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Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, has said that it is important to be No. 1 in the one-day rankings after blanking Bangladesh but added that what his team really wants is to beat India in the three-Test series starting in Chennai on March 26.”We have achieved one of the goals we had set out for the team. And being No. 1 is absolutely great. But it will be better still if we are No. 1 next year too because that would mean we would have beaten Australia in two series,” Arthur told Cricinfo.”We will go all out to win the series in India,” Arthur said. “The Bangladesh win has set us up nicely for the India series. Frankly, we always saw this (Bangladesh) tour as pre-India tour preparation where we got our game and gameplans right for the big one. It’s going to be a fantastic Test series simply because India is a huge team to beat in their own country, and we are not prepared to be just another ordinary rival.”Arthur also spoke of setting high standards for the team, which he admitted will be tested in India. “Not many teams go to India and win, so that’s one of our main goals for the year.”Arthur also said that he has appealed to fast bowler Andre Nel, who was replaced for the India tour by Charl Langeveldt under Cricket South Africa’s transformation policy, to play on for the country. “We have spent a lot of time with him because we believe strongly that he is a vital cog as we go forward, especially against England and Australia who are on our calendar this year. So I hope he decides to stay on with South Africa. But ultimately, it’s his decision because only he knows what’s best for himself.”Nel is believed to be in talks with the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) after being dropped in tune with a CSA selection policy that mandates at least six players of colour in a 14-man squad.South Africa swept the two-Test series against Bangladesh and wrapped up the one-day series 3-0 with a seven-wicket win in Mirpur on Friday. The team will leave Bangladesh on Saturday and is scheduled to fly out from Johannesburg for Chennai on March 21.

Ian Harvey (73*) and Brad Hodge (63*) have led an excellent fightback to rescue Victoria late on day three of the Pura Cup match against Queensland at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. The pair’s unbroken stand of 133 for the fifth wicket has carried the visitors to a second innings score of 4/216 by stumps, a tally which affords them an overall lead of 118 runs.The memory of Victoria’s disastrous late collapse in its first innings, though, will continue to fire the Bulls’ prospects of claiming outright points at some time tomorrow. Queensland captain Stuart Law admitted as much after play when he indicated that his team unarguably still holds the whip hand in the contest.”They’ve got their backs to the wall and it’s up to them now if they want to salvage something,” he said. “I’m confident of winning.”Before Harvey and Hodge had come together, Queensland’s charge toward outright victory had been ignited by rugged paceman Joe Dawes (4/64). Dawes snared all four of Victoria’s second innings wickets when he spectacularly removed Jason Arnberger (20), Shawn Craig (35), Matthew Mott (19) and Michael Klinger (2) in quick succession in mid-afternoon. Showing all the hunger and passion that might be expected from a player who has been twelfth man for his state almost as many times as he has played, he claimed 4/38 in the space of ten overs at one stage, and also had Craig dropped by Law at second slip.Earlier in the day, Queensland’s first innings had ended at a total of 347. Around a fine spell from Michael Lewis (4/74), the Bulls owed their progression to their ninety-eight run lead largely to the efforts of Wade Seccombe (35), Adam Dale (25) and Andy Bichel (21). Colin Miller (1/93) also bowled well, albeit without producing particularly flattering figures, as he continued to press his claims for Test selection later this month.

Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas helped his Australian Grade team Melville in the the Semi-Final of the WACA Vodaphone Trophy with a sparkling 160. Mascarenhas will be playing in the final against Bayswater-Morley this weekend March 27th and 28th, before returning to Southampton.The match report from courtesy of the Melville Cricket web site.Melville have cruised into the first grade final, scoring a massive record breaking 511 against South Perth at Fletcher Park. After Scott Meuleman (42), Ben Lillis (49) and Adam Voges (54) got the side away to a good start, Dimitri Mascarenhas made his maiden first grade century, finishing with 160 as he combined first with Chris Wood (40) and then Steve Russell (60no) to put the result beyond doubt. With Melville needing only a draw to make the final, South Perth declined to bat, giving the Melville bowlers another week off.

