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After a physically demanding 56-game group stage at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, six countries enter the knockout stage on Thursday with a chance to go to Sri Lanka in September for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.The round-robin group stage winners – Afghanistan and Namibia – will face off for a chance to clinch one of the two available spots in the 12-team main event. The second and third place teams in each group – Netherlands and Canada in Group A, Ireland and Scotland in Group B – will have to win three matches in three days, with the third game taking place on Saturday against the loser of the Afghanistan-Namibia contest, in order to claim the second available spot.The two teams that clinch berths in the ICC World Twenty20 will then play in the tournament final on Saturday night. The winner will be slotted into Group B in Sri Lanka alongside Australia and the West Indies. The runner-up gets the consolation prize of Group A matches against India and reigning World Twenty20 champions England.Afghanistan v Namibia (1st in Group A v 1st in Group B)After a pair of tight victories to start off Group A against Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands, Afghanistan coasted through the rest of pool play to finish with seven wins from seven. Mohammad Shahzad and Karim Sadiq are second and third overall on the tournament runs aggregate list, with 261 and 255 respectively. When the team ran into trouble against PNG and Canada, Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari contributed key half-centuries. If one member of the batting unit fails, someone is always ready to pick up the slack.Dawlat Zadran has stepped up in the absence of Hamid Hassan to lead the bowling unit with 11 wickets, including 5 for 14 against Hong Kong. The spin trio of Sadiq, Shenwari and Zamir Khan have bowled economically and combined for 19 wickets.They’ll have their hands full against a very deep Namibia batting lineup which brutalised Group B bowling attacks to be the highest scoring team in the tournament and also finish undefeated. The Namibians batted first in six out of seven games, posting big totals to build scoreboard pressure. Raymond van Schoor has played a major role in that, leading the tournament in both runs and average with 323 at 80.75.Louis van der Westhuizen scored one of the tournament’s two centuries with 106 not out in 54 balls against Scotland and his strike rate of 172.72 is the best of anyone in the tournament with a minimum of 50 runs. Opener Gerrie Snyman is also a tone-setter: he is Namibia’s third-highest scorer with 173 runs, 69% of which have come in fours and sixes.Namibia had two close games against Ireland and Uganda, both of which were won by four runs. Their recipe for success against Scotland, USA and Italy was to bat them out of the game to mask an average bowling attack. They’ll have to do the same if they are to come out on top against Afghanistan.Ireland v Canada (2nd in Group B v 3rd in Group A)William Porterfield and Ed Joyce have had their moments with the bat for Ireland but the unheralded Gary Wilson has been doing the dirty work down the order in Dubai to give them six wins out of seven in their group. He has made contributions with the bat in every innings to be the team’s leading runscorer, with 206, and is third overall in average behind Shahzad and van Schoor at 51.50. His efforts both behind the stumps and with the bat have helped to fill the void left by Niall O’Brien.Boyd Rankin didn’t get to play in this tournament two years ago, missing it through injury. He’s made the difference for Ireland over the last eight days, with 12 wickets. For players with a minimum of 10 overs bowled in the tournament, Rankin has the best economy at 3.69. George Dockrell, the left-arm spinner, has had a somewhat quiet tournament thus far, taking nine wickets with an economy of 5.91. He’ll need to step up in the play-offs to give Ireland their best chance of winning, especially since John Mooney and Alex Cusack have both succumbed to injuries.Canada lost heavily to Netherlands and Afghanistan and survived scares from Papua New Guinea and then Nepal on the last day of the group stage to finish third. Ruvindu Gunasekera leads the team with 230 runs, but 178 of those came by bullying the bottom two teams in Group A, Denmark and Bermuda. Otherwise, their batting has struggled against the teams in the top half of their group, with the best effort coming via Nitish Kumar’s 57 in the six-run win over PNG.The bowling hasn’t been much better, with six of legspinner Junaid Siddiqui’s 10 wickets coming against Hong Kong and Nepal. Canada’s bowling unit is the weakest of the six teams that are in contention for the two qualifying spots and it would be a shock if they were able to put together a string of performances to catapult them into Saturday’s final.

