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Yorkshire’s legspinner Adil Rashid has been called into England’s ICC World Twenty20 squad as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff, after the England management conceded that Flintoff would not be fit following his recent bout of knee surgery.Flintoff, 31, sustained a tear to the meniscus in his right knee while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the recent Indian Premier League. Though he was named in England’s squad for the Twenty20 tournament that gets underway against Holland at Lord’s on June 5, the likelihood of him recovering in time was always slim.”Andrew is making excellent progress and there is no swelling or pain now in the knee,” said England’s chief medical officer, Nick Peirce. “He has been putting in some extremely hard training with Lancashire and should start running and practicing this week. After discussions with his surgeon we have decided that he should continue the remainder of his rehabilitation with physio Dave Roberts, who has overseen his previous rehabilitations.”Having missed all of this season’s Tests and ODIs against West Indies, Flintoff will now aim to regain his fitness ahead of the Ashes opener at Cardiff on July 8. The intention is for him to begin his comeback in Lancashire’s County Championship fixture against Hampshire at Liverpool on June 17.The ECB confirmed they had approached the World Twenty20 technical committee for permission to add Rashid to the squad that was originally named on May 1.”We had to name Andrew in the 15 because we hoped he would be fit,” said England’s national selector, Geoff Miller. “But in reality the timescale was always optimistic. We have now obtained permission from ICC to name Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid as a replacement. There is a lot of cricket still to play this year and it is important Andrew is fully fit for it.”Rashid, who made his first appearance in a senior England squad during the winter tours of India and West Indies, has been drafted in as an extra spinner to support Graeme Swann even though he has been omitted from Yorkshire’s first two Twenty20 Cup matches. He was preferred ahead of his seam-bowling team-mate Tim Bresnan, as well as the Nottinghamshire allrounder, Samit Patel, who was controversially overlooked for the original squad because of his failure to meet the team’s fitness standards.”It is an exciting opportunity for Rashid, who was in the original 30 we named in early April,” said Miller. “He has impressed the England management after being a part of the Test tour to India and the subsequent Caribbean tour and deserves his chance.”For Rashid, 21, the call-up is another big step in his rapid rise to prominence in English cricket. In addition to his legspin, he is also a genuine batting prospect with two first-class hundreds to his name. Last week, he told Cricinfo that his primary goal this summer had been to get involved in England’s Ashes set-up, and that his ultimate ambition is to play Test cricket.The shortest format can be a cruel game to bowlers, Rashid conceded. “When you’re coming on for two overs then coming off again, it is difficult to get the pace and rhythm right,” he told Cricinfo. “But Twenty20 does teach you where to bowl, how to bowl and when to bowl, and if a batter gets after you, what to bowl.”You’ve got to be looked after,” said Rashid. “If you get hit for a six and a four, the captain must accept that a legspinner is also a ‘risk’ spinner. He goes for runs but he’s there to take wickets as well. It shouldn’t be a bad thing if he gets hit for a six or a four, he shouldn’t be taken off in the next over.”

Division One

3rd daySteven Davies collects another boundary during his century but Worcestershire face a fight to avoid defeat•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire are on course for victory after Worcestershire limped to 24 for 3 in their second innings at Trent Bridge having failed to save the follow-on by two runs despite a fine century from Steven Davies. Batting a second time, Andre Adams claimed two wickets in three balls and Mark Ealham had Daryl Mitchell caught behind as Worcestershire ended the day as they start – firmly on the back foot. However, between times there was some impressive resistance especially from Davies who struck 126 and showed the talent that attracted the England selectors. Mitchell offered solid support with 80 before he became Graeme Swann’s first wicket, but Gareth Batty (22) and Ashley Noffke (39) formed useful stands. At 330 for 6 the follow-on was within sight only for Swann and Samit Patel to spin out the last four wickets for 24. Those two extra runs could be the difference a draw and a defeatA fascinating final day is in prospect at Hove as Sussex laboured to a lead of 138 with five wickets remaining against Lancashire. It was all even on first innings as Luke Wright claimed a career-best 5 for 80 to restrict Lancashire to 299, one short of a third batting point. Steven Croft fell without adding to his overnight 59 and Mark Chilton was trapped leg before for 89 as Lancashire missed the chance of a significant lead. Sajid Mahmood and James Anderson edged them ahead by 10 before Anderson once again starred with the ball. As in the first innings he nailed both openers – Chris Nash edging behind and Michael Yardy was bowled as he tried to shoulder arms – and after a stand of 50 between Ed Joyce and Murray Goodwin, Gary Keedy changed the game again. He had Goodwin stumped trying to drive through mid-on and trapped Matt Prior lbw in the space of three balls to really put the pressure on the home side. Joyce, for the second time in the match, was anchoring the order but Keedy had the final say when he struck with the last ball of the day to leave Lancashire fancying their chances.2nd dayFor a full report of Durham against Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street where Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison went head-to-head click here.For a full report of Warwickshire’s game against Hampshire at Edgbaston where Jim Troughton hit a hundred and Marcus North made a hasty departure click here.

