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Pubudu Dassanayake left Nepal on Wednesday, with his future as the national team’s coach in doubt. Dassanayake was approaching the end of his contract, and told the media he had not heard from the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) about a renewal.CAN secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Dassanayake had flown home, but added that the board is “confident” of renewing his contract.”CAN has not communicated anything regarding my contract and I need to go home,” Dassanayake told . “I am not comfortable staying here without any documents. I will be putting my family at risk if I work without documents. That’s why I have decided to leave.”I leave it to CAN regarding my extension. Hopefully they will take a decision soon. However, I may not wait forever.”Pyakuryal played down the matter, saying: “Dassanayake usually travels back to his home country during the monsoon season in Nepal, as there is little cricket going on at that time. He was supposed to go at the end of June but decided to leave earlier.”An increase in Dassanayake’s pay, Pyakuryal said, could be an issue, but the board is still looking to renew his contract. “We are confident of renewing his contract in June. There has been a negotiation on the amount paid and that has increased substantially, and thus the Asian Cricket Council funds might not be enough. We are looking to work these things out though and hopefully extend his contract by no less than a year.”In March, the CAN had said Dassanayake would get a year’s extension to his contract. However, he was only given a three-month extension, which will run out later this month. The change in terms, Pyakuryal said, was due to the board being under investigation.”A few months ago, he did have a discussion with the executive committee and it was agreed to extend his contract by a year. However, the board then came under an investigation by the Commission for Investigation into Abuse of Authority and as a result of such issues, it couldn’t endorse the decision. His papers couldn’t be arranged in time so he was given a three-month contract, which will expire this month.”Dassanayake, who had taken over in 2011, had guided Nepal through a period of success culminating in their first appearance at the World T20 earlier this year.Since then, though, cricket in Nepal has gone through a difficult time, with the players coming close to boycotting the national one-day championship over a dispute with the board. The boycott was called off after the constitution of an advisory committee was set up, to monitor the development of cricket in the country – Dassanayake was included in the advisory committee.In another controversy, last month, some members of CAN had filed a no-confidence motion against its president, Tanka Angbuhang Limbu, after the running of the Nepal Premier League was outsourced to a private sports management firm.

ScorecardJason Roy’s rich run of form continued•PA Photos

The cricketing Twitterati – including Kevin Pietersen – have taken to trumpeting Jason Roy’s credentials for England in limited-overs cricket. Five half-centuries in seven T20 innings this season, the most recent Friday’s 25-ball 63 – including switch hits reminiscent of Pietersen – are providing a compelling case.But Roy is also finding first-class fulfilment in 2014. Mixing dexterity on his feet against spin, powerful hooking against pace and desire to hit straight, his century against the Division Two leaders oozed certainty.If the three sixes down the ground against spin stood out, most impressive was the judgement Roy displayed. Even as he reached a 102-ball hundred, there remained serenity to his game: a top edge off Kyle Abbott on 81 was the closest he came to offering a chance. It looked almost as if he was holding back. And that is not as fanciful as it sounds – Roy’s last Championship century came off 55 balls.The balance between formats has not always come so easily. Last year Roy was dropped from Surrey’s Championship side after averaging 8.16 in four games. Thankfully Surrey recognised that a 23-year-old of his talent did not merit premature pigeonholing as a white-ball specialist. With 586 runs at 53.27 so far this season, Roy is providing emphatic affirmation of the fact. Perhaps he is also benefitting from the new county schedule, taking the success of his T20 batting into the first-class game.Even an excruciating wait – owing to rain rather than any nerves – was not enough to deny Roy his century, brought up with a lashed drive through the covers. His confidence was such that, even in the day’s final over, a thumping hook bisected two men in the deep. It was hard to believe that, in his 44th first-class match, this was only Roy’s third century. There will be plenty more to come.So impressive was Roy’s batsmanship that he lost nothing by comparison to Tillakaratne Dilshan.Dilshan may have felt under pressure: in the last 12 months, Surrey fans have been treated to supreme innings by Ricky Ponting, Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith. But Dilshan showed he was a worthy successor as overseas signing. After beginning with a bull charge to score his first ever run in Championship cricket, he settled down to have the crowd purring. In a four-ball spell against Danny Briggs, Dilshan used his feet and bludgeoned the ball down the ground, caressed a late cut and then smote a third boundary through the covers.The upshot was that Hampshire’s spin twins – Briggs and 17-year-old Brad Taylor – were unable to maintain control. Both went for over four an over. Matt Coles, meanwhile, appeared devoid of confidence and his seven overs leaked 43 runs.In fact, things became even worse for Hampshire after Dilshan’s dismissal, nicking behind attempting another cut. In Gary Wilson, Roy found an ally almost equally inclined to attack; they have so far added 159 runs at 4.8 an over, including 46 runs in five overs of havoc, taking Surrey to the brink of earning a full house of batting points.Wilson is a resourceful cricketer and, like Roy, is unperturbed by switching between T20 and Championship cricket. He now has 254 runs without dismissal across formats, and the manner in which he used Abbott’s bounce to uppercut him over gully was particularly impressive.But he will have an important decision to make on Monday morning. The time lost to rain means that Surrey are the only side who have a viable chance of winning. It is to be hoped that they thwack the ball around for an hour, reach 450 or so and then declare. To most players the challenge would entail shifting to ‘T20 mode’. But not Roy.

