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Sri Lanka Cricket hopes to have offspinner Sachithra Senanayake cleared by the ICC over the next few months, after biomechanics experts were confident his action had been sufficiently remedied.Senanayake has returned to Sri Lanka after ten days of remedial work with human movement expert Darryl Foster at the University of Western Australia, after which he underwent an unofficial biomechanics test at the institute. The details of whether his remodeled action adheres to the ICC’s playing conditions will not be known until a report from this test is generated by Foster’s team over the next two weeks.SLC had always planned to have Senanayake re-tested following the remedial work, and they will aim to set a fresh date for testing at Cardiff Metropolitan University, as long as the report supports that move. Foster is understood to have been satisfied with the changes in Senanayake’s action but could not provide assurances on the exact degree of flex at each delivery until the test results were generated.”SLC will be presenting Sachithra to the ICC accredited Cardiff University for clearance testing subject to the pending report from Perth,” a board release said. “This report is expected to reach SLC within the next fortnight.”Foster’s team had found that each of Senanayake’s deliveries exceeded the permitted 15-degree limit before the remedial work, and suggested that routinely being asked to bowl in the Powerplay had played a role in the deterioration of his action since he was last tested, in 2011. A significant increase in flex was discovered when Senanayake had sought to change the length of his delivery in the middle of his bowling stride, particularly when batsmen were advancing down the pitch. Senanayake had not omitted any of his variations as part of the remedial process.SLC hope to have Senanayake cleared by the ICC before England’s limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka, which begins in November. The board is also hopeful the possible date of return will allow Senanayake to have his new action ingrained, before he plays international cricket again.Senanayake was found to be flexing his elbow as much as 43 degrees in the Test he was found to be throwing, and he was consequently banned from international cricket last month. This is the second round of remedial work he has undertaken, after suspicions about the legality of his action had previously been raised on a 2011 A-team tour to England. On that occasion, Senanayake did remedial work with national spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge and was cleared to play after a test at the University of Western Australia.Senanayake has been instrumental to Sri Lanka’s limited-overs success in 2014, in the Asia Cup, World T20 and the bilateral series in England. The series against Pakistan, which begins on Saturday, will be the first international cricket he has missed as a result of the ban. Sri Lanka have no international cricket scheduled between the Pakistan tour and the England ODIs.

The ICC has been late in penalising bowlers with illegal actions and as a result many upcoming cricketers who have grown up emulating their heroes might be at risk as well, according to John Davison, a Cricket Australia spin coach.”I was in Sri Lanka a couple of months ago and 90 per cent of the bowlers over there bowl spin,” Davison told . “I reckon 90 per cent of kids coming through would have what I would call an illegal action.”There’s going to be a generation of cricketers in the subcontinent who are going to struggle to bowl with a legal action. These kids have grown up copying their heroes and now it’s going to come back to haunt them.”You look at most international spinners going around at the moment and the majority are definitely what you would call suspect, and kids copy what international guys are doing.Davison said the impact might be lesser in Australia thanks to their decision not to impose the doosra on conventional spinners.”It’s something the ICC probably let go on for too long, but I suppose it’s good in terms of the stance we took, not that we wouldn’t coach it, but we wouldn’t try to turn traditional bowlers into doosra bowlers. It would have been much better [globally] if there had been a stance 20 years ago.”The ICC has banned Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal from bowling and a subsequent report said the flex of his elbow was over twice the approved limit. Sunil Narine was reported by the umpires in the Champions League T20 for his quicker ball. Mohammad Hafeez’s action was also deemed suspect during the tournament. Though being reported in the CLT20 has no bearing in international cricket, it does mean three of the world’s top spinners are under a cloud of uncertainty.

ScorecardPeter Handscomb and Dan Christian stretched Victoria’s lead with a 206-run stand•Getty Images

New South Wales lost Ryan Carters in the closing minutes of play to find themselves in a precarious position against Victoria entering the final day of the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG.Carters was well set on 58 but fended a bouncer from Marcus Stoinis to gully to leave the Blues two wickets down and still needing 35 runs to make the Bushrangers bat again.The majority of the day was dominated by Peter Handscomb and Dan Christian, who put together a free-spirited, sixth-wicket partnership of 206 to stretch Victoria’s lead over an inexperienced Blues XI.They took particularly heavy toll on the untested spin duo of Patrick Jackson and Will Somerville, who returned combined figures of 0 for 195 from 38 overs. The Bushrangers’ legspinner Fawad Ahmed will hope for better on day four.

