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South Africa have stuffed their A side with three wicketkeepers for their Twenty20 practice match against New Zealand next Tuesday. The front-runner is Cobras’ Dane Vilas, who was part of South Africa’s unofficial T20 squad that toured Zimbabwe in June. Also in the mix is Davy Jacobs of the Warriors and Mangaliso Mosehle of the Titans.Jacobs returned to professional cricket after an absence of a season due to a severe hip injury. He has had a successful comeback and has already scored two centuries in the first-class competition, where he lies second on the run charts, and two half-centuries in the one-day cup besides wicketkeeping.Heino Kuhn has kept wicket ahead of Mosehle at the Titans, but Mosehle did the job at the under-19 World Cup in 2008. His century and two half-centuries in the one-day cup have got him noticed by the national selectors.With Mark Boucher having retired earlier this year, South Africa are trying many of their options for a long-term replacement over the course of the summer. Quinton de Kock will play in the T20 squad with the three in the A squad bubbling under.There are also some familiar faces making a return. Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe is back into the frame as well as middle-order batsman Vaughn van Jaarsveld who has enjoyed good form in the one-day cup.Dolphins’ quicks Kyle Abbott and Craig Alexander join Lions’ fast man Hardus Viljoen in the pace attack. The allrounders’ role has been handed to David Wiese, who put in a sterling performance in the CLT20 semi-final. The only player who is also part of South Africa’s T20 squad is Aaron Phangiso, the left-arm spinner who earned his maiden national call-up earlier today. The side will be captained by Justin Ontong.South Africa A squad: Justin Ontong (capt), Kyle Abbott, Craig Alexander, Davy Jacobs, Mangaliso Mosehle, Aaron Phangiso, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese

Amid the sea of quite triumphant-sounding figures trotted out at Cricket Australia’s AGM for 2012, one statistic stood out a little inconveniently next to the narrative the game’s custodians would like to build for their preferred balance of its three formats.In accepting Test cricket as the primary measure for the performance of Australia’s national team, pressing ODIs as the format of the 2015 World Cup to be shared by Australia and New Zealand, and spruiking Twenty20 as the avenue for new audiences via the Big Bash League, CA is hopeful it is covering as much ground as possible.While Test matches and ODIs are their preferred avenues for international combat, CA is at constant pains to point out that T20 is best suited to club competitions, from the IPL and the BBL to the Champions League currently edging towards its conclusion in South Africa. It is an argument based on T20’s ability to generate new audiences and also add value to domestic contests, which in the first-class and limited overs formats are watched by tiny audiences.Yet the average free-to-air television audience figures for last summer’s T20Is against India were so strong as to almost double those for Tests and ODIs. Played in Sydney and Melbourne before massed crowds, these matches drew an average 1.427 million viewers. By comparison, the average national audience for Tests was 858,000. For ODIs it was 897,000.James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, is well aware of the data, and that it is a trend stretching back to the first T20I played in Australia in 2006. However he and others in CA’s Jolimont headquarters remain adamant that they will not be increasing the number of T20Is at the expense of ODIs, nor making more room for T20 international series at the expense of room for club competitions.”We like those numbers but we’re not tempted to increase the number of T20 internationals we play,” Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo. “We again see that in the big picture international cricket is our bread and butter, and the primary format in which we provide products to our fans. And we use the BBL in its shape and design as a way of bringing more extra valuable content to the market.”We’ve been conscious over the last few years that the biggest viewing days of the Australian cricket summer have been those days that the Australian team has played T20Is. It probably says a bit about the Nine telecast of those matches but I think there’s no doubt T20 captures a broader and more diverse audience to the game, whether it is on TV or at the game. We’re absolutely thrilled about that, and we’ve unashamedly designed the BBL about attracting new people to the game, building a more diverse, more passionate fan base.”Being a league format it means you can bring more matches. Instead of the circus coming to town once or twice a year with a Test match and a one-day game, through the BBL we’ve now broadened the amount of content that comes to venues and comes to fans through TV.”Partly buttressing CA’s argument is the ICC’s stipulations that no team may play more than 12 T20Is per year – relaxed to 15 in years of the World T20 being contested – and that no bilateral series be fought over more than three matches. Their preference for club competition over international battle is by no means isolated.The influence of the looming World Cup on Sutherland’s viewpoint also cannot be underestimated. In terms of attendances, ODI audiences have shrunk over the past decade, though overall crowd figures are stronger due to T20 of both domestic and international variants. Nonetheless, CA and World Cup organisers are charged with building a successful tournament in a format that they attempted to tamper with – remember split innings? – in an effort to reverse the aforementioned trend of crowds deserting its matches.The split innings experiment was not followed by the rest of the world and soon made its way to the dustbin. A greater experiment is likely to follow in coming summers, as CA attempts to sell the BBL as a legitimate free-to-air television product in addition to its lucrative package of international fixtures. Rather than using the T20I viewing figures as a reason to increase the number of T20 contests between nations, Sutherland is hopeful that they may also point to the potential success of the BBL when taken out of the niche market of pay television.”If you work on the basis of pay TV penetration being about one third of the community, then it follows that you can multiply the BBL television audiences by at least three times and that straight away puts those numbers right up there somewhere between our one day audiences,” Sutherland said. “That’s pretty exciting when you think about them being domestic cricket matches.”They’re pretty formidable numbers. It is to be proven, but I would’ve thought significantly more than AFL and NRL matches if that was to come to pass. That’s one of the reasons why we’re very interested in pursuing or going down a path to have the BBL on free-to-air. We believe the demands there and people just love the format.”

