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Pleased with the response to the first international match at Darwin, Cricket Australia announced that both Darwin and Cairns would host a Test match each when Sri Lanka tour Australia for a two-Test series in June-July next season.James Sutherland, chief executive of Cricket Australia, said: “Cricket Australia is delighted that after the hard work that has gone into preparing both venues for cricket this year, they will both host another international fixture in 2004.” Sri Lanka will play the first Test at Darwin, from July 1-5, while Cairns will host the second Test, from July 9-13.The move to play international cricket during the Australian winter was necessitated by the ICC’s schedule, which requires all teams to play each other in home-and-away series twice in a ten-year period. Darwin and Cairns are hosting the two-Test series against Bangladesh this season.Sutherland spelt out the benefits of playing in the winters: “By extending Australian cricket’s traditional season into the winter months, we have the opportunity to showcase the game to more people for longer periods of time. The weather is perfect to play cricket at this time of year and we are thrilled with the response we’ve had from the locals to this week’s Test match.”Sri Lanka toured Australia in 2002-03, but the impending World Cup in South Africa meant that they only played the triangular VB Series, instead of playing a Test series as well. According to a Cricket Australia press release, both boards had agreed to shift the Tests to July 2004.

In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Barbados CricketLeague (BCL) has been invited to field a team in the Barbados CricketAssociation’s national trials in preparation for the 2002 BustaSeries.President Glyne St Hill made the disclosure at the BCL’s annual clubawards ceremony on Friday night and it was confirmed yesterday by BCAconsultant Selwyn Smith, who met with St Hill on Thursday.We plan to work with the BCL to strengthen cricket in Barbados, saidSmith, who has day-to-day responsibility for the running of the BCA’ssecretariat.The selectors thought it would be a good idea to have a BCL team inthe trials. It is a way to make sure that we look at all thepossibilities in selecting our team.The BCL, which was founded in 1936 by the late Mitchie Hewitt, has arich history of producing several outstanding greats.They were also a formidable force in the BCA’s Division 1 competitionin the 1970s and early 1980s, but have struggled badly in the lastdecade in which they often finished bottom of the table.This season, however, the BCL Division 1 team has shown improvement,while the Reserve Zone team has surprised all and sundry to move tothe top of the table with two rounds of matches remaining.St Hill welcomed the chance for the BCL to have a presence in one ofthe four trial matches planned by the BCA.It is a wonderful opportunity. It is like opening a door, he said.St Hill said it was likely the BCL would field a youthful unit made upof players from the Division 1 and Reserve Zone teams, along with thebest of those in the 66 clubs participating in the domesticcompetitions.It will be representative of a true BCL side. We would not be fieldingplayers who are past their best.The good thing about it is that most of our players in Division 1 andthe Reserve Zone are under the age of 25.

