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ScorecardFile photo – Tanwir Afzal clobbered two fours and three sixes in his 42•Graham Crouch/IDI/Getty

Hong Kong cruised to a comfortable four-wicket win after chasing down 163 in the last over against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. Tanwir Afzal blitzed a 22-ball 42, an innings that featured two fours and three sixes, to swing the momentum in Hong Kong’s favour after they were stuttering at 89 for 4 in the 12th over.Hong Kong’s chase began slowly and the team soon also lost Kinchit Shah in the third over for 2. Though they managed to stitch substantial partnerships thereafter through brisk contributions from Babar Hayat (35 off 18), Mark Chapman (22) and Nizakat Khan (26), frequent wickets meant Afghanistan were still in with a shot.Afzal and Nizakat added 55 for the fifth wicket in just 30 balls as the match drifted away from Afghanistan, and an equation of 24 off the last four overs was easily achieved in the end with two balls to spare. Karim Sadiq, Aftab Alam and Rokhan Barakzai picked up two wickets apiece.Earlier, Afghanistan lost both their openers within the first four overs after choosing to bat. Asghar Stanikzai (51) then struck a counterattacking half-century and combined with Sadiq (22) and Samiullah Shenwari (34) in stands of 34 and 63 respectively to set up a strong platform for a late surge. Shafiqullah provided the required impetus late in the innings with a 16-ball 30 to lift Afghanistan to a score of 162 for 6.

Shimron Hetmyer has been named captain of West Indies for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh in January-February 2016.Hetmyer, who was also featured in the 2014 edition of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, is one of two players along with Alzarri Joseph, the pacer, to have first-class experience.Hetmyer made his first-class debut for Guyana in April 2014, and has played five matches since. Joseph, meanwhile, made his debut for Leeward Islands and has picked up 17 wickets in five matches, with a best of 7 for 46.”We have put together a group of players we believe will perform for the West Indies,” said Clive Lloyd, the WICB chairman of selectors. “We see them as future Test cricketers for the West Indies and this tour is an opportunity for them to be exposed at the international level against strong opposition.”West Indies are placed in Group C alongside England, Fiji and Zimbabwe. They open their campaign on January 29 against Fiji in Chittagong.Prior to the tournament, West Indies will play Bangladesh Under-19 in a three-match series as part of their preparation for the World Cup.Squad: Shimron Hetmyer (capt), Keemo Paul, Kacey Carty, Shahid Crooks, Michael Frew, Jyd Goolie, Tevin Imlach, Ryan John, Alzarri Joseph, Kirstan Kallicharan, Obed McCoy, Gidron Pope, Odean Smith, Shamar Springer, Emmanuel Stewart

Surrey have announced their highest ever profits in the club’s 163-year history. Last year, their annual turnover was £23,407,000 and they recorded pre-tax profits in excess of £721,000, an increase of 108.4% from 2006.”We’re very pleased that 2007 has been a record year for us off-the-field,” Paul Sheldon, the Surrey chief executive, said. “All areas of the club are performing well and we’re really building on our potential. Our prospects for growth over the next few years are equally strong.”Aside from other international matches, we will host an Ashes Test match next summer and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup will be an important income generator for us. Further to this, the planned redevelopment of the Pavilion End will provide considerable benefits without any investment from the club directly thanks to our partnership with Arora Hotels.2007 generated receipts of over £5,815,000 courtesy of the four international matches staged at The Oval, a 66.8% increase from 2006.

