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Gloucestershire have announced that the Australian batsman Marcus North will deputise for Hamish Marshall at the start of next season.The county expects Marshall to be with the New Zealand squad at the World Cup in the West Indies until the end of April after he was chosen in the touring party for the CB Series.The coach Mark Alleyne said: “I am extremely pleased that a player of his calibre and pedigree is joining us.”North is averaging more than 60 for Western Australia in the current season and has previously played for Lancashire, Durham and Derbyshire.He has also been a member of the Australia A side, bowls tidy off-spin, and will join the Pakistani seamer Umar Gul at Bristol.

Match facts

February 3, 2016
Start time 1400 local (0100 GMT)3:07

Australia quicks look forward to NZ pitches

Big Picture

There was much fanfare around the announcement of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy back in May 2004. At simultaneous press conferences in Melbourne and Christchurch the boards of both countries set out their plans to compete for the trophy on an annual basis, strengthening the cricketing ties between the trans-Tasman neighbours. Walter Hadlee, then 88, was at the announcement in Christchurch, along with his son Dayle; Greg and Trevor Chappell attended in Melbourne. The New Zealand cricket chief executive of the time, Martin Snedden, declared: “I am confident that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will become as eagerly anticipated as other great annual sporting events such as the Bledisloe Cup series.”Well, that didn’t quite happen, but plenty of memorable matches were nonetheless played under the Chappell-Hadlee name and the boards stuck to their plans to contest the trophy annually for the next six years. And then it was quietly shelved. At the 2011 World Cup in India, it was announced that since no other time had been found in the summer’s schedule for a bilateral series, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy would be on offer to the winner of the World Cup pool match between the two sides. After that it was forgotten, so much so that the boards neglected to even put the trophy up for grabs when they met at the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. They remembered again for their pool match at last year’s World Cup, but it has now been nearly six years since the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was contested in a series of its own.At last, it is back. The two teams who competed in the World Cup final at the MCG last March get the chance for a bilateral one-day series, a three-match contest that precedes a series of two Tests. It all begins on Wednesday in Auckland, the venue of New Zealand’s one-wicket win over Australia in that Chappell-Hadlee match last year, one of the most memorable games of the World Cup. Despite the short boundaries at Eden Park, swing was king, Australia managed only 151 and it wasn’t far off being a winning score. Nearly a year on and with New Zealand’s personnel largely the same and Australia’s changed significantly, both sides are coming off series wins at home, Australia over India and New Zealand against Pakistan. The World Cup might not be up for grabs this time, but the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy gets a well-deserved return to centre stage.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

New Zealand: WWWLW
Australia: LWWWW

In the spotlight

Brendon McCullum is now into the final month of his international career, and it is possible that he could finish by lifting both the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and the Trans-Tasman Trophy as captain. His first task is to provide runs at the top of the order, and having missed the past month with a back injury his return in the final ODI against Pakistan did not exactly go to plan: he was caught hooking for a golden duck.Usman Khawaja is Australia’s most in-form batsman but the selectors have stuck to their existing pecking order and gone with Shaun Marsh for the first match. Marsh scored half-centuries in two of his three ODI innings against India last month, which has earned him the first chance in New Zealand, but Khawaja has produced such piles of runs in the past few months that one failure from Marsh might be enough for the selectors to make the change for the second game.The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy has been pushed to the fringes in recent years, contested as an after-thought in World Cup games; New Zealand won it last year in Auckland•ICC

Team news

Legspinner Ish Sodhi has been added to the squad for this first match in Auckland, after the New Zealanders saw how much turn Pakistan’s part-timer Azhar Ali extracted from the Eden Park surface on Sunday.New Zealand (possible) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner/Ish Sodhi, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Trent Boult.Australia confirmed their XI on match eve, with Shaun Marsh named to open the batting with David Warner in the absence of the injured Aaron Finch. That meant there was no place for Khawaja, who was added to the squad to cover for Finch, while fast bowler Scott Boland and legspinner Adam Zampa were the bowlers who missed out.Australia 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 David Warner, 3 Steven Smith (capt.), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 John Hastings, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Josh Hazlewood.

