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New Zealand Cricket has reported an annual net surplus of NZ$23.7 million for the 2014-15 financial year, after the annual general meeting on Thursday in Wellington. The considerable surplus was a consequence of the board co-hosting the World Cup 2015 along with Australia.NZC’s chief executive Dave White praised an extraordinary year for the board, as significant gains were made both on and off the field, including New Zealand’s performances, a strong financial result, and agreement on a lucrative FTP programme, an NZC release said.White, however, stated that the nature of ICC’s funding model meant NZC would face difficult financial challenges over the next two or three years, and the board is forecasting a loss of $5 million for the year 2015-16.”The 2015-16 surplus is critical for NZC in terms of our long-term viability, especially with the next two of three years promising to be financially demanding,” White said. “Having said that, I’m delighted to report that NZC has achieved, or is in the process of achieving all our Cricket World Cup legacy goals, including improving the playing infrastructure, growing attendances and viewership numbers, and improving participation numbers – especially at junior level.”NZC chairman Stuart Heal stated that New Zealand’s performance in the past year helped raise the profile of cricket, and created a surge in the interest for the sport, including women’s cricket.”Seldom has cricket in New Zealand been celebrated in the way it has over the past twelve months.” Heal said. “In reaching the Cricket World Cup final – and soaring up the Test and ODI rankings, the BLACKCAPS helped lift the profile of cricket to unprecedented heights, and create for us an excellent springboard into the future. We are noticing a profound upturn in interest in cricket.”The WHITE FERNS’ success in winning crucial Women’s World Championship points against England, India, and more recently Sri Lanka, has only reaffirmed cricket as a game for all New Zealanders.”Three NZC directors – Martin Snedden, Don Mackinnon and Geoff Allott – were re-elected to the board, while Heal returned as the board chairman.

The junior selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the names of 21 probables for a tri-series tournament in Sri Lanka and the World Cup, to be held in Malaysia in February-March.A two-week training camp will be held at the National Cricket Academy from January 4, before the team departs for Sri Lanka for the tri-series – also involving the hosts and England.Pakistan will take their place in Malaysia subsequently as the defending champions, having won the Under-19 World Cup in 2006 and 2004.Probables: Shan Masood, Umer Ameen, Ahmad Shahzad, Usman Salahuddin, Umer Akmal, Hamza Zaheer, Muhammad Yaseen, Fawad Hussain, Imad Waseem, Jibran Khan, Ali Asad, Umair Mir, Muhammad Rameez, Adil Raza, Junaid Khan, Junaid Nadir, Abdul Ameer, Azhar Attari, Shahzeb Ahmad, Kamran Hussain, Ahsan Mirza

Shane Warne believes Shaun Tait will be a useful addition to Australia’s World Cup defence, but he was surprised by the omissions of Stuart Clark and Cameron White from the 15-man squad. Warne told AAP Tait was an excellent choice because of his “explosive pace and versatility”.”He can bowl the powerplays or he can take the new rock and bowl at 160kph and take early wickets,” Warne, who retired at the Sydney Test, said. “The key to one-day cricket is taking wickets, and when you’ve got someone who can bowl that express pace, he can take wickets at any stage of the game.”However, Warne felt Clark and White, who is the leading candidate to replace Andrew Symonds if he is not fit, were unlucky. “I thought Cameron White, in that No. 7 sort of spot, is a finisher who can clear the fence, [but also] knock it around, so I was a little bit surprised. But I suppose you can’t fit everybody in and hopefully the guys who were picked in the squad will do the job.”In his column in The Times this week Warne said England were an outsider to win the World Cup, but he told AAP the CB Series victory did not make up for the tourists losing the Ashes. “It shows that in one-day cricket anyone can win and the way they fought back shows a bit of character,” he said. “But England will be very, very disappointed with their tour, to lose 5-0. It took them a couple of months to win their first game.”

After the setback of hearing the news that his wife has suffered a recurrence of cancer, Glenn McGrath could yet continue to play in the VB Series, and might return to the side which faces South Africa at Sydney on Sunday.”I know he is quite keen to play, so that’s what they [the family] will have to work out,” Adam Gilchrist, Australia’s vice-captain, said on Saturday. “Longer term, I don’t know. We just have to let the dust settle a little bit and really give them a chance to work out what’s best for them and then secondary to that is what’s best for the team.”I have just spoken with Pigeon [McGrath] this morning [and he is] very optimistic and very positive,” Gilchrist added. “If anyone knows how to deal with it, those guys do.”Australia have already booked their berth in the finals of the VB Series. Meanwhile, South Africa must beat Australia on Sunday or else face “live” final qualifying match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Graeme Smith, South Africa’s out-of-form captain, was dismissed for a second-ball duck against Australia on Saturday; he has yet to make a fifty this series.Herschelle Gibbs – who, on 33, played a rash slog and was bowled by James Hopes – was criticised by his coach, Mickey Arthur. “It was an irresponsible shot,” Arthur said, “bearing in mind that we had got Botha in to take the pressure off him.”