The moods of the two sides that will clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium starting Thursday were reflected in their respective captains’ demeanor when they arrived for the pre-match press conferences. Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary seemed tentative when he walked in, wishing the reporters “good afternoon”, getting no response, and speaking softly even in the absence of a microphone. Karnataka’s Vinay Kumar strutted in confidently, in flip-flops, like the leader of a side that has been winning domestic tournaments one after another. Well, they have been.After a winless 2014-15 season, Bengal start this year’s campaign against the defending champions. With a home record of three wins and two draws last season, Karnataka will be hungry to roar back after a disappointing opening match away from home against recently-promoted Assam. Even though Karnataka conceded the first-innings lead in the drawn match, Vinay said he wasn’t worried, and was looking forward rather than backwards.”Sometimes it happens, we need to come back strongly,” he said. “Many teams may give up after scoring 180 and they concede 250-300, but we fought really well. It happens but I won’t think much about that game. We need to forget about it and move forward. Last year also it happened, we conceded first-innings lead twice.”Bengal have their own battles to fight – they were nearly relegated last season, wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was injured until recently, there were pre-season controversies during a preparatory tour of Sri Lanka, and some captaincy friction before Tiwary took the mantle. Tiwary will be challenged to get the best out of his individual players as well as make the team click as a unit. Only one Bengal bowler – Ashok Dinda – took more than 15 wickets last season, and no regular bowler averaged under 30. The batsmen will have better numbers to fall back on – three of them accumulated over 400 runs each and four averaged over 40 last time – but Tiwary said bringing out a collective batting performance would be his biggest task.”For us, it’s always the batting unit that is a bigger concern,” Tiwary said. “Our bowling department has done really well over the last couple of years, we have world-class bowlers. It’s just that as a batting unit we have not clicked together which normally leads to our downfall. Having said that, this season has been very different. VVS Laxman, as batting consultant, has helped to work on the basics of our batsmen. He’s been spending a lot of time with them, lots of videos he has done with the players. I’m very sure the difference will be seen here.”Bengal will be relieved they have a fully fit squad now, including Saha, and apart from Laxman’s services, Tiwary said the presence of other former players also gave the side a confidence-booster ahead of the season.”We have worked on our work ethic, we have put in more time than usual,” he said. “With the arrival of Sairaj [Bahutule as head coach], it’s helping a lot. In the fielding department we’ve got Joydeep Mukherjee and in the bowling department we have got Ranadeb Bose so all that experience is coming handy for all of us.”[Bahutule] has also brought in the culture of Mumbai as they have won many trophies so he knows what are the things to be done to cross that hurdle. We, as a team, did great in patches. Last year was not very good for us but before that we reached semi-finals. We were not able to work on our game to cross the line. He knows the areas we need to work on, reach the finals and be the champions.”Karnataka, unlike their opponents, are still carrying an injury. KL Rahul is recovering from his quadriceps injury and is likely to take another week before playing his next match. But Vinay said their batting had enough quality to cope, and in conjunction with a potent bowling attack, the side had enough strengths to focus on without dwelling on Bengal’s weaknesses.”We have a very good bowling side, one of the best in India,” Vinay said. “In batting also we have Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, and some of them have this year played for India. Robin [Uthappa] and KL are there, Samarth got a hundred in the last game.”Apart form those familiar names, Vinay Kumar also spoke highly of their new prospect, the left-arm spinner J Suchith – already known to IPL fans – who made his first-class debut against Bangladesh A last month with figures of 6 for 60 in the second innings.”He bowled really well,” Vinay Kumar said. “He’s a good prospect as he can bat, bowl and he’s a very good fielder. He’s an overall package actually and we can definitely expect performances from him that can help us win the games.”

A career-best, unbeaten 80 from 24-year-old allrounder Ben Wheeler helped Central Districts seal a tight chase of 295 against Canterbury, and confirm their place in the final of the Ford Trophy 2015-16. Wheeler’s knock came from No. 8, and egging him on from the other end was the brutal force of Jesse Ryder – he made 136 off 114 from No. 3, smoking seven sixes and 13 fours. The pair added 163 in 21 overs, at close to eight an over, rescuing Central Districts from the pits of 105 for 6 to help them home with two wickets and three balls to spare.It was right-arm pacer Kyle Jamieson who had done a large chunk of the damage to Central Districts’ top order, and he threatened to derail them once again with the massive wicket of Ryder in 44th over, with the team still 27 runs short of their target. Wheeler kept his head though, and finished the job.Canterbury’s 294 was built around a brisk century from opener Tom Latham – he scored 126 off 135. The rest of the top order made 20- and 30-somethings around him to ensure the team got within range of 300. Medium-pacer Seth Rance was the most incisive of the Central Districts bowlers, with three middle-order wickets, and Doug Bracewell made sure Canterbury did not get past 300 by polishing off the tail.Canterbury will have a second shot at the final when they take on Otago in the third preliminary final on Wednesday – they get a second chance since they finished the league stage in the top two on the points table, along with Central Districts. Central Districts, meanwhile, will have a week to prepare for the title game, which is scheduled for next Saturday.Otago had finished the league stage third on the points table and therefore have twice the work to do: they took the first step successfully, beating Auckland in the second preliminary final (effectively a quarter-final, with the loser going out and the winner needing to win one more game to get into the final).Otago batted first and piled up 312, led by 109 from Neil Broom. Batting at No. 3, Broom put on 158 with Michael Bracewell (69), after the other opener Anaru Kitchen was out off second legal ball of the game. Jimmy Neesham also chipped in with 59 off 54, before Derek de Boorder’s late cameo of 24 lifted them past 300.By the eighth over of the chase, 21-year-old pacer Jacob Duffy had Otago firmly on top. He took three early wickets, reducing Auckland to 40 for 3. Neil Wagner and Neesham struck soon after, and the game was as good as done. Unlike Central Districts’ case, there was no Auckland revival. Rain did end things early and Duckworth/Lewis came into play, but by then Auckland were already spluttering at 159 for 8 in 34, deemed to be 126 short of a winning score.

