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Darren Sammy, captain of West Indies’ World Twenty20 squad, has stressed that his side has never said they would strike or not take part in the tournament in India due to an ongoing contract impasse with the West Indies Cricket Board. Sammy reiterated that the players are unhappy with the remuneration offered by the WICB for participating in the tournament, which starts from March 8.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in Dubai, where he is playing in the inaugural Pakistan Super League, Sammy also questioned the comments made by WICB CEO Michael Muirhead, who had said it was not possible for the West Indies board to identify how much it would be paid by the ICC with respect to the 2016 World T20.”We players are not happy with the remuneration offered by the WICB to participate in the World Twenty20,” Sammy told ESPNcricinfo. “We have not given any authorisation to WIPA to negotiate on our behalf. A large number of players in the squad do not receive any significant remuneration from WICB at all, so we want the opportunity to negotiate fairly the financial terms within the contract.”In the past 25% of the income received by the WICB for participating in ICC tournaments was distributed to the squad. The remuneration being offered now compared to previous World Cup events is shocking to say the least. We are being offered now just $6,900 per match across the board irrespective of experience. Players are being asked to start providing services from nearly four weeks ahead of the World Cup and be guaranteed just $27,600 if they play all the guaranteed matches (which) is a staggering reduction. What happens to a player who does not feature in a match?”The WICB say they cannot figure out what 25% of the participation fee is as the ICC’s formula has changed. Surely they (WICB) must know a figure. What is it? We want the match fees to be doubled. I have also written to the WICB asking if they have got a sponsor for the team, and what is the sponsorship revenue. We need answers.”Responding to Sammy’s letter on February 9, Muirhead had stated that the sums mentioned by the player were incorrect. Replying to Sammy’s estimate of the payment expected from the ICC for the team’s participation in the World T20, Muirhead said that the $8 million figure quoted by Sammy was incorrect. He further stated that following the ICC’s revamp in 2014, the manner of distributing payments to Full Members for ICC events had changed and was spread over an eight-year cycle, instead of “being paid out in a lump sum and attributed to any one event.”Sammy also stated that the team had not backed out of participating in the World T20: “Under my watch, players never said they would strike or not take part in the World Cup. All we’ve said is we don’t accept the terms given or agreed by an association that doesn’t represent us.”Fourteen of the 15 members of the West Indies squad for the World T20 are not members of the WIPA and, despite Muirhead’s statement that WIPA was the “recognised collective bargaining representative” of West Indies cricketers, Sammy said the body had no authority to negotiate on behalf of the players.”Still they [WIPA] are the ones WICB negotiates with on player issues. But 14 of the 15-member World Cup squad is not part of WIPA,” Sammy said. “West Indies cricket has gone through a lot and it will continue to go through a lot. I don’t see things changing anytime soon.”

Spinner Paul Harris was named as one of five South African Cricket Annual Cricketers of the Year in Johannesburg on Monday night. Also named were Gulam Bodi, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt and Morne van Wyk.The award was a late birthday present for Harris, who turned 29 on Friday. The tall Titans left-arm bowler made a highly impressive entry into Test cricket when he played in home series against India and Pakistan last season. Both teams contained renowned players of spin bowling but Harris claimed 11 wickets in four matches at an average of 28.54.All five nominees were first-time winners of the award in line with a new policy that players will only be recognised once by the Mutual & Federal Annual. Titans batsman Bodi was recognised for his outstanding achievement in finally earning international one-day colours more than six years after missing out on a tour of the West Indies because of injury.Bodi, 28, was selected as a wrist spinner in 2000-01 but was injured the day before he was due to depart for the Caribbean. In recent seasons he has shone with the bat, making his international debut as a batsman against Zimbabwe in August. He was also included in South Africa’s squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in September.The big-hitting Kemp, who was appointed vice-captain of the one-day team for the recent tournament in Pakistan, confirmed his reputation as one of the most exciting batsmen in the world game during the past year. Among several fine performances was a thrilling, match-winning maiden one-day international century against India in Cape Town.Swing bowler Langeveldt was a consistent performer for the Proteas in one-day internationals and was joint leading wicket-taker for South Africa during the World Cup in the West Indies with 14 wickets at 25.78, including 5 for 39 in the win against Sri Lanka.van Wyk was honoured for his outstanding run-scoring efforts for the Eagles in domestic cricket. He was the leading run-scorer in both the MTN Domestic Championship and the Standard Bank Pro20 and topped the averages in the SuperSport Series. His feats earned him a recall to the national one-day team for the tour of Ireland.

