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Simon Katich scored his first century of the season, and his first for his new club, to guide Lancashire close to Essex’s first innings score with wickets in hand

Les Smith at Chelmsford13-Jun-2013
ScorecardSimon Katich, pictured playing for Hampshire, scored his first century for Lancashire•PA PhotosSimon Katich scored his first century of the season, and his first for his new club, to guide Lancashire close to Essex’s first innings score with wickets in hand.Lancashire have the luxury of two left-handed batsmen who between them have 122 Test caps and just short of 35,000 first class runs. Ashwell Prince and Katich batted together for 33 overs and put on 110 runs just when the Lancashire innings was looking a little wobbly. The value of their partnership was underlined by the fact that after it ended their side lost five wickets for 57 runs as, while Katich continued on his way, there was a mini-collapse at the other end.It took little time for Lancashire to finish off the Essex innings in the morning. Glen Chapple had bowled beautifully on the first day with little reward but he mopped up the remaining two wickets for the addition of just five runs.Luis Reece, making his County Championship debut, lost his opening partner, Luke Procter, early but set off confidently and his 24 runs contained five boundaries. He was undone when Graham Napier entered the attack. He survived a very confident appeal for a catch behind but two balls later there was no doubt when he edged to second slip.This brought Katich and Prince together, men of contrasting physical stature and batting style. Katich stands tall and straight, and was particularly impressive driving through the off side. The shorter Prince was nimble on his feet and, while looking to get on the front foot, was severe on the short ball. He was missed twice off David Masters, first by Ryan ten Doeschate in the gully, then by Tom Westley at second slip on 49. Off the next ball he survived a huge lbw appeal, then a ball later he had his 50. Masters finally got his man when Prince edged to James Foster.Once he had gone the Essex bowlers took their chance to make more inroads into the innings, though they did have some help from a couple of the Lancashire batsmen. Andrea Agathangelou was skittled by a ball that stayed a little low, and Steven Croft edged to the wicketkeeper. Gareth Cross and Wayne White’s wickets were virtual carbon copies of each other: Reece Topley bowls, the batsman top edges the pull, and Saj Mahmood takes the skier at mid-off.Katich has previous first-class scores of 84, 93, 65 and 96 this season and looked determined to convert another good start into a century. He went to tea on 66 and in the first over afterwards lofted a drive narrowly over mid-off; it was the only time he looked remotely like being out. His hundred came up off 166 balls with 12 boundaries.There wasn’t quite a full day’s worth of play; six overs were lost to bad light. But there is still plenty of time for a result in a match that is very intriguingly poised.

Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, has expressed regret and guilt over the episode that resulted in him being suspended by the BCCI for all matches run by the board

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2013Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, has expressed regret and guilt over the episode that resulted in him being suspended by the BCCI for all matches run by the board. That suspension was revoked by the BCCI earlier this month after Praveen was given a stern warning.”It was wrong on my part,” Praveen told . “The episode should not have happened. I regret it now.”Praveen had breached the the players’ code of conduct in a Corporate Trophy match on February 4. Representing ONGC, Praveen had hurled abuses an opposition batsman, Ajitesh Argal, from Income Tax, which was followed by a suspension on February 10, a show cause-notice issued by the board, and a 100% penalty of his match fees.”I have learnt how to control my anger,” he said. “I need to be cautious while expressing my emotions on the field. It happens sometimes when things do not go your way. I have moved on from that incident as it’s history for me now. It won’t happen again.”Praveen said some of his Uttar Pradesh team-mates help him out from time to time. “I have with me four-five Uttar Pradesh team-mates who always advise me on what is right or wrong for me,” he said. “Sudeep Tyagi, Tanmay Srivastava and Suresh Raina create a homely environment for me and their advice has always helped me a lot.”After the suspension was revoked, Praveen represented Central Zone in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final in which he took 2 for 28 in seven overs, but in a losing cause. He is currently playing the domestic T20 tournament – the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – for Uttar Pradesh and picked up 3 for 22 against Railways on Sunday.

