The participation of Sri Lanka players in the 2013 IPL, which begins on April 3, has been thrown into some doubt following political tensions in India over the treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka

Amol Karhadkar, Andrew Fidel Fernando and Nagraj Gollapudi19-Mar-2013The participation of Sri Lanka players in the 2013 IPL, which begins on April 3, has been thrown into some doubt following political tensions in India over the treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Players’ Association has raised strong concerns about the safety of Sri Lanka cricketers who will play in Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, and officials from a couple of franchises admitted that the IPL has “verbally communicated” the same concerns to them.The political fallout of the issue has led to the DMK, a Tamil Nadu-based party, pulling its ministers out of the federal coalition government in New Delhi and threatening its future. There have been at least two reported attacks on Sri Lankan tourists in Tamil Nadu in the past few days and Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry has asked its nationals visiting Tamil Nadu to exercise caution. The fear is that the controversy will snowball and put players at risk.Thirteen Sri Lanka players are contracted to IPL teams in 2013, with fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and offspinner Akila Dananjaya part of the Chennai Super Kings franchise. Ten matches will be played in Chennai.In Sri Lanka, the players’ association said it was currently consulting with its parent organisation, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, to determine a course of action that will ensure cricketers’ safety. “We have sent a letter to FICA outlining the situation, which they are not aware of at the moment,” SLPA general secretary Ken de Alwis said. “They will talk to their security consultants and get back to us about what needs to be in place.”
Alwis said, however, that the cricketers who are set to play in the tournament have expressed confidence in existing security arrangements. “The players aren’t worried at all. In fact, I spoke to a few of them and they said, ‘No, security will be tight, and we’re not too concerned right now.'”
In India, where the issue was given a dramatic twist on Tuesday with the DMK’s withdrawal from the government, franchise officials now say the IPL is concerned at events. “They [IPL] have told us that the federal government might impose certain restrictions with regard to Sri Lankan nationals travelling to Chennai. If that happens, [we have been asked to] be prepared to play those games without the Lankan players,” a franchise official said on condition of anonymity.Most of the franchises contacted by ESPNcricinfo said they were not really concerned about the league stage, where they could ask teams not to field their Sri Lankan players for the Chennai matches. The “real concern” for them is the Eliminator, scheduled to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on May 22. “If the situation doesn’t improve by then and either or both teams have to do without one or two key players, the match could be seriously affected,” another franchise official said.While for seven teams, it will mean being without the services of one or two players for a game, the biggest impact will be for the Chennai Super Kings, the host team, who might have to do without Kulasekara and Dananjaya for all eight home games.The first IPL game in Chennai will be between the hosts and Mumbai Indians, for whom Lasith Malinga is a key player, on April 6.

Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies this year will comprise five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals but no Tests, because of the difficulty in finding a window for a full tour

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2013Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies this year will comprise five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals but no Tests, because of the difficulty in finding a window for a full tour. The dates for the tour have not yet been finalised.”The Pakistan issue, it’s fair to say that we haven’t completely concluded negotiations or the final dates, but we’re confident that will be done shortly,” WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead said in Port-of-Spain. “It won’t be a Test series anymore; we’re going to be focussing on five ODIs and two T20s. We have just not finalised with Pakistan, them signing off on the schedule we have been provided.”The WICB president Dave Cameron said he was not happy about the absence of Tests but there was little that could be done. “I don’t think we are satisfied,” Cameron said. “But circumstances have dictated for this year that that’s what we’re able to put in, and hopefully we’re going to able to build on that next year.”Pakistan were originally scheduled to play two Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s in the Caribbean in June and July, but West Indies planned a tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka, which shortened the window. The WICB had asked the PCB if their tour could be rescheduled to August. That, however, interfered with Pakistan’s plan to host India and to play out the Zimbabwe series that was postponed last year.