Match facts

October 17, 2012
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT)Azhar Mahmood has been exceptional with bat and ball for Auckland•Associated Press

Big picture

The Champions League T20 rolls on to its fourth venue, Kingsmead in Durban, where two teams that won their first games in Group A will play the opening match of Wednesday’s double-header. Titans beat the Big Bash League runners-up, Perth Scorchers, while Auckland Aces handed IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders their second defeat. Both victories were comprehensive. The winner of this contest will move to the top of their group.Auckland already have the scalps of three domestic T20 champions – from Pakistan, England and India. They’ll be gunning for South Africa’s.There’s been a pattern to Auckland’s victories – two in the qualifying round and one in the main draw. They bowl first, restrict the opposition to a middling total, and their top order mows it down. The most they’ve conceded is 137, the most wickets they’ve lost during a chase is four, and the longest they’ve taken to complete a chase is 17.4 overs.While all of Auckland’s bowlers have contributed either in terms of economy or wickets, Kyle Mills and Azhar Mahmood have stood out, exploiting the seam and bounce that was on offer in Johannesburg and Cape Town. If conditions are similar in Durban, they will enjoy it. Auckland’s top order – Lou Vincent, Martin Guptill and Mahmood – have got most of the job done in the three games so far, and the middle has been needed only to polish off a chase. Their performances have made the competition sit up and take notice.Titans openers, Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids, did most of the run-making against Scorchers, scoring half-centuries before a poor finish gave them a total less imposing than what seemed probable. Their bowling, however, was most impressive, containing and cutting through an experienced and power-packed batting line-up. In Alfonso Thomas and Roelof van de Merwe, they have two seasoned T20 professionals, while fast bowler CJ de Villiers gives the attack bite. If they can get through the Auckland top order, that could be half the battle.

Watch out for…

CJ de Villiers was impressive during the first Champions League T20 in 2009, taking six wickets at 12.16 apiece with an economy rate of 6.63 on run-filled pitches in India. He was playing for Eagles then. Now with Titans, de Villiers began the 2012 tournament by taking 3 for 16 in four overs against Scorchers. His wickets came off consecutive deliveries in his first over and were of Shaun Marsh and Marcus North. A tall quick who bowls with high bounce at brisk pace, de Villiers might have had an international cap by now had South Africa’s national team not been awash with bowlers of his kind.Auckland’s top three batsmen have fired in all their games so far so Anaru Kitchen, who bats at No. 4, has only been required to finish off a chase that was already going well. He scored 33 against Sialkot Stallions and 24 against Kolkata and showed a penchant for aggression in those innings. Kitchen is yet to be tested with more responsibility in this tournament and he could be faced with such a situation if Titans get through Auckland’s top order early.

Pitch and conditions

The weather, unfortunately, could spoil this contest. It’s been raining in Durban in the lead-up to this game and more of forecast for Wednesday. Should there be a dry window, however, the pitch could be spicy.

