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Richard McInnes has been appointed senior coach at Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. McInnes, who has already worked at the Australian Academy, joins four other senior coaches – Dene Hills, Brian McFadyen, Steve Jenkin and Jamie Siddons – to complete the set-up. Siddons will manage the centre’s cricket programs under the head coach Tim Nielsen.The appointment of McInnes marks a return to his native Australia; in the interim he had a successful stint as Bangladesh’s high performance manager, a position he held since 2003. The highlight of his tenure was steering the Under 19 side to success in the World Cup plate final in March 2004.But his time with Bangladesh was not without controversy: he allegedly threatened a journalist in February 2003 after a barrage of questions in one press conference suggesting his contract should be terminated and asking about his statement that there were only three qualified coaches in the country. But he apologised to the media in an official press release soon afterwards, and good relations were restored in the following weeks with success in the plate.

Glamorgan have made an official complaint to the ECB about Steve Kirby, accusing him of ball-tampering during their seven-wicket defeat by Gloucestershire in the last round of Championship matches.Kirby, the former Yorkshire fast bowler, was accused of deliberately scuffing the ball on the concrete after David Hemp hit a six into the car park. At the time, he was reported by the umpires at Sophia Gardens, Nigel Cowley and John Hampshire, who included the allegations of ball-tampering in their match report.Glamorgan’s complaint will be reviewed by the ECB’s David Gabbitass, who has already asked Gloucestershire to conduct a thorough internal inquiry and present the results to him by May 19.Soon after the alleged incident on the third day of the match, John Derrick, Glamorgan’s coach, strode onto the pitch to complain about the alteration of the ball’s condition, although the umpires were unable to determine whether the scuffing had been caused by anything other than the initial bounce of the ball.

After much speculation about his future, Kevin Pietersen has confirmed that he wants to leave Nottinghamshire even though he still has a year left on his contract.Pietersen, born in South Africa, becomes eligible to play for England next year and is spending the winter at the national academy in Loughborough. He has scored 3,945 first-class runs at an average of 51 during his career and was far and away Notts’ leading scorer last season with over 1,500 runs.Talking to the BBC Sport website, Pietersen said: “I haven’t been happy there for a while and I want to leave.” He added, “The pitch at Trent Bridge has been one of my problems. I’ve been doing OK, but I could have done so much better if the wicket had been good.”And he already has one eye on playing for England. “I qualify to play for England in August next year and if I continue doing the things I have done for the past three years, then hopefully things will happen for me,” he said. “It’s been a huge ambition of mine to play at the highest level and I want to do that for England.”Surrey, Middlesex and Northamptonshire are all reportedly interested in his services for next season.

South Africa A 296 for 6 (Dippenaar 113, Kemp 79*, Walmsley 3-46) beatNew Zealand A 292 (Bell 53, Fulton 98, Hall 4-62) by four runs
Scorecard

Boeta Dippenaar made his intentions quite clear to the National Selectors by scoring a career-best 113 to help South Africa A win a thrilling game against New Zealand A at SuperSport Park in Centurion in the last encounter of the three-match series.Dippenaar, passing 4,000 List A career runs, went to his fourth limited-overs hundred with an array of glorious cover drives before being trapped lbw by Kerry Walmsley. Coming to the crease with South Africa in trouble, he showed hisexperience with a well-paced innings, accelerating when needed, and hitting 13 fours and two sixes along the way.Peter Fulton, surprisingly playing his first one-day game of the tour, took New Zealand to the brink of victory with a superb 98, before he was bowled in the 48th over. His runs had come off 102 balls, but after his dismissal five more wickets fell for nine runs in only nine balls, and South Africa A pulled off a close win.After winning the toss, Chris Martin, back from a deserved rest, got NewZealand off to a good start by picking up the early wickets of both openers, Morne van Wyk caught behind without scoring, and Andrew Hall bowled off his pads for eight.From the position of 15 for 2 after in the eighth over, Dippenaar and Ashwell Prince, the captain, batted South Africa back into the game with a patient 90-run partnership in 18.3 overs. Tama Canning, the star of the Wanderers match,made the breakthrough when he knocked Prince’s leg stump back for 37. But Dippenaar kept the initiative with another good partnership with with Neil McKenzie, who hit 35 at nearly a run a ball.

