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Brushing aside suggestions of including a second wicketkeeper in the 15-member World Cup squad, Ajit Wadekar, the former Indian captain, said the team cannot afford to have two stumpers for the mega event.”We cannot afford to have two keepers in our World Cup squad. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is enough. If the other keeper is included, he would just be a passenger,” he said. “As far as Dinesh Karthik’s inclusion as a batsman is concerned, we have a lot of pure batsmen and if required we also have Rahul Dravid who can perform ‘keeping duties,”Dwelling on the batting department, particularly the openers, Wadekar – the first Indian captain to achieve series victories in West Indies and England in 1971 – said that seeing past performances and the stature of the event, Virender Sehwag should be a part of the squad. “Sehwag should be there among the three openers selected for the World Cup. Looking at his past performances and prowess, especially in the shorter version of the game, he should be included and the upcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka is an ideal opportunity for him to get back among the runs.”With pitches being relaid in the West Indies, two spinners will be sufficient for India to make a balanced bowling attack, Wadekar pointed out: “Two spinners in the form of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh will be sufficient for the World Cup. We already have four medium pacers and it would be the right composition.”

Inzamam-ul-Haq mulled over a state of affairs turbulent enough to rattle even the most implacable souls, and admitted that Pakistan are in considerable bother just days before the side departs for the Caribbean.At a press briefing at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore during Pakistan’s training camp, Inzamam told reporters of his worries over the make-up of the final 15-man squad. “We are yet to give a final shape to our squad for the World Cup and that makes it evident that we are facing a very difficult situation.”At the root of the strife lie Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, who are both in the squad but still uncertain of participating due to concerns over their injuries and a dope test they have yet to undergo.”It is very important for us that Shoaib and Asif play for us in the World Cup because they are our main wicket-taking bowlers. They add balance to our line-up,” Inzamam recognised. “We will be in the race for the title if all our players are fit and available for the World Cup,” he added.Inzamam added that Pakistan’s fielding would also have to tighten up were they to be considered as one of the favourites in what he says is the most open World Cup. “With better fielding, a team can save 30 to 40 runs and that makes a big difference in most matches.”If we are to have any real chance of doing well in the tournament, we have to show tremendous improvement in both our fitness and fielding.”

Stephen Fleming believes New Zealand have the players and the form to reach the World Cup final for the first time. Encouraged by a string of 300-plus scores and the improving form of his bowlers, Fleming said New Zealand had a good chance of reaching the semi-finals and were desperate to make it to the decider.With four points in the bank and another four likely after their next two matches – unless they are upset by either Bangladesh or Ireland – it seems only a dramatic form slump could deny New Zealand a semi-final berth. Fleming’s team ranks alongside Australia as the only undefeated countries at the tournament but he is not counting his chickens yet.”Eight [points] might be enough, but ideally we’d like at least ten,” Fleming told the . “It could be a bit of a logjam. Part of the reason we put the foot down against the West Indies was the issue of run-rates, and how much they’ll play in the eventual standings. Eight points with a good run-rate might be enough but there’s still a lot to pan out yet.”Fleming said Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka were the biggest threats but New Zealand had the potential to outplay all of them on their day. He was confident his side’s preparation for the World Cup had left them in good stead, despite their injury concerns.”Australia’s still the team to beat, certainly,” he said. “They’re playing some good cricket but so are other teams. It’s hard to know how it’s going to pan out – it’s going to be tight. We’ve never been as well prepared as this. We’ve looked at pretty much every scenario and some of them twice. We’ve paid attention to succession-planning and have copped a bit of stick for it – but it was with a view to being as prepared as possible.”We’ve had a tough week losing Lou Vincent and Ross Taylor, but we’re able to fall back on experienced players and that’s had a settling effect on the team. We still got through the week okay whereas in the past it might have impacted negatively on the side.”Fleming said it was important to take nothing for granted, however, and New Zealand’s clashes with Bangladesh on Monday and Ireland a week later were potential stumbling-blocks if the players did not focus. “We’ve got a couple of tricky encounters coming up,” he said.”Bangladesh tripped us up in the warm-up match and Ireland have tested Pakistan. But if we continue the way we’re playing, we’ll not be far away. That’s exciting. Each game we tick off brings us one closer to the semis – but the final is really what we’re after.”

