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New South Wales Breakers will aim for back-to-back National Women’s Cricket League titles after they sealed second place with a double success against South Australia at the weekend. The Breakers earned two bonus-point victories in Adelaide to set up an appointment with Victoria Spirit in the best-of-three finals series at Glen Waverley from January 26.Queensland Fire entered the last weekend of preliminary matches in second spot, but their 57-run loss to Victoria in Melbourne on Saturday dropped them to third and despite an 80-run thrashing of Spirit on Sunday, they could not hold off the charge of New South Wales. Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s return of 3 for 23 was crucial in the first match and she picked up another two victims on Sunday to equal the haul of fellow Australia bowler Kirsten Pike, who performed strongly for Queensland.Half-centuries to Alex and Kate Blackwell set up the Breakers’ opening win and their 101-run partnership pushed the total towards 9 for 234. South Australia fell for 184 and they managed only 181 the next day as Charlotte Anneveld picked up 3 for 25. Lisa Sthalekar made sure of her side’s progress into the final with her unbeaten 92 securing the eight-wicket success.Victoria, who finished three points ahead, and New South Wales will contest the finals series for the seventh time in the 11-year history of the league and the Breakers hold a 4-2 advantage. They defeated Queensland over three matches last year to avenge the loss to Victoria in 2004-05.Queensland’s Melissa Bulow finished the series as the leading run-scorer with 336 at 42.00, ahead of South Australia’s Kris Britt, who collected 279 at 55.80. Clea Smith, from Victoria, was the most successful bowler with 15 wickets at 14.53 while Pike finished with 14 victims at the impressive average of 11.85.

Listen to Rahul Dravid’s press conferenceSoon after the presentation ceremony, Rahul Dravid walked towards theboundary rope and gestured towards the crowd. His wife made her way throughthe throng and handed over little Samit, who was then carried across tothe dressing room. Perhaps the celebrations were a little too much for atoddler to take and, by the time his father arrived for the press conferences,shirt soaked in spirits, Samit had gone back to a more child-friendlyenvironment.Sporting the biggest smile that he has in a long while, Dravid spokein animated tones about the celebrations following a historic 123-run victory.”Everyone’s going berserk and really enjoying it,” he said”. “It’s aspecial moment for this group and we are celebrating appropriately.”In the build-up to the game, Dravid had emphasised that it would bedangerous to write India off, though he admitted that the no-hopers taghadn’t been entirely undeserved. “I don’t blame the people for criticisingus,” he said. “South Africa were always going to be favourites headinginto this Test, but I knew there was a lot of quality in this team. Weshowed that in the last few days. We had players who stood up and werecounted.”Having been an integral part of epochal successes at Adelaide, Headingleyand Multan, Dravid was cautious when asked where this triumph rated in thegrand scheme of things. “This victory is great because this is the firsttime we have done it in South Africa in four visits over the past 14 years. Asa cricketer, your special moments are the ones that you share with theteam; the celebrations, the joy you get from winning and just being a partof the group that has stood by you for three-and-a-half days and put ineverything they’ve got to come out victorious.”The morale appeared to be too low for zero after the capitulation in theone-day series but, by the time the players returned to Johannesburg forthe Test, the spring was back in several steps. “It’s not that we haven’tdone this before,” said Dravid, when asked what had changed. “We lost theone-day series in West Indies but came back to win the Test series. Ithink it was nice to get away in Potchefstroom and hang in together.”The team was pretty hurt with the one-day defeat and we just got togetherand said whatever happens, we’ll try and put in a better performance. Wecame here with a bit of confidence having won the warm up-game. I’mglad the boys displayed a lot of fighting spirit and character.”Sreesanth’s brilliance with