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ScorecardRain washed out yet another fixture of the Top End series, as the one-day match between Queensland XI and Pakistan A was abandoned at Cairns. After frequent rain interruptions, the umpires called off play 19 overs into the Queensland innings, with the hosts at 3 for 108.The start was delayed by three hours due to wet conditions, as play finally got underway at 12.30pm local time, with the match reduced to 34 overs per side. However, showers forced the players off the field almost immediately, reducing another three overs. When play resumed, the Queensland openers feasted on some wayward bowling, scoring at more than five an over. Another interruption followed, reducing the game to 28 overs per side. Wasim Khan pulled things back with the wicket of Ryan Broad, who spooned a catch straight to Hasan Raza at covers. Khan struck again soon after, sending Clinton Perren’s off stump cartwheeling towards the wicketkeeper.Martin Love and Brendan Nash had a good partnership, scoring boundaries at will. Love was dismissed soon after reaching his half-century, driving uppishly to Misbah-ul-Haq at cover point off Mohammad Hafeez. Rain intervened again just as Chris Hatley walked out to bat. There were chances of a resumption when the sun came out, but the umpires officially called it off after deeming the ground unfit for play, particularly due to the wet patches on the bowlers’ run-ups.This is the fifth consecutive match at Cairns to be affected by the weather. This includes the four-day match between Pakistan A and New Zealand A, two one-day matches between the two sides, and the final day of the four-day match between India A and Australia A.

After weeks of anxious waiting, Zimbabwe’s forthcoming tour of England was finally given the go-ahead today, as a 20-man squad was announced by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. The party will be captained by Heath Streak, and leaves Harare for London on April 29, after permission was granted by the Zimbabwean government’s Sports and Recreation Commission. The tour has been in the balance ever since England’s boycott of their World Cup fixture in Harare, and there had been widespread speculation that Robert Mugabe’s regime might have decided on a tit-for-tat retaliation.Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the ZCU, finally received a telephone call on Friday approving the tour from Anthony Mandiwanza, the commission’s chairman, and Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the ECB, was officially informed of the decision today. “I am delighted we have been given the definitive green light,” said Lamb, “This guarantees a full international programme for the summer, including the first-ever Test match to be held at Durham’s Riverside Ground. With Zimbabwe, South Africa and Pakistan touring, I look forward to another great summer of international cricket.”Quite what sort of a challenge Zimbabwe will be able to mount, however, is anyone’s guess. Their squad has been weakened by the loss of four key players, including the irreplaceable figure of Andy Flower, who was obliged to retire following his black-armband protest during Zimbabwe’s opening match of the World Cup.The extrovert fast bowler, Henry Olonga, who joined Flower in mourning the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe, has also been driven out of the national side, and the former captains Alistair Campbell and Guy Whittall have also played their final matches. Although the selectors have picked just the one debutant, Vusimuzi Sibanda, a fast bowler, the inexperience of the side is summed up by the promotion of Tatenda Taibu, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper, to the vice-captaincy.Fifteen players have been selected for the two-Test series, which starts at Lord’s on May 22, with a further five earmarked for the triangular NatWest Series, which also includes South Africa.Zimbabwe squad Heath Streak (capt), Tatenda Taibu (vice-capt), Grant Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Mark Vermeulen, Barney Rogers, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut, Mluleki Nkala, Stuart Carlisle, Ray Price, Travis Friend, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Douglas Hondo, Douglas Marillier.Additional players for the one-day matches Gary Brent, Waddington Mwayenga, Stuart Matsikenyere, Charles Coventry, Richard Sims.

