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England’s proud record of six consecutive unbeaten series is hanging by athread. Tomorrow’s third and final Test in Lahore represents their lastopportunity to draw level in a rubber that, until mid-morning on the fifthday at Multan, they seemed to have firmly in their grasp.Speaking to the press on the eve of the match, England’s captain, MichaelVaughan, conceded that England were still ruing their missedopportunities. “We played a good game at Multan where we should reallyhave won,” he said, “while at Faisalabad we created a few opportunities onthe fourth afternoon. We’ll just keep pushing ourselves a little bitfurther each game.”It is a long time since England were last in this situation. Not since theOval Test against South Africa in 2003 – Vaughan’s first series in charge- have they had to come from behind to steal a share of the series, whiletheir last series loss came in Sri Lanka three months later, when theywere hammered by an innings and 215 runs in the final Test in Colombo.”We’ve been playing catch-up cricket because we’ve lost both tosses,”conceded Vaughan. “It’s a big game for us all, seeing as we’re 1-0 downand we haven’t lost a series for two years now, but we’re looking forwardto the challenge.”After a strangely overcast weekend, there had been reports that the Lahorepitch would turn out to be damp and green, but an inspection on the eve ofthe match confounded such thoughts. “It’s certainly not an Englishgreentop,” said Vaughan. “As expected it looks a decent pitch, like theone we played on here five years ago. It’ll be a good batting pitch,offering a bit of assistance, but as we proved over the last two games, ifyou bowl with good discipline, you can put Pakistan under pressure.”England will hope it’s not too like the Lahore strip from the 2000-01tour. That match was memorable only for an astonishing feat of endurancefrom Graham Thorpe, who compiled a century in England’s first innings thatcontained just the one boundary. England, who need to force the pace inorder to beat both the opposition and the prevailing weather conditions,will hope for a little more life this time around.Vaughan confirmed yesterday that he would be returning to the top of theorder, where he has played 31 of his 63 Tests and scored 10 of his 15centuries. “I stress it’s only for this game,” he added. “Andrew Strausswill be straight back in for the India series and I’ll go back to No. 3.But I’ve had a lot of success opening, and hopefully there’ll be some morein this Test.”England’s other selection dilemma, however, remains unresolved, withAshley Giles’s longstanding hip injury continuing to be monitored. “We’rea little bit closer to a decision, but we’ll wait and see how everyonecomes through practice,” said Vaughan. “Ashley’s all right and he had a goodlong bowl, so we’ll see how he’s come through that. If we go in with onespinner, we have to make sure he can play a full part.”Giles is already due to fly home after the Test to undergo surgery on hisproblematic hip, and with just three tail-end wickets in the first twoTests, he has not exactly made an unanswerable case for inclusion.England, however, are famously loyal to their long-standing players, andso it remains more likely that Shaun Udal will sit out the match -assuming, of course, that England opt to play an extra seam bowler.”We’ll be looking for the best formula to take 20 wickets,” Vaughanstressed, adding that both James Anderson and Liam Plunkett were very muchin the frame for that extra seam-bowling position. For Anderson, a recallwould represent his first Test since a traumatic one-off match atJohannesburg last winter, when he played in place of Simon Jones and wascarted all around the park as his lack of match preparation was exposed byHerschelle Gibbs and Co.”That’s a long time ago,” said Vaughan. “Almost 12 months in fact. Jimmy’shad a good county season, and he bowled well in the warm-up game a fewweeks ago. Sometimes though, it’s better to go in fresh because if youplay all the time little things can creep into your mind, Just go out andsee where it takes you, because it usually takes you to a decent level ofperformance.”Paul Collingwood could do with a similar injection of devil-may-careconfidence, for his recall to the problematic No. 4 position representspossibly his last chance to prove himself as a Test batsman. He has theone-day series to come, in which he has long been an integral member ofthe squad, but in Tests he has managed just four outings in four years,with a highest score of 36.Vaughan refuses to be drawn on the significance of the occasion forCollingwood, although if England’s middle order is unproven, then the samecan also be said of Pakistan. Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan have been replaced by Asim Kamal at No.3 and Hasan Raza at No. 6; neither of those two will fill England’s bowlers with dread.One man, on the other hand, most certainly will. Inzamam himself, unmovedat the pivotal No. 5 position, again represents the single biggestobstacle to England’s ambitions of squaring the series. He was thedifference between the sides at Faisalabad, as Vaughan himself admitted.And if Vaughan cannot win a crucial toss and get runs on the board early,he could once again prove the difference at Lahore as well.Pakistan (probable) 1 Shoaib Malik, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Asim Kamal, 4 MohammadYousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Hasan Raza, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 RanaNaved-ul-Hasan, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Danish KaneriaEngland (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Ian Bell,4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones(wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 JamesAnderson

