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Andy Flower, the Essex batsman and former Zimbabwe captain, has yet to receive a confirmed date for his comeback following the surgery to correct his injured hip.”I’ve had my treatment in Germany to accelerate the healing of the cartilage,” Flower told Essex’s website, “and I’ve had two injections over the last two weeks, with one more to come. At present we can’t put a time on my playing return.”Following the appointment of Peter Moores as England head coach, a promotion from his time as director of the National Academy, there has been speculation that Flower might assume the Academy role.”Having been out of the country I’ve not seen the recent press speculation but at the moment all I am thinking about is playing,” he said. “That said, it is fair to say coaching is an area I am looking into for my future once I retire from playing.”

Match facts

February 8, 2016
Start time 1400 local (0100 GMT)Can Brendon McCullum and New Zealand fly once more, in his final ODI?•Getty Images

Brendon McCullum’s one-day international career ends on Monday in Hamilton, and it ends with a chance to lift the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The World Cup eluded McCullum and his men last summer but the Chappell-Hadlee would be some sort of consolation, a piece of silverware that means a lot to the New Zealanders given their neighbourly rivalry with the Australians. It was against Australia that McCullum’s ODI career began at the SCG back in January 2002. He shared his debut with Australia’s Ryan Campbell and it is fascinating to compare their careers. McCullum has played more than 400 internationals but will not be part of the upcoming World T20; Campbell has not played international cricket since 2002 but now at 44 is in Hong Kong’s squad for the World T20.Monday is the Waitangi Day public holiday in New Zealand, and combined with McCullum’s farewell and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy being up for grabs, it is no surprise that tickets for this third ODI at Seddon Park have sold out. For Australia, the challenge is to crash New Zealand’s day of national celebration by carrying on the form that they showed during the second ODI in Wellington. Not that there isn’t room for improvement – single-figure scores to Steven Smith, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell left them in a quandary after the 122-run opening stand between David Warner and Usman Khawaja. But Mitchell Marsh and John Hastings steered them to an important victory, not only keeping the series alive but giving Australia a much-needed morale boost ahead of the Test series, after five successive losses to India and New Zealand across the ODI and T20 formats.

Form guide

New Zealand: LWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Australia: WLLWW

In the spotlight

Look at the raw figures and it has been a pretty good series for Mitchell Santner. From two matches he has 80 runs without being dismissed and has taken 5 for 47 from 10.2 overs. Santner has been an important batsman in the lower order, steering New Zealand to competitive totals in both games, and his bowling brought New Zealand back into the contest in Wellington after the big opening partnership between Usman Khawaja and David Warner. Now the Hamilton-born Santner gets his first opportunity to play a one-day international on his home ground of Seddon Park. He will be most disappointed, therefore, if he does not recover enough from the pain he experienced in his right foot following the second ODI to play this one.*Million-dollar Mitchell Marsh might have grabbed the headlines on Saturday but the efforts of John Hastings to help Australia to victory in Wellington cannot be underestimated. Australia were 197 for 6 when he walked to the crease to join Marsh and while they had plenty of time to get the remaining 85 runs in their chase, they were running out of wickets. Hastings played the perfect support innings and finished unbeaten on 48, having earlier played a key restricting role with the ball when his ten overs cost only 42 runs. This summer has been something of a career renaissance for Hastings, who had faded from international cricket after 2011-12. He may lack genuine pace but is a clever bowler who keeps the runs down, and was also the leading wicket taker in the recent Australia-India ODI series. Hastings started the summer not in Australia’s ODI squad; he has now made himself impossible to drop. His form spike was also a case of perfect timing – it brought him approximately AU$270,000 in Saturday’s IPL auction.

Team news

New Zealand were unchanged in Wellington and there appears little reason to alter the side for the decider. Unless Santner is not declared fit to play. They have brought legspinner Ish Sodhi into the squad as cover.New Zealand (possible) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Trent BoultKane Richardson was a late withdrawal from the second match due to back soreness and he has now been sent home for further assessment. Joel Paris, the left-armer who made his ODI debut against India last month, has joined the squad as cover for the final ODI, having already been in New Zealand as part of the Western Australia side for the Sheffield Shield match in Lincoln. However, there is every chance Australia will be unchanged after their win.Australia (possible) 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 David Warner, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 John Hastings, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Scott Boland, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

The Seddon Park pitch is usually good for batting in limited-overs matches, and the forecast for Hamilton is for a fine day and a top temperature of 27C.

