Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, is unavailable for selection for the final one-day international against West Indies at Karachi on Saturday because of his brother’s death last week. Younis had missed the third and fourth ODIs as well. However, Mohammad Yousuf, who also missed the fourth ODI at Multan to be with his sick wife, is certain to play at Karachi.”Younis doesn’t feel he is in the right frame of mind presently. At the same time we felt it would be an unwise move to ask him to play after this latest bereavement in his family. Our sympathies are with him,” Wasim Bari the chairman of selectors, told . “Yousuf is a definite starter for the Karachi match.”Bari was hopeful that Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, would recover from a finger injury in time for Saturday’s encounter. Inzamam had injured the little-finger in the field during the third ODI and needed three stitches on his left hand.Pakistan were leading 2-0 in the series after the first match was washed out but West Indies pulled one back at Multan where Pakistan were without Inzamam, Younis and Yousuf to keep the series alive.Shahid Afridi, whose poor form continued at Multan, could get another opportunity to come good at Karachi and Mohammad Sami was also likely to play. Bari hoped that Pakistan would be able to field their strongest team and said that no drastic changes were necessary at this stage of the series.Probable squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Rao Iftikhar, Abdur Rehman, Faisal Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Danish Kaneria.

Jamaica coasted to a seven-wicket win against Guyana at Kensington Park, chasing down the target of 63 in just under two hours. Fast bowler Andrew Richardson picked up the last two Guyana wickets as the visitors were dismissed for 232. Darwin Christian, the overnight batsman, was bowled by Richardson for 37 and Veerasammy Permaul drove Richardson straight to Danza Hyatt at mid-on.Jamaica got off to a shaky start, as Esuan Crandon bowled Brenton Parchment off the inside edge and had Hyatt caught at slip to leave them at 9 for 2. Wavell Hinds hung around to polish off the remaining runs and seal the victory.Amit Jaggernauth’s five-wicket haul helped Trinidad & Tobago register a comfortable 215-run victory against Leeward Islands at Couva. Chasing 403, Leewards were dismissed for 187, with offspinner Jaggernauth finishing with 5 for 48.Leewards, resuming at their overnight score of 118 for 4 showed little resistance as they lost their last six wickets for just 69 runs. Jaggernauth sliced through the middle and lower order and was supported by left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed, who took two wickets. This was T&T’s maiden victory in the tournament year’s Carib Beer Series, and they now have 20 points from three games.Windward Islands crashed to 91 all out to give Barbados a 141-run victory on the final day at Portsmouth. Set to chase 233 in a minimum of 60 overs, the home side crumbled, losing their last six wickets for just 10 runs. Earlier, Barbados declared their second innings on 183 for 9 shortly after lunch, giving either side a shot at registering an outright victory.Barbados offspinner Ryan Austin was the most impressive bowler, taking 4 for 26 in 12 overs to engineer the collapse. Liam Sebastian, who retired hurt in the first innings, resisted with 32 in the second while the rest faltered. The strong Barbados seam attack of Corey Collymore, Tino Best and Pedro Collins shared the first three wickets, before the spinners took over. Windwards paid the price for some rash strokes.Barbados, in their second innings showed a lot of urgency to push the scoring but lost wickets at regular intervals in the process. After an opening stand of 81, they were suddenly caught off guard, losing five wickets for 33 runs, with Kenroy Peters, the left-arm seamer, claimed four top-order wickets. Kevin Edwards and Patrick Browne consolidated, adding 40 for the sixth wicket, before Ryan Hinds declared the innings.With this victory, Barbados now have 30 points, ahead of Jamaica while Windwards are languishing at the bottom of the table with seven points.

