England Aim to Close Out Series

England had to work harder than expected to wrap up the second Test - and at one stage their frustrations, especially Stuart Broad's, boiled over - but eventually a commanding nine-wicket success confirmed the gulf between these two teams.
Pakistan continue to be a mind-boggling mixture of confused signals, but after much deliberation it has been confirmed that Zulqarnain Haider is out of the series which is a major blow after his gutsy display last week. How much impact Broad's throw actually had on Haider's finger is still subject to conjecture, but it adds a bit of spice to this encounter. The Oval, of course, has had its fair share of controversy in England-Pakistan contests when four years ago the match was abandoned on the fourth evening after Darrell Hair accused the visitors of ball tampering.
This time, though, the venue should lift Pakistan's hopes of fighting back to at least give England a decent contest. The ball is unlikely to move as much (although cloudy weather is still a possibility) and it is a fast-scoring ground. Mohammad Yousuf will return to strengthen the batting line-up, though he is short of form and fitness. So far Pakistan's lower order has been more productive than the top and Salman Butt desperately needs to rediscover his form. If the pitch turns Saeed Ajmal could also prove a handful with England's batsmen struggling to pick his doosra.
But it's very hard to see England being denied another victory over the next five days. They have three impressive quicks backed up by the outstanding Graeme Swann. What this match does present is the chance for the batsmen to dominate and show their hunger for big scores. Alastair Cook is most in need of a major contribution after a difficult season, but this England team doesn't ditch players at the first sign of a problem.

England v Pakistan ICC Women's World Cup 2009

Ebony Rainford-Brent of England slips over while running between wickets during the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 round two group stage match between England and Pakistan at North Sydney Oval on March 12, 2009 in Sydney, Australia.

Cricket Team Off to South Africa

A nineteen-man contingent comprising 14 players and five officials yesterday flew out of the country for South Africa, to compete in the ICC-ACA, Africa-World Cricket Division II tournament, slated for Benoni-South Africa, beginning April 24 to 29, this year.

A release signed by the General Secretary of the Ghana Cricket Association stated that the five officials included Prince Daniel Vanderpuye Orgle, chairman, Albert Papa Asante, General Secretary, Emmanuel Owusu Ansah Asare, Bhupinder Singh Bra, coach, and Ben Nunoo Mensah, chairman of Greater Accra Cricket Association.

The players on the trip are Peter Anannya (Captain), James Kweku Vifah, Obed Harvey Agbomadzie, Rufus Kwaeku Ntiamoah, Kofi Bagabena, Moses Anafie and Abdul Karim Sumaila.

The rest are Simon Ateak, Isaac KO Aboagye, Mathew Bawa, Mark Bawa, Julius Horlali Mensah, Lawrence Ateak and Samson KA Awiah.

The team returns home on April 30, 2010.

Yousuf Recalled By Pakistan

Pakistan have made four changes - two of them forced - to the team that was beaten by England at Edgbaston. Two middle-order batsmen, Shoaib Malik and Umar Amin, have been dropped to make way for Mohammad Yousuf and Yasir Hameed, while the injured pair of Zulqarnain Haider and Umar Gul have been replaced by the squad's senior wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, and debutant left-arm seamer, Wahab Riaz, respectively. It is also likely that Pakistan will open with Hameed and Imran Farhat, with captain and regular opener Salman Butt dropping down to No. 3.
While Butt had confirmed during his afternoon press conference that Yousuf and Kamran were in line for recalls, he was cagey about revealing any further news. "We could make six changes because we have six sitting outside, but we will make only the ones required," he told reporters.
Later in the evening, however, during the selection meeting, it was decided that the right-hand batsman, Hameed, would come into the side as an opener. One of the two left-handers, Butt or Imran Farhat, will shift down to No. 3. Butt was likelier to do so given that he is both the captain and struggling for form at the top of the order, with just 16 runs coming from four innings in the first two Tests.
"Hameed is an experienced batsman. We just wanted to test the two youngsters [Azhar Ali and Umar Amin] because they have scored well in domestic cricket over the last two years," a senior official told Cricinfo.
Hameed, primarily an opener, returns to the Test arena after a long gap of three years. His last outing was against India in Bangalore at the end of a series in which he logged 158 runs at 26.33 without registering a half-century. But he has an aggressive streak which, if he clicks, can release the pressure of the new ball. At New Road over the weekend he opened with Azhar Ali in the rain-abandoned match against Worcestershire and played a few good strokes in his 27, but generally seemed a little distracted before chasing a wide delivery and edging it to the slips.
Though it might seem to be a dicey move to include Hameed, the team management had been left with little alternative after a summer of constant batting failures. The former captain Malik was especially disappointing as he failed to lead by example and a sum of 89 runs in the three Tests in the summer did not give any confidence to the tour selectors to retain him. Amin, who made his debut at Lord's against Australia in July, showed enthusiasm but was initially defeated by a series of unplayable deliveries, but later he failed to apply himself.
On the bowling front Riaz was preferred over the right-armer Tanvir Ahmed because of the prevailing overcast conditions. Riaz, lanky and tall, has enough pace to make the ball bounce and move, something he showed in the practice match against Leicestershire last month. "Both are good bowlers - one is very good new-ball bowler and the other is very good with the old ball," Butt said earlier in the day.

