Yuvraj Singh is expected to travel to London tomorrow to show his injured left hand to a specialist

Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge02-Aug-2011Yuvraj Singh is expected to travel to London tomorrow to show his injured left hand to a specialist. Yuvraj was hit on his left hand, trying to defend a short-pitched delivery from Tim Bresnan in the second session of play on Monday. Yuvraj was at the receiving end of quite a few short balls from the pair of Bresnan and Stuart Broad and he never could thwart them convincingly.After India lost the second Test by a demoralising 319 runs yesterday, Yuvraj went to a hospital in neighbouring Derby. Based on the scans a decision was taken to show him to a hand specialist in London. Meanwhile Harbhajan Singh, who was suffering from stomach injury also went to the same hospital on Tuesday morning and is reportedly fit.Yuvraj, who scored a resolute 62 in the first innings in the heavy defeat in the second Test, was never allowed to settle down on Monday as Andrew Strauss set attacking fields to supplement the fiery pace and lengths of his fast bowlers. India were an abysmal 37 for 4 when Yuvraj came to the crease. With only MS Dhoni left among the specialists, India needed stability from the Sachin Tendulkar-Yuvraj combination. The accuracy and the fierceness of the England fast bowlers, however, nipped such aspirations in the bud.Bresnan banged in Yuvraj’s eleventh delivery short of a length, and it climbed fast towards the batsman’s neck but he skipped and tried to tap the ball safely towards the leg side. The ball hit him on the index finger of the left hand and Yuvraj threw the bat away, immediately wincing in pain.A few overs later Strauss placed Alastair Cook in an area that could best be described as silly slip, yards away from Yuvraj’s off stump. Bresnan this time came up with a spitting bouncer which Yuvraj tried fending in an awkward fashion only to loop a catch to Cook.It is unclear if Yuvraj will be back to join the rest of the team in Northampton where the Indians play a two-day tour match starting this Friday. India would be hoping Yuvraj is fit for selection ahead of the third Test that begins at Edgbaston on August 10.

Andy Flower will miss his first match since taking over as England team director when he sits out the one-day international against Ireland in Dublin

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2011Andy Flower will miss his first match since taking over as England team director when he sits out the one-day international against Ireland in Dublin. The match takes place three days after the final Test against India, at The Oval, and Richard Halsall, the fielding coach, will be in charge of the team.When Flower signed his new deal with the ECB in May it was widely believed that the subject of him taking a break from the demands of the job was considered although nothing was written into the contract. In many ways Flower’s role is more intense than the players’ because he has to plot and plan for the next challenge and is involved with all three formats.The only time Flower has missed any of England’s cricket since taking the top job were the second and third days of the first Test against Australia, at Brisbane, when he underwent surgery to remove a melanoma from below his right eye. Halsall took charge of the team in Flower’s absence which gave a clear indication of the contingency plans in place.Flower will rejoin the squad ahead of the Twenty20 international against India, at Old Trafford, on August 31 which is then followed by five one-day internationals. Two additional Twenty20s have now been added to the end of the season against West Indies, to help fulfil contractual obligations following the loss of the Stanford games, before the team fly to India for a one-day series in early October.England then have their longest break of recent times before Christmas when they aren’t in action during November and December. However, after the festive season the demands increase again with a full tour against Pakistan in UAE followed by a short series in Sri Lanka. It remains to be seen whether Flower fits in any further breaks before the start of another full summer in 2012.

A round up of the first match day of the Quadrangular Under-19 Series in Visakhapatnam