the ball broke the game open for India, butDravid preferred to focus on the team effort when asked to pick out thepivotal moments in the game. “The way Sourav Ganguly batted with the lowerorder to get us to 250,” he said. “His partnership with VRV Singh wascrucial too. Sreesanth and Zaheer coming out and bowling out theopposition for 84. Laxman did a great job with the tail in the secondinnings and his stand with Zaheer. Sreesanth picking up three wickets in thesecond innings, including the important wicket of Kallis. These were thecrucial moments that eventually helped us win.”The return of Ganguly added experience to the middle order, and both heand Laxman played hugely important knocks in the context of a low-scoringmatch. “It’s nice to have boys who have performed well in situations likethis before,” said Dravid. “To be honest, this Test team has been the samefor some time now, except for one or two players here and there. We hadthe same group in Pakistan, [against] England and West Indies.”When asked whether he’d discerned any change in Ganguly’s attitude andapproach to the game, Dravid said: “He’s really playing well. There’s nodoubt about that. His performances in Potchefstroom and in this Test havebeen really good. It’s great to see him batting well. He’s a proven andexperienced performer and when he bats well, it’s going to make a bigdifference to the side. I hope he keeps continuing because we’ll need goodperformances from people like him, Sachin, Laxman and myself to have theright results.”There was praise too for the coaching staff, who have copped considerablecriticism in recent months after indifferent results in the one-day game.”Unfortunately, we tend to focus a lot on individuals in success anddefeat,” said Dravid. “But at the end of the day, victories and defeatsare not about the captain or the coaches or one or two individuals. It’salways about the team. I’ve always believed that it’s the performancesthat you put in as a team that helps you win matches.”

With India needing just five more wickets at the start of day four, theintensity was a little less than what it had been on the first three days.Dravid said, however, that there had been no hint of complacency. “Thesenior guys in the side were pretty keen to remind me and everyone else,saying: ‘Let’s get this done. They are a very good side, we need to beprofessional and get the job done’. It’s a good group of senior boys inthe team and the support they’ve given me is fantastic. A lot of things Idon’t even need to say, it just comes from the group and they handle a lotof things themselves.”In the past, great highs such as this have been followed by crashing lows,and Dravid said that his team needed to be wary of a South Africanbacklash. “South Africa will come back hard at us,” he said. “We have tosoak up a lot of pressure and respond adequately.”The pressure was certainly on when he walked out for the toss at theWanderers, and he asserted that the decision to bat had been his alone.”Whether we bat or bowl first, or who plays in the XI, is going to be mycall,” he said. “I do discuss things in our team meetings and with some ofmy senior players but at the end of the day, it always starts and endswith me. I felt that batting first was the way to go on this pitch.”Getting 249 on the board was quite an achievement, but what followed wasjust sensational, with the bowlers dismantling a powerful batting line-upin just 25.1 overs. “He bowled brilliantly for us,” said Dravid, whenasked specifically about Sreesanth’s man-of-the-match display. “Obviously,he’s a character, but he needs to be a bit careful. We wouldn’t want himto miss a game.”He chuckled when asked about Sreesanth’s impromptu celebrations afterwhacking Andre Nel for a straight six. “I’d rather have him do what he didwith the bat than what he did later. But I enjoyed his six. I enjoyeverything when Sreesanth bowls well. He’s a great character. A playerlike him, a character like him, needs to be celebrated and enjoyed.”And, as the storm clouds gathered over the stadium, he admitted that thehigh jinks weren’t about to end just yet. “It’s a good moment to betogether as a group and celebrate,” he said, with a big grin. “We played alittle bit of ‘Holi’. The boys need to learn to drink too, and not justspray it!”After what they have just accomplished, most Indians would forgive them that.

