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Chris Silverwood is out of the reckoning for the Fourth Ashes Test at his home ground of Headingley after the paceman was again struck down by his mystery back trouble.Silverwood was forced to pull out of the squad for the Third Test because of the problem.Yesterday evening he bowled four overs and took a wicket in the Roses encounter at Old Trafford but had to leave the field when the injury recurred.Silverwood has not had the problem specifically diagnosed and is due to have a scan in the middle of next week.Silverwood told Sky Sports: “It is the same problem unfortunately – it is a recurrence of the back problem I have been suffering with.”We are not quite sure what it is, so I will have to go for a scan.”It is an untimely setback for me, but there is nothing I can do about it. There is no point getting down about it.”Meanwhile Mark Ramprakash had a scare when he turned his ankle playing indoor football yesterday while the rain fell at The Oval.However, although he did not take the field first thing this morning as Surrey’s game against Glamorgan resumed, he did reappear later in the session.

Air India crawled to 186/6 from 97 overs against National CricketAcademy on the first day of their MRF-Buchi Babu pre-quarterfinal atthe Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai today. Far from flying high,Air India were kept on a tight leash after captain Praveen Amre beathis NCA rival Reetinder Sodhi for the toss and chose to take firststrike.After 21-year-old Baroda seamer Rakesh Patel removed opener SandehKawle for one in the seventh over of the innings, Dheeraj Jadhav andNiraj Patel added a battling 68 for Air India of which the latter, anNCA product who could just as well have turned out for his opponents,made 47. With the last ball of his first and only over, Mohd. Kaif’soff breaks dislodged Patel, caught by Rohit Jhalani behind thewickets.Jhalani was again called into action, stumping skipper Amre for 22 offthe bowling of Saurashtra left arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv. Two ballslater, Altaf Merchant had his stumps disarranged by Patel for a duckto leave Air India at 115/4. Satish Samand did not last long but hissuccessor Harvinder Singh Sodhi ensconced himself firmly at thecrease, striking five boundaries in the course of an unbeaten 26.In the 90th over, opener Jadhav’s lengthy and painstaking 283-minutevigil, realising 63 runs (six 4’s), came to an end when off spinnerRamesh Powar won a leg before decision and at stumps wicketkeeper NGGavas was keeping Sodhi company. For NCA, Patel with 2/35 from 19overs produced the best figures among the eight bowlers used.

	An Afghan batsman gets into the swing of things ahead of the WCL Division Five tournament © AFP

Afghanistan will be one of 12 nations dreaming of a place in the 2011 World Cup when the World Cricket League Division Five begins in Jersey later this month.Germany, Mozambique, Nepal, Norway, USA, Vanuatu, Botswana, Japan, Jersey, Bahamas and Singapore are the 11 other teams who will take part in the event from May 23-31, with the possibility of a World Cup place at the end of the road.Realistically the chances of any of them making it to the subcontinent in 2011 are very slim. They would have to progress through all the WCL Divisions and compete against strong Associate nations such as Kenya, Ireland and Scotland, but it provides a chance for these smaller cricket nations to develop.”This gives every side a clear pathway for progression and the chance to compete at the very highest level,” the ICC global development manager Matthew Kennedy said. “So even though a team might be competing in the WCL Division Five tournament this month, there is the chance it could make it all the way to the next World Cup.”More realistically, though, it gives those teams a structure and a long-term goal to aim at so that even if they don’t get there this time, they could target 2015, 2019 or 2023.”On another level, WCL Division Five also gives these sides the opportunity to play against similarly ranked sides from around the world in conditions that perhaps they are not used to. It is very much part of the development process to give players the chance to perform outside their home environment.”This tournament also marks the return of USA to ICC events, more than a year after they were suspended from international cricket. The finalists will be promoted to the World Cricket League Division Four and join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in a six-team event that will take place in the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam from October 4 to 11.The opening day of Division Five on 23 May will see the USA take on Mozambique in Group A at the picturesque Farmer’s Field ground. In the same group Nepal play Germany at Les Quennevais and Norway face Vanuatu at FB Fields. In Group B Afghanistan begin their campaign underway with a match against Japan at Victoria College.Meanwhile, hosts Jersey play Singapore at Grainville and the Bahamas will line up against Botswana on the second pitch at Les Quennevais.Group A Germany, Mozambique, Nepal, Norway, USA, Vanuatu
Group B Afghanistan, Botswana, Japan, Jersey, Bahamas, Singapore

