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If Brian Lara could choose any island in the West Indies on which totackle Australia, the favourites for this year’s World Cup, it wouldhave to be Antigua. The venue of both his world batting records, 375against England in 1994 and 400 not out ten years later, not tomention West Indies’ world-record run-chase against the Aussies in2003; the island with a beach for every day of the year has cultivatedsome special memories for Lara over the years. How many of those,though, would he be willing to trade for a victory on Wednesday?The teams each carry with them two points after their 100% successful performances in the group stages, so the victor of this match willhave one foot in the semi-finals. It will, however, be pastures newfor both West Indies and Australia when their crucial Super Eightsclash gets underway. Lara’s favourite Antigua Recreation Ground hasbeen bypassed for this tournament, and instead the action will takeplace at the newly inaugurated Sir Vivian Richards stadium outside ofthe capital, St John.The teams have flown in from Kingston and St Kitts respectively, andconditions for this fixture are expected to be very different to whathas so far been experienced. Whereas Sabina Park has beencharacterised by slow cautious innings-building and Basseterre byraucous six-hitting, Antigua’s new stadium promises, in RickyPonting’s opinion, a bit of skid for the new ball and then excellentbatting conditions. The bigger boundaries, however, mean that the sortof run-feast that the Aussies served up against South Africa onSaturday will only materialise in the event of a bowling meltdown.That turn of events is not anticipated, however. West Indies, despitethe odd display of nerves in the opening match against Pakistan, havea side brimming with confidence, and the Australians certainly hold nofear for them. They have been victorious in two of their last fourencounters, in the DLF Cup last September and the subsequent ChampionsTrophy (although both of their defeats have come in the finals of thesame competition) while in the Caribbean they have won three in a rowin their last three meetings with Australia, albeit way back in2002-03.”I think we still have a lot of work to do to match the skills of theAustralia team,” said Lara, revelling in a chance to be the underdogsfor the first time in this competition. “We are dangerous, but theyare more dangerous. They are playing at their best, and I can tellfrom the way they are playing that they are here to make it ahat-trick of wins. They are very confident in their ability.”West Indies, however, need not be in awe of their opponents. With anattack spearheaded by the pacey Jerome Taylor, and featuring theversatile talents of Dwayne Bravo and the under-rated spin of ChrisGayle, it is a line-up far more varied than Australia’s lastopponents, the seam-orientated South Africans, and also far more usedto the sluggish conditions of the modern-day Caribbean. “I am quietlyconfident that we can perform pretty well in this World Cup,” saidLara. “The tournament still has a month left, and it is important totake each game at a time, and not get over-confident.”

West Indies’ batting is equally potent. Gayle, who creamed three ofhis 15 ODI centuries in last year’s Champions Trophy, has been quietso far in this tournament, but he’ll have watched the ease with whichSouth Africa’s Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers climbed intoAustralia’s new-ball attack at Basseterre. But, as ever in WestIndies-Australia contests, there’s one scalp which is going to bevalued just that little bit higher than all the rest.It’s a fact that Lara, who loves the Australian challenge, is only toowell aware of. “It is the thing that actually drives me,” he said.”The thought that the opposition is going to come after the so-calledkey player. That’s the thing that brings a positive response fromsomebody like myself.” With scores of 87 and 71 in those two recentvictories, not to mention his innumerable feats of batsmanship downthe years, Australia know that to silence the captain is half thebattle won.Worryingly for Australia, Lara has thrived in the past against farmore potent attacks that the one they are currently relying on. Thelikes of Brad Hogg, Shaun Tait and Nathan Bracken do not have the samering to them as Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath (circa1998-99), but Ponting was encouraged nonetheless by the way his menstood up to South Africa on Saturday. “If we play like we did [then] Ithink they’ll have a lot to fear,” he said, “but that is up to us. Ithink it will take a performance similar to the one we had the otherday if we are going to beat them.”They’ve won a couple of games against us of late, but in the twofinals we’ve beaten them convincingly. They are avery good one-day side, they should know these conditions better thananyone, and will have some great crowd support.” It all points to yetanother battle royale, as the World Cup begins to come nicely to theboil.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul,3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 DwayneBravo, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin, 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 DarenPowell, 11 Jerome Taylor.Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 MichaelHussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 GlennMcGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.

