Andrew Strauss says he is still coming to terms with being omitted from England’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and has yet to decide on his next option. After a poor 12 months he was overlooked in favour of Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara, the first time he has been dropped from the Test side since his debut in 2004.”To say that it hurts is a massive understatement. In truth it is the culmination of a long, tiring and immensely frustrating 12 months in which little has gone my way,” Strauss wrote in . “I have been a victim of some poor umpiring decisions, some unfortunate dismissals and a few incredibly good balls delivered at just the wrong moment. But I still have to take responsibility for my less than satisfactory contributions.”When the squad was announced David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said Strauss, who has a central contract, will still come into consideration for the New Zealand tour next February. Strauss is set to have a meeting with Graveney next week to discuss his options, which include being part of the development squad in India or following the same path as Steve Harmison and playing for an overseas team.”I am determined to take a little time to let the news and disappointment settle in before deciding how best to plan the fight to get my spot back,” he said. “Some further time away from the game, regaining hunger and desire, may be beneficial. But over the longer term the only way I can rediscover the habit of scoring runs is by playing, so I will have to look into the opportunities available.”

Australia 3 for 255 (Ponting 107*, Gilchrist 51, Clarke 48) beat New Zealand 7 for 254 (McCullum 96, Taylor 50) by seven wickets
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Ricky Ponting settled the first of several scores against New Zealand, his 24th one-day century leading Australia to a seven-wicket victory in the Chappell-Hadlee Series opener in Adelaide. He dodged the rain to drive them home with 45 deliveries remaining after a 25-ball fifty from Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke’s 48.Ponting’s run-a-ball hundred left New Zealand with no answers. He was as composed as ever, putting his bat where his mouth was, after promising to do his utmost to regain the title. He couldn’t have done much more, and received decent support from Clarke before he and Andrew Symonds finished the job.Australia may have taken the early honours, but New Zealand will be largely satisfied by the way they handled the pace as McCullum made good their pledge not to crumble against the fast men. McCullum earned his highest one-day score of 96, although their 7 for 254 was somewhat below par on a flat track.Daniel Vettori’s bold decision to face their speed demons first up appeared to be paying off when they were well-set at 1 for 115, yet two quick wickets for Shaun Tait, in his first international match at his home ground, and then McCullum’s dismissal to Brad Hogg, applied the brakes. Ross Taylor injected some late momentum with 50, as did Jacob Oram with an unbeaten 32, but Australia’s bowlers regrouped well and were backed up by decent fielding.Gilchrist and Hayden then raced to fifty inside five overs, almost as if Hayden was getting a taste for the Twenty20 he missed out on earlier this week. But when Hayden popped a soft catch back to Mills for 17 and Gilchrist perished soon after, not waiting to see if Taylor had taken the skier to deep cover off Chris Martin, Australia were temporarily stopped in their tracks.Ponting and Clarke then rebuilt, patiently at first – Ponting was even content to pat out a maiden to Martin – but they were beginning to move through the gears, including a fifty for Ponting, when the rain came. The 45-minute break, with no overs lost, merely upped the ante further, Ponting dashing to another ruthlessly efficient hundred from as many balls while Clarke blended seamlessly with him until falling to Kyle Mills. Symonds was then dropped by Oram early off Mark Gillespie but it hardly mattered as Australia were well up with the run-rate.New Zealand’s star was McCullum, who collected at nearly a run a ball and struck 12 fours and a six, and he was a ready example of how to attack fast bowling. He combined well with Jamie How in a stand of 99 and Taylor in a partnership of 52.The visitors admitted before the match that pace had been a weakness, but McCullum in particular stood up to everything that Australia – in the mighty form of Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and Tait – could throw (er, bowl) at him. Though McCullum was cut in half more times than a busy magician’s assistant early on, it was soon his turn to do the slicing with some terrific drives and cuts until he carved out just short of a hundred.Tait, whose action was questioned before the game by New Zealand, also got the treatment with one over disappearing for three cover-driven fours, but he came back strongly in a crucial second spell which produced edges from How and Scott Styris. In his third, he cleaned up Vettori (18) with a yorker, by which time the damage was done. New Zealand now need a win in the second match at Sydney on Sunday to stay in the series, while Australia are one step closer to Ponting’s aim of adding yet another trophy to their cabinet.

