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James Anderson still has no idea what caused the knee problem that plagued him during the winter, but is confident of being ready for the start of the English season and a return to England colours.Anderson was rested for the tour of Bangladesh after suffering with his knee during the trip to South Africa where he had a total of four injections to get him through the one-day and Test series.He has been back training with Lancashire during pre-season, although skipped the club’s tour to Barbados, and resumed bowling a couple of weeks ago. His first outing is due to be against Durham UCCE on April 3 before Lancashire’s opening Championship match, against Warwickshire, on April 15.”The knee is good; the rehab has been going well,” Anderson told the . “I don’t know exactly what the problem was. I went to see a surgeon in London, and he didn’t know what it was.”All the doctors I have seen didn’t have a clue, so we just spread a bit of cortisone around where I pointed at, where the pain was, and we left it for three weeks. We injected it at the start of the tour of South Africa, and had three more injections on that trip.””It can be quite difficult to decipher what is a niggle and what can cause you problems – because as a bowler you are never really 100% fit. You always have a niggle or two. This one started as a niggle and just got worse and worse.”England name their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 next Tuesday and Anderson will be expected to lead the attack at that tournament in West Indies, but first he wants to get through his first few outings of the season.”The aim is to play against Durham University and then play it by ear,” he said. “Lancashire have a few more warm-up games, but we will take it day by day and see how the knee pulls up. I had three weeks off when I got back from South Africa and have been gradually building up from there. I started bowling a couple of weeks ago and am bowling at about three-quarters pace at the moment.”Anderson’s absence in Bangladesh, coupled with injuries to Ryan Sidebottom and Graham Onions, meant England fielded a new-look pace attack in the Tests and one-dayers. Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire allrounder, took his chance with some impressive displays while Steven Finn also made a promising start to his Test career after a late call-up.

Waqar Younis has been offered a contract by the PCB to coach the Pakistan side until December 2011. The former fast bowler, in Sydney currently, received the contract yesterday and is expected to sign it and send it back over the next few days, in the process becoming Pakistan’s fourth coach in three years.The PCB finally confirmed that they had made an offer to Waqar to coach the side. “I would like Waqar to join the Pakistan team,” Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, said at a press conference. “We are awaiting a reply as we have offered him to take over as our head coach.”It is believed that Waqar has some concerns over the contract that has been sent and will raise a couple of points with the board. There is likely to be further negotiation over the financial package and Waqar is also keen to have a clause which allows him to take stock of his role after the 2011 World Cup, a buffer of sorts against what is a generally a period of considerable administrative turbulence.Some of the targets set in the contract, about what the team needs to be achieving in that timescale might also be re-calibrated. None of them, however, are thought to be significant enough to derail his desire to be coach.Waqar will likely be working alongside former team-mate Ijaz Ahmed, who will be, according to Butt, the fielding coach for the side. Ijaz was in charge of the recent Under-19 Pakistan side that finished runners-up at the World Cup in New Zealand; as one of the best Pakistan fielders of his time he is expected to improve the lot of what must be among the world’s poorest fielding sides. Ijaz was with the side in Dubai as a batting and fielding trainer for the two Twenty20 internationals against England.The PCB has also spoken about their plans to engage foreign coaches for consultancy stints as and when needed on Pakistan’s tours, of which there will be a few given that they are not playing at home for some time. The idea sits well with Waqar.”I think that is good thinking and I would be happy with anything that works to better and improve the state of the national side,” Waqar told Cricinfo.Remarkably there is still no official announcement on the fate of Intikhab Alam, the man Waqar is replacing. Intikhab still has time to run on his contract; he was appointed for two years in October 2008. The board initially said that a decision would be taken on the coaching set-up only after an inquiry committee analyzing the Australia tour completed its work and made its recommendations. But they seem to have pre-empted themselves by contacting and now offering the position, without having – publicly at least – decided on the fate of Intikhab.

