Simon Katich says the prospect of regaining his place in the Test side in Michael Clarke’s absence is an “awkward situation”. Clarke appears to be out of contention for the first game, which starts in Jamaica on May 22, and Katich is the likely beneficiary of the batsman’s decision to stay home to help his fiancée Lara Bingle through the death of her father.Katich has come back into the Test squad for the first time since West Indies visited in 2005, having completed a record-breaking season of 1506 Pura Cup runs for New South Wales. He said a recall would be a reward for his work over the past three seasons, “but it is something of an awkward situation”.”It is very delicate,” he told AAP. “Obviously we don’t know when Pup is going to arrive, so it is a bit of an unfortunate situation.”The second Test in Antigua from May 30 appears to be the best option for Clarke, who was due to start his first Test tour as vice-captain until withdrawing last week. Brad Hodge, who was taking part in the Indian Premier League, has joined the party as a shadow player until Clarke arrives, but is only an outside chance of entering the first-team calculations.Australia’s only warm-up before the opening Test is the three-day affair against a Jamaica XI from Friday and Katich is likely to win a chance to impress. “It’s just a matter of hopefully playing the tour match and then hopefully getting some runs in that and putting my name up there for selectors to hopefully pick me,” Katich said. “I’ve been picked as the extra batsman and my role is to just make sure I’m ready to go if something happens, and that hasn’t changed.”Katich is determined to “grab the opportunity” and hopes to add to his 23 Tests. “I didn’t make the most of it the last time around,” Katich said. “I had plenty of opportunities to try and nail down a spot and I didn’t. If you don’t grab the opportunities when they’re there, you just don’t know when they will come back around.”

The Indian Premier League feels increasingly like the Shane Warne Show. Tonight, after his Rajasthan Royals side made it four wins in a row in front of a partisan crowd at theSawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur, Warne launched into a stinging attack on Sourav Ganguly, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, for what he perceived to be a blatant disregard for the spirit of the game. He seemed to have a point, but right now Warne could probably tell you the earth was flat and you’d believe him.Warne was already irritated by the time Ganguly refused to walk for a catch claimed at deep midwicket by Graeme Smith. Ganguly famously made Steve Waugh wait at the toss, and now Warne believed the former India captain was running on Sourav-time yet again. “Our batters were waiting five minutes for the home side to go out,” said Warne. “And when we came out in the field, we were waiting for Sourav. He was just going on his own time.”Then came the catch, or non-catch, depending on your interpretation of the TV pictures. Smith was convinced he had taken Ganguly’s swing cleanly, and so, plainly, was Warne. But Ganguly asked for a replay – which he is not supposed to do – and Asad Rauf up in the TV box could not be 100% certain the ball had not bounced. Ganguly fell in the next over anyway, but Warne was furious.”I was disappointed because in Bangalore we signed that wall about the spirit of cricket,” he said. “If an international captain like Graeme Smith caught it and said it was a clean catch and Rudi Koertzen said he caught it, easy… And anyway, the players aren’t allowed to ask for the umpire. But Sourav asked the Indian umpire to go to the TV replay. That’s not in the spirit of the game so I was very, very disappointed with Sourav.”Warne’s young charges are learning more than they can have dreamed from him as this tournament progresses, so it will be interesting to see if they adopt his aversion to Ganguly by the time these sides next meet, on May 20 at Eden Gardens.As Warne pointed out, to score 196 for 7 when the in-form overseas pair of Graeme Smith and Shane Watson have contributed two runs between them suggests an unusually close-knit side. Rajasthan sprang a surprise – at least that’s how Warne presented it – by picking the unknown 24-year-old opener Swapnil Asnodkar, who promptly added to the Midas Touch theory by whacking a 34-ball 60 which belied his tiny frame.There were runs too for Yusuf Pathan, whose stature grows by the game, and two wickets in an over for Siddharth Trivedi, who was singled out for special praise by Warne. Actually, he singled out pretty well everyone for special praise, including Ravindra Jadeja (33 off 19 balls and a “future superstar”) but then that’s what he does so well.”We try to get the best out of every individual in our squad,” he explained. “I’m trying to teach 20 years of knowledge, about summing up the situation, finding a way to score, how to construct an over, be positive, stand up tall, and back yourself. And so far it’s working. It’s the benefit of my experience and to their credit they’re learning very, very fast. We show spirit every game. Everyone’s in it together. Never underestimate the spirit of a team.”There was a symbolic moment right at the end of the game. Kolkata’s No.11 Ashok Dinda lifted Watson in the gap between mid-off and extra cover, and both Warne and the substitute fielder Taruwar Kohli, converged on the ball as it hung temptingly in the air. In the event, Kohli hung on, but Warne fell to the ground with him, as if helping him complete the catch right down to the last detail.”Sometimes international players think they know it all,” said Warne, implicitly advocating the exuberance of youth. You sense his players will do anything for him. And if they win against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, they will present him with a league table which, against all the odds, will show Rajasthan Royals on top of the IPL.

