After picking up the prized wicket of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, Pakistan's teenage pacer Mohammad Aamer is living a dream but he is still looking to have more fun.
The lanky left-armer made an impressive international debut at the World Twenty20 in England last June and is making waves at the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.
After Tendulkar, Aamer has now set his sight on another batting great - Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
"I was ecstatic after getting Tendulkar out. Now I want to realise another one of my dreams and that is to get the wicket of Ricky Ponting, who is another great batsman," said Aamer on Monday.
Pakistan are in a good position to reach the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy after winning its first two matches against West Indies and India and will top the group with a win against the Australians.
Aamer said that Pakistani bowlers were ready to take on the Aussie batting, saying that his team is looking forward to ending the pool stage with another win ahead of the last-four stage.
"We are all very spirited and I'm confident that the team will also do well against Australia," he said.
The result means that India needs to enjoy a big win against the West Indies and hope that Pakistan beats Australia if it is to progress to the semi-finals.
Australia was 234-4 in 42.3 overs when the rain came with Mike Hussey (67), Ricky Ponting (65) and Tim Paine (56) all making half centuries.
The final matches in Group A will be played on Wednesday.
he ECB today announced that Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan and Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan have been awarded Increment Contracts for the current contractual period (2008-2009).
The two players have reached the 20 appearance point threshold for the award of these contracts (5 appearance points are awarded for a Test appearance and 2 points for an ODI or International T20 appearance).
Tim Bresnan has played two Test Matches and nine One Day Internationals in the past 12 months and achieved the 20 point mark during the recent NatWest Series against Australia. Eoin Morgan, who has appeared in ten One Day Internationals and one T20 International in the same 12-month period, reached his 20 point total by playing against Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy on Friday.
The pair are the third and fourth players to earn Increment Contracts through England appearances during the contract period following on from the earlier award of contracts to Dimitri Mascarenhas and Graham Onions.
After losing Shane Watson to the opening delivery of the game, Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting made a brilliant 79 in difficult conditions.
But the West Indies stuck to its task and spinner Nikita Miller was particularly impressive, taking 2-24 in 10 overs, as it reduced Australia to 171-7.
Mitchell Johnson, who had survived a close appeal for caught behind, then transformed the match as he smashed 73 not out from just 47 balls to help it reach 275-8 off 50 overs.
In reply, Andre Fletcher (54) and Travis Dowlin (55) gave the West Indies an excellent base to build on, but it lost regular wickets and in the end fell 50 runs short of its target.
Pakistan beat rivals India by 54 runs in their ICC Champions Trophy Group A game at Centurion on Saturday.
The key to Pakistan's victory was an incredible 206-run fourth wicket partnership between Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf which provided the platform for an imposing total of 302 for 9.
India kept up with the required run rate until the final 15 overs but couldn?t find a match-winning partnership and ran out of wickets with just over five overs remaining.
The victory puts Pakistan top of Group A with two wins from two matches.
australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that he is worried about left-arm fast bowler Nathan Bracken's international prospects, who has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy following a knee injury that has hampered him for some time.
Bracken was sent home as his degenerative condition had flared, and a knee specialist at home would be diagnosing his case to determine his immediate future.
"None of us know the extent of it just yet, we won't know until he has it looked at properly and maybe has surgery. He's no spring chicken, he's had it operated on before and I believe it's a degenerative type of condition," Ponting said.
Bracken, who is the highest ranked ODI bowler in the Australian team and has the ability to swing the ball both ways and change speed, has been an essential part of the squad over the last few seasons.
Bracken's absence will be a major blow to Ponting who relied on his steady bowling at the top of the order as a counter-balance to the attack of Brett Lee. Ponting further said that despite Bracken and Lee in their twilight years, Australia would be looking forward to continue with them till the 2011 World Cup.
"Brett by that stage will be 34 and Bracken 33, and you can have one of those guys as long as you don't have two or three," Ponting said.
