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Ben Cutting, the Queensland fast bowler, has become the third paceman to withdraw from Australia A’s tour of England due to injury, flying home following the conclusion of the tourists’ opening match against Derbyshire.Cutting, 25, had not been selected in the XI for the match, and was diagnosed with a back problem that necessitated his return home.In departing early from the tour, Cutting joined Pat Cummins and James Pattinson as fast bowlers unable to gain valuable experience in English climes on the tour due to injury.Cummins did not make the start of the tour, picking up a side strain during the preceding ODI tour by the senior team and heading home to Sydney.Pattinson played in the final two matches of that series before complaining of an abdominal strain and being sent home as Australia A prepared for their tour with a training camp in Southampton.Alister McDermott and Nathan Coulter-Nile were called into the squad in place of Cummins and Pattinson, and Cutting’s injury has enhanced their chances of taking part in the next match of the tour, against Durham from Wednesday.

Gloucestershire are on the verge of completing negotiations with Ed Cowan, the Australia Test batsman, to play on a short-term basis ahead of the Australia A tour of England.Cowan will be in England ahead of the tour to join his pregnant wife, Virginia Lette, an Australian TV presenter.Gloucestershire have confirmed: “Subject to a visa being obtained, the 30-year-old Tasmania left-hander will fill the gap between Kane Williamson leaving Gloucestershire and fellow New Zealander Rob Nicol arriving later this month.”The plan is for Cowan to play in the club’s remaining Friends Life t20 group matches against Worcestershire at Bristol on Thursday, Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Friday and Northamptonshire at Northampton on Sunday.”He will then feature in the LV=County Championship match against Essex at the Cheltenham Festival and the Clydesdale Bank 40 games against Essex and Worcestershire, which follow, before Nicol arrives for the Championship game with Leicestershire at the College Ground, starting on July 18.”Recently overlooked when Cricket Australia announced central contracts for 2012-13, Cowan will captain Australia A in two three-day matches against Derbyshire and Durham, beginning on July 27, followed by unofficial Tests against England Lions at Old Trafford and Edgbaston next month.Bath CC had earlier hoped to field Cowan in a couple of West of England Premier League matches this month, but their efforts ran into problems.

Tom Maynard’s funeral in Cardiff has been attended by more than 1000 mourners including many figures from the sporting world.Maynard, 23, who played for Surrey, was found dead on train tracks near Wimbledon Park tube station in West London on June 18 and the pathologists report said the cause of death was electrocution. An inquest has been opened and adjourned until September 24.Many current and former team-mates from Surrey and Glamorgan were present along with England Test captain Andrew Strauss. Rugby, another major sport in Maynard’s life, was represented by Wales legend Gareth Edwards and England player Danny Cipriani who went to school with Maynard.The Maynard family had decided to keep the funeral service as an open affair to allow as many people as possible to attend and around 100 watched from outside Llandaff Cathedral. Eulogies were given my Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket and a former Glamorgan captain who played alongside Tom’s father Matthew, Glamorgan captain Mark Wallace and the player’s uncle Charles MaynardMorris said: “The presence of so many members of the cricket community tells me Tom was not only a player blessed with extraordinary talent, but somebody whose sense of fun and enjoyment made him a hugely popular figure within our game. No-one will feel a greater sense of loss today than Matt, Sue, Ceri and family.”What saddens me so much is that we have not only lost a hugely popular and colourful character, but one of the most exciting and explosive young batsmen.”Strauss added: “I first saw Tom when he was a teenager when Matthew was batting coach of England. He had grown up so well since then and was forging a name for himself in the game of cricket. I suppose that’s part of what makes it so tragic he is no longer with us.”

