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Michael Papps will replace Jamie How at the top of New Zealand’s order for their Test tour of South Africa in November. Kyle Mills has been named after recovering from his knee injury and Ross Taylor is in line for his Test debut but there was no space for Lou Vincent or Craig McMillan in the 15-man squad.Mathew Sinclair was also overlooked despite playing New Zealand’s last two Tests, against Sri Lanka in December. Combined with the retirement of Nathan Astle, the changes mean the line-up that faces South Africa will be a very different one to that which drew the Sri Lanka series.James Franklin, the left-arm fast-medium bowler, was left out as he continues to recover from a knee injury, although the selectors hope he will be available for the one-day series that follows the two Tests. Mills has not played since the CB Series in Australia in January and will be thrilled with the call-up after resigning himself to a comeback through Auckland this coming season. Mark Gillespie has been recognised for his strong first year of ODI cricket and could make his Test debut.Craig Cumming has retained his spot despite not earning a national contract this season, while Papps pushed in front of How after an outstanding domestic campaign for Canterbury in 2006-07 when he led the State Championship run tally with 1005 at 91.36.”The selectors are looking to form a quality opening partnership,” New Zealand’s coach John Bracewell said. “Cumming is the incumbent and is acknowledged as a quality player of pace, while Papps is being rewarded after an excellent domestic season.”Daniel Vettori will be leading the side for the first time in Tests, while Stephen Fleming has been included in the unfamiliar role of batsman only.The players depart on October 18 and have two warm-up matches before the two Tests at Johannesburg and Centurion, the first of which starts on November 8. A Twenty20 international and three ODIs follow but the limited-overs squad will not be announced until after New Zealand A’s practice matches against Australian state sides in Queensland next week.Squad Craig Cumming, Michael Papps, Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason, Chris Martin.

ScorecardBangladesh U-19 overcame a top-order wobble on the final day to draw their only Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi.Having eked out a narrow first-innings lead of 15, Bangladesh found themselves struggling at 80 for 5, Mohammad Rameez continuing his impressive form and picking up two wickets. At that point, Bangladesh were effectively 95 for 5, with much of the day still remaining.But Marshall Ayub and Rony Talukder organised the fightback, steering the lower order into adding another 190 runs and essentially saving the game. Ayub’s 59 came in a little over two and a half hours, while Talukder added to his hundred in the first innings with another fifty.Rameez, who took four wickets in the first innings, added another three as Bangladesh were finally dismissed, setting Pakistan an improbable 289 from 23 overs. Ahmed Shehzad used the time for further batting practice, adding to his first-innings century, an unbeaten 46 as the sides agreed to call off the match with seven overs remaining. Still enough time, however, for opener and vice-captain Shan Masood to bag a pair.

If there was one question in recent years that has been asked more than any other in New Zealand One-Day International cricket it would have to be, “How does Craig Spearman keep his place in the Black Caps?”The answer has been confined to the New Zealand cricket selection panel.Glenn Turner first picked Spearman to international duty in 1995/96 as one of his choices to implement the blazing top order assaults Turner wanted.Going into yesterday’s ODI with Zimbabwe in Harare, Spearman with an average of 17.41 after 44 matches had seen off Turner and Ross Dykes as selection conveners and had won over the new man Sir Richard Hadlee.This despite the fact that his best score was 78 scored against the United Arab Emirates in the 1996 World Cup. He twice scored 68, in the 1996 World Cup against the Netherlands and against India at Rajkot last summer.He was overdue, well overdue.However, New Zealand cricket is still overdue for some fire at the top of the order.It is amazing that since the days when Turner and Bruce Edgar were paired in the mid-1980s and John Wright and Edgar shared the duties before that, New Zealand has not enjoyed a consistently successful opening pair.There were some heady days at the 1992 World Cup when Mark Greatbatch and Rod Latham were paired but they were fleeting.What makes the opening question all the more frustrating is that another of Turner’s selections, Nathan Astle has blossomed as a one-day opener. He’s scored eight ODI centuries and has had five scores in the 90s.He is New Zealand’s most successful one-day batsman even if he has yet to claim the overall run scoring aggregate from Martin Crowe.Ironically, Spearman produced his highest score yesterday with 86 against Zimbabwe when he was originally named as a lower middle-order player. He only moved to No 3 when skipper Stephen Fleming was laid low with a stomach complaint.It is one of the indictments of New Zealand’s one-day play that only 14 centuries have been scored by openers, eight of them by Astle and three by Turner. Wright, Edgar and Crowe have scored the others.While Spearman lifted the monkey from his back, the problem at the top of the order still exists for New Zealand. Wicketkeeper Chris Nevin has a great opportunity to make his mark as a partner for Astle.With such a concentration of limited overs cricket at the start of the season, it would be helpful to New Zealand’s future, and its build-up to the next World Cup, if Nevin could solidify the opening berth and if Spearman could reap a harvest of consistency in the middle-order.Few batsmen hit the ball harder with so little effort than Spearman. He is capable of taking good attacks apart.If New Zealand could rely on a top order assault from Astle, Nevin and Spearman, what fireworks there could be.Zimbabwe was just a start for Spearman. He has had generous selectorial support. It is dividend time for New Zealand.A final thought on the Zimbabwe match.Zimbabwe was always going to struggle after the loss of Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin.But New Zealand went into the game without Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Geoff Allott who were all injured and Fleming couldn’t bat due to illness.Daryl Tuffey and Glen Sulzberger made their ODI debuts. They have both been part of New Zealand’s coherent development policy. It is but one step but some depth is finally starting to emerge.

The Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision to name a home umpire and not staging the final starting tomorrow on a netural territory has caused controversy here.The ACC named Athar Zaidi along with Australian Daryl Harper for the title match between Sri Lanka with Justice Ebraheem as the match referee. Interestingly, both the league matches in the competition were supervised by third country umpires. Peter Manual and Darrell Hair stood at Multan while Riazuddin and Rudi Kuertzen were incharge at Colombo.Similarly, the inaugural championship was also played under third country umpires. The sudden change in the rules has surprised the Sri Lankan management. But they have not lodged any protest claiming they were on a goodwill tour. The PCB were quick to place the responsibility on the ACC saying it was not the organizing board.”The ICC named one third country umpire and a match referee on the request of the ACC. I think the ACC is the competent authority to clarify the matter.” a PCB spokesman said.The visitors also played down why the match was not staged on a netural venue. “I am not sure exactly what the rules are, to be honest. But in this case, the team is very happy to be in Pakistan,” Lankan coach Dave Whatmore said. “A request was made and we accepted.”

Dennis Lillee, the former Australian fast bowler, has signed with the Delhi Daredevils as a consultant.”It feels great to be a part of GMR Sports [the company that owns the franchise] and Delhi Daredevils. I’ve known many of the young players in the Delhi Daredevils squad and am naturally delighted to be part of this team,” Lillee told PTI. “While players like Glenn McGrath are legends by their own right, I am looking forward to work with upcoming talents such as Pradeep Sangwan and Yo Mahesh.”However, Cricinfo has learned that Lillee will continue to be involved with the MRF pace academy, where he is the main consultant and works on a tri-annual basis. With the Daredevils, his expertise will mainly be used after the end of the tournament’s first edition, to sustain and improve upon the their preparations.TA Sekar, Lillee’s colleague at the MRF academy, and a member of the Daredevils’ team-management, said Lillee’s experience in tutoring bowlers would come in handy. “I’ve known Dennis for more than two decades now. His advice has helped groom hundreds of young fast bowlers in India and abroad. We are indeed fortunate to have him among us,” he said.Virender Sehwag, the Daredevils’ captain, speaking about Lillee’s appointment, said: “His presence in the Delhi Daredevils dressing room will no doubt bolster our resolve to win,”Lillee will work in collaboration with fellow Australian Greg Shipperd, who took over as coach, having previously worked with Victoria in the 2007-08 domestic season in Australia.

