The Queen’s Park ground in Invercargill is set to host some of Otago’s matches this season after nearly a decade of being overlooked in favour of the University Oval in Dunedin. But now, with the University Oval being used for New Zealand’s first Test against Bangladesh in January and for an England tour game in March, Queen’s Park will get finally a slice of the domestic pie.Following a multi-million-dollar renovation of the ground and facilities, Queen’s Park was inserted into the fixtures list for an Otago State Championship match against Wellington in March and a State Shield game against Northern Districts in February next year. Apart from those two matches, Queen’s Park will also host a women’s two-day game and a Twenty20. If Otago qualify for a State Shield home semi-final, Queen’s Park will be booked for the playoff.Richard Hoskins, the executive officer of the Southland Cricket Association (SCA), said it was expected Queen’s Park would get high-quality fixtures this season. “We are delighted and now we just have to make sure the wicket continues to play well and we host some good fixtures,” Hoskins told the . “It’s really positive.”According to the report, the SCA was also hoping to rope in Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle to play invitation one-day and Twenty20 games at Queen’s Park in December.Queen’s Park last hosted a first-class game in February 1998 as part of the Shell Trophy when Canterbury beat Otago by seven wickets. The last State Shield one-day match at Queen’s Park was in January 2002 when Central Districts beat Otago by 99 runs.

England received an eve-of-Test boost with the appearance of Kevin Pietersen at their practice session on Wednesday. He had been confined to his hotel room yesterday with a high temperature and was put on antibiotics.”He’s alright,” said England’s captain, Michael Vaughan. “He had a net but didn’t take part in the run-around fielding drill, but he’ll be fine to go into tomorrow’s game.”It was just a virus,” said Vaughan. “It was slightly worrying yesterday but the doctor said so long as he got his tablets down he’d be okay. Obviously it’s better for seeing him here having a bat, and a big relief for the team because he’s such a big player.”Pietersen is England’s second-highest run scorer in the series with 203 runs at an average of 50.75. He won the Man-of-the-Match award for his 134 in the second innings at Lord’s which gave England the upper hand in a drawn Test. At Trent Bridge, Pietersen was the fielder at whom Zaheer Khan waved his bat angrily during the jelly bean controversy. He was dismissed lbw by RP Singh for 13 in the first innings and 19 in the second, a short while after he evaded a head-high beamer from Sreesanth.In Pietersen’s absence, England’s penultimate practice session involved just 10 players, because the reserve seamer, Stuart Broad, had been released to play for Leicestershire in a Pro40 match at Derby. No reserve was summoned to cover for Pietersen.

Australia’s Ricky Ponting was named ICC Cricketer of the Year for the second year running at the ICC Awards in Johannesburg.Ponting was the winner after the ballots from the 56-member ICC Awards Voting Academy were tallied, adding the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy to the award for Captain of the Year, won earlier in the evening.Ponting was also named on both the ICC ODI and Test Teams of the Year which were chosen by a five-man ICC selection panel led by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and also including Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, ex-South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten, Iqbal Qasim, the former Pakistan left-arm spinner, and ex-England captain Alec Stewart.On winning the award, Ponting said: “It’s more of an eventful night that I thought it would be and I am honoured. It’s a great thrill for me and something I am very proud of. It’s a great achievement and something I will probably look back on this in years to come with a lot of pride.”I am the first player to win this award twice in a row and maybe if I keep my head down there might be more around the corner. I was happy with the way I have gone about things during the past year and I think we have lifted ourselves to a new level as a team. It has been an unbelievable 12 months of cricket and we should all be very proud with what we have achieved.”Ponting received the award from ICC president Ray Mali as the finale to the prestigious awards ceremony. “These awards are about excellence and I can think of few cricketers who have demonstrated genuine excellence through their careers more than Ricky Ponting,” Mali said.”He has a huge amount of natural talent but through hard work, desire and dedication he is making the most of that ability. And as a captain he has been remarkably successful in all forms of the game. He is a deserving winner of this award and the fact that he has won it for the second year running shows the level of consistency that he is putting in time after time for his country.”

It has emerged that Worcestershire have joined the list of counties looking to sign Glamorgan’s injury-hit fast bowler Simon Jones.Jones, whose contract expires at the end of the month, has already been linked with a move to Hampshire and has held preliminary discussions with them. Glamorgan are also keen to keep him.However, Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, revealed that he had met with Jones as well. “We were given permission to speak to Simon and that is what we have done,” he told the Press Association. “We are interested in him and we wouldn’t have spoken to him if we weren’t.””Simon met with Steve on Sunday,” Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton said. “It was an exploratory meeting and I believe it was very positive. But we have not offered Simon anything yet. We are expecting some feedback from him shortly and then we will move on from there.”It is no secret that we need quality seam bowlers and Simon is certainly one of those. But his medical history will mean that there must be an air of caution.”Jones has played little cricket since his Ashes-wining exploits in 2005. In two seasons he has managed only five Championship appearances in which he has taken two wickets at 193.00. He has continued to be dogged by knee and calf injuries and when he has played, he has not come close to being able to bowl flat out.The other factor is that Jones is no longer on an ECB central contract and so any county signing him would have to be prepared to pay all his salary, and he won’t come cheap despite his fitness record.

