Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has denied reports circulating in Pakistan that the PCB’s newly drafted constitution has been rejected and sent back by the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf.The draft copy has been with the President – who is also Patron-in-Chief of the cricket board – awaiting approval since June 2005 when it was sent for vetting. There it still remains, in limbo and not, as a local newspaper reported a few weeks ago, rejected and sent back.Shaharyar told Cricinfo, at the National Stadium Karachi, that the draft had not been rejected and was still with the President. “We sent the draft on June 9 last year. After that we were told it had to be vetted by their legal authorities. In the meantime, three members of our ad-hoc committee, Ali Raza, Moeen Afzal and Naseem Shah, said the constitution is not taking into account properly the corporate culture. I told them to make a paper on it, which has also been sent to the President. They now want to scrutinise this as well.”The board has also come in for criticism from, among a plethora of others, members of the senate for being so guarded and secretive about the draft constitution and not allowing members of the public to see it before it is approved. But Shaharyar revealed that if it were up to him, he would have allowed the document to become public.”My own feelings were that the draft which Justice Karamat Bhandari wrote should be made available to the public so they can offer suggestions. This is my own view, not that of the President or the Justice – they say it may become politicised – but I felt it would have been a good idea.”But it is still uncertain when the board, without a constitution since 1999 and being run on an ad-hoc basis, will finally have one. Shaharyar could only say, “I have a feeling there is movement there so maybe in the next few weeks or months they will say something on it.”The drafting and implementation of a constitution was one of the chairman’s top priorities when he took over in December 2003; since then it has failed to see the light of day despite various deadlines being set. It will be of some concern to the board that, despite having a draft ready by the middle of last year, the status quo remains, although what they can do about it – Shaharyar said, “I can hardly push the President on it so much, as I am sure he has more pressing matters to deal with” – is unclear.
On the performance today We are very happy with the performance. To be 3 for 160 at the end of the day is very satisfying for us. There was a good bit of time for all the players who batted.On the rain delay Yes, but we can’t do anything about that. We got a chance to get used to the conditions.On the Mumbai attack The attack was very good in terms of work divided. I think Ajit Agarkar is very much in consideration with the Indian selectors. I thought the use of [Ramesh] Powar, the offspinner, early on was a good move by the Mumbai team. It was good for us, too, as it gave Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer a chance to experience a slower bowler from the outset. I think it was very useful for us as a batting team.On Ricky Ponting missing the second Test I think we basically thought that it was unlikely he would play in the second Test. I think he, like all of us, knew that that would be the outcome. So it’s good that his thumb is recovering well, and we expect him during the second Test and hopefully he will return for the third Test.Selection for this game The players that we left out will be relatively comfortable about their own preparation. So that gave the opportunity to other players who we needed to see in match circumstances.On Simon Katich batting at No. 3 That is not completely certain for the Tests, but it is one of the options we have. We are getting closer to understanding what our final combination will be, so there is every chance that Katich batting at No. 3 will be one of the options when the selectors sit down to pick the team.
Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Friday that Ashantha de Mel, a former fast bowler and selector, would head a new, bloated seven-man selection panel during the coming year. Lalith Kaluperuma, the previous chairman, is the only selector retained in the new panel, which will now sit down to pick Sri Lanka’s squad for the forthcoming tour of Australia.The size of the panel was increased from four to seven after the government, which retains responsibility under the sports law for the appointment ofselectors, rejected a Sri Lanka Cricket-proposed committee.This delayed the announcement of a fresh panel after the previous committee had completed its tenure on April 30. But a compromise agreement was reached bythe inclusion of both the board and government’s choices. Aravinda de Silva, the current vice-president of Sri Lanka Cricket and an influential selector during the past year, made himself unavailable for the new committee.The new selection panelAshantha De Mel Shabbir Asgerally KM Nelson Lalith Kaluperuma Don Anurasiri Promodya Wickramasinghe Ranjith Madurasinghe
JOHANNESBURG – Australia should win the World Cup.It’s that simple.Ricky Ponting is the captain who, when players from all nations are paraded at Newlands in Cape Town tomorrow night for the opening ceremony, will have the most faith in the 14 surrounding him.Australia has some of the best bowlers: Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne.”I think we stack up very well with the other countries – very well,” said McGrath.”We’ve got all areas covered. Very good fast bowlers, very good spinners, very good medium pacers, we’ve got all bases covered. We’re very happy with what we’ve got.”They have the best line-up of batsmen: Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ponting, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann and Jimmy Maher.”We probably couldn’t be much happier with the bat,” said Ponting.Some of the best fielders: Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg.”The one-day game is a chance to show your skills, dive around in thefield – Ricky is the best in the world and other blokes in our side areexciting to watch. I enjoy watching them from first slip,” said Warne.The best wicketkeeper-batsman: Gilchrist.”We really don’t know and understand how good Adam Gilchrist is to ‘keepfor that long and at that standard, which is outstanding, then come outand flay attacks like he does with a minimum of fuss,” said Maher.Arguably the best tacticians: Ponting, Warne, Gilchrist, coach JohnBuchanan.”We talk tactics normally a night or two before the game,” said McGrath.”We sit down and have a team meeting, a planning session. We look at certain players and discuss plans we have for each opposition batsman and also how we’re going to face each bowler.”It’s very well planned and thought out these days, most of it on computer.”We can type in any ball, any shot, anything we want to see.”We can find out the results of every possible delivery. If there’s ashort ball outside off stump, we can see where it goes more often thannot from a particular batsman.”Video technology plays a big part in getting us ready.”The coolest head: Bevan.”All I try and do is … make sure I give myself options,” he said.”I guess I know what works for me, the shots that I can play, the shotsI can’t.”Just having a clear objective in the tight stages of matches is important.”And they have the wood on every other nation, especially the hosts.”We’ve definitely got a psychological hold over South Africa,” said Warne.”The results prove that in all the different forms and the major gameswe’ve played against them.”When it’s got to the crunch, we’ve managed to beat them or they’ve beenin a winning situation and we’ve come back to win.”There’s an easy way to win a World Cup and a hard way.West Indies did it the easy way in 1975 and 1979 when they swept allbefore them.Australia did it the hard way in 1999 when two early losses to Pakistanand New Zealand left it needing six straight wins and a tie to lift thetrophy.As thrilling as that charge home was, Gilchrist wants no repeat.”I wouldn’t think the best way to go is getting ourselves in a sudden-death stage after three games like we did in ’99 – not good for your health, that,” said Gilchrist.”I don’t know that there’s any blueprint, any successful formula to winning the World Cup.”We won last time after very ordinary games in the first three games.”Pakistan, I guess, were very similar in 1992 in that they started slowly and really built the momentum up.”But what’s to say you can’t go and win every match?”We’re confident and we’re looking forward to the tournament.”Let the games begin.
What’s a girl to do? Ask Northern Districts rising stars Nicola Browne and Louise Milliken who have recently been selected for the New Zealand women’s A cricket squad.Both girls are 17-years-old. Both are from rural Waikato towns. Both are in their 7th Form year facing bursary exams. Both are highly-talented all-round representative athletes.Well, how’s this?Both Nicola and Louise have shown they are made of the right stuff in surfacing from backyard cricket to gaining New Zealand recognition in less than five years!That really is something. It really says something about the cricket development structures put in place, the talent identification schemes, but more importantly it speaks volumes for two individuals who have combined ability with enthusiasm and commitment to reach for the top.At Matamata College, Nicola Browne leads a very busy life. Determined to achieve in her academic studies, her favourite subject is calculus, she has also excelled at other sports, in particularly netball and tennis.As a medium-fast bowler, with the ability to become a genuine all-rounder, Nicola believes that in cricket she has found her sporting niche. Although she achieved representative status at tennis it is the team environment of cricket which appeals to Nicola.She has a refreshingly honest approach to her future in cricket and is aware of the need to hone her technique, increase her speed and as she states, “there’s always room for improvement.”Louise, who is a product of Morrinsville High, is a fast bowler and also talks about looking for greater accuracy and consistency in her bowling. Some of New Zealand’s top batters can testify to Louise’s ability with her whippy action to get the ball through deceptively quickly.The New Zealand selectors should be congratulated on having the courage to select youngsters with potential putting the emphasis on individuals to show they have what it takes to step up.Both Nicola and Louise are genuinely excited about their selections and look forward to showing those who have shown faith in them what we at Northern Districts Cricket already know, that they really are made of the right stuff.
