Gibson defends West Indies' declaration

Following Bangladesh's fight back on the third day in Mirpur, West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has defended his team's decision to declare their first innings when they did. West Indies were cruising at 527 for 4 at tea on the second day, when Darren Sammy called the innings closed, after which Bangladesh pushed on to 455 for 6 by stumps on day three.

"You can make 600 but you will still need to have enough time to come back and win the match," Gibson said. "The pitch is flat and the ball didn't do much for pace or spin. So if you want to get 20 wickets, you need more time to bowl them out."

Sunil Narine going wicketless so far, giving away 89 runs from 21 overs, has been another problem for West Indies. Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan have picked him well, while the maiden centurion Naeem Islam faced 52 deliveries of his to score 32 without being troubled too many times. Gibson expressed his disappointment over Narine, while having good things to say about debutant Veerasammy Permaul.

"He [Sunil Narine] didn't bowl as well as we expected him to bowl, but this is his [fourth] game in international cricket and it's a learning experience for him. On the other side, young [Veerasammy] Permaul bowled really well. He flighted the ball.

"Sammy bowled well too. Today was not all bad for us. We probably expected to get a few more wickets, but we need to work a little harder."

After the first session of this Test match, the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch lost all moisture that would have ensured some bounce and turn, and transformed into a featherbed - that only ten wickets that have fallen in three days serves as evidence of the same.

Gibson put the onus on Bangladesh to still play positive cricket, the hosts yet being adrift by 72 runs in the first innings with four wickets in hand. "There are still two more days to go and I would like to say that Bangladesh will definitely want to win it. If they targeted to draw the match then it would be a negative situation. They played a really good day today and that will give them confidence to win the game. But there are two days ahead of us and they are still behind us, so who knows what will happen."

West Indies most successful bowlers so far have been the faster bowlers: Ravi Rampaul picked up three wickets from his 26 overs while captain Sammy was rewarded for being patient. Gibson said the conditions had taken a lot out of them. "There is not a lot on the pitch, not a lot of swing. So guys running in were trying hard. They put in a lot of effort.

"On a flat pitch like that you need to unsettle them with bouncers. But credit to the Bangladesh batsman, they didn't let us bully them too much."

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Pakistan seek Lorgat's help for launching T20 league

Haroon Lorgat, the former ICC chief executive, will be assisting the Pakistan Cricket Board in setting up the proposed Twenty20 league, contributing at a strategic level to ensure the board is headed in the right direction.

Lorgat, who was headed to Sri Lanka, stopped over at Lahore after the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf invited him for his expert opinions on launching the league in March next year.

"It's not a long time from now to then but there is still a lot of planning and work has been done and a lot to be done but I can see that there is a lot of energy to get this league off the ground," Lorgat said at the PCB headquarters. "Cricket is a growing game and Twenty20 cricket seems to have taken roots and I am pleased to see the progress the PCB has made in that respect."

He served as the ICC chief executive for four years before stepping down at the end of June. He has been assisting Sri Lanka Cricket as a special advisor to help the board revamp its domestic cricket structure and improve the administration of cricket in the country. The PCB, however, didn't offer him a permanent role.

"At this stage (I am supporting the PCB) at a strategic level, ensuring that the details are being attended to and that the concept (for the league model) is correct," Lorgat said. "With my experience in dealing with sponsors, broadcasters, setting up models, the kind of objective and the financial matters are the level where I am contributing at the moment. It appears like the PCB has already done a lot in linking with the member boards and interactions have been made with the international players as well."

Lorgat sees the proposed premier league as a stepping-stone for the revival of international cricket in the country and said it needed to exploit the shortest format of the game on a commercial scale. International sides have refused to tour Pakistan since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked in Lahore in March 2009. Last month, a World XI side played two unofficial T20s against a combined Pakistan XI in Karachi.

"Twenty20 cricket is certainly an attraction, lots of new audiences are coming and a lot of exciting players are coming into it. I can recall a few years back even players didn't consider it as a serious form of the game. So on one front Pakistan should not be left out. They should have a league of the highest professional standard and there are commercial opportunities and the PCB is looking to exploit that."

So far, Bangladesh is the only full member board to give Pakistan a positive response in breaking the ice, towards the revival of international cricket. "You do lots of little things to grow in confidence, you will get those interested in coming to Pakistan and the league will go a long way in securing the confidence that cricket can be played in Pakistan.

"It's a good stepping-stone, if international players come in personal capacity to play. Many of them can experience it themselves that cricket can be played at a secured venue and there's no reason why they can't convince the member boards to send their national teams."

