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Daniel Vettori’s playing future is unclear after he decided not to take up a New Zealand Cricket contract this year due to uncertainty over his recovery from injury. Vettori said he intended to work hard to return to playing over the next six months, following surgery on his Achilles tendon, but the doubt about when he would regain full fitness led him to take himself out of the mix for either an NZC contract or a deal with Northern Districts.Vettori, 34, had surgery following the recent Champions Trophy, at which he made his comeback to one-day internationals for the first time in nearly two and a half years. He has not played Test cricket for nearly a year, since the series in the West Indies last July, and although he hopes to add to his 112 Test appearances and 360 wickets, his playing future will only be determined after his recovery from surgery is complete.”I am very focused on my recovery from my recent surgery and will be working hard to get back onto the playing field over the next six-month period,” Vettori said. “Given the time I’ll need to spend out of the game with my recovery, and the level of uncertainty about when I may play again, it doesn’t feel right that I take up a retainer contract this year. I will now focus on my rehabilitation in the coming months, with the overall goal of making a return to the cricket field during the summer months. Hopefully it goes well.”I’m really hopeful the surgery is the final effort to get it right, and speaking to the surgeon, he’s pretty confident he could get it right,” Vettori said. “He’s dealt with similar sorts of injury in the past and had guys come back to full sporting activity, so let’s just hope it works.”I suppose it’s been a real grind the last 18 months with the injury and in a lot of ways it has probably diminished some of the appetite to do a lot of things but I think that’s purely down to the injury so … if I can get this injury right, who knows. This has been unlike anything else I’ve had to deal with in the past. I just want to get it right then the future will crystallise after that.”David White, the NZC chief executive, said: “In the ICC Champions Trophy Dan showed the immense value that he still brings to the Black Caps side. Unfortunately Dan has indicated he’s in a position where he feels uncomfortable taking a contract this season, as he builds towards making a return to the cricket field.”As always, Dan has made his decision in the best interests of New Zealand Cricket and we appreciate his honesty and up-front approach. There’s no doubting Dan’s hunger to continue competing, and we hope to see him back playing for the Black Caps again when the time is right.”

Surrey have confirmed the signing of JP Duminy, the South Africa batsman, for the last few weeks of the season. Duminy will replace Ricky Ponting and is set to be available for six Championship fixtures, as Surrey attempt to secure their place in Division One for another season.Ponting had initially been signed as cover for Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, who was ruled out for the season with an ankle problem that required surgery. Ponting, the former Australia batsman, has played in two Championship games, both draws, with Surrey second from bottom in Division One and still looking for their first win after seven matches.South Africa are scheduled to play five ODIs and three T20s in Sri Lanka between July 20 and August 6, after which Duminy will link up with Surrey. A member of the Champions Trophy squad currently attempting to qualify for the semi-finals, Duminy recently returned to action after six months out with an Achilles injury.”I am really chuffed to have signed with a great club like Surrey,” Duminy said. “After my long lay off I just want to play and Surrey is a great wicket. I love the UK and I really look forward to working with Chris Adams and the rest of the team.”Duminy, who could also be involved in three YB40 matches as well as FLt20 Finals Day, should Surrey qualify, averages 50.79 in first-class cricket and nearly 40 in List A. He has played more than 150 times across all three formats for South Africa and also bowls useful offbreaks in addition to his batting.Surrey’s team director, Chris Adams, said: “I am delighted that JP Duminy has agreed to join Surrey for what will no doubt be an exciting and important period of our season. We are happy to be welcoming him to the club and look forward to him making a big contribution during his time here.”

The SCG’s 100th Test has won the Sports Event of the Year Award, beating other major events such as Super Bowl XLVI, the London Olympics’ “Super Saturday” and the 2012 NBA All-Star game. The prize, which is for the best sporting event held at a stadium, arena or major sports venue in 2012, was announced at the 2013 Stadium Business Awards in Manchester on Friday.The SCG became only the third venue to host 100 Tests when Australia thrashed India by an innings and 68 runs in January 2012. The match was also notable for Michael Clarke’s unbeaten 329 and centuries to Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey.The judging panel, in delivering its decision, said: “Proving that it’s not just new venues – or one-off events – that define a venue’s ‘greatness’ but fundamentally it’s about longevity. When we talk about stadiums have a lifespan of 20-30 years these days, it took SCG 130 years to reach its landmark 100th Test – a milestone event (shared by very few other venues) that’s a deserved winner.”The SCG is in good company, for the past two winners of the same award were the FIFA World Cup final in South Africa and the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.

