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Essel Sports Private Ltd, the ICL’s owners, have served a notice on the ICC and the English and Indian cricket boards over what it claims was an unlawful ban on players associated with the unofficial league

Cricinfo staff19-Nov-2009The first legal shot has been fired in the long-running battle between the unauthorised Indian Cricket League and the men who run cricket, with Essel Sports Private Ltd (ESPL), the ICL’s owners, serving notice on the ICC and the English and Indian cricket boards over what it claims was an unlawful ban on players associated with the unofficial league.The notice, served by London-based legal firm Ingram Winter Green, claims that the barring of ICL players from international cricket, particularly the county circuit, violated England’s restraint of trade laws. It also claims that the BCCI “engaged in a range of activities clearly calculated to deter and prevent prospective players (and others) from involving themselves with ICL”.The ECB has been named as the first respondent in the notice while the BCCI and ICC have been named as second and third respondents respectively. While ESPL has been named as the first claimant, unidentified “professional cricketers” have been named as the second claimant.Further legal proceedings, if any, are expected to take place in the UK.The notice, dated November 16, also demands an injunction against each defendant for implementing the boycott and unspecified damages to make up for the loss that ESPL has suffered due to the ban after an inquiry. It has asked the ECB, ICC and BCCI to respond within December 7.”We want just justice, that’s all,” an ICL spokesperson told Cricinfo. “There are a lot of issues involved including the restraint of trade and threatening of players who were part of the ICL.”Referring to the unnamed professional cricketers, the notice claims: “The names of those individuals have been withheld to prevent retaliatory measures ahead of possible pending litigation”.The ICL was formed in 2007, a year before the official IPL Twenty20 tournament came into being, but was denied recognition – despite repeated requests and discussions – by the BCCI, other national cricket bodies and the ICC. The league went ahead for two years but finally decided to suspend operations early this year after all its players – around 150 Indian and foreign cricketers – preferred to take up a worldwide amnesty offered by the various official national boards.”From the inception, the ICL has received a hostile reaction from the BCCI,” the notice claims. “Early approaches in correspondence in which the ICL aimed to achieve co-operation [with the BCCI] were rebuffed by BCCI. BCCI has since engaged in a range of activities clearly calculated to deter and prevent prospective players (and others) from involving themselves with ICL, and intended to obstruct the activities of the ICL.”The boycott of the ICL has had a serious effect on the players. The boycott of the ICL prevents the players carrying on their trade as professional cricketers in the UK if they also enter into contracts to play in the ICL. In the premises, the ECB is committing an unlawful restraint of trade by implementing the boycott of the ICL in the UK.”An ECB spokesman told Cricinfo they would not be commenting on the issue until further notice.

The first day of Iain O’Brien’s last Test for New Zealand didn’t begin well but it soon got rapidly better