Zimbabwe 256 (Dabengwa 79) and 417 (Williams 107, Taibu 78, Chigumbura 71, Utseya 57) beat South African Composite XI 353 (McLaren 80, Koortzen 80, Jeggels 53, Utseya 5-70) and 186 by 134 runs
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A Zimbabwe XI secured a comprehensive win over a South African Composite XI at Kimberley, battling back from a first-innings deficit to win by 134 runs on the final afternoon.Zimbabwe slid to 111 for 6 on the first day before Keith Dabengwa’s 79 steered them to a respectable 256. A brace of 80s from Adrian MacLaren and Petrus Koortzen enabled the home side to take a lead of 97, and it would have been more but for a marathon spell from Prosper Utseya, who finished with 5 for 70, on the second afternoon.Resuming on 42 for 2, still 55 in arrears, Zimbabwe lost Hamilton Mazakadza early on the third day, but then Tatenda Taibi, on a pair, and Sean Williams stole the show with a fourth-wicket stand of 184. The irony was that the selection of Williams, who completed his second first-class hundred, was opposed by some hardliners among the Zimbabwe selectors. When the two of them went, Zimbabwe were still in trouble on 270 for 6 before Elton Chigumbura and Utseya cut loose against a tiring attack.Set a target of 321 in almost a full day, Christopher Mpofu blasted out both openers as the SA Composite XI slid to 64 for 5. Riaan Jeggels and Wendell Bossenger steadied the ship and the for a time rain took the players from the field. But when they resumed it took only 15 balls for the Zimbabweans to grab the last three wickets and secure a well-deserved victory.

Oh, no!
You are used to seeing him walk without much ado but you rarely see Adam Gilchrist walking away with a shrug, showing dismay at the umpire’s decision. Sreesanth’s previous ball was a tight one, not allowing Gilchrist freedom to swing his bat. The third ball of the match was a sharp inswinger. Gilchrist’s feet were in an awkward position as he inside-edged the ball on to his pads. However, Rudi Koertzen failed to hear it as he raised the dreaded finger in robotic fashion. It was a sad pitstop on Gilchrist’s farewell tour.Punter’s agony
This could be one of the worst slumps of Ricky Ponting’s career. And more than anyone, two Indians have been annoying him all summer. If Harbhajan Singh continued his torment of the Australian captain, Ishant Sharma doubled the suffering with his extra pace, movement and the bounce. He had bowled one the best overs to Ponting at the WACA last month, something Ponting acknowledged, and had his number once again at the MCG. The ball pitched short of a length, Ponting squared up but was beaten by the extra bounce and the edge flew straight into the hands of first slip.Planned to perfection
It was a perfect set-up. Brad Haddin had been trying to negate the spin by stepping out of his crease. Harbhajan Singh speared one down leg, Haddin stepped out and tried to sweep, but he missed and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took off the bails in a trice. Simon Taufel signalled a wide but Haddin wasn’t even waiting for the third umpire’s decision.Where were you, Mr Cricket?
