South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the last three matches of the Standard Bank one-day international series.Speaking to the media after South Africa’s comprehensive 108-run win in the fourth game at Newlands, Haroon Lorgat, the convener of selectors, said: “Our job as selectors becomes a lot easier when the guys perform as well as they have in the last three matches. With the players settling down well in their roles it is important to show confidence in them and maintain continuity.”The only possible change to the squad was the return of Charl Langeveldt, but that was ruled out by the fact that he was still unable to bat after breaking his left hand during the Test series.South Africa lead the seven-match series 2-1, with the next ODI to be played at East London on February 9.South African squad
Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Bacher, Jacques Rudolph, Ashwell Prince, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini.

scorecardJai Prakash Yadav’s five-wicket haul devastated North Zone, limiting them to a meager 104 on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final at the Vidarbha stadium. After Mohammad Kaif won the toss and put them into bat, North Zone lost wickets regularly with only Ritender Singh Sodhi showing resistance with 27. Yadav’s 5 for 26 was well-supported by Rudra Pratap Singh and Murali Kartik, who chipped in with two wickets apiece. North got off to the worst possible start, being reduced to 34 for 5 in 26 overs. However, they fought back well to capture four vital wickets, leaving Central on 94 for 4 at stumps. The first to go was Sanjay Bangar, their opener, with no run on the board. Naman Ojha, also opening, was the highest contributor with 55. Gagandeep Singh, bowling medium-pace, claimed 2 for 36.

Inzamam-ul-HaqOn winning the toss
The toss was important. Putting up a big score helps and it puts pressure on the other team. Taking two early wickets also helps.On Rana filling Shoaib’s shoes
Rana has played with Shoaib before but he has been performing well for some time now. He has performed very well here and he is a zabardast bowler.On Shoaib Malik bowling
The umpires can call him. We have worked on his action and we are confident it is clear now. There is a 21-day period if he is reported but if he is reported we will send the results and be confident that he will be cleared.On Jamshedpur being a lucky ground for Pakistan
Maybe it is a lucky ground for us.On the strategy today
It was very simple. The batsmen had to stay at the crease for a while before upping the scoring. It took Shoaib Malik some time to settle down but he stuck it out before opening up and playing his strokes. For the bowling, we had to bowl to a line and length and not give the batsmen any room. That is exactly what they did.On the series
The series is still very much open and as we are still trailing 2-1 we still have to work very hard. You can’t say anything about ODIs, it all depends on who plays well on the day.Rana Naveed-ul-HasanOn dismissing Sehwag
We knew he likes to play the cut shot a lot. I basically tried to get him to cut to point and that is exactly what happened.On the pitch
The wicket was very sporting. It helped batsmen as well as bowlers because we managed to put up over 300 on it and yet found it helpful to bowl on later as well.On feeling secure in the team despite repeated calls for Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Akhtar to return
I am playing for my country but if someone else comes in and does well then that is also great.On his performance
This is the most memorable performance of my career.On his most precious wicket
Virender Sehwag.On whether he thought he would get 6 wickets today
I don’t think about things like that. If you work hard, you will bowl well and get wickets.On his all-round potential
When I first came into the team I used to bat pretty well as well. But at the time we were struggling for bowlers, Shoaib wasn’t there. So I concentrated on my bowling more at the time but I would like to work on my batting again now.On Waqar Younis helping him out
He gave me a lot of tips during the recent tour to Australia and he was captain when I was last picked to play for Pakistan against Australia, although at the time I didn’t play. But he has helped me a lot with my bowling.

Emily Drumm has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a hamstring injury. Drumm, New Zealand’s most capped player, sustained the damage during New Zealand’s defeat to Australia on Thursday and her absence is a massive blow to the World Cup holders.Aimee Mason will come into the team as a replacement batsman after doctors advised Drumm to withdraw for the entire tournament. Mason will arrive in South Africa on Sunday, too late for New Zealand’s third match against Sri Lanka, which takes place on Saturday. However, Mason is expected to be available for the fourth round tie on Monday, when New Zealand take on Ireland, a team they defeated 3-0 in 2004.New Zealand have much work to do in the remaining group matches to guarantee themselves a semi-final place. They are a lowly sixth in the table, after rain washed out the first round, and sinking to Australia in the second.

Warren Hegg, Lancashire’s 37-year-old wicketkeeper, has announced that he will retire at the end of the summer.Hegg, who made his debut for the county in 1986 and went on to win two England caps, was a key member of the Lancashire side that won nine one-day titles between 1989 and 1999. “I’ve had 20 years at Old Trafford and have played with some great players,” he said. “I feel as though I have had a wonderful career.”Hegg has played 326 matches for Lancashire and scored 10,688 runs at 28.12, including seven hundreds, as well as taking 791 catches and 93 stumpings. His two England appearances came on the 1998-99 tour of Australia.

Australia’s preparation for the NatWest Series suffered a further blow when Brett Lee, their strike bowler, injured his shoulder in the warm-up game against Somerset at Taunton, where Australia stunningly failed to defend a target of 342. It was Australia’s second successive defeat on the tour, after they were thrashed by England in the Twenty20 fixture at The Rose Bowl.Lee, who has been Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the last two one-day tournaments, was forced to leave the field after bowling just four overs and was sorely missed in the rest of the innings as Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith plundered the Australian bowlers during their magnificent 197-run opening partnership.Ricky Ponting, who was visibly angered with his team’s performance, felt that Lee’s injury was a major concern. “He said the second last ball of his spell that he bowled he felt a really sharp pain in the back of his shoulder,” Ponting was quoted as saying in the ABC News website. “I knew something was wrong the last ball of the spell he bowled – I ran straight to him to see how he was and he knew he was in a little bit of trouble then. That’s about where it is though – we don’t know any more. I think he’s going to have scans on it at some stage so we’ll know exactly what’s wrong.”Though Lee hasn’t played a Test since January 2004, his one-day performances over the last few months have been outstanding. However, in the same period, he has picked up 49 wickets in 31 ODIs and even managed to play 13 games on the trot without any injury worries. Before the tour, Lee had said that he had fulfilled the three goals that the selectors had set for him – to stay fit, to take wickets consistently and to bowl as fast as possible – and hoped to force his way into the Test side.

