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Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath has said that India need a capable third fast bowler if they are to maintain their recent consistency. Srinath rated Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma as “the best new-ball pair in the world” but said they would not remain effective if India’s selectors persisted with a “musical chairs” policy.”The third pacer has to be a walk-in choice in the team. It just can’t be like the musical chairs as it is now,” Srinath said at Bangalore’s National Cricket Academy. “The longevity and form of Zaheer and Ishant will depend on what quality they get from the third seamer. Otherwise it will be case of what happened to [Venkatesh] Prasad and me where you bowl long spells, you get tired, and you lose your sting.”Srinath and Prasad formed a successful new-ball pairing for India in the 1990s but India still struggled, mostly overseas, with the two fast bowlers and Anil Kumble shouldering the attack. Zaheer’s appearance in 2000 was a boost to a struggling side and for a brief while he shared the new ball with Srinath, the pair doing well in New Zealand and the 2003 World Cup that followed.But in the past few years, pace has played a key role overseas and at home, proving that India are not spin-reliant any more. Since they have paired up, Ishant and Zaheer have become a force in varying conditions The skill with which the duo used the new, and particularly the old ball, played a crucial role in India’s regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year. Ishant has achieved what no Indian fast bowler has achieved since Kapil Dev in 1983 – he won a Player-of-the-Series award at home.”They have produced tremendous results in the time they have been together,” said Srinath. “There is no doubt they are the best bowling pair now.”India’s selectors have picked Munaf Patel, L Balaji and rookie Dhawal Kulkarni for the upcoming Tests in New Zealand. Munaf, when fit, has appeared a strong contender to fill the third seamer’s role. Srinath termed Munaf “a good prospect”, and said he had produced good results at times. “All three [Munaf, L Balaji, and Dhawal Kulkarni] have done well in domestic cricket,” he said. “But this is when you show you don’t just belong in that space, you belong at the next level as well.”Srinath, who played three Tests in New Zealand, urged India’s pace attack to bring the batsmen onto the front foot. “When the ball is moving around, you have to make the batsman play on the front foot,” said Srinath of conditions that have assisted swing and seam. “Venky [Prasad] will be there to tell them all they need to know, but the rudiments don’t change too much wherever you play. You have to make the batsman play, not allow him to leave too much.”This is your time, when the team looks up to you to lead the way. You have to turn that added responsibility into a positive; if you think it is pressure, it will eat you up from within.”

New South Wales 8 for 128 (Thornely 36*, Nannes 4-11) beat Victoria 9 for 126 (Finch 43) by 2 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

