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Tillakaratne Dilshan has admitted that his side were “20 or 25 runs” short of a winning total in the second one-day international against South Africa in East London. Sri Lanka put on 236 for 6 after a slow start – they had managed just 82 runs by the halfway stage of their innings.”The wicket was slow but we tried to get to 250,” Dilshan said. “In the first 20 overs, we did not get enough runs. They bowled and fielded really well.”South Africa removed Dilshan in the second over and Kumar Sangakkara in the 10th, forcing Sri Lanka to retreat into defensive mode. Dinesh Chandimal had to partner Upul Tharanga in building an innings from the ground up and then join forces with bigger-hitters to craft a competitive total. “He [Chandimal] is one of the fine youngsters of Sri Lankan cricket,” Dilshan said. “We wanted to give him opportunity at No. 4 and we hope he can carry on the same form in the next three matches.”Although South Africa’s bowlers did not extract great pace or bounce from a tame strip, they were able to strangle Sri Lanka, something captain AB de Villiers put down to their combined efforts. “We took crucial wickets halfway through the game,” de Villiers said. “We picked up Sangakkara and Jayawardene early on, and those two are some of their match-winners. It was a good team effort.”Given South Africa’s record in chasing moderate but tricky scores, Sri Lanka would have thought they were in with a chance throughout. But they failed to take early wickets and only made breakthroughs later on in the innings, when South Africa were on course for victory. Dilshan said the make-up of the side may have affected their ability to claim more wickets.”Another spinner might have been handy on this wicket,” Dilshan admitted. Sri Lanka could not play two specialist spinners because Ajantha Mendis was out with injury – he had a recurrence of an earlier back problem ahead of the match – forcing Dilshan to rely on himself to some degree. “I bowled nine overs, because I thought this wicket will be helpful for the spinners.”Dilshan brought himself on to attack JP Duminy, who is thought to be susceptible against spin. Duminy defied both him and Rangana Herath, and recorded a competent 66 after being moved up the order into the top four. “I prefer a bit of time when I walk out to the middle and I wasn’t given that opportunity in the previous matches,” Duminy said. “We are going to mix it up between myself, AB and Faf [du Plessis] for those three positions [Nos. 4, 5 and 6] in the line-up. My goal was to get us as close as possible.”With South Africa showing flexibility and innovation in their 2-0 lead, the breaking point is almost upon Sri Lanka. They will need to win the third match in Bloemfontein to stay alive in the series. “We can take a lot of positives after losing the first one-dayer badly. This one came close,” Dilshan said. “If we can lift our game 10-15%, we can do well in the next three matches. Me, Sanga [Sangakkara] and Mahela [Jayawardene] are not in great form. At least two of us have to come to the party.”Sri Lanka will be boosted by the knowledge that South Africa will go into the remainder of the series somewhat unsettled at the top. Hashim Amla has been released for paternal duties after scoring a century and a half-century in the first two matches. “Hashim will be missed. Hopefully we clinch the series without him as soon as possible,” de Villiers said. “But we have a lot of talent in South African cricket and I am looking forward to what the selectors come up with [as a replacement for Amla].”Alviro Petersen is expected to be called up, to open with Graeme Smith. De Villiers indicated that the former captain will keep his position, despite his poor run of late. “Graeme is a huge factor in our team,” de Villiers said. “He is not scoring 1000 runs in every game at the moment but he will be back soon.”South Africa’s squad for the next match will be announced on Sunday. The selectors are also deliberating the right time to offer Jacques Kallis a rest.

