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Away from the field where his behaviour can be decidedly eccentric,Sreesanth exudes a certain calm. After a potentially match-winning spellof 5 for 40 on Saturday, he spoke to the media about how a chat with AllanDonald in the morning had helped him to produce the sort of spell thatmost young quick bowlers fantasise about.”This is like a dream come true,” he said, “but I have many more dreams toattain. We are well set, we have a very good lead and should be able towin from here.” He did qualify that by saying that the match wasn’t overyet, but the confidence which has percolated through the ranks wasunmistakable.According to him, the chat with Donald had definitely played a part. “Ireally admire him,” said Sreesanth. “Even though Dennis Lillee is my idol,I want to be like Donald. The talk definitely helped me understand whatneeds to be done here.”The prospect of talking to one of the game’s all-time greats would oncehave been an intimidating one, but after a promising start to hisinternational career, Sreesanth is no longer a wallflower. “In thebeginning, I used to be very shy,” he admitted. “Now, I have no fearsabout walking up to former greats and taking their advice.”He also admitted that the pitch had played its part in his success. “It’sa very good wicket to bowl on,” he said. “It was particularly nice to take[Jacques] Kallis’ wicket because I’ve watched him so much on the [TV] screen, andgrew up admiring him.”He started wonderfully well, with the wickets of Graeme Smith and HashimAmla, but some loose deliveries before and after lunch set the alarm bellsringing. “I wasn’t really bowling well after my first three wickets,” hesaid. “I was spraying down the leg-side, mainly because I was trying toohard.”In the lunch break, the coach and captain spoke to me and simply asked meto calm down. They wanted me to be patient and just stick to the rightline and length. That helped me tremendously and I could come and finishit off.”The mood in the dressing room, visibly alleviated by the last-wicketpartnership between VRV Singh and Sourav Ganguly, also played its part.”We have remained positive throughout,” said Sreesanth. “We had faith inourselves and in our hard work. We also decided not to think of the past;we just focused on the future.”Right now, that future appears to be as bright as the Kerala sun at theheight of summer.

Pakistan’s national selectors will meet next week to pick the squad for the five-match ODI series against Bangladesh in April. A selector told that the selection committee will start taking inputs from the Pakistan team management before naming the squad.The selectors will be particularly keen on speaking to the management after it emerged that Geoff Lawson, the coach, was unhappy with the selection procedure before the ODI series against Zimbabwe. Lawson said, in a report to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), that despite assurances from the board he was not consulted in the finalisation of the 15-member squad named for the series, which Pakistan won 5-0.There have been reports of friction between coach and selectors earlier but this was the first time Lawson had put it in writing. PCB rules stipulate that national selectors should consult the captain and coach while finalising the squad during a home series. The selectors, though, have the prerogative to pick the final playing eleven, a change from the past when the team management had the authority to do this.Lawson’s grouse was that the selectors had not even consulted him while picking the full squad. In his report on the series against Zimbabwe, Lawson also talked about the 2011 World Cup and his doubts over whether allrounder Shahid Afridi had a role to play in the tournament. “The performance of Shahid Afridi will have to be closely monitored before finalising the likely team for the World Cup 2011,” he wrote.The series against Bangladesh was hurriedly lined up by the PCB after Australia refused to go ahead with the tour scheduled for March-April because of security concerns. Bangladesh are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on April 6 to play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international. According to the unofficial itinerary, the opening match will be played on April 9 in Lahore, which will also host the second one-dayer on April 11. The rest of the ODIs will be played on April 14 in Faisalabad and April 17 and 20 in Rawalpindi. Karachi will host the only Twenty20 match on April 22.

