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Marlon Samuels has been included in West Indies’ 15-man World Cup squad despite the ICC’s investigations into his links with an alleged bookie. The selectors have also sprung one surprise with Kieron Pollard, the 19-year-old Trinidad allrounder, beating off more experienced names for the final place.Much of the squad had been set in stone, but Pollard has kept out the likes of Darren Sammy and Runako Morton, while Rayad Emrit who played in the recent series against India didn’t even make the reserve list.Lendl Simmons has taken the final batting slot while Ian Bradshaw, Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor are the four pacemen, leaving Fidel Edwards on the sidelines.West Indies open the World Cup against Pakistan, in Jamaica, on March 13.West Indies squad Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin, Devon Smith, Lendl Simmons, Daren Powell, Kieron Pollard

South Africa’s existing franchises will remain in place for at least one more season after Cricket South Africa (CSA) decided to postpone an evaluation of the system. CSA had asked a committee to assess the franchise system in time to implement any changes before the 2008-09 season.However, the committee said it could not submit its full report until August, meaning any alterations would not take place until 2009-10. The six current franchises replaced the previous provincial teams in 2004-05, with the aim of strengthening the top tier of cricket in South Africa.The committee was to investigate several facets of the system, including whether the standard of domestic cricket in the country had improved. The interim report from the committee to CSA’s general council said the substantial presentations from various stakeholders meant more time was required to make a full assessment.”The committee decided, after hearing the presentations and studying the written submissions, that it would need more time for further consideration of the written and oral representations,” the report said. “It was also decided by the committee that to do justice to the submissions, it would be necessary to inspect some of the facilities.”

South Africa 232 and 86 for 1 dec (Benade 51) beat Netherlands108 (Loubser 5 for 37) and 50 (Loubser 3 for 22) by 159 runs
ScorecardSouth Africa crushed Netherlands on the final day of the one-off Test at Rotterdam, to win by 159 runs with Sunette Loubser returning match figures of 8 for 59 from 54.3 overs. Netherlands crumbled twice on Tuesday – they lost their final six wickets for 19 runs in the first innings, and then were all out for 50 in the second, after South Africa set them 211 to win.The visitors rushed to 86 for 1 from 22.3 overs before declaring to leave Netherlands an ask which was way beyond them. Susan Benade led South Africa’s run-glut, with 51. South Africa weren’t always on top in the match, though, after a first day wobble to 159 for 5.However, this score was soon put into context when they showed their true class on the last two days (with the third day washed out).The result is bound to put into question the value of Netherlands playing another Test. This form of the game is already played infrequently, and while the side’s first outing in this game was promising to begin with, it quickly unravelled.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

New Zealand’s dominance on the first day at the Basin Reserve bore strong similarities to the opening day of the first Test in Dunedin. On that occasion, Bangladesh were bowled out for 137 and New Zealand finished the day on 156 for 4. Today Bangladesh collapsed for 143 and the home side were poised to take the lead, ending on 134 for 3. Chris Martin had taken 4 for 64 at the University Oval to lay the platform for a resounding nine-wicket win and, in Wellington, he took 5 for 65 to give New Zealand a firm grip of the second Test.The first-innings collapse was a severe blow to Bangladesh’s attempts to salvage something from a winless tour and it was triggered by poor shot selection against aggressive seam bowling. The Bangladesh batsmen had shown a lack of durability in Dunedin, lasting only 46.1 overs, and they repeated their failing with the last wicket falling in the 46th over. The New Zealand pace attack played their part; Chris Martin and Kyle Mills seamed the ball appreciably in windy conditions and Iain O’Brien, the first-change bowler, kept the pressure on. Martin, though, was the best of the three. He troubled the batsmen incessantly with pace, bounce and movement in both directions and picked up his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.There was assistance for the fast bowlers throughout the day and New Zealand were given an early boost when Daniel Vettori won his ninth consecutive toss and put Bangladesh in. Before the start, Ashraful said he did not want to bat either, but found himself at the crease in the ninth over after Bangladesh lost early wickets.The Bangladesh openers needed to play with caution while the new ball was seaming and only needed to recall their century partnership in the second innings in Dunedin for inspiration. Instead Tamim Iqbal tried to unfurl shots even though he was constantly troubled by the away seam movement, especially when the length was short. His penchant for driving through the off side led to his dismissal, when he chased and edged a wide delivery from Mills to Mathew Sinclair at point.At 17 for 1, Bangladesh needed Habibul Bashar to negotiate the testing conditions but he too played an indiscreet drive away from his body and edged Martin to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. The captain didn’t apply himself either. Ashraful tried to hit Bangladesh out of trouble and a couple of edges off Iain O’Brien flew between gully and the heavily populated slip and cordon while Matthew Bell grassed a sharp chance at short cover.Martin and O’Brien were relentless with the line on and just outside off stump and the batsmen weren’t disciplined enough to resist. Bangladesh slipped further courtesy two edges; Junaid Siddique to a ball that was too close to leave and Shahriar Nafees to one that wasn’t. The biggest blow came before lunch when Ashraful, on 35, was adjudged to have nicked a ball which brushed the pad on its way through to McCullum. Bangladesh went into the break on 86 for 5.There was no respite for Bangladesh after lunch either as Martin struck in his first over with a ball that nipped back into Mushfiqur Rahim and rapped him on the pads. Refreshed and buoyed by the immediate success, he increased his pace and intensity and Aftab Ahmed wore one short ball on the midriff and two more on his helmet.Aftab began uncharacteristically slowly, scoring 2 off his first 38 balls but started throwing his bat around, when he began to run out of partners. Mashrafe Mortaza, coming in at No. 11, swung at everything as 21 quick runs were added for the last wicket. New Zealand’s fast bowlers were so effective that Vettori bowled only 2.3 overs and picked up the final wicket – Mortaza holing out to long-on – of a purposeless Bangladesh innings.To regain lost ground, Bangladesh had to produce a spectacular bowling performance. They began encouragingly, taking two wickets for 35 runs before Craig Cumming and Stephen Fleming consolidated with a 83-run stand for the third wicket. The lack of a genuinely fast bowler who could hit the deck hard and exploit the bounce on this surface hampered Bangladesh and the New Zealand batsmen were not severely troubled after Mortaza’s opening spell.

