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The England A squad arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday with the twin aims of braving the local conditions and playing some quality cricket. With the World Cup getting underway next month and England’s senior team unsettled by one or two nagging injuries, the A-squad members who have been undergoing practice sessions at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur know full well that an impressive showing on this trip could lead to higher honours before the English season gets underway in April.Nevertheless, Michael Yardy, England A’s captain, was adamant that the sole focus for his team-mates was the current engagements. “Obviously I wanted to play in the World Cup,” said Yardy during a media conference in Mirpur. “But here I am in Bangladesh with the England A side, and I see this as an opportunity to play in a different country and different condition. I am quite happy with it”It’s true that in case of an injury someone can be called up from here to join the World Cup squad,” he added. “But remember this is not just about the World Cup. These players are eager to play in Tests and one-day internationals for England in future. So this tour is a learning experience for all of us. Hopefully when we will visit the subcontinent with the national team we will utilise this experience. First of all we came here to play some good cricket. Beside that we want to experience the condition, enjoy the country on and off the pitch.”Yardy is a familiar foe of the Bangladesh players, having cracked a massive 257 for Sussex at Hove, during a warm-up for the Test tour in 2005 at Hove. “Obviously I remember that innings,” he recalled. “That is my highest first-class score. That was my day. I have the experience of playing against Bangladesh while they were touring England a few seasons ago. That was a very talented squad which had some promising batsmen and quality spinners. I am sure that this time we are going to face another talented side.”Having already appeared for the England one-day side last year, Yardy is determined to win his way back to the main side. “On this tour I want to lead the team well and set an example by playing good cricket. Besides that I want to get back in the national squad as early as possible. For that I have to score some big runs on this tour.”The coach, Peter Moores, was confident that his side had the ingredients to do well. “We came here with a big and balanced squad. We have a very talented legspinner [Adil Rashid] and also have some players who have the experience of playing at the highest level like Matt Prior, Yardy and Stuart Broad. So we have got a nice mixed group. These boys are quite ready to show that they are capable of stepping into the next level and that is to play for the national team.”

Moores also defended the presence of only one specialist spinner in the squad. “We also have two part timers in Yardy [left-arm spin] and Alex Loudon [offspinner] who can also bat. So we’ve got quite a few options. We have the chance to field three spinners in a match. Besides that we have a good seam attack. Broad has just got back from Australia with the triumphant CB series team. Another pacer Graham Onions can bowl with some pace. We want to have a good time and hopefully identify some future England players and win some matches, obviously.”Moores added that his side would have their work cut out on a tricky tour. “We know about your passion for the game,” he told the local Bangladeshi journalists, “and we are very aware that this will not be an easy tour for us because it is very difficult to beat Bangladesh in their backyard. The conditions are obviously different from ours. The first part of any tour for the touring side is to get used to the conditions.”The team’s manager, Guy Jackson, who had toured Bangladesh last month to inspect the facilities, said they couldn’t have asked for more. “The facility is absolutely superb,” he said of the Mirpur stadium. “You have fantastic international stadiums and the indoor facilities are equally good. In terms of potential and facilities I think Bangladesh are a sleeping giant. Now we are looking forward to the challenge of playing good competitive cricket here.”England A kick off their tour with a three-day practice game against the BCB National Cricket Academy side at the Bangladesh Institute of Sports (BKSP), starting on Saturday. They return to Mirpur for the first of two four-day matches against Bangladesh A (Feb 22-25) and then travel to Bogra for the second four-dayer (Mar 1-4), followed by the first of three one-day matches (Mar. 7). They wrap up their tour with the remaining one-dayers against Bangladesh A at Mirpur on March 9 and 11.

