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Bangladesh were fearing bankruptcy after New Delhi said cricketingties between Pakistan and India will only resume after thenormalization of political relations between the two neighbors.The director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Ashraf-ul-Haq,talking exclusively to Dawn, further said he would condemn India’swithdrawal from the Asian Test Championship during the Asian CricketCouncil (ACC) meeting at Lahore on Oct 20 and 21.”Bangladesh will go bankrupt if India continues to run away fromplaying Pakistan. Their decision to pull out from the competition hasbadly affected the budget of the BCB as the profits from thechampionship would have been invested on the development of the gamein Bangladesh,” he said.Ashraf believed that Pakistan and Sri Lanka might survive from thehuge financial setback.”We are the newest Test nation and need funds. We don’t have the moneyrequired to uplift the standard of the game. But if we don’t earnmoney, the sport will die. It would be a tragedy if a Test nation hasto face this fate,” Ashraf said.”The ACC can invest that money in Bangladesh but that would be immoraland unethical as that money is for countries like Singapore, Malaysia,Nepal and others.” he said.Ashraf said BCB had planned a tri-nation one-day series also involvingIndia and Pakistan in Dec and the eve of Pakistan’s two-Test tour toDhaka to cover up for the losses and generate some money throughsponsorships and television rights. But feared that that proposalmight not materialize under the present circumstances.Although India has confirmed to play in the competition but there is apossibility of it withdrawing once again and that too at last minute.Similarly, Pakistan’s position is also not clear.”I think Pakistan will be justified in not playing India in Bangladeshuntil India tours Pakistan. But Pakistan board has always been kindand helpful and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) understands what willhappen to us if money-generating continental events were not played,”he said, “I sincerely hope that Pakistan will show a big heart as theywere the ones who proposed us for Test status and supported all theway.”Ashraf said he would condemn India in the ACC meeting which followsthe eight-day ICC executive board’s meeting in October in Lahore. “Ican’t go there and say India did the right thing. Of course, I willcondemn India,” he said.However, he added the ACC was not in a position to penalize India.”How can the ACC penalize India at this stage? But it is a lesson foreveryone and hopefully there will be a clause to impose penalties on anation which defaults.”He suggested that the country defaulting should be fined 50% from theincome through title sponsorships and televisions rights. Just torecap, Pakistan will host the Asia Cup one-day tournament in Aug-Septin 2002. Besides the four Asian Test playing countries, two qualifierswill also participate.Ashraf disagreed that the game’s governing body could do anything toIndia. He said the Asian Test Championship had nothing to do with theICC as it was a continental tournament.

ScorecardMatt Coles picked up a six-wicket haul as Leicestershire crumbled for 159•Getty Images

A pitch almost as green as the outfield made Kent captain Sam Northeast’s decision to bowl first a simple one, and he would have been satisfied after his side bowled Leicestershire out for just 159 on day one of their Championship Division Two encounter at Grace Road.Leicestershire’s total could have been even fewer had the visitors held all their chances, particularly during a morning session throughout which the ball seamed and swung, but which ended with the home side on 109 for 4.Ned Eckersley was the only Leicestershire batsman to offer any defiance as he made 41 from 52 balls and, after the rest were skittled inside 52 overs thanks largely to Matt Coles’ six-wicket haul, Kent reached 44 for 2 in reply by the close.Three of the morning-session wickets fell to Coles, and first to be dismissed was Matt Boyce, who pushed hard at a rising delivery and was well held by Adam Ball at second slip, the ball flying quickly and at chest-height.However Angus Robson and Eckersley then added 58 for the second wicket, taking advantage of a series of wide or over-pitched deliveries, before Robson drove loosely at Coles and thin-edged a catch to wicketkeeper Sam Billings. Only one more run had been added when Greg Smith, returning to his former county on a month’s loan from Nottinghamshire, pushed forward at his first delivery and edged a comfortable catch off Calum Haggett to Coles at second slip.Darren Stevens dropped Eckersley off Haggett but Coles, having switched ends, bowled Eckersley with a pitched-up delivery as Leicestershire lost three wickets for just seven runs.They were seen through to lunch by Andrea Agathangelou and Aadil Ali, the latter a 20-year-old academy graduate making his first-class debut for the county. But Kent bowled with a lot more accuracy after the break, and picked up the last six wickets for 65 runs. Coles took three of them, ending with figures of 6 for 55 to take his season tally to 48.Agathangelou led the procession, edging an attempted cut at Stevens to Ball at first slip. Ali had applied himself with determination, going to 13 before edging a Stevens outswinger to Coles at second slip.Lewis Hill and Clint McKay miscued attacking shots off Coles’ bowling, which resulted in their giving off-side catches to Sam Northeast and Joe Denly respectively. Ben Raine was bowled by Coles and Ollie Freckingham top-edged an attempted hook off Haggett to leave Leicestershire all out for 159.To add to their woes, a heavy shower forced the umpires to call an early tea before their bowlers could look to put the Kent batsmen under immediate pressure in reply.When play did restart, only 14 overs were possible before the rain returned to end play. Kent lost the wickets of Denly, caught at bat and pad off Raine, and Daniel Bell-Drummond, leg-before on the back foot to a delivery from McKay that kept low.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAhmed Shehzad applauds Umar Akmal following his 40-ball 93•PSL

