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In a tour that hasn’t gone to plan after a sparkling start, West Indies travel to a ground on which they posted both their wins on the tour so far against a formidable South African line-up.West Indies upset the hosts at St George’s Park in both the first Twenty20 international and the first Test, but have lost their way since. A loss in Sunday’s ODI would see them surrender the series, but the visitors are not the only team with a few worries.South Africa have done poorly in Port Elizabeth of late – their last win came in an ODI against India in November 2006 – and coach Mickey Arthur said the team were eager to perform.”I’m not a 100% sure why we haven’t played to the best of our abilities there, but all I do know is the team will be keen to put on a very good performance, because we’ve let Port Elizabeth down of late,” Arthur told the . South Africa, though, would take confidence from the convincing win in Cape Town, where West Indies never looked in the hunt while chasing 256.Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis failed in Cape Town, and it was the left-handed batsmen Graeme Smith and JP Duminy who did the bulk of the scoring. South Africa, however, were unable to pick up the momentum towards the close of their innings – perhaps falling 15-20 runs short – but it didn’t have a bearing on the final result.Arthur indicated there wouldn’t be many changes, given the series is still alive. The bowlers never looked in trouble against a brittle West Indian line-up. Shaun Pollock, playing his farewell ODI series, had impeccable figures of 10-5-13-2, while Morne Morkel’s career-best figures of 4 for 36 suggested he’d recovered fully from the injury that had ruled him out since South Africa’s tour to Pakistan last year.”Before we start looking to juggle the side too much, we want to try and get the series out of the way first, and then look to give our other squad guys an opportunity,” Arthur said. “We have quite a few niggles in the squad and we need to manage those. But I don’t foresee too many changes.”For West Indies, it’s the batting that’s the main concern. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was expected to play at No. 3 in Cape Town in order to provide much-needed momentum at the top, but a bruised knee meant he came in at No. 5 and batted with a runner. Chanderpaul’s 54 was the only significant resistance to South Africa’s attack and if he can’t take the field on Sunday, it would be another headache for West Indies, who are already missing the batting skills of Chris Gayle.Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards made a promising start in Cape Town. Taylor nipped out both Gibbs and Kallis, but his four-wicket haul was not backed up by his team-mates. Stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo, who bowled despite a side strain in the first ODI, might again have to send down a few overs himself. Bravo would also like to change his luck at the toss; he’s called it wrong the last three occasions, perhaps a right one could help bring about the right result.Teams (probable)
South Africa
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Johan Botha, Charl Langeveldt, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.West Indies
Brenton Parchment, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor.

Tim May has attacked the upcoming glut of games between Australia and India by saying it devalues cricket. May, the head of the international players’ association, warned the 21 Tests and ODIs the two sides will play against each other from June revealed money-grabbing motives of administrators.”It’s getting completely out of control,” May told the . “We’re very seriously worried that a few countries are playing too much cricket.”It’s our ongoing battle with the ICC. Australia will play India 21 times in the eight months from June this year. From the perspective of players and spectators, it’s going to dampen your interest. And it detracts from the commercial value of the product. Vision has been lost about what’s important and what is not.”Until the 2005 Ashes series an Australia-India series was considered one of cricket’s headline events. The sides clashed in three gripping Test series between 2000-01 and 2004-05, each winning one with the other drawn.Australia are due to play seven ODIs in India in October, before a four-Test series in Australia the following summer and seven tri-series ODIs. To this list has recently been added a three-match ODI series in Ireland in June.”They were already playing each other 18 times and now they’ve thrown in another three (in Ireland),” May said. “We’re concerned about that. Players have a passion for the game and want to maintain that passion every time they play. But it’s becoming harder to play every game as though it’s their last.”No one wants a two-bit product where blokes are only giving 75% because that’s all they’ve got left. Or because they need to pace themselves for more games coming up.” May, who has criticised the heavy workload on players in the past as well, also took a shot at the upcoming World Cup, arguing that it dragged on purely because of TV broadcasters.”Our World Cup is too long,” he said. “Everybody bar the people who sell the TV rights believe we could compress it. The ICC sells the rights for significant amounts of money and obviously the broadcasters want to get their money’s worth. We have to develop the game in some countries but there are arguments about whether the World Cup is the place for them.”

