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Alyssa Healy, the niece of the former wicketkeeper Ian Healy, has been chosen in the 13-woman Australia Under-23 squad to tour New Zealand next month. Healy impressed the three selectors with her performances at the national under-17 and under-19 championships and is in line to face New Zealand A in three matches.Healy, a right-hand batter and keeper, was the leading run-scorer at the under-19 tournament with 345 at 57.50 and she shared the under 17 player of the championship prize with Delissa Kimmince, who also made the touring squad. Kimmince, a right-arm medium bowler, played all eight Women’s National Cricket League games in her debut season for Queensland Fire and captured nine wickets at 18.Healy is one of only three players in the Shooting Stars squad who does not have experience in the WNCL. However, Elysse Perry, an allrounder, was also outstanding at the under-19 tournament, with 175 runs and seven wickets, while Kate Owen, 21, made a mark by being the leading scorer at Cricket Australia’s Women’s Cup.The squad, which is captained by Sarah Aley, will play three matches against New Zealand A from February 13 to 16 at Lincoln University.Shooting Stars squad Sarah Aley (capt), Nicole Bolton, Renee Chappell, Rene Farrell, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Emma Inglis, Delissa Kimmince, Kate Owen, Elysse Perry, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Emma Sampson, Lauren Shave, Brian McFadyen (coach).

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAfter having been blown away by Umar Akmal’s blitz on Monday night, Quetta Gladiators rebounded with a punishing win against Islamabad United, their fourth of the tournament, in Sharjah. Victory meant that Quetta took the top spot from Peshawar Zalmi, who had edged a thriller in the first match of the day. The Quetta bowlers vindicated Sarfraz Ahmed’s decision to bowl by knocking over Islamabad for 117 in 19.1 overs. Sarfraz himself then led the chase with a typically busy fifty.New Zealand allrounder Grant Elliott, who had cracked a fifty against Australia three days ago in Brendan McCullum’s final ODI at Seddon Park, struck twice in two balls to set the match up for Quetta. Brad Haddin was first stumped by a canny back-of-the-hand slow roller, and then Sam Billings was trapped leg-before. Elliott’s double-blow lifted Quetta, after a quick start from Shane Watson, who stood in as captain again; Misbah-ul-Haq was still injured.The slide seeped into the lower order as well, with Imran Khalid’s 18 being the second-best score, following Watson’s 28-ball 40. The pitch had slowed down considerably, but Islamabad’s shot selection was iffy. Each of Quetta’s six bowlers punched his name into the wickets column, Elliott being the best with figures of 3 for 25.Andre Russell, who had managed only 10 off 13 balls with the bat, engineered a double-strike of his own in the chase, and accounted for Quetta’s top three. Sarfraz, however, built on opener Ahmed Shehzad’s 41, and sealed the win with seven wickets and 23 balls to spare.Sarfraz largely profited from sweeps and pulls during his unbeaten 51 off 39 balls, including six fours. Mohammad Nawaz, meanwhile, scratched his way to 14 not out off 21 balls, despite repeatedly getting beaten outside off by Saeed Ajmal.

Andy Bichel has not been put off by Mitchell Johnson’s slow start to the domestic season and feels he is in the perfect position to make his Test debut on Thursday. Johnson’s chances of being presented with a baggy green improved with the withdrawal of Shaun Tait from the squad with an elbow injury and the only thing missing from his preparation is a useful haul at state level.Johnson went wicketless in the Pura Cup match against New South Wales last week and has picked up only one victim in the tour game with the Sri Lankans in Brisbane. However, there was no problem with his pace in the second innings this afternoon and Bichel was impressed with his team-mate’s credentials.”He’s a left-armer, he gives you those options and we haven’t seen a left-arm quick for a long time,” he said. “He’s at the right age, he’s done his apprenticeship and knows the system, it’s perfect timing for him. He’s ready to go.”Sri Lanka have struggled with the bounce in Brisbane during the tour game and Johnson’s height and pace should provide some more discomfort during the Test. Australia will be without Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath for the first time since their retirement and Johnson is an attractive option because he is a left-armer.”The make-up of the side, with Stuart Clark, Brett Lee and no Warne, you need some variation in the side,” Bichel said. “Stuart MacGill will fill the spin-bowling spot but you need some variation in our quicks and Mitchell’s the best way to get it.”Farveez Maharoof is pushing for a place in the Sri Lanka side and he helped his claims with 3 for 72 on a day when they struggled to knock over Queensland’s lower order. Dilhara Fernando, who is not playing in the match, is Maharoof’s main rival for a spot, although the reshuffling to cover Kumar Sangakkara’s injury may result in the visitors playing five bowlers.”I’ve been bowling well over the last two weeks and it was good to have a day out,” Maharoof said. “It won’t be easy with Dilhara, Lasith [Malinga] and [Chaminda] Vaas around. I’m still hoping that I’ll get a comeback and hope I get a chance to prove myself.”The Sri Lankans’ attack made an impression on Bichel as he posted his ninth first-class century with an aggressive 125. “Malinga will expose the older ball in Hobart, but not in Brisbane because he won’t get a lot of reverse-swing,” he said. “Maharoof bowled really well and Vaas swung the ball beautifully. They stack up pretty well.”