"With Brett, if he actually makes it through we've got to make sure we look after him well because we've seen in England he can be a leading wicket-taker for us, especially in the conditions that we'll have in the next World Cup with his reverse swing bowling," he added.
Gibbs suffered a minor rib and intercostals injury during the warm-up match against the West Indies 10 days' ago and missed the first two Pool B matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
On Saturday he batted and ran without any discomfort and was also put through a testing programme of reflex catches and diving saves by physiotherapist Brandon Jackson.
"It went very well," commented Jackson, "and he will definitely be available for selection."
AB de Villiers, who played the key innings in their victory over New Zealand, said the Proteas would not be getting ahead of themselves against England and would concentrate on their basics and game plan rather than worrying about side issues such as the net run rate.
"The most important thing for us tomorrow is to win, to focus on our basics and to carry out our game plan well," commented De Villiers.
"We can't be worrying about run rates. The important thing for us is to win and to get to four points on the log. If we get to 40 overs and we are close to winning the game, then we will definitely up the tempo a bit.
"It is a massive game for us. We normally come off when the pressure is there and we need to win. The same thing happened at the 2007 World Cup when we had a ‘must win' game against England and we managed to do it then and pull through.
"Hopefully we will pitch up tomorrow with the same kind of mindset. Everybody is keen to get into the semis, so we are going to give it our best shot.
"We have had a good record against England in the past apart from last year's series in England but we will be treating them just like we would any other side in the tournament."
De Villiers added that England had played good cricket in their last few matches, particularly Friday's match against Sri Lanka, and that they were well suited to South African conditions.
"The Wanderers wicket suited them. In addition they have just come out of a tough series at home and managed to win the last one there where they had similar conditions. But they played extremely well against a very strong Sri Lankan side and deserved their win.
"It is going to be a tough group for us and I think it is going to come down to net run rate. "
The side will be captained by Mahmudul Hasan, who also played at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008, while Amit Majumder and Saikat Ali also return to the side having played in Malaysia in the last World Cup.
Bangladesh faces England in a Test and seven one-day matches.
The full squad is: Mahmudul Hasan (captain), Amit Majumder, Saikat Ali, Immamul Hossain, Tasamul haque, Sabbir Rahman, Mominul Haque, Abul Hasan, Kamrul Islam, Arman Badshah, Alauddin Babu, Mobassher Khan, Shaker Ahmed, Nur Hossain, Anamul Haque, Nurul Hasan
The tournament, which will be held in Nepal from 20-27 February, should be extremely competitive with the likes of Nepal, Singapore and USA all desperate to secure promotion to Division 4 and take a step closer to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
All six regions in Nepal have been told by the Cricket Asssociation of Nepal to organise training camps as part of these preparations.
"The camps in the regions are organised to focus on the physical fitness of the cricketers" said CAN President Binaya Raj Pandey in an interview with the Hamalayan Times.
Nepal is also preparing for the ACC Twenty20 event which will take place in November.
Sri Lanka hit back with two quick wickets after Pakistan's three debutant bowlers held its much-vaunted batting lineup to a modest 292 all out in the first innings of the first test Saturday.
Pakistan was 15-2 at the end of the opening day's play at Galle International Stadium. The test is the first between the sides since a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team and its security convoy during a test in Lahore in March.
Sri Lanka seamer Nuwan Kulasekera bowled opener Sulman Butt in the second ball of the innings and later his partner Thilan Thushara trapped Khurram Manzoor lbw for two runs to leave the visitors on 5-2.
Captain Younis Khan and night-watchman Abdur Rauf were batting at the close.
Khan won the toss and opted to field. Mohammad Aamer, a 17-year-old left-arm seam bowler, provided Pakistan with its first breakthrough in the second over and eventually returned his side's best bowling figures of 3-74.
"I am happy with the way I bowled. I also bowled well in the Twenty20 but test cricket is the real game so I am particularly happy," he said.
He was confident that his team had enough batting to overtake the Sri Lanka total and said a 200-run lead would put pressure on the hosts.
