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Misbah wants Pakistan to start afresh

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Pakistan have moved from one Sri Lankan fortress to another. The ramparts of the Galle fort provided the backdrop for the 209-run defeat in the first Test, and their next venue, in Colombo, is as intimidating for visiting teams because of Sri Lanka’s record there in recent years.If Pakistan are to level the series in the second Test, they will have do what no other team has done for eight years – win at the SSC. Since 1984, Sri Lanka have won 17 Tests and lost six here. Their last defeat was in 2004, when Ricky Ponting’s Australia won by 121 runs to complete a 3-0 cleansweep. Sri Lanka haven’t conceded a single Test since, winning six and drawing five.Pakistan’s record at the venue isn’t bad either – they undefeated here. In 1994, the Test was called off before a ball was bowled because of the threat of post-election civil unrest. Pakistan’s next match at the SSC was in 1997 – a high-scoring draw. Three years later, Sri Lanka were blown away by the pace of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and the offspin of Arshad Khan. The 2006 contest had big centuries by Shoaib Malik and Kumar Sangakkara but there wasn’t enough time for a result. Three years later, with the series already lost, Pakistan salvaged a draw.Pakistan felt Misbah-ul-Haq’s absence in Galle, both as a batsman and captain. His stodginess in the middle order was missed, as was his presence in the field, for his spinners seem to respond better to his fields. It simply wasn’t Pakistan’s or Mohammad Hafeez’s match and it was made worse by the umpiring. Misbah, not the most expressive of captains, had simple advice for his side – wipe the slate clean.”We have to forget the past and be positive going into the match,” Misbah said. “This is how cricket goes, you just can’t afford to remember the games you have lost. You have to give 100% in the next game.”The batting was a problem in Galle, with Hafeez, Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar failing. Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq found form, but a bit too late. Misbah, however, said it was a combination of factors that let Pakistan down.”We let them [Sri Lanka] score nearly 500 and that put pressure on us. It’s not just our batting, we need to improve our bowling as well,” Misbah said. “It was Hafeez’s first [Test] as captain, we were playing a Test after a long time. It takes time for any captain to settle down. Sri Lanka batted well too in Galle, a good hunting ground for them.”Misbah said Pakistan’s second innings in Galle, which had 80s by Younis and Shafiq, was a sign that the batting was starting to click. “I am confident this batting line-up will come back hard,” he said. “They need to remind themselves about the team’s form over the last one and a half years and we will pull things back.”

Netherlands secure comfortable win

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ScorecardNetherlands chased down a 97-run target in 21.4 overs to secure a comfortable win after Mudassar Bukhari and Timm van der Gugten had razed the UAE batting order in the first ODI in Rotterdam. UAE made an encouraging start to score 25 runs but Bukhari bowled opener Haroon Iftikhar with the fourth ball of his second over and two balls later, he accounted for Shaiman Anwar. At the other end, van der Gugten took two more wickets in his first three balls push UAE into further trouble. UAE never recovered from the initial shock and kept losing wickets in quick intervals. A fighting 41 off 81 balls by Rohan Mustafa helped UAE to hobble to 96.The total never challenged Netherlands as Tom Cooper led the chase with a quick 35-ball 37 as Netherlands took a 1-0 lead in the two match series. The next match will be played on July 23 in Deventer.

Sangakkara, Amla, Philander, Clarke in running for top ICC honour

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South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Australia’s Michael Clarke and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara are in the running for the ICC Cricketer of the Year award for 2011-12. The ICC announced the shortlists for the annual awards on Thursday, and the winners will be announced at a function ahead of the World Twenty20, on September 15, in Colombo.

