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Barry Richards, the former South African batsman, has said that Twenty20 should become a global competition featuring teams from a number of cities.”If you had 16 or 20 sides you could float it around the world and you could sell it into America and Canada,” Richards told BBC Sport. “You could have a team from Toronto, a team from Miami, teams from Cape Town and London. You could have the best players, not representing a country but a town.”It would be the 200 or 300 best players in the world and it’s up to the franchise-holders to decide who are the best players. You always associate Test cricket with the best players but it’s not the case anymore. If you’ve got 15 in each side then we can see all the Australians that are not playing that are good enough to play Test cricket.”Richards comments are hardly likely to be warmly received by the authorities in some countries, but the rapid growth and remarkable popularity of the format where it has been tried means that his ideas are not as far-fetched as they might have been even a year ago.Richards has been at the forefront in recognising the need for the game to appeal to new markets and audiences if it is to prosper. At the Cowdrey Lecture in 2003, he urged the authorties to consider where cricket would be in 20 years, and said that it had to revise traditional thinking in favour of new concepts that stimulated the young.

South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis was named international cricket’s Test Player of the Year at the ICC Awards in Sydney. Kallis was the runaway winner of the award, polling almost three times as many votes as the runner-up, Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath.Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said: “On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate Jacques on winning this award, which recognises his prolific year. It was a year in which Jacques Kallis was one of the most sought-after wickets in Test cricket, a fact reflected by his outstanding statistics. The fact this award was voted for by Jacques’ peers and colleagues shows the high regard in which he is held by them and he is a worthy winner.”During the voting period of August 1, 2004 to July 31, 2005, Kallis played 15 Tests. He was comfortably the most prolific batsman in the world during that time, with 1497 runs at 71.28, including six hundreds, the most by any player, and a total of 14 scores of 50 or more. With the ball, he took 20 Test wickets and, usually to be found in the slip cordon, he pouched 16 catches during the voting period.The award formed part of an excellent night for Kallis as he was also joint winner of the Player of the Year (sharing the award with Andrew Flintoff) and was selected as 12th man for the ODI Team of the Year.Kallis is the second recipient of the Test Player of the Year award following on from India’s Rahul Dravid in 2004.Voting for the Test Player of the Year was completed by the 50-member ICC Awards voting Academy who cast a 3-2-1 vote (three votes being the greater value) from the list of nominees, with the votes tallied to produce a winner. The voting Academy included the 10 ICC Full Member captains, the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees, the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and 25 legends of the game and respected members of the media.The top three players in the poll were:1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 115 votes
2. Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 41 votes
3. Shane Warne (Australia) – 29 votes
Kallis received the trophy from Rahul Dravid.The other original nominees for the award were Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara of the West Indies, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Danish Kaneria of Pakistan, Australia’s Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh of India and Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka.

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After being cleared of a stress fracture, Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, is hopeful of being fit for the three Test series against Australia which begins in March. Oram has been diagnosed with a stress reaction and is receiving treatment for a bruised vertebrae which is likely to prevent him from bowling during the series. However, he could still play as a specialist batsman.”If I was asked to play as a specialist I’d love to but that won’t be easy because the middle order is fairly packed at the moment,” Oram told . “And if I did [play as a batsman], it would only be a short-term thing because ultimately I want to be an allrounder. It’s not really my call, but it is something I’m interested in.”Oram’s performance with the bat during the recently concluded two-Testseries against Australia should give him the edge over Craig McMillan andHamish Marshall, two other contenders for middle-order berths. Oram toppedthe Test batting averages in that series, and his magnificent 126 at theGabba was the only century for New Zealand.”Plenty of people are saying to me `give up the bowling, your body is not up to it’ but the reason I worked so hard on my bowling was to help my chances of getting in the side.”I played as a specialist batsman at Headingley [against England last year] and it felt like I only had one arm so being an allrounder is a nice thing to fall back on and something I would never let go of lightly. As for when I bowl again, I don’t know, I don’t think anybody does and we are not putting any deadline on it.”Aware of Oram’s importance to the side, New Zealand Cricket’s medical teamis chalking down a comprehensive recovery programme for him. Oram has not been given permission to run yet and is not expected to play club cricket for a fortnight.However, there better news for Daniel Vettori, who was given the all clearto return to action for Northern Districts this weekend after recovering from back injury

Ashish Nehra has been ruled out of the rest of the one-day international series between India and Pakistan after injuring the webbing of his left hand. He will be replaced by Amit Bhandari.Nehra sustained the injury during his last over in the second one-dayer in Rawalpindi, where he took 3 for 44 in the 10 overs he bowled. He had bowled the crucial last over in the first one-dayer at Karachi, and was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the second one.Amrit Mathur, the media manager of the Indian team, told reporters that Nehra’s injury was expected to take around two weeks to heal. Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, said that Nehra would still be considered for the Test series if he recovered in time.SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, told reporters, "The selectors had already decided that Bhandari would accompany the team if Nehra was found unfit even before the Indian team embarked on the 40-day tour. He was the first-choice replacement." Bhandari is expected to join the Indian squad before the third one-dayer at Peshwar.

