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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
A century from Tom Cooper was unable to win Netherlands their Intercontinental Cup game against Namibia in Windhoek, as the hosts won by 82 runs on the fourth day. Netherlands were set 320 for victory and began well with a 52-run opening stand in 46 balls. Stephan Myburgh struck 41 off just 29, but the team was in trouble soon after, slipping to 54 for 3. Seamer Louis Klazinga picked up two of those wickets.Cooper then took charge of the chase with a century that included 12 fours and a six, but there simply wasn’t much support from the other end. He added 59 with Daan van Bunge, but lost his partner and captain Peter Borren in quick time. He put together 56 with Tim Gruijters and 53 more with Mudassar Bukhari before he fell himself, the seventh wicket with the score on 232. The star for Namibia was 23-year-old left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz, who took 5 for 58, his fifth haul of five wickets or more in first-class cricket. Cooper was among his victims, and Netherlands were bowled out for 237.Namibia have now won three out of five games, while Netherlands are yet to open their account in the competition.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKusal Perera hammered 64 off 44 as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 17 runs•AFP

A marauding Kusal Perera set the platform for Sri Lanka’s 198 for 5, which proved 17 runs too many for the valiant Bangladesh batsmen, in the one-off Twenty20 in Pallekele. His 64 from 44 balls saw Sri Lanka travel at nearly 11-an over during the Powerplay, before their middle-order allrounders exploited generous bowling to close the innings at a gallop. Though three Bangladesh batsmen threatened to rally a forceful response, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah all fell before their side could mount a serious challenge.Kusal’s onslaught began from the second delivery which he whipped aerially off his pads behind square, before he picked up the fifth ball and deposited it in the stands and then blasted the next behind point for four. Like a young Sanath Jayasuriya with a ballet coach, Kusal flitted about the crease – venturing swiftly out of it on occasion – before sending the ball hurtling, with a rapid swing of the blade.At 25 for no loss at the end of the second over, Mushfiqur introduced Sohag Gazi to change the pace of the game, but Kusal welcomed him into the attack with a mighty slog-swept six over cow corner. When Abdur Razzak came on to bowl, he was spared first ball, but slammed into the grass bank behind deep midwicket next delivery.The fours flowed too: over cover, through point, behind square on the leg side – five in total, to go with four sixes. Kusal reined in the big shots when the field spread, rotating the strike first with Dinesh Chandimal, then Lahiru Thirimanne, and the first shot he mishit in the game was the one that brought his demise. He top-edged a cut shot off Mahmudullah, three balls after having sent him high over deep midwicket. When he departed at 100 for 4 after 12 overs, only a middle-order collapse would have restricted Sri Lanka to an average total, and the Bangladesh bowlers’ generosity ensured that would not eventuate.But despite the tall Sri Lanka total, Bangladesh batted so well, they might justly feel aggrieved at the officiating. The match was marred by contentious decisions – at least two of which had the potential to change the game’s narrative dramatically. The clearest of these was Ashraful’s lbw, which came off a thigh-high Thisara Perera full toss. Ashraful had struck two sixes and a four off the three previous deliveries, signalling an imminent sustained barrage, but it was cut short when the umpire ruled him out despite the ball having struck his thigh pad outside the line of the stumps.Earlier, debutant Shamsur Rahman had been given out to his first ball in international cricket, after being struck above the knee roll, some way outside the popping crease. The first ball of the match, however, had been a close call for Kusal, and two more marginal decisions in Sri Lanka’s innings went the hosts’ way.Bangladesh began their innings more slowly than Sri Lanka, hitting only 45 from their Powerplay overs, for the loss of Shamsur and Jahurul Islam. When Ashraful fell in the seventh over, Mushfiqur assumed the aggressor’s role, but soon after, Mahmudullah also began scoring quickly. Mushfiqur first struck two fours in three balls off Sachithra Senanayake, before lifting a low full toss from Shaminda Eranga over the long-on fence two overs later. Angelo Perera had not had a chance to bat on debut, but his part-time left-arm spin disappeared for 17 off Mushfiqur’s blade in the 13th over, to complete a six-over stretch that saw Bangladesh maul 72.But in two balls in the fifteenth over, Bangladesh lost both set batsman, and with them, their hopes of a triumphant end to the tour. Mushfiqur top edged a gentle full toss from Senanayake to deep square leg, and next ball, a mix-up while attempting a third ended with both batsmen stranded