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Pedro Collins, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine have come back into the West Indies squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa next month. Collins, the left-arm bowler, said his return was “long overdue” while Sarwan was named captain after leaving the tour of England early with a shoulder injury.Collins, who has played 32 Tests and 30 ODIs, said he had a “point to prove” after not being picked for West Indies since July 2006. “I think my recall was long overdue,” he told Reuters. “I was being overlooked and I was wondering why. I was waiting my turn to play for the West Indies again and now my turn has come. I’m delighted to be back in the team.”Deonarine, the 23-year-old Guyana batsman, was selected for the first time in two years. He has played four Tests and four ODIs and will push for a long stay in the side during the two-week tournament starting on September 11.”We saw performances in the last Stanford 20/20 tournament but performances in that tournament was not really a big consideration because we do not think that anything much has been done for the those players after that competition in terms of remedial and developmental work,” Gordon Greenidge, the chairman of selectors said. “There were recommendations but very little is being done for player development which is a critical area if the players are to be successful at the highest level.”The format was taken into consideration and we tried to get a blend of youth and experience since the game is fast-paced and requires a bowler bowling no more than four overs,” he said. “We believe that we have arrived at a reasonable balance.”West Indies squad Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul.

Geoff Boycott has called Duncan Fletcher “a hypocrite” for his comments about Andrew Flintoff’s drinking habits on tour. Flintoff’s father has also complained about Fletcher’s new book and says his son is “not a happy man” after the revelations surrounding his behaviour in Australia and the Caribbean over the past year.Fletcher wrote Flintoff attended a fielding session while drunk and the former coach also had doubts before naming him as captain for the Ashes. Boycott, who was also targeted in Behind the Shades, was unimpressed with Fletcher.”After the stuff he has come out with in the last couple of days, I find it ironic that he spent his eight years with England spouting on about loyalty and keeping everything within the team,” Boycott told the . “There he was, taking the moral high ground at every opportunity. And as soon as he finishes, what does he do? He gets stuck into Flintoff.”I have no problem with cricket people writing books, telling the truth, and making some money. I have done it myself. Fine. But it seems a bit rich coming from someone who has made such a big deal about not “talking out of school”. Fletcher is a hypocrite and he should be ashamed of himself.”Colin Flintoff said his son felt betrayed and was upset with Fletcher for speaking out. “The golden rule is that what goes on in the dressing room stays in the dressing room,” he told the Guardian. “Fletcher has betrayed Andrew’s confidence. I am upset that he has done this for the sake of his book.”There is no bigger team player than Andrew. These comments have really upset him. I have spoken to Andrew about this and he is not a happy man.”Paul Nixon, who was part of Flintoff’s one-day squad in Australia and at the World Cup, supported his former captain by saying he did not have a drinking problem. “Freddie’s such a competitive guy and a passionate guy, he wants to win every game ferociously for England,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think that the hiding they got in the Ashes really affected him more than people realise.”Alastair Cook also added his support for Flintoff. “All I know is when I was playing under Freddie for England, he was my leader,” he told . “He gave everything for England and I just wish him successful rehab on that ankle.”It’s his third time, which must be tough, but we hope he gets back as soon as possible because a fully-fit, firing Freddie Flintoff is what we need for English cricket.”He said he had not read the book. “It is just a book isn’t it? We are not bothered about what people are writing. We have moved on. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but personally I am not bothered what he has written now because we are under Peter Moores.”It doesn’t affect the squad as a whole and we are more worried about how we are going to play against Sri Lanka in two weeks’ time.”

