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New Zealand Cricket’s six major associations have announced their list of 12 contracted players for the 2006-07 domestic season.Notable inclusions are Craig McMillan and Chris Harris from Canterbury, given that both were missing on the list of centrally contracted players last month. Similarly, Northern Districts handed out contracts to James Marshall and Daryll Tuffey. McMillan is currently leading New Zealand A in the Top End Series in Australia, while Marshall is the vice-captain of the New Zealand Emerging Players squad in Brisbane. Tuffey, who has been out of action since June 2005 due to a bicep injury, will head to Sydney in September to represent Sutherland Club, in an attempt to make a comeback.The 12 players were decided based on the interim player agreement between New Zealand Cricket, the Major Associations and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association. This marks a change from the previous instances where only 11 players were contracted from each association.Canterbury Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leighton Burtt, Andrew Ellis, Chris Harris, Brandan Hiini, Craig McMillan, Iain Robertson, Richard Sherlock, Shanan Stewart, Kruger Van Wyk, Paul WisemanAuckland Carl Cachopa, Tama Canning, Derek de Boorder, Martin Guptill, Paul Hitchcock, Richard Jones, Tim Lythe, Tim McIntosh, Andy McKay, Rob Nicol, Lance Shaw , Reece YoungCentral Districts Geoff Barnett, Chris Cruikshank, Brendon Diamanti, Campbell Furlong, Bevan Griggs, Lance Hamilton, Greg Hay, Brent Hefford, Greg Hegglun, Dominic Rayner, Ewen Thompson, Tim Weston Northern Districts Graeme Aldridge, Ian Butler, Alun Evans, Daniel Flynn, Nick Horsley, Peter McGlashan, James Marshall, Bruce Martin, Mark Orchard, Daryl Tuffey, BJ Watling, Joseph YovichOtago Neil Broom, Craig Cumming, Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Gareth Shaw, Jordan Sheed, Craig Smith, Greg ToddWellington Matthew Bell, Dewayne Bowden, Grant Elliot, Sam Fairley, Mark Gillespie, Stuart Mills, Chris Nevin, Iain O’Brien, Michael Parlane, Neal Parlane, Jesse Ryder, Luke Woodcock

The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to defend Mohammad Yousuf and said that the Indian Cricket Leage (ICL) cannot stop him from playing for his country after the league organisers sent out a legal notice to the batsman.”The ICL has no case against Yousuf and they cannot stop him from playing for Pakistan,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, told the . “Yousuf did sign a contract with them but later he changed his mind and cancelled it. As a player he had the right to opt for any offer which he thought was better for him.”Yousuf, who after cancelling his contract with the ICL, signed a national contract as well as signing up to play in the India Premier League (IPL), a recognised league that is run by four different national boards and is approved by the ICC. He was served a legal notice by the ICL after several attempts to contact him failed.”We can confirm that we have indeed sent out a notice to Yousuf,” Ashish Kaul, executive president of the ICL, told Cricinfo last week. “We have been trying to reach out to him and sent out three reminders to discuss some crucial issues after the PCB clarified recently that Yousuf will not play in the ICL and make himself available for Pakistan.”However, Ashraf rejected the impression that the ICL can use any legal ways to stop Yousuf from playing for Pakistan in India next month. “The ICL is claiming that they will not stop any of their recruits from playing for their country then how can they stop Yousuf from representing Pakistan.”The ICL did have a clause in their contract that said that a player cannot give priority to national duty over the ICL but now they say that the clause has been removed and they claim that their players can leave the league to play for their national teams whenever required. I believe in such circumstances they have no justification to stop Yousuf from playing in India.”Ashraf confirmed that if the matter was to go to court, Yousuf will have the full backing of the PCB. “We will fully defend Yousuf, if he is taken to court using all legal means.”Yousuf recently represented Pakistan in the second Test against South Africa and is currently involved in the five-match ODI series against the same opposition, where he scored a match-winning hundred in the second match in Lahore.

