Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, has praised his team’s recovery from a loss in the opening ODI to winning the series 3-1

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2010Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, has praised the way his team bounced back after losing the opening ODI of their five-match series against Zimbabwe. The home side won the final ODI in Chittagong by six wickets, led by Tamim Iqbal’s aggressive 95, which included seven sixes, to take the series 3-1, with one game washed out.”We came back really hard at them, played really good cricket,” Shakib said.The Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium is among the venues for the World Cup, and Shakib was happy with the way the pitch played. “The track played really well though the outfield was slow. There was some spin later on but the batsmen handled it really well.”Along with Tamim, who recently returned from injury, Junaid Siddique was also among the runs, scoring a half-century. The improvement in the performance of the top order, Shakib said, was a satisfying development. “Our top order hasn’t been scoring runs, today they did and I’m happy about that. Our fast bowlers have bowled well in the last couple of games and the fielding has been good. Though we have dropped some catches, our body language has been good.”Bangladesh have now won two consecutive ODI series – the first being the 4-0 whitewash of New Zealand – and are faring well in their preparation of the World Cup. This year began on a poor note for them, with 14 straight losses, before a maiden ODI over England triggered a change in fortune. They take on Canada and Pakistan, in Chittagong and Mirpur respectively – days prior to their first World Cup game, against India on February 19.

There was no play possible on the fourth day of the Quaid-e-Azam Division Two final between Khan Research Laboratories and State Bank of Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2011There was no play possible on the fourth day of the Quaid-e-Azam Division Two final between Khan Research Laboratories and State Bank of Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Mohammad Amir has said that February 5, 2011, was the worst day of his life, and that he is determined to make a comeback to the Pakistan side

Osman Samiuddin in Doha06-Feb-2011As Mohammad Amir left the Qatar Financial Centre in Doha Saturday evening, having just been banned for five years, he was surrounded by a small, but scarily enthusiastic group of Pakistan fans. They had waited most of the day outside and when he appeared, they flooded around him, chanting his name, slamming the ICC, telling him to be strong and when they had nothing else, shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. But they were so intense that Amir eventually had to go back inside, like he was Justin Bieber and the fans, 13-year-old girls.They did the same with the two other two players, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, who were part of this hearing and who have been given harsher punishments, but the love just didn’t feel the same. Inside the building, as Amir’s articulate lawyer Shahid Karim picked through the verdict, Amir stood away, alone. An early-morning kind of daze seemed to have taken him over.All through the hearings it has been this way. Amir’s youth, Amir’s innocence, Amir’s talent, Amir’s outswing, Amir’s hair, Amir’s T-shirt, Amir’s background: he’s the only one of the three who has spoken to the press through the actual hearing. At once he’s become the focus of the Lord’s Three as well as an entirely separate entity removed from it.Later in the evening, on closer inspection, it became apparent Amir had been crying. “Today was the worst day of my life,” he said. “Cricket has given me everything and it has been everything and if I don’t play it I have nothing. I left education to play cricket and I have nothing other than cricket.”Naturally not much was said on the case itself. Throughout he veered between tenuous hope and despair, with nothing in between. “For a cricketer whose life is cricket, this is like destroying their life,” he said. Immediately he added, “One shouldn’t lose hope because in life if Allah closes one door, he opens hundred others.”He couldn’t say what he had learnt from it all. One question he’d be down, the next not up, but not so down. “It just seems that everything is finished and that my career never happened. Who knows what is written for me now?” And then, “These things happen in life and I haven’t lost my courage yet. Who knows that lies ahead for me?” Only this time, he spoke of the future as if there might be one.Like Butt, he disagreed with the verdicts and sanctions. The players maintained their innocence through the last day. He did repeat what seems to have emerged as the most intriguing point of the whole affair: that the tribunal was keen on giving lower sentences, to at least two players if not all three. That seemed strangely at odds – perhaps even a little disconnected – with what the rest of the cricket world was thinking and from all the speculation about sanctions beforehand, not once did this particular permutation appear.”Two no-balls should not be five years punishment, they have said this themselves,” Amir said. “I will also say it is too much and I wasn’t expecting it. I can’t think clearly right now.”An appeal will be filed with the Court of Arbitration Sports now though it will not be as straightforward perhaps as Amir’s reading of it. “We will file an appeal there and hope to get something. The law there is different to ICC law.”He ends the only way he, or anyone in the situation really, could, with a proclamation that he will be back and an acknowledgment of the support around him.”The pain goes away a little with this kind of feeling around you. Whenever one starts a business, there are losses and successes. This is the way, when I started my career I had successes. Now this is a bad patch, but you don’t wind up the business. I will work doubly hard. There are lots of grounds in Pakistan and I won’t stop practicing and keeping fit. I will work doubly hard and I will be back.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the crunch Group B game between Bangladesh and South Africa in Mirpur

The Preview by Sidharth Monga18-Mar-2011

Match Facts

March 19, Mirpur

Start time 09.30 am (03.30 GMT)

