Michael Vaughan believes the selection of seven England players in the squads for October’s Super Series is a timely boost ahead of this summer’s Ashes series.”It’s a great achievement to be selected in the squad of 30 and it’s fantastic to see seven English players involved in the Test and ODI squads,” he said. “It’s a great incentive to try and get into the squad of 20 and then into the final 13. I’ll be trying to have a good summer against the Aussies to try and push myself into that final 13. To get into the final squad we’re going to have to play well against Australia. Goals are important and there’s an ultimate goal to aim for there.”Vaughan is one of four England players selected for the ICC World XI Test squad. Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Andrew Strauss are in the frame for the Super Test at Sydney while Flintoff, Darren Gough, Kevin Pietersen and Marcus Trescothick are all in the ICC World XI ODI squad.”It’s a testament to how Pietersen has played since he came into the England team,” Vaughan continued. “To score three centuries in South Africa was a great achievement. For him to get into the ODI squad of 30 is a great effort, as it is too for Andrew Strauss who is in the Test squad. He hasn’t played that many games either so for Strauss to get into the 30 is a huge boost to him and just goes to show how well he’s played since he got into the England team.”Vaughan also praised the longevity of his former Yorkshire colleague Darren Gough. “The enthusiasm Goughy has at the minute tells me that there is plenty of juice in his tank and I know he’s as eager as ever to play well and make sure he continues to perform to the standards that he has set himself.”The inaugural Super Series will pit world champion Australia against ICC World XI Test and one-day teams in the three One-Day Internationals at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome and a six-day Super Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.The final squads of 13 players for the Super Test and 14 for the ODIs, plus management and coaching appointments, will be confirmed in August.

ScorecardMichael Yardy demonstrated his allround credentials to complete a memorable personal double, as Sussex overwhelmed a demoralised Bangladeshi side by an innings and 226 runs. Following hot on the heels of his career-best 257, Yardy took 5 for 83 with his left-arm spin to hasten Bangladesh to a thumping defeat.Deprived of the services of their captain, Habibul Bashar, who was forced to retire hurt on the second day after being felled by a bouncer from Jason Lewry, the Bangladeshi middle-order was rudderless. After a composed start from Nafees Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed, they slumped from 88 for 1 to 132 for 7, and it was left to the rookie wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim, to salvage some pride with his first fifty of the tour.After their second-day debacle, in which they had folded for 127 in reply to Sussex’s substantial 549 for 7 declared, Bangladesh were only ever fighting for respectability when play resumed this morning. For a time they appeared to have learned their lessons, and while Nafees and Aftab were negotiating the moving ball with some comfort during a 58-run stand for the second wicket, a morale-boosting draw was not entirely out of the question.But where it had been the seamers doing the damage in the first innings, now it was the turn of the spinners – or more accurately, Yardy’s part-time left-armers. He had bowled just two overs in the first innings, and taken just five wickets at 131 in his career, but with a record-breaking batting performance under his belt, he was the player the Bangladeshis most feared, and it showed as he ripped through the innings with 5 for 83 in 22.3 overs.Nafees was the first to go, bowled by Yardy for 33 as he offered no stroke, to trigger another dramatic subsidence. Aftab Ahmed fenced a Luke Wright short ball to slip for 33, and when Mohammad Ashraful heaved Yardy down the throat of long on for 7, Bangladesh were 110 for 4 and deep in the mire. Johannes van der Wath, Sussex’s South African signing, then steamed in off his long run to take a second three-wicket haul for the match, including Mashrafee Mortaza and Enamul Haque jr for ducks.Had it not been for the sterling resistance from Rahim, who belied his 16 years and five-foot-nothing stance to score 63 from 98 balls, including 10 fours and a six, Bangladesh would have been looking at a total capitulation. Rahim added 45 for the ninth and final wicket with Shadahat Hossain, who finished 12 not out, before Yardy dragged him out of his crease to complete his five-wicket haul courtesy of a neating stumping from Tim Ambrose.There is little prospect of Rahim being seen at Lord’s next week. Khaled Mashud’s nuggetty skills were sorely missed by the Bangladeshis in this game, and Rahim’s own glovework left much to be desired in Sussex’s lengthy innings, in which he missed two costly stumpings. Nevertheless, as a member of the Under-19 squad who toured England in August 2004, Rahim was able to call on every ounce of experience from that trip. In that respect, he is actually more familiar with English pitches than many of his supposed seniors.

