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Cameron White, the Australian allrounder, has been named as the Somerset captain in place of the injured Ian Blackwell, who has been ruled out for at least three months with a shoulder injury.White, 22, has led Victoria and Australia Under-19s during his short career and was handed the role ahead of Matthew Wood, the opening batsman. White told the club’s website: “I am very honoured to be asked to take on this job with Somerset. Obviously I’m sorry for Ian, who is a great guy, and I hope he gets himself fixed and back out on the park.”Blackwell picked up his injury during the Championship match against Leicestershire and needs surgery. He had only just returned to action after a back problem limited his early season action. The time frame for Blackwell’s injury means he’ll miss out on the Natwest Series against Sri Lanka and probably also the Pakistan series towards the end of the summer.With Ashley Giles still some way off making a return to international cricket, Blackwell was beginning to cement a spot as England’s leading one-day slow bowler with his nagging left-arm spin.

The confusion over the telecast rights for the India-Australia Test series shows no signs of ending. Just a day after the Indian board announced that Sony would telecast the series live, Zee Telefilms moved the Supreme Court and asked it to stop this from happening, reported NDTV. To complicate matters further, Prasar Bharati, the national broadcaster, stated that it would go to court as well to challenge the decision.”Prasar Bharati had bid higher than Sony in the initial bids invited by the BCCI for telecast rights,” KS Sarma, the chief executive of Prasar Bharati, told Press Trust of India. “However, the BCCI favoured Sony. We will challenge the issue in [the] Supreme Court.” Prasar Bharati’s bid amount was Rs704crore (approx US$153million), compared to Sony’s Rs600crore (US$130million).Another reason why Prasar Bharati, the parent company of Doordarshan, decided to take the board to court, Sarma said, was because the BCCI had earlier suggested that Doordarshan would telecast the feed, which would be produced by the board itself. “And now what we hear is a totally different thing.”If Zee does manage to get a stay from the Supreme Court, it will seriously jeopardise the chances of a live telecast of the first Test, which starts on Wednesday, October 6.

Brian Lara was quick to point out the ills of day-night matches after West Indies convincingly beat South Africa in a day game at Centurion to register their first win of the five-match one-day series. Lara, who scored an unbeaten 59 from just 37 balls to guide West Indies home, felt that the toss played too much of a factor in day-night matches, with the team bowling under lights almost assured of a win.”Finally, we got a game where the toss didn’t matter,” Lara said. “It’s a bit disappointing that we will play four of the five games under lights. It’s unfair to both teams. Conditions are so much in favour of the side bowling second, it’s ridiculous. Today cricket was the winner, and the spectators loved it.” West Indies batted under lights in the first two ODIs and managed just 54 and 162.With the last match, at Johannesburg, scheduled to be another day-night encounter, Lara predicted that the toss would be a huge factor again. “We’re going to the Wanderers on Wednesday, and you wonder what’s going to happen come 6.30 or 7pm.”Speaking about the match itself, Lara was all praise for his batsmen and scoffed at Graeme Smith’s suggestion that South Africa lost because the team was exhausted. “Graeme Smith loses one game against us and his team is tired? West Indies are fighting on, we’ve had so many injuries and haven’t complained.” Keeping the win in perspective, Lara added: “We’re not going to go overboard with this win. We need to win the next game, and we’ll go home a lot happier.” A win at Johannesburg will level the series 2-2, with rain having washed out the third match at Durban.For Smith, it wasn’t the ideal present on his 23rd birthday, and he identified indisciplined bowling as the primary reason for the defeat. “We weren’t good today. On a very good batting pitch you need to be precise, and we weren’t. It’s back to the drawing board now, learn from this and come back stronger at the Wanderers.”

