The World XI will play a practice match against Victoria at the Junction Oval on October 2 as a warm up before the ICC Super Series which begins on October 5 in Melbourne.Victoria have announced a full strength team with several players returning from the Australia A tour of Pakistan and county duties in England.”For our group to be able to test their skills against the best in the world is indeed a rare opportunity,” Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, was quoted as saying according to a media release. “The players have indicated a real keenness for the contest and we hope that all supporters come and share the experience on what will be a day to remember.”The warm-up game will also mark the debut of Rob Quiney whose first task as a batsman for Victoria will be to face the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Flintoff, Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori.Team:
1 Cameron White (capt), 2 Adam Crosthwaite, 3 Gerard Denton, 4 Shane Harwood, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 David Hussey, 7 Nick Jewell, 8 Michael Klinger, 9 Michael Lewis, 10 Jonathan Moss, 11 Rob Quiney, 12 Tim Welsford

Sourav Ganguly should be fit enough to play for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against North Zone from October 20. Ganguly has been suffering from early symptoms of tennis elbow, but a doctor attending to him said his condition is getting better.”He is improving,” said Kalyan Mukherjee, an orthopaedic surgeon. “If this trend continues, and he responds to the treatment, then I see no reason why he can’t play the Duleep [Trophy] match at Rajkot.”The final decision on this matter will be taken by Dr Ananth Joshi, the sports-medicine expert, when he examines Ganguly on October 18. John Gloster, the team physiotherapist, is also expected to be present during the examination.The elbow problem for Ganguly first cropped up during the Indian team’s tour to Zimbabwe, and also kept him out of the Challenger Series in Mohali. Ganguly was also left out of the Indian squad for the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka later this month, with the selectors indicating that he would have to prove his fitness first.

Jacques Rudolph answered the selectors with the best way possible scoring 133 out of a total of 329 for 5 as the Eagles took advantage of the Warriors decision to field first at St George’s Park. Rudolph dominated two partnerships of 86, with Benjamin Hector (36), and 139 with Davey Jacobs (59). His innings included 19 sparkling boundaries. At the close Morne van Wyk was not out on 45.At the Wanderers, the Lions decision to bat first against the Cape Cobras nearly backfired. An innings of 92 from opener Stephen Cook restored some respectability to the Lions total of 247 for 8 when the day’s play closed early. Alan Dawson was the bowler responsible for the early wickets as he finished the day with 3 for 36 from a long spell of 22 overs.In Durban the usual bad light put paid to proceedings early as the Titans struggled to 195 for 5 against the Dolphins when play was called off with 28 overs still to be bowled. Lance Klusener had struck early, taking three of the first four wickets to fall, leaving the Titans on 66 for 4 after 17 overs. The two de Bruyn’s, Zander with 48, and Pierre with 52 not out recovered the innings with a 72 run partnership. The rebuilding continued with Kruger van Wyk not out on 33.

Scorecard
Darren Lehmann slammed 104 off just 106 balls, while Graham Manou made a quickfire 91 as South Australia completely dominated the third day of their Pura Cup match against Tasmania at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Both batsmen continued the fine work that Cameron Borgas had started on the second day, as the Redbacks finally amassed 638, a first-innings lead of 217. By close of play, Tasmania had managed 1 for 30, still 187 in arrears.Resuming at 3 for 251, South Australia got their run-fest going from the start. Borgas, unbeaten on 106, stretched his score to 140 before being dismissed, but Lehmann ensured that Tasmania got no respite, adding 87 of the 131 runs scored while he was at the crease. Lehmann struck 15 fours in his knock, and when he was dismissed, Manou and the rest of the lower order continued the onslaught. Manou’s 91 came off only 86 balls with ten boundaries, while Callum Ferguson (65 off 67) was similarly ruthless.Four of the five bowlers used by Tasmania went for more than 100, although Ben Hilfenhaus and Darren McNees, both right-arm medium-fast bowlers, had three wickets to show for their efforts. In reply, Tasmania lost Tim Paine for 17, and ended the day with plenty of work to do to avoid defeat.

