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Devon Smith: 81 at Georgetown© Getty Images

Devon Smith led Windward Islands’ innings on the first day of their Carib Beer match against Guyana at the Bourda Oval in Gerorgetown, Guyana. His 105-run partnership with Alvin la Feuille for the second wicket formed the backbone of the Windwards’ innings. Smith made 81 before he was bowled by the former Test legspinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, while la Feuille provided stout support with 43. However, the fall of wickets at regular intervals, with several batsmen getting starts but not moving on, meant that the Windwards ended the day on 240 for 5.
ScorecardWavell Hinds inspired Jamaica to a healthy 310 for 4 from 89 overs against Barbados at Chedwin Park in Spanish Town in Jamaica. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Hinds led from the front, rattling up 144 not out from the top of the order. The early departure of Chris Gayle, for only 12, did nothing to deter the Jamaicans, who answered through Marlon Samuels. Hinds and Samuels put on 194 for the third wicket, defying Barbados’s bowlers for an impressive length of time. Samuels was dismissed for 74, but Jamaica still managed to pass 300 before the end of the day.
ScorecardLeeward Islands got off to the worst possible start against Trinidad & Tobago at Montserrat’s Salem Oval, but recovered well to post 336 for 9 by the end of the first day. The Leewards won the toss and chose to bat, but lost Shane Jeffers without a run on the board. Then Runako Morton made a good fist of things, scoring 106 from No. 3. Wilden Cornwall provided good support with 60, but the other batsmen failed. Amit Jaggernauth, the offspinner, was the pick of the T&T bowlers with 4 for 81.

Ricky Ponting: not bothered about missing players (c) AFP

In the context of the last time these two teams met, it is bound to be an anti-climax. India and Australia last clashed in the final of the 2003 World Cup, but the one-day international at Gwalior will be an entirely different ballgame. Both sides are racked by injuries but Australia are distinctly worse off, and their bowling attack has an A-Team look about it. India, meanwhile, are at home, and will fancy their chances somewhat more than they might have done at Johannesburg in March. Australia are ripe for the taking, and with a tough tour to Australia in prospect, India need to build up their self-belief for the task ahead.Sourav Ganguly might be absent, but the Indian batting line-up is formidable – especially in home conditions. Sachin Tendulkar appeared determined, in his last game, to bat through the innings, and that is an ominous sign for Australia. Virender Sehwag, and VVS Laxman were also in fine nick, carrying on from where they left off in the Test series against New Zealand. Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif are all fine finishers, and Ajit Agarkar has never been a Bombay Duck in home ODIs.Australia’s batting is as solid as ever – the absence of the indisposed Darren Lehman gives Michael Clarke a notional opportunity, but does that really matter when your top six reads Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn, Bevan, Symonds? Ian Harvey, Andy Bichel and Brad Hogg can also bat a bit, and if the pitch turns out to be a batting paradise, there should be some fairly mighty biffing on view.Australia’s bowling will be the weak link that India will look to exploit. The McGrath-Gillespie-Lee-Warne quartet is absent, and even Stuart MacGill isn’t available. Bichel, Hogg, Michael Kasprowicz, Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken make up an attack that lacks both experience and match practice, and if India’s top order get off to a good start, there could be a heavy price to pay.Ricky Ponting wasn’t worried about his missing men, though. Speaking to reporters, he said, “We see the entire thing as a team effort. We don’t win because of our bowlers or batsmen. We win because of our team effort. Even during the World Cup we didn’t have a couple of key players. But we have always found someone to do the job.”

