Middlesex have completed the signing of Murali Kartik, the India left-arm spinner, as their second overseas player for 2007. Kartik, 30, will join Chaminda Vaas at Lord’s as Middlesex look to recover from their disastrous season in 2006.”Kartik is a hugely exciting signing for the club,” Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive, told the club’s website. “Over the past few seasons, we have lacked an international-class spinner and are delighted to have addressed that with Kartik.”He is a popular signing with our players and I am sure he will quickly become a favourite with our supporters.”Kartik represented Lancashire in 2005, becoming the first overseas player representing the club to take ten wickets on debut. He also made a brief appearance in 2006. Subject to international call-ups, Kartik will be available for Middlesex for the entire 2007 season.

Ian Bell has called on the England team to support Andrew Flintoff during the Ashes series so that his workload doesn’t become too much. Flintoff was handed the captaincy for the tour of Australia after being narrowly favoured ahead of Andrew Strauss, but concerns linger that he has a lot on his plate as England aim to defend the Ashes.But Bell believes that Flintoff will lead from the front and take the challenges in his stride, although does concede that he can’t do it all on his own.”Even without his captaincy, Freddie is a leader in whatever he does, whether it be batting, bowling or fielding,” he told the Press Association. “It will be great to have him back on the park and great to have him lead us out there [in Australia].”But we are going to have to support him because it is a hell of a long winter for all of us especially with Freddie batting, bowling, fielding and captaining the side against the number one team in the world in Australia.”It is going to be a long winter for him so we all need to be with him and making sure he is not doing too much. That is probably a danger. The last thing you want is for Freddie to be burnt out. It’s a good thing in a way we’ve still got people there like Straussy [Andrew Strauss] and Tresco [Marcus Trescothick] around. These guys can talk to him and make sure he doesn’t do too much.When Flintoff led England in the Test series against Sri Lanka he bowled 51 overs in the second innings of the Lord’s Test. Those in favour of having Strauss as captain said he would have been able to manage Flintoff’s workload better than the man himself.”With Freddie being captain, he’ll want to do things from the front and makes sure everything is done properly and sometimes he does too much himself,” Bell said. “He needs to have that support from everyone in the team to say: ‘Freddie, you just look after yourself a bit more rather than doing too much’.”It’s great for us to have Freddie but we need to be aware he is a key player for us for the whole winter and we need him all the way through.”

It’s been over a year since the historic Ashes series and Damien Martyn,the birthday boy and Man of the Match, admitted that Australia had beenwaiting for this game for quite a while. It was the first time the twoteams met after the never-to-be-forgotten final day at The Oval and Martyncashed in on some wayward English bowling.”It’s been a year since we last played England and that was a greatseries,” he said at the end of the day. “The boys did well and fieldedwell, Huss [Michael Hussey] and me had a great partnership. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay till the end. It was a good wicket and was nice to get runs on it.”The manner in which Martyn took on Steve Harmison was probably the sightof the night, when colourful Diwali firecrackers lit up the sky.Martyn was severe in his assault and peppered five fours in a space of tenballs, nullifying Harmison’s effect almost instantly. “They didn’t bowlgreat tonight,” said Martyn bluntly when asked about his innings on thenight. “When I walked in there I didn’t go with any set plans. It justhappened that way, with the Powerplays and the field in. And with Huss atthe other end, just shoring up an end, we were able to build a partnership.”Ricky Ponting, his captain, didn’t want to read too much into Harmison’sdismal performance but added that his batsmen wouldn’t let up during theAshes. “It’s pretty easy for bowlers to get their tails up in Australia,”said Ponting when asked for an assessment of Harmison’s expensive spell.”Damien in particular played him very, very well tonight and we put awaymost balls that he bowled. If he comes to Australia and bowls that way,we’ll be looking to do exactly the same thing.”Martyn might have stolen the show but the contribution made by MichaelHussey, who walked into a crucial situation, cannot be under-estimated. “Ihad a chat to Buck [John Buchanan] at the break,” said Ponting when askedabout Hussey’s promotion up the order. “With the wicket playing the way itwas, if we lost a few wickets in a row, it would be nice to have someonelike him to really shore things up. Having to chase such a small totaltonight, it was perfectly suited for him to go in. We had three peoplepadded up at the moment and I made the decision to send Huss out. Heplayed the way we expect him to play in that situation. As we all knowhe’s a terrific player, he sums up situations and plays verywell. With him and Damien and Michael [Clarke] we have a lot of options inthe middle.”Glenn McGrath’s first spell and Shane Watson’s continued failure at thetop of the order were the only negatives that Australia could take fromthis game. Ponting wasn’t too concerned about either, placing faith inboth the performers to deliver in the future. “You don’t end up having alot of concerns about one of the greats of the game that Glenn is,” hesaid when asked about McGrath’s insipid first spell. “He delivers anhonest performance everytime he takes the field and I think hisperformance today was that – it was honest. He’s fulfilling a differentrole at the moment, bowling first change something he’s done for only halfa dozen games in his career. So he’s probably still learning the role.”And would he back Watson to open even after another failure? “He has asound and solid technique and all the shots in the book. As a one-dayopener you want to combine both of those and do it well. He got outpulling but I know how instinctive the stroke is. Sometimes you see ashort ball and just decide to go for the pull, not taking into account thebounce. What you saw before he got out, I think shows that he will be avery good opening batsman for us.”

