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Dale Steyn will lead South Africa’s World T20 attack, subject to his regaining full fitness. Steyn sat out six of South Africa’s eight Tests this summer and broke down in the two that he played, first with a groin injury and then a shoulder niggle from which he is still recovering. He has not played any part in the ongoing ODI series against England and will not play the T20 series either, but should return for the T20 series against Australia in the build-up to the tournament.The rest of the pace pack has a fresh look about it with Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott the frontline quicks and Morne Morkel, who has not been part of the T20 set-up since the series against New Zealand last August, missing out. Chris Morris and David Wiese provide the two seam-bowling all-round options. Albie Morkel, who was part of South Africa’s last T20 squad in India, was also left out.Albie Morkel was being primed for the allrounder’s role and took 3 for 12 on international return in Cuttack last October. He was due to play in South Africa’s ongoing ODI series against England but was ruled out before he could be included in the squad with a back problem. At the time there was some suggestion he would recover in time to play some part in the series, although it was never clarified. Morkel has since stated that he is “certainly not injured, not picked. that’s all.”There are two specialist spinners in Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso, who was preferred over Eddie Leie, and eight batsmen including two wicket-keeping options in AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock. De Villiers was tasked with opening the batting and keeping in South Africa’s most recent T20 matches against India even though de Kock was also in the squad. De Kock sat out those matches but, having regained form in recent weeks, is certain to be included in starting XIs at the World T20.That may mean South Africa’s plan of using de Villiers in the top two and behind the stumps is scuppered and de Kock will assume that role with de Villiers moving down the order. An experienced middle-order made up of captain Faf du Plessis, de Villiers and JP Duminy will likely leave room for only one of Farhaan Behardien or Rilee Rossouw, with an allrounder to follow.Albie Morkel was being primed for that role and took 3 for 12 on international return in Cuttack last October but has since suffered a back injury that has kept him out of the England ODIs. Morris, the IPL’s newest dollar millionaire, and Wiese will compete for a spot with Rabada, Steyn and Abbott forming the core of the attack. There may only be space for two of them at a time if South Africa play both Tahir and Phangiso, although they may also call on Duminy’s offspin as an additional slower bowling option.Phangiso was not part of the squad that played T20s in India but he did play in the ODI series there, which South Africa won 3-2. He made headlines for his behaviour on the way home when he was prevented from boarding a flight from Dubai to Johannesburg because he had insulted airline personnel after overindulging in alcohol. News of Phangiso’s indiscretions only broke mid-January in the Afrikaans newspaper . CSA confirmed they had sanctioned Phangiso, although they did not make public what his punishment was, but said it did not involve leaving him out of national squads.Russell Domingo, South Africa’s head coach, hoped South Africa could build some momentum ahead of the World T20 with their performances against England and Australia.”We take some confidence from our T20 series wins against Bangladesh and India and kept relatively the same players who have had success on the sub-continent,” Domingo said. “We have been playing good T20 cricket of late and this is our opportunity to showcase our skills at a World event. The upcoming T20 series’ against England and Australia will be the ideal platform for us to fine-tune some combinations and to hopefully gain some winning confidence ahead of the tournament next month.”We are in a tough group in the tournament with England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and a qualifier. All of the top six teams on the world rankings have the skill and ability to lift the trophy so it’s a completely open competition with high stakes.”Du Plessis reflected on South Africa’s past heartbreaks at ICC events, and said the team was hungry to “lift that elusive ICC trophy”.”The ICC World T20 is the competition that we have been working towards over the last 18 months,” he said. “We have had disappointments in the past and this year is another great opportunity for us to lift that elusive ICC trophy. We have been playing together as a squad for some time now and are really hungry and motivated to put in the performances to bring us success. I’m really excited about the group of players who will be representing the country and hope we can make everyone proud.”South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.

