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Graeme Wood, the former Test batsman, will replace Tony Dodemaide as the Western Australian Cricket Association’s chief executive next month. Dodemaide is moving to a similar job in Victoria and Wood will leave a senior management position with Foster’s to accept the role.David Williams, the WACA chairman, said he was “delighted” with the appointment. “Not only is Graeme one of the state’s most highly decorated players, but he offers years of experience as a senior executive and brings a range of marketing, administrative and financial skills coupled with a deep knowledge of the landscape of cricket.”Wood, who played 59 Tests for Australia and also led Western Australia to a hat-trick of Sheffield Shield titles in the mid-1980s, said he was looking forward to continuing the progress the WACA has made over the last three years.”I have a deep connection to the WACA from my time as a player and more recently as a board member and chairman of selectors and I know this will hold me in good stead,” he said. “I’m very much looking forward to tackling the challenges ahead, including the appointment of a new coach, the on-going major stadia debate and the continuing process of bringing all of cricket in Western Australia under the WACA umbrella.”

Virender Sehwag has said he will adopt a new approach to his game in the coming year, beginning with the Test and one-day international series in Pakistan in January.Admitting that he had not performed to potential recently – specifically in the shorter version of the game – Sehwag said he was eager to put his poor form behind him. “I know I have not played up the expectations, especially in the one-day games,” he told PTI. “I have been able to score 20s and 30s but could not convert them into big innings. But I believe this is a thing of the past. In the new year, people will see a new Sehwag with a new technique and I am confident of making good scores.”Sehwag was keen to point out that it was at the top of the order where he would continue to bat. “I have played better than many players who have opened for India in the recent past,” he said. “Many batsmen such as VVS Laxman, Hemang Badani, SS Das, Aakash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer and Sanjay Bangar also opened with me but I think they were not so successful. I made my debut as an opening batsman in 2002 and since then I have made nine centuries whereas playing in the middle order, I have made one century. By any standards, I think it’s a good performance.”Sehwag also maintained that every batsman suffered a slump in form, and that his bad patch would pass. “There comes a time when a batsman is out of form and everybody from Sachin to Rahul Dravid to Sourav Ganguly to Laxman – all of them have gone through it.”

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There was a sellout crowd of 20,000 at the WACA for the first domestic Twenty20 game in Australia as Western Australia beat Victoria by eight wickets. It was the first time that a game at the WACA has been sold out since a one-dayer between Australia and West Indies in 1981.Officials closed the gates at 6.45 pm, within half an hour of the start, and one woman, who had wanted to rejoin the rest of her family after parking the car, was denied entry. She was not alone. The presence of Shane Warne, whose shirt form the recent tsunami charity match received over 240 bids and sold for more than AUS$140,000 (approximately £57,000) at an auction on eBay, helped boost the attendance.In the match itself, Luke Ronchi and Ryan Campbell clobbered their way to a century opening stand from only 56 deliveries to give WA a straightforward win after Victoria had managed 8 for 141 from their 20 overs. Ronchi was dismissed after scoring 67 from 24 balls, while Campbell was undefeated with 56. In Victoria’s innings, Peter Worthington claimed 2 for 40 and Adam Crosthwaite had made 57 from 46 balls.WA’s captain Mike Hussey, who did not play this match but has taken part in Twenty20 cricket in England, before the start told the what players need to bring to this form of cricket. “I think there’s still a role for playing some good smart cricket,” he explained, “but you do need to make sure you have a couple of boundaries flowing at all times. From a bowling point of view it’s really exciting: there’s lots of bouncers and slower balls. But the big thing that comes out is the fielding. There’s some fantastic catches taken and with balls flying everywhere.”It remains to be seen whether the popularity shown for this Twenty20 match is more than a one-off. On Thursday, Australia A will play the Pakistanis in the first international Twenty20 fixture at Adelaide.

