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Tatenda Taibu, the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batsman, has announced his retirement, stating that he wants to focus on working for the church. Taibu played 28 Tests and 150 ODIs for Zimbabwe and has quit aged only 29, usually a cricketer’s prime.The decision comes as even more of a surprise as, earlier in the day, he was named in Zimbabwe’s provisional squad for September’s World Twenty20. It ends an 11-year international career, during which he became the youngest Test captain in history. A finger injury kept him out of top-flight cricket since the tour of New Zealand early this year.”I just feel that my true calling now lies in doing the Lord’s work,” Taibu said, “and although I am fortunate and proud to have played for my country, the time has come for me to put my entire focus on that part of my life.”Since making his debut at the age of 18 in 2001, Taibu was an automatic pick for Zimbabwe, except for the times when he clashed with his country’s cricket board. He had stepped down as captain and quit the national side back in 2005 following threats against his family. Taibu moved to South Africa in 2006 with the intention of going through the four-year qualification process to be eligible for international cricket for them. However, he reappeared for Zimbabwe in 2007.One of the highlights of his career was his Man-of-the-Match performance in 2005 against Bangladesh, when he made 85* and 153 to help Zimbabwe draw the Test. His only other Test victory was against Bangladesh last year, when Zimbabwe returned to the format after a six-year exile. Taibu’s outspoken nature was highlighted before that match as he slammed the board for not doing enough to promote cricket in the country.He was picked while still in his teens as a potential long-term successor as wicketkeeper-batsman to Andy Flower, and while he didn’t reach the heights Flower did, he forged a solid career. He finishes as the country’s fourth-highest run-getter in ODIs, and only Flower has effected more dismissals than him as a one-day wicketkeeper for Zimbabwe.

Michael Hogan, the Western Australia fast bowler, will quit Australian cricket after one more season in order to take up a contract with Glamorgan which had been due to start later this year.Hogan, 30, was due to link up with Glamorgan for the last two months of the 2012 English season but will now see out his Warriors contract before switching. Hogan holds a British passport so will not be classed as an overseas player, but regulations mean he has to stop playing Australian domestic cricket.”He has recently announced that he will retire from playing cricket in Australia at the end of March 2013,” a Glamorgan statement said. “He will then join up with his new team-mates ahead of the start of the new season and will play for Glamorgan for a minimum of two seasons.”Hogan has played 27 first-class matches and taken 100 wickets at 28.46 with a best of 6 for 70.

Adam Hollioake, the former England allrounder, has made an emotional appeal for the return of stolen cricket kit belonging to his late brother, Ben.Ben Hollioake’s cricket kit was stolen from his parents’ home in Perth, Western Australia and was among their most treasured possessions following his death in a car accident ten years ago.Adam Hollioake told ESPNcricinfo that, by Wednesday night in Perth, Western Australia police had recovered “two small bags” of kit, but that much remains missing, to the revulsion of cricket figures in both England and Australia who have launched a mass campaign on social media to recover all of it.The newspaper has reported: “It is understood the secure parking area of the apartment building where Ben’s parents Daria and John reside was broken into sometime between 6.30pm on Tuesday and 8.45am today.”Police said a storeroom within the First Avenue address in Applecross had been forced open and boxes searched. The thieves then removed Ben’s cricket bag before fleeing with their loot. Just before 6pm police said they had executed a search warrant and as a result had recovered some of the items.”Adam Hollioake sounded distraught when he took to Twitter in a plea for help to recover Ben’s old England gear, including sweaters, shirts, helmets and bats.”I need all my Facebook friends & twitter followers to trawl eBay & any other site where these little maggots might be trying to sell his stuff,” Hollioake tweeted. “Let’s make sure they have stolen a ticking time bomb!! I am a fair dude and if someone comes to me & wants food or drink they can sit at my table & eat with me…But you upset my Mumma and I will f*** your s*** up!!!The appeal brought an immediate response with a host of cricket figures expressing their anger.Stuart Broad, the England allrounder, tweeted: “His old playing shirts and stuff must mean so much to his family. To think that someone could have the nerve to rob them is sick.”Broad’s England bowling colleague, James Anderson, said: “Can’t believe someone would steal Ben Hollioake’s England kit from his parents house. Please help get it back.”Ben Hollioake, before his death at 24, promised to be one of the most charismatic England cricketers of the age, briefly drawing comparisons with Ian Botham after a thrilling debut, at 19, in a one-day international against Australia at Lord’s in 1997. He was killed in a car accident in South Perth in March 2002.After some of the equipment was discovered, Adam Hollioake tweeted his thanks. “Can’t thank you all and the media for the amazing response to my bro’s stolen kit,” he said. “Without u there is doubt we would have retrieved any of his kit back.”You are all truly amazing & on behalf of my family i would like to thank you all. Don’t mess with my friends on twitter…they r all badass ;-)”

Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, was a convenient “scapegoat” for corrupt activity in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the claims against him betrayed a “serial inconsistency of the fundamental kind”, the High Court has heard on the final day of Cairns’ libel action against Lalit Modi.”Mr Cairns’ future and his past achievements are on the line,” Andrew Caldecott QC said. “The allegations against him are wholly untrue and the evidence against him lacking.”Cairns is suing Modi, the former IPL commissioner, over a 2010 tweet that alleged his involvement in match-fixing – claims that Cairns has vigorously contested in court.Summing up for Cairns, Caldecott said that the case made against his client was “back to front”, consisting of contradictory statements, poorly recorded events and a flawed investigation. The evidence, Caldecott said, “all points to Mr Cairns being made a scapegoat of convenience.”He suggested the case put forward by the defence that Cairns had lied about his involvement in corruption was “miles away” from being proven and described some of the evidence as “demonstrably false”. Modi’s defence have previously claimed that the “thrust” of the allegations against Cairns was consistent.Caldecott also questioned the “wholly implausible” suggestion that an offer was made that Cairns be confronted by the players who had accused him of fixing at the hotel meeting that led to his dismissal from the ICL. He criticised the decision of Howard Beer, the ICL’s anti-corruption officer, to tell Cairns’ successor as Chandigarh Lions captain, Andrew Hall, that the investigation had been sound and that Cairns was involved, despite Beer’s own concerns.The insinuation that payments made to Cairns by a diamond trader were anything other than a business deal between friends, “doesn’t amount to a row of beans,” Caldecott added.After the closing arguments were made, judge David Bean asked for submissions from both sides on potential damages, should he find in favour of Cairns. Before retiring to begin his deliberations, Bean said that he would try to deliver a written verdict by the end of the month.

Pakistan have dropped Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and Adnan Akmal from the squad that lost the ODIs 4-0 to England, and picked opener Nasir Jamshed and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. Fast bowler Junaid Khan was not considered for selection because he was sidelined with a knee injury.

Pakistan squad for Asia Cup

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz.
In: Nasir Jamshed, Sarfraz Ahmed.
Out: Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Adnan Akmal.
Reserves: Ahmed Shehzad, Rahat Ali, Bilawal Bhatti, Afaq Rahim.

The 15-man squad was the first selection by the committee headed by Iqbal Qasim, who replaced Mohammad Ilyas as chief selector. The selectors had met with Pakistan’s new coach Dav Whatmore, whose first assignment will be the Asia Cup, in Lahore on March 2 to pick the team.”We have selected the best possible squad for the Asia Cup in the shortest time available, and since Malik was an additional member for the England series we couldn’t find a place for him in the 15-man squad,” Qasim said. “We did consult Misbah and he agreed to the selection.”We had to maintain the balance keeping view of the pitches in Bangladesh. But now we have to compete with quality teams, especially Sri Lanka, who returned to form, and India will obviously come hard after the Australia tour.”Jamshed has played 12 ODIs for Pakistan, the last of which was in August 2009. He has just been in Bangladesh, where he played for the Chittagong Kings in the BPL. Before going to Bangladesh, Jamshed had scored 320 runs at 53.33 in four matches for Punjab in the Pentangular Cup, a first-class competition in Pakistan. Sarfraz replaced Adnan Akmal as the specialist wicketkeeper in the squad; he played for Pakistan as recently as December 2011, during the tour of Bangladesh.”Jamshed earned his recall only after he has done well in the domestic circuit as an opener,” Qasim said. “There was an added pressure on Umar [Akmal] and this is why he might not giving his best with the bat. He always was selected as a designated batsman, we wanted a batting wicketkeeper who can bat effectively in ODIs to score quick runs.”Qasim said that the Asia Cup would be Sarfraz’s last chance to seal his place in the Pakistan team. “It’s our inability that we don’t have a batting wicketkeeper but this would be the last chance for [Sarfraz Ahmed] to step up and do well with the bat. Otherwise, after the series, we are starting the talent hunt for an all-round wicketkeeper.”While Junaid’s absence from the squad may have been forced, the other three – Malik, Farhat and Adnan Akmal did not perform impressively against England in the UAE. Malik, who was not in Pakistan’s original ODI and Twenty20 squads against England but included later at the request of the captain Misbah-ul-Haq, averaged 15 in two one-dayers. Farhat scored 66 runs in three matches, while Adnan Akmal played only two ODIs; his brother Umar kept in the matches that Adnan was not selected for.Edited by George Binoy

