Brett Dorey, the Western Australia fast bowler, is expected to be fit for the ING Cup game against Victoria on Saturday despite suffering a leg injury yesterday. Dorey complained of tightness in his quadriceps during the five-wicket win against Victoria and left the field, but he showed promising signs during a recovery session this morning.The Western Australia selectors named an unchanged squad for the return fixture against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. The Australian players Damien Martyn, who scored 110 yesterday, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and Mike Hussey will all make the trip.Tim Paine is in line for an ING Cup debut after replacing Michael Dighton, the opening batsman, for Tasmania’s match against New South Wales at the SCG on Sunday. Dighton broke his hand during the two-wicket loss to Queensland at the Gabba on Friday.Western Australia squad Justin Langer (capt), Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Adam Voges, Darren Wates, Peter Worthington, Brad Williams, Beau Casson, Brett Dorey, Michael Clark.Tasmania squad Travis Birt, Michael Di Venuto, Ricky Ponting (capt), George Bailey, David Dawson (wk), Tim Paine, Scott Kremerskothen, Damien Wright, Xavier Doherty, Adam Griffith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Adam Polkinghorne, Shannon Tubb.

ScorecardThe tailenders Jason Gillespie and Paul Rofe survived 38 deliveries to achieve a nail-biting draw against Queensland at Adelaide Oval. To keep a rain-hit match alive both captains declared today and South Australia, who were chasing 353, were in desperate trouble when Dan Cullen was ninth out at 299, but the final pairing thwarted the Bulls’ charge, which was set up by the five-wicket effort of Mitchell Johnson.In a fine example of result-driven play, Darren Lehmann closed the Redbacks’ first innings at the day two stumps score of 3 for 89 – the third day was washed out – to give two points to Queensland, who batted aggressively for 19 overs before Jimmy Maher called his batsmen in. South Australia had 91 overs to reach their target and the chase was on track as Lehmann and Callum Ferguson combined for a 110-run partnership, but when Lehmann was bowled by Michael Kasprowicz for 51 and Ferguson departed to a Johnson edge for 65 an over later the team’s only thought was of a draw.Johnson, a left-arm fast bowler tipped as a Test prospect, then removed Graham Manou and Cullen as the home side lost their final three wickets for 10 runs before clinging on. Queensland had one narrow opportunity for victory when Rofe edged Andy Bichel just short of Clinton Perren with three overs remaining.The chase started steadily until Johnson claimed Shane Deitz and Greg Blewett either side of lunch to disrupt South Australia’s progress, while Matthew Elliott was dropped twice before missing a swinging yorker from Kasprowicz, who will join Elliott at the English county Glamorgan next winter. Gillespie finished his return to the first-class arena with 3 for 41 to add to his 2 for 40 on day one.

Matthew Elliott, who a week ago was diagnosed with a broken right wrist, has been chosen in South Australia’s squad for the ING Cup match against New South Wales at Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Elliott was cleared of a fracture and sustained only ligament damage while fielding against Tasmania last weekend, and he will test his fitness while playing for the club side West Torrens on Saturday.Greg Blewett, who is suffering from back soreness, is the other concern and he will be given until the morning of the game to recover. South Australia named a 13-man squad to cover their options and they will again be captained by Darren Lehmann in the top-of-the-table contest. A win would push the Redbacks to first for the Christmas break while a New South Wales victory would maintain their lofty position.Stuart Clark will be part of the Blues squad after Nathan Bracken was preferred by Australia for the first Test against South Africa in Perth. Clark was named 12th man and New South Wales expected him to be released for Sunday’s match.South Australia squad Matthew Elliott, Greg Blewett, Mark Cosgrove, Cameron Borgas, Darren Lehmann (capt), Callum Ferguson, Graham Manou (wk), Jason Gillespie, Daniel Cullen, Gary Putland, Mark Cleary, Trent Kelly, Paul Rofe.New South Wales Simon Katich (capt), Phil Jaques, Corey Richards, Michael Clarke, Dominic Thornely, Aaron O’Brien, Brad Haddin (wk), Matthew Nicholson, Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill, Stuart Clark.

