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Cricket Australia wants to host two three-Test series against West Indies and South Africa and shoehorn a Twenty20 competition into next summer’s program. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said CA planned to downgrade the traditional five-Test series against West Indies to three and give Hobart its first Test since 2000-01.”All we can really say at this stage is we are working towards a six-Test summer next season, but in terms of how that falls and where the matches fall, it’s way too early to be confirming that,” he said. Sutherland said scheduling made it too difficult to stage a five-Test series against West Indies. The last time West Indies visited for a Test tour they lost 5-0.Sutherland said CA would try to find a “window” to host a domestic Twenty20 tournament. “When that might be is debatable and there are differing views around the country on when the best time of the year might be,” he said. “It’s something we’ve got to explore over the next couple of months.”The extra matches add to the demands of players already worried about the expanding fixture list. As the world’s top Test team, Australia will figure in a one-off match against the Rest of the World in October, and the series also includes three one-day matches.Australia will then face New Zealand in the best-of-three Chappell-Hadlee Series before the home Tests. Sri Lanka are expected to join Australia and South Africa in next summer’s VB Series because West Indies are playing in the current competition.

Hampshire Academy achieved a new benchmark in their short history by outplaying and out-thinking their opponents, the reigning Southern League champions Havant, in their own back-yard, causing Team Manager Tony Middleton to enthuse over their “best win of the season” so far.Captain Alex Morris lost what appeared to be a vital toss and the young Hawks were inserted on a damp pitch resembling rolled Plasicine. However, the expected lavish movement was not forthcoming for the Havant seam bowlers and openers Alex Richardson (19) and Peter Hammond (31 in 83 balls, 1 six, 2 fours) did very well to establish a solid platform of 52 for the first wicket. Hammond, badly dropped behind the wicket on 17, produced arguably the best shot of the day: a huge six over mid-wicket off the bowling of Mackie Hobson (2-30), Havant’s best bowler on the day. Kevin Latouf (27) and Tom Burrows carried on the good work either side of lunch, putting on 72 invaluable runs after the Academy had faltered at 55-3. Burrows (69 balls, 5 fours) in particular showed the great ability to think on his feet; working out the areas in which to score runs on this type of turning pitch (square and behind the wicket), once the Havant spinners had been belatedly introduced into the attack. This was an attribute distinctly lacking in the home batting. A perfectly-judged cameo of 35 in 28 balls (2 sixes, 3 fours) by David Griffiths at the death of the innings gave the Academy further impetus, and probably turned the game – 39 runs coming in the last 3 overs. Most to suffer was the left arm spin of Phil Loat (3-70) as he disappeared for 27 in his last two overs. The Academy’s batsmen had succeeded in setting a very competitive target without the aid of Professional asistance in perhaps the most difficult conditions of the season so far.Evidence of just how much the pitch was assisting the spinners was shown when off spinner Mitchell Stokes (18-7-36-3) opened the bowling with Griffiths. Although the former kept it tight, the latter seemed out of sorts with the ball: former Hampshire Under 19 captain Steve Snell being quick to punish anything short of a length or over-pitched. The introduction of Charlie van der Gucht brought immediate success as Havant stuttered to 53-2, but the tea break saw the home side well placed at 82-2 with Snell still batting very well. However, the introduction of leg spinner Ian Hilsum (2-26) after tea caused Snell (58 in 59 balls, 10 fours) to lose his concentration and he became the first of five Havant batsmen in their top seven to be dismissed driving. 87-2 rapidly became 114-6, but despite a battling stand of 30 for the 7th wicket between captain Paul Gover and Bev Moynan, no other Havant batsman could manage to break into the twenties. Van der Gucht (4-41) bowled with more rhythm in his second spell and polished off the tail as the last four wickets fell for 8 runs in 36 balls, leaving the Academy meritorious victors by 70 runs and with 50 minutes to spare.

