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Victoria have axed their wicketkeeper Adam Crosthwaite for their first Pura Cup match of the season. The Bushrangers instead chose Matthew Wade, who they recruited from Tasmania during the off-season, for the game against South Australia beginning on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.Wade, who turns 20 later this month, played one FR Cup game for Tasmania last season and believed his chances of a first-class debut would improve with a move to Melbourne. That opportunity has immediately come at the expense of Crosthwaite, who has spent two summers as Victoria’s first-choice gloveman but has managed only one Pura Cup half-century.A former captain of the Tasmania Under-19 side and a member of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2005-06, Wade impressed Victoria during his junior career with his ability to regularly build big scores. He was also productive in his first game in Melbourne’s club cricket on the weekend, when he made 76 for Camberwell Magpies.”I’m thrilled to get an opportunity to play for the Bushrangers at first-class level,” Wade said. “Hopefully I can grab it with both hands and help get some points on the board for Victoria. We’ve had some solid hit-outs leading into the season so the whole squad’s really excited and can’t wait to get stuck into it.”Aiden Blizzard is also a chance to make his first-class debut if Victoria can find room in their middle order. Blizzard made a powerful statement in his first Twenty20 game last season when he blasted 89 from 38 balls at Adelaide Oval.The Bushrangers named a 13-man squad for this weekend’s match with Andrew McDonald’s inclusion dependent on the results of a scan on his right shoulder. McDonald had surgery during the winter and pulled up sore from a recent bowling spell.Shane Harwood is still recovering from a shoulder injury, leaving Victoria with a slightly inexperienced bowling line-up. Gerard Denton will lead the attack, while Allan Wise could play his first state match since 2005-06 after missing most of last season with stress fractures in his back.Squad Nick Jewell, Michael Klinger, David Hussey, Robert Quiney, Aiden Blizzard, Cameron White (capt), Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Gerard Denton, Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle, Allan Wise, Dirk Nannes.

Division One

4th dayNo surprises at Edgbaston where Hampshire consigned Warwickshire to an expected defeat. Warwickshire started the day at 69 for 2 needing a further 338 for an unlikely victory. Instead, their batting collapsed and they lost by 193 runs. While most batsmen managed to get a start, none could hold it together and Nick Knight ended up the topscorer, with just 34. Wickets were shared, with Chris Tremlett (3 for 50) the most successful, and the job was wrapped up inside 100 overs.3rd dayA brisk hundred from Justin Kemp powered Kent to a 151-runlead on the third day against Yorkshire at Canterbury.Resuming on 196 for 3, Martin van Jaarsveld (82) and Matthew Walker(60) put on an excellent fourth-wicket stand of 118. And thoughRichard Dawson removed both batsmen in quick succession, Kemp stoodtall, smashed five sixes and nine fours. He received good support fromNeil Dexter (39) who, though only 21-years-old and playing in hissixth first-class game, already has two fifties to his name. Together,the pair put on a vital 81-run partnership to hand Kent a very usefullead of 151 going into the final day.A good day for Middlesex restored some balance to their game against Durham at the Riverside but it is still unlikely to be enough to save them. Although Durham are still firmly in control of proceedings, helped by a fourth-wicket stand of 86 between Jon Lewis and Dale Benkenstein, Middlesex chipped out the last seven wickets for 91 runs. Chris Silverwood did the damage with 5 for 47, well supported by Alan Richardson who took 4 for 50. Middlesex were left chasing an unlikely 386, and by the close they 87 for 4.

