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New Zealand Under-19 representative Jordan Sheed will make his first-class debut for Otago in next week’s State Championship match against Canterbury in Alexandra.Sheed, a tall middle-order batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, made one State Shield appearance for Otago in January before the ICC Under-19 World Cup was played in New Zealand.Otago coach Glenn Turner has made a number of changes to the team which drew with England last week.In a move designed to bolster the batting Turner has also named Scott Waide, a powerfully built batting all-rounder, in the side which features the return of wicket-keeper Martyn Croy and left-arm seamer Neil Rushton.Not required next week are Simon Beare and Rob Smith, while Andrew Hore – who missed the England game because of personal commitments elsewhere – has failed to gain a place. Pace bowler James McMillan is unavailable because of injury.The Otago team for the match against Canterbury is: Craig Cumming (captain), Robbie Lawson, Chris Gaffaney, Brendon McCullum, Jordan Sheed, Martyn Croy, Nathan Morland, Craig Pryor, Scott Waide, David Sewell, Neil Rushton, Kerry Walsmley.The game will now be played Tuesday March 12-15, having been pushed back a day to allow Canterbury an additional day to prepare after its match against England.

With the Indian women’s team set to tour England, their coach Shantha Rangaswamy has said she wants no sledging during the series. Mithali Raj, India’s captain, had alleged on the previous visit in 2006 that the England team “were foul-mouthed and spoke rot”.”We won’t indulge in sledging. We will neither start it nor return it,” Rangaswamy said in Bangalore. “There is no place for it in women’s cricket, or in any other sport. We are optimistic they will also reciprocate. We will have a meeting with the England team before the series asking them to refrain from sledging.”The 16-day tour of England involves five one-dayers and a Twenty20. Niranjana Nagarajan is the only newcomer in the 15-member squad, which does not feature veteran Anjum Chopra and chinaman bowler Preeti Dimri.Raj said the team was well-prepared and had undergone a one-week training camp in Mysore. She said the England tour and the visit to Australia in October will provide good preparation for next year’s World Cup in Australia. She acknowledged that England, who blanked South Africa in both the ODIs and Twenty20s earlier this month, would be tough opponents but was confident India would put up a good show, particularly after their triumphant Asia Cup campaign.With the women’s Twenty20 World Cup to be held along with the men’s version next year, Raj felt the game’s shortest format was an ideal vehicle to popularise women’s cricket. “People say women’s cricket is slow and boring but Twenty20 would be ideal to showcase our cricket,” she said. “Its faster pace and shorter duration is what we need to draw spectators. We had played a curtain-raiser game during Afro-Asia Cup which was well received.”

New Zealand’s squad has not softened its view on attending the Champions Trophy despite a detailed security briefing by an ICC task force in Christchurch on Thursday. Safety remains a prime concern and Heath Mills, the executive manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, will not be recommending the team attends the tournament.”In all honesty, nothing I heard yesterday has allayed our concerns,” Mills said. Twenty-two of New Zealand’s contracted players attended the lengthy and animated meeting along with team management and New Zealand Cricket officials. Worried players threw many questions at the out-numbered ICC representatives, who had arrived from a security assessment in Pakistan in an effort to convince the side to travel, but at this stage the official plea is unlikely to work.”It was an interesting meeting, an active meeting,” Mills said. “It went for a while.” Similar concerns are expected to be heard when the ICC group arrives to discuss the situation in Australia on Friday. The tournament is also expected to be on the agenda at Friday’s New Zealand Cricket board meeting.David Richardson, the ICC general manager of cricket, is heading the task force, which also includes the communication manager Brian Murgatroyd, Tim May, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations chief executive, and a representative from the security firm Nicholls Steyn and Associates. Another ICC group, led by the chief executive Haroon Lorgat, will speak to English and South African players and officials in England next week.Mills was impressed with the detail of the safety outline, but was concerned how it would work in practice in a country battling political instability and acts of terrorism. “There is no question about the effort put in by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan government, the security plans are outstanding,” he said. “They’re the best we’ve ever seen for cricket.”But the fact is they are unproven and we don’t know if the plans can be delivered. We need to see them demonstrated. The threat in Pakistan is real. There’s a lot of political instability and we’ve seen more reports of activity by the Taliban.”A television station in Pakistan has carried a warning that members of the Taliban have threatened suicide attacks in Lahore and Karachi. The cities are the only two venues being used during the Champions Trophy, which is due to start on September 12, following the cutting of Rawalpindi from the schedule.New Zealand have experienced the dangers of touring Pakistan after a bomb exploded near the team’s Karachi hotel in 2002. They left the country although, unlike Australia, they have been back, playing a one-day series in 2003-04. Australia have not visited Pakistan since Mark Taylor’s outfit went there in 1998.

