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An unbeaten 103 by Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain, helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to a magnificent five-wicket victory against Habib Bank in Karachi. Set a stiff target of 325, SNGPL, resuming on 118 for 3, rode to victory on the back of two substantial partnerships – 101 for the fourth wicket between Misbah and Sufyan Munir (94), and 98 for the fifth between Misbah and Saleem Mughal (53). Mughal got out with 40 runs still required for victory, but Misbah was then joined by Mohammad Salman, who made an unbeaten 22 and ensured that there were no hiccups on the home stretch.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) swept to a convincing 105-run victory against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the National Stadium in Karachi. Requiring 310 for victory, KRL were bundled out for 204 by PIA’s three-pronged pace attack of Fazl-e-Akbar, Umar Gul and Najaf Shah. Together, the three fast bowlers took eight of the ten wickets, with Gul and Shah taking three each. Akbar and Gul did the early damage, dismissing the KRL openers with only 29 on the board. Zulfiqar Jan, the wicketkeeper, top-scored with 35 but none of the other batsmen got past 30 as KRL slumped to defeat despite taking a 120-run first-innings lead.The weather-affected match between National Bank and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) ended in a draw, with less than two innings being completed. Replying to National Bank’s meagre total of 161, PTCL made 190 for 7 before play was called off. Asim Kamal, the left-handed batsman, top-scored with 74 and helped their team secure the first-innings points.Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) took the honours in their drawn match against Services Industries at Faisalabad. Replying to WAPDA’s first-innings total of 446 for 5 declared, Services Industries were bundled out for 280, 17 short of their follow-on target. The star for WAPDA was Kashif Raza, a 26-year-old right-arm medium-fast bowler. Just one day shy of his 26th birthday, Raza celebrated by taking 8 for 84, his best first-class figures, as the Services Industries were bowled out despite spirited resistance by Khurram Shehzad (71) and Faisal Khan (61). With only a couple of hours left in the game, WAPDA decided to go in for batting practice rather than enforce the follow-on, and finished on 137 for 4.

Australia 236 for 3 (Martyn 65*, Gilchrist 54, Symonds 48, Katich 43) beat New Zealand 233 (Fleming 37, Astle 37, Lee 2-41) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

James Hopes enjoyed a fine debut with a tight spell and Craig McMillan’s wicket at Wellington© Getty Images

