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Ashwell Prince, the South African batsman, has been signed by Lancashire as the club’s overseas player for the start of the 2009 season. He is expected to play for the county until the arrival of VVS Laxman after the conclusion of this year’s IPL.”I’m really pleased to be coming on board with Lancashire,” Prince said. “My initial conversations with Mike Watkinson (Lancashire’s Director of Cricket) have been very positive and I see myself playing an important role for them in the middle order. I enjoyed my stint in the UK last year and am excited to be joining such a proud and successful club.”Watkinson said the decision to sign Prince was in part motivated by the need to start the season well amid a hectic schedule. “As we experienced last season, the first two months is non-stop cricket with plenty of Championship and one-day fixtures in a short space of time,” he said. “It’s important we get the best possible start, and to have the services of a world-class batsman like Ashwell over this period will help us set the foundation to what we hope will be a highly successful season.”Prince represented Nottinghamshire last season after South Africa’s 2-1 Test series win against England, in which averaged 75, but missed the recent Test series in Australia due to a broken thumb. The Lancashire announcement came a day after the IPL auction, where Prince failed to attract any bidders.The auction, however, spoiled Gloucestershire’s plans of signing Kyle Mills, who was bought by Mumbai Indians for $150,000. Mills and Gloucestershire had reached an agreement about his representing the club for the initial part of the county season and news of his unavailability upset the county.”While the IPL contract is clearly great news for Kyle, it is a blow for us,” Tom Richardson, Gloucestershire’s chief executive said. “He is the type of player we are looking for and he was keen to come over and join us. Hopefully, that could still happen at a future date.”In the meantime the completion of the IPL auction makes the situation clearer as to which players will be available for the start of our season and it is still our intention to recruit an overseas bowler.”

It doesn’t matter to New Zealand that this Australian outfit has lost itsaura over the past few months. The visitors remain desperate to beat theirtrans-Tasman rivals even though they are no longer world beaters, andtheir final opportunity in this series occurs at the Gabba on Friday.Since taking a 2-0 lead in the Chappell-Hadlee Series, New Zealand havewatched the hosts regather strength and with one more strike will havemissed their chance. To Daniel Vettori’s men, this deciding game is themost important since the 2007 World Cup semi-final, only this time theydon’t have experienced campaigners in most corners.Both sides are regenerating, but New Zealand have the extra incentive ofending their streak of never beating Australia in a series in the hosts’backyard. “There’s a lot of motivation going around and that’s part ofit,” Vettori said of their past record. “It’s also the excitement ofplaying a final for us, getting ourselves up for that and enjoying theopportunity to beat Australia because they’re few and far between for alot of players.”This could be the start of something great for what is a very young team.So we’ll be using that as motivation and just try to get as excited aspossible for the game.”Vettori will remind the players of their performance in Adelaide onTuesday, when Australia levelled the series, and urge them to takeresponsibility in the big occasion. “All the guys that let themselves downwith the bat, and also with the ball and even in the field, need to knowthey have to lift for this game,” he said. “This is the most importantgame a New Zealand cricket team has played for a long time.”While the visitors crave a change of history, the Australians want toavoid an embarrassing defeat against opponents they consider inferior.Coming back from the couple of early defeats has given Ricky Ponting’sside extra energy, especially after the improved batting performances ofBrad Haddin, Michael Clarke and the Hussey brothers.”[This game] is everything, we want to finish the Australian summer off ona good note,” Ponting said. “If we do we we’ve got a Twenty20 game onSunday and then we head to South Africa with a fairly similar group ofguys that will probably have just a bit more of a spring in their step ifwe happen to win the game.”Australia have an injury concern over Clarke, who has a sore upper back,and if he misses out Ponting will consider adding Peter Siddle andplucking an opener from the middle order. “If Michael comes up I don’tthink there will be too many changes,” Ponting said. The weather inBrisbane is unsettled and the predicted showers may also have a say in theselections.Vettori said if Clarke was missing it would give them a slight advantage,but they also have a couple of worries. Ross Taylor left the field with ableeding mouth during the warm-up at the Gabba before the rain came onThursday. He appeared in only minor discomfort while Brendon McCullum, whowill play, will decide over the next day whether to have anotherpain-killing injection in his injured right shoulder.