Scotland have called up 19-year-old fast bowler Bradley Wheal for their upcoming tour to Hong Kong in January 2016. Scotland will play an Intercontinental Cup match, two ODIs as part of the World Cricket League Championship, and two Twenty20 internationals between January 21 and 31.South Africa-born Wheal, whose mother is Scottish, took seven wickets in a match for a Scotland XI against MCC in August this year. He played his first season for Hampshire in 2015, taking eight wickets in four matches in Division One of the County Championship, including a four-for against Middlesex.The squad does not include Hamish Gardiner and Gavin Main from the team that played the Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship matches against Netherlands in September. Main was unavailable for selection, after opting to play in New Zealand in early January and February. Ruaidhri Smith, the 21-year-old allrounder, cited unavailability for the tour due to exams in January. Both Main and Smith are available for World T20 selection, a release from Cricket Scotland said.Matt Machan scored 0 and 3 in the Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands but enjoyed a strong county season with Sussex, finishing with 955 from 14 matches at an average of 39.79. Machan returns after missing the World T20 Qualifier earlier in the year.Scotland’s Intercontinental Cup match against Hong Kong will be played between January 21 and 24. The two ODIs will be played on January 26 and 28, while the T20 matches are scheduled for January 30 and 31.Scotland are currently fourth on the WCL Championship table with two wins from four matches, and two no-results after their Netherlands fixtures were washed out. They are yet to register a win in the Intercontinental Cup after two games – they drew their opening match against Afghanistan and lost to Netherlands by 44 runs – and are placed seventh on the points table.Scotland squad: Preston Mommsen (Captain), Alasdair Evans, Bradley Wheal, Calum MacLeod, Con de Lange, George Munsey, Josh Davey, Kyle Coetzer, Mark Watt, Matt Machan, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Richie Berrington, Rob Taylor, Safyaan Sharif.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the ICC to look into derogatorycomments allegedly made by Rudi Koertzen about the Pakistan team.During the Central Employment Tribunal’s hearing into Darrell Hair’s caseagainst the ICC last week, Hair had described a phone call in whichKoertzen, the South African umpire, had referred to the Pakistan team ascheats.Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, said, “We have written to the ICC to look intothis matter and verify the authenticity of the remarks Koertzen is allegedto have made.”Ashraf, who appeared at the tribunal half-an-hour before Hair withdrew thecase, also reiterated Pakistan’s stance that they felt Hair was unfit toofficiate at the elite level. “We have no personal issue against Hair,” he said. “Ourcomplaint was on the basis that Hair as an umpire failed. His judgement waswrong that day and his behaviour has to be rectified. For that he isundergoing rehabilitation and that is a positive step.”When asked what Pakistan’s stance would be were Hair to return, Ashrafsaid, “To say that he is coming back on the panel is putting an optimisticface on it. After rehabilitation, the ICC may consider if Hair is fit forumpiring. Our position remains the same, but after rehab the ICC boardwill revisit the issue.”

