The young players not to watch in 2013

This year has seen some eye-catching debuts for several of the Test nations. Here's a rundown of the players who might be bursting onto the scene in the next

Bradley Mitchell (Australia)
Exciting but raw young quick who has played just four first-class games. Swings it both ways but has been troubled by injuries.

Mitchell Bradley (Australia)
Exciting but raw young quick who has never actually played a cricket match. Swings it both ways but has been troubled by being in full body plaster cast for 18 months.

Madley Britchell (Australia)
Exciting but raw young foetus who has yet to be born. Potential to swing it both ways but has been troubled by being incredibly fragile and the size of a pea.

Madge Bishop (Australia)
Exciting but raw soap opera character. Has been troubled by being dead since 2001, but still regarded as most physically durable pace bowling option open to Australia.

Ted Cowdrey-May (England)
English batsman with impeccable pedigree, having been grown in a genetics laboratory from the DNA of 1950s legends. Widely tipped to pass 1000 questions about his famous relatives by the end of May.

Arkwright Grimthorpe (England)
Nuggety Yorkshire opening batsman hand-reared by Sir Geoffrey Boycott. Enjoys occupying the crease, oiling his thigh pad, leaving the ball. On course to pass 1000 minutes at the crease before scoring first run.

Jewel Van Der Botha (England)
Exciting Krugersdorp-born quick who makes up for girl's name with reverse-swinging yorkers, tattoos. Recently introduced to Andy Flower in the duty-free at Heathrow airport. Expected to pass 1000 questions on UK Citizenship Test by end of May.

Ross Vincent (New Zealand)
Regarded as safe pair of hands to sort out crisis in New Zealand cricket, Vincent is a safe pair of hands in a tight spot and has a safe pair of hands in the slips. He enjoys long walks, spending time with friends and family, and a really funny thing once happened to him when he was batting and he nearly forgot to put his gloves on before he walked out, although he remembered just in time. Regarded as the most exciting thing to happen to New Zealand cricket since the discovery of wood, he is a safe pair of hands to put bums on seats and get the turnstiles clicking again for Kiwi cricket.

Kumar Dev (India)
Exciting batting talent who hits a long ball in the IPL and, although yet to play a Test, is already worth $10 million as face of Pepsi India. Has a weakness against the short ball, tending to turn his back on it too quickly.

Dev Kumar (India)
Exciting batting talent who hits a long ball in the IPL and, although not too sure what a Test match might actually be, is already worth $47 million as face (and overweight body) of McDonalds India. Has a weakness against the short ball, tending to turn his back on it and run away screaming to the pavilion.

Sunil Gavaskar (India)
Exciting batting talent now regarded as best possible hope for future of Indian Test top six.

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16:06

Asian Champions Trophy

TeamPakistan celebrating Asian Champions Trophy Gold in world famous Gangnam Style

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16:03

Sri Lanka flee from credibility

If there is a moment that captures Sri Lanka's first Boxing Day Test in 17 years, it is Dhammika Prasad fleeing from the ball as it approached him at fine leg on day two.


Michael Hussey had hooked a Shaminda Eranga bouncer and, having failed to pick up the ball, Prasad picked a direction to sprint in and chose poorly. That is perhaps unfair to Prasad, whose drive and desperation did him credit on day two, but Sri Lanka have done the opposite of what would have constituted a healthy showing at the MCG, and in doing so, they have hurtled beyond the merely disappointing and run aground on the farcical.

The sense of humour that Sri Lanka's fans have developed over the last two years of Test cricket may be the only quality that will see the team retain their support for the third Test.

Sri Lanka's experienced batsmen were called on by their captain to go big in Melbourne and the game plan on a good pitch was to bat first and spend enough time at the crease to bring Rangana Herath into the game on a wearing pitch. Instead, the batting in both innings bore all the stability of a slowly collapsing circus tent.

At the end of the first day's play, coach Graham Ford suggested the excitement of a Boxing Day Test and Sri Lanka's desperation to do well may have drawn the batting errors that comprised their capitulation. If that is the case, Sri Lanka's top order, who have close to 400 Tests between them, were not far different from an excited child who springs from bed on his Christmas morning, runs straight into a wall and spends the day in a coma. It is not an image a team perpetually struggling to achieve global recognition needs to portray in one of the most widely followed cricket matches of the year.

That a man of Kumar Sangakkara's quality had never played a Test in one of cricket's most iconic venues until he was 35 was considered a minor travesty by some, but after this loss - the third heaviest in the team's history - Sri Lanka's next generation will be fortunate to play a Boxing Day Test at all.

Day three's collapse was even more risible than the first innings effort. Inside two overs, Sri Lanka were 3 for 3 needing to bat for nearly three days to save the Test. They might have had little to gain at that stage but there was not even a hint of courage in their demise and at times batsmen seemed to be looking for the ball to which they could succumb. Sri Lanka's cricketers can be glad that even their most impassioned followers do not descend to the ugliness that sportsmen sometimes have to contend with elsewhere in the subcontinent.

On a pitch Mitchell Johnson made appear a road as he beat out an unruffled 92 not out, he then made appear a lake of fire, as he took 2 for 16 and ended the tour of Sri Lanka's best batsman, Sangakkara - whose innings was the only whimper of protest - striking Prasad painfully in the hand as well.

"We can't be happy at all with the way that we played today," Mahela Jayawardene said after the match. "We haven't played well from day one and we need to all take responsibility for that. Despite having talked about what needed to happen, we haven't put those things into action. Especially the batsmen need to take a lot of responsibility. We needed to fight and we didn't do that. Only Sanga was playing well and even he has now been injured."

The bumbling in the field may have been outshone by Sri Lanka's blinding ineptitude with the bat but an attack whose lack of penetration even Sri Lanka are aware of can hardly be blamed if the chances they do produce are fluffed. Herath created no less than four chances in 39 overs that went at 2.43, three of them clear-cut. Chanaka Welegedara had Shane Watson dropped off his bowling as well, and Watson and Michael Clarke shared four reprieves between them during their 194-run stand - five if you include a shy at the stumps that might have caught Watson short if it had been a direct hit.

Sri Lanka now face the task of mounting a face-saving performance in Sydney, with their morale devastated and their dressing room decimated by injury. They have fled from tenacity, resolve and credibility at the MCG. They cannot afford to flee from the hard truths that are their only avenue to a competitive final Test. A maiden win in Australia seems distant indeed.

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16:00

Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik included in ODI squad against India

Pakistan Cricket Board’s selection committee has included veteran all-rounders Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik within the One Day International squad touring India.

The decision came forward on Friday as it was learned that the selection committee has requested a clearance from PCB’s Chairman Zaka Ashraf over the inclusion of the two all-rounders.

According to PCB officials, the selection committee had requested for an approval from PCB’c chairman to include two experienced players within the squad stating it as the need of the hour.

The request was accepted by PCB’s chairman and both Afridi and Malik were included in the ODI squad touring India. Both the players who were scheduled to return back to Pakistan on 29th December but since now they have been included in the ODI squad, both of them would stay back and continue playing with the remaining squad.

It has also been learned that ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq played a pivotal role towards the inclusion of the the two veterans. Misbah had earlier shown a positive intent towards the inclusion of both the players and had earlier stated that he himself would request for their inclusion if any improvement in the performance of the players would be witnessed.

Both Malik and Afridi had to face the axe from the selection committee earlier because of their slump form and they were only made a part of the T20 squad.

Afridi’s current performance in the last two domestic matches along with his bowling in the first T20 and Malik’s match winning knock played an instrumental part towards their inclusion within the ODI squad.

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12:38