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Group B

The favoritesScotland served their notice as a threat last month with a pair of wins over Ireland, the defending champions in the World T20 qualifier. Since the World Cup, they have been dominant against Associates in general, thumping UAE in a three-day match before securing first-innings points in a rain-marred draw against Afghanistan. In the last few days they scorched Namibia and Jersey in warm-up games.A new name to keep an eye on is 22-year old opener George Munsey. He scored a half-century against UAE in a three-day match in May, earned a maiden call-up to the T20 squad and hammered 75 off 44 balls against Jersey. Among the more familiar faces, wicketkeeper Matthew Cross was superb against Ireland in June and will look to reprise that form.Afghanistan haven’t lifted the trophy at this tournament since their debut in 2010, and may find it difficult to break that dry spell in wet and windy conditions. Their pace bowling trio of Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran and Dawlat Zadran will be formidable but their batting side has traditionally struggled in prior trips to the British Isles.All eyes will be on the returning Mohammad Shahzad. He was left out of Afghanistan’s World Cup squad in February, but has come back very strongly. He made 266 in a two-day match against MCCU in May, followed that up with 109 against Middlesex and then hammered 100 off 51 balls against Unicorns at Wormsley in June.Battle for playoff spotsNetherlands received a timely fillip last week when former South African left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe switched allegiances. He made an impressive start in his second coming to international cricket, top-scoring with 40 not out and taking 2 for 27 in a loss to Nepal.A loss to Hong Kong on Tuesday was another reminder of the gap left by Tom Cooper’s absence. Fiery starts from Stephan Myburgh will be vital to keep opposition bowlers at bay.Since the World Cup, Scotland have been generating a lot of waves in Associate cricket•Cricket Scotland

This event marks the first major tournament in 15 years that Khurram Khan won’t be suiting up for UAE. He was a central figure in their qualification for both the 2014 World T20 and 2015 World Cup, which means pressure will fall on Shaiman Anwar to keep up his fine World Cup form.The adjustment to the British Isles has not gone too well early on with heavy defeats to Scotland and Ireland in multi-day matches, while UAE split a pair of 50-over games with Kenya at Southampton. A win over Nepal on Wednesday was a much needed result and it will be up to the fast bowling unit of Mohammad Naveed, Manjula Guruge and Amjad Javed to make sure more such victories are delivered.Pulling up the rearCanada received a major wake-up call when they were throttled by a local Scottish district side on Tuesday in an eight-wicket defeat. The loss seemed to have rattled enough cages as captain Rizwan Cheema crashed 98 off 36 balls against Namibia on Wednesday. The Americas regional champs received a harsh scheduling assignment by having to play Scotland, Netherlands and Afghanistan on three consecutive days to end group play, a major hurdle to overcome just to reach the playoffs.Similar to Canada, Kenya drew a short straw in terms of scheduling by having to play five times in the first six days of the tournament, the most cramped segment any of the 14 teams have to face. The stretch also includes three straight days playing against Afghanistan, Scotland and UAE. A loss to Jersey in the lead up to this tournament means Kenya’s prospects for success are looking very grim.In Munis Ansari, Oman have perhaps the only bowler who can match the Afghanistan pace trio in this group for raw pace. Beyond captain Zeeshan Maqsood at the top of the order, batting contributions are slim and they frequently slip from three down to all out in quick time. Oman are not without the capacity to spring an upset, but after losing all seven group games in their last appearance at the qualifier in 2012, it is hard to see them achieving great success in Scotland.

Glenn McGrath has started some light training for his stint playing Twenty20 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. However, McGrath said he did not want the shortest form of the game to eat away at the Test and ODI schedules in world cricket.”Hopefully there is room for all three forms of the game but we’ll wait and see,” McGrath told . “I think in India anything to do with cricket is going to be successful. The effect it will have on Test cricket or one-day cricket, hopefully it won’t be negative.”It has got the potential in the same way one-day cricket has been to Test cricket, run-rates are a lot higher. But I guess it also has the potential if it gets too big and starts going to markets like the US and Europe and other places, I would hate to see it take the spot of Test cricket and one-day cricket.”McGrath was pleased to be able to play a role in developing cricket’s following and he was looking forward to playing with or against other international stars in the IPL. “To have players like myself and Shane Warne and Stephen Fleming, it’s more of an ambassador role to give it a bit more credibility,” he said.”People coming to watch the game are probably not your mainstream cricket fans so it’s bringing more people to the game which is great.” McGrath, Warne and Fleming will be part of a pool of players who can be signed up by privately-owned franchise teams in the IPL, which is scheduled to have its first tournament in April next year.

