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Aaron Bird, the New South Wales fast bowler, has once again been reported for a dubious bowling action less than a year after being suspended for throwing. Bird was mentioned by the umpires during the Blues’ Twenty20 match at the WACA last Tuesday and must have his action analysed at the AIS in Canberra within three weeks.Although Bird can keep playing for New South Wales until the tests take place, it is a setback after he was banned for an illegal action last February. Not all of his deliveries were within the 15-degree range of allowable elbow extension, although further biomechanical analysis later in 2009 gave Bird the all-clear and he was allowed to resume his career.However, last summer was not the first time Bird’s action had been under the spotlight – he was also reported in December 2006. Stress fractures in his back delayed the testing until the middle of 2007, when he was cleared.

Reema Malhotra, Jhulan Goswami and Amita Sharma will lead the three squads for the Women’s Challenger Trophy to be played in Ahmedabad from January 2 to 5. The teams have been renamed India Red, India Blue and India Green, keeping in sync with the annual men’s tournament.Goswami (India Green) and Sharma (India Red) had captained teams in the previous edition. Rumeli Dhar, who captained India A last year, makes way for Malhotra, who is now in charge of India Blue. The Indian players have not played as a unit since the World Twenty20 in June.India B won the tournament in Ahmedabad last October in a low-scoring encounter against India A.India Red: Amita Sharma (capt), Samantha Lobatto, MD Tirushkamini, Babita Mandlik, Neha Tanwar, Anjum Chopra, Rumeli Dhar, Mamta Kanojia, Diana David, Niranjana, Neha Maji, Reva Arora. Coach/manager – Purnima RauIndia Blue: Reema Malhotra (capt), Anagha Deshpande, Mithali Raj, Latika Kumari, Varsha Chowdhury, Shweta Jadav, Veda Krishnamurthy, Snehal Pradhan, Lalita Sharma, Sapna Randhawa, Kathakali Banerjee, Ekta Bist. Coach/manager – Sandhya AgarwalIndia Green: Jhulan Goswami (capt), Sulakshana Naik, Poonam Raut, Priyanka Roy, Harmanpreet Kaur, Asha Rawat, Shikha Pandey, Sonia Dabir, Nishu Chowdhury, Pooja Sharma, Gauhar Sultana, Payal Panchal. Coach/manager – Mithu Mukherjee

ScorecardHalf-centuries from Sarel Burger and Wian van Vuuren steadied Namibia’s innings after a shaky start on the first day of their ICC Intercontinental Shield match against the United Arab Emirates in Windhoek.Namibia went into the game missing their regular opener Gerhard Randolph and were soon jolted, losing their first two wickets in the space of four runs after an opening stand of 43. Burger and van Vuuren, who was called up to replace middle-order batsman, Norbert Manyande, stabilised the innings with a 103-run partnership for the third wicket.Van Vuuren made 55 before he was caught by the wicketkeeper Abdul Rehman off Fayyaz Ahmed with the score on 150. Burger then added another 53 runs with captain Craig Williams and Namibia were looking solid, having passed 200 for the loss of only three wickets. However, both Burger and Williams were dismissed in the space of six balls with the score on 203 and UAE were right back in the game.Nicholaas Scholtz and Louis van der Westhuizen were both unbeaten on 22 when play ended. Medium-pacer Qasim Zubair, who dismissed the openers, was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 21 off 13 overs.

