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Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said there are four-five open spots in the squad for the World Twenty20, and that the side will use their final Twenty20 international before the tournament, against India in Pallekele tomorrow, to identify roles for a few players. Jayawardene said Sri Lanka was trying to develop a team for the future and that he was excited by the young talent available.”It [The T20 international against India] is significant to identify few roles for some of the players,” Jayawardene said. “We did that against Pakistan as well. We played different combinations in the two T20Is to accommodate few players in different roles. We will try and do the same here. During the Sri Lanka Premier League (starting August 11), we will get to know which of our players are in form and the combination that we need to go with. We have got a fairly good idea – about 75% to 80% – of our squad. But still there are four or five places up for grabs.”Jayawardene said he was impressed by the performances of some of the young players in the recently-concluded ODI series, which Sri Lanka lost 1-4 to India.”The youngsters are identifying their roles. I was impressed with the way [Lahiru] Thirimanne batted the other day [in the fifth ODI], held the innings together, batted through the innings. He showed a lot of aggression when he wanted. Jeevan [Mendis] is becoming a much better allrounder. Those components are fitting into our combination really well. There are certain areas we have to fine-tune. Unfortunately [Dinesh] Chandimal didn’t have a great series, but we know the talent he possesses.”Jayawardene said that when he took back the captaincy six months ago, his challenge was to develop a team for the future. “We are teaching players how to handle situations. Sometimes they will make mistakes but as long as they learn from that it’s important. When the opportunity comes we would like them to take control of the team and take us forward. What we are trying to do is to harness that and make sure they are in a comfortable situation handling international cricket. There are a few young guys we have identified from the Under-19 and various other squads. We need to slowly introduce them in the next six months or so and try and build a team.”Sri Lanka have several promising players such as Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Chandimal and Thirimanne but Jayawardene said the challenge for them was to perform consistently over a long period.”It’s about them being consistent and improving as individual players. It is one thing that you have the talent but it is another thing that you need to perform day in and day out over a period of time. It can be five-six-ten years. We want to identify players who can do that. They need to work hard and we will try to help them as much as they can.”

Mark Boucher’s participation for the Test series against England is in doubt after he suffered a “significant injury,” to his left eye during the tour match against Somerset. Boucher had to leave the field at the end of the 46th over when a googly from Imran Tahir hit the stumps and a dislodged bail struck Boucher in the left eye. Photographs showed Boucher bleeding from the eye as he left the field.He will undergo surgery on Monday night to determine the seriousness of the injury – which was diagnosed as laceration of the sclera, the white part of the eye – but it looms as a potential career-ender as Boucher said the tour of England would be his last.”I don’t think he will be ready for the first Test and I don’t know about the series,” Moosajee said. “I would rather like to see the outcome of the surgery first before saying anything further. At the moment, the concern is more Mark Boucher the patient, rather than whether he is going to partake in this tour.”Moosajee said Boucher was in his usual “fighting spirits,” but in a lot of pain. “When he got hit it caused dizziness out there and he had to helped off. They have also given him something to control the pain before he has the surgery.”However, South Africa appeared resigned to being without Boucher, who had been set to reach 150 Tests at Lord’s, after bowling coach Allan Donald said they were “gutted,” by the news. “I’ve never seen Mark Boucher as fit, as motivated or as determined for one series,” Donald said. “This is his last series and he wants to go out on a high with the 150th Test. The way he led in Switzerland was magnificent. His leadership and what he has in team meetings is something else. I’m sure Mark would want us to refocus but this is a massive loss for us.”Donald named AB de Villiers as “a more than accomplished keeper,” who could do a stand-in job, as he did in this match, but it is expected that South Africa will call up a replacement wicket-keeper if needed. Thami Tsolekile, who was nationally contracted from April 1, is the likeliest candidate.Tsolekile recently played for the South Africa A side in the two unofficial Tests against Sri Lanka A and has also been named in the squad to travel to Ireland to shadow the senior side from the third Test.Tsolekile last played for South Africa in 2004 when he represented the country in three Tests including one against England at Port Elizabeth. Since then, he has changed franchises, from the Cape Town based Cobras to the Johannesburg team, Lions, where he has spent the last three seasons. Tsolekile was earmarked as the successor to Boucher, who indicated he would retire after the England series, when he was awarded a central contract and was chosen to play for the A side.He equalled the South African record for the most catches in a first-class innings when he claimed eight in the first innings of the match against Sri Lanka A, which ended in a draw on Monday.