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The England captaincy is a hot potato at present, with the selectors frantically juggling their options until such time as Michael Vaughan’s knee comes back to life. Away from the spotlight at Canterbury, however, Robert Key was demonstrating that leadership doesn’t have to be a burden. He led from the front for England A, compiling a beautiful unbeaten 128 to give Pakistan’s bowlers a tough workout ahead of next week’s first Test.After the battering that the senior side has received in recent weeks, this fixture comes as a welcome opportunity for the England camp to regroup. Consequently the side has been packed with men with several points to prove – not least among them Key himself. As Kent’s captain, he is in familiar surroundings, but today’s news that Vaughan has officially been ruled out of this winter’s Ashes added an extra frisson to his innings.Key made a favourable impression on the previous trip to Australia four years ago, but hasn’t played for the Test side since the tour to South Africa in January 2005. While England’s batsmen were dropping like flies in India this winter, he was recuperating from shoulder surgery and so was overtaken in the pecking order by men such as Alastair Cook and Owais Shah.”It’s been a slow start for me in four-day cricket,” Key admitted afterwards, having not yet registered a century this season. He began his innings bullishly with four fours and a six before lunch, and later clouted Danish Kaneria straight down the ground for another maximum to bring up his 150 partnership with another recent England discard, Ian Bell.The conditions were very much in favour of the batsmen, as Key was quick to acknowledge. “We played Notts on a wicket like that,” he said. “We got 600 and couldn’t bowl them out.” But with the likes of Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul obtaining some reverse swing from as early as the 20th over, it was never entirely plain sailing. “They showed some class,” he added, “on a wicket where there was no conventional swing and no seam movement.”England suffered an early setback when Cook was caught behind for 3 off Mohammad Sami, a neat low catch in front of first slip by Kamran Akmal, but Akmal was soon forced to leave the field after damaging his left index finger. On the stroke of lunch, clearly discomforted, he dropped Key off Asif for 30 and did not return.It was an alarm for Pakistan, who have no reserve keeper in their squad and instead handed the gloves to Faisal Iqbal. The uncapped 20-year-old, Zulqarnain Haider, would have been flown in from Lahore in the event of a break, but Pakistan’s coach, Bob Woolmer, later confirmed Akmal had suffered nothing more than bruising around the top joint.Faisal did at least manage to hang onto the one catch that came his way. Bell is becoming a familiar face to this Pakistani attack, having top-scored for the Test team in last winter’s tour, a performance that included a century in the second Test at Faisalabad. But this time he was unable to make the most of similarly flat conditions, and was second man out for 74 (187 for 2).Shah came in at No. 4, as if to showcase the strength of England’s middle-order reserves, although judging by the current medical bulletins, they are going to be needed in the weeks and months to come. He made another start, 23 from 97 balls, but was unable to pick up his momentum and eventually edged a low catch to Imran Farhat at slip off Danish Kaneria.There were four changes for Pakistan, after their eight-wicket win over Leicestershire, with their captain Inzamam-ul-Haq returning in place of vice-captain Younis Khan. Mohammad Yousuf came in for the big-hitting Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq replaced Shoaib Malik in the allrounder’s spot, while Asif was given a chance ahead of seamer Shahid Nazir.Though Pakistan were not fielding their full Test XI, it was nonetheless an important first century of the season for Key, whose recuperation from surgery has been hampered by some “interesting” wickets at the Rose Bowl and Stockton, among others. “Before you know it, you’ve been nicked off a couple of times,” he explained, “and you’re staring down the barrel of an ordinary start to the season. But the last two have been perfect for batting, so it’s nice to cash in.”Key won’t be in contention for the Lord’s Test, because his shoulder is still not back to full strength. “I was starting to think I’d never throw again a few weeks ago,” he admitted, “but all of a sudden I’ve starting rocketing them in from about ten yards! But it was a big operation. They reckoned it would take 12 months before I was throwing properly. It’s seven or eight now, so give it a couple of months, and it shouldn’t be a problem.”That would coincide nicely with the Ashes considerations, and in Vaughan’s absence, there is a definite prospect of a tour place for Key. “Any runs are valuable, but this is probably slightly more in the spotlight. This is definitely a set up from county cricket when you come up against an attack like that. You feel more a part of the England set-up, with a different group of people and an England shirt of some means. I think it’s a great format.”