Offspinner Sachithra Senanayake will replace the injured Ajantha Mendis in Sri Lanka’s squad for the remainder of the ODI series in South Africa. Mendis had a recurrence of his back problem ahead of the second match in East London.”Ajantha Mendis will return to Sri Lanka from South Africa due to injury and will not be available for the remainder of the series. Sachitra Senanayaka will leave for South Africa immediately,” Sri Lanka Cricket said.Senanayake, 26, has been playing on Sri Lanka’s domestic circuit for more than five years. He has represented Ruhuna and Sinhalese Sports Club, and picked up 297 wickets in 59 games at an average of 20.50 in the first-class format. In List A cricket, he has 107 wickets in 66 matches at 18.73.In Tier A of the Premier League Tournament, Sri Lanka’s first-class competition, Senanayake was the fourth-highest wicket-taker last year, with 45 in eight matches at 15.17. He topped the wicket charts in the Premier Limited Over Tournament, the domestic List A competition, taking 16 wickets in six matches at 11.18.Senanayake is likely to be available for the third ODI on January 17.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi scored 42 off 27 balls to help Pakistan reach 262•AFP

For the second time in two matches, Bangladesh’s top-order batsmen collapsed quickly, this time playing rash shots on an easier pitch, and Pakistan secured the three-match series 2-0 without being stretched in Mirpur. The home side’s approach to their innings was in contrast to that of Pakistan, who had batted with deliberate caution to guard against early wickets and build a platform for a strong total. The difference in how the teams fared in the first ten overs of their innings decided the match.Bangladesh’s batsmen did not even begin to challenge Pakistan, crumbling against Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul, whose economical yet incisive spells with the new ball made the target of 263 disappear from sight. The collapse began in the fourth over and went on until the tenth, at the end of which Bangladesh were 19 for 4. Tamim Iqbal slashed at a potential wide and toe-ended it to slip; Imrul Kayes chipped a drive softly to cover; Shahriar Nafees might have inside-edged on to his pad but he had just survived a closer lbw shout; and Mushfiqur Rahim pushed away from his body and was caught at gully. In between these dismissals the batsmen couldn’t get the ball off the square and the asking-rate spiraled irreversibly out of control. Hafeez eventually finished with figures of 10-2-15-2.Pakistan, on the other hand, used an old-school approach. They were content to play within themselves and build slowly. Pakistan weren’t entirely successful, because Bangladesh broke steady partnerships before they caused too much damage, but the power-hitters, Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi, fired from the platform built for them to reach a sizeable total.Hafeez and Younis Khan laid the foundations with a partnership of 57 for the second wicket. They blocked the good deliveries when they had to, and shouldered arms when they could. Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain conceded only 28 in the first nine overs before Mushfiqur turned to the left-arm spin of Shakib Al Hasan, who continued to tighten Bangladesh’s grip on the run-rate. Hafeez and Younis eventually fell in succession and, at 93 for 3 in the 26th over, Bangladesh had inched ahead.Then began Pakistan’s strongest partnership, between the two most different batsmen in the XI: Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal. Misbah ensured solidity, while Akmal infused the innings with urgency with his running between the wickets and his repertoire of attacking shots. Though Misbah had begun batting earlier, Akmal was soon double his captain’s score in virtually the same number of deliveries.The fifty partnership for the fourth wicket came off 54 balls and Akmal brought up his half-century off 49. Shakib had been Bangladesh’s best bowler and his only wicket broke the threatening partnership: Akmal skied the ball inside out to long-off to be caught for 59. Misbah fell soon after, becoming the debutant Elias Sunny’s maiden ODI wicket. At 193 for 5 in the 42nd over, Bangladesh had restored parity.Shahid Afridi hit his second ball for six, over long-off, and was then dropped on 8 by the bowler Shafiul. He went on to hurt Bangladesh, hitting the ball powerfully and charging between the wickets to score 42 runs off 27 balls. That Bangladesh had to chase more than 250 was their own fault, for they conceded 22 runs in extras, 17 of them through wides.Bangladesh were not without a hero, though, for Nasir Hossain entertained the strong crowd by scoring