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West Indies Cricket Board XI 82 for 2 (Joseph 42*, Bravo 23*) v BangladeshisScorecardWith the start of the Test series only days away, the Bangladeshis once again displayed the competitive streak that had taken them close to success during the one-day series. Though more than half of the first day’s play against a West Indies Cricket Board XI was washed out, Bangladesh bowled with discipline and purpose to restrict them to 82 for 2 from 40 overs.Tapash Baisya broke through for his team first thing in the morning. He bowled Wavell Hinds before the WICB XI had put a run on the board. Not long after, Tareq Aziz dismissed Darren Smith for 11 (25 for 2). But there were no further rewards for the bowlers. Though they kept things very tight, the batsmen hung on. Sylvester Joseph, captaining the side, led the recovery, finishing the day 42 not out. Dwayne Bravo was keeping him company on 23.While a result is unlikely over the next two days, the Bangladeshis will be hoping to give their morale a further boost ahead of the two-Test series.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ashley Giles powered England to a comprehensive victory in the opening Test at Lord’s. He collected 5 for 81 – his first five-for in this country – as West Indies were bowled out for 267 in their second innings, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul again left stranded not out on 97.England secured a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series mainly thanks to Giles, who later collected the Man of the Match award. He took the crucial wicket of Brian Lara before lunch, and despite Chanderpaul’s innings, in which he fell three runs short of what would have been his second century of the match, the game was wrapped up shortly before tea when Andrew Flintoff had Fidel Edwards caught behind.West Indies had resumed at 114 for 3 following a short rain delay this morning, and they started confidently as both Chanderpaul and Lara took advantage of any bad balls they received. Lara, in particular, found that playing his natural aggressive game was the best form of defence against Stephen Harmison, slashing a wide ball behind point, and clipping the next delivery off his legs for consecutive boundaries to bring up the fifty partnership. Lara had a slice of luck in Harmison’s next over, though, as he just managed to kick the ball away from his stumps after a vicious lifter came off his ribs and bounced back towards the wicket.West Indies had another scare after the morning drinks break when a ball from Hoggard spat off a length, hit Chanderpaul painfully on the elbow, and looped to gully. England appealed for the catch, thinking the ball had come off the glove or handle of the bat, but Daryl Harper was unmoved. Chanderpaul was in some discomfort, but soldiered on after some treatment from the West Indies physio.However, England then struck the vital blow, as Giles took his 100th Test wicket with a ball that turned sharply to beat Lara’s attempted drive and cannoned into middle stump (172 for 4). Giles was in the middle of an inspired spell, and six overs later he undid Bravo with a flighted ball that he tapped back for an easy return catch (194 for 5). Ridley Jacobs survived a close shout for lbw first up, but in the next over he edged Hoggard straight to Graham Thorpe in the slips, and the England bowlers had their tails up (195 for 6).Harmison was aggressive after lunch, whizzing the ball past Omari Banks’s nose and then throwing down the stumps after Banks had tapped the ball back defensively a few deliveries later. Banks was rightly given not out, though both of his feet were in the air when the ball hit the stumps, he had already made his ground and was taking evasive action. However, Harmison made amends in his next over as he beat Banks for pace and bowled him all ends up (200 for 7).Tino Best then completely lost his head after a few words with Flintoff at first slip, and was stumped two balls later after charging down the wicket at Giles, and England were making steady progress towards the finishing line (203 for 8).

At the other end, Chanderpaul went to a heroic, but ultimately futile, half-century with consecutive boundaries off Harmison, and kept the runs flowing with three boundaries in three balls off Hoggard two overs later. He had taken a number of blows to the arms and hands in his innings, and received yet another painful hit, on the inside knee for a change, from Simon Jones that had him calling for the physio once again.But Chanderpaul had other problems, namely that he was running out of partners. Pedro Collins was out his depth against Giles as he struggled gamely for 38 deliveries, surviving a multitude of lbw shouts, a stumping, and an appeal for caught behind, before eventually becoming Giles’s fifth victim when Geraint Jones took advantage of a second stumping chance (247 for 9).Chanderpaul raced into the nineties with consecutive fours, behind point and through the covers, off Simon Jones, as the clouds rolled in over Lord’s, but Edwards, who had clung on for 24 balls, then edged Flintoff behind to Geraint Jones to signal the end of the match, and start England’s celebrations.