Pakistan have hit a new low after losing three Tests and four one-day internationals in Australia and Salman Butt has personally apologised to aggrieved fans. Pakistan were whitewashed by Australia for the fourth successive time in ten years during the Tests and have failed to win an ODI, and the criticism has been harsh from fans and former players.”Pakistan is a cricket loving nation, the people eat, sleep and breathe cricket and I feel that as a team we have let our fans down during the current tour of Australia,” Butt told . “I know what it is like to wake up through the night and watch your team lose again and again. I know what it feels like, because as a youngster I too was a cricket fan watching my heroes in action and its heartbreaking when your team loses.”On a personal note Butt stood out during the Test series, scoring a team-high 280 runs at 46.66, but he made no excuses for himself or his team-mates. “Australia is always a tough tour for any team and yes in the past our teams have lost here, but we can’t use that as an excuse for our defeats on this tour. We have simply not performed well and have not been good enough”.After the Tests Pakistan had hoped that a few fresh faces, a change of outfit and format would lead to a change in fortune on a long tour, but it was not to be as a 4-0 scoreline clearly indicates. According to Butt, the players needed to learn from their mistakes. “We all need to learn from this experience and to look at our mistakes and to use the tour to become better players in future,” he said.”Nobody on the tour can walk away and say they can’t improve aspects of their game. We all need to analyse our individual performances and look to improve our standard of cricket”.The final ODI will be played on Sunday in Perth, followed by a Twenty20 international on February 5 in Melbourne.

Match facts

Graeme Smith cuts a relaxed figure as he practises his catching before the fourth Test•Getty Images

January 14-18, 2009
Start time 10.30 am (0830 GMT)

Big Picture

With its towering stands at either end of the ground, and the forbidding Perspex tunnel leading from the pavilion to the playing area, there are few more daunting venues for a touring team than the Wanderers. Factor in the prospect of a seething green surface and an opposition ready to bring a “do-or-die” attitude into the contest, and the stage is set for a battle of rare intensity. For all the narrowness of their escapes at Centurion and Cape Town, if England prevail in the grand finale of a memorable campaign, no-one will question their right to return home with the spoils.England have no reason to be fearful of the Wanderers, however, for their record in three visits since readmission is as balanced as could be. From Michael Atherton’s epic 185 not out, via 2 for 4 and all that, and all the way to Matthew Hoggard’s 12-wicket heist in 2004-05, they have emerged with one draw, one defeat and one win, with each encounter as memorable as the next. The only fitting follow-up would be a tie.Whatever happens, short of a five-day deluge, it seems certain that this contest will finish with a positive result. Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, has admitted that it is “desperation time” for a home side who were not so long ago ranked as the No. 1 Test nation in the world, but now face the unpalatable prospect of back-to-back home series defeats against their two most ardent foes, Australia and England.England, on the other hand, stand on the brink of an achievement that would trump even their Ashes success back in the summer. Five years ago, when Michael Vaughan’s men won 2-1 in a classic five-match contest, the magnitude of their achievement was diluted by the rampant run of success that the team had already put together, and was soon to be overshadowed by what followed against Australia.This time, however, there’s no doubt that England are still on the upward slope – it is, after all, less than a year since they were bundled out for 51 in Jamaica. Five more days of intense concentration in the rarified Highveld atmosphere, and Andrew Strauss’s England can truly claim to have scaled new heights.