The platform had been set. At the Wanderers it had been Albie Morkel who launched an assault in the closing overs, and today it was the turn of Justin Kemp. Taking full advantage of anything loose, Kemp powered his way to 50 in 33 balls, and finished undefeated on 79 off ony 45 as South Africa amassed 296 for 6.New Zealand were quickly on the back foot with the loss of Jamie How for four, but Matthew Bell, their captain, and Mathew Sinclair got the innings back on track with some aggressive strokeplay. But Sinclair fell on 19, and Bell’saggression eventually got the better of him, as he was well caught at point for 53 – an innings that included six fours and two sixes.Fulton and Lou Vincent kept New Zealand in the chase with a fifty partnership, and Fulton went to his own half-century from only 58 balls. Two fours and a big straight six took Vincent to 42, but he then lofted a high catch to deep cover, bringing to an end a partnership of 107 that had begun to look very threatening to South Africa.Gareth Hopkins, running very quickly between the wickets, came in and played a little cameo as he nudged the ball around, turning ones into twos and sneaking in the occasional boundary.But then came the deciding blow, as Hall bowled Fulton, trapped Ross Taylor in front, and then castled Canning first ball with 13 runs still needed. An inside edge from Walmsley took it to seven off seven, but then a sensational bit of fielding off the last ball of the over had Walmsley run out for 5, and seven runs were needed off the last over.Jeetan Patel was then run out first ball, and it had gone all pear-shaped for New Zealand. There was more drama, as Alfonso Thomas bowled his second beamer of the innings, and had to be removed from the attack. Morkel was called on to complete the over, and bowled Martin to seal the win. From 284 for 4 New Zealand had been skittled for 292. Hopkins was left stranded on 49 and the 2,500 spectators present had once again received their money’s worth.

Daniel Vettori has been named as captain for New Zealand’s one-day series in Bangladesh, but will be vice-captain for the Test series. Stephen Fleming, who will lead the Test side, will miss the one-dayers to rest a long-term abdominal injury.While the move to give Vettori the top job reflected faith in his abilities as a leader, John Bracewell, the coach, said that it was also part of a wider initiative: “We want to develop captaincy skills among key senior players,” said Bracewell. “There is a heavy reliance on Stephen Fleming as captain, and a succession plan is required to ensure we have cover in the event he is injured. The one-day series in Bangladesh will give us the opportunity to develop Vettori as a possible captaincy option.”Andre Adams, Peter Fulton and Mathew Sinclair were rewarded with call-ups due to consistent performances, while Jacob Oram – another captaincy option, according to Bracewell – was rested.”Andre Adams has been selected in the ODI squad following his recent form playing county cricket for Essex,” Bracewell explained. “The opportunity given to Andre in county cricket has given him enormous confidence and self-belief and a greater understanding of the make-up of a team and his role within it. This broadening of experience has been essential to his development as a player.”Peter Fulton is being rewarded for his performances for Canterbury and New Zealand A. His performance for Canterbury shows he is suited to the one-day game and is likely to be suited to the flatter front-foot wickets of Bangladesh. Peter is going as a back-up batter, and the opportunity should be a good experience for him. It will also be good opportunity to see whether players performing well at the A-team level are able to make that step up to the Black Caps.”Sinclair entered the team through the back door, when Michael Papps dislocated his shoulder during a training camp. Bracewell said Papps would be out for more than a month, and acknowledged Sinclair’s ability to play well in South Asia.”Mathew Sinclair is being rewarded for his New Zealand A performances in South Africa. He was the most successful top-order batsmen in the past two A-team series, and has a good understanding of the Black Caps and playing in the subcontinent.”Squad Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum (wk), Scott Styris, Peter Fulton, Chris Harris, Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori (capt), Andre Adams, Ian Butler, Kyle Mills (one more player to be named later).

Paul Riley, who represented Nottinghamshire Cricket Board in the 2003C&G Trophy, has been found guilty of assaulting Kial Stewart, an AustralianParalympic cyclists gold medalist. He has given a suspendedsentence of 15 months’ jail by the South Australia District Court, onthe condition he enter a AUS$500 (£200) two-year good behaviour bond.Riley, 22, has been staying at a cricket camp at the headquarters ofAustralian Institute of Sport in Adelaide at the time of the incident in March last year.Judge Peter Allan acquitted Riley of causing grievous bodily harm withintent, saying the prosecution had failed to prove he intended to injureStewart, but found him guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.Stewart had been with a group of cyclists who were walking back to theInstitute of Sport’s Del Monte facility after having drinks atAdelaide’s Ramsgate Hotel when the assault occurred. “They’re all a bunch of good guys,” Riley told the court, “and I really didn’t think there would be afight.” He said that Stewart had first punched his friend Nathan Crack, 31,before starting on him. “I defended myself. He punched me and I punchedhim back.”

In a surprising reversal, John Davison has negotiated his release from South Australia to play for Canada in the semi-final of the first ICC Intercontinental Cup trophy against the UAE in Sharjah on November 16-18. Previous reports had suggested that Davison was wary of missing two Pura Cup matches for South Australia, with whom he has been struggling to cement a first-team place.Davison will replace Desmond Chumney, who is injured, and take over the captaincy of Canada – which had been handed to Ian Billcliff. But, if Canada manage to overhaul UAE, Davison will miss the final in Sharjah on November 20-22 as South Australia require him for Pura Cup duty.In the other semi-final, Kenya take on Scotland at Abu Dhabi. Kenya will be led by Rageb Aga in the absence of Hitesh Modi, who is getting married in England on November 19.The four semi-finalists announced their squads today. Scotland’s squad includes Dougie Brown and Gavin Hamilton, both of whom have played one-day internationals for England.Canada squadJohn Davison (capt), Ashif Mulla, Ian Billcliff, Austin Codrington, Haninder Dhillon, Sunil Dhaniram, Don Maxwell, Ashish Patel, Kevin Sandher, Umar Bhatti, Zubin Surkari, Sanjayan Thuraisingam, Jason Patraj.Kenya squadRageb Aga (capt), Rajesh Bhudiya, Ravindu Shah, Lameck Ngoche, Anitkumar Bhudia, Kalpesh Patel, Stephen David Okumu, Tanmay Mishra, Malhar Patel, Jadavji Bhimji, Timothy Muange, Abeed Janmohamed, Brijal Patel.Scotland squadCraig Wright (capt), Douglas Lockhart, Paul Hoffmann, Gavin Hamilton, David Watts, Gregor Maiden, Ryan Watson, Douglas Brown, John Blain, Colin Smith, Cedric English, Kyle Coetzer, Asim Butt.UAE squadMohamed Tauqir (capt), Ali Asad Abbas, Khuram Khan, Syed Maqsood Ahmed, Arshad Ali, Naeemuddin Aslam, Ram Veera Rai, Kashif Hussain Khan Tareen, Muhammad Taskeen Sadique, Rizwan Ahmed, Sameer Zia, Zahid Shah, Muhamad Atif.

