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On the heels of two successive victories over their formidable opponents, Carl Hooper is expecting South Africa to rebound with venom in the second Cable & Wireless One-Day International at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) today.”They are definitely going to come back. There are no two ways about that,” the West Indies captain said yesterday.”They are going to come back, and come back hard in this game, and we have got to be prepared for that.”South Africa’s last-ball defeat in the opening match of the series at Sabina Park on Saturday was only their second loss in their last 12 One-Day Internationals and it followed a defeat against the West Indies in the final match of the Test series.Two wins in succession, in whatever form of the game, have not been commonplace for the West Indies during the last ten months, but they are not enough to make Hooper’s men feel they are on top of the world.”I don’t think we are in a position where we can even think about being complacent,” he said.”We’re only 1-0 up in a seven-match series, so there is still a lot of cricket to be played. If we had won four (games), we probably would be looking at it differently. We’ve got to try and win this one here and try and win four games as quickly as possible.”Hooper was speaking after the West Indies’ practice session at the Airport Ground and he pronounced himself fully fit after sustaining cramps in both legs while batting on Saturday.”Jamaica was just a bout of cramps caused by the loss of too much water but I am 100 per cent fit and ready to go,” he said.”I had a bat yesterday and today and I feel fine. I’m okay.”West Indies, however, suffered a casualty with the unavailability of the hard-hitting Ricardo Powell, who sustained a thigh strain while batting in Jamaica. In any case, there was a feeling that Shivnarine Chanderpaul would have challenged Powell for his place.There is another change to the side, with local boy Kerry Jeremy predictably making way for Nixon McLean. Jeremy bowled five expensive overs in Jamaica.The match is the West Indies’ first at the ARG since 1989 and only the sixth ever One-Day International in this country.West Indies have never lost here in their previous four appearances, but when they last played at the ground, Vivian Richards was still captain of a team that included the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Jeffrey Dujon, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop.Interestingly enough, Haynes made a century when the ARG hosted its first One-Day International in 1978 and Greenidge had the pleasure of hitting the only other three-digit score when the ground staged its last match involving the West Indies.Hooper is the only survivor from those days.The recent wins would have boosted everyone, but the West Indies captain said it was important that the trend be maintained.”We struggled a little bit during the Test series and we finally managed to pull one back in Jamaica and then won the first One-Day game, which was good for our confidence,” he said.”Obviously, we want to continue the winning ways and hopefully build team-morale and confidence as we look towards the future.”What the experience of the last two weeks proved to the West Indies was that they have what it requires to overcome opponents who trounced them 5-0 in the 1998-99 Test series and 6-1 in the One-Day Internationals that followed.”We’ve won one and think we should have won that one by a wider margin,” Hooper said in reference to the Jamaica match in which the West Indies nearly slipped up in pursuit of a target of 201.”We’ve shown that we’ve got what it takes to beat them. I don’t see any reason why shouldn’t win again here and then hopefully take the same thing down to Grenada.”The match marks the debut One-Day International appearance of Antiguan umpire Clancy Mack.

His job is to maintain the scorebook while a match is going on. The thing that is notable is that he is always found wearing black trousers in the stadium. Is it some special affection for the dark color that makes him do that? We, when got such rumor from a sports periodical, asked Mr. Habibullah who prefers to call himself Habibullah Scorer how far it is true. The jovial man burst into laughter and added," All because of playing a sometime double-role in the match." The thing is that our umpires at times become precarious on their duty days-becoming the victim of deep sleep syndrome. Such a weird day was left for the viewers fifteen days earlier in a Premier Division match between Abahani and Dhanmondi. One of the umpires could not be spotted anywhere when fielders and batsmen are on the field waiting for the game to start-it was already twenty minutes late. Now Habibullah Scorer stretched his hand to assist the other umpire who was seemed to be in dire straits-started the match with him without making further delay. Mr Habibullah was wearing his dark slacks like any day and he borrowed a white T-shirt from one of the players to become a square leg umpire. After ten overs the missing umpire was seen approaching hurriedly. Why late?-" Sleeping, I just got over-slept" he rattled off. However, a black slack saved the match from being doomed any way! Cheers for Habibullah!

