New Zealand Cricket will allow its players to decide whether or not they want to tour Pakistan later this month. New Zealand’s previous tour of Pakistan was called off in May last year after a bomb blast outside the team hotel in Karachi.According to the New Zealand Press Association, certain members of the team, currently playing a one-day series in India, are apprehensive about the tour.Craig McMillan, who didn’t even go to Sri Lanka for the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament last year, was non-committal when asked about his availability for the Pakistan trip.Though security checks undertaken by New Zealand Cricket revealed no reasons as to why the tour shouldn’t go ahead, both players and officials have been given the option to stay at home, without the threat of repercussions.Martin Sneddon, the NZC chief executive, said, “I don’t expect many to opt out but I can understand if one or two are doubtful.”There are five one-day games scheduled, starting at Faisalabad on November 22. Interestingly, Karachi has been excluded, as it was when South Africa toured last month. New Zealand agreed to undertake the tour only after Pakistan demanded monetary compensation for last year’s truncated series.

A high-scoring second innings led by South Australian skipper Greg Blewett and double centurion David Fitzgerald today killed any chance of a Tasmanian victory in the Pura Cup cricket match at Bellerive Oval.The clash ended 30 minutes early in a frustrating draw after both teams headed into the final day with scant hope of securing an outright result on the batsman-friendly pitch.The determined Redbacks finished on 6-482, with the Tigers picking up two points for leading on the first innings.Fitzgerald, who came the crease today one run shy of a century, racked up an unbeaten 202 off 494 balls in just over 10 hours.Topping his previous first-class best by 35 runs, he was still standing at stumps with John Davison on 23.After scoring a disappointing 25 on day one, Blewett also fired off a ton and posted 9,000 first-class runs for South Australia en route.The Tigers made a breakthrough after lunch when right-arm paceman Adam Griffith bowled Blewett for 171.Damien Wright bowled Zimbabwe import Andy Flower nine runs later, but it was too little too late.Tigers captain Dan Marsh said it was hard work, but produced many positives to take into the next game.The Redbacks did not want to set “any sort of target” after losing quick Shaun Tait on day two with a groin tear.”They decided not to set up any sort of game, which was the way they wanted to go with a bowler down, so I guess you can’t blame them too much,” Marsh said.”It’s the sort of wicket that if you don’t play shots, it is very hard — you don’t get people out.”Just towards the end there for us, it was about saving our fast bowlers for next week (against NSW) when we knew there was going to be no result.”To be honest, I didn’t expect them to have a go.”Blewett said the Redbacks were missing firepower in Tait’s absence, but it was just the way the game panned out.”We were 200 runs behind after the first innings … there just really wasn’t enough time,” he said.”We thought that the maximum we could have bowled at them was probably 40 overs.”On that wicket, you are not bowling anyone out in 40 overs.”Tigers left-arm paceman Andrew Downton, who captured 5-71 in South Australia’s first innings, was named man-of-the-match.

World record holder Matthew Hayden will make his first appearance for the XXXX Queensland Bulls in two seasons this Friday.Hayden will use the Bulls’ Pura Cup match against the Southern Redbacks to prepare for the vital Boxing Day Test against India at the MCG.It will be Hayden’s first game for Queensland since 2001-02.Test teammate Andy Bichel will not play in the game after advice from Cricket Australia that he should be rested following the Adelaide Test.The Bulls team will be announced tomorrow once the State selectors have checked the fitness of players involved in today’s ING Cup day/nighter against the Redbacks.

Khaled Mahmud’s future as Bangladesh captain continues to attract many column inches in Bangladesh’s newspapers, but for the moment he remains, although there is an increasing feeling that he will be replaced before the tour of Zimbabwe.Usually the Bangladesh board selects a captain and then names a side, but earlier this month it announced that it would let the selectors pick the squad before naming the captain. The change on policy reflects the thinking of Dav Whatmore, a firm believer in the Australian idea of selecting the skipper from the players.”We decided to break the convention as a show of respect to the selectors’ desire,” Reazuddin Al Mamun, chairman of the board’s media committee, explained.He also dismissed speculation that the board were about to name separate Test and one-day captains. “The question was raised in the board meeting but not for discussion because we don’t believe we have options for such luxury. I can assure you that only one person will lead the team in the coming series.”

ScorecardZimbabwe ended their World Cup on a winning note with a comprehensive 92-run victory over New Zealand in the day-night match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.Brendon Taylor, Zimbabwe’s opener, was named Man of the Match with an impressive 127 from 145 balls as his side took full advantage of batting first.Taylor was supported by Elton Chingumbura (20), Craig Ervine (34) and Tafadzwa Mufambisi (45*), as Zimbabwe reached 272 for 8 from their 50 overs.New Zealand’s reply lacked any conviction and not one of their top-eight batsmen made more than 20. They were all out for 180 in 42 overs, with No. 11 Te Ahu Davis top-scoring with 44 from 35 balls.Taylor said he was pleased to finish the tournament on a high note. "I felt I batted well against the seamers, but I struggled a bit against the spinners," he said. "When we beat Australia I was a bit worried people might say that was a one-off, so it was good to get a second good win today. Although we are disappointed not to have made it to the semi-finals, it is satisfying to end the tournament with a win."Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand’s coach, felt his team had under-performed in the event."We have only won two out of six matches which is not good enough," he said."All credit to Zimbabwe who did everything we were hoping to do, but didn’t. They paced their innings perfectly, Taylor batted very well and they fully deserved their victory."The result meant that New Zealand finish bottom of Group Two of the Super League, with Zimbabwe third.