Bangladesh have announced their squad for the Under-19s World Cup in February, adding batsman Amit Majumder to the squad which completed a tour of South Africa this month.Bangladesh U-19s returned from South Africa where they drew the two-Test series 0-0. They qualified for the final for the tri-nation tournament that followed, including South Africa U-19s and India U-19s, but lost to India by 137 runs.Bangladesh U-19s will host Nepal U-19s, who arrive on January 22, for a week-long tour in the lead-up to the World Cup. All three one-day matches will be played in Khulna. The West Indies U-19s will visit after Nepal for four one-day matches, three of which will be held at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium (SCS) in Bogra and the other at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.The World Cup begins on February 17 in Malaysia with the final on March 2 at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.Squad: Suhrawadi Shuvo (captain), Dolar Mahmud, Marshall Ayub, Subashis Roy, Rubel Hossain, Golam Kibria, Rony Talukder, Mahmudul Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Shakil, Nadimuddin, Mithun Ali, Saikat Ali, Amit Majumder, Ashiqul Islam

Michael Clarke’s performances over the last year or so have suggested that he is a huge star in the making, and he hopes to reinforce that belief if picked for the Australian Test squad that will tour India in October. Clarke had a fantastic time in India during the TVS Cup triangular series last year, picking up seven wickets and making 118 runs as Australia romped to victory.”I love playing in India,” he said, speaking to reporters in Amsterdam. “I don’t mind the ball spinning. Hopefully I will be selected and show my ability there, both against pace and spin.”Interestingly, Clarke’s coach-cum-manager, Neil de Costa, is of Indian origin, and was involved in his initiation into the game. In fact, it was de Costa who made the nine-year-old Clarke pick up a bat for the first time.Clarke acknowledged de Costa’s influence and said, “His parents are Indians and we did a lot of work playing spin bowling. I have also been brought up playing a lot of spin. My wickets at home are a little slower than the other wickets you commonly find in Australia.”There was also a mention of Shane Warne, who had helped him out with his spin bowling. “Warney has been fantastic, a brilliant bowler and a great person. I think he has helped me a lot with my cricket and definitely with my bowling.”Clarke’s one-day batting average is an impressive 43.47 after 29 games, often while batting as low as No. 6 or 7. But though he made a scintillating hundred in a tour match against India at Hobart last December, a modest first-class average (37.83) might count against him when the selectors pick a side to win in India for the first time since 1969-70. Given his talent, though, an Indian tour is probably just the challenge he needs to take his game up a notch.

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

At the start of this series, there were doubts as to whether Brian Lara would ever play another Test match, as the brouhaha between Cable & Wireless and Digicel reached its crescendo. Today at Trinidad, in front of his home fans, Lara achieved redemption in the manner that only he can, blazing his way to a glorious hundred in his first first-class innings since the tour of England last August.By the close, the majesty of Lara’s performance had been magnified by the shortcomings of his team-mates. Though he himself reached the close on 159 not out, from 236 balls and crowned by 20 thrilling fours, not a single other batsman made more than 35. Thanks to the efforts of Makhaya Ntini with the new ball, and Andre Nel with the old, South Africa chipped away for six wickets, and remained very much in the hunt.Lara had played in just seven one-day internationals since the start of the year, and after the run-feast that a second-string West Indies side served up at Georgetown last week, a lesser mortal might have felt slightly cowed by the weight of expectation on his shoulders, especially when Ntini had reduced West Indies to 14 for 2 after just half-an-hour of the day. Two of Lara’s fellow contract rebels, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, had betrayed their lack of match practice with two ill-disciplined strokes, and a third such dismissal would in all probability have opened the floodgates.But there was never any suggestion that Lara would be feeling his way back to form. In the absence of Shaun Pollock, South Africa’s one genuine world-class bowler, the weak links in the South African attack were manifest, and Lara set out to exploit them to the full. Monde Zondeki, whose last Test outing had gleaned six Zimbabwean wickets for 39, was taught a harsh lesson in how to take on a master batsman, while Lara was equally emphatic against the spin of Nicky Boje and the lacklustre pace of Jacques Kallis.He brought up his century by pulling Zondeki for two runs through deep midwicket, and a Trinidad crowd that had steadily grown as word of his derring-do spread erupted in the knowledge that he had overhauled the great Garry Sobers to become West Indies’ leading centurymaker. He now has 27 hundreds to his name, which leaves him someway short of Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar (34), but in this innings he has overhauled both men to become the third-highest run-scorer in Test history.

