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The likelihood of three no-balls occurring at pre-determined times in a Test match had a “one in a 1.5 million chance” of happening, a court was told on Monday during the alleged spot-fixing trial of two Pakistan cricketers. journalist.”According to my calculations, there is a one in a million chance (of three no-balls being bowled at pre-determined times),” Bermange said, “but for these two bowlers that becomes a one in a 1.5 million chance,” presumably because of their expertise and usual accuracy at not overstepping.In Bermange’s statement he revealed that Pakistan bowl 23 percent more no-balls than any other country, but also said that Asif’s 58 career no-balls – or just under two per Test – was low in comparison to his contemporaries. That number included 24 in one match against South Africa.Asif’s legal representative Alexander Milne questioned Bermange on his results and agreed the rate for bowling pre-determined no-balls without corrupt intervention would be “far-fetched” but did also gain a valuable concession from Bermange as to his client.When Milne pointed to a printed graphic illustrating Asif’s front foot for his no-ball and suggested to Bermange it was a no-ball by just a fraction, the Sky Sports statistician replied: “Yes”.Although Bermange was revealed to have a science degree at Durham University, he did admit to having a maths ‘A’ level and had taken a statistics course. He also stated that by some quirk (maybe to do with the slope), Lord’s has a 20 percent higher no-ball rate than any other ground around the world.But that was of little consolation for the teenage Amir who, according to Bermange, overstepped by some distance.”I have attended 50 Test matches within my current position and these two (bowled by Amir) were the largest no-balls in terms of the front foot being over the crease that I have seen.” reporter Mazhar Mahmood will again appear in the witness stand on Tuesday and there will soon be an appearance from statistician David Kendix, who devised the world rankings for the ICC. The case continues.

John Inverarity is confident he has kept close enough ties with the game to make a success of his new role as Australia’s national selector. Inverarity, 67, was a surprise appointment to the newly-created full-time job, with Rod Marsh and Trevor Hohns previously considered front-runners for what will be one of the most important positions in Cricket Australia’s new structure.A former allrounder who played six Tests for Australia, Inverarity was more prominent in Sheffield Shield cricket and was considered a great thinker and captain during his 23-year first-class career for South Australia and Western Australia. Since his retirement from cricket, he was headmaster of a prestigious boys’ high school in Perth, and more recently served as head of St George’s College at the University of Western Australia.However, Inverarity has also kept his hand in cricket coaching, first at Kent in 2001 and then during a three-year stint as head coach of Warwickshire, which ended in 2005. Cricket Australia’s chief executive, James Sutherland, said Inverarity’s varied experience made him the outstanding candidate to succeed Andrew Hilditch, the current part-time chairman, as the head of the revamped selection panel.”There’s no concern at our end,” Sutherland said of Inverarity’s age. “One of the things that we’ve worked through in the interview process and got absolute satisfaction on is the fact that John Inverarity is ready to do this job. In many ways, this is his time to be involved in cricket.”He’s pursued another career, he has continued to have an involvement and an interest in cricket through that time, but he’s pursued another career. As I see it, it’s a career that is very much complementary to what this role as national selector is. In terms of any questions about his age, I just don’t think that’s an issue.”Inverarity will begin his new role after the tour of South Africa, with Hilditch and the interim panel set to continue choosing the teams during that trip. Cricket Australia’s attention will now turn to finding two independent part-time selectors to join Inverarity and the captain Michael Clarke on the panel, which will also include the yet-to-be-chosen head coach.Their challenge over the next few seasons – Inverarity has been signed to a three-year contract – is to manage the development of a host of young players, while also steering the side through a transition phase with older men such as Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey nearing the end of their careers. Inverarity said he was confident he had not been out of the game too long to handle the responsibilities.”I’m 67 but I feel very young at heart,” Inverarity said. “I’d like to think that over those 67 years I’ve had a lot of experiences from which I have benefited. The key thing in this is exercising judgment. I have followed the game very closely. I think in my life outside of cricket, particularly in education and being the headmaster of a school and warden of a university college, your experiences and exercising judgments and dealing with young people [will help].”All my life I have sought challenges. I have sought challenges of trying to be in the area where I can influence a leadership or management role and trying to get a group performing at its best. Whether that’s been in a cricket team or club, or in a school or in a university college, that’s what motivates me. That’s what I really enjoy doing. I feel that over the years I’ve had some success in doing so.”Inverarity is the second key appointment to stem from the Argus review, after the former rugby international Pat Howard was named Cricket Australia’s general manager of team performance earlier this month. His appointment also came on the same day that his former Western Australia team-mate, Wally Edwards, was elected chairman of Cricket Australia.However, while Inverarity has a firm three-year deal to shape the future of Australian cricket, Edwards is less certain about the length of his tenure. The review into Cricket Australia’s governance is expected to be tabled later this year and could recommended the existing board being replaced by an independent commission.