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2011India Under-19s decimated Australia Under-19s in the first youth ODI of the quadrangular tournament in Visakhapatnam. They won by ten wickets and 38 overs to spare in what was the fastest chase of a total more than 100 in U-19 cricket.After choosing to bat, Australia folded for 163 in 41.1 overs. Only wicketkeeper James Peirson offered some resistance with a fluent 51. Offspinner Baba Aparajith claimed five middle-order wickets in 8.1 overs.The India openers, Manan Vohra and Unmukt Chand, were brutal in reply, scoring 167 in 12 overs at a run-rate of 13.91. Vohra’s 79 off 35 balls was studded with 15 fours and two sixes, while Chand made 72 off 40 with 11 fours and three sixes. Australia captain Cameron Bancroft employed five bowlers in the short chase, but none of them could manage an economy-rate of below 10. The opening pair was particularly harsh on spinners Ashton Turner and Shane Cassell, slamming them for 17.50 and 23 runs an over respectively.India take on Sri Lanka U-19s in their next game on September 29, while Australia play West Indies U-19s on the same day.Sri Lanka Under-19 began their quadrangular campaign by beating West Indies Under-19 in Visakhapatnam, a victory that was much narrower than India’s against Australia. Sri Lanka edged home by two wickets and needed their tail to rescue the chase after a top-order collapse.Chasing 147, Sri Lanka had crumbled to 71 for 8. Fast bowlers Justin Greaves, who took 4 for 26, Ronsford Beaton and Kyle Mayers had put West Indies two strikes away from victory. Those wickets, however, never came as Lahiru Madhushanka and Tharindu Kaushal added 76 runs for the ninth wicket. Madhushanka scored 42 and Kaushal 30 as Sri Lanka reached the target in the 47th over.West Indies’ top order had also failed in their innings. They were struggling at 42 for 5 before a steadying half-century from Kaven Hodge and 33 from Greaves led them to 146. Sanitha de Mel took 4 for 14 in 9.1 overs, and Gaurav Deva and Madhushanka claimed two each as West Indies were dismissed in 47.1 overs.

Promotion-chasing Surrey need five final-day wickets to claim a win over Essex
to further boost their bid to return to the top flight of the County
Championship. After leaving Essex a victory target of 349, Surrey reduced their opponents to
142 for 5 by t

09-Sep-2011
ScorecardPromotion-chasing Surrey need five final-day wickets to claim a win over Essex
to further boost their bid to return to the top flight of the County
Championship. After leaving Essex a victory target of 349, Surrey reduced their opponents to
142 for 5 by the close.In front of a sizeable Chelmsford crowd, their position of strength owed much
to century maker Zander de Bruyn, and another fine knock from Chris Jordan, who
between them scored over half of Surrey’s second innings total of 286.The pair’s seventh wicket stand produced 119 and arrived amid another
magnificent display of pace bowling from David Masters who finished with six for
93. Yet things did not start too encouragingly for the visitors after they had
resumed, both Jason Roy and Gareth Batty departing for the addition of 24 to the
overnight 104 for 4.The game was evenly poised at that point, before De Bruyn and Jordan seized
control with disciplined aggression allied to shrewd shot selection. Whenever the wayward delivery arrived, they did not waste the opportunity to drive and pull powerfully to progress at a rate of around five and over.The muscular De Bruyn scored exactly 100 with the help of a dozen fours and two
sixes before, fittingly, his 125-ball innings was brought to an end by Masters. He did so with a delivery that sent two stumps out of the ground, a dismissal that signalled Masters’ eighth haul of five or more wickets in an inning this summer. He was later to leave the field to a standing ovation and with 93 Championship wickets to his credit – more than any other bowler in the country.But his season’s final effort did not include the impressive Jordan among his
victims. For the second time in the match, he posted a career-best following up his 71
in the first innings with an unbeaten 79 that included eight fours and a six and
arrived from 106 balls.As he did in the first innings, Tim Linley was soon making an impact when Essex
embarked upon their formidable task. Tom Westley’s promising start was cut short when he was bowled without offering a stroke with 16 against his name, whilst Owais Shah had his defences breached shortly afterwards with the total on 42.Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, was to turn the screw when he tempted Jaik
Mickleburgh to drive into the hands of mid-off before trapping Adam Wheater
lbw. The return of Linley ended the dogged resistance of Billy Godleman who was
caught behind after making 38 of the 96 on the board.But James Foster and Ryan ten Doeschate lived to fight on the final day
although the former was lucky to survive when he was dropped by De Bruyn at
second slip with only a single against his name. Foster will resume on 35 and Ten Doeschate on 30, their stand so far having
yielded 46 runs.