Australia’s selectors deferred the looming hard call on their batting order by adding Usman Khawaja to the squad for the Boxing Day Test, as it emerged that the captain Steven Smith will need to be managed carefully over the remainder of the summer due to hip and knee niggles.Picked to bat at No. 3 against New Zealand, Khawaja made sparkling hundreds in Brisbane and Perth before injuring his hamstring.In his absence, Shaun Marsh was recalled and promptly compiled a critical 49 in Adelaide before clouting the West Indies for 182 in Hobart.Marsh was thought to be the man to make way when Khawaja returned to full fitness, but his runs have left the selectors pondering how to deal with an unexpected batting logjam. Joe Burns, anointed as David Warner’s new opening partner following the retirement of Chris Rogers, has enjoyed a solid summer but has trailed off slightly in his past two matches. Smith stated his satisfaction with Marsh’s performance and also his preference to keep him in the middle order if possible.”I’m sure it gives the selectors a few headaches but I think that’s a great thing,” Smith said. “I thought Shaun played beautifully throughout this Test match. Him and [Adam] Voges certainly changed the course of the game. It was 3 for 120 and the game was in the balance. Those guys put on a terrific partnership and set the game up for us.”I’ve said that for a while now, I think he is best suited at five. He’s played some very good cricket at five. He did last summer as well. I was really impressed with the way he batted last week, he did well in tough conditions and tough circumstances, and again backing it up again this week with a big hundred. He’s batting really well.”Marsh will join Burns, Voges, Peter Nevill, Nathan Lyon and Nathan Coulter-Nile in being available for the opening two rounds of the Twenty20 Big Bash League, but Smith will not be joining them. Knee trouble he has been carrying since the back end of the Ashes tour of England flared up during the Hobart Test, and he also complained of a hip flexor problem to the team physio David Beakley.Smith has duly been ruled out of duty for the Sydney Sixers, along with Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson (all rested) and David Warner (unsigned) in taking time out from the T20 tournament. In describing the niggles and how they affect him, Smith said they were easier to manage while playing Test cricket than shorter formats, so it is within the realm of possibility that he may need to sit out an ODI or two against India in the new year.”I’m experiencing a little bit of knee pain that I experienced before the first Test in Brisbane,” Smith said. “I landed on it yesterday and it sort of aggravated it a little bit, as well as a little bit of hip flexor soreness in my right leg as well. So I’m going to sit out the first two Big Bash games unfortunately. I think it’s just precautionary.”I don’t think I’ll be able to go at 100%, which is what you need to do in T20 cricket. I don’t want to do any further damage. I probably can’t run quite 100%, which I think in Test cricket you can hide that a little bit. Hopefully they improve over the next couple of weeks and I’ll be back to normal.”One issue that seems far less pertinent for Australia after their innings trouncing of the West Indies in Hobart is the matter of bowling workloads. Given a match that ran for less than half its scheduled duration, Hazlewood, Pattinson and Siddle can expect to be able to turn out in each of the Melbourne and Sydney Tests through the holiday period.”It was a clinical performance,” Smith said. “The game was in the balance and we were able to put on a big partnership that changed the course of the match. I thought the bowlers bowled terrifically. In the first innings Nathan Lyon really stepped up again and in the second innings it was nice to see James Pattinson back to his best and bowling fast.”He bowled extremely well. He wanted to go out and do it today, and enjoy it and I thought he bowled beautifully. I had a little word to him this morning actually and just said go out and enjoy it and have some fun and do what you do well – and that’s bowl fast. I think the ball came out a lot better today. He got the ball in the right areas and reaped the rewards from it.”In addition to recalling Khawaja, the selectors also included Steve O’Keefe in a 14-man squad for the SCG Test.