Smith Set to Quit T20 Captaincy

Graeme Smith has called a press conference for Wednesday morning to outline his future, with Reuters suggesting he will stand down as South Africa's Twenty20 captain.

South Africa were eliminated in the Super Eights stage of this year's World Twenty20 in the Caribbean and the next tournament is not until 2012 in Sri Lanka, which would give South Africa time to rebuild under a new captain.

Smith, who will announce his plans at 11am (0900GMT), has captained his country in all formats since 2003, when he was just 22. He has developed into a strong leader and led the Test side to No. 1 in the world rankings during a run that culminated in a maiden series victory in Australia. He has spoken in the past about the demands of leading the team in all formats and that Test cricket and a World Cup title remain his top ambitions.

There are a few options to replace Smith as Twenty20 captain but the queue is probably headed by Johan Botha, who has captained the side in Smith's absence, or AB de Villiers.

South African cricket underwent major changes earlier this year when Mickey Arthur resigned as coach following the 1-1 series draw with England, and Mike Procter was fired as convenor of selectors along with the entire committee.

Buchanan says he's not selling Australia's secrets

John Buchanan insists he is not giving away Australia's plans ahead of the Ashes while Ricky Ponting's 5-0 claim has been written off by everyone except Justin Langer. Buchanan, who coached the team between 1999 and 2007, has been hired as a consultant to the ECB but said he was not there "to tell people how to beat Australia".

"I am Australian, and cherish the part I played in the ongoing development of Australian cricket," he said in the Courier-Mail. "Just as I am a Queenslander, and so would never be a full-time coach of another domestic team. This may be misguided loyalty. However, I am loyal to my principles of always assisting those organisations or individuals who seek to be better."

The Ashes tit-for-tat is in full swing after Ricky Ponting said it was possible to cleansweep England. Andrew Strauss called it the "silly season starting" while his team-mate Jonathan Trott felt the announcement would put more pressure on Ponting's men.

"We're excited about going to Australia and we think we can do very well, but predictions mean nothing," Strauss said before the start of the third Test against Pakistan. "Ultimately it's about what you do on that field on the first day at Brisbane that starts to count. Up to then what people say doesn't interest me to be honest."

Langer, Australia's batting coach, stood up for Ponting. "It was always funny when Glenn McGrath said we were going to win 5-0 and everyone would bag him, but I never quite understood what he was meant to say," Langer said in the Australian. "And I don't understand what Punter's meant to say, that we expect to lose a couple of Test matches? It's not really our style to say we're going to lose any Tests."

Stuart Clark was a key figure in the 5-0 win in 2006-07 and said everything would have to go right for a repeat of the result. Dean Jones, who was involved in Australia's last home Ashes loss in 1986-87, tipped Strauss's men as favourites.

"I love Ricky's bravado in coming out and saying Australia will win 5-0 but I can't see it happening," he said. "If it does, it will be the greatest performance of all time."