Removing the helmet and raising the bat to all sections of the crowd arecelebrations typically reserved for a hundred but MichaelHussey was so pleased to reach his half-century that he made the most ofthe moment. True, it was a very important innings after Australia slumpedto 6 for 92 but Hussey averaged 55.90 coming in to the match. So why wouldhis minor milestone mean so much? Perhaps it was because he’s had a lean12 months in ODIs – he had not passed fifty in anODI since last February’s Chappell-Hadlee Series.Over and out
It all seemed to be going wrong for Ishant in his second over withthe new ball. A pair of edges off Matthew Hayden flew over the slip cordon tothe boundary, another delivery was driven for four to long-off and twoconsecutive no-balls were followed by an aborted run-up. Eighteen camefrom the over, enough to dent the spirit of most 19-year-olds. But Ishanthas already proved more mature than many teenagers, and his decision tokeep attacking brought a well-deserved wicket in his next over when he hadHayden caught behind.Speared in
155.9 kph. Now that came straight into Virender Sehwag from Brett Lee who had the batsman’s measure in the first over but was unlucky. This time Sehwag got his bat just in the nick of time to avoid the humiliation of seeing any damage to his woodwork.Shots of the day
Lee was rattled after Tendulkar hit him past square for a four. The next ball was 150kph just around the good length but the ricochet came off the bat at the same speed, hitting the boards. Resounding. Next ball: 151kph attempted yorker at his off stump. Tendulkar brings that heavy bat down and just guides it past the bowler’s right hand for another exquisite boundary.Hard luck
This one would be debated for a while. Tendulkar charged out to send one over the long MCG boundary off the last ball of Stuart Clark’s first over. It looked more of a slog and he missed miserably and in the process nicked it to Gilchrist. But Koertzen again failed to hear the edge, which was later confirmed by snicko. The Aussies couldn’t believe it and the crowd sighed a loud “boo”.To dive or not to dive
He was not sure if it would fly past just like Tendulkar was unconvinced about playing the stroke. Mitchell Johnson had bowled a slow off cutter and Tendulkar was in two minds but went for the drive over the inner circle. Lee stood his ground and then when he saw it was within reach, dived as if it was penalty shootout to pouch it high on his wrong side. Yes. What a catch.

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Sri Lanka’s varied spin attack, led by the left-armer NavinKavikara, performed a slow strangle act that would have made their seniorteam proud as they set up a five-wicket win against Australia at the PenangSports Club. They dismissed Australia for 172 and Dilshan Munaweerahelped them gun down the target with more than 12 overs to spare. The victory put Sri Lanka on top of Group C and set up a quarter-final clash with New Zealand, while Australia will play Pakistan, the winners of Group A.Sri Lanka used five spinners in all – Kavikara, Sachith Pathirana, UmeshKarunarathne, Roshen Silva and Munaweera – and between them theypicked up seven wickets for 109 in 37.3 overs. The introductionof the slow bowlers curbed the runs after the top-order batsmen accelerated to 79 for 2 after 13 overs.When the offspinner Karunarathne came on in the 13th over, he bowled the Australian captain Michael Hill but his joy quickly turned to disappointment as the umpire signalled a no-ball. Hill, a left-hander, took on Karunarathne, pulling the free-hit to the wide long-on boundary and lofting the next ball for six over midwicket. There were a sizeable number ofAustralian supporters and cries of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi” rang around the ground.Not content with 11 runs off two balls, Hill attacked again, trying to hitagainst the spin but top edged to cover. In his next over, Karunarathneinduced an edge from Phillip Hughes and as he had done with Hill, gave the batsman a pumped-up send off. Having lost two quick wickets to be reduced to 80 for 3, Australia switched fromattack to consolidation mode and looked to nudge the ball around androtate strike.The two left-arm spinners – Kavikara and Pathirana – bowledin tandem and zipped through their overs with a wicket-to-wicket line.Kavikara delivered a mix of conventional spin and straighter ones and trappedMichael Cramner lbw with one that kept low and straight. He then hadSteven Smith and Dom O’Brien stumped as Australia slipped further.Both batsmen left their crease, realised they were beaten by the length and tried to defend, but the ball spun past the outside edge and the wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal, who was involved in seven dismissals, did the rest. Kavikara finished with 3 for 20off ten overs. Pathirana, who was limping during his first spell, bowled flat and fast to hit James Faulkner on the pads as he tried to play across the line.The watertight performance from the spinners was in contrast to the displays of thenew-ball bowlers, Tissara Perera and Denuwan Fernando. Although Tissara and Fernando beat the Australian openers whenever the length was right,they