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Brendon McCullum, Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden, the stars of the IPL who have shone the brightest so far, will be missing in action soon. Players from Australia, West Indies and New Zealand won’t be available to play in the IPL for the entire duration as Australia and West Indies are involved in a bilateral series while New Zealand tour England. The Australians are expected to play till the end of April before heading for a pre-series training camp in Brisbane while the New Zealand IPL players were allowed to miss the tour games in England but will nonetheless have to join the squad by May 1. Cricinfo looks at the possible impact of the event on the various IPL teams

	Australian players will leave their IPL teams on May 1 © Getty Images

Deccan Chargers
For VVS Laxman’s Chargers, the coming weeks will see the departure of a big-ticket player in Andrew Symonds, who was priced No. 2 in the auction. Though he is yet to fire, it can be expected that he will show his class soon. While his departure, on May 1, means the Chargers will miss his allround skills, they do have Shahid Afridi and Scott Styris to fill that vacuum. Also, Herschelle Gibbs, in the bench currently, can, in theory, match up to Symonds’ hitting prowess. So the next ten days could add another punch to Deccan’s charge.Kolkata Knight Riders
Sourav Ganguly’s team will be the worst hit by the exodus. Ricky Ponting, McCullum and Chris Gayle, though he is yet to play due to injury, will be missing in action soon. Ponting will leave on May 1, McCullum on April 30 while the injured Gayle, even if he gets fit, will have to leave on May 15. These are big shoes to fill as Ponting is a proven commodity and McCullum became the first superstar of the IPL with a whirlwind record 158 on the opening night. They will look to the Pakistan opener Salman Butt and Zimbabwe’s Tatenda Taibu to try plugging the big hole but it remains to be seen how effective they will be. Butt averages only 15.42 at a strike-rate of 81.20 in eight Twenty20 internationals and 16.62 at a strike-rate of 95 from 17 domestic Twenty20 games. Taibu averages 15.70 from 10 domestic Twenty20 matches but the runs have come at a fair clip of 122.65. Perhaps, Mohammad Hafeez will be pushed up the order. There is some good news for Kolkata, as the Pakistani seamer Umar Gul, who has joined the squad, will beef up the bowling.Bangalore Royal Challengers
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is leaving on May 15 while Ashley Noffke and Ross Taylor leave on May 1 but the Royal Challengers won’t be hit too hard. Misbah-ul-Haq, who has made Twenty20 his calling card, arrived on April 23 and Dale Steyn, who had a triumphant Test series against India, will be coming on April 27. Both are better players than Taylor and Noffke respectively but Chanderpaul will be missed as an opener. Wasim Jaffer looked out of place in the first game and Bangalore might decide to open with Praveen Kumar, who has opened in domestic cricket in the limited-overs format. The management is hopeful that the injured Bracken will get fit in time to replace Noffke. Even without him, they have a decent bowling line-up in Praveen , Zaheer Khan, Steyn and Anil Kumble, who is expected to get fit soon.Chennai Super Kings
Hayden and Hussey leave on May 1 while Jacob Oram catches the flight on April 30 but they will be replaced by Stephen Fleming and the big-hitting South African allrounder Albie Morkel, who arrives on April 27. While Fleming, if he gets going, can make up for Hayden’s absence at the top of the order, Albie can be expected to more than adequately replace Oram. But they will miss Hussey, who hit the fastest ton in the tournament – a 50-ball effort in the first game- in the middle order. However, the bowling will get better as they will have Makhaya Ntini coming in on April 27. Chennai has an inexperienced bowling attack that includes Palani Amarnath and Manpreet Goni but they have stood up to be counted. With Albie and Ntini in, it will only get better. Delhi Daredevils
Daniel Vettori leaves on April 30 but Daredevils are going to get stronger with the inclusion of AB de Villiers, who joins the team on April 27. If the situation warrants an extra bowler or a batsman, de Villiers can don the wicketkeeping gloves as well. If they come across a wicket that aids spin, they might consider playing the legspinner Amit Mishra.Kings XI Punjab
Brett Lee, Simon Katich and Kyle Mills will leave India on April 28. Lee’s absence will really hit them hard, considering they don’t have a foreign player of such class in the squad. Either VRV Singh, the Indian Test bowler, or the Under-19 bowler Ajitesh Argal will have to step up unless Tom Moody, the coach, decides to pick an Australian domestic player. Mills is yet to play in a game, and though Katich did play the first match, he is not known for big hitting and his absence won’t leave a hole.Mumbai Indians
Only Dwayne Bravo will miss out as he is leaving on May 15 to play in the home series against Australia. The allrounder Dominic Thornely, who was hit on the forehead by a Zaheer Khan bouncer and didn’t play the second game against Chennai Super Kings, is expected to be fit for the third game. Mumbai will also have the services of the hard-hitting South African batsman Loots Bosman, who is set to join the squad on April 24.Rajasthan Royals
No one is leaving and instead they will be bolstered by the arrival of Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Sohail Tanveer and Dimitri Mascarenhas. Smith will add some much-needed solidity to the fragile top order while Younis will bolster the middle order. Mohammad Kaif has struggled at the top and Darren Lehmann has looked out of touch, so Smith and Younis could well replace them. Mascarenhas, who will be available to play in the IPL from May 12 to 26, is a perfect fit for Twenty20 – he proved his big-hitting abilities when he struck Yuvraj for five consecutive sixes in a one-day match last year. Tanveer, a niggardly left-arm seamer, can bat as well and will add an extra dimension to the squad.

