Fertile, but poor, Bangladesh straddles the estuary of the River Ganges. It is a country of almost 150 million crowded into an area not much larger than the British Isles with a rich cricket history. Although it only gained independence in 1971, it was originally part of Bengal and after partition became East Pakistan. The ground at Dhaka, which hosted Pakistan Tests, fell into disrepair after the wars which led to independence but cricket emerged as a unifying force and in 1976-77 an MCC side played games in front of massive crowds at Dhaka. Official tours by various countries playing unofficial Tests followed, and in 1976 Bangladesh became an Associate member of the ICC and took part in the inaugural ICC Trophy in 1979, reaching the semi-finals in 1982 and 1990. With huge enthusiasm among the population, Bangladesh’s claims for Test status were greatly boosted when they won the ICC Trophy in 1997 (they had been playing ODIs for a decade) and that dream came true in 2001.

Bangladesh only began an official national first-class tournament in 1999-2000 as they prepared to become Test cricket’s 10th Full Member. In the first year games were not first-class, but from 2000-01 all matches were and the competition is league based with six sides playing each other home and away.

As with the first-class competition, six teams playing each other home and away once in a league.

The minnows meet again. Bangladesh will host Zimbabwe in a five-match one-day series starting in November, the Bangladesh board announced on Sunday.Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh 3-2 on home soil earlier this year in a warm-up for the Champions Trophy but when the teams clashed in that tournament in India, Bangladesh claimed the upperhand with a convincing 101-run victory.And now Zimbabwe will once more have to contend with subcontinental conditions when they head to Bangladesh at the end of the month. The Reuters news agency reported that the series will kick off with a Twenty20 match on Sunday November 28 in southwestern Kulhna which will also be the venue for the first ODI.The second and third ODIs will take place in northern Bogra on December 3 and 5, with the final two matches in the capital Dhaka on December 8 and 9.

The Pakistan Cricket Board organised a seminar at Lahore earlier this week to assess the state of the game in the country. Called ‘Creating a Winning Team: The Future of Cricket in Pakistan’, the seminar had participants from all over Pakistan and abroad and included former players, administrators and journalists.Coming barely two months into the tenure of the new PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf, the seminar looked at ways and means of improving the infrastructure at the grassroots level, of obtaining commercial backing to do that, and the role of coaches and captains. Formulating a strategy to win the World Cup, to be held in the Caribbean in less than six months’ time, dominated the discussions.The absence of legendary former captains like Imran Khan and Javed Maindad, and of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer, obviously deprived the seminar of crucial inputs. It also provided ammunition to sceptics who denounced the seminar as just another ritual and a publicity-seeking exercise.

Sri Lanka may look the better side on paper ahead of the first Test at Christchurch – with New Zealand missing bowlers Kyle Mills, Michael Mason and allrounder Scott Styris to injury – but their poor away record may go against them.Since May 2004, Sri Lanka have won six Tests out of the 16 they have played away from home – two each against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while one each against Pakistan and England. They lost 1-0 to New Zealand when they visited the country in 2004-05 – an innings defeat at Wellington where Lou Vincent made 224, his highest score in Test cricket.”Our record in that area isn’t as good as we’d like it to be in that area,” the Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody told the . “But we did pretty well in England and we’re looking forward to making more progress in New Zealand.”Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper-batsman, said what the team had to do was quickly adapt to the conditions that they were to play in. “With the volume of cricket we’ve played [England, South Africa and the Champions Trophy] and the conditions we’ve been through, we’ve adapted very well. Right now the guys have no complaints. The thing is to stay positive, choose the right ball in the right zones and commit 100 per cent to scoring off them.”Sangakkara did not keep wickets in Sri Lanka’s tour match against Otago, the gloves instead being handed over to Prasanna Jayawardene, who had stood behind the stumps for the two Tests against South Africa at home in July this year. While Upul Tharanga, the Sri Lankan opening batsman, got a century against Otago, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara managed half-centuries in the drawn match. Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas sat out the game.New Zealand are certainly not taking the two-Test series easily. “We beat them quite comprehensively [in 2004-05] but it’s probably not a true reflection of the side they are at the moment,” said Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand left-arm spinner. “The last time we saw them they were probably at the start of an upward curve.”Chris Lewis, the turf manager of Jade Stadium, said that the pitch will favour batsmen. “If the seamers get to bowl first on it they’ll like it but after a couple of days it will flatten out and keep going and going,” Lewis told the Stuff website. But Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, was sceptical that the pitch would offer assistance to the bowlers on the first two days. “The Waikari [soil] can be deceiving,” said Bond. “I’ve turned up to games here where it’s green and you’ve won the toss and its done nothing.”With Mills and Mason out, Bond is likely to partner with Iain O’Brien for the new ball.