As it cannot get much worse, things might be looking up for Bangladeshahead of the second ODI against Pakistan in Faisalabad. They were roundlytrounced in Lahore, their bowling was toothless after the first 20 overs andtheir batting never anything other than rash. Little surprise then thatJamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s stoic coach, called the 152-run loss “a littleembarrassing.”Embarrassing maybe, but not the end of the world, or the series as ithappens. “One slip-up doesn’t make the series,” Siddons reasoned. “Weaccept that Pakistan are a better side than us. They have to play badlyand we have to play really well for us to win.”It was agreed – by captain, coach and opposing captain – that Bangladeshwere at least one fast bowler short at Gaddafi Stadium. And with ShahadatHossein and Syed Rasel fit and in the squad, the decision was doublyperplexing, explained at the time as the necessary sacrifice ofspecialists to the multi-skilled.Yet whether or not they rectify that imbalance appears uncertain. ThoughMohammad Ashraful again said he felt a fast bowler short, Siddons wasn’t soemphatic about whether another would come in. “If we had a superstar fastbowler with us who we thought was better than what we had out there thensure. We didn’t bank on the pitch spinning so much later and seam earlyon. We missed one bowler but our fifth bowling options gave away 106 runsand that is too many.”One thing Ashraful won’t want a repeat of is the power fiasco that saw thefloodlights go out three times – for nearly an hour in total – which he said affected his batsmen’s concentration adversely. The first time was a complete blackout and subsequently one tower failed. The power crisis has affected the entire country, though local authorities were confident the back-up was in place at the Iqbal Stadium to avoid a similar situation.”The lights going out changed our batting game-plans,” Siddons said. Wewere chasing 6.5 an over before it and suddenly after we were chasing 9.5or something.”But natural stroke-players that they are, Bangladesh won’t mind so much theshort boundaries and an absolutely bone-dry, rock-hard surface. “Ourbatting failed in Lahore,” Ashraful said. “The power blackouts didn’t helpbut we played rash shots as well. We have team rules which we didn’t stickto then. If we do, then we should do well.”Pakistan is a very good team but we didn’t play well the other night. Wehope to do better tomorrow.” As does everyone in Faisalabad.

Rain left Natal 63 runs shy of what would have been their first win in a first-class match this season.Instead, the match was drawn as Natal’s progress was halted at 198 for four in search of a target of 261 with 36 overs still to be bowled.The home side earned their shot at victory by efficiently wrapping upGriqualand West’s second innings for 222 after they had resumed on 167 forfive. Griquas scored 279 in their first innings, to which Natal replied with241.That meant Griquas’ last five wickets, which tumbled in 17.1 overs, wereworth just 55 runs. As has been the trend throughout this match, battingerrors rather than penetrative bowling caused most of those wickets to fall.The last of them belonged to 20-year-old number seven Johan Louw, whoconverted his overnight 14 into a solid 50, his maiden first-classhalf-century in only his second match.The visitors’ most stubborn partnership on the final day was mounted by Louwand Zahir Abraham, who added 49 for the eighth wicket.Natal’s run chase was entertainingly sparked by Ahmed Amla, who went afterGriquas’ mediocre bowling with gusto to score 69 off 115 balls with ten foursbefore being trapped in front by medium pacer Louw ten overs from theenforced close.The elegant Amla rode his luck and was dropped three times, each time offthe bowling of off-spinner Martyn Gidley and twice by the bowler himself.Amla’s dismissal ended a fourth-wicket stand of 55 shared with his captain,Dale Benkenstein, who took over the aggressor’s role impressively to finishwith 42 struck off 53 balls, including two fours and three sixes.Griquas were hampered by the absence of fast bowler Wayne Kidwell, whorequired four stitches after splitting the webbing between his thumb andforefinger while fielding.

