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The ICC will investigate three international matches involving Bangladesh after Mohammad Ashraful reportedly told Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) investigators of his involvement in corrupt practices during these games. Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hassan said that the ICC will investigate on its own, with no involvement of the BCB.Earlier in the day, the BCB decided ‘not to involve’ Ashraful in any form of cricket until the ICC’s ACSU submits its report on investigations into alleged match-fixing and spot-fixing in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League.”Apart from the ACSU’s investigation into corruption in the BPL, the ICC will have its own investigation into spot-fixing allegations in the international matches mentioned in the report,” Hassan said at a press conference.”Their investigation also includes international matches, and it is not just limited to the BPL. They told me that the focus of his report is on the BPL, and because those games were under ICC’s jurisdiction, the ICC will investigate it themselves. Two of the matches are from the past so it will take some time to gather evidence.”Ashraful’s confession to the ACSU regarding the international matches was first reported by the Dhaka-based .

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and his predecessor Ross Taylor have been released early by their IPL franchises and will join the tour of England ahead of schedule.Neither player has had much involvement in the IPL with McCullum playing one match for Kolkata Knight Riders, after recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up in the final Test against England in Auckland, and although Ross Taylor has appeared five times for Pune Warriors he has made just 63 runs at a strike-rate under 100.McCullum is due to arrive in England on Friday so could yet be available for the opening tour match against Derbyshire, which starts on Saturday, while Taylor is expected over the weekend. Both players were previously set to arrive shortly before the match against England Lions at Grace Road next week. Kane Williamson was due to the lead the team in McCullum’s absence.New Zealand players have an agreed five-week window where they can appear at the IPL and when Mike Hesson, the coach, was asked about missing two senior players for the start of the trip he even sought to see it in a positive way. “I’m actually quite happy with it because with a squad of 15 it’s quite hard to get everyone a game,” he said.It has become a feature of the May Test series in England, which clashes with the IPL, that senior players from the visiting team have arrived late. It has previously happened with Sri Lanka and West Indies, leaving them precious little time to adjust to the conditions.McCullum, who took over the captaincy from Taylor late last year, had a productive series against England in March, but Taylor struggled for fluency on his return after opting out of the South Africa tour following the loss of the leadership. During a radio interview after the visit of England he said that he was still not entirely comfortable back in the set-up.

ScorecardBruce Martin’s 3 for 13 did his chances of selection in the first Test no harm•Getty Images

Like passers-by caught up in a shootout between two gangs, it was Derbyshire’s misfortune to find themselves in the middle of a fierce battle for a Test place between two eager seamers on the second day of New Zealand’s opening match of their tour of England.Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner claimed seven wickets between them as they fought for a position in the Test team, brushing aside Derbyshire for just 154 in the process. Only one batsman made more than 16, Wes Durston, and he was dropped on 6.Later, despite a first innings lead of 135, New Zealand’s batsmen suffered some setbacks of their own – their top five were all bowled in the second innings – before an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 105 between BJ Watling and Tom Latham restored the balance of power. By stumps New Zealand had extended their lead to 334.It appears only one of the two New Zealand seamers can find a place in the team for the first Test at Lord’s. While it has been presumed by many that Bracewell, who missed the Test series against England in New Zealand after injuring his foot on broken glass, will return to the side for the upcoming series, it seems nobody has told Wagner.Certainly Wagner, who claimed 12 wickets in the series against England, is not going to relinquish his place without a fight. He bowled throughout the first hour on the second morning at Derby and added two wickets to the one he claimed the previous evening. As wholehearted as ever, Wagner sustained impressive pace, maintained a pretty good line and was rewarded with the wickets of Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen, both of whom edged fine deliveries angled across them.But Bracewell also provided a compelling reminder of his own case for inclusion. Strong as a bull, he generated a pace that was unappreciated by some of the Derbyshire tail-enders and, even if he over did the short ball a little, finished with four wickets. At one stage he had two in two balls – Dan Redfern caught in the slips as he fended at a well-directed delivery that bounced more than he expected and then Ross Whiteley, who is developing a reputation as a poor player of the short ball, also caught in the slips as he fended away from his face. Later he returned to defeat the timid strokes of Peter Burgoyne and Mark Footitt.”I kind of see it like that,” Bracewell said when asked if he thought he was involved in a ‘bowl off’ with Wagner. “Neil’s come in and taken wickets so credit to him but every game you play you’re trying to prove a point. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’ve been looking forward to playing at Lord’s for a while, so let’s hope I can play and do well.”Bracewell admitted to having been “gutted” to have missed out on playing against England in New Zealand, but dismissed the inevitable questions about the context of the injury to his foot.”I was looking forward to the England series,” he said. “I felt my form was pretty good. There were a few stories, but I just stood on a piece of glass while I was cleaning up. I had a few mates round the night before and it happened in the morning. A few things got blown out of proportion and a few stories came out. People can believe what they want to.”It was deep enough but it was more the bruising that took a bit longer to heal. It was pretty bad luck really. It made it pretty frustrating. A silly little thing like that to make you miss three Tests, important Tests, is pretty annoying.”It is possible New Zealand could play both Wagner and Bracewell at Lord’s. While the positions of Tim Southeee and Trent Boult appear secure, there might be an argument for fielding four seamers and doing without the specialist spin of Bruce Martin. Kane Williamson could provide a spin option if required. But Martin, who here quickly settled to a probing length and found turn that was missing for the Derbyshire spinners, did his own case no harm when luring Durston down the pitch and having him stumped by substitute wicketkeeper Tom Latham, taking the opportunity to gain some experience with the gloves in these conditions. Later Martin saw Richard Johnson and the left-handed Matt Higginbottom caught at short extra-cover and short midwicket respectively as they drove uppishly – and obligingly – to the fielder positioned for the stroke.It could have been worse for Derbyshire. Durston was put down in the gully by Kane Williamson off Wagner – a tough, low chance when the batsman had scored 6 – and went on to strike nine fours in a merry, counter-attacking innings.This match has been watched by a disappointingly small number of spectators – it would be more accurate to call it a “sparse” than a “crowd” – but Derbyshire deserve credit for the wicket at the County Ground. While many Test venues have settled for low, slow tracks which do little for anyone, least of all the spectator, the pitch at Derby offers decent pace, bounce and a little movement for seamers and spinners. It is, in short, a fine cricket wicket.The New Zealand bowlers were not alone in enjoying the conditions. Mark Footitt, a left-arm fast bowler who has promised so much for so long that he might be convicted of a cricketing version of perjury, added two wickets to the four he claimed in the first innings, again making the ball swing at pace. The left-handed Hamish Rutherford was beaten by a beauty that left him to take the top of off stump, while Dean Brownlie was enticed into a loose drive only to be beaten by swing and play-on off the inside edge. It was not a shot that will have done his case of retaining a Test place in front of the returning Martin Guptill a great deal of good.But Guptill was unable to take advantage. Struggling a little with his balance, he was punished for pushing his bat out far in front of his pad by one that nipped back, while Peter Fulton fell in similar fashion to the impressive Alasdair Evans. Kane Williamson’s delightful innings – a punch down the ground was the shot of the day – was ended when he played-on to a quicker one from Burgoyne, but Watling, elegant on the drive and strong on the sweep, and Latham looked untroubled by the support bowlers and snuffed out any lingering hopes Derbyshire had of clawing their way back into the game.

