Jacob Oram has been called into the New Zealand squad for the CB Series after recovering from a hamstring injury and Kyle Mills could also be a surprise addition, according to the New Zealand camp. Oram will fly to Adelaide on Sunday ahead of the team’s must-win match against England two days later.Lindsay Crocker, the team’s manager, said the selectors would assess Mills’ chances after his performance for Auckland against Canterbury today. “If the New Zealand selectors are satisfied with his fitness and form he will also head to Adelaide,” Crocker said.Oram, who hurt his hamstring during the Test series against Sri Lanka last month, returned to first-class cricket two weeks ago. On Thursday, he impressed with an unbeaten 70 and two wickets for Central Districts against Otago.Oram said he was looking forward to the trip despite New Zealand’s poor start to the CB Series. “The guys have played in Hobart and that’s the smallest of the four venues, so we’ll be at the better and bigger parks, with more people and more abuse,” Oram told the .”So it’s a massive challenge. I’ve played over there a couple of times already and you know you’re in a fight. But, at the same time, you look at it as being the ultimate challenge in cricket. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s kinda what you play for.”However, the news wasn’t all good for New Zealand as an injury scare delayed allrounder Scott Styris’s return. He was expected to join the team before their match against England on Tuesday but had to prove his fitness by playing against Canterbury. Styris withdrew from the game after feeling a twinge in his calf muscle and will not fly to Australia on Monday. However, he could join the team later in the Commonwealth Bank series.

There is one bright spot in the darkness of Australia’s recent run of poor one-day form: their batting will be boosted by the return of the rested Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke for the World Cup. They can take no solace from their bowling situation.Australia’s inability to defend 336 at Auckland on Sunday was the latest in a worrying series of big targets they have proved incapable of protecting. New Zealand’s impressive effort was the second-highest successful run-chase in ODI history and was nestled between two other Australian failures from the past 14 months.In their second-last match before they travel to the World Cup, it should be a major concern for a team that has had its bowling line-up largely settled since at least the Champions Trophy in October. Only Shaun Tait has been added for his ability to bowl fast, inswinging yorkers at the death but he is yet to demonstrate that skill at international level.Big scores could be common in the West Indies, where the small grounds will encourage the sort of boundary-clearing strokes that led to a combined 20 sixes at Eden Park on Sunday. Unless Australia’s attack can remember how to bowl some tight, containing overs in the middle or closing stages, their one-day crown will be in danger of slipping even further.Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken, two of their most reliable performers, have been below par in 2006-07. Both suffered at the destructive hands of Jacob Oram at Perth as New Zealand came agonisingly close to overhauling Australia’s 343. The pair was also part of the four-man pace attack that could not break the partnership between Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell after England were in desperate trouble in the first CB Series final at Melbourne.Bracken has picked up wickets here and there but his consistency in breaking top-order partnerships with the swinging white ball has fallen away. McGrath has not rediscovered the joy of his Test farewell and his ageing body has been unable to produce the metronomic accuracy that formerly demanded respect from batsmen the world over.Mitchell Johnson has left behind the form that earned him the prize wickets of Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar at the DLF Cup in September. When he plays, he is now targeted by batsmen who want to belt him out of the attack.As Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton reeled in the target at Auckland, what Australia needed was a string of miserly overs that ballooned the required run-rate close to ten an over. Tait, McGrath, Bracken and Shane Watson all threatened to do it but there was always a loose ball just around the corner that let the batsmen relieve the pressure with a boundary.Australia have missed Andrew Symonds and his habit of tearing through overs of offspin as their fit slow-bowling options, Brad Hogg and Cameron White, went for a combined 87 from ten overs. White is, at this stage, not going to the West Indies but Hogg needs to regain the form that made him such a useful part of Australia’s 2003 World Cup squad.He has had limited opportunities this season and his knack for picking up important wickets seems to have deserted him. Batsmen have been willing to push him around and try for boundaries by hitting with the spin. On big grounds that can lead to outfield catches but on smaller ones he will need more control.

