Ricky Ponting believes Dan Cullen, the offspinner who impressed in his debut series against Bangladesh, will have a successful career for Australia.”Dan bowled beautifully but he probably didn’t bowl as much as I would have liked in the Test match that he played,” Ponting told AAP. “He only bowled about 13 or 14 overs in that series, but looked very much the part there. He had to work really hard in the one-dayers to get his first wicket, and didn’t get his first wicket until his second spell in the third one-dayer. But he’s going to be a good bowler for Australia for a long period of time, there’s no doubt.”Cullen took 1 for 54 from 17 overs in the second Test at Chittagong and conceded less than four an over in all three one-day internationals. He is currently Australia’s No. 2 one-day spinner after Brad Hogg.Ponting was also impressed with Mitchell Johnson, the fast bowler, who played his first full series in Bangladesh. In his previous two ODIs in New Zealand and South Africa he had conceded a total of 92 runs in 12 overs.”Mitchell played one [ODI] game in New Zealand and one in South Africa and hadn’t really been given an extended run at all,” said Ponting. “He got three more games over there [in Bangladesh] which was good. If you look at it, he improved every game he played. It was great for him to have a chance to bowl with the new ball in the third game. He got a few wickets with the new ball as well. We’ve always identified him as being a good prospect for Australia down the track and I think we’re just starting to see some of that come out now.””He [Johnson] will definitely benefit from the experience [of playing in Bangladesh], just something simple like playing in front of a crowd. He found that really difficult in his first two games prior to coming here,” Adam Gilchrist told the Australian Associated Press. “The chance to play three games in front of, while it is not 50,000 or 60,000 [people], it is still a pretty full house and a pretty noisy crowd and I think that is one part from which he will really benefit from.”

Dav Whatmore, the Bangladesh coach, has expressed his frustration at the lack of Test cricket for his side over the next year. His views, published in his column on TigerCricket.com, back up those of his captain, Habibul Bashar, who also said recently that the lack of cricket – and Test cricket in particular – is a real concern for Bangladesh.Whatmore wrote, “We have just finished the series against Australia and it is common knowledge that Bangladesh hasn’t got any more Test matches for at least 12 months which is a bit of a pity really because we are making strides in the longer game. But that’s the way it is.”According to the recently-finalised Future Tours Program (FTP), Bangladesh are not scheduled to play any Tests now till India’s visit in May 2007. And during the six-year cycle they are scheduled to play only 41 Tests, the least among members apart from Zimbabwe (39), whose Test status is in limbo in any case. And though India is scheduled to tour Bangladesh three times in that period, they are the only team to not invite Bangladesh for a home series. In fact, they have not done so ever despite championing their cause to gain Test status in 2000.Bashar told the earlier in the week, “A lot of star players are complaining against too much cricket right at the moment but we are not in a position to join the party. Rather the long break in Test cricket is a real concern for us. I think it is always good for an improving side like Bangladesh to play as much Test cricket as possible.”It is really a frustrating situation for us because we have just gone around to showing our gradual improvement in this level. We were just grasping over the finer points of Test cricket which will definitely be hampered when we resume the campaign after a year.”Despite the lack of Tests, Whatmore rubbished claims that Bangladesh didn’t deserve Test status. “It annoys me when I read from journalists and other sections of local and international media and public that Bangladesh doesn’t deserve to be in Test cricket. That’s absolute rubbish because the potential that lies in this country is enormous and given a sufficient amount of time we’ll be able to be very consistent against any team. With a little slice of luck in a given era, Bangladesh could be the leading team in the Asian region. That’s how deep I think the potential lies in Bangladesh.”This belief, he wrote, was based on the fact that in the three years since he has been in charge (since 2003) the team has “performed gradually better and better,” and that Bangladesh’s U-19 team contained some exciting talent within its ranks. “We are blessed at the moment with a fairly good group of U-19s who have just completed the World Cup. I feel there will be one or two there that will impress the selectors sufficiently over the next few months during Academy matches and A team matches to earn their promotion into the top flight. And those players that do earn the promotion will certainly be able to strengthen the team because they will be multi-skilled players. So in many ways this is an exciting period for Bangladesh cricket and particularly in the one-day form with which we will be only involved with in the next 12 months leading up to the World Cup.”

