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A lack of game time has cost Doug Bollinger his spot for the first Ashes Test despite him being Australia’s most potent bowler of the past 12 months. Peter Siddle won the final place in the XI on his pre-injury reputation, but the same set of guidelines did not apply to Bollinger.Bollinger picked up 47 wickets at 22.02 in his past 10 matches but the numbers were not enough to regain his position after hurting his stomach in the first Test in India. While Siddle, who has appeared in 17 Tests, has completed a solid workout in the domestic and limited-overs sides, Bollinger was limited to one four-day fixture for New South Wales.”Lack of bowling [for Bollinger] over the last few weeks has been as much to do with it as anything,” Ricky Ponting said as he announced his side. “Just the fact this line-up had good success in South Africa and at times in England last series. We feel that [Ben] Hilfenhaus and Siddle are very well advanced in their preparations for this series and [Mitchell] Johnson has a lot of cricket under his belt. We think this attack is good enough to take 20 wickets at the Gabba.”Johnson has the most victims for Australia over the past 12 months with 52, but Bollinger’s strike-rate of a wicket every 41.7 balls is seven better than Johnson’s. Siddle has not played a Test since January after suffering a back stress fracture that kept him out of tours to New Zealand, England and India.For the past two years the Australians have raved about the Johnson-Siddle-Hilfenhaus pace attack because of its stunning work in the opening two Tests of the 2008-09 series in South Africa. The trio also led the overall wicket list during the 2009 Ashes but it wasn’t enough to set up a series victory.Ponting briefly considered a four-man pace attack for this game but quickly changed his mind when he saw the pitch. The surface is light green and Ponting said it looked like a normal Gabba wicket, but he was cagey when asked if he would still bat first. “We will wait and see what happens,” he said.The forecast cloudy conditions and humidity will add to the dangers offered by the wicket, but Ponting still wanted the safety of a spinner and Tasmania’s Xavier Doherty will make his debut. The bowlers are expected to control the match and even though the Australians have had trouble on seaming surfaces lately, Ponting believed England would have more difficulty handling the extra bounce.”History suggests that every touring team coming to Australia generally finds here and Perth the places harder to adjust and adapt to,” he said. “England have been here a while and in Hobart last week it seamed around a little bit. But history suggests we handle these conditions very, very well and opposition teams struggled a bit.” Australia have not lost a game at the Gabba since they were beaten by West Indies in 1988-89.Michael Clarke batted strongly in the nets and completed a fielding session as well to secure his place. “I’ve got to wait till tomorrow morning to see how I pull up, but it felt good today,” he said during training.Ponting said there was no danger in using Clarke, who needed injections after a recurrence of his persistent back problem two weeks ago. “I wouldn’t have thought there would be a risk involved,” he said. “It’s a big game for us at the start of the series and you don’t want to go with a cloud hanging over anybody. That was why he was asked to do as much batting as he did yesterday and again today. We couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned as far as preparation is concerned.”

Private investors will be allowed to buy a 33% stake in eight city-based franchises that will form Australia’s Big Bash League in 2011-12. Cricket Australia’s board gave approval for the Twenty20 expansion in Melbourne today and the organisation will own and control the competition.Reports this week said Indian corporations had already bought shares of around A$60m in some of the proposed franchises. However, Cricket Australia believes the value of the teams will rival the biggest sporting clubs in the country. The Brisbane Broncos rugby league team was priced at A$36m this year.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said private investment would be allowed from minority stakeholders, but the individual teams would be owned by the state associations. “The board has taken a position that it will be less than 49% [minority share], probably more likely to be 33%,” Sutherland said.”We’re very excited and optimistic of the existing interest in these teams and the Big Bash League. Some of the valuations we have done recently put these teams immediately into the upper echelons of Australian sport in terms of value in sporting teams.”The idea is unashamedly based on the India Premier League, but Cricket Australia is determined not to make the same mistakes over ownership that have plagued the competition this year. Two franchises, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, have been struck out following broken agreements, while Kochi, one of the expansion teams, is on the verge of being dumped due to issues with investors.When asked whether fit and proper testing of owners would occur, like what happens in the English Premier League, Sutherland said, “Under the licensing agreement, which each of the states and teams will be bound by, there will be a process of Cricket Australia maintaining the rights to vet or approve any investors in any of these teams.”Sutherland said there was a lot to be learned from the IPL. “I mean that in a positive and negative sense,” he said. “There is a model there that exists that has been incredibly successful.”It’s important to reflect that part of the reason this competition is already attracting investors here and abroad is the fact that it is extremely high profile, by virtue of Big Bash teams having qualified for the Champions League, and been very successful. It’s also because the game of Twenty20 is popular around the world, and it’s a unique opportunity for cricket.”An IPL-style auction is not an option to distribute the playing talent but there will be a strict salary cap and a draft will be considered. There are hopes for a January window to ensure Australia’s international players and big-name overseas stars are available for the entire tournament, but that will not happen at least until the current TV rights deals run out in 2012-13.”We see great merit in having Australian players playing in this competition but obviously that needs to be balanced with our commitments to international cricket,” Sutherland said. “We want Twenty20 to complement, not compromise, international cricket. Finding that balance is important.”Six of the sides will come from the cities that already host domestic cricket, but the state concept will be abolished for the Twenty20 tournament. Expressions of interest will be taken from other areas of the country over the next couple of months and a decision on the final two teams will be made in February. The inaugural tournament will be held in December and January 2011-12.Crowd numbers for the Big Bash, which started in 2005-06, increased by 80% last year to average more than 18,000 per game. Cricket Australia was initially reluctant to join the Twenty20 revolution when it began in England, but quickly swung behind it when realising how popular and lucrative it could be.Cricket Australia has done modelling 20 years into the future and Sutherland is convinced the tournament will be a massive success. “It gives us a huge amount of confidence in how this competition is going to grow,” he said. “In the first couple of years, the cash flows are somewhat handicapped by existing media rights deals, so the marginal revenues may not be quite as large, but we would expect those to kick in from year three and beyond.”While there are expectations the other two domestic competitions will be cut back, Sutherland said the Boxing Day Test was “safe”. “From an international programming point of view, our priority rests with international cricket,” he said. “But all of the research we have done very strongly indicates that the enjoyment that people get from the game of cricket can be spread over the three formats, or discreetly held with one format of the game.”