Australia’s rampant batsmen completed the most lopsided match of an already tilted series with 15.4 overs to spare at Wellington. New Zealand’s bowlers were treated like club trundlers as they were driven and sliced all over – and in one case out of – the Basin Reserve in a brutal performance.Simon Katich latched on to anything off line and managed to briefly outscore Adam Gilchrist, who responded to the slight with an explosive 54 off 37 balls. Damien Martyn glided to 65 not out and Andrew Symonds smashed straight and hard, facing the same number of deliveries as Gilchrist for 48. It was an unfair thrashing that guided them to a 4-0 lead and New Zealand’s inexperienced bowlers will need hypnosis to forget it.Stephen Fleming’s side was forced into a number of changes for poor form and injury, but the recruits and reshuffling made little difference once he and Nathan Astle had disappeared with a pair of 37s. Their total of 233 seemed competitive for five overs, when his bowlers were set upon like picnic lunches. “They once again demolished us,” Fleming said. “We’re probably playing a tempo that is quicker than we’ve ever played before. We’re getting a drubbing and we’ve got to learn lessons from that.”Standing in for his eighth match as captain, Gilchrist entered it with scores of 4, 0 and 18, but he banished the blemishes with some trademark thrashing after Katich had been the chief plunderer. Lance Hamilton had waited 31 years for his debut and the early signs were promising: his pace was sharp and the ball was moving. After three overs he had given up 19, and Katich further upended his moment with four boundaries in his next one as he feasted on the slightest glitch. Hamilton gushed 67 off eight overs; Jeff Wilson was squeezed for 67 from nine.Wilson looked equally unsure of where to bowl once Katich sent him for three fours in his opening six balls. It was a heavyweight-bantamweight mismatch that Gilchrist highlighted when he drop-kicked Wilson over the mid-on stand and the ball bounced along an adjoining road. Spear tackles cannot have hurt as much for an All Black with 60 Tests.Fortunately Chris Cairns was finally hollered for and he took care of Katich, who nicked to Brendon McCullum (78 for 1). It is hard to comprehend why Cairns is held back to fourth bowler and seventh batsman when he makes crucial contributions even when off-colour. While Gilchrist smacked Wilson at the other end, Cairns was making Martyn play, miss and leave. Nobody else managed it.Wilson was given four overs when three for 29 should have been enough, but he had reason for something other than an embarrassed smile when Gilchrist top-edged and was caught by Craig McMillan (114 for 2). Even Gilchrist, the Man of the Match, was probably relieved he had given Wilson his first wicket since 1993.The tempo of the first 15 overs was maintained by Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds once Gilchrist departed. Symonds blasted three sixes and four fours before hitting to Wilson, and Martyn finished off the chase with little sweat.Cairns, the only bowler spared cheek-reddening punishment, had helped fling New Zealand from an even more disappointing total after they started well for the first time in the series. But the biggest problem was that no batsman could manage a half-century and four were becalmed in the 30s. Cairns was one of the offenders but his brief was quick runs, and he hit two big sixes, including one over the sightscreen off Lee.Australia employed an attack of four fast bowlers as well as the allrounder James Hopes, but their start was sleepy. “We were determined even though we’d won the series to come out aggressively,” Gilchrist said. They have struggled to rise for dead-rubber games and, once again, there was urgency lacking before they snapped into action once the fielding restrictions eased, snuffing out the threats of Astle and Fleming.The pair reached 84 from 17 overs but just as Australia started to get nervous they were removed. New Zealand’s pace slowed once they departed and the middle order struggled to lift the rate until Cairns arrived. Hopes, who went for only 38 from 10 overs, was particularly responsible for the containment, and sealed a special memory from his debut with the lbw of Craig McMillan in his eighth over (163 for 5).Australia had no trouble in their reply and the result was too easy against a side ranked No. 2. New Zealand must win the final match at Napier on Saturday to hold the ranking, but it would be a hollow achievement after being comprehensively outplayed.

Darren Gough – the door re-opens

After missing out on the tours to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Darren Gough has been given a chance to stake his claim for a place in England’s one-day squad for the Caribbean, after being invited to join a training session with England’s other one-day specialists at Loughborough next month.Gough, 33, retired from Test cricket mid-way through last summer’s series against South Africa, because of a long-term knee injury that could not stand up to the rigours of five-day matches. But he still has plenty to offer in ODIs, and was Man of the Match in his most recent international, the NatWest Series final at Lord’s last July. He recently joined Essex from Yorkshire in a bid for a fresh start to his career.After being overlooked for the first half of England’s winter campaign, Gough will undergo an initial assessment by the ECB medical team at the National Academy at Loughborough in the next few days. He is then scheduled to link up with other members of England’s ODI squad for a two-day training camp at the ECB National Academy on March 9 and 10.”Having reviewed our one-day performances in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and bearing in mind the busy international programme in the next six months, we are conscious of the fact that we may need to rest our younger bowlers and rotate the seamers accordingly,” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, who had been the subject of heavy criticism from Gough in an interview with a Sunday newspaper last month.”Darren will bring considerable experience to the squad if selected,” added Graveney. “We want to assess his form and fitness before deciding whether he should fill one of the two vacancies we currently have for seam bowlers in our one-day squad to the Caribbean.”England’s Test squad flies out to the Caribbean next Wednesday to begin a four-Test tour, which will be followed by seven ODIs.