After two sessions of dour batting, which left Zimbabwe at 105 for two attea after 69 overs, the batsmen began to come to life after the break, withAndy Flower leading the way in an all too brief cameo. They finished theday on 185 for four (Campbell 37, Wishart 10).Zimbabwe made a cautious start to the day, the first run coming in thefourth over, and after ten overs they had only eight runs on the board. Nodoubt in view of Zimbabwe’s recent failures at the top of the order it wasfelt that caution should prevail.Grant Flower enjoyed three boundaries through extra cover during McMillan’s spell as first-change seamer, while Rennie concentrated only on survival, no doubt following instructions. Vettori finally broke the stand with a ball that spun sharply to take the shoulder of Flower’s bat to be very well caught by Parore at the second attempt. He scored 24 and Zimbabwe were 40 for one. Carlisle, replacing Goodwin at three, settled in for lunch, when Zimbabwe were 51 for one.After lunch the pair continued steadily, with Rennie progressing to 36 in 207 minutes before he drove at Wiseman and was well caught low down by the diving McMillan at short extra cover; 91 for two in the 59th over. Campbell continued the war of attrition, despite looking a far more confident batsman in Test cricket than he has done for over a year.The waiting game eventually eroded Carlisle’s concentration when on 38, after tea, as he went on a big hit against Wiseman without getting to the line, and skied a catch to Horne at extra cover; Zimbabwe 120 for three.Andy Flower obviously decided that the time had come to carry the attack to the tourists. After playing himself in for a few minutes, he swung Wiseman over midwicket for two successive sixes. New Zealand responded by taking the second new ball, but Flower switched his assault to Cairns, taking ten off an over. Cairns got revenge, though, by having him caught at second slip by Astle for 29, driving outside off stump, and Zimbabwe were 157 for four. Once again a batsman had laid a firm foundation but failed to build on it; nevertheless he had raised the tempo of the game.Wishart looked positive from the start and survived with Campbell to the close. Zimbabwe’s position was perhaps no better than average considering the excellence of the pitch.

Twenty fours and four sixes were struck between them, but “smart cricket” was the cornerstone of the searing opening stand between himself and Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson said.The pair hit a world record 171 in each other’s company, to make light work of Pakistan’s 168 for 7. Williamson said it had been he and his partner’s ability to account for the asymmetrical dimensions of the Hamilton ground, and the particular strengths of Pakistan’s bowlers, that allowed the stand to flourish.Damage to the Seddon Park square during the recent Test match featuring Sri Lanka had meant a surface towards the eastern end of the block had to be used for this T20. This in turn brought the eastern boundary to 52 metres, while the square boundary on the other side of the pitch was lengthened to 75 metres.Williamson in particular targeted the short side of the ground during his career-best 72 off 48 balls, memorably shuffling towards the off side to hit consecutive legside fours off Mohammad Amir, in the fifth over.”No T20 is the same, and here at Seddon Park you’re not just taking the opposition into account, you’re very much identifying the dimensions of the ground, the pitch and using that as part of your planning,” Williamson said. “That comes into your thinking as a bowling unit and a batting unit.”With one boundary very small, naturally there’s going to be the odd boundary hit there. Then there’s the wind going to the long boundary which also helps hit to that side of the ground.”New Zealand hit 59 from the Powerplay, but were unusually reticent against Shahid Afridi in that period, scoring only 11 off his two overs. Williamson said there had been purchase and turn for Afridi on the pitch. Afridi was also generating significant drift.”Afridi is a world class legspinner,” Williamson said. “Today on that surface it was holding and turning a little bit, so for us it was making sure that there’s smart cricket at times amongst Guptill’s sixes and fours.”All Pakistan’s bowlers are danger men – they are all very good bowlers. Depending on the surface, some more than others. It was important that Guptill and I communicated and played some smart cricket. I think we were a bit better at doing that today than we were in the last match.”Williamson and Guptill’s stand surpassed the 170 made by Loots Bosman and Graeme Smith against England. New Zealand’s highest T20 partnership before this game had been the 137 against Zimbabwe by the same pair in 2012.”Records are not something that we set out to do,” Williamson said. “We set out to lay a platform and play to the gameplan. If records come that’s nice, but more importantly, we got across the line to set up a nice finish to the T20 series.”Corey Anderson had played as a specialist batsman during the Sri Lanka series, as he continues to recover from a back injury. He has now begun bowling in matches, and was effective for New Zealand on Sunday, taking 1 for 26 from his four overs. He had been cheap with the new ball, conceding only 12 from his three Powerplay overs.”The likes of Corey standing up after not playing much cricket, and opening the bowling as well, was a superb effort from him,” Williamson said. “He bowled some tough overs at the top.”