Kenya’s ambitions to bridge the gap between themselves and the Full Member countries have been dealt a blow by the news that Roger Harper will not be renewing his contract as coach after the ICC World Twenty20.Harper took charge in January 2006 and has had considerable success in rebuilding a side that hardly played in the previous three years. In February this year Kenya won the World League Division One, a success which earned them a place in the ICC World Twenty20. The Kenyan side has also become far more disciplined in his time at the helm.Harper turned down an invitation to continue because of family commitments in the Caribbean.”Roger has been a truly marvellous ambassador for the game of cricket,” Samir Inamdar, Cricket Kenya’s chairman, told Cricinfo. “His steadying influence at a time when our cricket was in pieces has been an outstanding feature of his stay here. It has, I believe, succeeded in bringing our national team together into a cohesive and disciplined unit.”Kenya will look to fill the vacancy immediately after the tournament. Harper’s successor will be appointed for the period ending June 2009.

Scorecard A big century by Qaiser Ali was not enough to save Canada – or even to take them to a fourth day – as Netherlands completed victory at Pretoria. Still, Canada will be encouraged by a decent batting display at last – after their first-innings collapse for 103, and their recent shocking form with the bat, this time they reached 485 to set Netherlands 180 for victory.Netherlands duly knocked off the runs for just three wickets, Tom de Grooth leading the way with 82. The inevitable man of the match, Ryan ten Doeschate, fittingly struck the winning runs, biffing one of his five fours on his way to an unbeaten 31 off 26 balls.It had seemed unlikely that Netherlands would even need to bat again when, on the second day, Canada were in some difficulty at 153 for 5, still trailing by 152. But Qaiser Ali continued in cracking form, building on his overnight 76 to make 176. He shared in a sixth-wicket stand of 184 with Don Maxwell (72) and Umar Bhatti (83*) also chipped in useful runs to make Netherlands enter a second innings. But they hunted down their target with ease.The openers de Grooth and Bas Zuiderent (42) got them off to a flyer, putting on 122. After that partnership the result was never in doubt and Netherlands lost just two more wickets to canter home.

Mark Butcher’s hopes of playing in this summer’s Ashes have all but ended, due to a troublesome wrist injury that could now keep him out of action until August.Butcher’s finest hour came in the fourth Test at Headingley during the last Ashes summer in 2001, when his unbeaten 173 carried England to an astonishing victory. He went onto to play in 42 consecutive matches, until a bizarre run of injuries last summer – including a whiplash from a car-crash and a groin strain while moving house – loosened his grip on the No. 3 berth.”August is looking like the best I can hope for,” Butcher told BBC Sport. “I had hoped to be back playing by May, but things can move on. The Ashes still has to be in the back of my mind.”Butcher played in the opening two Tests of last winter’s tour of South Africa, but withdrew on the morning of the third match at Cape Town when his wrist problem became too severe to continue. He was appointed as captain of Surrey for the 2005 season – a move that many interpreted as the beginning of the end of his Test career – but as yet he has been unable to lead his side, with Mark Ramprakash standing in until his recent finger injury.”I went to see my specialist on Tuesday to have an injection,” Butcher added. “The problem I have now is the swelling from the operation. The ligament damage has repaired but the wrist has not got back to normal as far as the swelling is concerned.”Since his injury, Butcher has slipped way down the pecking order of aspiring England batsmen. Robert Key was his initial replacement in South Africa, but this summer the claims of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen have come to the fore. “There couldn’t have been a worse year for this to happen,” Butcher admitted, “but I just have to stay positive and hope everything goes well.””The injection seems to be working and it’s starting to look a little bit more like my hand now, but I have to keep a splint on it for another week. And then I have to start the arduous business of getting the exercises done, getting strength back into it and getting mobility back before I can even think about practising again.”But Butcher is well aware that when the Australians are in town, nothing can ever be ruled out. “One thing Ashes series have taught me over the years is that there always tends to be injuries and losses of form. That’s how I got back into the side in 2001, through other people’s misfortune. Without wishing that on anybody, there’s always the possibility.”

