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Ishant Sharma is set to undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Sunday in order to determine his availability for the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, which starts on April 11. The team for the final match is expected to be selected at the end of the Ahmedabad Test.Ishant, who starred in the Tests and the ODIs on the Australia tour, was advised complete rest for three weeks by the then physio, John Gloster. He had a problem in the big toe of his landing foot as well as an inflammation in the right forefinger.He underwent some tests at the NCA before the start of the South Africa series but had not attained full fitness. He was with the team at both Chennai and Ahmedabad, and has been monitored by Paul Close, the physio. Anil Kumble hoped Ishant would be fully fit for the Ahmedabad Test but the team decided to give him a bit more time.Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner, is also expected to be tested in Bangalore on Sunday. Kartik was included in the squad for the first two Tests but an ankle sprain sustained on the day of the selection ruled him out for three weeks.Joginder Sharma, VRV Singh and Sudeep Tyagi are the others currently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA.

Thirty probables for the Cricket World Cup and a team for India’s first two one-dayers against the West Indies will be selected at Rajkot on January 12.The probables’ names will be sent to the International Cricket Council by January 13, the deadline to submit the list, and it would be further pruned to 14 members a month before the start of the mega event in the Carribean on March 11.The first of the four-match ODI home series against the West Indies will be played on January 21 at Nagpur and the second will be a day-night affair on January 24 at Cuttack.”The selection committe meeting will be held at Rajkot because captain Rahul Dravid would be playing for Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy four-day match against Saurashtra from January 10-13,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI.The Indian team will return after the three-Test series against South Africa, presently poised at 1-1, which ends with the Cape Town match from January 2 to 6.

Zimbabwe 258 and 353 for 8 (Masakadza 131, Mufambisi 45, Matsikenyeri 41) drew with Bangladesh 380 and 356 for 6 dec
ScorecardThe second A-team Test at Mutare between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh ended in a nail-biting draw when bad light prevented what was set to be a gripping finale. When the players trooped from the field, Zimbabwe needed 28 more to win with two wickets in hand and three overs remaining.That they had got so close to their target was thanks to a six-hour hundred from Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwe’s captain, who struck 131 to provide the platform for the chase. Tafadzwa Mufambisi (45) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (41) then took Zimbabwe within sight of victory before the weather intervened.Givemore Makoni, the Zimbabwe A manager, was delighted with the team’s performance. “The guys played good cricket this time around and it was a marked improvement in batting compared to the first game,” he told The Herald. “We scored about 600 runs in total and a number of the top-order and middle-order batsmen like Masakadza and Matsikenyeri are showing signs of improving.”We could have won this game but the performance and the result leaves us in a stronger position ahead of the decider in Bulawayo and we are now looking forward to a competitive match at Queens.”The third and final match starts at Bulawayo on Friday before the teams meet in a five-match one-day series in Bulawayo and Kwekwe.

Australia’s fast-bowling line-up will be able to bounce back at the World Cup despite a lack of experience in the Caribbean, according to Jason Gillespie. None of Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson have played international matches in the West Indies, leaving Glenn McGrath as Australia’s only frontline bowler with local knowledge.Gillespie, who has 28 Test wickets at 21.21 and six ODI dismissals from two Caribbean tours, said variation was the key to successful pace bowling in the West Indies. He said Shaun Tait could be seriously destructive on the Caribbean pitches.”On the tours I’ve been on, I’ve found the wickets to be reasonably similar to those on the sub-continent,” Gillespie told . “The outfields are fast and the wickets are low and slow. The guys have to hit the track hard and be patient.”They will have to make sure their line and length is right on the money and they need to hit their change-ups – the yorkers and slower balls. It will all come down to execution. I think Shaun Tait can be a revelation over there. Anyone who bowls 160kph will be a danger in the West Indies. You have to bowl Tait early. He may be a bit erratic but I’ll take that if he’s taking 3 for 55, rather than 1 for 40.”Gillespie said the popular view that Australia were losing their ability to defend big scores and nail their yorkers at crucial times was unfair. “The criticism of the bowlers has been overstated,” he said. “To suggest they’ve lost their aura of invincibility is a load of crap.”I know they will do well in the Caribbean. I don’t think their [inexperience] is a concern. The guys going over there have a bit of first-class and international experience. At the end of the day, you have to get experience in different countries at some stage and they may as well get it now.”Andy Bichel, who helped Australia win the World Cup in 2003, said Ricky Ponting must be prepared to use variety in his attack. “The team that has the most flexibility in their line-up will win the World Cup,” Bichel said. “The one-day wickets in the Caribbean can be a bit uneven, the grounds are small and the bowlers will face some pretty hostile crowds as well.”As the tournament goes on, the wickets will get lower and slower so Ricky needs to consider bowling blokes like Michael Clarke and keep other teams guessing. If Ricky is flexible, I know we have the skill and character to win it.”

