Devon Smith has said that West Indies’ performance in the NatWest Series, in which they beat England in two of the three games they played against each other, means they will go into the first Test with plenty of confidence.”I think we have so far shown an improvement from the one-dayers and we want to take that into the Tests,” said Smith, adding: “After the one-dayers, you’ve got to recondition to five-day cricket and you have got to be more patient. What is important for us, if we get a good start, is that someone in the top order has to stay and bat through the innings so you have still someone to depend on all the way through.”Smith also urged West Indies to be more ruthless in the field, and blamed their 3-0 defeat in the Caribbean earlier this year on an inability to dominate the opposition for long periods of time.”At certain times in the Caribbean, England played better cricket than us. We don’t deny that. But we were also on top at times and allowed England to get back into the game. That is the area where we let things slip and we know that has to improve,” he explained. “We have to pull together and come strongly at England this summer and, when we are on top, we have to push home the advantage. We have been working on that. When on top, you have to stay on top as long as possible and be ruthless.”Smith, who scored 142 against MCC at Arundel earlier this week, added that it was his job to stay at the crease as long as possible. “I see it as very important that I stay at the crease as long as possible and see what the ball is doing,” he said. “I see that as my role, to stay in as long as I can. I know that if I get my eye in and occupy the crease, there will be a lot of runs there for me to score.”Smith also warned England not to underestimate the inexperienced West Indian side, saying: “We are coming here to win, to play hard cricket to the best of our ability, and we’re looking to improve game by game.”West Indies’ last warm-up game before the first Test, against Sri Lanka A at Shenley, starts on Saturday (July 17).

After a miserable outing against Pakistan, India’s woes were compounded by the news that Sachin Tendulkar will play no further part in the Videocon Cup, as a result of the tennis elbow that kept him out of the opening match. India will now play Australia on Wednesday without their talisman, knowing that nothing less than an emphatic victory will give them any chance of making next Saturday’s final.Gautam Dasgupta, the team manager, confirmed the news late on Saturday, reports . “Tendulkar will not be participating in any of the matches of this tournament due to an acute onset of tennis elbow,” he said. “It seems Sachin felt some stiffness in his left arm during nets in Mumbai, in the lead-up to the team’s departure.”The discomfort was exarcebated by the first net session in Holland, and Andrew Leipus, the physio, has now advised conservative treatment and rehabilitation. Initial impressions suggest that he should be fit to come back into the side for the NatWest Challenge against England in the run-up to the ICC Champions Trophy.”The Indian team is not looking for a replacement for Tendulkar because there is not enough time and there are already 15 players in the squad,” said Dasgupta. Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra also missed the game against Pakistan, with viral fever.With Tendulkar ruled of the the pivotal match against Australia, Rohan Gavaskar and Dinesh Karthik will fight it out for the vacancy in the batting line-up.

Australia will be especially wary of Daniel Vettori after his left-arm spin wrecked their chances of posting a huge total in the opening game of the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series. New Zealand went on to win that match after Vettori had induced a mid-innings wobble with three wickets in next to no time.Speaking on the eve of the second game at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was quick to identity the main threat to his side. “He’s a quality bowler in both forms of the game and he certainly bowled beautifully the other night – he’s bowled well right through this tour so far,” said Ponting. “He varies his pace well and he turns the ball just enough – that SCG wicket will suit him so it’s up to us to make sure we don’t give him our wickets.”If we can get through his 10 overs without being too aggressive and without giving him too many wickets we should score freely off the other guys.”Australia will leave their selection to the last minute, with one eye on the weather forecasts predicting rain. “Bowling spin with a wet ball is very difficult so if it does rain Hoggy [Brad Hogg] may miss out,” said Ponting.He also expected New Zealand to have a punt on Chris Harris, whose dibbly-dobbly medium pace and cutters might have an impact on the slow SCG pitch. “Harris may come in on that wicket,” he said. “He’s a great fielder and a handy lower order batsman as well but I’m not sure where he’ll fit into their side, I think the side they had the other night was pretty well balanced.”

