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Adil Rashid, Yorkshire’s teenage legspinner, hopes to return to full fitness by the end of January following the diagnosis of a stress fracture in his back.”I’m really looking forward to getting in some practice,” Rashid told Yorkshire’s website. “I can’t wait for the new season to get underway. I thought I was suffering from only bruising when my back began to hurt, but then I had a scan, which revealed I was suffering from a stress fracture.”I had to take a complete rest. I was absolutely gutted, because I had to turn down the invitation to go on the trip to India with England’s emerging players in the autumn, and then I couldn’t be selected for the England Under-19 tour of Malaysia, which begins in late January.”Rashid, though still only 18, was somewhat of a sensation in the summer. He took 6 for 67 on his Championship debut against Warwickshire, en route to 25 wickets in five matches. Against the touring India Under-19s, he took 8 for 157 and struck 114 to confirm his immense promise with both bat and ball.”It has been very disappointing and frustrating, but I’m over it now, and am eager to get started,” he added. “There is no question of me not being fully fit by the start of the new season, and one of my aims is to play in every Championship match for Yorkshire in 2007.”I could, of course, even get picked to play for England, and although I am not expecting that to happen quite so soon I will certainly do everything to grasp the opportunity should it arise.”

The retiring Brad Hogg believes Dan Cullen and Nathan Hauritz will vie to be Australia’s No. 1 limited-overs spinner in his absence, but he has no idea who should take the spot in Tests. Hogg, who is the incumbent after appearing in the series against India, would like a younger man to be given the chance in the five-day format.”It’s hard to say,” he said when asked about his replacement. “There’s young talent around. If a young fella gets a go and he knows he’s going to get a real decent crack at it, anything can happen. Sometimes you perform better at international level than your state level. Just rising to occasions, some people love that bigger occasion.”The only slow bowler regularly troubling batsmen in the Pura Cup is Victoria’s Bryce McGain, who turns 36 next month, while Stuart MacGill will be in contention when he fully recovers from his wrist problem. Cullen is in and out of South Australia’s four-day squad, the Cricket Australia-contracted Cullen Bailey can’t get a game for the Redbacks, and Beau Casson is preferred over Hauritz in the New South Wales Pura Cup team.”At the end of the day, I leave, Warney left, you just have to make do with the stocks that you’ve got,” Hogg said at the MCG. “Someone might come out like a Shane Warne and blitz international cricket. You never know what’s around the corner.”While Hogg’s position in the Test side was never permanent, he was the first choice in one-day internationals since his elevation in 2003 when Warne was suspended for drug use. He thinks it will be an offspinner who takes that role in the immediate future and hopes the selectors do not chop and change too much.”Dan Cullen’s bowling pretty well, and I think Nathan Hauritz from New South Wales has had a particularly good couple of years in one-day cricket,” he said. “He was around at the time when Warney was having his injuries and so forth and it was between me and him at the time.”It would be nice for him to get a run because he missed out back then. The selectors are going to have to bite the bullet and give someone a real good crack at it.”

Rod Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper turned coach, has spoken of his excitement in taking up his new post as director of coaching at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai. Marsh will begin his duties in September at the enormous and purpose-built Dubai Sports City.Marsh, 58, was instrumental in coaching many of Australia’s players in the 1990s, and was a prize coup for English cricket when, in 2000, he was appointed director of the ECB Academy – much to the surprise of his countrymen. Both he and another Australian, Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, have since returned home and now Marsh’s attention turns to the global game.”Imagine a place like China,” Marsh told Queensland’s . “They should be very good. Hand-eye coordination is good. Plenty of little fellas that could bat well and plenty of big blokes that could bowl well, I reckon. Who knows? In 20 or 30 years’ time, Australia might be playing Test matches in Shanghai for the Great Wall Trophy.”Marsh holds such clout as a coach, and director of coaching, that realistically the ICC had only eyes for him. He takes up his post in September at a purpose-built cricket centre, or “global university” of cricket, with such facilities as biomechanics, research and sports medicine. The cricket centre will form part of a purpose-built town, Dubai Sports City, housing some 65,000 people. Given the extreme heat in Dubai – for four months of the year, it is scarcely possible to be outside let alone play cricket – an indoor airconditioned facility will be built, large enough to house two jumbo jets.”I guess I’ve had the most experience of anyone dealing with academies,” he said. “As a consequence I got hired.” Although many countries now have their own academies, or are in the process of establishment, Marsh feels the new global academy has a role to play for senior sides and minnows alike.