While Muttiah Muralitharan’s record-breaking achievement in the first Test overshadowed the enormity of Zimbabwe’s defeat, there will no hiding place for them this time in what promises to be another one-sided whopping, starting at Bulawayo tomorrow.If the sacking of the rebel players, coupled with the innings-and-240-run defeat at Harare weren’t bad enough, Zimbabwe will be without Blessing Mahwire, one of their more experienced bowlers with all of six Tests, for the second match. He was reported to the ICC for having a suspect bowling action during the first Test and has been dropped.Mahwire is now in Stage One of the ICC’s process for dealing with bowlers with suspect actions. This allows him to continue playing international cricket while working with specialist advisors, but the selectors have decided to scrap him. His place has been taken by Mark Vermeulen, who has recovered from a head injury sustained against Australia early on this year. Meanwhile, Prosper Utseya has failed to recover from a shoulder injury, and will be replaced by Tawanda Mupariwa, who is set to make his Test debut.Sri Lanka are expected to name an unchanged side, with the likes of Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya expected to rack up their run-tally, and Murali sure to stretch the gap at the top of the Test wickets list. However, he won’t be bowling his controversial doosra after it was outlawed by the ICC. “I have done all the tests that are required and the reports have gone to the ICC,” Murali said. “At the end of the day, what matters is what the report, the expert, my cricket board and the ICC say.”Geoff Marsh, Zimbabwe’s coach, admitted that it was going to be another tough battle for his side. “The guys are in good spirits even though we got beaten pretty well, and they’re looking to this Test match to improve,” he said. “We’re up against a very good side and we didn’t play well enough in any areas.”One stat to give Zimbabwe an ounce of encouragement, however, is that Sri Lanka have failed to win at Bulawayo in two attempts, but then again, Zimbabwe have yet to record a victory against Sri Lanka anywhere. And that is unlikely to change in the next few days.Zimbabwe 1 Tatenda Taibu (capt, wk), 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Brendan Taylor 6 Alester Maregwede, 7 Tawanda Mupariwa, 8 Mluleki Nkala, 9 Douglas Hondo, 10 Tinashe Panyangara, 11 Elton Chigumbura.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Thilan Samaraweera (wk), 7 Prasanna Jayawardene, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Captain Sourav Ganguly believes teamwork will be essential if India are todefeat Sri Lanka and confirm their presence in the semi-finals on Monday.India, currently on 12 points, are virtually assured of a semi-final placeafter their nervy win against Kenya on Friday – a win against Sri Lanka willguarantee their qualification.”This is an important phase of the tournament and all of us need tocontribute,” said Ganguly after the team’s final practice.”After this game we could be in the semi-finals. That is going to happenwith one or two guys contributing, it’s got to be teamwork,” he added”I am very happy at the way we all are hitting the ball. We are playing aswell as we did in the NatWest Trophy in England.”We want to finish second or third and more importantly, we want to keep onwinning. Winning is a good habit and we won our last five games. We want tokeep it going.”Ganguly claims to know Sri Lanka’s strengths and weaknesses.”Jayasuriya is a key player for them with the bat and with the ball it willbe an advantage for us if he doesn’t play. Even with Sanath in the sidewe’ve won against them. Obviously he is one of their key players.”Aravinda, Atapattu are all good players, Mahela is not in the best oftouch, but he is a quality player. They’ve got Sangakkara, Arnold,Tillakaratne and they are decent batting side. The focus will not only be onSanath but on the whole side.”The Indian captain is also wary of Chaminda Vaas: “He has served Sri Lankacricket a long time and we have a lot of respect for him as a bowler.”

There was frustration and disappointment for Kenyan cricket officials andfollowers on Saturday with the abandonment of the third day’s play in the fourday match between Kenya and the touring West Indians.Early morning rain in the coastal town of Mombasa seeped through the covers ofthe Sports Ground pitch, leaving the umpires no alternative but to abandon theday’s play before the scheduled 10am start.The four-day game, the closest thing the Kenyans have yet experienced to Testmatch cricket, is now destined to fizzle to a draw on Sunday. The West Indiesare 118 without loss in their first innings in reply to Kenya’s 290.The main interest in Sunday’s action will be to see how far not out batsmenChris Gayle (61) and Daren Ganga (53) can extend their individual scores, andto see what sort of form the remaining West Indian batsmen, including Hinds,Sarwan and Samuels, can display.With a three-match series of official one-day internationals to commence onWednesday, Kenya are facing some injury worries. Sandeep Gupta, making hisfirst appearance for Kenya in eighteen months, has a fractured finger afterbeing struck by a delivery from Reon King in the first innings. Thomas Odoyobowled just one over on Friday, suffering a recurrence of a knee problem.Gupta and Odoyo join batsman Ravindu Shah on Kenya’s injury list.