Scorecard
Hong Kong routed Scotland by nine wickets in the first T20 International between the two sides in Mong Kok, which was reduced to 10 overs a side after wet ground conditions resulted in a delayed start.Scotland had early momentum after being put in to bat by Hong Kong, reaching a promising 28 for 2 by the third over. The loss of George Munsey and Matt Machan, however, slowed the side down and another two run-outs – of Peter Mommsen and Calum MacLeod – kept the side to 66 for 7.Hong Kong brushed past the target in 6.2 overs with the top three playing attacking innings. Jamie Atkinson slammed a 7-ball 20 before falling in the fourth over and Babar Hayat and Anshuman Rath carried on in the same tempo to take Hong Kong to 72 for 1.

This is a clash of Pakistan flair versus Kiwi functionality. Although New Zealand have again more than held their own, they owe their passage to the semi-finals to India, whose 37-run win against South Africa dumped the home side out on net run-rate and allowed Daniel Vettori’s side to sneak in.”I didn’t actually watch any of it,” said Vettori. “I was trying to avoid it as much as possiblebecause we knew what it was going to be like.”Pakistan have reached the last four despite a stuttering display against Bangladesh, playing their typically aggressive cricket under the new coach, Geoff Lawson. Now Saturday’s matches offer various mouth-watering permutations for the final: a Trans-Tasman clash, a replay of the 1999 World Cup final or, the ultimate match-up, an India-Pakistan showdown.Bat play: Pakistan’s top order has failed to fire throughout the tournament; their first four matches brought scores of 50 for 3, 47 for 4, 33 for 3 and 46 for 4 before the middle order staged recoveries. Their best start came against Bangladesh when Shahid Afridi was finally promoted to opener but Shoaib Malik was keeping his cards close to his chest over Pakistan’s plans for Saturday. Salman Butt has laboured in every innings and his strike-rate is down to a paltry 70.New Zealand haven’t been blessed with a mountain of runs from the top four and their best start – 68 without loss – ended in defeat against South Africa. Craig McMillan has been their saviour with 44 off 23 against India and 57 off 31 against England. Scott Styris (52 runs) and Lou Vincent (89 runs) have both struggled and their scoring rates have barely crept above a run-a-ball.Wrecking ball: The leading wicket-takers for both teams are the spinners, Vettori and Afridi. Vettori is pushing to be bowler of the tournament after conceding a miserly 5.30 and should be a handful on a worn Newlands surface. However, he wasn’t making any early decisionson his team. “We saw Australia run through Sri Lanka with pace [at Newlands].” Jacob Oram hasn’t enjoyed Twenty20 with the ball, taking one wicket and going at nearly 11 an over.

Pakistan’s attack is packed with variety. Afridi has bagged the wickets but Sohail Tanvir has come from nowhere to create problems with the new ball alongside Mohammad Asif. Umar Gul’s yorkers, held back until the closing overs, have left the opposition struggling to accelerate late in their innings.Keep your eye on: The brewery. If Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq (hitter of the longest six in the tournament) or Oram get hold of a ball deep midwicket will need to be standing on the other side of the railway line.Shop talk: Although chasing has been the preferred route, Malik doesn’t think it’s the only way to go. “If you have a strong bowling line-up you can bat first and put pressure on the other side,” he said.Vettori believes it would have been harsh for New Zealand to miss out on the semi-finals. “Sometimes we have scraped through but this time I think we deserved it; luckily enough for us it worked out well. We make a lot of them [semi-finals], now it’s about kicking on.”Pitching it right: “It looks good,” Malik said after inspecting the surface. “But the outfield is heavy so 165-170 should be a good total.” The sunshine of recent days is also expected to be replaced by a greater cloud cover, offering more assistance for the bowlers.TeamsNew Zealand (probable) Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum (wk),Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram,Daniel Vettori (capt), Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan PatelPakistan (probable) Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, MohammadHafeez, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq,Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir

Fears over the future of Clontarf, in Dublin, as a one-day international venue have been eased with confirmation that existing grounds which have been approved don’t come under the new rulings regarding boundary sizes.At the recent ICC meetings in London it was decided to set new minimum requirements for the boundaries of international grounds. The new requirement is 65 yards for square boundaries and a minimum straight boundary of 70 yards.Clontarf wouldn’t have been able to meet these new sizes, but an ICC spokesman said: “Whereas the boundary sizes have been increased existing grounds and grounds currently under construction, such as the Dubai Stadium, are exempt.”However, the new regulations would appear to rule out Eglinton as a future ODI venue, whose playing area is below the minimum requirements. Bready Cricket Club are currently developing a new ground which they hope will become the North West venue for hosting international games.

