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Sri Lanka named Shashikala Siriwardene as the captain of the 15-member Women’s squad for the upcoming World Cup that starts in Mumbai on January 31. Siriwardene took over the Twenty20 captaincy from Dilani Manodara for the Women’s World T20 in Sri Lanka. She has captained the team in 34 ODIs, but in only one in the last two years.Sri Lanka have made two changes from the squad that played in the Women’s Asia Cup T20s in China in October. Lasanthi Madushani and Oshadi Ranasinghe have come in for Inoka Galagedara and Maduri Samuddika.Sri Lanka are placed in Group A with hosts India, West Indies and England. They play their first match on February 2 against England at the Wankhede Stadium. The team is also scheduled to play two warm-ups – against New Zealand and South Africa.Sri Lanka squad: Shashikala Siriwardene (capt), Sandamani Dolawatte, Dilani Manodara, Chamari Atapattu, Deepika Rasangika, Eshani Kaushalya, Chamani Seneviratna, Sripali Weerakkody, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Prasadani Weerakkody, Lasanthi Madushani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sharina Ravikumar, Yasoda Mendis

Cricket in Bangladesh will take a step towards the right direction with the launching of the country’s second first-class tournament. The Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) begins on Thursday as a franchise-backed regional competition with a focus on bringing more leverage to longer-version cricket.Walton Central Zone will take on Prime Bank South Zone at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. In the other match, Islami Bank East Zone face BCB North Zone at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. Central are made up of players from Dhaka Metropolis and Dhaka Division, South’s players are from Khulna Division and Barisal Division, East has players from Sylhet Division and Chittagong Division while Rajshahi and Rangpur players will play for North.”This is eventually going to be the prime first-class tournament in Bangladesh,” Naimur Rahman, the BCB’s tournament committee chairman, said. “We have only considered the performers from this season’s National Cricket League (NCL), and this tournament will have better competition and a higher standard.”Our intention is to make the first-class structure stronger, because without it, we cannot expect development of cricket.”The tournament came into being only after the NCL could not get enough franchises after the BCB had decided to change its make-up earlier this year. As a result, the NCL continued in the usual format and this new tournament took shape. Three of the four franchises have gained sponsors but the northern region is yet to get a buyer, though the BCB is hopeful someone will pick it up during the tournament.The tournament will be of single league format with each team playing three games each, all before Bangladesh’s potential tour to Pakistan. The five-day final, set to be played with a pink ball under lights in Mirpur, will be held after the BPL Twenty20s in mid-February.The squad selection was largely left to the franchises, who were given a list of 80 cricketers by the national selectors, chosen from the list of performers in the NCL. The selection of Mohammad Ashraful, who averaged only 13.22 in the NCL this season, is contentious, as is the non-selection of Shahriar Nafees. The left-hand batsman has been named in the reserves for the South Zone side, mainly because he didn’t play much in the NCL, but at the time the tournament was on, he was in the Bangladesh Test side that was playing West Indies at home.Meanwhile, Chittagong opener Nazimuddin and Rangpur allrounder Alauddin Babu have not been included as punishment for not participating in the Victory Day match on December 16. “They didn’t tell us why they couldn’t play the Victory Day match, so we informed the BCL committee not to include them,” Akram Khan, the chief selector, said.

The issue of player payments at the Bangladesh Premier League has cropped up again this year after Owais Shah complained he hasn’t yet received the first instalment (25 percent) of his $75,000 paycheck.Shah, who plays for Dhaka Gladiators, received the remittance slip from the BCB but the amount hasn’t been credited into his account. ESPNcricinfo has also been told that Shah is just one of many players not to have been paid.”I have received the remittance slip via email but nothing has arrived in the last four days,” Shah said. “I don’t know where the money is, and it is a pretty embarrassing situation.”The BCB sent the remittance slip on January 24, but said they didn’t receive signed players’ agreement papers for any of Gladiators’ overseas players in time. “Without the player agreement papers, it is not possible for the BCB to process bank transfer of fees to accounts of local players and international remittance for overseas player payment,” a BCB statement said.This year, the BCB has asked all franchises to send payments to the board,which would then be forwarded to the players. The deadline for the first instalment of 25%, which should have been paid before the start of the tournament, was moved from January 7 to January 16-31. The next 25% needs to be paid before the end of the tournament. The remaining amount is supposed to be transferred within six months after the end of the tournament.Gladiators were the first franchise who paid the BCB 25% of the total players’ fees. According to Salim Chowdhury, the Gladiators owner, the BCB has cashed the pay order of Tk 3 crore ($ 376,900 approx) on January 22 and that the delay is from the board’s end.However, BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick has said that it would be Gladiators’ fault if Shah decides to leave the tournament. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, doesn’t remit money without proper contracts, which Mallick says Gladiators have only sent on Tuesday (January 29).”If Owais Shah doesn’t play, it will be completely their fault. I would ask him [Salim Chowdhury] to show the received copy of the agreement papers, which he claims he has made the players sign five times. We can ascertain who’s right or wrong.”They gave us a cheque which is payable from March 14, but they haven’tgiven us a bank guarantee, so his claims sound absurd,” Mallick added. “We have tried to help them by giving extra leeway on time, but they haven’t paid us the money properly.”

