One of England women’s most promising allrounders, Arran Brindle, has decided to take a break from international and Super 4s cricket with immediate effect, in order to spend more time with her family.Brindle, 24, made her international debut in a one-day match against South Africa six years ago and played her first Test against Australia the following year in 2001. She is recognised as one of the best fielders in the world following her performances in the 2005 World Cup in South Africa.”I have decided to take an extended break from competing at the highest level for personal reasons,” she explained, “and to spend more time with my family while also looking to develop my career outside of cricket.”Brindle holds the English record for an opening Test stand with Caroline Atkins, putting on a 205-run partnership in India, and has a highest Test score of 101 not out, which she completed with the last ball of the game in last summer’s first Ashes Test. In the second game she steered England to a famous six-wicket victory with an undefeated second-innings 24.”Arran has been one of our most consistent performers over the past 18 months,” said her captain, Charlotte Edwards. “Her decision to retire will be a significant loss to the team. I feel very lucky at the moment that we have a crop of very exciting players who I’m sure will fill her role.”The head coach, Richard Bates, added: “It is disappointing that Arran has decided to retire from international cricket at this point. We are currently developing well and building a young exciting squad under the leadership of Edwards and newly appointed vice-captain, Laura Newton.”We are looking forward to the challenge of playing India this summer and losing Arran as a key middle-order batter and excellent fielder will force our hand in terms of a change in the batting line up. We do though have some very exciting young players currently pushing for a place and I’m sure they will be looking to impress in the forthcoming Super 4s matches.”

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 South African team has decided to remain in Sri Lanka till anindependent security evaluation judges whether it’s safe for them to stayor not.Following yesterday’s bomb blast in the heart of Colombo, barely 2 kms from where they were staying, the South Africans had wanted to pull out of the triangular series and head home. They were awaiting former ICC approval in this regard, when pressure from different quarters forced them to review their decision.Brian Basson, Cricket South Africa’s Cricket Affair’s General Managersaid today: “Police and security officials have assured us that the highestlevels of security in Sri Lanka are now in place to ensure the safety ofthe Proteas.”We have also been advised by the South African Commission HighCommissioner in Colombo that all indications are that the team and cricketin general do not appear to be targets in the general unrest in Sri Lanka.The safety of the team has been paramount in all our deliberations and wehave been assured that upgraded security levels for the team willachieve this.Under these circumstances the team will remain in Sri Lanka while theupgraded security measures are being evaluated.”Basson added that the opening match of the tournament between South Africa and Sri Lanka, which was scheduled for Tuesday but had to be postponed following the bomb blast,will now be played as the sixth and final match of the league on August29. The finals will be held on September 2.The South Africans are due to play their first match against India onSaturday should a decision to stay in Sri Lanka be taken.Meanwhile, Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa, was due to flyto Sri Lanka at the earliest to discuss the situation with Sri Lankan andIndian officials, and also his own players.The South Africans had been expected to head back home, with the consentof their board, but it now emerges that pressure from the South Africangovernment has forced a rethink. According to sources close to the team,Sri Lanka Cricket had asked Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president who is also aunion cabinet minister in India, to contact the South African governmentand urge them to reconsider the decision to abandon the tour.The news hasn’t gone down well with the players, who were wandering aroundColombo’s upmarket shopping arcades with the air of demobbed men. Thesecurity consultants travelling with the team have apparently said thatthe situation is such that the team’s safety cannot be guaranteed, and thechange of heart from their own government – even as attempts were beingmade to find tickets for everyone on the same flight home – has causedmuch resentment.It’s understood that the senior players are those most keen to leave, withsome suggesting that they would hop on a plane even if their cricket boardwent back on its earlier stance and asked them to play. The situation isslightly different with the younger bunch, many of whom see the tournamentas an opportunity to make an impact with several key members of the sideabsent injured.The players’ association in South Africa is sure to become involved in anydiscussion, with Graeme Smith – captain since 2003 – supporting his team’swish to return home. The South Africans may also point to a recentfootball precedent to bolster their case. Liverpool were scheduled to playa Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa on August 22, but UEFA,the European game’s governing body, has since moved the game from Israelto Kiev in the Ukraine after the team’s players, management and boardflat-out refused to travel to West Asia.