For most people the festive period is a time for a break and taking things easy but for two of the behind the scenes members of staff at Somerset County Cricket Club this has not been the case.Far from taking things easy, the Head of Injury Prevention Darren Veness and Andy Hurry the Fitness and Performance Analyst at the club have been reflecting on what has been achieved so far in the closed season and planning for the period leading up to March 24th when all of the Somerset players report back.In the period before Christmas the pair told me that the players had all concentrated on two main areas of their fitness. Firstly they had worked on setting up a good fitness base by developing their aerobic condition and muscle endurance, and then they had concentrated on resistance training building up strength, which included interval training.After Christmas the players would be concentrating on functional exercise, with specific training that was related to cricket related movement.They told me: "What we both do is of course very important to the players, but it is only a small part of their overall training. The most important aspect of what they do during the closed season is the skills level, and this is done with Kevin Shine and Mark Garaway.""We need specifically fit individuals to play cricket we don’t need to try to create bodybuilders! We work very closely with the coaches and make training adjustments that concentrate on their requirements, we have to run concurrently with their specific skills development," they continued."We try to get the players recovered from the rigours of last season and then fit for the next one, and we only have a relatively short period available for us to do itfrom mid October until mid March," Darren told me.He continued: "Over the last few seasons there has been an increasing awareness of individuals specific requirements because of the research into the workload that they undertake."Andy told me: "We’re trying to make them self reliant, fitter and stronger to try to ensure that we have a full squad of players to choose from. We are trying to introduce a new culture which is all about getting top performance."Darren continued: "Track and field events in athletics and soccer have been into this area for many years. Cricket is still playing `catch up’, but here at Somerset we are looking to set the pace among the first class counties. We are not looking to follow trends we are looking at the best practice and innovations and bringing the best of it to Somerset."When the players report back they will quickly forget the holiday and get into their new schedules that are geared towards producing them to peak performance for the start of the cricket season in April which is exactly one hundred days away!

The Australians narrowly escaped a second limited-overs defeat of the week as their contest with Northamptonshire – the tourists’ final warm-up match ahead of their NatWest Series opener – ended in a tie at Wantage Road.Damien Martyn’s unbeaten 101 boosted the tourists to 234-3 in 50 overs – the innings interrupted three times by blustery showers – and Northants were 234 all out in reply, with last man Jason Brown run out attempting the winning run off the final ball of a pulsating game in front of an excited full-house crowd of 4,500.Martyn and Mark Waugh (88 not out) came to the rescue with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand worth 157 in 27 overs after Australia, put in to bat, lost acting-skipper Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Michael Bevan for 77.Gilchrist bottom-edged an attempted pull at Darren Cousins into his stumps, and Cousins’ next ball trapped Symonds leg-before as he pushed half-forward.When Bevan chipped Tony Penberthy to mid-wicket the county side held the advantage, but Martyn (131 balls, 5 fours) and Waugh (89 balls, 8 fours) prevented any further alarms and gave the Australian bowlers something to defend.Northants’ run-chase was led by Mike Hussey, the Western Australia batsman whose central contract with the A.C.B. was not renewed last month. He made 73 from 106 deliveries and put on 64 with Alec Swann (24) to give his adopted side every chance of pulling off a victory.Michael Bevan tilted the balance back in favour of Australia by dismissing Swann and Hussey in the space of four balls, and the game continued to ebb and flow until Northants arrived at the last over, bowled by Ian Harvey, needing three runs to win with three wickets in hand.Lesroy Weekes scored two from the first ball and was run out off the second, and Harvey only conceded a solitary bye after that as Northants squandered their chance to emulate Middlesex by lowering the Australian colours.

Newcastle United are on course to avoid relegation from the Premier League and will have the chance to kick on in the top-flight next term.

They are nine points clear of the bottom three and PIF appear set to splash the cash in order to take Eddie Howe’s side up another notch.

The Chronicle recently reported that the club are set to make strides in the transfer market in the summer and named Ryan Gravenberch as a potential target.

This has not come out of thin air, though, as PIF were touted with an interest in the Dutch central midfielder earlier this season.

Get it done

The Magpies owners must now get the money out to seal a deal for Gravenberch in the summer as he would be an excellent signing for the short and long-term future of the club.

De Telegraaf journalist Marcel van der Kraan recently heaped praise on the midfielder.

He told the BBC: “This is maybe why he stood out so early and why Ajax picked him, with his great skills and technique, and brought him to the academy. They could easily put him three or four years above his own age. That’s when people started to find out this kid was only 12. They thought he is going to be a world-beater.

“This happens to almost every kid who is tall and of Surinam background. He gets that label – ‘this is the new Frank Rijkaard’.”

His former youth coach, Brian Tevreden, also said that he is a “better version of Pogba” and his form for Ajax at such a young age shows that he is well on his way to being just that. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.16 in the Eredivisie this term, winning 58% of his duels and contributing with two goals and five assists.

