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XXXX Queensland Bulls allrounder James Hopes has made a late dash toHobart to be on stand-by for tomorrow’s Pura Cup clash against theTasmania Tigers.Hopes flew to Tasmania today as a pre-cautionary move after off-spinnerNathan Hauritz was troubled by a calf muscle strain at training thismorning.The allrounder was part-way through captaining the Queensland Academy ofSport team in their match against the Tasmanian 2nd XI at Allan BorderField, top-scoring with 57 in the first innings and taking 2-31 from17.5 overs.Hauritz was bothered by the injury during last weekend’s Australia ‘A’match against Sri Lanka and the Queensland selectors felt it was best tocover all contingencies should he not be 100 percent tomorrow morning.Hopes had the company of wicket-keeper Wade Seccombe for the flight toHobart today after the Bulls gloveman was granted permission to delayhis trip to be present at the birth of he and wife Vicki’s third child.The Seccombe’s became parents again yesterday with the birth ofElizabeth Grace.Meanwhile the Bulls have benefited from the presence of Queenslandcricket legend Carl Rackemann during their build-up for the match.Bulls coach Terry Oliver has taken steps to incorporate past Queenslandplayers into the team’s routine wherever possible, with Rackemanntravelling with the team on Monday.Oliver has involved the likes of Ian Healy, Rackemann, Geoff Foley andScott Prestwidge in the team’s preparations so far and has plans toutilise the experience of Trevor Barsby and Allan Border when available.”Having these blokes around is good for some of the younger players toget an idea of where the team has come from and it’s good for me to haveanother person to bounce ideas off,” said Oliver.Rackemann, the leading wicket-taker in Queensland history, coachedZimbabwe for two seasons with some success before returning to farm inQueensland.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Tasmania, Pura Cup, Thurs Dec 19 – Sun Dec 22,Bellerive Oval: Jimmy Maher (c), Brendan Nash, Martin Love, AndrewSymonds, Stuart Law, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke,Nathan Hauritz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie, Scott Brant, James Hopes(one to be omitted, twelfth man to be named)

As the night skies closed in around Old Trafford, so too did the Australians. Intimidating field placings more akin to Test cricket greeted new England batsmen, an umbrella slip cordon and a couple of short legs ensuring that Australia applied a vice-like tourniquet which squeezed the life out of the England reply, reducing the game to an exhibition of Australia’s supreme bowling attack. England were totally eclipsed by 125 runs and dismissed for a record low of 86 all out.England had set out in pursuit of a revised target of 212 from 44 overs after rain had curtailed Australia’s total to 208 for seven from 48 overs. An immediate goal was to achieve 84 without loss from the mandatory 25 overs to win the match as the threat of rain was always a possibility. As it turned out, to merely survive for 25 overs was probably England’s main batting achievement in an innings which only displayed the true calibre of this Australian outfit.Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie were unmercifully persistent and accuracy personified. Knight and Trescothick could barely pierce the field and the pressure of these two quicks caused anxious times for the two left-handers. They did reach 25 without loss but after Knight had groped forward and edged McGrath behind, Stewart and Vaughan departed off consecutive balls to the hostile Gillespie. Shah avoided the hat-trick and had made a very fortuitous ten before edging Gillespie on to his pad to Ponting.Three wickets went down in 20 balls for no runs. Trescothick was cleaned up by McGrath and Shane Warne made his appearance at his beloved Old Trafford to taunt the England lower order and turn the ball past the startled Hollioake. Andrew Symonds, meanwhile, joined in the fun, inducing Cork to find Hayden at deep mid-wicket off a rank long hop, and then plunging to his right to snap up Collingwood one-handed. Gough succumbed to Warne and Ian Harvey performed the last rites with the wicket of Mullally.If this was an Ashes rehearsal, then England’s recent renewed confidence after Test series successes looks misplaced. Australia were just simply too good. Their batsmen, thanks to Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn, rescued a poor position of 27 for three and although England, and in particular Hollioake and Mullally, bowled well and ensured Australia didn’t set a huge target, it was quickly evident that Australia’s standard is still way above that of England in one-day cricket.