Division Two

3rd dayEssex overcame a small wobble to secure a seven-wicket victory shortly after lunch on the third day at Bristol against Gloucestershire. The home side added just four more to their overnight total before Vikram Banerjee became Ryan ten Doeschate’s eighth wicket of the match and James Foster claimed a record-equalling ninth catch. It left Essex needing 98, but they quickly slipped to 6 for 2 and suddenly the target looked a lot bigger. However, Matt Walker used all his experience to calm the situation and, although Jason Gallian also departed, captain Mark Pettini helped see the chase through to the end.2nd dayNormality returned to proceedings at Derby as Scott Newman’s century led a positive Surrey resurgence after they conceded a first-innings lead of 143 against Derbyshire. Newman scored almost as many as the whole Surrey side managed in the first innings before edging Garry Park late in the day for 124 as the visitors ended with a lead of 70. Laurie Evans’s dismissal, bowled by a shooter from Jonathan Clare, showed a run chase might not be easy. Derbyshire’s own advantage had been more considerable than might have been expected when they started the day seven down and just 21 to the good. However, Greg Smith showed runs could be scored on the pitch and Graham Wagg chipped in with 34. Then Ian Hunter hit well for 47 in a last-wicket stand 83 but couldn’t stay long enough for Smith to reach a richly deserved hundred.For a full report from Middlesex and Glamorgan at Lord’s where Phillip Hughes continued a good match for Australians click here.