The Duleep Trophy has long been the setting for famous turnarounds in a player’s fortune – Sourav Ganguly’s road back to the national team started with an emphatic century in 2005 and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s 200 in 1967, after resigning as India captain, had his critics imploring him to remain leader of the national side. It remains so this season with a hectic year of cricket ahead and an Indian team in some transition.The tournament opener at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has several fringe players hoping for a similar upturn, chief among those is South Zone’s swing bowler Sreesanth. For a few Test regulars it is an opportunity to gain match practice ahead of the New Zealand visit, but VVS Laxman, the South captain, stressed he was focused on winning the tournament and was not treating the match as a warm-up for New Zealand.Having struggled with injuries following last year’s IPL, Sreesanth made a huge impact in his only first-class game since, taking seven wickets for Kerala. Anyone with his pace and his outswinger would have walked into an Indian side of the 1990s in spite of the long lay-off, but the national fast-bowling stocks have rarely been in better health, making his comeback a far tougher proposition.To complicate matters for Sreesanth, the tournament is now played in a knockout format, with the winner of this match progressing to the semi-finals. That means he could have only one chance to convince the national selectors of his form and fitness ahead of the New Zealand tour next month.Another bowler who has slipped down the pecking order is legspinner Piyush Chawla, a Test debutant at 17, three years ago. He missed out on the squad for the one-dayers against Sri Lanka despite Harbhajan Singh’s absence. He’s had a moderate first-class season – taking 27 wickets at 35, and made some handy runs – but an eye-catching performance against the formidable South batting, including VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, could provide just the boost he needs.

Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath, on the bench for the recent home Tests against England, is another one who needs to perform. His ticket to New Zealand is not yet confirmed, with Rohit Sharma – who made twin centuries in the Ranji Trophy final – leading a bunch of youngsters pushing to take his place. His South team-mate Robin Uthappa has dropped off the national radar since the CB Series in Australia early last year. He has staked his claim though by being Karnataka’s stand-out batsman, making three centuries in the Ranji Trophy to carry an inexperienced batting order.A little lower in the race for a national berth is L Balaji, who has had a dazzling season (36 wickets at 17.50) after a long battle with a back injury. A good Duleep Trophy will help him climb another rung on the ladder to the top.With Balaji and Sreesanth leading the attack, and an imposing batting line-up, South start as favourites, their only weakness being an innocuous spin department. Central’s worry is not their slow bowling, which includes Chawla and Murali Kartik, but their batting. Their recognised batsmen have played only 13 Tests, compared to South’s 254.The pitch is expected to favour the batsmen, on the slower side with the bounce getting lower as the match progresses.South Zone squad: VVS Laxman (capt), S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Arjun Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, L Balaji, Sreesanth, R Vinay Kumar, Saurabh Bandekar, M Suresh, Anoop Pai.Central Zone squad: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Anureet Singh, Robin Bist, Piyush Chawla, Faiz Fazal, Yere Goud, Murali Kartik, Naman Ojha (wk), Pankaj Singh, Parvinder Singh, Jalaj Saxena, Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava.

Melissa Bulow, Clea Smith and Kris Britt have returned to national reckoning after being named in the 30-member preliminary World Cup squad for Australia. The squad also includes six players from the Australia Under-21 side – Elyse Villani, Alyssa Healy, Corinne Hall, Jessica Cameron, Jo-Ann Verrall, Jessica Jonassen – who lost a close Twenty20 game against the senior team in October last year.Bulow and Smith last played for Australia in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand in 2007, while Britt was dropped after a poor ODI series against England in February last year. Renee Chappell was called up to the national squad for the 2008 Rose Bowl series but did not get a single game.Eighteen-year old Healy, who is a wicketkeeper like her uncle, the former Test player Ian, said the news of being named in the squad came as a shock. Healy said her uncle had been a willing mentor in her career so far and was always happy to help her out with tips on the game. “Watching him keep for Australia definitely inspired me to do better things when I was younger. Knowing how much work he put in to get to where he wanted definitely helped me learn a few things about how I can better myself as a cricketer,” Healy was quoted as saying in the ICC website.She expected the top four teams – Australia, England, New Zealand and India – to be extremely competitive in the tournament. “However competition could come from any of the other seven sides so it will be a tough tournament for the Australian girls.”Australia preliminary women’s World Cup squad: Karen Rolton (capt), Lisa Sthalekar, Alex Blackwell, Kate Blackwell, Melissa Bulow, Kris Britt, Sarah Andrews, Jessica Cameron, Renee Chappell, Leonie Coleman, Lauren Ebsary, Sarah Edwards, Rene Farrell, Jodie Fields, Corinne Hall, Rachel Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jessica Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Shelley Nitschke, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Kirsten Pike, Leah Poulton,, Emma Sampson, Clea Smith, , Selena Tainton, Jo-Ann Verrall, Elyse Villani, Julie Woerner.

