Matt Prior’s up-and-down summer behind the stumps for England looks set to end in disappointment next week. He is expected to miss out on one of the 14 coveted central contracts being unveiled by the England & Wales Cricket Board.Prior made a sparkling century against West Indies on Test debut at Lord’s in May, after being hand-picked by England’s new coach, Peter Moores, who was his mentor from the age of 13 at Sussex. But Prior has struggled since then, dropping crucial catches during the 1-0 series defeat against India and failing to replicate his form with the bat.His omission from the list would leave England no closer to finding a long-term successor to Alec Stewart, whose retirement in 2003 left a void that men such as Chris Read, Geraint Jones and now Prior have all struggled to fill.”We won’t reveal the list till Monday,” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney. “The selectors met as a group to come up with cricketing recommendations for cricket contracts. That list has gone directly to the board, who are discussing as we speak. We have done the list.”We can go up to 16 names,” added Graveney. “The criteria for awarding a central contract is to identify people who are heavily involved in international cricket over the next 12 months. Now, unlike in 2005 when we had a settled side, we have a number of players challenging for places. That has made central contract discussions lengthier than in the past. We have never, ever awarded a central contract to a one-day player only.”Three key figures in the 2005 Ashes victory – Marcus Trescothick, Simon Jones and the retired Ashley Giles – will not be having their contracts renewed, while three others – Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison – are expected to receive scaled-down deals, because they do not have any role to play in one-day cricket.That leaves plenty room for a new clutch of players to take centre stage, and chief among these will be Ryan Sidebottom, who has enjoyed an annus mirablis after his unexpected return at the beginning of the summer, and James Anderson, who lost his contract last year but is now seen as the leader of England’s new-look attack.Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara, England’s young heroes from the ODI victory at Old Trafford last week, are also in line for a deal, although Bopara’s withdrawal through injury from the ICC World Twenty20 may change the picture slightly. As for Andrew Flintoff, his ongoing ankle concerns highlight the importance of central contracts, to enable England to manage the fitness of their star performers.

Former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore is all set to be hired as the director of India’s National Cricket Academy, according to an official statement released on Friday.Whatmore, 53, is holding discussions with NCA chairman Ravi Shastri, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a press release. “Ravi Shastri, after taking over as chairman of the National Cricket Academy, is in discussion with Dav Whatmore for appointment as director, operations, at the NCA,” Shah said.However, sources close to Whatmore confirmed that the appointment had been finalised. Shah later confirmed that Whatmore’s appointment was all but certain. “It’s almost confirmed,” he told Cricinfo. “We need to get a bit of details and paperwork completed. We need to go through a few procedures before officially ratifying the appointment.”Whatmore, who played seven Tests for Australia, had been widely tipped to succeed Greg Chappell, who quit as India coach after the World Cup debacle in April. Recent reports have suggested that Whatmore is the front-runner for the West Indian coaching job, one which has been vacant since fellow Australian Bennett King resigned in April. King’s assistant David Moore coached West Indies on the summer tour of England and to the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.India are still without a coach and have been managing with stop-gap arrangements since Chappell’s exit. Chappell, however, has returned to India to take over as adviser to a local cricket academy in the western state of Rajasthan. Whatmore guided Sri Lanka to World Cup triumph in 1996 and helped Bangladesh reach the second round in the Caribbean this year. It included a shock first-round win over India.

Darren Bravo, the West Indies Under-19 batsman, has expressed his disappointment over the Under-19s’ poor performance in the recently-concluded regional KFC Cup but insisted that the experience will help the team in the build-up to the 2008 ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia.The World Cup, scheduled for February next year, is now the top priority for Bravo who believes that the Under-19s can improve and give a good account of themselves.”We showed a lot of energy in the field,” Bravo said, “And the 20-man squad gelled nicely together. “After the first game, which was a bit demoralising, I think we improved a lot in our batting but more so in the bowling department.”We improved and we need to keep improving and getting better and our experience in the KFC Cup has definitely helped us to do that,” Bravo said.Looking back at the first game against Barbados, where nine U-19 players made their List A debut, Bravo said playing against Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards had been difficult.”Collins was getting a lot of movement and Edwards was bowling very fast. It was difficult to get them away but the experience was good for us and it came in handy in the other games.”There is still a lot of work to be done Bravo pointed out, saying that he was not satisfied with his own performance throughout the tournament.”I stayed at the crease for a long time but I think there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Karachi Whites gained a full nine points as they defeated Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by seven wickets on the third day of their third-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium.Karachi Whites finished on 297, a first-innings lead of 76, and dismissed debutants SSGC for 155. Needing just 80 to win and take their points tally to 12 from three matches, the Whites lost three wickets on the way to victory.Earlier, Karachi took their overnight score of 280 from 8 to 297, with left-arm pace bowler Waqar Ahmed (2 for 40) picking up the last two wickets. The in-form Afsar Nawaz remained unbeaten with 65 off 108 balls in just over two hours with ten fours and a six.The SSGC batting was undone by the Whites pace-bowling trio. After Mohammad Sami, the captain, removed opener Mohtashim Ali, Tanvir Ahmed (5 for 80) and Fahad Khan (4 for 37), ran through the rest of the batting. Tanvir finished with 8 for 137 in the match, following his first-innings 3 for 57. Fahad, who will turn 24 later this month, also completed 50 wickets in 19 first-class matches.Karachi Whites will now meet Sialkot in a fourth-round match, starting at the same venue from November 7. The same day, SSGC will play Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) completed an innings-and-75-run win over Sialkot with a full day to spare at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke. Sialkot, Quaid-e-Azam champions in 2005-06 and runners-up last season, were forced to follow on the day before and capitulated to a poor 129.Only opener Naeemuddin (31) and legspinner Adeel Malik (39) got decent starts while left-arm spinner Aslam Qureshi picked up 5 for 31 in 18 overs. He finished with a match haul of 8 for 63. Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, took 4 for 82 and 2 for 39 to help HBL considerably in a rather comfortable win.From their three matches so far, Habib Bank have collected 27 points with three straight wins. They have a rest coming up during the fourth-round action. Sialkot proceed to Karachi, where they will play against the Whites at the National Stadium from November 7.At the Multan Cricket Stadium, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) took a 242-run lead over Multan. Bilal Khilji’s 147 from 219 balls helped WAPDA to 480. Multan were in trouble at the close of play, having lost six wickets with only 71 on the board. They still need another 171 to make WAPDA bat again.Bottom-of-the-table Pakistan Customs recovered slightly after surrendering a first-innings lead of 238, reaching 178 for 1 at the Iqbal Stadium. Hosts Faisalabad earlier compiled 420 in response to Customs’ poor 182.National Bank, spurred by a magnificent 176 from Naved Latif, totalled 418 in reply to Lahore Ravi’s 283 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Faced with a 135-run deficit, Lahore slumped to 108 for 5.