strayed often on either side of the wicket, which allowed Hughes tocut and flick powerfully. The start was steady: Australia were 22 for noloss after five overs and they accelerated after Hill’s arrival to get therun-rate to six.The Sri Lankan innings also got off to a brisk start, although Lahiru Thirimanne lost his off stump to the left-arm new-ball bowler Faulkner early on. The other opener, Dilshan Munaweera, was a treat to watch. He didn’t play the other group games because of a finger injury but his innings – 43 off 42 balls – ambushed Australia and gave Sri Lanka an ideal platform while chasing a small target.Munaweera is a short, stocky right-hand batsman who has a cavalier approach. He looked to attack from the outset, playing ambitious drives, cuts and pulls. Though he was beaten a few times and inside-edged a couple, he did not change his mindset. He was hit in the midriff by James Pattinson but responded by square driving and lofting to the point and long-off boundaries.Three more fours came off Munaweera’s bat in the fifth over – a fierce pull, a slash over point and an elegant and orthodox cover drive. He also took on Faulkner, who wasbowling at considerable pace, and smashed him twice to the long-off boundary. By the time he holed out to long-off from Clive Rose’s left-arm spin, the Sri Lankan run-chase was on course.The former Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda de Silva, who is a consultant with the under-19 team said Munaweera’s approach was part of a plan. “In this particular innings, I wanted him to be more positive and aggressive,” he said. “Particularly against Australia, we needed it.” There was a minor hiccup as they lost another wicket – Chandimal – to Rose a few balls later, but a 76-run stand between Angelo Perera and Ashan Priyanjan helped seal the win.

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Trinidad sent CCC crashing from their overnight 185 for 3 to 275 before completing a nine-wicket win to move into second place in the Carib Beer Series.With only 36 needed for victory, Trinidad lost William Perkins for 12, after which Dwayne Bravo struck a boundary down the ground to complete the formalities.Earlier, CCC went through the first half-hour of the morning session without alarm, but the situation changed when Chadwick Walton was caught at second slip by Perkins off Richard Kelly for 58. Kelly struck two overs later, when Perkins pouched an edge from Kurt Wilkinson, who could not open his account.Amit Jaggernauth, the offspinner, ended a fledgling partnership between Craig Emmanuel (15) and Floyd Reifer. Ravi Rampaul, who went on to get the Man-of-the-match award, then dismissed Kevin McClean and Jason Bennett in quick time. Meanwhile, Reifer reached his half-century when he slogged Dave Mohammed over midwicket before Jaggernauth dismissed Kavesh Kantasingh. Mohammed, though, got the better off Reifer when he was caught at mid-off.
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Ramnaresh Sarwan’s superb 150 enabled Guyana to stretch their first innings score to 415 and claim a 211-run lead, after which their bowlers, led by 3 for 56 from seamer Esuan Crandon, left Leeward Islands on a verge of an innings defeat in St.Thomas.In their reply, Leewards slipped to 51 for 4, with Crandon dismissing opener Shane Jeffers and Tonito Willett for five and eight respectively. Runako Morton, the Leewards’ captain, blitzed an unbeaten 80 off 112 balls with six fours and two sixes and added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with Steve Liburd (30) to briefly steady the innings, but their stand ended when Liburd was run out.Crandon then proceeded to dismiss Jahmar Hamilton for a duck before offspinner Zaheer Mohammed took two tail-end wickets.Looking to build on their lead, Guyana lost Crandon in the second over after adding two runs to their overnight score of 299 for 6. But Sarwan, who began the day on 89, soon brought up his century, and made his way to 150 after adding 103 runs for the eight wicket with Mohammed (43). Liburd was the most successful Leewards bowler with 3 for 46.

Somerset are hoping to secure the services of Zander de Bruyn, the South African allrounder, as a Kolpak player. The club are waiting for the outcome of a meeting a Lord’s to discuss his registration.de Bruyn has played three Tests for South Africa, the last of which was against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004. He has had a previous stint in county cricket with Worcestershire and remains a consistent performer on the South African domestic scene.”Zander comes highly recommended by both Jimmy Cook and Neil McKenzie, who has played alongside him,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, told the club’s website. “He fills the role that Cameron White and Neil McKenzie filled for us last year in tha he will come in at number five, either when the second new ball is being taken or when we need somebody who can stay at the wicket.”In the 2007-08 SuperSport series de Bruyn made 712 runs at 39.55 and also managed 12 wickets at 42.Somerset have Justin Langer as their overseas player for 2008 as they aim to build on their promotion to Division One of the Championship.

