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Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s stand-in captain for the tour of New Zealand, has called for Misbah-ul-Haq to step up and fill Younis Khan’s absence. Younis has given up the captaincy of Pakistan once again, and taken a temporary break from the game altogether, and Yousuf has expressed his desire for solidity in the form of the axed Misbah.”The team is fine but I have asked the board for Misbah-ul-Haq to fill the gap that has appeared in the middle order as Younis would not be playing in the series,” he said. “He [Misbah] is a good batsman and I think he would prove helpful for the team.”Misbah, 35, was left out from the squads in all three formats for Pakistan’s series of ODIs, T20Is and Tests against New Zealand in the Middle East and New Zealand. His form has been poor in all three formats over the last year, in contrast to 2007, when he reignited his dormant international career in sensational fashion at the World Twenty20 in South Africa and then on a tour to India.However, barely a day after being axed, Misbah scored a career-best 284 for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in the domestic four-day competition. He shared a Pakistan record of 479 with Usman Arshad, 41 short of the world record for the fifth wicket in first-class cricket.”He has been playing well in domestic cricket and I hope he would also perform well in the series against New Zealand,” said Yousuf.After a lull in international assignments over the last two years, Pakistan suddenly find themselves in action until February next year. They have completed the limited-overs fixtures in the UAE, losing the three-game ODI series but winning the two Twenty20s. They now head off to New Zealand for a three-Test series. Following that, they move to Australia where they have another three-Test series and a series of five ODIs as well as a T20I.Yousuf said he would aim to unite the players against the backdrop of talk of players being unhappy with Younis as captain for a while. “Team’s performance depends on unity. I will try my best to bring together all the players and team management and try to give top performance myself,” he said.

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, is eyeing the wicket of one of the world’s best batsmen tomorrow as Pakistan get ready to take on Australia. Ajmal played against Australia earlier this year in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in a five-match ODI series and had considerable success early in the contest; but Ricky Ponting was rested from that series and Ajmal is keen to match his wits against the Australian captain.”Ricky Ponting,” Ajmal shot back when asked whose wicket he would most cherish. “I haven’t played against him and he is my absolute favourite player. I would really love it if I took his wicket.”Though Ajmal took only four wickets in the five-match series – which Pakistan lost 3-2 – he was difficult to get away on slow tracks, and in the first two games in particular, the Australian batsmen found his doosra difficult to pick up.Barring his troubles against Harbhajan Singh, Ponting has a good record against other spinners but Ajmal was confident he could make an impression tomorrow. “Why not? The last series we played against them in Abu Dhabi I was successful. They sometimes struggle against spin so I want to exploit that.”Centurion has, through the tournament, been conducive to spin though not all spinners have had a good time at the ground – Ajmal was quick to point to the 300-plus scores made in this tournament at the ground. Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan are two of the more established names to have floundered, but Ajmal and Shahid Afridi – who caused Australia more problems with 10 wickets in the same series including a career-best six-wicket haul in the first game – prospered against India earlier.Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan coach, believes that the pair may make a difference tomorrow. “At Centurion, it helps spinners with bounce and turn,” Intikhab said. “We have two world-class guys and they have done exceptionally well. We have an edge over them though I wouldn’t say they are vulnerable to spin because they are a world-class side, they are very professional. But it will be a great challenge for them also to tackle Pakistan spinners.”If any side was capable of overcoming that challenge, it is likely Australia. In the washed-out game against India, they look relatively comfortable against Harbhajan and Amit Mishra and Ponting believes the experience will help them against Pakistan – even if they are withoutMichael Clarke, whom many consider to be the best player of spin in the side.”Most definitely it is something we’re working on,” Ponting said. “I think you saw yesterday [Michael] Hussey and [Tim] Paine particularly played spinners really well. Ajmal and Afridi had a big impact at the start of the last series but as the series went on we played them a lot better. That was a really good result for us over there in conditions that suited Pakistanis.”Ajmal will continue, however, as he has done in his quietly impressive start to international cricket. He has become the specialist ODI spinner thus relieving Pakistan of the headache of making up overs from part-timers, he played a key role in Pakistan’s World Twenty20 winearlier this year, and made his Test debut in Sri Lanka, where he took 14 wickets in his first three Tests. The doosra, he says, is coming out nicely.”There is no pressure in these big matches,” he said. “You cannot do that because in a way we are also a big team and world champions. I will keep doing what I have been doing. My first task is to stop the scoring, not wickets. That is my thinking, the batsman has his thinking and in that ifI get a wicket then great.”