his maiden ODI century. Unfortunately for Hossain, he began his innings after the game was lost, and he did not have partners who batted with similar purpose. Even Shakib, who is usually hard to subdue if he bats long, managed only 34 off 90 balls. That partnership of 106 for the fifth wicket took 32.1 overs and caused the asking-rate to skyrocket.Hossain could have been out on 9 had the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed held an easy catch, and as Pakistan eased their intensity because they were never going to lose, he began to play his shots, taking on a formidable spin attack. Hossain began the 49th over on 86 off 127 balls and reached his century in the next four deliveries. He slammed Afridi over the extra-cover boundary for six, and cut through point, before playing a dot ball. On 96, he charged and swung, getting an edge that beat Sarfraz and went to the boundary. The crowd and his team-mates applauded him warmly, for he had been an example to his more experienced team-mates.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shahadat Hossain struck the first blow on Test return, but thereafter it was all about debutant Elias Sunny•Associated Press

As the sun shone after two washed-out days, the debutant left-arm spinner Elias Sunny injected some excitement into an encounter heading for only one result. He came into action after Bangladesh declared, and picked up four wickets on a pitch that’s has become highly spin-friendly but the time already lost to rain meant there won’t be much to play for barring momentum for the next Test and individual accolades.The pitch didn’t appear to have been affected much by the rain. There was limited movement but some extra bounce for the seamers; the spinners, however, got more assistance from the track than on the first day and the sharp turn was exploited by Sunny and Devendra Bishoo. The Bangladesh batsmen didn’t help their cause with some rash strokes while their counterparts were quite scratchy, struggling against the turn and bite. The hosts kept chipping away, even dislodging Shivnarine Chanderpaul just short of a pressure-relieving, fluent half-century, in a contest they’d had the better of.Sunny would have felt like a victim of some malicious conspiracy when he had two catches dropped off his bowling inside his first three overs. He is slower than his team-mate Shakib Al Hasan and gives the ball a lot more air, and was threatening when he came round the wicket, angling the ball in and getting it to spit away from a good length. He finally had his man, an unconvincing Kirk Edwards, who missed a sweep and was trapped in front, sparking wild celebrations from the debutant.Sunny, Shakib and Nasir Hossan, the other debutant spinner, were impressive bowling with close-in catchers. They often surprised the batsmen with the extra bounce, either catching the glove or a leading edge, and were unfortunate that neither short leg, silly point nor backward short leg were able to get their hands around those half-chances. But they continued creating opportunities and Sunny stood out. He saw off Darren Bravo, who stabbed at a delivery that landed in the rough to be caught at short leg.Chanderpaul, seeking to revive West Indies from 52 for 3, put on his more attacking side. A master of unsettling the bowling, whether defending or attacking, he infused life and urgency. Opener Kraigg Brathwaite blocked one end, nervy on occasion – Rubel Hossain bowled him off a no-ball – but mostly solid, while Chanderpaul eased the pressure at the other. He thrashed his first ball, off Sunny, over square leg, picked the gaps for twos and threes and stepped out to Sunny twice in an over to launch him over the long-on boundary.The pair added 62 for the fourth wicket before Brathwaite poked at a turner from Sunny to offer a bat-pad catch. The innings was rebuilding again with the experienced Samuels at the crease but he lost Chanderpaul, given out caught at slip though replays couldn’t conclusively show an inside edge. Sunny had had the last laugh.The West Indies batting undermined their efforts in the morning session, when Bishoo and Fidel Edwards shared five wickets to peg back the hosts. Despite those wickets, however, West Indies, as on the first day, offered a healthy dose of short-pitched deliveries that handed out some easy runs. The stand-out batsman in the morning was Nasir, who gave the crowd plenty to cheer about with his sprightly batting, which has already earned him two ODI half-centuries. He was especially ruthless against the bad balls, slashing and pulling the seamers and dispatching Bishoo for two fours in a cameo of 35. Joining him to walk away with praise at the end of the day was his fellow debutant.

