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Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana have both been included in the 15-man squad for Sri Lanka’s one-day tour of India next month, increasing their chances of participating in the World Cup.Arnold and Chandana, who both starred in NCC’s six-wicket win in the Premier limited overs final two weeks ago, make their comebacks along with Nuwan Zoysa and Nuwan Kulasekera. These four replace the experienced pair of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, both of whom are carrying niggling injuries, together with Ruchira Perera and Chamara Kapugedera.Following his excellent form in the past few months – domestically and for Sri Lanka A – Arnold’s call-up is well deserved, and puts in doubt Kapugedera’s inclusion for the World Cup. A good performance from Arnold in India will be enough to convince the selectors that he is in good shape for the World Cup.The same can be said of Chandana who bowled exceptionally well for Sri Lanka A on their recent tour to India for the Duleep trophy tournament and then led NCC to victory against Moors SC by capturing five wickets.Chandana gets his break because Muralitharan is not available. In the past Chandana has more or less filled Muralitharan’s shoes when the great spinner was sidelined by injury.The lack of quality off spinners in the country is exposed by the fact that Chandana joins another leg-spinner. Malinga Bandara. in the squad. Like Kapugedera, Bandara will also feel threatened by Chandana’s presence as the World Cup selection nears.The need for a left-arm fast bowler in the absence of Vaas and Perera has forced the selectors’ hand in going for Zoysa, who last appeared in a one-dayer against India in Vadodara in November 2005.Sri Lanka play India in four matches starting from February 8 at Poona and then at Rajkot (Feb 11), Margoa (Feb 14) and Visakhapatnam (Feb 17). This will be Sri Lanka’s final engagement before the World Cup in the Caribbean.Squad
Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-capt & wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atappattu, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Upul Chandana, Malinga Bandara, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Nuwan Kulasekera

Having lost their captain, Chris Gayle, with a broken thumb and hamstring injury, West Indies are contemplating promoting Shivnarine Chanderpaul to No.3 in their bid to square the five-match one-day series against South Africa after losing the opening game at Centurion on Sunday.Speaking on the eve of the second game at Newlands, stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo said the new opening combination of Brenton Parchment and Devon Smith would be persisted with, with Chanderpaul moving one notch up the order, ahead of Marlon Samuels.”We need to get better starts at the top,” Bravo said after the team’s practice session on Thursday. “There might be a change in the order with Chanderpaul going up to No. 3 for more stability.”The top order failed to convert their starts at Centurion, losing half their side with the score on 72. Runako Morton and Darren Sammy led a late revival to lift the score to 175 in 36 overs but it wasn’t enough as South Africa coasted home with two overs to spare.Coach John Dyson also concurred with Bravo, he didn’t use the inexperience of the opening combination as an excuse, despite being up against bowler-friendly conditions. He said the newcomers in the squad should utilise this opportunity to step up and make the most of it if the conditions are more batting friendly.”[Sewnarine] Chattergoon’s played before, Parchment of course is brand new, and Devon will be looking at his tour so far and saying to himself, ‘I could have done better,’ ” Dyson said. “So whoever gets the job tomorrow, it’s got to be in their mind that this is an opportunity to cement their place in the squad.”West Indies will be boosted by the return of fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who batted and bowled in the nets after injuring his shoulder in the Twenty20 international in Johannesburg. It is uncertain, however, who he would replace as Sammy turned in a good performance with the bat to cover for his expensive spell of 1 for 57 in seven overs.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, said he was pleased to see the competition for places pushing his players to perform at their best. However, he touched upon the need to restrict the run scoring in the death overs. The bowlers couldn’t halt West Indies’ late revival at Centurion, with Morton and Sammy adding 69 for the seventh wicket.”We’ve bowled very well up until about ten overs to go, but I don’t think we’ve finished really well,” Smith said. “That’s something we’ve been discussing and working on.”I’d like to see guys really contributing in the last ten. If teams have got momentum going into the last five overs, it becomes difficult to pull it back.”South Africa will be forced to make a change, with allrounder Justin Ontong ruled out for the next two games with a knee injury. Smith said South Africa would probably go in with the same line-up which beat New Zealand at Newlands last month, with Herschelle Gibbs returning to open the innings and AB de Villiers dropping down to No.6. Offspinner Johan Botha is likely to replace Ontong.