Allrounder Imad Wasim will lead the Pakistan U-19 side in England © Cricinfo Ltd

Imad Wasim, the Islamabad allrounder, has been named captain of the Pakistan U-19 team which will tour England in July and August. Shan Masood, the opening batsman, has been appointed vice-captain.Imad was born in Swansea in Glamorgan, Wales, but is settled in Islamabad with his family. He is a left-hand batsman and slow left-arm spin bowler.The 14-member squad included opening batsmen Ahmed Shahzad and Umar Amin and middle-order batsmen Adil Amin, Ali Asad, Usman Salahuddin and Taimur Ali. Shahzaib Ahmed Khan, a legspinner, was the lone specialist spinner in the team while Junaid Khan, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Rameez and Azhar Attari formed the pace attack.Gulraiz Sadaf was retained as the wicketkeeper, after he performed the same duty on the U-19 tour of Australia in April this year. Kamran Hussain, a right-hand batsman and offspinner, would join the team only for the ODIs.Apart from Ali Asad, Usman Salahuddin, Azhar Attari and Kamran Hussain, all the other players toured Australia, where Pakistan lost the five-match one-day series 3-2.Asad has not played any cricket for the last year, as he was banned for indiscipline. Salahuddin played in a one-dayer in September 2006 against the touring India U-19 team. Attari, a medium-pace bowler, and Kamran Hussain were both new faces on the international U-19 circuit.Mohammad Hussain, Rahatullah, Junaid Nadir, and Ahmed Iqbal were named as reserves. The Pakistan squad and reserve players will attend a training camp at Abbottabad from July 5 to 20. Mansoor Rana, the coach for the England trip, will supervise the training camp.The Pakistan Under-19 team will fly to London from Karachi on July 22. The team will have practice sessions and a couple of warm-up matches before playing two four-day matches and five one-dayers against the England U-19 side beginning on August 4.

Transportation continues to be a major headache ahead of the 2007 World Cup, and this week some of the major players will be meeting to chart a road map.Stephen Alleyne, chief executive of the Barbados Local Organising Committee, said yesterday that the issue of movement of people during the tournament has been a major concern, and that they would be tackling this “strategic area” from Tuesday to Thursday at the Royal Antigua Hotel. He added that all other areas of the tournament’s organisation were given positive grades, but transportation needed to be tackled “head-on”.”The transportation and the movement of people between the nine countries hosting matches have been the most significant issues we have faced and we will be meeting in Antigua to look at these,” Alleyne said after a tour of Kensington Oval.”We will be having senior officials in many strategic areas present. There will be top officials from all the major airlines in the region, Cricket World Cup officials, customs, immigration, government, and so on. We have to get a road map as to where we are heading. The road must be clear.”Organisers have projected that about 100,000 visitors will be in the Caribbean during the March 5 to April 28 tournament. Alleyne said several air charters have indicated willingness to play a part in the movement of fans. He added that the organisers were close to signing on the charter airlines to move players, officials and VIPs.Last week the major airlines in the region – Air Jamaica, LIAT, BWIA West Indies Airways, and Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun – announced they would be making a joint bid to be the official carrier.

Belinda Clark has been appointed to lead Australia’s cricket academy – the first woman to hold the role. Clark, Australia women’s capain, will take up the post as the Centre of Excellence’s manager in September, when she returns from the Ashes tour of England and Ireland. This could mean that she stops playing international cricket – but she will make this decision upon her return.Cricket Australia confirmed that Clark, who is a Level 3 coach, will replace Trevor Robertson who will step down after two years. “Belinda is a natural leader,” said James Sunderland, the board’s chief executive, “an extremely competent cricket administrator and we are very fortunate to be able to appoint someone of her calibre.”The Centre of Excellence was set up in 1988 and 240 players have benefited from its work, with 34 of them going on to represent Australia in Tests or one-dayers.

Ricky Ponting prepares for his first Test as captain, with Shane Warne, who returns for his first Test after a 12-month ban© Getty Images

On the evening before Australia start their eagerly awaited three-Test series in Sri Lanka, there were two main talking points in Galle. The big philosophical one is whether, after an unexpected drawn series against India in January, the first cracks have appeared in Australia’s cricketing empire. The more immediate one is the biscuit-dry, mosaic of a pitch at Galle’s International Stadium. The cracks in that are a bit more obvious.The wicket is the only patch of baked brown in an otherwise lush outfield and square. From the press box, it is like looking at an oasis in reverse. Baked by the fierce south Sri Lankan sun and dried by the breeze off the nearby Indian Ocean, the pitch does not have a blade of live grass to hold it together.”It will certainly turn, virtually from ball one,” said John Buchanan, Australia’s coach, at the ground on Saturday. “There is a question as to how long it will actually last.” In truth there’s not much question at all: this pitch will break up quickly and favour the spinners.Sri Lanka will play just one seamer – Chaminda Vaas – and pack their attack with slow bowlers. Tillakaratne Dilshan will probably share the new ball – he bowls quickish offbreaks – with back-up from legspinner Upul Chandana, another brisk offspinner in Kumar Dharmasena, and the slow left-armer Sanath Jayasuriya. Their seventh batsman, Thilan Samaraweera, also bowls offbreaks, when he can get a look-in. And then there’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 7 for 46 here against England in December, on a pitch less favourable to slow bowlers than this one.”We are not scared of fast bowlers, but we are playing to our home advantage,” said Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain, on Sunday. “We want to give our bowlers the best wickets they could bowl on.”For Australia, Shane Warne, who has now served his 12-month drug ban, will return at the very first opportunity. (Ordinarily, players are made to battle to regain the baggy green, but Warne is no ordinary bowler.) Warne’s fellow legspinner, Stuart MacGill, also looks set to play.Brett Lee’s ankle had not recovered enough for him to train on the eve of the match. So Michael Kasprowicz, who can reverse-swing the ball on dry wickets, is set to open the bowling with Jason Gillespie. It’s almost three years since Kasprowicz, 32, last played a Test – in India’s sensational VVS Laxman-inspired comeback at Kolkata in 2000-01. By Australian standards this is not a strong attack, and Ricky Ponting, whose debut as Test captain has almost been overlooked, will probably have to summon up some Stephen Fleming-like inventiveness in the field.Andrew Symonds will make his debut, batting at No. 6 and filling in a few overs (he can bowl either medium-pace or flattish offspin). That is tough on Simon Katich, who made a hundred in Australia’s only warm-up game, and another in their last Test. Of course there is no Steve Waugh. Still, the local Sunday Leader‘s claim today that Australia have a huge vacuum in the middle order seems a touch optimistic.The evening before the match, Sri Lanka were leaving no part of their spin-based game plan to chance. Locally they say cricket always brings rain at Galle, and as evening fell, tarpaulins were placed not only over the controversial square but also on almost every inch of the outfield. The match is scheduled to start at 0430 GMT.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Kumar Dharmasena, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Australia (probable): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Michael Kasprowicz, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Stuart MacGill.Paul Coupar, the assistant editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, will be following Australia in their Test series in Sri Lanka.

Ahead of today’s one day international against New Zealand in Christchurch Marcus Trescothick telephoned back to the County Ground in Taunton.The England opener said, “I’m really pleased to be in New Zealand, it’s one of my favourite places after England. The weather has been really great, and I’m enjoying the local foods,” which after his upset stomach in India will be a relief no doubt.He sounded in cheerful mood ahead of today’s game and was pretty relaxed and said that he was having a good time.”I’m looking forward to the one day series and the Test matches and to getting runs on the New Zealand wickets.”No doubt Marcus will be disappointed with his own performance and today’s result, but will hopefully make up for it in the next match which will be played in Wellington on Saturday.Marcus is a regular reader of the Somerset site so he can rest assured that everyone back home is rooting for him to do well out in New Zealand.

Saurashtra scored 287 for seven in 99.1 overs in reply toMaharashtra’s mammoth 539 for six declared in the West Zone Ranjitrophy match at Rajkot on Monday.Saurashtra began the third day on 41 for no loss. Prashant Joshiscored a fluent 107 off 250 deliveries, laced with 15 hits to thefence. Joshi and Veteran Shitanshu Kotak shared a 168 run partnershipfor the second wicket off 64.5 overs. Kotak made 61 and Sudhir Tannachipped in with 48. The middle order could not capitalise on the goodscores by the top order batsmen. Paceman Iqbal Siddiqui bagged two for72 and Sachin Aradhye bagged three for 62.

