Category Uncategorized

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has granted an appeal hearing to former Test batsman Saleem Malik, who was banned in 2001 for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing controversy. Last year the court sought an explanation from the Pakistan board of the law it had invoked to hand Malik a life ban from cricket.Malik had approached the Supreme Court in 2001 after the Lahore High Court rejected his appeal against the ban.With the latest developments, Malik hopes his ban will soon be overturned. “This means a lot to me because I have been fighting to clear my name for eight years and once I get this ban overturned I would like to associate myself to cricket once again,” Malik told AFP. He is already looking forward to a future associated with the game. “I can’t play cricket at my age now but there are hundreds of things linked to cricket which I can do and one is coaching.”Malik was banned by a PCB inquiry headed by Justice Qayyum, a high court judge, after Australian players Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Malik offered them bribes to underperform on Australia’s tour of Pakistan in 1994. He was also barred from holding any office and from involvement in any cricket-related activity.Malik’s name also featured in an Indian match-fixing inquiry which led to life bans on former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma, and he was mentioned by late South African captain Hansie Cronje in another probe.

Matthew Mott, the former Queensland and Victoria batsman, has signed a two-year deal as the new coach of New South Wales. Mott will replace Trevor Bayliss, who guided the Blues to the Pura Cup final last season and was then snapped up by Sri Lanka.Mott has been an assistant coach to Bayliss and also for Australia at the Under-19 World Cup in 2005 and he has just completed a six-week coach exchange at Kent, where he worked with Graham Ford. Dave Gilbert, the CEO of Cricket New South Wales, said Mott already had a good relationship with the players.”Matthew Mott has served an invaluable apprenticeship in his role as the Second XI coach over the past three years and has performed an outstanding job with this team recording seven outright wins from the 12 matches contested,” Gilbert said. “Players such as Ed Cowan, Ben Rohrer, Peter Forrest, Scott Coyte and Moises Henriques have benefited from his tutelage and moved up to play for the Blues.”In many respects, this is a similar scenario to the appointment of Trevor Bayliss three years ago, who was the then Second XI coach. With the recent retention of Simon Katich on a five-year contract and now the appointment of Matthew Mott, I’m confident New South Wales can build on its success of recent years.”Mott, 33, was a top-order batsman who played 66 first-class games for Queensland and Victoria in a career spanning ten seasons. After beginning in his home state and helping the Bulls to the 1996-97 Sheffield Shield with a vital 86 as an opener, Mott moved south and became an important cog in the Victoria line-up. He played under John Buchanan at Queensland and John Scholes, David Hookes and Greg Shipperd at Victoria.Mott said he was grateful for the opportunity to coach at a higher level. “I’ve learnt a lot in the past three years and am excited by the challenge of becoming the state coach,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working again with many of the young players I’ve coached in the Second XI, as well as the senior players.”

Fast bowler Christopher Mpofu has been given a chance to redeem himself after being called up to the Zimbabwe A side for the series against Bangladesh A that gets underway at Mutare on Saturday.Mpofu, who has fallen out of favour with the national selectors and has not played for Zimbabwe since the second Test against New Zealand at Queens Sports Club in August 2005, was given a late call- up to the second-string side. He was not in the original 15-man squad announced at the beginning of this month and was in Harare training when he was told to make the trip to Mutare.Should Mpofu impress against Bangladesh A, he would almost guarantee himself a place in the senior squad to play against Bangladesh next month.A number of players who were originally in the A-team squad are said to have been dropped, and these include Kwawulani Ntuli, Bradley Staddon and Bothwell Chapungu. The trio has no first-class experience, although Ntuli and Chapungu impressed during the hastily-organised National League. Staddon, son of ZC interim executive committee member Stanley, was a surprise inclusion as he has been studying in South Africa for the past two years and has not played any competitive cricket in that time.Zimbabwe A take on Bangladesh A in the first four-day match at Mutare Sports Club on Saturday with the second match set for the same venue. The two teams move to Bulawayo for the third and final four-dayer at Queens Sports Club before they meet in three limited-overs games at the same venue. The last three limited-overs matches take place at Kwekwe Sports Club.

