eventual winning bid, of $610,000 from Delhi. He now becomes the third most expensive South African in the League after JP Duminy (US$950,000) and Jacques Kallis (US$900,000).”I didn’t expect that much but I am really excited,” Parnell said from his home in Port Elizabeth. “I never expected the price to be so high. I expected I would get anywhere between $300,000-350,000.”IPL think-tanks had been tracking the South African’s progress since his impressive performances against Australia during the home series in 2009. Parnell was first noticed though, during the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, where he led South Africa to the final. He played one ODI and another Twenty20 during South Africa’s tour of Australia later that year. Having excelled at home against Ricky Ponting’s team, Parnell travelled to England last year to participate in the ICC World Twenty20, where he again caught the eye with nine wickets and a miserly economy rate of 5.71.The IPL scouts had already knocked on his door when the IPL had moved to South Africa last year. “AB [de Villiers] introduced me to the bowling coach of Delhi during the last IPL in South Africa,” Parnell said. Recently the Mumbai Indians were in touch with him before the auction.But Parnell refuses to believe that he is worth more than half-a-million dollars. “It is unbelievable. I was not worried about the price. I just wanted the opportunity to play and show what I am worth,” he said. “But am excited that I am worth that high so it is an added bonus.”Essentially, Parnell fills the slot left vacant after Delhi bought out the contract of Glenn McGrath. “I am not going to go there pretending I’m going to fill his shoes.” Instead, Parnell is happy that he would be able to play with experienced players and he wants to use the opportunity to learn faster. One of them happens to be his childhood idols Ashish Nehra.As a youngster, Nehra had been the first international bowler he had seen bowl live and was instantly influenced. “Yes, he was one my idols considering he is a left-handed fast bowler, too. It would be fun to play alongside him,” Parnell said. He aims to gain further experience during South Africa’s tour of India next month where he hopes to take the opportunity to learn more about the conditions and the pitches and take that to the IPL.Meanwhile, as Parnell was trying to pinch himself in disbelief, Bond’s pulse count increased as his name came up next. Despite his experience and stature, Bond’s base price was only half of Parnell’s at US$100,000. Team owners, though, did not have any doubt about Bond’s fast bowling pedigree, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan starting a fierce bidding war, which was later joined by the Kolkata Knight Riders, his eventual owners as he became the second player to be bought through the tie-breaker rule.”I was following it live on the internet. I was very excited. I had no expectations,” a jubilant Bond said. “I was just relaxed the whole day. I was just hoping to be picked up by someone.”The injury-plagued Bond recently retired from Test cricket and decided to focus on limited-overs cricket after yet another breakdown during the home series against Pakistan last November. He is happy now that he made that decision. “That is one a good thing about giving up playing Tests as I can concentrate on the skills required for this format,” Bond said.Just like every player who joins Kolkata Bond, too, is eager to be part of the Shah Rukh Khan camp. “Obviously Kolkata is a such a high-profile team with Shah Rukh Khan as one of the owners. To end up there and get a chance to play in front of Eden Gardens is absolutely amazing,” he said. An added delight would be playing alongside a close friend and national team-mate, Brendon McCullum.Though his new employers had not yet called to give the good news considering it was close to 10 pm in Christchurch by the time the auction got over, Bond is not bothered and instead wants to get organised for the India trip. According to him the biggest challenge would be to play in front of the mammoth crowds that Eden Gardens is famous for. “I haven’t played in front of a crowd like Eden Gardens. Their passion excites me and they want to win and I want to win so I hope to do good,” Bond said.Bond said he is also looking forward to play under Sourav Ganguly, the Kolkata captain. “I am competitive and I want to win always,” he said. “I bring good attitude to the team and looking forward to play under Sourav.”

