A public memorial service will be held for murdered Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer in Cape Town next Wednesday. “The service will be led by Reverend Jerome Francis who was coached by Bob from the age of 11,” said a statement issued on behalf of Woolmer’s family.The event is to be held at the Wynberg boy’s high school, with speakers to include former South African cricketer Allan Donald, and Tim Noakes of the Sport Science Institute of South Africa with whom Woolmer co-authored a book on the art and science of cricket. There will be a separate designated area for close friends of the Woolmer family who live in the Cape Town area.Woolmer, also a former coach of South Africa, was found strangled in his Jamaican hotel room on March 18, one day after Pakistan were dramatically ousted from the World Cup following a shock defeat to minnows Ireland.

Fitness problems has ruled Shoaib Akhtar out of the preparatory camp in Lahore as Pakistan prepare for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi next month. The camp will be held at Gaddafi Stadium from April 28 to May 4, before the national selectors announce the squad two days later.The National Selection Committee have short-listed over 35 players, which includes proven performers in the recently concluded domestic season. Younis Khan, who recently declined the captaincy following Inzamam-ul-Haq’s retirement from ODIs, hasn’t been included as yet as the committee is waiting for him to confirm his availability. Younis was recently granted permission from the Pakistan board to play for Yorkshire in the county season.”We have announced more than 30 players for the camp because it is our first series since taking over the new assignment and we wanted to see maximum number of players before making the selection of the final 15.” said Salahuddin Ahmad, the newly appointed chairman of selectors. “The performance of domestic cricket, junior cricket, A teams and international cricket have been considered in their selection.”A notable exclusion is Danish Kaneria, the legspinner, who is currently representing Essex. In his place is Mansoor Amjad, the promising legspinner who has also been signed by Leicestershire for this season. Azhar Mahmood, the allrounder who was recalled for the World Cup, has also been excluded. Fawad Alam, currently captaining the Pakistan Academy team in Bangladesh, is a strong contender for a middle-order position on the back of a prolific domestic season.The inclusion of Sarfraz Ahmed, the U19 world cup winning wicket-keeper, adds pressure on Kamran Akmal to get his act together with the bat as well as gloves. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, representing Sussex on the county circuit, is another surprise exclusion from the list while Shabbir Ahmed makes a comeback after injury cut short his visit to South Africa.The ODI series begins on May 9.Batsmen Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Khurram Manzoor, Taufeeq Umar, Babar Naeem, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asim Kamal, Hasan Raza, Naved Latif, Yasir Hameed, Riffatullah Mohmand, Shahid Yousuf, Adnan RazaAllrounders Shoaib Malik (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Fawad AlamFast bowlers Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Shabbir Ahmad, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Irshad, Najaf Shah, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad KhalilSpinners Abdur Rahman, Tahir Khan, Atif Maqbool, Mansoor AmjadWicketkeepers Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad, Zulqarnain Haider

The Professional Cricketers’ Association have named their side to take on West Indies in a charity Twenty20 match at Arundel on June 26.The PCA XI will be captained by Nick Knight and will include former England players Robin Smith, Dean Headley, Chris Lewis, Rikki Clarke, Martin Bicknell and James Foster as well as New Zealand’s Nathan Astle.The game, which will raise funds for the PCA’s charity work, will give West Indies a taste of Twenty20 cricket ahead of their two matches against England.Steve Marsh, events director for the PCA, said: “With nearly 20 matches scheduled for the summer and the appointment of Nick as the side’s permanent captain, the PCA Masters Series is going from strength-to-strength. The PCA Masters has become a side to be reckoned with and the lads really rate their chances against this West Indies side. It should prove to be a very keenly contested match.”PCA XI Nick Knight (capt), Nathan Astle, James Benning, Martin Bicknell, Rikki Clarke, Nayan Doshi, James Foster (wk), Dean Headley, Chris Lewis, James Middlebrook, Robin Smith.

