Brett Lee says missing the World Cup with an ankle injury was a blessing as it allowed him to enter a hectic campaign at full fitness. Lee, who had surgery before the Caribbean tournament, has added some extra bulk in the off-season and believes he’s the fittest he’s been as he prepares for the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.”The ankle problems I’ve been playing with for six or seven years are also gone,” Lee said in the Daily Telegraph. “Getting that surgery done, even though it meant missing the World Cup success, has turned out to be an absolute blessing.”Lee will have some competition from his team-mates in the battle of the fastest this summer after Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait were named in the 13-man Test squad. However, setting the radar alight is not his priority.”I’ve reached 160kph a few times now so it’s not at the top of my Christmas wish list,” he said. “But with everything that’s happened there’s no reason why as a fast bowler I can’t bowl with great pace, great speed.”Damien Fleming, who played 20 Tests, believes both Lee and Tait can pass 160kph. “Brett’s been bowling 150kph for a while now but who knows how much those ankle problems he had were holding him back. We might be about to see the very best of Brett Lee.”

After being obliterated during the two-Test series, Daniel Vettori is taking comfort from New Zealand’s limited-overs pedigree as they prepare for the Twenty20 international and three one-dayers against South Africa.An injury-hit New Zealand were routed by an innings and 59 runs inside three days at Centurion following a record-breaking 359-run defeat in the opening Test at the Wanderers. But the shorter formats will allow New Zealand to compete on more level terms with the home side. New Zealand are ranked third in one-day internationals, one place behind South Africa.”Our one-day form is markedly better than our Test form,” said Vettori.”We do have some confidence in our game. We’re obviously missing a few guys from our last set of one-dayers in the World Cup but because guys play so much cricket there’s a chance to turn things around.”Of the team that reached the World Cup semi-finals in April, Shane Bond and James Franklin are injured, while Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan have retired. However, Vettori should have the services of key allrounder Jacob Oram who missed the second Test with a hamstring injury.Following Friday’s Twenty20 at the Wanderers, the three ODIs will be played at Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town where conditions are not expected to be as bowler-friendly as the Tests. South Africa’s recent one-day form, however, is strong after their impressive 3-2 series win in Pakistan.

Scorecard

Ian Harvey played anchor for nearly the entire innings as Chennai Superstars chased down 147 with one ball to spare against Chandigarh Lions in Panchkula.Harvey top scored with 48 and batted till the 18th over, but it was the team effort of the Superstars that saw them through in a thrilling run-chase, the highest in the tournament so far. The scores of the other batsmen read 12, 18, 17, 17, 13, 1, 11, with 10 extras, as the required run-rate never climbed over nine an over.Chris Cairns bagged three wickets for 17 from his four overs, but the other bowlers failed to sustain the pressure, with Cairns’ New Zealand Daryl Tuffey compatriot conceding 40 from his four.Earlier,Chandigarh Lions, who opted to bat, were all out for 146, but completed their alloted 20 overs. After losing two early wickets, Tejinder Pal Singh and Manish Sharma put on a 70-run stand for the third wicket, before a 16-ball 27 from Chetan Sharma boosted them to 146. However, it wasn’t to be enough on the day.

Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, feels Greg Chappell couldn’t succeed as India’s coach because of the selectors’ lack of patience. Waugh feels India need to focus on the future, concentrating on building a team like Australia did in the mid 1980s.”The toughest job for an India coach is to deal with what the selectors in the country want,” said Waugh on the morning of the third day’s play at the SCG. “If you’re trying to build something for the future you don’t have time to put things in place. I think in some ways the problem in India is patience, or the lack of patience.”[It was the same] with Australia in the 1980s, when they lost four or five players. They picked a core group of people, believed in them and sorted out the tough times. I think the Indian selectors will understand that it’s time to think of the future.”Waugh was referring to the bunch of senior Indian players whose age has been a talking point for a few months now. “We’ve learnt a lot from the Australian players,” he said about older players making way. “I think fitness is the issue. If you’re strong and fit, age really is irrelevant. These days players are much better looked after, there’s good maintenance, and good fitness programmes. Thirty five today is like 30 fifteen years ago. I can’t see why players can’t play till they’re 40. The issue will be if they can stay away from their families.”Waugh shared a particularly spicy relationship with one of those senior players, Sourav Ganguly, but he spoke highly of Ganguly’s comeback. “We’ve met a few times after he retired. I respect him as a player. We had some issues on the field but that’s all part of the game. But it’s tremendous the way he’s come back. He’s playing better than I’ve ever seen him play.”Waugh’s name was doing the rounds when India was looking for Chappell’s successor but he wasn’t keen on a coaching role just yet. “I really enjoy the role of mentoring, if it’s a possibility. But [job of a] coach, selector etc, I don’t get time for. I wasn’t asked by the BCCI for coaching. I consider offers but as of now coaching is not on my radar.”