ScorecardAshwell Prince celebrates his double century•Getty Images

There are worse ways to think about an anniversary than by burrowing through the record books. Lancashire are celebrating their sesquicentennial this year and the second day of the game against Northamptonshire offered many and various opportunities for such indulgence. So mighty were the records eclipsed that one or two Opta statisticians may need a day or two’s rest in a darkened room at the end of this match. Northamptonshire’s players and supporters might require similar care, although that is not quite certain yet.What is beyond serious doubt is that Stephen Peters’ batsmen will have to perform far better on the final two days of this game if they are to avoid the type of eviscerating defeat that can shatter a side’s morale. Replying to Lancashire’s 650 for 6 declared, the eighth-highest total in the county’s history and their fourth-highest at Old Trafford, Northamptonshire lost both openers for ducks in the first three overs as Glen Chapple capitalised on the mental disintegration which often afflicts players who have spent nine hours in the field. The contrast between the visitors’ display and the iron will almost brandished by Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince in his 500-minute 257 not out was very sharp.All the same, Northants captain Peters surely deserved kinder treatment than to fall to Usman Khawaja’s brilliant one-handed catch in the gully off the third ball of the innings; then again, James Middlebrook’s shot, which edged a catch to slip, was not consonant with the responsibilities of an opener and some of the later batting was similarly insufficient: Matt Spriegel gave a bat and pad catch to Jos Buttler off Simon Kerrigan when attempting a sweep square of the wicket; Rob Newton chopped Tom Smith onto his stumps; and Ben Duckett limply edged the same bowler to second slip Prince for a second-ball duck.It may be hard not to feel a little sorry for Northamptonshire at the moment, so cruel have the fates been to them this summer; but their cricketers will not welcome such pity: sympathy does not help anyone avoid relegation.The only comfort for visiting supporters was provided late in the day when Richard Levi reached his half-century and added 44 for the sixth wicket with the similarly resilient Andrew Hall. Even then, Lancashire had the last word when Chapple removed both Levi and David Willey, both batsmen falling to short leg catches by Alex Davies as the 40-year-old skipper gathered his strength and extracted maximum lift from the Old Trafford pitch.Yet for all that the prospect of another heavy defeat is clouding what is becoming a grim summer at Wantage Road, maybe the most significant incident of the second day occurred five balls before the end of Lancashire’s 554-minute innings, when Prince leg glanced Hall to the boundary, thus reaching a career-best score of 256 not out.The South African had added another single to his tally when Chapple declared but his leap of joy at establishing a new personal best was heartening to see. Prince announced in March that this would be his last season, yet the fires of achievement still burn hot within him. “A shilling life will give you all the facts,” wrote W H Auden in , and so they did yesterday, as Prince’s previous high scores were passed; yet one of Auden’s themes is that the most significant factors in a life often lie beyond the biographer’s scope.A lot has changed for cricketers of colour in South Africa since an 18-year-old Prince made his first-class debut for Eastern Province B against Griqualand West in October 1995. It is fair to wonder how many young players have been inspired by his distinguished example, his grooved technique, his indomitable will.Lancashire have certainly been grateful for Prince’s service during his spells at Old Trafford and his innings on the second morning revealed his unsleeping awareness of his side’s needs. As the total passed beyond 400, the 37-year-old was content to support Buttler, who advanced from 37 to 87 in just 22 balls with a display of T20-style clean hitting which probably heartened the watching National Selector James Whitaker.In his pomp Buttler hit three sixes over long-off and long-on in four balls from Graeme White and Spriegel. He then unveiled two varieties of reverse-sweep, each of them very effective. Heavens, this was hard pounding under blue skies for Peters’ cricketers.Lancashire’s fourth-wicket pair had extended their stand to 138 in 24.1 overs before Buttler edged Hall to Duckett who took a good catch standing up to the stumps. But Northamptonshire’s many torments were not ended. Rather, they ended a final phase as Smith biffed a 101-ball 79 and put on a further 140 runs with Prince.And so we moved from one form of beating to another and the strange sight of two No. 21s called Newton batting for Northants. One of them was the real Rob Newton, the other was Levi, who is wearing his colleague’s kit in this match. This cricketing curiosity may have confused a few people but it made no difference at all to anything else. Northamptonshire may seem to possess two Newtons at the moment but the force is not with them.

