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Warwickshire’s former captain, Michael Powell, has been awarded a benefit year for the 2008 season.Powell, 32, made his county debut in 1996 and was capped three years later. In 2001, he was appointed club captain and led his team to victory in the 2002 Benson & Hedges Cup at Lord’s.In his career to date, Powell has scored 7,022 first-class runs at 32.06, with 12 centuries including a best of 236 against Oxford University in 2001. “I would like to thank the club for this very humbling reward for my services to the Bears,” said Powell.”A benefit year is a wonderful opportunity for me and one that I am immensely grateful for. I would also like to thank all the Warwickshire members that have supported me throughout my career and have helped make this possible.”Warwickshire’s chief executive, Colin Povey, said: “Michael has been a fantastic and loyal servant to the Bears and we wish him all the best in his benefit season.”

Cri-zelda Brits has been named captain of a 14-member South Africa women’s squad which will travel to Pakistan next month for the 2009 World Cup qualifiers. She keeps the captaincy ahead of Shandre Fritz, who is back in the squad for her first international match after injuring her neck in a swimming pool accident.The two top-ranked teams from each pool of four will qualify for the World Cup, which will be held in Australia. South Africa are grouped in pool A, which also includes Bermuda, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea. The top-eight teams in the World Cup will in turn qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in England later that year, where the tournament will be held alongside the men’s event.Brits, 23, had first stood-in for the injured Fritz for this year’s home one-day series against Pakistan, which South Africa won 4-0. She then captained the side to a 3-0 series whitewash in a Test series against the Netherlands.The squad will gather at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on November 13 and leave for Pakistan three days later.South Africa squad
Cri-zelda Brits (capt), Johmari Logtenberg (vice-captain), Olivia Anderson, Susanna Benade, Trishna Chetty, Dinisha Devnerain, Mignon du Preez, Shandre Fritz, Ashlyn Kilowan, Matshipi Letsoalo, Sunette Loubser, Analie Minny, Claire Terblanche, Magdalena Terblanche.

The Indian board will appoint a new coach before the team’s tour to Australia in December, Sharad Pawar, the board president, has said. Lalchand Rajput, the team manager since the ICC World Twenty20, will remain in the post for the series against Pakistan.”We need to take a final decision on the coach’s appointment before the Australia tour,” Pawar said after an office-bearers’ meeting in New Delhi. “After discussion with the coach selection committee, we will take a decision as soon as possible.” The board has scheduled a Working Committee meeting on December 16 to discuss the issues put forth in the meeting today.The coach selection committee, which includes former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, twice postponed meetings to discuss the applications that the board has received regarding the post.Meanwhile, the Asian Cricket Council is set to meet in New Delhi next month to decide on the scheduling of next year’s Asia Cup so that it does not clash with the India Premier League. “Tentatively it [Asia Cup] will be held in June,” Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said.

Anil Kumble has always been a master of turn but even he had a hard time spinning a convincing argument that India could beat Australia in their four-Test series. They have the motivation – five or more of their champion veterans are desperate for success on what will almost certainly be their last tour of Australia – but how do you defeat a team that has not lost a home Test series since 1992-93?Kumble’s men arrived in Melbourne eight days ahead of the Boxing Day Test and the captain spent his first press conference trying to persuade the media that India could break that spell. He ticked off the reasons India would be a threat, then found just as many causes for his own side to be concerned about Australia’s power. He chose his words carefully, which was not surprising for a man who has heard the spin from his captaincy predecessors on visits to Australia, and has seen the results.Fittingly, his major argument revolved around spin, which he declared as Australia’s biggest weakness. Shane Warne was proving difficult to replace, he said, and India’s batsmen would not mind facing up to a third-choice slow bowler with Stuart MacGill unavailable. “If the wickets help spin, then definitely we have the advantage,” Kumble said. “It will definitely help us if it turns in Melbourne and Sydney.”Brad Hogg is in Australia’s 12-man squad but may yet be squeezed out if a four-man pace attack is favoured. Hogg was impressive in the recent ODI series against India, although Kumble said facing him in a Test match would be a completely different scenario.Kumble brightened when he mulled over Australia’s double-loss of Warne and Glenn McGrath. Then he remembered that neither of them played last time India toured Australia in 2003-04, when Warne was enduring his drugs ban and McGrath had an ankle injury.”It definitely gives you a bit of confidence,” he said. “But having said that the last time around when we played here Glenn was injured and Warney was not there, so …” His voice trailed off. If Kumble is a man who sees the glass as half-full, the sentence might have finished with “and we didn’t lose”. If his glass is half-empty, the thought could have been “no Warne, no McGrath and we still couldn’t beat them.”India did play well on that visit, securing a 1-1 draw and Kumble saw no reason that their style of play should change this time around. But he was careful not to make any predictions that would come back to bite him.”Most of the senior cricketers probably are here on their last tour to Australia, so it’s very important that we go back victorious. But not many people come here and go back victorious,” he said. “We know that Australia is a tough opposition and I think we have the experience and the quality to go out there and do our best.”Exactly how much experience and quality India will put on the field in the first Test is still up in the air. Virender Sehwag was a late addition to the squad and they are also keen to play Yuvraj Singh – if they can find a place for him in their strong batting line-up. Kumble was not concerned about chopping and changing an order that had been successful against England and Pakistan, although he was still unsure who would get a run in their only warm-up game, a three-day encounter against Victoria at the Junction Oval starting on Thursday.Kumble was at least confident that India’s recent Test series victories against England and Pakistan had prepared them well, whereas Australia have had only two Tests against Sri Lanka since their Ashes triumph in 2006-07. “Australia is always tough whether they’ve played enough cricket or not,” he said. “[But] in that sense, we are pretty well prepared.”Squad Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, 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, Pankaj Singh.

