The return of Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf has made a century on his return to international cricket, making 112 for Pakistan as the tourists recovered from 80/4 to earn a first-innings lead of 50 runs in the First Test at Galle.

Notably, Pakistan continued to play the bowling of Ajantha Mendis well, with the spinner ending wicketless and going for 89 runs from 25 overs, including the runs which brought up both Yousuf’s half-century and the century itself.

Although the majority of the cricketing world’s attention is understandably taken up by the impending Ashes series, this finely-balanced Test is worth keeping an eye on – as is Yousuf, who is now only one ton behind Inzamam ul-Haq in Pakistan’s all-time ranking of century-makers (Yousuf also overtook Javed Miandad on the same list with today’s score).

England’s Squad for the First Ashes Test

England’s selectors have announced their 13-man squad for the First Ashes Test at Cardiff, and there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is mainly for Graham Onions – his performance against the West Indies (as well as a strong start to the season for Durham) has seen him included, and also for Monty Panesar, with whom Onions is competing for the last bowling slot, albeit with conditions rather than form likely to be the final arbiter of the decision about who plays.

The bad news is for Steve Harmison (although he was expecting it, as he should have been after being left out of the 17-man training squad) and for everyone who hates Ian Bell, who has been included despite managing only 20 runs in two innings against the Australians last week. Bell is very much the 13th man, but an injury to any of England’s top order could see him play a part.

The squad in full is as follows: Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann.

Weekend Youtube: Dhoni steals it

India looked to be up against it when they needed 34 from the last four overs (and even when they needed 11 from the final over) in yesterday’s Third ODI against the West Indies, but their captain stepped up to ease them home:

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan: Test Series Preview

The build-up to the imminent Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan may have brought up memories of two recent meetings between the sides – the recent World Twenty20 final, and of course the sadly curtailed Test series of four months ago – but there’s change afoot for both sides.

For the hosts, Kumar Sangakkara takes over as captain, whilst Muralitharan, Vaas and Malinga are all absent, opening up opportunities for the likes of Angelo Matthews and Suraj Randiv to make debuts (and for Kulasekara to front the Test attack). Sri Lanka have never won a Test series at home against Pakistan, and in fact have only won a single home Test against the tourists, but their batting form is impressive enough to make the sorts of scores that can remove defeat from the equation.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf returns from his self-imposed (and self-rescinded) ICL exile, whilst Mohammad Aamer, supremely impressive at times in the World Twenty20, could be in line for a Test debut. The feelgood factor from that tournament hasn’t worn off yet, but bowling Sri Lanka out twice will be a challenge even for an attack featuring the brilliance and form of Umar Gul.

Lee swings back into form

Brett Lee seems to have secured his place in the Australian side for the First Test at Cardiff with a five-wicket haul against the England Lions. Lee’s wickets included those of Joe Denly and Stephen Moore (who made 120).

England’s batsmen take note – Lee looks like he is getting back to his most dangerous.

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Flintoff misses the bus

What is it about international cricketers and buses? After Jamie Siddons’ concerns about Bangladesh’s coach-related timekeeping comes news that Andrew Flintoff is similarly lacing in bus-catching skills. Although no mention of alcohol consumption has been made by the ECB, The Times have chosen to illustrate Michael Atherton’s report with a picture of Flintoff downing a beer, implicitly drawing parallels with a certain other power-hitting all-rounder who has recently made headlines for reasons other than cricket, as well as raising the spectre of the infamous ‘Fredalo‘ incident of 2007.

Perhaps more worryingly, Andrew Strauss has said that “punctuality has been a bit of an issue recently with a few players“, which doesn’t bode well for team morale, togetherness and all the other things that the team’s trip to Belgium was supposed to instill in the first place.