Nasser Hussain walked up to the Crystal South hall of the Taj Palacesporting a broad grin and a cup of steaming tea on the eve ofEngland’s warm up match against Mumbai Cricket Association President’sXI. The England skipper was relaxed and spoke freely to pressmen on avariety of issues that are likely to stick with the tourists for theduration of the tour. As England captain, he has been deluged withrequests for interviews, photo opportunities and all the othertrappings that come with occupying high office and being popular atthe same time.On the kind of things the England team management had to work out whenon a tour like the current one at India:NH: We do discuss things like that getting players to peak at theright time quite a bit but I try and leave as much of that to Fletcheras possible. He’s really good at getting people to peak at the righttime. When we have one of our management meetings I might suggest, offthe cuff, that we play someone for two warm up games and rest him forthe third. Fletcher might then ask if it would be better to play theperson in the first game and then give him a bit of a rest and playhim in the third game just before the Test. Those are the sorts ofthings we discuss in our management meetings. We have a few playerslike Vaughan and Ormond who have niggling injuries and we need toconcentrate on getting people in top form, fitness and cricket wise intime for the Test matches. You need to work with different peopledifferently. Someone like Atherton would have one way of preparingbefore a big game while others need to be fired up a bit.What it’s like leading a young side in the absence of Atherton,Stewart, Gough and others.NH: As far as running the side, nothing has changed at all. Myself andDuncan (Fletcher) have always run the side. This management structureis virtually the same as before. We have a few experienced cricketerseven in this side. What we don’t have really is the experience ofplaying Test matches together. I enjoy captaining this side, sure. Butthat’s not because I didn’t enjoy captaining Atherton, Stewart andGough and the other guys. It’s just that this is a completelydifferent challenge. It’s almost like our last Zimbabwe tour, a fresh,new challenge.On the kind of challenges that lie ahead and the mental aspect of itall:NH: Anyone who has been here before knows a bit about the challenges.We don’t want to overdo the mind games too much. The ball does a bitearly on, swinging around, and then they have two quality spinners andsome great batsman. It’s just a question of how we cope with it. It’sthe actual cricket that’s important, the mind games are just twopercent of the whole deal. It’s not the kind of game where you go outand win by the scruff of the neck. You have to stay in the game andput pressure on the local side. We have to make sure that we are stillin game towards the end of the Test match and that the pressure is onIndia at some stage.How England plan to achieve their goals in India:NH: We’re an inexperienced side and no one expects us to win. Quite afew people have been writing us off 3-0. India will be playing at homewith big crowds expecting a lot of them. If we stay in the game, ifthis inexperienced side does well, the pressure will be on India, notus. The only way to do that is to get the basic cricketing thingsright. We need to get a lot of first innings runs, take wickets withthe new ball, take every catch, field like the Australians and SouthAfricans are doing at the moment. The most important thing is to getplenty of runs on the board in the first innings.On the fact that Matthew Hoggard who has played just two Tests isEngland’s fast bowling spearhead:NH: Yes he is. (Laughs) With his two Test caps! Then again we mustn’tbuild him up. Just because he’s bowled well Pakistan and Zimbabwe andfor Yorkshire. Virtually everything they’ve done so far has no bearingon how this tour goes. How well they prepare for this tour, willdecide a lot of things. They have to cope with the pressure and theheat and the sweat and the roaring crowds. That will really test allthe youngsters. Matthew (Hoggard) is like anyone else. He’s onlyplayed two games. If he was bowling at Headingly on a cloudy day I’dsay he had a really good chance of doing well. Now we’ll just have towait and see, like with everyone else. Obviously he’s got my fullsupport and backing. He’s got everything he needs; a big heart andit’ll be a stern test for him just like everyone else.On the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where England kick offtheir tour:NH: To be honest it’s not what I expected an Indian wicket to looklike. It’s got a lot of grass on it. Bounce in the surface is good.There’s a bit of movement. And yet, I think it’ll turn a bit from thefirst day, more from the grass than anything else. I think it’ll be agood cricket wicket.What it’s like coming to India after a gap of almost eight years:NH: Personally it would be very nice to tour India more often, whatwith all the attention we get and everything. I can’t speak for pasttours. We hadn’t been to the subcontinent for a long time until lastwinter. Now in the space of 12 months we’ve fitted in Pakistan, SriLanka and India. We’re getting used to it. There must be some of theyounger lads who find it a bit daunting with the sheer numbers ofpeople around. Usually in county cricket we’re playing in front of twopeople! I was listening to Sunil Gavaskar on TV last night and he wastalking about all of the Indian players going out and giving theirbest. That’s what I’m going to be telling my boys and I hope we can besuccessful. Really, that’s all I can ask of them.

