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Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, has highlighted the paucity of quality bowlers emerging in the country. While the focus of late has generally been on the batting, Ashraful said that didn’t mean the bowlers were equipped to deal with international cricket.”During practice we mainly concentrate on our batting and there was no exception this time because it’s our main problem in the international cricket but that doesn’t mean we are in a comfortable position with our bowling,” Ashraful told the . The Bangladesh team have been preparing at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur for their upcoming international assignments – the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto and the three-ODI series in Australia.”I think we have lack of quality bowlers in the pipeline,” he said. “There are few names who many believe can be good in the international cricket but the performance of Dolar Mahmud simply gave us the impression how different the international cricket is.” Dolar, who made his debut during the Kitply Cup in June, has struggled in his four ODI outings so far, conceding 165 runs in 17.1 overs for his three wickets.Rafiqul Alam, Bangladesh’s chief selector, admitted there was a problem. “I think this is the area where we need more attention,” Alam said. “And that’s why our specialist bowling coach is specially working with our two frontline pace bowlers [Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain]. Without any doubt we have lack of quality bowlers in the pipeline but we have to work with them who are now available. The absence of Shakib [Al Hasan] and Syed Rasel was felt in the last one-day tournaments.”Injuries have meant Rasel has been in and out of the Bangladesh team this year, and he was recently ruled out for at least another two months. The return of Shakib is definitely encouraging for us as his ten overs in the middle is very vital for us but the latest injury of Rasel was a setback.”Bangladesh’s preliminary 21-man squad for their forthcoming assignments includes Nazmul Hossain, the 20-year-old fast bowler. “I think Nazmul is bowling well and he can be a good option for us,” Alam said. Nazmul was part of the Bangladesh A team that toured England, and took 5 for 90 against Warwickshire.Alam said the team will be named before August 4, but said the selectors were yet to decide whether to name one team for both the Twenty20 tournament and the Australia tour. The Twenty20 tournament, also featuring hosts Canada, Pakistan and West Indies, is from August 14 to 17, followed by the ODI series in Darwin between August 31 and September 6.

Two more matches were decided in the Baqai Inter-Academies Ramazan Festival tournament played Saturday.At the UBL ground UBL B beat PIA Blues by 31 runs after scoring 136 all out in 21.5 overs and then dismissing their opponents for 105 runs in 19.4 overs.For UBL B, Umer Shahzad (37) and Farrukh Hussain (36), were associated in 66-run partnership for the opening wicket and with Salman Hussain (34) joining the fray, the scoreboard read 108 for one wicket. But with the introduction of slow left-arm Anil Iqbal, the last nine wickets crashed out for 38 runs. Anil finished with the figures of five for 21. PIA Blues were bundled out for 105 in 19.4 overs.In another encounter, PIA Whites beat UBL D by 70 runs. Batting first PIA Whites reached 131 for five in their 20 overs thanks to Sabz Ali Bangash (43), Ali Rehman (39).UBL D in reply were dismissed for 103 in 23 overs, with Jaffer Hussain top scoring with 50 runs. Shahid Hameed ended up with return of five for 11.

