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Most people react to being dropped from a side with a shrug and a few muttered oaths. But Lance Klusener has not taken the news of his omission from South Africa’s touring side quite so philosophically – he is planning to sue the South African board for loss of earnings.Klusener’s argument is that he turned down offers of work with English counties after being assured that he would be included in the squad. He claims that he was told that he would be rested for the tour to Bangladesh, but would return for the England trip.”It’s like your boss calling you on a Saturday night and saying, ‘Sorry, old chap, but you don’t have to come to work on Monday. You’re fired. How would you feel if it happened to you?" Klusener told the South African-based You magazine. "Wouldn’t you also be disappointed? Some people may think it’s sour grapes, but that’s not true at all.”It was a shock and a disappointment,” Klusener admitted. “I was here at home and immediately went to tell my wife. England would have been a highlight for me. I wanted to play at Lord’s again. I played for South Africa with pride for eight years. I gave my all."And Klusener dismissed accusations made by Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, that the side was better off without him as he was not a team player. “I’m a private person,” Klusener explained. “I hate being around lots of people. It saps my energy. Now people are saying I’m a miserable sod. Why is it if you don’t want to be part of the crowd you’re always seen as different?”While Smith has told reporters that he regrets making the comments, Klusener said that he had yet to receive an apology in person. “Maybe he doesn’t have my number. The whole thing between Graeme and I is a shame. I read what he said in the papers and I still don’t know exactly what he meant."Klusener’s decision to take legal action is unlikely to endear him to the selectors and whatever the outcome of the court case, if it goes ahead, he will only gain financially if he wins. It is inconceivable that any court could force an organisation to pick a player, especially one whose record of late has hardly been outstanding.

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced today that the National Selection Panel (NSP) has chosen Queensland Bulls captain Jimmy Maher to join the Australian Test squad on the Travelex Tour of the West Indies.Maher, Australia’s reserve wicket-keeper at the 2003 International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup has been selected to cover for Adam Gilchrist during Australia’s three-day tour match against a University of West Indies XI in Barbados, beginning on 26 April.It will be the first match Gilchrist has missed since Australia’s victory over Holland in a World Cup preliminary match on 20 February.NSP Chairman Trevor Hohns said given Maher’s likely selection in the 15-man squad for Australia’s seven one-day internationals beginning on 17 May, it made sense to choose a player who would be with the side for the remainder of the tour."Jimmy will more than likely be part of our one-day squad in the West Indies simply on his batting alone, so it is important that we continue to give him added `keeping experience if he is to continue covering adequately for Adam Gilchrist on tour," Hohns said."We are not necessarily saying that Jimmy is the country’s second-best wicket-keeping option, but for this match we would rather introduce a player who is going to be with the team for the duration of the trip, rather than fly someone across for a few days."As for Adam Gilchrist, it is important that we continue to monitor his workload and give him time-off where possible."He has had a long campaign and doesn’t get many opportunities to rest, so we need to be conscious that he doesn’t get over-worked and end up suffering from fatigue," he said.Maher’s inclusion in the Test squad means that he will relinquish his Australia A captaincy duties for the remainder of its series against South Africa A. He will depart Adelaide for Brisbane today.New South Wales Blues batsman Simon Katich will stand in as captain.

Wacken Hut CC lifted the glittering Abdul Quddoos Sheikh Memorial cricket trophy, after inflicting a heavy 92-run defeat over Dawn Group, at the UBL Sports Complex on Sunday.Winning the toss and electing to bat, Wacken Hut got off to an electrifying start when Arif Rao (40) and Hassan Arshad (23), put on 61 runs for the second wicket in only six overs. However, spinners Zafar Iqbal four for 20 and Imtiaz Iqbal two for 39, managed to curb the run rate as Wacken Hut were dismissed for 159 runs in 24.5 overs.Skipper Amjad Ali Baig (23) and Hanif Malik (18), were also among the runs.Chasing 160 runs for victory, Dawn Group lost an early wicket. But with Arshad Azam (21) and Irfan Ali stroking the ball well, seemed to be coasting along comfortably when disaster struck. Both batsmen fell in quick succession and never recovering from this tragedy, Dawn Group were soon dismissed in 19.2 overs with only 67 runs on the board.Paceman Hassan Arshad, later named the Man of the Match was the pick of the Wacken Hut attack, claiming three for 22. Spinners Nisar Abbas weighed in two for 16 and Farhan two wickets for one run.City Nazim Naimatullah Khan,was the chief guest on the occasion and presented the trophies to the winners and runners-up.Ifran Ali from (Dawn), was declared the best batsman of the tournament, Shoukat Mirza (Waken Hut) the best bowler and Adnan Jaffery (Aga Khan University Hospital), best player of the tournament.

