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Dale Steyn has said that Shaun Pollock’s inclusion will allow him to play the role of a `shock’ bowler in the second Test against Sri Lanka beginning on Friday in Colombo. Pollock missed the first Test that South Africa lost by an inning and 153 runs because of the birth of his child.”I bowled one decent bouncer in the first Test and, with Polly [Pollock] keeping one end tight, I will concentrate on bowling, basically, two lengths – short and full. With the new ball I’ll bowl full and try to get it to swing, but I will also concentrate on bowling more short balls,” Steyn told Supercricket.co.za. “If you get enough short balls in the right place then they’ll make a mistake.””Every time we bowled a short ball they would play an attacking shot so, while I would never say they were lucky, at some time those aggressive shots will go wrong and there will be a man there to take the catch. Hopefully!,” he said.Steyn took 3 for 129 in the first Test and had given South Africa a perfect start by reducing Sri Lanka to 14 for 2 before Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene put on 624 runs for the third wicket. Steyn had Sangakkara dropped by Jacques Rudolph when he was on seven and one run later bowled him with a no-ball.”I wanted to break my head against a wall. It was always going to be harder from that end because you had jump up a slope as you got into your delivery stride and your front landed before it normally does. Vinnie Barnes warned me about it before the Test started so that made it even worse when it happened.”

Brian Lara, equally sledged and celebrated for the role he has played in West Indian cricket, brought the horns of Brixton to life with a stirring performance against England in the final of the Champions Trophy at The Oval. India-Pakistan and Australia-England might well be the big drawcards at the moment, but those who forget the history and ethos of West Indies-England matches do so at their own peril.There are few figures as compelling as Lara in world cricket. When he gets going with the bat, there aren’t many who can match him for sheer electrifying entertainment. Freddie Flintoff hits it further, VVS Laxman flicks it with more charm, Sachin Tendulkar blunts it with greater control. But few can keep you on the edge of your seat like the Prince of Trinidad.And very few people have had to carry a team for so long, single-handedly, as Lara has had to. West Indian cricket has been in such a freefall over the last few years that their odd victory barely stays in the mind for the flicker of an eye. In that sense, this Champions Trophy means more to them than anyone else. Sure, Australia were desperate to succeed because this is one piece of silverware that is missing from the trophy cabinet in the board offices in Jolimont Street in Melbourne. And England were keen to cap a fruitful season with a headline-grabbing win before football engulfs everything in its wake.But, as Lara put it, victory in this tournament was a chance to put a smile on the faces of West Indians back home. The first people you met when you walked through the Jack Hobbs Gates at The Oval were those working for charity, collecting money for the victims of the terrible Hurricane Ivan tragedy in Grenada. The West Indian team has already pledged money to the cause, but that’s not their speciality. They’re a cricket team – there are others whose job it is to raise funds when it is needed.What Lara and his team can do is give the people of their islands something no-one else can. Pride and passion are commodities which have been in short supply in West Indian cricket teams of recent years. And they have not won a major tournament since 1979, when they were crowned world champions at Lord’s. Some observers of West Indian cricket believe that part of the problem is that this team is Lara-centric.And today, you could see in the first session why it is so with the media. England began well enough, batting calmly in wobbly conditions, but the ball did a bit and the bowlers – even if they weren’t Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall – did enough to kiss the edges of bats. It was then that Flintoff had a chance to rise to the occasion and plunder the bowling attack. The first chance for him to do so came when Wavell Hinds dragged a long-hop down mid-pitch. Flintoff played a pull shot with the sort of power that would sever a bull’s head in one go, and as the ball screamed towards midwicket, Lara dived low and scooped a fine catch.Then came the second bit of inspiration. Geraint Jones smacked one from Hinds to midwicket, and Lara timed his leap perfectly, couching yet another full-blooded shot, and took the return that popped up. In two moments Lara had shown his pedigree – spot-on field placement and perfect anticipation, to remove two key batsmen and wrest the initiative.He may not have the foresight and vision needed to lift West Indian cricket out of the trouble it is in, but Brian Charles Lara certainly has the magic to put a smile on a face, with or without a bat in hand. And, at the moment, that is all a Caribbean supporter can ask for.