Ricky Ponting thinks Australia deserve to hold on to the No. 1 ranking even if they are defeated by South Africa in the three-Test series over the next month. Australia have held the top spot under Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ponting and the current captain said the outfit’s dominance over a long period meant it should not be deposed.While the team has a 13-point lead over South Africa on the ICC table, Australia’s days of sweeping past all-comers are over with the loss of a group of greats over the past two years. The team struggled in India, where it lost 2-0, and faces another serious threat at the WACA from December 17.”It has taken us a long time and a lot of great wins in different conditions around the world to get us to that No. 1 spot,” Ponting told AAP. “If South Africa beat us 3-0 I don’t know if that gives them enough points to get over us.”But if they won the series 1-0 or 2-1, I don’t think that would mean that they deserve to take over that mantle. It’s a bit the same with India last series. Just because they beat us, the No. 1 team, doesn’t necessarily mean they go from the No. 4 or No. 5 in the world to No. 1 in the world, because it’s something that’s accrued over a long period of time.”Ponting has been dealing with a wrist injury, which he insists will not shorten his career, and has no desire to stop leading the side. “I’ve never thought about giving up the captaincy or not wanting to do it anymore,” Ponting said in the Australian. “I’m really enjoying the job that I’ve got and I enjoy the challenge of trying to lift the team every day.”He is about to turn 34 but does not feel like he is at the end of his career and is looking forward to being in charge as the side evolves. “It’s a challenging time for me and the team right now,” he said. “The transitional phase that we’re in has been challenging within itself, but it’s an exciting time for me as well and one that I’m looking to work really closely with some of the younger players to ensure we get through this the best we possibly can.”While Ponting plans to continue in all three formats, he said those involved in Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 could not play every game over the next 18 months. “It’s inevitable there’ll be player workload issues,” he said, “and that’s been one thing we’ve been trying to deal with for the last four or five years.”Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, is aware of the demands faced by the team and has called for change. “We need to look at better management of players or prioritisation of games, not only so that players are performing the best they can on the field but so they are keeping their personal lives together off the field,” Marsh told the Age.

Former Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper H Sundaram has died at the age of 60 following a fall from a ladder at his home in Chennai on Saturday.Sundaram played seven first-class games between 1974 and 1977, scoring 31 and making 13 dismissals, for a Tamil Nadu side that included former Test offspinner and umpire S Venkatarghavan. Although he was considered one of the finest in Tamil Nadu at the time, Sundaram had a forgettable debut, recording a duck against Kerala. He also played against a Sri Lanka side – yet to receive Test status – that included Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis and Sidhath Wettimuny.V Ramnarayan, a former team-mate of Sundaram, remembered his unusual left-handed style of keeping. “His left-handedness showed in his keeping, as he often gathered with one hand, the left hand”, Ramnarayan wrote in his blog . “It often produced spectacular results, especially in the form of leg-side stumpings. He loved to stand up to the medium pacers and remove the bails in a flash. In the 1970s, he was regarded as the best stumper in Tamil Nadu, and even played for the state briefly, until one fine morning, miffed at being overlooked in favour of the young Bharat Reddy, he wrote to the cricket association asking them not to consider him any more for selection.”He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Hedley Howarth, who was New Zealand’s leading slow bowler during the early 1970s and a key man in their first Test win on the subcontinent, has died at the age of 64. Howarth, the elder brother of the former New Zealand captain Geoff Howarth, collected 86 wickets at 36.95 in his 30 Test appearances.A left-arm orthodox bowler, Howarth occupies a significant place in New Zealand’s history as the man who bowled them to victory against India in Nagpur in 1969-70. India were chasing 277 in the fourth innings but Howarth’s 5 for 34, including a wonderful catch off his own bowling, ensured the hosts never got close.New Zealand’s 167-run win was their first Test success on the subcontinent. It was also in that part of the world that Howarth collected his only other five-wicket haul in a Test, when he picked up 5 for 80 against Pakistan in Karachi.Howarth’s control and flight made him a useful prospect at international level and he was often used in long spells to dry up the scoring. A dangerous bowler on the first-class scene, Howarth picked up 541 wickets at 25.27 in an Auckland career that lasted nearly two decades.Justin Vaughan, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, said Howarth would be remembered as an important player during a positive era for New Zealand. “Hedley was part of a Test era in the early ’70s that saw New Zealand performing consistently on the world stage,” Vaughan said.”His bowling was a big factor in that success. He remained closely involved in the game after his retirement – especially in Auckland – and his loss will be keenly felt by the cricketing community throughout New Zealand.”

