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Two British explorers, about to undertake an expedition to plot the exact location of the Magnetic North Pole, are planning to play the world’s most northerly game of cricket if they do find it.London banker Matthew Hancock, 26, and 28-year-old Kilkenny-based engineer Matt Coates will trek over parts of the Arctic Ocean never before covered by man while gathering vital scientific data into the damaging effects of climate change on one of the world’s most remote areas.They will face extreme dangers throughout the expedition, not least the threat of the Arctic’s 20,000 polar bears as well as the obvious hazards posed by the elements … hypothermia, frostbite, gangrene and hypoglycaemia, as well as the further risk of injury caused by falling through thin ice.The Climate Change Magnetic Pole Expedition 2005, sponsored by the European Climate Exchange, the Chicago Climate Exchange and Brit Insurance Holdings, will involve the two explorere trekking more than 500 miles in around six weeks, dragging sledges weighing more than 120 kilos.Brit Insurance, which also sponsor Surrey CCC and The Brit Oval, have challenged Hancock and Coates to celebrate their arrival at the Magnetic North Pole by attempting the most northerly game of cricket ever played.

SUPPORT ASIAN TELEVISION NETWORK AND PRESIDENT & CEO SHAN CHANDRESEKHAR FORHIS COMMITMENT AND ENTERPRISE.PLease pass this on and have posted on provincial and league websites.We were informed on the phone tonight that the Tri Nation Series of ODI’sbetween Australia India and New Zealand will be carried on Asian TelevisionNetwork – Toronto 1 (Channel 15 in Toronto or 602 and Channel A in other areas. Itwill also be carried on Bell ExpressVu on Channel 802 we understand.In addition, next Saturday morning at 9:00 am India and New Zealandhighlights are scheduled to be seen.Please let ATN, Rogers and Bell Expressvu KNOW if you appreciate more cricket.Enjoy. Use it or lose it?

Simon Katich handed national selectors a timely reminder with an inspired century to guide Western Australia to within sight of an ING Cup final berth tonight.The crushing 116 run win over Victoria elevated the Warriors into second position in the ING Cup table just one point behind competition leader Queensland.Western Australia is four points clear of equal third-placed NSW and South Australia, but they both have a game in hand.Katich set up the win with his highest score in one-day domestic cricket, 118, which was the foundation of the Warriors 7-234 off 50 overs. He and Michael Hussey (61) combined for a record fourth wicket one-day partnership for Western Australia, combining for 167 off 174 balls.But it was Western Australia’s second string pace attack that earned the bonus point by running through the disappointing Victorian lineup for a paltry 118.With Matthew Nicholson and Brad Williams unavailable, big Jo Angel (5-16) ripped through the Bushrangers middle order after debutant Michael Clark (3-34) impressed by taking the first three wickets including captain Matthew Elliott.The Victorians provided little resistance besides Elliott’s quickfire 35 off 32 balls.Earlier, in between some glorious strokes, 26-year-old Katich had his fair share of luck on his way to his second one-day domestic ton.He received a life on 22 after he top-edged a catch to Ian Hewett on the boundary with the score at 3-73.But the lanky paceman’s momentum sent him sprawling ball in hand over the boundary rope to give Katich a six.And on 83 Katich was again fortunate when Jon Moss dropped an easier catch at mid-on.But in between Katich and Hussey provided fantastic entertainment for the home crowd with a mixture of slogging and great improvisation.Katich was eventually out trapped in front in the second last over by Andrew McDonald while Hussey was caught in the deep by Moss from Michael Lewis’ bowling.Lewis ended up with figures of 4-41 off nine overs after capturing three wickets in the 50th over.Western Australia was in trouble early after opening pair Justin Langer and Scott Meuleman were dismissed with only 26 runs on the board.Test opener Langer didn’t help his chances of a national one-day call up after he skied a hook shot to Lewis off the bowling of Mathew Inness for three.