ICC Cricketer of the Year nominees’ stats

Hashim Amla: 915 runs at 65.35 with three hundreds in ten Tests, 419 runs at 52.37 with one hundred in eight ODIs
Michael Clarke: 1355 runs at 58.91 with five hundreds in 14 Tests, 759 runs at 50.60 with one hundred in 19 ODIs
Kumar Sangakkara: 1444 runs at 60.16 with five hundreds in 14 Tests, 1457 runs at 42.85 with three hundreds in 37 ODIs
Vernon Philander: 56 wickets at 16.57 with six five-fors in nine Tests

The four cricketers have also been nominated for ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, while Lasith Malinga, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli join Sangakkara as the contenders for ODI Cricketer of the year.The nominees were picked off the ICC’s longlists, via voting by an academy of 32 people consisting of former players, members of the media, and representatives of the ICC’s panel of umpires and match referees. The players were picked based on their performance between August 4, 2011, and August 6, 2012.The Twenty20 Performance of the Year shortlist includes Tillakaratne Dilshan (for his century against Australia last August), Ajantha Mendis (for his six-for against Australia during the same series), Chris Gayle (for his unbeaten 85 against New Zealand in Florida) and Richard Levi (for his ton against New Zealand, the fastest century in international T20s).West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor and England’s Sarah Taylor are most prominent on the women’s shortlists, nominated for both Women’s ODI Cricket of the Year and Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year.List of nomineesICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC T20I Performance of the Year: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Richard Levi, Ajantha Mendis
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Lydia Greenway (Eng), Anisa Mohammed (WI), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year: Alyssa Healy (Aus), Lisa Sthalekar (Aus), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Doug Bracewell, Dinesh Chandimal, Sunil Narine, James Pattinson
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: Kevin O’Brien, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Paul Stirling (all four Ireland), Dawlat Zadran (Afg)
ICC Umpire of the Year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Richard Kettleborough, Simon Taufel, Rodney Tucker
ICC Spirit of Cricket: Mohammad Hafeez, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers
People’s Choice Award: James Anderson, Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachin Tendulkar

Hussey warms up with half-century

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ScorecardMichael Hussey made 65 in his first first-class innings since April•Getty Images

Michael Hussey showed plenty of positive signs in his first innings against a red ball since the Test tour of the West Indies in April, as he compiled a confident 65 against Victoria at the MCG. Marcus North was also in the runs after ridding himself of the burden of Western Australia’s captaincy, and his 87 helped the Warriors to 248 before Victoria’s openers survived a difficult period in the fading light shortly before stumps.At the close of the first day, the Bushrangers were 0 for 21 with Chris Rogers on 12 and Peter Handscomb on 6, and they trailed the Warriors by 227 runs. It hadn’t been an easy day for the batsmen as the ball nibbled around under a cloudy sky and a couple of rain delays didn’t help either. But Hussey and North both settled in for an extended period against a quality attack led by Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Clint McKay.Hussey came to the crease in the second over after McKay nipped a ball away to take the edge of Marcus Harris’ bat, and immediately he had a nervy moment. The first ball Hussey faced was inside edged off the bowling of Pattinson and Matthew Wade, diving low to his right, was unable to glove the ball. All the same, the quality of bowling was a reasonable warm-up for Hussey ahead of the first Test against South Africa, and eventually he started to find the middle of the bat.He pulled the medium-pacer Alex Keath for six and began to find some gaps with his drives and brought up his half-century from 76 deliveries. However, a rain break was the undoing of Hussey, who edged the first ball when play resumed to second slip, where his brother David took the catch off the bowling of Jayde Herrick.Marcus North, who had come to the crease after the debutant Sam Whiteman edged to slip for 29 off McKay, kept the runs ticking over for the Warriors. North said on Monday that his own poor form had been the key reason for his decision to give up the state’s captaincy and the initial indications were that he was better for the reduced responsibility, as he accompanied the lower order until the end of the innings.North was eventually bowled for 87 by Pattinson, who bowled a quick, aggressive spell late in the innings and finished with 2 for 56. Siddle collected 2 for 53, including Mitchel Marsh caught behind when he wafted at a wide ball, and McKay, Herrick and Alex Keath also picked up two wickets each.

