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Brad Hodge has signed a four-deal with Victoria, which will see him stay with the state until at least 2009-10. The move ended the chance of a surprise switch to New South Wales after they offered him a contract at the end of the season.Hodge, 30, who is currently playing for Lancashire, said he was looking forward to finishing his state days with the Bushrangers. “Victoria is my home, I have established my career here and it has provided me with the opportunity to chase my dream of representing my country.”He said the offer from New South Wales was a good one and deserved to be considered. “However, I am looking forward to furthering my career in Victoria,” he said. “I see some exciting times ahead, both as an individual and as part of the Bushrangers.”The signing of Hodge is another positive for the Bushrangers following the decision of Jon Moss to stay, and the coach Greg Shipperd was delighted his No. 3 was remaining in Melbourne. “Brad is an integral part of our team,” he said. “He has been the backbone of our batting line up for many years and his consistency and leadership are respected and admired by all.”Hodge has been included in Australia’s Test squad for the Ashes series and will join up with the side in July after his stint at Old Trafford.

Australia Women 197 for 6 (Jones 54, Cunneen 39) beat New Zealand Women 196 for 6 (Tiffen 60*, Fahey 41) by four wickets
ScorecardAustralia easily won the final game of the Rose Bowl, beating New Zealand by four wickets to complete a comprehensive 5-1 series win.Set a modest target of 197, Australia achieved their target in the 49th over, with Alexandra Blackwell unbeaten at the end on 22. The chase had been set up by a 63-run second-wicket partnership between Shannon Cuneen (39) and Karen Rolton (31). Mavis Jones, with a fluent 54 off 55 balls, then made sure that nothing further went wrong.New Zealand’s innings began with a doughty innings of 41, off 81 balls, by Maria Fahey, who held one end up but could never quite get the momentum going. Haidee Tiffen made 60 off 83 balls to propel them to 196, but in the end, it wasn’t enough.Rolton was named player of the series, finishing with a total of 394 runs – including one century and three fifties.

Team Canada newsflashWednesday:Canada played the University team “Tucks” — current League Champions in a warm up game.Canada scored 254/7 – top scorers were Joe Harris with 65* and Fazal Samad 46 . Tukkies scored 203 /10 in 45 overs, after falling to 59 for 5. Sanjay Thuraisingam took 3 wickets.Thursday:Team Canada contingent and coach Gus Logie held a coaching clinic in a township school.The Tour Manager and Captain attended a luncheon hosted by the Mayor of Johannesburg.Team Canada attended a great reception hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner.Friday:Canada plays in its first Day/Night (warm up) game.

India will be up against not only a more determined home side but alsoa miserable record at the ground when they go into the second Testagainst Zimbabwe starting in Harare on Friday, chasing a rare serieswin on foreign soil.India have bitter memories of this ground having lost the one-off Testin 1998. Even in Zimbabwe’s inaugural Test in 1992, they had tostruggle to earn a draw. On the other hand, three of the five Testwins for the hosts have come on this ground.But to say that the Indians are on a high after their comprehensiveeight-wicket win in the first Test in Bulawayo would be to state theobvious. The visitors have one of the most balanced sides in years andalmost all of them are in top form.The first win outside the sub-continent in 15 years has done wondersfor their confidence and, as some of the players said after the win inBulawayo, they would go all out for a 2-0 series win.Having said that, the hosts too have prepared well for this Test withcaptain Heath Streak and coach Carl Rackemann saying they haveidentified their mistakes in the first Test and have modified theirstrategy. Zimbabwe was very capable of surprising the Indians, both ofthem stressed.The Indians are most likely to include Hemang Badani as an opener ashis statemate Sadagoppan Ramesh has not yet recovered from a backinjury. Badani, who will make his debut if included, has never openedan innings in his first class career but has impressed with his soundtechnique.The left hander made full use of the opportunity given to him in thetour match against CFX Academy when he scored 35 attractive runs as anopener before retiring. On the other hand, Ramesh has struggled onthis tour with scores of just 2 and 17 in the Bulawayo Test.Another Indian who needs to come good with the bat is skipper SouravGanguly. After a nightmarish series against Australia back home,Ganguly has so far failed to click on this tour also. Though he hassucceeded as a captain, Ganguly knows he needs to get the runs on theboard to silence his critics.With conditions once again favourable to fast bowling, the trio ofJavagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra would be expected tocome up with a performance similar to that in the first Test.Ganguly yesterday cleared all doubts regarding Nehra’s participationin the match saying the left-arm medium pacer from Delhi willdefinitely play. Nehra had put in an impressive performance in thefirst Test claiming five wickets including that of Andy Flower in boththe innings. But he was stopped from bowling for the rest of theinnings for damaging the pitch in his follow-through.Zimbabwe, who were handicapped by the absence of Streak and HenryOlonga in the Indian second innings at Bulawayo, would be bolstered bythe presence of fast bowler Travis Friend, who missed the first Testdue to injury and is all set to make his debut here.”Friend is fully fit for the game. He looked good in the nets todayand is bowling with great pace. He would make it this time," Streaksaid.Streak himself is raring to go though he is still to be declared fullyfit but Olonga will miss the Test. Streak said his team had carefullystudied the mistakes in the first Test and was working hard to rectifythem.”We have realised where we had our downfall and hopefully we will getthings right in the Test,” he said. “We let Harbhajan Singh get awaywith a bit more than he should have. Now with a better balanced side,without any injuries, hopefully we won’t let that happen again. Welacked patience while batting in our first innings and the guysmistimed their shots. We have to address that in this Test,” Streaksaid.Both teams expressed satisfaction with the pitch which seems a littlemore spinner-friendly than the one at Bulawayo though the fast bowlerswill continue to enjoy an advantage.The teams:India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sunder Das, SadagoppanRamesh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hemang Badani,Samir Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, DebashishMohanty, Ashish Nehra, Sairaj Bahutule and Ajit Agarkar.Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (captain), Dion Ebrahim, Guy Whittall, StuartCarlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, BrightonWatambwa, Andy Blignaut, Travis Friend, Brian Murphy, Gavin Rennie(12th man).Umpires: Ashoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe).Match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).