ScorecardGraeme Cremer took four wickets in the first match•Getty Images

A seventh-wicket partnership of 58 between Elton Chigumbura and Graeme Cremer ensured Zimbabwe Select XI’s three-wicket victory in the Twenty20 tour match against Bangladeshis in Harare. The two innings progressed in a contradictory manner as Bangladeshis accumulated runs at the top before collapsing, while Zimbabwe XI recovered from 60 for 6 to chase 127 with three balls to spare.Bangladesh could have gathered a bigger total when Mohammad Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal started strongly. Ashraful, recalled to the Bangladesh squad after six months, scored 32 off 25 deliveries in a stand of 64 in 8.1 overs, with Tamim scoring 29. Bangladeshis, however, collapsed to 91 for 7 in 16 overs, before Mahmudullah took them to 126. Cremer and Malcolm Waller shared all the seven wickets to fall between them.Zimbabwe had a faltering start, and after 11.4 overs, were staring at defeat with 67 needed with four wickets in hand. But Chigumbura, who made 38 off 28, and Cremer, who remained unbeaten on 30 off 24, held their nerve to guide their side home in the 13-a-side match, with 11 batting and bowling.
Scorecard
After a last-over victory in the first game of the day, Zimbabwe Select XI swept aside the Bangladeshis by 19 runs in the second Twenty20 warm-up match of the day. The star of the show was Hamilton Masakadza, who slammed a 60-ball 102 to power the home side to 175, a total which proved too large for the home side, despite a spirited chase piloted by their captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Jahurul Islam.Zimbabwe’s innings revolved around two stands, both dominated by Masakadza. First, he put on 79 with Vusi Sibanda for the opening partnership, and then opened out in the second-wicket stand of 67 with Stuart Matsikenyeri, who contributed 18. Masakadza hit five sixes and six fours in his innings before being dismissed in the 17th over by the left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak.The Bangladeshi chase got off to a poor start, with both openers falling cheaply. Their challenge seemed almost over when Anamuk Haque and Nasir Hossain also followed soon after, but Mushfiqur and Jahurul brought them back in it with a 91-run stand. The pair seemed to have put the visitors ahead but both were dismissed by Shingi Masakadza in the space of four balls in the 18th over to pretty much end the Bangladeshi challenge.Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will clash in the first game of the T20 tri-series in Harare on Sunday. South Africa are also participating in the tournament.

Gautam Gambhir, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, has sought to downplay the huge hype that surrounds their Saturday game against Pune Warriors India. This is the first time Sourav Ganguly, now Warriors’ captain, will be part of the opposition in front of the passionate Kolkata fans. Eden Gardens is sold out, black marketers are having a field day, and given Ganguly’s popularity in Kolkata, the home side could possibly be in for an “away game”.”Sourav is an individual,” Gambhir said. “We are playing against Pune Warriors, and not against Sourav Ganguly.” Gambhir then went on to say he couldn’t control how the crowd behaved, except for trying his best to win the game.”Whoever Kolkata wants to support they are free to support. I have always maintained KKR belongs to Kolkata. There is no other team that belongs to Kolkata. We always play for the pride of Kolkata. We will always do that, whether we get the support or not. We go out there to make people happy, and bring joy to them. Our job will be the same whether we would be the away or home team tomorrow. We will keep playing for Kolkata be it tomorrow or near future.”However much Gambhir might want to downplay the presence of Ganguly, it is impossible to run away from. They have been talking about this game in Kolkata ever since the schedule was finalised. An emotional back-story is how Knight Riders had first taken away Ganguly’s captaincy, and later let him go. The Kolkata fans are known to be an emotional lot, which makes divided loyalties a distinct possibility. Knight Riders’ bowling coach, Wasim Akram, is reported to have even compared this to an India-Pakistan match. When asked about that, Gambhir didn’t seem impressed.”That’s his perspective of tomorrow’s game,” he said. “For me, it’s another game of cricket. There is nothing so-called India vs Pakistan. We are playing against Pune Warriors, and there is no such rivalry as Pakistan. India and Pakistan is a completely different ball game. It’s just the media that is creating the hype. It’s Wasim’s way of looking at the game tomorrow. For me, it’s just another game of cricket.”Nor did Gambhir seem interested in any mind games. Asked if he drew any comfort from Ganguly’s struggles with the bat and their coinciding with Warriors’ downward spiral, Gambhir went back to his mantra of not speaking about individuals. “We are not playing against individuals. We are playing against a team. If individuals are struggling that does not make them a lesser force. Any one of them can fire with the ball or bat, and can win the game. If one or two are struggling, it’s not going to make any difference.”Gambhir stayed away from any captaincy debate as well. “Captains are only as good as their team,” he said. “Captain does not win games. It’s just the planning that they do. It’s the 11 men on the field that contribute. Captain can only be successful if you have the people to execute those plans. It can be a failure as well if you don’t have the people to execute them.”However, given the mad rush for tickets, the huge crowds to watch training sessions, the history between Ganguly and Kolkata, and Ganguly and Knight Riders, Gambhir did seem to be in a small minority of people who believed this was just another game.

