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Ireland have named a strong squad for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers which will be held in Belfast between August 2 to 4.The inclusion of the county players who missed this week’s tri-series in Scotland will be a major boost. A weakened team were thrashed by New Zealand, losing by a record 290 runs, and then suffered a second defeat to the hosts.William Porterfield, who opted to remain with Gloucestershire, returns to captain the squad, while former skipper Trent Johnston, who stood down last season, also makes a comeback.Phil Eaglestone’s inclusion is dependent on the results of his visit to a specialist this weekend, with Reinhardt Strydom placed on standby should he be declared unfit.Ireland squad William Porterfield (capt), Niall O’Brien, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien, Andre Botha, Andrew White, Kyle McCallan, Alex Cusack, Gary Wilson, Trent Johnston, Thinus Fourie, Peter Connell, Phil Eaglestone, Gary Kidd.

The match between Mashonaland and Midlands could well be heading for a good finish tomorrow, as the home side is pressing for its 16th successive Logan Cup victory. They finished the day 183 runs ahead in the second innings with seven wickets in hand.The high point of the day was a century by Sean Ervine of Midlands, his second of the Logan Cup season. It was rather a fortunate innings, as he survived three dropped catches and several miscued strokes that evaded the fielders, but he continued to go boldly for his shots and finished unbeaten on 119 as the Midlands innings closed for 431, a deficit of 85.Ervine came in on the departure of Wishart for 118, having added only seven runs to his overnight score. He began with an enterprising stand of 97 with Doug Marillier, who made 69, but after that only captain Don Campbell with 26 gave him much support. The tail, supposedly the strongest in the competition, disappointed, the last five wickets falling for only 45 runs. This was mainly due to some fine bowling by Gus Mackay who took four wickets with the second new ball to finish with five for 69 for the innings.When Mashonaland batted again, they no doubt aimed to score quick runs with a decision in view, but Midlands had other ideas. Innocent Chinyoka, despite his no-balling disease, opened the bowling at gentle medium-pace in preference to the sadly off-form David Mutendera, and quickly reduced Mashonaland to 8 for two. When Grant Flower fell for 11 with the total at 31, Mashonaland had to be very wary as Andy Flower joined Darlington Matambanadzo at the wicket.Matambanadzo meanwhile had his own problems to deal with. ZCU managing director Vince Hogg was very proud of his 87-minute duck for Rhodesia B against Natal B in 1979/80, a world record until beaten a couple of years back by New Zealander Geoff Allott. Matambanadzo seemed to be aiming to break this now local record as he spent 80 minutes and 49 balls opening his account. The introduction of Mutendera finally cracked his will power, though, and Matambanadzo suddenly hit him through the covers for four, amid great applause from his team-mates, and next ball sliced a thick edge past the slips for another boundary.Andy Flower soon overtook him and finished unbeaten on 47 at the close, out of 98 for three; Matambanadzo closed with 24. Tomorrow Mashonaland will be very keen to continue their winning streak, but they will need to set up a declaration total and then bowl out Midlands on a fine batting pitch to do so. They may well be stretched.