Steve Tikolo: willing to play for Cricket Kenya© Getty Images

Kenya’s striking players have given their support to a move to establish a new government-backed body to replace the embattled Kenyan Cricket Association.At a meeting on Sunday, Ochillo Ayacko, Kenya’s minister for sports, announced that he was setting up a new organisation – Cricket Kenya – to bypass the KCA and to try to bring some semblance of order to the running of the game.Many of the players who have been on strike since last October attended the meeting, and gave their support to the new body. Steve Tikolo, speaking on their behalf, said that they would immediately end their strike and play for free for the sake of “national pride”.That presents an interesting scenario as the KCA-based national selectors meet tomorrow to name their side for the Intercontinental Cup tie against Namibia which takes place at Windhoek on February 25. The striking players have already withdrawn from the squad, and the availability of several others is unclear. But under ICC competition rules, Kenya has to name its final squad this week.If the new body subsequently picks its own squad – which will be stronger as it includes the strikers, among others – there is the possibility of two separate groups turning up at Nairobi airport, both with the aim of travelling to Namibia.

‘Things are looking to be in place’ – Tendulkar, in an optimistic frame of mind after training at the MRF Pace Academy © Getty Images

The possibility that Sachin Tendulkar will join the Indian squad for the Test series against West Indies starting June 2 in Antigua has increased after yet another promising day – his fourth in a row – of training at the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai.He spent 90 minutes working out in the hotel gym and then did a series of ‘tubing’ and ‘pilates’ exercises at the Academy as Andrew Leipus, the former Indian physiotherapist, watched on.Batting in the nets for 30 minutes, Tendulkar drove, pulled and swept the bowlers who were not bowling flat-out.On Wednesday, Tendulkar had trained for four hours, batting for two 45 minute-sessions in which Lakshmipathy Balaji, the right-arm seamer seeking to regain a place in the national team himself, and other Academy bowlers bowled to him from a shortened run-up. Though he didn’t bowl, Tendulkar practiced catching – chest-high ones as well as high catches. He threw back the ball using his left hand and at times when he used his right hand, he threw it under-arm.”I am very happy about the workouts and batting practice,” Tendulkar told the Press Trust of India. “Things are looking to be falling in place.”

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One for the future: Nafees Iqbal cuts one of his 14 boundaries

The last time England ventured north to the BKSP sports academy, it was to take shelter from the torrential rains and get some much-needed batting practice in Bangladesh’s only indoor nets facility. Today, however, the absolute opposite applied – it was their bowlers who were given the once-over, on one of the hottest days of the tour so far. After winning a good toss, Bangladesh A progressed to 242 all out, with their final wicket falling in the penultimate over of the day.As was the case earlier in the week, England’s opposition consisted of eight members of the U19 squad, and the main cause of England’s toiling was the newly appointed U19 captain, Nafees Iqbal. He opened the innings and survived the loss of two early wickets to crack a wonderful 118 from 168 balls, with 14 fours and a flogged six over Gareth Batty’s head.England will be relieved to hear that Nafees won’t be available for the Test series – he is about to lead his side on a tour of Pakistan. But today’s captain, Rajin Saleh, is one man who will definitely be there. He impressed in the recent Test series against Pakistan, and had batted defiantly for a valuable 28 – adding 103 for the third wicket – until Richard Johnson won an appeal for caught-behind, much to Saleh’s disappointment (148 for 4). Rikki Clarke then ran out Nazimuddin with a direct hit from backward point, but Nafees ground on.It was only when he was nearing his century that Nafees allowed his youthful ebullience to get the better of him. He brought up his hundred with a heart-in-the-mouth slap that flew just out of the reach of Michael Vaughan at cover, and he immediately followed up with two more wild fours to complete the over.With free entry offered to the local population, Nafees’s antics had induced a carnival atmosphere around the packed grass banks, and when play was held up by the introduction of a stray black-and-white pye dog, the ensuing slapstick brought about the heartiest cheers of the day. Nafees seemed emboldened by the fuss, and clubbed another four and that six off Batty. But before the over was up, he had holed out to Graham Thorpe on the long-on boundary (175 for 5).

