Steven Finn has recovered from injury and is primed to make an impact when England begin their three-Test Investec series against Sri Lanka next week

Alan Gardner14-May-2016″Use your frustration as motivation.” That was the simple advice Trevor Bayliss emailed to Steven Finn last month. Finn had received what might be described as a mild ECB ticking off for talking about missing the World T20 despite being, in his opinion, fit to play and England’s head coach was keen to channel it into a positive response.Finn’s publically expressed disappointment barely qualified as an outburst but he has had his share of frustrations over the last few years, starting with the problems surrounding his run-up and action and then more recently through injury. Having made a triumphant comeback during last summer’s Ashes, he was forced out of the UAE series with a foot problem, missed the final Test in South Africa with a side strain and then suffered a calf strain leading up to the World T20.Instead of being part of England’s run to the final in Mumbai, Finn was left to do pre-season with Middlesex, where he offered his thoughts in a couple of press engagements. He has since spoken to the “medical people, selectors, the people who made the decision” to clear up the matter and Bayliss will hope to have a bowler primed to make an impact when England begin their three-Test Investec series against Sri Lanka next week.”I shouldn’t have been as vocal as I was when I came out and said those things. I’ve accepted what’s happened, I’ve had conversations with the people that I mentioned in that interview and it’s all fine,” Finn said. “I missed the World Cup because I was injured, you’re disappointed when you miss out on world tournaments … I was in the wrong, I’ve accepted that, I’ve spoken to the people who were affected by the interview and everything is fine now.”Trevor actually sent me an email, he said ‘use your frustration as motivation to take wickets in the Test matches this summer’, which I think was the perfect response to it. You can channel your frustration into the wrong avenues and it can affect you. If it’s used in the right manner it can be a positive thing as well.”Taylor retirement ‘very sad’

Steven Finn has said that James Taylor’s successor at short leg will have “a lot to live up to”. Taylor took two brilliant catches – the second off Finn’s bowling – in England’s Johannesburg Test victory in January but has since been forced to retire at the age of 26 after the discovery of a life-threatening heart defect.
“Whoever fields in there now has got a lot to live up to,” Finn said. “It’s just very sad, we’re all saddened by what’s happened, I think the solace that we can take is he’s still with us. It’s a shame that we’ll never see him on a cricket field again because he had so much to give, but we’re glad he’s alive, glad he’s fit and well.”

Despite a call-up for the uncapped Jake Ball, Finn seems set to return to the third-seamer’s berth that has been his on a timeshare basis only since his debut six years ago. While Ball is the joint-leading wicket-taker in Division One of the Championship, with 19 at 21.15, Finn’s 12 wickets have cost more than 30 apiece and he admits that it has taken a while to get his “competitive head back on” after a three-month lay-off following the Johannesburg Test in January.”I’ve bowled some good spells this summer, I’ve bowled some not-great spells this summer,” he said. “I know it’s in there.”Finn’s eight-wicket haul at Edgbaston last summer, having not played a Test in more than two years, was one of the highlights of England regaining the Ashes, as well as vindication for his own hard work with Richard Johnson, Middlesex’s bowling coach, and the ECB’s Kevin Shine. Further sessions with Johnson beckon before Finn joins up with England next week, as well as work at Loughborough with Raph Brandon, the ECB’s head of science and medicine and the man who played a vital role in helping to re-groove Finn’s run-up.”I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last couple of years, I know a lot more,” Finn said. “I’m more in tune with my game and what I’m trying to do to get people out, and with my action, etcetera, so I feel in a good place.”Headingley has not been an auspicious venue for England in recent times – they have won only once in their last six Tests in Leeds – and it was there, against South Africa in 2012, that Finn’s habit of kneeing the stumps in his delivery stride became a problem that was soon to escalate. It is a ground where it can be “hard to find your rhythm” due to the slope but also offers extra pace (bowling downhill) and bounce (uphill) once mastered.Steven Finn has taken 12 wickets in four matches for Middlesex so far this season•Getty ImagesThose are the qualities Finn has always sought to bring to England’s attack, while the addition of an outswinger has not harmed his cause. Even if there have been a few too many four balls in his early season outings for Middlesex, he appeared relaxed about everything clicking into place again.Ball’s elevation keeps the pressure on – Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett will all hope to provide further competition over the course of seven Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan – but, as Bayliss’s email hinted, Finn remains the preferred candidate to support England’s senior new-ball pair. This will be the latest in a succession of big summers as he tries to nail down his place for good.”I think I went a little bit of a way towards doing that in South Africa, but unless you are a Stuart Broad or James Anderson you are never settled in that line-up,” Finn said. “It’s a big summer for me to try and cement that spot in the team but it’s something that I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. If you put pressure on yourself it won’t come, if I relax, play with a smile on my face and let the ball do the talking, it will look after itself.”Investec is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. For more on Investec private banking, visit www.investec.co.uk/banking

