Amir plays club game, ICC seeks explanation

The ICC has written to the PCB asking for details into the appearance of Mohammad Amir in a friendly club match. Amir is currently provisionally suspended from all levels of cricket facing charges of spot-fixing placed by the governing body in the aftermath of the Lord's Test during Pakistan's tour of England in 2010.

Amir took part in a game in Rawalpindi on Monday, though the contest is not believed to carry any official status. But under the ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct, Amir - and Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, the other two players suspended - are not allowed to play even at club level if those clubs are affiliated to the regional cricket body - in this case the Rawalpindi Cricket Association - which is in turn, affiliated to the PCB. It is believed that the club Amir turned up for is not affiliated to the Rawalpindi association.

A spokesman for the Pakistan board said they were also investigating the matter. "Yes, we have come to the knowledge of Amir playing a match in Rawalpindi and we are investigating the matter," Nadeem Sarwar told AFP.

At the moment it is believed that the ICC has only asked for details of the appearance, after which it will decide whether or not it constitutes a breach of the code. Local officials in Rawalpindi say Amir apologised after appearing in the game, saying he wasn't sure whether or not he could play in a game at that level.

Amir, along with Butt and Asif, was suspended by the ICC after the spot-fixing row centering around pre-planned no-balls broke during the Lord's Test between England and Pakistan.

An ICC anti-corruption tribunal heard the case relating to the three suspended players in Doha, Qatar, last month and is due to announce its verdict on February 5.

Tahir a challenge for de Villiers?

Imran Tahir is being saved as a secret weapon by South Africa for use in next month's World Cup, but the opposition are not the only people he will catch by surprise. Wicketkeeper AB de Villiers has yet to stand behind the stumps to the Pakistan-born legspinner in a match situation.

Adjusting to a wrist spinner, may prove a "challenge," according to Daryn Smit, who is the wicketkeeper at the Dolphins franchise that Tahir plays for in domestic cricket. Tahir only moved to the Dolphins this season and Smit said he learnt to keep to the legspinner by playing against him previously. "I was lucky because I was able to pick him when I was facing him and that helped me when it came to keeping to him."

Tahir's biggest variation from the legbreak is his googly, which is also his wicket-taking ball. "The only way to pick it is to watch how it comes out of the hand," Smit said, indicating that it is not easily read off the pitch. "That's the real difficulty, because you can't be going one way for the legbreak and then he's actually bowling a googly."

Even though Smit adjusted quickly to keeping to Tahir in the first-class competition, he still found it testing to do the job in the MTN40 limited overs tournament because of the number of day/night games. "Imran is harder to pick up at night, especially when he makes subtle changes with his hand," Smit said. "Against a black sight-screen and under artificial lights, it takes some getting used to." Three of South Africa's six group stage matches are day-night affairs, including the opening match against West Indies. Both their warm-up games will be played under lights, so de Villiers should have at least one opportunity to get used to Tahir in the dark.

It appears that de Villiers has a tricky job ahead of him, but Smit is confident in his ability to adjust to Tahir, having known de Villiers since his youth. "A lot of people say AB is a part-time keeper, but I know that he isn't. At Under-19 level, I was the first-choice 'keeper and he was the back-up and he was a good keeper," Smit said.

de Villiers is not the only one who will have to adjust to having Tahir in the side. South Africa have not had an aggressive spinner since Paul Adams and Graeme Smith will have to learn how to manage Tahir. "He is an attacking spinner and that means he is going to go for runs. It may mean setting slightly more defensive fields," Smit said. He advised that a little bit of risk, in allowing Tahir to concede a few runs, will go a long way because "every time he bowls I feel he's got a chance to take a wicket."

While Smit is looking forward to seeing how Tahir fits into the South Africa side, the bulk of his anticipation is reserved simply for watching his team-mate make his debut. He said that everyone in the Dolphins squad is eager to see Tahir bowl on the international stage. "In this one-day series [against India], we waited for the starting line up every game to see if he was there. We all know what a matchwinner he can be and we know he will do well."

Although Tahir has no international experience, Smit thinks he is more than ready to step up to the big stage. "He has over 500 wickets at first-class level and even though it is very different to international cricket, the years of experience will have set him up well. The conditions in the subcontinent should suit his bowling style.

Rain wipes out second one-dayer

Queenstown is the place for adrenaline-junkies but there was little excitement on Wednesday as persistent rain allowed only 4.2 overs of play in the second one-dayer between Pakistan and New Zealand.

There were showers early in the morning, but it cleared up before start of play, raising hopes of the fans who had gathered. The rains returned, however, soon after Daniel Vettori chose to field, as every international captain has done after winning the toss in Queenstown.

