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It’s a long way from Pakistan but Blacks Caps cricketers Mark Richardson and Shayne O’Connor will undoubtedly enjoy their time in Alexandra this weekend.Molyneux Park will host the pre-season State Otago Volts ‘practice/trial’ match on Saturday and Sunday giving new Otago coach Glenn Turner his first opportunity to view the value of an extensive winter programme. Fellow selectors Chris Taylor and Michael Austen will also be in attendance.Richardson heads one team with former Otago skipper Robbie Lawson in charge of the other. For Lawson the match presents his first step back having missed last season through injury.Turner has named two strong sides although he is naturally frustrated with the number of players unavailable – due to injury, duties elsewhere or not yet having returned from overseas commitments.Twenty-three players have been named for the weekend’s match, with this number to be trimmed to 14 for matches against the New Zealand Academy at Lincoln in early-October and against Canterbury in Christchurch in mid-November.The teams for the ‘practice/trial’ match are:Lawson’s team: Andrew Hore, Mike Hesson, Robbie Lawson, Jordan Sheed, Martyn Croy, Nathan Morland, Shane O’Connor, Bradley Scott, Shoruban Pasupati, Kerry Walmsley, Jamie Brundell.Richardson’s team: Mark Richardson, Shaun Haig, Anthony Wilkinson, Hayden Anderson, Simon Beare, Scott Waide, Tony McEntyre, James McMillan, Neil Rushton, David Sewell, Dick Quirk, Daryl Reddington.Unavailable are: Craig Cumming, Craig Pryor, Lee Germon (all injured), Nathan McCullum, Brendon McCullum and Warren McSkimming (all involved with the New Zealand Academy) and Chris Gaffaney (not yet home from playing duties in England).

An update has emerged regarding Newcastle United and their pursuit of Torino defender Wilfried Singo… 

What’s the talk?

According to Torino Granata, the full-back is not on his way to Italian giants Juventus and is instead likely to move to the Premier League.

The report claims that the Toon are currently leading the race to land his signature as they prepare to make a bid in the region of £17m (€20m).

Forget Trippier

Dan Ashworth is reportedly set to join the Magpies as their director of football after leaving fellow Premier League side Brighton, and he can seal an instant masterclass by striking a deal for Singo in the summer.

Kieran Trippier arrived to bolster the right-back position in January and quickly asserted himself as the main man at St James’ Park. He scored two goals in four league outings whilst averaging a phenomenal SofaScore rating of 7.67 – a score that no Newcastle player has been able to get near so far in the league.

The England international is currently out injured after fracturing a bone in his foot, and the signing of Singo could provide perfect cover for the Englishman should he pick up more injuries further down the line. Trippier will be 32 in September and potentially heading towards the final years of his prime, with the Torino gem coming in as backup for him initially before taking over from him in the future.

In Serie A this season, Singo has averaged a solid SofaScore rating of 6.98 across 26 games. He has chipped in with three goals and four assists from full-back, which shows that he can also impact the game in an attacking sense in the same way that Trippier has done since his move from Atletico Madrid.

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Whilst his rating may not seem all that impressive in comparison to the 31-year-old’s, it is worth noting that the current Magpies defender has only played four games whilst Singo has caught the eye over 26 matches. Meanwhile, Trippier averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.86 in the first half of the campaign in Madrid, which suggests that they are closer to each other in ability than his short time back in the Premier League would have you believe.

At the age of 21, the Serie A tank is also 10 years Trippier’s junior and this means that he can be the long-term replacement for him at Newcastle whilst providing excellent cover for him in the short-term. This is why Ashworth will be sealing an instant masterclass by landing him for £17m to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad.