Group B

Karachi Blues inflicted an innings-and-188-run defeat on Peshawar with a full day to spare at the National Bank of Pakistan Stadium. A visibly weak Peshawar batting line-up crashed twice against the Karachi Blues bowlers, managing poor scores of 118 and 98 in two innings, after the hosts ran up a first-innings 404 for 9 before applying closure.Nawaz Ahmed, 20, played the lone fighting hand with an unbeaten 60 in the first innings, battling a little over two and a half hours. The top-score in Peshawar’s second innings, after having been forced to follow on, was opener Usman Zaib’s 36 off 46 deliveries with six fours. Tariq Haroon, the medium-fast bowler, and slow left-arm spinner Azam Hussain were virtually unplayable, as they picked up four wickets each at a personal cost of 32 and 24 runs, respectively. In Peshawar’s first innings, left-arm medium-fast bowler Malik Aftab took 5 for 58 and in the second, he snared the important wicket of Nawaz. Azam Hussain had match figures of 7 for 54.Karachi Whites, who have moved up the Group B table with 12 points, now have a well-deserved rest coming up. Peshawar will have to contend with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), in a fourth-round match starting at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar from November .Lahore Shalimar also wrapped up a three-day win over Quetta by five wickets at the Bugti Stadium. As many as 17 wickets fell on the opening day, but Lahore recovered and gained a 131-run first-innings lead. Quetta scored 247 in their second innings but the visitors required only 117 to win.Lahore Shalimar have now opened their account and have nine points from three matches as they move to a fourth-round match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). Quetta will host Abbottabad in their next match at the same venue, also on November 7.At the Diamond Cricket Club Ground, hosts Islamabad, with a score of 306, took a 60-run first-innings lead over Rawalpindi. In their second innings, Rawalpindi were 8 or 190, only 130 ahead with two wickets standing.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ran up 407 at the Sheikhupura Stadium, which gave them a 132-run first-innings lead over Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), who then slipped to 24 for 2 by stumps. ZTBL captain Abdul Razzaq, returning after having announced his retirement earlier this year, bowled 25 overs – of which 11 were maidens – and took 1 for 5.At the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium in Rawalpindi, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) were 9 for 175 in their second inings, atter taking a 64-run first-innings lead over KRL. Their overall lead was 239 but with only one wicket in hand, the match could be slipping out of their hands.

