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When Paul Harris left Cape Town nearly five years ago, international recognition was nowhere on the horizon. The presence of Paul Adams and Claude Henderson had blocked his progress at Western Province, and the move up to Centurion and Northerns was made just to get some sort of bowling under his belt. Even then, there were no immediate rewards, but his slow transformation into one of the country’s leading slow bowlers hasnow been recognised by the selection panel, with Harris certain to be handed his Test cap at Newlands on Tuesday.Though he was born in Harare, Harris grew up in Cape Town, and the thought of stepping out onto the turf at a venue where he spent his formative years filled him with excitement. “It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I was brought up in Cape Town. To do a full circle and come back here is just … no words to describe it.”He insisted that he wouldn’t be putting too much pressure on himself going into the game. “I have a job to do,” he said, comfortable in front of the cameras as he tried to fit his large frame into a small chair. “If I get a bit of spin, the aim is to win the game for my country. Otherwise, I’ll do whatever I’ve been doing for the Titans. I’ve been keeping it tight, not giving away too many runs and waiting for the batters to make a mistake.”The Indians enjoy a reputation as great players of slow bowling, though left-arm spinners have enjoyed success against them in the past. “They really are good players of spin bowling, but I’m not worried about what they’re going to do,” said Harris confidently. “I’m worried about what I’m going to do.”Asked if there was anyone in particular that he needed to focus on, Harris mentioned Rahul Dravid. “He’s obviously a serious player, a difficult player.”The man who he credits with his dramatic rise through the ranks is no Shane Warne, or even a Terry Jenner. Richard Pybus, now in charge at the Titans, once coached Pakistan, and Harris calls him “a spin-bowling genius coach”. “He turned my career around, from a left-arm roller to a left-arm spinner.”Harris played eight matches as a Kolpak player last season, but let them know that he hadn’t given up on South Africa. “I made it clear to Warwickshire that I wasn’t signing for good,” he said. “They wanted me to sign a longer contract but I didn’t do it. I want to play for South Africa, and I believe I’m the man for the job. Once my internationalcareer is over, I’d love to play for them again. It’s a great club.”He admitted that he’d given up a “hell of a lot of money” to turn his back on the county. But unlike Henderson, who turned down a chance to represent his country when he was contacted by the selectors soon after Nicky Boje’s sudden retirement, Harris was never riddled with doubt. “If someone asked me if I’d pay 2 million Rand to play for my country, I’d do it,” he said.Harris has 157 wickets at 28.75 from 44 first-class matches, and has also spent the last few seasons working on his batting and fielding. “If it were up to me, I’d open the batting,” he said with a grin. “Hopefully I won’t bat Jack [No.11]. As far as fielding goes, it wasn’t strongest part of my game. But I’ve worked on it.”When Smith does finally throw him the ball during the game, the 28-year-old might glance up into the stands and spot some old mates. The Fish Hoek school he went to is a few miles up the road from Newlands, and if Harris does contribute to a series-winning triumph, the circle that he spoke of will truly be complete.

England women have departed Heathrow to head to Australia in a bid to defend their Ashes title. The four-day match, which will be played at The Bradman Oval, starts on February 15.The team will also play a five-match ODI series, including games at the MCG and the SCG and a Twenty20 game at the MCG. After their tour of Australia, the players head to New Zealand for a five-match ODI series, with all games played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University.”We’re all really looking forward to it,” Edwards said. “We’ve all been working hard over the winter. It’s going to be a tough tour as both Australia and New Zealand are two of the best sides in world cricket, but we’re taking a young talented squad with lots of potential, and we’re fully prepared for it.”England certainly are a young squad: they are taking just three players who took part in the last Ashes on Australian soil: Edwards, Claire Taylor and Lydia Greenway.The side will arrive having not played an outdoor match since last September, although they will link up with five players who have been playing grade, and in Jenny Gunn’s case state, cricket.A standby player and first batting reserve, Ebony Rainford-Brent, has also made arrangements to head out to Australia, with Surrey paying for her flight, and she arrives on Tuesday in South Australia. She will play grade cricket for Port Adelaide, Karen Rolton and Emma Sampson’s team, and will be match-ready should England need her.