Thilanga Sumathipala, the former chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for breaking Sri Lanka’s immigration laws. He was granted bail on a cash bond of 10,000 rupees (100 US$).Sumathipala was charged with taking Dhammika Amarasinghe, a Sri Lankan national, to England on forged travel documents to watch the 1999 World Cup, when Sumathipala was heading Sri Lanka Cricket. Amarasinghe was shot dead in a Colombo courtroom, where he was being prosecuted for a series of contract killings and attempted assassinations, in January 2004.He was also fined 50,000 rupees (450 US$) by Colombo additional magistrate Ajith Anavaratne who read out the sentence for the case, which began in 2003. Sumathipala’s lawyers said he would appeal the sentence.

Ricky Ponting is hopeful Shane Watson, the injured allrounder, will be available for Australia’s final Super Eights game against New Zealand next Friday. Watson has returned to batting in the nets after hurting a calf against Bangladesh and his importance to the side is one of the reasons why the team management has been patient in monitoring his progress.Without Watson Australia become batsman heavy – Brad Hodge was the No. 7 against England and they picked only four specialist bowlers – but Ponting is not concerned if his return is delayed until the second-last stage. “He is such a crucial part of our set-up and the balance of our side that maybe bringing him back in for a semi-final is not such a big deal after all,” Ponting said in The Age.Watson is expected to begin bowling after Australia’s game with Ireland on Friday and he has started to jog. “He was telling me that all the weight-bearing stuff he is doing he has no issues with,” Ponting said in The Australian. “It looks like he is coming along very well.”Ponting said they would need to decide whether to impose a cut-off time for him to regain fitness. “We have said for the last two weeks that it’s going to be before that New Zealand game,” he said. “Hopefully he is right for that.”

Habibul Bashar’s last ODI at home, and Dav Whatmore’s final ODI as Bangladesh coach, ended even before it could start, as heavy downpours over the last 36 hours forced the umpires to call off the third and final one-dayer at Chittagong without a ball being bowled. India thus wrapped up the series 2-0.The conditions cleared up in the morning – the sun was out when the umpires came out for their final inspection at 1pm local time – but the damage had already been done by the rains through most of Monday. Though the pitch and the square itself was in good condition, the outfield had received plenty of rain and large parts of it were still unfit for play. The umpires confirmed that the groundstaff would need about two more hours to ensure that the outfield was in playable condition, but that would go past the cut-off time of 2.20pm.The result was a disappointment for the full house that had thronged the Chittagong Divisional Stadium since morning. The series had already been decided, but there was an opportunity for Bangladesh to regain some pride, and for India to try out some of their players who hadn’t got a game so far. Cyclone Akash, though, put paid to those hopes – the rains had caused large puddles in the outfield, which forced the umpires to put off their first inspection till 12 noon. The situation improved in the afternoon, which briefly raised hopes of a 20-over match, but with the sun not staying out for long enough periods, there was little opportunity for the ground conditions to improve.With the forecast not encouraging for the next few days, expect the weather to cause more interruptions during the first Test, which will be played at the same venue from Friday.

