Pakistan vs West Indies

They may be without Brian Lara and their second best batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, but the West Indies will be no pushovers on the good Sharjah wicket, says Asif Iqbal.
Asif, who for 20 years co-ordinated the one-day tournaments that helped put the United Arab Emirates on the world cricket map, told BBC Sport Online that Pakistan would start the two-Test series as worthy favourites.
But the former Test captain and all-rounder warned Pakistan's bowlers: "I wouldn't be surprised if the West Indies scored lots of runs on that wicket.
"They have some experienced batters - Chanderpaul, Campbell and Hooper. If they win the toss and post a decent score I think it will be a good Test series."

Triangular in Australia

Batsman Darren Lehmann and young all-rounder Shane Watson have been drafted into the Australian squad for the final two round robin matches in the triangular VB Series.
Darren Lehmann replaces Andrew Symonds for Friday's match against New Zealand and the game against South Africa two days later, both in Perth.
Lehmann's call-up came just a day after he was named in the Test squad for next month's tour to South Africa.
He has been in prolific one-day form for South Australia this season, scoring 361 runs in seven games at an average of over 72.

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Australian captain Steve Waugh has been stripped of all official selection power.
Waugh and his deputy will no longer have a final say on picking teams on tour, starting with next month's blockbuster re-match with South Africa.
The Australian Cricket Board was yesterday adamant there was nothing sinister in the move.
“I think it is a good idea," Waugh said. "It provides consistency throughout the year no matter where the team is playing."
"I have no problems with it whatsoever."

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If South Africa beat a deflated New Zealand in their penultimate match at the WACA in Perth in Friday, but do not earn a bonus point, they will move level with New Zealand on 17 points while Australia trail on 13.
If Australia then beat South Africa on Sunday, all three teams will finish on 17 points with an equal number of wins and losses against each other. The finalists would then be decided on run rate with Shaun Pollock's team almost certain to miss out.
Should Australia thrash South Africa, however, and earn a bonus point, then the host nation would qualify with 18 points leaving South Africa as the other automatic finalists thanks to a 3:1 record against Stephen Fleming's men in their four qualifying matches.

U-19 World Cup

Super League:
Australia 281 for five (50 overs) beat England 165 all out (45.2 overs) by 116 runs

England's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup have almost been snuffed out after they were totally outplayed by Australia.
England must now beat South Africa on Friday - picking up a bonus point along the way - and hope New Zealand lose to Australia, in order to qualify for the last four.

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South Africa 241 for seven (50 overs) beat New Zealand 217 all out (48.1 overs) by 24 runs

New Zealand squandered the opportunity to seal their spot in the next round when they lost to South Africa by 24 runs.

After narrowly defeating England at the start of the week the tournament hosts went into the game full of confidence against a South African side recently mauled by Australia.

Miscellaneous

Cricket's governing body will proceed with its referee’s commission in the aftermath of the Mike Denness affair despite India's decision to boycott the process.

The International Cricket Council's three-man panel is made up of South African judge A.L. Sachs, former Pakistan skipper Majid Khan and ex-Australia batsman Andrew Hilditch.

The trio will meet in South Africa in late February and present a report to the ICC's executive board meeting on 15 March.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had said that the panel should either not meet until the executive board meeting or, alternatively, expand to comprise 10 members, one from each Test nation.

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Disgraced former South African captain Hansie Cronje has asked the Indian police to mail him a full copy of the charges of match-fixing levelled against him here in 2000.

New Delhi police charged Cronje and three of his team-mates in April 2000 with fixing matches and cheating Indian spectators during South Africa's tour of India earlier the same year.

The cases of cheating are punishable by up to two years of imprisonment in India.

"The request came to the Central Bureau of Investigation via South Africa's chapter of the Interpol and the same has been sent to the crime branch of the Delhi police," a senior police official said.

"Cronje desires to reply to the charges but through a legal testimony and not physically," the official said.

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