Form guide (last 5 Tests, most recent first)

South Africa DLDWL
England DWDWL

Watch out for

Throughout England’s recent resurgence, one significant character has kept an improbably low profile. Kevin Pietersen was injured for much of the Ashes, and has been off the boil throughout his homecoming tour of South Africa, with his highest score of 81 at Centurion coming to an end via a manic and embarrassing run-out. The potent atmosphere of the Bullring, however, has stirred him to great deeds in the past. It was here, in 2004-05, that he ran a gauntlet of hate and vitriol to finish unbeaten in his first England innings in his former country, and kick-start an incredible run of form. Right now, following scores of 6 and 0 at Cape Town, even a moderate upturn in his fortunes would suffice.He began the series with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the Centurion Test, but Dale Steyn strained every muscle and sinew in his body on the final day at Newlands in a bid to deliver the victory that South Africa so desperately needed for their series prospects. The world’s No. 1-ranked bowler was quite magnificent, not least in a stunning new-ball spell against Paul Collingwood in which he beat the bat at will but simply couldn’t graze the edge. If he can stoke his fires once more, England will be in for another rough ride in the coming five days.

Team news

It’s been an eventful week in South Africa’s selection circles, with Imran Tahir called up as a legspinning option, only to be hastily jettisoned after it was discovered that his papers weren’t entirely in order, and Friedel de Wet dropping out of the reckoning after failing to recover from the back injury that undermined his performance in the latter stages at Newlands. The upshot is a likely debut for the wonderkid, Wayne Parnell, whose zippy left-arm line so impressed during the World Twenty20 in England, and a sure-fire reprieve for Paul Harris, who was always likely to survive the cut despite his lacklustre display in the fourth innings last week.South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Ashwell Prince, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Paul Harris, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Wayne Parnell.England, on the other hand, have no dramas to report whatsoever. All of their cogs, with the improbable exception of Pietersen, are in fine working order; the balance of the side, with Ian Bell at No. 6, has been the difference between a 1-0 lead and a 2-0 deficit; while Graham Onions is worth his place for his No.11 batting alone. Anything other than an unchanged side would be a major shock.England: (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions.

Pitch and conditions

This is what it all comes down to. The weather on the Highveld has been miserable of late, with copious quantities of rain hampering the pitch preparations – not that that concerns the South Africa management, of course, who want a result wicket above all else, although Graeme Smith said it should be “a fair” Test pitch. Almost exactly a decade ago, England went out to bat in dank conditions on the first morning of their millennium tour, and shipped four wickets in the space of 17 balls. It’s fair to suggest that Andrew Strauss might prefer to bowl first, come what may, on Thursday morning.

Stats and Trivia

• South Africa’s record at the Wanderers is less formidable than the ground’s surroundings. They have won 12 and lost nine of their 31 Tests at the venue, including eight wins and seven losses in 20 matches since readmission in 1992.
• Jacques Kallis needs just six runs to amass 1000 in Tests at Johannesburg. His current tally includes two hundreds at 45.18
• For a full statistical preview, click here.

Quotes

“If we prepare a flattie, we are basically handing the series over to England, so we know it’s going to be an interesting wicket to play on.”

“We didn’t come here to draw a series; we came here to win one. If we can go back 2-0, that would be a dream come true for all of us. It would obviously be a fabulous achievement to beat two of the top teams in the world, in back-to-back Test series. We don’t want to be the nearly-men.”
“The Wanderers is a sporting wicket, even when I grew up here watching Tests it’s been a great challenge between bat and ball. The next five days will be no different. There will be some stuff there, it will be hard work at times for batters and bowlers. It will be a fair Test wicket, this is one of the sportier wickets around the world.”

