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Pakistan cricketers are welcome to play in the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, but have to provide no-objection certificates (NOC) from the PCB, said a BCB official on Monday. On the eve of the tournament, this was one of two major concerns as the organisers, Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM), also kept an eye on the weather.”We do not have any embargoes on players from any country,” CCDM chairman Jalal Yunus said. “We have repeatedly said that a player has to get the NOC from his cricket board. The process is for our clubs to contact the player, who will get the clearance from his board and if needed, we will help him with the visa with a letter.”From what we have heard from the media, they (PCB) want us to write to them. We haven’t done that with any cricket board. We have followed the usual practice with Sri Lanka Cricket, who have provided NOCs to their players for this league. We will continue to follow the usual practice.”The clubs have sourced players from Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, but have so far failed to sign those from Pakistan and India.Apart from player recruitment, the CCDM is also worried about the weather as it has been raining in most parts of Bangladesh. Bogra, Rajshahi and parts of Dhaka district are the main venues in the first two rounds of matches, and all three areas have experienced lots of rain in the past week. Rain was expected in September, and the CCDM has kept a reserve day following each day’s play.Defending champions Victoria Sporting Club will play their opening match against Kala Bagan Cricket Academy without any foreign players, rare for a Dhaka club. They will rely heavily on Bangladesh players Nasir Hossain, Anamul Haque, Robiul Islam and fringe players like Soumya Sarkar, Monir Hossain, Mohammad Sharif and Shaker Ahmed.Last season, Victoria enjoyed an exorbitant budget through the businessman Lutfar Rahman who has now moved on to become the chairman of Gazi Tank. Apart from Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, their Pakistan recruits Kamran Sajid and Ahmed Shehzad contributed heavily. Shoaib Malik too played three matches while the left-arm spinner from India, Iqbal Abdulla, was effective in his four matches.This year will be different for the four-time champions who admitted that they had to spend cautiously. Gazi Tank have confirmed the services of the former New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris and the Sri Lankan Kaushalya Weeraratne, and boast local stars like Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain and Aftab Ahmed.But history will favour Abahani, who have won the tournament a record 17 times. Their stronghold began in the inaugural season in 1974-75 when they defeated little-known Shantinagar to win the title. They have also claimed three hat-tricks (1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87; 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95; 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09). They last won the DPL in the 2010-11 season.This season the Dhanmondi-based club have focused on youth, much to the frustration of their fans. Liton Kumar Das, Alauddin Babu and Taposh Ghosh, three uncapped but promising players were their first picks in the player-by-choice programme last month. They have only picked Shahriar Nafees and Nazimuddin as experienced players, while also bringing in Tharanga Paranavitana, Janaka Gunaratne and the 40-year-old Indika de Saram from Sri Lanka, seemingly to offset the heavy presence of youngsters in the side.

ScorecardMichael Carberry has now scored 303 runs at Canterbury in July•PA Photos

Former Kent batsman Michael Carberry took his Canterbury run-spree for July to 303 in three innings as he put his old side to the sword and helped inspire Hampshire to a seventh South Group win as they beat a youthful Kent by 62 runs.Fresh from scoring 154 and 66 in the corresponding County Championship clash here two weeks ago, Surrey-born Carberry returned to hit 11 fours and a six in an unbeaten 83 as Hampshire posted an impressive 20-over total of 185 for 6.In pursuit a young host side, without the likes of Rob Key, Brendan Nash, Michael Powell, Vernon Philander and Charlie Shreck, were held to 123 for 9 as offspinner Liam Dawson caused havoc with competition-best figures of 4 for 19.Kent lost openers Daniel Bell-Drummond (12) and Fabian Cowdrey (13) in the fifth over of their reply bowled by Dimitri Mascarenhas and, by the end of the Powerplay, were already 30 runs off the pace set by Hampshire. By the mid-point of their reply Kent’s asking rate had already soared to 12 an over, but Darren Stevens briefly warmed to the task by clubbing three sixes in the space of 11 balls, only to lose Sam Billings to a catch in the deep off Dawson.Three balls later and without addition, Stevens top-edged a sweep off Dawson to fine leg to go for 39 off 28 balls and, when Dawson had Alex Blake stumped first ball to make it 69 for 5, Kent’s hopes of a third win and completing a double over Hampshire were in tatters.With a home quarter final tie already assured, Hampshire set out to avenge their sole South Group defeat at the hands of Kent by batting first on a pristine pitch that helped openers Carberry and James Vince to put 20 on board within nine deliveries of the start.Vince clubbed a brace of leg side sixes off Mitch Claydon, but the on-loan Durham seamer won quick revenge by clipping the top of Vince’s off stump as he again heaved toward cow corner. Carberry upped his tempo by taking four boundaries in Claydon’s next over, but Mark Davies stemmed the flow by having Jimmy Adams caught off a thick edge by Claydon at short third man, yet even so, Hampshire cantered to 62 for 2 by the end of their six Powerplay overs.To his credit, rookie offspinner Adam Riley, Kent’s most frugal bowler with 0 for 21, and veteran seamer Stevens temporarily restricted the boundary count to limit Royals to 84 for 2 at the innings mid-point, but Carberry ploughed on to a 33-ball 50 with seven fours and a six. He helped add 94 in 11.1 overs with Neil McKenzie before the latter was run out for 45 when attempting a sharp single to Stevens at wide mid-on.Then, a fit again Hants’ skipper Mascarenhas fell to a spectacular overhead catch at long leg by Ben Harmison after hooking at a Matt Coles bouncer. Coles picked up a fortunate second scalp Sean Ervine clipped a low full toss to long-on, and Claydon closed with a costly 2 for 55 when he bowled Dawson with the final delivery of the innings. But Carberry refused to budge and carried his bat for 83 from 56 balls.