Pitch and conditions

The drop-in pitch is usually good for batting at Eden Park, though there could be some swing in the air. The forecast is for a sunny day and a top temperature of 27C.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have won their past four bilateral ODI series at home against any opposition
• It has been so long since the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy has been contested outside of World Cups that only two Australians in the current squad – David Warner and Shaun Marsh – have experience in such series
• New Zealand currently hold the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy after winning the World Cup group match in Auckland last year; it was not up for grabs in the World Cup final
• New Zealand could field as many as eight men who played in the World Cup final (Ross Taylor and Tim Southee are injured, and Daniel Vettori has retired); Australia will have only five

Quotes

“There’s obviously going to be a few nerves tomorrow when you’re playing in a big series and hopefully if we can settle early then we can resort back to that even temper that we’ve played with throughout this summer and last summer as well.”
“New Zealand are a very good one-day side; they have played particularly well here at home. I guess for us we’ve got quite a different side to the one who faced them in the World Cup final, so it is a big challenge for us but we’re really looking forward to it.”

Brian Lara comes out with startling revelations while speaking to the media after the Jamaica Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 2.9 mb
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
Audio length: 6.49 minsThe events over the four Tests left Brian Lara dejected for more reasons than one and nothing stopped him from venting his true feelings. The team selection and pitches were hardly to his liking, prompting him to rethink his immediate future as captain. He revealed that he was indeed appointed as one of the selectors before the first Test, something he was aware of only before the series decider in Jamaica. However, he praised the commitment shown by his side, and also admired Rahul Dravid’s tremendous skills on a difficult wicket for batting. Cricinfo’s Siddhartha Vaidyanathan reports from Sabina Park.Listen on.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 2.9 mb
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
Audio length: 6.49 mins

While players like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn McGrath and Sanath Jayasuriya prepare for their last World Cup, Kieron Pollard, the 19-year old West Indian allrounder and Tamin Iqbal, the 17-year old Bangladesh batsman will look to carve out similar careers. The two are the youngest players in their respective sides.Pollard’s call-up to the West Indies 15-man World Cup squad was a surprise as he is yet to play a Test or a one-day international and has only six first class matches under his belt.But his lack of experience hasn’t dampened his ambition and he has his sights set on starting the World Cup opener against Pakistan at Sabina Park on March 13. “My first goal at the tournament is to make the final eleven, and if I achieve that in the first game, I want to perform at my best, in whatever situation I go into,” Pollard told AFP. “I make goals in the short term and when I achieve them I make another one.”Pollard made 14 in the West Indies’ warm-up win over Kenya on March 5 and is keen to get among the runs. “A couple of 50s or even a hundred according to the situation,” he said. In the seven one-day games he played for Trinidad and Tobago this season, Pollard scored 261 runs at 43.50. At a Twenty/20 match in 2006 in Antigua, he hit 83 off 38 balls before making a century against Barbados in the West Indies domestic championship.Iqbal, who won’t be 18 until March 20, already has four ODIs under his belt but is feeling his way gently with a modest 57 runs in his four innings. He announced himself at the end of 2005 when he hit 112 from just 71 balls to help Bangladesh to victory in an Under-19 international against England.In Bangladesh’s warm-up match against New Zealand Iqbal smashed a 48-ball 46 facing up to New Zealand fast bowlers Shane Bond and James Franklin. “I was not facing the name. I was facing the ball,” said Iqbal. “I came to the World Cup with my mind made up. I told myself I have to be strong and brave. I just have to play my natural game and do what I know I can do.”Bangladesh also won their second warm-up game against Scotland and Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, said that players like Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza, the right-arm fast-medium bowler, will be the key to Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign.”Before we came here for the World Cup nobody gave us a chance,” said Bashar. “That’s fine for people to say, but we are looking at getting to the second round. With Tamin and Mortaza playing so well, this is a great boost for the World Cup. Their contributions were brilliant.”West Indies play India in their last warm-up match today at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica and play their first match of the World Cup on March 13 at Sabina Park. Bangladesh will play their first match against India on March 17 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trindidad.