The Twenty20 revolution apparently knows no boundaries. Now cricket’s hottest craze is poised to make inroads into one of the sport’s most elusive frontiers, the United States.Mohammad Azharuddin, Javed Miandad and Richie Richardson are the former Test captains who have agreed to take part in a privately-run, All-Star weekend in southern Florida in late May. The MAQ T20 International Cricket Tournament will combine three days of matches with ethnic musical concerts during the Memorial Day long weekend, May 23rd to 25th. It aims to attract 30,000 fans over three days to Central Broward Regional Park, a new cricket stadium, near Fort Lauderdale.The event will be funded by Cricket Council USA (CCUSA), a non-sanctioned organisation with no affiliation to the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which was reinstated as an Associate Member of the ICC on April 1st after a one-year suspension.CCUSA, with a couple of former USACA officials among a full-time staff of 12, is backed by Florida-based, Pakistani-born businessman, Mahammad “MAQ” Qureshi. With an office in Boca Raton, it says its aim is trying to spread the gospel of Twenty20 across America.Tickets will range between just US$10 and $20, with free general admission for children on two of the three days. “Our ultimate goal is to get the local youngsters at high school level to try cricket as an alternative to baseball, basketball or American football,” said Nino DiLoreto, Director of Media for CCUSA. “We’re looking beyond the expatriate element to take Twenty20 to mainstream Americans.”With four teams competing for $75,000 in prize money, the Memorial Day tournament has attracted an impressive list of names from cricket’s past and present.The West Indies All-Star Team is managed by Lawrence Rowe – who, like one of his former international team-mates, Lance Gibbs – now lives in southern Florida. Richardson will have ex-Windies internationals Ricardo Powell, Stuart Williams, Franklyn Rose and Courtney Browne amongst his team-mates. Joining Miandad, 51, in the Pakistani All-Star side will be 20-somethings Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat.The timing of the IPL rules out a significant Indian contingent, so Mohammad Azharuddin will captain an International All-Star team that includes former Australian spinner Nathan Hauritz, Ireland’s 2007 World Cup captain Trent Johnston and Brighton Watambwa, who played six Test matches for Zimbabwe in 2001-2002.Canada will provide players for the fourth side and intends using the tournament as a warm-up for an upcoming qualifying round in Ireland for the 2011 Twenty20 World Cup.”A Cricket Night to Remember” is the name of the concerts that will follow the first two days, featuring Caribbean and south Asian artists. The event is the first of four Twenty20 tournaments planned by CCUSA for 2008. On August 16th, the Azadi Cup will mark Indo-Pak Independence Day and will aim to attract some high profile subcontinental players to Central Broward Regional Park, recently completed and funded by public money at a cost of $71 million.”It’s the first purpose-built cricket stadium in the United States or Canada,” declared Nino DiLoreto of CCUSA.The diverse Broward County, a 30 minute drive north of Miami, is a unique, diverse pocket of the United States where cricket actually registers on the radar. Almost 4% of an estimated population of almost 2 million was born in Jamaica while there are also sizeable south Asian and British communities, many of whom subscribe to pay-per-view television to regularly watch international cricket. Broward County is the home to about 50 of the United States’ 750 registered cricket clubs, who play in two leagues. It’s estimated that the US has around 50,000 active players, making it the ninth largest cricket-playing country.CCUSA is still recruiting for the tournament and hasn’t given up hope of bringing another recent former Test captain to the impressive Central Broward Regional Park. “If he agrees to come, he’d be by far the tournament’s biggest name,” said Syed ‘Bobby’ Refaie, its president.Refaie, a former USACA secretary, added that CCUSA wasn’t trying to compete with the sport’s official body. “But we’re not waiting for USACA to bring the beautiful game of Twenty20 cricket to the American audience,” he said. “We’re hoping that we perhaps can join hands with USACA and work together in the future.”

