Black Caps bring back Oram

Jacob Oram has been included in New Zealand's 15-man World Cup squad, while there are also places for Jamie How and Luke Woodcock.

All-rounder Oram has had fitness problems throughout his career and he underwent surgery on a patella-tendon problem last year.

However the 32-year-old has returned to action in domestic cricket, showing the selectors he is fit to play in the 50-over tournament next month.

"I saw him throwing himself around a couple of rounds ago (in domestic cricket), looking nimble, bowling his overs,"chief selector Mark Greatbatch said.

"We've missed him the last year. If you look at his numbers he's impressive at the world stage and in one-day international cricket.

"His economy rate in the last 12-15 months when he's played, which is about a dozen games, he's going at less than four (per over).

"He brings a lot of control for our attack, he's experienced and it's a stage for his batting to come right at the lower end of the order."

Bennett selected

Oram is joined in the party by Wellington left-arm spinner Woodcock, who has previously only played Twenty20 cricket for his country.

There is also a place for promising Canterbury seamer Hamish Bennett ahead of the more experienced Daryl Tuffey.

Batsmen Kane Williamson and How have also been named with the latter being the second choice wicketkeeper, meaning there is no room for Peter McGlashan in the final squad.

"I kept in a World Cup game a few years ago. At the end of the day it is about catching the ball and he was really keen about doing it,"Greatbatch said.

New Zealand, who have lost their last 11 one-dayers, take on Pakistan in a six-match series on home soil before setting off for the World Cup.

New Zealand squad:Daniel Vettori (captain), Ross Taylor (vice-captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Jamie How, Luke Woodcock, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Hamish Bennett.

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Surrey snap up Tait

Australia paceman Shaun Tait will play for Surrey in this year's Friends Provident t20.

The 27-year-old will be available for the entire duration of the tournament, including quarter-finals and finals day should Surrey reach that far.

He played Twenty20 cricket for Glamorgan last year having also previously spent a short stint in England with Durham back in 2004.

Tait, who has been picked in Australia's squad for the first one-dayer of the series against England on Sunday, is looking forward to playing at the Oval.

Exciting

"This is a pretty exciting move for me,"he said. I've a bit of unfinished business in county cricket and I'll be giving it my all for Surrey this year.

"I always strive to take wickets and love being part of a close-knit team.

"Some good reports about how Surrey are shaping up for 2011 have been filtering through so I'm confident that the team can go a few steps further this year in the FPt20.

"Finals day is something I really want to be involved in."

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Somerset slip to defeat

Somerset collapsed to a one-run defeat against Guyana in their opening match of the Caribbean T20.

Chasing a target of 113 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, the Cidermen lost seven wickets for six runs to crash to 111 all out.

From a position of strength at 105-3 in the 18th over, Arul Suppiah's dismissal prompted a spectacular late meltdown.

Guyana had not impressed in their innings after choosing to bat first with only skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan showing any kind of form.

Sarwan, out of favour with the West Indies selectors, hit 59 off 48 balls including three boundaries and three sixes.

Modest

The only other Guyana batsman to reach double figures was Royston Crandon who made 10 and their final total of 112-8 looked eminently passable.

Somerset captain Alfonso Thomas, leading the side throughout the tournament in the absence of Marcus Trescothick, finished with 3-23.

Openers Peter Trego and Nick Compton reached 23 before the former was bowled for 16 and Somerset were within sight of victory when Suppiah became Veerasammy Permaul's second victim, lbw for 26.

With three more on the board, Craig Meschede and Thomas were both run out, Compton was bowled for 32 and Gemaal Hussain followed, also run out, as Somerset lost four wickets for no runs.

With five needed off the final four balls, Steve Kirby went on 111 and Calum Haggett became the fourth run-out without further score to complete the turnaround.

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Woakes - I'm a bowler first

Chris Woakes admits he wants to improve his batting skills - but not at the expense of his bowling.

The Warwickshire seamer showed remarkable nerves to guide England to victory in the first Twenty20 International against Australia, hitting the winning run in a 15-ball cameo of 19.

It was a sensational debut from the 21-year-old, who could have become a footballer had he not chosen to concentrate on cricket seven years ago.

And while it was his batting that caught the headlines earlier this week, Woakes is hoping to make a name for himself as a bowler...for now.

"At this moment in time I am a bowling all-rounder that wants to become a genuine all-rounder,"he said.

"I do work hard on my batting and it's going in the right direction, but I don't want to neglect my bowling at the same time.