This was a day to remember for Chris Harris, Chris Martin, Shane Bond and Aaron Redmond. It was one to forget for Northern Districts who were 128 for eight at the close in reply to Canterbury’s 444.According to coach Michael Sharpe, Canterbury’s plan at the start of the day was extend their first innings to 450. This was almost achieved, but not in the way that was expected.Three wickets fell in the first hour, all as a result of aggressive shots by batsmen who were supposed to be supporting the main act, Harris.While this was happening Harris spent more time than he or his team would have wished at the non-striker’s end. The balance was redressed when he was joined by Martin, one of cricket’s true No 11 batsmen.Harris went to great lengths to protect his partner. He took an anorexic attitude to the diet of easy singles fed to him by ND. The field moved in for the fifth ball of most overs like a well-rehearsed formation dance team. It was not a great spectacle, but extended the Canterbury innings into the afternoon session, adding 75 precious runs.Martin will talk about his 25 for years to come. It is his highest first-class score (previously 13). He has now scored more runs in first-class cricket than he has taken wickets, for the time being, at least.But it is Chris Harris to whom the batting glory should go. The 52 runs he added today took almost as long as yesterday’s century. He lacked his previous fluency and touch, but today’s runs were arguably the more valuable.Sharpe was full of praise for Harris. “He’s a run machine at the moment. The longer New Zealand ignore him the more use we get out of him. He adds experience to the side and is able to bat with the top or the lower order.”Harris’ reputation as a one-day specialist means that his consistency with the bat in domestic cricket is often forgotten. On form, he should come into the Test team if any of the established middle order are injured.ND had to score 295 to avoid the follow-on. This should have been eminently achievable, but it soon became hard to believe that ND were batting on the surface enjoyed by Harris and Martin.The initial difference was the speed of Bond. Two wickets in two deliveries from Bond devastated the ND top order.James Marshall, who had been discomforted by Bond’s pace throughout, was bowled for one by the last ball of the seventh over of the innings. From the first ball of the ninth Mark Bailey was lbw, not very far forward.Bond struck again in his second spell, his extra pace and bounce finding Matthew Hart’s glove, sending a catch to Harris at fourth slip. Hart scored a dogged 23.Sharpe told CricInfo that agreement had been reached with Black Caps coach Denis Aberhart that Bond would be used in short spells. His figures of 13-5-35-3 serve the interests of both Canterbury and New Zealand, warming him up nicely for next week’s Test match.Sharpe says that Bond is a better bowler after his tour of Australia. “He has gained some yards in pace and he is even more confident than when he left. He’s a different player.”If Bond’s performance was expected, Redmond’s was not. The leg spinner finished the day with three for 22, dismissing Hamish Marshall, Grant Bradburn and Joseph Yovich.”It was the captain’s decision to bring him on,” explained Sharpe. “He has bowled reasonably well without luck so far this season. Today he turned a few early on and his confidence grew. It was his day.”Unless the weather intervenes, Canterbury should record a second victory to follow their first in 18 matches, last week.

