The National Cricket League (NCL), Bangladesh’s premier domestic competition, got underway with the defending champions in the four-day event, Dhaka, holding onto a draw against Khulna at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur .Batting first, Khulna declared at 303 for 9, relying on Shakib Al Hasan’s 78 and Abdur Razzak’s aggressive 78 coming in at number 9, to lift them from 64 for 4 and 170 for 7. Dhaka were in trouble on day one when they closed at 17 for 2 and things didn’t get any better the next day as Mashrafe Mortaza took four wickets on an unresponsive pitch to bowl Dhaka out for 174. Captain Habibul Bashar’s painstaking 67 stretched Khulna’s lead to 313 and the onus was on Mohammad Ashraful, who survived a torrid examination under fading light against Mortaza on day three to rally his side with 242 still required. Ashraful set the right tone on the final day and for the first time in the game, Khulna were feeling the pressure. But things evened up when Mortaza dismissed the Bangladesh skipper for 85 with the scoreboard reading 197 for 4. The pace trio of Mortaza, Syed Rasel and Dolar Mahmud were relentless and Dhaka lost two more wickets without adding much to the total. It was left to Mehrab Hossain (Jr.) and Mosharaf Hossain, the number 10 batsman, to hold fort as they passed a nervy last 14.5 overs to force a draw.But Khulna won the one-day match that followed. A watchful 71 from opener Imrul Kayash, 56 from Shakib Al Hasan and some feisty blows from Mortaza carried Khulna to 240 for eight. On a wicket where the bounce was on the lower side, Dhaka’s reply got off to a poor start. Javed Omar (3), Al Shahariar (1) and Ashraful (1) falling with 13 on the board, while Rasel and Mortaza were the pick of the bowlers once again. Rasel’s swing and nagging line got him a five-for while Mortaza picked up three as Khulna won by 39 runs.Barisal defeated the more-fancied Chittagong by five wickets at Bogra’s Shahid Chandu Stadium. They were led by a fine all-round performance from Sajidul Islam, who took seven wickets in the match and scored a vital unbeaten half-century in their first innings. Batting first, Chittagong were dismissed for 176, Islam finishing with figures of 4 for 42 and his new ball partner Talha Jubair taking three wickets. The only resistance came from Aftab Ahmed (61) and Nazimuddin (47). Islam returned to haunt Chittagong on day two, scoring an unbeaten 64 to take Barisal from 174 for 8 to 274 after Tareq Aziz’s five-for triggered a middle-order collapse. Shahriar Nafees top-scored for Barisal with 79. Chittagong fared much better in the second innings with half centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and Nazimuddin and useful knocks from the top-order giving Barisal a target of 220. With almost the whole day to get those runs, Barisal’s approach was composed and despite losing captain Nafees for 1; Hannan Sarkar (49), Raqibul Hasan (55) and Raisul Islam (54 not out) ensured the chase was a cruise.Barisal were brought back to earth in the one-dayer when their 224 was overhauled with 14 overs to spare thanks to a spanking 92-ball 133 by Tamim. However, the Chittagong win was somewhat overshadowed by the confrontation in the middle between Tamim and Jubair which apparently involved physical contact. Both players were later disciplined by the match referee and were suspended for two four-day matches or four one-dayers of the ongoing NCL.Rajshahi hosted Sylhet at the Divisional Stadium and underlined their strength by winning both the four-day and one-day matches. Play started an hour late because of rain and Khaled Mashud’s decision to bowl first was justified as Sylhet were reduced to 95 for six by pacers Delwar Hossain, Farhad Reza and Mohammad Shahjada. Sylhet crawled to 141 all out by close. Despite opener Jahirul Islam’s 67, Rajshahi were in a spot of bother at 190 for eight on day two. Mashud’s gritty 82 that took 241 balls and his 80-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Hossain, tilted the balance as Rajshahi reached 301. Sylhet, 160 behind, needed their top-order to fire if they wanted to stay in the game but only captain Rajin Saleh (68) stuck around for any length of time as left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo got into the act with four wickets. Rajshahi’s reached the 99 required with eight wickets to spare.