Division Two

4th day Daniel Cherry and David Hemp put on a second-wicket stand of 172 as Glamorgan made sure of the draw against Leicestershire. After following on, Glamorgan had started the day at 37 for 1 but Leicestershire failed to make significant inroads into their batting, thanks to the efforts of Cherry and Hemp, who each made fifties. Hemp was eventually out nine short of what would have been a well-deserved hundred, while Cherry made 86. Mark Cosgrove made certain the points were shared with an unbeaten fifty.3rd dayAt the County Ground, Gloucestershire completed their second win of the season, beating Northamptonshire and leapfrogging them in the process, just to rub it in. Gloucestershire started the day at 8 for 1, needing a just 94 more runs for victory which they knocked off quite comfortably to win by six wickets. Their captain Jon Lewis was understandably delighted with the win, completed inside three days, and he told reporters: “Northamptonshire are a decent side and to beat them so convincingly is great for us.” But they weren’t so delighted with being docked one point for a slow over-rate. A sporting declaration from Essex has increased the chances ofa result against Somerset, after Ronnie Irani and Andy Flowerboth continued where they left off last night to add a further 118runs on the third day at Taunton. The home side’s batsmen lost bothopeners cheaply, but Cameron White and James Hildreth both hitattractive fifties before Keith Parsons (59*) and Will Durston (69*)carried Somerset to a commanding 346-run lead.Ray Price and Nadeem Malik’s plucky tenth-wicket stand of 60 nearlypulled off a stunning victory for Worcestershire, before IanHunter took the final wicket to hand Derbyshire a tense35-run victory on the third day at Worcester. Earlier in the day,Kabir Ali gave Worcestershire the upper hand with a brilliant burst of7 for 43 as Derbyshire collapsed to just 149 inside 41 overs. But, inchasing 210 for victory, Worcestershire’s batsmen stumbled to 114 for9 thanks to some penetrative bowling from Steffan Jones (4 for 62) andGraeme Welch (4 for 33). Though Price (56) and Malik took their sideclose, it was too little, too late.

Rory Hamilton-Brown has been reinstated as England Under-19 captain after the ECB was forced to make an about-turn, less than a week after it had stripped him of the captaincy and banned him from the first of two Tests against Pakistan.On Monday, it was reported that Hamilton-Brown had been punished for drinking on the eve of the first Test. He was named in the squad for the second match at Derby, which starts today, but only as a player with Ben Wright continuing as captain.But this morning the ECB issued a statement which said: “Following an investigation, Rory Hamilton-Brown has been reinstated as captain. Following the original decision taken by the England Under-19 team management there were suggestions that Hamilton-Brown had been involved in purchasing and consuming alcohol. Those suggestions have now proven to be unfounded.”The ECB has launched a full inquiry into the circumstances which led to the initial suspension which was imposed by the team management of John Abrahams and Andy Pick on the morning of the first Test.Whatever the outcome, board officials are likely to face some embarrassing questions as to how he was so swiftly banned on what now appears to be unsupportable evidence.

Zimbabwe’s one-day series defeat to Bangladesh is set to open another can of worms with the board and local cricket followers infuriated by the team’s poor performance. Zimbabwe went down to their third straight defeat at Bogra, on Tuesday, handing the series over with two matches left.Pressure on the coach Kevin Curran has quickly resurfaced and the board, which previously backed him when he came under siege from former board member Crispen Tsvarayi and the former head of selectors Bruce Makovah, has also become edgy. The humiliating loss to Bangladesh could be the final straw.Curran is not alone, though. Calls to axe under-performing players – a riot act was reportedly read by selectors before the tour – have grown by the day since Zimbabwe lost the first ODI by nine wickets.Sources have told Cricinfo the board wanted Curran to stay on until the World Cup, but there are now whispers in the corridors of Zimbabwe Cricket power that he is a contributing factor to the team’s slide.The defeats are dreadfully timed. The board is making frantic efforts to be seen to nurture a team that will be competitive when it finally returns to Test cricket at the end of next year.Many blame the board for the team’s continuing plunge, and it is feared that more players may quit the team to run away from taking stick on their own while the Peter Chingoka regime exonerates itself. Vusi Sibanda, the opening batsman, has already missed two tours with Zimbabwe after deciding to play league cricket in Australia where he is reportedly performing well.