West Indies A 274 for 8 (Smith 69, Joseph 59) v Sri Lanka A
Scorecard
Devon Smith jogged the memories of regional selectors with another half-century, while Sylvester Joseph and Narsingh Deonarine notched their own, as West Indies ‘A’ kept their Sri Lankan counterparts in the field for the entire opening day of the second unofficial “Test” at Warner Park yesterday.The left-handed Smith, who last played for the West Indies against Australia on the tour Down Under late last year, cracked an attractive 69, to help the hosts to 274 for 8 at the close. He hit a century in the drawn opening “Test” last week.Captain Sylvester Joseph, also seeking to stir the thoughts of selectors, stroked an enterprising 59, while Deonarine carved out 55.West Indies A’s total thrived on two major partnerships. First, Smith and Joseph added 88 for the third wicket to revive the regional side from 41 for two and then Deonarine and Darren Sammy (48) posted a further 80 for the seventh wicket when the score slipped to 178 for 6.Smith’s innings contained 12 fours from 103 balls while Joseph faced 82 balls and batted a shade over two hours, striking eight fours.

Shane Warne feels like he’s had “50 Vodka and Red Bulls” whenever he’s walked on to the field during the series, but it won’t stop him from waving goodbye at the next Test at Sydney. The first of Warne’s two tribute laps ended with him being chaired briefly by Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds before he stepped down to walk off with his fellow retiree Glenn McGrath.Warne showed his full repertoire to his home crowd for the last time in a Man-of-the-Match performance that was boosted by his unbeaten 40 in the first session. Two wickets as England fell to an innings loss pushed his match tally to seven and the team is now in sight of a 5-0 result.The first time Warne came to the ground was when Allan Border and Jeff Thomson failed by four runs to beat England in 1982-83. Money was tight in the Warne family back then, so they caught the train and entry was free. In the future those who have been lucky enough to be at the MCG at any time during Warne’s career will remember his performances as fondly as Border and Thomson’s brave steps.”I’m jumping out of my skin at the moment, I feel like I’ve had 50 Vodka and Red Bulls every time I go out on the field,” Warne said. “I suppose that’s why I’m trying all my tricks. I feel very happy and young and fresh.”Warne said there were tears in the dressing room when Andrew Symonds earned his first Test century, but he felt only excitement at the victory when he stepped off his “backyard”. “I’m not sad,” he said. “I’m leaving when I’m on top and feel I’m bowling as good as at any stage during my career.”I couldn’t ask for this to go much better. I got my 700th wicket, runs down the order, some catches.”The performance of Warne left Ponting light-heartedly reconsidering his decision not to challenge him when he originally brought up the exit plan. “I didn’t even think about talking Warney out of retirement,” he said, “but I might have to think about it after today.”

SuperSport Series

Johan van der Wath took six second-innings wickets to help the Eagles to an emphatic innings and 29-run victory over the Dolphins at Durban. The Eagles victory was set-up by centuries from Loots Bosman (117) and Morne van Wyk (159) in their first-innings score of 575 for 8, with Jacques Rudolph, Nicky Boje and Ryan McLaren also scoring half-centuries. The Dolphins soon slumped to 42 for 4 in reply, with McLaren claiming three wickets, and despite a courageous 75 from Imraan Khan, they were eventually dismissed for 236, some 189 short of the follow-on target. Things did not get any better second time around, with with the pace of van der Wath to the fore, his 6 for 29 from 17 overs rolling the Dolphins for 210 just before lunch on the final day.The Cobras managed just 87 in their second innings, going down by eight wickets to the Warriors at Newlands. In a low-scoring match – only 503 runs were scored in the four innings – Nantie Hayward proved the star turn for the Warriors, claiming two wickets in the first over of both the Cobras’ first and second innings. While the Cobras recovered first-time around to post a respectable 164, Arno Jacobs’ 50 in the Warriors 196 meant they conceded a 32-run first-innings deficit. Hayward then combined with Lonwabo Tsotsobe to reduce the Cobras to 7 for 4, and then 33 for 7 before they finally crawled to 87, with Tsotsobe finishing with 5 for 31 and Hayward 4 for 34. The Warriors were left needing just 56 runs for victory, and knocked it off with ease.A fine all-round performance from Alfonso Thomas led the Titans to a seven-wicket victory over the Lions at Potchefstroom. Thomas took four first-innings wickets to help dismiss the Lions for 132, with Morne Morkel also taking four scalps. At one stage the Lions lost five wickets for five runs, slumping from 97 for 3 to 102 for 8. Thomas then starred with the bat, scoring 54, with Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel also scoring half-centuries to help the Titans to 282 and a first-innings lead of 150. The Titans rallied impressively to score 327 second-time around, with Blake Snijman and Werner Coetsee scoring half-centuries, but the damage had been done by their poor first-innings display. Martin van Jaarsveld comfortably guided his side to their 178-run target with an unbeaten 54.