Nottinghamshire 180 for 4 (Taylor 77, Franklin 3-26) trail Middlesex 374 (Malan 182*, Harris 73) by 194 runs
ScorecardBrendan Taylor led a steady Notts reply•Getty Images

The odds against Yorkshire retaining the title may be shortening every day but Middlesex ought not to be discounted as contenders just yet, even though Andrew Gale’s team clearly have some momentum. A win for Middlesex here would take them above Durham into second place, albeit having played a game more than the leaders.Yorkshire, moreover, would have a comfortable lead (assuming they go on to beat Warwickshire at Edgbaston). Yet if Middlesex can stay in touch there is the possibility that Yorkshire’s visit to Lord’s in the penultimate round in September could be a title decider. Yorkshire won by four wickets at Headingley in June but it was a close contest in which the champions needed another outstanding performance from Jonny Bairstow to give them the edge.Middlesex strengthened their first-day position by adding 62 runs before Nottinghamshire could claim the final three wickets. The eighth-wicket partnership that turned Sunday in Middlesex’s favour was broken in the eighth over of the morning by a Brett Hutton inswinger. Toby Roland-Jones fell to another swinging ball from Hutton to which he offered no shot but his runs and those of Tim Murtagh were valuable in helping Dawid Malan extended his career-best to 182 not out as Middlesex claimed a fourth batting point for only the second time this season.Nottinghamshire announced the highest membership numbers in the county’s 174-year history, revealing a 15 per cent increase to 8342 for 2015, during the afternoon. Those members need to show some forbearance at the moment, as their team struggles to recover from a poor couple of months in Championship cricket and Twenty20, which has clearly been a key driver in their popularity boom. The win over Worcestershire last week was a step in the right direction in their bid to avoid relegation in the Championship, which would clearly have negative consequences for membership next year. Yet the shortcomings that have undermined them in the last couple of months remain.Alex Hales, whose compelling start to the season brought him 639 runs from his first eight first-class innings, has only 90 from his last seven, the latest ending on 18 when he went to cut a ball from Harris but succeeded only in chopping it down on to his stumps. Michael Lumb, still feeling his way back after missing the first two months of the season following an arm operation, pushed tentatively at a ball from James Franklin and was caught behind.Franklin, the veteran former New Zealand left-armer, was the only Middlesex bowler who managed to make the ball swing to any noteworthy degree. It was the first over of his second spell, from the Pavilion End, that undermined Nottinghamshire’s progress towards a more substantial reply after Brendan Taylor and Steven Mullaney had added 71 for the third wicket. He bowled Taylor with an inswinger that the former Zimbabwean captain played all round and, two balls later, took a return catch in his follow-through as Riki Wessels tried to flick the ball away on the leg side.Taylor made 77, his second half-century in as many matches and his fifth all told in the Championship, three of which he has converted to hundreds. He has 742 runs for the season so far, which is a fair return given that his signing brought Nottinghamshire more criticism for importing another batsman at the expense of home grown talent, although with Jake Libby injured after his impressive introduction last season there were extenuating circumstances. Only Jonny Bairstow and James Hildreth have scored more Division One runs than Taylor.Speaking afterwards, Taylor said he felt he owed his team-mates some runs after putting down two chances in the slips on the first day. “I’ve been fairly consistent in the slips over the years but I’ve dropped a few too many this season,” he said. “It’s been a little different catching Duke balls to Kookaburra ones but they’ve been very catchable chances I’ve put down. There’s no excuses.”Samit Patel cannot cite unfamiliarity with the make of ball as an explanation for his two misses at point on Sunday, which between them cost 162 runs, nine to Harris and 153 to Malan. He had carefully cleared 12 of his personal deficit by the close, with Mullaney, who batted impressively under some pressure, unbeaten on 57, his second half-century of the season, although with 45 more needed to reach Nottinghamshire’s first target, of avoiding the follow-on, the two will need to work with equal diligence on the third morning.

