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The Western Australian selectors today announced a Western Warriors team to play the Southern Redbacks in a Pura Cup match at the WACA Ground starting on Friday, November 8.Batsman Michael Hussey will captain the team.Opener Scott Meuleman has recovered from a thigh injury to regain his place in the team.Young batsman Shaun Marsh returns to the first-class side after his impressive 92 against England in the two-day RE/MAX Cup match against England.Seam bowler Stuart Karppinen was unavailable for selection after he strained an abdominal muscle during the RE/MAX Cup three-day first-class match against England.The Warriors team to play against the Redbacks is:Michael Hussey (captain), Ryan Campbell (vice-captain), Jo Angel, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Brad Hogg, Shaun Marsh, Scott Meuleman, Matthew Nicholson, Marcus North, Chris Rogers and Brad Williams

The National cricket selectors have shown their faith in the team that did duty at the Wanderers by retaining all the same eleven in a squad named for the second Castle Lager/MTN Test against Sri Lanka starting in Centurion on Friday 15th November.Martin van Jaarsveld has been kept in the squad in the event of Herschelle Gibbs failing a late fitness test. It is expected that Gibbs, who injured his back practising before the first Test at the Wanderers on Friday, will pass the fitness test at Supersport Park on Wednesday afternoon.Mornantau Hayward, who did not play in the first Test having been given permission to return to Port Elizabeth for the Eastern Province against Boland Standard Bank clash, has not been included in the squad.The full squad is:Shaun Pollock Captain,
Mark Boucher Vice-captain,
Steve Elworthy,
Herschelle Gibbs,
Andrew Hall,
Claude Henderson,
Jacques Kallis,
Gary Kirsten,
Neil McKenzie,
Makhaya Ntini,
Ashwell Prince,
Graeme Smith,
Martin van Jaarsveld,
Coach: Eric Simons
Assistant Coach: Corrie van Zyl
Physiotherapist: Shane Jabaar
Fitness Trainer: Andrew Gray
Manager: Goolam Rajah
Selection convener Omar Henry also announced that a provisional squad of 30 players for the ICC World Cup would be announced later this month. The ICC deadline for the provision of squads for all participating nations is the 30th of November. The deadline for the final squad of 15 is the 31st December.

The surprise talking point at the picturesque Rose Bowl, where Hampshire took on India just days before the npower Test series starts, was the wicket. At the end of the day, the Indians had been bowled out for 236, with Shaun Udal the hero. Enjoying his benefit year, Udal scalped 5/59, exploiting to the hilt a wicket not too different from the `Chicken tikka masala’ consumed in such large quantities here – tempting, and yet just a touch underdone.But don’t for a second believe it was all about the wicket. Sure, there were periods where it was two-paced, alternately shooting through below the knees and kicking up around chest height, but it was certainly not a wicket on which a strong Indian batting line up should have subsided in just 81.1 overs.Having left out both left-arm seamers, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, the Indians had no hesitation in electing to bat first. But it was bad news straight away. Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag slashed their way to 39, giving a few chances before the former perished, giving medium-pacer James Tomlinson his maiden first-class wicket.Then came the man that all India look to, when the ball is doing a bit, the wicket less than flat and wickets falling – Rahul Dravid. Crashing Neil Johnson through the covers in fine style, the Karnataka middle-order batsman got even most die-hard Hampshire fans clapping. And there was more to come from the flowing blade. The footwork was excellent, the eyesight perfect, and the placement made sure the ball pinged the off side fence with regularity.The first sign of life in the wicket came when James Hamblin dug one in short to Dravid. Although not a compulsive hooker, Dravid went for the shot, mishitting the ball down to deep backward square leg. Tomlinson on the fence, sashayed a couple of steps forward, stumbled back and managed to get the tips of his fingers to the ball.Despite the calm at one end, with Dravid motoring along as one might, driving in to the Rose Bowl on the M3, there was much action at the other end. Sehwag (41) played half-cocked to Udal, inside-edging the ball on to his stumps. From then on, the offie who has more than 800 scalps in his career for Hampshire, knocked the Indians over, one by one.Sachin Tendulkar, who had delighted fans earlier in the day with his `Master Class’ program for Channel 4, could not give a practical demonstration of those fantastic powers of batsmanship. After awkwardly hitting Udal just short of mid off, Tendulkar top-edged a drive to the on side. With just three to his name, he walked back to the pavilion as Dimitri Mascarenhas held on to a swirling ball at short third man.Ganguly, never quite in control on a wicket that seemed tailor-made for Udal, came down the wicket and managed a couple of trademark drives over the infield, but could not last long enough. Cutting a ball that was too close to the body for the shot, the Indian skipper was caught behind off Udal. Celebration time at the Rose Bowl, as memories of last season flooded back when Australia were skittled out for 97 on a first-day wicket in their tour match.Dravid moved from strength to strength. The 50th over of the day saw him pull Mascarenhas to the deep backward square leg fence twice, with total control. Just as murmurs about his class were going about the sparsely-populated press box he lost his wicket, against the run of play. After concentrating superbly for exactly two and a half hours for 78 (10 fours, 1 six) Dravid was bowled by Mascarenhas, for whom revenge was sweet.Not quite as sweet as the fruits of toil that Udal reaped at the other end. Easily scalping an out of touch Sanjay Bangar, the Hampshire offie gleefully accepted yet another career 5-fer when a well set VVS Laxman (38) presented Zimbabwean Neil Johnson with a catch. The Indian tail, barring the Harbhajan Singh swat at the end of the innings, folded without much ado.A day to remember for Udal and Hampshire, and one surely to leave well behind for the Indians. The small consolation for the visitors came in the first of eight overs they bowled, when Bangar had Will Kendall caught behind for a duck. At 33/1 with a belligerent Johnson (30) at the crease, you know that Hampshire have come out tops on day one of this three-day match. The response from fans at this ground was terrific today, but you know it will be even better on the morrow. After all, what can be better on a warm summer Sunday, than watching your club side make a Test team hunt for leather?