Leonardo di Caprio’s histrionics in the movie, Titanic would have won far greater acclaim from critics had it not been for the spiel that a well-oiled public relations machine dished out in the weeks and days preceding the release of the movie. Munaf Patel’s situation is not a far cry from the same. For some time now, he has been touted, alternately, as the pace sensation that will rock Australia and as the greenhorn, raw paceman attracting too much credit. Some even likened him to a spoiled child, getting attention when all that was called for was a rap on the knuckles. On his first-class debut, against the New Zealanders at Rajkot, he proved that the truth lay somewhere in-between.Patel, a big young man of 20, lumbers rather than sprints in to the crease. As he quickens his step, he opens his shoulders, reaches for the popping crease with a pronounced final step and sends the ball down with considerable effort. You’re left almost listening for a Jimmy Connors-esque grunt. The arm is high, but not nearly high enough, as there is a bit of space between bowling arm and right ear. The ball zips out of the hand, and has enough weight behind it to climb considerably when banged in short.It was such a short ball that Mark Richardson received first up, quite literally, on the shoulder, ducking into one that did not quite get up as much as he expected. Perhaps he had been reading about Patel in the local papers as well. From there on, though, Patel settled into an easy rhythm, displaying adequate pace to keep the New Zealand batsmen from committing onto the front foot.His first spell, while economical, did not produce a wicket. When the players walked off the field for lunch Patel’s 7.4 overs (he stepped in to bowl four balls to complete an over after RP Singh twisted his ankle) had cost 21 runs.At lunch, there must have been some talk about the appropriate length to bowl, for Patel began to pitch it up consistently in the second session. While the wicket had something in it for the seamers, both in terms of lateral movement and bounce, there was nothing to fear for the New Zealand batsmen who are more than familiar with conditions that help pace bowling. The effect of switching to a fuller line did not bear immediate fruit as Patel was pummelled for three strident boundaries by Stephen Fleming in the first over he bowled after lunch.Then came a 15-ball spell of three wickets for five runs that vindicated the faith people have in Patel. Fleming looked to leave one outside off at the last moment and nicked the ball back onto his stumps. Scott Styris then tickled one fine and Deep Dasgupta held a diving catch low and to his left. Both these wickets came with a little help from his friends, but Patel could confidently claim his next scalp – the prize one of Nathan Astle – as his very own. A sharp delivery ducking in just a trace trapped Astle in front of the stumps, very first ball.When he returned with the second new ball the inexperience showed, expectedly. After all, this is just his first big game. That would have been the leeway afforded to any other fast-bowling debutant. Patel cannot ask for that, for it is partly the hype that fast-tracked him to this level in the first place. And at the end of the day, as an exercise, it was well worth it.Mark Richardson, who made a dogged unbeaten 128 in over six hours, certainly thought so. “The young Indian lads might have got a bit carried away with the bouncy and carry and bowled a bit short. Perhaps they might have had a bit more success if they had pitched the ball up. The bowlers have promise and certainly have enough pace and bowl a heavy ball.”

Winning the toss on Day One of their North Zone Ranji match against Jammu and Kashmir at the Maharaja Agarsingh Stadium, Rohtak, Haryana made the most of their advantage, ending the day at a handsome score of 286/3.Although opener Padamjeet Sehrawat was dismissed for no score, Chetan Sharma (41) and Ishan Ganda put on 92 runs for the second wicket before Sharma was out leg-before off the bowling of Surendra Singh.Haryana skipper Parender Singh was the next to fall with just 23 more runs added to the team score. Thereafter, however, the Jammu and Kashmir bowlers toiled in vain as Ganda and Shafiq Khan shepherded their side to the close of play.Ganda made a patient 106 off 261 balls and, by the end of the day, Shafiq had outscored his partner, scoring 114 off 171 balls. Both centurions were unbeaten at the end of the day.

ScorecardRory Kleinveldt contributed with the bat [file picture]•Getty Images

Rory Kleinveldt scored a valuable unbeaten half-century for Northamptonshire assisting his side to avoid the follow-on in their LV=County Championship match with Essex at Chelmsford.The home side finished on 55 for 1 in their second innings and an overall lead of 140 runs and a day left for play but South African Kleinveldt played a major part in frustrating their hopes to make significant progress in this weather-affected game.The visitors had started the day on 143 for 3 still 217 behind Essex and they were soon in trouble losing two wickets in as many balls to Jamie Porter. The 23 year-old promising paceman sent Rob Keogh’s off stump cart-wheeling out of the ground as the batsman departed for 45 and then sent Adam Rossington on his way for a first ball duck to leave Northamptonshire reeling at 151 for 5.Facing the possibility of following-on, the visitors had added 37 for the sixth wicket when Richard Levi , who had scored a confident 31, was struck on a finger by fast bowler Tom Moore and was forced to retire. It was later learned that Levi would take no further part in the match having sustained a broken knuckle.Kleinveldt took his place, playing positively from the start. The third boundary of his innings ensured that the follow-on was averted and together with Josh Cobb, who had played with responsibly, he took the score onto onto 216 when former Leicestershire batsman Cobb drove spinner Aron Nijjar to Moore at long-on.Ollie Stone joined Kleinveldt in a 55 runs stand for the seventh wicket before Jesse Ryder swept up the innings with three wickets in five deliveries. Stone played down the wrong line and was bowled for 22 and both Mohammad Azharullah and Maurice Chambers were pinned in the crease without score.That left Kleinveldt out of partners and unbeaten on 52, his half-century having come from 56 balls with eight boundaries, as the visitors were dismissed for 275.On a day when 34 overs were lost to a combination of bad light and rain, Essex then made sedate progress in their second innings against accurate bowling from the Northants pace attack.Openers Dan Lawrence and Nick Browne had scored a cautious 22 in 14 overs when the latter was well held at second slip by Keogh off the bowling of the impressive Stone for 14.Lawrence, who had been dropped twice on 4 off Kleinveldt was 23 and Tom Westley a fluent 16 when bad light closed in to bring proceedings to a halt for the final time.Both captains will need an enterprising approach if there is to be a positive conclusion tomorrow.