Spell of the dayGraham Onions didn’t have a wonderful introduction to Test cricket. He was bowled first-ball by a low full-toss, and then dropped short with his maiden delivery to be pulled ruthlessly through midwicket. But then, in his sixth over, everything started to click. Lendl Simmons received a brutal lifter to be caught at slip for Onions’ maiden Test wicket, two balls later Jerome Taylor was strangled down the leg-side, then, to cap a memorable over, Sulieman Benn sliced a third-ball drive to third slip. Still Onions was not finished. He made it four in seven balls when Denesh Ramdin was pinned lbw one delivery, and had his Durham team-mate, Paul Collingwood, clung onto a sharp chance off Lionel Baker he’d have made it five in 12. Ultimately, it was 5 in 27, as Baker succumbed after a defiant cameo. Not a bad first day proper at the office.Innings of the dayRavi Bopara led the way on the first day, but he barely got a look in when play resumed today. Graeme Swann is not a man who lacks confidence in any department, and today he was on remarkable form. In all, he flogged eight of his nine fours on the up and through the off side, including six in the first hour this morning before Bopara had the chance to add to his own overnight tally of 14. Then, to cap his performance, Swann posted his maiden Test half-century by walloping Lionel Baker into the Mound Stand for six. By the time he was left unbeaten on 63, he had surpassed Ashley Giles’ Test-best 59, and restated his growing claims to an Ashes starting berth.Interruption of the dayEngland were motoring in the first hour of the morning, adding 24 handy runs in five overs as West Indies struggled to rediscover their first-day vim. So it came as a total surprise when the umpires wandered across to have a chat with the batsman, and gave them the chance to troop off for bad light. It seemed a senseless break in England’s momentum, reminiscent of Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher’s walk-off at Headingley 2003. But then, after a 15-minute hiatus, Swann resumed with three fours in five balls, and that was the end of that analogy.Poor example of the dayFidel Edwards was rightly aggrieved at the close of the first day’s play, having suffered at the hands, quite literally, of his team-mates, who spilled three clear chances in the final session to delay his richly deserved five-wicket haul. When play resumed he would surely have wished to set the fielding example for his errant colleagues to follow. Instead, from the first ball of the day, he went down into the long barrier, and let a gentle push to mid-on roll straight through his legs.Clanger of the dayAs Edwards himself admitted at the close of the first day’s play, it has been a long, long while since he’s bowled on a pitch that rewards his natural pace. That hasn’t, however, stopped him digging it in when the mood suits him, and one brute of a lifter struck James Anderson an ugly blow on the back of his helmet as he averted his gaze and braced for impact. After a lengthy delay and a switch of headgear – his old lid had a ball-shaped chunk taken out of the bottom edge – he groggily resumed and survived with some courage through to lunch.Stat of the dayAt the break, in fact, Anderson was 1 not out from 17 deliveries. Nothing remarkable in that, you might suggest. How wrong you’d be. By nudging the final ball of the session off his hip for a single to square leg, Anderson extended his world-record sequence of 47 innings without ever being dismissed for a duck. He has been unbeaten on 0 on ten occasions, and fallen for 1 seven times. But the dreaded blob remains elusive.Bowling change of the dayWhen England’s turn came to bowl, Broad took one half of the new ball – no surprise there. At the other end, however, Andrew Strauss pulled a complete fast one on the punters, pundits and West Indies players alike. With Swann on a high after his half-century, he was thrown the ball ahead of Anderson and both debutant seamers, Onions and Tim Bresnan, who didn’t get to feature in the first innings at all. Perhaps the decision was influenced by Yuvraj Singh’s over to Kevin Pietersen in Mohali, or KP’s own opening of the bowling in the IPL last month. More likely, it was inspired by Swann’s dominance of West Indies’ openers, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith, who between them accounted for five of his 27 wickets prior to this Test.Double whammy of the dayAnd sure enough, Smith soon succumbed to his nemesis, who has now claimed his wicket on four occasions in Test cricket. With the first ball of his second spell, moments before the tea break, Swann beat the inside-edge with one that zipped through the gate, and then, before West Indies knew what had hit them, he dealt Shivnarine Chanderpaul a knockout blow as well, which a beautiful tweaker that took the edge to slip. By the time their other sheet-anchorman, Brendan Nash, had fallen by the wayside as well, Swann had 3 for 16 in five overs, and the gravy-train had been set in motion. Over to Onions, to slice and dice the lower-order.

Match facts

Friday April 3
Start time 9.30am (13.30GMT)

Big picture

Would they play they play or wouldn’t they? Until the eve of the fifth and final ODI in St Lucia, no-one could say for sure. The West Indies Cricket Board had been locked in crisis talks with the Players’ Association, with the threat looming, not only of a boycott of Friday’s fixture, but – going forward – a mass withdrawal from the tour of England which commences later this month, and clashes head-on with the lucrative Indian Premier League.The crisis was ultimately averted, but with so much up in the air for so long, it’s hard to imagine how the players have managed to focus on what is suddenly a must-win match. West Indies may have outscored England by 23 sixes to three, but thanks to a misreading of the Duckworth-Lewis charts in Guyana and a tour de force in another rain-affected contest from Andrew Strauss, England somehow made up for their serious shortcomings in games two and three to move into a position to strike (in the non-industrial sense).