mid-pitch, and Mahmudullah eventually given out, having not crossed his partner. With six wickets down, Mominul Haque then faced a required run-rate of 12 with five wickets to go and the tail for company. He finished unbeaten on 26 from 16, having hit three boundaries that made the end result perhaps seem closer than it was.During Sri Lanka’s innings, Bangladesh’s spinners combined through the middle overs to force several setbacks, but a dropped catch off Angelo Mathews in the deep, borne from miscommunication between long-on and midwicket, cost the visitors a chance to keep Sri Lanka to a manageable score. Next over, with six wickets remaining and only four overs to go, Jeevan Mendis felt it appropriate to throw his bat early in the over, sweeping Razzak over midwicket, then blasting him over cover, to herald Sri Lanka’s final charge.The fast bowlers’ indiscipline hurt Bangladesh further, as they continued pitching too short throughout the final overs, with several wayward deliveries served up as well. Mendis pulled Rubel Hossain high into the stands early in the 17th over, before murdering a short wide one through point next ball. When he got out, Thisara completed a sorry night for Shahadat Hossain, when he launched his over of criminally poor bowling into the night for 24, to leave the bowler with no wicket for 54 from four overs. Mathews, who had held the innings together after Kusal fell, finished on 30 from 27 deliveries.

As he walked out to bat in his first Test innings, Moises Henriques felt like his legs were made of jelly. The first-afternoon pitch looked like something that had been played on for a full five days already. R Ashwin was spinning Australia into a trance. Wickets were falling much too quickly for their liking. Plenty of fans and pundits back home had questioned the selection of Henriques, not that he was thinking about that as he walked out. Still, by the end of his innings of 68, he had silenced a few critics.In the post-war era, only three other Australians had scored as many as Henriques on debut from No.7 or lower. Two of those men, Greg Chappell and Adam Gilchrist, went on to become legendary figures in Australian cricket. The other, Greg Matthews, had a more than handy career over the course of a decade. Of course it is much too early to judge what sort of Test player Henriques will become, but he has made a fine start. If he can add a few wickets he will be hard to budge for the rest of this tour at least.Throughout his innings he batted with the captain Michael Clarke, who must have been impressed by the patience displayed by Henriques during his 132-ball innings and their 151-run partnership. Clarke, who in the lead-up to the match said batsmen who made a start in this series could not afford to throw it away, will be pleased with the way Henriques admonished himself after falling lbw to a sweep.”I certainly think I had the opportunity to make it my best innings [in all cricket] but it was a little bit disappointing, I really wanted to get through the day and make sure we finished five wickets down,” Henriques said. “I could have been a little bit more ruthless at the end. But if someone said you’re going to have 60-odd on debut I’d take it.”He didn’t try to copy Clarke’s nimble-footed approach against the spinners but he benefited from his captain’s ability to throw Ashwin and his colleagues off their rhythm. Henriques said Ashwin had been a handful but he believed the pitch would also offer some assistance for Australia’s fast men, given that Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar both found some reverse swing as the day wore on.”He [Ashwin] is a little bit taller and puts some really good work on the ball, the ball is fizzing and can bounce or not bounce, or spin or not spin,” Henriques said. “But the other [spinners] are still really disciplined. It wasn’t their day today but guys like Harbhajan have taken 400 Test wickets and come day three or four when the wicket is really starting to play some tricks, they’re certainly going to come to the game.”[There was] not much seam movement or anything like that but both their quicks were getting it to reverse and I think with our quicks they’ll probably penetrate the wicket a little bit more than what those guys did. Hopefully with guys like Jimmy [Pattinson] and Peter [Siddle] and Mitch [Starc] with a little bit more airspeed, there [will be] reverse swing. The key with reverse swing is to try to bowl to new batsmen with it and be smart with your fields.”Henriques batted on a surface that threw up clouds of dust whenever the players kicked away a stone, and it will only become much more difficult to bat on as the match progresses. Australia reached 316 for 7 at stumps and if Clarke and the tail-enders can push the total up towards 400 on the second day, India might have their work cut out for them.”The footmarks and the loose ground out there is something like a three-day wicket,” Henriques said. “Even back home in Australia you wouldn’t see that on day three or four. To have that loose soil out there, come days four and five the ball’s going to start playing some tricks.”