Monde Zondeki, the South African quick bowler, has talked about how difficult he found it to join the recent tour of India after the controversy that surrounded the squad selection.Zondeki’s domestic figures from 2007-08 – 54 wickets at 20.16 for the Cape Cobras – certainly show he was good enough to earn selection for India, but his place came about after Charl Langeveldt withdrew from the squad. Langeveldt had been selected ahead of Andre Nel, who is now playing for Essex, as Cricket South Africa needed to maintain their quota allocation. However, Langeveldt didn’t feel mentally able to go on the tour, something that Zondeki can sympathise with.”It’s wasn’t easy for me to accept my selection for that tour,” he told the . “Not easy at all. It was an awkward way to be selected. It wasn’t the way I’d hoped it would happen. It wasn’t an easy decision to go. It was hard for me to accept. In the end I just didn’t want there to be any more controversy.”The thing is, I did have a really good season. I talked to the coach [Mickey Arthur] and he said I should see it as reward for that. He helped me a lot.”Zondeki didn’t end up playing in any of the three Tests as the series was drawn 1-1, but has arrived for his county stint with Warwickshire in confident mood and will provide a much-needed cutting edge. Warwickshire only escaped with a draw in their first Championship match against Worcestershire because of rain on the final day. But how long Zondeki will remain available is still unclear with South Africa touring during the second half of the summer.”I’ve talked to Dale [Steyn, who played for Warwickshire in 2007] about playing here and I’m not expecting quick and bouncy wickets,” he said. “I know that I’m going to have to work hard and I know I’ll have to look after myself. He really enjoyed it.”I’m looking forward to it. The main reason I’ve come is to learn. I want to suck up as much information as possible. Pretty much every bowler who has come to play county cricket has improved and the chance to work with Allan Donald was too good to miss. It was him who contacted me and he is a major reason for coming.”Clearly, too, it won’t harm his international ambitions to get regular cricket ahead of South Africa’s four-Test series which starts in July. “There’s a good chance that I will be selected,” he said. “By the time they arrive, I should have got the hang of the conditions. If I do well here, I have a great opportunity.” Warwickshire should make the most of him while they can.

Brad Haddin’s elevation to the Australia Test squad has forced New South Wales to boost their keeping stocks by picking up Peter Nevill from Victoria. The arrival of Nevill, who was behind Adam Crosthwaite and Matthew Wade in the Bushrangers’ plans, will push Daniel Smith for first-team appearances as Haddin steps up following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. Smith played three Pura Cup matches last season as cover for Haddin, but he has also played as a specialist batsman.The Blues handed a deal to the fast bowler Burt Cockley who, like Nevill, is aged 22. Cockley made his Pura Cup debut in February after impressing in the Sydney grade competition. Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal were left off the 19-strong full-contract list. With ten other Blues players on Cricket Australia deals as well, the state list has been afforded a strong emphasis on youth, with seven rookies also in the fold.Rookies Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Stephen O’Keefe, Steven Smith and David Warner were rewarded with full contracts after strong seasons. Hughes averaged 62.11 in seven first-class matches, including his initial century in the successful Pura Cup final. He was vice-captain of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side this year and won the state’s rising star award.Khawaja, a left-hander, was the leading run scorer at grade level, making 1134 runs at 59.68. On Pura Cup debut he made a mature 85 at home in February against the eventual finalists Victoria. Smith, a leg-spinning allrounder who was also in the national Under-19 squad this year, has the chance to further push his claims for a regular spot after debuting in both Pura and FR Cups last season and impressing in the Twenty20 competition.Josh Hazlewood, the 17-year-old fast bowler who was the youngest member of the Australia Under-19 World Cup squad this year, earned a rookie contract, as did Daniel Burns, a left-arm orthodox bowler