A Western Australia squad will trade the bounce of Perth for the spin of India during a 12-day pre-season tour next month. Wayne Clark, the Western Australia coach, hoped the trip, which includes stops in Bangalore and Mysore, would help the Warriors avoid the slow starts of recent summers.”This is a great opportunity for the boys to get some really good match practice against high quality opposition,” Clark said. “We’ve been pretty slow out of the blocks for the last couple of seasons so hopefully this will help us to turn that around and get us set for a good start to the season.” The 15-man squad will play three one-day fixtures and a three-day match against the first-class side Karnataka, which is the home state of Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.Western Australia also announced their captain for the summer, with Justin Langer appointed for the fourth season in a row. Michael Hussey has relinquished his role as the state’s deputy due to his expanded international commitments and been replaced by Marcus North. “We will be looking not only for success this season,” Langer said, “but also to build the foundations in our young, talented squad for sustained success in the next five to ten years.”Tour schedule
September 23-25, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 27, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 29, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 30, Western Australia v Karnataka

Mehrab Hossain jnr, the allrounder, has been picked in Bangladesh’s 18-member preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy to be played in India this October and November. He is the only new face in the squad. Shahriar Nafees, the 20-year-old opening batsman, has been named as the vice-captain and is being groomed to take over from Habibul Bashar in the future.Hossain, currently captaining the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Academy team in its tour of Pakistan, visited Zimbabwe as part of the Bangladesh A squad in June this year and his performances in both the convinced the selectors to pick him the squad for the Champions Trophy.”He is basically an opener who can also bat in the middle-order. But if he finally gets the nod he will definitely be considered as an opener,” Faruque Ahmed, the chairman of the selection panel told Dhaka-based . “The last two years’ performance of the young batsman in different levels gave us the impression that he can represent the senior side for long.”Hossain scored centuries in both innings in the second ‘Test’ at Mutare, a match that Bangladesh was lucky to escape with a draw when bad light prevented Zimbabwe A from making the 28 runs they needed for victory. Hossain averaged 59.40 for the three-match series. In the five one-day games that followed, he got one fifty and was a fairly economical bowler conceding 31 runs in a wicketless ten-over spell in the fourth ODI.”We believe that he is a very good player for the longer-version game but that doesn’t mean he is not good enough for the shorter-version,” Faruque continued. “We have lot of hard-hitting batsmen in the squad but we felt that we need a player like Mehrab who has the ability to play the anchor role in the top-order.”Faruque said that getting the right pair in the opening slot would solve many of the side’s problems. Though Javed Omar, the out-of-form opener, has been included in the squad, it is likely that that the selectors are looking to replace him with fresher faces. Faruque simply said that they are looking for a proper [opening] combination before the World Cup.Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh’s captain, was also been included in the squad though he is currently recovering from a fractured thumb. Bashar himself was unsure whether he needed surgery on the metacarpal of his left hand. “If it [surgery] is needed, the Champions Trophy is over for me. I will meet with a local doctor tomorrow but I need a week to settle the issue. What I desperately want is to play the tournament. This is really a worrying factor for us because he is not only an important batsman in the middle-order but also the captain of the team,” said Faruque. “We will wait till the last moment.”In Bashar’s absence Khaled Mashud had led Bangladesh on the tour of Kenya but he was overlooked for the vice-captaincy for the Champions Trophy. Nafees’ appointment came as a surprise but Mashud said that it was the right step because Bangladesh had to groom someone to take over after Bashar.”I was not upset because I believe that the time has come to groom someone for the future, otherwise it would be a big problem for our team,” said Mashud. “But we should keep faith with someone for a while before taking any decision.”Bashar too echoed the sentiment. “I think it is a good choice because he has the cricketing brain to become a leader in future. Yes, he is too young but the reality is the young guys between 20 to 25 are dominating the national team, that’s why there was no way other than to choose a youngster for the job. But my only desire is that we should give him time before taking any negative decision”The BCB also announced a seven-member squad for the Asian Super Sixes Challenge to be held in Karachi from September 13 to 18. Nazmus Sadat, the left-hand opener, is the only new face in this squad.Preliminary squad – Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful, Khaled Mashud, Alok Kapali, Tushar Imran, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafee Bin Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Farhad Reza, Abdur Razzak, Sakib Al Hasan and Mehrab HossainSuper Sixes squad – Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Aftab Ahmed, Manjarul Islam, Sakib Al Hasan, Farhad Reza and Nazmus Sadat