Durham 72 for 7 (Plunkett 30*, Bichel 4-22) beat Essex 71 (Bichel 25, Plunkett 4-15, Killeen 3-9, Gibson 3-21) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Low-scoring matches are often not short of drama, and that was certainly the case at Riverside where Durham scrambled into the Friends Provident Trophy final, their first big day at Lord’s. They beat Essex by three wickets with more than half their overs to spare, but that hardly scratches the surface.After a delayed start, Neil Killeen and Ottis Gibson ripped through Essex, exploiting a damp pitch and some indifferent batting. From the moment Gibson had Alastair Cook caught behind for 0 off a thin edge in the second over, the innings fell apart.By the time Steve Harmison was called into action Essex were 36 for 6, and in his second over he conceded the first boundary of the innings. But Plunkett came on as second change and blew away the tail with a career-best 4 for 15, Andy Bichel offering the only significant fight.If Durham thought that chasing 72 was a doddle, then two early strikes from Bichel and one from the on-loan Martin Saggers had the home supporters on the edge of their seats. A mini revival hit the rocks when Graham Napier grabbed two quick wickets to reduce Durham to 38 for 7.Plunkett then took charge and dominated a vital eighth-wicket stand of 34 – the biggest of the match – with Gibson. But Essex should have taken another wicket within one run of Plunkett’s arrival when Danish Kaneria dropped a chance at mid-on from a chipped drive by Gibson. Their frustration multiplied when later in the same over Napier bowled a no-ball and Plunkett smashed the free hit for a massive straight six.From then on Plunkett ground Essex down and it was fitting that he cracked Saggers for four through the covers to seal a remarkable win.

Eddie Crush, who played for Kent for four summers after the war, has died at the age of 90. At the time of his death he was the county’s oldest surviving player.Crush was an offspinner, although he sometimes bowled seamers, and lower-order batsman who will best be remembered for dismissing Don Bradman in the county’s fixture with the Australian Invincibles late on the 1948 tour.He was also a war hero, winning the Military Cross for his part in the D-Day landings in 1944 as a subaltern in the Royal Engineers. Part of his Military Cross citation said: “As a result of his courage and determined leadership, anti-tank guns, troops and an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artillery were able to get up to the objective for consolidation at a very early stage in the battle.”

The Malaysian city of Johor is all geared up to host the Asian Cricket Council’s women’s tournament, which begins tomorrow with eight countries including the hosts participating. The week-long tournament will see sides playing 30-over matches at the Johor Cricket Academy in Mutiara Rini in Skudai and the Temengong Ibrahim Teachers’ College.The squads have already embarked on what, for many, will be their first tournament at this level. The UAE team left for Malaysia on Sunday, a day after a farewell organised by their board the previous day at the Sharjah cricket stadium. Smitha Harikrishna, the former India player and current UAE coach, said, “There is a bit of pressure as it is the team’s maiden appearance in an international event. However, the players are confident and they can gain a lot from this experience.””We picked a team that can sustain the pressures of nearly four hours play. Some of the players have played basketball and rugby and hence are agile.”The team captain is 13-year-old Natasha Michael. “The selectors picked the team with an eye for the future”, Harikrishna said about her. “Natasha is the most experienced among the youngsters. She has an excellent brain and has toughened herself by playing with boys. We are confident she can guide the team.”The Nepal team left on Sunday night, with Nary Thapa, the captain, excited about the side’s first international cricket event. “This is a historic tour and it will be more memorable if we return victorious.”LB Chhetri, the team’s manager and a former men’s national team captain, sounded confident as well. “We are heading there with hopes of returning victorious. All the teams are rookies so the event is wide open and we believe we have a chance.”Bangladesh and Thailand have already begun their preparations, with Bangladesh beating Thailand convincingly in two practice matches at Bangkok.Favourites Hong Kong, China and Singapore are the other teams taking part in the tournament.Aziz Kaprawi, the Johor state youth and sports executive councillor, said Johor was “proud to be he hosts of the first international women’s cricket tournament in Asia” and said the tournament would give a boost to tourism.

ScorecardHalf-centuries by openers Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee and a late flourish from Mudassar Bukhari set up Netherlands’ 172-run win against Bermuda in the first ODI at Rotterdam. Netherlands set Bermuda a formidable target of 316 and then bowled them out for 143 in 38 overs.Bermuda did not make the best use of winning the toss as de Grooth and Kervezee added 154 for the first wicket in 24.4 overs. Kervezee scored 62 off 66 balls before he was caught off the bowling of Dwayne Leverock. de Grooth also batted with urgency, scoring 97 off only 99 balls before he was bowled by Ryan Steede agonizingly short of what would have been his maiden one-day hundred. Bermuda fought back by reducing Netherlands to 192 for 4 but met with resistance in the form of Bukhari.Bukhari hit four fours and three sixes during his 60 off 49 balls and pushed Netherlands past 300. Bermuda used as many as eight bowlers and Steede was the best of them, taking 1 for 35 off ten overs while Leverock picked up 3 for 58.A target of 316 was always going to be difficult and Bermuda’s chase gathered no momentum with wickets falling at regular intervals. Ryan ten Doeschate took 3 for 20 and Pieter Seelaar took 3 for 30 as Bermuda were dismissed for 143 after 38 overs.