Australia captain Steven Smith and New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult have been included in both the ICC’s Test and ODI teams of the year.Alastair Cook, who led England to a 3-2 Ashes victory during the summer, was named the Test captain of the year. South Africa’s AB de Villiers was selected as the ODI captain, having scored the format’s fastest fifty and hundred during the qualification period from September 18, 2014 to September 13 2015. The teams were chosen by a specially appointed selection panel, chaired by the ICC’s cricket committee chairman Anil Kumble.Smith was one of three Australia players to make the Test team, along with opener David Warner and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood. Pakistan were the other team to have three representatives in the Test side, with Yasir Shah, the leading wicket-taker in the qualification period, Younis Khan and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed all rewarded for their consistent performances. Stuart Broad, who was the most successful bowler in the Ashes with 21 wickets, was included in the Test XI for the fifth time since 2009. So was his countryman Joe Root.Kane Williamson found a place in the Test team, but was surprisingly left out of the ODI side, despite being the leading run-scorer in the concerned period. The other major surprises in the Test side were the omissions of Azhar Ali, who had four hundreds and five fifties from 10 matches, and R Ashwin, who could only find a place in the squad as the 12th man.Mustafizur Rahman became the first Bangladesh cricketer to be included in the ICC’s ODI team of the year, thanks to a barnstorming 11 wickets in his first two matches. He along with Boult, Mohammed Shami and Mitchell Starc, the Player of the Tournament during the 2015 World Cup, made up the ODI team’s pace attack, while Imran Tahir was selected as the sole spinner. Kumar Sangakkara, who recently retired from international cricket, was picked as the ODI team’s wicketkeeper, marking the fourth time he made the side.”I would like to congratulate all the players for their selection in the Test and ODI teams of the year,” Kumble said. “It is an achievement for each of them to be proud of and a recognition for their good performances in the qualifying period.”Testament to the quality of cricket played is the calibre of players to have missed out on selection. While selecting these squads, the selectors considered various combinations and took into account several factors in overall performances. Congratulations to all of the players on their selections.”Test team of the year: David Warner, Alastair Cook (captain), Kane Williamson, Younis Khan, Steven Smith, Joe Root, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Stuart Broad, Trent Boult, Yasir Shah, Josh Hazlewood, R Ashwin (12th man)ODI team of the year: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), AB de Villiers (capt), Steven Smith, Ross Taylor, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Starc, Mustafizur Rahman, Imran Tahir, Joe Root (12th man)

Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the Afro-Asia Cup starting on June 6. He will be replaced by Sourav Ganguly in the 14-member squad. Zaheer Khan has also been included in the revised squad, joining Dilhara Fernando and Mashrafe Mortaza as the replacements for Shoaib Akhtar, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga.”Following the unavailability of some players named in the original squads on May 11, the selectors have named their final squads for the three ODI matches in Bangalore and Chennai on June 6, 9 and 10 and the Twenty20 match on June 5,” a statement clarified.Sreesanth, who had to opt out of the Bangladesh tour due to injury, makes his return to international cricket after being named as Munaf Patel’s replacement in the 11-member Twenty20 team. The Twenty20 match will be played in Bangalore on June 5, and will be followed by three ODIs – on June 6 in Bangalore, and on June 9 and 10 in Chennai. Asia ODI squadSanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Yousuf, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Dilhara Fernando, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad AsifAsia Twenty20 teamTamim Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Ashraful, Shoaib Malik (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Farveez Maharoof, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Sreesanth