England depart on Saturday for a two-month tour of New Zealand with their coach, Peter Moores, under pressure to reverse a recent run of poor results in Tests which has brought consecutive defeats against India and Sri Lanka. However, the first challenge is in the one-day format where England’s fortunes have taken a significant upturn during the last six months.Paul Collingwood, after an uncertain start to his captaincy tenure against West Indies, has presided over a 4-3 success against India and an even more impressive 3-2 victory in Sri Lanka and is a forming a promising team alongside Moores. The relationship appears to have settled more quickly than the Moores-Michael Vaughan axis in Tests.”I never saw myself having a honeymoon period as such because you are always under pressure to deliver when you are working with England,” Moores said. “To me, you work as hard as you can with the players at your disposal and you will be judged accordingly at the end of whatever time you’re given in the role.”To me the aim is always to try to build towards something that’s sustainable and that you can pass on to the next guy. Every time England plays is a challenge and we have to try to win, build momentum and keep moving forward.”On paper it’s the one-day side who have the tougher task on England’s second winter trip. New Zealand are in an even more uncertain phase than the visitors with doubts surrounding the future of Shane Bond. Despite this they remain a competitive one-day unit and on England’s last visit in 2001-02 took the series 3-2 in the final match.”New Zealand are a very competitive side who get stuck in and generally make the most of what they have,” added Moores. “On their own patch they can be pretty tough to play but if you didn’t expect to win there would be no point in playing and we expect to win both the one-day and Test series.”Although England’s one-day record is improving the team is still not entirely settled and two new faces are making this tour, James Tredwell, the Kent offspinning allrounder, and Tim Ambrose, the Warwickshire wicketkeeper. Tredwell replaces Monty Panesar who has been sent off to India to re-learn the art of flight and guile while Ambrose’s situation is an odd one.When he was named in both the one-day and Test squads, David Graveney – the now former chairman of selectors – said Ambrose was almost certain to start as the Test keeper, but will have to play second fiddle in the one-dayers to Phil Mustard who kept in all five ODIs against Sri Lanka. Graveney then added that if Mustard has an outstanding series he could stake his Test claims, so an unclear situation could be muddied further over the next month.The core of England’s team, though, remains the same and the quick bowlers – James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad – will enjoy the conditions in New Zealand. The batsmen, too, who struggled on the sluggish surfaces of Sri Lanka, should find opportunities to cash in more accessible.England arrive in New Zealand on Monday before two warm-up matches against Canterbury on February 2 and 3. The first Twenty20 international is in Auckland on February 5 with the first ODI is in Wellington on the 9th.

Makhaya Ntini has been nominated in five different categories in the third annual Mutual & Federal SA Cricket Awards. The winners will be announced next week, and Ntini, who won the Cricketer of the Year prize last year, has been nominated in that category again, besides being one of the nominees for the ODI Cricketer of the Year, the Test Cricketer of the Year, the Players’ Player of the Year, and the Fans’ Cricketer of the Year.Apart from Ntini, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock have been nominated for the Cricketer of the Year award, while Kallis and Ashwell Prince will battle with Ntini for the Test Cricketer of the Year prize. For the top one-day honours, there are six contenders in the race, with Boucher, Andrew Hall, Herschelle Gibbs, Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith being the others.Apart from recognising international players, the awards also honour domestic performers. There are prizes too for the best administrators, umpires and coaches, plus recognition for women cricketers and the best performers at the junior level.

