The NTCA Ground’s indoor training facility is poised to receive a $40,000 upgrade courtesy of the Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA) as they try and promote cricket as a statewide sport.New flooring, nets, lighting and paint are planned for the Launceston ground’s indoor facility. The TCA’s offering is significantly due to the redevelopment of Bellerive Oval in Hobart and is a bid to keep the northern venues’ facilities on par with those in the south.The NWTCA Ground is also expected to receive a similar gesture from the TCA.The indoor facility is primarily used as a training venue for junior players and for selection trials such as those for the junior Metro Cup cricket tournament.The TCA has planned sessions between junior cricketers and senior Tasmanian team members to help enhance the productivity of cricket in Tasmania at a junior level. Sean Clingeleffer, Brett Geeves, Scott Kremerskothen and Shane Watson all made the two hour trip to Launceston from Hobart to participate in a skills session with eighty budding cricketers. Four more similar sessions have been planned by the TCA which will occur before Christmas.

Seven current or former international players will appear for New South Wales when it takes on Victoria in the opening match of the Australian domestic season at Bankstown on Sunday.Despite losing captain Steve Waugh (DVT) and pacemen Brett Lee (ribcage) and Nathan Bracken (shoulder) to injury, the Blues will be boosted by the appearance of Test stars Mark Waugh and Glenn McGrath in the state’s colours. It is the first time that McGrath will participate in a limited-overs match for the Blues since November, while Waugh has also appeared only fleetingly in recent years around a hectic schedule of international commitments.McGrath has been chosen to spearhead a well-balanced attack that also includes fellow pacemen Don Nash and Stuart Clark and leg spinner Stuart MacGill.Even in the national captain’s absence, the Blues’ batting looks similarly strong. Brad Haddin and Michael Slater are strong candidates for the opening positions, and will be followed by the likes of Michael Bevan, Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke as well as hard-hitting all-rounders Mark Higgs and Shane Lee.Continuing in the role in which he functioned for much of last season, Lee will captain the line-up and Bevan will be his deputy.Victoria is expected to name its team for the season-opening ING Cup clash later today.The full New South Wales side is: Shane Lee (c), Brad Haddin, Michael Slater, Michael Bevan, Mark Waugh, Michael Clarke, Mark Higgs, Shawn Bradstreet, Don Nash, Stuart Clark, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath.

Anuradha Dutt, secretary of the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI), received the news of New Zealand’s cancellation of their tour to India with regret. Having lost to New Zealand in the semi-final of the last CricInfo Women’s World Cup, India were keen to play the Kiwis at home and salvage some lost pride. New Zealand Cricket, the controlling body of the game in that country, has pulled the team out of the tour citing security concerns following the developments in Afghanistan.”The CEO of NZC told us earlier that he would make the decision after considering security implications. And we received a letter today informing us that they were canceling the tour. Although India was not directly related to the problems in Afghanistan, NZC felt that there was enough of a risk to players,” said Dutt.Dutt, however, did not agree completely with the views of NZC CEO Martin Snedden. “I can’t really imagine the New Zealand women being in any real danger in India. If you ask me, they’d be much safer here than in many western countries. But it’s their psychological perception that matters, and I can’t really make a decision for them.”After India’s semi-final showing in the CricInfo World Cup, interest in the game has been sufficiently piqued. “As you know, we are already preparing for the next World Cup. When we lost to New Zealand in the semi-final recently, what really handicapped us was the lack of match practice. We would have liked to get more international match experience before the next tour. This cancellation means one tour less for India and that’s obviously regrettable,” said Dutt.The WCAI has been doing its best to organise international cricket for the Indian team, and Dutt made it a point to enumerate the various tours lined up.”We have tried to line up as much international cricket as possible. That’s what keeps the players on their toes. We have England coming here in February, then we go to South Africa in March and on to England in July,” she said.Talking about the impact that the cancellation of the tour would have on the development of the game, Dutt was hopeful that something could still be salvaged from the situation.”It Is obviously a setback for the development of the game in India. We’re speaking to NZC and trying to reschedule the tour for a later date, when things settle down a bit. If we’re able to do that then it doesn’t make a difference in the larger perspective,” she said.The cancellation is also likely to put a spanner in the works when it comes to garnering sponsorship for women’s cricket. The fact that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not done anything to encourage the development of the game is also proving to be an obstacle.”The BCCI still hasn’t responded in the favourable manner that we would have liked. After the World Cup, there has been an increase in interest. Sponsors are now willing to invest in the game if there’s television coverage, and that is a step in the right direction,” said Dutt.Dutt is maintaining an optimistic outlook as ever, but the cancellation of the tour is a fairly serious setback to Indian women’s cricket and might even influence the English when they think about their own forthcoming tour of India.

