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New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced a pre-distribution surplus of NZ$14.67 million in its annual report for the 2006/07 financial year. Overall, NZC recorded a profit of $6.46 million after distributions to major and district associations amounting to $8.21 million.”Income from the ICC in relation to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 was in line with forecast,” Justin Vaughan, the CEO of NZC, said. “With most of NZC’s overseas revenues being received in US dollars the result for the year has been impacted significantly by the value of the US dollar.””The amounts being distributed to major associations have increased significantly in recent years, assisting the growth of the game throughout New Zealand.”Vaughan also thanked Martin Snedden, his predecessor, who had now joined Rugby New Zealand. “During his tenure, Martin was faced with a number of major issues both internationally and at home. He navigated his way through each of these issues with great skill and ensured the best interests of cricket in New Zealand were at the centre of each decision.”On behalf of the board I would like to thank Martin for his outstanding leadership of NZC during this time,” Vaughan said.New Zealand Cricket, meanwhile, confirmed two appointments to its board of directors. Sir John Anderson, the chairman, was re-elected for a further term.Brent King was also appointed on to the board, as a replacement director for Vaughan, who resigned from the board in May 2007 to take the CEO position. King is currently Chairman of the Auckland Cricket Association and a director of a number of private companies. Don Neely, President of NZC, was also appointed for a further one-year term.

Duncan Fletcher has told the BBC that he has no regrets about the revelations regarding Andrew Flintoff’s drinking in his autobiography which was published yesterday.Fletcher has come under considerable fire for his reveal-all book, especially in his criticism of Flintoff’s behaviour in Australia last winter. “I have concerns about the level of debate that’s been reached,” he told the BBC’s Inside Sport. “I wanted to be loyal to him [Flintoff] but loyalty should be two-way traffic.”The secret was not revealed by me, the secret was revealed by Flintoff following the [pedalo] incident in the West Indies. From my point of view, I was really upset at the time. At that time his actions could have led to me losing my job. That’s quite important; the pressures that I was under because of areas he was in control of.”I wanted to be loyal to him but loyalty should be two-way traffic. I felt let down by the pedalo affair, I just think that I linked it directly to what happened in Sydney. If the pedalo affair hadn’t taken place there’s a very good chance we would have carried on managing Andrew.”Fletcher insisted that he didn’t regret making Flintoff captain, and said he may well lead his country again. “I see no reason [why not],” he said. “If that foot lets him bowl as well as he can there’s no reason he shouldn’t captain down the line.”Fletcher was also asked about perceptions that he was too reluctant to include players such as Monty Panesar and Chris Read. “People have interpreted a personal thing,” he said. “All I am trying to do is be very specific. I’ve always felt a finger spinner should be able to bat and field and I would rather pick a batter-wicketkeeper than a keeper-batter and he must be the pulse of the side.”Fletcher said he remained hopeful of another international coaching job after seven years “of real enjoyment” while in charge of England.

