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Morne van Wyk, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Free State, will join the injury hit South African squad in Pakistan. South Africa have been plagued by a number of fitness worries early on the tour: Herschelle Gibbs missed the first one-day international due to muscle soreness, Neil McKenzie suffered from back spasms, while Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar were clearly bothered by the heat and humidity in that match.Explaining the decision to opt for a reinforcement, Eric Simons, the South African coach, said: "We do have a few injury worries with Herschelle and Neil, and the severe heat and humidity also took its toll on Friday when Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar suffered from cramps. Morne will give us more flexibility if we have further injury problems or if we decide to rotate players in the rest of the games." van Wyk will join the South African team on Monday.South Africa have a busy schedule ahead of them in Pakistan, playing four ODIs in a week’s time before being faced with back-to-back Tests. Simons added that the packed itinerary was also a reason why the team management decided to ask for cover. "It takes nearly 24 hours to travel from South Africa, so we would rather have him here than back home should problems arise next week."van Wyk made his international debut in the NatWest Series final against England earlier this year, and has been in terrific batting form for the A side, scoring 52, 56 and 118 in three one-day matches against the Sri Lankan A team last week.

New Zealand cricketers in England and Dutch club cricket are having a lean time of it at the moment.Aucklander Rob Nicol has no batting form at all for Rishton which is in 14th and last place in the first XI competition of the Lancashire League.In his side’s 146-run loss to East Lancs he took three wickets for 95 and a week later in the 104-run loss to Nelson he took three for 114.Matthew Bell is playing for fourth-placed Esher in the Surrey Championship league. He scored 53 in a drawn game with Cheam and 52 in a winning draw against Weybridge.Luke Woodcock, like Bell from Wellington, is playing for eighth-placed Purley in the second division of the Surrey League but has not yet made an impression among the top performers.Canterbury’s Brendon Donkers is playing for ninth-placed Leigh in the Liverpool and District competition’s premier league.He retired hurt in a recent game against New Brighton, having scored nine, but then came back two days later in a 70-run win over Newton le Willows scoring 20 not out and taking one for 18. He followed that with 49 not out and two for 39 in a 27-run loss to Bootle.Otago’s Warren McSkimming is playing for sixth-placed Lytham in the same league. He scored 62 and took two for 46 in a draw against Huyton, took two for 62 in a five-wicket loss to New Brighton and then scored 66 in a 106-run win against Newton le Willows.In the first division of the Liverpool competition, former Aucklander Aaron Barnes is playing for fourth-placed Colwyn Bay and James Marshall of Northern Districts, is playing for twelth-placed Formby.Marshall hit 112 in a no result game against St Helens Recs and a week later his 76 in a five-wicket loss to Highfield.Barnes hit 74 and took one for 16 in a seven-wicket win against Liverpool and then hit 49 and took four for 52 in an eight-wicket win against Caldy.But his best effort to date was 117 not out and two for 83, despite his team losing by four wickets to Formby. In that match he claimed Marshall’s wicket for a duck. Marshall took two catches and had the satisfaction of seeing his side win by four wickets.In his most recent appearance last weekend, Barnes hit 45 in a seven-wicket win against Orrell Red Triangle.Michael Parlane is playing for Swardeston in the East Anglia League, the side is fifth of 10 teams. He scored 52 not out in a nine-wicket win over Bury St Edmunds and 28 in a five-wicket loss to Norwich.The New Zealanders in the Netherlands cricket competition have also been battling.Former internationals Shane Thomson and David Sewell are playing in the first-placed side VRA. Sewell took two for 24 in a 23-run win over Quick Haag, and four for 48 in a 24-run win over VCC while Thomson’s most significant hand in recent weeks has been 64 against VOC in a match lost by 13 runs.Andre Adams and Alex O’Dowd are playing for second-placed HCC. O’Dowd scored 109 against Excelsior and Adams scored 11 and took three for 29 in a six-wicket win.In his most recent appearance against Quick Haag when HCC successfully defended a total of 132, Adams scored 26 off 27 balls, with three sixes before taking three for 25 from his 10 overs.Greg Todd is playing with the third-placed Hermes DVS side. Against Rood en Wit he took two for 35 in a 36-run loss. He scored 34 not out in a 66-run win over VOC, scored 22 and took two for 23 in a 20-run win over VCC and scored 22 and took one for 25 in a 25-run win over Excelsior.David Kelly is playing with the fifth-placed Rood en Wit side and in his best performance so far he scored 36 against Hermes DVS before being caught by former Central Districts player Gavin McRae off Todd’s bowling. But his side did emerge with a victory.Aucklander Tama Canning’s side of VOC is in ninth place but Canning has been producing some good all-round performances.He scored 39 against HCC as his side lost by 76 runs. But the following week he scored 26 and took three for 35 in a 13-run win over VRA.Then he scored 30 and took two for 21 in a 45-run loss to Rood en Wit before his best performance last weekend of 56 and five for 25 off 9.2 overs to help his side to a 36-run win over VCC.Former Canterbury all rounder Darron Reekers is the only other player in the competition from New Zealand. He is playing for last-placed Quick Haag. In his last three appearances his best score has been 14 and his best bowling two for 15 from 10 overs in a five-wicket win over Rood en Wit.In the women’s competition, Canterbury’s Sarah Burke is playing for second-placed Rood en Wit in the six-team women’s premier league and in her side’s seven-wicket win last weekend she took two for 13 from her nine overs.

