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John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, has hinted that the fast bowler Tim Southee, who starred in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, could be in line for a Test debut against England in Napier this week, as New Zealand look to bounce back from Monday’s 126-run defeat in the second Test at Wellington.Southee took 17 wickets at 6.64 to take his New Zealand team to the semi-finals in Malaysia, a performance that earned him the Man-of-the-Tournament award. Prior to that, he had impressed with his pace, control and temperament during his Twenty20 debut against England at Auckland, where he finished with 1 for 38 from four overs.Though he is still nine months short of his 20th birthday, Southee was added to New Zealand’s third Test squad as cover for Kyle Mills, who reported soreness behind the left knee after the Wellington defeat. Bracewell, however, suggested he was not simply there to make up the numbers.”He’s a class bowler and the selectors have been watching him for some time,” said Bracewell. “They believe he’s ready for the job. If the surface is as predicted at Napier, there will be something in it in the first session, then after that it will be reasonably flat. The defining factor will probably be swing bowling, and at the moment England have the edge on us in that department.”All of England’s bowlers, apart from [Steve] Harmison, swing it, and swing it reasonably late,” he added. “We really have only got Kyle Mills who swings it on a consistent basis. Therefore, having that extra option of genuine swing might put the balance back on an even keel.”After their exertions on a flat track in Hamilton, New Zealand’s senior bowlers were visibly off the pace at Wellington, in particular Chris Martin, whose three wickets came at more than 50 apiece. “We are happy with our bowling depth but we are looking for an extra day in terms of recovery,” said Bracewell. “There’s a bit of wear and tear, from the consistent cricket that Chris and Kyle have had over last season. We’ve got options around the squad, but there’s time to get these two close for the next Test.”Bracewell’s temptation to tinker with his attack was no doubt prompted by the success of England’s revamped line-up. Out went the two stalwarts, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, and into the fray came James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both suffered at the hands of New Zealand’s strokeplayers during the one-day internationals, but bounced back to play major roles in England’s victory.Peter Moores, England’s coach, was delighted with the impact his new attack had made, and gave a clear signal that Anderson, Broad and Ryan Sidebottom would take some shifting now that they’d earned their places in the starting eleven. “The lads who have got possession, that’s always a strong place to be,” he said. “If they keep playing well they’re going to give themselves a great chance of carrying on.”It was quite a tough decision to make that change, especially on Matthew Hoggard,” said Moores. “He’s at an age where he’s still got a lot of bowling left in him, which is good for us because we’ve got to make a squad which is very competitive. I don’t think there was any complacency in the squad before the changes, but the thing about competitiveness in any job is that it’s good because it keeps everyone pushing forward.”Bracewell was also impressed with what he saw from England, and claimed he hadn’t been surprised by the impact of the new incumbents. “I felt that Anderson is a class bowler, a genuine swing bowler, and this was a ground for swing bowling. He got taken to in the last two one-dayers, but that’s the nature of one-day cricket. Broad has bowled a heavy length throughout the one-dayers, and once again he went a little square in the last one. But both of them are good bowlers. They bowled well as a unit.”New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, had been openly critical of the Wellington pitch prior to the second Test, feeling that the extra pace and bounce it provided would play into the hands of England’s bowlers. But Bracewell took a slightly different stance. “To tip the balance in our favour, we would have liked to play two spinners, but it was an excellent pitch,” he said. “The defining moment in the match was we didn’t bowl well to Tim Ambrose.”Ambrose is England’s only centurion in the series to date, while New Zealand have only Ross Taylor’s 120 at Hamilton to look back on. “Both sides would have liked to have seen more hundreds in the matches,” said Bracewell. “But that’s a testament to the bowlers on both sides, not necessarily the wickets. They bowled magnificently throughout the series. It’s not all about going out there and getting double hundreds. The intriguing cricket comes when a bowler scalps the opposition and probes their weaknesses.”One player who has been unexpectedly well probed is Kevin Pietersen, who is in the midst of the worst run of form of his career. He hasn’t reached fifty for 10 consecutive innings, and Bracewell believed that England were suffering as a result. “He’s a class player, and a point of difference player. He scores at a rate that generates results, and every Test team needs one of those players. We’re really pleased with how we’ve bowled to him, and cut him down in terms of strike-rate and put pressure on him.”Even so, Bracewell accepted that, following the Wellington defeat, the pressure had now shifted to New Zealand ahead of the Napier decider. “England didn’t come over to draw against New Zealand, they expected to win,” he said. “They were odds-on favourites, heavily so, and if we can knock them over, we’ll be delighted.”