Mark Vermeulen is poised to make the unlikeliest of international comebacks a little more than two years after he burnt down Zimbabwe Cricket’s academy and tried to set fire to the ZC boardroom.He was cleared on grounds of mental illness by a Harare court a year ago after it was revealed he suffered from a serious depressive illness.Although he resumed playing club cricket, few believed he had any hope of returning to the national side given his many problems. Shortly before the attacks in October 2006, he had been banned from playing club cricket in England for ten years – later reduced to three – after an incident where he clashed with spectators in a league match.In May 2008, Vermeulen publicly offered to help rebuild the academy if he was handed a central contract, but nothing came of it.However, Ozias Bvute, ZC’s managing director, confirmed to Cricinfo that Vermeulen would be offered a chance of rehabilitation. “We have allowed Mark to participate in our leagues. There was actually no ban on him, but relations were restrained after the two arson attacks.”In a separate interview with the local Independent newspaper, Bvute said: “He approached us with a desire to play in our leagues. Having weighed various issues we decided it was in his best interest to be allowed to play since he indicated that cricket was the only thing he lives for.”Should he make the grade, he will be selected [for the national team]. The decision was driven by a desire to help rehabilitate him, taking into account that he served Zimbabwe well when he first played for the national side. Life is such that everyone deserves a second chance.”Vermeulen played 32 ODIs and eight Tests between 2000 and 2004 but was no stranger to controversy. In 2003, he was sent home from the tour of England because of disciplinary problems, and as schoolboy he was once banned for walking off with the stumps after receiving a poor lbw decision and locking himself in the changing room.Nevertheless, on his day Vermeulen, who is still only 29, is a good top-order batsman and if he can regain his form then he is likely to be pressing for a recall in the near future.

England 87 for 2 (Vaughan 44*) trail New Zealand 470 (Taylor 120, How 92, Vettori 88, Sidebottom 4-90) by 383 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

England ended a rather subdued second day in Hamilton on 87 for 2, still 383 behind New Zealand’s first innings of 470. On a pitch which remains slow and unyielding they appeared to be making sedate progress until two late wickets – admittedly one of them nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard – underlined that they still have plenty to do.The day was dominated by Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori, whose seventh-wicket stand of 148 extended midway into the afternoon. Taylor, whose off-side driving was a delight, completed his maiden Test hundred while Vettori looked set for his until he perished to Paul Collingwood. England might have believed they were in the ascendancy at the start of play, after the in-form Brendon McCullum had been dismissed late on the first day’s play, but Taylor and Vettori beat them back in a stand that occupied half the day.Taylor’s innings was a triumph of the will. He has built his entire international reputation of the strength and speed on his one-day strokeplay, and in two previous Test matches he had returned a highest score of 17. There was nothing frenetic about his approach to this innings, however. At the close of the first day, his colleague Jamie How remarked that he had never seen Taylor play so straight or with such determination, and having batted for almost three hours to reach stumps on 54 not out, there was a certain inevitability about his progress today.Taylor was aided and abetted by a docile pitch and an even more docile attack. Both Ryan Sidebottom, the pick of England’s seamers on the first day, and the off-colour Matthew Hoggard served up wide half-volleys in the opening ten minutes that Taylor slashed gratefully for four, and the left-handed Vettori was also allowed to settle quickly with a pull for four and a punched drive behind point. From 282 for 6 overnight, Taylor brought up the 300 in the fourth over of the day with another thumping drive, as England searched in vain for some inspiration.It didn’t come from Steve Harmison, unsurprisingly. He entered the attack in the 12th over of the morning, but was gloriously square-driven by Taylor as he too overpitched outside off stump. Collingwood was also called into the attack for an early burst, and though he found a genuine edge off Vettori that flew through the vacant second slip for four, both batsmen soon grew accustomed to his lack of venom.Taylor eased into the 90s with a crisply driven half-volley from Collingwood, but was made to wait for his big moment as England finally sensed an opportunity to apply the pressure. Monty Panesar kept him pinned on 98 with a timely maiden, but when Harmison dropped short four balls later, Taylor climbed into a cathartic pull shot, and instantly raised both arms in triumph. His hundred had come from 185 balls with 16 fours, and had taken him a shade over four hours. Vettori congratulated him with an embrace and a handshake, and no doubt a quiet reminder that, with New Zealand still shy of their par total of 400, his real task was still ahead of him.The breakthrough came when Michael Vaughan, almost in desperation after three hours of frustration, threw the ball to Kevin Pietersen. Taylor looked to carve his second ball over midwicket and a top edge was gratefully held by the bowler. Vettori, who until then had unfussily moved towards his own hundred, then fell to another part-time bowler, looking to run a ball angled across him to third man but only succeeding in steering it straight to Andrew Strauss at wide slip. Not much went right for England but their catching could not be faulted.The end came soon after, Sidebottom polishing things off in three balls of a new spell. Jeetan Patel nicked one angled across him to Strauss at slip and then Chris Martin lived up to his reputation as a non batsman by missing a straight one, the only time an England bowler managed to hit the stumps in a day and a half.Vettori would have noted with anticipation the increasingly frequent puffs of dust blowing up from the bone-dry surface. And yet Vaughan and Cook were rarely troubled in an opening stand of 84, although Vettori and Patel did enough to suggest that batting against the twin-spin attack in the fourth innings of the game will be a far tougher proposition.Just as it appeared that England would finish the day with all their wickets intact, Cook contrived to get himself out, miscuing a pull off Martin, and upholding the old adage that one brings two, Hoggard edged to slip in Martin’s next over. That brought in Strauss for a rather fraught couple of overs but he survived.

