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Uganda’s ability to construct decent totals could be the key to their competitiveness when the Under-19 World Cup gets underway in Sri Lanka.The African nation, whose development program is held up as a blueprint for other countries throughout the ICC Associate and Affiliate world, is likely to be able to hold its own with the ball and in the field. But there are question marks over whether the players can back up thoseaspects of their game with sizeable scores when they bat.Uganda reached the World Cup by finishing as runners-up to Namibia in the Africa-East Asia-Pacific qualifying tournament held in Benoni, South Africa last August. They won four of their five matches, including a victory over Kenya, and even beat the Namibians in the group stages before losing to them by three wickets in a closely-contested final. But in all those matches Uganda’s batsmen mustered only one half-century between them, the 61 scored by their captain Hamza Almuzahim against Fiji. In their defence it was a low-scoring tournament, but that worrying trend has continued in the two warm-up matches the side has played in Sri Lanka.In matches against colleges sides, Uganda was bowled out for 161 and 133 and that problem will need to be solved and solved quickly before their Group A matches against the hosts Sri Lanka, and New Zealand and Pakistan. Much of the responsibility for that required improvement will fall on the shoulders of captain Almuzahim, one of ten players in the squad that also took part in the 2004 event in Bangladesh, the first time Uganda played in the finals of the World Cup.Four of the squad – opening bowler Emmanuel Isaneez, allrounder PatrickOchan, vice-captain Raymond Otim, a batsman who bowls legspin, and left-arm medium-pacer Charles Waiswa, were also part of the senior Uganda squad that played in the ICC Trophy in Ireland last July.Along with Almuzahim, the other key members of the batting line-up could be prospective openers Mauneek Solanki and Roger Mukasa, the former U15 captain Arthur Kyobe, wicketkeeper Denis Musali and Jimmy Okello. Musali opened the innings in every match in Benoni and made an unbeaten 27 to steer the side home against Tanzania. The bowling and fielding appears to be less of a concern, especially when judged on performances not only in those qualifiers but also in the two warm-up matches so far.Isaneez, who took 6 for 37 to give Bangladesh a real scare in the Plate competition two years ago, is back to lead the attack again and among those likely to back him up is Ronald Semanda, who took 4 for 28 in the side’s match on Friday.Daniel Ruyange, who took 3 for 15 against Tanzania in Benoni, and Davis Arinaitwe will also bowl offspin while Waiswa played for the Uganda senior side in last year’s ICC Intercontinental Cup. Most intriguing of all is the presence in the squad of offspinner Emmanuel Nakaana. The youngest player in the tournament, he only celebrated his 14th birthday on December 24 last year but has already shown signs of promise and took 4 for 24 in the side’s latest warm-up match.Whatever Uganda’s limitations with the bat, they come to Sri Lanka with a reputation for excellence in the field. They effected four run-outs in one of their games with Namibia in Benoni and Otim is one of their stars in this area. Expect to find him at backward point.Uganda’s only previous appearance in the U-19 World Cup came two years ago, when they lost to South Africa (eight wickets), England (by 213 runs) and Nepal (five wickets) before taking part in the Plate competition. They lost to Ireland (123 runs) and Bangladesh (four wickets) but finished the tournament on a high with a five-wicket win over Canada when they chased 232 for victory.Realistically they are expected to struggle this time around as they have been drawn in one of the two groups that includes three Test-playing sides. But the signs are there that Uganda could be an emerging force within the game over the next few years. They have consistently boasted one of the biggest development programs in the Associate and Affiliate world with over 20,000 children involved in organised sessions. They also have an excellent schools program and the only limitation to growth is a lack of facilities although that, too, is being addressed.The long-term future for cricket in Uganda looks promising and the next three weeks will be another step on the road to growing the game in that country.Uganda squad Hamza Almuzahim (capt), Raymond Otim, Davis Arinaitwe, Emmanuel Isaneez, Arthur Kyobe, Roger Mukasa, Denis Musali, Emmanuel Nakaana, Patrick Ochan, Jimmy Okello, Danniel Ruyange, Mauneek Solanki, Ronald Semanda and Charles Waiswa.

