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Ireland have named their 14-man squad for the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament in Canada which starts next month.They will travel to Toronto on August 28 to battle it out to claim one of the six places on offer at the Under-19 World Cup, which takes place next January in New Zealand.There is only one change from the squad which won the Under-19 European Championships in Jersey, with Clontarf wicket-keeper batsman Adrian D’Arcy replacing left arm spinner Jack Blakiston-Houston.”We need to have a second wicket keeper option in case of injury to first-choice Stuart Poynter,” said Brian Walsh, the team manager, It was hard on Jack, but in George Dockrell we still have a very good left arm slow bowler option.”Paul Stirling has played at full international level for Ireland and stands a good chance of facing England in the one-day international in Belfast a couple of says before flying to Canada.The tournament in Toronto takes place between September 1-13.Squad Andrew Balbirnie (capt) (Pembroke), Ben Ackland (Merrion), Adrian D’Arcy (Clontarf), George Dockrell (Leinster), Shane Getkate (Malahide), Graeme McCarter (Killyclooney), Graham McDonnell (Pembroke), Lee Nelson (Waringstown), Stuart Poynter (Middlesex), Eddie Richardson (North County), James Shannon (Instonians), Paul Stirling (Carrick), Stuart Thompson (Eglinton), Craig Young (Bready).

The ICC has formed a committee to resolve the concerns of the Indian board regarding the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) code.The International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) working group will be chaired by Tim Kerr, chairman of ICC Anti-Doping panel, and also includes ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, ICC principal advisor IS Bindra and former India captain Anil Kumble, who sits on WADA’s Athlete Committee.Eleven Indian players are in the ICC’s drug testing pool, and they have raised concerns about the clause, which requires them to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. The BCCI and the players were worried about security risks involved in providing whereabouts information in advance and have also said that the clause is a violation of privacy statutes.No dates have yet been set for a meeting of the IRTP panel, which was formed after the BCCI announced on Sunday that it would not require its players to file the ‘whereabouts’ information. WADA has been invited to send a representative to advice the panel.Lorgat reiterated that the ICC and the Indian board were keen to resolve the impasse at the earliest. “I am pleased we have constituted this group as I believe it will help to resolve the practical concerns of India players,” Lorgat said. “All of us – the ICC and its members including India – are committed to a zero-tolerance approach in the area of anti-doping.”The BCCI and the Indian board faced plenty of flak for their decision to not abide by the WADA code, including the country’s sports minister. Cricketers from all other countries and India’s top athletes have accepted the anti-doping regulations.One of the BCCI’s suggestions for solving the problem was to introduce a new cricket-specific code, and asking the ICC to walk out of the WADA umbrella.

ScorecardSteve Harmison’s figures were 8-7-1-1 at one stage after making the trip to Trent Bridge from Lord’s•Getty Images

The battle of the giants at Trent Bridge took a mighty turn in favour of the title-holders Durham on the second day, as the Nottinghamshire batting collapsed and they were forced to follow on. It was a day of absorbing cricket, one which again showed that at present Durham are the powerhouse in the world of county cricket and it will take a lot to shift them from their throne.There was an entertaining morning session as Nottinghamshire took the remaining five Durham wickets for the addition of 99 runs. The ball swung for the fast bowlers, although not prodigiously, and the later Durham batsmen clearly believed that sensible attack was the most expedient way to bat. This combination resulted in some exciting times for the slip cordon, which was kept constantly on red alert, receiving several chances and several close calls that fell just short.They began the day at 257 for 5, and the new batsman Ian Blackwell was soon well under way with two boundaries off loose deliveries. The night-watchman Mitchell Claydon lasted only 15 minutes, before he edged a lifting ball from Andre Adams to second slip. Blackwell took a few overs to regroup, and then opened up more aggressively in company with Phil Mustard, hitting seven fours in his innings of 38 off 45 balls before he drove at a moving ball from Sidebottom and treated third slip to a low catch.Liam Plunkett survived a hard chance to the slips when