The local crowd look on

The Bangladeshis have heightened expectations these days, as had been demonstrated earlier in the day by the reaction of the dressing-room to Nafees’s fifty. None of them moved a muscle, which was a deliberate motivational ploy according to their new Australian coach, Richard McInnes. And despite a hugely impressive innings, the manner of his dismissal will not have won him many claps from his new taskmaster, either.Sure enough, England worked their way back into control, as Fahim Muntasir and Saghir Hossain both fell for the addition of four runs (179 for 7). But that was not the end of the day’s resistance. Mosadek Hossain batted with great watchfulness for his 21, until he was trapped lbw by Paul Collingwood’s first ball of the day, and Arafat Sunny coaxed the tail to a useful total with 25 from 113 balls.Despite his success, Collingwood was limited to just four overs, and was not introduced until the 78th over. He had been a late replacement for Mark Butcher, (who was forced to withdraw with a throat infection), and is not expected to feature in the Tests. It was left to Richard Johnson and Steve Harmison to wrap up proceedings with the new ball, with seven balls remaining. Harmison, who had struck twice in his third over of the day had Sunny snared at short-leg by Nasser Hussain, before Alamgir Kabir edged a simple chance to Chris Read behind the stumps.

The South African cricketer Lorrie Wilmot, who played 147 matches in a first-class career that spanned 28 years, has died in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, after apparently taking his own life.Wilmot, who was described by friends and colleagues as larger-than-life, was one of the lost generation of South African cricketers, denied the chance to play Test cricket by the country’s sporting isolation during the Apartheid era. He was selected to tour England in 1970, but when that trip was cancelled for political reasons, he never got another chance.With no international honours to compete for, Wilmot threw himself into provincial cricket throughout the 1960s and ’70s. He went on to captain Eastern Province and also played for Border. David Emslie, the chief executive of Eastern Province Cricket, grew up with Wilmot in the village of Salem near Grahamstown. “I’ve known him all my life,” he said. “He was a hugely respected cricketer and a larger-than-life character.” He was also renowned as one of the biggest hitters in the game, and once belted the Kiwi offspinner John Sparling for a six that carried some 120 metres.But Wilmot’s life after cricket had been an unhappy one, and in March 2003 he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. Mali Govender, a police spokesperson for the Grahamstown area, said it appeared that Wilmot had shot himself. His body was reportedly found by a neighbour, with a suicide note nearby, and though an inquest will be conducted, no foul play was suspected. Wilmot was thought to have been alone at the time of his death.He scored 7687 runs at 32.02 in his long career, with 12 centuries and a highest score of 222 not out.

A powerful start to the new national cricket competition at The Rose Bowl!This week’s announcement (w/c 11th March, 2003) that npower is to sponsor the new Twenty20 Cup competition reinforces the expectation of some electrifying and powerful cricket at The Rose Bowl this summer.With Hampshire being selected for the prestigious inaugural match on Friday, 13th June, this all-action, twenty-over competition is precisely half the length of the previous shortest game in this country.With only an hour and a quarter to pile up match-winning runs, the pressure will be on Hampshire’s batsmen for some high run-rate cricket that is likely to have spectators on the edge of their seats as the ball is smashed around The Rose Bowl.Guaranteed live television coverage on Sky Sports will ensure that the eyes of the cricket world will be on The Rose Bowl as the two-week summer competition is launched with Hampshire clashing with Sussex in a mouth-watering South Coast derby.As smoke (the Twenty20 Cup replaces the old Benson & Hedges Cup) gives way to modern power (npower is one of the UK’s largest energy providers), the competition looks set to attract a new and younger spectator audience, particularly as off-field entertainment will include live bands, replay screens, BBQ zones and karaoke machines.”With npower’s sponsorship now confirmed, the atmosphere at the Rose Bowl is definitely going to be electric this summer.” said Nick Pike, The Rose Bowl’s managing director. “With no time for a batsman to play himself in and players throwing themselves about in the field, it’ll be powerful action all the way and a hectic evening for players and spectators alike!”Editor’s Note:The Twenty20 Cup splits the 18 First-Class Counties into three groups of six teams, the 45 group matches will be played over a 12 day period in June (13th – 24th June). The winners of the three groups and the best runner-up will progress to the finals day on Saturday, 19th July.Issued by: Hampshire CricketPress Contacts: Jane Kerr 07976 549705John Hughes 07973 705773

