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Fresh from their whitewash of the truncated Test rubber, Pakistan take on the much-harried West Indies in the first of a series of three one-dayers here today. Regardless of the misery in which their opponents find themselves, Pakistan are unlikely to show mercy.To make matters worse for the West Indies, Wasim Akram is making a comeback after a lay-off to recover from a hamstring strain to add to the firepower, depth and variety of Pakistan’s vaunted bowling attack. So does young off-spinner Shoaib Malik, the duo replacing Mohammad Sami and Danish Kaneria, both of whom have returned home.For his part, Akram looks lean and hungry, at the venue which found him rejuvenated enough last October to convince all doubters that he could last up to the 2003 World Cup. To further egg him on, he is tantalizingly close to the 450-wicket mark in one-day internationals. Already ahead of the competition by a distance, he needs only four wickets to go past that milestone."I’ve missed quite a bit of cricket, and I am eager to make up for that by taking a few wickets here", said Akram, who was welcomed by the team the other evening as everybody huddled together for a meeting at the stadium before going for practice. They repeated the proceedure on the eve of the match, doing fielding exercises under the lights as well.That Pakistan are unlikely to let up in their resolve of a total whitewash of this series goes without saying. Coach Mudassar Nazar’s statement echoed similar sentiments: “The one-dayers are going to be a different ball game altogether. Since the Windies would be aiming to redeem themselves, we might have a fight at our hands. We at the same time have no intention of resting on our laurels. We intend to improve further – there are so many areas in which I still want the team to do better.”He mentioned fielding as one area where he wants a more disciplined performance by his charges.Fielding is also giving nightmares to Carl Hooper, whose side floored a mind-boggling 17 opportunities in the field – lapses which cost them dear as the Pakistani batsmen capitalized. If the West Indies can’t put up a better show in the field, the Pakistanis will not really be extended in this most happy of hunting grounds for them.The West Indies, badly missing Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and now Marlon Samuels, who last week underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee, have made only one change in the team which was beaten by 170 and then 244 runs in the two Test matches. All-rounder Runako Martin, a three-dimensional player who bats right handed, bowls at a brisk pace and is a good fielder, replaces Samuels in the squad.Though both sides are level in overs-limited cricket here, winning an equal number of games out of 16, the Pakistanis are the form team and keen to improve this record in their favour. But regardless of their woes in the longer version of the game, the West Indies too are reckoned to be a better one-day outfit. After their recent drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka, they recovered enough to feature in the three-nation final there, and, as Hooper reminded everyone in a briefing here on Wednesday, the match was a proper contest even though they lost."They would be doing us a favour if they [the Pakistanis] underestimate us," said Hooper. While sounding confident of prevailing over his rivals, Waqar too conceded that the Caribbean strokemakers can be a different proposition in the shorter version of the game.But the Pakistanis are not willing to release their stranglehold on the opposition, and if the West Indies succeed in upsetting their best-laid plans, it would indeed be a surprise.