Despite the on-going dispute between the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Umpires and Scorers Council (T&TCUSC) and the Association of Cricket Umpires of Trinidad and Tobago (ACUTT), the Carib Sunday and Super leagues are scheduled to get off this weekend, with the TTCUSC promising to field enough umpires to officiate the entire season.However, the ACUTT, who say they have the support of 70% of the umpires in the country and are lobbying to replace the TTCUSC as the representative body for umpires to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), are claiming that the percentage is incorrect and that the TTCUSC do not have sufficient qualified personnel to carry out the job.Last week, as part of a process to arrive at a resolution to the impasse, representatives of both entities met with Ronald Ramcharan, the Chamber of Commerce mediator.The TTCB are reportedly awaiting the report of that mediation effort. But Parasram Ramsubar, a TTCUSC representative, said yesterday that no matter what the outcome of the mediation, there will be officials to ensure the smooth sailing of the 2006 Carib sponsored competitions. “We have already appointed the umpires that have said they will be available,” Ramsubar stated. “We have more than 20 qualified umpires and that will be sufficient to run the (Carib Sunday) League.” Ramsubar added that those figures were based on the responses to a request from the TTCUSC seeking the availability of umpires from the five zones last December.And while there were no replies from the North and North East Zones, acceptances were forthcoming from umpires in the Central, South and South East Zones. Ramsubar indicated that they would need a minimum of 16 umpires to officiate the league competently.However, Harry Mahabal, the ACUTT chairman, suggested that cannot be the case. “Let’s put it this way,” he emphasised, “when the season starts you will see what will happen with the clubs. But according to our record, I don’t think they can have as many as 20 qualified [umpires]. We also understand they have recalled several umpires who have stopped umpiring for the last 15 years back to the fold. Most of these people have not even seen the cover of a new rule book.”Regarding the mediation, Mahabal stated that Ramcharan was now seeking a legal opinion after the ACUTT presented two legal opinions of their own. Forbes Persaud, TTCB general secretary, said the local governing body would recognise the TTCUSC as the official body of the umpires as they had done so for the last 49 years. But Mahabal stated that the TTCB would determine the representative body at a meeting later this month.