ScorecardVirender Sehwag scored a half-century against his former team-mates•PTI

Manan Sharma harbours no illusion about being a deceptive left-arm spinner, but he can be pretty accurate even with a slightly round-arm action. His five wickets in the first innings were the result of staying wicket-to-wicket, he said, and not letting batsmen score easy runs on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch with no disconcerting bounce. The odd ball stayed low, but defence-minded batsmen were not easy to dislodge. In the second innings, led by Virender Sehwag’s 51, Haryana, who had fallen behind by 42 in the first innings, brought resolute defence to play. But Manan was more persistent and patient, and kept bowling wicket-to-wicket until he had six of them to leave Delhi a manageable target of 224.This was an important effort from Manan with Ishant Sharma off the field with an injury he acquired during the warm-ups before the start of the day’s play. Parvinder Awana was reduced to bowling round-arm on a pitch with little bounce to work with, and Pradeep Sangwan’s aggression brought only two wickets. Manan, though, bowled 40.4 overs out of 93.4, including 30.4 that were non-stop except for a change of ends. He delivered the first over of Haryana’s innings, took the wicket of Sehwag among his six, and ended up with his maiden 10-wicket match haul.Delhi’s batting is uncertain after the openers, but their openers – Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand – managed to give another brisk start to a chase after knocking off 95 in 14 overs in the last match. Chand hit Harshal Patel for two fours in the first over here, Gambhir repeated the treatment to offspinner Jayant Yadav, who opened the bowling, and Delhi were on their way again.The last time runs were scored so easily in this match was when Sehwag and Sachin Rana batted in the first session of the day. Haryana, effectively at 26 for 2, must have been buoyed by the absence of Ishant, but lost Himanshu Rana in the first over of the day to Awana. Sehwag and Sachin, names that might make fans go nostalgic, added 50 for the fourth wicket. As has become the habit with Sehwag nowadays he turned back the clock briefly, punching through cover, cutting hard, driving through mid-on, and offering solid defence when not doing so. Sachin stepped out and hit Manan for two sixes over long-on.Manan, though, soldiered on and got Sehwag eventually. After the first innings he said his plan when bowling to Sehwag was to not provide any room. This time, Sehwag went back to a ball not short enough, and crucially, with no room and edged the intended late-cut to slip. Gambhir took the catch. Sachin then repeated the mistake; he stayed back to Manan and was caught right in front.The rest of the Haryana batting line-up offered resistance. The partnership for the fifth wicket was worth 61, the seventh wicket 23, and the eighth 31, suggesting a pitch that had got easier to bat on, but Manan kept pegging away and ended the innings. There were three dropped catches, but none of them cost too much. That the surface had become easier to bat on was confirmed when Chand came out hitting hard, ending the day with a six over long-on.

Ian Smith, the former South Africa legspinner, died at the age of 90 on August 25. Smith represented South Africa in nine Tests between 1947 and 1957 and picked up 12 wickets. His career-best match figures of 7 for 189 came in his debut in Nottingham, where England were forced to follow-on.The presence of spinners such as Athol Rowan, Hugh Tayfield and Tufty Mann resulted in Smith not being able to add a few more caps to his Test career. However, Smith, who turned out for Natal, had an impressive first-class record, picking up 365 wickets in 97 matches at an average of 22.55″On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest condolences to his family, his friends and his cricketing colleagues”, CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