ScorecardDawid Malan helped build Middlesex’s lead•Getty Images

When Dawid Malan returned from a 10-week lay-off after breaking a bone in his hand while fielding on the first day of the season, Middlesex head coach Richard Scott had one “simple” request upon his return: “Look, go big.” Truth be told, it did not need to be said, least of all to Malan – a player worthy of the selectors’ eye who at times has been guilty of wanting “it” too much.In the context of this relatively low scoring encounter, on a Lord’s surface that started in favour of the spinners and looks set to finish at the mercy of the spinners, Malan has produced two commendable knocks in both situations against a Sussex attack that have offered little respite.His first innings 93 showed his capacity to rebuild – something he has developed – while his century today (a second of the season), off 172 balls and featuring seven fours, showcased his match-awareness. He has now scored a century against Sussex in the Championship, NatWest Blasdt and Royal London Cup this season.Sitting unbeaten on 118 – with a season average of over 100 – he has helped Middlesex to a lead of 260 by ensuring his side had batted the day out. There is some rain around tomorrow morning which might force Middlesex to declare, but there is also the very real possibility that Sussex whittle out the remaining two wickets for not many to establish themselves as favourites.That the game finds itself at this juncture is down to the fact that neither team has let the game slide. In the grand scheme of things, Middlesex have set out to do what they wanted: to bat out the whole day and establish a lead in excess of 250, ebbing away the Sussex morale in the process. But it was an objective that the visitors did everything in their power to prevent.In the first two sessions, each time Middlesex looked to put daylight between them and Sussex, skipper Ed Joyce and his bowlers landed telling blows to keep them in check.Sam Robson continued his pro-active approach from last night to move to 77 at an impressive strike-rate of 73.33, before he nicked the left-arm spinner Ashar Zaidi behind, before the Sussex man changed ends and took out Nick Compton’s leg stump.Then Steve Magoffin, after getting Nick Gubbins caught behind – the ball seemingly coming off the opener’s sleeve – registered his 500th first class wicket when a fine delivery drew James Franklin forward and left him, to Joyce at first slip.Perhaps the moment that best highlighted the fight from Sussex came in the dregs of the middle session. With Malan and John Simpson taking the Middlesex towards a lead of 150 with a partnership of 78 from the dismissal of Franklin, Joyce turned to Ollie Robinson from the Pavilion End. But, instead of the seam-bowling allrounder marking his full run-up, Robinson took five paces back, at an angle, and turned for what would be the first of 31 deliveries of off-spin delivered today.At the time, there was an element of confusion. While he has bowled off-spin previously this season, the game was still in the balance and the move to a bit-part spinner, when Zaidi had excelled from that very end and Luke Wells was causing discomfort with his leg spin, seemed odd. However, come stumps, it had earned him three wickets.It is a bit more than a party trick: Robinson had spent most of his childhood as an off-break bowler, only turning to pace “in the last four or five years”. While he mostly works on his seam bowling – a necessity given the number of injuries Sussex have in that department – he does take time to practice spin, including this morning when he became aware that it may be required as the day drew on.Malan felt that Robinson turned the ball more than anyone today. “Some say you never lose it,” joked the bowling allrounder/part-time off-spinner at close, while also wondering if he had missed a trick by not continuing with it as a full-time pursuit. He has had to take on a great deal of the fast bowling workloads as one of the few still fit. “To be honest, my shins are absolutely killing me!”His first wicket was probably the best of the lot, drifting the ball perfectly onto a length that drew Simpson forward: the ball then turning down the slope and catching the left-hander’s edge for a routine catch to Joyce at first slip. The second, from over the wicket this time, saw James Harris work the ball around the corner to Chris Nash at leg-slip for a most unwanted pair. And it would be Robinson who would bring the day to a close, returning after five overs of pace with the new ball to trap Toby Roland-Jones lbw, thus ending a 77-run partnership.Roland-Jones cut a disgruntled figure, remaining still at the crease, even as the bails had been the removed, shocked by the decision that came his way. There was little sympathy from the Sussex fielders, who believed they had cut Malan off on 93 for the second time in this match when he attempted a dab sweep off Zaidi.The fielders populated the middle of the pitch in appeal and premature celebration, believing there was some bat through to Ben Brown, who had an excellent day behind the stumps in testing conditions.

