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Former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh and renowned American fielding guru Mike Young have signed on to be a part of the coaching staff at the ICC Americas selection combine to be held at Indianapolis World Sports Park in September.”I’m really excited by this opportunity to help identify and work with some of the best talent in the Americas,” Walsh said in an ICC press release. “It’s great that the ICC and the WICB are working together on this initiative that can only help cricket develop in the region.”Applications for players who are eligible to play for countries within the ICC Americas region were due to close on Friday, but the deadline has been extended an additional week through to July 24. Up to 100 players from around the region will be invited to phase one of the combine from September 18, as they compete for spots in a regional squad to participate in the WICB 50-over domestic tournament next January.A select group of players from phase one will then be invited back to phase two from September 24, where they will join pre-selected players based on performances from the ICC Americas championship in May, and the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier currently taking place in Ireland and Scotland. After the conclusion of phase two, a final squad will be chosen and top-performing players may also receive invitations to trial for teams in the 2016 Caribbean Premier League.Walsh is currently a WICB selector and bowling coach for the Jamaica Tallawahs. In 2011, he served as tour manager for the West Indies U-19 team in Florida where they swept the USA U-19 team in a four-match 50-over series. Young, a Chicago native, has been a specialist fielding coach serving on and off with Australia for the last 14 years, including at the 2015 World Cup.

South Africa has tied the inaugural Super Challenge 2000 series at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium at one match apiece with a eight run win in the third and final match of what has proved to be a very innovative and enjoyable series.There were several heroes for the visitors, in particular the underrated left arm spinner Nicky Boje, who took 2/29 from ten overs of very accurate left arm spin and was awarded the Man of Series award. He proved difficult to get away in the mid to latter stages of the match and along with skipper Shaun Pollock (2/36 off eight) did some valuable damage during the run chase. Pollock proved again his great ability with the new ball getting the first two wickets while Adam Gilchrist (63 off 67 balls) powered away in the opening stages of Australia’s innings.Curiously right at the death Andrew Hall, who kept very well in the absence of the finger knife slicing Mark Boucher, was called up to bowl the second last over, with 22 needed. He started with a nervous wide but held up well under the pressure to concede only eight off the over and this left the Aussies needing 14 off the last.Jacques Kallis took the ball and after a smiling conversation involving he and skipper Pollock, South Africa wrapped up the match with a bit to spare.Earlier, South Africa were in desperate trouble at 4/19 in the seventh over, after great opening spells by Glenn McGrath (3/26 off ten overs) and Brett Lee (3/56 off ten).McGrath was first to strike, finding the edge of Andrew Hall’s (1) bat and Mark Waugh accepted the hot head high chance at second slip.At the Latrobe Street end, Brett Lee, who started to find his rhythm after an early speight of no balls, struck twice in his third over, having Kallis edge a lifting ball through to Gilchrist for three and then Daryl Cullinan went, bowled between bat and pad by a very sharp in dipper for a fourth ball duck. The veteran right-hander will come away from his Colonial Stadium experience was little fondness for it after a pair of noughts in the last two matches. South Africa were now 3/19 as Neil McKenzie walked out to join the experienced Kirsten.McGrath knocked over Kirsten (9) thanks