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South Africa can become the first team to topple Australia from the top spot in the ICC’s ODI rankings if they beat Pakistan in the final one-dayer at Johannesburg and if Australia lose the upcoming Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand. Australia have been ranked No. 1 since the current rankings were introduced in 2002.South Africa are on 127 points, three behind Australia. If they beat Pakistan on Wednesday they will move up to 128. They have hit excellent one-day form since failing to make the finals of the tri-series in Australia in 2005-06, with home series wins over Australia, Zimbabwe and India and qualifying for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.If Australia lose the Chappell-Hadlee series, for which they have rested Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, they will drop down to second place and New Zealand will move up to third. England remain seventh despite beating Australia 2-0 in the CB Series finals. India could slip from fifth to sixth if they lose the remaining two ODIs of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.

Sanath Jayasuriya faces being dropped from Sri Lanka’s one-day squad for the three-match series against West Indies, starting next month. Cricinfo has learned the side has been picked – without Jayasuriya – and is awaiting ratification by the sports minister.The squad is also likely to be without Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga. While Murali is being rested, Malinga is believed to have suffered a knee injury that will require rest for about three to four weeks. He will be replaced by fellow pace bowler Nuwan Kulasekara for the Test and ODI series.Jayasuriya, 38, the most experienced player in the team with 411 ODI appearances, will make way for Mahela Udawatte, the hard-hitting opener who is being spoken of as his future successor. Udawatte, 21, plays for Chilaw Marians.Since his 63 in the World Cup final against Australia last year, Jayasuriya has had a poor run of form. He has failed to pass 50 even once in his last 20 ODI innings, scoring 305 runs at an average of 15.25. His decision to retire from Tests and focus on ODIs hasn’t helped his batting either.The selectors are believed to have picked the uncapped Ajantha Mendis, of Army SC, in Murali’s place. Mendis, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday, is also an offspinner and, with 54 wickets at an average of ten, the leading wicket-taker in the current Premier League season. He will operate alongside legspinner Malinga Bandara.Sources in the selection committee said the decision was aimed at preserving Murali, who turns 36 next month, for the 2011 World Cup. He will appear only in important ODI tournaments.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Mohammad Shahzad struck two fours and three sixes in his 53-ball 56•ICC/Donald MacLeod

A fine all-round bowling performance and Mohammad Shahzad’s 53-ball 56 set up a thrilling five-wicket win for UAE – their first victory of the tournament – against Canada in Stirling. Requiring 25 runs off the last two overs, the sixth wicket pair of Swapnil Patil and Abdul Shakoor struck three sixes in the penultimate over as UAE reached the target with five balls to spare.UAE got off to the ideal start after putting Canada in – getting two wickets in the first eight balls. However, a 58-run counter-attacking partnership ensued between Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar. Patel hit five fours and two sixes in his 27-ball 45. Again the momentum shifted as UAE picked up wickets in clumps as 63 for 2 turned to 109 for 9. Navneet Dhaliwal salvaged a competitive total for Canada with an unbeaten 39, lifting the score to 132. Four bowlers picked up two wickets each with only Mohammad Naveed not getting a wicket.UAE lost Faizan Asif in the third over but partnerships of 25, 40 and 19 kept them on course. Shahzad fell in the 16th over for 56 and another wicket was taken three balls later. An equation of 33 off three overs was brought down to 25 off 12 balls. Cecil Pervez, who had figures of 2 for 11 in three overs, was tasked with bowling the 19th over, where Shakoor and Patil took him for 21 – Shakoor hitting two sixes and Patil one, effectively killing the chase.

Scorecard

Chris Rogers’ 123 rescued Western Australia from an early slip against Tasmania on a rain-affected opening day in Hobart, steering them to 4 for 245 by stumps. He and Adam Voges, who remained unbeaten on 80, reversed the momentum that had been all Tasmania’s in the opening exchanges, as their bowlers reduced them to 3 for 57 under overcast skies, including the wicket of Michael Hussey.Rogers, whose innings included 14 fours and a six, put on 168 with Voges, who was nearing his own century before bad light brought an early close with 73.4 overs possible in the day. Rogers finally fell inside-edging Luke Butterworth but will have enhanced his Test claims, particularly should Phil Jaques not recover in time for the Boxing Day bout against India, though he is expected to be fit.Ben Hilfenhaus nipped in early to remove Justin Langer top-edging for a duck, and Shaun Marsh wasn’t too far behind him, making 17 before Dan Marsh dismissed him on the stroke of lunch during a rain-truncated morning, taking a simple return catch. More bad weather hampered the second session, but in between the showers Hussey made 7 before Michael Di Venuto ran him out after the batsman’s edge had been dropped.Hussey’s Australia team-mate Adam Gilchrist had reached 10 by stumps, including a six over midwicket, while their international captain Ricky Ponting was pulled out of the game under Cricket Australia’s request.

