Harris on alert for Sri Lanka

Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris used the Indian Premier League as an elongated fitness test. Now he has been been alerted by the national selectors to be ready to return to the Australian Test attack against Sri Lanka in August.

Given how well Harris combined with Mitchell Johnson to fire out England during the third Ashes Test in Perth, it is natural the selection chairman Andrew Hilditch wants to see more of him. A return of 20 wickets at 24.40 from his first five Tests showed Harris to be a valued member of an attack that now has a new bowling coach in Craig McDermott.

"I've got an indication they're still keen for me to play that longer form of the game, so now I've got six to eight weeks before Sri Lanka," Harris told ESPNcricinfo. "Queensland are about to start in pre-season, so I'll get into that, get into some serious gym work and fitness work. [I will] get myself fit and stronger, and by that time [in time for the Sri Lanka tour] I'll have bowled a fair bit and hopefully I'll be bowling well enough to get picked. I'm definitely aiming for that tour."

McDermott marked his promotion from the Centre of Excellence by indicating that he wanted his charges to be fitter and more capable of bowling consistently. Such a vision is in line with Harris' own harsh assessments of himself.

"I've seen some good reports about him and obviously the cricket that he's played himself, he's in a position where he can give good advice, and knows a bowling action," Harris said. "It's exciting; it's going to be different but good. He's worked with Troy Cooley as well so I guess he's passed on some information, and it's exciting to see him start.

"My aim now is to get back to the level I was bowling. I've always got to try to improve, and to stay fit for the next two or three years before I finish my career. I just want to get back to feeling good, getting my pace back up and getting the shape of the ball back there.

"I felt as though in the IPL I struggled with that and got a little frustrated with it. But that's my goal in the next six to eight weeks, to get that really comfortable feeling; to run in and bowl fast and put the ball where I want to put it."

Harris, 31, posed the most consistent questions of any Australian bowler during the Ashes, before he was waylaid by an ankle fracture during the Melbourne Test. He is also constantly managing a battered knee that needs the addition of new cartilage. Harris has elected to avoid such a procedure due to the 18 months it would cost him in the latter days of a career that did not truly bloom until he was nearing 30.

Playing for King's XI Punjab, Harris plucked 16 wickets at 23.87 during the IPL, suffering the occasional collaring but overall doing enough to suggest he is capable of making an impression on the Sri Lankans in subcontinental climes. Any lingering discomfort in Harris' ankle and knee dissipated as the tournament progressed.

"Everything's spot-on at the moment, which is good," Harris said. "It took me probably four or five games to get into it again and get the body used to bowling. The ankle was a little bit tender from the surgery; not so much the break but just where the screws were inserted, so it probably took two or three weeks to get over that pain. Once I got over that everything was good.

"The knee was a bit tender, but it never never really swelled up, and the pain or tenderness that was there, disappeared, the more I played. Everything on that front is going well, which is good because we weren't sure how the knee was going to pull up after not playing for three or four months and then going into a tournament where you play games only two or three days apart.

"I was a bit surprised myself to be honest how I went, but another test will come when I start playing the longer form again."

Spot-fixing bans 'too lenient', players say

The three Pakistan players accused of spot-fixing in the Lord's Test got off lightly, according to the majority of players polled in a recent survey. The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) has revealed the results of its player survey, and 77% of respondents believed the penalties handed to the Pakistan trio were too lenient.

Many players believe Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir received penalties that were too lenient

An ICC tribunal found Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif guilty of orchestrating deliberate pre-planned no-balls during the Test against England last August, and they received bans ranging from five to ten years. All three men could be free to play officially-sanctioned cricket again in five years, due to part of the penalties for Asif and Butt involving suspended sentences. None of the 45 players surveyed believed the penalties were too harsh, while 23% considered the bans "fair".

The process by which the three Pakistanis were punished was more complex than a simple ICC edict. Under the anti-corruption code, the decision must be deliberated over by an independent tribunal, with the verdict and penalties handed down from those arbiters. Provisions for far harsher punishments are included in the code.

Although the ICC has achieved its goal of making players aware of the Anti-Corruption Code - 100% of players said they were given education on the code before the World Cup - it's not all good news for the game's governing body. While 100% of players said they would report any suspicious approach they received, 20% did not have confidence in the ICC's anti-corruption unit treating that information confidentially.