David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, has tipped Northamptonshire’s left-arm spinner Monty Panesar to break into the England ranks this summer. Panesar, 23, took 46 wickets in the championship last season at the impressive average of 21.54.”A lot of people have made comments about spinners playing in our cricket,” he told BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek. “So I’d like to put forward Monty Panesar, a left-arm spinner, as someone who could break through this year.”Panesar’s pedigree as a spinner is not in doubt. He has long, strong fingers which allow him to spin the ball strongly, but his batting and fielding have held him back from progressing further into England colours. He has spent this winter at the Darren Lehmann Academy to improve the two weakest facets of his game, and Lehmann – who had recently struck a triple-century – told him “to have a simple game-plan and stick to that.”Despite his age, he has already taken 107 wickets in just 28 first-class games. Indeed, he has only been a full-time cricketer since graduating from Loughborough University last summer.

Two of Bangladesh’s most exciting young prospects were watching a Dhaka Premier Division league match in progress on the eve of the tri-nation Under-19 tournament final last month, when they were asked who, in their opinion, was the best U-19 side in the world at the moment. Sakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal took about half-a-second each to decide and then replied almost in the same breath: “I think we are.”The next day Sakib turned in an outstanding allround show while Tamim, an opening batsman, unleashed some trademark fierce shots as their side rolled past Sri Lanka in the final at the Bangladesh Institute of Sports (BKSP). It completed a highly successful year for the youth side, who lost just three matches and won 13 in all U-19 competitions. They played in Australia, India and at home and their list of conquests included the reigning U-19 world champions Pakistan, as well as Australia, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa and Zimbabwe.The results haven’t gone unnoticed and, as a result, a serious challenge is expected when the U-19 World Cup gets underway in February. The fact that almost the entire squad possesses first-class experience, places them right at the top of the list of favourites. While interest in youth sides can be casual at best in most Test-playing nations, here in Bangladesh it is a little different. Young blood is seen as the harbinger of all the beautiful future cricket dreams of this success-starved nation and the present U-19 side has managed to spark genuine enthusiasm in this regard.After winning their last three matches of the Afro-Asian competition against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and South Africa, the Bangladesh side then made went on an eight-game winning spree with victories over England (thrice) and Sri Lanka (twice) in the league phase of the tri-nation event in Dhaka. This was the longest winning streak by any Bangladeshi national side and, by the time the toss of the final was in progress, Tamim, Sakib and a couple of other names had already evoked enough curiosity in some 20-odd cricket journalists to dash down to the BKSP. They didn’t want to miss a single ball. For a few who had followed their progress it was more a case of being there while Tamim batted.Tamim is the younger brother of the Test opener, Nafis Iqbal, and comes from a cricket-oriented family. Their uncle Akram Khan is a living legend of Bangladesh cricket while another uncle Afzal once represented the Bangladesh U-19s. However, the youngest of the lot is a bit different. He bats left-handed unlike the others and to put it bluntly, he is a butcher with the willow and is probably the hardest and biggest hitter of the ball in domestic cricket. Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, was there when he blasted a 71-ball 112 against England in the tri-series and was heard uttering approvingly, “outrageous”. The happy-go-lucky teenager also reportedly has fans in Sri Lanka where he had toured with the High Performance squad last year. To call him exciting would be an understatement.While Tamim is the crowd-puller, the undoubted star of the team is another left-hander, Sakib. I had taken Wisden’s youth special, where his name featured in the elite list of 21 to shape the future of world cricket, to the ground. I wanted to give it to him before the final so that he could understand the responsibility he has to shoulder on wearing that green and red cap but I could not hand the magazine over in time and looking back, I’m glad I didn’t. He took three wickets with his left-arm spin, pulled off a run-out and a catch and then strode in imperiously with Bangladesh on 51 for 1 chasing 217. In his next 86 balls, he pulled, drove, cut, swept and cleared the fielders to notch up exactly 100, never looking in any hurry and departed four runs shy of victory. The boy who nonchalantly sings to himself before going out to bat is as natural as cricketers come and apparently doesn’t need reminding what is expected of him.Despite Tamim and Sakib’s presence, what makes this unit a formidable one is its balance. The calming influence in the team’s top order is provided by Raqibul Hasan and Mehrab Hossain (Jr.) while Shamsur Rahman and the captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, the only player with Test experience in the side, are there to fall back on any time. There is no real tail with a host of allrounders battling for a promotion up the order. The pace bowling department is not the team’s strength but both Dollar Mahmud and the left-armer, Kamrul Islam, have the pace to hurry opposing batsmen.Once the shine is off the new ball, then the spinners take over and here Rahim has a real headache because there are around eight blokes with one hand up and wanting to bowl. Mind you, all are proven wicket-takers. If you are looking for left-arm spin, then there is the enviable choice to make from Sakib, Nabil Samad, Sohrawardi Shuvo and Mehrab. For a bit of offspin there is Rezaul Islam to turn to. Close fielding is an area where they can excel also.They head for the World Cup with performances behind them. All the players have been given the chance to experience the pressure of the Dhaka Premier Division and all have been among the runs and wickets at every level they have been exposed to. They have played non-stop cricket around the world over the last 12 months and have trained in earnest under the fatherly tutelage of their coaches, Allister de Winter and Nazmul Abedin Fahim. Their body language exudes the spirit and confidence of a winning team. While watching the Bangladeshi run-chase in the final, a relaxed fellow journalist remarked: “I don’t feel any tension. The only thing possible and certain is a Bangladesh win. How long before we feel as comfortable with the main side in action?”When Bangladesh beat Australia in the Plate final of the last World Cup, it was viewed as a major upset. The present team, which does not have a single face left from the 2004 tournament, have emerged as one of the teams to beat going into this year’s competition by virtue of their on-field exploits and not through any emotional analysis. If they don’t make it to the last four of the Cup phase, consider that an upset.

