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Janeiro Tucker has again been hauled before the Bermuda Cricket Board disciplinary committee after an incident during a league match last month.Tucker, who is player/coach at Southampton Rangers, faces charges of displaying unsportsmanlike conduct during his side’s Premier Division match against Cleveland County at Southampton Oval on September 9. He is alleged to have shouted obscenities towards Hector Watson, the umpire, after being dismissed.Earlier this year Tucker received a three-match ban after a similar incident, and he was also punished for swearing in 2002.Despite this latest incident, he was included in Bermuda’s 15-man squad for the tour of Kenya and UAE.

Sylvester Joseph has been appointed captain of the West Indies A side for the tour of England in July and August this year.The 16-man squad contains as many as eleven players with international experience, including Dave Mohammed, Runako Morton and Jerome Taylor, currently with the national team for the home series against India. The touring squad also includes Lendl Simmons, Richard Kelly and Jason Mohammed, stars of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carib Beer title triumph. Tino Best, the fast bowler who missed out on selection against India, gets another chance to impress the selectors.The team will play a series of three-day and limited overs games against various county sides, including a three-day fixture against the touring Pakistan side at Shenley.Squad – Sylvester Joseph (capt), Ryan Hinds (vice-capt), Devon Smith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Runako Morton, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Jason Mohammed, Darren Sammy, Patrick Browne (wk), Richard Kelly, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Tino Best, Dave Mohammed and Andrew RichardsonSupport staff – Anthony Howard (manager), David Moore (coach), Phyllis Burnett (physiotherapist), Bryce Cavanagh (strength & conditioning coordinator)

Nottinghamshire are on the verge of securing promotion after an emphatic innings-and-six-runs victory an hour after lunch on the third day against Derbyshire at Chesterfield. Following on, Derbyshire were always up against it and although they lifted themselves past 300, they still couldn’t make the visitors bat again. Travis Birt top scored with 85, while Hassan Adnan made a fifty. Samit Patel ended with three wickets. The promotion spot is now Nottinghamshire’s to lose: Middlesex need to win their last two matches to even have a sniff, while Notts only have to take six points from their final match at champions Somerset.Nicky Boje took 6 for 110 as Northamptonshire capitalised on their dominant position to take the honours in the lower-table clash with Leicestershire at Grace Road. Paul Nixon’s brave century and the efforts of the lower order propped them up for a while, but ultimately they could not stave off defeat and they sank 177 runs behind with more than 23 overs remaining.

Surrey did their chances of staving off relegation no end of good at Edgbaston, ending the third day on 2 for 0 chasing a target of 177 to beat fellow strugglers Warwickshire. Surrey’s first-innings lead of 88 was wiped out for the loss of one wicket as Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott put on 101 for the second wicket, but Jade Dernbach’s dismissal of Westwood, who had been dropped by James Benning when in single figures, started a slide in which nine wickets fell for 142 runs.

Iain O’Brien, the Wellington medium-pace bowler, has been called up as cover for Michael Mason and Mark Gillespie during the first ODI against Sri Lanka on December 28 at Napier’s McLean Park. Gillespie, on international debut, suffered a knee injury during New Zealand’s Twenty20 win on Tuesday, while Mason is reportedly not fully fit.O’Brien, 30, served as 12th man for both the Tests. He has previously played two Tests, against Australia, in March 2005.John Bracewell, New Zealand’S coach, hinted that Daniel Vettori, who will captain in the first two ODIs place of a rested Stephen Fleming, will bat at either No. 5 or 6. “There may be a surprise in that we use Daniel Vettori in the middle because of his ‘gapping’ ability, in particular against spin,” he told . “So there may be a shift there.”Nathan Astle, whose unbeaten 40 helped New Zealand to a five-wicket victory on Boxing Day, underwent an x-ray on his hand, with Craig McMillan on standby. “We’re delighted with the progress he’s [McMillan] made,” Bracewell said. “We’re in constant touch with him and his domestic coach.”Brendon McCullum will open the innings with Astle and keep wickets, though it’s assumed that a second ‘keeper, probably Gareth Hopkins, will be named in the squad later in the series.

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.

The latest chapter in the Javagal Srinath saga began on a positive note with his inclusion in the Indian squad for the first Test against West Indies which starts in Mumbai on Wednesday. Rookie legspinner Amit Mishra was the only surprise inclusion, though he may not find a place in the final XI, with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble likely to be the two spinners playing, supported by the pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Srinath.Ajit Agarkar was omitted from the squad after his dismal showing with the ball in England, as were Tinu Yohannan and Wasim Jaffer. Ajay Ratra also got the boot, with Parthiv Patel chosen as wicketkeeper. Both SS Das and Sanjay Bangar were in the squad, with Bangar favoured to continue in his role as Virender Sehwag’s opening partner.Interestingly, in the first squad they have selected, Brijesh Patel and his newteam of selectors have shown an inclination to continue with the policy of Chandu Borde and co., of backing young players and not being afraid to experiment. Picking two legspinners is a bold move – Sarandeep Singh or Murali Kartik would have been the clichéd choices for third spinner, but Patel and his men, clearly, are not afraid of backing their instincts.Indian squad 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sanjay Bangar, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Sachin Tendulkar, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan, 12 Ashish Nehra, 13 SS Das, 14 Amit Mishra.

Shane Warne made a strong return in his first match of the season in Australia and then announced he was ready to turn it on again during the Ashes. Warne took 4 for 34 for St Kilda as they beat Footscray by 120 runs at Junction Oval before saying he was very happy with his bowling over the past six months.”To be honest, I bowled probably the best I ever have for Hampshire,” Warne said after the game. “The results weren’t really there [during the county season in England], but they were in one-day cricket. I did exceptionally well in one-day cricket All the Hampshire boys reckon I’m going to have a big Ashes series and a big domestic home season here because I didn’t have much luck during the county season.”Warne was the highest wicket-taker for Hampshire in the 2006 County Championship, but his 58 wickets came at 27 apiece, placing him fourth in the averages list. However, he was outstanding in the one-dayers, taking 23 in 12 games at an average of 14.21.He also reiterated the fact he would not be playing one-day cricket in the domestic season, although he expressed his willingness to step in in case of an injury. “I’m not playing international cricket, and state cricket is all about producing players for international cricket,” Warne said. “Why should I take up a spot when that spot could be taken by a young spinner or someone else they want to try or play?”We’ve got a young captain, a young side, but there might be a time through the summer when Whitey [Cameron White] is with Australia A, or Hodgey [Brad Hodge]. We might have a few injuries and suddenly they might need me to play – then I’m happy to step in.”Looking ahead to the Ashes, Warne endorsed England’s move to appoint Andrew Flintoff as the leader of the campaign. “It’s an aggressive move to make him captain. I’m sure he will do a good job,” Warne said. “I don’t think it’s a risk. You look at the candidates and I think he will need someone like Andrew Strauss. I think at times during the summer he will go to Andrew Strauss to work out what’s the right time to bowl and those sorts of things. He [Strauss] can keep an eye on things while he’s bowling. But I think it’s a good move from England.”

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India made short work of England’s total of 215 for 7 in the third one-dayer at Guwahati, cruising to victory by 8 wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Karu Jain starred with 64 at the top of the innings, and Mithali Raj ended unbeaten on 65 to take the home side through to a comprehensive win. Anjum Chopra also continued her good form, partnering Raj in a stand worth 68.The home side were assisted in their run chase with a disappointing bowling performance by England: only Charlotte Edwards, the captain, could apply the brakes to the rampant Indians, conceding 43 from her ten overs.It was Edwards who led from the front, again, when England won the toss and chose to bat. Together with Laura Newton, the pair put on 102 for the first wicket – but when Newton fell, bowled by Reema Malhotra’s legbreak, the doors were swung wide open; one became two, two became three and, but for some plucky lower-order boundaries from Beth Morgan and Nicki Shaw, the innings subsided quickly. On what was a flat pitch, their eventual total of 215 – albeit their highest of the tour so far – was a little less than they anticipated, a sentiment Richard Bates, England’s coach, agreed with.”Yes, the pitch was flatter than we expected – certainly flatter than in previous games,” he told Cricinfo today. “In hindsight, I suppose we were 20 or so short – but even if we had managed another 20 runs, I don’t think that bowling performance merited a victory.”Injury scares further limited England’s options. “It wasn’t the balance we were looking for; only 12 players were at the ground, so we were forced into selection,” Bates said. “That’s no excuse, though. We didn’t bowl very well today and we weren’t able to put any pressure on the batsmen.”India’s run chase got off to a rollicking start – “we simply didn’t put the ball in the right areas. They got away from us and got the runs with ease” Bates added – with Jain, who deservedly won the Player-of-the-Match award, smiting ten fours in her 88-ball innings. Despite Arran Brindle dismissing Jain, and Watts removing the wicketkeeper Jaya Sharma, India weren’t troubled in the slightest, coasting to 216 with more than 9 overs to spare.

Scorecard

Martin Love’s counterattacking hundred helped Queensland escape with a draw against the touring West Indians at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, despite Marlon Samuels’s five-wicket haul. Queensland appeared to have done enough when Love (108) and Andrew Symonds (77) added 175 for the fourth wicket to take them to a comfortable 262. However, Samuels spun a web with his offbreaks, scuttling out Symonds and James Hopes in the space of 13 balls, and along with Gayle, who removed Love soon after, reduced Queensland to 6 for 272.Samuels removed Chris Simpson and West Indians went to tea needing only three more wickets to wrap it up. But they were thwarted by Chris Hartley, who made an enterprising 60 not out, including three sixes, with one mighty hit landing on the roof of the Queensland Cricket building. He was ably assisted by Michael Kasprowicz, who joined Hartley with the score on 9 for 343 and hung around for 39 valuable minutes as the duo denied the West Indians a morale-boosting win ahead of the first Test at the Gabba.The West Indians, though, will be heartened by the form of some of their batsmen, especially Samuels, and will begin the Test with some positive signals. However, the Gabba remains an Australian fortress – they haven’t lost a single Test there since 1988 – and West Indies will face a far more daunting task when they stride out on November 3.

Andhra, who were in a position of considerable strength at stumps on thefirst day of their South Zone (under-19) Cooch Behar Trophy match againstKerala, set the seal on their overwhelming superiority by winning by aninnings and 66 runs with more than a day to spare on the second day at theUkku stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.After dismissing Kerala for 56 runs and replying with 164 for one at closeof play, Andhra declared their first innings on Tuesday at 206 for fourwickets. The declaration was made shortly after opening batsman andwicketkeeper Md Tahir Hussain got his century. Resuming at 79, Hussainremained unbeaten with exactly 100 at the declaration. He faced 207 ballsand hit 10 fours. The other overnight batsman Gnaneswara Rao fell withoutadding to his score of 61.In arrears by 150 runs on the first innings, Kerala hardly fared any betterin their second innings and were shot out for 84 runs in 39.1 overs. Thewrecker-in-chief this time was opening bowler PAVN Raju who finished withsix wickets for 17. Md Faiq, who took five wickets in the first innings,captured three for 20. Tahir Hussain, besides his unbeaten hundred, alsotook four catches and made one stumping.