Billy Doctrove, the “other” umpire at the centre of Pakistan’s forfeited Test match at The Oval, has been omitted from next week’s ICC Champions Trophy in India, along with his elite panel colleague, Darrell Hair.Hair’s absence was confirmed last week, officially for security reasons, but an ICC spokesman insisted that there was “nothing sinister” about the omission of Doctrove, even though they are the only two umpires from the ten-man panel to have been overlooked. “There were only going to be eight umpires,” the spokesman told BBC Sport. “It doesn’t mean Billy Doctrove is a bad umpire.”While Hair is one of the game’s longest serving officials, Doctrove, from Dominica, is relatively new, having stood in just nine matches since May 2000, seven of which have come in the last 18 months.Mike Procter, whose role as match referee at The Oval came under scrutiny, has been named as one of three such officials, along with Ranjan Madugalle, who was in charge of the subsequent disciplinary hearing.Umpires are selected for major tournaments based on a five-point assessment of each international match they stand in. Areas assessed include percentage of correct decisions, ability to cope with pressure, player management, communication and application of regulations.

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Matt Prior came to England A’s rescue with a vital innings of 82 not out as East Zone had the better of things on the second day of their Duleep Trophy match at Amritsar. England A were bowled out for 225, as Shib Paul took 5 for 61, and East Zone then extended their lead to 123 for the loss of three second-innings wickets.After their fightback in the field yesterday, England A’s reply could not have got off to a worse start. They lost Ed Smith without a run on the board, caught by Arindam Das off Debasis Mohanty. Scott Newman reached only 20 when he was bowled by Paul. However, Michael Lumb and Kevin Pietersen stopped the rot with a stand of 51 before Pietersen was out for 32, caught by Mohanty off the left-arm spin of Utpal Chatterjee. Paul struck again, trapping Lumb lbw for 33, and Kadeer Ali followed soon after in the same way.Prior and Graham Napier again demonstrated their value in the middle order, adding a valuable 65 to steer England A back to some sort of respectability before Napier was caught by Kiran Powar off Chatterjee for 28.Prior managed to add another 54 runs with the tail. He lost Graham Wagg for 8 and James Tredwell for just 1, but Sajid Mahmood hung around long enough to help his side past the 200 mark before he and Steve Kirby fell in quick succession.Mahmood then gave England A some heart before the close, removing both Deep Dasgupta and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kirby also struck to have Arindam Das caught behind, as East Zone closed at 65 for 3.

Grant Bradburn has returned to the Northern Districts fold, but not as a player. Bradburn has been appointed as the Community Cricket co-ordinator for the Waikato Valley region.Bradburn has been one of the great stalwarts of Northern Districts cricket with a playing career spanning 17 years. In all he appeared in 115 first-class and 121 one-day matches for Northern Districts, both of them records. He is the third highest runscorer, and the second highest wicket taker, and has the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper. He played seven tests and 11 one-day internationals for New Zealand.Bradburn will be working in the newly-constituted Waikato Valley region. A boundary review has seen the trial amalgamation of the Thames Valley and Midlands senior District Associations for the 2003-2004 season (with the exception of the Taupo sub association which has returned to the Bay of Plenty).His responsibilities will involve working closely with the senior District Association and the Midlands and Thames Valley Junior Cricket Board’s to promote the game at all levels (primary school, secondary school and clubs) and to elevate the profile of cricket in the greater Waikato region. He will also be responsible for the national development programme in the region.He will be attached to Sport Waikato, as well as Northern Districts, as a member of the Sportsforce team. Dave Richardson, previously Sportsforce cricket development manager for the whole Waikato region will now focus on Hamilton and becomes Hamilton Cricket development manager. Bradburn will continue his ownership of Grant Bradburn Sports which operates as a shop at Westpac Park. Grant will be based at the Northern Districts office at Westpac Park.

Although Ashish Nehra is definitively ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand, he should be back on his feet in time for the one-day triseries, said Andrew Leipus, the Indian team’s physiotherapist.When questioned about Nehra’s chances of playing the triseries, Leipus said: “That’s the goal at the moment – one day cricket. But not Test matches”.Nehra’s ankle injury has kept him out of competitive cricket ever since the World Cup earlier this year.

For the third time this season KwaZulu-Natal had to be content in sharing the points with the opposition as rain washed out any chance of a result, while the Border Free State match could not be started, as the second round of the Standard Bank Cup got underway. The rain also ensured that the three teams now have virtually no chance of making the semi-finals.PointsTable
ScorecardIn Durban, the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and Northern Titans match had to be abandoned after rain interrupted the Northerns innings. Only seven overs were bowled before the rain sent the players running for cover.After winning the toss and batting first, KwaZulu-Natal had their innings interrupted three times but managed to recover from 49 for 3 in the 11th over to score a formidable 251 for 5 in the 45 overs allocated.Dale Benkenstein (62) was first invloved in an 82-run partnership with Hashim Amla (52), and then put on 75 runs with Jon Kent (57*), which allowed Lance Klusener the freedom of smashing a quick undefeated 25 off 11 balls. The Dolphins scored 72 runs in the last six overs to set a competitive target. Reon King had the best bowling figures for Northerns, taking 2 for 42 in his nine overs.Boland 208 for 5 (Davids 75*, Coetsee 3-41) beat North West207 for 6 (Henderson 108*, Jacobs 46, Carter 3-38, Albertyn 2-42) by 5wickets.
ScorecardIn Paarl, Boland recorded a close 5-wicket win after restricting North West to 207 for 6.James Henderson, with wickets falling around him, batted through the North West innings to score an excellent undefeated 108. Davey Jacobs scored 46 and put on 97 runs with Henderson, adding substance to the innings. For Boland, Neil Carter took 3 for 38, while Wallace Albertyn bagged two wickets.Boland, thanks to an undefeated 75 from Henry Davids and a swing of the bat from Wesley Euley, scoring 15 runs off the penultimate over, reached the target in the last over, but after plenty of hard work. Werner Coetsee, a 20-year-old right-arm offbreak bowler, returned career best figures of 3 for 41 for North West.

Somerset tightened their grip on the county championship match against Glamorgan at Taunton and by the end of the second day’s play they had a first innings lead of 194 with four wickets remaining.Resuming on 161 for 1 captain Mike Burns, who was 33 not out overnight, set out his stall early on and took 10 runs off an over from Alex Wharf to bring up his own half century and his sides 200.He quickly passed his partner Peter Bowler, who had resumed on 51 not out, and on the stroke of noon played an imperious cover drive and seemed to be heading towards a well deserved century.However with the total on 249 he was somewhat surprisingly bowled leg stump by Adrian Dale for 82, after putting on 128 for the second wicket with Bowler. During his innings Burns faced 119 balls and scored 13 x 4’s.Jamie Cox announced his arrival at the crease with a trademark cover drive, and appeared to be in cracking form displaying an array of attacking shots.Meanwhile, Bowler had been going along steadily and was batting like a man destined to reach his century. However Dale had other ideas and just a few minutes before lunch with the total on 290, Bowler gave a straightforward catch to Wharf at mid on. The veteran opener had been at the wicket over 4 ¾ hours to compile his 92 and faced 227 balls and hit ten boundaries.Shortly after lunch Bryant and Cox brought up the 300 but within half an hour of returning from the interval the players left the field because of rain.The rain caused the loss of eleven overs and kept the players off the field for forty minutes, but shortly after they returned Cox was disappointingly trapped LBW by Wharf after scoring an impressive 29 runs.Cox’s dismissal signalled the arrival of Ian Blackwell who was making his first championship appearance of the season at Taunton. The situation was ideal for the all rounder who was quickly into his stride and took runs almost at will from Robert Croft, who he hit for 16 runs from one over.Along with Bryant the left hander brought up the fifty partnership from six overs, and looked to be going well until with his score on 42 he played a ball from David Harrison onto his stumps. `Blackie’ had faced just 27 balls and scored seven four’s.Bryant became Dales third victim when he was out LBW to bring Aaron Laraman to the wicket and by teatime Rob Turner (12 not out) and Laraman (0 not out) had taken the Cidermen onto 394 for 6, before the rain started to fall again to prevent any further play.After play was abandoned for the day just before six o’clock, Somerset coach Kevin Shine said: "It has been very frustrating that we have been denied 43 overs play today, and we will have to try and gauge how many more overs of play might be possible before we decide what we are going to do. We have got two days of play left and we will be pushing hard to get a victory."He continued: "The skipper batted well today and it’s nice to see Mike back in the runs again and Peter Bowler got a good 90 odd. The wicket looks like it could have quickened up a little which suits us with Nixon McLean, Richard Johnson and Simon Francis all in good form, so tomorrow we will be hoping that we can get a days play and push hard for a victory."Paceman Johnson is suffering from a slight groin strain, and whilst he will bowl for Somerset in the Glamorgan second innings he will not be fit enough to be available for selection for the first Test match against Zimbabwe that gets underway next Thursday