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The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have reached an agreement on player match fees for the upcoming tri-series in Singapore and Malaysia. The agreement ends the dispute between the two parties, which had earlier threatened West Indies’ participation in the tournament.The WIPA has agreed on a minimum fee of US$30,000 for the junior players and US$75,000 as the upper figure for senior players. Last week, the WIPA had demanded fees ranging from US$40,000 to $US95,000 per player, representing 40% of the net revenue which the WICB was to receive and almost double the premium on normal match fees, which the board considered “unacceptable”.The WICB then selected a squad of 14 players and issued tour contracts directly to the players, without consulting the WIPA. The players association were critical of the board,calling the board’s action “premature” and accusing them of trying to “divide and rule”.Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, urged both parties to settle their differences, stating that he was looking forward to leading a full strength squad for the tri-series. The parties reached a compromise on Sunday, at the best interests of the game.

South Africa have confirmed that their 14-man squad to tour India in November will include five non-white players, after a government official said Gerald Majola, the board’s chief executive, had promised the quota last week.”Majola said there will be five black players in the squad,” Butana Komphela, chairman of the South Africa government’s portfolio committee on sport, told the Reuters news agency. “He said the United Cricket Board’s succession plan was beginning to yield results, and they would demonstrate this by including five black players in the tour party.”It is widely believed that the squad will include the first cricketer of Asian origin to represent South Africa. Durban-born Hashim Amla, 21, has struck four centuries for KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa A so far this season.And as Nicky Boje is unlikely to be available for the series, a non-white spinner in slow left-armer Robin Peterson, 25, who made his Test debut in 2003 against Bangladesh, is likely to be includedIt is expected that Boje and opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs will pull out of the tour over fears they face arrest in India over alleged links to match-fixing and corruption last time South Africa travelled to India, in 2000. Gibbs’s father, Herman, has said his son will not tour India.The fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini, 27, and Charl Langeveldt, 29, could spearhead South Africa’s bowling attack, alongside Shaun Pollock, while Garnett Kruger is likely to be the reserve fast bowler. Kruger led South Africa A to a series win over New Zealand A in September.The 24-year-old non-white batsman Justin Ontong could also be included in the squad, which is to be announced on Wednesday.The first of South Africa’s two Tests in India starts at Kanpur on November 20.

The long and winding first-class journeys of South Australian batsmen David Fitzgerald and Ben Johnson appear over, following the announcement that they will not be offered state contracts for 2004-05.South Australia will name their full squad on Monday but have revealed that Fitzgerald and Johnson will not be on the list.”Both Ben and David have been solid contributors to South Australian cricket over many years, with outstanding individual performances throughout their careers,” said Harvey Jolley, SA’s general cricket manager. “[But] with the combination of our emerging talent and views for the future, they are not a part of our immediate plans.”Neither non-selection is particularly surprising. Fitzgerald, 31, batted 10 hours for a career-best unbeaten 202 against Tasmania last summer but averaged only 16 throughout his remaining six matches. The 30-year-old Johnson, although an occasional member of the Redbacks’ one-day side, was not picked in first-class circles at all.If this is the end of the road they finish with remarkably similar records. Johnson played two more first-class matches, 69 to 67, and averaged 0.22 runs per innings higher – 34.81 to 34.59.Both, too, can be classed as underachievers of sorts. Fitzgerald, a right-hand opener and keen cutter who moved east from Western Australia in 1995, possessed an appetite for mammoth occupation but lacked consistency.The left-handed Johnson began his career in a blaze of promise, amassing 81 and 168 against WA in his fifth first-class match at 21. In the ensuing nine seasons he managed only another eight hundreds, two of them in a fortnight in 2001-02, when he became the first man since Bill Lawry to carry his bat in consecutive matches in Australia. He was a member of SA’s last Sheffield Shield-winning squad, way back in 1995-96, but missed out on the final.Two rookie batsmen from last season, Ben Cameron and Callum Ferguson, have been awarded senior contracts. Cameron impressed observers in his three Pura Cup games while the 19-year-old Ferguson, a former Australian Under-19s vice-captain who has yet to taste first-class cricket, hit 58 from 50 balls against Victoria in an ING Cup match. Cullen Bailey, the 19-year-old Sturt legspinner, has signed a rookie contract.The dropping of Fitzgerald and Johnson, together with last summer’s premature retirement of the injury-stricken Chris Davies, marks the beginning of a substantial regeneration of South Australia’s batting order. Both Cameron and Ferguson loom as instrumental figures this summer and beyond.