Before the team left for Sharjah I had prayed for a triumphant start and that was exactly what the boys achieved for us. After the initial hiccup, things took a pretty smooth route. Aided by the indomitable Wasim and Waqar, the Pakistan team looked a well-knit unit. Critics could always point out that this triangular was only a two-way race but they should also keep in mind Sri Lankan power in recent desert tournaments. They had been decisive winners in the last two competitions at Sharjah, and Pakistan beat them twice, quite convincingly, in the tournament.

Admittedly, Sri Lanka were seriously handicapped by the absence of Fernando and Kaluwitharana. Fernando had bowled at a furious pace in the first game and some of our batsmen had looked uneasy with his length. Kaluwitharana, as most of us know, can be devastating with the bat and is no mean achiever behind the stumps.In our first match against Sri Lanka our batting looked rusty and with Inzamam absent, were in disarray against incessant short of length deliveries. Yousuf Youhana was the only batsman who seemed at ease with these tactics.

We introduced Naved Latif in this tournament and he did not disappoint his admirers. He loves playing square off the pitch and being an unknown quantity, took Sri Lankan bowlers by surprise. In the absence of Fernando all the Sri Lankan bowlers lacked some awareness and penetration. Instead of switching to ‘Plan B’ they limited themselves to the original plan that had worked well for them in the first game. Many a well-devised plan goes awry on the day and one must be flexible enough of change at a very short notice.Inzamam played a patient innings in the beginning and thrashed the bowlers towards the end of the game. It was a masterly knock. He also persuaded the adjudicators to nominate Naved Latif for the Man of the Match when they wanted to share it between him and his junior. I thought this was a tremendous gesture and went a long way in building up more team sprit.

Mahela Jayawardene had scored a scintillating 92 in the first session of the match. What a graceful and intelligent player he is. This young man seems destined for greatness.Before the tournament final, a lot of expatriates had reminded us not to fall at the final hurdle. I do not think we needed a reminder. We were extremely confident after our third win on the trot while the Sri Lankans looked totally devastated after Pakistan had chased a huge total batting second. The manner in which we chased such a commanding total would have knocked the stuffing out of many sides.What’s more, we also had our ace Wasim Akram back in the side. It was a difficult choice to leave out Shoaib Malik who has bowled reasonably well and was by far the best ground fielder of the tournament. Saeed Anwar also had to miss out because of an injury to his wrist. It was a painful loss to us as his record in Sharjah is outstanding.On a hot and humid day, Jayasuriya won the toss and elected to bat. We had planned to take early wickets and cramp both the left-handed opening batsmen for room. Jayasuriya and Gunawardene can tear into you if you give them the slightest bit of freedom on the offside.Wasim and Waqar once again belied their age and were very hostile. Both were among wickets very early on, which gave us a distinct advantage.