It’s been a meteoric rise for Munaf Patel since he came to prominence witha 10-wicket haul against England in a tour game in February. On Test debuta few weeks later at Mohali, he did nearly as well, taking 7 for 97 asIndia battled back to win an even contest. Nudging the speedometer at90mph, he also showed the ability to reverse-swing the ball effectively,ending English resistance with a superb burst on the final morning.Since then, with Irfan Pathan struggling for form and consistency, Munafhas been thrust into the role of pace spearhead. He struggled initiallywith the one-day format, but an excellent spell against Australia onSaturday suggested that he was finding his feet in the hit-and-missversion.Given the new ball during the Tests in the West Indies – he took 14wickets in the four games – he was given first use of the white ball onSaturday after Pathan gave another insipid display in India’s openingmatch against West Indies. After practice on Monday morning at the RoyalSelangor Club, Munaf looked back on the past few months and spoke of theresponsibilities attached to taking the new ball.”Opening the attack isn’t really in my hands,” he said. “Whatever thecoach and the captain decide is after a great deal of thought, and in thebest interests of the team.”Coming on as first change against West Indies, he had figures of 1 for 18from five overs, the only bowler to escape a hammering as Chris Gayle andfriends romped to 141 from 20 overs. And after taking a bit of ashellacking early against Australia, he finished with 3 for 53, earningpraise from Ricky Ponting for the manner in which he had swung the ball.As for reverse swing, Patel felt that it was easier with the traditionalred ball than the white one. “You don’t get too much reverse with thewhite ball,” he said. “The batsmen too sense reverse, and are looking forany excuse to get the ball changed.”The red ball reverses more because you can use it for longer periods,while the white ball can at best be used for 50 overs and even then, it’schanged at least once during every innings. That’s one of the main reasonswhy it doesn’t reverse much.””I am fairly satisfied, but I want to put up an even better display,” saidMunaf, when asked to assess his displays so far. “My primary goal is tobowl according to the requirements of the team. There has been bounce andmovement for the quicker bowlers here, but it’s important to concentrateon line and length because those who stick to good lines and lengths arethe ones who are having success. The boundaries are fairly small and ifyou sacrifice accuracy for pace, then you will go for plenty of runs.”With rain having played a part in both Indian games, he admitted that theteam now faced a must-win situation. “There’s bound to be a bit ofpressure on us, but there’s pressure on West Indies too. There’s pressureon all teams. We want to win the next two matches and make it to thefinal.”We lost four matches on the trot in the West Indies, and here too,because of the rain, we lost the first match. We are focussed on puttingup a better performance on Wednesday [against West Indies].”The match against Australia was also his first opportunity to come acrossGlenn McGrath, unquestionably the greatest pace bowler of our age.”McGrath is a bowler who concentrates on line and length, he doesn’t havegreat pace but his control is remarkable,” said Munaf. “I have beenspeaking with him, and I will continue to speak to him as the tournamentprogresses. All the bowlers are eager to meet him and learn from him.”His team-mates continue to badger him to bowl quicker, but for Munaf,striking a balance is crucial. “Everyone wants that I bowl faster,” hesaid. “But I want to ally line and length with pace, not bowl all over thepark striving for pace. I can bowl quick, but my principal focus isaccuracy.”With Pathan and the other pace bowlers struggling to find their radar,it’s imperative that Munaf homes in during the next two games. Else, Indiaface the chastening prospect of an early flight home.

Worcestershire have offered to sign up Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, as their overseas professional for the first part of the 2008 season.”We have talked to Umar’s representative in the United Kingdom and have made an offer. We will continue to talk to see what is possible,” Mark Newton, the club’s chief executive told the , a London-based newspaper. “We would like Umar to be our overseas player for the early part of next season and his likely availability would be from early May to early August.”We are just hoping it [the signing] will all come to fruition and it will be an exciting time if Umar, Simon Jones, Kabir Ali and Matt Mason are all fit and available for next season. Umar is one of the most exciting prospects around and in addition to Test cricket, he has also proved to be economical in Twenty20 cricket.”Gul, 23, was the highest wicket-taker in the ICC World Twenty20 with 13 wickets at a miserly 5.60 runs per over. He has also taken 67 wickets at 31.55 from 16 Tests and 44 wickets at 28.27 from 34 ODIs.But Gul needs clearance from the Pakistan board before joining Worcestershire. If the board gives him permission, it will be his maiden appearance on the county circuit. Gloucestershire had signed him on for the 2007 season but the Pakistan board had refused to release him owing to concerns about his fitness.Worcestershire’s bowling department has been bolstered by the signing of Simon Jones, the England fast bowler, who will be on a two-year contract. Kabir Ali, who has played 14 ODIs and a Test, and Matt Mason would provide support. Mason is undergoing rehabilitation work after missing most of the previous season due to a shoulder injury.