Matthew Hayden conquered the MCG with his sixth Test hundred in the stadium before calling it the toughest surface he had batted on for two years. It was hard to know how serious he was after Australia had scored 337 in a day and his 124 had come from 183 balls. However, as his analysis of the pitch grew and talk of his 28th century was pushed to the background, he became more convincing.”Quite difficult” was cut to “difficult” and he was certain things would “deteriorate” much more than they did for the drop-in wickets that have held together and forced attritional play during Pura Cup games. Despite the predictions, Hayden felt batting would not get any more challenging than it was in the first 30 overs of the opening day, when they reached 0 for 122. He might have been trying to scare the Indians, but if it does wear like Hayden expects it will become more like a home game for the tourists.The predictions led Ricky Ponting to bat and Hayden and Jaques survived the early difficulties in a stand of 135 that would produce the innings’ highest scores. Instead of things getting easier, they quickly became harder as Australia lost nine batsmen and their ability to follow the tradition of dominating the opening exchanges.”We lost a few too many wickets, but it was difficult enough and those conditions will be revealed over the next four days,” Hayden said. “The fact is we are facing a difficult wicket. The score is definitely a par effort.”Hayden started by going hard at the ball as it seamed in the morning, benefiting from gaps in the slips during a couple of thick edges, and then turned his attention to the spin of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Jaques beat him to fifty and even though Hayden was keeping pace his run-scoring speed was surprising. By the time he reached his century, which was celebrated with a hug from Michael Clarke, he had struck only nine fours, but it came from 126 deliveries.”It was one of my best Test hundreds because of the conditions we had at hand,” he said. “I was pretty pumped, it was great.”The MCG stirs Hayden, who played his first home Test here in 1996-97, and he had extra reasons to perform this time. “I’ve built this match up more so than any other,” he said. “It announces the start of the summer for us.”The series began with an eventful and intriguing first day, but Hayden does not expect things to happen quickly over the rest of the match. “It’s definitely going to be a wicket that’s going to be hard to score on,” he said. “There are slow conditions and I can see us really putting the pressure on through good in-out fields. We’ll try to constrict India and I definitely think the wicket’s going to deteriorate.”Two years ago Hayden played on an MCG pitch that he said was worse than this one. It was wet on the first day, when he scored 65, but he managed to overcome the difficulties in the second innings with 137. Over the next couple of days his forecasting will be tested.

Pakistan are considering inviting India for a quickfire series of ODIs if, asis becoming increasingly likely, Australia pull out of their scheduled tour inMarch-April.Doubts about whether Australia will come for their first tour in nearly a decadehave increased day-by-day over the last week, the latest coming from Ricky Ponting,the Australian captain.The Pakistan board has all along insisted its priority is to get Australia to cometo visit, but has privately admitted they are working on alternative options, whichinclude inviting another country over.And a well-placed source revealed to Cricinfo that informal talks had been held withthe BCCI about a series of ODIs in Pakistan in case Australia don’t come.”There have been informal discussions with the BCCI but nothing has been firmed up.Things will become clearer in a day or so,” the source said. “The first priority is still to getAustralia to come over but if they don’t come, options have to be and are beingexamined.”Two PCB officials, including the chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi arecurrently touring India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for bilateral board talksregarding scheduling ahead of an ICC meeting to devise the Future Tours Programme(FTP) till 2013. The ostensible purpose of the mission is to fill the gaps inPakistan’s schedule in the current FTP.The current Pakistan administration is said to be unhappy over their predecessor’swork on the last FTP, which has left Pakistan with a number of gaps in theircricketing calendar. “Pakistan played half the number of Tests that Australia didaccording to that FTP and that is something that needs to be rectified,” the source said. But as a result of Australia’s hesitancy, the trip has become an opportunityfor Pakistan to try and arrange an alternative contest with countries who are freein March-April.Both boards, however, are officially denying the development. India, as ever, ishemmed in by a hectic schedule. Between their return from Australia and the firstTest against South Africa, an ODI series, even just across the border, seemsunlikely. “It’s not possible,” a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo. “The Indian teamreturns from Australia on March 8 and the first Test against South Africa starts inChennai on March 26. Where is the time?”Ahsan Malik, the PCB spokesman, explained the board’s focus was on gettingAustralia over. “This is an official trip with regards to the FTP till 2013. Theywanted to meet boards and have a pre-scheduling round of meetings with them. Ourfull concentration is on playing Australia.”