Cricinfo staff11-Dec-2009The first day of Iain O’Brien’s last Test for New Zealand didn’t begin well. Before heading to McLean Park for the series decider, he received “pretty average news” about his UK visa and, after getting there, Daniel Vettori lost the toss and New Zealand had to bowl when they would have preferred to bat. From there on, though, O’Brien’s day got remarkably better.”A few things didn’t go my way this morning before we left the hotel. Managed to push them aside and that might have helped me push a bit harder in the middle. You use what you can to motivate you,” O’Brien said. “I got some pretty average news this morning but we’ll work through that. It may end up delaying my departure by possibly months. So it’s another hurdle to get over.”What O’Brien did, though, was give Pakistan’s batsmen several hurdles to clear and four of them failed. He bowled a hostile, accurate spell in the first session, clocking over 140 kmph consistently, restricting the batsmen with his discipline before delivering the knock-out blow with something extra. At one stage O’Brien’s figures were 4.2-4-3-3. His first wicket, in his first over, was that of Faisal Iqbal and his next three – Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq – were all dismissed for zero.Pakistan had slumped dramatically from 39 for 1 to 51 for 5 and were eventually dismissed for 223, a “great result for us bowlers” according to O’Brien. “I think that spell I bowled at the Basin last week, after we were knocked over for 99, was probably up there in quality also,” he said. “But yes, to bowl first on a pretty good deck, to bowl a few maidens and take a couple wickets, it was a great start to what hopefully will be a pretty cool Test.”O’Brien said that the fact that this was his last Test was “part of the thoughts” but was pleased that it spurred him on to wrecking Pakistan’s innings. “To get that first ball out of the way … it’s always the second one for me that’s the messy one, so it was basically ‘get the second ball out of the way’ and keep going.”He didn’t get a five-for, though, and finished with figures of 4 for 32 as Daryl Tuffey mopped up the last four wickets. O’Brien said, with some irony, that it was perhaps fitting that he didn’t take a fairytale five-wicket haul in his last Test given his valuable, yet unglamorous, role in the New Zealand attack, where he often shoulders the burden of bowling into strong winds.”I was pretty keen to get five, and make that a part of my last Test. But it was probably fitting that I didn’t as well because I haven’t had too many fives. So it’s probably best that I didn’t, you know, in terms of the kind of player and the role that I’ve played.”O’Brien had announced his retirement from international cricket during the Wellington Test, which Pakistan won to level the series 1-1. He said the decision was because he wanted to move to the UK to be with his wife and play for Middlesex.

Plays of the day from the 5th day of the 3rd Test between England and South Africa at Cape Town.

Andrew McGlashan07-Jan-2010Pain in the buttock
There was talk throughout the day that Friedel de Wet wasn’t fully fit and it was believed to be a back issue. It was later confirmed that he had received an injection into his buttock on the fourth day to ease an intramuscular problem. He certainly wasn’t at full tilt during his brief spells, clocking around 78mph on the speed gun, and sending down only eight overs during the day. Graeme Smith was left virtually a man short when he desperately needed a five-man attack.Princely field setting
It’s great when a plan comes off and Mark Boucher was made to look a strategic genius today. James Anderson had been playing Paul Harris regularly into the leg side and Boucher suggested that a leg slip should come into position. Graeme Smith agreed and Ashwell Prince was put in place. Next ball Anderson managed to sweep a low full toss onto his boot which bounced out towards Prince, who pulled off a blinding catch as he dived full length to his right. Harris can’t say he bowled for it, but Boucher will probably be offering more advice on fielding placings in the future.Jagging back
It looked as though Jonathan Trott had done another good job in stonewalling the South Africans but there was little he could do about the delivery that finally nailed him. Dale Steyn found the spot on a good length that had troubled batsmen throughout the game and the ball jagged back between Trott’s bat and pad. It could be said that Trott didn’t play the shot with much conviction, but sometimes the bowler deserves the credit.Too good
But if you thought that was good from Steyn, what came after lunch was breathtaking. In a six-over spell he bombarded Paul Collingwood with one of the most hostile and sustained bursts of pace bowling that has been seen in a long time. Time and again he beat the outside edge with what were basically 90mph leg-breaks and when he targeted the stumps Collingwood was somehow able to keep him out. It made for utterly compelling viewing and Steyn’s final figures for the spell – 6-3-13-0 – don’t even begin to explain the drama it involved.Not finished yet
With a neat flick through midwicket Ian Bell brought up what is arguably his most important Test fifty to date. But he knew his job wasn’t done and barely offered a wave of the bat to the crowd and the dressing room. He had to settle in again. And he did, until he’d nearly completed the job and then, having left so brilliantly, he fended at Morne Morkel’s comeback delivery. Graeme Smith pouched the catch and Bell walked slowly off and had to endure the nerve-jangling end in the dressing room.Late twist
However, England’s late wobble was actually instigated by South Africa’s sixth bowler. JP Duminy looked more of a threat than Paul Harris today and that will give the home side food for thought. After going wicketless during the afternoon session, the game had entered the final hour when Duminy found Paul Collingwood’s edge. It was the sniff South Africa needed and memories of Centurion came flooding back.Captive audience
There have been concerns about crowd numbers in South Africa cricket, but Newlands has always done better than the other centres. However, even Western Province officials will be delighted with the final number from these five days after 79, 375 came through the turnstiles. They were provided with an absolute thriller.

