Queensland have enviously replaced the injured Martin Love and Shane Jurgensen with Matthew Hayden and Michael Kasprowicz as the side polishes its ING Cup final preparations against Western Australia at the Gabba on Friday. The Bulls have already confirmed their place in the decider and will play either Tasmania or Victoria on February 20.Western Australia, who are missing Justin Langer with a back injury, are out of contention, but have a chance to repeat their thrilling win of 2003-04 in the final rematch. The Bulls stuttered against Victoria last weekend, when Love split the webbing in his hand, and will hope Hayden returns to form after a disappointing national campaign.Queensland Jimmy Maher (capt), Matthew Hayden, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, James Hopes, Brendan Nash, Wade Seccombe (wk), Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz, Michael Kasprowicz, Mitchell Johnson.Western Australia Michael Hussey (capt), Beau Casson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Steve Magoffin, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges, Darren Wates, Brad Williams.

The Dutch Under-17 and Under-15 tour of Kenya ended at the weekend, with Kenya’s U-17s winning their five-match series 4-1, while the Dutch U-15s gained revenge with a 3-2 series victory.The event was run under the flag of the new Cricket Kenya board and was organised by former selector David Waters. It is believed that the Kenyan Cricket Association did not have the necessary finances or resources to make the event happen.The result of U-15s series went down to the final match at the Nairobi Club where, in front of a good-sized crowd the Dutch emerged as worthy winners by 28 runs in a very closely fought game. Kongonis Colt James Allan was named Man of the Match for 5 for 29 from 10 overs and then 31 not out as he ran out of partners.The U-17s was more one-sided. Kenya’s only defeat was a close match where the Dutch, needing four to win after being set 227, secured victory with a six. Peter Kituku was named Player of the Series and indeed deserved the award after some outstanding performances.Most of the youngsters play for Kongonis under the guidance of Waters, a well-known and highly-respected figure in Kenyan cricketing circles.

A series that seemed to be one-way traffic after two matches has suddenly, and most emphatically, come to life after Pakistan’s outstanding display at Jamshedpur. India may still be ahead in the race, but the advantage is only a slight one, which might become slighter still if the coin lands in Inzamam-ul-Haq’s favour tomorrow morning.So far, the team batting first has won all three games, and with heat being a factor – as usual – at Ahmedabad as well, the team batting in the afternoon after chasing leather for three-and-a-half hours in sweltering conditions could once again be severely disadvantaged. Win the toss and bat first is the obvious mantra.If India have a slender lead coming into this match, then Pakistan undoubtedly have a huge surge of momentum going their way. One win should usually not count for too much in a format as fickle as a one-day international, but the manner in which Pakistan swamped the Indians at Jamshedpur means that their confidence would be sky high; high enough for them to believe that even a successful run-chase – the first of the series – is not beyond them. Ganguly, on the other hand, will be desperately hoping to win the toss.Besides the toss, Ganguly will be desperate for something else – a few runs for himself. In three matches so far, he has contributed a mere 13, but the problem isn’t with Ganguly alone: Sachin Tendulkar (series aggregate 12), Yuvraj Singh (32) and Mohammad Kaif (39) have done precious little for the cause of the Indian total. That got camouflaged by Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the first two matches, but there’s only so much three men can manage in a game played by 11. Ganguly’s woeful form is obvious to all, but it isn’t often that Tendulkar scores 4, 2 and 6 in consecutive matches. A big score is surely round the corner.Pakistan, on the other hand, have a less formidable batting line-up on paper, but none of their batsmen are so obviously struggling for runs. Salman Butt’s century was the outstanding effort of the day at Jamshedpur, but there were other less obvious but vital contributions as well – Shoaib Malik’s 75 at No. 3, a position from which he averages 40.45, useful cameos from Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana. And the bowling attack, which appeared so toothless at Kochi and Visakhapatnam, suddenly sprung to life with a performance as disciplined as it was incisive.An important factor in the bowlers’ display, though, was the pitch at Keenan, and it’s unlikely that the one at Motera will help them as much. From afar, it looked bare and devoid of grass – one where the batsmen could safely plonk their front-foot and drive through the line, without fearing either seam movement or extra bounce. So it’ll be a tough baptism for the seam bowlers from both sides, and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who missed out at Jamshedpur due to injury, is likely to be one of the bowlers who will try to make the best of a tough task. Ganguly indicated at the press conference that a final decision on Balaji would only be taken after nets: “He [Balaji] says he’s fit. He’ll have a bowl in the nets and then we will decide.” If Balaji plays, Irfan Pathan, who had a terrible match with the ball at Jamshedpur, is the most likely to sit out.Meanwhile, the unusually high number of policemen present all around the ground is a telling indicator of just how serious the state government is taking the issue of security for the game. The city finally got the match despite many question-marks being raised, and, by the looks of it, the administrators are taking absolutely no chances.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 4 Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Arshad Khan, 9 Iftikhar Anjum, 10 Naved-ul-Hasan, 11 Danish Kaneria.