No team has won two games in a row in the tri-series so far, and they are all tied on points. Australia and South Africa will want to be the ones moving ahead

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale18-Jun-2016

Match facts

Sunday, June 19

Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)1:15

South Africa riding high before Australia game

Big Picture

The points table for this series would be best read by Richie Benaud: 2-2, 2-2, 2-2. That is to say, Australia, South Africa and West Indies have each won two and lost two. Not only that, but after the first two legs of the series in Guyana and St Kitts, every team has beaten every other team once and no more. That will change in Barbados on Sunday, when either Australia or South Africa will jump ahead on the points table and give themselves a strong chance of qualifying for the final.South Africa enter this match buoyant after posting 343 for 4 in their most recent match, a thrashing of West Indies at Warner Park. It was a win centred around Hashim Amla’s century, although Imran Tahir ended up Man of the Match for his seven-wicket haul. Australia are coming off a loss to West Indies in St Kitts. During that match the captain Steven Smith tweaked his quadriceps, and he did not train on Thursday or Friday in Barbados. However, the Australians are confident Smith will be available for Sunday’s game.As a side note, remarkably this is the first ODI to be held at Kensington Oval for more than five years. The most recent was played on May 2, 2011, when West Indies beat Pakistan in a rain-affected game. In fact, if you were to look at the results of the five most recent ODIs at Kensington Oval, Australia’s World Cup final win over Sri Lanka in 2007 would be part of that list. Only four ODIs have been played in Barbados since that final nine years ago. This is Australia’s first one-dayer at the venue since that final with its bad-light fiasco.

Form guide

Australia LWLWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
South Africa WLWLW

In the spotlight

It is only this year that Usman Khawaja has finally been given a decent run at ODI cricket, and his numbers keep growing. A maiden 50 came in New Zealand in February, then 59 against South Africa in St Kitts, then 98 against West Indies at the same venue. Opening in the absence of the injured David Warner, Khawaja has the perfect opportunity to build innings of substance. He just needs to shake off the fielding woes that afflicted him in the previous game, when he dropped two straightforward chances in the first 10 overs.Imran Tahir not only claimed the best figures by a South African in an ODI on Wednesday, he also became the fastest South African to reach the milestone of 100 ODI wickets. Nobody in world cricket has taken more ODI wickets in the past three years than Tahir’s 91 at 24.60, and it is perhaps surprising that he is not ranked higher than No. 5. Given Australia’s well-documented struggles against spin, Tahir will fancy his chances of adding a few more victims to his collection in this game.

Team news

Nathan Coulter-Nile will make way for Mitchell Starc, as Australia continue to manage his workload. Glenn Maxwell, too, is set to return after he was picked in the 12-man squad on the eve of the game in place of Travis Head. Maxwell was dropped for Australia’s two matches in Basseterre after scores of 0 and 3 at the start of the series. The Australians appear confident that Smith will play but if he were to miss out, George Bailey would likely captain the side.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodSouth Africa’s bowling coach, Claude Henderson, floated the idea of playing three spinners in Barbados, but after their comprehensive win in the previous match they may wish to use the same XI.South Africa (possible) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

There was some grass evident on the Kensington Oval pitch in the lead-up to the match, but it is expected to be a good batting surface. The players will also need to adjust to the bigger boundaries after the much smaller Warner Park in St Kitts.

Stats and trivia

• No team in this tournament has yet won consecutive matches
• Mitchell Starc needs five wickets to reach 100 in ODIs, and if he does so in his next four games he will be the quickest man in history to the milestone

Quotes

“I know it’s all precautionary and he’ll be ready to go for Sunday’s clash. I’m sure he’s raring to go and to hit a few cricket balls.”
“Barbados, I’ve been told, is a better batting wicket with a bit more bounce. I also believe the boundaries are also a bit bigger. Who knows, do we go in with three spinners, is that an option?”

Liverpool are one of the clubs that appreciate the Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch ahead of the summer transfer window.

Have Liverpool lost hope of signing Bellingham?

The Reds were believed to be one of the main clubs in the race to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund in the summer alongside Manchester City and Real Madrid.

