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Pakistan’s “home” series against England, to be played in the UAE from January 2012, will have DRS for the Tests in addition to the ODIs as previously decided. The PCB’s current sponsorship deal for the DRS, under which the ODIs in this series and those already played against Sri Lanka were covered, has been extended to include Tests but not the Twenty20 internationals.There will be no Hot Spot but ball-tracking technology provided by Hawk-Eye will be used in the DRS.”The PCB believes in technology and we were very keen to get the Test series covered with DRS too,” PCB’s General Manager media Nadeem Sarwar told ESPNcricinfo. “Our marketing department has done a great job to convince the sponsor and the DRS will bring added value to the Test series.”In October, the PCB had signed a deal with Pepsi to cover the cost of DRS for only the one-dayers against Sri Lanka and England in the UAE.”We are now hosting the [England] series with only Hawk-Eye for the DRS without the Hot Spot version. Since the use of this expensive technology was not part of the deal signed with the broadcaster [Ten Sports] but we will be considering the option in our new deal.”A deal with the broadcaster was renewed in November 2008 for five years according to which Ten Sports held the telecast and distribution rights for international tours including all Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 matches without the use of DRS technology.

Kumar Sangakkara is a doubt for the opening Test against South Africa after splitting the webbing on his right hand during the warm-up match against an Invitational XI in Benoni. His concerns added to Sri Lanka’s problems as they ended the rain-hit three-day match in a more wounded state than when they began having also watched Nuwan Pradeep tear his right hamstring.Pradeep suffered his injury after bowling ten deliveries on the second day and, while he was not immediately ruled out of the tour, it seems likely he’ll soon fly home . Sri Lanka were already without four injured quicks who didn’t make the original squad. Sangakkara, meanwhile, faces a tight timeframe to be ready for the first Test at Centurion on Thursday after tearing webbing between the first and second fingers on his right hand while fielding at point and did not bat on the final day.He has had three stitches in the wound and hopes “it will settle over the next three to four days.” However, although the injury was played down by team manager Anura Tennekoon, Sangakkara himself was cautious about his prospects. “We just have to keep an eye on it and see how we go,” he said. “That’s the annoying thing about these little injuries. We can’t say for certain.”One thing Sangakkara was sure of was that he will not take the field next week unless he is declared fully fit, even though he is able to hold a bat with his current injury. “You probably could [play] but you don’t want to hamper the side by being half-fit,” he said. “You need to be 100% to play in a Test match. I have to be confident that I can handle a bat, otherwise I won’t play.”There is a glimmer of hope for Sri Lanka, though. Their bowling reserves may be beefed up by the return to fitness of two of the four injured seamers who are currently back home. Prior to their departure to South Africa, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal were all ruled out of their tour but the former two could be called back into the side.”It’s not been a great few months. We’ve got eight or nine really top-class fast bowlers but when you have half of them nursing injuries it doesn’t help the side’s cause,” Sangakkara said. “Kulasekara and Dhammika Prasad both have just come back to bowling now so they will stand a good chance of coming back on the tour.”No replacement players have been named yet but Sri Lanka are expected to make assessments in the next two days and take a call about whether they need additional players ahead of the first Test.

