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Sri Lanka’s tour of Bangladesh could be crucial to the host’s prospects of holding the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20. Sri Lanka are scheduled to arrive on January 24 for a month-long tour, which is the first of three major international cricket events in Bangladesh, stacked one after another.Four days after the Sri Lanka tour, the Asia Cup is scheduled to begin on February 24. The Asian Cricket Council, the tournament’s organiser, has already worked out a Plan B in case the political violence in the country doesn’t abate in time for the tournament, with its single-venue prerequisite making it fairly simple to find alternative host countries.The ACC’s CEO, Syed Ashraful Huq, however, believes that a green signal from Sri Lanka Cricket will ease the pressure on Bangladesh hosting the regional one-day tournament. But he warned that the other two events in Bangladesh are not bilateral series and the consent of one cricket board wouldn’t do.He said that the four-nation tournament will not be postponed in any case, and has to be held between February 24 and March 7 because of a packed international calendar.”The Sri Lanka tour will be crucial,” Huq told ESPNcricinfo. “It will be a big boost to the situation here if they complete the tour. But one must remember that the subsequent events are multi-team events. At the moment, the participating nations are at a monitoring stage. They will depend on agencies in their individual countries, like the home or foreign office.”Participation will depend on each board, whether they are comfortable with the security situation. They will consult their respective home or foreign offices to determine whether the security situation is congenial or not. As the host, the Bangladesh government and the BCB will have to give guarantees. The ACC will rely on the hosts’ security agencies and those of the participating nations.”Bangladesh got the right to host the 2014 Asia Cup after India declined to do so, and with Pakistan not having hosted international cricket events for nearly five years, the obvious choices for alternate venues are Sri Lanka and the UAE.Huq confirmed that till this point, none of the participating nations have threatened a pull-out. “The Asia Cup has to be held during that time slot,” he said. “There is no scope for us to postpone the tournament. The ACC will discuss an alternate venue if the situation doesn’t improve in Bangladesh, but this is the case with every international tournament. As organisers, we have to be prepared for any eventuality.”Any one of the countries can be an alternate venue. Last time we held the tournament at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, so usually we hold the Asia Cup in one or two venues. The ACC’s executive body will decide on the change of venue. What I can tell you is that nobody wants the tournament to get out of Bangladesh. None of the teams have told me yet that they don’t want to go to Bangladesh.”The BCB has sought help from the two major political leaders of the country – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia – to assure the rest of the world that cricket is safe and secure in Bangladesh.Huq said that he faced a similar situation as a BCB official in 1988, and had in fact visited the same leaders, who were supportive at the time. He believes the same will happen this time, and it will help allay the concerns.”The guarantees from the political leaders will certainly help us,” Huq said. “When Bangladesh hosted the 1988 Asia Cup, there was unrest in the country, against the then president [Hussain Mohammad] Ershad.”I, alongside BCB general secretary Tanvir Mazhar Tanna, went to Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, who told us that the tournament can be held peacefully without any disruption. I am sure, for the sake of the country, the same would happen this time.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sachin Tendulkar walked off the field to deafening applause•BCCI

India’s next generation of batting talent flourished as West Indies were pummelled into submission but even the delectable strokeplay of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli couldn’t wipe out the anti-climactic feel of much of the second day’s play.During the first hour, however, Test cricket had rarely felt so alive. With Sachin Tendulkar playing what could be his final Test innings, his legion of fans were put through the emotional wringer. This whole series has been drenched in Tendulkar nostalgia, and every vintage shot he played today only highlighted what fans are going to miss in the days ahead. Every mis-step – like two attempted upper cuts off Tino Best – caused massive anxiety. Fans were uncertain whether they wanted Tendulkar to be on strike – so they could lap up a few more of his shots – or at the non-striker’s end as the tension was close to unbearable when he batted.The assuredness with which Tendulkar played had made it seem inevitable that there would be a fairytale century in his final Test. You’d think the year-long wait for the 100th hundred would have taught Indian fans to be wary about expecting fairytale Tendulkar centuries. Clearly they hadn’t, and like at the Wankhede in 2011, a slip catch from Darren Sammy cut short Tendulkar’s innings on 74 and stunned an expectant crowd into silence. The mute-button was on only for a few moments though, as the crowd regained its voice to appreciatively roar Tendulkar off the field. Tendulkar muttered a few words to himself, but as has been the case over virtually his entire career, he maintained his poise after being dismissed, acknowledging the adoring crowds as he trudged off.His