Sri Lanka’s captain and vice-captain, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, paid tribute to their team-mate and former leader, Sanath Jayasuriya, who bowed out of Test cricket at the age of 38 following his side’s 88-run win over England in the first Test in Kandy.After weeks of speculation in the local media, Jayasuriya made his announcement after scoring 78 in Sri Lanka’s second innings to help put his side on course for victory. He later chipped in with one final wicket, that of Ravi Bopara, to finish his career with 6973 runs at 40.07 and 98 wickets at 34.34 from 110 Tests.Jayasuriya made his ODI debut against Australia in Melbourne in December 1989, and his Test debut 14 monrths later in Hamilton. “It is a tremendous loss when you lose someone who’s played for 18 years,” said Jayawardene after the match. “He’s been a batsman, a senior player, and a bowler, and his loss is going to be huge, especially in the dressing room.”Jayasuriya’s form in Test cricket has been on the wane for the past three years, and it is widely believed that the selectors had been looking to blood a younger opener in his place. But Jayawardene praised his team-mate for going out on his own terms. “I think he’s pretty happy with that decision”, he said. “We just need to make sure that with the youngsters coming through, [that] we build another team and improve ourselves.”Sangakkara was even more flowing in his praise of a man he first saw as a spectator at the Asgiriya Stadium during the 1996 World Cup. “That World Cup win probably inspired not just me, but a whole generation of young cricketers to try and play for Sri Lanka,” said Sangakkara. “He changed the face of world cricket, especially in the one-day arena. He’s a wonderful cricketer, a wonderful man and he’s had a wonderful career.”I think for me personally he’s been a pillar of support,” added Sangakkara. “He was my first captain and when I was struggling to make the side there was always positive re-enforcement from him, and never a negative word. We have the best memories of him in the dressing room. We’ll miss him, but life and cricket moves on, and we’ll look ahead with a new side.”

The final of Sri Lanka’s Inter-Provincial Limited-Overs Tournament will be a repeat of the last qualifying match between Kandurata and Wayamba after the final day of the qualifying stage was affected by bad weather.At the Welagedera Stadium, in a match reduced to 31 overs, table-leaders Kandurata, captained by Kumar Sangakkara, beat Wayamba by eight wickets to finish with a 100% record in the qualifying round.However, despite the defeat, Wayamba, who were captained by Mahela Jayawardene, were tied on 10 points with Basnahira North and went through to the final on superior net run rate.For Kandurate, only Jehan Mubarak, the tall Sri Lanka left-handed middle-order batsman, gotinto double figures after they were asked to bat first in seamers-friendly condition and were eventually bowled out for for 79 in only 21 overs. Mubarak, pushing for a place in the Sri Lanka side for the ODI series in Australia, top-scored with 36 with extras taking the second spot (10). The damage to the Wayamba batting was done by the fast bowlers; Akalanka Ganegama, Kaushal Weeraratne, Thilan Thushara and Chintaka Jayasinghe who captured all ten wickets to fall.Faced with the target of only 80 in 31 overs, Kandurata knocked the runs off in 19 overs to move into the final on Sunday with a great deal of confidence.The bottom of the table clash between Basnahira South and Ruhuna at the Galle International Stadium ended without a ball bowled due to rain.