That is seemingly no longer the case with Liverpool believed to have pulled out of the race as a result of the finances involved in bringing Bellingham to Anfield.

However, the Liverpool midfield is one that has been criticised enormously this season with the Reds falling massively short of the expectations put on them.

Despite the clamour around Bellingham, there have been reports suggesting the Reds are working on identifying other midfield targets ahead of the summer.

One of them being the Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher who alongside Mason Mount is believed to be on the radar for the Reds this summer.

However, it seems as if there is another midfield candidate on their list who may come from further afield than the Premier League.

Indeed, speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has claimed the Reds are big fans of Gravenberch with his time at Bayern under serious speculation:

(5:20) "But for the summer, Liverpool appreciate the player but not only Liverpool also other clubs in Premier League are following the situation of Ryan Gravenberch. So let's keep an eye on the Dutch midfielder."

Is Gravenberch a good fit for Liverpool?

The Dutchman is suffering from a serious lack of opportunities in the Bayern side this season with only one of his 18 appearances in the Bundesliga this season coming from the starting XI (via Transfermarkt).

But this is a player who arrived in Munich on the back of an impressive time at Ajax where he rose through the ranks at the club to become a regular in the starting XI.

Hailed as "sensational" by Andrew Cesare, the Bayern midfielder is someone who could certainly offer Jurgen Klopp with an option to bolster his midfield.

Comparing Gravenberch's 2021/22 campaign to Gallagher's current season, the Dutchman provided (4.82) significantly more shot-creating actions than the Chelsea man (2.88) (via Fbref).

However, defensively, the Englishman came out on top with Gallagher (2.64) offering slightly more tackles per. 90 minutes than Gravenberch (1.92).

But this is a Liverpool midfield which could potentially see a lot of change over the coming months and perhaps this is a midfield pairing which could work together at Anfield.

There is a case to be made that Liverpool's current midfield lacks a powerful player who can break through the lines, but that could certainly be something which the £155k-per-week Gravenberch could add.

In comparison to Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, Gravenberch offers significantly more take-ons with the Dutchman potentially able to provide Klopp with something this midfield lacks massively (via Fbref).

Chaminda Bandara has been called in as a replacement for the injured Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka’s squad for the third Test against England at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2016

Uncapped left-arm seamer Chaminda Bandara has been called in as a replacement for the injured Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka’s squad for the third Test against England at Lord’s. His selection follows Chameera’s lower-back injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the England tour.Bandara, 29, will leave for England with Kusal Perera, who replaced injured seamer Dhammika Prasad; both players will be available for selection for the Lord’s Test, which starts from June 9.”Bandara has been performing well domestically and he is the best choice available at the time for the English conditions,” chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said.Sri Lanka will also wait for the results of tests on Shaminda Eranga’s bowling action, which will take place on June 6. Eranga’s action had been reported after the second Test, at Chester-Le-Street. If the tests conclude that Eranga’s action is illegal, he will barred from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.Bandara was not in the preliminary squad for the tour, but leapfrogs Vishwa Fernando and Kasun Rajitha into the Test squad, thanks largely to his domestic experience. He was also the most successful seam bowler in this year’s first-class tournament, taking 33 wickets at an average of 26.30 for Ports Authority Cricket Club. He has played 51 first-class matches in all, taking 141 wickets at an average of 29.85.

Bangladesh Women coach Janak Gamage has resigned from his job following an extended period during which, he said, he worked with the team without the BCB extending his contract

Mohammad Isam30-May-2016Bangladesh Women coach Janak Gamage has resigned from his job because he found out that the BCB wouldn’t be extending his contract for a third time later this year. His next assignment, he said, will be with Thailand Women.Gamage, a former Sri Lanka fast bowler, was appointed by the BCB in August 2014 on a one-year contract, and he was given a second one-year contract last year after which he took the team to the Women’s World T20 in India earlier this year.”I am leaving Dhaka tomorrow,” Gamage said. “I will work with the Thailand women’s team from now. I did not get any offer for extension from the BCB. There is a tournament coming up in Thailand and they have called me. I have resigned because the BCB has not shown any interest in retaining me.”Despite being a foreign coach, Gamage had the added advantage of knowing the Bangla language; he picked it up having played in the Dhaka leagues in the 1980s. During his stint as coach, however, Gamage’s only success was in the form of a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe in unofficial T20s in November 2015, after which Bangladesh ensured qualification to World T20 in India by finishing runners-up in the qualifying tournament in Thailand. But, in India, they lost all their group matches.Gamage said that the team has the talent, but it needs to be developed better. “I enjoyed working here,” he said. “Always felt like home.”The team has come a long way and can go further if it can overcome a few things. The other teams practise throughout the year but the Bangladesh team does not get that chance. They need to overcome this issue. I believe this team has a good time ahead.”