Lendl Simmons felt “free” during his match-winning innings on Saturday, an innings that guided West Indies to an easy win against Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2013Lendl Simmons felt “free” during his match-winning innings on Saturday, an innings that guided West Indies to an easy win against Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 in North Sound. Simmons was returning to the side after being left out of the preceding ODI series, and he said he relished compiling the knock of 63 not out.”I enjoyed my knock today, that’s the way I like to play. It was good coming back into the team. I was feeling like myself again,” Simmons said after the match. “I came into this game in good form and it was matter of me going out and expressing myself. Once I got myself set, I looked to bat as deep in the innings as I could.”Simmons had last played for West Indies on the tour to Bangladesh in December. After that he had a satisfactory Caribbean T20 for Trinidad & Tobago, finishing the tournament fourth on the overall runs charts with 182 runs at 30.33.On return, Simmons opened the innings and batted through, ending the chase of 131 with a straight six in the 17th over. After a couple of sixes in the Powerplay, he slowed down a bit, going from 18 off 13 to 26 off 31, before launching once again. His 63 runs came off 49 balls and included six sixes.”It is always nice to have a good understanding with your batting partner and [the other opener, Johnson] Charles said the small target could be tricky, so he said one of us should ‘go at it’. I said ‘let’s both go at it’ in the first six overs,” Simmons said. “The sensible thing to do was to go with the breeze rather than against the breeze, so I decided to target those boundaries.”Simmons, who has a career strike-rate of 69 in ODIs and 122 in T20s, said he knows he does not have a reputation as a big-hitter, but he trusts himself to dispatch the balls that suit him. “I am not seen as one of the power-hitters in the team, but when I get [bad] balls I know I can clear the boundaries. I decided to rotate the strike here against the offspinner [Prosper Utseya] and I said to [Dwayne] Bravo I would look to take the attack to the bowler at the other end [North End]. It worked for us today.”Dwayne Bravo was involved in an unbroken 85-run stand with Simmons, which took West Indies home with eight wickets and 23 balls to spare.Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said his team’s below-par batting performance was “frustrating”. Zimbabwe have been struggling to get off to solid starts with the bat all tour, with a top opening stand of 39 in four limited-overs games. Here they slumped to 28 for 3 in the fifth over, before Craig Ervine and Malcolm Waller attempted to repair the innings with a 60-run stand. None of the lower-middle order could build on the partnership though, leaving Zimbabwe with just 130 to defend.”It’s very frustrating that our top three batters are not getting starts,” Taylor said. “We can’t rely on our middle order to bail us out every time, but Waller and Ervine batted really well today.”We made it hard for ourselves, too many dot balls. It’s frustrating, we’re not playing as well as we can as a unit.”The one positive for Zimbabwe was fast bowler Chris Mpofu, who took both West Indies wickets while conceding 14 runs in his four overs. His performance came after a poor one-day series, in which he took two wickets at 61.00 with an economy rate of 6.65. Taylor had words of praise for him: “Chris is a good character, a strong character, and we knew he’d bounce back.”The teams will play the second Twenty20 on Sunday at the same venue.

Neil Wagner’s impressive display in the nets will have aided his chances of a recall to the Test side

