Michael Holding, the former West Indian fast bowler, has called for the reinstatement of Dwayne Bravo, the allrounder, to the West Indies team.Holding said Bravo would bring more options to the team in the series against Australia and should replace the out-of-sorts Jermaine Lawson. “I think Bravo just offers more in terms of consistency and pressure because Jermaine is just not into gear at the moment,” the quoted Holding as saying. “Corey Collymore was outstanding. He hit the seam and made the batsmen play and really troubled them. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalise on that because the other guys just let the pressure off at different times. Having Bravo in the team just gives the bowling a better balance in my opinion.”Bravo has managed to establish himself as a genuine allrounder in his seven Tests for the West Indies, taking 20 wickets and scoring 397 runs, including one century. He was however overlooked by tour selectors as West Indies sought to field four fast bowlers for the opening Test at the Gabba.Holding said the West Indies bowling was lacking the edge necessary to stamp its authority on the batting side. “Our inability to finish a side or really take advantage once we get on top is certainly a problem. Our batting looks very settled at the moment but our bowlers are still pretty inexperienced.””It showed on the first day and it showed against the tailenders. Against the top order they kept the ball up and in the right area most of the time but once they got to the lower order and the batting got a little unorthodox, [Darren] Powell, [Fidel] Edwards and Lawson just lost their line and length completely.”Holding said Edwards was the only one of the current West Indies battery with genuine pace and should be encouraged to bowl quickly. “He is probably the only one with the genuine, raw pace and you never want to take that away from a young fast bowler. You can work on things like line and length, but you can’t teach speed. You either have speed or you don’t.”

Scorecard

A century by Adam Voges gave the home side the honours on the first day of South Africa’s three-day tour match at Perth. At the close, Western Australia were 5 for 306 with David Bandy unbeaten on 59, and Shawn Gillies on 10 to deny the South Africans from striking any early psychological blows.Voges and Marcus North blunted South Africa’s early assault with a 146-run stand, with North making 71. Voges, 26 – who hit a record 62-ball century in an ING Cup match last year – fell shortly after making his hundred, which came in 168 balls and included 17 boundaries.The South African bowlers made early inroads after Mark Boucher, standing-in as captain for Jacques Kallis, won the toss and chose to field. Charl Langeveldt made the initial breakthrough, bowling Justin Langer with a legcutter for 21. He then caught Chris Rogers (22) on the boundary off Andre Nel to reduce Western Australia to 2 for 51. Shaun Pollock capped a hostile spell, conceding just 10 runs in nine overs, with the wicket of Clint Heron, caught behind for 11.Rain interrupted play after lunch with Western Australia struggling at 3 for 73, and after the break, Voges and North pressed on resolutely to deny the bowlers any success. Resuming at 3 for 177 after tea, the pair immediately attempted to lift the run-rate and, finally, it was Langeveldt who made the breakthrough when Voges, on 101, attempted a straight drive and was caught by Garnett Kruger at long-off. Bandy, who struck his maiden half-century, and Gillies guided Western Australia safely through to stumps.Boucher replaced Kallis as captain after he had damaged a tendon in his left elbow. Kallis had originally sustained the injury while practising in the nets during the tour of India and was supposed to stand-in for Graeme Smith, who had hurt a finger in the final ODI against India at Mumbai. Shane Jabbar, South Africa’s physio, hoped Kallis would be fit to play the second warm-up game against a Western Australian XI on Sunday.

Australia’s big three of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist have been rested from the Twenty20 international against South Africa at the Gabba on Monday. Damien Martyn has won a national recall after breaking his finger and missing the Chappell-Hadlee Series while Mike Hussey, who has been a fixture for only a year, was named vice-captain.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said he tried to keep the core of the one-day squad together but McGrath, Lee and Gilchrist needed to “freshen up” before the VB Series. McGrath was rested for the tour of New Zealand last month but Gilchrist was forced to tour despite being given time off by the selectors. “Brett, Glenn and Adam have worked particularly hard during the Melbourne and Sydney Tests,” Hohns said, “and we want to manage each of their respective workloads carefully.”Hussey has been a revelation in both Tests and limited-overs matches in the past year and Hohns said the appointment was “a feather in his cap”. “He has done an excellent job in the one-day format,” Hohns said, “and we have every confidence that he has the necessary ingredients to take on this additional responsibility.”Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Mick Lewis and Stuart Clark, who formed the fast-bowling attack that was thrashed for a world-record chase by New Zealand in the third Chappell-Hadlee Series match, have been retained. The match against South Africa is the first international Twenty20 game in Australia.Australia Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, James Hopes, Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mick Lewis, Mitchell Johnson.

Brad Hodge is the second Victorian batsman to play a Test since Dean Jones’ career ended in 1992 and his home supporters made his entrance as loudly memorable as those of his mentor and predecessor. The MCG had only mumbled until Matthew Hayden departed three overs before tea, but it rumbled as Hodge made his final preparations and exploded when he appeared in the players’ tunnel flanked by security guards.Stopping on the boundary to adjust his pad straps, he deserved a moment to settle after the moving expression of favouritism and his heart must have thumped like the spectators’ hands. “He got the biggest response I’ve ever heard on a cricket ground,” Ricky Ponting said. It explained his wild second-ball hook that cleared Mark Boucher but not his post-tea edge from Shaun Pollock.

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

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.”

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.