Enter Jayawardene, and the whole game took on a different dimension. He treats every bowler in the world with disdain and has more time than most players I have come across in my career. If he were not an opposite number I would pray for him to bat all day for my sake!His six off Shoaib Akhtar was a delight and would have done Sir Viv Richards proud. Ironically, it was Shoaib Akhtar who had the last laugh by removing him when Jayawardene appeared to be running away with the game. This is the beauty of playing Shoaib Akhtar. He can go for runs but will always feature among wickets. Greatest way to check the run rate is by picking up wickets at regular intervals. It breaks the opposition’s rhythm and also leaves them with fewer wickets in hand for the slog overs. In fact, Shoaib Akhtar fit in the tournament and being played more consistently will get better. A fit and healthy Shoaib Akhtar is an asset for our team. On the tour he was completely focused on his game. I really am at a loss why his bowling action is under scrutiny again. If, for scientific reasons, Brett Lee and Muttiah Muralitharan are allowed to operate then why pick on our youngster? Shoaib is an emotional young man and these things affect him more than most people. I really despair for him.Wasim Akram was his lethal best in this tournament. At one stage I became concerned, as he seemed to be trying too hard. I did not want him to break down, so we rested him in one game. He vowed to win the tournament for Waqar and us. I once played in two one-day games against England in the same team as Michael Holding. Michael bowled 20 overs and picked up 6 for 48. I thought I would never see anything like that again. Wasim proved me wrong and in this tournament took 6 for 69 in 29 overs. He was my Man of the Tournament with Waqar a very close second.Waqar Younis is very much like Dennis Lillee (the greatest fast bowler of my era, if not the best ever). Both are classical, side-on bowlers. Waqar being a little shorter then Dennis, bowls to a fuller length but the game plan always is the same, attack. Like Dennis, Waqar also strives for wickets rather than conserving energy and achieving a decent economy rate. To this day, Ian Chappell maintains Dennis was a ‘captain’s dream’. Well, I wish I had played in the same team as Waqar let alone captain him. What marvellous services these two W’s have given us and any history of cricket would be incomplete without our two W’s.

Without a shadow of doubt, the find of the tour was Naved Latif. He came to prominence by scoring 394 runs in one innings in a first class game. When I first saw him in nets, about ten months ago, his stroke play was very catching. I was astonished when a few of my colleagues seemed to differ from my views. Despite this, we selected him for the Pakistan Academy. Much to my dismay he chose to go to England instead of joining our ranks. He was disillusioned and thought he deserved better from the cricket selectors. He likes playing square on the offside, and in his eagerness to do that, sometime he does not go back and across enough. Those who watched his dismissal in the Sharjah Final will know exactly what I am trying to put across. Had he stayed in the Academy we would have worked on his technique. Anyway, it’s better late than never.We have a month before we take on Bangladesh and the West Indies. A lot of hard work beckons all of us. Let us hope we carry the Sharjah spirit forward with us wherever and whenever we play in the future.