Andrew Strauss’s first day back at the scene of his greatest triumph as England captain was spent fielding inquiries about the state of Joe Denly’s knee, while defending his team against accusations of foolishness for persisting with their habit of playing football as part of their warm-up routine. It could hardly been further removed from the glory with which he departed the ground on the evening of August 23, having secured the Ashes with a 197-run victory in the decisive fifth Test.Nevertheless, as Strauss returned to the helm after a richly-deserved break following his Man-of-the-Series performance in the Tests, the injury furore served as a useful reminder of the brand-new challenge that lies ahead. Starting under The Oval’s floodlights on Friday, England have a minimum of ten ODI fixtures in a row, seven at home against Australia and three in the group stages of the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, in which to hone their 50-over technique and maybe, just maybe, end their search for that first global limited-overs title that has eluded their grasp for almost four decades.Such a notion remains utterly improbable, especially coming in a month in which England’s disdain for 50-over cricket has been telegraphed by the ECB’s abandonment of the format at domestic level. Nevertheless, as England’s players demonstrated with their muted Ashes celebrations, and as Strauss reiterated in a perfunctory back-to-business press conference, an international side’s next challenge is always the biggest challenge – and seven ODIs against a vengeance-seeking Australia side is not something they’d be wise to take lightly.”There’s not a lot of time to dwell on the past in international cricket,” said Strauss. “There’s always a new challenge there, and now we’ve got an extended period of one-day cricket to immerse ourselves in, and use the feel-good factor from the Ashes to propel us to play better cricket. Coming back to the guys, there’s a great feeling in the camp, an excitement about what those guys who were involved have achieved, as well as for the guys coming in who’ve been watching it, and want to be involved in international cricket again.”It’s great to have a squad of players together for an extended period of time in one-day cricket,” he added. “We don’t have that luxury very often, and you can get some really good stuff done, both by performing consistently and from the work you can do behind the scenes. You can really make improvements in your fielding and gameplans to certain bowlers.”England’s one-day fortunes have been a laughing stock for several years, and so it comes as something of a surprise to find them ranked as high as No. 4 in the world – higher even than their current Test position of No. 5. Nevertheless, among their more recent achievements, they did beat the No. 1 side, South Africa, 4-0 in the corresponding series in September 2008, before winning their first-ever ODI series in the Caribbean in the spring of 2009.And, lest it be forgotten, England did emerge from a bruising tour of Australia in 2006-07 with the CB Series trophy in their grasp, after a remarkable heist in the finals at Melbourne and Sydney – which is all the more reason to fear an Australian backlash after the manner in which they were defeated in the Ashes this time around. Strauss is certainly braced for what lies ahead.”This is a great way to prepare for the Champions Trophy but any series against Australia is an event in its own right,” he said. “I suppose from our recent experiences in one-day cricket we are looking to improve our consistency. We have see-sawed from very good to very bad, and that’s something we need to address. But this has got all the makings of a tight series, with two sides at similar stages of their development. Hopefully we’ll grab it by the scruff of the neck and get on top of them early.”One man who will be particularly motivated to make England’s lives difficult will be Brett Lee, who was left stewing on the sidelines for the final two Tests of the Ashes despite declaring his full recovery from a side strain that had ruled him out of the first three matches, and who bagged Denly for a golden duck in the only over that any of Australia’s bowlers managed to complete during the aborted Twenty20 series.”He’s obviously chomping at the bit to get out on the field and play,” said Strauss. “He’s a proven performer at international cricket, and I’m sure he’ll be very motivated to do well in this series. I’m sure he’ll come hard at us, and it’s important we have the right gameplan to contend with that.”Michael Clarke, Australia’s stand-in captain, said that Lee was looking as fit and focussed as at any time in his career, but stressed that the coming series was a big event for the whole team, not just for individuals. And for Clarke himself, captain for the first three matches while Ricky Ponting takes a break, it is a timely opportunity to show what he can do as a leader, and a potential successor to Ponting in the long-term.”It’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “Any chance I’ve been given already to captain Australia, I’ve really tried to make the most of. I really enjoy it but like I’ve said before, there’s no doubt that Ricky’s our captain and our leader, and I look forward to having him back. I’d like to get three wins under our belt so when he comes back, life’s a little bit easier for him, but more importantly, all the boys are feeling really good.”

