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Duleep Trophy, after three seasons of being the season kick-off tournament, has got back its due status: of a tournament played after the Ranji Trophy in which the season’s best players compete. It is back to the 75 best players outside the Indian side taking up the unique challenge of competing through zonal teams made up of the best from various states in the respective zones. To add to the competition, England Lions will be the visiting team this year. Cricinfo takes a look at the build-up of the six teams

Central Zone
Last time Mohammad Kaif led the Central Zone side, they won the Duleep Trophy in 2004-05. By the semi-final stage of the Ranji Trophy this year, Kaif – by then certain to be the Central Zone captain – would have quite enviably started thinking how to utilise the most potent attack in the country: pace bowlers – Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi, Pankaj Singh and Sanjay Bangar, and spinners – Piyush Chawla, Murali Kartik and Praveen Gupta. Following the Ranji final, some of the confusion must have cleared as Kumar and Chawla have been released to join the Indian team for the ODIs in Australia. But the attack, even without the two, should pose a threat to most of the batting line-ups.In Tyagi and Bangar, they have the leading wicket-takers from the Super and Plate Leagues respectively. Pankaj, before leaving for Australia, had taken 26 wickets from five matches.If the Centrals Zone’s bowling attack is enviable, Kaif is left with the unenviable task, just like with Uttar Pradesh, of leading an unproven batting line-up. Apart from him and Tanmay Srivastava, centurion in the Ranji final, Rajasthan’s Robin Bist and Vineet Saxena are the only two batsmen from the Super League. Harshad Rawle scored a century in the Plate final. The batting is yet to look the strongest, but if they can give their bowlers enough runs they could go close to repeating the success of 2004-05 – Kaif, Bangar, Kartik and Naman Ojha were members of that side too.England Lions
In 2003-04 when India started the experiment of inviting one foreign team to play the Duleep Trophy, England ‘A’ were the first visitors. A team that comprised of Kevin Pietersen, Simon Jones, Matt Prior and Sajid Mahmood lost both their matches outright, including a successful 503-run chase by South Zone. The Lions, who play Central Zone and West Zone in the league stage, will want to improve on the precedent.Monty Panesar, this year, is their biggest player, and should generate a lot of interest. Apart from Panesar, their captain Michael Yardy, wicketkeeper James Foster, Ed Joyce, and Liam Plunkett have been in and around the England team for quite a while. Apart from Panesar, who will most likely tour India for Tests later this year, upcoming pace bowlers like Graham Onions will cherish this opportunity of playing in subcontinent conditions.North Zone
Delhi, the Ranji champions, deservedly dominate the North Zone’s line-up with six players, but the defending champions will be depleted because of the absence of their key players. Gautam Gambhir, off for the ODIs in Australia, and Pradeep Sangwan and Virat Kohli, representing India in the Under-19 World Cup, also would have made it easily.Aakash Chopra, whose 188 in the last year’s final secured North Zone the trophy, and Shikhar Dhawan will make a dangerous opening combination. Mithun Manhas, Punjab’s Uday Kaul, Services’ Yashpal Singh and Himachal Pradesh’s Paras Dogra will make up the middle order. Rajat Bhatia, easily the most valuable player this Ranji season with 525 runs and 26 wickets, including a big century when Delhi were 36 for 4 in the final, will be just the perfect No. 6 for them.In Sangwan’s absence, North Zone will look to the Himachal duo of Ashok Thakur and Vikramjeet Singh Malik to lead the pace attack. The two took 62 wickets between them this season. Joginder Sharma, who didn’t have a great season, does provide them an option. Chetanya Nanda and Amit Mishra will be their main spinners.West Zone
With three teams from West Zone making the Ranji semi-finals this year – Mumbai not being one of them – West Zone put up a solid challenge at this year’s Duleep Trophy. Parthiv Patel, the leading run-scorer in the Plate League, will lead the side, which boasts of internationals like Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel, Ajit Agarkar and Yusuf Pathan. In Cheteshwar Pujara, they have the Super League’s highest scorer as well as other heavy scorers, Rakesh Solanki, Niraj Patel and Harshad Khadiwale.Sandeep Jobanputra and Siddharth Trivedi will give Agarkar and Munaf a tough fight for places in the starting XI, if both of them are fit, that is. Then they have Maharshtra’s Samad Fallah as a wildcard. Powar, Pathan and Rakesh Dhurv will make up the allrounder-spinner combo, with Rajesh Pawar one of the reserves.The best part for West Zone is that they have not been hit by selections to the Indian team, so they are one of the strong contenders this time round.South Zone
This hasn’t been the year for the teams from South Zone, who haven’t won the title since 1996-97: Tamil Nadu played it too safe despite having all their games at home, Hyderabad had to fight to avoid relegation, Karnataka were disappointing after Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid left for national duty. But Andhra and Kerala surprised, with Andhra finishing at No. 3 in their group and Kerala making the semi-finals of the Plate League.