The Barbados government has rejected out of hand a plea by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to allow it to use Kensington Oval’s World Cup (CWC) gate receipts to clear some of its US$15 million debt.”It would be an act of irresponsible folly for us to take the only thing we would get from the World Cup and give it to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to pay its debts,” prime minister Owen Arthur said yesterday evening. He urged WICB president Ken Gordon and other officials of the cricket-managing body to “pass over the gate receipts so that we can start dealing with our financial matters at the Oval”.Arthur made the call while addressing Barbados Labour Party (BLP) faithful at Christ Church Parish Centre attending the uncontested nomination of minister of health Jerome Walcott, the sitting Member of Parliament, as candidate for Christ Church South. Arthur said Government had raised “a lot of money” to redevelop Kensington Oval with the understanding that the Local Organising Committee (LOC) would get the gate receipts from the matches played there.However, he disclosed that Gordon had written him, saying the board had a US$15 million debt “and they want us to agree that we will give them the gate receipts to pay their debts”.The Prime Minister said: “Now I have already written him to say that the Government of Barbados does not and will not agree . . . .” He said while he was sympathetic to the needs of the WICB and wanted to see its debt problem addressed, the board should hand over the gate receipts to the various countries that hosted CWC games “so that they can start paying their debts for building these stadiums”.Arthur also dismissed what he said was a statement by Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president Tony Marshall that his group owned Kensington Oval. He said what the BCA owned was the land at Kensington Oval. Government owned 90% of the property development company that had been set up to develop Kensington, with the BCA owning the rest, Arthur said. Government, having spent over $100 million to redevelop the Oval, “shall not surrender our interest in it”, he declared. But he told the meeting: “We would like the partnership to continue.”The prime minister also announced that he had summoned a meeting with “all concerned” to deal with the ownership issue as well as the management of the Oval. “What the Government owns is ours and we have to put together a company to jointly manage it and a company also has to be put together to jointly own it and manage it, using a partnership.”

Scorecard

Michael Hussey again finished a difficult job for his team, taking Australia to victory against New Zealand with two wickets to spare. Hussey’s unbeaten 65 was the key in a tight run-chase of 219 and he brought up the win with a six in the 49th over.New Zealand pushed Australia to the very end but their decision to play only four bowlers cost them dearly as Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle proved too easy to score off in the dying overs. McMillan had already done his part with 89 in New Zealand’s 219 but Hussey and Michael Clarke (75) earned Australia their fourth win of the series.Clarke’s dismissal in the 38th over triggered a mini-collapse as Cameron White and Brett Lee fell soon after and when Nathan Bracken was caught with two runs required the outcome was still uncertain. But Hussey pulled Astle over square leg for six to end another matchwinning innings.The visitors played an extra batsman with Hamish Marshall replacing Jeetan Patel and the move backfired on two counts. Marshall made 0 in another disappointing team effort and in the dying overs Stephen Fleming was forced to use part-time medium-pacers when his four strikers were bowled out.Defending New Zealand’s below-par total was always going to require a flawless performance in the field. Instead, they repeatedly gave lives to Clarke and Hussey and failed to capitalise on a terrific opening that had Australia at 3 for 17.The most telling error was a shambolic attempted run out when both batsmen almost ended up at the striker’s end. With the score on 4 for 116, Clarke pushed into the off side and took off for a single before halting but Hussey kept coming and should have been caught well short at the bowler’s end. Marshall fumbled several times before ending up sprawled on the pitch and flicking the ball back to Daniel Vettori who broke the stumps with his hand rather than the ball with Hussey short of his ground.The mistake not only allowed Hussey, who was 18 at the time, to continue through the innings but it also demoralised the tourists at a critical moment. Clarke was dropped on 17 and again on 42 and holding either chance could have put New Zealand back on top. The first was a simple outfield opportunity when James Franklin spilled a top-edged hook at deep backward square leg. The second was an inside edge to Brendon McCullum, standing up to the stumps, off Franklin’s bowling.

When Clarke gave his third chance, a skied opportunity that Ross Taylor took on the second bite at midwicket, he had already hurt the visitors and taken Australia within 52 runs of victory. Clarke and Andrew Symonds (38) steadied Australia after the home team stumbled to 3 for 17 from six overs.Adam Gilchrist flayed at an extra wide Franklin outswinger and was caught behind for 3 and Matthew Hayden continued his disappointing series with a drive in the air to cover for 0. Ponting, who batted at No. 4 to allow Clarke a promotion, was lbw for 5 to a Michael Mason ball that jagged back off an uneven strip on the pitch.New Zealand also started poorly and it was only through McMillan’s innings – his best ODI score since 2002 – that they recovered from 4 for 54. McMillan’s 87-ball innings featured three sixes – one was a spectacular cut shot over backward point off Lee – and he made the most of a lucky break when he was given not out on 1 despite replays suggesting he edged behind.McMillan and Franklin added 57 in a 39-ball eighth-wicket partnership that restored some dignity to the New Zealand scorecard but Glenn McGrath (3 for 24) and Stuart Clark (4 for 54) ensured the total did not get out of hand.The visitors were unable to bat out the 50 overs and their inability to compile a consistent, professional batting effort was again underlined. The top order remained a concern as Lee’s opening spell shattered any hopes of a solid foundation. New Zealand were 2 for 7 as Lee had both openers caught behind with fast, swinging deliveries.