Steve Bucknor has revealed that both he and Aleem Dar received death threats on the last day of England’s final Test against South Africa at Centurion. Bucknor and Dar were the two umpires for that game.According to London’s , Bucknor stated that the threat came through a phone call made to the chief executive’s office at SuperSport Park during the final day’s play. “I was told that the threat came towards the end of the last day. I’m not sure if Aleem realised it was against him as well, but I was told that the words the caller used were ‘We are going to get rid of Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor, we are going to shoot them’,” Bucknor said. “You get lots of abuse as an umpire, but that is the first time that I have been threatened to that extent. I briefly thought about cutting short my stay and going home to the Caribbean, but I convinced myself that I am stronger than that. If umpires react to threats like that, then there will be a flood of them.”I have to say that I am not really worried about it – the words were serious, but I’m not sure whether the person who said them was serious – I’m certain it was just a hoax call,” Bucknor continued. “Also, I grew up in a part of Jamaica where threats are a daily occurrence, and I refereed football matches in Jamaica where you get threatened all the time – although it was never this extreme. Nevertheless, it’s not been a pleasant couple of days.”Bucknor has already officiated in 99 Tests, but his performance during the series came in for criticism from some of the players and the media. Michael Vaughan, the England captain, was especially vocal about the umpires’ interpretation of the playing conditions during the fourth Test at Johannesburg, while South Africa believe that plenty of decisions went against them during the recent series. Dar has returned to Pakistan after the Tests, but Bucknor is still in South Africa and will officiate in the one-day series as well.

Ricky Ponting has said that the engrossing Ashes series could be a precursor to an even more vibrant encounter when Australia take on the World XI in October’s ICC Super Series. Currently locked at one-all, the ongoing series between England and Australia has already swung both ways; England stand to win it for the first time since 1986, and Australia have expressed horror at the thought of relinquishing the trophy. It has made for a dynamic tussle.After the World XI teams were announced, Cricket Australia released a press statement by Ricky Ponting. “It will be an amazing experience to play against a side of this caliber and I think for those players in the World XI, it will be an equally exciting prospect to play in a team alongside the game’s greats,” AFP reported. “No doubt the Australian public is talking about the tight Ashes battle that we’re currently in, and hopefully, that can whet people’s appetites for even more great cricket in October. We’ve spent some time on the bus journeys around England, trying to predict the World XI. There’s no doubt that this is a highly impressive line-up.”The Test opposition includes Brian Lara, Andrew Flintoff, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Steve Harmison and Virender Sehwag – all of whom have dazzled against Australia. The Test and one-day series have been given official status to add purpose to their dazzle, and are the prime draw in the cricketing calendar after the Ashes until India tour Pakistan in 2006.James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said that this was the biggest cricket event Australia had held since the World Cup in 1992. “This is the ultimate sporting contest – the best team in the world against a team of the world’s best players. The ICC World XI is a star-studded line-up and we are looking forward to seeing how Australia’s challenge against the ICC World XI will unfold. We have seen over the past month or so the intense excitement and interest that surrounds a genuine contest between two evenly matched teams. England is challenging Australia and we are going to see the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Kevin Pietersen taking them on again in October at the Super Series.

