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Shane Watson, the Australian allrounder, is hopeful that a new training routine will help put an end to the spate of injuries he has suffered in recent times and help establish his place in the Test team.”It’s been a pretty up and down couple of years with injuries,” Watson told . “I will be sitting down over the next month or so with our fitness trainer and also our physio to tinker with a few little things at training. We want to do everything we can possibly do to have a good run over the next couple of years. It would be amazing to be able to do that.”Watson, who’s played only three Tests since his debut in 2005, was sidelined during the World Cup with a calf strain. He returned for the Super Eights match against New Zealand and scored an unbeaten 65 and took 1 for 20.Although he’s taken only two Test wickets at 61.50 apiece and hasn’t made his mark as a bowler in one-day internationals, Watson was confident of improving his bowling.”I am confident I would be able to hold a spot down as a batter and a bowler as well. I have been lucky enough in the last eight months to be able to get to know Glenn [McGrath] well and rack his brain.”I have been lucky to be associated with him and get some of the knowledge that he has got out of him before he retired – it will continue to improve my cricket. That’s my goal, to be able to be a big part of the future of Australian cricket. It’s sad to see Glenn go but hopefully I can continue on his knowledge.”

Dropped for the ongoing CB Series in Australia, Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly has revealed that he had planned to continue playing one-dayers for another seven to eight months before taking a call on his future. He also considered the fact that he didn’t see himself realistically continuing till the 2011 World Cup.”They (the selectors) just asked me whether I wanted to continue one-day cricket,” Ganguly told Times Now, an Indian news channel. “I said, ‘yes definitely, at least for the next 7-8 months.'”So I wanted to play till September, then probably take a call because at some stage you would not have gone on to play the 2011 World Cup.”There is not much of one-day cricket this year. There is the Australia series, then India go to Sri Lanka for Tests and one-dayers. So there are five one-dayers there and then the Champions Trophy in September and rest of the year is full of Test cricket.Ganguly and another former captain Rahul Dravid were omitted for the one-dayers in Australia after the national selectors opted for the core of India’s ICC World Twenty20 winning squad, with several players lacking in experience at the international level.Since his return to the one-day squad in early 2007, Ganguly has scored 1240 runs in 32 matches at an average of 44.28, and he celebrated his return with the Man-of-the-Series prize in the one-day series against Sri Lanka before the World Cup. However, his performances in the last ten matches saw the average dipping to 25.66. The team management in Australia had reasoned that Ganguly was overlooked for the sake of blooding youth, with the added emphasis on fielding abilities.”I was a bit surprised because I didn’t expect it,” he said. “But, all I can say for sure is that it is not on the basis of form.”

Andrew Flintoff insists that England’s cricketers care just as much about one-day cricket as they do about the forthcoming Ashes series, despite a run of feeble performances that has left them on the brink of elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy.England are adrift at the bottom of their group following heavy defeats against India and Australia, and they are in need of a miracle if they are to qualify for next week’s semi-finals. But Flintoff was adamant that the team would pick up their performances, especially with the World Cup looming next March.”I speak for myself and I know I speak for the team — we are just as interested in one-day cricket,” Flintoff told The Sun. “Some of the lads in this team haven’t played Test cricket so this is their England team and it’s massive.After the heady scenes in 2005, when England regained the Ashes after an 18-year hiatus, there is no doubt about which form of the game is the most popular among English supporters, and the hype ahead of the rematch Down Under has been all-embracing.”I think people have tried to make it a distraction because almost every question at Press conferences seems to be about The Ashes. But I’m equally excited at the chance of playing in another World Cup. Myself and Duncan Fletcher stress the importance of all one-day games and it’s unfortunate we haven’t fired in this tournament. But it’s nothing to do with not caring.”While the Test team has been riding high in recent years, with seven series wins out of ten and a world ranking of No. 2, the one-day side has been slipping ever onwards towards oblivion. Last week’s defeat against Australia was their 14th in 19 matches this year, and they have only Saturday’s showdown against West Indies to come.”I think the difference is the Test team has been successful for a while,” explained Flintoff. “There is a lot of experience in that side and, although we’ve had a few injuries, we’ve played together for a while and gained a lot of confidence. The one-day side is more inexperienced and we have some players who have played just a handful of games.Flintoff did single out a few plus points – the emergence of Mike Yardy and Jamie Dalrymple, Ian Bell’s batting and the bowling of Saj Mahmood and Jimmy Anderson. “But,” he added, “there’s no doubt we’ll have to play better.”