Though the opposition was by no means in the same class, the context and quality of his innings was reminiscent of his solo stands against the Australians six seasons ago – the indisputable apex of his career. Then as now, the secret of his success was the partnerships that he was able to form, and in Wavell Hinds, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Courtney Browne, he found three sidekicks who played a fine second-fiddle at crucial stages of the innings.For Hinds and Chanderpaul, it was an emphatic comedown from their heady double-centuries at Georgetown. Hinds was especially watchful – at Bourda he had slapped 34 fours and two sixes in his career-best 213 – but today he knew his role and played it almost to perfection, lasting for 110 deadpan deliveries until Ntini returned to the attack to find his outside edge (108 for 3).For the first half of the day, Ntini had been a lone threat in the South African attack. Nel’s first spell had been short and very wide, while Lara had allowed none of the back-up bowlers to settle. But when Chanderpaul’s composed performance came to a tame end, as he chipped a return catch straight to Boje, South Africa were invigorated. Nel bounded in for a teasing spell of reverse-swing bowling, Donovan Pagon and Dwayne Bravo were both bowled for the addition of 21 runs, and West Indies were in serious danger of squandering all Lara’s good efforts.Nel, whose snarling followthroughs had looked decidedly sheepish in the early part of his performance, suddenly found a second wind, and when Lara was beaten all ends up twice in two balls – a tight lbw shout followed by a fence outside off – Nel punched the air in frustration. But Browne dug in for a vital unbeaten 19, saw off the increasing vagaries in the pitch, and ensured that it was West Indies who reached the close in a position that Lara’s efforts had merited.How they were outWest IndiesChris Gayle c Boucher b Ntini 6 (7 for 1)
Indisciplined swish, steepling edge to keeperRamnaresh Sarwan c Nel b Ntini 5 (13 for 2)
Flapped bouncer to deep fine legWavell Hinds c Smith b Ntini 32 (108 for 3)
Squirted drive to first slipShivnarine Chanderpaul c&b Boje 35 (203 for 4)
Suckered by flighted delivery, simple return catchDonovan Pagon b Ntini 0 (204 for 5)
Played all round straight deliveryDwayne Bravo b Nel 5 (225 for 6)
Reverse swing, inside-edge onto leg stump

