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Sitting in an office with a blizzard howling outside, Durban seemed a million miles from snowy Canada rather than a few thousand.Yet as Bangladesh wickets continued to tumble, the desire was to be somehow instantly transported across the Atlantic to witness perhaps Canada’s finest cricketing hour.Bangladesh are not a powerhouse in world cricket, and Canada have beaten them before, in the ICC Trophy.But few gave Canada a chance of winning a single match at this World Cup.The last competitive cricket Canada had played as a team was in August.Most of the team has not seen grass for some months, instead they’ve practising indoors in Toronto.Theirlong-time coach Jeff Thomas was replaced by Gus Logie just six weeks before the World Cup, and lack of money prevented a pre-World Cup tour.This was a day-night match, and the first opportunity the team had to play under lights was last week. Excuses were ready for what seemed likely to be a disappointing trip to South Africa after the excitement of qualifying in Toronto in 2001.The main hopes might have been John Davidson and Ian Billcliff, both of whom are Canadian by birth, but ply their cricketing skills in the Southern Hemisphere, Davidson for South Australia, and Billcliff in club cricket in Auckland, after a varied first-class career.But on the day this was truly a team effort.Davison and Billcliffcertainly played their part, Billcliff with the top score, a much-needed steady innings in the middle-order after wickets had tumbled, and Davison with two crucial wickets.However, the hero was Austin Codrington – he had only managed two wickets in the 2001 ICC Trophy, and his best bowling in the Toronto leagues last summer was three for 33. His five wickets were taken with accurate pace bowling, of good line and lengthwith a little movement.Then there was Ashish Bagai, the young ‘keeper who learned his cricket in Toronto – three catches, one of which was as good as any you’ll see, behind the stumps in this World Cup, and not a single bye. Fazil Samad took two good catches at slip and his brother two more as substitute, including a stunner to dismiss Khaled Mashud.Sanjay Thuraisingam had hardly bowled since August, with work commitments preventing him taking part in the Red Stripe Bowl, and back problems keeping him out of the lead-up matches, yet he bowled six aggressive overs, taking a crucial wicket.The veteran Davis Joseph at 39, made the first breakthrough and took a second wicket to break an important partnership. Desmond Chumney had adismal run in the warm up matches and some would be surprised to see him in the team today.He and Ishwar Maraj together got Canada off to a solid start and, if not for an unfortunate run-out, he might well have made a more substantial contribution. The fielding as a whole was magnificent – certainly world-class, with some great catches.Joe Harris failed with the bat today, but was triumphant as a captain. He never let up in the field, realising that wickets were critical, and deserved full credit for bringing this disparate group of players together as a team.”It’s the best day of our lives” hesaid.It’s also perhaps the greatest day in Canada’s long cricket history, and one that has brought a little bit of warm South African sunshine to the cold Canadian winter.

Uttar Pradesh were 197/3 in relply to the Bengal first innings score of 207 all out, on the second day of the Vijay Merchant under-16 knock-out quarterfinal match at Narendrapur, near Kolkata on Sunday.Tahir Abbas with an unbeaten 71 off 157 balls with the help of seven boundaries and opening batsman Ravi Kant Shukla who made 64 (9 fours) in 129 balls were the arhcitects of the UP reply. Shiva Kant Shukla made 35 and Aris Alam 21 in the UP innings. Earlier in the day Bengal resumed at 176/6 and were bowled out for 207 in the 116th over. Praveen Gupta picked up two more wickets in the morning to finish with the figures of 39.4-23-44-5 to take the bowling honours.

Legspinner Amit Mishra has been recalled to India’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in August. Mishra, 32, last played a Test in 2011 and he took legspinner Karn Sharma’s place in the team that had travelled to Bangladesh in June. It was the only change to India’s 15-man squad.Mishra has not played a Test since the 2011 tour of England, where he played two matches and took three wickets at an average of 106.66. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, Mishra played six matches for Haryana and took 10 wickets at an average of 20.40.”Amit Mishra has always been part of our thinking,” India’s chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said in Delhi. “If you remember, even last year he was in the reserves [for the West Indies series]. The final authority of picking the XI is the role of the captain and the team management. Why A was not played and why B was picked it is not what we get into. Looking at the conditions, we have picked him for this SL tour.”Karn and fast bowler Mohammed Shami were not considered because of fitness problems. Karn had been ruled out of India’s tour of Zimbabwe in July with a fractured finger, and Shami is presently recovering from knee surgery.Opener KL Rahul had missed the Test in Bangladesh because of dengue fever and his replacement Shikhar Dhawan made a hundred in that game, leaving India with three openers – M Vijay being the third – to choose from in Sri Lanka.The selectors have not picked a reserve wicketkeeper in the squad as back up for Wriddhiman Saha. “We have a standby wicketkeeper we have nominated,” Patil said. “Secretary and selectors, we are aware who is the wicketkeeper nominated if there is injury on the SL tour.”Does he have the technique or not, time will tell,” Patil said of Saha batting at No. 6. “We have backed him looking at his performance in domestic cricket. The kind of experience he carries. You immediately cannot replace someone like Dhoni and come in and deliver the results. But we certainly feel that Wriddhiman is the right option and looking at his ability in batting as well, he should strike a good balance.”BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur also said Virat Kohli would turn out for India A in the second unofficial Test against Australia in Chennai from July 29-31.”Virat Kohli had requested the selection committee for some match practice and wanted to play a game against Australia A,” Thakur said. “He will be playing the second four day game against Australia A.” Patil, however, confirmed that Cheteshwar Pujara would lead India A in the game.Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Varun Aaron, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Rohit Sharma, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul

The Indian Premier League’s Mumbai-based franchise has been named their team ‘Mumbai Indians’. Sachin Tendulkar, the team’s icon player, will captain the side, which also includes Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock.”Mumbai Indians is a nice combination of senior players and youngsters, so I think we all will be looking forward to go out there, put up a perfect unit and perform well,” Tendulkar said after unveiling the team’s logo at a promotional event in Mumbai. “Twenty20 cricket is hugely popular everywhere and I have no doubt the IPL will be a hit.”Tendulkar said he was looking forward to open the batting with Jayasuriya: the last time he did so was back in 1998, while playing for the Rest of the World XI against MCC at Lord’s in a charity match held in memory of Princess Diana.The team logo for the Mumbai Indians has the Sudarshan Chakra with the team’s name engraved in it. The team’s colour – blue – is the same as that of the Indian national side.The franchise, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, was bought for US$ 111.9 million, making it the most expensive of the eight franchises. The team has three Sri Lankans in Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, while Pollock and Loots Bosman are the other overseas recruits. Robin Uthappa and Harbhajan Singh are the other India nationals in the side, which has promising local players in Abhishek Nayar and Ajinkya Rahane.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced two provisional women’s squads to train over the next season. The squad for New Zealand’s tour of Australia in July and August will be picked from the provisional squads.A big absence is veteran Rebecca Rolls, the side’s wicketkeeper who retired from all forms of cricket in March. Batsman Emily Drumm who is playing overseas, has been left out. The selection panel who were re-appointed in the run up to the World Cup, named the uncapped Rachel Candy, Lucy Doolan, Rachel Priest and Amy Satterthwaite. Internationals Ross Kember and Beth McNeill, who were not in the team that toured India, also find a place in the squad.The two squads will train together at a camp to be held at NZC’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University on June 9 and10. This will be followed by separate camps – the national squad on September 22 and 23, and the A squad on September 29 and 30.New Zealand
Haidee Tiffen , Suzie Bates, Nicola Browne, Sarah Burke , Selena Charteris, Sophie Devine, Maria Fahey, Sara McGlashan ,Aimee Mason, Rowan Milburn , Louise Milliken, Sarah Tsukigawa ,Helen Watson, Ros Kember, Beth McNeill, Rachel Candy, Lucy Doolan , Rachel Priest , Amy Satterthwaite.New Zealand A
Kendra Cocksedge, Amanda Cooper, Ingrid Cronin-Knight, Maree Hannay, Megan Kane, Zara McWilliams, Katey Martin, Prashilla Mistry, Megan Murphy, Elizabeth Perry, Megan Wakefield

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has slapped Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former board president, with another show cause notice. Dalmiya has been asked to explain, within 21 days, the details of the exorbitant expenses incurred during the 1996 World Cup under his time in office.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI Secretary, has been reported by as demanding details of figures related to the Pilcom account held with the Indian Overseas Bank in Kolkata. Shah has been quoted as saying that withdrawals from the bank showed “abnormally high” expenses including telephone bills, travel and cash withdrawals. Details came from a report submitted by N Srinivasan, the BCCI treasurer, to a working committee. Asked whether further action would be taken against Dalmiya, Shah said that would be decided only after he responded to the latest notice.The first show cause notice alleging misappropriation of funds had been issued against Dalmiya and Kishore Rungta and Jyoti Bajpai, two former board treasurers, on February 27. The Bombay High Court had granted the trio interim relief against arrest, but instructed them to appear before the Economic Offences Wing for further interrogation last week. They were granted anticipatory bail as the police prepared to submit their reports to the court.Dalmiya, who also served as president of the ICC, was the convener of Pilcom, which was created to organise the 1996 World Cup in the subcontinent. Inquiries into the Pilcom accounts were initiated after Dalmiya was ousted by Sharad Pawar as BCCI chief in November last year.

