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New Zealand’s abbreviated season was confirmed today with Stephen Fleming’s side hosting only two Tests and eight one-day internationals in 2006-07. Sri Lanka’s tour begins in November and also includes a couple of Twenty20 matches, which were scheduled ahead of a third Test, and Australia will visit for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in February.The downscaled itinerary comes as the country focuses on limited-overs fixtures to prepare for the World Cup. “The amount of Test cricket scheduled in the next 18 months is minimal and we believe it is more beneficial to concentrate on the one-day game as we lead into the World Cup and prepare for the Twenty20 World Cup,” Martin Snedden, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, said. “The decision to play two Twenty20 matches in place of an extra Test against Sri Lanka was made both for climatic reasons and because the Twenty20 format has more potential to develop players.”Snedden said the “risk” of a three-Test series before Christmas was “too great”. “The weather tends to be unsettled at this time of year,” he said, “and playing the extra Test would have meant the first match was played in late November.”Hamilton’s Seddon Park returns to the international fixture list after a one-year absence due to pitch and outfield conditions and will host the third match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series. Queenstown has been pencilled in as the venue for the second contest of the Sri Lanka series, but Snedden said some “outstanding issues” had to be resolved.New Zealand v Sri Lanka
1st Test, December 7-11, Christchurch
2nd Test, December 15-19, Wellington
Twenty20, December 22, Wellington
Twenty20, December 26, Auckland
1st ODI, December 28, Napier
2nd ODI, December 31, Queenstown (to be confirmed)
3rd ODI, January 2, Christchurch
4th ODI, January 6, Auckland
5th ODI, January 9, Hamilton
Chappell-Hadlee Series
1st ODI, February 16, Wellington
2nd ODI, February 18, Auckland
3rd ODI, February 20, Hamilton

Rahul Dravid will lead the Indian team in the forthcoming triangular series in Sri Lanka, while Sourav Ganguly has been included in the squad as a provisional 16th member.This means that Ganguly will play under Dravid if the suspension handed down by the ICC in April – which has four further games to run – is revoked. In the event of the suspension not being lifted, Ganguly will not travel to Sri Lanka, focussing instead on his county commitments with Glamorgan.The selectors brought in two new faces, Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao, while Jai P Yadav’s reward for some stellar performances in domestic cricket last season is the allrounder’s slot.Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman both found a place in the squad, while Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji were the medium pacers selected. The series starts on July 30 with India taking on Sri Lanka in Dambulla.Squad Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid (capt), VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopala Rao, Jai P Yadav, Mahendra Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ashish Nehra.

Darren Gough and Danish Kaneria have been awarded their county caps by Essex.Gough, who signed from Yorkshire in February, missed the start of the season while he was with the England one-day squad in the Caribbean, but made his debut in the draw against Glamorgan last week. Kaneria also missed the first few games, as he was playing for Pakistan, and he has taken 10 wickets from three Championship games so far.”Being awarded their county cap is a milestone in any player’s career,” David East, Essex’s chief executive, said. “The award to Darren Gough and Danish Kaneria of their caps is recognition of their service to cricket and their position in the international game.We fully expect to see great things from both of them during the course of the season and wish them well in their future careers with Essex.”

The dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association over the increased fees to players in senior domestic competitions remained unresolved after the two sides met here on Thursday.Last month, the WICB in good faith increased the fees paid to players in senior domestic competitions by 20 per cent for non-international players and 10 per cent for internationals, since the WIPA has only negotiated for the Test and limited-overs squads from its inception.The WICB, however, contends it has asked the WIPA to support their claim of representing all of the players participating in senior domestic competitions with documentation proving their membership of the WIPA and consent to be bound by the organization’s negotiations."The WICB will unreservedly recognise the WIPA as the bargaining unit for the first-class players once this requirement is met," remarked Roger Brathwaite, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, who led the cricket body’s negotiating team.He added that though the WIPA produced a number of membership forms, many of them were not signed and others were illegible.In addition, the WIPA produced signed letters from the Guyana and Jamaica teams indicating that they were seeking the WIPA’s guidance before signing the letters from their board agreeing to play in the semifinals and final of the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series, and wear the sponsors’ branded gear.Brathwaite remarked: "When we indicated to the WIPA executive that we would have to verify from our industrial relations advisor, whether unsigned memberships forms were an indication of the intent of players to become members of the organization, the WIPA President, Dinanath Ramnarine, seemed unwilling to accept our position and declared, `The semifinals will not be played and suggested possible action during the Cable & Wireless 2003 Cricket Series’."Brathwaite noted, however, that Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago appeared willing to play their semifinal of the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series in Bridgetown, starting on Friday, but he was not clear on the situation in Guyana, where the home team were to face Jamaica at the Albion Sports Complex in Berbice."The Barbadians gave an undertaking to Stephen Alleyne, President of the Barbados Cricket Association and a WICB director, during a meeting on Thursday. Prior to their arrival in Bridgetown, the Trinidad & Tobago players signed a form agreeing to play and wear the sponsors’ branded kit," Brathwaite said.Roger Brathwaite, the Acting Chief Executive Officer; Barry Thomas, the Chief Financial Officer; and Michael Hall, the Chief Cricket Operations Officer, were the WICB representatives at the meeting, while Dinanath Ramnarine, President; Roland Holder, Honorary Secretary; and Wavell Hinds, Treasurer, represented the WIPA.

Adam Gilchrist steps into the cricketing spotlight tomorrow hoping to show that he has what it takes to lead Australia in the longer term.Gilchrist will captain Australia at Headingley in the fourth Test in place of Stephen Waugh, who tore his calf during their seven-wicket triumph at Trent Bridge. He aims to extend an extraordinary run of 20 wins from their last 22 Tests.With players like Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh to call upon, Gilchrist will be hoping for as smooth a ride as he had last winter in the emphatic five-wicket win over West Indies at Adelaide.Groomed as the eventual successor to Waugh along with Ricky Ponting, Gilchrist coped well with the extra burden of leading the side and keeping wicket on that occasion, and he is the man in position to succeed when the current captain stands down.But in the unlikely event of Australia losing this Test, Gilchrist’s longer-term succession as skipper may come into question.During the Waugh era, Australia have emerged as the most dominant force in cricket for decades. Gilchrist is aware of the potential for complacency in this Test with the Ashes already retained.”We set certain goals for this series, the main one being winning the Ashes,and there is a genuine feeling among the group that this is still a veryimportant game,” he said.”In previous years Australia have supposedly not played well in dead rubbersand we’ve probably been guilty of that in previous Ashes series so we have thatas an incentive.”There is an additional need to adapt to the absence of Waugh, a world-class player with 20 wins from his 27 Tests in charge.”Take Steve out of any team and they are going to be worse off than if theyhad him,” admitted Gilchrist. “It’s a great challenge for me and the team totry and go out there and succeed without the great leadership and batsmanship ofSteve’s.”All I’ll be trying to do is keep the team functioning the same way, I won’tbe making any radical changes.”Steve’s leadership has been a huge part of our success and I’ll try andcontinue those themes and the direction the team has followed.”Gilchrist, who is playing in his first Ashes series, should also gain valuable indications as to whether he is cut out for captaincy on a long-term basis.”It’s going to be a good learning experience for me to find out if I’m thecricketer and the person that is capable of doing all those things,” he said.”I’m excited about it and it’s an honour and it’s good to have more of aninput into the game, but at this level I can’t remember too many games purelybeing won by a captain’s move or a piece of captaincy.”The direction of a game might change a bit and subtle things may help guideit the way you want it to go, but it’s more about a team effort in theperformance of the 11 players as a group effort.”Headingley has been a happy hunting ground for Australia in the recent past, despite the dramatic events there 20 years ago.They began their recent Ashes domination here in 1989 when they won by a massive 210 runs, eventually winning the series 4-0. They’ve also won convincingly in 1993 and 1997, scoring over 600 in an innings on each of those occasions, and they must sense the chance of another victory over the next few days.

