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New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will retire from all forms of international cricket at the end of the home series against Australia in February 2016. McCullum, 34, made the announcement in Christchurch a day after his team won the Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0.McCullum will not play the World T20 in March in India, where Kane Williamson will captain the New Zealand team. He will play his 100th Test against Australia in Wellington from February 12 – the first player to play so many consecutive matches from debut – and retire after the second and final Test of that series, in Christchurch from February 20.McCullum said he would have preferred to reveal his retirement after the series against Australia, but the impending announcement of New Zealand’s World T20 squad had forced his hand.”Ideally, I would have preferred to wait until after the Test in Christchurch to make this news public,” he said today. “However, the schedule for naming the ICC World T20 squads means I couldn’t have managed this without causing a lot of confusion and speculation – something I was keen to avoid. I’ve loved my opportunity to play for, and captain the Blackcaps, but all good things have to come to an end, and I’m just grateful for the wonderful experience of playing for my country.”There’s a time and place for reflection and that’s at the end of your career. For now, I’ll be giving all my attention to helping the team focus on what’s coming up over the next few weeks – and making sure we’re in the best possible shape for what’s going to be a very challenging summer.”McCullum had stepped into the New Zealand captaincy amid much controversy over the sacking of previous captain Ross Taylor, and his first Test series as captain, in 2013, was disastrous. That series featured an innings of 45 all out for New Zealand in Cape Town, and brought the team two innings defeats.But New Zealand made significant strides under McCullum in the years since. In particular, he was credited with formulating New Zealand’s highly aggressive brand of cricket, which has brought them much success, especially at home. With the victory against Sri Lanka in Hamilton on Monday, McCullum’s New Zealand equalled the team’s longest undefeated home streak, of 13 Tests. McCullum’s current 11 victories from 29 matches also makes his win percentage the highest of any New Zealand captain, marginally better than that of Geoff Howarth, whose team had 11 wins from 30 games.McCullum’s captaincy also saw the blossoming of several New Zealand players. Trent Boult and Tim Southee have become one of the most feared new-ball pairs in the world during the past three years, while 25-year old batsman Kane Williamson has become the top-ranked Test batsman. New Zealand also played in their first World Cup final in March, under McCullum.As a batsman, McCullum had been a high-impact, aggressive player for much of his career, batting largely in the middle order in Tests, and as an opener in the shorter formats. Recent years have seen improvements in his defensive game. In 2014, he became New Zealand’s first triple-centurion, against India in Wellington. He was also the first New Zealand batsman to breach 1000 runs in a calendar year in 2014, having also hit a double-century against Pakistan, and 195 against Sri Lanka that year. McCullum is currently the joint-record holder for most Test sixes alongside Adam Gilchrist. He had hit his 100th six in the recent Test in Dunedin, and later said: “It’s the only record I care about.”Having been designated wicketkeeper for 52 of his 99 Tests, McCullum also has 194 Test catches and 11 stumpings to his name.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, the two Pakistan bowlers who returned positive dope tests last year, have cleared the latest tests held at the fitness and training camp in Karachi earlier this week.”Akhtar and Asif are among 26 players who have cleared these tests for which weasked urgent reports from the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] accredited laboratoryin Malaysia,” Ahsan Malik, the Pakistan board’s director of communications, told .The PCB had ordered dope tests for all camp attendees and had decided to hold back naming the squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship until results were received. Both Shoaib and Asif were the focus of attention as they tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone and were handed bans last year which were overturned later.Malik said the PCB had expected all tests to be negative in accordance with its zerotolerance policy on doping. He also said that three players – Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria and Yasir Arafat currently involved in county cricket – were tested in England and the samples were sent to the same WADA-accredited laboratory as the rest of the squad.The third and final fitness and training camp with special emphasis on the forthcoming Twenty20 World Championship concludes on Monday with the squad announcement expected next week as well.