New South Wales will play a minimum of two domestic limited-overs matches at Sydney’s Telstra Stadium over the next four years in a deal announced by Cricket NSW today. The Blues will stage a Twenty20 game against Tasmania at the former Olympic track venue on January 10 and a domestic one-day fixture against the Tigers on January 24.David Gilbert, the Cricket NSW chief executive, said the agreement continued the state’s investment in greater western Sydney. “The growth of western Sydney continues apace and is a vital catchment area for cricket participants and supporters,” he said. “We hope playing matches at Telstra Stadium will provide a great opportunity for Sydney’s west, in particular, to support the Blues.”The ground has hosted occasional domestic matches over the past three years and continues Cricket NSW’s push to take games away from the SCG. Telstra Stadium was one of the tenders for international matches in Sydney last season, but the bid of the SCG Trust was accepted.

The relationship between the Kenyan board (KCA) and the striking players, which has deteriorated all week, grew more hostile when Sharad Ghai, the board’s chairman, yesterday accused them of “blackmail”.Today, Steve Tikolo, the former Kenya captain, dismissed Ghai’s comments, maintaining that the players were only asking for what was rightfully theirs. “If you fight for your rights, how does it become blackmail?” he told the Nation newspaper. “What is wrong if we ask for job security just like any other human being? All we are asking is that the money owed to us in match fees and bonuses be paid – we have worked for it.”At the centre of the dispute are the contracts offered to many of the players. Most expired at the end of September, and whereas until recently the board has been using ICC money earmarked for development to pay wages, that practice has now ended at the insistence of the ICC. With no team sponsor for almost 18 months, the KCA has little money to honour salaries and so has had to limit itself to offering two-month contracts. “We need job security,” Tikolo argued. “We don’t need to used for two months and then dumped.”The players feel let down because they have already taken pay cuts as the board’s financial predicament has worsened. Tikolo disputed the salary figures given by Ghai, and claimed that in the last 13 months the highest-paid players had been receiving about half of what the board claims to have paid them. They also maintain that they are still owed win bonuses outstanding from the 2003 World Cup, and that there were suggestions that this might be withheld were they to strike.One other aspect of the walkout is that it has divided the team along racial lines. No Asian players have joined the strike and only one black player – Lameck Onyango – took the field today, but Tikolo said that there were no issues with those who had decided to play against Namibia. “They are our friends,” he explained, “and we have played with them for a long time.”That racial split was evident at the Aga Khan Club today where around 30 supporters staged a noisy protest calling for Ghai’s resignation. At one stage some Kenyan players were jeered and one onlooker said that he was not watching the full side but Kenya A. He quickly corrected himself: “Kenya Asians, I should say.”It was not as clear where the striking players stood with regard to the new players drafted in to fill their places. Earlier in the week Tikolo said he would be looking into suggestions that some might not be Kenyan passport-holders.The striking players Josephat Ababu, Joseph Angara, Jimmy Kamande, Alfred Luseno, David Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Peter Ongondo, Francis Otieno, Kennedy Otieno, Maurice Ouma, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Steve Tikolo.

Cricket South Africa has announced that it will not be able to send a side to play in England should Pakistan not be able to honour their commitments.”We were approached by the ECB earlier this week, requesting the Proteas to replace Pakistan should they withdraw from the ODI tournament against England,” Gerald Majola, the board’s chief executive told reporters. “We have turned down the request on the basis that we are committed to playing against Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI tournament starting next month.”Majola also indicated that South Africa are concluding arrangements to face as yet un-namedopposition in Abu Dhabi “`We are looking for extra one-day games and they are almost finalised,” he said. “The conditions in Abu Dhabi are very similar to those in India and that willgive us the preparation we need for the Champions Trophy.”England have also been reported to have approached New Zealand and West Indies asking whether they could fill the gap should the need arise.But West Indies are due to play their opening match in Malaysia on September 12 – two days after the scheduled date for the last ODI in England – and are also likely to find themselves struggling to help out.