Chris Gayle was dismissed for a duck and conceded eight runs off his one over but Matabeleland Tuskers still beat Southern Rocks comfortably at the Harare Sports Club. Tuskers’ seamers Keegan Meth, Glen Querl and Tom Smith all took two wickets each in tight spells to keep Rocks to 114 for 8 in their 20 overs. Meth made the first incisions, striking twice in the fifth over to reduce Rocks to 24 for 2. Smith then chipped in with wickets in the middle overs and the lack of partnerships made it difficult for Rocks to lift their scoring-rate. At 89 for 7 in the 18th over it looked like they would struggle to get past 100, but some quick runs from Hilary Matanga and Tafadzwa Kamungozi got them to 114. Meth gave away just 13 runs in his four overs while Smith conceded 12.Tuskers needed just 16.1 overs to chase the target. Gayle was dismissed in the first over but that was the only wicket to fall as Smith and Paul Horton guided Tuskers home. Smith scored 63 off 56 balls to cap off an impressive all-round performance while Horton got 39 off 40.

Mountaineers beat Mashonaland Eagles by 22 runs via the Duckworth/ Lewis method, at the Harare Sports Club. Mountaineers reached 139 in their 20 overs and Eagles were set a revised target of 105 runs to win in 15.1 overs. They lost wickets regularly in their chase and fell well short. Fast bowler Dirk Nannes struck with his first two balls to peg Eagles back. They never quite recovered, as wickets fell at regular intervals to ensure the required run-rate kept rising.Mountaineers’ innings was built around Hamilton Masakadza, who scored 36 off 27 balls with three fours and a six. That was after Tino Mawoyo had got them off to a flier with his 16 off 10, which included two sixes. Medium-pacer Nathan Waller struck three times in the middle overs to keep Eagles in check but their total of 139 proved enough.

Aaqib Javed, Pakistan’s bowling coach, has said the upcoming series against England will be a “clash of qualities”, and the side with more depth and variation in its bowling, and with more confident batsmen, will stand the best chance. Pakistan, who’ve lost just one Test in 2011, play three Tests, four ODIs and three Twenty20 matches against England, starting January next year.”It’s not only about a match between a No. 1 team and a No. 5 team but it’s a clash of qualities,” Aaqib told ESPNcricinfo. “The team that has more options in the bowling unit, the variations and the batsmen with more confidence in the conditions will have the upper hand.”England will be playing their first Test series since climbing to the No. 1 spot in the Test rankings during their 4-0 whitewash of India. They arrive in the UAE a week before Pakistan.”England have maintained a good combination with both bat and ball but pressure is obviously on them and that is the difference,” Aaqib said. “I have learnt that they are working extra hard – their batsmen are in India, bowlers are training in South Africa and they are coming to the UAE four days before so I am impressed how hard they are training. You get the feeling they know it’s not an easy series for them as well.”Aaqib has been involved in coaching in Pakistan for almost a decade now. He was with the national team on an on-and-off basis since 2009, first as bowling coach and then assistant coach, before he was removed from that position ahead of the tour of Zimbabwe this year. Now, back as bowling coach, he is working with Junaid Khan, the left-arm seamer, at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.”We have picked some outstanding bowlers against England. We’ve got two left-arm seamers, Wahab [Riaz and Junaid, two right armers, Umar [Gul] and Aizaz [Cheema] and three quality spinners – [Saeed] Ajmal, [Abdur] Rehman and [Mohammad] Hafeez. I think we have a dream combination and it’s the world’s best bowling attack.”Though the pitches in the UAE are slower, we have bowlers who can last the time, like they did against Sri Lanka. We have bowlers who can bowl at 150-plus kph and can reverse-swing. That is another plus point for us.”England and Pakistan will be facing each other for the first time in a Test series since the spot-fixing controversy in July 2010. Aaqib said the team had moved on from that difficult phase. “Despite all the controversies, we coped well. We are confident and in a perfect winning flow,” Aaqib said. “We don’t talk even talk about it and are not bothered about it. Every individual is focussed on his responsibility.”