Australian captain Ricky Ponting has expressed concern at the prospect of playing a weakenedWest Indies side later this year at the start of the Australia summer.West Indies are due to tour in November for a full tour of three Tests,five ODIs and two T20Is, but the nature of the squad is not yet clear.Currently the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is embroiled in an industrial dispute with its leading players, including captain Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among others; the situation has led to a severely weakenedside losing a Test and ODI series at home to Bangladesh. A similarly under-strengthside is currently in South Africa for the Champions Trophy. Severalmeetings between the board and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA)have failed to break the impasse, though with the mediation now of theCaribbean community (CARICOM), talks are due to restart.But there is no guarantee the situation will be resolved by mid-November,when West Indies land in Australia. The two are due to meet in theChampions Trophy as well on Saturday, but Ponting acknowledged that there islittle that can be done by outside parties to resolve the situation.”There is nothing we can do about it, as an Australian cricket team oranyone else about the fact that West Indies’ strongest team isn’t hereat the moment,” Ponting said. “We all know the reasons why. All we can dois play well against them.”But a second-string team to start the summer season in Australia would bea worry. “I must admit I am a little bit concerned about the Australiansummer and how that will turn out. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hopethat the number one and full-strength West Indies side make the journey toAustralia because all the fans around the world enjoy seeing them as wellas fans in Australia.”Ponting refused to be drawn into a debate over whether such a scenariowould devalue cricket, adopting a wait-and-see stance. “We’ll have to waitand see. We don’t know what will happen but we’ll keep our fingers crossedas a group of players. From Cricket Australia’s point of view they willkeep their fingers crossed for the strongest team to turn up.”Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland had said earlier this month that he too had his fingers crossed and hoped the dispute would be resolved soon before contemplating contingency plans.

Ramji Srinivasan, who helped Sachin Tendulkar recover from a major shoulder injury in 2006, has been appointed as the trainer of the Indian team for next month’s tri-series in Sri Lanka.He had also supervised the training sessions of the national team at Mumbai and Delhi earlier this month, and will link up with the national squad again on August 26 during its preparatory camp in Bangalore.”I’m elated,” Ramji told the . “The BCCI and the Indian cricketers have shown a lot of trust in me. The onus is now on me, and I’m confident I will deliver.”The Indian team has been without a specialist fitness trainer since February 2008 when Greg King stepped down. Since then, Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach, has been doubled up as trainer.Ramji has worked with some of India’s leading cricketers at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. He also runs one of the major health clubs in the city.