R Vinay Kumar and Sunil Joshi, Nos 2 and 6 on the wicket-takers’ list, are absent from the South Zone squad. There could have been some logic in not playing Joshi, as younger spinners – Pragyan Ojha and S Anish – have been picked, but Vinay Kumar will surely feel disappointed for having missed the selection.S Badrinath, M Vijay and D Ravi Teja will expectedly make the core of the batting line-up, with support from Raiphi Gomez, Arjun Yadav and Swapnil Asnodkar. Sreesanth’s selection for the ODIs in Australia will weaken their attack, with NC Aiyappa and D Kalyankrishna in lead roles.East Zone
It has been a contrasting year for Orissa and Bengal, but it nonetheless ended in disappointment for both. Bengal got relegated and Orissa came within a favourable result of a semi-final and lost. The two states dominate the East Zone side, which has never won a Duleep Trophy. The Orissa players will look to impress furthermore, while for Bengal players this is one final go at an elite first-class competition before they start their fight in the Plate League.The East Zone bowling attack comprises mainly the Bengal attack – Ranadeb Bose and SS Paul – and Orissa’s Mohantys – Debasis and Basanth – who were the key to their success this year.Manoj Tiwary, who fizzled out after a sparkling start to the season, has been given another opportunity, and again he has to carry out the responsibility he failed to do with Bengal: to lead a weak batting line-up. He will have captain Shiv Sunder Das for company. The ones who need to rally around them are Bengal openers Arindam Das and Anustup Mujumdar and Jharkhand captain Manish Vardhan.

Cricket South Africa’s general council reaffirmed it’s backing of the transformation policy, which has been the point of contention in the public spat between the board president Norman Arendse and the national team coach Mickey Arthur.A resolution at the meeting held on Saturday emphasised that the team to tour Bangladesh must be chosen by the selectors on the basis of the transformation policy and presented to the president as soon as possible. The squad, which was to be announced last week, was apparently delayed since the touring team chosen had only four coloured players, and not the longstanding policy of seven in a squad comprising of 15 or more players.Meanwhile, Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, has been asked to immediately look into the complaint against Arthur filed by Arendse before the South African team leaves for Bangladesh. The row erupted over the team selection, and Arendse laid formal charges against Arthur, telling the that he was being “disrespectful” and “abusive” while adding he was “cocking a snook at his employers’ policy of transformation.”Arthur followed suit and filed a counter-charge. “Yes, there is animosity between us,” he told Supersport. “I told him he was power-crazy and egotistical but I never swore at him.”I’ve taken him on about this team. The transformation policy that Arendse wants to be applied does not exist. He is out of bounds. I told him he was not a selector and should keep his nose out of team selections.”The resolution also says that Majola “is required to investigate utterances by any CSA employee in the print and electronic media since Tuesday, February 5, 2008,and consider whether there is any basis to charge such employee with bringing Cricket South Africa into disrepute in accordance with [the official] disciplinary code and procedure.”