Customs Academy qualified for the quarterfinal of the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Festival, beating two-time champions Airport Gymkhana by 97 runs Saturday.Airport Gymkhana won the toss and put the Customs into bat but with Afsar Nawaz (68), Azher Shafiq (53), Kashif Saddiq (42) and Aamir Bashir unbeaten with 32, Customs ran up a total of 223 for five wickets in their 25 allotted overs.Left-arm Asif Mujtaba bagged two for 40 for Airport Gymkhana.Chasing 224 for victory Airport Gymkhana lost four wickets for 56. Although Ahmed Zeeshan (29) and Atif Zaidi (21), tried their level best to stem the tide, Airport Gymkhana never really recovered form their early setback and were dismissed for 126 runs in 24.2 overs.Afsar Nawaz three for nine, Nisar Abbas two for 10 and Imran Ali two for 18, bowled a tidy line and length for the winners.With this victory three teams, Airport Gymkhana, Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills and Customs finished their group matches with four points apiece. However, Customs lying third till Friday evening with win and one defeat, topped the ladder with a plus 3.36 run rate. Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills finished off as runner-up with plus 1.79 run rate while Airport Gymkhana slipped down the ladder to minus 1.18 and were squeezed out from the quarter-finals.Sunday’s fixture: Sui Gas v KESC 9.00 a.m; Al Noor Gymkhana v Baqai Dolphins at 1-30 p.m.Impressive DolphinsBaqai Dolphins moved into the quarterfinals of the Dalpat R. Sonavaria Ramazan Cricket Trophy, beating Asghar Ali Shah CC by 80 runs Saturday. Batting first, Baqai Dolphins recovered after a bad start and with Hassan Raza (44), Mohammad Imran (42), Anwar Saeed (31) and Atiq uz Zaman (27) scoring freely, reached 167 for eight wickets in 20 overs. Ahmed Iqbal bagged three wickets for 16 runs.In reply Asghar Ali Shah CC were restricted to 87 runs for seven wickets at the end of their 20 overs. Nadeem Babar (27) and Omair-ul Haq (23), were the only two batsmen who batted with confidence. Sohaib Hashmi three for 12 and Atif Maqbool two for 23, were the main wicket takers for the winners.Babar grabs hat trickCantt Sports registered a 59- run victory over Khatri Sports in the Seventh Danish Trophy Ramazan tournament played Saturday.Batting first Cantt Sports reached 139 for six in their 20 overs through Khursheed Malik (35) and Zeeshan Khalil (28). Right-arm medium pacer Baber Rehman had figures of three for 26, which included a hat trick.Khatri Sports in reply could not face the bowling of Taleem Shah two for 18, Mohammad Javeed two for 22 and Tariq Mahmood two for 19 and were skittled out for 80 runs in 19 overs.Sunday’s fixture: KGA Gymkhana v Mohammad Hussain CC 1.00 p.m.Afzal Sports in semisAfzal Sports registering their third win in the four matches played, qualified for the semifinals of the Ford & Lord Trophy Ramazan cricket tournament played Saturday after handing out an eight-wicket defeat to Shaheen Colts.Shaheen Colts batting first, scored 127 all out in 20 overs with Irfan Qureshi (28) and Mohsin Sultan (23) getting amongst the runs.Left-arm Jaffer Qureshi bagged three wickets for 24 runs. In reply Afzal Sports reached the winning score of 128 for two wickets in 17.5 overs. Jaffer Qureshi with a quick knock of 68 runs, steered his team to victory. Talha Shabbir picked up both the wickets that fell for only 23 runs.Sunday’s fixture: Sadiq Sports v Khatri Sports 1-30 p.m.Tooba Sports winTooba Sports beat Afzal Sports by four wickets and Jamshed CC beat Young Pak Flag by 28 runs in the Fourth Sundip Trophy tournament played Friday.Afzal Sports batting first scored 160 for four in their 20 overs through Eshan (63) and Zahidulah (33). Nazir Butt captured two wickets for 26 runs.In reply, Tooba Sports reached the winning total of 161, losing six wickets after 19.1 overs.Raja Mushtaq hammered (50) with Shahid Baig and Nasir Sheerazi notching up 35 runs apiece.In the other encounter, Jamshed CC reached 157 for seven in their 20 overs with Arif Akram (66) and M. Kamran (26) batting well. Usman Khan picked up three wickets for 28.Young Pak Flag in reply could only muster up 129 for eight wickets. Imran Shams hit up 50 runs and Saqib Mehmood 20.Aamir Ahmed three for 22 was the most successful bowler for the winners.

