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Kenya and Bangladesh training and media arrangements for Thurs and Fri plus Dr Bacher to meet Kenya team on FridayKenya are practicing at Wanderers on Thursday morning until 1pm, both the coach and the captain will be available for interview.On Friday Kenya will practice at Wanderers from 2pm to 5pm. Dr Ali Bacher will meet the players at the start of the practice. Again both the coach and captain will be available for interview. Media wishing to speak to other Kenya players should contact Kenya media manager Mehmood Quarishy.Bangladesh will practice at Wanderers on Friday morning from 10am. Both the coach and captain will be available for comment at the end of the session and media are advised to arrive around 12pm.Media contacts:Kenya – Mehmood Quarishy: +254 733 605 224
Bangladesh – Abu Sharif Faruque 072 629 4604India and Pakistan practice and media arrangements for FridayIndia will be practicing at Centurion from 10am to 1pm on Friday. All ICC CWC 2003 accredited media will be able to attend and there will be a press conference at the end of the session.Pakistan will be practicing at Centurion from 2pm to 5pm on Friday. All ICC CWC 2003 accredited media will be able to attend. The timing of their press conference will be confirmed later today (Thurs).Media contacts:India: Amrit Mathur 084 513 5706
Pakistan: Sami Hasan 083 299 5920
Practice and media arrangements for England cricket teamThursday, Feb 27th: England will hold a press conference at 4.30 pm at the Holiday Inn Garden Court, Port Elizabeth with Andrew Flintoff. No practice scheduled.Friday, Feb 28th: England will practice from 9 am until 11 am approx at St George’s Park. A press conference will be held at the ground after practice.Saturday: March 1st: England are scheduled to practice at St George’s Park in the afternoon from 2-5 pm. Media arrangements tbc.Contact:Andrew Walpole, Team Media Mgr 082 8581011

Mark Robinson and Robin Martin-Jenkins each took four wickets as Sussex bowled out Middlesex for 161 to replace them at the top of the CricInfo Championship second division.Sussex’s 192 run success condemned the previous leaders to their first defeat of the season.Set 354 to win in 82 overs, openers Andy Strauss and Mike Roseberry gave them a good start by putting on 54 for the first wicket.But Martin-Jenkins bowled Roseberry and Robinson had Owais Shah caught at slip before lunch and after the interval Martin-Jenkins and James Kirtley each took a wicket to reduce Middlesex to 80-4.Strauss and skipper Paul Weekes defied the attack for 13 overs in a fifth wicket stand of 37, but an outstanding reflex catch at silly point by Mike Yardy got rid of Strauss shortly after he’d scored his half-century.The last five wickets fell for 13 runs after tea with Middlesex’s last hope disappearing when Weekes was pinned on the back foot by Robinson.And there were 15.3 overs remaining when Robinson bowled Phil Tufnell to complete a seventh win of the season for Sussex.Earlier Yardy (72) and Chris Adams (54) had gone quickly as Sussex chased runs before their morning declaration.They scored 70 in 12.1 overs before pulling out on 210-7, Weekes finishing with 4-25.

At around 11am Virender Sehwag’s white Audi entered Feroz Shah Kotla. His team had earlier come on the bus, but Sehwag drove his own car in about half an hour later. The security didn’t stop him. You can tell when people are in unfamiliar places. This car wasn’t. Without hesitation, the bespectacled Sehwag drove the car to the players’ enclosure entry, opened the boot, got off, pulled out his kit, left it near the entry, closed the boot, went back into the driver’s seat and parked the car in a corner by the Delhi nets.Anil Jain, joint secretary (sports) of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), rushed from inside the nets and towards Sehwag’s car. Jain was looking after the ground on the morning. He cleared who could go in, he had people greeting him when he went into the Delhi nets. Now he theatrically made a move towards Sehwag’s car. He wanted to be the first person to welcome Sehwag, but another DDCA official had already reached the car and hugged Sehwag.Sehwag looked a little bemused at all the attention, but this was par for the course. The kit bag that Sehwag had earlier offloaded was Haryana Cricket Association’s. He has played against Delhi Daredevils in the IPL before, but this was the first time he was coming to Kotla to prepare for a first-class match against the home side.