Aamer bowled opener Malinda Warnapura (2) off the inside edge, and then shaped one away from the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara (9) to force a catch at second slip by Shoaib Malik to leave the host team struggling on 21-2.
Sri Lanka was steadied by a 75-run stand for the third wicket, with opener Tharanga Paranavitana batting calmly for his maiden test half-century.
Rauf, sight-arm seam bowler, claimed his first wicket when he dismissed Jayawardene (30) via a catch to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.
Thilan Samaraweera was dismissed for 31, caught by Akmal off Khan and Rauf returned to grab his second wicket when he had top-scorer Paranavitana caught for 72 by Misbah-ul-Haq at slip.
Paranavitana faced 125 balls, hitting 11 fours during his spell.
"I think this total is enough on this pitch, it's a bit hard to bat on because there is some seam movement," Paranavitana said. "I was able to go for some runs because I stuck to my basics."
It was the first time Paranavitana has played since suffering a chest wound in the Lahore attack.
"Though I received a gunshot I was lucky it did not affect my cricket. I was in hospital only for seven days," he said.
Anjelo Mathews, playing in his first test match, scored 42 runs.
Rauf recorded 2-59 while debutant offspinner Saeed Ajmal and Khan also captured two wickets apiece.
Pakistan handed first test caps to three players _ Aamer, Rauf and Ajmal _ while Sri Lanka allrounder Mathews played his first test for the hosts. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath replaced Muttiah Muralitharan, who was ruled out of the match with an injured knee.
China made 74-9 off 20 overs, with Sun Mengyao (15) top scoring, before 42 not out from Keenu Gill from 43 balls helped her side home with 9.2 overs remaining.
"The gap is still there between us," said China’s coach Rashid Khan in an interview with the ACC website.
"The China players are a little intimidated by the Hong Kong team and when that ends they will be a lot closer."
In the other games of the day, Iran enjoyed a 19-run win over Bhutan, with Nasimeh Rahshetaei making 27 not out off 17 balls for Iran to help her win the Player of the Match Award.
In the other game of the day, Oman defeated Kuwait by three wickets.
Thailand's Pundarika Prathanmir hit a four off the first ball and then played the shot of the day as early as the fourth ball a back-foot drive through mid-off timed sweeter than a ripe mango. On a super-fast outfield any ball beating the infield went all the way.
Sonnarin Tippoch more cautious and more correct than in her previous outing for Thailand in the inaugural ACC Women's Tournament in 2007 but she still took advantage of anything loose, every single leg side full toss smacked to the mid-wicket boundary.
Singapore fielded well. Tanya Sen with her wicket to wicket slow-medium pacers bowled very well, just 3 runs and a leg-bye from her first three overs. "That kind of bowling is what is most effective at this level," said Mohideen Kader the Cricket Association of Thailand CEO who was watching from the sidelines.
Naruemol Chaiwai batted well for her 19 (28 balls, 2 fours) before being well stumped by Priyanjali Jain off Lakshimi Hariharan. 80 was their target on going in to bat but at 61 for 1 at the half-way point, it looked they would sail past that.
That they didn't was credit to some good Singapore bowling and the inability of the Thais to improvise and work the ball around the ground. From the 10th to the 17th over there was only one boundary for Thailand.
Singapore's slickness in the field was demonstrated by their captain's running-out of her opposite number in the final over followed by another three balls later. Thailand did manage 25 off their last five overs to take them to exactly 100 and set Singapore a challenging target.
"We should be able to defend 100," said Parn Poshyanonda, a CAT visitor. Singapore's captain Diviya G K was likewise confident of chasing 100, "we've got the batters." She was due to come into bat as the closer. "It's a must win game for us," said Diviya.
Thailand have a strong and varied bowling attack. Nattaya Boochatham's dismissal of Priyanjali Jain first-ball. Three overs later Nathakan Chantham struck from the Mines End.