New South Wales came from behind to earn a chance at a multi-million dollar pay day in the Champions League Twenty20 after Victoria imploded chasing a small target at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. Dirk Nannes’ outstanding 4 for 11 helped reduce the Blues to 8 for 128, but the Bushrangers flopped in reply and suffered a demoralising two-run defeat when Nannes could manage only a single from the last ball.Victoria, who lost their third match in four years, were in line for the riches in India last December before the US$6 million tournament was postponed following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Told they had to requalify, they were leading the competition until this match and must now beat Queensland at the Gabba on Wednesday to secure their spot in the global event – and the domestic final, which will be played at the Olympic Stadium next Saturday.While Simon Katich’s men roared at their revival, the Victorians were shattered and the result dumped South Australia from the competition. The Blues finished on top of the table with six points, the same number as Victoria and Queensland, but sneaked ahead due to a superior record in head-to-head contests.The Bushrangers were in control when they needed 27 from the final five overs before the Blues raced back into contention as the visitors lost their heads, the match and, perhaps, a shot at a seven-figure cheque at the Champions League in October. “It’s a script on how to stuff up a cricket game,” the captain Brad Hodge said.Both sides were missing key players on Australia duty, but it was the absence of the cool heads of David Hussey and Cameron White that proved more costly than David Warner’s late call-up to the national side. There were five run-outs in Victoria’s innings and each time they appeared to be on top they froze.On an evening when the players were nervous with the possibilities, their difficulties were added to by a drop-in pitch offering low bounce. When Doug Bollinger gave up only 12 off his opening four overs the Bushrangers were tense at 2 for 29 in what should have been a comfortable pursuit. Hodge had been run out by a diving Mark Cameron in the second over after a mix-up with Aiden Blizzard and Cameron followed up by winning an lbw decision against Blizzard (5).Two for 17 could have become 3 for 18 when Daniel Smith dropped a tough chance off Aaron Finch, who almost took his side to victory with 43 from 46 deliveries. Fifteen runs from a Dominic Thornely over eased the demands on Victoria at the half-way mark, but almost immediately Rob Quiney was run out for 21 and Andrew McDonald was caught short without facing a ball.Adam Crosthwaite entered at 4 for 61 and drove a six before Finch followed up with back-to-back clearances as Thornely gave up another 15. However, Crosthwaite was bowled for 20 and the pressure increased with each dot ball from Cameron, Aaron Bird and Steven O’Keefe, who was unlucky to miss a stumping to Damien Wright due to an umpiring mistake. Victoria needed 20 off two overs when Bird bowled Finch and then Wright departed to another run out.Shane Harwood started O’Keefe’s final over with a six, leaving 10 required off five balls, and scampered three lots of twos to mid-on. With four wanted from two, Harwood was stumped by Smith, who was standing a couple of metres back from the wickets. The No. 10 Nannes squeezed a single and Jon Holland was run out coming back for a second, leaving them at 9 for 126.”A score of 120-odd was a little bit below par, but anything can happen in a final,” Katich said. “It was a great effort by everyone.”Nannes had Moises Henriques caught and bowled from the fifth ball of the match and in his second over hit Steven Smith’s off stump to have the hosts 2 for 16. He created another serious problem for the Blues when Ben Rohrer stepped away to cut but could only edge behind to Crosthwaite on 7. At the end of his three-over opening spell Nannes had 3 for 6 and already it appeared Victoria were heading for victory.Katich pushed to Wright behind point and ran, but O’Keefe was never a chance of reaching the striker’s end and as he departed New South Wales were a disastrous 4 for 39. There was hope for the Blues when Katich was there, but his bright 35 off 26, which included three legside sixes, ended when he swiped across the line to Harwood and was bowled.Thornely stayed till the end and his cautious 36 off 36 meant his bowlers started with a chance, while Smith also chipped in with 19. Nannes returned for his final over and watched Bird play on to complete a fine performance. A few minutes after his last-ball single Nannes was awarded the Man-of-the-Match prize, but wanted to swap it for a boundary.

Scorecard

After ruling out play on the first day fog and bad light allowed only 53.1 overs on the second, but that was more than sufficient for the Sri Lankan spinners to roll over a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI for 88 in Savar. The wrecker-in-chief surprisingly was not Muttiah Muralitharan but left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath, who was included in the touring party after Ajantha Mendis was ruled out with an ankle injury.After the new-ball bowlers had nipped out a couple of early wickets Herath, who has played only 13 Tests since making his debut in 1999, ran through the young BCB side. Opener Imrul Kayes and Raqibul Hasan had taken the hosts to 47 for 2 before Herath struck five times in his next four overs. Muralitharan took two in two balls to put them in more trouble and only No. 8 Saikat Ali (22) provided any resistance.The Sri Lankans’ batting wasn’t as impressive; Malinda Warnapura and Chamara Kapugedera were both dismissed for ducks before Michael Vandort and captain Mahela Jayawardene dragged the visitors to 36 off 19 overs.This is the Sri Lankans’ only practice match before the first Test gets underway in Mirpur on Boxing Day. Several of their practice sessions have also been hampered due to the fog.

Scorecard

Kieron Pollard’s all-round show helped Trinidad & Tobago to a three-wicket win against defending champions Jamaica in a low-scoring first semi-final at the Providence stadium in Guyana.Jamaica had the advantage of batting first on a hard pitch but kept losing wickets periodically. The only substantial partnership was the fifth-wicket stand of 55 between Tamar Lambert and Lorenzo Ingram. Lambert was the top scorer, with 55 off 68 balls, but with only one other batsman making more than 25, Jamaica could only muster 196. All three of Pollard’s wickets – Danza Hyatt, Yanick Elliot and Lambert – came with the batsmen holing out in the deep. Offspinner Rishi Bachan also chipped in with two wickets.The T&T chase got off to a poor start: Adrian Barath and captain Daren Ganga were lbw for ducks to medium-pacer David Bernard. Darren Bravo (41) and Lendl Simmons (24) stabilized the innings with a 54-run partnership but it was still anybody’s game when T&T slipped to 84 for 4. That brought Pollard to the crease and his 76 took T&T near the finish line. He was trapped lbw by Lambert but T&T had little trouble in reaching the target with three overs to spare.They now await the winners of Saturday’s semi-final between Barbados and Leewards Islands.