As there might be with a blind date, there is both excitement andtrepidation at the announcement of Shoaib Malik as the 25th man to captainPakistan.At 25, he is still young in years and in that sense, it is a progressiveappointment. Seniority and hierarchy matter in Pakistan, and choosingcaptains is generally a pragmatic decision based on the best ormost-established player in the side, rather than the best leader. Fewrecent captains have been young.The World Cup brought to an end one dark, jaded mini-period, so startingagain, with a new, fresh-faced captain has a good feel about it. SouthAfrica did something similar four years ago, and on balance of where theyare now, probably don’t regret it. Youth will anyway have its day so whynot now?Gauging a leader of men is not simple. Weight of runs, wickets orall-round performances, as Andrew Flintoff and Ian Botham among othersdiscovered, does not a captain make. Something more is needed, somethingnot easily seen, something that is properly visible only after a captaincaptains.That much-loved phrase ‘the best captain that never was’ is actually anempty one; unless a player is or has been one, nobody can ever know howgood a captain he can be. Until Malik leads his men out, makes a bowlingchange, a slight fielding adjustment, a testing declaration, or battlesthrough poor form, through on-field crises, or rallies ten wildlydifferent personalities around him, the jury will be out.That the appointment of the second Malik to captain Pakistan is not asbold as it may initially appear is key. He hasn’t been discussed bythis administration alone as an option, but by the one before it as well.Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan – albeit cautiously – haverepeatedly cited his sharp cricketing brain and selfless attitude as signsof potential leadership, as did Bob Woolmer. You have to think, betweenall of them, they must know something.But, as ever, history tugs at optimism. On the rare occasions Pakistanhave flirted with young captains, especially in a team of seniors, disasterhas been the result. Malik is not as young as were Javed Miandad (22) andJaved Burki (24) when they became captains but is close enough.Both had miserable experiences: Burki oversaw, in a 4-0 loss in England in1962, one of Pakistan’s worst tours in their early years. Miandad, madecaptain in 1980, fell to a revolt by his own players two years and 13Tests later. Wasim Akram was 26 when he first took on the captaincy, yetfive Tests later, his own players had forced him out.Even considerable experience couldn’t save Akram and Miandad. The former’sfirst Test as captain was his 46th overall, while the latter’s was his28th Test. Crucially, both were established players already.Malik’s first Test as captain will only be his 19th (over five years).Though lately, he has become a regular of sorts, nobody would argue thathe is an established indispensable, as he is in the shorter form of thegame. And in neither form of the game do we know his ideal position in theorder. Captaincy can make a player or break him and Malik is no exception.As with Akram and Miandad, there is also a fear that senior players – anominous phrase only in this context – might not take so readily to Malik.Intikhab Alam voiced these very concerns and the signs are alreadypresent; when asked publicly, a number of players said they were willingto accept the captaincy offered. Privately, many are believed tohave it to be offered to them. Will they be entirely happywith a younger, less established player in charge?How he handles his men off the field, in the dressing rooms and in hotels,may well be the key to what happens on the field. It initially escaped menof Akram and Miandad’s stature, though both came back to become two of themost successful captains Pakistan had.There is not much that Malik has not done on a cricket field. He hasremarkable adaptability; Test opener one day to middle-order battler next;one-down ODI organiser today, lower-order slogger tomorrow; he has beenre-invented many times. Most of it he has done with minimum fuss and dueefficiency, some of it outstandingly well. He now has another role tofill. It is, by a country mile, the most challenging one yet.