Chris Cairns will lead the MCC against his former team-mates when New Zealand kick off their tour of England with the traditional opener at Arundel.Cairns, who retired from international cricket in 2006, is one of three New Zealanders in MCC’s squad. He will be joined by his former Test and one-day colleague, Nathan Astle, and Rob Nicol, the Auckland batsman and former MCC Young Cricketer. Darren Bicknell, who cracked 132 for the club against Scotland at Lord’s earlier this week, will open the batting, and the squad also includes Steve Elworthy, the former South Africa fast bowler, Paul Nixon, John Stephenson and Min Patel.”Touring team matches are always a highlight in the MCC cricketing calendar and Arundel is a fantastic place to play cricket,” Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket, said. “It promises to be a great day for players and spectators alike and, hopefully, an international scalp in the bag for the club.”New Zealand’s squad, depleted by five players participating in the Indian Premier League – including their captain, Daniel Vettori – arrived at Heathrow yesterday afternoon. The first Test gets underway on May 15 at Lord’s.MCC team Darren Bicknell, Hylton Ackerman, Richard Montgomerie, Rob Nicol, Nathan Astle, Sean Ervine, Chris Cairns (capt), John Stephenson, Paul Nixon (wk), Steve Elworthy, Min Patel

For the first time in 19 matches, and nearly 15 years, England’s men experienced a Test victory in Australia as the MCG raced to the second two-day finish of the Ashes series. On a tough surface which will continue to come under the spotlight in the aftermath, England’s top order met their target of 175 with aggression and they eventually got home with four wickets in hand.It was only the fifth time in Test history that a series had included multiple two-day finishes, and before this summer, there had only been two in history in Australia. Although more than 186,000 had attended the match across two record-breaking days, it left Cricket Australia facing another significant financial loss – the Ashes has proved a costly affair, and Ben Stokes acknowledged it was far from ideal, but England have avoided the risk of another whitewash down under.Jacob Bethell, who was recalled for this match, compiled 40 to give a glimpse at his potential, but his dismissal meant this would be the first Test in Australia without an individual half-century since 1932 and just the fifth overall. Bethell’s wicket was followed by a little wobble with the winning line in sight. Joe Root was lbw to Jhye Richardson and Stokes carved an edge off Mitchell Starc with ten need, but four leg byes finished the job to roars from the travelling support, although more muted celebrations from England.Related

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Australia, who had earned a first-innings lead of 42 on the manic opening day which brought 20 wickets, could only manage 132 the second time around as Stokes and Brydon Carse shared seven wickets, while Josh Tongue added two more to his impressive match tally. It meant they were able to overcome the loss of Gus Atkinson to a hamstring injury early in the day.Still, the target was comfortably the highest total of the match. But the intent from Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett was clear and they wiped off 51 inside seven overs. Duckett pinged Starc through the leg side first ball and Crawley launched Michael Neser down the ground in his first over to set the tone. Starc produced some gems, especially to Duckett, and came within fingertips of getting to a return catch from a leading edge.Tellingly, though, the first ball that Alex Carey came up to the stumps against Neser, Crawley launched him straight down the ground for six and followed that with a blazing drive through the covers. Duckett also took on Neser, a top-edged hoick flying to deep third and then, most stunningly, a scoop going for six. Perhaps there was life in Bazball, after all.Scott Boland got rid of Zak Crawley to raise Australia’s hopes•Getty Images

The ball after Duckett cracked his fourth boundary behind point, Starc speared a full delivery through him, but the openers had shifted the mood. England pulled a trick, promoting Carse to No. 3, but he sliced down to deep third, which opened the door for Bethell to play what could prove a significant innings.Bethell got away with a leading edge first ball, then drove Scott Boland confidently down the ground. He started the final session by reverse-scoping Boland over Carey, then nailed a cover drive.Boland, who curiously had not been introduced until the 11th over by when England already had 70 on the board, conjured thoughts of another MCG burst from him when he trapped Crawley lbw and had Bethell caught at cover, but Australia didn’t have quite enough runs to play with.Australia had resumed one over into their second innings with Boland having survived amid heady scenes the night before. He hung around for five more overs before Atkinson found the outside edge to remove a potential frustration for England. However, Atkinson’s day – and potentially series – was soon done when he walked off holding his hamstring at the end of his fifth over, leaving three frontline quicks.The captain took on the task, Stokes striking in his first over when Jake Weatherald misjudged a delivery from around the wicket which he left alone at the last moment and was bowled. After his excellent first innings in Brisbane, returns have been lean for Weatherald, who faces a big outing in Sydney next week before Australia’s lengthy gap in Test cricket.By now, the pitch was offering some uneven bounce as well as sideways movement. Marnus Labuschagne took two blows on the gloves before being drawn into poking outside off stump, edging to first slip in a manner that suggests his game is still not in top working order, although conditions provided some caveat.Travis Head was bowled by a beauty from Brydon Carse•PA Photos/Getty Images