Richard Pybus, the former Pakistan coach, has been named Bangladesh coach, taking over from Stuart Law who resigned in April. Pybus, 47, has signed a two-year deal with the BCB and is expected to join the Bangladesh side before their tour of Zimbabwe next month.Pybus’ appointment came more than two weeks after a brief reconnaissance visit to Bangladesh and after the grapevine linked other names to the job. However, he was always seen as the leading contender despite his last job as an international coach ending nine years ago.”I am delighted at the opportunity of coaching Bangladesh,” Pybus said. “I am looking forward to getting busy with the boys.”We have an active schedule ahead of us and for me the next few months will be about building relationships with the players and the coaching staff and ensuring that the progress made up to the Asia Cup continues.”BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal said Pybus was the best option. “Pybus will join us in a few days. We have requested him to come before we go abroad, to get acquainted with the players,” Kamal said.”He was our best option, among all those we have talked to this time. Take a look at their records and his, there is a sharp difference between him and others. I think he has a proven track record, it speaks for itself.”Pybus hasn’t been in charge of an international side since his Pakistan stint ended in 2003 but had flown to Bangladesh earlier this month to interview for the national coach’s role. He will be Bangladesh’s third coach in a year as Law had been in the post for only nine months after succeeding another Australian Jamie Siddons last July.He will be expected to take charge of a mercurial side brimming with talent and with some success in the recent past. Some in the cricket board have suggested that the Bangladesh team no longer needs a coach specialising in the development of batting but a man who is adept in man-management at the top level.Pybus arrived in Dhaka on May 10 and spent the subsequent day holding meetings with BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal as well as some of the board directors and a handful of national players. It wasn’t deemed as a job interview as Kamal had insisted that Pybus was their only choice.Since Pybus made the short trip to Bangladesh, it was all but confirmed that it will be the South Africa-based coach who will take over from Law. But negotiations were ongoing and while the two parties spoke, the BCB continued to talk to the other coaches in their shortlist — Mick Newell, Mark Greatbatch and Kepler Wessels.Pybus was appointed Pakistan coach for their 1999 World Cup campaign, while he was with Border, before returning to the South African provincial side. He coached Pakistan again until the 2003 World Cup and had stints with Titans and Cape Cobras (South Africa), and Middlesex. He was with Cobras until March 2012 and was also linked to the South Africa job last year.