Australia 5 for 316 (Katich 81, Clarke 76*, Kumble 3-86) v India
Live scorecard

Simon Katich and Michael Clarke gave Australia the edge with some attractive strokeplay in the final session, after Anil Kumble – who became only the ninth player in history to reach 400 wickets – had caused a jitter midway through the afternoon on the opening day of one of the most eagerly anticipated series in recent times. Backed by a vociferous home crowd, Kumble helped reduce Australia to 4 for 149, but with India leaking 139 runs in the final session, it was the Aussies that walked off with the day’s honours.Clarke used his feet beautifully to combat India’s slow bowlers, and showed tremendous maturity and flair on his Test debut. He often came down the track to Kumble, lofting him for one mighty six straight down the ground, and also dismissed anything pitched short with ease. With Adam Gilchrist for company, he took the bowling apart as the bowlers wilted in the final hour.The revival, though, had come earlier in the afternoon, with Katich’s splendid 81 leading the way. He was like a master at the snooker table, the angle at which the ball was hit as important as the power imparted. There were no crashing shots that singed the grass but just gentle, silken strokes played with lithe wrists.Katich came in after Matthew Hayden fell for 26, lofting a sweep straight to Yuvraj Singh at square leg (1 for 52). He got going by creaming Kumble through the covers, but soon after lunch, he was completely flummoxed by an offbreak from Harbhajan Singh. Unfortunately for India, Parthiv Patel couldn’t get his gloves around the ball. There was another semi-reprieve when he edged Zaheer Khan behind the stumps, but the replays of Patel’s collection were inconclusive, and Katich was given the benefit of the doubt.Despite losing wickets at the other end, as batsmen struggled against Kumble, Katich didn’t retreat into a shell. His placement fetched him twos and threes, and he brought up 50 in 104 balls, and, along with Clarke, pulled Australia out of a tricky situation. When he got to 81, Katich misjudged the bounce of a short one, which managed to wriggle through his defences to crash into the stumps. The crowd erupted instantly as the team huddled around Kumble, who had toiled for much of the afternoon without success after a double strike an hour after lunch.

Compared to Katich and Clarke, Justin Langer was edgy throughout his stay. After surviving a huge appeal for lbw off the first ball of the match, he misread a few short ones and copped blows on the back and chest. He was nearly run out in the 16th over when he danced down the pitch to Harbhajan and deflected the ball straight to short leg, where Aakash Chopra failed to complete the flick back on to the stumps. After lunch, Langer edged both Harbhajan and Kumble wide of the first slip.In between these strokes of fortune, there were some crisp sweeps and pushes straight down the ground. He brought up his 50 from 116 balls, but couldn’t keep out Irfan Pathan when he came back for his second spell, and a searing yorker deflected off his pads to uproot the off stump (2 for 124).The crank was revved up in that spell from Pathan as he consistently clocked 85mph while intelligently varying both swing and length. After an economical first spell, when he prevented the customary Australian flyer, this was the much-needed tourniquet that helped Kumble thrive. And Kumble pounced instantly as Damien Martyn was undone by extra bounce as he danced down the track. The ball popped from bat onto pad for Chopra to complete a simple catch (3 for 129).Darren Lehmann’s cameo of 17 was a nervous innings, as several uppish shots fell beyond the fielders’ grasp. A skyer over mid-on fell inches from Pathan’s grasp, and three cracking fours soon after added insult to injury. But an ugly heave at Kumble took the edge and Dravid lapped up the catch at first slip (4 for 149).Katich’s wicket, after he and Clarke had added 107, gave India a boost, but Gilchrist and Clarke wrested back the initiative with a dashing partnership. Gilchrist cut the very first ball he faced from Harbhajan for four, as if putting to rest all the nightmares of 2001. He raced to 35 at more than a run a ball as the fielders were left to chase shadows in every direction.Australia ended the day slightly better off, but they will know, better than anyone else, that Kumble still retains the ability to wreck even the most sturdy of fortresses.

