NSW will start the new cricket season slightly down on strike power with skipper Steve Waugh and pacemen Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken all missing from the Blues’ season-opening ING Cup clash with Victoria at Bankstown Oval on Sunday.Waugh (calf), Lee (rib) and Bracken (shoulder) could all also miss the defending champion’s second ING Cup fixture against Tasmania the following Sunday, but coach Steve Rixon stressed the players would not be rushed back.He said their unavailability opened up opportunities for several young players.”We’re not going to rush any of them back. It’s not imperative they come back,” Rixon said.”With Steve Waugh out, it gives Michael Clarke opportunities to bat with the bigger boys and with Brett Lee out it gives Don Nash a chance.”All-rounder Shane Lee is expected to lead the side with Waugh still recuperating from a torn calf he suffered on the Ashes tour.Lee, who tore a muscle attached to his ribcage during the fifth Ashes Test, underwent further treatment today, with team physiotherapist Pat Farhart estimating the paceman was two weeks away from returning to action.”It just needs rest and I’ve had six weeks off,” Lee said.Also expected to come back in the fortnight was one-day international player Bracken, who recently resumed bowling in the nets after recovering from a rotator cuff injury which required surgery.”He did it in a one-dayer on the Ashes tour,” Farhart said.”Nathan has been bowling for about two weeks now, slowly increasing his duration and intensity.”Even without those three internationals, NSW will field a star-studded side to be announced tomorrow at its season launch.Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath will lead a pace attack which will probably also include Nash and Stuart Clark plus one or two seam-bowling all-rounders in Shawn Bradstreet and Scott Thompson.Leggie Stuart MacGill, who equalled the competition single season wicket-taking record last summer, will lead the spin department with Michael Bevan and Mark Higgs also capable of contributing overs.The Blues will field a powerful fast-scoring batting lineup even in Waugh’s absence, with international stalwarts Bevan, Michael Slater, Mark Waugh and Shane Lee supplemented by young dashers Higgs and Brad Haddin.

New Zealand’s bowling attack looks as fragile as Daniel Vettori’s ankle after the left-arm spinner was forced home from the cricket tour of Australia just two weeks before the first Test in Brisbane.Vettori will fly home on Thursday after severely spraining his ankle in the tour match against the ACT President’s XI here.Manager Jeff Crowe said the gangly 22-year-old would be out of action for four to six weeks but remained hopeful Vettori could still play in the third and final Test in Perth starting on November 30.”What we’re saying here is that the tour is not exactly over for Dan and hopefully, he’ll be back for the Third Test match,” Crowe told reporters today at Manuka Oval, where Vettori injured his leg while fielding from his own bowling on Sunday.A decision on a replacement has not yet been made.Vettori’s loss comes as a savage blow for New Zealand, who will severely miss his left-arm spin when the first Test starts in Brisbane on November 8.He has taken 106 wickets in 31 Tests and his six Tests against Australia have yielded 20 wickets at an average of 26.40.And he’s more than a dab hand with the bat, averaging 18.00 down the order with a Test best of 90.With Chris Cairns still fighting his way back to full fitness after knee surgery and Dion Nash waging a continuing battle against a debilitating back injury, the Black Caps’ bowling attack is far from settled.Vettori himself had only just returned from a stress fracture in his back which had kept him out of Test cricket for the past 13 months and New Zealand was looking forward to playing its best bowling attack for the first time in almost two years.”Daniel’s devastated. It’s another blow and I feel really sorry for the fellow. It’s one of those freak accidents (after) you’ve worked so hard to come back.”We’ve missed him throughout the year, really, when he’s been recovering from his back problems.”He’s a major part of our line-up and he will be difficult to replace.”The options for the Kiwis are pretty slim.Crowe said uncapped Glen Sulzberger, 28, who bowled 48 overs