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Vaughn van Jaarsveld will join South Africa’s Test squad on Sunday to cover for ongoing injuries to Ashwell Prince and Graeme Smith. Prince suffered a cracked thumb prior to the Perth Test and JP Duminy was promoted to the starting line-up, leaving no backup batsman in the touring party.Smith has been battling an elbow problem that needed a painkilling injection before the Melbourne Test. He was intending to play through the Test series before assessing whether surgery was required.van Jaarsveld, 23, was already part of the squad for the limited-overs series that follows the Tests and his early arrival gives him a chance to acclimatise to the Australian conditions. A Lions left-hand batsman, van Jaarsveld is yet to make his international debut.”Vaughn will provide us with cover for both Ashwell Prince and Graeme Smith,” the coach Mickey Arthur said. “It will also provide him with a valuable opportunity to work with the national squad as he is the only member of the ODI squad who did not attend our pre-season camp in October.”

Scorecard

Dhawal Kulkarni’s late fightback with the bat and early strikes with the ball revived Mumbai after the visitors started poorly at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.After captain Wasim Jaffer took a brave decision of batting first on a green top, Mumbai fell prey to the Mohantys – Debasis and Basanth – who snared eight wickets, with Basanth taking five. They slumped to 22 for 3, before Amol Muzumdar and wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant steadied the innings. They pushed the score to 110, but the Mohantys struck again. Muzumdar, Samant and Rohit Sharma were dismissed in successive overs by Basanth, and they were down to 145 for 8 after Debasis removed Vinayak Mane and Ankeet Chavan. Kulkarni then scored 26 at No. 10 to boost his team to 180, but offspinner Niranjan Behera – the seventh bowler to be used by Orissa – took the final two wickets quickly to end the innings.In his first season in the Ranji Trophy, Kulkarni has made it a habit to strike in his first over of an innings – he has done it five times so far. The sixth took place in Cuttack, with Orissa’s openers – Bikas Pati and Behera – out for ducks. Kulkarni’s new-ball partner Kshemal Waingankar followed suit, striking with his second ball to leave the hosts in a precarious position overnight.
Scorecard
There was no Irfan Pathan, but Baroda’s medium-pacers dismissed Tamil Nadu for 117 on the first day at the Moti Bagh Stadium to boosts their team’s chances of making it to the semi-finals. A tough tie was in the offing for the fifth-placed team – the top three make it to the quarter-finals – against the Group B leaders; however, Salim Veragi and Ajitesh Argal skittled out Tamil Nadu, who chose to bat, for a low score on a lively track to give their team the advantage. The last three wickets for the visitors fell without any runs being added – a hat-trick for Veragi, who completed his maiden five-for in first-class cricket.Three quick strikes from P Amarnath brought Tamil Nadu right back into the contest. Baroda were in trouble at 67 for 5, and things could have been worse if Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik had hung on to a catch off Pinal Shah with the score at 93. Shah made the most of that drop and added an unbroken 57-run stand with Yusuf Pathan to give Baroda the first-innings lead.
Scorecard
Medium-pacer Parvinder Awana took four wickets, and was involved in the run-out of Cheteshwar Pujara, the leading run-getter in the tournament this season, as Delhi restricted Saurashtra to 234 for 9 on the first day at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot.Delhi desperately need a win to catch up with the leading pack of Mumbai, Saurashtra and Gujarat, and their bowlers did well after the hosts chose to bat. When Pujara fell, Saurashtra were at 73 for 3. Bhushan Chauhan and Ravindra Jadeja doubled that score, but legspinner Chetanya Nanda struck to break the partnership. Chauhan scored 61 off 153 balls, and Jadeja was removed for 56 by Awana soon after. With Saurashtra’s last pair standing, Awana will fancy his chances of grabbing his maiden five-for.
ScorecardOpener TS Suman’s century gave Hyderabad a solid start in their Group A match against Punjab, but a late fightback from the visitors had the game evenly poised at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.Suman, who was lucky to see an edge dropped in the slips when on 6, got support from No. 5 Amol Shinde, who chipped in with a 57. Suman’s cover-drives and pulls were the stand-out strokes and his placement and shot selection was also spot-on. However, his dismissal for 131 triggered a collapse, with four wickets falling for 26 runs. Legspinner Sarabjit Ladda took 4 for 51 – his second four-wicket haul in six first-class matches.
ScorecardRailways, who are still in the reckoning for a quarter-final place from Group B, were one of four teams to be dismissed on the first day in the sixth round of matches. Left-armer Samad Fallah took five, and he was well supported by fellow medium-pacers Mun Mangela and Aditya Dole as Railways were dismissed for 212.Railways, who were asked to bat by the hosts in Nasik, were propped up by seventies from Yere Goud, who recently played his 100th Ranji Trophy game, and Sanjib Sanyal. Wickets, though, tumbled at the start and end of their innings: the last six crashed in the space of 25 runs. Railways got one breakthrough, that of Rohan Bhosale, before close, and will look to dismiss Maharashtra cheaply on the second day.
Scorecard
It was another dismal batting performance from Rajasthan in Jaipur. They were bundled out for 136, and an unbeaten half-century from Niraj Patel put Gujarat on course to take the first-innings lead.Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel decided to let his bowlers make first use of the pitch, and the move paid off. Rajasthan managed to survive 14.1 over without losing a wicket, but Gujarat’s bowlers chipped away once the first breakthrough was achieved. Only four batsmen made it to double-figures, with opener Vineet Saxena top scoring with 39. Medium-pacers Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi shared seven wickets between them, and part-timer Priyank Kirit Panchal chipped in with two in five overs.Gujarat were reduced to 58 for 3 in reply, but Niraj and Bhavik Thaker, Gujarat’s leading run-getter this season, ensured they lost no more wickets before stumps.Karnataka 277 for 6 (Uthappa 65, Raghu 64, Chawla 2-59, Praveen 2-61) v Uttar Pradesh
ScorecardOne hundred and thirteen: That was the tangible cost of the chances Uttar Pradesh missed on a day in which they failed to hold on to three of the seven catches that came theirway. But while UP fielders were intent on letting Karnataka run away with the game, the hosts were in benevolent mood too: some unnecessary shots let UP back in, two of them by the openers who were both dropped during their pieces. Whereupon UP pulled the plug on the scoring, and slowly made their way back to the end the first day on even terms, despite a half-century from the third beneficiary, C Raghu. (Read the full report.)

Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has added his voice to those critical of the England board over the Stanford 20/20 for 20.Speaking at the FT Sport Industry Summit in London, Burham said the ECB had misjudged the mood of the public. “The event made me feel slightly uneasy and I felt the occasion was something of a hollow one,” he said. “We all understand the relationship between sport and business but if you get these two things out of their proper equilibrium, then it can turn people off at home.”I just think cricket fans want to watch games where national pride is at stake, not where money is at stake.”I just think sport has an integrity when it is sporting objectives first and national pride first. When those things are seemingly playing second fiddle to money, I don’t think that’s what makes sport sellable and gives it its appeal. It starts to detract from those things and that worries me.”ECB chief executive David Collier had earlier defended the board’s decision. “We would have had huge regrets if we had turned it down,” he said. “Here is an opportunity to protect and bolster Test cricket at a time when we are going through a global recession and when we have heard government funding has been hit.”But ECB chairman Giles Clarke, whose role in the affair has been slammed, got some much-needed support from Nigel Hilliard, the Essex chairman. “The Stanford week may sound like a failure if you are sitting in London reading about it, but it has made the ECB some useful money and got the whole of the West Indies talking about cricket again,” he told the Daily Telegraph.”We knew Clarke was always going to be a rocky ride, but he was the right man and he has done a good job. We couldn’t go round kowtowing to the Indians all year. I can only think of four people who would vote against him if the chairmanship election was held today.”

ScorecardBaluchistan secured their place in the Pentangular Cup final with a sensational two-wicket victory over Federal Areas at Islamabad. Such a prospect had looked dead in the water on the second morning of the contest, when Sohail Tanvir bundled them out for 57 in their first innings, but led by a stirring century from Saeed Anwar jnr, they managed almost seven times that tally second-time around, as they successfully hunted down a stiff target of 393.Saeed resumed his innings on 36 not out, and set the platform for victory by adding 121 for the fourth wicket with Saeed Bin Nasir. Together they added exactly 100 to the overnight total of 147 for 3 before Nasir was bowled by Iftikhar Anjum for 58. Bilal Khilji then kept up the pressure with a composed 35 to bring the target down to double figures, before a late-innings wobble gave Federal Areas hope of redressing the balance of power.Tanvir, following on from career-best figures of 7 for 21 in the first innings, could not replicate the same hostility, but he still completed his ten-wicket haul by dismissing the keeper, Gulraiz Sadaf, for 9, and at 366 for 7, the match was there for the taking. However, Baluchistan’s No. 9, Kamran Hussain, biffed them back into the ascendancy with three fours in a 19-ball 20, before the captain, Abdur Rauf, and Azharullah knocked off the remaining three runs for victory.
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North West Frontier Province took just 14.3 overs on the final morning in Lahore to knock off the 67 runs they required to beat Punjab and underline their status as favourites for the final against Baluchistan. Rafatullah Mohmand steered them home with 75 not out from 111 balls, including nine fours, with Younis Khan alongside him at the finish, on 24 from 32 balls. The only man to fall in their pursuit of 172 was Aftab Alam, who failed to add to his overnight 9 before he was caught by Mohammad Ayub off the bowling of Mohammad Khalil.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The Chennai Superstars won their second game in a row after Russel Arnold and G Vignesh set up a stiff target and despite Damien Martyn’s 38-ball 52, the Ahmedabad Rockets slipped to their second straight loss.The lights failed after Chennai batted for 16 overs and Ahmedabad were set an adjusted target of 143 in the same number of overs. They got off to a limp start, 15 for 2 in four overs, and that eventually proved crucial.Martyn did quicken Chennai heartbeats with a classy counterattack but the asking rate kept rocketing upwards. Martyn’s effort was uncharacteristic of a Twenty20 innings: it oozed class and was filled with conventional strokes like extra-cover drives and cuts. He on-drove Nantie Hayward for a four and when the bowler shortened the length, he twice deployed the late cut to send the ball to the third-man boundary. He lifted the left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad to the sightscreen, pulled and cover-drove Vignesh for two fours, but the 11th over ended Ahmedabad’s hopes.First Sodhi, who rotated the strike expertly in a 71-run partnership, was run out by a hard and flat throw by Hayward from wide long-on. Martyn too fell, unable to clear the midwicket fielder, and the chase ran out of steam.Chennai’s start wasn’t auspicious either. Vignesh, the bowler who has found new life as a dashing opening batsman in ICL, had a horrid start. In the space of seven balls, he was involved in the run outs of Ian Harvey and J Hariesh. But he eased the pressure on himself with some big hits. He lofted length deliveries from Heath Streak, slog swept the spinner Sumit Kalia, but what stood out was a stunning six off Reetinder Singh Sodhi: a flat-batted forehand straight back over the bowler’s head.Arnold took over after Vignesh had holed out to deep cover. He played to his strengths: those late cuts and the bottom-handed swat-flick over square leg were on display. When the ball was slightly short and a touch around off, he employed the late cut and every now and then swung the full ones over the on side. Twenty20 moves at a frenetic pace and it’s always interesting to see how the players adapt. To cut off those dabs, the keeper Ryan Campbell almost stood entirely outside off. Arnold started picking singles and twos down the wicket before he top-edged a swipe and Campbell ran all the way to backward square-leg to hold the catch.The format also brings out some stunning fielding. Murray Goodwin, who had run out J Hariesh, capped it off with a stunner at backward point – the best of the tournament so far – to dismiss R Jesuraj. He dived to his left to make a one-handed stop before firing in a direct hit even as he lay sprawled on the ground. Post the fall of Jesuraj, R Sathish found the boundary few times before the light towers blanked out to end the innings. Martyn’s knock lit up the arena later but couldn’t eclipse Chennai’s efforts.

The MCC has announced an overhaul of its touring policy which will enable it to concentrate on areas of development.Until now, the club has undertaken a number of trips each year with tours categorised as A, B or C status depending on the strength of the opposition. A tours were fully funded by the club while B and C tours were partially or fully paid for by the participants.From 2009, the MCC will scrap the three tiers and only send a limited number of trips to countries which can fully benefit from MCC playing members’ coaching skills and passion. All such tours will be fully funded by the club.MCC will send a team to a European country every year plus teams to three out of four ICC regions of Asia, the Americas, East Asia/Pacific and Africa. In 2009 teams will go to Croatia, Japan and Indonesia, Nepal and Mozambique. There will also be special tours to the USA and Canada to mark the 150th anniversary of the first cricket tour across the Atlantic.The 2000 playing members of the MCC will be able to compete for a tour place. Teams will still be picked to reflect the strength of opposition in the destination country.John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket, explained the thinking behind the changes: “MCC is committed to developing cricket across the globe and we believe the best way of doing that is targeting greater resources to slightly fewer tours. As well as playing for the club, tour members will provide coaching and expertise to leave a strong legacy in countries they visit.”Representing MCC abroad is a pinnacle of many players’ careers and is both a privilege and an honour. We want to reward those players who have shown consistency and loyalty in MCC matches, whilst taking their ability to pay out of the equation. All tours are equally important to the club and have a great potential to develop cricket in the host country, and I believe this new system reflects that.”Overseeing these changes will be ex-Somerset wicketkeeper Rob Turner, who will assume the chairmanship of the MCC tours sub-committee on October 1.

Cricket Australia will commission an urgent report from its long-term security adviser outlining the safety situation in India following a series of bomb blasts in New Delhi on Saturday that killed more than 20 people. The city is the venue for Australia’s third Test, starting on October 29, and the terrorist attacks raise more safety issues after they decided not to tour Pakistan this month for the Champions Trophy, a stance which led to the postponement of the tournament.Reg Dickason, the team’s security manager, will work on the report with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and Peter Young, Cricket Australia’s public affairs manager, said he expected a decision would be made “in the next week or so”. Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s general manager of cricket, will also speak with the Indian board, the Australian High Commission, which is based in New Delhi, and security agencies to gain information on travelling in the country.”The fundamental principle that always comes first is the safety of the team and the team officials,” Young said. “There’s a standard process for every tour. Such is the way of the world these days that this process is completed before we go anywhere.” A pre-tour assessment has already been done but if the concerns remain Cricket Australia will consider another inspection.

While the first Test is not until October 9 in Bangalore, the 15-man squad is due to leave next Sunday and play two warm-up matches in Jaipur and Hyderabad. Australia A are currently in Hyderabad, in southern India, preparing for a tri-series with teams from India and New Zealand.Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the Indian board, said the BCCI was concerned by the explosions. “But I don’t think it will have any impact on the coming Australia series,” he told the Hindustan Times.One of Cricket Australia’s main reasons for its stance on Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and the earlier Test and one-day series, which were also postponed, was the terrorist threats to westerners. “The specific answer we were given on Pakistan was that it was not safe to go,” Young said. “We will take advice on this situation and will make a decision. We expect that to be in the next week or so.”The Australian government’s updated travel advice for India is “to exercise a high degree of caution because of the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups”. The latest attacks were reportedly planned by the Indian Mujahideen group, but there have been other deadly explosions since May in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

Trent Johnston, the former Ireland captain, returns to the squad for their Intercontinental Cup match against Canada at Malahide in August. It is a repeat of last year’s final, which Ireland comfortably won by an innings to defend the title.Johnston took a period out of the game following the one-day series against Bangladesh in March when he retired from ODIs, but has been making his way back with the A side in recent weeks. Alongside Johnston’s comeback Andrew White, the allrounder, also returns after missing the victory over Netherlands due to the death of his mother.Kyle McCallan will captain the side in place of William Porterfield as Ireland are without the services of all their county players, except wicketkeeper Gary Wilson, for the fixture. Ireland also play Canada in an ODI on Tuesday August 12 at Clontarf – the only change being that Johnston won’t feature.Squad Kyle McCallan (capt), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Thinus Fourie, Trent Johnston, Kevin O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Paul Stirling, Reinhardt Strydom, Greg Thompson, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wk)

ScorecardThe crucial match between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire looks like being a low-scoring one, and a real thriller. The pitch has played a few tricks for bowlers putting the ball in the right place, and after the home side had been tumbled relatively cheaply, Yorkshire, with five wickets down at the close, found themselves at a definite disadvantage.Yorkshire had some selection problems for this match. Darren Gough was unavailable with various niggles, and vice-captain Anthony McGrath awoke this morning with a stiff hamstring that did not respond to treatment. Jacques Rudolph had to take over as captain, while Joe Sayers, who had been expecting to play in a second-team match at Stamford Bridge, had to rush down to fill the vacancy, arriving in time for the afternoon session.Nottinghamshire decided to bat on winning the toss, often a risky option at Trent Bridge, a ground known for encouraging swing bowlers. The sky was overcast, but Matthew Hoggard and Tim Bresnan were unable to swing the ball much, although they bowled well enough. However, Hoggard did get a ball to bounce lethally in his second over, and Bilal Shafayat (1) could only edge it to second slip.There was a hold-up lasting about six minutes after 12 overs had been bowled, a common occurrence in county matches this season as the ball needs to be changed so often. The replacement did not seem to suit the bowlers, who lost some of their ability, Mark Wagh twice hitting Hoggard for fours when he strayed outside off stump, although he was dropped at slip off Bresnan when he had 20.Runs were now coming quite easily, but the situation changed dramatically when Rana Naved came on to bowl. His first few balls were unimpressive, but in his second over he produced a superb delivery that ripped back off the pitch and knocked back Wagh’s off stump, for 33. Without addition he beat the new batsman Samit Patel on the back foot and trapped him lbw; Notts were now 62 for 3.Matt Wood, who opened in solid style, was still there and Adam Voges proved a capable partner. Wood gradually began to open up and reached his 50 just before lunch. After the break, though, he played hesitantly at Naved and edged a catch to the keeper for 58. Graeme Swann joined Voges and this pair took the score to 170, mostly by working the ball around the field, maintaining a fluent scoring rate.At 170 for 4, Nottinghamshire were looking quite good, but from here things went downhill and finally over the cliff for them. Swann (27) edged Deon Kruis to the keeper, and then Hoggard found his spot on the pitch again; Voges, who had been batting soundly, found the rearing ball lobbing off the edge of his bat for Bresnan at short extra cover to take a good diving catch. He made 45.For a while, Chris Read (19) and Mark Ealham (14) batted usefully, but then the last four wickets all fell in a heap for just a single. Adil Rashid took two with his leg-breaks – Ealham and last man Charlie Shreck both to good catches by the close field – and a sharp piece of fielding by Bresnan ran out Paul Franks. Naved returned the best figures of 3 for 63, although conceding runs at almost four an over. Notts were sunk for 213 but, as the saying goes, a match cannot be assessed until both teams have batted on the same pitch.Sure enough, Yorkshire had their own problems to face, in the form of the menacing Shreck. Chris Taylor, pushing forward to the second ball he faced, edged a catch into the slips, and soon after his fellow opener, Sayers, fell the same way to the same bowler for 9; 18 for 2.Adam Lyth and Rudolph dug in and watchfully added 50 together, helped by some rather profligate extras. But Mark Ealham struck back for the home county just before the close, trapping Rudolph lbw for 19 with a ball that moved back in as he played off the back foot. Then Andre Adams had Lyth caught low in the slips for 22, and Yorkshire were 72 for 4.Without addition, Gale (4) was adjudged lbw to Ealham off the front foot, the ball swinging now, in the late sunshine, more than it had done for Yorkshire in the morning under the cloud. Gerard Brophy and Hoggard, as nightwatchman, had to fight out the day, and both have yet to score. Yorkshire, if they felt they had done well earlier, have an unexpected battle to fight out on the morrow. The last half-hour may well prove critical to the result of this match, which looks likely to be dominated by the bowlers.

Match facts

Thursday June 26, 2008
Start time 16.00 local time (10.00 GMT)

Big Picture

Sri Lanka take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the final Group A encounter in Lahore, a match that matters little in the context of the tournament, unless UAE can pull off a highly improbable upset. Sri Lanka, with their resounding win against Bangladesh, have virtually qualified for the next round and will look to build momentum going into the tougher round-robin stage featuring the top two teams from each group.Sri Lanka haven’t had much success since they qualified for the 2007 World Cup final, losing series against Pakistan, England and West Indies as well as the tri-series in Australia and only winning at home against Bangladesh. Their dip in form coincided with lean patches suffered by their leading batsmen – Sanath Jayasuriya scored no fifties or hundreds during this period, Mahela Jayawardene averaged 26.20, and even their best batsman Kumar Sangakkara averaged only 35. However, both Jayasuriya and Sangakkara hit form during the IPL and they combined superbly against Bangladesh, adding 116 runs for the first wicket inside 50 overs. Sri Lanka’s bowling attack has also been strengthened considerably: Muttiah Muralitharan is back after missing the series in the Caribbean as is Dilhara Fernando.For UAE, on the other hand, international fixtures against quality opponents are few and far between – their most recent ODIs before this tournament were in the 2004 Asia Cup – and they will be keen to bow out of the tournament with an improved performance after they lost the opening game to Bangladesh by 96 runs.

Form guide

Sri Lanka (last five completed matches) WLLWL
UAE LLLWL (one-day internationals only)

Watch out for …

Khurram Khan is a left-arm spinner and middle-order batsman who took two wickets and scored 78 in UAE’s Asia Cup opener against Bangladesh. He has been playing for his country since 2001 and has captained them during his seven-year career. He was UAE’s top scorer – 114 runs at an average of 38 – and also took four wickets at 22 apiece in the Pro-Arch Trophy in 2007-08.Jayasuriya made an emphatic statement during the IPL where he scored 514 runs at a strike-rate of 166 for Mumbai Indians after he was left out of Sri Lanka’s one-day squad for the series in the West Indies. He scored a rapid 72 off 47 balls on his comeback for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in the first match of the Asia Cup.

Team news

Sri Lanka, strengthened by the return of Jayasuriya, Muralitharan and Fernando, crushed Bangladesh by 131 runs on Wednesday. They only reason they would want to change that winning combination against UAE is to rest their older players from the gruelling physical demands of back-to-back matches in the hot Pakistan summer.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Nuwan Kulasekera, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Dilhara Fernando.UAE (probable): 1 Amjad Javed, 2 Arshad Ali, 3 Indika Batuwitarachchi, 4 Amjad Ali (wk), 5 Saqib Ali (capt), 6 Khurram Khan, 7 Vikrant Shetty, 8 Mohammad Tauqir, 9 Shadeep Silva, 10 Zahid Shah, 11 Fahad Alhashmi.

Stats and trivia