Firdose Moonda07-Jan-2013When Neil Wagner was growing up, he looked forward to the day he would be able to rattle international batsmen. He may not have thought about which batsmen specifically but few schoolboys do.Yesterday, he was required to target the New Zealand line-up. Yes, New Zealand. His adopted country.In the hope of preparing Martin Guptill and co. for the hostile South Africans, New Zealand’s management asked their pack to bound in hard and show little mercy. Wagner did that best and his aggressive net performance could have a dual benefit. New Zealand’s batsmen were sufficiently stunned and Wagner may have taken a few steps forward as far as selection for the second Test goes.After New Zealand’s heavy loss in Cape Town, Brendon McCullum hinted they would shake things up. Although batting was their weakness, New Zealand don’t have many options and can only replace Guptill with BJ Watling at the top and bring Colin Munro into the middle order. McCullum said they are unlikely to do that though and if changes come, they will instead be in the bowling department.Jeetan Patel could make way for Bruce Martin as the spin option while swapping the pace men is not out of the question either. Although Chris Martin came back strongly in Cape Town and finished with three wickets, Wagner was bubbling under the surface and the possibility of a second left-armer combined with his practice session poison could see him make a Test return.Wagner has only played two matches for New Zealand, after being talked about as the next big thing. Shortly after he became eligible for the country in early 2012, he was included in the squad to tour West Indies. His first Test, in Antigua, was a tough outing that yielded only 1 for 144. He followed up with three in Kingston and felt a little more comfortable at the highest level.”Playing Test cricket was everything I’ve ever dreamed of, especially after the process of moving to Otago, qualifying for New Zealand and then getting picked. As soon as that happened, it was a mountain off the shoulders,” Wagner told ESPNcricinfo during the New Zealanders tour match in Paarl.”But it was also a learning curve because I’d never played in the West Indies before and conditions were way different to what I was used to. It was two pretty tough Test matches and we didn’t do as well as we wanted to.”New Zealand lost both matches and Wagner was one of the casualties of the aftermath. He was dropped from the starting XI for New Zealand’s India and Sri Lanka tours because he lost ground to Trent Boult, although he toured on both occasions. Now he is in contention again and senses that he is starting over, again. “It feels like the same road again and where another opportunity comes, I will have to grab it,” he said.Wagner knows what it’s like to let chances go begging. When he lived in South Africa he was given limited time with the Titans franchise and because he was competing with the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Andre Nel, when he didn’t set the world alight, he was discarded. “It was tough team to break into. I wouldn’t say I grabbed my chances at the Titans that well. You’ve got to grab every opportunity that comes your way.”If he plays at St George’s Park, Wagner will join the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Kruger van Wyk as players born and schooled in South Africa who go on to play international cricket elsewhere. For the South African side, it will be nothing new even though Wagner had AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis as classmates at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies).Wagner and du Plessis remained friends since and would catch up when they played club cricket in England. Now, they will meet on opposite sides having had contrasting fortunes in Test cricket. While Wagner’s career has stalled, du Plessis took off in Australia but Wagner holds no hard feelings. “It’s awesome for Faf to do that well and make that step. I know he has also had his trouble in the past with taking his opportunity,” Wagner said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing my cricket with him; it’s just going to be a different thing playing against him.”It will probably be different for Du Plessis as well as Wagner suspects he may know the extent of which Wagner has changed. He claims that he is no longer as hot-headed as was at Affies because New Zealand has turned him into a mellower and also more thinking cricketer. “At Affies, I found that they tried to grow people up real tough and to be hard. There’s no room to be soft.”The Kiwi lifestyle is a lot more relaxed and chilled; it’s less aggressive. Guys at Affies hate losing and when they lost they did not accept it at all. New Zealand is calmer. I learnt how to control my emotions more and accept that on the days when it didn’t go well there’s nothing you can do except learn from it and become better.”In keeping with that, Wagner will look to apply the lessons from his first Test stint if he gets a chance in South Africa. “It’s about being more aware, adapting to conditions earlier and knowing your role,” he said. “Luckily its conditions I am familiar with. There will be a touch more bounce and pace and it’s all about which bowlers will stay patient the longest.” Given the amount of waiting Wagner has had to do over his career, he hopes one of those bowlers will be him.

