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ScorecardA second-string Yorkshire side took the opportunity to rest theirexperienced stars, yet they still proved too strong for United Arab Emirates who were swept aside by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi.Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath remained on the sidelinesto watch the club’s up-and-coming youngsters perform admirably on anintensely hot day. The performance of the day came from compact left-hander Adam Lyth, a Yorkshire league cricketer for Scarborough, who scored his firstcentury of the tour to help Yorkshire sail to victory with 16 overs tospare.Batting first after winning the toss, UAE made a dreadful start when Nadeem Aslam was caught behind by Jonathan Bairstow from the first ball of the day by Ajmal Shahzad. James Lee, the 20-year-old fast bowler, ended with the impressive figures of 3 for 32 while Ben Sanderson, on his tour debut, shared the new ball withShahzad.Sanderson struck in his third over by bowling Ravi Verma which left Saqib Ali, the captain, to try and tie together the UAE’s fragile middle order. In reality, the asking rate of 3.76 per over was never likely to test Yorkshire, even without some of their star turns.Lyth and Gary Ballance saw them off to a brisk start to their reply with Lyth racing to a 35-ball 50, but the fun ended when Balance chased a wide one. Lyth reached his deserved ton after barely two hours at the crease by pulling a towering six over mid-wicket off a short one from off-spinner Owais Hameed from only the 98th ball of his stay, but he fell in the quest to finish it quickly leaving Chris Taylor and Joe Sayers – captain for the day – to polish the job off.”The youngsters have done brilliantly,” said Craig White, Yorkshire’s 2nd XI coach. “I thought we started off really well with the ball, we maybe bowled a fewtoo many wides [17] but you can accept that at this time of year.”Lyth has just shown how good he is, he is a top-class player who hasbatted beautifully. We came out here to win every game. We won the first, lost thesecond, and we won the third. It was a fantastic allround performance. They were fantastic in the field, everything about them was brilliant.”We have got what we came here for. Yes we would have liked to havewon the tournament, but we have got to look at other things.”Yorkshire find out on Monday who their play-off opponents will be,with a Roses clash against Lancashire a distinct possibility. “Thatwould be nice,” added White.

Injured players Daniel Flynn and Iain O’Brien have been retained in the New Zealand squad for the second Test against India starting on March 26 in Napier. However Jamie How has been called up as cover for Flynn who bruised his hand in the first Test. There was no fracture, but the hand was swollen, affecting Flynn’s ability to bat. He will be assessed on Wednesday.Jacob Oram, who made himself unavailable for the first Test because he was not yet confident of playing a five-day game after recovering from injury, was not considered despite captain Daniel Vettori being keen to have him in the squad.Offspinner Jeetan Patel returned to the squad after being released to play for Wellington in the State Championship match against Otago where he took 6 for 137. Coach Andy Moles had indicated on Sunday that Patel would play in Napier.Glenn Turner, the head of the selection panel, said Oram was excluded because he was yet to regain full match fitness. “He’s only had a couple of days in the domestic competition, and after talking with him we agree he’d benefit from more game time to get up to the fitness level needed for the Test side,” Turner said.The only omission from the first Test squad is uncapped bowler Brent Arnel, who was not considered after picking up a side strain during a State Championship match.O’Brien also suffered a side strain during the Test but was hopeful of recovering in the next couple of days.New Zealand squad: Daniel Vettori (capt), Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Martin GuptillTim McIntosh, Brendon McCullum, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Iain O’Brien, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Jamie How.