The 2013 Champions Trophy has been deemed such a success that it appears highly likely that the competition will be repeated.The ICC had originally decided to replace the competition with a Test Championship and the 2013 tournament would be the last one. But after excellent crowds and interest from around the world, the ICC are reconsidering that decision and will discuss their options at their annual conference, from June 25-29 in London.The ICC remain keen to promote Test cricket and feel a Test Championship would complement the World T20 and the World Cup and ensure there was a high-profile competition for each of the three formats of the game. While continuing the Champions Trophy would mean there were two global 50-over events, it is now thought there is sufficient difference between the Champions Trophy and the World Cup and sufficient interest from broadcasters for both to survive.The Test Championship is pencilled into the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for a three-week window in June 2017 in the UK. But the concept in its present guise is compromised by the fact that it would involve just four teams – the top four teams in the Test rankings – and would feature only three games: two semi-finals and a final. As such, it would be of less relevance and interest to those nations not participating and may be less attractive to broadcasters. There is little scope in the FTP for a longer event or a change in venue.The ICC privately acknowledges that, even if the event was held successfully in 2017, there is a concern over its sustainability. Among their issues is the possibility that one of the key nations in terms of broadcast revenues, most obviously India, might not always be ranked among the top four Test nations, while there is also a concern that, outside the UK, games between neutral countries may not be well supported. The ICC is keen to avoid a situation where its flagship Test event is played in near-empty stadiums.While the final of the 2013 Champions Trophy is threatened by poor weather, 12 of the 15 games will have had sell-out crowds (defined as a minimum 95% of the ground capacity) with the multicultural population of the UK helping guarantee enthusiastic audiences at most games. Sensible ticket pricing has also played a part.The Champions Trophy has, for much of its existence, been unloved. But the short, sharp format involving only the top eight sides playing for only 18 days in which nearly every game has a consequence has captured the imagination of the cricket-watching public. By contrast, the 2011 World Cup lasted six weeks and featured some tediously one-sided encounters.There is a chance that the 2013 trophy may have to be shared as rain threatens to intervene in the final. Such is the frenetic international schedule it was deemed impossible to allocate reserve days. England and New Zealand, for example, play a T20 on Tuesday, just two days after the Champions Trophy final, while Australia being their Ashes preparations in earnest on Wednesday when they start a four-day match against Somerset.Whatever its faults, the strengths of the Champions Trophy format have been apparent over the last couple of weeks and, as the details of a Test Championship are considered in more detail, the Trophy has arguably never appeared so attractive.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur has conceded it would be a gamble to select David Warner for the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, which starts on July 10, given the batsman will not have played any competitive cricket in the preceding month. Warner was stood down from the team after throwing a punch at Joe Root in a Birmingham bar on Sunday night, and has since been suspended from playing for Australia until the first Test of the series.Australia are scheduled to play two four-day tour matches ahead of the series, and may yet progress to the knockout stages of the ongoing Champions Trophy. Warner has not played any Test cricket since Australia’s ill-fated tour of India, in March.”Hypothetically, it would be a risk,” Arthur said. “He wouldn’t have had any cricket – but he would have had training. We’ve got plans to give him some centre-wicket practice. I guess it’s an opportunity for other members in the squad to stand up in the first two practice games, because if they do that, they’ve got a real good chance of starting that first Test.”A centre-wicket is the only way we can almost replicate match conditions. That’s what we’ll be trying to do with Dave while the boys are playing against Somerset and Worcestershire.”Warner has already switched to a Test training programme while his team-mates prepare for the virtual quarter-final against Sri Lanka, and Arthur outlined a commitment to accommodating Warner’s unique situation at training in the next few weeks.”We’ve got to give David the first possible chance and the best possible preparation to be ready for the first Test match – if we select him. He comes down early and we get our work done with him. He’s now gone from the white ball to the red ball. He’s working daily on that and I think that’s right. We’ve got to service our player to make sure that he’s ready to go, come the Ashes.”Arthur was reluctant to explain how details of the incident on Sunday night were relayed to team management, choosing to label those details “irrelevant”, as Michael Clarke had the previous day. He was, however, keen to impress that the attack and its repercussions have not detracted from his side’s preparations at the front-end of a long tour.”I certainly think Dave has put it behind him. He’s learnt a big lesson that will hopefully work in the right way for him. The squad is totally focused on the cricket and we all are. That’s what we’re here for: to have a big English summer. Nothing will deter us from that.”Australia’s chances of qualifying for the Champions Trophy semi-finals are to some extent dependent on the outcome of Sunday’s clash between England and New Zealand. If New Zealand are the victors, Australia enter a straightforward shootout with Sri Lanka but if England win, they must beat Sri Lanka well enough to outdo New Zealand’s net run-rate, which, at present, is the best in the group.Sri Lanka have had a marginal edge over Australia in ODIs in the last 18 months, winning 6 of their last 10 matches – all of which were played in Australia. Arthur said defusing Lasith Malinga’s yorkers and conquering Sri Lanka’s experienced top order would be key to overcoming the opposition.”Malinga is a phenomenon. He’s the best death bowler in the world without a doubt at the moment,” he said. “We’re very fortunate to have played Sri Lanka a lot over the last 15 months. We’ve had two one-day series against them. All our players have faced quite a bit of Malinga and we’ll have our plans, come the game.”You talk about the big three in Sri Lanka’s batting; Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka have built up a really nice unit. They’ve got some good players in all different areas of their team who scrap hard. We know we’ve got to be really on our money.”

