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Shaun Pollock has failed to recover from a long-term ankle injury, and will not participate in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe in Durban on Sunday. Pollock, who also missed the first match at The Wanderers, is likely to be replaced by Charl Langeveldt.”It’s an opportunity to give Shaun more time to recover, and to bring back Charl after his injury,” Gerald De Kock, South Africa’s media manager told Reuters. He also said that South Africa can rest Graeme Smith, the captain, for the next game and Makhaya Ntini for the third one-dayer in Port Elizabeth.Langeveldt, who had fractured his hand in the Cape Town Test against England, will be back in the side after making an impressive Test debut. He played an important role in South Africa’s win in the third Test at Cape Town.South Africa won the first match by 165 runs and lead the three-match series 1-0.

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, has said it will be very hard for England’s top players to take part in future Indian Premier League (IPL) tournaments because of the international schedule. He added that the ECB was preparing to adapt their domestic Twenty20 Cup to attract more leading players and offer an alternative to the IPL.”It is a question of finding periods of the year for this [the IPL] to take place,” he told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek show. “We are one of the few countries who play in June, that is why our competitions are so successful because we can attract the best players in the world. That is why we believe that an English Premier League will be very successful including a broad range of cricketers.”An expanded Twenty20 Cup is on the agenda of the ECB meeting this week and changes could take place as early as this season’s tournament in June. An increase in overseas players is one option on the table with more drastic changes being discussed for the 2009 event.Recently, Kevin Pietersen has said that frustration is growing that England players are unable to take advantage of the money on offer. Dimitri Mascarenhas is the only representative from England, have coming to a deal with Hampshire who will release him for two weeks.There has been talk of the IPL being brought forward so it doesn’t clash with the start of the English domestic season, but there isn’t much room in a congested calendar. “The obvious time for the IPL to play is April and May, but that clashes with the start of our international season,” said Collier.”We play New Zealand on May 15 in England, for our players to take part their schedule has to come forward a few weeks to fit into that calendar. We should also not forget that we go to the West Indies in the spring of next year. The IPL has said that the tours programmes will take precedence, and clearly that will clash with us being in the West Indies.”Collier also said that it will take time to find out how commercially successful the IPL will be and that it will have to operate at a loss for some time. “Certainly if you look over a five-to-10-year period, we can believe the claims that Indian cricket is worth a billion dollars,” he said. “But there are 10 franchises, and every one has a turnover of about eight million dollars, it is being said in India that those franchises will be making a loss for a number of years.”That is not unusual, in the US when franchises start, they make losses for a number of years. But if you are investing in such numbers, you expect a return in the not-too-distant future, and that will happen in India. But it will not be for a while.”

Your body language looked really different in the preand post-match press conferences at the Kolkata Test. It seemed like it was a big relief for you to win.
Yeah, it is. As captain you go through these periods. Especially when you’re playing such a big series in a country where fortunes go up or down in the space of one or two games. So it probably does affect the mood of the person leading the side.Before the Kolkata Test you had Ranadeb Bose and Shib Sankar Paul come in and bowl to you. You had extra net sessions …
I just have a belief that if I work hard I will succeed. It’s worked for me over the last ten years. It’s worked even more off late, though I have not scored runs in the first two matches of this series. But in the last three or four years I have been pretty consistent. In England, Australia, the West Indies or the World Cup … wherever, I’ve been pretty consistent. I have a little routine that I stick to. I firmly believe that if I work hard and put in the effort it cannot go waste. It’s just that I didn’t get runs in the first Test, so I thought I’d put in a bit extra in the nets, get some more training in, before the second Test.You’ve bounced back from slumps before. The Brisbane innings was one of your best. How do you bounce back from a slump?
I think the last time I was in a bit of a slump was in 2001. That was around the time we won that famous series against Australia. After that I thought I did pretty consistently – 2002, 2003, 2004 – I don’t see this is a slump. It is just one or two innings where I haven’t got runs. I don’t think you can call this a slump. A slump is when it lasts six or seven months. It’s just a question of two or three innings, and as a batsman you’re trying to put in a bit of extra effort and get some runs.

