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Kenya have only brought in one new face for their series of three one-day matches against an Australian Academy side at Nairobi Gymkhana starting today.Rakheb Patel, a 17 year-old allrounder, was drafted into the 14-man squad after good performances in the Nairobi league. But three of those who were in the side for the recent Bangladesh series – Brijal Patel, Jimmy Kamande and Timothy Muange – were dropped.Also returning are Alfred Luseno, probably Kenya’s fastest bowler, who has missed recent matches because of a shoulder injury, and Nehemiah Odhiambo and Kalpesh Patel.Kenya’s selectors will be watching the top-order performances particularly as it is those that caused so much trouble in recent matches.The second and third matches take place at the same venue at the weekend.

American ProCricket (APC) has finally unveiled the much-publicised big-name signings which it hopes will help attract fans and push the venture into the public consciousness in the USA.A month ago APC announced that it had secured the services of several high-profile cricketers, only to have to backtrack when various boards refused their players permission to participate. But it hopes that all the contractual issues have been sorted, although a quick glance at the list highlights a couple of potential issues.The most surprising name is Andy Caddick, who played the last of his 62 Tests for England in January 2003, but has since been bedevilled by injury. He is contracted to play for Somerset in the County Championship, a tournament which runs at exactly the same time as ProCricket. The other major English signing is Alec Stewart, who played 133 Tests for England – more than any other player – before he retired at the end of the 2003 summer.The organisers had hoped to attract a raft of current Indian players, but that intent was scuppered by the Indian board. Instead, it has gone for non-contracted players, including Nikhil Chopra and Ajay Jadeja, who last played international cricket four years ago, and Robin Singh, the former Indian one-day specialist who now coaches Hong Kong.The Caribbean also provides its fair share of names. Merv Dillon, Daren Ganga and Wavell Hinds, who were all omitted from the squad currently touring England, and former stars Curtly Ambrose, Cameron Cuffy, Dinanath Ramnarine, Richie Richardson, Franklyn Rose and David Williams are also playing.Three Australian cricketers – Simon Cook, Greg Matthews and Colin Miller – and a couple of Kenyans – Steve Tikolo and Brij Patel – complete the list.Each ProCricket club will field teams featuring three to four internationals and seven local players participating in each match.

Sussex were in trouble at the end of the second day closing at 112 forfive in reply to Glamorgan’s mammoth first innings total of 718 forthree declared. Sussex made a poor start losing their first wicketsinside the first five overs for 11 runs. There was a brief revivalwith a stand of 66 between Chris Adams and Richard Montgomerie (23)before the latter was out caught behind by Maynard of Dean Cosker.Sussex lost a further two wickets when Robert Croft took a brilliantcatch at first slip to dismiss Will House and Robin Martin-Jenkinsfell to a reckless hook shot. But Adams, playing a lone hand, made ahalf century for Sussex and remained unbeaten on 55 at close of play.Earlier Glamorgan’s Steve James made an unbeaten 309, the first triplehundred by a Glamorgan batsman and erased the 61-year-old record heldby Emrys Davies (287) against Gloucestershire at Newport in 1939. Histriple century was made of 440 balls in 602 minutes which included 41hits to the fence. His lone chance was on 285. There were a fewmilestones during the course of the innings. First, James helped theWelsh county to post a record total of 718 – the county’s highest inthe championship since they were admitted in 1921. And when Jamescompleted his 200, he also became the first batsman to score fivedouble hundreds for the county.James shared a few partnerships during the course of his unbeateninnings of character and concentration. He shared a record firstwicket partnership of 374 with Mathew Elliot (177), then a secondwicket partnership of 123 with Mike Powell (64), a stand of 134 withMathew Maynard (67, three 4s, five 6s) for the third wicket andfinally an unbeaten 87-run partnership with Dale for the fourthwicket.At the end of the day, talking to the media, a relaxed and satisfiedJames said “It was a great honour to pass the best Glamorgan scoreever made. I did not think about it when I continued my innings thismorning. I treated every ball on its merits and did not think aboutthe milestones because the next ball could have got me.”James added “I was only tense when I reached 287 (set by the lateDavies) and was pleased to get that single to pass his score. But thenI never thought too much about reaching 300 until it came along. I nowfeel very tired but very relieved.”