With the last round of games left in the World Cricket League Division 3, four teams have a theoretical chance of taking the two places which are up for grabs for the 2014 World Cup Qualifier. Uganda have won all four games and are already through with eight points, but USA (six points), Nepal and Bermuda (four each) will need to wait for the last round of matches. Here’s what the teams need to do to qualify:USA: With three wins and six points, USA have a pretty good chance of making it to the next stage. A win against Bermuda, their last-round opponent, will certainly see them through; even a defeat might not cost them since their net run rate is a healthy +0.690. Their biggest danger is if they lose fairly comprehensively to Bermuda, and if Nepal thrash Italy by a huge margin. For example, if Bermuda score 250 and beat USA by 100 runs, and if Nepal score 275 and win by 76 runs, then USA’s NRR (net run rate) will slip to 0.345, and Nepal’s will climb up to 0.348.Nepal: Nepal were the pre-tournament favourites, but they’ve lost two matches, to USA and Uganda, leaving them with fairly slim chances of qualification. As mentioned earlier, if USA win their last game, then Nepal have no chance of making the next stage. For Nepal to qualify, they’ll have to hope that USA lose to Bermuda, and they beat Italy by a comprehensive margin. If the sum of the margins of those wins is around 125 runs (the exact margins will depend on the actual scores), then Nepal could sneak ahead of USA on NRR.Bermuda: Bermuda have four points too, with wins over Oman and Italy, but their NRR of -0.959 is much worse than Nepal’s -0.014, which makes their chances of qualification extremely remote. Also, their last match is against USA, the team which is currently second on the table. They’ll have to beat USA by around 160 runs to increase their NRR above USA’s. Their best case scenario will probably be a consolation victory to end their campaign on a high. That’s a result which could then benefit Nepal, if they beat Italy by a big enough margin.