Andrew Flintoff has given England further cause for concern ahead of the fifth one-dayer at Headingley after reporting “soreness” in his troublesome left ankle.”Freddie’s got a little bit of soreness in his ankle again,” Paul Collingwood, his captain, said. “We’ll have to wait and see about him in the next few hours. He’s icing it up as usual but he has got a little bit of tenderness there. I’m sure he’ll seek advice from the medical team.”Collingwood added that if Flintoff was ruled out, fast bowler Chris Tremlett would be his likely replacement. “It looks a pretty typical Headingley pitch and it looks as if it will be overcast,” he said. “That would give the big lad Tremlett a chance of playing because he took a good couple of wickets in the middle of the innings at Edgbaston (where England won by 42 runs on August 27).Flintoff appeared to turn his right ankle while fielding in England’s thrilling three-wicket win at Old Trafford on Thursday, but yet again it is his recently-operated left ankle which concerns most. Since the operation, he has only bowled 55.5 overs for his county, Lancashire, and England, though did produce career-best figures of 5 for 56 at Bristol in the second ODI.Indeed, Flintoff’s bowling in the one-day series has been his major strength; as a batsman, he has made just 14 runs in three games.”It’s early days for him,” Collingwood said, “and, as a unit, we’re batting very well generally. We had a little bit of a hiccup in the last game but came through. It takes time at any level of cricket, never mind international cricket, to get back in touch. I’m sure he’s one innings away.”The fifth of seven one-dayers gets underway on Sunday.

In terms of landmarks, it was yet another special occasion for anexceptional performer, but the end result wasn’t quite what he would haveliked. Sachin Tendulkar called his 40th a “special hundred”, but alsoexpressed his disappointment at the manner in which the game panned out.Brian Lara, whose side picked up five points for the win, couldn’t hidehis relief at the result, and was fulsome in his praise for Tendulkar’sglorious unbeaten 141.”We suffered out there as a team,” said Lara. “It was difficult for us.But for a guy coming back after six months, it showed how much of a geniushe is. We just had to watch it and appreciate it, and it was a veryspecial innings for India.”Tendulkar didn’t dispute that assessment. “It was a difficult surface tobat on and I was playing after six months, so I’m quite happy with thefact that I got a hundred,” he said. “The depression in the track meantyou had to play differently to try to execute those plans, and I amdelighted that everything fell in place today.”Everything except the result. “I am obviously disappointed that the gamewas interrupted,” he said. “It’s always more satisfying if you havecontributed and the team has won. West Indies still had 170 runs toget, which is quite a lot. They had a couple of extremely experiencedplayers at the crease, but on a surface like that, anything was possible.The field restrictions were off, so runs wouldn’t have come so easilyeither.”Though he reckoned that his team were handily placed, Lara also agreedthat the rain had favoured West Indies. “India had the runs on the boardand any team would love that,” he said. “But the way Chris [Gayle] and[Rammaresh] Sarwan set up the game, we had to continue in the same vein.Having said that, the job still had to be done. I’m sure India would haveloved the game to finish, but in our position we didn’t mind whathappened.”We knew we were in front at that point in time but unfortunately theweather played a part. We had our eyes on that. I think it was well-poisedeven though we were batting very well. There were still 30 overs to go,and 170 runs to get. It was a very good match, spoilt by rain.”Both men spoke at length about the surface, surprising in itself giventhat so many runs were scored for the loss of so few wickets. “Thedepression was evident even before the first ball, you could not missthat,” observed Tendulkar, when asked about the ridge that flummoxedseveral Indian batsmen. “In a situation like that, you try and keep it outof your minds and watch the ball closely, play it late. We plannedaccordingly.”

