Haddin steps up for final fling before England

Pakistan v Australia, Twenty20 International, Dubai

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

	Brad Haddin is Australia's top dog for the final match of their tour of the United Arab Emirates

After the end of a draining one-day series, which Australia won 3-2, the teams sign off with a Twenty20 in Dubai. Time is running out for the sides ahead of the World Twenty20 in June and both outfits remain in heavy testing.

Australia have a new captain in Brad Haddin, the wicketkeeper, who takes over after Michael Clarke left following Sunday's loss to gain a few extra days of rest. Ricky Ponting is also at home, but will rejoin his men in England along with Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson.

Haddin led his country for the first time in January, when Australia beat New Zealand in Sydney, and the title shows his growing importance in the set-up. His opposite number is Younis Khan, who remains wary of the Australians in all forms of the game.

Bopara creates a momentum of his own

England v West Indies, 1st npower Test, Lord's, 1st day
Bulletn by Shwe Wai

	Ravi Bopara signals for his name to be added to the honours board, after a momentum-propelled century

Test cricketers often talk of the importance of momentum, without quite expanding on exactly what that means. They say that success begets success, confidence breeds confidence, you make your own luck and all that guff. But as England demonstrated in their fitful first-day performance at Lord's, when momentum is the end in itself, it can be a mighty tough thing to conjure up from scratch.

After a winter to forget, England are playing catch-up as they enter a seismic season. They desperately need to forge a winning mentality before the Australians rock up next month, but in their haste to produce a defining performance, they managed only to live down to their billing as the No. 6-ranked side in the world. On a flat and blameless surface, they played with the swagger of series favourites but the application of a team who have not won a Test match since August. Andrew Strauss, so inspirational of late, set the tone with a rash chop to the keeper, and only a spate of dropped catches prevented embarrassment turning into humiliation.

One man, however, stood back from the stampede, and just let his innings flow. The momentum that carried Ravi Bopara to his second Test century was entirely unconnected to the fortunes (or lack thereof) of the England team - which is precisely why he was called into the side in the first place. Where others had found frustration on a tiring and fruitless Caribbean tour, Bopara found redemption with a late call-up to the squad and an impressive century in Barbados, with which he proved to himself, after a scratchy debut in Sri Lanka two years ago, that really could succeed at this level.

And then, where other Englishmen sank without trace in the IPL or tarnished their superstar billing, Bopara bobbed into the public consciousness with a brilliant 84 from 59 balls for Kings XI Punjab against Kevin Pietersen's Bangalore at Durban. That peculiar combination of experiences left him as chilled as the glass of champagne he will doubtless permit himself to sip at some stage this week, as he provided vivid evidence of what true momentum entails.

Bopara shines as Edwards strikes

England v West Indies, 1st npower Test, Lord's, 1st day

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

Tea England 182 for 4 (Bopara 72*, Prior 42*) v West Indies
Live scorecard

	Fidel Edwards sets off in celebration after removing Alastair Cook to begin his burst of three wickets

Fidel Edwards showed he had no problems switching from IPL to Test mode as he ripped out three of England's top order during an electric spell on the first afternoon at Lord's. After moving to lunch fairly comfortably, England were rocked by Edwards' rapid burst as he made major inroads including the scalp of Kevin Pietersen first ball. However, Ravi Bopara held firm on his first outing at No. 3 with an impressive, unbeaten 72 as he and Matt Prior steadied the innings.

The series in the Caribbean showed that a team only needs to be caught on the hop once for it to decide an entire contest when Jerome Taylor ripped out England for 51 at Sabina Park. This time it was Taylor's new-ball partner, Edwards, who threatened to unravel the home side as he produced a post-lunch spell of 6-2-15-3. England will have breathed a sigh of relief that the wobble didn't turn into a full-blown collapse thanks to the maturity of Bopara and aggression of Prior, but Edwards was the star turn.