The MCC’s World Cricket Committee meets in New Delhi over the weekend when, apart from discussing issues related to the game at large, it will award honorary life memberships to Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Shaun Pollock. The three players are members of its World Cricket Committee.The discussions will cover the impact of Twenty20 on international cricket and the use of technology for on-field decisions. Kumble and Dravid will give their opinion on the umpire decision review system, which was trialled during India’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, while IS Bindra, the ICC’s principal advisor, will outline the success and future of the IPL.Tony Lewis, the committee’s chairman, said he expects a healthy discussion and debate on issues currently concerning the game. “This is the Committee’s sixth meeting and we are reaping the rewards of a group of highly experienced, independent-minded cricket specialists debating the core issues in the game today,” he said. “Free from considerations of politics, money and race, the MCC World Cricket Committee can and does act solely in the interest of the sport and its players.”

Scorecard
How they were out

The final league game of the tri-series may have been reduced to a dead rubber after New Zealand A’s elimination but the few thousands of spectators who came to watch India A take on Australia A were entertained by a see-saw battle. Both teams brought competitive flair to an inconsequential match and, in the end, India A chased down the target with three wickets and four overs in hand to take some confidence into Friday’s final.India suffered a few hiccups during their run-chase. They lost their first three wickets for 70 before Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina shared an 85-run stand for the fourth wicket, which turned the match India’s way. They lost a few more wickets but not direction and a cameo from Piyush Chawla helped them go past Australia’s total of 272.Both teams took the opportunity presented by the dead rubber to field experimental sides. Ravi Teja, Jaydev Shah and Wriddhiman Saha finally got a chance while Australia tinkered with their batting line-up and also rested Shaun Tait for the seamer Mark Cameron.Robin Uthappa had another chance to get out of his rut but Cameron was too quick and the opener lost his off stump. Shah had the licence to attack and he made room and swung hard at wide deliveries to kick start the innings. Ravi Teja was given an opportunity ahead of Raina and he impressed during his stint using Cameron’s pace to hit two boundaries on either side of the wicket before an attempted pull eventually fell to David Hussey at midwicket. The dismissal left India on 70 for 3 and in need of a partnership or two.Cue Sharma and Raina, who gave India the initiative by scoring at a brisk rate – their partnership took only 83 balls – and preventing the loss of further wickets. Raina set the tone by hitting left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty for two sixes over the leg side. Rohit collected singles with deft touches and flicks against the spinners. However, their dismissals – Raina was caught off Brett Geeves and Sharma was run out while ball-watching – came in quick succession and left India with a bit more work to do.At the 34th over India were 187 for 5 and Yusuf Pathan’s aggressive 36 took them closer. He dictated terms during his innings, which included a whip past midwicket and a powerful pull over square leg, but his dismissal left Australia with a chance. Chawla, however, eased the pressure with a straight six off Geeves in the 45th over and sealed the win with two sixes off Doherty in the following over.Both teams had a satisfactory workout, especially the Australians, after their one-sided contest against New Zealand on Tuesday. They experimented with a new opening pair in Adam Voges and Marcus North but their stand was broken by the fourth over. North scored 40 off 52 balls and played second fiddle to Hussey, who peppered the off side with boundaries. Hussey favoured the extra cover region, scooping Irfan Pathan over the rope and driving him along the ground. He used his feet once the spinners came on and lofted Chawla with the turn over mid-off before hitting him over midwicket shortly after bringing up his fifty.A cloudy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon and the conditions got easier for batting. The Australians were comfortably placed at 104 for 2 after the Powerplays and Hussey was ticking along at more than a run a ball. Hussey’s dismissal was vital and Yusuf Pathan sneaked one through his defences to cut him short on 74.India did not find wickets easy to come by and Australia’s middle order put together useful partnerships. Cameron White and George Bailey added 41 before Bailey and Phillip Hughes combined for 45, both in quick time. Hughes, who had dropped down the order, adjusted smoothly and improvised during the slog overs. He made room to attack by moving towards leg, exposing all three stumps, to hit the bowlers over the off side. Ashley Noffke joined Hughes and the pair added 57 off 46 balls to take the Australians to a competitive score. The target, however, was well within India’s reach and the two sides will play the final with an even head-to-head record.