Kaushal Lokuarachchi, a former Sri Lanka under 19 World Cup cricketer tooknine wickets for 50 runs with his right-arm leg-spin to dismisse Kenya for234 in the drawn two-day game between the Development Squad and the touringKenyan cricketers at the NCC grounds on Sunday.Kenya replying to the Development Squad first innings of 281 for ninewickets declared were all out in 65.3 overs, a total they would not thoughtof when the openers put on 106 off 19.1 overs. Lokuarachchi bowledunchanged for 24.3 overs for his nine wickets. He was deprived of thehonour of taking all ten wickets in the innings when Amila Perera,Lokuarachchi’s left-arm spin partner, ran out Martin Suji from shortmidwicket.Only three bowlers had previously taken all ten wickets in a match at thisvenue, M.N. Samsudeen for Combined Services against Pakistan Eaglets, andtwo other NCC bowlers Malcolm Spittel and Annesley de Silva in the divisionI Sara trophy matches.It was an excellent piece of leg-spin bowling by Lokuarachchi on a pitch,which hardly afforded any assistance to the spinners. Until he came on tobowl, the Development Squad bowlers had looked helpless on a placid battingtrack where Kenyan openers Kennedy Otieno and Ravindu Shah pulverised theattack to the tune of 106 runs off 115 balls.Lokuarachchi broke the opening partnership by having both Otieno and Shahcaught behind the wicket by Rally Tissera in his opening over. Then bowlingwith tight control went onto destroy the rest of the batting. From themanner the majority of the batsmen got out, it was due to sheer frustrationmore than anything else.Otieno hit a rapid 70 off 60 balls comprising one six and 13 fours. He gotoff the mark with a square cut over point for six and his next six scoringstrokes were six fours. He raced to his half-century off 30 balls andlooked in a murderous mood driving and pulling anything that was pitchedshort. The Development Squad opening bowlers Dharshana Lokuhettige andLasith Malinga paid dearly for not keeping the ball up to the batsman andwent for 118 runs off 19 overs.Skipper Anushka Polonowita delayed bringing on Lokuarachchi into the attackuntil the 20th over, and no sooner was he introduced, the Kenyan battingwas made to look rather ordinary.Shah made 29 off 63 balls, Steve Tikolo 36 off 41 balls (6 fours) andThomas Odoyo 26 off 29 balls (5 fours), but none had the patience to staylong enough to build an innings.”The young leg-spinner put pressure on our batsmen. For a leg-spinner, hebowled with discipline. It is something we have to learn,” said Kenyancoach Sandeep Patil.”It was a good practice match. Ideal weather and a very good pitch. We area one-day side and our batsmen will have to learn to play long innings inthe middle. From an opening partnership of 106, to be all out for 234 isnot the type of batting we are capable of. We should look at our battingquite seriously.At home we play in conditions of 18-20 degrees. The conditions here aredifferent, but we can’t give conditions as an excuse. We must try to adjustto them very quickly,” he said.”It was a good fifty-fifty pitch and to bowl on such a surface and get ninewickets is a commendable effort,” said Sri Lanka ‘A’ head coach and managerRoshan Mahanama.”Kaushal concentrated on his length and he bowled the googly. He is theAnil Kumble type of bowler. He needs to keep on playing because legspinners mature late. He has the potential, but he must work on hisbowling, especially the leg-spin,” said Mahanama.Mahanama also complimented opening bat Jehan Mubarak for scoring a century.”He made full use of the opportunity he got to make a hundred. He has beenscoring runs at different levels of the game and is a good investment forthe future,” he said.Kenya next take on Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first of three four-day unofficialTests beginning at the Saravanamuttu Stadium on Thursday.

Rain wiped out a session and a half of the important Eastern Cape derbyclash between Eastern Province and Border at St George’s Park in PortElizabeth on Sunday.Both teams have lost all their matches in the Supersport Series so far,making a victory in this encounter vital for long term survival in thecompetition.When play was called-off at 4pm local time, Eastern Province were on 276 forsix, 222-runs ahead of Border with one day left in the match.Earlier Carl Bradfield and Justin Kemp resumed the day on 154 for three andcarried the score on to 187 before the first wicket fell.It was Kemp who became the third victim of West Indian paceman VasbertDrakes. He edged an awkward delivery to Pieter Strydom at slip who had tomake a running catch. Kemp scored 81 and shared in a 153-run fourth wicketstand with Bradfield.The opener became increasingly tied down after Kemp’s dismissal and hisinnings predictably ended with a rash shot as he tried to hit his way out oftrouble.Slow right-arm Strydom frustrated Bradfield who had been stuck on 91 fornearly half an hour. He eventually tried to drive the ball over extra-coveronly to hole out to Drakes who gratefully snapped up the chance. Bradfield’sinnings took 317 minutes and included 12 boundaries.Murray Creed (31) was the final wicket to fall in the day. Drakes was thebowler as he edged a fiery delivery to wicketkeeper Ian Mitchell who wasstanding in for the injured Mark Boucher.Boucher had hurt his index finger when fielding a Drakes ball down the legside before lunch, forcing South African keeper to head for hospital andprecautionary x-rays. No break was found but Boucher will not wear thegloves again in the match. South Africa play New Zealand in the first ofthree tests starting in Bloemfontein next week.At the crease when the day’s play was finally called off were ShafiekAbrahams (17) and Robin Peterson (22). Play will start a half an hourearlier on Monday to attempt to make up for lost time.

West Brom are back in action tonight with a Championship clash against Huddersfield Town at The Hawthorns.