The one-day match was a closer contest, with Rajshahi edging home by two wickets chasing 169. The small target became a stiff one for Rajshahi when they slumped to 98 for 8, but Mushfiqur Rahman had other ideas and maintained his cool in a match-winning unbeaten 50. He was involved in an unbroken 71-run stand for the ninth wicket with Mohammad Shahjada, who smacked a six and three fours as Rajshahi scampered home in the last ball of the 48th over. Earlier, Slyhet crawled to 168 with Sharifullah top-scoring with a 90-ball 56.Player of the week Mashrafe MortazaAfter a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka and the World Twenty20, Mortaza regained his form in the opening round tussle against Dhaka at Mirpur, where he never held himself back on an unresponsive pitch. His four for 36 in the first innings was followed by an even more terrific effort in the second innings, where he bowled 24 overs on the final day. The shape away from the bat with the new ball and the deadly reverse-swing at great speed with the old one had the Dhaka batsmen gasping. In the one-dayer, Mortaza continued to impress as he hit 35 off 25 balls and then destroyed Dhaka with figures of 3 for 35.

Points table

National Cricket League

Note: Points include bonus points for batting and bowling and points for the first-innings lead in the drawn gameNational Cricket League one-day

Not even Stephen Fleming, who was widely considered one of the modern game’s most astute leaders, has led New Zealand to a series win in South Africa. But the recently installed captain, Daniel Vettori, has no qualms about taking over the reins ahead of his side’s three-Test tour which gets underway in November.”I have thought about the responsibilities and have planned how I want to do things,” Vettori said at Sydney before flying out to South Africa. “I like to think I have always thought about the game. Really, it is not too much of a step up.”Vettori took over the one-day captaincy from Fleming after the World Cup and, in September, the selectors decided to install him as the Test captain too. But although he only has limited experience in captaining Northern Districts at first-class level, he isn’t alien to the role and has substituted for Fleming on occasions.”While I haven’t done the job full time, I have done enough to take confidence from what I have done,” he said. “But I’m not silly enough to see it [the captaincy] as a bed of roses. It is more of a progression. We know Stephen Fleming is going to retire at some stage and I’m pleased to have been given the opportunity to follow him.”One criticism levelled at his leadership in the past has been a tendency to underbowl himself, an accusation he stringently denies. “Anyone saying that has probably got it wrong,” he said. “I think the thing I have done well is bowl at tough times. I have no problem managing my own bowling. I’m happy to bowl after 10 overs if the situation so demands, just as I’m happy to bowl at the death.”New Zealand will play two Tests, a Twenty20 international and three one-dayers on their South Africa tour. Preceding those are two warm-ups against South Africa A, the first of which is at Potchefstroom on October 25.

Kumar Sangakkara, whose magnificent unbeaten century has ensured Sri Lanka are still in the hunt in the second Test, admitted that the contest was not over yet.Sri Lanka set an improbable fourth innings target of 507 for victory finished the fourth day promisingly placed at 247 for 3. They require 260 runs with seven wickets in hand going into the last day to pull off an upset win and level the series.”You’ve got to be realistic that 507 is a massive ask. The direction in which we will go tomorrow is basically up to us,” Sangakkara said. “If we can get through to lunch without losing a wicket depending on the amount of runs we get it becomes a lot clearer.””I really don’t want to be a soothsayer and say what will happen tomorrow but we always go into the middle with a lot of belief and we try our best. The bounce is just starting to get lower it would be a bit of concern for the batters. Other than that it is pretty much straight line with the ball. They probably bowl very good reverse [swing] at the end but if we can get through that again, the batters coming in will back themselves and be confident to get runs on this track.”It would have been nice if we could have finished with one wicket or two wickets less. We were in a position to do that when Marvan [Atapattu] was batting pretty well, but we are still in it with a fight. We’ll see how the first session goes tomorrow, if we can fight through that without losing a wicket then the day will look much better.”Without the likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and a out of sorts Stuart MacGill whose 16 overs cost 93 runs without success, Australia depended heavily on the pace of Brett Lee. He obliged his captain with two successive wickets in one over getting rid of Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene.”The period leading upto Marvan’s dismissal was probably one of the toughest that I’ve played with Brett running in and probably giving everything he had in that spell,” said Sangakkara. “Australia was desperate for a wicket and Ricky [Ponting] turned to him. He managed to deliver what was asked of him. That was a magnificent contest between bat and ball unfortunately Marvan lost out at that point.”One of the most enjoyable things was to be out there in a contest like that, battling it out and trying to get on top of a bowler like Brett. That was possibly the best passage of play of the Test match.”The batters will always feel a lot more confident against any side that does not have Warnie and McGrath. When they were playing the batters enjoyed the contest, but to be fair we know what we are up against. But it’s going to be one of those days where we try to bat all through an hour at a time and start reassessing every time we go through a tough period.”Sangakkara missed out on the first Test through a hamstring injury and showed how much the team missed him when he followed his first-innings knock of 57 with an unbeaten 109 today.” I was a bit more fluent in this innings than the first where I was scratching around a bit and had a lot of luck getting to 57. I was pretty cut up that I threw it away. It was a good enough start to go and get more runs. Mahela showed everyone how to apply themselves and bat on the track. This innings was getting to little landmarks like 20s and 30s forgetting about everything and battling through sessions and through tough bowling.”He admitted that the team was disappointed they could not help Muttiah Muralitharan get the nine wickets he required to break Warne’s record of 708 Test wickets. Muralitharan picked up just four wickets in the series conceding 400 runs.”We always have an enormous amount of love and respect for Murali. He is champion enough to understand that his efforts are to help the team win. We are very disappointed for him. He’s disappointed with himself but it’s not the end of the world for him.”He’s got many more years to go and he’s got three Tests coming up against England. The record for him is given. Unfortunately we couldn’t do it in Australia which would have probably been the ideal way for him to achieve it. Our focus was on trying to win a Test match and if we were going to focus entirely on the fact that this is Murali’s record that would have probably taken something away from the team focus.”