Mystery surrounds the participation of India ‘A’ in the upcoming Carib Beer Cricket Series which bowls off on Friday.It is still unclear if the tourists will indeed be in the region for the competition. A check with the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) public relations handlers yesterday evening revealed they had been trying to contact the Board for Cricket Control of India (BCCI) for some time without success.Further checks with the official website of the Indian board and monitoring of newspaper revealed nothing, and it is not sure if a team has been selected as yet, or if any systems have been put in place.India ‘A’ are due to bowl off against West Indies ‘B’ at the Windward Cricket Club, St Philip, the second first-class match at that venue. If the Indian reserves fail to make the trip the other teams in the eight-match competition would be awarded a bye.Last night, a Barbados Cricket Association official said it had received no word on the Indians’ arrival and had little details to go by. The official however added that they had gone ahead to make hotel booking and land travel arrangements.Efforts to contact officials of the WICB yesterday proved futile, but NATIONSPORT understands that WICB president Wes Hall was in recent contact with Indian board president Jagmohan Dalmiya, but the details of their discussions were not available.This is the third time an ‘A’ team has been invited to participate in the regional competition. England ‘A’ was the first to visit in 2000 for the Busta Cricket Series, while Bangladesh ‘A’ participated last year.

WSG Nimbus released an official statement Wednesday in response the the Sri Lankan cricket boards decision Tuesday to “terminate” their three-year sports rights agreement.They reacted strongly to the public accusations made by the BCCSL, announcing that WSG Nimbus “utterly refutes the allegations made by the BCCSL” and “denies breaching the Agreement in any respect.”The full release from Singapore, states: “WSG Nimbus Pte Limited refers to the recent publicity relating to its Master Rights Agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL).”WSG Nimbus was surprised to receive a letter yesterday from the BCCSL alleging that the Agreement between it and the BCCSL had ceased to operate as a result of purported breaches by WSG Nimbus.”WSG Nimbus has since learnt that the BCCSL had also obtained an ex parte court order in Colombo in support of this. WSG Nimbus utterly refutes the allegations made by BCCSL and denies that it has breached the Agreement in any respect.”WSG Nimbus will be taking steps to have the order set aside and to seek redress from BCCSL for all losses, damage and injury to its reputation and business emanating from this unjustified action by the BCCSL in seeking to terminate the Agreement.

Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas claimed it was the best performance ofhis career whilst Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle hoped it was just a”freak day” as the tourists were bowled for 38, the lowest ever One-DayInternational (ODI) total, at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday.Sri Lanka won the game, which was completed in 108 minutes and just 20overs, also making it the shortest ever ODI in history, by nine wickets asVaas claimed a hat-trick and became the first bowler to take more than sevenwickets in one-day cricket.Speaking afterwards, Vaas was modesty personified, even if the long queue ofchildren scrambling for autographs begged to differ.”It was a good toss to win and I just looked to put the ball in the rightareas,” he said. “The white ball swings more than the red ball and I bowleda good line and was rewarded.He was though delighted to have claimed the hat-trick: “Yes, I am very happyto get hat-trick. I think it was the best achievement of my career.”He was unconcerned by Muttiah Muralitharan taking the last two, whichprevented him from taking all ten: “I am not worried about records, I justwant to do well for my country and team.”Coach Dav Whatmore called it an “out-of-the-world” performance but wasn’tsurprised by Vaas’s recent success, which included career best bowlingfigures in the last Test against the West Indies.”These sort of performances don’t happen by accident, he has been workingreally hard in the gym, the running track and the nets,” said Whatmore.”Mentally, he has adjusted to being the top pace bowler in the side and nolonger puts himself under too much pressure. He is relaxed and bowlingbetter for it,” he added.”We felt there was some moisture there early and to extract an advantagefrom that we had to bowl first. Chaminda (Vaas) then put it in the rightarea, swung it around and was very hard to play.”

