Zimbabwe, already seriously weakened by retirements and political infighting, received a further blow with the news that Grant Flower, one of their most experienced players, will miss both Tests against West Indies.Flower broke a finger at the end of September, causing him to drop out of the Australian tour, but it had been hoped that he would be recovered by now. “It’s a very frustrating time, but there’s not a lot I can do about it except keep fit,” Flower shrugged. “I’ve still got a cast on my hand and I’ll only be back for the one-dayers. I’ve been doing some one-handed batting and bowling in the nets.”Dion Ebrahim and Grant Ewing were dropped, with Vusi Sibanda and Stuart Matsikenyeri, two promising 20-year-old black batsmen, brought in. Sean Ervine and Douglas Hondo were also ruled out by injury.Squad 1 Trevor Gripper, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Carlisle, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 7 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 8 Heath Streak (capt), 9 Andy Blignaut, 10 Raymond Price, 11 Blessing Mahwire. 12th Man: Jordane Nicolle.

RETRAVISION Warriors fast-bowler Jo Angel will miss only four weeks with a knee injury and is an outside chance to play for the Warriors against Victoria in late December.Angel has been sidelined since Sunday with a tear to the meniscal cartilage in his left knee. It was initially thought Angel might have faced a near career-ending three-month lay-off.Angel had an MRI scan on Monday night and met his specialist on Wednesday evening to learn the extent of the damage.The scan revealed no major structural damage to Angel’s knee. Surgery will not be required. Angel will undergo intensive physiotherapy and believes he can be fully recovered inside a month.""It will be three, maybe four weeks before I’m right," Angel said."I was fearing the worst and the initial prognosis was not good on Monday. I had a similar injury four years ago and I was out for eight weeks."With physio I am a chance to play before Christmas."Angel announced before the season that this would be his final year of first-class cricket. The prospect of a three-month lay off forced him to think of the future."Everyone would like to play for ever but you can’t do that. I have a bit to offer in coaching. I would definitely like to put something back into the game."WA’s fast-bowling stocks have been decimated by injury this season and Angel laid down a challenge to WA’s young brigade of fast-bowlers."These injuries have provided opportunity for young guys to put their hand up and show what they are made of," he said.The Warriors face Tasmania in a day-night ING Cup match at the WACA Ground on Friday. WA is second on the ING Cup ladder with nine points from three matches. Tasmania is last on the ladder with zero points from three matches.The match starts at 2.30pm with gates opening at 1.30pm

The West Indies selectors have named their 15-man squad for the one-day series against South Africa, which starts at Cape Town on January 25.Three Barbadians – Ryan Hurley, Kurt Wilkinson and Ian Bradshaw – have been rewarded for their good performances during the Red Stripe Bowl, while a fourth, Dwayne Smith, has been retained after his blistering debut century in the third Test at Cape Town.West Indies currently trail South Africa 2-0 in the four-Test series, and start as outsiders in the one-day matches as well, as they come up against the team ranked second in the ICC Championship table.Full squad
Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-capt), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Vasbert Drakes, Ryan Hurley, Ian Bradshaw, Kurt Wilkinson, Ravi Rampaul, Mervyn Dillon, Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore.