Gordon Drummond will lead Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup final against Afghanistan, but their squad will be missing the services of three batsmen. Ryan Watson Moneeb Iqbal are unavailable due to work commitments while Ewan Chalmers will be writing his university examinations.Scotland’s previous Intercontinental Cup fixture was against Ireland in August, when they played out a draw, before earning a walkover against Zimbabwe XI. Scotland had refused to tour Zimbabwe for their fixture scheduled for September 26 following advise from the country’s government and ministers over issues pertaining to political reform and rule of law. Subsequently, Zimbabwe refused to play at a neutral venue and decided to forfeit the fixture, paving the way for Scotland, who were behind on the points table, to play Afghanistan in the final in Dubai. The teams play the final on December 2.The Scotland team leaves for Dubai on November 23. “After a long, hard season of cricket which started last January in Kenya, the final will be an excellent opportunity to finish on a real high,” coach Peter Steindl said. “This group of players has worked exceptionally hard to reach the final and we will prepare thoroughly for the hard challenge that we know Afghanistan will pose. They have been the dominant team in this competition to date, but we are confident we can compete well against them.”Scotland squad: Gordon Drummond (capt), Fraser Watts, Ryan Flannigan, Kyle Coetzer, Preston Mommsen, Richie Berrington, Neil McCallum, Gregor Maiden, Majid Haq, Matthew Parker, Ross Lyons, Simon Smith, Gordon Goudie, Dewald Nel.

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, believes the tours of Bangladesh and India in October and November will give his team an advantage over other overseas sides during the World Cup in the subcontinent early next year.”We are going to get the best possible warm-up and any game time in the subcontinent is going to make a huge difference to our chances in the World Cup,” Vettori was quoted as saying in the ICC’s audio show.New Zealand have not made a World Cup final but have been semi-finalists five times. Vettori, however, was optimistic about his team’s chances in 2011. “There is some growing confidence within the team that we can win it but we know there is a lot of work to do between saying we can win it and actually doing it.”For the New Zealand team, to win the World Cup would be the ultimate achievement. I know the preparations are going pretty well. The fact we have been to Sri Lanka, we’re going to Bangladesh soon and then we play some one-dayers in India gives us the best preparation leading into such an important tournament.”New Zealand play five ODIs against Bangladesh in Mirpur with the first one on October 5. They then play three Tests and five ODIs in India. The first Test begins on November 4 in Ahmedabad.The last time the World Cup was held in the subcontinent in 1996, New Zealand reached the quarterfinal, which they lost to Australia. But Vettori said the balance of the current side will make them challenging opponents. “I think we have some world-class players from the top of our order with Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor. We have some real experience with Scott Styris, and hopefully Kyle Mills and myself can lead a bowling attack that has a little bit of experience and some real talent.New Zealand play five of their six World Cup league games in India, and the other in Sri Lanka.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt appeared as though Virender Sehwag was batting on a different pitch•AFP

A combination of belligerent hitting by Virender Sehwag and potent seam bowling helped India storm into the final of the tri-series against Sri Lanka with a comprehensive thrashing of New Zealand in the last league game. On a day when a majority of the specialist batsmen on both sides batted with two left feet in bowler-friendly conditions, Sehwag found a way to carve out an aggressive century, scoring more than what all 11 New Zealanders managed between them. The target of 224 was soon out of New Zealand’s reach after their top order crumbled against a four-pronged seam attack, a bowling combination you wouldn’t associate with Indian sides, especially in the subcontinent.By the end of the night, you could imagine batsmen queuing up outside Sehwag’s door for the inside story on how he managed to dominate everything thrown at him. It was as though he was batting on another surface. Sehwag was unfazed by the early movement and nip off the wicket, which made the seamers potent. He played in a style known only to him and, with the final in three days’ time, his innings today will undoubtedly be analysed in detail.MS Dhoni took the gamble of batting on a fresh pitch, despite India having collapsed for 103 after batting first in their previous match against Sri Lanka. New Zealand’s seamers nipped out four wickets by the end of the 13th over with a combination of swing, cut and bounce, which strikes took the sheen off an entertaining start from Sehwag.Not known for exaggerated foot movements, Sehwag used the crease to loft the seamers over the off side. He barely moved across the stumps but such was his confidence that he stretched to scoop and slash powerfully over backward point. He backed away and slapped the slower bowlers past the infield as well. A more conventional punch through cover brought up his 1000th ODI four, one that was part of a sequence of