Quotes

“It does swing and seam around a bit in New Zealand as it does here in South Africa and that made the acclimatising easier for us. I’m getting the team off to a good start but hope to do better in the coming games by playing right through the innings.”
“I think this year the competition is much more even. And it is going to be tough getting through to the play-offs; we had a good start in the first game so we hope to get the momentum and finish off well.”

ScorecardJames Fuller and Liam Norwell fought back with three wickets each for Gloucestershire to reduce Northamptonshire to 73 for 7 by the close on day one at Bristol. It followed four wickets for Luke Evans as the visitors dismissed their hosts for 220.Pitch inspector David Hughes found no fault with the wicket on a day dominated by the seam bowlers and featuring some pretty ordinary batting.It was Andrew Hall with 3 for 37 who ripped out Gloucestershire’s top order, taking his wickets in the space of 11 balls at a cost of two runs as Gloucestershire slumped from 41 without loss to 44 for 4, while Evans finished with 4 for 38 from 13 overs.But the home side’s total was soon looking more than decent as Northants plunged from 30 without loss to 72 for 7. Only Stephen Peters, with 35, offered much resistance as Fuller, 3 for 25, sent back Niall O’Brien, Rob Newton and Hall with a pacy spell from the Pavilion End. Norwell’s 3 for 21 was just as impressive from the Ashley Down Road End, claiming the wickets of David Sales, Kyle Coetzer and Peters.There was little sign of carnage ahead when Gloucestershire openers Benny Howell and Ed Cowan put together a solid opening stand of 41 at the start of the day. Then Howell, on 29, was dropped at second slip by Peters off Luke Evans and it signalled a transformation in fortunes. Next ball Evans rapped Howell on the pads and gained an lbw verdict.Cowan, back in Gloucestershire’s team after a short spell as temporary overseas player earlier in the season, went leg-before for 8 in the next over as Hall began to make rapid inroads, swinging the ball and getting some seam movement from the Ashley Down Road End. His next two overs saw Dan Housego’s off stump knocked out of the ground for 1 and Hamish Marshall pinned lbw on the back foot for a duck.Alex Gidman launched a counter-attack with four fours in an over from David Willey, all punched through the off side, before, with the score on 95, Ian Cockbain had his middle stump sent flying by Willey having made 10.It was 95 for 5 at lunch and the afternoon session saw Gidman reach his half-century off 48 balls, with 10 fours. He added 33 for the sixth wicket with brother Will before falling to another lbw verdict, Willey claiming his second victim. Will Gidman was caught in the slips driving at a wide ball from Jack Brooks and when Fuller edged a catch to the wicketkeeper off Evans Gloucestershire were 151 for 8.Jon Batty and Anthony Ireland, on loan from Middlesex, saw the home side to tea at 206 for 8 and Batty reached a battling half-century straight after the interval, having faced 89 balls and hit six fours.Ireland soon perished to a catch behind off Evans for a handy 22 before Batty was last man out, caught at point making room to hit Evans through the off side.

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson told opener Chris Gayle to “enjoy his cricket” and be himself ahead of his return to international cricket, Gibson has revealed. Gayle, playing for West Indies against New Zealand after 15 months out of the side, was the highest run-getter in limited-overs leg of the series with 138 runs in two T20Is and 220 runs in five ODIs. He scored 230 runs in the two Tests that followed, including a 150 in the first Test in Antigua to help West Indies take a series lead.”He’s been back to his normal self. We had a chat when he came back into the team and I said, ‘Look, just be yourself; be the person that you are, the person that you were before all this stuff started and, more importantly, just enjoy your cricket’,” Gibson told .”It seems to me that when our players go out into the world to play cricket, when you see them on TV, they look like they are enjoying their cricket. Sometimes when you see them on our TV, it doesn’t look like they are enjoying it as much. I just urged him to enjoy his cricket and if he wasn’t, to say so.”West Indies won all three format legs against New Zealand, ending with a 2-0 Test series win, the first time since 2002 the side had won back-to-back Tests.Gibson said West Indies needed experienced, committed players to move ahead.”We need experienced players that are committed…committed to the cause of the team, whether that be fitness, whether that be attitude, whether that be supporting other people. But we need to change the culture around the team and culture change is difficult.”One player who was an integral part of a struggling West Indies side in the last decade was batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan. He lost his central contract in 2010 owing to an “extremely indifferent attitude and sporadic approach towards fitness”, and played four Tests since, the last of which was in 2011, against India.Sarwan had told in May, 2012, that he was hurt “mentally and emotionally” due to some stern words by the coach. Gibson, however, said he hadn’t closed the door on Sarwan.”I’ve never had an issue with Sarwan. Never once in my three years here have I had an issue with Sarwan. I was very disappointed to hear [Sarwan’s interview with ] because I don’t know where there was an issue. But I’ve always said we can’t go where we want to go without our experienced players.”