Australia AAdam Voges c Raina b Kumar 5 (7 for 1)
Lunged forward to one that moved away and edged to second slipMarcus North lbw b Chawla 40 (103 for 2)
Played down the wrong lineDavid Hussey b Yusuf 74 (127 for 3)
Tried to work it to the on side with the turnCameron White c Saha b Rohit 30 (168 for 4)
Attempted to slog but got an edge onto the pads that ballooned up to SahaGeorge Bailey c Kulkarni b Kumar 36 (213 for 5)
Tried to work a full delivery to the on side but got a leading edge to mid-offLuke Ronchi c Uthappa b Chawla 0 (215 for 6)
Went down the track, Uthappa ran forward from long-off to take the catchIndiaRobin Uthappa b Cameron 7 (18 for 1)
Beaten for pace, the off stump went cartwheelingJaydev Shah c Hughes b Cameron 26 (58 for 2)
Made room to slap one over the off side but miscued it to mid-offRavi Teja c Voges b Doherty 33 (70 for 3)
Pulled a short delivery but failed to clear midwicketSuresh Raina c Hussey b Geeves 46 (155 for 4)
A leading edge lobbed up to Hussey who ran to his left from coverRohit Sharma run out (Ronchi) 51 (187 for 5)
Was ball-watching and failed to beat Ronchi’s direct hitYusuf Pathan c Hussey b Noffke 36 (214 for 6)
Slower ball, he tried to clear mid-off but failed to get enough elevationIrfan Pathan run out 14 (240 for 7)
Tapped to short cover, Voges gathered and threw it underarm back to White

India were not prepared enough to face Ajantha Mendis in the recently concluded Test series and didn’t have a plan, former national captain Ajit Wadekar has said. Mendis, an unorthodox legspinner who made his debut in the first Test in Colombo, dominated the Indian batting line-up during the series – which Sri Lanka won 2-1 – to finish with a record 26 wickets.”To be frank, India were caught napping. They did not plan to tackle Mendis properly,” Wadekar said. “They did not decide which of the batsmen should go after him. That’s basically how one should go about things at the international level, regardless of whether the batsman gets out.”Wadekar said an attacking approach was needed against Mendis. “One should try to hit him out of the attack, not give him a chance to spin the ball both ways. One has to take chances otherwise he will always get on top,” Wadekar said. “With such a good batting line-up I am surprised why no one decided to take him on.”Mendis’ abilities with the ball impressed Wadekar. “It’s really amazing to see him hold the ball with his carrom-like grip, bowl at pace, and be absolutely accurate,” he said. “He’s got tremendous variations and he is going to be one of the wonders of the game as far as bowling is concerned.”Mendis, he said, reminded him of John Gleeson, whom he faced when Australia toured India in 1969. “Gleeson was a similar type of bowler but he could not bowl at pace because of his difficult grip. He would flight the ball, so we managed to kill the spin by stepping out,” he said. “It became much easier to face him [Gleeson] as the tour went on. It wasn’t as difficult as with Mendis, who is much quicker, faster and accurate.”Wadekar also spoke about two Indian spinners from his playing days who were similar to Mendis. “I have faced Subhash Gupte, who was a genuine legspinner. He was much slower then Mendis, but very tricky.”Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was another such bowler. If he got wickets in his first two overs, he became unplayable because he would begin to vary his deliveries a lot,” he said. “When we [the Mumbai side] played him in domestic cricket, he would try and not give him an early wicket.”