Brett Lee is enjoying the extra responsibility of being Australia’s main bowling man following the unfortunate absence of Glenn McGrath. While McGrath is missing the one-day tour to look after his sick wife Jane, Lee is stepping up to guide an inexperienced attack in the Twenty20 International on Friday and the five-match one-day series.”[Lee] has been vital to us in both forms of the game – to be able to take wickets with the new ball – and we will be looking for him to do that again for us,” Ricky Ponting told . “When he is bowling the way he is, bowling fast and swinging the ball, he’s very difficult for any batsman to play.”Only Muttiah Muralitharan and Nathan Bracken took more wickets than Lee’s 15 at 29.26 in the VB Series, and Ponting said he was looking forward to unleashing him in South Africa. “Because he has got his own game in such good shape at the moment, he’s really enjoying that extra responsibility,” Ponting said. “We’ll have other guys around him in the one-day side, and even when the Test matches come around, who can do the other jobs. Brett’s strengths are his pace and being able to use that in short bursts, so that’s the way we’re planning to use him.”Bracken and Stuart Clark, the New South Wales team-mates, are likely to be the first-choice back-up for Ponting, who also has Mick Lewis and Mitchell Johnson in the squad. “I couldn’t really have been much happier with the way Stuart and Nathan have performed over the summer and really matured into good international bowlers,” Ponting said. “We’re not exactly sure if we are going to have Glenn for the Test part of the tour. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.”McGrath must play for New South Wales if he is to be considered for the tour and Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, who both performed strongly in the Pura Cup match at the Gabba this week, are the leading contenders to fill any vacancy. The first Test starts at Cape Town on March 16.

Inzamam-ul-Haq turned up for the briefest of press conferences on the eve of the Rawalpindi Test. Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, revealed India’s playing XI, and also indicated that he and Yuvraj Singh were the contenders to open the batting.

Inzamam-ul-Haq
On the importance of the decider
Obviously the decider is extremely important. The boys have been working very hard and they are confident after the way they played at Lahore. We want a repeat performance here from them.On the pitch
The pitch looks good for bowling and it seems like it will help them throughout. Our bowlers performed well in the last match and they are confident of doing well on this wicket also.On the Pakistan squad
The only one we have omitted from the list of 17 is Abdur Rauf. We just want to keep our options open. Nothing has been confirmed yet – all the boys are working hard. Whoever performs well in practice will give themselves a chance of playing.On Mohammad Sami
His name has been announced in the squad of 16, which means that he is fit to play.On the importance of the toss
It will be a good toss to win, and I think bowling first is probably the best option given the nature of the pitch.On Sourav Ganguly’s return
He will obviously make a difference. His captaincy in the ODIs was very good, so that will help them. But he has missed a couple of matches now and might be rusty.On playing four fast bowlers
It is an option but we will confirm it tomorrow.Sourav Ganguly
On team composition
Ajit [Agarkar], Aakash [Chopra], [Murali] Kartik, Ramesh [Powar] and [Mohammad] Kaif won’t be playing.

On who will open the batting with Virender Sehwag
It’s a tough call. It will be either myself or Yuvraj. When we picked Yuvraj ahead of [Sadagoppan] Ramesh in the squad, he had agreed to open if required. This is a one-off situation, and the question is, what is best for the team. At the end of the day, I’m not an opener. But it’s also difficult shifting a guy [Yuvraj] from his position when he’s done well there. But in the long run, Yuvraj has to consider himself as an opener.On the pitch
It’s become a little browner since yesterday because of the sunshine. But if there’s a lot of grass left on it, that will help the bowlers on both sides. But it could be a lot like Lahore where there was initial movement, but it then settled down to be a good batting track. As for bowling first on winning the toss, it will depend on how much moisture there is in the pitch.On dropping Chopra
It’s hard on Aakash, but it’s also difficult to ask a batsman to sit out after he has made a Test hundred. He [Aakash] is definitely part of the team, and will get his place back. This is a one-off, and we don’t play our next Test for six months. But it was certainly among the more difficult decisions I have had to make as captain.On India’s failure to close out Test series abroad
It will be a motivation for us. We have come close on several occasions. Hopefully, we can make it here. But we have to focus on the game. It’s when you start looking too far ahead, thinking of victory and defeat, that you start taking wrong decisions.On what areas the Indians need to work on
I said before the series that how we batted would determine the result. When we batted well in Multan, we won. We didn’t bat so well in Lahore.On some of the Pakistani bowlers being unknown quantities
We played Naved [ul-Hasan] in Karachi. And anyway, I believe it’s the ball that matters, not who bowls it. You saw how Umar Gul did when he came into the side.

