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Boeta Dippenaar has been named captain of a South African Invitation XI for the four-day warm-up match against the New Zealanders in Bloemfontein, which begins on October 25.The South African board was forced to select an Invitation team, instead of an A team as originally planned. “The one-day international team is in Pakistan. We have a team playing in the Hong Kong Sixes and players from the Highveld Lions are not available because they have a match against Zimbabwe,” Joubert Strydom, the convenor of selectors, told the Johannesburg-based . However, Strydom said that the board would announce a “fully fledged” A team for the second warm-up match scheduled for next week in Potchefstroom.Monde Zondeki and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have been included on the back of their performances in the domestic season, which has just begun. Zondeki has remodelled his action, which reaped rewards in its first unveiling, as he took a five-wicket haul in Cape Cobras’ draw against Titans. Tsotsobe, the Warriors left-arm seamer, took a career-best 7 for 39 in the drawn match against the Lions.South African Invitation XI:
Boeta Dippenaar (capt), Morne van Wyk, Imraan Khan, Ahmed Amla, Davey Jacobs, Zander de Bruyn, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Thandi Tshabalala, Monde Zondeki, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Yusuf Abdullah, Ethy Mbhalati (12th man).

Going up against the likes of Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Hasan Raza in your maiden domestic final is no bowler’s dream. Younis has just come fresh off another successful international season, Raza is Habib Bank’s (HBL) top-scorer of the season, fresh from a double hundred, and statistics don’t really matter for Afridi.The 19-year-old Asad Ali was given the challenge of containing this star-studded HBL batting line. Although Samiullah Khan, his senior bowling partner, captured two early wickets, including that of Younis, the pressure was on Asad to deliver the goods from the other end. He duly responded with three quick and key wickets, a spell that may just prove decisive in dictating the outcome of this final.”I admit I did not bowl that well at the start of the innings,” Asad told Cricinfo. “The first two or three overs were completely useless. But as I settled down, I enjoyed my spell.”Before we took the field, the plan was to end the day with them [HBL] five or six down for under 100 runs on the board. Mohammad Hafeez [captain] advised us to stick to a good line and length and make them play. The onus was on the batsmen playing, whether they hit us for boundaries or we bowl a dot ball. We had to make them play.”All three of Asad’s wickets came from this; Rafatullah Mohmand was caught-behind, Afridi bowled off an inside edge and Aftab Ahmed, beaten for pace, saw his middle stump uprooted. Unsurprisingly, the prized scalp of Afridi was the most cherished.”A feeling that cannot be defined. He had just hit me for two boundaries and even though he was new to the crease, we all knew what he was capable of doing. We had a set plan for him. Hafeez provided me with a packed off-side field while Misbah-ul-Haq told me to make him play outside the off-stump. It worked wonderfully.”That really got me charged up. I felt great dismissing an international batsman, and that too of Afridi’s stature. Following that, I was all pumped up. I ran in faster, bowled faster and basically gave it my all from there till the end. It was only when Hafeez wanted me to take abreak that I was forced to come off.”HBL need another 46 runs to save the follow-on, and even though Hasan Razan and Kamran Hussain appear well-set, early morning conditions have aided swing bowlers over the span of the final.”The pitch still remains a sporting one. Even though the ball is slow coming on to the bat, it helps both batsmen and bowlers. The first hour will be crucial. Our plan is to get another two or three wickets by lunch. We will attack their batsmen right from the start.”Ideally, that gives us a good chance of dismissing HBL second-time round and lifting the trophy.”

