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The Jade Stadium in Christchurch has been renamed AMI Stadium following a new sponsorship deal. The agreement with the insurance company aims to increase the capacity to 43,000 ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, which will be hosted with Australia.The stadium was originally known as Lancaster Park before Jade bought the naming rights in 1998. AMI and the venue management company Vbase are reportedly getting the community to help come up with a new name for the East Stand.The venue, which is home to the domestic side Canterbury, has hosted 40 Tests and 43 ODIs. Being a multi-purpose ground like Auckland’s Eden Park, it has used drop-in pitches for international matches.

Graeme Smith has voiced concerns about the exodus of leading players from South African cricket. Several cricketers including Jacques Rudolph and Vaughn van Jaarsveld have signed Kolpak contracts while others such as Andrew Hall have recently quit international cricket.”The main concern is that players who can still mean a lot to the national team are turning their back on South African cricket,” Smith told news24.com, a South African news website. “Those are the ones we have to keep and whom the administrators should think about.”Guys of 21 and 22 years are leaving because they just do not have the patience to play their way into the national team,” Smith said. “Some players who are near the end of their career are also taking that route.”It is hard to stop them because the money they will earn in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) is a major consideration. But it does prove that there are other problems in our cricket that have to be solved. The administrators have a major task and I just hope they take it seriously.”Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje have signed with the ICL while Hall is almost certain to join once his contract with Cricket South Africa comes to an end in April next year.Though Jacques Kallis, who resigned from the vice-captaincy after being dropped for the ICC World Twenty20, is back in the side for the Pakistan tour, his replacement as vice-captain has not been announced. “I wish I knew. I’ll let you know when I find out,” said Smith. “But it seems that sort of information is not meant for me.”The South African team is currently in Pakistan on a two-Test and five-ODI tour.

Mathew Dowman and Dominic Cork at last gave Derbyshire supporters a dayto savour when they transformed the match at the County Ground with arecord breaking partnership.The unbroken seventh wicket stand of 225 was the highest for Derbyshireagainst Durham and at the close, Dowman and Cork had taken their sideinto a lead of 369.It was a totally different story shortly after lunch when Durham had thehome side on the ropes at 121-6, only 143 runs in front, and there wasevery chance the game would finish inside two days.But the pitch had by now flattened out, the ball did not swing andDowman and Cork plundered bowling which became increasingly ragged on ahot afternoon.This was Dowman’s best innings for Derbyshire and, after spending 18balls on 99, he reached his eighth first-class century which wasapplauded by all the Durham team.Cork scored his fourth hundred and his unbeaten 105 was his highestscore while Dowman’s 129 not out was his best for Derbyshire.The stand was the highest against Durham this season and has seriouslydamaged their chances of avoiding relegation to the Second Divisionwhile Derbyshire now have an excellent chance of winning their firstgame since late June although they already look doomed to lose theirDivision One status.

The immediate fate of Zimbabwe’s tour to Pakistan hangs in delicate balance following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, an incident that has sparked violence throughout the country.Zimbabwe are due to arrive in Pakistan on January 12 and are scheduled to play two warm-up matches as well as a series of five ODIs, beginning January 26. But that schedule was thrown into doubt following yesterday’s suicide attack which killed Bhutto shortly after an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi. Since then, the main urban centres of Pakistan – including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad – have witnessed heavy rioting and violence.Understandably, given the proximity of the incident, no decision has been taken yet. The nation is in official mourning for three days, a stance echoed by Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “This is a huge national tragedy and a time of mourning for the whole country. I feel it is not appropriate to talk about cricket just now. We will look at the situation in 2-3 days,” Ashraf told Cricinfo.Another senior board official said the Zimbabwe board had not been in touch yet. “Nobody from the Zimbabwe board has yet got in touch with us about the situation,” the official told Cricinfo. When asked specifically whether the tour would go ahead, he said, “As of this immediate moment, it is on. But ultimately your guess is as good as mine.”Zimbabwe play their first ODI in Hyderabad, another city particularly badly hit by a night of rioting; they are also scheduled to spend considerable time in Karachi, before playing in Multan, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura.Clouding the matter further is the fate of the general elections, which were scheduled to be held on January 8, days before the tourists arrive. In the aftermath of the assassination, there are suggestions they may be postponed. In either case, however, reports are warning that further violence in coming days may be inevitable, extending a year of already tremendous political tumult in the country.Australia, who are due to tour Pakistan in March, have adopted a wait-and-see policy. They are due to send a security delegation to the country in February, after which they will decide on the tour.

Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, has given an upbeat interview to the Sydney Morning Herald, although he refused to be drawn on some of the more contentious issues affecting his country.In a week when the ICC cleared the Zimbabwe board of financial wrongdoing, although still accused it of “serious financial irregularities”, Chingoka was understandably bullish, further buoyed by his own position within the ICC hierarchy.”Your company does its books, and sometimes money gets sent to the wrong places,” Chingoka told the newspaper’s Alex Brown. “We have adopted a new accounting protocol. KPMG [the independent auditors appointed by the ICC] found that there was no misappropriation from any individuals. The audit showed no single individual benefited from this. I am happy.”Asked about the many accusations from within Zimbabwe accusing him of mismanagement, Chingoka was equally dismissive. “If players have these opinions, then they must produce evidence. Our books are clean in that respect. Ask the players what the problem is, not me. There is always going to be criticism. I am not going to run around with a flag saying I’m innocent.”But on other issues, he was less forthcoming. He refused to discuss Australia’s refusal to tour in 2007 or on the ongoing problems he is having obtaining a visa to enter the UK or on his arrest in 2006 on charges of breaching Zimbabwe’s draconian foreign exchange regulations.

Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, says the emergency in Pakistan will not have any bearing on the team’s current visit to India.”The imposition of emergency will not affect our team’s tour of India in any way,” Ashraf told the , a Karachi-based daily. “Our team will remain in India and I’m confident that the players will give their best in the series.”The decision by Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, to declare a state of emergency in the country initially cast doubt over whether the tour would continue as scheduled. The Pakistan players had returned to their hotel in Delhi after a practice session at the Feroz Shah Kotla when they learnt about the political situation back home.The tour, which includes a five-match ODI series followed by three Tests, is set to get underway tomorrow with the first one-dayer in Guwahati.

ScorecardNorthamptonshire survived an awkward second innings to claim a draw against Nottinghamshire after a three-wicket burst from AJ Harris threatened to open up a final-afternoon result. Facing a deficit of 160, Northamptonshire slumped to 18 for 3 before Chris Rogers and Rob White added 134.Nottinghamshire batted aggressively during the morning session, Mark Wagh taking his century to 152 until being caught behind of Johann van der Wath. The middle order all contributed useful runs at a decent pace, but Mark Ealham was forced to retire hurt for 25.Harris then struck with the new ball, having Stephen Peters edging to Chris Read and both David Sales and Alex Wakely taken at slip by Stephen Fleming. However, Rogers found his touch after a lean run and White struck 12 boundaries before everyone shuck hands on a draw.

The ICC women’s World Cup qualifiers gets underway in South Africa on Monday and by the end of the week two teams will have secured themselves spots in the World Cup in Australia next year. But what about the other six? What will they take back from a tournament where they get to play a maximum of four games, apart from the warm-ups scheduled prior to the qualifiers?The teams placed third and fourth will get ranked among the top ten countries for the next four years which means their matches are then deemed as official Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 internationals. But that doesn’t mean they will automatically play more games every year. What plagues women’s cricket the most is how little each team plays, apart from England, Australia and New Zealand. While the World Cup qualifiers cannot ensure more matches per team over the next four years, it can throw up at least two or three quality sides who can then take their game forward by competing more regularly with the top four – Australia, India, New Zealand and England.So for South Africa, Ireland, Netherlands and Pakistan this is an opportunity to move to the bigger leagues, while for Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe and Scotland the qualifiers is a tournament to gain experience, play in different conditions and meet new opposition. How different the conditions will be for them is revealed by what Papua New Guinea’s captain, Kune Amini, said regarding the pitches they will be playing on. “We’ve never played on turf so that will be different for our girls,” she told the ICC website. “I think it’s too soon to qualify for the World Cup as our standard of play is not similar to other countries as we play on concrete.”As hosts, South Africa may have the best chance of winning the tournament and getting a higher seed at the World Cup. But they will badly miss Johmari Logtenberg and Mignon du Preez. Logtenberg, their star batsman, quit the game last month, while du Preez withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons. There isn’t a more emphatic reason to play more often than the danger of losing players. In the last 12 months South Africa played eight ODIs, one Test and two Twenty20 internationals. In the same period Australia have played 16 ODIs, one Twenty20 and a Test. Unless given more opportunities, other players will follow Logtenberg out of cricket to more lucrative sports like golf.