Travis Head was playing as well as anyone had all game, latching onto anything loose but not breaking into the full-blown attack seen in the second innings in Perth. However, even someone who had survived more than an hour and a half could do nothing about the delivery from Carse, which jagged off the seam to take the top of off stump.Three balls later, Usman Khawaja top-edged a well-directed short ball from Tongue to long leg. There was no rescue act from Carey this time as he steered a delivery to second slip, where England’s catching continued to be secure.Either side of lunch, Steven Smith and Cameron Green held firm for nine overs, adding 31 runs, to tip the balance once again. Without ever looking entirely secure, Green again got himself set, as he had in the first innings before running himself out, but flashed an edge to second slip when he drove at a short delivery.In the absence of Atkinson, Carse lifted impressively and clutched a sharp return catch, full stretch to his left, to remove Neser. Then, with the seventh delivery of the over after a no-ball, he had Starc edging to slip.Smith showed no inclination to shield No. 11 Richardson (who has a first-class average of 20.70) and a crunched straight drive suggested it was a fair call, but Richardson carved Stokes into the off side to leave England with their target. The pubs, golf courses and Boxing Day sales around Melbourne could get an unexpected boost.

West Indies have retained the majority of their Test squad for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, with the offspinner Amit Jaggernauth the only man cut for the shorter format. The allrounder Kieron Pollard, who played his only one-dayer during last year’s World Cup, has been recalled.The 16-man squad also features two wicketkeepers with Patrick Browne, who was utilised as a specialist batsman during the ODIs against South Africa earlier this year, included alongside Denesh Ramdin. The left-arm spinner Suliemann Benn, who played his first Test at Providence last month, is the only member of the squad yet to make his ODI debut.The legspinner Rawl Lewis, the opening batsman Brenton Parchment and the fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, all of whom featured in the 5-0 loss to South Africa, have not been picked for the upcoming series. Ramnaresh Sarwan was named as vice-captain to Chris Gayle for the three games, which begin in Trinidad on Thursday following a tightly-contested Test series that ended 1-1.Squad Chris Gayle (capt), Devon Smith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Runako Morton, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Patrick Browne (wk), Darren Sammy, Sulieman Benn, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell.

A West Indian cricketing crisis has been averted, with near full-strength team set to participate in the World T20; 12 of the original 15 picked by the WICB for the tournament have signed the required contracts. Among the three who have not signed is batsman Darren Bravo, who has written to the board saying he wants to focus on Test cricket. Allrounder Kieron Pollard and spinner Sunil Narine had pulled out a few days ago, citing incomplete rehab work on injury and bowling action respectively.The WICB named allrounder Carlos Brathwaite and offspinner Ashley Nurse replacements for Pollard and Narine, and an alternative for Bravo will be picked soon.The threat of the WICB sending a second-string squad to the World T20 escalated after Darren Sammy, West Indies’ Twenty20 captain, exchanged a series of emails with board chief executive Michael Muirhead, asking for the player remuneration to be revised. Muirhead was unrelenting on the matter, though, and told Sammy that if each member of the original squad of 15, which was picked on January 29, did not write individually to the WICB by February 14, the board would conclude he “refused” selection.An episode like the controversial pull-out from the India tour in 2014 – over the revised contracts that significantly cut the internationals’ salaries – will not be repeated emerged last week after Sammy told Muirhead that the players will play in the World T20, but the WICB “cannot continue to be unfair and unreasonable”.Meanwhile, Bravo said the reason he was opting out was because his long-term goal was to do well in Test cricket. “I’m very grateful and humbled for the opportunity to represent the West Indies at the World Cup,” Bravo was quoted in a WICB media release. “However, I’m of the firm belief that I have a very big part to play in the resurgence of West Indies cricket in the longer formats of the game and I will like the opportunity to play in our Professional Cricket League [the regional first-class tournament] because it will put me in good stead and will allow me to achieve those goals that I have aligned myself for the year 2016 and beyond.”

