England suffer Finn blow

England will be hoping that Steve Finn recovers in time to play in the first Test against India after he was ruled out of the warm-up match with India A (England 4/1, India 6/5, draw 6/4 – Match Prices with bet365).

The giant paceman bowled just four overs on day one before pulling up with a leg injury and scans revealed that he suffered thigh strain.

The England management have made it clear that he will play no further part in the current match and will undergo intense physiotherapy in an attempt to regain fitness for the first of four five-day encounters with MS Dhoni’s men.

The tourists have two more warm-up games ahead of the first Test, which begins on November 15, and coach Andy Flower will be keen for Finn to play some competitive cricket before the Ahmedabad clash.

Finn is by no means assured of his place in the starting XI as there would seem to be just one spot up for grabs with James Anderson and Stuart Broad inked in as the primer two fast bowlers.

Tim Bresnan remains an option as the third seamer and his prowess with the bat might mean that the Yorkshireman gets the nod ahead of Finn.

But the Middlesex man has already shown a liking for bowling in Asian conditions and was superb against Pakistan in the one-day games last winter in the UAE (Finn – 4/1 Top Eng Series Bowler with bet365).

He is the quickest of England’s fast bowlers and can trouble the best batsmen around with an ability to find bounce on docile pitches.

England have yet to decide whether or not to go in with two spinners but Samit Patel did his chances of acting as back-up to Graeme Swann no harm at all with an excellent unbeaten 82 on day two of the current Mumbai clash against the Indian second string, while skipper Alastair Cook held things together with an unbeaten century.

Morgan commits to Middlesex

Middlesex County Cricket Club (13/2 to win County Championship Division One 2013 with bet365) have received a massive boost with the news that Eoin Morgan has agreed a new long-term contract with the club.

The 26-year-old England batsman is an established international in the one-day and Twenty20 side and has been part of the Middlesex set-up at Lord’s for close to a decade.

Morgan, who has battled himself into the reckoning for the England Test side and is part of the squad currently touring India (England 4/1 to win Test series with bet365), was awarded an ECB central contract for 2013 and also plays for Indian Premier League for reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Now established as one of the best batsmen in the world, he offers a huge boost to Middlesex whenever he is available to them and the club are understandably delighted he has put pen-to-paper on the new deal.

Middlesex’s chief executive Vinny Codrington said: “With the exceptional talent he possesses Eoin is quite rightly regarded as one of the most gifted batsmen in world cricket today, and we are delighted that we can continue to call upon his services whenever he is available to us here at Middlesex.”

Morgan’s agreement to a new contract comes closely on the heels of Middlesex announcing that Chris Rogers will continue to captain them in the County Championship next season – they finished third in Division One last season.

KP set for England return

Kevin Pietersen will bat at four for England in their warm-up game against India ‘A’ in Mumbai on Tuesday, his first appearance since he was dropped in August for disciplinary reasons (Pietersen 10/3 with bet365 to be top England series batsman v India).

The 32-year-old was suspended from international cricket after it was alleged he sent provocative text messages regarding England players and coach Andy Flower to South Africa players during a Test match at Headingley.

Pietersen held a series of talks with the ECB, coach Flower, former skipper Andrew Strauss and several other members of the England squad in order to salvage his international career.

After a public apology, the South Africa-born star was eventually offered a four-month central contract and was recalled to the squad for the winter tour of India (India 1/2, draw 7/2, England 4/1 Test Series prices with bet365).

He was initially allowed to stay with his IPL side Dehli Daredevils as they competed in the T20 Champions League in South Africa.

However, following their elimination on Saturday, Pietersen flew out to the sub-continent to join up with his international team-mates the following day.

He is now set to pull on an England shirt again on Tuesday for a three-day warm-up game ahead of the first of three Test matches in Ahmedabad on November 15.

Swann calls for team effort

England bowler Graeme Swann believes if he and his team-mates are to be successful on the tour of India next month then they will have to work hard as a unit (India 1/2, draw 7/2, England 4/1 Series Outright with bet365).

Following the Kevin Pietersen text saga, there has been plenty of speculation about the mood in the England dressing room as the Test side prepares for the the tour of the sub-continent.

Much is going to rest on the shoulders of Swann on the spin-friendly wickets in India but the 33-year-old has insisted England’s hopes can’t solely rest on him and that everyone needs to pull their weight.