Karachi, Nov 13: Karachi Whites overwhelmed Sheikhupura by an inningsand 13 runs to record their fifth victory in the Quaid-i-Azam TrophyNational Grade-I Cricket Championship at the UBL Sports Complex hereon Monday.Sheikhupura, who needed to bat throughout the fourth and final day,were bowled out for 218 in their second innings in the 11th mandatoryover.Earlier, Karachi Whites had declared their first innings at theirovernight score of 543 for four. The highlight being the mammothunfinished record fifth-wicket partnership of 361 between skipper AsifMujtaba (202) and Mohammad Masroor (171).Mujtaba’s timely declaration proved decisive in the end as the KarachiWhites bowlers stuck to their task to condemn Sheikhupura to theirfifth defeat in six matches.The only resistance offered was a stubborn stand of 78 in 103 minutesby the third-wicket pair of Mohammad Javed and Usman Akram.The left-handed Javed made exactly 50 off 129 balls in 134 minuteswith the help of 10 boundaries. His partner, Usman contributed 38 in103 minutes off 104 deliveries with four hits to the fence.At one stage, Sheikhupura looked like saving the match when they were137 for four in mid-afternoon. However, fine bowling by pace bowlerAthar Laeeq and the young spin duo of Tahir Khan and Adnan Malik putpaid to that notion.Athar drew the first blood when he clean bowled Majid Majeed, who made88 in the first innings, for a duck in the third over of the innings.Later he claimed two more wickets at crucial moments.Off-spinner Tahir Khan got rid of the other opener, Tahir Usman, withthe very first ball of his opening over.Adnan Malik, the slow left-armer, then dismissed Javed and Usman Akramin quick successions after lunch. The latter was out to a magnificentreturn catch.The last four wickets crashed in the final session after tea was takenwith Sheikhupura on 156 for six. Tahir was was responsible for abrilliant direct hit at the bowler’s end from square leg to run outMohammad Islam.In between, Tahir removed Asif Raza for 35, caught at backward shortleg by Athar Laeeq.The final wicket fell to Adnan Malik who had Sheikhupura captainJaffer Nazir caught behind for the innings’ third duck.Athar Laeeq finished with impressive analysis of three for 28 in 16overs while Tahir claimed three for 67 in 32 overs for a match haul ofseven for 160 in 69 overs.Adnan was at last rewarded for some excellent bowling with figures ofthree for 63 in 26.4 overs.The unbeaten Karachi Whites move out of the city for two matchesbefore the six-week Ramazan and Eid-ul-Fitr break with a tally of 63points. They face Lahore Blues in Lahore from Thursday (Nov 16) andthen take on Sargodha from Nov 22.

It’s ironic that a year that began with India celebrating a new openingcombination has ended with them grappling over the choice of their top two. Anage-old problem appeared to be sorting itself out but now it’s exploded into theirfaces.The New Year Test in Cape Town sawDinesh Karthik open for the first time and, with six 50-plus scores in six Tests,took up the role like a duck would to water. Karthik was India’s highestrun-getter in the series in England and, along with Wasim Jaffer, went aboutsetting the base for tall totals. Often it wasn’t just a platform, it was aterminus.Karthik’s poor form during the Pakistan series caused a few ripples before YuvrajSingh’s magnificent 169 in Bangalore caused what Anil Kumble termed a”happy headache”. After precisely one more Test that’s looking more like amigraine right now.A lot has happened over the last month or so: Karthik fell cheaply in his fourinnings as opener against Pakistan, Yuvraj cracked hundred, Virender Sehwag, in poor domestic form, was picked in the squad toAustralia on a hunch, Rahul Dravid, going through a lean phase, was asked to open,Dravid endured an agonising first innings at Melbourne, didn’t score much in thesecond dig, and, India lost heavily. To add to their worries Wasim Jaffer, whokept scoring through all the early turbulence, also fell early in both his chancesin Melbourne.”If you look at our batting order then all seven of them are batting well,”Kumble said of the line-up picked for the first Test, “and the other two openers, whocould have possibly taken someone else’s place, weren’t really getting runs. It isa difficult position for me. If Viru and Dinesh Karthik were in great form thenthe choice would have been easier.”It’s a hard choice for a captain but it’s a strange statement too. Karthik hasbeen off-colour since the Pakistan series and Sehwag has made more headlines forhis failures rather than successes on the domestic circuit. Both were picked, it’sbeen suggested, thanks largely to Kumble’s backing. As a captain he would haveexpected this situation.Neither were played in the tour match – probably because the first XI was decidedby then anyway – and were largely left to face the bowling machine. India wereleft with no choice but to push Dravid up to open. Kumble said as much. “WhenYuvraj is playing so well and we don’t pick him, you say why not? Then when we putRahul up the order and then make way for Yuvraj, you say ‘no you shouldn’t havedone that’. There are always ifs and buts, but for me personally I need to lookat the team dynamics and who is batting well.”Back-to-back Tests mean the team has little time to brainstorm. The SCG pitchappears to hold the key to their opening plans. Mitchell Johnson spoke about a”slow” pitch he had played on “not too long ago” but also added that he doesn’texpect a similar pitch for the Test. There has been talk of the surface being abit bouncier than normal, allowing the Australian pace bowlers an advantage.If India see some good pace and carry on the surface, there would be a temptationto play Sehwag. It won’t be a decision based on any logic but an outrightshoot-in-the-dark gamble. It might be a spectacular flop but could, with chunks ofluck, turn into a masterstroke. Kumble, who is normally known to be one to coverall bases, isn’t someone who has relied on a gambler’s instinct. He might still wantto play it safe, hoping for the same seven to fire, but he would surely be temptedto attempt the punt. You wouldn’t bet on it but a new year is supposed to beabout surprises.