AND in other news, Insider suggests £46m “phenomenon” is a “realistic” target for NUFC, it’ll excite Howe…

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

Farrell: Test was decided on the first two days

Emphatic doesn’t quite do it justice. Unrelenting throughout, Australia put on another exhibition of high quality bowling to seal a vast victory over New Zealand and place one hand on the ICC Mace awarded to the world’s No. 1 Test team. A deflating result for the visitors in Brendon McCullum’s 100th Test was only a tail-end flurry short of New Zealand’s heaviest ever loss at home to Australia.Having set up the match with expert use of seaming early conditions on the first morning, Australia’s bowlers asked quite different questions on the fourth morning. Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird all used reverse swing to good effect, while Nathan Lyon homed in on a footmark outside the right-handers’ off stump to gain sharp spin. The absence of Peter Siddle, resting a back complaint, was well compensated for.Steven Smith will be a most contented captain, having overseen a performance in which many questions about this team have been answered. They chose the right XI for the conditions, they bowled impressively, and most importantly batted with command even after Joe Burns and David Warner were out cheaply with the ball still new on day one. New Zealand will be left to wonder over the significance of the “no-ball” that reprieved Adam Voges early.Henry Nicholls endured longest for the hosts, on the way to making the highest score by a New Zealand debutant batting at No. 4. But his dismissal on 59 by Bird left the tail exposed to the bounce and conventional swing of the second new ball. Southee and Trent Boult entertained another strong Basin Reserve crowd with a late flurry against Lyon, but it was merely a parting shot.Having lost McCullum from the last ball of day three, New Zealand’s chances of survival were slim, and they narrowed further when the 63-over old ball began bending in both directions. Corey Anderson struggled with the ball moving away from him around the wicket, but after a few play and misses Smith directed Marsh to go over the wicket and try to straighten one down the line.Two balls into the tactic, Marsh pitched one in line and swung it back to pin Anderson in front. Like McCullum he reviewed, but it was a futile gesture for a delivery crashing into middle and leg.BJ Watling arrived and his first ball from Lyon hit the aforementioned footmark and narrowly missed spinning back to strike the off stump with the batsman offering no shot. Lyon took note of this, and it was not long before he delivered a slightly flatter delivery on the same line that had Watling playing back, fatally. The turning ball was through him in an instant.Nicholls had absorbed all this pressure, but Bird’s decision to send one down at a full length made the difference, coaxing the batsman into a flick across the line. Again there was some swing, and the ball flicked off the pads into the stumps. At this, the Australians took the second new ball, and a Hazlewood lbw review against Doug Bracewell was declined due to a lack of conclusive evidence before the interval.Hazlewood had his due reward soon after resumption, when Bracewell was struck in front: this time there was no bat to confuse the issue. Southee’s blows dented Lyon’s figures somewhat, but the bowler was content to keep tossing it up in expectation of a miscue, which was exactly what happened.Mark Craig and Boult entertained for a time also, but in playing so freely they did nothing so much as underline how well the Australians had bowled to the batsmen. A match over in fewer than four days had taken place on a pitch that would still be good for batting on day five. In pursuit of Test cricket’s top perch, Smith’s men had played to a very high standard indeed.

Send us your comments …what do you thinkThe real impact of the USA’s suspension from international cricket will hit home next week when north of the border in Toronto the region’s leading teams will meet to take part in the Americas Under-19 Qualifier.The prize at stake is a place at the ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February and March. While hosts Canada will be joined by sides from Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda and Cayman Islands, the USA’s young players will be left at home dreaming of what might have been.The USA were present at the last U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka – on that occasion the ICC hierarchy commendably decided that it would be unfair to punish young players because of the governance issues affecting the national board . But this time there has been no such concession and so the U-19 side will miss out.The sadness of this becomes more apparent when you listen to people involved in grassroots US cricket.Last month, Hemant Buch, co-founder of the California Cricket Academy, told Cricinfo: “There will simply be more and more junior cricket in all parts of North America, and we should have several thousand first-class juniors ready to play competitive cricket by 2011.”When the various factions indulge in their next bout of self-obsessed squabbling for control of the USA Cricket Association, they would all so well to remember that the real victims of their conduct of recent years should be in Toronto this weekend preparing for the biggest week of their lives.

