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Auckland’s Kelston Boys’ High School have gained the last place in this year’s Gillette Cup national secondary schools’ cricket finals to be played in Palmerston North from December 9-11.Kelston beat Whangarei Boys’ High School by 67 runs in a game played today.Kelston scored 190 in 47.3 overs with Auckland secondary schools’ representatives Dusan Hakaraia scoring 51 and captain Blyne Fraser 49 during a 78-run third wicket stand. A WBHS bowler with the surname of Jessup took four for 22 from his 10 overs.Whangarei Boys’ scored 123 in 46 overs in reply.Amotoj Singh took three for 19 from seven overs and Michael Bates two for 11 from 10 overs.Hakaraia, Fraser and Bates are all members of the Auckland Under-17 team.It will be Kelston’s first visit to the Gillette finals.The tournament draw was also made today.On December 9, St Paul’s Collegiate of Hamilton will play Otago Boys’ High School and Wellington College will play Kelston Boys’ High School.On December 10, Kelston will play Otago and St Paul’s meets Wellington and on December 11, Otago meets Wellington with St Paul’s playing Kelston.Wellington College last reached the finals in 1992 while St Paul’s were there in 1998. Otago Boys’ have been regular finalists and will make their sixth appearance. They won the Cup in 1992 and 1993.Thirty-two boys who have played in the Gillette Cup finals have played first-class cricket.

Offspinner Sunil Narine has been included in the West Indies squads for the ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka in October, after having opted out of their 2015 World Cup campaign because of issues with his action. There were eight changes from the squad that travelled to Australia and New Zealand: Chris Gayle was out of both squads after having a back surgery, but Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Sulieman Benn, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, and Dwayne Smith were omitted from the ODI set up.The players included in the ODI squad were: Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Fletcher, Jason Mohammed, and Ravi Rampaul. Narine and Darren Bravo, withdrawn from the World Cup squad, made comebacks. Bravo, who had injured his hamstring during that tournament, was also in the T20I squad.

Changes in the squads

ODIs
In: Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Fletcher, Jason Mohammed, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine and Darren Bravo
Out: Chris Gayle Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Sulieman Benn, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Dwayne Smith
T20Is
In: Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Jerome Taylor
Out: Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Ashley Nurse, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith

Allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard continued to be kept out of the ODI set-up, a decision that was revealed beforehand by Phil Simmons, who was later suspended as West Indies coach for saying there had been outside interference in the selection of the squad. Both players, however, were included in the T20I squad.The selectors dropped a lot of the players who fared poorly in the World Cup, where West Indies struggled during the group stages and were beaten heavily by New Zealand in the quarterfinal.Allrounder Smith made only 93 runs in six matches during the World Cup and was hardly used as a bowler, while batsman Lendl Simmons scored 173 in five innings, of which 102 came in the defeat against Ireland. Allrounder Sammy also had an ordinary tournament – 177 runs in five innings and only one wicket in 28 overs. Simmons and Smith were also missing from the T20I squad, having been part of West Indies’ previous Twenty20 matches in South Africa before the World Cup.Fast bowler Roach and left-arm spinner Benn played three matches each in the World Cup. Roach took only one wicket and went for 6.81 runs an over, while Benn claimed two and conceded 6.34 an over. Miller, another left-arm spinner, played only the one game in the tournament, while fast bowler Cottrell had sat on the bench throughout the campaign. Cottrell and Benn were also cut from the T20I squad.Rampaul, a fast bowler, made a comeback in both formats after not even being included in the list of 30 probables for the World Cup; his last game for West Indies was during the aborted tour of India in October 2014. Legspinner Bishoo has not played an ODI or T20I for West Indies since October 2011, while wicketkeeper-batsman Fletcher has not played an ODI since May 2010. Allrounder Mohammed, who bowls part-time offspin, has played only one ODI, in December 2011.Blackwood has not yet made his ODI debut, while Brathwaite had been left out of the World Cup squad after playing the preceding series in South Africa in January. Brathwaite, however, was dropped from the T20I squad after having been part of the tour to South Africa. Offspinner Ashley Nurse was the other player dropped from the T20I squad.The four other players included in the T20I squad after missing the matches in South Africa were legspinner Samuel Badree, fast bowler Jerome Taylor, and batsmen Jonathan Carter and Johnson Charles.Narine has not played international cricket since he was reported for a suspect action during the 2014 Champions League T20 and barred from bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of that tournament. He underwent remedial work and was included in West Indies’ World Cup squad, but pulled out of the competition to give himself more time to work on his action. Narine once again ran into trouble with his action during the 2015 IPL after the World Cup, and was given a final warning, though sanctions during the CLT20 and the IPL are not applicable to international cricket.The limited-overs leg of the tour of Sri Lanka comes after the two-Test series and begins with the first of three ODIs on November 1. West Indies will be coached by the selector and former fast bowler Eldine Baptiste, after Phil Simmons’ suspension.ODI squad: Jason Holder (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome TaylorT20I squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that it is too soon to be discussing a contract extension with two years left on his existing contract at the Emirates, according to the Official Club Website.