Steve Waugh has defended his side’s behaviour during their Test series in the West Indies after they came in for criticism for their unsporting conduct – and also hinted he’s keen on staying the Australian Test captain for a while yet.On his return to Australia, Waugh admitted that his players had stepped out of line on a couple of occasions, but that their behaviour had generally been good, and insisted there were no hard-feelings between the teams. “The heat of the moment got to a few players [but] from a playing point of view it was probably the friendliest series I’ve been involved with,” he said. “On and off the field the guys had a lot of interaction, talked with each other a great deal and helped each other with cricket.”However, that didn’t always look the case, especially when Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan clashed in a heated mid-pitch altercation in the fourth Test in Antigua, causing James Sutherland, head of the Australian Cricket Board, to urge the Australians to keep their cool.McGrath has since expressed his remorse over the incident, and Waugh said he hoped it wouldn’t cloud the tour. “I’m not making excuses for it, but it does happen, that’s the reality of the situation. We are going to make mistakes, there’s a lot at stake and a lot of pressures.”The Test series, which Australia won 3-1, was another historic chapter in Waugh’s career. In the first Test in Guyana, he became Test cricket’s most-capped player and his 115 in the third Test in Barbados took him past Sir Don Bradman’s record of the most Test hundreds.And with Australia scheduled to play Bangladesh in the new venues of Darwin and Cairns in July, Waugh said his appetite is still as hungry as ever: “It would be great to play in Darwin and Cairns … they are historic Test matches. They are definitely worth thinking about.”

England’s hero in yesterday’s 43-run win over New Zealand Paul Collingwood is looking to develop more pace in his bowling action.Collingwood took four wickets for 38 runs as New Zealand’s middle-order proved unable to cope with what New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming described as “prodigious swing” from the Durham all-rounder.Collingwood said he had never been able to get as much swing with the white ball before and it had certainly been good news to him to be able to swing the ball so much at his pace.He only had three ODI wickets before last night’s game and his average was 101 and his economy rate had been 5.59, by far the worst of the regular bowlers in the side.”I’ve been working hard on my bowling with the coach and hopefully I will get another yard. I am a genuine swinger of the ball and there are still flaws in my action,” he said.Collingwood said the improvements to his action would still take some time, but he was prepared to work at it on this tour and during the summer in England in the hope that he would be right after that.It was great to be involved in the England team. He had also benefited from looking at computer analysis and discussing aspects of his bowling style with Mark Ealham, who was a bowler he wanted to model himself on. If he could do as well as he had he would be happy.