Northamptonshire Steelbacks kept themselves in touch with the National League Division One frontrunners as Matthew Hayden and David Sales guided them to an eight-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes in a rain-affected contest at Wantage Road.The third-wicket pair came to the rescue with Northants in trouble at 21-2 replying to the Foxes’ total of 220-7, and had carried the score to 103-2 from 25 overs when the weather intervened.Play was delayed for 65 minutes, and when the players made their way back on to the field the Steelbacks were left to make a further 19 in three overs to notch their third successive win.Hayden and Sales – who finished unbeaten on 69 and 43 respectively – made short work of the task, skipper Hayden settling the issue when he swept Amer Khan to the boundary with five balls remaining.Leicestershire’s batting honours belonged to opener Trevor Ward who stroked 61 from 79 deliveries including a six and six fours. He put on 82 in 15 overs with Aftab Habib (28) to make up for the early loss of Vince Wells.Ben Smith (34) and Darren Stevens (30 not out) also contributed usefully, and the Foxes were on top when Northants lost Jeff Cook and Mal Loye in the first seven overs of their reply.But the in-form Hayden, who faced 67 balls and struck 11 boundaries in his decisive knock, saw his side through to a win which leaves them just four points behind top-of-the-table Worcestershire Royals.

On the third day of the sixth round, Saurashtra closed in on a semi-final spot by beating Maharashtra outright. Saurashtra now have 20 points, three more than Delhi and five more than Mumbai, whose matches are yet to be completed.In Group B, Uttar Pradesh made a late charge towards the semi-finals as they beat Bengal by an innings and 152 runs and moved to 14 points with one match to play. Punjab turned the game against Orissa on its head after bowling them out for 76 in the second innings. They look good to chase the 175 runs easily on the fourth day, a result which will give them an excellent chance to avoid relegation. They don’t play a match in the last round, having already completed their fixtures, and will have to await other results.Scorecard

Saurashtra sailed to the top of Group A after completing an eight-wicket win over Maharashtra in Nagothane. The hosts, trailing by 117 on the first innings, resumed at 34 for 1, and were bundled out for 182, with left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv picking up career-best figures of 5 for 37 in 13.4 overs. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with three wickets, as Maharashtra once again failed to go beyond 200. Hrishikesh Kanitkar top-scored with 62, with only three other batsmen going past single figures.Needing 66 for the win, Saurashtra lost two wickets to Sairaj Bahutule before sealing the win and gaining five crucial points in the process.
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh stretched their overnight score of 437 for 7 to 494 before bowling out Bengal for 193 to win by an innings and 152 runs at Eden Gardens. UP gained the bonus point and are now placed second behind Baroda in Group B.For Bengal, SS Paul bagged 7 for 113. Bengal’s openers put up a spirited reply in their second innings, putting up a 100-run partnership, but Praveen Gupta and Sudeep Tyagi then ran through their batting line-up as the rest folded meekly. Anustup Majumdar top-scored with 60. While it was Tyagi who broke the resistance with the first four wickets, Gupta ended with exceptional figures of 9.3-6-11-5.
ScorecardMumbai managed to take a healthy first-innings lead in Dharamsala and enforced a follow-on, but an 81-run sixth-wicket partnership between Paras Dogra (50*) and Ajay Mannu (42*) kept the game alive for Himachal Pradesh.Himachal, resuming on 180 for 7 in the first innings, were bowled out for 214. Murtaza Hussain, playing his third first-class game, finished with 6 for 57, his maiden five-wicket haul. In the second innings, Himachal’s openers Manish Gupta and Hemant Dogra led a dogged reply with an opening stand of 76.The spinners – Ramesh Powar and Iqbal Abdullah – then struck for Mumbai, as Himachal slumped to 155 for 5 before Paras and Mannu propped them to 236 at stumps.
Scorecard
VRV Singh’s hat-trick rattled Orissa in the second innings to put Punjab on the threshold of a stunning win after they had conceded a 98-run first-innings lead. Orissa were bowled out for 76, while Punjab had scored 117 of the 175 runs required for the loss of two wickets by stumps. VRV took 5 for 25 to trigger a collapse after a solid start, while Gagandeep Singh took 3 for 25. The last nine entries on the Orissa scorecard read: 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 6, 0, 0*. VRV Singh became the third bowled to take a hat-trick in two rounds of the Ranji Trophy, after Kerala’s Sony Cheruvethur and Delhi’s Parvinder Awana.Earlier Punjab, resuming at 207 for 8, managed only 225, with Basanth Mohanty taking his second five-for in as many matches at the first-class level.Ravi Inder, with an unbeaten 47, had taken Punjab close to what will be their first win this season. More importantly, it will take them off the bottom of the table.
ScorecardAfter two days of grinding out the opposition, Andhra declared their first innings at 469 for 9, with former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad remaining unbeaten on 121, but met an even more dour reply from Baroda who recovered well from two early blows.If Andhra’s run-rate of 2.53 during their innings was slow, Baroda outdid them, scoring 136 for 2 in 77 overs. Connor Williams was resolute during his 256-ball 75, and put on 133 runs for the unbroken third-wicket partnership with Rakesh Solanki, after D Kalyankrishna had struck twice to leave Baroda reeling at 3 for 2.Karnataka 0 for 0 trail Delhi 538 by 538 runs
Scorecard Continual rain dampened Delhi’s hopes of a semi-final spot as play was washed out on the third day in Bangalore. This means that Delhi have one day left to dismiss Karnataka to gain the points for a first-innings lead. They currently have 17 points, three less than Saurashtra’s 20, while Mumbai, too, have high chances of reaching 20 points at least by the end of the round.
ScorecardRain continued to play spoilsport in Chennai, as only 8.2 overs were possible on day three after day two was washed out. Rajasthan struck once in that period, with Gajendra Singh removing overnight centurion M Vijay for 123.