again to the safe hands of Mark Waugh at second slip and at 4/19 the 15,000 odd that had bothered to make it for the 10am start were facing a free afternoon.South Africa have come from the depths of these positions before to win matches and today the men who rose to the challenge with the bat were Neil McKenzie (45) and Lance Klusener (49) who added 98 for the fifth wicket in 26 overs. They were the initial heroes with the bat, with Shaun Pollack (34) and Nicky Boje (28 off 28 balls) ensuring South Africa got past 200 after falling to 7/150 in the 43rd over after the initial recovery. The pair added an unbeaten 56 in seven and a half overs and with the Australians slow in bowling their overs and subsequently having their innings reduced to 48 overs, the South African total reached a level of respectability.This reduction to 48 overs was a real surprise, given the fairly liberal interpretation of the rule in the previous two matches.In Game one, South Africa were 21 minutes over time and on Friday Australia were around a quarter of an hour but neither were penalised in any way. Admittedly though on Wednesday, South Africa’s bowlers were continually cleaning their sprigs giving the damp nature of the surface.In the Australian reply, Shaun Pollock picked up the first wicket, with a fairly straight ball which Mark Waugh played around as he came forward to drive. Waugh went for a single and Australia were 1/21 in the seventh over.Adam Gilchrist was making the job of batting look very easy as he opened his shoulders to eventually hit nine fours and a pulled six over square leg off Roger TelemachusRicky Ponting would have been disappointed with his dismissal as he played an impatient shot which brought about his downfall, attempting to loft Pollock over the on-side on the up. The result – a catch to Makhaya Ntini at mid on and Australia were now tottering a little at 2/31.Gilchrist continued to make batting look easy but his batting partner Michael Bevan was doing anything but, as he struggled to find a gap in the field with thirteen balls being needed before he could get off the mark.Gilchrist’s entertaining hand came to an end on 63 in the 20th over as he attempted a pull shot off Ntini and top edged it as high and as close as any ball had been near the roof, to be caught by Neil McKenzie at backward point.Ntini, who had been working up some pace during his first spell, struck the Aussie skipper Steve Waugh on the left arm with his next ball which was a sharp, rising delivery. Waugh rubbed his arm vigourously and Ntini returned to the top of his bowling mark, intent to try and put his side on top in the match.The eventual loss of the Australian captain, was a big blow for South Africa, as Waugh lofted Lance Klusener to mid off after making 17 and in the 29th over Australia were reduced to 4/114.Bevan had now started to find the gaps but when he reached 33 off 80 balls, he was brilliantly run out by Neil McKenzie from backward point in the 35th over and Australia now needed right on a run a ball if they were to win the match and clinch this series.Shane Warne was elevated up the order and lofted a few deliveries to various points of the arena without being able to pick up a boundary.Damien Martyn eased the tension somewhat as he found the first boundary for nine overs by charging and lofting South African skipper over mid wicket to the fence but in the 38th over Warne attempted to take on Nicky Boje and holed out to a great catch by Gary Kirsten at a widish long-on for seven.Shane Lee played rebustly as the run rate required found its way to over six and he and Damien Martyn added 28 in six overs before Lee hoisted a ball to deep mid wicket where a good catch was taken by Neil McKenzie, Australia were 7/171.What eventually broke the back of the chase was the demise of Damien Martyn, who after making 31 off 42 balls, was bowled by a Telemachus yorker in the 45th over at 8/176, this left Australia needing 31 off three and a half overs and this, unsurprisngly proved too much for the remaining batsmen.