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India Under-19 piped their Bangladeshi counterparts by one run in a rain-affected game in Pretoria. The match was the last of the round-robin stage of the triangular tournament – also featuring hosts South Africa – and both India and Bangladesh had already made their way to the final.Chasing 220, India were at 161 for 5 after 39.3 overs, before no further play was possible due to rain. According to the revised scores tabulated by the D/L method, India were ahead of the required target by one run, thus maintaining their unbeaten run in the tournament.For India, without Tanmay Srivastava, who had starred with his all-round performances in the tournament, Manish Pandey made 51, but it was a brisk 44 off 47 balls from Virat Kohli, the captain, and a cameo of 18 from 16 by D Shivkumar that sealed the win. Their unbroken 44-run stand from six overs proved decisive in the final result.Dolar Mahmud and Mahmudul Hasan bagged two wickets apiece during India’s chase, and had conceded only 27 runs from the 12 overs they had bowled. Bangladesh would rue the fact that their key bowlers couldn’t complete their entire quota of ten. With India needing a further 59 at nearly a run-a-ball when rain intervened, they would have considered themselves in with a chance to choke the chase.Earlier, Bangladesh were fortunate to manage 219, as they were struggling at 11 for 3 after choosing to bat. A 86-run stand for the fourth wicket between Nasir Hossain and Marshall Ayub helped them recover. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna, playing his first match of the tournament, dismissed Ayub for 38 and later got the wicket of Nasir, who scored 61. Bangladesh’s captain Suhrawadi Shuvo made an unbeaten 39 to guide the team to 219; his counterpart Virat Kohli finished with figures of 3 for 39.The two teams will meet in the final on Tuesday.

A quickfire 87 from Neil Broom propelled Otago to a five-wicket victory with nine balls to spare against Central Districts at Fitzherbert Park. Earlier, aggressive half-centuries from Jacob Oram and Brendon Diamanti spurred Central to 275 for 7 off 50 overs.Chasing a stiff target, Otago lost opener Jordan Sheed for 19. Craig Cumming, the captain, held the fort with 46 but two quick wickets reduced them to 91 for 3 in the 20th over. Broom and Greg Todd added 83 for the fourth wicket to put the chase back on track. Broom’s 87 came off just 84 balls and included five fours and three sixes.Otago needed 102 runs off the final 15 overs when Gareth Hopkins began his blitz. He slammed four fours and three sixes and raced to 56 off 39 balls to seal the victory. Oram was the best of Central’s bowlers with 2 for 44 off 9.3 overs.Central, who won the toss, had slipped 116 for 4 in the 20th over with only Geoff Barnett making a meaningful contribution. Oram and Diamanti provided the innings with momentum through a rapid 89-run partnership in just 10.1 overs. Oram remained unbeaten on 70 off 69 balls while Diamanti hammered 60 off 35 deliveries with three fours and four sixes.