Cricinfo previews the fifth ODI of the tri-nation tournament, between India and Sri Lanka in Mirpur

The Preview by Sidharth Monga09-Jan-2010

Match facts

January 10, 2010
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Tillakaratne Dilshan has recovered from his groin injury and is set to return•AFP

Big picture

You heard it right. India and Sri Lanka are playing an ODI. Again. For the 21st time in less than 19 months. Not even a final. Nor has this been a back-and-forth rivalry that the marketing gurus might be interested in milking. Ever since their Asia Cup final win in 2008, Sri Lanka have been on the receiving end, thumped in three bilateral series, and also the tri-series final in Sri Lanka. The 12-7 scoreline in India’s favour says as much.In fact, any significance this fixture is likely to earn will be down to the next match, and whether Bangladesh can catch India on the hop twice in a row. If Monday’s match between India and Bangladesh goes down the expected route, this one on Sunday will only take familiarity one step closer to contempt. India, though, will not want to leave it till the Bangladesh match, and Sri Lanka will like to keep that winning feeling going, something they have started to feel consistently after a long time.On the other hand, if the captains feel adventurous – and Kumar Sangakkara is more likely to, because he is assured of the final berth – they could choose to bat first and get some practice of bowling with a bar of soap. Yes, the matches are being won and lost at the toss, but the teams will want to try and do all they can to reverse the result if they lose the toss in the final.

Form guide (last 5 completed matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka WWWLL
India WLWWL

Watch out for

Harbhajan Singh had a horrible day in the field against Bangladesh, dropping two catches and going for 56 runs in nine overs. That a game after he was the standout bowler against Sri Lanka. Which Harbhajan will turn up on Sunday?Upul Tharanga has settled the debate as to who should be Tillakaratne Dilshan’s opening partner in ODIs, displacing Sanath Jayasuriya. Now that he is assured of his place, perhaps for the first time in his career, Tharanga seems a completely different batsman. Thanks to his starts, Sri Lanka so far haven’t even missed Dilshan in this series.

Team news

Nor are Sri Lanka likely to miss Dilshan against India. Because Dilshan is all set to return to action, having recovered from his groin strain. That should push Mahela Jayawardene, who scored a century while opening against Bangladesh, down into the middle order, where he will meet another centurion, Thilan Samaraweera.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt./wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7 Thissara Perera, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Thilan Thushara, 11 Malinga BandaraIndia could retain the XI that beat Bangladesh.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt./wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8, Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Sreesanth

Stats and trivia

• Twenty of India’s last 46 ODIs have been against Sri Lanka. Only 12 of those 46 have been outside the subcontinent. Their next most frequent opponent has been Australia, against whom they have played seven games.
• Jayawardene averages 62.5 as an opener. Two of his 12 ODI centuries have come during his four attempts at opening the innings.
  

  Quotes

  “We were disappointed to lose the ODI series [in India] as we played some very good cricket there. Both the teams have played a lot recently and probably both knew each other inside out. I am looking forward to the match on Sunday.”
  “Not a single frontline bowler was up to the mark. Only Yuvraj Singh bowled well. We cannot take Ravindra Jadeja as a frontline bowler, but he bowled well.”