Gravenberch caught the eye as a teenager in the Champions League in the last two campaigns. The Dutchman averaged 4.3 tackles and interceptions per game, whilst scoring once and winning 7.0 duels per match last season, whilst he has made 2.6 tackles and interceptions and won 5.9 duels this time around.

Pogba, meanwhile, has struggled in the competition this term. He has averaged 1.4 tackles and interceptions per game, whilst failing to contribute with a single goal or assist in six outings and winning 4.2 duels per match – recording a dismal SofaScore rating of 6.55.

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This suggests that the Dutch teen is already performing to a higher level in Europe’s premier competition. To be putting in consistently brilliant displays at the age of 19 shows that he has immense potential and the ability to showcase his talent in the here and now.

Ajax reportedly want £30m (€35m) for his services and Newcastle, for the reasons stated above, must put themselves in the race to land him.

AND in other news, Body blow: Craig Hope “told” worrying NUFC update that’ll leave supporters fuming…

	Virender Sehwag appeared in contention but has been trimmed from India’s 13-man squad for Sydney © AFP

Sydney, by all accounts a city bubbling with life, has recently been associated with the dead Test. Visiting teams usually come here for the final Test, with the series gone. Don Bradman has a stand named after him in the SCG, as do other legends like Bill O’Reilly and Monty Noble, but there is reason enough to build a new one named Pride. Normally that’s the only thing left to play for once the teams land here.A large section of the bucket-seats are painted green but white would be more appropriate, considering how often Australia have applied the whitewash at this venue. England were left pale last year (5-0), Pakistan in 2005 (3-0), Zimbabwe in 2003 (2-0), South Africa in 2002 (3-0), West Indies in 2001 (5-0) and India in 2000 (3-0). It’s 13 years since Australia lost a ‘live’ Test here. This is the theatre where dead horses are flogged.Things are different this time. India are down but far from out and couldn’t have chosen a better ground to begin their fightback. Their eight previous Tests at the SCG have included four draws and a win and the surface is usually one that assists spin. There’s talk of this being a more lively pitch but the curator, Tom Parker, said it would be a sporting track that “changes as the game goes along”. Rain, which is forecast, could play a part too.India thrived on the pitch that was laid out in 2004. They amassed 705, built on a towering 241 not out from Sachin Tendulkar and a magical 178 from VVS Laxman. Tendulkar will also have fond memories of his 148 back in 1991-92, an innings which Richie Benaud called the best he had seen in Australia. There was a bit to cheer in 2000 too, when the then prime minister John Howard thanked Laxman for making his day.”When you come to foreign venues and do well, it has a bearing on what happens later,” Ricky Ponting said of India’s previous heroics here. “They scored 700-something last time but it’s a fresh game. They are capable of doing that but our plans and execution need to ensure they don’t. Take the MCG away and they’ve made a truckload of runs against Pakistan. Everyone has a bad Test. They’re an ultra-talented batting line-up.”It’s that ultra-talented bunch who may be currently giving Anil Kumble some sleepless nights. So often has the word “suffocated” been uttered in press conferences that you would think they were playing in a gas chamber. “Uptight” was how Kumble described them and wished for a more fluent display here. He’s asked them to stay away from practise and try to unwind instead.”Some people feel the more you are seen on the field, the better prepared you are,” Kumble said. “I’m someone who has played this game and understand what it takes. It’s about switching off, forgetting what’s happened in the past. One hit in the middle won’t make you a good player. It’s all in the mind at this level. So it’s important that we’re tuned in after the break.”The uncertainty surrounding Zaheer Khan meant that there was no way Kumble could reveal the playing XI. Zaheer’s niggling landing-heel problem cropped up during practice and made him a doubtful starter. He went to a local Sydney hospital for an MRI scan and the team management was awaiting results before taking a final decision. He missed the third and final Test against Pakistan recently with the same injury. If he’s ruled out, Irfan Pathan is likely to play.One batsman who had a bigger break than the rest was Virender Sehwag, but though he was one of the three batsmen to pad up first, he was eventually left out of the 13. It had been exactly a year since he figured in a Test and the temptation could have been to push him in to disturb the Australian bowlers’ rhythm. But with Sehwag left out and the decision to open with Rahul Dravid not a success in Melbourne, it could be Yuvraj Singh that misses out as India re-jig the combination. In that case, Pathan could even be asked to open the batting.Sachin Tendulkar was forced to practice indoors because of an allergy picked up in Melbourne. “He did so [practice indoors] because he wanted to make sure that he doesn’t aggravate it out in the sun,” said MV Sridhar, the media manager, talking to . “He should be absolutely fine by evening. We don’t expect him to face any discomfort when he turns out in the second Test.”Australia have no such problems. They will play the same XI and are in sight of equalling their record for the most Test wins on the trot. They’ve won eight of the last 10 Tests in Sydney and possess a bowling attack that’s growing in confidence with every hour.Ponting is talking of “600 contests they need to win in a day” and Mitchell Johnson has been practising his wrist position using a ball that’s partly white and partly red. The pitch might have something in it for the faster bowlers and both Stuart Clark and Brett Lee are local boys who would know the conditions. India need to pull out something special to inject some life into this series. Otherwise Sydney could be witness to some funereal scenes after all.Teams
Australia 1 Phil Jaques, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Stuart Clark.India (likely) 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Rahul Dravid, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble (capt), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan/Irfan Pathan, 11 RP Singh.