India are playing the tenth Women’s World Cup, this one in home conditions, but apart from the weather their captain Mithali Raj does not believe being hosts grants them any particular advantage

Abhishek Purohit in Mumbai30-Jan-2013India are playing the tenth Women’s World Cup, this one in home conditions, but apart from the weather their captain Mithali Raj does not believe being hosts grants them any particular advantage. India, who finished third in the 2009 edition, play their opening game against West Indies under lights at the Cricket Club of India on Wednesday.West Indies finished fifth in 2009 in Australia “as underdogs”, but have gained plenty of experience since then and are here to win this time, said their captain Merissa Aguilleira. West Indies have played 38 ODIs since the previous World Cup, only one behind England, who have played the most.India have been restricted to 26 one-dayers in the same period and their previous ODI was as far back as July 2012. Raj said she would have liked to play more games, but was nevertheless satisfied with the side’s preparation and their showing in the two practice matches.”It depends on the board completely to give us a number of matches,” Raj said. “As players, whatever amount of games we get to play before the World Cup, we try and make the best of it. As a player, I would definitely want to have more tournaments, more international games to play.”We had the domestic season and after that we had two camps, one in NCA and the other one in Mumbai. We have prepared really hard and we get into the tournament will full preparation. But again we will take it one match at a time. I personally would not emphasise more on the results, I’d rather go with the process. If everything goes well, then … we might … do it.”Raj was expecting flat pitches which she felt would restrict India’s home advantage to their experience of the weather. “It is going to be the humid conditions. During the practice games, we have had very flat wickets, and scores have been generally high. Basically, the ICC has provided batting tracks so that a lot of runs are scored in the tournament. We have had a camp in Mumbai so our players are used to the conditions. We are also used to slightly slower wickets.”If it is a flat track, it is definitely not an advantage. In an ICC tournament everybody would want to see 300 on the board rather than 89 all out. I guess that is the reason, everybody around the world wants to prepare a batting track.”I feel when it is a flat track, it could be anybody’s game. There will be a lot of runs. The bowling needs to be tightened up. The crucial thing would be the fielding because the wicket will not change over both the innings.”Compared to previous World Cups, Raj felt India had a strong opening combination going into the tournament. “One thing I have always felt is that India never had a very good opening pair. That was a concern. This time we have Thirush Kamini who has made a comeback. In both the [practice] games, the openers [Kamini and Poonam Raut] have given us a good start.”We do have the senior players Jhulan Goswami and Amita Sharma. We have the vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur. We have two comeback players, Kamini and Karu Jain. I hope with this kind of combination we will do very well.”India lost the ODI series 2-1 on their Caribbean tour in early 2012. Raj said West Indies were a constantly developing side. “They have very talented players and some hard-hitters too. With Indian conditions, and I guess some of their players not keeping well, they are still to get acclimatized to the conditions, that might help us and also the kind of form we are in, I am sure the girls will put up a good show.”The experienced offspinner Anisa Mohammed had troubled the Indians in West Indies and Aguillera said her spinners would play a key role in India. “We are an all-round team. We have five spinners in the side and that has worked really well for us,” Aguilleira said. “We’ll make an impact with the compact side that we are.”We went into the last World Cup as underdogs and lacked experience. But we’ve gained a lot of experience in the past four years and are not just taking part but competing this time.”West Indies were so tired after their trip from the Caribbean that they cancelled their second warm-up fixture following a heavy defeat to Australia Women in their first practice match. However, they are coming off a tied ODI series against South Africa at home and should not feel short of time in the middle. Aguilleira said the South Africa games had helped the side adapt to the new ODI rules which mandate a maximum of four fielders in the deep.

