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Pakistan may have qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1999 but their coach Waqar Younis is not prepared to look beyond their final group game against Australia just yet. Pakistan slipped to second place in Group A after a seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Pallekele on Monday, but could still finish in any of the top four positions depending on what happens against Australia, and in other games.Waqar said he wasn’t thinking about whom his side might play in the quarter-finals. “Right now we are thinking of only Australia,” Waqar said. “If you win that game, then your morale will be such that you won’t worry about any team you play.”Barring a shock loss to Canada, Australia will go into Saturday’s game on a 34-match unbeaten streak in the World Cup, stretching back to the 1999 tournament. Their last loss, in fact, came against Pakistan, at Headingley. Ricky Ponting’s team is the only unbeaten side in this tournament.”You have an option [whereby] you could play the No. 4 team [from the other group] whose morale will be down,” Waqar said. “But momentum is very important and necessary. Australia are such a big team, world champions, and they haven’t lost for ages. That is an opportunity. If you beat them, you leave a mark. You can look at the next matches and teams will think twice about playing against you. The bigger thing is the momentum of beating the world champions and the confidence it gives you. That game is important.”As Sri Lanka did against Australia in a game that was eventually washed out in Colombo, Pakistan might consider playing a spin-heavy attack, though with Shahid Afridi, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez already in the XI, they are pretty well stocked.”The strategy will be very similar,” Waqar said. “Try to play 50 overs first, pile up a big total, that’s the key. And then, when you look at bowling sides around the world, I think we have a fairly good bowling side. If we can put a handsome total, we stand a good chance of winning that match. Or if we bowl them out cheaply, we have a good chance of chasing it.”There remained, Waqar insisted, further room for improvement within the side and part of his concern was directed specifically at two young batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal. Shehzad failed for the fifth match running, stumped trying to slog Ray Price. He now has 44 runs in the tournament and is a prime candidate for the axe.”We’re thinking of building an opening partnership, that is the first point,” Waqar said. “It was a rash shot from Shehzad. It wasn’t really required at the time. But don’t forget he is a youngster, he is only 21 and brand new in this arena. It’s not easy sometimes. In the heat of the moment you play silly shots and that’s how you learn cricket. He’s probably learnt a big lesson today that when the team needs you at the wicket, you should stay.”The more cutting observation was for Umar, who was for the second time in his short career, the subject of speculation about faking an injury to support his elder brother Kamran. Umar didn’t play against Zimbabwe and when Waqar was asked about the reasons behind it, he smiled, waited and said, “He has two or three problems.” He pulled back immediately, clarifying that there was a finger injury as well as an ankle injury picked up during a football session, but the comment will only fuel talk that the team management is not happy with Umar’s attitude.

It is a difficult time to be an Associate. With plans to curtail the number of teams to ten for the next edition of the World Cup, the ICC has inadvertently put a psychological burden on the shoulders of the four Associates participating in this edition. The heavy defeats suffered by Kenya and Canada on Sunday have only added to the pressure. So is it time for the Netherlands, who begin their campaign tomorrow against England, to step up the plate?Peter Borren, the Netherlands captain, does not necessarily agree that his team need to win to prove the ICC or anybody else wrong. “The decision from the ICC will not have any effect on whether we should step up or not. We have taken a professional approach to our preparations. What might happen in 2015 will not matter going into tomorrow’s game.”Borren, who has been laid low by an abdominal strain and failed to play in the warm-up matches, had his first complete training on Sunday and declared himself fit play as a batsman but won’t bowl. He also had another take on the ICC move, when pushed to take a stand.”It is hard to have an opinion until we need to prove ourselves out there on the field,” he said. “Perhaps [then] we can make our own statement with regards to what happens in the future of the 50-over World Cup. The Associates offer a lot in a World Cup. Everyone enjoys the underdog doing well and there have been instances throughout all World Cups. We are hoping by pulling off some results that happened in the past we can then ask that question on the field.”One such upset happened when Netherlands shocked England at Lord’s in the opening match of the 2009 World Twenty20. That four-wicket win remains fresh in the minds of both contestants with Andrew Strauss sounding out an alert to his players. “If we are 10 percent off and they [Holland] have a good day, we are in trouble,” he said.It was the first significant victory for Netherlands, who also got the better of Bangladesh last year in an ODI in Glasgow and Borren felt the team are in the right frame of mind. “We have prepared as well as we can. Obviously that night [against England] gives us little bit of the confidence going into tomorrow’s fixture. With the confidence in the team and the preparation we have had in the last two years it would be nice to pull off a victory as we did two years ago.”Still it will be not an easy ride. Even if England enter the World Cup after a long Ashes tour and a 6-1 drubbing at the hands in the ODI series, they remain the favourites with numerous matchwinners in their ranks. Netherlands, meanwhile, will look to their key player in Ryan ten Doeschate, the Essex allrounder and Associate Player of the Year.Though Borren said that all 15 squad members could create an impact, the numbers betray that confidence. Netherlands have had only five centurions in their ODI history and three of them are retired – although ten Doeschate has three tons to his name – and no bowler has ever taken a five-wicket haul.The onus will be on ten Doeschate, Tom Cooper from South Australia and Worcestershire’s Alexei Kervezee, the only professionals in the squad, to influence Netherland’s chances. However, the other man who could play an important role is Bas Zuiderent who is the only Dutchman to play every World Cup match. He appeared in his first World Cup as an 18-year-old in 1996 and hit a fifty against England, 15 years to the day when the teams meet on Tuesday.”If we can create pressure through disciplined bowling in our areas and fielding well I expect to create chances, but it is also about taking them,” Borren said. Only a collective effort can ensure that Netherlands can celebrate more nights like the one on June 25, 2009 and force the ICC to not dim the lights on them.