Scorecard

Heavy rain had the final word at Kingsmead, as the third one-day international between South Africa and West Indies was abandoned early after the change of innings. West Indies will be especially disappointed, as they would have fancied their chances of victory after Duckworth/Lewis calculations meant South Africa faced a potentially tricky run-chase. The five-match series is now beyond Brian Lara’s grasp.West Indies made an encouraging start to defending their total of 147 for 8 from a reduced 40 overs, restricting the South Africans to 15 for 1 from five overs. On a soggy, seaming pitch, Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs started uncomfortably before the heavens opened, and they still required 154 runs from 35 overs. Smith was the man out, caught at mid-off by Lara, off the impressive Merv Dillon (10 for 1). The bowlers’ tails were up, but another downpour washed out their hopes.West Indies’ innings began slowly, but ended in dramatic fashion, with a flurry of wickets and an entertaining array of poor shots, as they failed to make good use of a nine-over dash, once rain had shortened the game.Resuming after two breaks, with the score on 98 for 3, Lara immediately upped the tempo, swivelling outside off to hit the shot of the innings down to the fine-leg boundary, much to Lance Klusener’s bemusement. Ramnaresh Sarwan countered Shaun Pollock’s menacing bounce on the damp wicket, with a majestic blow to the cover boundary, but the very next ball he was comfortably caught on the ropes by Boeta Dippenaar (118 for 4).Two balls later and Lara was gone as well, just when his team desperately needed him to stay for the duration. He top-edged Jacques Kallis’s first delivery, and Mark Boucher took a high catch (119 for 5). Dwayne Smith enjoyed a scintillating, if brief, dual with Klusener, first smashing him through mid-off for four, and next ball hoisting him over midwicket for six. But Klusener had the last word, as Pollock raced round to mid-on to catch Smith after he mistimed a wild swing (134 for 6).The batsmen continued to come and go, with Kallis accounting for Ryan Hurley and Dillon in successive balls, and Ridley Jacobs was left marooned at the non-striker’s end. It represented a tame end, and the beginning wasn’t much better either.From a slow start, Ricardo Powell wrestled West Indies back to some sort of parity amid the gloom, with a responsible 50 runs from 71 balls, after Pollock and Andre Nel kept things tight. Chris Gayle fell to Nel, spooning a leading edge to the safe hands of Gibbs (3 for 1).Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul then shared a 49-run partnership, but Chanderpaul was completely out-of-sorts, struggling to 17 off 55 balls. Eventually he realised he had to get on or get out, and he duly obliged, edging Klusener to deep square-leg, where Jacques Rudolph held a steepling catch (52 for 2).Powell, who played with a confident fluency and hammered a series of boundaries on the on-side, claimed his seventh one-day half-century, but two balls later he was out, lofting Klusener to Dippenaar at square-leg (79 for 3). In the grand scheme of things, his innings meant little, but at least it brightened up a dull Durban day.

Match rained out between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh
ScorecardThere was never any doubt that the first one-day international between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo would be abandoned without a ball being bowled. The previous morning Noel Peck, the groundsman, was very doubtful whether any play would be possible, even if there was a day ofsunshine and no more rain. There was indeed sunshine, but another veryheavy downpour in the evening made sure a large section of the ground becomethoroughly waterlogged.It is also highly unlikely that any play will be possible in the second match, scheduled for March 7, especially with rain continuing on and off; infact, common sense would suggest that the match be called off rightnow to save everybody the trouble, but “it can’t be done,” said one of theofficials. Harare usually gets more rain than Bulawayo, although the groundthere drains better, so it is not inconceivable that the full five-matchseries might never even start. It is reported that there are plans now toinstall better drainage at Queens, but as far as this series is concernedthe horse has already bolted.

Queensland 9 for 418 dec and 1 for 54 dec beat New South Wales 4 for 196 dec (Bevan 79*, Steve Waugh 65) and 239 (Mark Waugh 72, Haddin 62*, Bichel 4-69) by 37 runs
ScorecardAn era ended when Queensland beat New South Wales by 37 runs on a day of declarations and an engrossing chase. Following an audacious failed attempt to chase 277, after 19 seasons of cricket, Steve and Mark Waugh walked off the field for the last time. The competitive target was provided by Queensland, who declared at 1 for 54, in a nod to Steve Waugh’s overnight declaration at 4 for 196.Andy Bichel struck early, reducing New South Wales to 2 for 11, before Michael Bevan and Michael Clarke steadied the innings with a 50-run partnership. However, both batsmen and Steve Waugh fell in rapid succession, and at 5 for 92, the situation looked bleak.Then Mark Waugh and Brad Haddin played inspired innings that turned the game on its head, and put on 115 runs in only 12 overs as the target of 277 came tantalisingly close. Both were especially unkind to Nathan Hauritz, who bowled seven overs and conceded 60 runs. But Bichel returned for one last time, and prised out Mark Waugh (72 off 49 balls). At the other end, Haddin battled away to an unbeaten 62, while the lower order did willy-nilly and collapsed to Chris Simpson’s offspinners.