Brad Hodge will become Victoria’s most-capped first-class player on Saturday when he takes the field in a Sheffield Shield game against Tasmania at the MCG and surpasses Darren Berry’s record of 138 appearances for the state. Already this season Hodge has overtaken Dean Jones as the leading run scorer for Victoria.However, Hodge’s celebrations have been tempered by the knowledge he has only managed the achievements because his international career has never quite taken off. Hodge was 30 when he first played for Australia in 2005-06 and he has been used for six Tests and 25 one-day internationals.”I would have liked to have played more games for Australia, but it hasn’t turned out that way,” Hodge told the this week. “Deano played over 50 Tests and more than 130 games for his state. If I’d have achieved those numbers I would’ve been happy, but I’m 46 Tests short.”Hodge still holds a Cricket Australia contract and played the most recent of his Tests in the Caribbean this year but he knows that, turning 34 next month, time is against him to add significantly to his international tally. He has become a semi-regular “next-in-line” player and is often the man Australia call into squads late when injury strikes another batsman.But he remains proud of his achievements with Victoria and he nominated as a career highlight the 2003-04 Pura Cup triumph, which was an emotional time for the players as their coach David Hookes had died two months earlier. Hodge also enjoyed the experience of bursting on to the state scene as a teenager and playing alongside some icons of Victorian cricket.”When I started there were some great names I played with,” he said. “[Shane] Warne, [Paul] Reiffel, [Merv] Hughes, Jones, [Tony] Dodemaide. To be able to come in at 18 and play with those guys, who were legends at the time, is a highlight.”Hodge hopes he can add another first-class title to his list of achievements, with Victoria sitting third on the Sheffield Shield table after three games. On Saturday they begin their first home match of the campaign and they will be without Cameron White, who was not named in the squad for next week’s first Test in Brisbane but will be rested after his busy tour of India.”We feel he’s had a significant workload. He’s weary and a bit worn out,” Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd said. “Already this season he’s gone to Darwin, captained Australia A in India, played a Test series in India. There’s a huge amount of cricket ahead and we felt Cameron had to have a little time to gather and reload.”Shane Harwood has been included in Victoria’s 12-man squad as a replacement for Darren Pattinson, who has a groin injury. The first day’s play will begin at the unusually late time of 1pm to allow players involved in Friday night’s All-Stars Twenty20 game in Brisbane to return to Melbourne in time.Victoria squad Chris Rogers, Nick Jewell, Brad Hodge, David Hussey (capt), Rob Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Damien Wright, Clint McKay, Shane Harwood, Jon Holland, Dirk Nannes.Tasmania squad Rhett Lockyear, Michael Dighton, Travis Birt, George Bailey, Daniel Marsh (capt), Dane Anderson, Tim Paine (wk), Luke Butterworth, Gerard Denton, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus, Tim Macdonald.

Scorecard

Shelley Nitschke’s breezy 94 ensured a clean sweep for Australia in the five-match ODI series against India after the bowlers had restricted the Indians to 177 for 9. Nitschke, Emma Sampson and Delissa Kimmince took two wickets each to set up a seven-wicket win at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.Indian openers Sulakshana Naik and Anagha Deshpande justified stand-in captain Rumeli Dhar’s decision to bat first by putting on a 54-run opening stand. However, once Naik fell, castled by Nitschke, a mini-collapse followed and India slipped to 70 for 4. It was thanks to Priyanka Roy and Amita Sharma’s 40-run seventh-wicket partnership that India went past 150.The Australian reply never looked like faltering. Alex Blackwell, fresh from a century in Saturday’s match, was cautious, while Nitschke launched into an Indian attack weakened by the absence of their fastest bowler, Jhulan Goswami. Nitschke slammed 15 fours and a six on her way to her highest ODI score, off 56 balls. She was eventually caught by Dhar off Mithali Raj, who also struck with her next ball, trapping Lisa Sthalekar leg-before. However, Australia had little trouble in completing the rout with 21 overs to spare.Nitschke, who missed the first four matches due to a thigh injury, was pleased with her efforts in her comeback game. “It’s never good being injured and it felt like a long time since I’d played, so today I just wanted to get to the crease and have a bit of a look at the bowlers,” she said. “We got a message early on that we wanted to try and get the runs quickly and by that time I was pretty set, the ball was getting older and things started to roll my way.”.Things haven’t gone India’s way since winning the Asia Cup earlier this year. They have lost all nine of their completed matches since then and have no more games scheduled before next year’s World Cup in March.Australia travel to New Zealand next for five ODIs and a Twenty20 to round off their pre-World Cup campaign.

