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Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been dropped for the fourth and final Test against England, starting in Antigua next week, after managing just 101 runs in six innings this series. But the West Indian selectors have resisted the urge to make wholesale changes to their batting line-up, despite the feeble second-innings capitulation at Bridgetown that handed England their first series win in the Caribbean for 36 years.The circumstances which led to Chanderpaul being dropped were far from straightforward, with the board admitting that he had told them he felt "tired and lethargic". He was asked to meet with one of the board’s medical panel to be checked out, but Chanderpaul “showed some reluctance to comply with this direction” and was sent home "for further evaluation".West Indies now have only their pride to salvage, but Chanderpaul aside, they have put their faith in the batsmen who let them down in Barbados. The solitary change to a squad of 13 is the introduction of the local boy, Sylvester Joseph.Joseph, 25, toured Australia with the senior squad three years ago, and has four ODI appearances under his belt, but he has yet to play a Test. He did, however, stake his claim with a decent performance in the recent warm-up game in Barbados, scoring 36 and 50 for a Carib Beer XI against England’s second-string attack.England, not for the first time this series, have a air of serenity about their preparations, although they are not without need of a bit of fine-tuning as they seek to inflict West Indies’ first whitewash in a home series. In particular, the wicketkeeper’s role has come under the spotlight, with Chris Read impressing behind the stumps, but consistently failing to produce a big score with the bat.Since Alec Stewart’s retirement, Read has managed 162 runs in 11 innings, and with Geraint Jones waiting in the wings, he knows he has to come good soon. “He’s got to get a few more runs,” admitted England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher. “He’s been given quite a good run in there and it’s an area we might have to look at, even though his keeping has been very good.”Jones took his chance with an impressive 66 in the warm-up game in Barbados, but Fletcher was loath to read too much into that. “You’ve only seen one guy in a three-day game compared to a Test match,” he said. “Once they step up to that higher level it’s totally different.”In the meantime, Fletcher’s main concern is to keep his team fully motivated, even though the tour’s main objective has been completed. “It’s very easy to lose a cricket game and very difficult to win one,” said Fletcher. “Anyone can lose it, but to win is hard and they have to make sure they develop this culture that you just keep dominating and don’t relax at any stage.”West Indies squad
Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hinds, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards.

Close Day 4 East Zone 322 and 213 for 3 (Dhoni 60, Powar 51*) need 196 more runs to beat North Zone 330 and 400 (Chatterjee 4-63)
Scorecard
Four dropped catches by the North Zone fielders, including two by Yuvraj Singh, could prove critical as East Zone gave themselves a fighting chance of an historic triumph at Mohali. Chasing 409 for their maiden Duleep Trophy crown, East Zone were comfortably placed by the close on 213 for 3, with Kiran Powar unbeaten on 51.North Zone will only have themselves to blame if East Zone pull off their run-chase. After gaining a tremendous advantage yesterday, in running up a lead of 300, North lost their way in the first session as Utpal Chatterjee pegged them back with four quick wickets. Mithun Manhas played back to one that hurried on, then Ajay Ratra was rather dubiously given out caught at short leg (316 for 5). After bowling Dinesh Mongia round his legs for 48, Chatterjee then lured Sarandeep Singh into a return catch (341 for 7), which put him just one away from a career tally of 500 first-class wickets. But the landmark proved elusive – now he’ll have to wait until the start of next season to get there. The tail swished and swatted, and North Zone finally finished on a round 400 – not bad, but much lower than might have been expected yesterday when Yuvraj was creaming the ball around.MS Dhoni gave East Zone the initial momentum with some clean hitting. He pierced the covers with some blazing drives, and wasn’t prepared to let the short ones go unharmed. The crowd came to life when he unleashed a ferocious pull for six when Ashish Nehra banged one short. There were a few streaky edges, one of which brought him his half-century, but it was the ideal start his team needed. After hitting eight fours and a six, he tried another ambitious pull and the resultant top-edge was easily pouched by Yuvraj at first slip (77 for 1). Dhoni’s 60 took him only 47 balls.Arindam Das, the other opener, essayed a few silky cover-drives amid an otherwise solid defensive technique. He was unlucky to be adjudged lbw to Sarandeep for 35, as the ball appeared to be missing leg stump (116 for 2). Rohan Gavaskar lived perennially on the edge and he teased the slip fielders no end. Yuvraj grassed two regulation slip chances, and there were a number of times that the ball flew agonisingly wide of the cordon. Gavaskar finally fell for 49 – edging, inevitably – as North Zone finally got the break that they were desperately seeking (200 for 3).Powar continued where he left off in the first innings, and efficiently mixed caution with some brutal sweeps. He didn’t allow Sarandeep to settle into a rhythm, and swept a few balls from wide of off stump. Powar also had a reprieve, when a diving Ratra failed to collect one down the leg side, and there were a few close shouts as he padded up without offering a stroke. But he looked in ominous touch at the end of the day, and was confident of leading his side to victory: “The wicket is playing well, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. There is no way I am going to give it away after doing all the hard work, like in the first innings. Tomorrow is a huge day.”SS Das was suffering from a torn calf muscle and won’t bat tomorrow unless it’s absolutely necessary. Considering the way the pendulum has swung to and fro so far in this match, he’ll probably have to pad up and limp out for a nailbiting finish.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Wisden Cricinfo in India.