In this day of dime-a-dozen international fixtures, a one-off one-day international would on most occasions be brushed aside as a non-event. However, things are different when the two teams involved are India and Pakistan, the event is the BCCI’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and the venue is the Eden Gardens. It’s festival time for both communities, with Diwali and Eid being celebrated this weekend, and a day-night one-dayer between the two traditional rivals at one of the largest cricket grounds is just the event to get the adrenalin rushing.About six months back, India would have gone into a match against Pakistan as favourites. However, since winning both the Test and the one-day series in Pakistan, the Indians have undergone a collective slump, suffering demoralising losses in four one-day tournaments, and then being thrashed by Australia in the Test series. During this period, they lost three times out of three to Pakistan, who have themselves been on the upswing since Bob Woolmer took charge as coach. Form books usually count for little in any India-Pakistan match, but going into this game Pakistan will fancy their chances of making it four in a row.The timing of this match is itself quite unusual for the Indians. They finished a Test match just a week ago, and go into another one in a week’s time. Sandwiched in between is a high-pressure one-dayer, and it is anybody’s guess how the team – especially the batsmen – will cope with the demands. Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman finally managed some runs in the Mumbai Test, but it would be a huge exaggeration to say that all the batsmen are back in form. Rahul Dravid has been scratchy, while Sourav Ganguly is just back from an injury and was far from convincing in the Ranji Trophy game he played last weekend.There’s been speculation in the Indian media that Ganguly wanted to open the batting with Tendulkar for this match, but it makes little sense for the Indian think-tank to disturb the batting position of the one batsman who has been among the runs – Virender Sehwag was by far the most successful batsman against Australia, and deserves to stay at the top of the order. The other dilemma for India is the usual one – should Dravid double up as the wicketkeeper? Dinesh Karthik was impressive behind the stumps at Mumbai, but the chances are that he’ll be manning the drinks cart on Saturday.Pakistan’s batting has usually been their Achilles heel, but there have been signs that the support cast is beginning to pull its weight to bolster a line-up which had been held together for so long by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. Shoaib Malik has become a vital cog at No. 3, while Younis Khan’s century in the Karachi Test against Sri Lanka suggested that he might be returning to form.Pakistan certainly hold an edge in the bowling department, despite Irfan Pathan’s return. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami have combined raw pace with much better direction and control of late, while Malik and Abdul Razzaq have filled in superbly in the middle overs.Not only does recent form favour Pakistan, they’ll also have fond memories of playing at Eden Gardens. They have won both their one-dayers here against India – including a famous victory in 1986-87, when Salim Malik blitzed 72 off 36 balls – and in their most recent Test there, in 1998-99, Shoaib Akhtar nailed Dravid and Tendulkar with successive deliveries, and Pakistan eventually won by 46 runs.Speaking to the media on Thursday, Inzamam made an unusual statement: “Winning or losing does not matter on this occasion. The important thing is to build relations.” That might be a sentiment in keeping with the general goodwill that each country has shown the other in the last few months, but one suspects that neither team will be in such a generous mood when the umpires call play at 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Rahul Dravid (wk), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Zaheer Khan.Pakistan (probable) 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Younis Khan, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Mohammad Sami.

Harbhajan Singh has escaped any major disciplinary actions for his comments about Greg Chappell as the Punjab Cricket Association let him off with an advice “to exercise caution while talking to media.”The PCA had summoned him for a hearing over his comments, made on September 25, that Chappell’s strict regime had instilled fears and insecurity among members of the Indian team and that the Australian was using a divide and rule policy.After the hearing by the administrative committee the PCA president, I S Bindra, said that the bowler was told that his action was “not in line with the code of the Indian Board and the state association.”Harbhajan was given the reprieve apparently after he tendered an apology to the committee. Bindra added: “In hindsight he has realised he should have avoided airing his views the way he did in public.”Harbhajan was not allowed to take questions from the large number of media present. A statement released by the PCA said: “Harbhajan appeared before the administrative committee of the PCA to explain what he actually meant to say in his statement (on) Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy and on the coach Chappell’s working.”The administrative committee has decided to treat the matter as closed after Harbhajan has assured the PCA that he would never again do anything that would hurt him, the state association, the board and Indian cricket.”

After Pakistan’s resounding win over India, their fourth on the trot, Inzamam-ul-Haq gave credit to Salman Butt and the coach, and said that while Harbhajan Singh bowled well, the dew caused India problems later in the day.Butt, whose unbeaten hundred led Pakistan to victory, came in for praise from Inzamam. “We have got a very good opener in Salman Butt,” he was quoted as saying by UNI. “He looks [a good prospect] for our team. It was really a difficult target, but our openers kept their cool and pursued it with patience.”In a now-common doffing of the hat to Bob Woolmer, Inzamam said, “With Woolmer joining as coach we are working much more and that has led to the high confidence level we have now. We have also developed our fielding which has led to improved performance in difficult ground conditions.”His counterpart, Sourav Ganguly, was clearly disturbed by the loss. “We never looked like winning the game,” PTI quoted Ganguly as saying. “They took the game away from us.” He said that dew was a factor, but Pakistan’s performance was better on the day. “There was a bit of dew. It is expected at this time of the year. But I think they played better than us. They have beaten us four times in a row, obviously they have been playing better than us.”But Ganguly gave credit to batsmen on both sides, saying that his batsmen were “outstanding”, but that Pakistan “batted very well”.