South Australia’s talented pair of Mark Cosgrove and Dan Cullen has been cleared to make comebacks from injury against Queensland at the Gabba. Cosgrove has shrugged off a calf strain and will play in the ING Cup match on Friday before joining Cullen, who has recovered from a broken finger, in the Pura Cup side for the game starting on Sunday.However, Matthew Elliott is still unavailable with a knee injury and Shane Deitz, the top-order batsman, has missed both 13-man squads. The Pura Cup match could have a serious impact at the top of the table with Queensland in second place, two points behind Victoria and two ahead of South Australia and New South Wales.Daniel Harris has also been added to the one-day side and the Redbacks have the chance to seal a spot in the final if they beat the last-placed Bulls. South Australia trail New South Wales by five points, but they have a one-point buffer over Victoria, who are third.South Australia Pura Cup squad Greg Blewett, Cameron Borgas, Mark Cosgrove, Callum Ferguson, Darren Lehmann (capt), Ben Cameron, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Paul Rofe, Dan Cullen, Cullen Bailey, Shaun Tait.South Australia ING Cup squad Greg Blewett, Cameron Borgas, Mark Cosgrove, Callum Ferguson, Darren Lehmann (capt), Daniel Harris, Ken Skewes, Ryan Harris, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Cullen Bailey, Shaun Tait.

Queensland will take the same team that beat South Australia in three days into the grudge Pura Cup match against Victoria at the MCG starting on Thursday. Contests between the sides have become increasingly fierce over the past couple of years and this one is desperately important as the Bushrangers cling to the hope of back-to-back titles.The Bulls are currently second on 34 points, two behind Western Australia and six ahead of New South Wales, while Victoria are ten adrift and need outright victories from the two remaining matches to qualify for the final. Victoria, who thrashed Queensland in last year’s decider, have beaten the Bulls in two ING Cup matches this season as well as the Pura Cup game at Brisbane in December.Victoria have also named an unchanged line-up from the one that beat Tasmania at the MCG yesterday. The match could hold even more significance for Shane Warne as he chases the five wickets needed to reach 1000 in first-class matches. Only 11 Australians have reached the mark and Warne would be the first since Graham McKenzie, the Western Australia fast bowler who finished his career in 1975 with 1219 victims.Shane Watson, used in a batsman-only role against South Australia, is expected to bowl after recovering from a side strain suffered in the VB Series finals against Pakistan. “The plan is for Shane to do some more bowling this week under controlled circumstances and then step it up to include some spells during the game,” Terry Oliver, the coach, said.Queensland Jimmy Maher (capt), Clinton Perren, Martin Love, Shane Watson, Craig Philipson, Lachlan Stevens, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke, Mitchell Johnson, Joe Dawes, Brendan Nash.Victoria Matthew Elliott, Jason Arnberger, Brad Hodge, Graeme Rummans, Jonathan Moss, Ian Harvey, Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Warne, Nick Jewell, Shane Harwood, Michael Lewis.

Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s captain and new player/coach, has been included in the New Year Honours list in recognition of his success with the county in the past five years, in which time they have won six one-day titles.Alleyne, 35, played 10 one-dayers for England between 1999 and 2000. Speaking today, he admitted that both he and his wife, Louise, were astonished and overwhelmed when they heard the news of his MBE. “I was very surprised. I never thought I would be considered for anything like this,” he said. “We were both pretty much in tears when we found out. But it was when my wife started to cry that I realised how important it was.”I have seen her cry only twice before. One was when our first child was born, and the other was when we beat Somerset in the NatWest final in 1999. That meant a lot to Gloucestershire people.”That victory set the wheels rolling for Gloucestershire and their incredible success. Alleyne, along with John Bracewell, the former coach, masterminded Gloucestershire to three Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy victories, the latest against Worcestershire last summer. And that was capped off with promotion to the first divsion of the County Championship.”We had a vision for the club, to be one of the premier teams in England,” Alleyne added. “We do kind of look back at what we have achieved, and it has been outstanding. I am really proud of that – it has been a great moment to be involved with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.”Now we have a chance to build on all that. It is a new challenge altogether, and I want to keep it going. To truly be a top club you need to be in the top bracket in both forms of the game, and I am pleased to have helped Gloucestershire up where they belong.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, expressed his congratulations to Alleyne. “It is a great award. It is not often that a person who has achieved success in the county game has been rewarded with an MBE,” said Graveney. “I am sure he would be the first to say it is an honour for the team. He has played his part in Gloucestershire’s success over the years.”I have known him since he first broke into the Gloucestershire team when I was his first captain. I remember him very vividly. He was a very good cricketer he has played his part.”