Debutant du Plessis stars in thrilling draw

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Faf du Plessis became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut•Getty Images

Faf du Plessis would not have been playing in this Test were it not for JP Duminy hurting his Achilles tendon at the Gabba. And just as Duminy did on debut in Perth four years ago, du Plessis has grabbed his first chance at Test cricket to provide a remarkable result for the South Africans. At the WACA it was a near-record chase of 414 for victory; this time South Africa’s challenge was to bat for four and a half sessions on a wearing Adelaide Oval pitch to salvage a draw.Thanks to du Plessis, they did so. Thanks to du Plessis, the scoreline remains at 0-0 heading into the decider in Perth, despite Australia having had the best of the first two Tests. And thanks to du Plessis, Australia’s bowlers will have only four days to recover from some serious exhaustion, especially Peter Siddle, who sent down 63.5 overs for the match and was so debilitated by the time he bowled the final over of the match that he could barely stand up.Of course, it wasn’t all down to du Plessis. Early in the day, AB de Villiers played against type to score 33 from 220 balls without a boundary. Jacques Kallis again fought off his hamstring strain to provide important support in a 110-ball innings of 46. And Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt and Morne Morkel did just enough to ensure that the No.11, Imran Tahir, would not be required. For South Africa, who will lose the No.1 Test ranking if Australia take the series, it was a draw that felt like a win.For Michael Clarke and his men, it was an opportunity missed. There wasn’t a lot more the Australians could have done, especially with James Pattinson’s injury leaving them a bowler short throughout the fourth innings. But there were some half-chances that they were unable to take, the kind of tiny openings that on a day like this must not be wasted. An Australian victory was still possible until the final over of the last hour of the match.By that stage, Siddle looked as if he’d just run a marathon. Somehow, he kept running in and his pace barely dropped, but Morkel was good enough to block out the over, which left South Africa on 8 for 248 when stumps was called. The score was irrelevant to the South Africans, who had given up on the chase of 430 on the fourth afternoon. Wickets were all that mattered. And a couple of breakthroughs in the final 40 minutes kept the contest alive.Steyn fell for a 28-ball duck when he chipped an inswinging full toss from Siddle to midwicket, where Rob Quiney snapped up a sharp catch. And Kleinveldt survived for 17 deliveries before he missed a yorker and was bowled by Siddle for 3. In the end, Siddle finished with 4 for 65 from 33 overes, but his herculean effort was more than matched by du Plessis, who ended up unbeaten on 110 from 376 balls. For any batsman, it would have been a magnificent innings; for a debutant, it was preposterously good.Most notable was the fact that du Plessis did not become overawed by the situation. He spent an eternity in the nineties but was not flustered, the team goal of survival overshadowing his own ambitions. When he eventually pushed two runs through cover off Ben Hilfenhaus and became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut, after Andrew Hudson, Jacques Rudolph and Alviro Petersen, he acknowledged the applause and then settled straight back down to continue his job.The milestone took him 310 deliveries, but he was far from stagnant. He played his shots when the opportunity arose and finished with 14 boundaries. He was as calm as Duminy had been back in 2008; in fact, his effort was much more impressive because the conditions were tougher and nobody else in the line-up managed so much as a half-century. The Australians thought they had du Plessis twice in the first session, only to be denied on review.Both came off the bowling of Clarke, who drew positive lbw calls from Billy Bowden when du Plessis had 33 and again on 37. The first time, the batsman’s review showed the ball had pitched a fraction outside leg stump; the second time it revealed that the two noises Bowden had heard were bat on ball and bat on ground – the ball had not even struck du Plessis on the foot or pad.The Australians also used up their final review shortly before lunch when du Plessis, on 49, offered no shot to a Nathan Lyon delivery that pitched and struck him outside the line of off stump but was turning enough to interest Clarke. However, Eagle Eye suggested the ball would have bounced over the top of the stumps, and Clarke was left to consider how he would find six wickets in two sessions with no further reviews available.In the last over before tea, they had a chance when du Plessis edged Hilfenhaus and Matthew Wade, standing up to the stumps, couldn’t grasp the catch. Ed Cowan also put down a tough chance at short leg in the final session when Steyn clipped Siddle off his pads and the ball flew low to the ground, and they were the kind of opportunities the Australians couldn’t afford to miss.Cowan did complete a much easier catch in close when Lyon, who bowled 50 overs in the innings and 94 for the match, drew an inside edge onto pad from Kallis that popped up to short leg. Kallis had made 46 and given his injury, his effort was just as critical as that of du Plessis. De Villiers also played a key role until he was bowled by Siddle for a laborious 33 from 220 deliveries, an innings that did not include a boundary and was second only to Chris Tavare’s effort at Madras in 1982 in terms of the lowest strike-rate for an innings of at least 30 runs in Test history.De Villiers was happy defending and that was all South Africa really needed. They also required someone to stick around for the whole day, and du Plessis obliged. For the first time since 1921, Australia and South Africa had played out two consecutive draws. And for the second time this series, Australia saw a potential victory evade them. It all comes down to Perth.

