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Less than a week after arriving in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe’s selectors have drafted two more players into the squad, calling up fast bowler Ed Rainsford and legspinner Graeme Cremer. The pair are expected to arrive in Dhaka on Friday.Rainsford was left out of the original squad that left last week after he cracked his thumb taking a catch during a practice match. Sources say the doctor’s note stated that he was going to be fit two hours before the team’s scheduled flight, prompting the selectors to leave him out.It appears Rainsford, the only genuine quick bowler among the current crop of Zimbabwe bowlers has high chances of playing in the five-match one-day series but will miss the series opener scheduled for Khulna on Thursday. His return puts pressure on Anthony Ireland and Christopher Mpofu who are likely to take the new ball for Zimbabwe. Ireland did duty with Rainsford during the Champions Trophy in India while Mpofu was recently handed an international recall after more than a year on the sidelines.Cremer, a legspinner with an ability to bowl long spells, has been called up for the additional two first-class matches that have been added to Zimbabwe’s tour.

Daryl Tuffey’s first-class comeback has hit the buffers after he broke down during Northern District’s match against Canterbury in the State Championship.Tuffey, 28, has been out of the New Zealand side since February 2005 because of a long-standing bicep injury. He bowled 24 overs in the first innings against Canterbury, but could only manage five second time around before limping off with an Achilles tendon strain.Andy Moles, the Northern Districts coach, told the : “His body has got to get used to the workloads after his long layoff. We’ve got to manage him for the whole season so there’s no point risking it.”Tuffey has played 22 Tests and 76 one-day internationals but has struggled with a series of injuries over the past couple of years.

Ashley Mallett, the former Australia offspinner, has been hired as a consultant spin coach for Sri Lanka. Mallet is the third foreign expert to be hired by Sri Lanka following the appointments of the Australian Tom Moody as coach and the Zimbabwean Trevor Penney as assistant coach.In fact it was Moody, a fellow Australian, who recommended the appointment.Mallett, 60, has signed a three-year contract that will commit him to four two-week visits each year, with the first stint scheduled to start next week at the Max Cricket Academy in Colombo. His duties include coaching spinners from all levels in Sri Lanka and training other coaches, Sri Lanka Cricket explained.In 38 Tests for Australia, Mallett picked up 132 wickets at 29.84 and in a 183-match first-class career he claimed 693 wickets at 26.27.

The Vanuatu Cricket Association (VCA) has been given an excellent report card for its ICC East Asia Pacific Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament preparations, following an inspection by the ICC. The tournament will be hosted in Port Vila from July 17 to 24.Competing countries include Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Vanuatu. The winner will earn direct entry to the 2008 U-19 World Cup which will be held in Malaysia.”Vanuatu Cricket Association’s logistical preparations are already well underway,” said Bron Madigan, the ICC EAP regional project officer. “I have inspected the grounds which will be used for the tournament and am very impressed with the quality of the facilities. Having staged the successful 2005 EAP Cricket Cup tournament, the VCA staff have used their experience to their advantage. They have also been working very hard at getting corporate sponsorship from the local Port Vila community.”The tournament has the backing of the Vanuatu government and local businesses have also been quick to get involved.

Alexei Kervezee, the 17-year-old Netherlands batsman, has signed a two-year contract with Worcestershire. Highly regarded in Dutch cricket, he made his one-day debut as a 16-year-old in July this year against Sri Lanka in which he made a cultured 47.”Alexei came to our attention earlier this year and is a very accomplished and exciting young talent,” Mark Newton, Worcestershire’s chief executive said. “He came over to trial with the club and I went to Amsterdam recently to meet with him and his family. We have agreed that he will spend the next two seasons with us where he will benefit from being part of a professional squad.”Holland’s bowling coach Ian Pont told Cricinfo: “This guy is a serious player with shades of Graeme Hick. It’s a massive story for Holland.””I’m very happy and excited about signing with the club,” Kervezee said, “and am looking forward to learning from such great players and coaches. I have already received such warm and encouraging impressions from everyone – the players, the coaches and the management at Worcestershire.”Kervezee was also named in the Netherlands World Cup squad for the 2007 tournament in the Caribbean.