Hanuma Vihari scored his fourth first-class double-hundred as Andhra took comprehensive strides towards an outright win against Tripura in Valsad. Vihari went from an overnight 144 to an unbeaten 233 (482b, 17×4, 4×6) as Andhra declared on 524 for 5, having established a first-innings lead of 353.Bowling 47 overs, the left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh finished as Tripura’s most successful bowler, with figures of 4 for 166. With 42 overs left to bat out before stumps, Tripura lost three wickets, ending the day 165 for 3, still trailing by 188, with Yashpal Singh, their experienced import from Services, batting on 46.Half-centuries from Bipul Sharma and Sumeet Verma gave Himachal Pradesh a 76-run first-innings lead in a closely contested match against Chhattisgarh in Kanpur. Both teams ended day three with a chance of winning outright, with Chhattisgarh 175 for 4 and 99 ahead, courtesy an unbeaten 69 (156b, 7×4, 1×6) from opener Abhimanyu Chauhan.Himachal began the day trailing by 28 runs. Bipul scored 86 (179b, 4×4, 4×6) and Sumeet 68 (195b, 5×4, 2×6) as the pair stretched their overnight seventh-wicket stand of 60 to 130, before Himachal lost their last four wickets for 34 runs. Left-arm spinner Sumit Ruikar took two lower-order wickets to finish with figures of 7 for 112, his best in first-class cricket.Seamers Vinod Kumar and Sandeep Warrier shared seven wickets between them to help Kerala take a 56-run first-innings lead against Goa at the Brabourne Stadium. Goa, six down and 173 behind at the start of the day, got as close as they did to Kerala’s first-innings total thanks to Shadab Jakati’s 85 (162b, 13×4) from No. 8.Kerala stretched their lead to 210 by stumps, with Rohan Prem following up his first-innings century with an unbeaten 60 (128b, 7×4), and Mohammed Azharuddeen scoring 56 not out (101b, 7×4). The two came together after a three-wicket burst from Saurabh Bandekar had reduced Kerala to 54 for 4, and added an unbroken 100 for the fifth wicket. During the course of his innings – which was his fifth consecutive score of 60 or more – Prem went past Sunil Oasis to become Kerala’s highest-ever run-getter.A four-wicket haul from Sanjay Pahal helped Haryana enforce the follow-on against Jammu & Kashmir in Cuttack. Batting at No. 3, Pranav Gupta scored 94 (189b, 16×4), but J&K’s batting fell apart around him as they were bowled out for 262 in their first innings, 89 short of avoiding the follow-on. Opener Shubham Khajuria, who resumed on 48, only added four runs to his score before falling in the eighth over of the morning. He had put on 89 for the second wicket with Pranav. The wickets fell steadily thereafter, with only a sixth-wicket partnership of 65 between Pranav and wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht resisting Haryana for any length of time. With 19 overs left at the end of the day, J&K went to stumps 38 for no loss in their second innings.A century from Shamsher Yadav and a 90 from Nakul Verma helped Services defy Hyderabad at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, as they ended day three with reasonable hope of taking one point from a run-heavy game. Coming together at 116 for 3, after Services lost three wickets for the addition of only 39 to their overnight score, Shamsher and Nakul put on 84 before the latter fell for 90 off 178 balls (13×4). Even as wickets fell steadily around him, Shamsher remained at the crease through most of the rest of the day, before he was ninth out two overs from stumps for 104 (196b, 13×4, 1×6). Services were 360 for 9 at stumps, still in danger of following on, trailing Hyderabad by 220 runs, but with a fighting chance of saving the match. Seamer Ravi Kiran was Hyderabad’s most successful bowler with figures of 3 for 68.

Australia will rely on the sheer pace of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson to cover the huge gaps left by Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Justin Langer has also departed but filling the holes of two men who captured 1271 wickets is the main concern as the hosts attempt to retain their all-conquering ways.Sri Lanka will face a fast-bowling attack at the Gabba on Thursday that has a combined tally of 68 Tests and contains the debutant Mitchell Johnson. Brett Lee is the main man, having appeared in 59 matches, while Stuart Clark will probably begin his fourth series at first-change. The collective inexperience does not bother Ricky Ponting and he is confident the trio can kick-start the new era.”You have to look to somebody else to do the job that they [Warne and McGrath] were doing,” Ponting said. “They were great at building pressure. Now we might have to come back to sheer pace to get our breakthroughs with Brett and Mitchell.”Extra responsibility will also fall on Stuart MacGill as he tries to fit back into the team after an 18-month absence. One of the reasons Australia preferred MacGill to the swing of Ben Hilfenhaus was due to Warne’s strong performances in Brisbane, which he rated as a perfect venue for legspin because of the extra bounce.”We know Stuart MacGill’s wicket-taking ability is second to none in the history of the game,” Ponting said. “And we know we’ve got the options.”Sri Lanka’s recruiting of Trevor Bayliss, who was the New South Wales coach in June, has come with the bonus of intimate knowledge of almost half the Australian team. Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, said Bayliss had been passing on tips to his new team about what to expect from Clark, MacGill, Lee, Michael Clarke and Phil Jaques.”Trevor has been giving us a lot of information and we’ve been discussing a lot of plans,” he said. “It’s always good to have a lot of plans, but you also need to concentrate on what’s going on out there and go with your instincts.”Australia would like to bat first even though the pitch contains significant moisture and they may get their wish if Sri Lanka push for a four-man pace attack. Ponting, who has discussed the threats of the opposition bowlers with his team, felt playing so many would be risky.”If you look historically at things at the Gabba, sides that bat first win more often than not,” he said. “If they did want to play four they’d be going against that. And if the keeper [Prasanna Jayawardene] bats six it leaves them a little thin.”