A round-up of the action from the fourth round of matches in the 2009-10 Vijay Hazare Trophy

Cricinfo staff13-Feb-2010

South Zone

Tamil Nadu picked up their third easy win in a row, thanks to S Anirudha’s maiden List A century, which helped them crush Hyderabad by eight wickets at the India Cements Limited Guru Nanak College ground in Chennai. Anirudha’s 134 ensured that Tamil Nadu did not feel the absence of three of their main batsmen – Dinesh Karthik, M Vijay and S Badrinath – who are with the Test team in Kolkata. He added 152 at just less than a run-a-ball with Abhinav Mukund for the first wicket, setting Tamil Nadu up to overhaul the target of 251 with more than 12 overs to spare. The target would have been a lot stiffer had it not been for a spectacular collapse earlier in the morning, Hyderabad losing their final seven wickets for 20 runs after half-centuries from Ambati Rayudu and opener Akshath Reddy had taken them to 230 for 3.Karnataka also maintained a perfect record, easing to a seven-wicket victory over Kerala on the back of a century from the in-form Ganesh Satish at the MRF Pachyappas ground. Kerala were in trouble at 83 for 4 after choosing to bat, but captain Raiphi Gomez (68) and Karimuttathu Rakesh (41) put on a 109-run stand for the fifth wicket to bail them out. A brisk 30 from wicketkeeper Akshay Kodoth took Kerala to a competitive 246, but that didn’t prove too much of a challenge for a strong Karnataka line-up. R Jonathan made his second half-century of the tournament and Manish Pandey slammed a quick 47 but the star was Satish, who hit 14 fours and two sixes in his 98-ball 121. It was his second hundred of the tournament, to go with his 82 against Andhra, and kept him top of the run charts.At the Central Polytechinc India Pistons ground, Goa picked up their first win of the campaign, a five-wicket victory over Andhra. Medium-pacer Saurabh Bandekar was the star with the ball, taking three wickets in five overs to leave Andhra reeling at 63 for 5. Vemu Lenin, playing his first senior tournament at the age of 27, then made a battling 78 to lift Andhra to 207. The experienced S Sriram guided the Goa chase, making an unbeaten 84 to finish the match with 11.2 overs remaining. Bandekar assisted him with a breezy 31, and the pair put on 76 for the fifth wicket, the biggest stand of the match.

Central Zone

Monish Mishra launched a fearsome onslaught on the Uttar Pradesh attack at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground to give Madhya Pradesh their second consecutive win in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Mishra’s knock, coming in at number three, made light of two early losses in the chase of 275 off 45 overs. Eight sixes and ten fours were hammered as he took a special liking to Sudeep Tyagi’s medium-pace which conceded 52 in five overs. Tyagi managed to hit back and remove both Mishra and his partner-in-crime Jalaj Saxena who scored 69, but it was only temporary solace. Harpreet Singh finished the match in a hurry, with a blistering 56 off 31 balls. The chase totally overshadowed the efforts of Tanmay Srivastava, who struck 104 and Eklavya Dwivedi who contributed 89, as UP progressed to a strong score.Sanjay Bangar served a reminder of his allround abilities to give Railways the extra point against Vidarbha at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. He started his handiwork in his first over, the second of Vidarbha.s innings, when he got Akshay Kolhar’s wicket. Amit Paunikar, Ravi Jangid and Ranjit Paradkar set things right briefly and Vidarbha were well in control at 140 for 2 in the 27th over. However things went pear-shaped from there on in, as three run-outs and some tight bowling from the spinners Murali Kartik and Karan Sharma checked the progress of the innings. Karan finished with two wickets, before Bangar came back to blow away the tail, and the innings closed at 207. Bangar continued to stamp his authority with a scintillating knock that ensured that the result was never in doubt. By the time he fell in the 32nd over, he had smacked five sixes and 13 fours for 115 off 98 balls.

