South Africa will play two Tests and five one-day interbnationals in Sri Lanka in late July, following the Asia Cup one-day tournament there. The South Africans are scheduled to arrive in Colombo on July 27: their only warm-up game begins on July 30.Following this they will play the first Test at Galle from August 4 to 8, and then travel to Colombo for the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (August 11-15). The Tests are followed by the one-dayers, the first two of which will be played at Dambulla on August 20 and 22. The team then comes down from the hills to play two day-night matches at the Premadasa Stadium (August 25 and 28) in Colombo, while the final match will be a day game at the Sinhalese Sports Club on August 30.South Africa last toured Sri Lanka in 2000, when they drew the three-Test series 1-1.

Andrew Hall, the South African allrounder, has joined the Highveld Lions from the Eastern Titans for next season.Hall, who is currently playing for Worcestershire in the English county championship, was a key member in the old Easterns side, helping them to the SuperSport Series title in 2002-03. In the new franchise structure, Easterns teamed up with the Northerns Titans to become the Easterns Titans, but Hall was unable to agree terms with the club, and he decided to sign for the Highveld Lions, back where his cricket began in 1995 with the old Transvaal side, who are based in Johannesburg.Shukri Conrad, the Highveld Lions coach, was delighted at Hall’s decision, calling him “a class player who rounds off our squad in terms of a quality allrounder”.Hall, 28, has played 10 Tests and 43 one-dayers for South Africa, but was overlooked for both the Test and one-day squads picked to tour Sri Lanka later this year. However, he publicly vowed to show the selectors that he still has what it takes to play international cricket, and said he would force his way back into the side for the ICC Champions Trophy in September.

Chaminda Vaas is keen to play first-class cricket in South Africa next year, according to a report in South Africa’s Daily News. Vaas is just one of a group of Sri Lankan cricketers who are keen to play first-class cricket abroad in the near future.”Gauteng approached me to play there this season but it was not possible because of my commitments to Sri Lanka” Vaas said. “We have a tour to Pakistan in October and we then go to New Zealand in December and January. But next year we have a bit of a break and I would like to play first-class cricket either in Australia or England.”Sri Lanka’s players had a limited exposure to English county cricket in the past, although Aravinda de Silva (Kent) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Lancashire and Kent) have both enjoyed successful stints.The major problem has been their international programme which stretches across the English summer. But next year the players could play for a large chunk of the season, returning to Sri Lanka in August for a short series against West Indies.Aside from Vaas, who played briefly for Hampshire last year, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dilhara Fernando are all seeking offers from interested counties.

When the first round of matches began, and the minnows lined up to get thrashed by the giants, the only upset that seemed even remotely on the cards was West Indies being done in by Bangladesh. Well, not only did Brian Lara and his team get past that hurdle with a degree of comfort, they’ve also beaten a struggling South Africa and are now only a game away from having a shot at the trophy, and partially redeeming a season which has so far gone horribly wrong.Standing in the way, though, is a resurgent Pakistan outfit which, since Bob Woolmer took over as coach in June, has displayed a commitment and steel that isn’t the norm with Pakistan cricket. On current form, it’s clear that Inzamam-ul-Haq would fancy his chances of making it to Saturday’s final. To be fair to West Indies, their recent one-day record isn’t half as bad as their Test stats – in their last 25 ODIs, they’ve won 12 and lost only nine. Their bowlers have struggled for penetration in Tests, but in the less-demanding world of one-day cricket, where dot-balls are almost as valuable as wickets, their collection of part-time trundlers has fitted in perfectly.Where West Indies have become extremely formidable, though, is in their ability to chase down almost any target. In their last nine games when they have chased over 225, they have won six times, and Australia, South Africa and England have all been at the receiving end.Lara’s prowess at the crease needs no elaboration, but the revelation has been the manner in which the support cast have spruced up their act. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have regularly played pivotal roles, while Chris Gayle’s stand-and-deliver style has often allowed the team to get off to blistering starts. Add the contributions of Ricardo Powell down the order, and it’s easy to see why West Indies’ preferred mode of approach is to win the toss and field first.Here’s more data which suggests that the toss could have a critical bearing on the match: in games between the two sides over the last ten years, the team winning the toss has won 22 and lost three, while the last time Pakistan lost after winning the toss against West Indies was more than ten years ago – back in October 1993.Even if Lara does call correctly, his team will still find it tough to put it across a Pakistan outfit which is, finally, showing signs of fulfilling its potential. Since the Asia Cup began, they have won seven out of ten games, but even more than that, it’s their approach which suggests a huge change in attitude.Discipline in the field was never one of Pakistan’s strengths, but under Woolmer, the intensity has gone up a notch, the number of shocking misfields has considerably reduced – there were still a couple in their win against India on Sunday – and the bowlers seem finally to have understood the virtues of line and length. The batting continues to be iffy, though. Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana bailed them out on Sunday, but the West Indian bowlers will fancy their chances against the top three. Shoaib Malik has had a fabulous run at No. 3, but most of those runs have come in flat, subcontinental conditions. His last three innings in England have fetched him a sum total of seven runs.Their aren’t too many question-marks over Pakistan’s bowling attack, though, and while Lara v Shoaib Akhtar is the obvious key contest, the outcome of the match could well be decided by how the rest of Pakistan’s bowling fare against the West Indian line-up. A West Indies-Pakistan encounter may not quite have the zing of an Australia-England clash, but there are enough entertainers in both sides to make the game an enthralling contest.Pakistan (probable): 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Yasir Hameed, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Moin Khan (wk), 9 Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Mohammad Sami.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Courtney Browne (wk), 9 Ryan Hinds, 10 Ian Bradshaw, 11 Corey Collymore.