Andrew Flintoff could have done with a fly-swatter while addressing themedia on the eve of England’s knock-out game against Australia. As heanswered a variety of questions – ranging from the Ashes to hisshirt-waving spectacle at Mumbai in 2002 and the Diwali fireworks expectedtomorrow – Flintoff couldn’t but swing his arms, trying to keep out thepests that swarmed around him.During the game tomorrow, especially after sunset, he might feel likeblocking his nose and stuffing his ears. The flies may keep away but theexplosive fire-crackers – a part and parcel of Diwali, the festivalof lights – is likely to pose a share of problems. Locals estimate thatthe pollution levels (both air and noise) increase by 200% on Diwali day.Both captains warned that there’s still a while to go before the event butthere’ll be plenty of ashes around the city tomorrow.The cloud of smoke that’s likely to envelope the city might well affectthe dew factor, an issue that’s slowly becoming one of the talking pointsof the tournament. Pakistan benefited from the film of dew while chasingagainst Sri Lanka but whether there will be dew to the same extent tomorrow, with thenight skies set alight, remains the question. Added to that is the possibility ofshowers – Australia’s practice session was slightly delayed owing toearly-morning rain. Modern cricket teams are accompanied by a sizeablesupport staff but it’s high time someone appointed a permanentmeteorologist.”Some days the dew’s been a factor, some days it’s not,” said a slightlybemused Flintoff when asked about how he went about practicing for thedew. “I don’t think there’s any hard and fast way to find out when it’sgoing to come down. In the game we played against India, I don’t think thedew came down a great deal. It’s something we’ve to look at on the day,after seeing overhead conditions.”England are no doubt preparing themselves for fielding under lights, withthe prospect of having to bowl and field with a soggy ball. “We had afielding practice before the India game,” said Flintoff as he continuedhis battle with the flies,” and we’re having another session underfloodlights tonight. It’s something we’ve come across before – we’veplayed under floodlights in England and the dew plays a part in SouthAfrica as well.”As far as tactics go, it’s pretty much the same really. A good area tobowl is a good area to bowl. You need to bowl pretty straight, thatdoesn’t change if the dew comes in. Sometimes you get a bit more swing, orball may seam a bit more but the areas you put the ball is prettysimilar.”Irrespective of the atmospherics, England are likely to stick to the sameXI that played the first game. The spinners – Michael Yardy and JamieDalrymple – were impressive against India while the seamers did their bitto make a meagre total into a challenging one. What England couldn’t doagainst India, and what they can’t do without tomorrow, is to raise theirintensity and Flintoff underlined the importance of an aggressiveapproach. “Australia are a fine side and remain favourites going into it,”he added. “But both sides have lost first and I don’t think they’ll be.We’ll try and take Australia on and see what happens.”Statistics don’t reveal much. The two teams have encountered each otherjust twice on Indian conditions: first at the famous World Cup final in 1987, when Mike Gatting reverse-swept England to their doom, and next atthe Nehru Cup in 1989, when a Wayne Larkins hundred steered England home.Ultimately it will come down to the team that holds its nerve, gas-masksand ear-muffs best. It promises to be a cracker, in more ways than one.England (likely): 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Ian Bell, 3 Andrew Flintoff (capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Michael Yardy, 7 Jamie Dalrymple, 8 Chris Read (wk), 9 James Anderson, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 Steve Harmison.