Umar Akmal bludgeoned the highest score of the Pakistan Super League, his 40-ball 93 guiding Lahore Qalandars to their first win of the season, against Quetta Gladiators in Dubai. The 63-run defeat was Quetta’s first of the tournament, after they had set the early pace with three consecutive wins.Not many could have seen Akmal’s blast coming when Lahore crawled to 62 for 1 in 10 overs. But with Cameron Delport providing the initial spark and Akmal the finishing punch, Lahore cruised to 194 for 3 at the end of 20 overs. The pair added 95 runs in only 42 balls, with Delport smoking a 55-ball 73, an innings that featured eight fours and three sixes. Although the carnage could have been cut short – Akmal survived a close lbw shout off the third ball he faced and Zulfiqar Babar was visibly distraught when it was given not out.Babar eventually trapped Delport lbw when the batsman attempted an extravagant reverse flick, but any hope Quetta had of drying up the runs were quickly dashed by Akmal, who treated himself to six fours and eight sixes, including 18 runs off the penultimate over, bowled by Umar Gul. Akmal could not reach his maiden T20 ton, but he made sure Quetta needed to score at nearly 10 an over right from the off. They could not.Lahore’s spinners took wickets at regular intervals and only Mohammad Nawaz (42) and Sarfraz Ahmed (31) offered any resistance. Once Sarfraz was dismissed in the 13th over, Quetta lost their next six wickets for 13 runs and folded for 131. Zafar Gohar was the pick of the bowlers, collecting 4 for 14, while Ajantha Mendis chipped in with 3 for 17.

Darren Lehmann has had an interrupted off-season © Getty Images

Darren Lehmann will miss South Australia’s Pura Cup opener against Victoria next month after tearing a hamstring last week. Lehmann had only just started training following an off-season interrupted by surgery on his achilles tendon and a case of deep-vein thrombosis.He told the that at 37 it would be a challenge to make it through a 21st season of first-class cricket. “It is disappointing breaking down again but I guess it’s a case of finding the best way to manage my body,” Lehmann said.Nathan Adcock, the new captain of South Australia, will not be able to call on Lehmann for advice in their first Pura Cup game at Adelaide Oval starting on October 14. Lehmann has also confirmed he will be on the sidelines for the KFC Twenty20 competition in January, giving the Redbacks’ less experienced batsmen a chance to shine.”Twenty20 is probably a young man’s game now,” he said. “It will be good for some young guys to get some more opportunities.”