Play-off schedule

• Afghanistan v Namibia, March 22

• Canada v Ireland, March 22

• Netherlands v Scotland, March 22

• Preliminary final, March 23

• Preliminary final, March 24

• Final, March 24

Netherlands v Scotland (2nd in Group A v 3rd in Group B)Netherlands have been one of the most balanced and efficient teams in the tournament. They took Afghanistan into the last over before losing by four wickets with two balls to spare and, thanks to some key bowling at the death by Timm van der Gugten, held off Bermuda by four runs. Otherwise, Group A was a breeze as they finished with six wins and one defeat.Stephan Myburgh notched three half-centuries at the top of the order but their best innings of the group stage came from Worcestershire batsman Alexei Kervezee, whose scored 58 at No. 4 against Afghanistan. Peter Borren hasn’t had much work to do with the bat, but may be required for a rescue effort or two in the play-offs. With the ball he has 10 scalps, while Mudassar Bukhari has provided good support. Michael Swart’s all-round skills have also been essential. He’s second behind Myburgh with 191 runs and his offspin has taken eight wickets with an economy of 4.45.Scotland scraped into third place in Group B after a shock defeat to USA on Tuesday nearly allowed Kenya to pass them on net run-rate. Had USA reached their target of 162 one ball sooner, Kenya would be playing Netherlands instead. Scotland were also thrashed by 49 runs against Namibia and were behind the eight-ball throughout their unsuccessful chase against Ireland.Calum MacLeod’s half-century was crucial in their hard fought win over Kenya and he also scored an unbeaten century against Oman. When MacLeod and Richie Berrington have clicked at the top, Scotland have had success; when they haven’t the middle order has struggled to prop the team up and that played a part in Scotland’s underwhelming group-stage showing.With their captain, Gordon Drummond, and Gordon Goudie both going down injured, the responsibility has been left to Majid Haq and Preston Mommsen to take charge with the ball. Haq has responded with 12 wickets and Mommsen has eight. However, Scotland’s catching and overall fielding was a major letdown in the loss to USA.Play-off structureThe winner of the Afghanistan-Namibia contest goes straight through to Saturday’s final. The loser gets a rest day before taking on the last team standing from the other side of the draw. The winner of Ireland-Canada will take on the winner of the Netherlands-Scotland on Friday for the right to play the loser of Afghanistan-Namibia on Saturday morning. Whichever team wins that match will take the second spot in Saturday night’s final – the only match in the tournament to be played under the lights at Dubai Sports City. Both finalists gain a place at the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Edited by Alan Gardner

Lancashire have bolstered their ranks for this season’s Friends Life t20 campaign with the recruitment of Pakistan allrounder Yasir Arafat.Arafat, 30, will join his compatriot Junaid Khan as Lancashire’s second overseas player for the 20-over tournament. Lancashire will be Arafat’s fourth county after spells at Surrey, Sussex and Kent. He has played three Tests for Pakistan as well as 11 ODIs and seven T20Is.Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s director of cricket, said: “The addition of Yasir to our squad emphasises our determination to progress in the Friends Life t20 tournament and we are delighted to have him on board. Our squad doesn’t have the depth that we have been accustomed to and Yasir brings experience and skill to fulfil this important role.”Peter Moores, the head coach, said: “Yasir has a wealth of experience of playing in this country. He is a very experienced one day bowler and a big hitter of the ball down the order.”Arafat, who last played for Pakistan two years ago, told PakPassion.net that his aim was a place in World Twenty20.”I’ve been out of favour with the national side for more than two years and all I can do is to try and perform well and to attempt to impress the selection committee,” he said. “I would dearly love to play in the Twenty20 World Cup later this year.”