Cricket needs someone from completely outside the game to take the role of chief executive when David Richards’ steps down from his position with the International Cricket Council.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Christopher Doig told a media briefing in Christchurch today that the position should be looked at in the same way that the International Olympic Committee or FIFA would look for a chief executive.”The job needs someone with highly-tuned diplomatic and corporate skills,” he said.Doig said that criticism directed at the ICC in the past that it was moribund and slow to react was probably fair enough but before making criticism people needed to look at where the ICC had been and how far it had come.To start out as an offshoot of the MCC which was directed by the MCC to the fully-fledged international organisation it was now was significant.But with the greater emphasis going on development of the game and the larger amounts of money now coming into cricket it needed more staff and different approaches.The best person for the job was likely to come from outside the sport which he said had some “internecine issues” that would make it difficult for anyone from within cricket to deal with.Doig was delighted with developments taking place in the New Zealand game and said the work done by Alec Astle in growing the game for children was “the most compelling thing we have done.”The growth of the development programme is enormous and we are struggling to keep up the resources,” he said.But the scheme was clearly catering for a need that was there. Doig said $2 million needed to be spent in developing the scheme and that was the next phase of the programme.Doig said that it had always been his, and the board’s, goal to have NZC finances independent of gate receipts.”We’re not far away from that,” he said.The ability to pre-sell television rights for five years would help in achieving that goal.

Shaun Marsh has set his sights on emulating his father Geoff and becoming an opening batsman for Australia in Test and one-day cricket. Marsh was handed his first Cricket Australia contract on Wednesday and with Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques the only specialist openers in the 25-man squad, he knows a top-order spot could soon be there for the taking.Chris Rogers, who filled in for Hayden in the Perth Test in January, was axed from the list and there is also no obvious replacement for Adam Gilchrist as an ODI opener. James Hopes and Michael Clarke have performed the role on occasions, but the inclusion of Marsh in the limited-overs squad to tour West Indies indicates he is in the running.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said the panel believed Hayden and Jaques had formed such a good Test pairing that a specialist backup was not necessary. They also considered Marsh a potential replacement if required.”Jaques has grasped his opportunity to open the batting very well, while we’ve taken the view that Hayden will see his way through to the next Ashes tour of England in 2009,” Hilditch said in the . “I’d like to think that was achievable, while on the other hand I’d also like to think a Shaun Marsh, Simon Katich or Brad Hodge could put their hand up if the occasion arose.”Marsh often comes out first for Western Australia in one-day games but is typically used at No. 3 in Pura Cup matches. The departure of Rogers from the state side will open up a top-two position and with Hayden, 36, approaching the end of his career, Marsh is keen to try his hand as an opener.”Obviously in the next few years it is going to change up there, and it is a position that is going to open up,” Marsh said. “It is something I want to do.” His Western Australia coach Tom Moody said it was likely Marsh would be bumped up the Warriors order next season.”He is not stupid,” Moody said. “He realises that with Hayden getting to the stage where he is at in his career, and Phil Jaques still cementing his position, he sees there is an opportunity at the top of the order more than in the middle order. He’s a player that has come along enormously in the past 12 months and could easily walk into the opening position, so we will just move the middle order around.”