he had 2 on the board, but on 9 he was suckered by Mark Ealham into swatting a high-bouncing delivery straight to midwicket, to his own disgust. Mustard meanwhile had been following the Blackwell policy of enlightened attack, and he made 40 off 52 balls before he slashed at another swinger from Sidebottom and was caught by the wicketkeeper, Chris Read, in front of first slip. Finally Callum Thorp was trapped lbw by a yorker from the same bowler and Durham were dismissed for 356. Sidebottom, bowling a tighter line, was the best bowler of the morning, finishing with 4 for 65; Ealham and Adams took three each. Shreck bowled better than he had on the first day, but without luck.Nottinghamshire had three annoying overs to face before lunch, in which they scored a single. Two of them were bowled by Claydon, both maidens, and that was the end of his official role in this match. One of the ECB rulings allowed Steve Harmison, omitted from the Test team, to return to his county in the middle of a match and edge out one of the participants, and Claydon was the one who lost out. Harmison was immediately brought on after lunch, starting with three maiden overs, as he bowled well within himself as regards pace, but with accuracy. With Mark Davies also well on the spot, the score after 10 overs was remarkably 2 without loss. It was an achievement worthy of the nineteenth-century Nottingham stonewaller Will Scotton himself. There was an ironic round of applause from the crowd as Matt Wood turned Harmison to leg for a quick single at the end of the 11th over. In the 14th over Wood drove Davies for successive boundaries to leg and through the covers, and after an over of such unrestrained extravagance the total had rocketed to 14 and the scoring rate to one per over.But such frivolity brought a price, and in his next over Harmison made a ball fly at Wood, who pushed it meekly to short leg and departed for 12. Bilal Shafayat and Mark Wagh buckled down to prevent any further outbursts of scoring, but this hardly worked either, as Wagh, with only a single, flashed at a ball from Thorp and was caught at second slip. Samit Patel, however, took the score in excess of the number of overs again with a thunderous back-foot cover drive for four off Thorp, and then Shafayat unexpectedly produced two more of the same in Liam Plunkett’s first over that followed. Again such excesses proved fatal, and Patel sliced a sharp high catch into the gully off Plunkett, reducing Nottinghamshire to 33 for 3 in the 23rd over. Harmison’s afternoon spell read 8-7-1-1, if it can be believed. Well as Durham bowled, the Nottinghamshire batsmen were digging their own grave.David Hussey, unimpressed by the situation, immediately cut two boundaries off the erratic Plunkett. He too paid the penalty, though, aiming a rather unwise drive at a ball from Plunkett and being caught at the wicket off the inside edge for 9; 47 for 4. Ali Brown got off the mark with a sliced boundary that just cleared the slips, but next to go was Shafayat, pushed back and trapped lbw for 16 off 88 balls. The bowler was Thorp, who generally bowled very well, and Notts were in much dismay at 54 for 5.Brown remained defiant, striking three fours and a six in reaching 20 off 28 balls at tea, and thus risking the hoodoo that had struck down his team-mates who had tried to break the shackles. Chris Read also showed aggressive spirit and savaged Harmison’s figures by scoring six runs off his first over after tea. The third session was actually a different ball game, as Brown and Read appeared in no difficulty at all as they stroked the ball freely. Brown had a narrow escape on 27 as he popped a ball just over the bowler Harmison’s head, but Read was even more dashing. He especially enjoyed the hook, despite the presence of two men on the boundary waiting for him, and was on 47 when Brown went, bowled by Blackwell for 36 (64 balls) as he tried to work the ball through the leg side.On approaching his 50, Read slowed right down and was then out lbw, groping forward to Blackwell, for 48. Andre Adams never looked secure, and eventually holed out in the covers off Blackwell for 6. The spectre of the follow-on was looming. As long as Mark Ealham, batting well, was still there, Nottinghamshire had hope of evading it, but when he chipped a catch to mid-on for 24, to be replaced by Shreck with 39 still needed, the situation was clearly hopeless. So it proved, as Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 171, a deficit of 185. Plunkett, though erratic at times, took 4 for 56, and Blackwell, in fine bowling form at present, three for 6 in nine overs.At this point play ended owing to bad light. Nottinghamshire are left with a gigantic task over the next two days if they are to avoid a heavy defeat at the hands of the rampant Durham team.