ScorecardTillakaratne Dilshan could not prevent a Surrey defeat (file picture)•PA Photos

There is no such thing as a bad win but, boy, didn’t Kent deserve to celebrate this victory long and hard? Put in on the first morning and put under pressure at various stages throughout a riveting contest, they emerged triumphant with 22.1 overs to spare.A month ago, when Rob Key’s team lost to Glamorgan by an innings they looked unlikely to merit even an also-rans mention in the Division Two promotion race. But now, following this third victory on the spin, it would be foolish to discount them. Although still fifth in the table, Kent are only 21 points behind long-time promotion favourites Hampshire with a game in hand – and they have to play that county twice in the final few weeks of the season.For Surrey, the fact they have moved up to second place – now two points ahead of Hampshire, having played a match more – will be precious little consolation. On several occasions over the last four days they fancied their chances of getting the job done at Woodbridge Road but, instead, went under on the final afternoon, having played some aggressive cricket in pursuit of an appetising target of 303 in 76 overs.The hosts had not lost in the championship since Kent beat them at Canterbury in early May, and while this reverse by no means ends their challenge it is a nasty kick in the teeth. Several Surrey players will feel hard done by, but no-one more so than Stuart Meaker, who finished with match figures of 11 for 196 plus a first innings half-century.A pitch of pace, carry and some up and (occasionally) down bounce was right up Meaker’s street. And, for Kent, Mitch Claydon did a good job of trying to impersonate Surrey’s strike weapon. But there is more than one way to skin a cat – and in Darren Stevens Kent had a destroyer of an altogether different type to swing the game decisively their way with his canny medium-pacers.The 38-year-old all-rounder seldom had the chance to bowl when a Leicestershire player. But, having moved to Kent in 2005, he was allowed to develop his second string to such an extent that he is now a key member of the attackStevens has had good seasons with the ball in the past. This one, though, is turning out to be the best of the lot with 43 championship victims already in the bag at just 22 runs apiece. Today, he added five to the collection, at a cost of 68 runs – having seen his first six overs with the new ball go for 40 runs as Surrey tried to crash, bang wallop their way to success.”We thought there was enough in the pitch for us to win,” said Stevens before joining Kent’s post-match celebration party on a still sun-drenched outfield. “If you looked at how many plays and misses there had been on the previous three days we thought, with a bit of luck, they would start to nick them and we would be ok.”And nick them they did with nine of Surrey’s ten wickets falling to edges that flew to keeper, slips or gully. The end result was that Stevens walked away with match figures of 9 for 178 – and Kent were able to look forward to the rest of the championship season with real optimism. “We are in a strong position now,” added Stevens. “We’ve got some big games to come, including two against Hampshire.”For Surrey, there were no regrets about the way they set about chasing the target, only disappointment at failing to make it and frustration that they had not bowled well enough on the first morning of the match.Tillakaratne Dilshan, with 68 off 64 balls, had looked their likeliest hero in mid-afternoon but he eventually succumbed to Stevens, going after a wide one, and thereafter it was only a matter of time.”We needed a bit of luck against the new ball but we lost too many wicket early on,” said captain Gary Wilson. “I still thought we were in a position to win but unfortunately we were not quite good enough today.”