Although Sri Lanka’s pace reserves have struggled to produce quality in recent years, hurt by a spate of serious injuries, a bevy of burgeoning spinners has begun to vie for long-term places in the national team.19-year-old Akila Dananjaya had a successful introduction to international cricket during the World Twenty20 last year, but has been used with utmost care and consideration, owing to his extreme inexperience. 20-year-old Tharindu Kaushal has amassed a staggering pile of domestic scalps in his debut season, but despite having been in the Test squad for two tours, he is yet to make an international appearance. Others like Suraj Randiv and Ajantha Mendis were picked on early promise, but have since lost their way in international cricket – though each of them is only one emphatic domestic season away from drawing interest again.The latest spinner to emerge from the peloton to make a dash for the top limited-overs spinner’s spot is 28-year-old Sachithra Senanayake. A tall offspinner with a relaxed approach to the crease, a reputation for taking heavy hauls, and the record to go with it, he has recently seen his career surge, in more ways than one. He had played for Sri Lanka in a handful of limited-overs matches early in 2012, but in South Africa and in Australia, his returns ranged from modest to mediocre, and after a three-month stretch as a regular, he was replaced by several of the competing spin bowlers.This year, though, a jaw-dropping $625,000 offer from Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2013 IPL brought Senanayake back into the limelight, and a strong first-class season earned him a recall into a national side looking to embed future stars. His first ODI against Bangladesh brought him only one wicket for 46 runs, but in Pallekele on Thursday night, he was Sri Lanka’s best bowler by a distance, taking 2 for 26 from six overs.”For about a year I didn’t have the opportunity to come into the national team,” Senanayake said. “But I did well in the provincial and domestic matches that I had to play, so that’s probably why I’m in the team again. I didn’t lose hope of getting back into the team and I performed well and showed that I’m good enough.”I have more variations now than I did when I first played for Sri Lanka. I think I’ll be able to do well because of those changes. Before, I just bowled the offbreak and the one that goes straight on. Now I have two more – one that goes the other way, and one that keeps low.”Senanayake was also handed a central contract at the beginning of the month, despite not having played since August 2012, at the international level. The contract is an indication that Sri Lanka’s new selection panel has high hopes from him, and will grant him time to mature at the top level.”I’m very thankful to the selection committee, because they didn’t choose players on a whim,” he said. “They’ve been watching cricketers for a while, and if they were performing well, [they saw] how long they had been doing well for. They’ve followed players closely and then categorised them, which is great.”Senanayake has been one of the most consistent spinners in domestic cricket, and his resurgence was built upon an exceptional List A season, in which he reaped 18 wickets at an average of 11.16. He was also among the top four wicket-takers in this year’s first-class competition, with 49 wickets at 16.32. He is the only specialist spinner in the young Twenty20 squad named for the one-off match against Bangladesh.He feels that having bowled on an SSC pitch, which is better suited to batting than many in the country, he has had to work hard to earn his wickets, and that that experience will hold him in good stead when playing for Sri Lanka.”In international cricket, even in Sri Lanka, you don’t get as many spin-friendly wickets as in the domestic circuit here,” he said. “If you look at the SSC pitch though, it is one of the best batting tracks in the country. Because of that, I don’t feel a big change when we play international cricket, and I think I’ll be able to do well.”He is aware, however, that there are exciting, young players on the scene who have not evaded the selectors’ gaze either. Senanayake may have an SLC contract, while many of them don’t, but there is little room to lag. After the Twenty20 on Sunday, Sri Lanka’s next assignment is the Champions Trophy in England, where Senanayake may be tasked with carrying the spin burden, given most pitches are unlikely to warrant fielding two slow bowlers.”It’s great the amount of competition that we have at the moment, because when there is a group of players behind me who are also pushing for players, I know that I have to do better than them. With that level of competition, if I don’t do well in two or three games, I can’t be certain of my place in the team. I have to constantly be on top of my game to earn selection for the next match.”