Andrew Ellis starred for the second day in a row as Canterbury won their second match in two days to complete a perfect weekend in Hamilton. Ellis took five to limit Wellington to 110, a total which never looked out of reach during the chase. The result leaves Canterbury on top of the table with three wins in three matches, while Wellington are bottom of the table after two defeats in two.Wellington began poorly, losing both their openers within the first three overs, and struggled to put together partnerships. Still at 81 for 4 after 14 overs, they had the wickets in hand to go big in the final overs of the innings. Instead, Ellis struck in each of his next three overs to wipe out the lower-middle order and to leave Canterbury facing a target of 111.Canterbury too made a poor start, losing Ronnie Hira in the first over, but faced with such a small target, they were never really in trouble. Their captain Peter Fulton top scored with an unbeaten 45 while their Australian import Aiden Blizzard chipped in with 29 as they closed out the game with five wickets to spare.Auckland showed off their batting might by running up the highest total of the season and crushing Otago by 106 runs. Auckland now have the two highest scores of the season and two wins in their two matches so far. It extended Otago’s wretched start to the campaign, leaving them with three defeats in three games and a disastrous net run-rate.Martin Guptill made his second consecutive half-century as he top scored with an unbeaten 84 off 65 deliveries. He was partnered by Rob Nicol, who smashed six sixes in a 41-ball 74 as the pair added 137 for the second wicket. Former Australia fast bowler Dirk Nannes had a day to forget, being caned for 59 off his four overs.For Otago to pull off the big chase, they needed a big innings from Jesse Ryder, but he couldn’t deliver, falling for 5 in the second over. By the halfway stage the pursuit was flagging, and Otago’s chances evaporated in the 11th over when they lost two wickets in three deliveries. They proceeded to lose a wicket in each of the next five overs to keel over for 83.

Forever 63 not out

Cricket Australia has amended the scorecard for Phillip Hughes’ final match, ensuring he will forever remain 63 not out. Initially, Hughes was listed as retired hurt after being struck on the neck by a bouncer and rushed to hospital.
However, play was abandoned because of Hughes’ injury and he was not replaced at the crease by another batsman. The official scorecard has therefore been adjusted to show him as not out.
“It might seem like a little thing, but it’s an important distinction,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said. “Phillip will forever remain 63 not out.”

Michael Clarke has marked what would have been Phillip Hughes’ 26th birthday by writing an emotional tribute in his newspaper column. A clearly distraught Clarke spoke to the media on Saturday morning to express the grief of the players and their love for Hughes, and on Sunday Clarke’s column appeared in the .Clarke wrote that Hughes was loyal to a fault, eternally optimistic and kind-hearted, with a wicked sense of humour and a child-like verve for life. The two first met when Hughes was 17 and moved from the country town of Macksville to play club cricket in Sydney for Western Suburbs, the same club that Clarke represented.”I was drawn to him instantly, falling for his cheeky grin and love of life,” Clarke wrote. “Phillip truly was uncomplicated — what you saw was what you got. I don’t think in 12 years of playing cricket at the top level I have ever come across a more loyal or generous-hearted teammate.”Whenever Hughesy suffered adversity — if he was replaced in the team or if he wasn’t scoring as many runs as he wanted — he never dropped his head, never once complained. If he had a tough conversation with a selector he would nod, agree he needed to work harder, grin because he felt bad for the person delivering the message and then get on with it.”You knew deep down he was shattered because playing cricket for his country meant everything to him. But his head wouldn’t drop because he knew his teammates didn’t need that — he was honoured to be running drinks as 12th man for his mates and he went out of his way to show that. But Phillip’s laid-back nature disguised something more important about the man. He was as mentally tough as they came.”From the time Hughes was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney on Tuesday after being struck in the neck by a bouncer during the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG, Clarke was a constant presence at the hospital visiting Hughes and spending time with his family, parents Greg and Virginia and siblings Jason and Megan.”I don’t have a blood brother, but I am very proud to have called Phillip my brother. I am a better man for having known him,” Clarke wrote. “Vale Hugh Dog. I will miss you forever, but I will not forget. Happy birthday bro.”Clarke also expressed his strong support for Sean Abbott, the New South Wales bowler who delivered the bouncer to Hughes on Tuesday.”No-one — not one single person — blames him in any way for what has happened,” Clarke wrote. “He deserves our full support, he will absolutely have mine whenever he needs it, and I know that also goes for the entire Australian cricket community.””Sean, when you feel like getting back on the horse mate, I promise you that I will be the first to strap on the pads and go stand up the end of the net to hit them back at you. It’s exactly what Hugh Dog would want us both to do.”