Former TV-AM presenter Nick Owen has been appointed as the next president of Derbyshire, succeeding Trevor Bowring in March next year.Owen, who currently works for the BBC in the Midlands, is a vice-president and honorary life member of the county.”I am thrilled and very honoured,” he said. “When I first started following Derbyshire in the days of Gladwin, Jackson and Morgan, I never dreamed that one day I would be asked to become president.”My mother, Buxton born and bred, and other relatives who still live in Derbyshire are extremely proud. I very much look forward to becoming even more involved with the club.”

India will host the finals of the 2011 World Cup while Bangladesh will host the opening ceremony. This was decided in London following a meeting between the respective boards. In April, the ICC awarded the hosting rights to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Abbas Zaidi, the Pakistan Cricket Board director, confirmed the news and added that Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host the semi-finals. He stated that the purpose was to spread out the major events in the tournament to all four regions. India is due to host 22 matches, with Pakistan holding 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.”We want to spread this World Cup as much as we can throughout south Asia. Sri Lanka is an important country cricket-wise and it is only right they get a semi-final,” Zaidi told Cricinfo. “We didn’t want to push our weight and try and get both semi-finals or the final because we truly believed that as the World Cup is being held in four countries across the region, each country should benefit, including Bangladesh who get the opening match and ceremony.”Pakistan hosted the finals of the 1996 World Cup in Lahore, when the tournament was hosted by the subcontinent.Zaidi also confirmed that Sunil Gavaskar has been given a one-year extension as chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee, after Majid Khan was expected to take over the position. “The move was to retain him for another three years but he has been given an extension only for one year as we feel other countries should get a chance,” Zaidi told Reuters.

Khaled Mashud, Bangladesh’s veteran wicketkeeper, has welcomed the challenge of a second wicketkeeper during the forthcoming ODI tours of Zimbabwe and Kenya. A regular behind the stumps for the last decade, Mashud was confident of what he could bring to the table despite the presence of the young Mushfiqur Rahim and criticism of his batting recently.”I don’t think my position in the team is at stake,” he said. “I will definitely welcome if anybody throws a real challenge to me. Do you honestly think there is anybody who can replace me now? Yes, there is a whispering about my position ahead of the tours but I am not worried.”I want to clear one thing that I will not stay for a single day in the national team if everybody thinks that I have very little left to serve the side,” Mashud added. “I don’t want to stay without respect. It’s my lifelong dream to say goodbye international cricket with my head high.”He hinted, though, that the selectors’ decision to include two wicketkeepers for just eight ODIs was an indecisive one. “It is not my duty to comment on team selection. The selectors must have some plan and only they can say better,” he said. “I think if any new boy is to be tested it should have been done during a relatively easier home series against Kenya. However, you can’t reach a conclusion about someone’s potential after watching him against a team like Zimbabwe and Kenya because the real challenge always lies against the big teams.”Mashud, with 41 Tests and 112 one-day internationals, has been widely recognised as a committed cricketer. However, a recent dip in form with the bat, at both the domestic and international levels, has raised voices over his importance in the side. He admitted his batting against Australia recently was not his best but refused to call the curtain on his contributions to the side. “I don’t think my batting was very poor,” he said. “I failed to serve against Australia but how many were successful against the number one team? Nowadays wicketkeepers play a very important part as an allrounder and I also need to perform.”Mashud’s own expectations of the upcoming series remained simple. “I am determined to perform well during the series. I know performance is the key to keep my place in the team,” he said. “If I can perform, nobody will dare dropping me. In my career I have played for small clubs on most occasions and that have not played any part behind my selection for the national team. I was picked because of the performance.”

Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh opening batsman, has been nominated for the ICC’s Emerging-Player-of-the-Year award to be announced on October 23 in Mumbai.Nafees, 20, who was recently appointed vice-captain of his side for the Champions Trophy played in India from October 7 to November 5, said that the recognition the nomination conferred on Bangladesh was what mattered most. “It is very encouraging but I don’t see anything from an individual’s perspective,” Nafees told , a Dhaka-based newspaper.Nominated alongside Nafees are Monty Panesar, the England left-arm spinner, Alastair Cook, the England batsman, Malinga Bandara, the Sri Lanka legspinner, Upula Tharanga, the Sri Lanka opening batsman, Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper and Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler.Nafees’s recent Test performances against Australia at home have been impressive. He scored his only Test century against them in the first Test at Fatullah where Bangladesh gave Australia quite a scare by scoring over 400 in their first innings and then bowling Australia out for 269. In achieving a first innings lead of 159, Nafees partnered with Habibul Bashar to notch up 187 runs for the second wicket – the highest partnership by a Bangladesh pair.But Nafees does not attribute his nomination for the award to his 138 in Fatullah. “It was not because of that knock against Australia, but rather for the whole season where I showed adequate consistency,” he said. Nafees has a strike rate of 66.52 in one-day matches and has scored four half-centuries, three of them in away-series. He had a good series against Zimbabwe in July-August this year, averaging 62 in five one-day matches played in Harare.The winner will be decided by voting by a 56-member ICC academy comprising the 10 Test captains, 18 members of the umpires and match referees panel and 28 legends of the game and members of the media.

Shoaib Akhtar and the rest of the Pakistan team were cleared of any wrongdoing after a controversial incident during the third one-day international against England at the Rose Bowl.Pictures from Sky Sports appeared to show Akhtar flicking his thumb at the ball as he walked back to his mark, but Mike Procter, the match referee, issued a statement saying that no action would be taken: “After viewing television footage the match umpires have decided no action should be taken against any Pakistan players.”It is quite possible that Shoaib was removing mud or dirt from the ball, but if so that is still illegal as only the umpire can do so. The incident did not appear to be seen by either official. Former England captain Michael Atherton, who was commentating for Sky at the time, invited the viewers to: “make your own minds up” after watching the footage. Pat Murphy, on Radio 5 Live, accused Sky of “power without responsibility”. However, Nasser Hussain, analysing the incident after the innings, was more critical: “At best he’s been very, very silly. To do that in the present climate is stupid.”However, Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, played down the incident. “In my eyes it looked like he was picking some dust,” Younis told reporters. “Why do we make it a big issue every time the ball is reverse-swinging? In the last 20 years it has been made a big issue but to me it is a small issue, cricket is a gentleman’s game so let’s make it simple. Reverse-swing is happening all the time – Australia do it, England did it in the Ashes last year – because pitches are dry, everybody is used to it in these conditions.”The incident comes within two weeks of the Oval fiasco, when Pakistan forfeited the fourth Test against England after being accused of ball-tampering.

Martin Love will join Warwickshire next season on a one-year contract. Love, the 32-year-old Australian top-order batsman, averages 50.30 in first-class cricket and has Test match experience, having played five games between 2002 and 2003. He will be available for the entire season.Love already has county experience, at Durham and Northamptonshire where he scored more than 4000 runs, including ten centuries in all forms of cricket. He made his debut for Queensland, aged 18, in the 1992-93 Sheffield Shield final and he was voted State Player of the Year in 2003.”It was important that we signed a top quality batsman to replace Nick Knight,” said Mark Greatbatch, Warwickshire’s director of coaching, “and we are delighted that Martin will be joining us next season. He is a player with a proven pedigree, a winning attitude and an excellent work ethic.”