New Zealand’s women completed a clean sweep of three victories over the Netherlands when taking a 210-run win in their 45-over match in Utrecht today.The TelstraClear White Ferns batted first again and took the chance once more to change the batting order so that all players have ended the series with an opportunity to enjoy the chance to shake the New Zealand winter out of their systems before they get into the more demanding tri-series against India and England in the next few weeks.While Kathryn Ramel was trapped leg before wicket for a duck in the first over she faced, Nicola Payne and Haidee Tiffen added 138 runs for the second wicket. Tiffen scored 87 off 89 balls, her highest score for New Zealand, bettering her 69 scored against Australia last year.Payne scored 45 off 72 balls. While she had scored at least that many runs five times in her decade-long career for the Netherlands, it was her highest score for New Zealand, beating the 37 made in the first match of this series.Sara McGlashan was not out 41 off 48 balls faced. Frances King and Aimee Mason scored 31 and 26 respectively before each being run out. Rachel Pullar was unbeaten on two when the innings ended with New Zealand having scored 263/5.Emily Drumm, Nicola Browne, Kate Pulford and Louise Milliken did not bat.New Zealand’s bowlers were untroubled in wrapping up the victory. Pulford achieved outstanding figures of four for five off 3.1 overs.They were her career best figures for New Zealand, as she had only taken two wickets previously for the side. King capped off a great day with three for nine off seven overs, adding best bowling figures to her best batting performance earlier on. The other wicket takers were Mason with two for 15 from 10 overs and Browne who took one for two off her solitary over.

The West Indies Cricket Board has voted to retain their current selection panel for another two years. Clyde Butts, Robert Haynes and Courtney Browne will continue until September 2014.Butts will continue as chairman of the panel, which has presided over an unstable period in the last two years, with player availability become an increasingly difficult issue. Impasses developed between the board and several players, including Chris Gayle, Jerome Taylor and Ramnaresh Sarwan – the latter two having not returned to the national side.The selection panel will hope their control of players will be helped by an increase in the number of annual retainer contracts being offered – as also voted for by the board. Twenty contacts will be offered to the men from 2012-13, an increase of five from the previous year.The list of 20 players to be offered contracts was also voted through and will be announced at a later date, after the players have been advised of their deals.It was the last board meeting for outgoing chief executive Ernest Hilaire, who is stepping down on September 30 and being replaced by Michael Muirhead, whose appointment was rubberstamped.

There was once a man who said “cricket’s a funny game.” If indeed thatis true, and a truer statement you cannot hope to hear, then VVSLaxman was the master comedian at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on thefourth day of the second Test. Making a chanceless unbeaten 275,Laxman put smiles on the faces of thousands of spectators. RahulDravid, whose image took a bit of a beating in the press recently,emerged as a potent force making an unbeaten 155. No wickets were loston the day, 335 runs were scored, not a single catch given and ninebowlers were used. Tell Steve Waugh that cricket is a funny game. Oneis sure he won’t see the humour in the situation.To fully appreciate the magnitude of the day’s proceedings, one wouldhave to be one of 50,000 odd people crammed into the stands at theEden Gardens. But that is not a privilege everyone was blessed with. Alook at the records that fell will tell a story of it’s own. Laxman’s275 not out is the highest ever score by an Indian in the history ofTest cricket. When he surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s mark of 236, whichthe little master made against the fearsome West Indies at Chennaimore than 17 years ago, there was a colossal roar in the stands. Inthe press box however, there was a hush in some sections, as many oldtimers were visibly saddened by the fact that Gavaskar’s record hadfallen.The partnership between Dravid and Laxman, an unbeaten 357 thus far,easily bettered the highest partnership for India for the fifthwicket. The previous best for the same wicket was 214, betweenMohammed Azharuddin and Ravi Shastri against England in 1984-85. Thepartnership is also the highest for any wicket by an Indian pairagainst Australia, beating the 298 (unbroken) for the sixth wicketthat Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri put together in the 1986-87series. Laxman’s score is also the highest score by any batsman at theEden Gardens, surpassing the 256 made by the great Rohan Kanhai in the1958-59 series.Phew.That is a lot of records to tumble in one day. And to be sure, this isnot the end of it. Tomorrow, when Laxman (275 not out, 438 balls, 44fours) and Dravid (155 not out, 318 balls, 18 fours) come back, morerecords will fall. John Edrich’s record of 52 boundaries in hisinnings of 310 against New Zealand in 1965 is under severe threat. Butenough said about statistics.Today was one of those days when every pressman in the Eden Gardensfelt like abandoning his seat and rushing out to the join thechanting, hooting, yelling crowds. With Tendulkar gone, it was timefor some of the other batsmen in the Indian team to stand up and becounted. The manner in which Laxman and Dravid destroyed the high ofthe 16 win on the trot Australians was a sight to be seen. The EdenGardens as a venue lends itself supremely well to the big occasion.The atmosphere is that of a bull ring rather than a quiet cricketground. There’s no Long Room, there are no WG Grace Gates and there isno Father Time on the weather vane looking down at a match inprogress. This is as different from Lord’s as you can possibly get.And yet, the place inspires a sense of history and draws on a greatwell of human emotions. Steve Waugh was the first to acknowledge thatwhen he made his century. Dravid today let go a great deal more onreaching his hundred than he normally does. If waving the bat at thedressing room and crowds was not enough, the Karnataka batsmanspecifically gestured to the press box. The young man was obviouslyupset by something written earlier. Today, he let his bat do thetalking.Spearheaded by Laxman, India have made one of the most dramaticrecoveries in Test cricket. From being down and nearly out, India arenow 589/4, leading by 315 with one day’s play left. With the pitchplaying more true than Robin Hood’s straightest arrow, India will beguarded against making a premature declaration. While Laxman marchestowards becoming the first Indian to see 300 against his name in aTest scorecard, Dravid will be asked to accelerate the scoring firstthing in the morning. Perhaps in the middle of the first session, theIndian captain might decide to let his bowlers have a go at theAussies. When he does so, anything can happen.However, Laxman will sleep soundly today, in the knowledge that he hasmade the number three slot his own for some time to come. What willinspire the soundest sleep however, is the fact that Laxman has, inone stroke, singlehandedly revived India’s sagging fortunes and gone along way in ending Australia’s long run of victories.

