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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNasir Hossain stretched the Bangladesh lead•AFP

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor’s pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win. At the end of the fourth day of the second and final Test, Zimbabwe were 138 for 4, chasing a 401-run target set up by Mushfiqur Rahim’s 93.The Zimbabwe captain’s wicket was the one Mushfiqur would have wanted more than the seven runs by which he missed his third Test hundred. After umpire Ian Gould lifted his finger, it was easy to see and hear what it meant to the fielding side which was screaming for joy. Zimbabwe were 96 for 3, with their best batsman and captain out of the equation with a day remaining.Malcolm Waller also fell to Ziaur for 15, missing a straightening delivery as his lack of footwork shackled him to the crease. Shingirai Masakadza was sent in as the nightwatchman at 118 for 4 with more than 15 overs remaining in the day, a strange decision but one which ultimately paid off. His elder brother Hamilton held his own at the other end, unbeaten on 46 off 94 balls.Zimbabwe started the fourth innings positively but in the tenth over, Regis Chakabva played inside the line of a Shakib Al Hasan delivery which spun past to strike off. Vusi Sibanda fell soon after for a 50-ball 32, driving one straight to Sohag Gazi at short cover off Shakib.Mushfiqur would thank his lucky stars that finally bowlers other than Robiul Islam stood up. Ziaur bowled a 10-over spell, mainly focused on being accurate. He hardly has pace like he did a few years ago, but managed to bring in his shoulders to generate speed. Shakib and Gazi bowled tightly too, both using a typical left-arm spinner and offspinner’s line. There was hardly a loose ball.Bangladesh declared about an hour after lunch on 291 for 9, going ahead of the home side by exactly 400 runs. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain hit their second fifties of the game.Nasir stretched the lead with the tail, making an unbeaten 67 and scoring most of the 40 runs that came after lunch. Apart from his effort, Bangladesh’s dominance was also due to captain Mushfiqur’s attentiveness to the situation.He made 93 before being brilliantly caught at gully by Sibanda off Hamilton Masakadza, and his persistence was crucial to his side’s staying power. Along with Nasir, he had to see off the first half-hour, which has often produced wickets in Harare. Though they hardly found boundaries because the home side had deep fielders on both sides, they played carefully. Zimbabwe bowled wide too, and the batsmen cut out the rash shots.Mushfiqur and Nasir were happy picking up singles until the captain began to open up with a mistimed scoop and a slog-sweep – both off Elton Chigumbura. He had earlier hit a cover drive that sped to the boundary but the wicket had slowed down, and bounce was also on the low side. He and Nasir added 84 for the sixth wicket, back-to-back 80-plus partnerships for Mushfiqur, after his fifth-wicket stand with Shakib on the third evening.Taylor missed the long hours put in by Keegan Meth, who is out with a right knee injury. He was seen sitting on the sidelines with his feet up and knee strapped. Hamilton Masakadza, bowling medium-pace, took three wickets but was never going to be as big a threat to the visitors. Kyle Jarvis did not bowl with the venom of the first Test, but Shingi Masakadza remained steady and picked up four wickets.Had the Zimbabwe bowlers put up a better show even on the fourth morning, the Test match could have remained competitive. Bangladesh got most of what happened on the fourth day their way, though there again was the odd leg-before decision that they were denied. They would still take it, given they are closing in on a Test win for the first time in nearly four years.