Ashish Nehra, who was recently recalled to the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 series in Australia, has urged greater consistency in the selection of fast bowlers for national duty. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Nehra said that it was important to “look after and nurture” fast bowlers to ensure they can have an extended stint at the international level.”For ODIs and T20s, you have to choose your five-six bowlers, that these are the guys we are going to back,” Nehra said. “I know it is very difficult sometimes for the captain and selectors; sometimes when you lose series you are picking different bowlers and nobody settles in. Injuries are a major part of fast bowling as well, like we’ve seen with [Mohammed] Shami, Ishant [Sharma] and Mohit [Sharma]. Even if you see Australia right now, Nathan Coluter-Nile, [Mitchell] Starc and [Pat] Cummins are all injured, so Australia is almost playing with their second string of bowlers.”If somebody says India doesn’t have talent, I won’t agree. But the only thing is you have to look after them well, nurture and support them. When Test cricket is not on and you have three-four bowlers who only play T20s and ODIs, you have to keep an eye on them. How to look after fast bowlers is very important, if you want them to sustain for 10-12 years and play for India. When they are young, 90% of fast bowlers don’t know what to do. When they mature, sometimes it’s too late.”Nehra last played for India in the semi-final of the victorious 2011 World Cup campaign against Pakistan. After missing the final due to a finger injury, he was overlooked for nearly five years before being recalled on the back of an impressive IPL season, where he finished fourth on the wicket-takers list with 22 scalps from 16 games. Nehra, who will turn 37 in April, admitted that while the disappointment of being ignored for such a long period will linger, he is looking to make the most of this opportunity on the home stretch of his career.”I was surprised when they weren’t picking me for the last two-three years to be honest,” he said. “Better late than never, hopefully I can do well, I am just working hard. If I go to Australia and play the World T20 and deliver, people will say ‘Oh he should have been there earlier.’ If I don’t, people will say, ‘It was right that they didn’t pick him!’ That’s how it works in India. Whatever is gone is gone, I am just looking forward and hopefully everything will go my way.”I have always worked hard to play international cricket. Once you have been there, you know how much pleasure you get playing for India. There were times when it was very difficult for me to motivate myself, despite not being picked, to go to the gym or ground and train. It was difficult. Age is just a number for me. If you can keep yourself fit, you can keep playing.”Since featuring in the IPL final for Chennai Super Kings in May, Nehra hasn’t played much competitive cricket. Over this domestic season he has played only one game of the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy and two games of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for his state team Delhi.He will not be playing in the Super League stage of the Mushtaq Ali tournament starting later this week despite making himself available as Delhi has decided to give its younger bowlers a run. Nehra though isn’t worried about the lack of match practice leading into the series in Australia.”Some people really want match practice, I am among those who wants a lot of practice,” he explained. “Most of the time I like to practice in open nets, so I get the same kind of feeling. If I am bowling well in the nets or to a single wicket, I get that confidence, that’s how I have been playing for the last seven-eight years, this is not the first time I will be doing it.”People say T20 is a young man’s game, all those theories I don’t believe in. You have to be on top of your game, especially as a bowler and the kind of job I do, bowling two-three of the first six overs and one or two in the last four. In the sub-continent or outside also these days, wickets will be flat. You have to be physically fit and mentally strong, especially as a bowler. It’s a fast game but I have been playing IPL, and that’s a big boost. The intensity is as good as international cricket.”Nehra has identified being selected for the World T20 as his major “goal” before taking a call on his international future. He is also eager to mentor India’s emerging crop of fast bowlers on his return to the dressing room after this long hiatus.”This is a short tour, but whatever little I can help the youngsters, I will,” he says. “If I can play till the World T20, I will definitely look at that job, I have done it for CSK and I really enjoyed it. Most of the bowlers have different strengths, but you can’t buy experience. I made my debut 17 years ago. In the sub-continent, somebody like me, who has had so many injuries, undergone 10-12 surgeries, still standing there and playing the fastest format of all, it has taught me something which I can pass on to the youngsters and give my experience.”

