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Kusal Mendis has been named captain of Sri Lanka’s 15-member squad for the Under-19 World Cup, which begins next month in the UAE. Mendis captained the team during the recent ACC Under-19 Asia Cup, and scored 166 runs at an average of 41.50, including a century against Bangladesh and 52 against India.The squad contains one survivor from the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia in Anuk Fernando. The left-handed allrounder played only two matches, but has since assumed an important role for the side with his left-arm seam and his batting down the order.Hashan Ramanayake, Harsha Rajapaksha and Hashan Vimarshana have replaced three members of the squad for the Asia Cup, where Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan in their group, but recovered to make the semi-finals. They then lost to eventual champions India.The team will be coached by Naveed Nawaz, who played for one Test and three ODIs for Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka, who have been drawn in Group D alongside New Zealand, England and the hosts UAE, will begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Sharjah on February 14. The team will undertake a training camp in Dambulla before leaving for the UAE.Sri Lanka Under-19 squad: Kusal Mendis (capt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Minod Bhanuka, Hashan Dumindu, Kavindu Kulasekara, Priyamal Perera, Thilaksha Malshan Sumanasiri, Hashan Ramanayake, Binura Fernando, Anuk Fernando, Hashan Vimarshana, AK Tyronne, Lakshan Jayasinghe, Ramesh Mendis, Harsha Rajapaksha

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said that his team having to constantly play away from home has taken a psychological toll on the players. Since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, no team has toured Pakistan, citing security concerns.Pakistan have since played the majority of their home games in the UAE, as well as matches in New Zealand and England.”It is not an easy thing not being able to play at home for so long,” Misbah told . “There are players in this side who have not had a chance to play international matches in Pakistan.”Misbah also pointed to Jonathan Trott’s recent withdrawal from the England squad for the ongoing Ashes with a stress-related illness, as an example of just how big an issue homesickness can be. In fact, because of the recent series against South Africa in UAE, the Pakistan players were forced to celebrate Eid away from home.”Jonathan Trott’s example should be an eye-opener for the world. Imagine what the players have gone through in all these years,” Misbah said. “I think it’s time that the ICC and other cricket nations support Pakistan because international cricket away from home has tough demands on the players.”There is non-stop international cricket these days and it is extremely hard on the players to be away from their families for such long periods.”

Very little separated Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra over four days on a placid pitch in Chennai, but WV Raman, the coach of Tamil Nadu, believed that his team had no excuses for failing to restrict Saurashra to under 565, as the visitors comfortably overhauled that score and took three points by virtue of a first-innings lead.Raman was blunt in his assessment of his side’s performance in the field over the last two days, in which two dropped catches cost them. Jaydev Shah, who was dropped at second slip when on 8, went on to score 195 and added 353 for the fourth wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara. On the final day, Aarpit Vasavada was also let off on second slip when on 6 and used the second chance to full effect, making 70 and helping his side to the innings lead. The culprit on both occasions was M Vijay. In Tamil Nadu’s previous match against Uttar Pradesh, another let off, this time by Abhinav Mukund at point, gave Piyush Chawla a reprieve at 9. Chawla seized the opportunity and scored 153 to help his side to a big first-innings lead.”It’s not about disappointment. It’s about not latching onto the opportunities that come your way,” Raman said. “Any side that commits these kinds of elementary mistakes has to pay.”With Tamil Nadu needing a win to climb up the points table from No.6, a green top was prepared to give the seamers more assistance. It didn’t seem to work though, as the surface ended up producing two 500-plus scores.”I was not surprised at all at the way the pitch behaved when I saw it on the first morning,” Raman said. “It was very obvious after the first half an hour that it was going to be a bat-a-thon. All things considered we should have had the better of the exchanges.”Tamil Nadu dropped their offspinner Malolan Rangarajan for an extra seamer. Raman didn’t blame the bowling combination, but reiterated that the catching was responsible for their predicament.”The picked XI will have to do the job regardless of what the conditions are. We can’t be sitting and moaning after the game thinking about what we could have done. On a track like this when the bowlers produce opportunities the catches will have to be taken.”As far as the bowling goes, there is definitely room for consistency. But again, the number of chances floored were high as well. It is a question of which is which. Is it the chicken or the egg? If the catches were taken things would have been different.”Raman also praised Pujara, who scored 269, for playing a marathon knock to ensure Saurashtra gain the most out of the draw. “Let’s not forget that one individual epitomised what commitment is all about,” Raman said. “It is definitely a problem in our neck of the woods. It’s obvious that if you put your mind to it, you can get things done. It was exactly what happened as far as they were concerned. On the other side of it, the heads were not there, the intent was not there. We don’t have anyone but ourselves to blame.”