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, is willing to take his share of the blame for his team’s crushing defeats in the Tests and one-day internationals against South Africa. King, who took over the coaching position ahead of the VB Series in Australia, has said that his side is committed to improve.”I’m prepared to take the blame for a lot of the stuff because we’ve had to try and come in in a very short space of time and play Test cricket and one-day cricket, and we’ve worked the boys hard in that time,” King was quoted as saying in The Trinidad Express. “We’re pushing them harder. I offer no excuses there. And that’s why I said I’m not blaming my players for feeling tired when they come into matches, that’s my fault. To be honest, they’ve fronted up in matches and they’ve been tired, physically, which probably goes into their mental side as well.”I wasn’t expecting anything different,” he said. “The results, even though they won the ICC, you have to look at the history over the last three or four years. It’s been a tough road for the West Indian fans and the cricketers themselves. I’m pretty realistic about where we are at the moment.”West Indies, who lost the Tests 2-0, slumped to their first one-day series whitewash at home when South Africa won the fifth one-dayer by seven wickets in Trinidad. “We’ve got to find a way where these players understand the requirements that are needed for international cricket. And that’s my responsibility. Yep, we take some losses but, in the long term, what we are working towards is that there are going to be a lot more smiles rather than a lot more disappointment.”King pointed to the inconsistency of the batsmen as being the main reason for the team’s failure. “I still believe that Chris Gayle at his tender age and Ronnie Sarwan at his tender age, they’re still only 24, 25 and when you look around the globe with cricketers, people are starting to come into their own by the time they are 27, and they are actually playing much better when they are in their 30s…I’m not asking people to be patient, I’m asking people to be thoughtful which is what we ask our players to be.”King was vocal about the state of regional cricket in the Caribbean. “Some of the bowling issues for me stem from regional cricket,” he continued. “How much time do you need to develop some of these people for international cricket? We’re going to have to keep them in there and people are going to have to suffer through some bowling spells that may not be quite as good if they are the people we’re gonna target to lead West Indies into the future. We’ve gotta take a trusting approach and be prepared to spend large amount of times so that they learn.”However, West Indies have very little time to reflect on their performance, as they face another tough challenge when they play Pakistan in three one-day matches and two Tests, with the first one-dayer beginning tomorrow in St.Vincent. “It’s very, very tight,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we want to do with the players and we need to do with the players and when you’ve got back-to-back series like this…it’s hard to get the work into players that we want.”

Australia’s disappointing World Cup campaign continued today when they failed to qualify for the Super League, even though they beat Sri Lanka. Bangladesh also bowed out after their heavy defeat to India, while South Africa scraped through thanks to a narrow one-wicket win against England.A three-run victory over Sri Lanka was not enough for Australia to progress to the next stage. In order to make it through, they needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 97, but couldn’t manage it. Australia finished level on points with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, but lost out because of a poorer net run rate.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, finished top of Group A and will now face India, South Africa and West Indies in Group One of the Super League. The second group will be contested by England, New Zealand, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.Australia will contest Group One of the Plate Championship with Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland. The other group will be Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland and UgandaEngland made it through as winners of Group B, despite losing by one wicket to South Africa at Chittagong. They lost their last six wickets for 31 runs to be all out for 189, despite 63 from Steven Davies. Vaughan van Jaarsveld scored 76 for South Africa, who edged home on 190-9 despite 3 for 35 by Tim Bresnan.Lastly, Pakistan beat West Indies by 169 runs – both teams go through to the Super League.Full reports and scorecards to follow.

Wellington completed a less than convincing, but comfortable State Shield victory over Auckland by four wickets at the Basin Reserve today.In seemingly benign pitch conditions, on a fine and sunny day, the batsmen from both teams struggled more than they should have throughout.With the exception of Lou Vincent (66) for Auckland and Stephen Fleming (57) for Wellington, which was a rare case of good news for the national selectors from performances by their World Cup players today, the bowlers dominated more than the conditions suggested they would.After Wellington captain Matthew Bell had won the toss and put Auckland in, openers Mark Richardson and Llorne Howell batted their team into a good position. They put on 64 for the first wicket in confident, albeit cautious fashion, but then the wheels fell off. They went from being 64 for one in the 19th over to 77 for six in the 27th over.Matthew Walker took three for 41 from his 10 overs and Paul Hitchcock (three for 45 from 9.4 overs) were the chief destroyers. But a needless run out of Aaron Barnes also didn’t help.That Auckland batted their full 50 overs and put on another 104 runs from that position can be mainly attributed to Vincent, who showed his class, as well as a cool head to post a total to defend.Wellington’s run chase started the worst possible way when both openers, Chris Nevin and Bell, were dismissed for ducks with six runs on the board.But then Fleming and Richard Jones put on a century partnership that made batting look easy. Fleming was excellent. His innings of 57 included eight fours and two sixes.Then Wellington proceeded to make hard work of the chase, in the face of some tight, stifling bowling.This was led by Brooke Walker whose 10 overs produced one for 23 and Craig Pryor who took one for 32 from 8.2 overs. Lively contributions from Tama Canning and Heath Davis helped, but in the end their total was at least 30-40 runs short, a point Walker was quick to acknowledge at the end of the game.Wellington have now shot to the top of the table and host Canterbury on Sunday for round eight, while Auckland travel to New Plymouth for a crucial clash with Central Districts.