Warwickshire have released Vaughn van Jaarsveld, five months after he signed a two-year deal and pledged his allegiance to England.His relationship with Warwickshire became increasingly difficult when, earlier this month, it was reported that van Jaarsveld decided to return to South Africa and his club, Gauteng. According to the county, not only did he breach his contract but he also failed to speak to his superiors directly and Warwickshire’s directors were left to discuss the situation with their opposite numbers at Gauteng.”We are disappointed by the way Vaughn has conducted himself but once he returned to South Africa for the winter he clearly had a change of heart over his long term plans,” Colin Povey, Warwickshire’s chief executive said.”He will be missing out on a fantastic opportunity here with Warwickshire but we only want players who are fully committed to the [club’s] cause. Having agreed the appropriate compensation with Vaughn and Gauteng Cricket we will now move on.”Van Jaarsveld, one of South Africa’s brightest batting hopes, denied he was using English cricket to further his career when he signed with Warwickshire in June. “I’m here to qualify as an Englishman,” he said. “I’m going to be spending at least 210 days a year here and the aim is to play for England. I just want to play cricket at the highest level possible and there are more opportunities here.”This development is the latest to fuel the argument that there are too many Kolpak players in county cricket.

Northern Districts‘ 313 was, astonishingly, not enough to stave off a charge by a rampant Canterbury, who hunted down the total with four balls to spare and five wickets in hand. Canterbury faced the huge total courtesy of Daniel Flynn’s 149 from 141 balls, but were handed a strong platform by Michael Papps’ 90. With eight balls to spare in Christchurch they brought up the 300, and four balls later the job was done. The bowling figures were nothing to write home about, only Shane Bond recording an economy of under five while Andrew Strauss missed out on the runfest with a duck.Centuries for Aaron Redmond and Alex Gidman in Dunedin, helped Otago leapfrog Central Districts into second as their 321 proved insurmountable. Warren McSkimming helped restrict the visitors with two wickets including that of topscorer Greg Hay.Auckland overhauled Wellington‘s 247 in Wellington in the final over to stay top. Lou Vincent set the platform with 72 and Rob Nicol added a fifty while Graham Napier’s four wickets were in vain.