A century for Craig Spearman, runs for Nathan Astle and a pair of quick wickets for Shayne O’Connor in the early evening added up to a handy day’s work for New Zealand as they started their final pre-Test warm-up against North West at the North West Stadium on Saturday.With bad light twice interrupting play during the afternoon, it was a disjointed day, but it has to be said that North West were a good deal more disjointed than the tourists who declared at 280 for six and then grabbed two wickets with the home side still to get the scoreboard going.Spearman’s 100 followed the 173 not out made by Mark Richardson in Paarl and leaves New Zealand in the happy position of having both openers in the runs ahead of the Test. It wasn’t the most challenging attack, perhaps, and Spearman was occasionally bogged down – he was stuck on 88 for 27 deliveries – but the century was runs under his belt and there’s nothing quite like three figures to get batsmen believing in themselves.Astle, meanwhile, made 63 before he tried to let one from Francois van der Merwe go and had to watch in embarrassment as it crashed into middle and off. But he looked in fine nick, middling it right from the start and he may be a little more circumspect in Bloemfontein in deciding which deliveries to leave.Astle had the Paarl game off as did Stephen Fleming, but Fleming’s return to action was a shade more forgettable. He made 16 and then tried to drive one that wasn’t quite there and lifted a catch to cover. Fleming has made some runs in South Africa, but not as many as he might have liked. Perhaps they’re waiting for him in Bloemfontein.There wasn’t a great deal to write home about as far as North West were concerned. Van der Merwe finished with three for 76, but their chief contribution to the day was to lose two wickets without troubling the scorers.Andrew Lawson and Arno Jacobs were both caught Fleming at first slip, bowled O’Connor and perhaps the biggest plus among a number of setbacks for New Zealand since arriving in South Africa has been the form of O’Connor.He started to swing the ball in the fifth one-dayer at Kingsmead and bowled well at Newlands until he bowled a brainless last over at Lance Klusener. He got swing and bounce at a fair pace on Saturday evening, and if he can take all this to Bloemfontein, the New Zealand attack may have at least a few teeth.

Rangers defender Jack Simpson remains the subject of interest from Birmingham City ahead of the summer transfer window, Football Insider report. 

The lowdown

Birmingham, along with fellow Championship side Middlesbrough, made contact with Rangers over a potential deal for Simpson late in the January transfer window but ultimately ran out of time.

The Englishman only moved to Rangers from Bournemouth a little over a year ago.

But he’s only made six appearances so far this season, totalling a mere 324 minutes of football.

Valued at £900,000 by Transfermarkt, he has more than three years left to run on his £161,200-per-year contract at Ibrox.

The latest

The report states that, as per a ‘recruitment source’, Birmingham are ‘still keen’ to land Simpson.

They’re said to be lining up a fresh bid for the 25-year-old ahead of the summer transfer window.

The expectation, following talks between Simpson and the Rangers hierarchy, is that he’ll return to England ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The verdict

Rangers’ Sporting Director Ross Wilson hailed the capture of a ‘much-coveted’ player last year, but that initial excitement has rather fizzled out as Simpson has struggled to establish himself.

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You can certainly understand why he’d want to leave, and there’s little need for Rangers to stand in his way. Most of his minutes this season have come against lower-league opposition in the domestic cup competitions.

The Gers are about to add to their centre-back ranks with the signing of John Souttar from Hearts, and you’d imagine that will only push Simpson further down the Ibrox pecking order.

In other news, the club have made a big call over Cedric Itten.

	Pradeep Sangwan is gunning for a memorable five-for in the Ranji Trophy final (file photo) © Cricinfo Ltd