Pietersen regains central contract

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The Pietersen controversy

May 31, 2012: Pietersen retires from England one-day and Twenty20 cricket after ECB insists that he must be available for both forms of the game.
August 6, 2012: Pietersen gives his notorious “It’s hard being me” interview after a brilliant 149 against South Africa at Headingley, claiming “obstacles” must be overcome for his England career to continue.
August 11, 2012: Pietersen backtracks on his England retirement and takes to YouTube to announce that he wants to commit again in all forms of the game. The following day, England drop him anyway for the final Test .
August 15, 2012: The ECB confirm they have received an apology from Pietersen and an admission he sent “provocative”’ text messages to members of the South African team.
August 21, 2012: England omit Pietersen from their squads for limited-overs series against South Africa and for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.
September 7, 2012: England omit Pietersen from their list of central contracts for 2012/13. Less than a fortnight later, they leave him out of the Test squad for India.
October 3, 2012: Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, and Pietersen appear together at a media conference in Colombo in which Pietersen issues a long apology and Clarke states that a “reintegration process” has begun.
October 18, 2012: Pietersen is added to England’s Test squad for India on a temporary central contract.
January 9, 2013: England confirm that Pietersen has signed a full central contract until September 2013.

Kevin Pietersen has been awarded a full central contract by the ECB, so formally completing his reintegration into the England set-up.Confirmation that Pietersen had regained official approval was given by England’s limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, ahead of the opening ODI against India in Rajkot on Friday. His contract, in common with the rest of England’s senior players, will run until September 30.As England arrived in Rajkot, Giles said: “Kevin has now signed up fully and is fully back on board. It’s great news. It’s great for me to have him, his experience in this part of the world is invaluable.”Pietersen had been playing on a short-term deal since his relationship deteriorated last summer with the ECB, England’s director of coaching Andy Flower and several senior players, an affair which reached a head when he was dropped for the final Test of the summer against South Africa.He missed World Twenty20 but returned to England’s Test side for the series in India and his flamboyant 186 in the second Test in Mumbai turned a series that England went on to win 2-1.Attention will now turn not to Pietersen’s lone stand-offs with the England cricket authorities, but the progress of negotiations on a redrafted central contract which are taking place between the ECB and the Professional Cricketers Association with the aim of reaching agreement before back-to-back Ashes series against Australia later this year.Angus Porter, chief executive of the PCA, who was called in last summer to broker peace talks between Pietersen and the ECB, suggested at the time that a more formalised rotation system was essential if players were to survive the record amounts of cricket being played and called for players to be given a say in their rest periods.Under the present system, time off is entirely a decision for the England management based on their assessment of a player’s needs.Porter also favours the establishment of a window for IPL which would allow England’s top players to take part in the event, but with the BCCI resisting such a suggestion in the belief that they are empowered to act as they wish anyway, and other Boards showing little inclination to debate the matter, he is unlikely to make progress on the subject.Pietersen will not be the only England player watching such negotiations, but he will be watching them more avidly than most and his advisers can be expected to make their feelings known.It would be naive, too, to assume that his signing of a central contract is the start of an untroubled long-term peace which will last until his retirement. His prolonged fall out with the England management disturnbed him and his rapport with his England team-mates was by all reports a good one in India.But he remains essentially the same headstrong individualist who has permanently to remind himself of the importance of group requirements and that is not about to change because he has signed a piece of paper.

