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Dion Ebrahim has paid the price for his poor showing with the bat in Bangladesh, and has been left out of Zimbabwe’s 14-man squad for their tour of South Africa which starts next week.Ebrahim will now be drafted into the Zimbabwe A squad to take on Bangladesh A in a four-day match at Queens Sports Club, which gets under way on Sunday. If he impresses, he will then be sent to South Africa for the two-Test series. He struggled with the bat in the one-day series in Bangladesh, scoring only 28 runs in four innings with a top score of 26 in the second match.Also out of favour are the top-order batsman Vusumuzi Sibanda, and the medium-pacer Mluleki Nkala, whose fitness in Bangladesh was a cause of concern.The selectors have called up the offspinner Gavin Ewing who made his ODI debut against England in November last year, but was left out of the Bangladesh tour. Ewing was part of the Zimbabwe A side which recently toured Namibia.A surprise inclusion is the 18-year-old left-handed batsman Sean Williams. He represented Zimbabwe at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year, and was one of their most consistent batsmen. He is also an effective left-arm spinner. He was touted as being a likely inclusion at the time of the players’ strike last April, but his father Colin, a former first-class player and national hockey coach, refused to release him and insisted that his son should concentrate more on his studies.The team went into a camp on Monday and they leave for South Africa next Tuesday. Their captain Tatenda Taibu and the pace bowler Douglas Hondo are still recovering from injuries picked up in Bangladesh, but they are expected to be fit before the team’s departure.Squad Barney Rogers, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu (capt/wk), Sean Williams, Gavin Ewing, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Douglas Hondo, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Christopher Mpofu

Shane Warne has announced his retirement from first-class cricket while ending his eight-year association with the county side Hampshire. Warne, 38, had been a regular with Hampshire since 2000 and led them from 2004. Dimitri Mascarenhas will succeed Warne as captain.Both sides reached a mutual agreement after prolonged discussions between Warne and Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman. Warne’s diverse business interests, his participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – where he is captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals – and his need to spend time with his children in Australia meant he would not be able to commit time to Hampshire over the coming seasons.”This was not an easy decision to make,” Warne said. “But due to some exciting business opportunities I had to make this call. My eight years with Hampshire have been a wonderful experience, memories that will last with me forever, and likewise the friendships that have been formed at the club.”Unfortunately I am retiring from all first-class cricket but will participate in the IPL with the Jaipur franchise as captain and coach. Good luck to all involved at the Rose Bowl. I wish you all the best.” Warne will be joined in the Rajasthan Royals by the Hampshire players Mascarenhas, one of his best friends, and Shane Watson, the Australian allrounder.”I know this will be a major disappointment to many fans of both Hampshire and Shane but, after much discussion and soul-searching, it has become clear to both of us that Shane can no longer make the commitment required to continue to lead Hampshire,” Bransgrove said. “After the commitment and loyalty he has shown to this club over the past few years, I can only wish him all the success and happiness he deserves.”Hampshire Cricket has been hugely privileged to have enjoyed the unstinting loyalty of this living legend since 2000. The most effective and entertaining bowler of all time, Shane was also a brilliant leader and strategist. As our captain, his influence was instrumental in the development of Hampshire into one of the country’s top sides and he enriched the game wherever he played.”Warne took 276 first-class wickets at an average of 25.59 for the county and scored 2040 runs. He retired as Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker after the Ashes early last year, but Muttiah Muralitharan surpassed the mark of 708. Warne is undoubtedly one of the game’s greats and in 2000 was named among the five Cricketers of the Century