Matthew Wade has a week to contemplate his receipt of a baggy green cap after the national selectors guaranteed his place as Australia’s wicketkeeper for the first Test against West Indies in Bridgetown.In naming the team for a three-day fixture against a West Indies Board XI at the Three Ws Oval from Monday, the national selector John Inverarity rested Wade, David Warner and Michael Hussey – all three tagged for major roles against the hosts in the three Tests to follow. Peter Nevill will take the gloves in the tour match and thus walk his first steps in the national team uniform, but short of a bad training accident it will be Wade who dons the gloves at Kensington Oval from Saturday in the absence of Brad Haddin.Though he was always the next man in line once Haddin was forced home by personal reasons to be with his family in Sydney, Wade’s displays in the limited-overs matches have oscillated between the capable and the awkward. However he will gain confidence from the knowledge that his Test place is now certain.The match offers the returning captain Michael Clarke and numerous others a chance to get acquainted with Caribbean cricket. Ed Cowan, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Michael Beer will all play their first active part in the tour, Beer allowed to bowl though nominal 12th man for what has been deemed a first-class engagement.There is a buoyant mood around Barbados about the prospects of Darren Sammy’s team following tied ODI and Twenty20 series, in which Australia’s cricketers were confounded by opponents who demonstrated far more resilience than may have been anticipated. While three Tests promise to offer a much more complete examination of a team, the Australians have grown rather more guarded about the battles to be fought across the next month in Bridgetown, Port of Spain and Roseau.Ponting, who first toured the West Indies in 1995 and has witnessed both memorable victories and stunning defeats in the region, said the team had spoken frankly of the task ahead following the undulating path followed during the limited-overs leg of the tour.”[It is] hard to make judgements on them after just one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket,” Ponting said. “The thing that always tests out countries without great depth is Test match cricket. The Kiwis are probably a really good example of that, In Twenty20 and one-day cricket they’re always very competitive but once the longer version of the game comes around they find it hard to win games.”You’ve got to give the Windies credit for what they did in the one-dayers and T20s here, but I guess by the end of the Test matches we’ll have a better idea of where they’re at. We spoke yesterday about how competitive they’ll be and we have to be prepared for that.”We’re definitely not taking them for granted or taking them lightly. I guess that’s a big part of my job in the next few days, to make sure we don’t get too carried away with things and preparing as we would for one of the powerhouse nations in world cricket.”Led by the wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh, the WICB President’s XI is dotted with players of Test match ambition and potential, alongside a few experienced heads including Fidel Edwards, Devon Smith and Baugh himself. Johnson Charles and Kieran Powell have the chance to follow up on their appearances in the limited-overs matches, Powell in particular wanting to make a better impression in creams.”I am very much looking forward to the game,” Powell said, having also shrugged off illness since he was dropped from the ODI team following three slim scores. “It is a wonderful opportunity not only for me, but the other players on the team to go out there and do well.”I have done some technical work with the coaches to help overcome some of the errors I have made, but I was sick over the last week, and did not train too much. I think things have been coming together nicely over the last few days and I believe I am in a much better place now.”WICB President’s XI squad Carlton Baugh (capt, wk), Ryan Austin, Nkrumah Bonner, Johnson Charles, Kyle Corbin, Fidel Edwards, Jason Holder, Delorn Johnson, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Devon Smith, Devon Thomas.Australians Ed Cowan, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Peter Forrest, Peter Nevill (wk), Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon, Michael Beer (12th man but can bowl).Edited by Brydon Coverdale