Kookaburra, the company sponsoring Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, will have its banned bats tested using laser vibration in a bid to show the graphite stickers on the back do not increase its power. The Marylebone Cricket Club last week ruled three of Kookaburra’s styles were illegal and the company withdrew the products from Test and ODI markets.Ponting will use his Kahuna and Hussey his Beast in the one-day games in South Africa, but the pair needs replacements for the three-Test series starting on March 15. “There’s a couple of good ones at the moment I don’t really want to part company with,” Ponting told . “I’m going to be right to use those bats until the end of the one-day series and then it’s going to be up to me over there to get the black graphite off the back of the bat so I can use them in the Test series.”The reported Kookaburra had provided scientific evidence from independent sources to argue the strip does not form an integral part of the blade and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology would conduct vibration testing. “The MCC says its experts have raised the point that the covering changes the amount of vibration and thus increases the power,” Rob Elliott, Kookaburra’s managing director, told the paper. “We know this isn’t true, from anecdotal evidence and testing, and now we’re proving it.”

England are “very likely” to take up an offer from Allen Stanford to play a multi-million dollar Twenty20 match during the tour of West Indies next year according to Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman.Clarke met with Stanford at Lord’s on Tuesday to discuss possible joint ventures which could include Stanford having a role in any future English Premier League plus the match next year, which could be worth as much as $20million, against an All-stars West Indies XI.”We did see Sir Allen – a date has not been fixed for when anything will be played, or what format it will take this year or going forward into the future,” Clarke told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. “I think that match is very likely to take place. Sir Allen is doing a huge amount for cricket in the West Indies and we are keen to help things develop there.”With no window in the current international schedule to allow England’s centrally contracted players to compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL) the ECB is eager to appease players who are keen to cash in on lucrative Twenty20 tournaments.Clarke added: “Of course we are also keen to give our players the chance to make a significant amount of money and these types of games can be tremendously dramatic. We are extremely interested in his ideas but there is a long way to go.”We need to confirm a lot of things with our friends in the West Indies. There is not a specific date at this moment of time and no specific structure at this time.”Clarke also admitted that the ECB are still formulating plans for an English Premier League. “I think what the IPL will achieve is remarkable given the time and speed with which it has been put together. We are spending a lot of time looking at creating a robust, sustainable and economically viable league that still protects our core revenues of Test cricket.”Stanford has previously tried to invite South Africa for a winner-takes-all match but it fell through after a clash with the West Indies board. Last year Stanford also offered to bring the World Twenty20 winners, India, to the Caribbean but the BCCI wasn’t keen on taking part in an unofficial event.

England left-arm fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom has been ruled out of the first one-day international against India at Southampton on Tuesday because of a side strain.Sidebottom sustained the injury during the third Test against India at The Oval and did not bowl in the second innings. He was being treated at Loughborough and will be re-assessed for the rest of the seven match ODI series after the first match.England haven’t called up a replacement to the squad, which leaves the fast-bowling attack in the hands of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett and the returning Andrew Flintoff.Sidebottom took eight wickets at nearly 38 apiece in the Test series against India and was included in the one-day squad even though he had played only one out of three against West Indies. He has also been named in England’s squad for the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa in September.

Kamran Akmal and all-rounder Yasir Arafat helped Pakistan ‘A’ complete a clean sweep in the one-day series against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at Gaddafi Stadium Thursday. Kamran hammered a scintillating 72 and Yasir claimed five for 28 as the home side won by 34 runs. Pakistan ‘A’ had already sealed the three-match rubber by winning the two first ties at Multan and Faisalabad, respectively.Sri Lanka ‘A’ made a partial recovery from 75 for six before being dismissed for 210 in 47.2 overs. Skipper Thilan Samaraweera and Khaushal Lokuarachchi saved face for the visitors by putting on 112 for the seventh wicket.Samaraweera struck seven fours in making 74 off 101 deliveries before being last out while Lokuarachchi hit 63 off 75 balls with six fours and one six.Yasir, who claimed three wickets in his opening burst, was adjudged Man-of-the-Match. He got excellent support from off-spinner Irfanuddin with three for 51.Earlier, Pakistan ‘A’ made another fine start when wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt shared an opening partnership of 108.Salman departed after stroking 44 off 62 balls. His knock included six boundaries. Kamran’s 93-ball knock of 72 was laced with seven hits to the fence.Stand-in captain Naved Latif contributed 25. Saeed bin Nasir made full use of an extended opportunity in the middle by remaining unconquered on 43, which were scored off only 41 balls with the aid of three fours and one six.