It’s hard to be captain and batsman, isn’t it? What’s your strength as a batsman?
I think it’s hard to be captain and batsman. It’s the same for anyone who has to do the job. My biggest strength is confidence. I’m not as technically correct as a Dravid or Tendulkar or Jacques Kallis or whoever … but everybody has his strengths and weaknesses. My strength is my confidence and belief in my ability, and the manner in which I back myself.You’re under a bit of pressure now. How do you deal with it?
I don’t think I’m under any pressure. Obviously there will be criticism when you don’t score runs. It’s bound to happen in cricket. That’s something you have to accept – it’s part and parcel of professional sport. At the same time when I get a hundred, I get applauded. But I don’t think I’m under any external pressure. Obviously you’re expected to perform day-in and day-out in international cricket. When you go through two or three innings without runs it’s always going to happen that you are under pressure because of the expectations of you. I don’t think I’m under pressure of anything else. It’s just that I need to score.The opposition tends to attack the captain. Shahid Afridi bowled a bouncer to you first-up in the last Test …
He bowled a faster one that was down the leg and called wide. But, how will Afridi bowl a bouncer? This bouncer thing is crap. I’ve been playing for ten years now. You want me to believe that all these years people have not bowled bouncers to me and they’re doing it now? Going to Australia, Pakistan, West Indies … even in one-day cricket the bouncer is allowed. People don’t bowl bouncers to me? Obviously I’m not a great hooker or puller. Take the last Test match. It’s just that I played a poor shot. It’s not the short ball, it’s the shot selection that’s a problem.Four years and more is a long time as captain. Does that take a bit out of you?
It does take a bit out of you. But I’m fortunate enough to lead a side that has done wonderfully. We’ve gone to Pakistan and beaten them and if we can win this series that will be two in a row. The way we played in the World Cup, the way we played in Australia … the only team we’ve lost to is Australia and that too 2-1. It’s been hard, but I’ve enjoyed it because of the success that we’ve had.Not too long ago the press and the public were talking about how you were the captain that stood up to the best in the world. That you were a captain who backed youngsters and built a team. But now people seem to have forgotten that.
I don’t think so. I think that’s just a perception some people have. That’s what I personally feel, although some people might think otherwise. There is always a lot of negative talk that goes around in cricket. People do this either to get attention or sensationalise things. It’s not the journalists. It’s mostly the unsuccessful ones [former cricketers turned experts] who do this. Somebody with 15,000 international runs and 33 hundreds cannot be useless.Have you changed? As a captain, or as a player?
I don’t think I have changed as a captain. But I have changed as a batsman, because people have bowled differently to me. I think every batsman changes. Whatever people might say, I think I have played much better in the last three years than what I did when I started my Test career. People might not agree with me, but that’s how I feel.What’s the diagnosis? Is there a big innings around the corner somewhere?
I think there’s a big one around the corner. I always do. That’s what keeps me going. I think that’s what keeps all cricketers going. If after two or three failures you think you are finished, you won’t get far. All along, whenever I’ve played cricket, I’ve always believed there’s a big one around the corner. That’s just how I am.

Jason Gillespie says he was “not totally shocked” by Shaun Tait’s decision to take a break from cricket but he is certain Tait has not walked away for good. Gillespie said he had spotted several signs that Tait was struggling to handle the physical stress from his unusual bowling action.”Being a fast bowler and a pretty good mate, you pick up little things, and I could tell he was hurting for a while,” Gillespie told the . “Seeing his warm-ups, seeing him getting strapped and preparing for games, even walking back to his mark, there were some little signs there.”This has stemmed from physical pain. He has had trouble getting past some ailments and mentally that has got on top of him a bit. What he has done is a really brave thing. He could have kept going through the motions but that would not have helped anyone.”Gillespie said Tait had given indications during South Australia’s one-day game in Traralgon on Sunday, following his Test return in Perth, that he was not enjoying his cricket. “I knew things were bugging him a bit,” Gillespie said. “There were a couple of comments in the huddle or at drinks breaks that made my ears prick up. I certainly didn’t expect him to give the game away, but I wasn’t totally shocked, either.”I can absolutely guarantee he will be back. He is 24, he went from playing cricket in the hills to playing professional cricket very quickly. It takes some time for your body and mind to adjust to that. It has got on top of him, but I am very confident he will be back. I have had a couple of messages from him saying ‘I’ll be fine’ and he will be. He just needs to take a bit of time away.”Another of Tait’s South Australia colleagues, the now-retired Darren Lehmann, who is also the Australian Cricketers’ Association president, said Australia needed to be aware of the pressures on young cricketers. “We have to make sure we have mechanisms to ensure these young cricketers develop as people and not succumb to a vicious circle of homesickness,” Lehmann said in the . “It is great representing your country but behind the glamour there are the empty times and heartache of missing friends and family at home.”