Veteran spinner Brad Hogg has signed on for another season with the Perth Scorchers, who have also secured Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat for another year.Hogg, 43, has just returned home from the Caribbean Premier League, where he played for the Antigua Hawksbills, and he was also part of Australia’s World T20 squad in Bangladesh earlier in the year.”The body is feeling great and the mind is just the same as ever; it’s feeling like an 18-year-old’s,” Hogg said. “I’m really looking forward to getting back out in the middle and playing. I know my career is coming to an end; it’s going to come to an end quicker than it will extend, we all know that. I just want to enjoy every moment and I’m just excited.”Like Hogg, Arafat was a key part of the side’s BBL triumph last summer with his 12 wickets at 14.75, and Scorchers coach Justin Langer said both men were important signings for the 2014-15 campaign.”I’ve said from day one that, the way I’m watching the game, is that, in Twenty20 cricket, that experience is so important,” Langer said. “To be able to handle the pressure, whether you’re batting, bowling, fielding, usually it’s the more experienced heads that do that. To have Brad Hogg and Yasir adding that experience to our group adds great layers to our squad.”

Sunil Narine has been barred from bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20 final on Saturday after being reported for a second time in two matches for a suspect action. He was reported by the umpires after Thursday’s semi-final against Hobart Hurricanes, which Knight Riders won by seven wickets. He had also been reported following their final group match, against Dolphins, when the umpires questioned his quicker delivery.ESPNcricinfo understands that this time the umpires, Rod Tucker, S Ravi and Vineet Kulkarni, had noted in their written complaint that several of the 24 deliveries Narine bowled against Hurricanes were suspect. “It was three deliveries in the last match. But this time all his four overs were reported,” an official privy to the complaint said.No official from Knight Riders’ management responded to queries, so it is not yet known whether the franchise might appeal against the penalty.According to a Champions League T20 release, the umpires reviewed footage of the semi-final and “felt that there was a flex action in Narine’s elbow beyond the acceptable limit when bowling during the match”. He had already been on the tournament’s warning list and, since he had not subsequently had his action cleared, is now automatically banned from bowling further in the tournament.Knight Riders will now be “advised” to send Narine to the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai – which has been accredited by the ICC as a testing centre for suspect bowling actions – to have his action tested.The bowling ban will not affect his West Indies duties, though – it is confined only to the Champions League T20 and other BCCI-organised tournaments, including the IPL.Darren Sammy, Narine’s West Indies team-mate, came out in support of him on Thursday, prior to him being reported a second time. “I am not worried. Narine is a champion. Whether they stop him from bowling the faster ball, he is still the most dangerous spinner in the world,” Sammy had said. “I believe that he will still be a great asset to us. He will do whatever he has to do and have all his different tricks up his sleeves by the time the World Cup is here. I still feel he will be our a champion spinner.”Narine is the fourth bowler to be reported in the Champions League – the others are Lahore Lions’ Adnan Rasool and Mohammad Hafeez, and Dolphins’ Prenelan Subrayen. However, he is the first bowler to be reported a second time. This comes at a time when the ICC has been stepping up its action against suspect bowling actions, with several spinners being called and suspended from bowling in international cricket.It comes as a big blow to Knight Riders, as they look to extend their T20 winning streak to 15 and secure the double of winning the IPL and the Champions League T20 in the same year.