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has admitted the public was poorly informed about Brad Haddin’s omission from the Australian team, but reiterated that the players were completely clear in their communication with the selectors.Speaking before today’s ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka at the SCG, Sutherland confirmed Haddin had been dropped from the limited-overs team, though he remained the Test wicketkeeper of choice. The national selector John Inverarity had originally indicated Haddin was rested from the first three matches of the triangular series before his position would be reassessed. However after those matches the position was not clarified.All the while, Haddin was in touch with Inverarity, and indicated he knew where he stood, though he would prefer to be playing. Nevertheless, Sutherland conceded that in directing so much energy towards improving relations between the players and selectors after the Argus review, it was possible that the public comment imperatives of the national panel had been left some distance behind.”I think there has been a very strong focus over the last few months for the national selection panel to communicate very clearly to the players,” Sutherland said. “Personally I understand over the past couple of weeks there might have been some uncertainty in the public space about this particular selection [Haddin’s]. Personally I think we can do better and we need to do better in that regard.”The communication to the players and to the player group … that has been a focus of improvement and it’s something that is happening and the players are very comfortable with that and the fact it has improved. If there are things that need to be made clearer in the public place and they are not, then they’re things we need to improve.”Brad’s very aware of the position. He’s had a number of conversations with the selectors, particularly the national selector, over the last few weeks and probably as soon as just over 24 hours ago. He knows that he’s out of the team on a performance basis and he’s under no illusions as to where he sits in selector’s eyes.”As I understand it the communications with Brad have been very good. There’s no doubt and there has never been any doubt in Brad’s mind as to where selectors see him. I think he’s been open on that from the start and I think he’s been very mature and very professional about that. I know that he doesn’t necessarily want to be out of the team but I think at the same time he feels refreshed and raring to go and ready to fight his way back.”Inverarity was appointed by CA to develop strong communication with the players, but his function as the public face of the selection panel was seldom discussed before he formally began. Sutherland said he did not know why Inverarity had chosen not to comment publically about Haddin after initially saying the wicketkeeper had been rested.”I don’t know the specific detail on it,” Sutherland said. “Looking back on it, something clearly has gone awry there and that’s something we need to be clearer on. We talk about these things a lot and reflect on them. We’re not comfortable with the level of uncertainty and public discussion on this particular matter.”The really important thing though, for us, and the real focus in recent times for the national selectors has been to the players, and perhaps that area of improving that for the public’s benefit just needs to be touched up on as well.”Six months on from the Argus review, Sutherland said he was happy with how its recommendations were being rolled out, with longer-term measures including a review of injury management still to reach their conclusion.”I think a lot of the more longer term things are about improving processes and systems and the co-ordination between Cricket Australia and state associations and our high-performance pathways,” Sutherland said. “And I think there are some really positive things that are happening there and the level of collaboration between states and Cricket Australia is as high as I’ve seen it in my time at Cricket Australia.”But that’s the first step along the way. This is a journey, it’s not something where you can just say, ‘we’ve fixed that’, it’s an ongoing thing and it’s something that everyone’s working very hard on, and during the course of the off-season it’s something that will be an even greater emphasis.”

ScorecardJamaica thumped Leeward Islands by an innings and 201 runs to complete their third win in as many games.Batting first, Jamaica’s ruthless accumulation was set up by Donovan Pagon’s 155. He was assisted by strong contributions from Brendan Nash (40), Tamar Lambert (51) and David Bernard (70). The sequence of solid partnerships meant Leeward were always playing catch-up, despite offspinner Justin Athanaze’s 3 for 102.Spin continued to hold sway when Leeward batted, with legspinner Odean Brown rolling them over for 104 in the first innings. At 80 for 3, with Montcin Hodge and Devon Thomas holding sway, Leeward looked set for a good reply, but Brown ran up figures of 9.1-6-6-5 to skittle out Leeward.Following on, Leeward fared even worse in their second innings, and that despite Kieran Powell’s half-century. This time, Nikita Miller took on the lead role, scything through the middle and lower order to finish with 5 for 16. Brown indulged himself once again, picking up 4 for 32 as Leeward crumbled for 99. The result put the two sides at opposite ends of the points table, with Jamaica getting the full complement of 36 points from three outings, while Leeward have lost all their games.

