Auckland: New Zealand have recalled fast bowler Shane Bond for the two Twenty20 matches and the five game ODI series against Australia.Bond, who recently retired from Test cricket, replaces fellow fast bowler Ian Butler and is the only change to the Twenty 20 group that prepared for the one-off defeat of Bangladesh this month.

New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch said Bond was primed to return after missing the Bangladesh series to ensure he was fully fit to face Australia.

“We’re very happy with Shane’s progress. He has had five-six games now with Canterbury and club cricket and he’s ready to go. He’s very, very excited … he’s always saved his best for them so he’s looking forward to getting stuck in and helping us,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Greatbatch, as saying.

“He offers a lot, he’s a professional and he’s experienced. He bowls quick and he’s a real asset to captain Daniel Vettori as far as the bowling is concerned so we’re excited to have him back,” he added.

Along with Bond, all-rounder Scott Styris and offspinner Nathan McCullum have also been included in the team.

Meanwhile, pace bowler Andy McKay has been ruled out of the series due to an injured foot.

New Zealand and Australia will play the Twenty20 games in Wellington on February 26 and Christchurch on February 28.

The one-day series takes in games in Napier (March 3), Auckland (March 6), Hamilton (March 9), Auckland (March 11) and Wellington (March 13).

New Zealand’s 12-man squad for Twenty20: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Daryl Tuffey and Shane Bond.

New Zealand’s 13-man squad for One-day international:

Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Neil Broom, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Daryl Tuffey and Shane Bond.

Dubai:Indian opener Virender Sehwag dislodged his batting partner Gautam Gambhir from the top of the International Cricket Council’s Test rankings for batsmen to take the number one spot.

Sehwag, who struck back-to-back centuries in the just concluded two-match Test series against South Africa, jumped five places for the No.1 position. Sehwag shot up 52 rating points.

Gambhir’s lacklustre form in the series against South Africa saw him drop four places to fifth position.

Another big mover was Hashim Amla, who climbed eight places to occupy the second position. Amla had a phenomenal series against India, scoring 490 runs with two centuries and one double-hundred and getting out only once. The South African middle order batsman, who was the man of the series, is 21 rating points behind Sehwag.

Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawerdena and Kumar Sangakkara were pushed to third and fourth places.

In the bowling charts, Harbhajan Singh after his spectacular performance in the second Test at Eden Garden, where he claimed eight wickets, jumped five places to seventh position.

South African Dale Steyn maintained his top position with a stellar show in the first Test in Nagpur where he got 10 wickets.

Australian Mitchell Johnson and Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif are placed second and third.

India’s Zaheer Khan remained at sixth position.

India’s 38th tiger reserve and Kerala’s second was Friday declared open by Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh. It would be known as the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.

There has been a sharp decline in the number of tigers in India, with only 1,411 of them left, according to official estimates.

The tiger reserve was known as the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary when it was set up in 1973 in a 285-sq-km protected area in Chittur area of Palakkad.

Another 358 sq km of forests were added, and the tiger reserve now has an area of 643 sq km.

It has a rich diversity of animal life. It also has a variety of trees, including teak, neem, sandalwood and rosewood.

Kerala’s first tiger reserve — Periyar Tiger Reserve — is situated in Thekkadi in Idukki district.

Sydney: Condemning the spate of recent attacks on Indian nationals in Victoria, cricketer Brett Lee has insisted that Australia is a safe place for Indians to visit.

Lee said he was saddened by recent violence against Indians in his country.

India-Australia relations have deteriorated badly in the wake of the racist attacks, with the killing of student Nitin Garg in Melbourne last month sparking outrage in India.

There have also been threats by Indian far-right political party Shiv Sena to the safety of Australian cricketers in Mumbai as retaliation, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Lee, who has just returned from India, insisted that both Australia and India are safe nations.

“I’ve just pretty much got off a plane back from India and I certainly haven’t had any problems. I made it very clear over there and I’ll do it here again in Australia that we are living in a wonderful country here in Australia,” Lee said in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“We welcome every person from overseas, in particular India … it is a very safe place. And likewise, when I’ve had the chance to actually go over to India, I’ve always felt very safe. I’ve never felt threatened,” he said.

Lee admitted the media outcry over the attacks had been high in India, but has urged calm and co-operation between both national governments to ease the situation.

“There has been massive media hype (in India), and what’s happened in Melbourne with the Indian students is terrible. Working with the Australian Government we have to make sure that we get the right message across,” Lee said.

London: England coach Fabio Capello is likely to let John Terry keep the captaincy unless there are more damaging revelations about the Chelsea star, who came under fire for having a fling with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s former girlfriend.

Capello plans face to face talks with Terry on Friday when his future as Three Lions skipper will be determined, The Mirror reports.

After receiving private backing of England’s senior players, Terry is likely to tell Capello that he wants to stay on as captain.

FA chiefs are keen to announce the outcome of the talks as soon as possible, with Capello then explaining his decision in detail after Sunday’s Euro 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw.Despite calls for FA to strip Terry of the captaincy following the surfacing of his scandalous affair, his fate is solely in Capello’s hands.

And if there is no steady drip-feed of further damaging allegations of infidelity, the Italian is prepared to give Terry his continued support irrespective of the public backlash it could cause.

Capello is likely to demand total honesty from Terry at their meeting over whether there is more to come or if this is the end of the allegations.

If Terry cannot promise that there is no more to come, then Capello will reluctantly take the view that he has to make a change, even if his footballing instincts remain to keep the Chelsea man in place.

Melbourne: Glenn McGrath has found love again - eighteen months after the tragic death of his wife Jane.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Australian cricket hero has been dating a woman named Sara for about two months.

The couple was photographed in Sydney restaurant Dee Bees.

Graeme Goldberg, Dee Bees’ owner, said that Glenn seems to have found happiness again.

“They are a couple,” News.com.au quoted Goldberg as telling Woman’s Day magazine.

“They held hands and sat right out the front in full view. They arrived together, stayed two hours and left together.

“She was absolutely charming and they made a delightful couple. I am very happy for them,” Goldberg added.

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