Scorecard Albie Morkel made a half-century but players who needed runs missed out•Getty Images

Two wickets in two overs from Dale Steyn and half centuries from AB de Villiers and Albie Morkel papered over the South Africans’ unresolved issues after the first day of their tour match against Worcestershire. The three batsmen who most needed time in the middle were all out cheaply on one of their only opportunities to have match time ahead of the second Test at Headingley next week.Openers Alviro Petersen and Jacques Rudolph, the latter standing in for Graeme Smith who is back home with his new-born daughter, were dismissed in the first eight overs. JP Duminy made just 5 and Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were dismissed cheaply. A useful contribution from Vernon Philander, who has not lived up to his allrounder status thus far, buoyed the South African lower order.After a fairly quiet start, Rudolph tried his first aggressive shot off David Lucas in the fifth over only for Neil Pinner at point to put the chance down. However, the drop was not costly as Rudolph inside-edged onto his stumps playing an expansive drive four balls later.De Villiers hit the first boundary of the match, a pull through midwicket, to set the tone for his innings but Petersen could not follow suit. The opener, who made a duck in the Test match, looked tentative and eventually succumbed when he went forward to Chris Russell, who has yet to play a first-class game, and got an edge to second slip.The innings was steadied by de Villiers, who brought out his full range of strokes, and JP Duminy, another who did not bat at The Oval. They put on a partnership of 53, although Duminy contributed minimally and it was up to de Villiers’ drives and pulls to keep the score moving. Duminy was lbw when he played back to Jones.Albie Morkel, who did not feature in the squad until an injury ruled out Marchant de Lange, made a solid start with two boundaries off Jones’ sixth over and used the opportunity to put it an extended innings. Morkel was solid after lunch, with his cover drive earning him most of his runs and put on 91 with de Villiers for the fourth wicket. He was also dismissed after missing a drive, to give Russell his third wicket.Morkel’s was the first of five wickets that fell in 72 runs. De Villiers was caught at cover playing a lazy shot and the spinners did the rest of the damage. Moeen Ali removed Steyn and Morne Morkel while Shaaiq Choudhry undid the replacement wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile and Robin Peterson, who was caught at mid-on.South Africa declared with 22 overs left in the day and Dale Steyn steamed in to make an immediate impact. He induced the edge of Daryl Mitchell off the first ball of the innings and Alviro Petersen dived to his right to take the catch. With the first ball of his next over, Steyn removed Moeen, caught by the same fielder.Matt Pardoe and James Cameron saw off 12 and a half overs before Cameron was caught at first slip. Pardoe saw out the day to end on an unbeaten 40.