Andhra ran out easy victors by an innings and 20 runs on the final day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy match against Goa at Margao on Sunday. The win, worth eight points, takes them to joint second place in the zonal table at 11 points from two games. Goa are languishing at the bottom without a point.The hosts resumed at 249/5, needing to post a total of 351 if they wanted to make Andhra bat again. But a double strike in the fourth over of the day dealt a fatal blow to Goa’s hopes. Skipper Pravin Amre was run out for 11 and three balls later, seamer N Madhukar scalped the other overnight batsman Ananth Bhagwat for 41.From 277/8, Avinash Avare and Nitin Kalekar extended the proceedings with a 51 run ninth wicket partnership but Andhra finally cut short the resistance of the tail one minute before lunch. Goa finished at 331 with off spinner YS Ranganath bagging 4/59. Andhra next play Karnataka at Bangalore while Goa take on Kerala at Ernakulam, both from November 15-18.

India A 556 for 7 dec beat Sri Lanka A 340 and 124 (Kartik 4-27) by an inninga and 92 runs
ScorecardMurali Kartik’s omission from the national team might hurt them in Australia, but it proved to be a blessing for the India A side, as he starred in a convincing victory in the second Test against their Sri Lankan counterparts at Pune. Trailing by 216, Sri Lanka A were bundled out for a mere 124 in their second innings, giving the Indians victory by an innings and 92 runs. Kartik ripped through the Sri Lankan middle order to finish with exceptional figures of 4 for 27 from 23 overs.Kartik got into the act after Amit Bhandari had done the early damage, dismissing Prasanna Jayawardene and Jehan Mubarak cheaply. Lanka de Silva (20) and Ian Daniel briefly threatened a revival with a 35-run stand, but Kartik broke through when he had de Silva bowled round his legs. Daniel was then controversially given out caught at silly point off Kartik, after which the Indians never loosened their hold.SS Das kept up the pressure with plenty of close-in fielders, and appeals for catches and lbws went up with monotonous regularity. It all proved too much for the Sri Lanka A batsmen, who crumbled in less than 56 overs. After Bhandari and Kartik had run through the top and middle order, Munaf Patel wrapped up the tail, as the Indians completed the win 20 minutes before tea on the final day.

Arjuna Ranatunga, recently appointed chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has said one of his prime concerns is to improve the standard of junior cricket in the country and to prepare a team to win the 2011 World Cup, which will be hosted in Asia.The last time Asia hosted the World Cup was in 1996, and Sri Lanka won it under Ranatunga’s captaincy. “If we address the few problems that we have at present and pick the right team and create the right environment, winning another World Cup is within our reach,” Ranatunga said while addressing the media after taking over the chairmanship of SLC. “Today we can draw a lot of strength having the world’s greatest wicket-taker in the history of the game [Muttiah Muralitharan] and also the best batsman in the world [Kumar Sangakkara],” he said, “but for some reason our team is not occupying the place it should be at present.”I was lucky to win a World Cup, but the important thing is was from there onwards I don’t know whether we have gone on the right track,” he said. “I personally feel that we are second to none. We are one of the best sides in international cricket today, one of the most talented cricketing nations in the world. It’s very important to get it right.Ranatunga said he was keen on working for the betterment of the game and that the help of former cricketers would be a plus. “Something that I’ve always wanted to do to was to try and give something back from the administration side after retiring from cricket,” he said. “I am not really concerned about what people say. I came here to do a proper job and address the issues facing Sri Lanka cricket today. We have lot of past cricketers and captains who are keen and willing to help. It’s a huge advantage for me.”Ranatunga said he was confident of achieving his goals within a certain timeframe, just as he did when he led Sri Lanka to a World Cup win. “This position is not a new thing for me. I’ve worked in the cricket committee for a short period,” said Ranatunga, after being appointed chairman following the resignation of Jayantha Dharmadasa on Monday. “The important thing is that I am a straightforward person. I will do the right thing. I have got the blessings of the President of the country and the two Sports Ministers. It is very important for me to get the backing from the Sri Lanka Cricket staff, coaches and even the media.”In the past a lot of good things have taken place but we have to put right areas where we have gone wrong. Cricket is something that belongs to everyone in the country. I think I have a great responsibility and there were a lot of people who wanted me to take over this post. Now that I have accepted it, it is my responsibility to do the right thing for cricket.”Ranatunga said his parliamentary experience would be also aid him in improving the game. He expressed his desire to take cricket to the villages. “I think in the recent past it has not gone the way it should. Cricketers in the provinces and districts should be given the same facilities and employment as in Colombo so that the game develops in those areas,” he said. “What we have here today is that because of the lack of such facilities we have all of them coming down to Colombo which is not good for the game.”When my team won the World Cup there was about 60-70 percent cricketers from the outstations [places other than Colombo]. Even today the majority of our national team comprises outstation cricketers.Junior cricket is high on Ranatunga’s priority. “Something has gone wrong somewhere in our junior cricket and we have to address that immediately. School cricket is the foundation of our cricket,” he said. “I believe that if you can get the junior and Under-19 cricket going properly the problems that exist in the national team will cease and we’ll have quality cricketers coming through.”

