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Sri Lanka Cricket’s newly appointed women’s team head coach Hemantha Devapriya is confident that the team will improve despite suffering their second successive series whitewash in the recently-concluded series against England.”England are one of the leading sides in the top bracket in women’s cricket. Although we lost to a strong side, the girls gave 100% and I can see some improvement,” he said. “The series was a good benchmark for me to gauge what standard we have to reach. We need to give them confidence, they need to learn to handle pressure situations.”We have to improve in all three areas: batting, bowling and fielding and areas like game awareness, thinking ahead of the game, planning can be done but implementing it under pressure has to improve, handling situations and fitness levels. We have to increase all three areas at least by 10% so by a year’s time it will double. We have to be patient, smart thinking has to come they are not very smart thinkers. There are so many areas we have to improve.”Among the areas Devapriya stressed upon was the improved batting. Sri Lanka made totals of 168, 173 and 161 in the first three ODIs against England, unlike in the series against Australia where they passed 150 only once in four matches.”This is the first time they have reached totals of 150 plus consistently in a series and in the last match I made a point to give others a chance after talking to the selectors to see how good they are,” he said. “We have very far to go but one positive thing is the girls are willing and the passion is there. They are eager to learn. I am quite sure in six months they will be on another different level. The results will come gradually.”Devapriya had little time to work with the team, considering he was appointed just a few weeks prior to the series. He felt the Asia Cup in Thailand later this month would give him a better idea of where the team stood at Asian level. Among the areas he believes there’s bigger scope to improve is in their batting approach.”I gave them a singles target, not fours and sixes,” he said. “The plan was to at least to run 75 to 100 singles, but they couldn’t reach that mark. They were always somewhere around 50 singles and we have to avoid a lot of dot balls. In two matches we had more than 200 dot balls, they are very hesitant to leave the crease and come out.”I am really working hard on their shots range as well, using their feet to spin and getting onto the back foot for pace. They are committed front foot players and I am developing their back swing. Their bat pick-ups are very poor and generating batting power is the core area.”They do a lot of hard work in the gym for their stomach and body but they must learn the art of delivering the power. How much of work you do in the gym the art of delivering the power is something which they don’t use.”Well-rounded changes to batting technique apart, Devapriya felt translating gym fitness into being an agile fielding unit was equally important. “We have to sharpen the fielding also,” he said. “I am trying to do their physical fitness coupled with fielding.”The diving, sliding techniques are poor, sad to say that some girls have been playing for years but they don’t know how to slide. The practice systems I have made a lot of changes where everybody gets a batting turn so that when they finish a day’s practice they will have undergone about 250 different shots.”

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been given a one-match suspension by the ICC for his side’s slow over rate during the first Test against New Zealand last week, meaning he has to miss the second Test in Hamilton. Misbah, however, was set to miss the Hamilton Test anyway, after returning home on Sunday evening following the death of his father-in-law.While the Pakistan captain was fined 40% of his match fee, the rest of the team was fined 20% after the side was ruled to have been two overs short of its target of 103 overs after time allowances were taken into consideration. Misbah was previously found guilty of a minor over-rate offence during the Oval Test against England in August; this was his second minor over-rate offence in the same format in a period of 12 months, and as per the rules two offences in 12 months equate to fines and a suspension from the immediately subsequent match in the same format.The charge was laid by on-field umpires Ian Gould and S Ravi, third umpire Simon Fry, and fourth official Shaun Haig. He had only briefly taken the field during New Zealand’s chase on the fourth day and was scheduled to leave the country on Sunday evening. He had made scores of 31 and 13 in the Christchurch Test.Misbah had previously missed only one Test since he was appointed captain in 2010: he was unavailable for a 2012 Test in Galle, due to a suspension for slow over-rates.Pakistan are currently trailing 0-1 in the two-Test series after an eight-wicket loss in Christchurch.