ScorecardPeter Siddle was denied a hat-trick when wicketkeeper Ryan Carters dropped an easy catch on the second day of Western Australia’s match against Victoria in Perth. The batsman reprieved, Travis Birt, went on to score 54, and Western Australia took a 24-run first-innings lead. With Western Australia 3 for 115, Siddle dismissed Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges off consecutive deliveries. The next ball found Birt’s edge and Siddle was already celebrating when he saw Carters had grassed a sitter. Siddle, who took a hat-trick on the first day of the last Ashes, was left stunned.Western Australia recovered from the two strikes through Birt’s half-century and Luke Ronchi’s run-a-ball 64. Siddle came back to complete his five-wicket haul but Western Australia had managed to pass Victoria’s first-innings total. Victoria had been hurt by Nathan Rimmington’s five-wicket haul on the first day, and managed to add just another 16 runs to their overnight total. Western Australia scored quickly, which meant Victoria were batting again by the end of the second day. Their openers saw out four overs.Western Australia had got off to a solid start in their reply, with the openers putting on 49. Shaun Marsh, who was left out of Australia’s squad for the tour of the West Indies, could only manage 21, continuing a dismal run.

ScorecardThe flood of wickets that had begun on day one in Mombasa did not abate and at the end of it, after 40 dismissals in 165.2 overs, Ireland squeaked home during an extremely tense finish, beating Kenya by ten runs in the Intercontinental Cup. They had to overcome a defiant ninth-wicket stand between Nelson Odhiambo and Hiren Varaiya, who had resurrected the Kenya chase from 36 for 8 only to fall agonisingly short.The win consolidated Ireland’s position at the top table after they started the game with two wins from two. The 14 points gained for victory puts them 31 ahead of UAE and Afghanistan but both those sides have a game in hand. With Ireland having stated their ambition of achieving Test status it is important they performance consistently in this competition to confirm their standing in longer-form cricket.The spinners, three in particular, dominated the match. Albert van der Merwe claimed 11 for 68 and George Dockrell 9 for 87 for Ireland, while Varaiya took 12 for 73 for Kenya. All three achieved career-best match hauls. Shem Ngoche had figures of 4 for 39, taking the spinners’ share of wickets to 36 out of 40.The second day began with Ireland on 81 for 2 in their second innings, ahead by only 47. However, they were set back because Ed Joyce, who was not out on 51 off 56 balls overnight, did not resume his innings. Without his steadiness, Ireland began to slip, losing Alex Cusack and Kevin O’Brien cheaply to Varaiya. They had scraped to 142 for 5 before the rest of the wickets fell for 10 more runs. Joyce had returned at the fall of the eighth wicket but added only three more runs. Varaiya finished with 6 for 51 in the second innings and Ireland were ahead by only 118.Chasing 119, Kenya’s openers added 16 before the collapse began. The left and right-arm combination of van der Merwe and Dockrell spun through the line-up, dismissing the top eight batsmen in single digits. At one stage Kenya lost four wickets for no runs and were virtually done for at 36 for 8.Varaiya and Nelson Odhiambo began to add a few runs but it seemed like a matter of time before Ireland took the final two wickets. The partnership, however, slowly grew and a once impossible target was now within the realm of possibility. Nelson Odhiambo had contributed 32, and the stand was worth 58, when van der Merwe dismissed him.Kenya needed 25 with only a wicket in hand but Ngoche struck a four and a six to give Ireland a fright. van der Merwe, however, had the final word, dismissing Varaiya for 27 with the home side 10 runs short.

