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Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, is not impressed with the use of the same pitch for Tuesday’s semi-final as the one that was used for the quarter-final against England on Saturday. “They’ve told us we’re playing on the same one as England, which is very surprising for us,” Vettori said on the eve of the first semi-final against Sri Lanka. “Playing a World Cup semi-final on a used wicket; we would have thought it would be mandatory to prepare a fresh wicket, but obviously not.” Sri Lanka won their quarter-final easily, strangulating England’s scoring through clever use of slow bowlers and Lasith Malinga at the death, and went on to win comfortably by 10 wickets.Vettori is spot on with his observation that it is not mandatory to play a semi-final on a fresh pitch. However, the pitch to be used for the semi-final is relatively fresh; it was used for the first time in the tournament during the quarter-final. The call on which pitch is to be used is the groundsman’s, and Anuruddha Polonowita, Sri Lanka’s chief groundsman, said that he has chosen the most-fair strip.An ICC source said the choice of the exact pitch remains with the venue, as long as it complies with the ICC’s guidelines for fair pitches. The choice, the source said, was between the pitch used for the Australia-Pakistan game and the one used for the quarter-final. The first one had more inconsistent bounce, hence this pitch was chosen.

Kenya batsman Collins Obuya has said the inclusion of Jonty Rhodes as part of the team’s support staff for the 2011 World Cup has been a major boost for preparations ahead of the tournament. Rhodes was hired as Kenya’s fielding coach and took charge during a three-week training camp in Pretoria in November last year.”Jonty’s had a good rub-on-effect on all of us,” Obuya, who began his career as a legspinning allrounder and is now a frontline batsman, said at the team’s press conference in Colombo. “He has infused confidence that we can just go out there and play.”Kenya have played every World Cup since 1996 and have pulled off a couple of surprises. They beat West Indies in the 1996 World Cup in Pune and qualified for the semi-final in 2003 with victories over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the lead-up to the knockout stage. Their squad includes two veterans who featured in the 1996 edition – Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo – and is led by offspinning allrounder Jimmy Kamande.”The 2003 semis spot was a dream for us,” Kamande said. “We will take each game as it comes, and try to be consistent with bat, ball and fielding.”We are looking at building our team over the next 10 years. For that we have to be consistent.”Kenya begin their World Cup campaign on February 20, taking on New Zealand in Chennai.

Kenya’s tour of India, designed to prepare the squad for the forthcoming World Cup, has only served to expose the deficiencies in a side who, barring a major turnaround, seem set for a wretched tournament.All five matches against youthful Gujarat and Baroda sides were lost, echoing results when the Indian state teams played in Nairobi last year. In only one match did Kenya come remotely close to winning, and even then they were unable to defend a total of 293 for 6, losing to Gujarat by six wickets with more than three overs remaining.The batsmen have coped fairly well with alien conditions. Seren Waters scored the only hundred of the tour, but almost all the other front-line batsmen did enough to suggest they will cope come the World Cup, although doing more than that may be beyond them. However, Alex Obanda and Thomas Odoyo were really out of touch, and more worryingly Steve Tikolo failed to dominate in any game. For so long the lynchpin of the side, there have to be worries that a lack of high-class cricket and age are both taking a toll on his game.Collins Obuya made one good score, but in four other innings managed only 47 runs. If Tikolo is unable to hold together the innings, much will depend on him, and his form is another big concern.The real headache for coach Eldine Baptiste is with the bowling. Peter Ongondo, who has been so vital with the new ball, only played twice but leaked runs, while too many others lacked enough control to really put pressure on what were little more than inexperienced, if talented, young state batsmen. While some of the figures may not appear too bad, they have to be read in the knowledge that Baroda and Gujarat’s batsmen were rarely under pressure to score quick runs and so did not need to be overly attacking.After back-to-back wins, Gurajat completed a 3-0 clean sweep in the final match between the sides. Kenya’s batsmen finally posted a good score, a second-wicket stand of 178 between Waters (103) and Obuya (92) helping them to 293 for 6, but Gujarat’s well-paced reply enabled them to ease home with 19 balls to spare.Kenya then headed to Vadodara for two matches against Baroda. Both followed a similar pattern. In the first, Kenya were put in, most of their batsmen got starts without building a big innings, and their eventual score of 217 was not remotely enough as Baroda ambled to a five-wicket win with 20 balls in hand. In the second, Kenya again batted and scored 182, with Tanmay Mishra’s 63 saving them from a much lower score. Early wickets gave the Kenyans brief hope but Baroda knuckled down and again meandered to a well-paced six-wicket win.Kenya now head to Dubai for conditioning, while Baptiste will be left scratching his head and trying to work out how to avoid the World Cup becoming a nightmare for his side.