Naruemol Chawai took a super catch close in, one-handed diving forward at silly mid-on to get rid of Annapurna Mukherjee and Singapore's first-ball of the over curse continued – three in a row falling that way. It looked like Diviya would have a lot to do when she came in. She came in with two wickets falling in two balls in the 10th over, one of them to an excellent catch by Maneerat Bevacqua at fine leg. Singapore were 38-5 at the half-way stage, needing 63 off the last 10 to win.
With Rajeshwari Pasupathy and Diviya at the wicket, the hitter and the grafter, Singapore still had hope.
For all their good work in the field, Thailand did drop four catches, Pasupathy being the beneficiary three times. Pasupathy hit the tournament's first six, a massive one soaring over mid-off and Singapore took 15 off the 16th over to give themselves a chance. 32 were needed off the last four overs but they just didn't have enough support for Pasupathy who, eventually fell for 24 (24 balls, 1 four, 1 six).
Thailand came back strongly in the field and the bowlers held their nerve at the death. "Our girls really came back well, our bowling was pretty good and I'm impressed with our girls," said the losing captain. Singapore will probably need to change their batting order if they're to maximize their potential.
As for Thailand, "We came to do well, we've done well, we can do even better," said their coach Tithi Kader.
ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship 2009
Singapore v Thailand at Selangor Turf Club
THAILAND WON BY 11 RUNS
Thailand won the toss and chose to bat
Thailand: 100 for 5 off 20 overs (L.Hariharan 2-19)
Singapore: 89 off 19.5 overs (S.Kosathong 3-24)
Player of the Match: Sonnarin Tippoch (Thailand)
For all the latest scores go to www.asiancricket.org
majority of the players contracted to Cricket Australia have described England's Kevin Pietersen as the best batsman in the world outside Australia.
Pietersen, with 50 percent of the vote, was by far the most popular choice, reports The Age.
Sachin Tendulkar, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara are no where close to him.
Apparently, the Australians fear Pietersen the most when it comes to an Ashes series. Batsmen want to be him, envying his audaciousness, and bowlers want to be a long way away from him.
Pietersen has made 963 runs at 53.50 against Australia, but it is the 29-year-old's attitude that attracts just as much admiration as his record.
His arrogrance has made him a divisive and abrasive character in dressing rooms, condemning him to a short and turbulent reign as England captain, but it has also made him a champion.
"He's the sort of player that is always taking the game forward. I'm not sure of his strike rate in Test cricket (63.35) but generally when he makes runs he gets them at a pretty good speed," said Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
"He's always putting it back on the bowler, the way he moves his feet, the way he walks across the stumps and does things, it's continually challenging the bowler. That in itself says a lot about you. You need great confidence to be able to do that, because if you get out doing that, at the end of the day you can punish yourself," he added.
Brett Lee was on the end of Pietersen's astonishing 158 to seal the 2005 Ashes, his debut series. Pietersen has made Muthiah Muralidaran laugh by reverse-sweeping the world's most successful spinner for six and pioneered the switch-hit, changing his grip to face up like a left-hander as the bowler approached.
Justin Langer sensed the England batsman's greatness as the Ashes turned to dust at the Oval.
"He's had the courage to play with conviction and aggression. That's what great players do," said the retired Australian opener recently.
Pakistan teenager Mohammad Aamer made an auspicious test debut by grabbing two quick wickets as Sri Lanka ended the opening session of the first test at 104-3 on Saturday.
The 17-year-old left-arm seam bowler gave his team the important first breakthrough in the second over of the match, justifying the decision of captain Younis Khan to bowl first after winning the toss at Galle International Stadium.
He bowled Sri Lanka opener Malinda Warnapura (2) off the inside edge, and then shaped one away from the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara (9) to force a catch at second slip by Shoaib Malik to leave the hosts 2-21.
He was unlucky not to have bagged a third when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal dropped Mahela Jayawardene when he was yet to score.
Sri Lanka steadied with a 75-run stand for the third wicket, as opener Tharanga Paranavitana batted calmly for his maiden test half-century and combined with Jayawardene.