The cream of the country’s talent will take part in the Pentangular Cup, due to begin in cities around Pakistan, from February 10. For the first time in its 34-year-old history, only provincial teams will be competing for the prize, which includes Pakistan’s four provinces as well as a team representing the Federal Areas.Unusually for a domestic competition, the country’s top players are taking part, a result of the board’s policy to make it a tournament of the top 75 performers from the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Additionally, 25 of the most promising young players from around the country have been called up to the squads.Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, will lead Punjab, Shahid Afridi is Sindh’s captain, while Younis Khan leads the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Shoaib Akhtar, who is playing in a bid to prove his fitness before Australia tour Pakistan, will lead the Federal Areas, which includes players from Islamabad and surrounding regions. Balochistan, historically Pakistan’s weakest cricket province, will include guest players from around the country in a bid to strengthen the side and will be led by Naseem Khan.The tournament has undergone a number of format changes, often including departments and not always restricted to – as the name suggests – five teams. This year’s tournament, however, is a return to how the tournament was originally intended and is among the most financially rewarding: not only do the winners claim a Rs 1 million prize (approx US$16,000), each member of the playing XI will be paid Rs 25,000 (approx US$400) per match. Non-playing members of the squad will get Rs 10,000 (approx US$160). The tournament will also be televised on a local sports channel.There will be a short break after the first round of matches as general elections will be held in the country on February 18, but the four-day matches resume from February 22. The tournament, which kicks off with Sindh taking on NWFP in Karachi and Punjab playing the Federal Areas in Lahore, will be played on a single-league basis.Squads
Punjab: Shoaib Malik (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq (vice-capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Naved Latif, Adnan Raza, Ammar Mahmood, Junaid Zia, Wahab Riaz, Waqas Ahmad, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammad Khalil, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Salman (wk), Aizaz Cheema, Kashif Raza, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Asif (will be included in the team after a fitness test).Sindh: Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Shadab Kabir, Shahid Afridi (capt), Naumanullah, Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal (vice-capt), Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam, Rizwan Ahmad, Sohail Khan, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Athar, Danish Kaneria, Sarfraz Ahmad (wk), Hanif Malik (wk), Tahir Khan, Uzair-ul-Haq, Asif Zakir.Federal Areas: Shoaib Akhtar (capt), Rao Iftikhar (vice-capt), Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Rauf Akbar, Naeem Anjum (wk), Afaq Raheem, Raheel Majeed, Naveed Qureshi, Usman Saeed, Bazid Khan, Shahzad Azam Rana, Omair Khan, Atif Maqbool, Fayyaz Ahmad, Bilal Asad, Asher Zaidi, Babar Naeem, Yasir Ali, Asadullah Sumeri.Balochistan: Usman Tariq, Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar jnr, Shoaib Khan, Naseem Khan (capt), Sohaib Maqsood, Rameez Alam, Bilal Khiljee, Saeed Bin Nasir, Jalat Khan, Abdur Rauf (vice-capt), Kamran Hussain, Azharullah, Tanvir Ahmad, Mohammad Irshad, Imranullah Aslam, Gulraiz Sadaf (wk), Nazar Hussain, Faisal Irfan, Yasir Arafat (jnr).NWFP: Younis Khan (capt), Yasir Hameed (vice-capt), Riffatullah Mohmmand, Wajid Ali, Aftab Ahmad Khan, Wajahatullah Wasti, Riaz Kail, Asad Shafiq, Zulfiqar Jan (wk), Aslam Qureshi, Yasir Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Nauman Habib, Fazl-e-Akbar, Adnan Raees, Waqar Ahmad, Fawad Khan (wk), Junaid Khan, Samiullah Khan, Umar Gul (will be included after a fitness test).

