Andrew Strauss has rejected Cricket Australia’s suggestion that umpires from England and Australia be allowed to officiate in this year’s Ashes. Reacting to the idea which came up a couple of days back, Strauss said he was happy with the system which is currently in place.”From my point of view the regulations the ICC have in place are perfectly adequate and I don’t see any reason to change that,” Strauss said, a position which was supported by an ECB spokesman as well: “The ICC have the well-established principle of appointing neutral umpires for Test matches. It is a process that the ECB is comfortable with.”Cricket Australia had earlier suggested that a contest between the two best sides in the world should have the top umpires officiating. “In a perfect world, it would be great for a series that will not only determine who wins the Ashes but could decide the world No. 1 ranking to be officiated by the world’s top-ranked umpires,” Peter Young, a spokesman for Cricket Australia, had said.Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, also concurred. “I’d just like to have the best umpires to umpire cricket around the world all the time,” told reporters at the team’s camp in Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. “It’s the highest standard of cricket we play so we have to have the best umpires in those games. Whether that means they are Australian, or two Pakistanis, or two Englishman, it doesn’t matter to me as long as they are doing a good job in in the middle. “Simon Taufel is currently regarded as the best umpire in the world, while there are three other umpires from the two countries in the ten-member Elite Panel – Daryl Harper and Darrell Hair from Australia, and England’s Mark Benson. If the ICC doesn’t agree with Cricket Australia’s suggestion, the umpires for the series will be selected from the six others in the panel – Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove from the West Indies, Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf from Pakistan, Billy Bowden from New Zealand and South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen.

Australia have made two changes for the second one-dayer of the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand at Allan Border Field on Sunday.The Victorian medium pace bowler Clea Smith will play her first match of the tour, with fellow quick Sarah Andrews also in the starting line-up in what will be her third one-dayer. Andrews made her international debut earlier this year against India.Kirsten Pike and Michelle Goszko make way for the pair; Pike will be 12th man for this match. Goszko made 5 in the opener, while Pike took 1 for 17 from seven overs as Australia squeaked the victory.Play starts at 10.00am and entry is free.Team for second ODI Karen Rolton (capt), Lisa Sthalekar, Sarah Andrews, Kate Blackwell, Melissa Bulow, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Julie Hayes, Shelley Nitschke, Leah Poulton, Jodie Purvis and Clea Smith.

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An unbeaten 53 by Mark Cosgrove lifted South Australia to 2 for 103 on the second day against New South Wales, who were earlier bowled out for 288 in their first innings. Cosgrove and Cameron Borgas added 90 for the third wicket after the early dismissal of both openers, but South Australia still trailed by 31 at close of play.After bundling out the Redbacks for just 154 in their first innings New South Wales had the opportunity to amass a huge lead, but fine bowling performances by Shaun Tait and Jason Gillespie restricted their advantage to 134. Tait nailed three middle-order batsmen and finished with 4 for 97, while Gillespie wrapped up the tail and ended with fine figures of 3 for 46.Resuming at 2 for 96, the Blues quickly lost a couple of wickets to slump to 4 for 111 before Aaron O’Brien and Brad Haddin rescued them with a 72-run stand. Haddin finally fell for 46, but O’Brien carried on and top-scored with 74, before being dismissed by the left-arm spin of Darren Lehmann. Stuart Clark contributed 25 and helped add 56 for the seventh wicket to ensure New South Wales ended with a sizeable lead.Clark then struck crucial blows with the ball as well, dismissing Matthew Elliott and Shane Deitz with only 13 on the board. Cosgrove and Borgas fought back spiritedly, but with the Redbacks still trailing by 31, New South Wales still held the upper hand.