BCCI president N Srinivasan has agreed to call for a working committee meeting next week to discuss the corruption issues plaguing the IPL, following the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, his son-in-law and a top official of the Chennai Super Kings. The date of the meeting is yet to be confirmed. It was initially planned for the next weekend but following the resignations of the BCCI secretary and treasurer on Friday, ESPNcricinfo understands it is now likely to be held mid-week, “either Tuesday or Wednesday.”On Friday, Anurag Thakur, the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and a BJP member of parliament, had joined the chorus of BCCI officials asking for a meeting to deal with the problems facing Indian cricket after the arrests of three Rajasthan Royals players on charges of spot-fixing and Gurunath on charges of betting. Thakur had not yet spoken out on the issue until today.”We are talking to various members of the board and I have spoken to the president to convene a meeting and discuss all these issues in the meeting,” Thakur, who is also a joint-secretary of the BCCI, had said. “I think it’s very important to convene a meeting, I have spoken to the president and the secretary asking them to convene a meeting and I think they will convene a meeting over the next few days.”I have spoken to Mr Ajay Shirke (BCCI treasurer), he is also keen to have a meeting. Let there be a meeting where everyone can come and speak their opinion.” Thakur’s comments came a day after Shirke said he would consider resigning as BCCI treasurer because of the manner in which the board had handled the corruption scandal.Earlier today, Sachin Tendulkar broke his silence via a statement, saying he was shocked and disappointed by the developments in Indian cricket over the last fortnight.ESPNcricinfo understands that senior BCCI officials have been in constant discussion with Srinivasan, asking him to step aside from his office as board president until the three-man commission completes its inquiry into his son-in-law Gurunath, the Super Kings owners India Cements and the owners of Rajasthan Royals. Srinivasan, however, had paid no heed to their advice.The working committee does not have constitutional authority to ask the president to step down. What it can do, however, is pass the resolution calling for a special general body meeting and, with that, set in motion the procedure required for the impeachment of the BCCI president.It would require ten BCCI members to send out written requests before the special general body meeting commences in order to begin impeachment proceedings against the president.The working committee, which is responsible for the board’s functioning, constitutes of 24 members at the moment. Besides the nine office-bearers, it includes a representative from each of the five permanent Test centres, another representative from an association from the five zones by rotation, and those from the affiliated units who have hosted a Test match in the last two years.*14.00GMT May 31: This article has been updated after news of the BCCI calling for a working committee meeting came in

ScorecardTim Bresnan celebrates the first of his four wickets on his first-class return from injury•Getty Images

