Injured Sohail Tanvir out of New Zealand series

Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been ruled out of the New Zealand tour that starts later this month due to a knee injury. His place in the Twenty20 squad will be taken by 24-year-old top-order batsman Asad Shafiq, while no replacement has yet been named for the Tests.

"He is not fully fit, he tried hard in the camp, but he requires more time as he faces problems while fielding," the Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam, said. The squad is currently taking part in a preparatory camp in Lahore ahead of the tour.

Tanvir, 26, burst onto the scene during the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, surprising batsmen with his awkward wrong-footed delivery, but has struggled with injuries over the past couple of years. He suffered a back injury after the World Twenty20 in 2009, and was out of action for four months this year after knee surgery.

The tour kicks off with three Twenty20s, starting on December 26 in Auckland, followed by two Tests and six one-day internationals. Pakistan are yet to name a squad for the one-dayers, and deferred the announcement on Wednesday. The board also postponed the naming of the 30-man preliminary list for the World Cup.

"A meeting of the selection committee and integrity committee was held in Lahore and all the issues relating to the clearance of players came under discussion," a PCB statement said. "The committee decided that further consideration of this matter is required. The one-day squad for New Zealand and that for World Cup will be announced at a later date."

The World Cup probables have to be named by December 19. Three players - allrounder Shoaib Malik, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and legspinner Danish Kaneria - were left out of the Test and Twenty20 squads for the New Zealand after the PCB refused to clear them for the series. Three other players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif - have been suspended by the ICC over charges of spot-fixing that arose during Pakistan's tour of England in August.

BCCI and Modi fail to reach compromise

The Supreme Court has been told that attempts to find a compromise between the BCCI and former IPL chairman Lalit Modi have failed, according to PTI. The Court had given both sides until October 21 to work out a solution over the composition of the committee investigating charges levied against Modi.

Ram Jethmalani, who is representing Modi in the case, said that attempts to find a solution failed despite the best efforts of those involved. The next hearing will be held on November 11.

At the first hearing on October 21, the court had offered two suggestions for the compromise: to increase the size of the existing committee or have its three members stay away from the league's governing council, which is authorised to look into the disciplinary committee's report on Modi. The disciplinary committee currently comprises IPL chairman Chirayu Amin, BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia, the president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.

Modi had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of Amin and Jaitley from the disciplinary committee. Modi's plea for the recusal of these two members, on grounds of bias against him, had been rejected by the Bombay high court in September.

The BCCI had suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England. Modi has denied all the charges and repeatedly accused BCCI president Shashank Manohar and the president-elect N Srinivasan of harbouring personal grudges against him.

Siddle helps set up tight final day

Peter Siddle enjoyed a strong workout in the lead-up to the Ashes but Travis Birt kept Tasmania on track to set up a fascinating final day at the MCG. The Tigers finished the third afternoon with one wicket in hand and a lead of 276 - the exact total Victoria managed in the first innings - and both teams can still dream of victory.

Tasmania could add a few more runs in the morning, although they will need to rely on the tailenders Xavier Doherty, who was on 5, and Adam Griffith, who was yet to score. Darren Pattinson bowled Victoria back into the contest with three breakthroughs in the final four overs, including the key wicket of Birt, who was caught at deep square leg for 68.

It left the in-form Pattinson with 4 for 38 and he was chasing his second five-wicket haul for the summer. Pattinson is comfortably the leading wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield, but he has about as much chance of a late call-up for England's Ashes campaign as Graham Gooch.

Siddle is a much more likely Ashes prospect and he did his chances no harm with 3 for 24 from 14 overs, including the important wicket of Luke Butterworth, who made 39 in a good partnership with Birt. Butterworth had earlier collected two wickets to finish off Victoria's tail cheaply in the morning, and he ended up with figures of 4 for 36 on a personally satisfying day.

Chalo Headingley, and Gul's bunny

Chalo Chalo Headingley chalo ...
...read one of the advertising boards. It was a good slogan, written in the green and white Pakistan colours, urging the fans to fill Headingley. It was fitting, too, considering the Pakistani domination on the first day. Sadly the ground remained 75% empty despite the heroics of Pakistan's fast bowling pack in the morning. Perhaps that had something to do with the tickets selling for a prohibitive 30 quid, a big deterrent for devoted fans across England.