Following a season in which Sadio Mane had bagged 11 goals and registered seven assists over 37 Premier League appearances, it was no surprise that Tottenham Hotspur were reported to be interested in a deal to sign the Southampton winger in the summer of 2016.

Indeed, Spurs came so close to landing the Senegal international that it was claimed the winger had visited the club’s training ground in order to discuss the terms of a switch to Mauricio Pochettino’s side, however, the Argentine coach was ultimately unable to convince Daniel Levy to meet forward’s wage demands.

As a result, Liverpool swooped in for the attacker, landing Mane in a £34m deal and handing the then-24-year-old a five-year-contract at Anfield – from which point the former RB Salzburg sensation has blossomed into one of the finest footballers on the planet.

Levy had a shocker on Mane

Indeed, following his 2016 move to Merseyside, Mane has gone from strength to strength under the management of Jurgen Klopp, scoring 86 goals and registering 34 assists over his title-winning campaign.

The £72m-rated dynamo has also impressed for Liverpool in European competition, bagging 21 goals and notching seven assists over lifted Europe’s most prestigious club prize after beating – incredibly ironically – Spurs 2-0 in the final.

Aside from boasting both a Premier League and Champions League winners medal, the winger has also won the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Supercup and the Carabao Cup during his stay at Liverpool, in addition to lifting the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

And, as a result of his remarkable form both at Anfield and at international level, the £200k-per-week Mane has been linked with moves to the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent seasons, however, with Liverpool having previously slapped a £200m price tag on the 29-year-old, whether or not either of the Spanish giants will be able to afford a move for the winger remains to be seen.

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What is clear, however, is that Levy’s decision not to sanction a 2016 move for the player who Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dubbed a “wild animal” has proven to be a shocker on the part of the chairman, as, in doing so, not only did he ensure that Tottenham failed to secure the services of one of the world’s best attacking talents, but he also cost the club a potentially enormous payday – something that will undoubtedly be one of Levy’s biggest regrets during his time in north London.

AND in other news: Paratici eyeing bid for £84m “thoroughbred bomber”, “he’s the future” of Conte’s Spurs

The Israel Cricket Association has announced that India A will play three one-day matches in Israel as part of the country’s 60th anniversary celebrations.The ICA confirmed that the Indian board had agreed to the tour during which what was described as a “full-strength A side” will play against an Invitational XI featuring players from a number of countries, including Adam Bacher.Seven overseas cricketers are reported to have accepted the invitations and the squad will be supplemented by local players.

Ravi Shastri stepped in as cricket manager for the tour of Bangladesh, but now he knows what direction to go, and that’s back to broadcasting. © AFP

Ravi Shastri, India’s cricket manager for the tour to Bangladesh, made it clear that there was no way he would be continuing with the job as he had other professional commitments, even though this tour had been like, to quote a journalist, a “honeymoon”.”I like honeymoons. The more the merrier,” Shastri said. “But I was very clear right from the outset that I would do this job because it was a tough time for India. I was free, but I had made my stand clear with the establishment that I was under a contract with ESPN-Star who are my employers. I am a professional, I believe in work ethics, I believe in contracts.”Had he asked ESPN-Star to release him for the India job? “It’s against my nature. When I have a contract in hand, I respect it,” Shastri said. He may have finished with the Indian team for now, but would like to see Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh continue in their capacities of bowling coach and fielding coach respectively. “If I am asked, they should stay in place,” Shastri said. “Venky and Robin did a fabulous job. They were dedicated cricketers; this job too they did with dedication and pride.”Shastri again rubbished the talks of a divide among the team. Before departing on the tour he claimed India weren’t enjoying their cricket, but after a period time with the players has had a change of heart. “I didn’t go to the World Cup… but I kept reading a lot,” he said, “but what I saw was a brilliant bunch… I had thought that was nonsense. I know now that it is absolute nonsense.”So what had been done to bring a smile back? “That’s dressing-room stuff. We have discussed a lot, we have gone one-on-one with each individual.”Shastri had taken charge of the team during precarious times after a poor World Cup and Greg Chappell’s departure. He said his way of tackling that was to shut the past out completely. “I focus on the present. The present were these boys given to me by the selection committee.”Shastri may have completely negated the past, but he is on the committee that selects the future coach in a week’s time. However, being the true professional that he is he kept his cards close to his chest. He would not even discuss what kind of coach India needed.