Chandrakant Pandit, India’s Under-19 coach, has said his team’s biggest challenge at the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand will be the cold conditions. The biennial tournament starts on January 15 with India, the reigning champions, starting their campaign against Afghanistan in Lincoln. The final will be played at the same venue on January 30.”It will be a little more chilly and windy out in New Zealand so the conditions will be different and the biggest challenge,” Pandit said in Mumbai on the eve of the squad’s departure to South Africa, where India will play a tri-series from December 27-January 5 that includes Sri Lanka. “The boys need to get acclimatised as early as possible. We should be ready from the first game to handle the conditions.”The 15-member squad, led by allrounder Ashok Menaria from Rajasthan, was a picture of confidence as it faced the media contingent at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Both captain and coach said the players have bonded well over the last year, when they’ve been together. Most of them were also part of the tour of Australia in April this year, where India won the ODI series 2-1 and drew the Tests 1-1.The Indians finished a 10-day camp in Mumbai on Friday and Pandit said it was a fruitful exercise, with every player made aware of his role. “Our plan was to go step by step,” Pandit said. “To begin with, we placed individual responsibilities in the camp. We want to do well in South Africa and finally come up with our best performance in New Zealand.”The seriousness of India’s campaign can be gauged from the fact that guest speakers like Sachin Tendulkar, former Australian fielding coach Mike Young and sports psychologist Dr Bhimeshwar Bam spent quality time with the youngsters.Pandit, a former team-mate of Tendulkar’s, said the 45-minute conversation Tendulkar had with the players would stand them in good stead. “Tendulkar spoke on how to approach a game. His technical feedback was really valuable,” Pandit said. “For example, he told the fast bowlers that when they run towards the target [batsman] they have to keep their head forward. We would Probably have learnt that after going there,” Pandit said with visible excitement.He said Tendulkar’s most valuable advice was on “trusting the teammate”. “He told them that “if you are going to stand next to each other you need to have the confidence in the other. Only then can the team perform”. The boys seemed to have understood the message as they started looking at the other from there onwards,” Pandit said.As for Young, he managed to instill a more enthusiastic approach to fielding. “He made us enjoy fielding,” Saurabh Netravalkar, one of the fast bowlers in the squad, said. “He started with the basics of fielding, about how to start, how to position yourself, and made fielding easy.”Young just focussed on refining certain basics as he felt that Pandit had been carrying out the right drills and there was no need for him to introduce anything new.Pandit said India haven’t missed anything by way of preparation. “We need to now look at how we are going to implement what we have been working on during the actual games.”Meenaria said the defending champions were not in any way burdened by expectation. “There is no pressure, instead we are more confident now – especially after winning in Australia,” he said. “I’m confident we are favourites to win the World Cup. But for now, our focus is on the South African tour.”India play their first game against South Africa in Johannesburg on December 28.

The injury crisis in the Sri Lankan camp has deepened, with the allrounder Angelo Mathews set to return home after straining his right quadricep muscle during the second ODI in Nagpur on Friday. The Sri Lanka Cricket media manager Brian Thomas has confirmed to Cricinfo that the Wayamba allrounder Thissara Perera will join the squad in India on Sunday for the three remaining ODIs.Mathews’ injury is likely to take up to four weeks to heal, thereby putting him in doubt for the tri-series in Bangladesh starting on January 4. He suffered the injury while setting off for a run during his match-winning unbeaten 37, but continued his innings with the aid of a runner (Chamara Kapugedera).The loss of Mathews is a big blow to the Sri Lankans, given his fine form with the bat. He made 99 in the third Test in Mumbai, very nearly guided his team home in a marathon chase of 415 in the first ODI in Rajkot – scoring a 33-ball 38 – and closed out the chase in another pressure situation in Nagpur, with Sri Lanka chasing 302.The Sri Lankans had already lost the services of two strike bowlers in Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan, who sustained finger injuries after the first ODI. Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv were flown in as replacements. In the post-match presentation in Nagpur, captain Kumar Sangakkara joked that at least 40 players were required as cover for injuries. Perera is yet to make his international debut.Prior to Sri Lanka’s arrival in India, the touring Australians too were jolted by several such pull-outs during the seven-match ODI series. However, the injury-ravaged tourists managed to win the series 4-2. The current ODI series is squared at 1-1 with the third ODI set to get underway on Monday.

Newly-appointed Kolkata Knight Riders coach Dav Whatmore believes his association with Sourav Ganguly will help in improving the side’s performance in the third edition of the IPL. “Ganguly has a great contribution to Indian cricket,” Whatmore said. “He knows how to extract the best from his players. It’s a wonderful experience working with him. We are looking for a fruitful season ahead.”Whatmore backed the former India captain, who will be leading KKR for the tournament to be held between March 12-April 25 next year, and said the forgetful experiences under former coach John Buchanan in the two previous seasons were a thing of the past. “I don’t want to delve into what happened in the past. We are giving our best and preparing strongly for a competitive IPL 3 ahead.”In fact, Whatmore’s appointment was part of a team management overhaul after the team finished sixth and bottom respectively in the two editions. The franchise not only recalled Ganguly to take over the captaincy from Brendon McCullum, but named Wasim Akram as their mentor, signed on Vijay Dahiya, the former India wicketkeeper and Delhi coach, to assist Whatmore, while retaining Andrew Leipus as physiotherapist and Adrian Le Roux as physical trainer.At the conclusion of a two-day KKR camp, Whatmore revealed the sessions had been productive and had helped assess the skills of the local talents. “I am very happy to see the local talents, it was a productive two days of skill assessment and development in our endevour to make a strong side for IPL 3.The two-day camp was attended by former ICL players Rohan Gavaskar, Eklak Ahmid, Ganapathi Vignesh. Gujarat offspinner Mohnish Parmar, who is on the list of bowlers with ‘suspect’ actions, and Services allrounder Yashpal Singh also attended the camp. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ashok Dinda, Sourav Sarkar, Sourashish Lahiri and Rohan Banerjee, were also present, with Bengal not featuring in the latest round of Ranji Trophy Super League matches.Whatmore, 55, played seven Tests for Australia and brings to the IPL an impressive record. Apart from the 1996 World Cup title for Sri Lanka, he guided Bangladesh to two historic wins in the 2007 World Cup against India and South Africa, and also coached Lancashire to title wins in the NatWest and Sunday League in 1998. Last year, he was coach of the India Under-19 team that won the junior World Cup in Malaysia.

Vedam Hariharan, the former Kerala coach, has slapped the state’s association with a legal notice claiming Rs 50 lakh in damages for non-payment of salary and unfair dismissal. Hariharan, a former Ranji fast bowler, was fired by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) one year into his three-year deal.”I signed a three-year contract with KCA in 2008-09 ending with the 2010-2011 season,” Hariharan said. “Once the KCA chose not to honour this contract, I was left with no option but to issue a legal notice to KCA secretary TC Mathew for non-payment of salary and unfair dismissal.”Mathew, himself a lawyer, said the association was not too concerned about the legal notice and that there was no formal written contract between the KCA and Hariharan. “It was just a mutual exchange of letters, not even on a stamp paper,” he told . “Basically we didn’t want his services anymore.”Hariharan was originally appointed for the 2007-08 season, in which he guided Kerala to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy Plate league. Kerala finished fourth in the group the following season, with two wins and two losses. Kerala kick off this year’s Ranji campaign against Andhra at Kannur on Tuesday.”I was in constant touch with KCA through e-mails but did not receive any information about the future of my contract,” Hariharan said. “After getting back to India [from Glasgow, where he was on a coaching assignment] in September, I spoke to the KCA secretary, who told me that a new coach had been appointed according to a decision taken by the cricket committee. There has been no formal communication to this effect whatsoever to date.”Hariharan has played 42 first-class matches, taking 114 wickets at an average of 32.06, in a 17-year career ending in 1989-90.