Innings of the dayRoss Taylor began his innings on Wednesday afternoon with an unflattering accolade from the PA man ringing in his ears: “With a highest score of 17 …” boomed the announcement as he strode out to bat. But Taylor put all such insecurities to one side and set about proving that he’s more than just a one-paced wonder. His mighty hitting was there to see when the delivery merited the shot, but for the most part he played straight and late, and made crease occupation his primary concern. It was an eye-opening performance from a man who’d been under-estimated after failing in his first two Tests.Shot of the dayDaniel Vettori didn’t need to play too many expansive strokes in his beautifully paced innings. The majority of his 12 boundaries came from dabs behind square and sweeps through midwicket, as he waited for England to err in line on a decidedly sluggish pitch. But he did enjoy one majestic moment when Monty Panesar floated a full-length delivery right into the arc of his bat. Down he dropped to one knee, and deposited the ball clean over long-on. Two balls later he was back to basics, with a sweet late cut that whistled to the third-man fence.Bowling change of the dayNot a lot went right for England in the field. Their front-line bowlers were off the pace and the pitch was unforgiving, and midway through the afternoon session, Michael Vaughan turned to his last resort. Kevin Pietersen has pretensions as an offspinner – indeed that is what he was when he played against England for KwaZulu-Natal in 1999-2000. But no-one quite expected him to have such an immediate impact. Ross Taylor allowed himself a solitary sighter, then launched into a mighty mow towards midwicket. The ball spiralled straight up in the air, and Pietersen claimed his third Test wicket.Just desserts of the dayRyan Sidebottom has earned a justifiable reputation as England’s most luckless bowler. Against India and Sri Lanka last year, if a catch was going to be dropped, it would doubtless be off one of his deliveries. But in Hamilton he’s at last earned a measure of payback. First there was Alastair Cook’s outstanding pluck at gully to remove Stephen Fleming, and then today, just when it seemed he’d run out of time to massage his figures, he popped up with two wickets in three balls to give them the sheen they deserved. He left the field with 4 for 90 in 34.3 overs. A testament to a job very well done.Improbable coincidence of the dayYesterday Matthew Bell cleaned up his namesake, Ian Bell, with a whistling pull shot that clattered into his right wrist as he took evasive action at short leg. Today, Matthew – also positioned beneath the lid – got his comeuppance courtesy of England’s captain, Michael Vaughan. Jeetan Patel served up a short ball, Vaughan pulled hard, down into the ground and back up into Bell’s outstretched left fingertip. Blood poured out, presumably from a removed nail, and off he trooped to join the casualty ward.Duff dismissal of the dayAlastair Cook scored a century in his most recent Test innings, at Galle in December, and had been easing benignly along on a pitch that was proving to be as dead as the England bowlers had claimed. But then, with five overs to go until the close, he pulled loosely at the tireless Chris Martin, and the substitute fielder Nick Horsley pouched a simple catch at square leg. Cook was kicking himself as he left and rightly so. Once again England’s inability to convert promising starts into prolific finishes had undermined their day’s work.

Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, has lauded New Zealand for undertaking their tour of Pakistan. The team will leave on Wednesday for a revised 12-day tour with five one-day internationals.”They would not be sending a team if they were not reasonably comfortable, but if someone is uncomfortable about going, it would be wrong to make them,” said Mani. “There was a threat made, and New Zealand did the right thing by stepping back and assessing it.”New Zealand were due to play their first match late last week but delayed the tour’s start to assess security measures.Visiting New Zealand with Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, Mani spoke of the new protocol for teams contesting tour programmes. “There was great co-operation between the boards, and the ICC was kept informed. New Zealand has laid the issues out openly and transparently and explained the situation,” he said.New Zealand’s foreign affairs ministry had advised tourists to avoid visiting Pakistan, but Speed said that this did not apply to international teams. He said: “Teams have a significantly higher level of security and it’s quite a different issue. It’s very hard to look at straightforward advice given to tourists where you can apply that to cricket teams and generally we don’t do that.”

Michael Clarke could miss the first Test against West Indies in Jamaica next week following the death of his fiancée Lara Bingle’s father. The rest of Australia’s squad departed for the Caribbean on the weekend but Clarke stayed at home having been given compassionate leave.Graham Bingle, who had been fighting cancer, died in Sydney on Saturday and with the funeral likely to be held later this week it is still unclear how long Clarke will remain in Australia. “My priority is Lara and her family,” Clarke told the . “That’s all that matters at the moment.”If Clarke was to fly out on the weekend he could arrive in Jamaica with as little as two days before the first Test, which begins on Thursday May 22. But a lack of practice – his team-mates will have had a warm-up match by then – means he would be no certainty to play, according to the coach Tim Nielsen.”If he gets over for the first Test, he will need some preparation,” Nielsen said. “But as the Test gets closer, we’ll make some decisions and work out where he is at.”A Cricket Australia spokesman confirmed Clarke’s departure date was still up in the air. “Our thoughts are with Michael and Lara and the family at this difficult time,” the spokesman told . “Michael’s providing support to his fiancée’s family ahead of the funeral and I’m sure that in due course, and when the time is right for both of them, he’ll be liaising with Cricket Australia about his future availability.”Brad Hodge, who was playing in the Indian Premier League, has been enlisted as a shadow player while Clarke is unavailable. However, the original squad featured Simon Katich as the backup batsman and he is more likely to play the Kingston Test than Hodge.