ScorecardYorkshire, after threatening to lose to Nottinghamshire at their ownheadquarters, eventually fought their way through to a draw, thanks to thetenacity of their ninth-wicket pair of Tim Bresnan and Darren Gough, after somefeeble batting from their middle order. It was an intriguing final sessionafter a draw had seemed likely for most of the day.At start of play Darren Gough made an unusual but perceptive decision to open the bowling with leg-spinner Adil Rashid. The overnight batsman Stuart Broad, much less assured against spin than he had been against pace the previous day, was soon bamboozled and trapped lbw for 53. He had added 113 for the seventh wicket for the seventh wicket with Chris Read, who played himself in carefully, suggesting Nottighamshire were looking for a sizable lead.Mark Ealham was more intent on building that lead quickly, clubbing his first ball past mid-on for four, and running up a rapid 26 before hitting across a full toss and becoming a third successive lbw victim. Read was by now opening up; he lost Ryan Sidebottom, nudging Tim Bresnan weakly to the keeper, and then, with last man and renowned non-batsman Charlie Shreck at the crease, sent up a huge skyer which was eventually well held near mid-on by the bowler Bresnan. He departed for a highly creditable 142, and his team was now dismissed for 422, a lead of 123.Despite losing Joe Sayers, out of form, before lunch for 8, caught in the gully as Sidebottom finally took a long-overdue wicket, Yorkshire for a long time looked immune from defeat. Sidebottom and Shreck bowled well but did not look as lethal as during the first day. Michael Vaughan batted with caution but produced the occasional vintage drive, while Anthony McGrath provided his usual stabilising influence at number three.Vaughan would again rue his dismissal: he cut at a ball from Graeme Swann that was not quite wide enough for the stroke and dragged it on to his wicket for 34. Soon afterwards McGrath (43) was out caught behind hooking for the second time in the match, but with a teatime score of 127 for 3, four runs ahead, Yorkshire looked relatively safe.After the interval, however, the Yorkshire innings resembled the slow subsidence of the Titanic, rather than any dramatic collapse. Jacques Rudolph had again looked very sound, a no-frills batsman playing every ball on its merits, but perhaps he was too quick to assume that the match was safe when he went for his strokes after tea. With 32 to his credit, he played an indecisive shot outside the off stump to Sidebottom and was caught at the wicket.He was followed by a further three wickets in the next half-hour, more due to loose batting than inspired bowling, though Rashid was unlucky to flick a ball low and hard but straight to Adam Voges at backward short leg. Suddenly Yorkshire were up against the wall, and Tim Bresnan and Morne Morkel, the latter with a runner after his hamstring injury yesterday, found themselves unexpectedly having to dig in. At the start of the final hour the match was still in the balance, Yorkshire on 164 for 7, 41 runs ahead.An inspired bowling change saw Samit Patel come on and immediately have Morkelcaught in the leg trap for 8; 168 for 8. But Bresnan kept a mature head on his young shoulders (12 not out off 41 balls) and, aided by his skipper, saw Yorkshire through to safety. Gough had suffered a poor match until the end, but his last ditch captain’s innings was just what his team needed. With six overs remaining, three of which would have been lost to a change of innings, and Yorkshire 64 runs ahead, the teams shook hands.

James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, is confident India’s tour will continue as planned and he has called on the captains Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting to sort out their differences in the next few days. Despite rumblings of discontent from within the Indian team, Sutherland said Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, had indicated the remaining two Tests would be played and the squad would not be heading home early.”There’s nothing to suggest that it won’t [go ahead],” Sutherland said. “Sharad Pawar, who is the president of cricket in India, has overnight made such commitments, so that’s good enough for me. We’re looking forward to Perth now.”Australia won the second Test on Sunday with barely ten minutes remaining and after the match Kumble questioned whether Australia had played within the spirit of the game. Ponting angrily defended his integrity and Sutherland said following such a tense finish it was understandable that emotions were running high.”It was a classic Test match, it went right down to the wire,” Sutherland said. “Anil Kumble had a fantastic Test match as a captain and as a player, and no doubt he was disappointed in the end.”To some extent it’s not surprising in that emotionally charged environment that he would say what he has. It is only appropriate in that circumstance for Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble to get together and to talk about exactly what differences of opinion there may be in that regard.”The match was marred by poor umpiring, contentious catches, queries over walking and a report that resulted in Harbhajan Singh being suspended for three Tests for making a racist comment to Andrew Symonds. Brad Hogg might also face the match referee over allegedly using offensive language during the match but Sutherland was unsure when or if a hearing would take place.”I don’t know any of the detail,” he said. “As I understand it a report hasn’t specifically been laid yet but it may well be pending.”The controversies during and after the game have taken the gloss of Australia’s record-equalling 16th consecutive Test victory. Sutherland said it should have been no surprise that Australia would fight tooth and nail to win the match.”It has always been the Australian way to play the game of cricket hard but fair,” he said. “Tough and uncompromising is certainly the way in which all Australian teams have played no matter who has been the captain and this team under Ricky Ponting is no exception.”