As preparations for a World Cup go, this is one of the more unusual ones – entering an Under-16 boys’ league. But that’s what Bermuda women have done, as they aim to succeed in the qualifying tournament in Pakistan this November.The Bermuda board has entered the side into a men’s evening league alongside the national under-16 boys’ league ahead of the qualifiers for the 2009 World Cup in Australia. There are two spots up for grabs among eight teams, including South Africa and Pakistan.The move comes following a recommendation from Ann Browne-John, the former West Indies women coach, who suggested that the women needed to compete regularly.The Bermuda coach, Allan Douglas, told The Bermuda Sun: “This is just what we have been looking for. Cricket for women is very new to Bermuda and so this will give us the opportunity to show the public that we are serious and play serious cricket.” Douglas co-ordinates two practice sessions a week, as well as one gym visit.One of the rising stars of Bermuda is 15-year-old Reuna Richardson. A spirited allrounder, she had this warning for the boys: “They’d better watch out because I think we can show them up. I think they will be surprised.”But she knows that qualification in Pakistan will not come easily. “I think about it a lot. I’m a bit nervous. I think it’s going to be hard. We are going to have to do a lot of work between now and then to get better.”

Sanath Jayasuriya has been overlooked for Sri Lanka’s four-day warm-up game against Sussex at Hove, starting tomorrow, and is therefore a doubt for the second Test at Edgbaston next week.Jayasuriya, who recently reversed his decision to retire from Test cricket, met up with the squad during the Lord’s Test and had been expected to slot quickly back into the side.But Sri Lanka’s achievement in saving the first Test has changed the management’s strategy. Upul Tharanga, who made a composed half-century, is guaranteed a place in the starting line-up, but both Michael Vandort and Jehan Mubarak are expected to compete for the second opener’s slot.At the age of 26 and 25 respectively, they are a full decade younger than Jayasuriya, and consequently form part of Sri Lanka’s long-term strategy.”We need to be playing the guys who are fronting up tomorrow,” said Sri Lanka’s coach, Tom Moody. “They need the opportunity to find some form and prepare them for the Test match.”Sanath is very much a part of our plans depending on the conditions going into the second and third Tests. You just don’t know what the form, fitness and all those things are going to be.”All we are concentrating on now is working very hard with a young and exciting squad in a transitional period. As long as we are patient and show faith in these young players the future of Sri Lanka cricket is in good shape.”With a ten-day gap between Lord’s and Edgbaston, the game against Sussex is important for Sri Lanka’s top-order batsmen to keep their momentum going. Sri Lanka are therefore likely to play their full batting line up barring Tillakaratne Dilshan who is being rested because of a mild hamstring injury.”It’s a crucial game for us because it is important that we continue the positive momentum we’ve taken from Lord’s into this game,” added Moody. “Hopefully we will get some very good practice ahead of what’s going to be an important second Test.”Moody added that Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas would also be rested because of the heavy workload they will be asked to do for the rest of the tour. Nuwan Zoysa and Lasith Malinga, who missed out at Lord’s, are likely to get an opportunity to impress.”We need to see who the form bowler is,” added Moody, “because we want to win the second Test and we need to take 20 wickets.”Sri Lanka team v Sussex (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Jehan Mubarak, 3 Michael Vandort, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Lasith Malinga, 9 Nuwan Zoysa, 10 Malinga Bandara, 11 Farveez Maharoof.

Billy Bowden has apologised for his horrible lbw decision against Virender Sehwag, despite a clear inside edge, and blamed the noise from the Bangalore crowd for the error.Bowden, officiating in his first Test in India, was surprised by the ear-splitting atmosphere, which made it almost impossible to hear the nicks, and appealed for understanding after he had been criticised in the local press. “Everybody makes a mistake,” Bowden said. “There are ups and downs in everyone’s career. You have to move on. This is the first time I’m umpiring under such circumstances and it’s just too noisy.”After the match Bowden talked with Sehwag and said “sorry”. Sehwag, who was fined 65% of his match fee for showing dissent after the second-innings decision, replied: “It’s ok.”Bowden and Steve Bucknor made at least seven incorrect calls during the Test, most of them going against India, but the captain Sourav Ganguly refused to be critical. “You’ve all seen it on TV,” he said. “We understand that, and move forward.”