Pakistan Cricket Board doctors have said Saeed Ajmal is “fully fit” and not suffering from a hernia, as initially feared. Ajmal had been suffering from pain in his lower abdomen, suspecting he had a hernia, but a recent assessment by the PCB’s panel of doctors have cleared him. The panel had suggested he meet with a sports hernia specialist in either England or Australia to get further clarification.”As far as his hernia is concerned, doctors have ruled out this possibility after consulting his reports,” a PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “He is resting at the moment and is fully fit to play any upcoming series.”Ajmal, 35, has been suffering from mild pain in his lower abdomen for the last two months and was suspected to have sustained a hernia. After the South Africa tour, he was unavailable for almost the entirety of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup. He featured in the final against Sialkot Stallions, after doctors had cleared him to play.Pakistan’s next major assignment is the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June, with a few ODIs scheduled prior in Scotland and Ireland. Ajmal however, in any case, is available for selection.The PCB’s doctors have been criticised for their handling of player fitness and injury issues. Last year, before the India tour, Harris Sohail twisted his ankle during a training camp at Gaddafi Stadium, but after an initial assessment, was cleared to travel with the team. He returned without playing any match on the India tour, but was retained for the South Africa Test series, where he redeveloped a strain in his ankle, and was subsequently sent home without playing.

Brad Haddin could be in line to play his first Test in more than a year after Cricket Australia confirmed he would fly to India to be on standby for the injured Matthew Wade.Haddin was due to leave Australia on Monday to join the squad after scans revealed Wade had suffered a sprained right ankle while playing basketball with team-mates and support staff in Chandigarh on Saturday. Although Wade has not yet been ruled out of the third Test, which starts in Mohali on Thursday, he must now be considered in serious doubt.”Matt has a complex ankle injury which has been confirmed by the scans and, at this stage, is in doubt for the third Test starting on Thursday,” the team physio, Alex Kountouris, said. “A final decision on whether he will be available for the third Test will be made closer to the match.”Wade has been Australia’s preferred Test wicketkeeper since the tour of the West Indies last April. On that tour, he and a struggling Haddin would have been vying for the job for the first Test in Barbados, but Haddin was a late withdrawal from the trip as he flew home to be with his seriously ill daughter.Despite his age – Haddin turned 35 in October last year – the selectors remained keen on having him around Australian cricket and he played limited-overs matches during the summer when Wade was rested. The intention has always been for both Wade and Haddin to be taken on the long Ashes tour later this year.Haddin’s Sheffield Shield form this summer has been strong and he has scored 468 runs at an average of 52.00 with two centuries. His most recent Test was the Adelaide Test against India in January last year, in a series which Australia won 4-0.

SL squad for first two ODIs v Bangladesh

Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal (vice-capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan (subject to fitness), Kushal Janith Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Sachithra Senanayake, Upul Tharanga, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Angelo Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Sachith Pathirana
In: Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Angelo Perera, Sachith Pathirana
Out: Mahela Jayawardene, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Akila Dananjaya

Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been rested for the first two games of the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, which begins on March 23. Mahela Jayawardene missed out as he is yet to fully recover from a fracture to the middle finger of his left hand.Tillakaratne Dilshan was included in the 16-man squad “subject to fitness” according to Sri Lanka Cricket’s press release, and chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said his involvement is subject to recovery from a quadriceps strain. However, Dilshan showed no signs of discomfort while bowling at the ongoing Test against Bangladesh on Monday.Twenty-three-year-old batsmen Angelo Perera and Kithuruwan Vithanage earned call-ups, having both impressed in Sri Lanka’s List A tournament, as well as the first-class competition. Vithanage had also debuted in Tests against Bangladesh in Galle. Allrounder Sachith Pathirana, also 23, also has a place in the 16-man squad.Wicketkeeper-bastman Kushal Janith Perera, who is coming of first-class scores of 203, 97 and 336 in his last three matches, is also in the squad. Perera had a successful introduction to international cricket in the limited-overs leg of Sri Lanka’s Australia tour.Offspinner Sachithra Senanayake was the recipient of a central contract in 2013, and finds himself back in the squad, having last played for Sri Lanka in August 2012. Alongside Pathirana, he effectively replaces Ajantha Mendis and Akila Dananjaya, both of whom had played in the Australia limited overs matches.The series will be Angelo Mathews’ first as full time ODI captain, and will be played in Hambantota, which hosts two matches, and Pallekele. The squad may change for the third ODI, and a single Twenty20 fill follow the one-dayers.

