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According to Stephen Fleming, New Zealand aren’t looking past the final Test against West Indies to their series of three in South Africa that starts in three weeks time. But the captain has made it plain that his team can only properly judge where it stands in the scheme of things by proving itself against stronger opponents than they have already beaten in two Tests in the past couple of weeks here.”We haven’t got one eye on South Africa; we’ve got both eyes firmly on the next Test,” Fleming said after New Zealand’s victory by ten wickets in the second Test at Wellington on Monday, an unprecedented fifth in succession following one win over Sri Lanka and two over Zimbabwe last year.But he implied that West Indies did not presently offer the necessary challenge to carry New Zealand to the top level that is his aim. “We’ve found the brand of cricket being played by the tougher teams in the world which don’t give you second chances,” he said. “At the moment, we’re in a bunch with the West Indies when you do get second chances, when there are mistakes being made in the field, batting, bowling and every facet.”It was a harsh comment but hardly unfair, especially given West Indies’ shoddy allround performance in their heavy defeat in the second Test.New Zealand have retained the same squad of 13 chosen for both preceding Tests. They are hoping, rather than confidently expecting, their main strike bowler, Shane Bond, to return to the team. Bond was the Man of the Match in the tight first Test in which he dismissed Brian Lara in each innings with the only two balls he bowled to him. But he withdrew from the second Test with a stomach virus on the morning of the match and has not yet fully recovered. It is the second time this year Bond has been stricken by a virus. He lost six kilos in weight following a similar illness in January but was outstanding in the first Test.Now 30, Bond has been limited to 13 Tests since making his debut four years ago by a back injury that required surgery. But he has reported no recurrence since returning in the series in Zimbabwe last September.West Indies remained in Wellington yesterday but were confined to indoor practice by persistent rain that also drenched this seaside town, 250 kilometres to the north east on the north island. The weather might become a factor in the preparation of the pitch as more rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Daniel Vettori in action against Australia© Getty Images

Daniel Vettori might sit out the forthcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka after increasing soreness in his back made it evident that he was in need of a rest.Vettori was below his best with the ball in Auckland Test against Australia, and Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain, admitted that he was worried with the first Test at Napier due to start on Monday. “Daniel’s very sore and we’ll just have to measure it up,” Fleming told reporters. “He’s done incredibly well to get this far – a stand-out figure. I just appreciate how much pain he’s played under and what he’s done.”Vettori agreed that he was in need of break. “We’ve got a few days off before the Sri Lankan series, he told the Otago Daily Times. “I’m going to use that as much as I can to rest and try and get ready. “It [the back] has been sore since the start of the Test series and I’ve got through it as much as I can.”I just want to give it the next few days and get a better feel for it. Sometimes, after a couple of days’ rest, it does pick up quite quickly.”If Vettori can struggle through the Sri Lanka Tests, then he will have almost four months to recharge his batteries as New Zealand are not in action again until August, when they tour Zimbabwe.New Zealand have felt the pressure of the endless cycle of international cricket more than most, with a string of players sidelined through injury. Scott Styris is recovering from knee surgery while Jacob Oram and Ian Butler are battling back from long-standing back problems. Chris Harris underwent shoulder surgery after injuring himself in the VB Series in February, Daryl Tuffey has a bicep strain and Michael Papps has undergone an operation on his finger.

It turned out into a thrilling Test match but Sri Lanka departed fortressGalle without their now customary early series win. England, understandably,were overjoyed and Sri Lanka’s sense of frustration and disappointment waspalpable. But there is no reason for them being so.

© Getty Images

As new coach John Dyson has been at pains to point out, Sri Lanka dominatedthe match. England’s tenaciousness kept them within sight but they werealways behind the eight ball. Were it not for poor weather and some verypoor umpiring, Sri Lanka would be 1-0 up.Some pundits have criticised Sri Lanka for their slow batting on day four.The criticism is harsh. Scoring runs was never easy, as the England’sspinners did bowl well, and Mahela Jaywardene was under pressure after arelatively lean spell during the last 18 months.Moreover, if rain had not washed out 31 overs on the fourth afternoon therewould have been plenty of time to force a win. You can take account of theweather but only to an extent. It is an uncontrollable factor not easilypredicted in a tropical country like Sri Lanka.Even considering the loss of valuable time, Sri Lanka would surely havewrapped up an important victory had they not been at the receiving end ofthe bulk of the bad decisions. England suffered too, the most glaringmistake being Marcus Trescothick’s caught behind decision in the firstinnings, but Sri Lanka have every reason to be peeved.The last day was littered with umpiring blunders: Dinusha Fernando hadMichael Vaughan caught off glove first ball of the day, Gareth Batty wascaught at bat-pad off a thick edge early on in his important rearguardeffort, and Ashley Giles should have been send packing at twice whenpalpably lbw in the last session.The most bizarre decision though was third umpire Gamini Silva’s not outcall just before tea when Sri Lanka claimed a catch off Paul Collingwood,who then went onto bat for nearly three hours. Darryl Harper referred thedecision to double check whether it was a bump ball, which replays showed itwasn’t, but Silva pressed the green button.Replays proved less conclusive as to whether the ball hit the toe or bat (orboth), but that should not have been Silva’s concern. The playingregulations are crystal clear. The third umpire may decide on whether thecatch was taken clearly or whether it was a bump ball. The television umpireis not there to make a judgment on whether the ball touched the bat.Sri Lanka were seething afterwards and with good reason. They are in theprocess of making a full complaint to the ICC. The fear is that theone-sided nature of the decision-making has created the potential for anexplosive test match in Kandy. Don’t be surprised if there’s excessiveappealing by both sides.The important thing from Sri Lanka’s point of view is to focus on theupcoming match. The good news is that they appear upbeat and positive, happyto see their prize spinner back taking a hatful of wickets and pleased towatch Jayawardene bat himself into form. Expect another closely fought Testin Kandy – and the now normal dollop of hillcountry controversy.