Stats and trivia

• McCullum will finish third on New Zealand’s all-time ODI appearance list behind Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming, and third on their runs tally behind Fleming and Nathan Astle
• Last time a Chappell-Hadlee series came down to the last match was in 2008-09 when the teams were 2-2 heading to Brisbane – the final ODI was washed out and Australia retained the trophy
• The second match in Wellington was Billy Bowden’s 200th ODI as an on-field umpire; Rudi Koertzen (209) is the only other man to have reached that milestone

Quotes

“It’s a big moment for Baz and all the guys that have played with him for so long but the focus is certainly on the game tomorrow.”
*05.15GMT, February 7: The preview was updated after news of Mitchell Santner’s niggle came in.

Matthew Hayden says beating India, especially in front of their own crowds, ranks high among his favourite cricketing moments. In an interview with , Hayden said defeating India almost matched the experience of defeating old rivals England.”I think India is close on being my favourite side to beat,” he said. “They’ve almost taken the No. 1 seed off England in a lot of ways. It’s a side that within its psyche has amazing highs and amazing lows. So it doesn’t take long to realise they’re at a low when you’re standing in front of 70,000 people at a stadium and you can hear a pin drop. It’s a great position to be in and you know you’ve got them beat.”Hayden and the Australian team had plenty of those moments on their tour earlier this month. Though they lost the last two games, including the one-off Twenty20 game in Mumbai, the Australians dominated the first six ODIs and eventually sealed the series 4-2. Hayden had a good time too, scoring 290 runs in five innings, including three successive half-centuries.Hayden said he had nothing personal against the Indians. “Our ambition is to keep their crowd as quiet as we possibly can and just play good cricket. It’s not a personal thing.”The series in India was also highlighted by plenty of verbals from players of both sides, and Hayden said India’s aggressive approach had fired him up for their return visit to Australia, which includes four Tests and a triangular one-day tournament also featuring Sri Lanka.Denying the criticism of aggression directed at the Australian team, Hayden said: “I think it’s one of the greatest misconceptions of this side ever, that it’s aggressive. I think what we are, it extends from our culture, is just having a great mateship and camaraderie within any kind of team.”You put any 12 blokes together and you’ll get a job done. Whether it’s getting a bogged four-wheel-drive off the beach or standing in front of a cricket wicket and making sure we’re in a dominant position. It’s the same dog, different leg action, so to speak. I think it shows an insecurity to do anything else other than that. All it really does is just amp up the intensity of the way we play our cricket. It’s a good thing for us.”You never want an Australian with his back up against the wall. We saw that last summer against England, you’re seeing that now with this verbal jousting that’s happening between India and Australia. And that’s exactly where we want to be. We’re very comfortable in that position. We want to get into that position because that’s when we play our best cricket.”Looking ahead at his own career, Hayden, who will turn 36 on October 29, said: “I almost feel like it’s an undying passion at this stage. And until that starts to waver, I can’t see myself finishing. And I know that’s a ridiculous thing to say but at this stage I’m not going anywhere.”

The England selectors have named three replacements for the Lions tour of India with James Foster, Charlie Shreck and Steve Kirby being called up after injuries to the Worcestershire pair Steven Davies and Kabir Ali.Davies has been forced out with a knee injury, opening the door for Foster, while Ali has failed to recover from an ankle problem and the selectors have decided to add an additional name to the squad.Foster has been pushing for recognition after a string of impressive seasons for Essex. In his last four seasons he has scored 3457 runs at 43 with eight hundreds and David Graveney, the chairman of the selectors, said he had come into consideration when the tour parties were initially named.Foster’s trip to India, where the Lions will play in the Duleep Trophy, will be his first appearance at any England level since the 2002-03 Ashes tour where he filled in for the injured Alec Stewart for the fourth Test in Melbourne. Kirby and Shreck have yet to receive full international honours but enjoyed solid domestic seasons in 2007 with 41 and 47 wickets respectively.”Since the end of last season I’ve been heavily involved in my coaching company – James Foster Coaching – so I’d planned my winter around that,” Foster told essexcricket.org.uk. “Normally I would have started my training for the new season a bit earlier but with all my coaching I didn’t pick up a bat in anger until last Thursday.”Being involved with the England Lions puts players in the shop window for the full team so it’s good to be in there showing what I have to offer,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had some England recognition but I never gave up hope.”The ECB also confirmed that Andrew Flintoff won’t be joining the trip after earlier speculation that he may travel as a specialist batsman as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery. “He will continue his rehabilitation programme with Lancashire and it is anticipated that he will be available for their pre-season tours of India and Dubai,” said the ECB.Kirby and Foster will be joining the squad this week at their training camp in Loughborough. The Lions are due to fly to Mumbai on January 23 and Shreck will join them from New Zealand where he is currently playing for Wellington.”It was a surprise to get the call, to say the least,” said Shreck. “I hadn’t even been looking at the news to see when the Lions were touring, I was just concentrating on my cricket with Wellington.”Revised squad Michael Yardy (capt), Michael Carberry, Joe Denly, James Foster, James Hildreth, Ed Joyce, Steve Kirby, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Alan Richardson, Charlie Shreck, Jonathan Trott