Bangladesh have trimmed their original 17-man squad for the two-Test series against South Africa to 14.Allrounder Farhad Reza, left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr and Syed Rasel, the left-arm medium pacer who dislocated his collar bone during a tour game and missed out the series against New Zealand, were the players to be axed. The trio shared eight wickets in the South Africans’ ongoing tour match against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI but the selectors have opted for Sajidul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain as the three primary bowlers.There was some concern over Habibul Bashar, who skipped the three-day practice match due to a thumb injury, but he has been retained.The first Test begins on February 22 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.Bangladesh squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Aftab Ahmed, Habibul Bashar, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Rafique, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Rajin Saleh, Sajidul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The second one-dayer in Napier turned out to be hopelessly one-sided as New Zealand’s batsmen made best use of a placid surface to help register a 102-run win to take the series 2-0.Jamie How, Peter Fulton and Jacob Oram scored half-centuries to power New Zealand to 335 for 5 and Bangladesh’s chase hit a dead end as soon as Kyle Mills struck with three quick wickets in the early stages. Bangladesh were already out of the match when rain stopped play after 43 overs.Captain Daniel Vettori took the opportunity to give his batsmen a shot at notching up some runs and confidence and they obliged. How took the aggressive route with a 77-ball 74 at the top while Fulton’s innings was more workmanlike, running the singles and keeping the fielders on their toes in the middle overs. Oram then clubbed four sixes in his 31-ball 55 and led his side’s late charge towards a total that proved way out of reach for the opposition.Fulton and the middle order thrived on another productive opening stand between How and Brendon McCullum, who added 82 at more than a run a ball with a mixture of flamboyant strokeplay and electrifying running. McCullum stood a foot outside the crease to pick the ball on the full. While he regularly charged down the track and shuffled across the stumps, How preferred to stay put at the crease and respect the coaching manual, still ensuring that the poor deliveries were rightfully dispatched.Bangladesh, however, were at the receiving end of a poor decision when a genuine outside edge off How’s blade convinced everybody except the umpire Peter Parker. To add further insult to injury, How bludgeoned the next ball through the covers and hung around to add another half-century stand, this time with Fulton. He brought up his fifty with an off drive off Farhad Reza, but his pursuit of the elusive three-figure mark ended when he was trapped in front of the stumps by Abdur Razzak.Fulton, who came in during the third Powerplay, made good use of the restrictions by fetching four boundaries. With the slower bowlers operating from both ends, Fulton and Scott Styris settled down by rotating the strike. Fulton was constantly on the lookout for singles and his efficient half-century was characterised by firm punches past cover, flicks to midwicket and cheeky paddle sweeps. The fact that there were no boundaries between the 26th and the 38th overs almost went unnoticed because the scoreboard kept ticking away.Styris fell seven short of his fifty after succumbing to a slower ball from Reza, scooping to short third-man. Ross Taylor too enjoyed a good hit in the middle, clubbing Razzak for consecutive boundaries over midwicket before getting down on his knees and slogging Mortaza high over long-on. Towards the end, not a single bowler was spared and the one to suffer the most was Razzak, who conceded 75 off his ten overs, a rare bad day for a bowler known for economical spells.Reza was at the mercy of Oram’s blade as he conceded two huge sixes in his ninth over, the first over midwicket and the second over long-on. Oram found time to deposit two more over the same region, as if teeing off like a golfer.Bangladesh’s only noteworthy passage of play with the bat came at the start as Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique added 63 at just over five an over. A boundary past the covers got the chase off to an emphatic start and the pair showed good application in getting behind the line and driving on the up past the infield on the off side. Tamim was the more dominant partner, picking Mark Gillespie for a six over backward square-leg and following it up with a trademark flat-batted biff past the bowler after advancing down the track.

With very little in the pitch to assist the bowlers, only a momentary lapse in concentration could have yielded a wicket and Siddique succumbed, falling to a miscued pull. Mills, who came back well after the early pasting, plucked out Tamim in the same over, inducing an edge outside the off stump. Ashraful fell in controversial circumstances, standing his ground after Ross Taylor claimed a low catch at cover but the umpires upheld the appeal.Following his dismissal, Aftab Ahmed and Tushar Imran went on the defensive, struggling to find the boundaries as New Zealand tightened the noose. Aftab, obviously bogged down by the situation, waited for the third Powerplay in the 35th over to free his arms but it was a little too late. A flurry of boundaries, including a cheeky scoop over fine-leg for six, hastened his progress to a half-century.Mills returned to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan, caught hooking to fine leg, and finished with commendable figures of 4 for 40. Aftab continued to assert himself but didn’t last too long after his fifty, holing out to a diving Oram at deep square-leg. The rain only cut short the inevitable.

Since Shane Warne’s retirement, Australia’s potential international spinners have suffered more rigorous media analysis than many of the nation’s top politicians. The experts typically vote for Stuart MacGill and Bryce McGain as the leading candidates, with Dan Cullen the next preference, while Cullen Bailey and Nathan Hauritz attract minority support. Beau Casson has not even been on the ballot, but the time has come to inspect his credentials.It was easy to ignore Casson last season, when he collected seven Pura Cup wickets from seven games at an unflattering average of 72. It has not been as simple to discount the left-arm wrist-spinner this summer. Among slow bowlers only McGain has more Pura Cup victims in 2007-08 than Casson’s 25 at 35.72. He has been an under-rated part of the New South Wales machine and grabbed four wickets and made 99 in their most recent win that secured them a home final.Casson’s success has justified not only his switch from Western Australia after 2005-06, but also the faith of the New South Wales selectors. They stuck with him after he struggled through his first year in Sydney, sitting behind MacGill in the state’s slow-bowling ranks and carrying a shoulder injury that required a reconstruction when the season was over.”Coming to a new place probably took me a bit of time to settle in,” Casson said. “I had some injury problems and then I hurt my shoulder and that was about the end of my season, which was not an ideal start. I would have liked to have more of an impression last year but now hopefully I’ll be able to bowl these leggies for a while.”New South Wales certainly hope so. The SCG has taken plenty of turn lately and with MacGill likely to spend more time in the national set-up, the Blues need somebody to exploit the conditions. That was Casson’s theory when he left a Warriors group that also featured Brad Hogg and Aaron Heal, and despite last summer’s disappointing results he was always certain it was the right move.”I’ve never had a second thought about it,” Casson said. “It was always a long-term thing for me. It’s a fantastic place to play cricket and if you’re a spinner it’s the place you want to be. Coming from Perth I’ve found every wicket on the SCG pretty exciting.”There’s been probably a touch more grass because we’ve had a fair bit of rain this year in our summer. It’s been great, I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s certainly an art to be able to come over and bowl legspin when it’s a bit slow. It’s certainly a learning experience.”To get the most out of his SCG lessons, Casson, 25, has needed a high-quality teacher and the former New South Wales chinaman bowler David Freedman has stepped in as his mentor. Casson must also thank MacGill, who is not only a useful sounding board, but created greater opportunities by opting for wrist surgery that kept him out of the state side for three months.Fortunately for Casson, he is likely to keep his spot for the Pura Cup final against Victoria starting in Sydney on Saturday even though MacGill is back in action. The Australian fast bowlers Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken have returned but the Blues should have room for two spinners, especially as Casson is also a useful batsman and has 379 runs at 63.16 this season.His all-round efforts might not be enough for the selectors to vote him into the national team, but he deserves to be part of the debate. For now, Casson is simply pleased to have finally found his niche as a first-class cricketer after six years in the system. “Everyone has aspirations of playing for their country and I’m no different,” Casson said. “But I just want to improve as a cricketer and every day if I can be better I’ll be happy.”