There’s a particular type of excitement which accompanies a departure. It may be hope for something better on the other side, curiosity of the unknown or anticipation to try something new. In the case of the South African team, the overriding feeling when they left Johannesburg on Monday was determination to complete a mission they have been building up to for months.Victory over England in the Test series will see South Africa ranked the No.1 Test side. It’s a position that has been within reach but out of their grasp, for almost as long as the rankings have been around. Briefly, South Africa touched the top, for four months in 2009 after their first successful tour to England since readmission. Graeme Smith hopes that this time they can repeat history and make it count for longer.”I don’t think we need much more motivation to beat England,” Smith said, at the team’s departure press conference. “We’ve come close to the top of the rankings for a period of time. We’re hoping this will be the year that we can take ourselves to the next level.”Some will argue that no team deserves it more than South Africa. They have proved themselves in all conditions, having not lost away from home since 2006 in Sri Lanka. At home, they overturned a three summer drought by beating Sri Lanka in January. They have the world’s top bowler, Dale Steyn, in their attack and even though they do not own the top-ranked batsman and allrounder (Jacques Kallis recently lost that spot to Shakib Al Hasan), they’ve regularly had players in the top 10.South Africa have been in this position before. They have left for World Cups with massive public pressure and a favourites tag only to return empty handed. Despite winning important Test series in places where few have left with anything besides bruised egos, like Australia, they have not been able to top the standings for any sustained amount of time. Now, they want it to be different.”We want to become the best cricket team in the world,” Gary Kirsten said, but quickly qualified that he kept that as nothing more than an end goal and was something that occupied his day-to-day planning. “What we need to do every day leading up to those performances is what’s important. We make sure we prepare as best we can to get our best chance of success.”To get ready for this tour, the squad will spend five days in Switzerland with adventurer Mike Horn. Instead of extra net sessions for players who have not been involved in the longest format of the game since March, Kirsten has decided to concentrate on human dynamics. The camp will include activities cricketers are unfamiliar with, such as cycling in the mountains, in the hope it will promote a culture of community.”We want to make sure that we are connected as a unit,” Kirsten explained. “On this tour, it may well boil down to crucial moments in the Test series. And we want to make sure we are prepared for that.”The mental focus has always been an area of concern for South Africa and under Kirsten the focus on togetherness seems to be what will be used to help overcome the usual lapses. Smith even alluded to it when he discussed the less talked about aspect of the series, the batting. “It’s more exciting to talk about guys who can bowl at 150 kph, than about stodgy opening batters,” he said. “But it is a crucial part; putting runs on the board. It’s all about partnerships. The top six need to be really tight and perform well for each other.”Smith expects that England’s strength as a unit will also shine through and is preparing for a different sort of psychological pressure to what South Africa are used to. “They’ve proven over time that they are a methodical, well-drilled team,” Smith said. “They’ll be battle hardened. They play the game hard and no-one wants to give an inch.”Pressure will be applied from all sides, with Smith saying he can already feel the “buzz” from the South African public, who have waited many years to see their cricket side dominate. “You can feel how much that means to the fans,” he said. “We go there with the priority to perform well.”South Africa’s sports minister, Fikile Mbalula, also expected big things from the side. He was there to bid them farewell and issue some instructions. “A visit to England is the absolute highlight of any cricketer’s career. As South Africans, we expect them to maintain their proud record there,” Mbalula said. “The Zimbabwe shame in the tri-series should be forgotten as we place ourselves to break hearts in the Queen’s land.”

ScorecardPaul Horton became just the sixth Lancashire batsman since the war to carry his bat through a completed innings•Getty Images

Match-winning innings come in many guises. Some feature all-guns blazing attack, others are filled with little but attritional obduracy.After a day which contained just nine overs’ cricket, it is still far too early to tell if Paul Horton’s 225-minute 49 not out will come to be classed as the patient vigil which set up Lancashire’s first Championship win of the season. All we can assert is that the opener’s patient skill helped Lancashire build a 68-run first-innings lead and that at least one or two Durham batsmen will need to exhibit similar technical competence on the third day of this match if that lead is not to prove as decisive as it already appears in a low-scoring game.The Durham top order may need a dollop of luck too. Horton was bowled by a no-ball when on 6 and dropped at slip on 11. When the ball is seaming around and swinging you need the breaks to go your way. However,Durham head coach Geoff Cook might be quietly reminding his players in the morning that it also helps if you don’t attempt brainless slashes at balls that barely pitch on the cut strip. These conditions are difficult, but as Paul Collingwood, Luke Procter and Kyle Hogg have also proved, they are not unplayable. They just require a good technique, a sound temperament and a little good fortune. In other words, proper batting.”The ball has swung,” Horton said. “But I think on this pitch it’s also seamed against the swing. If both seam and swing go the same way, you can line it up. If one goes one way and the other another, that’s quite tough. Graham Onions was seaming the ball both ways at good pace, which was tough. Luke Procter swung the ball both ways for us, which made it tough as well. The bowlers who have had most success in this game have moved the ball both ways in their own fashion.”The facts of the day are briefly told. Lancashire’s last two wickets added 29 runs to the overnight total, Hogg making a resourceful 33 before being snared by Steve Harmison, and Onions taking Simon Kerrigan’s wicket to finish with 5 for 43. The Durham seamer may not win his ninth Test cap next Thursday but he has looked an international cricketer in this match. The England selectors have a severe embarrassment of seam-bowling riches. Durham’s second innings lasted just three balls before the rain, which had delayed the start of play until 3.30pm, began scudding across the ground once again. This time it did not relent.Yet the day carried enough historical significance to have more than one Lancastrian reminisicing about the exploits of Winston Place and Jack Ikin. Horton is only the sixth Lancashire batsman since the war to carry his bat through a completed innings and the first to manage it since Alec Swann achieved the feat against Hampshire at Old Trafford in 2002. However, he has a long way to go before equalling the remarkable exploits of RG Barlow, who batted through 11 innings. In 1882 Barlow opened the innings and was 5 not out when Lancashire were dismissed for 69. When he was becalmed for 34 minutes on 11, a similar statistical notoriety seemed to lie in wait for Horton.”I can’t remember if I’ve carried my bat before, but I didn’t want to carry it for 11 not out,” he said. “It was just about playing my way. I wanted to get over the new ball and see if we could build a lead. I thought Kyle played well, so did Luke Procter and even Simon Kerrigan hung around. Everyone chipped in. It doesn’t matter what I get, it’s what the team does.”Just so, of course. And the question Durham supporters will be asking on the third morning is whether their own batsmen can apply themselves with the self-discipline that will be required if they are to escape from the bottom of the table.

