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An explosive surge from Kusal Perera gave Sri Lanka A a slender advantage against New Zealand A on day three in Pallekele

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2013
ScorecardAn explosive surge from Kusal Perera gave Sri Lanka A a slender advantage against New Zealand A on day three in Pallekele after Carl Cachopa’s 104 had earlier taken the visitors to 299 for 9, earning them a 47-run lead. However, Kusal’s brisk fifty means that the hosts also stand a chance of winning the match on the final day as Sri Lanka lead by 88 runs at stumps, with seven wickets in hand.Cachopa, who resumed his innings at 14 in the morning, added 49 and 110 for the first and second wicket with Anton Devicich and Daryl Mitchell respectively, and smashed a total of 10 fours and three sixes in his innings.At 175 for 1, New Zealand looked well set and to be heading towards a comfortable score, but the quick departures of Cachopa and Mitchell, followed by a lower-order collapse meant that they would not bat the hosts out of the game. Dilruwan Perera removed Luke Ronchi and Todd Astle in consecutive overs, before Chaturanga de Silva took two of his own. The slide had accounted for five wickets for 41 runs, when the captain Devcich declared the innings. Dilruwan finished with 6 for 87, while de Silva took 3 for 60, as all nine New Zealand batsmen fell to spin.Dimuth Karunaratne began Sri Lanka’s second innings briskly, making 11 from his first six balls, but although he was then caught behind, his opening partner Kusal continued to maintain the quick scoring rate. His 62 runs came from just 45 balls, and included 10 fours. Kusal has had a few lean months in both international and domestic cricket, and this innings could be the catalyst to his return to form.First innings centurion Kaushal Silva and captain Dinesh Chandimal fell cheaply, but Kusal found support from Kithuruwan Vithanage, who made an unbeaten 30. Sri Lanka A had hit 135 for 3 in 19 overs, and if they can maintain that tempo on day four, the hosts may hope to push the lead to beyond 200 in the first session to set up a tough chase for the visitors. New Zealand A,on the other hand, will hope to effect a collapse, if they are to achieve an unassailable position in the two-match series.

After gifting a slender two-run win to Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, Kolkata Knight Riders have a chance to make amends at their home ground on Thursday

The Preview by Vishal Dikshit29-Apr-2015

Match facts

Thursday, April 30, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

Kolkata Knight Riders, after three wins from six matches, had a strong chance to get closer to the top two teams in the table; they reduced Chennai Super Kings to 134 at their home ground, marched to 52 runs in five overs, but then took a U-turn to hand the match back to the hosts. Two points gone, Super Kings back on top, and Knight Riders lost their second match in a row.Now the same two teams move to Kolkata from Chennai, just like the BCCI power centre did so nearly two months ago. A few changes have happened already in this one-day gap. Sunil Narine’s offbreak has been banned and R Ashwin has been ruled out for two matches with a finger injury. Brad Hogg’s stellar show of 1 for 18 from four overs will subside Knight Riders’ worries, but Super Kings will have to find an able replacement for their offspinner, who finished with 2 for 5 from his two overs.Apart from the win on Tuesday, Super Kings have an upper hand with their fielding too. Either Dwayne Bravo or Faf du Plessis takes a spectacular catch every match and even Kryptonite can’t stop Brendon McCullum from flying. The Knight Riders batsmen will have to make sure they clear the boundaries to make such efforts ineffective.

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings WWWLW

Watch out for…

All through the tournament Knight Riders had been relying on their pacers. On Tuesday, they dominated with the ball because of their spin attack. So what if Narine has been banned from bowling the delivery he bowls the most? Piyush Chawla stepped up in his absence as first-change and dismissed Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Bravo, conceding only 26 runs. The 44-year-old Hogg then bowled as if he had played all the matches till now and bowled a frugal spell of 1 for 18. He was playing after exactly three months.A livewire in the field, wily with his slower balls and a treat to watch for his footwork during his celebrations, Dwayne Bravo has not made much of an impact with the bat yet. Barring his 36-ball 62 against Rajasthan Royals 10 days ago, he has mostly made single-digit scores. With Faf du Plessis not fully in his element, Bravo has a good chance to step up and prove why he has been a sure starter so far.

