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Bangladesh cricket’s development programme has been adversely affected by the five-month delay in the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL), after the National Cricket Academy (NCA) player intake for 2013 remained deferred for almost the same period. Dhaka’s club-based one-day tournament has so far been set back four times, the latest date proposed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) being an August 29 start, and is likely to be skipped this year.According to NCA’s head coach and manager Richard McInnes, the ideal schedule will run the course of the Bangladesh off-season (between March and September) so that the young cricketers can be well prepared ahead of the domestic season and vie for places in the Bangladesh A team. Since the DPL did not take place in March, the NCA programme followed suit, as it needed the players to be free of professional commitments.The NCA management would not announce the name of the players unless it was confirmed they would be free of any other commitments. McInnes also pointed out that the DPL’s delay was one of the main reasons for the hindrance in the full-time academy programme.He said that the coaching staff has remained busy with the other programmes that are organised by the NCA, but the BCB management structure is designed in a way where it can only handle ‘one issue at a time’.”In terms of a full-time academy programme, unfortunately we have not been able to run a full programme for various reasons, including the uncertainty surrounding the DPL,” McInnes said. “I don’t think there has been a lack of activity overall. I certainly feel like all the staff, including myself, have been very busy with under-age camps, coach education programmes and supporting the national teams in the various formats.”The board members are committed to cricket in Bangladesh. As I have mentioned previously, given our management structure, we only seem to be able to deal with one issue at a time, which in a business as big as cricket, does not allow us to be as agile and effective as we need to be.”The NCA’s training programme had become an integral part of player development in Bangladesh, having only just gathered steam over the last two years. The acquirement of a separate academy and cricket ground adjacent to the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur boosted its importance, particularly to cricketers who have crossed the Under-19s, the last stage of the age-group system.The programme was formerly known as the High Performance (HP) unit, and it flourished between 2003 and 2005 when McInnes was in charge. His exit stalled the HP programme, before the BCB converted it to the present-day NCA, but it still took a few years before it was resourceful enough to run a full-time training programme.Australian Ross Turner ran the 2011 programme smoothly with 24 cricketers. When he quit his post, a lull ensued before McInnes was brought back alongside Stuart Karpinnen, the former Australia strength and conditioning coach, as trainer. Senior Bangladesh cricketers like Mashrafe Mortaza has already praised the coaching staff as being ideal for the NCA. McInnes has so far overseen one training camp with 10 players, after which the West Indies High Performance group toured the country to play against NCA in September last year.The only bright spot for the NCA this year is the imminent ACC Emerging Teams Cup, to be held next month in Singapore. According to McInnes, the Bangladesh Under-23 side, which will take part in the tournament, is among those who would have been the NCA’s intake for the year.BCB’s ad-hoc committee member Gazi Ashraf Hossain has said that the board is likely to confirm tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe for the NCA. South Africa and West Indies have had exchange programmes at this level with the BCB in the past, with the last of these tours taking place last year when the West Indies High Performance side toured Bangladesh.The NCA is a vital source of Bangladeshi cricketers, and has helped the selectors find more prepared players rather than blooding teenagers, as was the case for several years after it gained Test status. A lack of continuation in its full-time programme would hold back the development process in Bangladesh cricket.

England squad

Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan

England have named an unchanged 12-man squad for the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley, following their 170-run victory at Lord’s, after Ian Bell recovered from the illness that hampered him in the opening contest.Bell was diagnosed with tonsillitis which kept him off the field for the majority of the game following his first-innings 31 on the opening day. He batted at No. 8 in the second innings.Tim Bresnan, on his homeground, will again be vying for the final pace-bowling slot alongside Steven Finn who took four wickets in the first innings at Lord’s but was inconsistent. If Bresnan does play his first Test since last December it would mean three Yorkshire cricketers in the side with Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow part of the top order.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “I thought the team showed a lot of fighting spirit when under pressure to set up the victory. We are aware that there are still areas that we need to improve on and the players and coaches will be working hard ahead of the second Test.”Finn was not required in the second innings, when New Zealand crumbled for 68, as England needed just two bowlers through an all-out innings for the first time since 1936. A few minutes after the win was completed, Finn was back out in the middle bowling on an adjacent pitch under the watchful eye of bowling coach David Saker.”He probably isn’t bowling as well as he could, but he’s getting wickets,” Saker said. “He’s got that knack of getting wickets. He’s got the pace. We’re just working on a few little things but I’m sure he’ll be all right and confident by Leeds.”There have been some high scores at Headingley this season and the batsmen from both sides will hope for slightly more favourable conditions. In the Championship match against Derbyshire, Yorkshire made 677 for 7, which included a double century from Root and Bairstow’s 186. The pair also added 231 for the fourth wicket. In the same match, Chesney Hughes, the Derbyshire opener, hit an unbeaten 270.

