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Mohammad Yousuf: ‘I think I’m a worthy candidate’ © AFP

Mohammad Yousuf has thrown his hat into the ring as a willing contender for Pakistan’s cricket captaincy a day after Younis Khan turned down the offer.Though Yousuf has not been offered the post, one that must be cricket’s toughest job at the moment, he told Cricinfo that he would be more than willing to accept it if the offer was made. “The PCB has not contacted me but I have no problem leading the team.”Younis refused the post citing the mental strain the job would bring with it but Yousuf shrugged aside such concerns, even hinting that he was, by rights, next in line.”I don’t see any kind of pressure in the job. I think I’m a worthy candidate as in the last year I have really proven myself. It has always been an honour to represent Pakistan and it would be a real pleasure to lead the team at this difficult time.”Yousuf has captained Pakistan in three Tests, winning one against South Africa at Lahore and losing the other two to Australia in 2004-05 at Melbourne and Sydney. Until Younis took over as vice-captain, Yousuf had held the post since the 2003 World Cup.”I’m a senior player now and I have previous leadership experience,” Yousuf said. “We won that Test against South Africa and in Australia as captain, I made a hundred. And before that, I was vice-captain so I am confident I can do the job justice.”Yousuf, who broke the long-standing record of most Test runs in a calendar year in 2006 and was chosen as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, stressed the need for a swift decision. “Whoever is selected, it should be done soon. Ideally, a good step would be to appoint an experienced player and allow him to groom a youngster for the role.”In the past, in Pakistan sides, there have always been many ex-captains or players who wanted to lead and that hurt the team. That has to be avoided this time.”In much of the captaincy talk, Yousuf’s name has been conspicuously downplayed by the board’s decision-makers. The accent has been on youth; Shoaib Malik has been repeatedly mentioned, so too Salman Butt.A few players, however, have voiced concerns about opting for youth, purely for the sake of it, over an established name. “The names mentioned are all players who aren’t really sure of their places in the side. To burden them with leadership isn’t a good move,” said one.Another added, “This is Pakistan, not a club or department team. Whoever is chosen should be a regular, proven performer. Some of the younger candidates mentioned haven’t even performed well recently. How can they be expected to lead a team in which their own position is not certain?”It suggests that an investment in youth might not be universally popular within the team, potentially leaving the board already worrying about future dissent. Just how much of a quandary the board is rooted in is evidenced by the fact that there has still been no official reaction to Younis’s decision, more than a day after the event.

The pace bowler, Tapash Baisya, has been drafted into the Bangladesh squad for the third and final one-day international against Sri Lanka at Chittagong, as they bid as they bid for a rare series victory on Saturday.Bangladesh levelled the three-match series 1-1 with a four-wicket victory in Bogra on Wednesday, which was only their 11th win in 117 one-day internationals.Baisya, 23, has played in 51 one-day internationals, taking 56 wickets at an average of 39.71, but he has not featured since Bangladesh’s last series against Sri Lanka, in September 2005.But he has been named in the squad as a replacement for the allrounder and former captain, Khaled Mahmud, who quit international cricket after top-scoring in defeat in the first one-dayer at Bogra on Monday.Bangladesh squad Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Manjural Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Tapash Baisya.