New Zealand stuck with their plan of giving James Franklin the new ball, ahead of the much quicker Hamish Bennett, and it didn't work as 19-year-old Ahmed Shehzad took 16 off his two overs, including a smash over square leg for six off the third ball. Shehzad, playing his first one-dayer in 20 months, also slapped Tim Southee for a couple of fours before the rains returned, and stayed through the day to cause the match to be abandoned.

The third one-dayer of the series is in Christchurch on Saturday, and the bad news is that rain is predicted during that game as well.

Prior and Trott drive aggressive England

Matt Prior's attacking half-century provided England with a stunning start as they raced to 2 for 151 after 25 overs in the fourth ODI in Adelaide. The visitors must win the match to avoid losing the seven-game campaign with three fixtures to play and Prior and Jonathan Trott combined to deliver some early pain to the Australians.

Prior, who didn't score in his past two innings, sped to 67 off 58 deliveries with a series of brutal pulls and drives, while Trott was a little more considered in his 55 from 74. The pair put on 113 at almost a run a ball for the second wicket following the early loss of Andrew Strauss.

Prior wasted little time in getting going, flicking a boundary behind square off the expensive Brett Lee in the first over, and he soon hit him for another strong shot on the up through cover. Doug Bollinger was also targeted by Prior, who struck two off-side fours before Trott played a delightful straight drive in an over costing 14.

Australia had a couple of run-out chances and the worst miss came when Prior and Trott ended up at the same end after Lee's ball was defended by Trott on to the base of the stumps. Lee followed through but his wild throw back to the bowler's end was wide and Trott survived on 30. Lee's embarrassment worsened next ball when Prior pulled him off the front foot for six to bring up his fifty as England moved to 100 after 15 overs. He had already welcomed Lee back for his second spell with a lofted off-drive for four.

Steven Smith, the legspinner, was expensive in his first over but picked up the key wicket of Prior in his second when he cut to point. Xavier Doherty, the left-arm spinner, made an encouraging start as he exploited the slow pitch.

Strauss won the toss and was responsible for England's rapid start as the visitors skipped to 24 in three overs. By that stage Strauss was already gone for 8 after edging an attempted cut behind off Lee. Lee's first over went for 12 after he started with five wides down the legside, and he had 1 for 43 off five.

James Anderson, a key figure in England's dominant Ashes success, is back in the side after some time back home and he is the man assigned with lifting the attack. Kevin Pietersen, who was 10 not out, also returned after missing the previous match with a groin problem. 

Darren Bravo stars as T&T surge to the title

Trinidad & Tobago surged to the Caribbean T20 title for the second time in three years after beating Hampshire by 36 runs in the final at the Kensington Oval.

It was a fitting result, with T&T the best team in the tournament having won all their games bar a rained-off group fixture against Hampshire. Having already sealed their place in the lucrative Champions League by virtue of being the best Caribbean side, T&T were free to entertain in the final.

On the day it was Darren Bravo that starred, emphasising again the glittering talent that West Indies fans desperately hope can shine at the World Cup next month. In front of a healthy crowd he ensured Denesh Ramdin's decision to bat first was vindicated, despite an accurate start for Hampshire's new-ball pair.

Danny Briggs, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner who will return to the Caribbean with England Lions in February, gave Hampshire an ideal start by removing Adrian Barath in the first over. Alongside Simon Jones, who ended the tournament joint top wicket-taker with 12 at 10.25, the pair restricted T&T to 10 for 1 after three overs.

Thereafter, with the change in bowling, Darren Bravo cut loose. Tall, elegant and demonstrating again that Twenty20 batting extends beyond vein-popping power, he scythed five fours and two sixes in a 28-ball stay that changed the match. His clean striking down the ground, including a four and a six in successive deliveries from Chris Wood, was a notch above anything else in the game.

He found a willing partner is Lendl Simmons (31) and was eventually dismissed for 41 by the impressive Briggs. Ramdin's late flurry, making 33 from 19 deliveries pushed the score up to 147.

If the target looked difficult during the innings break, it became much harder after Ravi Rampaul's maiden first over. Jimmy Adams couldn't get him away and set the tone for a scrappy Hampshire effort with the bat. Johann Myburgh fell second ball to Samuel Badree, beaten by a tossed-up legspinner and after making a promising 23 James Vince was the next to go, missing a pull shot to be bowled by Jason Mohammad's offspin.

After 10 overs Hampshire 55 for 3 and had a chance but Sean Ervine, who may well have played his last game for Hampshire after rejoining the Zimbabwe set-up, fell to Mohammad and the chase fell away. Kevon Cooper picked up two wickets with his accurate medium-pace and despite a lone 28 not out from Benny Howell, Hampshire ended well short.

Meanwhile, the third-place play-off was a tighter affair with Jamaica holding off a spirited chase by Windward Islands to win by 9 runs.