Thailand may be a cricketing backwater, but the game these has a decent foothold and it also attracts touring sides to the prestigious Chaing Mai Sixes.However, the national board continues to attract much criticism and that is now spilling over into the country’s main competition, the Bangkok Cricket League, which is due to start its new season this month.The problem comes as a direct result of battles for control of the Cricket Association of Thailand. Elections last year were overturned by those in power and, in a bid to consolidate their position, they sought to outlaw the established league and set up a rival – and supportive – one of their own. They also blocked the BCL from using established grounds, in effect attempting to leave it with nowhere to play.Despite threats, including suggestions that anyone playing in the BCL would be ineligible for the national team, there seemed to have been lukewarm support for the CAT-authorised version. Sources claim that 16 sides wanted to take part in the BCL while only four – three of which have close links to senior board officials – wanted to play in the CAT version.Faced with such overwhelming opposition the CAT has now compromised and it seems likely that there will be one competition. But now the teams must accept that offer and it remains to be seen if they are willing to get into bed with the CAT given the strong feeling against the way its committee appears to have brushed aside democratic elections.One source told Cricinfo: “They fail to see the real reason why people are angry … the failure of the democratic process which came to head last November. The people voted but their votes meant nothing.”

Click here for a full list of the 2008 fixturesThe England & Wales Cricket Board today unveiled the full fixture list for the 2008 domestic season, which gets underway on Thursday, April 10 when the reigning county champions, Sussex, take on MCC in the traditional curtain-raiser at Lord’s.Sussex will begin the defence of their back-to-back championship crowns the following week (April 16) as they travel to The Rose Bowl to take on Hampshire, while newly-promoted Nottinghamshire will face Kent at Canterbury on the same day. Lancashire, who came so close to snatching the title on the final day of the season, return to The Oval, the scene of their bitter last-ditch defeat against Surrey.The Division Two season kicks off with a midlands derby, as Warwickshire host Worcestershire at Edgbaston after both teams were relegated in 2007.The Friends Provident Trophy takes on a new format in 2008 with the 18 first-class counties as well as Ireland and Scotland making up four groups of five teams. Each team plays the other four teams in the group twice throughout the competition, home and away. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the quarter-finals on July 4, with the winners of each group earning a home draw.The opening round of the Friends Provident Trophy pits last year’s winners, Durham, against Yorkshire at the Riverside on April 20, with a further seven opening round matches to be played on the same day. The final at Lord’s takes place on Saturday August 16.The Twenty20 Cup gets under way on Wednesday, June 11 with last year’s winners Kent taking on Sussex at Canterbury in the first round of the new-look group stage. Next season, each team will play a symmetrical format of five home and five away games with the groups remaining regional-based with three groups of six first-class counties.The Twenty20 Cup group stage concludes on Friday, June 27 with quarter-finals on to be played from July 7 to 9 and four teams progressing to finals day at The Rose Bowl on Saturday, July 26.The Pro40 competition kicks off on Tuesday, July 15 with a floodlit Division One match between the holders Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire at New Road, while the competition will feature a further 23 matches under lights in the second half of the summer. Televised fixtures for the 2008 domestic season will be confirmed in due course.

John Buchanan believes the ICC should consider turning world cricket into a franchise-based system where players could choose which country to represent, in an effort to make the game more competitive. Buchanan spent eight years as Australia’s coach, finishing after the World Cup in April, and he thinks Australia’s dominance is hurting international cricket.”This equality debate keeps bubbling to the surface and means that there is a serious issue there,” Buchanan told the . “I think it mightn’t be a bad thing if the ICC looked at some rule relaxations, which might allow a more even distribution of players around the world.”Most young cricketers in Australia grow up wanting to play for Australia, but I’m sure there would be quite a few who, when they get to about 25 or 26 and realise they probably won’t get a chance to wear the baggy green, would still be happy to play international cricket anywhere. The problem at the moment is that there is a long qualification period and, by the time that’s up, the player and the other country probably lose interest.”Buchanan said the ICC’s current rules were too strict, with players needing to spend at least 183 days a year for four consecutive years in their new country before qualifying to play a Test. However, he believes turning Test nations into franchises could lead to a greater flow of players between countries, and a more competitive international scene.”Countries should look to recruit young players from Australia, and places like India, to increase their depths of talent,” Buchanan said in the . “Those players would enhance the domestic competition and, hopefully, go on to play Test cricket for the country they move to. We don’t want cricket to become like a horse race when the favourite wins all the time. No-one will want to watch.”Barry Richards, the former South Africa batsman, agreed that there was a serious problem with Australia’s dominance – Ricky Ponting’s team won their 13th consecutive Test when they beat Sri Lanka at the Gabba on Monday and Australia have not lost a World Cup match since 1999. “Australia plays international cricket, the rest just play cricket,” Richards said.”I have lost interest in it because I know the result before they start playing. Until you get strength against strength, nothing is going to happen. In England, they have 18 counties and they call it first-class cricket and it’s absolutely useless.”Buchanan’s replacement as Australia’s coach, Tim Nielsen, told the the franchise plan was not the answer and other nations needed to keep striving to catch Australia. “We’ve got to keep trying to raise the bar,” he said, “because, as always, we are the ones being chased and people are looking to what we are doing and trying to replicate it.”