Mick Newell has withdrawn from the running to be the next Bangladesh coach. Newell, the director of cricket at Nottinghamshire, had been shortlisted as a candidate to replace Stuart Law in the role but has now informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that he is not available for family reasons.Newell’s withdrawal leaves Richard Pybus as the overwhelming favourite to land the job. While the BCB have a shortlist of names that includes Mark Greatbatch, Dermot Reeve and Kepler Wessels, Pybus remains their preferred candidate. Law stood down in order to take the role of high performance coach at Australia’s Centre of Excellence. Shane Jurgensen, who had been the bowling coach, has been appointed as interim Bangladesh coach.”It is hugely flattering to be linked to such a job and, in many ways, it is a very attractive opportunity,” Newell told ESPNcricinfo. “But I just felt that the time was not quite right for me. I have twins aged eight and didn’t think they were at the age where they would understand if I was away for 10 or 11 months of the year.”The other thing was that I knew that if I took the job, I would probably never coach Nottinghamshire again. I’ve worked for the club for 30 years and I’ve been coaching there for 10 years. It doesn’t get much better than working for Nottinghamshire and I would have to think very carefully before leaving.”Negotiations between 47-year-old Newell and the BCB never progressed to the point where finances or length of contract were discussed. Instead, Newell, who has twice (2005 and 2010) overseen Nottinghamshire winning the County Championship, asked for some details about the position and then made his decision.”My questions were about how they saw the role of the head coach and support staff. We never talked about money. They responded and, after 24 hours having a think about things, I decided that the time wasn’t quite right for me to pursue this.”It is a role that would be of huge interest at the right time. I hope I haven’t ruled myself out of contention in the future as coaching an international team remains something I would like to do. I’d love to coach England at some stage – I’m sure any coach will tell you they want to work with the best players they can but, due to the age of my children, I have notified the BCB that I am not available for this role.”

ScorecardRun-hungry Phil Hughes made a smooth transition from the shortest format to the longest in the County Championship as Worcestershire and Durham battled for supremacy in between the showers at New Road.With 86 overs lost in the match so far, the meeting of the only Division One teams without a win this season only began to take shape with Alan Richardson’s return of 4 for 52 in Durham’s dismissal for 243.Hughes, unbeaten with 52, and Daryl Mitchell rolled out an opening partnership of 63 as Worcestershire replied with 100 for 2 after Ben Stokes had interrupted their progress with wickets in successive overs. Mitchell, on 24, gave a straightforward catch behind the wicket and Vikram Solanki, who made 13, was lbw to the Stokes, the England Lions all-rounder, as the home side closed the second day 143 behind.Australia’s selectors were happy to see Hughes playing county cricket rather than naming him in their A team for a forthcoming tour which includes games against England Lions at Old Trafford and Edgbaston. The move is paying off for all parties. Hughes was the top Friends Life t20 batsman with 322 runs in Worcestershire’s march to the quarter-finals and his good form seems to be switching easily to the longer game.This is only his second championship match since arriving at the end of May and after a difficult start against Durham’s seamers he completed his second half-century in three innings with nine fours.Durham watchers are desperately looking for signs of a revival, even if new captain Paul Collingwood is still unable to exert an influence on the field because of a swelling in the hand that he fractured a month ago.Rain delayed the re-start until the afternoon and when Durham resumed with four wickets down for 127, there was no immediate cheer as Gareth Andrew fired out Dale Benkenstein (30) and Michael Richardson (0). At 150 for 6 the northerners were looking for Phil Mustard to thrive now that he is without the cares of captaincy.Although Andrew uprooted Scott Borthwick’s leg stump in a spell of 3 for 33, Mustard continued to bat positively for 32 and it was a surprise when he got himself out, clipping a ball from Richard Jones straight to Hughes at deep square leg. But Durham were not finished. With Worcestershire’s supporting seamers becoming increasingly expensive, Callum Thorp (30) and Graham Onions (25 not out) put on 42 in seven overs.In all the ninth pair struck 11 boundaries between them and it was only when Worcestershire recalled Richardson that they were able to close the innings. On his return from injury, he found some bounce to have Thorp taken at third slip and then removed Chris Rushworth with a top edge held by Solanki behind the wicketkeeper.

Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has formally announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. Joshi, 42, hasn’t played competitive cricket in more than a year, and was the coach of Hyderabad last season.His international career lasted between 1996 and 2001, spanning 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. His most famous international performance was his 10-6-6-5 spell against South Africa in 1999. In Tests, he was Man of the Match in Bangladesh’s inaugural match, after an all-round effort, taking eight wickets and also scoring a battling 92 in the first innings.On the domestic circuit, he was a stalwart for Karnataka, finishing as the third highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, behind Rajinder Goel and S Venkataraghavan. He won the Ranji Trophy three times – 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99. He was also a handy batsman, finishing with 5126 first-class runs at an average of 26.71. With the Karnataka State Cricket Association recently launching its plan to revive Karnataka’s fortunes, it will be players like Joshi that it would be looking to unearth.At a function organised by the KSCA to mark the occasion, Joshi was warmly praised by some of the state’s greatest players, several of whom were his team-mates at both the domestic and international level. Anil Kumble hailed his impact both on the field and off it. “Congratulations on a terrific career, for being a fantastic servant of Karnataka cricket. His determination and dedication was always evident,” Kumble said. “He is an exceptional allrounder whose services will always be missed. Not just stats, he also contributed by supporting and encouraging younger players.”

Joshi’s favourite domestic game

He rated the come-from-behind victory over Madhya Pradesh in the 1998-99 Ranji final as the most cherished moment in his domestic career. “We had conceded the first-innings lead and we had to push for an outright win. We couldn’t sleep all night after the fourth day, as it was raining (and reducing our chances of victory),” he said. “The next morning it had stopped raining, but MP were batting out time.” At tea MP were 130 for 4, and seemingly safe. “After tea, I managed to get Abbas Ali out (who batted four hours for 47) and Vijay Bharadwaj took over, cleaning up the MP tail to win the match with two overs to spare.” The last six wickets went down for 18 runs.

Rahul Dravid called him ‘an ornament to the game’ and highlighted the importance of experienced players like Joshi in the domestic game. “Even 10 years after his last game for India, he was still playing for Karnataka,” Dravid said. “It is people like Joshi who make domestic cricket the breeding ground for talent. His experience and class helps younger players and also rivals.”Dravid also highlighted Joshi’s commitment. “He led by example. I remember a Ranji semi-final against Hyderabad, he bowled the first over of the day and I didn’t take him off till the end of the day. He bowled 45 overs for me.”The tributes all referred to Joshi’s rise from the small town of Gadag in northern Karnataka, and his struggles to make the Ranji team. An emotional Joshi himself recalled the early days. “As a 12-year-old I used to take the Gol Gumbaz express everyday at 3.30am from Gadag to Hubli (a larger town where he practised),” he said about a journey he undertook for several years.When he finally broke into the Ranji team, after several seasons of junior state cricket, his first match didn’t go to plan. “My first cap was in 1992, there was a lot of pressure on me. I made 83 not out on the first day, and bowled a single over before stumps,” he said. “The next day the match was called off due to the Ayodhya riots.” He went on to become the most capped Karnataka player.Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, said Joshi paved the way for other small-town cricketers in the state. “I was the coach when Joshi came into the state team,” Binny said. “He has been an inspiration to cricketers from mofussil areas. In the recent past, Vinay Kumar has also done the same thing.”Javagal Srinath was the last of the state’s legends to pay tribute, and had the audience in splits with his anecdotes about Joshi’s cooking, their Under-22 days and Joshi’s retort after Srinath, not usually a close-in fielder, dropped a sitter at slip during Bangladesh’s first Test (telling him angrily that fast bowlers should always field in the deep).Joshi was presented a memento by the KSCA, and was surprised by a coffee table book showcasing his career that was put together by his family. The evening of bonhomie and respect was the perfect way to acknowledge the end of one of the great careers in domestic cricket.

Bangladesh will play an extra Twenty20 game during the Netherlands leg of their European tour, taking on the home side on Thursday. They were initially scheduled to play only one T20 against Scotland on Tuesday, and another against Netherlands at The Hague on Wednesday.Bangladesh are currently ranked No. 4 in the ICC’s Twenty20 rankings, after blanking Ireland 3-0 last week. To qualify for a position, the rankings require that teams play a minimum of eight T20 matches since August 1st, at least two years ago. Bangladesh would have lost their place in the rankings next month as, by the original schedule, they would have played only seven T20s in the qualifying period. The additional match will help them fulfill the qualification requirements.

