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Sanjay Patel has no doubt the Indian Premier League has a place in cricket despite the arrests and allegations relating to spot-fixing and betting this year

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2013Sanjay Patel, the newly appointed BCCI secretary, has said the Indian Premier League has a place in cricket despite the recent arrests and allegations relating to spot-fixing and betting.”IPL is here to stay. There are external problems in the league and we are going to address each and every element before next year,” Patel told the . “Jagmohan Dalmiya (the interim BCCI president) is known to take tough steps and with so many senior officials around, I don’t think these recent events can stall the league. Cricket is bigger than individuals.”India fast bowler Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals team-mates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested for alleged indulgence in spot-fixing and consequently suspended by the BCCI. Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of the then BCCI president N Srinivasan and a top management official of the Chennai Super Kings, was arrested on charges of betting, fraud and forgery and Raj Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals confessed to betting as well. Treasurer Ajay Shirke, secretary Sanjay Jagdale and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla resigned from their posts and Srinivasan temporarily stepped aside as president at a BCCI Working Committee meeting in Chennai, until a two-man independent committee reached a verdict on Meiyappan and Kundra’s transgressions.”We will initiate a stricter code of conduct for the cricketers.” said Patel, who is joint secretary of the Baroda Cricket Association and member of the IPL governing council. “We stopped the after-match parties a long time ago. The BCCI had nothing to do with the get together that was happening during the IPL season. The BCCI can’t allow anything that is tarnishing the image of the league.”He also directed attention to other aspects of the BCCI and Indian cricket. “Apart from the IPL, everything in the board is functioning well. Our cricket team is doing well in England and there are no worries with the day-to-day working of the board. There is also a probe committee which is looking into the IPL.”The committee’s decision is likely to be announced after the Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on June 10.

Bangladesh cricket’s development programme has been adversely affected by a five-month delay of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League

Mohammad Isam11-Jul-2013Bangladesh cricket’s development programme has been adversely affected by the five-month delay in the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL), after the National Cricket Academy (NCA) player intake for 2013 remained deferred for almost the same period. Dhaka’s club-based one-day tournament has so far been set back four times, the latest date proposed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) being an August 29 start, and is likely to be skipped this year.According to NCA’s head coach and manager Richard McInnes, the ideal schedule will run the course of the Bangladesh off-season (between March and September) so that the young cricketers can be well prepared ahead of the domestic season and vie for places in the Bangladesh A team. Since the DPL did not take place in March, the NCA programme followed suit, as it needed the players to be free of professional commitments.The NCA management would not announce the name of the players unless it was confirmed they would be free of any other commitments. McInnes also pointed out that the DPL’s delay was one of the main reasons for the hindrance in the full-time academy programme.He said that the coaching staff has remained busy with the other programmes that are organised by the NCA, but the BCB management structure is designed in a way where it can only handle ‘one issue at a time’.”In terms of a full-time academy programme, unfortunately we have not been able to run a full programme for various reasons, including the uncertainty surrounding the DPL,” McInnes said. “I don’t think there has been a lack of activity overall. I certainly feel like all the staff, including myself, have been very busy with under-age camps, coach education programmes and supporting the national teams in the various formats.”The board members are committed to cricket in Bangladesh. As I have mentioned previously, given our management structure, we only seem to be able to deal with one issue at a time, which in a business as big as cricket, does not allow us to be as agile and effective as we need to be.”The NCA’s training programme had become an integral part of player development in Bangladesh, having only just gathered steam over the last two years. The acquirement of a separate academy and cricket ground adjacent to the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur boosted its importance, particularly to cricketers who have crossed the Under-19s, the last stage of the age-group system.The programme was formerly known as the High Performance (HP) unit, and it flourished between 2003 and 2005 when McInnes was in charge. His exit stalled the HP programme, before the BCB converted it to the present-day NCA, but it still took a few years before it was resourceful enough to run a full-time training programme.Australian Ross Turner ran the 2011 programme smoothly with 24 cricketers. When he quit his post, a lull ensued before McInnes was brought back alongside Stuart Karpinnen, the former Australia strength and conditioning coach, as trainer. Senior Bangladesh cricketers like Mashrafe Mortaza has already praised the coaching staff as being ideal for the NCA. McInnes has so far overseen one training camp with 10 players, after which the West Indies High Performance group toured the country to play against NCA in September last year.The only bright spot for the NCA this year is the imminent ACC Emerging Teams Cup, to be held next month in Singapore. According to McInnes, the Bangladesh Under-23 side, which will take part in the tournament, is among those who would have been the NCA’s intake for the year.BCB’s ad-hoc committee member Gazi Ashraf Hossain has said that the board is likely to confirm tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe for the NCA. South Africa and West Indies have had exchange programmes at this level with the BCB in the past, with the last of these tours taking place last year when the West Indies High Performance side toured Bangladesh.The NCA is a vital source of Bangladeshi cricketers, and has helped the selectors find more prepared players rather than blooding teenagers, as was the case for several years after it gained Test status. A lack of continuation in its full-time programme would hold back the development process in Bangladesh cricket.