There are different ways of setting a match-winning total and the approaches adopted by India and Pakistan during the Kitply Cup were outstanding examples of contrasting methods which produced the same result – a total in excess of 300. India were 143 for 0 at the end of the 20th over in the first match against Pakistan; at the same stage in the final, Pakistan were 75 for 1 and yet they scored only 15 runs fewer than what India did in the end.In the league match, India’s openers – Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir – carted Pakistan’s wayward attack all over the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Their rapid partnership set up a solid platform for the rest to build on without worrying about the run-rate.Pakistan, on the other hand, chose caution over aggression during the Powerplay overs in the final. It was their capitulation to 26 for 3 that had shut them out while chasing 331, and today, Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal were watchful against Praveen Kumar, the bowler who took the first four wickets in their previous meeting.After Akmal fell, Younis Khan and Butt continued to build a steady foundation. More significantly for Pakistan, they carried on and seized the initiative. “They were 100 for 1 after 25 overs,” Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain, said. “After that they took on the bowlers and played some good shots. It really put the bowlers under pressure. And under the circumstances, we couldn’t recover from that.”With Praveen having wrecked Pakistan and restricted Bangladesh in India’s earlier games, the rest of the bowlers had the advantage of bowling to under-pressure batsmen trying to rebuild. But today, India’s support bowlers were faced with the task of making inroads. Although he dismissed Akmal, Irfan Pathan failed to create any pressure, conceding six boundaries in his first spell of six overs. Piyush Chawla, who had taken 4 for 40 to clean up Pakistan’s lower order in the earlier encounter, haemorrhaged runs once Younis and Butt consciously began to attack. The four part-timers Dhoni used were also ineffective: Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina conceded 71 for no wicket between them.Faced with an attack lacking incisiveness, Younis and Butt shifted seamlessly from first to fourth gear. Their approach was that of a calculated assault – aggression with minimal risk. They batted with authority, picking out the gaps. Younis and Butt scored 84 runs between deep midwicket and long-on, but surprisingly the gap was never plugged.”He [Younis] was scoring through square leg as well, he was sweeping,” Dhoni said. “You hardly have fielders in that zone, you know the country [the area between deep midwicket and long-on] area. Having a long-on and a country is difficult. He was picking it from outside off and most of the times he cleared the boundary. He took on the bowlers and he was successful.”Between overs 20 and 40, a period heavily criticised for its lack of intensity after the arrival of Twenty20, Younis and Butt plundered 150 runs, even more than what Sehwag and Gambhir had managed during the Powerplays on Tuesday. When Younis finally got out, Pakistan had eight wickets in hand for the last eight overs, a luxury that allowed them to bat with a carefree approach.Dhoni admitted there was not much that could have been in the wake of a superlative batting performance. “It [scoring] was really hard to control, you try many fields, you try many lines. There were errors from the bowlers but you can’t really blame them. They were batting well and scoring off good balls.”Call it cautious or old-fashioned, Pakistan’s methodical approach gave India no footholds from which they could climb back into the game. They came out with a plan, which according to Shoaib Malik, their captain, was to “survive initially and then accelerate”, and executed it with precision.

England batsman Michael Vaughan has been voted Player of the Year by the Professional Cricketers’ Association.Vaughan scored 900 Test runs at an average of 90 in his seven Test matches this summer, with four centuries and two fifties.The other four players nominated were Nick Knight (Warwickshire), Ronnie Irani (Essex) Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire) and Mike Hussey (Northants).Young Player of the Year was Worcestershire’s Kabir Ali. James Anderson (Lancashire), Jim Troughton (Warwickshire), Rikki Clarke (Surrey), and Gordon Muchall (Durham) were the other players nominated for this award.

Rain forced the abandonment of New Zealand women’s first game of their three-match series against Ireland at Clontarf, Dublin today.New Zealand batted first and scored 249/6 in the 42 overs they had available to them.The teams left the field after 25 overs had been bowled and the match was reduced to a 42-over affair.Rebecca Rolls (88) and Nicola Payne (60) gave the New Zealanders a fine start.Other batsmen were: Emily Drumm (two), Kathryn Ramel (20), Kate Pulford (seven), Sara McGlashan (25), Fiona Fraser (26 not out) and Rachel Pullar (one not out).Ireland batted for 6.1 overs before rain forced the abandonment of the game. At that stage they were 18 for one wicket.The team’s next game is on Wednesday at Malahide in Dublin.