Pedro Collins, the left-arm fast bowler, has replaced the injured Fidel Edwards in a 13-man West Indies squad for the second Test against India beginning at St. Lucia on Saturday. Edwards suffered a hamstring strain during the first Test and it is doubtful whether he would be able to take any further part in the series.The West Indies Cricket Board confirmed Edwards’ unavailability: “Edwards suffered a strain to his right hamstring during the first Test match and has been ruled out of the second game. He will return to his native Barbados while Collins will join the squad in St. Lucia tomorrow.”Bennett King, the coach of West Indies, voiced concerns over Edwards’ availability. “He is not playing in the second Test but we are hopeful of the third,” he said. “It’s going to be touch and go, and even in the fourth, it’s still going to be touch and go. It’s not great news but we’ll see how it goes.”Collins, with 96 wickets from 29 Tests, last played against South Africa in April 2005.West Indies squad: Brian Lara (capt), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Dave Mohammed.

An outstanding, unbeaten century from AB de Villiers enabled South Africa to become just the fourth side to come from 2-0 down to win an ODI series after defeating England by five wickets in another enthralling, if error-strewn, match in Cape Town.On a couple of occasions, first as Reece Topley claimed three wickets in nine deliveries and then as England’s spinners provoked a hiccup in mid-innings, it seemed South Africa may buckle under the pressure of chasing their modest target in the fifth and final game.But, in the end, the class of de Villiers, proved decisive. The South Africa captain, playing his 200th ODI, made a sparkling century – the 24th of his career – to lead his side to victory with 36 balls remaining and ensure they did not lose the ODI and Test portions of a home season to the same opposition for the first time since 2001-02.It was not just de Villiers’ extravagant ability to put away the poor ball that made the difference. It was his composure. In a match characterised by missed opportunities and reckless batting, de Villiers was one of the few to combine restraint with his natural positivity.So while England were, for the second match in succession, bowled out within their 50 overs as punishment for some reckless batting, de Villiers attacked with discretion. And while Farhaan Behardien was lured into clubbing to mid-on and Rilee Rossouw, who replaced JP Duminy in the South Africa side, drove to short cover, de Villiers waited for the poor ball and was happy to play out a few dot balls safe in the knowledge that his side had plenty of time.That result – both of the game and the series – represented scant reward for Alex Hales. After four half-centuries – including an innings of 99 at Port Elizabeth – in the first four matches of the series, Hales became the fifth England player to register five successive scores of 50 or more in ODI cricket. The previous four were Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart and Jonathan Trott. None of them had managed it in the same series.Here Hales, with his second and highest ODI century, was the only man to reach 30 as England failed to exploit a frenetic display in the field from South Africa and failed to show the composure required on a pitch offering the bowlers some assistance. It helped Hales finish the series as the leading run-scorer on either side (he amassed 383 runs at an average of 76.60) but he lacked the support to earn England a commanding position.The frustration, from an England perspective, will be that South Africa did not bowl especially well. With de Villiers winning an important toss – rain had kept the pitch under covers until about 30 minutes before the start of an overcast morning – the bowlers benefited from some assistance.AB de Villiers recorded his 24th ODI hundred•Getty Images