Leicestershire completed their fourth CricInfo Championship victory of the season, beating Glamorgan by the comprehensive margin of an innings and 90 runs at Cardiff today.Vince Wells’s side took a maximum 20-point haul to catapult them up to joint third place from sixth in division one.But Glamorgan made them work for the victory and weren’t bowled out until the first ball of the final 16 overs.Leicestershire’s hero of the final day was Devon Malcolm, who recorded figures of 5-98 as he passed 50 first-class wickets for the season.Glamorgan had resumed their second innings on 15-2 this morning still needing another 361 to avoid an innings defeat.Wickets fell at regular intervals but Leicestershire were frustrated byAdrian Dale, who shared a stand of 98 with Robert Croft, and then Darren Thomas.Apart from some batting resistance the only threat to a Leicestershire victory was the weather, which forced the players to take an early tea with Glamorgan 237-7.Matthew Maynard and Mike Powell survived until the 10th over of the day before Powell was strangled down the leg side by Malcolm.Leicestershire’s bid for victory was given a further boost in the morning session when Jon Dakin struck in his first over to have Maynard caught behind to leave Glamorgan 74-4.But Dale, who reached 50, and Robert Croft offered some resistance and had guided the home side to 124-4 by lunch, still 253 adrift.The fifth wicket pair had added 98 when Croft edged Malcolm to the wicketkeeper and four overs later Dale mis-hooked the former England paceman to sky a catch to Shahid Afridi.Malcolm completed a five-wicket haul when Wallace gave wicketkeeper Neil Burns his fifth catch of the innings.And after an entertaining 69 from Thomas, Glamorgan didn’t hold upLeicestershire for long as the home side were bowled out for 287.

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Graeme Souness has said that he feels the signings of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk have allowed Liverpool to take a ‘quantum leap’.

Previously, with the likes of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius sharing the gloves in goal, and players like Martin Skrtel and Alberto Moreno consistently in the starting eleven, the Reds were always susceptible to a defensive mix-up.

However, having splashed out £75m and £66m on the Dutchman and the Brazilian stopper respectively, Liverpool have shaped up at the back and are now gunning for the Premier League title – Jurgen Klopp’s men have kept the most clean sheets in the league this season with 17.

Is Jurgen Klopp a “serial bottler”? The fan in the video below certainly thinks so…

What’s he said?

Souness told Sky Sports: “People will point out if they don’t win the league or Champions League that it’s another year without winning a trophy, but each year they have got better and better.

“They have made a quantum leap this year by signing Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.

“They both got it wrong for the Fulham goal, but I can’t remember another time that has happened. They have been fabulous all year. Liverpool are a serious team now.”

Other clubs should follow Liverpool’s lead

We’ve seen in recent windows that some of the top clubs’ approach to the transfer window has been like a kid on FIFA, splashing huge amounts on any glistening name without thinking.

Chelsea, for example, have spent absurd amounts on the likes of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta and Alvaro Morata, all of whom play minimal roles in the first-team; two of them aren’t even at the club right now.

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In Liverpool’s case, they have been shrewd, patient and thoughtful in the market, and are reaping the rewards for identifying a target and ensuring that they get their man no matter what.