New Zealand’s captain, Stephen Fleming, has been passed fit for the first Test against England at Lord’s, after overcoming a groin niggle, and is set to open the batting alongside Mark Richardson on Thursday.New Zealand have capitalised on the confusion in the England camp following Michael Vaughan’s knee injury, and have named their starting XI a full 24 hours in advance of the match. The specialist opener, Michael Papps, is the unfortunate batsman to miss out, despite his century in New Zealand’s recent defeat against Kent.Although he regularly faces the new ball in one-day internationals, Fleming is more used to batting at No. 3 in Tests – in fact he has opened the batting just once in his previous 82 matches. But once Nathan Astle had proved his form and fitness after his recent knee injury, he was always going to be a shoo-in for his first match since October.On a more disappointing note for New Zealand, they will be without Shane Bond, who had been sidelined for almost all of 2003 after suffering a stress fracture in his back. “Shane is struggling with his fitness," said New Zealand’s coach, John Bracewell, who always imagined Bond’s inclusion at Lord’s would be a long shot. "We are staying with our original plan; he’s still on target to be right for the second Test.”The seam bowler, Kyle Mills, is the remaining member of New Zealand’s Test squad to miss out on selection.New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Stephen Fleming (capt), 3 Nathan Astle, 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Chris Cairns, 8 Brendon McCullum (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Chris Martin.

As widely expected, Lance Klusener has been left out of South Africa’s squad to tour England this summer. Klusener’s form of late has been poor, and he was dealt a second blow with the news that he wasn’t being awarded a central contract by the South African board (UCBSA), putting his international future in doubt.Even before Klusener’s omission, the South Africa side was missing some familiar names with Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes having both retired after the World Cup.The Test squad includes two uncapped players – fast bowler Monde Zondeki and Thami Tsolekile, a wicketkeeper. Zondeki is still short of full fitness following a car crash in March. Morne van Wyk, another wicketkeeper, and fast bowler Dewald Pretorius are the only two uncapped members of the one-day squad.Graeme Smith, who succeeded Shaun Pollock as captain following South Africa’s World Cup humiliation, was confident that the side would do well in England. “We are a young side with plenty of exciting talent,” Smith said. “But we are also starting on a new era with South African cricket and we see this tour as another step forward on that path.”South Africa squad for Tests and ODIs Graeme Smith (capt), Mark Boucher (v-capt/wkt), Paul Adams, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Dewald Pretorius, Jacques Rudolph.One-day only Nicky Boje, Allan Dawson, Andrew Hall, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Martin van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk.Tests only Boeta Dippenaar, Gary Kirsten, Robin Peterson, Thami Tsolekile, Charl Willoughby, Monde Zondeki

Fast bowlers Ruchira Perera and Ravindra Pushpakumara have been recalledinto Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the forthcoming Asian Test Championshipmatch against Bangladesh at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo onThursday.Left arm pace bowler Ruchira Perera was a surprise omission from the SriLanka squad for the third Test against India after two reasonableperformances in the first two Tests matches in Galle and Kandy.Right arm Pushpakumara, 26, meanwhile, gets a recall after more than yearout of the squad. His last Test was against Pakistan in June last year. Hehas played in 22 Tests.Both Ruchira Perera and Puspakumara are likely to play in place of Dulip Liyanage and Dilhara Fernando, who is suffering from a groin strain.Although Fernando’s injury is not serious, the Sri Lankans selectors werekeen that the injury not be aggravated and are likely to rest him.Left-handed batsman Michael Vandort is tipped to make his debut in place ofthe out-of-touch Russel Arnold, who scored just 60 runs in four inningsduring the Indian series.The Squad:Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Michael Vandort, Mahela Jayawardene,Kumar Sangakkara, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas,Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Ruchira Perera, Russel Arnold,Avishka Gunawardene, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando.

The Otago Under-14 girls’ team has been named for next month’s Southern Zone series in Christchurch.The team is: Olivia Bates, Suzie Bates, Kylie Griffiths, Noelene Harry, Samara Heaney, Ashleigh Jamieson, Rebecca King, Shannon King, Amber Laking, Una Madden, Joanna Meyer, Courtney Winsloe.The tournament will be played in Christchurch from January 14-18.

Match facts

Sunday, April 27, 2008
Start time 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT

The Big Picture

“Live Punjabi, Play Punjabi” is the motto of Kings XI Punjab and their mission is to be the most successful and entertaining franchise in the IPL. Having just won their first game on Friday they’re entitled to some chest-thumping, but up against another feisty North Indian side, arguably the strongest in the tournament, they’ll need to be at their best. The Delhi Daredevils have won two out of two and, with an excellent blend of youth and experience, look the team to beat. This will be Brett Lee’s last appearance for Punjab – Simon Katich and Kyle Mills also leave India on April 28 – and his side could really use a repeat of his heroics against Mumbai Indians. Watching Lee and the man he replaced as Australia’s spearhead, Glenn McGrath, in the same match along with India’s two biggest hitters is enough to get the adrenalin running. A special Sunday beckons.