Matthew Elliott, the South Australia batsman, has spoken of his desire to return to Glamorgan as a player, and, in the longer term, to become a member of their coaching staff.Elliott, who has fully recovered from the troublesome knee injury which ruined his county campaign last season, telephoned the Glamorgan chief executive Mike Fatkin earlier this week to discuss the possibility of returning to Sophia Gardens in 2007.”I had a very positive discussion with Mike and it was really good of him to say that Glamorgan would talk to me first before signing any overseas players for next year,” Elliott told the South Wales Evening Post.The 34-year-old Elliott is half way through his coaching qualifications in Australia, and sees coaching as the ideal progression from playing: ”When I am qualified, and after retiring, I would be very interested in joining Glamorgan’s coaching staff as a batting coach”.For the moment though, he is focused on playing, which he hopes will include a spell with Glamorgan next summer: ”I want to keep playing for a few years yet and it would be nice to return to Sophia Gardens and help the development of the clubs younger players”.

After being reappointed Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly has made it clear that there are no fissures in the side, and certainly no personality clash with Rahul Dravid, who had led the side while he served out a four-match suspension. While admitting that the team’s performance had declined over the past season, Ganguly categorically denied that different camps had sprung up within the squad.”I want to make it very clear that there is no rift, no trouble, no problem between us [himself and Dravid],” he said, in an interview with . “Rahul has also made that very clear. We know each other for a long time, we know how things work here. We’ve had a great working relationship, and we hope to continue our partnership.”Ganguly was also loathe to compare Dravid’s style of leadership with his own. “Basically, every captain has his own way,” he said. “We have different styles but any two people will have different styles of leading a team. We may react differently to the same situation. “I’m not going to comment of which style is better because it is a very relative thing.”The debacle in the tri-nation tournament in Sri Lanka continued India’s miserable run in one-day internationals since the team led by Ganguly lost the World Cup final to Australia in 2003. Admitting that the slump was a matter of concern, Ganguly said:”Winning is a habit and we’ve got out of that habit. We just need to get a few wins under our belt, and then everything will get back in order.”When we were losing last time in 2002, we got a few wins in the West Indies and that sparked off a great run, starting from England right to the Pakistan series last year. We just need to make something like that happen again.”There were plenty of frayed tempers on show in Sri Lanka, but Ganguly brusquely refuted suggestions that it had become every-man-for-himself. “No, I don’t believe that,” he said, when asked whether it was true that the team had become faction-ridden. “But if anyone does this kind of stuff, they will themselves suffer. The most important thing is to have a winning team.”If you’re part of a side that’s losing, whatever you do, all 16 members of the team will be shaky and unsteady. Scoring big runs or taking lots of wickets doesn’t help anyone’s cause if the team is losing.”Having gone through a wretched run of form at the end of last season, Ganguly accepted that there would be pressure on him the next time he walked to the crease. “I just got into a very bad patch during that [Pakistan] series. I was in bad form, and I’m not trying to make excuses, I didn’t play well. If you don’t play well, you will get under pressure.”However, he pooh-poohed notions that his perceived frailty against the short ball had been his undoing of late. “If I genuinely had a problem against short bowling, I wouldn’t have scored runs in international cricket for the last nine years,” he said. “People would have figured me out long back. You can take a look at the stats, it’s just a monkey that’s riding on my back. Some people keep writing about it, that’s all.”Ganguly, who scored a brilliant century at Brisbane in December 2003 after being greeted with headlines about “chin music” buttressed his argument by pointing out the case of his old adversary. “Steve Waugh always looked uncomfortable against the rising ball, but look at how well he did. It’s not about how you look, it’s about how many runs you score.”

With the Asia Cup only days away, John Wright has fired the first salvo for India, warning opponents that the team has been thorough in its preparation for the upcoming tournament.”We have done various research on the opposition teams,” he said. “Particularly, we concentrated on Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Our computer analyst has been of great help. He is providing us data and information on the opposition bowlers and batsmen, besides [on] our own players.”After the tour of Pakistan, India had a three-month layoff from the game, but a series of camps were held to ensure the players stayed fit and match-ready. Wright addressed the issue about India’s batting line-up.”Various people will have various opinions on an issue, but it eventually boils down to the captain as to who should do what,” Wright said, referring to the players’ publicly aired views about India’s openers. “Both [Aakash Chopra and Yuvraj Singh] are outstanding players, no doubt. But if you ask me, frankly I would say the selectors select the team and the captain desides who should bat where. The selectors, vice-captain and myself, as coach, will give our advice, but it’s the captain who will decide the batting order.”

