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Former Test opener Michael Slater today vowed to return to the highest level of cricket after his recall to captain New South Wales.Seven weeks after being dumped from the side, Slater will lead the Blues for the first time in their final Pura Cup match of the season against Tasmania in Hobart starting on Wednesday.Slater said he had benefitted from the on and off field dramas that had plagued him this season.”I’m a much stronger person for everything I’ve gone through,” Slater said.”It’s a case of getting back to the basics. I’ve known all along that I’m a good person.”I’ve played cricket with passion and a sheer love of the game and going through these tough periods, I’ve realised that I’m certainly not finished with playing cricket at the top level.”I’m going to do everything I possibly can to get back there and get back there smartly so I can fulfil the remainder of my goals in this game.”Slater was brought back to lead the NSW side in the absence of regular captain Shane Lee who was ruled out with a knee injury.The other obvious captaincy candidate, Michael Bevan, was unavailable as he’s preparing to join the Australian one-day side in South Africa.The other changes to the Blues from the team which drew with Queensland at the SCG last week saw batsmen Phil Jaques and Vaughan Williams come in andbatting allrounder Mark Higgs dropped.The Blues are in last place in the Pura Cup competition.

Pakistan on Thursday once again confirmed that they are the most unpredictable cricket team with as much potential as the best of sides. Their performance in the second match against New Zealand was in sharp contrast to the one two days earlier on this very ground.They dominated New Zealand, a side which itself is buoyed after its recent performance against England, in all department, especially with the bat.Shahid Afridi batted much more sensibly than against Sri Lanka and Imran Nazir played with a sense of responsibility, knowing well that a failure in this tournament may well herald the end of his career.His only mistake was trying to cut an outgoing delivery very fine between the keeper and slips which proved curtains for him. But after two innings here, Imran has certainly proved the PCB and its selectors wrong and that the decision to keep him out for almost a year was unfair.Inzamam-ul-Haq’s innings of 68 (his 61st half century in ODIs) that helped Pakistan reach 288, was not the best of his performances. Somehow he was struggling throughout the innings and was never able to time his strokes. He will be required to do better in the next two matches.Comparatively, Younis Khan’s knock was better. He looked more confident on Thursday and the reason may be that he is more comfortable at number 6 position than number 3. On the other hand Abdul Razzaq disappointed with the bat as well the ball.New Zealand were handicapped due to the absence of skipper Stephen Fleming who injured his small finger during Sri Lanka’s innings and had to sit back. Craig McMillan entrusted to lead the side.Notwithstanding the lean season Fleming is passing through, he is one of the best leaders today. He is a better planner and always comes to a match with well thought strategy. Good that the injury is not serious and he is likely to lead his side on Sunday.

The expected keen tussle for the all important first innings fizzled out and North Zone ultimately took the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) title with a degree of comfort on the third and final day at the RSI ground in Bangalore on Saturday.When East Zone resumed their first innings on 219 for three in reply to North Zone’s 491, the stage seemed set for a battle royal for the first innings lead which would almost certainly decide the fate of the trophy. Much of course depended on Ajay Garai who was batting on 66. He and the other overnight batsman A Iqbal took the score to 286 and things were hotting up. But then Iqbal was out for 47. He faced 106 balls and hit five of them to the ropes.The fourth wicket partnership between Garai and Iqbal was worth 97 runs off33.4 overs.Iqbal’s dismissal triggered a collapse as A Sharma and A Juno brought the innings to a swift end. Garai was fifth out for 89. He faced 252 balls and hit 12 fours. Thereafter Ajith Kumar Singh scored a valuable 30 off 71 balls with four hits to the fence. But Sharma and Judo cut through the tail. East Zone lost their last five wickets for the addition of only five runs as theyslid dramatically from 324 for five to 329 all out. Sharma finished with four for 87 overs while Juno took three for 46.With the trophy in their pocket, North Zone stretched their lead of 90 runs to an overall 356 by scoring 266 for four wickets off just 47.1 overs in the second innings. Openers V Bhalla (67) and R Arora (71) put on 129 runs off 22.5 overs and D Soni (54) and P Dogra (45) also batted with gay abandon before the match was called off after 9.1 mandatory overs had been bowled.