ScorecardRob Newton suffered a fractured bone just above his left wrist as Northamptonshire were made to fight hard to reach 244 for 4 against Kent at Canterbury. The injury overshadowed the first day for Northants, who now fear the 22-year-old batsman will also miss the start of the Friends Life t20 in early June.David Sales and James Middlebrook added an unbroken 157 for the fifth wicket to boost Northants after they had slipped from 69 for 1 to 87 for 4 in the first hour after lunch, with Sales reaching 104 not out by the close. Middlebrook was still there too on a battling 57, and in the end Kent’s bowling attack was made to toil on a slow surface.Newton’s fracture is expected to sideline him for between four and five weeks and he will play no further part in this game. He retired hurt on 23, after initially facing two more balls from Matt Coles, following the blow from a rising delivery from the England Lions fast bowler.He had needed five minutes of treatment on the field from the physio before deciding to bat on, but when he clipped the second ball after the resumption wide of mid-on for two runs he signalled to the dressing room that the pain in his arm was too great to continue.Northants were 46 without loss when Newton went off, having won the toss and decided to take first use of a slow but good-looking St Lawrence Ground pitch. Stephen Peters also batted well in that opening stand, but had lost Newton’s replacement at the crease, Kyle Coetzer, before lunch.Coetzer was bowled by Mark Davies, aiming to drive the former Durham seamer, and when Peters fell to the second ball after the lunch interval, lbw for 34, it triggered a mini-collapse which left Kent well on top. Charlie Shreck did the further damage, having Northants captain Andrew Hall well held at long leg by Davies as he skied an attempted pull and then bowling left-hander Niall O’Brien through the gate as he pushed defensively at a superb ball that swung back into him and clipped the top of the stumps.But that was the last Kent success of the day as Sales, with his first Championship century for almost two years, and Middlebrook built their partnership. Former Northants captain Sales reached his hundred from 196 balls and at stumps he had batted for almost four and a half hours.Middlebrook completed his fifty from 158 balls but he proved to be the perfect foil for Sales, who played some lovely early strokes against James Tredwell’s offspin and then took successive leg-side boundaries off Shreck, armed with the second new ball, to go swiftly into the 90s.

ScorecardEngland’s opening pair, Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, remain desperately short of runs ahead of the first Test against West Indies•AFP

The county bowling cohorts have done England’s opening partnership no favours in the build-up to the West Indies series. Alastair Cook was undone lbw for a single at Chelmsford today to follow innings of 9 and 5 at Cardiff last week — not much to build on before next Thursday’s Test at Lord’s.With Andrew Strauss having a torrid time at Middlesex, Kent’s new signing Mark Davies ensured Cook drew a near blank by straightening a lovely seamer into the left-hander’s pads. The next ball drew Tom Westley forward, kicked off the seam and found a thin edge safely pouched behind the wicket. With Essex faltering at 3 for 2, Kent were ready to cash in on Darren Stevens’s top-rate century, especially as there was no sign of Ravi Bopara, Cook’s England colleague.Bopara spent the afternoon resting his leg rather waiting for a go at the crease. He was due to visit Broomfield Hospital immediately after play for a precautionary scan on an apparently minor thigh strain suffered in his over before lunch when Essex were trying to break a long sixth-wicket stand between Stevens and Geraint Jones.Only after Davies had been rested — his first spell was 7-3-5-2 — did Essex begin to make progress through some dashing strokeplay by Mark Pettini. He cut and drove the ball so crisply over the lush outfield and scampered so well that it was hard to believe that his first class average was 32. His winter in Zimbabwe domestic cricket, based in the beautiful mountainous Mutare district, appeared to have refreshed his game. He batted well in Zimbabwe for the Mountaineers.Kent’s debutant Ivan Thomas, replacing Davies at the Hayes Close end, bowled steadily with an upright action, a languid build-up producing deceptive whip off the pitch, but Pettini and Billy Godleman stuck to their task. Godleman, never a thing of cricket beauty, scuffed and deflected 27 his way through Essex’s 39 overs, but at least he hung around until stumps. Cook would have loved such an extensive sight of the ball.Stevens and Jones performed wonders to dig Kent out of 9 for 5, putting on 194 together. Stevens finished with a high-quality 119 off only 170 balls and Jones made a worthy 88, no one else mustering more than six. Essex’s bowlers toiled, even the first-day destroyer Charl Willoughby, and the fielding substitutes were given a busy day rotating in the absence of Bopara and Alviro Petersen, who was still nursing a sore ankle.When Stevens top-edged Greg Smith for six over fine-leg to advance to 91, it was clear that Kent had regained the initiative. Their grip was eventually broken when Stevens sliced a drive to cover. Jones perished at long-off attempting to farm the bowling after off-spinner Westley had picked up three wickets in eight balls.After losing virtually two days to rain, this excellent fluctuating match deserves a finish.