Peter Siddle has admitted he feared his Test career was over after he was ignored for Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, but now hopes a roaring return to his familiar role in the Australia XI will cause the selectors to reconsider their opinion of him.There was considerable dismay at Siddle’s omission from Trent Bridge in particular, and he spoke frankly of all the factors that he felt should have forced his inclusion in the team for Nottingham. “You always think that a little bit,” he said of never playing again. “A couple of wickets that we’d played on where I thought I might’ve got my opportunity and had missed out. You just never know.”Trent Bridge, I’ve had good success there, played county cricket there as well, so I know the ground. It was disappointing, but kept doing everything I can and make sure that if my opportunity came that I had to be ready to go. I felt pretty good coming into this game. It was just nice to get a few wickets, to get the team on a good roll and get us into this position. It’s nice. The boys have played well.”The selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann had spoken often with Siddle about the numerous and varying reasons why he had been ignored for the Tests thus far. It was mainly to do with their conviction that the attack of Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood was superior in all conditions. Events at The Oval have begged to differ, as Siddle has played a pivotal role in keeping runs down while adding vital wickets.”I think it’s just the boys that had been playing had performed well,” Siddle said. “The lads finished off the summer well, went to the West Indies and performed well and they got their opportunity. That’s how it works I guess. I just had to make sure I was ready when my opportunity came. I was disappointed it did take so long, but I was ready at any stage. It’s no different now. There’s never any Test match that you never want to have a crack in.”To get back together with the bowling line-up we had – it was pretty similar, a few different faces -and have those five key bowlers and be able to work in tandem. My role is to try and be patient, build pressure and restrict the runs. I enjoy doing that. I enjoy playing for the country. It’s just lovely to be back out on the field and playing, and the team doing well.”A looming tour of Bangladesh would appear not to be as ideally suited to Siddle’s skills, but later assignments against New Zealand at home and away may be more amenable. Siddle is certainly more hopeful of an opportunity now than he had been two weeks ago.”It’s obviously tough being on the sidelines and carrying drinks . . . especially at my age. It’s only 30 but you still want to be out there,” he said. “It has been tough, but to get this opportunity and come out here and bowl well … I’ve felt comfortable, the team has performed well. Blokes batted well and the bowling group has been outstanding. It’s just great to be in this position.”

BRISBANE, Feb 28 AAP – Gabba hitmen Michael Kasprowicz and Adam Dale gave Victoria another Brisbane belting today as Queensland virtually booked itself a berth in the Pura Cup cricket final.The Bulls will host the March 14 decider if they finish off the Bushrangers, who ended the second day in deep trouble.The visitors were 1-18 in their second innings, still needing 172 runs to make Queensland bat again on a testing Gabba wicket which has become Victoria’s most dreaded piece of turf.The Bushrangers haven’t won at the ground in almost 20 years and, unless Lazarus is listed at No.4, their hopes of appearing in the decider rest with next weekend’s final round clash with Western Australia.They crashed for 159 in the first innings, ensuring Queensland claimed the necessary two points to move six clear of the second-placed Bushrangers.Kasprowicz (5-50) and Dale (3-30 and 1-6) sliced through the Victorian top order, leaving the visitors wobbling at 5-50 before rookie David Hussey supplied an impressive 62.Hussey kissed the Victorian badge on his helmet after reaching 50 in a joking reference to the teammates who ribbed the West Australian about his loyalties after switching states.His Victorian education continues because Hussey now knows what it’s like to bat in a Bushrangers team that struggles at the Gabba.After bowling too short and wide, enabling Clinton Perren (136) and Ashley Noffke (67 not out) to drive the Bulls to 349, Victoria never looked comfortable with the bat in overcast conditions.Opener Jason Arnberger fell for two sucker punches in one afternoon.He was dismissed for seven and five – edging a tempting Kasprowicz delivery to Martin Love at first slip and then not offering a shot as Dale bowled him in the second innings.But the Victorians could still consider themselves unlucky because Queenslander Daniel Payne took a remarkable catch to break up a promising stand between Hussey and Andrew McDonald (21).Payne was airborne and outstretched when he intercepted a lightning cut shot from McDonald, who looked solid during a 63-run stand.Kasprowicz, who frustrated the Victorians earlier in the day with a handy knock of 16, would not rule the Bushrangers out of contention in the match.”We didn’t bowl really well in the first innings. They still worked us to the legside and we know we can still bowl better lines,” Kasprowicz said.”We had some good partnerships in the lower order today and that is something we spoke about and it can frustrate the opposition.”We were 5-89 and managed to put on another 260 so that’s always going to have an effect on the other team when they go into bat.”Dale, who moved within one wicket of 200 scalps for Queensland, almost pulled off a brilliant catch, running along the boundary towards a towering flick from McDonald.Dale caught the ball and had control over it but his momentum took him over the boundary rope.He threw the ball back into the field of play to at least save a boundary.