Dav Whatmore has been confirmed as the new coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, filling in the vacancy left by the sacking of John Buchanan after IPL 2009. His appointment was part of a team management overhaul: the franchise also recalled Sourav Ganguly as captain, named Wasim Akram as their mentor, signed on Vijay Dahiya, the former India wicketkeeper and Delhi coach, to assist Whatmore, while retaining Andrew Leipus as physiotherapist and Adrian Le Roux as physical trainer.Ganguly said in a press release issued by the team management today that he was keen to bring a turnaround in Kolkata’s fortune after a nightmarish 2009 season, in which they finished last. “I am excited at the prospect of working with Dav and the entire team closely in addition to playing at our home ground once again,” he said. Ganguly would be responsible for all cricket-related decisions for the next season.Speaking to Cricinfo, Whatmore said his main objective as coach would be to ensure that his players gel as a unit and start thinking positively after two bad IPL seasons – in which Kolkata finished sixth and eighth – and, to that end, he would bank on Ganguly’s wealth of knowledge and Akram’s exceptional game-reading skills to turn the team around.He also said he was confident his experience in the region – he coached the 1996 World Cup-winning Sri Lankan team and later, Bangladesh – would help him develop a “decent relationship” with Ganguly, who has had a controversial history with foreign coaches including Greg Chappell for the Indian team and Buchanan. “I have a fair idea and a fair understanding of the importance of Sourav in Kolkata and it’s about getting the best out of him as it is with everyone else.”Significantly, Whatmore said he would not employ the multi-captaincy theory that was mooted by Buchanan and sparked a debate in world cricket before Ganguly was replaced by Brendon McCullum as team captain for the previous season.Whatmore, however, declined to elaborate on what he felt had been going wrong with the team over the last two years – apart from poor batting, there were reports of a rift between players and the team management – but said he would bank on his experience with the National Cricket Academy, of which he was director for the last two years, to spot new talent and act as a bridge between them and the team’s top international players.Asked where Kolkata would reach in the next IPL starting in March, he said: “Sometimes, I think it’s good to have a goal like that, but other times I feel you don’t want to limit yourself too much either. But as you saw, in IPL-2, the two teams that finished last and second-last respectively in the first edition ended up being the finalists (Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore). So perhaps, hope is the right word to use now. But I would like to know that hope will become a different word as we go along. That can happen.”Kolkata zeroed in on Whatmore after meeting a number of candidates, including John Wright, Richard Pybus, Dermot Reeve, Duncan Fletcher, Lalchand Rajput, WV Raman and Ashok Malhotra. The team management had informally sounded out Whatmore in June and followed it up with an interview in August at the Mumbai residence of the actor Shah Rukh Khan, who co-owns the Kolkata franchise with businessman Jay Mehta.Whatmore’s presentation to the Kolkata management was titled ‘Let’s Turn It Around’. “I just want to be the one that helps them turn their fortunes around. It will be a genuine effort.” Whatmore will begin his three-year stint with the team by attending the IPL workshop in Bangkok next week.Whatmore, 55, played seven Tests for Australia and brings to the IPL an impressive record. Apart from the 1996 World Cup title for Sri Lanka, he guided Bangladesh to two historic wins in the 2007 World Cup against India and South Africa, and also coached Lancashire to title wins in the NatWest and Sunday League in 1998. Last year, he was coach of the India Under-19 team that won the junior World Cup in Malaysia.

Sri Lanka have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their 38-run defeat to New Zealand at The Wanderers. The match referee Javagal Srinath imposed the fine after Sri Lanka were ruled two overs short of their target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration.According the ICC Code of Conduct concerning penalties for slow over-rates, players are fined 5% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain, Kumar Sangakkara in this case, fined double that amount.Sri Lanka’s defeat has put them in a difficult position in the tournament, for they’ve been left hoping for other results going their way to be stay in contention to qualify for the semi-finals.

The former West Indies fast bowler, Corey Collymore, and the left-arm seamer Chris Liddle, have both signed one-year extensions to their contracts, keeping them at Hove until the end of the 2010 season.Collymore, 31, has taken 31 wickets so far in first-class cricket this season at an average of 33.46. An integral member of the 2009 squad, Collymore has played most of his cricket in the longer form of the game, offering control and discipline with the new ball.Corey Collymore said: “It’s great to be returning to Sussex for the 2010 season. I enjoy playing my cricket at Hove and 2009 has been a remarkable year for the club. I look forward to helping this club make a big impact on world cricket.”Mike Yardy, Sussex’s captain, said: “Corey is a dream to captain and he’s fantastic to have around the dressing room. He’s a quality seam bowler and his experience and input always proves priceless.”Liddle, 25, has missed the whole of the 2009 season with a stress fracture of the right ankle, however, Sussex believe his pace and ability with the ball holds a great deal of potential for future years, particularly in Twenty20 cricket, in which he excelled in 2008.”It’s been a frustrating year,” said Liddle, “but I’m incredibly excited about getting fit and playing a full part in a successful Sussex team.””It was a shame for both him and the club that he was out all year due to injury,” said Yardy, “but he’s got a chance in 2010 to show everybody what they’ve been missing.”

South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs has said that he will represent the Deccan Chargers in the Champions Twenty20 League. Gibbs, who was part of the victorious Deccan team that won the second edition of the IPL, chose the Indian franchise over his home side Cape Cobras, which would also be competing in the tournament featuring domestic Twenty20 champions from South Africa, Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.”Yes, I will indeed come down to India once again soon and it will be my pleasure to represent the Chargers in the Champions Twenty20 League,” Gibbs told the .Gibbs played a key role in Deccan’s triumph in the IPL, held in South Africa this year. He was the second highest run-getter for them (behind captain Adam Gilchrist) with 371 runs at 33.72, which included four fifties and a strike-rate of 112.08 in the 14 matches.The Cape Cobras will be compensated for the loss of Gibbs. “There is a provision in the tournament participation agreement wherein a team has to be compensated $200,000 if a player doesn’t represent the home side in the Champions League,” Andre Odendaal, the Cape Cobras CEO, said.The Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles would be South Africa’s representatives in the Champions League, which runs from October 8-23, while Deccan would represent India along with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils in the tournament which carries $6 million prize money.The Cape Cobras, who beat the Eagles in the final of the Pro20 series in South Africa this year, will play Bangalore, the IPL runners-up, in the opening game of the Champions League. Deccan will kick off their campaign two days later against a yet-to-be-decided English opposition.