ScorecardJames Taylor showed a cool head to guide his side home•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire breathed new life into their NatWest T20 Blast campaign as they won a last-ball thriller by three wickets over rivals Lancashire at Old Trafford. With six needed off the last two balls, captain James Taylor hit successive boundaries to seal victory.Nottinghamshire, who lost the toss, won for the sixth time after reducing the hosts to 13 for 3 to move level on points with fourth-placed Lancashire on 12 points from 12. Lancashire are only ahead on net run-rate with two North Group matches left after failing to defend 137 for 4 on a slow pitch, a total which included a pair of 51s for Karl Brown and Steven Croft.This was their fourth home defeat in six this season, having previously never lost more than twice at this venue in a Twenty20 campaign.Former Lancashire allrounder Steven Mullaney excelled in returning 1 for 14 from four overs of canny medium pace before Notts made hard work of the chase.They lost three wickets for 19 to slip from 63 for 1 in the 11th over and ended up needing 13 off the last against Kyle Jarvis. Taylor kept cool to finish 33 not out off 21.Early wickets for Samit Patel, Harry Gurney and a run out hurt the hosts as Ashwell Prince chipped to mid-off, Paul Horton chopped on and Alex Davies was run out without facing a ball going for two. But Brown ensured Nottinghamshire did not have things all their own way as he hit all of six boundaries accrued in a Powerplay score of 36 for 3.In fact, the in-form right-hander scored all of Lancashire’s first eight boundaries on the way to a 39-ball fifty, his third in a row, as he helped them reach 69 for 3 after 11.Unfortunately for the hosts, Brown holed out to long-on in the next off the medium pace of his childhood best-mate Mullaney as the score slipped to 70 for 4 and ended a 57-run partnership with Croft.They went without a four or six from the fifth ball of the 11th over to the third ball of the 17th, although Croft and James Faulkner shared 67 unbroken for the fifth wicket to carry their side to something to bowl at.Notts lost Michael Lumb to a Jarvis slower ball in the third over of their chase and only reached six overs at 28 for 1. At halfway, they were 61 for one, needing 77 more with Alex Hales (30) and Riki Wessels together. But they lost 3 for 19 inside three overs to put the game back in the balance at 82 for 4 in the 14th.Wessels cut Jordan Clark to point, ending a 47-run stand with Hales, who then miscued Stephen Parry’s left-arm spin to midwicket, before Patel also cut Clark to point.The target went to 45 off the last five overs and 21 off 11 balls when Faulkner yorked compatriot Dan Christian and had Mullaney brilliantly caught at deep midwicket by a running Arron Lilley – leaving Notts 117 for six in the 19th. Chris Read also fell in the last over but the visitors made it home.

Reconstruction of the Galle International stadium will continue after a heritage dispute over a three-storey building that would block a historic 16th century fort was resolved by Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lanka president.”The president [ Rajapakse] called all the relevant parties and had a discussion at which everything was cleared,” Jayananda Warnaweera, the stadium curator, told AFP.Duleep Mendis, the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket, confirmed that the rebuilding was on schedule. “The ground will be ready for the Third Test [against England in December],” Mendis said.The stadium had been destroyed by the tsunami on December 26, 2004.Earlier, Parakrama Dahanayake, the president of the Galle Heritage Foundation, had expressed concern over the the blocking of the fort. “The view of the fort will be completely blocked by the new building that is coming up,” Dahanayake said. “The view is obscured and the Galle Fort may find itself struck off the World Heritage list as a result.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The opening day of this series turned into a nip-and-tuck battle between two sides aiming to consolidate mid-table respectability in the Test rankings. In the final reckoning New Zealand sneaked the points after four wickets for Kyle Mills and three for James Franklin, although they were balanced out by some gusty batting from South Africa on a surface that offered encouragement for the seamers.New Zealand’s attack was impressive, especially in the way they overcame the loss of Shane Bond to yet another injury before the match, but South Africa’s total could yet prove to be about par – the judgment will have to reserved until the Kiwis begin their reply. Given the way that Mills and Chris Martin got the second new ball to bounce and move the New Zealand top order will not have an easy time.However, Stephen Fleming could not have asked for much more from his bowlers after Graeme Smith opted to bat. The opening overs were well directed from Mills and Franklin, but South Africa weathered the early passage of play and would have been highly satisfied with their lunchtime loss of just the one wicket. Smith and Boeta Dippenaar had settled into their roles and begun to locate the boundary as the New Zealanders appeared low on firepower without Bond.Franklin changed the complexion of proceedings shortly after the interval when he removed Smith in a manner that won’t surprise anyone – falling across a straight ball. Smith’s dismissal continued his run without a half-century and, once again, he had done the hardwork before failing to press on. This would also become the story of South Africa’s day – batsmen and partnerships being terminated each time one threatened to develop. The first seven stands all reached double figures but none exceeded the 79 of Smith and Dippenaar.