Having picked up their first league win in eight games with a 2-0 victory over Hull City at the weekend, the Baggies will head into tonight’s match with renewed confidence.

However, the Terriers are currently 13 points and 10 places above Albion in the league table, having scored 12 more goals as well, so it will be a tough match for Steve Bruce’s side.

In his latest press conference, the former Newcastle United boss revealed that midfielder Alex Mowatt is a doubt for this evening’s clash with a slight muscle issue, while Daryl Dike recently returned to training after suffering a hamstring injury shortly after joining the club in January.

With that in mind, here’s how we feel the Baggies could line up tonight.

Having appeared in most of West Brom’s league games this season and played his part in keeping a clean sheet last weekend, it would be a surprise to not see Sam Johnstone take his place in goal once more.

At the back, we predict that Bruce will stick with the same trio which started against the Tigers. with Matt Clarke, Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi lining up in front of Johnstone. We think that the Baggies boss will also stick with the same wing-backs of Conor Townsend on the left and Darnell Furlong on the right.

Moving into midfield, given the doubt surrounding Mowatt, we can see Jayson Molumby coming in to replace the 27-year-old, lining up alongside club captain Jake Livermore and Taylor Gardner-Hickman.

Up front, it seems likely that Karlan Grant will keep his place in the side after scoring both goals in the win against Hull. However, with Callum Robinson failing to have much of an impact in that game, this could persuade Bruce to make a big change and drop the 27-year-old.

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Grady Diangana, who has been praised for his “magnificent” performances for the club in the past, could duly get the chance to prove himself rather than the manager taking the risk of putting Dike in so quickly.

In other news: Bruce can finally axe “stupid” £16k-p/w WBA dud with “fantastic” £11.7m-rated “talent”

After six trial matches, the Jamaica selectors have finalised a provisional 20-member squad for the Stanford 20/20 tournament, though without a few West Indies players.Chris Gayle, Brenton Parchment, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Marlon Samuels are scheduled to leave with the senior team for Zimbabwe later this week. West Indies are due to play their last game on the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa on February 3, three days before Jamaica’s opening match against Bahamas.The Jamaica Cricket Association, in their press release, indicated that changes could be made to the final squad, if the West Indies players returned home on time. Only 15 players will make the trip to Antigua for the tournament.Squad: Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, Wavell Hinds, Jermaine Lawson, Tamar Lambert, Andre Russell, Xavier Marshall, David Bernard Jr., Brendan Nash, Krishmar Santokie, Shawn Findlay, Carlton Baugh, Danza Hyatt, Keith Hibbert, Bevon Brown, Andre McCarthy, Damion Henry, Donovan Sinclair, Jowayne Robinson, Chadwick Walton

Brent Arnel rocked Auckland with 4 for 31 © Getty Images

Northern Districts were in a strong position after two days play against their neighbours as Auckland collapsed to 136 all out . Northern were 60 for 1, a lead of 230, with Hamish Marshall not out 17 and Bradley-John Watling 24. Earlier Brent Arnel played a leading role in ripping through a disappointing Auckland line up. Only captain Richard Jones (50) passed 20, although Rob Nicol was typically stonewall-ish, scoring his unbeaten 12 off 49 deliveries. Arnel took 4 for 31 off 12 overs.Michael Papps and Craig McMillan would be regretting the fact New Zealand’s test season is only two matches long after both posted centuries on day two of this match. Replying to Central Districts’ disappointing 264, Canterbury were in a strong position after Papps (121) and McMillan (117) laid the foundation for a massive total. Greg Hegglun with 3 for 68 was the best of the Central bowlers.Wellington’s stunning collapse was matched only by their equally dramatic fightback against Otago. At one point Wellington were 21 for 7 in their first innings. A late revival still took them some way short of respectability. Otago, despite having the benefit of time, decided to re-insert the visitors, a move they could live to regret. Matthew Bell (103 not out) notched his second century in as many matches, while Michael Parlane will start tomorrow on 85 not out. Bradley Scott with 4 for 13 off 10 overs was the main destroyer.