Daniel Vettori has said he is considering a move up the batting order to fill the No. 6 vacancy left by Jacob Oram’s retirement from Tests. Vettori has usually batted at No. 8 for New Zealand and despite the extra workload put on him as captain, strike bowler and crucial lower-order batsman, Vettori said he was not averse to slotting in two places higher.In an injury-ravaged Test career that spanned seven years for just 33 appearances, Oram filled the No. 6 allrounder’s spot. Vettori, who averages 29.77 with the bat, is the most viable option for New Zealand to replace Oram. “I think it is something we’ll have to have a look at. It’s not something I’m averse to,” Vettori told . “I’ve stepped up in the one-dayers in terms of moving up the order and maybe now is the right time to do that [in Tests] as well.”We’ve been talking about the workload on Jacob and I suppose the workload on me will only increase but maybe it’s the right thing to do and maybe it’s the opportunity for me to step up and actually fulfill that role.”Brendon McCullum has typically been used at No. 7, but New Zealand’s relatively inexperienced batting line-up meant he became a more important middle-order man. Vettori has supported McCullum’s desire to settle at No. 5 but that has not entirely worked out.The other players who have an opportunity to fill the allrounder’s role are James Franklin and Grant Elliott. Franklin, a left-arm swing bowler who has converted to an allrounder, has replaced Oram recently at home and in South Africa and appears the most likely candidate, but Vettori called for more consistency. “We all understand he [Franklin] has all the talent in the world and we just want him to get back to his best and be able to be a consistent performer for New Zealand because he could become one of our very good players,” he said.New Zealand will host Pakistan at home for a Test series next month. Before that they will play one-dayers and Twenty20 in the UAE, the squads for which will be named on Thursday.

Former Pakistan opener Aamer Sohail has criticised the PCB for its out-of-court settlement with the ICC over the staging of the 2011 World Cup.The Pakistan board had sent a legal notice to the ICC after it was stripped of its rights to host the tournament in the aftermath of the attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore in March. A case had also been filed against the move of the World Cup Secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai.But as a result of the agreement between the two parties in Dubai, where it was decided that the PCB would retain its hosting fee of US$10.5 million and receive payment as compensation for the loss of hosting rights, the board decided to withdraw its legal cases against the ICC. Sohail, though, said that the amount the PCB would receive – an estimated US$18 million as total returns – was meager in comparison to what they would have earned had they pursued the matter in court.’The match hosting fees, profit shares and participating fees are big incentives, which the ICC must give to the PCB in all circumstances,” Sohail told . “After all, what else did the PCB go into the legal fight for in the first place?”But I think the cases were filed just to get a share in the gate money and parking, which is peanuts actually. We could have even got that through a one-on-one negotiation with the ICC,” he said. “The PCB’s share of the gate money and parking from 14 matches can roughly be around Rs80 to 90 million, which the ICC could offer through dialogue.”Sohail had been appointed the director of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy by the PCB in November last year, but quit the post in July citing personal reasons and complete absence of any job satisfaction. Sohail said that the PCB had spent a significant amount filing the cases in the first place and ended up achieving none of their initial objectives: winning back the rights to host the competition and having the secretariat moved back to the country.”If the legal fight was for the little gate money or parking amount then it was not a wise decision as it could be resolved amicably through negotiation anyway,” he said.Sohail was also critical of the PCB’s proposal to hold its share of matches at neutral venues, notably the UAE. The ICC had ruled out the possibility of staging Pakistan’s games at neutral venues during a meeting in June. “How can the PCB propose Abu Dhabi and Dubai as alternate venues without even signing MoUs with the two Arabian states’ cricketing authorities?,” Sohail said. “By proposing Abu Dhabi and Dubai as the alternate venues, the chairman [Ijaz Butt], in fact, showed no confidence in the government, which appointed him the head of its cricket board, for being able to improve the security situation by 2011.”Sohail was of the view that the best option available for the PCB was to ask for time to make adequate security arrangements for the tournament and said that the security situation in Pakistan was improving. “Pakistan have to host its share of 14 matches in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. The security situation in all these cities is improving day by day and things would hopefully be in a far better state by 2011,” he said. “The chairman could at least have proposed that while the ICC continued work on the alternative venues of Pakistan’s matches in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the PCB will also do the same in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.”Five months before the start of the mega event, a final security situation can help both the ICC and the PCB reach a perfect decision that is acceptable to both parties.”