Another Pakistan debutant, right-arm seamer Abdur Rauf, claimed his first ever wicket when he dismissed Jayawardene (30) via a catch to Akmal.
At lunch, Paranavitana was unbeaten on 57 off 72 balls including nine boundaries while Thilan Samaraweera was not out 3.
Pakistan handed first test caps to three players - Aamer, Rauf and offspinner Saeed Ajmal - while Sri Lanka allrounder Anjelo Mathews played his first test for the hosts. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath replaced spin great Muttiah Muralitharan who was ruled out of the match with an injured knee.
The test is the first between the sides since a deadly terrorist attack upon the Sri Lanka team and its security convoy during a test in Lahore earlier this year.
Back in contention for the Ashes with his first five-wicket haul on English soil, Australian pacer Brett Lee says he has finally mastered reverse swing, which the Englishmen had used with destructive precision during the 2005 series. "If you look back to 2005, what let us down and what affected us was reverse swing.
We couldn't work out a way to get it to swing," Lee said after picking up five wickets in a practice match against England Lions team. The 32-year-old, who was battling for his place due to indifferent form, finally got some breathing space after yesterday's performance.
Lee said reverse swing would play a "massive" role in the Ashes starting July 8 and contrary to what is said, he has no problems bowling with an old ball. "We wanted to get the ball to swing early on, try and rough it up and try to get the ball to come back in later on.
That worked a treat. I always enjoy bowling when the ball is like that," Lee was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Telegraph'.
The speedster, who took 5-21 in 40 balls and ended with 5-53 in the tour match, also got a word of praise from West Indian fast bowling legend Michael Holding. "I liked what I saw," Holding said.
"Everyone has been saying Brett Lee has been injured and coming back into the game he might not be on top of his game. He bowled the fastest ball of the match so far and he has bowled some very very quick spells," he added.
Pakistan all rounder Shahid Afridi has said that Sri Lanka Test series would be challenging for the players, as they would have to change gear from the Twenty20 format of the game to the five-day mode.
Afridi said players would also have to make adjustments due to the different and challenging weather conditions in Sri Lanka.
"The series in Sri Lanka would not be easy at all it will be a big challenge for our players to make successful adjustment from T20 cricket to Tests as well the different weather conditions," The News quoted Afridi, as saying.
Afridi, who would not be featuring in the Test matches, said he decided to skip the three Test matches to focus more on the One-day and T20 game during the series.
"As it is I have not played too much Test cricket in the last few years so I wanted to take a rest and prepare for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka," said Afridi.
Speculations are rife about Afridi captaining the team in the bang-bang version of the game after skipper Younis Khan's retirement, but Afridi said he is focused on the game and not thinking about captaincy much.
"I have never run after the captaincy. Just playing for Pakistan and seeing it win is a big enough bonus for me. I am not thinking about the captaincy at this stage. I have just started training for the One-Day series in Sri Lanka," he said.
"It definitely helps a team batting second in this type of set up. It did suit us to be batting second because you can dictate the game a little better when the overs are shortening in terms of what you need," the former South African batsman told reporters at the post match press conference after his team secured a tense six wicket victory in the final over.
West Indies made 185 for 7 from 27 overs in an innings which commenced over two hours after the scheduled start due to heavy showers and was then stopped on three separate occasions when the rains returned in short bursts.
India's innings was once curtailed in the 14th over, reducing their target to 159 from 22 overs which they achieved with one delivery to spare even after needing 11 runs from the final over. Man of the Match, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hit a massive six off Jerome Taylor with five deliveries to go to secure the game for his side.
"Someone like MS Dhoni can hit the ball out the ground at any time so it was comforting knowing that we had him at the crease controlling the game. He's had a magnificent series and he's played some really good one day cricket for us," said Kirsten as he lauded the innings of Dhoni who made 46 not out from 34 deliveries with two fours and the lone match-winning six.