Mills, who would have been the likely seamer to miss out if Bond had played, turned one person’s bad luck in another’s fortune with two further strikes during the afternoon session. Dippenaar’s pleasing half-century – studded with ten crisp boundaries – was ended by a limp pull then Ashwell Prince was undone by some extra bounce. That double blow left South Africa in a familiar position – relying on Jacques Kallis to steady the innings, something he is used to after 100 Tests.He needed a pain-killing injection into his troublesome elbow shortly after arriving at the crease, and with South Africa’s batting currently as creaky as Kallis’ elbow this was the crucial passage of play. He was struck on the helmet by Martin, but at the beginning of the final session crunched a series of powerful fours square of the wicket before Franklin made a timely intervention for New Zealand.With Kallis’s bat growing broader by the minute it was going to take something special to dislodge him and right on cue Franklin pulled out a stunning yorker. The Kiwis’ smiles grew wider when Franklin produced another peach to take de Villiers’ off stump.But this South African side certainly doesn’t give in easily. Even against Australia they fought every inch of the way and the lower order again played a vital role. Mark Boucher fell to a sharp piece of teamwork in the slips after a fast edge flew off the hands of third and Fleming clung onto the rebound at first. Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje used the extra pace of the second new ball to strike some meaty boundaries and Dale Steyn, recalled in place of Andre Nel, unfurled a brace of legside flicks that belied his position at No. 10.New Zealand will be pleased with their tally of eight wickets, especially after their morning effort had produced a solitary scalp. Mills began his day by cleaning up Herschelle Gibbs in a manner that it is becoming an unwanted trademark. Gibbs had been returned to his traditional opening slot but the lack of footwork that haunted him against Australia was still evident and he heard the familiar rattle of timber. New Zealand continued to make life tough throughout but, after scrapping against the best for most of the summer, South Africa won’t give this up with a fight.How they were outHerschelle Gibbs b Mills 6 (21 for 1)
Graeme Smith lbw b Franklin 45 (95 for 2)
Boeta Dippenaar c Fulton b Mills (118 for 3)
Ashwell Price c Styris b Mills 9 (130 for 4)
Jacques Kallis b Franklin 38 (177 for 5)
AB de Villiers b Franklin 27 (197 for 6)
Mark Boucher c Fleming b Martin 18 (229 for 7)
Shaun Pollock c Styris b Mills 24 (233 for 8)

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has said that it would adopt the same stance as the ICC with regard to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is threatening to sign up some of the top cricketers in the game. The board arrived at this decision at their monthly meeting held at its headquarters in Colombo on Monday.Kangadaran Mathivanan, the board secretary, said the ICC was due to meet in October where a decision is expected. “We will follow the lead given by the ICC,” he said.Mathivanan also stated that no Sri Lankan player had approached the board with regard to joining the ICL, with the exception of former captain Marvan Atapattu who had requested to be released from his contract. The board accepted his request and Atapattu will be released from his contract from October 1.When asked about Atapattu’s future as a Test player, Mathivanan said that it depended on his availability and also whether the national selectors are in favour of him. Atapattu has not been in good terms with the selection committee headed by Ashantha de Mel, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler. Although a part of the World Cup squad, Atapattu was cold shouldered and not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches. He was left out of the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and when the selectors finally picked him for the home series against Bangladesh, he snubbed them by saying he was unavailable due to family commitments. He proceeded to England where he is currently playing for Lashings in the English league. He is one of the Sri Lankan players whose name has been strongly linked with ICL.Mathivanan further stated that all national players, who are currently on a month’s break from cricket after the Bangladesh series, will have to report to Colombo by August 20, with the exception of those playing county cricket. Sri Lanka are due to leave for South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship on September 5.”There is no point getting them down here at this stage because they are already at training and playing matches for the counties,” said Mathivanan. “They can come at a later date.”Mathivanan said that Sri Lanka would announce the final 15-member squad for the championship soon, before the ICC’s deadline of August 15. Sri Lanka’s new coaching staff are due to arrive by mid August and commence training and practice from August 18. Trevor Bayliss has replaced Tom Moody as coach, Paul Farbrace from Trevor Penney as assistant coach and Jade Roberts from CJ Clarke as the team’s trainer.

