Australia have announced their Test and one-day squads for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe. Glenn McGrath returns to both the squads, having recovered from an ankle injury, while Cameron White, the all-rounder from Victoria, gets the national call-up for the first time. White comes into the squad in place of Stuart MacGill, who has pulled out due to personal reasons. The two to miss out from the squad that toured Sri Lanka last month are Andrew Symonds and Shaun Tait.Shane Watson has been recalled to the one-day squad following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a back injury. Watson last played in the VB Series in 2002-03.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of the national selection panel, confirmed that McGrath had fully recovered from an ankle injury. “Glenn’s 100% and ready to go,” he said, “so it’s sensible that he returns to the squad given his prior status as the premier fast bowler in the world. With the short nature of the tour it’s a good opportunity for Glenn to ease his way back into competitive cricket.”Hohns said that MacGill’s decision to skip the tour gave the selectors a chance to pick White. “We were keen to take two spinners to Zimbabwe and given Stuart’s unavailability for the tour, we now have an opportunity to look at one of our younger spinners in Cameron with a view to the future. His form in the Pura Cup with both bat and ball was very good, and we’re looking forward to seeing him take the next step on the international stage.”Hohns added that Symonds’s inclusion in to the squad for the Sri Lanka series was “exclusively based on the conditions in that country” and with the squad-strength being reduced from 15 to 13, an extra batsman would not be necessary. “We all know that Andrew’s a quality player and never out of our thoughts because of the flexibility he offers our squads with his all-round talents.”Both the squads will assemble in Brisbane for a three-day pre-tour camp on May 9. The Test squad will depart for Zimbabwe on Thursday May 13.Test squad
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Jason Gillespie, 9 Michael Kasprowicz, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shane Warne, 12 Cameron White, 13 Brad WilliamsOne-day squad
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Andrew Symonds, 8 Ian Harvey, 9 Brad Hogg, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Michael Kasprowicz, 12 Glenn McGrath, 13 Shane Watson, 14 Brad WilliamsTour itinerary
17 May Two-day game v Zimbabwe A CFX Academy, Harare
23 May First Test v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare
29 May Second Test v Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
6 June First ODI v Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
9 June Second ODI v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare
12 June Third ODI v Zimbabwe Harare Sports Ground, Harare

Scorecard

Runs might not have flowed off the bat, but the fourth day of the Lord’s Test was a pulsating affair with fortunes ebbing and flowing throughout. At the close, England were 8 for 0, needing another 274 runs to win.New Zealand’s hero was Mark Richardson, who made up for his first-innings disappointment by scoring 101. As with all Richardson innings, it was one savoured by the purists – and the Beige Brigade – rather than by anyone brought up on the crash-bang-wallop of one-day cricket. Cruelly sawn off by Darrell Hair on 93 late on Thursday, only the most hardened England supporter could have wanted him to miss out again as he struggled through the nervous nineties.He reached his hundred with a scrambled single, crouched down for a brief private moment, before jumping up and punching the air in delight. The warm appreciation from the crowd showed that they realised the importance of his innings. In a world which demands instant gratification, there is still room for a good old-fashioned plodder.Were it not for Richardson then New Zealand would be facing defeat as their other batsmen, with the exception of the unwell Nathan Astle, failed to ignite. The pace of play was slow – the last couple of days had not been frenetic, but cameos from Chris Cairns and Andrew Flintoff had enlivened them. Today, there was no such cameo, but it was gripping stuff nevertheless. The three-quarter-full ground obviously thought so, as there wasn’t a hint of a Mexican wave, usually the first hint of boredom.The Brendon McCullum who batted this morning was a shadow of the confident strokeplayer who hit the ball to all parts last night. As his hundred beckoned he retreated further into his shell with each delivery he faced, and with Richardson playing the anchor role at the other end, runs dried up.The turning point came with the introduction of Simon Jones. Getting considerable reverse swing with the old ball, he tormented McCullum, repeatedly beating the outside edge, and there was an inevitability when he finally found the outside edge for Geraint Jones to hold the easiest of chances (180 for 3). McCullum made 96 and for the third time in the match a New Zealander had been deprived of a deserved hundred.