Leeds United have definitely fallen victim to a high-profile transfer blunder or two over recent years.
Just one quick glance at the Premier League side’s top five most expensive purchases of all time is enough to show you how hit-and-miss their business has been, with Luis Sinisterra being picked up for £21m, leaving a sour taste in the mouth, as the Colombian fell victim to a string of injuries during his eight-goal stint.
Georginio Rutter did look as if he was heading down the same path of being a rash waste of money when he initially struggled to get going in England after a club-record £35.5m switch was finalised from Hoffenheim.
Thankfully, he managed to turn around his Leeds tale, after once being dubbed a ”non-entity” in the Premier League by the Athletic’s Beren Cross, with the easy-on-the-eye Frenchman and Daniel Farke going down as a match made in heaven.
Rutter's transformation under Farke
Rutter did warrant some of the early criticism that came his way when he first pulled on Leeds white, with 11 Premier League games passing him by, with just one assist to shout about.
But, as is obvious when watching his sumptuous strike above, Farke managed to get the very best out of the one-of-a-kind attacker in the Championship, with Rutter becoming fluid in how he operated under the German, whether that saw him lead the line for the West Yorkshire giants, or take up a second striker spot behind the main centre-forward.
Rutter’s numbers under Farke
Stat
Rutter
Games played
53
Minutes played
4330 mins
Goals scored
8
Assists
17
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Wherever he did line up, Rutter would stand out as a “special” star under the ex-Norwich City boss’ guidance, as Farke once labelled his former number 24, with a mammoth eight goals and 17 assists being tallied up from their 53 appearances together.
Leeds haven’t quite had a player of Rutter’s calibre on their books since the 6-foot maverick moved onto Brighton and Hove Albion last summer, but that could soon change, if the Whites are bold enough to persist with a statement swoop in January.
Georginio Rutter
Leeds could sign Farke's next Rutter
The Premier League’s new boys will be on the hunt for some Rutter-style gems during the long window to come, with the Frenchman originally being picked up by the top-flight giants back in January of 2022.
Joshua Zirkzee could well fit this bill, despite his hit-and-miss stay at Manchester United to date, with reports surfacing from Italy suggesting that Farke and Co have even made an approach for the ex-Bologna attacker, as next month’s window gradually comes into view.
That said, they may have to pay an arm and a leg to get a deal over the line with some reports suggesting United will not sanction an exit unless their £35m asking price is met.
Much like Rutter was initially hard to sum up, amid poor form in the Premier League, the forward has stood out as an enigma throughout his up-and-down Red Devils stay to date, with the six-time Dutch international even openly admitting that he doesn’t feel comfortable operating as an out-and-out striker, or as a number ten, when first joining.
Farke has been here before with Rutter, and he will hope he can work his magic again on another misfit in need of an arm around their shoulder. He has shown signs of his promise in the Premier League this season with Ruben Amorim’s men, even if the goals and assists haven’t been overflowing.
Zirkzee’s standout PL numbers this season
Stat (* = per 90 mins)
Zirkzee
Games played
9
Goals scored
1
Assists
0
Shots on target *
1.2
Pass accuracy *
73%
Progressive passes *
2.8
Stats by FBref
While he has rightly received pelters for only tallying up a meagre goal contribution from nine league appearances to date, the signs are there that Zirkzee could burst into life, with an impressive 2.8 progressive passes averaged per Premier League clash this season standing out.
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He also hasn’t just become a rotten player overnight, with Zirkzee labelled as a “special” talent by his former Bologna boss Thiago Motta, much like Farke’s praise to Rutter, when collecting 14 goals and nine assists from 58 appearances in Italy.
Going as far back as his Anderlecht days, too, it’s clear that the 24-year-old has an eye for assist that rivals the Frenchman in his Elland Road prime, with 18 goals and 13 assists collected in Belgium.
Zirkzee desperately needs a fresh beginning, away from the pressures of Old Trafford, having been dismissed as “terrible” last year by some.
Zirkzee
That new slate wiped clean could come at the Red Devils’ arch rivals in Leeds, as Farke looks to get miraculous results out of another cast aside talent, as he managed with Rutter in some style.