Lendl Simmons and David Miller were the big winners in the Caribbean Premier League 2016 draft on Thursday in Barbados, going first and second overall to fetch top tier $160,000 contracts. Simmons went to the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, having represented Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2015, while Miller was snapped up for the first time by a CPL team going to the St Lucia Zouks second overall.Miller will team with Shane Watson to fill the void left by Kevin Pietersen, who opted to withdraw himself from the CPL for this season. Sohail Tanvir’s pick at fifth overall by Guyana essentially meant he and Simmons made a straight swap between teams. Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs), Dwayne Bravo (Trinbago Knight Riders) and Kieron Pollard (Barbados Tridents) were all retained by their franchises in the first round.The six designated marquee overseas players were all taken in the second round beginning with AB de Villiers by the Tridents. He was followed by Martin Guptill, who will switch from the Patriots to the Amazon Warriors for 2016. Brendon McCullum went next to the Knight Riders, Kumar Sangakkara to the Tallawahs, Watson to St Lucia and Faf du Plessis rounded out the marquee picks going to the Patriots.Hashim Amla was taken by the Knight Riders in round four, one pick ahead of Big Bash player of the tournament Chris Lynn by the Amazon Warriors who represented the Tallawahs in 2015. Adam Zampa, who had a breakout season in the BBL with Melbourne Stars to fetch both an Australian call-up and an IPL contract with Rising Pune Super Giants, was taken in the sixth round for $60,000 by the Amazon Warriors.Besides Lynn, other players on the move were Samuel Badree and Brad Hodge, who were swapped up in consecutive rounds by the Patriots; Shakib Al Hasan, who went from the Zouks to the Tallawahs after being taken in the third round; David Wiese, from the Amazon Warriors to the Tridents; and Umar Akmal, from the Amazon Warriors to the Knight Riders; and Dwayne Smith from the Tridents to the Amazon Warriors.Among the overseas CPL veterans in the auction pool who went undrafted were Shahid Afridi, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Johan Botha. However, Michael Hussey managed to fetch a $90,000 price tag in the fourth round from St Lucia Zouks. He’ll be teammates with Morne Morkel, who was taken in the seventh round for $40,000.One more player that caught most attendees off guard was Kieran Powell, who fetched a $10,000 price tag in round ten from the Patriots. Powell, 25, last played for West Indies in June 2014 and had declared his interest in January to pursue a career in baseball. He recently had a tryout attended by several scouts at the IMG Academy in Florida. However, he did not secure a contract with any Major League Baseball franchise.Ramnaresh Sarwan was also a surprising name plucked in the final moments of the draft going with the first pick in the 15th round to the Knight Riders for $4000. Sarwan last played any form of competitive cricket with Leicestershire in 2014 and hasn’t played any regional cricket in the Caribbean since the 2014 Nagico Super50 with Guyana.Six Associate players were taken in the final round of the draft, all of them representing USA and Canada. The Patriots retained Canada offspinner Nikhil Dutta, who debuted for them last year, and the same went for Florida batsman Steven Taylor with the Barbados Tridents. Canada batting allrounder Nitish Kumar went with the second pick in the final round to the Zouks, followed by fast bowling allrounder Timroy Allen to the Tallawahs, wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq to the Knight Riders and fast bowler Ali Khan to the Amazon Warriors.St Kitts & Nevis Patriots: Lendl Simmons, Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Jonathan Carter, Krishmar Santokie, Evin Lewis, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kieran Powell, JJ Smuts, Devon Thomas, Shamarh Brooks, Tino Best, Jeremiah Louis, Nikhil DuttaSt Lucia Zouks: David Miller, Shane Watson, Darren Sammy, Michael Hussey, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Morne Morkel, Fidel Edwards, Derone Davis, Eddie Leie, Keron Cottoy, Shane Shillingford, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Keddy Lesporis, Nitish KumarJamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim, Lasith Malinga, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Jonathan Foo, Alex Ross, Kesrick Williams, Nkrumah Bonner, Garey Mathurin, Timroy AllenTrinbago Knight Riders: Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Hashim Amla, Umar Akmal, Kevon Cooper, Sulieman Benn, Colin Munro, Anton Devcich, Ronsford Beaton, Nikita Miller, Javon Searles, William Perkins, Yannick Cariah, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Hamza TariqGuyana Amazon Warriors: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali KhanBarbados Tridents: Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor

If you were walking across a Burma bridge, clambering up monkey ropes, swinging on a Damdama jhula and jumping over a khadda; you could either be a cadet going through an obstacle course at an army camp … or a student at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy under the observation of former India coach Greg Chappell and biomechanist Ian Frazer.It’s been a month and a half since Chappell was appointed director of the Rajasthan Cricket Academy and the emphasis has been on training young cricketers to be athletes.”The cricketer of the future is going to look very different from the cricketer of the past. We are looking for athletes who can play cricket,” Chappell told reporters in Jaipur. “We have seen the short version, Twenty20, really taking off and playing a bigger part in the international scene. The cricketer of the future is going to have more demands placed on him than ever before. It is being able to find that athletic talent and training that to the needs of the future.”What attributes should a future cricketer have? “Firstly they have to go beyond fear,” Chappell said. “They have to be accountable and they have to take responsibility to what happens to them and the team.”When pressed for an example of a future cricketer from the current Indian squad, Chappell said that he would rather not name anybody in case it was taken out of context but said players such as Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Andrew Flintoff fitted the bill.