You hear the bowling machine clank, hear the ball thud onto bat, and voices echo around the walls. You see Anil Kumble calmly compose himself and hear him answer every question patiently. There’s a calm about the indoor nets at the MCG, an air of assurance almost. All until Ricky Ponting walks in, rattles answers as if he’s at an examination, laughs, and fills the room with an energy that was missing earlier. And all this without a microphone.Both are tremendously aggressive cricketers but while Kumble exudes a quiet sort of energy, Ponting is more animated. It’s a possible sign for the series: Australia going all out for the kill, India preferring the silent ambush; one side intent on coming out swinging, the other hoping for the crucial, fatal, counter-punch. You feel it in the answers: one gushing about the quality of his side, the other saying, wait and watch.Both are colossal figures for their respective sides – one arguably the country’s greatest bowler, the other being mentioned in the same breath as the Don [Bradman] – and it’s fitting that they will walk out to toss in a gigantic arena that is the MCG. Kumble’s priority was predictable: “put runs on the board”. He’s spent most of his career traveling with a batting line-up that has unraveled abroad. He himself is a different bowler when he has the comfort of runs on the board. He thrives on applying pressure, revels in bogging the opposition down. He’s also clear that he’s “first a bowler and then a captain”. One cannot afford to come in the way of the other.Ponting’s career has coincided with Australia’s golden age. He knows the conditions, knows the pitfalls, more importantly knows how to win. He holds forth on the Melbourne weather, the pitch and the conditions. Occasionally he throws in an ‘aw, look mate’ but never does he let up on the speed. He’s spent the previous two hours in an optional net session, joined by around ten kids frolicking around. He mainly faced throw downs but the Christmas cheer was unmistakable – his team-mates’ children having a go in the side nets.Ponting is mostly dead-certain. The pitch isn’t just damp, it’s “very, very damp”. He remembers Shane Warne’s dictum for the MCG – “If it seams, it spins” – but knows he possesses the ammunition of work around it. “Mitchell Johnson impressed everybody against Sri Lanka. Stuart Clark’s Test record at the moment is as good as any going around. I’m very confident we’re going to take 20 wickets in every Test we play this summer.”Occasionally they both echo the same sentiment. India will first try and plot a means to get 20 wickets but Kumble is well aware of the need to keep the batsmen quiet in case they hit a roadblock (“We have plans and bowlers to hit the right areas”). Ponting also knows, from past experience, that Australia will have to refrain from over-attacking. “Last time [in 2003-04] we did over-attack some of their players just the little bit … If you look to the way we played against India last time [2004], we bowled a bit differently.” He knows the dangers of a bouncer barrage. “It’s not how many you bowl, but when you use them.”And just once in a while they drop their guard. Ponting, for all his aggression, knows the importance of a tempered approach. He feels they over-attacked in Adelaide last time around and “probably let them score a few too many runs”. Kumble, for all his guarded responses, bursts through forcefully towards the end: “I am positive that we will be able to do well here on this tour. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win.” No Indian team has managed to do so in the last 60 years, and this one is up against it, but Kumble will know a thing or two about scaling barriers.

Inzamam-ul-Haq is set to make his county debut for Yorkshire, replacing Younis Khan who will be with the Pakistan team at the Twenty20 World Championship. The former Pakistan captain will play three four-day and as many one-day matches for the county.”I was approached by Yorkshire county for a short stint and I have accepted it, as I see it as a great opportunity to keep my fitness for a hectic international season,” Inzamam said.Inzamam, who retired from ODIs after Pakistan’s disastrous World Cup campaign earlier this year, was not awarded a central contract but has maintained that he still wants to play Test cricket. With the domestic season not starting before the home series against South Africa, the short county stint will provide Inzamam the perfect opportunity to prove his fitness to national selectors.Inzamam has also been linked with a move to the Indian Cricket League. However, no confirmation of that has been received.