Lunch
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The tsunami-postponed Test series started with a battling first session after New Zealand, relieved to have waved goodbye to Ricky Ponting’s formidable Australian team, made a watchful start with the bat after winning the toss. Sri Lanka’s bowlers, still missing their injured talisman Muttiah Muralitharan, probed away accurately and both teams left the field for lunch satisfied as New Zealand reached 61 for 1.The only casualty of the morning was Craig Cumming (12) as Chaminda Vaas, swinging the ball a smidgen and cleverly working the angles, zeroed in on a perceived susceptibility to being trapped lbw after a difficult series against Australia. Eventually, Vaas, having changed ends to bowl into a fresh breeze, landed a perfectly pitched full-length inswinger that would have curved into middle-and-off stump (35 for 1).Sri Lanka could have earlier claimed the wicket of James Marshall, as Sanath Jayasuriyia, partially obstructed by a flailing dive from wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, grassed a straightforward chance at first slip off an attempted forcing stroke in Nuwan Kulasekera’s first over of Test cricket. James Marshall capitalised on the reprieve, resisting Sri Lanka’s bowlers until lunch and finishing on 24 not out.All three of Sri Lanka’s seamers bowled well, maintaining a tight line and length and forcing the Marshall Brothers to graft hard for their runs. Vaas created question-marks with his inswing, Kulasekera bounced in with refreshing enthusiasm and nipped the ball in, and Lasith Malinga always threatened to take a wicket with his remarkable science-defying catapult action, generating bounce and pace and very nearly finding the shoulder of Hamish Marshall’s bat with a nasty lifter just before lunch.Before the start, New Zealand confirmed the call-up of allrounder Kyle Mills, who replaced Daniel Vettori who decided to rest a sore back. Vettori wasn’t New Zealand’s only injury problem either with Scott Styris (knee), Jacob Oram (back), Ian Butler (back), Darryl Tuffey (bicep) and Michael Papps (finger) all unavailable for the two-Test series. Sri Lanka also have injury problems with Murali and Nuwan Zoysa both recovering from surgery.Sri Lanka, who have fond memories of McLean Park in Napier having won their first-ever Test outside the subcontinent at the same venue back in 1995, were positive in their selection, resisting the safe option of selecting seven frontline batsman so they could play five bowlers, including two spinners. Shantha Kalavitigoda, Farveez Maharoof and Ruchira Perera were the players omitted from the touring party.New Zealand team:1 James Marshall, 2 Craig Cumming, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Nathan Astle, 5 Hamish Marshall, 6 Lou Vincent, 7 Brendon McCullum, 8 Kyle Mills, 9 Paul Wiseman, 10 James Franklin, 11 Chris MartinSri Lanka team:1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Nuwan Kulasekera, 11 Lasith Malinga.

It wasn’t the most exciting of matches, but the win helped Pakistan clinch the Mobilink Cup and reverse the trend of recent losses in Multan. Convincing but not attractive, the unassailable 3-0 lead will be a relief for Pakistan, given their decision to field a young and inexperienced bowling attack.The home side were greatly indebted to Shahid Afridi whose 52-ball 85 not only bailed Pakistan out of a hole – 78 for 5 – but also provided a holiday crowd precious moments to make their presence felt. Equalling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of 245 sixes in ODIs, Afridi’s knock showcased his increasing maturity of late.”It was a tough situation to come and bat in,” Afridi said after thematch. “We had just lost quick wickets and we needed to rebuildeffectively and post a good total.”Known for his aggressive batting irrespective of the situation, Afridi initially relied more on singles and twos rather than using the long handle. A mishit did bring him his first boundary but Afridi managed to play himself in with plenty of twos, cutting the spinners and driving straight down the ground. From then on, it was all power hitting.”After a cautious start, I played my natural game. There was no pressure on me and the situation demanded quick runs. Fortunately, my attacking ploy worked and it ended up as a positive innings. Zimbabwe have a good bowling line-up and it was not a case of taking them easy. It was merely playing the bowling on merit and even though getting a century would have been a huge honour, I’m happy with my effort in helping Pakistan post a good total.”Zimbabwe could take a lot out of their much-improved bowling performance – before Afridi intervened, that is. Robin Brown, Zimbabwe’s coach, put the failure to contain Pakistan after a brilliant effort by Tawanda Mupariwa down to a lack of experience.”We basically lacked the killer instinct that is required to polish things off,” Brown said following the 37-run defeat. “Obviously (we are) disappointed by the effort we put in, it would take a lot of skills and effort to contain the strong Pakistan line-up, something we are lacking.”Mupariwa, in his first match of the tour, was Zimbabwe’s best bowler, finishing with 4 for 46, his best ODI figures. After the wicket of Younis Khan off his first ball of the day, he added the scalps of Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Yousuf, courtesy of a sharp caught-and-bowled.”It was hard work paying off,” Mupariwa said. “They have an experienced top order and it was something special to get those wickets that early on. The plan now is to work harder and get as many wickets in the next two matches to hopefully make the scoreline look 3-2.”