Within the 15-man World Cup squad, there are precious few other possibilities. Johnson was the only fit bowler going to the Caribbean who did not play on Sunday but he went for 49 from his eight overs two days earlier as New Zealand inflicted Australia’s first ten-wicket loss. There will be a temptation to bring in Stuart Clark, who is known for his consistency, if Brett Lee does not recover from his ankle injury.That might not be the best solution. Clark has been a Test match star but like the others, he has been too costly in the limited-overs game. His predictability – and on occasions his lack of control of the white ball – have led to an economy rate of 6.40 from his last ten games. He was the leading culprit as West Indies chased down Australia’s 272 in Malaysia in September, when he went for 87 from seven overs as Chris Gayle unleashed a fierce assault.Australia say they have been fine-tuning their attack in the lead-up to the World Cup. But they cannot possibly suggest their bowling line-up is in its best shape after their recent efforts, although Watson showed some promising signs on Sunday with his control and subtle variations. McGrath, Bracken, Johnson, Watson and Hogg are all capable of match-winning spells on their day. However, limited-overs bowling is largely about containment and unless they can remember how to restrict the runs, they will go to the West Indies in serious danger of being overpowered.In their pool matches the No. 1-ranked South Africa will be looking to justify their promotion and Australia must be on their game to contain Herschelle Gibbs and his team-mates. After that, any number of sides and individuals could hurt Australia. A destructive Gayle, a resurgent Sanath Jayasuriya, a fit-again Oram or a rejuvenated Sourav Ganguly are just a few of the countless threats. They have all taken notice of the last month and will want to prove they too can conquer the former masters.

ScorecardWest Indies sealed a 21-run victory over Kenya after Marlon Samuels smashed a century in a World Cup warm-up match at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Jamaica. Samuels shrugged off recent allegations of passing vital team information to an Indian bookie on his side’s last tour of the subcontinent to hit seven fours and two sixes before he retired on 100, as West Indies set Kenya 269 to win.A handful of the Kenyan batsmen got starts, but no one was able to carry on and the visitors were restricted to 247 for 7. Collins Obuya struck an unbeaten 54 to top score for Kenya, Ravindu Shah supported with 41, the captain Steve Tikolo made 34 and Tanmay Mishra got 22.Kenya suffered a setback in the third over when David Obuya was caught at first slip for 7 off Daren Powell, who also had Maurice Ouma caught in the same position for 9, leaving Kenya at 40 for 2. Corey Collymore then bowled Malhar Patel for 12 in the 15th over before he deceived Shah with a slower ball and had him caught at mid-on. Obuya put on 55 for the seventh wicket with Thomas Odoyo, who collected 24, to beef up the Kenyan total.The Kenyans were unable to control West Indies’ scoring, as Samuels exploded in the latter stages to boost West Indies to 268 for 6. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul was caught at second slip off Thomas Odoyo for zero in the third over, the left-handers Chris Gayle and Devon Smith added 58 to provide some momentum.Gayle reached his half-century before trying to reverse-sweep and was bowled for 75 off 90 balls, which included nine fours and a six. Samuels emerged from an uncertain start and reached his century when he guided Lameck Onyango to third man for a single. He left for the dressing room immediately to give the teenager Kieron Pollard (14) a chance.

On Monday, Hamish Marshall was batting for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic State Championship final. On Wednesday, he was in Antigua preparing to bat at No. 3 in New Zealand’s Super Eights match against West Indies a day later.Marshall said it had been a hectic week after he was called up to replace Lou Vincent, who broke his wrist, in the 15-man squad. “There’s a bit of excitement,” he told AFP.”It’s always nice to get to a new country so I’ve been staying up reasonably late but I got to sleep last night and got eight hours in. I had a schedule that [the fitness trainer] Warren Frost had given me – when to sleep and when not to – and I stuck to that.”Marshall was dropped from the New Zealand team in January after reaching double-figures only twice from eight ODIs since the start of the Champions Trophy. However, his domestic form has been strong and on Monday his unbeaten 80 helped Northern Districts win the State Championship title.”It’s nice to be here, a little bit of a shock and I’m disappointed for Lou,” Marshall said. “It’s an opportunity for me and it’s just nice to be over here. The batting’s been going well for ND and playing some cricket in a team that’s winning is also pretty handy. To get some runs myself has been good for my confidence.”Marshall said facing up to West Indies on Thursday would be a huge challenge having only just arrived in the Caribbean. “It’s a quick turnaround but it’s part of the job,” he said. “I knew that was going to happen when I was coming over.”Mentally and physically there’s not a lot you can do, just get as much rest as possible and hydrate and eat well – that sort of thing. Mentally the key is to get on track to play a game which is pretty important for us at the start of the Super Eights.”Marshall’s appearance at No. 3 is not the only change to the New Zealand top order, with Peter Fulton set to open with Stephen Fleming. A win for New Zealand would put them well on the way to a semi-final berth.

Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, has admitted that he is surprised by the amount of flack aimed in his direction following South Africa’s World Cup campaign.Arthur, who has been lambasted in some quarters of the media, told Beeld newspaper: “This has been the best year South African cricket has had. We achieved a 75% success ratio and had only one poor World Cup match.”South Africa played below par in the semi-final against Australia, losing by a seven-wicket margin, after scoring a paltry 149 batting first. But South Africa suffered a shock ,67-run loss to Bangladesh and a five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the Super Eights stage. South Africa lost 4 out of the 10 matches at the World Cup.”When I took over we were the fifth best one-day team in the world. We rose to number one this year,” he said. South Africa ended the ICC year, which ran from April 2006 to March 2007, as the leading one-day country in world cricket, edging Australia into second place by a narrow margin.”How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand,” Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had done”Winning the ODI series at home against Australia and the way we came back after the shattering defeat in the first Test against India were the highlights for me. It’s no easy task to coach the national team. I never realised to what extent one becomes the property of the people,” he added.””It caught me off guard. I was also surprised by the way one finds oneself in the media spotlight and how they analyse everything you do,” he added.Despite the anti-climatic semi-final against Australia, Arthur said, “Yet I believe we have reason to claim that we are, along with the Aussies, the best one-day team in the world”.”How we can see the World Cup performance as a failure, I cannot understand,” Arthur said, adding that South Africa had never gone further than the semi-final and that it was the best they had doneArthur is hoping for another stint as coach, despite calls for his removal. He said that he has started planning for the next season. He hoped for a quick recovery from captain Graeme Smith, who is due to undergo a knee operation on Thursday. South Africa resume their cricket when they travel to Ireland to take on the home team and India.”Some players listen with one ear only”, he said in response to criticism from Roger Telemachus that he was not honest with him at the World Cup. “He (Telemachus) heard only what he wanted to hear. Even before we left South Africa I made it clear to him that he was a substitute bowler. I never promised that he would play,” he added.Telemachus had spoken out after the World Cup, and is quoted as saying, “I’m not afraid to say that I am spitting mad. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. To this day I do not know why I did not get an opportunity to play.” Telemachus was the only member of the 15-man South Africa squad who did not get a game at the World Cup.

Former Surrey and England one-day captain Adam Hollioake is reported to be about to hold discussions with Essex over playing for them in this year’s Twenty20 Cup, according to a report in today’s Guardian.The move stems from Hollioake’s appearance in a beach-cricket tournament in Australia in January which left Graham Gooch impressed. “I played pretty well and Goochie said I was good enough and young enough to play county cricket again,” Hollioake told The Guardian from his home in Perth. “Later, when he got home, he sent me an email asking if I’d be interested. I am. Nothing has been confirmed yet. We’re still talking. But it’s not the worst idea in the world.”Essex’s chief executive, David East, confirmed to Cricinfo that the talks were taking place. “We have had some initial discussions with Adam and are jointly exploring the possibility of him playing Twenty20 cricket for us.”Hollioake will be in the UK next week to attend a charity event and is expected to chat to Essex officials then. He admitted that he was approached by Nottinghamshire a while back but nothing came of it.

