Though he took three catches on the second day of the first Test against South Africa in Karachi, it was the one that got away from Kamran Akmal yesterday which could yet cost Pakistan.Jacques Kallis was on 36 when he attempted to cut Danish Kaneria. He succeeded only in edging it; Akmal succeeded only in fluffing it. He rectified it but, 55 overs and 119 Kallis runs later, the true cost of the drop may ultimately prove much higher.This isn’t a one-off, of course. Akmal’s form behind the stumps since his remarkable first year in the team as a regular has deteriorated so spectacularly that one journalist quipped that Kallis had found the unluckiest way to be dismissed in cricket: ‘caught Akmal’.He has been persisted with through 27 consecutive Tests, and if the first 15 Tests were outstanding, the last 12 have been exceedingly poor. His batting has fallen away (only three fifties in that period) and he has read spinners, particularly Danish Kaneria, as adroitly as Englishmen used to pick Abdul Qadir.Opinion on what has happened is not particularly diverse. Rashid Latif and Wasim Bari have long felt there are technical problems and that he should be rested. Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistan’s first Test wicketkeeper, agrees, though he points out Akmal’s poor footwork particularly to the spinners.”His [Akmal’s] initial movement is wrong: he should be moving his right foot to the right to an off-stump line, and not back as he does at the moment,” he told Cricinfo. “The technical shortcomings aren’t anything that can’t be overcome but he has to work at it. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take him through recordings of his early career when he did well.”The only question is how long Pakistan can persist with a man who has become, some snigger, the poor man’s Parthiv Patel. The selection committee has already started asking it. “He is a little off-colour at the moment,” Salahuddin Ahmed, Pakistan’s chief selector, admitted, “and we have been looking at other options as we should.”Those options include Sarfraz Ahmed, who was captain and wicketkeeper of the Pakistan U-19 team that won the World Cup in 2006. He has since been impressing on the domestic circuit and played against the South Africans in the tour match for the Patron’s XI.”Sarfraz was impressive in the warm-up and he also played a couple of crucial, fighting innings against Australia A, so he’s in form,” Salahuddin said. Also in the fray are Rawalpindi’s Zulqarnain Haider and Faisalabad’s Mohammad Salman, who comes with recommendations by Rashid Latif.Immediate change is still unlikely – though not ruled out – mostly because of the security Akmal’s batting brings, especially on slower, subcontinent pitches. He opened Pakistan’s innings in place of Salman Butt and contributed a quickfire 42 to a much-needed solid start. “He is still agood batsman and that certainly helps his cause,” Salahuddin said. “It is a dilemma certainly and one we have to take a decision on.” Sooner, you think, rather than later.

Jamie Siddons has become the latest Australian to take charge of a Test team after accepting the role as coach of Bangladesh. Siddons, an assistant coach with Australia, will arrive in Dhaka on Monday to finalise his contract.Last month it was reported that Siddons was unlikely to become the team’s coach after his terms and conditions did not match those of the Bangladesh board. But today Siddons said: “I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted an offer from the BCB to coach the Bangladesh national team.”Siddons is considered one of Australia’s greatest domestic players never to win a Test cap. He made 11,587 first-class runs at 44.91, playing for Victoria and South Australia between 1984-85 and 1999-2000, and played a solitary ODI in Lahore in 1988.Siddons has been continually involved with the national team since retirement. He was appointed as a senior coach at the Centre of Excellence before the 2005 Ashes and then became an assistant coach with the Australian team.Bangladesh have been looking for a coach since Dav Whatmore decided to quit the post following India’s tour of Bangladesh in May. Shaun Williams, the assistant coach, has been in charge of side since then. Siddons’ appointment means Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all have former Australian state or international players coaching them.