Newly-appointed chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) cricket committee Aravinda de Silva said that one of his prime concerns was to restructure school cricket.”We have to develop our coaching sector. Like medical science, the coaching system keeps changing with new methods and we’ve got to keep pace with it. We have school cricket coaches but only some of them are knowledgeable,” said de Silva. “What is important is that you need more specialised coaches at the lower level than at the top level. You don’t need much coaching once you reach the top if you have received proper coaching at the start.”De Silva was appointed to the post last week by the SLC interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga. The rest of the cricket committee comprises past Sri Lankan cricketers Sidath Wettimuny, Hashan Tillakaratne, Ranjan Madugalle, Guy de Alwis, Michael Tissera, Roshan Mahanama and Graeme Labrooy.Another important aspect de Silva said that he wants to improve is the pitches prepared for junior cricket. “The pitches prepared for school matches don’t give the batsmen much confidence to play shots.”De Silva, who is consultant coach to the Sri Lanka Under-19s side preparing for next month’s junior World Cup in Malaysia, stated that while he did not see any dearth of talent in the squad, half the side was prone to injuries due to lack of proper conditioning, training and fitness levels.”I cannot perform miracles within such a short time. But the boys are keen to learn. Their basics are good and I don’t want to make any drastic changes and complicate things at this stage. The problem with the batsmen is that they think of too many things (rather) than go out there and hit the ball,” De Silva said. “If we are to prepare properly for a World Cup we must start concentrating on our present Under-17s squad and prepare them for the next junior World Cup in two years.”De Silva said that SLC interim committee chairman Arjuna Ranatunga had been very supportive of U-19 cricket and had come to witness the matches played by Sri Lanka in the on-going U-19s tri-nation series against Pakistan and England. “Arjuna is keen to improve the standard of junior cricket,” said de Silva, who played most of his cricket for Sri Lanka as deputy to Ranatunga.

England Lions 271 for 7 (Carberry 103, Chavan 3-38) beat Mumbai XI 268 for 8 (Tare 78, Richardson 3-36)
Scorecard

A hundred from Michael Carberry helped England Lions to a three-wicket win over a Mumbai XI at the Brabourne Stadium. The match was one of three hastily arranged following England’s exit from the Duleep Trophy.While Carberry took the plaudits, the headlines were made by Andrew Flintoff, who returned to action after a five-month lay-off with ankle problems. He did little aside from taking a catch at second slip, but the fact he was back will put a spring in the step of England supporters.”It was good to see Fred back playing again,” David Parsons, the manager of the side, said. “It was unfortunate that when he went in we had a run-chase on and he didn’t get many runs. But judging by the look on his face when he went out to bat, he was just happy to be out there again, and he came through without any problems.”Carberry made 103 – his second hundred of the tour – and received good support from James Hildreth and Adil Rashid As the Lions chased down a stiff target of 269. The game went to the last over and it took a six from Liam Plunkett off the penultimate ball to see England home.

Match facts

Saturday March 22, 2008
Start time 0930 (local), 0330 (GMT)

The big picture

Bangladesh defeated Ireland by 84 runs in the second one-day international in Mirpur on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the best-of-three series. The series win, albeit against non Test-playing opposition, should have put smiles on the faces of Bangladesh’s passionate fans given the losing streak their side was on. Mohammad Ashraful has been under immense pressure and his scores would have alleviated some of that. Ireland, after a good run in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, have struggled against the hosts. Their main contributions have come from the lower order – namely Alex Cusack and Andre Botha – and the top order is a worry. Their bowling has been workmanlike, with no bowler really bothering Bangladesh. A win in the final game would boost spirits before they return home.

Form Guide – Ireland

Last five completed matches: LWWLLPlayer to watch: Cusack has scored the most runs for his side in the short series, offering stability down the order. Ireland’s top order has yet to get going and Cusack has played two crucial innings, showing an appetite to stick around. In the first game he played a patient knock of 38 off 61 balls, helping Ireland to 185, and in the second he and Botha added 52 in just over ten overs. A promotion up the order may not be a bad idea.

Last five completed matches: LLLWWPlayer to watch: Shahriar Nafees leads the run tally with 150 from two games: a fluent unbeaten 90 sealed an eight-wicket win in the opener and his 61 led a top-order rally. Nafees’ driving and flicking has been pleasing on the eye, and his fluency a good come back from the batsman who won Bangladesh’s cricketer-of-the-year award for 2006.

Team news

With the series already wrapped up Bangladesh have the option of resting some players but given the poor form they have been in going into this series, they may well look to build on their returns in the first to games. Ireland are likely to keep the same XI.Bangladesh (probable XI) Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Raqibul Hasan, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak.Ireland (probable XI) William Porterfield, Reinhardt Strydom, Eoin Morgan, Niall O’Brien (wk), Kevin O’Brien, Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston (capt), Dave Langford-Smith, Greg Thompson, Kyle McCallan.Weather: Saturday’s predominant weather is forecast to be light showers, with a high of 91°F.