After being dropped from the team for the second Test against West Indies, Herschelle Gibbs is expected to return to the South African playing XI after his replacement Neil McKenzie was ruled out of the third Test.Gibbs, whose poor form saw him being benched, is likely to open the batting alongside Graeme Smith. McKenzie, who had returned to the Test team after three-and-a-half years, tore his right calf muscle during the match – which South Africa won by seven wickets – and was unable to bat in South Africa’s second innings.Meanwhile, Monde Zondeki has been drafted into the squad as cover for Dale Steyn, who strained his right hamstring during the course of the match. Steyn, though, bowled in both innings of the match, picking up eight wickets as South Africa levelled the series.Zondeki, rewarded for his impressive performance in domestic cricket this season, had taken eight wickets to help South Africa A beat the West Indians in a tour game.The series-deciding third Test begins on January 10 at Kingsmead in Durban.South Africa squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Paul Harris, Andre Nel, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Monde Zondeki.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, may land in trouble after criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board’s policy on central contracts and the board’s top officials have referred his case to the disciplinary committee.Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, said the board has taken notice of Kaneria’s column on a website in which he questioned the central contracts policy after being demoted to Category C in the new list announced last month.”We have a clear Code of Conduct and if Kaneria is found guilty of violating it then he will face strict punishment,” Ashraf told the . Kaneria, who has played 51 Tests, wrote in his column that he was frustrated at being bracketed with players who have played fewer matches than him, like newcomer Fawad Alam.”I have played 51 Tests now and once I pass Abdul Qadir’s 236 Test wickets, hopefully this year, I will then only have the fast bowlers ahead of me – Waqar Younis, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram,” he wrote. “I just feel that achievement deserves a bit more respect. I am respected more when I play at Essex.”Ashraf said the board cannot overlook public criticism of its policies by players contracted by it. Kaneria’s case would be discussed by the disciplinary committee later this month.”We devised a transparent formula to evaluate the players,” he said. “The players were promoted, demoted, dropped or inducted (in the central contracts list) on the basis of that formula.”He did speak on the Shoaib Akhtar saga, making it clear that the fast bowler will only be able to win back his place for the home series against Australia if he proves his fitness in this month’s Pentangular Cup.”We don’t care about stars or their celebrity status. For us, the best player is one who is fit, in form and gives his best for the team,” Ashraf said. “As far as Shoaib is concerned, he should know the only way to get back to the team is by justifying his place and he can only do that by proving his form and fitness in the Pentangular Cup.”Ashraf rejected the impression that Shoaib’s refusal to sign a retainership contract would block his re-entry to the Pakistan team.”If he doesn’t want to take the retainer, it’s his decision. We won’t stop him from playing for Pakistan on that ground.”

