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England return to the scene of their World Cup exit tomorrow, as the third one-day international against South Africa gets underway at Port Elizabeth. Back in 2003, England seemed to be cruising to victory against the mighty Australians, only for Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel to add 73 unbeaten runs for the ninth wicket, to engineer a stunning two-wicket victory on a slow and exceedingly low wicket.But come tomorrow, there will be only one side harbouring any "what-ifs", after the manner in which South Africa squandered a position of supremacy to tie a thrilling match at Bloemfontein. South Africa needed three to win from six balls, with five wickets in hand, but were held in check by Kabir Ali, whose nerves had at one stage looked so taut they might snap, but then eased at precisely the right moment for England.The first ball of the decisive over was a waist-high no-ball that Mark Boucher had swatted for four, and at that stage, Kabir wanted the ground to swallow him up. “I just thought ‘oh God, what have I done here?’ he told reporters afterwards. “I was nervous but I just tried to get as many yorkers in as I could.” With the scores level and one delivery remaining, he speared the ball into Andrew Hall’s blockhole for Geraint Jones to pull off a smart stumping and trigger wild celebrations in the England camp.”It was a real gutsy performance from the young Kabir," added Michael Vaughan, who was kept off the field by a stomach bug and played no part in the climax. "To gather his thoughts and be mentally tough enough to produce those yorkers was a great effort. The more death-bowling options we have, the better, and he is certainly one of those options.”Twenty-four hours later, the worst of Vaughan’s illness has subsided, and he looks set to take his place in the starting line-up at PE. "I am not too bad," he told BBC Sport. "I didn’t feel too good yesterday, but I hope to play, and it has got better.” But despite his final-over heroics, Kabir may yet miss out on a berth in the side, as Steve Harmison is fit again after suffering a calf strain, and England are eager to get him back among the wickets after his devastating disappointments in the Test series.England enjoyed a break from the grind today, as they took a trip round the Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. But despite the multitude of elephants on display, the only big game that’ll be in England’s sights tomorrow will be of the human variety. Kevin Pietersen, fresh from his maiden international century and showing no signs of being cowed by the hostile South African crowds, will be hunting for even more runs to boost his already formidable average of 234."Kevin’s innings from that position is what we ask of a senior player, not one that has played six games," said Vaughan, after Pietersen had clubbed 108 not out from 96 balls to lift England from a dicey position at 67 for 3. "His potential shone through. He showed last night he has a lot of passion playing for England and he is a huge talent who is strengthening our team.”South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, on the other hand, had less to be cheery about, after watching his side fritter away an unassailable advantage in the final over. But he put a brave face on the result nonetheless. "It was disappointing in the end," he conceded, "but we have a lot more confidence now than what we came out with [after the first match in the series].”South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Geraint Jones (wk), 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Ian Bell, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

While the rest of the world focuses on The Oval and the final day of a riveting Ashes contest in South London, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will begin a two-Test series that promises to be one-sided, swift and unmemorable. Bangladesh – battling injuries to key bowlers, internal discord within their ranks and bruised confidence after the 3-0 ODI whitewash – should be brushed aside easily by a full-strength Sri Lanka team.Sri Lanka, for the second Test series in a row, fear complacency more than the potency of their opponents. Once again, they have everything to lose and very little to gain. Their preparation has focused on their own game, particularly their top-order batting which faltered during a two-Test series against West Indies in July.”We cannot afford to take Bangladesh lightly,” said Mahela Jayawardene. “We are concentrating on the basics and improving our game. We want to build big partnerships and ensure that we put together a large first-innings score in both games.”Sri Lanka’s batsman should be licking their lips. The West Indies brought with them a fiery trio of pacemen and ruffled the Sri Lankans on occasions, but Bangladesh have been shorn of their two most experienced fast bowlers – Mashrafe Mortaza (back injury) and Tapash Baisya (ankle injury) – and will now be forced to blood two youngsters.Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s ever-optimistic coach, refuses to be downbeat ahead of the game. “The loss of Mashrafe and Tapash is a blow and we will now have a very inexperienced pace attack, but the youngsters now have a chance to shine.”Syed Rasel, a steady left-arm medium-pacer, is likely to make his debut with either Shahdat Hossain, a pace bowler who was plundered for 101 runs in 12 overs on debut against England earlier this year, or Talha Jubair, who has been whisked over from Dhaka to bolster the bowling attack.The responsibility for taking wickets will therefore fall on the shoulders of the two left-arm spinners – bad boy Mohammad Rafique, who has been wrapped on the knuckles this week after an outburst on the training field, and Emanul Haque jnr. On a Premadasa International pitch that traditionally favours the slower bowlers, they can look forward to a heavy workload.But even greater responsibility falls upon the shoulders of their batsmen, who have overcome the twin-threat posed by Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, both of whom are at the top of their form and will be eager to reap cheap wickets. At least Habibul Bashar, the skipper, has returned from a quick trip home to see his ailing mother.”We know their attack revolves around Vaasy and Murali and will have to play them well because its vital that we put good runs on the board,” said Whatmore. “I was, though, encouraged by the way we played them at times during the ODI series. We are being honest, as it is going to be tough, but we’ll be taking it session by session and will be trying to make life as hard as possible for the Sri Lankans.”Sri Lanka must decide whether to play six batsmen and an allrounder or a fifth specialist bowler. Both Russel Arnold and Shantha Kalavitigoda are in the squad and could bat at No.7. But with Sanath Jayasuriya, who will become the first Sri Lankan to pay 100 Tests in the second game, possibly not available for a full stint with the ball they may be inclined to opt for Gayan Wijekoon, the left-arm seamer, or even the added firepower of Dilhara Fernando.Teams
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Lasith MalingaBangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafees Iqbal, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Aftab Ahmed, 6 Shariar Nafees, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Enamul Haque jnr, 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Shahadat Hossain