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

A magnificent spell of 6 for 49 from Dale Steyn decimated a feeble New Zealand and led to South Africa winning the second and final Test at Centurion inside three days by an innings and 59 runs. It was Steyn’s second ten-wicket haul in consecutive Tests, and New Zealand now limp towards a three-match one-day series.This was a rout of frightening speed. It took South Africa just 34.3 overs to steamroll New Zealand for 136, a total that included Stephen Fleming’s 54. Scott Styris scraped together 29; Brendon McCullum 21, while extras stole 11. The rest aren’t worth talking about.Steyn, however, is. For the second time in consecutive Tests he baffled – even occasionally frightened – New Zealand’s wary top-order with pace, movement and aggression. As was the case in Johannesburg, he received fine support from Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis – all of whom were good, if not as exemplary as their young colt. Today, however, Steyn had one other helping hand: the finger of Mark Benson.Lou Vincent was the first unlucky recipient when Benson adjudged that a leg-side slider would somehow have hit the stumps. It was a dreadful decision, but such is the way of the world when all is against you. Steyn, roaring up to the crease and in excellent rhythm, removed Michael Papps leg-before (plumb, this time) while Kallis ended Styris’ staunch support of Fleming when he induced a thick outside edge.Fleming batted angrily, petulantly and excellently – as he has in both these Tests – taking the aggressive route and seizing upon another short and wide. Of course, 105 Tests have taught him the value of patience and experience – both attributes which New Zealand lack in spades, as exemplified by Ross Taylor.After thumping two fours, Nel roared a typically raucous and unlikely appeal for lbw which Taylor, and the umpire, dismissed out of hand. Noticing he had wandered from his crease, Hashim Amla at short-leg grabbed the ball and flicked it onto the stumps to run him out. Clever of Amla; careless and plain daft from Taylor. It rather sums up New Zealand cricket at the momentFleming too fell victim to a debatable decision when a Steyn inducker trapped him in front, fifth man to depart, for a valiant 54, and the last four (Craig Cumming flew home yesterday following surgery) fell within 28 balls to complete the trouncing.South Africa cricket is shining at the moment. First their success in Pakistan, now a thrashing of New Zealand – but two shadows lurk. The first is the pitches which have been criticised by the captain, Graeme Smith. South Africa didn’t have it all their own way today – they collapsed, too, from 272 for 3 to 332 for 8 owing to a fine debut performance from Mark Gillespie. 17 wickets have fallen on a third-day pitch.Secondly, South Africa only needed three people to win this series: Amla (291 @ 145.50), Kallis (346 @ 115) and Steyn (20 wickets @ 9.20). This says more about the paucity of talent in New Zealand cricket, of course, but the home side were only remotely troubled in three sessions out of two Tests. It has hardly tested their mettle.What an introduction to Test captaincy it has been for Daniel Vettori.

Glenn McGrath believes the MCG Test is the ideal time for Australia to relax the tradition of playing a spinner and pick a pace quartet instead. Stuart MacGill’s wrist surgery has left Brad Hogg as the only frontline slow-bowling choice, but McGrath thinks Australia’s speed options provide enough variety.McGrath said with India’s prowess against turn, using four fast men on Boxing Day was a possibility. “Australia has always gone in with a spinner, but it isn’t the way it has to be,” McGrath told AAP. “You have to look at the make-up of the team, Stuey Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Brett – they’ve all done a great job.”If a fourth quick bowler was required McGrath said it would have to be Shaun Tait. Tait seems to have shaken off an elbow injury, bowling strongly in the Pura Cup, and was promoted to Australia’s limited-overs teams to face New Zealand this week.”It would be pretty awesome to see Brett, Mitchell and Shaun coming in, bowling 150kph plus,” McGrath said. “That would be something that hasn’t been seen around world cricket for a long time.”McGrath, who retired after the World Cup in April, was confident Australia could deflect the challenge of India during the four-Test series. “The way the Australian team plays, especially at home, India are going to have to do something very special,” he said.”If you look at our batting line-up, and then the bowlers, it’s a pretty awesome team still. Sourav [Ganguly] and the Australians have always had a love-hate relationship, but he’s a quality player, and Sachin [Tendulkar] is class, so I’m sure there’ll be testing times there but I back Australia the whole way.”

Adam Gilchrist says the Australian team is tired of the criticism from former players, which is mostly directed towards the former coach John Buchanan. In the past few days, Shane Warne and Ian Chappell have picked on Buchanan, with Chappell stating that his daughter might have done better than Buchanan and Warne labelling Buchanan “a goose”.”I must say there has been a lot said in the papers this week,” Gilchrist said. “I guess one of the traits that we have a lot of pride in wearing the baggy green is that we show a lot of respect. That’s what we have prided ourselves on. It is an elite club and we have always felt that a major characteristic of being in that club is to show respect. It just seems that some guys in retirement have lost that.”Gilchrist also hoped the Test series against India would be free of the tension that was around during the ODI series in India. “It will be hard fought,” he said. “They are a team that has said that they want to take the challenge to us in an aggressive manner. Hopefully we won’t go down that route again in terms of the amount that was written about and time it took. It all got a bit out of control in the one-day series early on in India.”We are both aggressive teams, we are talented teams. I think we will just be trying to play hard aggressive cricket and not go too far with it.”On Australia’s bowling combination for the Test, Gilchrist said it would depend on the conditions, but he preferred a spinner in order to have a balanced attack. “As a general rule, I have always thought a spin bowler in a Test team is very well balanced as an option. But I must put an asterisk – it depends on the conditions and that’s what we have got to weigh up.”We definitely have got the arsenal to warrant four quick bowlers if the conditions suit. We have got a world-class spin bowler in Brad Hogg. He has proven that in one-day cricket and he’s now very excited about the opportunity to try and prove that he deserves to play Test cricket.”Gilchrist was not concerned about his record against India. His career average in Tests is 49.27, but in the 14 matches against India it drops to 29.95. “There’s no sort of box left unticked,” he said. “I have scored a couple of hundreds against them in very very difficult circumstances.”

Scorecard

Mithun Manhas helped Delhi edge ahead after the second day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Baroda in Indore. A match in which no other batsman topped 50, Manhas scored a fluent 97 and was largely instrumental in Delhi managing a first-innings lead of 72. They were bowled out just before close of play for 271, while Baroda’s openers saw off four overs without too many alarms to ensure that they still have a good chance of fighting back.The Baroda bowlers kept it tight throughout the day, with Sankalp Vohra, the left-arm medium-pacer, being the pick of the lot. Pitching it in the corridor and getting the ball to angle away from the right-handers, Vohra finished with impressive figures of 4 for 39, and was helped significantly by Yusuf Pathan in the slips, who snaffled four catches.Resuming at 49 for 3, Delhi’s overnight batsmen, Manhas and Aditya Jain, put the team on the ascendancy with a fine 131-run stand. The Baroda new-ball bowlers had managed plenty of swing and seam late on the opening day, but neither Sumit Singh nor Salim Veragi could repeat the act on the second morning, which allowed both batsmen to drive through the line of the ball much more freely. Manhas was the more aggressive of the two, and turned it on even more when the spinners were introduced into the attack. Pathan, the offspinner, was deposited over long-on for the first six of the match, while Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, was driven down the ground for four as Manhas used his feet effectively.Jain played his part well, and was just two short of his fifty when he played the ball square on the off side, raced down the pitch, and had no chance of regaining his crease when Manhas refused the single. Manhas reached his 26th first-class half-century from 83 balls, and was motoring towards his hundred when a rush of blood spoilt all the good work: he charged down the pitch to Pawar, but miscued his lofted drive to Pathan at long-on.Rajat Bhatia and Puneet Bisht, the wicketkeeper, added 40 and helped Delhi past Baroda’s first-innings total of 199, but the pair was separated soon after when Pawar trapped Bisht in front as he lunged forward and was hit in line. Bisht looked surprised at the decision, but replays showed it was the correct one.Bhatia and Sumit Narwal – one of the bowling heroes from the opening day – got another useful partnership going before the second new-ball did the trick for Vohra and Baroda. Bhatia had batted patiently for his 38, but couldn’t resist the cut shot when offered some width. The edge flew to Pathan, and Delhi were seven down with the lead just 38. It got even better for Vohra when Narwal and Amit Bhandari fell in the same over – Narwal poked an edge to Pathan at second slip, and Bhandari carved a drive to cover.Parvinder Awana, the No. 11 batsman, frustrated Baroda briefly, hitting a couple of fours on his way to 12, before fending a short one to the waiting hands of Pathan. Baroda’s bowlers had restricted Delhi to 271 on the second day, and the deficit to 72. With the pitch still playing well and all ten wickets intact, Connor Williams and Co will feel the bowlers have given them an excellent chance of coming back into the match despite their feeble first-innings performance.

Ricky Ponting hopes one of Australia’s most comprehensive victories inrecent times can help them maintain their one-day hold over Sri Lanka, whohave won only one of the past eight meetings between the sides. NathanBracken’s best ODI figures confirmed the 128-run win but Ponting saidthere were no weak links anywhere in his side’s performance and his menhad adjusted ideally to the slow SCG pitch.Sri Lanka had plenty of regrets, however, and Mahela Jayawardene said theplayers faced some home truths in a lengthy team meeting after the game.”We had quite a few things to discuss, especially the way we battedtoday,” Jayawardene said. “It’s something that keeps happening to us thelast six months. In certain situations we haven’t adapted well.”Jayawardene was critical of his players’ shot selection and conceded hisown dismissal was one of the ugliest. However, Australia’s ability to varytheir attack was crucial as Sri Lanka lost their last seven wickets for51.Bracken came back with cutters after a short opening spell of swingbowling, which was important on a pitch that didn’t offer significantpace, and Ponting was also pleased with his other bowlers. “I knew thatNathan would do a good job through the middle of the innings,” Pontingsaid, “which is why he only bowled his three up the top.”Mitchell Johnson bowled probably as well as he has bowled for Australia.We’ve got lots and lots of options and a lot of those are moresuited to these sort of conditions that we’ve had here tonight.”Brett Lee picked up the important early wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya, whomisjudged the pace and played on, and Johnson’s five overs cost only nineruns and frustrated Jayawardene into a loose drive that he edgedbehind. Brad Hogg chipped in with a wicket and James Hopes kept thingstight, but Ponting also praised his batsmen after they posted 6 for 253.Michael Clarke did not lose his cool despite being denied boundaries andhe finished unbeaten on 73, while Adam Gilchrist was uncharacteristicallycautious in his 61. “That was a very complete performance,” Ponting said.”The wicket wasn’t easy to bat on, it was pretty two-paced and there was afew bouncing a bit more than expected so that sort of total I thought wasalways going to be competitive.”Jayawardene said Australia’s batsmen had simply adjusted to the conditionsbetter than Sri Lanka but he hoped they could put the thrashing behindthem before their next game against Australia at the WACA next Friday. “Wedon’t want the line-up to be too negative because we’ve got a verytalented group of players,” he said. “We just need to make sure they gettheir heads in the right place.”Ponting said it would be difficult for Sri Lanka to fight back after sucha one-sided game in the first match between the sides since the World Cupfinal. “We’ve dominated them a lot [recently] so tonight was another stepforward for us,” Ponting said. “To have a comprehensive victory like thatat the start of a one-day series is always good and hopefully we can stayon top of them for the rest of the series.”

Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman, may not be available for the Indian Premier League’s auction on Wednesday because of a legal complication. Lawyers for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) have, in a letter to the owners of the IPL’s eight franchises, said Yousuf’s legal status is currently the subject of arbitration, under which his participation in the IPL has been stayed.”Mohammad Yousuf cannot participate in the tournament organised by the IPL or any other tournament organised by any other league in direct competition with the Indian Cricket League,” ALMT, the lawyers representing the ICL, said in the letter. “Such participation would amount to breach of the order and our client reserve their right to take such other legal recourse against all parties concerned.”Yousuf initially signed up with the ICL after being dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the World Twenty20 last September. Soon after, however, he was convinced by the PCB to turn his back on the ICL, represent Pakistan and also sign up with the IPL, the rival tournament officially sanctioned by the BCCI.The matter went into arbitration where Yousuf’s lawyer, Tafuzzal Rizvi, argued he had “no contract” with the ICL as the money [paid to Yousuf] was “received back by the ICL without any objection”. However the presiding judge passed an order on December 15, 2007, restraining Yousuf from appearing in the IPL or any league rivalling the ICL, and to maintain status quo till further orders.Wednesday’s high-profile auction in Mumbai will see the eight franchises bid for 80-odd players, including several top internationals. Yousuf’s name is included in the IPL’s roster but whether it will be there on Wednesday morning is a moot point.

Victoria’s emerging fast bowler Peter Siddle says he will draw extra motivation from playing against a near Test-quality New South Wales team in the Pura Cup final. The Blues have included Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Nathan Bracken, Stuart MacGill, Michael Clarke, Phil Jaques and Brad Haddin, but Siddle believes the less well-known Victorians have nothing to fear.”You always want to play against the best players,” Siddle said. “These names come back and they’re the blokes playing for Australia at the minute, and obviously if you do well against these type of players the selectors take notice.”Unlike New South Wales, Victoria have a reasonably settled line-up, although they have had injury concerns with their fast bowlers. Siddle has had ongoing shoulder worries – he had a reconstruction in 2006, dislocated it earlier this year and aggravated it a couple of weeks ago – but he is confident he is now fully fit.The niggles have limited him to four Pura Cup matches this season, however his results have been outstanding. He has 24 wickets this summer at 14.70 and has drawn praise from Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd, who believes Siddle, 23, should be in the national selectors’ plans for the years ahead.”He’s bowled brilliantly in the games that he’s played for us,” Shipperd said. “He’s a really hit-the-wicket-hard, aggressive character and we have high hopes for him in the game and in the future.”The burden will not be entirely on Siddle when the final begins at the SCG on Saturday, with all of Victoria’s top bowlers available apart from Gerard Denton, who has ankle soreness. Shipperd said he had no doubt the Bushrangers could overcome the disadvantage of playing away from home.”It’s a wicket that is going to attract an outright result and so that’s what we need,” Shipperd said. “We played up there recently and the ball spun enormously day one, so we think that will assist all spinners in the game but it will also attract the opportunity to take 20 wickets and that’s what we’re looking for to win the game.”Last time Victoria played in a Pura Cup final they were destroyed by Queensland, who piled on 6 for 900 at the Gabba. That was only two seasons ago but the state’s personnel has changed significantly in that time and Shipperd is certain there will be no lingering anxiety in the current squad.”That’s in the distant memory now,” Shipperd said. “We’ve got different faces in the team, we’ve got a different bowling attack, we’ve got a side that’s got two years’ more experience under its belt.”Siddle was only a rookie back then and was not required for the decider. He has vivid memories of Victoria’s most recent Pura Cup triumph, which came at the MCG in 2003-04 when Siddle, then 19, was still making his way with his club side Dandenong.”It’s amazing, I can remember coming here four years ago when they won it at home here against Queensland, just watching those blokes then,” Siddle said. “Hearing about the celebrations and being part of the team and winning something so big, it is exciting and hopefully I can be a part of that myself.”Siddle and Shane Harwood are the two inclusions in Victoria’s 13-man squad with Darren Pattinson dropped from the side that beat Queensland on the weekend. The two main decisions for the selectors are whether to ask Rob Quiney or Lloyd Mash to open with Nick Jewell, and which of Clint McKay and Dirk Nannes will be retained in the attack.Victoria squad Nick Jewell, Rob Quiney, Lloyd Mash, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Clint McKay, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes.