“If Australia is going to England for an Ashes tour I’d like to think they might come and prepare for a week at the academy in Dubai on the way,” he said. “We’d try to prepare pitches at the facility that are similar to what they will get in England. It might be difficult but I’d hope it can be done.”If you drew a map and worked out the most central point for the cricketing world, I reckon Dubai would come pretty close. I still like to do hands-on coaching. That’s what I enjoy. The administration side of the game is something I’ve never enjoyed a hell of a lot. But I realise that part of coaching really is doing that nowadays. It’s more than just taking a guy to the nets.”

Scorecard

Brad Hodge justified his bold day-three declaration by setting up another chasing win for Victoria as they moved to the top of the Pura Cup table. Hodge closed the Bushrangers’ innings 117 runs behind South Australia on Sunday and his gamble paid off as he and Michael Klinger were the key contributors in running down the target of 322 for a three-wicket win.Klinger was unbeaten on 87 after steering the final stages of the chase and the home side ended the game with three overs to spare. While Klinger applied the finishing touches, Hodge kept the Bushrangers in sight of the result with 84 from 124 balls, including 11 fours and a six.The dismissal of Nick Jewell, who crawled to 36 off 111 deliveries, allowed Hodge and David Hussey, the first-innings century-makers, to accelerate and they produced a crucial stand of 79 in 71 balls. Hussey fell to a reflex take by Tom Plant at short leg and Hodge left with his side at 4 for 225, edging to first slip off Cullen Bailey.Bailey, the legspinner, was the most successful of South Australia’s bowlers with 4 for 103, but he was unable to stop Klinger. The Redbacks, who kept their two points, reached 5 for 204 before their first-session declaration, with Ben Cameron unbeaten on 51.

The South African Cricketers’ Association has clarified that it “fully supports” the national board’s transformation policy after its new president, Boeta Dippenaar, said “a lot of patriotism has been lost” due to the same.”Boeta was recently interviewed in England in his personal capacity as a player who has just been signed by Leicestershire and some of the comments attributed to him could easily be interpreted as being critical in a general sense of transformation in South African cricket,” Tony Irish, the SACA’s chief executive, said. “The players’ association is however fully supportive of transformation in particular where it promotes opportunities for players of colour to compete for selection.”SACA is therefore fully supportive of policies such as the one which provides that 40% of all professional cricket contracts should be reserved for players of colour.”But the SACA maintained that its stand remained the same with regard to selection to the national team. “Last year the top 25 players in the country mandated SACA to take up the issue of quotas / targets in national team selection and of the involvement of non-selectors in the selection process.”Since then we have taken a consistent position on these two issues and have dealt with them under the appropriate process before Cricket South Africa’s transformation review committee. It is important to understand that these two issues relate specifically to national team selection and that we are otherwise fully behind the other aspects of the existing transformation policy.”Meanwhile, Dippenaar, who has retired from international cricket, also clarified his stand. “I was being interviewed on my personal views relating to a wide range of cricket issues,” Dippenaar said. “It was certainly not my intention to generally criticise transformation but I wanted to emphasise that all of us as players at the top level want to be selected on cricketing merit and not for any political reason.”

Steve Kirby, the Gloucestershire pace bowler, is in hot water with officials again after being ordered out the attack towards the end of the Championship match against Gloucestershire at Bristol.Bowling the penultimate over of the game, Kirby let fly a ball that thudded into the chest of Andy Gray, the Derbyshire tail-ender. Kirby tried to apologise but Gray had already turned away, dropped his bat and ripped off a glove. Neil Mallender, the former England seamer who was officiating the match, told Jon Lewis, the Gloucestershire captain, to remove Kirby from bowling.The two players later shook hands but Kirby will still be reported to the ECB. The Gloucestershire chief executive, Tom Richardson, told the Press Association: “Kirby was taken off under Law 42 [fair and unfair play] but I don’t want to say anything else at this stage.”The umpires have to make their report but at the moment I don’t anticipate there will be much further action. Everyone knows Kirby is a whole-hearted trier who gives everything to the game.”It isn’t the first time Kirby, who joined Gloucestershire from Yorkshire, has been in trouble. Last season he was found guilty of ball tampering during a match against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire who has proposed a US$20 million winner-takes-all contest between England and a West Indies XI, could be prepared to bankroll an English version of the Indian Premier League, but only if the England & Wales Cricket Board can guarantee him a return on his investment.Stanford has been in talks with the ECB all week, because he believes that, if done properly, a proposed English Premier League offers the only realistic rival to India’s riches. He told The Times on Wednesday that he already had a group of investors lined up to get involved if the notion can get off the ground.There are plenty of hurdles to overcome before Stanford’s wishes can be granted, however, not least the likely opposition from the first-class counties who might fear being marginalised in such a deal. “The ECB are conservative,” Stanford told The Times. “”They realise they’re at a crossroads. They either let the Indians do it or they step up and get a game plan.”The ECB, for my estimation, need to be the driver,” said Stanford. “The organisation here is better, the management is better, the structure is better. It’s inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it’s inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it’s inevitable that the game will evolve.”Stanford said that he was willing to be a “big supporter” of English cricket, but warned that the players, fans and administrators shouldn’t just look at him as a benevolent uncle of the game. “There’s two types of investor,” he said. “There’s the philanthropists, who don’t exist. The others look at the return. If I do anything outside the West Indies, I want to see what kind of return I get.”Julian Hunte and Donald Peters, the president and chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), have also been in London for discussions that have been described by all parties as “very productive”, although the ECB have not commented on the possibility of creating the EPL.