Form guide (most recent first)

West Indies LWWLL
England WLLWL

Watch out for …

Leading into this series, Andrew Strauss had an unflattering reputation as an ODI batsman. He had not played in England’s limited-overs set-up for two years because of doubts about his big-hitting abilities, but two spectacular efforts in this series – one stand-alone century in defeat in Guyana and a brilliant 79 not out from 61 balls to square the series in Barbados – have cemented his role, in the short-term at least. The simple fact is that he is in the form of his life, coming off the back of three hundreds in the Test series last month.All eyes have been on Chris Gayle this week, first for his spectacular six-hitting exploits in Barbados – 13 in two games, including eight in an 43-ball 80 last Friday – then for his lead role in the threatened strike. He now says he is satisfied with the situation and will play, but will his eye be sufficiently on the ball to wallop England all over Gros Islet?

Team news

There could have been 11 team changes, but now it’s done to one. Nikita Miller hurt his back while trying to smash a free hit out of the ground last week, so he is out, with his fellow spinner, Sulieman Benn, restored to the squad. His omission was something of a surprise to England, given his starring role in the Jamaica Test victory, as well as two Twenty20 triumphs, starting with the Stanford Superstars in Antigua last year.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Lionel Baker, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Fidel Edwards.As for England, there are no obvious alterations to be made. Their seamers did a fine job to restrict West Indies to an attainable 239 for 9 in the last match, although there could yet be a temptation to re-introduce the spinner Gareth Batty – possibly at the expense of Steve Harmison, whose winter’s Hokey-Cokey (in all internationals since November) currently reads: “In, in, out, out, in, in, out, in, out, out, in, out, out, in, in, out, in.”England (possible) 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 James Anderson.

Stats & Trivia

Quotes

“We’re totally focused … even though a lot of things have been happening off the field. We’re here to play cricket. Hopefully we can finish off on a high.”
Chris Gayle looks forward to putting the power struggles behind him

Mitchell Johnson’s unbeaten 96 in Johannesburg has seasoned judges predicting he will develop into a fully-fledged allrounder – or better. Mark Waugh believes Johnson can be like Ian Botham or Kapil Dev while Mark Taylor and Jason Gillespie also expect big things.”He bats a bit further down the order than someone like Andrew Flintoff, but if he manages to average over 30 with the bat and under 30 with the ball, you could argue that is a high-class allrounder,” Gillespie said in the . “That 96 was an outstanding knock and I’m sure there’s more than one three-figure score just around the corner.”Waugh was impressed while commentating on FoxSports. “He has the ability to bat at six and play a role like an Ian Botham or a Kapil Dev,” Waugh said.Johnson, who now averages 31.47 in his 19 Tests, entered at No. 9 with Australia wobbling at 7 for 296, but he put on 117 with Marcus North to steer Australia to safety. He hit an Australian record of 26 runs from a Paul Harris over and was stranded when Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus were dismissed in consecutive balls.Taylor said Johnson’s performance showed the search for a multi-skilled player should end. “Along with someone like Brad Haddin, between the two of them we’re forming that allrounder spot,” Taylor said. “I don’t think there is a great need to chase down an allrounder – we’ve already got one.”