SYDNEY, Dec 13 AAP – It was Friday the 13th but Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight rode their luck as England set Australia 252 runs for victory in the limited overs tri-series match at a sold-out SCG tonight.In the process England did allrounder Shane Watson’s World Cup chances a whole lot of damage, ensuring calls are renewed for Australian Test skipper Steve Waugh to come under consideration for the 15-man squad that travels to Africa in February.England reached 8-251 from 50 overs as Australia dropped four catches, with Knight hitting 111 not out and opening partner Trescothick 60 from 57 balls. Brett Lee was on a hat-trick in the final over when he rattled the stumps of Craig White (15) and Gareth Batty (nought).Watson was pulled from the attack after a costly opening spell of three overs for 25 runs as Trescothick and Knight skipped away in a run-a-ball opening stand of 101.Part-timers Darren Lehmann and Damien Martyn (0-26) were preferred by captain Ricky Ponting ahead of Watson for the remainder of England’s innings.Lehmann took 3-1 off six balls to finish his ten-over stint with 3-32, giving further reason to believe Australia could do without Watson – or any specialist allrounder – at the World Cup.Lehmann, Martyn, Michael Bevan, Ponting and even Matthew Hayden could cobble together the final ten overs in support of Australia’s main four bowlers, allowing the luxury of an extra batsman.Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist denied Lehmann a fourth wicket when he missed a stumping chance off Knight on 91.The tourists needed a dramatic change of fortune to be competitive against a highly confident Australian side and they received it first ball when an edge from Trescothick off the bowling of Glenn McGrath flew between Ponting and Martyn at second and third slips.It went for four.Trescothick and Knight adopted a plan to attack the Australian fast bowlers, giving themselves room outside off stump, regularly advancing down the crease and slashing wildly at any balls with a bit of width.The fourth ball of McGrath’s first over flew from the top edge of Trescothick’s blade over Martyn’s head, while any number of other edges evaded diving Australians.McGrath’s new ball partner Jason Gillespie didn’t get a hand to a hot caught-and-bowled chance when Trescothick was nine. Lehmann spilled a similar chance off Hussain on 26, then Ponting let Hussain off the hook again on 36.Trescothick finally fell to Brett Lee, caught at first slip by Shane Warne for 60 off 57 balls. He hit eight fours and a six.England lost 2-2 in five balls when Ronnie Irani was trapped lbw for a duck by Warne’s second ball but Knight and captain Nasser Hussain (52 off 81 balls) regained the momentum.Another late hiccup of 4-18 in five overs prevented England from amassing an even bigger total.Knight grinned broadly after an ambitions reverse-sweep off Warne made it all the way to the third-man fence. Warne was far less impressed, scowling. Knight played a similar stroke for three runs a few overs later as he and Hussain guided England to 205.Warne (1-42 off ten) and Lehmann succeeded in bogging down Hussain, whose reverse smacked of desperation. The Poms hit 31 straight singles from the 25th over to the 36th over but shortly afterwards Hussain broke the shackles with a six off Martyn over mid-wicket.Shortly after that he was gone, caught in the deep.Lee finished with 4-47 from eight overs.

Worcestershire Royals extended their lead at the top of Division One of the Norwich Union League, but only by two points when they could reasonably have expected that their total of 230 for eight from 45 overs might have been enough to give them four points. Vikram Solanki was again the batsman in form as he took 81 off the Nottinghamshire Outlaws’ attack. The main support came from newcomer to New Road, Shane Lee with 36 from 31 balls with a four and three sixes. However, the rains then came and the match was abandoned before the Outlaws could get to the middle.Meanwhile in Division Two at Hove, Sussex Sharks batted first reaching 194 for seven in their 45 overs. Top scorer was Chris Adams with 60, but there was an enterprising stand of 84 for the eighth wicket between Kevin Innes with 50 and Mark Davis who was on 27 when the innings closed. There were four wickets for Ed Giddins against his old county.After the Surrey Lions had fallen to nine for two when Ali Brown and Ian Ward went to James Kirtley, Mark Ramprakash steadied the innings with 60 and Nadeem Shahid helped him add 131 for the fourth wicket. Shahid went on to 74 not out in company with his captain Adam Hollioake (26 not out) as the Lions won by six wickets with more than five overs to spare.