The Indian government has asked the IPL to revise its tournament dates once again. The government wants the IPL to rework the revised schedule after consulting the states in which the matches are to be held. BCCI sources said discussions have already been initiated at the state level in this regard.”We told them it will not be possible to provide central paramilitary forces for the IPL because of the elections,” home ministry spokesman Onkarmal Kedia said. “We want them to draw up a schedule after consulting state governments on the dates when they can provide security. The ministry will take a decision after receiving a new schedule.”N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, told reporters in New Delhi after a one-and-a-half hour meeting that home ministry officials had explained their concerns about the dates in detail. “We have also expressed our difficulties and our own concerns,” Srinivasan said.Some of the IPL’s options are to have a packed schedule – with up to three matches in a day – and shorten the tournament, and/or restrict the matches to states that are willing to provide security for them.”Restricting the matches to just a few states would mean that the IPL will lose its home-and-away flavour,” a top BCCI official said. “For instance, holding matches in West Bengal (Kolkata) look very difficult going by the state’s response. In such a case, we can move many of Kolkata Knight Riders’ matches to Cuttack (in the neighbouring Orissa state). But the thinking is that the tournament has to be held in April-May.”The IPL had submitted a revised schedule to the Indian government last week after P Chidambaram, India’s home minister, said security would be provided for matches though the dates would have to be reworked to avoid a direct clash with general elections in the country. However, the revised dates were not accepted by various states where the IPL would be played in, including Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.Karnataka’s Bangalore police declined to provide security cover for the IPL until May 3 and advised the tournament organisers to not host games in the city until after May 4. “Bangalore city police will not be in a position to give security for IPL matches until May 3 in view of our commitments regarding Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 23 and April 30,” police commissioner Shankar Bidari said. Bidari said security could be provided if games were played on May 4, 7, 10, 11, 14, 19 and 20.The Andhra Pradesh police, meanwhile, agreed to provide security for matches after April 26, three days after polling ends in the state. “We have studied the revised schedule submitted by the IPL organisers and accordingly informed them that there is no objection to the conduct of matches after April 26,” AK Khan, the state’s director general of police (law and order), told PTI. “However, matches will not be possible for four days from May 14 when the police will be busy with duties for counting of votes on May 16.”

Shane Warne believes Andrew Flintoff will not participate in the IPL if it jeopardises his involvement in this year’s Ashes. Warne, who ended his international career with Australia’s 5-0 win in the 2006-07 Ashes, said Flintoff will be key to England’s hopes of beating Australia, and was confident that the allrounder would ensure he is 100% fit for the five-Test contest in July-August.Concerns have risen over Flintoff’s three-week stint in the IPL in April after he injured his hip during the third Test against West Indies in Antigua and was ruled out of the fourth in Barbados. Flintoff, though, has insisted he will be fit for the Indian Twenty20 tournament – he’s been contracted for a record annual US$1.55 million fee with Chennai Super Kings. The ECB has indicated it could block Flintoff’s participation in the league if they felt it would be a risk to his fitness ahead of a busy home summer.Warne, though, felt England need not worry. “The Ashes will be the most important thing to Andrew Flintoff,” Warne told Sky Sports News. “If the IPL is going to jeopardise him playing for England in the Ashes, then I don’t think Andrew Flintoff will go to the IPL. He’ll make sure he’s 100% fit. If he thinks he’s fit and he wants to go and play in the IPL, no problem at all.”He predicted a grim outcome for England if Flintoff is unavailable. “England need Andrew Flintoff to play in the Ashes to have a chance,” Warne said. “If Flintoff doesn’t play in the Ashes series 2009, Australia will win, no doubt about it.”Warne quit international cricket at the end of the Australia’s 5-0 sweep last Ashes in Australia in 2006-07, and captained the Rajasthan Royals to the inaugural IPL championship last year.

