Bell eyes regular spot in England ODI team

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London: England batsman Ian Bell has said he is desperate to cement his place in the one-day team.

Bell has missed the first two ODIs against India in the ongoing five-match series, both of which England lost.
"I've never really had that clarity of what I need to go out and do. I'm experienced enough to know how to go out and play one-day cricket, but I still don't feel I know 100 percent what my role is," he said.

"I'm desperate to get up the order. If anyone asked me, I'd want to bat in the top three. But one of my strengths but also one of my problems is that I'm quite flexible. I can start against spin, I can start against the new ball."

"So I've become that kind of player: 'He can bat at six, four or he can open.' Whereas others probably occupy specialist positions. In my 100-odd one-day internationals, I haven't had a long string of games in one position. I've chopped and changing all the time," he said.

Meanwhile, Bell also publicly thanked India for recalling him after a controversial run-out during the Trent Bridge Test in August.

Bell, who could turn out against India for the third ODI in Mohali, admitted that he made a mistake during the Trent Bridge Test by walking off assuming that ball was dead. Initially he was given out, but later was recalled by India.

"It was an honest mistake. It was wrong to assume the ball was dead, and just to walk off was my fault. But, yes, I'm obviously grateful. If I could go back in time and the situation was different, I'd do it differently," Bell was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

"I hope people understand that things like that happen in cricket. I think something similar happened to VVS Laxman in the West Indies and he wasn't called back, and the Indians were really annoyed about that," he said.

"But they wouldn't have changed the decision if they didn't think it was the right thing for the game. Hopefully we can just move on," said Bell.

South Africa v Australia 1st ODI

Clarke sounds out Ponting warning

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Without the burden of captaincy, the pressures of leading the world's best one-day team and the complications that come with being the man in charge, Ricky Ponting is a freer man. According to new Australia captain, Michael Clarke, he is also a fiercer one.

"I have a feeling he is on the brink of having one of the best series of his career," Clarke said. "Watching him in the nets, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets Man of the Series in the one-dayers and is our leading run-scorer in the Tests."

Such a vote of confidence comes after Ponting finished as the second-highest run-scorer for Australia in their ODI series against Sri Lanka in August and scored 87 for Tasmania against Western Australia last week. To have a senior player in good nick will serve Clarke, who is still in his early days as captain, in good stead. "Ricky has been a big help to me throughout my career," he said. "He is a wonderful guy, very experienced and talented, still has a lot to offer in Australian cricket in both ODIs and Tests."

After leading Australia to victories in Bangladesh and the ODI and Test contests in Sri Lanka, Clarke faces arguably the biggest challenge of his leadership so far, in South Africa. Apart from the famous rivalry between the two countries, there are rankings at stake in both formats and Clarke recognises that it will be a significant test of his leadership.

"It's always great when you get the chance to play against tough opposition. I have enjoyed every challenge I have had against them," Clark said. "They are a very strong, experienced team. They've got some youngsters as well, who haven't played much cricket which is pretty similar to our team."

Australia's youth have burst onto the scene, with teenage paceman Pat Cummins stealing the headlines after his performances in the two T20s. He was fast-tracked into their Test squad and many feel he is on the brink of something special. Clarke was measured in his praise of Cummins, compared to T20 captain Cameron White and New South Wales team-mate Shane Watson, but recognised his potential. "He is very exciting young prospect, he can bowl fast, he can move the ball and for a youngster he has great knowledge of fast bowling."

He was equally conservative about the other prospects, James Pattinson and Mitchell Marsh, and made it clear that they will have to graft to make their names. "I'm excited to see the guys get an opportunity to stake their claim and now they have got hold of their chance and are playing for Australia."

It's in the fast-bowling department that Australia have sprouted talent and Clarke said that has more to do with the conditions in South Africa than the need to look for replacements for the likes of Brett Lee. "We're just trying to pick the right combination for where we are playing. Having two spinners and four quicks is the right mix, now we are just trying to pick the best 11 on the day."

Clarke said Australia will put their best foot forward, particularly because have their status as the No. 1 ranked ODI team in mind and want to hold on to it. "It's certainly something that we are aware of and very proud of. Hopefully we can continue playing good cricket and stay on top." South Africa could close that gap to a fraction if they win all three matches in the series. Hashim Amla said the team has not even thought about that because "they have bigger things to worry about."

Amla, himself, forms one of the sub-plots of the series, which was initially supposed to be a contest of the young leaders between AB de Villiers and Clarke. He said he is "enjoying it although it is taking some getting used to." While Clarke did not give an appraisal of Amla's leadership, he said the stand-in skipper may be under some strain. "I think it's more of a concern that they haven't got AB. He is a very good player. They'll certainly miss him and there'll be a little bit of extra pressure on Hashim's shoulders."