Robin Singh, the former India allrounder, has been appointed coach of the USA’s Under-19 team and is in talks with United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) about taking over the national team as well. He will help the Under-19 team prepare for the ICC Americas Region Division 1 tournament, which begins in February, and replace Sew Sewnarine as coach.He previously coached the IPL franchise Deccan Chargers and is presently involved with the Mumbai Indians. He had also been fielding coach of the Indian team and has played 136 ODIs.

Salman Butt’s legal team is set to ask for a postponement of the ICC tribunal’s hearing into the spot-fixing case, which is scheduled for January. Butt’s lawyers will ask for a delayed date during a teleconference on Wednesday, which will be chaired by Michael Beloff QC, who will also head the eventual hearing.”Butt’s legal team want the hearing to be held after the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dealt with the case first, so a teleconference has been arranged for tomorrow,” Mohammad Amir’s lawyer Shahid Karim told ESPNcricinfo.The application for the postponement has been made by Butt alone, but lawyers for Amir and Mohammad Asif – the other two players chargesheeted by the ICC in the scandal – will also attend. The ICC hearing is currently due to be held in Doha in Qatar from January 6 to 11.Independent from the ICC, Scotland Yard are also pursuing a case against the trio in the UK and have handed over evidence to the CPS. The CPS is to determine whether the case is strong enough to warrant a criminal prosecution on charges of a conspiracy to defraud, but since receiving two files of evidence from Scotland Yard – in September and November – no decision has been reached.In the early days of the case, the PCB repeatedly expressed concern over the two separate investigations being pursued against the players and asked for one to be completed before the other was taken up. But the board has since withdrawn support for the trio.Following a period of uncertainty where a number of legal teams were involved in representing Butt, Yasin Patel, a London-based barrister, will handle the ICC and Scotland Yard cases for Butt. Until now Butt had been represented by Aftab Gul, a former Test cricketer, and Khalid Ranjha, a former law minister. Gul confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he is no longer attached to the case and Patel will represent Butt in both cases.Another legal firm, that of lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, filed a reply on Butt’s behalf to the ICC against the charges but those were rejected.All the while, concern has been expressed by various officials familiar with and involved in the case, about Butt’s legal representation; the ICC is said to be unhappy over the leaking to the media of vital evidence handed over to the players’ lawyers at an earlier hearing in Dubai over the provisional suspensions imposed on the trio.