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

Pakistan fought hard and managed to claw their way back into the second Test against West Indies at Sabina Park, ending the third day with a healthy lead of 193. The day began badly for West Indies, and there was no respite till it ended.But if they were flat in the first session, they were downright lax in the second. Bowled out for 404, with a token lead of 30, the home fast men sprayed the ball, allowing Pakistan to race away to a fabulous start in their second innings. At tea, Pakistan had wiped out the deficit and were 86 for 1.Pakistan managed to wrap up the West Indies tail fairly quickly after lunch, with Shahid Afridi getting into the act. He accounted for the tail-enders Tino Best and Reon King easily enough, and then induced a false shot from Wavell Hinds. Slipping one in just outside the off, Afridi induced the cut, but the ball was too close to the stumps for the shot and the resulting edge flew to the lone slip fielder. Yasir Hameed accepted the sharp chance, and the West Indian innings ended.Then West Indies served up a wide selection of freebies. The customary no-balls came with wides, the odd dangerous beamer, and a seemingly unending supply of short and wide deliveries that Hameed and Shoaib Malik tucked into with relish. Pakistan’s 50 came up in only 43 balls, at a run-rate of around 7 runs per over.Hameed and Malik breezed along, largely untroubled, until Corey Collymore, the hero of the first innings, came into the attack and put the ball in the right areas often enough to beat the bat. Hameed, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security because of the poor bowling he faced in the first spell, slashed at a wide one and watched as Devon Smith took a good catch to give West Indies the breakthrough (66 for 1).The early ineffective bowling of the West Indians set the tone for the day and allowed Pakistan’s batsmen to get on with their job without much pressure. The gamble of using Malik at the top of the order paid off. He played his shots without inhibition, and rattled up 64 off 79 balls before being caught behind off Collymore (119 for 2). Asim Kamal lasted only two balls, and all of a sudden Collymore had his third wicket, and became the first West Indian bowler to take 10 wickets in a match since Courtney Walsh against England at Lord’s in 2000. Pakistan’s step had faltered with their score on 119 for 3.Inzamam-ul-Haq, returning to the team after serving a one-Test ban, received a let off when a catch was grassed. He made sure that West Indies paid for their mistake, scoring an unbeaten 64 to steer Pakistan to stumps. Pakistan’s lead of 193 could already be enough to level the series. But before they start thinking along those lines, they need to make sure they close out the game, and not repeat West Indies’ mistakes.Brian Lara had given West Indies a fighting chance of closing out the second Test with his century on the second day. But they squandered the opportunity in the first session of the third when Shabbir Ahmed struck twice in as many balls to give Pakistan the edge. The first hurdle, wiping out Pakistan’s lead, had just been achieved.The session began uneventfully enough, but that proved to be the calm before the storm. First Danish Kaneria was warned for running on the danger area by Darrell Hair. Struggling against Lara’s clever footwork Kaneria’s already ordinary game took a serious turn for the worse. He could not adjust his follow-through enough to please Hair and when he repeated the offence was barred from bowling further in the innings, ending with figures of 1 for 94 from 28.5 overs.Strangely Kaneria’s predicament turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Pakistan, as they did not hesitate to take the second new ball, and Shabbir took full toll. With just his second delivery he produced a snorter to Lara, who only managed to edge it to the keeper (326 for 5). Lara had moved along to 153, but his dismissal gave Pakistan a foot in the door. Shabbir then got rid of Courtney Browne with his very next ball, again caught behind (326 for 6). Wavell Hinds managed to spend long enough batting around the tail to reach 63, and take West Indies to a slender lead. At that stage West Indies were on top, but no-one expected them to fritter away such a good position.

How they were out

Pakistan 2nd inningsHameed c Smith b Collymore 26 (66 for 1)
Flashed at a wide one and edged to slip.Malik c Browne b Collymore 64 (119 for 2)
Tiny inside edge.Kamal lbw b Collymore 0 (119 for 3)
Missed a straight one.Younis c & b Gayle 43 (194 for 4)
Popped a simple return catch.West IndiesLara c Akmal b Shabbir 153 (326 for 5)
Tickled a snorter that leapt from a length.Browne c Akmal b Shabbir 0 (326 for 6)
Chased a well-pitched outswinger.Powell c Akmal b Shabbir 14 (356 for 7)
Caught in two minds and only managed an edge.Best b Afridi 18 (385 for 8)
Inside-edged a big drive on to his stumps.King lbw b Afridi 0 (393 for 9)
Played back to a straight ball, plumb.Hinds c Hameed b Afridi 63 (404 for 10)
Slashed a wide one to slip.