The Khulna pitch was expected to aid Bangladesh’s spinners but it seemed it had flattened out on the third day, just in time to negate the home team’s strength. No wonder then that Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s most successful bowler on the day with three wickets, thought the match was heading towards a draw unless Bangladesh found a way to clear a sequence of “difficult but not impossible” obstacles.”It [victory] is also possible, but for that we have to take their remaining five wickets quickly, if possible in one hour,” Shakib said. “It is a bit difficult. We also have to score quickly, which is another difficult thing, and then we have take their ten wickets, which is even tougher. All the tasks are difficult but not impossible, if we can do something like this we can win the game.”It was a tactful answer, aimed at not dismissing totally the expectation of a win while more or less stating the expected result. Shakib had used his experience to remain disciplined with the ball but, in demanding conditions, he saw his younger spin partners wither. Both Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain erred as the day got longer for them. He probably also had in mind the last Test played in Khulna, in which he had scored 97 off 117 balls on the fourth day against a trickier West Indies attack.But Bangladesh were also been guilty of letting the game drift. On a day on which it was difficult to create chances, two catches were spilled by Shamsur Rahman at first slip while Mushfiqur Rahim missed a stumping. The beneficiaries were Hamilton Masakadza and Regis Chakabva, who had added an unbeaten 142 runs for the fifth wicket by the end of the day. There were a number of misfields too.”Fielding is crucial for a match of this kind, it is important to take the catches and half chances on this kind of pitch,” Shakib said. “We could not take one or two chances, which became costly for us. But it can happen I cricket. Next time when we get the opportunity we have to be careful so that we can take that.”With Zimbabwe only 102 behind Bangladesh’s score, Shakib also reflected on Bangladesh’s batting on the opening day, when they scored 193 for 3 in 90 overs. “It would have been better if we had few more runs on the first day,” he said. “If you lose three or two wickets on the first day usually you don’t see this few runs. At least you get 250 runs. If you see Test cricket for last seven-eight years, 250 runs is common on the first day, still batsmen felt difficulties. Those who batted, they said it was difficult for playing shots. Zimbabwe also had a defensive field set-up. So it was not easy to score runs.”Both Shakib and Tamim Iqbal did use that as a platform on the second day, scoring briskly in the first session. At 305 for 3, Bangladesh would have aimed for a total in excess of 500 but they let the advantage slip again, losing wickets at regular intervals. Shakib was the sixth wicket to fall after he missed a wild slog and the rest could only add 57 more runs before being bowled out for 433. Shakib was however satisfied with a century in his comeback series.”I could not score runs in the first Test,” he said. “It’s natural when you play after so many days, scoring seems difficult. Bowling is fine because you get many opportunities. But batting is a different ball game, naturally it is tough.”I did not expect to get back into runs so quickly. I thought it will take two or three innings more because I am playing Tests after eight to 10 months. It takes time to adapt your brain to a Test-match situation.”Shakib may have got his century and his wickets, but the team as a whole have been tested in the series by Zimbabwe. Before the start of the series, Bangladesh would have been more confident of sneaking out a result from the current situation in this Test. Not anymore. “At this moment, I think we are heading towards a draw,” Shakib concluded.

ScorecardPeter Handscomb, Dan Christian and Fawad Ahmed all had a hand in putting Victoria in a decent position midway through their Sheffield Shield match with Tasmania, despite a fluent and rapid century by the often more obdurate Ed Cowan.Largely due to Cowan’s hundred, which arrived from a mere 115 balls, the Tigers were briefly in the ascendant at 2 for 152 with Jon Wells also playing freely. The sometime Test No. 3 Alex Doolan had fallen for 16 to Scott Boland.However Christian and then Fawad contributed regular wickets, the legspinner ultimately defeating Cowan when the left-hander advanced one too many times and was stumped by Handscomb.That smart glove work underlined Handscomb’s talent, which had already been illustrated by a spirited 96 that had guided the Bushrangers from 4 for 102 to a tally of 279.

