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Five wickets from Peter Ongondo restricted Sri Lanka A to 194 before Maurice Ouma and Tanmay Mishra powered Kenya to their first win in the tri-nation series at Nairobi.Ouma combined with Mishra to steady the chase after Chanaka Welegedera had struck twice in succession to leave Kenya stumbling at 14 for 2. Both the batsmen helped themselves to short offerings from the seamers to move the score along. Ouma turned on the heat in the 17th over when he smashed Dammika Prasad for four boundaries. He pinged the long-on and the long-off boundary with lofted shots and pulled to the square-leg boundary before slogging one over the ropes again to propel Kenya comfortably ahead of the required rate.Kenya were sitting pretty at 101 for 2 when Rangana Herath removed Ouma in the 21st over. Four overs later, Kaushal Lokuarachchi induced a nick from Collins Obuya to present a window of opportunity to the visitors. Sri Lanka almost crashed through it by removing Mishra and Alex Obanda in quick succession to leave Kenya at a wobbly 150 for 6 but Thomas Odoyo found support in Jimmy Kamande and the pair took Kenya close. Kamande put the equation in the hosts’ favour with three boundaries in the 41st over off Prasad. There was an edge past the lone slip, a smashing pull to deep midwicket and a drive through cover as Kenya moved from 164 to 180.Kulasekara prised out two more wickets but Odoyo held firm and brought up the winning runs with a drive through cover.Earlier, Ongondo grabbed the first three wickets in his initial spell and then came on to knock over the lower-order batsmen as Sri Lanka failed to complete their quota of 50 overs, a continuing trend in this series. Sri Lanka did far better that Kenya and India A, who scored 98 and 102 while batting first in the earlier games, in conditions far more conducive to batting with the sun coming out.Odoyo, Kenya’s captain, won the toss and chose to field. The move appeared to be working when Ongondo struck in the third ball of the first over. Mahela Udawatte cut one square, but straight to Kamande at point. Malinga Warnapura was Ongondo’s next wicket, nicking one to Ouma, the wicketkeeper. Ongondo had Sri Lanka tottering at 42 for 3, when Kamande caught one over his head at cover, Dilruwan Perera stepping out to hit one over the top. Chamara Kapudegara and Thilina Kandamby fell to Odoyo and Nehemiah Odhiambo soon after, with Sri Lanka tottering at 81 for 5.Kaushal Silva, the wicketkeeper, scored 60 and ensured his team were not dismissed for a paltry total. Silva and Lokuarachchi put on 61 for the sixth wicket, before Kamande had Lokuarachchi trapped leg-before. Prasad made a quick 31 off 34 balls before Ongondo removed him in his second spell. Silva was now running out of partners, and two run outs off successive balls put an end to Sri Lanka’s innings.

