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Buoyed by his side’s first win of the triangular one-day series, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming believes his team is poised to build momentum as the World Cup approaches.Their 90-run win over England on Tuesday ended a run of four straight one-day international losses for the Kiwis, who have been criticised for their rotational policy in one-day games. While Fleming conceded his team’s results had been disappointing, he said the focus was on laying the foundation for a successful World Cup campaign.”We’ve been doing a lot of good things off the field, but it has been worth nothing because our performances have let all that down,” he said in Adelaide on Tuesday. “It has been pretty frustrating for all the people at home because we have played a pretty poor brand of cricket.”But if we can get a bit of confidence into it – you’ve got the likes of [Scott] Styris, Jacob coming back in and performing the way he did, Kyle Mills coming back and the guys that have been competing over here – then we are not in bad shape.”Fleming, whose captaincy was also criticised by former teammate Adam Parore, said he believed the win over England, with powerful allrounder Jacob Oram returning from injury with a man-of-the-match performance, showed his side were on the right track.”We are hoping to get a couple more [wins] and then get a little bit of momentum towards the end of this tournament,” he said. “It would be great to make the finals of this tournament and then we have another tough series with Australia at home. Then when you hit the World Cup you are pretty sure you have covered all your bases and that has really been our plan over the last six months.”Fleming said New Zealand’s top-order frailty was still a concern and he admitted he was one of the main culprits, his 20 against England continuing his dry run in Australia. With Oram and Mills joining the squad in Australia, and Styris also expected to do so, New Zealand have sent the 31-year-old allrounder Andre Adams home without playing a game in the tri-series.New Zealand general manager Lindsay Crocker said Adams was sent home to get some match practice. “Because Andre offers similar skills as Jacob, Kyle and James Franklin he was going to struggle to get game time,” Crocker said. “This way he can get home and play some cricket and remain in contention for the World Cup in the West Indies in March and April.”

Boyd Rankin, the Warwickshire and Ireland fast bowler, is likely to miss the entire 2008 season after being diagnosed with a serious shoulder injury.He is suffering from a SLAP (Superior Labrum from Anterior to Posterior) lesion in his right shoulder, a common injury among sportsmen who throw or in cricket bowl, and will undergo surgery. The expected recovery time is between three and six months.It is the latest blow for Rankin, who impressed during the 2007 World Cup for Ireland, after he spent the winter overcoming a back problem following his move from Derbyshire to Warwickshire.”I just dived for a ball in the warm-up [before the first day of the championship game against Worcestershire] and landed awkwardly,” Rankin told . “Then I went on as a substitute fielder and had to dive for another ball. When I tried to throw it in it felt as if I’d been stabbed.”It’s very frustrating. I’d worked so hard. But it’s better to have the operation now than let it get worse and hopefully I can get a few months cricket in later in the summer.”

In a dramatic about-turn Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been included in the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of Australia following a request made by the sports minister Gamini Lokuge.Atapattu will join the team as the fourth opener – alongside Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Michael Vandort – increasing the tour party to 17 players. Atapattu was originally selected in the squad on the belief that he met the national selection committee and thrashed out his problems. But Atapattu refused to attend as long as Ashantha de Mel was the chief selector.The matter was then taken up by Lokuge who summoned the national selectors and the hierarchy of Sri Lanka Cricket to sort out the issue. The outcome of the meeting was that the minister would speak to Atapattu and, if he was willing to tour Australia, he should be included in the team.Atapattu asked for time to make a decision on the offer and was abroad on an official assignment in Rome. On his return on Thursday he met Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Duleep Mendis and informed him that he was available for the tour to Australia. “I met Duleep and we spoke about the terms and conditions under which I will be playing. I was satisfied with them and I told him that I was available for Australia,” said Atapattu.Atapattu’s return to the national team marks the end of a six-month ordeal which began with the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean where he, although being a member of the team, was not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches in the tournament. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and when the selectors named him for the home Tests against Bangladesh, Atapattu pulled out saying that he was not mentally prepared to play Test cricket.Atapattu then wanted Sri Lanka Cricket to release him from his central contract and went onto play a season of league cricket in England with Lashings. He was subsequently left out of the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament and the recently concluded one-day series against England.”We would welcome Marvan into the team,” said captain Mahela Jayawardene. “He is experienced and has done so well for Sri Lanka that you always welcome a guy like that. It all depends on how keen and committed he is to the team. That is the most important thing.”Sri Lanka leave for Australia on Tuesday and the first Test starts at Brisbane on November 8.