Shane Warne is in hot water with the ECB following his behaviour in Hampshire’s Championship draw with Kent last week. He has been fined six points under the ECB’s disciplinary code – and if he incurs nine points or more he will be automatically suspended.Warne, Hampshire’s captain, was clearly unhappy when the umpire Tim Robinson gave him out lbw to Ryan McLaren. He lingered at the crease and then turned round to stare at Robinson as he slowly trudged off. As he entered the pavilion he underlined his unhappiness with an audible obscenity.Robinson and his fellow umpire Barrie Leadbeater reported him for two separate Level 2 breaches of the code – serious dissent at an umpire’s decision and using language or a gesture that is obscene or of a serious insulting nature to another player, umpire, referee, team official or spectator.The penalties remain on Warne’s record for a period of two years. The accumulation of nine or more penalty points in any 2-year period will result in an automatic suspension. The ECB refused to comment further on the matter, not that much more needed saying.

Steve Harmison’s hopes of playing in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kandy next week were dealt a major blow when he limped off the field during England’s final warm-up match at the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo.Harmison, who had earlier taken his first wicket of the tour in a much-improved performance, pulled up after bowling three balls of his 11th over. He paused for a while at the top of his mark, and appeared to clutch at the lower right-hand side of his back. After a brief consultation with Michael Vaughan, he left the field immediately and James Anderson completed the over.The initial fear among the England camp was that Harmison had suffered an aggravation of the muscular tear in his lower back that ruled him out of the end of the English season, but England’s coach, Peter Moores, said that the new problem was unrelated, and even held out hopes of Harmison featuring again before the end of the match.”It’s not something he’s had before,” said Moores. “It’s a bit of a twinge, a back spasm, and the physio doesn’t think it’s anything major. Hopefully it’s one of those things that settles down in the next 24 to 36 hours, and he’ll be able to play a part in the second innings.””It’s not exactly what you want,” said Moores. “Harmy’s disappointed because I think he found good rhythm. He started to really hit his straps a little bit and enjoy himself, and was looking forward to having another crack. But we’ve all had muscle spasms in the past – they hit you like an electric shock and if that goes away you can get right again as quick as it went.”However, with just six days to go until the Kandy Test, Harmison’s participation must be in severe doubt, not least because of the blow it will deal to his already fragile confidence. The injury occurred at the beginning of his fourth spell of the day, and though he was not sent for a scan, it came at a moment when he looked set to recapture some of his best form.”He was really happy,” said Moores. “When Harmy’s bowling well he attacks the crease and today he was doing it with confidence, with his foot half-and-half on the line. He was getting better all the time, and this has put a bit of a cloud on what was otherwise a really good effort.”In the aftermath of England’s first warm-up match at Colombo Cricket Club, Harmison had spoken of his determination to fight for his England place, but also rued the run of bad luck that had left him on the fringes of the squad. Prior to his back problem in August, he had undergone a hernia operation that had ruled him out of the Test series against India.”In the past we still had bowlers knocking on the door, but I went through a long period of not being injured,” said Harmison. “Now I can’t get rid of an injury without another one cropping up.”I need to spend some time on the park, and if I do that and bowl properly, I feel I’m as good as anyone in England. When I’m not bowling that well, and coming back [from injury] all the time, then there are better bowlers than me.”

