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Zimbabwe’s batting woes in the World Cup are a consequence of the team not having played Tests in a long time, the national coach Alan Butcher has said. Zimbabwe have gone past 200 just once in four matches this tournament, and that effort came against minnows Canada.”You get used to batting for longer period of times in Test cricket and that does relate to one-day cricket as well,” Butcher told reporters on the eve of Zimbabwe’s Group A clash against Pakistan in Pallekele. “Your top four players want to bat for the majority of the innings in a one-day game; they may have had the opportunity to bat for a day and a half in Test matches.”Zimbabwe have been in self-imposed isolation from Test cricket since 2006, when they didn’t have the players to field a competitive team. However, late last year, the country’s cricket board laid out an 18-month plan to return to the Test fold.Butcher said Zimbabwe would have to look for newer talent if the trend of low scores continued. “I hope that eventually another couple of players will show that ability, because if they don’t we have to find new players rather than continue with those who give us 170 totals.”Zimbabwe have gone past 200 just once in this World Cup•AFP

Zimbabwe, who’ve lost three of their four games, have the ability to cause an upset, Butcher said. While the batting has been a problem, he believed the team had a bowling attack capable of defending a score in the range of 250. “I think the concern is to put a positive total on the board and that’s what’s been our problem. The minimum realistic target is 250 and if we score that then we have a chance against most teams.”Butcher also backed captain Elton Chigumbura, who’s had a poor run this tournament in the middle order, to recover. “I’m not sure whether the captaincy is weighing on him. He keeps practising, keeps trying to work hard, trying to turn things around. He has got the ability and is working on some technical issues and hopefully they will pay dividends.”

Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) board has passed a vote of no-confidence in president Mtutuzeli Nyoka at a special general meeting on Saturday. The motion was not unanimous but was passed by a majority vote and Nyoka was removed with immediate effect.Nyoka’s ousting is the culmination of an ongoing spat between him and chief executive Gerald Majola, which reached its peak during the bonus scandal. Nyoka was in favour of an external inquiry into the R4.7 million (US$ 671,428) that was paid out to Majola and 39 other CSA staff members after IPL 2 and the Champions Trophy in 2009.CSA initially announced that they would have an external commission evaluate the situation but then moved the investigation internally in order to exhaust its own procedures first. Majola was cleared of all charges of wrongdoing by the internal commission, although it did recognise that he had made an error of judgement, and Nyoka said he accepted the findings.That spat was believed to have caused a “general breakdown” in the relationship between Nyoka and Majola, according to an insider, who also said that it became apparent that there was “only room for one of them” in CSA. Two months after the findings of the internal commission were made public. Nyoka was served with written notification of a motion of no-confidence proposed against him that was signed by all 11 CSA affiliate presidents.Four days after Nyoka received the letter, South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula intervened in the conflict, because the ministry felt it may negatively impact the country’s World Cup campaign. The minister met with the CSA board sans Nyoka, who was unavailable, and reassured the public that the cricket fraternity was not in crisis and the ministry would meet with the board again on February 12, to receive a report on the commission inquiry and the actions of Nyoka.That meeting took place today, again with Nyoka an absent party. He chose not to attend on the advice of his lawyers. The motion of no confidence was passed by the board, with an insider confirming that the split was “more than 8-3.”Nyoka is the second successive CSA president to leave office in this fashion. Norman Arendse, his predecessor, also had a motion of no-confidence tabled against him before he resigned. Vice-president AK Khan will take over as acting President until the next election, which is scheduled for CSA’s AGM in August.

A blazing 70 by Darren Bravo at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown ensured Trinidad & Tobago topped Group B and moved into the semi-finals at the expense of Barbados. Bravo’s innings came off just 35 balls and included five sixes and four boundaries, propelling T&T to a score of 166. He was supported by Lendl Simmons, who scored 53 off 45 in an 80-run partnership with Bravo. Barbados’ chase got off to a quick start courtesy of a 14-ball 27 from Dwayne Smith, but once he fell the wickets kept tumbling and Barbados finished on 115 for 9 in their 20 overs. T&T offspinner Sunil Narine took three wickets while seamer Kevon Cooper finished with figures of 2 for 11 from his four overs. T&T will take on Jamaica in the second semi-final on Saturday.Leeward Islands ended up winners by 19 runs in their dead rubber against Canada in the first match. Leewards reached 161 thanks to half-centuries from Chesney Hughes and Tonito Willett. Canada had some useful contributions from their top-order batsmen but were always behind the required rate. The pressure told as a flurry of wickets at the end meant they finished well short of Leewards’ score. Opener Hiral Patel scored a half-century for Canada and Tyson Gordon did his best to lift the scoring rate with his 31 off 20 balls.Hampshire, who had already played all their games, will face Windward Islands in the first semi-final.