After Chris Gayle murdered the South African bowling for the first Twenty20 century, West Indies bowled with such indiscipline against a rampant Herschelle Gibbs that a game that should have been won was lost. They need to sort out their catching, and their bowling, and the Bangladesh game could well be the chance to do it. On the other hand, already with one loss, and Bangladesh having some batsmen who can do some serious damage over short periods of time, West Indies can’t afford to take the result for granted.Bat play: Mohammad Ashraful’s biggest problem in Test and ODI cricket has been his inability to curb his natural stroke-making tendencies. There will, however, be no need to hold back in the Twenty20s and in Aftab Ahmed he has another batsman capable of hitting the ball clean and long.West Indies have Gayle powering them at the top of the order, but the likes of Dwayne Bravo, who did not have a good first game, and Dwayne Smith, are good bets to hit the cover off the ball. And there’s Marlon Samuels, that eternal mystery of West Indian cricket, sublime some days and rather silly on others.Wrecking ball :Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell bowled with genuine pace on a flat deck at the Wanderers and in most conditions they can trouble batsmen. The problem is, there’s a good chance they’ll go for runs as well. Bangladesh have a line-up full of strokemakers, and sheer pace could play a big part.If West Indies have pace Bangladesh have swing in the left-arm of Syed Rasel. He bends the ball back into right-handed batsmen and if conditions help him, can be hard to negotiate.Keep your eyes on: Mashrafe Mortaza has been a taslismanic all-round cricketer for Bangladesh and has played a part in more than one upset. And there’s Gayle – can you really afford to keep your eyes off him in this version of the game?Pitching it right: A good batting track, a touch on the dry side, the Wanderers is a place where you get bang for buck as far as playing shots goes. A quick outfield means that batsmen only have to beat the infield to pick up four.West Indies (likely) Chris Gayle, Devon smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Smith, Daren Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel EdwardsBangladesh (likely) Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Alok Kapali, Farhad Reza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzaq

Alex Tudor, the Essex and former England fast bowler – whose career has been blighted by persistent injuries – is struggling to be fit for the start of the domestic season following complex knee surgery.Tudor signed for Essex two years ago but played just twice last season, when a degenerative knee defect was identified.”I’m really chuffed with the way he has progressed. It’s a case of crossing our fingers,” Ronnie Irani, the Essex captain, told BBC Sport while on tour with his county in South Africa. “Prior to his arrival at Essex, Alex had a hip problem which was the reason why he was released by Surrey .”But we sorted that out and he doesn’t have an issue with that anymore. We are very hopeful that Alex is going to perform wonders for us at this county and if he stays fit then he will do exceptionally well.”Essex’s first Championship game of the summer is against Northamptonshire on April 19 at Chelmsford.

David Hussey continued his assault on the county circuit, slamming 32 from one over in a rain-reduced one-day match on Monday. George Bailey, Jimmy Maher and Marcus North were also in the runs in their limited-overs games.Hussey, who last week struck 14 sixes in his remarkable 275 for Nottinghamshire, followed up with more fireworks against Derbyshire at Trent Bridge. The match was reduced to 13 overs a side and Hussey, who came in at No. 4, hammered 56 from 20 deliveries, including one four and seven sixes.The highlight was when he cleared the ropes five consecutive times off Greg Smith, the Derbyshire fast bowler, having scored a two off the first ball of the over. Hussey then hit his next two balls over the boundary as well, from Ant Botha’s left-arm spin. Derbyshire, who had Simon Katich and Travis Birt in their line-up, fell well short of Nottinghamshire’s 170.At Chester-le-Street, Bailey’s 92 from 105 deliveries was not enough to earn Scotland their second win of the season as they went down to Durham. Bailey made nearly half of Scotland’s 205, striking three sixes and six fours.Maher made his first substantial contribution of the year for Glamorgan, but they still lost to Surrey at Cresselly. Maher made 76 as he guided Glamorgan to 203 in a rain-reduced contest, while Surrey’s Matthew Nicholson took 2 for 44. Glamorgan’s problems worsened when Damien Wright limped off the field after bowling only four balls, and Surrey reined in the target with two overs to spare.North put in a solid all-round performance to help Gloucestershire to victory over Essex at Bristol. His 55 was important in helping the home team to 222 and he then followed up with 3 for 22 from six overs as Essex fell 22 runs short.Earlier in the week, a troop of Australians dominated the four-day encounters, with Hussey and Cameron White the star performers. Hussey’s career-best 275 was the highlight; he faced only 227 balls and belted 14 sixes, putting Nottinghamshire on track for a massive win over Essex at Trent Bridge.White also set up his side, Somerset, for an eight-wicket victory against Gloucestershire at Taunton. His double-century was a more restrained effort than Hussey’s, but he still only needed 325 deliveries to post 241. North did his best to prevent Gloucestershire giving up the points, but his 106 was in vain.At Northampton, Katich was unable to rescue Derbyshire, who conceded a 205-run first-innings deficit to Northamptonshire. Katich made 85 in the second innings in a fighting partnership with Steve Stubbings but they had little support and Birt (37) was the only other batsman to offer any resistance.Michael Di Venuto was an important part of Durham’s win over Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street. Di Venuto struggled in the first innings but contributed a solid 53 in the second as Durham wobbled slightly in their chase of 131. Yorkshire’s Jason Gillespie took four wickets for the match but the star for Durham was Ottis Gibson, the 38-year-old former West Indies allrounder, who took ten wickets and made 71.Stuart Clark continued to impress in his first season with Hampshire, taking 4 for 48 and 3 for 80 in a draw with Kent at Canterbury. Clark has 18 victims at 18.33 from his three games but his captain, Shane Warne, is not having the impact that might be expected of him. Warne took 3 for 42 and 1 for 142, to take his season tally to 15 wickets at 36.33.Another Australian who will be searching for a change in form is Phil Jaques, who in five matches is averaging only 22.55 for Worcestershire. Jaques made 5 and 0 and was one of the culprits as his team lost to Sussex at Worcester.