A final chance for England to avoid a whitewash and the omens don’t look good

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan24-Oct-2011

Match facts

October 25, Kolkata
Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)Varun Aaron’s debut was another exciting part of the series for India•AFP

Big Picture

England have a final chance to avoid a whitewash but the omens don’t look good. India have overpowered them in all areas, relishing home conditions again after a difficult few months overseas. After the problems they faced in England this series has shown that India’s 50-over game is in pretty reasonable health and it has given Duncan Fletcher another chance to look at a number of young players.He’ll have been impressed by what he has seen, too. R Ashwin has caused England no end of problems, Varun Aaron made an exciting debut, Ravindra Jadeja is a talented allrounder and Ajinkya Rahane has been a solid presence. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has led his stand superbly – out-captaining Alastair Cook by a street – and continues to defy his enormous workload.For England it’s a less rosy picture. The batting, apart from once in Mohali, has failed to adapt to conditions and having started the tour on a crest of a wave this has been a sudden jolt back down to earth. The management won’t panic, they are wiser than that, but the last two weeks has gone to reinforce that some of England’s one-day game is still lagging behind.

Form guide

India WWWWL (completed games, most recent first)
England LLLLW

In the spotlight

After a year where almost everything has gone right for Alastair Cook he’s again a man under pressure. Not that his place is under threat but he has come in for some criticism on this short tour, both for his own tactics and the behaviour of his team. After making a promising 60 in the opening game the runs haven’t flowed, either, which has meant England have struggled for solid starts, but it doesn’t yet count as a slump. Cook isn’t part of the Twenty20 side so this will be his final England outing until January and he’ll be desperate to leave with something positive.The crowds for this series have been disappointing with vast numbers of empty seats in traditional hot-beds such as Mumbai. Even in India, where one-day cricket is king, the signs are emerging of overkill. This is Eden Gardens’ biggest match since early 2010 – they staged World Cup fixtures but their marquee game between these two teams was moved to Bangalore – and history shows that a full house here is one of cricket’s most compelling sights. That, though, appears an unlikely prospect.

Team news

There aren’t many parts of India’s game that haven’t gone to plan, but Parthiv Patel hasn’t had a productive series opening the batting and it could be a chance to give Manoj Tiwary an outing. Elsewhere, it would only be a question of whether anyone needs a rest.India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar, 11 Varun AaronEngland shook up the bowling attack in Mumbai but it was the batting that let them down again. Ian Bell remains sat on the sidelines and must be wondering what he has to do to get a game. Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow have both struggled in the series so Bell could replace either of them, or Craig Kieswetter if Bairstow was given the gloves. After a game off, Graeme Swann may replace Scott Borthwick before leading the T20 side at the weekend.England (possible): 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Meaker, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

Warm and sunny during the day, although perhaps not as hot as Mumbai, while dew hasn’t been the major factor that it might have been during the series. For IPL matches the surface has tended to be slow and low. India would be quite happy with more of the same.

Stats and trivia

• This is England’s first game in Kolkata since 2002 when India won by 22 runs despite Marcus Trescothick’s 121
• England have only suffered two 5-0 series scorelines in ODIs; against Sri Lanka in 2006 and India in 2008

Quotes

“There is always that balance, as we know, and part of our responsibility as a side is to get that. Sometimes on this tour, we might not have always got that balance – but I didn’t see too much wrong this time.”
“We wanted to win 5-0 in England, but we couldn’t. It’s not always just what you want – you have to play well. We’ll try to win it 5-0. But the main motivation is just to go out there and play good cricket.”
MS Dhoni isn’t getting to wrapped up in the scoreline

A round-up of the third day of the seventh round of Division One in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2011In a dramatic finish Islamabad nearly collapsed to what would have been a shocking loss but hung on to win by three wickets against Rawalpindi at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Islamabad had to chase just 87 to win, and were 53 for 1 at one stage. The middle order collapsed, with three wickets falling with the score on 64 and two more with the score on 76. That left Rawalpindi with a slim chance of a win but luckily for Islamabad their eighth-wicket pair kept their nerve and avoided what would have been an embarrassing defeat.Islamabad had dominated the majority of the first two days but Rawalpindi had started to show some signs of a fightback, reaching 100 for 3 by the end of the second day. They went on to score 256, with Awais Zia scoring 71. Seamer Fakhar Hussain, who took three wickets in the first innings, took five in the second and Islamabad were left with what looked like an easy target. They wobbled though, and it was seamers Nasir Malik, who took 4 for 38, and Rashid Latif, who claimed three scalps to take his match-haul to eight, who did the damage. Afaq Raheem’s 36 at the top of the order had taken Islamabad to a position of comfort but they needed their Nos. 8 and 9 to take them home.