West Zone

A gutsy last-wicket stand spearheaded by the nervesless Shitanshu Kotak made all the difference as Saurasthra outlasted Mumbai in an attritional battle at Sardar Patel Stadium B in Ahmedabad. Batting first, Mumbai never came to terms with the conditions, slowly progressing to 63 for 2 in the 19th over before losing the plot. Five wickets fell for 33 runs as Sandeep Jobanputra, Jayesh Odedra and Ravindra Jadeja struck regularly. Abhishek Nayar’s sedate 36 and a minor salvage operation from the tail gave Mumbai 159 and something to bowl at. Saurashtra’s reply had disaster written all over it as they lost wickets with alarming regularity to some tight bowling from the trio of Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar and Iqbal Abdulla. At 119 for 9, Mumbai would have thought that it was only a matter of time before the last wicket fell, but it was not to be. Number 11, Jaidev Unadkat, blocked around for 55 minutes and 24 balls which yielded him four runs, but more significantly gave Kotak the elbow-room to inch his side through to the target. The paid had added 40, tellingly the highest stand of the day, when the hard-fought victory came in the 47th over.No such thrills in the adjoining Sardar Patel Stadium C where Baroda romped home against Gujarat by the comfortable margin of 71 runs. Pinal Shah’s busy 77 took advantage of the toss and set Baroda up for a big score. Yusuf Pathan kept the momentum going with a chirpy 40 from number four, before Swapnil Singh and Abhimanyu Chauhan brought up a strong finish to take their side to 297 for 7. Nileshkumar Chauhan’s haul of 3 for 50 gave Gujarat some solace in an otherwise shoddy display. Niraj Patel led Gujarat’s chase with a pugnacious 83 off 82 balls, but no one else from his side had the stomach for a fight. Wickets fell with monotonous regularity through the innings before Yusuf hastened the end with 3 for 7 in his 1.5 overs, which gave his side the bonus point.

Queensland confirmed their place in the Sheffield Shield final and kept the pressure on Victoria with a 94-run victory over South Australia

Cricinfo staff06-Mar-2010Queensland 160 and 6 for 237 dec beat South Australia 72 and 231 (Harris 62, Smith 53, Feldman 4-63) by 94 runs

ScorecardLuke Feldman now has 24 wickets in five Sheffield Shield games•Getty Images

Queensland confirmed their place in the Sheffield Shield final and kept the pressure on Victoria with a 94-run victory over South Australia. Luke Feldman and Chris Swan made sure the rain didn’t stop a win at the Gabba as they overcame some early concerns to dismiss the Redbacks for 231.Daniel Harris and Michael Klinger gave South Australia hope of chasing the 326 for victory in the difficult conditions when they put on 70 for the second wicket, but the home side surged to take 9 for 72. A damp ball suddenly didn’t concern the bowlers as the game swung in three run-less overs when four wickets fell and the Redbacks tumbled to 5 for 159.Klinger (37) and Mark Cosgrove both edged Swan, Harris departed for 62 when caught behind off Feldman and Swan removed Cameron Borgas first ball with Craig Philipson’s second catch at second slip. Daniel Christian and Aaron O’Brien hung around for 30 runs before the wickets tumbled again.Feldman knocked over Christian (18) and Tim Ludeman, who were both taken by Chris Hartley as he pouched his 250th catch in the competition. Ben Cutting bowled O’Brien when he shouldered arms to an off-cutter to have them 8 for 189.Philipson and Nathan Rimmington finished things off to end a bad game for South Australia, who were dismissed for 72 on the second day. Feldman is in his debut season and took his tally to 24 wickets in five Shield games with 4 for 63 while Swan, the swing bowler, returned 3 for 59.The win lifted Queensland to 32 points and they will battle with Victoria over the final round to determine who hosts the final on March 17. Queensland play Western Australia at the Gabba from Wednesday while Victoria are at home to Tasmania.

Sri Lanka have made five changes to their squad of 14, from the one picked in the inaugural version of the tournament last year in England