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Career-best figures from medium-pacer Shakeel-ur-Rehman helped North West Frontier Province dismiss Sind for 149 and an unbeaten 68 from captain Younis Khan took the lead to 200 by stumps on day two in Karachi. Sind had resumed on 60 for 1 but Shakeel dealt quick blows to secure his side a 54-run lead.His first victim was opener Khalid Latif, caught behind for 17 from 75 balls to make it 79 for 2. Faisal Iqbal, the Pakistan international, was out for 1 and the dangerous Shahid Afridi was removed for an 18-ball 17. Naumanullah was then bowled for 47, the best contribution of the innings, and two swift strikes cut through the tail. Pind had proceeded to lose nine wickets for 89 runs.Rafatullah Mohmand and Yasir Hameed got NWFP’s second innings off to a solid start, adding 41, but a double-strike from Anwar Ali threatened to bring Sind back. Hameed hit 26 from 30 balls before he was trapped leg before by Anwar, a former Under-19 star. Riaz Kail suffered a similar fate for 4 as NWFP slipped to 51 for 2. That became 71 for 3 when Mohmand fell to Uzair-ul-Haq’s medium-pace, but Younis proved difficult to dislodge.Coming off two fifties against Zimbabwe and a one-match breather in the clean sweep, Younis rattled his way to an unbeaten 68 off 95 balls, with 13 boundaries, by the close of play. Offering solid support at the other end was Wajahatullah Wasti, the former Pakistan opener, with a sedate 14 from 81 balls. NWFP’s tail wagged in the first innings and further such contributions could be enough to seal Sind’s fate as this match progresses.
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Salman Butt’s unbeaten 143-ball 135, in an opening stand of 191 with Mohammad Hafeez, gave Punjab a superb start to their first innings on day two in Lahore. Butt shrugged off an ordinary series against Zimbabwe by taking the Federal Areas attack to task – Punjab scored 219 for 1 at 4.56 runs an over – after Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz combined to reduce the opposition from an overnight 301 for 4 to an eventual 383.Butt struck 24 fours and a six , or 75% of his score, to launch a stirring reply. With Hafeez, another opener with international experience, he defied a line-up that included Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat. Hafeez was a bit more relaxed in his approach, scoring 77 from 113 balls, but with his partner going all-out it suited the situation expertly. Butt ticked along at a strike rate of 94.40, doing plenty to keep this match from meandering to a draw. Punjab still trail by 164 but with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal to follow Federal Areas may be in for a tough third day in the field.Earlier, Rehman, who has played two Tests and 11 ODIs, snared 4 for 86 with his left-arm spin to support opening bowler Riaz. Usman Saeed and Naved Ashraf were cut short after crossing fifty and there was little action from Federal Areas’ lower order. Riaz, who had handed a maiden ODI cap against Zimbabwe last month, took 4 for 112 to help Punjab maintain damage control. Then it was over to Butt.