Runako Morton is put out of his misery finally, as Nathan Bracken traps him in front © Getty Images

West Indies went into the DLF Cup final against Australia feeling good about their chances, but they should have known that Australia can get quite ruthless when the stakes get high. They have a history of thrashing opponents in finals, and West Indies themselves have been at the receiving end earlier: in the first final of the Carlton & United Series in 2001, West Indies were humbled by 134 runs, their biggest defeat against Australia in terms of runs. The 127-run defeat in the DLF Cup final slots in second place. (Click here for a list of Australia’s most convincing ODI wins against West Indies when batting first.)West Indies’ score of 113 was their third-lowest in all ODIs against Australia. Their lowest – 87 – came in a bizarre match during the Benson & Hedges World Series in 1992-93, after they had earlier dismissed Australia for 101.The West Indians put in a terrible display with the bat, but the worst of them all was Runako Morton, who played out 30 dot balls before being dismissed off the 31st. It was the slowest duck ever scored in one-day internationals, beating the earlier record which also belonged to a West Indian – Phil Simmons made one off 23 balls against New Zealand in Goa in 1994-95. The table below lists the eight longest ducks in ODIs, in terms of balls faced.

Longest ducks in ODIs

Batsman	Balls faced	Opposition	Venue & year
Runako Morton	31	Australia	Kuala Lumpur, 2006
Phil Simmons	23	New Zealand	Goa, 1994-95
Athar Ali Khan	22	India	Mumbai, 1998
Graeme Fowler	21	New Zealand	Sydney, 1982-83
Graeme Labrooy	20	England	Delhi, 1989-90
Tim de Leede	19	Pakistan	Lahore, 1995-96
Alan Mullally	19	Sri Lanka	Dambulla, 2000-01
Derek Underwood	18	Australia	Birmingham, 1977

Shaun Udal has capped a fine season with a tour to Pakistan © Getty Images

England have recalled Shaun Udal for the tour of Pakistan after a break of 10 years in his international career. Alex Loudon has also been selected for the Test leg of the tour after impressing for Warwickshire with his offspin, and the ability to bowl a ball which spins the other way. Liam Plunkett, the young Durham quick bowler, is included in the one-day squad but Darren Gough has been left out on his own request.All 12 players who featured during the Ashes series are unsurprisingly selected with James Anderson also travelling, although he has lost his central contract. Chris Tremlett, who was in the England squads for the first four Tests against Australia, is in both squads and Matt Prior is the reserve keeper ahead of Chris Read.Commenting on the selection the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: “In choosing our Test squad, the area that involved the most discussion was the choice of spin bowlers. Udal is an experienced spinner and based on his performances this summer, we felt he merited inclusion ahead of other candidates such as Gareth Batty, Richard Dawson and Graeme Swann.”Without wishing to be too blunt, regrettably their performances during the summer have probably been disappointing for them. Shaun, by far, is the performing bowler at the present time.”Loudon and Plunkett are two emerging players who have been included in the Test and one-day squads respectively. This is an excellent opportunity for them and we feel they will both benefit from working with Troy Cooley and learning more about the international environment.”Simon Jones has been included in both squads subject to fitness. He made an enormous contribution to our Ashes victory and we will continue to monitor his recovery from injury in close consultation with the medical team.”With regard to the wicket-keeping position, the selectors were aware of the credentials of Read, Prior and James Foster. Prior has been a part of the one-day squad before and we feel that he is the best candidate to understudy Geraint Jones on this tour.”Gough asked the selectors not to consider him for the one-day squad’s tour to Pakistan this winter. Darren would like to make clear that he has not decided to retire from one-day International cricket and the selectors fully understand his reasons for making himself unavailable to tour.”Darren Gough said: “I have played a lot of cricket over the last 12 months and I feel that a rest would be beneficial for me at this stage of my career. I have toured regularly with England over the past ten years and this decision will also give me an opportunity to spend more time with my children.”The Academy squad is a mixture of youngsters and established county players. Steven Davies, the Worcestershire wicketkeeper, and Mark Footitt, a left arm seamer from Nottinghamshire represent the youth while Owais Shah, Robert Key and Ed Joyce are rewarded for prolific domestic seasons. Read is offered the chance to keep his name in the frame while Plunkett will also spend time at the Academy.England squad Michael Vaughan (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Alex Loudon, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Shaun Udal.England one-day squad Michael Vaughan (capt), James Anderson, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Liam Plunkett, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Marcus TrescothickNational Academy Squad Gareth Batty, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Rikki Clarke, Alastair Cook, James Dalrymple, Steven Davies, Mark Footitt, Ed Joyce, Robert Key, Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Owais Shah, Tom Smith, Luke Wright, Mike Yardy