Scorecard
Delhi Giants scored an easy win over Ahmedabad Rockets after being set a paltry target of 108 in Panchkula. Avishka Gunawardene was unbeaten on 55 as the Giants lost only one wicket and knocked off the runs in 15.3 overs.The Rockets struggled right from the start, losing three wickets in the first four overs. TP Sudhindra got a wicket with his first ball as Sachin Dholpure inside-edged the delivery on to his stumps. Two run-outs pegged them back further: Wavell Hinds was caught short by an alert Ali Murtaza for 5 in the third over and Abhinav Bali knocked over Murray Goodwin’s stumps in the next.The 62-run fifth-wicket partnership between Damien Martyn and Sridharan Sriram revived the spluttering innings briefly, but the run-rate remained sluggish. Martyn tried to lift the momentum as he drove and pulled Shane Bond for two fours in an over. But Bond broke the partnership when he ran out Sriram for 32 in the 18th over.Three balls later Martyn, the innings’ highest scorer, was caught off Jai P Yadav. Reetinder Sodhi hit 11 off four balls to take the Rockets to 107. His six, slog-swept over midwicket off Yadav, was the only one of the innings.The Giants raced to 66 in their first ten overs, and though they lost Monish Mishra for 18, Gunawardene was in fine attacking mode. He took medium-pacer Rakesh Patel for 17 runs in an over, which included two sixes and a four. Gunawardene also reached his fifty with a six in only 36 balls. At the end of 15 overs, the Giants needed just nine more to win, and Bali finished it off with three successive fours.With this win, the Giants have four points and are on top of the table along with Lahore Badshahs, who have played a game less.

Mark Ramprakash continued to distance himself from a disappointing experiment as a Test opener by becoming the first English player to reach 1,000 first-class runs this summer.The Middlesex batsman scored his fourth century in nine innings, for a total of 700 runs, since he reverted to No 4 in the county team after losing his England place.Ramprakash made a polished 120 not out in four hours at Edgbaston to give skipper Justin Langer an opportunity to apply pressure on Warwickshire with a lunchtime declaration at 380 for eight.With nearly nine hours lost in the first three days, Middlesex scented an outside chance of exploiting uncertainty in Warwickshire’s batting after five Championship games without a win.Though Mark Wagh and Dominic Ostler made some headway, they wobbled at 125 for four until David Hemp instigated a strong recovery with an unbeaten 78.The former Glamorgan left hander found his touch in only his fourth Championship half-century of the season and went on to hit 15 fours. Dougie Brown provided the necessary support in an unbroken stand of 86 as Warwickshire closed at 211 for four.Warwickshire’s progress to the NatWest Trophy final has masked a poor run in other competitions and now they have injury problems before the Lord’s meeting with holders Gloucestershire next Saturday.Opener Nick Knight may need surgery on a damaged knee and, along with fast bowler Allan Donald, he will not play in next week’s Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road.

Chris Gayle, the West Indian opener, has been passed fit for the third Test against England, which starts on Thursday at Old Trafford. Gayle had damaged a rib muscle while fielding against MCC on the first day of their three-day tour match at the Racecourse Ground. Gayle took no further part in that match and there were question-marks over his availability for the third Test.Gayle’s recovery is good news for a West Indian team which has been plagued by fitness worries on this tour. Ramnaresh Sarwan has already been ruled out of the rest of the series with a shoulder injury, Shivnarine Chanderpaul sat out of the second Test because of a knee problem, while fast bowler Ravi Rampaul hurt his groin while bowling against MCC and will miss the third Test.Gayle has been in patchy form on the tour so far, with scores of 30, 47 not out, 11 and 13 in his four Test innings. In his five previous Tests in England, Gayle averaged more than 44, with four 50-plus scores in nine innings. West Indies won’t mind him replicating that form through the rest of this series.