ScorecardRailways lost 15 wickets on the third day in Mohali, and were in serious danger of an innings defeat after being asked to follow on. While Punjab’s seam-bowling pair of Brainder Sran and Siddarth Kaul accounted for all the batsmen in the first innings, left-arm spinner Varun Khanna picked up each of the five wickets to fall in the second.Resuming the day on 14 for 0, Railways didn’t lose a wicket until the 37th over of the day, as Ashish Singh and Saurabh Wakaskar raised 150 runs for the opening wicket. The visitors’ slide began when left-armer Sran had Wakaskar and Rohan Bhosale trapped lbw in successive deliveries. Two overs later, Sran dismissed captain Mahesh Rawat and Arindam Ghosh in the space of two deliveries to reduce Railways to 153 for 4. Kaul then had Ashish lbw, and thereon Railways lost their last five wickets for 29 runs in 6.3 overs.Following on, Railways lost Wakaskar in the seventh over after Khanna had him caught behind. Having slid to 54 for 3, the visitors were partially revived by a 62-run alliance between Prashant Awasthi and Arindam Ghosh before Khanna had Awasthi and Rawat caught behind off successive deliveries.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from opener Aditya Shrivastava and Naman Ojha helped Madhya Pradesh muster a solid response in Moradabad after Uttar Pradesh declared their first innings on 684.The visitors, though, were dealt with a blow early on, as seamer Ankit Rajpoot bowled Jalaj Saxena in the sixth over. Udit Birla (32) and Shrivastava attempted to patiently rebuild the innings, putting on 65 in 32 overs. Rajput, however, trapped Birla lbw to end his 82-ball effort. Shrivastava and Naman Ojha then joined hands to raise 157 runs in 44 overs before Ojha, whose innings included eight fours and three sixes, was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav off what eventually turned out to be the last ball of the day. Shrivastava remained unbeaten on 99 off 254 balls.In the morning, Uttar Pradesh declared after 5.1 overs, adding 30 runs to their overnight total.
ScorecardSiddhesh Lad’s unbeaten half-century held Mumbai’s reply together after seamer Balwinder Sandhu’s five-for triggered Andhra Pradesh’s collapse in their first innings in Vizianagaram.Coming in at 61 for 4, Lad, whose innings included 10 fours and a six, added 97 runs with Nikhil Patil, who knuckled down for a 110-ball 27. Patil, however, was bowled by CV Stepen, who had earlier dismissed captain Aditya Tare for a duck, with 14 balls to go for stumps.In the morning, Andhra Pradesh, resuming on 213 for 4, scored only 31 more runs before folding up. Captain Mohammad Kaif added one run to his overnight score of 89 before being dismissed by Sandhu off the seventh ball of the day. During the course of the next five overs they slipped from 214 for 4 to 218 for 8, before B Ayyappa and KV Harish put on 22 runs for the ninth wicket. Seamer Shardul Thakur supported Sandhu’s efforts with three wickets.Tamil Nadu v Baroda in Chennai – Rahil Shah seals thrilling win for TN

Somerset announced a pre-tax surplus of £330,389 for the year ending September 30, 2015, as they set their sights on repaying the outlay on a new £3.9m pavilion.The investment was a chief factor in the county winning international status ahead of the 2019 World Cup as well as cementing its position as one of the most successful T20 venues in the country.A rise in profitability was a relief for Somerset, long regarded as one of the most financially-stable of the first-class counties, as they showed no ill effects from the disruption caused by the construction of the new pavilion, which was completed earlier this month, and the associated reduction in seating capacity and facilities during the season.Catering income, in fact, remained a bedrock of the club’s accounts with profits amounting to £964,000, a marginal drop on the previous year.Cricket income rose 10% to £1,284,000 despite a disappointing season in which Somerset only escaped relegation in the final match of the season and failed to challenge in both limited-overs cup competitions. Income from the ECB rose by a similar amount to £2,051,000.Treasurer Malcolm Derry said: “The year was expected to provide significant financial challenges due to the major off-field upheavals associated with the new pavilion.”These strong financial results are of particular importance as the club remains committed to both operating within its budget and repaying the debt taken to finance the new Somerset Pavilion to schedule whilst not detracting from our substantial ongoing investment in our core business of cricket.”These payments will take a considerable time with net debts standing at £3.85m.Somerset claim, though, to have retained a strong commitment to investing in their playing squad. When playing costs are expressed as a percentage of income received, they claim to rank second among the 18 first-class counties.