Steve Magoffin, the tall fast bowler who last month played a crucial all-round role in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield Final win over Tasmania at the Gabba, made an instant impact for Sussex with a debut seven-for to seal a notable ten-wicket win over the defending champions, Lancashire, inside three days.Here, in chilly Liverpool conditions far removed from the heat of Brisbane, Magoffin bounded up the hill from the Pavilion End to add the wickets of Ashwell Prince, Glen Chapple, Kyle Hogg and Simon Kerrigan to the three he took during Thursday’s evening session, so clinching 22 points for his new county.”That’s pretty much the coldest I have ever played in,” said Magoffin, whose match figures of 9 for 55 were the second best of his career. “It was 40 degrees and humid the last time I played at the Gabba. It’s not so much when you’re bowling as when you aren’t that the temperature is a problem.”Magoffin’s Shield final was no easy ride either. He suffered back spasms on the opening day and the following morning had to make an emergency call to Martin Love, the Queensland physiotherapist and former Test batsman, to help him get out of bed. He returned to take one second innings wicket and then score an unbeaten 26 as they just about crept over the line in a nervy pursuit of 133.”I had various tablets to get myself out there,” he said at the time. “I probably sounded like a Tic-Tac packet running in there.”Lancashire, 85 for four at the start of the third day, still trailing by 91 runs, began positively thanks to Prince and Luke Procter, their young all-rounder whose style of play was not so long ago described as a cross between Neil Fairbrother and Darren Lehmann by the club’s assistant coach, Gary Yates. Procter drove and pulled Monty Panesar’s left-arm spin for successive boundaries during the day’s ninth over, but fell to the England spinner when he skewed a lofted on-drive to Luke Wells at point.Magoffin bowled the majority of his overs from the River End during the match but switched ends before lunch with great effect, getting Prince caught behind for 58 and Chapple caught at first slip by Michael Yardy, whose first-innings hundred had put Sussex in such a dominant position.Rain delayed the start of the afternoon session by 25 minutes, though it was only a brief stay of execution for the hosts because Magoffin bowled Hogg and had Kerrigan caught behind to make the perfect start to his third spell in English cricket following brief stays at Surrey and Worcestershire, where his wife, Becky, worked in the club’s offices.”I didn’t learn I was coming here until late March when I got the call to say that the qualification scenario had changed with my wife being British and that they could get me in to play here on a spouse visa as an overseas player,” he said. “I haven’t played here in four years, and I’ve been restricted because of not playing international cricket. I’m here for a few months and looking forward to contributing. Mark Robinson [Sussex’s coach] has got me over to do that role, to bowl maidens and build pressure.”Lancashire’s fate was sealed when Ed Joyce swept the solitary run required off the third ball of the Sussex chase, leaving them with a lot to ponder ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Warwickshire on this ground. Chapple, their captain, said: “We got into the game on the second day and played some decent stuff, but it was a little bit ‘too little, too late’. It was a poor toss to lose but they definitely outplayed us.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Mustafa Kamal has said he has received an assurance from the BCCI president N Srinivasan that India will host Bangladesh for a full tour later in the year, according to a BCB release sent out after an adjourned board meeting. Bangladesh haven’t played a Test series in India since gaining Test status in 2000. They have, however, hosted India for a Test series on four occasions.”BCB President AHM Mustafa Kamal informed the Board that he has had favourable discussions with BCCI President N Srinivasan during his recent visit to India and has received assurance that India will host Bangladesh for a full tour later this year,” the release stated. The presidents of the BCB and the BCCI met during the opening ceremony of the fifth edition of the IPL.Bangladesh have toured India in the past for ODI tournaments, twice before they started to play Tests – the Asia Cup in 1990 and a triangular series in 1998 – and the Champions Trophy in 2006.India were the first side to tour Bangladesh for a Test series, in 2000-01, soon after Bangladesh were given Test status.

ScorecardBrendan Nash last played for West Indies in June 2011•Associated Press

Queenslander Brendan Nash posted his maiden century in county cricket to put his new club Kent in the driving seat at the mid-point of their second division clash with Yorkshire.Australian-raised by white Jamaican parents – his father Paul swam at the Olympics and Commonwealth games for the island – Nash was unceremoniously dropped after winning his 21st Test caps for the West Indies last June. So poorly was it handled that he learned of his axing on the internet.With a point to prove to the West Indies’ selectors, he agreed in March to join a new look Kent side headed up by his former batting mentor in Jamaica, Jimmy Adams. So far, the move is proving to be an agreeable one for both parties, despite the fact that Nash was greeted like a rookie on his first visit to the St Lawrence ground.”On my first day here the dressing room attendant, Dicky Cannon, thought I was here for a trial and sent me to change in the away dressing room,” explained Nash. “That was just after the security guys at the gate had told me I couldn’t park in the ground. I like to go under the radar a bit but not quite that much. I guess as the overseas player there’s an aura that goes with the job title, but all of that will just make me more determined to proceed.”A diminutive and nuggety left-hander, Nash, 34, scored 381 runs in his five matches for Jamaica in our close-season at an average of 63 and he continued his hot form at a chilly, yet sunny St Lawrence Ground. While the weather continued to frustrate many, so Canterbury enjoyed blue skies. For one moment, Nash might have imagined he was back at Sabina Park – although the temperatures never rose above 14 degrees.Playing with an eye-catching blend of patience and counter attack, the Nash left Yorkshire’s attack bemused and frustrated during an innings that will have reminded their supporters of Darren Lehmann, another gritty left-hander who fully earned his classy reputation in the first-class game.Having seen his county’s top-order virtually all make starts without going on, Nash dug in ala Lehmann to nurdle his way to the first 50 of the game from 82 balls, while all around perished. Scott Newman reached the 30s before pushing at one with hard hands to be caught behind, then soon after lunch, Sam Northeast almost walked for an lbw shout after being trapped on the crease by Ajmal Shahzad.Ben Harmison also toughed it out, scoring 43 with due diligence and respect for the quality of the Yorkshire attack before he lost the plot by swotting across the line to also fall leg before. With the ball still nibbling around, out-and-out shot-making was a risky business as Michael Powell (3) and Darren Stevens (8) quickly discovered.Former Glamorgan stalwart Powell nicked one from Ryan Sidebottom to second slip then Stevens, having survived two previous shouts for leg before against Tim Bresnan, perished to the third when umpire Trevor Jesty raised his finger.In mid-afternoon Geraint Jones joined forces with Nash for the most attractive partnership of the match. The sixth-wicket partners adding 77 in 16 overs at a healthy lick of 4.81 an over. Jones was the main aggressor, cracking nine to the ropes in his 49-ball stay for 47, before his leaden-footed smear at one from Sidebottom flew throat-high into the hands of Gary Ballance at slip.Nash ploughed on, unflustered and unhurried to take Kent beyond Yorkshire’s first innings of 247 and to his maiden century for the club. He got there with a late cut against Sidebottom that just beat the fielder at wide third man for the 10th first-class hundred of his career. In tandem with fellowleft-hander James Tredwell, Nash still refused to yield in the final throws of the day and helping Kent to a third batting bonus point shortly before stumps, went in unbeaten on 114.

Australia’s cricketers will fly out for a one-day tour of England and Ireland on Thursday knowing that time is running out for a new pay deal to be signed. Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) were due to resume negotiations on Thursday as they aim to find common ground on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the existing agreement to expire on June 30.If a new MoU is not completed by then, Australia’s players will need to decide whether to play on – they will have four ODIs remaining against England in early July – or call a strike. Australia’s Twenty20 captain and one-day batsman George Bailey, who is also a member of the ACA executive committee, said the players remained hopeful that they would not be put in such a difficult position.”The players still have full faith that the ACA and CA will be able to sort out the differences they have at the moment and come to a conclusion,” Bailey said. “Whenever there’s talk of a strike I think that’s very much a last, last resort. It would be a disaster if both the ACA and CA got to the stage where that had to occur. I’ve still got full faith that both parties will be able to rectify that in the next few days.”It is not just the national players who could be affected by the ongoing failure to reach a deal. State cricketers have been left in limbo, not knowing whether they will have a contract for next season and unable to negotiate a move interstate, as Cricket Australia has banned any player movements until a new MoU is agreed.That has left a number of domestic players with no choice but to train with their existing state in the knowledge that they might not be part of the squad next summer. Bailey, the captain of Tasmania, said it was a difficult situation for some players, particularly those on the fringes of the state system who did not know what their immediate future would hold.”There’s players who are in a position where they aren’t sure whether they should be training because the reality is they might not be playing for Tassie in a few months,” he said. “It’s that balance of should they be looking for work or should they be talking to other states, who actually aren’t allowed to talk to them at the moment. It’s a bit of a challenge for those guys.”They’re probably the guys you feel for most, the guys at the domestic level who are in limbo, not knowing where they’re going to be playing, who they’re going to be playing for, and the state associations are looking at who they’re going to recruit, who they’re going to contract. At that level you can understand the state associations are starting to get pretty frustrated and players would be wanting to know what’s going on. It’s probably less so at the national level.”The Australians begin their tour with a one-off ODI against Ireland in Belfast on June 23, before a five-match series against England from June 29 to July 10. The squad features several men who are returning after spending time out of the national side, including the fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson, neither of whom have played for Australia since the tour of South Africa last November due to injuries.The allrounder Steven Smith is also back in the mix, having been overlooked since the one-day portion of the South African tour in October. The bowlers will be under the guidance of Ali de Winter, the Tasmania assistant coach, who has been seconded to the squad as temporary bowling coach.