Wenger’s response comes after Arsenal’s Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis confirmed that the club will be offering the Gunners’ boss a new contract at the club.

Wenger has been at the helm at Arsenal for sixteen years but is unsure whether he is the man to take the club forward in the long-term, “I’m an Arsenal man and I think I’ve always shown that. I have to consider if I do it well or not. If I don’t do well, I have to consider my future.”

Wenger will turn 63 next month and he admits that it gets tougher to manage at the highest level with age, “you always have to assess whether you have the fitness, the desire, the commitment that this job demands. Then of course you have to make your decisions.”

Arsenal are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League this season and Wenger admits that he is excited by the current crop of players he has at his disposal, “It is a very special year for the club because we look like we have potential. What is important for us is that we fulfil our potential this season.”

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Wenger will be hoping that this will be the season when he can bring silverware to the club after seven years without winning a major trophy. Arsenal begin their search for European glory when they travel to France to face Ligue 1 champions Montpellier on Tuesday.

ScorecardNaman Ojha struck ten fours during his knock•PTI

Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen harvested the benefits of a patient approach in the morning and some inconsistent bowling to close out the day as the happier team after Bengal had invited them to bat. Half-centuries from Aditya Shrivastava, Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh were responsible for Madhya Pradesh setting up a sturdy base for a big score.Madhya Pradesh nearly gave it away in the second session when Naman and Shrivastava fell in quick succession after a 102-run stand for the third wicket. But Harpreet and captain Devendra Bundela (42*), despite their slightly unconvincing beginning, were alert to scoring opportunities after the pitch dried out and became quicker and put on an unbroken stand of 92 runs.Manoj Tiwary had suggested on Tuesday that batting first was a no-brainer on the Brabourne pitch. Whether intended or otherwise it turned out to be a red herring as he eventually opted to bowl on a pitch that had a moderate distribution of grass. His decision received an early endorsement when Veer Pratap Singh removed opener Jalaj Saxena in the third over. While Bengal’s seamers tried to leverage what was on offer – despite the morning freshness there wasn’t any exaggerated movement, but there was decent carry – Madhya Pradesh didn’t hit back with anything flashy.Opener Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar, a pair of 22-year-olds who have begun their careers promisingly, adopted a conservative response, and fully neutralised any assistance the bowlers were getting. Runs weren’t a priority in the morning as they managed a mere eight from overs 10 to 20, playing out five maidens in the process. As it happens at times, Madhya Pradesh found their release through Patidar’s dismissal. Seamer Sayan Mondal, whose action culminates much like that of Shane Watson’s, had him bowled with his third ball, and brought Naman to the crease.Naman’s arrival brought about a slight revision in strategy, and with Shrivastava finding his bearings as well, Madhya Pradesh latched onto scoring opportunities more often. While Tiwary had a cluster of catching men on the off side to Naman – at one point he had a silly mid-off, short cover, extra cover and mid-off apart from two slips – he still coaxed the ball through the gaps. Whenever Tiwary opened up some space on the off side with a sweeper cover in position, Naman and Shrivastava ensured the fielder was made to sprint to either side.Ashok Dinda was locked in an interesting one-on-one tussle with Naman. After his ploy of getting the ball to tail in late was repeatedly met by Ojha with a dead bat or a firmer push down the ground, he resorted to short-pitched stuff. While his bowling was now visibly quicker, the pitch was slow enough for the batsman to either duck under or dead-bat the deliveries. However, just when Madhya Pradesh looked set to convert their incremental gains into something more imposing, Shrivastava fell to an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha, whose length was always a touch too short. Naman went soon after as his lazy waft to Veer Pratap Singh, whose lines were fairly consistent, was snapped up at first slip. Therafter, Bundela and Harpreet made sure Madhya Pradesh built on the morning gains.Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule defended the decision to bowl first and conceded his bowlers could have done better. According to him, despite some good bowling in patches their lines helped the batsmen get away with leaving the ball frequently in the morning. Shrivastava said Madhya Pradesh would have bowled first as well on what he called a “damp pitch.” He said the ploy of wearing the bowlers down in the first session was necessary because scoring shots were hampered by the movement off the pitch.