But instead of maintaining a tight off stump line and full length, they instead unleashed a barrage of short deliveries and struggled to maintain the tight line that might have brought them greater rewards. Chris Morris, while the quickest of the attack, also conceded four of the 11 wides.Imran Tahir, introduced into the attack in just the fifth over, trapped Jason Roy – beaten a leg break that gripped and hit him on the back leg – with his sixth delivery, while Joe Root was unable to punish Hashim Amla for dropping him on 12 and was adjudged leg before, after a review, when he missed an attempted sweep against the same bowler. Eoin Morgan’s modest series with the bat – he averaged 12.80 – ended when he gave himself room and could only edge a wide delivery outside off stump.While Ben Stokes and Hales were putting on 70 in 11 overs, it appeared South Africa may have squandered their opportunity. But when Stokes, moving across his stumps, was bowled round his legs by Kagiso Rabada, it precipitated a decline that saw England lose five wickets for 37 runs in nine overs in mid-innings.Jos Buttler, beautifully set up by a field that suggested a short ball, was slow to react to the full ball that followed from Rabada and played on, before Moeen Ali, attempting to hit over the top when the situation – with more than 15 overs remaining – required retrenchment, was brilliantly caught at cover. Chris Woakes chipped a half-volley outside leg stump directly to the fielder on the fine leg fence and Adil Rashid then attempted to clear the in field – an unnecessary risk with so much of the innings remaining – and gifted a simple catch to mid-off.Not for the first time, the thought occurred that, for all England’s admirable dynamism and boldness in recent times – and it is worth remembering that is exactly 12 months since they produced a timid performance in their opening match of the World Cup – it might prove rather more successful if it was allied to some common sense and match awareness.On this surface, a total of 280 may well have proved enough, but in attempting to score 320, they left themselves requiring a miracle. They were, once again, the Blackjack player that keeps saying ‘hit me’ until they have a perfect 21. A more sophisticated approach may serve them better.Hales, once again showing the maturity to complement his natural positivity, put away the wayward deliveries – and there were many – with customarily sweet timing to keep his side in the game. Strong off his legs, strong on the cut and pull, he also drove fluently. The on drive that brought up his century, a beautifully timed shot, was reminiscent of the stroke that brought Boycott his 100th hundred.He enjoyed some fortune. He utilised a review, on 20, when umpire Johan Cloete thought he had edged a delivery off Morris – reward, as much as anything, for Hales persuading Roy not to squander the review on his leg-before dismissal – and reached his 50 with an inside edge that flew perilously close to the stumps on its way to the fine leg boundary. Twice more he was slightly late on yorkers, but got enough bat on the ball to squirt the ball past the stumps or slips.Within eight overs of the South Africa reply Topley had three wickets and South Africa were 22 for 3. Quinton de Kock was caught behind – England reviewing a decision that was originally given as not out – before Faf du Plessis was beaten by a beautiful inswinging yorker first ball and Rossouw mistimed a slower ball to cover.But first with Amla and then with David Wiese, who took the pressure off his captain with a thumping 41 off 32 balls, de Villiers kept his head when all others were losing theirs and saw his side to a victory that should restore some confidence going into the T20I section of the tour and the World T20 that follows.

England 76 for 2 (Northeast 34*) beat Malaysia 73 (Miller 3-25, Westfield 3-5) by eight wicketsEngland routed Malaysia in their opening match of the Malaysian Invitational Under-19 Tri-Series at the Selangor Turf Club, bowling the home side out for 73 and knocking off the runs for the loss of two wickets.Greg Wood won the toss and put Malaysia in, and they were never in the match once Andrew Miller had removed the top three, although they did recover from 58 for 9. The only blot on England’s performance was that they conceded 23 extras, more than double the highest score by a batsman, including 15 wides.Sam Northeast and Billy Godleman put on 58 for England’s second wicket to all but seal the tie.”It is a wonderful start for England in the Tri-Series,” said team manager John Abrahams. “The bowlers did a fantastic job today.’England take on Sri Lanka, who defeated Malaysia yesterday, on Monday at the Kinrara Oval.

Sri Lanka is fast emerging as the likeliest venue to host a shortened bilateral series between Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka Cricket has been sounded out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and appear very keen to host the series.Things have moved fast since BCCI president Shashank Manohar and PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan met at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Sunday afternoon to break the deadlock over where the series should be held. The BCCI has made no comment as yet on the meeting, and Manohar left Dubai this morning to return to India.Shaharyar left too, and was meant to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Monday, to brief him on the discussions in Dubai. But the meeting could not take place as Sharif was busy. “I could not meet him as he was very occupied with various things, so I will communicate to him in writing all that transpired at the meeting,” Khan said. He also pointed out that he would not be travelling back to Dubai on November 25, as originally planned, to meet ECB president Giles Clarke, who is acting as a mediator between PCB and BCCI.*Shaharyar and Najam Sethi, PCB’s head of executive committee, had come out of the Dubai meeting sounding optimistic, but they did not divulge any details. Those were supposed to be provided by Clarke at a media briefing today in Dubai but it is understood that will not happen. The ICC also confirmed there was no media conference scheduled.The biggest hurdle to the series was the venue: the BCCI had made it clear that it would not play Pakistan anywhere else but in India. Rejecting that offer, the PCB responded by saying the memorandum of understanding signed by both countries in 2014 clearly stated India would travel to the UAE. Then, last Friday, Shaharyar added that the final decision would be taken by the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.The UAE has not been dropped as a venue, officially speaking, but Manohar’s opposition to play there remained. So holding the series in neutral ground like Sri Lanka was one of the proposals the PCB placed at the Dubai meeting. Also with South Africa’s tour of India finishing on December 7 and India travelling to Australia for a limited-overs series from January 12, both boards decided to modify the original schedule. The best possible option was playing three ODIs and two T20Is. In the ICC FTP Pakistan are listed to host India for a full tour comprising two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.According to an official privy to the details of the meeting, a final decision on the series would be made by November 27. He added that dates and stadiums haven’t been chalked out yet but indicated the matches would be played towards the latter part of December to avoid washouts.A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said Khettarama and Pallekele were the likeliest venues to host the tour. It has rained almost daily in both Colombo and Kandy this month, but the weather is expected to clear towards the end of December. The northeast monsoon typically tapers off quicker in these cities than in Hambantota or Dambulla.There is a potential clash since Khettarama is scheduled to host domestic T20 matches on December 23rd and 30th, but those games may be moved elsewhere. Pallekele’s schedule is wide open in the window for the Pakistan-India series.Since Pakistan would play the host, the series would be broadcast by Ten Sports. No official from Ten was available for comment. Although no definite plans have been made yet, the Sri Lankan official said SLC would expect significant compensation for the use of their stadiums.*12.30GMT, November 23: This article was updated.