Surrey are well on the way to another Championship win after forcing Warwickshire to follow on at The Oval. After a second double century in consecutive games from Mark Ramprakash set up a first-innings total of 475, James Ormond (five for 116) and Saqlain Mushtaq (four for 97) combined to dismiss the hosts for 293. Neil Smith (74) was top scorer for Warwickshire, who ended the day on 165 for three in their second innings, still 17 runs behind. Mike Powell is on 66 not out.A century from Neil Burns carried Leicestershire to within 11 runs of Hampshire’s first-innings total at Grace Road, before Phil DeFreitas got amongst the visitors’ top order in their second innings. He took three for 31 as Hampshire closed on 102 for four, 113 runs ahead. Captain Robin Smith is unbeaten on 40.Sussex have made a much better fist of their second innings against Kent at Hove than they did of their first. After Ed Smith made 141 to give Kent a first-innings lead of 204, Sussex looked to be struggling terminally at 54 for three. However Murray Goodwin (108*) and Timothy Ambrose (101*) have compiled an unbroken double century partnership for the fourth wicket to put the hosts back into contention.It does not look as if Yorkshire are going to get their first win of the season against Somerset. They trail by 240 with four wickets intact. Replying to Somerset’s 498 for nine declared, Yorkshire are 258 for six with half centuries for Darren Lehmann, Richard Blakey and Vic Craven.In Division Two, Durham ended their barren spell and at the same time brought Derbyshire down to earth with an 89 run win. There were four wickets for Kevin Dean as Durham were bowled out for 203 in their second innings, leaving Derbyshire to score 299 to win. They got off to a reasonable start with a 58 run opening partnership between Stephen Stubbings (30) and Michael Di Venuto (40), but although there were other useful contributions down the order there was nobody fashioning the big innings around which everyone else could bat and Durham got home inside three days.Leaders Essex are in all sorts of trouble against Worcestershire. They trail by 61 with five second innings wickets in hand after reaching 115 for five. Earlier Worcestershire had taken their first innings to 373 with Steve Rhodes scoring 56. There was a maiden championship half century for Mark Pettini in the Essex second innings.Andy Strauss scored 82 and Sven Koenig 59 as Middlesex reached 297 for nine against Gloucestershire, but they still trail by 91. So far there have been five wickets for Ian Fisher. While that match is heading for a draw, it would seem, Nottinghamshire have beaten Glamorgan by seven wickets. They bowled out Glamorgan for 211 despite 55 from Matthew Maynard. There were five wickets for Paul Franks on his return after a lengthy injury. Set 97 to win, Jason Gallian was unbeaten on 55 when his side achieved their victory.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will take a top-strength team into their tourmatch against England this weekend at Allan Border Field.The Queensland selectors today made one change to the team that playedthe last Pura Cup match against NSW, adding Australian One Day spinnerNathan Hauritz in place of left-arm spinner Matthew Anderson.Test players Matthew Hayden and Andy Bichel were not available for thematch as both players will be in camp from Sunday with the Australianteam, preparing for the First Orange Test match at the Gabba fromNovember 7-11.The three-day tour match against England will start on Saturday, withEngland scheduled to arrive in Brisbane late on Thursday. The touristswill train on Friday at Allan Border Field.The Bulls are keen to disrupt England’s preparation, having gone withinone wicket of beating their rivals on the previous Ashes tour. The tourmatch in 1998 was played in Cairns, with England winning a thrillingmatch late on the third day.England also beat the Bulls later in the summer in a day/night limitedovers match at the Gabba.Bulls pace bowler Michael Kasprowicz, who played alongside new Englandquick Simon Jones at Glamorgan during the off-season, said the matchpresented a dual opportunity for Queensland.”We get to test ourselves against international opposition and maybegive them a few headaches before the first Test but we also get a chanceto build our form for our Pura Cup clash against Victoria in Melbournenext week,” he said.The match is at Allan Border Field, 1 Bogan St Albion. Play starts 10amdaily. Tickets: $8 adults, Children U-16, pensioners: $2. Entry willalso be via Brothers Rugby Union, Crosby Road.Meanwhile the selectors have also named former Australian pace bowlersAdam Dale and Scott Muller in the Queensland Academy of Sport team toplay South Australia in the ACB Cup 2nd XI match in Adelaide next week.Dale is continuing his steady comeback from major shoulder surgery lastseason, taking 6-61 for Wynnum-Manly on Saturday, while Muller has beenamong the leading wicket-takers for the Gold Coast in the first threerounds of the Brisbane XXXX First Grade premiership.XXXX Queensland Bulls v England, Allan Border Field, Sat-Mon: JimmyMaher (c), Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Andrew Symonds, LeeCarseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, NathanHauritz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie (12th man to be named).Queensland Academy of Sport v South Australian 2nd XI, Adelaide,Mon-Thurs: James Hopes (c), Duncan Betts, Jerry Cassell, Daniel Payne,Clinton Perren, Chris Simpson, Chris Hartley, Scott O’Leary, Adam Dale,Scott Muller, Scott Brant, Matthew Anderson. (all 12 to play).