Match Facts

September 8, 2012
Start time 2.30pm (1330 GMT)Stuart Broad will be the latest England captain to try and succeed against South Africa•Getty Images

The Big Picture

We’ve been here before: England’s seemingly-quite-resistible force against South Africa’s immovable Hashim Amla. This time the tourists are the No. 1-ranked side going into the series, however, and England are merely the reigning World Twenty20 champions. Both have solid records from sporadic outings in the shortest form this year and both will be looking to nail down their plans for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, which starts in less than two weeks’ time.For England, it means a change in captain and Stuart Broad will aim to become the first of the now-defunct triumvirate to hand South Africa a series defeat. Andrew Strauss retired from cricket after his side were steamrollered in the Tests, though Alastair Cook did marginally better, clinging on to the one-day top ranking and gaining a promotion into the bargain. Broad will probably settle for a trio of consistent performances from the squad, as well as the avoidance of injury.There is no respite for AB de Villiers, who had the wicketkeeping gloves thrust upon him at the start of the Test series and now continues to balance his own personal three-for in the T20s as captain, batsman and keeper. After two months away from home and with one eye on the subcontinent, he will need all his powers of multitasking and compartmentalisation to help drag his team towards the finish line.

Form guide

(Most recent first, completed matches)
England WWWLW
South Africa WWWLW

Watch out for

Alex Hales scored 99 in his only international outing of 2012 so far but walked off the pitch at Trent Bridge looking distraught to miss out on a hundred. Still, making the highest T20I score by an Englishman is as good a way as any to start life as Kevin Pietersen’s replacement. Hales’ coach at Nottingham, Mick Newell, recently suggested his first-class returns had been wanting this season but he is a talented young opener who could offer England options in all formats.Without Jacques Kallis, rested for the ODI series, South Africa looked an unbalanced side. They will welcome back the ursine allrounder with wide open arms ahead of the World Twenty20, even though his sole T20I appearance in the last two years came during a one-off tribute match against India in March. Experience can count for a lot in T20 cricket and Kallis, an IPL winner with Kolkata earlier this year, is smarter than your average bear

Team news

Barring one high-profile exception, England have played the same team in all four of their T20 internationals this year. Graeme Swann should return after being rested for the last three ODIs against South Africa, while Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan are both carrying niggles, which could mean a first T20I appearance in three years for James Anderson. Ravi Bopara has struggled with the bat recently but made fifty in his last 20-over outing against West Indies.England (possible) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wkt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad (capt), 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jade DernbachSouth Africa have a similar squad to pick from as for the ODIs, with Kallis, Richard Levi and possibly Johan Botha likely to be the only different faces in the mix for a starting spot. Depending on his fitness, Albie Morkel could come back into the side, while South Africa have also experimented with batting Wayne Parnell up the order in de Villiers’ short reign as captain.South Africa (possible) 1 Richard Levi, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Justin Ontong, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at Chester-le-Street has not been a friendly one to batsmen all season and Australia struggled to 200 for 9 in an ODI there in July. Durham twice made 300 or thereabouts in 40-over games last month, however, and the prospect of sunshine breaking through the fluffy white clouds at some point in the afternoon should boost the chances for a high-scoring affair.

Stats and trivia

• Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann are tied as England’s leading T20I wicket-takers, with 41 each.
• Richard Levi struck the fastest-ever T20 international hundred, from 45 balls, in only his second appearance.
• There have been six T20 meetings between the two sides – England have won two, South Africa three, with one abandonment…
• …which occurred when they were due to play each other at Chester-le-Street in 2008.

Quotes

“The planning started from Trent Bridge, when Kevin said he wasn’t available for the Twenty20 World Cup, and his replacement came in and got the highest score by an England batsman.”
“Twenty20s fly by. You can almost see the finish line now.”