Two Tests down and the series lost, West Indian captain Carl Hooper islooking for his top-order to finally gel in the third Test in Colombostarting Thursday, as the tourists try to avert the ignominy of a serieswhitewash in Sri Lanka.Brian Lara apart, the West Indies have failed to come to terms with themysterious wiles of off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 21 wickets inthe first two Tests, and have been bowled out for less than 200 on threeoccasions.”We have all struggled apart from Brian (Lara),” Hooper said. “We are upagainst a good side and world-class spinner who has put us under a lot ofpressure.””Each and every batsman, from number one to eleven, has got to find a way ofputting a good score together.”West Indies have consistently collapsed whenever Lara has been dismissed. InGalle the last five wickets produced just 38 runs in both innings and inKandy they only mustered 24 in the first innings and 64 in the second.But Hooper, speaking after the team’s final practice, believes the top sixhave to take responsibility. “The lower order did quite well in the SouthAfrican and the Zimbabwean series, but not here. It is an area that we haveto look at, but the priority is for the top five or six to click.”He added: “We have had a few half-centuries, but to be successful we needbig hundreds with the others chipping in. We need to be consistently puttingtogether scores in excess of 400.”There is unlikely to be an emotional rallying call from the captain in theteam meeting later tonight. The calm 34-year-old Guyanan is beating apragmatic drum with one eye on the future.”We have some good players but in terms of experience we are very short,which is plays a big part when you come and play in places like Sri Lanka,”he said.”We have got a lot of young guys and Muralitharan has been a shock to them.If they come again, with greater experience, whilst they still may not beable to pick him, they may have devised a way to be more successful againsthim.”Nevertheless, he feels that the West Indies are not so far behind the hosts:”I think if we can raise our game by 15-20% then that would make uscompetitive against the Sri Lankans. They are not as good a side as SouthAfrica and so on.”Indeed, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya admits that his side is stilltoo reliant on Muralitharan: “We need more support for Murali. Chaminda Vaashas been bowling really well but we lack an extra spinner at the moment. Wehave tried a few but unfortunately none of them are in the class of Murali.”Sri Lanka, though, are going to give left-arm spinner NiroshanBandaratillake a further chance, believing that he offers greater potentialthan other contenders. It marks a welcome development. With the sideenjoying unprecedented success, the up-an-coming players are at last to begiven a decent chance to perform.The selectors faith extends to Russel Arnold, who has had a torrid run withthe bat. On the basis of statistics (his average has now dropped from 40 to27.37 in his last 20 Tests) he should have long since been discarded. Butteam success allows the selectors to persevere with him, at least until theend of the Zimbabwe tour.”We need people like Russel (Arnold) to score runs,” Jayasuriya said. “Hehas been going through a bad patch, but we have to keep pursuing with him ashe has a lot of talent and potential. He is a good player and a team man; Iam sure that he will come good.”Sri Lanka are therefore likely to pick the same side that won in Kandy, eventhough the pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club traditionally offers thefaster bowlers greater assistance than in Galle and Kandy.West Indies are considering one possible change: the inclusion of fastbowler Marlon Black in place of Colin Stuart.Likely teams:Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara,Mahela ,Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera,Chaminda Vaas, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Muttiah Muralithathan, Nuwan ZoysaWest Indies: Carl Hooper (capt), Daren Ganga, Chris ,Ramnaresh Sarwan,Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins,Dinanath Ramnarine, Marlon Samuels

A spectacular batting collapse, triggered in main by Iqbal Siddiqui(4/36), pushed England to 170 all out in their first innings. India ‘A’thus took a valuable first-innings lead of 63 runs on the second day ofthe three-day match against India `A’ at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium inJaipur on Wednesday. By the close of play, India ‘A’ had moved to 75 forthe loss of three wickets.After restricting India `A’ to 233/9 declared on the first day, Englandmust have hoped to get some valuable batting practice ahead of the firstTest at Mohali. On a lively pitch, Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcherhad negotiated the India `A’ bowlers for 11 good overs to reach 37 forno loss at stumps on Tuesday.But their good work suddenly seemed a distant memory on the secondmorning, which read more like a chapter from a gruesome horror story.With the 11th ball of the day, Siddiqui struck, claiming Mark Butcher’swicket. Butcher (37) could only add five more to his overnight scorebefore gifting a catch to Abhijit Kale in the slips.Trescothick (7) followed soon after, given out caught behind off thefirst ball of the next over by Dodda Ganesh. The batsman was distinctlyunhappy with the decision and stood his ground for some time beforemaking the long slow walk back to the pavilion.Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain then put together a scratchypartnership of 36 runs for the third wicket. Vaughan, who must by now bedesperate to get some runs under his belt, was lucky to be dropped byGautam Gambhir off the bowling of Ganesh. Hussain too enjoyed some luckthis morning, being dropped by Rashmi Ranjan Parida off Siddiqui.Vaughan struck five boundaries in his 22 before top-edging a pull offSiddiqui, only to give Vinayak Mane an easy catch in the covers.Mark Ramprakash and Andrew Flintoff both failed to open their account,gifting their wicket to Siddiqui. The medium-pacer from Maharashtra wassoon rewarded by the national selectors, who picked him for the firstTest squad. Craig White and Ashley Giles came and went, scoring two runseach. Hussain’s own defiant knock of 40 off 88 balls finally came to anend when he went for a wild heave off the bowling of his counterpartSunil Joshi. The English skipper hit five boundaries and a six to topscore in the innings.A clueless Richard Johnson (5) let through a ball from Joshi (3/39) onlyto find his stumps disturbed. England were in serious trouble at thatstage – 128/9. The last-wicket partnership of James Foster (32) andRichard Dawson (19), however, added 42 valuable runs for the lastwicket. Dawson was finally trapped in front by Reetinder Singh Sodhi(2/12) to mark the end of the English first innings. It was a remarkablylacklustre performance with the bat by the English players, especiallyconsidering that the first Test starts on Monday.In their second essay, India ‘A’ batsmen struggled to get the ball awayfor runs. The pitch was playing up badly, the ball keeping low andcreating all sorts of problems for the batsmen. A ball that stayed lowand shot through to hit the pads undid Mane, who must have been keen onimpressing the national selectors; he was given out lbw. Gambhir playedvaliantly to make 30 before being bowled by Craig White, who was puttingtogether a good spell. White tasted more success when he trapped GaganKhoda in front to claim all three wickets that fell in the evening(9-3-21-3).The match is very keenly poised now, with India ‘A’ leading by 138 runs.Brilliant bowling by the Indian bowlers has blown a big hole in theEnglish confidence. The tourists will be looking forward to an improvedperformance on the last day of the three-day match tomorrow.