in the first innings of the ACT game, was now at the frontline of spin selection but journeyman Paul Wiseman and young leg-spinner Brooke Walker were also possible replacements.Neither has anywhere near the experience of Vettori, with Walker playing four Tests for three wickets at 100.66 and the 31-year-old Wiseman playing 14 Tests with little return.”If a replacement player came over here, it would only be cover until we know where Daniel is. If he was to return, that would be a cover scenario,” Crowe said.Crowe said a media ban was in place on Vettori until he returned to Christchurch.Team physiotherapist Dale Shackel said Vettori had strained the ligament at the front of the ankle, which virtually holds the front of the tibia and the fibula together.”(That) means any weight he bears on it, it’s just splitting apart a little bit.”That’s why it just takes a little bit longer than just a normal ankle sprain,” Shackel said.Meanwhile, the Kiwis gained valuable batting practice today, with Mathew Sinclair sparkling with 145 runs featuring some delightful cover drives.Opener Matthew Bell also got a ton but his 107 runs (retired) came laboriously, taking 422 minutes from 324 balls with 15 boundaries.Four centuries came from the match, with ACT batsmen Jack Smith (156) and Grant Lambert (101) taking a liking to the Kiwis’ bowling in the earlier part of thegame.New Zealand declared their innings closed with an hour to go so as to allow all-rounder, Chris Cairns, returning from injury, to bowl again.Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming said after the game that Cairns’ bowling could be better assessed on a Test standard pitch and, overall, he was happy with the progress of the team in this match.”We’re simmering away quite nicely. We arrived on these shores with quite a bit of work to do. We’re getting through that work,” Fleming told reporters.”We want the improvements to be quite substantial going into the next two matches, which will be quite important.”

New Zealand’s failure to maintain the first day-last session strike power in the first Test at the Gabba was the feature of newspaper coverage of the rain-affected second day’s play.The New Zealand Herald: “Not even Craig McMillan, who masqueraded as the Caped Crusader on the opening day, was able to conjure up anything to stem the run flow as the Australian lower-order not only repaired the innings, but went on to leave their side in a virtually unassailable position.”[Adam] Gilchrist was a mercurial force, feeding heavily off the smorgasbord of short deliveries sent his way and taking toll of anything full, his 88 coming off 123 balls, including 13 fours and one gorgeous straight drive for six.”Following his Cinderella appearance at the bowling crease on the opening day, McMillan was back in ugly sister mode yesterday, giving up six boundaries off the blade of Gilchrist as Australia ticked the scoring over at a healthy 3.5 an over.Sydney Morning Herald: “Six times in his 22 Tests before this one, Gilchrist had dug Australia out of holes of varying depth to help them to success.”Probably the best effort came in only his second Test, when, with Australia chasing a daunting 368 against Pakistan, he came to the wicket at 5-126 and unleashed a superb 149 not out, teaming with Justin Langer in their 238-run partnership to ensure a four-wicket triumph.”He has the best average among the Australian top seven, his 54.69 shading Steve Waugh’s 51.60. If he was to be dismissed here today without adding a run, his average when batting at fifth drop would be 64.22, making him statistically the most successful batsman in that position in the game so far.”Gilchrist noted he had a better record when his side was in trouble, saying such situations helped him focus.”The Daily Telegraph: “Gilchrist and [Brett] Lee batted like they were in a hurry, hitting four consecutive boundaries and later two sixes into the northern stand.”Both sixes were caught by spectators and New Zealand might consider moving its fielders into the plastic seats tomorrow if their bowlers continue to bowl without brains.”The Kiwis were not helped by a grim outlook for left-arm quick Shayne O’Connor, who may not bowl again in this Test after suffering the potential recurrence of a knee injury.”The Herald Sun: “After 12 successive Test wins on home soil and two