Hilf, the hat-trick halter
When Ben Hilfenhaus strode to the crease to face the hat-trick ball from Mohammad Aamer, it was a familiar feeling. Hilfenhaus is in only his 11th Test but he had already needed to negotiate a hat-trick delivery, at The Oval last year when Steve Harmison was aiming to regain the Ashes with three wickets in three balls. On that occasion, Hilfenhaus blocked the ball solidly away and he also survived this time around, though with a little less conviction. Aamer had just knocked back the stumps of Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson with the first two balls after lunch, and another delivery on line would have given him a great chance of the hat-trick. But Aamer angled it across Hilfenhaus, who played and missed.

Smart move
Salman Butt took a leaf out of Ricky Ponting's book of captaincy when he introduced Umar Amin, part-time medium pacer, five overs before lunch. It did seem a little strange considering Umar Gul's short spell lasted just five overs and Danish Kaneria was yet to bowl. But just like Marcus North had struck on the stroke of lunch at Lord's, Amin got the crucial breakthrough in the penultimate over before the end of the first session when he drew North forward and induced a thick edge off a neat outswinger which was snapped brilliantly by the steadily improving Kamran Akmal.

Gul's bunny
When it comes to long vigils, Michael Hussey has shown on several occasions that he has the mental fortitude necessary to cling, limpet-like, to the crease in a tough situation. But Umar Gul has managed to breach Hussey's supreme powers of concentration more than anyone else in the past year. Today Hussey was the victim of a rare bad decision by Rudi Koertzen after HawkEye predicted Gul's inswinging delivery, which hit Hussey flush on the front pad, would miss the leg stump. But in the past 12 months Gul has got the better of Hussey on five occasions across three formats and can proudly hold the Australian as one of his bunnies.

Sreesanth removed as Kerala captain

Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has been removed as captain of his state team Kerala but has been included in a list of 24 probables for the 2010-11 domestic season. Allrounder Raiphi Gomez replaces Sreesanth at the helm with batsman Robert Fernandez as his deputy.

A significant exclusion from the list is medium-pacer and India's first Test cricketer from Kerala, Tinu Yohannan. His previous season was poor, as he played three Ranji Trophy Plate League games and went wicketless.

Sreesanth was only marginally better, grabbing one wicket in three games while conceding 146 runs at over four-an-over. He had also been given a final warning by the Kerala Cricket Association in October last year for disciplinary reasons, and had been warned by the BCCI the same month that he will be suspended from domestic cricket if he violates the code of conduct.

Kerala drew their first two games last season before losing the next two to Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana by substantial margins.

Kerala probables list: Raiphi Gomez (capt), Robert Fernandez (vice-captain), Sreesanth, Rohan Prem, Abhishek Hegde, Karimuttathu Rakesh, VA Jagadeesh, Sony Cheruvathur, Sachin Baby, Arun Paulose, Sebastian Antony, Padmanabhan Prasanth, Sambasiva Sarma, CP Riswan, Arjun NK, Jineesh, Ramesh Kumar, Surjith, Kanakkatharaparambu Sreejith, Sunil Thomas, Chandra Tejas (wk), Prasanth Pramaeswaran, Manu Krishnan, Nizar Niyas.

Steven Finn rattles Bangladesh on rain-hit day

Bangladesh 237 for 7 (Mahmudullah 7*, Shahadat 3*, Finn 4-75) trail England 505 by 268 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details




Steven Finn was the star for England as they made good use of a short day © AFP


Related LinksPlayers/Officials: James Anderson | Steven Finn | Mushfiqur Rahim
Matches: England v Bangladesh at Lord's
Series/Tournaments: Bangladesh tour of England, Ireland and Scotland
Teams: Bangladesh | England




Steven Finn made the most of the 28.5 overs allowed by rain and bad light on the third day at Lord's to further enhance his reputation with three wickets as Bangladesh limped to 237 for 7 under overcast skies. With James Anderson bowling himself back into rhythm, claiming a confidence-boosting brace, it was tough for the visitors who had performed so admirably on Friday but are still 69 runs away from saving the follow on.

English bowling attacks always look far more threatening when they have overhead conditions to help them and they were transformed from the below-par performance of the previous afternoon. Finn was given his favoured Pavilion End and reaped the rewards by causing continued problems with his bounce, while Anderson began to rediscover his outswinger.