Zimbabwe’s effort with the bat was rather surprising. Adopting a defensive approach, it seemed batting practice was what the touring side was after rather than overhauling Pakistan’s total. With Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams – promoted to No. 3 – untroubled under lights, and with Pakistan keen to limit boundaries rather than look for wickets, an earnest chase might have spiced things up.After both batsmen made fifties, Zimbabwe required 128 off 17 overs with seven wickets in hand. Instead, they only managed 235, hit only nine fours and failed to clear the boundary even once. Brown, however, dismissed claims of a defensive approach.”I wouldn’t say it was a negative approach. Pakistan bowled really well. They bowled in the right areas and there weren’t that many bad balls,” he said. “Therefore, it made things really difficult for us and although the batsmen were well set, hitting boundaries became really difficult and the asking-rate kept climbing.”There are, however, things to be improved upon,” Brown admitted. “Most of our batsmen have been among the runs. Two of our batsmen scored fifties today. We need to look to get 6-7 fifties in a match and only then will we be able to win. Hopefully, we can learn quickly enough to win the next two matches.”

The series may have been lost in the end, but South Africa’s tour of India was an important learning experience – both on and off the field – that will reap benefits further down the line.There were fears before the tour that a young and inexperienced outfit would make fools of themselves, but they need not worry that they have let either themselves or their supporters down. As Omar Henry, SA’s convenor of selectors, says: "They confronted the difficulties of the subcontinent and I think they surprised people with how they performed. There is still room for improvement, but there were very good signals, and we can bank on seeing the benefits of the tour later on."Far more experienced touring teams have fared much worse in India, and for the former South African coach Graham Ford the most pleasing aspect of the tour was the number of runs the visitors managed to score."I thought the batsmen did exceptionally well because their concentration had to be superb, and the main thing to come out of the tour is that the team would have grown considerably in terms of the mental aspect," Ford told Cricinfo."Andrew Hall has always had the ability to bat up front, but he now knows how to play when conditions don’t suit him. And Zander de Bruyn also did fantastically well," added Ford. "We have a bit more of a tail these days, but it’s okay because I think the guys re-established themselves as a quality batting side."For Henry, the most impressive feature of the tour was the inauguration of a whole new attitude to touring the subcontinent. Before, South African teams used to closet themselves away in their luxury hotels, but the current squad adopted the excellent attitude of getting out there and experiencing India."First and foremost, the team have found a way to enjoy the subcontinent. Their whole attitude and approach has been far more based on enjoyment," said Henry. "Touring the subcontinent is a major test of character."And Henry added that nothing had given him more pleasure than the team’s "buzz" on the field: "It was a joy to watch the guys playing the way they do in South Africa. There’s been an absolute change in mindset."Henry mentioned the batting of Jacques Kallis, Hall’s innings at Kanpur, the bowling of Makhaya Ntini and the fielding as the major positives to come out of the tour, but there was no progress on the vexed issue of South African spin bowling.Said Ford: "Nothing’s been done in 12 years about a spinner, and we just seem to go round in circles." He was happy, however, with the other bowlers. "There was nothing wrong with the back-up bowling. They were consistent and had the skill and discipline to stick to the game plan."Ford believes South Africa are in reasonable shape heading into the home series against England. "The team has gone forward in a lot of aspects," he concluded, "and provided the selectors make good decisions for the series against England, we should be very competitive."