The circumstances behind the recent sacking of long-standing umpire Ian Robinson by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union are not as straightforward as at first seemed to be the case.Last week, it appeared that Robinson had been sacked by the ZCU, but his version of events is disputed by a source within the board.The source told Wisden Cricinfo that the ZCU planned to move Robinson from international tours manager, his present role, to the post of umpires manager, responsible for umpiring and scoring throughout the country and organising training courses. But, it is claimed, there was not an issue with him continuing as an umpire. The source said that when Robinson’s name was submitted to the ICC, it rejected his nomination, and so the ZCU put forward Duncan Frost instead.At this point, it is alleged that Robinson took umbrage and resigned, adding that he would not stand in domestic matches.

A report in today’s Times newspaper has highlighted that while tickets for this summer’s Ashes series are more scarce than a George Galloway climbdown, sales for the latter stages of the two Bangladesh Tests can be politely described as sluggish.With eight days to go before Bangladesh make their Lord’s debut, around than 15,000 tickets have been shifted for each of the first three days, but few seem to expect the match to go into a fourth day, with only 3484 seats sold for the Sunday. While those figures would be healthy for any other country, Lord’s, with a capacity of almost 30,000, is usually close to capacity for at least four days.The MCC, who run Lord’s, have pulled out all the stops to market the match to London’s sizeable Bangladeshi community, and ticket prices have been reduced to between £20 and £35 as a further incentive. MCC has been running advertisements on UK satellite station Bangla TV as well as selling tickets through Sonali Bank. But the Bangladeshis’ performance at Hove this week will hardly have led to queues at the box office.”We have targeted our efforts at the Bangladeshi communities in London, recognising both that this is the country’s first Test match here and that they may not be familiar with how to get tickets,” said an MCC spokesman. “We have been working on this match for months and months and taken out adverts in Curry House, the restaurant-trade magazine.”Riverside, the venue for the second Test, reports brisk sales for the first two days, but a spokesman admitted that concerns about whether Bangladesh will last much longer made Saturday and Sunday hard to market.MCC have handed out 5,000 complimentary tickets to schools on each of the first three days, while Durham have reserved 300 seats for children aged between five and 12 to watch the first day’s play. The initiative is part of npower’s drive to get more young people interested in cricket, with tickets priced at just £5 and free adult tickets for every eight children.Click here for Lord’s ticket sales

Click here for Riverside ticket sales

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Rain and gloom ensured that just 14 balls were possible on the final day at Lahore as the curtains came down on a record-filled Test. Virender Sehwag completed a supreme 254 off 247 balls, the highest-ever Test score at over a run-a-ball, but his dismissal soon after meant that a 50-year-old record, for the highest opening partnership, stayed intact. It was an anti-climactic end to a dazzling run-fest, one where the weather and the pitch had a big part to play.It was a day when little could happen. Overnight showers delayed the start; bad light forced an early finish. In between, they managed to squeeze in 2.2 overs, under floodlights, and there was only one incentive left to play for – beating the 413-run opening partnership set by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand, at the quaint Corporation Stadium in Madras. Sehwag got closer, bringing up his 250 with a flicked couple to deep square leg, and then threatened to race towards it with an almighty slap through the covers, burning the grass on the way to the cover fence.Three balls later, he was gone, trying to carve a short one from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who he had smacked to smithereens yesterday, and edged to Kamran Akmal behind the stumps. It was strange to see him walk back to the pavilion disappointed, having swished a most astonishing knock. Only John Edrich, in his 310 at Leeds in 1965, had managed more fours and Sehwag had managed as many as Don Bradman had in his never-to-be-forgotten 334. When put in historical perspective, and considering that India were up against a monumental total, it was one hell of a riposte. But it will ultimately be judged by the surface it was clattered on, as well as the context of the match.Dravid didn’t manage to add to his overnight score, remaining unbeaten on 128. If analysed in isolation, factoring in the opening dilemma, it was a tremendous knock, but when put alongside the five other hundred-plus scores in the game, three of them stunningly over a run-a-ball, it may just be seen as one more century. With intermittent threat of rain at Faisalabad, and light likely to be as bad, the two teams may have to wait till Karachi to even contemplate a result. Until then, young kids in Pakistan, traditionally keen on picking up the ball, might just try their hands at whacking a few with the bat.