Two-thirds of the players said they would be more comfortable reporting any approach to their team manager than to the anti-corruption unit, despite their obligation to do so. Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, said the responses from the players surveyed was an indication that they wanted a tougher stance on corruption.

"This sends a strong signal to stakeholders that the vast number of players want significant penalties to be invoked against those who are found guilty of serious corruption offences," May said.

FICA co-ordinates the activities of players' associations in seven countries: Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh. Notably, Pakistan and India are the two major Test-playing nations - along with Zimbabwe - who are not affiliated with FICA.

In addition to being found guilty of spot-fixing by the ICC, Butt, Asif and Amir are now facing criminal charges in the UK. Under Britain's Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, penalties of up to seven years in prison can be meted out for accepting corrupt payments. The trio also face charges under the Gambling Act 2005.

The players were questioned by Scotland Yard detectives after the News of the World tabloid newspaper made accusations that they had orchestrated deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test.

Vincent Barnes in running for Bangladesh job

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has reportedly zeroed in on South Africa's assistant coach, Vincent Barnes, as a candidate to coach the national team following the departure of Australian Jamie Siddons after a disappointing World Cup campaign. Stuart Law, the interim coach of Sri Lanka, is also in the running but there are reports of his chances failing due to a disagreement over conditions with the BCB.

Bangladesh are in talks with Vincent Barnes (right)

"We are still in negotiations with Stuart Law. We are interested in him but we have given him some conditions," BCB president Mustafa Kamal told Daily Star. "If he accepts those, we'll go for him. It means our talks with him are not over.

"If it doesn't go through with Law, we will take a final decision on Barnes. If we take him, it is nothing to be worried about because we'll take a specialist coach for batting and bowling."

The BCB hopes to ratify the appointment of a new coach at their board meeting on Saturday, June 4, and Kamal said talks with Barnes were at "an advanced stage".

When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, however, Barnes only said, "I've been approached [by the BCB] and that's where it ended."

Cricket South Africa are also scheduled to unveil their new coach on Monday, June 6. Although Barnes did not apply for the South Africa job, CSA could still consider him a candidate, and he was said to be considering a role in the future set-up.

Shahid Afridi brings touch of magic to Hampshire and Twenty20

Twenty20 is back for the summer and Pakistan's travelling impresario makes his debut on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl

Shahid Afridi will play for Hampshire in this season's Friends Provident t20 Cup.

Twenty20 cricket – which, in truth, never really goes away – is back for its English summer bash. The Friends Life t20 starts on Wednesday night with Hampshire playing Somerset at the Rose Bowl, a repeat of last year's final, which Hampshire won.

Rather like a band about to make their difficult third album, these are interesting times for English Twenty20 cricket. From next season each county will play 10 rather than 16 group matches, while dipping attendances last year confirmed a sense of a format still finding its level.

Twenty20 thrives not only on extreme performances, but also on the magnetism of personality. With this in mind the curtain raiser for an as-yet rather buzz-free season is the ideal moment for Hampshire to be unveiling their new star signing. Shahid Afridi, travelling impresario of the six-hit, will make his debut on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl.

These are, as ever, interesting times, for Afridi, who on Monday announced his retirement from playing international cricket for Pakistan. Or did he?

"Let's see," Afridi said on Tuesday. "I'm retired but just from this cricket board. If this cricket board will finish then definitely I will come back." It has been said that you are no one in Pakistan cricket until you have retired at least three times and Afridi was suitably conciliatory when asked if the door might now be shut.

"No, no, no. I'm enjoying my cricket and the people want to see me in international cricket as well, so definitely I must play."

Afridi had just played his first innings for Hampshire in a Twenty20 match against Surrey's Second XI in the placid suburban surrounds of Purley, a club ground that falls some way short of being Afridi-sized.

Batting at No4, international cricket's record six‑hitter clubbed a frenetic unbeaten 44, an innings full of flying edges and one memorable back‑hand tennis‑shot six off Chris Schofield into the gardens at mid-off. International semi‑retirement certainly seems to have lifted a burden from his only-ever-marginally-burdened shoulders.

"It is a great honour to play for Hampshire," he said. "My team‑mates are very good. The captain, Corky [Dominic Cork], is full of entertainment and he's a very experienced guy so it's great fun. I haven't played for a month so I had a little bit of stiffness bowling. I will give my 110%. There are some good young players at Hampshire and the boys are capable of winning this series again."