ScorecardDurham scraped home by six runs against Lancashire in an exciting match in the FP Trophy at the Riverside Ground. With the balance swinging first one way and then the other, the result was in doubt until the end, and it was the home crowd who went home celebrating.Despite a reasonably sunny morning after days of cloud at Chester-le-Street, Lancashire put Durham in bat, presumably because of a lot of moisture in the pitch. Quick scoring was difficult for everybody.Not that this appeared to be the case when Sajid Mahmood bowled a short, widefirst ball of the match to Michael Di Venuto, who slashed it through the coversfor four. Di Venuto was not permitted to continue the good form he showed againstYorkshire, however, as with just 9 to his credit, his partner Phil Mustard soldhim a dummy by calling for a single straight to square leg. He was run out forthe third time in four dismissals, and the fourth time this season.After 15 overs, Durham had struggled to 35 for 3, the bowler mainly responsiblebeing the impressive Kyle Hogg, who bowled his ten overs off the reel for 19runs, collecting the wickets of Mustard and Kyle Coetzer. Recovery came through thetwo South Africans, who added 101 together. Neil McKenzie fought his way tosome sort of form with 32, while Dale Benkenstein was more fluent with 64 off108 balls. He eventually skied a pull off Lancashire’s debutant StephenCheetham, whom he had earlier pulled for six. Cheetham took two wickets, butgenerally bowled too short.As Durham’s later batsmen struggled, a total of 200 seemed unlikely, but GaryPark came to their rescue. After playing himself in, he ran to 42 not out off37 balls, hitting two successive sixes in the final over, bowled by Mahmood. Mahmood is not proving successful as a death bowler at present,following his final over that conceded 17 to Yorkshire a week ago.Graham Onions, Durham’s pace bowling hero in their mid-week championship matchagainst Yorkshire, began with a ragged over, but tightened up to ensureLancashire struggled for runs. The real strangler was Callum Thorp, whoseopening spell of eight overs cost only eight runs, and Lancashire began to losewickets as they fought in vain to keep up – after 30 overs, they were only 81 for3. A vital blow to them was the loss of Stuart Law for 8, run out by a finepiece of fielding from Park. On the other hand, their opener Mal Loye wascrucially dropped at slip off Steve Harmison when he had 32.Slowly Loye and Steven Croft fought back, but they were struggling against arequired run rate of more than six an over. They needed 54 from the last eightovers, but there were six wickets in hand and a close finish beckoned. SteveHarmison was Durham’s man for the moment. Loye, looking a little desperate,finally skied a catch for 77, trying to hit him out of the ground, and Croftsoon followed, caught at the wicket for 48. At 170 for 6 in the 45th over,Lancashire were up against it.They needed 26 from the last three, but an over from Gareth Breese cost 11, despiteseeing Luke Sutton dismissed. Hogg, the most likely batsman to do the job,edged Thorp to the keeper for 15, and 11 were needed from the final over,bowled by Onions. Two runs scored off three balls, then Marshall was caught atthird man; the last wicket needed nine runs off the final two balls. AlthoughOnions was not at his best, Mahmood was unable to pull off the near-miracle,and Durham were home. Harmison had the best figures of 3 for 44, but Thorp’sten overs for just 14 runs and a wicket was also crucial.

Malinga T20 captain, Mathews vice-captain, Chandimal third in line

Lasith Malinga, if fit, will captain Sri Lanka at the World T20, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala: “Angelo Mathews will be the vice-captain and Dinesh Chandimal his deputy. “These three players have been given the responsibility to work together and build the national team. They have a colossal amount of experience and ability to build the team.”
Malinga, who will miss the upcoming T20s in India as he recuperates from a knee injury, will lead in the Asia Cup as well if he regains fitness in time. Chandimal will captain in India in his absence.

