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Michael Clarke will give Australia a view of the future when he leads the team in the Twenty20 international against New Zealand on Tuesday. Clarke, who is tipped to be the next Test captain, will step in for Ricky Ponting, who will miss the Perth match to allow the younger players to be on show.Clarke, 26, leap-frogged Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey – the move is sure to disappoint the local supporters – and he will be in charge of a squad including Adam Voges, Ashley Noffke and Shaun Tait. Gilchrist remained the vice-captain while Matthew Hayden was not picked.”It’s any young kid’s dream to captain their country, I’m stoked,” Clarke said at the SCG. Thoughts of being the new leader were the last things on Clarke’s mind when he heard the chief selector Andrew Hilditch, nicknamed Digger, wanted to speak to him.”When Digger gives you a call over the phone it’s normally for bad news,” Clarke said. “I thought ‘please tell me I’m not going to get dropped’. It certainly was a shock to me, I was a little bit speechless.”Hilditch said the appointment was made “to enhance the leadership skills of Michael Clarke to assure the long history of strong leadership of Australian cricket is continued into the future”. Hilditch also said the squad marked the start of preparations for the 2009 World Twenty20 in England. “It represents a clear indication that we will at all times be picking Twenty20 sides which will be specific to this form of the game,” he said.Voges, who made his ODI debut in February, came in as reward for his strong domestic form – he struck 180 in the current match in Hobart – while Noffke deserved his call after taking 24 Pura Cup wickets and scoring 490 runs. There was no spot for Ben Hilfenhaus, the out-of-form Tasmanian, but Tait was given a chance to continue his rehabilitation from a serious elbow problem.Clarke’s maturity since returning to the Test arena in 2006 impressed those around the team and he was Hussey’s deputy during last season’s Chappell-Hadlee Series until withdrawing with a hip injury. John Buchanan, the former coach, believes Clarke will be Australia’s next Test leader, Ponting has said he was the “obvious choice” and there were even predictions before his debut that he would captain his country.”This is a great opportunity, but there is no doubt Ricky is our leader and will be for a lot longer yet, but I’m certainly proud and honoured to be given this opportunity,” Clarke said. “For me it’s about trying to grab it with both hands and really enjoying every minute of it. I’ve spent a lot of time standing beside Ricky throughout my short career for Australia so I think I’ve learned a lot.”Clarke said he had consulted Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ian Chappell since coming into the Australian team. “Any young player would be silly not to.” Next Tuesday it will be him giving the instructions.Australia squad Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Adam Voges, Brett Lee, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.

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.”

The bat Don Bradman used during one of his final first-class centuries on Australian soil has been bought for $18,000.The bat was sold to a British collector bidding by phone at an auction in Sydney over the weekend. It had been expected to fetch $20,000.Bradman used the bat for an Australian XI against Western Australia at the Waca in March 1948. The match was staged before his 1948 Invincibles side boarded the boat to England and Bradman made 115.It was not, however, his last hundred in Australia. That came nine months later, for Bradman’s XI against Hassett’s XI, when he came out of retirement to hit 123 at the MCG.

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.”

Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI 364 for 7 (Langer 151, Bowden 75) v Sri Lankans
Scorecard

Justin Langer showed no ill effects from his foot injury, smashing 151 to guide the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI to 364 for 7 at the close of play on the first day of the tour match against the Sri Lankans at the Marrara Oval in Darwin.Langer bruised his left foot during training yesterday, but that hardly hindered his movement around the crease, as he and Rhett Bowden (75) revived the innings by piling on 181 for the third wicket. Lasith Malinga had earlier given the Sri Lankans some early success, nailing Ian Redpath and Simon Katich for ducks as the Minister’s XI slumped to 4 for 2. Malinga took two more wickets later in the day to finish with 4 for 75.Langer, who offered one chance when he had 90, was finally the sixth wicket to fall, bowled by Farveez Maharoof (274 for 6). Martin Brown and Darren Treumer then added 90 more for the seventh wicket before Brown was out for 45 just before the close.This is Sri Lanka’s only match before the Test series, which starts at Darwin next Thursday (July 1).