Ridley Jacobs has been left out of the West Indies squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in September. He was replaced by Courtney Browne, who won a place as a result of consistent performances in the regional competitions.Though a 14-member squad was announced, the captain was only named following a meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board. The Board met on August 11 to ratify the selectors’ recommendation, and gave another chance to Brian Lara to turn things round after a dismal spell in charge of the team. Ramnaresh Sarwan was reappointed as his deputy.Mervyn Dillon was also recalled, as the selectors felt that his presence would add experience to the bowling attack. Wavell Hinds was included after passing a fitness test conducted by a medical panel.Six players were left out from the 15-member squad that played in the recent NatWest tournament. Carlton Baugh, Tino Best, Ridley Jacobs, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy and Devon Smith were those to miss out. While Best and Rampaul were forced out by injury, the rest were axed for their lack of performance.Squad
1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Ricardo Powell, 9 Courtney Browne (wk), 10 Sylvester Joseph, 11 Mervyn Dillon, 12 Corey Collymore, 13 Ian Bradshaw, 14 Jermaine Lawson.

Derbyshire are bracing themselves for the loss of Wavell Hinds after he took his place in the latest Indian Cricket League event.Hinds was signed as a Kolpak player, but because he has played first-class cricket in another country within the last 12 months and is a new recruit by Derbyshire the club believe they are going to encounter problems over his registration. Hinds hit a half century in his first ICL outing on Sunday.”We think we may have trouble keeping Wavell,” Tom Sears, the chief executive, told . “We are waiting for clarification from the ECB, but because he played in West Indies it could be a stumbling block.”Other Kolpak signings around the county circuit, such as Murray Goodwin at Sussex and Dale Benkenstein at Durham, are not expected to have a problem because they were with their respective counties before the ICL began.However, Derbyshire haven’t given up on still having the services of Mahela Jayawardene even though he is part of the Indian Premier League and Sri Lanka have a full international calendar. Jayawardene was due to arrive after Sri Lanka’s tour of West Indies, but there is now the prospect of the Asia Cup.”We are waiting to hear Mahela’s commitments,” said Sears. “There’s talk of the Asia Cup but we aren’t sure when. We are still keen to have him here and Mahela is keen to play for us. It all depends whether it’s worthwhile for both parties.”Unlike some counties, though, who face a last-minute scramble to find overseas cover Derbyshire are well placed in that department with Chris Rogers, the Australian opener, on their staff for the whole season. He was due to replace Jayawardene later in the season, but could now slot in at an earlier stage.”We have planned ahead for this situation,” Sears added, “so we have good cover for whatever happens.”

When and how did you find out that you had become director of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)?
This had been going on for a while. Once Rameez Raja had decided to resign from his post [as CEO last year in July], there were quite a few candidates, including me, in the running for the position. Eventually I believe the names were recommended by the chairman of the PCB to its patron, President Pervez Musharraf. I came to know about it on 28 January. I was on my way to get some domestic chores done and I got a call from the chairman, who said he wanted to see me. So I met him and he told me my name had been approved and welcome on board. Since I started I haven’t really had the time to think about the job. Then came the second part and I was never a candidate either, for the post of manager for this tour. This was also a very late decision. The chairman told me `you are on board and you have to go’ and that was that. It’s not an easy job. There are too many other things to worry about. The media especially are so hungry, especially in India, and everyone is looking for a story. Sometimes there is no story yet something still has to be done. So what you do is, you have to be careful, what you say is not always reported. Apart from all that, so far, so good.Do you have a brief for your role of director?
Look, I have a team with me of two general managers and we have sat down and done some work. There are two prinicipal areas we are looking at. Everyone keeps talking about domestic cricket and the second area is that the board has spent a lot of money on the national academy and that is not producing the kind of results that are needed. These are two critical areas that need to be looked at. I spent a lot of time with Intikhab Alam and we discussed the domestic structure here [in India] which he thinks is pretty good. There are some thoughts that came out of that – one is that we go back and say that change for the sake of change is not what we are looking at. What we are saying is, is it necessary to change the present setup? Mind you, the present setup of regional cricket and institutional cricket has been brought in after some thought. But if there are flaws in it, then we would like to look at it.What are your own thoughts about moving the emphasis away from institutional cricket to regional cricket?
Look, I have played and been involved with institutional cricket for most of my life and played with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for ten years or so. I think institutional cricket should stay and be strengthened. I personally believe that knocking away institutional cricket is not good. You see, one, institutions provide an income for cricketers. Two, they employ the big-name cricketers and thus their sides are generally pretty strong, especially when compared to regional teams. There are a lot of thought processes going on at the moment but if you ask me, I am for institutional cricket. I would like to talk to banks and airlines who employ these players and see if we can recreate the old days when Habib Bank and National Bank were very strong sides. That is something that has drifted away and we need to look at it. How? I don’t know at this stage.But the chairman and Rameez have always been keen to sideline institutions…
It’s just a question of how you think about it. Some people thought that a Karachi-Lahore or a Punjab-Sindh game would be great cricket and bring in great crowds. I don’t think that is going to happen. So somewhere in between is a solution. We don’t know where yet, but it is there somewhere. What we have definitely done is improve the quality of the pitches. You must understand I have been away for six years. I only got back to Pakistan last March. The general consensus when I got back was that wickets over the last two-three years have been seaming wickets with grass on them. The result was that you were not producing quality players – all the bowler had to do was to pitch the ball on a spot and he would pick up wickets. Immediately, what we have done is to give instructions to all centres where first-class cricket is played and said, “shave off the grass.” What we are looking at is hard cricket, where the bowler has to earn his wicket and not just pick them up thanks to the pitches. I think if you look at the results in the last few matches that I saw, runs were being scored and it means that bowlers have to learn to earn their wickets.