Pakistan will continue to suggest Dubai and Abu Dhabi as surrogate home venues for the 2011 World Cup and also pursue its legal case against the ICC who, they say, unlawfully stripped Pakistan of its right to host matches in cricket’s premier tournament.ICC officials on Thursday reaffirmed that in light of the Lahore terror attacks, Pakistan will not be hosting any games – though they do stand to benefit financially as co-hosts. More pertinently, the ICC also said that the option of neutral venues – which Pakistan had been pursuing – had also been rejected.”There is no question of a fifth country,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. “The board has considered that and decided that 14 matches that were allocated to Pakistan should take place in the other three host countries – India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”But Ijaz Butt, PCB chairman, said the option would be discussed again at a meeting of the ICC’s central organizing committee (COC). The ICC has asked the COC to meet and report back to the governing body on how Pakistan’s share of matches will be divided among the rest. “Without having the full ICC release in front of me, I can say this much that we will make an effort [on trying Abu Dhabi and Dubai as neutral venues] and that remains our suggestion,” Butt told Cricinfo.It will not be easy, as the three co-hosts – India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – are very resistant to any such move, arguing that it dilutes the concept of a subcontinental World Cup. The PCB’s relations with the three are not ideal either for such negotiations; the most recent manifestation is the cancellation of a Pakistan Under-19 tour to Bangladesh on security grounds, a tour scheduled as far ahead as October.But Pakistan’s legal push has already reaped benefits; they still stand to make nearly US$10.5 million from a tournament in which no matches will be hosted on their soil. Further push might bring further reward. “We fully respect the IDI [commercial arm and decision-making body of the ICC] and its capacity to make decisions, but our legal action will continue,” Butt said. “We made six requests to the ICC, which we said must be met; four of them have been accepted, including the fact that we cannot be denied our hosting rights and the revenue from that. Two issues remain, one of which is the Abu Dhabi and Dubai option. This we will discuss at the COC meeting.”The other issue is the location of the COC’s headquarters. The tournament secretariat was set up in Lahore but was relocated to Mumbai after the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in March. The PCB, says Butt, wants to keep the secretariat in Dubai, but that, it seems, would be largely dependent on whether matches are held in the Gulf area.”Though cases are still pending, we are more than keen on a settlement with the ICC over the issue. Some hurdles have been created by other members but we are still hopeful that a solution will be reached,” Butt said.