Javed Miandad has written a letter to the president, Asif Ali Zardari, in which he has criticised Ijaz Butt as being “too old” to hold a position of such importance

Cricinfo staff02-Feb-2010Javed Miandad, a former Pakistan captain, has written a letter to the country’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, in which he has criticised Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan board chairman, for being “too old” to hold a position of such importance. Zardari, who is also the patron of the PCB, had appointed 71-year-old Butt as chairman in 2008 in place of Nasim Ashraf.”The chairman has become too old for the position he is holding as he seldom remembers his own important official commitments and agreements,” Miandad, who is currently a PCB director general, wrote in a letter seen by Cricinfo. “Most of the staff working under the chairman, including many directors, are fed up with his style of working; evidence of which is that many directors have left their jobs during his tenure.”Aamer Sohail, the PCB’s director of academies, Salim Altaf, the chief operating officer, and Abdul Qadir, the chief selector, all resigned in 2009 because of differences with Butt. Miandad also quit in January 2009 before accepting the post of director general and returning, though his relationship with Butt has been frosty since; the pair recently exchanged bitter words publicly over Miandad’s salary. Incidentally, Miandad was also appointed to the board by Zardari, as the former captain acknowledges in the letter.”The chairman is being disapproved by the whole nation,” Miandad wrote. “Pakistan cricket is in real bad shape and the whole nation is looking towards me to be the saviour of their favourite sport. But unfortunately the chairman PCB is not willing to take me along and he has sidelined me for reasons only known to him.”The Pakistan team is currently in Australia where they have had terrible results, losing the Test series 3-0 and the ODIs 5-0.

Michael Hussey doesn’t expect Australia’s batsmen to be tied down again by West Indies’ band of medium pacers in the potential series-decider

Peter English13-Feb-2010Michael Hussey doesn’t expect Australia’s batsmen to be tied down again by West Indies’ band of medium pacers in the potential series-decider at the Gabba on Sunday. The tourists were without the very fast Kemar Roach during the third game in Sydney and restricted the hosts to 225 before rain washed out the match.Roach is likely to miss out again with a left ankle injury, leaving West Indies to rely on their batch of un-frightening but effective seamers. The unusual new-ball pairing of Ravi Rampaul and Dwayne Smith combined for seven wickets on Friday as the pair benefited from the swinging conditions on a softish surface.Hussey does not expect the pitch in Brisbane to be as kind to the West Indies attack as the hosts aim to wrap up the series with a game to play. “Somewhere like the Gabba where it’s a lot more truer, with good bounce and good pace, and comes on to the bat a little bit more, I think it will suit our batting a bit more than it did in Sydney,” he said.Rampaul, who took 4 for 61 at the SCG, is slightly faster than the rest of the attack, but Smith, Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy sit comfortably in the medium-pace bracket. Gavin Tonge is a quick option but hasn’t been used yet and may come into calculations for the Gabba.Chris Gayle was pleased with Rampaul’s performance but still sees room for improvement, and he expects the Rampaul-Smith combination will be kept for specific occasions. “Those conditions definitely suited them a lot, and the medium pacers a lot,” he said. “When they put the ball in the right area they created a lot of chances. This might be a different scenario, I think Australia might go back to the drawing board and assess the conditions a bit differently, you never know what they will come up with.”It is rare for an international team to operate without a main fast man and it takes some adjustment for the batsmen. “They mix up their pace very well, and try and be a little bit more defensive with their approach,” Hussey said. “Not so much trying to get you out but trying to keep the run-scoring down.”Sometimes in one-day games the pressure can build up and you probably go looking for something that’s not quite there. With the quality of batsmen we have all the way down our list, if we just keep looking to play good shots then we can put the pressure back on their medium pacers.”Both teams are trying to claim they were in the stronger position when the rain came in Sydney, but that is a futile argument. The Australians are two matches away from an undefeated home Test and ODI season and Hussey said the squad was better placed than in previous years when fatigue took over in the latter stages of the summer and cost them a couple of trophies.Sunday’s fixture will be the fourth in eight days and the schedule is so crammed that there is not even room for training. Hussey said the break from the nets might be a good thing. In India last year he didn’t train in between ODIs to stay fresh and since then he has scored 605 runs at 75.62 in 14 games.”Our performances in one-day cricket have dropped a bit [in previous seasons] because we have kept training hard, and we have been beaten in a few series by India and England,” he said. “I think it came down to fatigue, so definitely it has been a plan of the group to focus on rehab. The skills we are not going to lose over a short period of time when we are playing so much.”