Ricky Ponting will have surgery on his broken finger on Tuesday but he remains on track to start Australia’s World Cup defence next month. The decision was made late on Monday afternoon after the physio Alex Kountouris felt an operation was the best way to help Ponting’s recovery.”Ricky had further x-rays today on his fractured finger which have shown that the bone fragment has further displaced and will not heal without surgery,” Kountouris said. “He is expected to miss the one-day international series against England and recover in time for the World Cup on the subcontinent.”Ponting fractured the little finger on his left hand in Perth two weeks ago and while he played in the Melbourne Test, he was ruled out of the final match of the series at the SCG. The injury leaves his Test career in some doubt as he is 36 and Australia’s next series is scheduled for Sri Lanka in August.Despite his recent batting struggles, Ponting remains a key man in Australia’s one-day side and has not lost a World Cup match in two tournaments as captain. The event begins in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next month and Australia will be aiming for their fourth consecutive victory.

Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria have been given till the end of December to submit their replies to the PCB’s integrity committee’s queries, in order to gain clearance to play for Pakistan. The three players have been excluded from the Test and Twenty20 squads for the tour of New Zealand but could still be selected for the 2011 World cup after the ICC extended till January 5 Pakistan’s deadline to name their 30 probables. reported that the three players, who are facing inquiries over their possible roles in spot-fixing, had been asked by the board to present details regarding their movable and immovable properties, and activities other than cricket. The players had asked for more time to answer the questions and the board has given them till the end of December.The PCB, who were supposed to announce their 30-man squad for the World Cup on December 19, asked the ICC for a later date and have been given till January 5.The three have not played for Pakistan since their controversial tour of England in August and were left out of Pakistan’s tour of the United Arab Emirates to play South Africa. Kamran and Malik have also been denied permission to play league cricket in Bangladesh. The PCB has remained fairly tight-lipped about the reasons for their exclusion.Kaneria had said, after a meeting with the integrity committee, that he was cooperating with the board and providing them with details of his bank accounts and assets in order to gain clearance to play for the national side. He was the subject of a criminal investigation in August by Essex police over allegations that he was involved in spot-fixing during a county game but was released without charge in September.Kamran and Malik had both criticised the board’s decision not to clear them for the New Zealand tour. Kamran had written to the ICC asking if he was under investigation and was cleared by them. The ICC had sent him and Salman Butt notices during Pakistan’s tour of England in August, seeking information about events related to the 2010 World Twenty20 held in the Caribbean in May.Last month, Pakistani news channel aired footage featuring alleged bookmaker Mazhar Majeed claiming Kamran was among seven players obeying his orders during matches. Kamran admitted Majeed was his marketing agent but denied that he had been involved in any wrongdoing.Malik claimed he had not even been part of any of the Tests which were under the scanner for spot-fixing. He was not in the team for the Sydney Test nor against England at Lord’s.

Harbhajan Singh has criticised the Hyderabad pitch that was prepared for India’s second Test against New Zealand, which offered no help to the fast bowlers or spinners and produced a draw, saying India is developing a reputation for batsmen-friendly pitches.”These days foreign teams come to India secure in the knowledge that it is the best place to get runs,” he told the . “Gary Kirsten told me that when he came to play a Test series in India, the best place to bat was as an opener, because once the spinners came on, batting became difficult. But now, every wicket has been re-laid and the black soil has made the wickets pretty firm. It just doesn’t turn and the wicket plays well even on the final day.”He was critical of the curator, saying he “deserves to be given the contract to build national highways”.Harbhajan has had more success with the bat than the ball in the series, having scored back-to-back centuries but taken just six wickets in the first two Tests. In the Hyderabad Test, he and Sreesanth put together a 105-run partnership for the last wicket in India’s first innings, which Harbhajan thinks signifies how flat the wicket was. “Even our No. 11 was playing like Sachin Tendulkar,” he said. “So we should give all the credit to the groundsmen.”India’s bowlers have failed to take 20 wickets in each of the two Test matches and India captain MS Dhoni had blamed the pitches for failing to produce results and said teams would “have to play 10 days” to get a result.