partner for the entire innings was Cheteshwar Pujara, who perhaps would have been more worried about making a wrong call to run Tendulkar out and risking the wrath of Wankhede than about the challenge posed by the ineffectual West Indies attack. Pujara’s every single was cheered with the fervour that usually accompanies centuries, and he remained mostly under the radar. When he played the straight drive for four, you were reminded – unfairly for Pujara – about how much more pristine and non-violent the shot was when Tendulkar played it.Still, it was a cracking innings, full of controlled aggression. He pounced on the width routinely provided, adroitly playing the cut past point, as he kept he run-rate brisk. His one moment of fortune – thanks to a frankly awful decision from the third umpire – was when he was adjudged not out on 76, though replays clearly showed Kieran Powell’s fingers under the ball as he grasped a chance at short leg.Pujara wasn’t perturbed by all the emotion over Tendulkar’s dismissal, and continued his march towards his fifth Test century, underlining his reputation as a man for the big score. Of the eight times he has reached fifty in Tests, he could have converted seven of them into hundreds, but two of those innings were unbeaten half-centuries in successful chases. He was scratchy against the tireless offspinner Shane Shillingford after reaching triple-figures today and a leading edge resulted in a caught-and-bowled chance that ended his stay on 113.Kohli, the man tipped to take over Tendulkar’s No. 4 spot, began with a series of boundaries to help Pujara maintain the momentum. Like in his one-day innings, where his high scoring-rate surprises given the lack of big shots, he zipped to his half-century at nearly a run a ball almost unnoticed. He was looking untroubled but he too perished to a Sammy slip catch, undone by a straighter one from Shillingford.If the first half of Pujara’s innings was overshadowed by one Mumbai batsman, his innings will recede further in fans’ mind due to an astonishing century from another Mumbai batsman. Rohit began his long-awaited Test career with a game-changing 177 in Kolkata, but there seemed little chance of him making another century in Mumbai as he was only on 46 when the No. 11 Mohammed Shami walked in.By then Shillingford had taken his fifth successive five-for, matching a feat last achieved by Alec Bedser in 1952-53, and Sammy had equalled the record for the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper, snapping up five. India had lost three wickets in two overs either side of tea, and West Indies looked likely to have to bat almost an entire session.Instead, Rohit scripted a masterclass in batting with the tail to inflate the total by 80 runs, and joined an exclusive club with two hundreds in their first two innings. Shami is not the worst No. 11, but Rohit skilfully farmed the strike, so much so that in the first seven overs Shami only faced seven deliveries. Even when the partnership was close to 50, Shami was still on 0.West Indies were desperate to get Rohit off the strike. In the 99th over, when Rohit gently tapped the final ball past the closely packed field for a single, West Indies’ dispirited fielders weren’t keen on chasing it down though it wasn’t going to reach the rope. Briefly, Rohit contemplated whether he had time to take three.In between protecting Shami, Rohit unleashed a blizzard of strokes which he commonly shows off in limited-overs matches. His one moment of panic was when he holed out to deep midwicket when on 85, only to be reprieved when the replays showed Shillingford had overstepped. Soon after, he reached his hundred with a six over long-on – it had taken him only 118 deliveries, and Shami had only made 1 in a 64-run stand.The innings finally ended on when Shami whipped a catch to deep square leg, and the lead was a massive 313. West Indies had about an hour to bat out, but even in that short space lost three wickets to the spinners. Once again, R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha had the ball spinning and turning, and on the evidence so far, West Indies will do well to stretch this game as long as the end of the third day.

ScorecardSri Lanka A’s fast bowlers enjoyed a fine day at Sinhalese Sports Club, sharing eight wickets to dismiss Development XI to 265, on day one of the second four-dayer of the tri-series. Captain Lahiru Thirimanne held the Development XI innings together with an unbeaten 95, before the Sri Lanka A openers survived the four remaining overs until stumps.Nuwan Pradeep suffered an injury scare during the day, but was cleared soon after, and ended the innings with 3 for 61 from his 17.3 overs. Kanishka Alvitigala finished with the day’s best figures, taking 3 for 52 from his 14 overs , while left-armer Vimukthi Perera took two scalps. Off spinner Dilruwan Perera, who had opened the bowling from one end, nabbed the two remaining wickets.Pradeep brought a typically ebullient Kusal Perera start to a close, when he had him caught for 28 from 33, and when three more wickets fell in the next 13 overs, Development XI were in danger of making less than 200. Thirimanne combined with Niroshan Dickwella for 79 runs, to take his team out of immediate danger however, though he had no other significant support throughout the innings.He scored heavily in the company of the tail, but was left stranded in sight of his 11th first-class ton when Pradeep trapped Vishwa Fernando in front of the stumps in the 83rd over. The Sri Lanka A openers progressed to 10 before stumps.Development XI had suffered an innings loss to the Board XI, which contains most of Sri Lanka’s Test players, in the opening match of the tournament.