Kings XI Punjab’s campaign in IPL 2013 gathered pace with their second consecutive win, a stroll in the park compared to their adrenalin-charged chase against Pune Warriors

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran23-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHarmeet Singh made an impact in his first game of 2013•BCCI

Kings XI Punjab’s campaign in IPL 2013 gathered pace with their second consecutive win, a stroll in the park compared to their adrenaline-charged chase against Pune Warriors. A fine bowling effort from the Kings XI’s seamers, backed by some sharp fielding, restricted the bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils to a modest 120, which the Kings XI batsmen chased comfortably with three overs to spare.Kings XI opted to bowl on a slow Kotla track and they didn’t let partnerships to blossom, the highest being 39 between David Warner and Manprit Juneja. Mahela Jayawardene’s promotion to the opening position clicked against Mumbai Indians, when he made 59, but today his innings ended on 4 when he edged Praveen Kumar to slip. Roelof van der Merwe’s promotion to No.3 didn’t work as he top-edged Parvinder Awana to cover. It set a pattern for the evening as several batsmen from both sides perished to top-edges.Perhaps it was the slow nature of the Kotla track that prompted Kings XI to bring in the seamer Harmeet Singh, known for his back-of-the-hand slower balls. Playing his first game of IPL 2013, replacing Manpreet Gony, Harmeet was hammered for a four and a six by Virender Sehwag off consecutive balls in his first over. In his second, he frustrated Sehwag with his slower balls, forcing the batsman to improvise. Sehwag looked to open up, made room and ended up scooping the ball low to extra cover, where Mandeep Singh timed his dive well and took the catch.Warner gave the innings some impetus with a flurry of boundaries in one over by Piyush Chawla, taking 16 off it. The stand between Warner and Juneja was the only period in which Daredevils had a semblance of control, until Harmeet steered the momentum Kings XI’s way in his second spell. Juneja pulled a slower ball, bowled short, straight to fine leg, before Kedar Jadhav top-edged to extra cover in the same over.The boundaries dried up with the procession of wickets and it only increased the pressure on Warner. The drought lasted four overs before Warner clipped Praveen behind square leg, before the bowler knocked the base of the base off stump with a swinging yorker. In the end, Daredevils limped to 120, in contrast to the record-shattering pyrotechnics earlier in the evening by Chris Gayle and Royal Challengers Bangalore.Adam Gilchrist fell three balls into the chase, trying to smash his way into form and convince his franchise he can still hold his position in the team, seeing how certain franchises are grappling with the issue of non-performing overseas captains. Mandeep gave the chase momentum with scoops and cuts off the seamers, but a promising knock was cut short thanks to a direct hit by Warner. A top-edge sent back Manan Vohra and at 70 for 4 in the tenth over, Daredevils had narrowed the gap a bit. However, David Miller ensured no further jitters as he and David Hussey took Kings XI closer.

Fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to the foot injury he picked up during a practice match last week, and Sri Lanka Cricket has replaced him with seam-bowling allrounder Dilhara Lokuhettige

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2013Sri Lankan fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara is unlikely to travel to England for the Champions Trophy, after failing to recover sufficiently from an ankle injury he sustained on May 18. Welegedara failed a fitness test on Wednesday morning, and Sri Lanka Cricket have since named seam bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige as a replacement. The selection was cleared by the sports minister, but has not yet been approved by the ICC.Lokuhettige, 32, played eight ODIs for Sri Lanka in 2005, and two Twenty20 internationals in 2008. He has six ODI wickets at 36.83. He has largely been picked on his form in the recently concluded List A tri-series in Pallekele, where he was the joint highest wicket-taker: nine scalps at an average of 17.66. If approved, he will be one of four pace specialists on tour, with Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga and Nuwan Kulasekara also traveling. Allrounders Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews are part of the squad as well.”SLC have written to the ICC Event Technical Committee regarding this replacement,” an SLC statement said. “The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.”Welegedara had picked up the injury during the penultimate match of the tri-series, which he left, in pain, during his third over. His chances of traveling to England had looked promising on Tuesday after scans revealed no breaks or fractures, but inflammation persisted and he was unable to put sufficient weight on his landing foot.Welegedara, also 32, was the leader of Sri Lanka’s Test pace attack, but has been plagued by injury in the last 12 months, in which he only completed one Test match. He strained his groin playing England in March last year, before tearing a shoulder muscle before the Pakistan series in July. He recovered in time to travel to Australia at the end of the year, but tore a hamstring early in the second Test in Melbourne, and has not played any international cricket since. Largely regarded a Test specialist, Welegedara has not played limited-overs international cricket since June 2010.The Sri Lanka squad leaves for England in the early hours of Monday morning.