ScorecardM Vijay’s century was his first of the season, and all but closed the door on Mumbai•Fotocorp

Tamil Nadu have virtually booked their ticket for the final against defending champions Rajasthan, after consigning Mumbai to a wretched first innings with the bat at the Wankhede Stadium. Having removed more than half of the Mumbai batting on the second afternoon, the Tamil Nadu bowlers returned today to shut out the hosts in about an hour. Murali Vijay then scored his first century of the season to help the visitors move to a nearly unassailable lead with only a day remaining.In the end, Mumbai were left staring at their first defeat in knockouts at home since 2006 when Praveen Kumar helped Uttar Pradesh, the eventual champions, inflict a five-wicket win in the semi-finals at the same ground. Their feeble batting was the only reason Mumbai lost that match. Six years on, that weakness was exposed once again.Mumbai started the day 238 runs adrift of TN’s first-innings total but with only four wickets in hand. Hiken Shah, the only specialist batsman left, was in early trouble he failed to read an incoming delivery from Yo Mahesh, who was bowling from round the stumps. The next ball was a straighter delivery wide of off stump, and Shah went fishing to edge behind in the fourth over of the day.Ramesh Powar did not offer much resistance, beaten by L Balaji’s inswinger that sent his middle and leg stumps flying. The tail subsided quickly as TN finished with a 202-run lead. Embarrassingly for Mumbai, they didn’t have even one partnership worth 50.With five-and-a-half sessions remaining, the visitors chose to bat on instead of enforcing the follow-on. They started confidently with both Vijay and Abhinav Mukund accelerating straightaway. Both had their own goals: Mukund, who had never got a Ranji ton against Mumbai, cut, drove and punched the new ball to march into the forties by lunch.But immediately upon resumption of play, he lost his stumps after being beaten by Kshemal Waingankar’s inward movement from round the stumps. Badrinath started with the same composure he displayed on the first day, but perished when he misread left-arm spinner Ankit Chavan. Badrinath played for the spin, but Chavan’s straighter delivery sneaked through the narrow lane between bat and pad to bowl him.In the very next over, Dinesh Karthik paid the price for playing his shots too early. Facing only his fourth delivery, from Balwinder Sandhu, Karthik tried playing on the up but the ball arrived slower than he anticipated, and moved in to castle him. Sandhu had got the better of Karthik for the second time in the match.Two quick wickets for just five runs injected aggro into the Mumbai bowling attack. As far as Badrinath and Karthik were concerned, the duo had wasted a good opportunity to log some batting time ahead of the final and also impress the national selectors, Mohinder Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave, who were watching.The one person who did not disappoint was Vijay. Going into the semis, Vijay’s highest was 83, against Madhya Pradesh in the group match. He had two other fifties, but was struggling to convert his starts. Even in the first innings he chased and edged an away-going delivery from Kulkarni.Despite top-edging one over the wicketkeeper early in his innings, Vijay improvised quickly to race into the twenties with four fours, all against Kulkarni. Using his wrists, Vijay clipped runs off his legs towards midwicket, and was equally in command when he stood tall and cut the ball past point.Soon after lunch he charged Ramesh Powar to hit a powerful six over long-on. With Chavan failing to attack the wicket consistently, Vijay grew confident as he moved close to the century. It was only then that he grew tentative. After getting his first 32 runs in just 40 deliveries, he consumed nearly 70 deliveries to move from 81 to 99.He got lucky on 97 when Wasim Jaffer at slip failed to react to a hard-handed cut. Jaffer was not crouching enough and instead stood tall and casually tried reaching for the ball, which only deflected off his ankle, allowing Vijay to pick two more runs.Vijay finally conquered all doubts and anxiety when Chavan, bowling wide of the crease from around the stumps, sent in a flighted delivery. Vijay swiftly jumped out of his crease and hit his second six, this time towards the Pavilion end, and celebrated the ton.Incidentally, the last time these teams played in Mumbai, Vijay had scored an unbeaten 154, which, too, had come in the second innings. Even back then Mumbai had been bundled out quickly by Tamil Nadu. That was a group match, and Mumbai recovered well to dominate the rest of the season and win the title. This time there would be no second chance.