Two days on from England’s debacle at Adelaide, and the shockwaves show no sign of abating. Even the squad’s timely flight 1300 miles to the west to Perth, the most isolated city in the world, couldn’t provide any respite, as they were greeted by backpage headlines in the West Australian lampooning “Duncan the Dunce”, and “England’s out-of-tune missile launcher”, Steve Harmison. It’s remarkable really. Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne are basking in the glory of their greatest Test win, and yet the rest of their country seems to be mourning the premature end to a hugely-hyped contest.Tomorrow’s Lilac Hill festival match, therefore, comes an ironically inopportune moment. Since 1990-91, this fixture in the Swan Valley has been the official curtain-raiser to Australia’s international summer, but tomorrow it becomes something else entirely – an inconvenient interruption in a week when the squad would like nothing better than to sink into a uranium mine and hide. And that’s exactly what they seem to have done. None of the Adelaide XI will be featuring. Instead Alec Stewart emerges from retirement to captain a side featuring two fellow veterans in Robin Smith and Adam Hollioake, with the numbers being made up by three Academy members and all five of the Ashes reserves.The spotlight, therefore, turns instantly to one man, and one man only. Monty Panesar, the BBC Cause Célèbre of the Year, has three days between now and the start of the third Test at the WACA next Thursday to win over his remaining doubters on the England selection committee, and cement the Test place that most of the country believe is his by right. Whether it takes petitions, protests or questions in the House, England need him to take the field on December 14, if only to rid themselves of the defensive mindset that contributed to that defeat at Adelaide.”I guess it’s flattering that people back home are saying nice things,” said Panesar during the Academy’s practice session at the South Perth Oval, “but selection isn’t in my control. I’ve got to focus on what I need to do, and prepare myself. If I get a chance I won’t put pressure on myself or do things differently. I’m just going to bowl the way I’ve been bowling since I came into international cricket.”Panesar happened to be sat in front of a giant image of himself in the midst of a wicket celebration – an indication perhaps of England’s new mindset. But in towing the party line, he accidentally revealed the very real fear that has clouded their tactics all tour. “The exact reason [for my omission] is my batting. If we lose a quick couple of wickets in the first session, we need a good balance in the batting line-up because maybe we could be skittled for 150.”Panesar is not the only man with a point to prove in this match. Sajid Mahmood looked good in the nets at Adelaide and will be pushing for an opportunity ahead of James Anderson at Perth, while Chris Read – virtually anonymous since he was unceremoniously dumped from the team after the Champions Trophy – would love nothing better than a nice big score to dangle in front of Geraint Jones, whose Test average has slipped below 25 after 63 runs in four innings.One significant figure won’t be featuring at Lilac Hill, however. Michael Vaughan’s rehabiliation continued yesterday with a 40-minute innings for the Academy against Western Australia 2nd XI. He made just 9 from 21 balls, but had a brief middle practice today at South Perth. An ECB spokesman did confirm, however, that he would come into the reckoning for the two-day match at the WACA on Saturday.Vaughan’s shadowy presence on this tour has not been welcomed by all. Angus Fraser, writing in The Independent, believed it was undermining Andrew Flintoff’s attempts to stamp his authority on the squad. ” Acting as a stand-in captain is tough at the best of times,” said Fraser, “but when the boss is constantly sticking his nose in it is near impossible.”Nevertheless, he is here and consequently the “will he, won’t he” questions will not die down until the series has been won and lost, regardless of Fletcher’s latest hint that the timeframe was too short for an Ashes comeback. “There’s not much cricket between now and the third, fourth and fifth Tests,” Fletcher told the BBC. “Until he’s confident in his knee, we won’t consider Michael Vaughan.”But, even if Panesar does get his go at the WACA, and even if Vaughan’s knee does come through the trials of the coming fortnight, the damage to the squad’s self-belief and unity has already been done. The least they can do is unwind a bit, and get stuck into the corporate hospitality at Lilac Hill tomorrow.England XI Alec Stewart (capt), Chris Read, Ed Joyce, Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Monty Panesar, Adam Hollioake, Robin Smith, Jon Lewis, Owais Shah, James Dalrymple (subject to fitness)CA Chairman’s XI Justin Langer (capt), Luke Ronchi (wk), Chris Rogers, Luke Pomersbach, Marcus North, Adam Voges, Brett Dorey, Sean Ervine, Peter Worthington, Ryan Campbell, Chris Matthews, Jo Angel.

