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If the Warriors had been told five weeks ago that they would face the Lions in the final of the Pro20, they probably would have taken it. The Lions go into the final as definite underdogs. They have just two South African players in their ranks – Neil McKenzie and Alviro Petersen – compared with the Warriors’ seven. The names Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Nicky Boje, Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell are enough to intimidate most international opposition, let alone a domestic franchise, particularly one that has been reduced to whipping boys of late.Since winning the 2006-07 Pro20 crown, the Lions have been on a dizzying, downward spiral. They languished at or near the bottom of the log in both the SuperSport Series and the MTN40 and fared equally poorly in the twenty-over competition. The season after winning the title, they did not manage to beat a single South African franchise in the next edition of the competition. The Lions did, however, earn a victory over Zimbabwe and tied a match with the Eagles. The next season was much of the same, with the Lions losing to every franchise except the Cobras, where the match was tied.This season, the Gauteng-based franchise has been plagued by more administrative infighting and yet again, they’ve suffered on the field. A poor four-day campaign and missing out on the final four in the 40-over competition led to many a headline about the Lions meowing like kittens. Their achievement in the Pro20 may be just the remedy to heal a fractured union.Richard Cameron, one of the Lions’ young stars who picked up career-best figures of 4 for 23 against the Titans in the second leg of their semi-final, said the team enjoyed the tag of underdogs. “I think our spirit and togetherness as a team was one of the things that helped us win the semi-final,” Cameron said. The Lions are certainly going to need more than just that, if they hope to overcome a talented Warriors side.History doesn’t provide much indication of who the favourites are though. In the three seasons since the Champions Twenty20 League presented itself as an incentive for the domestic Pro20, all six franchises have reached the final. In the first season, when the inaugural Champions League was postponed, the Dolphins (who ended at the bottom of the log this time) and the Titans reached the final. Last season, the Cobras and the Eagles made the trip to India and this year it will be the Lions and the Warriors.The men from the Eastern Cape are labelled favourites because they have been the in-form side since winning their maiden franchise trophy in the MTN40 just over a month ago. One thing the Lions can hope for is that the likes of Boucher, Kallis, and Ntini will be preoccupied with the impending Indian Premier League. Kallis and Boucher will join up with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who play the first match on Sunday, so the pair is unlikely to feature in that encounter.Ntini is representing Chennai this season, and their first match is also on Sunday. He spent a fair amount of time warming their bench last season but has been in sublime form for the Warriors. Ntini is the Warriors’ highest wicket-taker in the competition, with 10 wickets at an average of 18.90. Wayne Parnell and Rusty Theron are also IPL players, although this will be their first season in the glamourous competition. Parnell was bought for US $610000 by the Delhi Daredevils while Theron was only just picked up by Kings XI Punjab after a successful season as the best death bowler in the tournament.While the dollars in their eyes may cloud some of the Warriors’ players’ views, captain Davy Jacobs has been known to impress upon his troops on the importance of adding to their trophy cabinet. Before the MTN40 he said the team’s sponsors, Chevrolet, said they “expected a trophy after three seasons of sponsoring the team.” That prediction was spot on. Should the men from the Eastern Cape collect two cups this season, that should keep the men with the money very pleased indeed.

MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, has backed the cap on overseas players in a playing XI, saying it was the best way to identify and groom local talent and calling on overseas players to compete amongst themselves for the four available slots in the team.”If the overseas players want to find a place in the playing eleven, they have to fight among themselves and not against Indian stock,” Dhoni said in Chennai ahead of the third season of the IPL. “It is perfect right now and I am quite happy with the system of only four players finding place in the final eleven.”Dhoni quoted the examples of youngsters who have either gone on to play for India after making a mark in the IPL, or cement their places in the national side, as in the case of Suresh Raina.”We had Manpreet Gony, M Vijay and S Badrinath coming into the side,” Dhoni said. “We are contributing a lot towards Indian cricket. Overall, we are trying to groom the Indian cricketers for the betterment of the game in India.”I want to make more players for ourselves. We are grooming Indian players from the Under-19 level or players on the verge of making debut for India. All those individuals rubbing their shoulders with international cricketers from India and overseas help them in learning cricketing skills.”Stephen Fleming, the Chennai coach, had his first practice session with the squad on Monday and said he was confident the Indian players in the squad would respond well to the challenge.”Our team’s performance will depend on how well our local players perform,” Fleming said. “We are lucky to have some talented players from Tamil Nadu.”The team was jolted ahead of the third season with the news of Andrew Flintoff’s pull-out due to injury and the likelihood of allrounder Jacob Oram missing the entire tournament, also due to injury. The two other overseas bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini, have struggled for form, thereby affecting the balance of the team, whose strength lies in the batting.But Dhoni felt there was no need to panic, as the local stock looked capable of filling the void. “As a team we rely more on our batting strength. We have strong options in bowlers like Gony, L Balaji, Sudeep Tyagi and spinners like R Ashwin in our ranks,” Dhoni said.”When our main bowlers have an off-day, we have strong options to use others as bowlers and Justin Kemp is one of them. Such options in a Twenty20 match are good for the team. Kemp is a big hitter. He can be an asset to the side.”He was also confident that Murali would deliver. “He is the best spinner in the world and still in the international circuit,” Dhoni said. “He can be useful in every format of the game. He is a great guy to have in the dressing-room, like Makhaya Nitini and others.”