Stan Nel, the Sri Lanka A coach, has blasted some of his players,questioning their commitment and accusing them of “indifference” to defeatafter they lost their second consecutive game in the ongoing triangulartournament also involving the A teams of England and Pakistan.”I found a mixed reaction in the dressing room,” revealed Nel.”There were guys who were really desperate to represent their country andwin who were really hurting inside. Some of the other guys seemed to beindifferent about the result. I am just devastated about the reactions ofthese guys after two defeats.”I am trying to get these guys to understand that losing is not an option.Looking at it after this game, it is the real desire to win that is lacking.I am really questioning every player and want to find out who really has thedesire and who doesn’t. As far as ability goes they match up as well as anyA team around the world.”Sri Lanka go into the second stage of the competition without a single pointafter Pakistan and England successfully chased down targets on Sunday andMonday. The only major positive for the team was the form of Russel Arnold -apparently under pressure as the selectors finalise their squad for India -who scored two consecutive half-centuries.Sri Lanka lost their grip on the game against England A in the final overs as Rikki Clarke and Alex Gidman crashed 62 from just 37 balls. “We lost due to the lack of a little bit of experience,” believed Nel. “I think we lost the grip on the game in the last six or seven overs. Looking at the guys in the field, Ijust thought they were perhaps not giving 110%.”At this stage thinking about the final is not going to do us any good.We’ve got to play one game at a time. We’ve got to set ourselves for thenext match and try to win that and we will go along and see what happensafter that. There is no use thinking any further than the next match.”

Division One

Points Table

Leaders Kent suffered a frustrating third day after dominating the morning session against Hampshire, who lost six wickets before lunch as they slipped to 182 for 7 and seemingly faced the follow on. But that was about as good as it got, as Andy Bichel cracked 87 and Nic Pothas 74 in an eighth-wicket stand of 138 as they recovered to 325 all out. Kent, with a first-innings lead of 121, pressed for quick runs but lost their way as they creaked to 153 for 7, leaving the game in the balance.It wasn’t much better for defending champions Warwickshire on the first day of their match against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston. After winning the toss, they were bowled out for 156, with Ryan Sidebottom, who bowled 17 overs unchanged from the pavilion end, and Andrew Harris both grabbing 4 for 41. Nottinghamshire, who had struggled earlier in the week against Middlesex, had an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 119 between Chris Read (73 not out) and David Hussey (55 not out) to thank after they had slipped to 75 for 4, closing on 194 for 4

Division Two

Points TableAfter two rain-blighted days at Riverside, there was finally some meaningful action as Durham made 315, thanks largely to Mike Hussey’s 146, spread over three days, with David Masters the pick of the Leicestershire bowlers with 6 for 74. The visitors then reached 217 for 3 by the end of the day, with Dinesh Mongia, who battled through a poor start, unbeaten on 77. Inspired captaincy and sporting declarations will be needed if there is to be any chance of a result.

Gauteng made a stiff chase appear easy as they powered to a five-wicket success against North West on a featherbed at Potchefstroom. Driaan Steyn made 137 off 145 balls for North West, as they amassed 268 for 3, but he was overshadowed by a fine team effort from Gauteng. Enoch Nkwe smashed 87 off 76 balls, adding 106 with Blake Sinjman and 78 with Dumisa Makalima. However, when he fell to leave the score 203 for 5 there was still work to do. Marthinus Otto (32 not out) and Diaan van Wyk (33 not out) completed the job with ease, hitting the winning runs with 6.2 overs to spare.Eastern Province came up against very little resistance as they cruised to a seven-wicket win against Boland at Port Elizabeth. Boland had reached 95 for 1 in the 18th over, but then collapsed in dramatic style as they crumbled to 148 all out – without using 11 of their overs. Grant Howell produced the brilliant figures of 4 for 13 with his legspin. The chase proved a formality for Eastern Province, with Colin Ingram and Chad Baxter added 112 for the first wicket.

An already beleaguered Pakistan side were hit by more problems when Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq were ruled out of the last Test, which starts at Sydney on Sunday. Inzamam, who is struggling with a back injury, failed to clear a fitness test, while Razzaq hasn’t recovered completely from a mystery ailment which restricted his participation at the Melbourne Test.With Mohammad Sami and Shoaib Malik already omitted due to injuries, Yousuf Youhana, the stand-in captain, has plenty of worries ahead of the game. “We can’t even name a team yet,” he told Reuters. “We have to replace four players. There will be a lot of changes.”Inzamam, who missed the Boxing Day Test, had shown signs of improvement over the last couple of days, but failed to get through a strenuous practice session on the eve of the game at Sydney. Shahid Afridi is almost certain to play in place of Malik, while Sami will be replaced by either Mohammad Khalil or Mohammad Asif. Khalil, a left-arm seamer, played in the first Test at Perth, but failed to take a wicket in the 25 overs he bowled.