Do you feel domestic cricket has failed Pakistan cricket in that it isn’t providing a good nursery for international players? The gap between first-class cricket in Pakistan and international cricket is becoming bigger and so many youngsters have struggled when they have come on to the international scene…
At this stage, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is wrong. Past cricketers who moved to the international stage and performed well for Pakistan also came from this structure or standard. What we need to do is to find out why we aren’t producing quality Test cricketers at the moment. Let me ask you, where did Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad come from after all? It isn’t going to be easy to see what has gone wrong but it has to be done. One way would be to talk to players and ex-players and get their feedback on where they think domestic cricket has gone wrong and take it from there. By June of this year, the entire first-class fixture list will be prepared and sent out to the associations and institutions. There are nine regions, and all have coaches and referees so you need to look at whether they are qualified. All this information has to be collected and then we have to slowly and steadily bring about a change in the system. It has to be done, there are no compromises on that.What do you make of the team, having been with them for a short amount of time?
You’ve got to see that we lost two or three key players in a very short amount of time soon after the 2003 World Cup. You lost your two quicks, Wasim and Waqar, as well as a quality opener in Saeed Anwar. Plus, on this tour we do not have Shoaib Akhtar or Shabbir Ahmed, who are both injured. We don’t have Umar Gul either, who is injured. On the next tier of fit bowlers we have Mohammad Sami but he is only one. Along with him are Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Khalil, who are both inexperienced. The entire bowling is dependent on Sami and Kaneria – two bowlers on subcontinent pitches is never enough.What are your first impressions of Inzamam as a captain?
If the team does well, everything is hunky-dory. If there is a dip then the first person who gets the blame is the captain. The problem is, if, for instance, there is a decision that we need to change the captain, what choices are available to you? You don’t just change a captain if his side is losing. Alright, so you say let’s change Inzamam – who do you replace him with? At the moment, he is the senior figure and the best batsman in the side so you carry on with him. You give even the best captain a relatively weak side and it won’t be easy.But does he have to be the best player or even the senior-most to be captain?
Again, at the moment, there is no option. Yousuf Youhana is one, Younis Khan is the other, what else? Someone as young as Salman Butt? You can’t do that because it takes time and experience to groom a captain. For the moment, Inzi looks the best available choice.How do you handle someone like Shoaib Akhtar?
I have already spoken to him. One of the skills I learned from my corporate experience in PIA as a senior official is man-management. If you overbook a flight, you will have a few irate passengers. You learn to keep people calm and deal with them. He is mercurial, he has a lot of media hype around him, everywhere he goes people run around after him. I think we can handle him, he’s not a problem.How do you think Bob Woolmer has done as coach of the side so far?
I have only watched him for ten days. But the point is, two things have happened. One, the fitness routine and overall fitness with the trainer has definitely improved. The work ethic has also improved. From that perspective, yes, fitness is good, there seems to be more focus in the team. Younger players take a little longer to learn but so far so good. I can’t really talk about the technical side of the improvements he is trying to bring in because I haven’t seen him for that long.

What is the latest with Shoaib Malik regarding his bowling action?
To be frank, the submission we have given on him has not been accepted. There are two options now available. One is to risk bowling him and face the subsequent penalty, which could be harsh. The other option is that right now, most of these guys are going to see Bruce Elliot in Australia for remedial work. The ICC has a couple of other experts on the panel. Our thinking is that we might like to go through another one but that can only happen after the India series. Basically, he has a disability with his elbow which was the result of a road accident. We need to have a second opinion on it but, personally, I think we shouldn’t bowl him but that he [should] play purely as a batsman. Technically and mentally he is very good. Let me put it this way: he looks like good captaincy material as well. There is a Pakistan A side going to Zimbabwe and Namibia after the India tour and we would like to get him to captain the side and maybe start grooming him.Pakistan played only seven Tests but 29 ODIs last year. Are there plans to redress that balance in the next year or two?
England are coming to play four Tests later this year in November-December and three ODIs. I have seen the itinerary and that has been agreed. Then India come back in January-February for three Tests, I think, and five ODIs and then we are off to England to play a further four Tests. So there are eleven Tests lined up over the next year, so there is heavy Test cricket ahead of us. We are also touring West Indies in May-June this year for a couple of Tests. So there are quite a few matches in the next 15 months or so.How important is this tour for Pakistan?
Before we came in, everyone said we had a relatively weaker side. But the boys will learn from this tour, there will be some positives. If you’re playing against superior players and you have a little bit of a mind, you will improve. If we can acquit ourselves creditably and go down fighting, if we go down, some of the younger players might mature and come out to serve Pakistan in the future.