A senior official of the Canadian Cricket Association has denied accusations that the pitch being prepared for the Intercontinental Cup tie between Canada and Bermuda at Sunnybrook, Toronto will in any way be substandard.Several individuals contacted us in recent days to voice their concerns that the grass pitch at Sunnybrook will not be adequate for a first-class match, pointing out that preparations started too late on a ground where there have been no matches played on anything other than artificial surfaces since 2001.But speaking to Dave Liverman of the canadacricket.com website, Ron Aldridge, a long time volunteer and supporter of Canadian cricket and chair of the successful ICC organising committee, explained that the situation was not as portrayed.Aldridge denied that the move to Sunnybrook was made as late as last week, insisting that the original intention to play the game at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club (TCSCC) had been scrapped because of the financial demands of the TCSCC. He said that the TCSCC had been approached in April, although a source close to the club remained adamant that no formal approach had been made until the end of July.Two other alternatives with decent grass pitches – King City and Ajax – were dismissed by the CCA as King City’s wickets were said to be in a poor condition after a harsh winter, and Ajax had had little cricket played on grass and there was thought to be insufficient time to prepare a wicket.As a result, Aldridge said that pitches had been prepared at Sunnybrook and Ross Lord (the latter as a back-up) but that he was confident that the playing surface would be ready for the game starting on August 13. He added that many of the criticisms levelled at the state of the pitch were incorrect. He also explained that there would be adequate facilities available on the ground.For the sake of Canadian cricket it has to be hoped that Aldridge is right, although this venture still appears to be a considerable gamble.Click here for the full canadacricket.com report.

As Sourav Ganguly and Adam Gilchrist exchanged pleasantries after theunveiling of the TVS Cup, with the incongruous Star Wars theme blaring in thebackground, it was difficult to escape the impression that theintensity and gamesmanship might come down a notch in the absence ofStephen Rodger Waugh. But while you might see a little less lip out inthe middle, it’s impossible to overstate how much this rivalry nowmeans to both sides.Despite Gilchrist cleverly negating ideas of final frontiers andcrossings, the fact is that any team with legitimate aspirations to beranked on par with Clive Lloyd’s West Indians and Don Bradman’sAustralians has to win against India in India. Only two teams havemanaged that since Mike Gatting came and had a few too many prawns in1984-85. They are Imran Khan’s Pakistan, who edged a thriller at this veryground in 1986-87, and Hansie Cronje’s South Africans, who crushedIndia at Mumbai and Bangalore in 1999-2000, only to have the veneer ofgreatness scratched away by the match-fixing scandal that followed.India haven’t enjoyed playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in recenttimes, with two defeats and a draw in three matches played since 1998.Michael Kasprowicz, who will be a key performer tomorrow, stopped thein-form Sachin Tendulkar in his tracks that March duringa magnificent spell of 5 for 28, and two years later, it was theinnocuous left-arm spin of Nicky Boje that sent India hurtling todefeat in Mohammad Azharuddin’s 99th and final Test.Australia will enjoy the temperate weather, and despite JohnBuchanan’s initial alarm on seeing the playing surface, they shouldn’tbe too put out by the pitch. As hard and flat as a concreteslab, with every blade of grass hacked away, you could mistake it forthe Atacama in the heat of summer. But, having been rolled to extremeflatness, it’s unlikely to crumble until at least the fourthafternoon.There has been much talk of how the pitch will abet the efforts of AnilKumble, who needs just three more wickets for 400, and Harbhajan Singh,but it seems extremely foolish to ignore the legend that is ShaneWarne. Neither captain was asked a question about Warne, and such a slightcould be just the inspiration that the man nicknamed Hollywood needs toscript a blockbuster.

Lest it be forgotten, Rahul Dravid’s pedigree was questioned by someafter his first innings failure at Brisbane last December, largely owing to the fact that his previous tour of Australia had producedjust 93 runs in three Tests. Like Dravid, Warne has too much in hislocker to keep failing in conditions that will suit him.Yesterday, Warne was quoted as saying that Brian Lara was thethird-best batsman in the world, after Sachin Tendulkar and daylight.And the absence of India’s little big man could be a big factor in theoutcome of this match, and the series. India will not only missTendulkar’s batting, but also the legspin that accounted for crucialtop-order wickets in the famous victories at Kolkata and Adelaide. Moreimportantly, they will miss Tendulkar the icon, whose presence on theteamsheet demoralises the opposition, and Tendulkar the team-man, whosearm around the shoulder can galvanise a Harbhajan or a ZaheerKhan.By contrast, Australia have few worries. Michael Clarke will make hislong-awaited debut, despite the stray whisper that Shane Watson mighthave a role to play. And Brett Lee, a familiar presence in Indianadvertising campaigns, will surely be off-camera, with Glenn McGrath,Jason Gillespie and Kasprowicz providing a formidable pace array forGilchrist to employ. Though Kasprowicz joked yesterday about how he wasprepared for five days of back-breaking effort, there’s no doubt thatthe abrasive surface will delight bowlers who are adept atreverse-swinging a scuffed-up ball.India will need both Zaheer and Irfan Pathan to operate atmaximum potential against a line-up that appears far more balanced thanthe one that played in 2001. Simon Katich, Darren Lehmann, DamienMartyn and Clarke all play the turning ball with assurance, whileMatthew Hayden – unless he can be undone by some early movement – presents a mighty initial barrier for India to cross.Australia will undoubtedly target Dravid and VVS Laxman – 965 runs inhis last six Tests against Australia – who have been the linchpins ofthe batting effort even when Tendulkar was in the side. VirenderSehwag’s recent form hasn’t been great, and there’s a perception amongthe Australians that both Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh have weaknesses,against genuine pace and spin respectively, that can be worked on.Ganguly’s stunning century at the Gabba last year made a mockery ofsuch plans, and it’s vital that he leads from the front again withexpectations having been raised to fever-pitch by the 1-1 draw in thatseries. Australia will undoubtedly play smarter cricket this timeround, conscious of how a gung-ho approach cost them at Kolkata in2001, as Gilchrist and gang attempt to go where no Australian teamhas gone since that controversial tour of 1969-70.It might not quite be Star Wars with Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting missing, but the watching world can certainly expect a Close Encounter of theTest-match kind.India (likely) 1 Aakash Chopra, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 VVSLaxman, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk),8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Irfan Pathan, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Anil Kumble.Australia (likely) 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Simon Katich, 4Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Adam Gilchrist(capt, wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11Glenn McGrath.