While uncertainty hangs over India’s tour to South Africa later this year, it has emerged that Cricket South Africa (CSA) might have underestimated the risk of appointing Haroon Lorgat as its chief executive despite BCCI’s strong reservations against him.While the BCCI’s antipathy towards Lorgat is well known in cricket circles, Jacques Faul, the former acting CSA chief, revealed to ESPNcricinfo that N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, had categorically warned that the tour might be at risk and CSA would stand to lose financially if they went ahead with Lorgat’s appointment. Faul, who is now in charge of the Titans franchise, told ESPNcricinfo that Srinivasan had communicated as much to Willie Basson, CSA’s acting president at the time.The conversation, according to Faul, took place during a Champions League T20 meeting in Malaysia in December 2012. Faul then approached Srinivasan himself and suggested that the BCCI could not tell CSA who to appoint as chief executive, but he was told that the BCCI wasn’t telling them who to appoint, but who not to appoint.However, over the subsequent months, CSA assumed that the financial fallout of ignoring that warning would be “minimal”. During this period Lorgat had secured an endorsement letter from IS Bindra, the former BCCI president and known critic of the current setup. It is unclear whether CSA assumed that a change of guard in India was imminent, but conversations between this reporter and several of the CSA officials involved in the discussions revealed that the board went ahead with the appointment after being satisfied with Lorgat’s version of events.Lorgat, a former ICC chief executive, had been CSA’s preferred candidate from the outset but it did not appoint him until it discussed the implication of the decision – which the BCCI indicated it would strongly object to – for cricket in the country.The BCCI’s specific opposition to Lorgat has not been made public but Basson confirmed he heard that the board wanted charges of misconduct investigated against Lorgat during his time at the ICC (it is on record that Srinivasan raised this particular issue during an ICC board meeting). Basson had approached Lorgat about the issue and was satisfied with the response he got.”It did come up at the ICC board meetings I went to and there were rumours, but it was not discussed because he was leaving the ICC,” Basson said. “I had discussions with him about the underlying issues. He denied that he had done anything wrong. He said whatever he had done as ICC chief executive was within accepted business practices and had the approval of the ICC president. I was comfortable with what I took away from my discussion with him.”Lorgat applied for the CSA job after the board was restructured on February 2, confirming he had submitted his CV the next day. In March, a CSA delegation headed by its lead director Norman Arendse visited India where, again, the BCCI’s concerns about Lorgat were made known.The following month, CSA’s recruitment agency asked Faul, who had already left the organisation to take up the job of Titans chief executive, to apply for the position. He declined. CSA said they had not compiled a shortlist at that time and in May issued a release saying the search for a chief executive was “running on schedule,” even though it was already a month late.The delay was never explained but at a CSA board meeting held during that period, one member asked what the financial ramifications of appointing Lorgat would be. Another director on the board answered, “minimal”.It has since emerged that CSA made a potentially colossal error of judgment. The board stands to lose up to R200 million if the tour is shortened, a likely development with the BCCI shrinking the available window. If it is cancelled, the losses CSA will incur could impact the game in South Africa for years to come.CSA have refused to comment until after the BCCI’s annual general meeting on September 29, when it will be known whether Srinivasan is elected for another term as president. CSA has continued to function as usual, holding off-season conferences, ranging from a coaches seminar to a transformation .One administrator told ESPNcricinfo that these activities have a feel of normalcy to them until the formal discussions are adjourned. Then, in the corridors, there is deep concern among officials who fear India may not visit South Africa at all and the game will be financially crippled. “We are s**t scared,” the official said. “All of us.”A solution to curb the BCCI’s power is difficult to find so all CSA can do for now is placate their former ally, but how to do that is unclear. It may mean a premature end to Lorgat’s tenure or, as some administrators have mentioned, a legal claim on the BCCI. However, because the FTP is not binding, CSA may have to consider turning to an authority such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although the ICC is not a signatory to it. So for now, CSA can only ponder the cost of Lorgat’s appointment.