"When it comes down to the wire it can go either way, the most important thing is that you have game breakers and match winners in at that situation," said the 41 year-old who is on his first international coaching assignment since retiring as an international player in 2004.
"It became a Twenty20 game and you know that when you are chasing more than a run a ball and (the required run rate) is up at 8 and 9 and you have one bad over, you're behind a little bit. (Dwayne) Bravo bowled a magnificent second to last over when he went for five. But we had quality batsmen in so we always felt that one good over (would make the difference)," Kirsten said.
And the head coach said that he was alarmed that the electronic scoreboard blanked out towards the end of the game, forcing him to have to relay required scores to the batsmen in the middle from the dressing room and the batsmen also having to rely on the umpires for guidance.
"It was mind blowing to be honest, but the umpires were giving them notice every over so they knew what was going on. They were fully aware from us what the Duckworth/Lewis totals were so we were pretty much in control of that," Kirsten revealed.
India now lead the four match Digicel Series 2-1 with the final match slated for Sunday at the same venue.
Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, marshalled his team to victory with an unbeaten 46 from 34 balls with two boundaries and one maximum to secure the Man of the Match title and win himself a Blackberry Storm from the series sponsor.
At the outset of their run chase, top scorer and makeshift opener Dinesh Karthik (47 from 43b, 5x4, 1x6), and Gautam Gambhir (44 from 38b, 2x4) set the victory march on a firm foundation as they put on 84 before Karthik – a regular wicketkeeper who has been thrust into the opening role in the absence of the injured Virender Sehwag – was dismissed by lanky left arm spinner, Sulieman Benn (5-0-31-1).
The Indian run chase received a further boost in the 14th over when rain stopped play for the umpteenth time. At that stage, after 13.3 overs India were 95 for 1 needing 186 from 27 overs.
At the resumption of the Third Digicel One Day International at the Beausejour Cricket Ground, their target was reduced to 159 and they effectively needed 64 runs from 51 deliveries. With nine wickets in hand, they held the clear advantage.
Dhoni played as intelligently as he had done in his innings of 95 in the previous game at Sabina Park and an Indian victory seemed a certainty until the end of a phenomenal 21st over by the irrepressible Dwayne Bravo (4-0-27-1). With 16 runs needed from 12 balls, Bravo sent down six deliveries at the cost of five miserly runs plus the wicket of Rohit Sharma (11 from 9b) who tried to get India out of the red by attempting a big heave.
It meant that the visitors were set back, they then needed 11 runs from the last over. Windies skipper, Chris Gayle, chose Jerome Taylor (3.5-0-39-0) to bowl the over and after a single from the first delivery, Dhoni effectively secured the win with a huge six into the stands off the next. With four runs from four balls needed, a double and two singles formalised the triumph.
Play only commenced after a more than two hour delay by which time the game was reduced to 41 overs per side. Dhoni's opposite number, Gayle, started in a manner reminiscent of a runaway freight train. Within three and a half overs, he had scored all of the Windies' 27 runs. The big left hander needed only 13 balls to hit six fours before the second weather intervention. When he returned to the crease the game had been reduced to 39 overs and he lasted only one more ball, being out caught behind to Ashish Nehra who ended with 3 wickets for 21 runs from 5 overs.
Despite being plagued by two more stoppages, shaving the game down to 36 overs, then again reducing it to 27 overs, top scorer, Ramnaresh Sarwan (62 from 59b, 5x4, 1x6), hitting the ball with a crispness indicative of his class, rallied to put on 51 for the second wicket with opener Runako Morton (22), and 47 with his fellow Guyanese, Shiv Chanderpaul (15).
Sarwan's run out left the score on 135 for 4 in the 21st over and it pegged the home side back. However the Bravo brothers, Darren (21 from 15b, 3x4) and Dwayne (14), batting together for the first time in an international match, added 35 from 26 balls to push the score up to one which could have been considered challenging.