At the end of last week whilst the Sabres were up in Scotland the rest of the squad and some of the Academy students took part in a `Superstars’ competition back at the County Ground.Assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: "We didn’t have any cricket and as the weather hadn’t been so good we decided to end the week with something that would involve some of the players normal fitness routine activities with one or two extras added for fun."The teams of three undertook a range of different challenges including a gym based triathlon, where one of the team sprinted 500 metres, another cycled 500 metres and the third covered the same distance on one of the rowing machines. Other activities were barrel lifting, tyre rolling, and a final multi activity training session.The winning team had a distinctly west country flavour about it and was led by Devonian Matt Wood and included Cornishman Piran Holloway and Ross Dewar who hails from Dorchester, who were all presented with `Mr Universe’ garden gnomes!Winning captain Matt Wood told me: "It was pretty hard work but great fun and a good way to end the week off for us. Hopefully there will be some cricket for me next week and I can’t wait to get back out in the middle again."Somerset Seconds play a two day friendly in Bristol on Monday and Tuesday next week, and then return to Taunton on Wednesday to play Hampshire in a 3 day Second Eleven championship match.

Shane Warne has tipped Australian team-mate Michael Slater to come back stronger than ever from his Test cricket axing.Warne arrived back in Australia tonight from the Ashes tour after staying an extra week in England to promote his new autobiography.He said Slater, who was dropped from the final Ashes Test because of a combination of poor form and personal problems, would sort things out and return a better player.”I think Slats is obviously going through a bit of a time in his life that he needs to sort out for himself and I’m sure he will,” Warne said.”He’s thinking rationally, he knows what he wants. It’s just a matter for him to sort it out.”It’s nothing to do with anybody else – it’s something personal to do with him. I’m sure he’ll sort it out and his cricket will be fine.”He’ll come back stronger and better for sure.”While Slater’s form went into freefall on the Ashes tour, Warne’s form returned to the orbit where it’s spent most of his cricket career.After a dismal tour of India, Warne took 31 Test scalps in England, passed 400 Test wickets and moved into fifth place on the all-time Test wicket-takers list.And he can now add best-selling author to his list of achievements – Warne’s autobiography is now No 1 on The Sunday Times’ best-sellers list in England.Warne also revealed he was still hoping to be a candidate for the Australian captaincy or vice-captaincy once Steve Waugh retired.He said the Australian Cricket Board had told him the door was not closed, despite being sacked as Australian vice-captain last year over a phone sex scandal involving an English nurse.”It’d be a great opportunity to be one of the candidates down the track, but if my time’s been and it’s up to somebody else, then so be it,” Warne said.”I’d like to think I’d be one of the candidates.”But it might be four or five years down the track and it would be past my time and they’d obviously be looking for somebody else.”Warne said he was looking forward to spending time with his family at home in Melbourne and doing “two weeks of nothing”, before gearing up for Australia’s showdown with South Africa and New Zealand over summer.

Ashton Agar will return to international cricket for the first time since his memorable cameo in the 2013 Ashes series, after being chosen as the lone spin bowler in Australia’s first ODI squad since winning the World Cup final at home in Melbourne in March.Agar has been chosen with an eye towards the future as the selectors continue to deny Nathan Lyon a place in the limited-overs side. Joe Burns and Marcus Stoinis have also been chosen in the limited-overs squad for the first time, the former expected to replace the injured Aaron Finch as David Warner’s opening partner.As expected, Steven Smith will now captain the national side in all formats, the first time this has been the case since Ricky Ponting retired from T20 internationals in September 2009. Michael Clarke then led the T20 side until he also retired from the format in January 2011 in order to concentrate on Test and 50-over matches.

Australia’s ODI squad for England series

Steven Smith (capt), Ashton Agar, George Bailey, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Watson, David Warner
In: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade
Out: Michael Clarke, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson

Stoinis’ inclusion comes largely as a result of James Faulkner’s four-match suspension from international duty due to a drink driving offence when playing for Lancashire in England’s domestic NatWest Twenty20 Blast competition. James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile also make international returns, while Matthew Wade will don the ODI gloves vacated by the retired Brad Haddin.”The squad we have selected has a few fresh faces in it as well as some experienced players that will provide us with the right balance,” the selection chairman Rod Marsh said. “Ashton has performed very well with the ball since his return from shoulder surgery including taking five wickets in the recent Australia A game in India. He has played in these conditions over here before and the National Selection Panel believes he has a very bright future.”Joe has impressed us immensely over in India with Australia A. He is a very capable young batsman who has experience opening, and we think he will grab his opportunity with the white ball during this series. Marcus has performed very well in India during the four-day series and we have always liked that option of the extra allrounder in our side, so with James Faulkner’s unavailability, this is a great opportunity for Marcus.”Agar’s inclusion may also be a pointer towards the way the national selectors are thinking in terms of spin-bowling spots for the Test tour of Bangladesh in October. The wrist spinner Fawad Ahmed was taken on the dual West Indies and Ashes tours ahead of Agar but has not performed to the standards the selectors hoped for.Other limited-overs merchants to return to Australian duty will include George Bailey, who gave up his place in the middle order during the World Cup to allow for Clarke’s return from injury and will now reclaim it, while Cameron Boyce will again be granted a chance to bowl in the lone T20 match ahead of next year’s World T20, to be held in India.Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood were not considered for the squad due to their heavy workloads during the Ashes, and Marsh said the selection panel’s preference was for the pair to enjoy full pre-seasons back home rather than lingering in England.”After Test matches both here and in the West Indies,” Marsh said, “we have opted to give both of those fast bowlers the opportunity to have a pre-season build-up in the lead-up to what will be another busy Australian season.”Australia squad: Steven Smith (capt), Ashton Agar, George Bailey, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron Boyce (T20I only)

New Zealand will trial the pink ball and day-night format in the Plunket Shield in February, with plans being formulated to play a floodlit Test match against Bangladesh in December 2016.The February 20 round of the domestic competition will feature day-night matches played in Auckland, Hamilton and Napier, as a step on the road towards a proposed night Test against Bangladesh. Lindsay Crocker, New Zealand Cricket’s head of cricket, said December was the right time of year for the concept.”We think probably the best one to try it would be Bangladesh in December,” Crocker told stuff.co.nz. “We think November is a little early so that December series could potentially be one. But we haven’t discussed that with them yet.”That [Plunket Shield round] sits quite nicely with three home teams having lit venues. We’ve identified that as a round that, should this [Adelaide] match go successfully and we’re satisfied that we can try it, then we would [go ahead].”The BCB said it hadn’t been approached yet. “They haven’t told us but if it comes up, it will first go to the cricket committee, then we will take a policy decision on the board level,” the chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo.David White, the NZC chief executive, said momentum for the format was growing. “In the debate around the ICC chief executives’ table there has been a lot of interest,” White said. “Everyone acknowledges that outside of England and Australia it’s been a challenge for Test crowds and is certainly a concept that people are very receptive to.”The news arrived as Brendon McCullum’s team prepared for the inaugural day-night Test at Adelaide Oval from Friday, with several other nations already showing an interest in a concept that has been pushed heavily by Cricket Australia in recent times.”People are voting with their feet that they’re encouraged by what the pink ball Test match has to offer,” McCullum said before his team’s floodlit training session on match eve. “For us to play in front of 40,000-odd people in a Test match is pretty amazing and we’re really, really excited about it. Hopefully it goes off brilliantly and there’s no challenges and no problems.”If we have that final session on that fifth day under lights and a result is in the balance then it could be anything for Test cricket. It could be something that is outstanding for the game. We’ll find out once the game’s over but we’re relishing the opportunity to test it out.”

