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Andy Moles is about to quit as Scotland’s coach after falling out with senior players, according to a report in today’s Scotsman.Moles, who took over the role in March last year, guided Scotland to victory in the ICC Trophy and gained them a place in the 2007 World Cup. But the newspaper says that despite verbally agreeing a two-year extension to his contract, he is about to step down.The players are reportedly angry that Moles criticised them at the end of last season before spending three months in South Africa running the ICC’s Winter Training Programme. While the Scottish board agreed to him taking on that role, it has alienated some of the team who felt he should have worked with them to prepare for a busy season.His position was discussed at a Cricket Scotland board meeting on Tuesday night and a source told the Scotsman: “There is unrest over several aspects of the coaching situation. It’s ironic after all the success the national side had last season but Andy seems to have lost the confidence of the players.”Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, refused to confirm or deny that Moles was ready to quit. A statement is expected this afternoon.”The bottom line is that Cricket Scotland has failed dismally to target private finance,” a local source told Cricinfo. “Their players still resent the slightest degree of criticism, and I suspect they are going to get the fright of their lives in the coming months.”Moles is said to be frustrated at financial constraints imposed on him. But if he does stand down, then questions will be asked. Moles walked out as coach of Kenya after falling out with many of their leading players and also because of the board’s financial predicament. In fairness, at the time Kenyan cricket was a shambles, but many inside Kenya have not forgotten his time in charge.But Cricket Scotland might find replacing Moles is far from straightforward. Neil Drysdale, who follows Scottish cricket closely, wrote in the Herald: “It will be interesting to discover whether any international luminaries will be prepared to walk into an environment where backbiting and whispering campaigns are prevalent, where the salary is modest by comparison with the county jobs in England, and where the administrators have little chance of changing the system, given that expenditure is likely to drop this season, now that the Saltires are no longer involved in the National League, thus halving their number of attractive fixtures.”

Sri Lanka began their post Jayawardene-Sangakkara era on a winning note by defeating West Indies quite convincingly in the Test and ODI series, but captain Angelo Mathews admitted that his team will face their toughest challenge so far in New Zealand, later this year.”We played some really good cricket against the West Indies, we outplayed them in all three departments in all formats but it will be a completely different tour in New Zealand because conditions and the opposition are different,” Mathews said before his team’s departure on Thursday.”We have got to start off from zero, this is a bigger challenge for us because the weather is not going to be on our side, it will be tough and cold but it’s the mental aspect,” he said. “If we can get our mindset right we shouldn’t be too worried about the cold or anything else and make any excuses, we can just go on the tour and play to win.”New Zealand is a very competitive and strong team, not only at home but away as well. In the last couple of years they have played their best cricket. They are a very competitive unit right now, with a very good, balanced team of youth and experience and it’s going to be a tough ask for us to beat them. But I am pretty sure if we do our very best we can beat them.”Sri Lanka toured New Zealand last December and were thrashed 2-0 in Tests and 4-2 in the ODI series, at a time when Sangakkara was still playing and Jayawardene had yet to finish in ODIs. The present side is vastly inexperienced, with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (65) and Mathews (54) as the only players with over thirty Test appearances.Mathews, however, believes that the level of experience is less important than the players applying themselves.”We are going to play some really good cricket and we expect to win,” Mathews said. “We don’t expect to go there and lose or compete, whether it is inexperience it doesn’t really matter. We had experienced guys in the last couple of years and we still lost to some countries over the years. It’s about applying ourselves, we are definitely not going to lose or compete it’s just a matter of taking up the challenge and doing your very best.”Especially in the Test line-up we have loads of newcomers and only a couple of senior guys in the batting who have played more than 20 Test matches. It’s going to be a tough tour but if we apply ourselves and take up the challenge I am pretty sure we can give New Zealand a good run for their money.”Mathews also refused to accept that batting was the weak point of his team. “We’ve got an inexperienced batting line up but skill-wise even the newcomers have scored a lot of runs. When it comes to Kithuruwan [Vithanage] and Udara Jayasundara – they have scored a lot of runs in New Zealand and they have a good feel of the conditions,” he added.Mathews also stated that Jerome Jayaratne, the interim head coach of the team, was working very closely with the batsmen by helping them ‘to counterattack and hang in there when difficult situations arise”.Mathews said that for practice, his team has been playing on tracks that will be similar to the seam-friendly wickets of New Zealand, but due to the weather and conditions it has been difficult for them to prepare those kind of pitches.”Even the pitches have been prepared in a way where the seamers have a lot of assistance. We’ve been training for the past two weeks on those tracks,” Mathews said. “We are trying to practice on surfaces similar to ones that we will get in New Zealand. You don’t get the ideal wicket because our weather and conditions but we have tried our level best to prepare wickets as close as possible where it helps seamers quite a lot and the batsmen have been batting pretty well on it.”Bowling is an area where the pacers have delivered for Sri Lanka but the inexperience shows. Sri Lanka’s pace quartet of Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera have a combined total of 66 Test matches and captured 167 wickets compared to the experienced Herath, who has taken 293 wickets from 65 Tests and will be Sri Lanka’s key strike-bowler on the tour even though the conditions may not be to his liking.One of the main causes for Sri Lanka’s defeats in New Zealand was their poor catching and fitness. However, on this occasion they have addressed that area carefully with the help of their English trainer, Michael Main, who has put them through their paces and the results of it were seen in the recently concluded series against West Indies.Another key area Sri Lanka has worked on is removing the fear of failure, which the players had when Jayaratne took over as head coach for the West Indies series.”We talked a lot about it when it comes to dressing room atmosphere and the fear these individuals have,” Mathews said. “We tried our very best with Jerome’s help to make sure the players get rid of their individual doubts as well as play with a lot of freedom. He’s worked a lot with the support staff as well to clear the environment so that we are not afraid to do mistakes.”The coach has a very big part to play in the team and he has to get involved in making the players mindset right, trying to give them a lot of confidence and make sure they get rid of their individual fears. It plays a massive part in the team as well you feel the team environment is really good, the boys are very happy. You can still do mistakes but the fear of failure is not there.”Mathews then revealed that playing music in the dressing room has helped the team relax and keep the dressing room alive during a Test.”That is the fear that the individuals have, the fear of failure is something that each individual has and if you can cope with that, if you think you are not afraid to do any mistakes, less number of mistakes will occur. It’s just a matter of mindset and we tried to keep the dressing room alive by playing a little bit of music and keeping it relaxed and it has helped a lot. We introduced it initially in the Test series and it worked pretty well they are very happy and they are moving in the right direction.”Mathews was optimistic that if his team could come through in the New Zealand tour with a win it would have a massive impact on the players for the future.”We are quite an inexperienced team when it comes to Test cricket and also beating New Zealand in their conditions is very tough, not many teams have done that. If we can do that it will make a huge impact and create a lot of confidence in the group going forward,” Mathews said.

"I won’t be seeing you tomorrow, sir. I am going out of town," says an eight-year-old to the 70-year-old grey-haired gentleman in whites.Nari Contractor chuckles. "You see they are not in awe of me," he says to this reporter. "This is the result of interaction." Contractor is the director of the Cricket Club of India’s (CCI) Cricket Academy, and Interaction and Correction are the two buzzwords of the guardians of this academy. Contractor’s colleagues in this venture are: Hanumant Singh, the former director of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and Vasu Paranjpe, former Mumbai player and coach.Interaction is an important tool coaches forget when they impart training to the players, feels Contractor. "If you can make the player express his viewpoint then half the job is done." Contractor says that the age gap between the coaches (average age: 60-plus) and the trainees (under-16) doesn’t matter, because the kids have respect for the elders and the transparency means that the unit gels well together.The unique thing about this academy is that players from across the country, plus a few from outside, get to hone their skills during the two-month-long camp at the spacious lawns of the Brabourne Stadium. The academy invites two players from each state association and prunes it down to 20 players after the selection trials. These players are not the top players of the individual state as the cream visit the NCA or the NCA’s three zonal academies or the state academies. Two players each from Kenya and Nepal respectively also took part in the camp this year.The normal day of the CCI trainee lasts up to six hours split into two sessions – morning and afternoon. The morning session starts at around 7am with stretching exercises, nets, a mini-break for breakfast and then nets again. The players come back in the afternoon sun to go through another session of nets along with physical training. Three days a week, there are yoga sessions, and then there are random, strenuous fielding practise slots.The academy is two years old and keeps adapting to the modern standards of the game and its various demands. Video analysis of each player is carried out, once when the trainee is inducted and again when the camp is ending. The video helps the player understand how he has progressed and also aids the coaches in correcting any defects that they may see.Films on cricket are also shown so that the trainees learn about the game from the likes of Don Bradman, Garfield Sobers et al. Fitness tests are carried out at the beginning and at the end of the camp to monitor the physical condition of a player. The player is given a programme he can work on after he leaves the academy and a CD about his progress at the camp.Bob Simpson paid a week-long visit and religiously worked with the players which boosted their spirits. One of the trainees who met Simpson’s eye was the 24-year-old Nepali Raj Kumar. Already a national player, Kumar is a short, sturdy, legbreak bowler and has impressed the coaches here with his fielding. Speaking in Hindi, Kumar says, "my action was very clumsy and back in Nepal there are no coaches to correct the faults. But this visit has taught me many things … like my body movement when I bowl. He [Simpson] told me the importance of each part of my body movement as I deliver the ball and now it has helped me get into a nice rhythm."Maurice Ouma, who was there for a week during Simpson’s visit, impressed everyone with his glovework behind the stumps. In fact, Simpson mentioned him in his column in The Sportstar as being better than their [Kenya’s] World Cup wicketkeeper.Contractor delivers the final word. "We can only take the horse to the well," he says. "From there, what it does is its business." Outside, the youngsters run, and run, and run.

