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Western Australia will begin their campaign without the captain Marcus North after he was diagnosed with a degenerative knee problem. North, who was promoted after Justin Langer stood down in the off-season, saw a specialist in Melbourne on Wednesday and the condition is treatable, but he will miss at least two weeks.A Western Australia spokesman said North would undergo a detailed rehabilitation programme to treat the right knee tendon and his fitness would be reviewed fortnightly. Tom Moody, the new coach, hoped North would be available for the “bulk of the season”. “While the timing of this injury is unfortunate,” he said, “the main focus for Marcus and the coaching staff will be to help him get back to 100% fitness.”Adam Voges, who was in India as cover for Australia’s one-day side, will lead the Warriors for the first time when they open their season in the FR Cup against New South Wales on Friday. He will also be in charge for the Pura Cup game starting in Perth on Sunday.Western Australia squad Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges (capt), Justin Langer, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Sean Ervine, Shawn Gillies, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Ben Edmondson, Steve Magoffin.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Ed Cowan, Simon Katich (capt), Dominic Thornely, Peter Forrest, Daniel Smith (wk), Grant Lambert, Moises Henriques, Stephen O’Keefe, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger, Mark Cameron, Matthew Nicholson.

If India are to win a series on the road for the first time against one of the southern hemisphere’s big two, they’ll have to do it the hard way. Since South Africa’s readmission to the international fold, this picture-perfect venue has been a fortress, with 10 wins and three draws from 16 Tests. The three losses can be discounted, having come against mighty Australia, though Graeme Smith was clearly a little perturbed at the pre-match briefing about the pitch resembling the one on which Stuart Clark routed his side a few months ago.On the eve of the game, with bright sunshine beating down and not a cloud obscuring the view of Table Mountain, there was a generous smattering of grass on the pitch, and there’s a small depression at one end that could result in up-and-down movement as the game wears on. Even if Tuesday dawns sunny and bright, the captain winning the toss will be sorely tempted to bowl first, though the urge to make first use of moisture in the pitch will be tempered by the possibility of having to bat last on a surface that will help the slow bowlers far more than those at the Wanderers and Kingsmead.Rahul Dravid spent a fair bit of time checking out the pitch, sitting down next to the stumps in Matthew Hayden fashion, after practice was over, and he has a selection quandary to deal with ahead of the toss tomorrow. On form, or lack of it, Virender Sehwag would have to make way for Gautam Gambhir. But unlike a Justin Langer, who replaced Michael Slater and went on to form the greatest opening partnership of the modern era with Hayden, Gambhir is no proven performer. Sehwag’s undisputed ability to score destructive centuries might just prevent the axe from falling.Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the other doubt, having bruised his hands badly in the second Test, and though he came through the practice session, the soreness in his hands might just result in Dinesh Karthik making his first Test apperance since Zimbabwe in September 2005. If that happens, Karthik may even open, with Sehwag dropping down to a middle-order slot where he won’t have to contend with the new ball.As for Munaf Patel, he bowled with his left ankle taped up, but the team management are clearly convinced that he can play a part here after having spent the last few days doing the hard yards at the nets. VRV Singh will be the one to miss out.South Africa had a few injury concerns of their own, though one of the hometown heroes, Jacques Kallis, recovered sufficiently to take back his place in the XI. It’s who he replaces that will be watched closely. Andrè Nel has bruising on the bone in his foot, and his aggression and endurance will be sorely missed if he has to sit out the game.If Nel does fail a late fitness test – and the convener of selectors, Haroon Lorgat, is no fan of players going into games carrying injuries – Hashim Amla will keep his place in the XI, despite not having played one innings of note in the series. Amla’s cause will also be helped by the fact that he made 149 in his last outing here, a high-scoring draw againstNew Zealand.