Shaun Williams, the Bangladesh assistant coach, has not been offered an extension to his contract, which runs out in June. Williams, who took over as coach after Dav Whatmore’s resignation last year, will continue till his contract expires.Williams went to Bangladesh as national game development manager and had played a key role with the Under-19 and A teams. He was an assistant coach with the national side during the World Cup in the West Indies, during which Bangladesh made it to the Super Eights, and registered victories over India and South Africa.With Bangladesh not able to find a suitable replacement, Williams was appointed as interim coach for the Sri Lanka tour and the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, before fellow Australian Jamie Siddons took charge in October.Bangladesh haven’t had a great run of late, they were whitewashed in both Tests and ODIs on the tours to Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and failed to make an impact during South Africa’s visit as well. They however had something to cheer with 3-0 cleansweep in the ODIs against Ireland.Bangladesh travel to Pakistan in April for a five-match ODI series.

Cricket Australia has decided Stuart MacGill will gain more from fitness work than match practice after ruling him out of New South Wales’ Pura Cup game with Victoria on Friday. MacGill, who struggled during the second Test against Sri Lanka, is battling a knee injury and has a month to prove he is capable of facing India on Boxing Day.MacGill will spend the next two weeks working on the problem and the New South Wales management will consider him for the match against Queensland starting on December 14, leaving him with only one game to show he is ready. Brett Lee has also been handed a four-day rest after winning the Man-of-the-Series prize in the Sri Lanka series, but he will play in the FR Cup fixture against the Bushrangers on Wednesday.While Lee’s workload is being managed ahead of a hectic international summer, Stuart Clark was chosen in both squads. Phil Jaques, who registered back-to-back centuries against Sri Lanka, was due to appear in each match but withdrew from the FR Cup contest with an ear infection. Michael Clarke will miss the limited-overs fixture but will appear in the Pura Cup after batting only twice during the Test series.Victoria have named a 12-man FR Cup squad with Shane Harwood returning from a groin injury and Bryce McGain also included. The pair has replaced Cameron White, who had surgery on Monday to have a pin inserted in the broken bone in his foot, and Gerard Denton, who has an ankle niggle.Victoria FR Cup squad Michael Klinger, Aiden Blizzard, Brad Hodge (capt), David Hussey, Robert Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), John Hastings, Shane Harwood, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes, Allan Wise.New South Wales FR Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Ed Cowan, Simon Katich (capt), Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely, Brad Haddin (wk), Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger.New South Wales Pura Cup squad Phil Jaques, Peter Forrest, Simon Katich (capt), Michael Clarke, Dominic Thornely, Brad Haddin (wk), Grant Lambert, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Beau Casson, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger.