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.”

Micky Arthur, South Africa’s coach, has said his team were not taking the three limited-overs matches against Zimbabwe lightly and that match practice was crucial ahead of the Champions Trophy. “I expect Zimbabwe to be very competitive but we are going to focus on our own performance,” Arthur said. “One could use these fixtures as practice matches but we would rather ensure that our combinations and match-plans are in place for India.”The South African team will also play against two domestic teams, the Lions and the Titans, according a report on the SuperSport website. “We are going to play these two matches according to international one-day rules,” Arthur said. “They are part of the training camp in Pretoria before we leave for India.”South Africa pulled out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka, and had scheduled matches against Zimbabwe in order to give them some time on the field ahead of the Champions Trophy. “One can practise in the nets as much as you want to but it’s not the same as out in the middle. I want the lads to train with consequences,” said Arthur. “If you play the ball down someone’s throat in the nets, you continue batting. If you do so in a match situation, you have to go take a shower. I want the players to train under pressure.”Zimbabwe, meanwhile, are fresh from a 3-2 series win over Bangladesh. Even so they are extremely unlikely to stretch a top-notch team like South Africa.

Match facts

December 10-14, 2015
Start time 1030 local (2130 GMT)Kane Williamson will be looking to help New Zealand finish 2015 the way they started it, when he struck a career-best 242* in a 193-run win over Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve•Getty Images

Big Picture

What’s Sri Lankan cricket without a little upheaval? Until the team landed in New Zealand, it had almost been a boring year. The usual board v players contract dispute failed to materialise in March. There have been no heated public exchanges involving administrators. Even the annual resignation of the head coach went off remarkably smoothly. Angelo Mathews had seemingly imparted some level-headed sense into the system. But really, is there any use Angelo? Chaos is Sri Lankan cricket’s default setting. To chaos it will always return.Now, ahead of an important tour, Sri Lanka are without their player of the year in Dhammika Prasad, and have been deprived of Kusal Perera, who kept wicket and brought balance to the XI. The repercussions of each absence are far-reaching. Dinesh Chandimal – of whom much was already expected with the bat – will also take up the wicketkeeping responsibilities. And the seam attack lacks a charismatic leader. With Dushmantha Chameera or Vishwa Fernando almost certain to play, the bowling appears nearly as inexperienced as the batting.New Zealand, meanwhile, have returned from Australia defeated but not deflated. There is, of course, a sense that the series could have been drawn if not for umpiring errors, but beyond that, the attack appears to be gathering momentum ahead of the home summer. Trent Boult, Tim Southee and company scythed through Sri Lanka’s top order last year. This time, the visiting opposition is without their greatest ever Test batsman, and is tending young, fragile careers.Maybe Australia did puncture holes in Brendon McCullum’s aggressive manifesto, but are any Sri Lanka batsmen capable of attacking New Zealand in the way that David Warner did? The visitors appear to be focusing on a far more conservative approach, perhaps in light of tougher pitches across the Tasman.Expect a lot of New Zealand slips in this Test, and maybe a few single-figure Sri Lankan scores as well. The series is far from a foregone conclusion though. The thing about chaos is that, sometimes, it can work in manic and miraculous ways.