Otago pulled off a comfortable win over Canterbury while Northern Districts and Auckland played out a tense draw.Otago 336 and 143 (Hopkins 50, Wisneski 4-45) beat Canterbury 219 (Harris 63) and 152 by 108 runs
ScorecardOtago’s bowlers held their nerve to leave Canterbury adrift by 108 runs in their State Championship match at the Molyneuz Park in Alexandra. Canterbury began the final day at 78 for 4, still needing 183 more runs to win. When Gary Stead (31) and Chris Harris (19) weew dismissed with 100 still not on the board, the game was up. Token resistance from the tail pushed Canterbury to 152, but it could not stave off defeat. Bradley Scott, with 3 for 39 returned the best figures from an innings where every bowler tasted some success.Auckland 283 and 381 for 4 dec (Horne 209*, Barnes 134*) drew with Northern Districts 388 (Marshall 78, Orchard 97) and 269 for 8 (Marshall 77, Horsely 75)
ScorecardAuckland’s best efforts at forcing a win on the final day of their clash against Northern Districts ended in disappointment. ND got within 8 runs of their target, with 8 wickets down, when the match was drawn. The day belonged to Matthew Horne, who crashed 209 from just 232 balls (26 fours, 8 sixes) and allowed Auckland to set ND a target of 277 from 52 overs. Aaron Barnes was Horne’s partner in crime, contributing 134 (18 fours, 1 six) to a mammoth unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 347. When ND began their chase, Nick Horsely (75) and James Marshall (77) scored at a fast clip, giving their side every chance of chasing down the total. They put on 156 for the first wicket, but the pressure to score quickly told on batsmen arriving at the wicket. Joseph Yovich (49*) held up Auckland’s bowlers long enough to ensure a draw. Kerry Walmsley and Andre Adams picked up three wicket apiece as the game was drawn, with both sides tantalisingly close to pulling off a win.
Wellington 181 and 310 beat Central Districts 63 and 197 (Taylor 66, Gillespie 4-71) by 231 runs
ScorecardWellington made the most of some indifferent Central Districts batting to take an outright win in less than three days at Napier, to increase their prospects of a place in the State Championship final. CD, after their miserable first-innings batting effort of 63, faced what would have been a record victory target of 429, but they could do little to boost their own cause after losing all bar Ross Taylor of their best batsmen in reaching 57 for 4. Taylor scored a typically aggressive 66 off 57 balls, but it was only a holding action before the accurate Wellington attack had the final say. Mark Gillespie ended with 4 for 71, while James Franklin and Iain O’Brien took two wickets apiece.

The International Cricket Council has questioned the credibility of allegations levelled against its match referee, Chris Broad, who was accused by Colombo’s Sunday Observer newspaper of “boozing” with the Australian team during their recent Test series in Sri Lanka.”The allegations that have appeared in the media and attributed to Sri Lanka Cricket are serious and significant yet there is not one piece of evidence offered to support them,” said Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive. “There are no specifics – no places, no dates, no times – and it is disappointing that a national board would elect to make disparaging comments about an ICC match official without providing any material to support these comments.”The issue has been discussed with Chris Broad,” added Speed, “and he is unaware of any behaviour or incident during his time in Sri Lanka that would prompt such allegations.” Broad did, however, reopen the debate into Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action, when he questioned the legality of his doosra during the second Test at Kandy.It was a decision which infuriated the Sri Lankan cricket board, and Broad was subsequently removed as match referee for Sri Lanka’s trip to Zimbabwe. But subsequent tests in Australia demonstrated that the delivery did involve a ten-degree flexing of the elbow, five degrees more than the established legal limit for a spinner. Nevertheless, Bruce Elliott, the biomechanist who carried out the tests, believed Murali should be allowed to carry on bowling until further tests had been carried out.”It is disappointing for me that such allegations have been made without any substance to back them up,” said Broad. “I enjoyed the opportunity to officiate in this series in Sri Lanka and entirely reject any suggestion that I acted improperly during my time in the country.”Broad’s protestations of innocence were backed up by Cricket Australia’s officials, who confirmed that his personal and professional behaviour had been entirely appropriate during the tour. “In light of the advice from Mr Broad and Cricket Australia,” concluded Speed, “if Sri Lanka Cricket has a different view, it must now detail its claims and support them if they are to be taken seriously.”