ScorecardJonny Bairstow went past a half-century before retiring•Getty Images

Mark Wood took four wickets as England Lions took complete control of their opening tour match on the second day in Soweto. They slipped slightly at the start of their second innings but still take a big lead into the third day of the match.Wood’s Lions tour last winter ended as soon as it began with injury in a warm-up match but here was back with 4 for 29 as the Gauteng Invitation XI were fired out for just 179 replying to the Lions’ 443.The first four wickets to fall in the host’s innings went to each of the Lions’ four seamers before Wood returned to rifle out the tail. Only a seventh wicket stand of 65 prevented embarrassment – a partnership the Lions were perhaps grateful for to ensure the bowlers gained a decent workout ahead of the unofficial Test series with South Africa A.Of the Lions attack only Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner, struggled. He sent down nine over for 61 before getting Brian Barnard – Gauteng’s topscorer – to chop on for 39.Rashid and the start of their second innings were the day’s concerns for the Lions. Batting again with a lead of 264 they lost three cheap wickets – all lbw – including James Vince for his second single-figure score of the match.It followed a morning session where wickets also fell quickly. Alex Lees only added three runs to his overnight score and the last five wickets went down for 50 – albeit Jonny Bairstow retired having made his way to 62 from 95 balls.

The PCB has asked the ICC to set a date for offspin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Hafeez to have his action officially reassessed. The test has been set for February 6 in Brisbane*, with the PCB hoping to have Hafeez cleared to bowl in time for the World Cup that begins on February 14.While Hafeez is part of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, he will not be allowed to bowl in the tournament unless cleared, having been suspended from bowling in international cricket in December. Pakistan are already without the services of Saeed Ajmal for the World Cup, who has also been banned.Hafeez’s action was tested at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. The analysis, an ICC statement said, found the flex in his action to exceed the 15-degree limit for all deliveries. Later, he was sent to Chennai to undergo remedial work and unofficial tests on his bowling action at Sri Ramachandra University. He had failed one of those unofficial tests, in January; he bowled 11 deliveries in that test, and of those the flex in six deliveries was above the 15-degree limit.If he fails the official test, the ICC’s Bowling Review Group (BRG) will specify a period during which Hafeez will not be entitled to approach the ICC for reassessment.Hafeez was first reported while playing for Lahore Lions during the Champions League T20 in September, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November.Ajmal, who is not part of the World Cup squad, will undergo official ICC testing in Chennai on January 24.* January 23, 2015 11:15 GMT: The story has been updated with the date of Hafeez’s test

