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Cameron White is set to make his one-day international return this month but after a disappointing 2006, the nature of his place in the side does not worry him. White, who played all five of his ODIs in 2005, has developed his batting so much that he is likely to fill an Andrew Symonds-type role as a hard-hitting middle-order striker and handy slow bowler.Like Matthew Hayden, who has also been recalled for the Commonwealth Bank Series against England and New Zealand, White will be keen to impress ahead of the World Cup. After losing his Cricket Australia contract and being overlooked for the Australia A Top End games last year, the Victoria captain worked hard on his batting in county cricket for Somerset and this season averages 52.33 in the Ford Ranger Cup.”I don’t really care if I get picked as a batting allrounder or a bowling allrounder, or just as a bat or bowler, as long as I get picked,” White told . “It doesn’t really matter what label you put on it as long as you are playing.””If anyone asks me what I am I just say I am happy to do whatever anyone asks. Batting or bowling – it doesn’t really matter what you call someone. But I think I have bowled fairly well in the last month, so I wouldn’t say I am a batsman who bowls yet.”Although he has been useful with the ball, his figures are not as attractive as his run-scoring in 2006-07. In eight domestic limited-overs games he has eight wickets at 32 and has conceded nearly five runs an over. His Pura Cup statistics – seven dismissals at 49.42 – are less convincing.”I bowl no differently in the one-day game to four-day,” White said. “I just think the conditions tend to suit me more in one-day cricket. The wickets can be a bit slower and that probably suits my game more, and I have to learn to bowl better on faster wickets. I try to change my pace around a lot.”White said the disappointment of missing the Top End tour was eased by the fantastic experience he had at Somerset. Batting mostly at No. 5, White made five centuries and averaged 59.50 in his 12 first-class matches. He was even more impressive in the Twenty20 competition, where his 67.16 was the highest average from all counties and his two centuries included one in 55 balls, breaking the record for the fastest Twenty20 hundred.”I had a good summer over there and my batting improved, so I am not overly disappointed by it,” White said. “One of the things I wanted to work on in county cricket was my batting, and my one-day batting in particular. I batted up the order at Somerset and that seemed to work. It was a really good experience.”With the departure of Damien Martyn from Australia’s one-day middle-order and the World Cup just two months away, the timing of White’s return to form could not be better.

Jesse Ryder, the promising Wellington batsman, is drawing further attention to his claims for a national call-up as two members of the national selection panel will be watching him bat at the Basin Reserve this week.Ryder, 21, has been in the news following a superb start to the domestic season. Three days after John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, reposed his trust in the struggling Craig McMillan, Vaughn Johnson, the Wellington coach, seemed to support this opinion by saying that Ryder was too raw to make the jump to international cricket. However, Bracewell and Glenn Turner, the former New Zealand great now acting as the team’s batting specialist, are set to watch Wellington host Central Districts over the next four days. Their focus, it is believed, will solely be on Ryder.With McMillan and Hamish Marshall woefully out of form, the selectors need to be on the look out for exciting talent, and Ryder apart, this match is set to throw up a few other questions for the future.The Central District duo of Mathew Sinclair, who has represented his country, and Ross Taylor are two players who will look to impress Bracewell and Turner. James Franklin, the left-arm fast bowler, and Jacob Oram, New Zealand’s allrounder, need to perform well with the ball. Franklin, with 35 one-day matches under his belt, will be looking to keep his name in the minds of the selectors, while Oram must reestablish his claims at being a successful bowler following a dismal run of late.With scores of 133 against Canterbury and 79 against Otago, a good performance from Ryder at Wellington may effectively secure his prospects as far as the selectors are concerned. New Zealand host Sri Lanka for a five-match one-day series beginning December 31, and the selectors are to announce the 13-man squad on Friday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