Scorecard

Powered by a six-wicket haul by Lance Hamilton, Central Districts ended the domestic season in style claiming the State Championship title, defeating Wellington, the home side, by 113 runs at the Basin Reserve.Following a delayed start due to rain, Hamilton, the left-arm quick, engineered a dramatic batting collapse as Wellington crashed to 120 all out. It enabled Central Districts to surge to their maiden championship title, since it’s inception in 2001-02.Both sides came into the fifth day with honours even, but Wellington paid the price for not putting together useful partnerships as Hamilton ripped through the middle order. Neal Parlane was the first to be dismissed after a dogged 8 off 52 balls, bowled by Hamilton and he quickly accounted for Grant Elliot and Chris Nevin, caught behind by Bevan Griggs.Michael Parlane and Stu Mills stabilised the innings for a while, stringing together a partnership of 33 for the seventh wicket, but Parlane’s dismissal squandered all hopes of Wellington staging a miraculous comeback. Griggs too rounded up a good day, taking his fourth catch of the innings following Parlane’s dismissal. Michael Mason sent back Mills and Scott Rasmussen and Hamilton struck the final blow, dismissing Dewayne Bowden to finish with figures of 6 for 34.

The ICC used the launch of the 2006 Champions Trophy to try to quell suggestions that the event is not a priority for some teams after comments earlier this week that Australia might send a weakened side ahead of the Ashes which follows almost immediately.”Don’t kid yourself,” Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, told the media announcing the schedule for the month-long tournament in New Delhi. “Australia have never won this tournament before and are determined to win this one. They will send their best team.”India will take on England in the opening match on October 15 at Jaipur. Both have been drawn in Group A, a section which also features the three-time world champions Australia and one qualifier. Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and another qualifying team from Group B.Despite being the holders, West Indies are one of four teams who will take part in a preliminary round-robin which starts on October 7 and will be played at all four of the venues. West Indies must take part in this stage because they were outside the top six teams in the ICC one-day rankings at the cut-off date of April 1. Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are the other three sides, and the two best teams from the preliminary rounds will go through to the second stage.All matches will be day-nighters, with the two semi-finals to be played at Mohali on November 1 and Jaipur on November 2. The final will then be played at Mumbai on November 5.The ICC expects to raise around $65 million from the tournament which will help fund non-Test nations.SchedulePreliminaries:
Oct 7: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, Mohali
Oct 8: West Indies v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Oct 10: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Oct 11: West Indies v Bangladesh, Jaipur
Oct 13: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, Jaipur
Oct 14: Sri Lanka v West Indies, Mumbai
Group stage:
Oct 15: India v England, Jaipur
Oct 16: New Zealand v South Africa, Mumbai
Oct 17: Pakistan v Qualifier 1, Jaipur
Oct 18: Australia v Qualifier 2, Mumbai
Oct 20: New Zealand v Q1, Mumbai
Oct 21: Australia v England, Jaipur
Oct 24: South Africa v Q1, Ahmedabad
Oct 25: New Zealand v Pakistan, Mohali
Oct 26: India v Q2, Ahmedabad
Oct 27: Pakistan v South Africa, Mohali
Oct 28: England v Q2, Ahmedabad
Oct 29: India v Australia, Mohali
Nov 1: 1st Semifinal – A1 v B2, Mohali
Nov 2: 2nd Semifinal – B1 v A2, Jaipur
Nov 5: Final, Mumbai

The identity of the squad of players that will carry Australia’s attempts to win the Champions Trophy, regain the Ashes and retain the World Cup will be revealed on Monday when Cricket Australia announces its central contracts. There will be upward movement for some stars – such as Mike Hussey – while others, like Simon Katich and Jason Gillespie, are facing a pay cut.This will be the first contracts list released since Australia lost the Ashes and, although they have since embarked on an all-conquering run, the names and retainers will reflect this. Hussey is set to be the biggest winner after becoming the quickest batsman to 1000 Test runs – in terms of days since debut – and his low to mid-range contract could now be increased to match the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee.A glimpse at Australia’s future will be given with the younger players who are offered deals. Mark Cosgrove’s impressive debut in Bangladesh should earn him a low-level contract, while Mitchell Johnson could also benefit and Dan Cullen can expect to be retained in the list. Phil Jaques is likely to be included but Brad Hodge could miss out despite his Test double-century against South Africa.Although 25 is the number of players usually contracted, Cricket Australia may stretch the group this year to cover for Shane Watson and Shaun Tait, who are earmarked for key roles in the future but are currently under injury clouds.

A row has broken out inside Zimbabwe Cricket after the announcement of the Zimbabwe A side to take on Bangladesh later this month. The argument is said to be between a top unnamed ZC official and Bruce Makovah, the controversial convener of selectors, over the composition of the team.ZC last week named a heavily-depleted A-team squad which included mostly players who have not played first-class cricket. The side was chosen mainly from the weakened ZC National League which ran this year after a number of top clubs withdrew. They ignored players from the splinter local league, which was formed by the rebel clubs which broke away from ZC over administrative differences. This was despite insistence by ZC that players playing outside its own structures would be considered.However, the bone of contention appears to be within the ZC circles. Sources told Cricinfo that ZC interim committee members and some club officials had confronted Makovah, alleging that he had been biased against some players whose deserved to be picked.For example, the two best players in the ZC’s own National League, Mbekezeli Mabuza and Daniel Soma, were not included. The same goes for the batsmen, where players with glaringly better averages were picked ahead of lesser-performing ones.Bangladesh A will soon arrive in Zimbabwe for a five week tour.