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Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, says Australia’s first Test squad is almost finalised, but some of the country’s young batsmen remain “in the mix” to face England. Hilditch was speaking after Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Phillip Hughes and Steven Smith were picked in Australia A’s squad to play England in their final tour match before the Gabba contest.”We are obviously not picking the Ashes squad until next Monday so exactly which ones will feature, we won’t know until then,” Hilditch said in Adelaide. “We have obviously been pretty close to having our squad ready for some time, but there are obviously players still playing for spots and it’s very competitive.”The A team is an enviable line-up filled with well qualified understudies who will be keen to show their form in the four-day match at Bellerive Oval from November 17. However, by the time the fixture begins, Khawaja, Hughes, Ferguson and Co will know who has been picked for the opening Test on November 25.Khawaja has experienced a strong start to the season, including posting a double-century in the Sheffield Shield, while Ferguson scored a hundred on his first-class return after missing last season to have knee surgery. Peter George, who played the last Test in India, was chosen along with Mitchell Starc and Mark Cameron in a useful pace attack.Cameron White also received a sign that his Test career might not be over after being appointed captain. White played his only five-day games on the 2008 tour of India, when he was a surprise selection as a specialist spinner, and has since focused on being an essential member of the limited-overs sides.”We have seen quite a few of these players already in or around the Australian team setup across the various formats,” Hilditch said. “This challenge will provide them all with another good opportunity to show what they can do.”Cameron White is a talented player and a good leader and along with [the vice-captain] Tim Paine, they both have a lot of experience and will provide the group with strong leadership. Every player in the batting line-up is capable of forcing their way into the Australian side this summer.”Australia A squad Phillip Hughes, Shaun Marsh (subject to fitness), Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White (capt), Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Mark Cameron, Peter George.

ScorecardDanza Hyatt came to West Indies A’s rescue with some controlled hitting after a top-order collapse to lead them to, what was in the end, a comfortable five-wicket win over Pakistan A in the second Twenty20 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.Chasing 118, the West Indies top order was blown away by the fast-bowling pair of Junaid Shah and Mohammad Rameez, who took two wickets each to leave the hosts tottering at 31 for 4. That soon became 39 for 5, when captain David Bernard (3) was run out in the 11th over, and Pakistan looked set to square the series after losing the first game in a one-over eliminator.They hadn’t reckoned with Hyatt, however, who proceeded to take the attack to the bowlers, bashing five fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 72 from just 48 balls. Keeping him company in a match-winning 79-run stand was Ashley Nurse, who showed he has a cool head under pressure when he conceded just six runs in the eliminator over with Pakistan needing eight for the win. Nurse made 19 from 15, with one six, as West Indies cantered home with three overs to spare.Pakistan were asked to bat by Bernard, and limped to 117 for 7 on a two-paced pitch, with left-arm spinner Nikita Miller taking 2 for 8 from his four overs. Opener Umair Khan led Pakistan with 33.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s high commissioner, has insisted that the growing quarrel over match-fixing allegations will not affect relations between Britain and Pakistan and deflected criticism of recent allegations made against England by Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, calling Butt’s comments “a very innocent argument”.The ECB has announced that it will be taking legal action against Butt after describing his allegations that England’s players accepted a bribe to lose the third ODI at The Oval as “wholly irresponsible and completely without foundation”.Pakistan’s tour will be completed with a series decider at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, but the tension between the two camps has been palpable and spilled over into a physical confrontation between Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz in the nets before the fourth match at Lord’s on Monday.Hasan, however, sought to downplay Butt’s comments. “Mr Butt made a very innocent argument,” Hasan told BBC Radio 4’s programme. “He said it’s very strange that, when Pakistan loses a match, people describe it as spot-fixing or fixing of the match. When Pakistan win the match, the same allegations are levelled against it.”He insisted that the escalating row would not have a wider political impact in relations between Pakistan and England. “Will this row sour our relationship? My answer is certainly no. This is a separate matter. Our relationship with the UK was not made overnight. It has its roots in the past. It is on solid ground.”Hasan also defended Pakistan’s cricketers, adding: “I can tell you our boys are innocent. I still maintain [that] until proven guilty, they are innocent.”Hugh Robertson, the UK’s sports minister, told that calls for Pakistan to be thrown out of world cricket would have a negative political impact, saying: “In terms of the wider British-Pakistan relationship, if we were seen to be playing a part in throwing them out of world cricket, that would have a very severe impact across the piece.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not yet received a response from former South African allrounder Lance Klusener, who was a leading candidate for the role of the team’s bowling coach. Klusener was supposed to join the Bangladesh team in the first week of September but that now appears unlikely, according to a report in the .”We must go for other options if we don’t get any response from him by today,” BCB’s media committee chairman, Jalal Yunus, said. “We will consider Andy Caddick and Venkatesh Prasad for the position as we had them in our list previously.”The bowling-coach vacancy arose because Champaka Ramanayake, a former Sri Lankan fast bowler, quit the job due to illness. The BCB had already secured Julien Fountain, who is from England, as the team’s fielding coach and he has already joined the team.Bangladesh are presently coached by Australian Jamie Siddons and the board was looking to strengthen the support staff ahead of the 2011 World Cup, which Bangladesh is co-hosting with India and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s bowling has been a problem area in 2010 with the team conceding totals in excess of six runs per over regularly.