The Women’s Big Bash League has continued to gain strong support, with the Ten Network confirming it will now provide television coverage of the tournament semi-finals and also move two of the remaining three matches to its main channel.Each semi-final is to be played as a double-header with the men’s semis, and will be broadcast on the network’s digital channel One. That brings the number of games being broadcast up to 10 from eight.The Sydney derby between the Sixers and the Thunder on Saturday January 16 will be shown on Channel Ten, as will the final on Sunday January 24, which will serve as part of a double-header with the men’s final.The move comes after Ten moved last week’s Melbourne derby to its main channel and was rewarded with impressive ratings figures, a peak audience of 439,000 viewers nationally and an average of 372,000. Other matches had been shown on one of Ten’s digital multi-channels, but the network’s sport executive David Barham said the WBBL was proving to be a hit.”Network Ten is a big supporter of women’s sport,” Barham said. “We are putting the same resources into the WBBL broadcasts as we are for the men’s games and it is certainly proving to be a hit. We are thrilled with the WBBL ratings to date and are excited to be working with Cricket Australia on this initiative. It is a very exciting time for women’s cricket and women’s sport as a whole.”The post-game coverage for the remaining three broadcast matches will also be extended by half an hour. Cricket Australia is also reportedly in discussions with the Nine Network about the possibility of moving the upcoming three women’s T20 internationals between Australia and India onto its main channel.”This is another significant step forward for women’s sport and in particular women’s cricket in Australia,” Ben Amarfio, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager – media, communications and marketing, said. “We want as many people to be exposed to the game, so to have another two WBBL matches move to Ten’s primary channel is a great endorsement for the growing appeal of women’s cricket.”There is a proven TV appetite with the five WBBL broadcast matches so far this season averaging a TV audience of just under 250,000 across Ten’s secondary and primary channels, including a record national average of 372,000 tuning in for the women’s Melbourne derby last weekend.”We are committed to embracing all Australians and promoting cricket as being a female-friendly environment. Network Ten has been a great supporter and is playing a key role in inspiring females to understand that cricket is a game for girls and women too.”

Michael Bevan, who at his peak was the best one-day batsman in the world, has retired with immediate effect. Bevan spent his last three seasons with Tasmania and joined his former national team-mates Shane Warne and Damien Martyn as senior players who have walked away this summer.Bevan, 36, has suffered a series of on-going fitness problems, which have limited him to six matches for his state in 2006-07, and his inability to play at his desired standard forced the decision. “It got to the stage where injuries and pain were holding back my motivation,” Bevan told AAP. “It got to the stage where I was finding it hard to get up for matches and that was probably a pretty clear indication that it was time to move on.”With his pin-point placement, quick running and calculating mind, he was a crucial part of a string of Australian one-day successes over ten years that included World Cup victories in 1999 and 2003. He played 232 ODIs but none was more memorable than the game against West Indies on new year’s day in 1996 when he sealed victory with a last-ball four off Roger Harper. Australia had fallen to 7 for 74 chasing 173 and he calmly steered them to safety.It was an escape act he would master many more times, including reviving Australia with Andy Bichel against England in the 2003 World Cup, but the 78 runs he scored at the SCG were the most valuable of his career. “The game is like my tied Test,” he wrote in From the Best of Bevan. “It seems this night will always be my signature piece in cricket.”The timing of the innings was also important for Bevan as it came when there were doubts over his Test credentials. A problem with the short ball was exposed on England’s trip in 1994-95 and despite scoring heavily in the first-class arena in Australia and during county stints, he could never rid himself of the stigma. He produced half-centuries in each of his first three Tests in Pakistan in 1994-95, including a career-high 91 in Lahore, but struggled to maintain his lofty domestic standards and finished as an allrounder who employed useful left-arm wrist spin.