Hampshire seamer Chris Tremlett sets off for the England Academy in Adelaide, Austraila on Sunday, with the main brief to retain his fitness after missing much of the latter part of the season with a stress fracture of the metatarsal bone in his left foot.Tremlett (21) is still a month away from serious fitness training, but it will give the tall cricketer a chance to work on his batting. A clean hitter of the ball he is hoping that an improvement in that department will turn him into an all-rounder.He will not be able to bowl till after the Christmas break.Tremlett speaking to the Daily Echo reporter said: “I know I’ve got the talent to be an all-rounder, it’s just a question of working on certain aspects of my game.”Rod March, the Academy director visited the Rose Bowl in August to discuss his fitness programme with Hampshire’s director of Cricket Tim Tremlett (his father) and physio Pat Farhart. Farhart will also be looking in on the Academy to check his progress.Tremlett will not be fit enough to tour Sri Lanka with the rest of the Academy boys in February.Tremlett will return home for Christmas, and will return to Adelaide for the last year there, it will be based at the art centre of excellence at Loughborough University next year.

While Glamorgan Dragons were outwitting Leicestershire Foxes in our featured match, it was appropriate that Worcestershire Royals were crowning the Golden Jubilee with an emphatic win over Yorkshire Phoenix at Headingley. Kabir Ali continued a remarkable run of success, with five for 36 as Phoenix crumbled to 128 all out. Allan Donald marked his first appearance for the Royals with two wickets. Ben Smith then made an unbeaten 38 and Anurag Singh 33 as the Royals coasted home with more than seven overs to spare.Elsewhere in Division One, Neil Carter (five for 31) and Shaun Pollock (three for 10) flattened Durham Dynamos for just 72. It took Warwickshire Bears just 11 overs and one ball to overhaul that, with Carter and Pollock the batsmen to the fore.At Tunbridge Wells, Kent Spitfires flew comfortably over Notts Outlaws with a five-wicket win. James Golding (three for 25) was the Spitfires’ main gunner as the Outlaws were shot down for 191, and an opening partnership of 82 between Robert Key (68*) and Matthew Fleming (64 off just 44 balls) provided rocket fuel for the Spitfires’ reply.In Division Two, Hampshire Hawks won a tense encounter with Middlesex Crusaders at Lord’s. The South African wicket-keeper Nic Pothas was the Hawks’ top scorer with an unbeaten 39 as they reached 183 for eight. The Crusaders were given a solid start by Andy Strauss (35) and Sven Koenig (24), but uniformly tight bowling from the Hawks left the Crusaders just three runs short of victory.There was another tight finish at Northampton, where the Steelbacks overcame Surrey Lions by just five runs. Mal Loye (86) and Mike Hussey (69) laid the foundations for the Steelbacks’ win, setting up their eventual total of 229. Although Ally Brown roared to 55 off just 47 balls, there was always a little too much for the Lions to do, and Ricky Anderson (three for 30) helped to draw their teeth.Sussex Sharks endured no such impediment at Horsham, as the high-flying Essex Eagles fell to earth with a thud. After a waterlogged start, the Sharks were re-floated by wicket-keeper Matthew Prior, who made 73 from just 67 balls. An unbeaten 41 from Kevin Innes pushed the total to 240. A double strike from James Kirtley then reduced the Eagles to four for two, and despite contributions from Graham Napier (50) Andy Flower (49) and Ronnie Irani (51), the Eagles ultimately subsided to 208 all out.In the other Division Two match, played under floodlights at Old Trafford, Gloucestershire Gladiators won the toss and batted first. Despite the fact that Lancashire Lightening’s John Wood took five for 49, the men from Bristol managed to total an impressive 269 for eight in their 45 overs. There were useful contributions all down the order, but top-scorer was the evergreen Kim Barnett with 66. In reply, several batsmen from the home county got a start, but they were undone by some typically persistent and miserly bowling from the Gladiators’ attack and they were shot out at regular intervals. In the end, Lightening could not even survive for the full over allocation and were bowled out for 190 to lose by 79 runs.

