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Daniel Vettori: rewarded for carrying the New Zealand bowling attack© Getty Images

Daniel Vettori has been named New Zealand’s player of the year at their annual awards ceremony. He has been fighting a lone battle over the winter, as New Zealand’s bowling attack has fallen to pieces, but has managed to emerge from the wreckage with 42 wickets at 27 apiece in Tests, and 22 at 20 apiece in ODI’s.During the recent carnage caused by Adam Gilchrist, Vettori has been the only bowler Stephen Fleming has shown any confidence in. It was the same situation in the two Tests played in Australia during November. Martin Sneddon, chief executive of New Zealand cricket said: “His bowling has been superb and he has also continued to show real ability with the bat and has emerged as a leader both on and off the field."Vettori’s successful year comes despite a poor Test series in England, when he only managed four wickets in two matches, before missing the third Test with injury. His figures where boosted by 20 wickets against Bangladesh, including his best haul for the period, 6 for 28 at Dhaka. But it is not just the wickets he brings to Fleming, but the control. He rarely concedes more than 2.5 runs per over in Tests and is also miserly in ODI’s. In the Natwest Series final against West Indies he took five for 30, as New Zealand registered their high point of the year.His batting continues to grow in stature, to the extent that he often proves more troublesome to remove than the top-order, and he proved an able captain when he stood in for Fleming during the one-day series in Bangladesh – if Fleming’s trials and tribulations continue a permanent elevation may not be far away.The other bright spot for New Zealand has been the rise of Hamish Marshall, and his batting success, cumulating in a maiden Test century against Australia at Christchurch, has been recognised with the batting award, while Craig Cumming was named State player of the year.Awards
Daniel Vettori
Hamish Marshall
Craig Cumming
Nic Browne
Haidee Tiffen
Rebecca Steele
Merv Wallace

A ‘green’ Brad Hodge may be tested by the West Indies, believes Shivnarine Chanderpaul © Getty Images

The West Indies will target Australia’s inexperienced players in the second Test at Hobart beginning November 17, according to a determined Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the opposing captain.Australia are likely to play Brad Hodge, the uncapped middle order batsman, Michael Hussey, the makeshift opener who debuted in the first Test, and Andrew Symonds, the hard-hitting allrounder who has only played two Tests. Speaking to , Chanderpaul maintained that his side will look to exploit this weak link in the second Test. “Obviously you have guys who are now coming into the side and they’re looking to make a name for themselves,” Chanderpaul said. “They don’t have as much experience as the other guys and will probably be a bit shaky in the beginning. Hopefully we can get it right come next game and sort these things out early.”Hodge, who recently stated that he was the most deserving Australian batsman in line for Test cricket, scored a fantastic 177 on day one of the drawn tour match at the Junction Oval and looked at ease against the West Indian attack.Chanderpaul, who scored 59 in the same match, took some positives from the rain-curtailed match. “As a batter obviously you would want to spend some time in the middle and I am happy that I got to spend some time out there,” Chanderpaul said. “We played two games, one before the Test match and in the Test match and not much happened for me and for some of the other guys. This was one of those games where you want to make sure you spend time in the middle and I think it has done some good for us.”His main advice to his batsmen was to be more patient. “It’s a Test match, so you need to go out there and settle,” he said. “We came off a one-day tournament. You need to get the balance right and go out there and put your head down and bat instead of going in and playing all these shots that can get you out.” His team-mates need not look further than Chanderpaul himself, who grafted a patient innings – he was at the crease for over four hours and faced just one ball less than what Hodge needed for his 177 on day one – even as wickets fell around him.Absent from the match against Victoria was Brian Lara, who struggled for runs in the West Indies’ 379-run loss at Brisbane. Commenting on Lara’s form, Chanderpaul was supportive of his team-mate. “Brian, I don’t think he’s struggling. I just think he needs some more time in the middle and he is stroking the ball well and it’s just one of those things. He could go out there tomorrow and just get runs on the board for us.”Chanderpaul also stated that Wavell Hinds, who was sidelined from the first Test owing to a hairline fracture of his finger sustained in a warm-up match against Queensland, would be considered for the Hobart Test, as would Dwayne Bravo, the allrounder.