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, has breathed a sigh of relief after New Zealand leveled the three-match series 1-1 yesterday in Mirpur. Bangladesh’s historic seven-wicket win in the series opener, followed by another good bowling performance, left New Zealand under pressure defending 212 but the visiting bowlers came good when it really mattered. The pitch for the second ODI, however, did not impress Vettori.”Absolutely it’s a relief. I think when you lose the first game and put a mediocre total on board than there are some concerns,” Vettori said. “So we were a little nervous in the dressing room even though we scored 200-plus runs.”Vettori was not pleased with New Zealand’s second under-par batting display, and hoped they would do better in Chittagong, venue of the final ODI, provided a good pitch was prepared. “It wasn’t the greatest score and we are lucky that Jacob [Oram] put some runs on the board for us. Once again we were scratched with the ball and Bangladesh bowled very well at the start and put pressure on us,” he said. “So it’s another disappointing batting performance, but on a difficult wicket. I don’t think the wicket was very good for one-day cricket. We were lucky to get 212 and in the end it was good enough. We hope Chittagong will offer a true ODI wicket.”Bangladesh were in with a good chance to register a rare series win after reducing New Zealand to another poor total, but were bowled out for 137. Mohammad Ashraful, the losing captain, blamed it on ‘slow batting’.”Yes, we were close to a series victory as our bowling and fielding was good but we batted too slowly. It was not easy to bat on this kind of wicket where the ball stops a bit,” Ashraful said. “It’s very difficult to judge the ball and it was difficult to make up when we scored only 50 runs off 20 overs. In this situation you can only chase down if you had a good start,”Ashraful’s 86-ball 40 was the best score in a poor Bangladesh reply. “It was tough to comeback in the match after the departure of Shakib [Al Hasan]. The asking run-rate went high,” he said. “We had a plan to take the Powerplay early but everything changed after the dismissal of Shakib. If we had not lost a few quick wickets then we might have used the Powerplay at a later stage. I must say they [New Zealand] read the pitch brilliantly and bowled very well.”

Lou Vincent’s ICL contract currently bars him from playing for New Zealand, but the batsman says he was unlikely to play international cricket at present even if he had a choice. Vincent said he considered his New Zealand career over when he was dropped for the home series against Bangladesh in December 2007; New Zealand Cricket terminated his contract in February this year when he joined the league.”I haven’t considered it [playing again for New Zealand],” Vincent told . “At this stage it is way out of my mind because we’re not allowed to play. I made a decision to retire from international cricket last year, so I have no ambition to play for New Zealand.”In a couple of years’ time things might fall into place with the ICL and if things change then I’m sure there’ll be opportunities to play again.”Vincent said he wanted to play Twenty20 cricket in the ICL. “It’s basically from where the IPL took off and was introduced and now everyone’s talking about these two formats which are basically one and the same”.Vincent started his Test career in a promising manner, scoring a hundred and a fifty against Australia in Perth. He was part of New Zealand’s squad for the 2007 World Cup, but was ruled out of the tournament with a broken wrist after scoring two ducks – against England and Kenya – and a hundred against Canada. However, a poor run in all forms since his return from injury led to his exclusion from the team.Vincent, who had admitted to suffering from depression, said the opportunity with the ICL came at a time when he was uncertain about his future. “I feared I was going to be unemployed because I had a family to support and mortgages to pay. I’m so grateful that the ICL came along and offered me something with which I could secure things [for my family] for a few years.”