Yuvraj Singh, who was the 12th man in the ongoing second Test between India and Pakistan, will now turn out for Punjab in their Ranji Trophy semi-final at Mumbai, starting on March 18. Mohammad Kaif will fly to Kolkata to replace Yuvraj and would take the field if necessary.This is the first time Punjab have entered the semi-finals since 2001 and face a stern test against the defending champions Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai have not lost a single game at home since 2001, when, fittingly, they lost to Punjab in the quarter-finals. Mumbai, though, have been unstoppable in the last three years and barring a minor blip against Madhya Pradesh earlier this season, where they conceded the first-innings lead, they have cruised through without any trouble.Yuvraj, though, has consistently shown the ability to lift sides that he turns out for – both Punjab and North Zone – and his presence would surely be a boost for a much-improved Punjab. Gagandeep Singh, Amit Uniyal and VRV Singh comprise a potent pace attack and Mumbai’s batting brigade might just be put to test for the first time this season.Hyderabad take on Railways in the other semi-final in Delhi. Hyderabad will be without the talismanic presence of VVS Laxman, who boosted them to the knock-out stage, but Ambati Rayudu and Daniel Manohar, two talented youngsters, may just pick up the baton. Railways, though, start as favourites with a number of their players leading Central Zone to the Duleep Trophy triumph earlier this month. Their fortunes will hinge on Jai Prakash Yadav and Sanjay Bangar, both capable of tilting the scales with both bat and ball.The semi-finals of the Plate Group also gets underway on the same day. Haryana play Jharkhand in Chandigarh while Himachal Pradesh host Services at Dharamsala. The finalists will be promoted to the Elite Group next season.

ADELAIDE, Jan 18 AAP – Australian batsman Darren Lehmann was today suspended for five one day international matches for breaching the International Cricket Council’s racial vilification code.Lehmann was found guilty of a breach during a three hour hearing in Adelaide today.Lehmann is the first international cricketer to be suspended for breaching the game’s racial code of conduct.Lehmann was to have been vice captain in the tomorrow’s one day match against England at Adelaide Oval, but national selectors are believed to have summoned New South Wales batsman Michael Clarke as his replacement.The South Australian and Yorkshire captain had already apologised for a racial slur after being dismissed against Sri Lanka in one day match in Brisbane on Wednesday.He offered a verbal and written apologies to the Sri Lankans which were immediately accepted.The Australian Cricket Board instructed Lehmann to also undergo counselling but did not impose a further penalty, prompting the ICC to charge the left-handed batsman under its racial vilification code.

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In a well-contested game, more of sentimental significance than anything else, the Indians scored 254 for 6 and beat the Prime Minister’s XI by one run in a thrilling encounter in Canberra. Hemang Badani scored a century while no other Indian topped 33, and Cade Brown, captain of the Australian Capital Territory, liked what he saw of the Indian bowlers and struck 80 runs.Steve Waugh led the PM XI on to the field, and Shaun Tait and Damien Wright opened the bowling against Sanjay Bangar and Parthiv Patel. After providing his team a solid start, Patel (19) fell to Cleary (36 for 1). A 60-run partnership ensued, and Bangar chose to knuckle down, while Badani rotated the strike, unafraid to attempt the big hits. After scoring a slow-poke 33, Bangar was dismissed, and in came Rohan Gavaskar. A while later, he was on his way back for 26, the first of McDonald’s three wickets. But with figures of 3 for 70 in nine overs at the end of the innings, it’s not clear who the victim was.Both Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid got off to starts, but fell before reaching 20, and Ajit Agarkar’s limp with the bat extended to exhibition matches as well, as he fell for 5 (230 for 8). Meanwhile, Badani kept his end up, and got partnerships going with the top order; 54 with Gavaskar, and 42 with Dravid.Badani upped the rate towards the end as he rushed towards his century. His innings ended on the very last ball of the innings, giving McDonald his third wicket.The PM XI began briskly, as the openers scored at over five an over. Amit Bhandari, bowling for the first time on tour, dismissed Matthew Bradley for 12 (38 for 1). Ashish Nehra then had David Hussey caught behind, and the score read 59 for 2. But that brought Brown to the wicket, and with Marcus North, he put on 84 in quick time. After scoring 74 with seven boundaries, North was taken out by Bangar, who was given an extended run by Dravid.Then, like so many times during his last series, all eyes turned yet again to the man striding out. Steve Waugh hit one boundary and got out for seven. Christopher Hartley, with a century in his only first-class innings, came out to bat, and nearly took the game away from India. Scampering for runs, he partnered Brown and hit four boundaries, and the two put on 38. But just as victory was around the corner, Nehra struck again, ridding Brown for 80 (213 for 5).With 42 runs needed off 33 balls and a new man at the crease, the task seemed more daunting than ever. But Hartley kept going at the ever-shrinking target, until the last over came about, and eight runs were required. Bhandari conceded only six, and claimed McDonald’s wicket, leaving Hartley stranded on 45 off 43, as the Indians held on to victory by the slender thread of a single run.