Champaka Ramanayake, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler, has been appointed the fast bowling coach of Bangladesh for the next two years. Bangladesh have also roped in the services of former Sri Lankan offspinner Ruwan Kalpage as their high performance head coach to run their National Cricket Academy, which will be set up shortly in Mirpur, Dhaka.Speaking about his switch in allegiance, Ramanayake, who also headed Sri Lanka’s Fast Bowling Academy for the past seven years said, “I would have loved to continue to help my country produce more fast bowlers, but at the same time I also had to look after myself financially. The offer from the Bangladesh Cricket Board was too attractive to turn down.”Ramanayake, 43, said he had no regrets in leaving his present job as he felt there were enough fast bowlers in the queue to serve Sri Lanka for the next two to three years. During his tenure at the academy, he had the privilege of working with many of the current crop of fast bowlers, the most notable being Lasith Malinga. He predicted that two young fast bowlers, Madura Lakmal Perera from Kalutara and Tamil Union’s Suranga Lakmal, could be playing in the national team shortly.”In the seventies and eighties the country depended to a large extent on spin,” Ramanayake said. “The scenario has completely changed now with the national side sometimes fielding as many as three to four fast bowlers in a match.”He hasn’t ruled out returning to his role in Sri Lanka once his contract with Bangladesh finishes. His assistant, Anusha Samaranayake, is expected to take over the role as head coach of the academy.A Level I (English) and Level II (Australian) qualified coach, Ramanayake played first-class cricket for 20 years for Tamil Union and Galle CC, taking 480 wickets. He played 18 Tests (44 wickets) and 62 ODIs (68 wickets) for Sri Lanka between 1988 and 1995.Kalpage’s wealth of experience in coaching, including his work with junior Sri Lankan teams, helped him clinch the job in Bangladesh. Another former spinner Piyal Wijetunga, who has been assisting Kalpage, is expected to take on the role of spin bowling coach.”It was too good an opportunity to miss,” Kalpage said. “I had to think of my future. I thought here was a good opportunity for me to extend my experience and one day come back and be national coach of Sri Lanka.”Kalpage stated it was a new challenge for him to be invited to head an academy of a Test-playing nation and hoped his appointment would spark more opportunities for coaches in Sri Lanka.”No Test playing country has made such an offer to Sri Lankans before and I consider it an honour. The experience I will gain is good for my future. It also opens the door for other Sri Lanka coaches as well. Several foreign coaches come to Sri Lanka with lucrative salaries and gain experience at different levels. This is an opportunity for us to show that we are also equally capable as the foreign coaches.”At present we are not recognised on par with the foreign coaches in our own country. We don’t have a proper salary structure in place and there is no proper grading of coaches. Thereby our coaches have no future here.”Kalpage’s role as high performance head coach also involves setting up a proper A squad for Bangladesh and assisting their national team in spin bowling and fielding whenever required.Kalpage played 11 Tests and 86 ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1992 and 1999, and is best remembered for his fielding. He assisted Trevor Chappell as Sri Lanka’s fielding coach in 1999 before taking over his role in 2001. He fulfilled the task till 2005, but in 2004 he played a dual role when he was also appointed as the computer analyst of the team. He became the head coach of the Spinners Clinic in April 2006 and also coached the A team, and Under-19 and U-15 teams.

Usman Khawaja has been named for a potential first-class debut in one of New South Wales’ most important matches of the season. The Blues host Victoria at the SCG starting on Friday and with both sides on 32 points, well clear of the third-placed Western Australia on the Pura Cup table, the game could be crucial in determining who hosts the final.New South Wales have been forced to make changes with Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken in the Australia one-day squad, while Phillip Hughes and Steven Smith are in Malaysia for the Under-19 World Cup. The loss of Hughes at the top of the order might open the door for his fellow opener Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan and moved to Australia with his family at the age of three.Khawaja, 21, is a left-hand batsman who describes his style as “medium attacking” and he is the leading run scorer in Sydney’s grade cricket this season. A former Australia Under-19 representative, he earned his second rookie contract with New South Wales for 2007-08.His debut is not certain, though, with Phil Jaques returning to the squad after finishing his Test duties. Daniel Smith replaces Haddin behind the stumps and Mark Cameron has been added to the pace attack.Victoria chose a 12-man squad that included the opener Lloyd Mash for what could be his first match of the season. Michael Klinger is still recovering from a broken finger and was not selected, while Allan Wise has been omitted. Shane Harwood returns from a groin strain and the Bushrangers also named Clint McKay.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Greg Mail, Usman Khawaja, Peter Forrest, Simon Katich (capt), Dominic Thornely, Daniel Smith (wk), Moises Henriques, Beau Casson, Matthew Nicholson, Mark Cameron, Doug Bollinger.Victoria squad Nick Jewell, Lloyd Mash, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Rob Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Clint McKay, Bryce McGain.