The changing of the guard in Australia’s international playing ranks has received further expression today with an unprecedented seven revisions made to the annual list of Australian Cricket Board (ACB) contract holders.After a season that saw sweeping changes to the personnel in the country’s one-day international side, a number of long-serving international players have surrendered their status as contract holders to several members of the new wave of cricketers beginning to make their mark in Australia.Queensland off spinner Nathan Hauritz and batsman Jimmy Maher, Tasmanian all-rounder Shane Watson, and Western Australian paceman Brad Williams head the list of newcomers, continuing their accession into elite company by securing places on the annual contract list for the first time.Western Australian opening batsman Mike Hussey is also among today’s winners after being recalled to a list on which he won inclusion for a single 12-month period two years ago.And confirmation of Queensland fast bowler Andy Bichel’s status as one of Australia’s leading contemporary players has similarly been provided with his recall to the full list for the first time in two years. Bichel was not included on last year’s original list, and only formally won back his contract after appearing in three successive Test matches for Australia during the 2001-02 international season.New South Wales paceman Stuart Clark has meanwhile added to the sense of change by supplanting Ashley Noffke as the ‘bolter’ in this year’s field and gaining a contract at the end of his first full season of first-class cricket. A tall, accurate right armer, Clark captured 45 first-class wickets to be a standout player at domestic level in 2001-02, after appearing in a total of only 10 first-class games to that point of his career.”The contract will give me some extra confidence going into the new season because I’ll know that I’m in the selectors eyes for higher honours in the future,” said Clark of his elevation today.”I have been in the mix for a Blues pace bowling spot for a while, but it was only this year that I was able to grab my opportunities.”I was happy with my form and consistency in both forms of the game last season and hopefully I can continue that for the Blues next year.”Alongside Noffke, those out of favour in the shake-up are former international players Michael Slater, Damien Fleming, Colin Miller, Greg Blewett, Simon Katich and Shane Lee.New South Wales, with eight representatives, remains the state with the most players on the list. Queensland’s increasingly strong contribution to national squads has also been reflected with the inclusion of six of its players, while Western Australia maintains a significant presence of its own with five.Two players are included from each of the three remaining states, ensuring that the 2002-03 list contains the lowest number of Victorian representatives since the central contract system was formally introduced three years ago.The 25 elite ACB contracts have come to represent hotly contested property in Australian cricket circles over recent seasons. Each of the contracts now offers its holder a base salary of $A110,000 as well as providing recognition of the player’s place among the core group of cricketers from which Australian Test and one-day international teams will be selected over the following 12-month period.In accordance with a formula specified in the compact between the ACB and the country’s player-representative body, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, the highest ranked player among the group of 25 will receive a salary of $440,000 as his base income for the next year.The full list of 2002-03 ACB contracted players is: Michael Bevan (NSW), Andy Bichel (Qld), Nathan Bracken (NSW), Stuart Clark (NSW), Adam Gilchrist (WA), Jason Gillespie (SA), Ian Harvey (Vic), Nathan Hauritz (Qld), Matthew Hayden (Qld), Mike Hussey (WA), Justin Langer (WA), Brett Lee (NSW), Darren Lehmann (SA), Martin Love (Qld), Stuart MacGill (NSW), Glenn McGrath (NSW), Jimmy Maher (Qld), Damien Martyn (WA), Ricky Ponting (Tas), Andrew Symonds (Qld), Shane Warne (Vic), Shane Watson (Tas), Mark Waugh (NSW), Steve Waugh (NSW), Brad Williams (WA).