years without a draw, Australia might have last found an opponent it cannot beat: the weather. Rain is forecast for the weekend.”Australia has racked up a record 23-match run (20 wins, three losses) of results since its last draw, against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September, 1999…””…For all the gloom which descended over the Gabba, the day was not without its bright spots.”Gilchrist can burn off anyone at his best, but he was outscored 22 runs to 17 by [Shane] Warne and though he was 17 when Lee came to the crease, the youngster had closed to within a run when Gilchrist was 24.”Then he opened up with a starburst of pull shots off Dion Nash and Lee chimed in by lifting Chris Cairns for four, enticing a payback sledge from the bowler.”Lee strode out yesterday with a Test batting average of 21.75 and batted as if it was twice as high. At its best, his batting is a worthy combination of guts, technical assurance and a touch of flair.”He also has the big shots and clubbed the stroke of the day when he slashed Cairns over backward point for six, a sweet payback for several massive Cairns sixes in New Zealand last year.”The Australian: “The Kiwis were constantly frustrated on the field as well, continually complaining to the umpires about a wet ball as Gilchrist (13 fours, one six) and Lee (nine fours, one six) plastered it all over the damp outfield.”This prompted Gilchrist to join one of the conversations, claiming that he did not care how often the ball was changed in an attempt to keep the game moving.”He was surprised that New Zealand did not “come at” the Australians harder yesterday after ripping the heart out of the middle order on Thursday to rebalance the match.”They slowed down the over rate and set negative fields,” Gilchrist said.”The Australian vice-captain also believes that while the Kiwis have done their homework on the specialist batsmen, they were uncertain how to bowl to a free-swinging Lee, who played the shot of the day, a six sliced over third man from a Chris Cairns short ball.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board authorities heaved a sigh ofrelief as the West Indies have given them a green signal oftouring Pakistan from Jan 25 to March 7 for three Tests andas many One-Day matches.A PCB spokesman announced the itinerary on Thursday. It willbe the first tour of any foreign senior team to Pakistansince a year. India refused to tour Pakistan in Jan-Feb dueto political reasons. Later, New Zealand cancelled theirtour to Pakistan at the eleventh hour after the Sept 11 airattacks on US and took back their team in midway fromSingapore after listening to the news of attacks there.The West Indies tour was also in doldrums due to securityreasons in the wake of the US retaliation attacks onAfghanistan, however International Cricket Council (ICC)saved the PCB from further losses by taking a decision thatunder such circumstances a series could be shifted to aneutral venue.The West Indies tour, as second option, could also beshifted to a neutral venue, most probably Kenya. The WestIndies team will arrive at Islamabad on Jan 25 to start itstour with a three-day side game at the KRL ground,Rawalpindi from Jan 28 to 30.The first Test will be held at Rawalpindi from Feb 2to7 withone day rest on Feb 5 due to Kashmir Day.The second Test is allotted to Peshawar and is scheduled tobe held from Feb 11 to 15.The third Test is scheduled to be held at Faisalabad fromFeb 19 to 23.The three-match One-Day series will begin with the opener atLahore on Feb 28. The second and third One-Dayer will beheld at Multan on March 3 and Karachi on March 6,respectively.Itinerary of the tour:Jan 25 (Friday): Arrival at Islamabad from Karachi.Jan 26 (Saturday): Travel/Rest/Nets.Jan 27 (Sunday): Nets.Jan 28 to 30 (Mon-Wed.): Three-Day Game at KRLground, Rawalpindi.Jan 31 and Feb 1: Rest and Nets.Feb 2 to 7 (Sat-Thurs): First Test at Rawalpindi (Feb 5 Rest- Day due to Kashmir Day).Feb 8 to 10: Travel and Nets.Feb 11 to 15 (Mon-Thurs): Second Test at Peshawar.Feb 16 to 18: Travel/Rest/Nets.Feb 19 to 23 (Tue-Sat): Third Test at Faisalabad.Feb 24 to 27: Travel/ Rest/Nets.Feb 28 (Thurs): First One-Day at Lahore.March 1-2: Travel/Rest/Nets.March 3 (Sunday): Second One-Day at Multan.March 4-5: Travel/Rest/Nets.March 6 (Wed): Third One-Day at Karachi.March 7: Departure.