Brian Lara has vowed to battle on as West Indies’ captain, despite leading his team to their first home defeat against England for 36 years.Lara, whose personal form has matched that of the West Indies team as a whole, has come under renewed pressure in recent days, as the Caribbean braces itself for a first-ever whitewash in a home series. And, with the series already decided, it is that match in Antigua which is at the centre of Lara’s thoughts. “I have another Test match to focus on,” he said, “so the time for assessing my position of captain is not now.”Even so, Lara accepted that he will be forced to reconsider his position if West Indies cannot halt their slump. “Assessment time will come,” he admitted, “but I am here to play for West Indies and I will be doing that for some time to come.”Four years ago, Lara stood down after the humiliation of leading West Indies to a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand, and it is quite possible that he could take a similar course of action now, having managed just 100 runs in the series to date. But, he added, it was up to his team-mates to play their part as well.”We played four series before this and for me to score the most runs in each and every series is a little bit of a concern,” said Lara. “I still believe we have a good group of young batsmen. It’s not that they are too inadequate in technique or anything like that, but they have to understand that they are playing for West Indies and are following in the footsteps of great players. We need to try and emulate them, but you have to be a big man to play Test cricket.”One of those former greats is Sir Viv Richards, now the chairman of West Indies’ selectors. He agreed that a lack of mental focus was at the root of the West Indian problems. “Individuals with a wonderful amount of ability have been unable to perform at their very best,” he said. “We are looking for winners and some of the attitudes that we have seen are unacceptable and selfish.”There are some guys who’ve played a few matches, and think they have a rightful place in the team – there’s no such thing.”

At the beginning of the 2003 World Cup, few would have thoughtthat Kenya was going to be the pride of African cricket in thetournament. More congratulations, then, to the Kenyans forbecoming the first non-Test-playing nation to make it to thesemi-finals of a cricket World Cup. They have certainly achieveda feat that none of the other “minnows” could even have dreamedof, and the success of the Kenyan national team is going to be amajor boost for the game in that country.As things stand now, Kenya may very well get steamrolled by themighty Australians in the very next game, but they have stillshown an exemplary quality to learn quickly and well. Unlikeother detractors, I do not wish to take anything away from thisKenyan team and their coach Sandeep Patil, for the discipline andenthusiasm they have shown is quite remarkable. With the rightkind of leadership and assistance from the ICC, I am sure Kenyahas the potential to be a major force in world cricket in a fewyears. Watch out especially for Collins Obuya, for the young legspinner is improving with every game.The prize-money in itself could help Kenya to invest greatly atthe grassroots level. The board, I hope, will be able to somehowcobble together a first-class league, giving their players moreexposure in the longer version of the game, before they eventhink of applying for Test status.

Simply put, it is amazing that a team that struggled to find 30quality players to make the preliminary World Cup squad findsitself in the World Cup semi-finals, and their success in thiscompetition is akin to Cameroon’s dream run in the 1990 soccerWorld Cup. As a country, Kenya now has more sportsmen tocelebrate than their world-champion long-distance runners. Thegame of cricket is alive and kicking in Africa; let the SouthAfricans choke and the clueless Zimbabweans break apart, forKenya has saved the face of the continent.Among the other teams, the Australians may look unstoppable atthis moment, but Shane Bond showed it that their batsmen cancrumble against incisive fast bowling. But the one team thatshould count itself to be very much in the running to win the Cupis India. The Indian team has not looked so good in recent times,and with Sachin Tendulkar batting in a manner only he can, andthe other batsmen also turning in crucial performances, India’schances look very bright. Hats off too to the Indian seambowlers; their performance in this World Cup has been a realrevelation.With three of the semi-final positions taken, I would plump forNew Zealand to take the fourth position. I am a big fan ofStephen Fleming’s captaincy, although some of his tactics may bebeyond my comprehension. New Zealand really did look like theteam to beat Australia, after the wonderful burst of fast bowlingby Bond. But however the planning is, a good skipper is at hisbest when he leads from the front in the field. Fleming shouldhave been ruthless and should not have let the opportunity tofinish off the Australians slip past.