Titans 178 (Myburgh 60, du Preez 4-46) lead Eagles 82 for 3 (Jacobs 48*, Steyn 3-34) by 96 runs
ScorecardAfter a break of a month, the SuperSport series resumed with the Eagles bowling the Titans out for 178 in 61 overs after winning the toss at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein. When bad light ended play early on the first day, the Eagles had moved along to 82 for the loss of three wickets.Johannes van der Wath and Dillon du Preez, making his first-class debut for the Eagles, caused the early damage as the Titans struggled to recover from a weak start. Wickets fell at regular intervals with Johann Myburgh, 60, and Andre Nel, 36 not out, the only two batsmen able to contain the rampant Eagles bowlers. They added 49 for the eighth wicket while du Preez finished with 4 for 46.Jonathan Beukus and Davey Jacobs gave the Eagles innings a brisk start by putting on 53 in 13 overs before Dale Steyn bowled Beukes for 21. Jacobs continued with his normal aggression, but Steyn’s fiery spell grabbed him two more wickets, those of Boeta Dippenaar and Ryan Bailey.With Jacobs having just struck two consecutive boundaries, it was something of a surprise when the umpires offered the light to the Eagles. But Morne van Wyk had only just arrived at the crease so they accepted, finishing on 82 for 3 with Jacobs not out on 48.Lions 300 for 2 (Bacher 140*, Motaung 80) v Dolphins
ScorecardAdam Bacher made light of his one-day disappointment against Zimbabwe to continue his fine domestic form, as the Lions took full advantage of winning the toss on a batting paradise at the Wanderers. They closed on 300 for 2 after the first day of their match against the Dolphins, with Bacher himself unbeaten on 140.He added 178 with William Motaung as the Dolphins bowlers struggled on a lifeless pitch. Motaung was first to go as he edged to the keeper Duncan Brown for 80 off the bowling of Ugasen Govender, who was making his first appearance for the Dolphins. The same pair then got rid of Justin Ontong for 41 after a second-wicket partnership of 93.Bacher, on 140, and Neil McKenzie, on 14, will continue for the Lions when play starts on day two.Western Province Boland 305 for 5 (Puttick 141*, Tsolekile 72) v Warriors
ScorecardThe Warriors will regret asking Western Province Boland to bat first on a good-looking pitch at Mercedes Park in East London, as WPBOL closed on 305 for 5.Derrin Bassage and Andrew Puttick started the proceedings with an opening partnership of 64, which was eventually broken by Tyron Henderson, who had Bassage caught behind for 31. Two more wickets fell in quick succession to bring Thami Tsolekile out to join Puttick, who took the score to 213 before Brent Kops trapped Tsolekile lbw for an excellent 72.The day belonged to Puttick as he batted through to the close for a magnificent 141 that included 19 fours and a six. He will start day two alongside Vernon Philander, who was not out on 24.

Tim May: ‘The values which apply to the players must apply equally to the governors of the game’© Getty Images

The international players’ association has called for the ICC to consider more than playing form when assessing the Zimbabwe crisis at its meeting next month. Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), said today that the ICC must investigate claims that Zimbabwe was ignoring cricket’s “core values”.”It is the strong position of FICA and its member player-associations that the present Zimbabwean crisis is more than just a perceived dilution in the value of international cricket,” said May in a statement. “The real issue, and the issue that the ICC executive board should give ultimate priority to, concerns the values of cricket.”He said that such values, including equality and integrity, were stated in the ICC’s 2001-2005 Strategic Plan and endorsed by its ten Test-playing nations. “These are the matters that the ICC June meeting must discuss, investigate and determine,” said May, the former Test offspinner who also heads the Australian Cricketers’ Association. “The current dispute between the ZCU and 15 of its players has been highlighted with allegations of immoral and unethical behaviour and allegations of discrimination on [the basis of] colour and region. The ICC executive board must be compelled to thoroughly investigate these claims.”Australia is currently in the middle of three one-day matches against Zimbabwe after the Test series was scrapped due to the player dispute, which seriously weakened the Zimbabwean side. May said that the behaviour of players generally had been heavily scrutinised over the past few years, and this should extend to administrators.”These values must equally apply to the governors of the game. FICA believes that should the ICC executive board fail to investigate these allegations, then apathy will permeate the player ranks, but more importantly, 15 brave and talented men who had the guts to stand up for their principles may be lost to the game of international cricket.”FICA had earlier been critical of the Australian board’s decision to go ahead with the one-day series, arguing that the move had sealed the fate of the 15 rebel players, who were immediately sacked by the ZCU.