Ever since he burst on to the domestic scene as a teenager more than adecade ago, Dinesh Karthik has been considered as a prodigious talent with the bat. Add to it his skills as a wicketkeeper and exceptional fielder and he becomes an all-round package.But without consistent performances, talent doesn’t get you too far. As a result, it wasn’t a surprise when Karthik was dropped from the Indian team after an ordinary outing during the tri-series in Dambulla where he scored 33 runs in five innings against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.Similarly, after a season in which Karthik was at his consistent best, nobody was surprised when Karthik returned to India’s squad for the Champions Trophy, to be played in England from June 6. Even the man himself wasn’t surprised.”I am happy about it [selection]. I’ve been batting well and it feels good when your efforts are rewarded,” Karthik said. He has been in exceptional touch while batting at No. 3 for Mumbai Indians during the IPL – 331 runs in 10 matches at a strike-rate of almost 140 – and it has come at the back of a run-heavy domestic season.In the season-opening Corporate Trophy, he emerged as the highest run-getter with 301 runs from three innings for India Cements. Then in the Ranji Trophy, even though it was a disappointing season for Tamil Nadu, Karthik was by far their top scorer with 577 runs at 64.11.Then came the domestic one-dayers. And even though Tamil Nadu failed to progress to the all-India knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karthik scored at least a fifty in each of his five innings. As a result, despite playing only five games, he finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament.”All along [these three years], I have been working hard in domestic cricket,” he said. “I have been trying to be as consistent as possible. And it feels good enough to score virtually every time I bat these days.”The confidence drawn from such consistency means Karthik wasn’t weighed down at the prospect of replacing an ODI stalwart like Yuvraj Singh. Though Karthik hasn’t yet been spoken to either by the selectors or team management about his specific role in the team, the squad composition hints that he may well be required to bat in the middle order. And he is up for thechallenge. “That is what I have done even earlier, so I am ready to play any role that the team management expects of me – whether a specialist batsman or a keeper-batsman.”Over the last two years, Karthik has been working with his personal coach Prasanna Agoram, the South African national team’s performance analyst. And the efforts have culminated in Karthik being recalled to the national squad, incidentally for a tour to the same country where Karthik made his international debut more than eight years ago.”We had to make minor corrections to my batting techniques,” Karthik said. “That has helped me immensely in order to be good enough to score every time I go out to bat. I would like to thank Prasanna and all my family members who have stood behind me during difficult times.”

Scorecard
India eased to victory over Bangladesh in the first Twenty20 international in Vadodara. The 49-run win was set up by an opening stand of 130 by between Poonam Raut and Thirush Kamini. Both struck half-centuries, Raut smashing 75 off 56 balls with 10 fours and Kamini striking seven boundaries in her 57-ball 56. Their stand helped India reach a formidable 143 for 3. Salma Khatun, the Bangladesh captain, grabbed three wickets for just 12 runs and she was her team’s only saving grace in the defeat.Khatun also did well with the bat, making an unbeaten 49 off 43 balls, but there was virtually no support from the other end. The asking-rate, too, was too high, and Bangladesh could only settle for 94 for 7 in the end. India used seven bowlers, six of them bagged a wicket each.