When Australia tour India for a two-Test, three-ODI series this October, all the technology required for the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) will be in place at every venue. In all likelihood, however, given the BCCI’s reluctance to use UDRS, its beneficiaries will not be the cricketers or the umpires, but the television audience.Under the ICC’s current regulations, the mandatory requirements needed for the UDRS system are, the ball-tracking technology, Super Slo-Mo and a ‘clear’ stump mike, all of which are available to and will be used by the Neo Sports production team that broadcasts India’s home matches. A Neo executive confirmed to Cricinfo that if the BCCI were to suddenly alter their hard stance on the UDRS, the system could be put into place at short notice.Yet, the chances of the technology being used are extremely slender, despite Cricket Australia’s (CA) enthusiasm and support for UDRS. Regardless of the BCCI’s consistent resistance to the new practice which has been welcomed across the world, Cricket Australia will push the UDRS as one of its early suggestions in the Memorandum of Understanding with the BCCI for the series. According to CA spokesman Peter Young, CA’s head of cricket Michael Brown who will head the MoU disussions is “hopeful that they will be interested in our view.”Young said CA acknowledged, “there are some practical issues: cost, consistent technology. But the principle is clear, let’s now pursue that principle by trying to address the practical issues.” Australia’s interest behind the UDRS for the forthcoming series will be dependant not merely on the strength of their case but on the BCCI’s quite trenchant view. The MoU between two teams is usually finalised around two-three months before a series. The BCCI’s stand that “the decision of the host country is important,” would considerably reduce Australia’s chances to drum any enthusiasm from the Indians over the UDRS.CA’s support for the system is driven from the top by CEO James Sutherland and is backed, Young said, by the data produced from its early experiments. At the start of this year, ICC general manager Dave Richardson announced that in the 13 southern-hemisphere Tests that had included the UDRS, it was estimated that 97 percent of umpiring decisions under UDRS had been proved to be accurate as compared to 92 percent without the UDRS.India’s allergy to the new system comes accompanied by mixed signals: that the senior players are not impressed by or believe in the technology that accompanies it and that the only technology they have any faith in, Hot Spot, is too expensive to be used at home games.The ball-tracking technology which is now central to the UDRS refers to the Hawkeye / Virtual Eye technology which simulates the path of a ball from the bowler’s hand to passing the stumps. It was given the cold shoulder by India captain MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar but the company behind it has entered into a three-year agreement with the BCCI to form part of television coverage of matches played in India. The inventor of Hawkeye, Paul Hawkins told Cricinfo, “We are going to be there (in India) anyway. We are contracted to do all cricket in India with the BCCI, for three years.” About the UDRS, Hawkins said, “Our understanding is that India don’t want to do it”.BCCI secretary N Srinivasan refused to comment on the CA move saying that the discussion between the two boards about the UDRS was about a “privacy of process.”