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

For the second consecutive day, the pendulum oscillated to and fro, with several stars lighting up the tense slugfest, as the game hung on a fine thread, with the scores level, at the end of a thoroughly engrossing battle at Perth. Two rollicking fifties gave South Africa a slender lead, their first against Australia for nearly nine years, but superb spells from the record-breaking Shane Warne and red-hot Brett Lee ensured the contest was tantalisingly poised.Punch followed counterpunch as both teams refused to let the game slip away. There was a bubbly half-century from AB de Villiers that helped South Africa reach 127 for 2; a teasing spell from Warne, who overtook Dennis Lillee’s tally of 85 wickets in a calendar year, that suffocated the middle order, reducing them to 187 for 6; a bouncing half-century from Mark Boucher, gaining the lead; a speedy burst from Lee that cleaned up the tail; and a final phase where Australia wiped out the deficit.There was a striking resemblance to yesterday’s events with the batting side bossing the game in the first session. de Villiers’s effervescent knock, accompanied by oodles of confidence, helped South Africa set a solid platform. Having set the tone late last evening, with a majestic hook off the very first ball of the innings, de Villiers drove through the nagging opening spell, from Glenn McGrath and Lee, and sparkled with rasping strokeplay. Rocking back and piercing the off-side field, he frustrated a disciplined attack, getting away with streaky moments as twinkling cuts flew in the vacant regions. Despite the risks, he backed himself and profited by adopting a positive approach.The same, though, couldn’t be said of the middle-order as they withdrew into a shell, only to inevitably succumb. Despite promising much in their short stints, Graeme Smith and and Herschelle Gibbs couldn’t build a sizeable score and their departure left the underbelly of the batting line-up exposed, allowing Warne and Co. to claw back into the contest. Warne’s teasing spell after lunch, when only 19 came off 13 overs, had the batsmen constantly guessing. A brilliant set-up undid de Villiers – a series of legbreaks preceding a slider that drifted in and stayed straight – before Warne put an end to Ashwell Prince’s misery with a ripping legspinner. None of the batsmen managed to break the shackles, with almost every ball being accompanied with a whir of mystery, and were gradually strangulated.McGrath and Lee gave Warne fantastic support, with both showing superb control with their variations. Justin Kemp, who initially struggled to get the ball off the square, wasn’t allowed to express himself as McGrath foxed him by varying length and pace. Lee accounted for Gibbs and Jacques Rudolph, before returning to mop up the tail, ending with his sixth five-wicket haul in Tests.

What saved South Africa, though, was a sizzling 77-run stand between Boucher and Shaun Pollock, who upped the ante immediately after tea. Six fours came in the four overs after the break as they dared to attack Warne and throw him off rhythm. Anything short was smashed to the square fence, inside out shots were attempted and the faster men were driven with aplomb. Scampering between the wickets and not hesitating to flash hard at the wide ones, the pair went about neutralising Australia’s advantage.Lee returned to break the stand, fizzing one through Pollock’s defences, and Boucher floundered against a ripping legbreak from Warne – with Hayden pulling off an outstanding slip catch. Hayden returned when Australia batted, began as if it was a Twenty20, unleashing five glorious pulled fours off Ntini, but, in what was a repeat of his first-innings dismissal, he top-edged while trying to pull Langeveledt. It was a fitting end to a day replete with first-day trends repeating themselves. Now, with three days to go and a clean slate to begin with, it’s all back to square one.How they were outSouth AfricaGraeme Smith c Ponting b Bracken 34 (1 for 83)
Herschelle Gibbs b Lee 21 (2 for 127)
AB de Villiers b Warne 68 (3 for 135)
Jacques Rudolph c Langer b Lee 8 (4 for 145)
Justin Kemp c Hodge b McGrath 7 (5 for 167)
Ashwell Prince lbw b Warne 28 (6 for 187)
Shaun Pollock b Lee 34 (7 for 264)
Mark Boucher c Hayden b Warne 62 (8 for 282)
Charl Langeveldt lbw b Lee 0 (9 for 283)
Makhaya Ntini c Hodge b Lee 12 (296 all out)
AustraliaMatthew Hayden c Boucher b Langeveldt 20 (1 for 37)

Bangladesh’s selectors have called up Khaled Mahmud, the former captain, for the first one-day international against India, to be played at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on December 23. Mahmud replaces Talha Jubair, who played in the second Test which Bangladesh lost by an innings on Monday. quoted Faruque Ahmed, the chief selector, as saying: “We are against making too many changes in the one-day series. Talha was impressive on his comeback to Test cricket after two years. But we always consider him more suited for the longer version than the limited-overs matches and that’s why we preferred Mahmud.”Ahmed said that Mahmud was picked on the strength of strong performances in the Premier League – a domestic competition – and he added that Alok Kapali too had been considered before he picked up a knock that ruled him out. But since the squads for the three games are to be named on a match-by-match basis, Kapali could still feature in the two games to be played in Dhaka on December 26 and 27.Team: Habibul Bashar (captain), Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam Rana, Mohammad Rafique, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza and Nazmul Hossain.