ScorecardAssam lost three quick wickets towards the end of the day as Services, who had earlier taken their innings to 406, pressed home their advantage. Although Services lost two quick wickets in the morning after starting the day on 272 for 5, Ashish Mohanty and Surender Patwal added 86 for the eighth wicket to put Services in charge. Mohanty scored 57 and Patwal 34. Kushaljit Das took four wickets for Assam.Assam had made a good start as S Suresh and Palash Das made Services wait for 18 overs for the first wicket. But then three came in the space of 16 runs, Rakesh Kumar taking two in three overs.
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Haryana dismissed half the Jammu & Kashmir side for 92 after they had posted 404 to tighten their hold over the match. Jitender Billa, in his second first-class match, struck thrice to leave J&K reeling, despite a half-century by Arshad Bhatt.Earlier overnight batsmen Sachin Rana and SS Viswanathan strengthened Haryana’s position before Amit Mishra scored 54 to take them past 400. Rana scored 132 and Viswanathan 65.
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Manish Vardhan, the Jharkhand captain, scored an unbeaten century to take Jharkhand to 213 for 1 and to give them every chance to secure a first-innings lead against Goa’s 336. Vardhan batted at a fast pace, hitting 15 boundaries in his 157-ball 113. He was supported well by opening partner Subroto Ghosh who scored 57. For the first wicket, the duo added 103 runs.Earlier, thanks to Aditya Angle’s cameo, Goa took their overnight 251 for 7 to 336. Angle scored 45 off 60 deliveries 50 runs for the last wicket with Harshad Gadekar.
ScorecardVidarbha took the last five Gujarat wickets for 40 runs and their batsmen turned in a steady performance to put them in a position from where they can go for the first-innings lead. Gujarat could add only 42 to their overnight 270 for 5 as Mohammad Hashim took four of the wickets to fall today to finish with figures of 4-63.After Vidarbha lost their first wicket for one, Faiz Fazal put them on the recovery track. Ravi Jangid, making his first-class debut, came in at 84 for 3 and scored an unbeaten half-century to see Vidarbha attain the upper-hand in the match.
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The Railways lower-order frustrated Madhya Pradesh, and added 208 runs resuming from 256 for 5. Raja Ali and Karan Sharma scored half-centuries and Mahesh Rawat added 25 to his overnight 50. Ali missed his century by 12 runs and Sharma scored 61. Sanjay Pandey took three of the five wickets to fall today to add respectability to his figures.In reply, MP made a steady start as they finished the day at 50 without loss.

The Sri Lanka team was named as the recipient of the Spirit of Cricket Award at the ICC Awards celebration in Johannesburg on Monday.The Spirit of Cricket Award was presented to the team which, in the opinion of the elite panel of umpires and referees and the captains of the ten Test teams, has best conducted themselves on the field within the spirit of the game. The award was presented to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene by former South Africa batsman Jonty Rhodes.Upon receiving the award on behalf of his team Jayawardene said: “I think it’s important to remember the spirit of cricket. We try to enjoy what we do, playing against other countries. That was shown in the World Cup with Ireland – they really enjoyed themselves there and it was great to play against that team too.”We are there to win a match but we are also entertainers as well. The most important thing we can do is enjoy the game. We are very lucky to do what we do and it is vital that we remember that. We play a different brand of cricket and we all enjoy playing. There is so much pride to wear the cap for our country. Spirit of cricket can be explained in many different ways.”This Spirit is described in the preamble to the Laws of Cricket: “Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”This is the first time Sri Lanka has won the award, after England collected the last two and New Zealand took the honour at the inaugural ICC Awards in 2004. Sri Lanka was one of several teams that demonstrated the Spirit of Cricket to great effect over the past 12 months and they narrowly defeated Ireland and New Zealand for the prize.

ScorecardYorkshire’s hopes of winning the Pro Arch Trophy were dented by Sussex who beat them by nine runs in the tournament’s penultimate match.Yorkshire need to beat UAE in the final match to finish level on points with Lancashire and Somerset, and they need a comprehensive win to overtake their Roses rivals.Sussex got off to a good start, reaching 110 for 1 before losing three wickets without addition. The middle order rallied to boost them to 209 for 8, seemingly a below-par score in the conditions.Yorkshire also started well before losing their way, 19-year-old Will Beer taking two quick wickets and thereafter the innings fell away.