It’s there in the rarefied air of the Highveld. It’s on the radio, it’s being talked about in pubs even during a Manchester United-Arsenal game, it’s on the streets, it will soon be seen from the grass banks. The No. 1 Test side in the world is here for a three-Test series, no longer the miserable tourists of the past, still with history against them. South Africa are ready, they are going to spice the pitches up a bit, they are going to try and make a move towards the ranking that was theirs before India took it away. It is a series that could define both the teams, but with two days to go the prudent thing to do is to sit on the fence and not call any favourites, as the following breakdown shows.Top orders
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are arguably the best opening combination going around today, but they haven’t been tested in seamer-friendly conditions consistently by bowlers of the calibre of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Still it would need a very good combination to hold an edge over Sehwag and Gambhir. Graeme Smith is as tough as they come, and Alviro Petersen scored a century on debut against India. However, if Sehwag and Gambhir have to face a test of conditions, Zaheer Khan holds a mental edge over Smith. As it often happens, and as it might happen for the series overall, this one might just come down to Sehwag.Following the openers we have one of the best Nos 3 ever, and another who is in the form of his life. Rahul Dravid is usually just the man for overcast and seamer-friendly conditions, but he last faced such a test in Australia in 2007-08. Since then he has had dips in form, he has been hit by a bouncer that made him miss a Test for only the second time in his career, and there have been calls for younger blood. That there was no question about his selection is testimony to his value to the team, and he is coming off a 191 against New Zealand. Hashim Amla is the most Indian of batsmen you will get to see out of India, and he has serenely and surely been scoring runs by the truckloads. Since he came to India earlier this year, he has averaged 88 in Tests and 76 in ODIs. It is tough to argue against such a No. 3.Between awe and toughness, reputation and form, it is difficult to stick a neck out here.Middle ordersThe Nos 4 of the two teams are absolute legends and have been around forever. In the last series, both of them scored centuries, and nothing much is expected to change there. Sachin Tendulkar is having one of his best years with the bat, Jacques Kallis is not out of form either. Has he ever been? Tendulkar knows the conditions as well as any batsman not South African. You wouldn’t bet against Kallis either, who has already scored four centuries this year, and can also bowl pretty mean bouncers and outswingers if needed.VVS Laxman at No. 5 carries bundles of class and a first-class degree in crisis management with him, AB de Villiers the confidence from having just scored the highest individual score for a South African. However, like Dravid, Laxman hasn’t put his fire-fighting skills to test on spicy pitches under overcast skies for a long time. Does that make de Villiers more reliable? Still hard to tell.Ashwell Prince and Suresh Raina are relative weak links, but Prince’s experience and knowledge of home conditions edge out Raina. South Africa might hold a slight edge here, but Tendulkar and Laxman are not batsmen to be written off.Wicketkeepers
Mark Boucher is more likely to score important lower-order runs than MS Dhoni, if only because the conditions suit his game better. Behind the stumps, there isn’t much between them. If Dhoni is flashy with stumpings, he has been a touch slow going for the catches to his right. South Africa hold a slight advantage here, but in the final equation it might not count for a lot.Spinners
India hold an edge here, but the conditions might negate the spinners as attacking options. Harbhajan, though, will love the bounce on offer after a long season on slow Indian tracks. Don’t forget what Lord Harris did to India in the deciding Test on the last tour.Fast bowlers
Tight. Very tight. You would want to back South Africa with Steyn and Morkel arguably being the most dangerous opening bowling combination. It’s the third seamer’s slot where India level the scales. Zaheer, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth are all aggressive bowlers, all three capable of utilising helpful conditions. There is a rider, though. Except for Zaheer, you are never quite sure what you will get from the Indian seamers. Ishant and Sreesanth can be very good on their days, but on an off day they can be very bad. With Steyn and Morkel, you are assured of a degree of control.Zaheer’s fitness remains dodgy. He did bowl in the nets today, making the Indian camp feel better, but they were still not completely certain that Zaheer will make it for the first Test. If he doesn’t, South Africa will have a clear advantage.Slip catching
In seaming conditions, there will be quite a few coming the slippers way. If there is such a thing called catching form, Dravid hasn’t been in it. He also injured his finger while dropping one against New Zealand, and is not even sure if he will be standing in the slips. Tendulkar has been out of slips for some time now, with an injured finger, and Laxman’s back doesn’t let him stay there for long durations. Expect to see a lot of Sehwag and Raina there.South Africa are not sure of Smith’s presence there he recently fractured a finger but Kallis and de Villiers provide their cordon a more stable look.Final equation
On paper, nothing gives. It could come down to what kind of mental state the Indian batsmen are in. Collectively and individually, South Africa is the only country where they have failed to compete consistently. Tendulkar’s average falls from 57 overall to 40 in South Africa, Dravid’s from 53 to 34, Sehwag’s from 55 to 26, and Laxman’s from 48 to 41. Consequently, just one win in 12 attempts. They all know they need to correct it, but how much does that play on their minds? It might not matter much if India get off to a good start, but history which says something about India’s dislike for the conditions here gives South Africa the slight advantage.Equally South Africa have a relatively modern history to correct after having failed to close out two Tests against England last season. They have not won either of their last two home series, both against top opposition. That just makes their advantage even slighter. If this is not dead even, it is the closest thing to it.