Shaun Pollock has been advised not to appear in every fixture for South Africa © Getty Images

Shane Jabaar, South Africa’s physiotherapist, believes a proper rotation policy is imperative for the national side to reach its goals this season. South Africa have been hit with injuries over the last year, and Jabaar has advised that key players, such as Shaun Pollock, should not play every match of the season.Jabbar said players like Pollock, who experienced discomfort from a back injury in Sri Lanka recently, needed to be managed carefully. “Shaun batted and then bowled in New Delhi [during a warm-up match], but had to leave the field,” he said. “Taking him off was a precautionary measure and he is responding well to treatment.”Sometimes the slight injuries are the ones that cause problems because they affect muscles around the injured muscle. If we want Shaun to be ready for the World Cup tournament he should not play throughout the season. That was my proposal at the start of the season and I think the selectors have taken it to heart.”Jabbar also felt that Justin Kemp, the allrounder, could miss the World Cup if he aggravated the shoulder injury he picked up during the off-season. “If Justin plays in all the matches this season we run the risk of losing him,” he said. “Surgery will take him out of action for more than five months and that means he won’t be able to play in the World Cup.”Batting and bowling won’t be a problem, but throwing will. It is the way he throws the ball that causes the pain. We are working on it, but are afraid to overtax the muscle because it can have far-reaching effects.”Jabaar was satisfied with the progress of those who suffered from injuries recently – Graeme Smith (ankle), AB de Villiers (foot), Jacques Kallis (elbow), Charl Langevelt (thigh) and Loots Bosman (shoulder). He said Andre Nel, who injured a thumb in the warm-up match in New Delhi, would be fit to play in South Africa’s Champions Trophy opener on Monday.After the tournament, South Africa host India and Pakistan for five ODIs and three Tests each before they head to the Caribbean for the World Cup. Some members of the side are also expected to turn out in the domestic season.

Peter Chingoka: likely to be re-elected unopposed © Getty Images

Zimbabwe Cricket holds its annual general meeting in Bulawayo on Monday, and Peter Chingoka, the chairman, is virtually unopposed and is expected to stay at the helm of the battle-weary cricket body.Chingoka has run the board since before Zimbabwe attained Test status in 1992. But Chingoka, a well-respected veteran administrator, has been increasingly dragged into controversies such as last year’s strike by rebel players, a contentious rebranding exercise that reportedly cost several million Zimbabwean dollars. Despite that, Chingoka is still seen as holding together the sometimes divided Zimbabwe cricket family.There will, however, be replacements for ex-director Clive Barnes, the former Prince Edward School headmaster who is now heading an international school in Mauritius, and Ozias Bvute, who resigned from the board to take up the ZC managing director job. Other board members are expected to resign on a constitutional requirement.

Virender Sehwag salutes his return to form as he smashed a century in the second Test at Chennai© Getty Images

On how hard it was to break out of his bad run
It was difficult. But I knew I had the ability to come back, and it was only a matter of one big innings. I was determined that if I cross 50, I’ll convert it into a century. I was playing well at Bangalore when I made 39 in the first innings, but I failed to convert that. Here, though, I converted my start into the hundred that my team needed.Did he, or India, have a specific gameplan for this game?
Our gameplan in this match was the same as in the last one. We knew the first spell from the bowlers was the most dangerous, and we planned to play carefully, take no risks, and see that through. And so we did.On the role of Sunil Gavaskar, India’s batting consultant, in the gameplan
Strategies and so on are decided at team meetings, but he [Sunil] has been a help to us, by sharing his experience of international cricket. If anyone has a problem, he helps out with that, and motivates us all.On the pitch
It’s a good track to bat on. Yes, the ball kept low at times, but that happened when the ball was really old, after 75 overs had been bowled. After the new ball was taken there was no uneven bounce. It was good to bat on today, and I expect the same tomorrow. Perhaps in the fourth and fifth days it will take even more spin than it already is, and get slower.On missing his double-century
[Somewhat bemused] I still had 45 runs to go for my double-century. Had I got out in my 190s you could have said that I missed making 200, but I was far away from it.On why he became more aggressive and played some reckless strokes after reaching his century
I thought the team would benefit if I went for my strokes and got some quick runs. But I guess my shot selection wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t picking the right balls to hit. But I realised at one point that it was more important for me to bat through another session rather than score quick runs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.Was he affected by all the wickets that fell at the other end?
No. My plan was the same throughout, to punish the loose ball but to minimise risk otherwise. The number of wickets that had fallen at the other had had no impact on the way I was playing.How did he react to the criticism of him, and the calls for his being dropped, during this recent bad phase?
When you don’t perform, everybody puts pressure on you. When you do, those same people acclaim you. I wasn’t worried, and besides, I had got some confidence from my innings of 146 in the warm-up game before the first Test. I knew that if I spend time at the wicket, the runs would come. And that’s just what happened.On his making around two-thirds of the runs scored while he was at the crease
Look, some of our batsmen were unlucky. Rahul [Dravid] got an inside edge, [VVS] Laxman got a ball that kept really low: had these strokes of luck not gone against us, we would perhaps have been just three or four wickets down at close of play today. We could have set them a bigger target for tomorrow.On how many runs he thinks India can make on the third day
I think 100 more is possible, that’ll give us a lead of 150, and we’ll be well on top.On which of the Australian bowlers he was most impressed with today
[Jason] Gillespie bowled really well.… And Warne?
Well, he took wickets, but I don’t think he bowled quite that well.