Match facts

Saturday August 1, 2009
Start time 10.00 (04.30 GMT)Pakistan need to come up with a solid batting performance to stay in the series•AFP

Big Picture

The first one-dayer on Thursday wasn’t as one-sided as it was turning out to be at one stage. The Pakistan lower order fought commendably with only a couple of wickets in hand but it wasn’t enough to erase an inept performance by the top order. Pakistan’s coach, Intikhab Alam, stated after the match that the pitch was not to blame; his team lost it in the field when they had a chance to restrict the Sri Lankans below 200. The bowlers struggled to contain a rampaging Muttiah Muralitharan in the third Powerplay and the Sri Lankans took the psychological advantage with them in the better part of the chase as well.Intikhab didn’t blame the defeat on bad batting. But the top order’s frailties against the swing generated by Sri Lanka’s penetrative new-ball attack remains a concern. In four matches against them, Pakistan are yet to register a win, despite the contests being closely fought. Pakistan need to win tomorrow or else they will have to win all their remaining games to win the series.Sri Lanka too didn’t bat as well as they would have liked, but have fewer concerns overall compared to their opponents. Kumar Sangakkara wasn’t exactly chuffed with the way his bowlers lost the plot towards the end of the chase. Death bowling is something the home side will need to sharpen.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka – WWLLL
Pakistan – LWLLL

Watch out for…

Shahid Afridi: He made a start in the first ODI, hitting a brisk 27 before a poor shot – dabbing a short ball to the keeper – cut short his knock. More is expected from him, both with bat and ball as this series progresses. If he retains his No.3 spot, he can focus more on anchoring the innings.Thilan Thushara: He was the best bowler across both sides in the opening match – taking 3 for 29 – and his early strikes derailed Pakistan’s chase. In Chaminda Vaas’ absence, Sri Lanka have found an effective replacement who gets enough zip off the pitch. He cleaned up Kamran Akmal with a back-of-a-length ball which snuck through bat and pad, before removing Afridi and Younis Khan.

Team news

Intikhab conceded that the decision to send Shoaib Malik to open didn’t work out as planned, which could strengthen Imran Nazir’s case for an inclusion. If he’s included, one of the non-performers in the middle order will have to make way.Pakistan: (likely) 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Fawad Alam, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Shoaib Malik/Misbah-ul-Haq, 7 Mohammad Yousuf, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Saeed AjmalSri Lanka will probably retain their winning combination.Sri Lanka: (likely) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt and wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Thilan Thushara, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Stats and trivia

• Despite Pakistan’s unsuccessful run-chase in the first ODI, Dambulla remains a better pitch for the team batting second in day games. Teams batting first average 3.84 per over and 20.09 per wicket. For teams chasing, the numbers are 3.98 and 26.94.
• Murali’s Man-of-the-Match award on Thursday was his second against Pakistan and his third at the Dambulla Stadium in 16 ODIs at that ground.
• Murali’s starting to win matches … with the bat. In the tri-series final against Bangladesh in Mirpur this January, his whirlwind unbeaten 33 guided Sri Lanka to the title in the most freakish manner possible.

Western Australia have named a host of new recruits, including the former Queensland allrounder Ashley Noffke, in their squad for the 2009-10 season. The Warriors have added heavily to their squad from both interstate and within Western Australia following a disappointing summer in which they finished second-last in all three formats.There was no room for the batsmen Craig Simmons and Clint Heron, the allrounder Matt Johnston, or the fast bowlers Arron Crawford, Paul Davis and Trent Kelly, all of whom have been in and out of the starting line-up recently. The Warriors have opted for experience over youth in their fast-bowling recruitment with Michael Hogan, 28, picked up from Sydney’s grade competition and Brad Knowles, 27, handed a contract after shifting from Victoria.Hogan is a former New South Wales Country representative from Newcastle who was fifth on the wicket tally in Sydney’s club competition last season. Knowles played a handful of one-day games for the Bushrangers four years ago before moving to Western Australia, where he broke into the Warriors side for a couple of appearances late last summer.Also given contracts for 2009-10 were Drew Porter and Luke Towers, who made their state debuts last season, and the South African-born allrounder Justin Coetzee. A prolific run scorer in Perth’s grade competition, Coetzee, 25, is also an impressive bowler whose left-arm fast-medium picked up ten wickets in a warm-up game against the touring Pakistanis in 2004-05.The legspinner Josh Mangan was upgraded to a full contract from the rookie list while the fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile went the other way and was placed on a rookie deal having previously had a full contract. Western Australia’s other new rookies include the fast bowlers Jason Behrendorff, who was recruited from the ACT, and Simon Branston.Nick Death, Chris Thompson and Chris Wood were not offered new rookie contracts while the West Indies captain Chris Gayle has been signed specifically for the Twenty20 tournament. The coach Tom Moody said Western Australia were on the right path following a difficult period in 2008-09.”The Retravision Warriors entered a rebuilding phase last summer, having lost five senior players to retirement at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season,” Moody said. “We are very confident that we are on the right track and have the ideal balance of youth and experience in this squad.”Western Australia squad David Bandy, Justin Coetzee, Liam Davis, Brett Dorey, Theo Doropoulos, Ben Edmondson, Aaron Heal, Michael Hogan, Michael Hussey (Cricket Australia contract), Mitchell Johnson (CA), Brad Knowles, Steve Magoffin, Josh Mangan, Shaun Marsh (CA), Ashley Noffke, Marcus North (CA), Luke Pomersbach, Drew Porter, Wes Robinson, Luke Ronchi, Luke Towers, Adam Voges.Rookies Jason Behrendorff, Simon Branston, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Michael Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis.