Warwickshire players, Graham Wagg and Jim Troughton, will not fly to Australia on Sunday 13 October with the remainder of the National Academy squad due to injury.Wagg has a stress fracture of the back and Troughton has stress fractures inthe fibula bones of both legs. Whilst both players will attend the NationalAcademy programme introduction at Loughborough next week, neither willtravel to Adelaide before Christmas. They will re-habilitate with Warwickshire CCC.They will undergo medicals in December and it is hoped both will be able tojoin the Academy squad in Adelaide in early January next year.No replacements will be made for this initial training phase of the programme.

Player negotiations have delayed the naming of the New Zealand cricket team for the tour of the West Indies.The side was to have been announced today at 1pm, then was delayed until 4.30pm.However, it has been delayed indefinitely pending the resolution of negotiations over an Interim Player Contract to cover the period of the West Indies tour.New Zealand Cricket have said they hope the negotiations will be completed tomorrow.The New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association is a relatively new group on the local cricket horizon.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said NZC was not at liberty to disclose the issues under negotiation, but added that he was disappointed the negotiations had not been completed in time today.The side is scheduled to leave for their tour on Tuesday.NZC is hopeful that negotiations will be concluded tomorrow and will advise details of the team announcement as soon as practical.”I had expected that the negotiations would be resolved by now,” Snedden said.However, I felt the players needed some space after their early return from Pakistan. This delayed the start of our negotiations with the players’ representative,” he said.

England top-order batsman Mark Butcher has a slight crack to his right thumb but a best case scenario would have him fit to play in the second National Bank Test starting on Thursday in Wellington.Butcher injured his right thumb when taking the second slip catch that dismissed Lou Vincent from Andrew Caddick’s bowling this morning.He left the field immediately and was taken to hospital for a precautionary x-ray.It revealed a slight crack.A specialist advised the injury should be treated as soft-tissue damage.His ability to play would be determined by the amount of pain he was in.His injury will be re-assessed tomorrow morning and any decision on whether to call for a replacement will be delayed until that time.