Bangladesh will once again employ three spinners as they head to Mirpur for the second ODI against South Africa. Conditions in Mirpur, the venue for both the second and third ODIs, are expected to be similar to those of the first match in Chittagong, which South Africa won comfortably by nine wickets.For the hosts, Mashrafe Mortaza makes a return to the playing XI and will spearhead the attack in place of Shahadat Hossain. Mortaza, the vice-captain, was overlooked for the first ODI, in which Bangladesh opted for three left-arm spinners in Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mosharraf Hossain.The other change for Bangladesh has Junaid Siddique making way for Nazimuddin, who will become the sixth ODI debutant in the series. “We rested Mortaza in Chittagong and hopefully he will be fresh and energized for tomorrow’s match. We need him to be in his best form with the ball. His big-hitting in the closing overs will also an added bonus,” Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, said. “Junaid we feel is a little low on confidence after not getting the runs in ODIs. He has featured in partnerships but has not made the scores he is capable of. He has been given a break.”Bangladesh’s persistence with spin means the pitch is again likely to be low and slow, also acknowledged by Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach. “We will have our work cut out once again for the second and third matches as the conditions will be virtually the same,” Arthur told the . “There’s nothing in the pitch that indicates that the quick bowlers will have any juice in it for them. They will need to put their backs into it and stick rigidly with their disciplines.”South Africa restricted Bangladesh to 178 in Chittagong on Sunday, and all their frontline bowlers were among the wickets. Andre Nel was the most impressive of the lot – with 3 for 24 off his ten overs. The visitors played two spinners in Johan Botha and Paul Harris, and Arthur indicated the two would feature in Wednesday’s match.”It certainly looks that way,” Arthur said. “But a final decision will be made after a practice session later today. We don’t know what the curator is going to be up to this morning as he was still working on the track late yesterday [Monday]. These issues change by the hour in this part of the world and until their job is complete you cannot cast anything in stone.”Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs led the chase in Chittagong, but an inexperienced middle-order – with Jacques Kallis rested for the series – is a vulnerability Bangladesh could exploit if they can make early inroads.Wins in both matches will see South Africa jump to the top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI teams, and would be the ideal way to head to the tougher test that awaits them in India.Team:
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Dhiman Ghosh (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Mosharraf Hossain, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Syed RaselSouth Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 JP Duminy, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Alviro Peterson, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Charl Langeveldt

Harbhajan Singh’s exoneration for his alleged “monkey” comment towards Andrew Symonds has been hailed as a victory for justice in India, but the decision has incensed Australia’s cricketers, who believe their board has caved in to overwhelming pressure from the game’s financial superpower.In a front-page article in Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald, an unnamed Australian cricketer has hit out at the decision, which was only reached after Cricket Australia persuaded their five players at the hearing to downgrade their charge against Harbhajan from racism to abusive language. Instead of being banned for three Tests as per the original verdict, he was fined 50% of his match fee.”The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has,” the anonymous contracted player told the paper. “The Aussie guys aren’t going to make it [the accusation] up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has, because of the wealth they generate. Money talks.”In what the paper described as a “brazen act of provocation”, the Indian board chartered a plane to whisk their one-day squad from Melbourne – the venue for Friday’s Twenty20 fixture – to Adelaide, so that they could fly home to India if the charges against Harbhajan were not dropped. The move was described by MV Sridhar, the team’s assistant manager, as a “show of solidarity”.Friday’s match alone – the curtain-raiser for the lucrative CB Series – is expected to attract a crowd in excess of 90,000, and Cricket Australia, fearing the loss of millions of dollars in TV rights, sponsorship and gate takings, opted not to call India’s bluff. It was also believed to be under pressure from broadcasters who could have sued had the series been abandoned. The reported the players had an often fiery meeting with Cricket Australia officials during the fourth Test and it was agreed the charge would be lowered if Harbhajan apologised.An Indian pull-out would have threatened Sri Lanka’s participation in the CB Series as well. Arjuna Ranatunga, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, and other senior board officials told the earlier that the board was keeping an eye on the developments in the hearing before deciding whether to commit to the tour or not.The issue was resolved late on Tuesday night, when Cricket Australia and the BCCI issued a joint statement, saying Symonds and Harbhajan had “resolved” the issue and that both captains were also “satisfied with the outcome”.Australia’s unofficial opinion, however, is less placatory. The team maintain that Harbhajan abused Symonds both in Sydney and three months earlier during an ill-tempered one-day series in India. In audio evidence supplied by Channel 9 – and played before the appeals commissioner, Justice John Hansen – Matthew Hayden is heard remonstrating with Harbhajan. “You’ve got a witness now, champ,” says Hayden. “It’s racial vilification, mate. It’s a shit word and you know it.”Harbhajan can be heard protesting that Symonds started the verbals, but the actual word is inaudible on the tapes. “Ultimately, truth has prevailed,” said the BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla. “India has always stood against racism. Cricket is the victor in all this.”Ranatunga, a former Sri Lankan captain, called for a ban on sledging and hoped the Australians would learn their lessons from this controversy.”Australia have had these issues with some touring sides,” Ranatunga told . “History shows whenever they get it back, they struggle. Sometimes they also need to learn a lesson. I’m a great believer they should stop all shouting in the grounds.”