He once walked into an airplane, pre-empted the steward, grabbed acarton of soft drinks and went about distributing it to all thepassengers on the aircraft. In keeping with that incident, he sports amischievous grin that rests awkwardly on a strapping, muscular frame.Iqbal Siddiqui now smiles broader than ever after being named in thesquad for the first Test against England at Mohali.The lad from Aurangabad has indeed come a long way since his firstclass debut. “I made my debut for Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophyknock-out match against Railways in 1992-93. Quite a long time ago,”he admits. But then again, neither the conditions nor the wickets inIndia make for ideal fast bowling conditions. Siddiqui, however, putin the hard work, shelving frustration and waiting for his chance. “Ijust wanted to reach where I am today and see my name in the Indianteam,” he says.To make it to the Indian team, Siddiqui has had to toil, both in termsof learning his craft and building muscle and endurance. “If I had notworked hard, none of this would have come to me, even if a bit late.When matches neared, I used to work even more, keeping myself fitduring the games,” he says.More than once in this period of waiting in the wings, Siddiqui hasbeen to England in the Indian off-season, turning out for club sidesthere. Although he recognises some of the benefits in doing so, heclearly has no illusions about the matter. “It is no use really; afterall, we don’t play for county teams, just small club sides. It justhelped me keep fit, bowling every week and training and things likethat,” Siddiqui explains. With a chuckle, the Maharashtra seamer adds,”After all, we are not such big cricketers in India that people willprepare wickets specially for us in the winter.”Although he has bagged over 230 first-class wickets in all, it is onlynow that the selectors have given him the big break. His four-wickethaul against England at Jaipur certainly helped tilt the scales in hisfavour. Siddiqui, however, is quick to state that it is not a one-offperformance that has earned him his place. “It is not one innings orthe other where I have performed well. Year after year, my aim hasbeen to surpass the previous year’s achievements. I’m just fightingwith myself,” he says somewhat philosophically.Like him or not, think him worthy of a Test spot or not, Siddiqui issure to catch your attention. He is the kind of character that theIndian team could do with. Jovial yet deadly serious about his work,casual yet intense with the ball in hand, Siddiqui might just carvehimself a place in memory at Mohali.

The NSWIS Blues have booked a place in this season’s National Women’s Cricket League finals series after storming to dual wins over the Western Fury in Perth this weekend.After being tested all the way in an eight wicket win with only eight deliveries to spare on Saturday, the Blues revelled in warm conditions on Sunday to claim a 105-run win.Openers Lisa Sthalekar and Lisa Keightley were the stars, combining in partnerships of 142 and 124 at the top of the order that laid the platform for two impressive New South Wales innings.In the aftermath of national captain Belinda Clark’s relocation to Victoria, national squad member Sthalekar’s progression to an opening batting role has become one of the defining features of the Blues’ unbeaten season.”I’ve only recently started opening the batting, so it was nice to have a good innings on Saturday and then to follow it up on the Sunday. That was my goal for the weekend, so I was pretty happy with that. More importantly, Lisa and I are now starting to get some good partnerships going,” said Sthalekar.The 22-year-old also claimed two wickets for the weekend with her medium pace to claim dual Player of the Match awards and assume the leading role in guiding the Blues into the best-of-three finals series that begins on 2 February.”It takes a lot of pressure off us going into the final round (against Victoria) now,” said Sthalekar of the morale-boost that the guaranteed top-two finish offers the team.”Hopefully, we can just enjoy ourselves now and work on the things that we need to improve without that pressure of trying to make the finals.”Though they are now condemned to finish the season winless, the Fury were far from disgraced in either match. Their total of 6/209 in the opening match of the weekend was the sixth highest in NWCL competition this summer, and their bowlers complemented the effort by pushing the Blues to the closest finish among their six completed games.Zoe Goss (59), Heather Taylor (41) and Angele Gray (36) were in fine touch on Saturday, and Julianne Langley (29) led the upper order well as it followed up with more impressive batting on Sunday. Albeit that a total of five run outs – and seven in total for the weekend – ensured that no player was able to reach the thirties in the second of the two matches.Alas, Keightley and Sthalekar’s ability to build two big partnerships also remained one of the big differences between the teams.