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

England lost three quick wickets, including that of Kevin Pietersen, as West Indies fought back strongly in the final session of the third day at Chester-le-Street. Their confidence boosted by Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s magnificent hundred, West Indies bowlers were erratic but effective – and, at stumps, the honours were just about even.Before Pietersen fell, it was difficult to say which side had the better of the day. England restricted West Indies to under 300, but were frustrated by Chanderpaul’s tenth-wicket stand of 58 with Corey Collymore. For West Indies, their middle to lower-order were utterly feeble and their bowling, in parts, was remarkably shoddy. Their delight in dismissing Pietersen suggested their confidence is on the up but England, after a stern chat from Peter Moores tonight, still ought to overhaul West Indies’ first innings total quite comfortably.The absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan has clearly affected Daren Ganga, the replacement captain, negatively. But the opposite is true of Chanderpaul who has thrived on the responsibility thrust on his shoulders. Technically the most adept in his side, he set his stall out immediately and was clearly intent on batting through the day. There was little urgency in his strokeplay and, in such humid conditions – facing a beautifully metronomical Matthew Hoggard – he found the going tough.Though he hasn’t collected a bucketful of wickets, the influence Hoggard has had on the team is unquestionable; from the start, he pitched the ball on a sixpence and never strayed. Dwayne Bravo was beaten by his own patience, trying to slog him over midwicket and dragging the ball onto his stumps. And neither Marlon Samuels – in for Darren Sammy – or Denesh Ramdin offered Chanderpaul much hope of extending West Indies total into the 200s. This was due in no small part to another fine display from Ryan Sidebottom who picked up his first five-wicket haul.

Step forward Collymore. With England scenting blood – and, in all fairness, he is one of the last remaining genuine No. 11s in the world – their bowlers lost their control. Collymore nudged and nurdled his way to nowhere, but crucially allowed Chanderpaul time at the crease to being up his 16th Test hundred. It was an old-fashioned, hard-fought, stodgy innings, the type West Indies now crave. If anything, the presence of Collymore drove Chanderpaul on further, and he marshaled the strike quite brilliantly to add 58 with his No. 11. Unfortunately for Collymore, he fell four short of his Test best.Although the total was far from commanding, West Indies’ fragile confidence was at least boosted by Chanderpaul’s rearguard. Sadly their bowlers were less inspired (initially, at any rate) – Collymore in particular. Balls fired down the leg-side, rank long-hops, half-volleys and worse were served up, accompanied by a pudding of sloppy fielding. Andrew Strauss, whose form has been of major concern lately, capitalize, pulling Fidel Edwards and Collymore off a length – his trademark shot which has lately gone into hibernation.With Michael Vaughan, Strauss put on 73 for the second wicket – though the captain rarely looked in good touch, scratching around for a 65-ball 19 before falling to Collymore. England’s nightwatchman, Matthew Hoggard, only lasted two balls before the biggest scalp of them all, Pietersen, edged Edwards behind for a duck. West Indies were rightly jubilant and, perhaps for the first time this series, skipped off the pitch.Strauss is 28 short of his first hundred since Headingley last August, against Pakistan, and his wicket is crucial to West Indies’ fortunes tomorrow morning. If they can expose Paul Collingwood to the moving delivery early, a first innings lead is not out of the question. But with the depth England have, and the match already entering its fourth day tomorrow, it will take something special from West Indies’ opening bowlers for the match to swing their way.