who was also at the youth World Cup, and former junior internationals Sam Robson, a legspinning allrounder, and Mitchell Starc, a left-arm fast bowler.James Crosthwaite, Adam’s brother and like him a wicketkeeper, also picked up a deal after representing Scotland and ACT. Joshua Lalor, a left-arm fast bowler, and the left-hander Scott Henry complete the rookie set.The New South Wales chief executive David Gilbert is happy with the depth of the squad but warned that every player must play his part. “The absence of our Australian players will make the 2008-09 season a very challenging one,” Gilbert said, “so it will be imperative that the younger players rise to the occasion.”The Blues have lost three players from their 2007-08 group. Matthew Nicholson announced his retirement earlier this year while Aaron O’Brien and Tom Cooper have both transferred to South Australia. The Redbacks were also chasing Greg Mail and Grant Lambert but both decided to stay in New South Wales for study or family reasons.Squad Aaron Bird, Mark Cameron, Burt Cockley, Ed Cowan, Scott Coyte, Peter Forrest, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.Import Peter Nevill.Rookies Daniel Burns, James Crosthwaite, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Henry, Joshua Lalor, Sam Robson, Mitchell Starc.Players on the transfer list Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSylhet Superstars recorded their first win of the season•BCB

Ravi Bopara brought Sylhet Super Stars their first win of the BPL season, beating Comilla Victorians by four wickets with two balls to spare in a hard-fought contest. Bopara took four wickets and later struck 50 of 38 balls, which was also his first meaningful contribution with the bat.Had he stayed till the end, the contest may not have been as exciting. As it was Abu Hider, the 19-year old left-arm seamer took back-to-back wickets in the final over including Bopara’s to leave the equation at three needed off three balls. Nazmul Hossain Milon defused the tenions with a six to secure the victory.It was a difficult end for the man who led Comilla’s defence. Hider claimed the first breakthrough in the sixth over, inducing a top edge from Mominul Haque which was called for and caught by wicketkeeper Liton ADas amid four other fielders in the vicinity. Sylhet still had Dilshan Munaweera, who hammered Mashrafe Mortaza for a six over square leg, en route to 36 off 26 balls. It was Hider again that made the incision as Munaweera cut straight to point.Bopara, promoted to No 3, joined Mushfiqur Rahim and stabilised the innings with an 87-run partnership which ultimately proved match-winning.Sylhet were 76 for 2 after 10 overs, needing a relatively straightforward 89 more. Bopara and Mushfiqur struck four fours in the 14th and 15th overs, to reduce the chase to a simple 45 off the last 30 balls.Mashrafe conceded a boundary off the first ball of the 16th over, but then missed a great chance to run Mushfiqur out when he had three stumps to aim at and the batsman nowhere near safety. As if to emphasise the good luck Sylhet’s captain had, Mushfiqur was dropped the very next ball. Two balls, two chances and two reprieves. Eventually, Kulasekara bowled him with an inswinger for 47 off 31 balls.Earlier when Comilla batted first, Liton Das sent the crowd into frenzy as he got Comilla off to a quick start. It began with a streaky four off the second ball of the match, the edge burst through Munaweera at slip. Liton’s next five fours were quite convincing. He flicked, drove inside out, carved past point and tonked one over mid-off to provide 42 out of the 56-run opening stand with Imrul Kayes. Liton was dismissed by Bopara in the seventh over, to signal the momentum shift.Bopara then took out Mukhtar Ahmed and Shuvagata Hom in the ninth over to leave Comilla in a bit of crisis at 66 for 3.Kayes, who was batting well within himself, got a reprieve. He jammed the bat down on a Munaweera delivery in the 11th over, the ball then rolled onto the stumps but did not topple the bails over. Kayes and Ashar Zaidi then added 62 runs for the fourth wicket though the latter, on 9, survived a chance when Nurul Hasan misjudged a catch at midwicket and overran the ball.Kayes smacked Rubel Hossain for a four over mid-on soon after, and followed it up with a six off Bopara, who completed his second four-for in T20s. Zaidi finished with two fours and a six in the final over, but his 53 off 36 balls could not bring his side a victory