Tottenham Hotspur survived VAR controversy to seal a vital 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon, with the Lilywhites moving to within just three points of fourth-placed Manchester United as a result of that narrow victory.

While there may be a sense that the Seagulls were "robbed" due to some "horrendous" officiating – as per pundit Chris Sutton – the home side held their nerve to snatch victory, with talisman Harry Kane netting his 23rd top flight goal of the season with a typically clinical finish late on.

The north London outfit had initially gone ahead through milestone man Heung-min Son – who became the first Asian player to reach 100 Premier League goals in the process – before Lewis Dunk headed home a bullet header just before the break, after Kaoru Mitoma had seen his earlier effort disallowed for handball.

The away side were again denied by handball after the interval as Danny Welbeck thought he had completed the comeback, while the aforementioned Mitoma saw his appeals for a penalty waved away despite a potential foul on the Japanese winger by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The south coast side's frustration was ultimately increased as that man Kane swept home, with the England skipper having warranted that strike as a result of his all-round display, notably winning eight duels and providing two key passes on the day.

The 29-year-old – who recorded a stellar 7.9 match rating, as per Sofascore – was not alone in having impressed earlier today, however, with January arrival Pedro Porro having also been something of a shining light at right wing-back.

How did Porro perform against Brighton?

The Spain international – who is currently on loan at Spurs with an option to buy of around £39m – is beginning to adjust to life in English football, having showcased real signs of his quality down the right flank against Roberto De Zerbi's men.

The 23-year-old provided 'lots of attacking intent' throughout the contest, according to 90min's Jude Summerfield, having notably headed wide from an Ivan Perisic cross after showcasing a real desire and willingness to get involved in the final third.

That forward-thinking approach was also lauded by football.london's Alasdair Gold, who awarded the Sporting CP loanee an 8/10 match rating, while also writing that: 'A bright first half and sent a header on to the roof of the net at the end of it. Worked hard in the second half defensively down the right-hand side and little got past him.'

That hard-work ethic against the lively Mitoma was showcased by the fact that Porro won seven of his 11 duels and was not dribbled past at all in his 90-minute outing, having emerged from the battle with the in-form winger 'without too many bruises', as per Summerfield.

While the one-time Manchester City asset did lose possession on 12 occasions from his 43 touches, he is clearly seeking to make his mark in his new surroundings, with the Evening Standard's Dan Kilpatrick hailing him as looking 'technically sound and impressive at attacking the back post.'

That promising performance should well be of encouragement to Cristian Stellini and co, with the hope being that Porro can continue to go from strength to strength over the coming games.

Celtic will be hoping to continue their bid for a domestic treble with victory over rivals Rangers this afternoon, with the Old Firm foes set to go head to head in a mouthwatering, Scottish Cup semi-final showdown at Hampden Park.

Ahead of that pivotal encounter, Ange Postecoglou has provided a real lift to Hoops supporters after confirming that the likes of Liel Abada, Jota and Reo Hatate will be in contention to feature, with the star trio having been absent through injury in recent games.

The return of those key figures could well be bad news for those who have been part of the starting lineup in recent games, with versatile winger Sead Haksabanovic one such asset who could seemingly give way, with Jota likely to take his place on the flanks.

The summer signing has started the last two Scottish Premiership games although has not totally taken the chance to impress, having failed to provide a single goal involvement in either of those appearances.

While the forward's work ethic was 'notable' – according to Glasgow World's Lewis Anderson – in the recent draw with Motherwell after winning nine total duels, he did lose possession 19 times in that 65-minute showing, having also been dribbled past on two occasions.

The Montenegro international has hardly disgraced himself, although he perhaps cannot match the stellar quality of a player such as Jota, with the Portuguese having laid on 21 goals and assists in just 29 league games this season.

Haksabanovic may not be alone in dropping out of the side, however, with the return of Hatate also potentially set to ensure that compatriot Tomoki Iwata is also ousted from his starting berth.

Will Iwata start against Celtic?

The Yokohama F Marinos loanee – who is set to sign for the Bhoys on a permanent deal worth just £828k – has made an encouraging start to life at Parkhead, with pundit Frank McAvennie suggesting that the Japanese ace is now "ready to flourish".