Phillip Hughes is adamant he can repair his shaken confidence in three warm-up matches ahead of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge

Daniel Brettig in London18-Jun-2013Phillip Hughes is adamant he can repair his shaken confidence in three warm-up matches ahead of the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, starting with Australia A’s fixture against Gloucestershire in Bristol from Friday.A paltry return of 57 runs in five limited-overs innings on this England tour so far has not enhanced Hughes’ claims to a spot in the Australian top order for the Test matches to come, particularly when they are added to his poor record against England – 154 runs at 17.11 in five Tests spread across the past two series – and a dire recent tour of India.But the selectors’ decision to send Hughes and Matthew Wade to Bristol to join Australia A will now afford Hughes a trio of first-class matches in which to strive for runs before the Test squad rolls into Nottingham. A century or three over the next two weeks would not only enhance Hughes’ chances of retention in the Test team, but also send self-recriminating thoughts of a poor Champions Trophy to the back of his mind.”I’m really looking forward to getting a couple training days in Bristol and starting Friday,” Hughes said in London. “Hopefully spend a bit of time in the middle and get my mental game around the red ball now. It was disappointing to be knocked out and lose those games of cricket in the Champions Trophy, but that’s behind us now, it’s about moving on.”We’ll be disappointed for a day or two but it’s all about the red ball now and we’ll get into preparation. Behind the scenes in the nets now all my focus will be on the red ball. It can be at times tricky to juggle formats but the beauty of it is there’s still a way to go before the Ashes and we’ve got some good cricket coming up to that first Test.”Largely due to a homespun batting technique that relies heavily on an uncluttered mind and an exceptional eye rather than precise footwork or a watertight defence, confidence is more critical to Hughes’ chances of success than most. This contention is backed up by his penchant for scoring great swathes of runs on some days and looking like the bat is an alien object in his hands on others.The latter state of affairs was in evidence at The Oval against Sri Lanka, where Hughes used the inside and outside edges far more often than the middle on his way to a fretful 13. He did not look like a batsman thinking clearly and simply about the task at hand. Nevertheless, Hughes argued that four years around international cricket now meant he would be far better prepared to do so when the Ashes begin than he had been on his previous visit to England in 2009.”It’s a tough one,” Hughes said of keeping distractions from his mind at the batting crease. “The older you get the better you are at it, I think. You speak to players in the past and they sometimes say you mature at 28-29 years of age. One thing for me is I’ve still got age on my side. I’ve been very lucky to be around the international scene for four years, and I feel like I’m in a lot better space than I was four years ago. I feel like my game’s come a long, and also mentally it’s come along. I suppose it’s a pleasing thing going forward, but day in day out I’m still looking to get better.”One thing around the Ashes is huge hype, so it’s about staying as calm as possible and wiping out as much media and outside influence as possible, and keeping a tight team unit. I remember the memories of four years ago and personally how disappointed I was and everyone was when we lost that series. That’s in the back of my mind. As a kid growing up you want to win Ashes series and that’s what we always talk about.”There was evidence of Hughes’ gathering mental strength in India of all places, where he emerged from a nightmarish first two Tests to make a fighting 69 in Mohali then a battling 45 in Delhi. Those innings don’t sound like much, but they showed rare persistence on a generally dysfunctional tour, and caught the approving eye of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, among others. Hughes will need to repeat the trick over the next two weeks if he is to keep his Test spot.

Gary Ballance led the way for Yorkshire with a dazzling career-best one-day score of 139 in their 32-run win over Unicorns at Headingley.