A crowd of 11,057 people watched history in the making as Australia ripped through West Indies to take out the Second Test by an innings and twenty-seven runs here at the WACA ground in Perth.The win, its twelfth in a row in Tests, has capped off an amazing fourteen month period for Australia – a period during which it has conquered all before it to create a new world record for consecutive victories.”It’s nice to get it; a long road to get there. I mean, I said to Jason Gillespie as we were walking off the field that it was pretty amazing . . . sixteen or eighteen months ago we were both sitting in a hospital bed in Kandy having just come out of the operating theatre in plaster (after suffering a sickening collision in the field). We turned on the TV and Australia were 7/49 in the second innings in Kandy. Since then, we’ve gone on this amazing winning streak,” said Australian captain Steve Waugh.As for the West Indians, who have suffered fifteen losses from their past seventeen overseas Tests, today’s defeat provided a double blow – the home team has just broken the eleven Test winning streak created by a Windies team between 1983 and 1985 and this is the first time the team was beatenin a Test match at the WACA.”It’s very disappointing. When you hold a record for a period of time, it means something to you. This record meant a lot to us and it is not something that we were happy to see go. But give credit where credit is due. The Australians have played well in the last two Test matches,” said West Indian captain Jimmy Adams.Both captains agreed that the first hour of the first session on day one was when the match was won and lost. Five West Indian wickets fell in that one hour; five top order batsmen dismissed for just twenty-two runs amid a devastating display from Glenn McGrath (4/74 for the match) and Brett Lee(7/113). McGrath snared the wicket of star batsman Brian Lara (0) for the third time in this series in that spell to reach the 300-wicket mark. Number 300 came in the middle leg of a hat-trick – Australia’s tenth in 137 years of Test history.Although the visitors ended up making 196 in the innings thanks to valuable contributions from Ridley Jacobs (96*) and Wavell Hinds (50), they never quite recovered. To be fair, they were deprived of the services of one of their best batsmen when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was lost to injury. However, with only three of their batsmen reaching double figures, they were always going to be in trouble.It was a similar story for the bowlers on day two. They bowled some good deliveries but not with enough consistency to contain a side whose batting line-up is eight deep. Mark Waugh (119) provided the backbone of the Australian innings, striking a majestic century and starring in a ninety-five run partnership with Adam Gilchrist (50).Between fielding calls to withdraw from this Test series due to the advent of fresh bribery allegations against him and batting with something of a question mark hanging over his right to a spot in the national team, Waugh, 35, has been under intense scrutiny over the past twelve months. To come out and bat with an elegance and guile reminiscent of his heyday represented a great effort – one that eventually won him the man-of-the-match award.The home team declared at 396 in that innings, after Lee slogged a huge six off Merv Dillon (2/130), having established a lead of exactly two hundred runs by that stage. Needless to say, the West Indians again found matters with the bat tough, managing just 173 the second time around.Again, Lara (17) fell cheaply, this time to Stuart MacGill (4/84 for the match). Again, Hinds (41) showed resistance, this time with help from Adams (40*). Again, a number of batsmen got themselves out to silly shots that they know not to play with their team in such grave trouble.MacGill, who was deemed to be unsuited to the fast WACA pitch in the corresponding Test against England two years ago and was relegated to drinks duties instead, claimed four wickets for the match, dismissing Hinds twice.McGrath bowled eighteen typically miserly overs for twenty-six runs and Gillespie completed a fine comeback to Test cricket with four wickets for the match.In the end though, it was Lee who stole the thunder from his more experienced colleagues, snaring three wickets in six balls to finish it off.So it was that, at 3:47 on a hot Perth afternoon, a journey that began fourteen months ago with a ten-wicket victory against Zimbabwe in Harare was completed. Now for more records … .”I think everyone’s aware of what we can achieve. We’re not going to take our foot off the accelerator. As I said in New Zealand, it was just the start of something special and you get a feeling amongst the side that we can go places. I think it’s still the beginning and we can get better. And we get so much joy out of playing well and winning that we don’t want to lose that feeling. We can still improve from here,” said captain Waugh.