Kandurata, led by Sri Lanka’s vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, qualified for a place in Sunday’s final when they recorded their third straight win in the competition, defeating Hirdaramani Ruhuna by 43 runs under the Duckworth- Lewis method in a night match played at the R Premadasa Stadium.Winning the toss and choosing to bat, Kandurata made their third total in excess of 250 through half-centuries from Thilan Samaraweera (71 off 96 balls) and Chamara Kapugedera (63 off 65 balls). The innings was given a late boost by Thilan Thushara who slammed a breezy 47 off 27 balls with four sixes and a four.Ruhuna could not sustain an adjusted target of 282 from 47 overs despite fifties from Upul Tharanga and Indika de Saram and were dismissed for 238 in the 44th over, with Thushara once again being the stumbling block taking 3 for 29.Basnahira South, captained by Tillakaratne Dilshan, registered their first win by beating Basnahira North by six wickets, again under the Duckworth-Lewis method, at the SSC grounds. Put into bat, Basnahira North could manage only 207 for 9 in 50 overs, their batsmen being restricted by young left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardene who took 6 for 40 off 10 overs.Basnahira South’s run chase was curtailed by rain and their revised target saw them set 175 for victory off 36 overs. Ian Daniel with 74 off 75 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes) led the way to victory which was achieved with eight overs to spare.

Group A

In spite of fast bowler Sohail Khan’s day-three heroics, all Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) could manage was a draw and claim three points against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium. A defiant display by third-placed WAPDA on day three saw them make 353 in their second innings. SSGC needed 328 to win, but they spent yesterday idling to 264 for 6 as the match ended in a rather tame draw.WAPDA had a win in mind, as the first two SSGC wickets fell with only 13 on the board. The third wicket fell at 68, but a 159-run stand for the fourth wicket steered SSGC out of the woods. The experienced Saeed bin Nasir hit his 12th first-class hundred, batting for almost four and a half hours and facing 208 deliveries. With Saeed was the SSGC captain Atiq-uz-Zaman, who missed what would have been his fourth century by just nine runs. The 32-year-old Atiq, who played in a Test match for Pakistan as wicketkeeper back in 1999-00 and is now settled in England, made 91 off just 134 balls in a little over three hours with 11 fours.National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were breathing easier again as they managed to draw their match against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the NBP Sports Complex Stadium. NBP refused to buckle down, after having conceded a 44-run first-innings lead to their opponents, and spent the entire day yesterday posting 251 for 6 in their second innings.From nine matches, ranking leaders HBL have now totalled 66 points, after having taken three from the match. They only have Karachi Whites to contend with before the all-important final, in their last preliminary round game ten days from now after the Eid ul Azha and Christmas break. NBP have two matches in hand and 51 points from eight matches to their credit. They must win against both Sialkot, in the replay of their abandoned first-round encounter, and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). This will bring their points tally to 69. At the same time, they will be hoping that Karachi Whites beat Habib Bank and the latter don’t add to their 66 points.Lahore Ravi defeated Sialkot by a three-wicket margin on the final day of their respective tenth round match at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground.By the end of the third day’s play, Lahore Ravi, at 177 for 7, still required another 35 to win. Their eighth-wicket pair yesterday took their team to 214 for 7 without any further mishap and a win was comfortably achieved.Wicketkeeper Shahbaz Butt, with an unbeaten 45 off 101 balls with five fours and a six, had the belligerent Waqas Ahmed as his partner and the two added 65.Waqas had a tremendous match, as he followed his 23-ball 45 in the first innings with an unbeaten 30 off 34 deliveries with five fours. In addition Waqas, a former Pakistan Under-19s star, captured 4 for 48 and 6 for 70 for a match haul of 10 for 118.Lahore Ravi remain at fourth place in the 11-team Group A ranking, with 39 points from nine matches of which they have won four and lost three. Sialkot, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy champions in 2005-06 and runners-up last season, are down at number nine with a mere 15 points from eight appearances.Multan emerged victorious by nine wickets over Hyderabad at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Adbul Rauf, the Multan captain, grabbed 6 for 72 to bowled Hyderabad out for 180 and needing just 70 to win, the hosts did so for the loss of only one wicket and collected the full nine points.Multan are up to the fifth spot, with 30 points after having completed their ten-match schedule. Hyderabad have been pushed to rock bottom by Pakistan Customs. They have only three points from their nine matches, of which they have lost five.