New South Wales 6 for 125 (M Waugh 18*, Nicholson 7*) trail Queensland 5 for 431 dec (Maher 116, Law 146*) by 306 runs
ScorecardNew South Wales’s hopes of defending their Pura Cup title disappeared down the Gabba plughole, as rain and bad light ruined the third day of their vital clash with Queensland. In that time, however, they still managed to lose two more wickets, including Steve Waugh for 8. When Aaron O’Brien followed for a fourth-ball duck, NSW were still 320 runs drift, and staring into the abyss.With NSW needing six outright points to stay alive in the competition, they will have to rely on some enterprising captaincy on the final day. It is possible that they might declare overnight in the hope Queensland will not enforce the follow-on and set up a last-day run-chase.

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

On a day dominated by the bowlers, West Indies had the upper hand for much of the first two sessions, but the Sri Lankans, spearheaded by the irrepressible Chaminda Vaas, fought back magnificently after tea to edge ahead after the second day at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Restricted to just 285 in their first innings, thanks to Sri Lanka’s effort with the second new ball, the West Indian fast bowlers hit back with a vengeance, dismissing the home team for just 227. But the onerous task of having to bat again under fading light against a marauding Vaas proved too much for West Indies’ inexperienced batsmen, and they struggled to 17 for 3, only 75 in front, before bad light mercifully ended their misery on a day in which as many as 17 wickets fell.The dominant player for Sri Lanka throughout the day was Vaas. He began West Indies’ first-innings slide early in the morning, propped up the Sri Lankan innings with an invaluable 49 – in the process ensuring that Sri Lanka’s last three wickets added 114 – and then returned to strike twice late in the evening to reduce West Indies to a shambles. In between, though, the West Indians had much the better of the exchanges.With so many of their top batsmen missing, bowling was always West Indies’ stronger suit in this game, and so it proved when Shivnarine Chanderpaul led his team out in the field about 40 minutes into the morning session. As had happened earlier this year in Guyana, when a depleted West Indian side dominated the South Africans thoroughly, the Sri Lankans quickly found that the match wasn’t quite the walk in the park many had expected it to be. All the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled to cope with the pace, bounce and movement extracted by the West Indian pace trio, especially Jermaine Lawson, who consistently clocked around 148kmph in his first spell.The slide started early, when Marvan Atapattu jammed at a well-directed yorker from Powell, but only managed to inside-edge the ball onto leg stump. Sanath Jayasuriya popped a catch to short leg, Mahela Jayawardene was all at sea before edging one to the slips, while Kumar Sangakkara, after mounting a brief counterattack, became Denesh Ramdin’s first victim (47 for 4).A 44-run stand between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera hinted at a fightback, but Banks struck for a second time, and when Samaraweera and Gayan Wijekoon fell to rank irresponsible shots, they had slid to 113 for 7, and West Indies’ total of 285 seemed a monumental one.Vaas then got to work, goading the lower order to stay with him and add vital runs. He started circumspectly, allowing Rangana Herath to do the bulk of the scoring in a 36-run eighth-wicket stand. When Herath was dismissed, West Indies could have been forgiven for thinking the end was near. Vaas had other ideas. With Muralitharan, he set about bringing a semblance of respectability to the total. Muralitharan started his innings in his usual carefree manner, but was soon playing some studied defensive strokes as Vaas coaxed runs out of him. Vaas himself played a splendidly calculated innings, striking the big hits when the fielders were in, and then settling for the ones and twos when the field was spread out. The 66-run stand reduced the deficit significantly, and it ensured that the Sri Lankans were in high spirits when they took the field.West Indies, having lost the initiative somewhat, threw it away completely in the last 30 