Warner dropped from ODI squad

has been dropped from Austalia's squad for the ODIs against Scotland and England, while Mitchell Starc will return to Australia after complaining of lower back soreness. Steven Smith, who was part of the original 18-member limited-overs squad, has already flown back after a thigh injury.

"David has been left out of the Australian ODI squad for this tour purely due to his recent lack of form in this format," Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach, said. "By his own admission, David would acknowledge that unfortunately he hasn't scored the weight of runs that he would like recently in one-day cricket for his country."

Warner was part of Australia's Champions Trophy squad in England, but featured in just one match, scoring 9 against England, but was suspended from the team after a bar incident in Birmingham. He has only played three more ODIs this year, in January against Sri Lanka, and scored 10, 60 and 4. Warner scored a 42-ball 53 on Saturday in the second T20 against England, but that wasn't enough to sway the selectors.

"Like all selection matters, it was a tough decision, but like all players he understands the situation and knows he needs to get back to playing Ryobi Cup and making a heap of runs that we can't ignore," Lehmann said. "I spoke with David at length about what he needs to do and I've been impressed with his attitude since I've come into the Australian setup."

Australia kickstart the ODI leg of the tour with a one-off match against Scotland in Edinburgh on September 3 before taking on England for a five-match series that starts on September 6 in Leeds.

Squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Phillip Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Watson.

virat kohli recieving arjuna award

Weakened bowling a concern for Zimbabwe

must have more on his mind than the average coach ahead of Zimbabwe's two-Test series against Pakistan. For a start, he will be wondering if the series will even go ahead.

Zimbabwe's newly-formed players' union may yet boycott the matches, as they have been threatening to do since Pakistan arrived in the country more than two weeks' ago, because of non-payment of salaries. The players have not received their July or August remuneration or the match fees they negotiated with ZC, despite being promised the monies would be transferred into their accounts last Thursday. They have given ZC until Monday to pay up or they will not take the field in whites on Tuesday.

Earlier, the players had also said that they would not take part in the T20s or the third ODI, but they reached an agreement with ZC at the 11th hour. An insider believes this will not happen again. The source told ESPNcricinfo the players are likely to stop crying wolf and follow through with their ultimatum this time. Even Waller seems to think the payments issue will have an effect on the Tests.

"I think the unhappiness over payments will spill into the series, unfortunately. I don't think it has been solved yet," he said. "I am not a 100% sure exactly, but I am under the impression that nothing's definite yet."

Waller, like the rest of us, will have to wait to hear their final decision, but he will also contemplate how to get the best of a clearly disgruntled group if they opt to compete. Even though Zimbabwe found it in themselves to win the first ODI against Pakistan, they have not fared well recently and were defeated in all nine matches - five ODIs against India, two T20s and two ODIs against Pakistan - in which Waller has been in charge.

He has not coached them in a Test yet, but has already seen enough to know what Zimbabwe's biggest challenge will be. "The main concern I have is probably on the bowling side: how are we going to get 20 wickets?," he asked after the third ODI. Zimbabwe have not bowled a team out once since Waller took over so to expect them to do it twice will be a tough ask. To ask them to do it twice without two of the most attacking bowlers may well be a bridge too far.

"I am not saying our bowlers aren't good but we've lost someone like Kyle Jarvis, who could bowl with a bit of pace and swing the ball, and Graeme Cremer, who's a quality legspinner," he said.

Jarvis retired from international cricket on the eve of the Pakistan series, saying the cash-flow situation had made it impossible for him to continue playing for Zimbabwe, while Cremer made himself unavailable during the Bulawayo leg of the India tour. ESPNcricinfo understands Cremer does not want to be considered for Zimbabwe until he is paid monies owed to him and is assured of financial security going forward.

That leaves the rest with a lot more responsibility and not a lot of experience to bank on. Brian Vitori, who partnered Jarvis and even outshone him on Zimbabwe's Test comeback, will likely have to lead the attack as the one of the most experienced men, with just three caps. He has not played the longest form in 18 months since January last year. Despite a promising start to Test cricket, injuries and a lack of form have hampered his progress.

Shingi Masakadza and Tinashe Panyangara have also played a trio of Tests each - Panyangara more than eight years ago in 2005 - but both have shown fairly good control in the lead-up. Much is expected from young Tendai Chatara, who impressed in West Indies earlier this year, and Zimbabwe will have to take a gamble on the kind of spinner they are going to use.

Without Cremer, their attacking options will be between Natsai Mushangwe and Tinotenda Mutombodzi but they could go for the safety of a containing bowler instead. Prosper Utseya is their leading offspinner and has the experience of years and captaincy behind him to add solidity to an otherwise fragile attack.

All Waller can do is be optimistic. "I still believe our bowlers can go out and do the job," he said, although he confined that to doing it in the first match. "Bulawayo will be difficult because it's a batting paradise down there and we know the quality of the Pakistan batting, so we are going to have to do something exceptional to beat them down there. If we are going to beat them, I think it's going to have to be at Harare, on a wicket that will give us more of a chance."