James Brinkley seized his second chance of a first-class career by bringing a Gloucestershire charge to an abrupt halt at Chester-le-Street today.The Scotland-born, Australia-raised seamer took 5-9 in 22 balls to finish with 6-32 as the visitors slumped from 188 for four to 198 all out.Queenslander Martin Love then stroked his second half-century of the match, finishing on 63 not out, as Durham reached 104 for two in the second innings to lead by 148.Brinkley’s previous best was the 6-98 he took on his debut for Worcestershire seven years ago. Injury restricted him to 19 games in four seasons before he was released and he played for Herefordshire last season.Neil Killeen apart, Brinkley looked as ordinary as the rest of the Durham attack as Kim Barnett led Gloucestershire’s recovery from four for two. Ian Harvey thrashed 36 off 34 balls and 42 runs came off the first six overs after lunch, 15 coming off one over from Steve Harmison. But the rot set in when Barnett’s dashing innings of 82 off 106 balls ended when he flashed at a widish ball from Brinkley and sliced to gully.There was no such extravagance from Love, who again looked totally composed as he reached 50 off 100 balls. Following the early loss of skipper Jon Lewis, bowled by his namesake for one, Love put on 54 with Michael Gough and shared an unbroken stand of 46 with Jimmy Daley.

It is particularly tragic when a sportsman dies young, and the passing away of Narayanan Gautam at 34 was received in cricketing circles in Chennai with shock and disbelief. Gautam had been out of the spotlight for some time, and few were aware that he was battling cancer. He finally succumbed to it on Tuesday.A tall, elegant right-hander, Gautam was a well-behaved and soft-spoken youth; he preferred to let his bat do the talking. Style and timing were his trademarks, and I can well remember the fluency of his drives and the effortless manner in which he cut the ball square to the boundary. An element of power was seen in his leg-side shots, and he used the pull to good effect. He was technically sound, but above all was his temperament, which remained ice-cool under pressure.It was against the visiting New Zealanders in 1988 that Gautam made his first-class debut. He comfortably negotiated the swing and speed of Danny Morrison and Martin Snedden and the spin of John Bracewell to score 23 impressive runs. It was obvious that he was a batsman who could not be judged only by scores but by his class.Sure enough, Gautam fulfilled his potential by getting a hundred on his Ranji Trophy debut in 1990-91. The Gymkhana ground in Secundarabad reverberated to his cultured strokeplay. Tamil Nadu were 144 for three when he entered, and it soon became 149 for four. Gautam figured in a 193-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Robin Singh. At the end of that season, he finished second in the Tamil Nadu averages with 196 runs at 65.33.It was in the following season that Gautam showed he had both style and substance. Tamil Nadu made the Ranji Trophy final, and one of the reasons was the batting of Gautam, who had a tally of 543 runs with two hundreds -­ 129 against Goa and 190 against Uttar Pradesh. Against Goa, he and VB Chandrasekhar added 232 runs for the second wicket, erasing the 25-year-old state record of 210 between PK Belliappa and Kripal Singh; the 190 remained his highest first-class score. Throughout the season he batted at number three and lent both grace and strength to that pivotal slot.Gautam found runs harder to come by during the next season, but he remained an integral part of the Tamil Nadu batting. However, by 1993-94 the runs had completely dried up, and Gautham found it difficult to command a place in the state squad. The following year he switched over to play as a professional for Goa. A stroke-filled 62 against Hyderabad was his best effort, but that remained the extent of his first-class career. In all, he played 18 matches for Tamil Nadu and four for Goa.Considering his great start and the promise he held, Gautham’s final first-class figures of 1007 runs from 23 matches (35 innings) at an average of 30.51 with three hundreds and two fifties can be termed a mite disappointing. But for the few years he played, he was the shining example of a gentleman cricketer and a team man. Former Indian skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth was among those who had a high opinion of Gautam’s capabilities.

The start of the first day’s play at Bath Cricket 2002 Festival was delayed until mid afternoon because of the damp conditions.Having won the toss and decided to put Hampshire into bat when the players did take the field returning fast bowler Richard Johnson quickly got back into his stride and with the score on 6 sent opener Derek Kenway back to the pavilion after having him caught by Peter Bowler.Will Kendall and Giles White put on 82 before Simon Francis, playing against his old county, accounted for White. Francis struck again 10 runs later when he disposed of Robin Smith for 10 to make the visitors 98 for 3.Kendall and Neil Johnson remained steadfast until the close of play by which time Hampshire had reached 149 for 3 off 48 overs, with Kendall unbeaten on 70.After the close of play Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: " I feel OK about the day,there has been some good stuff, but perhaps it could have been a little bit better. We bowled short at times, but we didn’t have a lot of luck."The coach continued: "Johnno had an excellent comeback, it was just like he’d never been away, and there have been no repercussions, and once Simon Francis settled down he looked dangerous at times. Tomorrow we will be looking to get some quick wickets early on."