Mumbai probably knew, at some point in their amazing recovery, that they’d have to face Bengal again this season. This time, they’d have their most lethal weapon in the side: Zaheer Khan, who joined Mumbai before the season began but hadn’t had a game because of his own personal journey back to the high life.Zaheer has posed a threat to several batsmen this season but Mumbai knew that he had the number of the most dangerous batsman in the Bengal line-up. Sourav Ganguly doesn’t like facing him – or probably has not faced him long enough to make up his mind on that. Seventh ball in the Duleep Trophy final in November 2005, and Zaheer bowled an inswinging yorker; Ganguly played all over it and was bowled. In the second innings of the same match, a similar delivery found Ganguly’s pad on the way. After that final and before this, Ganguly, playing for Northamptonshire, had faced up against Zaheer, playing for Worcestershire in a second division County match in June 2006. Ganguly b Zaheer 2, read the scorecard.Ganguly certainly had the opportunity to make amends today, walking out at the Wankhede with Bengal reeling at 28 for 2. Zaheer, as expected, was charged up and he greeted Ganguly with a ball that pitched outside off in the corridor, moved in, took the inside edge, and hit the stumps. Simple as that, 4-0 Zaheer.He has obviously worked out that Ganguly is not comfortable with the one coming in from a length and has exposed it quite appreciably. And Graeme Smith will testify to the fact that Zaheer is not the man you expose your weakness to.What has been remarkable in Zaheer’s case – both with Smith and Ganguly – is the way he has capitalised on technical weaknesses to convert them into psychological ones. “It (knowing the batsman’s weakness) does help. There’s definitely a psychological advantage in that,” Zaheer said after the day’s play today. “But it’s also about the rhythm. Rhythm is all about being able to bowl where you want to bowl. That’s what is happening with me now.”Bowlers over the world know Smith looks to play on the on side early on, but no one beat him there as accurately and consistently as Zaheer did. After a while that entered Smith’s head, to the extent that he refused to take strike to Zaheer in the second innings of the Wanderers Test. Ganguly has been in good form of late and one would have expected him to be sure of his foot movement, of what he was going to do to the first ball he faced. Instead, the feet didn’t move and the bat came down without any intent – neither straight in defence nor forceful in attack.Earlier, Zaheer – making his debut for Mumbai – had made an immediate impact with only his fourth delivery. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala was drawn into edging one that had pitched on leg and had slanted away. Then in his fifth over, just one ball before getting Ganguly, Zaheer left Arindam Das no option but to play at a fast one that pitched short of length and always looked at his body.Zaheer bowled unchanged for 11 overs and, by the time he was done, Bengal were a shattered side. The Bengal batsmen, not having faced pace bowling of such ferocious quality through the season, were lambs to the slaughter; Zaheer was clearly too good for them. Rohan Gavaskar tried to fight the onslaught with one of his own, scoring 16 off 11 Zaheer deliveries, but he was drawn into a wide over-pitched delivery that swung away late. Before the end of that over, Laxmi Ratan Shukla had chased another sucker ball to complete Zaheer’s five-for on debut.The debut had been a long time coming, and obviously worth the wait. “When I came to Mumbai in 1996, I started playing all the club matches. My immediate goal was to play in the Ranji team and see how I’d find a place in the Indian team,” Zaheer said, “Obviously it didn’t work out that way.” He was in the squad for the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in 1996-97, but did not get to play the match. He had moved to Baroda later and made his comeback this year only. “When I started playing cricket, playing for Mumbai was on my mind, and it’s a special feeling now.”With Zaheer taking Mumbai a huge step closer to reclaiming the grand old trophy, that feeling is probably mutual.***************************************************************************************Boyc bats for the PrinceIf Sourav Ganguly is expected to bat and Geoffrey Boycott is in town, it is hard to keep him from showing up. While making his way to the stand next to the press box at the Wankhede, Boycott asked the first soul that looked capable of speaking, “Has the Prince started batting?”Boycott was heard telling the members at the stand, “I am very happy. My prince is playing for India, and my princess is winning in England.” The princess, of course, is Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood star, who has recently won the Big Brother, the reality television show. Boycott had earlier, during commentary stints in India, made public in no unclear terms his fondness for Shetty.The considerate ‘prince’ did not give Boycott too much happiness at this old age and lasted only one delivery. Any chances of seeing him bat again today were erased when the last-wicket pair for Bengal saw them across the follow-on target.