Shandre Fritz has been announced as South Africa’s captain at the age of just 21. Fritz will take the reins for the five-match ODI home series against Pakistan which starts on January 20 and takes place in Pretoria.She has vowed to play brave cricket and follow her male counterpart – and fellow young skipper – Graeme Smith by leading from the front. “I am not a big talker,” the allrounder Fritz admitted, “but will try to lead by example. I am young and leading an inexperienced side, but there are some very old heads in the team, too.”One of those is the 17-year-old Johmari Logtenburg, who has been announced as vice-captain for the series. Logtenburg, a hard-hitting batsman of natural talent, already has considerable international experience under her belt, having played two Tests and 19 one-dayers.There are four players lining up for their debut against Pakistan. Annelie Minnie, Marcia Letsaolo, Tricia Chetty and Sunette Loubser have all been included.But there is no place for the up-and-coming wicketkeeper Yolandi van der Westhuizen of Western Province: while she was invited to the national training camp, she could not attend. Yet the national coach Noor Rhode expects her to be pressing for national honours and to put pressure on Chetty and Shafieka Pillay.South Africa could also tour India in 2007. The BCCI have invited the South Africans over but the South African board has yet to approve the tour and offer funding.Squad Alicia Smith, Annelie Minnie, Ashlyn Kilowan, Claire Terblanche, Cri-Zelda Brits, Daleen Terblanche, Johmari Logtenberg, Marcia Letsoalo, Shafeeqa Pillay, Shandre Fritz (capt), Sunette Loubser, Susan Benade, Tricia Chetty (wk).Fixtures
1st ODI – 20 January (Laudium)
2nd ODI – 22 January (Harlequins)
3rd ODI – 23 January (Sinovich Park)
4th ODI – 26 January (Sinovich Park)
5th ODI – 27 January (Harlequins)

Scorecard

Travis Birt and David Dawson rescued Tasmania from a disastrous start as they ended a wind-swept opening day of their Pura Cup match against Victoria on a respectable 5 for 299. Gerard Denton, the right-arm fast bowler, snaffled both openers, Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto, for ducks, but Birt (93) and Dawson (73) put together 171 for the third wicket to steady the Tasmanians at Bellerive Oval.After the early success, Victoria had to wait more than 50 overs for their next wicket, when Cameron White, their captain, nailed Birt. White claimed two more dismissals as well, ending the day with fine figures of 3 for 48, but Tasmania continued to build useful partnerships – Scott Kremerskothen and Sean Clingeleffer added an undefeated 71 for the sixth to frustrate the Victorians. At the close of play, Kremerskothen was on 32, with Clingeleffer unbeaten on 44.”It would have been nice to get three figures up on the board … as it turns out we’re in a fairly strong position,” Birt said. “We were going to bat first anyway but how it turned out … me and ‘Daws’ really stuck together and really fought it hard out there and yeah, we’re pretty happy with that.”The strong winds may have been to Dawson’s advantage as the umpires were forced to remove the bails after they kept blowing off. At one stage, Dawson appeared to play the ball into his stumps, but neither umpire could be sure that it had actually struck the wicket.