Kenya’s allrounder Thomas Odoyo was named as the winner of the inaugural Associate ODI Player of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.In 19 ODIs during the voting period, including two for Africa XI against Asia XI at the Afro-Asia Cup in India, Odoyo took 27 wickets with his right-arm medium pace at an average of 24.25, including three four-wicket hauls. In that time he also scored 488 runs at an average of 48.80 and with a brisk strike-rate of 85.61 runs per hundred balls.His efforts were instrumental in securing victory for Kenya at the inaugural ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi last February and he also represented his country at the World Cup in the West Indies in March.Competition for this award was stiff and Odoyo narrowly beat off the challenge of other short-listed candidates, fellow Kenyan Steve Tikolo, Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate and Canada wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai.Accepting his award, Odoyo said: “It is a great honour for me. It’s the first time for an Associate player to win an ICC Award so I am truly delighted. When we [Kenya] played in the first ICC World Cricket League I really played well and helped my team to win the competition. Hopefully this will encourage more guys in Kenya to play the game and that can only be a good thing. It is a great day for me.”The Associate ODI Player of the Year Award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in ODIs of an outstanding cricketer from the six countries outside the ICC Full Members – Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland. Each of the six countries was invited to nominate players and an initial 18-strong list of nominees for this award was the result.

John Harmer has turned down a potential opportunity to become Bangladesh coach. Harmer, 65, was the only candidate from a three-member short-list identified for the role, to have made a presentation to the Bangladesh board.”He [Harmer] informed us through an email that Bangladesh needs a young and energetic coach for the demanding job. This is something that he felt during his stay,” Gazi Ashraf Hossain, chairman of the Bangladesh board’s cricket operations committee, told the , a Dhaka-based newspaper. “But Harmer showed his interest in a different capacity. We will consider his offer.”Harmer’s decision means that all three short-listed candidates have either refused or been ruled out for the job. Dave Houghton, the former Zimbabwe captain, had withdrawn his candidature last month citing family problems; while Jamie Siddons was out of contention after his terms and conditions could not be matched with those of the board.The board has been looking for a national coach since Dav Whatmore had refused a two-year contract extension after spending four years with the team. Whatmore’s last assignment was the home series against India in May. Shaun Williams has been interim coach of the team since the the away series against Sri Lanka in June and July.The board with now start a fresh process to find a coach.

Shane Watson says there is no chance he would consider giving up bowling this early in his career, although he concedes Test cricket is on the backburner for him after his latest hamstring injury. Watson hopes to be back playing for Queensland within a month but will not rush himself into contention for international selection before he is ready.His former coach John Buchanan said the allrounder should consider playing as a specialist batsman to ease the strain on his fragile body. “No way, that’s never crossed my mind,” Watson told . “I love bowling too much. I’m still only 26 and I’ve still got quite a few years under my belt.”But the big question is how much cricket he will play in those few years. Watson missed the entire Ashes campaign last season with a series of recurring hamstring problems and sat out the start of the ICC World Twenty20, also with hamstring trouble. The muscle failed him again in his comeback match as he broke down while bowling his fourth over.Buchanan and Jimmy Maher, Watson’s captain at Queensland, both said he should consider giving up bowling, while Ian Chappell said Australia could not risk choosing Watson again until he had survived a full domestic season without injury. “It’s not annoying everybody giving me their opinions,” Watson said. “It’s amazing for me. It’s pretty overwhelming how many people are concerned and care about me.”Watson said he would not make the same mistake as last year when he kept pushing himself to get fit as each Ashes Test approached, only to aggravate his injury on several occasions. “Test cricket is on the backburner for me,” he said. “The most important thing for me is to get some cricket under my belt, get some workload with my bowling and play some games.”Trefor James, Australia’s team doctor, said Cricket Australia would consider sending Watson to Germany to consult a soft-tissue expert who this year successfully treated the ongoing hamstring problems of the Australian rules footballer Max Rooke. “It’s very minor but I think he needs to have a continuous time playing,” James told the , “partly for his confidence and partly for the benefit of the team that he is not having to go off during games all the time.”