The two stars of the day have something in common. Uttar Pradesh’s Tanmay Srivastava, who cracked a fine century, and Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan, the best bowler on view, had just returned from India’s Under-19 tour of South Africa.Both are reaping the benefits of that exposure and reckon the Wankhede wicket was similar to the ones they played on in South Africa. Their display today was no coincidence; the wicket offered consistent bounce and good carry and the two knew how to be effective.Tanmay took UP out of troubled waters. Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina, their main run-getters of the season, had fallen cheaply and Delhi were biting into the brittle lower half when Tanmay took charge. The front foot was not pushed across and the bat didn’t jab at the ball as he played close to the body. The ball did dart around in the morning but he saw through that phase before playing his shots.”The wicket was moving a touch in the morning but settled down. It was quite similar to South Africa. The bounce was little less here and the pace a bit faster there,” Tanmay said. Aakash Chopra thinks the South African experience could have been a hindrance had the Wankhede track had been a typical slow Indian track. “I remember after I came from Australia [in 2003-04], we didn’t play in Feroz Shah Kotla but at another ground in Delhi. It took some time to adjust back to the slowness of the track and I had to make an effort not play a touch early.”Another tip Tanmay got on tour was from the coach, WV Raman. Raman, a fellow left-hander, told Tanmay to open his stance a bit to allow for a smoother downward bat swing and to have better visibility of a right-hand bowler charging from over the wicket.”I couldn’t use it much on tour as I didn’t want to tamper with the technique mid-tour. But I tried it out in the nets a bit and over here, I did that [in the match],” Tanmay said. “Scoring runs on the wickets there [he made 240 runs in five matches at an average of 60] has obviously made me more confident. It’s not only the South African tour. I toured England and a few other places as well. I have started to play better in front of the wicket and I am trying to increase my concentration levels.” While Tanmay has still a long way to go as his first-class average of 31.58 suggests, the recent overseas tours has emboldened him to walk on the right path.

	The board wanted to increase the overseas tours in challenging conditions for all age groups and also moved the semi-finals and final of the Ranji Trophy to neutral venues. The curator Sudhir Naik said he had been instructed to produce a sporting track with bounce and the two turks, fresh from tasting success in South Africa, have enjoyed their outing

Meanwhile, Sangwan is desperate for two more wickets on Thursday to get a prized five-for in the final. “The bounce was pretty similar to South Africa. There was the same balloonwala bounce there and so I knew the right lengths to hit. Only thing was that I had to adjust back to the SG ball from the Kookaburra but I think I managed to do that.”At 17 the youngest Delhi bowler on view, he was by far the best, bowling a good line outside off, Though he was guilty of bowling a touch short on occasions, it was a pretty satisfying day’s work.Manoj Prabhakar has been of great help as Delhi’s bowling consultant. Sangwan would take the ball away from the right-hander with the natural left-armer’s action but, under Prabhakar, he has started to bend the ball back in. “Sir [Prabhakar] has made me bowl closer to the wicket and importantly, worked on my wrist position. It used to fall early at the release and now I have improved and keep it up till late. That has helped me to get bring the ball back in.”The Indian board should be credited for two moves. The board wanted to increase the overseas tours in challenging conditions for all age groups and also moved the semi-finals and final of the Ranji Trophy to neutral venues. The curator Sudhir Naik said he had been instructed to produce a sporting track with bounce and the two youngsters, fresh from tasting success in South Africa, have enjoyed their outing in Mumbai.

Ganguly returns to Nagpur where he controversially pulled out of a series-deciding Test against Australia in 2004 © Getty Images

Sourav Ganguly must love irony. Of all the grounds in the world to make a one-day comeback, of all the venues to seek redemption, he returns to Nagpur. His previous trip here, when India were humiliated in a series-deciding clash against Australia, is widely considered the starting point of his downfall. Today, with close to 500 spectators cheering him on at the nets, he was like Napoleon preparing for revenge at Waterloo.Ganguly hasn’t played a one-day international for India since September 2005. Ironically – yes, that word again – he’s managed seven Tests in that period, ironical because Ganguly in one-dayers is colossal compared to Ganguly in Tests. Few have blended bravado and skill so deftly in the first 15 overs and almost nobody has trotted down the track to 150kph thunderbolts and slotted them over long-off.His half-hour workout today, divided between the fast bowlers and the spinners, was the most exciting part of a rather mundane nets session. Apparently simulating the first 15 overs of an ODI, he swung his bat merrily. He spanked Zaheer Khan, who was the sharpest bowler on the day, RP Singh and Sreesanth – his short arm jab off RP Singh that soared into the stands was most eye-catching. The spinners were simply mangled. Harbhajan Singh was clattered for two huge sixes, Ramesh Powar received some back-foot peppering and the lesser known net bowlers didn’t stand a chance.Batting in the nets next to him was Robin Uthappa, who has butchered bowlers around the domestic circuit and is a likely opening partner for the first match. Sachin Tendulkar, recently promoted to the vice-captaincy and looking all pumped up with the responsibility, is likely to be moved down the batting order. He and Rahul Dravid, quite detached from the action today and looking tired while running between the wickets, will be expected to shore up the middle order. Yuvraj Singh, who isn’t in the squad for the first two games, batted and bowled for brief periods but didn’t look in any sort of discomfort.Just one glance at India’s cricketers practicing at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur, and you knew that this was a team back to square one, as they were before that sorry 4-0 defeat in South Africa. Three hours of run-of-the-mill loosening up, involving players trying to desperately overcome their lethargy, was as sober as you can get. Forget adventure sports, military-training sessions and fancy rolling camps – this was a good old-fashioned warm-up.