It was easy to forget that a Test match was being played out at the National Stadium in Karachi today, a crucial one at that. And it was easier to forget that, as the day dawned, it was still a closely-run affair. Mohammad Yousuf dwarfed most of what happened on the field; a neat second Test century from Mohammad Hafeez was overshadowed and even the fact that the game, and the series, had truly run away from West Indies.Brian Lara is a sharper man than most and despite the celebratory feel of the day – standing ovations were as regular as Yousuf’s centuries this year – he was fully aware of the grave situation his side find themselves in now. “The situation resembles the one we faced against India at St Lucia earlier this year,” he told reporters. “We got out of that though and we have recognized batsmen to follow after me and Ramnaresh Sarwan. We just have to stay out there and fight it out through the whole day.”Had they taken all the chances that have come their way – Yousuf has been dropped six times in this series – they would not find themselves in the position they are now, in the Test or the series. Catches were shelled this afternoon, two more from Yousuf though Lara insisted it did not matter for the now. “That part of our game is over. We have to concentrate on tomorrow. It has hurt us, yes, but our next Test is in May. We have to work on it and the catching will affect us more in the ODI game.”If the Test now rests greatly on Lara’s magic, it will also rely, in part, on a surface that has apparently improved as the Test has progressed, confounding all pre-Test worries of chronic deterioration on the fourth and fifth days. Lara said, “It’s a tough pitch for anyone and it hasn’t lived up to expectations. But we needed to bat better in our first innings and build up a lead to put them under pressure. We bowled really well and I can’t fault our bowlers at all for their effort.”The pitch was also on Yousuf’s mind and despite becoming only the sixth Pakistani to make two hundreds in a Test, he was adamant that it wasn’t up to standard. “It isn’t easy to bat on. And it is definitely not a Test wicket.”But in the blizzard of all of Yousuf’s landmarks, a significant one awaiting Lara has been all but forgotten. Seventy-eight more runs and he will become the first man to make 12,000 Test runs though understandably, as a priority, it finds itself low. “It’s not on my mind at all. I just need to bat out the entire day. That is my number one aim. Sarwan and I need to do it and if needed others do as well.”Three delicious boundaries in Lara’s unbeaten 18 were evidence of form and would be enough to spark some trepidation in most sides. West Indies need 405 runs from 90 overs and improbable as it appears, betting against Lara is rarely the clever option. Yousuf admitted, “We are in a strong position, but Lara’s wicket is the key tomorrow.”Lara himself would not be drawn into predictions. “The total is not on our mind. We just want to bat out the entire day. That is our aim. We will take it hour by hour and hope that our batsmen will play their natural game,” he reasoned.It can be argued that if Lara does bat the entire day, then few targets are safe. If so, then it may make for a truly spectacular farewell Test appearance in Pakistan. And it is possibly the only achievement that could eclipse the feats of Yousuf.

Ishant Sharma, the 18-year-old Delhi medium pacer, is likely be sent to South Africa ahead of the final Test at Cape Town.Sharma, currently playing in only his fifth first-class match, is likely to join the squad before the final Test. With Irfan Pathan being sent back to India to play domestic cricket, and Munaf Patel yet to regain full fitness from an ankle injury, Sharma may be asked to step in and fill the breach in the squad, should the need arise, through another injury.When contacted, Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, would neither confirm nor deny the story. “If the need arises for a replacement, and the team management feels the shortcoming, then the selectors will discuss the matter over the telephone and decide on a replacement,” Shah told Cricinfo. Dilip Vengsarkar also echoed his views, telling reporters in Durban that Sharma won’t be joining the team.Rahul Dravid, speaking at the toss ahead of the second Test, said that Munaf was not yet fully fit, but did stress that he was only “two or three days” from where the team wanted him to be, suggesting that he would be fit in time for the next Test.However, it is learnt that the preparations to get Sharma across to South Africa are already under way. “We want him [Sharma] to see what happens at the highest level,” said a senior Indian board official and an unimpeachable source, who did not want to be named for obvious reasons. “We believe it will be good for his development.” Although this goes against the grain of what the board secretary told Cricinfo on the record, it corroborates all the other indications received from the team management and sources in South Africa.Should he go, it is unlikely that Sharma will figure in the playing eleven, but it is believed that he is being sent to South Africa to get a feel of international cricket and the Indian dressing-room and to obtain firsthand guidance from Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, and Ian Fraser, a member of the support staff.Sharma plays for the Rohtak Road Gymkhana Club in Delhi and, though in his debut first-class season, has a couple of Under-19 tours under his belt. He’s currently playing for Delhi against Saurashtra in Rajkot, where he has 3 for 117 from 36 overs; prior to this match he’d picked up 19 wickets from four games, with one five-wicket haul against Baroda. His USP is the ability to extract unnerving bounce, thanks mainly to his build – Sharma is 6’4″ tall and lanky, and is nicknamed Lambu for obvious reasons.Sharma’s cause has probably been helped by the fact that Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, was in Delhi a couple of weeks ago watching him bowl in a Ranji trophy match against Tamil Nadu. On a shirtfront of a Kotla wicket, where the ball barely carried through to the keeper, Sharma put in a good effort.Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the Indian U-19 team, was impressed with Sharma’s bowling, and apart from praising the bowler in the media had also conveyed his thoughts to the BCCI.