The day after the great victory before and a chance for West Indies to reflect on a moment that will go down in history. While the England camp is calling for cool heads at a time of panic, West Indies are also urging caution but for a different reason. They have been down in the doldrums for so long that, as fabulous as the victory was, what happens next is even more important.Chris Gayle said he already puts their innings-and-23-run victory near the top of his career highlights, but the series outcome will determine how high it finally goes. “It’s up there. I rank the Test in South Africa [at Port Elizabeth] high, but then got injured after that win. It’s definitely up there in the top three, but I’ll wait until the end of the series and decide if it can be number one.”John Dyson, the straight-talking Australian coach who is having such an impact with the team, is also cautious of getting carried away. “As I said 12 months ago, people who want someone to come in here and click their fingers like Merlin the Magician to change things overnight, it was never going to happen. These things take time,” he said.”In the last 12 months we’ve had a number of good performances and each time people have said is this the turning point. I kept saying you have to be patient. We will have days with terrific performances and others where we aren’t so good. I think we are becoming more consistent.”However, it is going to be difficult to manage expectations after that performance, capped off by the stunning display of Jerome Taylor, but also including a magnificent match for Gayle, and a display by Sulieman Benn that has been somewhat overshadowed by the dramatic conclusion.Benn’s match-figures of 8 for 108 are the best by a West Indies spinner since 1975 when Lance Gibbs took 9 for 143 against India in Mumbai. There have been precious few spinners of note in the meantime, but with the changing nature of the pitches in the Caribbean they will play an increasingly important role.Benn came into the match with a modest record of eight wickets from three games and Gayle admitted afterwards that he’d been on trial but hadn’t told the player himself.”He was under a lot of pressure but he didn’t know that, I didn’t tell him,” he said. “I don’t point these things out to players because I like to let them go out there with less things to think about. I think you saw how relaxed he was. With his height he can be a very, very good spin bowler.”He just has to keep working on it, his batting and even his fielding is improving too. He has to capitalise on it. We had talked that if he wants to be a Test bowler he has to take wickets.”Dyson added that he always thought Benn could prove a handful when offered helpful conditions after starting his career on batsmen-friendly surfaces in Guyana, Barbados and Napier. “Our thinking at the time was that this guy is a tall left-arm spinner, he’s got some control and some variety and it would be interesting to see him on a wicket that offered him some help. This pitch has given him that and we saw how difficult he can be.”Dyson, though, pointed to the dismissal of Kevin Pietersen as the key moment on the final day. England have relied heavily on Pietersen to set the tone in the top order, a factor that hadn’t escaped Dyson’s attention. “When I saw that off peg go I was very happy. They do depend on him and I’d like to see him knocked over that way each time, but I don’t think that will happen.”West Indies are not going to have too many days like Saturday at Sabina, but the surge in belief that the team has gained should be around for a long time to come. “We go to Antigua with the aim of maintaining the cricket we have played,” Dyson said. “England will come back hard, we know that.” West Indies, though, know they can match them in every aspect and it’s been a long time since anyone has been able to say that.

Ryan Hinds’ personal first-class best, a rambunctious 218-ball 240, rallied Barbados to a mammoth 483 for 9 against Leeward Islands in St Maarten. Barbados chose to bat and Hinds, the leading run-scorer in the competition with 382 at 95.50, hit his maiden double century. The medium-pacer Tonito Willett hit back with a five-wicket haul to help Leewards limit the damage.Hinds entered at the fall of his captain Jason Haynes for 10 with the score 67 for 1 and proceeded to dominate the attack. He collected 35 fours and four sixes in an innings that needed 218 balls, surviving two chances along the way. Hinds brought up his eighth first-class century before tea and shared valuable partnerships of 51 for the second wicket with Dale Richards, who celebrated his call up to the West Indies team with a run-a-ball 68, 64 with Jonathan Carter (15), 95 for the fourth wicket with Dwayne Smith (21), and 146 with Rohan Nurse (59).Willett struck after tea, cutting Hinds off on 250, following which Barbados ost five wickets for60 runs.Nikita Miller’s left-arm spin helped holders and current leaders Jamaica take control of the first day’s play against Combined Campuses & Colleges in Barbados. Having been put into bat, Jamaica were skittled out for a lowly 162, but Miller’s spell of 4 for 14 from 11 overs titled the balance back their way by the close at the Three Ws Oval.Jamaica’s was a poor innings – they were bowled out five minutes before tea. The top score came from Xavier Marshall (74), and there were helpful contributions from Dave Bernard (31) and Donovan Pagon (28), but Jamaica lost their last four wickets for 22 runs from 47 balls. The offspinner Ryan Austin took 3 for 37 from 16 overs and Khismar Catlin supported with 3 for 42 from 12 overs.But when they took the field, Miller struck with his third ball, bowling the opener Romel Currency for 5, and a slide was in process. When CCC slipped to 22 for 2, Jamaica captain Tamar Lambert soon turned to an all-spin attack when he introduced Odean Brown. Miller and Brown, a legspinner, made scoring difficult and Miller prospered. In consecutive overs he sent back Omar Phillips and Floyd Reifer, making it 37 for 4, before removing Nekoli Parris for 18 in the penultimate over of the day.In Trinidad, hosts Trinidad & Tobago made slow progress on the opening day against Windward Islands. Electing to bat first, T&T batted to 189 for 4 in 74 overs, with Kieron Pollard the only man to cross 50. The openers, Lendl Simmons and Adrian Barath, added 47 before Deighton Butler and Darren Sammy, international players both, struck. Each of the two medium-pacers took a couple wickets and Pollard (57) fell shortly before stumps.