Five emerging men have been recalled to the Centre of Excellence as part of the 2008 intake, which includes a string of fringe national players on short-term deals. Cullen Bailey, the Cricket Australia-contracted legspinner, is on a part-time scholarship along with Cameron White and the talented allrounders Andrew McDonald and Luke Butterworth.Michael Hill, the Australia Under-19 captain, and the Queensland fast bowlers Ben Cutting and Grant Sullivan will return to the facility in Brisbane with Matthew Wade and David Warner after being part of the 2007 set-up. “It will provide them with an excellent opportunity to build on the skills they developed last year and during the recent season,” Andrew Hilditch, the national chairman of selectors, said. “There are a lot of players in the part-time squad that have quite a bit of first-class experience and this stint at the Centre of Excellence will help them further their development.”Bailey will get to work with Shane Warne and Terry Jenner, who will operate as guest coaches, as he tries to regain a spot in the South Australia team while the tuition will also be important for White, whose bowling has struggled while his batting has improved. The New South Wales pair of Steven Smith and Stephen O’Keefe join Victoria’s Jon Holland in the large group of spinners.The average age of the 13-man full-time squad is 21.2, which is almost 12 months younger than in 2007, and the 20-week programme begins on April 21. Ryan Broad, the Queensland opener, and the New South Wales allrounder Moises Henriques are also part of the full-time intake.Full-time scholars Ryan Broad (Qld), Ben Cutting (Qld), Theo Doropolous (WA), Peter Forrest (NSW), Moises Henriques (NSW), Michael Hill (Vic), Greg Moller (Qld), Stephen O’Keefe (NSW), Grant Sullivan (Qld), Matthew Wade (Vic), David Warner (NSW), Usman Khawaja (NSW), Jon Holland (Vic).
Part-time scholars Cullen Bailey (SA), Luke Butterworth (Tas), James Faulkner (Tas), Phillip Hughes (NSW), Andrew McDonald (Vic), James Pattinson (Vic), Steven Smith (NSW), Mark Cameron (NSW), Peter Siddle (Vic), John Hastings (Vic), Cameron White (Vic).
Development scholars Tom Brinsley (SA), Josh Hazelwood (NSW), Mitchell Marsh (WA).

Kent’s captain, Robert Key, has had his prospects of an England recall enhanced after being named by the England & Wales Cricket Board in a 26-man Performance Squad for the 2008 international summer.Key played the last of his 15 Tests against South Africa at Centurion in January 2005, but has been pressing his claims for a recall ever since being named as Kent’s captain in 2006. He began this season with a hard-fought 79 against Nottinghamshire at Canterbury, and would make a sound replacement should England’s middle-order continue to underperform in the coming Test series against New Zealand and South Africa.The bulk of the Performance Squad is made up of familiar names, although three uncapped players have made the cut. Hampshire’s opening batsman, Michael Carberry; Yorkshire’s legspinning allrounder Adil Rashid and the Kent offspinner James Tredwell are also included.England’s national selector, Geoff Miller, said that there was scope for four more players to be added to the squad in the course of the summer. “The England Performance Squad is designed to allow Peter Moores to closely monitor the development of international players,” he said, “and better prepare them for the demands of the international game.”The selectors can name up to 30 players in the EPS, but we have decided to keep four places vacant at present in order to give ourselves greater flexibility and we will reserve the right to add further players to the squad if their performances in domestic cricket merit it.Twelve of the 26 players in the squad are currently on 12-month ECB contracts, including Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, who were dropped from the Test side during last month’s tour of New Zealand, but the selectors decided against awarding any six-month contracts – not even to Stuart Broad and Tim Ambrose, the two young players who impressed the most in the Test series.”We were delighted with the progress made by several of our younger players during the winter. both with the full England side and the England Lions,” said Miller. “The awarding of contracts is based on our assessment of a player’s performance in international cricket over a period of time and we can, of course, opt to award contracts on a pro-rata basis during the middle of the domestic international season if appropriate.”England Performance Squad 2008 Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire), James Anderson (Lancashire) *, Ian Bell (Warwickshire) *, Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham)*, Alastair Cook (Essex)*, Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire) *, Stephen Harmison (Durham)*, Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)*, Robert Key (Kent), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Philip Mustard (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)*, Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)*, Matthew Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire),Owais Shah (Middlesex), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)*, Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)*, Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)*, Luke Wright (Sussex)* denotes centrally contracted player