Guyana 211 ( Arjune 55, Chattergoon 51) v Barbados
ScorecardThe last time Barbados won the toss and sent the opponents in to bat at the Carlton Club, the critics gave them a hard time. Those very same detractors would have been on their case midway into the opening day of the Carib Beer Challenge semi-final at the same venue after Ryan Hinds asked Guyana to bat first. By the close, however, the critics might have changed their tune.To their credit, Barbados managed to convert a Guyana century opening stand to a total of 211 all out. Two months ago they managed to dismiss Trinidad and Tobago for 259, but still lost by the heavy margin of 264 runs when a draw would have assured them of the Cup.For the first three hours, the surface appeared to be lifeless as Krishna Arjune and Sewnarine Chattergoon added 106 for the first wicket with the help of a few missed chances. For the next three hours, the match took a complete swing with Barbados running through the top and middle order.Pedro Collins, making his first first-class appearance in a year following a stress fracture of the back that sidelined him since last September, showed he had lost nothing and grabbed two wickets. One came when he embarrassed Narsingh Deonarine. The left-hander left perplexed after his stumps were hit when he offered no stroke. Collins could have had another two wickets, but catches were missed off him by Smith and wicketkeeper Patrick Browne when Chattergoon was 30 and Arjune 40.Tino Best, hungry to fire for Barbados since he was stung by his omission after a solitary match in January, also created a big impression, generating pace that no one else could, and at times making life uncomfortable for the batsmen. There was one eventful over in which he hit the 17-year-old Steven Jacobs on the helmet, forced him into taking evasive action with another fast lifter and appealed for a bat/pad catch to forward short-leg.It was somewhat of an injustice that Best had no wickets to his name at tea, but he returned in the evening session with just as much life to remove Travis Dowlin with a wonderful, diving return catch, after which he sprinted several yards for his usual animated celebrations, and also dislodged Derwin Christian with a full length ball for an lbw verdict.While Collins and Best were at the forefront, Dwayne Smith’s contribution was not to be underestimated. Used as the fifth bowler in an 11 in which the selectors eventually decided to leave out the recuperating Corey Collymore, Smith claimed three wickets, including the last two. His first scalp, Neil McGarrell, was lbw offering no stroke immediately after Floyd Reifer had put down a relatively easy chance at first slip.Ian Bradshaw also assisted the effort, and even if offspinner Ryan Austin could not sustain the high standards he set in pervious matches, he did enough to claim two wickets.At the close, Barbados would have been the more contended team on a day that was watched by a few dignitaries, headed by Prime Minister Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister Sir Lloyd Sandiford and former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, the new chairman of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Cricket Committee.For the first half of the day, those beyond the boundary might have wondered where the first wicket was coming from.Arjune and Chattergoon buckled down to play solidly in compiling half-centuries, seemingly setting the platform for a middle order that was badly missing captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.Arjune’s 55 occupied exactly three hours before Bradshaw dismissed him with the help of a good catch by Hinds in the gully, while Chattergoon’s 55, that lasted just shy of four hours, was ended when he tried to heave Austin through the onside and gave a catch to slip.

An Aussie and a Kiwi adding 163 in an international match at Belfast? It may not sound right but it happened today as Canada’s antipodeans, John Davison and Ian Billcliff, flayed Namibia’s bowlers at the Woodvale Cricket Club.Tucked underneath Black Mountain in West Belfast, Woodvale is no classical cricket ground, from its square shape, brick walls and short boundaries to the fact that it is invisible to passers by, being surrounded by housing. Twice I went round the block in search of the sound of leather on willow, questioning my ability to read a map and, indeed, my sanity. Perhaps the drive up the famous Shankill Road, with its sea of Union Flags, proved too much of a distraction.I stepped through the gate just in time to see both the first of Davison’s four sixes travel into a neighbouring property and the gentleman who was painting that house showed no interest in getting down from his ladder to retrieve the ball. Davison, Canada’s Australian captain, soon passed 50 but offered a chance on 58 which was grassed by his opposite number Deon Kotze.At the other end, Billcliff offered some much-needed support having joined Davison at 26 for 2. Just as Davison lives in Sydney, Billcliff conceded that preparing for the ICC Trophy back home in Auckland was a little weird. Dropping Billcliff at third man before he had scored turned out to be a 90-run blunder for Namibia. Add to that the 67 further runs Davison benefited by after life and you have an entirely different proposition to the eventual victory target of 285.The words “catches win matches, eh” uttered by Namibia’s 12th man Mattheaus Van Zyl could not have been more pertinent. Like many of his team-mates, Van Zyl lives and plays cricket in South Africa which goes some way to explaining how a country with just five senior clubs can make it to the World Cup as Namibia did in 2003. Of interest, too, is the fact that – unlike most of the rest of their competitors in this tournament -Namibia’s players are all born in Namibia.Everything is just a little more relaxed away from the highest level. The players sit as club players do, on the edge of the ground, not worrying where their gear is strewn; officials as high-ranking as the President of the Canadian Cricket Association sit on park benches, and the media (in this case limited to yours truly) eat lunch with highly-rated umpires (Billy Doctrove).Even the ground announcer wandered around soaking up the action, until he came across a name in the Canada team that required a moment to compose himself before attempting to pronounce. “I was hoping he didn’t have to bat,” announced the announcer as Pubudu Dassanayke went to the crease.Dassanayke did not prosper with the bat but was sharp behind the stumps – and he needed to be when he caught Danie Keulder for 83 down the legside off George Codrington’s offspin. Keulder had been in full flight despite losing his opening partner JB Burger – Namibia’s star batsman at the World Cup – for just 8. With Keulder gone too, Namibia started to lose direction and wickets.They did however have few problems hitting sixes. Kola Burger and Louis Burger enjoyed a mid-afternoon feast that ensured their team would go close and Canada would go through a number of new balls. One enormous Kola Burger strike was still tracking up when it sailed over a three-story house.There was no shortage of encouragement right to the end when Namibia needed 19 off the last two overs. Caribbean and Asian voices rung around the Canadians in the field while the locals cheered catches and boundaries alike. But when Namibia’s No.9 Stephan Swanepoel reduced the target to three with a four and two sixes, the locals’ chants changed to “easy, easy”.And although Namibia had just one wicket in hand with one over left, it probably should have been. The moment got the better of Swanepoel though and Codrington’s excellent catch inside boundary saw Canada indulge in a baseball-style victory pile-up and left Namibia’s nearly hero knelt-down, distraught on the pitch. All this, and it’s just the first round.