Lahore Blues pulled off a sensational one-wicket victory over Karachi Whites to clinch the 43rd Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship on the third day of the five-day final at the National Stadium on Monday.The visitors held their nerves on a day of high drama to win only Lahore’s fourth title. On the last occasion Lahore City won a low-scoring final, also by one wicket, inside three days was at Thatta in 1996-97 because debutant Abdur Razzaq claimed a career-best seven for 51 and then struck the winning runs.On this occasion, it was another tailender, Waqas Ahmed, who had the satisfaction of striking the winning hit when he top-edged a pull just beneath the sightscreen for a boundary that brought the proceedings to an end at 5.40 p.m.Karachi Whites had all but sealed the match when they had their opponents on the ropes at 66 for six. The target of 184 seemed a long way off at that point for Lahore Blues. However, from then onwards everything started to go wrong for the home side.Wicket-keeper Humayun Farhat, a gutsy right-handed batsman, chanced his arms to wrest the initiative. Humayun, who turns 20 on Wednesday, lashed 63 off 53 balls with eight boundaries which changed the entire complexion of the match.Luck also played a huge part in Humayun’s daring innings. When he had reached 15 in his side’s score of 96 for six he was caught and bowled by Sami off a no-ball. On 27, Humayun survived a vociferous LBW appeal when umpire Nazir Junior gave him the benefit of doubt. On 40, Mohammad Masroor floored a fierce cut in the gully off Sami.Left-hander Mohammad Hussain also played an invaluable innings, slamming 29 off as many deliveries in a partnership that produced 63 off 51 balls in just 37 minutes.Lahore Blues were lucky to have a man of Wasim Akram’s vast experience coming to the crease at the dismissal of Hussain at 128 for seven. The former Pakistan skipper not only becalmed Humayun’s exuberance but also struck some lusty blows in making 23 off 30 balls with four boundaries.Akram was run out after the pair had put on 50 runs off 52 deliveries in 42 minutes. Humayun’s luck finally ran out when he holed to deep mid-off with only five runs required.Karachi Whites’ strategy of playing only two specialists pacemen proved fateful. Mohammad Sami bowled a marathon first spell of 14 overs on the trot. Having sent down 24 overs barely 20 hours ago, it was asking a lot from the 19-year-old frail-built fast bowler. Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who bowled just one over on Sunday, was never utilized at all on a pitch that had hardened considerably on Monday.Earlier, it was the formidable Test duo of Akram and Razzaq that had Karachi Whites in tatters. Akram captured three wickets each in two spells and never let any batsman face him with a degree of confidence. Swinging the ball both ways, the 34-year-old left-arm demon pacer returned splendid figures of six for 36 in 17.5 overs.Razzaq bowled unchanged from the pavilion end to finish with four for 54 in 21 overs and gave the 21-year-old his his first match haul of 10 wickets in first-class cricket.Karachi Whites may claim that they were at the receiving end of some questionable umpiring by Aleem Dar. Shadab Kabir had the mortification of bagging a pair but he was given caught behind when it was obvious that the ball had not hit anything on its way to the keeper. Zeeshan Pervez was struck in line of the stumps but only after he had got a thick inside edge.Shahid Afridi was forced off the field when he struck a painful blow on his right elbow by Razzaq. He returned at the fall of fifth wicket but scored only two more before sliced a catch to cover.Moin Khan batted the longest – 79 minutes – for a dogged knock of 18 off 55 balls with two boundaries until he fell to Akram with the score on 104. Kaneria bagged a pair by losing his middle stump off the very next ball.