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Peter Moores to review Pakistan's domestic structure

The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought an independent review of its domestic cricket structure, appointing the former England coach Peter Moores in a consulting role. Moores, on a two-day visit, is expected to submit a comprehensive report to the PCB in the next 10 days.

The PCB had invited Moores to the National Cricket Academy in Lahore along with former captains Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aamir Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad and Intikhab Alam to discuss ways to improve the structure and functioning of domestic cricket and the role of the national and regional cricket academies in the country. This is the second instance during the ongoing tenure of current chairman Zaka Ashraf that the PCB has sought recommendations on domestic cricket, after an earlier a task team was formed examine the setup, but the report was never implemented.

Moores, who coached Lancashire to the County Championship title last year, will now help prepare a plan for the PCB to implement. "I know Pakistan has produced so many talented players and I came here to see where things are at the moment and if I can help in any way to move things forward it would be great," Moores said in Lahore.

"It's really interesting to put together the views of some of the great players like Miandad and Waqar. I will see what I can add to the structure, suggesting something that will work well for everybody."

The Pakistan domestic structure has undergone changes almost every two years in the past decade, with regional and departmental teams in the mix. Though the task team did recommended changes to the structure earlier this year, the report never came up and was buried citing most of the recommendations were 'not feasible'.

Moores, 49, made comparisons with the English system. "The system doesn't look particularly different (compared to England). I need some time to find out what is going on," he said. "I can't say that I have the answer because that will obviously come from the people who work here. Every country wants a strong domestic structure in place. What I can see is the great desire to keep Pakistan cricket improving."

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Watson named, pending fitness

Shane Watson will travel to Adelaide as part of Australia's squad for the second Test against South Africa but will need to prove his fitness ahead of the match.

"Shane Watson is making steady progress from his calf injury, but it is too early to determine if he will be fit to come under consideration for selection; the game beginning next Thursday," Inverarity said. "The NSP was very pleased with the strong showing by Michael Clarke's team after an indifferent opening day of the first Test in Brisbane.

"They were put under pressure early, but showed great composure to not only regroup but then put considerable pressure on South Africa."

Watson's inclusion swelled the squad to 13, with Rob Quiney to make way should the vice-captain recover from a calf problem in time. The 12th man in Brisbane, Mitchell Starc, is likely to duel with Ben Hilfenhaus for the third pace bowling spot behind James Pattinson and Peter Siddle.

More to come...

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Umar Akmal dropped by his domestic side

Umar Akmal, the Pakistan batsman, has been left out by his department side Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) from the President's Trophy, the Pakistan's domestic first-class tournament. Akmal had skipped several rounds of the tournament, but was 'discouraged' after being dropped as he had hoped to show his Test credentials in the remaining rounds of the competition.

SNGPL are currently unbeaten in the President's Trophy, topping the table with 45 points after winning five of their six matches. Akmal only featured in one game, against National Bank of Pakistan in mid-October. He played in two Twenty20s against an International XI led by Sanath Jayasuriya and in the Hong Kong Sixes in late October but mainly missed matches due to his brother Adnan's wedding between November 6 and 8. Akmal has been associated with SNGPL since 2007 and scored 2224 first-class runs for the department at 57.02.

"It's really discouraging for me when I was snubbed by my department for just a petty reason," Akmal told reporters in Lahore. "I am in full practice and was meant to play most of the rounds but due to Adnan's wedding I had to miss most of the matches- a reason that was known to the management but still I am dropped. I was informed that it's a decision taken by higher management, and not the team management."

Basit Ali, the SNGPL coach and former Pakistan batsman, said Akmal was dropped over his form and he need to work on his technique to play first-class cricket. "He needs to learn how to bat in the longer-format of the game," Basit told reporters on the sidelines of the on-going match against Pakistan International Airlines at Gaddafi Stadium. "No doubt he is a great talent but he must sense the nature of the formats and play according to the format. He wasn't in good touch and was asked to play club cricket."

Akmal, 22, scored his maiden ODI hundred in his third match of his career and also made a century in his debut Test in 2009. While his limited-overs career has flourished since that promising start, his Test fortunes have waned, and he is yet to establish himself in the side.

Akmal shrugged off the tag of being a limited-overs cricketer, and said he was keen to play the longer format. "I have scored a lot of runs with good average (35.82) and I think I have done well with my Test cricket," Akmal said, "but perhaps because I play aggressively, the label is there. But I had a golden opportunity to play the President's Trophy to impress the selectors and win back my Test place. I am disappointed at being dropped (by the SNGPL)."