India have named a full-strength squad for the ODI and Twenty20 series in South Africa, which is their last international limited-overs assignment before the 2011 World Cup begins in February. Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, is the only new name in the 16-man list, having played an ODI last in 2008. Ravindra Jadeja has been left out of the team while Yusuf Pathan, who impressed during the home series against New Zealand, has been retained.The squad comprises six batsmen, wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, allrounder Yusuf and eight bowlers – five quicks and three spinners, including R Ashwin, who’s followed up his success in the IPL and the Champions League with strong performances in ODIs. Ishant Sharma, who hasn’t played ODIs since the trip to Sri Lanka in August, was also left out of the mix.Sachin Tendulkar, who has opted out of one-day matches since his 200 against South Africa in Gwalior this February, will return to the format and partner Virender Sehwag at the top in order to get match practice in the lead-up to the World Cup.The other players who’ve featured in ODIs for India in the recent past but haven’t been picked, following the return of the big names, are batsmen Rohit Sharma and Saurabh Tiwary.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth.

It was a calculated approach from Baroda’s batsmen that gave them the first-innings lead against Railways, and a foot in the door that leads to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. The openers played out the new ball, young Kedar Devdhar scored his maiden century and played the anchor’s role to perfection, enabling Yusuf Pathan and Ambati Rayudu to smash the tiring Railways bowlers as Baroda finished 55 runs in front.Devdhar, the 21-year old playing only his sixth first-class game, chose the big occasion to convert his string of half-centuries this season into his first hundred, something his coach Mukesh Narula had said he should work on. “The pitch was good for batting, better than the first day, though Anureet Singh was getting some reverse swing in the end,” Devdhar told ESPNcricinfo. “We took our time to play ourselves in, as the ball does a bit here in the first session. With Yusuf Pathan at the other end, I thought of giving him the strike as much as possible. In the second session, I started to play a few shots as the ball was coming onto the bat and the bounce was true.”A clearly pleased Narula said it was about time Devdhar made a hundred given the way he has played all season. “He is usually very balanced at the crease, and has also shown that he is a fast learner. One thing I noticed today is that he was not in awe of the big names coming in to bowl, whether it was Murali Kartik, Sanjay Bangar or JP Yadav. He stayed calm before lunch and post-lunch he was away.”Railways missed a trick by playing three spinners on a wicket that isn’t turning much, and the trio were taken for 165 runs in 37 overs for a single wicket. Railways usually rely on JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar, who keep it tight outside the off stump, but today Baroda also played the patience game, and came out on top. “They didn’t have someone who could hurry batsmen with pace,” Narula said. That hurt them. They might enjoy wickets with a bit of seam, but you need some pace on this wicket that has settled down. Apart from Anureet, they don’t have anyone of that variety, but then they have come far with this kind of bowling, and have to be credited for that.”Abhay Sharma, the Railways coach, was full of praise for the way Baroda batted. “Yusuf was hitting the ball really well. And the new kid, Devdhar, looks to be very talented. He didn’t give us chances, there was just one missed opportunity off Kartik after he had made his hundred. Sometimes, you just have to give credit to the opposition. We were keeping things really tight initially, but they batted well.”Baroda still have six wickets in hand, and Abhay knows that his team’s chances depend on grabbing early wickets in the morning session. On the other hands, now that they have the lead, Baroda are expectedly looking to bat Railways out of the game. “I don’t think we’ll declare,” Narula said. “Anyways, we are only 55 runs in front, and there is some way to go still in this game.”

Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines and an operation after damaging ligaments in his left knee while playing football.Ramprakash, 41, sustained the injury during a charity match and will now miss Surrey’s pre-season schedule as well as the start of the 2011 county season. It’s a major blow for Surrey who struggled last year, especially with the bat, and won just four matches in the Championship.Despite this Ramprakash was the leading run-scorer in Division Two of the Championship making 1595 runs at 61.34 but now could be out of action until May.”The injury is quite serious but I’ve been to see a specialist and it was pretty clear cut that I need an operation,” Ramprakash told Surrey TV. “Hopefully that will go well and I’m going to be on crutches for around seven to ten days – after that it’s following the long road to recovery.”I was playing in a game of football on Saturday and quite early in the game I managed to get tangled up with another player. It was a bit freakish really – there was no malice involved – and I managed to twist my knee quite badly. There is a little bit of damage to the medial ligament, a very small tear in the cartilage and damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, which the one that is a bit of problem really.”Hopefully there will be no complications”, he added. “If there are none then it’s possible that even around the ten day mark the physios will decide they can stick me on an exercise bike with no resistance and get the leg turning round. Of course, I expect there will be a lot of work in the swimming pool as well.”After that it’s just a case of seeing how it reacts and building those exercises up more and more. Right now, moving in a straight line is not a really problem so I’m hopeful that things will go smoothly.”The specialist was saying that my knee is in excellent condition considering I’m a professional sportsman and have been for a long, long time, so hopefully that will all help.”In terms of cricket – it’s my left leg so when you’re playing forward it’s important that you’ve got flexibility in that knee; running between the wickets of course and running sideways in the field and being able to move to your left or your right at speed. Those of sorts things will be the ultimate goal but before that there will have to be a lot of work.”