Scorecard

Half-centuries from Billy Godleman and captain Tom Westley guided England to an eight-run D/L victory at Royal Selangor Club. England next take on the winner of Thursday’s Australia-Bangladesh clash in the fifth place play-off final.Sri Lanka, after being put in, got off to a disastrous start and were reduced to 10 for 2 in the fourth over. However, powered by an unbeaten 97 from Sachith Pathirana, who is currently the tournament’s leading run-scorer, they posted a competitive 241. Pathirana smashed five boundaries and two sixes in his 91-ball effort. There were also significant contributions from opener Lahiru Thirimanne (47) and captain Ashan Priyanjan (54).In reply, England’s openers put on a brisk 75 before Pathirana removed James Taylor for 30. Godleman (57) was the next to go, stumped off the bowling of offspinner Roshen Silva with the score on 106. Westley (58) and Sam Northeast were involved in a patient 90-run stand for the third wicket which left England needing 46 at a run-a-ball. However, with the score at 204 for 3 after 44.1 overs, the rains came down and England were adjudged winners by the D/L method.
Scorecard
West Indies shot out Papua New Guinea for 89 and cruised to victory with six wickets and nearly 35 overs to spare. They now face Nepal on March 1 in the ninth place play-off final.PNG had a torrid time after opting to bat with none of their batsmen making more than 14. Even their measly total was achieved because of some wayward West Indies bowling, which conceded 27 extras, including 22 wides. They would have collapsed for even less if not for a 26-run ninth-wicket partnership, the largest of their innings. West Indies spinners Veerasammy Permaul, Steven Jacob and Sharmarh Brooks turned in impressive performances, giving away a mere 35 runs in 24 overs while sharing four wickets.Though West Indies lost four wickets – including three for one run – in chasing down the target, breezy knocks from Kieran Powell (37) and Adrian Barath (26) ensured the result was never in doubt. The lone bright spot for PNG was medium-pacer Loa Nou, who picked up the wickets of Powell and Barath in his three overs.

Scorecard

Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, who scored centuries, put up a much improved show for Delhi and prevented an innings defeat against Himachal Pradesh. Following on after being bowled out for 75 in the first innings, Delhi needed 268 to avoid an innings defeat, and Chopra and Gambhir ensured they did it quite easily.After Virender Sehwag got out for the addition of one run to his overnight 31, Chopra and Gambhir made Himachal wait another 66.5 overs for the next wicket. They added 230 for the second wicket, with Chopra ending the day on an unbeaten 146, while Gambhir scored 103. This is Chopra’s second century of the season to go with the 87 he scored against Mumbai; all three have come in the second innings.
ScorecardRamesh Powar and Ajit Agarkar, the bowlers dropped from the Indian side, came to Mumbai’s rescue with the bat with a 185-run seventh-wicket partnership after Mumbai were reduced to 197 for 6 in reply to Maharashtra’s 451. Maharashtra seemed certain to take the first-innings points, but Powar and Agarkar have brought Mumbai to within 61 of their total, with three wickets in hand.Agarkar missed his century by five runs, and was dismissed by Salil Agharkar with just 2.1 overs to go to stumps after a partnership which lasted 65 overs. Powar went on to get his hundred just before close of play, and was unbeaten on a 214-ball 102, an innings which included nine fours and three sixes.
Scorecard
Praveen Gupta and Piyush Chawla spun Baroda out for 148 in the second innings to bring Uttar Pradesh back into contention at Lucknow. After the UP openers, RP Srivastava and Tanmay Srivastava, saw out 28 overs without the loss of any wickets, they ended the day needing 219 more on the final day.Baroda started the day 142 ahead with all their wickets in hand and didn’t lose a wicket for 22 more overs. But once Satyajit Parab fell with the score at 59, the combination of Gupta and Chawla turned the screw on them, as the rest of the wicket fell for the addition of just 89 runs. Gupta ended up with career-best figures of 5 for 35, his second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Chawla took 4 for 49, while Mohammad Kaif chipped in with one.