Durham 298 and 244 for 6 (Breese 79*, Hussey 51, Benkenstein 51, Caddick 6-98) defeated Somerset 252 and 288 by four wickets
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Somerset’s Andy Caddick took 6 for 98 but it wasn’t enough to prevent Durham winning a seesaw encounter at Stockon-on-Tees by four wickets. Durham romped to their third successive victory this term by chasing down 243 after Somerset put on 115 for the last two wickets. Caddick again sparkled for the visitors; he smashed 54 from No. 10 and Simon Francis added an unbeaten 20 to set Durham a stiff test. But the home side’s batsmen passed with flying colours; Gareth Breese easing to an unbeaten 79. Mike Hussey and Dale Benkenstein each struck 51 and even though Caddick was on fire, it was Durham who ended up celebrating.
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Essex romped home by six wickets against Leicestershire at Chelmsford. Andy Flower struck an unbeaten 74 to steer the home side to victory after Alistair Cook’s blistering 59 from 69 balls set them on course. They came into the final day needing 190 to secure victory and were wobbling a little at 43 for 2, Will Jefferson and Ravinder Bopara the fallers. But they lost just two more wickets on their way to success – Ronnie Irani made 34 before Ottis Gibson trapped him lbw and Cook eventually fell to Phil DeFreitas for 59 – while Flower strode on undaunted.
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An unbroken opening stand of 132 between Matthew Wood and Phil Jaques helped Yorkshire rout Northamptonshire by ten wickets at Headingley. Northants added 60 for their last three wickets, leaving Yorkshire to chase 129 for victory. Wood and Jaques obliged, with Wood cracking six fours and three sixes on his way to 56 from 61 deliveries. Neither was Jaques sedate: his 70 came from 60 balls and included 12 fours as the target was knocked off in 23 overs. Deon Kruis dismissed Johan Louw to end with a match haul of 8 for 89 and Ian Harvey took the other two wickets to finish off Northants’ innings.
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Lancashire’s Gary Keedy took six wickets to crush Derbyshire by an innings and 72 runs at Old Trafford. Keedy, the slow left-armer, ripped through Derbyshire’s defences to grab 6 for 60 as their tail folded. Derbyshire had been in with a good shout of hanging on for a draw when they resumed on 81 for 1, Stephen Stubbings going on to make 60. But they lost their last seven wickets for 49 runs and the writing was on the wall.

Warning: Batting against Bangladesh can seriously damage your health. That is the lesson that Michael Vaughan and his men learnt way back in 2003-04, and on Monday they will be reminded how vast the gulf between the best and the rest is, when they take on Australia in the Twenty20 tour opener at the Rose Bowl.Visualising the step up in class is one thing; putting it into practice is quite something else, as England found out to their cost in November 2003. Following a facile one-day series clean sweep in Dhaka and Chittagong, they crossed the Bay of Bengal to Dambulla … where Sri Lanka obliterated them by ten wickets, after chasing down a target of 89 inside 14 overs.Now, as then, meaningful practice has been in short supply for England. They might have expected a Hampshire side led by Shane Warne to put up some resistance, but once Darren Gough’s hat-trick had reduced them to 14 for 6, that game was dead as a dodo. It did allow the squad a timely chance to practice their slogging when a 12-over knockabout was arranged to fill the spare overs – and Kevin Pietersen took full advantage with a 15-ball 46 – but Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie will prove harder to take liberties against.England is the birthplace of Twenty20 cricket, but the team has never yet played an international of that length. Indeed, three of the squad, including Vaughan himself, have yet to take part in the county competition either, because it clashes with the annual NatWest Series. Australia, therefore, have the edge in terms of experience after their bad-haired encounter with New Zealand earlier in the year, and judging by the way Andrew Symonds treated the Leicestershire attack yesterday (92 not out from 59 balls), they can’t wait to be reacquainted with the format.Ricky Ponting was the star of Australia’s first Twenty20 game, thumping a formidable 98 not out from 55 balls against their beige-and-moustachioed New Zealand opponents, and he was back on the offensive during an interview with BBC radio last night, claiming that the only man who would make his team would be Andrew Flintoff. “We have most bases covered,” said Ponting, “but the one thing we haven’t got is a world-class all-rounder – a Flintoff sort of player.”Such jibes are nothing new in Ashes confrontations, but they do highlight the immediate and unavoidable need for England to hit the ground running in this campaign, starting from the moment the first ball is bowled at 5.30pm on Monday. The Twenty20 format and atmosphere could not be further removed from the first Test at Lord’s, but for two sides that are currently brimful of confidence, there are some vital psychological battles to be won and lost in the coming weeks.