ScorecardChris Gayle hit 12 sixes in his first BPL innings this season•BCB

Chris Gayle powered to his tenth Twenty20 hundred in Dhaka Gladiators’ Race to the Final, but despite the huge target of 197 the Sylhet Royals gave spirited chase, and ultimately fell just short of the 24 runs they needed in the final over. With five runs needed off the last ball, Elton Chigumbura swung Mashrafe Mortaza to deep midwicket, where Darren Stevens held the catch to seal Gladiators’ berth in the final of the BPL.Royals captain Mushfiqur Rahim had batted steadily for most of the chase, keeping his side on par with the Gladiators at the 10th and 15th-over marks. He had an 82-run stand with Dwayne Smith, who made 41, for the third wicket and added 46 runs with Nazmul Hossain Milon.With 55 to defend in the last four overs, the Gladiators got two good overs from Alfonso Thomas and Shakib Al Hasan. Thomas bowled a good penultimate over to give his captain Mashrafe Mortaza 24 runs to defend in the 20th. He nearly made a mess of it, bowling a crucial no-ball when Anamul Haque had caught Mushfiqur, who was eventually run out off the next ball for 86 off 44 balls. Chigumbura was dropped soon after by Raqibul Hasan at deep square leg but was not able to hit the final ball over the boundary.The result validated Gladiators’ last-minute buy – Gayle. The Jamaican blasted 114 off 51 deliveries, hitting 12 towering sixes. His ninth six was the longest in the tournament at 103 metres and it nearly reached the second tier of the stands behind long-on. It was the third hundred of the season, and the highest so far.The Royals’ fielders stood with hands on hips and necks craned, following the path of those big hits. They had been on top until the 10th over, having reduced the Gladiators to 64 for 5. Tillakaratne Dilshan was out off the first ball of the innings to Sohag Gazi, before Mohammad Ashraful was caught at fine leg off Chigumbura. Shakib Al Hasan blasted 38 off 21 balls with four sixes but he was cleaned up by debutant Sajidul Islam, who then removed Stevens off the next ball. Anamul’s dismissal in the ninth over was a major blow, but it just opened up the arena to two of the biggest hitters in the field.The Gayle-Kieron Pollard partnership played out two quiet overs, but the pair got going in the 14th over, taking 24 off Suharwadi Shuvo. Gayle scored 23 of those, striking three sixes and a boundary. He smashed Nazmul Hossain Milon for 29 runs in the 17th over, and took 16 off Sajidul in the next, also bringing up his century. He soon got out, and the Gladiators’ tail couldn’t take the total past the 200-run mark.The result meant the Royals will have to face the winner of the knockout match between Chittagong Kings and Duronto Rajshahi.

USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty has cited insufficient investment to cover initial operational costs and a lack of turf wicket venues in key markets for another delay to the proposed domestic Twenty20 league. ESPNcricinfo reported last week that Cricket Holdings America LLC, the partnership headed by USACA and New Zealand Cricket to stage a Twenty20 league in the USA, has pushed back the starting date for the league from 2013 to 2014.According to Dainty, who is also the chairman of CHA LLC, the organisers did not want to rush the start of the league with partial funding. They hope for enough revenue to make up the balance so that incidences of players not getting paid in time – as in last summer’s T20 All-Star exhibition match in Toronto and reportedly, in the Bangladesh Premier League last year – can be avoided.”The bottom line is that we did not get all the money to have a quality league,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “We got enough money. We can go start a league but you’ve heard the stories. Players not getting paid, vendors not getting paid. In America, that could be trouble. We don’t want to get involved because we’re not a Full-Member country and we’re really not trying for people to say, ‘Well this is a Mickey Mouse league.'”Besides operational costs, the other key issue revolves around the type of facilities available. While CHA LLC chief executive Neil Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last year that the proposed league would be played on artificial pitches in order to take advantage of bigger metropolitan markets, Dainty has said that it would be harmful to the league’s image if games were not played on turf.”As long as the ICC says it’s turf wickets, I’ll vigorously defend that position,” Dainty said. “If the ICC changes to artificial wickets, then I’ll change but I don’t think we should be going and starting a league with artificial wickets, at least not in America. I don’t think that our cricketing pedigree is as such that we should be initiating those changes.”Currently the only ICC ODI approved turf wicket venue in the USA is in Florida. Dainty says that more funds should be raised for installing turf wickets in the New York metropolitan area, rather than use any artificial wicket venues that currently exist in the city, for the league to be successful and seize the sizable expatriate fan base there.”You need these wickets to have a quality league. As far as I can see, most of the games are going to be played close to each other, maybe New York-New Jersey, New York- Washington D.C., depending on whether we can get wickets rather than spreading ourselves all over the country. I don’t think we should compromise quality of play and turf wickets, I don’t think you can have the best quality without turf wickets.”Even though the league is expected to be the key driver of revenue to USACA from licensing fees through the CHA LLC agreement, revenue can also be generated from staging other events. Dainty says he is confident there will be as many as three series arranged this year in the USA which may include Full Members or “international club teams”, hinting that IPL franchises may be sought to tour in the same way that European soccer teams have often played exhibition fixtures around the USA outside of their own domestic seasons.The concept of having IPL teams tour the USA was first broached in 2010 when former USACA chief executive Don Lockerbie met with former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. Although CHA continues to target New York as the base market, Las Vegas has been identified as an ideal destination to host a one-off series. A new cricket stadium would need to be constructed in Las Vegas if such a series were to take place.”I feel confident that that’s one of the places [Las Vegas] we’re gonna have cricket this summer,” Dainty said. “This summer we’re hopeful to maybe have one or two events in Vegas. Vegas is hot in terms of putting a facility together. We have a couple of strong groups putting packages together to have cricket in Vegas, a couple of strong groups that the CHA LLC supports.”If any series are organised for this summer, they would be the first genuine CHA LLC revenue-generating events since the partnership was formed in December 2010. The pair of Twenty20s held in Florida last summer between the West Indies and New Zealand were organised by the West Indies Cricket Board after CHA LLC, which holds the rights to stage Full-Member matches in the USA, sold those rights for the series to the WICB for $1.”It was more important to have the games and to make it work than to make money, so technically it’s a loss but that’s the way we had to do business. It’s the game first and building the game. Everybody’s treating this as maybe the next El Dorado. The streets are just paved with gold and once you find the city you’re rich. Well, we’re planning to build a city.”

A reserve day, October 27, has been added for the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 in case of a washout in either of those matches. Rain has been predicted for the next two days in Durban and Centurion, the two venues for the games. Delhi Daredevils take on Lions on Thursday and Sydney Sixers play Titans in the second semi-final the following day.The CLT20 Governing Council also confirmed that if a match failed to start, the spectators will be refunded in full.In case both matches need to be played on the reserve day, the Daredevils-Lions match would be played first, at 1330 hrs local time, and the other match following it at 1730 hrs. If just one game will be played on the day, it will commence at 1730 hrs.”We looked at all options in ensuring that both these semi-finals are played, and we are satisfied that setting aside this Saturday as the reserve day is the best available option,” CLT20 tournament director Naasei Appiah said.”Historically, this period has not been a rainy period in South Africa, so reserve days have not been scheduled, but we have been extremely unlucky in this regard.”

