Michael Clarke expects a fight to hold his Test place in the middle order after failing to seal a spot during his recall for the Bangladesh series in April. Clarke enjoyed a month off after the tour and a “road trip” with Andrew Symonds, who is a candidate for his mate’s position during the Ashes, but he has been back in solid training for eight weeks to prepare for the Champions Trophy and beyond.”There’s going to be a few tough selection decisions coming up, so hopefully I can score some runs and get a chance [for the Ashes],” Clarke said at Allan Border Field, where he was Glenn McGrath’s practice partner. The form of Phil Jaques – he has already posted double-centuries for Worcestershire and Australia A during the off-season – is also putting pressure on Australia’s batting ranks, which include the re-born Damien Martyn, who picked up a match-turning century in the final Test in South Africa.Clarke said positions in the middle order would be closely fought and he hoped to make a mark during October’s Champions Trophy, a prize Australia have never won. “Everyone is fighting to play for their country,” he said. “At the moment the batting is pretty strong but runs on the board will help.”After being dropped during the West Indies series last summer, Clarke returned to Test action in Bangladesh but was unable to create a lasting impression with scores of 19, 9 and 23 not out. However, he has been a fine performer in the one-day team and the extra limited-overs duties restricted his first-class action in 2005-06.”In reality I didn’t get to play too much four-day or Test cricket,” he said. “I played two four-day games all year [making 201 not out against Queensland and 178 against South Australia] and then two Tests in Bangladesh. I need to continue to make the most of my opportunity in one-day cricket.”

The funeral for Sir Clyde Walcott, the former West Indies batsman, will be held at Cave Hill in Barbados on Saturday.Walcott died on August 26 aged 80 after suffering a short illness. He was one of the three Ws – Everton Weekes and Sir Frank Worrell were the others – and will be buried close to Worrell’s grave in a site which overlooks the cricket ground named in their honour.”It is a fitting resting place for Clyde at a ground named in his honour,” his widow, Lady Muriel Walcott, said.In 44 Tests Walcott struck 15 hundreds, and made 3798 runs at an average of 56.68. Walcott managed several West Indian teams and succeeded Sir Colin Cowdrey as chairman of ICC. He was knighted in 1994.