In the absence of Anil Kumble Ramesh Powar may get a place in the side if India choose to filed two spinners © AFP

Nobody typified the rustiness more than Ramesh Powar, huffing his way through the fielding drills. Anil Kumble’s absence provides India a chance to try out two spinners on a pitch that will assist turn as the game progresses and India’s advantage is that the two offspinners have contrasting styles. “Harbhajan has a flatter trajectory. He looks for bounce from the wicket — not that he doesn’t get any turn. He gets big turn too and he has been our best ODI bowler in the last year,” Dravid said yesterday. “Powar, meanwhile, looks to beat batsmen with guile. Flight is his preferred mode of attack. I think he will be around for a long while and will be able to step into Anil Kumble’s shoes whenever the situation arises. Despite the fact that both of them are offspinners, they tend to bowl well in tandem. They complement each other well and if the opportunity does arise, we will bowl them together.”Kumble’s shoes aren’t easy to fill but Dravid’s tone pretty much conveys that the series won’t be about set patterns. Trying out a few new players – Joginder Sharma warmed up nicely with both bat and ball today, Dinesh Karthik smashed a few around before undertaking a fielding workout – may just be the idea. It’s not as bad an idea as it sounds because India’s one-day graph over the last one year had soared, dipped and finally reached starting point. Now that’s another big irony of our times.

South Africans 8 for 205 (50 overs, Dippenaar 83, Rudolph 50, Johnson 3-33) beat Queensland 111 (Bichel 37, Kruger 3-18, Pollock 3-22) by 94 runs
Scorecard

Garnett Kruger helped reduce Queensland to 8 for 50 with a rapid spell of 3 for 18 © Getty Images

A day after their Twenty20 thrashing, South Africa warmed up for the VB Series with a resounding 94-run win against Queensland at The Gabba. The South Africa seamers tore the home side’s batting to shreds with Garnett Kruger emerging as the surprise package by snaffling three scalps.Kruger may not have been in the squad if Makhaya Ntini had been fit but, after his 3 for 18, he has now pushed himself forward for a starting place in South Africa’s first game, against Australia on Sunday.Graeme Smith indicated that Kruger and Monde Zondeki would get opportunities throughout the VB Series: “They’re young boys but they’ve been around a while in domestic cricket,” he said. “They’ll get an opportunity during the VB series and tonight’s a good start for them.”Kruger started the Queensland slide by removing Jimmy Maher in the second over and, with Shaun Pollock also wading in with three wickets, the run chase was soon in tatters at 6 for 28. Zondeki then chipped in with two wickets in his first over and at 8 for 50, Matthew Hayden’s 16 was threatening to be the highest score of the innings.Andy Bichel and Nathan Hauritz at least carried Queensland into three figures with a ninth wicket stand of 50, before Johan Botha and Jacques Kallis wrapped up the win. However, even the efficient display in the field couldn’t hide another batting effort that was far from convincing.The South African top order struggled against the international-class attack of Bichel, Mitchell Johnson and Michael Kasprowicz. Smith again fell early when he hooked to square-leg, with his form now a growing issue, and he was quickly followed by Hershelle Gibbs and Kallis, leaving Smith to admit there was plenty of room for improvement. “There are some things to work on because the big games are coming up.”Boeta Dippenaar and Jacques Rudolph did show some form as they rebuilt with a watchful stand of 88 in 20 overs. Johnson continued to bounce back from his omission from Australia’s VB Series squad by removing Mark Boucher and Pollock in two balls, leaving Andrew Hall to boost the total with a run-a-ball 29.There is improving news for South Africa on the injury front with Andre Nel (foot), Justin Kemp (shoulder) and Ashwell Prince (thigh) all expected to be fit for the next warm-up match on Friday after being rested for this match.