Warwickshire kept their hopes of reaching the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals alive while inflicting further misery on Gloucestershire with a seven-wicket win at Edgbaston.

24-Jul-2013
ScorecardLaurie Evans saw Warwickshire perfectly-paced chase over the line•Getty ImagesWarwickshire kept their hopes of reaching the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals alive while inflicting further misery on Gloucestershire with a seven-wicket win at Edgbaston.The Bears paced their chase of a 126-run target to perfection with Varun Chopra and William Porterfield leading the way with an opening stand of 68 and Rikki Clarke clobbering 40 from 21 balls.Gloucestershire’s defeat, which ended their own slim hopes of making the knockout stages, followed the decision by an England and Wales Cricket Board pitch panel to deduct them two points from next year’s competition for the substandard surface they prepared for their home group match against Warwickshire at Cheltenham on July 14.The Gladiators, who were shot out for 96 at Cheltenham, were more competitive this time and made 145 for seven after they were put in thanks to captain Michael Klinger’s 68 from 52 balls. It took Klinger time to assess the pace of a pitch that Warwickshire used for last Saturday’s win over Northamptonshire and the Australia A right-hander managed only 21 runs in the first 10 overs.But Klinger found his range by pulling Steffan Piolet over the short-midwicket boundary before reverse sweeping Ateeq Javid for a second six. Klinger’s third six, swept off Piolet, took him to a 40-ball half century but he perished in the penultimate over of the innings when he was bowled whileaiming Jeetan Patel through the off-side.Apart from Klinger only Ian Cockbain, who also launched Piolet for a six in his 25, really got to grips with Warwickshire’s miserly offspinners.Javid followed up his four wickets at Cheltenham with 3 for 26 and Patel, who bowled Ed Young with his last ball, finished with a season’s best 2 for 13.Chopra and Porterfield’s partnership ensured there was no chance of a repeat of Warwickshire collapse against Somerset on Sunday when they were shot out for 73, their lowest Twenty20 total.Porterfield eased to 34 from 30 balls, comfortably his highest score in this season’s competition, but then carved Alex Gidman to Cockbain at point and Chopra also perished when well set, falling lbw while trying to sweep slow left-armer Tom Smith.Clarke then struck three sixes off Young in what proved to be the decisive over before he picked out deep midwicket, and Darren Maddy guided Warwickshire home with 14 balls to spare.

South Africa A set up the last day of the second unofficial Test for an exciting finish by setting India A a target of 307 of which India scored three after losing M Vijay’s wicket 13 balls before stumps on the third day in Pretoria