A superlative bowling performance by Royal Challengers Bangalore, including a hat-trick by Praveen Kumar, decimated Rajasthan Royals for a paltry 92 and set up a huge win

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran18-Mar-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outPraveen Kumar took the first hat-trick of the season•Indian Premier League

A superlative bowling performance by Royal Challengers Bangalore, including a hat-trick by Praveen Kumar, decimated Rajasthan Royals to a paltry 92 and set up a huge win. The match lasted just 30.3 overs as Bangalore strolled home by 10 wickets to call it an early night, and also seal the second-most comprehensive victory in terms of ball to spare.The bowlers stuck to a plan of bowling quick, short deliveries, which contributed to an abject batting performance by a weakened Rajasthan. The batsmen struggled to find a weak link to exploit. Although Praveen hogged the limelight with the first hat-trick of IPL 2010, it was the combined bowling performance that set the platform for back-to-back wins at home.The Bangalore bowlers focused on bowling as straight as possible and tucking the batsmen up. The batsmen looked out of depth from the beginning, playing and missing and failing to find gaps. The first five overs produced only two fours and 27 runs, quite an antithesis to the Twenty20 brand of cricket.The pressure began to tell on Rajasthan, and the urgency to push on cost them three early wickets. Jacques Kallis struck with his first delivery when he had Naman Ojha splicing to cover-point. Michael Lumb, the Hampshire left-hand batsman, had a testing IPL debut, particularly against Dale Steyn, who got the ball to skid through and fizz past the outside edge on a few occasions. He tried his luck against Anil Kumble by chipping down the track to a slow flighted delivery, but failed the read the googly and was stumped by yards.Even the experienced Damien Martyn looked out of sorts. The rustiness of not having played too much competitive cricket since retirement began to show against some sharp bouncers from Kallis. The dismissal of Abhishek Jhunjhunwala – chopping Kallis onto the stumps – heralded the arrival of Yusuf Pathan, the best man to get them out of jail.There wasn’t to be an instant manic revival. Yusuf struggled to put bat on ball early on. Realising his weakness against the short ball, Bangalore persisted with back-of-a-length deliveries, and Yusuf kept swishing at thin air. Between the seventh and 11th over, the run-rate did not cross four and even their most attacking batsman was in inertia.However, the bowlers were made to pay when they bowled fuller, as Yusuf demonstrated with consecutive thumps over deep midwicket off Vinay Kumar. He was dropped twice – on 19 and 24 – off thick top edges, but it didn’t cost Bangalore much as he was sent packing with an athletic direct hit by Virat Kohli, diving forward.Praveen used three different deliveries to get his hat-trick, the seventh in the tournament’s history. A sluggish Martyn struggled to break free and lost his middle stump when Praveen returned for a new spell. Praveen followed the yorker with a short delivery to Sumit Narwal, who top-edged it down fine leg’s throat. Paras Dogra faced the hat-trick ball, but had his middle stump pegged back to a length delivery, trying to swipe him across the line. The procession of wickets stamped Bangalore’s authority on the game, which was all but sealed at that point.Going by the way Manish Pandey and Kallis closed out the game, only a double hat-trick could have saved Rajasthan. Kallis was at his elegant best, clipping the ball off his pads, tearing into his countryman Morne Morkel for 20 in his first over. Pandey showed scant respect to his countryman, Munaf Patel, muscling the ball down the ground. He also planted one over deep midwicket off Sumit Narwal. The only time Rajasthan looked like taking a wicket was when Pandey sliced the ball to mid-off, and replays couldn’t confirm if Morkel took it cleanly.Rajasthan looked deflated and lost for ideas as Kallis and Pandey threatened to finish the game within 10 overs. Bangalore went to second place in the points table, behind Mumbai Indians.