ScorecardNamibia’s bowlers gave their team a real chance to beat Nepal with a strong allround performance on the third day. But with the first day already lost to rain, when play begins on the fourth day, they will have to work quickly if they are to force a result. After bowling out Nepal for 143 in their first innings, Namibia now have a lead of 139 to take into the final day.Things didn’t begin so well for the home side at Windhoek after Deon Kotze failed to capitalise on his dominance of the day before. Starting the day on 90 not out, he stumbled six short of his century, edging through off Binod Das.From there, Das ripped right through the Namibia tail to flatten them from a healthy 245 for 6 to an anaemic 272 all out. He did not stop till he had taken 6 for 80 from his 30.2 overs.But Nepal’s batsmen could not build on that good work. Namibia’s bowlers could – they rattled through the line-up to knock them over for 143. All six bowlers who were used bagged at least a wicket each. Paresh Lohani and Kanishka Chaugai gave Nepal a decent platform, putting on 46 for the opening wicket but when they both fell in quick succession, the batting subsided.JB Burger and Dawid Botha had time for a quick knock before the end and they emerged unscathed to take their team to 10 without loss, 139 runs ahead.

Cricket South Africa may discard the final of the SuperSport series because of complaints over the format of the competition. The board will consider a proposal on Wednesday where each team plays five home matches and five away matches and the one with the highest points will win the championship.”Tame draws are not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for a result and it hasn’t happened in the last two finals. Things have now got to the stage where we wonder whether there’s any point in having a final,” Brian Basson, the general manager of cricket affairs, told SuperCricket. “All the sides will play five home matches and five away matches, they each will have played each other home and away. So no particular side has been favoured and the team with the most points at the end of it all should be the champions.”There needs to be some objective for teams to be playing towards even if they are out of contention for the title by the halfway stage,” said Basson. “So we are also proposing that there be financial rewards – the team finishing fifth will earn more than the side finishing sixth, and so on. Rather than questioning their keenness once they have no chance whatsoever of winning, the ranking order in the competition will see teams rewarded according to a sliding scale.”

Pakistan will fly out to the West Indies for the World Cup on Thursday without Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Asif, the two fast bowlers currently under a cloud of fitness and doping-related issues.”Both fast bowlers are in England for medical check-ups and they won’t be going with the team to the West Indies,” team spokesman PJ Mir told Cricinfo.Asif is suffering from an elbow injury while Shoaib has a problematic knee. But both have also yet to be dope-tested by the PCB, a test the board says they have to clear before they can join the squad in the Caribbean. Speculation has been rampant over the nature of their trips to the UK, the increasing belief among many now that they are there to try and resolve issues stemming from their positive dope tests last October. The PCB has denied this.”Asif is expected to return home Thursday and Akhtar will be back in Pakistan on Friday,” Mir added. Once they have returned, an assessment will be made of their medical reports and a decision finally made as to whether or not they are fit enough to go. Only then will they undergo the dope tests the remaining 18 players (including five reserves) underwent and cleared last week.”If Akhtar and Asif are declared medically fit then they have to go through PCB’s process of dope testing,” Mir said.All of which means that Pakistan, unbelievably, are still not sure of the final make-up of their squad and playing XI for the opening game of the tournament, against West Indies in Jamaica on March 13. If neither do go they will join Abdul Razzaq, ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury only yesterday, as high-profile absentees from the tournament for Pakistan.

Terry Alderman, the former Australia fast bowler, has questioned the ability of South Africa’s cricketers after they succumbed to an innings defeat against Western Australia on Wednesday.Alderman, who has also played for Eastern Province in South Africa, was scathing in his comments. “The technique of most of the batsmen was shocking. They played far too many hook and pull shots and those that had to be played with a straight [bat] went down the wrong line,” Alderman, now a radio commentator, told News24. “This is not the South African cricket I knew when I played there. The coach’s excuses are that the Proteas flew over many time zones and that the players were advised to take things slow for medical reasons.”Questioning the mental toughness of the South Africans after their shocking loss to WA, Alderman was forthright. “Your guys looked totally lost against the spinner Beau Casson. He is just a baby learning the art of spin bowling. The Aussies can use three spinners here against you.” Casson, a slow left-arm chinaman bowler, picked up eight wickets in the match. Alderman stated that the only batsman who has the fighting spirit to stand up to Australia was Jacques Kallis, adding: “Graeme Smith is shaky and he talks too much. I think the Aussies will unnerve him”.Alderman did, however, make favourable mention of South Africa’s bowling attack. “The bowling attack does not look too bad. Andre Nel has a Colin Croft action, while Charl Langeveldt can fulfil the role of a Matthew Hoggard. He’s also the workhorse of the team,” he said. “Makhaya Ntini has become a world class bowler after we initially laughed at him when he appeared in the international arena for the first time.”Just when it seemed like Alderman was willing to see the silver lining in the gloom he threw another jibe. “”The weakest link in the bowling attack is Shaun Pollock. He bowls without any speed and I don’t believe he will worry the Aussies too much.”The first Test between Australia and South Africa begins at Perth on December 16.