Mushfiqur bags Masters degree in History

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Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has followed up his Man of the Series performance in the ODIs against West Indies with another notable achievement: he has completed his Masters degree in History from Jahangirnagar University. It’s a rare accomplishment for top professional cricketers and Mushfiqur, who was accorded a reception by the university on Sunday, has said he hopes to set an example for his younger team-mates so that their futures are more secure.After finishing school and college from BKSP, he joined the university in 2007 and has now completed an honours and masters. The specialisation in the latter was in contemporary South Asian history, and he finished with an impressive CGPA of 3.49. According to Mushfiqur, it wasn’t a solo effort as his classmates and teachers ensured he didn’t miss anything while playing for Bangladesh.”This degree is a huge honour for me,” Mushfiqur said. “Apart from my efforts, I would give credit to the university teachers and my friends who guided and assisted me. I couldn’t attend most of the classes, and had to take notes from my friends while the university authorities made sure my attendance wasn’t an issue.”The teachers also considered my attendance issues because my cricket commitments didn’t allow me to attend regular classes. I also had to work extra hard but whenever possible, I went for classes and took the exams.”Mushfiqur’s degree is a major boost for him personally and a source of inspiration for cricketers in the country, especially the younger ones. It goes to show how education and an international career can be managed in Bangladesh where most cricketers abandon their studies to pursue the game professionally.As a result, Mushfiqur wants to stress on the importance of education in the young players’ lives, though he believes it is ultimately a matter of choice. “Cricket is just a part of life, there’s nothing more important than education. I think it should be a message to our younger fans.”Everyone has their own philosophy in life, and if they want to study I would say it is their choice. It is not easy to handle both. I always encourage those younger than me that they must take their education seriously.”Mushfiqur described the scramble ahead of exams, most of which he had to appear in isolation as he would usually miss the scheduled dates. “You wouldn’t believe it but when I was returning from tours, I had to study at planes and airports, because I had exams the following day.”Between matches maybe everyone else was free to roam around whichever country we were playing in, but I had to take notes and stay back in the hotel to study. But my team-mates were nice, they never teased me.”He found inspiration from within his family and also from Kumar Sangakkara, especially the manner in which the Sri Lankan cricketer has carried himself over the years. “It is appreciated that someone like Sangakkara’s sports personality is shaped by his education. He is obviously an inspiration.”After I had completed my Higher Secondary Certificate exam, I didn’t want to pursue studies but I was reminded of its importance. My family encouraged me, told me not to give up on studies. They are very proud of me and I am inspiring my younger brothers and sisters in the family by doing two things at a time.”In future, Mushfiqur hopes to work closer to his sport than history, saying that the degree has taught him many lessons about life. “I have to give cricket a lot of time but I learned a lot by going through the process of graduating, and I want to do an MBA or a PhD, preferably on something close to cricket so that I can add that to my current profession.”

Worcestershire profit from hotel lease

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Worcestershire have announced a profit after interest of £225,000 for the year ending September 30, 2012, a figure heavily swollen by proceeds from Premier Inn for a long-term lease for a hotel development at New Road designed to secure the county’s financial future.Without the exceptional payment of £350,000, Worcestershire would have shown a pre-tax loss of £125,000 after one of the wettest summers on record. New Road is particularly susceptible because of recurring flooding of the ground from the River Severn.In a season where Worcestershire were relegated from Division One of the championship, income fell by 12 per cent to £2.62m.Worcestershire’s annual report states: “At the club’s 2011 AGM it was noted that we had done a great deal to reduce risk, but clearly have not yet done enough to offset the extreme adverse weather in 2012. Met Office figures showed 2012 to be the second wettest summer since records began and resulted in the loss of over 15 days home and away cricket, making 2012 a real challenge.”However, we now have our Premier Inn hotel and new club facilities under construction, which is anticipated to attract 35,000-40,000 hotel visitors a year. Combined with our own new conferencing, bars and executive facilities will allow the Club to extend existing revenue streams as well as develop new areas. This will create a truly 365-day-a-year business. With a long-term, viable and sustainable future ultimately allowing further investment both on and off the pitch.”Phase 2 of Worcestershire’s ground improvements is now underway on the Severn side of the ground, which should see a 120-room hotel completed by November 2013. The report admitted: “While it is expected there will be some disruption during the 2013 season, we feel it is a small price to pay for the future benefits the facilities will bring.”