Previously hailed as an "unbelievable athlete" by former boss Kevin Muscat, Iwata was also the recipient of significant praise from the aforementioned Anderson for his display last time out, having produced an 'outstanding performance' in the centre of the park.

Despite having now started three of the last four games in Hatate's absence, it is perhaps telling that the one game that the 26-year-old was on the bench for was against today's opponents, with that perhaps a sign that Postecoglou will not rush him into action in such a pressurised clash.

The 5 foot 10 ace has shown signs of promise of late alongside Callum McGregor at the base of the midfield – having been hailed as a "tank" by teammate Matt O'Riley – although for a man who has made just 11 appearances for the club to date, it may be wise for him to sit out the meeting with Michael Beale's men.

With O'Riley himself also bang in form – having recorded three goal involvements in his last three games – it would be no surprise to see the Denmark U21 international lining up alongside Hatate and McGregor, ahead of the unlucky Iwata.

Alastair Cook has backed Chris Woakes and Nick Compton to deliver in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham, but admitted that both players need a performance to retain their places beyond the series.Woakes comes into the team in place of the injured local hero Ben Stokes. But while Cook has confirmed that Woakes is likely, fitness permitting, to play in both the remaining Tests of the series, he also admitted that he had yet to settle in Test cricket.Woakes’ current Test record – he has taken eight wickets in six Tests at an average of 63.75 and he averages 21.50 with the bat – is modest. But, over the last two rounds of Championship matches, Woakes has taken career-best bowling figures of 9 for 36 against Durham and scored the ninth first-class century of his career against Nottinghamshire. Cook hopes, therefore, that he enters this Test with confidence soaring and insisted that he was highly rated by his colleagues.”He is another one of those guys we have not seen the best of in international cricket,” Cook said. “There is no doubt in my mind that facing him in the nets, seeing him bowl for Warwickshire or knowing his character that he has a lot going for him. He is really respected.”He just needs that performance to make him feel settled in the side and help him feel he belongs in international cricket. I have no doubt about that. I am really excited about him playing and he has the next couple of games with Ben out. He can make future selection really hard.”Cook admitted there had been a temptation to select Jake Ball, the in-form Nottinghamshire seamer who has taken 21 Championship wickets at a cost of 22.28 this season. But England enjoy the depth that fielding an extra allrounder gives them and feel that Woakes is a closer like-for-like replacement for Stokes.”We enjoy playing with this balance of the side,” Cook said. “We know Ben balances the side really well, but he could get injured [again] and obviously we need the competition in that all-rounder place.”Ben is going to be a big loss for us. But injuries are part and parcel of a side and we need to know we can play without him. Chris has that opportunity to fill the all-rounder role and Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow go up a spot in the batting, so it gives them more of an opportunity.”While Cook said Stokes’ operation had “gone well” he also cautioned against rushing him back into action and suggested it was too early to say whether he would be fit for the start of the Test series against Pakistan.Compton, meanwhile, has averaged 27.22 in the five Tests he has played since coming back into the side in South Africa. In that time, he has scored one half-century from nine innings with most recent six innings bringing 15, 26, 0, 19, 6 and 0. He admitted on Wednesday that he was playing for his international future.Cook agreed with that view, but offered encouragement over his ability to perform under pressure.”It’s quite refreshing he has come out and said it in one way,” Cook said. “You are always under pressure playing for England because of the competition for places. People want to take his place. That is the nature of the beast.”We know he is a good player,” he added. “There’s no doubt about that, you see his record in first-class cricket over the past five years, he is right up there in the run-scorer’s chart. He made an important 80-odd in South Africa in tough conditions, he battled hard and set up that win, and he scored two hundreds already so he can play at this level.”He knows, like all of us, he is a score away and he will need a score. But this is a good place to do that.”Cook also said that the team management had discussed batting Moeen at No. 6 in the hope of coaxing more out of his batting. In the end, though, they decided to keep Bairstow one place ahead of him, with both moving up one position.”We did discuss leaving Jonny at seven,” Cook said. “I just thought that was a bit complicated; a bit funky.”I imagine it is hard for Mo, a guy who has batted at the top of the order ,to bat lower down and I don’t think we have seen the best of Mo’s batting. It’s an area where we can unlock a bit more. He has played some brilliant innings for us, those partnerships with Stuart Broad against Australia were devastating against high-quality bowling. He is a brilliant cricketer and I think he will get better and better.”