Having seen off India’s timid challenge, Australia and West Indies willcontest bragging rights in the DLF Cup final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. For the first time in a competition where they have experimented with all types ofcombinations, Australia will be fielding their strongest side, and a WestIndian team missing the experience and canny swing bowling of CoreyCollymore will have its work cut out to be competitive.The two teams split the two matches in the league phase, with West Indieshaving squandered a tremendous opportunity in the tournament opener, whenthey went from 172 for 1 to 201 all out. On Sunday though, they’ll facethe world’s most potent new-ball attack, with Glenn McGrath and Brett Leein tandem for only the second time in the competition. The support cast isno less impressive, with the ever-improving Shane Watson and NathanBracken, and West Indies would also do well to be wary of Brad Hogg, whosorted out a couple of Indian batsmen with his variations on Friday night.The batting order, even without the hulking figure of Matthew Hayden -rested in view of not being part of the Champions Trophy squad – isimposing, with Damien Martyn likely to miss out from the twelve chosen forthe game. Simon Katich and Watson should open the innings, with RickyPonting, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey forming afrightening middle order. Brad Haddin’s effervescent efforts with the bathave made the absence of Adam Gilchrist seem like a trifling problem, andHogg too is no Bugs Bunny with the bat.West Indies’ prospects will depend entirely on the top order, capable ofshredding any attack on a good day. Brian Lara leads the way, and his 87in the last game against Australia was touched with genius. Chris Gayle,Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have also shown signs ofexceptional form at various times in the tournament, and West Indies wouldlove all four to make an impact against a bowling line-up that will be atthem from the outset.Jerome Taylor’s raw pace complements Ian Bradshaw’s control with the newball, and Dwayne Smith has performed creditably in his outings with theball, swinging it late with great accuracy. But Dwayne Bravo has had anindifferent series, and plenty of worries remain about the fragility ofthe middle order. Wavell Hinds scratched around dreadfully in the lastmatch against India, and Marlon Samuels may just have played his way outof the XI.With a thigh injury depriving them of Collymore’s services, West Indies’only real hope is to bat big and hope to pressure Australia’s batsmen intomistakes. Chasing against the likes of Lee and McGrath is a difficult taskat the best of times, and as India found out yesterday, the anaconda gripgets you eventually.TeamsAustralia 1 Simon Katich, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Glenn McGrathWest Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 RamnareshSarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Wavell Hinds, 7 RunakoMorton, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10, Ian Bradshaw, 11 JeromeTaylor

Lloyd Mash, the opener who made his first-class debut against West Indies on Friday, has replaced Brad Hodge and will play his first Pura Cup match against Queensland starting on Friday. Mash collected 44 against West Indies, hit four sixes in an over during a hastily-arranged Twenty20 match with the tourists, and is the only change to the side that sits on top of the table with New South Wales.Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, expected the Bulls to provide a stern test for his side after their perfect start to the domestic interstate summer. “We have had two very good away wins in Perth and Hobart and we’re confident that if we can execute our game plan we can come away from Brisbane with another good result,” he said.The fast man Shane Harwood missed the tour match with a back injury but returns to the squad and the bowling attack will be chosen from Mick Lewis, Gerard Denton and Allan Wise. Hodge is tipped to make his Test debut against West Indies in Hobart on Thursday.New South Wales will consider a Pura Cup debut for Stephen O’Keefe after he was named in the 12-man squad to play Tasmania at the SCG beginning on Friday. O’Keefe, a 20-year-old allrounder, has taken 12 wickets at 17.25 with his left-arm orthodox spin in Sydney grade games this season.Brad Haddin, who is recovering from a finger injury, faces a fitness test later this week but has also been picked in the initial squad. Simon Katich will lead the team after he was dropped from the Test side last week.Victoria squad Jason Arnberger, Michael Klinger, Nick Jewell, Lloyd Mash, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Jon Moss, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Mick Lewis, Gerard Denton, Allan Wise.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Greg Mail, Simon Katich (capt), Matthew Phelps, Dominic Thornely, Aaron O’Brien, Brad Haddin (wk), Grant Lambert, Stephen O’Keefe, Matthew Nicholson, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger.