Scorecard and-ball-by-ball details1:41

Guptill’s match-winning runs

There was a large top-order stand and a middle-overs collapse from either team, and perhaps it was an umpiring error that separated the sides in the end. New Zealand needed 53 from 45 balls when play resumed after a rain delay. They got home with two balls to spare, and three wickets in hand – Mitchell Santner providing the blows to quell the Pakistan quicks’ final charge.

Pakistan fined for slow over-rate

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has been fined 20% of his match fee for maintaining a slow over rate during his team’s three-wicket defeat against New Zealand in Auckland. His team-mates have been docked 10% of their match fees.
The charge was laid by on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Nigel Llong, third umpire Bruce Oxenford and fourth umpire Derek Walker. The fine was imposed by David Boon of the elite panel of ICC match referees after Pakistan were ruled to be one over short of their target once time allowances were taken into consideration.
Azhar will face a suspension if Pakistan commit another over-rate breach within the next 12 months under his captaincy.

Chasing a revised 263 from 43 overs, the match had been finely balanced in the home stretch before two gaffes in five balls put the hosts in control. The first was a botched chance in the deep, as Mohammad Hafeez spilled Luke Ronchi’s mis-hit pull, after diving forward to get both hands to it. The next was a botched decision from umpire Billy Bowden, who failed to hear an edge off Corey Anderson’s blade in the 39th over, leaving bowler Rahat Ali and his fielders in disbelief. If Pakistan had got that wicket, they would have had Santner batting alongside the out-of-sorts Ronchi, with 38 still needed off the last 24 balls. What they got instead was two successive sixes from Anderson, who had been suitably stoic during that appeal – not even chancing a glance back at the keeper.Thirteen runs were scored off the next over, bringing the requirement to 13 runs from 18 balls, before Pakistan worked themselves up for another late push. Wahab bowled Ronchi at the end of a 41st over that cost only three runs. Then Mohammad Irfan had Anderson caught at deep midwicket, conceding only four runs from the penultimate over. The hosts now needed six from six.As it turned out, New Zealand had reserved enough batting quality for the end. Santner drilled the first ball of the last over through the covers, and though Wahab responded with two dot-balls, Santner found a leg-side boundary to seal the match, and the series 2-0.Before rains intervened after 35.3 overs, Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill had provided the perfect foundation for the chase of 291, hitting 84 and 82 respectively. New Zealand lost Brendon McCullum to Mohammad Amir’s first ball, but their two form batsmen gave the chase a surging start. Guptill smoked Irfan high over long off in the third over, before Williamson hit boundaries on either side of the wicket, off the same bowler’s next over.Amir, though, seaming and slippery, made trouble for both batsmen. He hit Guptill’s pad twice, raising voracious appeals, one of which Pakistan burned their review on. And he threatened the edge numerous times, angling the ball across the right handers, then seaming it back at them. Williamson had both edges beaten in the 10th over – the last of Amir’s first spell, which yielded figures of 1 for 15 from five overs. The other bowlers had not been nearly as good. The hosts took 52 from the Powerplay despite Amir’s parsimony.The batsmen settled into smooth accumulation when the field relaxed. There were occasional eruptions, like when Williamson smoked a six and a four off Irfan in the 14th over, but the partnership merely bubbled for the most part. The run rate continued to be better than what was required. By the 20th over, New Zealand had hit 118, Guptill having crossed 50 and Williamson closing in on his.It would eventually be part-time legspin that broke the partnership. Azhar Ali had gone for 16 in his first two overs, but kept himself on, and got Guptill to send an outside edge to point in the 26th over. By then the partnership had grown to 159 – a record for the second wicket for New Zealand, just two weeks after the same pair had also broken the overall T20 partnership record. Azhar had Williamson stumped in his next over as well, weakening New Zealand from 165 for 1 to 180 for 3. When Amir came back to trap Henry Nicholls in front soon after, Pakistan were back in the match. When Grant Elliott fell just as the hour-long rain delay began, New Zealand had slipped to 210 for 5.Pakistan’s innings had followed a similar pattern; two top order batsmen putting the team in control, before their dismissals in sight of centuries sparked a stutter from the middle order. Babar Azam struck 83 from 77 balls and Mohammad Hafeez made 76 from 60, hitting five sixes and as many fours. Together they made 134 runs for the third wicket, off 107 balls.Coming together after Trent Boult and Matt Henry had removed the openers cheaply, Hafeez and Azam made the innings spark. Striking two fours apiece just after the Powerplay ended, they pushed the run rate above six in the 12th over, and it continued to creep north of there. Hafeez hit his second six when he ran at Santner and lifted him over the sightscreen in the 13th over. Azam largely preferred to keep the ball along the ground.In between the big shots, there were ample runs into the outfield. Hafeez’ big straight six to pass 50 in the 19th over brought another swell of boundaries. He hit two more sixes in quick succession – off Milne and Santner – inspiring Azam to venture a big straight blow as well. The 21st over, bowled by Santner, cost 20 runs, having yielded two sixes and a four, but he was kept in the attack, and broke the partnership in his next over. Hafeez attempted to hit a square six for the first time in his innings, and wound up mishitting his sweep to the deep square leg fielder.Azam continued to reap regular boundaries alongside Shoaib Malik, with whom he consolidated Pakistan’s advantage. The total crossed 200 in the 30th over, and the pair’s partnership moved to 61 from 48 balls before Malik was caught behind, cutting a Boult ball close to his body. The wicket set off Pakistan’s middle order stutter. Azam was soon out, also cutting, this time middling a Henry delivery directly to backward point, where Guptill claimed the third of his four catches in the innings.Sarfraz Ahmed attempted to glue the back end of Pakistan’s innings together, but kept losing partners. Milne blew the tail away with three late wickets, and the visitors were all out in the 48th over.