Match facts

May 2, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Big picture

Given their current form, Pune Warriors will be desperately hoping their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore isn’t a repeat of the carnage that took place in Bangalore a little over a week ago.Since that match, Royal Challengers have lost consecutive away games but still are favourites going into this encounter. While it’s easy to pin the losses on Chris Gayle’s poor scores, the other batsmen haven’t really had a substantial stay at the crease. They need this win to correct their dismal away record this season (four losses in four games) and get closer to sealing their playoff spot. Royal Challengers will need to be wary of Warriors, given that the tournament is almost over for the hosts and they will be looking to upset the chances of the bigger teams.Inconsistent batting has dragged Warriors down this season and they seem like a team pulling in different directions. The failure of Indian batsmen, especially Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh, has been damaging for them. Death bowling is another area where Warriors have suffered – in their last two matches, against Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, Warriors conceded 62 and 63 runs respectively in the last five.Yuvraj Singh’s struggle with fitness and his lack of form have hampered Pune Warriors•BCCI

Form guide

Pune Warriors LLLLL (Most recent first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore LLWWW

Watch out for..

After having spent most of the season on the bench and an insipid first game against Daredevils, Kane Richardson got a chance to showcase the skills that earned him $700,000 at the auction earlier this year. He took the big wicket of Michael Hussey with one that left the batsman after pitching, and also generated pace. He contributed with the bat, helping Warriors to a face-saving total after their line-up imploded.After a string of good scores early on, Virat Kohli has suffered a slight dip in form. His last four innings have produced 45 runs. The focus in the last few days has remained on the Wankhede crowd controversy and the four away losses, but this match is a chance for the captain to get the team back on track.

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers have an away win-loss ratio of 0.83 (15 victories in 34 games), which is fifth among all teams. Mumbai Indians are on the top with a win-loss ratio of 1.43 (23 victories in 40 games).
• Rahul Sharma’s duck – his eighth – in the last match has put him level with three other batsmen in the list of most ducks in the IPL.
• Virat Kohli needs 10 fours to become the eighth batsman to score 200 fours in the IPL.

Quotes

“The boys are a good bunch and keep motivating themselves. But then I think we are not clicking together.”

Lonwabo Tsotsobe will represent his third franchise in as many seasons after he decided to move to the Lions for the 2013/14 summer. Tsotsobe originally hails from the Eastern Cape and represented the Warriors for seven seasons before changing allegiances to the Dolphins over the past season and will now play for the Lions.How frequently he turns out for the Johannesburg-based franchise will depend on his international commitments. Tsotsobe is a regular member of South Africa’s ODI and T20 team and is often on the fringes of the Test squad, which limits the amount of time he can play domestic cricket.Tsotsobe has also earned a reputation for shirking his domestic responsibilities, although a number of family-related problems were partly to blame for his absence from the circuit. He only turned out for the Dolphins in the one-day competition, where he played nine matches, but did not play a single first-class or T20 match, much to their administrations’ displeasure.Should he make the odd appearance for the Lions, he will team up with Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen in what could be a fearsome trio of quicks. “He has a tremendous amount of ability and and I believe he will bring experience and guidance to some of the younger players in the squad,” Geoffrey Toyana, Lions coach, said.They will have to wait until after the Champions League T20 to make use of Tsotsobe, though. He will not be able to represent the Lions because he was not part of the contracted squad that qualified for the event.Tsotsobe is not the only big mover this winter. Hashim Amla also left the Dolphins and will ply his trade at Cape Cobras. This leaves the Dolphins’ franchise without two of its most senior players.They have been bolstered by the arrival of veteran wicket-keeper batsman Morne van Wyk from the Knights. The franchise from the Free State also lost Ryan Bailey to the Warriors.