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, will undergo surgery next week to reinforce his abdominal wall after suffering another setback in his recovery from a groin injury. He has been out of action since the ICC Champions League last September with a problem that has troubled him for nearly a year.Ryder had initially hoped to test himself in a warm-up match against an England Under-19 side in January, but the healing was slower than expected and forced him to push back his targeted return to the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean this May. There was no word on whether the surgery will force him out of the game for even more time.”He will have to undergo extensive fitness testing, then prove himself fully fit in domestic first-class cricket,” Mark Greatbatch, the New Zealand coach and selector, said. “His return to the Black Caps is entirely dependent on him being fit and injury-free.”The New Zealand team physio Kate Stalker said Ryder had been examined in Auckland on Wednesday by a team of consultants, who recommended surgery. “He showed a tear of the rectus abdominis muscle,” she said. “It is a very complex injury and, unfortunately, has not responded as well as we would have hoped.”Next week’s surgery will strengthen Jesse’s lower abdominal wall to provide support to the area in general and will allow his rehabilitation to progress.”

MS Dhoni, returning as captain for the second Test, has said that Bangladesh cannot be taken lightly but that they have to learn to play better during the tough periods to do well in Test cricket.It was yet another press conference where questions were raised about whether Bangladesh were capable of taking 20 wickets and about their capabilities as a Test team. No one mentioned Virender Sehwag, but his views were raised. When asked if Bangladesh could take 20 wickets, Dhoni replied: “That’s why they are playing Test matches. They are expected to take 20 wickets. You can’t take any team lightly. At the end of the day, ten good balls can do the damage. But it’s about creating pressure.”Sehwag had earlier said that “Bangladesh are an ordinary side ” and it has been a recurring theme in all the press conferences that have followed. Dhoni was first asked what he thought about Bangladesh’s performance in the Chittagong Test. He however disagreed that all three results were possible at the end of the fourth day.”After the fourth day there was only one way the match could have gone,” Dhoni said. “I am not exaggerating; anyone who follows cricket will know what result was possible. But as an international side, you are expected to do well and they did reasonably well.”The local papers reported that the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board had questioned the Bangladesh players’ commitment after the first Test. Dhoni was asked for his opinion on the commitment issue and he replied: “I don’t think there is a lack of commitment. It was a lack of application. One-day cricket is about aggression and flair but Test cricket is a different ball game. One has to struggle through the hard periods initially and then look on to get a respectable score on the board. There are some batsmen in sides who look to play their shots but it’s about the long three-four hours of toil in the wicket that sets up a good score. They would get better and better if they play more Tests.”Asked whether he thought Bangladesh could win he said, ” That’s why they are playing. If there is no hope, there is no point playing Test matches. But they have to really play well to do so. In Test matches, you have to play consistent cricket for a period of time.”Dhoni also spoke about the weight of expectations on being the No.1 side. “There are obviously expectations from you when you are No.1, that you need to win this way, but I am not a man who likes to make statements. I like to make statements on the field. I am a practical guy. Yes we did not do that well in the first innings in the last Test, but the way we came back was good and that’s what is expected. It was a decent start but we can put up a better performance than that.”