Tim Paine has been ruled out of Australia’s tour of South Africa next month due to a finger injury, which is likely to open the door for Matthew Wade to make his international debut. Paine will have surgery later this week following a slower than expected recovery after he hurt his right index finger while batting at a Tasmania training session a month ago.The decision for Paine to have an operation means that Australia will need to find a new wicketkeeper for the two Twenty20s against South Africa on October 13 and 16 in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Brad Haddin last week announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals, which is likely to make Wade the favourite for a national call-up.Wade, 23, has played for Australia A over the past 18 months and was productive for Victoria last summer, when he finished second behind Brad Hodge on the Ryobi Cup run tally and also score 553 Sheffield Shield runs. It would be a major surprise if Wade was not chosen, with Chris Hartley having hardly been used in T20 by Queensland over the past two seasons, and Western Australia’s Luke Ronchi having slipped down the pecking order.And while the T20s in South Africa are the immediate opportunity, there could be further chances to provide backup for Haddin in one-day or Test cricket, depending on how long Paine is sidelined. Australia’s physiotherapist, Alex Kountouris, said Paine was still experiencing significant discomfort a month after sustaining the injury.”Tim Paine injured his right index finger batting at training with his Tasmanian state team four weeks ago,” Kountouris said. “He sustained a fracture in a similar part of the same finger late last year and required surgery. Tim has been resting the injury in recent weeks but is still experiencing considerable pain.”His surgeon has advised that the fracture is healing slower than expected and may not heal without surgical intervention. As such, Tim will be undergoing surgery later this week. He is likely to need an extended recovery period following surgery and will not be available for selection for the T20 and ODI tour of South Africa.”Paine is not the only one of Australia’s contracted players set for surgery, with the allrounder John Hastings likely to have an operation on his right shoulder. Hastings suffered the injury while training with Victoria and he too will be out of action for the T20 and one-day series in South Africa.”John Hastings injured his right shoulder during a training session with Cricket Victoria after returning from Australian duties in Sri Lanka,” Kountouris said. “He has had ongoing shoulder pain since this incident and has been unable to return to training. He has consulted a surgeon who has recommended surgery.”It is possible that he will have surgery sometime in the next week after further assessment from the surgeon. His return to cricket will be dependent on the management approach pursued but he will not be available for selection for the T20 and ODI tour of South Africa.”

ScorecardPaul Horton again missed his hundred but his innings was just what Lancashire needed•Getty Images

It’s time to get the calculators out. The permutations throughout the penultimate round of Championship matches have been many and varied but now some numbers really need to be crunched, especially for Lancashire and Hampshire as they try to keep themselves in touch at either end of the table.Events at Edgbaston – where Warwickshire forced Nottinghamshire to follow-on – are also vital and Lancashire need to at least match the result of the hosts otherwise they’ll be a distant third-favourite in the race for the pennant. Hampshire, meanwhile, are still in with a chance of maintaining their Division One status but they really need victory here to put pressure on Worcestershire. They will need to chase whatever target is on offer and Lancashire can decide what that is after closing 202 ahead following a superb final session.Their hopes for a significant first-innings lead were dented by Sean Ervine’s fine 128 which helped the visitors to keep the gap to seven runs. It left four-and-a-half sessions for either side to manoeuvre a position and Lancashire made the advances as Paul Horton, who fell in the 90s for the fourth time in the campaign, and Stephen Moore added 168 for the first wicket, the team’s best opening stand of the season.There was clear intent from the pair in the hour prior to tea as they scored at four-an-over but without taking risks although Horton was given a life on 25 when he was dropped at slip off Danny Briggs on his way to fifty off 76 balls. Progression wasn’t quite as brisk during the start of the final session as Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled his first nine