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Michael Clarke is ready to step back in as Australia’s opener if Matthew Hayden fails to recover from a shoulder injury for Saturday’s third one-day match against New Zealand at Auckland. Hayden replaced Clarke for the opening two matches of the current series, scoring 71 and 114, but said he was not going to play “half-baked”.Cleared of bone damage, Hayden did not bat in the nets this morning and a decision will be made on his fitness tomorrow. If Hayden is missing it will be an opportunity to give Clarke another promotion after a great run as opener in the VB Series. Clarke scored 334 runs at 66.8 going in first in Australia, but has had limited opportunities since slipping back to No. 6 to accommodate Hayden.”What we’ve got to do now is get Clarke and Andrew Symonds a bit more time in the middle,” Ricky Ponting told the Courier-Mail. “They’re just a bit frustrated with the amount of time they have had to bat in the first couple of games.”Hayden said his right shoulder made a popping sound as he dived to take the catch from Chris Cairns on Tuesday, and he would not play if it had not healed. “I’ve got pretty good movement in it so I don’t think it’s going to be too bad an injury – although at the moment it’s pretty sore,” Hayden said. “I’m not going to play half-baked. That would hurt the side and hurt me.”Ponting also said Australia might experiment with some young players over the next couple of months with the 2007 World Cup in mind. “We’ve got 11 one-dayers before the Ashes and maybe there is an opportunity there,” he said. “There are enough games to start blooding those youngsters.”

