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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.

Middlesex captain Justin Langer played one of his finest innings for his county yesterday to prevent his side finishing with the humiliation of last place, on the final day of the championship match against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff yesterday.Having come to the crease on Friday at 40 for 4, Langer batted for seven and a half hours to score 213 not out, enabling Middlesex to reach a first innings score of 387 and earn sufficient competition points to surpass Sussex in eighth place on the Division Two ladder.Mark Ramprakash (51), David Nash (41) and Richard Johnson (41) provided valuable support to Langer, as did Phil Tufnell, who batted 57 minutes without scoring before hitting a return catch to Robert Croft to end the innings. With Tufnell’s help, Langer was able to reach his double hundred and add 56 runs for the last wicket, giving Middlesex their fourth batting point along the way.Glamorgan openers Steve James and Ian Thomas had nineteen overs of batting practice to end their first-class season, the ten points for the draw being enough to secure promotion for 2001. This was Justin Langer’s last championship appearance for Middlesex before 2002, the Western Australian left-hander being almost a certainty for selection for the Ashes tour next year.

Former Somerset captain Gerry Tordoff has died at the age of 78.Tordoff was a talented amateur sportsman who won Blues at football (1951-52) and cricket (1952) for Cambridge. As a left-hand middle-order batsman he had already made his Somerset debut, and after playing for the after coming down from university in 1952 he joined the Royal Navy and thereafter his appearances were limited. He turned out regularly for Combined Services and in 1954 hit the highest of his five first-class hundreds, 154, against the touring Pakistanis.In 1955 Somerset, who had finished bottom of the Championship in the previous seasons, were in need of an amateur captain – they were still a year off accepting a professional in the role – and Tordoff was given a leave of absence by the navy to take up the challenge. He was unable to lift the county off the foot of the table, although their performances were improved. Personally, he made 1196 runs.Hopes that he might continue were dashed when he was offered a commission and returned to the navy, and he did not appear for the county again, although he continued to play for Combined Services as well as Minor County cricket for Berkshire.In 85 matches Tordoff made 3975 runs at 27.99 and took 40 wickets with his occasional seamers.

Jimmy Maher, the Queensland captain, will be in England during Australia’s winter after Glamorgan supporters provided the money for his return. The county did not plan to have an overseas player due to the cost of its ground redevelopment at Sophia Gardens, but the fans stepped in to help sign Maher, who played in Wales in 2001 and 2003.”We made no secret of our intention to run without them this summer,” Mike Fatkin, Glamorgan’s chief executive, said. “Thanks to offers of financial support from several of our strongest supporters, including a significant contribution from Dr James Hull, we’ve been able to review that policy and recruit Jimmy.”Maher said he was grateful for the opportunity and intended to make a big contribution on the field. He will link up the county in the middle of May.

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

A solid batting effort from New Zealand had West Indies against the wall on the second day at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Stephen Fleming grabbed the bowling by the scruff of the neck to hit a fluent 97, Peter Fulton stroked his maiden Test fifty and Nathan Astle held firm after a minor collapse as New Zealand gathered a healthy 143-run lead.Fleming was the perfect senior partner in a 165-run stand for the third wicket with Fulton and played as authoritative an innings as it can get. He had come to the crease with New Zealand on 3 for 2 and provided the much-needed damage control from the word go, cutting Ian Bradshaw through point for boundaries in four successive overs. Fluent in the arc between cover-point and gully, he took a particular liking to Bradshaw’s inconsistency. A half-volley outside off was caressed through covers, a long-hop was dismissed over square leg for six, and two full-pitched deliveries were eased between the bowler and mid-on as Fleming announced his intentions. It was just what New Zealand needed and Fleming could not have timed his counter-attack better.Elegant to the point of appearing lazy, Fleming was at the top of his game today, crunching drives off the back foot or whipping anything full on the legs through square. After lunch, he refused to get bogged down by Chris Gayle’s tight spell and slapped a four past gully and a chip past mid-on to keep himself ticking. He was helped by the return of Bradshaw and got himself to two more boundaries square of the wicket for good measure. Fleming went into the nineties for the first time at the Basin Reserve with the shot of the day – a perfect straight drive for four off Fidel Edwards – and eased a four through his favorite region to get to 97. But he fell short of the landmark when he slashed at Dwayne Bravo and was caught at wide third man two deliveries later. However, his innings had put New Zealand firmly on top, .Fulton played very well for his 75 and his contribution to the stand was priceless. Essentially a square-on player, he was allowed room to free his arms and this is where he grew in confidence. A stunning lofted drive over long-off for maximum off Gayle took him into the forties, and in the bowler’s next over he repeated the shot on the other side of the pitch to get to his maiden Test fifty. Technique is essential to any innings, and Fulton impressed in his ability to get right behind the ball and work around the basics. A third six brought up the New Zealand lead before tea.

He fell first ball after the break as, in a momentary lapse of concentration, he was rooted to the crease and edged Daren Powell to the `keeper. Powell then removed Scott Styris and Brendon McCullum – brilliantly taken by an air-borne Denesh Ramdin – but a gem of a partnership between Astle and Daniel Vettori flattened the opposition once again. At ease against pace and spin, Astle was quick to punish anything short and helped himself to another fifty. His 86-run stand with Vettori, who cantered to 42 before falling to Edwards just before stumps, ensured that the hard work done by Fleming and Fulton did not go to waste.The post-tea spell aside, the bowling was pedestrian for most of the day, and West Indies only enjoyed wickets in two bursts. Having nabbed Hamish Marshall and Jamie How with full, swinging deliveries in a frenetic opening burst, both new-ball bowlers turned to half-track mode and their threat was quickly negated. Bradshaw was wayward, Edwards was energetic but testing only in patches, while Rawl Lewis, bowling his legspinners in a Test for the first time since 1998, was workmanlike. Powell, with 3 for 69, was the most successful bowler. Fifteen no-balls didn’t help, and the fielding left a lot to be desired. Catches went down with regularity – mid-off, fine leg and second slip each spilt straightforward chances – and both veteran and rookie made sure to cash in on these lapses in the first two sessions.From start to finish, West Indies were made to toil. Play had began a half-hour early to make up for lost time on a rain-interrupted first day, and Kyle Mills did not need long to send them packing for 192. Taking a leaf from yesterday’s hero James Franklin, Mills kept the ball up to the batsmen and forced Powell and Edwards to drive loosely. His two swift strikes gave New Zealand a good start to the day before Fleming, Fulton and Astle ground West Indies into further submission and treated the supportive Wellington crowd to a batting special.How they were out
West Indies
Daren Powell c How b Mills16 (186 for 9)
Fidel Edwards c Fleming b Mills 0 (192 for 10)
New Zealand
Hamish Marshall c Chanderpaul b Bradshaw 3 (3 for 1)
Jamie How b Edwards 0 (3 for 2)
Stephen Fleming c Bravo b Edwards 97 (168 for 3)
Peter Fulton c Ramdin b Powell 75 (207 for 4)
Scott Styris c Morton b Powell 8 (219 for 5)
Brendon McCullum c Ramdin b Powell 23 (246 for 6)
Daniel Vettori c Chanderpaul b Edwards 42 (332 for 7)