Canterbury posted their second win over Central Districts in a week and had Michael Davidson to thank for the success in Christchurch, which pushed them to the top of the table. Playing his third first-class game, Davidson captured nine wickets for the match and his first half-century as his side sealed an eight-wicket, three-day victory.Half-centuries to Peter Ingram (83), Bevan Griggs (55) and Timothy Lythe (52) pushed Central Districts to 226, but they managed only 148 in the second innings as Davidson added a career-best 5 for 39 to his 4 for 55 on the opening day. Michael Mason, the New Zealand bowler, hit 39 not out to extend the home team’s target to 89 and then took the only two wickets to fall. Davidson’s 56 and 82 not out from Kruger Van Wyk were essential in getting Canterbury to 286 and they did not let go off their first-innings advantage.The previous leaders Wellington slumped to an embarrassing two-day defeat to Otago after their first-innings 76 was followed by 150 in Dunedin. Wellington needed 267 to make the home team bat again and the total was a long way from their reach as Bradley Scott picked up 4 for 36 and Nathan McCullum captured 3 for 20 to end the match before its scheduled halfway point.After their successful first day, which was sealed with James McMillan’s four wickets, Otago showed there were no problems with the pitch by making 342. The opener Craig Cumming fell seven short of a century and was well supported by Aaron Redmond in a stand of 134. Redmond finished with 56 while Greg Todd, the No. 3, added 48. Michael Burns and Charlie Shreck limited the damage with three wickets each, but Wellington were soon in more trouble when they batted for a second time. They stay on 24 points while Otago move closer to the top three with 16.It took six rounds but the defending champions Northern Districts finally have their first win on the board after beating Auckland by seven wickets in Gisborne. In a low-scoring match Gareth Hopkins was the only man to threaten a big score, before he fell for 99 in the first innings as Auckland reached 186.Peter McGlashan (51) helped Northern Districts secure a handy lead as they made 283 despite Colin de Grandhomme’s 4 for 65. Another Hopkins half-century – he made 52 – could not mask Auckland’s troubles and Tim Southee’s seven wickets for the match left the home side needing only 101 for victory. James Marshall and Daniel Flynn guided them home early on the fourth day.

Sri Lanka’s national selectors might finally get financially rewarded for their efforts. The job has so far been an honorary one, but Tryphon Mirando, the secretary of the interim committee, said that they will meet shortly and discuss ways of compensating the selectors.”Over the years the selectors have spent their own money on travelling, and [using] their personal phones to be in touch with each other,” Mirando explained. “If we expect them to do a job properly they should be duly compensated.”The selection committee is presently headed by former Sri Lanka offspinner Lalith Kaluperuma, and comprises Don Anurasiri, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, KM Nelson and Shabbir Asgerally.

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, warned his players to expect some stiff resistance from England, especially after their disappointing Test series against Sri Lanka.England began the series as favourites but had to settle for 1-1 in the three-Test series after a spirited fightback by Sri Lanka in the final Test at Trent Bridge. However, Woolmer doesn’t expect any easy offerings when Pakistan begin their tour, keeping in mind that England would be determined to bag a comprehensive win at home before heading to Australia in their bid to retain the Ashes.”England’s show against Sri Lanka means nothing for us”, Woolmer told Reuters. “It is not our divine right to win and we will have to play very well to beat them. Winning in England is never easy.”The England side suffered a huge setback after Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones got sidelined due to injuries. Pakistan too had their share of bad news with Shoaib Akhtar, their key fast bowler, failing to make the Test squad because of an ankle injury which failed to heal in time. However, Woolmer saw this as an opportunity for the other fast bowlers to carry the load with merit.”I think the writing was on the wall for us as far as his injury is concerned and we have to play without his pace,” Woolmer said. “However, we have played without him in the past and managed. It is a good opportunity for others to be counted.”