He told the Independent: “As a spinner it stands to reason that when you go to the sub-continent people are going to look to you and how you bowl.

“But if we do turn up just expecting the spinner to win the series for us then we’re screwed.

“The key to Test cricket is that the more you play the more confident you get and the more confident you get ergo you bowl more consistently.”

England get the series off and running with India on November 15, when they will be looking to cause an upset against the hosts in Ahmedabad (India 6/5, draw 6/4, England 4/1 1st Test Match Betting with bet365).

England must prove their class – Swann

Graeme Swann feels it is vital that England do not make the same mistakes that have seen them fall from the top of the rankings when they take on India in the coming weeks (India 1/2, England 4/1, draw 7/2 Series Outright with bet365).

Andrew Strauss led England to a 4-0 whitewash of India on home soil back in 2011 to knock MS Dhoni’s men off the top of the standings.

But staring down at the rest of the Test-playing nations appeared to be a catalyst for England to self-destruct.

They were beaten 3-0 by an average Pakistan side in the UAE last winter before losing 2-0 at home to South Africa – a result that saw the Proteas take England’s mantle as top dogs.

The Kevin Pietersen text scandal then rocked the team, with Strauss retiring from all forms of the game and Alastair Cook moving into the hot-seat.

Swann acknowledges that things have not gone well in the past 12 months and wants his team-mates to try and use that experience to bounce back in the four-Test series.

“We have to prove on this tour that we have learned from our mistakes,” he said. “We’ve had a bit of a hiccup but we have to put that behind us and prove it was nothing more than just a blip.”

It looks set to be the proverbial baptism of fire for Cook, with a trip to the sub-continent traditionally the toughest of all tours (India 5/4, England 7/2, draw 6/4 Match Prices 1st Test with bet365).

But Swann feels it will be a seamless transition from Strauss to Cook, given the latter’s performances when wearing the one-day armband.

“It’s going to be different without Straussy but Cooky is doing an unbelievable job as one-day captain so it is not as though we are going into something new,” he added.

Cook out to make his mark

Alastair Cook has paid tribute to his predecessor Andrew Strauss ahead of his first tour as England Test captain and insists that his team can upset the odds in India (India 4/9, Draw 7/2, England 5/1 Series Betting with bet365).

The Essex opener has taken over the reins on a full-time basis – having led the side on a tour of Bangladesh previously – following Strauss’ decision to step down earlier this summer.

Cook admits that he has learned a lot from his fellow opening batsman but is keen to stamp his own authority on the team, which he feels is capable of winning on the sub-continent.

“I just need to be true to myself – I can’t pretend to be Andrew Strauss. He was a great leader and he did some fantastic things for the side but it is a different side now,” Cook said.

“We have a really tough challenge ahead of us. It is nearly 30 years since we won in India.

“That shows the challenge ahead but I have confidence in this squad that we can go out there and do something special.”

The England squad is due to travel to Dubai for a training camp on Thursday ahead of the arduous tour to India, with the first Test set to get underway on Ahmedabad on November 15 (India 11/10, Draw 7/4, England 7/2 Match Betting with bet365).

Kevin Pietersen though will not be travelling with the rest of the squad as he still has Champions League commitments with the Delhi Daredevils, but Cook has backed the decision to recall him to the national set-up.

“It’s been a difficult two months for us, but as captain the best possible outcome is that we have a world-class player back in the team,” added Cook.

“Kevin is very contrite and desperate to be back playing and scoring runs for England. As captain that’s all I want.”

Trott happy at number three

Ahead of their opening Test against India on November 15, England batsman Jonathan Trott believes his future with the national side remains in third place in the batting order (India 11/10, draw 7/4, England 7/2 – 1st Test with bet365).

The Warwickshire star, who has plenty of experience at the highest level, is a possibly candidate to move up the order following Andrew Strauss‘ retirement from the sport.

However the 31-year-old believes he is better suited to playing in third in the England batting order and expects someone else to come in a fill the void left my Strauss.

He told Sky Sports News: “I’ve enjoyed batting number three in my career, since my second Test match when I was put in that position… I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job there.

“But, if asked to open I’d have to – or I’d like to – do what the team want me to.

“Number three is my preference but we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t think it will come to that.”