In a game that seesawed, with the initiative being more often given up by Pakistan than wrested away by Australia, Pakistan managed to hold their nerve and win by three wickets. A spirited showing with the ball ensured that Australia were kept down to 265 at the WACA, and even that total seemed unlikely until Pakistan fluffed chances and Michael Clarke carved out a crucial 75 at No. 6. But Pakistan raised their game when it mattered and scored the runs needed for victory.Pakistan’s win means that the identity of Australia’s opponents in the finals of this VB Series are still not known. It will all boil down to the last qualifying game, between Pakistan and West Indies on Tuesday, also at the WACA.Pakistan began their chase badly, and were reduced to 3 for 49 after their young batsmen succumbed to quality fast bowling on a Perth pitch which, as usual, possessed true bounce and pace. Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath were quickly into their stride, sprinkling bouncers judiciously into some careful line-and-length bowling.But Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana kept cool and weathered the storm. They didn’t worry about scoring quickly, opting for a safety-first attitude instead. Inzamam’s experience and class came through as he defended watchfully, ran sparingly, and made the loose balls count with crunching drives off the back foot. With a cheeky Youhana for company he put on 74 for the fourth wicket, in 16 overs.Brad Hogg then got Australia back into the game, dismissing Inzamam against the run of play. Inzamam swept at a full one, and missed. The straighter delivery thudded into the pad and a furious Inzamam (29) stomped off, lbw. Two runs later Shoaib Malik attempted to steal a single from Andrew Symonds, but he charged in and kicked the ball onto the stumps with a deft left instep that Thierry Henry would have been proud of, and Malik was run out (5 for 125).Youhana kept up the good work, nudging, nurdling and poking his way along, just occasionally launching into the big hit, like the time he danced down the pitch and deposited Hogg into the stands at long-off. But he couldn’t finish the job either, falling for 72 – 90 balls, seven fours, one six – when he tried to chip Symonds over mid-off and failed (6 for 170).Then came a manic period of batting that made the Inzamam-Youhana crawl worthwhile. Shahid Afridi walked out with the mien of a heavyweight boxer about to thump an opponent, and clouted the ball a long way. Symonds watched a perfectly good delivery disappear back over his head for six of the best over long-off; another was creamed over long-on. But just when it seemed that Afridi was playing the crucial knock, his blood boiled over and he top-edged Symonds to Lee at square leg. Afridi had taken 30 off just 13 balls, and brought the required run rate under six an over.Then Razzaq, who had stepped his game up a gear or two with the ball earlier, played a gem with the bat. Aggressive, fearless, but sensible, he rattled up an unbeaten 63 off 61 balls, and shepherded Pakistan to victory with 16 balls to spare. That, alongside his 4 for 53 earlier in the day, was enough to secure the Man of the Match award.Razzaq may even have had a five-for had it not been for Pakistan’s butter-fingered catching. The disease crept in early on, when Adam Gilchrist was dropped twice before he was finally bowled by Razzaq for 47. And Pakistan certainly were not helped by their decision to leave out Kamran Akmal and play Younis Khan as a makeshift keeper, supposedly in the interests of team balance.

With Matthew Hayden already back in the hutch, his run of poor form prolonged, Pakistan were in with a good chance of restricting Australia. Plenty of batsmen got starts – Ponting made 29, Damien Martyn 24 and Symonds 23 – but wickets fell at regular intervals, and Australia were in a spot of bother at 6 for 156.But then came an innings of character from the man leading the runscoring charts in this tournament. Michael Clarke came in at No. 6, charged with playing another substantial innings, and he made the difference between a healthy total and a good one. The steady fall of wickets at the other end only made Clarke assume more responsibility. He initially restrained his wide range of strokes, but accelerated once set. He opened his shoulders and unfurled the big shots that had been kept under lock and key, reaching 50 with a vicious pulled six off Razzaq, who ended up with 4 for 53. Clarke was also dropped, in the outfield by Salman Butt, and this time it did cost Pakistan. Clarke rounded off the Australian innings with ruthless efficiency, reaching 75 at a run a ball, with five fours and a six, and lifted Australia to 265. On most days you would back Australia to defend that score. But on the day they were on the receiving end of a Pakistan special.

BAT Sports remain top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League after forcing a tame draw against arch championship rivals Havant.But their lead has been trimmed to a mere five points by South Wilts, who beat Liphook & Ripsley by four wickets at Bemerton to cement themselves firmly into contention after the seventh round of fixtures.BAT travel to Salisbury for a potentially crucial all-day game in the 18-match calendar on Saturday week, June 28.The eagerly awaited clash between the two Premier powermen of the past three seasons fizzled out into a damp squibb after the Havant, the defending champions, batted the visitors out of the game with a massive 288-7 in 66 overs.No team has ever scored that many batting second in the SPL and, with only 56 overs bowled back at them, BAT were in no mood to give their biggest rivals an inch.They were content to play out time at 179-5, with Damian Shirazi batting almost three hours for 82 not out.The stalemate was largely due to the excellence of the Havant Park strip, on which bowlers toiled in the sun to prise out just 12 wickets at a cost of 467 runs.Havant’s traditional pitches are notoriously slow and low, but this strip – one of four relaid two winters ago – was an absolute belter."Our players were a bit surprised to be playing on a much harder than normal strip, but it played superbly and the batsmen thrived on it," said Havant team manager Mark Readman."We didn’t get our runs as quick as we might have liked, simply because of a lull in the scoring caused by wickets falling at the wrong time late in the innings."That prevented us from declaring before our 66 over allocation was complete," he added.Adrift in the honours race after having lost to South Wilts a fortnight ago and been held to a draw at Liphook last week, Havant needed to apply the pressure from the start.They began on a positive note, with Damian Carson (22) and left-hander Simon Barnard seeing off the perils of the new ball during a 48-run opening stand.Carson fell to the first ball Mark Page bowled, but his departure opened the door for Richard Hindley to play arguably his best Premier League innings.Hindley, who spent the winter playing and coaching in New South Wales, looked in immaculate form, punching drives through the covers and playing sweetly off his legs.By lunch, he had almost caught up the equally impressive Barnard, who completed his second consecutive half-century just before the interval.The pair made hay immediately after the break, with Dan Goldstraw – BAT’s eight-wicket hero against Calmore Sports – being smacked for 22 runs off one remarkable over.Barnard struck the first ball for three and then Hindley thumped four boundaries in succession – his straight on-drive, which rocketed to the long-on rope, particularly eye-catching.The two left-handers added a quality 145 runs for the second wicket before Barnard (73) was trapped in front by Terry Rawlins at 193-2.Apart from a couple of blemishes, BAT kept their shape well in the field and when Hindley eventually fell for 93 – his innings included 12 fours (and an over-thrown six) – they sensed some bowling bonus points were on the table.An untimely stutter – four wickets fell for 28 runs – cost the champions the opportunity of a declaration.Paul Gover, in hindsight probably overcautious, chipped an unbeaten 32 and Graham Benton struck an aerial 18, as 30 runs came off the final two overs.It was certainly entertaining to watch, but Havant’s near four-hour sojourn of the crease ultimately gobbled up too much of the playing time for there to be a positive outcome.BAT, with an hour less batting time, needed to be 100 without loss if they were to offer a serious challenge.They weren’t – Australian Matt Cox, bowling a tight off-spin line, removing Neil Parlane and Richard Kenway to have BAT an uncertain 50-2.From that point on, it was simply a case of whether could prise MCC Young Cricketer Damian Shirazi from the crease.They seldom looked like achieving their aim and, with David Banks (50) playing a selection of good shots, BAT’s reply reached 125-3 before the wicketkeeper was neatly snapped up at short-leg.Shirazi’s main aim was to frustrate Havant and glean a second batting point for BAT at 175.He finished with a somewhat tedious 82 not out, but did the job BAT required of him as time was called with the visitors 179-5 in ten less overs than Havant bowled to them.

New Zealand’s women’s team to India will follow a similar build-up programme to that employed last year before its success in winning the CricInfo Women’s World Cup.With only three warm-up games against England before the event, the CLEAR White Ferns had a series of games with men’s President’s Grade teams from the Christchurch club competition.That formula will be used again when the team for the tour meets over Labour Weekend in Christchurch with games on Sunday and Monday of that weekend.New Zealand Cricket’s women’s cricket administrator Catherine Campbell said some members of the team won’t have had any cricket at all by that stage of the year and it will be a chance for some match play for them.The team will be farewelled from Auckland before leaving on November 23. They will have some net sessions after assembling and attend an official function before leaving.The side is to be named next week, on October 2, in Christchurch.New Zealand Cricket is making plans for the tour despite the build-up in tensions to the north of India in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the terrorist attack in New York a fortnight ago.

Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes believes a draw in the first Test against South Africa, the No. 1 ranked Test side, in Chittagong, will be a “big achievement” for Bangladesh. The hosts beat South Africa for the first time in an ODI series last week and Imrul hoped the team could take the confidence gained from the ODIs into the Test format as well. The first Test in Chittagong starts from July 21.”I think a batting-friendly pitch would be best for us,” Imrul said in Chittagong. “If we can score over 400 runs and they match us, the game will go towards a draw. Against the No 1 Test team in the world, a draw would be a big achievement.”The team is in a good rhythm. We won the last four ODI series at home. I think that if we can replicate our ODI form into the Tests, there will be something good for Bangladesh.”Imrul’s wish for a batting track could come true as Zahid Reza Babu, the pitch curator of Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, has traditionally delivered pitches that favour the batsmen heavily. Imrul, however, admitted that the spinners will ultimately be required to do most of the work.”Our spinners take more wickets in almost all our home series,” he said. “We don’t have pitches on which pace bowlers can take five-six wickets. So the spinners will once again need to pick up wickets. Shakib and Taijul will have to lead the way, bowl well and take wickets.”Bangladesh’s reliance can be gauged from the fact that in the eight home Tests since January 2014, their spinners have taken 91 of the 110 wickets to fall to bowlers. Shakib Al Hasan leads the way with 33 wickets in eight Tests, with Taijul contributing 27 wickets in six Tests.Among Bangladesh’s Tests specialists, Imrul has been in good form. He made 150 in the second innings against Pakistan in the Khulna Test and also struck 72 against India in Fatullah. Imrul said he was confident he could handle the South African pace attack, which will include Dale Steyn – who had been rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour – and Vernon Philander in addition to Morne Morkel.”Opening the batting is definitely challenging. The first spell is bowled by the best bowlers and whatever help there is from the pitch is at the start of the game,” he said. “If the openers can fight through this early period and score runs, it makes life easier for the rest of the batting line-up.”Almost every bowling attack in the world has guys bowling 140-145kph regularly. But we cannot think too much about it. We are playing positive cricket and by being consistent, we can handle their pace attack. I made my debut in South Africa and I have played Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. It was in different conditions but I hope here I won’t have any problems.”Both Bangladesh and South Africa will not train over the weekend due to the Eid holidays. In the Bangladesh team, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das and Taijul Islam have stayed back in Chittagong while the other players have gone home to celebrate Eid.

Darrell Hair has defended his handling of the abandoned Test at The Oval between England and Pakistan in August 2006. The actions led to Hair being suspended from standing in Tests and resulted in him taking the ICC to an employment tribunal in London last month before he withdrew his claims of racial discrimination.Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove ruled Pakistan had forfeited the match when Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to play on after the umpires penalised his side for alleged ball tampering. It was the first Test in history to end in such fashion.Hair, who was later barred from officiating Test matches, has since finished a man management course he agreed to as part of a “rehabilitation” programme. He agreed to the course when he withdrew his racial discrimination during the second week of the hearing in London. The claim stemmed from an explosive confrontation with Inzamam during the Oval Test.”It’s easy to say, look, if I’d known how to deal with that sort of issue, the communication and management issues then, if I knew then what I know now I may have done things differently,” Hair said on a Sydney radio station where he was answering questions from presenters and callers.”But I don’t believe so because there’s a certain limit to what the umpire needs to do under those circumstances and I believe that both the umpires fulfilled those obligations both with the ball tampering and the refusal to play.”A lot of people have said to me you must be really annoyed with cricket and the fact is I’m not annoyed with cricket. It’s just a couple of people made a strange decision to remove me from umpiring.”The ICC will decide next March whether Hair can return to top-level umpiring. He is hopeful of being reinstated and said he would be ready to umpire in Pakistan if chosen to do so.”If that’s what my contract says and they want me to umpire any Test match well that’s what we’re there for.”However, Pakistan remains convinced that Hair is unfit to umpire at international level. “At the moment the PCB’s position is that Hair is unfit to officiate in the elite panel and it’s up to the ICC to revisit the stance on him,” PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said last month. “We do not have any dispute with Hair and there is no personal thing but on our judgement he failed at The Oval.”

“It’ll be pretty hard to replace 15 or 16 seasons of your life on top of the world. How am I going to replace that? I’m a pretty competitive person, so playing poker will be up there with pool, snooker or golf. I will have the odd wager on the golf course, but nothing can replace the opportunity to play for Australia.” Shane Warne
“We’ve actually played some of the best cricket I’ve ever been involved in. I don’t think I’ve been involved in a side that’s played relentless and tough cricket like we’ve played this summer. That’s what led to the collapses with England, the mistakes. The constant pressure in both batting and bowling was just outstanding.”Warne
“There will be no comebacks. It’s time for the young guys to step forward now. Australia’s in a very healthy position so there won’t be any calls next year for us to come back.” Glenn McGrath
“Since Brisbane it’s been an amazing team performance. There’s been no standout player. When we’ve bowled there have been no easy runs and when we’ve batted they’ve had to work really hard for their wickets. In the first Test there was a bit leftover from the Ashes in 2005 and we just haven’t let up the whole time.” McGrath
“The first morning was a bit emotional for me. It was business as usual after that. There’s no denying when the national anthem was on and I saw my family up in the box and looked around for the last time before we went out to field, I knew that I was pretty upset. It probably affected the way I played the first day, I dropped three catches. That’s good. I’d be upset if I wasn’t a bit upset about it.” Justin Langer

At exactly 16:44:19, in fading light on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka, at the Feroz Shah Kotla Sachin Tendulkar became Test cricket’s most prolific century scorer. With a flick through square-leg off Chaminda Vaas he reached his 35th Test century, going past Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test centuries. Gavaskar’s record had stood for 22 years. Gavaskar became the scorer of the highest number of Test centuries in 1983, and scored his last century in December 1986, against Sri Lanka.As soon as Tendulkar reached his century, which included 13 fours and one straight six, and came off 177 balls, play was stopped for bad light with the score on 245 for 3 off 75.4 overs. Tendulkar was not out on an even 100, and had spent 279 minutes at the crease. Sourav Ganguly was the non-striker, on 39, and the partnership was worth 112 runs.On reaching his hundred Tendulkar celebrated with uncharacteristic abandon, raising his bat to the skies, looking up and holding the pose for a long moment before touching his chest with the bat. He then acknowledged the cheers of the crowd before turning to the dressing-room and raising his bat in the direction of his team.The Indian team was already out on the balcony, in a state of readiness for the moment: Anil Kumble had his camera out, ready to capture the moment, while Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell and others watched in rapt attention.

Individual statistics for Tests played in 2004

Individual statistics for ODIs played in 2004