13-Aug-2013
ScorecardGary Ballance smashed 139 in 113 balls•Getty Images

Gary Ballance led the way for Yorkshire with a dazzling career-best one-day score of 139 in their 32-run win over Unicorns at Headingley.It was just the sort of warm-up that Ballance wanted ahead of England Lions’ two-day encounter against the Australians starting on Friday at Northampton, and his two other county colleagues in the national side also enjoyed an outstanding match.Alex Lees scored a faultless 63 off 74 balls with six boundaries and put on 134 in 23 overs with Ballance, who was later joined in a frenzied stand of 76 in only 35 balls by Liam Plunkett, the allrounder striking 25 not out off 16 balls and going on to take a couple of wickets..But the star of the batting show was undoubtedly Ballance in making Yorkshire’s only century in the competition so far this season, his runs coming off 113 deliveries with 15 fours and three sixes, but off-spinner Jack Leaning hogged the limelight later on with an astonishing return of 5 for 22 off four overs.Unicorns, who had a worthy century-maker of their own in Matt Lineker, were set 267 to win the Group C clash, but were eventually out for 234 in 38.2 overs.Yorkshire made a poor start with captain Andrew Gale pushing forward to Dominic Reed in the third over and caught at second slip by Lineker. It became 16 for 2 in the following over as Dan Hodgson hung out his bat at Chris Skidmore and was held at first slip by Keith Parsons.Lees and Ballance soon mastered the situation and began to score freely although Lees had a fortunate moment when he narrowly avoided disturbing the bails while trying to prevent a ball from legspinner Josh Poysdon rebounding into his stumps. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries in the same over from Garry Park that the century partnership was raised, Lees off 56 balls with five fours and Ballance off 52 deliveries with seven boundaries.Park eventually made the breakthrough by trapping Lees lbw as he attempted to reverse sweep a ball which was too full and some of the rhythm went out of the batting for a few overs, Adam Lyth being bowled by Park when aiming through midwicket and Jack Leaning falling to Aneurin Norman.That made it 185 for 5 in the 34th over but Ballance and Plunkett suddenly unleashed a torrent of strokes which kept the scoreboard constantly on the move, Reed bearing the brunt of an assault from Ballance which saw him concede 17 off 1 over and 24 off his next, two of Ballance’s shots clearing the rope in between him galloping to his century off 98 balls with 10 fours and a six.During this assault, the unfortunate Reed saw Ballance dropped off a skier to Luke Beaven at square leg soon after completing three figures. Ballance’s run spree continued until the last over of the innings when he went for another big hit, this time off Beaven, and was caught in front of the football stand by Park.Yorkshire’s 266 for 6, their highest score of the season, was always going to prove challenging for Unicorns but they went about their task with gusto and kept themselves up with the required rate.
Tom Lancefield and Lineker, who had a first-class season with Derbyshire in 2011, put on 77 in 14 overs for the first wicket before Lancefield slashed at Plunkett and was caught behind for 39.While the stylish Lineker was still there Unicorns were always in with a chance and he reached his 50 off 56 balls with five fours. At the 30-over stage they were 176 for 4 compared to Yorkshire’s 169 for 3, but Lewis Hill was caught hitting out at Plunkett and there was relief in the home camp when Lineker tried to sweep the offspin of Leaning and was lbw for 107 from 105 balls with nine fours and a six.Leaning also got rid of the dangerous Parsons and was far from finished because in the 38th over, with 38 wanted, he bowled Beaven and had both Norman and Reed caught to finish with 5 for 22, Yorkshire’s best figures of the season.