Delport century gives Dolphins first win

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCameron Delport smashed an unbeaten 58-ball 103 to lead Dolphins to their first win of the tournament in six games. Delport hit nine fours and five sixes for his maiden T20 hundred, taking Dolphins to 179. After the early loss of Divan van Wyk, Delport was accompanied by Ravi Bopara in an 83-run stand. David Miller then joined Delport and produced an unbeaten 23-ball 39 to add 80 runs in less than eight overs with Delport.Knights’ reply was led by Rilee Rossouw who made 44 off 28 but did not get much support during his stay. Loots Bosman and Dean Elgar were dismissed in the first six overs and once Rossouw departed in the 11th over, Obus Pienaar tried to keep the Knights in the hunt but his 32 off 21 also went in vain. Yusuf Abdulla was the most successful Dolphins bowler with 2 for 17 which kept Knights to 165 for 6.Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLions continued their stay at the top of the table when they chased Cape Cobras’ total of 117 with five wickets left. After Cobras were asked to bat, Richard Levi was dismissed for a duck. Dane Vilas steered the innings with a knock of 30. Once he was bowled in the 14th over, the middle order could not convert the start into a big score. Sohail Tanvir took two wickets in an over to limit Cobras to 117 for 6.Lions opener Quinton de Kock also got out for a duck and Gulam Bodi departed for 10 in the fifth over. Alviro Petersen’s 36-ball 46 put Lions back on track along with Tanvir who made 28 off 24. Both Petersen and Tanvir fell in the same over to Beuran Hendricks but their 49-run stand had taken them close to victory. Jean Symes and Dwaine Pretorius made sure they won with 10 balls to spare.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA fifty from Christiaan Jonker and a four-wicket haul from Wayne Parnell got Warriors their fourth win in six matches to take them to second position in the points table. After scoring 150 for 9 when put in to bat, Warriors restricted Titans to 140 for a 12-run win.Jonker and Ashwell Prince put on 75 upfront in 9.4 overs, of which Jonker made 50 off 33, hitting ten boundaries. But both were dismissed within seven balls and Samit Patel was dismissed four balls later by Roelof van der Merwe. Before JJ Smuts and Adrian McLaren could convert their starts, they were bowled for 19 and 28 respectively. Alfonso Thomas then took three wickets, including two in the last over, to keep Warriors to 152.Wayne Parnell removed Henry Davids first ball and struck again to dismiss van der Merwe. in his second over. Jacques Rudolph made a 36-ball 32 and Titans were scoring at under six runs per over which kept the pressure mounting. Scott Styris tried to keep them in the game, with three sixes and two fours, but Parnell took two more wickets, including that of big-hitting Albie Morkel, and Titans could not go beyond 140.

Bird out of India series with back injury

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The fast bowler Jackson Bird will not rejoin Australia’s squad in India after scans in Melbourne confirmed he has a bone stress injury in his back. Bird is likely to be out of action for up to two months, which is a worrying development for Australia in an Ashes year, given how well Bird’s accurate seam-bowling style could translate to English conditions.Bird took 0 for 10 from 10 overs in the warm-up match against the Indian Board President’s XI two weeks ago but was not picked for the first Test in Chennai. He flew home after the Test to have his back injury assessed and Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner said the results had shown a problem with his lower back.”Initial tests performed in Melbourne have confirmed that Jackson Bird has a bone stress injury of the low back,” Brukner said. “He will undergo further tests tomorrow [Thursday]. He will not be re-joining the team in India.”The loss of Bird leaves Australia with a 16-man squad ahead of the second Test, which starts in Hyderabad on Saturday. At this stage, the selectors have not decided on whether to send a replacement player to join the group, leaving Mitchell Johnson as the only extra fast bowler in the group besides those who played in the first Test.