Kerala defended a moderate total with gumption to register a 73-run win over Goa in their Ranji one-day match at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.Batting first, Kerala started disastrously, with both openers removed with the score only on 17. Wickets fell at regular intervals, and it was not until K Chandrasekhara and M Suresh Kumar put on 113 runs for the seventh wicket that Kerala’s score achieved any substance. Chandrasekhara made 60 off 92 balls, while Suresh Kumar scored 75 off 78.Set 227 for victory, Goa collapsed in a hurry. SK Cheruvathur and S Mathen took three wickets apiece to hasten the end of their rivals, breaking the middle and lower order to bowl Goa out for 153 in only 39 overs.

Defiant innings from young Victorians Jon Moss and Michael Klinger were not enough to stop Western Australia gaining a slight advantage at stumps on day one of their Pura Cup match.The Bushrangers crawled to 6-226 on a WACA pitch showing large green patches with the run rate barely keeping above two an over all day.Moss, 26, remained unbeaten on 60 with Victorian captain Paul Reiffel yet to score after the Bushrangers struggled to gain any real momentum throughout the day.It appeared from the outset that Reiffel’s decision to bat was a poor one after Victoria slipped to 3-60 just before lunch with Jason Arnberger (2), Matthew Mott (15) and Matthew Elliott (30) all back in the pavilion.Debutant quick Michael Clark (2-41) shone for the home team in the opening session with the former AFL player picking up openers Arnberger and Elliott.Kade Harvey (2-53) was the other wicket taker in the first session removing Mott for 15.But Brad Hodge and 21-year-old Klinger appeared to be turning the visitors’ innings around before spin bowler Brad Hogg trapped Hodge in front for 32.Klinger and Moss then put on a 64-run partnership before Klinger’s 189-minute knock came to an end on 58 midway through the final session.His 181-ball innings finished when he was caught flashing a cover drive to Michael Hussey for Harvey’s second wicket to leave the Vics at 5-169.Darren Berry was the last man out for the day, after surviving a confident caught behind appeal off the bowling of Clark. He was out for 20.Simon Katich took the neat catch in slips off the bowling of quick Matthew Nicholson (1-51).Moss, who’s looking to make his first century in the four-day game tomorrow said it was hard work out in the middle.”It was enjoyable to get away on that wicket, it wasn’t too bad, but they were bowling well so we had to just work a bit harder,” Moss said.”I would definitely love to go on with it (and reach a hundred) but I have to get myself in again tomorrow.”I just hope we can make as many as we can.”

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).

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)