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England outclassed Bermuda by ten wickets after knocking them over for 55 at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. Chasing 56 was never going to pose much of a problem, with James Taylor striking an unbeaten 43 which included eight fours.Bermuda were in self-destruct mode from the moment they chose to bat, losing their first four wickets to the new-ball combination of Steven Finn and James Harris. The two snared two wickets apiece as Bermuda slumped to 29 for 4.Christopher Douglas (21) was the only Bermuda batsman to reach double figures as they folded in 28.5 overs. Eight of the batsmen couldn’t even reach 5 and it was only thanks to the 11 extras that the total passed 50. Liam Dawson, the left-arm spinner, took three wickets and was duly rewarded with the Man-of-the-Match award.
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Australia exposed Nepal’s batting frailties by bowling them out for 110 on course to their 107-run win at the University Sains Malaysia ground. Nepal’s bowlers had done a good job by restricting Australia to 206 before their batsmen crumbled during the run-chase.Nepal’s pursuit got off to an inauspicious start when Mahesh Chhetri was run out by Phillip Hughes and they soon collapsed to 36 for 4 when the right-arm fast bowler James Pattinson prised three wickets. Clive Rose, the left-arm spinner, then took the next three: he had Rom Shreshtha and Sagar Khadka caught by the captain Micheal Hill, before trapping Antim Thapa lbw. Rahul Vishwakarma had some fun out in the middle, smashing a six and three fours to remain unbeaten on 33, before Steven Smith removed the tail-enders with his legspin.Australia had made a solid start, with Hughes and Kirk Pascoe putting on 62 for the first wicket, but the tide turned in Nepal’s favour once Pascoe was bowled by Shrestha. Hill showed aggressive intent, striking a six and a four, but he tried one shot too many against Shrestha.Once Hughes, who was guiding Australia’s innings, was stumped off the bowling of Vishwakarma, Nepal pulled things back. Australia’s middle order all got starts but they could not capitalise on them. Michael Cranmer scored 32 and James Faulkner made 22 before Khadka ripped through the tail to finish with four.
Plucky knocks from Usman Salahuddin and Ali Asad helped Pakistan recover from a perilous 28 for 4 before the bowlers completed the fightback against New Zealand by rounding off a 27-run win.New Zealand’s medium-pacers seemed to have justified their captain’s decision to field, restricting Pakistan to 156 in 47.1 overs. Tim Southee and Trent Boult, the opening bowlers, shared four wickets between them before Anurag Verma picked up two towards the end.However Pakistan’s bowlers were up to the task, reducing New Zealand to 51 for 4 in the 23rd over. Harry Boam led the chase with a patient 38 and his partnership with Greg Morgan took them closer but legspinner Ahmed Shehzad grabbed three wickets to hasten the end.

Skipper Parender Sharma spearheaded Haryana’s run spree on the secondday of their North Zone Ranji Trophy league match against HimachalPradesh at Mandi on Saturday. The 27-year-old right hander slammed anunbeaten 207 as he steered Haryana, who resumed at 240 for three, to atotal of 457 for five declared. In reply Himachal Pradesh were 34 forno loss at close of play.Parender Sharma and Rajesh Puri (55) took their overnight fourthwicket stand to 129 runs off 45 overs before the latter was out. Hefaced 119 balls and hit eight fours. Parender Sharma then foundanother able partner in Sanjay Dalal (61) with whom he added 168 runsfor the fifth wicket off 48 overs. At the declaration, Sharma who hadbatted 490 minutes, had faced 381 balls and hit 23 fours and a six.Rajinder Thakur took three of the wickets that fell but conceded 103runs from 36 overs in the process.Himachal openers Arun Verma (17) and Nischal Gaur (12) batted throughsafely for about an hour and 13.4 overs before bad light stopped play,47 minutes early.

The arbitration panel in the ongoing saga between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) has told the board to hand over the documents to help it decide on the contracts row.Sir David Simmons, the chairman of the panel, has given the WICB up to 10.30am today (Tuesday) to submit its case and supporting documents.”If this time frame is not kept, the panel may have to consider proceeding to determine the issue on such documents as it has at the time,” Simmons said.Those comments cast doubt on assertions made last week by Bruce Aanensen, the new WICB secretary, who claimed all documentation had been submitted six days ago.