With Shane Warne’s Test spot suddenly left vacant, New South Wales leg spinner Stuart MacGill has today produced a perfect demonstration of his suitability as a replacement in the Pura Cup clash with Victoria in Melbourne. On another stop-start day at Punt Road, MacGill sensationally claimed three wickets in the space of ten balls midway through day three to help reduce the Victorians to a score of 6/140 by stumps in reply to the Blues’ 250.Just as this game appeared to be drifting along aimlessly in mid-afternoon, the fiery spinner re-ignited proceedings with a series of spectacular dismissals. At a scoreline of 2/57 in the thirtieth over, stodgy opener Jason Arnberger and number four Bradley Hodge appeared to be laying the foundations for the Bushrangers to claim first innings points. But, in the space of ten minutes, MacGill (3/34) changed all that completely, masterminding a dramatic collapse that saw the home team lose four wickets for five runs and crash to 6/62.Arnberger (20) was the first of MacGill’s three victims, losing his off stump after advancing a pace and playing over the top of a perfectly pitched top spinner. Ian Harvey (0) was the next to fall, succumbing to a fine reflex caught and bowled as he looped back a misplayed off drive. A driving Shawn Craig (0) illustrated no clearer clue of how to conquer the former international, gloriously beaten by the best ball of the match – a sharply spinning delivery which landed in footmarks outside the line of left hander’s off stump before shooting straight through the gate and into his stumps.To an extent, the classy Hodge (60*) and captain Paul Reiffel (34*) were able to rectify matters thereafter for the Victorians with a courageous unbroken stand of seventy-eight runs for the seventh wicket. But, with the injured Warne unlikely to bat, the havoc wreaked by MacGill served as a shattering blow to the Vics’ hopes of taking any points away from this rain-marred contest. It was indeed just as well for the locals that two comfortable-looking catches – the second a particularly costly miss as Reiffel had only twelve alongside his name at the time – were grassed by Michael Slater at point.Earlier in the day, a breezy half century from all-rounder Shane Lee (53) had helped the visitors clamber their way to what proved to be a competitive first innings total. Around some fine bowling from off spinner Colin Miller (4/71) that is similarly unlikely to have escaped the attention of the national selectors, there was also some positive strokeplay at times from tailenders Brett Lee (14), MacGill (13) and Don Nash (11).

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle have been included in a Stanford 20/20 Super Star team which will take on South Africa in a one-off Twenty20 international in November. The teams will battle it out for a massive US$5million prize at the Stanford Cricket Ground in St John’s, Antigua, the venue which hosted the recently concluded Stanford 20/20 tournament.Apart from Sarwan and Gayle, the squad also includes Marlon Samuels and Pedro Collins. Sarwan led Guyana to the Stanford 20/20 title on Sunday, scoring an unbeaten 49 as Guyana beat Trinidad and Tobago by five wickets in a thrilling encounter. The 20-member line-up also has notable performers like Travis Dowlin, the Player of the Match in the final, Kieron Pollard, the Trinidad and Tobago batsman who scored 83 in the semi-finals, and Tonito Willet of Nevis, whose undefeated 86 against Antigua was also the highest individual score of the tournament.Kelbert Walters, William Perkins and Kieran Powell, three of the outstanding young players in the tournament, will also train with the squad to gain experience.Squad Carlton Baugh, Pedro Collins, Esuan Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Mervyn Dillon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Dennis George, Wavell Hinds, Rawl Lewis, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Nelon Pascal, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Tonito Willett
Reserves Kelbert Walters, William Perkins, Kieran Powell