ScorecardFile photo – Vishaul Singh made an impressive start to the tour of Sri Lanka•WICB

West Indies A stumbled on either side of a substantial fourth-wicket partnership between Shamarh Brooks and Vishaul Singh to fold for 276 against the Sri Lanka A team at the Khettarama Stadium.West Indies A were immediately put under pressure after opting to bat, as dropped Test opener Rajendra Chandrika’s poor form continued. He was trapped in front by Lahiru Kumara, who had spearheaded the Sri Lanka Under-19s pace attack on their recent tour to England. Vishaul Singh (96) found himself doing the rescue act twice, coming in at 56 for 3 and putting on 125 for the fourth wicket with his captain Shamarh Brooks, before a second collapse led West Indies to losing three wickets for four runs.Kemar Roach’s unbeaten 45 was the only other notable contribution, as the Sri Lankans didn’t let the batsmen settle. U-19 offspinner Charith Asalanka and allrounder Asela Gunaratne stood out for Sri Lanka A, taking two and three wickets. Chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan, who made his Test debut in the recently concluded series against Australia, bowled 28 overs but only managed to pick up one wicket.Sri Lanka A openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera were unbeaten without scoring in the solitary over they faced before stumps.

Seamer Mirwais Ashraf has said that Afghanistan’s attack will have a key role to play in the upcoming three-ODI series in Bangladesh. The bowlers, led by offspinning allrounder Mohammad Nabi, who claimed 4 for 24, tuned up by dismissing BCB XI for 167 to take a low-scorer.Nabi was assisted by 18-year-old-legspinner Rashid Khan and left-arm seamer Fareed Ahmed, who picked up two wickets each. Fareed’s new-ball partner Karim Janant, uncapped at international level, also chipped in with a wicket, helping the visitors defend 233.”This was a great preparation for us after spending the last 20 days training in India,” Ashraf said. “We played positive cricket and gave Bangladesh a tough time. Afghanistan’s bowling is a key area. It has legspin, left-arm spin, offbreak bowlers and the pace attack. The upcoming matches will be tough.”Fareed and Janat are young and talented seam bowlers. They came from the U19s, and have the ability to swing the ball both ways. They deserve to be in the national team.”Ashraf himself contributed to the victory, his late cameo – an unbeaten 32 off 19 balls – first lifted the side past 200. He then bowled three tidy overs with his medium-pace.”I just play for the team, what they require from me,” he said. I try to play according to the condition. Variation is important since the pitch wasn’t suiting pace bowling.”BCB XI’s top-scorer Mosaddek Hossain, who was named in the Bangladesh squad on Thursday, said that Rashid would pose a threat in the ODIs.”Rashid bowled accurately and had a lot of variations,” he said. I think he was harder to play than the other legspinner. He bowls the googly really well and can stick to bowling at one spot.”Mosaddek, who struck five fours and three sixes during his 76, however, drew confidence from reading the conditions well and hoped to justify his call-up to the national squad.”Reading the wicket was more important to me today,” he said. “It was a tough wicket, kept low and there was turn. I think reading the wicket correctly was a big deal to me. A player has more self-belief when he has been selected to play for the country. I am in this mindset, that I have to prove why I am in the national team. I tried to bat till the end but unfortunately, I couldn’t manage it.”Batting against them [Afghanistan] today has given me some confidence. I don’t think anything more will happen than what happened today. I think I will make use of any opportunity that comes in front of me.”