Match facts

April 19, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Amit Mishra has emerged as an important player for Sunrisers Hyderabad•BCCI

Big Picture

This is not Indian Premier League. This is Indian Pirates League. At least with these two teams. On back-to-back days leading into this match, these two teams have pulled off matches they had hardly any right winning.Kings XI Punjab came back from 99 for 7, and then from a point where the opposition needed 47 from seven overs with eight wickets in hand. Kings XI might want to lay claims to being respectable escape artists, but they are up against the Emperors of Escape. Apart from winning a Super Over against the might of Chris Gayle, Sunrisers Hyderabad have defended two sub-130 totals already, and are placed joint-second on the points table. The second of those defences came after Pune Warriors had reached 101 for 4 chasing 120.These are also two teams led by legendary wicketkeeper-batsmen. One of them, Kumar Sangakkara, had had enough of his struggles with the bat, and sat himself out of the Sunrisers’ last match. Quinton de Kock, Sangakkara’s replacement, managed only two runs, but he will consider it harsh if he is dropped after just one showing.Quite similarly to Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist has managed just 31 runs in four innings, but he has been exceptional behind the stumps. Struggling overseas captains have been a matter of debate in this first quarter of the competition, especially with the crucial spot they block should they not perform, and Gilchrist will surely be under pressure to consider and keep his place.

Players to watch

This match will feature two of the best legspinners in India, Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla. Mishra has right to feel aggrieved with Chawla often being preferred to him by the selectors. With superb performances in the season so far, including the match-winning hat-trick in the last match, Mishra is proving yet another point to the selectors. This will be a juicy little contest between the two leggies.

Stats and Trivia

• Amit Mishra is the only person to have taken three Twenty20 hat-tricks.
• With 131 wickets at an average of 18.76 and an economy rate of 6.82, Mishra is the second-most successful legspinner in Twenty20 cricket, behind Shahid Afridi. Piyush Chawla is the only other legspinner to have taken 100 wickets – 103 at an average of 26.97 going at 7.44 to an over.

Quotes

“You take the confidence because they’re the champions and to beat the best side of last year is important. But it’s a long tournament, so you don’t dwell in the past too much; you take the confidence from the wins, knowing that you’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s always about the next match.”

Scorecard
Knights prevailed over Titans by eight runs in Centurion in a high-scoring game. The Knights were asked to bat and their openers gave them a fitting start, Rilee Rossouw and Loots Bosman adding 92 in 10.4 overs. Bosman almost batted through to the end of the innings, dismissed off the penultimate ball for 91, an innings that included five fours and five sixes. He was involved in another attacking partnership, with Pite van Biljon, who blasted 32 off 16 balls and helped push the score to 196.Titans lost captain Henry Davids in the first ball of the chase. The Knights seamers Johan van der Wath and Malusi Siboto made steady inroads, picking up two wickets each, and reducing the opposition to 61 for 5 in the eighth over. Roelof van der Merwe and Albie Morkel revived the innings, however. Van der Merwe made 66 in 45 and Albie smashed four sixes in his 48. The pair put on 96 runs in 51 balls, giving their team sniff at victory. But both fell off successive deliveries in the 17th over bowled by Dean Elgar, and even though the tail took the Titans to 188, the big push Albie and van der Merwe are capable of delivering at the death was absent.Knights now have three wins from five games.
Scorecard
Warriors beat Cape Cobras by seven wickets in Port Elizabeth. Their bowlers, seamers Wayne Parnell and Andrew Birch, especially, bowled economically, to restrict Cobras to 129 for 7. The pair picked up four wickets between them and conceded just 44 in eight overs. After being reduced to 13 for 3, Justin Ontong (41) and Dane Vilas (35) put together 75, before the lower middle order took the score to 129.Warriors began the chase steadily, with a 42-run opening stand, though quickly slipped to 52 for 3. But Sambit Patel (34) and Adrian McLaren (36*) stabilised the innings in a 630run partnership and set up the team’s victory. Victory was sealed with three balls to spare. Warriors are third on the points table now, behind Knights, who trail table-toppers Lions.

Former Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has expressed his disappointment with the think-tank for the selection of medium-pacers Tanvir Ahmed and Rahat Ali for the tour to South Africa.”Pakistan is known for its fast-bowling legacy over the last five decades,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “We are better than this and have better options than Tanvir. I don’t know what the selectors and team management have seen in him. Do they not know we need a bowler who can bowl with sheer pace in South Africa? Where is Aizaz Cheema and Wahab Riaz? Why weren’t they picked in the first place?”Tanvir’s previous national call-up was in May 2011, after which he was dropped for his poor performance and fitness. Before he was dropped, he played four Tests and picked up 16 wickets. Shortly after the Pakistan team landed in South Africa, Ali and Tanvir were called in as late reinforcements to bolster a side that already had four quicks.Tanvir’s outing in the second Test was disappointing. He bowled only 10 overs out of 102.1 in the first innings and was given another five overs in the second innings to finish with figures of 10-4-26-0 and 5-0-43-1. He failed to impress with the new ball, bowling at a speed of around 120kph.One of Pakistan’s selectors refused to take the responsibility for Tanvir’s selection, saying the team management had demanded reinforcement and it was their decision to play him in the final XI.The management did not use all the frontline bowlers picked for the series. Mohammad Irfan, who was set to play the first Test, was left out for Ali. Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman was benched for the second Test, while Ehsan Adil, a young fast bowler who was picked after a strong domestic performance, only bowled in the nets.”The problem isn’t Tanvir. It lies with the selectors and the team think-tank who have to decide where they are going,” Waqar said. “I am really disappointed with Umar Gul, too. In my time, consistency was the key for every bowler. There was always a plan and a back-up plan every time, with a lot of commitment, but here everything looked uncertain.”In spite of being known for their fast bowlers, Pakistan have relied on spinners over the last three years, following bans on Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. Saeed Ajmal has emerged as a dependable strike bowler for Pakistan on all surfaces. “He [Ajmal] will continue to play his part with success – because he knows his role and his line and length,” Waqar said. “We talk about our fragile batting, but it’s the fast bowlers who are letting the team down. Gul looked bad with both the new and old ball.”Waqar said Pakistan wasted the new ball in both Tests. “We bowled to their strengths. South Africa simply bowled in the right areas at perfect lengths. Pakistan were in a good position in the second Test, thanks to Ajmal’s outstanding bowling. But we lost the opportunity and handed them a win.”

ScorecardAn unbeaten century by opener Dominic Sibley helped England edge past South Africa’s first-innings total in the second Test before captain Oli Stone increased his haul to seven wickets in the match to put the hosts in trouble. Stone dismissed both South Africa openers in a five-over spell before the close, as England pushed for a 2-0 victory in the series.Resuming on a precarious 52 for 3, Sibley and Ben Duckett combined for a valuable 61-run association, which was eventually ended when Duckett was caught behind off the bowling of Shaylin Pillay for 29. Callum Jackson and Ed Barnard helped Sibley push England up towards 200 and the 17-year-old went on to complete his century from 263 balls.Spinners Vassilli Orros, whose 69 rescued South Africa on Sunday, and Michael Faasen claimed the last six wickets between them but Sibley was able to carry his bat as Stone hung around to take England into a slim lead. Stone then struck with the ball to give England the advantage at the halfway point in the match.

Prasanna Jayawardene has suffered a hairline fracture to the top of his right thumb after being hit by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer during Sri Lanka’s first innings at the MCG. That delivery was the last Jayawardene faced, as the ball caught the shoulder of the bat after hitting his thumb, and ballooned to Phillip Hughes in the slip cordon. Jayawardene made 24.Team management are yet to determine whether Jayawardene will keep wickets on day two, but in the meantime Kumar Sangakkara has taken the gloves in his stead, and will keep for the remainder of day one.Sri Lanka’s 12th man Dinesh Chandimal also keeps wickets, but cannot stand in behind the stumps as he is a substitute. A year ago, he replaced Jayawardene on Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa as wicketkeeper-batsman.”There was some bruising on his thumb after his innings, so we thought we’d better check,” team manager Charith Senanayake said, before X-rays revealed the extent of the injury.December 26 5.35am GMT This story has been updated to include news of Jayawaradene’s hairline fracture

ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, handed Northern Districts their first loss of the tournament as his half-century set up a comfortable win for Otago in Hamilton. Otago were in trouble after choosing to bat when they were reduced to 15 for 3 in the fourth over. But ten Doeschate revived the innings briskly, hitting seven boundaries in making 65 off 45 deliveries. There was support for ten Doeschate from Michael Bracewell, who made 31 off 20. Sixty-six came off the final five overs as James Fuller struck three sixes in his 27 off 11 to boost Otago to 173.Fuller dismissed Kane Williamson with his fourth delivery in the chase and Northern Districts could never build any momentum. Nick Beard’s three strikes had them struggling at 94 for 6 in the 15th over before some late hitting from Tim Southee and BJ Watling brought down the margin of defeat to 11 runs. This was Otago’s first win in their second game of the tournament.