Stats and trivia

• Super Kings have not made any changes to their playing XI so far. Every other team has made at least three changes. That will, however, certainly change on Thursday due to Ashwin’s absence.
• Super Kings have successfully defended a total of 150 or less seven times in the IPL, the most for any team
• Gautam Gambhir has 11 IPL ducks, joint-most by any player along with Harbhajan Singh

Quotes

“If we win we win, if we lose we lose.”
ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A loud noise halfway through the Pakistan innings, audible to those in the ground and even inside the enclosed press box, has been explained by the police as a transformer blast

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2015A loud noise halfway through the Pakistan innings, audible to those in the ground and even inside the enclosed press box, has been explained by the police as an electricity transformer explosion. The blast, police have said, took place near the outermost ring of the three-tier security at Ferozpur road, near Pakistan Sports Board Coaching Centre street, about 800 metres from the Gaddafi Stadium itself.The series, the first set of internationals in Pakistan in more than six years, is being conducted under heavy security. More than 4000 policemen have been deployed as part of the security arrangements with two companies of Rangers – Pakistan’s paramilitary forces – on standby throughout the series. The Nishtar sports complex, which also houses the Gaddafi stadium, is under surveillance through a system of closed-circuit security cameras and public entry for the games is on foot through extensive security layers.

Kyle Jarvis completed match figures of 9 for 106 as Lancashire strengthened their position at the top of the Division Two table with a 91-run win over Gloucestershire at Bristol

ECB/PA10-Jun-2015
ScorecardKyle Jarvis ran through Gloucestershire’s middle order to set up victory•PA Photos

Kyle Jarvis completed match figures of 9 for 106 as Lancashire strengthened their position at the top of the Division Two table with a 91-run win over Gloucestershire at Bristol.The former Zimbabwe seamer claimed 5 for 39, including four wickets in the space of 17 balls, to induce a second innings collapse by Gloucestershire from 113 for 2 to 160 all out as they chased a victory target of 252.It had looked good for Gloucestershire when they reached lunch on the final day at 104 for 2. But after Michael Klinger and Chris Dent had set up a winning position Jarvis blew away the middle order. He sent back Dent, Ian Cockbain, Benny Howell and Jack Taylor in a superb spell from the Ashley Down Road End to finally swing a compelling match Lancashire’s way.”To have 47 wickets at this stage of the season is very pleasing for me,” Jarvis said. “I am at my best when I can run the ball back at batsmen and that is what started to happen this afternoon.”Gloucestershire played some excellent cricket and made it a very tough game for us. But we never felt out it and knew if we kept the ball on the right line and length things would start to happen. It’s another huge win which has put us in a very strong position in the table. But nothing has been achieved yet and there is a lot of hard work still ahead.”Lancashire took 21 points to Gloucestershire’s five to go 31 clear of second placed Surrey in Division Two. But it was a closer contest than the outcome suggested and both teams could take encouragement from their efforts.Gloucestershire had begun the final day on 26 for 1, needing a further 226 to win. For a long while Klinger and Dent looked to have them in control.
Dent, dropped on 10 by wicketkeeper Alex Davies off Tom Bailey, was unbeaten on 49 at lunch.Klinger had helped add 68 for the second wicket before a rare error of judgement, driving at a good length ball from James Faulkner saw him caught by Davies, having faced 110 balls and hit seven fours.It took Dent until his 99th delivery to hit a boundary, but his application was showing signs of reaping reward as Gloucestershire approached the final two sessions needing only a further 148 to repeat their success at Old Trafford earlier in the season.The turning point came when Dent, who had faced 155 balls and hit six fours, miscued a pull shot off Jarvis and lofted a catch to mid-on. Jarvis grabbed the initiative and four more wickets fell in the space of 29 deliveries, Tom Bailey weighing in with the dismissal of Gareth Roderick, who registered a pair when pinned lbw by a full ball.Gloucestershire were suddenly in disarray as they plunged to 119 for 7. Skipper Geraint Jones and Craig Miles defiantly added 36, but when Jones was caught behind looking to cut Faulkner it was as good as over. Matt Taylor was caught behind to give Faulkner a third wicket and when Miles was last man out, caught at cover off Jordan Clark, the home side had lost their last eight wickets for 47 runs.Defeat for Gloucestershire was compounded by news after the game that Roderick’s thumb injury was a fracture, which will keep him out until the Cheltenham Festival in mid-July. The wicketkeeper batted in both innings against Lancashire, bagging a pair. Last season he spent two spells on the sidelines after breaking the same finger.”We are hurting in the dressing room because we had got ourselves into a position where we felt we had Lancashire,” Jones, Gloucestershire’s captain, said.”That makes the disappointment of losing all the greater. We describe ourselves as a young side, with some experience, and that was evident today. The worst of it was that we lost so many wickets bowled or lbw when we knew Lancashire would bowl at the stumps on that sort of pitch. Every game is a learning experience and we need to get over this setback quickly.”