Lakmal Kasturiarachchige, who was one of the youngest players at the ECC European Championships has been rewarded for the promise he has shown at ECC tournaments, both in youth tournaments and for the senior national team, by being awarded one of three places available at Terry Jenner’s coaching clinic in London to be held in early January.Lakhmal, whilst originating from Sri Lanka, has learnt his cricket during his time in Austria, where he has become an automatic choice for his club Concordia CC. He broke into the National Team in 2002, with an impressive spell against MCC during their tour of Austria in June 2002 showing his calibre. Despite being one of the youngest players in the ECC Championships, he was unfazed by the demands of the tournament, despite it being his first experience of grass wickets, where he was Austria’s leading wicket-taker along with fellow youth team player Aman Deep, 16.Gary Palmer, Austrian National Coach, described Lakhmal as having great natural ability and strong technique, showing a great dealer of promise as a genuine all-rounder rather than just as a legspin bowler. He also commended Lakhmal’s willingness to learn, and believes that it is only a matter of time before Austria really sees his full potential as a matchwinner.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and NatWest, part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, today announced a continuation of NatWest’s sponsorship of one-day international cricket to cover the 2003-2005 seasons. This three-year sponsorship deal will include ‘The NatWest Series’ and a new additional three-match one-day international tournament, to be known as ‘The NatWest Challenge’.Now in its third year, The NatWest Series continues to grow from strength tostrength with England taking on two visiting nations each year. With 10 matches in 17 days during June and July, The NatWest Series gives fans across the country a chance to experience one-day international cricket at its best. In 2003 the two touring nations will be South Africa and Zimbabwe.The new competition, The NatWest Challenge, will introduce an additional three-match one-day international tournament each year which will involve England taking on either a third visiting nation or one of the two principal touring teams in three further one-day international fixtures. In 2003, England will compete against Pakistan. Dates and venues for both of next year’s tournaments will be announced in due course.Ian Henderson, NatWest Director of Retail Marketing said: “NatWest’s sponsorship of cricket from international to grassroots level over the last 22 years has been a huge success. We are therefore delighted to be extending our sponsorship and support. The NatWest Challenge will provide us with a further sporting platform for us to communicate key messages to both our existing and potential customer base.”NatWest will also continue to actively support grassroots cricket, which is a major part of the sponsorship programme. Over £½million has been invested in the last three years through a series of initiatives including the NatWest ‘Get Involved’ programme (part of the NatWest Volunteer Support Programme) and the distribution of 800 Flicx pitches and 10,000 skills balls to schools and clubs across the UK.Tim Lamb, Chief Executive of the ECB, said: “NatWest’s long-standing support of English and Welsh cricket has been invaluable to the game so we are delighted at their decision to continue their sponsorship of international cricket through The NatWest Series and the newly-formed competition, The NatWest Challenge. This new addition will enable England to play a guaranteed nine days of competitive one-day international cricket each summer, supporting the England Team management’s desire to gain further experience in this form of the game.”

Former Hampshire and England opening batsman Paul Terry has been unveiled as the county’s new first XI manager, following the sacking of Jimmy Cook midway through last season.Terry, who struck in excess of 25,000 runs and hit 50 centuries during his 18-year career with Hampshire, has been brought into a new position, but will have a hands on role with the team during the season.Capped by England twice, Terry enjoyed an excellent career with the county and is excited about returning. “Hampshire have played a big part in my cricketing like and I’m looking forward to the next step in the journey,” he said.

“Led by the ambition of the Chairman, Rod Bransgrove, Hampshire are looking to go places and with some of the changes that will be in place by next season, I am confident we will have a team ready to challenge again for honours.”The opener, who left Hampshire seven years ago, has maintained links with the club through his highly successful coaching company in Perth, with many players going to him in the winter months and also coaches at nearby Canford School in Dorset during the summer.This winter will be no different, as many of, not only Hampshire’s but players from all across the English counties, will be travelling to learn under Terry’s wing.

Saeed Anwar was guaranteed a place in Pakistan’s second Test squad but a place for fast bowler’s slot was still vacant.Saeed will replace Shahid Afridi who got a first-ball duck at Lahore. However, the Pathan had also scored a century and a half century in his last two Tests before the Lahore game. But there was a tie between Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram. Officials said if Shoaib recovered fully from the swollen ankle, he would retain his place.Wasim Akram has 414 Test wickets and was primarily rested from Lahore game because of PCB’s rotation policy and the placid track that was prepared for the game.Shoaib twisted his ankle during the second evening while he was bowling at express pace and had picked four wickets in 25 balls.In the entire scenario, the team management has forgotten fast bowler Mohammad Sami who grabbed a hat trick during the Asian Test Championship final against Sri Lanka at Lahore in March.He is unlikely to be considered for selection as the wicket being prepared is barren and likely to assist the batsmen than fast bowlers. Besides, the emergence of Abdul Razzaq has made it difficult for the third pacer to sneak in the team that has turned the clock back by depending on the spinners.Danish Kaneria took six wickets and Saqlain Mushtaq four at Lahore where Pakistan won by an innings and 324 runs – their biggest victory and New Zealand’s worst defeat.Meanwhile, Pakistan and New Zealand cricketers are expected to face scorching heat during the second cricket Test, if the forecast of the Meteorological Department is to be believed.The MET office has forecast that the minimum temperature would hover around 26 and 28 degrees Celsius while the mercury would rise upto 40 degrees Celsius during the second and third session.”The minimum temperature on Monday was 25.5 degrees Celsius while at 12GMT, 37.5 degrees Celsius was recorded,” a MET office spokesman said. He added that humidity would be between 53 per cent to 60 per cent during the Test scheduled to start Wednesday.

New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns’ latest knee injury is being assessed by his surgeon Paul Armour tonight.Armour operated on the leg last year when Cairns had knee surgery which kept him out of all cricket until the Australian tour.Cairns took no part on the third day of the first National Bank Test at Jade Stadium today as the England batsman feasted on rich pickings.But whether Cairns will play any further part in the Test series will be decided after he is assessed by the surgeon. A decision will be made on his situation tomorrow.He will bat in New Zealand’s second innings.Meanwhile, the reason the umpires called play off early was because the light at the ground was well below the specified standard according to light meters and both captains agreed that play should be called off for the day.Play will start tomorrow at 10am.

The last time South Africa debuted a pace bowler against Australia* he took five wickets in his first match and fifty after seven Tests. Vernon Philander created giant footmarks and very few will be expecting Rory Kleinveldt to fill them when he appears for the first time in whites on the international stage in Brisbane.A relative unknown to anyone outside South Africa, Kleinveldt’s call-up was reported like Philander’s, as a coming in from the wilderness. Like Philander though, Kleinveldt was not discovered in a cabbage patch in Cape Town fully formed as an international bowler. His hard yards have included two Twenty20 matches for South Africa with two years between them, and massive improvements in his first-class game over the course of half a decade.The most popular story written about him so far though, has been his being caught for smoking marijuana in March, weeks after being reselected in South Africa’s ODI squad. He was not the first cricketer to dabble in illegal substances but the timing of his dalliance with dagga (as it is known in South Africa) put his career on pause.Kleinveldt’s star was on the rise after he was named in the ODI squad to play Sri Lanka in January, but he did not get a game before he was withdrawn with an injury. Two months later, he tested positive and was immediately dropped from the Cobras’ T20 campaign. Kleinveldt confessed at the first opportunity and conceded that he had “behaved irresponsibly and made a big mistake.”He was more remorseful than the situation called for, not just because of how close he was to international cricket but also since his actions had hurt more people than just cricket coaches and team-mates. Kleinveldt had set back a community desperate for their young players to gain recognition after decades of being ignored.Kleinveldt hails from an area in the Cape with a rich history in cricket despite it being largely unwritten about. His family have long been involved with the Victoria Cricket Club where his father, who is on the tour of Australia to watch him, and uncle, Johnny were stalwarts. Johnny is one its legends along with JP Duminy, Ashwell Prince and Monde Zondeki also all played there.Johnny opened the bowling with Vincent Barnes, South Africa’s former bowling and current national selector who also works on the High Performance Programme, during their days playing under the South African Cricket Board (the body under which sportsmen of colour could play cricket). Ask around those Cape Town streets and they will tell you that Johnny could well have played for South Africa had the opportunity been afforded to him then.Kleinveldt carried the hopes of people like that and knew he had let them down and compromised his chances severely. Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association, described him as “distraught,” at the time. Kleinveldt’s subsequent apology and admission saw leniency applied and he was banned for three months during the off-season, which had no real impact on his career.All he needed to do was regain some respectability, and that was achievable through taking wickets. Kleinveldt had already ended the first-class season well – seventh on the wicket-takers list with 32 scalps at an average of 17.93 – and had winter tours. The selectors kept the faith in him when they included him in the South Africa A side to play against Sri Lanka A. His 4 for 47 was instrumental in the team’s innings victory.Kleinveldt was also part of the group who went to Ireland to shadow the senior side in England, and it was there that his challenge for a place in the Test XI took real shape. “Rory was definitely my best bowler in both those series,” Barnes told ESPNcricinfo.Even though Kleinveldt only took five wickets compared to Wayne Parnell’s 12, Barnes was impressed with his control and the bounce he extracted from hitting the deck hard. “He has always been a very good cricketer and very skilful and his maturity really showed over the last year,” Barnes said. “He has bowled a lot with Vernon in the first-class competition and the two of them together caused a lot of problems for the batsmen.”Philander and Kleinveldt built a reputation as the Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel of the Cape. Although they don’t have the pace of the former two and rely more on discipline, consistency and subtlety to take wickets than swing or bounce – they claimed many scalps together. Now, they foursome will combine in a Test match and Barnes expects nothing more than great success, even though Kleinveldt may not have been expecting to play.Word out of the South African camp in the lead up to the Test was would be reluctant to consider an all-pace attack. Gary Kirsten, AB de Villiers and assistance coach Russell Domingo all said they would, “Always like a spinner in the side,” but they sprung a surprise at the toss when Imran Tahir was left out and Kleinveldt was named to debut. He performed well in the warm-up match at Sydney on a dead pitch where he bowled economically and took wickets as he looked to stake a claim for himself.”Rory understood when he went over that he would be back up and that if the opportunity came along through conditions or injury he had to be ready,” Barnes said. “He has done a lot of work with me and he has really come along. He knows that very few people get second chances and he doesn’t want to waste it.”* November 11, 2012 10.45 GMT This first sentence of this story has been amended