Quotes

“We are 2-0 behind but the third game is a massive one for us because we want to leave Bangladesh on a high.”Trent Johnson, Ireland captain
“We had beaten a lot of weak teams in the lead-up to the World Cup and the habit helped us in the tournament proper. By beating Ireland we want to get that habit back.”
Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh captain

Division One

Mark Ealham put his former county to the sword as Nottinghamshire built a lead of 272 against Kent at Canterbury. When Darren Stevens claimed his fourth wicket the visitors were 219 for 7 and the advantage looked like being held to manageable proportions. However, Ealham added 87 with Paul Franks and 93 with Darren Pattinson, who followed his five wickets on the opening day with a sturdy 33. Ealham’s century took 196 balls – he survived a stumping chance on 99 off James Tredwell – before Chris Read declared in his first match as captain. Kent survived 10 overs before the close but face a tough task to salvage something from the match.Click here for a full report from the match between Hampshire and Sussex at The Rose Bowl.For a full report from The Oval, where Surrey have piled on the runs against Lancashire, click here.

Division Two

Worcestershire had to do without Simon Jones on the second day against Warwickshire at Edgbaston – he was suffering from a stiff neck – but that did not prevent them from polishing off the home side for 215 and then extending their lead to 184 after closing 150 for 2. Gareth Andrew grabbed three wickets in seven balls to help Worcestershire to a first-innings lead of 34, and then half-centuries from Stephen Moore (66) and Vikram Solanki (75*) in a second-wicket stand of 141 added to Warwickshire’s poor day.Ravi Bopara and Jason Gallian, two players at opposite ends of the career spectrum, pounded Northamptonshire with an unbroken stand of 266 as Essex took control at Chelmsford. The early stages of the season are an important time for Bopara as he tries to re-establish his credentials following a troubled winter with England. He brought up his century from 164 balls, following his three wickets yesterday in what is becoming an impressive all-round game. Gallian is one of county cricket’s long-serving members and is starting life at his third county following lengthy spells at Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. His hundred was a more sedate affair, taking 220 balls, but helped his new side take a strong hold on the match.At Bristol, Derbyshire’s batsmen showed much more fight after their first-innings capitulation, but they still face a tough task to avoid defeat after closing on 235 for 4, a lead of 45. It took Derbyshire almost all morning to take the last four Gloucestershire wickets, by which time the home side’s first-innings lead had grown to 190. Derbyshire were wobbling on 67 for 2, but Chris Rogers and Dominic Telo (65) put on 129 for the third wicket to erase the deficit, Rogers bringing up his hundred off 155 balls. Marcus North removed Telo, driving at a wide one, and then held a sharp caught-and-bowled chance to end Rogers’ innings.Tom New’s maiden Championship hundred helped Leicestershire reach 246 for 1 in reply to Middlesex’s 312 on a bitterly cold day at Grace Road. It was Leicestershire’s day from the off as they took the remaining five Middlesex wickets for 48 – the visitors lost eight for 72 – and then New and 22-year-old Matt Boyce added 143 for the first wicket. Steve Finn removed Boyce for 69 soon after tea but HD Ackerman took to the bowlers. He was 63 at the close with New, who brought up his century off 228 balls shortly before the end of the day, on 104.

Shoaib Akhtar has apologised to Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, during the second meeting of an appellate tribunal at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The three-man tribunal, headed by Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, is reviewing Shoaib’s appeal against a five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan board on disciplinary grounds.Farrukh, while announcing that Shoaib had submitted a written apology to the Pakistan board’s legal counsel, said the tribunal had decided to adjourn till April 30, when the board’s arguments will be heard. “After a heated two-hour discussion on the charges levelled against the fast bowler, the situation took a turn when Shoaib asked for an unqualified apology to all public, to the PCB chairmam, and all his team-mates for anything which may have caused embarrassment for them.”Shoaib’s lawyer, Abid Hasan Minto, later read out a statement on his behalf. “I would like to apologise from the bottom of my heart for any grief or embarrassment that may have been caused to the nation, particularly to the PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf. I have resolved to alter my habits to refrain from such incidents in future and I will obey the PCB rules and regulations.”Meanwhile, Farrukh said the tribunal would make its own decision regardless of the PCB’s response to his apology. “It doesn’t mean that after submitting the apology, Akhtar will be exonerated, but still, it is an important development.”His apology means that Shoiab has satisfied one clause of a PCB notice which sought an unconditional appeal from him. The notice had also sought damages of Rs 200 million (approximately US$3 million) for “defaming” Ashraf and “sullying the name” of the Pakistan board and Pakistan cricket in general. Shoaib had, in an interview to the Express News channel, alleged that the ban was punishment for not having shared his Indian Premier League earnings with Ashraf.