This column is due to appear on the morning of the start of the Asian Test Championship final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and any observations I might have had, runs the risk of becoming null and void. But I am going to make them all the same. There is, first of all, the somewhat thorny issue of dropping Wasim Akram.Wasim has not been in the best of form, mainly because of fitness problems. Wasim feels that he has been badly done by but I think he has not made a convincing enough case for himself. By his own admission, he opted not to play in the third one-day against the West Indies at Sharjah because he felt that Mohammad Sami, after his hat trick, deserved to play. This noble gesture was self-defeating for he needed a work-out to get back into rhythm and feel fully comfortable about his fitness.Somewhat unwisely, he chose to go to India to appear in a television programme about the time when the team for the Lahore final was to be selected. He should have been bowling in the nets for all to see that he was fully fit. Surely he is street-smart enough to know that he could not take his selection for granted. Even Don Bradman had to prove that he was still good enough in 1946 when international cricket resumed after the war.I am convinced that there is enough cricket left in him to be our key bowler in the World Cup 2003 and he should not be disheartened and take a leaf out of Steve Waugh’s book. Sacked as the one-day captain and out of the Australian one-day team, he has expressed his determination to win back his place in the team.That Wasim has 400-plus wickets in both versions of the game makes him one of the greatest bowlers of all times. But cricket is a cruel game and reputations count for nothing. What counts is continuing performance. A lot of promising fast bowlers are coming up but they are not in the same league as a fully fit Wasim Akram, hungry for wickets. He must get back his fitness and the hunger for wickets will come automatically.I was delighted to see both Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik in the Pakistan squad. About Afridi there should be no doubts that he belongs both in the Test team as well as in the one-day team. He has done enough in both versions of the game to be considered a regular. Indeed he is emerging as a bona fide all-rounder and throw in his fielding and here is a quality player. I have this feeling that he is getting too much advice (well-intentioned) and he is curbing his natural aggression and being made to comply with text-book correctness.He, sometimes, gives the impression that adrenalin flows too freely. But that’s the way he plays or should play. He should also be given longer spells as a bowler and not just be brought in to break up a stubborn partnership, which he routinely does. Most of all, he is a fine team man and has never left any doubt in anyone’s mind that he plays for Pakistan and gives his hundred per cent.There are some rumours that Shoaib Malik may be asked to open the innings. I hope there is no basis to these rumours. Shoaib Malik belongs in the middle order and the opening slots should go to specialists, certainly in a Test match. Shoaib Malik is a talented cricketer and he should be nursed. To throw him in the deep end carries the risk of nipping a promising career in the bud.A lot will depend on what sort of wicket is prepared for this one-off Test match. One would like to see a result. Sri Lanka has become a good Test team and they have, of course, Muttiah Muralitharan who can turn the ball on any kind of surface but they have also got a very useful seam attack spearheaded by the veteran Chaminda Vaas. And a strong batting line-up. It is a team that has got used to winning.They certainly don’t come to Lahore as the under-dogs and Sanath Jayasuriya is a smart captain, apart from being an explosive batsman. The cap of captaincy fits easily on his head.The last time the two met in the Asian Test Championship final is Dhaka, it was a one-sided game and Sri Lankans were no match. In that final, Ijaz Ahmed and Inzamamul Haq got double hundreds and Wasim Akram got a hat trick. Now there will be no Ijaz and Wasim and an out of form Inzamam. Still, there is plenty of talent in this Pakistan team and if it plays to its potential, there should be no problems. In any case, we should see some good cricket.Finally, I am glad to see Wasim Raja back in the cricket mainstream, if only as a match referee. In his days, he was one of the most gifted players around who somehow never fully delivered on his promise. He was one of my favourites and I have seen him play some splendid innings, none more splendid than his swashbuckling hundred against India at Jalandhar in 1983. He sure could hit a cricket ball.