Kenya’s new coach, Roger Harper, held a first face-to-face meeting with his players on Monday as part of a squad assessment ahead of the tour of Bangladesh in March.Harper, who has signed a one-year contract with Kenya following the departure of Andy Moles last year, has insisted he would have to make an assessment of all the players before naming his final team to tour Bangladesh.Kenya’s selectors have named a provisional squad of 24 players to start training under the supervision of Harper, a former West Indies allrounder. Cricket Kenya’s chief executive, Tom Tikolo, said the selected players include the long-serving captain Steve Tikolo, who is currently playing club cricket in Bangladesh.Tikolo said Ravindu Shah, the resourceful opening batsman who has spent nearly two years on the sidelines with a nagging knee injury, may return to the team pending a doctor’s advice on his condition.Harper coached West Indies from 2000 through to the end of the 2003 World Cup, but it was a difficult period as the side adjusted to their diminishing status. Under his tenure they won nine and lost 19 of the 39 Tests they played.As an offspinner, he played 25 Tests and 105 ODIs for West Indies between 1983 and 1996 and was regarded as one of the greatest fielders of his generation.

Clea Smith, the Victoria fast bowler, will replace the Test player Sarah Andrews in the first of three one-day internationals against India at Adelaide on Saturday. Australia, who sealed the one-off Test by an innings earlier this week, will be looking to continue their hold over the tourists in back-to-back matches at St Peter’s College over the weekend.Jodie Purves, the wicketkeeper who scored an unbeaten 43 on Test debut, is also due to play her first ODI after the side was announced today. Karen Rolton leads the team while Lisa Sthalekar, who was Player of the Match in the Test, is her deputy.Australia, who beat India by 98 runs to secure the World Cup last year, have played their opponents 22 times for 18 wins. The third match will be held at Adelaide’s Woodville Oval on Tuesday.Australia Karen Rolton (capt), Lisa Sthalekar, Alex Blackwell, Kate Blackwell, Melissa Bulow, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Michelle Goszko, Julie Hayes, Shelley Nitschke, Jodie Purves (wk), Clea Smith.

Shane Bond is still expected to be fit for the first Test at Centurion despite concerns over a knee injury which forced him to sit out most of the tour opener at Benoni.A spokesman for the New Zealanders said medical staff were confident Bond would be ready. “It’s not a structural thing like a medial ligament. There’s a connecting tendon that sometimes gets a bit inflamed, so as a precaution we took him out of here to have a look at it. It’s a reoccurrence of something we knew about and it will be carefully managed.”Lindsay Crocker, the team’s manager, told reporters that Bond had been undergoing treatment and was walking freely.Crocker added that the entire squad was still jet-lagged and that they had all been given Wednesday off to recover.