ScorecardMatthew Maynard stands in memory of his son at his memorial game at The Oval after completing a bike ride in his honour•PA Photos

In a game celebrating the life of Tom Maynard, the Surrey and England Lions batsman who died tragically in a dawn accident on the London underground in June, Surrey secured a resounding victory over his first county Glamorgan.This was a day in which this CB40 group tie was essentially a complement to the main event: the completion of a 150-mile bike ride from Cardiff to The Oval in aid of the Tom Maynard Trust, which was set up after the death of one of England’s most promising young batsmen.At the front of the cyclists, who numbered more than 20, was a teary Matthew Maynard, his father, accompanied among others by the former England and Glamorgan batsman turned journalist, Steve James and former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.When they rode into The Oval, for a lap of honour, it signaled the official launch of the Trust, which has already raised £22,000. It has been created to give young cricketers opportunities to further their development, such as through equipment and playing and coaching overseas in the winter.Cheques for the first recipients – Surrey’s Matthew Dunn and George Edwards, and Glamorgan’s David Lloyd – were presented.Both sides also wore shirts to commemorate Maynard – all Surrey’s players wore 55, Maynard’s Surrey number, with T.L.M., his initials, on the back; Glamorgan’s wore 33, his shirt number there, and Maynard on their backs. Both shirt numbers will be retired in Tom’s honour.When play began, after a minute’s applause in Maynard’s honour, the highlight of the match was an enthralling duel between Kevin Pietersen and Simon Jones.Pietersen’s arrival, after Steven Davies’s miserable form continued by being bowled by Graham Wagg, was the source of much excitement. Glamorgan may have got a little over-excited, because Wagg immediately switched from his left-arm seam to left-arm spin, hoping for a repeat of Pietersen’s first ball dismissal to Hampshire’s Liam Dawson on Sunday. But, even against left-arm spin first ball, Pietersen can be trusted to thrash wide long hops to the boundary.Pietersen had advanced to 18 by the time Jones was introduced to the attack. He flicked Jones’s first ball to the leg-side boundary in characteristic style, and a thumping straight drive off Jones also stood out in his 43.But it was ended by a terrific delivery from Jones, which pitched on middle-and-off and took out the top of offstump. Jones was impressive in his six overs, in which he also claimed a return catch from a slower ball that deceived Jason Roy and was wrongly denied the wicket of Matt Spriegel lbw. It is unlikely, but not totally unthinkable, that he could yet play for England as a Twenty20 specialist.Surrey’s batting has been unreliable all season, and today was no exception. Rory Hamilton-Brown, on a particularly difficult day for him, as a housemate and former school pal of Maynard, was dropped first ball and provided a reminder of his buccaneering strokeplay in hitting 28, by far his best score since his return to the side.As is often the case, it took sensible batting from Matt Spriegel, whose 51 contained only one boundary but much industrious running, to haul Surrey up to a respectable total. In domestic one-day cricket Spriegel has quietly become an excellent player, as his characteristically frugal opening spell of off-breaks further illustrated: he was deservedly named man-of-the-match.Support from Zafar Ansari, with a perky 30, and Stuart Meaker, who struck three powerful legside boundaries, helped Surrey reached 219-9.With the pitch turning prodigiously, Glamorgan never threatened to challenge Surrey’s total. Chris Cooke was their only batsman to look assured, with his straight-driving oozing class; that he was run-out rather summed up Glamorgan’s run chase.Gareth Batty with three wickets in two overs, including a sharply turned off-break to dismiss Stewart Walters, showed that he could have been of use in England’s World T20 squad. Only some late-order frolics from Graham Wagg and Dean Cosker pushed Glamorgan over 100 and at least provided some excitement for the crowd, boosted by Surrey awarding 7,000 complimentary tickets to members of the local community.Surrey’s crushing victory did their net runrate a huge boost – something that could yet be important in giving them a chance to defend their CB40. It was a title that, as everyone at The Oval needs no reminding, Tom Maynard did much to help them win.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJonny Bairstow was always going to receive plenty of short balls but dealt with them well•Getty Images