Zimbabwe’s impending suspension from the ICC has taken a step closer to reality this afternoon. Speaking on Channel 4 – a British tv channel – Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, warned the Zimbabwe Cricket Union that unless the impasse with their rebel players was resolved by midday on Friday, he and Ehsan Mani would be recommending that the matches against Australia should be stripped of Test status. If that was the case, then the Australians would have no hesitation in flying out of the country.Finally, it appears that the cricket world is closing ranks to prevent a repeat of the farcical results in the recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka. Aware of the changing mood, the ZCU yesterday named Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut, Stuart Carlisle, Trevor Gripper and Ray Price in a squad of 18. One of those players, however, has since confirmed that they have no intention of taking part in the match.”They did include us in a squad of 18 players,” said the player, who declined to be named, “but they probably knew that the five of us would pull out anyway. We are not playing in the Test series, that’s how it stands.” He added that Speed had also been informed of the situation, which will come to a head at Lord’s on Friday, when the ICC hierarchy decides on the fate of the series during a specially convened tele-conference.The players’ apparent withdrawal comes in the wake of Grant Flower’s warning that the 15 rebels were mentally and physically unprepared for the rigours of a Test series against Australia. The Zimbabwean selectors have been caught unawares by the harsh criticism directed against their skewed selection policy, in the wake of two crushing defeats against Sri Lanka, who were themselves at the receiving end of a 3-0 drubbing from Australia not so long ago.It was those one-sided Sri Lankan romps that forced the ICC to act, and organise the meeting of the board presidents from the 10 Test-playing countries. They will now decide whether the two matches should go ahead, and whether they should be granted Test status. If that is withheld – seven of the 10 need to vote in favour for the motion to be carried – Australia’s players are likely to return home.It appears increasingly likely that only the reinstatement of Streak and his supporters will prevent Zimbabwe being pushed through the exit door.

Sachin Tendulkar has called Nasser Hussain a “great tactician” and followed it up by saying that Hussain was one of the best captains he had played against. Tendulkar, on holiday in England, told BBC Radio that the cricket world would miss Hussain.Tendulkar also said there was nothing wrong with Hussain’s tactics of asking Ashley Giles to bowl a negative line during England’s last tour of India. “Whatever he did was within the regulations of the game — there was no stage where he broke any laws. He was a great tactician,” said Tendulkar. “He was one of the best captains I’ve played against and a tough character. I’m sure people in England, and all over the world, are going to miss a character like him.”Tendulkar is the latest in a long a long line of cricketers to pay tribute to Hussain. “He was one of those guys that fancied being in very tough situations, similar to Steve Waugh,” said Allan Donald. “Hussain was a tough opponent who never backed down from a challenge.” Donald also expressed surprise at Hussain’s decision to retire. “I must say it’s a bit of a shock. I thought he was going to finish the series against New Zealand and West Indies and finish on a high at the end of the summer.”The way he batted at Lord’s was typical of Hussain at his very best, and I think he’s in really good form at the moment,” said Donald. “But everybody comes to that crossroad. I’ve been there and maybe I didn’t finish in such a great way for myself. But he probably wanted to be seen finishing on a high.”Jimmy Adams, the former West Indian captain and a master of the barnacle-on-rock school of batsmanship, also expressed surprise at Hussain’s decision to call it quits. “I think it’s strange he’s retiring seeing as he’s just scored a Test hundred,” he said. “There must be reasons outside cricket because his cricket looks to be pretty good at the minute. Only Nasser knows how he feels and it can’t have been an easy decision considering his recent form. But what better way to leave Test cricket?” There’s no disputing that.

Darren Lehmann, the Australian batsman, has insisted that he is the last of his kind of cricketer – the drinking and smoking sort – and has also promised he will be putting the booze on the backburner for a while.Talking to the media today in Adelaide ahead of Australia’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, a slimmer Lehmann cited less beer and plenty of bowling for Yorkshire in the English County Championship as the reasons for his healthier appearance.Lehmann, 34, said that Craig White, his Yorkshire captain and brother-in-law, had been a helping influence. “He keeps chucking me the ball, which is an absolute pain in the arse,” he said. “But I enjoy bowling, it breaks the day up, and I wish I took it up earlier, obviously, it would have been good.”We’ve been playing a lot of cricket over the last six months and obviously Yorkshire play every day,” he added. “So, it’s been really busy and I feel in really good nick, so hopefully I’ll keep that [weight] off for a while and keep the beers out of the cupboard for a bit.”Lehmann, who has played only 18 Tests but 102 one-dayers, also said that a new wave of professionalism was coming through in the game, and he has had to adapt to that. “To be perfectly honest, I’m probably the last of that bunch that played a little bit overweight and enjoyed a beer and a cigarette, which is good,” he said. “That’s the way it’s changing, it’s turned into a more professional sport.”His position as captain of South Australia also helped him. “I know here at the SACA we’re trying to develop a culture where we’re going to be as fit and strong as we can,” he said. “As a leader you’ve probably got to do that as well.”