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ScorecardEngland slid to their third-successive defeat in the ODI series, losing by 87 runs at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah. Bangladesh, led by Tasamul Haque’s fifty, managed 251 for 7 after being put in to bat but the batting let England down again as they were bowled out within 44 overs.The Bangladesh innings was built around two half-century partnerships in the middle order, both involving Tasamul. He added 59 for the third wicket with Nurul Hasan and 65 for the fifth with Mahmudul Hasan. Tasamul scored 66 before he was dismissed by Calum Haggett, the right-arm seamer, who finished with four wickets. Azeem Rafiq, the offspinner, took 3 for 64. The lower order then went on the attack in the slog overs to push the score past 250.After crashing to 97 in the second ODI, England desperately needed to save face. They got off to a decent start, reaching 71 for 2 in the 19th over, but thereafter the innings fell apart. They lost five wickets for 25, with Sabbir Rahman doing most of the damage. Sabbir and Mahmudul took three wickets apiece to sink England. No batsman passed fifty, with opener Michael Bates top scoring with 33.England will now have to win all four remaining games to win the series. The next game is at the same venue on Thursday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outAdrian Barath scored a half-century in his first match of the Champions League•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCI

Trinidad and Tobago, powered by a fearless batting performance, secured the final spot in the semi-final line-up of the Champions League. Their batsmen thrilled the Hyderabad crowd by playing a shot a ball during a relentless assault on the Eagles that propelled them to 213 for 4, the highest total of the tournament. And it wasn’t even Kieron Pollard who devastated the bowling, although he did contribute at the end; the damage was inflicted by Adrian Barath, William Perkins and Lendl Simmons. To seal their place in the final four, T&T’s bowlers just had to ensure Eagles didn’t reach their target in 14.2 overs. They did that, but only after overcoming an early scare.The Eagles were perhaps the most unheralded team at the start of the tournament. But despite the lack of international players in their ranks, they were tenacious, punching above their weight, keeping calm in tense situations, and progressed into the second round. Rilee Rossouw led the charge today, blazing 44 off 19 balls, and propelled the Eagles to 50 off only 3.4 overs. They pillaged 77 runs from the Powerplay and raced to 100 off 56 balls. However, their desperate pursuit of runs forced errors and Rossouw’s dismissal, with the score on 81 for 2, ended Eagles’ slim chances of reaching the target before the 15th over. They continued to fight manfully, pushing for what would have been an impressive consolation victory, but eventually fell 24 runs short.T&T’s enterprising style of play in India had already made them the most exciting side of the tournament, but today they turned the intensity up several notches. Their batsmen didn’t merely try to time their shots and find gaps in the field, they wound-up and swung hard, aiming to smash the ball with every ounce of power they could summon. Adrian Barath, playing his first game because Darren Bravo was unfit, scored 63 off 41 balls and blitzed 64 off the Powerplay with Perkins. Lendl Simmons then blazed to 40 off 25 balls, Pollard chipped in with 23 off 13, and the spectators were treated to T&T’s newest finisher, Navin Stewart, who ransacked 33 off 11. There were 13 sixes and 18 fours in all in the innings, and the carnage left the Eagles shell-shocked.The Eagles’ hopes of restricting T&T to a total they could achieve in 14.2 overs began to vanish in the first over. Perkins was the pace-setter, cover-driving Victor Mpitsang through cover, clearing the boundary in the same region, before slashing over the third-man boundary. Barath didn’t take long to join in, carving Mpitsang over the backward point boundary as well. Cornelius de Villiers, Eagles’ best bowler in their last two games, wasn’t spared either. Soon, the opening partnership was a blur of flashing bats and balls speeding through and over the infield.The Eagles received fleeting relief when Thandi Tshabalala beat Perkins’ cut with a slow offbreak, but normal service resumed the very next ball. Tshabalala greeted Simmons with a friendly full toss and watched it disappear over long-on. With his confidence soaring, Simmons square drove the next ball for four and stamped out any thoughts of an Eagles fightback. Barath had been the quieter partner until then, because he hit relatively fewer boundaries initially, but he opened his shoulders to swing Tshabalala over long on and reached his half-century off 34 balls.Boeta Dippenaar had been forced to make frequent bowling changes right through and he brought de Villiers back in the 14th over. It cost the Eagles 20 runs. Barath carved the first ball over the point boundary and drilled the last straight down the ground. In between those shots, Simmons sent the ball speeding to fine leg and cover point. Simmons fell soon after – he was Ryan McLaren’s first wicket of the tournament – and Barath and Pollard followed in subsequent overs. The damage had already been done, though, but the only player from Tobago in the XI wasn’t going to relent. Stewart had replaced Samuel Badree in the XI, and was promoted ahead of Daren Ganga and Denesh Ramdin to give the innings an explosive finish. He did precisely that, ransacking 27 runs off the penultimate over bowled by du Preez, ensuring that the Eagles would need a miraculous effort to win, never mind qualify for the semi-final.There aren’t too many ways to go about chasing 214 in 14.2 overs, and Rossouw began by smacking the last two balls of Ravi Rampaul’s first over down the ground for four. He improved on that against Dwayne Bravo, lofting the last two balls of his first over for monstrous sixes on the leg side. Morne van Wyk also wasted no time, dispatching Rampaul to the midwicket and square-leg boundary before scoring a hat-trick of fours against Sherwin Ganga. It was adrenalin-saturated action and Rossouw, who was dropped on 31 by Daren Ganga off Simmons, heaved the same bowled over the midwicket boundary.The breakthroughs eventually came off tame deliveries. Sherwin Ganga delivered two straight full tosses, both van Wyk and Adrian McLaren played across the line and were trapped in front. Rossouw continued to fight a losing battle; one attempted six didn’t come off and he was caught on the deep midwicket boundary, easing T&T’s nerves.The 24-run victory was T&T’s third win in League A, and they topped the group with six points, setting up a semi-final clash against either Victoria or Cape Cobras in Hyderabad.

Daniel Vettori didn’t have a lot to smile about yesterday, but was hoping to start afresh with the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka after the defeats in the Test matches. Though New Zealand were outclassed in both Tests, there is still plenty of limited-overs cricket for them before returning home – the two Twenty20s preceding the tri-series, also featuring India, with the Champions Trophy in South Africa to follow.This New Zealand side is better suited to one-day cricket, having won six and drawn one of their last eight series, including come-from-behind wins over England and West Indies. However, they have struggled in one-dayers in Sri Lanka, winning ten of 27 games. Vettori is hopeful of improving that record.”I’d say we’ve been stronger in the limited-overs format, definitely,” he said. “It suits a few of our guys better. The experiences out here will have strengthened a few of the players for the limited-overs series There’s no doubt this is a good group of batsmen and I have high hopes of them.”New Zealand have some personnel changes, such as fast bowlers Kyle Mills, Shane Bond and Ian Butler and relative rookies Brendon Diamanti and Neil Broom, but the core group stays the same. “There’s an air of confidence about the team when it comes to this format,” said Vettori, “And I hope we’ll see a turnaround in our limited-overs performance. We need to win these games as we build up to the Champions Trophy. It’s a short and sharp tournament and you need to hit it running.”New Zealand will welcome back Bond, who, Vettori confirmed, will mark his international return in Wednesday’s first Twenty20. Bond’s departure to the ICL in 2008 was as significant as when Richard Hadlee stepped down in 1990, and while Vettori was quick to allow Bond some breathing room, he knew how important this man was.”I don’t want to put too much pressure on the guy because I can see it building from a distance,” Vettori said. “People are viewing him as a sort of saviour to some recent woes but I think we need to let Shane relax and build his way back into the team.” Bond will be a vital player for New Zealand in the 50-over games. In 67 ODIs he has taken 125 wickets at the phenomenal average of 19.32.New Zealand cricket fans have accepted, if reluctantly, that their team can seriously compete in one-day and Twent20 cricket, because from the depths of No. 7 in the ICC Test rankings there’s not much room for optimism. Though his immediate aim was to gee this team up for the limited-overs fixtures, Vettori clearly had an eye on the home Tests against Pakistan in November. The two Tests in Sri Lanka were a thorough disappointment and Vettori, when he sits down with the selection panel on returning, will have his plate full. New Zealand does not boast a reservoir of second-tier players presenting a convincing case for selection and Vettori wanted to stick with these players ahead of Pakistan’s visit.”We’ve learned a lot. Our guys have faced some unorthodox bowlers that they don’t get back home, so for them to face that sort of bowling and to be successful, at times, is a very good experience,” he said. “They need to take that into the next Test series we face, against [Saaed] Ajmal and [Danish] Kaneria, who are difficult spin bowlers. The experience builds confidence.”