Leicestershire have signed Dillon du Preez, the South African quick bowler, as their second Kolpak acquisition in a week.du Preez was the highest wicket-taker in the Supersport Series with 55 wickets at 16 and Leicestershire coach Tim Boon says he will be a valuable addition to the attack.”He swings it away from the right hand batter, almost in the shape of Darren Gough,” he told . “He has a strong set of values, and he’s really keen to learn and fit in.”Leicestershire recently brought in Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, as another part of their bowling unit for the 2008 season. They need to fill the hole left by Stuart Broad who moved to Nottinghamshire.

The first day’s play of the East Zone Under-14 clash betweenunfancied teams Assam and Sikkim saw twelve wickets fall for203 runs. This indicates that the wicket at the Gymkhana Ground inJorhat might have favoured the bowlers.Put in to bat, Assam were bundled out for just 181. JamiKameshwar Rao (25) and Githartha Salat Bordoloi (30) made theonly useful contributions. However, given the fact that Assam losttheir first six wickets with less than hundred runs on the board,their final total represented a recovery of sorts. The wickets forSikkim were shared all around with Soni Tamang (3/21) returning thebest figures.In response, Sikkim began badly, losing both openers for 22 runs asbad light stopped play. Although the opening pair of ToshitopdenBhutia (10) and Hissay Dorjee Bhutia (3) saw off the opening bowlers,they fell soon after. Having played out nine overs patiently, wherethey added just seven runs, they wasted a solid opening stand bylosing two quick wickets.

The former Lancashire allrounder Peter Marner has died after a short illness. He was 71.Marner was the youngest player to represent the county, making his debut against Sussex in August 1952 at 16 years and five months. He was also the first person to win a limited-overs Man-of-the-Match award, and the first two score a hundred, when he made 121 and took 3 for 49 in a Gillette Cup preliminary round tie against Leicestershire in May 1963. In 1965 he moved to Leicestershire, retiring in 1970.A thick-set and powerful middle-order right-hand batsman, he scored over 17,513 first-class runs at 28.33 with 18 hundreds. An accurate seam bowler, just over medium pace, he took 360 wickets and 379 catches, many of those in the slips where be built his reputation as a fine fielder. One of the hardest hitters of the ball in the game, he was a pugnacious batsman scoring quickly in all forms of cricket.Marner was an allrounder sportsman. He played rugby union for Oldham at 16 and went on to represent the Army while on National Service, during which time he also played cricket for the Combined Services.

Scorecard

Persistent rain in Sydney gave New South Wales and Queensland their first points of the FR Cup as the match was abandoned with the Bulls sitting at 4 for 127. The fourth and final rain stoppage came in the 28th over as Ryan Broad (55 not out) was trying to set the Blues a challenging target.He had survived a tough new-ball period after the Bulls chose to bat and fell to 3 for 44. Aaron Nye provided a flicker of entertainment for the spectators who braved the conditions, belting 43 from 44 balls before skying a catch to Nathan Hauritz in the outfield from what proved to be the final ball of the match.The no-result meant Queensland’s under-strength attack – Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz are injured – earned a reprieve against a New South Wales line-up boasting Phil Jaques, who is pushing for a Test call-up. Both sides had lost their opening one-day games and the Blues now sit fourth on the table ahead of the fifth-placed Bulls.