ScorecardEight Australian bowlers had a workout on the second day of their warm-up match in Chennai and Moises Henriques and Nathan Lyon were the most successful. They worked their way through the Board President’s XI top order and helped the Australians secure a slender first-innings lead.Henriques and Lyon reduced the home side to 61 for 4 and eventually took seven wickets between them. Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson and rookie spinner Ashton Agar were the other wicket-takers. Fast bowler Jackson Bird did not take a wicket but conceded only ten runs in as many overs.Ambati Rayudu scored 87 for the Board President’s XI but didn’t get much support from anyone else. Parvez Rassol, who had taken seven wickets on the first day, made 36 at No. 8, the next best score. The home side was dismissed for 230.”I have worked a lot on my game with Robin Singh and Mr Sharath and I am getting into good positions, having enough time to play my shots,” Rayudu said after the game. “Mentally I am looking to spend a lot more time in the middle. Have been relaxed the whole season, happy that I am getting into a zone such as this.”Most of them were the same pace, they were really trying to swing the old ball, use a lot of reverse,” he said of the Australian bowlers. “They got reverse swing after about 30 overs, it started reversing pretty early and they worked on it as well. They are looking to pull out a lot of reverse swing.”The Australians played four overs in their second innings, opening with Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja, and made 15 for 0.

Matthew Wade’s chances of playing in the third Test in Mohali appear slim after he struggled through wicketkeeping, fielding and running drills on the eve of the match. If Wade is ruled out due to his ankle injury it will leave the Australians with only 12 men available. Brad Haddin would keep wicket and the only real decision for the selectors would be which of the three spinners – Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell – to leave on the sidelines.The indications at training were that Maxwell would be the one to miss out. At the end of Australia’s practice session, Maxwell looked downcast during a lengthy on-field chat with the coach Mickey Arthur, and he was not present at a sit-down meeting of the spinners shortly afterwards when the spin coach Steve Rixon chatted to Lyon, Doherty and Smith on the boundary edge.The small pool from which to select is a stark contrast to the first Test in Chennai, when Australia had a group of 17 players available. But the team management’s decision to make Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja sit out for disciplinary reasons has left them with few options for the Mohali Test, starting on Thursday, which the Australians must win to have any chance of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Wade sprained his right ankle while playing basketball on Saturday and scans concerned the Australian medical staff enough that Haddin was flown to India as cover. On Wednesday, Wade trained for the first time since suffering the injury. His movement was clearly hampered during wicketkeeping drills with the fielding coach, Steve Rixon, and he also struggled to move freely during outfielding work and while running between the wickets.That work was followed by a lengthy discussion between captain Michael Clarke, Rixon, selector on duty Rod Marsh, team doctor Peter Brukner and physio Alex Kountouris. Wade left the fielding session to bat in the nets but looked despondent as he made his way into the team rooms after completing his training. Earlier in the day, Clarke had raised the possibility of Wade playing as a batsman only if he was unable to keep wicket.But the more likely scenario now appears to be that Haddin will take the gloves and bat at No. 6 in his first Test since January last year. If Wade is ruled out it will mean Phillip Hughes will certainly retain his place in the side and Steven Smith will be included for his first Test since Australia’s miserable 2010-11 Ashes series. The decision to sideline Watson, Pattinson, Johnson and Khawaja could cost Australia in this match but Clarke said it provided an opportunity.”There’s no doubt that somebody’s loss is somebody else’s gain and a big part of international cricket is getting a chance,” Clarke said. “A lot of people talk about young players – he should be picked, he shouldn’t be picked, is he good enough? The only way you find out if he’s good enough is if he gets an opportunity. A few guys who are going to get a chance in this game have been waiting for this opportunity and now it is about grabbing it with both hands.”The Mohali pitch remained under a hessian cover on Wednesday but the Australians had inspected it on Tuesday and Clarke said it did not appear to be the pace-friendly kind of surface he had seen at the venue in the past.”I saw the wicket yesterday,” Clarke said. “I haven’t seen it today yet but I imagine it wouldn’t have changed much. There’s not much grass to cut off and it was quite dry yesterday so it’s probably even drier today. I think the conditions are going to be very similar to what we’ve seen in the first two Test matches.”There’s no real surprises there. I’ve played some cricket here in Mohali and generally they leave a bit of grass on the wicket and it’s nice for fast bowlers but I’m not surprised that all the grass has been cut