The toss was widely expected to be influential, and just as England thrived on it against Pakistan last Saturday, so it undermined them tonight as India coasted to an 82-run win at Kingsmead. Exemplary bowling, including a career-best six for 23 from Ashish Nehra, unstitched England under the lights, and India are virtually through to the Super Sixes while England’s progress is less assured.Set 251 to win, England began disastrously when Nick Knight, after calling for an optimistic sharp single from the first ball of the second over, was thrown out by the diving Mohammed Kaif at extra cover.Excellent bowling from Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan followed, with Marcus Trescothick struggling to lay bat on ball. After one defiant, off-driven boundary, he was put out of his misery by Zaheer, whom he pulled off the splice to Sachin Tendulkar at backward square leg.After taking one for 14 from six overs, Zaheer made way for Nehra, who was to make his predecessor’s figures look ordinary. After clubbing successive boundaries back past Srinath, Nasser Hussain, trying to cut Nehra, got a thin edge through to Rahul Dravid.The next ball saw the end of Alec Stewart, caught in front of his stumps like a rabbit in headlights. Although Nehra could not complete the hat-trick, he delivered a further body blow when Michael Vaughan edged another ball of full length to Dravid.Andy Flintoff briefly threw off the shackles, clouting Harbhajan Singh for a massive six over long-on. But Paul Collingwood got another peach of a ball from Nehra that squared him up, flying off the edge to Virender Sehwag at slip.Craig White, driving expansively at Nehra outside the off stump, was another victim for Dravid, and Ronnie Irani edged to slip, enabling Nehra to end a fantastic spell with a double-wicket maiden.Flintoff did what he could to improve England’s run rate, taking two tall leg-side sixes off Ganguly on the way to a half-century which completed a fine all-round performance. But on 64, the big Lancastrian fell victim to a superb catch by Sehwag at wide mid-on, attempting another boundary off a Srinath full pitch. It ended when James Anderson was palpably lbw to Zaheer.When India batted earlier, it took a bustling fifth-wicket partnership of 62 by Dravid and Yuvraj Singh to revive them before Dravid (62) was dismissed in the final over. Flintoff starred in an otherwise indifferent England attack, with two for 15 off his ten overs.Tendulkar made an excellent run-a-ball 50, after clipping the expensive Caddick for a delightful square-leg boundary in the first over of the day. There were early moral victories for England before Sehwag opened the throttle against Anderson, finding the fence at long-on, backward of point and extra cover. Caddick was treated with similar disdain next over, as Tendulkar hit him for four through square leg and six over mid-wicket.Forced into a bowling change, Hussain turned to Flintoff, who did the trick in his first over. Sehwag got a leading edge as he tried to turn him to leg, and Flintoff comfortably held the return catch.Tendulkar went to his 50 in the 15th over, but the critical breakthrough came with the second ball after the 15-over drinks break. Flintoff found extra bounce and Tendulkar, not quite over a square drive, was comfortably taken by Collingwood at backward point. When Ganguly went, driving White high and straight for Trescothick to take the catch running round from mid-on, India scented trouble.Irani and Collingwood kept them in check, backed up by excellent fielding, with one diving, one-handed save by Hussain in the covers outstanding. Boundaries were few and far between, although Mongia, missed by Stewart cutting at Collingwood, took one through mid-wicket off Irani.Collingwood had his revenge when Mongia was out tamely, plumb lbw hitting across a straight ball. But Dravid and Yuvraj then built a vital partnership, initially maintaining the momentum in ones and twos, although Yuvraj opened out with a huge on drive for six off Irani.To England’s relief Anderson, bowling round the wicket to the left-handed Yuvraj, cramped him up as he tried to force through extra cover, where Hussain leapt to hold a fine catch with both hands above his head.Dravid continued to flourish, drilling Anderson for a leg-side six to reach 50. He lost Kaif in the last over, swinging Caddick high to Flintoff, and was himself caught next ball, clouting a slower ball to Collingwood at long-on. Zaheer was immediately run out by Stewart attempting a bye, and when Srinath hit Caddick to Trescothick at deep extra, the innings had ended with four wickets off as many balls.Much to England’s dismay the clatter continued after the break, and they now need an unlikely win over Australia in their final group match – or a series of other results to go their way – to secure a Super Six place.