Prime Bank Cricket Club have pulled their franchise out of Bangladesh Cricket League’s first-class tournament for the 2016-17 season, their general secretary Tanjil Chowdhury has said. He stated that the decision came in “protest” of unavailability of top players from their region, poor facilities and the tournament’s lack of context in the domestic scene, and they had informed the BCB about it.”Prime Bank Cricket Club has decided to pull out of the upcoming edition of Bangladesh Cricket League,” Tanjil wrote in a Facebook post. “This may have surprised and upset our fans, wellwishers and cricket lovers. We would like to clarify that this decision was reached due to a culmination of few factors and issues, which we feel obliged to notify our stakeholders.”PBCC feels that the spirit of alleviating domestic cricket standard especially the longer format is not aligned with the current editions of BCL which we have formally communicated to the BCB. We are deeply saddened by the circumstances that tantamounted (sic) to this critical decision, but at the same time feel that it was timely to do so as a matter of protest.”BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that they were aware of Prime Bank’s issues but they would only decide on the matter once the BCB president Nazmul Hassan returns to the country.”They (Prime Bank) have raised some issues and informed us. The BCB president is out of country and we will decide after he returns to the country,” Nizamuddin said.Tanjil further explained that the lack of star players in their South Zone franchise due to several reasons contributed to the pull out. “The presence of national team players in BCL is far and few, often getting missed out due to holiday, international duties and injuries or rest periods,” he wrote. “That means we never got the full strength of our zonal team as on pen and paper.”The youngsters [are] mostly inexperienced and few senior players miss out on the opportunity to play with national capped players.”The standard of ground and quality/conditions of cricket in general is very poor. Starting with facilities and non cricketing season to name a few.”He mentioned that budgetary allocation was also limiting them from financing more than two teams’ participation. Already their teams played in the Dhaka Premier League and last season’s BCL, which spilled over to 2016. But Tanjil informed that they were pulling out only for this season.”We have not retired our franchise, we merely declined to participate in upcoming edition citing the above mentioned reasons,” he wrote.The BCL was supposed to be held from September 20 but now that the Afghanistan ODIs have been scheduled from September 25, it has thrown the tournament into uncertainty as the BCL was being scheduled as a preparatory tournament for the England tour.

Mitchell Johnson is set to play BBL cricket for the first time after signing with the Perth Scorchers for the 2016-17 season. Johnson, 34, announced his retirement from international cricket during last summer and has only played in the IPL since then, but the lure of staying involved via the BBL was appealing.”I was never going anywhere else and always wanted to stay here and be part of the community,” Johnson said. “To be able to play for the Perth Scorchers, where I live and where I’m based, is perfect for me.”It’s exciting to be able to play Twenty20 cricket. A lot of the boys have told me about the Big Bash and how good it’s become, not only from a spectators’ point of view but also from a player’s point of view. It’s really good to play and it’s only getting bigger and bigger.”Johnson’s signing comes after the Scorchers lost a key drawcard with spinner Brad Hogg defecting to the Melbourne Renegades. Johnson said he would enjoy working with the Scorchers’ talented group of young fast bowlers, including fellow left-armers Joel Paris and Jason Behrendorff.”I’ll hopefully be able to guide these young guys in the right direction,” Johnson said. “I want be a mentor and bowl alongside these guys. I want to be involved in the coaching side of things which has become a bit more of a focus for me. I also want to enjoy it and have some fun.”

Match facts

July 28-August 1, Bulawayo
Start time 09:30 local (07:30 GMT)Eleven matches into his Test career, Graeme Cremer prepares to take the reins•West Indies Cricket

Big picture

For all the feelings of excitement at Test cricket’s return to Bulawayo, there is the reality that the home side will find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer gulf between their visitors and themselves in every way.In personnel terms, New Zealand, albeit without recently retired Brendon McCullum, bring 379 Test caps between them to Bulawayo. Zimbabwe have just 86 and, of those, a third belong to one man – Hamilton Masakadza – who was relieved of the captaincy in May. Masakadza will no doubt operate as senior counsel to new captain Graeme Cremer, who will lead the Test side for the first time. His counterpart, Kane Williamson, is also on his maiden outing as Test captain, but has experienced heads like Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor to turn to.One of the first things they would remind Williamson of was how hard Zimbabwe pushed them the last time the sides met at Queens. In November 2011, the match went down to the last session of the last day before New Zealand eventually claimed the honours. Since then, Zimbabwe visited New Zealand, were soundly beaten, and have played just 10 other Test matches.New Zealand went only to play four times that number and are a much more assured side than they were five years ago. Although they have lost two of their last three Test series, both against Australia, they had been on a solid run before that. They drew in England and the UAE, and beat Sri Lanka away, West Indies away and India at home. Their climb up the Test rankings has not been as dramatic as their headline-grabbing showings in limited-overs cricket but it has been steady, and they now find themselves at No.5. If the idea of two Test divisions ever becomes a reality, New Zealand would play in the top division, as things stand.At the moment, Zimbabwe can only dream of getting there. Their dearth of fixtures has left them without a ranking at all, but after this series it is likely they will be on the table, joining at the bottom. They will want this to be a fresh start, so they can gradually set their sights on greater things.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLLW
New Zealand LLWWL