Hampshire’s £2m pavilion will be open for business when Leicestershire visit on April 24 – and the changing rooms will include the only jacuzzis on the county circuit.The state-of-the-art edifice is on course for completion on March 25 and will be open to members when Leicestershire arrive for the County Championship in six weeks’ time.Work started on the pavilion in November and the three-storey structure will have a capacity of 600, with room for 560 on the top deck, when Hampshire open their campaign back in Division One of the championship.Rose Bowl project manager Geoff Cox said: “The players have had a look round and have been very impressed, not least with the jacuzzis!”It was partly their idea to have them fitted and partly the chairman’s and is one of the features that makes this pavilion extra special.”We made sure that we spoke with the players and the catering staff before we started work to make sure that everyone is happy with the final product.”The front of the building is curved so spectators will get magnificent views from wherever they sit. It’ll be spectacular.”We’re well on course to make the March 25 completion date. At this time of year the weather is in our favour and we’ve ordered everything, including the cups and saucers.”I’m looking forward to seeing it up and running. We started work on my birthday, when Graham Walker sent me a card saying it’s not often you get £2m to spend!”The first floor will be dominated by a Lord’s-style long room decorated with club memorabilia while hospitality suites, each with a capacity of 20, will be available for executive members.Bars on each floor will be supplied by two cellars while kitchen staff will be able to cater for 180 people.The pavilion’s first function will be the Mayor of Eastleigh’s Ball in a month’s time.Chief executive Graham Walker said: “The pavilion will be a truly world-class facility and will enable us to accommodate 600 guests 365 days a year.”People are not going to be disappointed. We’ve already got arguably the best cricket academy in the country but people will be staggered by this pavilion.”Project manager Cox and his team will work round the clock to make sure the Rose Bowl’s showpiece is up and running in a fortnight.But they will not have time to enjoy the start to the new season following the granting of planning permission for the 64-bay driving range.”We’ll be starting on that as soon as we finish the pavilion,” added Geoff. “It never stops!”

How many ways are there really of saying the one thing? The Australian cricket team is great, invincible this summer and its Carlton Series opposition in season 2000-01, the West Indians and the Zimbabweans, are struggling to stack up.We had an inkling of this when the team from the Caribbean was thoroughly thrashed in the Test series. But we hoped the five-nil series whitewash would inspire them to better things in the one-dayers. So far, it has proven not to be so.We thought the Africans would fare better – they’re supposed to be great fielders, they have one of the world’d highest ranked batsmen, and, to top it all off, they’re great characters who will not go down without a fight.When this team was unluckily beaten by the West Indies in a closely fought match earlier this month, we had hoped some competition had been breathed into this tournament. Maybe the Zimbabweans would surprise Australia, catch them unawares and give them a run for their money.Maybe we should go back to dreaming. For tonight, Australia dashed our hopes of being able to watch anything resembling a contest again.Ruthlessly, efficiently, brilliantly, they rendered the Zimbabweans virtually useless, winning by eight wickets with more than thirteen overs to spare here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Of course, we didn’t fully believe that they could actually compete against this all-conquering champion team straight away, but we had hoped. And, as soon as the Zimbabweans had won the toss and raced to fifty inside the first eight overs on a batsman’s paradise, these hopes were fuelled.But then a wicket fell. Guy Whittall (25) was dismissed by local lad Ian Harvey’s first ball of the day and the visitors never really recovered. The rest of the top order followed with alarming regularity and, just when the Flower brothers looked to have steadied the ship, Australia, struck again. This time it was through Andrew Symonds (2/38), who removed Andy for twenty-three.Several of the batsmen got starts but just could not