Wasim Akram in his column: “I think the ICC should … get into preparing Test pitches all over the world, or start deducting points that will affect a team’s ranking. Till then we will keep getting these (wrestling pits) like the one in Jamtha, where the ball hardly comes on to the bat.”Jacques Kallis in his column: “Ask a spinner whether he would prefer to bowl on a decent pitch with 400+ runs on the board, or on a dry turner with just 200 on the board where he has to worry about every run, and I think most will take the first option.”Not everyone was complaining though.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan have been left out of Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI series in the West Indies.The 37-year-old Jayasuriya retired from Tests last December, and wished to concentrate on his ODI career. However, he hasn’t had a great run since the World Cup, with only 305 runs in 20 innings, and there was speculation that he would be dropped from the side, especially after his poor performance in the CB Series, where Sri Lanka finished third behind India and Australia.Murali, the leading Test wicket-taker, also didn’t have a great time in Australia, but it is believed that he will be feature only in key ODI tournaments from now on. Murali will play in the two Tests preceding the ODI series in which he will be replaced by offspinner Ajantha Mendis, who with 54 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in the Premier League Tournament, Sri Lanka’s domestic first-class competition. Mahela Udawatte, the 23-year-old hard-hitting opener, replaces Jayasuriya. Udawatte has been touted as a successor to Jayasuriya.”He [Jayasuriya] did not perform well in Australia,” Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka’s chief selector, told . “We have three years to groom a team for the 2011 World Cup and younger players must be given a chance.”Sri Lanka will also be without Lasith Malinga, out with a knee injury, for both the Tests and ODIs in West Indies. Allrounder Kaushalya Weeraratne makes a comeback to the Sri Lankan side. His last ODI was in 2003. Uncapped left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara, who was picked for the Tests, also finds a place in the ODI squad.Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara and Ishara Amerasinghe are the other fast bowlers in the squad, while Malinga Bandara is the other spinner alongside Mendis. Besides Weeraratne, Chamara Kapugedera and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the other all-round options available to captain Mahela Jayawardene.Sri Lanka ODI squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Malinga Bandara, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Jehan Mubarak, Ishara Amerasinghe, Mahela Udawatte, Thilan Thushara.

Skipper Hrishekesh Kanitkar’s fine batting display placed Maharashtrain a commanding position on the first day of the West Zone Ranji Matchagainst Gujarat at the Shivaji Stadium, Karad.Gujarat won the toss and invited Maharashtra to bat. The Maharashtrabatsmen made merry of the conditions with big partnerships in the daypiling a healthy 318 for five in 90 overs. Opener Bhave (71) andKanitkar (94) shared a 121 run partnership for the second wicket.Kanitkar and Abhijit Kale (35) added 82 for the third and the fourthwicket saw Kale and K Aphale (53 not out) add 60 in their turn at thewicket. Kanitkar caressed the ball to the fence on 14 occasions of 170deliveries and Bhave smashed the ball 13 times in his 131 ballinnings. Hitesh Majumdar bagged three of the five wickets to fall onthe first day.At the end of play K Aphale and Mandar Sane (5) were at the wicket.