With only two months until the World Cup each team’s preparations should be ready for the final polish. However, the three sides contesting the month-long CB Series, which starts with Australia facing England at the MCG on Friday, still have many experiments to complete as they countdown to the Caribbean.Australia seem to have less to worry about than England or New Zealand and they already benefit from the momentum built from the Ashes whitewash and the rust-shaking limited-overs win in Tuesday’s Twenty20. Despite the smooth progression through the first half of the season, Ricky Ponting’s outfit is still tinkering with its bowling attack and the No. 4 spot while Matthew Hayden is due to return to the unstable opening slot opposite Adam Gilchrist.Michael Clarke will nestle into the spot behind Ricky Ponting following the retirement of Damien Martyn and the move will be crucial in giving him more time in the middle following shifts lower down the order. “We think that’s a really well-balanced side then with Clarke at four, Andrew Symonds five, Michael Hussey six, that sort of line-up,” Ponting told . “[Clarke] has been dying to get a chance up the order, his chance has come now.” In this team of powerbrokers he must perform almost immediately or risk being shifted by the might of Symonds or Hussey.Brett Lee has a chest problem and will miss his second match in a row, giving some of his younger rivals a chance to settle. Ben Hilfenhaus, the swing bowler, has joined the squad but Ponting said he would miss the opening affair along with Brad Hogg, allowing Mitchell Johnson and Cameron White opportunities alongside Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark.Ponting has outlined his starting plans but the tactics of his initial opponents are in such doubt even the team management must be unsure of their preferred line-up. Michael Vaughan is back as captain and trying to lift a squad that has struggled for the past two months.”That’s our biggest challenge – to make sure we get them in a good mental state for Friday,” Vaughan said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “We realise it’s going to be tough but when tough times come about you need tough people, and that’s what we need from all the players.”

Questions remain over Vaughan’s recovery from a knee injury and there are doubts over whether to choose Paul Nixon or Chris Read as wicketkeeper. Andrew Flintoff is also a concern as he attempts to recapture the all-round form that deserted him when he led the Test side to a 5-0 loss. The batting order is noticeably stronger with Vaughan at the top, but the bowling is less assured even if Monty Panesar gets a chance to prove himself in what should be his debut series.England have 16 players in their squad but the options don’t drip with class and if they reach the three-match finals they should be considered a success. They managed only five wins in 20 ODIs last year and one of those was against Ireland. Australia succeeded in 20 of 29 games in 2006, including the Champions Trophy final, while New Zealand started the year by drawing a five-match series with Sri Lanka.New Zealand enter the tournament on Sunday against Australia at Hobart and they will try out a squad without three of their regulars. Stephen Fleming’s side, which was dismissed for 73 on Saturday, has landed in Tasmania missing Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills, who may appear in the squad if they recover.However, they do have Shane Bond, who has 24 wickets against Australia in seven games, and he will attempt to scare the local batsmen during the four preliminary encounters. Each team plays eight matches in the qualifying round before two progress to the finals in what could be the last season of the three-team format.Squads
Australia Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Cameron White, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn McGrath.England Michael Vaughan (capt), Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Jamie Dalrymple, Ed Joyce, Paul Nixon (wk), Chris Read (wk), Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Chris Tremlett.New Zealand Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum (wk), Andre Adams, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.

Mark Ramprakash has turned down an offer to join the Indian Premier League, according to a report in The Times.Ramprakash, whose contract with Surrey expires at the end of the 2009 season, was approached by the Rajasthan Royals to plug a two-week gap left by the late arrival of Graeme Smith but the move was rejected after consultation with county officials.”There are bound to be other approaches and not just to Mark,” Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, told the newspaper. “We are looking at the possibility of 12-month contracts but we don’t want to prevent any of our players from extending their earnings out of season provided that offers come from officially sanctioned leagues and the dates do not conflict with commitments to Surrey.”We have to be open-minded. We are hoping that the IPL might take place in future in March or October, in which case the opportunities would obviously increase.”