Ricky Ponting will need to take a big risk if Australia are to equal the world record of 16 consecutive wins. The mark set by Steve Waugh does not bother Ponting, who refuses to be swayed by statistics, but winning matters a lot to him.India’s impressive first innings has shorn Ponting of time, which has been one of his greatest assets since the drawn match against South Africa in 2005-06. Now he has to dictate proceedings with a declaration that has many consequences.A victory would retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, continue the streak and evaporate the confidence gained by the tourists over the first four days. If India overcome the total set by Ponting suddenly the series is level and the captain will have lost his fourth Test in 40 games. The disruptions caused by rain and bad light on Saturday, which cut 12 overs from the day, did not help Australia’s momentum and a draw remains the most likely result even though play will start half an hour early on the final day.Australia will begin with a lead of 213 that was secured by Matthew Hayden’s 123 and Michael Hussey’s 87 not out. Ponting’s dilemma over how many runs to set India is an unusual one for him. For most of his rule there have been a couple of days to dismiss his opponents rather than the limited opportunities that will be available on day five. This time he has to weigh up his tunnel-vision for victory with the reality of miscalculating a total and suffering defeat. A target of 320 would probably be out of India’s reach, but 270 over two-and-a-bit sessions might be enticing. It is a tricky call.The next Test starts in Perth on January 16 and Australia will be confident of a quick success if the pitch delivers the same steep bounce that was a feature of Australia’s Twenty20 victory over New Zealand last month. India’s discomfort against the short ball will be on display and the series is likely to be decided there if the home side’s fast bowlers perform. It could be a reason for Ponting to play it safe in Sydney.During one of the handful of rain breaks a video of Waugh’s unbeaten run from 1999-2001 was shown to entertain the remaining spectators. It could have stirred the Australians as they sheltered in the dressing room. They spoke about the record only once in the lead-up to the game – Ponting told them to ignore it and concentrate on this match – but it must be hard to avoid getting excited by the chance to equal a world mark.The sense of history and the push for new limits was a feature of the partnership between Waugh and the coach John Buchanan. Buchanan was overseeing the team for the first 12 victories of this streak, but his replacement Tim Nielsen does not motivate the players with the same sort of carrots. When the declaration comes it will be Ponting’s decision and it will show how much he is willing to gamble on victory.

Three former Australian Test players, Damien Martyn, Michael Kasprowicz and Matthew Elliott, have signed up with the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). Kasprowicz, the fast bowler, and Elliott, the opening batsman, retired from the game in Australia earlier this month while Martyn has not played since walking away during the 2006-07 Ashes.Martyn had reportedly joined the ICL ahead of its inaugural tournament, but didn’t take part when it was held late last year. “These high-stature Australian cricketers will definitely boost the quality of cricket and strengthen the teams, making the league showcase competitive cricket,” Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL, said. “It will provide our young domestic players the challenge to test their skills with some of the best exponents of the game, thus fulfilling one of the key objectives of ICL.”Elliott had indicated he would join the ICL when deciding to stand down at South Australia. “I’m thinking about it,” Elliott said. “It’s more about what’s best for me after my cricket career.”The three will join fellow Australians Stuart Law and Ian Harvey in the league, while Michael Bevan and Steve Rixon are in charge of the Chennai and Hyderabad teams. Jimmy Maher, who will play his last game for Queensland from Friday, and Jason Gillespie, who is expected to retire in the next couple of weeks, are also expected to be chased by the ICL. Any Australians who play in the unofficial Twenty20 event are banned from taking part in domestic competitions at home.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin has been ruled out of Trinidad & Tobago’s KFC Cup one-day opener in Guyana with a viral flu. Ramdin’s absence takes away an all-round talent both behind the stumps and with the bat. Lendl Simmons is expected to fill in as wicketkeeper-batsman for his West Indies team-mate.Daren Ganga and his men, aiming to defend their title, will be disappointed with anything less than a victory against the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) outfit at the National Stadium at Providence. In the other match in the group, hosts Guyana, led by Ramnaresh Sarwan, take on last season’s beaten finalists, the Windward Islands, at Albion.At Providence, the CCC, captained by middle-order batsman Shirley Clarke, a player with regional youth and senior experience for Barbados, are one of two developmental teams in this year’s competition, the other being the West Indies Under-19 squad. But the university boys will benefit from the considerable know-how of Barbados veteran Floyd Reifer. He will be supported by fellow batsmen Romel Currency and Craig Emmanuel, who are both seasoned representatives of the Windward Islands.T&T, on a roll of seven straight wins in this competition stretching back to last season, are looking to extend their streak to 12 by the end of this tournament and Ganga sees no room for complacency. “We have basically decided that this competition is going to be a competition of five finals, three in Guyana (group matches) and two in Barbados (semi-finals and final). And one of our biggest objectives as a team is to maintain our winning ways throughout this entire competition,” he told the .”We have prepared with the mindset that we need to improve and lift our standard in every aspect of our game. It is a given fact that as defending champions, teams will obviously be gunning for us and coming at us very hard. That is why it’s so very important for us to train in a manner where we are always challenging ourselves and lifting our standards when it comes to the actual batting, bowling and fielding.”