Two other changes are likely. Andrew Hall will make way for Paul Harris, the tall left-arm spinner who was on a Kolpak deal with Warwickshire. Harris, who will make his debut, didn’t appear to be a big turner of the ball at the net session, but given India’s dubious record against left-arm spinners in recent times – Ray Price, Michael Clarke, Ashley Giles and Nicky Boje have all enjoyed some measure of success – South Africa clearly reckon it’s a gamble worth taking.The last change will be one of the hardest to make. Smith announced that Dale Steyn was back to full fitness, and ready to displace Mornè Morkel from the XI, but Morkel’s batting in Durban will certainly have to be considered before the choice is made. From time immemorial, South Africa have shown a preference for bowlers who can bat a bit, and Morkel’s clearly a cut above Steyn when it comes to wielding the willow.The last time India played here, Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin shared an unbelievable 222-run partnership, with Tendulkar going on to make 169 before a freakish catch from Adam Bacher ended India’s innings 170 runs short of South Africa’s 529. They went on to lose by 282 runs.Back then though, their third seam-bowling option was Dodda Ganesh. The very fact that the outstanding Munaf might have to bowl first change here tells you all you need to know about how far Indian cricket has progressed since. To go even further, they’ll need to do what no team other than Australia has done. On the evidence of what happened on a lively pitch at the Wanderers though, you’d be foolish to write them off.Teams
South Africa (likely): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Herschelle Gibbs, 7Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Makhaya Ntini, 10 Paul Harris, 11Dale Steyn.India: (likely): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid(capt), 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Sourav Ganguly, 7 MahendraSingh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 MunafPatel.

Scorecard

Hampshire’s batsmen grafted their way to within touching distance of Sussex’s 332 to close on 304 for 6 on the second day at The Rose Bowl. It may not have wowed the spectators as much as Shane Bond’s blistering burst did yesterday evening, but the day provided enough entertainment to warm the cockles of a small and hardy Southampton crowd.Michael Lumb remained unbeaten on 77 at stumps, though was dropped on 55 by Michael Yardy at first slip shortly before the close – one of a number of chances Sussex let through. It was a day for gloves and rugs in The Rose Bowl’s acutely exposed stands, certainly not one for holding a screaming slip catch or desperate pluck at short-leg.James Tomlinson, the nightwatchman, frustrated Sussex for nearly an hour and showed mostly impressive judgement, even clumping a stray half volley from Robin Martin-Jenkins for four down the ground. With him out of the way, Sussex could concentrate on making headway into the top-order and Chris Adams, the captain, turned to his banker, Mushtaq Ahmed.It took him just four overs to pick up his first of what will doubtless be another bounty haul of wickets, trapping Michael Brown in his crease for 20. Hampshire were stuttering at 61 for 3, but Mushtaq struggled to contain Hampshire, bowling into bitterly cold northerly gusts which persisted all day, and Sussex were made to toil with James Adams and John Crawley putting on the day’s most assured stand of 92. In what is his 18th season, Crawley remains a batting enigma, albeit one of county cricket’s most attractive enigmas. Against the medium-pace of Martin-Jenkins and Chris Liddle he was circumspect, even nervous. Mushtaq, though – who flummoxes almost every other Englishman – was stroked through extra cover three times with languid ease.Adams, on the other hand, relied on tucks to the leg-side and nudgety flicks off the spinner. After lunch, Martin-Jenkins found enough movement to take Crawley’s edge, the nick flying low to Adams’ right at second slip who couldn’t cling on. However, the very next ball Adams was trapped in front by a lowly grubber for a 121-ball 50 and Sussex had the breakthrough.Crawley followed in the next over, nibbling at Ragheb Aga’s awayswinger to hand him his maiden Championship wicket, and leaving Hampshire struggling on 155 for 5. Nic Pothas joined Lumb and attacked immediately, not always convincingly but his aggression shifted the balance and prompted Lumb into doing the same. It worked, too. Luke Wright, who again bowled swiftly – benefiting from the prevailing northerly from the nursery end – lacked control, offering boundary balls to both left and right hander.Lumb, who reached a slick fifty from 80 balls 30 minutes before the close, lost Pothas to Aga but was assisted to stumps by Greg Lamb as Hampshire trailed by a slender 28. As they shuffled to find warmth, the PA thanked the spectators for “braving the considerable breeze.” Worse, wetter weather is forecast tomorrow and Saturday, potentially curtailing what has bubbled into an intriguing contest.

