Pakistan, brimming with confidence after their five-wicket win, take on Sri Lanka in the second one-dayer at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday aiming to seal the series and crown Shoaib Malik’s debut as captain in style. Sri Lanka, without three senior players, will approach the game aiming to square the series and give their outgoing coach Tom Moody something to smile about.The first match turned on Shahid Afridi’s blitzkrieg 73 off just 34 balls after seeming to head Sri Lanka’s way. Reflecting on the victory, Malik emphasised just how important it was in terms of their calamitous World Cup.”After the World Cup debacle this is the start we wanted,” Malik was quoted as saying in . “It is not easy to beat a tough opponent like Sri Lanka. Pakistan have never been short of talent but to channelise that energy is not an easy task.”Pakistan chose not to go in with fresh faces and instead placed their faith in recalled players like Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed. After a breezy opening stand, Sri Lanka were in with a sniff as the innings slumped for a period after three run-outs. Kamran Akmal, who helped himself to a run-a-ball 51, supported Afridi as the pair took Pakistan home with eight overs to spare.Malik, who made 11, defended his team’s strategy in the chase and wasn’t overly concerned in the middle stages.”We played according to the plans and kept the run rate in our minds,” he added. “My innings was not slow because on the one end Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi were playing aggressively and we were playing according to the plans. We want to play sensible, attacking cricket.”Sri Lanka meanwhile will pin their hopes on the top order to convert their starts and make amends for their collective failure on Friday. Their spinners too struggled to negate Afridi’s onslaught, with legspinner Malinga Bandara nearly conceding seven runs an over.

Bermuda cricket is embroiled in another row after a clash in the Premier Division match between Southampton Rangers and St. George’s Cricket Club.In The Royal Gazette, Randy Raynor, the Southampton Rangers vice president, accused Anthony Fubler, one of the umpires, of “provoking” two of his team’s most senior players prior to the start.Raynor claimed that Fubler told some of the Southampton players that he was going to bag “a couple of wickets”, and that when he subsequently gave two lbw decisions against Kwame Tucker and Janeiro Tucker their reactions were partly caused by the earlier remarks.Both were reported by Fubler and are due to appear before the board’s disciplinary committee.”[Fubler] came into the dressing room and said to the players that he got six or so wickets the day before and that he was going to get a couple more today,” Raynor told the newspaper. “Janeiro told him to go away and that he shouldn’t be talking like that to players before a match. But Fubler told Janeiro that he wasn’t afraid of any World Cup players and that he was going to get them. No umpire has the right to do that.”He shouldn’t be doing things like that … it was as though his actions were premeditated and to think he was the one who gave these two players out really makes you wonder. And I think this is what led to the players’ reactions. It was wrong and unjust to say that to my players.”I don’t condone the players’ actions, but I think this all started when the umpire came into the dressing room before the match and said what he said.”

A report on the caribbeancricket.com website claims that Judge Adrian Saunders, the mediator in the dispute between the West Indies board (WICB) and several leading players over contracts, will find in favour of the players. It is expected that he will agree that there is a distinction between endorsements they can sign in their private capacity and as a member of the West Indies team.The decision was conveyed to the board and the West Indies Players Association on Thursday and will be made public in the next day or two. What is means is that the board cannot prevent players taking up private endorsement deals before being selected or after they are dropped. For their part, the players cannot use team logos and similar branding to market themselves privately as a member of the West Indies side.Some issues remain outstanding, and the judge asked for both sides to show a willingness to sort these out by negotiation. That seemed unlikely as within 48 hours of receiving the decision, both the board and the WICA made thinly-disguised attacks on each other.On Saturday, the WICB accused the association of attempting to “undermine the mediation process” and of trying to “characterise the judgement of the independent arbiter in a manner favourable to WIPA”.The target of the board’s ire was Dinanath Ramnarine, the president and CEO of the WICA, who on Friday had issued a statement in which he had expressed concern that the board had delayed the naming of the side to tour Australia. He said: “We trust that the delay in naming the team does not arise from any attempt by the board to sidestep the appointed adjudicator.”Ramnarine’s confrontational style – some would argue he is simply standing up for the rights of his players – resulted in the resignation of Roland Holder as secretary earlier in the week.