Group AAustria beat Gibraltar by six runs in Port Soif, on the first day of the European Championship Division One Twenty20. Having been asked to bat, Austria put up n 141 in 19.1 overs, mainly due to handy cameos from the lower order. Gibraltar fell just short of the target, finishing on 135 for 8, despite an unbeaten knock of 66 from 60 balls by Mark Bacarese.Italy chased down 90 in a tight game against Croatia in St Peter Port, winning by one wicket. Choosing to bat, Croatia’s innings lacked momentum, as they limped to 89 despite having four wickets in hand at the end of their 20 overs. Italy were not convincing in the chase, but sneaked home on the back of a knock of 26 not out from middle-order batsman Damian Crowley. Croatia’s fast bowlers John Vujnovich and Vivek Sharma were impressive, claiming three wickets each in tidy spells.Guernsey registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win against Norway at Castel. Choosing to bowl they shot out Norway for 57, before openers Tim Ravenscroft and Ross Kneller chased down the target in 7.1 overs. James Nussbaumer was the pick of their bowlers, knocking over three top-order Norway batsmen and conceding only seven runs in a 3.2-over spell.In their second game of the day Italy turned out an improved performance, easing past Austria by seven wickets in Castel. Batting first, Austria were bowled out for 105 in 19th over, as none of their top order were able to build on double-digit starts. Peter Petricola did most of the damage with the ball, claiming 4 for 20. Steady batting from Italy in the chase saw them through without much drama.Norway recovered well from their one-sided defeat against Guernsey to beat Gibraltar by a comfortable eight-wicket margin in Port Soif. Batting first, Gibraltar managed only 77 for 8 in their 20. Legspinner Muhammad Butt produced the best figures of the game, 3 for 13, before Norway’s batsmen clicked. Driven by an innings of 35 from 20 balls by Zaheer Ashiq, they knocked off the runs 62 balls to spare.Guernsey remained unbeaten on day one, beating Croatia by three wickets with an over to spare in St Peter Port. Chasing 98, the Guernsey top order was shaky and wickets fell at regular intervals, but a steady 34 from Stuart Le Prevost and a couple of timely lower-order cameos saw them home.Group BBelgium beat France by five wickets with two balls to spare in St Clement. Choosing to bat, France’s innings was hampered as both openers were run out. There were no sizeable contributions from the rest of the order, as they folded for 114 in exactly 20 overs. In the chase, four of Belgium’s top five batsmen got into double figures, ensuring their side began with a win.Denmark eased past Israel by eight wickets in St Martin, chasing down a target of 95 with five overs to spare. Denmark’s ploy of bowling first worked, as their bowlers shared the wickets around in tidy spells to restrict Israel to 94 for 9. The chase was steered by a fluent, unbeaten 44 from opener Freddie Klokker.A solid all-round performance helped Jersey beat Germany by six wickets in St Brelade. Choosing to field, Jersey kept Germany to 99 for 7. Only middle-order batsman Imran Chaudhry was able to launch an attack, scoring 36 off 25, before being bowled by Anthony Hawkins-Kay who claimed 3 for 13. Jersey were solid in the chase. Their top order produced steady cameos, which carried them to a win in the 17th over.Belgium won a nail-biter against Denmark by one run when last man Sair Anjum was caught off the bowling of Faisal Khaliq with two to get and three balls remaining in St Clement. Having chosen to bat, Belgium were bowled out for a modest 104. Bobby Chawla was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 13. Denmark got off to horrendous start, losing half their side with only 19 runs on the board. However, a lower-order resurgence saw them fight back to within touching distance of victory, but Belgium, and Khaliq, eventually had the final say to remain unbeaten after two games.Tony Carlyon starred with the ball and Dean Martin with the bat as Jersey routed Israel by eight wickets in St. Martin. Put in to bat by Jersey, Israel crawled to 87 all out from their 20 overs, with Carlyon taking 4 for 9 in four overs. He was ably backed up Anthony Hawkins-Kay, who took 3 for 16. Martin then made sure there would be no jitters chasing the small total with a brutal, unbeaten 64 from 44 balls, laced with three fours and five sixes, to see Jersey home with eight overs to spare.An allround bowling performance helped France beat Germany by 34 runs in St Brelade. Put into bat, France managed 126 for 7, with Usman Khan top scoring with 36. Germany struggled from the start, losing wickets at regular intervals, and were bundled out for 92 in 18.3 overs. Zika Ali picked up 3 for 17, while Usman chipped in with the ball as well, taking 2 for 22.

Shane Bond, New Zealand’s fast bowler, has announced his intention to target Sanath Jayasuriya, the hard-hitting Sri Lankan opening batsman, in their semi-final clash in Jamaica.”If we can get Sanath out early we can probably limit them to 200 runs so it’s my job, especially in this game, to get him out and we’ve always identified him as a key wicket,” Bond told the .The pitch at Sabina Park is expected to offer a fair bit of assistance to fast bowlers and according to Bond it has more bounce and swing than any of the other wickets that New Zealand have played on this World Cup. “It’s a small ground,” Bond added. “We have a long batting line-up, some big hitters, so it might suit us better and should be an ideal ground when playing a side like Sri Lanka.”Bond has 12 wickets at 12.83 from seven matches in the tournament. He missed New Zealand’s final Super Eights game against Australia due to a stomach complaint and his side lost by 215 runs. The defeat, Bond said, was disappointing because New Zealand were a better side than the one bowled out for 133 in 25.5 overs.”The moment we beat South Africa [in their penultimate Super Eights game], we knew we would be playing Sri Lanka and that became our sole focus,” he said. “So we didn’t do ourselves justice; we weren’t focused. But we are here for the game we really want to play and we’ll turn up for this match.”Winning the World Cup will give a huge boost to cricket in New Zealand, felt Bond. “I think people are hoping we win but aren’t speaking it,” he said. “I think even to make the final would be a huge buzz and an Australia-New Zealand final would be something special.”