England 244 and 4 for 144 (SC Taylor 64) beat Australia 154 and 9 for 231 dec (Sthalekar 98) by six wickets
Scorecard

England retained the Ashes in style thanks to Claire Taylor, whose second fifty of the match drove them home to a stylish six-wicket win in the final session after Karen Rolton’s daring declaration backfired. When the embers of the sole match are raked over Australia may rightfully rue being given only one chance to recapture the prize but England deserve credit for playing to win, and succeeding, when a draw would have been enough.They owe much to Isa Guha who finished with match figures of 9 for 100 and was on for her second five-for when Rolton called her batting troops in at 9 for 231, leaving England needing a mere 142 but gambling big with her side having only one throw. They made some inroads with a few wickets but Taylor played a mature hand which trumped everything the Australians – with two of the world’s fastest bowlers in Emma Sampson and Ellyse Perry – had to throw at them.In actual fact it was Lisa Sthalekar who troubled them the most for the second time with the ball having failed just short of her second Test hundred. Resuming on 95 not out, she had a licence to drill the ball anywhere she liked, having promised that the nineties would not be nervous but bold.Her Warne-like contributions of cunning spin and handy Ashes runs in a losing cause must not go unrecognised, and she and Shelley Nitschke made sure the match went into the final session by getting the ball to spin back a long way and troubling the England batsmen.The final session began with England seven wickets remaining needing 45 runs which was hardly tense and although they lost Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway, Claire Taylor and the captain Charlotte Edwards fittingly brought home the Ashes with Taylor striking the final four.The win may not be as widely reported in England as the men’s 5-0 defeat was but that won’t stop the women celebrating long into the night.”We really gave it our all throughout the match,” Rolton said. “We had a disappointing first day but there were several stages with both the bat and ball where we were able to get ourselves back into the match. There was a lot of positive cricket played.”A glowing Edwards said: “I’m delighted, almost lost for words. To beat Australia in Australia is a fantastic feeling. We had always said we would come out here and aim to win this match in order to retain the Ashes and that’s what we did today.”I’m so proud of all my players. We have played some fantastic cricket over these past four days to continually have the upper hand over Australia and to pull through and secure victory today was a great effort.”

Rudi Koertzen, the South African umpire, who officiated the first two Tests between India and Pakistan, has supported a change in the rules regarding calling off Test matches on the final day, in case a result is not possible.”There is nothing wrong if the ICC considers a change in laws that allows such Test matches to be called off at tea with the consent of both captains when a last-day result is not possible,” Koertzen told , the Lahore-based daily.Koertzen confirmed that he along with Simon Taufel, the Australian umpire, had spoken to both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Rahul Dravid at tea time on the final day at Faisalabad and both agreed to call off the match at that point. However, Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee could not act on it as the rules did not support such a move. He, therefore, had asked the two teams to carry on until eight overs remained in the game, Koertzen revealed.

India have announced proposals to play two triangular series, one in Sri Lanka and one in North America. The one in Sri Lanka will take place in September with South Africa as the third team.The more interesting development was confirmation that a series in the USA, featuring Australia and West Indies, was being considered, although Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said that “nothing concrete has been decided”.It had been widely reported at the weekend that Asia’s successful bid to host the 2011 World Cup had been secured thanks to a deal done with West Indies, but that was denied by Shah.”How can you say the West Indies have been bought over,” he asked. “Had they voted for Australia and New Zealand, would you say they were bought over by that group? Yes, their vote in our favour was important in clinching the bid.”The suggestions, however, were given more substance when details of the proposed series in the USA emerged. Ken Gordon, the West Indies board chairman, travelled to Florida at the weekend to meet with USA Cricket Association officials but it is not thought that anything concrete was agreed.