Duncan Fletcher is excited by the prospect of the rule changes to one-day internationals, which will come into effect for the NatWest Challenge against Australia, starting at Headingley on Thursday.The new format for fielding restrictions, which requires the fielding captain to chose when he used two blocks of five overs, and the introduction of a substitute during a match will give Fletcher plenty to think about during his planning.Fletcher is renowned for his detailed preparation and attention to detail and has already been talking to Michael Vaughan about the new innovations. All of it is going to be interesting,” Fletcher told the Press Association, “Selection is going to be very difficult and then once play gets going it’s going to be very tricky – I believe that’s going to make it interesting.”The main variable was constant with the first 15 overs of fielding restrictions and no thinking had to take place aside from the captain moving a few fielders around, but now there are so many variables and then it becomes very complicated.”It’s going to be tricky and it’s going to be some time before a pattern settles if it ever does settle. One day cricket has become predictable and somewhere along the line they had to make changes and this will make it pretty interesting.”The use of a substitute will mean extra consideration will have to be given to the players chosen for a match. England’s NatWest Challenge squad includes Matt Prior and he would be the type of player who could be used as the replacement.”We have got to take into consideration these new rules they are bringing into the game – it might have some effect, especially the 12th man thing,” explained Fletcher. “It gets more and more complicated when you look at all the scenarios and that’s what probably makes it so exciting – if there is going to be all these scenarios it will make the game a lot more interesting.”

The Bangladesh opening batsman Hannan Sarkar has paid the price for a dismal run of form, as he has been dropped for the second Test against New Zealand, which starts at Chittagong on Tuesday.Sarkar, who in the Caribbean earlier this year earned the dubious distinction of falling to the first ball of consecutive Test matches, managed scores of just 0 and 1 at Dhaka this week, as Bangladesh slumped to defeat by an innings and 99 runs. His place has been taken by the uncapped middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed, a former Under-19 player.”We have decided to call Aftab Ahmed into the middle order as we had a bitter experience in the first Test,” said Bangladesh’s chief selector, Faruk Ahmed. Aftab made his one-day debut in the recent Champions Trophy in England.And following the relative success of Bangladesh’s spinners – Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana shared nine first-innings wickets between them – the selectors have recalled Enamul Haque junior for the second Test, at the expense of the seamer Alamgir Kabir. Khaled Mashud continues to captain the side, in the absence of Habibul Bashar.Bangladesh squad Khaled Mashud (capt, wk), Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Nafis Iqbal, Manjural Islam Rana, Tareq Aziz, Mushfiqur Rahman, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Tapash Baisya, Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque jr.

At least four or five black cricketers could be selected for South Africa’s Test tour to India next month, after Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board, urged the national selectors to be “more adventurous” when sizing up the contenders.Majola, who had a meeting with the selectors on Thursday, told them not to rely on “tried and tested” players, but instead insisted that the team take a broader view. “I really believe that we should have four or five players going to India in a squad of 14 players,” he told a South African parliament committee. “I will be shocked if the team is not representative.”It is increasingly likely that the side will be without the services of two of senior players in Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, who fear prosecution by Delhi Police for their part in the match-fixing scandal that dogged South Africa’s last tour to India in 1999-2000, and so an opportunity has arisen for some new faces to be included.Furthermore, the fading fortunes of South Africa’s Test and one-day sides provides an opportunity for such change to be implemented without causing a massive public outcry. The team has slipped from second to sixth in Tests, and from second to eighth in one-dayers, and such a downturn has not gone unnoticed.”That is not where we belong as South Africans. We believe we belong in the first two,” added Majola. “We should be either beating Australia or coming second to Australia.”