Mark Cosgrove, the Tasmania batsman, will return to Glamorgan as their second overseas player for the Friends Provident t20 next season. He will join the new captain, South Africa batsman Alviro Petersen, at the club which has undergone major upheaval in recent weeks.Jamie Dalrymple was dumped as captain in favour of Petersen which then led to the resignation of Dalrymple from the club and the departure of coach Matthew Maynard.”Mark has been an exceptional player for the club and is a very popular player with our supporters and members,” said Alan Hamer, the Glamorgan chief executive. “We are delighted that Mark will be returning to us again in 2011 as our second overseas player.”Cosgrove, 26, scored 562 runs in the 2010 FP t20 and is looking forward to his return. “This will be my fourth season with Glamorgan and I’m delighted to be returning,” he said. “The club has a talented squad and I look forward to what I hope will be a successful Twenty20 campaign in 2011.”

Michael Clarke’s desire to improve his Twenty20 skills has got him thinking about taking part in the IPL for the first time – but only if his body is right. Clarke, Australia’s captain in the shortest format, did not play in the opening three versions to spend extra time at home in Sydney.Each year he weighs up a decision between making more money or having a holiday, and he hasn’t always enjoyed a smooth relationship with Lalit Modi, the former commissioner. Modi is no longer involved in the tournament and Clarke is keeping an open mind about taking part.”It’s important for me to play as much Twenty20 cricket as I can but I’ve also got to sum up my body and my life when it comes to choosing between having that six weeks at home for a break or going to play IPL,” Clarke said in the Sunday Telegraph. “If my body feels great and I’m confident I can go out and play those six weeks of the IPL, I’ll put myself in the auction.”But I’ve also got Test cricket and one-day cricket for Australia to think about, our schedule is very busy. If I felt like my body couldn’t handle another six weeks of IPL, I wouldn’t play it. It would make sense that the closer we get to the next Twenty20 World Cup, the more I’ll want to play.”Clarke said the IPL had helped develop players, and not just in the T20 arena. “I would love, no doubt, to take part in the IPL,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when I might be able to play it.”In Matthew Hayden’s autobiography he wrote about how the Australian players realised they weren’t running the show and quickly learned that Modi was dismissive of excessive demands. “Michael Clarke found that out in a hurry,” Hayden wrote. “I remember him saying to Modi, ‘I’m worth X amount of dollars.’ Modi laughed at him.”

Cricket Australia has downgraded its rating of Tests as the most important form after its chief executive James Sutherland said there was now “a fine balance” between the priorities of five-day fixtures and the Twenty20 Champions League. Sutherland’s comments come after Michael Hussey was not allowed to leave the tournament in South Africa early because his team, Chennai Super Kings, had reached the final.Staying for the decider, which Chennai won last month, meant Hussey and Doug Bollinger did not arrive in India to prepare for the first Test until three days before the match. Bollinger suffered a stomach injury during the game in Mohali and Hussey felt out of touch.”Michael Hussey made it clear to CA before and during the CLT20 that his strong preference and preferred intention was to leave earlier than the final to prepare for the Test series in India,” Sutherland said. “It was only because of our requirement and the performance of his franchise that he stayed until the end of the CLT20 final.”Michael had nothing but the best intentions of preparing for and playing for his country as his absolute priority but there was a fine balance between a high profile, elite club T20 competition and preparing for international cricket.”Previously, interrupting the preparation for a Test was unthinkable but Twenty20 is changing the rules. Cricket Australia is one of the organisers of the Champions League and Sutherland said it was important for all three formats to prosper.”In this case, the scheduling was difficult, particularly after the decision to play Tests in the current series, and it is a fact of life that scheduling of elite cricket – which we have sometimes described as being as difficult as trying to play chess in three dimensions – will create tough decisions from time to time,” Sutherland said. India’s MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina experienced the same length of preparation as Hussey and Bollinger.