His first wicket was Alastair Cook who had played solidly for 35 before getting an inside edge into his stumps. During the first session the bowling had been too short on a pitch offering little despite Chris Gayle's decision to bowl. There had clearly been a team talk during the interval about bowling fuller and it worked with spectacular effect next ball.

Pietersen can often be a dodgy starter, but Edwards produced a delivery that would have dismissed most batsmen, most of the time as it shaped away late and took the outside edge. But just as good as the ball was Denesh Ramdin's catch because the wicketkeeper had almost been wrong-footed before sticking out his right glove and grabbing the chance.

Ashraful to lead Bangladesh's World Twenty20 campaign

World Twenty20 2009

Bulletin bt Shwe Wai

	Shamsur Rahman is one of two uncapped players in the Twenty20 squad

Bangladesh have included two uncapped players, Shamsur Rahman and Mithun Ali, in their 15-man squad, led by Mohammad Ashraful, for the World Twenty20 beginning on June 5 in England. Bangladesh also included Abdur Razzak in the squad. Razzak had been suspended in December 2008 for a suspect bowling action and was cleared only in March.

"Shamsur has been batting tremendously in recent years," Bangladesh's chief selector Rafiqul Alam told AFP. "He can bat at number three which has been a weak link in our batting. He is also a brilliant fielder. Mithun also scored heavily in the leagues. He is a hard-hitting batsman and can also double up as wicketkeeper."

Rahman is a 20-year-old batsman who has represented Bangladesh at the Under-19 level. He averages nearly 29 and has one century and ten fifties from 28 first-class matches. Mithun, a wicketkeeper, is 19 and has played only 13 first-class games, averaging 22 with a hundred and two half-centuries. His List A record is more impressive, an average of 35 and a strike-rate of 104.

"If you look at the side we have picked you'll find that this is a nice blend of experience and youth. This is a good fielding unit with some explosive batsmen and proven slow bowlers," Alam said. "The best thing is that the boys have played together for a long time at different levels and form the nucleus of the national team that has also performed creditably against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We made it to the Super Eight in the last World Twenty20 competition and the initial target will be to repeat that and I am very hopeful that we'll play some quality cricket in England."

Bangladesh have been placed in Group A along with India and Scotland and will play their group matches at Trent Bridge on June 6 and 8.

Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Mithun Ali.

Pakistan include two rookies in Twenty20 squad

ICC World Twenty20 2009

	Mohammad Aamer was one of the leading bowlers in the first-class season

Pakistan have included two uncapped players, Mohammad Aamer and Shahzaib Hasan, in the 15-member squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June.

Aamer, the left-arm fast bowler, was included after a very strong showing in his maiden domestic season, taking 56 first-class wickets in ten games for Rawalpindi. The 17-year-old Aamer also took 25 wickets in 15 one-dayers and was initially included in the squad for the Bangladesh tour which was postponed.

He was also a part of the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia last year but his tournament was cut short by illness. For the greater part of last year, he has been - alongside Mohammad Talha - the most talked-up pace prospect in Pakistan circles, a stamp of approval from fellow leftie Wasim Akram no doubt helping.

Hasan, 19, is a diminutive opening batsman, and he too has enjoyed very healthy returns in his debut first-class season, scoring 607 runs in ten matches for Karachi Blues at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In one-dayers, he has scored 250 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 96.11.

There are few surprises in the squad otherwise. No doubt, Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion, in light of his tired displays against Australia - he didn't once bowl ten overs in the four games he played - will be debated. Rao Iftikhar Anjum, who's been one of Pakistan's leading ODI bowlers over the last two years in the one-dayers: in the last 12 months he has taken 21 wickets in 14 games. However, a wicketless showing in the two matches he played against Australia in the UAE ultimately hindered his case.

Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Shahzaib Hasan

Injured Zaheer to miss Deccan clash

Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Centurion

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

	Zaheer Khan fell on his bowling shoulder in the match against Bangalore

Zaheer Khan will miss Mumbai Indians' next match against Deccan Chargers at Centurion on Wednesday, as he is nursing a shoulder injury which he picked up in the previous game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Zaheer, while attempting to stop a drive from Robin Uthappa, fell on his bowling shoulder and left the field wincing in pain.

Luckily, both for Mumbai and India, subsequent scans have revealed nothing serious and the left-arm fast bowler is expected to be back in action pretty soon. "He [Zaheer] had a scan on his injured shoulder today. We had feared the worst but it's not as bad as we thought it could be originally. There is a little bit of inflammation. We will be taking it day by day. But he will not be playing against Hyderabad (Deccan) and that's for sure," Shaun Pollock, Mumbai's mentor-cum-coach, told the media after the team practice session, which Zaheer did not attend.

At the halfway stage, Mumbai are languishing at second place from bottom after registering three wins in their seven games. Pollock agreed Zaheer's return was imminent and crucial, but he would not like to rush him, keeping in mind that India would like a completely fit Zaheer to defend their crown at the World Twenty20, which begins in England in exactly a month.

Early contenders look for reassuring win

Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Centurion

Bulletin by ShweWai

	RP Singh will need to lift his game a level higher to make up for Fidel Edwards' absence

Three points separate seven teams at around the half-way stage. So tight is the table that on Tuesday, Rajasthan Royals jumped from No. 7 to No. 2 with their win against Kings XI Punjab, only to be pushed back to third following Delhi Daredevils' victory over Kolkata Knight Riders later in the night. No one team can be convinced of making the semi-finals, which makes almost every game in these middle stages crucial. Especially when Deccan Chargers are playing Mumbai Indians, two teams that started off so well they were talked of as title contenders.

Deccan started their campaign with four straight wins, twice the number of matches they won last year, but three matches later they have a losing streak to overcome. Fidel Edwards has been a big loss for them, and they need to somehow get back to winning ways.

Mumbai have their own problems, not the least losing Zaheer Khan to a shoulder injury. They have won just one out of their last three games, and quite incredibly stand at No. 7. Tomorrow's game, though, is sure to change the top four in the points table. If Deccan win, they will rise to No. 2, if Mumbai win, they will enter the top four, displacing Deccan.

Cook and Bopara build solid base

England v West Indies, 1st npower Test, Lord's, 1st day

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

England 88 for 1 (Cook 34*, Bopara 33*) v West Indies
Live scorecard

	Alastair Cook made a solid start to his international season on the opening morning at Lord's

Ravi Bopara, the most exciting of England's new-look selections, survived his first foray into the No. 3 spot as the home side reached 88 for 1 at lunch on the opening day against West Indies at Lord's. Andrew Strauss was the only casualty of the morning session when he fell to Jerome Taylor for 19, but Alastair Cook was unbeaten on 34 at the break with England taking the honours following Chris Gayle's decision to bowl first.

It was an understandable move from Gayle with a tinge of green to the surface, but it soon became clear that there was nothing untoward for the batsmen. Taylor and Fidel Edwards were not quite at their best with the new ball as they gave England's openers plenty of deliveries they could leave. The surface, though, didn't offer much encouragement as some deliveries barely carried to Denesh Ramdin and the pace was very gentle. Lord's was living up to its recent character.

Strauss collected the day's first boundary when he sweetly drove Taylor down the ground and followed that up with a trademark cut through covers as the bowler tried to correct his line. Strauss's game was again looking in good order as he reacquainted himself with the attack that he took three hundreds off in the recent series in West Indies, but almost out of nowhere he got a top edge off Taylor as he tried another cut.

It was a timely breakthrough for West Indies, who were threatening to waste any advantage of bowling first, and Bopara was immediately greeted by a terrific delivery from Taylor that seamed away outside off and beat the outside edge. His nerves were settled in the following over when he clipped Lionel Baker, who was the pick of the quicks during a tight spell from the Pavilion End, through square leg for a sweet boundary.