New Zealand completed its preparation for the CricInfo Women’s World Cup, starting next week, in Timaru today with its second convincing win of three in its clean sweep over England.The eight wicket margin fairly demonstrated the difference between the two sides on the day.England, who batted first, should have made more of the good start they made to their innings. But just when they needed batsmen to build on the positive start, the middle and lower order faltered in the face of some quality New Zealand bowling.It was as if a tourniquet had been applied to stop the flow of runs. As the runs dried up the panic level in the England batting increased and it was dismissed in the 41st over for only 109, its lowest total of the series.Katrina Keenan polished off the lower order to finish with 3-15 as the last seven England wickets fell for 29 runs.Earlier, Rachel Pullar took 2-21 from seven overs while most encouragingly for New Zealand, given her return to the side after nearly two years out of the game, Clare Nicholson bowled eight overs and took 1-12.Catherine Campbell continued her quest for the world record for most wickets in ODIs. She took two wickets in the series to finish on 71 wickets, two behind Australian slow left-armer Lynette Fullston.Chasing her for the honour however, are Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Charmaine Mason with 61, England’s Clare Taylor 59, New Zealand’s Keenan 58 and Zoe Goss of Australia on 57.New Zealand made a superb start to its chase and was quickly in front of what had been a lively England assault.Rebecca Rolls was belligerent at the start and while out for 13, it was in the third over. Anna O’Leary took the chance to play a longer innings than in the first game in Oamaru when she scored eight.She chanced her arm and got reward as the ball flew at good speed over fieldsmen in the gully area and her six from Laura Harper’s bowling was a sweetly-timed shot, the only six of the series.While offering a chance on 29, she went on to score 40 in an 80-run partnership with skipper Emily Drumm.Drumm, after the disappointment of her dismissal for 10 on Tuesday, was unbeaten on 43 at the end and had the satisfaction of scoring the winning runs.”There was no way today they were going to get me,” she said. “My downfall is often because I don’t value my wicket enough.”But she was in full control and was delighted with the series win.”Today’s game was the best chase out of the eight games we have played against England this year. And we have played better against England in this series than we did earlier in the year,” she said.England captain Clare Connor said that as a stand alone series the 3-0 series loss to New Zealand was very disappointing but as preparation for a big tournament it had been useful.”There have been several positive things to come out of it. Some of our bowlers are bowling better than they ever have before. It is disappointing the way we are approaching our batting.”We showed aggressive intent early on.”It is a case of everyone believing in what we have been practising all year,” she said.She was delighted with the side’s effort in the second game when defending 134.”It was fantastic and showed fantastic spirit and we showed some heart and soul. It took a big commitment and it is that which will pull us through the tournament and into the semi-finals,” she said.Both teams have a few days off now. The New Zealanders are going to their respective homes until reassembling on Sunday while England will be doing some sightseeing.

Everton were dumped out of the FA Cup this afternoon after a 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in what was another dismal performance from Frank Lampard’s men.

Marc Guehi, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Wilfried Zaha and Will Hughes all got themselves on the scoresheet as the Toffees simply could not find a way to keep the home side out.

There were some truly worrying displays from a few of the Everton players, and The Transfer Tavern have used statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who the three worst performers (to have played at least 45 minutes) were for the visitors on the day:

Mason Holgate (6.1)

With a 6.1 overall rating given, Holgate ranked as Everton’s third-worst player.

The defender lost out on three of his duels and only made one tackle, while his mere 63% pass accuracy was one of the worst recorded out of his team-mates.

Holgate also gave possession away on 19 separate occasions, the joint-second most out of any Toffees player.

Michael Keane (6.0)

Keane ranked as their second-worst performer with a 6.0 rating.

The former Burnley man was unsuccessful in five of his duels and failed to make any tackles or blocks, while he was guilty of losing the ball 13 times.

Jordan Pickford (5.9)

Pickford was given a lowly 5.9 rating, and with four goals conceded, the ‘keeper unsurprisingly ranked as his team’s worst performer.

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While he was helpless for some of the goals, the third from Zaha was pretty strange as the England number one just seemed to watch the ball loop onto his post without any reaction.

Pickford was unsuccessful with nine of his long balls in total, the most out of any Blues player, while he also lost possession nine times and only made two saves in the entire match.

In other news, find out what ‘blatant’ VAR error was made before Mateta’s goal

Kandurata, led by Sri Lanka’s vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, qualified for a place in Sunday’s final when they recorded their third straight win in the competition, defeating Hirdaramani Ruhuna by 43 runs under the Duckworth- Lewis method in a night match played at the R Premadasa Stadium.Winning the toss and choosing to bat, Kandurata made their third total in excess of 250 through half-centuries from Thilan Samaraweera (71 off 96 balls) and Chamara Kapugedera (63 off 65 balls). The innings was given a late boost by Thilan Thushara who slammed a breezy 47 off 27 balls with four sixes and a four.Ruhuna could not sustain an adjusted target of 282 from 47 overs despite fifties from Upul Tharanga and Indika de Saram and were dismissed for 238 in the 44th over, with Thushara once again being the stumbling block taking 3 for 29.Basnahira South, captained by Tillakaratne Dilshan, registered their first win by beating Basnahira North by six wickets, again under the Duckworth-Lewis method, at the SSC grounds. Put into bat, Basnahira North could manage only 207 for 9 in 50 overs, their batsmen being restricted by young left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardene who took 6 for 40 off 10 overs.Basnahira South’s run chase was curtailed by rain and their revised target saw them set 175 for victory off 36 overs. Ian Daniel with 74 off 75 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes) led the way to victory which was achieved with eight overs to spare.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Kandurata	3	3	0	0	0	13	+1.685	851/145.2	613/147.0
Wayamba	3	2	1	0	0	10	+0.541	594/122.0	528/122.0
Basnahira North	4	2	2	0	0	10	-0.194	680/164.2	771/178.0
Basnahira South	3	1	2	0	0	5	-0.750	572/128.0	701/134.2
Ruhuna	3	0	3	0	0	0	-1.694	444/119.0	528/97.2