Steve Harmison admitted to being rusty even though he took 6 for 91 from 23 overs on his debut for the Lions against the Cobras in South Africa’s SuperSport Series.”It was difficult, to be honest,” Harmison admitted at the end of the day. “This is sort of my pre-season. It’s the first real sort of cricket I’ve bowled since the middle of July, and even then it was only sort of eight overs, so probably since the fourth Test match in England at the end of June.”I’ve not really played that much outside and I must admit I did spray it a little bit. But I’ve got six wickets and I’m happy with that. The wickets weren’t everything to be honest. I was disappointed with the way it came out.”Harmison, who is playing in South Africa in a bid to get match fit ahead of England’s Test series in Sri Lanka, struggled early on for control and bowled nine no-balls and 14 wides. “I bowled a lot of wides,” he shrugged. “In the last two or three years I bowled six no-balls and I bowled nine in this game, so that tells its own story. I’m a bit rusty and I’m not fully with it. So there were good things and bad things.”The positives were I got 28 overs under my belt, I fielded for 102 overs in decent heat in very, very good competitive cricket and got six wickets. The downside was my action wasn’t as good as I would like to, but we’re a month away from the first Test and there’s still a lot to work on.”I’m over the injuries and I’m fit, but the one thing I’m not is bowling fit … that’s a big difference that any bowler will understand.”Meanwhile, Harmison’s Durham and England team-mate Liam Plunkett took 1 for 62 for the Dolphins against the Warriors in East London.

Eight Ranji players belonging to Bihar Players Association (BPA) protested in front of the Indian board’s office demanding that Bihar be allowed to take part in the domestic cricket season.The cricketers sat on a hunger strike at the BCCI headquarters where its working committee meeting was on, but were taken away by the police.”We have met BCCI chief Sharad Pawar twice. He assured us that the matter will be resolved in a month’s time but nothing has happened,” said Mrityunjai Tiwari, BPA president. Sunil Kumar, Dheeraj Kumar, Raju Vals and Nikhil Ranjan were among others who took part in the protest.The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) became defunct in 2000, when the previous BCCI regime under Jagmohan Dalmiya granted affiliation to Jharkand, a new state carved out of Bihar.The present regime under Sharad Pawar took the decision of restoring the affiliation to the BCA. But the implementation of the decision was subject to approval by the Jharkhand High Court where the JCSA has filed a suit on the matter. “The matter is in the court but what is our fault,” Tiwary said. “All we want is to play cricket.”