Division One

Michael Carberry struck a career-best 192 as Hampshire completed a fantastic run-chase against Warwickshire at the Rose Bowl. They were set 331 after some pleasingly aggressive negotiations between Shane Warne and Darren Maddy following the third day washout. Carberry was dominant throughout, adding 117 with Michael Lumb, to put the chase on course, then a match-winning 86 with Dimitri Mascarenhas. Carberry plundered 24 boundaries and a six as Hampshire completed a victory, one which closes the gap in a tight division. It was another example of Warne’s positive captaincy paying handsome dividends.Lancashire and Yorkshire completed their battle for bonus points at Old Trafford and the visitors edged ahead as Adil Rashid produced a highly impressive spell of legspin on the final afternoon, extracting sharp, if slow, turn. He troubled the Lancashire top order and trapped Brad Hodge with an impressive topspinner and had Stuart Law stumped off the final ball of the match to help Yorkshire claim an additional point. James Anderson produced a sustained spell of strong speed as Lancashire claimed a full hand of bowling points. His 5 for 98 was his first five-wicket haul since August 2005.

Division Two

Derbyshire pulled off a thrilling 15-run win against Middlesex at Southgate after the home side lost their last six wickets for 58. Jamie Dalrymple and Alan Richardson added 32 for the last wicket, but Graham Wagg had the final say when he bowled Richardson and handed Derbyshire their second win of the season. When Ed Smith was going well on 65 Middlesex were 208 for 4 and needed 74 more for victory, but Greg Smith trapped his namesake lbw and claimed two more vital wickets. Andrew Strauss fell early in the day for 53 and Ed Joyce failed to build on his promising start.Monty Panesar claimed six wickets as he bowled Northamptonshire to a 138-run victory against Gloucestershire at Northampton. Panesar struck quickly on the final morning as he removed the nightwatchman Steve Kirby and Chris Taylor for ducks and it was only a matter of time before the innings folded. Panesar helped himself to his best figures of a productive season before Steven Crook claimed the final wicket.Records continued to tumble in dream batting conditions at Chelmsford as Nottinghamshire amassed their highest first-class total, 791, against Essex. Chris Read made a career-best 240, the first time both wicketkeepers had made double-centuries in the same match after James Foster’s 204, while Graeme Swann fell three runs short of the seventh century in the match. The final session consisted of Nottinghamshire improving their over-rate and Read performed the rare triple of batting, keeping and bowling on the same day.It took Leicestershire only 25 balls to wrap up a 10-wicket win against Glamorgan at Grace Road. Arno Jacobs and Tim New knocked off the runs which carried Leicestershire to their first Championship win of the season.

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.”

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.

Sachin Tendulkar has said that the Test series win in England was one of his most cherished moments in international cricket. Speaking at the tenth Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence in Kochi, Tendulkar also praised the current crop of young players, saying it was great to see them enjoying their cricket and playing with a positive frame of mind.”Beating England in England recently was one of my most memorable moments,” he said of the 1-0 series win. Talking about the changes in the game in recent times, he said: “It’s definitely a lot quicker, a lot faster and there are more big shots.”At the awards night, Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami were among the players who were honoured. Ganguly was named the best captain in 75 years of Indian Test cricket . Goswami, who was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Year in September, was the first recipient of the Outstanding Indian Cricketer of the Year for women.India’s Test history was divided into six different eras and the best cricketers of each era were awarded. The list of awardees were: CK Nayudu (1932-47), Vinoo Mankad (1947-61), Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (1961-71), Sunil Gavaskar (1971-81), Kapil Dev (1981-97), Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (1997-2006).Some members of the team which won the ICC World Twenty20 were also presented with mementos.

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.

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.

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.