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In an effort to manage workloads, New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult has been rested for the first three matches of the five-ODI series against Sri Lanka starting on Boxing Day. Tim Southee will also have a couple of matches off, before joining the squad for the Nelson ODI on New Year’s Eve.Neither player was part of New Zealand’s tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa earlier in the year: Boult was injured and Southee was rested. But they have played four back-to-back Tests since the start of November.”He will have played five Tests in a row [including the next one in Hamilton],” coach Mike Hesson said of Boult. “It’s a long season and we need some fresh legs steaming in come the first ODI at Hagley.” Matt Henry comes into the squad for Southee in the first two matches, and he will have Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne and Doug Bracewell for company in the fast-bowling department.

NZ squad for first three ODIs

Brendon McCullum (c), Doug Bracewell, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry (first two ODIs)*, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, George Worker.
*Tim Southee will join the squad for the third ODI.

The only new face among the 13 players picked was Henry Nicholls and Hesson was effusive in his praise of the 24-year-old batsman. “Henry has earned his spot through consistent performances over the last 12 months. Through the A campaign he was exceptional, certainly an outstanding player in all forms of the game. He’s a player we see has class and a player who we want to expose to the international scene sooner rather than later.”It is Nicholls’ first call-up to the New Zealand squad. He averages 44.07 after 34 List A matches, with eight fifties and a big hundred – 178 against Wellington in January. In fact, his 50-over career peaked in the 2014-15 season when he became the second-highest scorer in the Ford Trophy with 454 runs in eight matches at an average of 75.66 and a strike-rate of 105.82.Nicholls has been a middle-order batsman for most of his domestic career and might get his New Zealand cap sooner rather than later considering allrounders Corey Anderson, James Neesham and Grant Elliott are still recovering from injuries.Anderson has been playing in the Georgie Pie Super Smash for Northern Knights despite his bad back preventing him from bowling. “We are starting to increase his loads and he is likely to be considered for T20 cricket as a batsman, but we are hopeful that towards the back end of season he can play a role with the ball,” Hesson said. “We are taking a cautious approach with his return to bowling crease. So far he’s ticking the initial boxes.”Elliott had broken his hand recently, but stands a chance to make the team for the final two ODIs, according to Hesson. Neesham is still “a long way off from bowling,” after hurting his back during the Brisbane Test against Australia.”Elliott’s cast is off and he batted a couple of times in the nets. He will likely return for [Wellington] Firebirds in Ford Trophy on December 27 and if he proves his fitness, we hope he can come into consideration for the latter part of the series.”New Zealand have a newish spin attack as well with left-arm allrounder Mitchell Santner and legspinner Ish Sodhi the only two frontline options picked. Nathan McCullum, who had announced he would retire from international cricket at the end of the season, was not picked for the ODIs.”Nathan’s unlikely to be considered for one-day cricket with his body,” Hesson said “We see T20 about where his limit is. He’s had a lot of back issues but we have a number of promising spinners, looking to tournaments ahead, Mitch Santner and Ish Sodhi are going to need some opportunities.”Sri Lanka have won only one ODI series since the start of 2015 – their last one against West Indies – and that run began with a defeat in New Zealand in January. Hesson is hopeful of a repeat.”At home, we’ve been pretty hard to beat in last couple of years,” he said. “Winning both one-day series [ODIs and T20Is] is an expectation we have of ourselves. We know Sri Lanka have talented batsmen and pretty wily campaigners with the ball. But we certainly rate our own skills in New Zealand conditions. We’ve got a few new faces so nice to expose them around some older heads. Hopefully they can prove they ready to go.”