off. That’s part of international cricket. The positive of that is at least we’ve experienced it in the first two matches.”Possible team 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Steven Smith, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Xavier Doherty, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Aaron Finch’s increasingly fraught efforts to make a first-class batsman of himself may lead the Victorian to New South Wales, after the Blues made him a state contract offer for next summer.Conspicuous as a Twenty20 and limited-overs batsman, formats in which he has represented Australia, Finch nurses a mediocre record in four-day matches, having reaped only 1528 runs at 29.96 in 30 matches with two centuries.Finch’s struggles to convert his natural ability and power into consistent first-class performance sum up a wider batting problem in Australian cricket, as the generations following those of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey have failed to produce the prolific tallies that would have helped maintain the nation’s place as an international power.Perhaps aware of the need to change this indifferent record, Finch requested release from his current contract with the Bushrangers to seek out other options, and New South Wales have opened up an avenue for the 27-year-old to move north for next summer. Finch is weighing up the offer, which would stretch him to perform in the tight battle for places in the New South Wales batting order.The Blues have already lost one significant name after the young legspinner Adam Zampa elected to accept an offer from South Australia, who were able to offer him a virtually guaranteed place in their teams across the Sheffield Shield, limited-overs and T20 competitions.A less certain future awaits the sometime Australia allrounder Daniel Christian, who ended 2012-13 out of the South Australia team after a difficult summer in which his harvest of runs and wickets dried up while he also faced disciplinary sanctions for repeatedly losing his composure in the dressing rooms after being dismissed.Still under contract to the Redbacks for next season, Christian may nonetheless find himself moving elsewhere, with Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane all possible destinations.There is the chance that another former Australian representative, the highly regarded but injury-blighted Andrew McDonald, may move across to Adelaide, where he is already contracted to the Strikers in the Big Bash League. Like Finch, McDonald requested a release from his Victoria contract as the recruitment period opened up.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA subdued start and sorry finish to Pune Warriors’ innings set the scene for their 12th loss in 14 matches this season, as Mumbai Indians sauntered to second place on the table with a five-wicket win. Having chosen to bat, Warriors never really spurred their innings towards an acceptable run rate, and although they were building towards a platform from which they could launch, a cluster of dismissals heralded a woeful end to their innings. They managed just 34 off their last eight overs and ended on 112 for 8.The slow pitch made Mumbai’s chase a touch tougher than it ought to have been, but despite losing Dwayne Smith first ball, they were never really challenged. Rohit Sharma made 37, and his 54-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu effectively secured victory, which was achieved with seven balls remaining. Their net run-rate put them above Rajasthan Royals, and the middling teams will struggle to deprive them of a playoffs spot.Having been on 84 for 2 at one stage, Warriors seemed a side that had forgotten how to win, as they were derailed in a six-ball period that yielded three wickets. Manish Pandey hit a Lasith Malinga full toss straight to deep midwicket, before Angelo Mathews fell, responding to Yuvraj Singh’s poor call in the next over, before Yuvraj himself was caught in front by Harbhajan Singh. The running between the wickets was ordinary, and had the Mumbai fielders hit the stumps half as often as their fielding coach Jonty Rhodes did in his career, Warriors might have struggled to make 90.The only period Warriors seemed capable of making a competitive total was when Yuvraj Singh was at the crease, and even he, during his 29-ball stay, could not manage a strike rate better than 114. He struck consecutive leg-side sixes off Pragyan Ojha in the 11th over, signaling an intention to shake Warriors out of their ponderous tempo, but he was out three overs later having done little else, and stunningly, those sixes were the last boundaries hit in the hosts’ innings. The Mumbai death-bowling was tight, rather than extraordinary, and the pitch was a little difficult, but the Warriors batsmen never adjusted to the pace of the surface and swing after swing, they continued to mistime their shots into the deep, or miss the ball completely. Mitchell Johnson finished with the best figures in the match, having taken two wickets for eight runs in his four overs.Ashok Dinda, who was among five changes to the Warriors side, bowled a peach to uproot Dwayne Smith’s off stump first ball, but with so few to chase, Mumbai could afford to regroup safely. Ajantha Mendis was the best of Warriors’ bowlers, taking 1 for 15 from his full quota, but no one was able to deliver the spell that would cause a serious scare in the opposition dugout.