New Zealand’s latest Test cap Jacob Oram might have had a dream start to his career, two Test victories, 11 Test wickets at an average of 11.09 and an example of batting under pressure, but he’s not lifting his feet off the ground.He knows that the tailor-made conditions in Wellington and Hamilton for the National Bank Series against India, will be far from those that might be struck in New Zealand’s next Test cricket excursions to Sri Lanka and India next year.But when he went out to bat today, as New Zealand were in danger of letting a winning opportunity slip from their grasp at 105/5 with India at peak confidence, it was another aspect of his cricket that was on display – his batting.Through this first series it has been his bowling that has been most important for New Zealand but after a first Test duck and a three in the first innings in this Test, he was determined to show the Indians he could bat.”I was more nervous than I have ever been. I thought I was nervous before my first Test innings last week and it probably showed in my batting.”But, I tell you, today was the most nervous I’ve ever been, and I honestly mean that.”Just the whole situation with the game in the balance. You can either win, or you can draw the series, and wickets were falling pretty regularly.”I just wanted to hold the ship steady for awhile and have positive intent,” he said.Oram was satisfied to achieve his goal of showing that he could bat under pressure. He acknowledged that the majority of times that he has “performed” in cricket, it has been in favourable conditions. But, in the 50/50 situation this match had become, he had pulled through.”I showed my peers, who I respect the most and whose opinions I hold in high regard, that in pressure situations I can come through,” he said.It was all a little unbelievable as an introduction to Test cricket. Bowling had been a priority for him after his selection, a selection that he thought had come a little early for him. But conditions had suited him well. He had been able to put the ball in the required spot and he’d been backed by some good fielding and had shown the selectors had got it right.Oram didn’t think New Zealand were home in their quest for 160 to win, until they were in single figures left for victory.”We were on 12 to win for a couple of overs and I remember thinking one wicket with three to go and Harbhajan [Singh] turning it, that it could be tricky.”But once there were six or seven to go, I realised we had it and you could tell that once we needed only singles figures, the Indians dropped their heads and it was game over.”I just wanted to be out there when the winning runs were hit,” he said.One shot, a cover driven boundary of Harbhajan had not been executed quite as he would have liked, but he had enough power in the shot to stay out of trouble.He thought to himself: “This is turning out to be a good innings, let’s have a not out and enjoy the moment when you are out here and hit the winnings runs.”It didn’t quite turn out that way as Oram had to concede that right to home town boy Robbie Hart.It is certain, however, that the Indians will go into the one-day series, knowing that Oram is more than just a bowler who has to be watched while Oram is looking to carry on, knowing that tougher times are ahead, and he’s looking forward to the challenge.

Injuries and retirements notwithstanding, South Africa might still be able to field both Allan Donald and Mfuneko Ngam in the same team during the 2001/02 summer.The prospect of the country’s most experienced fast bowler lining up alongside the quickest young gun in the country may seem a little remote just at the moment, but there are more than a few who believe that Donald’s "retirement" from Test cricket may be less permanent than it appeared at first sight.Ngam, meanwhile, is still recovering from a stress fracture of the right thigh and a shoulder operation. The injuries kept him out of South Africa’s Caribbean tour this year, but he has made steady progress towards recovery and was examined by the United Cricket Board’s medical staff this week.Donald became the first South African to take 300 Test wickets last summer, but a variety of injuries restricted his appearances in the series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.A combination of frustration and the desire to play in the 2003 World Cup appear to have persuaded Donald that his future as an international bowler lay in the one-day game.He has, however, agreed to consider playing Test matches if required, and South Africa Graham Ford suspects that the last has not yet been seen of Donald in the Test arena."The door’s still open," said Ford this week. "I think we might still see him bowling in a Test match. He gives us so much, both on and off the field, and with two series against Australia coming up it would be a huge boost for us if he was in the team."At least one senior South African official intends to sit Donald down and talk to him."He’s not a stubborn man," said the official. "He’ll listen to reason."Ngam, meanwhile, broken down with his stress fracture after playing in his first two Test matches last summer. In a type of bulk purchase deal, it was decided to operate on a rotator cuff injury in his right shoulder while his leg was being given time to recover."The way I understand it his leg’s just about fine, but the shoulder’s taking a while to heal fully," said Ford. "I believe he’s been out on the road and I think that he might be able to bowl by September when we go up to Zimbabwe. Throwing’s apparently the problem, but if you remember, he couldn’t thrown properly when he played his Test matches."The medical people are being conservative with him, but you can’t blame them. They want to get him fully fit before throwing him into a Test match, and if they’re going to err, it will be on the side of caution."And yes, it would be great to have them bowling in tandem, but we’ve got a few useful guys around anyway, people like Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini, and that’s not forgetting about Andre Nel and Nantie Hayward. So we’re not that badly off," said Ford.