“They [cricketers of the future] are going to be athletic, strong, impact players. If you want to stand out in the future game, particularly as the game appears to get shorter, you have to be an impact player; you’ve got to be somebody who can impose themselves on the game.”Chappell believed that cricket was going through an exciting phase with the growing influence of Twenty20 cricket and the advent of the IPL in 2008. He said that the format could change the face of cricket.”The basic talent demands of the game won’t change, the physical and mental demands will. The identification and training process are going to have to change. The demands will be greater because of the distinct formats at the international level. Players will have to be flexible more mentally and physically then ever before. The best players have always been mentally strong and will have to be in the future as well.”The obstacle course at the academy is an attempt to provide a simple, low-cost and easily reproducible means of training strong and flexible cricketers. Chappell stressed the importance of such a system to develop fitness for it is easy to implement even in the districts where facilities and finances weren’t as easily available as in the larger centres.Chappell said he did not believe that there was a scarcity of athletes in India and didn’t think the training process would take much time once the students were identified.”It is important to start with the vision of what we are looking for. Once you establish that then you can save a lot of time looking for that type of player. If I have to give you a good guesstimate [I would say] between 18 months and two years before we start players coming through to the first-class level from a programme like this.”

Worcestershire have confirmed that Zaheer Khan, the Indian Test bowler, will not play for them in 2007.Zaheer, 26, who took over 100 wickets in all competitions for them last season, has worked his way back into the India set-up and has the World Cup, as well as tours to Bangladesh and England to look forward to.Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, said: “We have always said we would make the final decision about Zaheer in January. He was a model overseas professional and we are delighted for him that he has re-established himself on the international scene.
“Vikram Solanki and myself drew up a shortlist of alternative possibilities some time ago and we will now have the appropriate discussions with some of those players. We hope to make an announcement in the near future.”Zaheer was keen to state that there is a possibility he will rejoin the club in the future, saying: “I really enjoyed playing with Worcestershire last season and thank them for the opportunity to help me regain my place in the Indian team. I would love to play there again and would like to thank all the people involved, including the members and supporters, for their support throughout the season.”Worcestershire appear to be lining up Australian seamer Nathan Bracken as a possible replacement.Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton has said: “Nathan is one we would consider. He is clearly a very good bowler, is performing well at the moment and we are delighted that he is interested but we have still to make a final decision on that”.

New Zealand return to their happy hunting ground at Jade Stadium confident of wrapping up the one-day international series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.A win would put New Zealand firmly into fourth place in the world rankings while Sri Lanka would drop out of the all-important top six teams guaranteed direct entry into the Champions Trophy tournament later in the year. New Zealand lead the five-match series against Sri Lanka 2-0 – resumed last Saturday after it was abandoned following the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004 – and relish the opportunity to return to the Jade Stadium where just three weeks ago they produced a world-record run chase of 332 to beat Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.In their last 12 matches at this venue, New Zealand have won nine – including the last five when in their favoured position of batting second. Daniel Vettori, the current New Zealand captain, said they would like to bat second again on Tuesday after easily topping Sri Lanka’s total of 164 with seven wickets remaining on Saturday. New Zealand have kept an unchanged squad from Queenstown, and the Jade Stadium wicket is expected to provide another batting bonanza.”We’ll look to bowl first and make the most of that Supersub the second time round with Nathan (Astle). It’s not 100 percent confirmed but I’ll be surprised if there are any changes,” Vettori said. “I would (like the option to bat first). But it’s also about balancing up what’s best for the team and how to push the team forward.”Despite their success in batting second, Vettori conceded he would like the team to mix up their approach in case they became too accustomed to hunting a target instead of setting one. The team also have to consider the pitches they’re likely to face in the 2007 World Cup with West Indian pitches prone to dying later in the match favouring the team batting first. “At the moment we just want to win games and we see chasing as our best option of winning.”If Shane Bond, Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram, New Zealand’s frontline bowlers, can repeat Saturday’s performance in extracting the extra bounce to trouble Sri Lanka’s batsmen, the remaining matches at Wellington and Napier could be seen as dead rubbers.Tom Moody, the Sri Lankan coach, said he did not expect any major alteration to his squad, but whoever fronted up had to cope better with the wicket. “We’ve come from subcontinent conditions and been in India for two months, then gone straight down into a very good bouncy cricket wicket and we didn’t adjust as well as we could,” he said. “Whether it’s confidence to execute their game in different conditions, or whether it’s self confidence, only time will tell, but the players are very determined to turn things around.”Moody refrained from reading his team the riot act, but admitted there had been some frank discussions about their play in the opening match of the series. He also denied that Sri Lanka were lacking confidence after their recent 6-1 loss in India.* * * *New Zealand (probable) Lou Vincent, Jamie How, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum (wkt), Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Shane Bond. Supersub Nathan Astle