28.3 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRain had the final say in the Sri Lanka-New Zealand ODI series•AFP

Rain robbed New Zealand’s best chance of sneaking in a win in a one-sided series, after they restricted Sri Lanka to 123 for 8 in Hambantota. The match began under sunny skies, but little over two hours after the start, rain forced the players off the field and they remained indoors till half past eight, when another downpour brought a soggy end to an ill-timed series. All six matches on tour were affected by rain, with Sri Lanka taking the one-dayers 3-0.While Sri Lanka were the superior side in the context of the series, New Zealand would have every reason to feel let down by the weather in this game. For a change they found a way to express themselves and it came via their seamers to put the hosts under early pressure. After opting to bowl first in conditions expected to suit the fast bowlers, Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Trent Boult utilised the swing to their advantage to nip out early wickets. Upul Tharanga played the lone hand as the rest failed to stick around to build partnerships.It all started with Southee’s peach which swung away late and hit the off stump before Dinesh Chandimal could get his bat down. That was enough to convince the bowlers that the fuller length was the order of the day. The wicketkeeper and the slips had to stay alert, as BJ Watling found out when he failed to hang on to a touch chance off Lahiru Thirimanne when he was on 6. Southee struck again when he removed Thirimanne by inducing an outside edge, giving Watling a chance to make amends.It was the short delivery that claimed Angelo Mathews, who miscued a pull off Boult to Southee at fine leg. Even the experienced Kumar Sangakkara found the going tough against the most inexperienced of the seam trio, Milne, and edged to the keeper. It was a dismissal that would have made the bowling coach Shane Bond proud. The ball landed on middle and nipped away, squaring up the left-hander. Milne posed questions to the other left-hand batsman Tharanga as well, and looked like he deserved more than one wicket as the halfway stage.Mahela Jayawardene and Tharanga showed some initiative in a stand of 47, stepping out to the spin of Nathan McCullum when the seamers were getting a breather. McCullum, though, had the last laugh when he took aim at the bowler’s end and knocked the stumps with Jayawardene short of his ground. A wild slash by Jeevan Mendis off Andrew Ellis saw him walk back for a fourth-ball duck, leaving Sri Lanka at 92 for 6 in the 24th over.Tharanga reached his fifty, and when he edged Southee to Watling on 60, the rain arrived. New Zealand didn’t have the pleasure of bowling Sri Lanka out but they went back with some positives, having run Sri Lanka close in at least two matches. With two Tests to play, at different venues, one would feel the teams haven’t seen the last of the rain, with the monsoon in full swing.

The flooding that has cursed many parts of the UK has claimed a predictable victim – Worcestershire’s New Road ground which is under water yet again.Worcestershire have said that relocation of their administrative operations has meant that there has been less disruption than usual, although construction work on a new 120-room hotel and restaurant has been threatened almost as soon as it has started.The redevelopment includes new conference and executive suites and is essential to safeguard Worcestershire’s financial future.Prolonged and heavy flooding would put pressure on a deadline for completion of the club suites by June 2013, with the new hotel and restaurant scheduled to open in October next year.Worcestershire have constructed a temporary bridge to gain access to the Graeme Hick Pavilion so all functions, including a comedy night this Friday, go ahead as scheduled.

Match facts

Mitchell Johnson will bat at No.7 for Australia•Getty Images

January 3-7, SCG
Start time 1030 (2330 GMT)