Rory Hamilton-Brown will captain England under-19’s squad for their tour of Malaysia in January and February 2007. And Paul Farbrace, Kent Academy’s Director, will be the coach for the tour, while England’s regular coach, Andy Pick, is on a year sabbatical to coach Canada to the World Cup.The month-long tour starts on 23 January and consists of two triangular one-day tournaments. The first is between England, Malaysia U-19 and Sri Lanka U-19 and the second between England, Malaysia U-19 and India U-19.Tour manager John Abrahams was part of a four-person selection panel that included National Academy manager Peter Moores and England fast bowling coach Kevin Shine.Squad Rory Hamilton-Brown (capt), Greg Wood (wk), Alex Blake, Ben Brown (wk), Karl Brown, Maurice Chambers, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Billy Godleman, Andrew Miller, Sam Northeast, Alex Wakely, Mervyn Westfield, Ben Wright.

Tushar Imran, the middle-order batsman, will lead Bangladesh A in the first four-day “Test” against the touring Zimbabwe A side. Bangladesh’s 13 was whittled down from an original 25-man training squad.The first representative match starts tomorrow (March 17) at Rajshahi, and will be followed by another at Bogra (March 23-26). The two A teams will then play a five-match one-day series.Zimbabwe A won their first match of the tour, a three-day game against a Bangladesh Under-23 XI, at Fatullah yesterday.Bangladesh A (from):
1 Nafees Iqbal, 2 Rashedul Haque, 3 Ehsanul Haq, 4 Mazharul Haque, 5 Tushar Imran (capt), 6 Nasir Uddin Faruque, 7 Mohammed Selim (wk), 8 Jamal Uddin, 9 Alamgir Kabir, 10 Enamul Haq junior, 11 Shahdat Hossain, 12 Faisal Hossain, 13 Gazi Alamgir.

The Tasmanian selectors have today named an unchanged Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Redbacks in the ING Cup match to be played at Bellerive Oval on Saturday 1st November 2003.

CASCADE TASMANIAN TIGERS
Daniel MARSH (Captain)
Shane WATSON
Jamie COX
Michael DiVENUTO
Michael DIGHTON
Scott KREMERSKOTHEN
Sean CLINGELEFFER
Damien WRIGHT
Xavier DOHERTY
Brett GEEVES
Adam GRIFFITH
Andrew DOWNTON

The 12th man will be named on the morning of the match.Play will start at 10.00am with gates opening at 9.00am. Patrons are reminded this is their first chance to win a set of keys to the Ford Focus by supporting the Tigers and bringing their entry form from the Mercury to the ground on Saturday.

Queensland wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe justified a joke on team-mates as he lifted the Bulls to a four-wicket victory over Tasmania in the ING Cup one-day match at the Gabba today.The Tigers set Queensland a target of 220 and looked like upsetting the home side when the Bulls slumped to 5-125 but thanks to the heroics of their gloveman, they reached 6-221.Seccombe joined Clinton Perren at the crease with the game in the balance and played a gem of an innings, reaching his half-century off just 43 balls including seven beautifully struck boundaries.The 31-year-old Ashes tourist finished undefeated on 67 off 57 balls to complete his highest score in the domestic one-day competition.Nathan Hauritz hit the winning runs with two overs to spare.In the Bulls’ media guide, more than half the Queensland players nominated Seccombe as their most admired player.However, it was Seccombe who filled out most of the profiles as his Bulls team-mates were overseas at the time.The Bulls players won’t be asking for amendments after Seccombe played with poise and controlled aggression and dominated the match-winning 81-run stand with Clinton Perren, who made 60.Seccombe said he had not done any extra work on his batting in the off-season and was surprised at how well he struck the ball.”My aim was to be positive, I probably haven’t been as positive as I could have been in situations like that in the past,” he said.”If I could bottle that I would.”Seccombe also took three catches in Tasmania’s innings including a superb diving effort to his right to remove the dangerous Michael DiVenuto off the bowling of young left-armer Mitchell Johnson.The injury-plagued Johnson displayed an all-too-rare glimpse of his cricketing ability with an eye-catching spell of 4-37.Johnson, who suffered a stress fracture in his back last season, made the initial breakthrough when he had DiVenuto caught behind.Johnson completed his four-wicket haul when he had Damien Wright caught behind by Seccombe to break their promising partnership.Johnson did not bowl for 12 months and wore a back brace to overcome his injury and only played club cricket as a batsman last season.