Captain Sanath Jayasuriya, though delighted with Vaas and his side’s start,warned afterwards against over-complacency: “We can’t things lightly andneed to be alert in the next few games. I will warn the players against overconfidence. Nevertheless, we have been playing well and we want to continuethat good form.”Zimbabwean captain Stuart Carlisle put a brave face on events and hoped itwas a one-off event, even though it now means that, other than Bangladesh,Zimbabwe have lost their last 22 ODIs.”This was basically a freak game, things just didn’t go right for us and nota great start to the tournament,” he said”Vaas did bowl well in favourable conditions and maybe the guys were a bittentative and got caught in two minds. Having just come from Sharjah andBangladesh though, where the ball hardly swung, it has been difficult toadjust to conditions here where the ball has swung early on.”But Carlisle was not humourless, pointing out wryly, that: “Some of theyounger guys will have learnt a little bit about the inswinger.” He nowwants the team to quickly move on.”We have got to get some smiles back in the camp because it is not very nicein the changing room at the moment. It’s up to us guys in the top order toput our hands up and lead from the front.”Zimbabwe play their next game against West Indies on Sunday.

48.4 overs Sri Lanka 201 (Kaluwitharana 54, Dillon 3-39) v West IndiesWest Indies dismissed Sri Lanka for a below-par 201 in 48.4 overs in thefirst game of a three-match series on a slow Kensington Oval pitch. It was astop-start innings dominated by Romesh Kaluwitharana at the top of theorder, who scored 54 from 75 balls, and later by Kumar Dharmasena, whochipped in with 40 valuable runs in the lower order.West Indies clasped a clear advantage after Sri Lanka had slipped to 112 for5 after the loss of Kaluwitharana, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dharmasenarescued the innings with a consolidating 59 partnership for the sixthwicket. However, West Indies finished the innings strongly, runningthrough the Sri Lanka tail in the final overs.Whether the total will be enough to test a West Indies batting line-upbrimming with confidence after three straight wins against Australia isunlikely, but Sri Lanka will take confidence from the low-scoring recenthistory at the venue, and the prospect of assistance for their key matchwinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.Sri Lanka were forced onto the back foot in first over after a poor decisionfrom Billy Doctrove. Sanath Jayasuriya greeted Doctrove’s raised finger witha resigned smile, knowing that Mervyn Dillon’s third ball had missed theedge by a fair distance (0 for 1).But Marvan Atapattu, who had top scored with 99 against a Shell Academy XIin Sri Lanka’s only practice match, and Kaluwitharana played positively.They were made to hop around on a pitch offering some early life -especially Kaluwitharana who was hit on the helmet by Corey Collymore andlater floored by a blow to his midriff – but also found the boundary as 46runs were added in 54 balls.Brian Lara conjured up a breakthrough with a surprise bowling change,calling on Marlon Samuels’ offbreaks in the 10th over. A similar move hadworked against the Australians, when Samuels had dismissed Adam Gilchristafter opening the bowling in Grenada, and it foxed Atapattu too, who clippedback a simple return catch. He had scored 22 from 36 balls (46 for 2).Lara kept ringing the changes as he replaced Dillon with Collymore. Were itnot for the fumbling hands of Ricardo Powell at second slip, Kumar Sangakkarawould have gone third ball. He continued to ride his luck, frequentlyplaying and missing. But he also showed his class, clipping one sweetboundary through the legside and another majestic cover drive. At the otherend Kaluwitharana chipped in with some flamboyant strokes.Sangakkara’s luck ran out in the 21st over as David Bernard, the fifthbowler used, claimed his first wicket in one-day cricket. Sangakkara wascaught on the point boundary by Ramnaresh Sarwan after a wild swing to oneof Bernard’s straighter deliveries – he bowled five wides in his firsttwo-over spell (83 for 3).With Sri Lanka’s shaky middle order exposed, Lara swung back onto theoffensive. Dillon was hauled back into the attack and afforded two slips. Anunconvincing Mahela Jayawardene survived Dillon’s burst, but did not outlast long, succumbing to the innocuous medium pace of Wavell Hinds as he top-edged a pull (106 for 4).West Indies stole a clear initiative soon afterwards with the run-out ofKaluwitharana, who reached his 23rd one-day fifty before becoming boggeddown after the departure of Sangakkara. Slipping on the turn as he pushedfor a second run, Kaluwitharana could not beat Hinds’s throw from theboundary despite a desperate dive (112 for 5).Dharmasena and Dilshan (27) started their repair job slowly, nudging singlesand twos. They were fortunate that West Indies’ throwing radars were notworking properly, the fielders missing the stumps on half a dozen occasions.Gradually they started to tick along more easily and Sri Lanka were set fora competitive total on 171 for 5.But they lost their way after Vasbert Drakes flattened Dilshan’s stumps, asthe last five wickets folded for 30 runs, leaving the full house at theKensington Oval with high hopes of another West Indies victory.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Ridley Jacobs, 8 David Bernard, 9 Vasbert Drakes, 10 Mervyn Dillon, 11 Corey CollymoreSri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Kumar Dharmasena, 8 Prabath Nissanka, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dharshana Gamage, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