The Indian selectors have called up Subramaniam Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu batsman, to the ODI squad as replacement for Gautam Gambhir, who suffered an injury at the nets on Sunday.The board secretary, Niranjan Shah, said Gambhir slipped while batting in the nets and sustained a right groin muscle strain, which, while not serious, is expected to rule him out of action for the next two weeks. Badrinath has not been told how long he will be with the side, but only that he was replacing Gambhir. “I saw in the news that he is out for two weeks, so I presuming I will be there for the next three ODIs,” Badrinath told Cricinfo in Rajkot, where he is representing Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match. The current squad is till the next ODI, on Thursday, and a fresh side will be named for the last two games.To Badrinath the news didn’t really come as a surprise. He has been one of the most consistent batsmen on the domestic circuit for the last two seasons and especially prolific with the India A team over the last three months. He averaged 70.66 in 2005-06 when he was the second-highest run-getter in Ranji, 92 in 2006, 55.91 in 2006-07, and in the current season he has got out only twice and has scored 687 runs. His double-century against South Africa A was an effortless knock, and he also starred in the one-run win over the South Africans last week in the only unofficial ODI of the series that was completed, scoring 88 off 89 balls and taking 4 for 43. Badrinath said he has not been putting pressure on himself by thinking about the selection, despite the prolific run. “It’s tough to be expecting selection every time and you don’t make it to the team. So I’d say it has come at the right time.”Badrinath, 27, had emerged as a compact batsman – a grafter, but has expanded his repertoire of strokes with age. “I have worked really hard on my shots,” said Badrinath. “I have worked on getting stronger, so that I can play the big shots and clear the field, which is a good thing for even Tests.”There was also some speculation over Sachin Tendulkar’s fitness – he did not take the field for Australia’s innings after scoring 79 – but John Gloster, the physio, said he had a mild knee strain that would be assessed in the morning. “He has a little strain and that’s why he did not field today, ” Lalchand Rajput, the team manager, told . “It’s not serious and I guess he would be okay by tomorrow. It’s too trivial a niggle to make him doubtful for the next match.”

“We are very confident,” said Trinidad and Tobago team manager Colin Borde at the end of a three-day practice match at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva.The match was in preparation for the 2008 Carib Beer Challenge final against Jamaica next week (April 24-28) in Jamaica, and Borde believes the national squad are ready for the contest after a two-week break for the series between West Indies and Sri Lanka.”We trained for three days last week and the guys have been playing in this three-day match here and I think they will be ready for the final,” Borde said. “We are the defending champions and the guys know what it is all about and I am not worried …I am confident that they can get the job done.”T&T, who defeated Barbados in the final last year at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre, will have to travel to Jamaica to take on this year’s Carib Beer Series champions and will be without the services of West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo.Borde said: “Denesh Ramdin will be available and we are confident we have good players who can step up (in the absence of Bravo). Darren Bravo, who scored 153 in the practice match, had a good knock and he is an exciting prospect and [Adrian] Barath had a dream debut season, but it has been rough this year, but I am sure he knows what it takes … he is a hard-working youngster and he knows what has to be done and I think he will come good.”Speaking about the rest of the team, Borde said: “Amit [Jaggernauth] is now our strike bowler and we have [Rayad] Emrit, [Richard] Kelly, Ravi Rampaul and Dave Mohammed, so I think we have some good bowling options.”Borde is also confident that captain Daren Ganga can recover from his bad patch of form this season. “He is a big-game player and I am not worried … he will step up for the occasion. He [Ganga] had a good knock today and he is in good touch…we have what it takes and we are confident of victory. The guys are going back to their clubs to continue playing more competitive cricket over the weekend. We will be ready for Jamaica.”

Cricket South Africa has agreed to a request from the team management that all members of the Test squad preparing for the tour of India should be rested for the semi-finals and final of the MTN Domestic Championship. The semi-finals are to be played this Friday and Sunday, with the final next Wednesday (March 19).Exceptions will be made in the cases of JP Duminy and Charl Langeveldt as neither has played any Test cricket this summer. The same applies to Makhaya Ntini, who has only played in a limited number of ODIs this season, and Ashwell Prince, who is not a member of the ODI squad. Contracted players who have not been chosen for the India series will all be available for their franchises.In effect, this means that both Ntini and Robin Peterson, who is not a contracted player and has only played one Test in 2007-08, can turn out for the Warriors in Friday’s MTN semi-final against the Eagles at St. George’s.The Cape Cobras will be able to call up Prince, Duminy, Langeveldt and Herschelle Gibbs for their semi-final against the Titans at SuperSport Park, while the Titans will have Andre Nel and Albie Morkel at their disposal.