The Women’s World Cup qualifiers have been switched to South Africa in mid-February following political turmoil in Pakistan in November which forced the ICC to postpone that event. The tournament had to be rescheduled within six months and following some quick work by the ICC and the South African board, it has been rearranged within just three months.The new dates are 18 to 24 February for the tournament which will be held in the Stellenbosch region. An ICC statement said: “The decision was arrived at following independent security reports and extensive discussions by ICC management and the ICC Women’s Committee.”Pakistan couldn’t host it because of the general elections which start on 18 February. The proposed election date had been 8 January, but following the rescheduling, the decision was made to move the event to South Africa.Zakir Khan, PCB’s director cricket operations, confirmed to Cricinfo: “It was clashing with election dates and the ICC couldn’t organise it much later. We tried to find a way but the schedule clash meant we couldn’t go ahead with it.”Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, regretted that the tournament couldn’t be in Pakistan. “It is unfortunate that the timing of the event ended up clashing with the elections and forcing us to change the venue,” he said.”I would like to thank all those from the PCB who so enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to host this event. We remain committed to international cricket being played in Pakistan but, sadly, events beyond the control of the ICC and the PCB have conspired against us on this occasion. Thanks are also due to Cricket South Africa and particularly those from Boland who have been able to take over the running of this tournament at short notice.”The safety of all participants is our number-one priority and on the basis of the independent advice we have received – as well as the material concerns expressed by many of the participating countries – we concluded it was not appropriate to stage the tournament at this time.”So now South Africa have the home advantage. They were disappointed to have just missed out on the previous World Cup, when a tight finish in their last match handed the fifth automatic spot to the West Indies. They are one of the favourites to qualify in this tournament, where the top two sides go through to the eight who will contest the World Cup in Australia next year.Ireland and Zimbabwe were particularly disappointed that the Pakistan event was, rightly, called off as they were coming into some decent form. Ireland’s players will now have to come in from the off-season and hope to get used to conditions immediately.The players, all of whom are amateurs, will of course have to arrange time off work and study to attend this event. Ireland are already down one player. Jillian Smythe has had to withdraw due to a clash with her final year examinations – she will remain in the senior squad but will not travel. Instead, Melissa Scott-Hayward will now travel in her place with Carol McGuire being named as the non-travelling reserve.An Ireland spokesperson told Cricinfo of their tentative plans which are still to be finalised with less than a month to go. “We’re all set. We intend to travel out on Saturday 9 February and spend a week in camp in Stellenbosch or Port Elizabeth – all to be decided – and rejoin the formal ICC event on 16 February.”Pakistan have already announced a 20-player list of probables for a month-long training event which will start next week. The camp will run from 13 January to 11 February at Lahore Country Club, Muridke.Training squad Bismah Maroof, Taskeen Qadeer, Sana Javed, Almas Akram, Sabeen Abdul Samad, Saima Jamil, Sana Mir, Urooj Mumtaz Khan, Nain Abidi, Batool Fatimam Arman Khan, Javeria Khan, Sajida Shah, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Asmavia Iqbal, Naila Nazir, Qanita Jalil, Nida Dar, Sadia Yousaf.

Shane Warne believes Australia must improve their spin-bowling depth by using the slow men more often and more aggressively in state cricket. The retirement of Brad Hogg and uncertainty over Stuart MacGill’s fitness has left Australia without a clear first-choice Test spinner and Warne says the lack of opportunities in some domestic teams is contributing to the dearth of options.”A lot depends on the conditions they play under,” Warne said. “Sometimes it’s harder for some of the guys, like in Queensland for instance, where the Gabba should be one of the best places to bowl spin bowling.”They’ve got to educate the captains up in Queensland about how to actually use the spinners, they’re generally an afterthought. [They think] quick, quick, quick, let’s go for another quick, let’s go for a part-time quick, last day before lunch [ask the spinner to] have a bowl. That process is unfortunately around in a few places.”This year’s domestic statistics back up Warne’s concerns, with Victoria’s legspinner Bryce McGain the only slow bowler in the Pura Cup’s top 12 wicket-takers. Queensland’s first-choice spinner, Daniel Doran, has been given only 16 overs per match on average, compared to McGain averaging 37 overs a game.The trend is something Warne is trying to change in his new role as a spin coach with Cricket Australia. He is in Melbourne this week and will visit Sydney and Hobart next week, continuing his nationwide tour working with the tweakers and trying to help their captains understand how to use spin as an aggressive tactic.Australia’s main aim is to find somebody who can step into Warne’s old role at international level and Warne believes MacGill remains the top choice, if he is fit and bowling well, with McGain the next best candidate. MacGill is 37 and McGain turns 36 this month, but Warne said it could be risky to give a younger man opportunities purely because of his long-term prospects.”Sometimes it can be quite damaging for a young spinner that hasn’t got the confidence to throw them in there and that could be the end of them, or they can be lost for a few years until they find their feet again,” he said. “It can be good, but sometimes you’ve got to know what the personality is of the player, what makes them tick.”We’ve got some good spinners there. [We don’t] expect to turn up a spinner in a year or two that can take 500 Test wickets but what I could hope is that the spinners can actually perform consistently well over a period of time. If that happens then I think we’re doing okay.”