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

Sri Lanka finally fought their way out of a poor patch with their first win of the VB Series at the Gabba which has thrown the tournament wide open. It may be just their third win in their last 13 one-dayers, but it was a resounding one, crushing South Africa by 94 runs. Kumar Sangakkara and Jehan Mubarak both struck fifties to propel them to 6 for 282, which proved to be an insurmountable total on an excellent pitch.It was a swift comedown for South Africa after the jubilation of beating Australia, at last, earlier this week. And when the post-mortem comes in the dressing room, the toss will probably be first up for dissection. Graeme Smith chose for his team to endure a long, hot day in the field and then, after falling early for three, he watched his side grind their way towards inevitable defeat on a used pitch. Afterwards he was adamant he did the right thing. “The pitch played well right through,” he said. “Our basics let us down.”He can say that again. Basically, South Africa dropped catches, bowled waywardly and then their batsmen were hopelessly outspun by the usual magic from Muttiah Muralitharan and some delightful legspin from Malinga Bandara: each grabbed three wickets. Jacques Rudolph and Mark Boucher both impressed with fifties, but theirs was a cause made hopeless from the outset as Chaminda Vaas started the rot with a controlled spell. He finished with 2 for 21 from eight overs.South Africa’s own attack wasn’t helped by being shorn of Nel, Ntini and Kallis and although Shaun Pollock inevitably held his end up – with 1 for 39 from his ten overs – the other bowlers were just too loose. But full marks to Sri Lanka for some stylish strokeplay.Sangakkara simply sizzled with his 88, while Mubarak dazzled in striking 61 from 67 balls, his highest international score. Sangakkara certainly used the flat surface well, and the pace of the ball, too, as he opened the face of the bat regularly and effectively. As usual, he was able to get himself a decent start but making it count was a bigger test for him, after getting out in the fifties twice in his last three innings.He was cantering along at nearly a run a ball in sight of his fifth ODI century before his wasteful dismissal at the hands of Pollock, a wicket prompted in part by Marvan Atapattu’s stickiness at the other end after Mubarak had fallen.While they were together, Sangakkara found a willing and able partner in Mubarak. The pair, who put on a well-deserved 108 for the second wicket, came out counterpunching and scored quickly after the early dismissal of Upul Tharanga.The dashing Mubarak played positively, his graceful hands caressing the ball to the boundary time and again, particularly square of the wicket, although he offered the odd well-timed straight drive, too.But he was lucky to celebrate his fifty after Johan Botha totally misjudged a chance in the deep off Monde Zondeki and missed the ball completely. As the bowler clasped his hands to his head, Mubarak ran three and brought up his half-century with a sheepish look, rather than the usual bat-waving. Botha made amends for the slip, though, with a quicker one which trapped Mubarak without too much further damage. Still, Mubarak’s was a richly deserved score in a smashing, confident display.Yet pumped up though it was, Sri Lanka’s eventual total still wasn’t quite as inflated as they would have hoped for until wickets slow-punctured their momentum in the later stages. Zondeki finally got in among the wickets in the first over of a more-controlled second spell – he removed Tillakaratne Dilshan – and, with Botha, he began to apply the squeeze to quieten Sri Lanka a touch. Credit must be given here to South Africa, who finally stepped up their game with some impressive fielding after those early fumbles.Their reply got off to a wobbly start and they were soon in trouble at 3 for 57. As wickets tumbled they soon fell behind the run-rate and when their Supersub Jacques Rudolph, in superb nick, became South Africa’s second run-out victim for 53, the momentum fell right away.Rudolph, in aggressive mode, strode to his well-constructed fifty with an array of shots – there were crashing cuts, dinky leg glances and some powerful drives. But he soon found himself in some difficulty against Muralitharan, who found immediate rip when he entered in the 18th over. From then on in it was all Sri Lanka and they will now head into their next clash on Sunday with Australia in buoyant mood.