Usman Khawaja’s ability with the bat has never been in doubt, but there have been question-marks over his fielding during the course of his five years in international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2016Usman Khawaja’s ability with the bat has never been in doubt, but there have been question-marks over his fielding during the course of his five years in international cricket. So it was again during Australia’s loss to West Indies on Monday in St Kitts, where he top scored with 98 but then spilled two early chances in the field to give reprieves to both of the West Indies openers.In the second over of the chase, Khawaja was at mid-on where he dropped a gettable chance from Andre Fletcher, and in the eighth over Khawaja was at long-on when he missed a sitter to reprieve Johnson Charles. Australia will need far sharper performances in the field when they take on West Indies and South Africa in Barbados in the push for a place in the tri-series final.”I don’t think we fielded particularly well and obviously I put my hand up in that department,” Khawaja said. “Sometimes you just have horrendous games and you just can’t do anything about it, the ball follows you around.”Obviously it’s a big part of cricket. A big part of what we do well. If we’re fielding well, we usually win games so it’s quite important. I’m not the first person to drop a catch. It happens. You try and move on as quickly as possible.”Australia’s first training session at Kensington Oval in Barbados focused solely on fielding, with no bowling or batting, as stand-in coach Justin Langer sought to turn around their sloppy work. The Australians take on South Afric on Sunday and West Indies on Tuesday, and the series has already shown the evenness of the three sides, with each team having won two and lost two.Australia are without opener David Warner, who broke his finger earlier in the series, which has allowed Khawaja to move up the order to open the batting alongside Aaron Finch. Khawaja looked comfortable in the role on Monday and although he missed out on a maiden ODI century, he is now averaging 46.66 in the format this year.”When I was younger I was always pigeonholed as a four-day player. It frustrated me a lot,” Khawaja said. “Even when I performed back in first grade cricket at the time when I was really young, I still wouldn’t get a chance at New South Wales.”I finally got a chance – I put some numbers on the board and I did well and we won a few games. Australia just had a set one-day team and no matter how many runs I scored in the Matador Cup, it was too hard to crack it.”

Batsmen Sean Williams and Craig Ervine are not part of Zimbabwe’s 18-man squad for the three T20Is against India starting on June 18 in Harare, after suffering injuries during the ODI series.Ervine injured his hamstring in the first ODI, while Williams, who replaced him for the second game, fractured his finger at training soon after the toss.Tendai Chisoro and Tawanda Mupariwa, who were part of the ODI squad, were left out, while the uncapped offspinner Tapiwa Mufudza earned a call-up. Brian Chari and Tinotenda Mutombodzi, who last played an international game in late 2015, were also recalled, while Chamu Chibhabha, who last played T20Is in January, was picked following decent returns in the ODI series.

Zimbabwe’s changes

In: Brian Chari, Donald Tiripano, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Timycen Maruma, Tapiwa Mufudza, Chamu Chibhabha
Out: Sean Williams, Tinashe Panyangara, Luke Jongwe, Tendai Chisoro

Chari, an opening batsman who is yet to play T20Is, impressed for Zimbabwe A in their home series against Bangladesh A in November last year, when he struck a century to secure a draw in the second four-day fixture. Mufudza, who made his franchise debut in 2011, picked up 15 wickets in 10 T20s for Mountaineers, with best figures of 5 for 20.Eleven members who were part of Zimbabwe’s World T20 campaign, in which they failed to qualify for the main round, were retained. Among the notable omissions were Tinashe Panyangara, out with a back injury, and Luke Jongwe. Having lost the ODI series 3-0, with poor batting in all games, Zimbabwe will be hoping for better results in a format in which they are currently 12th in the ICC rankings.”We’re not going to reflect too much on the one-dayers, we are just going to look to hit the ground running in T20s,” Cremer said after the ODI series loss. “We’re going to try our best to turn things around.”He hoped Zimbabwe, who are ranked below Afghanistan and Netherlands, would draw inspiration from their T20 win over India last year. “I think it’s motivating enough that the last T20 we played against India here is the one we won,” he said. “It’s motivating enough knowing how it felt when we won the last time, how good the crowd was and how we enjoyed that. Guys are looking forward to doing well and obviously having a disappointing one-day series makes us even more motivated to do well in the T20.”Zimbabwe squad: Graeme Cremer (capt), Sikandar Raza, Brian Chari, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Neville Madziva, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Wellington Masakadza, Peter Moor, Tapiwa Mufudza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Taurai Muzarabani, Vusi Sibanda, Donald Tiripano, Malcolm Waller