Sehwag’s numbers in the opposition

• v Delhi Daredevils: 4 matches, 80 runs, no fifty

• As an opposition batsman at Feroz Shah Kotla: 2 matches, 24 runs

• v Gambhir and Dahiya: 11 matches, 255 runs, one fifty
  

In the Delhi nets, Gautam Gambhir, long-time opening partner and friend, and Vijay Dahiya, who along with Sehwag had scored a fifty against Australia in Bangalore in 2001*, had been preparing Delhi for this big match. Before Sehwag came, some of the Delhi players had hopped on to the other side to catch up with the Haryana players. Most of the players from Haryana have learnt their cricket playing in the leagues in Delhi. Haryana’s home venue, Lahli, is only a two hours’ drive away. The line between Delhi and Haryana is blurred, what with a few Haryana cities now only an extension of Delhi, but the line between Sehwag and Delhi is not so unclear now.Dahiya didn’t help himself from having a quick sledge. Asked about the game against “Viru”, Dahiya began with a straight bat, but the wicketkeeper in him soon took over. “It’s Haryana,” Dahiya said. “That’s what the game is all about. It’s the second game for them, third for us. We know they are a very consistent side. In this league, every side is a fantastic side.”Asked again about facing up to Sehwag, Dahiya said: “It’s a match between two teams, and that’s how you plan it. If somebody plays as an individual that is a different thing. We are playing as a team.” And then he smiled a cheeky smile.Dahiya can afford to smile with a ten-wicket win last week against Vidarbha after he took over as coach of the team in a shambolic state. Delhi’s administration remains in a similar state, with Mohammad Azharuddin invited to a Ranji match and allegedly allowed inside the players and match officials area (PMOA) for a chat with some of the participating players. Dahiya says the players are far away from the mess. They have been talked to a lot, they have been made to feel comfortable enough to trust each other, to be able to say anything they want in the dressing room.Despite all the controversies, the way Dahiya announced three changes to the XI a day before the match could point to a team better than what it looks from the outside. Sumit Narwal is injured. Sarang Rawat is rested, but Dahiya says they are going to ask DDCA to play him in Under-23 games so he stays in touch with “days” [multi-day] cricket. Parvinder Awana comes back after he was considered short of overs in the first match and after bowling a lot over the last week. On the surface at least, the clarity is at odds with the way the team was selected or the way the selectors and the coach were selected.Delhi’s and captain Gambhir’s relationship with Sehwag remains a matter of speculation. It is said in Delhi circles that Sehwag made the move because he and Gambhir had fallen out. Opening partners, friends, India comeback aspirants, opposing Ranji captains. At their home ground. Gambhir will have Ishant Sharma too, who will, in consultation with the physio, decide if he plays any more games after this.On Thursday, too, Sehwag will drive into his home ground with the same authority and calm. Some DDCA members might show up to greet him again. There will be warm-ups. Then the toss. If Gambhir wins it, early on a Thursday morning, in all likelihood Ishant will be charging in at Sehwag. Dahiya might not want to admit it, but a lot of it will be about individuals.*October 15, 0832 GMT. The article had erroneously stated a 100-run partnership between Vijay Dahiya and Virender Sehwag. This has been corrected

Cricket Kenya chairman Samir Inamdar has denied claims made by Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, that more of the country’s players need to be made professional.In a recent interview, Tikolo said that more players needed to be on full-time contracts to allow them to train properly. While admitting that some of the national side were contracted, he added that “the rest of the players need to be looked after too”.”I think Steve is talking about players outside the contracted ones,” Inamdar told Cricinfo. “Calling the contracted players semi-professional is not accurate. They are fully-contracted based on a scale of salaries, match fees and other allowances that he himself together with his senior players approved in June last year.”While players emoluments are always an emotive issue, the players are receiving a regular income with match fees to boot. Their health care needs, daily lunches, insurances and physiotherapy needs are all looked after. A total of about 18 players are contracted on this basis. The other players who are not contracted but help out by turning up for nets etc each receive a daily allowance and a lunch.”Given the state of our resources I think that the players have done reasonably well. It is quite plain – and the figures were given out at our stakeholders meeting – that the overwhelming major portion of our revenue goes to the players – probably two-thirds or thereabouts in 2006.”Kenya are the only non Test-playing country to have players on full-time contracts, and while others have signalled their desire to follow suit, they have not had the finances to enable them to do that. CK has only been able to buck the trend because of the side’s success in the World Cricket League last February – it earned them US$250,000 – and a new media deal signed in 2007.

Australia have signalled their intention to focus on the 2009 World Cup, with five new faces included in the women’s squad for 2007-08. In all, six changes were made from last season’s line-up and four of the new players are yet to make their international debut.The uncapped Sarah Aley, Charlotte Anneveld, Emma Inglis and Renee Chappell have made the list for the first time, as has Emma Sampson, who made her ODI debut in India in February. Kris Britt, the South Australia allrounder, has been rewarded for her strong state form, returning to the squad after missing out the last two seasons.Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s retirement opened up one spot but five players have also been omitted. Veterans Julie Hayes and Michelle Goszko were not included after losing their places in the ODI team following the Rose Bowl series in October. Jenny Wallace, Lauren Ebsary and Kelly Applebee were also dropped.Inglis, 18, will be Australia’s back-up wicketkeeper after only two seasons in the Women’s National Cricket League. Her 12 dismissals for Victoria were the most for any player in 2006-07. Britt had an excellent domestic season, scoring 279 runs at 55.80 and taking seven wickets at 27.57. She will be keen to add to her nine ODIs, the last of which she played in 2004.Chappell becomes the only Western Australia player in the squad, while Sampson is one of four South Australians. Sampson’s ten WNCL wickets at 24.10 earned her a trip to India, where she proved a handy new-ball bowler.

Aley and Anneveld, both from New South Wales, provide all-round options. Anneveld’s 15 wickets in 2006-07 was the third-most of any player in the domestic competition, behind only Fitzpatrick and Clea Smith.The changes leave Karen Rolton and Shelley Nitschke as the only players over 30, while 13 of the 18 chosen are 25 or under. Margaret Jennings, the chair of selectors, said it was important to bring fresh faces into the side.”Maintaining a blend of experience and young talent in the squad is important for the next 12 months of competition and with the 2009 World Cup on the horizon,” she said. “We have promoted some young players and with the retirement of Cathryn and loss of other experienced players there is a gap to be filled.”The 18 squad members will train at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in June and September. Australia’s next challenge on the field will be against New Zealand in the Rose Bowl at Darwin in July.Squad Sarah Aley, Sarah Andrews, Charlotte Anneveld, Alex Blackwell, Kate Blackwell, Kris Britt, Melissa Bulow, Renee Chappell, Sarah Edwards, Emma Inglis, Shelley Nitschke, Kirsten Pike, Leah Poulton, Jodie Purves, Karen Rolton, Emma Sampson, Clea Smith, Lisa Sthalekar.

After a tour of Zimbabwe which slipped under all but the sharpest radar, Kenya will be keen to make an impression in their four-ODI series against Bangladesh which starts on Friday. It’s a much higher-profile tour, and one against a side on the up as opposed to one struggling to retain international credibility.Kenya did well in Zimbabwe, drawing the five-match series 2-2 after the final game was washed out. Only once, in the fourth match, were they outclassed, while their other defeat was put down to jet lag as they were forced to play their opening match less than a day after arriving and without any chance to practice. Both Roger Harper, their coach, and Steve Tikolo, their captain, said that given the right preparation, they would have easily beaten the Zimbabweans.But Tikolo is realistic about his side’s chances this time round, pointing out that the international exposure for a side kept in the wilderness since the 2003 World Cup is as important as the outcome. He knows plenty about his opponents as well, having played regularly in Bangladesh club cricket for almost a decade.Bangladesh should win this series at a canter, and their performances in the just-finished series at home to Sri Lanka will have further boosted their burgeoning confidence. Their win in the second ODI inspired wild celebrations across the country, and they should dispose of keen but out-of-practice opponents with something to spare. Whatever the ICC rankings might claim, they can now rightly claim to be No. 9 in the world by quite some way, and rather than looking down, they now have West Indies at No. 8 in their sights.Their man of the moment is Mohammad Ashraful, who scored a gorgeous century on the opening day of the Test series against Sri Lanka, and who at the age of 21, is beginning at last to come to terms with the talent that made him, in September 2001, the youngest centurion in Test history, when he cracked 114 on debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo. And Bangladesh’s bowling has a greater cutting edge these days as well, with the tall and aggressive paceman, Shahadat Hossain, coming into his own in their last Test at Bogra, where he took a career-best 5 for 86.

Kenya’s bowling, on the other hand, could be their Achilles Heel. Their seamers lack penetration, although Peter Ongondo and Thomas Odoyo both showed good form in Zimbabwe, but overall they may struggle to contain. And although their out-of-sorts World Cup star, the allrounder Collins Obuya, has been recalled after a spell under the eye of Terry Jenner, reports suggest he is far from ready to resume international cricket. The batting will, as always, lean on Tikolo, but Kennedy Otieno looked in good nick in Zimbabwe.One player worth keeping an eye on is 18-year-old Tanmay Mishra who made his debut on that tour. Although he did not set the world alight, he showed enough glimpses of class to suggest he could well have what it takes to succeed at the highest level.It’s a shame that what could be a winning series for the home side could be played out in front of empty stands. Bangladesh is a cricket-mad country – look no further than the massive attendances during the 2004 Under-19 World Cup – but this series has failed to capture the imagination and ticket sales are sluggish to non existent. That the public have not been tempted is partially due to the perceived weakness of the opponents, partially due to the eyebrow-raising decision to increase prices from those charged for the Sri Lanka matches, but largely because of the glut of international cricket.

Harbhajan Singh turned in his first outstanding performance of the season for Surrey, taking 6 for 36 in their Frizzell County Championship match against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. Surrey scored 361 – where Harbhajan chipped in with a 16-ball 25 – and then stunned Hampshire, knocking them over for just 146. Martin Bicknell and Mohammad Akram provided the initial breakthroughs, dismissing the openers, and then Harbahajan took over, and cleaned up the middle-order.Irfan Pathan had a lukewarm game against Glamorgan, picking up no wickets in 19 overs while conceding 66 runs. Glamorgan racked up an impressive 584 for 3 declared, and did not even have to use the services of Sourav Ganguly, as Daniel Cherry (229), David Hemp (103) and Jonathan Hughes (134 not out) all made big scores. Middlesex were 96 for 1 in response at the end of the second day’s play.Dinesh Mongia enjoyed another good outing, top-scoring with 66 in Leicestershire’s first-innings 225 against Worcestershire. Mongia struck 13 boundaries in the course of his 82-ball innings, but was eventually bowled by Nadeem Malik, who picked up 5 for 71. In response Worcestershire reached 158 for 4.

Western Australia 335 and 302 beat South Australia 300 and 250 (Cosgrove 88, Cameron 81, Edmondson 5-90) by 87 runs
ScorecardMike Hussey, Western Australia’s captain, said his team was left pondering what might have been after bowling South Australia out for 250 to achieve a remarkable 87-run victory at Adelaide Oval today in their final Pura Cup game. Though Western Australia stormed to resounding victories in their last four games, they had begun poorly in their first six games, and this left them short of a berth in the Pura Cup final.”It’s a bit of a hollow feeling really,” Hussey said. “You start thinking back to all the games you just missed out on getting points and how close we really came to making the final. We were very disappointing before Christmas, and we really need to start better next season to give ourselves a chance to play off in the final.”South Australia finished with the wooden spoon, but when they were 1 for 178 in the morning session with only 160 more runs to get, their opponents were on the rack. Kade Harvey, though, crashed through with three quick wickets, including Andy Flower’s for a golden duck, to swing the game back on even terms. Ben Edmondson took over then, cleaning up five of the last six wickets to finish with career-best figures of 5 for 90, as South Australia crashed out for 250.Hussey said the promise shown by Edmondson was important, given the side’s bowling had been its weakness. Incidentally, Edmondson had made his debut after not being mentioned on the state’s rookie list at the start of the season. “He’s still raw and inexperienced, but he’s got a lot to work with,” Hussey said. “[There are] some very good attributes and he’s been a good asset to our team and hopefully he’ll get better and better as his career goes forward.”South Australia had a few bright spots of their own. Mark Cosgrove, who made 88 to go with his first innings’ 144, and Ben Cameron, who made 81, performed well. But the batting crash summed up a season where the team had regularly lost games from good positions. Flower spoke about the missed opportunities. “We had a number of chances there to win the game and we never put the nail in the coffin, so it is the story of our season.”The team’s season mirrored Flower’s unsuccessful first year with South Australia. He managed two fifties in 14 innings at an average of 24.43.

Bowling 30 overs of teasing left-arm spin, Sunil Joshi took six wickets for 62 runs against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Plate Final game against Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Kerala skipper Sunil Oasis opted to bat first, but his side’s batting line-up could not deliver as it did in previous matches in this domestic season. Or perhaps Joshi’s bowling was just too good; either way, Kerala found themselves bowled out for 190 in 77.3 overs, squandering the advantage that batting first usually imparts in Indian conditions.The first three batsmen did well enough, with Sujith Somasunder (44) and MM Nathani (32) putting together 58 runs for the first wicket. C Hemanth Kumar at number three top-scored with 48 from 128 balls, with seven fours, but few other batsmen could stick around at the crease.Kerala’s last nine wickets fell for the addition of just 85 runs, with offie Udit Brijesh Patel giving slick support to Joshi and taking three for 42 in 19.3 overs in the process.Karnataka batted through 10 overs of play before stumps without any mishap, with J Arunkumar and Barrington Rowland making 16 and six respectively.

VVS Laxman who guided India for their first victory of the Coca-ColaCup against Sri Lanka and opening bowler Zaheer Khan are to stay backfor the remainder of the tri-series despite their injuries.Laxman was to go back home to attend to his knee surgery before Indiagame against Sri Lanka on Saturday, but he stayed back because of thesuspension of skipper Saurav Ganguly who was suspended for that match.But after the batsman guided India to victory through an unbeaten 87which not only won him the man of the match award but also keptIndia’s chances alive in the competition, the team management haddecided to play him in the remaining matches. Laxman played Saturday’sgame with a bandage, fielded throughout during the Sri Lankan inningsand was in the middle from the third ball of the Indian innings.However the batsman will definitely miss the Test series against SriLanka as his surgery will take four weeks to heal.Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan who is suffering from a stress fracture on theright shin, is expected to fly to Chennai for a bone scan after theOne Day Series and his availability for the Test matches will bedecided on the results of the report.The other left arm paceman Asish Nehra who is suffering from a groininjury is also set to miss the Test series.The Indian selectors will pick the squad for the Test series in Mumbaion Thursday.