Group B

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) attained a whopping innings-and-181-run triumph over Karachi Blues, on the final day at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex Ground No.1 in Karachi. After having gained a massive 327-run first innings lead over their opponents, with their score of 515 for 5 declared, ZTBL had Karachi Blues dismissed for a poor 146.Zohaib Khan, Peshawar’s slow left-arm bowler, achieved career-best figures of 5for 49 to hasten the Blues’ demise. Right-arm medium-fast bowler Kashif Dawood played an admirable foil with 3 for 28 in 12 overs. Kashif returned a match haul of 8 for 65. ZTBL have now completed all their ten matches in the Group B preliminaries. With a tally of 36 points, however, they stay at the fifth spot. Blues are down at number nine in the 11-team ranking with a mere 12 points from nine matches.At the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium after either side had forfeited its first innings, a definite result was achieved with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) dismissing Abbottabad for a poor 111 to attain a 246-run win.Bottom-of-the-table Pakistan Customs lifted themselves up to number ten in the 11-team pool ranking, as they attained a creditable draw against Karachi Whites at theNational Stadium. After having gained a 58-run lead over the Karachi team, Customs batted on for much of the last day as they made 271 in their second innings. Needing an impossible 330 to win, Karachi Whites lost four wickets while scoring 60.The left-handed Rehan Rafiq, unbeaten at 60 overnight, managed only four more to his score. His 64 came off 142 balls with ten fours and he added 97 for the fifth wicket with Yasir Hussain (39) before three wickets fell in a heap. Mohammad Hasa, just 17, followed up his first-innings 43 with a career-best 76 from 143 balls. With Raees Amjad (34), Hasan helped add 91 for the eighth wicket. Karachi fast bowers Mohammad Hasnain and Fahad Khan bagged four wickets each.From their nine matches, of which they have lost as many as seven and drawn two, Customs have scraped together just six points. Karachi Whites, in fact the defending champions of the competition, are now at eighth place with 21 points from their nine appearances.At the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, Quetta left the home side a rather steep target of 284 after declaring their second innings closed at 321 for 9. Islamabad were 199 for 5 when the match came to a close. For Quetta, who had earlier surrendered a 38-run lead, left-handed opener Shoaib Khan compiled 154 off 240 balls with 16 fours and two sixes. With Jalat Khan (46), his fifth-wicket stand was worth 97. For Islamabad, captain Ashar Zaidi was unlucky to miss a hundred by just one run, his 99 being terminated by pace bowler Faisal Irfan, after he faced only 114 balls and hit 16 boundaries.Islamabad remained at third place in the Group B ranking with 39 points from nine matches and Quetta at the bottom with a mere three points from their ninePeshawar batted well in their second innings to score 258 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium, leaving Rawalpindi 199 for an improbable victory. All they had was ten overs at their disposal as they reached 46 for 1 before the match ended in a draw.

Australia have backed their World Cup-winning squad to repeat the job at the Twenty20 World Championship, with Brett Lee the only addition to the outfit that was successful in the Caribbean. Lee missed the World Cup with a serious ankle injury but has been named in Australia’s 15-man group that will compete in South Africa in September.Lee replaces Glenn McGrath, who retired after the trip to the West Indies, while Shaun Tait has also been chosen as he recovers from elbow surgery. Australia opted not to pluck any Twenty20 specialists from state cricket or test any untried talent in South Africa.”We looked at the performances of some of the top domestic Twenty20 players, but ultimately we felt that the World Cup-winning side would adapt well and deserved the opportunity to prove that they can perform to the highest standards in both shorter forms of the game,” Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. “It’s fantastic to have Brett Lee back, fully fit and resuming his spot in the Australian side. He’s back to training and raring to go.”The same players make up Australia’s 14-man squad to tour India straight after the World Championship, although Brad Haddin was not included for that trip. Australia’s seven-match ODI series with India begins at Bangalore on September 29, five days after the Twenty20 final.Several players who must have come close to breaking into the Twenty20 side, including Cameron White, Luke Ronchi and Adam Voges, will have their own taste of overseas action in September on Australia A’s tour of Pakistan. Voges will captain the group of 14, with White as his deputy.Phil Jaques and Chris Rogers will make the trip, which might serve as an audition for Australia’s vacant Test opener position. As expected, the outstanding performers from Australia’s domestic season in 2006-07 were rewarded, including three players in their 30s. Two of those older members, David Hussey and Ashley Noffke, are yet to make their debuts for Australia.Stuart MacGill’s presence confirms that at 36 he is still prominent in the selectors’ plans, although his fellow spinners Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey were chosen as well. There was also a focus on allrounders, with James Hopes and Andrew McDonald recognised for their dominance at state level.Twenty20 World Championship squad Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait.Squad to tour India Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait.Australia A squad Phil Jaques, Chris Rogers, David Hussey, Adam Voges (capt), Cameron White, Luke Ronchi (wk), James Hopes, Andrew McDonald, Ashley Noffke, Cullen Bailey, Dan Cullen, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill.