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Cricket Australia has been forced to change the recent tradition of staging the concluding Tests of its major series in Melbourne and Sydney following negotiations with the India board. The 2007-08 season will take on a different feel after India, who are due to play Pakistan in November, insisted the first match of the four-Test contest would take place in Melbourne on Boxing Day. It will be followed by the New Year fixture in Sydney and games in Adelaide and Perth to decide the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The large-scale reordering means the annual one-day tri-series, which usually starts in January, will begin in February and finish in March. Sri Lanka will open the Australian summer with two Tests in Brisbane and Hobart in November and return for the one-day tournament with the hosts and India. New Zealand will visit for three Chappell-Hadlee Series fixtures and a Twenty20 in December.”Our competitors’ global commitments create challenges for scheduling,” Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s operations manager, said. Australia face a hectic program over the next 18 months, starting with the Twenty20 world championship in South Africa in September, a possible one-day tour of Zimbabwe and a limited-overs series in India. They are also expected to play 20 Tests in 2008.Australia will stage two Twenty20 matches next season, with games against New Zealand in Perth and India at the MCG. Canberra will host its first ODI since 1992 when India and Sri Lanka play there during the CB Series as part of Cricket Australia’s expansion program.Hobart will get two international games – a Test and an ODI – while the Northern Territory is covered by the five Australia-New Zealand women’s matches for the Rose Bowl in July. Tickets for all of Australia’s international matches are expected to go on sale in July.2007-08 Australian itinerary
Australia v Sri Lanka
1st Test, Brisbane, November 8-12
2nd Test, Hobart, November 16-20
Chappell-Hadlee Series
1st ODI, Adelaide, December 14
2nd ODI, Sydney, December 16
3rd ODI, Hobart, December 20
Australia v India
1st Test, Melbourne, December 26-30
2nd Test, Sydney, January 2-6
3rd Test, Perth, January 16-20
4th Test, Adelaide, January 24-28
Twenty20
Australia v New Zealand, Perth, December 11
Australia v India, Melbourne, February 1
CB Series
Australia, Sri Lanka, India
February 3-March 7

Gautam Gambhir’s good recent form and the fact that he hadn’t been persisted with recently helped him win a spot ahead of his Delhi team-mate Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed at the end of the game.Dhoni had said on Sunday that the duo were competing for one berth and justified his decision to go with Gambhir, who repaid the faith with a valuable 44. “He has done consistently well at this level,” Dhoni said. “He has been unfortunate in the past as some others have been given preference over him. [His longest run] in the team was only six matches in a row and he was Man of the Match in quite a few games.”Dhoni also suggested that Gambhir would be persisted with for a few more games. “I wanted to give him a few more matches before resting him and giving opportunities to others. And the way he played today he deserves his place in the side. He batted quite superbly.”It means Sehwag, who replaced Rahul Dravid in the squad, might have to wait a while before his comeback. There was some speculation about Sehwag missing the game in the wake of his father’s death but Dhoni had said he was in “good nick and hitting the ball well”.Dhoni’s promotion to No. 4, ahead of Yuvraj Singh, was also not in keeping with the script. He’s batted in that position on just eight earlier occasions, the last being the Chandigarh game against Australia. He entered at a tricky 96 for 2 and left after an assured half-century, with only 15 needed for victory. “I am flexible about it,” Dhoni said when asked if it was a sign of things to come. “I’ve said in the past that I need someone to fit in my place at No. 6 or 7. Today we needed a left and right-hand combination. Afridi was bowling offbreaks to left-handers, and legbreaks to the right-handers. That encouraged me to promote myself.”Dhoni wanted his side to look at each game as a one-match series, maintaining the same intensity throughout. “Starting the series with a win will help the team. It helps the team’s confidence, and the momentum goes your way. But we have to keep things right in the coming matches as well. It is not just about doing things right in one match. We have to do it throughout the series.”While Dhoni said 280 would have been a “winning score” his counterpart, Shoaib Malik, didn’t think Pakistan were a few runs short. “I think 230-240 was a good target. It was defendable. The difference was that we dropped catches. If we had taken them, the result would have been totally different. Fielding let us down.”He was talking about the two chances that Gambhir offered, off successive Shoaib Akhtar deliveries when he was on 7 and 11. Both were identical chances with the ball deflecting off the edge and flying between the wicketkeeper and Younis Khan at first slip. Instead of targeting his bowlers, Malik stressed on the fielding concerns instead. “We gauged the pitch and picked our best bowling attack. A fit Shoaib is an asset. He is our best option and is currently bowling quick and running in quick. I can’t blame my spinners also. Especially when our fielding didn’t back it up.”

Stephen Fleming has been named as New Zealand’s cricketer of the year, after a successful run of form with the bat that has produced 732 runs in nine matches at an average of 56.31.Fleming’s season began with his highest Test score, 274 not out against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and he followed that up with an unbeaten 69 in the second innings. Then, at home to Pakistan, he cracked 192 in the first Test at Hamilton, before leading New Zealand to a maiden Test victory over South Africa.”He is widely regarded as the premier captain in international cricket,” said New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden, as Fleming also picked up the Walter Hadlee Trophy for the best one-day batting, with 728 runs in 21 internationals.At the awards ceremony, Chris Cairns dropped a broad hint that he might not be retiring from Test cricket just yet, as had been suggested in the media. Cairns said he was thoroughly enjoying playing under New Zealand’s new coach John Bracewell, and although he wouldn’t actually confirm that he would be continuing for the tour of England, he did say enigmatically: “Maybe I want to carry on.”Graham Dowling, New Zealand’s former captain turned match referee, received the Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding service to cricket.Other awards
Redpath Cup (first-class cricketer) – Scott Styris
Winsor Cup (first-class bowler) – Chris Martin
Walter Hadlee Trophy (ODI bowler) – Daryl Tuffey
State Medal (domestic cricketer) – Chris Harris
Phyl Blackler Cup (women’s bowler) – Rebecca Steele
Ruth Martin Cup (women’s batter) – Haidee Tiffen
State Plate (women’s domestic cricket) – Aimee Mason

Twelve months ago Ryan Sidebottom was a one-cap wonder putting in the hard yards for Nottinghamshire on the county circuit. On Monday night at Lord’s he was named England’s Player of the Year and will start the first Test against New Zealand as the team’s premier strike bowler.Since his surprise recall against West Indies, at Headingley, he has taken 53 wickets in 12 Tests, including 24 against New Zealand in March. He claimed a 10-wicket haul and a hat-trick in Hamilton and his 7 for 47 in Napier, the best figures by an England bowler for four years, helped to set-up their come-from-behind series win. He had already been named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year.His chance came due to an injury to Matthew Hoggard, who is now, partly because of Sidebottom’s excellence, battling to get is own place back in the team. Hoggard used to be the first bowler on the team-sheet, but that honour now goes to Sidebottom and he has confounded predictions by developing into an all-round wicket-taker regardless of conditions.”This time last year I was training with Nottinghamshire and just playing regular county cricket so it’s been a massive turnaround,” he said. “But I don’t want to get carried away with it and I’m relishing the chance to play at Lord’s again. The other 10 guys in the team have made me feel very welcome, which has allowed me to get on with my job. I suppose it goes out to all the players because one player doesn’t make a team.”Maybe one player doesn’t make a team, but much of the limited success England have had over the past year wouldn’t have happened without Sidebottom. New Zealand would have ended in defeat and even toppling West Indies last summer would have proved a harder task. Then there is his role in the one-day side, 20 wickets from 12 matches, including a Man-of-the-Series performance in Sri Lanka.Sidebottom is a laidback character off the field (bowling is different matter, just ask anyone who drops a catch) and insists the last year hasn’t changed him. After waiting so long for a second chance he isn’t taking anything for granted. “I don’t want to get too carried away because things can change quickly. It’s just a case of keeping doing the basics,” he said.”All the talk [when called up against West Indies] was that it would be one game, the horses for courses thing, but I sat down with my dad [Arnie, who also won one cap for England] and he said just go out and do your best, don’t look too far ahead. At Headingley I played as though it would be my last game and I’m not going to change. Each game I’ll enjoy it and give it my best.”Sidebottom has broken into the top 10 of the bowling rankings and received praise from Richard Hadlee, who said he was the main threat in the series ahead. “It’s a massive compliment coming from a great bowler,” said Sidebottom. “On the other hand I’m not taking much notice because they are a difficult team to beat.”We aren’t taking it lightly, especially myself because I’ve only played a few games. Of course I would like to carry on in the same form but it’s not going to be easy. As long as I’m consistent and getting wickets for my team-mates then that’s great.”The other major award handed out at Lord’s on Monday evening was the Women’s Player of the Year which went to Claire Taylor, while Outstanding Achievement awards were given to the men who scored a 100, claimed a five-wicket haul or held five catches in an innings.Two one-off presentations were also given to Ashley Giles and Marcus Trescothick in recognition of their England success over the years. Trescothick announced his retirement from international cricket in March and Giles is now on the England selection panel as well as Warwickshire’s coach.

Twenty20 cricket could become an Olympic event in time for the 2012 games, under plans outlined today by the England & Wales Cricket Board. If their campaign proves successful, cricket will return to the Olympics for the first time since the Paris games in 1900, when Great Britain beat France to take the gold medal.Twenty20 cricket was a huge hit in its inaugural season last year, with 250,000 spectators flocking through the gates. Already the format has been replicated in South Africa, and even the USA has been enticed by the prospect, with its own Pro Cricket tournament launching next month.Now the plan is to go global, and with London in the running for the 2012 games, the ECB is keen for Twenty20 cricket to be a part of the event. “We have had preliminary discussions with the ICC,” said Tim Lamb, the outgoing chief executive of the ECB, “about the possibility of them making a case for Twenty20 cricket, particularly if London is successful in its bid. If 2012 is too soon, then perhaps we will look further down the line. Twenty20 in 2020, who knows?”A spokesman for the ICC said there had been “very, very preliminary talks” with the ECB on the subject, but added that it was too early to speculate about the success of such a proposal. “We are currently exploring ways in which we could join the Olympic family,” he said, “perhaps initially as a non-playing member.”In the meantime, Twenty20 cricket is set to play its first international match in August, when England’s women take on New Zealand, and then next summer, the men are planning an Ashes curtain-raiser against Australia.

Twelve people, including the former Queensland allrounder Brett Henschell, will face a District Court trial in Brisbane over an alleged $8 million superannuation fraud.The alleged fraud against the Commonwealth Bank’s key superannuation funds was discovered following a two-year investigation by the bank and Queensland police. Henschell, 43, and some of the bank’s former employees and customers were involved in a two-week committal hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court that ended today.The Magistrate Noel Nunan found enough evidence to commit the group to trial. They are accused of back-dating super fund switch forms to cash in on gains made by the funds on the stock market. None of the accused has entered a plea.Henschell, 43, made his debut for Queensland as an offspinner in 1981-82 and was picked for the Prime Minister’s XI against England in 1986, dismissing Allan Lamb and Ian Botham. He ended his first-class career with 2720 runs at 29.56 and 87 wickets at 43.96.

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Mahela Jayawardene guided Sri Lanka into a dominant position on the rain-affected fourth day at Galle with a patient 86 not out, including a last-wicket stand of 46 with Muttiah Muralitharan. England were set 323 to win, and with Murali all ready to flex his rubbery wrist on a wearing pitch, the rain which brought an early finish was a welcome sight for England – but a frustrating one for Sri Lanka.After a heartening final session last night, the onus was on England to take quick wickets in the morning and limit the lead to manageable proportions. But that didn’t happen. Their first breakthrough eventually came after the morning drinks break, and even that was in controversial circumstances.Chaminda Vaas, who had batted with typical resolve for his 19, was caught at short-leg by Paul Collingwood to give Ashley Giles his seventh wicket of the match. There was some doubt, however, as to whether Vaas had actually touched the ball, as it ballooned off his pads into Collingwood’s hands. And though umpire Venkat had no hesitation, Vaas’s reaction spoke volumes as he stalked off the pitch. He flung his gloves and helmet to one side as he reached the boundary rope, much as Sanath Jayasuriya had done in similar circumstances at Kandy in 2000-01.For most of the morning, England laboured for little reward, as Vaas and Jayawardene fended off the best efforts of Andrew Flintoff and the spinners, Giles and Gareth Batty. With a lead of 195 in the bag already, there was no need for risks, and the batsmen limited themselves to singles and the odd extravagance, such as the lofted four that Vaas smacked back over Batty’s head.It was slow going, and even after a two-hour rain break, Sri Lanka continued to show little urgency and crawled along at two runs-an-over. Chandana soon paid the price for his negativity when he padded up to a straight one from Giles, and was given lbw by Venkat (163 for 7). Jayawardene then eventually reached his half-century off 192 balls – and just under four hours – but still they were in no hurry to extend the lead, which was trickling towards 300.Matthew Hoggard took the new ball and immediately grabbed his first wicket of the match – and the tour – when he trapped Kumar Dharmasena lbw stone dead in front of middle (179 for 8). Flintoff was then rewarded for his tireless efforts when Dinusha Fernando edged him to Marcus Trescothick, who again showed off his party trick of juggling the ball a few times before clasping it (180 for 9).

But whether it be with bat or ball, Murali always livens things up, and today was no exception. He strode out with his ever-present grin, and then smeared Flintoff over cover and slashed Hoggard past point, both for four. Jayawardene suddenly came to life as well. He thumped Johnson for two successive boundaries over midwicket to take the lead past 300, and smacked Giles back over his head for another four.Again the bowlers could not finish off the job quickly. For a No. 11, Murali was surprisingly comfortable, and his partnership with Jayawardene sapped England’s morale even further. After Murali eventually edged Batty to Collingwood at short leg for a handy 13, England were left pondering their almost impossible bid to save this game.If only rain can rescue England now, then it came to their aid after just one over in to their second innings. Trescothick and Michael Vaughan walked out in spitting rain, and then hurried off five minutes later as the downpour started. Play was inevitably called off at 5.30pm local time, and England will need more bad weather tomorrow if they are going to escape with a draw.

In the final what separated the winner from the loser was the confidence factor. Sri Lanka drove on with the impeccable record of winning in the finals to move forward, while India succumbed under pressure once again in the summit clash. In all Sri Lanka have played 14 finals and they have just lost two.Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, was direct in his analysis when he said that the team had been struggling in the one-dayers. “The team is not been doing particularly well in one-day cricket. Winning takes some practice. We are bit down on confidence at the moment,” he continued. “With success, we got a little bit careless and thought success would continue. Well, it hasn’t continued and we have got a crisis in confidence. Otherwise, I don’t think there is much difference between the two teams.” The Indian Oil Cup series was Chappell’s first assignment and despite just winning two of the five matches in the series, he felt that his team were in a position to do much better. “We were in a position to win three or four of the five games but we were not good enough. We do have to analyse not only this series but what has been happening in recent times in Indian cricket.”His captain Rahul Dravid was not that worried that Indian had lost one more final as he felt it was a learning curve and they had to start getting better. “We have not won many finals. It is just a question of going back and working on it, getting ourselves in good position, getting ourselves in more finals and trying to win them. We have to learn from and get better at.”He further added that the Sri Lankans understand their conditions very well and were the only team to bowl two spinners in the last ten overs. “They have that nous to win in these conditions as they understand how to play cricket here and not many teams beat them.”Dravid backed his team selection of playing an extra bowler instead of the batsman He reasoned on the fact that it had not helped the team when they had played an extra batsman in the past finals. “We played a lot of finals with a bowler short and ended up giving runs and then it doesn’t really matter how many batsmen you have. I backed my batsmen as each one of us had got runs at some stage of the tournament. If we could restrict them to a decent score we could chase successfully. But Sri Lanka batted well in the middle overs and a wicket there might have restricted them to 250.”Chappell thought 281 was an achievable score and the team was in a position to win untill the last 15 overs. “281 was a reasonable target and Rahul and Yuvraj (Singh) were batting well and at one stage we needed 112 runs from 108 balls with 8 wickets in hand and we should’ve won the game from there.”Yuvraj who had scored a match-winning century in the last group game against the West Indies was showing the same fluency but in a period of urgency played a shot too many. His wicket triggered a quick mini-collapse. “Yuvraj’s wicket and my run out coming in quick succession was a turning point, as we left a bit too much for the lower order. We needed to carry on for at least six to seven overs,” said Dravid.Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said he was aware that India would come out strongly early on, especially with the likes of hard-hitting Virender Sehwag opening. “We tried to patient as we knew they would come hard at us in the first 15 overs and we just tried to remain patient.”Sri Lanka’s total was boosted by a fifth-wicket partnership of 125 runs between the in-form Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold, who were busy stealing singles and twos, ticking the scoreboard over. Jayawardene, who had scored an unbeaten 94 against India in Dambulla in the fourth game of the series, felt it was nice to be under less pressure this time as his partner was taking the lead in the getting the runs. “It is always good when the guy who comes in starts scoring quickly and takes the pressure off you. My job became easier with Russel coming in and moving the scoreboard.”Atapattu attributed the series win to the team and felt, “We all have performed in one game or the other to secure this victory. So this is a team thing. We trust each other and we enjoy each other’s company and that helps us perform as a team.”Dravid’s conclusion was more downbeat: “Sri Lanka is the number two side in the world in one-day form so they have been winning consistently which we have been not been doing over the last 14 to 16 months. When you get yourself in the position to win sometimes you just need that extra bit of confidence to win.”

Andrew Puttick, a left-handed opening batsman from Western Province, has been named as cover for Herschelle Gibbs for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka. Gibbs sprained his ankle during a training session last Thursday and is a doubt for the series.Puttick, 23, has an impressive first-class record. He made his debut in the 2000-01 season, and has notched up 2062 runs in 28 games at 49, with a highest score of 250 not out. He was part of the A side that played against Sri Lanka A last season. What would also have counted in his favour is his experience of Sri Lankan conditions – he played the Under-19 World Cup there in 1999, and was among a squad which included Graeme Smith, the current captain, and Jacques Rudolph.Commenting on his selection, Omar Henry, the convenor of selectors, said: "It is clear from Andrew’s performances for his province and the South African A team that he is a player of skill and talent and he clearly has a good temperament. This will be a great opportunity for him to step up to the highest level."Puttick himself expressed surprise over his inclusion. “I was driving to the mechanic to pay a bill for repairs to my car when I got a call from Eric [Eric Simons, the South African coach] who said that Herschelle was injured and that they wanted me to join the squad.It’s something I have always dreamt about and its just fantastic to be part of the set up.”Puttick will be among the line-up that leaves for Sri Lanka on Monday, July 26. The South African board also revealed that Gibbs would travel with the squad and would undergo intensive treatment from Shane Jabaar, the physiotherapist. South Africa’s tour begins with a three-day warm-up match on July 30, while the first Test starts on August 4, at Galle.

Bermuda could be set to stage their first major international match, proving the ICC decides that pitches at the National Sports Centre have improved sufficiently since an inspection last year.The surface was condemned by Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s inspector, in July 2007. “The square at the Sports Centre is good enough for club cricket, but when you’re talking about ODIs or longer games then I’m afraid it’s a no-go,” he said, adding that bringing in soil from abroad was the only way to rectify the situation. That idea was subsequently slammed by the Bermudan government as it contravened the island’s strict laws on the importation of soil.But Cricket Scotland said that it had been contacted by the Bermudan board (BCB) who are confident that ICC approval could come in time for the Intercontinental Cup tie to be played there in mid July. “The process for approving the National Stadium in Bermuda for ICC Intercontinental Cup matches is in place and we hope that a decision will be made towards the end of this week or early next week whether Bermuda will host Scotland in early July,” a spokesman for the ICC told Cricinfo.At the moment, the four-day game is scheduled to be played in Toronto where Scotland will then meet Canada three days later. But of clear concern to Scotland is that if the match is switched to Bermuda then it will present logistical issues in rearranging the initial flights and then transferring on to Canada with little time to acclimatise.”The Bermudians are keeping us in the loop about their plans,” Roddy Smith, the board’s chief executive, said. “The ICC requested them to prepare a four-day wicket for tests and they’ve been playing practise matches on the ground for each of the last three weekends. The tests end this weekend and we understand the ICC will make a decision on the venue for our game during the week. I’d say it’s looking likely that we’ll be told to play in Bermuda.”Obviously there will be a bit more hassle with travel but I’d imagine there are worse places to go than Bermuda.”