His dismissal triggered a mini-collapse, and it was Giles who did the damage with two wickets in an over. Until then, he had cast a lonely figure as he wheeled away with the batsmen using their feet to him with what amounted to contempt. But Scott Styris’s record against left-armers is not good, and his defensive jab found the edge as Nasser Hussain took a good reflex catch at silly point (187 for 3). Craig McMillan clearly decided on a policy of hammering Giles, but his attempted sweep off his second ball tickled the bottom edge of his bat and Hussain took another good catch (187 for 4).When Jacob Oram was well run-out by Hussain shortly after lunch, New Zealand were 203 for 5, a lead of only 148. But Richardson and Astle dug in, and their sixth-wicket stand of 84 thwarted England through the afternoon. Giles, boosted by his success, bowled unchanged from the Nursery End for a session and a half, and Jones continued to probe without reward.England enjoyed their best period after tea when they grabbed four quick wickets, three to Stephen Harmison who took 3 for 16 in five overs – and eight of the runs he conceded were edged boundaries which on another day might have gone to hand. He dismissed Richardson, Astle, and Daniel Vettori, all caught by Geraint Jones, and Giles picked up a third when Mark Butcher held a diving catch at deep midwicket to remove the dangerous Chris Cairns for 14.But Geraint Jones then turned from hero to villain when he spilt an oh-so-routine chance from Daryl Tuffey off Harmsion. That was with the score on 314 for 9, and eight runs later Martin was bowled by a Simon Jones no-ball. Tuffey rode his luck, and with Chris Martin went on to add another 24 runs before Andrew Flintoff bowled Martin with the first ball of a new spell.England were left with a tricky five overs which they negotiated with few alarms. They will have to bat well tomorrow, but the pitch remains true and the weather forecast is good. It promises to be a belter.Admission at Lord’s on Monday is £10 (adults), £5 (U-16 and OAPs).Martin Williamson is managing editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Australia 2 for 370 (Langer 162,Martyn 97,Lehmann 50,Chandana 4-94) v Sri Lanka Live scorecard

After the haymaking indulgences of yesterday, this second day at Cairnsbegan with a dull throb. It is often the way of mornings after. Australia’sbatsmen set purposefully about building an imposing total; Sri Lanka’s bowlers sought scratchily to claw back some dignity. By lunch 104 runs had been added and five wickets fiddled out, suggesting the visitors had been significantly more successful in achieving their objectives.In fact, Sri Lanka sloped off at the interval with considerable momentum, having nailed the last four Australian wickets for 20 runs. All four went toUpul Chandana, the legspinner, who was ignored for the first half of yesterday but flighted the ball intelligently today. He was helped out by some needlessly reckless shotmaking.Damien Martyn prodded tentatively forward on 97, made no concerted attemptto hit the ball and was struck on the front pad. Despite the look of derision he gave Aleem Dar, the Pakistan umpire, as he walked off, he appearedcosily leg-before. Simon Katich, a normally conservative beginner, wasbowled for 1, audaciously pulling at and missing a short floater from Chandana.Darren Lehmann, batting busily and inventively for 50, also departed in uncharacteristic fashion. He slogged at yet another well-flighted delivery from Chandana, didn’t quite time it, and was caught metres short of the sightscreen by Kumar Sangakkara. Shane Warne fell soon after for 2, slashing hypnotically and edging to Thilan Samaraweera in the slips. It seemed a terrible waste of resources.Justin Langer was first out for 162, wafting irritably at a wide ball fromLasith Malinga and edging high to Mahela Jayawardene at slip. He had ekedout only three runs this morning and failed to relocate his casual fluencyof yesterday.Martyn, by contrast, picked up precisely where he left off,all straight grace and elegance. Upon entering the nineties he receiveda thorough workout from a rejuvenated Nuwan Zoysa, who had Martyn playingand missing, inside-edging and repeatedly squared up. Martyn was tentativefor a while, then seemed almost to drift off into a slumber. The Australianscan safely be expected to wake up again sometime this afternoon.

Martin Hawkins, one of the Anti-Corruption officers of the International Cricket Council, has alleged that Maurice Odumbe had made four trips to Mumbai before the World Cup last year to meet an Indian bookmaker. Hawkins was speaking at the ICC’s tribunal at Nairobi into alleged the match-fixing allegations on Odumbe.Hawkins, who gave evidence at the hearing, said that he had investigated Odumbe’s telephone calls, travels and hotel accommodation between January and December 2002. He also said that he interviewed Odumbe in his hotel room in Johannesburg, during the World Cup, about his relationship with Jagdish Sodha, the bookie, and his trips to Mumbai.”Odumbe said,” according to Hawkins, “[that] he had been introduced to Sodha as someone he would do business of solar lighting with, when he retired from cricket. Sodha would also provide medicine for his mother who had hypertension. It was the year before the World Cup and it was unusual for a player to make four trips to Mumbai and be entertained by Sodha.”Hawkins added that his investigations had proved that the player had received money and had his accommodation in Mumbai paid for by his host.Ishan Kapila, Odumbe’s lawyer claimed that by giving detailed reports on Odumbe’s girlfriends and other personal affairs, the ICC investigators had infringed on his client’s private life . During his cross-examination, Kapila said, “The Code of Conduct is dramatically fraud[ulent] in the context.”Niranjan Singh Virk, another ICC investigator, told the inquiry that he had interviewed Sodha in 2000 when he was still working for the Central Bureau of Investigations in India and at the time, Sodha had confessed that he had been a bookmaker. However, he also said that Sodha had never been charged or convicted for the offence.Odumbe is expected to give evidence in his defence on Friday.

The ECB has denied reports that some of the England players have already pulled out of their one-day tour of Zimbabwe, which is due to take place in November.England were originally scheduled to play a two-Test series as well as the one-dayers, but Zimbabwe’s Test status has been put on hold for the rest of this year in the wake of the dispute with their leading players, which has severely weakened their team. However, the ECB recently agreed to play five one-dayers – one extra than originally planned – but it may have trouble persuading some of the players to go.An article in yesterday’s said that seven leading players, including Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison, had already decided they wouldn’t tour Zimbabwe on moral grounds, but had been ordered by the ECB to keep quiet on the matter. Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), was quoted as saying: “We’ve not agreed to gag players, although my advice is it would be inappropriate to comment while the situation is being dealt with by the ICC.”But the ECB responded to the article by saying: “The players have not been gagged as the newspaper suggests … Both the ECB and the players’ own representatives have asked the players to delay making any decision.”The ECB also promised to give the players as much information as possible before they made their decision on whether to tour or not. David Morgan, the ECB’s chairman, has already insisted that the players will not be forced to go.

Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, will upset the purists with his latest theory: that his side should play fewer Test matches to make way for more one-day games.Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s first match of the NatWest Challenge series against India, which is a warm-up for the Champions Trophy, Fletcher told BBC Sport: “We’re going to have to look at replacing the odd Test match here and there with a substitute of four one-dayers so players have decent breaks.”But Fletcher warned that these must not lead to player burnout. He said: “We must play more one-day cricket – but that doesn’t mean we must play more cricket.”While England’s Test side proved formidable this summer – they completed a 7-0 clean sweep against New Zealand and West Indies – the one-day team has fared less well, with three wins and six defeats in their last ten games.England currently play less one-day cricket than the other leading teams. They have played just 17 one-day matches in 2004, and only Kenya have played fewer. Their comparative lack of match practice could explain why they are ranked a lowly eighth in the world. Every other side has played at least 20 matches, with Pakistan playing 33.However, despite this, Michael Vaughan and his team go into the NatWest Challenge against India, the World Cup finalists, as marginal favourites. This is a combination of home advantage, the absence of Sachin Tendulkar with tennis elbow, and India’s own questionable recent form – they have only won five of their last ten matches, and that includes victories over Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

Kenya v Pakistan – Play abandonedIt was cold, windy and drizzling at Edgbaston, and there were few complaints when Pakistan’s match against Kenya was called off for the day. Although the heavy overnight rain had eased off significantly, the ground was still shrouded in tarpaulins as the umpires inspected the bowlers’ run-ups and decided that tomorrow would be a safer day to play.It is vital for both teams that they get some time on the field, as Pakistan are scheduled to play an India on the upswing here on Sunday, while Kenya don’t know when their next game is. If the weather clears – and www.weather.com certainly thinks so – we’ll have a match ready to go at 0915 GMT tomorrow.