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain and unbeaten centurion, promised a more positive approach on day two after the visitors crawled towards a position of strength on the opening day of this two test series.New Zealand laid the foundations for a large first innings score, finishing the day on 207 for two, as Fleming scored 112 from 248 balls, his fifth test century, combining with Mark Richardson to post a record 172 run stand for the second wicket."It was an important toss to win but we then had to set a basis for getting a big score. I think, on reflection, if we had got another 20 or 30 runs more we would have had a pretty good day but as it was tough going out there," said Fleming.He described Richardson’s innings as "outstanding" and was delighted by his own performance, but warned that there was plenty of work still to be done."In the context it was a pretty important one because the top order had to get runs," he said. "It was defensive kind of day – would have liked to have been a bit more dominant and the fields were set deep throughout much of the day."We have got a platform now. If we can get 100 runs or so on the board then we can start being more positive – we have to get a good score on the board and create some pressure for Sri Lanka in the last innings."Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka’s star offspinner, bowled 27 without a wicket – although three chances were missed off his bowling – but Fleming still identified him as the major threat."Murali is tough. You can’t really score many runs off him because reading him is very difficult. Survival is the first instinct and scoring second – that’s why we ended up with a scoring rate of about two per over."Hashan Tillakaratne, leading the side after the resignation of Sanath Jayasuriya, refused to panic but admitted to being disappointed by the side’s fielding."It was not a bad day except that we dropped a few catches and that helped them get to 207 – other than that I thought we bowled well," said Tillakaratne. "I am disappointed a little by the fielding but I am sure we will do a good job tomorrow."

The draw for the semi-finals of the C&G Trophy has paired Somerset with Warwickshire at Taunton, while Leicestershire will play Lancashire at Leicester.The matches will be played on the weekend of August 11 and 12. The ECB will announce tomorrow which game will be played on which date.Somerset captain Jamie Cox told Sky Sports after the draw: “We went to Lord’s in ’99 on the back of a great home semi-final and hope we can repeat that with some great home support.”We blew up last year in this competition so it’s important for us to getback to Lord’s this year.”We didn’t do ourselves any favours there in 1999 and we want to go back andmake a better fist of it.”

Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has made a comeback to the Indian squad for the first two Tests against South Africa after being dropped for the recent tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Offspinner R Ashwin, who suffered a side strain in the first ODI in Kanpur, was included in the 16-man Test squad but not picked for the last two one-day internationals.Jadeja replaced offspinner Harbhajan Singh in India’s Test squad. Harbhajan, who had been out of the Test side since March 2013, made a comeback during the Bangladesh tour in June. He played the only Test of that series and the first Test of the Sri Lanka tour in August – in which he only picked up one wicket in 25 overs in spin-friendly conditions – before sitting out the second and third Tests.Since being dropped from the squads for the Test series in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Jadeja has topped the wicket charts after three rounds of the Ranji Trophy – with 24 in two matches at an average of 8.25. He has also scored 91 and 58 in two innings for Saurashtra.”We don’t discuss just 15 players. We consider domestic performances,” the chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said. “The kind of pitches that we will play on, the opposition, and keeping that in mind we have picked Jadeja.”Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was named in the Test squad despite being ineligible for selection for the first match because of a suspension slapped on him by the ICC for bad behaviour during India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Ishant was ruled out of the last two ODIs against South Africa, after injuring his hamstring during Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, but is expected to be fit in time for the Tests.Seamer S Aravind replaced fast bowler Umesh Yadav in the ODI squad for the remaining two matches of the series, which South Africa lead 2-1. Umesh had been left out of the team for the third ODI in Rajkot after conceding 2 for 71 and 1 for 52 in eight overs in the first two matches of the series. Aravind had played the first T20I in Dharamsala, where he took 1 for 44 on debut, but did not play the next two Twenty20 fixtures.The BCCI also named the Board President’s XI – led by Cheteshwar Pujara – to play South Africa in Mumbai on October 30 and 31. That group of 13 players included Rajasthan fast bowler Nathu Singh, a 20-year old fast bowler who took 7 for 87 on first-class debut against Delhi.”We are looking for something special,” Patil said. “For the last three years two selectors accompany the Indian team, but the rest travel all over to watch domestic cricket. We have seen a glimpse in Nathu Singh. We want to give him the chance.”The final two ODIs of the series are on October 22 and 25, and the first Test begins on November 5 in Mohali.Squad for first two Tests: Virat Kohli (capt), M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Ishant SharmaODI squad for last two matches: MS Dhoni (capt), Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, S Aravind, Gurkeerat Singh, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan SinghBoard President’s XI: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), KL Rahul, Unmukt Chand, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Sheldon Jackson, Karn Sharma, Nathu SinghCorrection – The story was amended to include R Ashwin in the Test squad

ScorecardFile photo: Rob Nicol took two wickets and hit an unbeaten 27•Associated Press

A combined bowling effort ensured Auckland beat Canterbury by two runs in a rain-affected fixture in New Plymouth to set up clash against Otago in the final of the Georgie Pie Super Smash 2015-16.Canterbury, who were sent in to bat, were bowled out for 113 in 19.3 overs, with Cam Fletcher’s 33 being the highest score. That the 24-run stand for the second wicket was the highest of the innings indicated their struggle. Matt Henry’s 10-ball 23 at the end helped them get past the 100-run mark. Donovan Grobbelaar, the left-arm seamer, was the most successful bowler, returning 3 for 23, while Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol and James Fuller picked up two wickets apiece.Auckland started briskly courtesy Nicol, who hit two fours and a six in his unbeaten 27. Nicol and his opening partner Jeet Raval added 41 at a run-a-ball to wipe out a good chunk of the target. Todd Astle, the legspinner, then hit back with two strikes to give Canterbury hope. But rain thwarted their designs as Auckland were found to be two runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis method when rain forced an end to proceedings with 10.3 overs still to be played.The final on Sunday will also be played at the Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth.

Scotland have named a depleted 14-man squad for next week’s quadrangular series in Ireland. With Durham refusing to release Kyle Coetzer, Dougie Brown unavailable through injury and Dewald Nel only freed by Worcester for one match, the Scots have decided to recall Warwickshire’s Navdeep Poonia, even though he has been unable to gain a county first XI spot this season.The squad, which will tackle the West Indies on Thursday, the Netherlands the following day and Ireland on July 15, is reliant on the nucleus of players who have struggled badly this season since Scotland’s abject World Cup campaign. Most of the batsmen are out of form and practice, given the recent poor weather, which explains Poonia’s inclusion but the team still seems top-heavy with bits-and-pieces cricketers at the expense of specialists.All this makes Coetzer’s continued omission all the more controversial, given that ICC rules state he should have been released by his county to represent Scotland in this event.”Although there have been one or two availability issues, we are pleased to welcome Poonia back into the national squad,” said David Loudon, Scotland’s chairman of selectors. “He is an exciting player and we are sure we have not seen the best of him yet. The rest of the squad has a good balance to it and affords the captain various options.”Scotland squad
Ryan Watson (capt), Fraser Watts, Craig Wright, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Neil McCallum, Navdeep Poonia, Colin Smith, John Blain, Glenn Rogers, Dewald Nel, Gordon Drummond, Paul Hoffmann, Qasim Sheikh