Eleven days after he was hit on the face by a Shahid Nazir bouncer and a day after Jagmohan Dalmiya termed him a , Sourav Ganguly is in the eye of another potential storm. Speculation is rife about his possible rehabilitation, even though partial, in the form of a place among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy.It all originated from a quote from an unnamed national selector who said Ganguly, who hasn’t played for India after being dropped following India’s tour to Pakistan last year and whose last appearance in an ODI was in last September, was very much in the frame for the long list. Since then, the story has already aquired layers of intrigue.Giving credence to the rumours is the talk of a bargain struck between Ganguly and the Indian cricket bosses. Ganguly wrote a dramatic email to his brother, which was made public in a press conference, accusing Jagmohan Dalimya, among other things, of having played with “my career”. The timing of the letter was significant: it came about a week before the CricketAssociation of Bengal election, in which Dalmiya was facing a tough challenge from Prasun Mukherji, the police commissioner of Kolkata, who was being publicly backed by the West Bengal chief minister.In return for his support to Dalmiya’s rival, Ganguly, it was suggested, had been offered a passage back to the Indian team. A charitable view is that having experimented with newcomers, the selectors were now ready to finalise the squad for the World Cup. Twenty-nine year-old Dinesh Mongia, who has not played for India since been found wanting in the last World Cup, has been recalled, and Anil Kumble is back in the fray for the Champions Trophy. So why not Ganguly, who has more than 10,000 runs in one-day cricket?Mongia of course has been recalled on the basis of solid performances in county cricket, and with Kumble, it is only a question of age and agility in the field. With Ganguly, there is a serious question of form. He managed 71 in the only one-day game he’s played so far for Northamptonshire and averaged 27.5 in nine Twenty20 matches. One can point to the fact that he snapped up 11 wickets in the Twenty20 but can’t discount the economy rate of 8. And from sixfirst-class innings, he has totalled a mere 24 runs.As expected, there has been a flurry of reactions. Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, has insisted that there is no order from “anywhere to consider or drop anybody”. Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, has dismissed the report as a piece of “kite-flying”. And Raj Singh Dungarpur, the former board president, termed it as “retrograde” and “disgraceful”.However, one selector, speaking to Cricinfo, felt that the whole speculation was triggered off by a section of the Indian board, “a political move rather than anything based on cricketing logic”.

Scorecard

Aaron Redmond completed an impressive build-up to the first Test against England with 64 to go alongside his first-innings 146 as the New Zealanders secured a draw against England Lions at The Rose Bowl. Redmond added 150 with Jamie How before Adil Rashid caused a brief flutter with three quick wickets.Robert Key declared to leave a target of 368 off 75 overs, but that was never really in the equation. Unlike in the first innings the Lions attack couldn’t make any inroads with the new ball as Matthew Hoggard went wicketless in a six-over spell the day he was recalled to the England squad.Redmond and How made steady progress on an easy-paced pitch and the Lions quickly turned to the spin pair of Rashid and Graeme Swann. How’s 74 was an important innings after a duck in the first innings and two single-figure scores against Essex last week. Redmond, however, is striking form at just the right time with New Zealand’s top order set for a testing time at Lord’s.He reached his fifty with a slog-swept six off Swann and had time to complete a second century when he lofted Rashid to Hoggard. His wicket prompted a small stumble by the New Zealanders as Rashid enjoyed his most productive spell of the match. Rashid had How stumped before trapping Ross Taylor for a fourth-ball duck; Taylor’s four innings since arriving for the tour from the IPL have been 17, 4, 5 and 0.Despite the flurry of wickets there wasn’t time for the Lions to make a serious charge at victory, even though Chris Tremlett trapped James Marshall lbw shortly before the match ended. Key could have given his bowlers a few more overs to dismiss the tourists on a surface where runs only flowed quickly when Luke Wright was at the crease on the first day, and briefly on the final day when the Lions flung the bat. However, except when New Zealand took five wickets between lunch and tea on the opening day, wickets hadn’t fallen in a rush. With the England squad already named, the pace bowlers won’t have wanted to over-exert themselves with more Championship matches next week for their counties.Michael Carberry was able to resume his century following the early departure of Rashid in the morning session. He had to retire hurt on the third day after pulling up with severe cramp during the celebrations for his hundred, but he only added a further eight before being caught behind off Tim Southee. Swann flung the bat with good effect in his 41-ball 51 while Tremlett also added quick runs.The major positive to come out of the match for the New Zealanders is the performance of Redmond. The opening position has been a long-standing problem, but Redmond’s resilience suggests he won’t be pushover come the first Test and he has a good chance of surpassing his father’s one cap. Chris Martin also found some useful rhythm in both innings, but some of the other batsmen, notably Taylor, Daniel Flynn and Jacob Oram are short of time in the middle. There are also lingering concerns over Daniel Vettori’s finger, although the motivation of leading his team at Lord’s should allow him to overcome the pain barrier.