A senior Pakistani minister has been denied a visa to visit India for the second one-day international between the hosts and Pakistan. The news comes after 46 Pakistani journalists, awarded media accreditation for the five-ODI and three-Test tour, were unable to cover the first match as they were yet to be issued visas by the Indian High Commission (IHC).Railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed intended to watch Thursday’s second match at Mohali, but was informed by the IHC in Islamabad that he could not be issued the required visa. “I was planning to travel on Wednesday but they left me disappointed,” he told . “They didn’t give any reason for not granting me the visa.”This time I had got invitation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and even then they did not give me the visa at the eleventh hour.”According to the minister, official permission was sought from the Pakistan government for the required travel and as a result, a protest has been lodged and the Pakistan prime minister informed. No official from the IHC was available for comment.While visas were famously relaxed and citizen-to-citizen contact was actively encouraged during the last three series between the two countries, a similar trait has yet to be seen this time around. This surprised the minister, who firmly believed that “there should be people-to-people contact between the two countries.”

A pile of prizes went to Ashley Noffke on Saturday night as he gained more rewards for his outstanding domestic season with Queensland. Noffke, the third Australian to collect the 50-wicket, 500-run first-class double, claimed his second consecutive Ian Healy Trophy for the state’s Player of the Year.There was not much competition for Noffke after the Bulls finished last in the Pura Cup and missed the finals of the one-day and Twenty20 competitions. Noffke led the first-class batting with 741 runs at 46.31 – Ryan Broad was second on 566 – and the bowling with 51 wickets, 36 ahead of the second-placed Michael Kasprowicz. It was the first time a player had topped both Queensland lists since Ron Oxenham in 1936.The returns pushed Noffke to international Twenty20 and one-day debuts and he should be a certainty to tour the West Indies with Australia in May. “I’m really happy I was able to put it all together this season,” Noffke said.”It’s disappointing we didn’t get the results we were after, but cricket is a game of roundabouts. It can be a long year when things don’t go according to plan, but everyone stuck together really well and that’s the true test of a side.”Noffke also picked up the state’s award for the Pura Cup and the players’ player prize while James Hopes won the FR Cup gong and Shane Watson was recognised for his belligerent Twenty20 batting. The Australian representative Jodie Purves collected the women’s trophy for scoring 214 runs at 30.57 and claiming 16 dismissals in the national league.

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Powered by a counterattacking 90 by Abhishek Nayar, and a steady display by their medium-pacers, West Zone beat South Zone by 26 runs in Bangalore to finish second in the Deodhar Trophy. Central had already secured the title by winning their first three matches with a bonus point in each of them.West had started a middle-order collapse when Nayar came into bat at 105 for 3 in the 25th over. In the next 10 overs, they stumbled to 165 for 6, and were in danger of being bowled out. That’s when Nayar found stable company in Ajit Agarkar, and by the time Agarkar got out West were in a position to accelerate in the slog overs. The two added 66 in 11.1 overs, while some lusty blows towards the end to take West to 272. Nayar was the last man out – in the 50th over, for an 80-ball 90.South’s chase never got going, and they had lost Robin Uthappa, M Vijay and S Vidyut in the first 13 overs for 51 runs. S Badrinath, along with mini contributions from the middle and the lower-middle order, kept them within an outside shot, but once Badrinath got out for 64 in the 42nd over, the task was too much for the lower order. Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets apiece.
ScorecardAnustup Majumdar and Saurabh Tiwary helped East Zone recover from a precarious situation to put up 296, a total North Zone did not have the firepower to chase. This ended a dismal campaign for North Zone, who failed to win anything and conceded bonus points in two of their matches. East finished third with nine points from four matches.When Majumdar and Saurabh came together, East had lost three wickets for 75 runs, and were in need of a partnership that would be big and one that would keep the rate up. The two did just that, adding 133 runs in 31.1 overs. Saurabh contributed 73 of those – off 74 balls, with the help of three fours and three sixes. Majumdar, though, went on to get his second List A century and his highest List A score, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in his 107-ball 109.The lack of impetus in East’s slog overs – last nine overs went for 56 – proved inconsequential, as a slow start followed by a middle-order collapse meant North were never with a shot. A mini recovery by Virat Kohli had taken North to 96 for 2 in the 22nd over, but it soon became 134 for 7 as East wrested control.