Test cricket is the format that catches New Zealand at their weakest, according to coach John Wright. While they have been lauded for their craftiness in the limited-overs forms of the game, the complex strategies of a five-day battle is still an area in which they are developing.”Test match cricket is at a particular tempo that’s quite different from the Twenty20 and the 50-over stuff. We need to adjust to that and understand when to attack and when to defend, with both bat and ball,” Wright said.Mindset is often underlined as the difference between good teams and great ones, and Wright spoke of two of the greatest when he looked for an example of getting the balance right. “South Africa and Australia have a pretty good understanding of how to take positions,” he said. “They [South Africa] will come back harder, they’ve said so and we believe them. But we took some confidence out of that last match and if we could sneak one here it would be a great achievement.”Words like sneak and scrap have become associated with New Zealand cricket over the years, and they are ones New Zealand hope to replace with words like consistency. Almost every New Zealand player who has addressed the media on this tour has said that a few marquee wins, such as the one they achieved in Hobart last November, are not enough. Instead, they have to able to stack up such performances before they can be considered as being part of the top-tier.To begin achieving that, Wright said, New Zealand have to be able to challenge teams like South Africa more often. “I think it’s really important how we compete and how we’re seen to compete. Winning or losing is part of the game but a lot of the battle is in how you fight.”According to Alviro Petersen, the South Africa opener, New Zealand have competed in phases so far, rather than as a sustained effort. “They are a workmanlike team but for them to do well they have to combine well as a unit,” Petersen said. “They’ve done it in patches, they haven’t done it throughout the game.”One such example was Chris Martin’s four-ball burst on the first day of the Dunedin Test, in which he took three wickets. Soon after, the New Zealand attack appeared to relax and let some of the South Africa middle and lower-order batsmen, such as Vernon Philander, score runs that should have been prevented.Wright was also concerned about the way New Zealand let South Africa off the hook in the second innings. After having them at effectively 12 for 2, New Zealand allowed Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis to get big hundreds. “We had a situation where they were two down with two big players at the wicket and they got through that hour,” Wright said. “If we can get them into that area again, where they’re under pressure and we can take some wickets, who knows?”Creation and maintenance of pressure is one of Wright’s key goals for the series because it is the only way he can see New Zealand challenging a South African side that have no apparent weaknesses. “I look at South Africa and I see a very good cricket team, but I’ve always felt and we’ve always felt that very good cricket teams can be beaten,” he said. “There is an opportunity to put them under pressure and then, once you get them to that situation, see how they respond because that’s where you win and lose games.”South Africa have become better at handling pressure than they have been in the past. They were able to recover from a first day that they ended at 191 for 7 in Dunedin, and were in a commanding position by the fourth day of the match. “We started slowly off the blocks and when you start slow you are a bit concerned, but we found our way nicely,” Petersen said. “The first day of the series wasn’t ideal for us but we got on and we assessed the conditions and we played beautifully after that.”With the threat of South Africa improving as the series goes on, Wright said New Zealand are under no illusions of how difficult the task ahead of them is. “We know we’ve got to play good cricket to beat them and that won’t change; and we know that we’re probably going to be a better Test team further down the road. We’ve still got things to learn, we’ve still got youngsters there. Hopefully the senior players are going to set the example and we’ll be a little bit stronger, but that doesn’t mean to say we can’t beat South Africa in our own backyard if we do things correctly in the next Test, or the one after that.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