Tatenda Taibu: vowing to bounce back© Getty Images

When the itinerary was drawn up for Zimbabwe’s two-Test tour of South Africa, there had originally been just a two-day gap scheduled between last week’s Cape Town Test and the Centurion match, which gets underway tomorrow morning (Friday). But, thanks to South Africa’s ludicrously facile two-day victory at Newlands, the two sides have been given the best part of a week to prepare for the rematch, or rather, the mismatch Part Two.There really isn’t a lot that can be said about this fixture. Amid the outrage that greeted the result of the first Test, in which South Africa bowled Zimbabwe out for 54 before romping to 340 for 3 by the close of the first day, there were renewed calls for Zimbabwe’s Test status to be reviewed, and not even the return of their former captain, Heath Streak, was able to increase the team’s competitiveness.Nobody in their right mind expects Zimbabwe to bounce back from such a humiliation, least of all the CEO of the Nashua Titans franchise, Elise Lombard, who warned last week that another two-day finish could cost the Centurion authorities a small fortune in lost revenue. But Zimbabwe can at least console themselves that things surely cannot get any worse.Their captain, Tatenda Taibu, remained defiant however, arguing that his team had learned a great deal from their Newlands humiliation. “We learnt how important it was to bat for long periods and we also learnt that there is no margin for error on the South African grounds,” Taibu told the SAPA news agency. “We’ve all learnt a lot and we need to go back and put what we’ve learnt into practice.”The only bright spot for Zimbabwe came on the second day, when, with South Africa’s intensity understandably reduced, they kept the match alive until after tea, thanks in particular to a storming innings from the returning Andy Blignaut, who cracked 61 from 58 balls, including six sixes.

Dion Ebrahim: a rare bright spot in the second innings© Getty Images

“The boys weren’t destroyed by the loss because we fought back well,” said Taibu, adding that the likes of Blignaut and Streak were not yet match-fit after spending a long time on the sidelines during their dispute with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.With a major tour of the Caribbean looming at the end of the month, South Africa have chosen to rest their established new-ball pairing of Makhaya Ntini – who hasn’t missed a game for 36 matches and three years – and Shaun Pollock, who has a long-term ankle injury. But South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, warned Zimbabwe that there would be no let-up at Centurion.”It would be difficult to re-enact the two-day Test,” Smith told SAPA, “but certainly we’ll be playing with the same intensity, the will to win and the will to be ruthless that we had at Newlands.” Into Pollock and Ntini’s places come Monde Zondeki and Andre Nel, and Smith expects great things of the pair.”They are all different kinds of bowlers with their own special talents,” he said of his attack, which also includes Charl Langeveldt, who ripped through England in the Cape Town Test in January. “Nella’s big and strong, and he gets good pace and bounce, and he gets good shape. We want to see him bowl the way we know he can.”I want to see Monde run in, get pace, hit good areas and create chances,” added Smith. “Although Langes doesn’t have the same pace, he is a guy that gets good swing. We want to see them work together as a trio and build the pressure. That’s what our four seam bowlers did for us in Cape Town.”South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Herschelle Gibbs, 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Monde Zondeki, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Andre Nel.Zimbabwe (from) Stuart Matsikenyeri, Barney Rogers, Hamilton Masakadza, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Williams, Tatenda Taibu (capt and wk), Alester Maregwede, Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut, Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Twanda Mupariwa, Christopher Mpofu, Douglas Hondo.

India need Sachin Tendulkar to fire sooner rather than later © Getty Images

Rahul Dravid has spoken up for Sachin Tendulkar, who is battling with a run of low scores. Speaking to the media ahead of India’s Boxing Day Test against Australia, at Melbourne, Dravid said: “A lot has been said unnecessarily about his form – we believe he’s in great touch and hitting the ball really well.” Tendulkar’s poor run of form in Tests in 2003 has yielded just 109 runs from 15 innings at an average of less than 16.”We’re looking out for a big score from him here,” said Dravid. “Having said that, it’s not just about Sachin, we don’t want to put any additional pressure on him. We want him just to go out there and enjoy his cricket, play like we know he can play.”I’m confident Australia has not seen the best of him … you can see he’s really keen to make a big one,” said Dravid, who helped himself to a big score in the second Test at Adelaide, racking up a magnificent 233.On an unrelated note, Dravid also looked forward to having the services of Zaheer Khan for the next Test. “We’re very hopeful and confident he’ll make it.”Meanwhile, Sandy Gordon, the sports psychologist who has worked with the Indian team from time to time, singled out patience and determination as the two virtues that helped India beat Australia. “The key to their win was patience and discipline. At the team level it was outstanding,” he said. “Now they need a big effort to sustain it for the next 15 days. They got to do it session by session. They have to get around doing the same again and again, to apply the process of Adelaide.”Gordon also spoke highly of Dravid’s mental ability. “The discipline and patience of Dravid has been exemplary. He has shown a wonderful temperament, an unflappable and even personality,” he said. “I am glad he has been able to imbibe the lessons so well. For example, he has been able to switch on when the delivery is to be bowled, switch down when he negotiates it, and switch off after he has dealt with it.”Gordon is expected to work with the Indian team before the final Test at Sydney.