Matthew Hayden has been ruled out of the one-day series against Bangladesh due to a long-standing Achilles problem, but he remains on track for the Test series against India in October. Hayden was originally due to travel with the squad to Darwin – the first match is on Saturday – in an attempt to be fit for the Champions Trophy.However, the team’s medical staff decided Hayden should take advantage of the postponement of the tournament and use the break to ensure he is fully fit for the four-Test series against India in October. He has spent time at the squad camp in Brisbane over the past two days and will continue his rehabilitation at home.No replacement will be named for Hayden and the 13-man squad will head to Darwin on Wednesday to prepare for the three matches against the ninth-ranked Bangladesh. Hayden suffered the injury while training in the Indian Premier League and left the tour of the West Indies without playing a Test. His withdrawal is another setback for Australia, who will also be without Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee.Ponting batted in the nets in Brisbane on Sunday while Lee is in Sydney dealing with the break-up of his marriage. Michael Clarke, the captain for the series, said he expected both players to be available for India. “Our 100% support is behind Brett and any time he’s ready to come back we’re willing to take him,” Clarke said. “The guys have been in contact with him and he knows everyone is supporting him. We’re all looking to him getting back.”Despite Bangladesh’s lowly ranking, Clarke refuses to treat the tourists as easybeats. “You’ll never hear me say that,” he said. “They beat us in Cardiff [in 2005], and that sits in my memory. We will certainly speak about that when we arrive in Darwin. We’re going to have to play good cricket.”Australia’s pre-season calendar has opened up with the rescheduling of the Champions Trophy and they will weigh up the benefits of another team camp in September with going to India earlier to help them acclimatise. “There are two sides to it,” Clarke said. “One-day cricket is still cricket under your belt, which is great leading into Test cricket. Now we can prepare in conditions we’re going to be playing the Tests in.”The one-day squad was joined on Monday by the Australia A outfit, which has a series of matches in India next month, and members of the Queensland team. Shaun Tait was also involved and looked fit and happy following his problems with physical and mental exhaustion last summer. The outdoor training followed a squad meeting on Sunday when Tim Nielsen, the coach, outlined his plans for the next 15 months.One of Nielsen’s main points was not getting too far ahead, a stance Clarke supported when asked if he was thinking of the 2009 Ashes. “Not at all,” he said. “I’m looking to Bangladesh in Darwin – as far as I’m going to look is India.”

Sri Lanka, the official alternate venue for the Champions Trophy, is “very confident” of staging the tournament within the short preparation time available if Pakistan, the official host, is ruled out by the ICC board due to security reasons, Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) chief executive has said.”We are confident that we can hold the tournament within the short span of time if it’s not possible to hold it in Pakistan,” Mendis told Cricinfo. “We had confirmed our name as alternate hosts some time back and we stand by that. We are prepared logistically and on the security front and are very confident about hosting the tournament, if it comes to us.”Mendis said that speculation about South Africa or England being asked to step in as alternate hosts was “unnecessary” at this point of time, as “Sri Lanka is the official alternate venue”.The ICC’s executive board is expected to take a decision this week on Pakistan’s status as host after the governing body conducted a security briefing on Sunday for board officials of the eight participating countries, broadcast executives, and players’ association representatives.An official who attended that meeting pegged Pakistan’s chances of hosting the tournament, starting on September 11, at “50-50” and told Cricinfo that players from Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa expressed concerns over playing in that country due to the prevailing security situation.The ICC maintained that Pakistan will remain the host till the executive board takes a final decision and Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, confirmed at a press conference after the briefing in Dubai that Sri Lanka is the back-up venue.The security situation in Sri Lanka was a subject of focus two years ago when the South African team pulled out of a one-day tournament following a blast that occurred a few kilometers away from their hotel in Colombo. However, England toured Sri Lanka for three Tests and five ODIs in 2007-08. “Sri Lanka is the reserve location for the tournament agreed by the ICC Board but at this stage the event is scheduled to go ahead in Pakistan and the ICC will not indulge in speculation about what may or may not have to happen at any alternate venue in order for it to be ready,” said an ICC spokesperson.Sri Lanka is currently hosting the Indian team for a Test and one-day series that ends on August 29.