It would have seemed scarcely believable only a couple of weeks ago but England go into the fourth ODI in Dubai on Tuesday with an excellent chance of securing a 4-0 whitewash over Pakistan.It would complete a remarkable turnaround from a side that, coming into the series, were all but written off by most observers. After all, England’s failure to adapt to conditions in the UAE had just condemned them to a 3-0 Test series loss and they had a poor record in ODIs outside the UK and in Asia in particular. Their subsequent success has been quite unexpected.It has not been undeserved, though. While Pakistan, back to their mercurial best and worst, have offered surprising little resistance, the nucleus of an England side is emerging that offers some hope that, after many years of disappointments, they may have some hope of sustaining a realistic challenge in the next World Cup.They are still a work in progress. While it may prove devilishly tough for anyone outside the current squad to force themselves into the bowling attack, there are still a couple of batting positions that could become vacant. The England management remain keen to see Jos Buttler in ODI action, while Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder who has missed the tour due to a finger injury, is another of whom much is expected.The formula is beginning to come together, however. Alastair Cook’s emergence as a quality ODI opener is now disputed by few, while Kevin Pietersen’s return to form provided a reminder of what a dangerous player he can be for England.Amid all the encouraging signs, it would have been easy to overlook Eoin Morgan’s elevation to No. 3 in the batting order in the third ODI in Dubai. It is a position that has been occupied for some time and with some success by Jonathan Trott, but Morgan’s promotion signifies a rethink. England now intend to utilise Morgan as their ODI No. 3 if Cook is the first man out in order to retain a left-hand, right-hand combination of batsmen at the crease. Where that leaves Trott is open to debate. He has endured a quiet tour by his standards but an ODI average of 49.21 and a strike-rate of 78.18 cannot be lightly dismissed.Despite the number of runs, there are those who have continued to question Trott’s presence in the side. They claim, despite quite a lot of statistical support to the contrary, that he is one-paced as a batsman and that he will not help England to the large totals in excess of 300 that, it is anticipated, will be necessary to win the 2015 World Cup. Somewhat incongruously, England’s most successful 50-over player of the last couple of years is often blamed for England’s failings as an ODI side.The problem for Trott is, if he does not bat in the top three, where does he bat? He is not the most obvious choice to come in with only a few overs remaining and, with the likes of Ravi Bopara, Morgan and Samit Patel offering slightly different options to the team, Trott’s position is coming under scrutiny. If England are keen to utilise the final ODI of the series against Pakistan to have a look at Buttler, it is possible he could displace Trott. Tim Bresnan could also come in from James Anderson.”I’ve had my pads on to bat at three for the first three ODIs because we like the right-hand/left-hand combination, especially when there are two spinners on,” Morgan said. “It’s been the same throughout the series. It’s just been that Cook has been in unbelievable form and I haven’t got a bat. The fact we’ve got off to good starts has helped. I come in and move it on. My strengths come into play and that’s where we use it.”Morgan has experienced a poor tour to date. He averaged just 13.66 in the Test series and was particularly troubled by the spin bowling of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman. Since then, and partly due to Cook’s excellence, he has enjoyed little opportunity in the three ODIs. He admits it has left his place in the Test side in doubt.”It’s been hard work,” he said. “The Test series was very tricky. The skills levels on our behalf – and mine as well – weren’t up to scratch. We struggled.”I haven’t felt out of form. I’ve been out of form before and there are times I’ve not seen where my next run is coming. Here I just haven’t got the runs I wanted. I know where I want to score. I think the fashion in which I’ve played – running down and hitting over the top, hitting from the crease – show I’m still in reasonable touch as opposed to not knowing where my next run would come from.”Ajmal has been in a fantastic run of form of late and again, having not played in four or five months caught up with us – me in particular. I’ve been off for quite a well. Even though I spent some time in India before Christmas it doesn’t replicate what you’re up against. It was hard work.”I don’t worry about my Test place. I always put myself under a lot of pressure, particularly in the longer format of the game. But I haven’t scored enough runs to justify being number one in the side. The pressure I put myself under is enough.”Morgan took comfort in England’s improved ODI form, but provided a timely reminder that the side have a long way to go before they can be considered realistic World Cup contenders.”In our last summer we’ve come a long way,” Morgan said, referring to the series wins over India and Sri Lanka achieved in England in 2011. “But the stint we did in India – when I wasn’t there – pegged us back a long way. So we were starting from scratch in terms of playing in this part of the world.”We’ve got off to a fantastic start. But it comes back to a case of not getting carried away with where we are or where we want to be. Where we are is number six [now No. 5 after winning the first three ODIs against Pakistan] in the world; where we want to be is number one in the world by the World Cup in 2015.”