Billy Bowden has encouraged both teams to take the fielder’s word when it comes to close catches ahead of Australia’s first Test against Pakistan at Perth. He said to Fox Sports that he welcomed any agreement between both teams that encouraged fair play.”If they want to come to us and say that, brilliant, beautiful,” Bowden said of any agreement between the captains, but added that the umpires would not propose the idea. “I believe in honesty whether it’s on the field or off the field. I just think for the good of the game, for the spirit of the game…”Bowden wanted to see loyalty and integrity return, but thought it was a decision best left to players. “I don’t mind players not walking if they hit it, that’s fine, it’s up to them. But when it’s a black-and-white decision about whether they’ve been caught or not, surely, if you can’t rely on a player what can you rely on in a game of cricket these days?”His feelings about technology ran along a similar vein. “I’m sure the players would like to see umpires still make the decisions even though they moan and groan when they get a bad one going against them. I still think the traditions of the game and the beauty of the game is it’s played by humans and should be run be humans.”

ScorecardOnly 50.2 overs were possible in the New Zealander’s match against Worcestershire at New Road. In that time, Ben Smith, Worcestershire’s captain, scored 72 not out to help his side to 163 for 3.Smith chose to bat, and when play finally got underway, Worcestershire were in early bother at 29 for 2 after Daryl Tuffey took two wickets in four balls. However, Smith came to the rescue, and put on a stand of 69 with Graeme Hick, who scored 36, and an unbroken partnership of 65 with Kadeer Ali, who was 26 not out.For New Zealand, Shane Bond, who is on his way back from a back injury, bowled only nine overs, for 38 runs. It was Tuffey who impressed, though, making the first breakthrough when Stephen Moore was caught behind driving, and then Stephen Peters, spooned a simple catch to Mark Richardson at midwicket.Daniel Vettori then removed Hick later in the day when Bond clung on to an difficult chance at mid-off. However, Smith and Ali played out till bad light forced an early finish.

The Indian squad which went to Sri Lanka for the ill-fated tri-series last month is likely to be retained for the triangular tournament in Malaysia, which also features Australia and West Indies. However, Anil Kumble could be in contention for a place in the 14-member Champions Trophy squad, which will also be named later on Sunday.Kumble has been named among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy, and was considered a strong candidate for a berth in the final squad. However, he might be left out if the selectors feel he needs more time to recover from tendonitis – Kumble was detected with the injury when he was playing for Surrey last month. Also, the ICC stipulations state that after the Champions Trophy squad has been named, no replacements will be allowed if the concerned player already had the injury when the squad was announced.The 30-member probables list also included Sourav Ganguly, but it is highly unlikely that he will make the cut.The squad that went to Sri Lanka
Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, RP Singh, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth.

Pakistan v India – buy your tickets here

As India prepare to tour Pakistan for the first time in 14 years, the Pakistan Cricket Board has responded to the massive demand for tickets by launching an online service for customers all round the world, and already it has generated a massive response.The initiative, in partnership with Wisden Cricinfo, resulted in 700 sales on the first night alone, with fans preparing to fly in from Britain and the USA, as well as more exotic locations such as Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.The Pakistan Cricket Board intends to allocate a fifth of all stadium seats to Indian supporters, but they do not intend to segregate the fans and their online service is open to allcomers. The first of five one-day internationals kicks off in Karachi on March 13, and will be followed by three Tests at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan.To order your tickets online, click here.

An unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 126 between skipper John Crawley and John Francis lifted Hampshire Hawks into second place in the National Cricket League Division Two table, bypassing the Scottish Saltires by seven wickets at the Rose Bowl.Crawley, showing a distinct return to form hit an excellent 83 (88 balls) while Francis kept him in good company to the tune of 62 from 75 balls, which included one immaculate straight six and five boundaries as they led the Hawks to victory with an over to spare.Hampshire won the toss and, noting their chasing exploits the previous day in beating bottom-of-the-table Sussex Sharks, asked the Saltires to bat first and the captain saw instant results as debutante Chaminda Vaas trapped Dougie Lockhart lbw for 2 while Gregg Williamson followed him for the same tally nine runs later.Ryan Watson and Rahul Dravid rebuilt the innings after the early setbacks but it was the partnership between the Indian batsman and South African all-rounder Jon Kent which was the main focus of the visitors’ eventual 225-5.Dravid scored 81 while Kent followed his century at Hove with an unbeaten 78 as they added 103 for the fourth wicket.Shaun Udal picked up two wickets, but Vaas was the pick, showing all his experience in taking 1-31 from his nine overs of left-arm seam.As seems to be the way in Hampshire’s innings, James Hamblin and Simon Katich made a good start in the reply, posting 55 on the board but two wickets in successive balls to Saltires skipper Craig Wright set the Hawks back a step.Hamblin was bowled attempting a straight drive and Derek Kenway shuffled across to his first delivery and was lbw. Much relied on Katich but he also fell to Wright for a 66-ball 45.However, the day was set for Crawley, who is timing the ball as sweetly as he has for some time and his left-handed accomplice Francis, recording his highest league score of the season to take the Hawks home.

Strange as it may sound, both Bangladesh and Pakistan have reason to look forward to the third Test at Multan, which starts on Wednesday (Sept 3). Pakistan’s young players have taken the opportunity of getting used to international cricket against the easiest opposition they could face at this level. Bangladesh’s cricketers, meanwhile, have shown more gumption that they have displayed in the past. Multan is an opportunity for them to journey furtheralong those respective roads.For Pakistan, Yasir Hameed and Mohammad Hafeez have made impressive centuries, while Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul have gained in confidence while picking up some easy wickets. Inzamam-ul-Haq hasn’t taken the easy pickings on offer – yet – but with the rest of the Pakistan batsmen firing, his contribution is not as vital as it would be against any other team.Bangladesh have fought harder in this series than in recent memory. They even grabbed a first-innings lead in the second Test but, as in the first, they faded in the second half of the match, allowing Pakistan an easy victory. Javed Omar, Hannan Sarkar, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful and Rajin Saleh have all batted with application and discipline, though their bowling hasn’t yet shown the promise of taking 20 wickets in a Test.They will be motivated. The Bangladesh team was made to travel to Multan in economy class, while the Pakistan team sat in executive class. The Bangladeshis bristled at what they perceived to be an affront. They do not take kindly to being treated like a second-class cricketing nation, and Rashid Latif’s patronising comments about the forthcoming Test would not have helped either.”I don’t want to interfere in their planning,” said Latif, “but if Bangladesh does not play positive cricket they will not learn and improve. We allowed them to perform in the first two Tests but here we will try our best to finish it off early.”It is unlikely that Bangladesh will express much gratitude for this kindness. Dav Whatmore, their coach, remained focussed on the task at hand. “I am trying to make sure that the boys do not lose confidence after their slump in the Peshawar Test,” he said. “We need to guard the areas of improvement.”It does not help to have a morose captain, though. Khaled Mahmud, under criticism for his allround non-performance, admitted, “After the series I will sit down with the Board’s officials and will review my career.” It wasn’t all defeatism, though. He also said, “When someone criticises our Test status we feel hurt because the improvement is definitely there.”Bangladesh have lost 17 Tests in a row. The momentum seems overwhelming, but somewhere, someday they will stem the rot. Will it be at Multan?Probable teams
Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Yasir Hameed, 4Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Younis Khan, 7 Rashid Latif (capt and wk), 8 Shoaib Akhtar, 9 Danish Kaneria, 10 Shabbir Ahmed, 11 Umar Gul.Bangladesh 1 Hannan Sarkar, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 MohammadAshraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Khaled Mahmud (capt), 9 Mohammad Rafique, 10 Manjural Islam, 11 Mashrafe Mortaza.