Sri Lanka A 377 ( Silva 122, Charumbira 4-84) drew with Zimbabwe Provinces 247 for 7 (Matsikenyeri 45, Zhuwawo 44, Mutizwa 42)
Scorecard</aSri Lanka A started their tour of Zimbabwe with a draw in a two-day game against Zimbabwe Provinces at the Harare Sports Club. Kaushal Silva starred for the visitors with a hundred while Patiant Charumbira led the hosts' attack with a four-wicket haul.Silva, the wicketkeeper, hit an unbeaten 194-ball 122 while Mahela Udawatte and Dammika Prasad scored fifties as Sri Lanka scored at 4.24 runs per over to compile 377 in their first innings. Charumbira, the right-arm fast-medium bowler, grabbed his first four-wicket haul of his career as Sri Lanka were bowled out by the end of the first day.In their reply, Zimbabwe lost wickets regularly and were stuttering at 131 for 6 before Forster Mutizwa, with a patient 105-ball 42, and Cephas Zhuwawo, with a 61-ball 44, lifted their side to 247 for 7 by the end of the second and the final day.The first four-day game between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka A will start on October 14 in Harare while the second will be played at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo from October 20.

Mohammad Asif has been recalled to the Pakistan squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka and has also been named vice-captain for the series. The 16-man squad contains only two new faces for the three-match series in Abu Dhabi, despite Pakistan’s poor showing in the Caribbean. Asif missed the World Cup due to an elbow injury.Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told reporters in Lahore after an ad-hoc committee meeting that Asif was the best choice as vice-captain. Asif’s name, along with that of Shahid Afridi, had cropped up over the last few weeks though with such minimal experience still behind him, the move will surprise many. And with a possible face-off with WADA still in the offing over the doping crisis he was embroiled in last year, the appointment is bound to raise questions and eyebrows.There are few other surprises in the squad. Fawad Alam, the young Karachi allrounder, who had such an outstanding domestic season, has expectedly taken his place in the squad. And Najaf Shah, a left-arm fast medium bowler who plays for PIA and Rawalpindi, has also been called up after an impressive domestic season and some equally impressive performances in the trial matches played between the 39 probables that attended the recent camp at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.Shoaib Malik, who will be captaining Pakistan for the first time, stressed that the new players were the best available. “These are all deserving players and it is the best team available to us. The selection committee discussed the names with me and the decision was taken between us.”Salahuddin Ahmed, chairman of the selection committee, agreed, telling Cricinfo that this was the best available squad. “Sri Lanka are missing a few key players and so are we for a number of reasons but we have picked the best available squad. We are confident that this squad can do well.”Kamran Akmal, for the time being, retains his place as the leading wicketkeeper in the land. Without an understudy in sight, the move is seen as a vote of confidence in him by a new, empowered selection committee.Opener Salman Butt has also made a comeback into the squad, having been dropped after a disappointing tour to England last year. Talat Ali, recently appointed manager of the team for two years, will also be the acting coach for the three-match series.Pakistan are without Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar. Younis is currently turning out for Yorkshire, while Shoaib is not yet fully fit.Squad
Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Najaf Shah.

Ryan Watson is set to be named as Scotland’s new captain after Craig Wright resigned following the team’s disappointing performance in the World Cup.”I can’t see anyone other than Ryan Watson becoming captain,” Roddy Smith, the chief executive, old The Scotsman. “I think Ryan will be at the forefront of the selectors’ thoughts.”Watson stood in when Wright flew home after a family bereavement, leading the team against South Africa. Although Wright returned for the final match yesterday, he immediately stood down. “I felt it was the right time to give someone else an opportunity to make their mark,” he explained.