All-rounder Chris Cairns’ appearance at New Zealand’s net session at Jade Stadium has lifted hopes that he will take some part in the National Bank Series with India.While he will not play on his home ground in the third match on New Year’s Day, Cairns had a light bowl and a long bat in the nets as New Zealand prepared for their next game.Cairns is recovering from keyhole surgery, the latest treatment on a troublesome knee that required more full scale surgery last summer.The only appearance he has made for the TelstraClear Black Caps this year has been in the Super Max International at the start of India’s tour.Cairns is looking to play a three-day match for the Canterbury A team and then possibly one or two State Shield matches before possibly being available for the last two One-Day Internationals at Auckland and Hamilton midway through January.However, he is not rushing into his return as he felt that was a contributing to his breakdown last summer.

Zimabwe’s world-class wicket-keeper/batsman, Andy Flower, has angrily refuted claims emanating from India that his left thumb is not as badly injured as reported.Speaking to CricInfo earlier today, he said: “I received a knock on my left thumb when I took the first ball of the fourth day of the Second Test, bowled by Andy Blignaut. I kept on for the remaining 20 overs or so of the innings but, when I found I could not hold a bat, I saw a doctor.”An MRI scan revealed that the thumb was dislocated and a ligament had been torn from the bone. I have got to have an operation on Tuesday to re-attach the ligament and will then have the hand in plaster for some four to five weeks.”Flower has been ever-present in Zimbabwean international teams since he made his debut in the 1992 World Cup in Australia.That in itself is a remarkable record and it is regrettable that scurrilous stories should have been circulated suggesting that he had other motives for missing this triangular series involving India and the West Indies as well as the host country, and then the two Test Matches against the West Indies which follow.While his absence in the middle order and behind the stumps will be a severe blow to the Zimbabweans, listeners to CricInfo.com’s audio coverage will benefit from Andy Flower’s presence in the commentary box.

Everton manager Frank Lampard has shared a major injury update regarding Andros Townsend following the Toffees’ 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Townsend struck by injury

During the FA Cup quarter-final clash against his former club, the 30-year-old had to be substituted in the 17th minute after he seemingly twisted his knee in an agonising manner.

Clearly in a lot of pain, he had to be carried to the changing rooms by a number of Everton staff, sparking fears of a serious injury.

The winger was applauded off by both sets of fans – he left Palace for the Toffees last summer, ending a five-year spell with the Eagles.

The Latest: Lampard’s worry…

Lampard has expressed his worry over the possibility that Townsend could be out of action for a long time, which would come as a body blow in Everton’s fight for Premier League survival.

As quoted by The Athletic, the Toffees manager said of the winger’s injury: “It looks bad. A knee injury. He got his studs caught in the grass and we’ll scan him over the next day or two but the early signs are that it will be a bad knee injury.”

The Verdict: More injury issues for Lampard

Since arriving on Merseyside, Lampard has faced a number of injury issues at the club. Although they have now returned to action, the likes of Ben Godfrey, Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin had been unavailable for a time during the 43-year-old’s fledgling reign at Goodison Park.

This adds to the current injury list, which involves long-term absences for Tom Davies and Cenk Tosun, and an unknown return for Fabian Delph. Yerry Mina is set to return next month, which will come as a defensive boost for the side, but Townsend’s injury leaves Everton short of right wingers.

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Therefore, this will come as a big blow to Lampard, who may now need to put his trust in Anwar El Ghazi, who has played a grand total of 11 minutes since his January move from Aston Villa.