Ireland eased to their fourth consecutive win in the World Cricket League Division One, beating Canada by five wickets in Amstelveen, to book their place in the tournament final. Canada will take on Kenya on Saturday for the fifth place.The Ireland win was set up by an all-round effort from Kevin O’Brien, who bagged two wickets to limit Canada to 154 and then followed up with an unbeaten 43 to steer his team home. During the Canada innings, O’Brien had been supported by George Dockrell and Andrew White, who bagged two wickets each, and the chase was made easier by way of an unbeaten 63-run stand with John Mooney, who made 44.Ireland saw through two periods of recovery that helped secure their win. The Canadian middle order got starts but the bowlers hit back, and during the chase, Ireland had been struggling at 92 for 5 between O’Brien and Mooney stepped up.Netherlands‘ hopes of reaching the final of a home tournament were dealt a major setback, as Afghanistan beat them comfortably by six wickets in Voorburg. Tom Cooper starred for the hosts with his maiden ODI century, but was short of support from the other end as Netherlands only managed a below-par 202. Cooper struck a patient century, off 155 balls, but seamer Khaliq Dad’s three-wicket haul had kept Netherlands in check.Afghanistan began on a poor note, losing their first two wickets with just eight on the board, but opener Karim Sadiq and wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad led a recovery. Shahzad made a 63-ball 55, and captain Nowroz Mangal consolidated the good work with an unbeaten 67. His knock was an attacking one, coming off 53 balls, laced with 10 fours and a six. He added an unfinished 93 with Asghar Stanikzai, who batted patiently during his 28, to seal victory with 45 balls to spare.Kenya slid to their fourth-successive defeat, falling six runs short in a low-scoring encounter against Scotland in Rotterdam. It was slow going as Scotland, led by Fraser Watts’ fifty, managed 172 for 8 in their 50 overs, but Matthew Parker’s four-wicket haul ensured it was just enough, and earned him the Man-of-the-Match award. Scotland got off to a steady start, with the openers adding 41. However, they were in need of a recovery at 74 for 4, and Watts and Moneeb Iqbal provided that with a stand of 73. Watts hit only two fours in his half-century, and was bowled by Thomas Odoyo shortly after reaching the milestone. The lower order couldn’t accelerate towards the end but managed to bat out their allotment of overs without getting bowled out. Odoyo and James Ngoche were the best bowlers for Kenya, taking three wickets apiece.Lack of solid partnerships at the top left Kenya struggling in their chase. Alex Obanda made 39 but after he was dismissed, bowled by Richie Berrington, Kenya stuttered. Jimmy Kamande and Odoyo added 42 to revive hopes but Ross Lyons removed them both to leave Kenya in trouble at 110 for 7. Two further strikes by Parker made it 115 for 9, but the last-wicket pair of Nelson Odhiambo and Ngoche didn’t give up so easily. They battled till the 49th over before Gordon Drummond clean bowled Odhiambo to seal a close game for Scotland.Today’s victories by Afghanistan and Scotland have set-up a virtual semi-final between the two sides in Rotterdam. Both are tied on three wins each, and the winner will progress to the final while the losing side will take on the Netherlands on Saturday in the third and fourth place play-off.