South Africa must have sensed for much of an engrossing day at Lord’s that their ambition to displace England as the No 1 Test side in the world was slowly edging closer. Their fast-bowling attack has impressed throughout the series and once again they treated England’s batsmen to an unflagging examination.Jonny Bairstow begged to differ. He was the replacement for Kevin Pietersen, the character in a KP-produced soap opera who would be set up for a fall, and he knew that Pietersen’s supporters would regard him as a pale imitation of the real thing. His Test experience was only three matches old and it they had not gone awfully well. But against a formidable South Africa attack with the series in a critical phase he steeled himself to make an unbeaten 72 from 137 balls that kept England in contention.England’s fourth wicket fell at 56, just as South Africa’s had on the first day, but two identical scores had a different feel: South Africa had the sense merely of a troubled Test first morning; England’s smacked of a side labouring to turn the tide of a series that South Africa have dominated and produce a win in the final Test to claw it back to 1-1.Bairstow then added 124 in 38 overs with Ian Bell, who pored for 158 balls over 58 before Vernon Philander, whose consistent hammering of a good length has been ill rewarded in this series, finally put together a successful sequence that ended with Bell squirting a low catch to third slip.Bell was intent upon the long haul; Bairstow was initially more concerned with the next short one after a shaky Test baptism against the West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach. This time he had donned a chest guard and met all thrown at him with reasonable equilibrium. South Africa never quite directed the ball at Bairstow’s body with the same intent as Roach, but gone was the jerky, self-preservation that had characterised those anxious early steps in Test cricket.He played within himself until tea and then from the moment he pulled Morkel to the square leg boundary – a favourite area – he sensibly tried to steal the initiative. It would be quite a heist because South Africa have guarded it throughout. The new ball is nine overs away.It was a sweltering day, that rarest of things in a crabby summer. The skies turned a supportive shade of blue as England began to bat at Lord’s with Andrew Strauss in his 100th Test. More than eight years ago, he made a century on debut on his home ground. With the Test series in the balance, a capacity crowd hummed with respectable debate about whether he could possibly make another one.But by tea, Strauss’ day was also turning blue. South Africa were defending only a moderate first-innings total, but Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Alastair Cook and James Taylor were all dispensed with by the 24th over.South Africa pair up Dale Steyn against Trott as soon as possible and Steyn straightened one a fraction to have him lbw, an excellent use of DRS by Graeme Smith. Cook’s footwork had been stilted and he had only 7 from 40 balls when his disorientation was summed up by his chasing of a wide one from Steyn and a catch for Jacques Kallis at second slip. Taylor, after two boundaries in an over against Steyn, a nervous edge followed by one of his specialities, a back-foot boundary through point, edged Morne Morkel to first slip.As for Strauss, once again it was his old terroriser, his old adversary, Morkel, who did for him. In the last over before lunch, he brought one back down the slope to demolish Strauss’ stumps and, in the process, destroying any assumptions in north London that in the wake of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, history could be so pre-ordained.In one delivery, Morkel had reminded us that Test cricket was a hard school where statistics had to be earned. Morkel has been Strauss’ perpetual nightmare. He began his innings with 112 runs against Morkel at an average of 17. As he walked to the pavilion, he was in no mood to update the statistics; the media will do that for him.Smith allowed himself a stern smile of satisfaction. South Africa’s captain had again preferred Morkel for the new ball ahead of Steyn and even though Morkel was initially inconsistent, he tightened up as the short pre-lunch session, 10.4 overs in all, developed. Strauss played and missed and was struck in the ribs, his unease again evident.South Africa had been dismissed for 309 on the second morning with Philander taking his best Test score to 61 before he was last out, stumped trying to lift England’s offspinner Graeme Swann, into Regent’s Park.The total represented a fine recovery after they had lost half their side for 105 on the opening day. At 262 for 7 overnight they added another 47 runs in 13.4 overs. Philander, 46 not out at the end of the first day, reached his half-century by pulling Stuart Broad through square leg. Broad’s pace, again noticeably down in his 50th Test, was causing growing conjecture about his state of health only a month before he is due to lead England in World Twenty20.The first day had concluded with Steyn struck on the body by Steven Finn and successfully protesting that with two Lord’s floodlights inoperative it was too murky to continue. The second morning began with Steyn peppered by James Anderson and flinging a glove up to protect his face.Steyn became the eighth batsman to fall, pouched by Swann at second slip as he edged a drive at Broad and when Morkel also began to provide useful late-order runs, South Africa’s resilience was again beginning to put England’s four-strong attack under pressure. But Finn, although not at his best, picked up his fourth wicket with a wide ball delivered from around the wicket as Morkel’s edge was expertly intercepted in front of first slip by Matt Prior.