Michael Klinger and Phillip Hughes, the two leading run scorers in the Sheffield Shield this season, have both been honoured at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne for their outstanding form. Klinger was named State Player of the Year and Hughes, 20, took home the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year title.Neither man was seriously challenged with Klinger collecting 60 votes, ahead of his nearest rivals Brett Geeves (18) and Chris Rogers (13). Hughes picked up 78 votes and was a comprehensive winner ahead of the Test fast bowler Peter Siddle with 39 votes and the South Australia opener Tom Cooper.The success of Klinger, 28, justified his off-season decision to move from Victoria, where he had battled to hold down a full-time place for nearly a decade, to South Australia, where he was an automatic starter in all three formats. During the voting period, in which he played for both states, he scored 1334 runs at an average of 74.11 across the Sheffield Shield, FR Cup and Twenty20 tournaments, with a highest score of 255.”(I’m) very excited, it’s something I never would have expected three or four months ago when I moved from Victoria,” Klinger said. “To be in this position now is unbelievable to be honest.”He is currently the leading scorer in the four-day competition with 1013 runs at 84.41. Second on the competition tally is Hughes, who has 891 runs at 74.25 and could consider himself unlucky not to have been in the top three for the State Player of the Year. Instead he triumphed in the young cricketer category, which was open to players under 24 who had not played more than ten first-class games before January 25, 2008.He played 25 matches in all formats during the voting period and scored 1405 runs at 45.32, with a top score of 198. Hughes became the youngest player to make a century in a Pura Cup final when at 19 he posted 116 in the second innings of last year’s decider, which helped New South Wales win the title.He has gone from strength to strength this season and collected 151 and 82 not out in a Sheffield Shield match over the past week. He is one of the leading contenders to replace Matthew Hayden at the top of the Test order when the squad for the tour of South Africa is announced later this week and the captain Ricky Ponting said Hughes had done everything right.”There was a Test team to be named to South Africa in a couple of days’ time and there was a big game that finished a couple of days ago and it was important for Phil to make runs in that game and he’s done that,” Ponting said. “That is, I think, a great judge of character in a young player to be able to stand up when needed.”The Women’s International Cricketer of the Year is usually strongly contested and this year was no different, with the allrounder Shelley Nitschke collecting the award for the first time. She triumphed by two points from Lisa Sthalekar, who has earned the honour in the past two years, while the wicketkeeper Jodie Fields was third.Nitschke scored 256 runs at 42.67 in her six one-day internationals during the voting period and was Australia’s third highest run scorer during that time, despite missing four matches in October and November due to injury. Nitschke, 32, was not at the awards ceremony as the team is currently playing New Zealand in the Rose Bowl Series.

Officials from the Pakistan and Sri Lanka boards will meet at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to discuss the fate of Sri Lanka’s tour to Pakistan in January. The tour, which materialised after India pulled out, had been confirmed between the two boards but is now in some doubt after the sacking of Arjuna Ranatunga as chairman of the interim board of Sri Lanka Cricket.Sri Lanka’s sport minister, Gamini Lokuge, who dissolved Ranatunga’s administration on Tuesday, said Ranatunga’s decisions – presumably including the one to tour Pakistan – will be reconsidered. “Everything has been handed over to Sports Secretary S. Liyanagama, the competent authority to oversee the cricket administration, and he’ll be looking into security in Pakistan before a final decision is taken with regard to the tour,” he said.He said he would hold discussions with the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and wait for word from the foreign ministry on the issue.Ranatunga had earlier said that Sri Lanka would not hesitate to send a team to Pakistan and expressed confidence in their ability to provide adequate security.The Pakistan board has not yet heard anything from the SLC, but hopes the situation will become clearer after Saturday’s meeting. “Our last official contact with them was when they requested the itinerary change and we accepted. Since then we have heard nothing,” Saleem Altaf, PCB’s chief operating officer, told Cricinfo.”The change in their board is an internal matter. We deal at a board-to-board level and not just with individuals. We’ve got a confirmation from them but the issue will be taken up at the ACC meeting. Until then we go ahead with the preparations as planned,” he said.There are indications already, however, that should the SLC show further hesitation over the tour, the matter might be taken up at the government level.Pakistan haven’t played any Tests in 2008 and their last one-day series was against West Indies in Abu Dhabi in November. They also played in the Kitply Cup – a tri-series tournament involving India and Bangladesh – and the Asia Cup, but having managed full-fledged ODI series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at home this year, any cricket against credible opposition will be the greatly appreciated.