Gatorade Pacers’ second edition came to a successful finale in New Delhi, with ten young fast bowlers chosen for a six-week training camp at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under Dennis Lillee and TA Sekhar, the foundation’s chief coach.Three thousand seven hundred and eighty five aspiring pacers from Under-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 categories nominated by over 1080 schools, colleges, sports clubs as well as eight state cricket associations across India participated in the regional rounds of ‘Gatorade Pacers’ 2008 in the first two weeks of January.Eighteen finalists were shortlisted from these six cities and went through a structured training-cum-selection session conducted by Sekar and Gatorade Master Trainer Ms Nisha Verma at the national finals held in New Delhi at the Central Secretariat Ground on January 21 and 22.Various sessions such as net practice with right and left-handed batsmen, measuring speed with speed guns, intensive fitness sessions for fast bowlers, bowling on central pitches and fitness and fielding were conducted to select the winners of this national hunt.The highlight of the event was a video analysis session wherein Sekar analysed the bowling actions of the aspirants. Scientific feedback was provided to the pacers individually, which would help them improve their bowling techniques. For some, the problem was with the run-up, for others with the load-up during delivery and Sekar pointed out the areas that can be worked on. Sreesanth, the Indian fast bowler, too was present on the second day of the trials, handing out tips to the youngsters.Delighted with the quality of the finalists, Gatorade and Sekar revised their original plan of choosing five pacers and instead, picked ten lucky winners.

Brendon McCullum continued his winning ways with his unbeaten 108 steering Otago into the State Shield final against Auckland next Sunday. Having taken 77 off 43 balls from England on Saturday to help New Zealand take the series, McCullum backed up for his provincial side in Christchurch as they defeated Canterbury by six wickets with four overs to spare.Canterbury, McCullum’s former team, batted first and Iain Robertson’s 53 and Peter Fulton’s 66 set the platform for what looked like a healthy total of 8 for 262. The spin of Nathan McCullum was potent and economical – he picked up 2 for 26 from ten overs – while Brad Scott chipped in with 3 for 40, including the important wickets of Robertson and his opening partner Michael Papps.In reply Otago lost Aaron Redmond for 0, but as long as McCullum was there they had nothing to worry about. He struck nine fours and a six, but was much more considered than on the previous evening, spending 126 balls at the crease. Alex Gidman’s 81 was also an important innings and Neil Broom swept in at the finish to blast four fours and three sixes in his 41 not out off 27.Otago now have the chance to upset Auckland, who finished on top of the ladder, and reverse the result of last season. Auckland won by five wickets on that occasion and they have the advantage of hosting the game.

Debut of the day
New Zealand like to blood their cricketers young. Maybe not as young as the subcontinental nations, but they’ve still had five 18-year-old debutants in their history, including the current captain, Daniel Vettori. Therefore at 19 years and 102 days, Tim Southee was an old sweat by comparison, and he bowled like one as well, with guile, accuracy and stamina, and at a waspish mid-80mph pace that gave all of England’s batsmen the hurry-up. At the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, he took 17 wickets at 6.64, and today he didn’t alter his mindset one iota despite the apparent step-up in class. Within his first three overs, he had claimed the wickets of two England captains, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss, and then struck again with his second delivery with the new ball to remove none other than Kevin Pietersen.Innings of the day
Pietersen has been in the doldrums of late, his mindset seemingly muddled by his side’s ongoing failings. He hadn’t passed fifty in any of his previous ten innings of the winter, but today he ended his drought in the most emphatic manner imaginable. This time, his hand was forced by the chaos going on around him. England were 4 for 3 in the blink of an eye, so rather than mope around in a repeat of his Hamilton dirge, Pietersen decided to cut loose on what – contrary to appearances – was a superb batting track. At the time of his dismissal, his superb 129 from 208 balls had comprised 62% of the team total, which placed it on a par with Graham Gooch’s famous 154 not out at Headingley in 1991. Its ultimate place in the annals will be decided by the manner in which England respond over the next four days.Shot of the day
Pietersen’s six count has been on the wane in recent years. He’s managed a meagre eight in 18 Tests since the start of the Ashes in 2006-07, which is fewer than he’d managed in any single season before that. But when he does decide to take the aerial route, they really do stay hit. Daniel Vettori discovered that in the 80th over of the innings, when Pietersen dropped to one knee and belted him onto the roof of the Western stand. With the new ball looming large, it looked as though there might be two ball changes within the space of an over, but up jumped a useful chap from the groundstaff to retrieve the errant missile from its resting place.Debut of the day Mk 2
There can’t have been many occasions in recent Test history when, as an attacking option, the wicketkeeper has stood up to a genuine medium-pacer inside the first 20 overs. But such was the luxury granted to Grant Elliott, the other debutant in New Zealand’s ranks. As Jacob Oram has spent the last two Tests demonstrating, defence is the best form of attack against this England line-up, and so Elliott proved with a probing maiden spell of 5-1-10-1. He offered the batsmen nothing as he adopted Oram’s wicket-to-wicket approach, then claimed the scalp of Ian Bell with arguably the first hittable ball of his spell. Bell completely muffed the shot, however, as his eyes lit up like a starving man, and two newbies had made vital incisions of the opening morning of the match.