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, has lambasted his lower-order batsmen for failing to follow the instructions in the closing stages of the crucial third one-dayer against South Africa in Barbados. West Indies, who required only four runs of the last over with three wickets in hand, lost the match by one run when Charl Langeveldt claimed his maiden hat-trick.”The instruction was to hit the ball and try and give the strike over to Dwayne (Bravo),” King was quoted as saying by The Nation. “It just highlights some of the experience of the boys and some of the thinking and their process that needs to change.”However, the tailenders, Ian Bradshaw and Daren Powell, were clean bowled trying to attempt big shots, and Corey Collymore was caught plumb in front the wicket, leaving Bravo stranded at the other end on 21.King pointed out the lack of experience in the lower order, which led to their downfall. “The real reason why we didn’t win that game was simply because we made some mistakes early and didn’t bowl as well as we could’ve,” he continued. “And all combined the results are there for everyone to see. So you don’t want to end up dwelling on things like that that happened in the past.”However, King also mentioned the positives to have come from the match. “The general public, from various sectors, have been very supportive about what they see on the field,” King told CCN TV6, a Trinidad based television channel, “And I think the people who know their cricket can see that there’s been some changes in the side already and changes they believe are quite good, so the feedback’s been good.”South Africa lead the five-match series 3-0, as the two teams head to Trinidad for a double-header over the weekend. South Africa also won the Test series 2-0, which was their fourth successive Test series win over West Indies.

Yesterday’s Championship reviewFrizzell County Championship Division One
Points tableMiddlesex 370 and 218 for 2 drew with Surrey 568 at Lord’s
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Andy Strauss and Sven Koenig batted Middlesex to safety in a rain-affected last day against Surrey at Lord’s. Even though only 39 overs were bowled after the morning session was washed out, which meant Middlesex were guaranteed a draw, both Strauss and Koenig fell agonisingly short of well-deserved centuries. Strauss was caught at leg slip off Ian Salisbury for 95, and Koenig at first slip off Adam Hollioake for 89. However, there was some late drama when a frustrated Hollioake was ordered to stop bowling by Graham Burgess for persistently hurling down bouncers.Essex 514 drew with Kent 381 and 416 for 8 dec at Chelmsford
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A mixture of bad light and heavy rain meant Essex’s match against Kent meandered to a draw. Just over 46 overs were bowled during the day, in which time Mark Ealham reached his first Championship century for two years, and Geraint Jones his second of the season. Jones batted through the day to end on 108 not out, by which time the fearful bowling duo of Andy Flower and Aftab Habib – who each picked up a wicket – were wheeling away.Leicestershire 243 for 5 for 1 drew with Nottinghamshire 326 and 318 for 6dec at Leicester
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Nottinghamshire’s hopes of a win were dashed by the rain at Grace Road. There was no play at all, which means the match, of which Notts were firmly in charge, was abandoned as a draw.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
Points table Yorkshire 512 and 71 for 0 beat Somerset 275 and 213 for 6 by 10 wickets at Taunton
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Steve Kirby polished off the last four Somerset wickets for figures of 8 for 80 – the best in the Championship so far this season – as Yorkshire steamrolled Somerset by ten wickets. Not only was it Yorkshire’s first win since the opening weekend of the season, but Kirby’s match figures of 13 for 154 were the best by a Yorkshire bowler in the Championship since Ray Illingworth’s 14 for 64 against Gloucestershire in 1967. Somerset were bowled out for 306, and Matthew Wood and Stephen Fleming only needed 13 overs to race to their 71-run target. The only bad news for Yorkshire was that they were docked a quarter of a point for a slow over-rate.Glamorgan 270 and 366 for 9 dec drew with Worcestershire 328 and 175 for 6 at Cardiff
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Worcestershire held on for a grafting draw against Glamorgan at Cardiff and kept hold of their lead at the top of the division. Kadeer Ali (53 from 130), Ben Smith (44 from 111) and Stephen Moore (28* from 76) all denied Glamorgan with fighting, backs-to-the-wall knocks. It was a different story earlier, however, when Michael Kasprowicz (35) and Alex Wharf (32*) plundered quick runs before the declaration. Kasprowicz then took 3 for 35, but Worcestershire showed their mettle and refused to give in.Hampshire 330 and 161 for 7 drew with Gloucestershire 185 and 427 atSouthampton
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Gloucestershire ran out of time to beat Hampshire at The Rose Bowl. Jonty Rhodes scored an unbeaten 151 as Hampshire were set 283 off 55 overs. But they were soon forced to close shop when Ian Harvey (4 for 43) removed both openers in quick succession. Simon Katich pulled things together with a stubborn 52, but when he was out and Martyn Ball (3 for 24) then got in the groove, Hampshire were in trouble at 149 for 7. But the old pro Shaun Udal ground out 16 runs from 44 balls to move Hampshire off the bottom of the table.