For that reason, England have resisted the temptation to pack their team with Twenty20 specialists – Darren Maddy is one name that has cropped up regularly – and instead have backed the 14 men chosen for the NatWest Series and Challenge. Steve Harmison, who missed the Hampshire fiasco with an injured ankle, is expected to play, and has four overs in which to lay down the first of his many markers this summer.It is England’s batting that is the greater concern, however, for they misfired a touch against Hampshire, until Pietersen and Andrew Strauss – with a welcome and timely contribution – baled them out. Monday’s encounter promises fun, frolics, a full house and several fireworks. But it will also be fearsomely competitive, and the first glimpse of what promises to be an epoch-making series.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Geraint Jones (wk), 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Kevin Pietersen, 7 Paul Collingwood, 8 Kabir Ali, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Steve Harmison.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Mike Hussey, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Glenn McGrath.

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Graeme Welch hit his second first-class century and then removed two of Essex’s top order to put Derbyshire in control at Chelmsford. Derbyshire’s last four wickets added 193 runs as Ant Botha and Mo Sheikh combined in partnerships of 91 and 79 with Welch. After starting the day on 22, Welch fell four runs short of a career-best after facing 193 balls, but his innings had given Derbyshire’s attack the rare luxury of having a total to bowl at. Ravinder Bopara gained four wickets for his wholehearted contribution, but generally the injury-hit Essex attack struggled. Their top order didn’t fair any better, quickly slumping to 34 for 4. Sheikh backed-up his runs with two wickets, as he vindicated David Houghton’s decision to give him his first Championship game of the season. A total collapse was in prospect until Andy Flower and Ronnie Irani shored up the innings by adding 89 and guiding Essex through to the close of play. They are still a long way behind.
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Lancashire enjoyed the better of a truncated day at Old Trafford as they chipped away at the Northants batting. James Anderson struck in his second over, removing Northants’ key batsman, Martin Love, for a rare duck. Rob White counter-attacked in aggressive fashion, striking five fours and a six in his 30-ball innings until he was run out. Bilal Shafayat and Usman Afzaal took the score along to a promising 115 for 2, but Northants then lost three for 23. Dominic Cork removed Shafayat and Afzaal when they were well set in the 40s and Muttiah Muralitharan snapped up David Sales, at silly point via bat and pad, for nine. However, with a day already lost in the match, Lancashire may not have the time to press home their strong start.
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HD Ackerman played a captain’s innings to rescue Leicestershire on the second day at the Oakham School festival. He received sterling support from his fellow South Africa, Claude Henderson, as they added an unbroken 103 for the eighth wicket after Leicestershire had been struggling at 191 for 7. For Ackerman it was his first century of the season and provided much-needed stability to Leicestershire’s innings. Their predicament came despite an opening stand of 91 between Darren Robinson and Darren Maddy, but Maddy’s dismissal on the stroke of lunch sparked a collapse. Aaron Laraman claimed two wickets and Nixon McLean removed Dinesh Mongia and John Sadler in two balls. Ian Blackwell also chipped in with a brace before the fine fightback from Leicestershire. Ackerman and Henderson resisted the eight bowlers that Graeme Smith, leading Somerset for the first time, used to try and force the breakthrough.
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Durham were indebted to some determined lower-order resistance as they fought their way back into contention at New Road. All Durham’s batsmen, except last-man Mark Davies, reached double figures, but none scored more than Phil Mustard’s 39. The top order all flattered to deceive as Worcestershire’s seam attack picked up regular wickets. Chaminda Vaas removed both openers and Matt Mason trouble the middle order, but it was Ray Price who snapped up the big wicket of Paul Collingwood for 26. At 141 for 6, Durham were struggling to reach 200, but the Division Two leaders have already shown they are able to battle back from tough situations. Not for the first time this season the tail rescued the situation. Mustard continued his decent form with a lively 39 and Liam Plunkett showed he could bat as well as bowl with a valuable 37 at No. 10. Kabir Ali picked up both batsmen to finish with 3 for 72, but Worcestershire’s day ended on a poor note when Steven Davies was caught behind during the eight overs they faced.