Michael Kasprowicz will be rested from the second Chappell-Hadlee Series match at Sydney on Wednesday, but the move is not related to his awful 22-run over against New Zealand last night.Kasprowicz had taken 1 for 31 off eight before his 48th-over thrashing, which spilled four boundaries and four wides, as the Kiwis closed on an exciting four-wicket victory. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said Kasprowicz was always going to be rested and would return to the squad at Brisbane.”The plan was to give him a blow at this stage come what may,” Hohns said. “There’s nothing to be read into him missing Sydney. Kasprowicz has been an outstanding performer over the last 12 months. He went for a few runs in one over in a one-day game and that can happen to anybody at anytime.”Both Glenn McGrath, who rejoins the squad in Sydney, and Jason Gillespie were rested from the opening match, allowing Brett Lee to play his first international of the summer. Lee looked fit and fast and picked up the wickets of Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns to finish with 2 for 40 from eight overs.

Pakistan 4 for 274 (Akmal 124, Inzamam 62*, Malik 60) beat West Indies 5 for 273 (Gayle 82, Sarwan 76) by 6 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Kamran Akmal silenced an expanding list of critics with a fabulous, first one-day international century that turned a difficult chase into a virtual stroll against West Indies at the Gabba. Both sides were desperate for victory to keep in touch with Australia, and Akmal’s 124 off 125 balls pushed Pakistan to their best performance of an awful tour.Backed by a batting line-up boasting matchwinners down to No.9, Akmal made sure they weren’t needed as Pakistan won by six wickets with three overs to spare. The only downside was a hamstring tear to Shoaib Akhtar, who hobbled off the field in the fifth over with little sympathy from Inzamam-ul-Haq.Akmal was tried four times as an opener against Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2002-03 before the experiment was ditched, and he waited two matches to make the second promotion a wild success. Questions about his ability were raised when he made an uncomfortable 5 against Australia at Hobart and Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood were hanging with the tail. But Akmal opened his innings with a clean cover-drive and brought up his century with a similarly commanding shot.While the West Indians waited for a slip-up, Akmal kept flourishing and apart from playing and missing twice on 95 there was not much else to complain about. He made sure his runs almost kept pace with balls faced and raised his bat to a standing dressing-room and a caring hug from Inzamam. A tired cover drive to Brian Lara ended his innings and after wicketkeeping for the first 50 overs he deserved the rest (4 for 239).Akmal’s 123-run partnership with Shoaib Malik provided the initial momentum and his 80-run stand with Inzaman, who was unbeaten on 62, snuffed out West Indies’ hopes. Malik, still playing a batsman-only role after being reported for a suspect action, displayed some aggressive shot-making as he started with his eyes on the boundaries. His fifty followed Akmal’s, and he celebrated a difficult tour with a mix of fluent drives and pulls. His innings was ended by a fine catch from Courtney Browne, who stood up to the fast bowler Ian Bradshaw (3 for 159).After a slow start in the series opener at the MCG, Mervyn Dillon wasted no time getting involved. Replacing Bradshaw for the sixth over, Dillon hit Salman Butt’s off stump with a searing yorker (1 for 28). His second wicket came when he forced a nick from Mohammad Hafeez and Chris Gayle was so calm in taking the low-down catch that he left the appealing to his team-mates (2 for 36).West Indies, though, had batted themselves into a strong position after being inserted. They paced their innings to survive the morning movement as the match began at 9am, and it would not have been a surprise if they reached anywhere between 240 and 290 as their run-rate fluctuated. Their final total seemed highly competitive until Akmal and Malik started flaying.Ramnaresh Sarwan’s solid contribution of 76 from 91 balls was devalued when Pakistan batted, but his partnership with Lara got the innings travelling after Gayle opened with a composed 82. Lara arrived in the mood for quick runs and was soon moving at more than a run a ball. His late-cutting was exquisite and he was resourceful as well, flicking Afridi over Akmal for four, in an exciting short innings of 39 from 30 balls.Lara was particularly tough on Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez, but also saved a big six for Abdul Razzaq, who was given similar treatment from Sarwan. The 60-run-stand in 8.4 overs ended when Naved-ul-Hasan tricked Lara to dab a short delivery to Hafeez at point, and he struck again in the same over when Ricardo Powell edged to Akmal, who took a sharp catch. (4 for 211)West Indies’ openers survived a difficult start and crawled to 26 from 10 overs as they waited to launch. The 10-over mark appeared to be Gayle’s cue to free his arms and he hit four boundaries in two overs before smacking a couple more from Hafeez’s first two deliveries. Next ball he slipped playing a sweep, aggravating an injury in his right shoulder that prevented him from bowling.Gayle brought up his half-century from 56 balls to return his side to good health and was dismissed top-edging a pull off Razzaq (2 for 149). West Indies will require more from him if they are going to overhaul Pakistan for a place in the finals.Peter English is Australasian editor of Cricinfo