Marcus Trescothick is adamant his decision to retire from international cricket is binding, contrary to the impression he may have given during an interview on Sky Sports News. Trescothick told the channel he missed the buzz of playing for his country “every day” but clarified on the website that he will not return to internationals.”I have no plans to return to international cricket,” he confirmed, “for all the good reasons that have already been explained at length. I am committed to continuing my career with Somerset and understand that people may wish to try and continually link me with a return to England, but that will just not happen.”Trescothick withdrew from consecutive winter tours to India and Australia after suffering from a stress-related illness, and has not featured in the England set-up since the summer of 2006. Despite seemingly hinting at a comeback, he officially announced his international retirement at the end of March, after pulling out at the last minute from Somerset’s pre-season trip to Abu-Dhabi.All his energies are being concentrated on the start of a new county season with Somerset, but confusion arose when he spoke to Sky Sports News. He appeared to suggest that, at the age of 32, the chance might one day arise for him to pick up where he left off in the international arena. “It’s never an easy decision, of course it’s not,” he said of his retirement. “But I think it was inevitable at that point that it was the best thing to do for all parties.”It was time to move on, draw a line under that part of my life and my career that had gone by, which was great fun but it’s time now to challenge myself in different areas at Taunton and hopefully we can do well and make things happen here.”But Trescothick was asked whether he misses playing for England, to which he said: “Of course I do, every day, and I’ll get that for the rest of my life. The buzz you have from international games in front of a full house at Lord’s is irreplaceable. But you sacrifice that at different times for things which are more important to me. I’ve made the right decision and we’ll move on from there.”As for the future, Trescothick would not be drawn: “We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I’m not going to set targets or deadlines or anything at the moment, I’ll just continue to do the right thing for myself and make sure my health is the most important thing.”

Scotland Yard detectives have told Jamaican police that Bob Woolmer, the former Pakistan coach, was not murdered, according to a report in the UK’s Daily Mail. “Mr Woolmer was not a well man,” a source close to the inquiry told the Daily Mail. “It is now accepted that he died of natural causes.”Police have been treating the case as murder shortly after Woolmer’s body was discovered in a Kingston hotel on March 18. But the change of tack came after an investigation by a UK Home Office pathologist who flew to Jamaica to help.It is claimed the authorities will announce Woolmer died of a heart failure caused by chronic ill health and possibly diabetes at a press conference next week. However, Karl Angell, the Jamaica police’s director of communications, told The Gleaner he did not know of any planned news conference for next week.The BBC has also apparently reached similar conclusions as the after an investigation of its own and backed the latter’s claim that Scotland Yard had told Jamaican police officials Woolmer’s death was not murder.The ‘s report added, however, that Gill Woolmer had heard nothing about her husband dying of natural causes.