minutes as Xavier Marshall, completely inept against the swinging ball, and Morton, both fell to Vaas’s inswingers. And when Sylvester Joseph was caught at silly point off Muralitharan, West Indies’ day had turned from promising to pear-shaped.Earlier, Vaas sparked West Indies’ collapse in the morning too, trapping Shivnarine Chanderpaul lbw before he could add to his overnight 69. Removing the tail was a mere formality for Vaas and Lasith Malinga, who finished with well-deserved figures of 4 for 71. At that point, the stage was set for a Sri Lankan run-fest. As it transpired, a further 13 wickets fell before the day was done.How they were outWest Indies 1st innings
Shivnarine Chanderpaul lbw b Vaas 69 (273 for 7)
Deceived by one which nipped back a shade and hit his back padDaren Powell c Jayawardene b Malinga 3 (276 for 8)
Edged an outswinger to third slipOmari Banks b Malinga 32 (281 for 9)
Defeated by a full delivery which swung late and took off stumpTino Best b Vaas 4 (285 all out)
Beaten comprehensively by an inswinging yorkerSri Lanka 1st innings
Marvan Atapattu b Powell 1 (4 for 1)
Jammed down on a yorker, but got an inside edge on to leg bailSanath Jayasuriya c Smith b Lawson 3 (7 for 2)
Got an inside edge onto pad, and the ball looped to short legMahela Jayawardene c Morton b Powell 3 (32 for 3)
Drove at a full delivery outside off and edged to second slipKumar Sangakkara c Ramdin b Banks 34 (47 for 4)
Got a thin edge while attempting a drive, giving Ramdin his first Test victimTillakaratne Dilshan c Smith b Banks 32 (91 for 5)
Prodded forward and offered a bat-pad catch to short legThilan Samaraweera c&b Lawson 11 (93 for 6)
Attempted to pull one from outside off, and top-edged a catch to the bowlerGayan Wijekoon c Joseph b Best 12 (113 for 7)
Slashed a drive off a wide ball and edged to third slipRangana Herath c Ramdin b Best 24 (149 for 8)
Edged a drive, and Ramdin brought off a spectacular catch diving in front of first slipChaminda Vaas b Smith 49 (215 for 9)
Got an inside edge while trying to driveMuttiah Muralitharan b Lawson 36 (227 all out)
Done in by a yorkerWest Indies 2nds innings
Xavier Marshall lbw b Vaas 2 (3 for 1)
Trapped in front by one which pitched on off and swung inRunako Morton lbw b Vaas 0 (3 for 2)
Another inswinging delivery, which had the batsman plumb in frontSylvester Joseph c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2 (15 for 3)
Offered a straightforward bat-pad chance to silly point

A 29-member preliminary squad for Pakistan A’s tour of Australia was announced on Thursday by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).Pakistan A skipper Hasan Raza, who was fined for indiscipline during the EurAsia Cricket Series in Abu Dhabi, heads the list.A Test discard, Raza and three other players were fined by the PCB after they were caught by the UAE police while traveling in a speeding car during the EurAsia Series.The Karachi batsman is expected to be retained as captain of the Pakistan A team for the tour of Australia starting in late June as he led the team to the title in the EurAsia Series in Abu Dhabi.Pakistan are to play four-day, one-day and Twenty20 matches during the tour of Australia, with Australia, India and New Zealand also sending their A teams for the series to be played in Cairns and Darwin.The national selection committee, headed by former Test cricketer Wasim Bari, has included several under-19 players in the preliminary squad. “We want to send some youngsters to Australia to give them some vital exposure,” said Bari.The players selected in the preliminary squad will attend a conditioning camp getting underway in Lahore from May 25. The final squad for the tour of Australia will be announced by June 11, said Bari.Preliminary squad: Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Hameed, Hasan Raza, Rafatullah Mohmand, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Yousuf, Shahzad Malik, Fawad Alam, Naved Latif, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Salman, Amin-ur-Rehman, Wasim Khan, Abdul Rehman, Tahir Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Asad Ali, Anwar Ali, Akhtar Ayub, Jamshed Ahmed, Najaf Shah, Asif Hussain, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammad Khalil, Rizwan Akbar, Samiullah Niazi, Saeed Anwar Jr, Imran Tahir and Naumanullah.