Jacques Kallis’ decision to skip next month’s Champions Trophy for “personal reasons” was a short-term one and he still aspired to play Tests and ODIs for South Africa, his manager Dave Rundle has said. Rundle’s statement is a bid to clear the air on Kallis’ decision, which was explained only in brief in the official team announcement on Thursday.”Jacques feels he needs some time out (of the game) … in that time, we are planning the next two years,” Rundle said to . “He still wants to continue playing for the Proteas, especially in Tests, and his dream at the moment to go to the World Cup is still there. The decision taken now has no effect on his ongoing commitments to South Africa – this is short-term, and should be viewed as such.”Kallis last played an ODI for South Africa in February last year and had made himself unavailable for selection citing personal reasons. In his column in the , Kallis, who is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, said he needed time to plan and organise to play his best cricket.”At my age and stage of career, there are many things to consider outside the game and off the field, and I need to plan and be organised in order to play my best cricket,” Kallis wrote. “I simply cannot go through the motions or take up a place in a squad unless it has my full attention. So it would have been unfair of me to accept a place in the Proteas squad for the Champions Trophy next month. I certainly have not given up my ambition of playing in the 2015 World Cup but, right now, my priority is to finish strongly for KKR and then take some time to reconsider my priorities and consolidate.”South Africa’s selection convenor Andrew Hudson said the decision was taken at Kallis’ request. “It was at Jacques’ request and we are respectful of that,” Hudson said.Coach Gary Kirsten said that while Kallis’ absence was a big loss, the team was capable of coping. “He’s a big player but this team has progressed to a level where we feel comfortable with whoever we pick,” Kirsten said. “Obviously, he is two players in one so it does affect our combinations but that’s the way it is. He’s been a great player and ambassador for this country. If he feels personally he is not up for the tournament we have to respect that.”

David Warner has been stood down from Australia’s Champions Trophy match against New Zealand after what has been called “an unprovoked physical attack” on Joe Root in a Birmingham bar in the early hours of Sunday morning.Warner could yet face further sanction, including the possibility of being sent home from the tour, depending on the outcome of a Code of Behaviour hearing, which Cricket Australia said would be convened as soon as possible.The ECB confirmed in a statement that an altercation between Warner and an England player took place and said it was initiated by Warner. They said the player was not responsible for the incident which happened around 2am following England’s 48-run victory at Edgbaston, and had accepted an apology from Warner.”Following a statement issued this morning by Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirms that David Warner initiated an unprovoked physical attack on a member of the England team in a Birmingham bar following England’s 48-run victory over Australia,” the ECB said in a statement. “Warner has admitted behaving inappropriately and has since apologised to the player involved who has accepted the apology.”Following a full investigation the England team management has concluded that the England player was in no way responsible for nor retaliated to the attack. ECB has concluded that this is a matter for Cricket Australia and have no further comment to make.”Alastair Cook, the England captain, said that his players were fully within their rights to be out in the early hours of the morning. “You don’t often get to win international games,” he said. “When the schedule allows you, as long as its within certain parameters that we set as a team [and] we didn’t have training for a couple of days.”Clearly if it was a back-to-back game it’s a very different issue. We had a couple of days off and a couple of days training, you don’t often get those positions in a tournament so it’s very important you do sometimes let your hair down. Celebrating wins also builds team spirit.”John Creighton, manager of the Walkabout bar in Birmingham, said: “David Warner and Joe Root were in our VIP area between 1.30am and 2.30am on Sunday morning along with several other England and Australia team members. None of the group seemed to have been drinking to excess and just seemed to be having a good time. There was a small altercation between Warner and Root.”This was dealt with very amicably and quickly by the rest of the group and both were calmly chatting to each other shortly afterwards. They all left a short while later and a small bar tab was picked up by David Warner. We are quite familiar with David’s face.”The manager added he did not think Warner’s punch connected although it is understood that some contact was made. He also confirmed that police were not called although it is believed that was at the behest of Root who did not want to take the matter further.Warner was reported under Cricket Australia’s Code of Behaviour and in a statement, Cricket Australia said he had been cited after he “was allegedly involved in a physical altercation with an England player in the early hours of Sunday morning following the ICC Champions Trophy match between the teams in Birmingham”.The incident could have serious ramifications for Warner’s Ashes campaign. He has been cited under Rule 6 of the Code of Behaviour, which deals with unbecoming behaviour, and states that: “Players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket.”It is the second time in four weeks that Warner has been reported under that section of CA’s Code of Behaviour, after he was fined $5750 last month for engaging in a Twitter spat with two Australian journalists. Following that incident, Warner said: “I just want to draw a line under all of this and move forward.”Warner has also been struggling for runs since arriving in England, having made ducks in both the Champions Trophy warm-up games and 9 in the loss to England.