Twenty20 cricket has certainly been a boon for Afridi, more so than most Pakistani players who are excluded from the riches of the Indian Premier League (his Hampshire team-mate Michael Lumb has just been paid $80,000 – £49,000 – for playing a single game for the Deccan Chargers, in which he made a two-ball duck).

Afridi is surfing the lesser tides of the short format. He is already booked to lead one of the new franchises in the inaugural Sri Lankan Premier League, which starts just as the Friends Provident group stages end. "I will be back if we [Hampshire] reach the finals," he promised. Later this year he will also captain a team in the Bangladesh Premier League. Little wonder, the cynic might argue, the strains of being a Pakistan international cricketer can wait for now.

"It's a great entertainment," Afridi says of the format. "For people who don't know about cricket this is the right game to bring them to and show them how entertaining this cricket can be."

Not perhaps the slogan Friends Life would have chosen to launch the season – cricket for people who don't know about cricket – but this is still decidedly on‑message with the need to get back to packed Twenty20 grounds in a chilly financial climate.

On the field, Afridi's Hampshire look a decent bet to have him haring back from Sri Lanka for another final. More of a bowler these days, Afridi was the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup, and a wrist-spin double act with Imran Tahir looks a potentially irresistible combination.

It is not just his county who will be hoping for more explosion than exasperation from this most mercurial semi-retired entertainer over the next six weeks, as the T20 looks to stave off a sense of incremental wither in the land of its birth.

Batsman Jonathan Trott named ECB cricketer of the year

Batsman Jonathan Trott has been named as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) men's cricketer of the year, as chosen by the British media.

Greenway, Trott and Valjee were all honoured by the ECB

Batter Lydia Greenway is the women's cricketer of the year with Umesh Valjee winning the disability award.

Warwickshire's Trott, 30, has taken his Test average up to an impressive 66.77 in the past 12 months, with his one-day international average at 55.65.

Trott was a key member of the side which retained the Ashes in Australia.

It was the first time England had won on Australian soil for 24 years.

He is currently third in the International Cricket Council's world rankings of Test batsman and seventh in their one-day list.

England's number three batsman hit a total of four centuries, including a superb 226 against Bangladesh last summer, during the 12-month spell the awards cover.

The awards cover the period from the start of last year's international summer in May to the end of the recent World Cup.

Trott also struck three one-day hundreds in that time, and five half centuries in the World Cup.

Having beaten his captain Andrew Strauss and team-mates James Anderson, Alastair Cook and last year's recipient Graeme Swann to an award based on votes from the cricket media, he said: "I am both extremely humbled and proud to have been named England cricketer of the year after what has clearly been the most enjoyable year of my cricketing career so far.

"It is an honour to represent England and it has been a privilege to be involved in such a successful, hard working team.

"I wouldn't have won this award without the commitment and support of my team-mates.

"This award really belongs to the entire England squad and management team that have provided such a supportive and professional environment that has allowed me to prosper as a cricketer and a person."

Trott currently has the highest Test batting average of anyone in history bar Sir Donald Bradman, among players who have won as many or more caps.

Yet it is more collective success for England which continues to fire Trott.

Asked whether they can move up from their present position at number three to become the top-ranked Test team in the world, he said: "I think it is definitely manageable.

"We are going to have to maintain the form we did through the Ashes.

"I am very hesitant to use the word 'special'.

"But with this group of guys at the moment, I think we might have the potential to push towards that.

"We definitely have the characteristics and desire of a group of players that one day may be able to be described in that sort of way."

As for the progress of his own career, he added: "You just have to prove it to yourself, and others.

"I'd had a great start [with an Ashes-clinching hundred on debut in 2009], and then maybe didn't do as well as I would have liked that winter in South Africa and Bangladesh.

"No-one's got a right to score runs at any stage. You always believe you can do it, but proving it can be the difficult part."

Trott was also praised by England team director Andy Flower for his efforts in the first Test against Sri Lanka earlier this week in Cardiff where he scored 203 to help the home side claim a famous win.

"Certainly I thought this was a superb innings by him - patient, efficient, and he put the bad balls away," said Flower.

"He set the tone not only for this game but the series and, we hope, batting for the summer.

"Any criticism of him in this instance is unfounded.

"He has been a very solid man to have in our side. I know he's been criticised for his strike rate in one-day cricket. I think in most cases that has been unfair."

Waqar impressed with Ireland

Waqar Younis,

the Pakistan coach, has backed Ireland to become tough opponents in their home conditions after his team played them in two one-day internationals in Belfast. Pakistan swept the series but, after a tougher test in the second game, Waqar was impressed with the hosts' showing.