Steve Harmison will miss the entire India Test series with a hernia injury. Harmison will have an operation today which will rule him out for four to six weeks.Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Tremlett are all in line for the third seamer’s spot, although Tremlett only has an outside chance after being called up to the squad as cover on Monday.Peter Moores confirmed the news, saying: “Unfortunately for him the hernia has come back and now it’s all about getting the operation done as quickly as possible.”It was nearly a month ago that Harmison first sustained the injury, during the final Test against West Indies at Chester-le-Street but Harmison played on. He then did further damage in Durham’s Championship match against Sussex at Horsham.But Moores defended the decision to delay Harmison’s treatment. “If we’d operated on him then, the timeframe realistically for a sportsman is six weeks plus a couple of weeks to get back and bowl, that really would put him out of these two Tests, so we’d only have him for the last Test.”It was felt there was a good chance he could manage it but at Sussex he did it fielding, they think. The timeframe between the two series, you could say get an injury right, but anybody who’d bowled knows once you’ve got fit, you’ve got six weeks of muscle wasteage to overcome and building up you’ve got to get bowling fit before you play.”Steve’s one of those bowlers who needs to bowl. Realistically, it was the right decision.” Harmison is now likely to also miss the Friends Provident Trophy final at Lord’s on 18 August. His next international duty will probably be the Tests in Sri Lanka in December.Moores admitted that the situation was frustrating but added that England had little choice. “You have to work with what you’ve got,” he said. “The good thing is we have Ryan Sidebottom in, who is the sort of senior, mature exponent of what he does. He may not have a lot of Test experience, but he’s got a lot of first-class experience.”It’s better to look forward than to look back,” said Moores. “We have to keep working as hard as we can on all our bowlers. It’s the same with Freddie – when he’s back he’s got to be ready to play. We’ll be looking all the time to keep our people on the park.”There is very little prospect of Tremlett being required for the Test, and only a spate of further injuries will prevent him from playing for Hampshire at Chester-le-Street on Friday.”The choice for the final pace bowling position will be between James Anderson and Stuart Broad,” said David Graveney, the chairman of selectors yesterday. “They are different types of bowlers and the final decision will depend on our assessment of the pitch and the weather conditions at Lord’s.”Revised squad Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar, Matthew Hoggard, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett.

Scorecard

Kent claimed only their third domestic title in 29 years with a thrilling four-wicket victory in an action-packed and controversial Twenty20 final against Gloucestershire. Needing 13 off the final over, Darren Stevens crunched two boundaries off an overawed Carl Greenidge, but in chaotic scenes there was confusion over if the match had actually been won.The equation had come down to six off three balls when Stevens launched Greenidge over cover. Kent’s batsmen ran off to begin celebrating, but Gloucestershire were ready for another ball and the umpires weren’t sure either. It had been missed, apparently by everyone except TV, that a no-ball had also been called. After a consultation between the umpires the Kent celebrations began in front of a near full-house.The champagne spraying was led by Robert Key, but the final was tinged with a moment of controversy involving the Kent captain’s dismissal for 18. He flicked a ball from Greenidge and Hamish Marshall dived forward at midwicket to claim, what appeared, another impressive catch. Key took Marshall’s word and made his way off, but in similar scenes to Kevin Pietersen’s ‘dismissal’ at Lord’s against India earlier this season the big screen flashed up a replay before Key reached the boundary.He lingered inside the rope, but by now the umpires (Neil Mallender at square leg had been happy about the catch), and players were ready for the next delivery and the TV replay wasn’t called for. Clearly unimpressed, Key flung his bat across the boundary and stormed into the Kent dug-out. A short while afterwards, having calmed down in the dressing-room, he told : “I’m surprised they didn’t take it to the third umpire. The boys told me to go back like Kevin Pietersen.”Repercussions are likely for such a clear show of dissent, but it proved how much the players now want to win the Twenty20 and that it is played as intensely as the other tournaments. “I’ll probably cop it,” admitted Key afterwards. However, it shouldn’t take away from an impressive performance by Kent who were on-song throughout the day. In the end, Key was able to smile with his first trophy as captain and said: “Two overs from the end I was back in the dressing kicking a few things around thinking we were done for, but it’s pretty special.”Ryan McLaren’s hat-trick, the fifth in English Twenty20, helped restrict Gloucestershire to 146, a total around par for the day where scoring never appeared quite as easy as first imagined. After slipping to 62 for 4, Gloucestershire threatened a recovery as Marshall, with a 49-ball 65, formed a useful stand with Mark Hardinges before McLaren intervened. Marshall chopped into his stumps as he tried to glide a ball to third man, Stephen Adshead was cleaned-up by a beauty that held its line and took off stump and Ian Fisher was trapped in front.As in the semi-final against Sussex, Kent’s chase was handed a flying start by Key and Joe Denly. After Key’s dismissal Denly and Walker continued to make good progress. However, Hardinges removed Denly and Martin van Jaarsveld as the pressure mounted. Then Jon Lewis brought himself back and picked up Matthew Walker on the deep square-leg boundary and bowled McLaren. When Geraint Jones was involved in a manic run out, slipping as he tried to abort a second run, Gloucestershire were sensing the win.But Lewis had gambled on giving the final over to Greenidge, the weakest link in his attack, and the move backfired badly as he followed long-hop with half-volley, even bowling one delivery off two steps. Stevens connected cleanly with two mighty swings and the first trophy of the season was heading to Canterbury. That, though, was only one of the talking points from another eventful Twenty20 final.