Upul Chandana, one of two frontline spinners in Sri Lanka’s 20-man training pool for New Zealand, has been flown to Singapore for an urgent medical check-up after failing to recover from a respiratory complaint.Chandana first complained of breathing difficulties during Sri Lanka’s recent tour of Pakistan and his failure to recover properly has prompted the Sri Lanka cricket board to send him overseas for medical assistance.Chandana, who has taken 35 wickets in 14 tests and 137 wickets in 132 one-day internationals with his legspin, has only a few weeks to recover before Sri Lanka depart next month for a Christmas and New Year tour of New Zealand.His absence would leave Rangana Herath as the sole spinner. Herath performed well in Pakistan, with 11 wickets in the two Tests, leading the spin attack in the absence of Chandana and Muttiah Muralitharan, who is expected to recover from injury in time for the Test leg of the tour.

Ed Cowan is set to make his New South Wales debut after being named in the squad for next month’s ING Cup clash with Western Australia at Perth, according to the Australian Associated Press.Cowan, 22, has been in impressive form for his Sydney grade side Sydney University this season, scoring 398 runs at an average of 99.50 in just five games. However, he already has experience of playing against professionals: in 2003, he was an exchange student to Oxford Brookes University, and after playing against English counties for the Academy side twinned with Oxford, he was selected for the British Universities, and scored an unbeaten 137 against Zimbabwe in the opening match of their tour.Simon Katich, NSW’s captain, and Stuart Clark, the fast bowler, who is recovering from a leg injury, return to the line-up for the Perth game, which starts on January 2. Greg Mail and Aaron O’Brien, both batsmen, and the offspinner Jason Krejza have all been left out of the side which lost to South Australia earlier this month.New South Wales squad
Simon Katich (capt), Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Shawn Bradstreet, Stuart Clark, Ed Cowan, Brad Haddin (wk), Phil Jaques, Stuart MacGill, Matthew Nicholson, Matthew Phelps, Dominic Thornely.

Scorecard

Otago launched their revamped venue University Oval with a thriller that attracted nearly 2000 spectators at Dunedin on Sunday. But the result, which was decided with two balls of the reduced overs game left, didn’t go Otago’s way. They had batted first against Northern Districts and had scored 169 which never seemed enough.It was a total that was given early impetus by Craig Cumming, the Otago captain, with support from Mohammad Wasim and Gareth Hopkins who scored 27 each. Down the order, a late 24 from Brad Scott, was valuable. He had started with the intention of batting out to the 40 overs, but he hit out once too often and paid the price in becoming one of Daryl Tuffey’s three wickets. Graeme Aldridge helped to tie down the Otago middle-order, as he bowled eight overs and took two for 17.ND had starts from BJ Watling (21), Matt Hart (27) and Hamish Marshall (21), but two-thirds of the way through the innings they looked to have shut themselves out of the game. However, Peter McGlashan batted out the over of a lifetime in taking 25 runs from the hapless Warren McSkimming and revved up the ND run rate. The injured James Marshall came in after the eighth wicket fell to score the winning run to relieve some of the pain of the split webbing in his hand which had required seven stitches.
Scorecard
Central Districts won a vital toss at Waikanae’s Domain, which had been inundated by flooding during the previous 36 hours. They asked their neighbours Wellington to bat first and, at 16 for 3, the guts were all but knocked out of the Wellington innings.However, Neal Parlane threw out an anchor and scored 53, and he received partial support from James Franklin (14), Mark Gillespie (26) and Mayu Pasupati (27 off 17 balls) but Wellington were always going to struggle to defend their 166.Lance Hamilton bowled superbly in the conditions to take 4 for 13 from his 8 overs – a career-best, while Glen Sulzberger took 3 for 21.Wellington sniffed a chance with Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair back in the pavilion for 19 runs, but they reckoned without an unbroken stand being fashioned by Craig Spearman and Jarrod Englefield. They scored 146 runs to see CD home with a bonus point to see them to the top of the table at the halfway stage in their defence of the State Shield. Englefield was 80 not out off 86 balls, a career-best score, while Spearman had his best outing of the summer to date with 68 off 86 balls.