England A’s coach, Peter Moores, gets to grips with the local conditions © Tigercricket.com

The England A squad arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday with the twin aims of braving the local conditions and playing some quality cricket. With the World Cup getting underway next month and England’s senior team unsettled by one or two nagging injuries, the A-squad members who have been undergoing practice sessions at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur know full well that an impressive showing on this trip could lead to higher honours before the English season gets underway in April.Nevertheless, Michael Yardy, England A’s captain, was adamant that the sole focus for his team-mates was the current engagements. “Obviously I wanted to play in the World Cup,” said Yardy during a media conference in Mirpur. “But here I am in Bangladesh with the England A side, and I see this as an opportunity to play in a different country and different condition. I am quite happy with it”It’s true that in case of an injury someone can be called up from here to join the World Cup squad,” he added. “But remember this is not just about the World Cup. These players are eager to play in Tests and one-day internationals for England in future. So this tour is a learning experience for all of us. Hopefully when we will visit the subcontinent with the national team we will utilise this experience. First of all we came here to play some good cricket. Beside that we want to experience the condition, enjoy the country on and off the pitch.”Yardy is a familiar foe of the Bangladesh players, having cracked a massive 257 for Sussex at Hove, during a warm-up for the Test tour in 2005 at Hove. “Obviously I remember that innings,” he recalled. “That is my highest first-class score. That was my day. I have the experience of playing against Bangladesh while they were touring England a few seasons ago. That was a very talented squad which had some promising batsmen and quality spinners. I am sure that this time we are going to face another talented side.”Having already appeared for the England one-day side last year, Yardy is determined to win his way back to the main side. “On this tour I want to lead the team well and set an example by playing good cricket. Besides that I want to get back in the national squad as early as possible. For that I have to score some big runs on this tour.”The coach, Peter Moores, was confident that his side had the ingredients to do well. “We came here with a big and balanced squad. We have a very talented legspinner [Adil Rashid] and also have some players who have the experience of playing at the highest level like Matt Prior, Yardy and Stuart Broad. So we have got a nice mixed group. These boys are quite ready to show that they are capable of stepping into the next level and that is to play for the national team.”

Will Jefferson launches one out of the Mirpur nets © Getty Images

Moores also defended the presence of only one specialist spinner in the squad. “We also have two part timers in Yardy [left-arm spin] and Alex Loudon [offspinner] who can also bat. So we’ve got quite a few options. We have the chance to field three spinners in a match. Besides that we have a good seam attack. Broad has just got back from Australia with the triumphant CB series team. Another pacer Graham Onions can bowl with some pace. We want to have a good time and hopefully identify some future England players and win some matches, obviously.”Moores added that his side would have their work cut out on a tricky tour. “We know about your passion for the game,” he told the local Bangladeshi journalists, “and we are very aware that this will not be an easy tour for us because it is very difficult to beat Bangladesh in their backyard. The conditions are obviously different from ours. The first part of any tour for the touring side is to get used to the conditions.”The team’s manager, Guy Jackson, who had toured Bangladesh last month to inspect the facilities, said they couldn’t have asked for more. “The facility is absolutely superb,” he said of the Mirpur stadium. “You have fantastic international stadiums and the indoor facilities are equally good. In terms of potential and facilities I think Bangladesh are a sleeping giant. Now we are looking forward to the challenge of playing good competitive cricket here.”England A kick off their tour with a three-day practice game against the BCB National Cricket Academy side at the Bangladesh Institute of Sports (BKSP), starting on Saturday. They return to Mirpur for the first of two four-day matches against Bangladesh A (Feb 22-25) and then travel to Bogra for the second four-dayer (Mar 1-4), followed by the first of three one-day matches (Mar. 7). They wrap up their tour with the remaining one-dayers against Bangladesh A at Mirpur on March 9 and 11.