Farke now has his own David Batty at Leeds in "indispensable" star
Daniel Farke has a new leader in his Leeds United ranks who could be considered his own David Batty.
A match that swung between West Indies and Sri Lanka, each side clawing back into contention when the other had the upper hand, was decided by an innings of exemplary application from Ramnaresh Sarwan. His partnership of 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul – during which he scored a century – on the fourth day won the match for West Indies and levelled the series, ensuring Sri Lanka’s quest for a maiden series triumph in the Caribbean remained unfulfilled. The six-wicket win was West Indies’ first at the Queen’s Park Oval since 2000.A target of 253 over two days with ten wickets in hand wasn’t the most daunting but only twice had teams chased higher totals to win in Trinidad. Add to that the unpredictability of the West Indian batting order and the Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah Muralitharan factor and the task was anything but simple. The fourth day began with Sri Lanka taking early wickets before Sarwan started the recovery effort, single-handedly at first, later finding a steady partner in Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 86 at the end.Sri Lanka were banking on the wizardry of Muralitharan to run through the batting order but he was blunted by the patient approach of Sarwan and Chanderpaul. Not until the final stages did Sri Lanka’s bowlers give it up but the pressure created by Vaas and Muralitharan was not sustained by the inexperienced support cast of Thilan Thushara and Ishara Amerasinghe, which allowed the batsmen to score steadily without having to look to hit boundaries.It was fitting that Sarwan sealed victory with a hundred because he had scored three consecutive half-centuries in the series. West Indies needed a century from one of their batsmen and Sarwan did not throw it away after passing fifty. He started fluently, flicking and cutting Thushara to the boundary, and eventually hit him out of the attack by taking three fours – two straight drives and a leg glance – off his eighth over. Against Vaas, Sarwan stayed in his crease and gave himself time to drive the ball through the off side while his team-mates struggled on the front foot.He was reprieved early in his innings by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Sarwan well short. Had he hit, one sensed that the chase would have been over, for apart from Sarwan’s fluent innings the batsmen looked edgy. Even Chanderpaul had testing moments against Vaas, who caught the left-hander by surprise with a couple of deliveries that reared sharply off a good length.The pair steered West Indies to 93 for 3 when rain forced the umpires to take an early lunch, giving Vaas and Muralitharan an hour to recharge. On resumption, they offered few scoring opportunities but Sarwan and Chanderpaul were up for the challenge. Chanderpaul concentrated on rotating the strike, often moving forward and across to work the ball through the leg side for singles and twos. He had a calming influence on Sarwan, who brought up his fifty with a slog-swept four followed by a cut towards point, and talked him through lapses in concentration such as a slash past the slips off Amerasinghe.Sarwan used the cut effectively against the fast bowlers, forcing Mahela Jayawardene to put a fielder on the point boundary and successfully negotiated the threat posed by Muralitharan; he consistently worked him for ones and twos and occasionally moved out of his crease to hit him over midwicket or drive him straight down the ground. Sarwan was more positive as he moved towards his hundred, swatting Thushara twice from outside off stump to the wide mid-on boundary and the Trinidad crowd grew louder as they sensed a West Indian win.A significant psychological barrier was crossed when Chanderpaul drove a full toss from Amerasinghe to the cover boundary to bring the runs required below 100. Another shower made the players take tea early, with Sarwan on 95, but when play resumed he reached his tenth Test hundred by sweeping Muralitharan to the long-leg boundary. By then, Chanderpaul was doing most of the scoring, repeatedly cutting and driving Vaas and Amerasinghe through the off side. Sarwan was eventually caught at bat-pad off Muralitharan for 102 but, with only 23 to get, the match was nearly won.The game looked like it would be a lot closer during the morning session when West Indies’ openers, Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, began tentatively. West Indies lost Gayle on 23 when he tried to slog Thushara. The ball moved away from him and the outside edge flew over point where Dilshan ran backwards to take the catch. Chattergoon fell in the next over, misjudging the line of a straighter one from Vaas and was trapped plumb in front.At 24 for 2, Marlon Samuels joined Sarwan and they added 49, although Samuels looked out of sorts. He moved too far across his stumps against Vaas and survived several lbw shouts when the ball swung back and hit his pads. He eventually spooned a slower one to Malinda Warnapura at point. The match was in the balance at 73 for 3 but the three-hour partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul shut Sri Lanka out of the contest.