Against West Indies in 1996-97 he made unbeaten scores of 85 as a No. 7 in Adelaide, where he also took 6 for 82, and 87 in the next match at Perth, but his 18-Test life was over a year later when he failed against South Africa. While his career in whites was unfulfilled, his effort in the one-day side remained untarnished until a slow home series in 2003-04 and an unproductive tour of Sri Lanka.Aged 33, he was dumped from Cricket Australia’s contract list along with Bichel, the World Cup saviours of a year earlier, and the following season moved from New South Wales to Tasmania, where he doubled as an assistant coach. He hoped for a one-off recall for the World Cup defence in the West Indies and did not go quietly, scoring a record 1,464 runs in the Pura Cup season of 2004-05 at an average of 97.6.”[The World Cup] was something that I always wanted to be a part of and I still felt I was a good enough player to be a part of the team,” he said. “But I guess this reason is more about whether I felt I was doing the right thing about myself and the right thing by Tasmania.”His body stopped putting up with his heavy demands – knee, heel and hip injuries afflicted him in his last three years – and at an international level his era had passed. He will move back to his home in Sydney next week but continue in a part-time coaching role with Tasmania. “A first-class job would be something I would look to at some stage in the future,” he said.Bevan’s amazing limited-overs batting average of 53.58 is third on the all-time list behind Michael Hussey and Kevin Pietersen. He finished with 6,912 runs, six centuries, the patent for closing a one-day innings, which Hussey has built on, and a truly unforgettable night at the SCG.

Marcus Trescothick has spoken of his “pain” and frustration in watching his team-mates beat West Indies this summer, but remains satisfied of his decision to delay his comeback from the stress-related illness which forced him home from England’s tours of India and Australia last year. Encouragingly though, he is equally confident that his international career isn’t yet over.”Of course I’d love to be playing for England again and watching them this summer has sometimes been painful for me,” he told the . “I’ve seen every Test on TV and it’s been ‘God, I miss this, I miss this a lot’. When the first Test started at Lord’s I was very twitchy. It was so tough because I felt so desperate to get back into it.”If you had asked me the day before that match: ‘Could you play here?’ I’d have said yes. But just because I wanted to do it, didn’t make it the right thing to do. It’s hard. I’m not stupid. I’m 31, coming up to 32 on Christmas Day and I’ve got to be realistic. Thirty two is no age to finish an international career.”Of course I want to get back in the side as soon as possible, because of the timescale. But I mustn’t start to worry about it. I understand the big dilemma: can the selectors take the risk of picking me to go abroad on tour? Can they invest in me after what has happened?In his absence, Alastair Cook has stroked his way into the sort of form that even Trescothick, in his most ebullient days, would be envious of. In 18 Tests, he has hit six hundreds, over 1400 runs and averages 46.29, at the tender age of 22. Clearly he is the future, and Trescothick is aware that his England record, though impressive, amounts to little when challenging for a place.

“Clearly, if I want to continue my career I have to undertake another tour,” he said. “But for now, if and when I get back to full fitness and I think I am OK and ready to play, I’ll make myself available for England. If they don’t pick me, that is just tough.”Encouragingly, his form for Somerset this season has been impressive – especially for someone who, a few months ago, was found slumped in tears on the dressing room floor at Sydney.”I believe the turning point for me was when I finally came clean about my problems. It wasn’t easy, but being open and honest with the public was the best thing I could have done and it began the process of me being open and honest with myself,” he said.”I have learned techniques to help me cope with what has happened and to make sure that if the problems come back I know exactly how to deal with them. There are certain things, certain procedures, I’ll probably have to do for the rest of my life.”It is not a question of saying ‘I’m cured’ but at least I’m forewarned now. And maybe, after going to hell and back, I can help someone else avoid the journey.”