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

England grasped control of the second Test in Wellington, with James Anderson picking up his fourth five-wicket haul to help dismiss New Zealand for 198 shortly before stumps on the second day. With a lead of 144, and on what remains an excellent pitch, England’s hopes of levelling the three-match series grow by the day.Before this Test, Michael Vaughan spoke of his excitement at the change in personnel following the semi-ruthless double-axing of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. And although Tim Ambrose’s credentials have increased exponentially following his attractive maiden hundred and silky-smooth keeping, it was Anderson and Stuart Broad – the new, young bowling replacements – who Vaughan most needed to pass the litmus test. Both did just that.After Ambrose’s superb maiden hundred – becoming the first England wicketkeeper in 11 years to reach a ton on foreign soil since Alec Stewart in 1997 – Anderson was immediately to the fore, ripping out New Zealand’s top three in perfect bowling conditions. Much as England’s lower order had struggled, New Zealand’s openers couldn’t cope with Anderson’s natural away swing. The ball to remove Matthew Bell was as unplayable as Jacob Oram’s crackerjack to Vaughan yesterday, knocking over his off stump and giving the bowler the confidence to pitch it up. Jamie How prodded meekly at another outswinger, as did a quizzical Mathew Sinclair, and after 16 overs New Zealand had slipped to a precipitous 31 for 3.They weren’t finished, however. Stephen Fleming – playing for the last time on his home ground – and in particular Ross Taylor took the attack to England in a fourth-wicket stand of 71, laden with counterattacking strokes in front of square. There was a determined (perhaps sentimental) stickiness to Fleming which contrasted starkly with Taylor’s natural inclination to force the scoring rate, and the pair made hay while England’s concentration noticeably slipped. Monty Panesar’s fielding was at its most clumsy and costly, letting through two fours and missing a run-out opportunity – though he was on the receiving end of a dreadfully panicky throw from Kevin Pietersen at cover.Fleming threw away his wicket with a careless slap to point and, after Taylor brought up an attractive 74-ball fifty, he became Anderson’s fifth victim when he pushed forward at another awayswinger. It was Anderson’s fourth five-wicket haul, and you could hear the rumbles of discontent grow ever noisier at Auckland’s decision to employ him last week.At 113 for 6 New Zealand were in danger of folding like a pack of cards, but in came their most in-form and dangerous pair, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori, who smacked 52 in little more than five overs. McCullum looked in bristling form, charging Anderson and shuffling to the off side. A wonderful back-foot drive past Broad looked to have dented his confidence, but impressively he had the gumption to pitch it up two balls later, handing Andrew Strauss his second safe slip catch.Vettori at least managed to cut down England’s lead with another hugely valuable and immensely infuriating fifty – brought up off his 42nd ball with the most audacious of uppercuts for six over third man. However, Paul Collingwood mopped up the tail with career-best figures of 3 for 23 as New Zealand were dismissed for 198 with about half-an-hour of the day’s play remaining.Alastair Cook and Vaughan survived the last five overs and, leading by 148, England are in the box seat and ready to bat New Zealand totally out of the game.