The victory was crafted on Xavier Marshall's careful 36, an unbeaten 43 from 21 balls from Danza Hyatt and a solid all-round bowling effort.

Marshall struck four sixes before being run out while Hyatt scampered hard between the wickets to hold the Jamaica innings together. Around him wickets tumbled as none of No.5 to No. 9 reached double figures. Nelon Pascal finished with 3 for 21 from his four overs but Hyatt ensured a competitive 153 was posted.

The Windward batsmen were guilty of not making the best of good starts as seven of the line-up reached double figures, with nobody passing Linden Lawrence's 36. Aside from the expensive Andre Russell, who leaked 49 from four overs, the Jamaica bowlers with a picture of parsimony.

Sheldon Cotterrell top and tailed the innings with the wickets of Johnson Charles and Keon Peters and David Bernard took three wickets.

The Windward innings forever threatened, with Gary Mathurin reaching 25 from 13 balls to set-up what looked like a late charge to victory, before he was undone by Bernard. Odean Brown's legspin was dangerous throughout the innings and he picked off three wickets to ensure Jamaica the spoils.

Inzamam slams delay in naming World Cup captain

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said the delay in naming the captain of the World Cup squad has led to the creation of factions within the national side.

Currently Misbah-ul-Haq, who has seven half-centuries in his previous seven international innings, is the captain of the Test side while Shahid Afridi has led the limited-over teams over the past year. Under Misbah's charge, Pakistan drew a Test series against South Africa in UAE, in November, before winning the two-Test series in New Zealand. Afridi returned to the helm for the ongoing one-day series, with Misbah as his deputy, and Pakistan were thrashed by nine wickets in the first game, by a New Zealand side that was on a 11-match losing streak.

In the meantime, the selectors finalised their World Cup squad, but did not name the captain, making Pakistan the only team that is yet to identify its leader for the event.

Inzamam said the uncertainty was hurting Pakistan's preparations. "With only three weeks left to the World Cup, Pakistan have no captain and the blame goes to the PCB for creating an impasse which has divided the team into two groups, supporting Afridi and Misbah," Inzamam said. "In this scenario one cannot have high expectations for the team."

Inzamam was in charge of Pakistan during their disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign, which ended with a first-round exit after a loss to Ireland, which was followed by the sudden death of their coach Bob Woolmer.

"The PCB has failed to control the situation and if Pakistan fares badly in the World Cup, people will accuse the players and not the board."

The selection of the Pakistan's 15-man squad without consulting coach Waqar Younis or the captain also came in for criticism from Inzamam. "When a team is without a captain how can a proper strategy be made? The team is playing a one-day series in New Zealand but they do not know who will be their captain in the World Cup which is very damaging."

England fight to keep series alive

The Big Picture

Australia Day would be the perfect occasion for the home side to wrap up the one-day series, but for the sake of the remaining contests an England victory is what's really needed. The visitors have played some poor cricket, especially in the last two matches, with the batting faring badly. A defeat here and the plane home won't be able to come soon enough.

That, though, won't be any concern of Australia's. They desperately needed to regain some belief following the Ashes and with coloured clothes back on they are beginning to hit their stride. England haven't forced them to play at their best, but even with injuries they are building up a head of steam. David Hussey was the star at the SCG as he showed his finishing skills, which will be valuable at the World Cup, but Brett Lee took the Man-of-the-Match award and he has led the attack superbly.

England's bowlers have actually performed a decent role, considering that it has been a second string attack, and the likes of Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Tremlett and Chris Woakes show the depth available. But somewhere in the transition from Tests to one-dayers key batsmen have lost the skill to convert starts into big innings.

It's a feeling of d�j� vu as far as both sides are concerned. In the aftermath of the 2009 Ashes, also won by England, the one-day series was a horribly lop-sided affair as Australia cruised to a 6-1 drubbing. If the hosts continue their winning streak in Adelaide, it's very easy to see this series going the same way.

James Anderson was given a break after the Ashes but following 10 days at home with his new baby has returned to the tour in the nick of time. Although England's quicks have performed an admirable role, Anderson's experience of 133 matches will be a valuable addition. He's got fond memories of Adelaide after his impact during the Test match when he helped reduce Australia to 3 for 2 on the first morning and is a dangerous operator with the new white ball.

Cameron White has played a couple of valuable innings in this series; his 25 at Melbourne helped Shane Watson complete victory and his 45 at Hobart began the first recovery. He'll want to make his decent form count in the remainder of this series because, even though his place is secure, there will be strong competition for batting places if Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey both recover. With his immense power White shouldn't have a problem clearing the square boundaries at the Adelaide Oval and against the spinners even the straight hits aren't out of reach.