Central Province 133 and 192 for 3 (Sangakkara 69) beat Western Province 43 and 278 (Tillakeratne 85) by seven wickets
ScorecardKumar Sangakkara and Sajith Fernando added 110 for the third wicket to guard against any prospect of an upset, as Central Province eased to their anticipated victory over Western Province at the Sinhalese Sports Club.The result had hardly been in doubt since the first day, when WP were bundled out for 43, although thanks to Hashan Tillekaratne’s 85 in the second innings, they were at least set a challenging target of 189.Dilhara Fernando raised the brief prospect of an upset as he grabbed two early wickets to reduce CP to 51 for 2, but once Sangakkara and Fernando were into their stride, the result was a foregone conclusion. Fernando struck for a third time before the end, as Sangakkara fell for 69, but Thilan Samaraweera hung around to complete the proceedings.
ScorecardNorth Central Province duly wrapped up victory by an innings and 157 runs over Southern Province at Dambulla, although they were made to wait rather longer than had been anticipated, thanks to some spirited resistance from a side that had been bloodied and beaten from the first day onwards.Southern began their second innings a whopping 416 runs adrift after North Central had declared on 502 for 8, but they at least made a better fist of things second-time around. Anushka Polonowita top-scored with 62, and Indika de Saram also made a half-century, as they recovered from a rocky 83 for 4 to add 95 for the fifth wicket.North Central shared the wickets around, with Upul Chandana’s 3 for 64 the pick of the bunch.

Michael Clarke’s stunning success as Australia’s VB Series opener has been overlooked in favour of giving Simon Katich a chance alongside Adam Gilchrist. Clarke will stay at No. 6 for the third one-day game against New Zealand as Australia push to settle the series tomorrow with two matches remaining.A shoulder injury ruled Matthew Hayden out of the Auckland clash and Clarke, who has been frustrated by his small amount of batting time, was expected to be promoted. Katich has played 12 ODIs and opened the batting twice with scores of 2 against India last year and 38 against Pakistan in January. Clarke harvested 334 runs at the top of the order during the summer and ousted Hayden for the finals against Pakistan.”There’s no great science behind it,” Ricky Ponting said. “We just like to give Simon a go at the top. We probably feel he’s better suited there in that type of role as well, at the top of the order.”Clarke will continue to be Australia’s versatile batsman. “We see him as being one of those guys that are pretty flexible in any position in the order,” Ponting said. “After the VB series we know he can open and do it well and we know he can bat at five, six and seven and finish games off.” Ponting was hopeful Hayden would be available for Tuesday’s fourth game at Wellington’s Basin Reseve.Glenn McGrath has been rested after taking 4 for 16 at Wellington and 2 for 42 at Christchurch. He will be replaced by Michael Kasprowicz in a move that will please the New Zealand top order, which has struggled in the opening overs against McGrath and Brett Lee. Mike Hussey held his spot after making 32 from 20 balls in the second match.Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Mike Hussey, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Michael Kasprowicz.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Glenn McGrath delivered Australia the perfect start as rain successfully spoiled their determined attempt to seal the series. Play began 90 minutes late but McGrath made up for the loss when he knocked back Stephen Fleming and Hamish Marshall in the third over. Australia’s excitement was drowned by a further – and final – disruption 20 balls after lunch, during which Michael Kasprowicz grabbed his 100th Test wicket.Australia walked out this morning wanting ten wickets to settle the series before the third Test starting at Auckland on Saturday. New Zealand, needing 326 to give the game a fourth innings, craved three good batting sessions or a day of drizzle following rain-dance calls from Lou Vincent last night. The plea was successful as the clouds chopped the day’s original expectation from 98 overs to 83, and then allowed only 17.2 throughout the opening two sessions. After a tricky 60-minute warm-up New Zealand went to lunch two wickets down, and were in serious trouble at 48 for 3 until rain and bad light saved them a difficult finish.Fleming’s poor run – against Australia and McGrath – showed no sign of ending in his brief seven-ball stay. McGrath bounced him twice in the third over before bowling a fuller stumps delivery that had Fleming shuffling across. On a day when Fleming at least wanted to lead his side to lunch he was gone for 1. The move to opener has failed as miserably as the shining sun in Wellington.McGrath has nailed Fleming lbw three times in a row and has dismissed him on eight career occasions. Mike Atherton (19) and Brian Lara (13) head McGrath’s highlights list, but Fleming has made a huge surge up the table in the last four Tests by dropping to him six times. It is a stunning streak that has had repercussions on the remainder of the re-shuffled batting order.The damage from McGrath increased two balls later when a sharp off-cutter rapped the bottom of Marshall’s thigh guard and New Zealand were 3 for 2. It was a disastrous start when play could have ended at any moment.A match that has been ordered around by the clouds – eight sessions were washed out on the first four days – was again ruined and despite Australia’s domination New Zealand can square the series next week. The covers were on as light showers fell on the Basin Reserve when the match was due to start at 10am local time, and the bad weather stayed for most of the morning.Giving Australia a teasing chance, the gloom returned in the fourth over after lunch, allowing enough time for Kasprowicz to reach triple figures. Three deliveries after the break Lou Vincent, as he had in the first innings, pushed forward to Kasprowicz with too much weight on his back foot and was bowled when the ball rebounded from his diagonal bat. Kasprowicz was ecstatic. It was a milestone more than double what he thought he’d achieve two years ago.Only in the past year has Kasprowicz felt comfortable as a Test cricketer. Until February 2004 he owned 47 wickets in 17 Tests and was carving out an exceptional reputation in fulfilling stints as Glamorgan’s overseas professional. Since the Sri Lanka tour last year he has rapidly developed his Test status with 53 victims in 15 matches, and is entrenched as one of the four horsemen of Australia’s regular apocalypses.Kasprowicz woke up Australia with two wickets in the first innings yesterday and finished with 3 for 42. The team quickly surrounded him when he became the second Queensland bowler to step to 100 behind Craig McDermott, who finished on 291. Brett Lee, who has been sidelined by Kasprowicz since October, then showed the incredible spirit among the bowling cartel when he raced to congratulate him as he left the field. As the rain continued to fall the milestone gave Australia something to toast in the absence of a series victory.How They Were Out
Fleming lbw McGrath 1 (3 for 1)
Missed one playing to legside again; lbw to McGrath again.Marshall lbw McGrath 0 (3 for 2)
A second-ball off-cutter that hit the bottom of his thigh pad in line, but a query over height.Vincent b Kasprowicz 24 (37 for 3)
Pushed forward with an angled bat and inside-edged on to the stumps.