James Anderson and Alex Loudon have been omitted from the Test squad to tour India, but they are the only changes from the party that lost 2-0 against Pakistan. However, the selectors have left one space free, which will be filled by a third spinner once the fitness of Ashley Giles has been assessed.Simon Jones returns after recovering from surgery to the bone spur on his right ankle. He is due to spend ten days at the MRF Pace Academy, in Chennai, to continue his rehabilitation. Liam Plunkett’s encouraging performances on his Test debut at Lahore, and in the following one-day series, have been enough to pip Anderson to the reserve pace bowling slot.Anderson retains his place in the one-day squad but the end of Darren Gough’s international career is a step closer with his omission. Vikram Solanki’s stop-start career has again been halted with Ian Bell preferred, lending further weight to the theory that England still don’t know their best one-day team.The chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: “Although we lost the series [in Pakistan], there were some encouraging individual performances from players who are new to Test cricket and we are keen to continue their development.””With regard to injured players, Michael Vaughan and Ashley Giles both underwent operations before Christmas and their rehabilitation programmes are progressing according to plan. We do, however, intend to name an additional spinner in the Test squad once we have had an opportunity to further re-assess Ashley’s fitness nearer to the time of our departure for India.”Graveney explained that the one-day squad was selected with a view to the World Cup: “Plunkett has made a promising start to his international career and is an emerging player with great potential. Bell has also been named in both squads as we believe his ability to bat in the top order will give us another option as we continue to plan for the World Cup in 2007.”Solanki will be disappointed not to make the trip to India but he is still part of our plans for the future and is one of a number of players on the fringes of selection for the one-day squad.”Commenting on Gough’s omission, he said that the performance of the younger seamers had encouraged the selectors to stick with them for India. “Gough asked the selectors not to consider him for the tour of Pakistan for personal reasons and we respected his wishes.”With Plunkett and Anderson performing well in Pakistan, and Jones now available for selection again, the selectors feel the priority is for these players to gain as much experience of one-day cricket as possible, ahead of the World Cup, and as a result Gough misses out.”The news will not come as a surprise to Gough, who had earlier told that he was not expecting a recall. “I’m not a 20-year-old who’s out there demanding a place. I’m mature and I can understand they want to go with the young guys.”Of course I am disappointed because I still think I am one of the best bowlers at the end of a one-day match. You can’t buy one of them at a local superstore – it takes years and years.”England Test squad Michael Vaughan* (capt), Marcus Trescothick*, Andrew Strauss*, Ian Bell*, Kevin Pietersen*, Andrew Flintoff*, Paul Collingwood*, Geraint Jones*, Matt Prior, Ashley Giles*, Shaun Udal, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard*, Simon Jones*, Steve Harmison*. *denotes 12-month central contractOne-day squad Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Geraint Jones, Matt Prior, Ashley Giles, Ian Blackwell, Kabir Ali, Liam Plunkett, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.

In a mix-up over the interpretation of the eligibility rules, Kevin Stoute, the Barbados opener, has been withdrawn from the squad for all the remaining matches of the Stanford 20/20 in Antigua. He has been replaced by Rashidi Boucher, the 17-year-old Barbados youth team opener.Stoute was not in the 16-member squad originally submitted by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) to the board of directors of the tournament. This was pointed out to the BCA by Stanford officials, who made it clear that players away on West Indies duties at the senior or junior level are eligible to be included in the squad and the selection of other players will have to be approved by the tournament directors first.Last week, Stoute and Patrick Browne, the wicketkeeper, had replaced Ahmed Proverbs and Carlo Morris in Barbados’ 13-member squad for Friday’s quarter-final match against Grenada. Browne was away playing for the West Indies’ senior team on the tour of South Africa, which meant he was eligible for selection.A section of the tournament guidelines stated: “Should a country want to include a player not originally selected in its squad of 16, it shall be required to submit a written request to the Stanford 20/20 Board of Directors for its consideration. The decision of the Stanford 20/20 Board of Directors will be final and binding.”You will also at that time submit a new 16-member squad, indicating the players who will be replaced. Please be guided that this 16 will be your 16 for the tournament and those omitted will no longer be eligible for selection unless there is injury and an application sent to the committeealong with a doctor’s certificate.”Rollins Howard, the BCA’s operations manager, expressed regret over the mix-up.”It was a misinterpretation of the word “new” as it related to changes in the squad,” Howard was quoted in a report in the BCA’s website.In the same report, Roddy Estwick, Barbados’ chairman of selectors, said, “It was a very, very unfortunate misunderstanding pertaining to the ruling of the Stanford policy.”The information given to the selectors was that we were to pick a new 16-man squad so we selected Kevin Stoute, who was in our initial squad of 20, only to be told by the Stanford committee that he wasn’t eligible for selection based on the fact that he was not in the original 16. I will be apologising to Kevin personally and on behalf of the selectorsand all of the relevant parties.”Stoute said he had put the unfortunate events behind him and was now looking ahead to the remaining matches of the Carib Beer Cup.”With every disappointment, you can take some positives from it and something like this can only make you stronger,” Stoute told the . “There are three more Carib Beer games left, so right now I am focusing on them. If selected, I would be looking to give 100% for Barbados.”Revised squad – Dwayne Smith (capt), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Derick Bishop, Rashidi Boucher, Patrick Browne (wk), Jonathan Carter, Ryan Hinds, Alcindo Holder, Ryan Nurse, Dale Richards, Khalid Springer, Kenroy Williams

Despite resigning from his post of joint secretary and media committee chairman only three months ago, Reazuddin Al Mamun was reinstated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after a long executive meeting on Saturday.It was a grim-looking Mamun who arrived for the meeting half-an-hour after it started, but he was all smiles when he later emerged with Ali Asghar, the board president, beside him.”There was no seat reserved for me in the room but I was not surprised,” said Mamun. “I came here to say goodbye to everybody and explain my position on why I tendered my resignation. And all of my colleagues didn’t want me to quit. But I have decided to stay only when the president showed the letter that there was no further relation with Aston Moore.”The current crisis began in October when rumours circulated that Asghar had made a secret TV and sponsorship deal with Aston Moore, the BCB’s marketing company. That led to Mamun’s resignation. After Saturday’s meeting, the board insisted that there were no such media links with Aston Moore.Mahbubul Anam, the BCB’s general secretary, was apologetic over a number of issues that had not been addressed before now. Mahbubul, who like his president came under severe criticism for failing to convene a meeting within the stipulated time and the confusion over Mamun’s invitation, admitted that they failed to run the show properly in last few months that even led to the breach of constitution.”As per constitution we are bound to hold at least one meeting in every three months but unfortunately we failed to meet the deadline for the third meeting,” he told reporters. “We concede that it was our administrative failure. But thankfully the members have accepted our excuse and we promise that it would not happen in future.”

He also revealed that a five-member committee involving the president, general secretary, chairman of marketing committee, chairman of media committee and chairman of finance committee will now look into the future TV deal. Mahbubul also said that the meeting dissolved all the present standing committees in an effort to start afresh with more dynamic ones.”Since we wanted to start from the scratch we have dissolved the sub-committees and formed a seven-member body involving Aziz Al Kaiser Titoo, general secretary, two joint secretaries, Khondokar Jamiluddin, Shaheen Aftabur Reza and Asaduzzaman Kahinoor. The committees will submit the names within 48 hours for approval of the board. We have already short-listed the candidates from five to two and we are expecting to make a final decision within two days.”The meeting also approved the upcoming home matches against Kenya. The Africans will arrive here on March 10 to play three to four ODIs if Zimbabwe do not come for the triangular series.”

Jacques Kallis is confident that South Africa’s 229-run lead over New Zealand puts them in the driving seat after three days of the first Test. Kallis struck a vital, and often painful, 62 as South Africa fought back from 73 for 4.”I’d rather be in our seat than theirs,” Kallis told reporters. “The wicket is very much up and down and if we get enough balls in the right area we will put them under pressure. The new ball becomes a lottery, although it gets a little easier after that.”He added that he has been far from impressed with the pitches throughout the South Africa summer. “The whole summer I’ve been very disappointed with our wickets, they haven’t been conducive to attractive cricket. They’ve been hard-grafting wickets and it’s something we’ve got to look at seriously.”We’re getting big crowds in and we want wickets that are going to produce big scores. You want a fair contest where the batsmen feel confident about going forward.”Kallis was quick to heap praise on AB de Villiers, who struck a gutsy 97 before falling shortly before the close. “He played fantastically today,” he said. “It was the type of innings where you had to absorb and wait for the ball to get a bit softer, then he kicked on and played aggressively.”Unfortunately he got out, perhaps that was a little bit of impatience. He deserved a hundred, it’s a pity he didn’t get there.”Meanwhile, James Franklin, the New Zealand left-arm bowler, suggested that seeing off the South African bowlers early in the day would be crucial to their chances of getting to the fourth-innings target. “We want to get them all out as early as possible tomorrow, so that we can go about the run-chase the right way. The wicket seems to get easier as the day goes on.”