Sri Lanka

Upul Tharanga c Boucher b Kruger 16 (1 for 33)
Jehan Mubarak lbw b Botha 61 (2 for 145)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Gibbs b Zondeki 15 (3 for 172)
Kumar Sangkkara 88 (4 for 211)
Mahela Jayawardene c Prince b Botha 14 (5 for 244)
Marvan Atapattu (6 for 259)

South Africa

Graeme Smith lbw b Vaas 3 (1 for 8)
Boeta Dippenaar b Kulasekara 10 (2 for 30)
Herschelle Gibbs run out (Perera/Sangakkara/Kulasekara) 7 (3 for 57)
Jacques Rudolph run out (Perera) 53 (4 for 93)
Ashwell Prince c Kulasekara b Bandara 29 (5 for 127)
Justin Kemp b Bandara 10 (6 for 152)
Shaun Pollock c Atapattu b Vaas 4 (7 for 179)
Andrew Hall b Muralitharan 4 (8 for 184)
Johan Botha lbw b Muralitharan (9 for 188)
Mark Boucher c Dilshan b Bandara 62 (188 all out)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Australia narrowly survived hurricanes from Chris Cairns and Kyle Mills and another terrible middle-order collapse to draw level in the Chappell-Hadlee Series at Sydney. Knowing New Zealand could steal the series before the final match at Brisbane on Friday, Australia produced a stronger defence than at the Telstra Dome, but were again stung by late resistance.New Zealand required the highest score in a run-chase for a one-day international at the SCG and were in reasonable shape until Brad Hogg claimed the important breakthroughs of Stephen Fleming and Jacob Oram as their middle-order folded. A bright partnership between Cairns and Brendon McCullum, who fell leg-before despite a thick edge, lifted their spirits and they rose higher as Mills hit out. But their brave challenge ended 17 runs short when Glenn McGrath bowled the injured Chris Harris.Arriving in desperate danger at 5 for 84, Cairns launched a stinging counter-attack that included two huge sixes off Hogg and Darren Lehmann. As long as Cairns stayed his side was a chance of winning. He raised his half-century from 39 balls, but departed immediately after to a skied catch to McGrath and victory was being celebrated in the 35th over (7 for 154).Harris, who dislocated his right shoulder and tore a rotator cuff while fielding in his 250th one-day international, was sitting in the dressing-room with his arm in a sling and the danger seemed to have passed. Mills had his own ideas and walloped four sixes to cut the target down to a run-a-ball with six overs remaining. Harris wandered out with his runner Hamish Marshall and Australia sweated for nine more balls.