The three Somerset players, Ian Blackwell, Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick who are part of the England camp `down under’ have sent a Christmas message back to all of their loyal fans back at home.Ian Blackwell told me: "Please you can wish all of our supporters back in the west country a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year from the Somerset trio."Whilst the two senior England players were preparing for the Melbourne Test that starts on Boxing Day, `Blackie’ has a few days away from the spotlight before the next international against the old enemy in Hobart on January 13th.Reflecting on the situation in the VB One Day series he told me: " Well, four games gone for us `Poms’ and a place in the finals beckons. I have been very pleased with my performance and contributions considering I have been carrying a couple of painful niggles, a dodgy knee, a slightly pulled achilles and sore heel which have both come from over bowling in the nets."With regard to his own selection for the World Cup he said: " Lets hope the press are right and that I have done enough to secure a spot for South Africa.I would be very disappointed not to be going. Lets hope these next few weeks before the next one dayer will enable my body to heal and also relax whilst watching someone else put in the hard yards!"Closer to home Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson and new chairman Giles Clarke also had seasonal messages for all Cidermen fans across the region.Peter Anderson told me: "This is the time of year when we should all have huge smiles on our faces, because this is a time to celebrate all the good things about being decent human beings."The Somerset boss continued: "Whilst our members and supporters were disappointed last season we are grateful for the generous attitude that they displayed to both the club and the players. We all need to look ahead and smile at the expectation of better things to come."He concluded: "I would like to wish all Somerset supporters and their families a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas."Newly appointed chairman Giles Clarke told me: "I must be the luckiest person in the world to have received the best Christmas present ever. To be appointed as chairman of a great club like Somerset is clearly a tremendous honour."The new chairman concluded: "I hope to serve you all with distinction and in thanking you for your confidence I would like to wish you and your families a meaningful Christmas and a very successful New Year."

Six months ago, in Shaun Pollock’s first Test match as captain, a ragged South African side lost by an innings and 15 runs to Sri Lanka in Galle. At Newlands on Thursday the wheel turned full circle as South Africa crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 229 runs inside three days in the second Castle Lager/MTN Test match.It was South Africa’s largest margin of victory and Pollock, named man of the match after scything through the Sri Lankan first innings with figures of six for 30, had every reason to be proud of the achievement.

“We’ve come a long since then as a team,” he said afterwards. “We’ve got a really well-balanced unit and the guys are confident and playing good cricket.”In the unenviable position of losing captain, Sanath Jayasuriya also spoke afterwards, mentioning a little bit of bad luck here and there, but he put his finger on it when he said, in so many words, that after being bowled out for 95, Sri Lanka didn’t have a prayer.He conceded that Sri Lanka’s problems started at the top of the order where he and Marvan Atapattu simply haven’t been able to get going and acknowledged that “the boys are a bit down”.Which seems fair understatement. Sri Lanka were simply blown away in this Test match with the last day no different from the first and second. South Africa batted on in the morning, reaching 504 for six as Lance Klusener crunched Russel Arnold for a straight six and promptly managed to get himself out next ball for 97.Pollock said he had been looking for a 400 lead – “It’s almost a psychological thing that’s impossible to get over” – and had left the batsmen out there for an over or two more to allow Klusener to get his hundred.With Klusener’s dismissal Pollock called the batsmen off and gave his bowlers five overs at the Sri Lankans before lunch. Mfuneko Ngam had Jayasuriya caught in the gully off the eighth ball of the innings and it was downhill for Sri Lanka from there on.Ngam nipped Kumar Sangakkara out shortly after lunch, Pollock had Atapattu trapped leg before and although there was some resistance from Mahela Jayawardene, who made a gutsy 45, and Arnold, the introduction of Nicky Boje spun out the middle order before and after tea.Chaminda Vaas biffed and banged his way to 38 off 26 balls, but the tide had already come in for Sri Lanka and Ngam, perhaps fittingly, finished it all off when Dilhara Fernando gloved a catch to Mark Boucher.It was as complete a performance as the South Africans could have hoped for, achieved on a fast, bouncy pitch of which the home team were able to fully express themselves.As well as South Africa played, though, Sri Lanka were feeble opponents in this match. After being 13 for four on the first day, they seemed to lose all self-belief and although there were occasional individual contributions here and there, collectively they were a shambles.Jayasuriya said that the four one-day internationals now coming up might allow Sri Lanka to regroup, but on the evidence of the last three days at Newlands, the stuffing has been knocked out of the tourists. Unless they are able to prove otherwise, their tour might already be over to all intents and purposes.

ScorecardNasir Hossain’s five-for included the wickets of Suresh Raina and Unmukt Chand•PTI

A sparkling all-round performance from Nasir Hossain led Bangladesh A to a 65-run win against India A in the second one-dayer, helping them level the series 1-1. Coming in at 82 for 5 in the 19th over, Nasir pulled Bangladesh A out of troubled waters with an unbeaten hundred, his third in List A matches, to lead them to a competitive 252 for 8 and then took five wickets, including those of Unmukt Chand and Suresh Raina, to make the win comfortable in the end.The India A chase looked on course when they were 119 for 1 in the 28th over, with Chand on 56, and even when Raina smacked Rubel Hossain for a six three overs later with the hosts needing 116 runs from 19 overs. But Nasir had Chand caught behind down the leg side, and had Raina and Karun Nair stumped within four balls to leave India A struggling at 146 for 5.Bangladesh A captain Mominul Haque brought Rubel back into the attack immediately from the other end, and the bowler did the needful by removing Sanju Samson for a golden duck and Karn Sharma for 2. Nasir then knocked over Rishi Dhawan’s off stump, also for a duck, thwarting India’s chance of a win.