All other cricket in New Zealand has been affected by the miserable summer weather so it was no surprise that the start of the women’s State League should not prove immune to problems caused by rain.The Canterbury match with Wellington at the Village Green in Christchurch suffered from a thunderstorm that struck the Garden City around noon today.Wellington, who were asked to bat were 53/3 after 19 overs. Anna O’Leary scored 20 and Maia Lewis 10. The weather did not clear sufficiently to allow a restart.They will be hopeful for better weather tomorrow when they are scheduled to meet again.In Dunedin, the Otago Sparks batted first against Central Districts at Logan Park and were 102/5 after 39 overs when rain forced players from the ground.Erin McDonald had taken one for 21 from her 10 overs while Kate Pulford had two for 20 from nine overs.At 4pm the umpires decided to abandon play because of the weather.For Otago, Elizabeth Scurr and Rachel Pullar each scored 20.

Less than a week ago South Africa were languishing at the foot of the VB Series table. On Friday night, however, Shaun Pollock’s team became the first side to qualify for next week’s finals with a crushing 67-run victory over New Zealand at the WACA in Perth.In winning South Africa picked up their second bonus point of the series, the significance of which is that it makes an already awkward task for Australia back at the WACA on Sunday even more difficult. Despite being hammered on Friday, New Zealand could also reach the finals if Australia fail to take maximum points of South Africa on Sunday.Set 271 to win, New Zealand never really got going after Makhaya Ntini had struck two early blows for South Africa. There was a belligerent 46 from Craig McMillan in the middle of the innings, but New Zealand lost wickets regularly all along the way and South Africa’s 270 for five was at no stage under serious threat.In fact, New Zealand found themselves in the unusual position of having to decide whether it would make sense to pursue the 217 that would have denied South Africa their bonus point. The complication in this equation, of course, is that by allowing the South Africans the extra point, New Zealand have almost certainly given themselves a slightly better chance of reaching the finals at Australia’s expense.Of course, New Zealand would obviously have loved to have been masters of their own fate by beating South Africa and after sending Shaun Pollock’s side in to bat and reducing them to 35 for four, this ambition appeared well within their reach.But, as was the case in Adelaide last Sunday, Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher dragged their team back into the match. In Adelaide the pair added 86 for the fifth wicket; this time around then partnership went on to reach 138.It must have been heartbreaking for New Zealand, coming after Dion Nash seemed to have made light of the absence of Shane Bond and Chris Cairns in a devastating seven-over opening burst that brought him three for 20.But Rhodes and Boucher batted with enormous common sense and application to put the innings back together again and the longer the stayed there, the more New Zealand missed Bond and Cairns. Boucher finally went tamely for 58, chipping Chris Harris to midwicket, but then Rhodes moved to only his second one-day century before Shaun Pollock went on the rampage.Boucher was out in the 41st over, allowing the South African captain time to play himself in and survive a chance when Harris dropped a simply catch. It is difficult to recall when a team was last made to pay so dearly and so immediately for a mistake.Pollock was dropped in the 48th over on 27. In the 49th over, bowled by James Franklin, he doubled his score, hitting the left-arm seamer for four successive sixes. The 27 was a record for one-day cricket in Australia and only three off Sanath Jayasuriya’s world record of 30 in an over.And Pollock wasn’t quite finished. He scored 15 more off the final over of the innings to end with 69 off 34 deliveries with six sixes and a four. Rhodes, meanwhile, allowed his captain to get on with it, finishing the innings on 107 not out.It is fair to say that without Rhodes, Pollock might never have been in the position to tee off and it was fitting that the little Natalian earned the man of the match award at the end of the game.South Africa took 72 off the last five overs of their innings and, to all intents and purposes, the match had been snatched away from New Zealand with a suddenness that might have startled even the South Africans. Certainly, the Australians, back in their hotel, would have blinked in astonishment.The stage is set, then, for a titanic clash back at the WACA on Sunday. It is certainly possible that Australia could win – their record against South Africa in important matches will encourage them – but can they earn the all-important bonus point. New Zealand will hope not.