Tasmania have announced the following team for the ACB Cup match against Australian Capital Territory on 7-10 Jan at Canberra:Dene Hills (c), Chris Bassano, Graeme Cunningham, Andrew Downton, Andrew Dykes, Ben Hilfenhaus, Scott Kremerskothen, Scott Mason, Shane McDermott, Matthew Pascoe, Brad Thomas, Shannon Tubb.

Australian Glenn McGrath, Worcestershire’s pace man, produced an outstanding one man show against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.McGrath, who is not available next summer for the New Road club, finished with impressive figures of 6-90 when Warwickshire declared at 407-7 – a first innings lead of 144.Warwickshire decided to bat on for their maximum five batting points which they achieved in the last bonus over.In the process they lost three wickets when Anurag Singh, Neil Smith and Alan Donald became McGrath victims.In his 4.4 overs during the morning session his three wickets cost just ten runs.Singh was caught at first slip by Stuart Lampitt for 46, while Smith (5) fell to a catch to Vikram Solanki at first slip and Alan Donald (16) gave wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes a catch behind.In reply Worcestershire made a slow start with openers, Philip Weston and Elliott Wilson, putting on only 20 runs in 12 overs and at lunch were 32-0.

Scott Arfield is ‘nailed-on’ to return to the Rangers team for their Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade at the expense of Fashion Sakala. 

That’s according to the former Gers defender Alan Hutton, who was speaking to Football Insider.

The lowdown

Rangers are due to face reigning Serbian champions Red Star in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie at Ibrox on Thursday night.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst selected Sakala in the right-wing position for Saturday’s win over Aberdeen, with Arfield then replacing him for the final 31 minutes.

The Dutchman did say, however, that he benched the Canadian initially in order to give him something of a rest.

The latest

Hutton fully expects Van Bronckhorst to favour one of his ‘main men’ in Arfield over Sakala given the latter’s lack of end product.

“I think Arfield comes back in for Sakala, I think that would be nailed on,” the BBC Radio 5 Live man said to FI.

“Sakala for me, I’m watching him and you just want him to relax on the ball. Everything he tries to do, he tries to just smash the ball.

“He gets into really good areas, he picks up the ball well, he runs at people. Just that final pass, that final decision can sometimes let him down.

“Arfield, he’s one of the main men for me and Van Bronckhorst, especially on European nights.”

The verdict

Arfield only actually started one of Rangers’ six group-stage games – the 1-1 draw with Brondby back in November.

But he earned a spot in Van Bronckhorst’s line-up for both legs of the play-off clash with Borussia Dortmund.

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It was a somewhat tricky night for the 33-year-old in the second leg, though, as he missed a ‘big chance’, won only two out of seven duels and failed to complete either of the dribbles he attempted (via SofaScore).

But it’s possible that Van Bronckhorst values the defensive contribution he provides, with Arfield recording three interceptions in that game.

And on top of that, former Hamilton manager Brian Rice says the ‘magnificent’ £16,000-per-week veteran ‘is the only one’ in the squad who can make deadly runs from midfield.

In other news, Kevin Campbell offers his reaction as an injury blow emerges.

	Mushtaq Ahmed leads Sussex off after taking 13 wickets in the final match of the 2007 season … but will it turn out to be his last outing for the county? © Getty Images

Cricinfo has learned that the Pakistan board is set to block any of its players who have signed contracts with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League from playing domestic cricket overseas.As things stand, any player who wants to play abroad needs a No Objection Certificate [NOC] from their home board. But a PCB source told Cricinfo that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who recently signed for Yorkshire, would not be getting an NOC. “This is in line with our policy on the ICL,” the source said. “All players who do sign up with it will not represent Pakistan or domestic sides in Pakistan and anyway, Rana was not a contracted player of the board.”Perhaps the most high-profile case is that of Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been instrumental in Sussex’s success in the last five seasons and who is due to return to Hove next month. Although he was granted an NOC, he has since signed with the ICL. “We are considering withdrawing his NOC, because when we provided it to him last, it was a month and a half before he signed up with the ICL,” the spokesman said.Sussex have said they are “working with the ECB and the PCB in order to clarify the situation” regarding Mushtaq.Yorkshire’s chief executive Stewart Regan said that the county had given Naved-ul-Hasan an ultimatum – will he take part in the ICL or will he play for Yorkshire? “If Rana takes part in the ICL, he will automatically forfeit his Yorkshire contract. What we don’t know is how much Rana is being paid by the ICL, or whether he has signed a legally-binding contract.”