A scintillating knock from Craig Wishart saw Zimbabwe home against Bangladesh in the first one-day in the Coca-Cola series held in M A Aziz stadium today. The tourists won by five wickets after a shaky start in this low-scoring match.Earlier Bangladesh made a disastrous start in a batting-friendly track against Travis Friend. Mohammed Ashraful, who was looking comfortable, got himself run out from a horrible mix up. The debutant Tushar Imran (6) slammed a boundary off Friend but was clean bowled in the following. In his next over Friend got the wicket of Al-Sahariar, who offered a catch to Andy Flower. That was the start.Bashar was playing his natural to score runs amidst the damage. Except he and Khaled Masud no batsman could handle the Zimbabwean bowlers comfortably and wickets were falling at regular intervals. Garry Brent with his gentle medium pace took over the charge to mop up Bangladeshi middle order.It was Friend to dispatch Bashar; yorked the batsman at block hole to uproot the stumps. Bashar contributed with highest 44. The next good score came off the bat of the skipper himself, who gave hi hearts out to make his debut day as a captain unforgettable. He chipped in with singles and twos and occasional boundaries. He made 40 before Friend’s direct throw broke his stumps.Bangladesh were all out for a paltry 157 after 47.4 overs. Friend and Brent captured 3 wickets each giving away 25 and 29 runs respectively.Though the target was easy, Mashrafe’s first spell made it hard. The lanky fast bowler shuddered the Zimbabwean top-order by removing Flower brothers. He pulled up Grant’s middle stump and forced Andy to offer a catch to Fahim Muntasir. Gripper got himself run out by then. At that stage Zimbabwe were staggering at 20 for 3.A cool-headed Craig Wishart with his skipper Carlisle started forming a partnership when Mashrafe was taken off the attack. The spinners were brought in and runs began to come with ease, chiefly from Wishart’s bat. The robust Zimbabwean drove and smashed the bowlers all around his stumps. Their fourth wicket stand gathered 105 runs.When Carlisle (46) was run out at last, Zimbabweans were in a firm position. Craig hammered a few more boundaries and hit Mashrafe over his head for a six to score the winning run. He remained unbeaten at 79 including 11 fours and 2 sixes.Mashrafe captured 2 wickets for 26 in his 8.2 overs. Wishart was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

New Zealand One-Day International opener Mathew Sinclair finished the first part of his summer with Yorkshire club Cleethorpes on Saturday with a resounding win which lifted the club to fourth place in the Yorkshire premier league.Playing against Driffield, and bowling first, Cleethorpes dismissed the home team for 61.It took Cleethorpes, and Sinclair and captain Mike Smith in particular, only 9.4 overs to hit the winning runs.Sinclair, who is to join the CLEAR Black Caps in Sri Lanka for the Coca-Cola Cup series with Sri Lanka and India, hit 42 not out off 26 balls as the victory was achieved.Sinclair has scored 1108 runs in his season to date with Cleethorpes.Tama Canning, who is playing for Accrington in the Lancashire League had his game washed out before a ball was bowled at the weekend.Sinclair’s New Zealand team-mate Lou Vincent warmed up for his trip by scoring 78 for his side Esholt in the Bradford league against Bankfoot and taking three wickets for 50 runs from eight overs.It wasn’t enough for a win however, as Esholt fell 46 runs short of Bankfoot’s 206/8.