Tom Lungley, the Derbyshire bowler, will join Lancashire on a four-week loan to cover their growing injury list.Lungley, 30, has been drafted into the Lancashire attack to stand in for a string of injured players, including Glen Chapple, Sajid Mahmood, Tom Smith and Steven Cheetham. Also, Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson are away on England duty.”Injuries are a part of sport, but to have the majority of our bowlers in the treatment room at the one time is extremely unlucky,” said Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket director. “We’ve had no option but to look outside our ranks for personnel” he added.Lungley’s immediate availability could mean he could debut for Lancashire in their Championship match against Durham tomorrow at Old Trafford.

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s stand-in captain, has hailed the series win over West Indies as his country’s most significant achievement since being granted Test status in 2000.”In our nine years, this is the biggest thing that has happened to Bangladesh cricket,” Shakib said after a makeshift West Indies were downed in the series with a four-wicket loss in Grenada. “This series victory will give a boost to our confidence, and will help to take us to the next level, and with God’s help, we shall go forward.”There was not too much pressure on us [on Monday], since the boys have been playing really, really well. It was a good victory.” The team will receive a bonus of US$214,000, which is more than seven times what the board usually gives for a Test series win.Shakib was a shoo-in for Man of the Match after taking eight wickets – five in West Indies’ second innings – and hitting an unbeaten 96 from just 97 deliveries to seal Bangladesh’s first overseas series win. Bangladesh were stumbling on 67 for 4 during the afternoon session but Shakib and Raqibul Hasan (65) added 106. This was only Bangladesh’s third win in 61 Tests.The tour went ahead against the backdrop of chaos and controversy as major West Indies players withdrew as a result of the continuing impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association over contracts. A replacement squad was drafted in on the eve of the first Test in St Vincent but Bangladesh won there and repeated their success in the second Test emphatically.Floyd Reifer, who was appointed captain at short notice, identified West Indies’ second innings as the turning point for defeat. “We had a good opportunity to win the game in the second innings, but we did not bat too well,” he said. “We always knew we needed around 280 runs to have a fighting chance to win the game and we fell way short.”It is pretty difficult to defend a victory target of 215. All they needed was one good partnership to have a good chance. But I felt [Darren] Sammy bowled well, and our guys tried very hard, but it was a tough game.”Spin accounted for 15 of 20 West Indian wickets in the first Test and 18 in Grenada and Reifer addressed the frailty. “In our domestic first-class competition, the spinners get the most wickets every year,” he said. “This is something we will have to examine closely as players, as coaches, and try to work out the best way to play spin bowling.”The teams now play three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international. “There are many positives we can take away from the Tests, and take into the one-day international series, so we shall be positive and look to win the series,” said Reifer.

Greg Shipperd has been reappointed as Victoria’s coach for a further two years after leading the Bushrangers to the Sheffield Shield title last summer. Shipperd, who took over as coach following the death of David Hookes in January 2004, has had his contract extended until the end of the 2010-11 season.He guided Victoria to the Pura Cup in that 2003-04 summer and while another four-day title did not arrive for five years, the Bushrangers have been a powerful team during that time. Several players have been promoted to Australian duties, including Peter Siddle and Andrew McDonald, and the state had a lock on the Twenty20 competition until last summer.”There’s always things left to do,” Shipperd said after learning of his contract extension. “It is about continuing the consistency, continuing to prepare Australian players – Clinton McKay, Jon Holland, young Matthew Wade, to name three off the top of my head there – players who are very close to taking that next step to Australian selection.”Cricket Victoria’s chief executive Tony Dodemaide said Shipperd had done a terrific job in helping Victoria succeed in all three formats. “Shippy has guided the team through a particularly successful period over the past four or five seasons,” Dodemaide said, “including the unprecedented achievement of being finalists in all three competitions for the past two years running.”Shipperd’s assistant coach Simon Helmot, who is currently in England helping Australia’s Ashes campaign, has also been handed a two-year contract extension. Shawn Flegler, the former Victoria spinner, has been appointed to Helmot’s former role as coach of the Victorian High Performance Academy.