Wayamba, the Sri Lankan domestic Twenty20 champions, are one of the low-profile teams heading for the Champions League, but could surprise some of their more famous competitors with a squad containing 11 players who have international caps. They exited in the first round of the Champions League last year but the biggest name in their line-up, Mahela Jayawardene, said that experience will help Wayamba put up a better show in South Africa next month.”Last year was a bit of an eye-opener for us, participating in that kind of an event,” Jayawardene said at a press conference where the team’s new shirt was unveiled. “We had quite a few players who hadn’t played against international teams. It was a great opportunity for them. We realise where we went wrong; most of our guys now have much more experience playing T20 cricket, playing domestically as well.”Wayamba played both their matches in 2009 on a difficult Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, losing to the Delhi Daredevils and beating one of the favourites, Victoria, before bowing out on net run-rate. Their captain, 29-year-old Jehan Mubarak, was also confident the lessons learnt in India last year, and Wayamba’s thorough preparation for this campaign, will yield results.”We are much more prepared than we were last year, we have had the experience of playing in a previous Champions League,” Mubarak said. “Our preparation has been quite extensive this year; we have been practising for at least three months. We have the talent and experience among us to deliver the goods.”In the domestic competition, Wayamba steamrolled their way to the title, winning every game, most of them by big margins. Asked about his team’s strengths, he mentioned the opening combination of Jayawardene and 36-year-old Jeevantha Kulatunga, who was Player of the Tournament. “We won most of our games quite easily, lot of that due to Mahela and Jeevantha who gave us brilliant opening stands right throughout the tournament,” Mubarak said. “But apart from that there’s the bowling and the fielding, the combined team effort and the unity with which we played.”Another of Wayamba’s strengths is their spin department, spearheaded by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis, who could fluster the many batsmen in the Champions League who have never faced him. “It is very tempting [to play both spinners], depends in addition to the conditions on the opposition as well, how well they play spin,” Mubarak said. “It is early summer in South Africa, pitches might be on the slow side, might take a bit of turn.”The team have a couple of warm-up matches, against Royal Challengers Bangalore and local side Titans, who did not qualify for the tournament, to get used to the South African conditions. Jayawardene said holding the Champions League in different countries will help increase the number of cricket fans around the world. “Taking the Champions League across makes sense, you create a new audience,” he said. “We saw the second IPL, when we played in South Africa, the fan base there surprised everyone, taking it across the cricket playing countries would create a different brand itself and a new fan following as well.”Wayamba’s first game is against South Africa’s Warriors on September 11. The other teams in their group are IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, Big Bash winners Victoria and New Zealand’s Central Districts.

ScorecardSussex maintained the pressure on Group A leaders Somerset with an entertaining Clydesdale Bank 40 win over Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford. The Sharks won their second consecutive match as they chased down 245 with four wickets and four balls to spare.Lancashire’s chances of reaching the semi-finals are all but over after losing five of their eight matches. With Andrew Flintoff in the home dressing room, the hosts were indebted to 69 off 73 balls from captain Paul Horton – including five fours – and a late 36 not out off 30 balls from Kyle Hogg as they posted a competitive 244 for 7.James Kirtley took 3 for 35 from seven overs for the visitors while Mike Yardy, Monty Panesar and Ollie Rayner also struck. Joe Gatting hit a season’s best 71 off 82 balls for Sussex in reply but it took a fifth wicket partnership of 44 between Yardy and Andrew Hodd to take their side to the brink. Yardy, who finished 46 not out off 50 balls, hit the winning runs off Sajid Mahmood in the final over.Gareth Cross and Horton shared Lancashire’s highest partnership, 40 for the fourth wicket, but they lost wickets at regular intervals on a placid track. Tom Smith hit a solid 34 off 38 balls at the top of the order before Hogg hit three fours and one six in a late and important effort. Hogg and Stephen Parry added 33 off the last 21 balls, the former doing the bulk of the scoring.Sussex openers Ed Joyce and Chris Nash got the chase off to a flyer as they took advantage of some wayward action from Daren Powell with the new ball. The West Indian went for ten off his first two balls, Nash doing the damage, and his first two overs went for 23.Nash, however, fell in the third over when he holed out to Karl Brown at deep square leg off Hogg. Joyce and Gatting continued the momentum with a second wicket stand of 63 inside 13 overs. They helped their side to 80 for 1 after the 12 overs of Powerplay.But when Joyce departed in the 15th over Lancashire were starting to sniff a victory. He dragged the left arm of Parry onto his middle stump for 46 to leave the score at 86 for 2 before Murray Goodwin chipped to a diving Horton at short cover six overs later.And when Gatting was trapped lbw by Gary Keedy, Sussex were 174 for 4 in the 30th and needed 70 off the last ten overs. Smith took two late wickets to keep Lancs interested, including Hodd for 30 off 27 balls, but Yardy’s three fours and a six were vital.Parry and Smith finished with 2 for 37 off eight and 2 for 30 off four respectively. Sussex have moved to within two points of Somerset after eight matches but have played two more than their rivals.