Graeme Swann’s performances in the one-day series are putting significant pressure on Xavier Doherty and he is feeling the strain

Daniel Brettig at Edgbaston03-Jul-2012Watching Shane Warne’s 1993 Ashes demolition of England from the dressing room, Phil Tufnell is said to have remarked the legspinner’s performances were “ruining my career” by extracting far superior results from the same surfaces. After two matches in which his unfussy left-arm spin has been milked for runs, Xavier Doherty is under a similar level of pressure from his opposite number, Graeme Swann.Both bowlers have one wicket from two matches, but there the parallels end. Swann tied Australia’s middle order in knots at The Oval, and should have taken more than the wicket of Shane Watson, while bowling eight overs for 27 runs. He was principally responsible for the mid-innings torpor the tourists fell into, resulting in a final total England chased with ease.In marked contrast, England have not allowed Doherty to settle into a rhythm, the use of the reverse sweep by Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell encapsulating the comfort with which the hosts have played him. George Bailey, Doherty’s state captain with Tasmania, admitted that Australia’s slow bowler on tour was being set a difficult task, both by the batsmen he opposes and the spinner he is invariably compared to.”They’re not letting him settle, and that’s something we’re talking about with him,” Bailey said ahead of the third ODI at Edgbaston. “The opposite of the way we’ve played Graeme Swann, they’re really challenging Dohey from the moment he comes on, not giving him the chance to get into his rhythm and set the fields he wants.”The way they’re manipulating the field is making it difficult for him to settle, along with probably some pressure of knowing the opposition does have a spinner of the calibre of Swann. He’s probably feeling that pressure a little bit, the comparisons will be there between the two spinners in the game. That’s a challenge for him, but I’ve seen a lot of him, and every time he has been challenged, he normally finds a way to respond.”Just as Doherty must find a way to set the agenda for England’s batsmen rather than reacting to theirs, so Australia’s batsmen need to find a better way around Swann. A greater use of the sweep has been advocated by some, and Bailey said there were plenty of ways to gain greater change from Swann’s bowling than he managed in a halting start to his innings at The Oval.”I was pretty happy with how I played him Lord’s, not so much the other day where I found it a little more difficult,” Bailey said. “I thought he bowled better. That balance of keeping wickets in hand for the final onslaught and to get that total up versus weighing up the risk and reward of putting a bit more pressure on him is something we’ll talk about.”The sweep’s a good shot … there are a myriad of options, changing where you bat, use your feet more, sweep more, you can hit shots you’re trying to hit better. They’re all options and I guess the way he’s trying to bowl is try to limit your opportunities to play those shots.”Bailey is in a curious position in Australian cricket, as captain of the Twenty20 team while still aspiring to a regular place in the 50-over side and a first baggy green cap in Test cricket. He will stay on in England after the conclusion of the ODI series for the Australia A tour, which he said would be as important if not more so than these matches in determining whether he might return for the 2013 Ashes series.”When Test spots have come up over the last few years it’s been a matter of being in the right place at the right time and I don’t think this would be any different,” Bailey said. “I pushed really hard to be on that A tour. There’s a lot of other cricket on around it and after it but it’s something I feel is really important. I just don’t feel this is a time to be missing any form of red-ball cricket.”Proving that you can handle the pressure of international cricket and handle different situations, there’s no doubt it’s transferable from ODI cricket to Tests. But I think to back that up you are going to have to be scoring some long-form runs as well.”

Haroon Lorgat, outgoing chief executive of the ICC, has confirmed he would be open to an offer from CSA subject to a complete restructure of the board