overs for eight runs but the pace picked up again later.Horton, though, continued to lead the way including a well-struck six over deep midwicket and also used the reverse sweep when Briggs tried to nullify scoring options by coming over the wicket. However, three figures again eluded him – he has also been stranded in the 90s twice in the CB40 – when he picked out deep square-leg.Moore had played second fiddle with a half-century off 122 balls, but Lancashire showed their intent as Glen Chapple came in at No. 3. They will need to decide overnight exactly what they want to set Hampshire. An aggressive hour of batting in the morning will push the lead towards 300 although it will be hard work to bowl a side out.Hampshire began the day still 159 behind, but Ervine and Michael Bates took their sixth-wicket stand to 88 to frustrate Lancashire. The new ball had been taken first thing despite the impact of the spinners, yet Chapple and Kyle Hogg both bowled well enough to be deserve a reward with numerous deliveries missing the edge.With a view to Hampshire’s future it was an important innings from Bates who is an excellent gloveman yet doubts remain over his batting. The county tried to sign James Foster to replace Nic Pothas but it would be good to think they are willing to invest in a talented young player who can develop. Bates certainly didn’t look out place during his near two-hour innings which ended when he was superbly caught at short cover.It was spin that had again provided the breakthrough as Gary Keedy struck in his first over. Despite the breakthrough, though, Lancashire ran out of time for a full hand of batting points as Hampshire reached the 110-over mark on 309 for 6 with Ervine remaining firm having reached his first hundred of the season from 169 balls. Slowly wickets fell at the other end as Dimitri Mascarenhas edged to second slip and Keedy claimed his fifth when he clubbed to mid-off.At that point, shortly before lunch, Lancashire still had a chance of a lead of around fifty but Briggs then provided valuable support to Ervine in a stand of 59. The relative ease with which Briggs batted showed that, while help was offer from the surface, it remained good for batting. However, he was dropped at slip on 10 which cost precious time. He became the first, and only, wicket of the innings to fall to pace when he drove Chapple to cover and the innings ended when Ervine picked out long on.

Scorecard
Somerset assured themselves of a home semi-final in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a 40-run Group C win over Essex at Taunton.But it was victory at a price as skipper Marcus Trescothick injured an ankle while batting and looks set for a lengthy lay-off as his team chase a first ever County Championship title, as well as the 40-over crown. Peter Trego (51), Chris Jones (45 not out) and James Hildreth (41) were the mainstays of Somerset’s 251 for five after winning the toss. Tom Craddock was the pick of the Essex bowlers with two for 38.In reply, the visitors managed 211 all out, Jaik Mickleburgh top-scoring with 56 and Graham Napier making 41. There were two wickets each for Alfonso Thomas, Steve Kirby, Arul Suppiah and Craig Meschede.Trescothick had made only 10 at that start of Somerset’s innings when he was hurt turning quickly when sent back by opening partner Trego attempting a quick single. He had to be helped from the field and later emerged from the dressing room on crutches. Trego went on to a 53-ball half-century, with six fours, and Murali Kartik (29) helped him take the score to 68, having been promoted in the role of pinch-hitter.Hildreth hit four fours before being caught and bowled by Craddock and Jones, on his one-day debut for Somerset, needed to exercise some caution as he and Meschede (17) guided their side towards a competitive total. Thomas then struck a quick blow, trapping Mark Pettini lbw in the second over of the Essex reply. But Adam Wheater (33) hit straight sixes off Suppiah and Meschede as he and Mickleburgh added 78 for the second wicket.From then on wickets fell steadily, Meschede removing Tom Westley and James Foster to catches by former Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Steve Snell – signed on a short-term basis by Somerset, whose two keepers Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler were away with the England Twenty20 squad.Napier did his best to launch a victory bid from 161 for seven, hitting a big six off Kartik in scoring his runs off 38 balls. But when he was pinned leg before by Thomas with 55 still needed Somerset were on the brink of their ninth group win. Snell is also likely to keep wicket for them on the opening day of the Championship clash with Hampshire at Taunton, starting on Wednesday.