Zimbabwe Cricket has issued a statement denying reports that Max Ebrahim, its chief selector, had been luring players away from Takashinga, one of the country’s leading club sides. But, in a remarkable about-turn, it admitted that it had been doing so all the time.Ebrahim had been accused of telling Takashinga players that if they remained at the club then they would not be considered for national selection, a charge he angrily denied. But now it emerges that the switching of players has been happening as part of a policy decision made by the board and that Ebrahim was acting on orders.”For a number of years, we have had this provision in every player’s contract that they are subject to such movement in their best interest of continuing to play at the highest possible level and in the interest of the quality and standard of the league,” Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman said. He added that the move had resulted from Takashinga’s boycott of the national league in support of Mashonaland’s dispute with the board.”It was imperative therefore that [the players] remained competitive,” he added, insisting that it was only ever going to be an interim measure.Takashinga and Old Georgians stood firm in the dispute with ZC over its expensive rebranding exercise. Stephen Mangongo, Takashinga’s chairman and Ebrahim’s predecessor as chief selector, has been engaged in an increasingly bitter war of words with the ZC and there is every indication that ZC’s action is aimed at undermining Mangongo as well as acting as a thinly-veiled threat to any other clubs considering joining the revolt.The statement refers to a deployment exercise, but it is strange that this has only come to light now after many players reported they had been approached in a less than official way. Cricinfo has been contacted by witnesses to players being contacted by ZC officials, and this explanation is far too convenient. If it was a genuine policy decision, then why wasn’t it made public at the outset?Whatever the whys and wherefores, Takashinga ended its dispute over the weekend and so, ZC stated, all the players who had been moved elsewhere would be returned to it.So ends a bizarre and unsatisfactory fortnight. The players are back where they started and the Zimbabwe board has sent out a clear signal that anyone not toeing the party line will face similar Draconian action.

Cricket Australia has come to the aid of Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped cricket board, agreeing to play two extra one-day internationals during next year’s tour, a gesture of goodwill that will raise an estimated US$800,000.The Australians will now play five ODIs in Dambulla and Colombo in late February followed by three Test matches in Galle, Kandy and Colombo during March. The two extra matches will help raise much-needed funds for the Sri Lankan board (SLC), which is facing a financial crisis because of falling revenues and a potential US$11million damages payment. Last year the board made a loss of US$900,000.Mohan de Silva, the secretary, said: “Australia understood our financial position and it was very decent of them to agree to this request.” SLC believes it will net an additional US$400,000 each match. The board hopes to sign a new three-year broadcasting contract in January.In return, Sri Lanka have agreed to play two Tests in Darwin and Cairns during Australia’s winter next year. “We have now also agreed to visit next June and July to play in the northern territories,” confirmed de Silva.Australia last toured Sri Lanka in September 1999 soon after winning the World Cup. They lost a one-day series final and were then beaten 1-0 in the rain-affected three-Test series that followed.Tour schedule:

Arrival – February 14First ODI – February 20 – Dambulla (day/night)Second ODI – February 22 – Dambulla (day/night)Third ODI – February 25 – Colombo (day/night)Fourth ODI – February 27 – Colombo (day/night)Fifth ODI – February 29 – Colombo (day)First Test – March 8-12 – GalleSecond Test – March 16-20 – KandyThird Test – March 24-28 – ColomboDeparture – March 29