Midlands took a firm grip on the second day of their match against Manicaland at Mutare Sports Club. With a powerful 172 by England tour discard Craig Wishart to the fore, they ran up a total of 458 for five wickets by the close, a lead of 77 already with five wickets still in hand.The Manicaland innings lasted only 11 minutes on the second morning, as first Alec Taylor was caught at slip off Travis Friend for 40, and then last man Leon Soma was trapped lbw by Dirk Viljoen for 1, leaving Justin Lewis unbeaten with 6. The total was 381, satisfactory but by no means outstanding on a good pitch. Viljoen, with three for 27, returned the best bowling figures, while left-arm spinner Ian Coulson was surprisingly not given an over.Vusi Sibanda got Midlands off to a cracking start, pulling Soma for four and six in his first over when he pitched short. A fuller length quietened him, although he did play one fine drive off Brent over the covers for four. Terry Duffin was less flamboyant, and made 12 before edging a ball from Blessing Mahwire to the keeper, walking without waiting for the umpire’s decision.Sibanda continued to play some sparkling strokes, especially drives on the off side, but still showed occasional faulty stroke selection. Five penalty runs were awarded for a drive for three by Sibanda, as the fielder’s hat fell off and he then flicked the ball back on to it.Douglas Marillier never got going, scoring only 3 before a lazy shot cost him his middle stump. Sibanda’s cameo came to an end at 48 – his second-best score in first-class cricket – with a straight-forward edge off Brent to the keeper. Midlands were 83 for three and the innings was at the crossroads.Craig Wishart, who took 16 balls to get off the mark, and Sean Ervine dug in, but some loose balls from Alec Taylor and Richie Sims gave some welcome relief and several boundaries just before lunch.Afterwards the torture started for Manicaland. Wishart and Ervine batted with increasing confidence; Ervine reached 48 and looked likely to reach his fifty first until Stuart Matsikenyeri came on to bowl his gentle off-breaks and Wishart hit two fours and a six in four balls to reach the landmark.They continued throughout the afternoon session, making batting look easy. Most of Wishart’s runs came from drives in front of the wicket, while Ervine used a wider range of strokes. They were in the nineties together, and at one stage there appeared to be the rare situation of having two batsmen in on 99 at the same time. Ervine had the bowling, and a classic off-drive to the boundary brought up his century. However, the scorers had temporarily missed a single to Wishart in his fifties, and he had already reached three figures unknown to anybody until the error was found during the tea interval.Ervine celebrated with two sixes in an over off Richie Sims, one a massive hit into the bush far behind the sightscreen. Wishart, who had been temporarily starved of the bowling, finally stole a single to bring up what was thought to be his century. He faced 102 balls for the genuine one, against 127 by Ervine who had most of the bowling. The stand of 242 came to an end on the stroke of tea when Ervine cut a ball firmly to backward point where it was held by Dylan de Beer.Wishart, 103 at tea, continued as if determined to ram a point down the selectors’ throats. Still selecting his shots well, he drove Leon Soma straight into the stumps at the far end, but so powerful was his stroke that it burst through the middle of them and reached the long-on boundary. Shortly afterwards he reached 150, having passed his previous best of 144, and then went through a quiet period to gather his breath. The Manicaland total was now behind them and at the other end Viljoen was accumulating steadily.He speeded up later, but just failed to reach the close, flashing at Brent to be caught at the wicket, ironically equalling his 172 against Namibia in the World Cup. But at 457 for five Midlands were well on top. Alester Maregwede (1) held out with Viljoen (57) until the close.

New Zealand 196 for 2 (Vincent 66, Fleming 46) beat Zimbabwe Board XI 193 for 8 (Taylor 49) by eight wickets
ScorecardAn opening partnership of 108 by Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent guided New Zealand to an easy eight-wicket win with almost 25 overs to spare in a warm-up match at Bulawayo.Andy Blignaut won the toss and elected to bat, but Chamunorwa Chibhabha soon fell for a 25-ball duck, and Vusumuzi Sibanda departed for 6 soon after. A 57-run stand for the third wicket between Stuart Carlisle (24) and Craig Wishart (35) brought some hope for the home side but both fell to Scott Styris, holing out to Daniel Vettori at mid off.Brendan Taylor went for 49 when he lofted Jeetan Patel only to be brilliantly taken by Vettori on the boundary. Charles Coventry scored a quick 15 off 21 balls, smashing two fours and one six, before Vettori bowled him round his legs. Blignaut hit two fours and the same number of sixes before Patel bowled him for 24 and Gavin Ewing hit an unbeaten19 runs off just 11 balls with two fours and two sixes. Andre Adams was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 12 off nine overs.Vincent and Fleming never wasted time and smashed the Zimbabwe Board XI bowlers all over the park, scoring at over ten an over. Vincent raced to his half century off 30 balls with nine fours and one six. Blignaut and Waddington Mwayenga got a hammering and offspinner Ewing had to be introduced into the attack as early as the eighth over.New Zealand lost their first wicket when Fleming cut Ewing to Chibhabha at backward point for 46, but that did not check the scoring as Craig McMillan joined Vincent. The Board XI were gifted their second wicket, courtesty of a dubious leg before wicket decision by Manny Mhlanga who adjudged Vincent lbw to an Antony Ireland full toss for 66.But by then New Zealand were 143 for 2 and McMillan and Hamish Marshall guided them to victory with 24.5 overs to spare.Zimbabwe limped to a disappointing 193 for 8, and that never challenged a New Zealand side who coasted to victory without breaking sweat. Andre Adams was the pick of the bowlers, taking 1 for 12 off nine overs.