Scorecard
Arindam Das completed a patient century, Manoj Tiwary scored an aggressive one, and Laxmi Ratan Shukla scored a quickfire 74 to build a massive first-innings lead as Bengal pushed for an outright win against Punjab. At stumps on day three, Punjab had scored 64 for 1, still needing 208 runs to avoid an innings defeat.Earlier in the day, Das added only 10 his overnight 93, but Tiwary and Shukla continued from where the openers had left. Tiwary scored his second century in three matches, hitting 17 boundaries in his 183-ball 138. Shukla, the Bengal captain, shrugged off his poor batting form (one run in three innings so far) as he hit 11 fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 74 that came off 59 deliveries.
ScorecardCaptain Yere Goud’s century, scored in company in No. 11 NC Aiyappa, was not enough to save Karnataka from falling behind Rajasthan in the first innings. Starting the day at 118 for 3 in reply to Rajasthan’s 393, Karnataka were soon reduced to 208 for 9, as Shamsher Singh and Mohammad Aslam caused plenty of damage with the ball.But Goud and Aiyappa created hope for Karnataka in a hopeless situation, adding 121 runs for the last wicket. Goud farmed the strike as Aiyappa contributed only 24 to the partnership. Goud stayed unbeaten on 110, while Shamsher and Aslam took four wickets apiece.
ScorecardHyderabad took the last seven Orissa wickets for 50 runs, thus keeping the first-innings deficit down to 58, but lost five wickets themselves in scoring 143 runs before stumps. The fall of wickets gave Orissa hopes for an outright win, something they must have lost after their collapse earlier in the day.Pragyan Ojha took six wickets for Hyderabad, while Ashwin Yadav took four. Orissa would have been disappointed as they had started the day eight runs in the lead with seven wickets in hand. But they pulled it back in the second innings, taking wickets consistently.
ScorecardBecause of bad light, only 28 overs’ play was possible at the Chepauk, but R Ramkumar struck twice during that period to give Tamil Nadu hopes of at least taking the first-innings lead, as an outright result looks difficult with a significant amount of play lost due to the weather over the last two days.Ramkumar crucially took the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 62 out of Saurashtra’s 120. He has scored three centuries in the previous three matches. Amarnath ended the day with figures of 3 for 31.

Bangladesh looked like continuing their discouraging streak of failures since their inception into Test cricket in the second Test against Pakistan at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. The hosts found themselves blown away for 148 just before the tea break and, by stumps, Pakistan had steadily advanced to 99 for just the loss opener Shadab Kabir.Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who bowled little and unsuccessfully in the first Test at Dhaka, was the chief architect of the Bangladeshi collapse, luring five Bangladeshi batsmen to their doom and conceding only 35 runs in the process. At the other end, continuing his strategy of torment against Bangladesh, was Danish Kaneria, who claimed 4-62.Bangladesh were most comfortable in the day only between Khaled Masud winning the toss and the openers taking strike against Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. First strike on a flat, dry batting surface that promised to aid spin later in the match was an advantage that Bangladesh badly needed. It was also an advantage that was to be squandered.Javed Belim, the right-handed opener playing in place of Mohammad Ashraful, opened with an injured Al-Sahariar. The pair added 21 runs for the first wicketbefore Waqar induced a nick from Al-Sahariar and sent him back for 13, caught behind by Rashid Latif.Mehrab Hossain and Belim then proceeded to give their supporters a rare moment of cheer. Batting patiently and steadily, they saw off the opening pace salvo and then looked comfortable when spin was introduced into the attack. Just before lunch, however, Belim, then on 17, misread the bounce from a Saqlain delivery, offering a catch to silly point Shadab Kabir.One of Bangladesh’s more dependable bats disappointed on the day. Habibul Bashar’s dismissal mirrored Belim’s, with Shadab Kabir taking yet another catch at silly point off the bowling of Saqlain. Their best batsman gone for just 2, the remaining members of the batting line-up crumbled in the face of fine spin bowling from Saqlain and Kaneria.Aminul Islam and skipper Khaled Masud did offer some resistance further down the order, adding 27 runs for the seventh wicket. Aminul ground out 27 runs, while Masud top-scored in the innings with 28.Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis was in particularly attacking vein on the day, setting suffocating close-in fields to entice the batsmen into playing big shots. The plan worked brilliantly, with almost all the batsmen fell into that very trap. The home side’s innings lasted only 56.4 overs.Mohammad Sharif brought slight cheer with his early success, removing Shadab Kabir caught behind in the sixth over. Shadab appeared suspect outside the off-stump from the very start, prodding at deliveries that were meant to be left alone. His mode of dismissal, thus, came as little surprise.That was to be Bangladesh’s last success of the day. Younis Khan and Taufeeq Umar consolidated their side’s position to run up 99 runs by the close of the play. Both were unbeaten on 47, taking eight boundaries each off a Bangladeshi attack that appeared unlikely to set things up for a series-squaring win by bowling Pakistan out twice.