Following England’s defeat against Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Lord’s, David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, warned that England will have to lift their performances in both forms of the game if they are retain the Ashes later this year and be a contender for the World Cup in 2007.England have had an ordinary start to their summer, surrendering a 1-0 advantage in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka by losing the third Test at Trent Bridge, as well as the Twenty20 international which preceded the ODI series. The side has been plagued with injuries to key players like Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones, while newcomers Glen Chapple and Ed Joyce are also among the casualties.Graveney, however, said that it was time to stop using injuries as an excuse. He told BBC Sport, “If we continue to play the way we have been doing this summer, we will not retain the Ashes and we will not win the World Cup.”Commenting on Michael Vaughan, Graveney stressed that it was not worth rushing him back into the side as yet. Vaughan, who resumed his commitments with Yorkshire after undergoing knee surgery, said earlier that he wouldn’t make himself available for selection till he feels he is fully fit.”His value to the England team as a cricketer, as a captain, as a person is immense,” Graveney said. “However, you want to play people in the best possible form and Michael Vaughan is quite right in saying that he wants to return when people look at Vaughan as a cricketer and are not worrying about how his knee is.”I speak to him on a regular basis and we are not going to ring him every single hour of every single day to say ‘How are you?’ He knows the level of fitness that is required to be captain of England.”England’s coach Duncan Fletcher added: “It’s all up to him. He’s the individual who’s got to say whether he’s ready to play. We can’t say he’s ready to play, it’s up to Michael to make that decision.”

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, has asked England to target Adam Gilchrist and prevent him from taking the game away with his aggressive batting in the upcoming Ashes series. “Someone must bowl as if Gilchrist is their bunny,” Woolmer told . “England should be targeting Gilchrist. He scores quickly and almost inevitably turns the game around.”Woolmer, who was the coach when Pakistan toured Australia early his year, saw his team thrashed 3-0 largely due to the efforts of Gilchrist, who averaged 76.66 and rescued his team on several occasions.”They are so dangerous because they have a top seven who are all capable of taking the game away from you, but Gilchrist is the most destructive batsman in the world and will be the key,” Woolmer insisted. “We had Australia in trouble a few times when he came in and changed the game. My feeling is there are two ways to trouble him: take the pace off the ball and try and swing it and make him come at you, maybe through Mathew Hoggard. The other way is with genuine pace.”Tell Steve Harmison to bounce him early and get stuck into him and try to rush him in his strokes. I don’t think teams bowl enough short stuff at him and it’s something England should be looking to do. They have to find a way of unsettling him. Harmison’s pace and bounce could make it more difficult for him to hook and pull. And once you can knock him over, you can get through the tail.”Woolmer, who represented England in Ashes series back in the 1970s, also offered some advice to Michael Vaughan. “Australia are like the West Indies of the Eighties: they try to bully you and you have to stand up to it. Teams become overawed by them. Michael Vaughan’s team have to make them feel unwelcome in England instead of being all pally, pally,” he continued. “The captains who have succeeded over the years have usually been aggressive: Jardine, Illingworth, Gatting, they were all hard men.”Woolmer also noticed that Shane Warne wasn’t quite the same dominating force he was once. “I say this in all humility, but I don’t think he’s the bowler he used to be,” Woolmer said. “He’s still a very fine bowler, but he bowls you more bad balls than he has in the past. Watching him against us, he didn’t seem to have that fizz. Our blokes played him pretty well.”Pointing out certain weaknesses in Australia’s batting, Woolmer said, “There are ways to trouble them if the bowlers have the skill to put the ball in the right areas: Ricky Ponting can be vulnerable to the ball coming back into him; Damien Martyn plays away from his body early on; Matthew Hayden goes for his shots a lot early and gives you a chance.”Justin Langer is a stickler who will play on the bowlers’ patience and, while Michael Clarke is one of the most exciting cricketers the world has seen for some time, I’m not sure he enjoys genuine pace and bounce. Flintoff hits the deck hard and could give him problems as well as Harmison.”