Tom Moody said there would be no sweeping changes in the Western Australia’s cricket team despite the fact the Warriors have not won a Pura Cup since 1998-99, when Moody himself captained them to victory. Western Australia scored a major coup by securing Moody, who recently guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup final and became one of the hottest properties in international coaching.Moody has initially signed on for three years and said one of his main aims was to set up the state for future success by helping junior players reach their potential. “It is important that the message we deliver at the top is learnt at under-17 and under-19 level,” Moody told .”We need to start the pattern so that 15- or 17-year-olds know what is expected to play state or international cricket. Whether it is technically, physically or mentally, or just game-wise, we want to make it clear that is the way the Warriors play and this is our brand of cricket.”Moody, one of Western Australia’s favourite cricketing sons, said he would initially take a careful approach with the Warriors. “I have to evaluate the cricketing structure and review what has been and what are the issues that need to be addressed,” Moody said.”I have my ideas but I am not going to come crashing through the door like a bull in a china shop. WA have been very successful but perhaps in the past couple of years they have stumbled a bit at critical times.”Moody confirmed he had approached Simon Katich, the former Western Australia batsman who has spent the last five seasons at New South Wales, about returning to Perth. However, Katich is likely to stay on at New South Wales and continue captaining the state.

Both England and New Zealand know all about being hit by injuries and key players from either side have been struck down in the build-up to their vital World Cup opener in St Lucia. James Anderson has broken a finger, Craig McMillan took a blow on the toe during training and Mark Gillespie has suffered an infection which has travelled to his shoulder.Gillespie was ruled out a couple of days ago, but McMillan has come through the Kiwis’ training session on Thursday and looks set to take his place in the middle order. Anderson, too, took part in England’s session but there were some clear grimaces as he held catches. The importance of the match is highlighted by the England management’s decision to leave the final decision until shortly before the toss on Friday.England’s planning had been built around the return of Anderson, who missed the latter stages of the CB Series with a back problem, with him earmarked to take the new ball and exploit any swing with the early starts. However, now the management have to decide whether to risk him causing further damage to his finger, or being a liability in the field, especially when Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett showed strong form at the end of the Australian tour.”I don’t think a decision has been made on Jimmy yet,” Andrew Flintoff told reporters in St Lucia. “He’s broken his finger and I’m not quite sure where he’s at. It depends how well he can protect it and it depends how well he can do all the stuff in the nets and how he feels pain-wise – and how he rocks up in the morning.””He’s been dogged by injuries and been really unlucky,” added Flintoff. “He’s had his back and one thing and another and we saw signs in the winter that he was back to his best. He was swinging the ball at pace, he was taking the new ball and taking a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and coming through so, fingers crossed, he’ll be all right.”Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher, along with John Bracewell from the New Zealand camp, watched part of the Kenya-Canada game on Wednesday to see what hints they could collect as to how conditions would play. They will have seen the effect of Kenya’s spinners in strangling the scoring rate so the temptation will be for both teams to field two slow men.However, without anyone of express pace to watch it was difficult to judge the true nature of the surface. The two captains will be weary of being swayed too much by the performances of the two Associates. When England last played in St Lucia they twice failed to defend totals in excess of 280, but the opinion from commentators is that the current surface is not quite so batsman-friendly.Whatever the pitch, both sides have strong top orders; England bolstered by the return of Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen and New Zealand still holding memories of their massive run chases against Australia last month. New Zealand were hurt when England pipped them to the CB Series