Monty Panesar defended England’s behaviour in the second Test defeat to India at Trent Bridge last week, saying the tense game was still played in the right spirit.Panesar was speaking ahead of the final Test of a series that has been distinctly rougher round the edges than previous encounters between the two sides.India’s convincing seven-wicket win was overshadowed to some extent by various incidents on the field, from Sreesanth shoulder-barging Michael Vaughan and hurling down a dangerous beamer to Kevin Pietersen to the now infamous jelly bean incident. Incessant sledging formed a constant backdrop.Panesar said, “We all want to see cricket played in the right spirit and that is what happened. You want to be competitive but you need to play the game in the right spirit, which is important.”Peter Moores is the new coach with new enthusiasm and we are trying to emulate that enthusiasm in the game. We haven’t had any instructions about how to conduct ourselves. We all knew the game was played in the right spirit and as long as we keep doing that I am sure everything will be fine.”I think [the jelly bean incident] probably something that happened accidentally,” said Panesar. “It was unintentional, it was just that during the drinks break accidentally a jelly bean went on the wicket. What is more important – what we all want to see – is cricket played in the right spirit.”England need to win the last Test to maintain their record of not having lost a Test series at home since 2001, while India are looking for only their second series win in England in the last 21 years.”India are a strong team and it will be tough but if we can play good cricket like we have been doing there is a chance we will do well,” said Panesar. “If we try and put too much importance on this Test and put pressure on ourselves it may not get the best out of us. All we can do is shift the momentum from the first Test and second innings of the second into the third.”Panesar also expressed his disappointment at his exclusion from England’s Twenty20 World Championship squad. “My character is that I like to be involved in all forms of the game – you want to be part of things like the Twenty20 squad,” he said. “But missing out does give you an opportunity to prepare for the winter [tour to Sri Lanka], so you can take it is a positive as well.”Panesar is, however, a member of England’s ODI squad to take on India in a series of seven one-dayers.

Peter Moores says England will not jeopardise Andrew Flintoff’s future if his left ankle could be further damaged by continuing to play.Flintoff has struggled following a third operation on his ankle this summer, whereby he missed both Test series against West Indies and India. He returned for the one-day series against India, but, after suffering a swollen knee at Bristol, felt more pain in his left ankle following the match at Old Trafford. He missed two further games before having a steroid injection to help him through the decider at Lord’s.During his four-over spell against Australia in the ICC World Twenty20 pain was etched on his face and such determination to play through the problem has prompted fears he could do himself more damage.”At the moment I do know that Fred wants to play cricket,” admitted Moores, England’s coach. “He could aggravate it here but he could aggravate it at the next tournament, so you have to find out.”His ankle needs managing, there’s no doubt about that, but this is quite a good tournament for us to be able to test out where we are with him. He has four-over spells. It’s a short form of the game and we can control it and look at it so at the end of every game we do that.”If at any stage we thought we were damaging it or making it worse, he wouldn’t play. That is the basic premise everyone is working towards. He’s getting through and it’s manageable so they can look at different ways of rehab and strengthening it as we go along. At the moment it isn’t great because he’s definitely having to work a little bit within himself, but he’s still doing a good job for the team.”Moores then allayed worries that, in order to prolong his career, it may be best for Flintoff to pick and choose which matches he plays. He said that it’s not something England have considered just yet “because we just don’t know.””You can wrap him up and leave him but they’ve got to find out and I think that’s common sense. He saw the surgeon before we came out and the surgeon was very happy with it. It’s all credit to Fred for getting stuck in and playing.”Flintoff will undergo a fitness test – something he will be well used to by now – before England’s first Super Eight match against hosts South Africa on Sunday.