Efforts have been made at Queens Club - where Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in 2011 - to ensure it is less flat and new clay has been laid on three of the pitches on the square . However, whether Zimbabwe will even get down to Bulawayo to play will depend on how quickly ZC can come up with cash and how seriously the players' union wants to flex its muscles.

India's NZ tour advanced to January

India will tour New Zealand for a month in mid-January for five ODIs and two Tests, with the first one-dayer to be played on January 19 and the second Test ending on February 18. New Zealand Cricket's release came a day after the BCCI's working committee approved the tour. The announcement increased the uncertainty surrounding India's South Africa tour in November, the itinerary of which is yet to be finalised.

The New Zealand tour was scheduled to begin in early February, according to the ICC Future Tours Programme, but will now start around two to three weeks earlier, eating into the time allotted for the South Africa tour. In fact, according to the itinerary announced by Cricket South Africa in July, and objected to by the BCCI, the third and final Test in Johannesburg was to end on January 19, the day on which India will now be thousands of miles away commencing their New Zealand sojourn.

The make-up of the South Africa trip had already been put in doubt after it was left out of a list of upcoming series announced by the BCCI a day ago, which included a freshly-planned home Test series against West Indies in November.

West Indies will then will travel to New Zealand after playing in the subcontinent, for a series that starts on December 3 and ends on January 15, four days before the home team's first game against India.

David White, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, said he was unaware about the itinerary of India's tour of South Africa but added that NZC had finalised the dates only after discussions with the BCCI. White did not want to speculate on why the BCCI's release on Sunday had not included the dates but confirmed both boards had worked together on the final itinerary. "Those dates have been signed off with the BCCI. We had been in discussions just before the (BCCI) working committee meeting and worked through the dates and that was ratified at the meeting," White told ESPNcricinfo.

He was understandably pleased about the prospects of a tour that is likely to be a money-spinner for his board. "It's brilliant that the Black Caps will be playing five ODIs against the world's top one-day side given the proximity of the World Cup in 2015," White said. While the boards have stuck to the five ODIs as laid out in the FTP, the originally scheduled three Tests have been cut down to two, while the Twenty20 international has been done away with. The venues will be confirmed in a week or so, NZC said.

India last toured New Zealand from February to April 2009 for a longer trip consisting of two T20s followed by five ODIs and ending with three Tests. While New Zealand won both T20s, India took the ODIs 3-1 and the Tests 1-0.

Age - Not a number but a concern for Misbah, Pakistan

Misbah-ul-Haq and MS Dhoni have a similar approach towards cricket. Both love to take the game towards the final overs, something which often baffles their fans, but they derive tremendous pleasure by batting under nail-biting situations. But, while Misbah creates enormous pressure on his teammates by playing too many dot balls, Dhoni enjoys the game in the death overs, hitting sixes at will, and pulling off spectacular chases for Team India. Misbah was the most consistent batsman for his side in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies. He scored three consecutive half-centuries that guided Pakistan to a series win. In the entire ODI series, it was Misbah’s job to resurrect the innings after a poor show from the openers. Those were valuable innings, but one can’t ignore the pace at which they were scored. Pakistan managed to win matches because they were chasing paltry scores and their skipper took ample time to shape his innings. But at the same time, he created a lot of pressure on the other batsmen by playing too many dot balls. With Misbah’s approach, Pakistan would have a tough time against formidable opponents. And the major concern for Pakistan and Misbah at the moment is – the age factor. Not just only Misbah (39), Pakistan have been depending too much on aged players like Saeed Ajmal (35) and Shahid Afridi (33). While Ajmal, who made his debut at the age of 30, is still one of the world’s most threatening bowlers, Afridi on the other hand has been a major disappointment for his team and his fans considering his inconsistency in all formats of the game. It is sad to see that Pakistan cricket still revolves a lot around Afridi, who is the most inconsistent all-rounder of the modern era. When he made his comeback against the Windies in the first ODI match (76, 7/12), everybody took it differently. But as he has done on numerous occasions in the past, he proved to be a total failure in the rest of the series. The Pakistan Cricket Board needs to understand that they can’t ignore Lala’s larger than life attitude and at this crucial stage, if he can’t show maturity being a veteran in the side, Pakistan will have to think about cricket beyond Afridi. In the past, one of Pakistan’s major strength was the presence of world class all-rounders. There was a time when Abdul Razzak, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez were part of the same squad. While Malik was dropped for his form, Razzak further dented his chances of a comeback after slamming Misbah for his slow game. "He is batting slowly and playing too many dot balls and that adds to the pressure on the batsman playing with him or those coming in. If a captain bats defensively and doesn`t lead the charge then it demoralises the environment in the dressing room," Razzaq had said. And not only Razzaq, but the staunchest supporters of the Pakistan cricket have blamed Misbah for playing selfish cricket which has cost them several games. But when you look at his record in 2013, he has scored 745 runs at an average of 58. The concern for Pakistan is, while he is comfortable playing too many dot balls and then accelerating the pace of the innings, it affects the performance of other batsmen who are under pressure to score quick runs with their skipper playing his natural tuk-tuk cricket. I am not too sure whether Misbah would fit in Pakistan’s squad for the 2015 World Cup and thus, it’s time the selectors hand over the captaincy to someone like Mohammad Hafeez. The professor has a brilliant cricketing brain and he has all that it requires to lead a successful side. It’s high time Pakistan select a 15-man squad which they think would deliver their best at the 2015 World Cup. And they have the kind of players who can do well at the big stage. It’s just about beginning the process of filtration. And before that, they need to appoint a skipper who can inject some fresh energy into the side.