Tom Jones, the Otago opener, will lead a fairly experienced New Zealand side at the 2026 Men’s Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Five of the 15 squad members have domestic caps, and three, including Jones, had participated at the 2024 edition of the tournament.Last month, Jones scored a hundred on his first-class debut against Wellington. Others with domestic experience are batter Snehith Reddy, wicketkeeper Aryan Mann, fast bowler Mason Clarke, and bowling-allrounder Jaskaran Sandhu.Reddy and Clarke made their List A debuts earlier this year. Like Jones, they had also participated in the last edition in South Africa. Reddy had brought up the highest score of the tournament (147*) against Nepal, and Clarke had taken 4 for 62 against runners-up India.Hugo Bogue, Brandon Matzopoulous, Marco Alpe and Jacob Cotter have been picked after their impressive performance with the bat at the national U-19 tournament in Lincoln last week.Allrounders Harry Burns and Flynn Morey will bolster the seam-bowling attack; both took a five-wicket haul each at the tournament and ended up on ten wickets overall.For players to be eligible for the tournament, they must be under 19 years of age on August 31 2026. The squad will leave for Africa on January 2. They will have a training camp in Bulawayo before the tournament’s warm-up period begins on January 9. New Zealand are in Group B, and start their tournament against USA on January 18. India and Bangladesh are the other two teams in their group.Former New Zealand batter Anton Devcich will be the head coach, with NZC High Performance coaches Paul Wiseman and Graeme Aldridge supporting him.

New Zealand squad for Men’s Under-19 World Cup

Tom Jones (capt), Marco Alpe, Hugo Bogue, Harry Burns, Mason Clarke, Jacob Cotter, Aryan Mann, Brandon Matzopoulos, Flynn Morey, Snehith Reddy, Callum Samson, Jaskaran Sandhu, Selwin Sanjay, Hunter Shore, Harry Waite

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary