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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) may be cash-strapped at the moment but there are riches lying ahead of them during the rest of the year with a whopping US$ 17 million expected from international commitments at home and abroad.Arjuna Ranatunga, the SLC chairman, recently revealed that the board’s coffers were empty and that it was surviving on bank borrowings. Ranatunga had also appealed to the Indian board to help alleviate the financial mess and it appears some revenue has been projected by way of an Indian visit from July 12 to September 2.A series of three Tests and five one-day internationals is expected to net SLC US$ 16,014,446 from television rights alone. The three Tests are likely to be played at Galle and in Colombo and Dambulla is likely to host at least one ODI. Zimbabwe are the other country Sri Lanka will be hosting during 2008 and the turnout for a series of three ODIs is US$ 218,101.Sri Lanka are currently touring Australia for the CB Series against the hosts and India. Their next assignment will be a full series in the West Indies, starting with the first Test in Guyana on March 22.From April 18 to June 17 Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Zoysa are expected to feature in the inaugural Indian Premier League. Given the amount of interest and money the IPL has already gathered, it remains to be seen if the proposed Asia Cup in June and July materialises. If it does, SLC will received US$ 200,000 for their participation.It is more likely that they will receive US$1 million for taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy, also scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September and October. Only the top eight ODI teams in the world will be invited to play in the Champions Trophy, the venues for which are Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. Islamabad was initially touted as a possible venue, but it is unlikely that the stadium, which is currently being developed, will be ready for the tournament.The advent of the IPL has also thrown the Afro-Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Kenya in June, in doubt. There is also uncertainty surrounding the Stanford 20/20 tournament taking place in the West Indies in June, due to the IPL.SLC are also due to get revenue when they host Bangladesh for a series of three Tests and three ODIs starting at the end of the year.

There is a bit of fire about Liam Smith. Perhaps it was the pent up adrenaline after completing his first hundred at the under-19 level, or maybe even cramps on his leg that was bothering him. Or it just could be that South Africa’s 43-run loss to Bangladesh was hurting him even more.Standing few meters away from Smith was Nazmul Hossain Shanto, whose sparkling 73 set up Bangladesh’s win. He wasn’t beaming, but his body language had a mild strut to it. Upright, almost cocksure.Smith wasn’t exactly seething, but it was evident that the loss didn’t sit right with him, like it didn’t with Tony de Zorzi, the captain, and the rest of his team.It was a challenging day for the defending champions, and Smith played well throughout his nearly three-hour stay. His suppleness at the crease caught the eye, considering a lot of the cricket he’s played in his flourishing career has come on surfaces with more pace and bounce.He was good at using the depth of the crease and on occasions looked to dominate during his 146-ball innings that had nine fours and a six. Forty-seven singles and two twos punctuated his effort which could have been a match-winning effort had there been a couple of big partnerships.Smith was left to mostly play the anchor role before trying to up the ante at the end, but his innings was cut short courtesy a brilliant catch at cover by his counterpart Mehedi Hasan. Smith said the weather conditions were a bit challenging, even as he seemed to have worked out Bangladesh’s bowling quite well.”It is extremely hot,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “You do get tired quite quickly. The bowlers are playing at their home ground so they know how to bowl here, so it was quite difficult. We played against Bangladesh before (the two teams played two seven-match series in 2015), so we were well prepared. However, he was left to rue the lack of partnerships.”Only one of their bowlers has changed and we knew the pitches when practicing here. We did try [to build partnerships] so I can’t blame us. We would have won the game if we built bigger partnerships.”For Bangladesh, who displayed tremendous energy on the field and were on cruise control with the bat, this had been a highly anticipated game. Shanto, who was also part of the 2014 Under-19 World Cup squad, said he urged the rest of his teammates to not get overawed by the occasion. After all, they had beaten the same opponent in 11 out of 14 games last year.”There was a bit of nervousness today because we have some new guys in the team,” he said. “But at training yesterday and before we took the field, the only thing we talked about was to play our normal game. We can’t think of it as a World Cup game.”The experience of playing against them helped us. We knew where they would bowl and the strength of their batsmen. The wicket was for a 240-250 score batting first. The ball did stop a bit and scoring runs freely wasn’t easy but I think my own experience at this level helped me today. I knew what to do in this situation,” he said.Shanto said that he initially tried to base his innings on ones and twos, but didn’t hesitate to put the bad balls away. He struck four boundaries and three sixes in all during his 82-ball innings. “My first thought was to rotate the strike and only latch on to the bad balls,” he explained. “When we lost a couple of wickets, I thought I wouldn’t go for the shots but go ahead with singles. But it was hard to pick singles because the wicket was stopping a bit and they were fielding very well.”Bangladesh’s technical advisor Stuart Law said while Shanto stuck to the task expected of him, it would have been better if one of him, Pinak Ghosh and Joyraz Sheik carried on to make a big score. “This is Shanto’s job. He has instructions to bat through. He took his time but once he got in, he played some beautiful shots,” Law said. “It was disappointing that one or two others weren’t able to push on and get a really big score. We thought 241 would be tough to get if we bowled well.”I think South Africa bowled and fielded well to restrict us to 240. Their cover and midwicket cut off a lot of runs. I think we did what we could. We saw Smith get a 100. If we get one of our top-order to do that, we will get close to 300 runs.”It would be easy to think that Smith’s 100 went in vain but he hardly had anyone supporting him. Shanto however had Sheik and Mehedi at the other end making sure he didn’t have to do all the running.It was ultimately the difference in outcome between two splendid batting efforts.

Tamim Iqbal has urged the younger members of the Bangladesh team to remain hungry for forthcoming challenges at the end of a successful year in international cricket.Bangladesh began 2015 with a maiden appearance in a World Cup quarter-final. They built on that with back-to-back series wins over Pakistan, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe with considerable help from newer players. Left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman became the first from his country to be named in an ICC ODI team of the year. He took 26 wickets in nine matches with three five-wicket hauls. Batsman Soumya Sarkar impressed with match-winning knocks against quality pace attacks in limited-overs cricket.Although they have won more ODIs in 2006 and their fortunes in Test and T20s didn’t quite improve, the quality of their 50-overs exploits in 2015 were enough to make this their best year in international cricket so far.Bangladesh are likely to play a T20 series against Zimbabwe in mid-January as preparation for the Asia Cup T20 in mid-February and March’s World T20. On January 3, a 30-member preliminary squad will meet for the first time since November.”We really needed the break,” Tamim said. “I don’t think we have played so much cricket over the last five years as we did in 2015. Our next camp starts from January 3 when I am sure everyone will show renewed hunger. Everyone would want to play as well as they did in 2015. We will start preparing mentally from January 3, and our full focus will be on T20s since we will be playing a lot of this format in the coming weeks.”Tamim asked the Bangladesh youngsters to make sure their desire to win doesn’t dim. “All the best cricketers in the world play well in every series, and they can’t do it without being hungry. If we get too bored with it, performance will be affected. This is true for all sectors of life. So we also need a break since cricket has so much pressure attached to it. We have three big events coming up, if we count the Zimbabwe series.”In terms of personal highlights, Tamim felt his bouncing back to form after an indifferent World Cup would help him when he goes through such a rough patch in the future. He averaged 25.66 in six innings in Australia and New Zealand but came back home and struck two ODI hundreds and a Test double-hundred against Pakistan, his 206 in April becoming Bangladesh’s highest score in Tests.”The World Cup was important for us and I got into runs after the tournament. I wasn’t having a great time and I am sure such a time will come again. Now I know how to bring myself back [to form]. My job then will be slightly easier because now I know how to handle such situations.”

New Zealand retained the out-of-form duo of Martin Guptill and Mark Craig as they pruned their Test squad from 16 to 12 for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka that begins on December 10. Opening the batting on their just-concluded tour of Australia, Guptill made a highest score of 23 in his six Test innings, while the offspinner Craig picked up eight wickets at an average of 64.12 while conceding more than five runs an over.Out of the squad that toured Australia, New Zealand left out fast bowlers Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan, back-up wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi and back-up opener Hamish Rutherford. Allrounders Corey Anderson and James Neesham, who are both nursing back injuries, were not available for selection.”Mark and Martin didn’t perform to the level they would have liked over in Australia, but both have shown in the past what they’re capable of and we’re confident they’ll make valuable contributions in the upcoming series,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.Left-arm seamer Neil Wagner and allrounder Mitchell Santner, who made his debut during the day-night Test in Adelaide, also kept their places in the squad. Wagner didn’t play any of the Tests in Australia, but picked-up a five-wicket haul in a tour game against a Western Australia XI.”The level of composure Mitchell showed on debut was very impressive and he certainly displayed how exciting a player he is with both the bat and ball,” Hesson said. “His ability to bat in the top six and bowl good overs gives us options and assists the team balance. We’re looking forward to watching Mitchell’s continued development. Neil impressed in Australia and not only showed that he’ll run in hard all day, but was swinging the ball again.”Wagner has also been included in the New Zealand Board President’s XI, which will take on the Sri Lankans in a three-day warm-up match that begins on December 3.Test squad Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane WilliamsonPresident’s XI: Ryan McCone (capt), James Baker, Joe Carter, Joel Harden, Shawn Hicks, Tim Johnston, Ken McClure, Matt McEwan, Glenn Phillips, Bharat Popli, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner

Trinidad and Tobago lacked fight in the Carib Beer Challenge final and the nine-wicket loss to Jamaica was a “real blot” on their season, according to their board president Deryck Murray. The team was skittled for 121 in the first innings and their second effort of 241 left Jamaica a target of just 70 to secure the title.”It’s easy to say this from 100 miles away but it didn’t look as though there was any real fight,” Murray told the . “That was the disappointing aspect.”You look back at the whole season and, yes, from the KFC Cup, the Carib Beer Series, the Stanford 20/20, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica dominated those series but they [Trinidad and Tobago] just didn’t look like that in the final. The final itself was the real blot.”However, Murray said the team’s season should be viewed in context and reaching the decider was a promising sign. But there was still significant work to do for Trinidad and Tobago to be consistently competitive, he said.”We played some very good games throughout. We in Trinidad and Tobago are enjoying success but that must not be allowed to mar the fact that there is still a big gap between the highest standard of Trinidad and Tobago’s cricket and what is expected at international level. We are aware of it. We need to keep working with the players.”

Bowler of the day“I don’t have too many secrets,” claimed Daniel Vettori on the eve of the match, and it’s true, he’s not a bowler of the mysterious variety, a la Warne, Murali or even Harbhajan. Even so, England struggled to make head or tail of his subtle variations of pace and flight, and he conceded his runs at less than one-and-a-half an over, while ripping out two priceless wickets in Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. He allowed himself a good look at the track during his second-day 88, and demonstrated a knowhow that none of England’s bowlers came close to matching. All in all, he’s having a pretty good game.Crass dismissal of the daySo many to choose from, but Strauss’s has to take the biscuit, seeing as it came just three balls after lunch, at a time when he had done the hard graft and could look forward to a lengthy afternoon of accumulation. Strauss was recalled to bolster a batting line-up that mustered a solitary century in their last series in Sri Lanka, but he himself has now failed to reach three figures in 26 attempts. Vettori floated one up into the blockhole, Strauss launched himself into a reckless drive, and the ball dipped, bit and span into the stumps.False dawn of the dayWhen Kevin Pietersen launched his third delivery, from Jeetan Patel, straight back over the bowler’s head for six, it was easy to assume that the tempo of his innings had been set. Not a bit of it. That shot was entirely out of keeping with what followed. Pietersen didn’t reach the boundary again for another 90 deliveries, and only three times in all in a 131-ball stay that was his slowest ever for any score above 30.Debut of the dayTim Ambrose has been anonymous in this match so far, which in wicketkeeping terms is a very good thing. He kept flawlessly for 138.3 overs of New Zealand’s innings, then finally appeared for his first Test innings with England precariously placed on 245 for 6. By the close he was still sitting pretty on 23 not out, an innings of compact certainty that bodes well for his future. He endured an agonising first 18 deliveries, as Patel and Vettori denied him that cathartic maiden run, but in the end he tucked Vettori off his hips for one, then celebrated with boundaries from each of his next two deliveries.Scoreline of the dayEngland reached the close on 286 for 6, which was almost identical to New Zealand’s first-day 282 for 6. Paul Collingwood will have to convert his overnight 41 into a rare England century, and Ambrose will have to emulate New Zealand’s No. 8, Daniel Vettori, if they intend reaching parity before the second innings gets underway. Because the men to come, with all due respect to the obdurate Ryan Sidebottom, are not in the class of New Zealand’s lower order.Hymn of the dayThe Barmy Army were pretty subdued for most of England’s travails, but they had clearly put their down time to good use when they finally burst into voice after tea. “Ambrose. We’ve got Tim Ambrose,” they declared. “Just like Ambrosia. They made good custard. When we were kids.”