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

The second day of the match between the domestic champions from India and Pakistan ran along similar lines to the first. Uttar Pradesh’s bowlers reduced Sialkot to 96 for 6 but Imran Nazir’s cavalier century from No.7 boosted them to a competitive 261. UP ended the day on 14 for no loss with an overall lead of 69.Nazir had initially opened the innings but was forced to retire after just two balls because of a shoulder injury sustained during fielding. He returned to the middle after the top order capitulated to some disciplined bowling and outstanding catching from Uttar Pradesh. Sialkot’s batsmen were guilty of the same error committed by UP’s top order on the first day: they were too hasty on a slow pitch that offered little bounce. As a result several wickets were lost to indiscreet shots.When Shoaib Malik departed for 24, one of many Sialkot batsmen who frittered starts, Nazir decided it was time to get a move on. He broke loose when given the chance while at the same time played his percentages to ensure minimum risk. He lofted Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner, down the ground repeatedly and got stuck into the fast bowlers. When his shoulder caused him any sort of discomfort, he merely gave it a short massage and continued pummelling the boundary hoardings. He steamed to his century off just 96 balls and formed the mainstay of a 122-run partnership with Tahir Mughal for the seventh wicket.UP had Sialkot by the scruff of the neck before Nazir arrived. In the first two sessions they bowled a tight line and forced the batsmen into mistakes. RP Singh, India’s left-arm seamer, got one to lift suddenly on a dead pitch and Shahid Yousuf, who had raced to 24 off 17 balls, nicked an attempted cut. Mansoor Ahmed had his middle stump uprooted by a shooter and Shezhad Malik was struck in front by another that kept low but they should have known better than to play back on a pitch with such low bounce. To compound Sialkot’s woes, Suresh Raina pulled off an acrobatic catch – diving one-handed to his left at cover – and Ravikant Shukla matched it at slip to dismiss Malik.Then began a spectacular fightback typified by Nazir’s flashing blade. Though the boundaries flowed from Nazir’s bat, Mughal’s support was invaluable. Once Mughal fell, deceived by Chawla’s googly, Asif followed and Sialkot were hobbling at 218 for 8. Nazir then proceeded to farm the strike and propelled the score to 261.Thirteen wickets fell on the day and three of those were of UP’s first innings which resumed on 268 for 7. Sialkot started perfectly when Sarfraz Ahmed snared Amir Khan with the second ball of the day. However, Rizwan Shamshad marshalled the tail and his innings of 84 helped UP cross the 300 run mark.In spite of Nazir’s innings UP ended the day with the upperhand. Their openers Rohit Prakash and Shivakant Shukla negotiated eight overs to see them through to stumps without any damage. They even managed to keep out Mohammad Asif who had recovered from a back problem that allowed him to bowl only 6.4 overs in the first innings.

Uttar PradeshAmir Khan c Mashood b Sarfraz 23 (269 for 8)
RP Singh b Mughal 15 (306 for 9)
Rizwan Shamshad lbw Rehman 84 (315 all out)
SialkotShahid Yousuf c Amir b RP Singh 24 (24 for 1)
Mansoor Amjad b Kumar 3 (15 for 2)
Majid Jehangir c Raina b Chawla 15 (45 for 3)
Abdur Rehman c Mashood b Kumar 0 (55 for 4)
Shezhad Malik lbw Srivastava 14 (89 for 5)
Shoaib Malik c Shukla b Srivastava 24 (96 for 6)
Tahir Mughal b Chawla 29 (218 for 7)
Mohammad Asif b Chawla 0 (218 for 8)
Sarfraz Ahmed b Kumar 4 (236 for 9)
Imran Nazir c Raina b RP Singh 123 (261 all out)

Reactions are never to expected from Inzamam-ul-Haq, and after leading hisside to a nine-wicket win, Pakistan’s fourth in their last seven homeTests, few were apparent on Inzamam’s face. Each win is equal, just somemore than others and this was a much-needed one after two months wherethey have only lost three international matches but, really, taken analmighty battering away from the field.Impassively, Inzamam greeted the win. “Yes, after all that has happened,the boys were a bit down and this could have been difficult,” he toldreporters. “Their confidence was down but they worked hard, believed inthemselves and did well with both bat and ball. We’re just hoping tocontinue like this now.”One of the many fall-outs from the autumn was the loss of Shoaib Akhtarand Mohammad Asif, leading to suggestions that there was somethingdecidedly second-string about the side which took the field. But asexpected from a captain used to playing without key players through histenure, Inzamam was adamant that this was the best team. “This is not asecond-string squad. These are the 15 best players we have in Pakistan.”We do miss big names like Shoaib and Asif; anyone would. But we are usedto it and we can win without them and that is a good thing. Obviously, ourchances of winning improve with them in the side but this is still a goodside.”

Indeed, the attack was capable enough to bowl out a strong batting line-uptwice, in just over 150 overs of two innings, Umar Gul and Shahid Nazirdoing the bulk of the damage. “The confidence we have put in them both haspaid off and they bowled extremely well through the match. They got helpfrom the wicket but they still had to do the job.”With what is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence before mostseries Pakistan are involved in, Danish Kaneria’s role was touted as thekey one here. He might not have succeeded to the extent that the tourists’supposed traditional weakness against leg-spin suggested, but threewickets wasn’t a bad few days’ work. The rewards, Inzamam said, could havebeen greater. “He bowled very well and I think he was desperately unlucky.He picked up important wickets in the first innings and in the second hewas very good, just not very lucky.”As questions dried up at the press conference, one journalist asked, in aunique twist to the norm, what lessons Pakistan would learn from the. Momentarily flummoxed, Inzamam paused, looked around, andto knowing sniggers, asked “What shall I say?”When prompted, he highlighted, as ever, the fielding. “We dropped catchesand though we can always improve in all departments we need to improve ourfielding most.” He will hope to improve his own score from this Test aswell. Asked how he felt about his eight-ball duck, he answeredmajestically, and to much laughter, “Even I can perform badly sometimes.”As dry as ever and thus most definitely back.