The Indian women’s cricket side, led by Mithali Raj, left Chennai on Friday for their one-month tour of Australia and New Zealand. They will play one Test and three one-dayers in Australia and five one-dayers in New Zealand.The 14-strong team has spent the last nine days in Chennai at the MRF Pace Foundation, and Raj said that they were as ready as they could be. “Batting and bowling are our strengths and the team is in good nick,” she said, adding that the pitches at the MRF Foundation were “almost similar to that in Australia.”Indian squad Mithali Raj (capt), Nooshin Al Khadeer, Anjum Chopra, Neetu David, Rumeli Dhar, Jhulan Goswami, Karuna Jain, , Reema Malhotra, Sulakshana Naik, Devika Palshiker, Sunetra Paranjpe, Amita Sharma, Jaya Sharma and Monica Sumra.

Tony Greig says Packer’s finger is always “on the pulse”© Getty Images

Kerry Packer, the man who started World Series Cricket, has launched an investigation into Twenty20, cricket’s newest contender for a revolution, the Courier-Mail reported. The newspaper said Packer, the owner of Nine, which broadcasts international cricket in Australia, called Shane Warne for his opinion as he tried to assess whether the game was a fad or phenomenon.Tony Greig, who helped Packer set up World Series Cricket in the 70s, was unsure whether Packer had begun an investigation, but said he was always looking at where the game was heading. “He has always got his fingers on the pulse,” Greig told the newspaper. “Last year, all the Nine commentators were asked by Kerry what we thought could be done to improve the limited-over game.”Crowds have packed stadiums when Twenty20 has been offered this summer while the VB Series, the tournament that grew from WSC, has looked tired and matches between Pakistan and West Indies were scheduled for day timeslots. Cricket Australia, which announced an interstate Twenty20 tournament this week, is reviewing all its sponsorship and television rights in April.

Kapil Dev: best bowling figures at Adelaide © Getty Images

Australia have played 61 Tests at Adelaide, and have won 30, lost 15, and drawn 16. After six consecutive draws from 1985-86 to 1990-91, the last 12 years have shown a changing trend – nine victories, two losses, and a solitary draw (against South Africa in 1997-98). Among those two defeats was a one-run loss against West Indies, when a bouncer by Courtney Walsh brushed Craig McDermott’s glove to end a 40-run last-wicket partnership. Curtly Ambrose picked up ten wickets in the game.

On winning the toss, captains are inclined to bat first, and the figures reveal why. Since 1995-96, wickets on the first day are worth 51.7 runs each, in stark contrast to 30.51 on the third day, and 19.46 on the fifth. And it’s no surprise that the fewest number of wickets fall on the first day. In fact, Australia have a poor fourth-innings average of 171, 11 fewer than their opponents’ average when batting last.

In seven Tests between Australia and India (India have lost five and drawn two), 21 centuries have been scored, the highest being Kim Hughes’s 213 in 1980-81. Sandeep Patel made the highest individual score by an Indian, 174 off 240 balls, in the same game, to help India escape with a draw.

The Adelaide pitch has provided equal assistance to all types of bowlers. An average of 32.3 is complemented by a strike rate of 66.2 for the seamers, while the corresponding figures for spinners are 32.7 and 68.4. Of the ten five-wicket hauls in seven matches between Australia and India, five are by each side, with Kapil Dev’s 8 for 106 in 1985-86, the best bowling figures. His record at the ground is impressive: 19 wickets in three Tests at 23.1.

The closest India have come to a victory at the Adelaide Oval was in 1991-92, when Mohammad Azharuddin scored a fourth-innings century to take them to 333 – but India still fell 38 runs short of the target.

India scored their highest total of 520 in 1985-86, when Sunil Gavaskar carried his bat for 166. At the other end of the scale is the 110 India managed in 1999-2000, when VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly scored a paltry 246 runs between them in eight innings, while Anil Kumble’s figures were 3 for 174. Ajit Agarkar impressed with the ball, taking 5 for 129. He also managed to score 19 in the first innings, before starting his famous sequence of ducks. In the same game, Tendulkar was dismissed in bizarre fashion when he ducked into a short ball from Glenn McGrath, was struck on the shoulder, and was given out lbw.