The darkest of clouds surrounded the New Zealand team in the lead-up to their Super Eights contest against Ireland but by the time the game was over – within the first six overs, for all practical purposes – at Trent Bridge, they had found a shining silver lining. With injuries ruling out three players capable of winning Twenty20 matches single-handed, Aaron Redmond, a novice who had never played limited-overs cricket at the international level, answered the distress call and grabbed his unexpected chance with a powerful performance.For most, being plucked out of the grind of grade cricket and thrown into an international arena – a World Cup game no less, irrespective of the opposition – against the new ball, would be a daunting opportunity. For Redmond, though, the eleventh-hour call-up worked to his advantage. It left him with no time to think about the magnitude of responsibility he had been given and the scrutiny he would be under in a global event.”I don’t think I had enough time to make the transition, to be honest,” Redmond said. “I only got the call-up yesterday and the next thing I know I was in the hotel. I actually thought I might not play so I was pretty calm.”Redmond had followed the tournament on television, keeping track of New Zealand’s fortunes as he went through the routines of club cricket. He would have known they had turned for the worse as Jesse Ryder was hospitalised with an infection and Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori struggled with hamstring and shoulder problems. Redmond had just scored a hundred – 146 in 80 minutes (the scorer gave up counting balls) – against Astley Bridge in the Bolton League, where most of the recent matches had been reduced to 30 overs because of rain. Little did he know his decision to travel to England and play cricket during the New Zealand winter would present him with a call-up to the national side.”It’s a long way to fly someone from New Zealand in the middle of winter, so smart play from Aaron to come over and play league cricket,” said his captain Brendon McCullum. “It definitely helped with him being over here.”Even after his call-up, few expected Redmond to entertain like he did. He had struggled to muster 54 runs in three Tests during the tour of England last summer and came across as a dour batsman. But the few who watched him with Otago would have raved about the 56-ball century he scored against Central Districts this February. McCullum also was surprised at how easily he was outscored by Redmond today.”Every time we’ve batted together previously [for Otago] he’s got about 1 or 2,” McCullum said. “He certainly took the initiative and, if anything, I struggled to get him back on strike. He still managed to strike the ball as cleanly as he did.”Wearing one of McCullum’s shirts with the name taped over, Redmond hit the ground running, driving his first ball from Peter Connell through cover for four. He pierced the infield effortlessly after that and sent seven of his first ten deliveries to the boundary. He lifted New Zealand from the gloom caused by the injuries, scoring 40 of the first 44 runs, and finishing with 63 off 30. Oddly, for an innings with a strike-rate of 210.00, Redmond hit 13 fours and no sixes. By the time he was dismissed, New Zealand had scored 91 in 9.3 overs and the threat of an upset had all but vanished.McCullum was generous in his praise for Redmond because this was New Zealand’s second tricky match against an Associate. They were presented with a seven-over lottery against Scotland, which they won with an over to spare, and now were severely depleted against Ireland. “To make the contribution he did, he took the game away from them [Ireland] inside three overs,” McCullum said. “It was a pretty nervy game for us. He gave the rest of the side a lot of impetus and a lot of momentum.”New Zealand’s second Super Eight game is against Pakistan at The Oval on Saturday. Redmond’s league club has its net sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays. He won’t be turning up for practice tomorrow.

England have recalled Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom to their squad for the second Test against West Indies at Chester-le-Street. Monty Panesar’s omission is the only change from the first Test squad with the ground not favouring spinBell started the season with scores of 172 and 108 for Warwickshire, after being told to go back and score big runs following his axe on the tour of the Caribbean, but was overlooked for the No. 3 spot. Ravi Bopara seized his opportunity with his second Test century, but Bell has been called up on the back of 320 runs in seven first-class innings.After being left out before the first Test, Bell was told by national selector Geoff Miller to show even more passion about earning a recall although since his early-season centuries he has managed scores of 27 for the England Lions and 37, 30 not out in first-class cricket.Bell’s inclusion means there is the option of playing an extra batsman at Chester-le-Street should conditions seem heavily in-favour of the bowlers, but Andy Flower has made it clear that he is keen on a five-man attack. England’s middle order wobbled at Lord’s with Kevin Pietersen making a first-ball duck and Paul Collingwood falling for 8.Sidebottom returns after recovering from