Scorecard
Saurashtra moved closer to a spot in the final four on a meandering third day at the Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai, who have all but missed out on a semi-final spot, crawled along without any risks to close 297 behind their opposition.In the morning, Mun Munegala didn’t take long to remove Sandeep Maniar for his fifth wicket of the innings and terminate Saurashtra’s marathon effort at 484. Shitanshu Kotak was left unbeaten after 796 minutes at the crease and entered an elite list: only five men – Rajiv Nayyar (1015), Hanif Mohammad (970), Gary Kirsten (878), Sanath Jayasuriya (799) and Leonard Hutton (797) have played more minutes in a first-class innings. But Kotak is unique in that he is the only player in that group who has not been dismissed.In their reply, Mumbai proceeded serenely, courtesy an unbroken 148-run partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Amol Muzumdar after being in a spot of bother at 39 for 2. Sahil Kukreja was given out lbw after a Kanaiya Vaghela delivery appeared to have struck him high while Vinit Indulkar nicked one from Sandeep Jobanputra. But Rahane and Muzumdar ensured there would be no more casualties.Mumbai had had their share of problems against left-arm seamers this season – Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan and Maharashtra’s Samad Fallah in particular, were successful earlier in the competition – as Jobanputra, Saurashtra’s leading bowler with 27 wickets at the start of the game, got the ball to bend in a touch to trouble the batsmen. However, he was guilty of being a tad short in his second spell and slowly, things eased out in the middle.Vaghela, the right-arm medium-pacer, bowled a parsimonious opening spell of 11-7-8-1, with his first seven overs being maidens but the runs started to come slowly. Rahane cover drove repeatedly to set the tone and Muzumdar worked the ball around to rotate the strike.Muzumdar, playing in his 100th Ranji game, settled to play some forceful punches through the off side. He was reprieved once on 42 when he jumped out and edged a drive against Rakesh Dhurv but wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani failed to hold on or complete the stumping chance. Rahane’s was a chanceless innings and he used his feet well against the spinners to push the score along.However, with their position all but secured and the pitch flat, Saurashtra played well within their strengths. Delhi’s securing a first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu – and thus having a higher quotient – means Mumbai can sneak in to the semi-finals only if Tamil Nadu pull off a minor miracle in Chennai tomorrow. Mumbai faithfuls will cling on to the fact that Delhi, chasing 105, were shot out for under 100 once in this season against Himachal Pradesh.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Powered by Praveen Kumar’s eight-wicket haul and Suresh Raina’s attacking 85, Uttar Pradesh threatened to take control of the game before the bowlers brought Delhi roaring back into the game in the final session of the third day’s play at the Wankhede Stadium. Praveen Kumar swung UP to a 52-run lead and Raina, dropped on 20, extended it further but four quick wickets saw Delhi restrict UP to a 206-run lead but with four wickets stillstanding, the fourth day’s play promises to be a cracking affair.UP was leading by 175 runs at tea, with eight wickets intact, but were done in by a combination of disciplined bowling, injudicious shot-selection and the famous Marine-Drive high tide . The ball started to dip in late for a brief while in the last session and the batsmen perished one by one, pushing away from the body.Mohammad Kaif edged an ambitious on-the-up drive while Raina, who was troubledby Sangwan a lot early in his knock, edged one to the keeper. Fellow left-hand batsmen Ravikant Shukla and Piyush Chawla too departed in the same manner. A healthy 123 for 2 had turned dramatically to 130 for 6 but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Amir Khan ensured there wouldn’t be further damage before close of play.The game turned on several hinges and it was Praveen Kumar who first tilted it with the sixth-best ever-bowling performance in a Ranji final. He finished with 8 for 68 and will be pleased that he is the only medium-pacer in that elite bracket, the others were spinners – Rajinder Singh Hans (9 for 112 against Delhi in 1977-78), Padmalkar Shivalkar (8for 16 against Tamil Nadu in 1972-73), Manohar Hardikar (8 for 39 againstBengal in 1955-56), HJ Vajifdar (8 for 40 against Northern India 1934-35) and Maninder Singh (8 for 54 against Haryana in 1985-86).In an enthralling morning session, Praveen Kumar cut through Delhi’s heart with a lovely exhibition of swing bowling, using the second new ball, and helped UP snatch a handy lead despite Rajat Bhatia’s gritty unbeaten 139.The new ball was taken after 13 overs – Delhi added 31 runs – and immediately, Praveen Kumar started to tease the batsmen with swing. He bent one back in to strike Chopra’s pad but the impact was just outside off stump. He repeated the dose next ball and Chopra was caught plumb in front. Chopra had played a fabulous knock, steering Delhi out of trouble with an assured 102, but Praveen Kumar would feel he had the wood on him.Chopra had faced only nine deliveries during Praveen Kumar’s swinging opening spell yesterday and succumbed to the second ball off him on the third day.He also proved too hot for the lower-order batsmen. Puneet Bisht fell for a first-ball duck, shouldering arms to another inswinger, Sumit Narwal was done in by an around-the-stumps line and Praveen Kumar hastened the end by trapping Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Bhandari with late inswingers.Bhatia, the other centurion, was left stranded but he had played a stellar role in taking Delhi close to the UP total. He had taken painkillers to play in this final after injuring his left hand – a hairline fracture is suspected – and fought bravely for 323 minutes. He added 23 runs with Sangwan and lashed 20 runs in a single over – three fours and a pulled six- from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to ensure Delhi faced only a moderate deficit.Following the heroics of Praveen Kumar, UP began their reply in a positive fashion. Though they lost first-innings centurion Tanmay Srivastava for a duck – run out going for a non-existent single – Raina led the way with a whirlwind knock. He started off with four fours in the fourth over of the innings from Narwal yet survived quite a few scares, especially against Sangwan, early in his knock. He was beaten a few times – edges twice falling short of the slip cordon – and once when it carried Aakash Chopra failed to hold on to a diving chance off Sangwan at second slip.Showing a penchant for on-the-up drives, Raina repeatedly bisected the off-side field and forced Mithun Manhas, the stand-in captain for the injured Gautam Gambhir, to post a man at deep point. But the bowlers were guilty of bowling a touch short and the runs kept flowing. Raina launched the legspin of Chetanya Nanda over long-on and with Mohammad Kaif for company, took UP to a strong position at the break.But the Delhi bowlers triggered a mini-collapse to leave the game fascinatingly poised.

Queensland 6 for 245 (Watson 69*, Love 62) lead South Australia 237 by 8 runs
Scorecard

Shane Watson’s unbeaten 69 steered Queensland to an eight-run lead over South Australia as they finished a hard-working day at 6 for 245. The Bulls scrapped to the initial target of 237, a task which had became more difficult when Ryan Harris removed Chris Simpson (10) and Ashley Noffke (2) in quick succession.Martin Love’s 62 and a slow 32 from Jimmy Maher put Queensland on track for the small total, but once Maher departed things started to get a bit shaky and they were 6 for 190 when Watson was joined by Chris Hartley. Watson’s innings was also a calm one, taking 136 balls and including only six fours, but it was essential to Queensland achieving first-innings points late in the day.The visitors started the morning on 0 for 8 and lost Greg Moller to Harris for 3 before Jason Gillespie captured Ryan Broad, his first wicket in his final game for the state. Harris returned 3 for 68 while Mark Cleary captured the wickets of Maher and Love.