Andrew Strauss was determined to look at the positives after England slumped to their fourth defeat in five matches, this time a one-wicket loss in their warm-up fixture against Pakistan A at Bagh-e-Jinnah.”It’s never ideal to lose, and the warm-up before the Test series showed that,” said Strauss, who stood in as England’s captain in the absence of Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick. “But there were some positives from today’s performance. That’s encouraging, because there are a lot of the guys who’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a long time, and it’s good for them to get out to the middle.”Strauss singled out four players for particular praise. “Matt Prior did very well at the top of the order, Colly [Paul Collingwood] continued his good form, and Liam Plunkett and Jimmy Anderson were very impressive.”But it’s important to realise that three of our biggest players weren’t playing today,” he said, referring to the absence of Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, all of whom sat out the match after their efforts in the Test series. “We’ll have a stronger side on Saturday, no doubt.”Strauss himself wasn’t quite at his best, having only just returned from England where he attended the birth of his first son, Samuel. “I’m a little jaded,” he admitted, “but I always enjoy captaining a side. As much as anything today it kept me awake!”I haven’t pick up a bat for ten days,” he added, after being dismissed for just 5. “I need to use the practice time constructively, spend some time with Fletch [Duncan Fletcher] and hit my straps on Saturday. Today was tricky, coming straight off the plane, but after a couple of days’ practice there’s no reason I can’t get runs.”Strauss admitted that it was England’s batting, once again, that let them down in this match. “We were probably 15-20 runs short today, but that comes with rustiness and not having played one-day cricket for a long time. We’ll look back on the game tomorrow, and see where we could have improved.”

Ricky Ponting refuses to believe Australia’s global domination is over after their record-equalling winning streak was ended in Perth. While India’s 72-run victory gave the world hope that the gap between Australia and the rest was closing, Ponting was not convinced his team was “on the slide”.”I was reading stuff in the paper about it today, is the invincibility all over?,” he said. “I wouldn’t have thought so. We’ll see. It’s up to us to see how we bounce back in Adelaide.”Australia started the fourth day chasing 413 to keep the winning run alive, but they were controlled by a well-rounded India attack and had no excuses for the defeat. Sixteen victories may be the new four-minute mile as Ponting’s side will always be level with Steve Waugh’s team of 1999-2001.”It’s disappointing, it’s been a pretty good run,” he said. “It would have been great to win one more, or ten more, but we haven’t been good enough. The run was always going to come to an end at some stage. We just weren’t good enough here, it’s as simple as it gets.”Talk of reaching 17 did not disrupt the preparations and Ponting also rejected suggestions that the controversy after the Sydney Test, which led to Australia adjusting their behavioural outlook, caused a drop in intensity. Ponting had seen the tourists hit back strongly in Kolkata in 2001 and Adelaide on the previous tour and was determined not to underestimate his opponents.”I stressed to the guys that I wanted us to play the same brand of cricket, a hard-nosed aggressive brand, which is the only way we know to play,” he said. “Our skills let us down more than anything this week.”The batting was the biggest problem for Australia, who missed the injured Matthew Hayden, and they were in danger of failing to pass 300 in both innings until Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark combined for an entertaining 73-run stand. At no stage did India worry that they would not win and they will head east over the next couple of days looking to repeat the performance of 2003-04 and level the series.Hayden is likely to return in Adelaide on Thursday and has been named in a 12-man squad while Chris Rogers has been dropped after scoring 4 and 15 on debut. Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg retain their places, with Hogg expected to replace Tait after his disappointing performance in a four-man pace attack.”We let ourselves down a little bit in this game, now it is up to us to bounce back,” Ponting said. “We’ll work harder than India in the next week to get ourselves right.”Australia squad for Adelaide
Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brett Lee, Brad Hogg, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.