Sri Lanka’s longstanding allrounder has won a seat in parliament for the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Cricinfo staff09-Apr-2010Sanath Jayasuriya has won a seat in parliament for the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has reported. Jayasuriya, 40, cast his ballot on Wednesday, a day before the nationwide election as he had to head back to India to play in the ongoing IPL.Jayasuriya won 74,352 votes to win his seat in his hometown Matara, in the southern province, an official with the local election commission said. Jayasuriya is the latest high-profile cricketer in the country to join politics, following the footsteps of former World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Hashan Tillekaratne.Incidentally, Ranatunga was formerly with the UPFA, before switching allegiance to the defeated opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, of the Democratic National Alliance.Jayasuriya quit Tests in 2007 to focus in his limited-overs career. However, he’s not been able to hold his place in the national team of late.

Geraint Jones scored his first Championship century of the season as Kent took full advantage of a friendly pitch after winning the toss to compile a total of 355 for 6 on the opening day of their duel at Chelmsford

10-May-2010Kent 355 for 6 v Essex

Scorecard
Geraint Jones scored his first Championship century of the season as Kent took full advantage of a friendly pitch after winning the toss to compile a total of 355 for 6 on the opening day of their duel at Chelmsford. The former England wicketkeeper laced his innings with a series of fluent
drives while gathering 21 fours en route to a total of 135 from 177 deliveries.Coming in after Joe Denly was caught behind off Chris Wright in the second over of the morning, Jones quickly asserted his authority. While he found the gaps with ease to race to 36 as the 50 was raised in the
14th over, Robert Key struggled to get the ball off the square at the other
end.The Kent captain laboured through 42 deliveries for 7 before David Masters had him caught in the gully with the total on 53. But Essex had to wait a further 35 overs for their next success as Jones and Martin van Jaarsveld put together a partnership of 137, their progress being helped by bowling that was often lacking in line and length.Van Jaarsveld did not perform with his usual fluency, but still looked
secure until Ryan ten Doeschate had him caught down on the leg side by James Foster. Jones then shared in a half-century partnership with 20-year-old Sam Northeast before he edged a drive in off-spinner Tom Westley’s second over to Alistair Cook at slip.Northeast, however, continued to impress with aggressive strokes either side of the wicket as he moved to his half-century, containing eight fours, from 70 deliveries. He picked up another couple of boundaries on his way to 65 before he fell victim to a brilliant piece of stumping by Foster to provide left-arm spinner, Tim Phillips, with success.Meanwhile, Danish Kaneria, making his first Essex appearance of the season, did not enjoy the best of luck. The Pakistan legspinner beat the bat on several occasions before claiming his first success in his 23rd over.
After having Darren Stevens dropped by a diving Cook at slip, he produced a
googly in the same over to bowl James Hockley.Stevens continued to endure several anxious moments against Kaneria, but
battled through to the close to reach 57 that contained seven fours and a six. Essex employed six bowlers in their attempts to make inroads into the innings, each of them picking up a wicket.Kaneria’s solitary success has so far come at a cost of 92 runs from 27 overs.

Less than two weeks after securing the World Twenty20 crown in Barbados England’s focus is back on Test cricket

Preview by Andrew McGlashan26-May-2010

Match facts

Thursday May 27, 2010
Start time 11.00am (10.00GMT)Andrew Strauss and Shakib Al Hasan go head to head in a series that isn’t expected to cause England many problems•PA Photos