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Patience pays for Chanderpaul

While Tamim Iqbal was taking apart the West Indies attack in Mirpur, Shivnarine Chanderpaul walked up to him. "He asked me whether I was playing a Twenty20," Tamim said. "I replied that I'm just hitting what the bowlers are bowling but I can't bat like you." To which Chanderpaul said, "Neither can I."

Perhaps Chanderpaul meant that is the case at his current age of 38, because he has batted at higher strike-rates than Tamim in the past two decades, most memorably during the 69-ball century against Australia in 2003, which at the time was the third fastest Test hundred. In Mirpur, though, he showed the side of his batting that is more frequently seen these days.

His 203 took more than seven-and-a-half hours, the fifth longest innings in terms of minutes. He used the example of the first two days of this Test to explain how he changes the pace of his innings according to the situation. He batted at a strike-rate of 63 on the first day during which he scored 123 runs off 195 deliveries, but then he took 177 balls to score 80 on the second day, at a strike-rate of 45.2.

"These are things I work out in my game, whichever way I can," Chanderpaul said. "Sometimes you find yourself in good form and things go your way, you get into a rhythm and you're able to score freely and quicker. Some days you have to work hard, that's how it goes.

"We scored freely yesterday, but we had to work hard today. The [Bangladesh] bowlers tried a little too hard yesterday but today they bowled well. They bowled to a plan, stuck to it and made us work hard. You have to, as a Test cricketer, put your head down and work hard when the time comes."

His double-century also brought him level with Garry Sobers on 26 Test hundreds, leaving Brian Lara as the only West Indian with more Test tons. "The team comes first, it doesn't matter what the individual score is. Whatever the team plan is, that is what we have to stick to. It is always a great honour [to be mentioned] with names like Sir Garry, though I have played a lot more games than him."

This was only his second double-hundred, and he doesn't have the mammoth scores that Sobers and Lara ran up. "[Batting low down the order] could be one reason. I had opportunities to get a big hundred but I didn't, it's unfortunate. Thankfully today I was able to cross it [200]."

Chanderpaul's usefulness isn't limited to the field. He is a mentor to batsmen like Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin, both of whom shared long partnerships with him in this game. Powell missed a short ball from offspinner Sohag Gazi to be bowled after making a century, prompting Chanderpaul to have a talk with the young opener about his dismissal. "He played a fantastic innings yesterday. Unfortunately he got out the way he did. I had a chat with him about the way he did. I thought he should have played the first ball after tea a lot straighter.

"I didn't see anybody getting him out, he's the one who's giving his wicket away. I have talked to him about already. The future looks bright, you've seen [Veerasammy] Permaul today. We were here last year, you know what we have back home on offer. The future looks good for us."

At the end of the tour last year, Chanderpaul spent nearly half an hour with the Bangladesh batsmen. How Bangladesh would like to have someone like him in their midst for the long term.

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Century eludes aggressive Tamim again

There's an innings that Tamim Iqbal can't seem to forget. When he spoke to ESPNcricinfo a few days ago, he used it to explain why he missed so many hundreds in the past and said he wanted to instil some restraint into his game. After throwing it away again on the second day of this Test match, Tamim remembered the moment he had a brain-freeze in the eighties against West Indies in the Dhaka Test last year.

Regardless of the situation, Tamim's approach rarely differs from his natural instinct. But the innings he keeps referring to also had a period when he batted out the last hour and a half of a crucial fourth day scoring very few. He had called it a breakthrough in his career at the time, and though he got restless and was dismissed early the next morning, it was understood he could grit it out in Test cricket.

A year ago, an ability to change gears in Test cricket was hailed as progress, but now Tamim has suggested he is better off sticking to his attacking mind-set.

"The last time I made around 80 at this ground, I played out 15-20 overs when I had made only 10 runs [against West Indies]. It is probably how one should bat in a Test match but everyone has an individual plan due to difference of mentality," Tamim said at the end of the day's play. "I wanted to bat long [in this game], so that it would help the team. I also wanted to keep my aggressive approach intact. I think I was thinking properly, but the shot was wrong.

"I started well and I was playing as I normally do but I didn't want to be bogged down. I was leaving the good balls when Sammy was bowling. I would say it was a bad shot. The open leg-side field played on my mind. It was a bad decision because it wasn't the right ball to play that shot."

After West Indies had declared surprisingly at the stroke of tea, it was clear Tamim wanted to open up. The 16-run sixth over off Tino Best had a straight drive and a cover drive but Tamim was also brutal on the short deliveries. He played one towards midwicket, keeping the ball down, and then smashed the next through the same region. He also launched Sunil Narine for two sixes as he moved from 45 to 57.