India batsman Rohit Sharma has railed against the popular perception that he isn’t making best use of his abundant natural talent, saying that he has got where he is through sheer hard work. Rohit said that the widespread opinion about him was “unfair and wrong.””People say, ‘Boss, this guy is gifted and he can do this and he can do that.’ But nobody knows what happens behind the scenes,” Rohit told . “Nobody knows about the hard work that’s been put in.”This ‘talent’ talk has messed things up for me. I started my career as a bowler. I was never a batsman. All this natural talent, god’s gift that you guys in the media talk and write about is unfair and wrong. I have worked on my batting to get here. I used to bat at No. 8. From there, I made my way up. Ask my coach, Mr Dinesh Lad, and he will tell you that I was an offspinner.”Whatever I have achieved is because of my hard work. All these terms like ‘lazy elegance’ have been coined by you guys. Maybe on TV it comes across like that, but that’s not the right way to judge anyone. One must get to the root of the matter. I became a serious batsman during my under-17 days. I broke the middle finger of my right hand during a 50-over match against the visiting Sri Lankans in 2005. It was difficult for me to grip the ball after that injury. That’s how I became a regular batsman.”Rohit made his Test debut in the home series against West Indies in November 2013, having already played 108 ODIs since June 2007. He began with two hundreds in his first two innings, but has not scored one in 23 innings since. Rohit has 870 runs at an average of 37 in 14 Tests so far.”Honestly, as a batsman, there is a lot more I have to do,” he said. “That’s very, very clear to me. Fourteen Test matches is nothing. I have nothing great in Test cricket. This is just the start. In ODI cricket, yes, I know have done well, especially after becoming an opener.”Rohit made 202 runs in six innings during India’s recent 2-1 Test series win in Sri Lanka, their first victory in the country since 1993. He was their second-highest runscorer, though only four specialist batsmen played all three matches. Rohit was out for 9 and 4 in the defeat in Galle, but contributed 79, 34, 26 and 50 to India’s wins in the next two Tests. The 79 was Rohit’s highest score since his debut series, but his push for a third hundred was cut short in the final over of the first day at the P Sara Oval, when he was lbw to Angelo Mathews.Elaborating on that dismissal, Rohit said it had come about because he had not played his natural game. “Just before I got out on 79, I told [Wriddhiman] Saha, ‘Partner, you know what, the light is fading and I think this is going to be the last over. Let’s just play out this over and come back tomorrow.’ The idea was to just to block those six balls and get back into the dressing room. But I ended up making a big mistake. I thought hard about survival. And what did I do by doing that? I forgot about my natural game, which is anything but blocking the ball. So, I got out because I did something completely different.”I was thinking of stumps, staying not out and going to the dressing room. I was over-cautious instead of being just me. The moral of the story is: Do not tweak your natural game.”One aspect of his game that Rohit said he had been born with, however, was his temperament. “Now, that’s a natural gift. That’s something I was born with. Actually, I have never had to work on staying relaxed or calm. Even in the middle, I take my mind off cricket in between deliveries and overs. I don’t think about the swing, the wicket or the bowler. I look at the scoreboard, I look at the fans sitting in the stands, I look at the guy playing the drums. I divert my mind.”India’s next Test series is at home against South Africa in November and December, and there is stiff competition for place in a shortened batting line-up. If India continue to use the five-bowler plan that worked for them in Sri Lanka – and if all batsmen are fit – then M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit will be competing for five spots.”Let the people who are in charge of the team take that call,” Rohit said. “I am a team man. It doesn’t matter if I am in the XI or not. I still represent India. I am still part of the team. And I will do whatever is expected of me.”

The Jamaican batsman, Marlon Samuels, has been drafted into the West Indian squad as a replacement for their injured captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was forced out of the tour after damaging his shoulder in a fielding accident at Headingley last week.Samuels, 26, was surprisingly overlooked for the original squad, after featuring in last month’s World Cup, where he made 63 in the opening match against Pakistan, and 51 in the narrow one-wicket defeat against England at Bridgetown.In Tests, however, the big-hitting Samuels has consistently underperformed, averaging just 28.21 from 23 matches. His solitary century came against India in Kolkata five years ago, although in the absence of such big names as Sarwan and Brian Lara, the selectors hope that he can finally fulfil his promise.The captaincy, meanwhile, is set to pass to Daren Ganga, who deputised at Headingley after Sarwan had damaged his AC joint after landing heavily while trying to prevent a boundary.In the absence of their captain, West Indies lost the Headingley Test by a record margin of an innings and 283 runs, thanks to a career-best 226 from Kevin Pietersen, and Ryan Sidebottom’s eight-wicket haul. Their next match, a three-day fixture against MCC in Durham, gets underway on Friday, before the third Test at Old Trafford begins on June 7.

After a year which included the disastrous Ashes campaign and a hernia operation which kept him out of the series against India, Steve Harmison says he understands his bowling better and is “desperate” to play for England again.”It has been a nightmare year,” he told the . “But what I believe I’ve learned is that I need to stop worrying and start enjoying my cricket again, playing with a smile not a frown.”While he was sidelined due to hernia, Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and James Anderson all turned in strong performances to stake their claim for fast-bowling slots in the Test side.”Maybe I’ve got to accept that with my action and the way I bowl I’m going to have wayward spells, and instead of beating myself up about sending one way down leg side, I should concentrate on where the next one is going.”Harmison, who has been playing for the Highveldt Lions in a bid to get match fit for the Test series against Sri Lanka, gave the example of last week’s match against the Cape Cobras to explain his new approach to bowling.”In the past I would probably have agonised too much over the rubbish, but now I was thinking ‘Give me the ball because I’m also bowling some top stuff’. By sticking at it I bowled better as the match went on and ended up with nine wickets and a great deal of confidence.”Harmison said the advice of Allan Donald, who was a bowling consultant with England in the summer, was also extremely helpful.Harmison, 29, also reiterated his desire to play for England but added, “if I’m supposed to be in the side for line and length consistency I shouldn’t be. Let’s be honest, I’m not the best 83mph bowler available to England or the best at 85mph. But when things are going right, with my height and bounce, I can be the best 90mph-plus bowler.”He will join his England team-mates in Sri Lanka on Tuesday and the first Test starts in Kandy on December 1.