When he made his debut, over a year ago against Australia, little in his 18 overs suggested that Mohammad Asif would soon become the leading candidate among a group of Pakistani pace bowlers pushing in from the fringes of the national team. Ten wickets against England in a warm-up game pushed him closer but with Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan dropped and Umar Gul not picked, Asif’s chance has finally come in this series. In that time, he has, in Bob Woolmer’s words, been the most improved bowler of the lot and though an inert Faisalabad pitch revealed only slithers of that, the grass of Karachi strengthens that assessment.Surprisingly confident while attending the end of day press conference, Asif suggested his debut might have come too early. “I learned a lot after making my Test debut. I did not know much about how to bowl in Tests then as I had only played domestic cricket at the time. But since then I have had a lot of help and the pre-tour camp, with people like Bob Woolmer and Waqar Younis, has also helped a lot.”By dismissing Zaheer Khan to end the Indian innings, he finished with four wickets, three of whom make for glittering victims. Yesterday, by dismissing Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, he had showed an intelligent mind, by bowling a nine-over spell this morning, he displayed a willing body too. Dravid’s wicket in particular was cherished; having beaten him once already, he caught his edge by angling one in and straightening it a fraction. “Dravid’s wicket was special because he is such a great player. If there is one batsman in the side whose wicket is really important, it is him. I like bowling to batsmen like Dravid who allow you to settle into a line, unlike a Sehwag with whom you can never settle into one line,” he said.Laxman’s dismissal – bowled by a fast, sharply-cutting off-break – also had its roots in Faisalabad and only slightly less special. “I tried to beat him in similar fashion at Faisalabad but the ball did not dart in as sharp as it did here. I had been planning to get him that way and here the pitch helped.”Since his debut, Asif has also altered his action slightly although it retains an ease of movement about it. “I used to fall away too much on one side after releasing the ball. I worked with Waqar on it and although I still do now, it isn’t as much as before.” He was sent as one of a clutch of Pakistani fast bowlers to the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai last year although he isn’t sure how much that has contributed to his improvement. “I was only there for ten days so I am not sure how much of a difference it has really made.”Something though has clearly made a difference in the last year and with Pakistan pulling themselves into a position of some strength by the close of play, Asif’s role in this match is far from complete.

South Africa have been successful at disrupting Australia’s plans for a summer of domination. By Boxing Day Ricky Ponting’s men would have expected a 1-0 lead, especially after taking a 490-run buffer in Perth, but they were thwarted by the type of application that has made them such enjoyable and irritating opponents. The MCG is in the final stages of its redevelopment for the Commonwealth Games and the second Test starting on Monday should act as the perfect dress rehearsal.Crowd predictions for the first day have already stretched towards 80,000 and following the most competitive Test of the summer expectation is high of a repeat performance. Australian supporters now know their team cannot walk over South Africa and most are excited by the threat of an extended contest.The countries have played only ten Tests at the ground and while the home side has won six times, the Proteas have enjoyed some of their most famous Australian performances there. When Jack Cheetham’s side sealed a surprising drawn series in 1952-53 both victories came at the MCG. It remains South Africa’s most successful campaign in Australia ahead of the 1-1 results in 1963-64 and 1993-94.Eight years ago Jacques Kallis also held up Australia at Melbourne with an innings strangely similar to Jacques Rudolph’s 102 not out at Perth on Tuesday. Both displays salvaged unlikely draws, built the young batsmen’s reputations and made sure they would not be bullied like most touring teams. Playing his seventh Test, Kallis hit only six fours in the 101 and blunted the threats of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.South Africa hope Kallis can resume his battle against the older and wiser pair in his 95th Test on Monday. His fight over an elbow injury has covered most of this tour and he is confident of filling the crucial role as the side’s world-class allrounder. The problem is he felt the same way before Perth and was ruled out, giving Rudolph his chance. Ashwell Prince is likely to make way if Kallis returns while the spin of Nicky Boje will be a vital option to the fast-medium battery and will probably force Charl Langeveldt aside.Slow bowling is also a talking point in the Australian camp with the Warne and Stuart MacGill combination being considered again. It is unbelievable that the discussion continues after their performances together over the past year, but the pairing still concerns the selectors despite the side’s inability to win the opening match.Nathan Bracken is MacGill’s greatest threat; MacGill has no doubt over his ability on the MCG pitch, but the curator Tony Ware predicts it will be more beneficial for a three-seamer attack. Ware expects the surface to turn as the match concludes and he has left more grass on in the hope it provides pace and bounce. “I just can’t remember a time when two spinners have been really effective here,” he said in .Warne was over-worked and under-rewarded in the first Test and has been recovering from the back and shoulder aches that take longer to leave his 36-year-old body. With Australia depending on him, he will need more support in this match and the next one in Sydney.There is also uncertainty at the top of the order after Justin Langer succumbed to a hamstring injury last weekend and Phil Jaques, who did not meet Ponting until this week, was called from New South Wales. He becomes the third batting debutant for Australia this summer and at 26 is a long term-prospect. Four of the top six have played fewer than ten Tests and South Africa must exploit the inexperience if they are to continue making things difficult for the hosts.Australia (possible) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Phil Jaques, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Brad Hodge, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Glenn McGrath.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Herschelle Gibbs, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.