If India are to win a series on the road for the first time against one of the southern hemisphere’s big two, they’ll have to do it the hard way. Since South Africa’s readmission to the international fold, this picture-perfect venue has been a fortress, with 10 wins and three draws from 16 Tests. The three losses can be discounted, having come against mighty Australia, though Graeme Smith was clearly a little perturbed at the pre-match briefing about the pitch resembling the one on which Stuart Clark routed his side a few months ago.On the eve of the game, with bright sunshine beating down and not a cloud obscuring the view of Table Mountain, there was a generous smattering of grass on the pitch, and there’s a small depression at one end that could result in up-and-down movement as the game wears on. Even if Tuesday dawns sunny and bright, the captain winning the toss will be sorely tempted to bowl first, though the urge to make first use of moisture in the pitch will be tempered by the possibility of having to bat last on a surface that will help the slow bowlers far more than those at the Wanderers and Kingsmead.Rahul Dravid spent a fair bit of time checking out the pitch, sitting down next to the stumps in Matthew Hayden fashion, after practice was over, and he has a selection quandary to deal with ahead of the toss tomorrow. On form, or lack of it, Virender Sehwag would have to make way for Gautam Gambhir. But unlike a Justin Langer, who replaced Michael Slater and went on to form the greatest opening partnership of the modern era with Hayden, Gambhir is no proven performer. Sehwag’s undisputed ability to score destructive centuries might just prevent the axe from falling.Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the other doubt, having bruised his hands badly in the second Test, and though he came through the practice session, the soreness in his hands might just result in Dinesh Karthik making his first Test apperance since Zimbabwe in September 2005. If that happens, Karthik may even open, with Sehwag dropping down to a middle-order slot where he won’t have to contend with the new ball.As for Munaf Patel, he bowled with his left ankle taped up, but the team management are clearly convinced that he can play a part here after having spent the last few days doing the hard yards at the nets. VRV Singh will be the one to miss out.South Africa had a few injury concerns of their own, though one of the hometown heroes, Jacques Kallis, recovered sufficiently to take back his place in the XI. It’s who he replaces that will be watched closely. Andrè Nel has bruising on the bone in his foot, and his aggression and endurance will be sorely missed if he has to sit out the game.If Nel does fail a late fitness test – and the convener of selectors, Haroon Lorgat, is no fan of players going into games carrying injuries – Hashim Amla will keep his place in the XI, despite not having played one innings of note in the series. Amla’s cause will also be helped by the fact that he made 149 in his last outing here, a high-scoring draw againstNew Zealand.

Two other changes are likely. Andrew Hall will make way for Paul Harris, the tall left-arm spinner who was on a Kolpak deal with Warwickshire. Harris, who will make his debut, didn’t appear to be a big turner of the ball at the net session, but given India’s dubious record against left-arm spinners in recent times – Ray Price, Michael Clarke, Ashley Giles and Nicky Boje have all enjoyed some measure of success – South Africa clearly reckon it’s a gamble worth taking.The last change will be one of the hardest to make. Smith announced that Dale Steyn was back to full fitness, and ready to displace Mornè Morkel from the XI, but Morkel’s batting in Durban will certainly have to be considered before the choice is made. From time immemorial, South Africa have shown a preference for bowlers who can bat a bit, and Morkel’s clearly a cut above Steyn when it comes to wielding the willow.The last time India played here, Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin shared an unbelievable 222-run partnership, with Tendulkar going on to make 169 before a freakish catch from Adam Bacher ended India’s innings 170 runs short of South Africa’s 529. They went on to lose by 282 runs.Back then though, their third seam-bowling option was Dodda Ganesh. The very fact that the outstanding Munaf might have to bowl first change here tells you all you need to know about how far Indian cricket has progressed since. To go even further, they’ll need to do what no team other than Australia has done. On the evidence of what happened on a lively pitch at the Wanderers though, you’d be foolish to write them off.Teams
South Africa (likely): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Herschelle Gibbs, 7Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Makhaya Ntini, 10 Paul Harris, 11Dale Steyn.India: (likely): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid(capt), 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Sourav Ganguly, 7 MahendraSingh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 MunafPatel.