The Pakistan team, following its Test and ODI series defeats in Sri Lanka, will hold counselling sessions with a sports psychologist in preparation of the ICC Champions Trophy in September. Maqbool Bari had worked with the team ahead of the ICC World Twenty20, which Pakistan went on to win, and captain Younis Khan was hopeful the time spent with a psychologist will help them achieve a similar result in the Champions Trophy.”There is no doubt that the sessions with the psychologist helped improve the self belief and focus of the players before the T20 World Cup,” Younis told . “Those sessions were one of the reasons for us showing great fighting spirit to win the T20 World Cup.”Though Pakistan ended their Sri Lankan tour on a high, winning two ODIs and a Twenty20 international in succession, their performance, when it mattered, was poor. They collapsed thrice in the first two Tests, squandering dominant positions and losing the series 2-0, and went on to lose the first three ODIs as well. The counselling sessions, Younis believed, will help his team handle pressure situations with greater ease. He has requested the PCB to arrange a schedule with a sports psychologist during a short conditioning camp to be held ahead of the Champions Trophy.”We will have two proper counselling sessions because there is a problem with us that we tend to suffer from a mental block when it comes to handling pressure or finishing off matches,” Younis said.Pakistan’s problems with their batting during the Sri Lankan tour had prompted the PCB to go on the lookout for a batting coach. Saeed Anwar has been tipped to take over that role, though the board has currently hired Javed Miandad as the team’s batting adviser. Younis added that the presence of former captains Anwar and Waqar Younis at the conditioning camp would also be highly beneficial for the players. “I think our players can gain a lot by seeking advice from these former greats and a psychologist,” he said. “We need these things to do well in the Champions trophy which is a mega event.”

Marcus Trescothick has not ruled himself out of next week’s Ashes-deciding Oval Test, though he did not commit either to a return to international cricket, from which he retired in March 2008.Trescothick is the leading run-scorer in county cricket this year, with 1330 runs at 78.23, but has doused murmurs of an international comeback several times since his retirement due to stress-related illness.In his latest comments, however, he was ambivalent about a possible return. “No one has spoken to me or said anything to me on the issue,” he said. “If I was asked, I don’t know. I’m retired. I’m done. If they threw questions at me, I would listen. But until they do I can’t answer.”I am just carrying on what I am doing at Somerset. Anything else is so hypothetical at the moment. It’s always nice to be thought of. Of course it is. But people are talking about it more than I am thinking about it.”England are desperately looking to shore up their batting, after twin failures in Headlingley allowed Australia to square the Ashes at 1-1. England’s national selector Geoff Miller, however, said Trescothick was “not a part of our [selectors’] thoughts at this moment in time”.”Marcus has many times said he’s retired from international cricket, and until I hear contrary to that, he will not be a part of the selection process,” Miller told Cricinfo.In April, Trescothick had turned down a request from Andrew Strauss to make himself available for selection to the squad for the World Twenty20.Trescothick, 33, has collected 5825 runs in 76 Tests, the last of which was the controversial Oval Test against Pakistan in 2006.

Glenn McGrath, the former Australian fast bowler, has said that Mitchell Johnson’s failure in the first two Ashes Tests was due to “mental issues rather than technical ones” and wants the bowler to keep things simple for the remainder of the series.”A lot of people will be giving Mitch all kinds of technical advice, saying his bowling arm is too low when delivering the ball or his wrist position is wrong, but in my experience, these losses of form are nearly always mental issues, rather than technical ones,” McGrath told .”He had a bit of a lay-off before the Australians came over here, and you cannot always just pick up from where you left off.”Johnson came into the Ashes as Australia’s spearhead but was inaccurate and expensive during the first two Tests and, although he picked up eight wickets, he was unable to build any sort of pressure on England’s batsmen.McGrath, however, felt that Johnson had not lost the skills that made him so successful in South Africa. “What I would say to Mitch is that he hasn’t lost any of the ability that makes him one of the most talented all-round cricketers in the world,” McGrath said. “Look at the ball he bowled to dismiss Matt Prior in England’s first innings. It was almost perfect: his fingers were in the right position on the seam, and the swing he found was excellent.”If Mitch can sort out the mental side of things, I’m convinced everything else would fall into place. Cricketers around the world would kill to have half of his potential.”Johnson is not bereft of advice in England. Brett Lee, the only Australian bowler with Test experience in England, has been talking to him about his form, as are the others. “Everyone’s been chatting to him and offering their advice. I’ve been offering my advice,” Lee, who missed the first two Tests because of injury, said. “Mitch is running ideas around. Everyone’s in it together. He’s obviously searching for a lot more wickets, but it’s not a matter of everyone being panicked and stressed out, saying what’s going on.”The key word over here is patience,” Lee said. “Playing in Australia and South Africa, it’s more conducive to fast bowling, particularly in South Africa. It’s just so important when you’re on wickets that are benign and aren’t conducive to fast bowling, you’ve got to find a way to get around that. In 2001 that’s the big thing I learnt. You can’t try and blast batsmen out.”Help, if wanted, was also forthcoming from Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler based in Manchester, who felt that Johnson could sacrifice swing for accuracy early in his spells.”If you don’t have a straight arm it’s very difficult to get wickets in England because everything is swinging away from the right-hander and going down the leg side to the left-hander,” Akram told the .”He should stick to his natural strength as a left-armer and when he gets his rhythm, then he should try different things … I have been through this patch, Glenn McGrath has been through this patch. It’s very simple, just get his arm straight in the nets and he will come back to it.”