"It's a matter of improving both skills in the game. Last year was a big stepping stone for me going on a Lions tour to Dubai.

"My skills in all forms improved this year massively. Obviously being out with the England Performance Programme in Australia before Christmas helped as well.

"I feel like I'm going in the right direction."

Contract

Woakes was on Walsall's books in his early teenage years but opted to join Warwickshire's academy instead, and at the age of 17 found himself making his first-class debut against the touring West Indians.

"I played football until I was about 14 but then I chose to go down the cricket route,"he added."I had a contract with them (Walsall) until I was 16 but I got offered the Warwickshire academy so I decided to take that a bit more seriously.

"At the minute it seems like a decent choice."

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Vettori wants response

New Zealand are looking to bounce back from their dreadful first Test defeat and salvage some pride as well as a series draw with Pakistan when the second Test starts on Saturday in Wellington.

The tourists claimed an emphatic 10-wicket success in Hamilton in the first Test, and a humbled New Zealand side are now desperate to restore some pride after such an embarrassing loss on home soil.

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori accepts his side need to vastly improve their performance, especially in the batting department, in the second Test.

"We understand it was a poor performance but if we get too down in the dumps then we're not going to rectify it here,"said Vettori."We obviously didn't score enough runs in the last Test but I thought the bowling unit did a good job."

The pitch at the Basin Reserve should offer much more assistance to the bowlers, especially early on, but Vettori is not against batting first should he win the toss.

Wickets

"Coming to the Basin you think there's a chance early on to take some wickets but I think in the past the team that has been able to put a decent score on the board has actually had more success with the ball on days two and three,"Vettori said.

"It's about trying to balance that up but I think the final weighting of the team will have a huge influence on whether we bat or bowl. I think it will be another belter here, in that it will have a bit of pace and there will be something in it for everyone."

All-rounder James Franklin is expected to start at the expense of opener Tim McIntosh, with then the batting line-up all moving up a place and allowing Chris Martin, Brent Arnel and Tim Southee to rotate more in the bowling attack.

"Sometimes if you can have that extra bowler in the likes of a Franklin then it allows Chris Martin or Tim Southee to be even more of a strike bowler,"Vettori added.

"I thought they both bowled really well but they had a pretty big workload (in Hamilton), so maybe the addition of Franklin would take a bit of that workload off and they would be fresher for it. I think whenever you get a player like James in terms of the all round package it's a real advantage so you always try to fit that type of player in the team."

Pakistan confidence

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq insists his side know they will also need to improve as a wounded New Zealand team will come back hard at them

"Actually we are just determined to perform well and want to improve our performance and then we will see what the result is,"Misbah said."All we want is to perform at 100 percent and then let's see.

"Confidence is the key in cricket, especially if you have good results then you tend to perform well and when you perform well, your confidence level is up. It's really good for us that our team's confidence level is up.

"They're still a good side in New Zealand and can give you a tough time at any time. It's not easy to beat them. It'll take really good, determined cricket from us for us to do that job here because these conditions suits them more.

"It's totally different from Hamilton and we have to just get ready for that and get used to the pace and bounce of this wicket."

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Jones sees Royals to victory

Hampshire bounced back from their defeat to Canada with a thrilling victory over Barbados in the Caribbean T20.

The match in Antigua went to a one-over eliminator after Barbados had been dismissed for 136 chasing Hampshire's 136-3.

Simon Jones took 4-10, including the wicket of Barbados No.11 Tino Best with the last ball on the innings to take the game in to the extra over shootout.

Barbados lost two wickets for no score off three deliveries to end their extra over, with Hampshire scoring one run and losing one wicket to win.

Jimmy Adams (39), Johann Myburgh (37) and Sean Ervine (32no off 19 balls) had helped the Royals to a testing target.

However 50 from opener Dwayne Smith ensured a grandstand finale.

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Tendulkar ruled out of ODIs

A hamstring injury has ruled Sachin Tendulkar out of India's last three one-day internationals against South Africa.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India named wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, who has opened in ODIs in the past, as his replacement on Sunday.

Tendulkar suffered the injury during his innings in the second one-day match against the Proteas on Saturday, which India won by one run to level the series at one match apiece.

In playing at the Wanderers, he equalled Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya's record of 444 ODIs.

Regular openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and paceman Praveen Kumar, have already been ruled out of the series due to injuries.

India selectors will meet on Monday to pick the 15-man squad for the World Cup, which takes place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh between February 19 and April 2.

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