Mark Garaway, the Somerset Assistant Coach who is also the Director of the South West Regional Academy told me recently: “The time since I joined the club at the end of October has just flown by.”28-year-old Mark, who played for Hampshire as a wicket-keeper batsman before becoming their Cricket Development Officer continued, “This has been a good situation for me to come into, and since I joined the club things have moved on.”One of the major developments has been the improved relationships with Millfield School at Street where we have linked up with Richard Ellison and Mark Davis. Part of the ECB Regional Academy group go up to Millfield once a week, and the match against UCCCE XI on April 13th is now being played there. In addition we have arranged a match between Millfield School and Somerset Second Eleven.”Since Mark joined the club he has seen the introduction of a lot of new computerised technology equipment at all levels, which will improve players’ performances.”Everything is becoming much more scientific now. Even the younger age group players are starting to identify their problems to work on,” Mark said. “When we start playing we will hopefully see the results.”Mark has bought a house just outside Taunton where he hopes to be living before the start of the season. “It’s worked out well for me, and I’m pretty excited by things here at Somerset,” he said.

Rawalpindi registered a crushing 453-run victory over Lahore Blues in the Quaid Trophy Grade-I match inside days at Gaddafi Stadium Wednesday.Young opener Babar Naeem stroked a magnificent 227 and superb swing bowling by Naeem Akhtar, who claimed a match bag of 10 for 106 played significant roles in Rawalpindi’s big win.Rawalpindi, who earned a 130-run lead on first innings, setthe home side a massive target of 599 after amassing 468 for five declared with Babar Naeem making 227 off 251 deliveries, including 26 fours and five sixes. Test discard Naveed Ashraf also shone with 91 off 154 balls with 11 boundaries. Babar and Naveed added 186 for the fourth wicket in 187 minutes.Lahore Blues, last season’s champions, were sent crashing to 145 all out with Naeem Akhtar taking four for 53 to follow his six for 53 in the first innings. Yasir Arafat was the other main destroyer with figures of five for 53.

A devastating spell of five for 10 from seven overs from Michael Mason provided the most exciting cricket of this State Championship match and has left Central Districts expecting to win the game tomorrow.Northern Districts finished the day on 45/5, an overall lead of only 19. They began the day expecting to push for a win by its end. Instead, only the weather can save them from a defeat that will effectively end their season.Mason took a wicket with the first ball of the second over of ND’s second innings, trapping Matthew Hart leg before wicket as he played half forward. It should have been two from two, but Campbell Furlong could not hold on to a low chance at second slip offered by Joseph Yovich.Instead, James Marshall became Mason’s second victim. He was controversially caught at short leg by Peter Ingram. There was doubt about whether or not the ball had carried. Umpire Peter Wright consulted with his colleague Mike George at square leg before sending a disappointed batsman on his way. Marshall scored two from 13 balls.Yovich was next to go, bowled for four by a beauty that clipped the top of off stump as it swung away from him. ND were 12/3.They slithered to 26, of which Michael Parlane contributed eight from two edged fours before he fell lbw to Mason. With the aggregate scores level, ND were effectively nought for four.Scott Styris completed the quickest five-wicket haul of Mason’s career. Extra bounce tempted Styris to cut, but the pace of the ball meant that he could not keep the ball down. David Kelly took a brilliant catch in the gully.Mason got more out of the pitch in seven overs than the quicker ND bowlers had in more than two sessions. He richly deserved his haul, which currently betters his career-best of five for 44. He was most unlucky to finish wicketless in the first innings when ball after ball found the edge but did not go to hand.CD coach Dipak Patel told CricInfo that Mason’s performance was down to bowling a good line and length and his ability to swing the ball late. He believes that Mason and the other members of the CD pace quartet of Andrew Schwass, Lance Hamilton and Brent Hefford should be in the minds of the selectors.”We’ve got quite a few who have been knocking on the door, but they never seem