Captain Piyush Chawla and medium pacer Abu Nechim shared eight wickets to bundle out New Zealand for 147 and power India to a comprehensive victory by an innings and 50 runs in the first four-day Under-19 match at Lincoln today.Legspinner Chawla followed up his century in the first innings with a haul of 5 for 19 while Nechim took 3 for 55 in the New Zealand second innings.For New Zealand there was nothing of note except a knock of 42 by Michael Taiaroa in the second innings. New Zealand trailed India by 197 runs in the first innings and were forced to follow on.Earlier, India had declared their first innings on 499 for 8 after being put in to bat with Ravi Teja, Virat Kohli and Chawla slamming centuries to which New Zealand replied with 302. Medium pacer Ishant Sharma took 5 for 55.India lead the three-match series 1-0. The second four-day match is at Carisbrook, Dunedin from January 27 and the final match is from February 2 to 5 at Lincoln.

There’s a new twist to the saga of the Pakistan team’s missing equipment, with South African website News24.com quoting an official of the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) as saying that it had not been checked-in but left behind in the team hotel.The luggage was reported missing on the team’s arrival in Johannesburg, where the Pakistan team was playing the fifth and final match of the one-day series. Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, had told Cricinfo that he’d seen the equipment – worth between US$15,000 and 20,000 – being checked in during the team’s departure from Cape Town and that the team had the relevant baggage tags.However, Solomon Makgale, the ACSA spokesperson, said that a thorough investigation on Wednesday morning by the airport authorities revealed that the players and support staff had not checked in their baggage but had left it behind in their Cape Town hotel.

Inzamam-ul-Haq leads Pakistan into a St Patrick’s Day showdown withIreland knowing that there’s no margin for error with a place in the SuperEights at stake. The 54-run loss to West Indies has pushed Pakistan backagainst the wall, and Inzamam and his side will need to use the adversecircumstances to inspire them in front of a large crowd that will mainlybe roaring on the underdog that the Jamaicans have taken to their heartsafter Ireland’s thrilling tie against Zimbabwe.Inzamam called Thursday’s game the “most interesting of the World Cup sofar”, adding that “it reminded the big teams that no team can be takenlightly”. Defeat in the tournament opener was a setback, and a few changesare in the offing. Inzamam said that they wouldn’t decide on an XI untilafter the team meeting on Friday evening, but suggested that either he orMohammad Yousuf could be batting higher up the order.”The batting order will probably change,” he said. “In the previous much,the top order was under pressure and it was the experienced middle orderof myself, Younis Khan and Yousuf that had to try their best tohandle it.”Ireland’s best hopes of an upset lie there, in winning the toss and usingthe moisture in the pitch to make rapid inroads. Trent Johnston, thecaptain, admitted as much, though he added that it would need a Herculeaneffort to get past one of the fancied teams in the competition. “We’llhave to bring our A game in all three departments to even come close, andthey’ll need to have a poor day,” he said. “It would be fantastic to stayon for a few more weeks after the 24th [of March].”After the tie against Zimbabwe, Johnston had said that his team weren’ttoo intimidated by Pakistan’s bowling line-up, even though it was clearlytheir stronger suit against West Indies. Apart from the final five oversthat went for 57, the bowling was disciplined and tidy, and Inzamamindicated that there would be no tinkering even though some would like tosee the out-of-form and out-of-luck Rana Naved-ul-Hasan replaced byMohammad Sami.Inzamam focussed instead on Umar Gul, who took the new ball in the openinggame in the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. “Gul is our strikebowler as of now,” said Inzamam. “The team depends on him forbreakthroughs. He has the potential to be a world-class bowler, but heneeds to play two years of good cricket.”He also rubbished talk of a rift within the team, saying that suchinnuendo was par for the course when it came to Pakistan cricket. “If suchtalk had not come up after a loss, it would have been better,” he saidbluntly. “In a way, it’s not a surprise and I’m used to this after playingfor 17 years.”