As England arrived in Colombo 2-1 up in their one-day series against Sri Lanka, Stuart Broad reflected on his role in England’s nail-biting run-chase at Dambulla as he again showed his calmness under pressure.It wasn’t a new position for Broad when he walked in with his team tottering on 107 for 7, needing another 57 to win. During the summer he and Ravi Bopara guided England home at Old Trafford, Broad finishing on an unbeaten 45. At the tail-end of England’s World Cup campaign he was again in the middle, hitting the winning runs when they pulled off a consolation one-wicket victory against West Indies in Barbados.”I was quite lucky, because in only my sixth game I was in that position in Bridgetown – with an amazing atmosphere – and had an opportunity to win the game,” said Broad. “I’ve been lucky that every time I’ve been in that position the run-rate hasn’t been a problem, and we’ve been able to go at threes and fours and fives and win the game that way.Broad explained how he learnt his approach to chasing down targets from former Leicestershire team-mate Paul Nixon during his spell as England’s one-day wicketkeeper. “Having been there before helps with the approach. Paul Nixon was instrumental in trying to look at things in 10s, because he’s a great believer in little targets to get where you want to go.”If I know I need four to reach my little target it’s a lot easier than thinking we need 50 to win. Batting with him at Bridgetown was a big learning experience – and then I took his cues and took them into my game.””I enjoy batting and the challenge of it. I take very little steps; I go in 10s – and whoever I’m batting with, we look at needing seven to reach 130 or five to get to 140. It makes your target really small and it doesn’t seem such a long way away.”Broad, who is making a strong case for inclusion for the Test series in December, continues to show remarkable maturity in all aspects of his career. He has even come to terms with being taken for 36 off an over by Yuvraj Singh during the World Twenty20 in South Africa.”It was obviously not a pleasant experience, but I didn’t lose any sleep over it,” he said. “It was at the back of my mind pretty quickly. It was quite nice coming to Sri Lanka straight away, and I could focus on my practice for 50-over cricket. It happened – I can’t get away from that – but I think I’ve come back pretty strongly.”The only cloud on England’s horizon is surrounding Paul Collingwood who went for a scan on his right shoulder after the team arrived back in Colombo. During the first ODI he dived for a catch in his followthrough and jarred himself on the ground.He has managed to bowl 15 overs in the following two matches but is still experiencing some pain and the medical staff have taken the opportunity to have him assessed. There doesn’t appear any great fear over the injury and results are expected on Tuesday.

Glenn McGrath finished playing for Australia a year ago but he remains in the mind of Stuart Clark, who has looked at vision of his former team-mate to prepare for the West Indies series. Clark operates in a similar way to McGrath and he believes his predecessor “found the key” to success in the Caribbean.In ten Tests in the West Indies McGrath captured 50 wickets at 20.70 and he finished his career by winning the Player of the Tournament award at the World Cup. His 26 victims in 11 games were crucial to Australia claiming the trophy for the third consecutive time.”He obviously found the key over here,” Clark, who is preparing for his 16th Test, told AAP. “From the footage and the vision we have looked at, he was successful by keeping it pretty simple and being consistent and patient on these wickets.”Clark also plans to tie down the West Indian batsmen, who are led by Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and expects them to be a tough proposition at home. “They like to score runs quickly,” he said. “So I suppose I have to try and go against that and try to keep it nice and calm and force them to make the errors.”Australia’s only warm-up for next Thursday’s first Test starts on Friday against a Jamaica XI and Clark will be one of a number of players looking to adjust to the conditions. Balls leapt at the batsmen during a net session at Sabina Park on Wednesday, including one from Brett Lee to Ricky Ponting, who was struck on the glove.Ponting was unhurt, but the Australians will be happy to return to the safer conditions in the middle. Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, is with the tour party and will decide whether Simon Katich and Ashley Noffke get a chance to impress in the practice game as the team management considers its options in case Michael Clarke, who stayed at home due to a family death, doesn’t arrive in time for the first Test.

England may have drawn the final Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, but the 1-0 series loss meant they slipped from second to fifth in the LG ICC Test Championship table.Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have jumped up two places from fifth to third; had they won in Galle, they would have replaced England in second position.”Those stats don’t lie,” admitted Michael Vaughan, England’s captain. “We got to No. 2 in the world because we beat most teams in the world. “We’re No. 5 in the world because we lost to Australia and we’ve only got 20 wickets once in our last 14 Tests away from home.”England’s slip results in South Africa becoming the No. 2 team in the rankings for both Tests and ODIs, behind Australia. With upcoming series between South Africa and West Indies and Australia and India beginning on Boxing Day, the rankings could well change before the year ends.There is stiff competition among the teams placed second to fifth, with South Africa, Sri Lanka and fourth-placed India all on 109, only separated by fractions of a ratings point, while England are close on their heels at 107.However, top-ranked Australia remain the runaway leaders, and even a 4-0 loss to India at home won’t see them lose the No. 1 spot.In the players rankings, Kumar Sangakkara, who had displaced Ricky Ponting at the top of the list for Test batsmen after the first Test in Kandy, has fallen to third place. Ponting regains first place, but will have to battle with No. 2 Jacques Kallis to retain the position, with both players involved in series that begin on Boxing Day.Mahela Jayawardene, who won the series prize for his 474 runs against England, is now up to sixth place, ahead of Kevin Pietersen, who has slipped to seventh.Among the bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan continues his reign at the top, while Matthew Hoggard drops three places to ninth.

LG ICC Test Championship

LG ICC Player Rankings