ScorecardA powerful lower-order innings from Ben Cutting, backed up by a five-wicket haul from fast bowler Luke Feldman, helped Queensland hand Victoria their first defeat of the tournament. Queensland’s innings had been floundering before Cutting smashed nine sixes in his 98 off 48 balls that helped achieve a match-winning total.The Queensland innings moved in fits and starts after they were put in to bat. Opener Chris Hartley fell for a 19-ball 5 in the seventh over to Peter Siddle, and Joe Burns followed three balls later. Chris Lynn and Usman Khawaja added 59 runs to steady the innings. Once Lynn was out, however, the wickets fell steadily and Victoria were on track to restrict Queensland to a middling total. Cutting, however, put paid to those hopes.Together with Hauritz, Cutting saw off a few quiet overs but cut loose in the 43rd, with a six and a four. He saved the charge for the last four overs, though, targeting John Hastings, Scott Boland and David Hussey and scoring 64 off the 81 runs scored in that period. He took 19 runs off Hastings in the 48th over and then hit 25 off Hussey in the penultimate over, before finishing the innings with two sixes.In reply, Victoria lost Michael Hill in the third over. The top and middle order put together some useful stands – Rob Quiney and Matthew Wade added 40 and Quiney and Cameron White put on 52.White was involved in another 50-run stand with David Hussey but they lacked the big overs needed in such an imposing chase. Cutting then struck another blow for Queensland, when he dismissed Hussey and White in successive overs to leave Victoria at 164 for 4, needing 142 from 106. It wasn’t entirely impossible, and the eighth-wicket pair of Peter Handscomb and Hastings took Victoria to 254 for 6. However, Feldman’s last spell swung the match in favour of Queensland once again. He dismissed Handscomb and Siddle in the 46th over and then had Hastings caught by Burns in the 48th over to hasten victory for Queensland.

In victory, and in defeat, Yuvraj Singh wore the same expression. With his team having come a full circle after a comprehensive mauling on Tuesday, Yuvraj didn’t look for excuses. A point he repeatedly made was that of India A’s fielding and more pertinently, the dropped catches that allowed West Indies A to get away to a score of 279.Jonathan Carter was the beneficiary of a regulation drop at slip when on 6, pushing at a delivery from the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem to Yusuf Pathan who juggled the ball and failed to hang on in the second attempt. At 66, Carter had another life when he was sent back by his partner attempting a quick single, only for the throw from cover to miss the stumps with Carter well short of the crease. Leon Johnson survived a tough chance at slip, but the full impact of the Carter let-off bit them when he smashed 133 and shared a 131-run stand with Johnson for the fifth wicket.Catching aside, India’s sloppiness extended to their ground fielding where at least three boundaries were conceded by schoolboy errors. India were guilty of leaking 135 runs in the last 15 overs.”We know we didn’t field well. That’s the reason the target was 280 and not 260,” Yuvraj said. “If we want to do well day after tomorrow, we have to do well on the park – as simple as that. And obviously, dropping Carter’s catch – he got a hundred. We didn’t bowl well in the last ten overs.”The overcast morning conditions had prompted both captains to bowl first in the first two games, but ironically, it backfired in both. India piled on 312 in the first game and West Indies 279 in the second and the chasing side never got close. Asked if he would change the pattern in the third ODI if given the chance, Yuvraj said it may not be such a straightforward decision going forward.”I hope I lose the toss. Looking at the conditions, you want to bowl first,” he said. “We didn’t get enough wickets at the start. The dropped catch didn’t help. So I just hope I lose the toss and win the game.”Yuvraj said his side was tied down by some intelligent bowling by West Indies, who didn’t let them build any solid partnerships. A stand of 64 for the third wicket between Yuvraj and Unmukt Chand was the best they could manage.”I think they bowled in really good areas, and they didn’t allow us to score freely,” Yuvraj said. “That’s the game. When pressure is created, it’s tough to score. We never had a good partnership, which would have allowed us to go through.”