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Barbados completed their expected three-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago at Crab Hill to avenge a sequence of defeats in recent times against their old rivals, but Hendy Springer, their coach, feels his men can play better.It took Ryan Hinds’s team only 39 minutes to reach a target of 191 after resuming on 163 for 4, but they lost a few unnecessary wickets in the process before winning the first-round Carib Beer Series match by three wickets.”It was a very good victory,” Springer told NationSport. “A lot of our plans came together, but I still feel we could have played some more attention to small parts of the game. We should have fielded a lot better. We dropped some important catches that could have cost us the game.”Ryan Hinds and Dwayne Smith batted freely but both weren’t around to hit the winning runs; Hinds was trapped lbw by Dave Mohammed, the left-arm chinaman, with one run required.Smith, who won the Man-Of-The-Match award for his seven wickets and innings of 38 and 35, earlier holed out to deep midwicket before Kirk Edwards was bowled behind his back.Barbados’ victory, however, was set up the previous day when they dismissed Trinidad and Tobago for 144 in their second innings and erased most of the target.Hinds, the Barbados captain, however, was not altogether happy with the way the team batted. “Many of us got starts, but they gave their wickets away softly.”Trinidad and Tobago, who beat Barbados twice last season en route to winning the Cup and the Challenge, were let down by their batsmen, especially in their second innings.”Our batting was circumspect. In both innings, if you take away the individual brilliance of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, you will find that our batting lacked application,” Daren Ganga, Trinidad and Tobago’s captain, said. “That is an area of the game we have to try and improve on. We need to do some work. We need to do some soul searching. We’ve got to put it behind us.”
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Guyana’s newly-appointed captain Narsingh Deonarine and Azeemul Haniff stroked vital fifties for Guyana to deny the Windward Islands first-innings points as their first-round Carib Beer match finished in a draw, both teams picking up four points each.Set 393 in the rain-hit fixture at the Tanteen Recreation Ground, Guyana reached 246 for 5 when play ended at 5.30pm. While Deonarine made a responsible 56 and Haniff contributed an unbeaten 76 adding 88 for the fourth wicket. Windwards had declared at 392 for 8, 17 minutes after tea on the third day and the visitors crawled to the finish late on day four with Haniff and Mahendra Nagamootoo batting for 144 minutes in a 41-run partnership.Deonarine hammered six fours and a six from 81 balls and along with Haniff, who faced 246 balls in his first game at this level since 2003.Guyana began solidly from their overnight position of 35 for 1 and Krishna Arjune and Assad Fudadin carried the score to 66 with a confident 44-run partnership before Rawl Lewis, a Windward legpinner, forced Arjune to play an injudicious slog-sweep against the spin, skying a catch high to short cover.Arjune faced 98 balls and hit a solitary boundary in his 36 before he wasted his good start in sunny conditions. Fudadin (19) was then caught and bowled in the next over bowled by left-arm spinner Denis George as the hosts struck twice with the score on 66.Deonarine and Haniff joined forces and took their team to 83 before rain sent the players off the field 40 minutes before lunch.
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Omari Banks struck his maiden first-class hundred to star for the Leeward Islands as they drew with Jamaica in their opening Carib Beer Series match at St Mary’s Park.Banks, the Man-Of-The-Match, hit exactly 100 in the Leewards’ second innings score of 225 that set Jamaica a challenging 269 runs for victory in mid-afternoon.Jamaica, who trailed by 43 runs in their first innings made an initial rush at the target but the effort collapsed and they finished on 185 for 7.From an overnight 122 for 5, the Leeward Islands took the score to 147 before Darren Powell sent Morton, who struck four boundaries in his innings, back for 55, ending a valuable 93-run partnership.

When your batsmen score nearly 400 runs in 50 overs and your bowlers and fielders then lead you to a comprehensive win, it’s only understandable that the coach is pleased.Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, praised his side’s ODI batting line-up, fresh from mauling Pakistan to the tune of 392 runs, and added that they would not relent for the rest of the series.Arthur was particularly happy that the batsmen built on good starts and added, “Add Herschelle Gibbs to that batting line-up and you have something special.”Gibbs, having served his suspension for referring in improper language to Pakistan supporters, will be available when the second ODI is played in Durban on Wednesday. Loots Bosman is expected to drop out to make room for Gibbs, who will bat number four while Jacques Kallis will move to one-down.Arthur said his team had batted, bowled and fielded well. “We showed we had taken our fielding, in particular, to new heights. Now we plan to provide our best players with as much match practice as possible ahead of the World Cup tournament. Therefore, we won’t easily change the winning combination.Despite beating them by ten wickets and 164 runs over the weekend, Arthur warned against not taking Pakistan seriously. “We also realise Pakistan can regain their best form at any time and we are not taking them lightly.”We have to maintain that momentum and put Pakistan under even more pressure.”