Dale Steyn is the reigning ICC Test Player of the Year and judging by his efforts at the MCG it is a title he won’t be giving up easily. Steyn has produced the performance of his career to drive South Africa within sight of a Test victory that would not only take them one win away from the No. 1 ranking, but would hand Australia their first home series defeat since 1992-93.Already a hero with the bat, thanks to his 76 on the third day, Steyn added five wickets on the fourth day to go with his five in the first innings to give the South African batsmen a less than imposing target of 183.When Steyn ran off the ground after having Peter Siddle caught behind to close Australia’s innings, he was so energetic it was hard to believe he had spent the best part of two days on the field.”The guys have got the sniff of achieving something and creating some history here,” Steyn said after South Africa finished the day at 0 for 30, with 153 more required. “Everybody is very excited.”South Africa began the tour facing inevitable questions over their past failures against Australia but the Perth chase provided some unambiguous answers. Steyn said there was no chance the young side would be overawed at the prospect of beating Australia in a series at home for the first time.”I’ve only played two Test matches against Australia so I’ve got no history that is on my back,” Steyn said. “Many of the guys that are on this tour have also never lost to Australia. There’s a fresh breed of players out here that are not really worried about the history. We’re more worried about the way that we play cricket and what we’ve come to achieve on this tour and how we’re going to get there.”Thanks to Steyn, “how we’re going to get there” is now not a complicated route. He became the second South African after Fanie de Villiers to take ten wickets and score a half-century in a Test and it was an individual effort that he described as “leaps and bounds” above anything else he had achieved.His previous two ten-wicket hauls came against New Zealand last November and it led into 2008 where Steyn has been the world’s leading wicket-taker with 74 victims at 20.01. Finishing the year with his best match figures was still sinking in after stumps.”This is big,” Steyn said. “Coming into Australia and being able to do that against an Australian side is just fantastic. I always said before I came down here that I’ve achieved some terrific things that I’ve taken some good wickets against teams, I wouldn’t say the minnows, but the lower order as rankings go.”A Test wicket is still a Test wicket … but to be able to do it against the No. 1 team in the world in their backyard is something that I’ve only dreamt of. It probably will only really hit me tonight.”Steyn bowled fast and with impressive outswing, and while he picked up three batsmen caught behind the wicket, he was surprised to have also made breakthroughs with deliveries that were not necessarily his best. He said the aggressive Australian batting approach meant a bowler never knew when his next strike would come.”The way that the Aussies play, they really like to have the scoreboard ticking over and like to see boundaries flow and they’ve got those kind of players,” he said. “Even though you’re going at fouran over you always feel like there’s a chance is going to come somewhere along the line. Build up enough pressure, even with an old ball, and a bad shot will come along the way.”Provided his batting team-mates don’t copy Australia’s approach, Tuesday should be a history-making day for South Africa and the Test Player of the Year might just have toppled the world’s No. 1 team.

Match facts

November 26-30, 2008
Start time 10.30am (0830GMT)

Big Picture

Where now for Bangladesh? It is a question that has hung like a shadow over their development ever since they made their Test debut in 2000, yet as the years roll on, there is little evidence of improvement. Their form guide, a string of “Ls”, reads like a Welsh railway station, and the first Test against South Africa last week was a case in point. Encouraging performances from their bowlers contrasted starkly with an insipid effort from Bangladesh’s batsmen who, in the second innings, folded like a pack of cards to lose their last seven wickets for 79. No wonder Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, is concerned about his side’s build-up to the Australia series next month.Bangladesh’s inadequacies aside, South Africa had their own problems, most notably Morne Morkel, who conceded nearly seven-runs-per-over in the first innings, spraying the ball with alarming regularity. At the other end, however, South Africa have Dale Steyn who is rapidly becoming the finished article. His ninth five-wicket haul decimated Bangladesh’s second innings, while his career strike-rate stands at a venomous 36.6.With Paul Harris out of the series, South Africa will pick wither Monde Zondeki – Test-less for three years – or the left-arm spinner, Robin Peterson. Given Bangladesh’s fear of anything fast, Zondeki ought to strap on his bowling boots and ensure South Africa wrap things up in three days flat.

Form guide (last 5 Tests, most recent last)

South Africa DWWLW
Bangladesh LLLDL

Watch out for

Morne Morkel – The least convincing of South Africa’s quick bowlers, Morkel is striving to find his form ahead of the Australia tour. He is having a few issues with his action, especially the wrist at delivery, and is still firing deliveries wide of the stumps. When he gets it right all the ingredients are there for a destructive burst, and he needs a long bowl in this Test – if the Bangladesh batsmen are good enough to allow him that.Mahbubul Alam – He was impressive in Bloemfontein, maintaining a steady line and length even when South Africa’s top order were piling on the runs. Found swing with both new balls, removing Graeme Smith with a beauty, and with more luck could have bagged more than two wickets. If the pitch is green he could cause a few problemsBangladesh bottle – There is no harm in losing to a better team, but a meek surrender makes for poor viewing. No one expects Bangladesh to beat South Africa, but for their own self esteem they must show some guts over the next few days. Staying in line against the pace would be a start, and the batsmen also need to play what they preach and shelve their flashy strokeplay for something more resilient.