Former Hampshire medium-pace bowler James Schofield is set to make his ECB Southern Electric Premier League debut for BAT Sports against Liphook & Ripsley at Southern Gardens tomorrow, 11.30am.Schofield, 25, had intended to play for BAT at the start of the season, but has continued to suffer from the back injury which seriously affected and eventually curtailed his Hampshire career."Schoey had a run out for us in the SEC Cup a fortnight ago and is set to play his first all-day game tomorrow," said BAT skipper Richard Dibden."He got Matthew Hayden with the first ball he bowled in First Class cricket a couple of seasons ago. Let’s hope he can make a similar start for us !"BAT’s final selection will depend upon whether all-rounder Damian Shirazi is required for MCC groundstaff duty at Lord’s."The YC’s may have to be at Lord’s to bowl at the England and Pakistan players before Sunday’s one-day international, so we’re not certain how things stand selection-wise at the moment," Dibden added.BAT, two points ahead of South Wilts in the leadership race, will expect to beat Liphook, although Dibden acknowledges the toss could be crucial."Liphook drew six of their seven `time’ games last season and aren’t an easy side to bowl out – as Havant found out a few weeks ago," he said.Havant continue their title defence at fourth-placed Bournemouth – a match which commands BBC Radio Solent’s live coverage tomorrow afternoon.Luke Sears returns to the Havant side which had the edge in last week’s draw with BAT, but premier wicket-taker Phil Loat is unable to travel and plays in the 2nd XI against Rowledge."Not having Phil aboard is a bit of a blow, but we’ve got two other quality spinners in Richard Hindley and Matt Cox, so our attack remains well balanced," said Havant captain Paul Gover.Hampshire Under-19 all-rounder Chris Wright, who joind Havant from Liphook this season, has signed an Academy contract … with Middlesex.Bournemouth, with four wins in five matches, have begun the season in a positive manner and are liable to give Havant a run for their money.Western Australia’s Adam Voges is desperate to put a score on the board after bagging two ducks in the past fortnight."To be fair, he’s not really had the rub of the green, but Adam is liable to explode with a big one very soon," said Bournemouth captain Matt Swarbrick.David Kidner is out of the Bournemouth line up and replaced by fellow left-armer Matt Mixer.Second placed South Wilts are forced to shuffle the pack at Bashley, where Hampshire left-armer Jimmy Tomlinson and Tim Lamb notable are absentees.Adam Smith returns to the seam attack, with Dan Webb taking over the keeper’s gloves from Lamb.John Whiting is back for Bashley, who looked a much stronger outfit with Australian Brad Thompson back in their ranks last week.Andover have fitness worries over all-rounder Mark Miller ahead of their tough-looking visit to the Rose Bowl.Miller cricked his neck last night and may miss out playing against the on-song Hampshire Academy players for whom he prepares the Nursery Ground pitches. The Academy have won their last two games, beating Bournemouth and Portsmouth.Promising KES batsman Alex Richardson returns after a finger injury, while Charlie van der Gucht is added to the side which Giles White will captain.With both clubs in the bottom three, Calmore’s visit to Portsmouth’s Southsea seafront ground will have major implications in the relegation zone.The pair have each won only one game – Portsmouth’s solitary success coming against Liphook & Ripsley on the opening day of the season and Calmore’s against the Hampshire Academy one week later.Portsmouth’s lean run continued with a seven-wicket defeat by Corsham in the ECB Club Championship last weekend, whereas Calmore need to halt the habit of getting themselves into good positions … only to toss potential wins away."We ought to have beaten both Liphook and last week Bournemouth, but in both games we threw away a terrific advantage," lamented skipper Tom Pegler.