Shaun Pollock believes the ICC World Twenty20 could be anyone’s for the taking © Getty Images

Shaun Pollock has said any team could fancy their chances at the ICC World Twenty20, because of the quick-paced nature of the game.”It’s too fast,” Pollock told the . “It’s a bit of a sprint. If one-day cricket is an 800-metre race, then Twenty20 is 100 metres.”If you get off to a bad start you can lose the game regardless of who you are playing.”The South African team have been called ‘chokers’ in the past, due to their inability to succeed in the World Cup for the 50-over format. However, Pollock indicated that the possibility was less in Twenty20. “I don’t think there’s really time to choke, everything happens so quickly,” Pollock said. After a infamous rain-rule denied them a final berth at the 1992 World Cup, South Africa have stumbled ever since in the World Cup, having twice missed out against Australia – a thrilling tie in 1999 and a lop-sided contest earlier this year in the West Indies.Pollock was also the captain of the team that had a disastrous tournament at home in the 2003 World Cup, which they exited in the first stage. Many critics felt the commitments to organisers and sponsors distracted the players then, something Pollock said has been avoided this time around. “We are very focused on making sure all our commitments are out of the way.”South Africa wrapped all their media and sponsorship obligations in Johannesburg before they left for a training centre in Potchefstroom, where they are undergoing preparations for five days in the lead-up to the tournament. Australia, winners of the 2003 World Cup, also trained in the same centre ahead of their victorious campaign.”We can go off to Potch and prepare for the tournament for five days leading up, where we just focus wholly and solely on cricket,” Pollock said before the team left. “Hopefully that bears fruit in the time to come. Being the host nation, there are always more commitments, so to get them out of the way and be able to concentrate on cricket is what we’ve learnt from last time.”Pollock also said that he would like to move up the batting order as he felt that four overs of bowling would not be enough for him to feel involved in the game. “It would be nice to be put up the order and be able to express yourself,” he said. “That’s the one bonus. If you were only a bowler in this form of the game it would be pretty depressing.”He also expressed his views on the omission of Jacques Kallis from the team. “It’s obviously a big call by the selectors,” Pollock said. “He has voiced some disappointment and you can understand that. “Kallis has been South Africa’s batting mainstay over the years and was the team’s top run-getter at the World Cup earlier this year. “Usually he’s the first or second name put down on a piece of paper when you’re selecting the side, so he would have been very surprised by the fact he wasn’t included,” Pollock said. “Being a home event, he would have loved to play in front of his own home crowd, so that would have added to the disappointment. The big plus from the way he has reacted is that it answers the question about what the guys think of a Twenty20 tournament.”Pollock said Kallis’ displeasure at not being selected was an indication of the team’s eagerness to perform well at the tournament. “If Jacques, after all the cricket he has played and all he has achieved, is disappointed about not being part of it, then you realise it is going to be a special event. We’re going to be really trying hard to try to win it.”