Preliminary finals

The Afghanistan players celebrate after securing qualification for the 2012 World Twenty20•Getty Images

Afghanistan ensured they will appear at the ICC World Twenty20 for the second competition running with a comprehensive win over previously unbeaten Namibia in Dubai. Victory by 47 runs booked Afghanistan a place in the final of the qualifying tournament, where they could meet Namibia again; they will play either Ireland or Netherlands – who both won their first play-off games earlier in the day – for the second berth on offer for the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Having chosen to bat, Afghanistan were dismissed off the final ball of their innings for 146. Against big-scoring Namibia, other sides may have felt that score was barely enough – but Afghanistan have swept all before them in the last week and the bowlers blew away their opponents’ dangerous top order, effectively ending Namibia’s hopes at 18 for 4 after four overs. Dawlat Zadran was the destroyer-in-chief, taking 3 for 1 in his opening two-over spell, including the wicket of Raymond van Schoor, the tournament’s leading runscorer, for a first-ball duck. Gerrie Snyman was also dismissed for 0 in the same over, before Dawlat had Craig Williams caught behind and Aftab Alam – who went on to claim 4 for 25 – removed Louis van der Westhuizen, ensuring that none of the top four made double figures.After that opening blitz, Namibia’s hopes were in tatters and they were eventually bundled out for 99. Their struggles put into perspective Afghanistan’s score, with several batsmen getting in and then out. Karim Sadiq and Javid Ahmadi put on 57 for the opening wicket in 6.3 overs but they both fell in quick succession as Sarel Burger claimed three for 16 from his four overs. With boundaries drying up – Afghanistan managed 10 fours and no sixes – Asghar Stanikzai and Mohammad Nabi chipped away lower down the order. In the end, their efforts proved more than enough.Ireland swept past Canada in the first play-off stage, winning by 10 wickets at the Dubai International Stadium. Read the full report here.Netherlands edged out Scotland by three wickets at the ICC Global Cricket Academy to set up a meeting with Ireland in the next stage. Chasing 167 to win, Netherlands looked in control thanks to a steady hand from Tom Cooper, but his dismissal for 60 left them requiring 15 from the last two overs, with seven wickets down. The tension was broken swiftly, however, as Tim Gruijters smashed his second ball for six, with 11 runs coming off the penultimate over bowled by Kyle Coetzer, before Tom de Grooth’s top-edged four sealed victory with five balls to spare. Scotland, coming off a surprise group-stage defeat to USA, had earlier given themselves a chance of an upset thanks to another impressive opening stand between Richie Berrington and Calum MacLeod. They put on 59 in 6.3 overs before Berrington’s departure for 37, with MacLeod – a former bowler – going on to pass 50 for the third time in the tournament. Netherlands’ spinners slowed the scoring in the later stages though, with Mudassar Bukhari, Pieter Seelaar and Peter Borren each picking up two wickets as the Dutch kept the target down.