go on. They were well-contained by Harvey and positively stifled by Shane Warne, who continued his excellent one-day form of the summer with an astonishing return of 2/21 off his ten overs.Of the batsmen, only Grant Flower stood out, but his lone hand of fifty-one was not enough to bolster the score to respectable levels.As expected, Australia came out firing in the reply with captain Adam Gilchrist striking the second ball to the fence just to make clear his intention in case the Zimbabweans had any doubts. Gilchrist combined with makeshift opener Darren Lehmann (92*) to post the team’s fifty from just forty-two balls, in thirty-one minutes.Gilchrist’s dismissal, which brought Ricky Ponting (68) to the crease, hardly slowed the run-rate, with the vice-captain combining with Lehmann to power Australia home. Given a rare second chance in the national team, Lehmann grabbed it with both hands, narrowly missing his third century at this level as Australia ran out of runs to chase.Lehmann’s innings of two-and-a-half hours consisted of typically powerful pulls and drives and included nine fours. While supporters will view his innings as representing a timely reminder to Australian selectors, the South Australian said after the match he was just glad to have carried the bat in only his second match as an opener at this level.”Look I’m realistic. I mean, Steve Waugh’s out of the side and, when he comes back, you know, they’ve got the top six there. So I’m probably still on the fringe, that’s just the way it is and every chance I get I’ve just got to do well. It’s always good to represent your country basically. I never gave up hope. Just had to put the runs on the board and hopefully get selected again. Now I’ve sort of got my chance, I’ve just got to keep making every post a winner every time I get a chance to bat,” he said.As for Zimbabwe, whose bowling was no more than average in quality, the headaches are possibly only beginning on this tour.”I thought we had a good start and we probably should’ve ended up with a few more on the board. We were looking for about 250 to be a bit more competitive but they took the game to us. The wicket was pretty good, and Adam Gilchrist came out and played some shots and we didn’t seem to have any response to him. And then Ponting and Lehmann carried on that start. It was quite disturbing for us,” said captain Heath Streak.Zimbabwe next takes on West Indies in Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground in two day’s time.

Australian Greg Blewett and Paul Johnson destroyed Yorkshire with a stand of 150 for the fourth wicket at Headingley to take Nottinghamshire to their second consecutive Benson & Hedges Cup win.Blewett was out shortly before the close for an immaculate 84 but Johnson remained unbeaten on 71 as Notts cantered home with more than ten overs to spare.In front of a crowd of around 2,600, Blewett played the sort of innings that he rarely managed while with Yorkshire in 1999 when he struggled to find any sort of form either in one-day or championship cricket.Since joining Notts this season, however, he hasn’t put a foot wrong and this latest effort followed on the heels of 133 in the CricInfo Championship and 59 not out against Leicestershire in the B&H on Monday.He was dismissed spooning a ball from Chris Silverwood to mid-on after facing 102 balls and striking ten fours but by then Notts virtually had victory sewn up and at the close Johnson had lashed nine boundaries from his 72 balls.Chasing a 195 target on a pitch which eased out as the game progressed, Notts were in plenty of trouble before Blewett and Johnson came together.They slumped to 39 for three as Darren Bicknell chopped Ryan Sidebottom into his stumps, Guy Welton was smartly run out by Gary Fellows’ accurate throw to the wicket-keeper and Usman Afzaal edged a ball from Gavin Hamilton as soon as he entered the attack.Put in to bat, Yorkshire began solidly enough but never got on top of a sharp attack in which Paul Franks looked particularly dangerous and it was he who sent back openers Hamilton and Michael Vaughan.Blewett’s South Australia team-mate Darren Lehmann threatened to destroy Notts as he had done Derbyshire on Monday while compiling a century, but when he had got to 41 he fell to a great diving catch down the legside by Chris Read off Richard Logan.It was only an unbeaten eighth-wicket partnership of 36 in six overs between Richard Blakey and Chris Silverwood that took Yorkshire to a modest 194 for seven.