surgery on a chronic Achilles injury after the West Indies tour. He has played two Championship matches, claiming seven wickets at 31.42 and will give Flower another seam option. If England make a change to the winning eleven from Lord’s – either for Sidebottom or an extra batsman – Tim Bresnan would be the player to drop out after being restricted to seven overs on his debut.”Both Bell and Sidebottom have been in form in the early part of the season and have been a part of the England set-up in recent years,” said Miller. “Ryan Sidebottom has recovered from surgery and reports that he is now bowling pain-free.”The inclusion of Bell and Sidebottom in the squad gives the selectors, the coach and the captain several options going into this game. Monty Panesar is unlucky but it was always highly unlikely that we would play two spinners at Chester-le-Street.”England squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions, Ryan Sidebottom

John Buchanan, the Kolkata Knight Riders coach, wants the IPL to allow more overseas players in a XI. Under the current rules, a franchise can have a maximum of four foreign players in a XI. There can be a maximum of 10 foreign players in the squad.”It is a question that we have posed to the IPL a number of times, about the involvement of more [foreign] players on the field,” Buchanan told . “I have personally mentioned that a number of times. Hopefully the IPL will look at that more seriously going forward into next season and beyond.”At the moment we have adopted a batting strategy, so that’s where our international effort is. That means guys who are international bowlers, be it [Charl] Langeveldt, [Mashrafe] Mortaza, [Ajantha] Mendis… whoever, their opportunities are limited.”Kolkata have played Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge in all seven of their games so far while the fourth overseas spot has been shared by Australian allrounder Moises Henriques (two games), Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis (two games) and, most recently, the South African wicketkeeper Morne van Wyk (three games). Bangladesh allrounder Mashrafe Mortaza and South African fast bowler Charl Langeveldt have not yet played a match.There is no indication, though, that the IPL will increase the cap to more than four overseas players. In fact, Ravi Shastri, a member of the tournament’s governing council, said that the IPL had decided that there would be no more than four foreign players on the field at any given time, which meant that teams could use an overseas player as a substitute fielder only if the total number of foreign players on the field did not exceed four.The decision was taken after the Chennai Super Kings lodged a complaint after their match against Delhi Daredevils on April 23 in Durban. Delhi used David Warner as a substitute after Manoj Tiwary broke his hand, taking the number of overseas players on the field to five, the others being Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes.

Dale Steyn believes captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Ray Jennings have leadership and management skills to take Bangalore Royal Challengers right to the top in the IPL. Pietersen’s style of leading by example, he said, would have a positive effect on the team while Jennings’ ability to crack the whip would help players stay focused.”He [Pietersen] leads from the front always. That is a great strength of his,” Steyn told Cricinfo from Johannesburg ahead of the final ODI against Australia.The team’s owners, unhappy with their second-last position in the inaugural tournament, appointed a new coach and captain: Martin Crowe, who was the coaching director, was replaced by Jennings while Pietersen took over the captaincy from Rahul Dravid, the team’s icon player.Steyn said he did not know Pietersen well enough to understand him, having played against him only last year in England. That would apply to many in the team, so Steyn felt the challenge was to get acquainted quickly and understand Pietersen’s philosophy. “I don’t know him at all. I have played against him but I still don’t know what kind of a man he is, what kind of mood swings he has, but it is going to be interesting and we are going to have to find our feet quickly.”According to Steyn, Bangalore were unlucky to lose a lot of games marginally last year. “We did not dominate, but we were competitive”, Steyn said. He felt things would be different this time, especially because of Jennings, who has the ability to turn rank outsiders into champions.”He is capable of turning teams that have nothing into something fantastic,” Steyn said. “He is really good at it. I remember him taking Eastern province [in 2001], who were an almost nothing team, to winning the SuperSport series, the four-day championship, one of the most difficult competitions to win.”Jennings was coaching South Africa when Steyn made his international debut in 2003. For Jennings, it was important to help Steyn find his feet as quickly as possible. That did not happen; Steyn had to go back and work hard before coming back a year later. Things are different now and he is enjoying one the best phases of his career. For the better part of the last five months he has performed well against the Australians. He was the highest wicket-taker in both the home and away Test