Celebration of the day

Sourav Ganguly is making a habit of boosting India on the opening day of a Test. If Alastair Cook dismissal at Lord’s allowed India to break the dominant opening partnership, Mohammad Yousuf’s wicket here put them firmly on top. With a ball that pitched outside off and moved in, he rapped Yousuf on the pads and couldn’t control himself when Simon Taufel responded favourably. Charging towards Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar and extending his arms in frenzy, he was a picture of sheer delight. “Looks as if he’s got the world-record number of wickets,” said a hack in the media centre. “More like the world-record number of appeals,” joked another.Squeals of the dayTalking of appeals, lozenge companies may be lining up to sponsor this Indian side. Appeal after appeal went up through the day, most of them being met with negative nods from the umpires. Starting with Zaheer Khan’s second ball of the day, when he struck Salman Butt high on the pad, the Indians shouted, howled and, finally, implored. To the umpires’ credit, there were only a couple of really close calls but the Indians, it seemed, were making up for the poor crowd response, making a lot of noise of their own.Wild slog of the dayShoaib Akthar’s first contribution to the series was a mighty slog sweep, one attempted with such fury that it seemed intended for Rawalpindi. Shoaib obviously didn’t read a straight one from Kumble and let out an expansive hoick, one that allowed a massive gap between bat and pad. The fact that it was the last ball of Kumble’s over, when Shoaib could have simply tried to survive and support Misbah-ul-Haq, made it appear more foolhardy.Entertainment of the dayAround mid-day, with India pegging away at the Pakistan middle order, spectators at the embankment to the right of the pavilion were treated to some off-field action by a vertically challenged person. Impersonating Ganguly’s bowling action and Munaf’s appeals, he prompted peels of laughter among the crowd. Even the police’s attempts to stop him didn’t find favour with the police chief himself patted the boy on the back and telling him to continue for a bit more time. Kamran Akmal’s dismissal, which occurred during this period, went unnoticed in a couple of stands.Six of the dayMohammad Sami did a fine job hanging around but showed he was capable of the big strikes too. His mighty six towards the end of the day, off a full ball from Ganguly, soared straight into the first tier of the balcony. It was a bold statement but maybe it was also a sign of protest: the gaudy red and blue paint at the end of the ground is proving to be a major eye-sore in an otherwise impressive stadium.

Somerset have confirmed that Justin Langer, who is retiring from Test cricket after the final Ashes Test at Sydney, will be their captain for the 2007 season. In a brief period at Taunton last summer Langer scored a career-best 342 against Surrey and amassed more than 400 runs in the Twenty20.The Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose told the Press Association: “I was delighted to agree a provisional contract with Justin at the end of his highly successful five-week spell with the club in 2006, which he has now confirmed.”We are absolutely delighted that Justin is coming back to join us as captain for the whole season, initially on a one-year contract with a provision that he may come back again for a further year in 2008.”Somerset have endured a barren period despite having the short-term assistance of players such as Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Sanath Jayasuriya and Langer. The Twenty20 title in 2005 is their only recent silverware.”Over the last four seasons, Somerset have lacked consistent leadership -and this is what we expect Justin to bring, especially after his vast experience inTest match cricket and as captain of Western Australia,” Rose added. “His presence and influence on the side will boost our experienced players as well as helping us develop the younger players we have on the staff.”During his press conference at the SCG, Langer said: “I can’t imagine not playing for the next couple of seasons. There’s an amazing challenge at Somerset. They’re at the bottom of everything, and I’ve got a great regard for the coach over there and I’m looking forward to that challenge.