Javed Omar, the Bangladesh opening batsman, has been included among the 23 probables for the home series against Zimbabwe. Omar had been in and out of the one-day side since the tour of Zimbabwe in July, and was excluded from the subsequent tour of Kenya and the Champions Trophy in India.Faruque Ahmed, the chairman of the selection panel, felt that there was no need to experiment with new players at this stage. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility of adding a couple of players to the preliminary squad later, with the aim of building a squad for the World Cup. He added that separate squads would be picked for the warm-up and Twenty 20 games, with most of the players coming from outside the list. All 23 players in the preliminary squad have played international cricket.”I think there is no scope for us to drop anybody or bring any new face into the team right at the moment because the present lot is doing fine,” Ahmed told , a Dhaka-based daily. “We will even try players from outside the list if needed because we will definitely take the home advantage.”Faruque added the final squad for the first three one-dayers will be picked on November 18 or 19. The tour kicks off with a warm-up game at Savar on November 26, followed by the first ever Twenty20 international in Bangladesh, two days later. The first of five one-dayers begins on November 30.Squad Habibul Bashar (capt), Shahriar Nafees (vice-capt), Khaled Mashud (wk), Javed Omar, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Mashrafe Mortuza, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Manjral Islam Rana, Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Nafis Iqbal, Alok Kapali, Enamul Haque, Tapash Baisya, Nazmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Saqibul Hasan, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain.

Injured Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is unlikely to play at his home ground in Multan in the fourth ODI against the West Indies on Wednesday. “My injury has improved but I will make a final decision in the morning,” Inzamam said.Inzamam injured the little finger of his left hand when he dived at cover to stop a full-blooded aerial drive from Marlon Samuels during the third match at Lahore and received three stitches. Apart from Inzamam, Pakistan will be without Mohammad Yousuf, who will stay in Lahore to be with his pregnant wife, and Younis Khan, whose brother recently passed away. Abdul Razzaq, the allrounder, will lead the team if Inzamam pulls out.The spate of absences has resulted in a recall for Shahid Afridi and Faisal Iqbal, the middle-order batsman. “We have called up Shahid Afridi and Faisal Iqbal and hope that the youngsters take this opportunity and help Pakistan wrap up the series, but for that they will have to work hard,” said Inzamam, whose team lead the five-match series 2-0.Afridi was dropped after the Champions Trophy, the first time in two years for anything other than an injury or suspension. But he has struck a rich vein of form in domestic cricket for Habib Bank and lies third in the bowling averages after five games with 22 wickets at an average of under ten. And despite starting poorly with the bat, he has just hit a 91-ball hundred in the ongoing game against WAPDA, whose attack includes Mushtaq Ahmed and Shabbir Ahmed. He scored a fifty in a low-scoring first-innings total and also picked up three wickets.Iqbal, 24, has played 17 Tests and ODIs for Pakistan, with a hundred in each form of the game. Though he last played a Test against England this summer – he hit an unbeaten 58 in Pakistan’s only innings of the controversial Oval Test – he has not featured in ODI colours since October 2003.Pakistan won the second match at Faisalabad by a narrow margin of two wickets before recording an emphatic seven-wicket win in the third match in Lahore. The first match was washed out in Rawalpindi.Bennett King, the West Indies coach, said his team remained motivated despite the fact that they can at best only level the series. “The boys look forward to the fourth match and are determined to make sure they finish this leg of the tour with two wins,” King said.He added that Pakistan’s loss of key players was not a factor. “I look at what we have in the team and we need to control Pakistan to win the match and once we go out we will do that rather than thinking of their combination.” King also hoped that key batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has yet to play in the one-day series, would return after recovering from a knee injury. Squads
Pakistan (probable): Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Abdul Rehman, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami, Yasir HameedWest Indies (probable): Brian Lara (capt), Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Daren Ganga, Marlon Samuels, Runako Morton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Dave Mohammed