finals and Stephen Fleming said that this game has been on their minds for a while.”We are smarting from England knocking us out in Australia,” said Fleming, “and to get off to a good start in the tournament we have to win this game and win it well. If we don’t we can come out with the excuse ‘it’s not too bad’ but we are desperate to win and set the standard for the tournament.”Defeat for either side won’t be terminal – although they would then have to beat Kenya and Canada to progress – but the value of the two points taken through against the fellow qualifier is significant. The confidence in both camps is high but there is a feeling one defeat could see that unravelling. It may only be their first match of the tournament, but the long-term prospects of both teams depend heavily on the final outcome.England (probable) 1 Ed Joyce, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Jamie Dalrymple, 8 Paul Nixon (wk), 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty PanesarNew Zealand (probable) 1 Lou Vincent, 2 Stephen Fleming (capt), 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Peter Fulton, 6 Craig McMillan, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Brendon McCullum (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 James Franklin, 11 Shane Bond

India have made one change to their 15-member squad for the fourth and fifth ODIs against Australia, bringing in left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in place of offspinner Ramesh Powar, said BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.Kartik played for Middlesex during the 2007 season and took 51 wickets at 24.96 from 12 Championship matches, including 9 for 73 in an innings victory against Glamorgan at Lord’s. In the Pro40 competition, Kartik took 12 wickets at 20.75 from eight games. Based on his performances the county signed him up for the next season as well.Powar, who enjoyed a successful tour to Ireland and England earlier this year, wasn’t successful in the first two ODIs at Banglaore and Kochi, conceding 80 runs off 11 overs without taking a wicket and was dropped for the third game in Hyderabad. “A left-arm spinner is always helpful in Indian conditions,” said India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, “and since Kartik is also experienced, I am sure he will indeed be helpful”Shah also said that Sourav Ganguly was fit for the third one-day international but was not picked for the match because he did not fit into the best team combination. However, Dhoni put forth a contradictory view in the press conference that followed the third one-dayer in Hyderabad: “He (Ganguly) was very eager to play but the team thought that he should be rested for this match as well because anything can happen on the field and then we might have to rest him for more matches. So that’s why he did not play.”Ganguly had played the first match but missed the second ODI because of a hamstring strain. He took part in a training session on the eve of the Hyderabad match and was passed fit. He was, however, named in the squad for the next two games.Meanwhile, the selectors have retained the winning ICC World Twenty20 squad for the one-off Twenty20 international at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on October 20. However, legspinner Piyush Chawla is the only exclusion as he is yet to recover from an ankle injury which had ruled him out of all seven one-dayers. No replacement has been named.Squad for 4th and 5th ODIs
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Zaheer KhanTwenty 20 international squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Yusuf Pathan, Joginder Sharma

Zee TV has won the exclusive telecasting rights for next week’s DLF Cup between India and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. The two one-day internationals, which take place at the newly-built Zayed Cricket Stadium on April 18 and 19, will be in aid of the victims of the devastating earthquakes that hit the subcontinent in October last year.For the sum of US$219 million, Zee Sports has acquired the global media rights for the 25 matches that India are scheduled to play on neutral ground over the next five years, which works out at US$8.77 million per match.Yogesh Radhakrishnan, managing director and CEO or Real Media-Zee Network, said: “These international matches will definitely put Abu Dhabi on the world map of cricket, and Zee TV Middle East is proud to play a leading role in showcasing the capital’s sporting infrastructure.”Acquiring the global media rights is further proof of our commitment to promoting this game across the world and bringing exciting cricket right into the homes of cricket lovers.”