Group A

Madhya Pradesh crushed Tripura by an innings and 156 runs in Gwalior. Beginning the day 30 behind Tripura, MP’s batsmen, led by 26-year-old Monish Mishra’s unbeaten 154, piled on 506 for 7 – getting a first-innings lead of 251 before declaring. Their new-ball bowlers, former ICL player TP Siudhindra and debutant Amit Sharma, then skittled Tripura out for 95 in just 21 overs. The pair bowled unchanged through the innings as Tripura folded – Sudhindra had career-best figures of 6 for 49 to complete a maiden ten-wicket match haul, while Amit took the remaining four. Madhya Pradesh now have one win and a draw from two games to top the table, while Tripura have lost both their opening matches.Hyderabad had another good day in Ranchi against Jharkhand. Overnight batsman Ibrahim Khaleel made his highest first-class score of 141, due to which though Hyderabad lost their final four wickets for 22, they finished with 492, a big first-innings lead of 292. Jharkhand’s reply began poorly, losing both openers cheaply, but their main batsman, Saurabh Tiwary, and Ishank Jaggi then put on 72 for the third wicket to take the home side to 102 for 2 at stumps.In Jaipur, Rajasthan took complete control of their match against Goa. Rashmi Parida, the 33-year-old former Orissa player, made 91 patient runs, adding 88 with Vaibhav Deshpande, who is making a comeback after two years on the sidelines. That took Rajasthan to 392 for 4, a first-innings advantage of 176, before his side suffered a collapse – losing four wickets for 16. However, an 82-run partnership for the final wicket between Parida and Pankaj Sharma, who slammed five sixes in a whirlwind 57, pushed Rajasthan to 490. Goa’s only hope is that their batsmen manage to bat out the entire final day to salvage a point.

Group B

Jammu & Kashmir lurched towards defeat against Kerala in Malappuram despite fast bowler Abid Nabi’s sixth five-wicket haul. Both overnight batsmen, VA Jagadeesh and Robert Fernandez, made centuries as Kerala galloped to 263 for 1 setting their team up for a big first-innings lead. Though Nabi’s strikes meant J&K removed Kerala’s final eight wickets for 65, they were still trailing by 220 runs. The batting which had been so feeble in the first innings, had stuttered to 59 for 3 by stumps, and needing a gutsy effort if J&K are to escape with a draw.In an exciting day in Nasik, Vidarbha sneaked a 15-run first-innings lead against Maharashtra, thanks to their key fast bowler, Umesh Yadav, taking a career-best 7 for 74. Maharashtra looked set to get the crucial lead when their captain Rohit Motwani guided them to 265 for 7, just 22 short of Vidarbha’s total, before they lost their final three wickets for seven runs. They had had a collapse at the start of the innings as well, slumping to 85 for 6 against the pace of Umesh, before Motwani put on two stabilising partnerships. Vidharbha ended the day on a shaky 14 for 2, and their batsmen still have some work to do before the three points are safe.Andhra first took a slim first-innings lead and then consolidated their advantage through B Sumanth’s unbeaten century against Services in Anantapur. In the morning session, quick bowler Syed Sahabuddin took the final two wickets to ensure Andhra held the edge with an 18-run cushion. However, Andhra were soon in trouble as Services’ new-ball bowlers reduced them to 17 for 3, before Sumanth and AG Pradeep put the match back in Andhra’s control with an unbroken 158-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Shahid Afridi has been cautioned by the PCB after expressing his unhappiness with the selection of the squad he will lead against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai later this month. The board announced a 15-man squad to play two Twenty20s and five ODIs last week, but didn’t initially name a captain. Afridi was named captain a day later, but not before fuelling speculation that he and the board were unhappy with each other.”The team was announced without my input and advice,” Afridi told . “I wanted 2-3 players other than Sohail Tanvir in the side.” Afridi, currently in Lahore leading the Karachi Dolphins in the domestic Twenty20 Cup, said he would speak to the chairman Ijaz Butt about the squad. Butt is, however, currently in Dubai for an ICC meeting.But the statements have earned him an official rebuke from the board. “He has been sent a letter today [Tuesday] telling him to avoid giving such interviews,” a board official told ESPNcricinfo. The official clarified, however, that the communication was not a show-cause notice.Afridi’s comments strengthen suspicions of Butt’s growing influence in selection matters and the shaping of squads. ESPNcricinfo has been told, by reliable sources, that coach Waqar Younis was also not consulted over the selection. Waqar arrived in Lahore early Monday from Sydney and the source said he was “quite upset” about it. Last Friday, when Misbah-ul-Haq was appointed Test captain, chief selector Mohsin Khan had distanced himself from the decision and said that Younis Khan was the preferred choice of his committee.Traditionally, the PCB chief has only signed off on final squads and appointed a captain, not involving himself to any extent in the composition of the squad itself. That has been left to the chief selector, captain and coach. Butt’s two years as chairman, however, have seen six different captains, five chief selectors and three coaches; the constant state of flux, according to one ex-selector, has concentrated power in the chairman’s hands.”This has gotten particularly worse since Mohsin Khan became chief selector,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Until Iqbal Qasim [predecessor to Mohsin] was there the chairman would never attend selection meetings. Now Mohsin doesn’t consult with his own committee and only gets instructions from the chairman and essentially says yes to whatever the chairman has said.” Earlier this year, in June, the same criticism was levelled at Mohsin and Butt during the announcement of the squad for the series against Australia in England.