An open split has emerged among the three-member committee that was established by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to review the sponsorship negotiations with Digicel. Against a background of media leaks on aspects of the report submitted by the committee, Avondale Thomas and Gregory Georges have disassociated themselves from a dissenting “declaration” by Justice Anthony Lucky that was not part of the main report, but which he has made available, along with signed copies of the report, to Ken Gordon, the new WICB president.According to Georges and Thomas the declaration by Lucky, which is quite critical of the board’s negotiating process with Digicel and, among other factors, suggests the need for renegotiation, does not form part of the committee’s report that makes no “reference to the contract being null and void …”.Contrary to the position adopted by Georges and Thomas, Justice Lucky said that, as both have admitted, they were privy to his personal “declaration” before it was presented, along with the committee’s full report, to Gordon on August 15.Lucky said his declaration, that also raised serious doubts about the legal status of the WICB and Digicel contract, was given as “an appendix” to the report which leaves serious doubts about how the negotiations of the sponsorship contract took place. On reflection, Lucky said, “perhaps it is a good thing that some things have come out in the media because the WICB has been running the show as if it was a secret society or private club.”While his committee colleagues, Georges and Thomas, have the right to reject his declaration, equally he has the right to present his dissenting position to the board “because I am part of an independent committee, and as one not receiving calls from any board member telling me who to interview and who not to interview …”Officially, the review committee’s report remains a document yet to be considered by the executive board of the WICB. This is scheduled to be done on September 4. What is certainly not in either the main body of the report or among the appendices, is the actual sponsorship contract between Digicel and the WICB, negotiated and signed in secret, as various board members themselves have claimed but are still not ready to say on record.

Full tournament schedule

West Indies, the hosts, will play the first match of the 2007 World Cup against Pakistan, in Jamaica, on March 13, 2007. The match, from Group D, will be staged at the newly renovated Sabina Park in Kingston.Australia, the defending champions, will open their tournament against Scotland in St Kitts on March 14. Overall the tournament will involved 51 matches in 47 days and the final will take place on April 28 in Barbados.Trinidad & Tobago will host Group B. Matches will commence on March 15 when Sri Lanka meet Bermuda, India and Sri Lanka meet in the group’s showpiece game on March 23.St Lucia, which is hosting England’s group for the round robin stage of the tournament, starts its matches on March 14 with Kenya taking on Canada. Kenya will also close out the group by playing England, who’s first match is against New Zealand on March 16.The round robin play will see six games over a period of 11 days in each of the four groups. The winners and runners-up from each group will earn the right to advance to the Super 8 stage of the tournament where teams will play each of the other teams advancing – except the team which advanced from their own group – for a total of six games each.The Super 8 stage of the tournament, which begins on March 27, will be played in four countries: Antigua, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados. The last match of this segment of the tournament will take place on Saturday 21 April.For the semi-finals the four remaining teams will travel to Jamaica and St Lucia. On Apri 24 Sabina Park in Kingston will be the venue for semi-final one, where the second and third place finishers from the Super 8’s will square off against each other.On April 25 the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia will stage semi-final two, pitting the first and fourth place finishers from the Super 8’s against each other.The event logo and event mascot were also unveiled at an event in Trinidad and Tobago. The event mascot is a teenage character called `Mello’ who embodies the lifestyle of the region.

Shaun Pollock has been ruled out of the second Test against the West Indies due to an ankle injury. Pollock, who also missed the first Test in Guyana to undergo treatment for chronic inflammation on his left ankle, has been advised to play domestic cricket to prove his fitness. The second Test starts at Trinidad on April 8.”Shaun will not travel to Trinidad for the second Test,” Moabi Litheko, the South African media liaison officer, was quoted as saying in the iol website. “The selectors want him to bowl for the Dolphins in the Pro20 game against the Lions in Durban on Wednesday to see if he is fit.”Graeme Smith also confirmed the news and was hopeful that Pollock would be fit in time for the third Test in Barbados on April 21. South Africa missed Pollock during the first Test with the West Indian batting line-up tormenting the bowling attack and South Africa clinging on for a draw on the final day. Pollock has a great record against West Indies with his 14 Tests producing 65 wickets at 21.7.