Sachin Tendulkar is among five Indian players who will be compensated by the BCCI for missing IPL and Champions League T20 matches in 2011 due to injuries sustained while representing India, has reported. The others to benefit from the board’s decision are Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra.ESPNcricinfo understands that a decision to compensate players who miss the IPL after getting injured while on India duty was taken during thr BCCI’s working committee meeting earlier this month. The report quoted an unnamed BCCI official as saying, “A few senior players — Sachin [Tendulkar], MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, and Ashish Nehra etc. — had met [Shashank] Manohar [the former BCCI president] and N. Srinivasan before theWorld Cup to discuss a few issues like that of the physios and players’ insurance. At the meeting, the players were assured that if any of the contracted players got injured while playing for India, he would get compensation for the money he would thus lose for missing matches for his IPL franchise either in the 2011 IPL or the Champions League T20.”The paper reported that the compensation package for the players totalled Rs 7 crore ($1.26 million).The board has already insured 37 contracted players for 2012 and pays a premium of approximately Rs 4 crores ($720,000). Tendulkar was not able to take part in CLT20 2011, which his side Mumbai Indians won, due to a toe injury that he sustained during India’s tour of England. Zaheer, who was injured during the first day of the Lord’s Test in 2011, also missed the tournament while Munaf and Sharma were the other players to pick up injuries from the England tour. Nehra, however, missed the entire IPL2011 season after fracturing his finger during India’s semi-final match against Pakistan in the World Cup.

The captain, coach, manager and selectors of the Bangladesh Under-19 team have been asked to explain the side’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals of the Asia Cup less than two months before the U-19 World Cup starts in Australia. Captain Asif Ahmed, coach Zafrul Ehsan, manager Najmul Abedin Fahim, and junior selectors Ehsanul Haque and Sajjad Ahmed Shipon have been asked to appear before the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s directors.Bangladesh were eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Afghanistan by seven wickets in a Group B match. There was a strong rumour that the board had sacked some of those who were asked to explain the team’s performance but it was denied quickly. However, BCB president Mustafa Kamal said there will be some changes in the team that will go to Australia.”We will announce the team very soon and there will be some changes. We will arrange some practice matches in Khulna,” Kamal said. “The biggest problem I realised after talking to them was injuries to some key players as well as Anamul Haque being in the [senior] national team. I think his addition will make the team stronger.”BCB director Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir has been given charge of the U-19 side till the World Cup as the development committee chairman Aminul Islam Moni is sick.”We have to take corrective measures ahead of the World Cup in Australia,” Kamal said. “We want to implement as much as we can to improve their performance. We have tried to reshape a few things by asking our director Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir to work alongside the current chairman, who is not well.”Kamal also informed that the West Indies High Performance team will visit Bangladesh while the South Africa women’s team will also tour the country to play practice matches ahead of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September.