Much is at stake when an RCA President’s XI takes on a buoyed English side in Jaipur on Saturday in what will be the only practice game before the seven-match ODI series starts on Tuesday.England, who are without their inspirational captain Andrew Flintoff – who is gone home for a couple of days to see his new-born son – are keen to maintain their winning momentum while the youngsters in the home side will try hard to make an impression on the selectors ahead of the one-dayers.The drubbing in Mumbai has served as a wake-up call to the national selectors who will be present to assess the performance of players like Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina. The injury-enforced absence of Sachin Tendulkar from the Indian squad has thrown up a slot for a youngster to come in, and it will be interesting to see who finally fills his shoes.The injury scare concerning Virender Sehwag, who played with a back spasm in Mumbai, has also forced the selectors to look at the bench strength, although he has been named in the 15-member one-day squad.The English team, to be led by Vikram Solanki, had a strenuous workout in the nets today after arriving in the Pink City last night, while the RCA squad was still gathering.One player in the local side who will attract the spotlight is the former Indian international and current Rajasthan captain Ajay Jadeja. This will be his first outing against an international side since he successfully fought a five-year ban slapped on him by the BCCI for match-fixing related allegations.The game also gives an opportunity to promising youngsters like V Shivramakrishnan, who hit a brilliant hundred in Deodhar Trophy, and Jaidev Shah to test their prowess against quality opposition. However, Rajasthan players Dishant Yagnik, Vikrant Yadav, Pankaj Singh and Sanjay Gill may struggle to make it into the final XI.England squad Vikram Solanki (capt), Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Matt Prior, Liam Plunkett, Ian Blackwell, Matthew Hoggard, Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Sajid MahmoodRCA President’s XI squad Gautam Gambhir, V Shivaramakrishnan, Ajay Jadeja (capt), Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Ramesh Powar, VRV Singh, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Sanjay Gill, Dishant Yagnik, Jaidev Shah, Vikrant Yadav

Michael Vaughan has indicated that he could move up to No. 3 in the batting order for the Tests this season. Vaughan has batted at the position only six times in his Test career so far, but suggested it was an option for the summer’s matches against Bangladesh and Australia.Speaking to the media in Stormont, Belfast, where Yorkshire were playing Ireland in a C&G Trophy match, he said: “Batting at three is an option. We’ve talked about it. A couple of the players we’re mentioning for selection might depend on whether I bat there or not. I certainly wouldn’t turn down batting at three. It’s not a massive change. Whatever’s best for the team, really.”Vaughan batted at No. 4 throughout last season, but had a rather indifferent time, averaging just 30.75 in the five-Test series in South Africa. His best stats are by far at the top of the order, where he has scored ten of his 13 hundreds and averages 49.70 in 31 matches, but with Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss sealing those spots, No. 3 might be the next-best option for him.If he moves up the order, Mark Butcher will almost certainly miss out through the entire season. Butcher has been struggling with a wrist injury and is virtually ruled out of the two-Test series against Bangladesh. In such a scenario, the battle for No. 5 slot will also hot up. Robert Key, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are the leading contenders at the moment, but while Key and Bell have already scored centuries in county matches this season, Pietersen has struggled, making four single-digit scores and one half-century in his first five innings.”A lot of the England players who have come back haven’t scored many runs,” Vaughan admitted, probably hinting at the form of Trescothick, Strauss and Thorpe, who have all had a poor start to the season. “They’ll be feeling they need time in the middle over the next three weeks.” Vaughan himself hasn’t played a competitive game for nearly three months, and was eager for a good hit. “A good hundred under my belt for Yorkshire would do me the world of good.”England’s international season begins with the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s from May 26, while the Ashes starts on July 21.

Sri Lanka’s selectors have announced a 25-man pool for the forthcoming ODI series against Australia. The training squad included six specialist spinners, including Kaushal Lokuarachchi, a young legspinner who returns after a disciplinary ban.The selectors also included Rangana Herath, a slow left-arm spinner who last played international cricket in June 2000 against Pakistan, and Dinuka Hettiarachchi, another left-arm spinner, who has impressed during the ongoing provincial tournament.Sri Lanka are expected to load their team with spinners against Australia and are likely to play only two quick bowlers — probably Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekera — during the ODI series.Dilhara Fernando, Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler, has been ruled out of the series with a stress fracture of the lower back. Ruchira Perera comes back into the reckoning for the first since being reported for having a suspect bowling action.Sri Lanka A players Russel Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Avishka Gunawardana,Chamara Silva and Thilina Kandamby have also been included in the pool and will have a chance to press their selection case during a warm-up match on February 17.Australia are due to play five ODIs and three Test matches during a six-week tour that starts on February 16. The first ODI will be played on February 20 in Dambulla.The squad has been sent to the Sports Ministry for ratification.Squad Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Saman Jayantha, Avishka Gunawardana, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Zoysa, Dinusha Fernando, Chamila Gamage, Charitha Buddhika Fernando, Dinuka Hettiarachchi, Thilina Kandamby, DarshanaGamage, Ruchira Perera.