Robert Croft, the most authoritative voice on spin-bowling in Cardiff, believes the Australians will be sending a poor message to Nathan Hauritz if they field an all-pace attack for the first Test on Wednesday. Croft, who represented England in seven Ashes Tests and has amassed 329 matches for Glamorgan, expects England to play both Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar on a Sophia Gardens pitch that will take turn, potentially leaving the Australians exposed should they opt against a frontline slow bowler.The condition of the Cardiff pitch is proving every bit as intriguing as the make-up of the respective XIs ahead of the first Ashes Test. The decision of the ECB pitch panel in May to penalise Glamorgan for producing a pitch that “demonstrated excessive turn and should therefore be rated ‘poor'” has prompted much nervous discussion ahead of Sophia Gardens’ first-ever Test, and the move to place the curator, Keith Exton, under a media ban, has only added to the drama.So curious were the Australians to uncover the truth about the Sophia Gardens playing surface that they dispatched Troy Cooley, their bowling coach, and Steve Bernard, their team manager, to Cardiff a day early for a recce of the pitch. Both will hope that the wicket proves as conducive to reverse swing as it does spin, but Croft, a four-time Glamorgan player-of-the-year, has warned of the dangers of relying on an all-pace attack.”Ricky [Ponting] and the Australians will do whatever they want, but my feeling is that if they go into the match without a spinner it will be a real downer for Nathan Hauritz,” Croft told Cricinfo. “If they don’t play him in Cardiff, I don’t know where he’s going to play in this country. It could be a bit dangerous to go in with some bit-part bowlers, particularly if they go for a shedful of runs. I think they could really miss a spinner from day four.”We’ve only played three Championship matches there this season and all of those were affected by rain, but I would expect the wicket won’t change too much for the first two or three days, then start to turn a bit. It is the outfield that has been relaid, not the square, and if there is five days of good weather, I think it will spin.”Australia’s selectors had hoped Hauritz would make a compelling case for selection in the two tour matches against Sussex and England Lions, but a combined return of 2 for 260 from 68.2 overs has given them little choice but to play four fast bowlers, and rely on the part-time spin of Marcus North, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich for variation. That could lead to a major contrast in the make-up and strategies of the opposing teams, with Australia placing their faith in reverse swing and England hoping for turn to assist Swann and, possibly, Panesar.Brett Lee has signalled Australia’s intention to legally scuff the new ball, duplicating India’s tactic from last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, in an attempt to reverse the ball early. Croft said the strategy could work on the abrasive Cardiff surface, but felt spinners would similarly benefit.”I have not seen the pitch in the last four or five days, but I would have thought England would probably look at playing the two spinners,” Croft said. “That said, there has definitely been reverse there in the last few seasons. If the weather is hot, the ball will go reverse earlier than you probably think.”The Met Office is predicting intermittent rain for Cardiff early in the week, but clear skies for the first two days of the Test. That will come as pleasing news to both the teams and administrators, the latter of whom have been excoriated by critics for scheduling the first Test of an Ashes series at a stadium with a capacity of just 16,000.Croft, though, is adamant the awarding of the first Ashes Test to Cardiff is due recognition for Wales’ long-standing contributions to the England team. Sophia Gardens will become world cricket’s 100th Test venue on Wednesday, and the first new one in England since Chester-le-Street hosted an England-Zimbabwe Test six years ago.”It is the England Wales Cricket Board, and this is well deserved as far as I’m concerned,” Croft said. “I think this will be the kick-start cricket in Wales needs, and will encourage a new generation of kids to take up the game here. For kids to have the opportunity to now watch the best players in the world on their doorstep is incredible. I think the knock-on effect of this will be huge.”