Andy Roberts, the former West Indies fast bowler who is now a pitch consultant for the World Cup, has predicted that the pitches in the tournament may not necessarily be slow turners, contrary to general expectations. With several pitches being relaid and a few new surfaces being tried out, Roberts expects the pitches to offer enough assistance to both batsmen and bowlers.”A lot of people will be surprised by the 22 yards on offer,” Roberts told . “We won’t get the slow pitches that people are anticipating.” Roberts, also the chief curator of the Antigua Recreation Ground, cited the India-West Indies practice match at the Trelawny Stadium last week as an example. West Indies were bundled out for just 85 on a pitch which offered plenty of seam movement.”What you will find is a lot of brand new pitches,” he said. “For the first game or so they may be slow. That will not be the case right through. At some venues it will have even bounce, some will also have a lot of carry.”Roberts has been busy supervising the preparation of pitches all over the Caribbean for the World Cup, coordinating with Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant. When asked for his impression of the relaid wickets, Roberts said that the surfaces in the Kensington Oval in Barbados and the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua were sporting in nature. However, he expressed caution over the new surface in Guyana, given its location in the South American mainland.”The wicket in Barbados has been playing fairly well in the practice games,” he said. “There have been lots of runs. The bounce and carry has been good. Antigua too has a new pitch and if it has been prepared according to the specifications then you might see the same thing there. The only one I am worried about is Guyana. It doesn’t have the same type of clay as other countries. It may surprise us because it is a new pitch.”Pitches in the West Indies have slowed down over the years, offering plenty of assistance to the slower bowlers as India observed last year during their tour. However, Roberts felt that the region had come for some unfair criticism. “In the Champions Trophy too you had some bad pitches,” Roberts said. “Most pitches around the world have slowed down.”But Kent Crafton, the groundsman at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, said teams should not expect the pitch there to be overly slow. “One thing we’ve tried to do is put more compaction into the clay to increase the pace and bounce,” Crafton told . “That will aid in the ball probably coming in with some more pace, not expressly, but just a little bit more than normal, which will aid in more runs being scored.”It will be good wicket, I would not say it will be an exceptionally fast pitch but the ball will come off nicely. We’ve had very good opening partnerships here. The wicket will not change much from during the morning until the afternoon. I don’t believe the toss will matter so much. If it’s cloudy, maybe you’d want to bowl first.”

Dilip Vengsarkar, the former Indian captain who’s currently the head of the national selection committee, has issued a stern warning to allrounder Irfan Pathan, saying he would be dropped from the World Cup squad unless he proved his match fitness in Sunday’s Deodhar Trophy game in Ahmedabad.Pathan, whose decline has been a major talking point, declared himself fit from his sore shoulder injury on Thursday but Vengsarkar made it clear that Pathan’s performance for West Zone would be watched with keen interest by the selectors.”I would be there with other selectors to watch Irfan’s overall performance and if we are not convinced of his fitness he will not go to the World Cup,” Vengsarkar was quoted by PTI. “We have not yet thought of any replacement, but it will be done in consultation with the captain [Rahul Dravid] and coach [Greg Chappell].”Irfan has not played for almost a month after picking up a freak shoulder injury. He has played only one match [against the West Indies at his hometown Vadodara on January 31]. He then missed the entire series against Sri Lanka. The Deodhar Trophy match offers the best chance for him to get back among the wickets and prove his fitness.”Vengsarkar also said that only the selectors will be there to judge Pathan’s fitness and not team physio John Gloster. Bhupinder Singh Sr and Ranjib Biswal are likely to be the other selectors with Vengsarkar for the opening Deodhar clash.