Group A

ScorecardSuryakumar Yadav struck 17 fours during his 114•PTI

Karnataka’s bowlers wrapped up Tamil Nadu’s lower order in a hurry to seal a 14-run first-innings lead, and their batsmen drove home the advantage to leave them in a dominant position going into the final day. With Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal laying the second-innings platform with a 163-run opening stand, Karnataka ended the third day 263 ahead with six wickets in hand.Starting the day 240 for 5, trailing by 50, Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 274. The slide began when their captain R Prasanna, who had added eight runs to his overnight 51, was run-out following brilliant work from the wicketkeeper CM Gautam, who picked up the throw and flung himself at the stumps to find the batsman short of his crease. The last five wickets added only 19 runs.Tamil Nadu had reason to feel aggrieved with the umpiring. Kaushik Gandhi and Dinesh Karthik had already fallen victim to poor decisions on the second day, and their innings ended when L Balaji, batting on 11, was given out lbw to Sreenath Aravind when the ball clearly looked to be heading down the leg side.Having secured the lead, Karnataka extended it at a rapid clip, with the opening stand coming at over four runs an over. Uthappa was first to go for a 117-ball 76, before Agarwal followed after the addition of four more runs to Karnataka’s total, run out for a 113-ball 80. Kunal Kapoor didn’t last too long either, and the fall of three wickets for 11 runs opened the door a fraction for Tamil Nadu but Manish Pandey and Karun Nair shut it quickly with a 59-run fourth-wicket stand. It ended with minutes left to go for close of play, M Mohammed bowling Nair for 35.
ScorecardSuryakumar Yadav notched his second 50-plus score of the match, muscling a lively 115, but a five-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Ram Dayal helped bowl Mumbai out for 254 in the second innings, meaning that Jammu & Kashmir needed 237 to open their Ranji Trophy campaign with a win. Mumbai began the day at a tricky 66 for 4, but Suryakumar muscled his way to a fifth first-class ton, which included 17 fours, to lead a recovery. However, Dayal (5 for 75) and Umar Nazir (4 for 49) dealt blows at regular intervals to dismiss the hosts for 254. Besides Suryakumar, no other batsman was able to cross 37. J&K lost Adil Reshi for 12 in the 10th over of their chase, but Shubham Kharjuna and Bandeep Singh ensured there were no other casualties, and took the team to 58 for 1 at stumps, meaning that the visitors need another 179 runs for a famous victory.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Mohnish Mishra and Harpreet Singh revived Madhya Pradesh from a poor start to their second innings after they had conceded a 99-run first-innings lead to Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium. MP lost its openers with only 21 runs on the board but Mishra stemmed the slide with a 93-run stand for third wicket with captain Devendra Bundela. The partnership also helped the team erase the deficit.However, both batsmen were dismissed with the lead standing at 40. It was Harpreet then who lifted the team further to safety, taking the lead past 100. He was dismissed for 69 off 107 balls four overs before the close of the day.Earlier, Railways had managed to add only 27 runs to their overnight total of 253 for 7. Arindam Ghosh was dismissed for 120 by Puneet Datey in the 104th over. Datey struck again next ball to complete his maiden first-class five-for and Ishwar Pandey wrapped the innings in the next over with the wicket of Anureet Singh.
ScorecardBengal bowlers, led by Ashok Dinda’s burst with the second new ball, dismissed the remaining seven Baroda wickets to help Bengal earn a healthy 101-run first-innings lead. Despite the good work of Bengal bowlers, the penultimate day’s play belonged to Baroda debutant Deepak Hooda, who scored a stylish century at the Reliance Stadium.To read the full report, click here.

Australia’s World Cup squad

Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey (vice-capt), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty.