Jamaican opening batsman Brenton Parchment is the sole newcomer in a 15-member squad chosen by the West Indies selectors, only for the tour of Zimbabwe which starts at month-end.Though averaging below 30 since making his first-class debut during the 1999-2000 domestic season, Parchment’s batting has shown signs of maturity over the past two seasons and culminated with scores of 111 and 168 in his last first-class game in the Carib Beer series back in February at the Alpart Sports Club in his homeland. The 25-year-old right-hand batsman made 154 runs at just under 39.00 with one half-century to help Jamaica win the recent KFC Cup regional one-day competition.Making a return to the team is Guyanese batsman Narsingh Deonarine. Though selected for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September, the 24-year-old has not featured for the West Indies since his debut in 2005 when he played four Tests and four ODIs in the Caribbean and on tour in Sri Lanka.Veteran Grenadian legspinner Rawle Lewis has again found favour with the selectors. Since making his Test and ODI debut in 1997, the 33-year-old has played a mere four Tests, taking a solitary wicket, and 20 ODIs, gaining 14 wickets and 172 runs. His last ODI was on the 2006 tour of New Zealand. Lewis has remained a consistent performer at the regional level and his leadership capabilities are expected to be invaluable on tour.Two noticeable absentees from the squad are Barbados’ captain Corey Collymore and allrounder Dwayne Smith. Collymore, though considered a miserly bowler in the shortened version of the game, hardly bowled a ball during the recent KFC Cup tournament and his omission has not come as a total surprise.Smith has huffed and puffed without blowing much down for the better part of three years, since his promising debut on the African continent in 2004. Considered an ODI specialist, he now pays the price for a record that reads 71 matches and a mere 791 runs at an abysmal average of 14.92. His improved bowling and brilliant fielding that compensated for his exasperating batting failures, and seemingly kept him in the side, were apparently unable to do so this time around.Though originally believed to be unavailable for the tour because of injury, Jamaican batsman Marlon Samuels has retained his place in the side after joining the squad at the training camp in Barbados last week. There was no word yesterday from the WICB about his fitness.Barbados’ Henderson Springer and Trinidad and Tobago’s David Williams will serve as the coaches on the tour.West Indies’ opening match is on November 30 at Harare Sports Club and they will play the second ODI two days later at the same venue. They play the final games at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo on December 5, 9 and 17, respectively. They then go to South Africa for three Tests and five ODIs but changes to the team could be made.Squad for Zimbabwe one-dayersChris Gayle (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Runako Morton, Rawl Lewis, Brenton Parchment, Darren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

The investigations into the murder of Bob Woolmer, the late Pakistan coach, are reported to have reached a significant breakthrough with a likely suspect being identified through footage from the hotel security camera. According to a report in the UK-based , detectives from Scotland Yard and a team of 30 officers studied the digitally-enhanced footage and the suspect was understood to be a male, though police were unable to confirm his identity.”The cleaned-up images from London show at least one individual of considerable interest to the inquiry,” a source close to the investigation told the paper. “The time of the footage and its location mean that this individual must be considered a suspect. Further work is being done on statements given by individuals to look at any inconsistencies. It is good progress.”Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan’s loss to Ireland, and though the cause of death was determined, the authorities had struggled to develop lasting leads in the murder case. There was speculation that Woolmer may have been poisoned first before being strangled, as a toxicology report stated that samples taken from his blood, stomach and urine had shown the presence of a foreign substance.An inquest into the murder was scheduled for April 23 but had to be postponed owing to ‘significant developments’ into the case. Twenty witnesses were due to provide evidence but a statement from the Jamaican justice ministry on Thursday said the hearing would be postponed following advice from the coroner.