Ian Harvey, the former Australia allrounder, will return to Gloucestershire on a short-term contract for the 2006 season. Harvey helped Gloucestershire win six one-day titles between 1999 and 2003 before joining Yorkshire for two seasons.”It is great to be coming back to Gloucestershire and l am looking forward to being back in Bristol,” he said. “Even though I will only be playing for a short period of time, I am looking forward to staying involved with the club by helping out with the Academy and the development of the younger players, as well as playing in the warm up to the Twenty20 international.”Gloucestershire’s two main overseas players – the New Zealanders Shane Bond and Hamish Marshall – join the club in May; Harvey will play in the first three Championship matches and three one-dayers. After his contract with Victoria wasn’t renewed, he spent the winter playing for the South African side, Cape Cobras.Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s head coach, is delighted at Harvey’s return to the club. “Ian’s record for us is outstanding and there is no doubt he is one that we all love to watch.”Ian is an explosive batsman that can impact an innings from his first ball, he is a bowler with such variation that he is unpredictable and he is now a cricketer with such maturity that he can make a real difference to Gloucestershire.”

Sri Lanka’s captain, Mahela Jayawardene, praised the performance of his young team and said that their efforts ranked up there with the best, as the first Test at Lord’s was saved through a brilliant rearguard action.Having followed on a whopping 359 runs in arrears, Sri Lanka ground their way through 199 overs on the final two-and-a-half days before bad light brought their epic innings to an end on 537 for 9. No fewer than seven batsmen recorded fifty in the innings, and after slumping to 91 for 6 in the first innings, Jayawardene was thrilled with the fight they had shown.”It was a brilliant effort which showed a lot of character from top to bottom,” he said, after being named as Man of the Match for his twin scores of 61 and 119. “It will have given a lot of confidence to the youngsters, and that’s what they need, belief that they can do it at this level of cricket, because most of them haven’t achieved anything in their careers yet.”The effort will also have given Jayawardene a lot of belief. Since assuming a senior role in the side, he has endured criticism of his leadership skills, and still remains as the official vice-captain on this tour, in the absence of the injured Marvan Atapattu. But he was able to answer the doubters by leading from the front and watching his charges take inspiration from his resistance.”In the past when I’ve been given responsibility, people have said how difficult it is for me to concentrate on my batting at the highest level,” he said. “I think I’ve proved people wrong. It’s how I go out there and perform that matters. It’s all to do with team efforts.”Jayawardene admitted that the thought had crossed his mind to declare once they had established a lead of 140-150, but added that good sense had prevailed, given the placid nature of the wicket. Even so, had England managed to take that final wicket and set themselves up for a run-chase, his side were ready and waiting for the challenge.”If we had been put in that situation we would definitely have gone for it,” said Jayawardene. “It was really flat out there but with three or four wickets we would have had a chance. It was all about the effort we had put in, and we couldn’t have let it go like that.”Jayawardene insisted that the spate of dropped catches shouldn’t detract from his team’s achievement, but he did recognise Sri Lanka had issues to address. “We’ll need to show the same determination in our bowling,” he said, “and we might have to look at different combinations when we get to Edgbaston. We have to get England out twice to win Test matches, and we only got five wickets. Those are the areas we have to improve.”