The Bangladesh squad will undergo a week-long training camp at the warfare wing of the Bangladesh army’s school of infantry and tactics in Sylhet, as preparation for the Twenty20 World Championship.”This is the first time the cricket team is undergoing such prestigious training. The aim is to make them mentally and physically strong,” Rabeed Imam, the spokesman for the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), told AFP, adding that the cricketers were “excited” about the camp.The announcement comes just a week after the caretaker government appointed Major-General Sina Jamali to head the BCB after dissolving the board’s executive committee.The camp begins in the second week of August.

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has criticised Inzamam-ul-Haq’s decision to bat down the order, despite suffering a chest injury, in the second innings in Pakistan’s series loss to England at Headingley. Inzamam was forced to bat at No.7 due to the amount of time he spent off the field on the fourth day – did not take the field for the first hour and did not come back out after lunch – but Imran would have none of it and slammed him for failing to inspire.In his column for , Imran was amazed at Pakistan’s “lack of spine” and felt that Inzamam should have braved the setback and led from the front. “Inzamam-ul-Haq should have known that he would not be able to go up the order on the crucial last day and so should have made every effort to spend time in the field on day four to be eligible to bat in his regular position,” he said. “When a captain leads from the front and plays through injuries, it inspires his charges to brave challenges and adversity.”Imran, who in the past has called for a shift up the order for Inzamam, did not stop there. “Unfortunately Inzamam prefers to play down the order which at times has been successful yet it is technically a wrong strategy because when the chips are down, the best batsman has to go up the order to avert a crisis. It is far more difficult to bat once there is a crisis,” he continued. “With the openers’ record rather poor in England so far, not much was expected from them. Bred on slow and low-bounce Pakistan wickets, they were never equipped to have the technique for English wickets where the ball moves off the track. But it was the unfortunate run out of Mohammad Yousuf that effectively put paid to any meaningful Pakistani resistance.”Imran said that Pakistan could take solace from the fantastic displays from Yousuf and Younis Khan, who added a record-breaking 363 for the third wicket in the first innings. “Yousuf is one of the best touch players in international cricket. With his sound temperament and a desire to score big, he has looked consistently the best stroke player on either side,” he said. “Younis has by far the best defensive technique amongst our batsmen, which is why he has could be rated as one of the best one-down batsmen to have padded up for Pakistan. He is fearless and looks completely unruffled when the going gets tough [and] has shown that he can play spin and pace with complete confidence.”Like Bob Woolmer, Imran cautioned the move to usher in Shoaib Akhtar for the final Test beginning on August 17 at The Oval. “There is a lot of talk about Shoaib Akhtar’s comeback, though it is clear that [Mohammad] Asif would not be able make it. One thing should be remembered: whatever Shoaib’s attributes, no matter how talented he is, he cannot go into a Test match with so little match fitness,” he said. “He will have to bowl at least 30 overs in the warm-up game against the West Indies ‘A’ before he should even be considered for induction into the eleven.”

ScorecardRunako Morton guided Leeward Islands, who had lost their previous two matches, to a surprise win over Guyana, who moved down to second place in the table of West Indies’ regional one-day competition.Wilden Cornwall, an Antiguan allrounder, took 5 for 36 to keep Guyana to 199 after Narsingh Deonarine and Lennox Cush had put on 64 for the fifth wicket. In reply, Morton, who batted with stomach ailment, hit an unbeaten 74 to pilot Leewards to victory with five balls to spare. Austin Richards, who opened the batting, played a fine supporting role, scoring 50.