Nasir Hossain has played six innings in 12 ODIs for Bangladesh this year, never batting higher than No. 7. It is a position from which, given the nature of limited-overs cricket, one doesn’t always get a chance to build an innings. He has faced only 143 balls in ODIs in 2015, an average of less than 25 balls per outing. In his last two matches against India A, Nasir has faced a total of 167.On Friday in the second one-dayer against India, Nasir went out to bat at with Bangladesh A at 82 for 5 after 18.1 overs. He had plenty of time to get his eye in, build an innings and stretch the score as much as he could, with the only risk being a lack of batting partners. And that’s what he did. He started out playing second fiddle to No. 5 Liton Das, who was middling the ball better than the top-order batsmen, built a solid base as the sun shone more and more, and after Liton fell, launched an attack in the company of the tail-end batsmen.Nasir had been waiting for such opportunities to score big and bat under pressure. He later said he didn’t have a clearly defined plan when he walked out but knew that he wanted to bat out 50 overs.”I like batting at No. 7, I’ve batted there for the national team so I’m happy to do it here also,” he said. “When I was there, the wicket was good for batting, I just wanted to bat throughout. I always enjoy batting with Liton. There was no particular plan when I went out to bat, we were just looking to build a partnership and play till the end. So we played accordingly and the plan clicked.”Nasir had enjoyed Liton’s company in the first one-dayer too, when the pair added 120 runs from a score of 87 for 5 to give India A a scare in their defence of 322. Nasir followed that innings of 52 with a century today to steer the team out of a storm and then, with returns of 5 for 36, ensured they reached the shore, too.His only moment of weakness with the bat came in the 23rd over off Karn Sharma when he went for an aerial drive. Luckily for Nasir, the ball landed wide of a diving Gurkeerat Singh at deep cover. Those mistakes were corrected the next time he came down the track. It was against Karn again in the 28th over, but the ball was middled better and hit well wide of long-on for four.But Nasir knew that one small mistake, one mis-hit, would expose the tail. So he reduced the risks but still found the boundaries. There was a late cut off Gurkeerat in the 31st over, a back-foot punch off Rishi Dhawan along the ground soon after Liton was dismissed, and a sweep to bring up his fifty off 54 balls in the 37th over.The tougher parts came with the tail-end batsmen. Nasir’s 50-run, seventh-wicket partnership with Arafat Sunny had taken the score past 200. Arafat fell in the 43rd over, but Nasir chose to wait before switching gears. It was only once Shafiul was run out, in the 46th over, that Nasir floored it.He followed his nudge to third man for four with a single to keep strike. And on 76, he targeted Suresh Raina, who had conceded only eight runs from his two overs, with a slog sweep off the first ball and then a cover drive over the in-field. Two balls later, he unleashed another powerful drive to sprint to 88, and made his way into the nineties with a boundary in the next over.His celebration on reaching the three-figure mark was not as dramatic, a manner perhaps similar to his first ODI hundred, but he knew he had done what he was expected to do, and what he was eagerly waiting to accomplish.”Every partnership was very important, the one with Liton was a big one, but runs with Sunny and Rubel were equally important to post 252,” Nasir said. “The pressure was always there but I wanted to bat all 50 overs, I didn’t have a target in mind.”He batted for over two hours when the chips were down, something he enjoys and something he was first selected for back in 2011.”I really enjoy batting when the team is under pressure,” Nasir had said after his maiden ODI century nearly four years ago. “When four or five wickets are down, I love batting in those situations. I really don’t know why but I really enjoy it.”