Three wickets apiece for Ryan McLaren and James Tredwell wrapped up Kent’s innings-and-79-run win against Surrey at Whitgift School. Mark Ramprakash hit 108, but it was always going to be in a losing cause as wickets fell regularly at the other end, and he was last out to Tredwell. Surrey had begun the final day showing some fight as Ramprakash and Ali Brown extended their fourth-wicket stand to 129 before Brown was bowled by Tredwell for 68. McLaren struck twice in two balls to remove Ian Salisbury and the injured Rikki Clarke, leaving the tail to support Ramprakash to his latest hundred – his fifth in the Championship this season. Surrey, though, soon fell to their fourth defeat and remain rooted in the bottom two.Sussex negotiated two sessions of Muttiah Muralitharan to secure a draw against Lancashire at Hove, although late wickets kept the day alive. Chris Nash and Richard Montgomerie opened with 93, but Muralitharan was a constant threat and removed Nash and Michael Yardy in three balls. James Anderson shifted Montgomerie and Muralitharan then claimed Chris Adams and Murray Goodwin to leave Sussex five down. They’d never entertained a target of 302 after Lancashire batted through the first session. Steven Croft’s first Championship half century was the mainstay and Mark Chilton was able to resume his innings, as x-rays ruled out any breaks to his elbow, after he was hit on the third evening.Nic Pothas’ unbeaten 126 guided Hampshire to a draw against Warwickshire at Edgbaston after they’d wobbled to 85 for 4. The seamers made early inroads before Pothas and John Crawley (73) combined to add 121 and put Hampshire on course for safety. Darren Maddy had Crawley caught behind and Naqqash Tahir claimed two in three balls to keep Warwickshire in the hunt for a late dash at a target. But Pothas, who’d brought up three figures off 135 balls, remained steadfast, while Chris Tremlett provided some late shots when the pressure was off.
Division Two
Ed Joyce guided Middlesex to a seven-wicket victory against Somerset at Lord’s with a run-a-ball 45. Despite the early loss of Nick Compton they needed less than an hour to reach their target of 138 following Chris Silverwood’s 6 for 49 yesterday which bowled out Somerset for 339.There was a thrilling final day at Oakham School, although Nottinghamshire will be rueing a victory chance which they let slip against Leicestershire. Set 377 to win they were on course following an opening stand of 123 between Jason Gallian and Bilal Shafayat and a continuation of David Hussey’s prolific form as he hit 79 off 65 balls. Hussey and Mark Wagh (78) had added 126 for the fourth wicket, leaving Nottinghamshire 66 short of their target when both players fell within a run of each other. Nick Walker then struck three times to remove a trio of allrounders who had the hitting power to finish the game and, with two wickets remaining, Nottinghamshire brought down the shutters.England’s batting stocks are extremely healthy, but Ravi Bopara provided further evidence of his ability with an expertly paced, unbeaten 147 as Essex completed a four-wicket win against Glamorgan in the final over at Swansea. David Hemp set Essex 323 in 78 overs, expecting his spinners to be a major threat, but Robert Croft went wicketless and Dean Cosker only collected two. A second-wicket stand of 169 between Bopara and Mark Pettini (79) laid the foundation for the run chase, then James Foster provided another valuable partner in a stand of 61. Bopara’s ton came off 153 balls and he remained to the end, sealing the result alongside James Middlebrook, bringing Essex their second win of the season.Gloucestershire took a strong hold against Northamptonshire on the second day of their match at Gloucester although their batting failed to build on an impressive position. From 352 for 4 the last six wickets fell for 42 once Alex Gidman had been trapped by Lance Klusener for 130. Monty Panesar finally found some success with two late wickets as he put in 35 overs of hard work. The bowler-dominated day continued with Northamptonshire crashing to 91 for 7, promising left-arm spinner Vikram Banerjee claiming three. Panesar showed how his batting has improved by halting the collapse, supporting Klusener for an hour and a half, as the eighth wicket added 51, but the visitors are still facing the follow-on.Division One
ScorecardNamibia’s hopes of staying in the competition are hanging in the balance after the defending champions Ireland skittled them for just 95 at Clontarf.Trent Johnston destroyed Namibia’s line-up with a six-wicket haul in just his tenth first-class match. The Australian-born Johnston, who has been playing for Ireland for two years, took 6 for 23 in a mere 9.5 overs as Namibia continued to struggle with alien conditions.Kola Burger, the left-handed batsman, injected some beef into Namibia’s innings with a fizzing knock of 39. He finally fell to Johnston, too, who made mincemeat of the side.But Ireland’s batsmen didn’t have things all their own way: before rain washed out proceedings for the day around tea, they had lost three wickets as they limped to 78. Nevertheless, they will be confident of overhauling Namibia’s total on the third day and building a decent first-innings lead.