Firdose Moonda14-May-2012Haroon Lorgat, outgoing chief executive of the ICC, has confirmed he would be open to an offer from CSA subject to a complete restructure of the board. The organisation may soon have to search for a new boss following the suspension of Gerald Majola in March and Lorgat, along with current acting CEO Jacques Faul, are among the top candidates.Majola’s suspension after ministerial inquiry chaired by judge Chris Nicholson found that he had breached the Companies’ Act when R4.7 million (US $ 671, 428) was paid to staff in bonuses following the successful hosting of the IPL. Nicholson found that CSA lacked sufficient corporate governance and recommended a complete overhaul of the composition of the CSA board, something Lorgat sees as crucial to whether he will consider a role at CSA.”I thought I would initially take some time out from cricket after leaving the ICC but I have been heartened by the early progress I see at CSA,” Lorgat told ESPNcricinfo. “With their Board now committed to restructure, I would be happy to consider a formal approach.”Nicholson studied the Woolf report and Australia’s Crawford and Carter report to learn about the latest governance issues in sport. The central tenet he took from both was the principle of independent directorship. “Both [reports] are emphatic that the role of the independent directors is crucial in areas of high risk to the ethics and governance of the game,” Nicholson’s report read. “Similar sentiments are applicable to CSA.”Lorgat was in charge of the ICC when the Woolf report was compiled and is in favour of greater independence at board level. “With the huge growth experienced in all sports over the last decade and the potential for much more, it is imperative that sports governance models keep pace with the expectations of all stakeholders,” he said. “The playing and commercial aspects of the game have transformed enormously but sadly the same cannot be said about the governance and administration standards.”CSA’s board comprises 22 members, 11 of whom are the presidents of the provincial affiliates. A further three are black African representatives while the eight others are directors, four of whom are independent. Nicholson recommended a smaller board with more outsiders. The Woolf report suggested a 14-member board for the ICC while Crawford and Carter said Cricket Australia’s Board should have a maximum of nine non-executive directors. “A larger board according to them wastes time with procedure, inhibits proper discussion and allows individual directors to shirk their responsibilities without being noticed,” Nicholson said.Nicholson said the advantages of using “outsiders” instead of people who become administrators through the cricketing ranks (starting from club level) will benefit a professional body like CSA. “Lord Woolf and Crawford and Carter emphasise the importance of the Board consisting of competent persons with skills that can contribute to the overall vision of cricket,” he said. “They suggest that an analysis of cricket administrations round the world might suggest a predominance of ex-players, accountants or some other category with an insufficient mix of expertise to guide the complex business of cricket administration.”The recommendation for CSA was to form a 12-member board with nine independent directors. “The advantages include a disinclination to favour any province out of proportion to its deserts and a tendency to advance a more national perspective,” Nicolson said. The recommendation also included a clause that for a director to be appointed, voted off or any major cricketing decision to be taken at least two-thirds of the provincial affiliates should be in favour.In accepting the recommendations of the Nicholson report, CSA agreed, in principle, to restructure its board. An eight-person steering committee, consisting of four current board members and four people who have had previous experience in cricket, was named in March to discuss the restructure, which is expected to take place at the next AGM in September. If a new CEO is to be appointed, it would also happen in September, even though Majola’s disciplinary hearing is scheduled to be complete by May 31.The current board have held on to their positions after their most recent meeting with the country’s sports minister, Fikile Mbalula, on April 26, despite speculation they may have been asked to resign en masse. Mbalula said he was impressed that they had shown commitment to the Nicholson report’s recommendations and had taken steps, such as putting together the steering committee and launching a transformation fund for development, to implement Nicholson’s recommendations.

Only eight overs of play were possible but that was enough for Keith Barker and Chris Wright to do further damage to the Sussex top order

28-Apr-2012
ScorecardBarely eight overs were possible at a wet and windy Hove but there was ample time for Warwickshire to emphasise their superiority as Sussex, resuming on 57 for 2, lost three wickets in the space of nine deliveries.Play got underway at 2.15pm and Luke Wells had not added to his overnight score of five when he was lbw to Keith Barker in the second over of the day. Moments later, England wicketkeeper Matt Prior had his off stump knocked back by Chris Wright. Prior, who failed to score, had been struck on the body by Wright’s previous delivery.Both Wright and Barker, who looks a yard faster than last season after having his action reconstructed, troubled the Sussex batsmen with their pace in difficult conditions. Barker kept Warwickshire’s momentum going when he had a hesitant Murray Goodwin lbw as he shuffled half-forward. He almost had a fourth wicket when Michael Yardy edged short of Rikki Clarke at second slip.Sussex’s suffering ended when players came off at 3pm as the umpires decided that the combination of gusting drizzle and floodlights was unsafe for the batsmen. Even the Warwickshire players looked happy enough to get out of the miserable conditions.Warwickshire ended the third day with a lead of 465 runs thanks to the efforts of Jonathan Trott, who made 178 on his first domestic appearance of the summer.Trott said: “It was a difficult situation with the ball seaming around so I was really happy with the innings. You are never quite sure what sort of nick you are in when you come back to England, having played on the sub-continent. It is always a little bit different, especially this time of year.”I always enjoy coming back and playing for Warwickshire. It was playing with these guys, and under Ashley Giles as coach, that was the start of something for me in terms of my career.”Trott habitually makes Sussex suffer. He scored 134 against Sussex on his county debut in 2003 and his highest Championship score of 210 was also against them.