Australia are wary of Sachin Tendulkar ahead of the SCG’s 100th Test, an occasion seemingly scripted to produce his 100th international century. Before the teams trained at the ground on New Year’s Day, Michael Hussey said Tendulkar’s return to the scene of three of his most satisfying innings carried portents of doom for the hosts.Tendulkar was denied a hundred in Melbourne by a sharp delivery from Peter Siddle in the first innings, then sank with the rest of the batsmen in the second. But in each innings he showed the sort of touch that may easily bloom into a large score at the SCG, and Hussey said he was “nervous” at the thought.”I am a bit nervous because the stars seem to be aligning with Sachin needing one more 100,” Hussey said. “The 100th Test match in Sydney – he’s made runs here before – it’s a little bit ominous but hopefully we can make him wait until after this series and he can get a 100 in the first game of the next series that he plays.”Enthusiasm for Tendulkar’s pursuit of his next 100 is vast among followers of the game both Australian and Indian, and Hussey remarked on the odd sensation of playing before a home crowd willing an opponent on towards success. “I do find that strange,” Hussey said. “I can assure you that everyone in our dressing-room does not want him to make a 100. I think our bowlers down in Melbourne did an outstanding job, not just to Sachin but to all of their batsmen.”They’ve got one of the best batting line-ups ever and the plans that we set and the way they [the bowlers] executed them were second to none. For a reasonably inexperienced attack to be able to do that job, and for long periods of time which is something we’ve been really working on, it’s a real testament to the bowling group.”Irrespective of how well Australia’s bowlers performed in Melbourne, they know Sydney may be quite a different scenario. While the pitch will offer some early assistance to the quicks, it shows less of the green tinge that has characterised its appearance in the previous two Test matches against England and Pakistan.”Just from walking across the ground, it [the pitch] looks a lot less green than it has been over the last few years,” Hussey said. “Certainly, in the last few years, I think the Sydney pitch has changed texture from when it used to be a real dust bowl and helped the spinners. The last few years have been really seamer friendly and there’s been overhead conditions to help that as well.”In 2004 India stacked up a leviathan 7 for 705 in the first innings at the ground, while four summers ago it was 532, before Australia recovered to win in dramatic and acrimonious circumstances. Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid played in each match and will want to emulate those tallies.”They’re very experienced players. They know their game so well. They’ve played in Australia before,” Hussey said of India’s batsmen. “So I would expect them to bounce back very hard and we’re going to have to make sure we’re ready for a real counterattack. They’ll be very determined.”[But] we can take a lot of confidence out of the game in Melbourne. The way our bowlers were relentless with their line and length to the Indian batsmen, they know they’re going to be in for a tough series.”

Kent have become the latest county to indicate a preference for Caribbean sunshine over spring showers in England by organising a ten-day training camp in Antigua as part of their preparations for the new county season. Recently appointed head coach Jimmy Adams – the Jamaica-born former West Indies captain who is due to start in his position in February – will lead the players on their first pre-season visit to the Caribbean.The trip, which will begin on March 7, has been arranged with assistance from the Antigua Tourist Board and follows the decisions of Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Hampshire and Derbyshire to go on pre-season tours of Barbados.Kent’s captain Rob Key said the camp would allow the 14 players and four support staff an opportunity to practise without fear of disruption by the English weather.”With our first Championship match very early in April, against Yorkshire at Headingly, we needed to guarantee that we could get uninterrupted pre-season training, on good wickets,” he said. “Sadly this can’t be taken for granted in England and among the various options available to us, Antigua ticked the most boxes.”Missing from the touring party will be several of the squad’s younger players, as well as Geraint Jones, who will be turning out for Papua New Guinea in their attempts to qualify for this year’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Kent have also announced three pre-season fixtures for after their return from the Caribbean. The county will play one-day games against Middlesex at Beckenham on March 23, and Glamorgan at Canterbury on March 27. That will be followed by a two-day game against Glamorgan on March 28-29, also at the St Lawrence Ground.