South Africa’s preparations for Friday’s opening one-dayer against New Zealand were cut short by the bad Auckland weather, restricting them to only 30 minutes of practice.”It’s pretty disappointing,” said Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain. “We had a very short warm up match in Hamilton yesterday and, although a few of the boys got some game time, we were looking to today’s session to really get everyone up to speed, but I suppose its just one of those things we have to deal with over here.”One of the major topics of discussion since the South Africans arrived in New Zealand has been the pitches. Smith and Eric Simons, the coach, said that they ranked New Zealand’s ability to exploit home conditions as one of their biggest strengths. The Eden Park pitch, however, is more difficult to read as it is a drop-in pitch and will be lowered into the main square only a couple of days before the match.South Africa are likely to play the same side which won the one-day series against West Indies, with the only possible change being Nicky Boje for Robin Peterson.New Zealand, meanwhile, will be without Nathan Astle, who is to undergo knee surgery, and Shane Bond, who is out with a long-term back injury, but Stephen Fleming is still confident of reeking revenge.South Africa have lost only nine of the 34 one-dayers the two teams have played against each other, a fact which Fleming is all too aware. “You’ve got to acknowledge statistically that they’ve been better than us, but a lot of the games could have gone either way,” Fleming said. “To not have a win against them in a series of any sort is something that is exciting for the team to try and complete.”The match takes place on Friday 13, what the New Zealanders call “Black Friday”, but Graeme Smith isn’t one for superstition, He joked, “Is that what the date is tomorrow?”New Zealand (from) Stephen Fleming (capt), Ian Butler, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum (wk), Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Michael MasonSouth Africa (from) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Rudolph, Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Jacques Kallis, Andre Nel, Shaun Pollock.

Rashid Latif’s letter to the ICC is significant for one reason: he implies that fixing is still a problem in the game. Not matchfixing, as most people think of it, but what he terms “Fancy Fixing” – fixing elements of matches without necessarily affecting the result or arousing suspicion.This is not new by itself. It is fairly common knowledge that a lot of cricket betting focusses on micro-aspects of a game – how many runs a bowler will concede, how many boundaries a batsman will hit etc. But what is significant is that now a current international captain has chosen to confirm what has been suspected for quite a while. For obvious reasons, Latif cannot name any names. But would he have bothered to write this letter if he did not know for sure that ‘Fancy Fixing’ does indeed take place?What grants this letter further credibility is that it comes from a man who put more than just his career at stake when he first blew the whistle in the mid-’90s. Few people took him seriously then; he has since been vindicated in full.The solutions that Latif offers on ‘Fancy Fixing’, however, will not resolve the problem. Even if the 15-overs-restriction rule is annulled, betters – and fixers – will find some other aspect of the game to exploit. How many runs a bowler will concede in his quota of 10 (or 12, as Latif suggests) overs. How many quick singles a particular pair of batsmen will take. How long a batsman (particularly a hard-hitting strokeplayer) will take to hit his first boundary. The possibilities of finding things to bet on are as endless as the possibilities in cricket. Latif suggests eliminating a couple of these possibilities; but more exist, and there can be no end to them.The first step to finding a solution to a problem, though, is acknowledging that the problem exists. Latif’s letter should force the authorities to accept that those dark days of bookies bribing cricketers and subverting the game are not necessarily over. They have it on the word of a current Test captain. They will ignore it at their peril.Amit Varma is managing editor of Wisden CricInfo in India.