Victoria have been left fuming by Cricket Australia’s decision not to allow their star batsmen Cameron White and David Hussey to play in Wednesday’s Twenty20 preliminary final against Queensland. The winner of the match is guaranteed a place at the multi-million dollar Champions League in India in October but neither side will have their Australian one-day representatives available.The Bushrangers entered this summer having been beaten only once in a Twenty20 match and they had won the domestic tournament every year since its inception. They qualified for the Champions League last year but when it was postponed due to the terror attacks in Mumbai they were forced to earn their spot again by reaching the final of the Big Bash this month.That has become more difficult with a pair of defeats from their past three games and they must beat the Bulls at the Gabba on Wednesday to get to Saturday’s final against New South Wales in Sydney. Cricket Victoria’s chief executive Tony Dodemaide said he could not understand Cricket Australia’s cotton-wool approach given the importance of the match.”I was hoping you might be able to explain,” Dodemaide told the . “We would have thought there might have been some consideration, given the players who are involved. They were really keen to play. It would have given state cricket a real boost, I would have thought.”Victoria will be without their captain White, a renowned Twenty20 performer, and Hussey, who is second only to Brad Hodge on the competition’s all-time run-scoring list. The men were part of Australia’s side for the first two one-day internationals against South Africa but with the Twenty20 game coming during a four-day break between ODIs, Dodemaide said it was frustrating that Cricket Australia had stopped the two from playing.”It’s disappointing for Victorian supporters in what is really the most significant game of the season,” he said. “If it were Ricky Ponting or Peter Siddle, who have been through a long, hard Test series you would understand, but the players involved haven’t had that and by my reckoning there are only nine playing days for Australia in the next month.”Queensland have also been hit by the ruling with their allrounder James Hopes unavailable for selection, although their fast bowler Ryan Harris will play having been cut from the ODI squad. It is Victoria who will feel most aggrieved by the decision, considering their recent dominance of the format and the importance of White and Hussey.”Given the significance of the Champions Trophy tournament that awaits the two finalists and what we’ve achieved in this competition over the past three years, this is very disappointing,” Dodemaide said. “But we’ll move on, go up there with a view to winning the game and then the final.”Hodge will lead the side in the absence of the captain and vice-captain. He is in charge of an unchanged 12 from the side that lost to New South Wales on the weekend.”The clash with the Bulls can’t come soon enough,” Hodge said. “We’re all pumped to have another crack at getting through to the final and we’re desperate to play our best cricket and prove we’ve got what it takes to challenge for another title.”Victoria squad Brad Hodge (capt), Aiden Blizzard, Rob Quiney, Aaron Finch, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Damien Wright, Shane Harwood, Jon Holland, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes.Queensland squad Chris Simpson (capt), Wade Townsend, Ryan Broad, Lee Carseldine, Nathan Reardon, Glen Batticciotto, Craig Philipson, Chris Hartley (wk), Ryan Harris, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Cutting, Alister McDermott, Ben Laughlin.