Big Picture

The series is decided and the best Sri Lanka can hope for now is a competitive showing in the final Test in Sydney. They will have to do so without Kumar Sangakkara, who is comfortably Sri Lanka’s best batsman of all time away from home. They will also have to do so without Chanaka Welegedara, who has been their leading wicket taker in this series. They may also need to do so without their first-choice gloveman Prasanna Jayawardene, who remains in doubt due to a hairline fracture of his thumb. And they’ll probably have to do it without Nuwan Kulasekara, who missed the Melbourne Test with a rib injury. The odds are long, but Sri Lanka can take some comfort from the fact that dead rubbers such as this can throw up surprising results.On paper, it is difficult to see Sri Lanka posing much of a threat, despite the fact that Australia have shortened their batting line-up by naming Matthew Wade at No.6 and Mitchell Johnson at No.7. Against a strong bowling attack it would be a far riskier move, but against a Sri Lankan bowling outfit missing Welegedara and Kulasekara it may be of little consequence. It also means Australia have four fast men to rotate and keep fresh during Sri Lanka’s innings, along with the offspinner Nathan Lyon. By leaving out the uncapped allrounder Glenn Maxwell, the Australians have also ignored the chance to assess how Maxwell would handle the challenge of bowling in Test cricket, ahead of the tour of India in February-March.But despite the fact the series has been decided already, there will be plenty of emotion at the SCG over the next five days. Both teams will wear black armbands in honour of the late Tony Greig, who was not only a fixture of Australian cricket commentary for 33 years but was also a much-loved figure in Sri Lanka. And the Australians will also farewell Michael Hussey, who surprisingly announced his retirement after the Melbourne Test. Hussey, the leader of Australia’s team song, would love to have one last reason to sing it at the SCG.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Australia WWLDD
Sri Lanka LLLWD

In the spotlight

Ricky Ponting was farewelled with defeat at the WACA last month; Michael Hussey has a much better chance of ending his Test career on a high. Hussey will leave a gaping hole in the middle order over the next year and Australia’s fans will enjoy seeing him in the baggy green one last time over the coming days. Hussey enters the Test with 19 Test centuries to his name and given the kind of form he has displayed this summer, it would be a brave person to bet against him reaching No.20 before he bows out. Only 11 Australians have reached that milestone.Dinesh Chandimal is a batsman of immense talent whose opportunities at Test level have been limited by the settled nature of Sri Lanka’s middle order. Now he has a chance to make his mark. Chandimal has played four Tests and scored three half-centuries and if he can perform impressively at the SCG he may force a rethink from the national selectors. There is every chance Chandimal will also be asked to keep wicket. All in all, it shapes as a big week for him.

Team news

Glenn Maxwell has been left out of Australia’s line-up and instead they will use Mitchell Johnson as an allrounder at No.7. Michael Clarke has been passed fit to play, which means Usman Khawaja will be released from the squad.Australia 1 Ed Cowan, 2 David Warner, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jackson Bird.Sri Lanka will make at least two forced changes to their side from Melbourne, with Kumar Sangakkara out due to his hand injury and Chanaka Welegedara to miss out due to a hamstring problem. Dinesh Chandimal is expected to come in for Sangakkara, while Nuwan Pradeep is the likely inclusion for Welegedara. The Sri Lankans are also waiting on news of Prasanna Jayawardene, who suffered a hairline fracture to his thumb at the MCG. If he is ruled out, Lahiru Thirimanne would likely take his place in the line-up and Chandimal would keep wicket.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene / Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Dhammika Prasad, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Shaminda Eranga, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.

Pitch and conditions

The SCG is not the spin haven it once was, as evidenced by Australia’s decision to choose one four fast men and one spinner instead of two slow-bowling options. In his column on the day before the Test Clarke wrote that there was “a surprising amount of grass on the SCG pitch”. The weather for most of the Test is expected to be good, although there could be occasional showers on days four and five.

Stats and trivia

• Michael Clarke needs 87 runs to go past Don Bradman’s career tally of 6996 Test runs
• Mitchell Johnson will play his 50th Test and will become the 11th Australian fast bowler to reach the milestone
• Michael Hussey’s final Test will also be his 79th consecutive Test since his debut. The only players currently enjoying longer streaks are AB de Villiers (80), Alastair Cook (85) and Mahela Jayawardene, who in Sydney will play his 93rd consecutive Test
• Test cricket’s leading run scorer and wicket taker for 2012 will be playing in Sydney. Clarke topped the run tally with 1595 at 106.33 and Herath took the most wickets, 60 at 23.61

Quotes

“It’s going to be a huge 12 months of cricket and it starts tomorrow against Sri Lanka at the SCG.”