England begin their journey to claim back the number one ranking from South Africa, when they take on India in the subcontinent next month, in what will be a big ask of Trott and company to get a result in the four-match series (India 4/9, draw 7/2, England 5/1 – Test series outright with bet365).

Titans hoping for ‘home’ support

Nashua Titans captain Martin Van Jaarsveld is counting on support from the home fans when he leads his men out against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20 on Sunday (Kolkata 4/5, Titans Evens Match Prices).

Titans currently sit at the top of the Group A standings, with a maximum eight points from their two games, and another success at the weekend will confirm their place in the semi-finals of the event.

However Knight Riders’ participation will end after their final group clash as Wednesday’s abandoned match with Perth means they are now unable to finish in the top two.

Despite the relevant positions of the two teams in the table, KKR have been installed as favourites to win the match as a glance at their side suggest that the IPL franchise have underachieved in South Africa to date.

Gautam Gambhir skippers the side, while Jaques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine and Brett Lee are all talented individuals (McCullum 100/30 top KKR Batsman).

But they have not lived up to their potential and will be jetting out of Africa whatever the result on Sunday.

Things are very different for Titans, however, who, it could be argued, have punched above their weight so far.

Despite their 100 per cent start to proceedings, Titans still face a battle with Delhi and Auckland for top spot in the group and Van Jaarsveld is hoping that the South African fans will lift his men, despite the fact that they hail from a different town.

“The weather forecast shows that it is going to be a fine day and hopefully there’ll be a lot of people at the match,” he said.

“I am not too sure if the Capetonians are going to get behind a team from Pretoria but I’m hoping they’ll support us.”

Derbyshire reward Masden with new deal

Derbyshire have rewarded captain Wayne Masden for leading his side to the LV= County Championship Division Two title by handing him a new three-year deal to tie him to the club until the end of 2015 (Derbyshire – 20/1 County Championship Div One 2013 Outright).

Masden enjoyed a fine season for the county and helped them to their first trophy since 1993.

Derbyshire have made it clear they want him to lead the team in the top flight next term, where they will face stiffer competition from the likes of champions Warwickshire (10/3 Outright) and Somerset (5/1) and they have announced the 28-year-old has penned a new, extended contract.

Madsen was also Derbyshire’s leading run-scorer with 885 last season, with an average of 38.47 and recorded his career-best score of 231 not out against Northamptonshire.

Masden was delighted to stay on and is now looking forward to the future.

“What we achieved last year was incredible and this is a club that’s growing and moving in the right direction on and off the field,” he said.

“To lead this squad is a great honour, I’m so excited about where we are heading and we’re looking forward to challenging ourselves in Division One next season.”

Head coach Karl Krikken is a big fan of Masden, both on the pitch with the bat and also in the dressing room. He added: “The way he has led the side this season, in his first year in the job, has been absolutely magnificent.

“He’s got a great captaincy style and the example he sets the younger players in terms of his work ethic is fantastic. I’m delighted we’re continuing to work together to keep taking the club forward.”

Mascarenhas targets flying start

Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas wants his men to hit the ground running when they play Auckland Aces in Wednesday’s Champions League T20 qualifying match (Hampshire 4/5, Auckland Evens – Match Prices with bet365).

The south-coast outfit are in Pool 1 in the qualifying competition and play the New Zealanders before facing Pakistan outfit Sialkot Stallions later in the week for the right to join Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sydney Sixers and Highveld Lions in Group B of the main tournament.

But, with only one team advancing from qualifying and Auckland having beaten Sialkot already, defeat for the Royals will end their participation in the event after just one game.

Mascarenhas is aware of the situation and is confident that, if his men can get off to a flyer and take care of Auckland, they can go on to take their place in the group stage.

“We’ve got to have a fast start,” he said. “You can’t afford to have a bad four or five overs because that could be your tournament over.

“We’re desperate to start well and hopefully, if we can win our first one, I think the boys will be very confident of winning the next one and going through.”

Hampshire will be without England one-day spinner Danny Briggs but have a decent replacement in Pakistan star Shahid Afridi, whose knowledge of the Stallions will help the English county should they need to win their second match to stay in the competition.

In the other qualification pool, Yorkshire face Trinidad & Tobago knowing that victory over the Caribbean outfit will see them move into Group A and give them a chance of glory (T&T 4/5, Yorkshire Evens – Match Prices with bet365).