In the spotlight

Injuries to Tinashe Panyangara and Tendai Chatara have left Zimbabwe’s pace pack with just two Test caps among four of them, and the lack of experience could be a cause for concern. Njabulo Ncube and Donald Tiripano have played a Test each while Michael Chinouya and Taurai Muzarabani are uncapped. The quartet have had the experience of Makhaya Ntini, South Africa’s third-highest wicket-taker of all time, to draw on but may need to find the right balance between attacking and containing on what could be a stubborn surface.Leg spin has been known to be a nemesis for Zimbabwean batsmen so Ish Sodhi’s role could be the most important in the New Zealand attack. Sodhi caused problems for Zimbabwe A during last week’s warm-up match at Harare Sports Club, when he took six wickets in total, including that of Test keeper Regis Chakabva twice. He will also be heartened by what he may see from the most recent match played at Queens, between Zimbabwe A and South Africa A. Despite a largely batsman-friendly surface, Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt took seven wickets between them to win the match for the tourists.

Team news

The hosts will cap at least one new player either at the top of the order or in the spin department. Prince Masvaure, who scored a century in the match between Zimbabwe A and South Africa A, could open in Vusi Sibanda’s absence. Masvaure will have to be joined by one of Brian Chari or Chamu Chibhabha after Tino Mawoyo was ruled out with a hand injury. The No.4 spot left vacant by Brendan Taylor is likely to be filled by one of Sikandar Raza or Peter Moor, with the other slotting in at No. 5. With plenty of slower bowling options in the middle order, Zimbabwe could field just two quicks, of which one may be a debutant.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Prince Masvaure, 2 Chamu Chibhabha/Brian Chari, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Peter Moor, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Craig Ervine, 7 Regis Chakabva (wk), 8 Sean Williams, 9 Graeme Cremer (capt), 10 Donald Tiripano/Michael Chinouya, 11 Njabulo NcubePlaying their first Test since McCullum’s retirement, New Zealand will be led by Kane Williamson for the first time. Henry Nicholls will fill in at No.4, and is surrounded by a strong line-up. With several spin options in their squad, New Zealand could opt for two spinners and two quicks with Doug Bracewell as their all-round option.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Doug Bracewell 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mark Craig/Michael Santner 11 Trent Boult/Matt Henry/Neil Wagner

Pitch and conditions

The scarcity of Test cricket at Queens means there’s not much historical data to go on, but conventional wisdom suggests that the surface will be slow and low, favouring an old-fashioned style of play. The match between Zimbabwe A and South Africa A which took place earlier this month may be the best indicator of what to expect. Brian Vitori, who played in that match, described the surface as flat and scores of 570 and 356 are evidence of that. However, turn came into play on the final day which suggests there may be some deterioration as the sun beats down. The late winter conditions are expected to be pleasant, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-20s over the five days.

Stats and trivia

• In 15 matches, Zimbabwe have never won a Test against New Zealand and have lost nine. Their record is poorer only against Sri Lanka, against whom they have lost 10 and won none.
• Since Zimbabwe and New Zealand last played each other in a Test in January 2012, New Zealand have played 40 Test matches and Zimbabwe just 10.

Quotes

“A few guys will remember that feeling and will know it’s not impossible to put them under pressure and to do well.”
.”We are going to play in a way that tries to give us the best chance of winning. It is tough to win here. We know we’ll have to adapt quickly and be at our best. You don’t tend to get pace and bounce like in other part so the world. It’s about adapting, thinking on your feet.”
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Billy Bowden may have stood in his last international match, after being dropped from New Zealand Cricket’s international panel of umpires.Bowden was demoted to NZC’s national panel, along with Derek Walker and Phil Jones, in a shake-up of New Zealand’s umpiring ranks that resulted in former first-class players Shaun Haig and Chris Brown being promoted to the international panel. Wayne Knights was the third man added to the international panel.Bowden stood in 84 Tests, 200 one-day internationals and 24 T20 internationals, his most recent appearance having been during the Chappell-Hadlee Series in Wellington in February.He made his international debut in an ODI in 1995 and his Test debut in 2000, and for many years was one of the most recognisable figures on the ICC’s elite panel due to his unusual mannerisms.However, Bowden was cut from the elite panel in 2013. He was reinstated in 2014 after the retirement of his countryman Tony Hill, but was axed once again in 2015.Since then, Bowden was on New Zealand’s international panel, meaning he was still able to stand in international matches. As a member of the national panel, he will now only be able to officiate in domestic games and women’s internationals.NZC international panel Chris Brown, Wayne Knights, Shaun Haig.