Middlesex’s winless run at Uxbridge looked like being extended as Worcestershire maintained the upper hand through Tom Fell’s 143

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Uxbridge23-Jun-2015
ScorecardMoeen Ali may yet get his chance to make an impact with the ball (file photo)•Getty Images

It is no great surprise that the Middlesex players are not fond of playing at Uxbridge. They have not won a Championship match here since 1991. And, with a day left to play, it looks like a winless run that will continue for another year.The outfield is scorched and undulating, while the pitch asks much of the pacemen and even more of the spinners. That being said, Uxbridge is one of the better outgrounds on offer. Some say Middlesex will struggle to win the Championship if they continue to play here. There may be some truth in that, but it is fair to say they will struggle to win it playing at Lord’s, too. Championship-winning teams do not tend to get turfed out of their home ground for students.A penny for Sam Robson’s thoughts as he walked off, two balls into his second innings, with a pair to his name. He has faced three balls in the match, all from Charlie Morris, all pearlers. Another, too, for Moeen Ali’s: brought on first-change in an innings that started with Worcestershire boasting a 76-run first-digs lead. After three overs for not many and no wickets, he only made a return to bowl the last two overs of the day.

Worcestershire’s Tom Fell

On his fourth first-class hundred
“It was definitely one of the tougher ones. They came pretty hard at me and bowled a lot of short-stuff, which is never easy. Given the circumstances, it’s one of the better ones.”
On dealing with the short stuff
“I know I looked a bit uncomfortable playing it but it’s a shot I do like to play. When I realised they were going to keep going for it I knew it would be a great way to score. Obviously it got me in the end and they were pretty happy about it.”
On the position in the game
We’re not too far ahead. We would have liked one or two more tonight but we’re in a solid position. There’s a hint of turn, a little bit. The pitch is wearing and there’s a bit of up and down movement. Hopefully if it does start turning, Ajmal and Ali will win the game for us.”

By that time, Saeed Ajmal had bowled 13 overs; though, to be fair to Ajmal, he also produced one of the balls of the game. Just as Nick Gubbins was looking assured on 23, the Pakistan offspinner, operating around the wicket to the left-hander, pitched one on middle and off, dragging Gubbins forward, before it turned past the outside edge and took the top of off. It was not long before he left the changing room to make his way to the radio tent where the team analyst showed him video footage of his dismissal. It was a peach.When the day drew to a close, things were not as precarious as they could have been. Nick Compton had looked in good touch, hitting his first ball for six (Okay, it was a two into the leg side which led to four over-throws) before hitting some more deliberate and stylish fours; he drove Leach with ease and showed just how good a shot-maker he is with a drive off a decent length ball from Morris, which he jumped back to thread through cover. But when he went to Jack Shantry, Middlesex were still three behind and, now, three down.But Joe Burns and Paul Stirling remained calm, pushed on and defended well. There was slight cause for concern when Burns edged Leach but no chance came from it, as it died in front of Alex Gidman at first slip. Stirling gave a taster of what might come with a couple of superbly timed drives and then, in the final over, a hard pull that nearly put a hole in one of the advertising boards. His unbeaten 39 was the beginnings of a first-class innings of the sort of worth that Middlesex fans have craved from him for a long time.Having judged the first five balls of the day well, Alex Gidman allowed the last of Tim Murtagh’s over to crash flush into his off stump. That would be the first of four wickets for Murtagh, on a morning and afternoon of frustration for Middlesex.As the track dulled, Tom Fell continued to a second Championship hundred of the season by hitting his 16th four off his 174thball. On his way to 143, the highest first-class score of his career to date, he freed his arms, aware that Worcestershire’s tail is not really one that needs shepherding. Even Ajmal, batting at No. 10, hit four boundaries in an innings of 20.Fell was involved in a thrilling stand-off with Toby Roland-Jones – though he admitted at stumps he didn’t enjoy it that much – that would eventually see him caught in the deep off what looked and sounded like a well-struck hook.On 132, he swiped at a short-ball from Roland-Jones that stung the tips of John Simpson’s fingers behind the stumps. Roland-Jones let out a scream and returned to his mark. When the pair met the next over, another was dug in short and Fell crashed it for six – the first of the innings – right over square leg. Roland-Jones said a bit, Fell remained still. Soon Fell was walking off and Roland-Jones said a bit more.At that point, Worcestershire were 332 for 8 in the 108th over. That they ended up on 385 owes much to Shantry, who hit back-to-back sixes off Roland-Jones before displaying a touch of ingenuity to dab Ollie Rayner fine on the leg-side and take his side past 350 for a third bowling point. He was left unbeaten on 41 when Murtagh floored four stumps in dismissing Ajmal and Morris in the space of three balls. That gave Murtagh his best figures of the season so far.As for Moeen, the last time Worcestershire won an away game in Division One (against Lancashire in 2012), he took 6 for 29. Anything remotely similar would give his side a chance to win another.

Openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley both scored centuries as Essex inflicted a 152-run defeat on Warwickshire in their Royal London Cup Group B clash at Chelmsford

ECB/PA29-Jul-2015
ScorecardTom Westley continued his fine form with 108 runs in an opening stand of 191•Getty Images

Openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley both scored centuries as Essex inflicted a 152-run defeat on Warwickshire in their Royal London Cup Group B clash at Chelmsford.Essex’s dominance of the visiting attack resulted in a total of 320 for 5, which proved well beyond Warwickshire’s capabilitie as they were bowled out for 168 in 40.2 overs.It proved an unhappy return for the former Essex batsman, Varun Chopra. He was soon regretting his decision to insert the home side as Pettini and Westley launched the Essex innings with an opening stand of 191 in 34 overs. He then suffered the ignominy of being out first ball when Warwickshire began their reply.The Essex openers never looked in the slightest trouble as they treated pace and spin with equal comfort, producing a succession of drives, pulls and square cuts to progress at nearly a run a ball.Respite only came when Westley was trapped lbw to offspinner Jeetan Patel but not before he had amassed 108, his second List A century with the help of a dozen fours and a six.Pettini has been overlooked at Championship level, the form of Nick Browne relegating him to the sidelines. But in the one-day format, he is considered a vital component of their batting line-up in addition to his fine fielding. And he was to confirm his pedigree with a forceful 126 from 127 balls before he swung Oliver Hannon-Dalby to deep midwicket and was fourth out in the 48th over after striking 10 fours and two sixes.Before Pettini’s demise, Ravi Bopara also struck two sixes in making 39 from 33 balls before he dragged on against Chris Woakes.The Essex innings finished on a high when Ryan ten Doeschate struck the final delivery over long-on for six to finish unbeaten on 21 from 12 balls.Faced with such a daunting task, Warwickshire desperately needed to start their reply on a firm foundation but their hopes of doing so were soon shattered.Chopra was caught and bowled by Topley, an inside edge finding its way into the bowler’s hands via the batsman’s pad. The tall left-arm paceman soon claimed another wicket, that of Will Porterfield, when the opener holed out to deep square leg.Only 37 runs were on the board when Tim Ambrose became the third wicket to fall as he clipped Graham Napier to third man where David Masters pocketed a catch in the 13th over.By the halfway stage, Warwickshire had limped to 92 for 5, by which time Rikki Clarke and Laurie Evans had been despatched to the pavilion leaving Jonathan Trott to salvage a little bit of pride for his team.By then, however, he was fully aware that victory was out of the question for last season’s beaten finalists but he did make something of a fight of it.He reached his half-century by pulling Bopara for six but was out immediately afterwards for 51, made from 79 balls, when Kishen Velani took the third of his four catches at deep square leg to give off-spinner Westley another wicket and leave Warwickshire on 101 for 6. The same combination had earlier got rid of Clarke.Although the tail wagged, putting on a further 67 runs in 13 overs, Essex were able to celebrate a comfortable victory and gain consolation for the misery Warwickshire inflicted upon them last season when they triumphed at Chelmsford in both the Royal London Cup and Twenty20 Blast at the quarter-final stage.