Stephen Fleming has observed Daniel Vettori’s captaincy and believes it is important for New Zealand’s future © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming admits that it is healthy for him to be aware of Daniel Vettori, New Zealand’s recent stand-in captain, and his obvious capabilities at the helm of affairs.Vettori replaced an injured Fleming as captain for the recent Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia, and led New Zealand in the first two matches against Sri Lanka this past week while Fleming was on paternity leave. He proved a more-than-capable replacement in these five matches, and eyebrows have been raised as to Fleming’s durability after an eight-year period in office.Maintaining that it was in New Zealand’s interest to have such talented leadership options available ahead of the World Cup in 2007, Fleming said he was keen to prove that he has much to offer. “It’s important to be pricked in the sense that a challenger like Dan will bring the best out of me,” Fleming said to the yesterday. “But I think we both captain the side in a similar way, simply because we’ve played so much of our cricket together. I don’t feel threatened, but I know that Dan’s development as a leader will be very important for New Zealand cricket’s future.”Returning to the captaincy for today’s match against Sri Lanka at Wellington, Fleming said that team-building and tactics remained his priorities. “We are looking at the development of the side,” he said. “That’s been one of the key themes since I’ve been away and now there’s an opportunity to tweak our tactics on the field, as a lot of people have been advocating. We don’t want to compromise our chances of winning, but we’ve got in our minds that this is a chance to continue the development of the team, and individuals within it.”Fleming also showed support for Chris Cairns who, despite picking up his 200th one-day international wicket at Christchurch, continued to prove one of New Zealand’s most expensive front-line bowlers recently. “He probably hasn’t bowled as well as he would have liked but I don’t think he’s far away from a three-for-30-type effort,” he said. “I’m not alarmed … I look forward to discussing that with him.”

The Twenty20 slogs started in England and will make their first international appearance at Auckland tomorrow© Getty Images

Australia’s current side is the country’s best-prepared unit, but Ricky Ponting’s planning for the first Twenty20 international against New Zealand tomorrow was a hasty affair. Rather than skimming airport novels or greyhound form guides, Ponting swotted rules and game plans on the flight to Auckland as Australia push for a trifecta of successful Test, one-day international and Twenty20 debuts.Ponting played one similar match for Somerset last year and the success of the game in England has guided third-generation cricket into the global arena. “I haven’t actually captained one yet, so I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on and work out what to do and work out what the field restrictions are,” Ponting said.On the flight Ponting would have learned bowlers are restricted to four overs, two close catchers are needed for the first six overs and new batsmen have 90 seconds between dismissals to reach the crease. No-balls in the 20-over innings are worth two runs and are further punished with a free hit from the next delivery.Ponting said the shorter game could help the 50-over format by producing even larger scores. “Everyone’s talking about the one-day game being a bit old and a bit boring,” he said. “The more Twenty20 cricket you play, your skills will get better and that will rub off in a 50-over game. If there are bigger scores being made in 50-over cricket then it will be attractive again.”Martin Crowe, who helped introduce third-generation cricket, believes a simple change to the fielding restrictions, which require a maximum of two players outside the inner circle for the first 15 overs, could bring the one-day game back to life. Crowe told NZPA the rule should be increased to 20 overs an innings, with the fielding captain choosing to apply them in four blocks of five overs. Under the plan there would be 10 overs of restrictions in each half of the innings.”That’s all one-day international cricket needs,” he said. “Everything else is fine. It’s just taking away the predictability of one-day cricket and bringing back that uncertainty, and giving it a bit more strategy and choice for the captain.” Crowe does not believe Twenty20 will threaten the mid-length game.Ponting does not expect players to pick up bad habits from the slog-fests and pointed to the 50-over game for examples. “If you have a look at what one-day cricket’s done for Test cricket, I think it’s been very positive,” he said. “Who would’ve thought you could score 400 runs in a day of Test cricket, going back even 10 years?”Australia won the first Test in 1877 at the MCG and the opening one-day international at the same ground in 1971, when an experimental match of 40 eight-ball overs was quickly scheduled as the third Australia v England Test was washed out.

Usman Afzaal has been released by Nottinghamshire at the end of a season in which he played only seven Championship matches. He had one year of his contract remaining.Two years ago Afzaal was playing for England, and at the start of this season was quoted as saying that he was “awesome, dangerous and ready for an England recall”. But his form dipped and in 13 Championship innings he scored 264 runs at 20.30 with only one fifty. He did, however, score 161 not out against India A, and had an extended run in the National League where he scored 338 runs at 28.16.Afzaal’s departure was widely predicted as part of a general clear-out by Nottinghamshire following their relegation from Division One. Guy Welton and Stephen Randall were released earlier in the month and seam bowler David Lucas was yesterday told that he could leave if he could find another county.It is also expected that Kevin Pietersen will join the exodus. Although he has a year remaining on his contract – which Nottinghamshire have said they “expect him to fulfill” – he is thought to be wanted by Somerset and Northamptonshire and has made no secret of his desire to move on.Notts fight to keep Pietersen