Canada face a stiff challenge from Bermuda in their bid to return to the Under-19 World Cup when the five-team round-robin Americas U-19 Qualifier begins at Mapleleaf CC, King City in Toronto on Monday.Argentina, Caymans Islands and debutants Bahamas are the other teams taking part in the week-long competition. The winner will join the ICC’s 10 Full Members, hosts Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Ireland (who recently qualified from the East-Asia Pacific and European Regions respectively) at the 16-team U-19 World Cup to be played in Malaysia next February. Canada missed the 2006 event in Sri Lanka but participated in the 2002 and 2004 tournaments.Familiar home conditions, an improving infrastructure and more international exposure helps Canada to start as firm favourites and coach Courtney Gonsalves is optimistic that his players are ready for the event. “All the players attended the elite programme we started last October in which we set up talent hunt and training camps throughout Canada,” he said. “Our goal is to qualify for next year’s U-19 World Cup and I am sure that the combination of this elite programme along with exposure in the premier division will help us achieve our target.”However, Canada are likely to be tested by Bermuda who have been bolstered by the inclusion of allrounders Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly, who played in the recent full World Cup, while the youngsters’ captain Rodney Trott narrowly missed the event. The trio will rejoin the senior Bermuda team for the match against Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup after completing the Toronto assignment.Bermuda coach Arnold Manders believes his team’s hopes of earning a finals berth are better than ever. “I think our chances of winning are greater than previous years because we have played more matches as a team and the players are confident in their individual roles.”Bermuda prepared for the tournament by playing eight domestic 50-overs-a-side competition matches between May and June besides participating in the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Tournament in Barbados which was also used as a training camp for the Americas U-19 Qualifier.”We have worked tirelessly on the team concept, and the individual discipline of the players have really improved. Our team this year is mentally stronger [than previously] and combined with the intense training the players received from the coaches, this should result in a good team combination. The players have the knowledge and now they need to produce.”For Argentina, it will be their first appearance in this event as an ICC Associate Member. They have previously struggled at the junior level but it would be dangerous to discount them, particularly after the senior team’s heroics in Darwin in June where they earned promotion to the World Cricket League Division 2 by qualifying for the final of the Division 3 tournament.Middle-order batsman Pedro Bruno, left-arm seam bowler Santiago Irigoyen and allrounders Ignacio Redruello and Tomas Birnie were part of that successful campaign in Darwin, but instead of making big predictions, coach Hamish Barton has set his sights on winning at least once in Toronto. “Basically our main goal is to win one game. We feel this is a realistic goal for the Argentine team considering the team’s past performances and the stage of its development.”Barton said the sport is still in the embryonic stage in Argentina and the team has prepared as best it can in the tough winter season. “The players are very much in the development stage and we are aiming to do the basics right and achieve our specific goals for each skill area, the experience and exposure to international cricket.”The team has prepared as best it could as it is winter in Argentina at the moment and training has been extremely difficult at times. But the team has trained well and the development of the players over the last three months has been very pleasing.”Caymans Islands have always been very competitive at youth level and nobody is expecting them to be far behind this time. Captain Ramon Sealy, along with top-order batsman Darren Cato and bowler Kervin Ebanks, have played in the Caymans Islands domestic Division 1 tournament for the last two years.Sealy sees batting as his team’s strength. “I think the team has a good chance of winning because we have a strong batting line-up which is not only capable of setting high totals but chasing them as well.”Bahamas are the only Affiliate Member in the group and are fielding a team for the first time. The senior team will participate in next year’s ICC World Cricket League Division 5 to be played in Jersey in May.Bahamas captain Gregory Taylor hopes that the Americas U-19 Qualifier will help his country’s bid towards earning ICC’s Associate Membership. He said: “We hope to achieve recognition as an Affiliate power house and to show the ICC and the world that we are ready to become an Associate Member of the ICC. Two years ago we did not have a full U-19 team, but we worked hard under the guidance of coach John Welch to achieve this. Jonathan Barry, Jeremy Jesubatham, Rodrick Mitchel and I came up in the U-15 program from 2001 and have played a lot of cricket with the seniors.”The United States of America, who took part in their first U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006 are missing this time as the USA Cricket Association is currently suspended as an ICC Member.Argentina Juan Tomas Birnie (capt), Alejo Tissera, Augusto Mustafa, Facundo Duggan, Hernan Fennell, Horacio Esperon, Ignacio Fermani, Ignacio Redruello, Juan Pablo Bordacahar, Pablo Siracusa, Pedro Bruno, Ramiro Rodriguez Delgado, Santiago Iritxity Irigoyen, Santiago Paez Nicoletti.Bahamas Gregory Taylor (capt), Adrian Dean, Ambry Moss, Anwar Sawyer, Corie Frazer, Franz Taylor, Fritz Stubbs, Jeremy Jesubatham, Jermaine Adderley, Jonathan Barry, LaSalle Thompson, Marc Taylor, Rodrick Mitchel, Rudolph Fox.Bermuda Rodney Trott (capt), Christopher Douglas, Dennico Hollis, Greg Maybury, Hodsoll Kyle, Jordan De Silva, Khiry Furbert, Lamar Richardson, Malachi Jones, Marico Bassett, Stefan Kelly, Steven Bremar Jr, Tamauri Tucker, Terryne Fray.Canada Abishek Krisnamoorthy (capt), Chris Monohar (vice-captain), Arsalan Qadir, Asif Manjra, Hasan Raza Zaidi, Jaskeerat Singh Kalon, Kevin James, Khushal Gangopadhyay, Majid Usman, Pratik Patel, Riayzkhan Pathan, Rustum Bhatti, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Usman Iqubal.Cayman Islands Ramon Sealy (capt), Corey Cato, Dale Parker, Darado Thompson, Darren Cato, Earl Hart, Kervin Ebanks, Patrick McConvey, Robert Hewitt, Sacha DeAlwis, Shane Cato, Vincent Ebanks, Zachary McLaughlin.