After a frustrating couple of days in Masterton, we were thrilled to see the sun shining on Wellington’s Kelburn Park.The only interruption to the matches was a streaker. Although he wasn’t quite as naked as the Beige Brigade boys in Hamilton, he did manage to turn heads, in the opposite direction.The wicket, although covered, was still very damp and just walking along it left indentations. The wind and sun had had a chance to dry the adjacent uncovered wicket and it was decided that this would be used for the match.Wellington captain Anna O’Leary won the toss and not surprisingly put us in to bat on a wicket lacking pace and any bounce at all. Batting conditions proved testing and the Wellington bowlers, in particular openers Frances King and Anna Corbin, exploited them well.Our batting showed little regard for the conditions, let alone any adaptation. After consulting our scorecard you’d be forgiven for thinking we were batting on a minefield. It was far from a minefield, and our dismissal for 88 in the 40th over was inexcusable.Of greater concern was that the second match was almost identical. Again Wellington asked us to bat, again we batted poorly, again we failed to bat our 50 overs, and this time we were dismissed in the 44th over for 93.At this level you must learn from mistakes and do so very quickly. A first-class season comprised of only 10 matches at most, is not kind to slow learners.We do not lack ability with the bat. Our batsman look competent at the crease, sometimes even dominant and we are good strikers of the ball. However we have so far not demonstrated any batsmanship or the ability to build an innings, graft through difficult patches and occupy the crease for a substantial length of time.A few batsmen did the hard work against Wellington, got a start and then threw it away with a poor shot option.We did produce some of the best cricket shots in both matches. What we have to learn is that there is more to batting than just being able to do the biomechanical stuff right. Anybody can hit a ball hard and straight in throw-downs, and look good while hitting a bad ball to the fence. But unless you are prepared to build an innings and have a plan for how and where you are going to score your runs, more often than not the scorebook will have little regard for you.The progress made by our bowlers is pleasing. They are demonstrating, in that discipline, the approach we need to take to batting. They have natural ability and they can bowl with pace and swing as well as anyone. This season they have stood up as competitors who are thinking about what they are doing, how they are going to get wickets and how they are going to make the batsman play. Our batsman could learn from them.Our final round this weekend is against the State Auckland Hearts on Auckland’s North Shore. The last time our sides met we came away with an upset win. It was based around the batting of one individual who got us to a defendable total, and the bowlers did the rest. We have one last opportunity to turn the batting effort around and we must do it if we are to put any pressure on the reigning champions. The Hearts are a strong side, but cricket is a funny game and if you can create a little bit of pressure, you never know what can happen.

Former England Test batsman Rob Bailey highlighted the West Indies’ bowling problems leading up to next Thursday’s Fourth Test at Headingley.Bailey became the first Derbyshire batsman to score a hundred against a touring West Indian team, remaining unbeaten on 112 against an attack which looked ordinary without both Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.Derbyshire declared their first innings closed yesterday on the second day of the tour match at 242 for five, a deficit of 148. This represented an impressive fight-back from 32 for 3.The West Indies, who declared on their overnight score of 390 for nine, were 110 for 3 from 18 overs in their second innings at the close of the second day.The tourists must, however, be concerned that Reon King and Franklyn Rose show no sign of finding their best form. King again struggled with his run-up and both tended to bowl too short on aflat Derby pitch.King and Rose are nonetheless expected top retain their Test places next week. Nixon McLean and Corey Collymore were given only seventeen overs between them while leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo was erratic and expensive.Bailey lofted Nagamootoo for six over long-off, hitting a spectator who needed hospital treatment although he was not seriously injured.Bailey completed his century shortly after tea and would have found this one against the West Indies, the 46th of his first-class career, somewhat satisfying.The former Northants skipper was dropped from the England after being on the end of a bad decision in the Bridgetown Test of the 1990 tour.Bailey, who was chanceless in 277 minutes at the crease, shared stands of 83 with Mathew Dowman and 95 with Luke Sutton. Matthew Cassar provided some late acceleration before Bailey declared.Bailey came to the crease at 12 for two when Stephen Titchard was lbw toKing in the sixth over and Steve Stubbings was caught behind off Rose. He quickly lost James Pyemont, who was caught behind in Collymore’s first over, looked in no difficulty afterwards.Bailey declared as soon as the follow-on was avoided, but Adrian Griffith and Sherwin Campbell were soon launching into the county’s attack, weakened by injury.Griffith smashed 36 from 19 balls before he was bowled aiming a big pull shot at Dowman, and Campbell completed a half-century before he drove spinner Lian Wharton to extra cover.Ramnaresh Sarwan failed late in the day, bowled aiming a loose drive at Cassar before he had scored.