Ricky Ponting has given up the Australian captaincy and now it seems he is bidding farewell to the slips cordon.Continuing troubles with the finger Ponting fractured during last summer’s Ashes series mean he will not be fielding in the slips on the tour of Sri Lanka.The little finger on Ponting’s left hand remains an unpleasant sight, having been operated on twice and knocked around numerous times in the field during the World Cup campaign that brought his Australian captaincy tenure to an end.While the digit has benefited from Ponting’s first extended holiday for some years, its relative tenderness will mean the new captain Michael Clarke will need to look elsewhere for a second slip fielder, where Ponting has traditionally stood in Tests ever since the spot was vacated by Mark Waugh in 2002.”Maybe down the track [I will field in the slips again],” Ponting told . “It’s going to be a confidence thing for me as well, I need to know that I can move quickly for balls low to my left and not worry about copping a nasty one on the end of the finger again.”I won’t start there in the one dayers we’ve got coming up, but if I’m confident and I’m not getting any pain in the finger, and the captain thinks I’m one of the best slip fielders we’ve got, then I could be back in there one day.”I had two screws and a wire put in it before the World Cup, just to get through and be able to play in that tournament. I got through fine batting in the World Cup, fielding was a bit of an issue, every time I copped a bit of a knock on it, it was almost like I was re-breaking it again, so I went back home and had the screws and the wire out.”It’s a lot better now, I’ve got a lot less pain in every movement than I had before, and certainly the batting I’ve done in the last couple of months I haven’t noticed it at all so that’s a really good sign.”Looking ahead to Australia’s demanding schedule over the next 12 months, Ponting said it was important that the team took small steps towards improvement, concentrating on lifting itself to No. 4 in the ICC’s Test rankings before looking any further.”I think the most important thing for us right now is we don’t necessarily talk about getting back to the No. 1 ranking, because we’ve got to get to No. 4 first, then three, two and one,” Ponting said. “So we’ll take small steps at the start, I think we’ve got enough quality players around the group for us to get back to No. 4 pretty quickly.”We learned some lessons last year on disciplined Test match cricket, I think England were more disciplined than us and played better Test match cricket than us, and if we can learn from the mistakes that were made last year, that’ll go a long way to helping us become a better cricket team this year.”While Ponting acknowledged the loss of Simon Katich, he argued the future of the Australian team was promising, particularly given a developing battery of fast bowlers from which to choose.”A notable out with Simon Katich not being in the contract list, so you’d think Phil Hughes will slot into that spot,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working more with him on his game and helping him develop into a very good international cricketer which I think he can be. With Usman Khawaja around the group as well I think he’s someone who’s got that real Test match technique that you can build a player around, which is a really good sign for us, that’s what we need as a batting group.”The fast bowling stocks around Australia at the moment, if you look at our young guys, are probably as good as they’ve been since I’ve been playing the game. Pat Cummins, [Josh] Hazlewood, [Mitchell] Starc, [James] Pattinson, Ryan Harris is still relatively young in international cricket but at his best is as good as anyone, Peter Siddle, [Mitchell] Johnson, we’ve got a real good group there at the moment, and we’ve got to nurture them, keep bringing them on. But you read those names out and you think there’s enough ability there for us to win our fair share of games.”Ponting and Clarke will depart for Sri Lanka on Thursday as part of the limited overs component of the squad. The Twenty20 players are in Colombo ahead of two matches against the hosts from Saturday.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government have decided to intervene in the West Indies Players Association’s dispute with the WICB over the future of former captain Chris Gayle. The move comes on the heels of Gayle’s latest public and emotional statement against the board that included a request for government intervention.CARICOM chairman Denzil Douglas said the heads of government had agreed to resurrect the prime-ministerial sub-committee on cricket to try to work out a solution. “Today we had to take certain decisions with regards to the impasse that seems to be ongoing between the regional players association and the WICB,” Douglas told the . “We believe that West Indies cricket has not been one of the vehicles of which the Caribbean man today can be proud of moving himself upwards.”CARICOM’s announcement follows Guyana president Bharrat Jagdeo’s scathing criticism of the board. “It comes back to who owns West Indian cricket,” Jagdeo said. “The board thinks it owns West Indian cricket, my belief is that it belongs to all of us, the people of this region.”