India’s fragile fast bowlers are the selectors’ chief concern as they meet in Bangalore on Wednesday to whittle down the list of 24 probables for India’s forthcoming tour of Australia. The focus is on Munaf Patel, whose fitness will be assessed before any decision is made.The selectors are likely to meet soon after the fifth day’s play of the final Test against Pakistan, and may name a 16-man squad for the four-Test series. At the moment it seems likely that India’s bowling attack will be led by three left-arm bowlers in Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. Ishant Sharma’s five-wicket haul in Pakistan’s first innings has made him a shoo-in for the fourth fast bowling spot.It is for the final spot that there is some doubt. Should Munaf be cleared to play, he is likely to complete the set. If he is not fit, then VRV Singh, who was in the squad for the final Pakistan Test is the front-runner to take a place. The names of Pankaj Singh and Pradeep Sangwan are also doing the rounds, but the selectors are likely to go with VRV, who is more experienced than the other two, albeit not by much.The selectors also showed their hand when they called Gautam Gambhir into the squad in the final Test and he is likely to get one of the opening slots. With Wasim Jaffer having the time of his life with the bat, only one more opener’s slot is left to be filled. Dinesh Karthik has had a poor run in the series against Pakistan, but his performances in South Africa and England could ensure that he gets another chance to prove himself. The strongest contender for this spot is Parthiv Patel, who has been scoring heavily and consistently in domestic cricket. However, it is likely that the selectors will leave this borderline decision to Anil Kumble, the captain. So far Kumble has backed Karthik to the hilt, despite scores of 8, 9, 1, 1 and 28 in his last five innings.

The rest of the team picks more or less picks itself with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh making up the middle order. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will keep wickets and Kumble will have one spinner for company in Harbhajan Singh.The tougher question, of course, will come when it’s time to pick the playing XI for the first Test in Melbourne. Yuvraj, with his incredible innings of 169 in Bangalore, has made it virtually impossible to leave him out of the side. This leaves Kumble in the unenviable situation of having to drop someone from the middle order, or sacrifice a bowler, neither of which seem feasible. The one option ahead of Kumble is to use Dravid as an opener, playing only Jaffer as a specialist opener, in order to accommodate the extra batsman. But there is some time yet for that decision to be made.India’s Test squad for Australia (probable)
Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel.

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

Scorecard
Jason Dawes, the debutant seamer, with figures of 4 for 25, ripped through the Bangladesh Under-19s’ top order, as West Indies Under-19s claimed a 73-run win in the second ODI in Savar.Chasing 186 to win off 43 overs in a rain-curtailed match, Bangladesh lost opener Saikat Ali and Nadimuddin leg before in successive overs by Dawes. Nasir Hossain and Mithun Ali added 20 before Dawes struck twice again; Hossain was caught by Veerasammy Permaul, while two balls later, Rony Talukder fell for a duck. Bangladesh were in trouble at 36 for 4, and were never in the hunt from then on.Spin, which was introduced in the 12th over, reaped immediate rewards when Steven Jacobs bowled Ali for 17, and Suhrawadi Shuvo in consecutive overs. Mahmudul Hasan, the No. 6 batman, attempted a brief rearguard act with 30 off 48 balls, but he fell to the legspin of Sharmarh Brooks, who added two more wickets to his tally as Bangladesh were dismissed for a paltry 112.Earlier, West Indies rode on a patient 103-ball 66 from Horace Miller, the left-handed opening batsman. West Indies lost Adrian Barath and Kieron Powell to medium-pacer Dolar Mahmud for the addition of only seven runs, before Miller and Darren Bravo, the brother of West Indies allrounder Dwayne, added exactly 50 for the third wicket. After Bravo was run out for 55, Miller soon brought up his half-century during a 55-run fourth-wicket stand with Brooks.But West Indies lost the duo in quick succession; Brooks falling to offspinner Mohammad Shakil for 22, while Miller was run out by Talukder. West Indies, were in a spot of bother at 132 for 5, but their tail could not get going, with Mahmud finishing with figures of 4 for 26.