Former England and Middlesex batsman Clive Radley, who has been the head coach at Lord’s since 1991, received his MBE today for his services to the game.”My first professional contract was in 1962 and I never imagined I’d still be involved 46 years later,” said Radley, who played eight Tests and scored 26,441 runs in first first-class career.”Clive is an invaluable part of the club set-up and, under him the MCC Young Cricketers programme has gone from strength to strength,” MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw said.”In an age of county cricket academies, Clive has proved that the programme is still relevant and plays a vital role in developing professional cricketers and giving opportunities to unsigned talent from all over the world.”

Andrew Caddick’s last Test appearance came at Sydney back in January 2003, but even at the age of 38, he still feels that he would be worthy of a place in the England squad to tour Sri Lanka, which is set to be announced at The Oval on Friday morning.Caddick took 234 wickets in 62 Tests, having made his debut against Australia during the 1993 Ashes. But his form in county cricket for Somerset has remained remarkably consistent, and this year he was shortlisted for the PCA Player of the Year along with three fellow veterans – Mark Ramprakash, Mushtaq Ahmed and the eventual winner Ottis Gibson – after picking up 75 first-class wickets at 23.10.Caddick is not a realistic prospect for an England recall but his former 1990s team-mate Ramprakash is very much in the frame after passing 2000 runs in consecutive seasons for Surrey – rightly so, in Caddick’s opinion. “I don’t care what age you are,” he said. “If you’re getting thousands of runs and taking hundreds of wickets, you should be knocking on the door of these youngsters.””There have to be rewards for players who play to the best of their ability on the county circuit,” he said. “If you’ve got players who are bowling well, batting well, they should be pushing on the door of those who are playing international cricket and not doing well.”Although England’s former coach, Duncan Fletcher, was never a fan of county cricket, his successor Peter Moores has been keen to build bridges between the domestic and international circuits, with the likes of Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann earning their rewards for consistency.Caddick himself was briefly in line for an astonishing comeback in August, when he was put on standby for the decisive third Test against India at The Oval, after Chris Tremlett reported an injury in training. “I spoke with Geoff Miller [England selector] up at Derby and told him what I could bring to the fold,” said Caddick. “It’s still up to the selectors to decide whether Andy Caddick should still be involved in English cricket.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
The Indians dominated the first two days of their warm-up match but Andy Hodd led a stubborn fightback on the third as Sussex, and rain, ensured that the chance of a result was rather unlikely. Hodd scored his maiden first-class century and led Sussex to 300 for 6 before Michael Yardy declared, giving the Indians a lead of 88. After that solid batting effort, James Kirtley and Jason Lewry rattled the Indian batsmen during a short burst before stumps and reduced them to 21 for 2.After two days of sunny weather, it began raining minutes before the scheduled start at 11.00 am and conditions did not improve through the morning. Over four hours of play were lost when the players finally took the field at 3.15pm.Sreesanth continued where he left off last evening and bowled an outstanding opening spell. He consistently hit a good length, extracted sharp bounce and got the ball to swing considerably away from the right-handers. RP Singh wasn’t as controlled though. He tried bowling to a plan, angling the ball across the right-handers from over the wicket, trying to swing it back into them to hit the pad. His execution was poor for he often strayed down leg side. However, he was difficult to play when he got it right and unsettled the batsmen with sharp in-swing and well-directed bouncers. Ranadeb Bose, playing his first game on the tour, was the least impressive of the seamers. He also found swing but his line was too wide outside the off stump to trouble the batsmen. And when he made an effort to bowl straighter, he was unable to generate as much swing.