Australia squad for Brisbane ODI

Ricky Ponting (captain), David Warner (vice-captain), George Bailey, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ben Hilfenhaus, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade

The emerging allrounder Mitchell Marsh has suffered a major setback after being told he must not bowl for the rest of this season due to a stress injury in his back. As a result, Marsh will not play in the remainder of the Commonwealth Bank Series but his time-frame for a comeback won’t be determined until he has scans in Melbourne on Saturday.Marsh, 20, has been part of Australia’s squad throughout the tri-series but could not oust his fellow allrounder Daniel Christian from the side. After a lengthy spell in the SCG nets on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s match against Sri Lanka, Marsh told the team physio Alex Kountouris of pain in his back and scans revealed the problem.”Mitch complained of quite significant lower-back pain during yesterday’s training session at the SCG,” Kountouris said. “After assessing him and considering his age we organised scans in Sydney last night that have confirmed our suspicions of a lower-back bone stress injury.”He will have further scans tomorrow in Melbourne to determine the extent of the injury, which will help outline the period of rest required from cricket. We expect that he will not play as a bowler for the remainder of this season but will be in a position to provide further information once we have the results of tomorrow’s scans.”Michael Clarke will not return to the squad for the next CB Series fixture, against India in Brisbane on February 19, as he has not yet fully recovered from a right hamstring injury. George Bailey, the Tasmania batsman, has been added to the squad as a standby batsman. Ricky Ponting will continue to captain the team in Clarke’s absence.Victorian spinner Jon Holland, who was called up as backup for Xavier Doherty, will remain in the squad, though Doherty recovered from back spasms to play against Sri Lanka in Sydney on February 17.Clarke, who missed the game against Sri Lanka with a grade one hamstring strain, had initially said he hoped to be back for the Brisbane match, but will sit it out on advice from Kountouris. “Michael Clarke is progressing well in his recovery from a right hamstring injury but remains unavailable for selection in Brisbane,” Kountouris said. “His availability for the ODI in Hobart will be determined early next week.”Bailey had captained Australia in the Twenty20s against India, without having played a game for Australia before, and has now been earmarked for a spot in the one-day team. “This selection is recognition that the national selection panel consider George the next batsman in line for Australian one-day selection,” Mickey Arthur, Australia coach and member of the selection panel, said.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has postponed the last round of the National Cricket League (NCL), the country’s first-class competition, to accommodate the Dhaka Premier League, the 50-over tournament.The third round of NCL games in the second phase were supposed to begin on December 24 but, on the eve of the two matches, the BCB postponed them. The board’s tournament committee chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain said there were two reasons for the decision.”The CCDM [Cricket Commmittee of Dhaka Metropolis] requested us to suspend the league temporarily as they have a plan to finish the first round of the Premier League by February 2 next year,” he said. “A couple of the divisional sides also suggested to suspend the league as it will be difficult for them to play the NCL final straight after the Premier League limited-over matches.”CCDM, which runs the Dhaka leagues, also wanted to give the clubs some time for preparation as the Premier Division Cricket League is scheduled from December 28. The national cricketers’ availability for the two possible first-class matches after the BPL is also uncertain because they could be in a camp for the Asia Cup in March.