And following trial matches in which different batsmen scored centuries, Ganga felt that this unit was “better prepared in comparison to other Trinidad and Tobago teams, even in recent times. “I think there is a very good balance in terms of our versatility,” he said. “And this as captain, especially in a one-day game, will give me a lot of options.”We have definitely seen a dramatic improvement in individual players and in the manner in which we play as a team. I think it’s a matter of development of the individuals, exposure, maturity and being in a winning culture. Guys are aware of the opportunity to go on and play at the higher level. So a lot of the young T&T players are very hungry, are very eager to be around a winning T&T team.”Given their pre-tournament preparation, the T&T camp will not be overly concerned either that the recent performances of all-rounder and team regular Richard Kelly did not warrant his selection, or that West Indies Under-19 duty has robbed them of two other members of last season’s winning outfit, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo.And while Ganga conceded that the good pre-season form lasting throughout the Cup was “something you can’t predict as captain”, he said: “We are very capable as a team in this version of the game and there is no reason why, given the sort of quality of cricket we have been playing, we should not be successful in this competition.”

Jonty Rhodes is one of the favourites to become England’s fielding coach as the new management team continues to expand the back room staff. It is hoped the position will be filled by the time the one-day squad meets up again for the seven-match series against India in the second half of August.England dropped three catches during the deciding one-dayer at Trent Bridge on Sunday – two in the outfield by Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, plus one by wicketkeeper Matt Prior – while the ground fielding was caught out by aggressive West Indies running. The boundary sweepers often struggled to collect the ball cleanly while those inside the circle rarely managed any direct hits.”As with the rest of the support team we want the right person to do that job,” said England coach Peter Moores. “When we’ve got the right bloke we can look to bring him in and see how he goes. We have seen that in other specialist positions for coaches.”We are talking about people who could make a genuine difference to international performances – and they don’t always grow on trees. If we get a fielding coach we want him to influence fielding in England not just at England level.”Rhodes, who was famous for his work at backward point in his career, has previously held a similar post with South Africa and Pakistan. His former team-mate Allan Donald is currently England’s bowling coach until the end of the Twenty20 World Championships.

South Africa will look to continue their successful run against New Zealand with a win in the second ODI in Port Elizabeth. The hosts almost faltered during theirrun-chase in the first ODI in Durban but a win on Friday will give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Going by current form, South Africa are clear favourites and this iseven without considering their recordin day-night encounters at St. George’s Park – eights win out of tenODIs, with one no result.The hosts will be boosted by the return of Herschelle Gibbs, who hadmissed the Twenty20 international and the first ODI with a kneeinjury. Gibbs’ standby Morne van Wyk has been released from the squad toplay for the Eagles in the SuperSport series.The other dilemma facing the South African selectors surroundstheir pace attack. New Zealand’s batsmen were blown away by Dale Steynduring the two-Test series, and his inclusion in the playing XI coulddent the tourists’ confidence ahead of a must-win game.However, with Shaun Pollock conceding next to nothing in his ten oversand Andre Nel playing a pivotal role with both ball and bat in the firstODI, the axe could fall on Makhaya Ntini, who proved to be expensive,especially at the death in Durban. Johan Botha might play despite unimpressiveshowings in recent ODIs, since the pitch at St. George’s Park couldfavour the slower bowlers.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, hinted at possible changes inthe bowling line-up. “We’ve got to look at the wicket and theconditions, but obviously Dale [Steyn] and [Charl] Langeveldt come intothe equation,” he was quoted as saying on the website SuperCricket. “We’ll seewhat switches we need to make to suit the conditions.”