Form guide

New Zealand: LDLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WWLLW

In the spotlight

Having led New Zealand to one of their best-ever Test years in 2014, Brendon McCullum has experienced a relative lull with the bat this year. In 11 Test innings so far, he has crossed fifty only twice. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have scored heavily to offset the absence of his runs, but at home now, and with a friendlier attack bowling to him, conditions seem good for a McCullum resurgence.Charged with managing a young side, there is also pressure on Angelo Mathews to ensure his own performances stay vibrant and strong. His team will look to him for stability in the middle order, but with Prasad out of the series, Mathews’ bowling will be required as well. He has hit three hundreds this year – but all have come in losing causes. If Sri Lanka are to spring a surprise in New Zealand, Mathews may have to do even more than he is already doing.In addition to his wicketkeeping responsibilities, Dinesh Chandimal will continue batting at No. 4, according to Angelo Mathews•AFP

Teams news

Kaushal Silva only flies into Dunedin on Wednesday, so he is unlikely to play, according to Mathews. Opener Udara Jayasundera will debut, after hitting a fifty in the warm-up match. Quick Dushmantha Chameera’s four wickets in that game will likely see him enter the XI as well. Dinesh Chandimal will take the gloves in Kusal Perera’s absence, but Mathews said Chandimal would continue batting at no. 4.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Udara Jayasundera, 3 Kithuruwan Vithanage, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Kusal Mendis, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Nuwan PradeepNew Zealand’s batting is settled, but they have one decision to make with their attack. Brendon McCullum said one of either Mark Craig or Neil Wagner would miss out. That decision is unlikely to be made until further assessment of the track, on Thursday morning.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 6 Mitchell Santner, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Mark Craig/ Neil Wagner, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

The pitch has a thick green covering on the eve of the match, and as such, will probably be conducive to seam movement on the first two days. There is rain expected over the weekend, but that forecast is constantly changing. Sri Lanka are unlikely to enjoy the temperature, which is forecast to remain in the high teens and low twenties for the duration of the game.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have won five of their last six Tests at home, and are unbeaten in the country since March 2012.
• Four of the six Tests played at University Oval have been draws – most of those rain-affected.
• Rangana Herath requires seven wickets to become the second left-arm spinner to 300 Test scalps, after Daniel Vettori.
• 2015 has been Kane Williamson’s best year yet by a distance. He averages 90.40 after 12 innings so far. Sri Lanka are also his favourite opponent. He has struck 559 runs at 93.16 against them – thanks in large part to the career-high 242* at the Basin Reserve in January.

Quotes

“Looking back over the last couple of years, the emergence and development of this team is something that we – as leaders within the group – can be pretty proud of. We’re by no means the finished product and we’ll have a few challenges over the next little while. But overall we’re starting to shape into a very good cricket team. The profile of this cricket team has picked up recently too.”
“Our premier fast-bowler in Dhammika, has taken a lot of wickets in the recent past, and we’re going to miss him so bad. Kusal’s news was shocking as well, to be honest.”

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.

Cathryn Fitzpatrick has been given her first permanent coaching position, taking the reins of Victoria Spirit for 2007-08. Fitzpatrick, who retired as a player after the quadrangular series in India in February and March, will become the first woman to coach the Victoria women’s team.Her appointment comes less than a fortnight after her former Australia team-mate, Lisa Keightley, also ended the male-dominated run of senior coaches for the Australia women’s squad. Fitzpatrick was briefly the national side’s stand-in coach until Keightley was given the job.Fitzpatrick, who quit the game after playing 13 Tests and 109 one-day internationals, has spent the last two years as a scholarship coach at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. There, she worked with both the Australian men’s and women’s sides as well as several Victorian youth squads.”I feel that my time at the Centre of Excellence has given me the platform I need to coach at a senior level,” Fitzpatrick said. “I have received terrific mentoring from the likes of Tim Nielsen, Jamie Siddons and Brian McFadyen.”The loss of several senior players – including herself – from the Victoria Spirit lineup means Fitzpatrick will be guiding a young side next season. Victoria lost the 2006-07 WNCL finals to New South Wales. “We will have a relatively young squad but that is exciting as it will provide opportunity for players at the top level, not just in the one-day format but also the new Twenty20 fixtures,” Fitzpatrick said.Fitzpatrick was Victoria’s most-capped player with 103 appearances, took a record 198 state wickets and was the world’s most successful bowler in ODIs, with 180 victims. She takes over from Ken Davis, who coached Victoria Spirit from 2002-03 until last season.

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.