Following their victories last night, Gloucestershire and Surrey are the first two counties to qualify for Twenty20 Cup Finals Day, having won their respective groups.The winner of the Leicestershire v Derbyshire match tonight at Grace Road will also qualify as the top team in the North Group, and therefore progress to the semi-finals as well.The final place in the semi-finals will be taken by one of eight teams, who will qualify as the best runner-up.If Derbyshire beat Leicestershire then Leicestershire (current net run rate 1.06) will also qualify for Finals’ Day as best runner-up unless Warwickshire (current net run rate 0.66) beat Northamptonshire at Northampton and overtake Leicestershire on net run rate.If Leicestershire beat Derbyshire then Warwickshire will be best runner-up if they beat Northamptonshire.If Leicestershire beat Derbyshire and Northamptonshire beat Warwickshire then the best runner-up will be either:

• Northamptonshire in the Midland/Wales/West Group, or…
• Derbyshire or Yorkshire in the North Group (Yorkshire will overtake Derbyshire if they beat Nottinghamshire at Headingley and Derbyshire lose), or…
• Kent, Sussex or Middlesex in the South Group (if Sussex beat Kent at Hove they will finish 2nd in the Group, if Kent beat Sussex and Middlesex lose to Essex then Kent will finish 2nd, if Kent beat Sussex and Middlesex beat Essex then Middlesex finish 2nd)

The top team from each of the three regional groups qualifies for Finals Day along with the best runner-up.The first three tie-breakers in order of priority for teams finishing on equal points are:

• most wins
• for teams in the same group, the most points achieved in matches between teams level on points
• higher net run rate calculated by deducting from the average runs per over scored by the team, the average runs per over scored against that team.

This evening’s games commence at 5.30pm at Bristol, Rose Bowl, Old Trafford, Grace Road, Northampton and New Road, at 5.35pm at Headingley and at 7.30pm at Chelmsford and Hove.The draw for the Semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup will take place on Thursday 26 June during the interval of the NatWest Series match between England and Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge. The draw will be live on Sky Sports.

One-day international aspirants Stuart MacGill and Justin Langer pressed their claims for international limited-overs recalls today as ING Cup Final aspirant New South Wales defeated Western Australia by five wickets here in Sydney.As Australia was stumbling toward third position on the VB Series table on the other side of the country, this match was acting as a barometer of the form of at least two men who could be part of a revamp in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.Test opener Langer (107) was the first to showcase his talents, crafting a magical hundred to help Western Australia create the formidable total of 8/259 after he had won the toss. The 31-year-old used his willow with intent, hitting with power to plunder a welter of runs from the New South Wales bowling attack.Langer’s timing was exquisite – and frequently he needed to do no more than stand his ground at the crease and watch as balls disappeared to the ground’s various boundaries. Not even a painful blow on the right hand – incurred after he was struck by a nasty bouncer from Shawn Bradstreet (0/53) – slowed his progress too greatly.The left hander did receive one lucky break – when, with his opposite number’s score at 45, New South Wales captain Shane Lee dropped a regulation chance and presented Langer with the chance to take over from Tom Moody as Western Australia’s highest run scorer at domestic one-day level.In front of national selector David Boon, MacGill (5/50) also underscored his potential worth to his country if it should ever sight the need for another top-class leg spinner in the shortened form of the game. The 31-year-old produced his third five-wicket haul for the season and, having claimed 5/48 in the Blues’ last-start loss to South Australia at Coffs Harbour, also etched his name in the record books as the only man in the competition’s history to claim such hauls back-to-back.In doing so, it was MacGill who engineered a way back into the match for New South Wales after a brilliant opening partnership of 106 in brisk time between Langer and Scott Meuleman (47) had threatened to take matters completely in the opposite direction.With Mike Hussey (63), that pair exerted most of the control over the Warriors’ march to their impressive total. But it was a score that would have swelled much further if the leg spinner had not claimed Meuleman’s wicket, as well as those of Ryan Campbell (2), Simon Katich (6), Rob Baker (0) and Bradley Hogg (1) in swift succession in the middle stages of the innings.”He is a quality one-day bowler and his stats show that. He has taken 60 wickets (at interstate one-day level) now … he is a big wicket taker, particularly out here when the wicket is dry,” said Lee in the midst of a glowing tribute to his vice-captain.The importance of MacGill’s contribution was further emphasised when Michael Clarke (101*), Brad Haddin (61), Lee (45) and Corey Richards (33*) all made light work of the task of batting to guide New South Wales past the visitors’ total with a delivery to spare.Clarke’s display was particularly impressive, though he was quick to pay tribute to others around him.”In the end I was the one who made the hundred … but don’t forget how many runs ‘Shano’ (Lee) got, the help he gave me and the support he gave me,” said Clarke.”I think – mentally – he really kept me going and kept me out there.”I was mistiming a lot of balls and struggling to get off strike and he was the one telling me to keep going. He was unreal; he was a great captain out there.”The New South Welshmen consistently needed to score at a rate above six runs per over during the closing half of their chase – and even required 70 runs as they began their final ten overs – but measured their pursuit perfectly.Given that the result allowed them to join both South Australia and Western Australia on 22 points on the competition table – behind only Queensland, on 27 – it could prove one of their most crucial victories of the summer.

Two of the Southern Electric ECB Premier League’s most exciting local young cricketing prospects – Bournemouth’s Chris Park and David Wheeler, the New Milton all-rounder – could be headed towards a career on the county circuit.The teenage duo have signed Academy scholarship contracts with First Class counties – Park, Bournemouth’s talented batsman/wicketkeeper, with Northants, and Wheeler at Hampshire.The pair will link up with their respective counties next month to begin a demanding winter programme, which involves all aspects of cricket development, including fitness and sports psychology.Spending the 2002 summer season with Northants is a dream come true for 18-year old Park, from Dales Drive, Wimborne.The former Queen Elizabeth School sixth-former scored over 400 runs and snapped up 30 victims behind the stumps in a sparkling debut season for Bournemouth in the demanding surrounds of the Southern Electric Premier League.Park went on to make three Minor Counties Championship appearances for Dorset, scoring a maiden half-century in Cornwall.”Being signed up by Northants is the perfect end to what’s been a terrific first season for me in senior cricket,” smiled Park, who has played regularly for Dorset youth teams in recent seasons.”It hardly seems five minutes ago I was playing village cricket for Kingston Lacey and now I’ve been given the opportunity to progress into the professional arena.”But Park, spotted by Northants when he represented Dorset in last year’s Jersey Youth Festival, knows the hard work is yet to begin.”It’s entirely up to me now. There’s a demanding winter schedule ahead and then the task of proving myself where it matters – in the middle next season.”This is an opportunity few youngsters get and I don’t intend to waste it,” he said.Park, who will probably play Northants 2nd XI and Colts cricket next summer, could hardly have chosen a better time to display his rich batting prowess than in Jersey last summer.”I scored an unbeaten 147 against them off 86 balls and then followed it up with a century against Yorkshire. It’s really gone on from there,” Park explained.Former England all-rounder David Capel, now the Northants Academy coach, said : “We were very impressed with what we saw in Jersey.”Chris looks a very, inspirational positive player, who shows total commitment. He always seems to have a happy smile on his face.”Wheeler, New Milton’s hard-hitting 6’3″ all-rounder, made an equally devastating impact in his debut season in Premier Division 3.He struck two centuries and passed the 50-mark on six other occasions in scoring 582 runs and took 22 wickets – no mean feat for a 16-year old !Educated at Highcliffe School, Wheeler has been playing at New Milton since he was eight years of age and been a regular representative player for both Hampshire Schools and the New Forest CA since he was 11.Wheeler, currently studying Sports Science at Brockenhurst College, hit the high spots last year, scoring 1,500-plus runs and taking 60 wickets in all cricket.”When David’s batting, he times the ball so sweetly. And his bowling action has such a high trajectory that he can get substantial lift and away movement,” explained Steve Watts, the New Milton captain.Wheeler had been earmarked to captain Hampshire’s Under-16 team this summer but was fast-tracked into the Under-17 side which reached the semi-finals of the ECB County Youth Championships.He was subsequently selected to play for an England Under-17 XI against the MCC at Uxbridge.Wheeler, who lives in Barton-on-Sea, is the only Hampshire-based youngster at the Rose Bowl Academy this winter.”David has got a great deal of potential and I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to develop in the Academy this winter,” said Hampshire 2nd XI coach Tony Middleton.Both Park and Wheeler have been nominted for the Southern Premier League’s Young Cricketer of the Year award, which will be announced at the presentation dinner on November 9.