Opening batsmen

Phil Jaques already has two Test matches under his belt © Getty Images

He’s been hot for years on the domestic scene but has gone cold after a couple of centuries against England at the start of their tour. An aggressive left-hander, Jaques stormed into the one-day side with 94 on debut in 2005-06, but was promptly dropped in favour of the incumbent Simon Katich. He’s played two Tests and four ODIs so is already in the selectors’ thoughts.
The Jaques push from New South Wales is strong, but the voices in the west are demanding the promotion of Chris Rogers. A conversation with David Boon, the Australia selector, where Rogers was told to bat all day instead of aiming always to attack, has led to outstanding results. He has scored 799 Pura Cup runs this summer, including 279 at Perth and a century on a tricky Hobart pitch, and worked on his slow-bowling play with Monty Panesar during an off-season stint at Northamptonshire. Australia’s Test players know him too – he scored 219 against them when at Leicestershire in 2005.
Opening is his favourite spot and after starring for Australia in the middle order during his first two summers he deserves to be asked where he wants to camp.Spin bowling

Dan Cullen’s progress has slowed after a blistering start to his career © Getty Images

Replacing Shane Warne is going to be impossible, at least in the short to medium term, but Stuart MacGill is the most qualified after being the perennial understudy. His 198 Test wickets at 27.20 are an impressive return and he has the second-best strike-rate of any Australian with more than 100 Test scalps, although he was overlooked for the Ashes for the second series in a row. A knee injury and a club suspension for abuse disrupted his summer and at 35 his international career is teetering. It could be over unless Australia need him desperately, so he might be back in a couple of Tests.
Young and critically acclaimed, Dan Cullen shares the same mentor as Shane Warne. Terry Jenner spends hours working on Cullen’s offspin in Adelaide and he made his Test debut alongside Warne and MacGill in Bangladesh. He burst on to the state scene with 43 wickets three summers ago, surprising people with his control and a version of the doosra, but his average has expanded (27 wickets at 46 in 2005-06 and 3 at 76 this season) and he also struggled during a stint at Somerset. It is a crucial year.
Cullen Bailey, a legspinner, is another in Jenner’s South Australia stable and has been given a licence to attack under Darren Lehmann’s captaincy. He’s only 22 so don’t predict miracles, but he has shown enough to be a contender as he matures. Bailey has captured 17 wickets at 40 in four Pura Cup games this season and will battle for recognition with the New South Wales pair of Beau Casson and Nathan Hauritz.The fast men

Mitchell Johnson has spent time with the team after being named 12th man for all five Ashes Tests © Getty Images

The next McGrath will soon be the now McGrath. Five hundred Test wickets might be a bit much to ask for, but three or four years of solid service will help the transition while Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait develop into frontliners.
A bouncy left-armer, Mitchell Johnson may benefit most from McGrath’s departure as it will open up a space. Johnson has spent the Ashes series travelling the country as the 12th man after he was superb at the Champions Trophy and the Malaysian tri-series. Now he waits for a Test chance.
The shoulder injury that stopped Shaun Tait’s progress after he played two Tests on the Ashes tour is fixed and he is back to slinging reverse-swinging yorkers and un-playable short balls. Like Johnson, he has been in Test squads this summer. Like Johnson, he hasn’t found an opening.
A bricklayer before last season, Ben Hilfenhaus has quickly built himself an impressive reputation as a swing bowler. A fast man from Tasmania is a rare breed – the last one to play a Test was Greg Campbell in 1989 – and he now needs to prove he can get consistent wickets away from Bellerive Oval.Can you think of any others? Comment here.