Sri Lanka’s new coach, Graham Ford, who is set to begin his second stint with the team, has cautioned against expecting quick fixes. The team, he said, is in transition, so he expects the job to be challenging.”Sri Lanka is in the early part of a rebuilding phase, so don’t expect any quick fixes,” Ford said on arrival in Sri Lanka. “I am very aware what a huge challenge it is. A lot of hard work needs to be done. It’s very important that this team building is done on a very solid foundation, so patience is required.”I know there is an abundance of talent within the system, but it is about identifying those who have got the mental toughness to go on and become consistent players and match-winners at international level.”Jerome Jayaratne, Sri Lanka Cricket’s head of coaching, who took charge of the team on a temporary basis when Marvan Atapattu resigned as coach in Sri Lanka, is expected to be appointed full-time assistant coach. Ford said it was important to draw on his experience, and for the entire Sri Lankan cricket set-up to work together.”It’s quite a long process which is required. A lot of hard work, not just for me but all involved, particularly Jerome who has been involved in Sri Lanka cricket for a long time, knows the players so well and has a wealth of knowledge technically and tactically.”It’s important to have his input, and also to have the selectors and the board all working together to ensure the long-term process can take place so that we can take Sri Lanka back to the top of the international stage.”Jayaratne also expected to play the role of team manager, a position previously held by Jeryl Woutersz.Ford’s first assignment is the three-match T20 international series in India, which he said would be a tough beginning but one he could use to find out how good the team is at present.SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said Ford was one of 12 coaches his board interviewed for the post, and he was confident they had made the right choice. “We have secured the services of one of the best coaches in the world,” Sumathipala said. “We have appointed him for 45 months [from February 1] so that he covers the 2019 World Cup in England, where he has first-hand knowledge of the conditions having coached the counties.”Sumathipala also thanked Kumar Sangakkara for playing a pivotal role in securing the services of Ford from English county Surrey, which Sangakkara represents.

“I love the spotlight. The Aussies should be worried I am coming.” Meet the quote-a-minute, bold and brash Sreesanth. He even refers to himself in the third person. “Sreesanth’s way is to be aggressive. Sreesanth will always remain Sreesanth.”Sreesanth was in Delhi, where it’s bitterly cold, as the chief guest for the Gatorade Pacers’ talent hunt but didn’t allow the weather to dampen his spirits. The press descended on the arena and he indulged them, extensively and individually. Even as the event wrapped up in the evening and the attendees hurried towards the warmth of their cars, Sreesanth was addressing his audience, revelling in the spotlight.A shoulder injury had ruled him out of the home Tests against Pakistan and the ongoing series in Australia but he has been training and is ready to make a comeback during the triangular series in Australia in February.”More than their [Australia’s] batsmen, I have been working on my own bowling,” Sreesanth said. “I felt my left arm was not kicking into the bowling action properly. So I went back to the technique I picked up at the MRF Pace Foundation years before. I held a ball in my left hand too and, now, I had to drag it back down so that I could hurl the one in my right hand properly. As a result, the left palm doesn’t open out and the hand doesn’t fall away. I have just worked on my load-up too and I’m very pleased with the way everything is going.”He cannot wait to get to Australia. He recounted with glee the sledging in the recent Australia-India encounters that he played in and took pride in how “we [India] never backed down. Why should we? We have players who can give it back with interest.”It’s not all hot air, though, and his talent for the verbal battle surfaced when he told of an incident involving Brian Lara. “He [Lara] defended a ball with an exaggerated back-and-across movement and I just stood there and murmured my disapproval,” Sreesanth said. “Next ball he was beaten and I said, ‘is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously?

“I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball – mind you, it was a length ball – Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend.”Sreesanth’s cricketing life seems to be a series of Youtube moments. He explained his famous dance after hitting Andre Nel for a six in Johannesburg.”He [Nel], along with [Mark] Boucher and [Herschelle] Gibbs were constantly at me. Nel tapped his chest and said, ‘you need a big heart to play’ and he sniffed in the air and said, ‘I smell blood.’ I sniffed back, ‘where where?’ and prayed to God to give me the strength to hit that six. You should have seen his face. I asked him, ‘how was that slap and where is your tongue now?’ He just went quietly back to his run-up.”The manner in which Sreesanth re-tells these incidents makes you feel that he enjoys the adrenalin rush in the middle. In his mind, he is the biggest star in the world and the cricket field is a great stage for him to enact his own script. “What’s the worst that can happen? Six sixes? I can always come back next over. All I need is just one ball to get him [the batsman] out.”Unlike other bowlers who remember their wickets, Sreesanth remembers how many catches were dropped off him. “They will tell me I took x number of wickets but I will add these dropped catches to them. It helps me lift myself when my mood is down.” Sreesanth’s brother actually records the number of dropped catches and keeps him informed and motivated.In February, Sreesanth will once again encounter the likes of Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds with whom he has had run-ins in the past. Unless he has mellowed down during his forced rest, expect more fiery exchanges on the field.