In the end it was, as Gayle mentioned in the post match press conference, a shade too few and the Indians had fewer interruptions during their innings to contend with allowing them to get home with only minor scares induced by the spectacular senior Bravo who can hardly be kept out of the action.
India have moved ahead in the four match Digicel Series 2-1 with the final encounter slated for Sunday at the same venue.
Lee, on the comeback trail after undergoing a major operation on his ankle, has taken just 29 wickets at an average of 45.44 in 10 Tests in England.
With Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle considered certain starters for the first Test, it is widely believed only one out of Lee and Stuart Clark will get the nod for Cardiff.
"Brett's four more years experienced now (from the last Ashes series in England)," the Herald Sun quoted Gilchrist, as saying in Perth on Thursday.
"He's a 300-Test wicket bowler so that experience has got to count for something. If he does get a chance, I think you'll see him draw on those experiences and use them in a positive manner," Gilchrist added.
"Brett looks fit, he's looking strong, he's looking hungry, but so too is Stuart Clark. Both bowlers will do a good job. It's too hard to say who should and shouldn't be (selected)," he said.
Gilchrist said all-rounder Marcus North and spinner Nathan Hauritz both deserved their place in the Test side despite struggling in the warm-up matches.
Gilchrist said the return to form of Michael Hussey, who smashed a century against the England Lions, bode well for Australia.
"If a player like that is gaining in confidence, others around him will grow in confidence, too," he said.
Gilchrist retired from international cricket in 2008 after 96 Tests and 287 one-dayers but showed he had lost none of his touch in leading Indian Premier League side Deccan Chargers to the recent Twenty20 title in South Africa.
With more spare time on his hands, the 37-year-old has become an ambassador for the Suncorp SunWise mission, which aims to spread the message about skin cancer and preventative measures that can be taken.
Their last meeting in a test grabbed world headlines for a bloody ambush outside Gadaffi Stadium that killed six police officers and a driver and wounded seven Sri Lankan cricketers. The Sri Lanka team bus was approaching the ground for the third day's play of the second test when more than a dozen heavily armed men ambushed the vehicle.
The incident forced the visiting team to return to Colombo immediately and the match was abandoned.
Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera's rare feat of scoring two consecutive double-hundreds was a highlight of the series along with Younis Khan's triple-hundred for Pakistan in the first test.
Samaraweera had a bullet lodged in his thigh in the attack, raising concern for his cricket future. But the bullet missed important tissues and ligaments in the leg, allowing him to make a comeback.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who is leading the national team for the first time in a test match, says Samaraweera has fully recovered and has prepared well for the series.
"He has made a good return to cricket. "He has played in some practice matches. We are enthusiastically looking forward to see him play in the first test," Sangakkara told a news conference ahead of the series.
Opening batsman Tharanga Paranavitana, who sustained a chest wound in the attack, will also be taking part in an international match for the first time since the ambush. Among the other wounded players, Ajantha Mendis and Sangakkara have already played in the recent Twenty20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League.
With memories still fresh, Sri Lankan authorities are providing the two teams with a security equal to that of a head of state, including restrictions on the fans.
Sri Lanka Cricket says spectators are banned from consuming alcohol or lighting firecrackers inside the venue at Galle. Spectators are no longer allowed to bring in musical instruments, although the match sponsor will arrange for music in order to keep a cricket match tradition in Sri Lanka alive, cricket board secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said.
The two sides have played 34 test matches previously, with Pakistan winning 15 and losing seven of those. Pakistan has only lost one test in Sri Lanka, winning six and drawing five.
Australian coach Tim Nielsen has warned his bowlers to stop bowling no balls or it could cost them a berth in the Ashes Tests.
Nielsen was furious that his players were called for overstepping the mark 22 times in 80 overs during the four-day match against Sussex County in Hove on Friday.
With competition so tight for bowling spots, he admitted it could make the difference at the selection table before the first Ashes Test on July 8 in Cardiff, FOX Sports reported.