Smith’s opposition counterpart Daniel Vettori must be wondering what histeam needs to do to beat this South African side. New Zealand’smain worry through the Tests was the form of their batsmen, but afterthe Durban ODI, the team would be concerned over its bowling optionsas well, besides their poor catching, which Vettori highlighted as the main reason for the last-ball loss at Kingsmead.Kyle Mills’ 5 for 25 in Durban would have done Shane Bond proud but New Zealand could have done with somefirepower at the other end – Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, ScottStyris and Vettori conceded 220 runs and picked up three wickets.Allrounder Jacob Oram will be a handy addition to the bowlingdepartment. Oram suffered a hamstring strain in thefirst Test, and Vettori indicated the team would play six bowlers.”Jacob’s probably the most important member of our team purely from theroles he fills, batting at number six and able to bowl 10 overs,”Vettori told SuperCricket. “It’s a luxury not many teams have and havinghim back means I can take six bowlers and we get a nice balance whenhe’s playing.”That means wicketkeeper-batsman Gareth Hopkins, who scored a first-ball duck at Kingsmead, is likely to be dropped. The New Zealand captain alsoindicated Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, could get the nod ahead of oneof the quicker bowlers. “The times I’ve played here, I’ve always foundit a low, slow wicket and the guys who’ve been able to take the pace offit have always succeeded here [in Port Elizabeth],” he said. “So seamersstill have an important role to play, but we’ll have a lot of emphasison the slow bowlers.”Vettori admitted his team would be under pressure to win the remainingtwo matches. “We need to win both matches to give ourselves a shot atthe series,” he said. “The way we play tomorrow will be with that inmind, and we definitely will not be playing defensively.”We’ll be chasing that win as hard as we can, but the key thing is thatwhen you are chasing a win, you maybe push a little too hard and forgetabout a few of the simple things you need to do.”However, Smith said he expected South Africa to up their game, and sealthe series. “We want to be more clinical come tomorrow. It would befantastic to close off the series tomorrow,” he said. “The guys get anice break after this weekend, so hopefully we can step it up and playsome really good cricket.”

New Zealand’s fragile batting order was left with even less depth with Scott Styris announcing his retirement from Tests and first-class cricket. Styris was dropped from the Test side for last month’s series against Bangladesh and he said he was resigned to remaining on the fringes for the upcoming England games.Styris said he wanted to quit playing Tests in a bid to prolong his ODI and Twenty20 career. “The rigours of international cricket have become increasingly demanding and I would like to extend my career by focusing on shorter versions of the game,” he said. “I am really enjoying both one-day and Twenty20 cricket and I’m looking forward to being heavily involved with the New Zealand national team on our journey to the World Cup in 2011.”Styris’ retirement leaves New Zealand with several changes to their Test line-up compared to 13 months ago. Shane Bond has joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Nathan Astle quit at the start of 2007, while Craig McMillan and Hamish Marshall, neither of whom were certainties in the Test team, have also walked away.Injuries, including back problems, have been a constant concern for Styris in recent years. “I have found the niggles and injuries associated with the longer form of the game were making it difficult for me to get on to the park.”The decision has been coming for a few months and I have been in regular contact with the selectors in relation to this decision.” In his 29 Tests Styris scored 1586 runs at 36.04, including five centuries.New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan said Styris had the full support of the New Zealand board in making his decision. “Scott has a lot to offer in the shorter versions of the game and I am certain that this decision will help Scott to be available for the national team for several years to come.” Styris was New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in ODIs in 2007, making 848 runs at 56.53.

Mitchell Johnson says he couldn’t have done more over the last year to force his way into Australia’s Test side after being named in the 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka.Before that match, which is at the Gabba from next Thursday, he has the chance to impress in the second warm-up match at Allan Border Field on Friday.”I think I’ve done what I can over in India and over the past 12 months or so,” he told Sportal.com. “It is out of my control but my fingers are crossed.”He faces an anxious wait to see if he made the final cut ahead of fellow fast bowler Shaun Tait but being the only left-arm pace bowler in the squad may help. He also impressed in India recently, where he was the leading wicket taker with 14 at an average of 18.57 including a five-for.But Johnson, who has yet to make his Test debut, has been here before: this time last year he was waiting to see if he would get the nod for the Ashes ahead of Stuart Clark. He lost out then and his wait for a Test continues.”I don’t want to get my hopes up and be too confident but deep down I’m hoping.”