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:57

Holding: Absolutely no positives for England

Tim Southee produced one of the great displays of ODI bowling and Brendon McCullum hammered a World Cup record 18-ball fifty as New Zealand produced a display of scarcely believable dominance in Wellington. Southee’s figures of 7 for 33 were the third best in a World Cup, the best for the country in all ODIs and only the third time a New Zealand bowler had taken a five-wicket haul in the tournament.England subsided to 123 in 33.2 overs after deciding to bat first – their out-of-form captain Eoin Morgan limping to 17 off 41 balls – and lost their last seven wickets for 19 in eight overs as they had no answer to Southee and a suffocating fielding performance. “It’s a bit of a blur at the moment,” a rather shocked Southee said at the end of the innings which came so soon that New Zealand had time to bat, and almost win, before the interval.As if to mock England, McCullum then surged to a record fifty – and the third-fastest in all ODIs – breaking his own mark, to complete one of the most embarrassing days of England’s one-day history and one of New Zealand’s most famous.McCullum crunched seven sixes of varying ferocity; Stuart Broad was taken for 18 off his first over while Steven Finn was brutally dispatched for 49 off two that included four consecutive sixes. If he had not been bowled by a Chris Woakes full toss in the eighth over, New Zealand would have won before the break that came after nine overs; considerable boos rang around as the players trudged off. The formalities were completed 45 minutes later, fittingly with five wides, to equal England’s heaviest defeat in terms of ball remaining – 226.Sir Richard Hadlee and Shane Bond were the two New Zealand bowlers to bag five-wicket hauls in the World Cup before this. Southee produced a spell that would have done either proud. Much will be made of England’s limp effort, but it was one of the occasions when the mastery of the bowling has to be the focal point.Southee set the tone by striking twice in his opening spell, but swing with the new ball is one thing. It was his second burst, between overs 27 and 33, that elevated his spell to greatness as he continued to hoop the ball away from England’s right handers. Two of his wickets came from late-swinging yorkers while delightful leg-cutters accounted for Ian Bell and Chris Woakes.It took Southee a couple of overs to find his range and he struck in the first delivery of his third over when Bell played inside the line of one which nipped away to take the off stump. This was followed by a well-planned set-up for Moeen Ali – and one many a fast bowler are now following – when a bouncer preceded a spearing yorker.His new-ball partner, Trent Boult, with whom Southee has formed a devastating combination over the last 18 months, was all over Gary Ballance. He survived a review for lbw on 1 and would then have been gone for 5 if New Zealand had not used up their DRS option. A painful 26-ball stay ended with a toe-end to cover against the worst ball Boult produced.Morgan entered on the back of four ducks in five innings and looked bereft of form, but he and Joe Root began something of a recovery operation without ever convincing. Key to New Zealand never losing control during this period was their outstanding fielding, led by McCullum and Kane Williamson, which must have left England’s batsmen feeling as though they were playing against 13 men.McCullum was at his most aggressive in the field, starting the innings with four slips and regularly keeping three or four catchers in position even when well outside the initial 10-over Powerplay. He was superbly supported by the accuracy of his bowlers as neither Adam Milne or Daniel Vettori allowed the pressure to loosen.Vettori regularly switched ends and bowled with delightful control, using subtle changes of pace on a pitch offering little spin. He ended England’s small fightback when Morgan aimed to loft him down the ground but neither placed or hit firmly enough to clear the rope. It still required a fantastic running catch by Milne coming round from long-on.That was the cue for Southee. McCullum, proactive as ever, recalled him straight away and it took just two balls for him to strike Taylor’s off stump with a late-swinging yorker. His next over brought two more; Jos Buttler edging an outswinger and then Woakes beig beaten by another unplayable leg-cutter.Watching it all unfold, with shock in his eyes, was Root. He desperately needed one of the bowlers to stay with him to try and haul England to anything respectable but the end was swift. Broad was never keen to get into line and looped a leading edge into the off side to give Southee his sixth and the record-breaking seventh came when Finn prodded to slip. Root, stranded at the non-striker’s end, threw his head skywards.A shell-shocked England emerged into the field with nothing left to give. James Anderson’s first ball was a wide and things did not improve. McCullum upper cut his first delivery from Broad over third man – New Zealand did not need to make further statements, but the captain was not of that frame of mind.The fifty was brought up with the first of the four sixes in a row off Finn, which also struck a sponsor’s car, and McCullum kept launching him with fearsome power over the off side. Staggeringly, thoughts briefly turned to whether he could manufacture enough of the strike to challenge the fastest hundred – AB de Villiers’ 31-ball against West Indies – but that would have been one record too many on an extraordinary day.

ScorecardAn unbeaten 135 from Joe Burns and a five-wicket haul from Ben Cutting stood out, as Queensland beat South Australia by five wickets at the Gabba in Brisbane.Queensland chased 299 in 63.4 overs, riding on Burns’ unbeaten 187-ball 135 which featured 12 fours and three sixes. Burns was also backed up by Peter Forrest’s 81, as the pair added 162 for the fourth wicket. Resuming on 4 for 357, South Australia added 101 runs for their final six wickets while batting for 28 overs. Jake Lehmann got his second fifty in as many games after which the team’s last four wickets fell for just 17 runs. Ben Cutting picked up 5 for 88 in the innings, taking his match figures to 6 for 134Joe Mennies struck in the second ball of Queesland’s second innings to get rid of Matthew Renshaw for a duck, and later, Trent Lawford and Cutting fell within the space of seven balls, leaving the home side tottering at 3 for 30. However, Burns and Forrest steadied the chase, batting together for 39 overs before Adam Zampa had Forrest caught behind.Zampa struck again to remove Chris Hartely for 33, but Burns kept going at the other end. Jack Wildermuth’s cameo of 32 from 17 balls saw Queensland home, handing them their fourth win of the season and South Australia their sixth loss.