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An ECB delegation comprising John Carr, the board’s cricket director, and security manager Reg Dickson are presently in Sri Lanka making a security assessment ahead of England’s tour of Sri Lanka, which starts in the final week of September.Sri Lanka Cricket tour organizing committee chairman Shibley Vilcassim said the delegation had expressed great satisfaction over the security arrangements made for the tour. “We had a meeting at the SLC headquarters on Friday where they met representatives of the bomb squad, Sri Lanka army, ministry security division and heads of all regional police stations where the matches are to be played.”The delegation also visited the match venues and hotels where the England team will be staying. Games are scheduled to be played in Colombo, Dambulla, Kandy and Galle.Vilcassim said that they would have a final meeting on Monday. Also associated with the meeting were SLC CEO Duleep Mendis and SLC security coordinator Shane Dullewe.The ECB’s visit comes against a backdrop of escalating violence on the island following the collapse of a ceasefire between the government and rebel forces. The UK’s foreign office advises tourists to take extreme caution, warning “there is a high threat from terrorism … terrorist attacks occur throughout the country, including in areas and on travel routes popular with tourists.”England head to Sri Lanka for a five-match one-day series straight after the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. They will then return at the end of November for a series of three Tests.Vilcassim also confirmed that work on the Galle Stadium would be completed in time for the third Test.

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.”

Mick Lewis, who played two County Championship matches earlier in the season, has stepped in for the injured Ashley Noffke as one of Durham’s overseas players. Noffke hurt his lower back in the match against Derbyshire last week and the early indications were that he would be out for three weeks.However, there have been suggestions the problem could be serious enough to rule him out of the early stages of Queensland’s season. David Harker, the Durham chief executive, said they hadn’t given up hope of getting Noffke back to continue their impressive run in the four-day competition. “Ashley is certainly keen to return to the squad as soon as possible,” he said.Picked to play against Somerset this week, Lewis is a ready-made replacement after taking 14 wickets in his two appearances when chosen as early-season cover for Noffke, who was again injured. Durham, whose other overseas player is Mike Hussey, currently lead the competition and are 12 points ahead of Lancashire.

In the past decade-and-a-half, Ashes post mortems have reminded us about Mike Gatting being the last English captain to win a series against Australia. But Gatting was the last captain to do something else. In the Boxing Day Test of 1986, he won the toss and sent Australia in, and watched Gladstone Small and Ian Botham bundle Australia out for just 141. That set up a thumping Ashes-winning victory for England, by an innings and 14 runs; and it was the last time Australia lost a match at home when they were sent in to bat.If Marvan Atapattu had checked the stats for teams inserting Australia, post 1986, he would have come across the figure of 389. That’s the average Australian score when they have been asked to take first strike in a home Test since 1987. Seven times out of 19, they have scored more than 400 and neither the pitch nor the bowling has caused any problems.Atapattu’s predicament today was pretty similar to Nasser Hussain’s at the Gabba in 2002-03, but there have been many more captains whose decisions have backfired. Interestingly out of the 19 instances of Australia being put in, 12 have come in the first Test of the series – and Australia have won seven of them.Sri Lanka have won just six matches out of 21, after asking the opposition to bat (and three of those instances were against Zimbabwe).If we take a look at all teams from the beginning of 1987, Australia are streets ahead of the rest when it comes to their win-loss ratio, home and away, when put in. In 31 matches they have won 16 and lost just three (a ratio of 5.33). Sri Lanka stand in sixth spot, with 0.62, while India are way down in ninth spot with a win-loss ratio of just 0.10.So the moral of the story is: if you are a numbers man – or even if you aren’t – don’t ever send these Aussies in.

Over the weekend the prospects of Chris Read being named as the successor to Alec Stewart as England’s wicketkeeper as soon as the second Test were being talked up in many newspapers. But on Sunday Read damaged his hand during Nottinghamshire’s National League game against Sussex, and an X-ray has revealed that he has broken his thumb.That rules him out of contention for the Chester-le-Street Test, as well as making him extremely doubtful for inclusion in the squad for the matches against Pakistan and the NatWest Series which is announced on Thursday (May 29).”It’s really bad luck for Chris, because he’s made an excellent start to the season,” Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket told the BBC. “I believe if he was fit he would have been named as England wicketkeeper. I hope once the thumb heals he will be involved in the national set-up.”