Mohammad Kaif had just finished addressing the press when he exclaimed in jest, “, no one asked me about my plan for Sachin! I had prepared the answer so well”. After the laughter subsided he went on, “Australia, Africa, Pakistan all have made plans and this man keeps scoring hundreds, what can we do extra special?” Indeed.To state the obvious, Sachin Tendulkar’s shadow threatens to engulf the Ranji Trophy final. That a big ton from the little big man could bring Mumbai their 38th Ranji title is almost considered a given. The last time he played in a Ranji final, two years back, he hit a hundred and Mumbai won. Who will stop him? The pitch offers hope.It sports a greenish tinge and the curator promises not to shave off the grass before adding the cliché of “a sporting wicket”. Uttar Pradesh’s hopes rest on that. If it turns out to be a batting paradise, Mumbai’s strong batting line-up that includes Wasim Jaffer, the prolific Ajinkya Rahane – both of whom have crossed 1,000 runs this season – and Rohit Sharma apart from can be expected to score more runs than UP. Ashish Winston Zaidi, the former domestic bowler and now UP’s manager, is pinning his hope on the pitch.”It looks like it would help the seamers initially before getting slow,” he said. “The curators have said they won’t remove the grass. Our bowlers, like Praveen Kumar and RP Singh, will be the key.” However, in India, grass on a pitch doesn’t necessarily translate to seam movement. Dead grass is usually rolled and what little left is cut on the morning of the game. Kaif knows it only too well. “This [talk of sporting tracks] has been said for a while now but the pitches have been dead and have not helped spinners as well. What we need are sporting wickets that help the spinners as the game goes on.”Throughout this season, unlike the previous few years, UP have rode on their batting to get the first-innings lead to move ahead in the tournament. Tanmay Srivastava has got the most runs (654 at 54.50) with Kaif, Suresh Raina, and Shivakant Shukla pitching in with vital contributions. UP have just one outright win largely because the bowlers haven’t fired on unresponsive pitches. It is not as if Mumbai, unbeaten this season, will lose any sleep if the pitch plays sporting. They have one of the world’s best seam bowlers in Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and the useful Dhawal Kulkarni and would expect their batsmen to handle anything that UP throws at them. The other question is will Mumbai get complacent with the presence of heavyweights? Jaffer asserts they won’t be and revealed that Tendulkar addressed the team strongly on the same issue.”We were a bit flat and complacent on the third day of the semi-final against Saurashtra and Sachin spoke to the team, warning us about complacency. We are all keyed up for this final,” he said. “UP have a bunch of match winners and they have beaten us in the recent past. We know that they can do it again. We can’t relax just because Sachin and Zaheer are in the team.”Mumbai haven’t yet determined a final XI, though they have retained the same 12 from the semi-final. It could be a three-way contest for two spots between Amol Muzumdar, 31 runs short of becoming the highest Ranji run-scorer but struggling this season, Sairaj Bahutule, who hasn’t been very successful with his legspin, and Abhishek Nayar, the promising allrounder. UP have more or less decided on their composition. A fit RP Singh is set to replace Imityaz Ahmed.Both teams had a vigorous nets session today. All eyes were on Tendulkar, who as ever, didn’t face any bowlers on the day before the match. Instead, he faced some throw downs and concentrated on his back-foot play. Time and again, he asked the bowlers to throw shorter for the “cut shot” and practiced quite plenty punchy on-the-up drives. One can only guess whether it gives any indication of what he thinks the pitch will do.The battle promises to be interesting. UP, the Pakistan of domestic cricket, thrive on passion and instinct while there is more method in Mumbai’s approach. “We don’t have the infrastructure or the history that Mumbai have,” said Kaif. “We have the passion and the confidence that we can do it. I feel very proud that despite the lack of resources, we have reached the final three times in the last four years. We will give it our all. Let’s see what happens.”Let’s indeed see.

The IPL transfer window, which was scheduled to begin on December 15, has been postponed by a week after the Mumbai terrorist attacks disrupted preparations for the event. Senior IPL officials will meet franchise representatives in Mumbai on December 15 and 16 to formalise the rules for the transfers which will now take place from December 22 to January 22.The terror strikes in Mumbai on November 26 forced organisers to postpone the Champions Twenty20 League that was to kick off on December 3, with Mumbai as one of the three venues.Many key Indian IPL officials were involved in organising the Champions League and the tournament’s postponement affected the IPL’s transfer window as well. “The attacks delayed a week of preparation for both the franchisees and us,” an IPL official told Cricinfo.With the Champions League pushed back by a year, it is the second season of the IPL that will decide which Indian teams participate in international Twenty20 tournament. The second season of the IPL will be held between April 10 and May 29, 2009.