ScorecardBen Harmison just failed to record what would have been only his second Championship century as Durham settled for a draw against Essex at Chelmsford. He followed up his 66 in the first innings with 96 as the visitors finished on 234 for 6 after resuming the final day in pursuit of a victory target of 459.It was one they never attempted and for quite a while defeat stared them in the face. From an overnight 31 for 1, they lost another three wickets before the total advanced into three figures, two of them through gross errors of judgment, as Dale Benkenstein and Michael Di Venuto were both bowled shouldering arms.Benkenstein committed his error against off-spinner Tom Westley while Di Venuto gifted his wicket to paceman Chris Wright after scoring 58, which included eight boundaries.When Ian Blackwell became an lbw victim of Westley with the total on 43, Essex looked firm favourites to claim only their third County Championship win of the season in their last game before dropping into the second division.But Harmison, with fine support from Phil Mustard, were to deny them with a stand of 91 in 38 overs before both teams called it a day. Harmison’s first fifty took him 142 deliveries but he was able to accelerate late on as Alastair Cook, with his gentle off-spin, and Westley concentrated mainly on getting through their overs as quickly as possible to ensure Essex were not penalised for a slow over-rate.But Harmison’s hopes of adding to the century he took off the Warwickshire attack three years ago ended when Cook tossed the ball up and he despatched it into the hands of Tony Palladino at long-on. His 96, spanning 197 deliveries, contained 14 fours, and his dismissal resulted in the players shaking hands to signal the end of the game.It was somewhat surprising as an hour still remained, but Essex were no doubt more concerned about setting off to Taunton as quickly as possible for tomorrow’s Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-final against Somerset. Mustard’s vigil brought him 24 from 103 deliveries as Durham emerged with six points.Essex picked up eight points but they were not enough to prevent them finishing bottom of the table.

With Zimbabwe’s domestic season set to get underway on September 6, several franchises are finalising new contracts for coaches and players and it seems there will be several new faces – and the return of some old ones – when the season gets underway.Midwest Rhinos have a new coach in Jason Gillespie, and are set to sign Nottinghamshire allrounder Paul Franks and Yorkshire’s Zimbabwe-born batsman Gary Ballance. It is hoped that Franks will fill the role vacated by Mike Chinouya, who has left the Kwekwe-based franchise to join the Southern Rocks where he will be joined by Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Matsikenyeri.”Ballance’s experience will provide stability in the team’s batting line-up and raise the quality of opening partnerships in the batting line-up, I was not too happy that we could not win any titles and we are not taking any chances this time around,” said Kenyon Ziehl, Rhino’s chief executive.Ian Nicolson, a former Zimbabwe Under-19 seamer, has also been signed by the franchise, while allrounder Solomon Mire will be returning after spending the off-season playing club cricket in Australia.Mashonaland Eagles have secured the coaching services of former South Africa allrounder and Northamptonshire captain Andrew Hall. Hall replaces Chris Silverwood, who coached Eagles to Logan Cup success in 2009-10 before returning to England to become Essex’s bowling coach, in the role. He will be assisted by Grant Flower, who returns to Zimbabwe after six seasons with Essex and will be taking up a player/coach role at the franchise and the job of batting coach of the senior national side.Eagles have also reportedly signed 6’7″ Nottinghamshire fast bowler Charlie Shreck and South African-born Somerset batsman Nick Compton. “We had some challenges last season with our opening batsmen so we are consolidating that area,” explained Hugo Ribatika, Eagles’ chief executive. “We also saw the need to beef up our bowling and we think Shreck can do us a wonderful job. Those additions could put us in a steady position.”It also appears likely that Sean Ervine will be returning for another season of franchise cricket, while Glen Querl, a former Zimbabwe Under-19 player currently plying his trade with the Unicorns in England, is also set to return.