Nashua WP scored a convincing 10 wicket victory over Easterns in a Supersport Series match which ended at Newlands on Monday.Easterns who had a deficit of 100 runs on the first innings succumb to the WP seam attack and the leg spin of Paul Adams in the pre-lunch period on Monday. Man of the match Adams served notice that he is far from finished as he claimed four Easterns second innings wickets to set-up victory on Monday. He was well supported by vice-captain Alan Dawson, Charl Willoughby and Roger Telemachus. Easterns who at one stage like suffering an innings defeat were all out 40 minutes prior to the tea interval for 141. Adams ended with 4 for 54 in 15 overs. Willoughby claimed 3 for 15 in 21 overs and Alan Dawson claimed 2 for 24 in 19 overs.Graeme Smith(30 not out) and Rashaad Magiet(11 not out) hit off the required runs as WP recorded their first victory of the season. Full scorecard available at;https://www-rsa.cricket.org/link_to_database/NEW/LIVE/frames/WPR_EASTNS_SSS_05-08OCT2001.html

Nashua WP play Gauteng at the Wanderers starting on Friday.

The “disproportionate publicity” and the “soft imagery” that an association with the IPL brings is expected to negate any financial losses the two new franchise owners, New Rising and Intex Mobiles, may suffer in the short run. Despite New Rising and Intex Mobiles having to pay Rs 16 crore and Rs 10 crore per year respectively to the BCCI after bidding in negative, brand experts feel the franchises will have multiple advantages.”In this world of hard business you need a soft face as well. Sport gives that soft imagery to a hard company,” Harish Bijoor, a brand consultant, told ESPNcricinfo. “At the end of the day, sport is also a tool to manage HR internally pretty well. It softens the companies altogether, and to an extent it tells people that ‘we are not only about this, we are also sport.'”Former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharya said the visibility generated by the tournament opened up new markets for the companies. “One thing that sport does give you is a disproportionate publicity for your brand as compared to almost any other enterprise,” he said. “So, if Sanjeev Goenka is looking to be a global enterprise and Intex wants to make its mark in the world, getting involved in the IPL is a great starting move.”I can name 500 companies which are [Rs] 1000 crore companies, [and yet] nobody knows of them. But name an IPL team and everyone knows the person. I think that’s what is driving them.”According to Bijoor, there were fresh commercial possibilities for franchises following the penetration of the game in smaller centres. “A lot of people are saying that IPL is a reasonably matured game in India, because it has gone through so many seasons, so many losses,” he said.”There are numerous revenue streams [now]. It is not only what they get through the common streams, but in terms of merchandising, local activation, in terms of developing micro-cricket within the hinterland. These are all possibilities because cricket is becoming more and more micro rather than macro.”From being a country game, it became a city game, from a city game it became a town game, now from a town game can it become a smaller town game and eventually a village game. The moment you percolate deeper you provide for media vehicles which did not exist for others.” Bijoor, however, added that such gains were more pronounced in the longer run where brand involvement would be greater. “Even Mumbai Indians took more than three years to settle down, with the kind of proprietor attention that was given.”Bhattacharya said the teams would not absorb heavy losses given the absence of the franchise fee. Drawing a comparison with the Indian Super League, the professional football tournament, where every team, according to him, was making losses, he said it was worth taking a punt in the IPL. “The price is not a very big thing if you consider the price collection that happened in 2011 when Pune came in with Sahara for $332 [370] million,” he said. “[The increase in franchise fee] was a jump of about eight or nine times. They were talking about potentially losing about Rs 150 crore a year for 10 years.”Here you will have to tackle [your expenses] without any central revenue, with just sponsorship and gate [receipts]. They will be losing about [Rs] 40 crore a year; every team in the ISL is losing about the same number. Hell, I will take a chance [with the IPL].”