The Bourda Oval at Guyana, possibly the most picturesque groundin the West Indies, is looking as pretty as it usually does aheadof the first Test between India and the West Indies due to starton Thursday. The outfield, which resembles a billiard top,assures value for money to any shot-maker.But it is as you walk further down the ground to gaze at thevital 22 yards of strip that doubts begin to surface. The pitch,which was one of the best batting surfaces in the Caribbean, hasnow degenerated into an unpredictable surface. If knowledgeableobservers are to believed, variable bounce will come increasinglyinto play as the match progresses.It could, however, prove a boon in disguise for Sourav Gangulyand his side, who are hoping to win a series in the Caribbean foronly the second time in their country’s cricketing history. For, Anil Kumble, who has proved to be their biggest match-winner inrecent times, is at his most destructive in such conditions.Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, if he recovers in time, will beexpected to play a vital role in ensuring that the Indiancampaign gets off to a happy start. The duo have already struckform, claiming 12 wickets in their team’s victorious tour openeragainst the Guyana Board President’s XI. If they bowl at anywherenear their best, they might succeed in running through a WestIndies line-up that has very few established players in itsranks.India, though, are not wholly dependent on their spin twins. WithJavagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra and Tinu Yohannanalso in the squad, they have the enough firepower in their fastbowling arsenal too. With the bowling looking relatively healthy,it is the batting that is suddenly looking suspect.The batsmen, despite their much-touted abilities, have failed topull their collective weight during away tours. Even the lowlyZimbabwe, led by unheralded medium-pacer Andy Blignaut, managedto drive holes in the much-feted line-up at Harare in one ofIndia’s recent away tours.Disturbingly, then, most of the willow-wielders struggled againsta weak Guyana Board President’s XI attack in the tour opener.Coach John Wright has probably taken the first step in addressingthe problem by voicing it.”We have the potential to beat any side in the world. What werequire is self-belief that we are capable of winning away fromhome. It’s a very important factor,” he said, adding, “We havequite a few brilliant players but have yet to click as a team.What we need is a collective effort.”Evidence of new-found self-belief was found recently when ShivSunder Das, the stocky Indian opener, professed the desire toscore big hundreds in the Caribbean, thereby following in thefootsteps of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. If Das and the middle-order, consisting of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Gangulyamong others, manage to support the ever-consistent SachinTendulkar, the tourists might manage to draw first blood inGuyana itself, fair weather permitting.Usually the rain almost unfailingly makes an appearance, and thepossibility of it doing so again cannot be ruled out. Anotheradversary as far as the Indians would be concerned will be afully fit Brian Lara.The West Indian master, who seemed to have regained his best formin the recent series against Sri Lanka, has recovered from hiselbow injury and would, for his part, be hoping to lead his teamto an upset win over the Indians. Carl Hooper and ShivnarineChanderpaul, who scored tons of runs against the Indians in theprevious series between the two sides, are also capable ofleading the home team’s batting.As for the West Indies bowling, Hooper has decided to place hisreliance on his pace bowlers. “Since we don’t have world-classspinners like India have in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,we’ll go for pace. India have very good batsmen in Tendulkar,Dravid and Ganguly, but most of their guys are making their firsttrip to the West Indies. We’d like to take advantage of that,”the West Indies captain said in a recent interview to a privatetelevision channel.Talking to ahead of newspersons of the match, he showed everysign of sticking to his plan, saying, “It’s not easy to replaceCourtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, but we will be relying (on)Merv Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Marlon Black and Adam Sanford todeliver the goods.” The last named is rated highly by fastbowling great Colin Croft, who feels that Sanford may be thesurprise packet.All said, the stage is set for a battle of attrition between thetwo sides. Both teams will be eager to gain the early advantage -West Indies to revive the flagging morale of their side, andIndia to assert the supremacy that is already theirs on paper.With fans of both sides expected, for 42 percent of Guyana’spopulation is of Indian descent, to troop out to the ground, theleast that can be promised is a carnival start to the series.Squads: India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,Wasim Jaffer, Deep Dasgupta, Shiv Sundar Das, VVS Laxman, DineshMongia, Ajay Ratra, Sanjay Bangar, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble,Harbhajan Singh, Sarandeep Singh, Tinu Yohannan, Zaheer Khan,Ashish Nehra.West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Stuart Williams,Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ryan Hinds,Junior Murray, Mervyn Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Marlon Black, AdamStanford, Mahendra Nagamootoo