England are refusing to pay Zimbabwe Cricket any compensation as a result of the decision not to reschedule the first one-day international of the current series, which was due to have been played at Harare last Friday (November 26).The match was cancelled because of the dispute over journalists’ accreditation which meant that England arrived in Zimbabwe two days later than scheduled. ZC tried to shift the match back 24 hours to the Saturday, but England refused, arguing that it would have meant them playing less than a day after arriving in the country.The Zimbabwe board claims that the cancellation has cost it US$600,000 in lost gate receipts as well as proceeds from sponsors and TV coverage. The English board dispute this, believing the figure to be closer to US$50,000.”Zimbabwe Cricket has indicated it has suffered a significant financial penalty as a result of there being one fewer match,” said David Morgan, the ECB’s chairman. “We’ve made it clear we don’t think the ECB are liable for that loss and that it’s a direct result of the delay in media accreditation.”Andrew Walpole, England’s media-relations manager, endorsed that stance: “We continue to attribute any loss to the delay in accrediting the 13 UK journalists. The figure quoted is incorrect and a far smaller sum is at issue.”

Bennett King, the coach of the West Indian team, has scoffed at rumours that Brian Lara was a difficult player to manage, but indicated that Lara might be allowed certain concessions in training to allow him to play longer.Talking to the media after the West Indian squad landed in Australia for the VB Series, King said: “I don’t know where it [the rumours] comes from and I was conscious of going in with an open book, having heard all the innuendo, and making my own opinion. But from my point of view, he smiles at me every day and I smile at him every day, so it goes all right.”King, who was earlier the chief coach of Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence, suggested that it was important to handle Lara well, so as to maximise his contribution to West Indian cricket. “We’ve got to be mindful of his longevity in the game and how we manage him so we get the best out of Brian for as long as he wants to play,” King stated. “Some people need to be treated differently and sometimes when you start maturing, you need to also be adaptable to some of their needs and the players around them need to understand that too.”He’s had 35 years in cricket and he’s hit ten million cricket balls in his career as it is, whereas a 20-year-old’s probably hit about 200,000, so it’s not going to take Brian that long to get into pretty good shape.”Talking about his experiences with the team so far, King said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with these boys from the islands and the limiting factor for them is the amount of resources that are available within the Caribbean to consistently train and put in the hours that some of the other nations have the opportunity to.”West Indies have been struggling in international cricket over the last few years, but showed signs of a resurgence last year, when they lifted the Champions Trophy after defeating England in a thrilling final. However, with Australia and Pakistan being the two other teams in the fray in the VB Series, West Indies will have their task cut out, and will start as underdogs in the tournament. They begin their campaign with a match against Australia at Melbourne on January 14.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
The end came swiftly. Off the fourth ball of the morning, Talha Jubair was caught on the boundary. India swept the series, winning this Test by an innings and 83 runs to give them a win-loss-draw record of 6-3-3 for the year.Bangladesh were out of their depth once again in this series, except for a few glimpses of the heights that they could reach. Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique bowled as if the team’s hopes rested solely on their shoulders. And then there was Mohammad Ashraful, who mauled India’s bowlers as if he had an Australian passport. While the team continues to lose heavily, something has changed. There is more defiance and, with injured players returning, a new strength. They cannot be taken as lightly as they once were.India broke several records within the last fortnight. The bowlers took wickets, and nearly every batsman plundered the attack. This was seen as the ideal opportunity to build form before Pakistan visit early next year. But while Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar stroked big hundreds fluently, and Irfan Pathan decimated the opposition thrice, the runs and wickets have come against a team that blew hot and cold. Numbers rose – a welcome sight at the end of a turbulent year – but somewhere it will linger that they could not weather the storm when it mattered most, losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to a team that widened the chasm between themselves and the rest of the planet.