Justin Langer is only a “50-50” chance of playing in the third Test against South Africa after suffering a grade one hamstring tear in the opening match at Perth. Langer was today ruled out of next week’s Boxing Day Test at the MCG, leaving the selectors with a difficult set of decisions.Michael Hussey, who filled in during two matches against West Indies when Langer had a fractured rib, could be shifted back to his preferred position as opener, which would allow a space for Michael Clarke to return. However, Phil Jaques, the New South Wales opener, is in fabulous form after hitting 158 in a one-day game against South Australia on Sunday to add to his 400 Pura Cup runs this summer. The poor form of Andrew Symonds as the team’s allrounder – he reached a career-best 25 in his fifth Test – could also create a middle-order vacancy and the second-Test team will be named on Tuesday afternoon.Jaques told he was ready for a possible promotion. “You never know until you actually get there, but I’m in some good form at the moment and I’d like to take the chance if I got a chance,” he said. “If I got the opportunity I’d take it with both hands and enjoy every minute of it.”Errol Alcott, the Australia physiotherapist, said Langer would travel with the team to have treatment in Melbourne and rated him a “50-50” prospect for the match in Sydney starting on January 2. “Having missed the first two Tests this summer with a broken rib, I am bitterly disappointed at suffering another injury which will keep me sidelined,” Langer said. Langer injured his left leg in the second innings and needed Matthew Hayden as a runner for the closing stages of his 47.

Darren Lehmann has rejected talk of retiring after the Adelaide Test against New Zealand and wants to stay on until next year’s Ashes tour. Lehmann was picked for the first game ahead of Simon Katich and will look to secure his place on his home ground from Friday after making just 8 at Brisbane.”I’m definitely not retiring,” Lehmann told reporters as he arrived in Adelaide. “If I’m enjoying cricket I’ll keep playing and I certainly am enjoying playing – so there’s no thoughts of that in my mind at all.”Lehmann also said his team-mates had spoken to Adam Gilchrist, who has been under heavy scrutiny following his walking disagreement with Craig McMillan in the first Test. “We’ll support him in whichever way he goes and whatever help he needs he’ll get it,” Lehmann said. James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said the walking debate had been “blown out of proportion” and Gilchrist did not deserve to be at the centre of it.Despite playing several seasons for Yorkshire, Lehmann has never been on an Ashes tour and wants to make the trip next year. “That’s the whole goal,” he said. “I want to get there and play a full Ashes tour.”

Another day of heavy drizzle interspersed with spells of more persistant rain meant thatonly 25.2 overs were possible on the final day of Glamorgan`s tour match against IndiaA at Swansea. With the loss of so much time over the three days, it was predictablethat the game should end in a draw, but not before the clatter of 7 wickets today as theseam bowlers found the moist and overcast conditions much to their liking. Had it notbeen for this intervention by the weather, this game would surely have had a positive outcome.Morning rain meant that play did not start until 11.30 a.m.,and during the hour`s playbefore lunch, the Welsh county lost a further four wickets whilst adding 32 runs in 13overs, including a spell of three wickets in consecutive balls from Amit Bhandari andLakshmipathy Balaji.Adrian Shaw was the first man to go as in the fifth over he touched a lifting deliveryfrom Balaji to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel after adding 56 in 19 overs with Mark Wallacefor the fifth wicket. The new batsman Dean Cosker did not last long as he edged the fifthball of Bhandari`s tenth over into the hands of first slip, and then next ball DarrenThomas was yorked. Balaji then bowled Mark Wallace with the next delivery from theMumbles Road End as Glamorgan collapsed to 117-8.But Robert Croft and David Harrison then added 19 runs in the next four oversbefore another heavy squall sent the players into the St.Helen`s pavilion for an earlylunch, and further drizzle meant that there was a further delay of 65 minutes.To the third ball after the resumption, David Harrison drove Bhandari to Amit Mishra atbackward point, and then in his next over Bhandari bowled Owen Parkin to finish withfigures of 6-38 – the best on the tour so far, and the seamer`s second five wickethaul against county opposition.With just 42 overs remaining, it seemed there would be an opportunity for the visitors to have furtherbatting practice, but Satyajit Parab was caught at first slip off the fourth ball of the innings,bowled by David Harrison. Then seven overs later another shower drifted in from Swansea Bay with IndiaA on 13-1, and the players left the field for an early tea.The precipitation caused another twenty minutes to be lost, and then when the players returned,another shower came in after a further 17 balls had been bowled, bringing an end to a contest where theweather was the only winner.