South Africa 156 for 4 (Bosman 38) beat Zimbabwe (Chibhabha 38, Hall 3-23) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Despite a top-order wobble, South Africa clinched a six-wicket win and an unassailable series lead over Zimbabwe in the rescheduled second one-day international at East London. It shouldn’t have been so tricky given that the target was 153, but in the end South Africa were able to get home in good time to round off a comprehensive bowling effort earlier in the day. In the midst of all this, Jacques Kallis became the first South African in the history of the game to have 8,000 runs and 200 wickets in both forms of the game.After the in-form Boeta Dippenaar fell to an ugly pull shot that Vusi Sibanda did well to judge at point under the floodlights, two rookie batsmen looked as if they wanted to finish the game on their own. Loots Bosman showed no signs of nerves after he ducked into his first ball and took a blow to the helmet. Keen to make amends for his rash dismissal in the first one-dayer at Bloemfontein, he made sure to get right behind the line when defending the tight deliveries. He was afforded a slice of luck when Piet Rinke misjudged a top-edged cut shot at third man, but all it did was change the complexion of his innings.A deft dab to the same region, a square drive on the up through cover point, and a huge hit over wide long-off for maximum followed. Perhaps loving the thrill of the lights and the cheer from the crowd, Bosman took it one step further with a golf-like tee back down the ground to signal the 50-run stand off just 31 balls with Alviro Peterson, the Lions batsman on international debut. Peterson was into his stride quickly as he worked his third delivery through midwicket for three before executing a perfect pull for four to get the stands swaying.However, both batsmen were given a reality check by Rinke, the most unthreatening of medium pacers there must be in the game. Tossed the ball in the tenth over, Rinke struck in his second when he got Peterson to chop an attempted nudge to third man onto the stumps and he then bowled Bosman through the drive. Rinke nearly had a third when Kallis drove him over cover’s outstretched fingertips.Prosper Utseya brought Anthony Ireland back into the attack and he responded with his second wicket when he bowled Kallis with one that kept low and nipped in. This big wicket, and Rinke’s double strike, apparently had not been enough to shake South Africa up. Justin Kemp tried to make a further mess of the situation, but Utseya dropped him at short midwicket – pull, in and out – to deny Ireland a third wicket as well. It was that kind of evening. Eventually, Kemp (28 not-out) and another newbie, Jean-Paul Duminy (31 not-out), completed the formalities.Utseya’s decision to bat first didn’t go down smoothly as Zimbabwe’s batting came a cropper against a disciplined South African attack. The match was postponed by 24 hours due to rain on Sunday and started an hour late today because of a wet outfield, but South Africa’s bowlers wasted little time in bundling a fragile Zimbabwe out for just 152 in 49.4 overs.Whereas at Bloemfontein South Africa’s bowling was under par at the start, today Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock removed the openers early and Kallis’s decision to bring himself on first change was backed up with quick wickets. Ntini needed just four deliveries to remove Sibanda, Zimbabwe’s top-scorer with 51 in the previous match, and was his usual hustling self as he regularly hit the right spots around the off stump. Pollock was his usual economic self and fired in an excellent delivery that nipped back and sent Tafadzwa Mufambisi’s leg stump cartwheeling.Kallis struck gold with his first delivery when he drew a leading edge from Hamilton Masakadza and snapped a neat catch moving to his right. He picked up a quick second wicket when Brendan Taylor mistimed a flick and was snapped up by a diving midwicket. And when Andrew Hall clipped Stuart Matsikenyeri’s off stump with a one that nipped in low, Zimbabwe were 73 for 5 with plenty to fret about.Chamu Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura put on 47 for the sixth wicket in the only substantial partnership of the innings, but their untimely dismissals near the death allowed South Africa a window to smash through. Ntini returned to nab Chibhabha, Peterson – who maintained a tight line with his brand of left-arm spin – added Rinke’s wicket, and Hall ran through the remaining batsmen. Utseya helped his side over the 150 mark with a six and a four, but this was a total that would challenge few sides in international cricket.Zimbabwe just didn’t show enough gumption for a fight in the face of South Africa’s improved bowling performance. The top order failed to read the length of Ntini and Pollock, there were attempts to go aerial when defense was in order, and the errors against spin were glaring. Given that this was their last chance for competition ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy, Zimbabwe have much to address in terms of their batting.How they were out
Zimbabwe
Vusi Sibanda c Boucher b Ntini 0 (1 for 1)
Tafadzwa Mufambisi b Pollock 21 (27 for 2)
Hamilton Masakadza c & b Kallis 5 (33 for 3)
Brendan Taylor c Hall b Kallis 5 (50 for 4)
Stuart Matsikenyeri b Hall 14 (73 for 5)
Elton Chigumbura st Boucher b Peterson 30 (120 for 6)
Chamu Chibhabha c Duminy b Ntini 38 (122 for 7)
Piet Rinke lbw b Peterson 3 (128 for 8)
Anthony Ireland b Hall 1 (132 for 9)
Ed Rainsford b Hall (152 for 10)
South Africa
Boeta Dippenaar c Sibanda b Ireland 9 (14 for 1)Alviro Peterson b Rinke 20 (67 for 2)
Loots Bosman b Rinke 38 (72 for 3)
Jacques Kallis b Ireland 26 (109 for 4)