Play-offs

Nepal beat Kenya by five wickets and two balls to spare to win a semi-final for the seventh place play-off in Dubai. After choosing to bat, Kenya were restricted to 139 for 4. Their captain Collins Obuya top scored with 52 off 42 balls. Basanta Regmi took 3 for 23 for Nepal, while Shakti Gauchan conceded only 19 in four overs. Nepal’s openers gave the chase a steady start, adding 64 in ten overs and their captain Paras Khadka remained unbeaten on 26 to secure the victory. Nepal’s chase was aided by 17 extras.Papua New Guinea (PNG) defended a modest total of 118 for 9 against Italy to win the other semi-final for the seventh place play-off in Dubai. Damian Crowley took 4 for 18 to limit PNG after they chose to bat, while Carl Sandri claimed 2 for 18. Opener Tony Ura (37) was the only PNG batsman to make it past 20 and the innings was floundering at 69 for 6 before the tail propped the total past 100. PNG’s bowlers, however, bowled economically and struck regularly to hinder the Italy chase. Hitolo Areni took 3 for 9 in four overs, and had support from the new-ball attack, Willie Gavera and Rarva Dikana. Italy slipped from the comfortable position of 81 for 3 in 14.4 overs and were restricted to 106 for 7 in 20 overs.Hong Kong beat Uganda by five wickets to win one 11th place play-off semi-final in Sharjah. After putting Uganda in, Hong Kong restricted them to 130 for 8. Apart from the openers, Roger Mukasa and Arthur Kyobe, no Uganda batsman made more than 20. Irfan Ahmed to 3 for 32 for Hong Kong, while Roy Lamsam took 1 for 15 in four overs. Ahmed then scored an unbeaten 55 to lead the chase, while Waqas Barkat and Jamie Atkinson made 31 and 30. Hong Kong slipped in the later part of the innings, losing four wickets for eight runs, but still reached the target with four balls to spare.USA beat Bermuda by 34 runs after a powerful batting performance to win the second semi-final for the 11th place play-off in Sharjah. They amassed 193 for 5 after choosing to bat; Steven Taylor made 38 off 22 balls, Sushil Nadkarni 48 off 30 and Orlando Baker 39 off 32 deliveries. The least expensive Bermuda bowler was Joshua Gilbert, who conceded 8.33 an over. During Bermuda’s chase, Lionel Cann struck three sixes and four fours in his 73 off 47 balls but got poor support from his team-mates. Muhammad Ghous took 2 for 20 for USA, while Abhimanyu Rajp and Almore Hutchinson also took two wickets apiece. Bermuda were restricted to 159 for 8 in 20 overs.After losing all seven of their Group B matches, Oman beat Denmark by 17 runs in the 15th place play-off. Oman chose to bat and their openers, Zeeshan Siddiqui and Jatinder Singh, made half-centuries in first-wicket partnership of 113. After that stand was broken in the 14th over, though, Oman’s momentum slipped and they finished on 155 for 5. Denmark were well placed in their chase, having reached 109 for 2 in the 15th over, but then lost frequent wickets to finish on 138 for 6. Hemal Mehta was Oman’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 29 in four overs, while Amir Kaleem took 1 for 11 in three.

ScorecardRana Naved was Dhaka’s star with the ball•BPL T20

Sylhet Royals’ nightmarish run in the BPL extended to seven losses in seven games, as Dhaka Gladiators added to the crowd in the middle of the table with an eight-wicket win in Chittagong. Dhaka are now in the fourth spot, with the top four teams separated by only two points. All sides, barring Sylhet, are in contention for semi-final spots.Dhaka chose to field, and systematically choked Sylhet’s run flow. Mashrafe Mortaza and Azhar Mahmood began with consistent opening spells, snaring 3 for 46 in eight overs between them. The rest of the attack maintained the pressure, before Rana Naved, who came on as the fourth-change bowler, sliced through the middle order.Peter Trego (35) and Naeem Islam (28) offered resistance, but could not score runs at a fast enough clip to threaten Dhaka. Naved removed both of them in addition to Shuvagata Hom to finish with 3 for 18 in three overs.Sylhet’s hopes of sneaking a win depended on them getting early wickets. Imran Nazir and Mohammad Ashraful put paid to those hopes with a rampant 80-run stand off just 8.5 overs. Between them, they carted eight fours to put Dhaka on course for a big win. Nazir had to retire hurt after being hit on the head – he wasn’t wearing a helmet – by Peter Trego and Ashraful exited for 40, but their departures did not provide any respite, as Azhar Mahmood waded into the Sylhet attack with two sixes and three fours in the 15 balls he faced. Kieron Pollard ushered in the finish with three sixes in 22 off six balls, as Dhaka charged home in the 13th over, giving their net run-rate a significant boost.