India A captain Unmukt Chand on…

Squandering the start after Bangladesh A were 82 for 5
“We could not capitalise on the early wickets between the 20th and the 40th overs, we probably could have had more intensity on the ground.”
If complacency crept in while batting
“If there was any scope of complacency, it was in this match and we were a bit complacent, to be honest. We’ll probably come back stronger in the next match.”
Reasons for losing the match
“On wickets like these, it is important to hang in in there. It’s just a matter of staying there and letting the partnership flourish. I got out, then Manish got out, then all of us got out in quick succession. We didn’t have partnerships and that was the reason we lost this match.”
If 253 was chaseable
“Of course it was achievable on this wicket and with this outfield. In the last match also we saw runs are possible here and we were 120 for 1. But there were soft dismissals and this shows you what cricket is all about.”

Mayank Agarwal had given the chase an attacking start with three fours within the first four overs but fell to Rubel’s pace while going for a drive, for 24. Chand then took charge, alongside a circumspect Manish Pandey, and hit three fours in the ninth over off Shafiul Islam to push the run rate towards five. He was dropped on 21 by Liton Das off Rubel, and cashed in to cross 50 and take his team past 100. With things not going Bangladesh A’s way, Mominul used seven bowlers by the 27th over in a bid to break a partnership that grew to 88.It worked when Chand edged one off Nasir and Pandey made room against Rubel three overs later only to find his middle stump scattered. Rubel and Nasir combined to take six wickets for 20 runs and Gurkeerat Singh was the only batsman to hang on, scoring a 30-ball 34, before he ran out of partners.Earlier, put in to bat, Bangladesh A were thrown off track by double blows from Dhawan and legspinner Karn after they lost Rony Talukdar early. Soumya Sarkar and Anamul Haque had just started to push the throttle after a watchful and edgy fifty-run stand for the second wicket when Dhawan struck. Sarkar, who had been dropped twice, dragged one onto his stumps for 24 and Dhawan got Mominul’s edge in his next over. Three overs later Karn took a return catch off Anamul for 34 and struck Sabbir Rahman’s middle stump, after the batsman stepped out and missed, to leave the side at 82 for 5.The innings was resurrected by two crucial stands – the sixth-wicket partnership between Liton and Nasir for 70 runs, and seventh-wicket one between Nasir and Arafat Sunny for 50. Liton led the first partnership, collecting four fours between the 18th and 21st overs, and the two batsmen had just settled down when Dhawan came back for his second spell and Liton pulled him straight to the deep square leg fielder for 45.It was a Nasir Hossain show from there. The pitch seemed better for batting and he farmed the strike in the company of Sunny, Shafiul and Rubel. Soon after he brought up his fifty with a sweep in the 37th over, he smashed Karn over long-off like a confident top-order batsman for six. After Sunny and Shafiul fell within 16 balls, Nasir provided a strong finish by smacking Raina for three fours in an over – a slog sweep and two cover drives – to race from 76 to 88. With three overs still to go, he reached the three-figure mark off 94 balls and took his team single-handedly past 250, collecting 41 runs in the last five overs with the tail-enders

The Rajasthan Royals have drafted in Darren Lehmann, the former Australian batsman, to fill in for Graeme Smith, who has been called up by the Cape Cobras for the business end of the Standard Bank Pro20 Series, South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 tournament.Smith, the South Africa captain, is out of the Royals’ first two matches – against the Delhi Daredevils on April 19 and Kings XI Punjab on the 21st – and will miss the third on April 24th if the Cobras qualify for the final. That will also put him in doubt for the match against the Bangalore Royal Challengers on the 26th.Lehmann, 38, has been confirmed for the first two games, but it’s likely he will stay on if Smith’s return is delayed. Lehmann, who was not involved in any of the IPL’s player auctions, made his farewell appearance for South Australia during the 2007-08 season, marking the end of a prolific first-class career in which he scored more than 25,000 runs at an average of 57.83.He will be coached and captained by Shane Warne, his former Australia team-mate, who offered the invitation. “It’s all happened so quickly,” Lehmann told the Advertiser. “They needed someone as cover for Graeme Smith so I didn’t hesitate to put my hand up. It will be good playing in the same side as Warney.”