ScorecardAlex Loudon’s 71 gave England A a sizeable 150-run lead on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh A at Mirpur before the home side’s openers fought back.Loudon lost his overnight partner, Tim Bresnan, for 32 when he was caught by Mosharraf Hossain off Dolar Mahmud. But Tom Smith hung around for nearly an hour, helping Loudon salvage the entrails of England’s innings who smacked seven fours and a six and was last man out for 71.Bangladesh fought back valiantly though, with Jahurul Islam and Mehrab Hossain jnr putting on 131 for their opening stand, albeit without the aggression England marked their innings with. Loudon ended a fine day by removing Jahurul Islam who was caught behind for 87 shortly before stumps.

Kent pace bowler Amjad Khan has been ruled out of the 2007 season following surgery on his cruciate ligament. He picked up the knee injury less than two weeks ago at a fast bowling camp in Chennai and flew home at the start of England A’s tour of Bangladesh.Khan, born in Denmark, is expected to be out of action for around nine months, meaning he will miss the first season where he was qualified to play for England. Khan has been highly talked about on the county scene and was being watched closely by various coaches.Kent chief executive, Paul Millman, said: “It is cruel timing for Amjad. Losing [him] for the 2007 season is a significant blow for the county but with the assistance of the ECB medical team we must now focus our attention on working hard with Amjad on his rehabilitation so that he can return to full form and fitness as soon as possible.”Simon Timson, the ECB Science and Medicine Manager, added that there is a strong team helping Khan’s recovery. “ECB and Kent medical personnel have been working closely together to ensure that Amjad receives the best medical care and will continue to do so to ensure that he receives the best possible support through his rehabilitation.”Nimmo Reid, Kent’s physiotherapist, will lead Amjad’s rehabilitation and will work closely with the ECB medical panel. The excellent rehabilitation resources at the National Cricket Centre at Loughborough University will be available to Amjad through his rehabilitation.”Last season Khan claimed 34 wickets at 30 in nine first-class matches and was named in England’s preliminary 30-man World Cup squad before finding a place on the A tour.

Buoyed by their success in the World Cup, Ireland are preparing to ask the ICC for financial help to take the game forward.Ireland beat Pakistan to reach the Super Eights, and added a victory over another Test side – Bangladesh – to their list of victims in the second round. Now Warren Deutrom, the Irish Cricket Union’s CEO, has said he will be looking to the ICC for support.The top six Associates – including Ireland – receive an annual High Performance grant of around £125,000 from the ICC as well as the same allowance of £70,000 paid to all Associate members. That aside, all money to run the sport has to come from sponsors and other fund-raising events.”I shall certainly not be backward in asking ICC in what ways it might assist in ensuring that Ireland’s performance curve improves consistently over the next few years,” Deutrom told Reuters. “This would be in the same way the ICC pumped in significant funding to both the USA and Kenya to move forward. After all, it’s what the HPP is for.”After the 2003 World Cup, Kenya, who reached the semi-finals, were fast-tracked by the ICC and given considerable additional financial backing. But that money was almost all squandered as the country’s cricket administration descended into chaos. And Project USA, the ICC’s initiative to boost the game in the US, was scrapped after rows over governance with the country’s board. The ICC is likely to be very cautious about making the same mistake again.”My goal is to create a small team of professionals focused on the commercial and administrative side that can ensure we have a firm foundation for all areas of the game in Ireland,” explained Deurtrom, a former events manager for the ICC. “That’s all that any administration should be about … providing the best possible environment for the game of cricket to thrive.”Ireland have high-profile ODIs against India and South Africa at Stormont later this year, and they hope to attract other major countries. That will give the ICU a chance to exploit the lucrative broadcast market. “There is no doubt that developing a broadcast partnership is the key to a secure long-term future finance and profile for the sport in Ireland,” Deutrom said. “In terms of properties, there are domestic internationals and the possibility of creating new properties attractive to television. I will certainly be keen to cultivate relationships with the heads of sport at all of the broadcasters in Ireland and with overseas broadcasters that might have a footprint in Ireland.”I have to say, though, our achievements in the 2007 World Cup have somewhat accelerated the timetable.”