Rain foils India’s practice session

India’s preparations for the third Test against New Zealand on Saturday are being scuppered by the Nagpur weather, as a heavy downpour washed out Thursday’s practice session. New Zealand finished their practice session before the weather struck on Thursday and have the afternoon slot for Friday’s nets. The Regional Meteorological Centre predicted that the clouds would clear by Friday afternoon

Harbhajan said flat pitches had become a recurring problem in Test series in India. “I can’t remember the last time I bowled on a turning track where the ball spun and bounced,” he said. “I think Kanpur was the last and we got the desired result against South Africa in 2008. I don’t suggest we play on bad wickets. But we should play to our strength, and our strength, over the years, has been spin bowling.”India go into the deciding Test at Nagpur, on Saturday, without Zaheer Khan, which will increase the pressure on Harbhajan to spearhead the attack. Harbhajan’s centuries have elicited suggestions he is turning into an allrounder, but his bowling has received criticism from some quarters. “I think I have bowled well in the last two Tests,” he said. “But the way our critics think, you bowl well only when you take wickets. When I took four wickets in the first innings in Hyderabad, I bowled well. But on the final day, when I took just one wicket, I was in the line of fire. Some days, I can bowl a few full tosses and get five wickets. Figures do not always do justice.”India came into the series ranked No.1 in the ICC Test rankings, with New Zealand at No.8, and having recently beaten Australia 2-0 at home, anything less than a win in Nagpur would be considered a disappointment. But Harbhajan still has his hopes up. “Hopefully, Sachin Tendulkar will get his 50th Test hundred, I’ll get another hundred and pick up 7 to 8 wickets and India will win.”

Sussex allrounder Chris Nash has signed an extension to his current contract, which will keep him at Hove until the end of the 2013 season.Nash, 27, made his county debut in 2002 and has scored 4,734 first-class runs at 38.48 since then as well as being a useful bowling option in limited-overs cricket. Sussex were promoted to First Division after winning the Second Division last season and Nash is relishing the prospect of competing in the top-flight again.”I am delighted to have extended my contract,” he said. “Next season is going to be a very exciting one back in Division One. We are working very hard to make sure we can challenge for all three trophies.”Nash made a career-best 184 against Leicestershire in July and finished the 2010 season with over 1000 Championship runs at 41.16. “On a personal level, I would like to replicate my 2010 Championship form, whilst also building on my one-day and Twenty20 form from the past two seasons.”Sussex captain Michael Yardy echoed the sentiment and called on him to keep improving over the next few years. “I’m really pleased that Chris has re-signed,” said Yardy. “He is a fantastic team man and is maturing into an outstanding player. Hopefully he’ll be pushing for higher honours within the game in the next couple of years.”

Pakistan recalled Misbah-ul-Haq to the Test side and installed him as captain primarily because Younis Khan was not cleared for selection by the PCB, the chief selector Mohsin Khan has said.”We needed a senior player to strengthen our batting line-up,” Mohsin told the . “Our first choice was Younis Khan but we didn’t get any clearance [from the PCB], after which we discussed the option of recalling Misbah and decided to go for it.”Another factor that went in Misbah’s favour was his non-controversial record and fitness, despite being 36. “In a team where many of the players have had serious disciplinary problems, Misbah is one guy who has a neat and clean background,” Mohsin said. “He is a thorough professional and one of the fittest players in our country, which is another big plus point.”I know that Misbah has just managed to score runs on and off in his international career but he is the kind of player who can click anytime. He has done well in the Pentangular Cup and the National One-Day Cup which is a good sign.”Pakistan had dropped both Misbah and Younis following the winless tour of Australia in 2009-10. While Misbah was cast aside because of poor form, Younis was banned along with several other Pakistan players on disciplinary grounds. Younis appealed against his punishment, like the others did, and was cleared as well, but the PCB have not picked him in the squad since.Misbah’s appointment and Younis’ omission was criticised by some former Pakistan players. “Younis’ omission is a case of ego problem,” former selector Iqbal Qasim told . “Not selecting him despite his ban (being) overturned is (an) injustice and is definitely a loss to the team. This can only happen in Pakistan that a player who was not in the team is given the captaincy besides being recalled after a gap.””Why did they drop Misbah if he was able enough to lead the team,” former legspinner Abdul Qadir said. “But since there are previous examples of players appointed captains from nowhere, we will have to accept it.”Misbah will lead Pakistan in the two-Test series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in November. He becomes the fourth man, after Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi and Salman Butt, to captain Pakistan in Tests in 2010 alone.