ScorecardThe name Compton has a long history with Lord’s and today it was back up in lights as Nick Compton, Denis’s grandson, struck his maiden Championship century to haul Middlesex out of trouble on the third day against Kent. He arrived after three early wickets during the morning session and, after initially playing second fiddle to Jamie Dalrymple, pushed Middlesex towards their eventual lead of 353.Last week Compton notched his first first-class century but, without trying to take anything away from Oxford UCCE, the bowling attack would not have been as testing as that on offer at Lord’s. His previous best in the Championship had been 40, on debut, against Worcestershire in 2004 and conditions weren’t easy when he arrived. The ball was still swinging considerably, but he quickly began to rotate the strike with Dalrymple, the senior partner, who steadied the Middlesex innings after it had slumped to 45 for 4.When Dalrymple departed, falling across the crease against the impressive Robbie Joseph, Compton took the innings under his young wings. Boundaries were limited but he sprinted hard between the wickets and when he connected with a big shot, he did so in style. A handsome straight drive into the pavilion loosened the shackles and he immediately appeared calmer at the crease.Understandably the tension mounted as three figures approached and he nearly edged Simon Cook twice while on 96. However, in the next over, from Min Patel, he danced out of his crease and smashed the ball over mid-off and into the Warner Stand to break through the 100-mark off 184 balls. A jig of delight followed as his team-mates and the crowd rose for a standing ovation. The giant electronic scorecard – a feature that certainly wasn’t around in the days of his grandfather, when he scored the last of his Lord’s hundreds on August 28, 1957 – flashed up the figures and he led the players off at tea.The significance of this innings goes beyond just the personal and historical factors as it put Middlesex in an increasingly strong position. The top order stuttered as they attempted to build on their 25-run first-innings lead with Kent’s seamers, especially Joseph and Amjad Khan, maintaining the pressureAlready one down overnight, following the late loss of Ed Smith yesterday evening, Middlesex quickly lost their other opener, Ben Hutton, when he miscued a pull for the second time in the match. There was useful movement for the pacemen as the sun struggled to pierce the morning could cover, but Owais Shah middled a couple of sumptuous cover-drives and was more compact than his rather skittish affair in the first innings. However, he could build on the promising start as he was beaten for pace by Khan – a slight lack of bounce – to be pinned in front, leaving Middlesex 45 for 3.The score hadn’t moved when Kent struck another major blow by removing Ed Joyce. Fresh from his 130 on Wednesday, Joyce was left needing to produce another sizeable innings but drove loosely at Joesph and Martin van Jaarsveld continued his excellent catching form with a sharp take at second slip.However, Dalrymple showed the composure and correctness that gained him A team recognition in the winter. He was quick onto anything off line, particularly through the offside, and brought up his fifty from 64 balls. His innings, though, was quickly overshadowed by Compton who, with valuable support from the busy Craig Wright, pushed the lead over 300.A determined start by David Fulton and Robert Key has left Kent needed 311 more runs and set up a fascinating final day, in what has been a superb advertisement for hard-fought county cricket. Today, though, was all about one of the most famous names in cricket making a 21st century appearance in the middle of the most famous ground in the world.

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

Thunder, lightening and a sharp shower brought an abrupt end to the Australian charge to take control of the second Test. Only 22.4 overs were possible on the second day, during which Australia managed to close in on the meagre Bangladesh first-innings total losing only one more wicket.Phil Jaques, was the only man to fall, but not before he had reached his maiden Test fifty. Singled out by Steve Waugh as one of Australia’s next-generation cricketers, he batted with Waugh-like purposefulnessJason Gillespie, the night-watchman, combined dour defence with occasional bursts for fours and Ricky Ponting merely carried on from his last innings before weather intervened.Though the sky cleared up for a while in the afternoon, the umpires found the outfield unfit for play. The match will now start half an hour early for the next days to partially make up for the seven hours that were lost today.Bangladesh appeared to go through the motions in the morning, confirming apprehensions they were treating this match as a lost cause. Only Shahadat Hussain looked threatening in a brief spell, during which he hit Jaques on the body and knocked out Gillespie’s bat.Once again, it fell on Mohammad Rafique to provide Bangladesh the breakthrough. He threw one up outside the off stump and Jaques, perhaps just to break the monotony of the day, went for a slog sweep but ended up top-edging to square leg. But so far, rains have provided the only comfort to Bangladesh.

How they were out

Australia
Phil Jaques c Shahriar Nafees b Mohammad Rafique 66 (120 for 2)