[In] many countries, when you have failures consistently, the board goes because sometimes it is the problem. Here it does not seem as if this is going to happen.”Gayle is being treated unfairly by the WICB. You can’t not tell him anything; he needs to earn too, and then you have a tour coming and when he goes off, he gets another contract then you’re concerned that he has left the region.”Jagdeo also claimed the board was following its own agenda against some of the players, and was highly critical of coach Ottis Gibson’s interference with senior cricketers.”This can’t be right. Something is wrong. It is all about pettiness and the culture of going with people who are compliant and I think we need to change a lot of these people. We need to have term limits there too. We need to have serious term limits on these boards.”The Gayle-WICB standoff was sparked off when Gibson criticised the senior batsmen following the team’s quarter-final exit at the World Cup. Gayle was subsequently ignored for the Pakistan series, along with fellow seniors Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Gayle travelled to India to participate in the IPL – where he was the player of the tournament – leaving the WICB disappointed since they were under the impression he was undergoing rehabilitation.Gayle reacted by slamming the board in a radio interview with KLAS Sports, saying he had been left with no option but to sign an IPL contract since the WICB had disrespected and mistreated him by not checking with him over his fitness before announcing the squad. He was consequently left out of the squad for the India games as well, and a heated meeting with the board – also attended by WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine – did little to improve matters, prompting Gayle’s impassioned release that stated he was going to seek options outside the West Indies to further his cricketing career.

One of the most widely cited contributors to Australian cricket’s sharply declining fortunes over the past few summers, the Futures League, will be drastically overhauled for next season.At the same time Simon Katich was raging against the compromises and inconsistencies he saw in Cricket Australia’s management and selection structures, the board signed off on a plan to tear up most of the measures introduced to the Futures League – formerly the second XI competition – in 2009.Age restrictions limiting the number of players over the age of 23 to three per team will be relaxed to allow six players over 23, while matches will be returned to four days’ length rather than three. Restrictions on the number of overs in each innings – 96 in the first innings, 48 in the second – have also been thrown out.The changes were recommended to the CA board by the playing conditions sub-committee, which included Mark Taylor, Matthew Hayden, Greg Chappell, Shane Warne, players’ union chief executive Paul Marsh and CA chairman Jack Clarke.Marsh said the Futures League, a gambit largely introduced by Chappell when he was head of the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, had severely weakened domestic cricket by thinning out the number of experienced players available to state sides.”The Futures League with the restriction of only having three players over the age of 23 has made it a very weak competition,” Marsh told ESPNcricinfo. “The players would say almost universally that the gap between grade and first-class cricket has never been larger than what it is now.”Therefore the Futures League or second XI competition, which sits in between those competitions, is even more important than ever. Yet it’s being made artificially weak by these age restrictions. One of the outcomes of the playing conditions committee meeting was that they would lift that restriction to allow six players over the age of 23, which is a step in the right direction.”From our perspective I’d prefer to see no age restrictions in there; you only need to have a few good young players coming through your system but you want to make sure that they are getting the best possible development opportunities.”You want them to have the best possible development through that pathway and I think we’ve gone away from what’s made us strong through our grade system and through our first-class system.”The views of Marsh have been echoed by numerous players and coaches, including Tasmania captain George Bailey, who led them to the Sheffield Shield title last summer.”It’s become really difficult to have guys who aren’t in your best XI, consistently playing good, hard cricket against other teams, with that under-23 rule,” Bailey said. “I’ve got no doubt that cricket and the way the bodies are, you play your best cricket after you’re 23, and it’s much the same as the Australian team. I think the best Australian players are better for having a really strong first-class system and we’re much the same.”Domestic cricket is only as good as the depth in squads, and the guys who, when they do enter first-class cricket, are ready to play. So that’s been a real challenge: to keep the guys who aren’t in your immediate XI or XII playing at the level that you expect of them at first-class level.”