Question: who is the ICC’s top-ranked bowler among those about to contest this Investec Ashes series? Answer: Peter Siddle.A lofty perch of fifth in the world, above even Graeme Swann and Jimmy Anderson, quantifies exactly how well Siddle has sustained his quality over the past 18 months, and why much of the speculation about his place in the Australian Test side has been just that. Some quiet displays for Australia A and the touring party before the team bus reached Nottingham were a source of mild concern, but there was a distinct sense of moving through the gears about how Siddle drove through the crease on the tourists’ first training day at Trent Bridge.Australia’s vice-captain Brad Haddin faced Siddle, James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc as the selectors’ apparent preferred attack built up considerable pace and notable swing. Having watched Siddle throughout the trip – he was also captain of Australia A – Haddin spoke unstintingly of the Victorian as not only a guaranteed starter but the most pivotal member of the Australian pace battery.”He’s a pretty seasoned campaigner so he cranked it up a bit leading into the Test match. He’ll be ready to go,” Haddin said. “He knows exactly how to get up for a Test match and his preparation has been spot on since we got here with the A tour. His experience and his ranking in the world shows he is a very consistent performer at this level.”I think you can judge different players by where they’re at in their careers. Sometimes guys need to get some wickets and feel confident going into big games but Siddle, he’s proved himself over a long time now. He knows exactly where he’s at. I wouldn’t read too much into the actual stats of the A tour and the two tour games here.”He knows what to do to get right for a Test. He knows what to do to get through and win Tests. He’s a class act and has been for a long time. We can dance around the issue but he’s our most experienced bowler and he’s proven at this level.”For his part, Siddle has acknowledged he did not bowl well against Somerset, but he is far from the first senior pace bowler to deliver an indifferent display in a tour match. The question now is whether Siddle can ramp up his speed, rhythm and swing on cue at Trent Bridge, where his durability will be a vital counterpoint to the youthful fury of Pattinson and Starc.Craig McDermott, who was instrumental in Siddle’s evolution from wrecking ball to something more accomplished during his stint as Australia’s bowling coach from 2011-12, expected his pupil would be capable of lifting himself at precisely the right moment.”Sids has been our best and most consistent bowler for the last two years and is a big game player,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “He knows his game very well but like most people needs to be reassured on occasions. He needs to bowl fourth and fifth stump and full, finish off his action properly – pace will follow from there – and he will be fine. I’m backing him to do well.”Australia will hope Siddle goes the way of McDermott’s old pace partner Merv Hughes, who shrugged off an indifferent start to the 1993 tour to deliver a lionhearted series for Allan Border, rather than that of Jason Gillespie, never a factor in 2005 after his form and confidence ebbed away early.”I know I was off my game,” Siddle told the last week of his Taunton display. “In a way, they do know what I can do, but I still have to show in these next few training sessions that I’m up and about, that it’s coming out well and I’m ready to go for that first Test. I think no matter who plays the first one, it’s not going to be the line-up that finishes it off at the end. All five of us, even six with Jimmy Faulkner in there, are a massive chance of playing throughout this series.”Of those six, only Siddle knows what it means to be on the losing end of an England tour. It is worth noting that in 2009, as a much less precise operator than he is today, Siddle still managed to scoop 20 wickets, striking every 48.5 deliveries. The painful memories of that defeat, arriving in the final Test of a series punctuated by missed Australian opportunities, have stayed with Siddle, just as they have with Haddin.”You can’t get rid of them, no matter what you try to do,” Haddin said. “Sitting in The Oval losing the Ashes, it hurts. And there’s only one way you can get that back, and that’s by getting that urn back. I don’t use that hurt or anything as motivation, you don’t need much more motivation than coming over on this campaign, but it does hurt and it will hurt forever I think. So I’d love to win this one to take a little bit of that hurt away.”