Unless it is the World Twenty20 final, winning a match in the shortest format is seldom the cause for massive celebration. Today, it was.For Mohammed Hafeez, Pakistan’s thumping of South Africa was as much an individual triumph as it was a team one. It showed that he has not lost his touch even after the Test series brought that up for debate. It showed that the team is not incapable of competing with and beating an opposition that continues to be talked up as better than them. And it showed those who have called for heads to roll, their words came too early.Hafeez animatedly defended everyone in the Pakistan setup, specifically the coach Dav Whatmore, with even more gusto than he celebrated their victory. He thought it proved the criticism they have copped from home was unreasonable and this would put an end to some of that.”It was unfair. If the results of one format do not come in your favour, it does not mean the boys are not working hard or the coach is not good enough. Those are all premature statements from people sitting I don’t know where,” he said.”And it does not mean that if we win the coach is working harder. He was working the same way with us throughout. We are all behind him and we’ve all been working hard.”Although it was not specifically mentioned, Hafeez’s comments were an obvious rebuttal to former captain Moin Khan’s call for Whatmore to be sacked. Moin called Whatmore “overrated” and said he was “fighting for survival.” Hafeez scoffed at all of that.Instead, he said his team had simply shown what he always knew they were capable of. He also asked for people to remain patient with them because of the difficulties of their circumstances, which includes not playing at home “for the last four years but still doing good things for Pakistan cricket.”A trophy from South Africa is one of those achievements. Even though it came from a format that is brushed aside as a small boys’ game and a contest in which one match was washed out, it means something. “We really wanted to do something good in this format because of the ODIs coming up. We knew the importance of this game,” Hafeez said. “Tests require a different discipline but here everyone just played without fear.”Hafeez led by example in that regard. His 86 was a fluent innings, punctuated with classy strokes and calculated risk-taking. After a lean Test series, it will go a long way to boost his confidence. “I knew that I was playing very well in the nets, it’s just that I was getting good balls in the Test series and that was disappointing,” he said. “But I stayed positive, the coaches kept me positive and worked hard with me.”The move to No. 3 also seems to have worked and Hafeez will likely stay there. With the youngsters Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad upfront, he was required to drop down to provide experience and although it is not his first choice, he can see the benefit in doing it. “I always prefer to come as an opener but this is the requirement of the team. We are looking to the future and Ahmed Shehzad has been doing well domestically and we wanted to give him a chance. I will do whatever I have to for the team.”For the first time on this tour, the team Hafeez so passionately talks about have a reason to smile. It is largely because of him and Umar Gul, who Hafeez said was “outstanding,” and is “always good in this format.”They also have a reason to be hopeful ahead of their five-match ODI series in South Africa and Hafeez hopes they continue in this vein. “We’ve got a great feeling in the dressing room now. It’s a feeling that has been missing for 42 days and it’s great to have it now.”

ScorecardOn a day when he was named in the Australia A squad to take on the England Lions, Nathan Coulter-Nile showed why he has excited Australia’s national selectors, bowling Western Australia to victory over Queensland at the Gabba. Coulter-Nile’s career-best 6 for 84 ensured there was no chance the Bulls would chase down their hefty target of 440, despite Greg Moller scoring his maiden first-class century.Moller made 120 and had good support from the captain James Hopes with 61, but Coulter-Nile and the left-arm spinner Ashton Agar kept chipping away at the Queensland line-up with regular wickets. Agar picked up 3 for 91 but it was Coulter-Nile who removed the key threats, including Moller, who was caught at slip, and Hopes, who played on from a short ball.Coulter-Nile picked up the final wicket, that of Cameron Gannon caught at gully, to secure the 99-run win. The victory was not enough to lift the Warriors off the bottom of the Sheffield Shield table but the even nature of the competition this year means that they remain in the hunt for a place in the final with three rounds still to be played.