Glamorgan, the National League Division One champions, are hopeful of persuading Simon Jones to sign a new three-year contract before the start of the season to secure his long-term future at the club. During England’s tour of Zimbabwe Jones had expressed his frustration about the lack of one-day opportunities coming his way, but it now seems he is ready to stay at Sophia Gardens.Jones, who holds a 12-month central contract and is therefore paid by England and not Glamorgan, is currently on holiday in Singapore, but it is hoped the deal will be finalised once he returns. Mike Fatkin, Glamorgan’s chief executive told the : “I’ve spoken to Simon and everything seems positive which is very encouraging. It’s just a question of talking to him when he returns and, hopefully, it will all be sorted by the beginning of the season.”Jones, 26, took 15 wickets during the Test series against South Africa at 26.66 and formed an important part of the attack as Steve Harmison’s form dipped. However, he is currently on the fringe of the one-day team after playing two games against Zimbabwe, and being on standby while Harmison recovered from injury at the start of the one-day series against South Africa.He felt his progress in limited-overs cricket was being hindered by not being a regular in Glamorgan’s one-day team. In five years he as only played 12 one-day matches, bowling 90 overs and claiming seven wickets at over 71 apiece – although that lack of games can be partly attributed to his central contract. In his early days he was a tearaway quick bowler, but since returning from the knee injury he sustained at Brisbane in November 2002 he has added more control to compensate for a reduction in pace.

Roughly 150 cricket fans have staged a demonstration in Karachi, to protest against their city’s exclusion from the itinerary for South Africa’s tour of Pakistan, which gets underway next week.Karachi, in the south of Pakistan, and Peshawar, near the Afghanistan border in the north-west, have both been dropped at South Africa’s request, after concerns about security. The demonstrators responded with placards reading: “Karachiites are cricket crazy, not terrorists”, “We want Pakistan-South Africa match in Karachi” and “Don’t take away Karachi as international venue.””People in Karachi are passionate about the game of cricket,” said Nawab Mirza, a local member of Parliament. "They feel hugely deprived not to see South Africa play here." Karachi staged its first one-day international in 16 months last month, when Bangladesh were the visitors. But a recent bomb blast raised fears of a repeat of the situation in May last year, when New Zealand were forced to evacuate their hotel – and abandon their tour – after an explosion killed 15 people.”This is injustice to the people of Karachi and we demand South African captain Graeme Smith brings his team to the city,” said the president of Karachi City Cricket Association, Muneer Hussain. “We would make sure they play here without any trouble.”But Smith himself was unsympathetic to Karachi’s demands. “Excuse me for being blunt," he wrote in his column for The Cape Times newspaper, "but I can’t help thinking that a bomb intended for someone else will hurt just as much as one intended for you. To say the bomb in Karachi wasn’t serious because it was a business conflict misses the point completely. The question should be about the general stability of a region.”The South Africans arrive in Lahore on Tuesday, where they will play a one-day game against City Nazim XI on October 1.

Lancaster Park-Woolston’s first grade team is largely unchanged this year, but the playing management is a different matter.The club welcomes back long-serving club member Garry MacDonald as club coach, returning after a successful four-year stint coaching the Canterbury team.Captain this season is opening batsman Neville Perkins who played age group representative cricket for Canterbury.Opening the batting will be Kelvin Scott and Perkins. While joining top order batsman of recent seasons Robert Tibbetts is Mark Stewart, the well-performed second grade Dragons No 3 batsman for the past three years.Another batsman back for this season is John Woodham. After spending the off-season in Cornwall, Cleighten Cornelius will fulfil the all-rounder role.Former Christ’s College 1st XI player Bernard Ballin will fill an all-rounder spot.Garry Hooper, a 20-year veteran of local club cricket, comes in to carry out the spin bowler duties replacing John Stuart, who is unavailable due to work commitments.After waiting in the wings for the past three years, during which time he was the top wicket taker for the second grade Dragons, is Peter Robinson. Robinson is likely to open the bowling with Wade Cornelius, who will not be available for club cricket until released by New Zealand Cricket Academy early next month.Mark Lane returns as wicket-keeper and will boost the batting. He started the season with 70 last Saturday.Club captain this season is Bruce Cameron who has lead the second grade Dragons for three successive one-day titles. Cameron is once again captain of the Dragons, a team with few changes. The biggest difference this season is the loss of both opening bowlers – Robinson to first grade, Mark Silcock unavailable due to injury.Opening the bowling will be the promising Josh Maloney who bagged four for 16 off 14.5 overs last Saturday.Sharing the new ball will be Scott Garven with all rounder Shane McConnell the most likely first change bowler. The spin attack will be spearheaded by Cameron.The first grade women’s team, led this year by Jo Strachan, started the season with a decisive win, led by 102 not out from international Paula Flannery. Also back in team ranks is Haidee Tiffen after spending the off season with Surrey.This season’s women’s club captain is Kate Rathbun.The club has an overseas player, 17-year-old Sam Tucker, a wicket-keeper from the Church Cricket Club in Lancashire. Tucker, a first team player since 14 has played Under-14s, Under-15s and Under-16s for Lancashire and Under-15s for North of England.Peter Crowhen was re-elected president at the August annual meeting with David Sparks and David Wilson as vice presidents.