Kamran Sajid’s unbeaten century helped Pakistan International Airlines stroll to an eight-wicket win against table-toppers Water and Power Development Authority at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. WAPDA set PIA 211 to win, which looked like it could be a tricky target in a low-scoring match. PIA, however, turned around that trend by cruising to the target in 57.2 overs for the loss of just two wickets. Sajid scored 104 not out and Faisal Iqbal reached 68 not out to complete the chase. WAPDA had conceded an eight-run first-innings lead and started the third day on 169 for 7. They added another 49 runs but the target they set was not enough. The victory takes PIA to within six points of WAPDA at the top of the table.

Faisalabad offered their first bit of resistance with the bat on the third day but it was not enough to stop Abbottabad from notching up their first win of the season, by an innings and 37 runs at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi. Faisalabad had been bowled out for 74 in their first innings and were 42 for 4 in their second at the start of the third day. That was soon 42 for 5 but then Zeeshan Butt reached a half-century and put together a 59-run partnership with Asif Hussain. There were a few contributions from the lower order to take Faisalabad to 200, but it was not even enough to make Abbottabad bat again. Abbottabad’s bowlers shared the wickets around. It was a big result for them after they had lost each of their first six games.

Half-centuries from Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Qaiser Abbas took National Bank of Pakistan to 248 for 4 after they and State Bank of Pakistan had both scored 282 in their first innings at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. The match was evenly balanced at the start of the third day, with State Bank on 237 for 6 and they could only add another 45 runs to draw level with National Bank’s first-innings score. Mohammad Talha took three wickets on the third day to finish with figures of 5 for 78. National Bank got their runs quickly in their second innings, scoring at 4.20 an over, and will look to push for an outright win on the final day. Kamran gave them a swift start with his 74 off 72 balls but National Bank then slipped to 139 for 4. Jamshed and Abbas put together an unbeaten 109-run stand to give National Bank the edge.

Karachi Blues, who had fought back against Sialkot on the second day, took control of the match at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on the third. They took their second-innings total to 432 to 9, putting them 349 runs ahead with a day to play. Shahzaib Hasan and Asad Baig had reached 121 for 0 by the end of the second day and took the partnership to 158 on the third. Shahzaib fell nine runs short of a hundred, while Baig scored 64. Wajihuddin also scored a half-century but a few quick wickets left Karachi 285 for 7. Captain Mohammad Sami, though, scored 61 at No. 9 to take the total beyond 400. Sialkot will face a tough chase on the fourth day.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited need seven wickets to beat Habib Bank Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after their batsmen set HBL a target of 376. HBL’s top order put up a better performance than they did in the first innings, when they were bowled out for 156, but they were 101 for 3 by stumps. ZTBL had started the day 119 for 1 and took their score to 330. Sharjeel Khan scored 88 and Yasir Hameed completed his half-century too to lay a solid base. HBL took a few quick wickets but Zohaib Khan scored 72 to make sure there was no collapse. Danish Kaneria was HBL’s most-successful bowler, taking 5 for 60, but his efforts look unlikely to be enough.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan

Umar Farooq14-Dec-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan. The team will study and review the existing structure of domestic cricket, consider its weaknesses and strengths and will make recommendations within two months. The recommendations of the team, though, will not be binding on the PCB.The team is made up of familiar names in Pakistan administration: former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Moin Khan, and former players Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, Imtiaz Ahmed and Zakir Khan, who is director of domestic cricket in Pakistan. Alam, who has been both a coach and manager of the national side and is now both the director of international cricket for the PCB and director of academies, will be chairman of the task team. Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, was also approached to be a part of the team but declined because of other commitments.Some of the members of the team have questioned why it has only been given a recommendatory role.Nawaz said the team members would use their experience to determine why Pakistan’s domestic cricket was not producing more world-class cricketers. “The board want our input and we are ready to use the best of our experience to give them that. It is their responsibility to either implement it or not,” Nawaz told ESPNcricinfo.”There is definitely some problem with our existing domestic structure that is hampering the quality of our players. We have to sit down and discuss it right from the start. All the members of the team have rich experience of playing the game. Most of the members have played ample first-class cricket in different eras and understand the structure. I think the quality is missing and that is why we are not producing world-class cricketers. So we have to sit and pen down the differences in the structure of domestic cricket over the years and look for flaws that need to be fixed to get back the quality we had on our circuit.”The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has seen several changes over the last six decades. The period from 2001 to now has been the most inconsistent, with changes made every two years. The present structure starts with the inter-district Under-19 tournament, then has the inter-district senior championship followed by the National Under-19 event. After that there is the Patron’s Trophy grade II and then the country’s premier first-class event the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The format of QEA has remained intact from last season, with 22 first-class teams – both regional and departmental outfits – competing in a two-league structure. The one-day tournament is the next event, followed by the Pentangular Cup: a first-class tournament among provincial teams and sometimes featuring a combination of provincial teams and top teams from QEA – again an inconsistent format. The season ends with the Twenty20 Cup played among all the 13 regional teams.Nawaz said the returns the board were getting from domestic cricket were not equivalent to their spendings. “The PCB has invested a huge amount in domestic cricket but the output isn’t a quality one,” he said. “Most of our current players aren’t in the same class as Wasim [Akram], Javed [Miandad] or Waqar [Younis]; they end up playing a maximum of two years of international cricket. We want to produce players who can play international cricket for at least five to ten years on their own abilities.”We will be studying the structures of most of the successful playing nations and will come up with feasible and the best recommendations for domestic cricket. After that it is the PCB’s responsibility to take up our suggestions and implement them.”Iqbal Qasim, who is now head of sports for the National Bank of Pakistan, also said there were faults in Pakistan’s domestic cricket. “It’s a good sign that the board have at least realised there are flaws and the system requires evaluation,” Qasim told ESPNcricinfo. “Every member in the body has huge experience of domestic cricket and I hope the team can come up with the best recommendations that are helpful for Pakistan.”

Dirk Nannes, the Australia fast bowler, will return to Surrey for their Friends Life t20 campaign this year

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2012Dirk Nannes, the Australia fast bowler, will return to Surrey for their Friends Life t20 campaign this season. Nannes, who is the leading wicket-taker in Twenty20 cricket, will join Murali Kartik as the overseas players at The Oval.Nannes, a Twenty20 Cup winner alongside Kartik with Middlesex in 2008, took 19 wickets at 20.05 for Surrey in the Friends Life t20 in 2011. Altogether, he has taken 169 T20 wickets, earning caps for both Netherlands and Australia.”As we saw last season in the shortest form of the game, Dirk is still one of the most consistently dangerous and economical bowlers on the world scene,” Surrey team director Chris Adams said. “He did a fantastic job for us and I can speak for the whole club when I say we are delighted to welcome him back for another spell.”Nannes, who is based in the UK, will be contracted for Surrey’s ten group games in the Friends Life t20 South Division, with a provision to stay on for the knockout stages if the county qualifies.

Michael Clarke is hoping Australia’s fast bowlers will be fresh for the Adelaide Test after they wrapped up victory in Perth within two and a half days