Trevor Bayliss is “all for” Jos Buttler appearing in this year’s IPL, now that Jonny Bairstow has earned a prolonged run in England’s Test side.Bairstow’s maiden Test century in Cape Town, a fine innings of 150 not out that, in partnership with Ben Stokes, led England from a precarious to a dominant position, underlined his status as first-choice keeper in England’s Test team.While he did drop an important chance during the second Test, Bayliss believes that Bairstow’s keeping will improve if he is given a run in the side and suggested that none of the other keepers vying for selection – notably Buttler – are significantly better with the gloves.

‘We won’t stifle Stokes’

Trevor Bayliss has promised not to “stifle” Ben Stokes’ positive instincts as he develops as an international player.

Stokes plundered an outrageous 258 in Cape Town, but was then caught on the boundary for 26 in the second innings as England battled to save the Test.

At 24, he is the youngest member of the England squad and Bayliss believes he needs to be allowed to mature in his own time.

“Over a period of time, he’ll become more consistent and maybe take lot more right options,” Bayliss said. “In the second innings it was probably the right shot but he maybe didn’t have to go after it as hard as there wasn’t anyone fielding around the corner. That’s Ben’s natural game.

“To be honest we didn’t say anything to him in either innings. That’s just the way he went out and played. He just let it happen. One of the things batting on the last day – the thing that’s important – is not just batting to survive but scoring runs as well. We could have blocked it out and been 50 runs and six or seven or eight wickets down. But we were proactive and looked for the runs when they were on offer.

“So making the right decisions is an area that’ll he learn going forward. But you don’t want to stifle that sort of ability. He’s going to be one of those players who can win a team a match and at different times he’s going to disappoint as well, as all of those types of players in history have shown.”

That leaves Buttler unlikely to be required for the early season Tests against Sri Lanka in May and June. With the England management keen to give their white-ball players more experience of other domestic T20 leagues, especially the IPL and the Big Bash, Buttler will then be free to appear in the IPL if he wins interest in the auction.As things stand, it seems likely that he will gain interest from several franchises and, as ESPNcricinfo reported, Kolkata Knight Riders are particularly interested in signing him. The deadline to register for the IPL auction is January 15.England made a similar decision recently with Adil Rashid. Although he remains part of their plans in all formats, the management concluded that he was unlikely to play a role in the Test series in South Africa so encouraged him to take part in the Big Bash instead. There, he has so far impressed with 10 wickets in five matches for Adelaide Strikers, including a Man of the Match performance against Perth Scorchers, that have helped propel his team towards the semi-finals.The difference this time is that Buttler is being encouraged to play in the IPL (which this year runs from April 9 to May 29) during the England season. While fringe Test players have, in the past, been encouraged to remain in county cricket and fight for their places, the England management is currently taking a different view. Whether that is because they see Buttler as a white-ball specialist, or simply because they feel he will learn as much in the IPL as he would in the county championship, is unclear.”If the opportunity arises and Buttler is not in the Test team and that IPL window is a possibility, I’d be all for it,” Bayliss said.”It’s something we’ve spoken about. Personally I’d think it would be something similar along the lines of Adil Rashid.”If Jos is in the Test team he’ll be playing Test cricket for England. He definitely wants to play more Test cricket for England which is great. But obviously Jonny’s there at the moment.”Bayliss suggested Bairstow had kept “pretty well” in Cape Town, but accepts that part of his game needs to improve. Bairstow only allowed through four byes in the entire South Africa innings – a decent effort given that England were in the field for 211 overs – but he did put down a relatively straightforward chance to his right off the bowling of Stuart Broad when Temba Bavuma had scored 77. He missed a similar chance in Durban, as well as missing stumpings in Durban and in the previous Test in Sharjah.”Apart from that one chance I thought he did a pretty good job,” Bayliss said. “He fumbled two balls and unfortunately one of them was a nick.”Certainly his wicketkeeping is a work in progress, but I think our other wicketkeepers are as well. Plenty of other wicketkeepers around the world have started off their international careers not in the greatest fashion but ended up pretty decent keepers. It’s only fairly early in Jonny’s wicketkeeping career.”He works very, very hard at it and I’d expect over a period of time for him to get better. Both Jonny and Jos work terribly hard on their keeping. I’d expect over a period of time for him to get better.”He knows the number one reason he is in the team is to keep wicket. So that is definitely a focus of ours: to make him better, as it is with Jos as well.”And we know that both of them, in form, can quite possibly play in this Test team as a batter anyway. So it’s all in front of both of them.”