From backbone to broken-back: Quest for comeback by Team India senior

You can’t rest on your past laurels, they say. Nothing does more justice to this adage than Indian cricket: A rough patch and assets for the team became liabilities. The quintet of Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, once considered the backbone of the team are now struggling to make a place in it. And to add to their woes, all these match-winners have crossed the age bracket of thirty. A lean patch and one of the most prolific opening pairs of all time for the country, Sehwag and Gambhir, were shown the doors by the selectors. Though, fortunately India got a perfect replacement in the form of another Delhiite – Shikhar Dhawan unluckily the old warhorses are still struggling with their form. Southpaw (Dhawan) has been performing outstandingly well ever since he took the charge to open the Indian innings in all formats of the game and never gave his skipper and selectors a chance to even consider the comeback of the senior Delhiites. Comeback of these two openers - Gambhir and Sehwag, now depends on two conditions. First, they have to perform consistently in domestic cricket. Secondly, how well or poorly the newly paired openers – Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will perform in the near future. Dhawan, though, is in sublime form but Rohit Sharma is still patchy and his inconsistent form might open a slot in the top order. Gambhir recently joined Essex club to play County cricket, which has helped many cricketers in the past to make their comeback in the national teams. But so far in four innings, the left-hander hasn’t performed well. Yuvraj Singh is another out of favour player. Though, the stroke maker has already won the biggest battle of his life -- by defeating cancer -- but to make a comeback in the national team, considering his health and fitness won’t be that easy. Albeit, as we all know that he is a real fighter and surprised many by his fighting instincts – be it on or off-the-field. So, it’s almost impossible to write him off. The only concern with him was of his fitness as no one can doubt his calibre as a cricketer. And to make a comeback, he went to France to attend a six-week fitness camp under the guidance of world renowned fitness expert, along with Zaheer Khan. He has achieved many accolades and records while representing the country -- be it the Man of the Series in the 2011 World Cup or hitting six sixes against Stuart Broad in T20 World Cup. His all-round skills, certainly give him an added advantage, but to break into the team, he has to give more than 100 per cent. After the retirement of frontline fast bowler Javagal Srinath, the only bowler who effectively managed to fill the void space is undoubtedly Zaheer Khan. He played a crucial role all these years by spearheading the Indian bowling line-up. From moving the new ball both ways with good control, to reverse swinging the old one, to use slower one with good effect, his versatility made him one of the best fast bowlers in contemporary cricket. But right through his illustrious career, Zaheer has been plagued with injuries which forced him to miss matches at regular intervals. And injuries at regular intervals have always pushed him back. It was never his form, it was always his injury and fitness concern that gave him tough times in the past. Zaheer’s talent and contribution was such that once MS Dhoni stated that he is the Sachin Tendulkar of bowling. And even the best swing bowler in contemporary cricket Jimmy Anderson admitted that he picked a few tricks from Zaheer. Zaheer knows that fitness is a major hurdle for him as he himself recently said, ‘My fitness has let me down and I have been working on it’. And after his successful fitness sojourn in France, now he will leave for South Africa to get back into proper shape. Zaheer Khan’s comeback will only strengthen the Indian bowling. And his rich experience can also help the young fast bowlers to further enhance their skills. So Zaheer has to work on his fitness as he has enough tricks up his sleeves to get back into the India fold. Harbhajan Singh, the ‘turbanator’ is also in the list of dejected seniors. Dip in Bhajji’s form and the sudden rise of R Ashwin in all forms of the game, gradually gave selectors a reason to keep him out of the team. For Harbhajan, who is the highest wicket taking spinner for India in Test’s (413) after Anil Kumble (619), it would be a hard nut to crack to make a place in the national team. Apart from Ashwin, Dhoni also has Ravindra Jadeja in the team, who has made his reputation as a breakthrough bowler. The other options to exploit for the skipper are of Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra. So, Bhajji has to come up with something outstanding in the domestic leagues to get into MSDs playing X1. All these five players have played a crucial role in India’s success in recent times - from taking them to the top in Test rankings, to winning the World Cup in both the limited over formats -- T-20 World Cup in 2007 and ODI World Cup in 2011. Their best days are behind them and now they have to come up with something really special to make a place for themselves, which might not be impossible, but it wouldn’t be easy either. As they say - ‘Form is temporary and class is permanent’, although this time around it would be the form that would give them a chance to get back into the international circuit to show their class.