A few fitness reports could be the difference between a “largely unchanged side” and a “slightly different one” when the selectors meet in Bangalore on Monday to pick India’s squad for the first two Tests against South Africa.India’s heartening performance in the recent Test series in Australia would normally have resulted in a status quo, but the long tour took its toll on several players, some of whom could miss out on the three-Test series against South Africa, starting in Chennai on March 26.According to a report submitted by outgoing team physio John Gloster at the end of the Australia tour, Sachin Tendulkar needed a minimum of two weeks’ rest. However, Tendulkar quashed the notion of missing the series by declaring he was fit. Rahul Dravid has also recovered from the finger injury he sustained in the Adelaide Test while VVS Laxman, who recently suffered a cut in the webbing between his fingers, is also expected to be available for selection.It means the core of the batting is expected to be the same [Virender Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Sourav Ganguly] but the selectors will still have some key issues to address. The five-member national selection committee, led by Dilip Vengsarkar, will consult Anil Kumble, the Test captain, and Gary Kirsten, the newly appointed coach, during the meeting.Pace puzzle
Ishant Sharma, who made a fine impression in Australia, is a doubtful starter after being advised complete rest for three weeks by Gloster. He has a problem in the big toe of his landing foot as well as an inflammation in the right forefinger. He was examined indoors during a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy, the results of which will be sent to the board, who in turn will intimate the selectors.Zaheer Khan has already been ruled out, which means RP Singh – recently back from a hamstring injury – will be expected to lead the attack, with Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan supporting him. Pathan, not a regular in Tests, would be expected to make the cut after his impressive all-round efforts during India’s win in Perth. Munaf Patel remains an option in case India are looking for a fourth seamer. However, with the series expected to be played on tracks favouring spin, he’s more likely to be a back-up alternative.Batting back-up
Wasim Jaffer is likely to retain his spot in the squad, despite a poor series in Australia where he was dropped for the final Test, but the selectors will have to take a call on a third opener. There is a view that there is no need for a third opener for a home series – with the selectors in a position to call up reinforcements at any point – but there is a thinking that another opener could also act as a back-up in case of a middle-order requirement.Dinesh Karthik, till recently a first-choice opener, remains a contender – his wicketkeeping skills bolster his chances – but Gautam Gambhir’s recent one-day heroics put him in the fray too. Both can bat in the middle order if needed and it will be interesting to see which of them, if any, make the cut.The Yuvraj question
The selectors are also expected to dwell on the issue of Yuvraj Singh. The Gloster report advised him an ideal period of three weeks’ rest, which may automatically rule him out of the first two Tests. There was a suggestion that he could undergo a fitness test at the NCA on Monday but it’s still not certain that he will be there.There is also a growing concern about Yuvraj’s attitude and Vengsarkar recently came down hard on him. “I am disappointed as I always had expectations from him,” he told a weekly magazine. “Yuvraj needs to be more consistent. He is a great talent but he has to perform to his potential.”His exclusion – because of either fitness or form – will open up a slot for a middle-order batsman. A third opener, if picked, could double up for this role but there is also a chance of a specialist middle-order batsman being chosen. Rohit Sharma has done his chances no harm with some composed knocks in the recent CB Series and a few other domestic performers could be in the reckoning as well.Spin variables
Harbhajan Singh may miss out because of a hamstring injury, for which he was advised two weeks’ rest. Murali Kartik is expected to get a call-up, especially if the selectors decide to trust in spin. The pitches for the series are likely to favour spinners, given South Africa’s vulnerability against them. Harbhajan’s absence might open up another slot – one that might be filled up by legspinner Piyush Chawla or even Amit Mishra, another loopy legspinner who’s second on the domestic wicket charts this season, with 46 wickets in 11 first-class games.Probable 14-man squad: Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Sreesanth, RP Singh, Murali Kartik, Yuvraj Singh/Gautam Gambhir/Dinesh Karthik/Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh/Piyush Chawla/Amit Mishra.

Queensland’s reputation as the family state is growing with Craig McDermott’s 16-year-old son Alister picking up a contract with the Bulls for 2008-09. Following another disappointing campaign, Queensland are looking at players still at school to fill their rookie spots, with the Beenleigh-Logan batsman Michael Johnson also expected to be named when the full squad is released next week.Craig McDermott was selected for Queensland as a 17-year-old, earning the nickname ‘Billy the Kid’, and went on to a Test career of 291 wickets. His boy carries similar bowling characteristics and the instantly recognisable red hair.”My wife Ann-Marie and I are very proud of him and all our family, but we have said to him that getting a contract is where the hard work really starts,” Craig told the Courier Mail. “This is the first of a lot of steps he has to take to get where he wants to go.”Craig has helped his son, who plays with the Gold Coast club, with a couple of things, “but he has done most of the work himself”. “He has a good action and is getting the most out of himself.” Alister was named in the honorary Australian Under-17 side for 2007-08 along with Johnson, Queensland’s Youth Player of the Year.The father-and-son links at the Bulls are currently strong with Ryan Broad, the boy of the former batsman Wayne, Michael Buchanan, whose father John appeared in eight state games, and Ben Laughlin – his dad Trevor won three Test caps – representing the state over the past season. Nicholas Buchanan, Michael’s brother, could add to the list if he continues to develop while Andrew Tazelaar, the offspinner, is the offspring of the bowling hero Dirk. The teenagers were part of the Queensland Under-17 team along with McDermott and Johnson.