Division One

Day one
Sussex twice fought back from poor positions against title rivals Lancashire at Hove as the first day finished with both sides still neck and neck. Lancashire enjoyed the perfect start when Dominic Cork struck twice in his opening spell but was later forced to leave the field for stitches in a hand injury. Michael Yardy and Murray Goodwin began the rearguard with a stand of 99 but Sussex then stuttered again at 161 for 5. However, with Cork and with Simon Marshall struggling with cramp, Lancashire couldn’t ram home their advantage. Matt Prior produced a mature half-century – much more circumspect than some of his dashing displays – as he and Robin Martin-Jenkins put Sussex back on course for a decent total.Matt Walker and Tyron Henderson both made half-centuries to take Kent to 285 all out against Hampshire before bad light stopped play at Canterbury. Geraint Jones looked set for a fifty of his own, but couldn’t quite send a strong reply to the England selectors for dropping him; he made 39 before Shane Warne trapped him lbw, one of three wickets. Kent will be annoyed at wasting a number of promising starts but, Hampshire, trying to keep pace with Lancashire and Sussex at the top of the table will be aiming for a lead on the second day.Day two
There was no play at all on the second day between Durham and Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street, with rain washing out proceedings.

Division Two

Day one
Claude Henderson and Stuart Broad helped Leicestershire to work their way through Gloucestershire‘s line-up at Cheltenham. Alex Gidman and Stephen Adshead made fifties for the home side,while most of their batsmen made starts, but couldn’t capitalise. Henderson took 5 for 76, while Broad continued his dazzling streak, this time he took 4 for 47. Gloucestershire eventually made 282, but their bowlers struck early, removing Darren Robinson for 4.Half-centuries for Daryl Mitchell and Roger Sillence quietened Glamorgan as Worcestershire took charge at Colwyn Bay. Vikram Solanki just missed out on a century, he made 49 before he was run out. Still his knock, at least, will be a handy run-out in celebration of his recall to England’s one-day squad. Worcestershire’s batsmen played well in pairs and will be happy with making nearly 400 by stumps.Andrew Caddick took five wickets as Somerset ran the rule over Essex at Southend-on-Sea. However, another former England paceman hit back before the close as Darren Gough grabbed two wickets. Ronnie Irani played a captain’s innings to just about hold Essex together; he struck 80 to lift them from 126 for 6 to 252, sharing a seventh-wicket partnership of 102 with Tim Phillips. Phillips made 44. Grant Flower and Mark Pettini had got the home side off to a solid start, with a stand of 68, but Caddick did the damage, with 5 for 83 to leave Essex in trouble. Charl Willoughby was also in the wickets; he grabbed 3 for 46For a full report of Surrey‘s match against Northamptonshire click here.

Scorecard

New South Wales’ top order all chipped in with useful contributions, helping them pip South Australia by three wickets with just one ball to spare in an ING Cup match at the Bankstown Oval in Sydney. Needing 246 for victory, no-one scored more than Michael Clarke’s 55, but all the batsmen made handy additions to the score, ensuring that New South Wales walked away with four points.Simon Katich, the NSW captain, won the toss and chose to field, and his decision immediately paid off when Matthew Elliott was dismissed by Brett Lee for a fourth-ball duck. Graham Manou, though, held firm, scoring a useful 52, while Darren Lehmann propped up the innings with an enterprising 75, scored from just 83 balls. Lee finished up with 2 for 61, and also struck Jason Gillespie on the ribs, forcing him to go for a precautionary e-ray, while Glenn McGrath was at his stingy best, conceding just 30 from ten overs.New South Wales’ run chase got off to a fine start, with Phil Jacques and Simon Katich adding 80 for the opening wicket in less than 15 overs. Both were dismissed in quick succession, but Clarke kept the chase going with his half-century, while the rest of the batsmen all added vital contributions. Clarke hit six fours in his knock, but got two lucky reprieves – on 17 he was put down by Gary Putland at long-on, while Manou, the wicketkeeper, dropped him on 49. Things got uncomfortable for NSW when Jason Gillespie bowled a superb 49th over, conceding just two runs and taking the wicket of Lee. That left the team needing seven for victory off the final over, and after the first four balls produced five, Nathan Bracken finished it off with an edged four off Mark Cleary.After the game, Clarke expressed his delight at his innings, but expressed his disappointment at the manner of his dismissal, a hoick down to long-off. “I definitely enjoyed yesterday and I enjoyed today, but I was disappointed with the way I got out today,” Clarke said. “I would have liked a few more today, but I feel like I’m hitting the ball pretty well. I’m working as hard as I can.”Lehmann, the South Australian captain, put the defeat down to poor fielding. “They played very well [but] we missed a couple of chances, and dropped Clarke. If we had held our chances and fielded a bit better we would have won the game quite comfortably.”The win was the second one for NSW in as many games, and took their points tally up to ten.