With a successful tour of the West Indies completed, Australia captain Michael Clarke has now shifted his focus to what will be his first stint at the IPL. Clarke is expected to arrive in India on April 30, to join his franchise, Pune Warriors. This will be something of a Twenty20 return for Clarke, who last played in the shortest format in October 2010.”The crowds look fantastic [at the IPL] and it’s going to be nice. To be honest with you, to be back playing some Twenty20 cricket, I’m looking forward to that. I’ve never been to the IPL. I’ve said for a long time that when the opportunity comes up and I feel that it’s right for me, I’d love to get over there and have a crack and see what it’s like,” Clarke said after the Dominica Test. “I am looking forward to it. We [Australia] have a good break this winter. I’ve only got two one-day tours the whole winter, so if I was ever going to go this is the opportunity.”In 2009, Clarke had pulled out of the IPL auction, citing Australia’s busy schedule. He then retired from Twenty20 internationals in January 2011 in order to focus on ODIs and Tests. In fact, the only domestic Twenty20 games he has played were six matches way back in 2004, for Hampshire in England.

The other Australia players headed to the IPL

Shane Watson – Rajasthan Royals
Michael Hussey – Chennai Super Kings
Ben Hilfenhaus – Chennai Super Kings
Ryan Harris – Kings XI Punjab
David Warner – Delhi Daredevils

Clarke said he is happy to play under former India captain Sourav Ganguly and observe his method of working. “I think that Sourav’s always been a nice guy. I’ve always got along with him well and I look forward to playing under him. It seems like he’s doing a really good job as captain-coach over there, I’ve spoken to a couple of the boys and they seem to be really happy about how things are. So, yeah, for me it’s an eye-opener.”At the time of signing Clarke, Warriors captain Ganguly had said the franchise were interested in Clarke, despite his lack of Twenty20 experience, since he has all-round ability. “He can bat and he can bowl. He is a big player,” Ganguly had told ESPNcricinfo. Ganguly will now be hoping that Clarke’s arrival will help thwart what has been a poor run for Warriors – the team had begun the tournament well, winning three of their first four games, but have since lost four of five.

Pat Cummins, the Australia fast bowler, will join the Under-19 squad for the quadrangular series in Townsville beginning next week, as he bids to return to the senior national team after a long injury lay-off due to a bone stress injury in his foot.”Pat is at an advanced stage of his rehabilitation and we feel he will benefit from bowling in a competitive environment,” CA physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. “He’ll be on a restricted program and is being taken to Townsville so we can continue his progression and introduce some competition time.”He won’t play in every match or bowl his full allocation of overs, but will undertake a program that will allow us to carefully manage his involvement in the squad’s training and matches.”Cummins, 18, made an outstanding start to his Test career in November 2011, when he took seven wickets and was Man of the Match on debut in Australia’s victory over South Africa in Johannesburg. However, he hasn’t played a match since then and was ruled out of Australia’s entire home summer of internationals as well as the ongoing tour of the West Indies due to a heel injury.The quadrangular series will be played by U-19 teams from Australia, England, India and New Zealand between April 5 and 15. It will be used as a warm-up up event ahead of the U-19 World Cup in Queensland in August.