Watch out for …

… Lee versus Delhi’s in-form openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. Delhi have only lost two wickets in two games, but Lee is a different proposition given his form. Also keep an eye out for anything Kumar Sangakkara does. The tournament’s third-highest run-scorer, his 94 off 56 balls against Mumbai was a stellar effort and was highlighted by his ability to throw bowlers off target. He has the bowling attack of the tournament to deal with now.

Team news

James Hopes missed the last game with a stomach upset and if fit, he will take his place back at the top of the order, which means Ramnaresh Sarwan will go back to the bench. Sunny Sohal went for a fourth-ball duck and he could easily be replaced by either Sahil Kukreja or Tanmay Srivastava, the Under-19 batsman. Punjab are extremely unlikely to tinker with the bowling attack that wrapped up a 66-run win in Mohali. Having Hopes back in the attack will be a big boost.Punjab (probable) 1 Karan Goel, 2 James Hopes, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava/ Sahil Kukreja, 7 Irfan Pathan 8 Brett Lee, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh.It’s hard to envision Delhi changing their winning combination, even with AB de Villiers joining the team on game day. Their bowling, with Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif and Farveez Maharoof, is nagging and the middle order is yet to even get a bat. If Shoaib Malik gets time at the crease, expect fireworks.Delhi: (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Mohammad Asif, 10 Yo Mahesh, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Cricket Australia has confirmed that Sri Lanka and India will each have only one warm-up match in Australia before being thrust into the Test series on their 2007-08 tours. The unusual summer scheduling has also meant the traditional Prime Minister’s XI fixture has been pushed back to late January in the lead-up to the one-day tri-series.Sri Lanka take on Queensland at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field in a three-day clash starting on November 2. They meet Australia at the Gabba for the first Test of the season beginning on November 8, followed by the second Test at Hobart from November 16.India’s only chance to acclimitise to the Australian conditions before the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne will be in a three-day game against Victoria, starting on December 20 at Melbourne’s St Kilda Cricket Ground. The second Test at Sydney begins on January 2, before India’s next tour match against an Australian Capital Territory XI – comprising ACT cricketers and players invited from other states – at Canberra from January 10-12. The third Test at Perth starts on January 16 and is followed eight days later by the fourth at Adelaide Oval.Sri Lanka then return for the tri-series with India and Australia, and they will take on the Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra on January 30. Their warm-up continues with a one-day match against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval on February 2, before the limited-overs series begins the following day.

While England were being pasted 5-0 by Sri Lanka you could have forgiven one man for allowing himself a wry smile. But England’s forgotten man, Surrey allrounder Rikki Clarke, is having none of it. “No, obviously I’d like to be playing for England,” he says. “I’m also an England fan, I want them to do well.”England players were dropping like flies, Clarke was simply dropped from the selectors’ thoughts – at both senior and now A-team level – despite hitherto solid performances for England A, despite being named in the 25-man development squad and despite strong showings for Surrey.”It’s quite strange that I’ve been named in the England Development Squad of 25 and you don’t even get in the A-team,” he says. “There’s people coming in from the outskirts.”He’s had to watch while Tim Bresnan (“a great prospect”) and Jamie Dalrymple (“he’s done well”) were brought in above him. He’s generous in his praise of the new boys, whom he calls the youngsters – somewhat ironically as he’s 24 and Dalrymple, at 25, is actually his senior.Clarke seems older, though, perhaps because he’s so battle-hardened from having taken punch after punch in his short career. “That’s cricket for you – so many highs and lows and setbacks. There’s been so many disappointing sides to cricket, being dropped and left out. You just get on with it. And that’s what I’ve done again.”But he’s not battle weary – yet. “It just makes me stronger as a player.” And his answer is to let his game do the talking. It’s a well-rehearsed response too with, by his reckoning, ten setbacks for England already. “Another one isn’t going to affect me too much.” And he means it.He remains, much like fellow allrounder Paul Collingwood who was on the England fringes for years, surprisingly unbitter. And look where Collingwood is now.If there’s one thing that’s changed recently it is that he is now cautious. Does he think he will make the World Cup squad? “Don’t know,” he replies in a beat. “I really don’t know. I thought that I would be playing against Sri Lanka this one-day series. I thought I would be in the A side against Pakistan. All I can do is just concentrate on what I’m doing for Surrey, making runs and taking wickets.”