Both Hodd and Martin-Jenkins were tested by some terrific deliveries in the afternoon but MS Dhoni had an equally torrid time behind the stumps. Sreesanth and RP Singh sent down deliveries that swung prodigiously after passing the batsmen and Dhoni frequently struggled to collect them cleanly. Sreesanth could have had a wicket early on but Dhoni was late in moving towards an outside edge from Martin-Jenkins, on 6, and dropped what would have been a comfortable catch for Yuvraj Singh at first slip.Sussex began the day trailing by 242 runs with just five wickets in hand with Hodd on 21 and Martin-Jenkins yet to score. Hodd was the more aggressive of the two, cutting and driving through cover point whenever offered width outside the off stump. A couple of his boundaries were streaky edges over slips and gully but, in all fairness, he would have had more had the wet outfield not thwarted several well-timed drives through the off side.Martin-Jenkins overcame a nervous start and grew in confidence as the session progressed. His first boundary was a crisp drive through covers off Sreesanth and by the time tea approached he was settled enough to use his feet and loft Anil Kumble over mid-on.The Indians could have had a wicket soon after tea but Kumble, running backwards to catch a top-edged pull from Martin-Jenkins off his own bowling, lost balance when he collided with the stumps at the non-striker’s end and messed up a simple catch. Martin-Jenkins went on to make 42, his highest first-class score of the season. He added 125 for the sixth wicket with Hodd before he was stumped down the leg side off Kumble.Hodd played Kumble confidently, driving him twice to the midwicket boundary. He calmly moved into the nineties before suffering several nervous moments on the verge of his century. Laxman, standing in for Rahul Dravid who was nursing a calf strain, took the second new ball with Hodd on 99 and Sreesanth backed up the decision with an outstanding maiden over, beating Hodd’s outside edge several times. Hodd played out 13 dot balls on 99 before RP Singh offered a loose delivery on the pads that he flicked to the square leg fence and raised his arms in triumph. Sussex declared shortly afterwards, and tested the Indians with a few awkward overs before stumps.Wasim Jaffer never looked comfortable and failed for the second time in the match when he was hit on the pad by one that swung back into him from Lewry. Dhoni, who also failed in the first innings, began aggressively by cutting Lewry twice through point for four. It didn’t last though and Lewry had his second wicket when Dhoni tried to pull a short ball that got big on him and top-edged it to Chris Nash at long leg. Dinesh Karthik and Yuvraj, promoted to No 3, took India through to stumps without further damage.

As a dramatic Test series ended, the drama shifted off the field to preparations for the hearing of Harbhajan Singh’s appeal against his ban for making racist remarks. A day before Justice John Hansen began the hearing a controversy was brewing over his decision to admit new evidence, including transcripts from stump cameras, even as the Indian team gathered in Adelaide in a show of unity instead of proceeding to Melbourne for the next leg of the series.Harbhajan’s counsel, VR Manohar, said he would not oppose the use of additional evidence like the transcript of the stump microphone but would object to any embellished improvised material, which he said was “fishy” evidence.However, the BCCI has said that introducing new evidence at this stage was not a normal court practice. “Our lawyer has said that whatever comes to the fore in the lower court is discussed or heard by the appellate commissioner, bringing new evidence is against the rule,” BCCI president Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi.Members of the Indian team were wondering why the additional evidence had come so late, three weeks after the conclusion of the Sydney Test at which the incident occurred. In a show of solidarity the team decided to stay back in Adelaide. The additional members of the one-day squad will also join them from Melbourne.Justice Hansen said on Monday the appeal would be a re-hearing, with evidence being given by all of the witnesses who gave evidence to Mike Procter in the original hearing; he also spoke of “additional evidence, such as the transcript available from the stump microphone,” being made available.”I have nothing against the stump microphone evidence being used as long as it is not tampered with,” Manohar told Cricinfo from Mumbai. “What I will object to is a scenario where a player who said he didn’t hear Harbhajan use the monkey word during the first hearing turns around and says he did hear that word. That would be termed as “fishy”. If the players decide to add to what they have stated in the tribunal, and if that contradicts their initial stance, that would be objectionable.””If there have been any suspicious changes to the material recorded during Procter investigation, I would term it as fishy or embellished improvised material. That said, I am not against using stump microphone transcripts or some thing new like that.”Manohar, whose son Shashank is the Indian board’s president-elect, will participate in the hearing via a video link from Mumbai. He has not travelled to Australia, citing his age – he is 74 – and his confidence that the present “innocuous” evidence was enough to prove Harbhajan’s innocence.Cricinfo, meanwhile, has learnt that the evidence provided by the stump transcripts is inconclusive – what Harbhajan says is indecipherable – and is expected to neither jeopardise nor help his case.The original hearing was played out under the shadow of India’s threat to pull out of the tour unless the racism charge was withdrawn. There was some speculation that the threat still held, and Lalit Modi, the board’s vice-president, said as much on Monday. “If the racism charge against Harbhajan is not taken back, then the Indian board has taken a decision that the team will come back to India,” Modi was quoted by PTI.