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA15-Jan-2012Michael Clarke is hoping Australia’s fast bowlers will be fresh for the Adelaide Test after they wrapped up victory in Perth within two and a half days. The comprehensive win not only delivered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy into Australian hands, it gave the players an eight-day break to rest after their work in oppressively hot conditions in Perth.While the Indians will need that time to regroup following three heavy defeats and the loss of their captain MS Dhoni to a suspension for slow over-rates, Australia can enjoy the time off. The offspinner Nathan Lyon will return in Adelaide at the expense of one of the four fast men, but there appears no need to rest either Peter Siddle or Ben Hilfenhaus, both of whom have toiled tirelessly in the first three Tests.”Two-and-a-half-day Test matches help, that’s for sure,” Clarke said. “I honestly believe that’s probably saved a few of us to be honest. The distance the Test matches have gone gives you an extra day, in this case a few days off, so with a good week before we even get to Adelaide, I’d imagine they [the fast bowlers] will be very fresh again and looking forward to playing that Test match.”I think the break will be wonderful for us. I think it’s important we enjoy this victory again. You need to celebrate your success as a team. You’ve got to enjoy this time together and we’ll do that. But allowing everybody to go back home for a few days and freshen up before we get to Adelaide, which is generally a tougher wicket to bowl on, I think it will do us the world of good.”Following the innings victory at the WACA, Clarke was adamant that Australia would not treat the Adelaide Oval Test as a dead rubber, despite the 3-0 series scoreline. At least two members of the batting line-up, Shaun Marsh and Brad Haddin, will be desperate for runs in the fourth Test after a lean series so far, while Clarke knows his team has a long way to go before their goals have been achieved.”Our goal is to be the No.1 team in the world and we aren’t there yet,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work still to do and that starts in Adelaide.”[There’s] no such thing as a dead rubber for me. We haven’t achieved much at this stage. We should be very proud, don’t get me wrong, to have beaten the No.2-ranked Test team in the world, in this series. We should be very proud of that. But we’ve got a lot of work to do before we’ll be satisfied.”All the same, temporary satisfaction has arrived thanks to the manner in which the Australians have dismantled India in this series. For the second match in succession, the Australians needed to bat only once in order to secure victory, a win that came not only to the consistency of their bowlers but also the wonderful 214-run opening stand between David Warner and Ed Cowan.The pitch was not an easy one on which to get in – Virat Kohli was the only man besides Warner and Cowan to score a half-century, and cracks made life difficult in the second innings for India. Clarke said that made the efforts of Australia’s openers all the more critical, while it had been important for the bowlers to ensure Australia were not set a chase.”I think a lot of credit needs to go to not only Davey, who batted unbelievably well out there, but also his partner Ed Cowan,” Clarke said. “As an opening partnership they played really well in pretty tough batting conditions. They made it look easy but there was certainly enough out there for the bowlers, as we’ve seen today. Once again our bowlers deserve a lot of credit. To be able to get such a good batting order out again and take 20 wickets I think they deserve a lot of credit.”We made a pact yesterday that our bowlers should not have to send our batters back out on that wicket in this second innings. That’s very pleasing that we were able to stick to our word today. We continue to show more consistency as a team, which is very pleasing. Our execution of our skills in all three facets of the game is getting more consistent. It’s a reward for the hard work we’ve been putting in behind the scenes.”

Mahela Jayawardene is pleased Sri Lanka’s turnaround in the triangular series has begun with youngsters stepping up

Sidharth Monga18-Feb-2012Mahela Jayawardene is pleased Sri Lanka’s turnaround in the triangular series has begun with youngsters stepping up. Thisara Perera, the promising allrounder who is slowly becoming a key member of the side, and Farveez Maharoof, who made yet another comeback in an in-and-out career, took four wickets for 47 runs between them, and broke the back of the Australian innings.”These are the guys who are going to take Sri Lanka cricket into the future,” Jayawardene said. “Hopefully we can build on that.”I am a big fan of his [Maharoof’s]. He has been playing some good cricket back home. Especially with two new balls, he is one of the guys who can give us something extra with the bat and the ball in different conditions. It’s good to have him back. He felt really confident. He is an experienced player, he played in the 2007 World Cup as a 20-year-old.”Perera, a more regular member of the side than Maharoof, had earlier been dropped in Sri Lanka’s second match of the tournament. In their big win against Australia, he contributed to two run-outs apart from taking two wickets. “Brilliant,” Jayawardene said. “These are young guys who are coming through. They believe they belong here, which is great. The energy level they bring to the team is fantastic.”He [Perera] is a fast-bowler-allrounder, who can field at any position, he is a good slip fielder as well. It’s good to have this group of players we can work with for the future. Got other youngsters who are coming back from injury. We will get a bigger pool going forward. Exciting times as long as we keep working hard.”Apart from youngsters, Jayawardene was pleased Sri Lanka finally got a decent start to their innings. Jayawardene moved back to the opening role, dropping Upul Tharanga, and the captain and former captain put on 74 for the first wicket. “We needed a tactical change,” Jayawardene said. “We were not getting starts upfront. Upul is a very good player. But unfortunately he is going through a bit of a period. We felt giving him a break will do him justice, freshen him up. I just jumped in straightaway.”Lahiru is a middle-over batsman, he can fit anywhere. We just need to settle things upfront, make sure we get a good start, which we did today.”Jayawardene has seen good signs from Tillakaratne Dilshan. “Dilly plays his own game,” Jayawardene said. “We never restricted him. He goes out there and plays naturally. He is a fantastic player to have. On the field he saves 20 runs. Even on a good wicket he can bowl five-six overs for you. A complete package. The way he batted today was beautiful. We just want to make him a free player so he can win matches for us. He has got three good starts now, hopefully he will get a big one next game.”