The technical committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation which met inKolkata on Thursday, decided that the matches of the Asian TestChampionship will be supervised by neutral umpires.The last time the tournament was played two years ago, the umpireswere from the ICC. This time, the committee decided to use one umpirefrom the ICC and the other from the countries playing in thechampionship."This is being done to give more exposure to the umpires in this part of the world," said Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the ACF which implements the ACC programmes.However, he informed that both the umpires would be neutral. "An India-Sri Lanka match will be conducted by an ICC umpire and one from either Pakistan or Bangladesh." The match referee will however be from the ICC.Dalmiya also said that for all the ATC matches, members of thetechnical committee will be present as observers. "In the first matchbetween India and Pakistan, Asanta de Mel will be present. In thesecond game between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Zaheer Abbas will don themantle. The India-Pakistan match will be attended by Sunil Gavaskarand Gazi Ashraf Hussain of Bangladesh.The ACF also selected three development officers to promote the game invarious parts of the continent. The three are Roger Binny (India),Iqbal Sikander (Pakistan) and Rumesh Ratanayake (Sri Lanka). However,Dalmiya added that all those who had applied for the post would beused for coaching. It should be mentioned here that from India, AshokMalhotra, WV Raman and Madanlal had applied for the post.Amongst the other decisions taken was the tie up between the ACC andthe New Zealand Sports Turf Institute to prepare grounds and wicketsin various parts of the Asia. A workshop for coaches and physicaltrainers will also be conducted. "The coaches workshop will beconducted by people from Australia," said Dalmiya. He also added thatDr. Vece Paes has been appointed by the ICC to look after the physicaltraining and the sports medicine aspect. He will also train thephysical trainers, he added.

Virat Kohli has won his last three Test matches as India’s captain, and his team leads an important series against South Africa, but appreciation of his players’ skills has been overshadowed to a certain extent by talk of the conditions that helped them achieve their latest win in Mohali. Kohli, though, is not unduly bothered by the lack of praise coming his team’s way.”It’s only disappointing if you are looking to take what is written or said to heart, or think about it too much,” he said, on the eve of the second Test in Bangalore. “We focus on the process and don’t really think about what’s being written or what’s being said.”The fact of the matter is we won a Test match and that’s what we feel good about as a team. We are not worried about any external factors or what’s being discussed about things that are not in our control. If someone chooses to say or write about something which they feel is a topic of interest, that’s their choice. It’s up to us if we take it to heart or sit down and feel disappointed. We are not at all disappointed. We won a game of cricket. We are very happy about it.”One of the overlooked factors in India’s Mohali win, according to Kohli, was their seam attack. Though Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron only picked up a wicket between them, in a total of 20 overs across two innings, Kohli felt they still contributed by keeping the runs in check – they only conceded 40 runs in those 20 overs.”If those 20 overs go for 100 runs then you are not in a position to win a Test match,” Kohli said. “So they played their role perfectly. It is important for the three guys bowling the most of the overs to have two guys after them who can also maintain the same momentum and control the run rate as well, which is very important in Test matches.”Either Umesh or Aaron will have to make way in Bangalore for Ishant Sharma, who returns to the side after serving a one-match ban. Kohli looked forward to the return of senior pace bowler, whose 13 wickets at 23.23 were crucial to India’s success in Sri Lanka.”With Ishant coming in, he brings in a lot of experience,” Kohli said. “He’s bowled well in subcontinent conditions, knows how to reverse-swing the ball, can lead the pace attack. The combination can or will change according to the conditions. So I would rather have a guy who will give me control in an important time in the game rather than someone who will just get the overs out of way. That combination has worked for us.”We are just trying to figure out, according to the pitch and conditions, who will be doing more of the bowling and what stage in the game. I’m very delighted that Ishant is back. The way he is bowling and the way he bowled in Sri Lanka brings a lot to the table. It is not just about the spinners. We have quality seamers as well. We saw that in Mohali as well. For those two [Umesh and Aaron] to rush the batsmen on that sort of a wicket, takes a lot of heart, takes a lot of effort. So I was really happy to see that personally.”Also critical to the Mohali win were M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara. The second-wicket pair added 63 in the first innings and 86 in the second, utterly vital partnerships in a low-scoring match.”We all are very proud of both of them, the way they batted in the last game,” Kohli said. “We can learn a lot from them, the way they applied themselves. The batsmen didn’t apply themselves as much as we wanted to as a batting group and we are aware of that. But not taking credit away from the way both of them batted. I think they kept us in the game throughout and that is very important I think, two guys standing up in each innings.”Their contributions in both the innings were very crucial to us. I cannot be relaxed as a captain because I have to bat at four, so if I relax I will probably not be in the right kind of mindset to go out and play. But it is a nice feeling to see two professionals building a partnership and it is always a good feeling to know that you have two guys in front who know how to score runs and who know what they are doing out in the middle. It is always a very calming influence in the change room for the guys sitting outside or the bowlers.”I hope they can keep going in the same way, they are doing a wonderful job. Vijay has been so consistent for us, Pujara has made a tremendous comeback, he is willing to play at any position and give the team a kind of flexibility. That is a great attitude to see from both of them, looking to improve each other and stringing in those consistent performances which are indeed making the team win. I am really, really happy about that and I hope they can continue in the same way.”With AB de Villiers set to play his 100th Test, Kohli had words of praise for his Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate, calling him a “genuine and good person”.”I want to congratulate him on playing his 100th Test,” Kohli said. “As an individual, I know him well. He’s a very genuine and good person. As an opponent he plays hard cricket. As a batsman, he’s among the top four-five batsmen in the world. I cannot say much more than that. His game and the kind of person he is are there for all to see. For me, he’s a very good cricketer and a very good person.”