ScorecardMoeen Ali claimed a six-wicket haul as Worcestershire ended their season with victory•Getty Images

It was probably to be expected that Northamptonshire would suffer something of a hangover – literal or metaphorical – on the third day of this game.Having secured promotion on day two, they understandably celebrated in the evening and produced a final-day performance lacking the intensity that has typified their cricket this season. A 115-run defeat is, perhaps, an underwhelming way to finish a fine season, but their main aims had been achieved. They would surely have approached the final day of this game somewhat differently in other circumstances.But, in light of this result, it is worth reflecting on Essex’s team selection for their match against Hampshire. Northants came away from New Road having gathered only four points from the game and, at one stage of day two, struggling at 157 for 8, they were far from certain of gaining even that many. So for Essex to have rested several of their leading players ahead of their final game with promotion still possible is baffling. Had they won their game and taken full bonus points, they would have been promoted.The ECB has confirmed it will not seek an explanation of Essex’s selection. But after a few years when the integrity of the Championship has been debated and protected – it is part of the reason English clubs are not participating in the Champions League – it seems utterly bizarre that a team with a chance of promotion, however slim, should not do everything in their power to make it happen. County cricket should not be a cosy, meritless environment where such tactics are allowed to go unchecked. If the ECB doesn’t care for its own premier domestic competition, it cannot expect sponsors, broadcasters or spectators to care, either.In years to come, this game may be remembered more for the number of leg-before decisions. Umpires Peter Hartley and George Sharpe gave 18 such decisions in all, with Hartley giving 11 of them. Only twice in the history of first-class cricket have more lbw decisions been given in a match and it has never happened in the UK, though 18 have been given on several occasions previously.Such statistics reflect the nature of a low, slow wicket, which, as time wore on, provided substantial assistance to spin bowlers. Moeen Ali, gaining sharp turn and delivering a good arm ball, claimed the fourth five-wicket haul of his career as he exploited a Northants line-up lacking the appetite for a long battle of attrition. A couple of the batsmen also felt more than a little aggrieved at some of the decisions.The pitch was no minefield, though. The fact that 17 wickets fell on the third day owed far more to the end of term mood that dominated than unplayable deliveries.The mood was set early when Moeen, attempting to thrash one over long-on, sliced to point. While Ross Whiteley, putting bat to ball in impressive fashion, breezed to a 69-ball half-century, few of his team-mates lingered for long as Northants’ spinners claimed five of the last seven wickets.Only Lancashire had previously beaten Northants in the Championship this season, so this result is a welcome boost to morale at New Road after a trying campaign. Victory will see them finish in mid-table and with as many wins as Northants.It would be wrong for Worcestershire to take too much consolation from this, though. While Moeen and Alan Richardson, respectively, are the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker in the Division, there are few other players who will remember the season with particular fondness. The likes of Tom Fell, a 19-year-old with a hint of class, and Matt Pardoe, who batted for 99 overs in this match in scoring 89 runs, offer some hope for the future, but the club seems to have settled rather too comfortably for a position among the also-rans. Take Moeen and Richardson out of the side and they would not excel among the minor counties.There seems little serious hope of reinforcement, either. They are likely to declare a significant financial loss – in excess of £100,000 – despite hosting a four-day game against Australia, and finances remain tight. The club have already ruled out a move for the experienced wicketkeeper – such as Gareth Cross – they so patently require and will not attempt to re-engage Stephen Moore. They have, however, confirmed they will sign an overseas player in 2014.There are reasons for optimism. The redevelopment of the ground continues and will increase the club’s turnover and there are, among the youth teams, said to be a few decent young cricketers. Ed Barnard, a 17-year-old allrounder, has already made a century for England Under-19s and securing Moeen on a five-year deal is a remarkable coup. But the failure to develop talented young players such as Alexei Kervezee, Richard Jones and Aneesh Kapil is a major concern.Richardson’s continuing excellence also masks many issues. He delivered a 10-over opening spell in the second innings that gained his a 69th Championship wicket of the season, before Worcestershire’s spinners shared the remaining nine wickets. David Sales fell 81 short of the 1000-run landmark that would have guaranteed him a new contract offer and, while David Willey struck three vast sixes in his brief-but-merry stay, it always appeared as if Northants’ minds were more on their celebrations than this game. At least the early finish means they will have no trouble getting to Northampton in time for an open-top bus on Friday evening.