Ray Price, the Zimbabwe left-arm spinner who was part of Heath Streak’s rebel strikers in 2004, is to return to international cricket after being handed a call-up for Zimbabwe’s series against the West Indies later this month.Price returned from England two weeks ago after rejecting a new contract with Worcestershire where he spent four seasons. In 2004, he was one of 15 players who went on strike to oppose Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) regime. But despite his apparent wish to one day play for England – he is three years into a four-year qualifying period – Price is rejoining the country of his birth.He has taken 69 wickets in 18 Tests at 35.86, but he was most productive in the 2003-04 season, taking 33 wickets at 22.42 from five Tests.He is understood to have been given a contract by ZC after consulting Streak, Trevor Gripper and other former team-mates.

Nasim Ashraf, chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and Enver Baig, senator and member of Senate Standing Committee on Sports, have withdrawn their charges that were levied due to the recent statements made against each other.A committee meeting was held yesterday under the chairmanship of Tahir Mashahdi in Islamabad which Ashraf was asked to attend. In the course of the meeting, Baig withdrew his recent allegations against the PCB chairman when he had called the PCB chief a “dishonest and incompetent person.” In response, Ashraf expressed his regrets over dubbing Baig a ‘sick man’ in a recent statement and also assured the committee that he will withdraw the legal notice served on the senator.The committee has summoned a requisitioned meeting on June 26, according to Baig, in which the PCB chairman will answer various questions relating to the financial and administrative affairs of the board. Ashraf has also been asked to produce the details of PJ Mir’s package that was offered to him as the media manager of Pakistan cricket team during the World Cup.PCB is currently involved in placing a coach for the national team before it departs for the short tour of Scotland as well as offering central contracts for which a list of 30 has already been handed over by the selection committee.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not travel to the Caribbean for the World Cup if they fail to take a dope test, according to Pakistan cricket officials. The Pakistan Cricket Board completed tests on 13 of its 15-man squad and five reserves this week but Shoaib and Asif have yet to feature, raising media speculation they might be forced out of the event starting on March 13.”PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf has a zero tolerance on the use of banned substances so any member of the team going for the World Cup has to pass the screening, the in-house dope testing,” Salim Altaf, the PCB’s director of operations, told AFP. “The chairman has directed that nobody can go on the tour if this screening is not done.”Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one year in November after they tested positive for the steroid nandrolone. But the new-ball pair’s bans were controversially overturned by a PCB appellate committee in December, on the grounds they did not take the banned substance knowingly. Experts have warned that Shoaib and Asif may still have banned substances in their systems after testing positive last year and face life bans if they test positive again.Altaf, however, brushed aside speculation over the dope tests on Shoaib and Asif. “Everybody will feature otherwise nobody can go and that is the instruction of the chairman and we hope all speculations die down after this,” said Altaf, a former fast bowler. He also rejected suggestions the PCB was risking life bans for the pair if they test positive a second time. “If they failed tests which took place in September 2006 and this is now February 2007, the process is the same for everybody.”Shoaib said he still hopes to be fit for World Cup despite battling to recover from knee and hamstring problems. “I am going for another reassessment of my knee and hamstring injury in England later this week and only after that I am able to know about my chances of playing in the World Cup,” he told AFP. Asked when he was due to appear for testing, Shoaib refused to comment and said his first priority was to get over his injury.”Right now I want my injury to heal and only after that I am going to think about anything else,” said Shoaib, who joined Pakistan’s pre-tour camp in Lahore on Friday but only took part in exercises. “My chances of playing in the World Cup are 50-50 and I will take a final decision only after having a reassessment of the knee. The doctor has stopped me from bowling until February 27.”Asif meanwhile also had an assessment in England last week after a recurrence of an elbow injury before returning home on Wednesday. “Both Shoaib and Asif are consulting the specialist over their injuries and once these problems are overcome they will feature in the tests,” said Altaf. Another paceman, Umar Gul, featured in the training camp and said on Friday that he “felt great” after recovering from an ankle injury sustained on Pakistan’s tour of South Africa last month.Altaf said all the squad members will have to pass fitness tests as well. “Before the departure of the team to the Caribbean all 15 players are going to subjected to a fitness test by a medical panel of the PCB,” he said. Pakistan has until March 2 to replace any injured player in their squad. After the deadline only the International Cricket Council’s technical committee is entitled to allow an injury replacement. Pakistan also has ICC permission to replace any player who tests positive.