Otago ensured Auckland would start the domestic one-day season in much the same way it completed the last, with a 35-run home win in Alexandra. Auckland has been a powerhouse side in four-day cricket for the past few seasons but its one-day form has been awful. Jonathan Trott was the star on his Shield debut with 78 in Otago’s 238 for seven from its 50 overs. The South African, who has struggled in the State Championship, was backed by a run-a-ball knock of 65 from Nathan McCullum. Both also took two wickets – Trott’s coming for 16 runs in four overs, McCullum’s for 25 in 10. Auckland fell to 203 all out in 49 overs, despite Rob Nicol’s 60.Wellington embarrassed a star-studded Canterbury at Rangiora. Canterbury’s top three were all recently discarded New Zealand batsmen and suffered varying fortunes as the home team struggled through to 214 for 6 in its 50 overs. Openers Michael Papps (92 off 139 balls) and Nathan Astle (67 off 102) took Canterbury through to 152 before the first wicket. However their slow scoring rate put too much pressure on the incoming batsmen, who all struggled to get started. Craig Mcmillan was one of them, his 2 off 5 balls doing nothing to help his cause for a national recall. Iain O’Brien was the most miserly of the Wellington bowlers, taking 1 for 28 from his 10 overs. In reply Wellington seldom looked troubled, making a mockery of Canterbury’s turgid scoring by winning by seven wickets with more than six overs to spare. Michael Parlane (80*) and Matthew Bell (54*) were undefeated at day’s end.Northern Districts batted first at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, and its 257 was far too many for home team Central Districts to chase. They were bowled out for 173 with 16 overs left.

Kenya’s preparations for the Intercontinental Cup tie against Namibia at Windhoek are in chaos following the ICC’s decision not to allow the match to be postponed. And while Sharad Ghai, the Kenyan Cricket Association chairman, maintained that the game would go ahead, the signs on the ground in Nairobi indicated that it could rapidly descend into farce.The 31-man squad named a fortnight ago was trimmed to 17 within days when the 14 striking players refused to allow themselves to be included, insisting that their grievances with the KCA had not been resolved.And despite assurances from Ghai that the rump of the squad has been training, sources on the ground say that is far from the case. Although Mudassar Nazir, the hastily-appointed replacement for Andy Moles as national coach, has been doing all he can to try to bring the players together, he has been facing almost insurmountable odds. Earlier in the week it emerged that the bulk of Kenya’s coaches had been sent home as KCA funds ran out, leaving Mudassar fighting a lone battle.Today, Ghai revealed that the two Mombasa-based players have not joined the rest of the squad, and one of them when questioned admitted that he had not been approached about training, adding he was unaware there was a game at the end of the month as he thought it had been postponed until April.Ghai also told the Nation that he was attempting to contact Mohammed Sheikh, the former Under-19 captain who is thought to be in Australia and has not played in Kenya for almost four years. Cricinfo understands that he is playing grade cricket and as things stands has little interest in returning home at the moment.The two UK-based players – Ragheb Aga, the allrounder who captained Kenya in their last outing, and wicketkeeper Abeed Janmohamed – would, Ghai insisted, join the squad a week before it left for Windhoek on February 22. The only problem with that is that Cricinfo believes neither has been officially notified of their selection and it is far from clear whether they would be able to travel – probably at their own expense – at such short notice.Further confusion came when the latest squad was released to The Nation with some non-striking members of the original 31-man line-up omitted and a new one – Naqeeb Ali Mohammed – added.”We will just go with what we have,” Ghai said. “I’m sure the boys will go in with their heads high and make a fight of it.”As things stand at the moment, even getting them to the the airport in a fortnight’s time would represent a major achievement.