New Zealand will head to India next month armed with a three-pronged spin arsenal after offspinner Nathan McCullum, legspinner Ish Sodhi and left-arm orthodox allrounder Mitchell Santner were included in a 15-man squad for the World T20 announced on Monday. New Zealand had rotated through a series of spinners in their limited-overs squads during the recent pair of home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, though McCullum had not played for New Zealand since the tour to South Africa in August.

New Zealand WT20 squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi

“With the Indian conditions in mind, the plan has always been to take three front-line spinners and all three bring something different,” said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson in a statement at the unveiling of the squad. “It’s great to have Nathan available again and his experience in the foreign conditions will be invaluable. Both he and Mitch Santner have the ability to bowl in the first six overs, which gives Kane a number of options to work with.”Legspinner Todd Astle did not make the cut though after having been included for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan. Astle, who hadn’t played for New Zealand since making his Test debut in 2012 against Sri Lanka, was ineffective in the first two matches of the series. He went wicketless with figures of 0 for 41 spread across four overs in the two games and was left out for the final match of the series.Henry Nicholls, who is uncapped in T20Is for New Zealand, was chosen after impressing with 82 in a Man-of-the-Match performance against Pakistan in the first ODI at Basin Reserve last week. Nicholls will also serve as cover for wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi.”Henry has shown his talent and versatility with the bat this summer and has also been used as a wicketkeeper for New Zealand A,” said Hesson.As for the injured trio of Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Ross Taylor, all three were picked and are expected to be fit by the start of the tournament. The return of Southee and McClenaghan meant there was no room for Matt Henry in the squad as Adam Milne was tabbed for the remaining fast bowling slot alongside Trent Boult and allrounders Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott.New Zealand is in a second-round pool alongside Australia, Pakistan, India and the winner of the qualifying pool played among Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands and Oman. New Zealand’s first match will be in Nagpur against India on March 15.

Chris Gayle has been handed the captaincy of West Indies for their limited-overs series in England and Ireland. He will lead a 14-man squad that does not include the fast bowlers Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor, who played at the World Cup in the Caribbean.Austin Richards has received his first international call-up and along with Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith, he will join the squad after the fourth Test. Richards, 23, is a left-hand batsman from Antigua who has a modest domestic one-day record but impressed in his two first-class outings in 2006-07, making 183 for Leeward Islands against Windward Islands.Daren Ganga, West Indies’ stand-in Test captain, was not included in the one-day outfit and will depart after the Chester-le-Street Test, along with Sylvester Joseph. The appointment of Gayle as the limited-overs leader came after reports that the West Indies Cricket Board executive committee wanted Ganga to take the helm of the one-day side, even though he had played only seven ODIs in nearly five years. The committee did not want Gayle in charge on the grounds of indiscipline.However, the board has ignored the committee’s request and Gayle will lead the squad, supported by Shivnarine Chanderpaul as his vice-captain. Gayle has captained West Indies once before, in a 20-run loss to India at Cuttack in January.The squad’s first challenge is two Twenty20 games against England at The Oval, followed by three one-day matches between the two sides in the first week of July. West Indies then depart for Ireland, where they will take part in a four-nation tournament that also features Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland.West Indies squad Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle (capt), Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Austin Richards, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.

West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since December 2013. The offspinner’s action can be reassessed by the ICC only after this period is complete.Samuels, who was prohibited from bowling quicker deliveries in 2013, was reported for a suspect action in October, during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Samuels underwent an independent assessment in Brisbane which revealed that his elbow extension exceeded the permitted 15-degree limit. Incidentally, the ICC had allowed Samuels to bowl in an ODI in November, after the 14-day grace period for reported bowlers had expired, on the grounds that the West Indies team was “incorrectly advised” about his eligibility.”As this report constitutes the player’s second suspension within a two-year period, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period,” an ICC release stated. “Samuels is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of the Independent Assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action.”Samuels was reported for the third time in his career in October. In 2008, he was called for a suspect faster ball after the third Test against South Africa in Durban. He was later suspended from bowling in international cricket but after remedial work on his action, was permitted to bowl in September 2011.He was reported once again at the end of the second day of the second Test against India in Mumbai in November 2013. He was subsequently allowed to bowl the offbreak delivery but not his quicker ball.Samuels is the third bowler to be banned from bowling in international cricket by the ICC in 2015. Sunil Narine was suspended in November due to an illegal action. Like Samuels, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez was handed a 12-month ban by the ICC in July, after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since November 2014.