Big Picture

Less than two weeks after securing the World Twenty20 crown in Barbados England’s focus has returned to Test cricket. After soaking up their success, a visit to Downing Street and the Player of the Year dinner it’s back to the serious business with minds and bodies needing to adjust to the five-day game.It is a very different England side that will take the field on Thursday to the one that was chasing Paul Collingwood around the Kensington Oval. For starters the Twenty20 captain isn’t there, having been rested along with Stuart Broad, and six of the likely starters at Lord’s weren’t in the Caribbean while a seventh, James Anderson, was a drinks carrier. Andrew Strauss is back to lead the side for the first time since January after sitting out the Bangladesh tour as is his understudy Alastair Cook who led the squad on that trip.This short series should be a formality and the onus is very much on building – and maintaining – momentum during the season ahead of next winter’s Ashes series. The squad rotation is with a view to finding out about a few younger players with Eoin Morgan and Steven Finn at the head of that list as Andy Flower adds to his options.England were made to work hard for their success in Bangladesh, but on home soil will be expecting less resistance from the tourists. The visitors’ warm-up form has been poor with a heavy defeat against England Lions last week and Shakib Al Hasan has been laid up with chicken pox. This tour has to be viewed as another learning experience for the team and they are going to have to adjust to foreign conditions if they want to be a force in the world game.Given the low expectations taking the games to five days would class as a success for Bangladesh, but if there is any help on offer for England’s attack even that may prove too much. Four years ago they were beaten before lunch on the third day and they’ll want to give a better account of themselves this time.

Form guide (last five completed matches)

England WWLDW
Bangladesh LLLLL

Watch out for…

Eoin Morgan has made his name in the limited-overs game with a series of matchwinning innings in 50- and 20-over matches. That composure has been enough to earn him a Test chance despite a disappointing first-class record where he averages 36. Flower has clearly seen something he likes. The challenge for Morgan is to focus his energy into building long innings, although two matches against Bangladesh won’t push him to his limits. With Collingwood likely to return to face Pakistan this could be a brief window for Morgan to stake his Ashes claims.Such is the desire to play at Lord’s for visiting cricketers that Tamim Iqbal will battle the pain barrier to line up on Thursday. But beyond his personal drive to savour headquarters he is also vital to any chance Bangladesh have of making a sustained contest out of this Test. He was the stand-out performer when the two sides met earlier this year and if he can continue that form in foreign conditions his reputation will be further enhanced.

Team news

Although this would be a good chance to experiment with five bowlers, it seems likely England will stick to their preferred route of a batting-heavy line-up which means a debut for Morgan ahead of Ajmal Shahzad. A host of Test specialists return, including the under-pressure Jonathan Trott at No.3, while Matt Prior will want to quieten speculation over his place.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Andeson, 11 Steven FinnShakib has recovered from chicken pox and Tamim will play despite his wrist injury with both vital to Bangladesh’s hopes. Given concerns over how their batting will respond, it is no surprise they are packing the top order. Mohammad Ashraful returns and Jahurul Islam, who made an unbeaten 58 against the Lions, also plays which means Mushfiqur Rahim is down at No. 8. There is no place for left-arm spinner Abdul Razzak so Shakib can expect plenty of overs.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Jahurul Islam, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 9 Rubiul Islam, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Shahadat Hossain

Pitch and conditions

The recent heatwave in London has abated to be replaced by more normal conditions with sunny intervals and cloud. England’s pace attack won’t mind overhead conditions to help them and there is a chance of some rain during the weekend. The pitch is rarely a concern at Lord’s and a pacey track is expected which should encouraged batsmen and bowlers who are good enough to take advantage.

Stats and Trivia

• England remain the only Full Member nation never to have lost an international match against Bangladesh
• During the 2005 Test at Lord’s, Bangladesh were dismissed for 108 and 159 as England romped to an innings-and-261-run victory
• Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper, made his debut in that match but played as a batsman only, while Shahadat Hossain also made his first appearance and went for 101 in 12 overs.

Quotes

“The success we’ve had over the last 12 months has been built around hard work and graft and I think we need to take that to the next level.”
“I’m really excited to play at Lord’s in a Test match. It will be a dream come true and I really want to play, because I don’t know when I’ll get another chance.”