ScorecardFile photo – Kevin O’Brien collected 3 for 14 to suffocate UAE’s innings•AFP

Ireland’s bowlers rallied around a three-wicket haul from Kevin O’Brien, as the team successfully defended a meager total of 134 against UAE, in Abu Dhabi.UAE, who needed to score at just under seven an over, failed to gather any momentum in their innings, as their attempts at stitching together big partnerships were dashed by wickets at regular intervals. A few batsmen made starts, but nobody was able to contribute more than 24, as the entire team just managed eight boundaries. O’Brien was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with stingy figures of 4-0-14-3, while Tim Murtagh, Craig Young and Boyd Rankin chipped in with two scalps apiece, dismissing UAE for 100.Earlier, Ireland, after being inserted, were struggling at 19 for 4 inside five overs before the O’Brien brothers Kevin and Niall led a recovery by putting together a 55-run partnership. Niall top-scored with a 29-ball 38, but it was a Max Sorensen’s 15-ball 26 which provided Ireland a late surge and lifted them over the 130-run mark. Amjad Javed picked up three wickets for UAE, but conceded 41 runs from his four overs.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Partisan fans at the Feroz Shah Kotla were treated to a cracker of a match as the Chennai Super Kings pulled off a dramatic last-ball win, sneaking past Delhi Daredevils’ total of 187 for 5 by four wickets. Chennai’s chase veered from the authoritative to the bumbling but they kept their nerves and put an end to their three-game losing streak, thanks largely to some fearless hitting right through the order.Chennai recovered somewhat to restrict the hosts to under 200 after Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan added a record third-wicket partnership of 121 and that, in hindsight, proved critical before a thrilling chase helped them get back to their winning ways.Chennai were given a 62-run start inside seven overs with S Vidyut, promoted to open in place of Parthiv Patel, batting purposefully. Both Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif were unusually off-key in their first overs and Vidyut handled the short and full deliveries admirably, stepping out to meet the ball. Asif’s first over went for 15, with Vidyut taking two fours and Stephen Fleming playing a gorgeous cover drive, and the sixth over, bowled by Yo Mahesh, cost 20 with both openers clubbing the width.Vidyut fell for 40 from 23 balls, attempting another pull but Fleming, finding rhythm after three poor innings, kept the momentum with Chennai. Initially a watchful spectator with Vidyut cashing in on some short-pitched stuff, he played some eye-catching square-drives and cuts. Shoaib Malik bowled a poor line and Fleming kept McGrath busy at square leg with powerful sweeps.With Mahendra Singh Dhoni keeping the ball along the grass, Fleming went for his shots except that a flat hard drive found AB de Villiers at cover. Suresh Raina steered a simple catch to backward point four balls later and Chennai failed to score a boundary for 16 deliveries. Albie Morkel made up with 25 off a Virender Sehwag over, swung into motion by three consecutive sixes, but the bowler had his revenge of sorts with a direct hit from mid-on sent Morkel running on his way to the pavilion.Dhoni threatened to seal the deal with a sensible hand but Yo Mahesh returned to snap up two wickets in the 19th over – one down to a stunning catch from de Villiers, running in from long-on – and that left Chennai with 15 to get off six balls. Sehwag gave the task to Malik and it proved a disaster. Manpreet Gony slogged the first ball over midwicket for six, a wide followed, easing the pressure further, and a thick edge past the wicketkeeper sent the crowd into silence. A single to mid-on set the stage for S Badrinath, who tied the scores with a chip over the covers for two, and won it with another over mid-on.The afternoon began with two of Delhi’s most reliable top-order batsmen welcoming Dhoni’s decision to field first – for the first time in the tournament – with a record 121-run stand in 12.4 overs after early trouble. Sehwag flickered with whips off the pads and a ramrod-straight drive before a crushing yorker from Gony breached his defence. Morkel, sharing the new ball in Makhaya Ntini’s absence, produced a pearl to clean up de Villiers first ball to make it 46 for 2 in the sixth over.Gambhir bottom-edged Muttiah Muralitharan’s first delivery narrowly past off stump and between Dhoni’s legs for four and was offered a freaky slice of luck a couple balls later when Murali’s flick back onto the stumps dislodged the bails a fraction too late. Loosening his shoulders after that last reprieve, Gambhir nudged to fine leg, flicked over midwicket, and flat-batted through the covers.A massive six over mid-on raised Gambhir’s fourth IPL half-century from 35 balls and earned him back the orange cap from Sehwag, and he proceeded to drill three consecutive fours in the 15th over to jack the run rate up near nine. He fell trying to steer one past backward point, for a 49-ball 80, and Dhawan fell shortly afterwards for a 46-ball 59 in the penultimate over. Delhi’s decision to bring in Manoj Tiwary over Rajat Bhatia cost them a fifth bowler, and that hurt them plenty.

Mohammad Yousuf will have to wait till April 30 to know whether he will be allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The final decision of the arbitration panel hearing the case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL would not announce its final order till then, ICL lawyers said.The announcement is a setback for Yousuf as, with the IPL slated to begin on April 18, he is likely to miss a major chunk of the IPL even if the panel rules in his favour. ICL legal adviser Hitesh Jain was quoted by as saying that since the arbitration panel had reserved its order for final pronouncement the stay order on Yousuf from playing in the IPL remained.The ICL also challenged Yousuf’s claim that he had returned the advance payment amount he got from ICL to one of its agents in Pakistan.”Our case is that Yousuf has not returned the advance amount to ICL or to an authorised agent of ICL,” Jain said. “The person to whom Yousuf claimed to have returned the money is not ICL’s agent in Pakistan and therefore ICL has not received any money from Yousuf.”ICL still holds that there is a binding contract between ICL and Yousuf and he can’t participate in any competing league during the term of the contract.”The uncertainty surrounding Yousuf’s availability ensured that his services were unsold during the IPL auctions.

South Australian selectors have reacted savagely today to their team’s recent poor form, dumping four players from the side which suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Tasmania in a Pura Cup match earlier this week.Batsmen Ben Higgins, wicketkeeper Graham Manou, leg spinner Peter McIntyre and paceman Mark Harrity have all been omitted from the Redbacks’ squad for the vital match against Western Australia starting in Perth on Wednesday.They have been replaced by batsmen Shane Deitz and Daniel Harris, all-rounder Ryan Harris and fast bowler Paul Wilson. Deitz is also expected to assume the wicketkeeping duties in the absence of Manou.It will be the first time that Manou has missed a match for South Australia for three seasons. Conversely, Wilson – who underwent knee surgery in October – is likely to appear in a first-class game for the first time this summer.The Redbacks have dropped from second to fourth on the Pura Cup table as a result of their defeat to the Tigers, and are now in grave danger of failing to qualify for the Final of the competition.They would need to collect maximum points in their match in Perth, and hope that Tasmania failed to secure an outright victory over New South Wales in Hobart, in order to reach the decider.The full squad is: Greg Blewett (c), Nathan Adcock, Chris Davies, Shane Deitz, David Fitzgerald, Daniel Harris, Ryan Harris, Ben Johnson, Paul Rofe, Mike Smith, Paul Wilson, Brad Young.