Peter Chingoka, the long-standing chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, has claimed that racism remains a major problem in the sport and has in certain areas actually grown worse in recent years.In a statement issued last week, Chingoka said that at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Australia last August white batsmen alleged that blacks were bowling bouncers at them in the nets and black bowlers countered that white fielders were reluctant to cut off runs made off their deliveries.Chingoka has called a stakeholders’ conference to discuss the situation straight after the tour of the Caribbean.”There have been reports of black and white players using separate buses on senior team tours,” he said. “Our domestic leagues have not been spared either, as there has been a marked increase in the number of disciplinary hearings initiated by allegations of racism.”In view of the unfolding media debate and the unacceptable incidents referred to above, it would appear that there is still some progress to be made in addressing the imbalances of the past and re-integrating the sport to accommodate all Zimbabweans, regardless of colour, social background or gender.”Cricket is a game for all and we have no reservations in saying that discrimination, where it is proved to exist, and whether brought about intentionally or as a result of other factors, should not be tolerated in any way or form.”In recent weeks there has also been a stand-off between ZC and the Sports and Recreation Committee over who should be eligible to be a national selector.

ScorecardFile photo: Mumbai’s big batsmen came good on big day•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The last time Sachin Tendulkar played first-class cricket in Mumbai, his team fell to arguably its worst defeat in Test cricket. The last time Wasim Jaffer played in Mumbai, he scored a hundred to get his side three points but had to leave midway to tend to his father who had suffered a heart attack. On Sunday in Mumbai, albeit against a limited Baroda attack, normal services resumed as the two scored centuries to take Mumbai to a position of strength in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final.This was Jaffer’s 31st Ranji century, which takes him level with Ajay Sharma as the highest centurions in Ranji Trophy. Jaffer is now just 44 short of reclaiming his record of most runs in Ranji Trophy, which he lost to Andhra’s Amol Muzumdar in the first half of the tournament. Tendulkar, too, took a step towards records. This was his 80th first-class hundred, just one behind Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of 81. Also, with 18 centuries in this competition, he is two behind Gavaskar’s 20.The two came together with Mumbai 35 for 2 after choosing to bat first. Jaffer had already survived an lbw decision when South African umpire Adrian Holdstock – part of umpires exchange programme – reprieved him off an inswinger from left-arm quick Gagandeep Singh. Tendulkar squashed all nerves by batting with intent, and racing away to 23 off 32 without taking any risks. A straight drive between the stumps and the non-striker stood out.Tendulkar now settled in for a big innings, and Jaffer began to look comfortable. It was a slow pitch, and scoring was not easy, which showed in how Tendulkar once ended up dragging a lofted shot to cow corner while he intended to hit it straight down the ground. He stopped taking risks then. Jaffer, who cut one wide of Yusuf Pathan at first slip just after lunch, began to score more freely with some beautiful flicks through wide mid-on and midwicket. The two were complimenting each other again.No wicket fell in the middle session as Mumbai went from 77 for 2 at lunch to 193 for 2 at tea. Tendulkar’s strike rate had dropped to around 50, but Jaffer’s had risen to about a run every two balls. Jaffer began the final session not out on 92, and soon made his only mistake of the day after an uncertain start. As he edged a cut off Gagandeep to slip, Baroda’s captain, Yusuf, couldn’t hold on to a fairly simple chance. Jaffer then went on to bring up his century with an exquisite cover-drive off the same bowler.Tendulkar wasn’t far behind, and brought his three figures up with a nudge fine of long leg and scampering for two. A spectator, a middle-aged man, charged onto the field, and embarrassed Tendulkar by insisting to touch his feet in reverence. You could see Tendulkar wasn’t comfortable with the notion, but it seemed he had no choice.Murtuja Vahora, Baroda’s spirited right-arm fast bowler, finally broke through Tendulkar’s defence with a beauty that swung prodigiously in to sneak through the small gap between bat and pad even as Tendulkar strode forward. The off stump went cartwheeling, and Vahora was overjoyed. Jaffer, though, had become even more fluent, ending unbeaten on 137. Nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni did his job with an unbeaten 0 off 15 balls.