The Big Picture

The back-door is shut now. Had West Indies won their game last night, Bangladesh would have made it through to the quarter-finals. As it turned out, the game between West Indies and England twisted and turned, went inside-out, upside-down, before England bit another bullet and stayed alive in the tournament. Surely about a 1000 miles north, the Bangladesh players watched in hope and later in agony in their team hotel in Dhaka. Thanks to that result, Bangladesh are now a point behind England, and a long way behind every contender in terms of net run-rate. There is an upside too: Bangladesh no longer need to watch helplessly, hoping for some other team to do what is desirable for them.It’s relatively simple now: beat South Africa and go through, no who-does-what elsewhere in the group. However, just the thought and the equation are simple, not actually beating South Africa, whose pace attack – even on the slow and low pitch at Mirpur – will provide the hosts with their biggest test. South Africa have also been on a bit of a roll, their tight win against India cancelling out the close defeat to England. They will want to finish at the top of the table, and hence face the fourth-placed team in Group A. Given how this World Cup has gone, it might not be the most desirable thing to do, for it could mean they might have to face Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.There is no reason why Bangladesh shouldn’t back themselves, though. They have beaten South Africa in a World Cup before, they have the advantage of home conditions, they have had back-to-back wins, but they also know this is not going to be easy. It’s been a funny World Cup so far: Bangladesh, bowled out for 58 by West Indies, were supporting West Indies yesterday; England, great rivals of South Africa, will be supporting South Africa tomorrow, as will be West Indies.Graeme Smith certainly doesn’t want to miss a poke at England. “I think English fans are getting used to supporting South Africans these days,” he said on the eve of this game.

What happens if…

South Africa win: Bangladesh are knocked out, and India, England and West Indies go through
Bangladesh win: Bangladesh go through, leaving West Indies a must-win game against India
The game is tied or no-result: England go through thanks to a superior net run-rate, and Bangladesh are left hoping West Indies lose their game on Sunday

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WWLWL
South Africa WWLWW

The Bangladesh part of the World Cup returns to Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, where Bangladesh will like a turning surface, but it is not quite possible to create a rank turner in Mirpur. The best they can manage is the low and slow pitch that they rolled out for Ireland. There is no rain forecast, and there shouldn’t be too much of early-morning freshness for this day game, because the sun is already about three-and-a-half hours old by the 9.30 am start in Bangladesh.

Watch out for…

Bangladesh’s best batsman, Tamim Iqbal, hasn’t had a great World Cup, and he knows how much rests on him. He will want to set that record straight, and make sure this is not his last chance in the tournament.
Graeme Smith has had his share of problems at the top of the order, but playing Bangladesh in Bangladesh provides him with a fairly good challenge before the knockouts.

Team news

Bangladesh won’t make too many changes to their winning combination, except that offspinner Naeem Islam is likely to replace left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo, on account of a few left-hand batsmen in the South African line-up.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Shahriar Nafees, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Suhrawadi Shuvo / Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.South Africa are back to full fitness, and Imran Tahir may come back in place of either Johan Botha or Robin Peterson. If AB de Villiers comes back, he might not keep, which might mean that Colin Ingram, despite his 46 against Ireland, might have to sit out.South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Morne van Wyk (wk), 8 Johan Botha / Imran Tahir, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel

• No Bangladesh batsman has scored a World Cup century.
• The only time Bangladesh have beaten South Africa in international cricket was in Providence in the previous World Cup.
• AB de Villiers, with 318 runs from four innings, is the only middle-order batsman in the top-six run-getters of the tournament so far.

Quotes

“We are on the right track and moving forward to our target as we already have won three matches out of five as per our expectation. Everything is okay with the team, but still we believe that we are yet to play our best cricket in the tournament.”

“They need to win the game. We expect a very passionate crowd. They will also be the team under pressure so we hope to be able to force them into doing things they wouldn’t want to do.”

Alex Doolan and Nick Kruger have given Tasmania a strong chance of chasing 373 for victory in Adelaide, which would secure them a home Sheffield Shield final

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2011
ScorecardAlex Doolan could be a key to Tasmania’s victory chances•Getty Images

Alex Doolan and Nick Kruger have given Tasmania a strong chance of chasing 373 for victory in Adelaide, which would secure them a home Sheffield Shield final. The Redbacks struggled to 198 in their second innings and by stumps, Tasmania were 1 for 134 with Doolan on 78 and Kruger on 55, and they were only 239 runs from their goal.The only wicket the Tigers had lost was that of Ed Cowan, who was caught at slip off Gary Putland for a duck in the first over of the innings. Xavier Doherty and Adam Maher, with three wickets each, helped drag Tasmania back into the match as South Australia’s specialist batsmen all failed to pass 20; the only man who did was the bowler Cullen Bailey, who made 79.Daniel Harris, the South Australia opener, batted at No. 8 after suffering a broken nose during the first innings, and he managed 18 before he was stumped off the bowling of Doherty. The Redbacks will finish on the bottom of the table but are searching for a farewell victory for their veteran wicketkeeper Graham Manou, who has announced it will be his final first-class game.