The South African board has announced it will meet in Johannesburg tomorrow to discuss reviving the cancelled tour to Pakistan. Gerald Majola, the chief executive, said he had received a letter from Pakistan offering alternative fixtures.A statement read: “Gerald Majola is to convene a meeting of the management committee of Cricket South Africa in Johannesburg on Tuesday to discuss the PCB proposal and to receive a full briefing from security consultants.”The South Africans originally called off the tour after a bomb blast in an empty Karachi office building on Friday night. They said the security in Pakistan had deteriorated to an unacceptable level, and offered to either play the series outside Pakistan or delay the tour until security improved. The Pakistan board, however, refused to play the series away from home.The revised fixtures miss out Karachi all together and have the option of excluding Peshawar. The South African committee will consult with their government, Eric Simons, the coach, and Graeme Smith, the captain, before making a final decision.”We made a decision on Saturday, based on information from our security consultants who had also been in contact with intelligence agencies,” Majola added. “That information was that the situation in Pakistan, particularly following a bomb blast in Karachi on Friday evening, meant that sending our team to Karachi on Sunday as planned would have constituted an unacceptable risk.”Majola said the his board would continue to assess the security situation and continue to look at it in relation to the proposed alternative fixtures: “We will continue to make every effort to find alternatives that do not pose an unacceptable level of risk to our national team.”Meanwhile, Rameez Raja, chief executive of the Pakistan board, said he was confident that the tour would still go ahead. “I talked to Gerald Majola and he has conveyed to me that they would find a positive way before Tuesday evening to reschedule the tour.”He added: “I am confident that the tour will go ahead with three Tests and as many one-day games as originally planned. They had misconceptions about Fridays blast that it was a car bomb and after talking to our security officials, they got the clear picture that the blast was not linked to terrorism.”

Did you find that match a bit tougher than you expected?
No, we always knew it was going to be tough in these conditions, and against an ever-improving Bangladesh team. We’ve got a pretty inexperienced team ourselves, but full credit to Bangladesh on days three and four – they were excellent and put us under a lot of pressure. But Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard did us proud. In that heat and humidity, and on a placid wicket, to pick up that many wickets [16 in all] was a true testament to the hard work they’ve put in over the last three weeks.Will there be changes to the bowling attack at Chittagong?
In any game of cricket, you have to take 20 wickets, so there are bound to be one or two guys who miss out and others who cash in. It’s the same with the batters. In this game the pace bowlers were outstanding, while Bangladesh played our spinners pretty well. We’ll go along to Chittagong, take a look at the wicket and come up with the best formula for success.Did the prospect of defeat play on your minds?
Not at all. You always have to give the opposition the utmost respect, and full credit to Bangladesh – they were outstanding. They were particularly good yesterday, when they dug in and withstood everything that we could throw at them. But we knew that the hard work that we put in then would pay dividends today, and so it proved. We expected to win today, and set out to do so in a positive manner.How did you feel when they reached 120 for 1 just before lunch yesterday?
Obviously we could have bowled a little better, but their batters stuck to their task, played in an aggressive manner and got on top of us at times. But we got the wicket [of Habibul Bashar] at a crucial time, just before dinner, although they still stuck around afterwards and made life difficult for us. Days like yesterday are a true test of the team’s character, and I thought we came through pretty well.Were you ever worried in that time?
There’s always a slight worry, but we were playing to win and if you take that mentality, you’ll come out on top more often than not.Was the first-innings batting the biggest disappointment?
Me and Tres played the new ball pretty well – it flies off the bat a little better over here – but their spinners and the quick bowler [Mashrafe Mortaza] played exceptionally well and shook a few of our guys up. From six down, we are very inexperienced, and you have to give them a little bit of leeway, as they are learning all the time and gaining valuable experience with every session.Were you happy to be back in the runs?
Of course I am. Whether I’m captain or not, as I’ve said before, I’m an opening bat first and foremost, and my job is to score runs. Thankfully I’ve done that. The first ten runs in my first innings were among the hardest I’ve ever had to get. The bowlers and the wicket made life tough, and it was quite hard to split the ring of fielders. I was just trying to find my rhythm, but thankfully I got a few rewards for all the hard work I put in then.What did you make of the Rikki Clarke incident?
I haven’t seen any replays, so I can’t comment. But these conditions will test an inexperienced team, especially when you are not getting many wickets. As I’ve said before, we always play in an aggressive manner, but if anyone steps over the line, we will have something to say about that.Are you in favour of the ICC’s bid to clean up cricket?
It’s important that we as players portray the right image to everyone involved. A lot of kids watch the game, and it’s not good if the players that they idolise are doing untoward things on the field. We do look after ourselves out in the middle though – it is important to have that little bit of aggression and banter, otherwise the game would be a little bit boring.Are Bangladesh worthy of their Test status?
On their home soil in Dhaka, they are a tough team to beat. The wicket suits their style of play, and we’ve got a few inexperienced players who’ve never been to the subcontinent. After their performances in Pakistan, we knew they’d be a tough nut to crack, and it took a lot of hard work. On days three and four, they were excellent. They have a Test win just around the corner, I’m sure, but hopefully not next week!We didn’t expect to finish them off so quickly this morning, but today was reward day for all our efforts on the previous four. Hoggy got a couple to nip away from the right-handers, Steve put it in the right areas once again, and we knocked off the runs nice and quickly. But there’s no such thing as a perfect performance, and we’ve got lots of things to mull over before the second Test on Wednesday. But I’m delighted with the result – it’s a great Test win.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) today announced the 12-man teams who will play Queensland in next week’s ING Cup and Pura Cup games.Redbacks all-rounder Mick Miller has been named in both sides and returns from a shoulder injury which kept him out of the State side for about four weeks.Southern Districts fast-medium bowler Andrew Staunton has been selected in the 12-man team for the Pura Cup match, and if selected in the final 11, will make his first-class debut.Staunton this year moved to Adelaide from Sydney to further his cricket career and made his debut for the South Australian second XI during last month’s Cricket Australia Cup match against the ACT.Also returning in the Pura Cup side for the Redbacks is Bradman Medallist Ryan Harris, who will play his first game for the Redbacks this season. The Northern Districts bowling all-rounder took 5 for 46 in that same Cricket Australia Cup game, which was his first State-level game back after recovering from a chronic groin strain.Staunton and Harris come into the side to replace Paul Rofe and Shaun Tait who will make their debut for Australia A when they take on India in Bellerive from December 19.The Redbacks ING Cup side is:

Greg Blewett (c)	Mark Higgs
Mark Cleary	Ben Johnson
Mark Cosgrove	Graham Manou
John Davison	Mick Miller
Shane Deitz	Paul Rofe
Andy Flower	Shaun Tait

The Pura Cup side is:

Greg Blewett (c)	Andy Flower
Mark Cleary	Ryan Harris
Mark Cosgrove	Mark Higgs
John Davison	Graham Manou
Shane Deitz	Mick Miller
David Fitzgerald	Andrew Staunton

The ING Cup game takes place on December 17, with the Pura Cup game from December 19 to 22 on the GABBA ground in Brisbane.

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Scorecard
After their match was washed out in East London earlier in the week, Natal managed only nine overs at the crease when rain chased the players off the field, leaving the frustrated Natal and Boland teams watching from the pavilion.
Scorecard
Free State got their innings off to a flyer with the opening pair of Morne van Wyk and Jonathan Beukes putting on 99 for the first wicket. Boeta Dippenaar then showed that he has not lost any of his form with 76 off 65 balls. However, the run out of Ryan McLaren by Ashwell Prince started a collapse leaving Free State on 232 for 8 at the end of the 45 overs.The Western Province top order proved to be far too strong with Graeme Smith undefeated on 114 and ably assisted by Neil Johnson, who scored 42. Only Gary Kirsten failed, caught behind off the first ball he faced. Cliff Deacon, the Free State left-arm fast bowler, was the most successful, picking up all the wickets for a career-best 4 for 39.
Scorecard
Two 50-run partnerships between the hard-hitting Dumisa Makalima and Robin Peterson, and then Arno Jacobs and Wade Wingfield, set the tone for Eastern Province’s 250 for 7. Jacobs, in particular, showed scant respect for his old team-mates, scoring 62 off just 44 balls.North West, thanks to 55 from Grant Rowley, made steady progress, but were always behind the run rate and eventually fell short by 39 runs. James Louw, nominated as Man of the Match, finished with 3 for 31.