DAV Chandigarh and University of Moratuwa will play the first semi-final on Friday, while Great Britain Combined University Team will take on the University of Karachi in other knockout clash, after all four teams secured their progress on day three of Campus Cricket World Final.University of Moratuwa defeated Bangladesh’s University of Liberal Arts by 15 runs to place them three points ahead of Liberal Arts, who would need to win their final match to qualify for the semi-finals. Moratuwa’s win was propelled by sturdy contributions from the middle order, with Randika Perera the most impressive of the three batsmen who breached 30, hitting his 37 not out from 17 balls, to help his side to 146 for 6.Liberal Arts began with a 30-run partnership, but continued to lose wickets too regularly to mount a meaningful challenge to Moratuwa’s total. They were dismissed in the 19th over, for 131, with Vihangun Ariyaratne taking 3 wickets for 23 from his three overs.University of New South Wales had their first win of the tournament – one which almost got them into the semi-finals – when they defeated University of Karachi by five wickets, in a match shortened to 14-overs a side. New South Wales asked the opposition to bat first, and ensured Karachi could not launch a rapid start, through opening bowler Phil Hartig-Franc, who dismissed both openers and only conceded four runs an over. Karachi’s middle order stabilised the innings, before No. 5 Abdul Khan hit 30 from 16, to help propel his side to 123 for 8.New South Wales began more slowly than they might have wished, and at the end of the eighth over, needed 60 runs from six overs. A 34 to James McNeil and 33 from 10 balls to Hugh Campbell helped them achieve their target however, and a better net-run rate than Karachi gave them hope of reaching the semi-finals.Great Britain Combined University Team denied University of Liberal Arts a place in the semi-finals, with a five-wicket, final-over victory in the evening. Liberal arts made 133 for 8 after being put in to bat, with Mahmudur Rahman and Eftekhar Ahmed, the chief contributors to that score. Rahman, who held the innings together with his 41, could not score at a run-a-ball however, as James Saddington, Ben Wylie and Robert Woolley took two wickets apiece.Great Britain Combined began poorly in their chase, stumbling to 47 for 5 by the 11th over, but an unbeaten 87-run partnership between Jay O’ Nien, who made 34 from 25 and wicketkeeper batsman Alex Martin, who made 47 from 29, helped their side home with four balls to spare.DAV Chandigarh lost their first match of the tournament, as University of Karachi forced their way into the semi-finals with a four-wicket victory in a high-scoring encounter. Gurinder Singh motored Chandigarh to the biggest total of the tournament with a 56-ball unbeaten 101, that was also the tournament’s first century. He had support from opening batsman Jaskaran Singh, who contributed 57 from 39, but found little help from the middle order, after their 96-run second-wicket partnership was broken.Karachi began poorly, losing two wickets for 23 in the fourth over, but launched something of a recovery through Abdul Khan and Ramiz Aziz, who put on 60 together, before No.7 Nabeel Khalid played a stunning innings to bring his side back into the tournament from the brink. His unbeaten 51 from 18 balls featured six sixes and two fours, and Khalid’s heroics helped Karachi reel Chandigarh in with five balls to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard’s big hitting took the initiative away from Zimbabwe•Randy Brooks/WICB Media

The quick turnaround time of one day was hardly enough for Zimbabwe to get its act together and challenge the hosts, after West Indies had posted a competitive 158. West Indies were hardly stretched during the chase and once the Zimbabwe top order succumbed to the spin of Samuel Badree, it was all one-way traffic. West Indies took the T20 series 2-0, adding to their three consecutive wins in the one-dayers, extending their winning run in a one-sided tour.The only time Zimbabwe kept the hosts under check was in the first ten overs of the match. The bowlers followed a plan of containing the batsmen, but they couldn’t maintain that control against a power-packed middle order. Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy blazed 56 together in their fifth-wicket stand to give the innings a push and though Zimbabwe hit back with late wickets, Pollard ensured he stayed till the end, helping West Indies to a match-winning total.After getting pasted in the opening T20 on Saturday, Zimbabwe needed to work out a plan to keep the number of boundaries in check and in general make the batsmen work harder for runs. An obvious change was the way the spinners bowled it flatter and fuller and not allowing the batsmen to go for big hits. Lendl Simmons, who smashed six sixes – mostly slog sweeps – in his unbeaten 63 off 49 balls on Saturday, managed only two big hits in his 41 off 39 today. He found it harder to get under the bounce and slog thanks to the lengths bowled by the spinners.Johnson Charles, Dwayne Bravo and Simmons all perished while trying to push the scoring. The first 12 overs had 29 dot balls, showing the sort of control the Zimbabwe bowlers had.Pollard and Sammy came together at the start of the 15th over and the run rate surged. Sammy launched Christopher Mpofu out of the ground when the bowler overpitched and Pollard was merciless against Chatara, ransacking 23 off an over that included two sixes and two fours. The extra pace worked to West Indies’ advantage, and the seamers erred by not bowling it fuller. As a result, the batsmen helped themselves to some powerful blows down the ground.Zimbabwe conceded only 64 off the first ten overs, but the last five leaked 60. Zimbabwe did hit back towards the end with quick wickets, but Pollard’s was the one they wanted, but never had.Zimbabwe needed a rousing start from their top order but their twin failures in the two T20s will be the biggest concern ahead of the Tests. They were undone by Badree, who nipped out three of the top four. Chamu Chibhabha made too much room to cut against the turn and lost his middle stump; Vusi Sibanda slashed towards point but Bravo’s sharp reflexes had the better of him; Brendan Taylor fell to a leading edge to cover. Taylor’s failures in both games put pressure on the middle order. Hamilton Masakadza played the lone hand with an unbeaten 53, but his knock was overshadowed by what was a sorry response from Zimbabwe.There was no passage of play during which West Indies were challenged – only seven fours were scored in the first 15 overs and there were no sixes. Batting out 20 overs was no consolation.