The Indian team has great faith in experimentation. That was the indication given bythe captain-coach combine of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell, apart from three members of the Indian squad, who spoke at the team’s media briefing in New Delhi before they kick off their Champions Trophy campaign.Criticised in the media for not having a settledlook yet, with just under six months to go for the World Cup, Greg Chappell clarified that experimentation is basically development of the squad and a “constantprocess.”Giving a positive spin to the experiments, Dravid said that they(experiments) provided results. “What you have always calledexperimentation I have generally called it as strategy, which is whatgives us the best chance to win a game. Whatever strategy will work bestto win a game I will use it. That will depend on the players I have, theform they are in, the fitness of all the players and we have to take a lotof things into consideration that other people are not privy to or [have] accessto.”After a string of successes last year, where India scoredconvincing victories over Sri Lanka, England and Pakistan, the team losttrack first suffering a 4-1 defeat in the Caribbean last season and thenbeing ousted in the tri-nation DLF Cup in Malaysia after managing to winjust one game.The indifferent form of matchwinners like Virender Sehwag, Mahendra SinghDhoni and Irfan Pathan had deeply affected the winning momentum, and thetop order in batting had been shuffled frequently. But seniors likeDravid and Sachin Tendulkar are not losing much sleep. “We had a dip because fewof our key players who were really performing well for us in the period wewere successful haven’t been able to hit perform”, said Dravid, who feltthese were quality players and there was no cause for concern.”Unfortunately in the our last six to seven matches four to five of ourplayers couldn’t click. That is where Australia are good at: they are ableto build a good squad because of the depth they possess. It doesn’t reallymatter if players are out of form as they can always rely on differentpeople,” Dravid added. Instead, he felt that over-reliance on certain players was an areathey should be looking into.Tendulkar, who recently came back during the DLF Cup after a four-monthlayoff, felt that “Not all batsmen are going to be in good form. The oneswho are in good form make it up for the other guys and the same holds forthe bowlers. That adjustment is necessary.” While lending his support forthe team’s flexible methods, Tendulkar thought the need of the hour wasbalance. “Experiments should go on to certain extent. I know it is equallyimportant to settle down and figure individual roles, but that doesn’tmean we should totally stop experimenting. There should be a nicebalance.”Sehwag, who was asked to move down the order to No. 4 in Malaysia, had noqualms adapting to the challenge. Sehwag, who started his career as amiddle order bat, confirmed that he is ready to open in the ChampionsTrophy, but explained “I enjoy batting both as an opener as well in themiddle. More important for me is the challenge. If you are batting in themiddle order and if two or three wickets fall you need to responsible,make runs and at the same time not lose your wicket. When you open theball is new and that is another kind of challenge.”Chappell, who has come in for a lot of flak for his lateral thinking,strongly felt that experiments would benefit in the long run.Refusing to be disappointed about the team’s recent losses, and insteadhappy with the way “Rahul is going about developing the squad”, Chappelltried explaining why what he and his team are doing was necessary. “Thereason that we have done most of these things (experiments) are wellthought through, they are not done at the spur of the moment. Since peopleoutside are not privy to most of our discussions, therefore they are notable to understand what we are trying to do. There are positives that comeout it, like things that individuals learn about themselves, things thatthe individuals learn about the different roles that are required within ateam.”Yet questions remained. A case in point is Irfan Pathan, who is goingthrough an extended bad run with the ball. Dravid adamantly refused tobelieve that and said that his opinion about Pathan remains the same as itwas back when Pathan was performing well with the ball and batting up theorder. “I have always maintained that Irfan Pathan is primarily a bowlerto me first who contributes with the bat. Irfan himself has told us thatbatting up the order has no relevance to his bowling.”Dravid felt it was for the player now to hit back as “There is a certainamount you can do as a captain or a coach. At the end of the day there iscertain thing called individual responsibility and individual performance- you control your own destiny, which is something you should neverforget. We’ve a lot of faith in Irfan and we know how important he is forthe team. We were able to play five bowlers consistently last seasonbecause of the success of Irfan and Dhoni, and I mention them as keyplayers.”Tendulkar felt it was important to have the winning momentum. “Ithas to be with you (momentum) – that is what happened to us in the 2003World Cup where towards the start of the tournament we struggled a bit andtowards the end we were a different lot altogether. That was because westarted gradually but surely, so that was a big turning point for us.”Yuvraj Singh echoed Tendulkar’s thoughts, saying consistency waswhat India need now. “You can’t keep winning for six months and fall awayin the next six months.”