Latest points tables

Owais Shah guided Middlesex to a comfortable six-wicket win, condemningKent to their fifith straight Twenty20 defeat. Shah’s unbeaten 59 allowed Middlesex to coast home with 16 balls to spare and he received good support from Ben Hutton in the match-sealing stand of 72. Kent’s batting again struggled and they needed Simon Cook’s 33 from 17 balls to reach as many as 144. Chris Peploe and Jamie Dalrymple shared five wickets between them.Lancashire condemned Derbyshire to a hefty 66-run defeat at Old Trafford with a match-winning all round performance from Brad Hodge. Lancashire reached 164 for 8, Hodge top-scoring with 44 from 34 balls, but Tom Lungley bowled a superb spell of restrictive medium-pace to ensure the tail could not race away. However, Derbyshire struggled for any momentum, after Michael di Venuto fell early, and Hodge completed a near perfect game with 4 for 17.Somerset squeezed home with a ball to spare, by five wickets, against Northamptonshire in a match reduced to 12 overs per side. At 55 for 1 Somerset were crusing to their target of 96 but suffered a mini wobble. Keith Parsons kept a cool head, making 32 from 24 balls, to secure the two points. When Northants batted Andrew Caddick was miserly, taking 2 for 12 from three overs, and James Hildreth also snapped up two.

Chris Tremlett’s impressive form, which resulted in a call up to England’s one-day squad during the NatWest Series, has earned him the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Performance-of-the-Month award for June.Tremlett’s performances for Hampshire attracted the attention of the judges. In seven matches he has taken 39 wickets at 20 apiece, including a hat-trick against Nottinghamshire.On his one-day debut against Bangladesh, he took 4 for 32, leading Marcus Trescothick to say: “There is definitely something there with him. I’ve been impressed. He has obviously got a lot of bounce because he’s so tall and I like the way he thinks about the game as well. He knows the right moment to bowl a yorker, to bowl a slower ball or to bowl a bumper. He’s a handful with his height and if we can get a few more yards of pace out of him, he’ll be even better.”Tremlett receives £750 from County Championship sponsors Frizzell.

The South African board has finally reached a settlement with New Zealand Cricket regarding their impending tour, beginning in October. According to Gerald Majola, the CEO of Cricket South Africa (CSA), the home series has been split into two visits, the first in October-November 2005, including five ODIs, and the second in April-May 2006, containing three Tests.”This will allow us to field our best team, as well as to tour India [for five ODIs] in November at a critical time in our preparations to play Australia,” said Majola during the release of the itinerary for the upcoming season on CSA’s official website. “The 2005-06 tour schedule is tough, but we believe it will provide excellent preparation for Australia in the short term, and the next World Cup in the West Indies in 2007 in the longer term.”South Africa, who are scheduled to play as many as five series in the forthcoming season, would solely rely on one-day cricket to get in shape ahead of their Australian tour in December. Before this series, South Africa will travel to India for a five-match one-day series beginning on November 14. Majola said that it had been decided to tour India in November because “We owe India five ODIs in terms of the ICC schedule. We had no option but to play these matches in November because of the ICC Super Series blocking other periods.”Majola said that the Super Series between Australia and a World XI in Australia in October had complicated South Africa’s schedule, with six players – Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Herschelle Gibbs, Makhaya Ntini, Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock – included in the World XI squad. “Again, there were clashes with the ICC Super Series matches when several of our top players will be on duty against Australia.”South Africa’s programme for the season
October 14 to November 6, 2005: New Zealand in RSA (5 ODIs, 1 Standard Bank Pro20)
November 14 to November 29, 2005: RSA in India (5 ODIs)
December 11 to Febuary 14, 2006: RSA in Australia (3 Tests and triangular series against Australia and Sri Lanka)
Febuary 24 to April 4, 2006: Australia in RSA (3 Tests, 5 ODIs, 1 Standard Bank Pro20)
April 7 to May 9, 2006: New Zealand in RSA (3 Tests)

Warwickshire will have a new captain and coach next summer after Nick Knight and John Inverarity, their director of coaching, announced they will be leaving their positions at the end of this season. They join a changing of guard at Edgbaston following after Dennis Amiss, the chief executive, said that he would also be leaving Warwickshire.Knight will continue to play for the club, but wants more time to be able to deal with his other commitments as well as prepare for his career after cricket. Inverarity is keen to pursue a full-time career in education, having spent the last two winters teaching on a part time basis at the University of Notre Dame in Perth.Amiss praised the role that both have played at Warwickshire: “The club would like to place on record our thanks and appreciation to Nick for his achievements as captain of the club, and look forward to his continued participation both as captain for the remainder of the season and as a key member of the squad for the foreseeable future.””We would like to thank John for his tremendous contribution to Warwickshire Cricket since his arrival at Edgbaston, and wish him well for his future.”Warwickshire will announce successor to Knight and Inverarity at the of the summer, with Alex Loudon, the allrounder who guided Warwickshire to victory at Lord’s on Saturday, being tipped as a captaincy candidate. Andy Moles, the former Warwickshire opening batsmen, has been mentioned a possible coach.