India – Tipped for an encore
Bangladesh – The perfect format
Ireland – A fresh new challenge
Audio preview

Pakistan – Wanted: Success, for many reasons
England – Under-achievers look for home advantage
Netherlands – A team with nothing to lose
Audio preview

Australia – ODI champions eye new crown
Sri Lanka – New captain, new beginning
West Indies – Gayle must walk the talk
Audio preview

New Zealand – All eyes on the new crop
South Africa – Pressure test for confident SA
Scotland – Gutsy fighters aren’t enough
Audio preview

Derbyshire have signed Nantie Hayward, the former South Africa quick, until the end of the season to strengthen their seam attack after losing Charl Langeveldt to injury.His arrival is subject to obtaining a visa, but head of cricket John Morris said it was important to bolster the fast-bowling resources. “After the disappointment of losing Charl Langeveldt for the season, it was very important that we brought in somebody to strengthen our bowling department.”Although we have got some great young talent and some fine bowlers already at the club, there is a lot of cricket to be played this year and a squad of bowlers is always needed.”With that in mind, to be able to get somebody of Nantie’s experience at such short notice is a timely boost for the team.”Hayward, who has 431 first-class wickets, has had previous county spells with Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcestershire.

With just nine days until the first Test against England, John Dyson, the West Indies coach, has rued his side’s poor performance after their match against Essex was washed out due to rain. Essex closed the second day on 175 for 3, leading by 292, but not a single ball was bowled on the third and final day.”I thought we batted poorly except for Shiv,” Dyson told PA. “He just bats and bats “The other batsmen are very inexperienced in these sorts of conditions and they wasted their opportunity here to get some good time in the middle. They have hopefully learned a good lesson here about how to handle these conditions.”Our bowlers have all bowled some reasonable spells and it is just a matter of consistency throughout the total innings which they need to work on.”However, Dyson welcomed the news that Jerome Taylor would return in time for the first Test, following his recovery from a hip injury. “We expect him to be fully fit,” Dyson said. “The reports from the West Indies say that and we expect him to play at Derby.”Taylor will be joined by Fidel Edwards, who arrives on Sunday after his spell in the Indian Premier League, but that still leaves one unfilled spot.”Lionel Baker bowled some good spells in this match,” said Dyson. “He bowled at other times not so well. He still has a bit of work to do but he knows that. He is still in pole position as he is the man in possession and one of the others would have to do something brilliant to knock him out.”West Indies have one final warm-up game ahead of the first Test, against a strong England Lions team captained by Rob Key, featuring Ian Bell, Saj Mahmood and the young Warwickshire seamer, Chris Woakes.”It is very unusual these days to go into a Test series with so many games under your belt,” Dyson said. “It is nice for us seeing as we have a group of younger players with us from the Caribbean. “It gives us a chance to see them out of their home conditions.”