Australian cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Colin Miller and coach John Buchanan receivedanonymous phone calls seeking match information during the recent tour of India, it was revealed today.The unidentified caller rang during the third Test in Chennai, asking about pitch information, the state of the match and what theythought the likely outcome of the match might be, Australian Cricket Board chief executive Malcolm Speed said.The incident rekindled memories of the bookmaking scandal in 1994 when Mark Waugh and Shane Warne later confessed toselling weather and pitch reports to an Indian bookie during the tour of Sri Lanka.They were fined a total of $18,000 but the punishment was initially kept secret by the ACB.The latest incident was immediately reported to Australian team manager Steve Bernard and passed on to Speed.The ACB boss said that, on the face of it, the calls were not illegal because no offers were made to the players.The ACB reported the incident to the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit and the Indian police for investigation.Gilchrist said his phone rang as he was preparing to leave his room to go to the team bus.”We get about 10 calls a day from Indian fans. This person was obviously of Indian descent. He said he was a very enthusiasticsupporter and asked how I thought the game would go,” the Australian vice-captain told AAP.”I said that hopefully we would do well and then he asked questions about the wicket and whether it would turn and would thathelp Warney (Shane Warne) and Miller.”It didn’t really set off any alarm bells then but then I asked who he was and he asked more questions, I said don’t worry aboutit and hung up.”It was reported to the management very quickly and they got us to write a statement and explain exactly what happened.”Then it became a non-issue and we could focus on the game.”Speed said the Australian players were now well aware of the risk involved in inappropriate approaches.”We don’t know whether this person was a gambler, a bookmaker, who this person was but I think the good news that cameout of it was that it was reported and dealt with straight away,” he said.Speed said Bernard had also established that no other player or team official had received anonymous calls seeking informationabout the match.The same caller rang Gilchrist, Miller and Buchanan “at about the same time”.”The players had been alerted that if they received any calls from persons not known to them who enquired about matters suchas this it’s reported straight away,” Speed said.”It’s the first step of the players’ defence against being compromised in a position like this.”Speed said any similar incidents had to be reported and documented.He said the players were happy to follow the protocol because they had seen what happened to those who had not done so inthe past.Meanwhile, Speed would not talk about his meeting tomorrow with Buchanan, who has been the subject of speculation hewould be dropped as a selector for the upcoming Ashes tour.”I’ll be talking to John about a number of issues tomorrow. It’s not appropriate that I discuss them today,” Speed said.A report from New Delhi later quoted Indian board secretary Jaywant Lele saying he was unaware of the calls.”We’ve so far not been informed by the Australian Cricket Board about any approach made by bookies,” Lele told AFP.”I cannot comment on the news because I do not know anything about this.”

Hampshire Cricket is holding a Family Open Day at the Rose Bowl this coming Sunday 14th April from 11:00am to 4:30pm.The Open day is an opportunity to showcase the new facilities at the Rose Bowl site.The programme of events is as follows:

All Day Activities

Bouncy Castle
Throwing-the-cricket-ball competition
Meet Harry Hawk
Strolling Calypso Band
The Hampshire Shop – Half price sale
Coca Cola penalty shoot-out competition
Bowling-at-the-stumps competition
Watch coaching in action in the Cricket Academy


All welcome, admission is Free

Look forward to seeing you there …

For all the goodwill and excitement Afghanistan have generated with their heady rise, it does not change the fact that they are quite a raw side at the top level, and that they understandably view their second World Twenty20 as a learning experience. Causing an upset will be an unbelievable high, of course, but more than that, Nawroz Mangal, their captain, wants to show the world that Afghanistan can compete at the highest level in international cricket.”It is a learning phase for us and coming into this World Twenty20, the expectations are quite high,” Mangal said. “Everyone is saying Afghanistan is capable of creating an upset. We will put up a good show to prove that we belong to this stage.”Afghanistan have played just four games against Test-playing sides till date, losing by big margins. They will meet their first Test-level opponents, India, again tomorrow, after going down to them by seven wickets in the 2010 World Twenty20. Mangal said the side that walks out on Tuesday evening will be completely different to the one from two years ago. “India is a big team. We are very excited and looking forward to this game. Tomorrow you will see a different team from what we were in the last World Twenty20.”It will be a “totally different appearance” from Afghanistan tomorrow because they have progressed vastly since the previous World Twenty20, according to Mangal. “We rate ourselves highly. Boys have done brilliantly since last World Twenty20. We have much improved cricketers now in the team, bowling, batting or fielding.”Playing India and South Africa in the last World Twenty20 and after that we played a wonderful qualifier event…some of our main players were missing in that but we still played really well to qualify. After that, we played Pakistan and Australia and according to cricket experts, our performance was good. This time, we can learn a lot from the India game and [hopefully] put up a good show and give them a hard time.”Mangal said Afghanistan had done their homework when asked about their preparations against a good spinner such as R Ashwin. “We have done brilliantly in the past against quality spinners. We played [Saeed] Ajmal in the Pakistan game and yesterday, we played [Sunil] Narine, and we haven’t seen difficulties. We have done our homework against Ashwin. Hopefully the batters can cope and deliver.”Afghanistan’s rise has found tremendous support back home and the side’s manager Shafiqullah Stanikzai said there was widespread awareness in the country about their participation in the World Twenty20. “The support is quite huge. Almost everyone knows that Afghanistan are in Sri Lanka and participating in the World Twenty20. More than 50-60 people from Afghanistan have contacted me for tickets. Every single Afghan is supporting the Afghan national cricket team.”