Monty Panesar, surprisingly recalled to the Essex side at the Colchester Festival, showed signs that he could resurrect his professional career on the day that England won the Ashes

Tim Wigmore at Colchester08-Aug-2015
ScorecardMonty Panesar made an emotional comeback on the day England won the Ashes•Getty Images

Monty Panesar could have been forgiven for being a little wistful. At 33, he should be in his prime years and helping England secure an Ashes triumph instead of attempting to salvage his county career.If such thoughts entered his mind, the warm applause that accompanied him as he walked out to bat at No 11 were a good way to dispel them. So, too, was heaving his third delivery for a clean six over long on. But even better was being encircled by his teammates after Arun Harinath had been well caught at long off, deceived in the flight as he attempted to harrumph Panesar out the ground.It ended Panesar’s 103-day wait for a first-class wicket. Copious time since has been spent trying to piece his career back together. Panesar had taken an indefinite break from the game as he attempted to regain his hunger for the game, worked with a Personal Development Manager at the Professional Cricketers’ Association, the freelance coach Neil Burns, and minute after minute and hour after hour honed his bowling in the nets.Vindication arrived as he bowled 30 overs in the day at Colchester, being entrusted with the long spells he has always relished. For all that has happened in his career since Panesar first captivated English eyes in Nagpur in 2006, his action was as smooth and economical as ever. While his celebrations fell some way shy of the effusive high-fiving that helped acquire his cult status, they became more effusive with each passing wicket. When Steve Davies shouldered arms to a ball that spun in enough to decapitate his offstump, and then Jason Roy was neatly stumped, Panesar clapped his hands in delight. Here was a cricketer relocating his vim and purpose.Panesar’s progress was not all smooth. He bowled too flat on occasions, especially early on, and his length became erratic later in the day. “At times when he gave it a little bit more air it did a bit more for him, but he’s obviously trying to make things happen quickly out of the surface so that’s probably why he was bowling as quickly as he did,” was the assessment of Surrey’s centurion Rory Burns.And Panesar’s fielding remains as unkempt as ever. Fielding at mid-off or mid-on, he made several rudimentary mistakes; “fielded Monty,” went one unkind cry after he let a push sneak between his legs and to the long-off boundary for four. But the hearty cheers that greeted several good stops on the boundary rope in the dying embers of the day spoke of the delight of many at seeing his return to the first-class game.Surrey also had a comeback of sorts to toast. Since returning from a horrific collision with Moises Henriques on June 14, Rory Burns has been a little short of runs. His unbeaten 157 provided evidence of how unaffected Burns has been by the incident – “I’ve got a couple of scars so it’s added a bit of character to my otherwise plain face,” he joked – and the development of his game.Before play Surrey coach Graham Ford implored Burns to return to four-day mode, and his judicious leaving provided ample evidence of his adhesive qualities. Just as impressive was the way Burns became more assertive as he settled at the crease.His innings was underpinned by his meticulously honed cut, ability to work away any ball that drifted onto his pads and intelligent use of the sweep. But in the evening sunshine he unfurled his much-improved cover drive, which he considered too risky to play earlier in the day.Five balls off Panesar highlighted Burns’ growing fluency. In consecutive deliveries, Panesar was swatted through the onside like an irritating fly and then twice driven with finesse through the covers. After a solid defensive shot, Burns was then offered a smidgeon of width and glided the ball through point for another boundary.That Burns’ outstanding innings might not be enough to haul Surrey above Essex’s 369 all out reflects a curious feature of the match. While the opening two days have brought centuries, no one else has passed 40. Both Harinath, with a fluent 34, and Gary Wilson, who contributed an adroit 37 marked by assiduous running between the wickets, proved useful allies to Burns, only to perish when they were hinting at permanence.In contrast what remained of Essex’s innings had a distinctly ephemeral feel: in between the final three wickets falling, 46 runs fell in a harum-scarum 55 balls. Although he suffered the ignominy of being hit for 18 in an over, including 11 in three balls from Panesar, Zafar Ansari added two wickets in the morning to finish with 5-108. His fifth first-class five-fer provided fitting reward for 32 overs of intelligent left-arm spin. On a wicket that is turning regularly if not yet too dramatically, Ansari will have to be similarly effective in Essex’s second innings: Burns said Surrey would not like to chase more than 200 in the fourth innings.But such arduous demands of Ansari’s bowling are less than ideal preparation for opening the batting, and he made only six before he played indecisively half-forward and nicked Jamie Porter to slip. Given Ansari’s emergence as Surrey’s number one spinner – he has bowled over a third more overs than Gareth Batty after bowling a third less than him in 2014 – perhaps his overall development as a cricketer would be better served by batting in the middle order.