South Africa women’s team has made three enforced changes just a week before they host Pakistan in a much-anticipated five-match ODI series.Mignon du Preez, Angelique Taai and Kirsten Blair have been called in as replacements for the injured Shandre Fritz and Shafeeqa Pillay, while Alicia Smith hasn’t recovered from illness.With the World Cup qualifiers taking place in Pakistan in November this year, both teams will use the forthcoming series as part of their preparations.Cri-Zelda Brits steps into the captaincy role to cover Fritz, who sustained a neck injury while diving into a swimming pool last month. du Preez, from Northerns, provides extra depth. Brits, the 23-year-old right-handed batsman from North West, has plenty of experience at this level, having played in the World Cup in South Africa two years ago.Pakistan arrive in South Africa on Monday, and will be based at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre. On Wednesday they play a SA Invitational XI in a one-day tour match at the Laudium Cricket Oval, Pretoria and will play their first ODI match on Saturday.They are currently ranked 10th on the ICC world rankings, three places below South Africa (7) and, under captain Urooj Mumtaz (22), the team will be looking to play nothing less than inspirational cricket.

Scorecard

Nathan Adcock shone with bat and ball as he carried South Australia to a rare victory with five balls to spare against Western Australia. A 95-run stand for the second wicket between Daniel Harris and Mark Cosgrove put the Redbacks on top but a familiar middle-order slump left the game in the balance.After a late rally from the Warriors’ lower order boosted them to 7 for 200, Harris and Cosgrove carried South Australia to 1 for 101 in the 22nd over. But Marcus North removed Cosgrove, after his first FR Cup fifty of the season, and Adam Voges shifted Harris with a return catch, starting a slide which left the Redbacks on 7 for 169. Steve Magoffin’s ten-over spell cost just 19 runs and brought two wickets.Adcock was joined by Ryan Harris with 32 needed from 27 balls and with the side so low on confidence Western Australia were favourites. But Adcock swung the balance with a six off Ben Edmondson before 13 runs off the 49th over settled the result.South Australia had started in positive fashion with Jason Gillespie and Mark Cleary reducing the Warriors to 4 for 62 before Adcock’s chipped in with his offspin. However, from 6 for 98 David Bandy and Brad Hogg added 61 and Brett Dorey supplied a valuable 22 to give them something to defend.

Adam Gilchrist says Australia will attempt to continue their dominance over Graeme Smith when the sides meet in the crucial World Cup group game in St Kitts on Saturday. Smith had a horrible time against Australia during the 2005-06 tour and Gilchrist, the vice-captain, said he would be a target.”We had a really good stranglehold on him in Australia and even in South Africa in the main part of the contests,” Gilchrist said in The Age. “He’s a very important player and we will want to try and keep him down.”During the Australia leg of the contest Smith struggled in the ODIs and the Tests, but he scored a century and a 90 in the following limited-overs series in South Africa. “He got 90 off [55 balls] in that chase in Jo’burg so he gives them some tremendous momentum at the top of the order,” Gilchrist said. “We’ll be aware of all their batting line-up because they have all hurt us at some stage, and equally I think our guys have got a hold of their guys a few times. That’s the nature of the game and we play enough games against each other that it’s going to pan out like that.”South Africa and Australia have both completed huge wins over The Netherlands while Australia comfortably beat Scotland, who play South Africa on Tuesday. If both teams progress to the Super Eights the winner of Saturday’s match will take two points into the next round.

The England coach Duncan Fletcher must be replaced, whatever happens in the World Cup, according to Matthew Engel, the Wisden editor. In his notes, Engel praises Fletcher’s leadership over the past seven years but adds “it is time for renewal, and there can be no renewal without change at the top”.Engel said England’s 2006-07 Ashes loss was not a disgrace. “It is 36 years now since England last won an away series against a full-strength Australian side,” he said. “The manner of it was disgraceful. England were at once worn out but under-prepared; complacent yet over-apprehensive; inward-looking yet dysfunctional as a unit; closeted yet distracted.”Engel said the “England bubble”, in which Fletcher protected his players against outside distractions, had helped create the conditions for the team’s earlier triumphs. “But there are problems living inside a bubble. Eventually the oxygen runs out. And if this one began as the Eden Project, it turned this winter into something like the Big Brother house.”Accurate information rarely seeped out; it also stopped seeping in. Even experts have to keep listening and learning; Fletcher, on the evidence of the 2006-07 Ashes, just stopped.”In the wide-ranging notes, Engel touches on John Betjeman, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and “incomprehensible” scoreboards. And he also attacks England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff for displaying their tattoos, thus inevitably encouraging young admirers to imitate them.