Nasser Hussain‘s long vigil – 58 in 353 minutes, from 223 balls – did much to establish England’s strong position. Here’s what he had to say after today’s play:

On the Port-of-Spain pitch
It’s not a bad wicket, it’s just a wicket where you lose your fluency themore you bat on it. It’s also losing its pace, so isn’t easy for the bowlerseither. You just have to hang in there. Personal scores are irrelevant, youjust have to make a score for your team.On Graham Thorpe’s innings
Graham’s 81 was brilliant really. To keep his fluency right through hisinnings was a great effort. Both games have been very similar. It’s been about the first innings and pressure. If we’d have been bowled out today I know what everyone would have been thinking – we have to bat last on this pitch and we don’t want to be chasing any kind of big target. Graham’s had some tough times in his personal life – but even someone like Graham Gooch took time off and you’re going to see more of that in future with the schedule the way it is. Where Graham [Thorpe] is very good, and I’ll always praise him on this, is that when he comes back into the team, to have the mental strength to do what he did at The Oval [a century against South Africa] and what he did here today, you can’t teach that.On how it feels to battle like that
I think you can enjoy it when you look back on it and realise you gotthrough difficult days. It’s not about feeling a million dollars. Theybowled well today. Someone like Collymore bowled well, with a lot ofdiscipline.On what happens next …
I’d be concentrating on our last four wickets. We try to make runs all downthe order, and if Graham can hang around with the tail tomorrow and if Ashley hangs in there then maybe we can get a few more. You have to think that at some stage the likes of Chanderpaul and Sarwan will come to the party, as someone might say. They will make runs at some stage and we don’t want to be chasing too much in the last innings.

Who’s who in the disputeStephen Mangongo, the convenor of selectors in Zimbabwe, and Ozias Bvute, one of the directors of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, have allegedly come to blows over the selection of the national team.Various news agencies have reported that both got into a heated argument in front of officials, security staff and guests at the Harare Sports Club after the final one-day match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.Bystanders say the row focused on a disagreement over the number of white players to be included in the national team for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which starts on Thursday. Mangongo reportedly wanted about eight whites in the squad, while Bvute thought only three or four should be included.A witness to the incident told Wisden Cricinfo said that the row was “much more serious than the statement indicates”, explaining that Bvute had Mangongo in a very strong arm-lock.The two men closed ranks, denied that blows had been exchanged, but did not dismiss suggestions that the disagreement had become physical. In a joint statement, issued by the ZCU, they said: “There were pertinent issues on the agenda and both of us had divergent views on those issues. In the heat of the argument obviously voices would be raised but the point remains that we were each trying to push home our point.”It is not true that punches were thrown and we can categorically say whatever physical confrontation there was did not amount to fisticuffs. The relationship between us remains cordial as it has always been.”

A senior official of the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) has admitted that while bookmaking is still a major concern for the game, the situation has improved markedly in the last few years.”Bookmaking is still very much part of the sport,” Nuruddin Khawaja, the ACU’s regional security manager, told The News in Pakistan. “But I think we have succeeded to a big extent in keeping the players clear of corrupt elements seeking to soil the sport to make easy money.”Things today are far better than the crisis world cricket was facing from this menace a few years back.”Khawaja said that although international cricket was still big business for professional bookmakers, the security protocols implemented by the ACU meant that most players and match officials now stayed well clear of bookmakers.He also denied rumours that a match in India’s recent one-day series against Pakistan had been fixed, explaining that the ACU had not found anything of substance in the allegations made by Rashid Latif regarding the result of the fourth one-dayer at Lahore.But Khawaja admitted that the Indian bookmaker Ratan Mehta had figured in a lot of the investigations, and that he had ties with some players. He added: “The ACU is aware of his activities and is keeping a close watch on him.”

Ajay Jadeja, who pulled out of the American Pro League after the Board of Control for Cricket in India told players to distance themselves from the event, has returned to India.Jadeja cited the confusion over whether the ICC and the BCCI had sanctioned the American cricket league as his reason for returning home so soon. "Some reports said the ICC does not recognise the event," he explained. "Nobody was sure what to do so we came back."Jadeja, 33, also hinted that he has some lingering hopes for an international comeback, though he was realistic about his chances. "A comeback is always hard," he said. "It’s easy to get in when you are fresh. But a new season is around the corner and I will train myself for it. I have enjoyed cricket since childhood, I still enjoy the game and would continue to play. Who knows, I might get a chance.”Jadeja played 196 one-dayers and 15 Tests for India before his international career came to an end in December 2000, when he was handed a five-year ban following damaging findings in India’s Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into match-fixing. Jadeja contested the ban, and after three years of exclusion played for his club, Delhi, in the last Indian domestic season.