Grant Elliott, the New Zealand allrounder, has been named Wellington’s captain in all three formats for the 2010-11 domestic season. He will take over from Matthew Bell, while offspinner Jeetan Patel replaces Neal Parlane as the vice-captain.Elliott, 31, has little captaincy experience at the senior level but will have to lift Wellington after a dismal season in which they finished bottom of the table in both the Plunket Shield and the one-day competition. “Naturally everyone’s disappointed with the performance of the team last season,” he said. “But with change comes greater enthusiasm, and we’re all extremely keen to turn things around together.”He was Wellington’s Player of the Year for two successive seasons before missing much of the 2009-10 season due to a knee injury. Elliott expected the help of the coach and the senior players to turn Wellington into a team challenging for titles. “Fortunately we’ve got a top management support structure, led by head coach Anthony Stuart, and an experienced group of senior players aged in their late 20s and early 30s who are all at their peak of their games.”The young talent in the Wellington side also excited Elliott. “There are also some excellent young players emerging in Wellington, such as Harry Boam, Ili Tugaga, Josh Brodie, Michael Pollard, and Joe Austin-Smellie, just to name a few. I am very keen to help develop these players in to top first-class cricketers.”It remains to be seen how often Elliott will be free to represent Wellington since he has become a regular member of New Zealand’s one-day side and is a centrally contracted player. Injury has kept him out of international cricket for the past eight months, but he has been picked for next month’s one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Brad Haddin has until the end of next week to prove his fitness for the two Tests against Pakistan after being named in the 14-man squad along with Ben Hilfenhaus and the uncapped batsman Usman Khawaja. Haddin was ruled out of the current limited-overs tour of the British Isles due to a nagging elbow tendon injury, with Tasmania’s Tim Paine replacing him in the outfit which opens the ODI series with England on Tuesday.Wicketkeepers don’t like giving up their positions and Haddin, who played with a badly broken finger in England last year, will attempt to recover in Sydney before the Test specialists leave on July 2. “His availability for these matches will be determined over the next week,” the team physio Alex Kountouris said.Mitchell Johnson will head to England in the next couple of days to link up with the limited-overs squad after overcoming a recurrence of his infected right elbow. The problem first flared during the World Twenty20 but Johnson is now ready to go.”Mitchell has trained strongly over the past four days with no adverse effect,” Kountouris said. “He has been cleared by medical staff to step up his training in preparation for both the Twenty20 and Test series against Pakistan.”Khawaja, the New South Wales left-hander, is in as the reserve batsman after Phillip Hughes needed surgery following a dislocated left shoulder suffered during boxing training in May. After scoring three Sheffield Shield hundreds last season Khawaja, a 23-year-old born in Pakistan, will have a chance to confirm his international promise if there are any vacancies. If he plays he will become Australia’s first Muslim representative.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said the injury to Hughes was “unfortunate”, but Khawaja would be an able replacement. “He is seen by the panel as being capable of batting anywhere in the order in Test cricket, but importantly for this particular series a top-order batsman who could bat in the top four should the opportunity arise,” Hilditch said. Steven Smith, the batsman-legspinner, is expected to be preferred if any of the other batting spots open up.Hilfenhaus played his first game of the year over the past week, taking 5 for 63 for Australia A against Sri Lanka A, to show his fitness after a long battle with knee tendonitis. He is well suited to English conditions, as he displayed last year, and will use the series to fine tune for the five home Tests against England.”Ben was a critical member of our 2009 Ashes bowling group and it is very pleasing to see him back in the Test squad with the next Ashes series just around the corner,” Hilditch said. The opening match against Pakistan starts at Lord’s on July 13 and the second game is in Leeds from July 21.Australia squad Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus.

Australia 123 for 3 (Blackwell 61) beat India 119 for 5 (Raut 44) by 7 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Alex Blackwell’s powerful 61 took Australia past India in the semi-final•Getty Images