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who remained unbeaten on 144 at the end of the fourth day in Colombo, has said Pakistan ‘shifted the momentum their way’ by taking late wickets. The loss of Mahela Jayawardene forced Sri Lanka to go on the defensive, he said, allowing Pakistan to regain control.”Junaid Khan bowled a pretty good spell and he made the difference at the end of the day,” Sangakkara said. “By getting Mahela out … I thought that was quite an important wicket, especially with about 12 overs to go. The batsmen coming after that had to play a kind of a negative game and that usually allows the bowling side to take the upper hand.”I thought Dilshan batted beautifully, but unfortunately he got out at that time. Pakistan held their nerve and with the old ball reversing they managed to kind of shift the momentum their way. Those overs at the end were tailor made for their bowlers, because we were playing for the end of the day and they were trying to pick up wickets.”Sri Lanka’s main target on day five, he said, would be to play out a session and save the follow-on. “Tomorrow, if we bat a session that’s going to be a solid effort from us. We need to get another 74 runs to avoid the follow-on. That’s our first target, with everyone chipping in trying to rotate the strike. We’ll get to that target and then assess things from there.”This hundred was Sangakkara’s 30th, putting him ahead of Don Bradman in the list for the most centuries. This, Sangakkara said, was a ‘great honour’. “The fact is that I have played a lot more Test matches than he has [110 Tests to 52]. If he had played the amount that I have, there would have been no chance of catching him. But it’s a great honour to get to 30 hundreds.”It is something that I had always set myself when I started playing cricket and when I started getting hundreds. Thirty is a solid mark for a batsman.”

ScorecardLancashire eased to their fifth win in seven games beating Leicestershire by six wickets in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A clash at Grace Road. Stephen Moore, Ashwell Prince and Steven Croft all hit half centuries as Lancashire cruised to their victory target of 219 with 4.2 overs to spare.The win puts them two points behind leaders Middlesex, with three games in hand. The Foxes could only post a disappointing 218 for 8 despite a brilliant unbeaten 83 from 18-year-old Shiv Thakor, while Lancashire’s veteran seamer, Glen Chapple, claimed 4 for 46 – his best return for six years in the 40-over game.An opening stand of 108 in 17 overs between Moore and Prince gave Lancashire the perfect start, with Moore dominating the early stages of the innings scoring 36 of the 48 runs that came off the first power play. He reached 50 off 46 balls – his fifth in seven games – but was then caught at cover off medium pacer Michael Thornely for 60. Prince reached his half century off 62 balls with two fours plus a six off Thakor, but holed out to mid-wicket having hit 85 off 89 balls.Two wickets in successive balls from Taylor brought a brief halt to Lancashire’s progress but Croft saw them home with an unbeaten 57 off 58 balls.Thakor, who has just taken his A-levels, was the star turn of Leicestershire’s innings in his first game in the competition this season, after the Foxes had plunged to 68 for 4 in 16 overs. Will Jones was out lbw to Tom Smith in the opening over, Greg Smith was bowled by Chapple for 20 and the prized wicket of the in-form Ramnaresh Sarwan was taken by Ajmal Shahzad.Sarwan, who has hit two centuries in the CB40 this season, looked in good touch again, until he was caught at cover off a leading edge for 20, and when Michael Thornley chopped a Shahzad delivery back into his stumps, Lancashire were in total control. But Matt Boyce and Thakor, dragged Leicestershire back into the game. Despite a lack of boundaries they shared a 50 stand in 10 overs and Boyce reached his own half century off 60 balls with two fours. Thakor’s 50 soon followed and came off 60 balls with three fours.But the stand was broken when Boyce was stumped as he lost balance trying to reverse sweep Gary Keedy. The partnership off 96 contained 66 singles – 33 to each player. With Boyce’s departure, Thakor began to attack, square cutting Chapple to the boundary and then pulling him for six. But Chapple took the last three wickets with the impressive Thakor unbeaten on 83 off 74 balls as the Foxes scored 42 runs off the last four overs.