Points table

An upbeat Mohammad Kaif-led Uttar Pradesh, with a mixture of youth and experience, take on a slightly vulnerable Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on January 20.Mumbai, 36 times-champions, who enjoyed a six-match winning streak until their 65-run loss to arch-rivals Maharashtra at the same venue in the concluding Elite Division Group A league tie, will be hoping to iron out the remaining wrinkles in their performance. There is a bit of tentativeness and apprehension in the Mumbai camp surrounding their batting, which has not clicked consistently this season. Forced to drop Sushant Marathe, the opener, and Abhijit Shetye, middle-order batsman, and missing Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar and Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai would be relying on Amol Muzumdar, Vinit Indulkar and Nishit Shetty to come up with significant innings, while they turn to Nilesh Kulkarni, the captain, Avishkar Salvi and Ramesh Powar to impress with the ball.”We look unsettled because the guys have not scored. We have failed to put a big score. It’s time people such as Nishit Shetty converted those 30s into something big. They have to take more responsibility. The fast bowlers have been disciplined in the last few matches but they need to be consistent. This is a do-or-die match and we’ll be going in with a positive mindset,” Karsan Ghavri, the coach, said on the eve of the game.Kulkarni chose to focus on his team. “We will have to get the basics right and concentrate on our strengths rather than the opposition. We are positive in our approach and this time we shall ensure that we won’t repeat the mistakes that we made in our last games against Maharashtra. We made mistakes mainly due to lack of discipline among our batsmen,” he said. Mumbai, of course, would be missing Wasim Jaffer, the man in form this season, for the big game as he is away to Pakistan on national duty. “We want Wasim to do well in international cricket. He should open for India and I think he will. As for missing his services, the rest of us should chip in.” Kulkarni said.Mumbai will be looking to Powar who has had a great run of form with bat and ball, to shepherd them to a place in the final. But Kulkarni realises that they just cannot depend only on Powar. “He’s done exceptionally well for the team, but then everybody else has to pitch in.” Powar seemed to agree with his captain. “I do well under pressure but I don’t want to play in those circumstances again, “said the allrounder.Meanwhile Uttar Pradesh, charged by young talent inspired under the leadership of Kaif, are upbeat about their chances. Rajinder Singh Hans, the coach, sounded confident on the eve of the big game. “Our team is a mix of youth and experience. Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar are youngsters who have been performing, along with experienced Ashish Zaidi and Gyanendra Pandey. With Kaif as leader, we have a confident unit. He sets an example himself. With him in the side, we have won both the matches.” Gyanendra Pandey, the veteran, agreed with his coach. “Kaif brings a sense of energy to the side. He comes to the nets, is the most hyper, gets younger guys into different drills and practising is fun, all of a sudden,” he said.The UP team had a rough start this season, losing the first two matches to Haryana and Baroda and drawing their next two games, against Services and Punjab, before Kaif joined the camp to charge them to a place in the semi-final. Speaking on the eve of the game, Kaif sounded upbeat. “We beat Hyderabad on an absolute flat track. That shows our bowlers are in nice touch. And we beat Andhra on an Anantpur pitch that is quite similar to the Wankhede’s. We have a great opportunity to probably win a Ranji Trophy,” he said. With Suresh Raina and Kaif, two of the top three fielders in the country, in their side UP’s fielding will put Mumbai under pressure.History favours Mumbai – it took UP 40 years to register their first and only win against Mumbai in Ranji Trophy – but current form gives UP a slight advantage. With UP peaking at the right time and Mumbai playing at home, a tough battle is on the cards.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has not ruled out scrapping Zimbabwe’s one-day tour in April, nor of seeking compensation from the Zimbabweans after the cancellation of two Tests following Zimbabwe Cricket’s decision to suspend itself from Test cricket.Zimbabwe’s board announced that it would only play ODIs three weeks ago after bitter infighting left it struggling to raise a side. A series of humiliating defeats had also raised questions as to the country’s international status. The first casualty of the manoeuvre was Zimbabwe’s proposed tour of the Caribbean, but ZC did state that it still intended to proceed with the five ODIs against West Indies which were originally scheduled.Since the announcement, there has been speculation that the WICB would cancel the whole tour, but speaking to Cricinfo, Roger Brathwaite, the WICB chief executive, explained that no decision had yet been made.”This is under consideration,” he said. “However, we are continuing to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe as to the likely strength of the team they would send.”Brathwaite admitted that alternative opponents had been sought to replace Zimbabwe but none were available at the right time.Under the terms of the Future Tours Programme, the WICB would be within its rights to seek compensation from Zimbabwe for the cancelled Tests. “The FTP agreement between the member countries makes provision for situations such as this,” he said. “However, until we have a bit more clarity on the situation in terms of responses from our sponsors, media partners etc, I am unable to say if we would seek compensation under the agreement.”Zimbabwe Cricket were unavailable for comment.

Phil Jaques, the New South Wales batsman, embarked on a mystery tour of South Africa today after answering an injury SOS from the national team. As an insurance policy for Ricky Ponting [stomach] and Andrew Symonds [hip], Jaques left for South Africa on a trip that could offer endless opportunities or none at all.The worst-case scenario is he will return to Australia after watching the second and third ODIs against South Africa in Cape Town on Friday and Port Elizabeth on Sunday, but if he grabs a chance his stay could be extended to include the three-Test series. Jaques is not concerned by either situation.”At this stage I am there for the two games just as cover, so we’ll wait and see what happens,” Jaques said in . “I’ll be over there so I’ll be preparing to play regardless.”Jaques has appeared in only one limited-overs international – he scored 94 in Melbourne during the VB Series – and he was not required for the home finals or the initial touring squad. Simon Katich’s form blocked his way at the top of the order but Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, was also concerned with Jaques’s fielding.An old shoulder injury takes some power away from his throwing, but Jaques said he has always focussed on improving his skills and is comfortable in the slips. “It obviously doesn’t come as naturally to me as to some other blokes, but I’ve been working hard doing the hours in the training park, coming in early and staying late,” he told the paper. “I won’t feel any pressure with regards to the fielding.”With four centuries in the ING Cup one-day competition this summer, Jaques has been in tremendous form and he is ready for any vacancy. A spot in the middle order, where he has played for Yorkshire, is likely if he steps in for Ponting or Symonds. “If you can open the batting you can bat anywhere, so I’ll be going about my business and if there is a spot I’ll take it,” he said. “I’m just going to go out and enjoy it and take every opportunity that I can.”