At the end of day two, Sourav Ganguly had said that South Africa’s collapse in the first innings, during which they lost nine wickets for 113 runs, boosted India’s confidence in the second. Perhaps he knew the bowlers had got the measure of the Green Park pitch, something Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captaining in his first Test, reiterated today after the dramatic win.”In the second innings, everybody knew what lengths to bowl, and from what spots they would get variable bounce,” Dhoni said, “The fast bowlers especially deserve a lot of credit in the second innings.”A major change from the first innings was that India opened with Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma, neither of whom gave anything away. They made sure there were no free runs on offer to let off the pressure that a 60-run deficit would have put on the South Africans. India applied what Dhoni termed as ‘mindgames’ with that lead in their bags, and delayed its erasing as much as possible, knowing the wickets would just be a matter of time if they could push South Africa into a shell. The approach was rewarded fully, as South Africa had lost four of their best batsmen by the time they were only 12 ahead. “Although this was the third day of the match, this was not a third-day pitch,” Dhoni said. “The way Harbhajan and Viru [Virender Sehwag] bowled, we knew it was going to be just a matter of time. There were no easy singles on offer, so we put a lot of pressure on them. We made sure they didn’t take a single and go off strike.”This is where the efforts of Ganguly and VVS Laxman provide a stark contrast to the South African batsmen, and also proved crucial in the final equation, as they controlled the innings, consciously looking to score more often than they usually would. “To play positively on this wicket is very important,” Dhoni said. “You can get out irrespective of whether you are playing your shots or not, the way it happened to Rahul Dravid. So you have to keep scoring on such tracks. It was very crucial the way Sourav batted on this track, and the 60-odd lead was very crucial, because it changes the whole mindset of the team that is batting next.”Almost all the bowling changes he made seemed to work. In the first innings, Piyush Chawla got wickets in his first over on two occasions. In the second, Sehwag got a wicket with his first ball and Ishant got two in the first over of his second spell. But Dhoni said it was easier to captain on this pitch, especially with the way the bowlers bowled.”Viru is much more than a part-timer on this kind of wicket. He continuously kept bowling the right areas, in the rough. It was a deliberate move, and we knew that with him and Yuvraj in the team we would not need an extra spinner.”He had a pretty difficult job of replacing Anil Kumble as captain, and also playing without Sachin Tendulkar and Kumble for the first time since the latter’s debut. “It’s pretty hard to replace a man like Kumble, and especially on such a wicket,” he said. “Had he been playing, I don’t think this would have lasted three days.”Well we did well, but it doesn’t mean we are better off without Sachin or Anil. Who is there to replace Sachin? Who is there to replace Kumble? It is better to have them in the side than not, but the credit goes to the boys who stood up in their absence.”It was also an extremely difficult match for Dhoni the keeper, and to his credit he did himself no shame during the last three days. “The wicket was turning square, and most of our spinners were bowling in the rough,” he said. “So you find yourself keeping to some balls that would spin and some that wouldn’t. I was quite happy with the way I kept, because some balls were kicking and some were keeping really low. The way our fast bowlers were bowling, it could hurt your fingers pretty badly. It was good fun though.”This series was part two of a potential rivalry that India had started in South Africa last year. India needed a tailor-made track to come back on level terms on a series that they were expected to win easily. Dhoni, though, agreed with the South African coach Mickey Arthur that there was nothing wrong in playing to your strengths. “If we go to Australia, we get bouncy tracks; when we go to England, we get swinging tracks. When you come to India, you expect turning and bouncing tracks, and that’s what this one was. It’s better to stick to the specialties of certain places.”India fighting South Africa on a greentop at Kingsmead should make for an equally gripping a battle, if India can fight as hard as South Africa did at Green Park.