Cricinfo staff02-Apr-2010Allrounder Chamani Seneviratna has been named captain of the Sri Lankan team for the ICC World Twenty20, starting in May in the Caribbean. Wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara has been appointed her deputy.Sri Lanka have made five changes to their squad of 14, from the one picked in the inaugural version of the tournament last year in England. The captain Seneviratna is one of them; former captain Shashikala Siriwardene, batsman Dedunu Silva and left-arm spinner Suwini de Alwis have been picked after being dropped last year, reportedly due to reasons of indiscipline; and the fifth change is allrounder Chandi Wickramasinghe.Chamari Polgampola, who led Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 last year, has been included in the list of standby players.Sri Lanka take on West Indies in an ODI and a Twenty20 series before the World Twenty20.Sri Lanka women’s squad: Chamani Seneviratna (capt), Dilani Manodara (wk and vice capt), Inoka Galagedara, Shashikala Siriwardene, Dedunu Silva, Suwini de Alwis, Chamari Atapattu, Ehsani Kaushalya, Sandamali Dolawatta, Sripali Weerakkody, Udeshika Prabodhani, Deepika Rasangika, Hiruka Fernando, Chandi WickramasingheStandby players: Chamari Polgampola, Gayathri Kariyawasam, Rose Fernando, Sumudu Fernando

West Indies have named left-handed opening batsman Omar Phillips as replacement for Adrian Barath for West Indies A’s upcoming tour of Bangladesh

Cricinfo staff29-Apr-2010West Indies have named left-handed opening batsman Omar Phillips as replacement for Adrian Barath for West Indies A’s upcoming tour of Bangladesh.Barath, who made a memorable century against Australia on his Test debut last November, withdrew from the tour with an injured right knee and will remain in Trinidad to do rehabilitation work.Phillips, 23, plays for the Combined Campuses & Colleges and had a similarly promising start to his Test career last July, albeit against lesser opposition. He made 94 against Bangladesh at St Vincent when many first-choice West Indies players were missing due to the contract dispute.The tour begins on May 4 with the tri-series at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, has said he is thrilled with the performances of youngsters like wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal and allrounder Jeewan Mendis

Sa'adi Thawfeeq10-Jun-2010Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, said poor form was the reason for Sanath Jayasuriya’s exclusion from the team for the Asia Cup, while Ajantha Mendis was left out for “tactical reasons”.”Sanath has not had a decent run lately we sidelined him after considering his performance over the past one year,” de Silva said. “The decision to leave Mendis out was for tactical reasons. There are certain decisions we took for tactical reasons. Those areas I wouldn’t want the opposition or any other team to know. It was discussed among the captain and the team management. I will talk to the players individually and explain to them so that they know why we have taken such a decision.”Jayasuriya’s miserable form with the bat continued at the World Twenty20 where he averaged 3.75 from six matches, leading to speculation about his future in the side. Mendis played a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s victory in the recently concluded tri-series in Zimbabwe, so his exclusion for the Asia Cup was met with surprise. The selectors also gave unexpected call-ups to allrounder Farveez Maharoof and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.
“When we talk of allrounders there are two types: a bowling allrounder and a batting allrounder. Angelo Mathews is a batting allrounder and we wanted a bowling allrounder so we picked Maharoof,” de Silva said.”We took Maharoof’s record in Dambulla and he had performed well in the conditions there. When he was injured he couldn’t play many matches and some of the matches he played were while he was recovering which we have also considered. Now that he is 100% fit we will look at his performance from now on,” he said.Herath, De Silva stated was added to the bowling to lend it some variety. “We wanted some variation in the bowling attack. Since we are playing seven games at Dambulla the pitch might take turn towards the end of the tournament so we should have some sort of variation within the squad in case we need to have a bowler who bowls left-arm spin. Also Pakistan has got a fair bit of right-handers. We needed a bowler who will be able to bowl during the Powerplays. That’s the reason why we have gone for him with his experience.”De Silva said that the Sri Lankan batting line-up looked solid with a line up consisting of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera and Thilina Kandamby.When media personnel raised the question why two youngsters – Dinesh Chandimal and Jeevan Mendis – who performed well in Zimbabwe were not included, de Silva said, “Chandimal and Jeevan have got great potential. It was very heartening to see them perform the way they did. We are playing three games initially in the Asia Cup and when you look at the team for the first two games they might not get the opportunity to play.”If that happens we are depriving them of the opportunity to go and get some exposure in Australia. We thought the best idea would be to allow them to go to Australia with the Sri Lanka A team and play there. That’s one tour I will follow very closely which I think will be competitive. It will really separate the men from the boys, a tour of Australia,” de Silva said.