Pakistan was among the four original host countries participating in this event, but sadly they were forced to withdraw amid security fears.

The fourteen captain’s of the teams taking part in the tournament were paraded around the Bangabandu Stadium in Dhaka in rickshaws at the opening ceremony while performers demonstrated local cultures to the 21,000 strong crowd.

Further entertainment was provided by Indian singer Sonu Nigam, Bangladesh-based Runa Laila and Canadian Bryan Adams.

Cricket crazy South Asia will be itching for the competition to get underway, but was wait until Saturday when Bangladesh host the favourites India at the Mirpur Stadium.

The South Asia Cricket World Cup will feature eight matches in Bangladesh, twelve in Sri Lanka and twenty nine in India, including the final which will take place in Mumbai on April 2nd.

Addressing the crowd gathered for the opening ceremony ICC president Sharad Pawar said: “Our flagship event provides the stage on which players have the rare opportunity to create legend and to write their own chapter in the history of this great sport. The greatest cricketers in the world will grace this event and I am sure that their ability, whether with bat or ball, will provide excitement and enjoyment for all cricket lovers.”

One of England’s heroes from the Test matches against Bangladesh, Finn took 15 wickets from the two match series, including a 5 for 42 during the final innings of the game.

National selector Geoff Miller has told the 21 year old bowler that he will be rested from the upcoming summer One Day Internationals against Australia and Bangladesh to undergo a similar programme that led to Stuart Broad being rested for the recent Test matches.

With the emergence of so much young talent in the England squad the selectors obviously feel that have enough cover available to enable them to undertake ongoing training programmes for their young stars without fielding a weakened side.

It is great news for England cricket that the national team has such a depth of quality and that young players are not just being given the opportunity to play at the highest level, but are grabbing their chance with both hands.

It wasn’t too long ago that the fans would wince at the loss of players like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen who could change a game single handed, how things have changed over the past year or so.

New stars have emerged as England stole the Ashes from Australia last year and have continued to come in and perform at the highest level ever since. To allow these young stars to continue ongoing training programmes has to be applauded and can only make them even better players for the future.

For the first time in many years the future of national English Cricket looks bright, lets hope that at last we are getting things right at every level of the game.

jonathan trott

The thrills and spills of limited over cricket, so recently prominent in England’s victorious T20 World Cup winning campaign, were soon a long and distant memory as chancers gave way to thinkers in the first Test match between England and Bangladesh at Lords.

Having spent the T20 finals unable to leave the room for sustenance or relief for fear of missing the action, the return of Test match cricket at least allowed long periods to be spent in the kitchen making tea and sandwiches safe in the knowledge that barely anything significant would have happened during your absence.

Jonathan Trott appears to be a batsman made for the occasion and having arrived at the crease with England at seven for one, he stayed there for for over eight hours in a patient and deliberate innings in which he ground out 226 runs to put England in a commanding position  at 505 all out.

Losing Cook, Bell and Pietersen cheaply made Trott’s achievements all the more significant and although it was not a pretty innings, Trott barely put a foot wrong throughout showing remarkable self discipline with the bat.

1st Innings England 505 all out – Bangladesh now batting

alastair cook

Alastair Cook, leading an overseas tour for the first time in Bangladesh, in the absence of rested skipper Andrew Strauss, has come through with flying colours overseeing a 3-0 win in the One Day Internationals and 2-0 in the Test matches.

Like Stewart, Cook has led England from the front throughout the Bangladesh tour and his centuries in both Test matches have been an outstanding testament to his leadership qualities with the bat.

England arrived in Bangladesh where they were expected to win 3-0 and 2-0 respectively in the ODI and Test games and Cook has earned his stripes as stand in skipper, ensuring that his team delivered in the hard conditions of heat and flat wickets in Mirpur and Chittagong.

Cook is happy with the results ground out throughout the tour, but accepts that he still has much to learn in the form of captaincy. He said:

“I couldn’t have asked for anything more on the tour, we were expected to win 3-0 and 2-0 and we have. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of credit goes to Bangladesh for the way they’ve made us work, especially in the last 10 days, and it’s a very satisfying feeling.

But the captaincy had its moments. I now know how I need to get better as a captain, especially with my leadership in the dressing room. Areas like that that I need to work on. I couldn’t have asked for any more support from the players and coaches and I can now go back, speak to a few people and get the best out of myself as a captain.

There are a lot of things to improve. I didn’t really know what would happen as a captain so there were eye-openers, but they will have to stay private for me to develop as a captain.”

KP

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has suggested that the increasing influence of technology in cricket in the form of HawkEye, will lead many players to reassess their own techniques as umpires are being persuaded to give more lbw decisions through the new technology.

Pietersen who has struggled through the tour of Bangladesh, scoring only 69 runs in seven innings before his comeback in the first Test at Chittagong when he amassed 99 runs.