ScorecardLameck Onyango took 6 for 21 as Kenya crushed Uganda by 161 runs on the final day of their Intercontinental Cup match in Kampala. Resuming on 86 for 6, Kenya made a poor start, losing two wickets for three runs before they finally folded on 116 to leave Uganda chasing 270 for an unlikely victory. It was more than enough.Martin Suji struck first ball to trap Michael Ndiko lbw to set Uganda on the back foot immediately. And then the medium-pacer Onyango ripped through a weak Uganda line-up as Kenya wrapped up victory. It was their first win of any kind since they beat Uganda in last year’s competition.”We batted badly in the second innings but the team bowled and fielded very well and I am glad we have come away with a win,” said Tom Tikolo, chairman of the selectors. Steve Tikolo, who top scored in both innings for Kenya, was named Man of the Match.

Confusion surrounds the proposed West Indies A tour of Sri Lanka – although Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have announced full details of the itinerary, a spokesman for the West Indies board (WICB) said that the series had yet to be confirmed.Earlier this week, SLC named a 14-man squad for the two four-day unofficial Tests and five one-day matches due to start on June 23. But in an interview with the Barbados-based Nation, Zorol Barthley, the WICB’s operations officer, said negotiations were not finished.”The tour has not been finalised,” he explained. “The dates have changed and have constantly been changing. There have been ongoing discussions. Like anything else, you just need to make sure from both ends you have covered the objectives.”The A-team tour is scheduled to precede the visit of the senior side to play two Tests and a tri-nations one-day tournament, also involving India.”There has been talk of this tour for quite a while,” Barthley continued. “We know where all the players are. There has been contact. Once things are finalised, the relevant people will be informed.”And Barthley added that it was hoped that the tour, if it goes ahead, would be the start of more regular A-team series. “We are in the process of talking to all the international bodies. We’re exchanging and trying to come up with an a calendar among ourselves as how it will be of mutual benefit.”