The kite climbs higher and higher, like a bird in the sky at the Wankhede Stadium. The string is held by couple of Delhi players who are egged on by their team-mates. Some distance to their right, the Uttar Pradesh players are indulging in a bit of fun as well. The relaxed atmosphere belies the fact that come tomorrow, and both these teams will be fighting for the coveted Ranji Trophy.Eleven years have flown by since Delhi last reached, and lost, the final while Uttar Pradesh are back in the summit clash after two years. Both teams are, obviously, desperate to win. Delhi want to forget their recent sordid past, when political machinations and faulty selection processes used to hog the headlines. Surprisingly, cricket has been the sole topic of discussion this season. It’s a refreshing change for some of the senior players, who only a year back were considering switching states to get away from the mess.For the last few seasons, players from Delhi would make it to the national team, but at the domestic stage the team struggled. “Many players went on to play for India but the team was not winning anything,” says Vijay Dahiya, the coach, who played in that 1996-97 final. “That has hurt the players. They want to set that record right. If you talk to anyone this season, you will realise their focus is entirely on doing well for Delhi.”The senior players like Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra concur. It is their first Ranji final and both want to make it memorable. “We want to experience that feeling of winning the Ranji Trophy, that’s the greatest motivation,” says Gambhir, Delhi’s captain. “I was always passionate about playing for Delhi. It has given me the platform to play for India and at one stage you have to give back to your state as well. This is my chance.”Mohammad Kaif, the UP captain, has tasted that winning feeling before and wants more of it. “Winning the title is the key focus and not individual selections for the national side. That will come when we win this. The last time we won, a few players went on to play for the country. But the focus was right – win the title and reap the rewards. Not the other way around.”If Delhi want to leave behind the past, Uttar Pradesh want to create a new future. Their success story has been despite the system. They have bypassed the infrastructural speed-breakers – poor practice facilities, the substandard gyms – to repeat the story of 2005-06. Like that year, they have come from behind to enter the final. They hope a victory here will help in sprucing up the system.One of the biggest challenges for both teams is the wicket that has been laid out by curator Sudhir Naik. The surface has a fair sprinkling of grass and promises to offer bounce and movement. Both teams, while praising the “international quality track” are pretty wary of it. Unless things change dramatically overnight, it’s almost certain that the captain winning the toss will choose to bowl. Naik, relieved of the pressure of producing a lifeless track for the usual hosts Mumbai, has laid out a wicket which should produce a decisive result. “A few players from both teams did come to me, enquiring whether the grass would be removed. I had to disappoint them,” Naik says with a chuckle. “It is definitely going to help the pacers and I won’t be surprised to see a team getting bowled out on the first day.” Dahiya admitted he would bowl first and Kaif hinted at the same.The pitch is hardly a greentop, but considering how domestic batsmen from all teams have repeatedly folded up whenever the wicket was a touch difficult – the semi-finals are the most recent examples – Naik’s assessment could well turn out to be right.