It was an amazing match for power hitting, with Mills’s 44 from 26 pushing Cairns’s knock to the third most exciting of the day. Adam Gilchrist had set off another fireworks exhibition after making 68 under the Telstra Dome roof and deposited short balls to the point and square-leg boundaries. Gilchrist really exploded in a three-over onslaught of eight fours and one six as the Kiwi bowlers went for 14, 19 and 11 in successive overs; Matthew Hayden contributed a single in that time.Cairns was called to stop the flood of runs, but Gilchrist treated him the same way as Mills and Oram, blasting his fourth ball for six over square leg to bring up a 37-ball half-century. Like any good fireworks display, Gilchrist’s innings of 60 from 47 deliveries was over while a sparse crowd still wanted more.Australia were desperate for an extra boost after 26 overs when they had lost 4 for 8 to be 5 for 148, giving up a spectacular beginning in eerily similar fashion to Melbourne. Mills, returning from an early thrashing, picked up Ricky Ponting with a slower ball, and trapped Damien Martyn leg-before, while Daniel Vettori, who ended with 1 for 36 off 10 controlled overs, dismissed Andrew Symonds for his second consecutive duck.Again Australia looked like reaching 300 comfortably, and again Lehmann began the rebuilding process. His 74-run partnership with Brad Hogg, whose valuable support collected 41, gave the innings a second wind and he finished with his second one-day half-century in a row.Having watched their opponents waste a strong position, New Zealand then copied them. Fleming won an entertaining early battle with Brett Lee but attacked Hogg’s first delivery and was given out by the umpire Peter Parker when hit on the front pad (4 for 78).Mathew Sinclair and Fleming appeared settled before New Zealand lost two wickets in as many overs. Jason Gillespie tempted an edge from Sinclair with a short ball and Hayden took a sharp catch to his left at first slip, while Scott Styris was lbw to the medium-pace of Symonds, although he appeared to get an inside edge (3 for 68). Hogg then turned things further Australia’s way to finish with three wickets and the Man-of-the-Match award.

Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chairman, has called for a bigger share of the money which goes to the 18 first-class counties to go to those who host Tests.As things stand, all counties receive around £1.35 million from the ECB, although those which host major matches do receive extra income – in Yorkshire’s case, that amounts to around £500,000.Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Graves critcicised the way the money was distributed. “As I see it, the problem is that the first-class counties have always had the vote on this and when you consider there are something like six counties with Test grounds and 12 counties without Test grounds, it doesn’t take a genius to work out what’s happening.”I fully understand the other side of an argument, but we’ve got a Test ground and all the costs that go with that, so I think that needs to be taken into account.”Closer to home, Graves also slammed the county committee, which was formed to represent and raise the membership, accusing it of being “a talking shop in need of an overhaul”.He told the paper: “So far, the members’ committee hasn’t worked and I’m not going to make any secret of that fact. It’s supposed to help attract more members but, as far as I can tell, it hasn’t been successful. The Yorkshire board doesn’t run this committee; the committee appoints its own chairman and it’s up to its members at the end of the day. The committee can still have a useful role to play, but it certainly needs to be more pro-active.”Few on the committee would seem to disagree with that, although some members say the board is to blame. Simon Parsons, who resigned from it last year in frustration at its lack of power, said: “The members’ committee does not serve any useful function. It is a waste of time, a pointless exercise. It has no powers and, consequently, does not have the ability to best serve members’ interests, which was the whole point of its creation.”Although some believe the committee has served its purpose and should be wound up, Graves was not in agreement. “It can still work, but it needs to be more than a talking shop and, in some cases, a moaning shop. It needs to move forward for the good of the club.”

Michael Hussey, the stand-in captain, says Australia will look to regain confidence for the World Cup in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy after their shock CB Series finals loss to England. Hussey is leading the team for the three matches starting in Wellington on Friday after Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist were rested from the week-long tour.”I just want us to focus on playing well in this Chappell-Hadlee series and we’re looking to win the series,” Hussey told reporters before the team left Melbourne. “We don’t want to focus on the World Cup and look too far ahead.”The team is excited, we’ve had a huge summer here in Australia, but we’re looking forward to getting away and playing some good cricket. We’re trying to change the momentum a little bit and get our confidence back a little bit, but I’m sure we’ll put in an excellent showing over there.”With Ponting and Gilchrist absent and Michael Clarke nursing a hip injury, Matthew Hayden is the only certainty out of Australia’s first-choice top four. Hussey batted at No. 6 throughout the CB Series and said team balance would dictate where he would slot into the order in New Zealand.”As captain you’ve got the luxury of getting to choose where you would like to bat,” he said. “I’ll sit down with John Buchanan and we’ll try to work out what the best balance for the team is and then I’ll fit in there.”If my role is best for the team coming in and playing that finishing role then that’s what I’ll do. If the team thinks I need to go up the order and try and bolster the middle-order in that way, or the team thinks I need to open the batting, then I’ll do whatever is best for the team.”Hussey, who averages 68.65 in one-day internationals, said he was in good shape despite two failures in the finals against England, when he fell to Andrew Flintoff for 17 and 0. “I still think I’m hitting the ball well in the nets but obviously my results haven’t been as I would have liked in the last couple of games,” he said. “I’m sure if I stick to my plans I can still be successful and consistent for Australia for a while yet.”