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Tasmania gained six points after beating Queensland by seven wickets inside three days in their Pura Cup match at Brisbane. Set a target of 47 in their second innings, Tasmania lost three batsmen in an attempt to finish off the game within ten overs. Michael Di Venuto, the opening batsman, top scored in both innings, although Adam Griffith was chosen for the Man-of-the-Match award for taking six wickets for 76 in the match.Queensland resumed batting on day three at 3 for 54, trailing Tasmania by 84. Things just got worse from there as James Hopes fell leg before to Griffith on the eighth ball of the day. Chris Hartley, the wicketkeeper, managed to hang around for 51 balls before nicking one to Sean Clingeleffer and giving Griffith his second wicket of the day. Matthew Hayden pushed the score closer to the 150-mark batting with an injured finger, but the collapse could not be stopped and the last three wickets fell for 35.Tasmania made a mess of an easy chase and Hopes was on a hat-trick when he snaffled up Michael Bevan and Travis Birt in successive balls. But in the end Di Venuto, along with George Bailey, secured full points for Tasmania. Queensland, the defending champions, will hope to redeem themselves when they host New South Wales on October 27.

Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has called Monty Panesar the best finger spinner in the world after Panesar produced another impressive display against Pakistan.Panesar, 24, took three for 39 in the second innings at Headingley and six wickets in the match in all as the hosts completed a 167-run third Test victory and with it secured an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.”As a finger spinner there is probably no one to match him in world cricket at the moment – his control is very, very good,” said Fletcher of Panesar, whose tally for the series now stands at 16 wickets heading into next week’s fourth Test at the spin-friendly Oval.After Panesar took eight wickets in England’s innings and 120-run second Test win at Old Trafford, Fletcher was lukewarm in his praise of the Northamptonshire bowler saying Panesar had to work on his fielding and batting as well as perform on less helpful pitches.And Fletcher made it clear that Ashley Giles, England’s Ashes-winning left-arm spinner currently out with a hip injury, could come straight back into the side on account of his batting and fielding even though most observers regard Panesar as the more attacking bowler.But Fletcher said of Panesar: “He bowled very well again. This has been a different pitch to the one he did well on at Old Trafford, a lot slower.”And he insisted Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England, had always been in the selectors’ thoughts for the Ashes’ defence, which gets underway in Brisbane in November. “We never said we weren’t going to take him to Australia. There will be 18 players going to Australia and there was always a very good chance that he would be included. Now he is staking a stronger and stronger claim.”Also in contention is Sajid Mahmood, the Lancashire quick whose Test-best four for 22 against Pakistan at Headingley suggested he could fill the gap in England’s bowling attack left by the injured Simon Jones.”We have always been pretty confident in Saj [Mahmood],” said Fletcher. “I’ve seen some real potential in him, especially considering who he is replacing in Simon Jones and what we need as a priority in Australia is to bowl them out twice.”What also impresses me a lot about him as a quick bowler is that he tried things and if they didn’t come off he didn’t become reclusive on those attempts, he was happy to try it again.”But the key thing is speed, I have always believed you have to have someone who can bowl at 90 miles per hour,” added Fletcher of Mahmood, 24, who a few weeks ago was dropped from England’s one-day side for collective figures of 21-0-173-3 against Sri Lanka.Both Panesar, whose family hail from northern India, and Mahmood, the son of Pakistani immigrants, received backing from Norman Tebbit, the former Conservative cabinet minister and close ally of Margaret Thatcher, who 16 years ago caused controversy with his ‘cricket test’. Tebbit said one way to judge how well ethnic minorities had integrated into British society was to see which side they supported at cricket.”What cheered me enormously was not only that Monty was playing so well for England, but the attitude of the crowd towards him,” Tebbit told the . “I was cheering both for him and Mahmood.”Meanwhile Fletcher said the bowlers had benefited from the captaincy of Andrew Strauss. But the coach indicated that Andrew Flintoff – currently out with an ankle injury – would lead the team in Australia even though Geoffrey Boycott, the former England opener, has said Strauss should retain the captaincy.”Andrew [Strauss] is a really strong character and nothing has highlighted that more than the fact that being captain hasn’t really affected him,” said Fletcher after Strauss’s 116 in the second innings at Headingley.”Every time we meet as selectors we debate certain positions but at this stage we have spoken about Freddie [Flintoff] being a natural leader in Australia – we will have to talk more when the time comes.”