Geoffrey Boycott has revealed that he is close to returning to work following his successful battle to overcome throat cancer.Boycott, 63, was diagnosed last autumn with cancer and immediately started a course of intensive chemotherapy which led to him losing over 35lbs (16 kgs). At one point, Boycott was having five chemo sessions a day, and he was so weak that he had to be fed by having nutrients pumped into his stomach.In January he was told that the primary cancer, and two secondary growths which were subsequently discovered, had responded to treatment, and in April he married Rachael Swinglehurst, the mother of his daughter, Emma. “I don’t know what I would have done without her,” Boycott told the Daily Telegraph. “She has been a tower of strength.”Robin Smith, the Yorkshire president, told the newspaper that he had been in regular touch with Boycott. “Geoffrey’s very much back to his old self and, when I last spoke to him, the only difference I could notice is that his voice is a little gruffer, which is hardly surprising given what he has been through,” said Smith. “He has to continue seeing his oncologist on a regular basis but the signs are that he may be able to return to work in a couple of months or so.”

England v South Africa, 1st Test, Edgbaston, Day 4

This year, the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack took a deep breath and used a picture on its front cover for the first time in history. It was, as has been widely reported, a huge gamble. But never mind 139 years of tradition and all that – what was really at stake was the here-and-now. By anointing Michael Vaughan as Wisden’s star of 2003, the old yellow book was tempting fate in a truly heinous fashion.Superstitions are an invaluable part of every cricketer’s kitbag, so it would only have been natural if Vaughan had been unable to buy a run all season. Look, for example, at the curse of the Playfair annual – every cricket anorak’s pocket companion – who, year after year, have ruined the seasons of their chosen stars.And sure enough, Vaughan began 2003 with a worrying set of wobbles. Against Zimbabwe, he managed a tortuous 8 from 42 balls at Lord’s, followed by a flashy five-shot 20 at Durham, as if his key attributes of grit and flourish had had a quarrel and taken an innings each. A glut of one-day matches hardly helped his composure at the crease – all too often he was dismissed early, trying to make something out of nothing with un-Vaughanish glides through gully or uncalibrated hoicks over midwicket.But, how different his game appears when there is nothing at stake but the match. Vaughan’s splendid duel with Shaun Pollock, from whom he faced every single delivery of the first hour, encapsulated his performance. For the first time this season, Vaughan was not being expected to live up to the hype that his Ashes series created, merely to ride with that hype.In that first session, Vaughan faced 76 deliveries from Pollock and scored 17 runs. It was the pivotal spell of the day, and, with England an eternity from saving the follow-on, unquestionably the most gripping. But a similar return against Zimbabwe, or in a one-day game, would have been deemed unacceptably slow. Never mind the fact that, for the remainder of his innings, he rattled along at exactly four an over.Despite his success as England’s one-day captain, Vaughan may never be able to convert his prolific Test form into consistency in the limited-overs game. He is too finicky an artist for that. But, give him a blank canvas and all the time in the world to produce a masterpiece, he’ll clatter one off and still leave time to spare.Click here for today’s Bulletin