Ajit Chandila has been granted bail by a Delhi court in the IPL spot-fixing case after finding the prosecution to have some “missing links” in their case

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2013Ajit Chandila has been granted bail by a Delhi court in the IPL spot-fixing case. According to , the court took the decision after ruling that the prosecution had “missing links” in their case.Chandila and his Rajasthan Royals team-mates Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan had been arrested, along with 11 bookies, on May 16 and charged under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating and conspiracy. Sreesanth and Chavan had successfully made bail and were released on June 11.The court also directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to examine the issue of the missing links within a month. “It is very surprising,” the judge said. “There are some missing links in the case. I am sending the full file to the Commissioner of Police to let the case be examined.” The court also fixed October 7 as the date for hearing the prosecution’s plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to the three cricketers and the others arrested.Chandila was named as one of the accused in a 6000-page charge sheet issued by the Delhi police, along with Sreesanth and Chavan. In June, the police had invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism, against all three cricketers. But after the police failed to provide adequate evidence to support the addition of the MCOCA charge, a court in Delhi had upheld Sreesanth and Chavan’s plea for bail. The two of them were released from custody on June 11, while Chandila had not applied for bail then.Chandila had later submitted that he had been falsely implicated and said the police had “mischievously added” provisions of the MCOCA to the charges to keep him from getting bail. His counsel Rakesh Kumar had said Chandila had no connections to Dawood Ibrahim or his aide, Chhota Shakeel, who are among India’s most wanted criminals. Both of them are also charged in the case and the police allege that they control the betting syndicate in India.

Zimbabwe’s players are “back to full training,” and are likely to rubber-stamp an agreement with their board on Saturday after agreeing terms on payment

Firdose Moonda16-Aug-2013

Zimbabwe Practice Squad

Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Michael Chinouya, Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Shingirai Masakadza, Tino Mawoyo, Natsai M’shangwe, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams

Zimbabwe’s players are “back to full training,” and are likely to rubber-stamp an agreement with their board on Saturday after agreeing terms on payment. The newly formed players’ union will continue to represent cricketers’ issues and the series against Pakistan will go ahead as planned.ESPNcricinfo confirmed the players have reached consensus with Zimbabwe Cricket after two days of meetings. One of them, who asked not to be named, said ZC had provided an assurance that outstanding salaries from the month of July would be paid and that cricketers would receive match fees from now on.The exact amount has not been revealed, although the had reported players were demanding US$5,000 per Test match, $3,000 for an ODI and $1,500 for every T20. Given that the board is in severe debt, it is unlikely it will be able to match those figures but the players are said to be satisfied with the amounts ZC has offered.”We wanted to make them aware we were the only international team that were playing without match fees,” the player said. “Now we will be receiving them.”The issue of disbursements from the board’s share of ICC events, which ZC MD Wilfred Mukondiwa said on Friday morning was the only outstanding article of debate, has still not been resolved. Instead, the players have been told the board needs “more time to do research,” and will clarify its position on how the monies from such tournaments will be distributed in an appendix to the new playing contracts.With financial concerns smoothed over, the players will continue to prepare for the series against Pakistan that starts August 23, with the board announcing a 21-member practice squad. “Training has resumed in full and as things stand now, there will be no boycott of the series,” the player said.However, the players’ association formed by a group of senior players – believed to be Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya and Elton Chigumbura – will become a permanent fixture in Zimbabwe cricket.”It was something the players put together because we did not have a proper arrangement in the past. The board is now open to the idea of having a player association and we wanted to take that chance,” the player said. “There are a lot if issues that crop up in Zimbabwean cricket and without a singular voice it was very difficult for us to get things done.”Zimbabwe have had many aborted attempts at a players’ association and have not had a fully functioning body since a player representative sat on the board before the white-player walkout. Unlike then, when Zimbabwe’s players were divided over race, they “all united” in their cause to fight for what they consider better pay.Zimbabwe’s cricketers have long been considered underpaid. On the eve of their Test comeback in 2011, Tatenda Taibu said they were not receiving adequate funding. Just four months ago, not much had changed. The players threatened a no-show during Bangladesh’s April visit because of an unsatisfactory daily allowance for those who were not on central contracts.