Arthur Milton, the last man to play both football and cricket for England, has died at his home in Bristol. He was 79.Born and raised in the West Country, Milton was a stylish batsman who made his debut for Gloucestershire in 1948 and was an ever-present until he retired aged 46 at the end of 1974. He was a natural at any ball game: a fleet-footed winger who went off to Arsenal, he also played golf, tennis, even bet on the dogs better than his team-mates.Blond and slight, was the last of a rare breed – the double cricket/football international. His one appearance for England at football was in a 2-2 draw with Austria in 1952. In his first Test, against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958 Milton – opening the innings with a rugby cap in Mike Smith – collected 104 not out. That won him a place on the following winter’s tour of Australia, where the opposition was rather more ferocious than the outclassed New Zealanders, and Milton struggled, as did his fellow double international Willie Watson. Milton finished his six-Test career with 204 runs at 25.50.He was happier batting for Gloucestershire, which he did until he was in his mid-forties. He finished with more than 32,000 runs and 56 hundreds in first-class cricket, most of them from the top of the order, while his tally of 758 catches emphasises his value in the field, where he was a star close in, especially at short leg. A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959, in retirement he became a postman in the Cotswolds.

“There are so many reasons for the sadness we all feel,” said John Light, the county’s chairman. “Anyone who can play both cricket and football to international level has to be especially gifted and indeed Arthur was. He attributed his soccer success to the passing accuracy of his inside right partner at Arsenal, Jimmy Logie. There was no Logie however in the Aston Gate mud. Arthur came home from Arsenal and gave impetus to the Cities promotion drive. The extra dimension he brought ensured promotion.”He made cricket seem so easy, playing largely off the back foot he always seemed to have so much time. Running between the wickets was his forte. Was there ever a better runner between the wickets? Cover fielders were exasperated as “roll and stroll” Arthur took single after single. ‘I have never seen this man Milton take a difficult catch,’ said a not-very-expert cricket-watcher. What he should have said was ‘I have never seen Milton make a catch look difficult’. Such was his anticipation and sure handedness he was outstanding close to the wicket.”

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

In a match dominated by South African stars, the batting efforts of Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis edged the all-round contribution of Shaun Pollock, as Bangalore Royal Challengers recovered from Friday’s mauling to register their first win of the tournament. Set a challenging 166 by the Mumbai Indians, Bangalore rode on an unbeaten 39 from Boucher, and his 55-run stand with Kallis sealed a five-wicket win with two balls to spare.The absence of Sachin Tendulkar would have been a huge downer for the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, but none of them could complain about the quality of action. The bounce on the pitch kept the bowlers interested, and the batsmen on their toes – one of them, Mumbai’s Dominic Thornely, was so surprised by a Zaheer Khan bouncer that he copped a blow above the eye which required 15 stitches. Robin Uthappa and Pollock were the two major contributors for Mumbai, with Sanath Jayasuriya chipping in with a cameo at the start.A target of 166 suggested a close finish, and that’s exactly how it panned out. Bangalore had contributions from all their batsmen, though none of the top five stayed through the chase. Shivnarine Chanderpaul biffed a few before getting a painful blow on the knee, while Rahul Dravid alternated between the sublime – with glorious straight- and extra-cover drives – and the tentative – five runs from 14 balls off Pollock. Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli both made 23 in identical fashion, but when Kohli fell, the match hung in the balance, with 60 needed from 39 balls.While Kallis played a typically patient hand, Boucher put in the decisive knock which turned the match Bangalore’s way. Striking the ball freely and cleanly, he ensured the asking-rate never climbed beyond ten, and got the boundaries so regularly that the pressure slowly moved to the home team. Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai captain, was creamed through point in the 15th over, while Jayasuriya was clubbed for a straight six. When Nehra was pulled for four and blasted out of the ground for the biggest six of the game in successive balls, the requirement had suddenly come down to 11 from 12 balls, after which the result was never in doubt.Mumbai’s innings was built largely around Uthappa’s 48, which held the innings together, and a whirlwind 12-ball 28 from Pollock which turned an average total into a substantial one. The absence of Tendulkar was felt at the top of the order, as Luke Ronchi, his replacement as opener, lasted just ten balls before falling to an outstanding catch by Kohli. Jayasuriya gave every indication of making up for Tendulkar’s absence, creaming the hapless Kallis for three fours – two bludgeoned down the ground, one flicked fine – and a huge six over long-on. When he fell against the run of play, run out by a direct hit from Zaheer, Mumbai needed a steady hand to guide the innings, and Uthappa played that part well.