Albie Morkel, the South Africa allrounder, is an injury worry after he sustained lower back spasms in a warm-up match against New Zealand at the World T20 on Monday. Morkel batted four deliveries and hit 15 runs, including a six, but was only able to bowl nine balls before leaving the field.He underwent* an MRI scan on Tuesday but it proved inconclusive. He will undergo a fitness test on Thursday, before South Africa take on Zimbabwe, to determine his availability for the game.”Albie woke up feeling much better this morning (Tuesday) but we sent him for an MRI scan as a precautionary measure. The results from the scan are inconclusive but the positive aspect for us is that he is improving by the day,” Mohammad Moosajee, team manager said. “He will continue to receive treatment from the team physiotherapist, Brandon Jackson and a decision on his availability for our opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 will only be taken on Thursday morning, subject to him passing a fitness test.”The latest niggle is not the only injury Morkel has battled with recently. An ankle sprain ruled him out of contention for the second Test between South Africa and England in early August. Although he was unlikely to feature in the starting XI, the tweak was serious enough for South Africa to call up a replacement in Faf du Plessis.Morkel’s injury this time is likely to have a greater impact on the team balance. Morkel and Jacques Kallis are the only two seam-bowling allrounders in the squad. His role in the middle order and reputation as a finisher is something South Africa will be looking forward to using.* – 1430 GMT, September 18, 2012 – The story was updated to include the result of the MRI scan

Though harvested by the container load in Grenada, spice was in short supply at St George’s today, although the drawn match against Guyana provided an opportunity for John Crawley to return to form with a worthy century.Ian Ward was also back in the runs continuing his extraordinary stretch of good form with another long innings of 86, putting him firmly at the top of the Busta Cup table for most runs in the tournament with 444.Neither innings were entertaining, as another dull draw was played out to earn England A six points and keep them in second place, behind Jamaica who had their match against Leeward Islands rained off.The format of the competition where emphasis is on first innings points has attracted criticism from the England A players who believe it leads to dull cricket and takes away the fun of engineering outright victories.But if you can’t beat them, there is much to gain by joining them, and today England A became the kings of the killjoys, batting slowly to rule out any chance of a declaration or a result. Carl Hooper the opposition skipper made it clear that his side was not interested in batting again when he set a defensive field early on and stuck with it all day.He kept the same bowlers on for entire sessions and more. His new ball bowler Kevin Darlington trundled in for an unbroken spell of 22 overs while the spinners, including Hooper himself, carried the rest of the load adopting negative tactics to restrict England A’s scoring.When the game was called off five overs before the scheduled end, England A had gathered 222 for one, Michael Powell caught behind early in the day for 24. But that was the only wicket that fell in a day that coach Peter Moores later described as `frustrating.'”Our game plan this morning had been to get the runs, declare and have a bowl at them but they used negative tactics and made it very difficult for us to make runs which was frustrating.”But Moores said he was pleased with the performances and in particular James Foster, the 20 year-old wicketkeeper from Essex who grabbed his chance and made an impressive debut, scoring 53 in the first innings and making no mistakes with the gloves.”He had an outstanding game. From the moment he walked into bat, he was confident and composed, using a very simple technique, which reminded me of Michael Vaughan. His keeping was also good – again, a simple technique and very tidy. We are really pleased with him.”He is a good athlete and learns quickly so has good potential. By his own admission he has a lot of work to do but he has worked had on this trip. He’s a nice lad to work with because he is aware – you tell him something and he slips it naturally into his game. He has good reactions and a bit of style – very talented.”We threw him in at six to see how he would respond and he responded well. I have seen nothing in his technique which suggests he shouldn’t be a top six batter but it is early days. We haven’t seen him against real pace.”As to whether Foster retains the gloves for the fourth round match against Barbados, where the pitch is likely to be faster and bouncier, remains to be seen but with Chris Read’s disappointing form in the opening two matches, Foster is well placed to play at Bridgetown.