The anticipation of an Ashes series can exhaust you before it has even begun. It is ten weeks before the first ball is bowled at Trent Bridge and already it is discussed on a daily basis. For Tim Bresnan, though, the attempt to force himself into Ashes contention really did start here. It has to be said it started rather well.After a second elbow operation in the close season, Bresnan’s opening first-class match of the season carried special significance. He spent much of his last year with England below par and needs to prove in the weeks ahead that injury will not reduce his impact for good; that – in his own words – he can bowl with beans again.Durham, as vulnerable as any batting side in the top division, were an appealing prospect so early in the season. As if to quicken Bresnan’s anticipation further, Australia had just named their Ashes squad. The announcement seems rather premature but presumably these days they have to allow several weeks to plan their way through Border Control.Bresnan sniffed the wind, muscled his way into the crease and, with his first Championship delivery of the season, sent Keaton Jennings’ off stump flying. It was some comeback and, as he leapt high into the air, some celebration. Figures of 4 for 47 as Durham’s first innings came to rest at 237 represented an impressive start. At the end of it all, the only possible conclusion was that he was in the category of ‘has beans’ rather than ‘has-beens’.”I had full beans,” he agreed. “No pain, decent rhythm. It felt good. That’s as close to 100 per cent as I’m probably going to get. I’m ready for England – I’ve just got to get my name on the sheet. It’s always nice conditions to bowl up here. There was a bit in the wicket and we were quite surprised when they batted.”Jennings is a 20-year-old South African, but his mother was born just up the road in Sunderland and in these parts that makes him local. His father is Ray Jennings, a former South Africa coach with a reputation as a bit of a stickler. If Keaton does not break his run of failures soon, Dad could be on the phone and it might not be pretty.Will Smith’s wicket was borne of desperation. Smith had added 86 with Dale Benkenstein and Bresnan felt he had suffered enough playing and missing for one day. He decided to bowl a bouncer and see what happened; Smith obligingly hooked it to Ryan Sidebottom at long leg. The wickets came in a rush, five within 10 overs with Bresnan removing Ben Stokes and Paul Collingwood for ducks.Not that it was an entirely satisfying day for Yorkshire. When the first day closed with Graham Onions’ successful lbw appeal, and the dismissal of Yorkshire’s captain Andrew Gale, Durham had three down for 57. A running mix-up had also cost Yorkshire the wicket of Phil Jaques as Onions, with one stump to aim at, threw down the wicket off his own bowling.When Durham were 112 for 7, Yorkshire had reason to expect something better, but while Bresnan, Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Patterson went for two runs an over, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid disappeared for more than six. Durham’s last three wickets added 125, with Phil Mustard hitting about him with a hearty glow before he was last out for 70. He clumped Bresnan over mid-on to bring up 200, he clumped Patterson in similar fashion for his fifty; he likes a clump more than most.Yorkshire will picture their seam attack without Bresnan in midsummer and feel a little queasy. Plunkett can most kindly be regarded as a work in progress. He can bowl a killer ball, as he underlined when he had Scott Borthwick lbw with the first ball of his second spell, but his return to his old Chester-le-Street stamping ground was not a happy one. His ten overs leaked 67 runs and Mustard at one stage took three boundaries from four balls. The triumphant homecoming will have to wait.

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s run rate on Tuesday night was 13.15 an over. There was Chris Gayle and there was also AB de Villiers, whose exhibitions in big-hitting lifted them to the biggest total ever in Twenty20 cricket. Yet, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Pune Warriors seamer, conceded 23 runs in 24 balls. His team-mates’ economy rates, Luke Wright apart, varied between 12.00 and 29.00.While that was personally satisfying, Bhuvneshwar said it was a night when it was natural to regret becoming a bowler. “As a team it was a tough match to play but individually for me it was good. We gave away 265 runs out of which I gave only 23 runs. That was satisfying for me,” he told the IPL site after the match. “[But] when Gayle bats like that nobody wants to bowl, especially on a wicket like this where the ball comes on well onto the bat. All I can say is that it’s tough luck for the bowlers if he decides to bat like that.”In all Bhuvneshwar bowled seven balls at Gayle, conceding 11 runs. At the start of the game, Bhuvneshwar said, he was eager to get Gayle out as soon as possible, but as the match progressed he was happy to get him off strike. “With the new ball I was trying to get him out because he’s that kind of batsman who can make up later on even if you bowl some dots to him initially,” he said. “In the death overs I just tried to keep him off strike so that I can bowl to the other batsman. I just tried to keep the ball away from his body so that he can take a single and get off strike.”During the first strategic timeout we spoke of getting him out as soon as possible. But we couldn’t do that. We could have bowled better but then you never know. We tried to do different things but he just kept hitting. Ishwar Pandey was playing his first match in this tournament and he went for 21 runs in the first over, and he obviously became nervous. It happens when you’re playing against Gayle.”Warriors now have four points from eight games and the worst net run rate among all nine teams: -1.467. They had experienced a high after ending an 11-game losing streak by beating Rajasthan Royals and then upsetting Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk, but have since three matches on the trot again. Gayle’s innings will prove to be a particularly tough blow to take, Bhuvneshwar said: “It is very difficult [to recover from an assault like this], especially for us as we are going through a tough time.”All we can do as a team is stick together and keep backing each other. We’re trying to be as positive as we can and can only hope for the best from here.”