Robert Croft, who announced his retirement from international cricket yesterday, has warned that England won’t produce a match-winning spinner unless there are drier pitches at county level.Croft, who took 49 Test wickets at 37.24, said, “I know there’s an instruction from Lord’s saying that pitches must start dry, but it either gets ignored or it’s because of the climate we have in this country, but it doesn’t happen.”Because of that, a lot of the spin bowlers don’t adopt an aggressive or positive attitude towards bowling spin in this country,” he continued. “We tend to get used a lot to hold up an end while the seamers have a break. Then you’re expected to go away and bowl on turning pitches. If you haven’t got a positive mindset it’s very tough to do.”Croft, who took 35 wickets overseas, compared with 14 at home, added, “We have to develop more of a positive attitude towards spin bowling and the only way we can do that is to start producing drier pitches. When you do play on a pitch that is dry and get some wickets, if you come up against a green pitch in the next game you’ll spin it more.”If you play on drier wickets on a regular basis then I’m sure you would see a vast improvement in spin bowling.”

A fumbled catch, a sensational run-out, a few reckless strokes, an abandoned match and, suddenly, the euphoria of the West Indies’ opening World Cup victory over South Africa has turned to apprehension over whether they can get past the preliminary round.The situation has been compounded by the untimely loss of form of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds, the left-handed openers who had such a profound influence on the stimulating 4-3 triumph in the One-Day series in India last November, and by the uncertain catching.Had the Bangladesh match gone the required distance, the West Indies surely would have won and taken the full four points.Barring slip-ups, cricketing or meteorlogical, in future engagements against Canada and Kenya, they would have taken on Sri Lanka without the pressure of needing victory since South Africa would have been the ones to miss out.The Benoni rain has thrown the home team back into contention and Sri Lanka’s remaining matches against the West Indies and South Africa are likely to determine which two join New Zealand in the Super Sixes.Inferior catchingTo advance, the West Indies must play appreciably better than they have in their last two matches against the confident Sri Lankans, who defeated New Zealand in their opener and have been utterly ruthless against Bangladesh and Canada since.The inferior catching, characterised by costly deep field misses in the late overs by Pedro Collins against South Africa and Marlon Samuels against New Zealand and three in the slips against Bangladesh, and the faltering top order batting do not constitute the recipe for winning the World Cup – or even getting through to the next round.Even Brian Lara’s run-out by a piece of New Zealand magic was too casual at this level.The catching problem is nothing new and no amount of practice seems to make a difference.It has been the most frustrating aspect of Roger Harper’s tenure as coach. As peerless a fielder as there has ever been, he must die a little with every dropped catch.Hooper and Gayle, two specialist and usually reliably slip fielders, each put down straightforward offerings on Tuesday."We have to learn in the tougher games that we have to take these chances when they come," was Hooper’s self-evident observation.It would be helpful as well if Gayle and Hinds could find some form against Canada in the next match at Centurion on Sunday, leading up to the Sri Lanka match five days later.Gayle, tall, commanding and a fierce striker at his best, is yet to come to terms with conditions with scores of two, 22 and nought.He dragged on a flat-footed drive against South Africa, slashed high to slip against New Zealand and drove to extra-cover against Bangladesh.Hinds, who has made nought, 14 and 18, was undone by a bad umpiring decision against South Africa, drove loosely to short extra-cover against New Zealand and got a good one that he edged to slip against Bangladesh.Their partnerships have been four, 34 and 19, well short of their resounding successes in India."The tracks are a bit different and they’re struggling a bit to find their feet," Hooper noted.But there was no thought yet of changing them."They did wonderfully well for us in India where they had some huge stands at five, six, sometimes seven runs an over that set us up for big totals," he said."It’s a bit of a worry now but the important thing is to believe in them. I think they’ll come good sooner or later."Their useful bowling is a bonus but, if their form doesn’t improve soon, change would be necessary.Promoting Shivnarine Chanderpaul to open, as he has often done with success, would allow the introduction of Samuels, whose rich talent is being wasted in the dressing room but who cannot find a place, given Ricardo Powell’s spectacular hitting at No. 7.Powell has been one of the revelations of the tournament.While the established candidates Lara, Sanath Jayasuirya, Herschelle Gibbs, Stephen Fleming have made an immediate impact, Powell, out of the West Indies team only nine months ago, has returned with a bang.His shot selection has improved without any loss of power and his 40 off 18 balls against South Africa and 50 off 31 against Bangladesh have included some of the longest hits of the tournament.In both matches, his finale in partnership with Ramnaresh Sarwan against South Africa powered the West Indies along at more than ten-an-over in the closing stages."We’ll hear a lot more of Ricardo Powell in this tournament," Hooper said after the Bangladesh match.Perhaps we will, but only if the West Indies move on to the next round.