Scorecard

David Hussey made a sparkling start to the season with a fine century as Victoria reached 5 for 291 against South Australia. The Bushrangers’ coach Greg Shipperd has been pushing Hussey for international honours and the batsman showed his skills during the 178-ball 104.Hitting 14 fours and a six that brought up three figures, he moved Victoria away from the early danger of 2 for 48 and pushed them towards a formidable target. Hussey had a willing partner in Cameron White, who struck a powerful 76, including a six over one of the Chappell stands off the legspinner Cullen Bailey.South Australia found some energy with the second new ball to restrict the damage and Hussey was bowled by Jason Gillespie to end the 152-run stand. In the next over Ryan Harris picked up White and it was the second time Victoria had lost two quick wickets.Robert Quiney (25) was run-out by Jason Borgas’ direct hit in the morning session and was followed by Nick Jewell (20) when he padded up to Mark Cosgrove.

ScorecardIndia A turned in a sound allround performance to humble Pakistan A by 130 runs in their limited-overs match in the Top End Series in Darwin. Opener Gautam Gambhir led the assault for India with an undefeated 142 which propelled them to 313. His 147-run opening stand with Robin Uthappa (72) laid the foundation for a big score. Rohit Sharma (47*) joined Gambhir after captain Venugopal Rao was dismissed, and the pair added 121 in the last 15 overs.Pakistan began poorly, with Rudra Pratap Singh and Shib Paul, the Indian seamers, making early inroads. Rafatullah Mohmand was the only batsman to cross fifty, while the rest succumbed, mostly to the spinners. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla finished with figures of 3 for 34 from his 10 overs while Rao chipped in with two wickets, including that of Mohmand for 84. Parthiv Patel, India’s wicketkeeper, too had a good outing, effecting five dismissals.

On how it unfoldedJust prior to the electricity problem, the light was deemed to be bad, andit was offered to the batsmen. They wanted to stay on the field. When thelights went out, they decided they would continue. The first ball afterthe lights went out, when VRV Singh almost got a wicket, they tried to stay ona little longer. But eventually they decided they wanted to go off thefield.Then, the lights came on after electricity supply was restored. When wewent out, the light had deteriorated and was at a lower reading from whenit was initially offered. Asad [Rauf] and I decided we would see what itwas like. We had an over from my end [Zaheer Khan]. Then, when [VRV] Singhbowled from the north end, it was decided that the light had deterioratedto the extent that it was unfit for play.There is a perception at times that it is only the batting side that needsto be taken into account, and that is correct to a degree. They are theones that will be offered the light, which they were. But sometimes, itgets to the stage that the umpires have to make a call, whether it’s unfitfor cricket or not.On whether the reading was the same as the initial oneI can’t give you a correct answer on that as replacement umpire. Asad wasleading the situation. He was using those guidelines that were used forthe past two days as well.On whether the batsmen were offered light the second timeThe light wasn’t offered to them again. We get to a stage when we’reunhappy with the lights and we offer it, and they say yes or no.On what conditions they deem unfit for playFor picking up the line of the ball, background plays a role. For the overthat came from my end, Asad was struggling to pick up the ball from sideon.

Victoria have been bolstered by the return of Cameron White and Mick Lewis from Australian one-day duty for Sunday’s ING Cup match against Tasmania at Launceston. White will be back as captain and he said a win was crucial at the half-way mark of the competition.”Getting the points in Launceston will have us sitting in second position on the table and with plenty of momentum going in to the second half of the season,” he said. Tim Welsford was cut from the squad that comfortably beat Queensland last weekend.Victoria squad Jon Moss, Michael Klinger, Lloyd Mash, David Hussey, Liam Buchanan, Graeme Rummans, Grant Lindsay, Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Gerard Denton, Mick Lewis.Tasmania Michael Di Venuto (capt), Tim Paine, Travis Birt, George Bailey, Michael Dighton, Adam Polkinghorne, Dane Anderson, Adam Griffith, Xavier Doherty, Shannon Tubb, Ben Hilfenhaus, Darren McNees.