The leading Associate members of the ICC have described the plans for a smaller 50-over World Cup as a glass ceiling that will restrict the growth of the game in their countries, while simultaneously protecting the interests of the full members.”The challenge will be [to see] how we break through,” Chandra Gocool, Cricket Canada’s chief executive told ESPNcricinfo.The ICC’s chief executives committee, which includes three representatives from the associate countries (Ireland, Namibia and Hong Kong) in addition to those from the ten full members, has suggested reducing the 50-over tournament to 10 teams from 2015 onwards, while increasing the Twenty20 tournament to 16 teams. The 2011 World Cup in India has 14 teams, including four Associates; a 10-team event would effectively make it much harder for any of them to qualify the next time around.The ICC has stressed that it has not yet decided how those ten teams will be decided and the proposals do not explicitly state that Associates will be excluded from the tournament. That seems unlikely, though, to ease the concerns in cricket’s second tier of nations, with the national boards of Kenya, Canada and Ireland – who have all qualified for the 2011 World Cup – leading the criticism.Cricket must be the only sport where you can’t qualify for the World Cup on merit,” Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Sears said. “In football and rugby, if you are good enough, you can compete. Unfortunately, the ICC seems to want to pull up the drawbridge and not allow the Associate countries in.”According to Gocool, the Associate members had, as a group, submitted a paper to the ICC on how cricket in their countries could best grow and thrive They were hoping for a promotion/relegation system that would encourage them to develop and challenge some of the full members. The ICC’s proposed system, however, would force them to focus on Twenty20 cricket, potentially to the detriment of other forms of the game.”Especially worrisome is the lessened opportunity to play in the cricket world cup in 2015,” he said. “This opportunity was a significant incentive for us to continue to focus on our development. We are now faced with a glass ceiling.”Ireland are among the most successful of the Associates with a strong track record in the 50-over game – they famously beat Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup. Warren Deutrom, CEO of the national board, said the Twenty20 format was a good way to spread to the game, but the not the way to improve a team’s performance.He also thought the ICC would be better served by waiting until after the 2011 World Cup to determine whether such a “radical step” is necessary. “To say there are only 10 countries worthy of ODI status flies in the face of several indicators such as Ireland’s position above a Full Member [Zimbabwe] in the ranks and Bangladesh’s recent defeats against Netherlands and Ireland.Roddy Smith, the chief executive of Cricket Scotland, welcomed the expansion of the World Twenty20 but cautioned that it should not be a trade-off for a shorter 50-over tournament. “Twenty20 is a great development tool for the lower-ranked Associates, but the bread and butter for the top eight or 10 teams is 50-over ODI matches.”Accepting such changes would hinge on what kind of qualification tournament would be created, Smith said. “If there was no qualification tournament it would be a huge issue for Associate cricket. It is vital to have a qualification event,”Kenya memorably beat the West Indies in the 1996 World Cup, bowling them out for 93. Seven years later they beat Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on their way to the semi-finals. Ireland first qualified for the World Cup in 2007; Canada has played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments and Scotland has featured in the 1999 and 2007 editions.Sears agreed it is easier for the associate teams to compete in the shortest version of the game, but said all three formats were integral to the development of cricket. “Test cricket is important; one-day cricket is important and Twenty20 cricket is important. If we are not allowed to compete in all formats, I don’t see how the game can grow.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSalman Butt was bowled first ball after tea to begin another Pakistan collapse•AFP