Nicky Boje, the South African spinner, has said he did not have apprehensions about travelling to India for the Champions Trophy, insisting that his omission from the squad had nothing to do with the risk of being questioned by the Delhi police regarding match-fixing.”I don’t know what the Indian media is writing about me. I do not have to fear for anything,” Boje, captain of a South African side for the Hong Kong Sixes, told The Indian Express. “I was ready with the answers to the questionnaire sent by the Delhi Police and I had even readied my lawyer to accompany me. But I was dropped from the squad. That is the fact.”Boje and Herschelle Gibbs had avoided touring India since 2000, after supposedly failing to obtain any assurance from the police with regards to questioning on the match-fixing scandal. But Boje pointed out that if Gibbs could travel, so could he.”I really don’t know how the Indian media blew it up without getting their facts right. Where did I come into the picture?,” he said. “I was never indicted for match-fixing or any other suspicious activity. It was simply a case of police wanting to know certain things. They had sent me a questionnaire and I had all the answers ready.”Despite not being selected, Boje was confident of touring India in the future: “I have a proven record on your tracks as a bowler and I can be a handy batsman [as pinch-hitter] at the top of the order”. It was a view endorsed by Ray Jennings, the former South African coach who’s currently in charge of the Hong Kong Sixes side. “Boje is the best spinner available in the country, and it is still beyond my thinking how and why he was left out of the squad. He is a very handy batsman who can score quickly and can send down some nice tight overs.”

Yere Goud has obtained clearance from the Indian board (BCCI) to represent Karnataka and will lead the side in their second round Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at Mysore starting on December 1. Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, confirmed that Goud’s clearance had been approved by Sharad Pawar, the board president.Goud was forced to sit out of the first match against Baroda, on technical grounds, as he had failed to obtain the required No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Railways, his previous team, on time. Barrington Rowland, the opening batsman, led the side in Goud’s absence, as Karnataka got off to a disastrous start, losing by seven wickets after they were shot out for 85 in their first innings.Goud, who last represented his home state Karnataka in 1994-95, had been appointed captain as early as August and trained with the probables in their pre-season preparation, for nearly four months. Unfortunately for Goud, Railways failed to intimate the board before the cut-off date for the NOC, which was September 30.