Two International Cricket Council officials have returned to Kenya to continue their investigations regarding match-fixing in connection with the Maurice Odumbe inquiry.The Kenya Cricket Association banned Kenya’s former captain Odumbe for five years in August for having inappropriate contact with a bookmaker. And the ramifications of the evidence given by Katherine Maloney, Odumbe’s estranged wife, continue. It was her testimony which proved so damning to Odumbe and prompted the current investigation. It is the second time that the officials, Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock, have visited Nairobi after many of the 10 squad members from 1999 and 2000 declined to be questioned during their first visit in November.”I can’t go into details of the interview,” the players’ representative Allen Kosgey told the Reuters news agency on Monday. “All I can say is that the ICC investigators started investigating my clients which they will do throughout this week. They are interviewing two players per day and they should dispense with the exercise by the end of the week. I must add that the players and I are happy and satisfied with the line of interview. We are co-operating with how they are going about their business.”It is understood that the questions will centre on the LG Trophy which was held in Nairobi in 1999.

Stephen Coverdale, Northamptonshire’s chief executive, is to resign his position and leave the club before the start of next season.Coverdale has held the post since succeeding Ken Turner in 1985, making him the longest-serving chief executive in England. He will also stand down as a director of the England & Wales Cricket Board, and as a member of the ECB’s management board.”I have reached a stage in my career when, even though I remain as fully committed as ever, I genuinely do need a new challenge,” he said. “Cricket remains my passion but I am considering suitable opportunities both inside and outside the sport.”

Daryll Cullinan, the elder statesman of South African batting, and tyros Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph will all welcome Steve Waugh and his touring team in the South African A side’s three-day game against Australia starting in Potchefstroom on February 17.Cullinan, who missed South Africa’s tour to Australia but has run into form during the latter part of the South African limited overs season, Smith, the leading run scorer in the Standard Bank Cup, and Rudolph, who has still to play an official Test match for his country, represent probably the best of South Africa’s batting outside the current touring squad and each has a point to prove to the national selectors.While Cullinan’s omission from the party in Australia was widely expected, he still nurses a burning desire to prove himself against the toughest opponents in world cricket. Rudolph, meanwhile, was pencilled in at number three for the first Test in Adelaide before the selectors succumbed to an attack of nerves and played Boeta Dippenaar instead. Rudolph was then chosen for the third Test but omitted following the intervention of United Cricket Board president Percy Sonn. Smith, meanwhile, has simply forced his way into contention by weight of runs.If anything, this match should demonstrate that South African does have some batting depth in reserve, but seems a shade thin in bowling where Charl Langeveldt and Andre Nel will share the new ball supported by Andrew Hall and spinners Claude Henderson and Gulam Bodi.The teamDale Benkenstein (KZN captain), Gulam Bodi (KZN), Daryll Cullinan (Gauteng), Andrew Hall (Easterns), Claude Henderson (WP), Charl Langeveldt (Boland), Andre Nel (Easterns), Ashwell Prince (WP), Jacques Rudolph (WP), Graeme Smith (WP), Thami Tsolekile (WP). Twelfthman Arno Jacobs (North West).

The East Zone Under-22 match between Bengal and Tripura at the PolytechnicGround in Agartala meandered to a draw on the third and final day on Thursday.Bengal took home five points by virtue of the 113-run first innings lead whileTripura had to be content with three.Opting to bat on the first day, Bengal declared at 387 for 9. Opener Arindam Das(177) held the visitors’ innings together. After the early loss of his partnerPrasanta Sinharoy (1), Arindam shared a 126-run second wicket partnership withstumper AA Sikdar (40). The fall of Sikdar triggered a minor collapse, andBengal found themselves losing four more wickets.Subrahdip Ganguly (90) joined Arindam at this juncture and 126 runs for theseventh wicket. Arindam was the eighth batsman to be dismissed caught by Sahaoff R Ghosh. Arindam, who stay at the crease for close to eight hours faced 305balls hit 28 boundaries.In reply, Tripura scored 254 thanks chiefly to some useful contributions by themiddle order. M Gupta (63) was the top scorer. The only significant partnershipin the innings was shared by M Gupta and C Sachdeva (56) for the third wicketwhich was worth 75 runs. Thereafter none of the Tripura batsmen made anysignificant scores. Bengal in their second innings lost three wickets whileputting up 157 on the board. Arindam Das was again the top scorer with a fine60. Bengal managed to receive 48 overs on the final day before stumps were drawnafter the 8th mandatory over with the score 157 for three.