Cape Cobras booked their place in the final with a comprehensive win over Dolphins at Newlands that took the winners to the top of the table. A collective bowling effort helped Cobras bowl out their opponents for just 185. Half-centuries from opener Khayelihle Zondo and Cody Chetty – the pair added 84 for the fifth wicket – were the only significant contributions from the Cobras, who lost three wickets to Rory Kleinveldt and two to Dale Steyn. Jacques Kallis starred with the bat for Cobras, making a quickfire 78 in an innings that included five fours and five sixes. He helped his team reach its target in just 29 overs, securing a bonus point, a place at the top of the table and a place in the final.Warriors had already qualified for the knockouts and had to settle for a place in the semi-final after losing to the Titans in Centurion. In a closely-fought game, half-centuries from Heino Kuhn, Faf du Plessis, Farhaan Behardien and David Wiese took Titans past the Warriors score of 294 in the penultimate over. Wiese smashed 82 off 51 balls, with five fours and six sixes, and was involved in a match-winning 119-run partnership with Behardien, who made an unbeaten 52. In a game with as many as seven half-centuries, JJ Smuts, Ashwell Prince and Justin Kreusch chipped in for Warriors to set up a formidable total but they were outdone by their opponents. Warriors will take on Knights in the semi-final on December 4. The winner takes on Cobras in the final on December 9.Knights beat Lions in a thriller in Johannesburg by one wicket. Set a target of 251, the Knights seemed virtually out of contention at 172 for 8 after seamer Craig Alexander took 4 for 47. But half-centuries from Aubrey Swanepoel and Dillon du Preez triggered an amazing turnaround. It helped that Knights bat deep and the ninth-wicket pair added 62 in 45 balls. Swanepoel was the more watchful of the two, making 54 in 73 and was run out in the 48th over, still 17 short of the target. du Preez, on the other hand, was unstoppable, smashing five sixes in a breezy 52 that helped his team clinch victory with a ball to spare. He made those runs off just 26 deliveries and had No.11 Malusi Siboto at the other end.du Preez’s innings was part of a splendid all-round effort. His picked up five wickets with his seamers to help bowl out Lions for a chaseable score. This, after three of their batsmen – Alviro Peterson, Neil McKenzie and Thami Tsolekile – scored half-centuries.

The Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) has asked the BCCI to restore Test status to the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, according to an association official. Cuttack hosted the first India v West Indies ODI on Tuesday, its first international match in just under two years, played in front of a full house of 45,000.”We have sent the BCCI a letter,” Ashirbad Behera, the OCA secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. “Make us a Test centre [once more]. Tests may not get 45,000, but you will get 50% attendance.”Cuttack had previously hosted two Tests, among 18 international matches, since becoming an international venue in 1982. In the first Test played in 1987, India rolled Sri Lanka over twice on an underprepared track affording vastly unpredictable bounce. The other Test match, against New Zealand in 1995-96, was badly affected by rain, allowing less than 180 overs of playing time.According to Behera, the letter was sent a few months ago but they have yet to hear from the BCCI. The association plans to broach the matter with the Indian board at the latter’s annual award’s function that is scheduled for later this month in Chennai.In the past, some visiting sides have expressed their qualms about having to travel to the stadium from Bhubaneshwar, where the teams usually stay because of the lack of an airport and quality accommodation in Cuttack. But Behera said that thanks to the national highway, the stadium is now only 35 minutes away instead of the hour it used to take. Given the traffic you encounter in the likes of Kolkata and Mumbai these days, he said, that is not much longer than it would take to get to Eden Gardens from the Taj Bengal in Kolkata.During the ODI on Tuesday, there was a period of concern during India’s chase. It wasn’t entirely clear what happened, but West Indies captain Darren Sammy called his team-mates to the middle after a disturbance in the outfield. Play was held up for several minutes as a large number of policemen were stationed near the stand where the problem occurred. Behera, though, said that the fans’ passion was one of reasons to have more matches at the venue. “The crowd is cricket-crazy but disciplined,” he said. “And they will stay until the last ball.”