A gaping hole in the batting order stares at Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, coach Shane Jurgensen and on-tour selector Habibul Bashar when they decide the final eleven of the first Test against Sri Lanka.Of the four batting changes Bangladesh have to make – Shakib Al Hasan, Nazimuddin, Shahriar Nafees and Naeem Islam are all not in the squad – two places are still up for grabs two days ahead of the Galle Test.Jahurul Islam and Anamul Haque were not among the runs in the three-day match against a Sri Lanka Development Emerging Team.Last month, Akram Khan had mentioned the possibility of “one debutant” in the Test series, and it was assumed to be Anamul, a 20-year-old opening batsman who has been impressive in Under-19 and first-class cricket in the last three seasons.Anamul’s inadequate footwork has been a cause of concern, even though he has scored plenty of limited-overs runs recently. What has also hurt his case is the failure in the three-dayer, the only first-class innings before the Tests, which means his debut in whites could be delayed.Jahurul was Anamul’s opening partner in the three-dayer and he looked more assured of the two. He played three Tests in 2010, after which this could be his first chance. Domestic runs for Rajshahi Division and lately for North Zone and Duronto Rajshahi have brought him back into contention. Jahurul’s compact defense makes him the sort of batsman Tamim Iqbal has often missed at the other end, but the jury is still out on his place.Jurgensen said he was impressed with what he saw of Jahurul on the third morning. “He looked good until he got a good ball,” he said. “I think we still have some thinking to do before we make the selection.”Among the four who have to be replaced, Shakib is the biggest loss while those who take the place of the others could be given a longer run to establish themselves. Though Naeem made runs against West Indies, Nafees didn’t make any big scores in the series and Nazimuddin has been in poor form for most of the season.Bashar was happy to see Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque among the runs in the practice match, but he is still unsure who would open with Tamim or bat at No. 3. “We have a few places up for grabs, but we are happy that two of them got runs,” Bashar said. “We are still thinking about the other opener’s place, but we know what we want. And the opening position and the No. 3 hasn’t been taken by someone regularly, so I think we have the options this time.”Both have spent enough time in the middle to get a feel of the weather here, as well as the wickets. The bowling attack will be vastly different, but I would still think scoring 102 or 99 is crucial ahead of a Test series.”Ashraful, a last-minute inclusion to replace Nafees, made 102 in Matara batting at No. 3 and has indicated that he would like to continue in this position. He is a natural stroke-player, though, and might have to curb his shot-making if he wants to play at No. 3.The selectors initially picked Mominul to fill Shakib’s position in the middle-order and that is likely to be a straight swap in the Test team as well. Mominul, a left-hand batsman, played the ODIs against West Indies and turned in a crucial performance in the series-deciding fifth game. His 99 in the three-dayer came at a brisk pace which impressed the selectors, although there were periods at the end of sessions when he lost his rhythm trying to find boundaries.There is likely to be a reshuffling in the batting line-up, with captain Mushfiqur Rahim coming up the order, though he is the wicketkeeper and his workload will be taken into account. It wouldn’t be surprising if Mahmudullah gets a promotion after showing confidence and good form against West Indies. Nasir Hossain is another slight worry for the team, given his lack of runs recently.Bashar’s other worry is the pace attack. Rubel Hossain went through 19 overs on the first day in Matara but Abul Hasan struggled to stay on the field after bowling six overs as he suffered from dehydration. “I think we need another practice match to test our pace bowlers,” he said. “We haveShahadat Hossain as back-up so we are thinking of a right combination.”

Fast bowler Kyle Abbott has been added to South Africa’s one-day squad for the series against Pakistan, as cover for the injured Morne Morkel. Morkel had picked up a hamstring injury during the course of the second Test and is still recovering.As a result of that injury, Abbott was called up to the Test squad too, for the third match, and impressed with a nine-wicket haul (including seven in the first innings) on international debut. He is also part of the squad for the two Twenty20s that precede the one-dayers.”Morne Morkel’s recovery is still a work in progress,” Cricket South Africa selection convener, Andrew Hudson, said. “And we consider it prudent to provide extra depth to our fast-bowling resources.”Abbott had a fine season in domestic cricket, prompting his initial call-up for the Test. He finished the first-class tournament as the leading wicket-taker, with 49 wickets at an economy rate of under three an over for Dolphins. When he got the Test call-up, Hudson had said Abbott “swings the ball nicely” and he did showcase those skills in the Test: bowling in the mid-130s, he kept it around off stump and consistently got the ball to zip away from the right-hand batsmen on a Centurion pitch with variable bounce. Subsequently, six of his seven first-innings victims were out edging to the slip cordon or gully.South Africa and Pakistan play the T20s on March 1 and 3, and the five-match ODI series is scheduled to begin on March 10. Their other fast-bowling options in the one-day squad include Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt and Ryan McLaren.

While the South African players did their warm-ups on the first morning of the Wanderers Test against Pakistan, someone not usually involved at national level was keeping an eye on them. The Titans’ coach Matthew Maynard observed proceedings as part of a new program which aims to involve franchise officials in the national team.All six local coaches will be invited to spend time with the national team during the series against Pakistan as part of an information sharing exercise. During their time the coaches will attend training sessions, go to team meetings and in Maynard’s case, stay around for some of the first day’s play.With three of South Africa’s franchise coaches – Paul Adams of the Cobras, Geoffrey Toyana of the Lions and Lance Klusener of the Dolphins – in their first season in the job, the national management is also hopeful that involving the domestic coaches will make the transition from franchise to international cricket smooth for players.”We wanted to give our franchise coaches the opportunity to experience how things work at international level,” Gary Kirsten said. “This is about creating synergy between the international and domestic platforms, and making sure information sharing happens continuously so that the move from domestic cricket for the players is as smooth as possible.”It’s also an opportunity for the coaches to see how things operate at this level. The coaching landscape is always changing and moving and it is important from our point of view to touch base with the next tier and to share information and ideas.”Maynard is not a stranger to the international coaching scene. He was the England assistant under Duncan Fletcher but has not been with a national team since 2007. He said he valued the time given to him by Kirsten and has learnt things to take back to the Titans.”It was a great experience for me to see the environment that Gary and Graeme have created around the team. It makes it unsurprising that they have been so successful over a good period of time. I picked up a good number of things in the way they prepare and how the environment operates.”It was great to see the intensity from the senior players during their practice sessions. Some of the drills are nice and simple, they aren’t complicated but they are expected to be done with great precision and that is the attention to detail Gary brings to the set-up.”Kirsten’s desire to expand the coaching set-up was also evident when he handed over reins of the Twenty20 squad to his assistant Russell Domingo. Although Kirsten remains in charge of the team and takes calls on selections, Domingo is the head coach in the shortest format.

There is no need to ask Alastair Cook what his New Year’s resolution is. As he walked with a relaxed stride on Wednesday evening to board the flight to India, to lead England in the one-day series, he only had victory on his mind. And nothing was going to betray his confidence.You can remind him about India being the defending world champions in the 50-over format. You can remind him about the 5-0 annihilation MS Dhoni’s men inflicted on England in late 2011, not to mention the same in 2008 and the 6-1 drubbing in 2005-06. But Cook can equally shoot back out about the historic triumph against India in the Test leg, which allowed the England players to celebrate a lovely Christmas at home. And without being combative, he could at the same time remind you that England, and not India, are the No.1 on the ODI rankings.Of course, Cook did not say any of those things at the team departure press conference. What he did say, though, was the one-day players will do well to adopt a similar approach and work ethic as practiced by the Test squad: adapt, work hard and enjoy.”We can definitely take some confidence as a batting unit, especially the way we handled their spinners after that first innings in Ahmedabad. We have got to do something like that once again in the ODIs if we want to win.”Yet Cook is aware of the challenge awaiting his team. Missing from the first-choice ODI squad are the trio of James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott ,who have been allowed to rest as part of the selectors’ plan to keep England squads competitive at all times across all formats, along with Jonny Bairstow who is on compassionate leave.”Every time you start the tour it is a huge challenge,” Cook said. “I sat here two-and-half months ago saying to win a Test series in India would be an amazing experience and to do that was a great effort by the whole squad. India in their backyard in one-day cricket is again a huge challenge for us. We lost 5-0 last time, so it will be a good measure of us as a side to see how we have improved. But again we have got a squad that is capable of doing something special.”England have done special things in the last few years but one of the key driving forces, Andy Flower, the team director, will be absent this time India. Flower and the ECB recently agreed that he had to achieve a “realistic and sustainable work-life balance”, he had to take frequent breaks. Under Flower, since May 2007, England’s ODI record win-loss record was 60-52 in 120 matches. In 2012 England won 12 ODIs and lost two with series wins against Pakistan (4-0 in UAE), Australia (4-0 at home) and West Indies (2-0 at home).To try and help ensure a smooth transition as Flower steps aside from the one-day squad, the ECB the former England left-arm spinner and current selector Ashley Giles. Asked if the relationship with Giles, with whom he has never worked in a similar manner before, would be hard to establish, Cook disagreed.He said Giles was an important influence when he entered the England dressing room for the first time in 2006. According to Cook, Giles was the facilitator, acting as the channel between the players and Duncan Fletcher, the then England coach.”He was a senior citizen of the side when I went to Pakistan. He was kind of called the dad in one way,” he said. “He was that gel in the middle of the team, always looking after players. He was the bridge between Duncan Fletcher and some of the players and I see him carrying along that kind of relationship with the players now as a coach.”Flower, Cook maintains, remains the “boss” and is just a “telephone call” away in case of any emergency. But that did not mean they would have to wait for him to take every call as it was the responsibility of him and Giles to take forward the ODI team. The key in making sure this new coaching set-up runs smoothly is to communicate openly and clearly.”It is an unknown territory and we haven’t done it before,” Cook said. “But it is a bit like the three captains. It was new, it was fresh and I thought it worked really well because of the energy those three captains brought to each different side. And I can see this having the same effect on the coaching side with Test and ODIs being split. We all will have to work hard on the relationship and we all are going to have to communicate really well to do it. But as we get used to it, the relationship will improve.”Neither does Cook want comparisons drawn between Giles and Flower. “Of course, they are going to be different because they are different characters, they are different people. What is important is all three of us work together and have a strong relationship because you do need a strong leadership. Gilo will have to get used to me as a captain and I’ll have to get used to him as a coach just like I Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss did.”Like any good forward-thinking leader, Cook did not waste time and has taken the initiative to meet Giles a “few times”, to make sure both men get acquainted to each other’s styles and thoughts quickly. The next few weeks will not define the partnership, but it will lay down some early markers.

Delhi’s chances of pulling off an outright win slumped when they were set a challenging 410 going into the final day in Bangalore. The loss of three quick wickets late in the evening has all but ruled out their pursuit for a victory, said their coach Vijay Dahiya. In the event of a draw, Delhi have the cushion of the first-innings lead which will give them three points.”No (thoughts of a win). To be honest, looking at the situation right now we have to take it session by session,” Dahiya said. “We have the first-innings lead. If it stops right here, we have three points.”On the second day, Delhi had struggled to dislodge the Karnataka opening pair of Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul, who extended their overnight stand to 140, setting the foundation for a healthy lead. Delhi had their moments in the opening session when they picked three wickets for no runs, including the openers. Karnataka were struggling at 167 for 4 at one stage but a partnership of 145 between Stuart Binny and Manish Pandey had handed the initiative back to Karnataka. Delhi failed to recover from that setback, and Dahiya admitted that his side had to take responsibility for letting things slip at a crucial stage.”We definitely missed a trick. We should have at least stopped the flow of runs,” Dahiya said. “They had a good partnership but mind you one of them (Pandey) didn’t look in good flow. We couldn’t check them, and their partnership was a big part of the game. If we had picked another wicket there, we would have put big pressure.”A setback for Delhi was Ashish Nehra’s no-show after bowling three overs in the morning. Though Nehra has struggled to maintain his fitness through the season, his absence today increased the responsibilities on the younger crop who couldn’t create enough pressure to pick up wickets. Dahiya said the team management decided to play it safe with Nehra, keeping his workload in mind.”He bowled his heart out in the first innings but he felt the strain so we didn’t want to take a chance with him,” Dahiya said. “He is fit now.”Having already lost two top-order wickets, plus a nightwatchman, Delhi will have to guard against losing wickets in a hurry in the morning session, as has been the trend over the first three days. The afternoon session has been the most productive for the batsmen and Dahiya said it was important Delhi keep that in mind. He said it was the kind of pitch that will always encourage positive strokeplay, instead of stonewalling.”The first session is always going to be tricky. The middle session is definitely a batsman’s session if you apply yourself,” he said. “That’s when the bowlers will have to work hard.”In this game you can’t just get into a shell, you have to keep playing your shots. They (Karnataka) scored so much so if you get into a shell they will keep coming at you. One good partnership, 150-odd runs and you could put them under pressure. In every session the average is about 130 runs. If there is a ball to be hit you have to hit it.”