Matthew Hayden has completed a remarkable limited-overs comeback, winning the ODI Player of the Year award in Johannesburg. Hayden, 35, had been mostly overlooked for Australia’s one-day team since the 2005 tour of England but he won a reprieve when Australia’s new opener, Shane Watson, missed the CB Series through injury in January.Hayden grabbed his chances and played no small part in making sure his side took top honours at the World Cup in the West Indies. His dominance is shown in the statistics. He topped the averages with 62.18 in 26 matches, having scored 1368 runs, more than anyone else during the voting period (August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007).In that time he scored more centuries than any other ODI batsman (five) including a top score of 181 not out, and all with a strike-rate of 87.69 runs per hundred balls. He has been a colossus at the top of the order for Australia and with Adam Gilchrist he has formed one of the most dynamic opening partnerships in the history of ODI cricket.Accepting his award, Hayden said: “It is a great honour for me to receive this award. It’s not so long ago that my place in the side was far from certain so this is very pleasing for me. Batting with Adam Gilchrist is always fun. I suppose the style we adopt could be regarded as risky and it’s definitely something we have talked about.”For us it’s not about fifties and hundreds. For teams like Australia scoring rates are more important, getting the team off to a good start so that the guys coming in can make the most of it. It has been a great year for me and for the team so I am delighted to pick up this award.”ICC president Ray Mali said: “On behalf of the ICC I would like to congratulate Matthew on winning this award. Matthew has been one of the best batsmen in all forms of the game for many, many years and there can be no doubt that he deserves this award. It is amazing to think that not so long ago he had been briefly left out of the Australia one-day side. His performances at the World Cup, in particular, were outstanding and his ability to perform when it matters most is crucial.”Hayden beat off the challenge of team-mates Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath to secure the award. Last year his team-mate Michael Hussey took home the prize, England’s Kevin Pietersen had the honour in 2005 and in 2004 it went to Pietersen’s England colleague Andrew Flintoff.

The ECB has made contingency plans to play against an International XI should Pakistan pull out of Monday’s Twenty20 International at Bristol. It is also in discussions with a major nation, believed to be South Africa, with a view to replacing Pakistan for the NatWest Series if the need arises.Pakistan threatened to boycott the remainder of their tour if Inzamam-ul-Haq was banned as a result of charges of ball-tampering and bringing cricket into disrepute following their forfeiture of the fourth and final Test against England at The Oval on Sunday. A date for Inzamam’s hearing will be announced on Friday – the original day it was going to be held – and Pakistan have expressed concerns about playing again before the hearing is complete.An ECB statement said: “Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, has in meetings held with David Morgan, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, reconfirmed his board’s strong desire for Pakistan to continue with the International Twenty20 fixture at Bristol on Monday, August 28 and the subsequent NatWest Series and believes this will be the case.”However the PCB chairman communicated to David Morgan that until a new date can be set for the ICC’s Code of Conduct commission hearing, concerns of the Pakistan touring party have not been fully allayed.”The ICC has already indicated that no date can be set until the its chief match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, is again available to preside over the hearing. Madugalle is unavailable because of family illness and at the moment he is unable to commit to any set date. An ICC source made it clear that no other referee would be acceptable to all parties.Facing a huge financial loss if the Twenty20 and one-day internationals were cancelled, the ECB put into motion plans to fill the gap with an International XI for the Twenty20. The move has been approved by the ICC and the ECB have approached leading world players to form a team that would play England in the event of Pakistan pulling out.Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan have agreed to bring their Pro40 match forward by one day to Sunday, therefore releasing more players – including Stephen Fleming – for the International XI.The ECB chief executive David Collier said: “We are pleased that discussions strongly indicate the England v Pakistan Twenty20 international and the subsequent NatWest Series will proceed as planned. However given the current uncertainty concerning the scheduling of the Code of Conduct hearing and imminence of the Twenty20 it is prudent to examine all options to provide spectators with guaranteed play on Monday.”This has been achieved and while ECB and PCB hope that this contingency plan will not be required, the International XI remains on standby.”ECB can also confirm that it has been in discussion with ICC and other full member boards to provide a further contingency plan for the NatWest Series. These discussions are well advanced, but it is hoped that the Pakistan team will be able to fulfil its commitments.”South Africa would be the favourites to step into Pakistan’s shoes for the NatWest Series. Their coach, Mickey Arthur, has already said his team would be delighted to fill the gap after they abandoned their recent tour of Sri Lanka following the bombings in Colombo.