Railways are virtually through to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophychampionship. By close of play on the fourth day of the quarterfinalagainst Karnataka at the Karnail Singh stadium in New Delhi on Sunday,Railways had taken an overall lead of 599 runs with four second inningswickets intact.After having gained a first innings lead of 214, Railways had putthemselves in a commanding position by scoring 106 without loss at stumpson the third day. On the penultimate day, Railways batted the whole day tofinish the day on 385 for six, shutting Karnataka out of the match.Openers Amit Pagnis (68) and Sanjay Bangar (59) put on 131 runs off 35overs. Dodda Ganesh dismissed both in quick succession.The middle cover didnot contribute much and Railways were at one stage 219 for five. Then YereGoud and Shreyas Khanolkar came together for a sixth wicket stand thatrealised 136 runs off 32.4 overs. Khanolkar, who scored 64 in the firstinnings, was the dominant partner hitting 90 off 120 balls, inclusive of 13fours and a six. The in form Goud carried on till stumps, having made 78from 230 balls with nine boundary hits. The last day’s play will now onlybe of academic interest.

Central Zone could not have been too disappointed with their bowling effort on the second day of their Duleep Trophy match against South Zone, but their batting on the third day at Jaipur certainly left something to be desired.That was, in part, thanks to M Suresh Kumar, who took five wickets for 54 runs with his left-arm spin, hastening the end of the innings by decimating the tail for next to nothing.Central’s first wicket fell with the score on just one, but Jyoti Yadav and Paresh Sutane added 83 runs in 20.4 overs for the second wicket, and South Zone were struggling to come back into the match.The breakthrough was finally made by Vijay Bharadwaj, who had Sutane caught by Venkatesh Prasad for 32 off 64 balls. Yere Goud, next man in, made 23 off 56, but he and Jyoti Yadav departed in quick succession, leaving Central staggering at 136 for four.The wickets continued to fall after Devendra Bundela was dismissed with the score on 159. Jai P Yadav hit a steady 33 off 58 balls, but he was the only other significant contributor, and Suresh Kumar’s spin proved too much for the tail. Central were bowled out for 193, a deficit of 48 runs.That deficit only widened as Sridharan Sriram continued his fine form. A centurion in the first innings, he ended the day unbeaten on 57 off 79 balls with seven fours. His opening partner, MSK Prasad, was run out early, but first A Nand Kishore and then Arjun Yadav gave him good support.At the close of play, South were 99 for two, with Arjun Yadav unbeaten on eight. South now lead by 147 runs, and this match may yet see a result on the final day’s play.