Piyush Chawla’s nine-for gave Gujarat a bonus-point win as they beat Jammu and Kashmir by an innings and 64 runs in Surat. Sixteen wickets fell on the day where the hosts bundled J&K out for 130 in their second innings, with contributions from Hardik Patel (5-49) and Chawla (4-38), after getting bowled out for 455 earlier in the day.In the morning, Manprit Juneja converted his overnight score of 66 to bring up his seventh first-class century. He led the charge with his 150-run fifth-wicket stand with Chirag Gandhi (86) and lifted Gujarat to a 400-plus score post lunch.In reply to Gujarat’s first-innings lead of 194 runs, J&K had a shaky start as they lost their openers Ahmed Bandy (5) and Shubham Khajuria (17) within the first eight overs. With minimal resistance from the lower middle-order trio of captain Parvez Rasool (24), Bandeep Singh (24) and Ram Dayal (29), J&K failed to recover as Harshal and Chawla ran through the line-up to bundle them out in 34.4 overs. The win was Gujarat’s second in a row.Jalaj Saxena’s all-round show gave Kerala a 309-run lead over Rajasthan in Thiruvananthapuram. His eight-for trounced the visitors as they were bowled out for 243 in their first innings, and later in the day, brought up his 12th first-class century, along with an unbeaten third-wicket partnership with Sanju Samson (72*). Saxena became only the third man in Ranji history to take eight wickets in an innings and score a ton in the same match.Kerala lost Vishnu Vinod (8) and Rohan Prem (24) early in their second innings, but the century-stand between Saxena and Samson took them from 58 for 2 to 217 at stumps.Haryana face the prospect of an innings defeat against Jharkhand in Ranchi, after they finished the day trailing by 76 with only six wickets in hand. Jharkhand had declared on 425 for 9 earlier in the day after Ishank Jaggi’s 135 and a lower-order charge from Shahbaz Nadeem (70).In their second innings, Haryana suffered a top-order collapse as they lost their first three batsmen within nine overs, with Nadeem picking the wickets of Shubham Rohilla (0) and Chaitanya Bishnoi (11). Rajat Paliwal (44*) and Rahul Dagar (64) led the middle-order resistance as they took Haryana from 31 for 3 to 141 for 4. Dagar gave away his wicket shortly before stumps.

Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium will not be hosting any of the matches of the Indian Premier League after the league and Reliance Industries, owners of the city franchise, found unacceptable the conditions imposed by the Cricket Club of India (CCI), to whom the stadium belongs.The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had enquired whether the CCI could stage matches at the Brabourne; the CCI’s executive committee decided to offer the ground but not the clubhouse and the club members’ children’s enclosure.These conditions were unacceptable to both the IPL and Reliance Industries Limited, the owners of the Mumbai franchise, since the agreement between the franchise and the IPL states that 80% of all categories of seating must be available to the franchise, and the remaining 20% to the concerned local association, in this case MCA, the BCCI, and the IPL.”If the [club] members are not able to watch the match, we won’t have it. It’s an inherent right of the CCI member to watch the match and not pay for it and this is mentioned in the by-laws of the club,” Raj Singh Dungarpur, the CCI president and former BCCI president, said. Hosting future international matches, he said, would not, however, be an issue.”There is no confrontation between us, our issue is that just the staging authority wouldn’t be able to watch the match and that’s not right. There is no misunderstanding and we will continue to host matches for the board [BCCI].”The move puts the MCA in a quandary, since the local associations are responsible for finalising the stadiums for the eight city-based franchises of the IPL. Mumbai is slated to host a total of ten matches, including the seven home games of the Mumbai Indians, and more importantly the semi-finals and final of the inaugural edition. The Brabourne Stadium had been tipped to host the semi-finals and final.However, with it being ruled out, the options left are the DY Patil Stadium and the Wankhede Stadium; renovation work scheduled for the latter may now have to be postponed till the end of the IPL.