Ben Edmondson, Phil Jaques and Brad Hodge are among the in-form Australians who will taste finals action in the county Twenty20 deciders next week. Edmondson, who is not in Australia’s 30-man preliminary World Championship squad, has been one of the best bowlers in a severely rain-affected tournament, with 11 wickets at 10.72 and an economy rate of 6.05.He is equal fourth on the wicket tally as his pace and ability to swing the ball have proved useful for Gloucestershire. Another strong performance from Edmondson on Friday, when he took 2 for 21 from four overs, helped his side into the finals with a comfortable win over Glamorgan at Bristol.Gloucestershire will meet Worcestershire in a quarter-final next Tuesday, with Edmondson set to face his countrymen Jaques and Doug Bollinger. Jaques has only played three Twenty20 games this season, for a solid return of 114 runs at 38. On Friday he top-scored with 38 from 28 balls in a 13-run victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston, three days after he posted a matchwinning 59 against Somerset at Taunton.Brad Hodge also has the chance to continue building his tally with Lancashire scheduled to take on Warwickshire next Wednesday. Hodge’s Twenty20 opportunities have been limited – Lancashire’s last three games were washed out without a ball being bowled – but his four outings brought 114 runs at 28.5. Hodge’s only half-century came against Yorkshire at Old Trafford, when he scored 57 from 49 deliveries to set up a 30-run win.Jason Gillespie claimed 2 for 19 from his four overs against Derbyshire at Leeds on Friday as Yorkshire secured their place in the finals. Gillespie had a consistent tournament, taking eight wickets at 21.12 and conceding 7.34 an over from seven matches. Yorkshire will meet Sussex next Wednesday.The other final will feature only one Australian, David Hussey, as Nottinghamshire face Kent next Tuesday. Hussey’s Twenty20 form has not mirrored his success in the other county competitions this season but he has still made 107 useful runs at 26.75 for Nottinghamshire.Unlike last year, when Justin Langer, Cameron White and Hussey were three of the top four Twenty20 run-scorers, Australians were less prodigious in 2007. Of all the Australian imports White had the most runs with 190 at 27.14 at a strike-rate of 136. However, that left him ninth on the overall county tally.White did not repeat the pyrotechnics he displayed in 2006, when he struck a then-record 55-ball century for Somerset, but he did produce two impressive innings this season. Against Glamorgan at Taunton White belted 68 from 35 balls, including six sixes, in one of only three victories for Somerset. On Friday at Northampton, White finished the tournament on a high with an unbeaten 50 from 42 deliveries as Somerset enjoyed an eight-wicket win. His captain, Langer, had an uneventful series and totalled 119 runs at 14.87 from his eight innings.Simon Katich reminded the national selectors he is more than just a top-order grinder, ending the tournament with 128 runs at 42.66 and an excellent strike-rate of 147.12. Katich’s Derbyshire did not win a game but he at least was consistent, scoring 31, 26, 39 not out and 26. His team-mate Travis Birt made 104 at 20.8, with a highest score of 40 from 27 balls against Nottinghamshire at Derby.Adam Voges did his chances of a World Championship call-up no harm with 66 not out for Hampshire against Sussex at Southampton. His 47-ball effort featured four sixes but it was his only standout performance and he finished with 106 runs at 17.66 from seven outings.Matthew Nicholson played his part in Surrey’s unsuccessful campaign, conceding only 6.35 an over and claiming 11 wickets at 13.09. His best figures were 3 for 23 against Essex at Chelmsford, but that was in a loss that another Australian had a hand in. Andy Bichel made 35 that day, one of two useful innings he played in Essex wins. He also scored 33 against Sussex and took eight wickets at 24.75 with an economy rate of 7.07. Bichel helped his side finish with a victory against Middlesex at Lord’s, where he collected 3 for 34.