Uganda’s women will host their counterparts from Rwanda between October 12 and 14 in a series of warm-up games at Lugogo Cricket Oval.The matches are aimed at preparing the sides for the ICC Eastern Africa Regional women’s tournament which takes place in Nairobi this December. Four countries will participate – Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.Uganda and Rwanda were due to meet this weekend but the games were postponed. “Most of the Rwandese players are doing exams and their coach Eric Mbanga has requested us to postpone the series to next weekend,” a Uganda Cricket Association official told The Monitor.Uganda are the defending champions of the ICC Eastern Africa women’s regional tournament.

Match facts

January 15, 2016
Start time 1900 local (0600 GMT)1:42

Pakistan’s well-rounded pace attack could pose New Zealand with a sterner test as both teams would look to fine-tune their preparations for the World T20

Big Picture

New Zealand have batsmen in a record-breaking mood. Pakistan are hoping reignite their T20 game after losses against England. There is a World T20 in two months. But none of this is as compelling as the return of one of cricket’s exiles. Friday will mark a major step in Mohammad Amir’s quest for redemption.Every no-ball he delivers over the next few years will probably bring to mind that infamous second day at Lord’s, in 2010. But he seems a little more mature now. In this recent interview, Amir spoke of having a fast bowler’s anger “in the blood”, yet of having accepted the fact that even his team-mates have a right to express displeasure at his inclusion. He spoke of “learning about life” during tough times, and of wanting to convince his critics, and win over fans.Most of all, he spoke of having changed, only, let us hope that does not extend to his bowling. He had been one of the world’s most absorbing talents during his brief pre-fixing career. Pakistan fans will remember sublime Test spells in England, in Leeds against Australia, and at The Oval against England. Or his superb use of the short ball in the first over of the 2009 World T20 final, where tournament top-scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan was first subdued, then overcome. In a brush with top-level T20 cricket at the Bangladesh Premier League in November, the skill in Amir’s wrist, and the rhythm in his legs seemed not to have deserted him. Unlike the many volcanoes in Auckland’s city limits, Amir’s dormant days are finally over.There are trials to come, beyond the fast bowler’s usual plight of having to stay fit and take wickets. A major tour of England in the middle of the year promises to be a media circus, and on that front at least, New Zealand has been a relatively relaxed place in which to begin his reintegration. Maybe when he starts to bowl again, if he bowls just like he used to, cricket may find it easier to forgive him.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

 New Zealand: WWWLW
Pakistan: LLLWW

In the spotlight

Corey Anderson is still playing as a specialist batsman as he continues to recover from back injury, but he has been handed a new role with the bat. Moved up to no. 4 in the order, he is now charged with batting freely, and maintaining the top order’s momentum, as Ross Taylor – when he plays – is expected to provide insurance at no. 5 . Anderson is an increasingly versatile player, but his progress in an unfamiliar role in this series may determine whether New Zealand stick with this top order combination for the World T20.With Umar Gul having had injury problems, and played only one T20 in the past year, Wahab Riaz appears the de-facto leader of the Pakistan attack. He had had a southern summer of resurgence last time he was in these climes, taking 16 wickets at 23 at the World Cup. One of his better spells had come at Eden Park, during Pakistan’s fervent defence of 232 against South Africa. It may be up to Wahab to set the example in bowling those slightly shorter lengths that are generally more successful at the venue.