Cricket Australia has confirmed 2009-10 will be a six-Test home summer for Ricky Ponting’s men with Hobart set to host a Test in January for the first time. The international season kicks off with the first Test against West Indies at the Gabba on November 26 and the Test portion wraps up in with the third Test against Pakistan at Bellerive Oval beginning on January 14.Following three-Test series against each side, Australia will host separate ODI tours for each country after the traditional tri-series was scrapped before the start of last summer. Each side will face Australia in five one-day internationals with Pakistan also playing one Twenty20 and West Indies two.It will be a big summer for Bellerive Oval, which returns to Test duty having hosted only two five-day encounters over the past seven seasons, and is holding its first non-November Test in 20 years. The venue is also expected to have floodlights in place by the start of the summer and has been rewarded with its first Twenty20 international, against West Indies on February 21.”The last time Australia played Pakistan in Hobart it was a thrilling encounter that saw a magnificent partnership between Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist steer Australia to victory on the final day,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s CEO, said. “It was a fine example of Test cricket.”Hobart will also host their first KFC Twenty20 International against the West Indies in February and we expect to see a packed house at Bellerive. Twenty20 cricket continues to thrive and Tasmanian fans will be looking forward to their first taste of the format at international level.”As well as playing in Hobart, Pakistan will line up for the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Year Test in Sydney, while West Indies play in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The schedule means the former Queensland batsman and now West Indies player Brendan Nash is likely to enjoy a Test in front of what used to be his home crowd at the Gabba.Tests
November 26-30: Australia v West Indies, Brisbane
December 4-8: Australia v West Indies, Adelaide
December 16-20: Australia v West Indies, Perth
December 26-30: Australia v Pakistan, Melbourne
January 3-7: Australia v Pakistan, Sydney
January 14-18: Australia v Pakistan, Hobart
CB Series ODIs
January 22: Australia v Pakistan, Brisbane
January 24: Australia v Pakistan, Sydney
January 26: Australia v Pakistan, Adelaide
January 29: Australia v Pakistan, Perth
January 31: Australia v Pakistan, Perth
Twenty20 international
February 5: Australia v Pakistan, Melbourne
CB Series ODIs
February 7: Australia v West Indies, Melbourne
February 9: Australia v West Indies, Adelaide
February 12: Australia v West Indies, Sydney
February 14: Australia v West Indies, Brisbane
February 19: Australia v West Indies, Melbourne
Twenty20 internationals
February 21: Australia v West Indies, Hobart
February 23: Australia v West Indies, Sydney

Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain and one of 13 ‘rebel’ players slapped with a ten-year ban for joining the ICL, has said the board’s amnesty offer may force those concerned to think twice. But Bashar, Bangladesh’s most successful captain and highest run-scorer in Test cricket, was cautious about a swift move back to domestic cricket.”They [the BCB] opened a window of opportunity for us. We can now see some light at the end of the tunnel,” said Bashar. “We want to take the opportunity and play for the national team. If we leave the ICL, we have to sacrifice a lot of things. If we come back, what will we get in return?”The ICL is highly lucrative compared to domestic cricket in Bangladesh.”The BCB, following the lead of the BCCI and the PCB, decided to allow those cricketers who signed up with the ICL to participate in domestic cricket, subject to the termination of their contracts with the unauthorised league by June 15. Bashar felt the decision created an opportunity for the rebel but was uncertain about the chances of it proving beneficial for all concerned.”The most important thing is that after this decision we have got an option to make our comeback in the domestic and international cricket,” he said. “I think the problem will remain because we have to terminate our contract first. Let us see everything before making any final comments.”We had recently met to discuss what would be our approach if the BCB announced amnesty like the Indian board and what we decided is that one can take his own decision. But first of all we have to look at the ICL contract. I know that the contract we have with the ICL is pretty much one-way.”

Arthur Pitcher, the Bermuda batsman, has decided to quit cricket and concentrate on his cycling career after being frustrated by the lack of commitment shown by his colleagues in the team.”With cycling you’re racing for the finish line and everybody wants to get their first,” Pitcher told the . “There’s more commitment than I was finding in cricket. I still have a love for the game of cricket but the work ethic is not there. With cricket you need all 11, with cycling it is just you. You can only blame yourself for failure.”Pitcher, 27, played three ODIs for Bermuda – all against Netherlands in 2007 – in which he scored 20 runs with an average of 6.66. He did not feature in the World Cup that year. He also played a first-class game for Bermuda in the Intercontinental Cup.”As I was established in cricket, I stayed with it, but a few things took place last season and I just got fed up with it. When I first started out cycling last season I took a lot of licks. I was getting left behind on the Sunday club rides and I made a point to push and push and say to myself I’m not letting these guys get away from me any more. I had the fight to stay with the big guys and now I’m improving and winning a few races.”Bermuda’s failure to qualify for the Super Eights in the recent World Cup Qualifiers resulted in a loss of ODI status that they held for four years.