David Hussey was in disbelief when he discovered he had earned his first Cricket Australia contract but the Victoria batsman knows there is still a long way to go before his dream of playing Test cricket is fulfilled. Hussey was one of 25 players to receive national deals, completing an exciting nine days after he was also named in the ODI squad to tour the West Indies in June.”It’s a stepping stone,” Hussey said of his new contract. “It’s one thing getting picked in the top 25 and another thing is playing. I desperately want an opportunity. It’s remarkable just one phone call gives you a lot of self-belief and self-confidence.”Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said Hussey had been “knocking on the contract door for the past few interstate seasons”, but it took his first thousand-run Pura Cup campaign in 2007-08 before he was finally included. However, with an established top six in the Test team and the record-breaking Simon Katich seemingly next in line, Hussey knows he must grab whatever one-day opportunities come his way.”There’s a lot of good batters floating around at the moment – Cam [White], Brad Hodge, Simon Katich, Shaun Marsh has been added,” he said. “For me it’s just basically making runs at the right time.”His Victoria team-mate White also held onto his contract despite not having played for Australia since February 2007. White considers himself primarily a batsman these days but he will be working hard on his legspin with no specialist one-day spinners in the squad.Stuart MacGill and Beau Casson, the only two frontline slow bowlers on the list, are not regular limited-overs players for New South Wales. White took a backseat to Victoria’s legspinner Bryce McGain in 2007-08, however he still averaged nearly eight overs a match in state one-dayers.”My bowling is probably going to be the avenue into more games for Australia, so that’s something I’ve got to do probably a little bit better,” White said. “I’ll probably get a bit more of an idea [of my role] when I get to the West Indies.”If White does find himself bowling more in ODIs – he averages only ten deliveries per game from his 16 appearances – he will be helping to fill the gap left by the newly retired Brad Hogg. Dan Cullen was one of the men Hogg tipped to take his one-day spot but the signs are not good for Cullen, who did not have his contract renewed despite a solid FR Cup season.”Of course it is a bit disappointing not to make the list this time round but I have great support at the Redbacks and there is still plenty of time left for me to play for Australia,” Cullen said. His South Australia team-mate, the legspinner Cullen Bailey, was also dropped from the national list after a disappointing year during which he was picked for only two Pura Cup games, taking one wicket.Bailey said: “2007-08 was a challenging season but I have learnt much across a range of fronts. My focus is now completely dedicated to what happens next. I am working hard to develop my game.”

Opening the batting in temperatures that barely made it to double figuresand with rain never far away it isn’t an easy task even for the mostexperienced players. Gautam Gambhir had been expected to open thebatting for India at Stormont so, when he came in at No.3 followingSachin Tendulkar’s dismissal for 4, he could have been forgiven for afew nerves. But he responded with a calm and composed unbeaten 80, which ledhis team to a nine-wicket win as they opened their two-and-half-monthtour of the UK in positive style.”It will be a long tour so it’s important to start off well. For anycricketer, not just me, it’s nice to start well and I’m pleased I gotthe runs,” said Gambhir after he’d collected the Man-of-the-Matchaward. “It’s not like in India where you can just go out there andplay through the line of the ball. Sometimes you have to be a bit morepatient and work the ball into the gaps in these conditions.”After missing out on the World Cup, Gambhir returned to Indian colourswith 21 and 101 against Bangladesh before backing those scores up withtoday’s unbeaten 80. “At this level it’s all about being consistentand that’s what I was lacking in the past and it’s very important forme.”And previous experience of English conditions played a valuable partin his innings. “I toured England with India A so I know somethingabout batting on these types of tracks. You want to start off a seasonon a high note and I’m happy about the way it’s begun.”Gambhir’s match-winning stand of 162 with Sourav Ganguly followed atidy display in the field, with Piyush Chawla leading the way withthree wickets. Some smart catches were also taken and Robin Singh, the fielding coach, said this was an important area they wereworking on.”We did a lot of work in Bangalore on the fitness,” he said. “Thefitter the guys the better they will field. These conditions werepretty cold but we fielded well in patches today, some didn’t do sowell, but overall some very good catches were taken.”We have ensured we have worked on the fielding because it’s a crucialarea in one-day cricket. I think you’ll see an improvement especiallywith the younger guys in the side. As long as the senior guys keepthemselves fit they know what to do, but the emphasis is on theyounger guys.”Trent Johnston had less to be pleased with as his young side weregiven a tough lesson. His team did well to recover and post 193,thanks to a half-century from Niall O’Brien and some effective hittingfrom the captain himself before some wayward bowling let them down.”When we asked questions we were in with a show but we just didn’t dothat often enough, we bowled too many four balls,” he said. “Webowled two sides of the wicket, we were bowling short, we were bowlingfull and you wouldn’t be able to get away with that in club cricket,let alone bowling to a guy that’s got 10,000 ODI runs.After Roger Whelan struck in his first over thoughts did turn back toa few of those memorable days in the World Cup. “Getting Tendulkar outfirst over, I thought something might happen here,” said Johnston. “Ireally did believe we had enough runs to do that but we just didn’task enough questions and that was the disappointing thing.”They had a young spinner but a good spinner and that’s been our majorproblem, spin bowling. It’s something we’ve got to work on but it’sonly playing games like this that’s going to bring us along.” Theirnext chance comes immediately as they take on South Africa on Sunday.