Five counties will enjoy more competitive pre-season warm-ups than usual when they travel to the UAE to take part in the Pro ARCH Trophy, a limited-overs series which starts on March 12.Essex, Lancashire, Somerset, Sussex and Yorkshire will play four matches each, three against other counties and one against the UAE national side, with eight matches in Abu Dhabi and four in Sharjah.The most high-profile game will be on March 21 when Lancashire and Yorkshire meet in a Roses match far away from home.One county spokesman told Cricinfo that the tournament offered the guarantee of meaningful cricket, adding that too often on overseas trips the standard if opponents and the quality of grounds can vary considerably.A four-team schools event will run alongside the main competition with teams from Eastbourne College, St Bede’s, Wellington College and Worth School featuring.Click here for the full fixtures

The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) has been re-recognised as an Associate member of the ICC following their suspension in March 2007.The USACA held their elections at the weekend when Gladstone Dainty – despite facing strong criticism over the past few years – was re-elected president, beating off the favourite, Ram Varadarajan, who was widely tipped for the post. The elections were a last-gasp effort for American cricket; without a formal constitution in place, the ICC would have had no other choice than to continue their suspension. With that particular condition met, the ICC’s president, Ray Mali, was pleased to welcome the board back as an Associate member.”We congratulate all elected representatives to the USACA Executive, Board and Regional Administrations and hope that this newly elected group of people, with a new constitution to operate within, can now truly represent a fresh start for cricket in the United States,” Mali said. “We are grateful to the West Indies Cricket Board and its representatives, especially past and current presidents Ken Gordon and Dr Julian Hunte, for all their work on this matter, together with USA cricket’s stakeholders, over the past 12 months.”Following USACA’s suspension in March 2007 the WICB – headed by its president, Ken Gordon – was asked to intervene between the two fractious parties: Dainty’s association and the regional league presidents who opposed him. For now at least, the infighting has quietened down.”And we are also grateful for the work of Chris Dehring, who played a significant role in finding a solution to the process as an independent third party,” Mali added. “Everyone at the ICC now trusts that, following these processes, those now charged with the important responsibility to govern for the good of the game in the USA will be able to do so with distinction as a team.”The ICC now looks forward to the USA’s involvement in all our international cricket activities and also playing a role in supporting the further development of the game there alongside our ICC Development Program and its Americas Regional office.”This development, however encouraging on the surface, is only the start. Opposition to Dainty remains fierce, with US cricketers and leagues threatening to break away from the USACA and form their own tournaments.Nevertheless, it is welcome news for American cricket – regardless of the infighting which will doubtless persist – as it provides the USA with much-needed money from the ICC. And now that they are recognised, it paves the way for their national side to participate in Division 5 of the World Cricket League which begins in Jersey in May (they were relegated from Division 3 last year) and begin the long road to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

On May 2, Taesongsan Park in Pyongyang will be the host venue for the first ever formal cricket matches in North Korea.Two teams from Shanghai and the newly-formed Pyongyang Cricket Club will take part in a triangular Twenty20 tournament with the winners receiving the inaugural DHL Pyongyang Cricket Friendship Cup. This landmark event will take cricket into one of the last countries left where it has neither been played nor witnessed in the hope that it may start one of the most unlikely development programmes the game has ever seen.An trio comprising a Scotsman and South African both living in Shanghai and a North Korean enthusiast from Angola have been the driving force behind an initiative that has been eight months in the planning and which will feature players from ten nations, including one 14-year-old schoolboy.In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of the game in China where the 2010 Asian Games will include cricket for the first time. The Shanghai Cricket Club has played a key role in the game’s expansion in the country.