Mark Ramprakash has been awarded a testimonial by Surrey for his endeavours both on and off the pitch. The county usually rewards ten years’ service, but Ramprakash has made such an impact that he will be the beneficiary of the honour in only his seventh year with the club.This fact, coupled with his usual modesty, left him an astonished recipient. “It was a complete surprise,” he told Cricinfo. “I’m really, really chuffed and obviously really pleased.”But it was an award that was richly deserved after his prolific form, and tireless dedication to the club in marketing and PR matters. Even during the final stages of Strictly Come Dancing during December, he would regularly give up his own time to present awards for the club.Ramprakash is keenly aware of how players’ form can dip during a benefit or testimonial year – with the extra pressure of events – and has vowed to remain ever-professional. He says he will also use the experience of his benefit year at his former county Middlesex, when he organised a lot of events, to make sure he does not lose his on-pitch focus.”It’s not an easy balance,” he admits, “but it depends on the individual. The players want to make the most of the opportunity, but if you’re one of the main players, you’re still aware of the responsibilities. I will hopefully do some good functions, but not as many as in my benefit. I have to use the time wisely, and rely on my wife [Van] to be understanding. But hopefully I will have some fun with it, too.”I still have things I want to achieve. I’d still love to get to a final and win one. I haven’t given up on that. Success is still important. Personally, I’m aiming for the 100 hundreds. It would be a fantastic thing to achieve before I retire.”Ramprakash has reached 93 first-class centuries to date, and has every chance of succeeding in his latest personal goal, given that he has signed with the county until 2009, and could – like Graeme Hick who has recently extended his contract with Worcestershire at 41 – carry on and on. “Hick has done brilliantly. I’m not saying when I’m going to finish. I’m still enjoying my cricket.”Besides, he’s got no clear plan of what he will do after cricket, another reason he is thrilled with the testimonial. “These are very important years for cricketers, financially. I really don’t know what I will do next – I don’t really have a career; it’s not like I’ve studied.”Surrey have also announced that their head groundsman, Bill Gordon, will be awarded a benefit for his hard work in the last four years in the role at The Oval. Gordon is the three-times winner of the Groundsman of the Year award for both the four-day and one-day categories – and has also won the four-day category in 2004.He has been on the Surrey staff since 1964 and became Head Groundsman in 2003. He will retire at the end of the 2010, having completed 46 years of service to the club. “I am happy to receive this honour,” he said, “as it makes me feel very appreciated.”

Kenya 137 for 0 (Obuya 74*, Ouma 56*) beat Bermuda 133 (Minors 52, Ongondo 3-23) by ten wickets
Scorecard

Hosts Kenya made a rousing start to the World Cricket League at Nairobi’s Jaffreys Sports Club, destroying a dismal Bermuda by ten wickets in as one-sided a contest as the tournament is likely to produce. That they won with more than 31 overs to spare told the whole story.Bermuda, one of the outsiders, only arrived in the country on Friday, and stuck in on a hazy and warm day, they looked extremely rusty as three wickets from the lively Peter Ongondo reduced them to 44 for 4. Had it not been for Dean Minor’s stoic 52, the innings would probably have fallen apart. As it was, he stood firm and finally found support from Janeiro Tucker, the pair adding 50 for the fifth wicket.As may well be the case throughout the tournament, the spinners were hard to get away on the spin-friendly Kenyan surfaces. The fast-improving Hiren Varaiya made the breakthough to remove Tucker, and an over later Steve Tikolo took a return catch to end Minor’s knock. Soon after, Delyone Borden perished to a direct hit from Tanmay Mishra, although the batsmen was entirely at fault as he sauntered towards the non-striker’s end.When Malachi Jones looked to mow Tikolo out of the ground and was bowled, Bermuda were 108 for 9, and only some late clubbing from Kevin Hurdle, including two towering sixes over long-on off Tikolo, enabled them to muster something remotely defendable.The gulf between the sides was even more apparent when Kenya batted. David Obuya cut loose from the start, savaging the opening bowlers, while Maurice Ouma, in need of runs to secure his place, initially adopted a more circumspect approach. Obuya was already on 32 before Ouma got off the mark, but thereafter it was an unremitting onslaught from both men.Obuya brought up his fifty with a towering six over long-on, losing the ball in the process for the second time in 20 minutes. Ouma almost caught his colleague up by the end – it was effortless and disdainful. But, being brutally honest, Bermuda were utterly dreadful, repeatedly bowling short and appearing to throw in the towel long before the end.Kenya’s fielding was very impressive all day, and they looked committed, athletic and skillful. Sadly, Bermuda were less so, and their dire performance suggested that the criticisms leveled at them in recent months regarding their lack of professionalism have not been taken on board.