Craig Wishart will undergo an MRI scan at Adelaide on Tuesday to determine the extent of damage to his knee after injuring it in Zimbabwe’s warm-up match against Western Australia at Perth. Wishart twisted his left knee while batting and was unable to resume his innings.Brad Robinson, the Zimbabwean physiotherapist, said that the extent of damage would be known only after the scan. "At the moment the knee is swollen and sore and Craig has trouble putting weight on the joint. He had surgery to repair a torn cartilage in the same knee about five years ago but at this stage we cannot determine if this is a related injury or something entirely different."Zimbabwe play their third warm-up game, against Australia A, on January 7 at Adelaide, before starting their VB Series campaign with a match against Australia on January 11.

The Indian delegation: satisfied with arrangements

The three-member BCCI team, currently in Pakistan to assess the security measures taken for the Indian cricket team’s tour in March, expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made after visiting the stadium in Peshawar.”We are satisfied with the (security) measures being planned by Pakistan,” said Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the BCCI. He, along with Yashovardhan Azad, the Inspector General of Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Amrit Mathur, the BCCI media manager, will do the rounds of the venues in Pakistan, with special attention paid to security and the facilities available.Meanwhile, Tasneem Noorani, a secretary in Pakistan’s interior ministry, said that the Pakistani government was not aware of any specific threats issues against Indian cricketers. Reacting to news reports that Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly faced death threats from certain militant groups, Noorani said he was unaware of such a thing.”It appears that concerns were due to threats they might have received in the past,” he said. “There are no known threats from any of the groups. The whole thing is being exaggerated. It appears that someone is out to give ideas to unwanted elements.”No dates have yet to be announced for the tour, though it has been suggested that Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar will host the three Tests.

Trevor Bayliss has been appointed coach of the New South Wales team until the end of the 2005-06 season.Bayliss will take over from Steve Rixon on May 3, after having been coach of the 2nd XI for the last four years – and taking them to victory twice in the national 2nd XI competition.”Trevor has demonstrated an excellent record coaching NSW under-age and 2nd XI teams,” said David Gilbert, the chief exeecutive of Cricket New South Wales. “He has the strong support of the NSW players, and was the outstanding candidate from those interviewed for the position. Trevor has a long association with Cricket NSW dating back to his debut in 1985-86, and we look forward to him guiding NSW over the next two summers.”Bayliss played 58 first-class matches for NSW. He had his best season in 1989-90, scoring 992 runs at 55.11, and was named the NSW Players’ Player of the Year. He captained NSW against Queensland in 1990-91.

England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher, is unconcerned about the current form of his opening batsmen, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, despite both men again falling cheaply on the second evening in Trinidad.

Nasser Hussain at his gritty best on the second evening © Getty Images

Although Vaughan and Trescothick steered England to their victory target of 20 in the first Test at Sabina Park, they have managed a combined total of just 40 runs in the series. “At this stage they’re struggling a little bit," admitted Fletcher, "but we’ve had it before and they’ve always come good.”They’ve both got averages in the 40s, they’re world-class batters and you would be proud to have those figures," he added. "They are just going through a bit of a period when you get some good balls. We’ve had some really good platforms to build on in the past, but it doesn’t continue forever otherwise it would be a very easy game to play.”In the absence of a significant contribution from the openers, the onus has fallen on Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher to stabilise England’s innings. And after a typically gritty unbroken partnership of 46 had hauled England back from a mini-crisis at 8 for 2, Fletcher was keen to praise the old guard.”Everyone has been saying we should kick the old guys out and they’re not needed in English cricket, but you have to have a spine of experienced players to show the young guys what it’s all about and they will always play an important role. Nasser has done this on numerous occasions. He played very well in New Zealand a few years ago on those drop-in wickets that were very green and seamed around. He really enjoys a scrap – that’s when he’s at his best.”