A tap on the shoulder while fielding on the boundary’s edge at Lilac Hill today was the first that Adam Voges knew of his surprise call-up to the Australian squad, for Thursday’s third Test against England at the WACA.Voges, 27, a hard-hitting Western Australia batsman and part-time chinaman bowler, was the surprise pick in Australia’s 13-man squad, following the unexpected retirement of Damien Martyn. He duly celebrated with an impressive 71 as the CA Chairman’s XI overwhelmed their English counterparts by seven wickets.”It’s not quite sunk in,” said Voges. “To play a hometown Test at the WACA has been my boyhood dream. Obviously Andrew Symonds is in the 13 as well so I’ll just have to wait and see, but it would be amazing if it did come true.”Voges has enjoyed a fine start to the season with Western Australia, scoring two centuries and 320 runs at an average of 160 in his three matches, and Justin Langer, his state captain, described his selection as “outstanding”.”I always thought it was only a matter of time before he played cricket for Australia, either one-day internationals or Tests,” said Langer, “and it’s nice with the opportunity that has come up that he’s been selected.”I think it’s a very astute selection,” added Langer. “You pick character over cover-drives, and this bloke’s got a character. There are a lot of young blokes around who are very talented and can play all the shots in the world, but he is just a very strong character, a terrific young bloke with an outstanding work ethic, and he displays a lot of leadership traits.”Even if Langer did think his team-mate was in the frame for selection, Voges was completely taken aback. “I only learnt half an hour ago while fielding,” he said. “Tony Dodemaide tapped me on the shoulder and he said: ‘Come with me. You’re being substituted’. I thought I was in trouble. But instead I had a phone call saying I was in the 13. It’s all happened pretty quickly, and it’s been pretty amazing.”Voges holds the record for the fastest century in Australian domestic one-dayers, from 62 balls in 2004-05, but he insisted there was more to his game than big shots. “Over the past couple of years I was a bloke with a fairly attacking style of game,” he said, “but a winter over at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence tightened my technique, and hopefully I’ve got a reasonable game.”Voges was as taken aback as most of Australia by the news of Martyn’s retirement, and the first he heard of it was an announcement over the PA system at Lilac Hill, shortly before Dodemaide came looking for him. “I played a fair bit with Marto at WA,” he said. “He’s been a fantastic player, a legend of the game, and he played a big part in my development. Obviously it’s a shame his career has come to an end, but it’s definitely an opportunity for me.”Ironically, Voges was dropped by Western Australia only last month against Queensland, to accommodate the return of their Australian international players. “When you get Martyn, Gilchrist, Langer and Hussey all in one side, you can’t complain,” he said. “It was only for one game and if Marto hadn’t retired this opportunity wouldn’t have been here.”Andrew Hilditch, Australia’s chairman of selectors, said: “We are excited to give Adam this opportunity to join the squad. He is an outstanding young player and his inclusion in the squad is a just reward for his efforts to date.”

Mohammad Kaif has recovered from his hamstring injury, which he sustained on October 14, and is set to play for Central Zone in their crucial Duleep Trophy clash against West Zone at Aurangabad, starting on November 4.Wing Commander Baladitya, the manager of the Indian team, confirmed this and added that John Gloster, the team physiotherapist, had declared him fit after subjecting him to various tests.Kaif, who suffered a muscle tear on his left hamstring during the finals of the Challenger Trophy at Mohali, is likely to return to the side for the sixth ODI at Rajkot, to be played on November 9.His presence at Aurangabad, though, will be a huge boost to the Central Zone side in what will be a virtual semi-final clash. Simultaneously, the Sourav Ganguly-led East Zone will take on Zimbabwe President’s XI at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and a victory will guarantee Central a spot in the final.