Shane Watson has been fined 15% of his match fee by the match referee Chris Broad after his over-the-top celebration on dismissing Chris Gayle.When Watson’s caught-behind appeal was granted, he ran close to Gayle and while facing the batsman celebrated with excessive cheering and roaring. The umpires had a chat to Watson straight afterwards and he was also spoken to by his captain Ricky Ponting, who was keen to avoid any further incidents after the Sulieman Benn-Brad Haddin-Mitchell Johnson fracas.”Shane is a very energetic and enthusiastic bowler but on this occasion he has gone too far by running down the wicket screaming, thereby not showing due respect for the opponent,” Broad said. “While handing down the punishment, I took into account that Shane admitted his mistake by pleading guilty.”Benn was suspended for two one-day internationals for his part in the verbal and physical clash earlier in the match, while Johnson and Haddin were both fined. Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen said he had warned Watson after the Gayle dismissal that he should tone down his behaviour.”I spoke to him quickly at lunch-time and I said I think he needs to be careful about the way he reacts or celebrates his dismissals,” Nielsen said. “I think that’s probably been one of the things about this Test match also, there’s been … quite a bit of [needle] between the playing groups out there. That’s something we’re conscious of and something that I’m certainly talking to the playing group about.”We’re trying to maintain a pretty even keel as often as we can but at the same time, when things get emotional and it’s hot and you’re tired and there is a game on the line, you can understand that some of those reactions are maybe over the top sometimes. It’s something that we’ve spoken about and I’ll have another chat to Watto about it tonight.”

Queensland, the competition leaders, have received a boost after their three-day defeat to Victoria with the internationals James Hopes and Ben Laughlin fit to return in Wednesday’s FR Cup encounter at the MCG. Hopes felt he was ready to come back last week from a hamstring problem he picked up in India, but was delayed by Cricket Australia’s medical staff who wanted him to wait.Laughlin, who toured South Africa and the UAE earlier in the year, has recovered from a stomach strain sustained in Perth last month and will come in for Alister McDermott. Nick Kruger will appear in his first one-day game for six years as the replacement for Ryan Broad, who is out for up to four weeks due to a broken thumb. Andrew Symonds has been cut from the side after his one-off appearance in Alice Springs and will be in Papua New Guinea for a Twenty20 tournament instead.The Bulls have a four-point lead over Victoria but have played two fewer games. The Bushrangers are undefeated in their three matches and are also in form after disposing of Queensland in the Sheffield Shield on Sunday.Queensland squad Chris Hartley (wk), Nick Kruger, Lee Carseldine, Wade Townsend, James Hopes, Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon, Chris Simpson (capt), Ben Laughlin, Nathan Rimmington, Scott Walter, Ben Cutting.

Sean Morris, who took over as the chief executive of the Rajasthan Royals franchise on Monday, has said he does not expect many more England players to feature in the third edition of the IPL. Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were the two big England signings last year, joining Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively for US$1.55 million each. However, conflicting schedules this year could affect the chances of newer players from England being recruited, Morris said.”I don’t think there will be that many more England players involved,” Morris was quoted as saying in the . “I think teams have worked out that consistency in selection throughout the tournament is key and to have Australian or English players coming and going doesn’t necessarily make for the best structure of a side.”England’s Test players will miss the first 12 days of the IPL due to their tour of Bangladesh, and those selected for the ICC World Twenty20 will assemble in the West Indies on April 25, the date of the final of the IPL.”It is pretty difficult for the English guys to go for the maximum amount of money at the auction [US$750,000] and it will be interesting to see how their availability is reflected in the auction prices,” Morris said. “There will be a fair number that don’t go for as much as they thought because they can’t commit for the full time.”Morris, a former chief executive of England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association, has been handed the responsibility of broadening the franchise’s base outside India, which could also mean more matches abroad, thereby increasing the players’ workloads. The financial gains of Twenty20 cricket could, Morris felt, prompt players to retire much earlier and cash in.”There is quite a lot of desire for the Royals to go and play, and in two days I have already had two invitations to play in tournaments in other parts of the world,” Morris said. “But it is going to be hard for us because we have not got the window that people have been banging on about. It makes the player who has just retired a bit more valuable and sides will become more attracted to players like Andrew Flintoff. Those players who are now aged 30 or 31 are thinking quite hard about it [retiring].”But we have to work out how to work together because if there is conflict I know who will win. The players have worked out where the better rewards are in the shorter time frame.”Towards the end of my time at the PCA I started to get the feeling that at ICC level people were beginning to appreciate that we had to work together on this.”