Team news

The only change South Africa will make is for the injured Paul Harris, to be replaced by Monde Zondeki or Robin Peterson.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Neil McKenzie, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Ashwell Prince, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Monde ZondekiAbdur Razzak, Bangladesh’s leading spinner, looks set to return to the team, probably in place of Naeem Islam. Razzak missed the first Test when he underwent analysis on his bowling action in Australia after being reported by umpires in the New Zealand series last month.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Imrul Kayes, 2 Tamim Iqbal, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Mehrab Hossain junior, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Mahbubul Alam.

Pitch and conditions

The Centurion pitch is expected to be green and to favour the quick bowlers, much to Bangladesh’s fear – particularly with the prodigious bounce traditionally associated with South African surfaces. Pleasingly, the weather is set fair too.

Stats & Trivia

• Bangladesh’s two combined innings in the first Test lasted 88.3 overs
• Against Bangladesh, Dale Steyn averages 13.09
• Monde Zondeki is in line to play his first Test since April 2005, when he got 3 for 120 when West Indies made 747 all out

Quotes

“We are not used to batting on bouncy wickets but we will try to do better in the next Test.”
“I’m very keen to see Monde in action. If we go with an all-pace attack it will give us that opportunity. It’s quite necessary that he gets a Test under the belt in case something happens in Australia.”

Nasir Jamshed, the Pakistan batsman, will miss the ODI series against the West Indies after all, after he woke up on the morning of Pakistan’s departure with high fever. His place as opener in the squad has been taken by Karachi batsman Khurram Manzoor, a board statement said.Jamshed’s availability had been in doubt since the 15-man squad was announced. He had only just recovered from malaria when he was included in the squad and questions were immediately raised about the wisdom of such a decision. But the board’s medical team cleared him to play earlier in the week and he took a full part in the squad’s two-day training camp in Karachi recently.Jamshed has impressed with four half-centuries in his nine ODIs, while Khurram Manzoor has played a solitary one-dayer, making 50 against Zimbabwe earlier this year, and is a prolific domestic scorer. He made an unbeaten hundred on Saturday for Sind against Punjab in the Pentangular Cup.

New Zealand allrounder, Jacob Oram, will miss the second Test against Bangladesh starting on Saturday in Dhaka due to a back injury. He experienced pain after bowling in Bangladesh’s second innings in the first Test in Chittagong and underwent scans in Dhaka.Oram will return home after watching the opening day of the Test for further assessment of the injury. Grant Elliott, the allrounder who made his debut against England in Napier back in March, is likely to replace him.”Oram is flying back because of a sore back and we are not sure about the extent of his injury but he has a history of back problems so the people who know his injury and have dealt with it will assess him again,” Lindsay Crocker, the team manager, said.New Zealand coach John Bracewell admitted the Chittagong heat had taken a toll on both teams, particularly the fast bowlers. “We’ve worked pretty heavily on their recovery,” he told the . “We’re constantly weighing them and trying to get the right foods and fluid into them. “He [Oram] was struggling with pain in his lower back.”Oram’s condition deteriorated when bowling late on Sunday and was rested before Bangladesh were dismissed for 245 – setting New Zealand 317 to win, a target they reached with three wickets in hand. He nevertheless took part in the successful run-chase and was unbeaten on 8 as New Zealand took a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.He played a big part in the one-day series which New Zealand came from behind to win 2-1, and was named Man of the Series for his performance with both bat and ball which also propelled him to the top of the ICC ODI allrounder rankings.Injuries have dogged Oram throughout his career. He suffered a hamstring strain during New Zealand’s last tour, in England earlier this year. He pulled out of the only Twenty20 of the tour at Old Trafford after hurting himself in the warm-up. He was ruled out for the first three ODIs only to return for the remaining two matches.