The contest will come down to how the either team’s batsmen measure up against the opposition fast bowlers. Both sides have a decent pace attack led by young promising talent. If it’s Sudeep Tyagi, who has the second-highest tally of the season with 39 wickets at 19.84, leading the attack for UP, then Pradeep Sangwan, with 24 wickets at 21.20 and fresh from a successful tour with the India Under-19 team, will be the spearhead for Delhi.If UP have Praveen Kumar, with 28 wickets at 16.28, to give able support to Tyagi, Delhi have Sumit Narwal and one of either Parvinder Awana or Amit Bhandari – Gambhir’s one selection headache will be which one of the two to select. In addition, both teams have a medium-pacer – the in-form Rajat Bhatia for Delhi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for UP – to do the dirty job of performing as stock bowlers.The spin threat is posed by legspinners for both teams: Piyush Chawla – who was seen practising a lot in the nets, trying to bowl with a more round-arm action to get more fizz on the legbreaks – for UP and Chetanya Nanda for Delhi.The bowling attack balances out but what about the batting? Delhi outscore UP in this department, with three batsmen – Gambhir, Chopra and Mithun Manhas – who have scored almost 600 runs this season. In addition, they have Shikhar Dhawan with 502 runs and Bhatia with 386. UP’s batting has revolved around Kaif, who is in glorious form (670 runs) and Suresh Raina, with 582. However, the batting has dropped a notch after a fiery start. They will be happy to have Tanmay Srivastava returning from the India Under-19 outing in South Africa and will hope that he can give them a good start, something that UP have failed to produce consistently this season. However, Delhi clearly have the edge in batting, especially as their opening batsmen are of proven quality and can be expected to tackle the new-ball threat.What could work to UP’s advantage is the fact that they have played three consecutive pressure-cooker games and are battle-hardened as a result. They faced relegation before the game against Bengal but won by an innings and have rode on the momentum ever since. They swept aside Hyderabad by 132 runs in their last league game before clinching a low-scoring semi-final against Saurashtra.Considering they had taken a similar path in their championship year of 2005-06, UP also have the advantage of having been there and done that as recently as two years ago. Pitted against that bullishness is Delhi’s desperation to end the title drought. The stakes couldn’t be higher and the battle couldn’t be fiercer. It’s game on at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dan Marsh, the Tasmania captain, will be out of action for three weeks after tearing his calf muscle on the weekend. George Bailey will lead Tasmania for their last limited-overs match in 2006-07, against South Australia at Adelaide on Wednesday.Marsh, who hurt his leg taking off for a single during the Tigers’ loss to Victoria on Saturday, is likely to miss at least one of Tasmania’s two remaining Pura Cup matches. However, Tim Coyle, the Tasmania coach, conceded it could be a season-ending injury.”It is a calf injury that we think is three weeks,” Coyle told the . “Three weeks should be a really good turnaround, but they are really big calf muscles, they take a bit of repairing. He is feeling pretty good at the moment. He thought he had done something pretty serious, but it looks OK.”The Tigers have included Chris Duval, the fast bowler and Matthew Wade, the uncapped batsman, in their 13-man squad. Jason Krejza, who transferred from New South Wales mid-season, is also in with a chance of his first game for his new state.South Australia recalled Mark Cleary to replace Shaun Tait, who is in New Zealand with the Australia one-day team. Neither the Redbacks nor the Tigers can make the Ford Ranger Cup final, which will be between Victoria and Queensland on February 25.Tasmania squad Michael Di Venuto, Tim Paine (wk), Michael Dighton, George Bailey (capt), Dane Anderson, Travis Birt, Matthew Wade, Jason Krejza, Xavier Doherty, Luke Butterworth, Brendan Drew, Ben Hilfenhaus, Chris Duval.South Australia squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Mark Cosgrove, Callum Ferguson, Darren Lehmann (capt), Nathan Adcock, Simon Roberts, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Ryan Harris, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen.

Scorecard

Andrew Hall and Johan Botha shared six wickets between them to help South Africa ease to a 46-run win over Queensland Academy of Sport at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. Earlier Jacques Kallis laid the foundation, top-scoring with 80 off 106 balls helping South Africa along to 7 for 234 in 50 overs.Queensland Academy got off to a bad start losing their first four wickets for 38 runs thanks to Andrew Hall and Shaun Pollock. Chris Simpson,the captain, offered some resistence scoring 55 at more than a run a ball, with three sixes. After his dismissal, Queensland had lost half their side for 97. Derek Tate, who grafted his way to an undefeated 55 off 85 balls, ran out of partners as Johan Botha took three lower-order wickets. Queensland Academy were bowled out for 188 off 43.2 overs after Grant Sullivan was run out.Earlier, after choosing to bat, the South Africans got off to a terrible start, losing Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith with only 59 on the board. Kallis then got together with Ashwell Prince, and the two added 109 for the fourth wicket. Prince made 50 from 72 balls, but both were dismissed in the 39th over. When Mark Boucher fell cheaply, the South Africans had slumped to 6 for 172, but Justin Kemp and Shaun Pollock injected some late momentum. Pollock slammed 27 from 18 balls with one four and two sixes. Chris Simpson, an offspinner, was the most successful bowler for the academy side, taking 3 for 40.