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At the Wanderers, Free State took full advantage of batting first against Gauteng and declared after making 419 for 7, largely due to an unbeaten double-century from Benjamin Hector.Hector, who made 200 not out, was supported by Shane Summers, who matched him with some power hitting as the 85th over approached. Both Hector and Summers made their last 50 in just 38 balls as the two added 81 in the final 14 overs. By close, Gauteng replied with 36 for no loss.
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At Kimberley, Western Province rode on a career-best 66 from VernonPhilander to help them to a less-than-competitive 173. They were rocked by a lethal spell by Jandre Coetzee, the left-arm medium pacer, as he finished with 7 for 42 in his 18 overs. Coetzee, in only his second first-class match, proved to be almost unplayable on a wicket that did offer the bowlers assistance. Griqualand West also struggled with the bat and were 127 for 6 at stumps. With Wendell Bossenger, their captain, retired hurt, they were effectively seven down.
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Boland started their campaign well by restricting Eastern Province to 230 for 8 declared at Paarl. But they squandered the advantage when they batted and folded for a paltry 109. Grant Howell, son of international umpire Ian Howell, top scored for Eastern Province with an unbeaten 80. Wallace Albertyn (4 for 55) and Jacques van Wyk (3 for 44) were the most successful bowlers for Boland.However, the performance of the day belonged to L Tsotsobe, as his 7 for 44 helped bundle Boland out by the end of the day. This was Tsotsobe’s debut and he impressed with his pace and also got the ball to swing into the right-handers.
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Border notched up 248 for 5 against KwaZulu-Natal at East London on a day when only 77 overs could be bowled as bad forced players to leave the field early. Carl Bradfield set the tone of the day with a patient 64. Burton de Wett followed suit with a 46 but it was the final pair of Dumisa Makalima (64 not out) and Warwick Hinkel (48 not out) who put on 114 as the Natal bowlers struggled on a good firm surface.

There were no surprises as England named their squad for the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley, which starts next Thursday. As expected, Andrew Strauss has retained his place following the retirement of Nasser Hussain, while Michael Vaughan returns as captain after recovering from a knee injury.Strauss announced himself in Test cricket with a stunning debut, scoring 112 and 83 as England won by seven wickets. Hussain’s emotional farewell at Lord’s has now ensured that Strauss will be given a run in the side, but where he will bat is another matter.With Vaughan fit to return after twisting his knee in the nets days before the first Test, the selectors will have to decide who will open the batting. Strauss and Marcus Trescothick put on 190 in the first innings at Lord’s, and it is likely that Vaughan will move down from his usual opening spot to fill Hussain’s old position at No. 4.However, David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, told BBC Sport that the final decision will be with the captain and the coach: “We as selectors have given our view, but it is down to Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher to decide.”Graveney added that the team may miss Hussain’s streetfighting qualities, but that there would have been some tricky decisions to be made if he had still been available for selection. “If you want a scrap you need Nasser Hussain,” he said. “He has introduced a level of passion in playing for England that was perhaps missing in the past. It would have been an interesting selection meeting if [Hussain] had still been available. It’s the first time in a while lots of players have been knocking on the door and that poses some good problems for the selectors.”One of those players was Robert Key, the Kent batsman, who has made a roaring start to the season, scoring five first-class hundreds and 893 runs. Key, though, will have to wait longer to add to his eight Tests.In the bowling department, the only question is whether England play Ashley Giles, the specialist spinner, or replace him with Paul Collingwood or James Anderson.England haven’t won a Test at Headingley since Mark Butcher’s heroic 173 not out helped to conquer the Australians in 2001, and Graveney insisted they were taking nothing for granted. “Our win in the first Test was an outstanding team effort and we will need to maintain the same level of performance at Headingley – a ground where we have under-performed in the last two years,” he said. “New Zealand are tough opponents and should not be underestimated. The last time they toured they went on to win the series 2-1 and I am sure they will come back hard at Headingley.”England Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, Simon Jones.