Glenn McGrath insists Brett Lee’s bowling is still world class and he should be picked in Australia’s Test team as soon as he is fit. While Lee has not played a Test since hobbling out of the Boxing Day match last year and is currently recovering from an elbow bone spur, he is also behind the young bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus in the pecking order.However, McGrath, who was launching Jane McGrath Day for January’s Sydney Test, said Lee remained a threat to international batsmen. “I think Brett’s still got a lot to offer, a lot of experience and what he brings to the team, that fear factor, there’s still that aura there he’s created,” McGrath said at the SCG.”In saying that, the guys that have done the job, the way Mitchell Johnson’s bowled, Pete Siddle has impressed me and Hilfy and Dougy Bollinger coming on the scene, you can’t fault any of them. It’s good, healthy competition [but] I would have ‘Binga’ in any team I played in if he’s back fit again.”Lee, 33, has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests but there is a feeling the selectors doubt his ability to get through back-to-back five-day games. After recovering from ankle surgery, Lee did not play a Test during the Ashes series due to a side strain even though he felt he was ready for the final two games. The latest elbow setback, which resulted in an early departure from the India one-day series, came following some encouraging performances in the limited-overs sides.New South Wales face Tasmania in a Sheffield Shield match next week and Lee will have to play in that game to be a serious contender for the opening contest against West Indies from November 26. “In a Test the workload is going to be pretty heavy and I don’t think Brett would want to go into a Test where he was concerned [about his body],” McGrath, who took 563 wickets in 124 Tests, said. “If he broke down in that first match back it could damage his career a lot more than just sitting that one out and coming back when he was 100% right.”I heard he had a bowl at the nets yesterday and was pretty happy about how it went. If he can get through a four-day match then he can get through a Test match.”

2009 PCA awards

• Player of the Year: Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)

• Young Player of the Year: James Taylor (Leicestershire)

• ECB Special Award: Michael Vaughan

• Special Merit Award: Andrew Strauss

• Umpire of the Year: Richard Kettleborough

• Sixes League: Dwayne Smith

• Impossible is Nothing Award: Graham Stevenson

• Team of the Year 2009: Marcus Trescothick (Somerset), Andrew Strauss (captain – Middlesex & England), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire & England), Ed Joyce (Sussex), Ian Blackwell (Durham), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), James Foster (wicketkeeper – Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire & England), James Tredwell (Kent), Graham Onions (Durham & England), Steve Kirby (Gloucestershire)

Marcus Trescothick, the former England batsman, has been named the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Player of the Year. He had earlier scooped the PCA’s Most Valuable Player of the Year award as well.The opening batsman topped the overall scoring charts in the County Championship with 1817 runs, including eight centuries, at an average of 75.70 and helped Somerset finish third. He was in top form in the other formats as well, finishing the season with a total of 2934 runs across all competitions.Trescothick, who quit the England team in the 2006-07 Ashes tour due to a stress-related illness, is currently in India for the Champions League. He was also named in the PCA Team of the Year alongside England players Andrew Strauss, Stuart Broad, Graham Onions and Jonathan Trott.Another player picking up the awards after a strong county season is Leicestershire’s 19-year-old batsman, James Taylor. He scored 1,177 first-class runs in 16 matches at an average of 58.85. That haul included three hundreds and six fifties, with a highest score of 207 not out against Surrey at The Oval in July. Last month he had picked up the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year award, beating allrounder Stuart Broad to the prize.

Allrounders Johan van der Wath and Ryan McLaren will miss Eagles’ SuperSport Series opener against Cape Cobras in Bloemfontein starting September 17, due to their county commitments. Two other seamers – Jandré Coetzee and Cornelius de Villiers were also omitted from the 13-man squad due to injuries.Coetzee is nursing a groin strain while de Villiers is down with a back injury. The regular captain, Boeta Dippenaar, will also miss the game due to his commitments with Leicestershire. However, the captain for this clash has not been named.van der Wath, currently with Northamptonshire, will be making a comeback to the South African domestic fold after a two-year gap due to his links with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League.The squad has two spin bowlers in Con de Lange and Thandi Tshabalala.Squad: Divan van Wyk, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, Adrian McLaren, Ryan Bailey, Morné van Wyk, Con de Lange, Obus Pienaar, Dillon du Preez,Thandi Tshabalala, Victor Mpitsang, Charl Pietersen.