Allen Stanford has expanded his 20/20 Super Stars concept with US$20 million up for grabs for the winning team. The announcement came with the news that two new sides, Cuba and Turks and Caicos, would join the existing 19 teams for the month-long Stanford 20/20 tournament to be held in January 2008.The Super Stars competition is scheduled for June 2008 and will feature a team made up of the best players from next year’s January-February tournament. Stanford plans to invite four ICC teams to Antigua to play each other in a single elimination knockout system, with the winning team to take on the Super Stars for the US$20 million jackpot. A one-off match between the Super Stars and South Africa was slated for last November, with a US$5 million prize, but did not take place.After the success of last year’s Stanford 20/20, the Super Stars will next season be able to select players from 21 teams. As with the existing sides, Turks and Caicos will receive US$100,000 in capital investment funding and US$180,000 to spend on the development of players and coaches, and the maintenance of facilities and equipment. Stanford said international policies meant the same funding could not be given to Cuba, but the Stanford 20/20 board would offer support in other ways.Development funding will also be provided for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. They are expected to field teams in the 2009 tournament. Next year’s competition will be the first to feature the Antigua and Barbuda professional team that Stanford put together, in what will be an interesting test case for Stanford’s idea of a professional league in the Caribbean.”I’m committed to [the two tournaments] and will be investing a further US$100 million over the next three years and at some point I expect to make a profit, something that needs to happen for the longevity of the programme and will provide essential funding for West Indies cricket,” Stanford said. “I have committed my resources and I believe that within the next three years we will have a world-beating West Indies team again.”

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Sussex and Pakistan swing bowler, has said that he was surprised at his omission from Pakistan’s 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship. The squad will be trimmed to 15 by mid-August and includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar and Mohammad Sami in the fast bowling department.Naved-ul-Hasan, who is enjoying yet another successful season with Sussex, last played for Pakistan in the opening match of the 2007 World Cup against West Indies and was not only dropped for the subsequent matches but also omitted for the tours to Abu Dhabi and Scotland. In between the tours, the team had one training and fitness camp and is currently involved in another, with neither squad involving Naved-ul-Hasan.”I have not been told anything by anyone,” Naved told Cricinfo. “After playing that World Cup match against West Indies, I was told that I will be rested for the following match and I’ve been unable to get back into the team ever since.”Naved-ul-Hasan, with 40 wickets for Sussex this season, was termed Pakistan’s main strike weapon in ODIs during the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. “I’m definitely disappointed at getting the snub from the selectors especially after getting the Man-of-the-Series award against West Indies [December 2006]. I didn’t perform too well on the South Africa tour and had one bad match in the World Cup. However, I don’t think that is reason enough for me to be left out altogether.”According to Naved, he had not been given reasons for his exclusion from the squad but was hoping to do well on the county circuit and head back to Pakistan for the domestic season in order to prove his worth to the selectors. “I’m fit and still eager to play for Pakistan. I hope I carry on performing well for Sussex and maybe then the selectors will notice me.”

Sreesanth, the Indian fast bowler, has been fined half his match fee for breaching clause 2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play” during the fourth day of the second Test at Trent Bridge.Sreesanth was charged for shoulder-barging Michael Vaughan during the first session of play on the fourth day. He pleaded guilty at a hearing convened by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle at the end of the day.”Cricket is a non-contact sport and any deviation from that fact is completely unacceptable, a point I made to Sreesanth in handing down my verdict,” Madugalle said. “I have no problem with players being combative on the field but there is a line they cannot cross and Sreesanth crossed that line when he barged past Michael Vaughan, a collision he had every opportunity to avoid.”I am pleased that Sreesanth accepted he was in the wrong by pleading guilty and that he apologized for his actions and I hope he learns from his mistake here.”In December 2006, Sreesanth had been fined 30% of his match fee during India’s tour of South Africa for “showing a lack of respect” towards Hashim Amla after dismissing him at Johannesburg.

The ECB has outlined a timetable for the re-run of the election for a new ECB chairman. The first ballot ended in a tie between Mike Soper and Giles Clarke, who polled nine votes each with one abstention, and now the process starts again on August 20 with a call to nominations.New candidates could appear in the race and nominations close at 5pm on September 3. Ballot papers will then be issued by the Electoral Reform Society on September 10 with that stage closing two weeks later on September 24.The results of the ballot will be announced September 25 and the new chairman will begin his role in October 2007.After the initial result Soper, who had been favourite, admitted that he had failed to make a strong enough case for his election. “I have to take responsibility for this result and acknowledge that I didn’t work hard enough to convince the counties that I was the right man,” he said. “I’ve got to go out and do that now and I am determined to win the second round.”