The four “rebel” Zimbabwean cricketers selected for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which starts at Harare on Thursday, have pulled out of the match after the Zimbabwe Cricket Union refused a request from the 15 disaffected players for independent arbitration.Heath Streak, Trevor Gripper, Sean Ervine and Ray Price had been named in a 17-man squad, but their decision to withdraw left Zimbabwe with a squad of only 13 to choose from. Mark Vermeulen and Vusumuzi Sibanda were later omitted from the final eleven – Vermeulen being ruled out on medical advice.”The ZCU did not accept our proposals and we do not accept theirs,” said Grant Flower, one of those to have initiated the boycott in April. “There is simply no agreement, and on that basis the four chosen for the squad are withdrawing. They have fully agreed to that.”Vince Hogg, the ZCU’s chief executive, said: “I am extremely disappointed by their decision. It is very sad that it has come to this.”With Stuart Carlisle, Craig Wishart and Andy Blignaut not considered for the squad, Zimbabwe now face the harrowing prospect of going into the Test series with more or less the same side that was routed 5-0 in the one-day series.”We’re back to square one, we are boycotting again,” said an unnamed player earlier, after they threw out the ZCU’s offer of non-binding mediation. “In effect, we’ve had three weeks of mediation, and we believe arbitration is the only route. We’re meeting at 10am tomorrow [0800 GMT on Wednesday] to write what will hopefully be our final letter, to say we’re rejecting this.”The players had resumed training as an act of good faith, and Streak – Zimbabwe’s former captain – had declared his willingness to play if the ZCU acceded to the rebels’ requests. But according to a report in The Guardian in London, a source was quoted as saying that the board was not going to be seen to be “bowing down to a bunch of whites – their egos won’t let them”.”It was unnegotiable that this matter had to go to arbitration to give it the seriousness and the respect it deserves,” said Chris Venturas, the lawyer representing the players. “Mediation doesn’t assist in any way. Regrettably, [the ZCU] feel they will pacify us with a mediation process. Even if the mediator finds in our favour on all three points, the ZCU don’t have to abide by his ruling.”The players have made it clear that they do not trust the ZCU to honour any assurances it gives. They have been given until May 7 – the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka – to end their boycott, but face being fired if they are still holding out at that time.”Most of us are almost at the point where we wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they just fired us,” one of the players is quoted as saying. “We’re not getting through to these guys. If they say they want to mediate, maybe they think we’re bloody fools. They’re just not getting us. Mediation is going to take another three weeks, and Zimbabwe cricket can’t afford that.”We’re all sick of this, but we’re standing strong together. It’s very simple: arbitration with those three points and we’re all back.”Zimbabwe team for first Test
1 Dion Ebrahim, 2 Brendan Taylor, 3 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 4 Tatenda Taibu (capt and wk), 5 Elton Chigumbura, 6 Alester Maregwede, 7 Prosper Utseya, 8 Mluleki Nkala, 9 Blessing Mahwire, 10 Douglas Hondo, 11 Tinashe Panyangara.

Paul Wilson: ‘I’ve decided to develop my coaching aspirations and pursue a desire to coach at first-class level’© Getty Images

Paul Wilson, the big-hearted former West Australian and South Australian fast bowler, has been appointed coach of the WA women’s team for 2004-05.The position represents the first step in Wilson’s quest to eventually become a first-class coach. “Since retiring in March I’ve received quite a few offers to take up various roles in not only cricket but other areas of business,” he said. “After thinking about things I’ve decided to develop my coaching aspirations and pursue a desire to coach at first-class level.”I’m honoured and excited to get the coaching job because it’s such a good challenge and a great way to start my representative coaching career.”It does not, however, promise to be the easiest of beginnings. The Western Fury have won only two games in the past three seasons, and the coach’s position was billed by The West Australian newspaper this morning as “the toughest job in Australian cricket”.They did, however, beat Victoria and Queensland in the Women’s National League last summer. It is hoped that Wilson’s involvement will lift both the performances and profile of WA women’s cricket, which has recently come under the Waca’s umbrella.”Women’s cricket is screaming out for some direction but, along with the amalgamation with the Waca, this is great,” said the veteran WA player Zoe Goss.`Blocker’ Wilson took 151 wickets at 30.77 in 51 first-class matches, going wicketless in his one and only Test in India in 1997-98. He has Level Two elite coaching qualifications.His appointment now finalises all major coaching appointments for Waca representative teams and squads in 2004-05, as per the following list.Western Warriors Squad Coach Wayne Clark
2nd XI Coach (WA `A’) Doug Harris
State U19’s Coach Ali De Winter
State U19’s Women’s Coach Charlie Burke
State U17’s Coach Greg Williams
State U17’s Women’s Coach Adelle Brambles
WACA Pace Bowling Academy Dennis LilleeThe former Tasmanian player and current Waca coaching officer Alistair De Winter replaces Darrin Ramshaw as the state’s Under 19s coach. “On behalf of the Waca I’d like to pass on congratulations to each of the coaches appointed,” said Rob Langer, WA’s manager of cricket operations. “But now that the formalities are out of the way the hard work begins.”