to get a mention. I’d like to think that all four of our fast bowlers are very close, but I don’t know that the selectors think the same way. No selector was here to watch.”Earlier, Furlong and Bevan Griggs were CD’s batting heroes with a stand of 180, beating the CD seventh-wicket record against ND of 133 by Martin Crowe and Ian Smith in 1983/84. Both men achieved career-bests. They batted from the start of play until Griggs was leg before wicket to Simon Andrews half an hour before tea. Griggs made 76 from 297 balls with eight fours.Furlong followed soon after, leg before wicket attempting to sweep Hart. He fell 12 short of a deserved century, having faced 231 balls with nine fours and two sixes.Both innings were memorable more for their concentration and longevity rather than their strokeplay, though both men had their moments. Furlong’s two sixes came in the same Yovich over, an effortless flick of the pads followed by a hook to the longest boundary.Patel described the performance of Furlong and Griggs as a “fantastic effort”.”The two batsmen were told ‘be as positive as you can on this wicket’ and not to play across the line. The first target was to save the follow-on. Then we wanted to get to 200. After that it was just a case of batting.”Both of them played very sensibly and showed a lot of guts and determination in fighting through some difficult periods.”Some effective swiping by Schwass (30) and Mason (18) gave CD a lead of 26 that appeared to be of no significance until Mason began to charge in from the city end.The ND bowling was tidy and economical, but questions will be asked about why they needed almost five hours to take the last four CD wickets when Mason needed only seven overs to remove ND’s top five.Patel believes that batting will remain a challenge for the rest of the game.”It’s looking a very tired wicket. It’s the second four-day game on it. It’s one of those where you’re never really in, but if you’re prepared to play straight and be patient not many bowlers will be able to get you out.”A win for CD would keep them three points short of Auckland and Wellington in the State Championship table, with a home game against Auckland coming up next week.The weather could be a problem tomorrow, with patchy rain forecast.

Justin Kemp and Robin Peterson are included in the SA “A” team and GarnettKruger has been called up as 12th man for the 4-day game against Australia,starting on Friday at St. George’s Park.Adi Birrell, EP Coach, says he is extremely pleased about their inclusion.”It is a great opportunity for them to play against the best side in theworld. A good showing during the match can enhance their careerssubstantially. Kemp, Peterson and Kruger has worked very hard and we areextremely excited to see these three in action on their home ground.”The performance consultant to EP Cricket, Kepler Wessels, says they areobviously elated that the players now receive recognition for theirperformance. “We just wish them all the luck and hope everything goes well.”Now that EP has three players in the SA “A” team, there is no reason why youshould stay home and NOT support Kemp, Peterson and Kruger. There is stilltime to enter for the World Record Attempt that will be hosted by EP Cricketin conjunction with the Knysna Oyster Co. and Protem Agencies.The current World Record is held by James Arney. He devoured 64 oysters in2.5 minutes at Bentley’s Restaurant in London on 1 September 2000.A tasty thing to remember is Sunday – which is a family day, but what betterway for the family to spend it than at St. George’s Park. Lunch is availablefor families at the Bojangles Club. Bookings can be made with Katherine Longof Megapro on041-5851646.During the four match days there will be many Castle Lager and MTNgive-aways in Castle Corner. On Sunday, SAB will give away Castle Hampersand there will also be a chance to win a ticket to the World Cup and”Beer-for-a-Year”.Spec-Savers will give away thousands of Rands worth of sunglasses at thegame. EP Cricket’s coaching department will also provide exciting on-fieldentertainment during the lunch break.Ticket prices are as follows:Adults (unreserved) – All 4 days R30Adults (unreserved) – Per day R10Scholars (unreserved) – All 4 days R10Scholars (unreserved) – Per day R5Terrace Level (unreserved) – All 4 days R30Terrace Level (unreserved) – All 4 days R10Executive Seating (Reserved) – All 4 days R60Executive Seating (Reserved) – Per day R20Gates open at 8:30 for patrons and at 9:00 for the general public. The matchwill start at 10:00 every day.