England had already shifted themselves into a winning position after a world-record eighth-wicket stand between Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad, but even in a summer of batting collapses the way they blew Pakistan away for 74 on the third day at Lord’s took the breath away. For the third time in four Tests the visitors couldn’t emerge from double figures as they subsided either side of tea, with Graeme Swann and Steven Finn sharing the last seven wickets for 28 runs, before they slumped to 41 for 4 in the follow on.Having been through the debilitating experience of watching England haul themselves from hopelessness to supremacy in record style there was always the danger that Pakistan would succumb to the pressure. But having shown much more backbone with the bat at The Oval it was hoped they could replicate the same yet were skittled in 33 overs and the second innings promises little better. It was a depressing performance from Pakistan because some of the shots were plain awful, the worst being Imran Farhat’s weak pull at the start of the second innings. A clear sign the fight had gone.Credit, though, must go to the hostility of England’s quicks and the continued guile of Swann as the four-man attack never took the pressure off Pakistan. In the follow on, Yasir Hameed was plumb lbw to Anderson as he played across the line then just to compound Pakistan’s woes their last chance of making the fourth day a contest vanished as the light closed in. Salman Butt, who was getting annoyed by the chirp from England’s close fielders, was lbw to Swann – an excellent decision from Tony Hill as the review proved it was pad just before bat – then, to what became the last ball of the day, Mohammad Yousuf top-edged a pull to deep square-leg. Pakistan’s two best batsmen had gone twice in a session.Rarely can a Test have included periods of such dominance by the ball either side of an epic batting performance. Take out one stand and the batsmen have been walking wickets; but that partnership was the small matter of 332. As Trott and Broad extended their stay during most of the morning the ball barely did anything for the Pakistan bowlers, but when a new one was placed in the hands of Broad and Anderson it quickly became a major threat.Broad, fresh from his mighty 169, dispatched Hameed in familiar manner as the opener hung his bat outside off and sent a comfortable edge to second slip. Anderson then exploited Farhat’s weakness against the moving ball when he drove loosely at an outswinger having watched the previous three deliveries zip past his outside edge.The best set-up, though, was still to come as England executed their plan to Yousuf to perfection when Broad slotted a full delivery past his bat. It was almost identical to how he fell in the second innings at The Oval and England have always felt it was a way to trap Yousuf early since Anderson did the same at Cape Town in the 2003 World Cup.Briefly, Butt rallied as he tucked into a loose opening spell from Finn but Swann gave an immediate warning of the danger he would pose as he ripped two deliveries past Butt’s edge in his opening over. With his first ball after tea Swann produced another unplayable offering which gripped and hit off stump. The batsman initially stood his ground thinking the wicketkeeper may have knocked off the bails, but his dismissal was swiftly confirmed.That brought Umar Akmal to the crease and he was immediately greeted by some words from Trott at silly point following their conversations during England’s innings and Umar proceeding to launch his third ball over midwicket. But Swann was finding huge turn, much more than Saeed Ajmal extracted, and soon had Azhar Ali taken at short leg as the batsman lunged forward.Meanwhile, Umar started complaining about problems picking up Finn’s line from the Nursery End as the bowler’s hand came from above the sightscreen. It clearly affected Umar’s mindset when he was told just to get on with it by the umpires and it wasn’t long before Finn, who improved with the change of ends, speared a yorker through his defences.Two balls later Mohammad Amir lost sight of the ball which thudded into his pads and although Tony Hill said not out Strauss correctly opted for a review and leg stump would have been hit flush. To Amir’s credit he left without complaint, but his spirit was far removed from the joyous character of yesterday. Finn claimed his third when Kamran Akmal got a thin edge and Swann completed Pakistan’s woeful effort with two more in six balls.The morning session had been another full of records as Trott and Broad continued their monumental effort. The new world record eighth-wicket stand was brought up in Wahab Riaz’s first over the day when Broad slotted a cover drive to the boundary to surpass the 313-run stand by Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq against Zimbabwe in 1996. Thoughts were turning towards an extraordinary double century from Broad, who had passed his father’s Test best of 162, when Pakistan finally struck as Broad was given out lbw on a review.Broad had been given a life on 132 when Kamran couldn’t gather an edge off Ajmal and the scoring rate soon increased as both batsmen began to find the boundary with regularity. Broad lost nothing in comparison with Trott and the cover-driving was a highlight of the display as he, too, went past 150 but missed out by five runs on knocking Ian Smith from the top spot for a No. 9.Trott’s timing and placement remained of the highest quality, particularly a couple of off-side strokes against Ajmal, and he was within sight of being the first man to score two double hundreds at Lord’s until becoming last-man out. It will go down as one of the finest centuries made on this famous ground; Pakistan’s entire line-up couldn’t even get halfway towards matching it.