Cricket Australia and ING today announced the 2005-06 season would be ING’s last as a major sponsor of Australia’s domestic one-day competition. The decision marks the end of one of the longest relationships in Australian sport.The current seven-year sponsorship concludes at the end of the upcoming season, and after careful consideration, ING has decided not to enter a new contract so it can focus on its other marketing programs.ING began the sponsorship under its old name of Mercantile Mutual for the 1992-93 season and continued the sponsorship after the brand change to ING in 2001.James Sutherland, chief executive of Cricket Australia, said, “We completely understand the reasons why ING will not be renewing its contract after the coming season. It has been a highly successful partnership for both parties, and we are very grateful for their support.””ING has been a terrific partner to work with and they have certainly brought a number of new innovations to the game such as the `Hit the Sign’ competition, which has added a lot of interest for both the players and spectators alike.”The ING Cup is the world’s strongest domestic one-day cricket competition and is an important part of our planning for our 2007 World Cup defence in the West Indies.Sutherland added, “Our plans for the competition, including new ways of presenting it to a wider public, will add to the competition’s value in the sponsorship market place and offer a new commercial partner an exciting time to be joining the game in Australia.”Explaining the decision, chief executive officer ING, Paul Bedbrook said: “ING is delighted with its long association with the game and proud to have contributed to the great success of the one-day domestic competition, now synonymous with the name – ING Cup.”It has been a great partnership in every sense. We have worked together to bring new ideas to the game, taken top level cricket to local communities from Bankstown to Ballarat, and helped put in place strong foundations for developing Australian one-day cricket.”As a company we have benefited greatly from our involvement and it has been a central to our brand promotion. We have made a commercial decision to focus on other marketing programs and therefore have decided that we cannot make another long-term commitment at the conclusion of our existing contract.”We are looking forward to our final season which we believe will be as exciting as ever, and a celebration of our 14-year partnership.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe picked up their first win of the tour when they overcame Bangladesh by 22 runs in the first one-day international at Dhaka, thanks to an impressive allround team effort. The victory was particularly sweet for Zimbabwe’s young side as it ended a 17-match losing streak, and also came as a relief after their defeat in the Test series.Zimbabwe’s batsmen posted a competitive total of 251 for 8, with contributions all the way down the order, and then the bowlers first stifled the Bangladeshi scoring rate and then initiated a middle-order crisis. There was no comeback under the lights, despite some late enterprise from the tail.Douglas Hondo, whose first five overs had gone for 21 runs, came back for a decisive second spell, breaking the Bangladesh backbone with three wickets for 15 in his next five. And Prosper Utseya, the 19-year-old offspinner getting his first game after missing the Tests, created all sorts of problems with his accuracy. Runs dried up, and between the 25th and 44th overs, not a single boundary was scored, just to emphasise the control the bowlers had exerted over Bangladesh’s batsmen.Zimbabwe where helped along by some rash shots, starting with the opener Nafis Iqbal. Coming off his match-saving 121 in the second Test just two days ago, Iqbal made only 12 here before charging Tinashe Panyangara. His away-from-the-body swipe took a top edge, and Hondo took the catch at mid-off (34 for 1). That rush of blood was out of the blue – and unnecessary, since runs were coming at the asking rate of five an over at the time.Rajin Saleh, the other opener, was going about his business in some style. He hit Hondo for three fours, driving through the line and cutting, but fell to another inexplicable shot. From the first ball of the 14th over, from Chris Mpofu, Saleh was dropped by Dion Ebrahim at point. Instead of making Zimbabwe suffer for the letoff, from the last ball of the same over Saleh tried clear midwicket, didn’t time it properly and was caught at mid-on by Stuart Matsikenyeri (70 for 2).Bangladesh’s captain Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful then consolidated after edgy starts. Bashar had a life on 9, when Matsikenyeri flung himself forward at wide mid-on but could not hold on to Bashar’s uppish drive. And Matsikenyeri was again at fault when he grassed Ashraful off his own bowling when he had made only 4.Bashar had reached 39 from 54 balls before, in an attempt to up the tempo, he reached for a wide one outside off and ended up giving a catch to backward point (119 for 3) after putting on 49 with Ashraful. That was in the 27th over, and three overs later Aftab Ahmed tried to hit Hondo past mid-off, where Barney Rogers dived to his right and pulled off an excellent catch.Alok Kapali came and went as Hondo induced an edge to the keeper, while Khaled Mashud was also snapped up by Hondo to leave Bangladesh tottering at 143 for 6 in the 36th over. It got even worse for Bangladesh when Ashraful, after an uncharacteristically laborious 41 – it took him 73 balls – holed out in the deep off Utseya (165 for 7).The veteran allrounder Khaled Mahmud (34 off 30 balls) and Tapash Baisya (33 not out off 24) led a last-ditch fightback – but once Mahmud was run out after backing up too far (207 for 8), Zimbabwe could breathe more easily. Baisya kept up the interest, clouting a six and a four off Utseya’s last over, but he could only watch as the last man Nazmul Hossain became the second run-out victim of the innings. There was drama towards the end when Elton Chigumbura was penalised for bowling two balls above waist-height and was not allowed to finish the 48th over, which was completed by Mpofu.Zimbabwe’s innings earlier on a superb batting pitch was marked by half-centuries from Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza, plus some useful late hitting from Chigumbura, whose 41 from 32 balls propped up the innings.Taibu won a good toss and not surprisingly decided to bat first. But Zimbabwe got off to a jittery start when Rogers tried to force the first ball of the second over towards midwicket, but played too early and offered Nazmul a return catch (3 for 1). Next over, Baisya trapped Ebrahim lbw (14 for 2).But Matsikenyeri and Masakadza counterattacked with an entertaining 80-run partnership to get Zimbabwe back on track. Masakadza clobbered the left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq for 14 in his first over on his return to international cricket. Mahmud then provided the breakthrough, by sneaking one through Matsikenyeri’s defence. It was Mahmud’s 61st wicket in ODIs, taking him past Mohammad Rafique as the leading wicket-taker in one-day cricket for Bangladesh.Masakadza, who hit ten fours on the way to a classy half-century off 47 balls, could add only four runs from the next 16 before playing across one pitched on off from Mahmud, and dragging it back onto his stumps (107 for 4).Taibu and the impressive Taylor steadied the innings, and put together another fifty partnership, off 65 balls, but an unfortunate mix-up between the two ended the stand, with Taibu run out for 28. Taylor (58) showed good improvisation as he went over the infield a couple of times and also used his feet with assurance. But he was guilty of throwing it all away with more than eight overs to go, when he attempted to reverse-sweep Rajin Saleh and was bowled (188 for 6).Chigumbura then gave the tourists the thrust they needed, and threw his bat around in a breezy knock, which included the first six of the match, off Razzaq. Zimbabwe eventual total of 251 proved to be just enough.The second game in the five-match series is to be played at Chittagong on Monday (Jan 24).

Sourav Ganguly’s fitness has been a talking point ever since he was stretcheredoff the field during the final one-dayer at Lahore. Ratnakar Shetty, the managerof the Indian team, said today, “there is good news. An MRI scan was doneyesterday and it showed that there was no back injury. Sourav [Ganguly] onlysuffered from muscle pain.” However, it was not possible to say to say whetherGanguly would be fit enough to take the field on Saturday, when the first Testbegins.Ganguly, who arrived in Multan from Lahore on Friday morning, had undergonephysiotherapy sessions with Andrew Leipus, and his injury was not thought to beserious. He has to undergo two more sessions in the lead-up to the first Test.When asked whether Ganguly would be in a position to play the first Test, Shettysaid, “It’s too early to say anything now. He needs rest. We will have a clearerpicture only by tomorrow evening or on the morning of the match.”However, word on the ground is that while Ganguly’s injury is not serious, itmight prevent him from being fully fit in time for the first Test. It is learntthat Ganguly has a slight disc problem, and is still in considerable pain. Gangulyfound sitting down a painful experience for most of Thursday, and has indicatedthat it is unlikely that he will be in a position to play in the first Test, inwhich case Yuvraj Singh will get to play his second Test match in almost identicalcircumstances to those in which he made his debut in Mohali last October.On that occasion Ganguly had minor surgery to remove an abscess on his upper leftthigh, and pulled out on the eve of the match. This gave Yuvraj his Test debut athis home ground. That was also the only instance when Rahul Dravid led India in aTest match.”Obviously, if you are missing your captain, then you will find things a bitdifferent,” said Haroon Rashid, the Pakistan manager. “We are well aware thatSourav is a very influential member of the Indian team. He has done very well as acaptain, and has the backing of the entire team. I guess Rahul will do a good jobas captain, but there will be pressure on the Indians because they will miss avery key player if Sourav doesn’t play here.”Interestingly enough, Ganguly needs just one more Test victory to become the mostsuccessful Indian Test captain ever. India’s famous win in Adelaide last Decembertied him with Mohammad Azharuddin as the winningest Indian Test captain – they both have 14 wins apiece. Ganguly is also India’s most successful leader overseas with Test wins in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and Australia under his belt.Ganguly’s injury appeared to be very serious when he had to be carried off thefield. He was attempting to stop a drive at mid-off, off the bat of Inzamam-ul-Haq. When he dived, Ganguly fell awkwardly, hitting the ground sideways androlling over. Yet, when the game was won Ganguly walked out onto the field tocelebrate with the rest of the team.

– Mark Gillespie on bowling at the death.I had never seen him bowl before, and pre-match office talk had revolved around two interesting facets of Gillespie. One, his run-up was supposedly a mix of Bob Willis and Dennis Lillee and the other was his ability to bowl at the death. I saw neither Lillee nor Willis in him but the other claim was spot on.He bounded in with short aggressive steps, a white handkerchief protruding from behind, before hurling himself fluently into a nice cocked-up wrist position and more often that not, hit the right areas. In his first spell he threaded the good-length and moved it off the seam to tease the outside edge. He would go close to the stump to either move the ball away or straighten it and suddenly would move wide of the crease to dart it in. And it’s not that he had to create an angle to get the ball in, but whenever he did that it nipped back in sharply. He got his first wicket in the 19th over with one that straightened from the length to dismiss a well-set Connar Williams, a former India batsman. He even slipped in a slower one, that almost got him a wicket, but the image of the death specialist was still yet to fully form in the mind’s eye.That crystallised when he came back at the slog. Admittedly, Baroda were already waging a lost cause when he reappeared but then none of his colleagues could finish the innings off. Not even Shane Bond. Gillespie hit a different length now. Much fuller and regularly pinging the blockhole, he delivered from slightly wide of the crease, and bent the ball in repeatedly. The yorkers appeared, one of them crashing into the base of the middle stump, so did the surprise bouncer that took out Yusuf Pathan. There was no need for the slower ball now, for Baroda were almost down and out and even the attempt to hit had evaporated.As evident by that quote, it’s a mature head that is sitting on young shoulders. Vaughn Johnson, who has been working with him over the past eight seasons, is the man who will know more. “He’s starting to become quite an intelligent bowler,” he told reporters last week. “In a cricket sense, he’s got quite a good brain. He’s a bit loose at times but he’s a good kid. He’s had a fair few bollockings over the years and hopefully that’s done him some good.” But he hinted at a troubled character. “He can be a bit different. He’s one reason I’ve got no hair.” And now, it’s up to John Bracewell and Stephen Fleming to handle their new option with care.Scott Styris clearly looked chuffed that New Zealand have found a fast bowling prospect. “He is bit quicker than you think, he bowls a lots of bouncers as well and he is very good at the death,” Styris said at the end of the match. “He will be handful on wickets which have more pace than this. He has it in him to play very well in the international cricket. He is very aggressive and likes to go after the batsmen and doesn’t like to take a backward step which is very important in international cricket. He has taken his chances, in the A tour to Australia three months back where he knocked out some very useful batsmen and again here he has grabbed his opportunity. It’s exciting for us that we have another fast bowler coming through in New Zealand cricket who isn’t in the 120-130 kmph category.”Gillespie has grabbed his chance with both hands. Surely, the selectors would have noticed it. Come Monday, we shall know.

Sabina Park in Jamaica will host two Test matches in the current West Indian season, after one of the two Tests against Bangladesh was switched from Georgetown in Guyana.Zorol Barthley, the West Indies Cricket Board’s chief operations officer, explained: “The Guyana Cricket Board has informed us that the timing of the tour coincides with their rainy season, hence the change.”St Lucia’s Beausejour Stadium, originally the venue for the second Test,will now host the first one (May 28 to June 1), and the second Test will now take place at Sabina Park from June 4 to 8.Bangladesh will also play three one-day Internationals against West Indies – at St Vincent’s Arnos Vale Playing Field on May 15 and 16, and Grenada’s Queen’s Park Stadium on May 19. It will be Bangladesh’s first full tour of the Caribbean, although their A team took part in the West Indian first-class competition two years ago.Revised schedule:
May 15 – 1st ODI – St Vincent
May 16 – 2nd ODI – St Vincent
May 19 – 3rd ODI – Grenada
May 28-June 1 – 1st Test – St Lucia
June 4-8 – 2nd Test – Jamaica

Ian Healy has urged Shane Warne not to retire, and to grit it out through the controversies that surround him and his mobile phone.”I hope [Warne does not retire] because then he will be remembered solely for the last 12 months,” said Healy, speaking to the AAP news agency. “He needs to clear his head, and the harder it gets for him the clearer his cricket focus will become, and hopefully he will give us two good years of cricket, whether it’s for Victoria or Australia. Hopefully he can have a crack at being remembered for what cricketers will remember him for – his great skills.”Healy did say, though, that Warne might find it hard to get back into the national team. “You couldn’t say he would come back and slot back into the team with the good form of Stuart MacGill. He might never get back in the Australian team. That doesn’t bother me as long as he plays some good cricket for Victoria … that will be enough.”

A complex television dispute that could have jeopardised coverage of England’s tour to Sri Lanka now looks to be nearing a settlement following thedecision by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to call for “expressions of interest”from companies interested in securing television, sponsorship andbroadcasting rights for a new three-year period starting from 01 January2004.The SLC announcement on Friday morning means that the current three-yearcontract with Dubai-based Taj Television, which had previously beendescribed as "null and void" by cricket officials, will not run for its fullduration. The contract, signed in 2001 by a government appointed interimcommittee, had included tours to Sri Lanka by Australia and South Africa in2004.However, it is unclear whether the contract period was reduced withagreement from Taj Television, or whether the current contract will berecognised for the forthcoming England tour in November. The cricket hadbeen considering a one-tour agreement with Singapore-based WSG Nimbus toreduce a potential multiple-million dollar payout.A Singapore court had ruled earlier in the year that WSG Nimbus were duefinancial damages after Sri Lanka Cricket (previously known as the BCCSL)had "unlawfully" terminated a three-year broadcasting and sponsorshipcontract in 2001. WSG Nimbus claimed USD $ 18 million according to boardsources. The court will announce the exact damages to be paid shortly.Once the damages are announced, the cricket board will finalise ongoingdiscussions with both WSG Nimbus and Taj Television. The objective will be asolution that minimizes the potential financial losses and future liability.The board will be walking a tightrope: awarding rights to WSG Nimbus for thelucrative England series may reduce their damages claim but that is alsolikely to prompt a legal battle with Taj Television.An amicable comprimise with Taj Television – an organisation that has strongconnections with Sri Lanka cricket because of the CBFS-organised tournamentsin Sharjah – remains a possibility. They though are unlikely to considerdropping their claim to the England tour, which is already being advertisedand is by far the most valuable tour in the three-year contract period.

Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid tonight has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for a breach of the ICC code of conduct at tonight’s VB Series match between India and Zimbabwe at the Gabba.ICC match referee Clive Lloyd found Dravid guilty of a Level 2 offence and imposed a Level 2 penalty.Dravid was charged under the ICC Code of Conduct, specifically clause 2.10.Clause 2.10 refers to: “Changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 as read with Standard Test Match and ODI Playing Conditions clause 42.1 (this supplements and does not replace the provisions of the Laws of Cricket and Standard Test Match and ODI Playing Conditions).Dravid attended a hearing after the match and was subsequently informed of the penalty.

Crowds for the Twenty20 Cup group matches are currently running nearly three times higher than for the equivalent games in the old Benson & Hedges Cup.In the 18 games to date the total crowd attendance has been 80,350, which tops the figure of 68,018 spectators for all the 45 Benson & Hedges Cup group matches in 2002. A further 27 group matches remain in cricket’s newest competition.The average attendance for Twenty20 Cup matches to date is three times higher than for Benson & Hedges Cup group matches in 2002 – an average of 4,464 per Twenty20 group match so far compared to an average of 1,511 per Benson & Hedges group match last season.ECB Marketing Manager, Stuart Robertson, said,