three consecutive fours off Tim Southee.India were lucky to have Dhoni at the other end, for he rotated the strike and built a solid partnership with Sehwag. Their stand produced 107, but India needed more from their last capable pair, having only Ravindra Jadeja, who is still trying to find his feet in ODIs, and a long tail to follow. Sehwag, however, didn’t alter his approach. He continued to charge the spinners, lifting Kane Williamson inside out over extra cover for boundaries, and also cleverly picked the gaps at fine leg off the seamers. He played an upper cut over the vacant slip cordon shortly after getting to his century, but the fun ended for India when Sehwag found deep midwicket when on 110. His dismissal was against the run of play.Dhoni, who had batted carefully, had to try to reclaim the advantage for India, but New Zealand took control. Having grafted to 38 off 75 balls, Dhoni edged a Nathan McCullum delivery while trying to drive. The dismissals of Sehwag and Dhoni in quick succession meant a premature end to the innings was inevitable. Soon after New Zealand picked up the final wicket, though, their control over the game came to a grinding halt.They had no-one with Sehwag’s calibre and temperament to take the initiative, irrespective of the damage being done at the other end. They were exposed against the moving ball and even seasoned performers struggled. Praveen Kumar started the slide in conditions tailored to his variety of bowling, trapping Martin Guptill leg before in first over.There was no respite from the other end as Ashish Nehra, with his extra pace when compared to Praveen, got the ball to nip in sharply to the right-handers, slicing them in half. A lot depended on the experienced Ross Taylor, but he was just as circumspect as the rest. He expected the ball to move in, but it went the other way and took a thick outside edge, giving Praveen his second wicket.New Zealand’s chase was irreparably damaged when their senior-most batsman, Scott Styris, chopped one on to his stumps without moving his feet. Grant Elliott knew that the best way to counter the swing was to cover the line and smother the movement. He regularly shuffled across the stumps, committing to the movement even before delivery, but his method didn’t yield runs as almost every defensive push found fielders. Williamson, who finally scored an international run in his third innings, was dismissed by an Ishant Sharma delivery which cut in and took the edge onto the stumps. Munaf, who was miserly to begin with, bagged two lbws with with his probing line.Kyle Mills’ blitz only succeeded in saving New Zealand the embarrassment of being bowled out for less than 100.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has admitted that poor batting on the fourth day cost his team the third and final Test against India at the P Sara Oval.”On the fourth morning I thought in the first session if we had just tried to bat till lunch the ball would have got softer and we could have scored a lot more runs. But unfortunately, we played some poor strokes,” Sangakkara said. “We were a bit too tentative at times and the batting in the second innings by the seven batsmen, except for Thilan (Samaraweera) was probably the main cause for us getting only 267. Otherwise we could have batted out the day and put the heavy roller on today and declared.”We had a couple of chances today with Sachin (Tendulkar) and Suresh Raina. That would have made the match a lot more interesting. But the way they batted was excellent. They played positively and kept scoring runs. Unfortunately, apart from Suraj (Randiv) and Lasith (Malinga) we weren’t able to exert pressure from the other end, either to take wickets or cut down the runs.”Sangakkara stated he would have liked to have got close to 300 but added that, “given the situation we were in, it was a great effort by Ajantha (Mendis) and Thilan to get us to 267. Again you know a few chances went begging, which would have allowed us to get another 50 runs lead in the first innings.”Unfortunately, it’s been like that in the last two Tests. A few chances here and there and they ended up crucial.”Sangakkara pointed out the dropped catch by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Sachin Tendulkar as one of those key chances.”It would have been nice to get Sachin out with something like 110 runs to play with, 120 runs at that time. Those things happen in cricket, no one wants to miss a catch at this level when you are playing with so much at stake. The chances we put down in this Test and the last one, proved to be crucial and costly. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.As far the bowlers were concerned, he praised the bowling effort of Randiv who took five wickets in the Indian second innings and nine in the match.”Suraj’s greatest asset has been his confidence and self belief. He’s got great bounce and he will have to improve on his control a bit more to ensure he keeps building the pressure with dot balls and wicket-taking balls. Once he gets that done, I think he will be even better than what we see him now as.”Sangakkara denied that the defeat had given India a moral victory. “Not really, one all is one all. It’s neither here nor there. I thought right throughout the Test we took more wickets and scored more runs. We created a lot more opportunities as well. But converting those opportunities in these two Tests wasn’t there. It was the only window India had to come back into this series.”