Scorecard

Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane led West Zone’s strong reply to England Lions’ 355 on the second day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. West, needing an outright win to advance, ended the day on 187 for 1 with Jaffer and Rahane still unbeaten.Earlier, the Lions’ overnight batsmen, captain Michael Yardy (169) and nightwatchman Graham Onions (31) guided their side to a solid 322 for 4 before a dramatic collapse allowed West back into the game. The Saurashtra pair of Sandeep Jobanputra and Rakesh Dhurv shared five of the last six wickets to spark West’s fightback.Jobanputra accounted for the overnight pair; bowling Yardy and then removing Onions in his next over before wicketkeeper James Foster fell to Dhurv for a duck. Liam Plunkett swung his bat around for a 22-ball 19, scoring all the runs in a partnership with Adil Rashid, who ground out 9 off 55 deliveries.After the Lions innings folded, West’s reply got off to a poor start with Sahil Kukreja offering Foster a catch in the first over. There were no more successes for the Lions as the Mumbai pair of Jaffer and Rahane forged a 187-run partnership to keep West’s hopes of progressing still alive.Jaffer, who has been a regular Test opener for the Indian side over the past two years, ended the day on a patient 87, including thirteen boundaries while Rahane was a touch more aggressive, stroking 18 fours in his 93.With a strong batting line-up – including Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy this season, and Yusuf Pathan, who slammed a whirlwind century in his previous game – to follow, West will fancy their chances of racking up a big first-innings score to pile the pressure on the Lions.

Less than 24 hours after Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office minister, told the House of Lords that the government would not bar Zimbabwe from playing in England in 2009, there were contradictory comments coming from inside Westminster.Malloch-Brown told the Lords that the final decision was with the ECB and “it is not for us to intervene directly in this matter”. That provoked an angry response from Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and chair of the parliamentary all-party committee on Zimbabwe, who told Cricinfo: “It does not seem to reflect the views of Downing Street earlier this year. It would be a travesty if we gave visas to any Zimbabwean cricket team to tour and I want to see the prime minister clarify the situation.”Within hours a source close to the prime minister reaffirmed the government’s stance on Zimbabwe. “We will not leave the ECB in the lurch and expect them to take the responsibility,” he was quoted as saying by The Times. “We will talk to them over the next few weeks over how this is done, but we are against it and the world will know we are against it.”Government sources looked to distance themselves from Malloch-Brown’s comments, insisting he was merely giving the letter-of-the-book foreign office position as opposed to the view held by Gordon Brown.If the government refused to allow the Zimbabwe side to tour in 2009 then the ECB will avoid being fined by the ICC as it will be something out of their control. However, it is increasingly likely that Zimbabwe will be allowed to take part in the ICC World Twenty20 later in the summer as barring Zimbabwe then would almost inevitably lead to the tournament being moved elsewhere.While there is no hurry for any decision regarding the 2009 series, the ECB will want a clear indication soon to allow it to make alternative arrangements.The ICC is also likely to ask for clarification whether Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, will be allowed to attend its annual meeting in London in June. He was refused a UK visa in October because of what government sources said was his close links to the Mugabe regime, and were he not to be allowed into London to attend the June get-together, it may mean that would also need to be moved to a country where he was welcome.