series; he also shared the top spot with team-mate Makhaya Ntini in the ODI series in Australia, and is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing ODI series.”Back then he was coaching and now he is going to be managing me,” Steyn said when asked what sort of a relationship he expected to forge with Jennings. A possible worry for Bangalore is the absence of Zaheer Khan, one the best fast bowlers in the game today, who moved to Mumbai Indians. Steyn said the inclusion of slow bowlers like Roelof van der Merwe was likely to balance the loss.”Zaheer brings something different into the team in that he is left-arm fast bowler and complements me perfectly. He was fantastic for us last year and comes with a lot of experience. We are going to miss him. But if you have seen the domestic Twenty20 tournament in the last two years in South Africa, the spinners have been the match-winners. Roelof van der Merwe has been the hero. He can be useful and can pair with another spinner to do the damage.”The presence of four South Africans in the Bangalore squad – Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, van der Merwe and Steyn – was considered an advantage by outsiders and Steyn agreed. “We have been playing well and we definitely know the conditions a hell of a lot better in our own country. Even if the four international players cannot be all from South Africa in an IPL game, you are going to get a lot of advice from the local players. It can only help to get the extra bit of advice.”Last year Steyn had inadvertently summed up Bangalore’s low-key performance with an unforgettable quote. “The IPL was only four overs a game and it was like a paid holiday; you only had to work hard if you felt like it, which is probably why we finished second-last.” Did he still consider it a party? Steyn had a hearty laugh. He said this time the IPL was at an opportune time for players who would be preparing for the World Twenty20 in June in England.”The IPL is a great tournament. This year it is even better because it becomes a bridge into the World Twenty20 which will start in England immediately in June. There is no better preparation than competing in the IPL, which is a Twenty20 competition.”

Vic Lewis, who found fame as a bandleader in the post-war period, died on February 9 at the age of 89.Lewis was famous for his jazz and, in later years, as a agent with connections to stars such as Elton John and the Beatles. His showbiz connections enabled him to indulge in his second great passion – cricket.In 1957 he formed the Vic Lewis Cricket Club, and until it was disbanded in 1984 it raised more than £3 million for charity, mixing top players with stars from showbusiness.He was also an active member of the Lord’s Taverners and had been a member of Middlesex for more than 60 years, as well as serving on the county committee between 1976 and 2001.Lewis was also famous for his collection of cricket ties, and was believed to have amassed more than 5000.

Trinidad and Tobago batsman Lendl Simmons is looking forward to his Test debut following his inclusion in the West Indies squad for the second Test against England, starting in Antigua on Friday.Simmons, who has represented West Indies in eight ODIs, demonstrated his aptitude in the longer version of the game with 282 for the A team against England in last month’s tour game in St Kitts. “I am delighted to be called up to the West Indies for the second Test and I am really looking forward to going there and doing my best.”Simmons insisted a return to the West Indies team was always on his mind and now that he has been given the opportunity he will be looking to continue scoring runs. “Well, last season I had my eyes focused on this home series and from the beginning of the season I have been working really hard on getting form and trying to hit my target and my goals,” he said. “I think I did really well at the start of the season and I got an opportunity now and I want to make good use of it.”T&T selector Claude Phillip said he had high hopes for Simmons, who he described as “a good selection” for the second Test against England. Phillip, a former first-class player, said he always had faith in Simmons. He felt Simmons had lifted his game this season and had been able to concentrate a lot more out in the middle.”Simmons did surprise me a lot in terms of his concentration this season,” Phillip said. “I knew he had the ability and the talent, but his problem was being able to concentrate for long periods and to bat for almost two days is a great credit to him,” he said referring to Simmons’ career-best 282.Phillip was disappointed that the West Indies selectors had named the squad for the first Test before the tour match, but said it “had been the policy of the West Indies selectors in the past so it is not different for the present and, as the saying goes, better late than never”. Phillip was hopeful that Simmons would replace Xavier Marshall, who has been dropped for the second Test.”If he [Marshall] can’t open he should not be in the West Indies team because there are too many middle order batsmen around to be persisting with him because he is not a good player of spin bowling and Simmons, if he does not open, could get that spot in place of Marshall.”The second Test begins on February 13 at North Sound, Antigua.