He would, of course, love to return to the West Indies in 2007 to some happy, balmy hunting grounds. “I just love to play cricket in the Caribbean,” he says. “You’ve got Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago… And St Lucia is a wonderful place.”It’s only just come about as a Test ground, but it’s fantastic – they really look after the outfield. There was a proper party atmosphere when I played there – there were lots of schoolkids, there were whistles, the buzz really takes you through. There were a lot of bars, and it’s got everything in a compact place. I’ll definitely go back there for a holiday.” Time will tell whether that will be a working holiday.But it’s not just the one-dayers that figure large in Clarke’s aspirations. He has dreams of making his Test debut. “Hopefully I can make my debut for England it they pick me,” he says, “and start afresh.”Now, many people may have forgotten he’s already played two Tests, against Bangladesh, but surely the man himself can’t have wiped those games from his memory? “It seems ages ago, it really does. But that’s what I loved. People said, ‘Oh it’s only Bangladesh’ and for me Bangladesh isn’t really a Test match. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I get another chance.”In the meantime he can concentrate on his vice-captaincy of Surrey – he’s being groomed as their future skipper – and leading them in the Twenty20. “I’m enjoying it; it’s quite hectic, you lose your voice shouting.”He can cling to the development squad, too, although the purpose of the squad is something of a moot point, especially when the England management haven’t had that much communication with Clarke since they named the 25.He talks to them, though, sending out strong messages with his 165 against Leicestershire when he missed out on one-day selection. “I’ve always liked to prove a point.” How many more signals does he need to send, though? “You can only go so far keeping on proving a point but hopefully I’ll read that stage where it’s impossible not to pick me.”

It is difficult to tell whether it was too late for the cricket season or too early for the pantomime season. Either way, it is fair to say that the attempt to stage indoor cricket in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff at the weekend was not an unqualified success. It is all very well to hire some of the biggest names in cricket to pack the Rest of the World team, give the England team the ugly label of “The Brits,” get Sky TV to cover it and offer prize money equivalent to winning the World Cup, but if it is perceived as nothing more than a gimmick, it will not work.The organisers claim that 11,000 spectators attended over Friday and Saturday evenings, but how many of these were paying spectators is not known. There is usually a fair degree of “papering the house” at such events, to borrow a theatrical expression. In a stadium that holds 73,000, the lack of an audience stripped the occasion of any meaningful atmosphere.The television commentators strove manfully to take it seriously, even offering comments suggesting that had the architects made the playing area just a little bigger by having the lower tier of seating retractable to give longer boundaries and claiming that there would still have been room for a decent crowd. On this evidence, it would have been possible to retract all the seating bar a few rows at the top and the crowd could still have been accommodated and the playing surface could have been bigger than the MCG.Those same commentators were wired to selected players out in the middle. Not many of the comments from the players were particularly illuminating while James Foster nearly suffered another injury when diving behind the stumps and landing on his battery pack. If Duncan Fletcher was watching, he must have winced every time one of his Ashes party were involved in the action. As for David Fulton, he was out to the very next ball after David Lloyd had asked him a question from the commentary box. No wonder Lloyd said he felt a bit responsible.One of the perimeter advertising boards was for HM Prison Service. Perhaps that was an opportunity to wheel out cricket’s best-known inmate, Lord Archer, as an umpire. It would have been in keeping to list him as Geoffrey rather than Jeffrey Archer had they done so, because Andy Flower had the name “Flowers” on his back, Matthew Fleming was “Flemming” while Nathan Astle was announced over the public address system as “Jeff Astle.” Perhaps the late West Brom and England centre-forward had made an impact in Cardiff in his playing days.The idea of giving bonus runs depending on which tier of seating was located by big hits did not really add to the entertainment factor, while only one player, Shahid Afridi, hit a maximum 12. He hit the roof, but Astle – be it Nathan or Jeff – was the only batsman to reach the top tier and record a ten.No doubt buoyed by the prospect of sizeable pay cheques, the players were entering into the spirit of the occasion, albeit as they would a benefit or exhibition match. Dominic Cork even tried to give Saeed Anwar a stare. The batsman simply laughed at him, reducing Cork to all the threat of a pantomime villain. “How’s that?” “He’s not out.” “Oh yes he is!” would have completed the surreal exchange.For the record, the Rest of the World won the first match by seven wickets and the second by two runs. The organisers claimed they were pleased with the inaugural event. That suggests there will be more, but surely gimmicks have a limited life? It will never take the place of cricket.