Ian Harvey, the former Australian allrounder, has arrived in Cape Town to begin his stint with the Cape Cobras. Harvey has opted to leave Australian state cricket behind and spend six months of the year in South Africa.He spoke at a press conference shortly after arriving and stressed how keen he was to make an impact during his time with the franchise. “I believe this is a great opportunity and a new adventure for me. Hopefully things will be successful.”Harvey has made the decision to quit Australian domestic cricket, where he played for Victoria, as his chances of reselection to the national team are slim. With all his experience and nous, he hopes to pass on advice to the younger members of the Cape Cobras squad. “I reckon I have something to offer over here. I believe I can impart some stuff to the younger players.”For the last six months he has been playing for Yorkshire, using the time to develop his batting and says he is now a complete player. He averaged 42 with the bat and 26 with the ball in the County Championship. “I batted as high as number five during my stay with Yorkshire, and I think I’ve definitely improved with the bat over the past twelve months. I’m no longer just a bowling allrounder.”Harvey is looking forward to playing alongside Graeme Smith, when international commitments allow South Africa’s captain to feature domestically, and calls Smith “one of the greatest competitors in the game.” He also aims to put something back into the game in Cape Town by hosting three coaching clinics during his stay. These will allow up to 500 children to play and train with Harvey.

Malcolm Speed, the former Australian Cricket Board chief executive, asked the opinions of two influential legal entities prior to threatening to drop Mark Waugh from the national side. Speed, who is now the ICC chief executive, said yesterday that he requested the ACB to deny Waugh a place in the side after the latter refused to speak to anti-corruption officials in 2001.”I did not want the lead story the following day to be that the player – who was advised by a leading QC [Queen’s Counsel] – had obtained an injunction against us,” Speed said in . “Not surprisingly, we decided to obtain a second and very favourable opinion from Melbourne’s leading Queen’s Counsel.”Leo Karis, Waugh’s manager, said that when the incident occurred Waugh did seek legal advice from his lawyers in regards to the nature of the inquiry and the intent of Speed’s comments. “It was not that he did not want to participate – he wanted more information,” Karis said in . “I must say I thought it was a disgusting tactic by the ACB because he was a player who was taking his legal rights but was being judged – what happened to being innocent before being found guilty?”Waugh was found guilty of supplying weather and pitch information to Mukesh Gupta, an Indian bookmaker, in 1993 and was fined US$10,000 in 1995 by the ACB. The ACB threatened to drop Waugh from the team when he initially refused to speak to anti-corruption officials in 2001, but Waugh agreed to cooperate.Speaking on the challenge of fighting corruption, Speed said cricket was on top of its fight. “We take great heart from our battle against corruption. Five years ago, cricket was on its knees as a result of corruption scandals. If we had a share price, it would have hit rock bottom.” Speed was speaking at the annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association in Sydney.

The Dolphins were made to pay for their decision to bowl first at Durban, after 48 from Blake Snijman at the top of the order and half-centuries from Justin Ontong (59 not out) and Neil McKenzie (65 not out). The only success for the Dolphins was two wickets from Jon Kent as the Lions went to 207 for 2 when bad light stopped play with nearly 30 overs remaining.South Africa’s selectors will be thanked for releasing AB de Villiers from national squad duties to play for the Titans in their season opener against the Eagles at Benoni. Coming to the crease at 54 for 3, de Villiers recovered the innings with Andre Seymore (52) and then was run out on 98 with the Titans having consolidated at 257 for 6. Pierre de Bruyn then took over the reins, steering them to 315 for 6 with a solid 59 not out at the close.The Warriors made slow but steady progress against a disciplined Cobras attack at Port Elizabeth. Having been sent in under cloudy skies, the Warriors lost two quick wickets but recovered well with Carl Bradfield and Arno Jacobs putting together a 165-run partnership. Jacobs eventually went for 87, bowled by Ian Harvey to give him his first wicket. At the close the Warriors had moved to 245 for 5 with Bradfield unbeaten on 118. A feature of the play was that 107 overs were bowled, that is 11 more than the limit for the day.