Somerset’s first innings ended 25 minutes before lunch on the second day when they were bowled out for 488. Top scorer Keith Parsons remained undefeated on 193, an innings which contained 22 boundaries and one 6.Resuming from their overnight 390-6 Somerset’s not out batsmen Parsons and Jason Kerr looked to seize the initiative early and elevate their side to a potentially match-winning first innings total.During the West Indies last tour of the UK in 1995 Kerr scored 80 against them at taunton. Sadly his batting has stagnated somewhat and he yet to better that score. He began confidently on the second morning though, driving Nixon McLean straight for four and then slashing high over the slips for another boundary.Those two shots helped lift the county side beyond 400, the first side to do so this summer and the first time ever that Somerset have done it against the West Indies. With Reon King off the fielding – nursing a bruised instep – and Corey Collymore also mysteriously absent, Roger Harper, the West Indies’ coach, reminded us of a bygone era with some athletic stops and fine throwing from the deep.The tourists had perhaps expected to swiftly wrap up the Somerset innings on the second day but Parsons and Kerr had other ideas as they stretched their stand past 70.Nine years ago South African Jimmy Cook hit 162, the highest individual score by a Somerset batsmen against the West Indies, and he was expunged from the record books as Parsons went past him with a clip to midwicket.With the score on 422 Nixon McLean, in his 23rd over, at last picked up his first wicket. Kerr, having made an accomplished 32, steered a sharply-lifting delivery into the bucket-like hands of Lara at first slip.Adrian Pierson hung around for 20 balls (during which he only made a single) before he nicked one to ‘keeper Phillip, again off McLean. That brought 20 year old Joe Tucker in for his debut innings, which began with a McLean ‘throat ball’. A clumsily-conceded bye enabled him to escape to the relative sanctuary of Nagamootoo’s end, allowing Parsons to smash the quickie down the ground for 4.It was from the bowling of McLean that Tucker eventually got his first run, dabbing him on the on-side for a single. His next scoring shot almost brought his downfall – a dash for the line just beating Adrian Griffith’s direct hit from midwicket. Visibly growing in confidence he then pulled McLean square to bring up the 450.After bowling 12 consecutive from the River End Nixon McLean gave way to Wavell Hinds and the switch brought instant success as Tucker feathered hi first ball to Phillip for an encouraging 14.Last man Jamie Grove hung around to add 17 valuable runs but with Parsons in sight of a double-ton he lost his middle stump to Hinds, who finished with 3-32.

Ravi Rampaul, the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) and West Indies fast bowler, has been awarded a cricket scholarship by John Michell, Australia’s High Commissioner to T&T. The nomination for Rampaul, who has played seventeen one-day internationals for West Indies, follows consultation between the Australia High Commission and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).Rampaul, 21, will spend four weeks at Cricket Australia’s Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, and will be taught the intricate nuances of fast bowling under the guidance of Australia’s top cricket coaches.The scholarship is being funded by the Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP), which Michell launched in the Caribbean on June 23. The Australian High Commission believes the awarding of a young Caribbean cricketers’ scholarship is an important step in building stronger relations between Australia and the Caribbean region. The ASOP is a five-year programme running from July 2006 to June 2011.Rampaul made his international debut against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2003, and has taken 11 wickets at 49.45. He has not represented West Indies for two seasons.