Sri Lanka Board President’s XI took control of the West Indians’ three-day warm-up encounter at the SSC, as two young batsmen struck centuries. Udara Jayasundera remained unbeaten on 124 at stumps, by which time the hosts had whittled out a 24-run lead, with seven first-innings wickets in hand. Jayasundera had shared a 214-run stand with 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Minod Bhanuka, who hit an attractive 101 from 160 balls.The partnership was all the more impressive for the state of the scoreline at its beginning. They had come together third ball after Kemar Roach had dismissed two batsmen from the Test squad in successive deliveries; Kusal Mendis was caught at point, and Lahiru Thirimanne offered an edge to the wicketkeeper. As Sri Lanka have picked only eight batsmen in its Test squad, Thirimanne’s failure is unlikely to force him out of the Test XI, but it does put further pressure on the batsman, who has had a modest home Test season so far.Jayasundera was largely the more secure of the two batsman, and Bhanuka was the strokemaker who occasionally rode his luck, with thick edges either passing between or over the slips. Bhanuka was especially quick on the short ball, pulling and hooking the West Indians’ seamers, while Jayasundera relied more on his drive. They were circumspect against Roach and Jason Holder, who were the most disciplined of the quicks, but scored freely off the wayward Shannon Gabriel. Jerome Taylor was rested on Saturday, and did not bowl.The West Indian spinners were unable to make a breakthrough on a pitch that had slowed down considerably. Frontline spinners Devendra Bishoo and Jomel Warrican both traveled at more than 4.5 runs an over. Holder removed Bhanuka late in the day, and the President’s XI went to stumps at 233 for 3.Earlier in the day, Suraj Randiv had completed an impressive five-wicket haul when he removed Shai Hope and Holder on consecutive deliveries. Denesh Ramdin’s dismissal for 20 left West Indians at 166 for 9, but some big-hitting from Carlos Brathwaite, who struck four sixes and four fours in his 54, took the visitors to 202 all out.

New Zealand Cricket has backed Dunedin’s University Oval to produce a Test-quality pitch within the next four weeks. The ground hosted a State Championship match that finished within two days last week as 34 wickets tumbled in quick time.Concerns were raised about whether a suitable pitch could be prepared for the New Zealand-Bangladesh Test that Dunedin is scheduled to host starting on January 4. However, NZC has completed a review following the domestic match and made recommendations on how the curators could ensure the ground was ready for the Test.”Tight control of moisture content and grass density were identified as key factors in producing a good Test surface,” Justin Vaughan, NZC’s chief executive, said. “NZC and the Otago Cricket Association will be working hard to produce the best possible wicket.”We are committed to the development of the University Oval as an international venue and are delighted with the ongoing support from the Dunedin City Council. We shall continue to work with the council to ensure that the pitch is up to international standard and will be closely monitoring its progress.”Auckland’s coach Mark O’Donnell pulled no punches in his assessment of the pitch after his side lost to Otago in the two-day game. O’Donnell said: “If you’d put a Test attack on that surface you’d probably have killed someone once the divots dried out.”

England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher, believes that Andrew Flintoff is a transformed character now that the burden of captaincy has been lifted from his shoulders.With Michael Vaughan restored to the team, Flintoff produced a brilliant, match-changing spell of bowling during England’s thrilling victory over New Zealand at Brisbane on Tuesday, and Fletcher admitted that his key allrounder seemed much happier to be back in the ranks.”We feel when he’s not captain he feels a little bit freer, his bowling is a lot more confident and there’s a weight off his shoulders,” said Fletcher. “He seems a lot more relaxed. Anyone who’s not captain of the side would be a little bit more relaxed. I don’t think there’s a captain who goes in there and feels very relaxed when he’s leading his country.”All the same, Vaughan has been struggling with a hamstring injury during the triangular one-day series and is doubtful for the first of the best-of-three finals at Melbourne on Sunday. “He’s captaining England successfully and is a very important factor for us,” said Fletcher. “You always worry with Michael because that experience is immense.”