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBeuran Hendricks bagged his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class matches•Getty ImagesSouth Africa A provided the prospect of an exciting finish to the second unofficial Test by setting India A a steep target of 307 on the third day in Pretoria. The visitors scored three after losing M Vijay’s wicket 13 balls before stumps. South Africa, however, have also suffered a blow as fast bowler Wayne Parnell complained of shortness of breath on Sunday and is still in the hospital under observation and for tests. He bowled only two overs in India’s first innings.India ended up batting twice on the third day after they resumed at 145 for 6 in reply to South Africa’s 341. Ambati Rayudu added only 15 to his overnight score of 14 before he became offspinner Simon Harmer’s third wicket. The tail could not survive for too long either, the remaining three wickets fell within nine runs when Ishwar Pandey and Siddarth Kaul were out for ducks. Parvez Rasool’s unbeaten 32, however, ensured India crossed the 200-run mark. After disappointing figures of 1 for 155 in the previous match, Harmer finished with 4 for 74 and left-arm pacer Beuran Hendricks bagged his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to give South Africa an important 140-run lead.The hosts added to India’s miseries when openers Reeza Hendricks and Dean Elgar put on 53, even though they scored at less than two runs per over, crossing the 50-run mark in the 26th over. Reeza and Rilee Rossouw fell to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem in successive overs. Nadeem had Reeza caught at slip by Dinesh Karthik for 20 and Rossouw was bowled for a four-ball duck. Elgar, along with Temba Bavuma, took South Africa past 100 before Rasool bowled Elgar for 62. Justing Ontong, captain of the South Africa side, elevated their run rate with a quick 35 off 32, which included four fours and a six. South Africa declared shortly after losing Bavuma and Ontong within two overs with their lead more than 300.India’s hopes of ending the day unscathed were dashed by Beuran who got rid of Vijay in his first over, even before India had scored their first run. Nadeem came in as nightwatchman at No. 3 and survived seven deliveries. India now need another 304 runs to win the series 2-0, and South Africa nine wickets to draw level.Beuran was confident of maintaining the pressure on India on a deteriorating fourth-day pitch. “We are slightly ahead of them so we are quite confident of finishing the job tomorrow,” he said. “We have to take the momentum we created today and push it on tomorrow. Simon [Harmer] is going to come into the game perfectly and, with a deteriorating day four pitch, it is going to be an interesting day.”Beuran had a tough time of it in the unofficial Tests against Australia A earlier this month, where, save for one burst where he ran through the middle order to claim a five-for, he had figures of 1 for 213 in three innings. The difference, he said, was in his approach: “The difference is that against Australia A, I played more against the names in that team, that was my downfall. Here, I played against the batsmen, not the names.”

Umesh Yadav has said he didn’t give slowing down his pace a thought even when he was injured

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2013Umesh Yadav, the India fast bowler, has said bowling as quick as he can is his priority. He didn’t give slowing down his pace a thought, he said, even when he was injured.”As a fast bowler, I need to have a clear mind about what my priorities are. My strength is to bowl consistently at a good pace and that will always be my aim as long as I play for the national team,” Umesh told . “If I have been selected in the Indian team to play across all formats, it is because I have the sheer pace more than anything else.”While he has impressed for the most part in the nine Tests he has played, Umesh has been troubled by a bad back. During the home Tests against England last November, he was the pick of the quicks in the Ahmedabad Test, but was then ruled out of the rest of the series with a stress reaction in his back. He was out of action till the first week of March, and then played the domestic T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the IPL, where he was one of the only bright sparks in a dismal season for Delhi Daredevils. He was not as effective in the Champions Trophy, though, but will remain a key figure for India as they set out on tours to South Africa and New Zealand in the upcoming season.Returning from injury was a bit tough physically, Umesh said, but did not change his approach to bowling. “Even when I got injured last season, cutting down on pace never ever crossed my mind. Agreed, when you come back, your body asks you a few questions but you should always stick to doing what you do best.”In an era when things are loaded heavily in favour of the batsmen, Umesh said it is important for bowlers to stick to their strengths. “Tell me what new [variation] can a bowler bring to the table apart from what we have seen so far? Whether it is the back-of-the-hand slower delivery or a change in pace, there’s nothing new that the batsmen can’t counter. So it’s more important that we do any one thing consistently.”I have a natural outswinger and if I can bowl four to five of them at 140 kmph plus every over, I would be satisfied with my effort.”

In the end, the two hours that Mother Nature afforded Essex were not enough for them to secure the victory they deserved

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Canterbury14-Sep-2013
ScorecardDarren Stevens again defied Essex•Getty ImagesIn the end, the two hours that Mother Nature afforded Essex were not enough for them to secure the victory they deserved, one that would have put them just eight points behind second-placed Northamptonshire. That deficit could have been further reduced in the penultimate round of Division Two matches next week to set up a thrilling finale to a season already spoiling us for twists and turns.Instead, the difference is 21, although Kent, the team saved by the weather, could still make things interesting if they were to achieve an improbable win at Wantage Road next week.Essex’s coach, Paul Grayson, was understandably disappointed that rain limited the window available for his side to finish off their good work. He called for his team to maintain focus ahead of hosting Glamorgan next week. “If Northants do slip up, we’ll be in the right place to make the most of it,” he said.Watchful with the bat and superior with the ball throughout, the visitors displayed a ruthlessness that few have matched in either division this season. The three pace bowlers, David Masters, Reece Topley and Graham Napier, along with Monty Panesar – who Grayson would like to bring to Chelmsford on a full-time basis – have the look of a top-tier attack. Quite rightly, Grayson was keen to extend that tag to the entire XI that started at Canterbury, championing an experienced and dynamic batting line-up.Since the ignominy of their collapse for 20 against Lancashire at Chelmsford in early June, Essex have rallied impressively to put together a six-match unbeaten run, featuring wins against Leicestershire (twice) and Worcestershire. All this, while making FLt20 Finals Day and finishing second in the strongest competitive YB40 group – missing out on the semi-finals by a solitary point.”By that period, we had our lads back from the IPL, so we get that nice group of players back together,” Grayson said. “We know we’ve got the quality and eventually found a nice rhythm to our game.”We took a bit of criticism at the start of the season, and rightly so because we didn’t play well enough. But we’ve stuck together as a group and we’ve played some very good four-day cricket of late; the bowlers have been exceptional and the younger players like Jaik Mickleburgh and Ben Foakes have come to the fore to support the more experienced players, too.”There was some cause for regret here, as Grayson saw his side drop Darren Stevens twice on his way to a half-century that put Kent into the lead and took valuable overs out of the game. “It’s a really important area we’ve got to work on – we’re very aware of that,” Grayson said. “It doesn’t help that we don’t have a settled slip cordon, but throughout the season we’ve put down a couple of vital chances that could have changed things for us.”Essex needed just six wickets, and maybe a few second-innings runs, to wrap up victory but a fine-yet-steady downpour throughout the morning meant the only cricket played before 3.30pm was in the respective changing rooms. Play was due to be called off at 1.30pm but, just minutes before the umpires took to the field to read the game its last rites, the rain stopped.After Napier completed the over he started on Friday, he was immediately replaced at the Nackington Road End by Topley. Two balls in, he had Sam Northeast lbw for 70, two days after he opened the second innings.He then had a second, by the same mode, five overs later when Geraint Jones was trapped in his crease for the second time in this match. But between Topley’s brace, Ryan ten Doeschate gave Stevens his first reprieve off the bowling of Masters.By the time Stevens’ had received his second – again off Masters – he had passed 1000 first class runs for the season, given Kent the lead and crossed fifty. A regular tormenter of Essex – he has five hundreds against them – he revelled in his role as wet blanket, picking off runs past the infield, as Foster pulled his men up to coax a wicket.However, it was an error from Stevens that let Essex back in, when he hit Panesar straight to Owais Shah at extra cover, at which point Kent had a lead of 26. A handful of half-chances came and went but at 5.12 pm, with 25 minutes of official play left, hands were shaken.Ravi Bopara will return to the Essex side for the final two fixtures, against Glamorgan and away to Hampshire. Grayson is also due for talks with ten Doeschate and the Essex management over the allrounder’s participation in the Champions League Twenty20 with New Zealand side Otago. It was originally agreed that he would go to the competition when it was mathematically impossible for Essex to catch Northamptonshire. There will be no return for Alastair Cook, however, with Grayson stating that the ECB have him on prescribed R&R ahead of the winter’s Ashes commitments.

Richie Benaud, the former Australia captain and now world-famous commentator, is recovering in hospital following a car crash in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2013Richie Benaud, the former Australia captain turned renowned commentator, is recovering in hospital following a car crash in Sydney. He is described as being in a stable conditionThe accident happened when Benaud, 83, was driving home in his vintage 1963 Sunbeam Alpine on Wednesday after playing golf. It is being reported that he has shoulder and chest injuries, as well as suffering a broken sternum.”No one else was injured, and I was more worried about the car than myself,” Benaud told .A statement from Australian broadcaster Channel Nine said Benaud “was driving home alone to Coogee mid-morning yesterday when the accident happened. Police attended and there were no charges. The car had mounted a nature strip and hit a small brick wall.”Nine Entertainment chief executive officer David Gyngell added: “Richie is a national treasure. In the Nine family, he sits at the head of the table.”As always he and [wife] Daphne have our support and Richie will return to call the coming Ashes series against England – his 36th summer in Nine’s Wide World of Sports commentary box – when he is good and ready.”

While South Africa have retained the same strong that swept Pakistan 2-0 in the UAE, Jacques Kallis, the middle-order batsman, is expected to make his ODI return after almost twenty months

Firdose Moonda16-Nov-2013Jacques Kallis is likely to make a return to South Africa’s one-day side after an absence of a year and eight months, in the upcoming series against Pakistan in South Africa. Kallis, who had made clear his intention to represent South Africa in the 2015 World Cup, last played an ODI in February 2012 against New Zealand. He was originally due to make a comeback to the ODI team against India, but when that series was curtailed from seven matches to just three, he instead will turn out against Pakistan for his return.The national selectors have yet to pick the squad but Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said Kallis should be “available to play the one-day series against Pakistan.” If he is, Kallis would probably be a straight swap for Faf du Plessis, who could be given the series off because of its timing.Du Plessis will wed his fiancee, Imari Visser, in Cape Town next Saturday, the day after the two-match Twenty20 series he is to captain, ends, and a day before the three-match one-day series begins. Although both matches are in Cape Town, it is unlikely du Plessis will play the first ODI, but with no honeymoon booked as yet, he could return for the next two games. “We’re still in talks about my availability,” du Plessis said. “I’m not sure how its going to pan out at the moment.”AB de Villiers is one of du Plessis’ best men, but will be available to play in the ODI series, although he may be rested from the T20s. Domingo indicated monitoring Villiers’ workload as a priority over the next few months because of the heavy burden he carries as ODI captain, being a senior batsman and the regular Test wicket-keeper. “He is definitely going to have a break at some stage. He has [been] playing cricket non-stop since he was about nine-years-old,” Domingo said. “He has a lot on his plate so there’s every chance he will get one or two T20s off in the not too distant future.”The amount of international cricket means player management is something all teams are forced to consider, and South Africa are no exception. They gave Dale Steyn the first two ODIs in the UAE off to return home and rejuvenate, and allowed Morne Morkel and JP Duminy to return home before Friday’s second T20 to rest as well. Rotation of this sort will continue although South Africa will also aim to balance that with consistency in selection as they look ahead to next year’s World T20 and the 2015 World Cup.They believe the groups of players they have in both formats at the moment will probably be the same units they take to those tournaments. The combinations have been sorted, and now it’s about making sure they operate as planned, a department where Domingo thinks there is still work to do.”In T20s, our thought processes with the ball [are] not exactly spot on. Although the bowlers did well, we’re still bowling balls to certain fields that we shouldn’t be bowling,” Domingo said. “Batting-wise, Hashim has just restarted his T20 career and he is a work in progress, although he brings a lot of calmness to the team. And then it’s just about our pattern of play and nailing that down properly.”As far as ODI cricket goes, Domingo was pleased with the developments de Villiers made in his captaincy, especially in regards to managing players on the field. The captain himself admitted he has settled in now and is happy with what he sees around him. “We have a lot of depth. We’ve seen guys like Wayne Parnell coming in and doing well and he is almost coming [in] from the outside so it shows you that there is good depth,” de Villiers said. “I am very happy with the group of players we have now. I don’t think it will change too much for the World Cup.”South Africa have chosen to retain the winning combination that swept Pakistan 2-0 in the recently concluded T20 series in UAE.T20 squad: Faf du Plessis (capt.), Hashim Amla, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, David Wiese.

Sinhalese Sports Club, Colts Cricket Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club and Ragama Cricket Club will contest the semi-finals of the Premier Limited Overs competition

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Dec-2013Sinhalese Sports Club, Colts Cricket Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club and Ragama Cricket Club will contest the semi-finals of the Premier Limited Overs competition, after finishing in the top two of their groups at the end of the round-robin phase. Both semi-finals will be played at the Premadasa Stadium with Colts taking on NCC on December 21, before SSC face Ragama on December 23.Group BOpening the batting in his first match of the tournament, Mahela Jayawardene hit 90 from 83 for SSC, who moved to the top of their group with a 38-run Duckworth-Lewis win over Moors Sports Club. His 133-run opening stand with Danushka Gunathilaka, who scored an unbeaten 75, effectively set up the victory. SSC had been chasing 277, but their innings was cut short by bad weather at 38 overs. Having lost only two wickets at that stage, their 215 runs comfortably secured the match.

Allrounder Chaturanga de Silva’s 71 from 67 balls and Isham Ghouse’s 57 had provided the substance in Moors’ innings, as they amassed what was a commanding score of 276 for 8 by this season’s standards. Seam bowlers Dhammika Prasad and Charith Jayampathi struck at various stages of the innings to take five wickets between them. In the end, SSC’s bowlers had done enough to ensure a top order strengthened by Jayawardene’s arrival would secure their place atop the table.Ports Authority Cricket Club finished just outside the reckoning for the semi-finals in their group, despite a low-scoring three-wicket win over Bloomfield Cricket Club, at Bloomfield’s ground. Seam-bowler Isuru Udana did not open the bowling, but it was he who sparked a Bloomfield collapse that would see them sink to 58 for 5, before finishing at 127 all out in the 34th over. Udana took 3 for 33 and left-arm spinner Anuk de Alwis also claimed three wickets, for 37 runs.Ports Authority wobbled early in their chase, losing both openers in the fourth over to Suraj Randiv’s offspin. However they regrouped through Sachithra Serasingha’s 45 lower down the order. Ports Authority lost two wickets when tied with Bloomfield, making the result seem closer than it was, but they completed the chase in the 32nd over.Tamil Union Cricket Club ended a disappointing tournament with a 196-run victory over the group’s bottom team, Chilaw Marians, at the P Sara Oval. The victory was Tamil Union’s second in the competition, and was set up by a opener Pabasara Waduge’s 120 from 122 balls – an innings that featured 17 fours. Several other Tamil Union batsmen got starts but none crossed 40, as they strode to 300 for 9 from 50 overs. Seam bowler Saliya Saman took 3 for 54 for Chilaw.Legspinner Jeevan Mendis collected five wickets for 12 as Chilaw unraveled quickly during their reply. The visitors had been 50 for 2 in the 15th over before Mendis began to strike, and he wrapped up Chilaw innings for 104 in the 34th over with some help for Ramith Rambukwella, who claimed two scalps.Group AAir Force Sports Club recorded a 40-run victory over Badureliya Sports Club, in a match in which neither team could hope to qualify for the semi-finals. Left-arm seam bowler Ruvinda Shamen took 5 for 32 for Badureliya after they had asked the opposition to bat first, but Sajith Kalumpriya struck 68 to help propel Air Force to 194 all out in the 47th over.Badureliya lost both openers for ducks, inside the first two overs of their reply, and continued to stumble against seam bowler Lasanda Rukmal, who took 4 wickets for 58. Andy Solomons walloped 90 from 60 bakks and put on a 78-run stand with Leven Helambage for the fifth wicket, but it was not enough to save Badureliya, who finished bottom of the group.

Shane Watson’s chances of a rare injury-free summer suffered a blow when he left the field with soreness in his right groin on Boxing Day

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG26-Dec-2013Shane Watson’s chances of a rare injury-free summer suffered a blow when he left the field with soreness in his right groin during the second session on Boxing Day. Watson was running in to bowl the fifth ball of his seventh over when he pulled up and grimaced, and after consulting the captain Michael Clarke, Watson immediately left the field.Cricket Australia later tweeted that: “Shane Watson has some right groin pain and is currently being assessed by the medical staff on when he can return to the field.” Watson returned to the field during the final session and fielded at slip, but it was unclear whether he would be able to bowl again in the match.Watson had already played an important role in the Test by keeping the runs tight and removing the England opener Michael Carberry with an inswinger from around the wicket that took the top of off stump when Carberry shouldered arms. He had also contributed to the drying up of runs that kept England to 2.50 an over by tea; Watson had 1 for 11 from his 6.4 overs.Although the severity of his injury was yet to be determined, the three-day turnaround between the Melbourne and Sydney Tests could place him in doubt for the SCG Test if a muscle problem is found. Watson also suffered an injury in the Boxing Day Test last year, and on that occasion the calf problem kept him out of the Sydney Test that followed, even though he was able to bat in the Melbourne Test after suffering the injury.If Watson was unavailable for Sydney it would raise a difficult selection question for the Australians, for he occupies not only the No. 3 batting position but provides an important fifth bowling option and reduces the workload for the other fast men. The allrounder James Faulkner could be considered a straight swap, but as a bowling allrounder he would weaken the batting order.