Although the match Kent v Hampshire ended in a stalemate draw,a number of match and individual records were broken:Hampshire 671: 2nd Highest score by the county (just one run short)The all time record of 672-7dec v Somerset at Taunton 1899

J.P.Crawley 272: Fourth highest score for Hampshire,and the highest since the second World War.316   R.H.Moore        v Warwickshire at Bournemouth         1937304   R.M.Poore        v Somerset at Taunton                 1899280*  C.P.Mead         v Nottinghamshire at Southampton      1921It was the highest score ever made by a Hampshire batsmanon debut for the county:126   C.H.Abercrombie  v Oxford University at Southampton    1913151   D.O.Baldry       v Glamorgan at Portsmouth             1959101*  R.E.Hayward      v Sri Lankans at Bournemouth          1981It was the highest Maiden Century scored for Hampshire235*  M.L.Hayden       v Warwickshire at Southampton         1997216   C.B.Llewellyn    v South Africans at Southampton       1901232 for 4th wicket Crawley/Johnson was a record for Hampshire v Kent.266 for 1st wicket Key/Fulton was a Kent record v Hampshire.

The funeral of former Press cricket writer R T ‘Dick’ Brittenden was held in Christchurch today with a large crowd over-flowing to outside the funeral home.Brittenden, who was widely regarded as the finest cricket journalist New Zealand has produced, died earlier this week.Cricket administrators, players and supporters were joined by family and members of the newspaper and golfing fraternity.Brittenden had a long-standing love of golf and was a former member of the Waitikiri Golf Club where, it was humorously related during the service, part of the course was still named after him from the occasion of a hole-in-one he achieved.Playing a shot on the club’s 130-metre 17th hole, Brittenden hit a low shot which passed between two bunkers in front of the green, only six metres apart, rolled up the green, hit the pin and dropped into the hole.The approach is commonly referred to still as the “Brittenden by-pass”.However, it was for his contribution to cricket in Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand that he was remembered and former New Zealand representative Brian Hastings spoke on behalf of cricketers when he said Brittenden would be remembered as a man of warmth, kindness and a lovely sense of humour who had great loyalty towards his staff.”He was a good boss, kind and generous.”He was a wonderful tourist and players had the utmost respect for him. He knew when to keep his distance and he was regarded as an unofficial team manager.”He was an intergral part and most popular member of touring sides,” he said.Hastings related the incident at Hyderabad in 1969 when New Zealand was playing the third Test of a series against India. The team was staying at the ground and at the end of the first day New Zealand were 181/9.On the second day it rained, and the third day was a rest day. During the rest day Brittenden happened to notice the groundsman going out to mow the pitch only to be stopped doing so by the umpires.This concerned Brittenden who informed the New Zealand team management, and when the groundsman went out to mow the pitch on the fourth day, the New Zealanders complained to the umpires, because the laws stated that the pitch could only be mown on every other day and the rest day was to be included.Under the laws, the pitch should have been mown on the rest day, and the New Zealanders said it should not be mown on the fourth day. The secretary of the Board of Control in India was drawn into the debate and he eventually ruled in New Zealand’s favour.And on that fourth day, India at one stage were 49/9, before the last pair added 40 more runs.New Zealand then declared their second innings closed at 175/8, leaving India a target of 268 to win. When they were 76/7 it started to rain and despite the best efforts of the New Zealanders the game was abandoned.But Hastings said New Zealand were provided with a chance of winning what would have been their first series by the eagle eye of Dick Brittenden.Hastings also recalled that much later, when he was serving as president of Canterbury Cricket, he had the pleasure of making a presentation to Brittenden marking his 60 years of covering club cricket which Hastings described as a “remarkable achievement.”

Dominic Cork has set his sights on the next World Cupfollowing his recall to the England one-day squad.Cork has not played a limited overs internationalsince New Zealand in 1997 but hopes his inclusion forthis summer’s triangular series is a sign of betterthings to come.”I am looking for a place in the World Cup in2003,” Cork said. “I played in the one in India,Pakistan and Sri Lanka and I would like to repeat thatexperience.”I am chuffed that I am getting another go. I amprobably a little bit fortunate with one or twoinjuries, notably to Craig White, that I’ve got in butI’d like to prove in England colours that I can playone day cricket.”Today’s call-up for the games against Australia andPakistan next month completes a successful Englandcomeback for Cork.He regained his place in the Test squad and wasawarded a central contract after proving he had made afull recovery from the back injury that cut short histour to Pakistan last winter.