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, believes his side has what it takes to go all the way after extending its unbeaten streak at the tournament to six. Speaking after the 129-run win against Ireland, Fleming was aware of the real test that awaits them, with three games against tougher opposition, but New Zealand need only one more win to secure a berth in the semi-finals.”We know we are capable of winning it,” Fleming told . “We are better prepared this time. We are in the semi-finals or close to it by winning one more game. We’ve got three tough games.”New Zealand have maintained their momentum despite concerns over fitness and injuries to a few in-form players. Mark Gillespie, the fast bowler, was expected to return against Ireland but is still on the sidelines. Ross Taylor’s recovery from a hamstring strain was also hampered by poor weather in the lead-up to the Ireland game.”The fitness of the side is quite good,” Fleming said. “We are getting guys who are quite close. I think Taylor is close to regaining fitness.” New Zealand face Sri Lanka on Thursday in Grenada.Fleming also praised Brendon McCullum’s late surge which propelled New Zealand to 263 from 189 for 7. McCullum scored a breezy 47 off 37 balls and was well-supported by James Franklin as the pair added 71 for the eighth wicket.”The fact that we got to 263 is a testament to our power-hitting and McCullum’s ability to hit the ball over the rope and into the gaps at the death,” Fleming said. “Our ability to hit the ball at the death has been very strong. In that five-over period, I think we put on about 50 runs, which in most games is going to leave you in a pretty good spot.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has, in an apparent change of heart, has reinstated the vast majority of the lower-grade employees who were sacked only two days ago.A board spokesman told Cricinfo that Naseem Ashraf, the board chairman, made the decision to reinstate 66 of those sacked on ‘humanitarian grounds.’ The decision to sack 11 high-ranking officials, however, still stands.Two days ago, the PCB had sacked 80 employees including 69 working in the lower cadre and 11 high-ranking officials after a comprehensive audit carried out by Ferguson and Associates recommended the employees were not suited to their specific roles.A board spokesman told that the employees were working either on a contractual basis or daily wages and their new contracts would be signed soon without any break in their services.According to the newspaper, earlier in the day, a majority of the sacked employees gathered at the PCB offices as the chairman arrived, demanding immediate restoration of services. The chairman assured them that he would do his best for them after considering their case.Meanwhile, the PCB also announced that there were no plans for further retrenchment in the board.

Khaled Mashud, the veteran wicketkeeper, has been included in the Bangladesh team for the two-Test series against India. Allrounders Saqibul Hasan and Mehrab Hossan jnr find a place in the Test side for the first time while batsman Tushar Imran earns a recall two years after his last appearance. Mohammad Ashraful, has been named vice-captain, which follows his appointment as the same for the ODI team.Aftab Ahmed was a surprise omission, having taken part in Bangladesh’s previous Test campaign, when they took on Australia early last year. Enamul Haque jnr takes the place of Abdur Razzak, who has been a regular at the one-day level. The series will have added significance to Mashud, who will be looking to re-establish himself in the Bangladesh side after losing his place in the ODI team to the young Mushfiqur Rahim and as a result missing the World Cup as well.The first Test begins at Chittagong on May 18 and will be followed by the second at Mirpur starting on May 25.Bangladesh Test squadHabibul Bashar (capt), Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omar, Shahriar Nafees, Saqibul Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Tushar Imran, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque jnr, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mehrab Hossain jnr

Cricketers from seven ICC Associate countries have arrived in Chennai to be part of the MRF-Asian Cricket Council (ACC) High Performance programme at the MRF Pace Foundation from June 25 to July 4.The purpose of the programme, which coincides with Dennis Lillee’s annual visit as a coach to the pace academy, is to improve the fitness of players from UAE, Oman, Malaysia, Singapore, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Hong Kong.”Teams from the Asian countries need to work on fitness,” said Roger Binny, the former Indian allrounder and currently a development officer with the ACC. “We are working on them so that they can effectively compete to make it to the World Cup in a few years.” The focus at the camp, Binny said, would be on batting, bowling, and fitness.Meanwhile, the ACC has decided to give a total of $1.5 million to all non-Test playing Asian countries so that they can carry on with their specific development programmes. The funds were not allocated last year, as planned, because of the postponement of the 2006 Asia Cup due to the packed international schedule of the participating teams.Each Associate member will be given a base amount of $42,000, with Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, UAE receiving an extra $30,000. According to the ACC website, subsequent amounts will be awarded on the basis of ACC tournament performance and the meeting of governance criteria.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday shifted the training and fitness camp for the national squad from Quetta to Lahore because of recent floods in Balochistan, a PCB official said.Zakir Khan, PCB’s director of cricket operations, said that the camp – the second of the three camps organised to improve the players’ fitness levels – had to be relocated keeping in view the current situation in Balochistan where floods have left scores of people dead and thousands homeless. The camp was scheduled from July 10 to July 23.Instead, the 22 players called up for the camp would now head to Lahore. The camp’s duration and dates have remained unchanged. The first camp took place in Abbottabad where the players were supervised by army trainers.The third and final camp is scheduled to take place in the coastal city of Karachi from July 25.