Despite his matchwinning figures of 5 for 41, Brett Lee knows from experience that imperious one-day form is no guarantee of Test selection. A barnstorming run in New Zealand earlier this year didn’t secure a return then and, once bitten, twice shy, he was taking nothing for granted now.”Going back a few months in New Zealand – I was pretty disappointed I missed out,” Lee told journalists at Lord’s. “I have put that right behind me now and I’m not worried about looking to the future right now. I’m going to focus on one thing right now, and that’s we’ve got one more game left.”I will do anything possible to get out there and play for Australia,” he added. “I am not looking too far ahead. If I get that call to be in the eleven on July 21, I will be over the moon, but I am not looking too far forward.”Lee’s captain, Ricky Ponting, was giving little away either. “He bowled well leading up to the Test series in New Zealand as well and didn’t get picked. Right from the start of this tour he’s done all he can and I know he will keep doing that. He has given himself the best chance.”Ponting was more forthcoming on the subject of Jason Gillespie – whose one England wicket this season has come at the cost of 252 runs. Gillespie fared no better at Lord’s today, his seven wicketless overscost 42. “He will be the first to admit he is down on confidence at the moment,” said Ponting. “Andrew Flintoff is the one that got into him most today.”He added the conditions at Headingley were a factor in their nine-wicket defeat there, but he had no complaints this time under blue skies at Lord’s, on what he considered to be a better wicket. “This is the best wicket we have played on so far.”Ponting, in fact, has never lost a match at Lord’s, and was surprised that it had been chosen as the venue for the first Test. “To have the first Test at Lord’s is great,” he said with an eye on the psychological high ground. “Australia have a great record here. I think it will be an advantage for us.”The new one-day regulations give a distinct advantage to the side bowling first, but Ponting insisted that they had had no bearing on his decision. “We upset England by bowling first,” he claimed. “They like to bowl first: they have made that pretty clear, and I was more than happy chasing that total today.”Matthew Hayden was absent injured for this match, butPonting confirmed that he was expected to play in theTests, although he may sit out at The Oval. “He’s inpain and struggling but I had a good look at him inthe nets yesterday. I know he has had treatment.Michael Vaughan was in understandably sombre moodafter the defeat. He revealed little at the press conference,but he did say that England are still very much in thereckoning for the NatWest Challenge trophy after theirwin at Headingley. “We just need the same intensity onTuesday,” he said, “and we may win a trophy.”

Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has laid to rest all speculation of a power-struggle for captaincy by saying that he had no issues playing under Rahul Dravid, the current Indian captain. He has said that his top priority was to score runs for the team.”I have played under other captains, so it should be no problem. I am happy to play anywhere, whatever suits the team, Rahul [Dravid] and Greg [Chappell],” Ganguly told PTI. “I have been selected in the team to perform, as was the case when I was picked for the first time. You have to perform at this level.” He was banned for six one-day internationals by the ICC for slow over-rates when Pakistan toured India in April. The ban was reduced to four ODIs by Albie Sachs, an ICC-appointed arbitrator, following a BCCI appeal on Ganguly’s behalf. He spent the last two months playing for Glamorgan and has regained some form on the English county circuit. “I have been in touch with the game and it would be good to score runs and help India win the trophy,” said Ganguly. “As I can see if we bat well in the competition we have a good chance of winning.”The pitch at Dambulla has not been conducive to prolific run-making and Ganguly said that he had a fair idea of how to negotiate the wicket. “It is a kind of wicket where you have to grind for your runs. You don’t get easy runs here. I am not too sure about the pace; perhaps it is two-paced.”After all the attention he received for five-and-a-half years as the Indian captain, Ganguly said that a break from the spotlight would be appreciated. “Actually, I don’t mind it [lack of attention]. I had a lot of attention for five years. If for the next three or four games, or whatever happens in this series, I am not too worried. Whatever will happen, will happen.”Ganguly said that his wealth of experience would always be available to Dravid if required. “As I see it, it will be hard work for Rahul. It always is for the captain. There are a lot of things which are on mind and if I feel something could benefit the team, I will definitely pass on the suggestion to him.”Ganguly, who is 33 short of 10,000 runs in one-day cricket – a feat achieved only by Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, said that he was looking forward to the milestone. “It is something I am looking forward to,” said Ganguly “but more than personal marks, I am keen to do my bit for the team to win the trophy.”