Ireland’s Niall O’Brien wants to follow his countryman Ed Joyce in playing for England. O’Brien was Ireland’s hero in their World Cup victory against Pakistan on Saturday, striking 72.”I want to play cricket at the highest level and obviously that’s Test match cricket,” he told Reuters news agency. “Whether that’s for Ireland or England I’m not really sure,” he began, with some loyalty, before adding: “realistically, it’s with England.”O’Brien, a wicketkeeper/batsman, spent four years at Kent but lost his place there when Geraint Jones was demoted from the England set-up. Northamptonshire soon snapped him up and he is set to make his debut for them later on this year.But he is grateful for his time at Kent. “It proved to be a great stepping stone and I want to push on with Northants now.”In the meantime, he is focused on taking Ireland as far as they can in the World Cup, and with a win and a tie under their belts already, their ambitions to make the next stage are looking realistic: “Hopefully we’ll be in the Super Eights and I will be able to do my pre-season out here in the sun rather than the cold and rain in Northampton.”

Marvan AtapattuOn the reasons for the debacleLooking back at it, I would put it down to not capitalising on the chances that we had been given. Even here, we had them in a spot of bother in the first innings. The other thing is that we can’t take anything away from their lower-order batsmen, and the manner in which they played Muttiah Muralitharan.On why the Indian lower order had done so wellIt’s a difficult question to answer. It’s not like you can’t bat well just because you’re a lower-order batsman. But they played very well. And I think [Irfan] Pathan handled Murali best.On the difference between his spinners and the Indians, and whether the SG ball played a partI think they got more bounce than our two spinners. Talking to Harbhajan Singh, he reckoned that too. They exploited the wickets better, and were also fortunate to win both tosses.On Lasith Malinga and his short-ball barrageThat’s the only thing he knows best. He’s not a McGrath type of bowler to pitch the ball on a spot. We’ve given him license to be himself, and not someone else.Tom MoodyOn the batting collapses, and whether they were related to poor techniqueNot at all. As Marvan has said, I think it was down to lack of concentration. It’s never easy to bat against two quality spinners, and we failed to adjust.On where the series was lostWe were in very strong positions in both Tests [Delhi and Ahmedabad], but failed to drive home the advantage. We only turned up for half the game, and that’s not good enough. We need to learn from that, and compete over five days, not just for two and a half.On whether they were a bowler shortNot at all. The bowling attack was well-balanced. And Murali tends to bowl a high percentage of the overs, particularly in conditions like those over here. Putting an extra bowler out to pasture at fine leg or third man wouldn’t have made a difference. We just didn’t have the killer instinct. India had the patience and the persistence and it was a good team effort from them.On what he would take from the seriesThe experience of playing two fine spin bowlers in their conditions. We could’ve bowled better, no doubt about that. But the fielding was a considerable improvement on what we saw in the one-day series. The middle order also needs to capitalise on starts and get the team total to 400 and beyond.On the absence of JayasuriyaSanath’s a wonderful player. But he wasn’t selected, and I don’t think the outcome of the series had much to do with that. On the other hand, we might have seen the birth of another opening batsman here. Upul Tharanga played a high-quality innings, and showed very good temperament and technique against two very good spinners, and a fine new-ball bowler in Pathan. He was one of the bright spots to come out of this match.On how he rated the Indian teamObviously, India are a different side away from home. They’re a real force in home conditions, with some real momentum coming from the media and the crowds. I think they will remain very difficult to play on home soil. They played some solid cricket, and looked like they were enjoying it. Only time will tell where they go from here.On the morale within his own squadIt’s very high. We faced difficult times during the one-day series, and have been beaten 2-0 now, but there have been several positives. We just haven’t competed over the full five days. But we had India on the ropes in all the three Tests, and it’s not like we’ve been thrashed. We were caught napping on two or three days and that allowed India to come back.On who would have the edge when India played PakistanIndia have done very well of late, but Pakistan have done just as well, if not better. They’re an emerging side with a lot of talent, and if they’re all fit, I think they’ll start slight favourites.