In other news: These were Everton’s three worst players against Palace

Shane Bond’s comeback from an abdominal muscle strain, amid speculation he has signed with the Indian Cricket League, could not help his side Canterbury in their Twenty20 loss to Central Districts in Christchurch. Bond took 0 for 38 from his four overs as Central Districts cruised to 186 for 6, with Ross Taylor smashing five sixes in his 19-ball 46. Chris Harris, who is used to the Twenty20 format after joining the ICL, made 47 in the chase but had little support as Brendon Diamanti collected 3 for 14. Canterbury were all out for 120 in the 18th over, crashing to a 66-run loss.The Northern Districts captain James Marshall posted an unbeaten 58 to help his side to victory over Wellington in Hamilton. Marshall guided Northern Districts to 133 for 3 in the 16th over as they overhauled Wellington’s 131 for 8 with little drama. Grant Elliott top scored for the visitors with 34 but regular wickets meant they could not gather significant momentum.Bradley Scott helped Otago secure a 60-run win in Dunedin, grabbing 3 for 9 as Auckland were rattled out for 94. Rob Nicol tried to guide Auckland’s chase and made 43 but his team-mates fell apart and could get nowhere near Otago’s 154 for 7. Nathan McCullum’s 38 from 20 balls was the best individual effort for Otago.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Central Dist	1	1	0	0	0	4	+3.300	186/20.0	120/20.0
Otago	1	1	0	0	0	4	+3.000	154/20.0	94/20.0
Northern Dis	1	1	0	0	0	4	+2.031	133/15.3	131/20.0
Wellington	1	0	1	0	0	0	-2.031	131/20.0	133/15.3
Auckland	1	0	1	0	0	0	-3.000	94/20.0	154/20.0
Canterbury	1	0	1	0	0	0	-3.300	120/20.0	186/20.0

Secrecy is the buzzword: The media will be kept out of the Wankhede Stadium premises © Getty Images

The extreme developments of the last couple of days had prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take no chances with the high-powered meetings set to take place in Mumbai on April 6 and 7. While it debates – and hopefully decides – on the various crucial issues it has suddenly been faced with, there will be measures in place to ensure secrecy is maintained.To that end, the board has decided to keep the media out of the Wankhede Stadium premises, where its offices are situated and where it is scheduled to meet. The board has also asked both Greg Chappell and Sanjay Jagdale, coach and manager for the World Cup, not to send the reports sought from them in any form – fax or email – to board members, but instead to table them directly before Sharad Pawar, the president, at the assigned time.It has already instructed the players to refrain from making any remarks to the media, especially on the currently sensitive topics doing the rounds in Indian cricket.Rahul Dravid, who has steered clear of the limelight for the past few days, holidaying in Kerala with his family, will speak to the office-bearers at the meeting but submit no report. The word on Thursday was that Sachin Tendulkar had also been asked to attend the meeting but this could not be confirmed.The two-day session will be the first time the BCCI would have met to discuss India’s early exit from the World Cup and its fallout, including Wednesday’s decision by Chappell not to seek an extension of his coaching contract. Rumours of an emergency meeting convened at Pawar’s residence on Wednesday evening, soon after the Chappell news broke, proved to be just rumour.And so, at 10am on Friday, Chappell and Jagdale will hand over their reports to Pawar. Also present will be Niranjan Shah, the secretary, Mohinder Pandove, the joint secretary, N Srinivasan, the treasurer, four vice-presidents, the chairman of selectors and the administrative head. Lalit Modi, who is in London at the moment, is the one vice-president unlikely to attend the meeting.While Jagdale’s report will be restricted to the tournament, Chappell, it is believed, has been asked for a detailed analysis from the time his tenure began, 22 months ago.In the second half of the day, once they are finished with Chappell and Jagdale, the BCCI will meet with former Indian captains to ascertain their views on the best way forward. The former captains invited are Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Ravi Shastri, Kris Srikkanth, S Venkataraghavan and Chandu Borde. While the board will be discussing the details of the two reports they received with the former captains, it is understood that copies of the report will not be made available to them, once again in the interest of maintaining confidentiality.The next day, by which time Chappell would probably have left the country for a pre-arranged break in Singapore, the board’s working committee will meet. This meeting is expected to last all day, ending with a press conference at 5pm, when the decisions taken at the meeting will be made public.The BCCI is not under any compulsion to name either a captain or coach at the end of the meetings, but it is widely expected that they will announce their captaincy choice and an interim coach, in the meantime constituting a panel that will look at options for a long-term coach.