Several domestic records were in the offing on a lively first day of the four-day Supersport Series match between the Northerns Titans and the Free State Eagles at Supersport Park on Friday.Sent in to bat, the Titans finished the day on 291 all out. But there were a host of personal triumphs within both teams.Free State fast bowler Victor Mpitsang took a personal first-class best of five wickets in the innings. Mpitsang finished the day with figures of 5-64 in his 18 overs, eclipsing his previous first-class best of 4-37 against Western Province in the 1998/99 season.But the Titans had a magnificent eighth-wicket partnership of 121 runs between wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk and spin bowler Nigel Brouwers to thank for enabling them to end a once shaky innings with a respectable total.The diminutive Van Wyk surged past his previous first-class best of 20. The stand ended when Brouwers was dismissed for 59, and Van Wyk went four balls later for the same score.The Titans started the match as slight favourites, playing at their home ground and having not lost a game this season. But their comprehensive 153-run victory over the Griqua Diamonds, and their 139-run triumph over the Highveld Strikers counted for nothing against the pace of Mpitsang.The home team were in disarray on 42 for two after only 13 overs. Opener Rudi Steyn top-scored with his 66 runs off 104 balls, including 11 fours and one six.Steyn steered Northerns into the lunch break at 102 for three, with the wickets of Jacques Rudolph, Martin van Jaarsveld and Quentin Still all going cheaply.Steyn’s departure shortly after lunch increased the pressure on his captain Gerald Dros to reproduce the kind of form that saw him score his maiden first-class century against the Strikers last week.Dros was going well on 34 off 57 balls when he became the second victim of the Mpitsang/Brophy connection, which claimed four wickets on the day. The Free State Eagles saw out the remainder of the day’s play on 54 without loss.

Ishant Sharma, the Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler, has been fined 10% of his match fee for kicking the stumps down during the IPL match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Saturday. Clive Lloyd, the match referee, found Ishant guilty of a level 1 offence (clause 2) as per the ICC’s Code of Conduct, which relates to abuse of ground equipment.Ishant’s is the latest in a series of penalties handed out to players over the last few days in the tournament. Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians offspinner and stand-in captain, was suspended for 11 matches for slapping his India team-mate Sreesanth, who is with Kings XI Punjab. Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne, the captains of Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively, were each fined 10% of their individual match fee over a disputed dismissal in a match in Jaipur.

Australia’s Under-19 squad will undergo a reconnaissance mission in Malyasia in September to prepare for next year’s Youth World Cup. The outfit will contest two one-day games against Malaysia, who will host the global tournament in February, on the way to a five-match series with Pakistan in October.”Playing in Malaysia will provide a valuable opportunity for the coaching staff and players to gain experience in the conditions,” Geoff Tamblyn, the youth selection panel chairman, said. The final squad for the tournament will be picked after the national under-19 championships in December, but all players on the Asian tour will be available.”Our fast-bowling stocks have been boosted with Kane Richardson and James Faulkner both available for selection after injury,” Tamblyn said. “It’s exciting they are getting the opportunity now after missing out on the team’s previous tour.”Australia beat Pakistan 3-2 in a one-day series in Queensland in April and the return leg will give the players another chance to test themselves against the world champions. A 13-man squad was picked for the tour while Jeremy Smith and Jamie Smith, who has played three limited-overs games for South Australia, were placed on standby. Michael Hill has a rookie contract with Victoria, Faulkner is on a similar deal at Tasmania and Philip Hughes, who scored two centuries against Pakistan, is on the books of New South Wales.Australia Under-19 squad Isaiah Borgas (SA), Daniel Burns (NSW), James Faulkner (Tas), Josh Hazelwood (NSW), Michael Hill (Vic), Philip Hughes (NSW), Anthony Murphy (WA), Dom O’Brien (Qld), Sam Robson (NSW), Clive Rose (Vic), Kane Richardson (NT), Kumar Sarna (Vic), Mitchell Starc (NSW), Jeremy Smith (Tas, standby), Jamie Smith (SA, standby).