With a view to the future it was Finn's performance that was most eye-catching. Significantly he was handed the second new ball and struck with his second delivery to remove the stubborn Mushfiqur Rahim as one nipped between bat and pad, not dissimilar to now Glenn McGrath, Finn's idol, took many of his wickets at Lord's.

It wasn't until 3.20pm that the players managed to take the field and England were clearly keen to take advantage of the conditions, but had also clearly talked about their tactics as the lengths were much better. Finn, operating from the end where he does most of his bowling for Middlesex, struck in the fourth over when Junaid Siddique - after a resilient 58 - couldn't withdraw his bat in time; a problem caused by the extra bounce.

Mohammad Ashraful, who was dropped for the series in Bangladesh a couple of months ago, came in at No. 5 and opened his account with a positive square drive before being unluckily sent on his way. Finn nipped a ball back into his pads and Asoka de Silva answered the bowler's appeal though subsequent replays showed it was missing leg.

At the Nursery End Anderson continued to battle against himself following an inactive three-weeks in the Caribbean which has left him short of bowling. However, slowly he began to rediscover the outswinger which barely made an appearance the previous day and produced a lovely delivery which seamed away from Jahurul Islam to nick the outside edge.

Shakib Al Hasan, short of match practice after suffering chicken pox at the start of the tour, began in positive fashion but had to be very watchful as conditions continued to aid the bowlers. Tim Bresnan replaced Finn after a seven-over spell and was much improved as he found a fuller length to regularly beat Mushfiqur's outside edge.

It was Anderson, though, who made the next breakthrough when Shakib's concentration wavered and he pushed hard outside off stump to a ball that moved away. Matt Prior made a hash of a simple catch, but fortunately for the wicketkeeper Andrew Strauss was on hand at first slip to pouch the rebound much as Graeme Swann had been in the World Twenty20 final when Craig Kieswetter spilled an edge. However, given the scrutiny on Prior's place it won't be a good idea to do it too often.

Mushfiqur, five years after making his debut on this ground as a 16-year-old, gave another demonstration of the technique that makes him Bangladesh's most solid batsman. However, in gloomy light after tea he couldn't keep out Finn's excellent start with the new ball - during a seven-ball period between stoppages - but Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, was clearly annoyed by the umpire's judgement on the light as the players left the field again after the wicket.

Play resumed for another nine deliveries - three of which Shahadat Hossain swung widely at to suggest he wasn't keen on the fight - and although England were denied the chance to wrap up the innings they will be confident of putting Bangladesh back in again on the fourth day.

Younis' request for open hearing turned down

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan's request to have his appeal against the indefinite ban imposed on him by the PCB heard in presence of the media has been turned down by the arbitrator hearing the appeals, former high court judge, Irfan Qadir. Younis' hearing will now resume on June 5.

On a day when Qadir decided to overturn the one-year ban on Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik, Younis' lawyer Ahmed Qayyum demanded that his client's hearing be conducted in front of journalists. Qadir denied the request and was willing to announce his verdict on Younis' appeal, but the lawyer refused to hear a decision "behind closed doors".

"The judge told me he would hold my hearing in camera and didn't allow the media representatives Younis wants to attend his hearings," Qayyum was quoted as saying by PTI. "Before the hearings I requested the judge to allow the media reps in but was told this was not possible as it was a confidential hearing. I was indirectly also told that the judge wanted to give a ruling on Younis Khan's ban immediately behind closed doors but I refused."

Younis has been picked in Pakistan's preliminary squad of 35 for the Asia Cup and the tour of England. He was banned indefinitely by the PCB along with Mohammad Yousuf in the aftermath of a winless tour of Australia for reasons of indiscipline, but his being considered for Pakistan's upcoming international assignments could be an indication that the PCB is willing to leave a door open for a possible return.

The reason for demanding a hearing in the presence of the media, Qayyum said, was to get the board to highlight the evidence based on which it decided to impose the ban. "Now they are saying it is not a ban and the Chairman of the board can include him (Younis) anytime in the team. But my client is adamant that he wants his case to be heard openly because he has done nothing wrong," Qayyum said. "My client wants the truth to come out and my client wants the board to show the evidence on basis of which they banned him."

Qadir said the board had explained its position on the issue, as a result of which he was ready to "wrap up" the pending appeals. "I wanted to give a ruling on Younis Khan's appeal but his lawyer said he wanted more time to talk to his client," Qadir told reporters. "I want to wrap up these appeals because the board has made its stance clear to me now."