West Indies and Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine hopes to draw from the experience of playing in the IPL to help Trinidad & Tobago succeed in the Champions League T20.Narine impressed in his maiden IPL season in 2012, picking up 24 wickets and finishing one behind the leading wicket-taker Morne Morkel, when Knight Riders won their only title. His consistency continued in the next season as he took 22 wickets.”Having played in India and learning a lot with Kolkata [Knight Riders] I think I can use the Indian conditions to my best ability,” Narine said. “Playing in the IPL is a plus I have and having won the T20 crown with West Indies last year, I think I’m equipped for this challenge.”Trinidad & Tobago’s first match is in Ranchi, which Narine believes to be advantageous. Ranchi was Kolkata’s second home venue during the IPL last year and the spinner has fond memories of the JSCA ground, having claimed a four-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bangalore.”I have experience playing at Ranchi and have done well there. I think that I can share my knowledge with my team when it comes to the venue and also to some of the teams,” he said. “So far we have studied the teams that we are going to meet and the players have knowledge of them going in. We have the right crop for the title-run.”Brian Lara, who is traveling with T&T, said they could replicate their heroics from the inaugural Champions League in 2009, when they made the final.”We have a great chance. It’s a young team but there is experience in Denesh (Ramdin) and Sunil Narine, as well as (Ravi) Rampaul, so I can see us making the final four,” he said. “T20 is our kind of game and we’ve shown this as a country but also as a region.”T&T swept all their matches in the Caribbean T20 tournament, barring the opening game which was rained out, and beat Guyana by nine-wickets in the final, qualifying for the CLT20 directly for the first time this year.

ScorecardPeter Trego took his List A tally this season to 705•Getty Images

Peter Trego took his run tally in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 to 705 with an unbeaten 140 as Somerset boosted their hopes of a semi-final appearance with a three-wicket win over Yorkshire at Taunton.The visitors posted 261 for 8 after losing the toss, Alex Lees, Jack Leaning and Adam Lyth being the main contributors. Adam Dibble returned career-best List A figures of 4 for 52 runs, while Alfonso Thomas claimed 3 for 49.Somerset reached their target with five balls to spare, Trego leading the way with an 85-ball ton to confirm his position as the competition’s leading runscorer. He was well supported by Craig Kieswetter and Alviro Petersen, who made 51 on the final appearance of his spell with the county.The result kept Somerset top of Group C with one fixture left against arch-rivals and fellow semi-final candidates Gloucestershire at Bristol on Monday week.Yorkshire’s innings was built around a third-wicket stand of 118 in 20 overs between Lees and Lyth, who came together with the total 39 for 2. Lees was first to his half-century, off 51 balls, with three fours and a six. Lyth soon followed, having faced 48 deliveries and hit seven fours.It was 157 for 3 in the 27th over when Lees was yorked by Thomas and two overs later Lyth was also back in the pavilion, caught by Thomas at long-on off legspinner Max Waller, who went for 52 off his eight overs.Leaning then assumed major responsibility for seeing the visitors to a challenging total, reaching the quickest fifty of the innings, off 42 balls, with four fours and a six. Strapping pace bowler Dibble accounted for him with a full toss in the penultimate over, having earlier dismissed Andrew Gale, Ryan Gibson and Rich Pyrah.Marcus Trescothick got the hosts’ reply going with a six off Iain Wardlaw, but departed for 10 to the next delivery, swishing his bat in frustration after driving a catch to mid-off. The skipper need not have worried. Trego and Kieswetter added 103 in 14 overs, mixing power and finesse in some sparkling strokeplay.When Kieswetter fell to a catch at mid-off to give young Ryan Gibson a wicket, Petersen came in to join the run feast, striking two successive sixes off Gibson in the 21st over, on his way to a half-century off 51 balls.For all that, it was Trego’s day. Occasionally riding his luck, the allrounder blasted 19 fours and two sixes in a memorable exhibition that rendered a late flurry of wickets meaningless and took his average in 11 YB40 games to a staggering 88.12.