Scorecard

Mumbai Champs lost their second match in a row after T Kumaran struck with 6 for 21 to hand Chennai Superstars a 38-run win.After winning the toss, the Superstars were given a powerful start by Ian Harvey, who hit six fours and four sixes in his 41-ball 63. He added 78 with Chris Read before Read was trapped leg before by Nathan Astle for 34. But Harvey stuck into Astle in the 13th over, hitting two sixes and a four off the first three balls before he holed out to fine leg off the last ball. The over had cost 18 runs and the Superstars were at 109 for 3. After Harvey’s dismissal, the Superstars steadily lost wickets and only added another 48 in the next seven overs. Their total of 157 is the highest so far in the tournament and Harvey’s 63 is the highest individual score so far.The Champs began the chase positively with Dheeraj Jadhav flicking three fours off Harvey in the first over. But by the halfway mark of the innings they had lost their openers and were at 56 for 2. But the Champs had Astle and Johan van der Wath at the crease to counter the required run-rate that was steadily climbing. Kumaran, though, having snapped up Jadhav for 30, was planning a counter-attack of his own. In the 15th over he bowled Astle and had a defensive van der Wath caught off Russel Arnold. Though Brian Lara was at the crease, the chase had more or less slipped out of the Champs’ hands. In fact, over the last six games, only one team has won while chasing.Kumaran further dealt crushing blows when he dismissed Lara, Shreyas Khanolkar and Subhojit Paul in the same over. By then the Champs needed 45 off 12 balls and with only two wickets remaining. They lost those in the penultimate over, handing an easy victory to the Superstars. The Champs are the only side to remain pointless this far into the tournament.

Scorecard

When the platteland dust cleared in Bloemfontein on Friday night, the Lions and the Eagles had tied their Standard Bank Pro20 match. And that despite a masterful blast from opener Alviro Petersen, who faced 48 balls for his 64 and spiked his innings with seven fours and a six.Petersen’s valiant effort was enough to nudge the Lions past the Eagles, who were bowled out for 152 in 19.4 overs. In reply, the Lions mustered 152 for 7.The Eagles, who won the toss and chose to bat, soared to 130 for 2 in the 15th over before sacrificing their last eight wickets for 22.Loots Bosman and Jacques Rudolph launched the innings in style with their 66-run stand for the first wicket. Bosman blitzed his 47 off 22 balls, while Rudolph clipped his 46 off 40 balls. Morne van Wyk (23) helped Rudolph add another 53 runs for the second wicket after Heinrich le Roux bowled Bosman in the seventh over.The Lions’ fightback began when Werner Coetsee dismissed Rudolph in the 15th over. Three overs later, Garnett Kruger grabbed the wickets – Ryan McLaren (4), Boeta Dippenaar (0) and Roger Telemachus (0) – in the space of six balls. Add the run-outs of Dillon du Preez (9) and Ryan Bailey (0), and it wasn’t difficult to see why the Eagles’ beaks drooped dramatically. Kruger finished with 3 for 22.The Lions started their reply solidly, with Petersen and Jean Symes adding 47 for the first wicket. But Telemachus bowled Symes for 19 in the sixth over, and six overs later the visitors slumped to 88 for 5.That was when Petersen and Heinrich le Roux stepped in with a 53-run stand that took the Lions all the way to the 18th over, and left them to score a run a ball off the last two overs. However, Petersen’s dismissal was followed by that of Coetsee (0), and that snapped the Lions’ momentum and saw them fall that single, crucial run short.
Scorecard
Charl Langeveldt was at it again as he steered the Western Cape Cobras to a five-run victory over the Eastern Cape Warriors in a Standard Bank Pro20 thriller at Buffalo Park in East London.The Warriors, chasing 146 for victory, were cruising on 110 for 4 after 16 overs when Langeveldt (3 for 13) staged a dramatic turnaround in the Cobras’ fortunes, taking three wickets in the 17th over as the home side ultimately closed on 140 for 8.There were other telling bowling performances from Tyron Henderson (2 for 28), spinner Con de Lange, who went for just 18 runs in his four overs and took the key wicket of Davey Jacobs, and Rory Kleinveldt, who finished with 2 for 32 and conceded just six runs in the final over.There were a few worried faces in the Cobras’ dugout as Jacobs and Zander de Bruyn added 58 for the fourth wicket in 7.3 overs, but Jacobs was caught and bowled by de Lange for a 24-ball 36, and de Bruyn was one of the three batsmen to fall in Langeveldt’s wonder over, for a run-a-ball 35.Offspinner Johan Botha had starred in the Cobras’ innings of 145 for 7, taking 3 for 19 and he was well-supported by 18-year-old left-armer Wayne Parnell (2 for 24). Young Richard Levi top-scored for the Cobras with 39 off 37 balls, but the visitors needed a few lusty blows in the closing overs from Vernon Philander (36 not out off 29 balls) and Rory Kleinveldt (22 off 9) for their matchwinning total.