Andrew Strauss filled his boots against the Bangladesh attack for the third time in the NatWest Series as England comfortably sealed their place in the final with a five-wicket win at Headingley. Strauss was out with just one run needed, for 98, following Andrew Flintoff’s 4 for 29 which restricted Bangladesh after they made a promising start.Strauss attempted to finish the match in the grand manner, by reaching his century, but was bowled by Manjural Islam, the ball after hitting a six to get within two runs of his milestone (208 for 5). It was another impressive innings from Strauss and it is important that he now starts to take this form into the remaining matches against Australia – starting at Edgbaston on Tuesday.A target of 209 was never going to be enough to trouble England, especially when Strauss and Marcus Trescothick continued to gorge themselves on the Bangladesh bowling. Trescothick was in great touch again and it was a surprise when he got a feathered edge against Manjural for 43 – a relative failure against after his previous scores of 100* and 85 against Bangladesh in the tournament.Habibul Bashar was forced to turn to his spinners – Manjural and Mohammad Rafique – within the 15 overs and Trescothick took advantage and slog-swept into the Western Terrace (or Stand as it now prefers to be known). However, Manjural got his revenge when Trescothick tried another dab to third-man and got the thinnest of edges to Khaled Mashud (99 for 1).Flintoff was promoted to No. 3 but he again failed to make the most of his opportunity when he fell lbw sweeping at Rafique (134 for 2). Kevin Pietersen gave the Headingley crowd a brief glimpse of his power, clearing the midwicket boundary once during his 23, before finding long-on as he attempted to win the match quickly (182 for 4).
Bangladesh stuttered to 208 for 7 as England’s bowling improved after a poor start with Flintoff leading the resurgence with another menacing spell. Javed Omar provided the backbone to the innings with 81 from 150 balls and Mashud brought some much needed late acceleration with 42 off 43.Omar’s innings was a model of concentration and he largely managed to eradicated the cross-batted shots that have been is downfall in this series. But at times it was questionable whether he was doing more harm than good to the innings. However, after their rapid collapse against Australia yesterday they can be forgiven for ensuring they batted out their 50 overs.Simon Jones gained a useful workout. He grabbed the first wicket to fall, when Shahriar Nafees edged a expansive cut to first slip, where Trescothick took a well-judged low catch (22 for 1).But Flintoff was easily the pick of England’s seam attack after they generally wasted the new ball in a lazy display of bowling and fielding. As Tushar Imran attempted to increase the scoring rate he chopped into his stumps after comfortably scoring at a run-a-ball (92 for 2). It was typical of so many Bangladesh dismissals on this tour, with a batsman doing all the hardwork then losing concentration at the vital time.Mohammad Ashraful had a perfect base to continue his scintillating form, but picked out Trescothick at midwicket from his first ball (92 for 3). Flintoff was then within a whisker of a hat-trick – although not as close as Tremlett last week – when Habibul Bashar just managed to get his pad outside off stump.But Bashar did not last much longer and became another victim of Paul Collingwood’s sharp fielding in the covers. Omar dropped the ball and set off for a single but Bashar’s dive was not quite enough to get him home as Collingwood’s underarm flick just clipped the stumps (112 for 4). When Aftab Ahmed was bowled by Ashley Giles, Bangladesh had lost all their momentum (138 for 5) but Mashud used his experience to ensure they at least passed 200 and gave England a decent chase.Although not the most convincing of England’s performances against Bangladesh, they still got the job done with plenty of time to spare. Now the attention turns firmly to Australia for the rest of the summer. Although Tuesday’s game has no bearing on the final, some important psychological points can be scored ahead of the Lord’s showdown.