Mark Boucher’s awesome innings boosted South Africa to 418 © Getty Images

South Africa’s Mark Boucher-led run riot against Zimbabwe at Potchefstroom yesterday has left Graeme Smith, a spectator in the crowd, very impressed. Smith has been out of action since injuring his ankle in July, but looked forward to returning to captain an aggressive South Africa in next month’s Champions Trophy in India.”It’s fantastic to see how the guys played,” Smith told the website SuperSport.com after South Africa racked up 418 for five, their second total in excess of 400 this year. “It was nice to see them push themselves. In years gone by we would have been happy with 320, but we need to take ourselves to new levels. We’re looking to be more aggressive up front in the conditions we’re going to be playing in when we get to the ICC Champions Trophy in India next month. Hitting out at the death is not as easy there as it is in South Africa.”As for his rehabilitation from the ankle injury, Smith was positive that not being hurried back into the game was the correct approach. “We’ve decided to take things a little slower and not risk the ankle,” he said. “Rather than pushing it here and maybe setting myself back for a couple of days, I’d rather be 100% for India. I’ve started batting again and running around, which feels good after sitting on my backside for six weeks.””Obviously the injury was very frustrating, but it was also a blessing in disguise,” he added. “It gave me the chance to get into a good space, a good frame of mind. More than anything else, it’s the mental side of captaincy that causes strain.Add that to your own batting, especially if you’re batting up front, and you can see how important it is to be fresh. It’s a big year, and my brain needs to be ready for it.”Boucher, whose 68-ball unbeaten 147 was the second fastest hundred in one-day history, was just glad to reach the three-figure mark for the first time. “I’ve been striking the ball a lot better than in the past, and it’s a matter of just getting the runs behind your name,” he told reporters. “Hopefully, I can build on this.”Boucher also made light of the six times he was dropped by Zimbabwe’s fielders: “It was one of those days where whatever you swing at hits the middle of the bat and whatever is in the air and goes to hand goes down. The boys in the dressing room said I used up all my luck for the season.”

India U-19 215 for 8 (Ravikant Shukla 62, Darwen 3-31) beat Australia U-19 214 for 6 (Henriques 85*, Gledhill 40) by two wickets
ScorecardAustralia’s Under-19 side suffered a two-wicket defeat in the opening ODI of their five-match series against India at Mohali.Chasing 215 for victory in 45 overs, the Indians lost openers Ankit Rawat and Anirudh Srikant cheaply, but Rohit Sharma and the captain Ravikant Shukla steadied the innings and Shahbaz Nadim played a patient knock of 26 to secure the win in the 40th over. Patrick Darwen was the most successful of the Australian bowlers with three wickets from his nine overs.After winning the toss, Australia’s openers were dismissed with the score on 4 and only an unbeaten 85 off 80 balls from Moises Henriques, who came in at No. 5, and 40 by the wicketkeeper Ben Gledhill pushed the total past 200.

Michael Di Venuto raises his bat and his half-century against South Australia© Getty Images

ScorecardTasmania began under pressure before they pulled ahead with a state-record ninth-wicket partnership and then dominated South Australia with five wickets in the hour before stumps at Bellerive Oval.Resuming in trouble at 7 for 240, Michael Di Venuto, who was last out nine short of his century, and Xavier Doherty added an invaluable 119 before Doherty departed. While Shaun Tait was attacked after his four wickets on day one, Paul Rofe returned the economical figures of 3 for 50 from 38 overs.South Australia were travelling comfortably in reply until they lost 5 for 37, with Damien Wright and Doherty each picking up two wickets. Callum Ferguson was the last to fall in the final over when he edged Brett Geeves.Dan Marsh, the Tasmania captain, said their plan was to put pressure on South Australia’s young batsmen. “You just want to keep it as tight as you can,” he said. “Especially when there’s two of them in together you can build up a lot of pressure that way.”