Shahid Afridi made a few appearances for Ireland last year as a guest player and even thoughsuspension rules him out of this game, Inzamam said that his inputs hadbeen useful. “Ireland has some county players,” he said when asked toassess the opposition. “It was good to see them fight till the last ball.”The county player he was referring to was Eoin Morgan of Middlesex, and hesaid that his experience might come in handy against a side that would beexpected to easily outclass the Irish. “I’ve played against AzharMahmood,” Morgan said. “They have a lot of great players, but hopefullythey’ll have their second bad day of the tournament tomorrow.”Adrian Birrell, the coach, accepted that Thursday’s eye-catching resulthad taken away the element of surprise, though he was fairly certain thatPakistan wouldn’t have underestimated his team anyway. “Azhar playedagainst us when we beat Surrey and Afridi played for us in the C&GTrophy,” he said. “They won’t be taking us lightly, and their coach willensure that they come out hard.”While depending on their new-ball bowlers to spring a surprise, Irelandwill also need to put runs on the board themselves. Morgan is tipped asthe star of the future, but once again much will depend on the broadshoulders of Jeremy Bray, the opening bat who made a 137-ball 115 onThursday. “Jeremy’s 33 years young,” said Johnston with a smile. “He’s abit stiff and sore, but we had a light run and there’s a [swimming] poolsession later, so he’ll be fine.”Close to 8,000 tickets have already been sold for the game – only 2011came through the turnstiles for the Zimbabwe match – and Johnston wasexpecting a carnival atmosphere. “It’s something tolook forward to,” he said. “St. Patrick’s Day is a special one forIreland, and we have the opportunity to quality for the next round. Butwe’ve been emphasising that it’s just another game. We can’t put too muchpressure on ourselves.”The result against Zimbabwe was greeted with a six-column front-pagephotograph in the , but according to Birrell, the suddenspurt in interest wouldn’t increase the pressure on the side. “We’rethrilled that we’re getting publicity,” he said. “It’s been a long haul,and it makes us all the more determined.”For Birrell, the secret weapon could be the chats he’s had with his oldfriend, Mickey Arthur, the South African coach. “Mickey and I go back a long way,” said Birrell, who played his first-class cricket in South Africa. “Pakistan toured SouthAfrica recently, and I did pick his brain.”No matter what happens out on the field, most of the Irish will spendSaturday night with their families. Morgan, though, did admit that anothersuccessful outing might just result in “one or two more” Guinness beingdrunk. If they pull off the mother of all World Cup heists, they’ll mostlikely get free Guinness for life. Now, there’s a thought.

The former England opener, Geoff Cook, has been appointed as the new head coach at Durham, following the resignation of Martyn Moxon, adding weight to the speculation that Moxon will shortly be named as Yorkshire’s new director of cricket.Cook, who played seven Tests for England in 1982-83, captained Northants for eight seasons from 1981 before joining Durham as captain a decade later. In 1992, Durham’s first season as a first-class county, he was appointed director of cricket, and was one of the first coaches in the country to receive his Level Four qualification.”We are delighted to be able to give this opportunity to one of our coaching team,” said David Harker, Durham’s chief executive. “Geoff has enjoyed enormous success running the Durham Academy, with four of its intake already involved in the England set-up. Geoff enjoys the full support of the playing squad, with the captain, Dale Benkenstein, particularly excited about the prospect of working with the man who brought him to the Riverside.”Cook himself added: “I am absolutely delighted to take responsibility for the professional squad and have the chance to work with what I think is the most promising group of players in the country. This season is certainly going to be an exciting one and I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”Moxon, who still lives in Wetherby in Yorkshire and has found the commute to Chester-le-Street an arduous one, admitted his decision to stand down was not one he had taken lightly. “My time at Durham has been thoroughly enjoyable,” he said, “and have felt great satisfaction in working with such a fantastic group of people, both on and off the field. The team has developed over the years and it has been wonderful seeing the young talent emerging from the region. “However, in recent days Moxon’s name has been linked to the vacant position at Yorkshire after Allan Donald had initially been the favourite. If Moxon does return to Headingley it will be the second significant move in a matter of days after Darren Gough’s comeback as captain. Moxon was Gough’s captain for part of his first stint at Yorkshire and the club are believed to have made him an attractive offer.Clive Leach, Durham’s chairman, said: “We would like to thank Martyn for his commitment and dedication to Durham during his time with us and would like to wish him the best of luck for the future.”