Tom Curran, the Surrey pace bowler, has been added to the England Performance Programme for the training camps in South Africa and the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2015Tom Curran, the Surrey pace bowler, has been added to the England Performance Programme for the training camps in South Africa and the UAE.Curran, 20, who was born in Cape Town, is due to complete his residential qualification period at the end of October and be eligible for England.He finished the season with 105 wickets in all cricket – 76 of them in the Championship to make him the joint-leading wicket-taker in Division Two – after claiming 10 for 176 against Northamptonshire at The Oval, including 7 for 35 in the first innings when he shared all ten wickets with his younger brother, Sam.James Whitaker, the national selector, said: “Tom has had a superb season leading the Surrey pace attack, and following confirmation that he is due to complete his residential qualification to play for England at the end of October, we are delighted to add him to the EPP fast bowlers group for the winter.”The EPP is initially split into two sections and Curran will join the fast-bowling group in Potchefstroom for a 10-day camp before linking up with the batting/spin bowling players who will be based in Dubai.Jake Ball, Craig Miles, Craig and Jamie Overton, Tymal Mills and Olly Stone are the other fast bowlers heading to South Africa.Sam Curran, 17, has been included in the England U-19 squad for a triangular series in Sri Lanka ahead of next year’s U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

Quality won out in the day/night Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval, with New South Wales obliterating South Australia in three days that served as a dry run for the floodlit Test to be played there next month

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2015
ScorecardSteven Smith struck 17 fours and four sixes for his unbeaten 152•Getty Images

Quality won out in the day/night Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval, with New South Wales obliterating South Australia in three days that served as a dry run for the floodlit Test to be played there next month.After Steven Smith and Ed Cowan continued on their merry way to set SA a distant target, the Blues bowlers shared the wickets to end the match early.Mitchell Starc was again a fiendish proposition, but he was well supported by Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, a combination that will next be seen against New Zealand at the Gabba.Starc’s dismissal of Travis Head for a duck maintained his recent domination of SA’s new captain, and though Callum Ferguson frustrated the Blues with a defiant 96, the result always seemed likely to be sealed a night early.

Mark Wood will undergo ankle surgery next week after the ECB decided they had to pursue a long-term solution to the problem which he has managed through his first year in international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2015Mark Wood will undergo ankle surgery next week after the ECB decided it had to pursue a long-term solution to the problem which he has managed through the first six months of his international career.He was left out of the final Test against Pakistan, in Sharjah, as part of the ongoing management of his left ankle after he had received a cortisone injection following the match in Dubai, where he produced his most impressive performance in an England shirt.Wood had previously missed the third Test against Australia, at Edgbaston, due to the problem and Alastair Cook said that he had never been expected to play all three Tests against Pakistan.After the Test series finished, Wood was also ruled out of the limited-overs leg of the tour with a decision taken that he would return home for further specialist advice on the ankle. The outcome has been surgery, which Wood knew he would probably face the prospect of eventually, with a recovery time expected of at least eight weeks.That makes it unlikely that he will be ready for the one-day series against South Africa, which starts at the end of January, with a more realistic aim being available for the selection for the T20s in February and the World T20 in India during March.”I’ve had that many injuries so far in my short career that I never want to be thrown out of the team,” Wood said in August. “Long term, the ankle problem may need some work done to it – whether that’s time off or maybe an operation. That might be the case. It’s about fitting it in at the right time.”Meanwhile, Steven Finn, who has been ruled out of the Test series in South Africa with the stress injury in his foot which kept him out of the contests against Pakistan, hopes to be available for the later part of the tour.”Reports of my South Africa tour being written off completely. Not the case, I am hoping to be available sooner rather than later,” Finn tweeted on Wednesday evening.An ECB statement said: “Wood will undergo ankle surgery next week and Finn will continue his recovery from a bone stress injury. Further details on their rehabilitation and back-to-bowling programmes will be provided in due course.”The injuries to Wood and Finn, plus the omission of Liam Plunkett, mean there has been a large turnover in the support pace bowling to James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and the uncapped Mark Footitt are now vying for the third frontline quick slot to make a four-man pace attack alongside Ben Stokes, who has been passed fit after his collarbone injury in the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.The combination of Wood, Finn and Plunkett had 168 Test wicket between them; Woakes, Jordan and Footitt provide 27.