Cricket South Africa will continue to be consistent in its stance regarding tours to and from Zimbabwe, Gerald Majola, their chief executive officer, said in a statement on Tuesday.”We view tours to and from Zimbabwe as cricketing matters,” said Majola, when asked to comment on reports that the New Zealand government was putting pressure on the ICC to suspend the Zimbabwe Cricket Union because its links to Robert Mugabe’s regime. We will continue to meet our obligations to the ICC and the ZCU in this regard. We have always been consistent in this. I have just returned from a meeting of the ICC’s chief executives, and the matter of any possible suspension was not even raised. In fact, all the countries, including New Zealand, who are due to tour Zimbabwe reaffirmed their commitments.”Cricket South Africa is also at the forefront of developing Africa into a major cricketing continent,” concluded Majola, “and this includes assisting in the progress of Zimbabwean cricket. We will continue on this path.”It is being reported that South Africa have agreed to play three ODIs in Zimbabwe on July 30, 31 and August 3.

Nathan Hauritz, the Queensland offspinner, has decided to leave Queensland and move to New South Wales (NSW) to try and revive his fledgling Test career.Hauritz, 24, who made a solitary Test appearance against India in November 2004, on a dustbowl at Mumbai where he took five wickets, was moving to NSW without any club or state contract. “I still want to play for Australia and I see this as my best chance,” Hauritz told AAP. “I’ll head down there, get a job, play grade cricket and see what happens.”Hauritz debuted for Queensland in 2000-01, taking a total of 59 first-class wickets at 47.8 with a best of 4 for 95. In 73 one-day games for the state, he has taken 90 wickets at 29.95. However, since his Test debut he has played just seven games for Queensland, going wicketless in his only first-class match last season. In February 2005, he was dropped from the squad to make way for Mitchell Johnson, the left-arm fast bowler. “Queensland has a fast bowling culture and I see this as a fantastic opportunity to go down there [NSW] and work within a spin bowling culture,” said Hauritz of bowling in the Sydney Cricket Ground, traditionally Australia’s most spin-friendly venue. “I want to move to the next level and the opportunity to work with guys like Greg Matthews and Stuart McGill is too good to pass up.”His domestic one-day record this season in the ING Cup shows better figures with seven wickets in 10 matches at an average of 61.42. “I could have stayed here and probably been a good one-day spinner for Queensland for the next 10 years but I want to play both forms of the game – one-day and four-day cricket – and I want to give myself a chance to play Test cricket again.”It’s exciting but at the same time it was also a really hard decision to leave all the guys I’ve played junior cricket with,” says Hauritz of his plan to move. “I’ve got to back myself and do what I think is best for me right now. I can’t wait to get down there and get into it.”Terry Oliver, the Queensland coach, said that the door was always open for Hauritz to come back. “It’s a gutsy move and if he’s going to do it then now is the right time,” he said. “Horrie has been a tremendous asset to Queensland Cricket and has been one of our form one- day players over the last couple of years.”