ScorecardMichael Reed continued his impressive early-season form•Getty Images

Pace bowler Mike Reed registered his maiden County Championship five-wicket haul as Glamorgan had much the better of the first day of their Division Two clash against Worcestershire in Cardiff.Reed, 24, claimed 5 for 27 in 15.5 overs with Worcestershire bowled out for only 123 in their first innings. Skipper Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali top-scored with 20 apiece. Reed’s fellow seamer Michael Hogan also recorded figures of four for 33.In reply Glamorgan’s openers – Ben Wright and Will Bragg – only faced 13 balls between them for no score before bad light stopped play with only 65.2 overs possible on the opening day.Hogan and Reed went through the top order to reduce Worcestershire to 59 for 5 by lunch – losing four wickets for only five runs.It vindicated captain Mark Wallace’s decision to put the opposition in after he won the toss and was a turnaround from the opening match of the season where Northamptonshire dominated until wet weather forced a draw.Australian Hogan claimed the first wicket of the day in the seventh over when opener Matthew Pardoe was caught at leg slip by Wright. Worcestershire looked like they had weathered the early storm reaching 55 for one before losing four wickets in the space of 3.5 overs before lunch.Mitchell went edging a ball from Reed to Stewart Walters at second slip before Sri Lanka’s Thilan Samaraweera went for a duck trapped leg before by Hogan. With their backs up Glamorgan took two more wickets in successive overs with Wright claiming a second catch at leg slip to dismiss Ali to give the impressive Hogan his third victim.Three balls later Reed had Alexei Kervezee leg before for 2 as Worcestershire lost four wickets in four overs with only five runs added. Glamorgan’s bowlers did not stop there. Reed claimed his third wicket after lunch bowling wicket-keeper Michael Johnson, while the medium pace of. Jim Allenby bowled Neil Pinner as Worcestershire were reduced to 85 for 7.Hogan bowled Gareth Andrew for 9 before Dean Cosker caught David Lucas in the gully to give Reed his fourth victim as Worcestershire struggled to 102 for 9. Reed rounded off a fine five-wicket haul after bowling Chris Russell.Glamorgan began their innings but the players went off for bad light at 4.30pm and they did not return

West Indies squad for first two Zimbabwe ODIs

Dwayne Bravo (capt), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan
In: Veerasammy Permaul, Denesh Ramdin
Out: Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Devon Thomas

Dwayne Bravo will lead West Indies in the first two Zimbabwe ODIs•Associated Press

Regular captain Darren Sammy and key batsman Chris Gayle have been rested by West Indies for the first two ODIs of their three-match home series against Zimbabwe. Allrounder Dwayne Bravo will lead the team in the matches, which are scheduled for February 22 and 24 in St George’s.Gayle, a WICB release said, had asked to skip the games, while it was decided that Sammy needed a break after playing in every match for West Indies over the past two years. The selectors are yet to name a vice-captain.Wicketkeeper Devon Thomas, who travelled with West Indies to Australia for their just-concluded limited-overs series missed out, making way for Denesh Ramdin to return. Ramdin’s last ODI for West Indies was against New Zealand in July 2012, though he played the World Twenty20 and the Test series against Bangladesh that followed.Fast bowler Jason Holder was also left out, with the selectors going in for the extra spinner in left-armer Veerasammy Permaul who had a fine first-class game for Guyana against Leeward Islands last week, taking a match haul of 9 for 115.Devon Thomas had a poor series in Australia with the bat, totaling 48 in five ODIs. Holder had played only two of those games, claiming the wicket of Aaron Finch in both matches.Veteran batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made a comeback on the Australian tour after a contentious 18-month absence from the team, retained his spot despite getting two ducks in three ODIs in Australia.Marlon Samuels, meanwhile, is still sidelined, currently recovering from the facial injury that he suffered at the Big Bash League after being struck in the face while facing Lasith Malinga.Following the ODI series, West Indies also host Zimbabwe in two Twenty20s and two Tests.