The return of Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn had Amla beaming as he welcomed back "familiar personnel" but the resumption of a format of the game in which has excelled seemed to please Amla more. Amla had only played three T20s for South Africa before captaining in the previous two and was dismissed cheaply both times. Now, he returns to the fifty-over game, where he is the world's top ranked batsmen and it seems he enjoyed the extra time it allows. "It will give us more time to assess and it's not just a case of one the day someone makes a big impact," he said.

Amla also hoped the change in format would result in a change in fortune for his opening partner Graeme Smith, who was in miserable touch in the T20s, after making his return from injury. "There is a lot more time to build innings so hopefully he will do well."

Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 1st day

Junaid's five-for caps Pakistan's day

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Pakistan 27 for 0 (Hafeez 17*, Taufeeq 8*) trail Sri Lanka 197 (Mathews 52*, Paranavitana 37, Junaid 5-38, Gul 2-37) by 170 runs

Junaid Khan Take his First five
wickets haul

Sri Lanka squandered away what seemed to be an inviting proposition in the morning - being put in to bat on a flat wicket under the hot sun against inexperienced bowlers - by refusing to score, and ultimately succumbed against a relentless Pakistan attack. Angelo Mathews, however, batted intelligently with the lower order, as he had done during the recent series against Australia, to lift Sri Lanka from the lows of 114 for 7 before Junaid Khan's maiden Test five-for kept them to a first-innings tally of 197.

Pakistan's bowlers were nearly sold short at the toss by their captain who thought that any chance of taking wickets lay in utilising the scant moisture on a flat and deceptively green-tinged pitch. With a large heart and perseverance, though, they prised out six wickets in the second session after Lahiru Thirimanne's guide to slip off Saeed Ajmal gave them an opening at the stroke of lunch.

Aizaz Cheema epitomised Pakistan's hunger with a relentless spell, either side of the break, that claimed Kumar Sangakkara cheaply and troubled Mahela Jayawardene with consistent pace and zip off the placid surface. Jayawardene managed to survive Cheema's spell but soon joined Tillakaratne Dilshan in the dressing room. Dilshan had earlier briefly breathed life into the doddering innings, before being wrongly adjudged caught-behind by umpire Tony Hill, as Sri Lanka slipped to 112 for 4.

Jayawardene went in the next over, prodding at Junaid outside off stump and edging to slip. Junaid capitalised on the panic in the line-up to claim Prasanna Jayawardene and Rangana Herath with searing full deliveries to reduce Sri Lanka to 114 for 4, but the fight had gone out of the Sri Lanka innings some time ago.

Cheema, 32, displayed the tireless zeal of a player made to wait almost ten years for his Test debut. He even hit Jayawardene on the helmet grill when the batsman failed to get out of the way of a short one. Cheema's aggression was in contrast to the way Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana added 26 runs in the first hour, treating the benign Sheikh Zayed Stadium surface with the extreme respect that an overcast Headingley morning would deserve.

Though the three Pakistan fast bowlers, Gul, Cheema and Junaid - chosen ahead of the quicker and more experienced Wahab Riaz - ran in with heart, they were rendered ineffective in the first session by the lifeless pitch.

The openers' approach, however, bordered on the extreme of being over-cautious. The first boundary came in the 14th over from Paranavitana off the part-time offspin of Mohammad Hafeez. Having played sedately all morning, Thirimanne guided Ajmal straight to slip in the penultimate over before lunch. Sri Lanka had managed only 50 runs in the session.

Cheema struck with the first ball of the second over after lunch, getting Sangakkara to edge behind for Adnan Akmal to take a flying one-handed catch in front of first slip. Paranavitana contrived to survive longer with his defensive mindset but the manner of his dismissal - gloving an attempted pull to the wicketkeeper off a Gul short ball down the leg side - showed that patience without purpose inevitably comes unstuck against sustained pressure.

Just as Pakistan had used Sri Lanka's diffidence to spark a collapse, Mathews took advantage of Misbah's listless field-settings to add 54 - the highest partnership of the innings - with Suranga Lakmal. Mathews did everything that the earlier batsmen had not - he did not get tied down and attacked when allowed to, shielding Lakmal initially and taking advantage of the spread-out fields. Misbah helped Mathews by repeatedly keeping the field back even for the final two deliveries of the overs. On the rare occasions when he brought them in, Mathews went after the bowling, slicing and punching Cheema for consecutive boundaries off the final two balls of the 61st over.

Pakistan eventually got through the tail when Junaid cleaned up the last two wickets to end with 5 for 38, and set up the game for the Pakistan batsmen.

The new ball had not done much for Pakistan; Sri Lanka's bowlers did not fare better, if anything, they did not make the Pakistan openers play enough. Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar were hardly troubled in breezing to 27 by stumps, capping a dominant day for their side.