Graeme Smith is aware of Bangladesh’s strengths, given their three-pronged spin attack © Getty Images

When they arrived in Guyana, South Africa were well aware that nothingless than six points would suffice as they sought to seal a place in thelast four of the World Cup. Having stumbled on home soil four years ago,failure is not an option for the team’s stalwarts, many of whom won’t bearound in four years time.Ahead of Saturday’s game against Bangladesh, South Africa are right oncourse to leave Georgetown with the perfect record that they desire,having held off Sri Lanka in a thrilling finish before outclassingIreland. Bangladesh, who upset India in the opening phase, haven’t comeclose to beating South Africa before, but Graeme Smith was taking nothing forgranted on a slow pitch that may aid the opposition’s strengths.”Bangladesh base a lot of their attack on their three spinners,” he said,no doubt aware of the six wickets that they combined for against India.”They have a very young batting line-up that has been a bit unpredictablethroughout the tournament. They have played aggressive at times and beendefensive at others. I think they are caught a little in between on howthey should play.”Victory over India increased the expectations back in Bangladesh tohigh-rise levels, and subsequent disappointments against Australia and NewZealand resulted in Habibul Bashar, the captain, being subjected to harshcriticism. Smith clearly doesn’t envy his opposite number, but suggestedthat such things might be par for the course now that Bangladesh are nolonger looked upon as a minnow.”Now that they are in the Super Eight, there is a lot of pressure on them fromback home to still carry on beating top teams,” he said. “It’s a differentenvironment for them now, with their nation believing they should bewinning these games more and more often.”South Africa had thumped India 4-0 at home in November, and there’s nodoubt that playing Bangladesh in their place represents a bit of a stepinto the unknown. “We watched a bit of the India game,” said Smith. “Theyare a team, that if you give them any chance, they will pounce at it. Youhave got to start really well against them, and put them on the back footas early as you can. You give them a sniff and they have got players who,under Dav Whatmore, have learnt how to win games.”Apart from the spin trio, Bangladesh’s hopes rest largely with the youngbatting line-up that eclipsed India’s much-feted one. “They are young andsometimes don’t think about the situation they are in,” said Smith, whohimself was pitched into the big time pretty early. “They play with thatsort of freedom.”Due to their unpredictable nature, they can get off to a fast start, butcan also collapse at times. I think it’s about remaining calm againstthese sort of teams, who are unpredictable.”South Africa have four games in the next 10 days, and with fatigue boundto become an issue, there might be a couple of changes against Bangladesh.Andrè Nel should come into the reckoning, with Charl Langeveldt likely tomake way, and Robin Peterson will also come into the equation if thethink-tank decides that Makhaya Ntini requires a small break before biggerchallenges.”There are crucial games coming up for us,” said Smith. “We have two gamesin Grenada against New Zealand and West Indies, and we need to step upgoing into the meat of the World Cup. We don’t want do-or-die gamesagainst bigger teams.”The winner-take-all game that they’d love is a final against Australia,but Smith is wary of looking too far into the future. “It’s the final mostguys dream of,” he admitted. “But the important thing is reaching thesemi-finals.”Bangladesh’s priority, as Whatmore said on Wednesday, is to avoidfinishing last in the Super Eights. It makes for a fascinating tussle,between an ever-improving side with everything to gain and another thattruly believes that they can go all the way after the heartbreaks of 1992and ’99.

Bangladesh have dropped Tapash Baisya and Nazmul Hossain from their 14-man one-day squad for the four-ODI series at home to Kenya.Shahadat Hossain, who has played in five Tests bit not in any one-dayers, has been drafted into the squad.Bangladesh Habibul Bashar (capt), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Manjural Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain.

Brian Luckhurst: man of Kent for 51 years© Getty Images

Brian Luckhurst, the former England batsman who died earlier this month after a 51-year association with Kent County Cricket Club, has been laid to rest in the village of Alkham near Dover. Nearly 500 mourners crammed into the Church of St Anthony of Parmiers to pay their respects to Luckhurst, 66, who was buried on the final day of his term of office as club president.The local pub closed as a mark of respect, and after readings from Mr Luckhurst’s sons, the eulogy was read by his former Kent and England team-mate, Derek Underwood. “To be president of Kent County Cricket Club was without doubt the greatest honour and tribute that Brian could ever have achieved," said Underwood, "so it was tragic that he should be stricken with illness in his presidential year."Despite all the odds he fulfilled his duties and at times he went far beyond the call of duty and despite his pain and tiredness he was determined to enjoy and relish every moment of his year.” The congregation included a host of former Kent stars, including Mike Denness, Alan Ealham, David Constant, Chris Tavare and Richard Ellison.