Afghanistan and hosts Jersey progressed to the World Cricket League Division Four, the next stage of qualification for the 2011 World Cup, when they convincingly won their Division Five semi-finals.Afghanistan successfully defended a modest 142 to defeat Nepal by 37 runs at the Grainville while Jersey outsmarted USA by 84 runs at the FB Fields. Besides progressing to Saturday’s final, Afghanistan and Jersey will join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in the six-team Division Four in Dar Es Salaam in early October. In turn, the top two teams from that tournament will progress to Division Three in Argentina next January and hope to finish in the top two to qualify for the World Cup qualifier 2009 in the UAE, which incorporates Divisions One and Two.The star of Afghanistan’s victory was Mohammad Nabi, who scored a priceless 48 from 64 balls with three fours in his team’s 142 all out in 49.3 overs, and then returned figures of 6-0-15-2 as Nepal were bowled out for 105.Electing to bat in overcast conditions, Afghanistan made a confident start but collapsed from 26 for 0 to 40 for 4 in a space of 10.4 overs before Asghar Stankzai (18) and Nabi boosted the innings with a 43-run fifth-wicket partnership off 72 balls. After the departure of Stankzai with the score at 83, Nabi added another 26 runs for the sixth wicket with Raees Ahmadzi (22). But after Nabi was sixth out with the score at 119, the last four Afghanistan wickets added only 23 runs in 37 balls.In turn, Nepal’s innings never got going after they lost opener Paresh Lohani to the second ball and they slumped to 72 for 7 in 33 overs. The last three wickets offered some resistance but it was not enough to guide Nepal home and they were bowled out for 105 with 25 balls remaining. Fast bowler Dawlat Ahmadzi did the top-order damage with 3 for 18.Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan, who finished with superb figures of 2-12 off 10 overs, was overjoyed with his side’s victory. “It is a huge win for Afghanistan. For four months we have been thinking about Division Four, so it is like a dream come true. The [World Cup] dream is alive and we’ll try our best to get to 2011. The people in Afghanistan will be very happy and there will be huge celebrations. They will all be in the roads dancing and everything.”At the FB Fields, a century opening stand between Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon and a five-wicket haul by captain Matthew Hague helped Jersey to an 84-run victory over pre-tournament favourite USA.The two openers featured in a 122-run partnership in 31.3 overs, the cornerstone of Jersey’s 220 for 5 after being put into bat. Gough scored 65 from 110 balls with four fours and Carlyon’s 88-ball 45 included three fours. In the middle order, Ryan Driver (28*) and Hague (25) also batted well and added 37 for the third wicket. Driver and Jon Gough (15*) smashed 33 from the last 22 deliveries.USA slumped from 25 for 0 to 32 for 3 in reply before recovering to 99 for 4. But that was their high-water mark as they lost their last six wickets for 37 runs in less than 12 overs to be bowled out for 136 with 11.4 overs to spare. Fast bowler Hague, later adjudged Man of the Match, was the wrecker-in-chief of USA’s innings and finished with figures of 5 for 38.Hague hailed his team’s achievement, saying: “It feels absolutely fantastic. I am so proud of everybody today. Posting 220 while batting first when there was a fair bit in the wicket, was a fantastic effort. Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon got us off to a great start and the bowling performance was excellent.”A disappointed USA captain Steve Massiah said: “I had believed we would finish in the top one or two and move forward.”In classification matches, Botswana beat Germany by 10 runs while Singapore defeated Mozambique by 54 runs and Norway beat Bahamas by 52 runs.Japan easily beat Vanuatu by 99 runs, a result which puts paid to Vanuatu’s chance of gaining Associate status at the ICC annual conference in a month’s time. Although they met the criteria regarding facilities, they had to beat two Associate countries in this tournament to fulfil playing requirements and, with one game to go, they have yet to record a win.

Owais Shah has clarified the delay in the 25% of his $75,000 payment was because of an error in the bank details he had provided. He had initially complained about not being paid despite receiving a remittance slip from the BCB and had termed the situation “embarrassing” for the board.”In regards to my initial payment of 25 percent, the issue has been rectified,” Shah said in an email sent via his agent. “Initially, the bank details I provided to the BCB didn’t seem to go through properly which was unfortunate. It resulted in the delay but the BCB have acted very efficiently and I’m now happy with where things stand, which is great.”BCB’s acting chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said Shah’s reaction was “premature” as the payments often take a few extra days to process. The bank had confirmed on Thursday that the transfer of the amount was not possible without the correct IBAN (International Bank Account Number).”A player of Owais Shah’s reputation gave a premature reaction in the public domain. This is regrettable,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. “Our bank sent us a correspondence on Thursday that the IBAN was incorrect and hence, his agent provided us with the information again and we had to make the transfer once again. Apart from the IBAN, a player has to provide his name, account number and swift code in order to transfer money from the country. In good faith, we had also given him the remittance slip that the bank provided us, so it is quite clear where we stand in this regard.”

Alex Hales, the England and Nottinghamshire opener, will not take part in the controversial Bangladesh Premier League which starts next week even though none of the international players due to appear in the tournament has yet received a contract.Hales had been bought at the auction by Duronto Rajshahi and insisted he would join the event despite strong concerns from the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) who remain extremely worried about payment and contract issues.Hales recently joined Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League as a replacement for the injured Marlon Samuels and enhanced his reputation by smashing 89 off 52 balls just hours after stepping off a place from England.He is guaranteed at least one more BBL match with the Renegades in a semi-final against Brisbane Heat on Tuesday and, it is understood, that has been enough for him to have a change of heart over the BPL, for which he would only have been available for a short period before reporting for Twenty20 duty with England on the New Zealand tour.Hales, along with Nottinghamshire team-mates Michael Lumb and Samit Patel, has been barred by his county from putting his name forward for this year’s IPL as it clashes with the English county season.Currently, Luke Wright, who like Hales will not be available for the whole tournament, is still set to take up his BPL deal.Angus Porter, the chief executive of the PCA, said that none of the promises made by the BPL organisers ahead of the second running of the event have been delivered. “We are five days away from the tournament and there had been a promise that contracts would be delivered well in advance,” he said. “This hasn’t happened, and now there’s no chance it will happen before the event.”I still fully expect some international players to take part, but they will be heading into another unknown situation with very few assurances. I would really like the BPL to work, Bangladesh cricket needs it to be a success, but history tells us that it looks unlikely at the moment.”The problems do not stop at the international stars, either. ESPNcricinfo understands that some of the Barisal players are refusing to sign No Objection Certificates for their franchises until they are paid last year’s fees.

Jackson Bird, the Tasmania fast bowler, could make his Test debut at the MCG on Boxing Day after being included in Australia’s squad as a replacement for the injured Ben Hilfenhaus. Usman Khawaja has also been named in the 13-man group as the Australians wait on the fitness of captain Michael Clarke, who retired hurt during the Australia’s second innings in Hobart with a hamstring injury.Clarke is hopeful he will be fit for the second Test against Sri Lanka but Khawaja will come into contention if Clarke takes longer than expected to recover from the problem. The rest of Australia’s squad remains the same, with Mitchell Johnson retained after being named 12th man for the Hobart Test.”It’s not too bad. I’ve got a bit of time leading up to the Boxing Day Test, I’ll be having plenty of treatment but I’ll be confident I’ll be right for Boxing Day,” Clarke said. “I’m always going to be positive because I know I’m in great hands with Alex [Kountouris], I know how good a physio he is, I know how good my physio is in Sydney over the next few days.”They’ll communicate and I’m really confident with eight days turnaround, I’ll be giving myself every opportunity to be right. Mickey and the selectors will give me as much time as required leading into the game. My preparation will be a bit different in the lead up to this Test match but I’ve done a fair bit of batting so I’m confident if I can do everything in my power, I’ll be right for Boxing Day.”It’s a strain, to what level I don’t know, the scans were pretty positive and I’m in really good hands.”The national selector John Inverarity said that Khawaja had earned the right to return to the national team after scoring in testing conditions in the Sheffield Shield so far this summer, notably making runs on a Gabba green-top against South Australia at the start of the season, then compiling a century on a treacherous Hobart surface against Tasmania. Inverarity also confirmed Shane Watson would lead the team if Clarke was unfit.”Usman turns 26 today, just one week younger than Jackson Bird, and he has been in good form this season. He has played especially well on occasions when conditions for batting have been very difficult,” Inverarity said.”If Michael is not able to take his place in the side then Shane Watson will captain the team. Shane acquitted himself well when he deputised for Michael in the ODI series in the Caribbean earlier this year in March.”Inverarity’s panel will need to decide on their preferred attack for Melbourne, with Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle having bowled the side to victory at Bellerive Oval. Johnson and Bird are likely to be battling for one position.Bird, 26, burst on to the first-class scene last summer with 53 Sheffield Shield wickets at an average of 16 in his debut season, topping the tournament tally. He has followed that strongly this season with 27 victims at 20.55 and is again on top of the Shield wicket list.”We’ll pick the best attack to take 20 wickets, if it’s two left-armers, it’s two left armers,” Clarke said. “Jackson is the leading wicket-taker in first-class cricket this year so that was certainly the main factor in us bringing him into the squad.”Squad David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon.

Mohammad Yousuf, the former Pakistan batsman, has passed on the captaincy of the Lahore Lions team to Mohammad Hafeez, the national team’s T20 captain, for the ongoing Faysal Bank T-20 Cup to help the latter gain experience.”Yousuf himself surrendered his captaincy and offered Hafeez to lead the side,” Lahore City Cricket Association president Khawaja Nadeem said. “It’s a great gesture from a great player to let Hafeez gain experience as captain. I have happily accepted his decision.”Hafeez, who was appointed the Pakistan T20 captain in May this year, wasn’t considered for the role originally. But minutes before the Lions’ first match against Karachi Zebras at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Yousuf announced his decision.Hafeez has been playing for his native side Faisalabad Wolves in the national twenty20 cup since 2004. But this year, being a resident of Lahore city, chose to represent Lions – a side possessing nine international cricketers.

The PCB governing board has sanctioned the purchase of bulletproof buses to ensure best security protocol for visiting teams, and thus address some of the security concerns that have prevented international teams from touring Pakistan over the last three and a half years.Pakistan has been a no-go zone for major international teams after the attack on Sri Lankan team – their bus was shot at by gunmen near Gaddafi Stadium in March 2009, and the attack injured five cricketers and killed six security men and two civilians. Since then, Pakistan have been playing their ‘home’ series abroad, and the PCB has been trying to bring international cricket back to the country. Now, the PCB hopes it can be revived as early as next year, following the successful staging of two exhibition Twenty20s involving an International World XI in Karachi last week.The PCB relies heavily on the government with regards to providing the visiting teams’ security. The bullet proof buses will be an additional safety measure for visiting teams, ensuring box security while travelling. The buses were sanctioned at the PCB governing board meeting on Thursday in Abbottabad, the garrison town north of Islamabad.”To ensure best security protocols for international teams, the Board of Governors unanimously approved the purchase of bullet proof buses,” the PCB said in a statement. “The members noted that the step would enable the PCB to achieve higher security measures for the teams visiting Pakistan in future.”Apart from working on security protocol, the PCB has been working on identifying potential new venues for international cricket across the country and upgrading them to international standards. The board had visited the Abbottabad cricket stadium and, at the meeting, approved a Rs 12.5 million budget for its upgrading and development.Earlier this year the PCB had identified a 35-acre piece of land in Islamabad, where a stadium that is meant to be the biggest in the country, with a capacity of capacity of 50,000, will be developed. “The board unanimously decided to name the stadium after Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,” the PCB statement said.The stadium will be in the Shakarparian area of Islamabad, with multiple facilities that include a cricket ground, a cricket academy and lodging facility. According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the PCB and Capital Development Authority (CDA), the PCB will receive 70% of the revenue generated by the stadium, while the CDA will take 30%.Also at the meeting, the governing board reviewed the progress made in bringing together Pakistan’s proposed Twenty20 league. “The board was updated on the progress thus far and a roadmap was shared with them,” the statement said. “The board appreciated it as a positive initiative for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.” The league is planned for March 2013, immediately after Pakistan’s South Africa tour, which ends on March 24.The board also sanctioned the use of Kookaburra balls in domestic cricket, terming it a ‘positive step’ for the improvement of the domestic game. The PCB is yet to introduce the balls in the ongoing President’s Trophy; the fifth round of the tournament, starting from November 2, will be played with the imported balls.

Even in the instant world of Twenty20, it takes some believing that a single over can change the mindset of a team, never mind the player involved. But the 32 runs that Jos Buttler took off one over from Wayne Parnell in the final dregs of the English summer has become emblematic for an England squad seeking proof that they have the capacity to win the World Twenty20.Before his Edgbaston escapade, Buttler was just another skilful young player seeking to justify the faith shown in him. After one brief but violent assault he has instantly become one of the most talked-about players in town. “Which one is Jos Buttler?” is now a contender for the top ten questions in the hotel lobby, proudly ranked alongside other essentials like “is my room ready yet?” and “can you give me some change for the tuk-tuk driver”.For more than a year, Buttler’s T20 career was stillborn. He had 10 caps, but in six innings had reached double figures only once. Those who had watched him at Somerset yearned for his ability to overflow. But he got out twice in Dubai to his signature ramp shot and as well as enquiring of the batting coach, he even asked the team psychologist, Mark Bawden, if he should keep playing it. Bawden told him to trust his instincts as sports psychologists tend to do.Buttler, as he did in the aftermath of Edgbaston, spoke in Colombo of the confidence this has brought him, that he “feels calmer, more myself, more relaxed,” that his ability to repay the faith has given him a greater sense of belonging. A few days before the biggest tournament of his life it could not be better timed.”After the first one I hit, I thought ‘this is good fun, I can enjoy this’,” he said. “It was just one of those overs: he bowled it where I guessed and it just came off. I’m excited about gaining a bit of recognition or getting noticed. That can only be a good thing; it means you must have done something right for sides to know who you are.”But it is the positive impact that Buttler’s innings has made upon the England team that is so striking. England admittedly are defending champions, but they do not play much T20 and have little involvement in IPL. As one of the last sides to arrive in Sri Lanka, they could easily feel like visitors rather than contenders.Eoin Morgan, who in the absence of Kevin Pietersen is the batsman with IPL-cred, enthused about the wider impact of Buttler’s innings. “It was absolutely brilliant,” he said. “It gives everyone else around them belief that he can perform at any given time especially when it is to that extremity.”I’ve been watching Jos train for nearly a year now, and he’s phenomenal. We’ve all been waiting for this to evolve. The fact it has now is awesome for his own confidence, knowing that he can pull out a performance like that, and it is also great for the team.”It wasn’t easy for him in Dubai where it was reverse swinging, and it was among his first couple of innings. There were a lot of contributing factors to why he didn’t have a chance to go out and play the way he could. It is very timely he has now. Like anything, until you go out there and prove to yourself and you know inside you can perform, all the reassuring words run off your shoulders really.”The value of Buttler’s assault is even more important if you accept Morgan’s assertion that T20 is evolving so quickly that experience is often passed in the reverse manner, from young to old, rather like teenage sons showing fathers how to download an App. Morgan might pass on advice in team meetings about how to keep things simple, but he gets a lot back in return.”Everyone that comes through, you learn a hell of a lot more from,” he said. “You’re always a generation behind when you’re passing on experience. The way the game’s going, people are always bringing in new things.”England play the first of two warm-up games against Australia in Colombo tomorrow, at Nondescripts CC, a club with a name that Buttler need no longer fear sums up his international career. Pakistan follow on Wednesday before Group A matches against Afghanistan on Friday and India two days later.”I’ve played Afghanistan before, when I played for Ireland, and have been on a losing side against them, so I won’t be taking them for granted at all,” Morgan said. “They have a lot of up-and-coming players, and it’s a potential banana skin for us. If we don’t perform, there’s a chance they could sneak over the line.”But survive that and England move to Pallakele for the Super Eights, to face – barring shocks – West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand and with the October monsoon approaching a little unsettled weather might help their cause, if not assist the batsman-friendly tournament for which the ICC must yearn.”Pallekele is similar to English conditions – it does do a bit,” Morgan said. “Research suggests it nips around which I’m not sure will be the most attractive Twenty20 cricket. But there’s every chance of these conditions, especially with the rain around – which we’re more used to after the summer we’ve had.”As for Pietersen-watch, he is about to arrive in Sri Lanka as an expert pundit for ESPN Star Sports. “I’d no idea he was coming,” Morgan said. “I look forward to seeing it. It could be quite funny.”The Pietersen imbroglio, he said, was not a dressing room obsession, but neither was it a banned topic of conversation. “No, it’s not like Voldemort, it’s alright,” he said.As Stuart Broad, England’s T20 captain, has occasionally been compared to Malfoy, this raises interesting possibilities. Harry Potter fans will tell you that Voldemort gives Malfoy a hug – an awkward, unfeely hug, but a hug nevertheless – in the final edition of Harry Potter. The first time he bumps into Stuart Broad, England’s T20 captain, in the hotel lobby could be quite touching.