But just as Tamim took advantage of their lengths, West Indies began to take advantage of his hastiness and his reputation to be erratic after crossing the 50-mark. After two more boundaries off Ravi Rampaul, Tamim was strangled by Narine and Sammy, both by their lengths and the fields they had set.

Tamim tried to explain why his approach is correct: "There are two types of batsmen. Some score runs and get set, and some spend time at the crease to get set. I am from the first group, I am settled quickly when I see runs on the scoreboard.

"I don't want to let go of my strength, but it is true I have got out at strange times and playing strange shots. It is natural for such things to happen because I am a stroke player. Still, it is not an excuse for getting out in this manner."

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose double-century pushed West Indies into a strong position, also backed Tamim's belligerent approach. "That's his style," Chanderpaul said. "We can't be surprised [at] how Christopher Gayle bats also. He bats one way, we can't tell him how to bat. If Tamim has his style, he has to play his game."

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Flintoff defends move into boxing

Andrew Flintoff has hit out at suggestions that his professional boxing debut at 34, more than two years since his retirement from international cricket, is little more than a TV publicity stunt.

Flintoff will make his professional debut at the Manchester Arena against Richard Dawson - a little-known American pugilist, not the former England spinner - amid widespread criticism from the boxing fraternity and fears within cricket for his welfare.

The boxing promoter, Frank Warren, has described Flintoff's debut as "car crash TV", while another promoter, Frank Maloney, has called it a "scandal". Colin Hart, the highly-regarded boxing correspondent of The Sun, has dubbed him Foolish Freddie and said he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But Flintoff, who claims to have lost 45lbs (20.4kgs) in weight during a training camp which has been filmed for a three-part TV series, insists he could not have withstood four months of intensive training is his intentions were not to succeed in his new career.

"You couldn't go through this for a TV stunt," he said. "If I was looking for a publicity stunt I'd have picked something easier. There has been criticism of things I've done in the past. I'm just getting my head down and doing the best I can.

"I appreciate that people want to protect the sport they're involved in. I'd be the same with cricket. I'm hoping this is something where boxing is celebrated because it's not my intention to cheapen the sport or show it up.

Flintoff had been due to announce his opponent on Friday but Dawson, who has won his two fights on points, jumped the gun by confirming that it was him.

A spokesman for Dawson was quoted as saying: "It will be a wonderful experience. We respect Mr Flintoff as an athlete and from everything we've read he appears to be a well -conditioned athlete. However, he does not appear to have any fight experience and even though we know he has been training with some of the best in the business, that is not the same as being in a prize fight."

Flintoff, who is training under the supervision of the former WBA featherweight champion, Barry McGuigan, claims to have given up beer to get himself in shape, will contest four two-minute rounds against Dawson, who has won both of his bouts.

McGuigan said: "What we're doing is the opposite of cheapening the sport, it's promoting it. You see the pain and anguish Freddie goes through. How can that be negative in promoting the sport? To say it cheapens boxing is a complete and utter load of nonsense. Freddie has worked his nuts off and we're promoting the sport in a very positive way."

Even McGuigan accepted at a private screening of the forthcoming TV series that Flintoff, who played 79 Tests and 141 ODIs for England, was not a natural and was technically limited.

Since retirement, he has been a captain on sports panel show A League of Their Own, the celebrity face of Morrisons supermarket, a guest commentator (briefly) on the world darts championships and star of Freddie Flintoff vs The World, in which, according to promotional material, you could watch "cricketing legend and ultimate bloke Freddie Flintoff try his hand at some of the most extreme sports and challenges on offer around the world".

He has his limits, though, vowing never to do I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here or Strictly Come Dancing, on which several former England cricketers have appeared, currently including Michael Vaughan.

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Gazi bright spot on tough first day

Sohag Gazi is the first offspinner in Test history to bowl the first over of a Test match on debut, and the first debutant spinner to do so in 103 years.

The surprise move didn't ruffle Chris Gayle, though, who lashed the first ball of the match for a six, on his way to 18 runs in the opening over. Gazi removed Gayle soon after but despite his best efforts, West Indies scored more than four an over on the first day and are poised for a big total. This, after the hosts gave up the momentum they had gained at the end of the first session, picking up three wickets.

Bangladesh had to wait out a full session for their next wicket, as both Kieran Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul helped themselves to centuries. As the day progressed even the more experienced Bangladesh bowlers looked short of ideas, and later liveliness.

This was Bangladesh's first Test of the year, and none of the front-line bowlers, barring Shahadat Hossain, have played enough first-class cricket recently to be physically prepared for staying on the field for a long time. With the wicket easing up, more hard work lies ahead for them. Shahadat and Rubel Hossain were costly as they have been throughout their careers while Shakib Al Hasan was simply steady, mainly because the allrounder finds it tricky to switch between long stints as a Twenty20 bowler to bowling long spells in Test cricket.