ScorecardLendl Simmons’ third first-class hundred gave Trinidad and Tobago a significant advantage over Barbados on the second day of their final-round Carib Beer Series match at Guaracara Park. Backed by some top bowling and fielding T&T ended in a great position to defend their title against Carib Cup champions Jamaica; by stumps they had a 267-run lead over Barbados, who were bowled out for 184.Simmons, 23, resumed on 63 and buckled down to score 126 from 279 balls, with nine fours and a six, out of T&T’s 420. He shared in a ninth-wicket partnership of 98 in 91 minutes with Ravi Rampaul (38). Simmons, batting at No.4, was last man out to give left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn his fourth wicket.T&T then secured a 236-run lead – and four first-innings points – by dismissing Barbados for 184. Richard Kelly set the ball in motion with the wicket of opener Jason Haynes for 8 and offspinner Amit Jaggernauth and Rayad Emrit each took three wickets. Dwayne Smith (39) got a start but fell just before tea, caught behind off Dave Mohammed.Daren Ganga, T&T’s captain, decided not to enforce the follow-on and his team finished on 31 for 0 going into the third day.
ScorecardPace bowler Gavin Tonge took four wickets to put Leeward Islands in control against Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) on the second day at Grove Park. CCC could only manage 248 in reply to Leewards’ first-innings 418 and trailed by 252 at stumps as they reached 82 for 0.Resuming on 402 for 8 Leewards were aided by Tonito Willett’s 67 but could only add 16 as legspinner Gavin Wallace finished with 6 for 108 from 32.2 overs. Simon Jackson and Omar Philips, CCC’s openers, then launched a stirring attack to get their side to lunch at 71 for 0. CCC’s 50 came up in just 5.4 overs and Jackson had 55 to his name by the break as compared to Philips’ 5. The duo added 122 before Jackson fell for a 49-ball 75; from there on wickets fell at regular intervals.The veteran Floyd Reifer (26) and Chadwick Walton (32) restored the innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 52 but CCC lost seven for 51 after they were separated. Tonge, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, claimed 4 for 66 from 11 overs, backed up by Brent Defreitas’ 2 for 29.With a 170-run lead garnered, Kieran Powell and Shane Jeffers proceeded to extend Leewards’ position with an 82-run opening stand. Powell was unbeaten on 52 after top-scoring with 85 in the first innings.
ScorecardTravis Dowlin celebrated his appointment as Guyana captain by hitting an unbeaten 121 as the hosts dominated the Windward Islands on the opening day at the Providence Stadium. Guyana finished on 312 for 3 after opting to bat on a slow track and with Dowlin was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, just 22 runs away from a 44th first-class century.Dowlin and Chanderpaul came together at 161 for 3 and put on 151. Dowlin hit 14 fours during his 208-ball effort and Chanderpaul had six fours and three sixes in his 72 from 116 balls.Dowlin, 31, also put on 106 with former West Indies Under- 19 captain Leon Johnson (46) after Guyana played out a watchful first session. Krishna Arjune was the first to go, bowled by Mervin Matthew for 18 in the first hour and Sewnarine Chattergoon went for 27 from 72 balls shortly before lunch. From there on Dowlin took charge and along with Chanderpaul, totally dominated the last session.The game was scheduled to start on Friday but due to the late arrival of the luggage of the Windward Islands team, the opening day had to be delayed by a day.