Graeme Smith: desperate to get South Africa back to winning ways© Getty Images

The wretched form of Herschelle Gibbs leaves South Africa facing a serious selection dilemma as they try to lift themselves out of a rut – a losing run that stretches back seven games – and keep alive their series hopes in Dambulla on Wednesday.Gibbs, a surefire selection for so long, is in danger of being axed, as Graeme Smith, South Africa’s frustrated captain, admitted after the team’s morning practice session on Tuesday. But Smith also hinted that Gibbs’s matchwinning qualities could save him from the guillotine for the time being.Gibbs’s problems started with an ankle injury, sustained in Pretoria before the tour. It kept him out of the first practice game and the first Test. Then, after he worked feverishly to regain his full fitness, his early-season rustiness was clinically exploited by Sri Lanka’s new-ball bowlers in the second Test.After failures in the first two matches of this one-day series, including a ghastly swipe that left his stumps splayed in the second game, he has a total of 11 runs from four visits to the crease. Two boundaries may be enough for him to regain his touch, but Martin van Jaarsveld, who scored some runs in the Tests, is waiting eagerly on the sidelines.”Herschelle is a world-class player and has been a proven matchwinner time and time again for South Africa,” Smith told reporters. “It is very difficult to leave out a man of his calibre, as we know he could go out any day and win the game in 30 overs. But it is something that has been up for consideration with the selectors.””We have options with a few guys that can bat in the top order,” added Smith, “and Martin [van Jaarsveld] is the likeliest to play if we leave Gibbs out.” But wholesale changes are unlikely: “I don’t expect too many changes though. We have been playing our best team and will give them one more go.”South Africa are drawing inspiration from their magnificent fightback against Pakistan last year, when they stormed back from a similarly dire position to win the series 3-2. However, this time South Africa are under pressure as their run of defeats starts to threaten the ten-match losing streak under Kepler Wessels in 1994.But Smith insists that his team are not lacking in confidence or commitment – they just need a bit of luck to spark a comeback. “We have fallen out of the winning habit and we have been a little tense in the crunch situations. We have spoken about the need to relax a little bit so that we can finish games off more ruthlessly.”Sri Lanka’s squad, in high spirits after the wedding of Nuwan Zoysa yesterday, trained in the afternoon. Although Tillakaratne Dilshan is suffering from a painful ankle, they will be picking from a full squad. Their only dilemma is the balance of the attack: two seamers or three? Farveez Maharoof and Rangana Herath are battling for the final place.

Only 14 hours after the 2000th one-day international concludes, the 2001st will get under way as Dhaka plays host to the TVS Cup – yet another triangular tournament featuring one team which exceeded all expectations at the World Cup, and two which flopped badly.Not surprisingly, most of India’s senior players have preferred to rest their weary bodies rather than slog through another ODI series. The absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra means that India will be without most of their World Cup stars – Tendulkar and Dravid made 41% of the total runs scored off the bat for India, while Srinath and Nehra took 31 of the 82 wickets.All this also means an exciting opportunity for some fringe players to prove their worth at the international level. Importantly, the new incumbents are all fresh from a successful stint with India’s A team in the West Indies: Gautam Gambhir and Abhijit Kale collected a bagful of runs, while Avishkar Salvi and Amit Mishra were the leading wicket-takers. Salvi was especially impressive with his ability to generate pace and bounce on the slow West Indian wickets. The lack of strong reserve strength has for long been the bane of Indian cricket – so if the current crop of youngsters put in a strong performance, India could gain plenty from a seemingly meaningless one-day tournament.The Indians will also be helped by the conditions in Dhaka, which are no different from those they experience at home. Sourav Ganguly did mention, though, that the absence of Andrew Leipus, the physiotherapist, will be keenly felt: “It will be hot there so we needed a physio like him.” Fortunately for the teams, all the matches will be played under lights.If the tournament presents India with an opportunity to build towards a bright future, then for South Africa it’s a chance to make a break from the past. Graeme Smith, 22, takes charge of a team which is still trying to shake off the legacy of the Hansie Cronje era. “My job is to instill freshness in the team,” said Smith, who made it clear that he wanted to distance himself and his team from the Cronje phase: “I never played with Cronje and so have no memories of him. That age is over.”Brave words those, but South Africa have the onerous task of filling the formidable void left by the retirements of Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and Gary Kirsten, and the absence of Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje. To make matters worse, Jacques Kallis was forced to withdraw to attend to his ailing father, though he is expected to join the tour later.The inclusion, finally, of the hugely talented left-hander Jacques Rudolph – one of six new faces outside the original World Cup squad – is a step in the right direction. Smith’s biggest test, though, will be his ability to carry along the remaining senior members in the party – Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs.Bangladesh, who face India in the first match on Friday, are the third team in the contest, and barring a miracle, are likely to exit from the competition long before the final. Despite a miserable World Cup, where their only points came from a washed-out game, Bangladesh have included only one new face for this tournament – 20-year-old medium-pacer Tareq Aziz. That they have been forced to revert to tried-and-tested failures – Akram Khan, Mehrab Hossain and Javed Omar all make a comeback – indicates the lack of talent in their cupboard.The Bangladesh board did the inevitable by sacking their captain and coach, but the results with Khaled Mahmud at the helm are likely to be little different from those that his predecessor, Khaled Masud, experienced.SquadsBangladesh: Javed Omar, Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mahmud (capt), Akram Khan, Alok Kapali, Tushar Imran, Khaled Masud (wk), Sanwar Hossain, Mohammad Rafique, Tapash Baisya, Manjural Islam, Tareq Aziz, Talha Jubair.India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Abhijit Kale, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel (wk), Sanjay Bangar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Amit Mishra, Aavishkar Salvi, Sarandeep Singh.South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith (capt), Boeta Dippenaar, Neil McKenzie, Jacques Kallis, Jacques Rudolph, Andrew Hall, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Robin Peterson, Paul Adams, Allan Dawson, Charl Willoughby, Mahkaya Ntini.

The daughter of Pakistan opening batsman Saeed Anwar has died. Bismah was three-and-a-half and passed away after a prolonged illness. Saeed played in the Asian Test Championship game against Bangladesh in Multan but has now returned to Lahore.

West Ham United still have a crucial period of their season left to get through in order to finish as high up the Premier League table as they can and potentially winning the Europa League.

However, with the upcoming summer transfer window in mind, it seems as though a clue has been dropped over one potential deal that may or may not take place once the season comes to an end.

What’s the talk?

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist and transfer insider Dean Jones had this to say on the situation regarding West Ham’s interest in signing £20.7m-rated Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic after a report emerged claiming that the club have a gentleman’s agreement with the player’s agent regarding a potential summer transfer move.

He said: “I think he turned them down once before. I don’t know of any agreement like that, that is in place.

“Maybe there is and I haven’t heard of it, but he’s a player they’ve undoubtedly liked in the past.”

The player was supposedly available for just £13m over the winter.

Not good news for the Hammers

As many West Ham fans will remember, the club were linked with a move for the player Sacha Pisani dubbed a “beast” back in the previous summer transfer window before they secured a deal for Kurt Zouma from fellow Premier League side Chelsea.

Having remained in Italy with Fiorentina, the centre-back has shown the Hammers exactly why they should have secured his signature when they had the chance.

With 26 league appearances under his belt, the 24-year-old has racked up a total of 101 combined tackles and interceptions, the highest of any player at the club, as well as 74 clearances, also more than any of his teammates.

This highlights just what a capable defender he is and why the Hammers were after him last summer.

Taking into account what Jones had to say about him having no knowledge of any gentleman’s agreement that would see the defender make the move to the London Stadium, this will surely be a disappointment for the Hammers fans and their hope of seeing the defender join.

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With Milenkovic actually turning down a move to the east London club when they were previously after him, this certainly wouldn’t go down well with the West Ham supporters either.

Current Hammers centre-back Issa Diop has recently been linked with a move to Lyon in the summer, the club should try and persuade the Fiorentina defender to once again sign to them and see if he can bring his talent to England.

In other news: Big worry: West Ham dealt fresh injury setback that’ll have many supporters sweating