After finding out belatedly that they were playing at the Reliance Stadium – and not at the usual first-class venue, the Moti Bagh Stadium – in their semi-final against Baroda, Karnataka appeared to have been dealt a blow when captain Vinay Kumar did not bowl a single delivery during a three-hour plus morning practice session. Vinay was having a fever and a cold, but his team expected him to be available for the game starting tomorrow.”The good thing about Vinay is that mentally, he is very strong. You can always back him to pick himself up and perform when it is required, and I am more than confident that he will play tomorrow,” Sanath Kumar, the Karnataka coach, said.While Vinay’s fitness is a slight worry on the eve of the match, what has bothered Karnataka throughout the season is the tendency of their talented batsmen to fritter away starts. Amit Verma, currently fourth in the list of top run-getters for the tournament, is a case in point, having scored seven half-centuries and only one century. Sanath was optimistic that the time spent in nets would translate into big runs in the middle. “We have had issues with the batting throughout the season. But we have worked very hard recently on overcoming them, and hopefully should be able to do well.”The opening combination has been steady at best, has struggled to provide substantial starts, and averages under 30 in the crucial first innings. However, since Robin Uthappa moved to the top of the order, the returns have improved. “Robin is now opening regularly, and will continue to do that,” Sanath said.The form of middle-order batsman Ganesh Satish, though, has been a concern. He averages 27.36 in seven games, which includes an unbeaten 100, and also a pair in the quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh. Sanath hinted Satish might be replaced. “We are considering an additional spin option, either in Udit Patel or Sunil Raju.” Both are offspinners who can bat, but Sanath didn’t think this would weaken the batting line-up.Sanath also did not think that the absence of Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel in the Baroda camp makes much of a difference. Both players are part of India’s limited-overs squad, and will miss the game as they have to leave for South Africa. “See, we cannot be concerned about who is or is not playing for the opposition. And in the semi-finals, you have to play well against whatever opposition you come up with. If Yusuf and Munaf had played, would we have had any choice but to go out and give our best? It remains the same in their absence.”Karnataka bear a more settled look, both in batting and in bowling, and Sanath was confident that his attack of Vinay, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Aravind and Sunil Joshi could do the trick on a surface expected to favour the batsmen. “It looks to be a dry wicket. We have confidence in our bowling attack; it has worked for us throughout the season.”The side had a prolonged nets session, which continued well after Baroda had finished practice. All the batsmen got decent stints, and Manish Pandey even sent a couple of reporters – including this one – scurrying for cover as he lofted the spinners out of the nets, over the low-lying spectators’ stand, and into the playing arena.

ScorecardTrent Copeland nipped out three in Glamorgan’s second innings•Getty Images

Azharullah and Trent Copeland each took three wickets as Northamptonshire roared to victory over Glamorgan by an innings and 25 runs inside three days.Glamorgan collapsed in the afternoon session as they were bowled out for a meagre 187, with Australia paceman Copeland taking 3 for 41 and Pakistani seamer Azharullah 3 for 42.This was the promotion-chasing hosts’ first win in six matches in this competition, while it is the second time in three seasons that Glamorgan have been thrashed by an innings at Wantage Road.The visitors began their second innings at the start of the day, needing 212 just to make Northants bat again. But they suffered an early blow in the 10th over when Gareth Rees departed for 19 as David Sales took a fine catch falling to his left at second slip off Copeland.Copeland then struck again by taking the important wicket of Murray Goodwin by trapping him lbw for just 5. The third-wicket pairing of Will Bragg and Chris Cooke then survived the rest of the morning session as Glamorgan reached lunch on 86 for 2.But Bragg was to depart on 44 in the fifth over of the afternoon when he dragged Azharullah’s delivery on to his leg stump to end a stand of 70. Northamptonshire made further inroads three overs later when Steven Crook pinned Jim Allenby lbw.Cooke then went cheaply, having played well in making 42, when he gloved Azharullah’s leg-side delivery to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy. It was now becoming a sorry procession for Glamorgan as their captain and wicketkeeper Mark Wallace was also taken by Murphy, this time off the bowling of Crook.John Glover soon followed him back to the pavilion after making only a single and became the third wicket to fall in 12 balls when he edged Azharullah to Murphy. The visitors slid ever closer to defeat when Andrew Salter fell to Murphy’s ninth catch of the match to give Andrew Hall his first wicket.Dean Cosker then smashed Copeland to Crook at fine leg to leave Northants on the brink of victory and maximum points. Graham Wagg did give the hosts some resistance but he was to be left stranded on 34 as the result was wrapped up two overs before tea was due when Michael Reed was taken at first slip by Copeland off Hall.