Match facts

March 15, 2012
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Pakistan cannot depend on their bowlers to bail them out each time the batting misfires•Associated Press

Big Picture

The best and worst of Pakistan’s unpredictability were on display against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener on Sunday. The batting was a rollercoaster ride from a high of 135 for 1, a low of 198 for 7 and a surge to 262 for 8. Pakistan then saw the opposition eyeing a win at 224 for 5, before Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal averted what would have been an embarrassing loss with a burst of 5 for 17. The game was Bangladesh’s to lose, and they went ahead and lost it. Sri Lanka will not be so helpful to Pakistan.Pakistan’s ODI batting has recently been shaky against fast bowling even in Asia, one of the main reasons for their 0-4 whitewash against England in the UAE. On Sunday, the hard work done by Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed was undone by Pakistan losing three wickets – two of them to hooks off short deliveries – in three overs to Shahadat Hossain.Their new-found ability under Misbah-ul-Haq to absorb blows and build steadily has worked superbly in Tests; ODIs on the subcontinent have unfortunately degenerated into hitting bouts decided by whose batsmen are more powerful. Back in conditions which their batsmen love, India outgunned Sri Lanka on Tuesday.Pakistan’s batting looks thinner when compared to the two other Asian heavyweights, and they cannot depend on their bowlers to bail them out each time the batting misfires. Certainly not in these conditions.Sri Lanka’s worry is not that they lack the firepower in their batting; the issue at the moment is that it is unevenly distributed, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene opening and Kumar Sangakkara coming in at No. 3. While Jayawardene, batting with much more freedom at the top, has earned the right to continue to open, Sri Lanka need one of their three senior batsmen to drop down the order to guide the inexperience of Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne. The case for that has become stronger with the exit of Angelo Mathews from the tournament.

Form guide

Pakistan WLLLL
Sri Lanka LLWLW

In the spotlight

Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers allowed India to convert a good total into a challenging one with a variety of full tosses at the death and MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina plundered 78 runs in 43 balls. The bowlers kept going for the yorkers and more often than not, kept missing the blockhole. The short delivery wasn’t tried much. Sri Lanka need an improved performance from them tomorrow; another loss in this short tournament could end their chances of making the final.Mohammad Hafeez was the Man of the Match against Bangladesh for his 89 in an opening stand of 135 and two important wickets. Before that, the last time Hafeez made a fifty was also the last time Pakistan had had a century opening partnership, in November 2011. This shows how important Hafeez’s contribution has become, and will be tomorrow, for this Pakistan side.

Pitch and conditions

Chasing is not proving to be that difficult in Bangladesh, though the results of the first two matches don’t show it. MS Dhoni said on Tuesday that the Shere Bangla Stadium had been a difficult ground to defend against Sri Lanka with the fast outfield and some dew making batting second relatively easier. But with two sides now having lost after choosing to field, it will be a difficult choice at the toss tomorrow for the winning captain.

Teams

Mathews’ departure from Bangladesh with a calf injury is a severe blow for Sri Lanka. They missed his calm head during the chase when wickets fell in a heap during the batting Powerplay. With Thisara Perera still uncertain, Sri Lanka’s lower middle order does not inspire confidence.Lasith Malinga’s absence from the XI against India was a major talking point. Malinga bowled and batted in the nets today and should come in for Suranga Lakmal.Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Upul Tharanga, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Seekkuge Prasanna, 11 Lasith MalingaPakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema

Stats and trivia

Big picture

Cameron White had a poor IPL last year and needs to turn things around this time•AFP

Deccan Chargers have been one of the least controversial teams in the IPL. Unlike other franchises, they have been relatively free of court cases, litigations, suspensions, disputes, off-field dramas. They’ve had their share of success, winning the 2009 IPL after a shoddy opening season. They reached the semi-finals in 2010 with the same set-up.However, they fell apart again last year when the teams were reshuffled. They finished seventh, failing to qualify for the knockouts. The side lacked the dynamism of Adam Gilchrist, who scripted the remarkable turnaround in 2009. With him went other star performers in Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Herschelle Gibbs and RP Singh. The new-look squad was captained by Kumar Sangakkara, and assisted by the Australian Cameron White, who had a poor season. Deccan ended the first-half of their campaign last year with three wins and four losses. They ended the tournament with three consecutive wins but it wasn’t enough to progress. Still, six wins and eight defeats highlighted an ordinary season for the former champions.They begin this edition as one of the weaker teams, on balance. Much would depend on the foreign players and Sangakkara will have to lead the way. There were no million-dollar buys in the auction, with their costliest signing being Parthiv Patel for US$650,000. They did, however, stretch Chennai Super Kings in the bid for Ravindra Jadeja. Deccan were edged out in the secret tie-breaker (locked at $2million). Their coach, Darren Lehmann, says batting will be their strength this year. He says that that the number of fresh faces in the squad could work to their advantage because the opposition wouldn’t know what to expect. Looking back at 2011, he wants the team to start well this time.

Key players

Cameron White: The former Australia Twenty20 captain didn’t have a memorable campaign last year, scoring only 104 runs in six innings. He didn’t have a great time in the Big Bash League either, with just 55 runs from eight games. He needs to turn it around to justify his purchase.Amit Mishra: The absence of Pragyan Ojha hands the lead-spinner role to Mishra. He was the leading wicket-taker for Deccan last season, with 19. Dropped from the Indian team, this IPL could be the platform to stage a comeback.

Big names in

Darren Bravo: The stylish West Indies batsman was one of the franchise’s key overseas signings, for $100,000. His form during West Indies’ visit to India stood out, as much as his similarity to Brian Lara. However, he hasn’t been in the best of form with West Indies of late.

Big names out

Ishant Sharma: The fast bowler will be sitting out of the IPL to recover from an ankle surgery. He put off the surgery for almost a year, but decided to go ahead with it after the Australia Tests. His franchise will miss him, but it could be beneficial for him in the long run, given India’s commitments later in the year.Pragyan Ojha: The left-arm spinner was one of the Chargers’ leading bowlers, with 62 wickets in four seasons. However, he transferred to Mumbai Indians earlier this year. He also had a good Test series against West Indies at home last year.

Below the radar

Ishank Jaggi: The Jharkhand right-hand batsman got just two games last season and didn’t impress. However, he has the reputation of making big scores and can go for the big hits.Ashish Reddy: The Hyderabad seamer was identified by Lehmann as one of the promising young players to watch. Reddy was the leading wicket-taker for Hyderabad in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 11 wickets.

Availability

Bravo could be out of action till the end of April, if picked for the Tests against Australia.Sangakkara will be available for all games except the opening match, due to his Test commitments against England. The South Africans and Australians in the squad don’t have any national commitments.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy fought hard but couldn’t prevent Australia from wrapping up a 2-0 series victory•AFP

In the end, the final day of the tour followed the same script as the rest of the series: West Indies fought hard and provided Australia with a few headaches, but their efforts came to nought. Instead, Michael Clarke’s second five-wicket haul in Tests helped the Australians wrap up a 75-run victory and they took the series 2-0, despite some powerful striking from the West Indies captain Darren Sammy.It took Australia two hours on the fifth morning to take the five wickets that remained after the critical breakthrough in the last over of the fourth day, when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was lbw. With each four and six that Sammy produced the West Indian fans dreamed of a famous win, but too much had been left to the lower order and a steady stream of wickets meant Sammy and the No.11 Shane Shillingford came together with 125 runs still needed.Their 50-run partnership was promising but ended when Sammy, on 61 from 51 balls, top-edged a sweep off the bowling of Nathan Lyon (3 for 87) and was caught at short fine leg, leaving the local hero Shillingford unbeaten on 31. The result might have been a little closer than the Australians wanted, but Clarke was thrilled to emerge from the series with a 2-0 victory, the rain-affected Trinidad Test having not allowed either team enough time to push for a win.