Teams news

Legspinner Todd Astle would prefer to make his T20 debut in a larger ground, but he may play in the team over Mitchell Santner, whom New Zealand have already had a look at. Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Trent Boult are also playing for three spots between them. Tom Latham may play for the rested Ross Taylor.New Zealand (probable): 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Colin Munro 4 Corey Anderson, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Todd Astle, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent BoultAnwar Ali and Gul are likely competing for one place. If Pakistan prefer experience, there’s little doubt as to who they would choose. Sohaib Maqsood was hit in the neck at training, but is expected to be fit to play.Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Sohaib Maqsood, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Anwar Ali/Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

The drop-in pitch at Eden Park is usually full of runs, but can turn, at times. The weather is expected to be dry, if a little cloudy, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• Amir took 14 wickets at an average of 12.64 and an economy rate of 5.56 in the Bangladesh Premier League in November-December last year. He has 23 wickets in 18 T20 internationals.
• The first T20 at Mount Maunganui is the only occasion in which Corey Anderson has batted in the top four in 11 T20 innings.
• New Zealand have played 11 T20s at Eden Park, and won six of those games.

Quotes

“I would say you’d like 100-metre boundaries, but I guess that presents its own challenges. If you restrict you can create chances to take wickets. In this format you know anything is possible.”
“Before coming here we had a fitness camp as well, for a couple of weeks. Everybody worked really hard. If you have a hard fitness training camp, what it does is bring us all together. That’s important for any side. It helps to understand each other more. All the juniors and the seniors – it’s no different at the moment. We’re all pumped up and trying to give 100 per cent.”

Shahriar Nafees believes Bangladesh need to build on their impressive World Cup performances if they want to be a force in international cricket.Bangladesh emerged as one of the surprise packets of the tournament when they qualified for the second round for the first time since making their World Cup debut in England in 1999.They pulled off a major upset in their opening game when they whipped India by five wickets in Trinidad last month, the victory which virtually knocked the former champions out of the tournament.Bangladesh then proved that the win was no flash in the pan as they shocked top-ranked South Africa by 67 runs in a Super Eights match in Guyana. “If we think this was a very good World Cup for us and we have finished our work, then it will be stupid,” said Nafees.”We are improving at the moment and we need to keep improving. We need to improve our standards of cricket so that in coming years we can be one of the top teams in the world. And that’s our target.”Nafees believed the hard work was the key to Bangladesh’s successes in the ongoing tournament, saying they had been playing good, competitive cricket for more than a year. “We won a lot of games last year. We tried out new combinations and they worked well for us in this tournament,” said Nafees, vice-captain of the side that won eight successive one-dayers before the World Cup.”It was a continuous process and we have been playing very good cricket for the past one year and it paid off for us in this tournament. When we left the country, we expected to play in the second round. All the boys have put in a lot of hard work. They put things together and now we are in the second round.”Bangladesh began their Super Eights campaign on a poor note, losing by big margins against defending champions Australia and New Zealand before surprising South Africa. They also made England struggle for victory in the next match.”We had bad games against Australia and New Zealand, but beat South Africa in the next game. Although we could not score enough runs against England, we put up a very good fight,” said Nafees.He said his side needed to put in a better batting performance in the last two games against debutants Ireland on Sunday and the West Indies on Thursday. “We know we have not put up big scores, but our bowlers have been backing us very well. We are playing well as a team, but it will be fine when we can post big totals. It will also be good for our bowlers,” said Nafees.Bangladesh’s main problem in previous matches was the lack of form of both Bashar and Nafees. Bashar has so far scored 61 runs in seven matches and Nafees 24 in five. “We hope he [Bashar] comes back into form. I am also not getting too many runs in the tournament, but our young players are batting well at the moment,” said Nafees. “Form is a temporary thing, but we are working hard and trying to focus as much as possible. If we can stay a bit longer, I think we can score big.”