ScorecardAfter a sparkling start, the Ahmedabad Rockets seem to have fizzled out. Their eight-wicket loss to the Kolkata Tigers was their fourth consecutive defeat and leaves them languishing at the bottom of the points table. In a rain-affected tie, the Tigers were set a revised target of 85 in tenovers, which they easily chased down with eight balls to spare.After deciding to bat, the Rockets were in trouble early as captain Damien Martyn and Wavell Hinds fell cheaply. Murray Goodwin and left-hand batsman Parvez Aziz started the recovery, but the run-rate remained less than what would be expected in Twenty20 games. It was left to Sridharan Sriram (52 off 35 balls) to boost the scoring-rate, first with the help of Anshu Jain, and then, providing the final flourish with Martin Sanjeev (22 off 15 balls) as the Rockets posted a competitive 156.The rain came down during the interval, reducing the number of overs available for the Tigers’ chase to ten. They rarely looked in trouble, with the 14-run first over setting the tone, and cantered tovictory to move into fourth spot.

Match facts

Thursday, May 8 2008
Start time 11.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)

The Big Picture

This is the final chance for New Zealand to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the first Test and also a last opportunity for England’s fringe players to give the selectors a headache ahead of the squad announcement on Sunday. It should prove a tough assignment for the visitors with a strong Lions team including eight players with international experience. New Zealand managed a win against Essex, but they were rescued by their bowlers after two batting displays – James Marshall apart – that didn’t bode well ahead of Lord’s. Kyle Mills, at No. 8 in the second innings, was the only other player to pass fifty and they are also without Daniel Vettori, who has a finger injury. The Lions are led by Robert Key, who already has an unbeaten 178 against New Zealand in the tour, while Matthew Hoggard is hoping to push for a Test recall with more wickets after a promising start to the season for Yorkshire.

Team news

England Lions: The decision could come down to whether both spinners, Adil Rashid and Graeme Swann, make the final XI. If the spell of warmer weather pushes the selectors that way then one of the four frontline quicks will probably miss out.Squad: Robert Key (Kent, capt), Ravinder Bopara (Essex), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Steven Kirby (Gloucestershire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Graham Onions (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)Player to watch: Ravi Bopara has been one of the form batsmen early season and added 66 to his impressive tally against New Zealand and Chelmsford last week. He said he was frustrated to miss out on three figures, so this is another chance for him to put pressure on England’s current batting line-up.New Zealanders: The visitors have already named their XI, which shows how they will probably line-up at Lord’s except for Vettori, who misses this match after splitting his finger at Chelmsford and the rested Mills. Vettori is hopeful of being fit for the Test, although a lack of bowling will be an issue, and Jeetan Patel is the back-up spinner. Daniel Flynn, the left hander, seems set for a Test debut after being given another chance in the middle order as does Aaron Redmond in the opening position.Team: 1 Jamie How, 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 James Marshall, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt, wk), 6 Daniel Flynn, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Jeetan Patel, 10 Iain O’Brien, 11 Chris MartinPlayer to watch: Tim Southee made an impressive start to his Test career with a five-wicket haul on debut in Napier. He has suffered some back problems in the early stages of this tour, but has now been given the all clear to resume. Barring any later reaction he is set to be part of the pace attack at Lord’s and a good performance against the Lions will be a timely confidence boost.

Quotes

“I’m having the stitches taken out on Saturday or Sunday and I’ll know a little bit more then. I’m confident, but I’ve never dealt with this before and it’s in the worst possible spot.”
“It’s always good to play a touring side in this part of the year, especially going into the first Test because you’ve got a great stage to stake your own claims personally and you can also do a little bit for England.”
Robert Key looks forward to the chance of making a few points over the next four days