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)

It has taken five Tests for the ritual debate to reach full flight, but the home of the Ashes has again become an issue of national importance. Sir Richard Branson’s company Virgin Atlantic is under contract to fly the urn back to England when the series ends, but in a comical performance, in which he was flanked by Ian Botham and Allan Border, he requested it stay in Australia.Branson’s push to end almost a century of tradition – the original sits in a glass cabinet at Lord’s – was upstaged when his seriously flawed account of the symbol was corrected by Gideon Haigh, the writer and historian. “In 1882 the idea was the Ashes were to come to Australia,” Branson said. “They would come home to England, but an England captain grabbed hold of them and kept them ever since.”(Click here for a history of the Ashes)Branson went on to say Marylebone Cricket Club’s view of the urn as a gift was “mistaken”. “I think it was originally a trophy, the Ashes were burned when England lost the 1882 game and it was turned into a trophy that the Australians took back to Australia. I think, I may be wrong, but they are re-writing history.””You’re re-writing history, you’re completely wrong,” Haigh said and then filled in the gaps during a two-minute precise. Border admitted Haigh had a “fair point”, but Branson’s errors continued with his repeated referral to MCC as “MMC”.However, Branson’s idea, which was hatched over dinner with Botham this week, has received strong and predictable support. Ricky Ponting said after the series was sealed in Perth that Australians should prevent the urn from getting on the plane and today John Howard, the prime minister, joined in.”I know there is a lot of tradition surrounding where it has been in the past but I don’t think there is any valid reason why it shouldn’t follow the outcome,” Howard said. “I’m sure it would be treated with immense care and reverence, and protected and left unbroken, and I can assure you that Australians have great warmth towards that symbol of cricket supremacy.”Botham said MCC would “probably throw out my membership” but he and Border, who is also a member, said the issue should go to a club vote. “The space at Lord’s should be left empty until we get them back,” Botham said. “There’s no excuse not to move them around.”The Australian push for the Ashes to stay Down Under grew during their 16-year reign from 1989, but it is rare for such high-profile English figures to support the move. “You’re playing for the Ashes,” Botham said. “To me it seems ridiculous. If you’re playing for the European Cup or the Ryder Cup you get the cup.”Just think of the fun it would have been in 1986-87, to be totally written off, to fly back with the urn on the plane. It would have been fantastic.” It might also have been broken.Border, who lifted replicas in three series wins, said it was the “biggest trophy in the game” and it was time Australia got “the real McCoy”. The only problem – and it’s a big one – is the Ashes are owned by MCC, who say they were never intended to be a trophy, and they have been reluctant for them to travel. The urn arrived in Australia in October to start a cross-country tour in the main capital-city museums and it will depart for England later this month.Branson said he would feel uncomfortable carrying the item back to London considering the result of the series. “We’ll fly it back if we can’t persuade MCC over the next two or three days,” he said. Good luck.

Greg Blewett’s fractious relationship with South Australian cricket authorities took another turn for the worse when the batsman was handed a $1000 fine for negative comments he made about the state’s officials. Blewett, who is still contracted by the Redbacks but has been dropped and is looking for the opportunity to transfer to another state, has been scathing in his description of the South Australia hierarchy in the past month.Among other things, he described the state’s selectors as “clowns” after they all but ended his career with the Redbacks by dropping him from the one-day team and promoting younger players. Blewett also told Adelaide’s newspaper that comments by Paul Nobes, the chairman of selectors, that Blewett was in poor form were unfair.”It’s incorrect, not right,” Blewett said. “For Nobes to say that my form is not warranting selection is absolute crap. I’ve had a pretty good year for [my club] Kensington. It doesn’t make sense what he is actually saying.”But that was a far cry from the words attributed to Blewett in an official South Australia statement after he was found guilty of detrimental public comment under the Cricket Australia code of behaviour. “I have always maintained and valued a strong relationship with the SACA and want to ensure that continues to be the case,” Blewett’s statement said.”And I am particularly grateful for the assistance the SACA has given me throughout my career. I sincerely regret if any of my comments have caused the SACA any offence or harm, as this was never my intention.”