NZC national panel Billy Bowden, Chris Brown, Tony Gillies, Shaun Haig, Phil Jones, Wayne Knights, Ash Mehrotra, Tim Parlane, Derek Walker.

Sri Lanka Cricket has appointed Kent coach Simon Willis to the post of high performance manager. Willis – who has been involved at Kent for 23 years, becoming the county’s high performance director in 2009 – will oversee SLC’s cricket academy based in Khettarama and play a key role in identifying talent and developing cricketers within the Sri Lankan system. He takes up his new position on June 1, having been specifically sought out for this job by the board.”I am very grateful to Sri Lanka Cricket for offering me this exciting new opportunity,” Willis said. “I see it as an exciting time to get involved with Sri Lanka Cricket and I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”Kent won the T20 cup in 2007 and were finalists in two one-day tournaments in 2008, during which time Willis worked under Graham Ford, Sri Lanka’s current coach. When Willis moved on to the post of high performance director, Paul Farbrace, the former Sri Lanka coach, became Kent’s head coach. Farbrace and Willis are understood to have worked closely together for two years. Willis also played a leading role in launching the county’s cricket academy in 2003.Willis holds a number of coaching qualifications, including the ECB’s Level 4 certificate, a Level 4 specialist wicketkeeping qualification, and a Level 3 certificate for coach education. His work as a coach educator is understood to have impressed Sri Lanka’s board, who had sought someone capable of developing coaches as well as players. He will report to the SLC CEO, and work in coordination with current head of coachng Jerome Jayaratne.Willis played 16 first-class matches for Kent as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Australia have left the door open for Peter Handscomb to return to the side for the final Test against India after he was dropped in favour of Mitchell Marsh for the Boxing Day Test.Handscomb made a total of 68 runs across four innings in the first two Tests of the series, but he was in the running for a place in the team before being left out partly because of his strength of batting against spin on what may be a slow MCG pitch. Speaking ahead of the match, Tim Paine , the captain, acknowledged it would be a blow for Handscomb to be dropped midway through the series but suggested there could be a way back for him into the squad for the Sydney Test with some improvements.”Pete knows there’s things we’d like him to work on and improve and he’s going to be around the group this week and going to Sydney, a place where it normally spins,” Paine said. “I think Pete will come back into the fold pretty quickly because he’s renowned as probably our best player of spin. He’s got things to work on like we all do. We all want to get better every day and I know he’ll be doing everything he can to get back in the side.”I’m sure Pete would be upset, but you know I think he’s had conversations with the selectors that there’s a few things that they would like him to work on and Pete’s open to that. We know that Pete, at his best, is going to score a lot of Test runs and, not just his batting, he brings a hell of a lot to our side in terms of his fielding, his experience and just the way he generally goes about his cricket.”So we love having him around the group and we’re sure he’ll score a lot more runs for Australia.”Last summer, Handscomb was replaced by Marsh after two Tests, playing in the Brisbane and Adelaide matches against England before missing the final three Tests. Amid the fallout of the Newlands scandal, he joined the XI for the final Test in Johannesburg but after he failed to make runs for Australia A in India, he was left out of the squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.While Handscomb’s batting technique has been widely dissected and analysed, Paine stressed that Marsh’s bowling was a significant factor in the selectors’ decision.”We did it last year in the Ashes as well and again the majority of this decision has been made around the fact that it’s a long series,” said Paine. “We’ve played a lot of hot days and our bowlers have big workloads so we think Mitch can come in and do a really good job with the bat and, obviously, he’ll be great support for our bowlers.”