There has been no application by the British Virgin Islands for Affiliate membership of the ICC, despite some reports to that effect.”At its own expense, BVI atteneded the recent ICC Americas forum in Grand Cayman in order to find out more about the ICC Development Program and its member countries’ activities,” an ICC spokesman told Cricinfo.”BVI has indicated to ICC regional staff that it may possibly be interested in applying for individual membership of the ICC and has asked about the process if it did decide to take this path.”ICC regional staff have referred BVI back to the West Indies Cricket Board and advised that, like Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey before (which had ECB alignments), to become an individual member of ICC, BVI would need to cut all formal ties with WICB / its affiliates and any such application would need the support of WI as the region’s Full Member.”If BVI wanted to be considered for membership of the ICC at 2009 Annual Conference, it would need to apply by 31 December 2008.”A spokesman for the WICB said that while an informal question had been put to the board, nothing more than that had happened at this stage. “BVI is part of Leewards,” he said. “We can’t change that without acceptance at an AGM and changes to our articles.”

In a dramatic finish, Auckland and Northern Districts somehow conspired to tie a game no team deserved to win. Daniel Vettori, the ND captain, ran out Chris martin for a duck on the penultimate ball of the match with the scores level at 275. For the second time in less than a fortnight, Paul Hitchcock scored a century against Northern Districts in the State Shield. Unlike the last occasion it was not enough to see his team win. Hitchcock’s 107 from 102 balls was the highlight of Auckland’s chase for 275 set by the home team, but he failed to find any significant support. Bruce Martin was the most effective ND bowler, taking 3 for 42 off his 10 overs. It was a great allround double for Hitchcock who took 4 for 45 earlier in the day. ND would have been disappointed it did not make better use of the 135-run opening partnership provided by Vettori (84) and BJ Watling (50). James Marshall provided a useful 42 while others made starts they failed to capitalise on.

Andrew Flintoff has insisted his recovery from an ankle injury is progressing well as he backed himself to return to England’s starting line-up in the first Ashes Test.Flintoff, whom the England selectors want to captain the team in Australia, said he was confident he would take the field at Brisbane’s Gabba ground on November 23. “I’m about three weeks in to a 12-week rehab which will finish probably mid-October,” he told BBC television on Tuesday. “We don’t leave for the Ashes until the first week in November, the first Test isn’t until the back end of November, so I’m confident I’ll be fine.”He believed England needed to beat Pakistan in the fourth and final Test at The Oval, which starts Thursday, to give them a confidence boost going into the their Ashes defence. “You want to take momentum going into a big series like this. Hopefully we can do that at The Oval this weekend and win the series 3-0. If we play anything like we have done over these past two Test matches we’ll have a great shout.”Flintoff was the outstanding performer in England’s 2-1 Ashes series triumph last year with 402 runs and 24 wickets. The next big date in his calendar is a benefit event on August 24 at Old Trafford in Manchester when his county, Lancashire, take on Flintoff’s England XI. “It’s going to be two good sides playing against each other,” Flintoff said. “For England a side with the likes of Steve Harmison, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Monty Panesar to name a few. For Lancashire, the likes of Darren Lehmann and Chris Cairns are going to guest for them.”