Michael Clarke admits he has his “work cut out” to make the deadline set by the national selectors to prove he his fitness after hamstring surgery, and accepts that he will be a spectator for Australia’s World Cup campaign if he does not. Clarke has until Australia’s second World Cup match against Bangladesh on February 21 to demonstrate his readiness.Named to lead Australia’s 15-man squad, Clarke will be replaced in the group if he has not fully recovered by that time. George Bailey has been retained as Clarke’s deputy and the man who will captain the side should Clarke be ruled out, despite the rise of Steven Smith to the Test vice-captaincy.”There is a time limit and it doesn’t only apply to Michael,” the national selector Rod Marsh said. “If anyone else gets injured then we’ve got to have them ready to play in the second game. And there is a chance other people could go down because we’ve got matches obviously as you know in this tri-series and we’re just hopeful we can manage everyone and that everyone is fit and raring to go by the second game. That’s where we’ve left it with everyone, including Michael.”From a cricket point of view obviously we would want Michael to do some bowling, we want him obviously to be able to run between wickets and we want him to be able to field. And he knows what he’s got to do. He’s played enough cricket to know when he’s right to play.”We want him there, don’t make any mistakes about that. Because when we sat down to pick the team we looked at the best batsman in the country and Michael is certainly one of them. No doubt about that. We want him to play, he wants to play all he’s got to do is get fit.”Clarke and Marsh sat alongside each other for the Cup squad announcement on a grey morning at Sydney’s Circular Quay, a matter of weeks after the captain and the selectors were at odds with each other about his fitness to start the India Test series. Marsh again expressed a preference for Clarke to play some sort of cricket before he is selected against Bangladesh, even offering up the possibility that he might be asked to bat though not run in a warm-up against the UAE in Melbourne.”We want to be settled – what we don’t want is talk about people’s fitness,” Marsh said. “We want to walk into that tournament and we reckon there’s an extra week after the 14th, that Bangladesh game is on the 21st and by the 21st of February we want to be completely and utterly settled.”It would be really nice if Michael could go and play some cricket before the 21st, and there’s a possibility that might happen because we’ve got a game against the UAE in Melbourne on the 7th. It’s a practice match and Michael might be able to walk out there and have a hit, and just hit boundaries and not worry about running between wickets. And I’m sure he’d like to walk out there on the MCG and smack a few fours, and maybe sixes.”For his part, Clarke said he was simply doing his best to return to cricket at 100% fitness, whenever that may be. “It’s up to the selectors, they make their decision and that’s why I say right now my focus is getting fully fit to be able to play whatever format of the game, whether it’s Test cricket or ODI cricket,” Clarke said. “I’m sure there will be [fitness] tests along the way, my goal is to pass every single one of those and when that happens I’ll be fit to walk out.”The Australian medical staff will make the decision that I’m okay to walk out on that park and perform at my best. So it’s really irrelevant what I think to be honest. That’s what they’ve gone with, the selectors, that’s the system. I have to get fit and healthy and get myself back on the park to help Australia have success.”The experts probably feel I’m going to need that time to give myself the chance to be 100 per cent fit, to walk out into a one-day international for Australia. The most important thing for me is to walk out on to the field and be able to perform my role. I’ve always played a 100 miles an hour, running between the wickets has always been a strength of mine, speed in the field has always been a strength of mine, I want to be able to play the way I’ve always played my cricket.”There were no major surprises in Australia’s squad, with Pat Cummins included and Xavier Doherty preferred to Nathan Lyon as the specialist spinner. There was no fairtyale call-up for Ryan Harris, who has not played a one-day international for nearly three years.Marsh said the allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who suffered a hamstring injury during the Brisbane Test against India, was expected to be fit for the start of the World Cup and Australia were hopeful he would be ready to play at some stage during the tri-series against India and England. He also said that Bailey deserved his chance to lead in the Cup should Clarke not be fit.”We took the view that George has done a wonderful job in Michael’s absence,” Marsh said. “When Michael hasn’t played one-day cricket, George has been the captain. George has done a fantastic job with the team and you know what, after Steven playing three Test matches leading Australia in Test cricket, I think he’s pretty tired and I think he’ll relish the fact he can just go out there and play cricket.”That’s the way we looked at it and George is an experienced campaigner in one day cricket captaincy and we thought that’s probably the way to go. We don’t want to make it too hard on Steven just at this point in time, because he’s in such a rich vein of form.”In recognition of the exertions of the fast bowlers during the India series, Kane Richardson and Gurinder Sandhu will join the triangular series squad in Sydney on Tuesday. Mitchell Johnson will remain in Perth for the time being while it is also a strong possibility that Josh Hazlewood will miss Friday’s first match in Sydney.