ScorecardA seven-wicket haul by seamer Ranadeb Bose gave Bengal the opportunity for an outright victory, after Hyderabad capitulated for a paltry 76 at Uppal. Bose finished with figures of 7 for 25, giving very little away in his 20 overs. Earlier, the momentum was clearly with Hyderabad after seamer Alfred Absolem’s five-wicket haul gave them a valuable 109-run lead. Chasing 186, Bengal lost two early wickets, both to medium pacer Praneet Arjun, before Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Manoj Tiwary took the score to 72 at stumps.
ScorecardA sound allround effort put Delhi in command against Andhra at Vijayawada, after the home side were bundled out for 209 in their first innings. Andhra’s Prasad Reddy resisted with an obdurate 71 and shared a 57-run stand with Syed Sahabuddin but once their sixth-wicket stand was broken, the Andhra innings folded up. Only three batsmen managed to cross double figures, as Ishant Sharma picked up four wickets and Amit Bhandari mopped up the tail. Delhi then extended their lead to 306 with seven second-innings wickets in hand, boosted by half-centuries by Shikhar Dhawan and Mithun Manhas, who raced to an aggressive 86.
ScorecardTamil Nadu’s hopes of staving off relegation hung on a slim thread as they fought to avoid an innings defeat against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. When they began the day at 119 for 4 in their first innings there was still hope for Tamil Nadu, with S Sharath and M Vijay at the crease. But Vijay was lbw to Sunil Joshi for 48 early on the third day, and from there it was all downhill. Sharath made 18 and R Ashwin 46, but Tamil Nadu could only muster 207. Asked to follow-on they began badly, losing openers S Aniruddha, lbw to Vinay Kumar, and Vijay, with only 22 on the board. A mini recovery took Tamil Nadu past 100 but KP Appanna trapped R Prasanna (59) lbw and Tamil Nadu were 112 for 3. They managed to go through to close without further loss, but at 130 for 3, trailing by 89 runs, Tamil Nadu are still in deep trouble.
ScorecardMaharashtra, slowly but steadily in pursuit of Gujarat’s first-innings 369, reached 296 for 4 from 123 overs at the end of the third day of their match at the Golf Club Ground in Nasik. Beginning the day on 72 for 1, Maharashtra were powered by Harshad Khadiwale, the 18-year-old opening batsman, who spent nearly ten hours at the crease for 73. He was helped along by Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the captain, who chipped in with 45. In fact, other than Dhiraj Jadhav, who was dismissed on the second day, all the batsmen contributed. Yogesh Takawale made 57 before being caught behind off Ashraf Makda, while Sridharan Sriram was unbeaten on 53. Maharashtra still trail by 73 runs, but the vital first-innings lead and two points look well within reach.
ScorecardRajasthan were staring at an outright loss against Mumbai when they ended the third day still needing 69 runs to avoid an innings defeat with only three wickets in hand. After being bowled out for only 155 and conceding a lead of 328, Rajasthan were up against it, but they put in a far better performance in their second dig. Despite losing Vikram Solanki for a duck they managed to stabilise the innings, thanks mainly to half-centuries from Gagan Khoda and Rahul Kanwat. But Mumbai’s spinners got into the act as Nilesh Kulkarni with three wickets, and Ramesh Powar, with two, put the skids on the innings. Only Ajay Jadeja, unbeaten on 49, stands between Mumbai and victory, with just three wickets needed when the final day begins.
ScorecardSaurasthra recovered from a precarious position through a strong bowling performance and restricted Haryana to 82 for 7 in their second innings after conceding a first-innings lead of 40 runs. From their overnight 134 for 5 Saurashtra spurred on to 268, thanks to Ravinder Jadeja (48) and Rakesh Dhruv (34), who added vital runs in the lower middle-order. It was again this pair that combined to do the damage when Haryana came out to bat in their second essay. Jadeja picked up 3 for 16 and Dhruv 3 for 30 as Haryana were reduced to 82 for 7. There was barely a partnership of note, and only Nitin Saini, with 27 at the top of the order, made it past 20. The overall lead for Haryana was 122, and the game is interestingly poised going into the final day, with both teams still in with a chance of forcing a win.

It was hardly a whodunit of Murder On The Orient Express proportions, but Cricket Australia think that it has discovered the secret of how England’s bowling plans came to be leaked to the media.It was initially thought that the plans had been stolen from England’s dressing-room, but security staff at the MCG have said that they have spoken to the individual who sent the sheet of paper to ABC radio and they are convinced he did not steal them.”I found it on the ground in the members’ area,” Nick Ruthry, the person who sent the plans, told The Age. “I’d heard the ABC commentators saying they were wondering what the England plans were, so I thought I’d help them out – I only wanted to make sure Warney didn’t cop one in the throat.”It is not clear how the paper came to be on the floor, but one theory is that the sheet was dropped after being photocopied. “The Melbourne Cricket Club believe that there was no breach of security involved in the printing of these documents,” said a spokesman. “As far as the MCC is concerned, the matter is closed and there will be no further comment.”

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

Prosper Utseya has been fined 40 percent of his match fee for a slow over rate in the fourth one-day international against Bangladesh at Harare.Other members of Zimbabwe’s team were fined 20 percent of their fee from Saturday’s match following the hearing conducted by match referee Cyril Mitchley.”This was Prosper’s first offence of this nature but he must be careful not to let it happen again. He has received a stern warning,” said Mitchley. “Slow over rates are not fair to the opposition or the spectators and captains have a responsibility to ensure their players adhere to the regulations in that regard.”Bangladesh claimed the series 3-1 after a one-wicket win in the final match on Saturday.