Chris Rushworth’s five wickets have set up an intriguing final day in which both Durham and Sussex are hanging on to 100% records

Srihari Daivanayagam at Chester-le-Street28-Apr-2015
ScorecardChris Rushworth’s five wickets set up a tight finish at Chester-le-Street•Getty Images

The rain which had been threatening to disrupt play throughout the first two days eventually came on day three, but not before Durham, led by Chris Rushworth’s five-wicket haul, bowled out Sussex for 265 to set up an intriguing day four at Chester-le-Street.After record partnerships from tail enders on the first two days, there was a hint of normalcy in the proceedings on a day in which bowlers took wickets and batsmen scored runs.Sussex dominated the first session of play and looked on course for a big total. But a couple of quick wickets before lunch, followed by a post-lunch batting collapse meant that they managed to set a target of just 262.A positive start by Durham’s openers has left them with just 147 to get on the final day to record their second successive win of the season.Rushworth, who picked up his 10th five-wicket haul for Durham said it has been a “remarkable game”. On how the pitch is behaving, he said: “The odd one is doing a bit, keeping low, bouncing a little bit sidewards so there’s plenty there for the bowlers. But I think in general it is a pretty good pitch.”Earlier in the day, it looked as though it wasn’t going to be Durham’s day as the Sussex batsmen either kept playing and missing it by a whisker or edging it past or just short of the slip cordon. Durham have learned not to despair. “We always feel in the game here,” Rusworth said. “We know as a bowling unit that if you hang around there and be patient, rewards will either come at the other end or later on in the day.”Despite riding his luck early on with a couple of lbw shouts and edges that didn’t quite carry, Matt Machan sparkled for Sussex on a pitch that wasn’t exactly easy to bat, securing his third half-century of the season.After frustrating Durham’s bowlers for large parts of the opening session, both Machan and Harry Finch fell to Usman Arshad and Ben Brown nicked one to Scott Borthwick to put the game nicely in the balance going into lunch.At 255-6 with Luke Wright still at the crease, the visitors would have been looking for another late-order flourish to make good Machan’s efforts. It was not forthcoming. The last four wickets fell for just 10 runs as Rushworth and John Hastings did what they couldn’t in the first innings, wrap up the tail quickly.Rushworth started the collapse by trapping Ajmal Shahzad lbw with the score at 255 for 6. Considering the amount of good shouts that were turned down by both umpires, that was a surprise as it looked as though the ball was heading down leg. In his next over, Rushworth sent the dangerous Luke Wright’s middle stump out for a walk with an delivery that moved off the pitch.Hastings who had hitherto bowled well without any reward picked wrapped up the tail with two wickets in two balls just nine overs after lunch.Chasing a modest 262, both of Durham’s openers started positively on a pitch that is still difficult for new batsmen. Unusually, it was Keaton Jennings who was the aggressor at the start. It was not until the 11th over, when he hit debutant Robinson for three fours that Mark Stoneman really got going. The last of the boundaries also brought up the pair’s second fifty partnership of the innings.Just when it looked as though Durham were cruising to the target, Shahzad removed both openers before tea. First Stoneman was trapped lbw two balls after hitting a massive six onto the top tier of the County Durham Stand. His opening partner followed four overs later, as Division One’s leading wicket taker got the ball to move back in and got the edge off Jennings’ bat into the keeper’s glove.Borthwick and Michael Richardson held fort after tea before the players left due to bad light, with play eventually being abandoned due to rain. With plenty of overs left to play, the weather and not the players will decide whether Division One still has a side that has won all of their games this season.

Australia allrounder Shane Watson is set to join the Test squad in the West Indies on Wednesday, following the birth of his second child in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2015Australia allrounder Shane Watson is set to join the Test squad in the West Indies on Wednesday, following the birth of his second child in Sydney. Watson, however, will not participate in the three-day tour game against WICB President’s XI in North Sound, the only warm-up match before the two-Test series gets underway on June 3.The allrounder had delayed his departure for the Caribbean due to the impending birth of his second child – who was born on May 24 – and was uncertain for the first Test.Apart from Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Steven Smith and David Warner will also miss the warm-up match, after the team management opted to rest players returning from the IPL season.Australia XI: Chris Rogers, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Nevill, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Fawad Ahmed