The captain Alex Blackwell posted a career-best 61 as she pushed Australia into the final of the Women’s World Twenty20 with a seven-wicket win over India. Chasing India’s below-par 119 for 5, Australia surged early through Blackwell and Shelley Nitschke and cruised to victory with seven balls to spare.Australia were knocked out by England in the semi-finals in last year’s tournament and are desperate to add this trophy to their five 50-over World Cups. They face the winner of New Zealand and West Indies, who play in St Lucia on Friday, in Sunday’s final in Barbados and will hope the men’s side will also be there.India thought they had a chance when Elyse Villani was bowled fourth ball by Jhulan Goswami, but Nitschke struck a couple of fours in the second over and Blackwell punished the legspinner Priyanka Roy to grab control. Blackwell powered three boundaries in a row from Roy’s opening offerings, which were all full tosses, and the over eventually cost 15.After 24 deliveries Australia were 35 and they continued to steam ahead through Blackwell and Nitschke, who put on an impressive 74 for the second wicket at more than seven an over. Nitschke fell on 22 trying to hit over mid-off but Blackwell made sure there were no major hiccups.She collected eight boundaries – a cut off Goswami at the start was so crisp – and was classy throughout her 49-ball stay, which ended when she charged at Roy (2 for 27) and was stumped. Blackwell had already added some more pain to India when she hit the ball hard into the knee of Rumeli Dhar, who was fielding at silly point. Leah Poulton made sure of the result with 30 off 26 while Jess Cameron was unbeaten on 6.Wanting a total of at least 130, India found it difficult to increase the pace following their early setbacks and managed only eight fours and a six. The opener Poonam Raut was the anchor with 44 off 51, including three of the boundaries, before becoming one of three wickets in the 17th over.Raut added an important 57 with Harmanpreet Kaur to give the side a decent base but they needed more. Kaur, who collected 24 off 27, was run-out by a clever flick from the bowler Ellyse Perry (1 for 19) after backing up too far.Goswami was also caught short in the same over by Blackwell’s direct hit and next ball Raut found Cameron running in from long-on. Amita Sharma, who hit a six in the final over, collected 17 off 11 and Dhar chipped in with 12 from nine to provide a late boost.The key breakthrough came when the offspinner Lisa Sthalekar was called in the eighth over and had the brilliant Mithali Raj (16) stumped, dropping India to 31 for 2. Rene Farrell (1 for 22) also struck a crucial blow with the third ball of the game when Sulakshana Naik cut to Cameron at backward point. Australia’s three fast bowlers kept things tight and then the spinners Sthalekar and Nitschke built the pressure to set up the success.

Match Facts

Sunday, May 2, Gros Islet
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)India lost on a slow turner at Trent Bridge the last time these sides met•Associated Press

The Big Picture

India could complain about having to play two matches on the weekend and then having nothing to do over the rest of the week, but that’s a price you pay for being the main commercial draw of the tournament. You play on the weekend, you play in prime time. Two of India’s other three matches are on Friday and Sunday, and are meant to start at 7pm India time. They have had a good enough start to their tournament, with a win against Afghanistan, but starting against major opposition they would like to show they deserve the prime-time slots they get.India would fancy their chances on the slower pitches against South Africa, but when the two teams last met, it was on a slow turner at Trent Bridge and India failed to chase 131. South Africa, always strong in big events, always underachieving in them, would like to ensure their place in the next round even before they play their easier match, against Afghanistan. Unless Afghanistan pull off a huge upset against South Africa, this match counts for little except for some momentum if India and South Africa meet later in a knockout match.

Form guide (most recent first)

India WWLLL
South Africa WLLWW

Watch out for…

M Vijay, the late replacement for Virender Sehwag, got his Twenty20 international career off to a good start with 48 against Afghanistan, but the big test of how well India are doing without Sehwag will come against a strong team like South Africa.India have experienced the pace of the pitches and will bowl a lot of slow bowlers against a side not known to be the best against the spinners. In that scenario, AB de Villiers‘ quick foot work and soft hands will come in handy to ensure South Africa don’t stall in the middle overs.

Team news

India made an interesting move against Afghanistan, picking both Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of a sixth specialist batsman. Apart from that mini dilemma, India should play the same XI.India (possible) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 M Vijay, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Rohit Sharma/Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.South Africa will like to play both their spinners. The big decision will be the choice of opener, between Herschelle Gibbs and Loots Bosman.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman/Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Charl Langeveldt.

Pitch and conditions

After the first day of the matches in St Lucia, it is evident boundaries are not easy to come by. It is a big ground, and the outfield is slightly lush, which will put more impetus on quick running and out-cricket. The pitch is a bit slow too, which will keep the spinners interested. An early-morning start could mean a bit of moisture in the track.

Stats and trivia

• India lead the head-to-head 2-1, having won twice in South Africa before losing once in England.
• India-South Africa matches have been generally low-scoring: in the six innings between them, only once has 130 been passed, when India scored 153 in Durban and then kept South Africa to 116.
  

  Quotes

  “Ultimately it is an honour, a privilege to put yourself in a position to win the tournament. But it’s a long way away at the moment from every team here. So we are just going to focus on India, which is our first game.”
  “Most of our players look quite fresh, even after the IPL. This is something we have learned from the World Twenty in England last year. I don’t think that will hamper our performances but it will be a big challenge.”