The postponement of the tournament, scheduled for last November in Pakistan, following political unrest in the country gave all the sides a chance to get in some more practice, but injuries and for some, no leave from work, have depleted the squads of their first-choice players. Scotland’s Vari Maxwell, part of the original squad, was unable to make it to South Africa because she is a Royal Navy employee and her ship is still at sea. The amateur nature of their game may allow players to pursue interests outside cricket and of course the costs of touring, taking leave from schools, universities, and regular jobs come in the way of most women players turning in to full-time professionals, but their teams won’t be taken seriously unless they turn out for matches with competitive squads.In the end it is the bilateral series – or at the very least quadrangulars – that will allow teams to improve their game. But it is tournaments like the qualifiers that will identify the competition and get talented players noticed. In last year’s Asian Cricket Council tournament, Bangladesh’s victory, without dropping a game, which included ten-wicket wins against Singapore and UAE, prompted the board to organise a women’s cricket league in the country. The national players were given cash awards, a full-time coach and trainer were appointed, and regular training camps were started. The board also promised to provide cricket gear for the women’s league as well as for the school girls’ division. Runners-up Nepal were also given cash prizes by their association.That should be enough incentive for the players in South Africa to make a mark at the qualifiers this week. Of course there is the World Cup as well.

When Yuvraj Singh cracked a sensational 358 in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy – an under-19 tournament – in 1999-2000, his father is supposed to have admonished him for not going on to make a quadruple century. He expected another call today, talking about a double-hundred, but one which came with heartfelt congratulations as well.”One hundred and sixty-nine is a lot of runs,” said Yuvraj, talking about his third Test hundred, all of which have come against Pakistan. “I should have got 200, and I am disappointed from a personal point of view that I did not. But I am delighted that Sourav and I hauled the team out of a tough situation, from 61 for 4. What is most important for me is that the team is in a good position.”It’s been nearly 18 months since Yuvraj last played in a Test and he admitted to the frustrations during the intervening period. He was also aware that he could miss out when India walk out to the park in Melbourne to take on Australia on Boxing Day. “It feels bad to sit out, but you must see how many great players we have in the middle order,” he said. “Rahul, Sachin, Laxman and Sourav all have very good Test records. Going out to bat today, I wasn’t worried about the Australia tour and whether I can secure my place in the XI. I wanted to play for the team, to help the team win the Test.”Was he hurt at being left out for so long, despite staking his claim so emphatically in the one-day arena? “I had a very bad Test series in the West Indies, and after that, the rest of the batsmen all played well,” he said. “I have myself to blame. I stayed motivated, worked hard on my game, and was determined to take my chance when it came my way again. I always knew that I could do well in Test cricket. You have time to settle down and play yourself in. To me, Test cricket is the main thing.”

Yuvraj walked in with India in a pickle. Yasir Arafat, the debutant medium-pacer, had made a mess of the top order by surprising a few with zip off the pitch. The pitch assisted him, as Arafat himself admitted, but it still required a good spell to remove three prized scalps. Hailing from Rawalpindi, he doesn’t possess the furious pace of his city-mate Shoaib Akhtar but makes up with accuracy. In fact one Pakistan newspaper recently referred to him as the [in contrast with the more speedy ].Arafat had to first come to terms with making his debut. By the first session, he was enjoying a fairytale start. “I was playing domestic cricket in Pakistan and I didn’t think I will be called up,” he said. “People consider me as an allrounder suited to one-dayers. I was surprised I got a call up. I didn’t think much about Tests. But I got a chance because of injuries. And now I’ve made a debut. The pitch was supporting the fast bowlers early on. I wanted to bowl on and outside off and got wickets because of that. But I didn’t think I’ll get such important wickets so early.”The rest of the day wasn’t as rosy. “After lunch it became a good wicket. It was playing very easy, like a good batting track. It was very frustrating for me and the team. But again, they played well. But credit to the batsmen. Yuvraj is a very talented cricketer and his innings was tremendous today.” Yuvraj might have hogged the headlines today but Arafat’s chance will come. With a name like that, headline writers will struggle to control the urge.

The 12 members of New South Wales’ team of the past 150 years will be the first inductees of the state’s Hall of Fame when it is opened on Friday night. Richie Benaud, Alan Davidson, Steve Waugh and Bob Simpson will attend the event, which coincides with the Steve Waugh Medal, and the concept will be extended with two men and one woman being added each year.”Cricket NSW is delighted to introduce its own Hall of Fame,” David Gilbert, the chief executive, said. “We feel this is a fitting way to acknowledge the contributions of the great cricketers that have represented New South Wales and to recognise their achievements wearing the famous baggy blue cap.”The state’s team of the past 150 years was named in 2007 and players had to have made their first-class debut for the Blues. Only their performances for New South Wales counted so there were no spot for Glenn McGrath, who spent most of his career on international duty.The team Arthur Morris, Bob Simpson, Don Bradman, Victor Trumper, Charlie Macartney, Steve Waugh, Billy Murdoch (wk), Richie Benaud, Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Charles Turner, Bill O’Reilly.