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

A match that swung between West Indies and Sri Lanka, each side clawing back into contention when the other had the upper hand, was decided by an innings of exemplary application from Ramnaresh Sarwan. His partnership of 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul – during which he scored a century – on the fourth day won the match for West Indies and levelled the series, ensuring Sri Lanka’s quest for a maiden series triumph in the Caribbean remained unfulfilled. The six-wicket win was West Indies’ first at the Queen’s Park Oval since 2000.A target of 253 over two days with ten wickets in hand wasn’t the most daunting but only twice had teams chased higher totals to win in Trinidad. Add to that the unpredictability of the West Indian batting order and the Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah Muralitharan factor and the task was anything but simple. The fourth day began with Sri Lanka taking early wickets before Sarwan started the recovery effort, single-handedly at first, later finding a steady partner in Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 86 at the end.Sri Lanka were banking on the wizardry of Muralitharan to run through the batting order but he was blunted by the patient approach of Sarwan and Chanderpaul. Not until the final stages did Sri Lanka’s bowlers give it up but the pressure created by Vaas and Muralitharan was not sustained by the inexperienced support cast of Thilan Thushara and Ishara Amerasinghe, which allowed the batsmen to score steadily without having to look to hit boundaries.It was fitting that Sarwan sealed victory with a hundred because he had scored three consecutive half-centuries in the series. West Indies needed a century from one of their batsmen and Sarwan did not throw it away after passing fifty. He started fluently, flicking and cutting Thushara to the boundary, and eventually hit him out of the attack by taking three fours – two straight drives and a leg glance – off his eighth over. Against Vaas, Sarwan stayed in his crease and gave himself time to drive the ball through the off side while his team-mates struggled on the front foot.He was reprieved early in his innings by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Sarwan well short. Had he hit, one sensed that the chase would have been over, for apart from Sarwan’s fluent innings the batsmen looked edgy. Even Chanderpaul had testing moments against Vaas, who caught the left-hander by surprise with a couple of deliveries that reared sharply off a good length.The pair steered West Indies to 93 for 3 when rain forced the umpires to take an early lunch, giving Vaas and Muralitharan an hour to recharge. On resumption, they offered few scoring opportunities but Sarwan and Chanderpaul were up for the challenge. Chanderpaul concentrated on rotating the strike, often moving forward and across to work the ball through the leg side for singles and twos. He had a calming influence on Sarwan, who brought up his fifty with a slog-swept four followed by a cut towards point, and talked him through lapses in concentration such as a slash past the slips off Amerasinghe.Sarwan used the cut effectively against the fast bowlers, forcing Mahela Jayawardene to put a fielder on the point boundary and successfully negotiated the threat posed by Muralitharan; he consistently worked him for ones and twos and occasionally moved out of his crease to hit him over midwicket or drive him straight down the ground. Sarwan was more positive as he moved towards his hundred, swatting Thushara twice from outside off stump to the wide mid-on boundary and the Trinidad crowd grew louder as they sensed a West Indian win.A significant psychological barrier was crossed when Chanderpaul drove a full toss from Amerasinghe to the cover boundary to bring the runs required below 100. Another shower made the players take tea early, with Sarwan on 95, but when play resumed he reached his tenth Test hundred by sweeping Muralitharan to the long-leg boundary. By then, Chanderpaul was doing most of the scoring, repeatedly cutting and driving Vaas and Amerasinghe through the off side. Sarwan was eventually caught at bat-pad off Muralitharan for 102 but, with only 23 to get, the match was nearly won.The game looked like it would be a lot closer during the morning session when West Indies’ openers, Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, began tentatively. West Indies lost Gayle on 23 when he tried to slog Thushara. The ball moved away from him and the outside edge flew over point where Dilshan ran backwards to take the catch. Chattergoon fell in the next over, misjudging the line of a straighter one from Vaas and was trapped plumb in front.At 24 for 2, Marlon Samuels joined Sarwan and they added 49, although Samuels looked out of sorts. He moved too far across his stumps against Vaas and survived several lbw shouts when the ball swung back and hit his pads. He eventually spooned a slower one to Malinda Warnapura at point. The match was in the balance at 73 for 3 but the three-hour partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul shut Sri Lanka out of the contest.