Pakistan have objected to playing in Ahmedabad after an inspection by their security team. Pakistan were due to play their second Test against India at the venue, which is in the state of Gujarat, where communal riots occured in 2002.Shaharyar Khan told the BBC that the Pakistan Board’s objections had been made officially to the BCCI. “We have reservations in playing there and we have suggested changes to the BCCI. We haven’t suggested any alternate venues. We will play anywhere else they want us to play.”This news is unlikely to please the BCCI, which has insisted that Ahmedabad is a safe venue and that precautions will be taken to avert any unpleasant incidents. And since matches are awarded to associations on a rotational basis, the Indian board will have to tread lightly to avoid stepping on toes at home and abroad.However, Shaharyar stood firmly behind the security report presented to him. “There are possibilities of security problems erupting and tensions running high,” he said. “We have informed the Indian board of our concerns and we hope to settle the issue mutually.”The BCCI was quick to move after receiving notice of the Pakistan board’s concerns, referring the matter to the government. “The PCB has written a letter to the BCCI president expressing some reservations over Ahmedabad as a venue,” quoted Rajiv Shukla, vice-president of the BCCI, as saying. “We have now taken up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs.”

Maia Lewis will captain the New Zealand Women’s team in next month’s Rosebowl Series against their Australian counterparts and will also lead their pursuit of defending the World Cup to be played in South Africa in March and April this year. Rachel Pullar and Emily Drumm returned to the squad after a break and will bolster the squad with their experience.Pullar last played for New Zealand on the 2002 tour to the Netherlands, Ireland and England before deciding work overseas. Her return, though, will add some much-needed experience and fire power to their bowling attack. Drumm’s work commitments forced her to skip New Zealand’s last overseas tour but she was recalled to the side as the vice-captain. The selectors also included Natalee Scripps, the medium pacer, who was rewarded for being the leading wicket taker in the State League. Anna Corbin, the offspinner, was also picked.New Zealand Women’s squad
1 Maia Lewis (capt), 2 Emily Drumm (vice-capt), 3 Nicola Browne, 4 Sarah Burke , 5 Anna Corbin, 6 Maria Fahey, 7 Sara McGlashan, 8 Louise Milliken , 9 Rachel Pullar, 10 Rebecca Rolls, 11 Natalee Scripps, 12 Rebecca Steele , 13 Haidee Tiffen, 14 Helen WatsonItinerary for the Rosebowl Series 2004-05
March 8 Practice Match at Lilac Hill
March 10 v Australia 1st ODI at Lilac Hill
March 12 v Australia 2nd ODI at WACA, Perth
March 13 v Australia 3rd ODI at WACA, Perth
Itinerary for the World Cup 2005
March 18 v Easterns at Witbank
March 20 v South Africa Under 19 at Witbank
March 22 v West Indies at Harlequins
March 24 v Australia at LC Oval
March 26 v Sri Lanka at Harlequins
March 28 v Ireland at Harlequins
March 30 v India at Technicon Oval
April 1 v England at LC Oval
April 3 v South Africa at LC Oval
April 5 1st semi-final at Potchefstroom
April 7 2nd semi-final at Potchefstroom
April 10 Final at Supersport Park

Jehan Mubarak will lead Sri Lanka A against England later this month in twounofficial four-day Tests. The national selectors, who met on Tuesday,picked a squad of 15 players for the two games, which are to be played atCCC Grounds from March 7-10 and at the NCC grounds from March 13-16.Mubarak, a 24-year-old left-hander, has been retained after a glowing tourreport in England last year when he led Sri Lanka A to victory in eight outof ten matches against the English Counties, who admittedly did not playfull-strength teams. They only lost one game to Somerset, the last match,and drew one match with the West Indians.Mubarak’s success in England prompted the selectors to fast-track him backinto the national side against Pakistan in October, a controversial movethat led to Tillakaratne Dilshan being ousted from the team against thewishes of Marvan Atapattu, the national captain. Under intense pressure,Mubarak was unable to clinch his opportunity but clearly remains in theselectors’ thoughts for the future.Thilana Kandamby, who has been in scintillating form for Central province inthe last two weeks, has been appointed Mubarak’s deputy for the tour. He has rattled off two centuries and his average before the current tournament final was 98.66. Kandamby also toured England with the A team in 2004, as did a total of 10 players selected in the squad.The new faces include fast bowlers Nandika Ranjith and Chanaka Welagedera,both of who are left-armers and play for North Central Province. Malinga Bandara , the legspinner, and Sajeewa Weerakoon, an orthodox slow left-armer who wasthe leading wicket-taker in last year’s Premier League with 50 wickets, plusbatsman Anushka Polonawita are the others given an opportunity to press fora place in the senior squad.Selection sources have also revealed that there is a chance that a handfulof the squad will also be selected for Sri Lanka’s postponed tour of NewZealand which starts at the end of the month. That team is expected to benamed next week.Squad Jehan Mubarak (capt)(CCC), Thilina Kandamby, (Bloomfield), Avaishka Gunawardene (SSC), Ian Daniel (Bloomfield), Shantha Kalavitigoda (Colts), Anushka Polonowita (CCC), Malintha Gajanayake (Chilaw Marians), Gayan Wijekoon (Chilaw Marians), Prasanna Jayawardene (NCC), Thilina Thushara (NCC), Nandika Ranjith (Tamil Union), Chanaka Welagedera (Moors SC), Malinga Bandara (Galle CC), Sajeewa Weerakoon (BRC), Suraj Mohamed (SSC).