The key England batsman says that he has had to work on his game and a minor alteration at the crease has helped overcome some of the problems.

“If you look at some of the decisions, I think HawkEye has definitely played a huge role in lbws being given off the front foot. So you’ve got to sort your technique out and make sure you use your bat as the first line of defence.

I’ve had to work a hell of a lot harder than I’ve ever worked before, I’ve always worked hard in my career but I spent hours in those nets at Chittagong and something clicked. I might get two good balls next match but in terms of my form and technique I feel good.

Batting has changed. It’s no surprise to see that three of the top ranked bowlers in one-day cricket are left-armers (Shakib Al Hasan, Daniel Vettori and Ray Price) and that tells you something: there is work to be done.”

craig kieswetter

Craig Kieswetter was the hero for England as they completed a whitewash against Bangladesh in the One Day International series.

England completed the 3-0 victory over Bangladesh with a 45 run advantage with South African born Kieswetter scoring his maiden ODI century, ending on 107 from 124 balls.

The England team had reached 284 for 5 in their innings and seamer Tom Bresnan played his part with a superb 4 for 28 keeping Bangladesh on the back foot throughout.

The Tigers could only muster 239 for 9 and ended the game in Chittagong easily beaten. But it was not all plain sailing for England and the Bangladesh spinners kept England at bay for long periods of the match and while one South African born player earned the plaudits another, Kevin Pietersen again raised question marks over his one day game, falling lbw for a measly 22.

Paul Collingwood was also short of his most fluent game and fell for 36, But Kieswetter along with Eoin Morgan, took the batting powerplay in the 41st over and effectively won the game with a splendid 103 from the last nine overs.

Final score:
England 284 for 5   Bangladesh 239 for 9

ready to captain england

Alastair Cook says he would love to captain the England side if reports of Andrew Strauss wanting to rest for the Bangladesh tour in Spring have any foundation, but says he did also add,  “It’s not like I won’t be able to sleep at night if it doesn’t happen.”

Strauss has indicated that he might rest himself for the month long Bangladesh tour which is sandwiched between next month’s trip to South Africa and another busy summer schedule.

In his capacity as vice captain Cook would be the obvious replacement for Strauss and the lower profile tour would seem the ideal opportunity for Cook to learn his trade although he admits he would prefer to have more experience at county level before he steps into Strauss’ shoes.

“But I’ve been with England since I was 21, so I haven’t had much chance to do that.” said Cook, adding; “As yet, the vice-captaincy hasn’t added any pressure. It’s very easy in cricket to become self-obsessed, especially us batsmen. So being forced to think about other players and issues can be a help.”

wankhede stadium mumbai

The 2011 Cricket World Cup final will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai it has been announced today. The event is being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

India’s cricket board have announced eight venues for the 29 matches that they will be hosting and have included Eden Gardens in Kolkata which will host four of the group games despite not being used for a one day international since 2007.

India have also named Mohali as one of the venues for the semi final games as well as hosting two group games. Sri Lanka who will host twelve games and Bangladesh eight, have yet to announce venues although the opening ceremony will take place in Dhaka in Bangladesh on February 18th.

Group stage venues: Ahmedabad (2 games), Bangalore (4), Chennai (4), Kolkata (4), Mohali (2), Mumbai (2), Nagpur (4), New Delhi (4), plus venues TBA in Bangladesh (6) and Sri Lanka (10)

Quarter-finals: Ahmedabad plus venue TBA in Bangladesh (2) and Sri Lanka

Semi-finals: Mohali plus venues TBA in Sri Lanka

Final: Mumbai

The full schedule for the tournament will be announced on November 9th in Mumbai.

The hosts batted first and struggled to score with any freedom against the Indian bowling. Their innings closed on 222, one ball short of the fifty overs. Raqibul Hasan top scored with a defiant 89.

In reply, the Indian batsmen showed just how good a batting track it really was, reaching their target for the loss of 3 wickets with almost 15 overs to spare. Sehwag hit a scorching 59 off 32 balls, then after he went fellow opener Gambhir continued the fun. He finished unbeaten on 107 from just 101 balls.

Bangladesh skipper Ashraful summed up the day: “The wicket was good for batting, but we did not have enough runs on the board. India played really good cricket.”

Should be a cracking final, with Pakistan out to avenge their midweek defeat against some seriously in-form Indian batsmen.

The PCB believes Asif is innocent, but named Sohail Khan as his replacement as they are unsure how long Asif will be detained in the Emirates. Pakistan travel to Dhaka on Friday for the tournament which also features India. Tests are being carried out to determine just what he was carrying, and the results are not expected for 3 to 4 days.

So what was in that wallet? And why was he flying from India to Pakistan via Dubai?

I’m looking forward to the explanations for this lot.