"The wicket flattened out after the lunch session, but there was turn in the first hour," Gazi said after the first day. "We will try to bowl them out as quickly as we can. We don't have any sort of targets because the wicket is flat. We will try to keep them to as low a total as possible."

But it was the first session which showed Bangladesh in a positive light. Mushfiqur Rahim had decided quite early, in fact the day before, that it would be Gazi who would open the bowling regardless of who takes first strike for West Indies. So despite the inevitable attack, Gazi was only encouraged by his captain and to his credit, the debutant kept giving the ball flight. "He told me that Gayle wasn't comfortable with my bowling, that's why he gave me the charge. He said keep doing what you're doing.

"I was prepared to bowl the first over, whether Gayle took the strike or not," Gazi said. "It was my bad luck that I got hit for two sixes in the first over. I was going to bowl my second over, and I just wanted to bowl dot balls. I didn't really think of who was on strike."

The first-ball six was a jolt for Gazi, but he wasn't frazzled. "Anyone can hit a six, I wasn't expecting that exact shot. The ball I got him out turned slightly, because there was turn on the pitch in the first session. He tried to lift me over mid-on but mistimed it."

After he had picked up Gayle's wicket, Gazi added that of Darren Bravo before Shahadat Hossain accounted for Marlon Samuels. But they hit a wall in the form of the Powell-Chanderpaul partnership during the middle session and lost their way in the final two hours.

With West Indies sitting on a strong position after the first day, questions will be asked about the need for three off-spinning allrounders - Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam and Nasir Hossain. The trio bowled 16 wicketless overs and Gazi's introduction to international cricket could spell the end of Bangladesh's defensive ploy of employing eight batsmen and playing three similar allrounders. It is now clear that all three would have to make major contributions with the bat in the next four days to be automatic picks in the near future.

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Powell firming up opening spot

Two hundreds in a day are more likely to grab headlines, but it was the partnership of the centurions that lifted West Indies from trouble and placed them in a commanding position at the end of the first day's play in Mirpur.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kieran Powell added 125 runs for the fourth wicket, which wasn't even the highest partnership on the day, but it was their solidity that stood between Bangladesh and dominance. Powell was dismissed for 117 after a four-hour stay in the crease, hitting 18 boundaries and a six. Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 123 off 195 balls with the help of 17 fours, having reached his 26th Test century.

Before lunch however, the situation was different. Bangladesh were celebrating after West Indies lost their third wicket. It gave the home side momentum going into the second session. But the pair batted until the tea break, unperturbed, with West Indies scoring 121 more without the loss of any wickets. They, however, didn't slow the scoring rate, batting at a slightly higher pace than the first session, which included Chris Gayle's 17-ball 24.

What makes the partnership more important were the efforts Bangladesh made between lunch and tea. The home side had to wait in the face of Gayle's early onslaught, but once they got rid of him and took two more wickets, they went for the kill. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim rotated his bowlers quite regularly, and the bowlers changed angles a number of times. The fielders worked hard too, but neither Chanderpaul nor Powell yielded as the latter went on to score his second Test hundred.

Later Powell said he found it comforting to bat with the Chanderpaul, who is in the 18th year of an illustrious international career.

"I think batting with any senior player is easy. Shiv has lots of experience, something like 145 Test matches," Powell said after the day's play. "He takes all the pressure off you and lets you play the normal game. He keeps talking to you."

The age difference between the pair is around 16 years, a non-issue for Chanderpaul, who has been known to take young batsmen under his wing. "He's just telling me to be patient, stay positive, look to rotate the strike and put away the bad balls, and play straight," Powell said.

It is only natural for Powell to have batted, among the senior batsmen, more frequently with Gayle. It was only the third time for him to bat with Chanderpaul and it was obvious who suited him more, especially when playing a long innings.

"Both are different players. Chris [Gayle] is more of a power player. Shiv is more about manoeuvring the ball. You have to give him the strike and keep it flowing (when you bat with Chris) but with Shiv you have to maneuver and build a steady partnership."

Powell has had to fight for his spot with the likes of Kirk Edwards, Adrian Barath and Kraigg Brathwaite. With Gayle returning to the team after his clash with the WICB, it was one out of four who would get a place, but Powell got in after his century and big opening partnership against New Zealand in July. This innings, too, would put him right ahead in the race.

"I can't really say if I'm going ahead, you would have to ask the selectors," he said. "I'm just trying to strengthen my case each and every day. The more centuries you have, the better it is. I want to control what I can."

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