The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) unveiled plans for the Lawrence Maxwell benefit year yesterday.Jeff Broomes, chairman of the BCA’s Benefit Year Committee, told a Press conference, held at its Kensington Oval headquarters, that the association had organised a mix of activities culminating with a night cricket match in November to raise funds for the Lawrence Maxwell benefit.Broomes said Maxwell was chosen this year because of the contribution the former Police player had made to the development of cricket inBarbados.He noted that Maxwell had represented Barbados with distinction, not only as a player, but "as a captain and manager as well".Broomes added that even when Maxwell had retired from the game as a player, he still continued to serve Barbados’ cricket in other capacities.The chairman disagreed with those who might have been suggesting the BCA should honour more than one player per year."I do not support the idea, being mooted in some quarters, that we should honour more than one cricketer per year. I think this would tend to water down the effort," Broomes said.He disclosed the BCA had established a particular set of criteria to be used when selecting the cricketer to be honoured in a particular year.He said board members were required to submit the names of people who, in their opinion, should be honoured in a particular year, after which discussions were held on thesubmitted names and a candidate selected.The chairman noted Maxwell would be the third player to have a benefit year since it was inaugurated by the BCA three years ago.Winston Reid was the first in 2001 and he received just over $35 000, while George Linton benefited to the tune of over$70 000 last year.Broomes pointed out that Reid’s benefit did not "run for an entire year".Hartley Reid, president of the Barbados Police Association, said the Police Force in general and the Police Association in particular were extremely pleased by the BCA’sdecision to honour Maxwell this year.He said his association was proud to be associated with the honour and it would do everything "inits power to make itsuccessful".He urged all concerned to give 100 per cent to the effort to ensure its success.Maxwell, who admitted being surprised to be chosen for this year’s benefit, said: "I am deeply honoured but humbled at being selected."He encouraged his fans and supporters to come out and support the benefit year.

England today named a 13-man squad for next week’s Third npower Test Matchagainst Australia at Trent Bridge (August 2-6).Surrey quick bowler Alex Tudor and Glamorgan off-spinner Robert Croft areincluded in the squad along with Usman Afzaal who made his Test debutearlier this summer in the First npower Test against Australia at Edgbaston.Michael Atherton will again captain the side in the absence of the injuredNasser Hussain. Hussain is now aiming to be fit for the Headingley TestMatch along with England’s other injured batsmen, Graham Thorpe and MichaelVaughan.

Squad:Born CapsMichael Atherton (Lancashire) (captain) 23.3.68 112Usman Afzaal (Nottinghamshire) 9.6.77 1Mark Butcher (Surrey) 23.8.72 29Andrew Caddick (Somerset) 21.11.68 47Robert Croft (Glamorgan) 25.5.70 20Darren Gough (Yorkshire) 18.9.70 52Mark Ramprakash (Surrey) 5.9.69 43Chris Silverwood (Yorkshire) 5.3.75 5Alec Stewart (Surrey) 8.4.63 112Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) 25.12.75 13Alex Tudor (Surrey) 23.10.77 3Ian Ward (Surrey) 30.9.73 4Craig White (Yorkshire) 16.12.69 20

Announcing the squad, Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said: “We didnot want to make wholesale changes to the squad for this Test Match. But wefeel we will need more variety in our attack at Trent Bridge and theinclusion of Alex Tudor and Robert Croft will give us more bowling options.”Dominic Cork misses out this time as we have decided to go for the greaterpace of Alex Tudor who has performed well for Surrey this season sincecoming back from injury. We wanted to show continuity of selection byincluding Robert Croft as he was included in the squad earlier in the seasonand also performed very well on the winter tour of Sri Lanka.”