Listen to Robin Uthappa at a press conference on the eve of a match and you could be forgiven for thinking that he, and sometimes the team, is bullet proof. Everything about him is gung-ho, the morale is perennially high and the future’s always bright.Much like his approach to batting, he attacks as a mode of defence. When somebody questioned Zaheer Khan’s effectiveness as the leader of the bowling attack, Uthappa shot back saying Zaheer had bowled magnificently in Kanpur, conceding just 25 off seven overs and that it was unfair to ask such questions.He wanted to “fight fire with fire” against Australia and although India went down 4-2, Uthappa said the intensity with which the games were contested was good preparation for the series against Pakistan.”Against Australia the pressure brought the best out of us and made us ready for this series,” Uthappa said on the eve of the fourth one-dayer in Gwalior. “There is pressure in this series as well, as it still can go either way. But we are confident of doing well, as we are on top of our game.”The Indian batting line-up is indeed on top of their game. They chased down 240 with ease in Guwahati, scored 321 in Mohali, and 294 in Kanpur. The top and middle order coming good in each game has meant that Uthappa, batting at No. 6 or No. 7, hasn’t had much of an opportunity against Pakistan. He came in with India at the doorstep of victory in the first ODI, got a poor lbw decision early on in the second, and scored a brisk 19 off 17 balls after coming in during the 44th over in the third.Has the lack of opportunity flustered him considering that he broke into the one-day team as an opener who scored 83 against England in Indore – the highest score by an Indian on debut?”As long as I am contributing to the team’s cause, it does not matter to me whether I am batting,” Uthappa said. “I can bat anywhere.” When pressed for a preferred batting position, he refused to budge, saying that he would bat “wherever the team wants”.Ironically, it is his success at the position the team wanted – No. 6 or No. 7 – that has cemented Uthappa’s spot in the one-day side. After his sparkling debut, Uthappa was unable to secure a place for himself at the top of the order after a disastrous World Cup, in which he scored 30 runs, meant that Uthappa struggled to get a game during the tour of England in 2007. It didn’t help either that most of the Indian top-order slots were non-negotiables.A cool 47, batting at No 7, to win a tense game against England at The Oval sowed the seeds of Uthappa’s finishing career after which he has batted primarily in the lower-middle order. It’s a difficult position to bat in for you are expected to consolidate if the top-order fails, accelerate if you enter during the final overs, and farm strike when batting with the tail. Though Uthappa hasn’t been needed to play significant innings in the series so far, he’s prepared to “play it tough on the field” should the situation arise as India attempt to clinch the series.

John Dyson, the new West Indies coach, has said he needs to sit down with the players and discuss what is going wrong with the side. Dyson will join the team for their tour of South Africa this month. He missed the Zimbabwe leg of the tour to finalise domestic matters in Australia.”Over the last 10 years, by anyone’s standards, the West Indies have been playing some pretty average cricket”, Dyson told the . “When I was coach of Sri Lanka I followed their performances closely, and I felt it was a squad underachieving.”West Indies have just won the five-ODI series against Zimbabwe 3-1, with a match to go.But before that series the side has won and lost nine one-dayers each this year and it hasn’t won a single Test out of the four it played against England.”Certainly they should be higher up the ICC [rankings] table than they are now,” Dyson said. “At the moment, you would have to say that there is only one player in that squad who is playing up to their potential, and that is Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With the other guys, you look at them and think, ‘He’s a better player than what he’s showing on the park.”In the three Tests he played against England, Chanderpaul averaged 148.66 with two centuries and three half-centuries. He averaged 76 in ODIs this year with four centuries and four half-centuries.Dyson said he had spoken to stand-in coach David Moore who felt the team had more potential than it had shown. “Now it’s about finding a way of bringing that potential out. I’m not a big believer in putting the broom through a place upon arrival.”And I don’t expect people to compare this West Indies squad with those of the ’70s and ’80s. What they did for international cricket was to introduce a form of professionalism and dedication never seen before. These guys have to develop their own personality and see what brand of cricket they can play.”West Indies play three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches against South Africa between December 16 and February 3.

Stuart MacGill says he is recovering well from surgery for carpal-tunnel syndrome and hopes to be back in action soon, but a sports doctor has warned MacGill might never fully regain the feeling in his bowling hand. MacGill had the operation early this month and could be back in state training in two weeks, according to the Cricket New South Wales chief executive Dave Gilbert.Gilbert said MacGill would be looking at a comeback in the Blues’ Pura Cup match against Western Australia in Sydney starting on January 25, although he would not have long before the game to practice with the squad. “It’s a tricky period at the moment,” Gilbert told the . “The team leaves on new year’s eve for a three-state tour in five days for the Twenty20 games so they’re not back in Sydney as a whole squad until the second week of January.”MacGill has installed a home gymnasium to help him get back to full fitness as he aims to be considered for Australia’s tour of Pakistan in March, should the trip go ahead. Despite also suffering knee problems MacGill said he had no plans to give up on adding to his 203 wickets from 42 Tests.”There’s no way I’m retiring,” MacGill said in the . “I’ll be getting back into cricket as soon as possible. I’ve had surgery and everything is going great. The recovery period generally is six weeks although this [carpal-tunnel syndrome] is unusual for a cricketer so I’m not sure about the recovery period, but I’m concerned with getting myself right.”MacGill’s confidence came as the sports medico Nathan Gibbs said there was no guarantee MacGill would make a successful comeback. Gibbs, who has worked with the New South Wales and Australia rugby league sides as well as the AFL team the Sydney Swans, said the operation would ease MacGill’s pain but that did not mean the numbness would necessarily disappear.”The surgery almost always helps but whether he gets back the feeling to bowl the way he used to bowl, only time will tell,” Gibbs said. “The best case is Stuart will be fine in six weeks. The worst is that he may never get that sensory aspect back and where he is in his career at the moment, he could run out of time to get back to the level of skill he had before.”In MacGill’s absence Brad Hogg was called into the Test team for the Boxing Day match against India. Hogg fought back after an initial assault from Sachin Tendulkar and finished with match figures of 4 for 133, removing the dangerous Sourav Ganguly in both innings.

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