After continuous suspense for the last 48 hours the Indian board’s AGM has finally begun in Kolkata. Central minister Sharad Pawar was nominated as candidate for the post of president by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.All of yesterday, the opposing lobby supporting Pawar had accused the ruling dispensation under Jagmohan Dalmiya and Ranbir Singh Mahendra of trying to scupper the elections. With the leaking of Greg Chappell’s scathing email on Saurav Ganguly sent to the BCCI to a Bengali daily, supposedly close to Dalmiya, another dimension has been added to the snowballing crisis in Indian cricket.But even as the AGM gets underway the Dalmiya-Mahendra faction have filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court seeking its adjournment. Their argument is that the three observers appointed by the court do not have the right to overrule decisions made by the board president at least in the conduct of the AGM.On Thursday, the Kolkata High Court had stayed the AGM which was originally scheduled for 12.30 PM yesterday. Justice Soumitra Sen ruled that a three member panel – comprising former chief justices of India K N Singh and M M Punthi, and retired Supreme Court justice S C Sen — will act as observers and preside over the election process.The AGM did assemble briefly yesterday with one of the observers — Justice S C Sen — in the chair but was later adjourned. The official version is that the meeting has been adjourned and will be held again after the other two observers arrive in town. The opposing lobby has, on the other hand, said that the meeting could only have been “adjourned” if it had been convened in the first place.In his ruling Justice Soumitra Sen has ordered that all disputes regarding eligibility and disqualification of voters for the BCCI elections would be decided by the three-member panel before the election begins. In case of differences in opinion among the observers, the majority decision would be valid, the judge added. According to Justice Sen the entire problem is a result of the absence of specific and clear election rules.Pawar, who had lost a closely-fought election to the present incumbent Ranbir Singh Mahendra last year, has decided to contest again.According to PTI, Farooq Abdullah, president of the JKCA which has nominated Pawar, “A good consensus was worked out 15 days back. It was decided that Mahendra will continue for another year following which Pawar would take over the reigns in 2006. The Dalmiya group initially agreed to it but later went back on its word and said that they wanted Mahendra to be in the post till he completed his three-year tenure.”Earlier, the Madras High Court had dismissed a petition filed by a Chennai-based club thus initally paving the way for the elections to be held today itself.The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, run by AC Muthiah, who are opposed to the present dispensation run by Dalmiya, had moved the Madras High Court to pre-empt Mahendra from crucially tilting the scales by being both chair and candidate for the AGM. But the Kolkata-based Kalighat Club, affiliated to the Dalmiya-led Cricket Association of Bengal moved the Calcutta High Court and got it to appoint an observer of its own.

The trial of the former Zimbabwean international Mark Vermeulen has been further adjourned until April 3, 2007.The defence and state both need to examine the medical reports and outcome of a brain scan on Vermeulen before the trial can commence. Two medical reports carried out by state specialists have already been received by the Harare provincial magistrate William Bhila, but a further brain scan is due at Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital ahead of the trial.Vermeulen is accused of setting fire to the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) boardroom at Harare Sports Club on October 30 ,2006. The fire destroyed the air conditioning system, curtains and carpet before it was put out by the Harare Fire Brigade. Vermeulen, 27, is also charged with setting another fire the following day, which destroyed property worth millions of dollars at the ZC Academy at Highlands Country Club in Harare.The thatched roof and trusses were destroyed, including computers, office accessories and video equipment. Also burnt were the playing kit and equipment of the national squad who were in camp at the academy at that stage while preparing for their end of year tour to Bangladesh.In the interim, Vermeulen has made a promising return to club cricket turning out for Old Hararians in the local leagues thanks to the relaxed bail conditions afforded to him by the courts.