Australia’s answer to an allrounder of Andrew Flintoff’s calibre may not lie in the national or domestic sides, according to Alan Davidson, Australia’s last great allrounder. Davidson, the first Test player to take 10 wickets and make 100 runs in a match in the famous tied Test against the West Indies in 1960-61, has encouraged the national selectors to look further than the current crop.”I think the selectors are on the right track but should also be looking at people in the Australian Under-19s. In the meantime we just need to be patient,” Davidson, 76, told the . “People like Andrew Flintoff take years to develop. He’s done a lot of hard work and had a lot of expert coaching. That’s the difference between the superstars and the others.”In Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson, Australia currently have two potential greats in the making, but the players now find themselves thrust into the role of allrounder in the longer format of the game. “That’s a very difficult thing to achieve,” said Davidson, a former national selector. “There are prospects, but nobody who shows enormous potential. I think Watson’s a very fine young batsman but he’s got an awful lot to learn about bowling.”Both men have been given limited opportunities to prove themselves in Tests and Davidson said there was little gain in contriving an allrounder if there was not one commanding national selection.Davidson, who aggregated 1328 runs and took 186 wickets in 44 Tests, added that a true allrounder should be able to take five wickets in an innings and hit 70 or 80 when the situation demanded it. “In my view our last real allrounder was Gary Gilmour, but he had specialists like Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell around him who were great, and there wasn’t so much need for an allrounder.” Watson batted at No.7 behind Adam Gilchrist and bowled two overs in the first Test against the West Indies at Brisbane before breaking down with a shoulder injury, while Symonds’s first Test innings in almost two years was foiled by a running mix-up with Brad Hodge in Hobart. Neither Symonds nor Watson have contributed much with the ball, despite bowling first change, and Davidson is of the view that they should play as batsmen.

Northwest surprised Western Province with a four wicket victory off the penultimate ball of the match in the Standard Bank Cup clash in Potchefstroom on Friday.Northwest scored 261 for six in response to Western Province’s 258 for five in their allotted 45 overs.Home side opener Hendrik de Vos scored 82 not out while West Indian Mark Lavine blasted 44 off 21 balls down the order that swung the match in favour of the hosts.Western Province’s bowling was well below par as they conceded 23 wides to compound their misery.It started well for the visitors, who won the toss and elected to bat. Spearheaded by a maiden one-day century from opener Graeme Smith they looked well placed to record a win that seemed a mere formality.Smith scored 106 and took three for 46 in 8.2 overs to earn the man of the match award. His heroics were not enough as the rest of the team failed to raise their game when it was needed.Western Province openers Smith and suspended national team player Herschelle Gibbs put on 40 for the first wicket. Gibbs blitzed 22 that included five boundaries before being caught by De Vos off the bowling of seamer Garth Roe.Zimbabwean international Neil Johnson played the dominant role in a 103-run second wicket partnership with Smith, scoring 58. It was an aggressive knock that included four boundaries and one six. He holed out to Craig Light off spinnner Corrie Jordaan.Lloyd Ferreira then played the support role as Smith moved to his century. Ferreira was Roe’s second victim caught in the covers by West Indian Mark Lavine.Smith was run out two overs from the end of the innings as he tried to force the pace further. But he had already done enough to put his side into a strong positionThe Northwest response was spirited as they tried manfully to stay with the required run rate of five and a half to the over.They had fallen behind with the loss of opener Glen Hewitt (42), Arno Jacobs (18) and Martin Venter (3) before Lavine made hay and turned the match on its head.When he holed out to Herschelle Gibbs at point, the way was paved for De Vos to steer his side to victory.

It’s the coming of the evolution of cricket – the Stanford 20/20 tournament to be played at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua from July 11 to August 13.The Barbados cricketers got a chance this week to try out the new kits and from all reports they are loving it. The gear was handed over by Raj Walia, the Toronto-based manufacturer, who is part owner of Vampire and BAS cricket equipment.The bats are black, with the Stanford 20/20 logo on the front and back. The balls are orange and will offer more swing. The helmets are black and will have a blue and yellow stripe. The pads and batting gloves will have a similar design. Each player in the 19 participating teams will get a kit, and over 500 balls have been manufactured.The stumps and bails will be silver, and organisers are promising a spectacle during the matches which will be played in the afternoon under natural light and at night under floodlights.