"You would hope not, but yes. The thing is, it seems to me where ever we play the length between the popping crease and the stumps is the same. It is something we have to fix up," Nielsen said.
Brett Lee bowled eight no balls, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus on five occasions each and even off-spinner Nathan Hauritz crossed the line three times.
"Shocking, pulling my hair out about that, (it is) the only thing I am a bit grumpy about. I think we bowled about 18 or 19 of them so look I think ... I don't know. We don't bowl them in Twenty20 maybe because it is a free hit so the implications are greater for a no ball in Twenty20 cricket," Nielsen said.
Like other grounds in England, the County Ground in Hove has a significant slope and Nielsen admitted this had been a factor.
"It will be a good competitive game, similar to the First Digicel ODI at Sabina Park. St Lucia is always a good wicket and I expect a lot of runs to be scored on this wicket," Gayle told reporters at the Beausejour Cricket Ground on Thursday afternoon shortly after the West Indies training session.
The imposing left hander also pointed out that the game takes on added importance as whichever team prevails ensures that they will not lose the four match Digicel Series which is now even at 1-1 after the first two games at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
"Whichever team wins tomorrow cannot lose the Digicel Series so it is a very important game," Gayle asserted while noting that India cannot be underestimated under any circumstances as they are a world class team in every regard.
Gayle said that he was very satisfied with the performance of the playing eleven in the Second Digicel ODI which the home side comprehensively won by eight wickets and hinted that there is unlikely to be any change to that side for the upcoming game.
And the West Indies captain was lavish in his praise for his newest opening partner, Nevisian batsman Runako Morton who scored 85 not out to follow his 42 in the First Digicel ODI.
"Morton is a very determined player. He might look ugly (when he bats) but Runako is the sort of player to always be among the runs, he's a steady batter," Gayle said in a clear vote of confidence for the 30 year-old right hander.
"We have good communication out there which is very good and we can assess the conditions as quickly as possible and make the necessary adjustments. I want him to play his game and I will support him at the other end," Gayle explained.
In speaking about the batting line up of the Indian side Gayle said that the dangerous Yuvraj Singh, who scored a belligerent century in the First Digicel ODI, is a major worry.
"Yuvraj, on any given day, can destroy any bowling attack. When he is in that sort of mood (as he was in the First Digicel ODI) he is very difficult to bowl to," Gayle acknowledged.
"We have to try and contain him as much as possible but at the same time he's experienced and has a lot of power and he is definitely the main batter in this Indian team," Gayle asserted.
And while there has been some disquiet among St Lucians at the non-selection of local all rounder, Darren Sammy, Gayle rubbished any suggestions that there were any off the field issues with Sammy, saying that he has great confidence in the player who he regards as a friend.
"Darren Sammy will be back. It was a 50-50 call (to leave him out). There will be more open windows for Darren Sammy in the future because he is a strong player and I'm sure he will be back again," Gaye said of Sammy who is the only male St Lucian to have worn West Indian colours.
The event will be contested between six teams - Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands and the United States of America. The top two teams from the tournament will go through to the ICC Global Qualifier to be played later this year in Canada; from which the top six teams will go through to the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2010.
| Day | Date | Team 1 | Team 2 | |
| 1 | July-6-2009 | Argentina | V | Bermuda |
| Bahamas | v | USA | ||
| Canada | v | Cayman Island | ||
| 2 | July-7-2009 | Cayman Island | v | Bermuda |
| Bahamas | v | Canada | ||
| USA | v | Argentina | ||
| 3 | July-8-2009 | USA | v | Bermuda |
| Cayman Island | v | Bahamas | ||
| Argentina | v | Canada | ||
| 4 | July-9-2009 | REST DAY | ||
| 5 | July-10-2009 | Argentina | v | Cayman Island |
| Bermuda | v | Bahamas | ||
| Canada | v | USA | ||
| 6 | July-11-2009 | Bahamas | v | Argentina |
| Canada | v | Bermuda | ||
| USA | v | Cayman Island | ||