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s Test captain, will undergo surgery on his left ankle that has been troubling him with chronic pain over the previous two months

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2012Graeme Smith, South Africa’s Test captain, will undergo surgery on his left ankle that has been troubling him with chronic pain over the previous two months. The decision was arrived at after consultation with Cricket South Africa’s ankle specialist, who detected an impingement syndrome of the ankle, South Africa team manager Mohammad Moosajee said.”Graeme went to see CSA’s ankle specialist in Cape Town on Friday and he confirmed that the best management of the chronic pain in his ankle is surgery,” Moosajee said in a CSA release. “The recovery period after such a surgery usually takes eight to ten weeks, and he will subsequently not be able to represent Pune Warriors at the 2012 edition of the Indian Premier League in India.”The surgery will be performed next Tuesday, to allow Smith enough time to make a full recovery in time for South Africa’s tour of England in July. “My ankle has been troubling me for some time so it will be a relief to have it repaired, especially looking ahead to the crucial year of cricket ahead,” Smith said.”I’m very disappointed to be missing out on the IPL this year. I was looking forward to my second season with Pune Warriors, especially after my knee set me back last season.”Smith had played four games in the 2011 IPL, before an injury to his right knee – picked up during a collision with his team-mate Rahul Sharma while fielding against the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise – ruled him out. He eventually underwent surgery on the knee last July.

England face an important few days as they try to formulate their bowling attack for the first Test against Pakistan following the loss of Tim Bresnan

Andrew McGlashan10-Jan-2012England face an important few days as they try to formulate their bowling attack for the first Test against Pakistan following the loss of Tim Bresnan. He flew home on Tuesday having been ruled out of action until at least the one-day series while there are lingering problems with other members of the squad.Graeme Swann, the offspinner, is due to go for a scan on a leg problem that kept him off the field on the final morning against the ICC Combined XI but Andrew Strauss said he wasn’t overly concerned. Chris Tremlett is still struggling with the eye infection he picked up during the early days of the tour.Graham Onions, the Durham paceman, has now been made an official member of the squad and could play in the final warm-up match against a Pakistan Cricket Board XI so that Strauss and Andy Flower have options available to them for the first Test next week. If Swann isn’t risked ahead of the series it would also allow Monty Panesar an outing.Onions was back involved with England squads towards the end of the last season but hasn’t featured in a full international since January 2010 against South Africa after which he suffered a career-threatening back injury that required surgery.”I wouldn’t say when I was playing I took it for granted. But you turn up and have the ball in your hand and then all of a sudden, as happened to me in Bangladesh, you get injured,” he told reporters in Dubai. “That’s quite hard to take. But I’m here now and I want to make a difference as part of this team. They weren’t number one when I was playing. I want to be part of that side.”James Anderson and Stuart Broad are certainties for the first Test barring any late injury problems so Onions is in contention for the third fast-bowling spot along with Tremlett and Steven Finn. Finn bowled 27 overs against the ICC XI and took three wickets as he tries to return to the Test side for the first time since the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Tremlett was the man in possession at the start of the India series before injury allowed Bresnan his opportunity.