West Indies 218 for 3 (Johnson 83) beat South Africa 213 (Daneel 90) by seven wickets
Scorecard

West Indies opening bowler Kemar Roach in action © ICC

West Indies secured their spot in the Super League as Leon Johnson, the captain, and Jason Mohammad struck stylish half-centuries with some of the more impressive batting in the tournament to date. Their stand of 148 enabled West Indies to overcome a rocky start, after South Africa had scraped their way to 213 on the back of Pieter Daneel’s defiant 90.South Africa’s total was short of par, but not as light as West Indies made it appear by cantering home with almost seven overs to spare. Chris Alexander’s mixed-bag of an opening over produced an inside-edge for four, a top-edge for six and the wicket of William Jenkins. When Wayne Parnell trapped Andre Fletcher lbw, leaving West Indies on 17 for 2 in the fourth over, it was certainly game on.However, South Africa’s bowling attack does not have much depth – as was harshly exposed when Australia racked up 316 on the opening day of the tournament – and once the new ball was negotiated Johnson and Mohammad began to increase the tempo. Dean Elgar followed the tried-and-tested method of introducing spin early, but there was no pressure on the batsmen to attempt anything outrageous. South Africa did have a chance to remove Johnson on 49 but Craig Kieswetter fluffed the chance behind the stumps.Elgar gambled and saved up his second Powerplay for later in the innings, but when he took it Johnson and Mohammad unleashed a calculated assault to speed their side towards victory. Both batsmen flicked effortless fours through the leg side, while Mohammad also peppered the straight boundaries with some powerful drives. That Caribbean flourish certainly lives on in this team.Johnson, fresh from his 83, hailed his side’s allround display: “We felt under pressure coming into the game. We did well to restrict them to 213, they have a good batting line-up. It was a good track and then we just applied ourselves well at the crease. We’ve been working very hard on our batting because in some of our preparation it perhaps wasn’t that good, but that hard work is paying off.”South Africa struggled to find the boundaries and apart from the nine struck between the openers, Symes and Daneel, they managed just five fours and a six. A torrential tropical downpour struck Colombo yesterday evening, resulting in a 30-minute delay to the start, and the damp outfield meant batting targets needed to be revised downwards.South Africa, though, had been given a sound start with a stand of 64 in 14 overs. West Indies were sharp in the field, with Gajanand Singh holding a stunning catch on the deep square-leg boundary to remove Levi at a vital time. The total was a healthy 109 for 1 before Singh flung himself parallel to the ground, holding the catch one-handed. Three overs later it was 115 for 4 and the innings needed some serious stabilising.Daneel’s innings was a fine example of concentration and application as he held the order together. He also had to overcome a serious bout of cramp, which resulted in him collapsing in pain after completing a quick single. After some rapid treatment from the physio he was able to continue with a runner but struggled to find the boundary.Following the match Elgar said: “Maybe he should have asked for a runner earlier, then we might have got an extra 30 runs, but I’m not blaming him, it is the rest of the batsmen.”Elgar knows South Africa haven’t performed well so far, as they now head into the Plate tournament, and added: “We don’t want to be losing to the lower teams, because then we really will be going home with our tails between our legs.” Johnson, however, summed it up in a typically West Indian way when asked about the quarter-final against India: “We just have to go and play cricket, and the rest will happen.”