Just weeks after their redeveloped ground was unveiled during the Investec Ashes series, Lancashire are to dismantle and rebuild large parts of two new stands at Old Trafford.Work to dismantle the top tiers of the new southeast and southwest stands, either side of the new player and media facilities at the Brian Statham End, will begin as soon as the current County Championship match against Leicestershire is over.While the stands were being built, in 2012, one of the contractors, Sabre Structures Ltd, went into administration. That caused a delay that could have rendered the stands unfinished ahead of the 2013 season, so the club installed support columns as an intermediate measure to allow the stands to be used and enable the ground to host the international cricket that is so vital to its future.These support columns resulted in an obstructed view for some spectators, however, and were always viewed as a temporary solution.Now, aiming to find a longer-term fix, the club will strengthen the tiers with the installation of additional structural steel which will, in turn, allow the removal of the support columns.Work was also held up in March 2012, when one of the steel beams supporting the upper tier of seating twisted out of place, but the club insist that was an isolated incident and not relevant to the installation of the support columns.ESPNcricinfo understands that Lancashire will not be financially liable for the extra work – the cost will be met by the construction company involved – and the club are confident it will be completed in advance of the 2014 season. The club also state that the work has been scheduled for six months.Lancashire came close to having to abandon the ground, as a legal dispute threatened the £44m redevelopment, but the unveiling of new Pavilion in June preceded Test cricket’s return to Manchester for the first time since 2010.

“Highlights package” is how the South Africa A captain, Justin Ontong, described Shikhar Dhawan’s record-breaking 248 in the final league game of the A team tri-series in Pretoria that put up an imposing target of 434 for the home side. Ontong said they were “butchered” by Dhawan’s batting, but added they could have won the game had someone batted through during the chase.”Dhawan summed up conditions quickly,” Ontong said. “Every shot he hit found the gap or went over the fielders. It was like watching a highlights package. He hit so many good shots, it’s hard to pick out one that stood out. There were a few sixes that went into the construction site.”It was probably the best one-day innings I’ve seen. But I am also really proud of the boys. We showed some character when we were batting and if someone batted through, we could have won the game.”India A won the toss and were 161 for 1 at the halfway stage. But on a flat pitch and on a ground with short boundaries, Dhawan seamlessly switched gears to tear into the bowling, reaching his double century with just over 10 overs still left to play.”There was nothing the bowlers could do,” Ontong said. “They were bowling the lines and lengths they wanted to be bowling and he just hit them off those lines and lengths.”Ontong conceded that the South Africa players were left in despair by the innings, but coach Vincent Barnes reminded the team of the match when South Africa had successfully chased down Australia’s 434 in Johannesburg.”There was a bit of humour at the lunch break, because that’s what you need in situations like that, ” he said. “Some of the boys had their heads down but the coach, Vincent Barnes, came and said a few words. He told us that he was part of that 438 game and that if we put on partnerships we could get there.”South Africa came close to the target after opening batsman Reeza Hendricks and Vaughn van Jaarsveld scored centuries to keep the team interested till the last few overs.”It was a flat wicket with nothing in it and for 80% of the time we chased really well. It’s not every day you get two guys scoring a hundred and the team is still on the losing side, Actually, its not everyday you get four hundreds in a one-day match.”Reeza and Vaughn scored two very special hundreds and our bowlers were exposed to international players of top quality. When you play ODI cricket, you will sometimes play on flat wickets, although this one was maybe a little flatter than you get elsewhere and the outfield was also very quick.”