His familiarity with the opposition bowlers – Vinay Kumar, Sunil Joshi and B Akhil are all state-mates in first-class cricket – helped him along too, as Vinay was late-cut delightfully and then hooked for six off successive balls. Uthappa improvised cleverly, moving to leg to clip the ball fine, or walking down the pitch to upset the bowlers, but he also reined in his attacking instincts, knocking the ball in the gaps during the middle overs.When he fell just two short of his half-century, though, Mumbai only had 125 on the board with just 19 deliveries to go. Enter Pollock, who immediately turned it up a few gears. After Abhishek Nayar had creamed a straight six off Vinay, Pollock dismissed the same bowler for a four and a six off consecutive balls. Praveen and Zaheer were taken for boundaries as well, as 40 came off the last five overs. The opposition team, though, had two other South African heavyweights to seal the deal.

Brad Hogg will face another last-minute battle to resume his Test career after he was named in a 12-man squad alongside Shaun Tait for the first match against India. Hogg lost a bowl-off to Stuart MacGill for the opening game of the Sri Lanka series, but he is now in a different fight as the selectors decide whether to field an all-pace attack at the MCG on Boxing Day or include his left-arm spin.Steve Waugh has pushed for Hogg’s inclusion and Harbhajan Singh would love him to play, believing he is significantly inferior to MacGill or Shane Warne. “Brad deserves the opportunity to once again represent Australia in Test cricket,” Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said.Hogg, who has not appeared in a Test since 2003, has been an outstanding performer in Australia’s one-day sides, but he has struggled in first-class fixtures since taking eight wickets against Victoria, adding another five victims in three games. With MacGill out following wrist surgery for at least two matches, and probably the entire series, Hogg has an opportunity to play a string of games.However, containing India’s batsmen during 25 overs a day is a much harder task for Hogg than attacking them during a one-day international when they are obliged to hit out. India’s plans could involve going after Hogg or sitting on him – and his hard-to-pick wrong’un – while waiting for a loose delivery. The threats are much easier than the dangers provided by Tait.India have come from a series on their low-bouncing pitches and they have only three days to acclimatise during a match against Victoria at the Junction Oval. Tait’s pace has been fierce against New Zealand over the past week and Australia will wait to analyse the drop-in surface at the MCG before making a call. Originally in the opening squad for Sri Lanka, Tait pulled out with injury and is looking to play his first Test since 2005 after regaining his spot from Ben Hilfenhaus.Australia already have three bowlers who complement each other, with Brett Lee providing the pace, Stuart Clark the consistent steep bounce and Mitchell Johnson the left-arm variety. If four fast men were employed Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds could break things up with their part-time spin, but it is a risky option against players who mastered MacGill and Shane Warne in previous series.Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.

North

Nottinghamshire made it two wins in two, beating Lancashire in a close match at Trent Bridge.Samit Patel made his second unbeaten fifty in consecutive evenings to seal the six-wicket victory with three balls to spare. He smashed 84 from 57 deliveries, with good support from David Hussey (21) and Will Jefferson (20*).Gareth Clough and Graeme Swann were once again in the wickets, taking two each, as did Charlie Shreck. Lancs lost wickets at steady intervals after being sent in, but Gareth Cross was on hand with a late boost to lift them to 163 for 7.Notts had enjoyed a straightforward win over Derbyshire on the opening night, but had to work much harder to sneak to the top.

South

It was a rather watery Canterbury tale down at Kent, where their Twenty20 against Essex became more like a Five5. Kent made 44 for 1 from 5.1 overs before a two-hour rain delay washed out their innings and left Essex needing 50 from 5 overs, on Duckworth-Lewis. Kent managed to keep them down to 46 for 6 – Ryan McLaren taking 2 for 3 in his over.Heading into the last over, bowled by Yasir Arafat, Essex needed 15. James Foster hit a six off the first ball, missed the second and gained a four from the third. A wide followed, leaving Essex needing four from three balls. Foster was then bowled off the fourth ball, Adam Hollioake played and missed and, in attempting a run to the keeper, Grant Flower was run out. James Middlebrook then faced the final ball, which he sent to the midwicket boundary for a catch.