Sind won their second Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup match in as many games, thumping Baluchistan by an innings and 114 runs in Karachi. Baluchistan began the third day facing a mammoth first-innings deficit – 323. As in the first innings, only one of their batsmen could go past 50, and with scant support even he could not push on for a big score. This time it was opener Zain Abbas who made 85, and only two other batsmen could get into double figures as Baluchistan succumbed for 209. The Sind bowlers shared the wickets around, but the most damage was done by new-ball Tabish Khan – he knocked over Baluchistan’s top four.Punjab piled up a significant first-innings lead against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPP) on day two of the match in Lahore. After KPP made 210 on the opening day, Punjab had resumed on 95 for 1. They captain, Shoaib Malik, who was unbeaten on 29 overnight went on to complete a century as Punjab pushed on to 325 for 9. No. 6 batsman Usman Salahuddin also chipped in, scoring an unbeaten 72 as his team went to stumps with a lead of 115. Left-arm spinner Khalid Usman was the most successful of the KPP bowlers, taking 4 for 69 while conceding less than two runs an over.

Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, has told the jury in his perjury trial in London that there is “no truth” to allegations that he attempted to persuade his team-mate, Lou Vincent, to take part in match-fixing.Cairns, who was taking the stand at Southwark Crown Court for the first time in the trial after listening to three weeks of testimony, repeatedly denied any involvement in match-fixing.He denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, relating to his successful 2012 libel action against Lalit Modi, while his co-defendant and former attourney, Andrew Fitch-Holland, is accused of perverting the course of justice.Asked by Orlando Pownall, his barrister, whether at any stage he was involved in match-fixing, Cairns replied: “No.””Did you contemplate match-fixing?” Pownall continued.Cairns again replied: “No.”When it was put to Cairns that he had attempted to coerce his former team-mates into match-fixing, including Vincent and the current New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum, who testified last month, he repeated his denials.The court heard how, in 2008, Cairns had signed a three-year deal to captain Chandigarh Lions in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. His contract was worth NZ$350,000 per year, a prospect that made him “very excited” in the latter years of his career, especially having had a “significant drop” since his final international appearances two years earlier.However, according to Vincent’s testimony, Cairns had ordered him to fix games by deliberately playing badly. When Vincent told Cairns how he had declined the offer of cash and a prostitute to get involved in fixing, Cairns had allegedly responded: “You did the right thing … that’s good cover. You’re working for me now.”Cairns denied all of these incidents, adding that, had Vincent told him of any approach, it would have been immediately reported to Howard Beer and Tony Greig, the administrators of the ICL.”Did you at any stage seek to persuade him, successfully or not, to underperform?” Pownell asked. Cairns replied: “No.”The trial continues.

The Ontario Cricket Association’s joy over being granted Can$1 million might be short-lived, with the government – under fire for money given to various multicultural groups – planning on getting back a part of the sum.”I intend to discuss with them the grant and whether the Can$1 million was appropriate,” Ontario’s citizenship and immigration minister Gerry Phillips told the . “If we both determine this is not quite the appropriate decision, my experience is people are, by and large, pretty reasonable.”The grant was made by Phillips’s predecessor Mile Colle, whom he replaced after Ontario’s auditor general criticised the manner in which Can$32 million was handed over to 110 multicultural groups over the last two years. The cricket association had requested Can$150,000, but Colle sanctioned Can$1 million.The association’s president Mike Kendall expressed surprise over the new development. “We didn’t think they would [want part of the money back],” he said, indicating that the association has set aside funds to introduce the sport in more schools.He felt that even the sanctioned amount was inadequate for the game’s development. “This amount of money is barely scratching the surface of what’s needed,” he said. “Cricket is growing exponentially in Canada. As the sport grows we need to have infrastructure facilities in place.”The association has already spent Can$360,000, including Can$250,000 on a cricket pitch, in King City – north of Toronto – to make it meet international standards, according to a report on globeandmail.com. Half of the remaining money is with a guaranteed investment certificate.