Lara wasn’t overly critical either, saying: “I thought it was a very goodpitch other than the ridge. Taking that into consideration, Tendulkarplayed a magnificent innings. Generally, 90% of the pitch wasreally good. The ridge wasn’t a problem for left-handers. We had quite afew, especially up in the top four, and India didn’t. The wickets thatfell on their side, the likes of Dravid, Sehwag and Dhoni, you could sayit was because of the state of the pitch.”Tendulkar also shed some light on his time away from the game, and how hehad steeled himself for the time when he next faced a ball ininternational cricket. While expressing his disappointment at havingmissed out on a tour of the Caribbean, he said: “I’d planned a programmeand was following that. I played a few practice games in London [forLashings and for a World XI], and when I came back to Mumbai, it wasraining so I had to practise with a rubber ball. I had five or sixsessions in Bangalore and Chennai, and played a couple of practice games.That was a bonus.”The last time he had such a long lay-off, following surgery on atennis-elbow problem, he announced his comeback with a dazzling 93 againstSri Lanka at Nagpur in October 2005. Tendulkar made it clear that suchstatements of intent were important, even for a bonafide legend. “On bothoccasions, I was coming off serious injuries, after surgeries which werehuge setbacks,” he said. “You need to keep fighting back and be mentallystrong.”There was also a quiet sense of satisfaction at the fact that he battedthrough the innings, for only the second time in 364 matches. “I’m quitehappy I lasted 50 overs,” he said. “Even till the end, I was running hardbetween the wickets, and that is a reflection of what I have been doing inthe last few months. It’s the first time I have batted the distance since [doing it against]New Zealand in Hyderabad [1999], and I will be happy if it becomes ahabit.”Having been booed by his home crowd and subjected to “Endulkar” headlinesover the past year, Tendulkar also spoke of how easy it was to motivatehimself for each new challenge. “Cricket has been my life, to be honest,”he said with the same earnestness that was his hallmark as a teenager.”I’m living a dream, and every time I step on to the field, it’s with alot of enthusiam and excitement. If I find it a burden, I will know whento step back and step aside.”That time clearly hasn’t arrived.

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.

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.

Australia have decided to strengthen their batting for their first Test against Bangladesh, and have reverted to a four-bowler strategy. Or perhaps they’ve decided that they don’t need five specialist bowlers. Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel were both omitted from the side, as Martin Love and Darren Lehmann both got a look in.The bowling attack remains formidable: Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will be supported by Stuart MacGill, who will be hoping, given Bangladesh’s recent record, that he gets a chance to bowl.With Damien Martyn still unfit, Lehmann and Love have both got a chance to pile up some easy international runs. Adam Gilchrist is slated to bat at No. 7.Australian XI 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Martin Love, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Somerset players Ian Blackwell and Richard Johnson have been named in a seven man squad who will compete in the Hong Kong Six-a-Side competition in November.Both players enjoyed considerable success during the 2001 season. Johnson took the most wickets for the county, and was called up on three occasions by the England selectors as cover, but each time failed to make the final line up.Blackwell, who joined the Cidermen two years ago from Derbyshire enjoyed his best ever season, and was thought by many to have been a good bet for a place on the Academy Tour during the winter.A spokesman for the club said, “We are absolutely delighted for both of the players. Their selection for the Hong Kong Sixes will make up for the disappointment of not being selected for the other England tours.”