Paul Stirling's hundred in Belfast was his first against a Test-playing nation

"I think they probably lack one or two batsmen in the middle order," Waqar said after the match. "They have a solid top order, but I think they struggle a bit in the middle order, although they missed a couple of players.

"They can make a good side, especially in these conditions. They are a side that attracts everyone. They are big fighters. They love their cricket and are definitely an upcoming team."

Ireland were missing Niall O'Brien, their regular wicketkeeper and a key middle-order batsman, through injury. After a disappointing collapse in the first game - they were bowled out for 96 - Paul Stirling ensured they got to a competitive 238 on Monday with his 109 off 107 balls.

It was Stirling's third one-day hundred but his first against a Test-playing nation. It was also his first hundred at home and he was happy to have done it against the Pakistan attack. "It is pleasing to get a century at any time but to get it against such a good bowling attack feels pretty good," Stirling said. "It's nice to do it in front of your home crowd and in front of some familiar faces and my family."

The 20-year-old Stirling averages an impressive 40.13 in his 31 one-day internationals but has often failed to make the most after getting a good start, like he did in the first game against Pakistan, when his dismissal for 39 sparked Ireland's collapse. Stirling said that he was working on converting starts by learning to restrain his natural attacking style.

"You have to turn those thirties into something bigger and hopefully that will come in the next few years," he said. "Sometimes I have to reel myself in. It was good batting with Ed Joyce up top; he was a calming influence and made sure that every ball I was focusing on the next one and not getting too far ahead."

Stirling's knock impressed Waqar, especially because it was crafted with proper cricketing shots. "I think he's a fine player. He doesn't slog," Waqar said. "He plays proper cricketing shots and you enjoy it as a spectator. Even I enjoyed every bit of it because he can hit the ball far; he has got good footwork. He's also young so he has plenty of time and he's not scared of playing shots against any bowler which is brilliant."

Ireland's improved performance in the second ODI was important as they needed to prove they can compete with the top nations before the ICC chief executives' committee meets next month to discuss the possibility of over-ruling their omission from the 2015 World Cup.

Hussey not averse to Big Bash rule changes

Micheal Hussy, has given a cautious thumbs-up to some of the proposed new rules for next season's Big Bash League. The eight-team tournament might include features such as a super-over in which the batting team has its runs doubled, and the possibility that spectators could keep balls hit into the crowd.

Michael Hussey is back home after playing a key role in the Chennai Super Kings winning the IPL

Cricket Australia asked fans to voice their opinions on the ideas via an online survey last week, seven months before the tournament is expected to kick off. Hussey has just arrived back in Perth after playing a key role in the IPL final victory for Chennai Super Kings, and he said the concept of the super-over "sounds all right".

"Who calls which over it is? The captain? I'd like it if I was batting, I'd call the super over as soon as I got out there," Hussey said. "I haven't thought about it too much but the concept sounds all right, especially if there was a Chris Gayle at the crease. He had a couple of overs in the IPL where he went for 27 and 34 runs off overs. It could almost be game over if he had one of those overs."

Hussey said the idea of fans being able to keep balls hit into the crowd had some merit. However, he said it was important the batsman was not disadvantaged for having cleared the fence.

"It depends how green the wicket is," he said. "If it gets to the 15th over and the wicket is still green, I don't want a new ball coming out, that's for sure. But I think it's a good idea, a bit like baseball, maybe a souvenir for a kid out there. They are going to need a lot of back-up balls of the same over range. I don't think it's the worst idea."

Another proposal would allow bowlers to send down two bouncers per over, which Hussey said was fair for what has otherwise been seen as a batsman's game. Hussey has never played a Big Bash match for Western Australia, having been on international duties during December and January ever since the tournament began.

He's just as unlikely to feature in this summer's tournament, with the eight city-based sides almost certain to be without Australia's star players due to international commitments. That looms as a potential problem for the Big Bash League, which Hussey said would never be as big as the IPL.

"It won't be of the same magnitude because of the volume of money they spend on their tournament compared with what we could spend on ours," Hussey said. "But I think in terms of the quality of cricket we can definitely compete, attract some overseas players.

"I guess we are a little limited in that we can't attract all countries because when they play domestically clashes with our summer. But we can attract some real quality international players and we know that our first class system and our core players are very, very good."