Politicians faced with crises crawling out of the woodwork in the manner that has afflicted Shane Warne this week would have applied some spin to managing the fall-out, but the greatest spinner of them all can’t extract any advantage from the flat track of controversy.While all the allegations against him are still in the unproven category, there’s a fair bit of combustion building up amid the smoke of suggestion. Troubled not only by allegations of phone-text harassment of a 45-year-old South African divorcee, Warne is a key participant in an alleged blackmail case against Cricket Australia that involves his tongue-kissing a teenager, whose uncle allegedly tried to get CA to match a magazine offer of $5000 for the story. Now, a stripper has alleged that she had been having an affair with him until a month ago.Compounding this is the revelation from a former employee at Cricket Australia, or the Australia Cricket Board as it was then known, which suggested that Warne had been the subject of almost daily complaints for several years.To cap it all, the Australian Government has finally entered the saga, over the arbitration ruling that allowed Warne to play charity cricket, and to practice with the Australian team.The Minister of Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, who stayed out of the row that developed over a week ago when the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) was highly critical of the ruling that allowed Warne to play charity matches, told Australia’s parliament yesterday that the Australian Sports Commission would be speaking with Cricket Australia about the matter. He wanted to see Warne prevented from training for club, state or country.”It is the advice that I have received that playing in charity teams and taking part in practice matches with the national team is contrary to the anti-doping code,” he said. “I believe that those (anti-doping) codes should be enforced and I believe they will be enforced.”Meanwhile, James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, confirmed the statements made by Peter Young, the general manager, to Wisden CricInfo last week, that a review of the drug policy will be undertaken before the start of the season.

New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe has learnt to be philosophical about bad days in cricket but he can’t have suffered many worse than today’s effort against a lowly ACT President’s XI at Manuka Oval.With Test spin bowler Daniel Vettori leaning on crutches in the stands and gun all-rounder Chris Cairns being belted about the park by batsmen who have neverplayed first-class cricket, New Zealand’s preparation for the upcoming Test matches against Australia was looking shaky.The ACT side, including five players on the fringes of the New South Wales team, made the most of the Kiwis’ predicament and amassed 6-439 before declaring.ACT’s Jack Smith (156) and Sydney grade player Grant Lambert (101) hit entertaining centuries and made sure the Kiwis had plenty of fielding practice.At stumps, the Kiwis were 1-133, with Mathew Sinclair on 51 not out and Matthew Bell on 44 not out with a full day’s play remaining.Uncertainty still hangs over Vettori’s tour after twisting his right ankle heavily underneath himself yesterday when attempting to field a hot drive off his own bowling.He was due to have an MRI scan which would then be assessed by a sport doctor.”Really, it is only at that point that we will know what the future is for Daniel,” Crowe said.Discussions would be held with cricket management in New Zealand overnight to decide the next step, he said.”We’ll know more tonight whether it is in the serious category or not. I just hope that it’s not. It could well be that he’s playing in the first Test.”Cairns returned the figures of 1-115 from 25 overs in his first serious hit-out back in the Kiwi team in eight months after a serious knee injury. He bowled in five-over spells but was severely dealt with by century-maker Lambert this morning.”The thing is that he got through it. Let’s face it, it’s been a tough four and a half sessions for our guys,” Crowe said.”Those are the sort of days you’re going to have to endure anyway. That’s just mileage.”Crowe said Cairns needed to get back into match fitness with some long spells of bowling.”I’m just very pleased that Chris got up this morning … he’s a bit sore but he’s got through it OK and he feels good about it.”Last night he was working with the video guy just to make sure his action was looking good.”He said Cairns had two more matches in Queensland to find form before the first Test in Brisbane starting on November 8.Crowe said it was no embarrassment to have two centuries hit off the team’s bowling by players who had not played first class cricket.”Anyone who’s played cricket in Australia knows there’s some good talent in this place, all through the grades basically,” he said.”Our guys are not in Test mode just yet.”Lambert’s ton was the feature of the day’s play. He collected 15 boundaries from cuts, pulls and drives and brought up his century with a six over midwicket fromoffspinner Glen Sulzberger.