Australia 5 for 316 (Katich 81, Clarke 76*, Kumble 3-86) v India
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Simon Katich and Michael Clarke gave Australia the edge with some attractive strokeplay in the final session, after Anil Kumble – who became only the ninth player in history to reach 400 wickets – had caused a jitter midway through the afternoon on the opening day of one of the most eagerly anticipated series in recent times. Backed by a vociferous home crowd, Kumble helped reduce Australia to 4 for 149, but with India leaking 139 runs in the final session, it was the Aussies that walked off with the day’s honours.Clarke used his feet beautifully to combat India’s slow bowlers, and showed tremendous maturity and flair on his Test debut. He often came down the track to Kumble, lofting him for one mighty six straight down the ground, and also dismissed anything pitched short with ease. With Adam Gilchrist for company, he took the bowling apart as the bowlers wilted in the final hour.The revival, though, had come earlier in the afternoon, with Katich’s splendid 81 leading the way. He was like a master at the snooker table, the angle at which the ball was hit as important as the power imparted. There were no crashing shots that singed the grass but just gentle, silken strokes played with lithe wrists.Katich came in after Matthew Hayden fell for 26, lofting a sweep straight to Yuvraj Singh at square leg (1 for 52). He got going by creaming Kumble through the covers, but soon after lunch, he was completely flummoxed by an offbreak from Harbhajan Singh. Unfortunately for India, Parthiv Patel couldn’t get his gloves around the ball. There was another semi-reprieve when he edged Zaheer Khan behind the stumps, but the replays of Patel’s collection were inconclusive, and Katich was given the benefit of the doubt.Despite losing wickets at the other end, as batsmen struggled against Kumble, Katich didn’t retreat into a shell. His placement fetched him twos and threes, and he brought up 50 in 104 balls, and, along with Clarke, pulled Australia out of a tricky situation. When he got to 81, Katich misjudged the bounce of a short one, which managed to wriggle through his defences to crash into the stumps. The crowd erupted instantly as the team huddled around Kumble, who had toiled for much of the afternoon without success after a double strike an hour after lunch.

Compared to Katich and Clarke, Justin Langer was edgy throughout his stay. After surviving a huge appeal for lbw off the first ball of the match, he misread a few short ones and copped blows on the back and chest. He was nearly run out in the 16th over when he danced down the pitch to Harbhajan and deflected the ball straight to short leg, where Aakash Chopra failed to complete the flick back on to the stumps. After lunch, Langer edged both Harbhajan and Kumble wide of the first slip.In between these strokes of fortune, there were some crisp sweeps and pushes straight down the ground. He brought up his 50 from 116 balls, but couldn’t keep out Irfan Pathan when he came back for his second spell, and a searing yorker deflected off his pads to uproot the off stump (2 for 124).The crank was revved up in that spell from Pathan as he consistently clocked 85mph while intelligently varying both swing and length. After an economical first spell, when he prevented the customary Australian flyer, this was the much-needed tourniquet that helped Kumble thrive. And Kumble pounced instantly as Damien Martyn was undone by extra bounce as he danced down the track. The ball popped from bat onto pad for Chopra to complete a simple catch (3 for 129).Darren Lehmann’s cameo of 17 was a nervous innings, as several uppish shots fell beyond the fielders’ grasp. A skyer over mid-on fell inches from Pathan’s grasp, and three cracking fours soon after added insult to injury. But an ugly heave at Kumble took the edge and Dravid lapped up the catch at first slip (4 for 149).Katich’s wicket, after he and Clarke had added 107, gave India a boost, but Gilchrist and Clarke wrested back the initiative with a dashing partnership. Gilchrist cut the very first ball he faced from Harbhajan for four, as if putting to rest all the nightmares of 2001. He raced to 35 at more than a run a ball as the fielders were left to chase shadows in every direction.Australia ended the day slightly better off, but they will know, better than anyone else, that Kumble still retains the ability to wreck even the most sturdy of fortresses.

Ricky Ponting has recovered from his broken thumb and will resume as captain when the final Test against India starts at Mumbai tomorrow. Despite Adam Gilchrist leading Australia to their first series win in India in 35 years, Ponting was immediately reinstated after batting and fielding at the Wankhede Stadium without discomfort to the injury he suffered at the Champions Trophy in September.But while Ponting’s thumb has healed, there were problems for Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee – who needed four stitches after a boxing head-clash with Justin Langer at training – and Darren Lehmann. Lehmann was sent home when his injured hamstring failed to heal, but it was unlikely that he would have played anyway given the form of Michael Clarke and Simon Katich. Glenn McGrath, who passed 450 wickets in his 100th Test at Nagpur, is suffering from the flu, but is expected to recover in time to open the bowling.The return of Ponting will force Simon Katich from No. 3 to 5 or 6, and he said Australia would not struggle for motivation in a dead rubber. “I think we’d be disappointed if we went back 2-1,” Katich said. “A lot of us still have points to prove. The guys still have pride in their performance, so I’d be very surprised if anyone relaxed.”Sourav Ganguly, India’s captain, will miss the match because of the thigh strain that also ruled him out of the third Test. Rahul Dravid will again lead the side.

Javed Miandad has lauded the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) intention to appoint paid selectors. The board decided, after a meeting of its ad-hoc committee last month, to treat selectors as full-time paid employees instead of appointing them, as is done currently, on an honorary basis.The former Pakistan captain told he backed the move. “It is a good concept. Nowadays cricket is an industry and you need full-time paid professionals to do certain jobs. The days of having honorary selectors are over.”Meanwhile, the selection committee, headed by chief selector Wasim Bari, met in Lahore to announce squads for the series against Australia `A’ and practice games for the England tour. Bari, along with other selectors like Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin, are paid employees of different organizations. This has led to concerns at the PCB that due to their professional constraints, they are unable to spend as much time scouring talent on the domestic circuit as they should.The grapevine has it that the composition of the committee might undergo change, but the PCB insist that, if possible, they would like to retain the current selectors and make them full-time employees of the board. However, Miandad also stressed it is equally important to invest selectors with more authority over choice of the final XI. Traditionally, the selectors pick a squad but the composition of the playing XI remains the prerogative of the team captain and coach.Miandad, himself a three-time coach of Pakistan, argued, “We need to follow the example of other countries doing well at present. We need to give the selectors the authority to select the playing teams — obviously with the feedback of the captain and the coach. But the final decision should be made by the selectors.” By letting selectors pick the final XI, Miandad contended that the coach and captain are left free to concentrate on getting the best out of each player on the field.In recent months, there have been murmurs both within the board and outside it that the coach and captain have too much authority over the playing XI and that a stronger selection committee was needed. Former players and journalists have criticized the selection committee’s role as superfluous, a charge that wasn’t helped by reports at the end of Pakistan’s tour to India that some senior PCB officials were unhappy at a perceived lack of gumption within the committee.

New Zealand Cricket has announced that the 2004-05 domestic cricket programme will involve a five-day State Championship final, and the use of the Christmas-New Year holiday period to make State Shield matches more accessible to fans and holiday makers.The eight-round State Championship, two rounds of which will be played prior to Christmas, will culminate with a five-day final for the first time in recent history. Martin Snedden, New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, said that a five-day final was more appropriate for determining the winner of the competition, though all the round-robin games would be played over four days.”The purpose is to try and provide a final that is above the level of domestic cricket and which will more closely replicate a Test match,” said Snedden. He also said that the final had been scheduled to be played after New Zealand’s Test series against Australia, so that the country’s top players could participate.”It enables the two finalists to regroup and also for players carrying niggling injuries to recover,” he said. “It will enable ground staff at the final venue to prepare the best possible playing surface and it might open up an opportunity for some Black Caps players to participate.”The opening round of the State Championship will see a re-match of last season’s final, with the State Wellington Firebirds, the defending champions, facing the State Canterbury Wizards at Hagley Oval in Christchurch from December 7-10.The Christmas-New Year break has been targeted in the State Shield programme with matches on December 27, January 1 and January 3, all public holidays. “What we have done, and it was a key aim of ours, is make first-class cricket more accessible to fans and holiday-makers,” said Snedden.However, the proposed New Zealand A home series against South Africa A and India A would not go ahead, since neither would be able to tour. “When we launched the regular New Zealand A team programme last season we anticipated being able to secure three series’ every two years,” said Snedden. “The current series in South Africa and confirmation that the team will tour Sri Lanka next September/October ensures that volume of top-quality competition is delivered for the New Zealand A team.”