New Zealand’s team selection is also, in my opinion, a bit awry.In their opening game against Sri Lanka, poor Daryl Tuffey shouldhave got Sanath Jayasuriya’s wicket in his fourth over, butumpire Neil Mallender denied him a clear caught-behind wicket.Tuffey subsequently conceded 16 runs in his fifth over, and itwas to be his last in this World Cup till date. It may be acompletely different issue that Jayasuriya hit a match-winninghundred on that day, but especially with Chris Cairns not bowlingin the game against Australia, Fleming should have played Tuffey.But all said and done, even without Shane Warne, Allan Donald,Jonty Rhodes, Wasm Akram and Brian Lara, we have seen somestunning cricket in the Super Six stage. Instead of ShoaibAkthar, it was Shane Bond who stepped up to compete with BrettLee. I still reckon that Cairns must now wake up and realise thathe is one all-rounder who could still make a lot of difference inthis World Cup – before it is all too late. In that light, then,the India-New Zealand encounter promises to be a real thriller.

This morning, the sturdy ramparts of the Galle Fort were bedecked withred flags in preparation for a radical political rally this evening.However, the organisers of the rally surely picked the wrong day towhip up the local residents into an angry frenzy, for they will bejoyfully celebrating an emphatic Test victory.With the ground bathed in hot sunshine, the result of this match was aforegone conclusion. Sri Lanka duly won by ten wickets after theybowled out India for 180 in their second innings, their lowest everscore against their sub-continental neighbours ­- the second lowest wastheir 187 in the first innings.Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad showed up their partners for theirspineless exhibition on Friday evening when they batted studiously for51 minutes this morning to avoid an innings defeat. Muralitharan,however, finally trapped Prasad lbw to claim his 25th five-wicket haulin Test cricket.Muralitharan, in fact, had a frustrating morning when numerous legbefore shouts were turned down, as the Indian batsmen tucked theirbats behind their pads. The Sri Lankans believe that the off spinneris getting a raw deal and Sanath Jayasuriya admitted that Muralitharanwas “frustrated.” Nevertheless, he finished with eight wickets in thegame.Fittingly, man of the match Sanath Jayasuriya, who had done so much towin the game with a rollicking hundred on the second day, then strodeto the crease and finished the match with a trademark slash to thepoint boundary. Sri Lanka had beaten India for only the second time intheir 21-Test history, the last time being way back in 1985 whenDuleep Mendis’s side won 16 years ago in Colombo to record Sri Lanka’sfirst ever Test victory.Indian coach John Wright admitted his side had been “outplayed in alldepartments of the game.” He pinpointed Dilhara Fernando’s two-wicketburst at the end of the first day as the key moment in the match. “Theturning point was the two late wickets on Tuesday evening,” he said.”We had started well and I thought that a first innings score of 250plus might be competitive. In the event it wouldn’t have been becausewe bowled so poorly and kept feeding the best square cutter in theworld.”Ganguly looked disconsolate afterwards: “You can’t win Test matches ifyou score 187 in the first innings. We made a good start, but failedto capitalise on it.”He admitted that they needed to think hard as to how best to playMuralitharan: “A lot of the guys are playing Muralitharan for thefirst time, so it’s going to take time. The players that have scoredruns off him have been stroke players, so we need to look at that.”India now have four days to prepare for the second Test in Kandy. Aproposed rest on the beach has been cancelled and they leave for thehill country on Saturday. Wright said: “There are two more Tests andthe players simply have to pick themselves up and play with both prideand commitment.”The Sri Lankans were naturally delighted, but both captain and coachpointed to their recent failures in Kandy where they have squanderedopportunities to clinch series wins against both South Africa andEngland during the past 12 months. Sanath Jayasuriya simply said, “Wehave to change that sequence.”Sri Lanka coach praised the efforts of his side, but pointed out:”This was only one game. We are still at an infancy stage as far asthe reconstruction of the side is concerned. When we are through wewill ensure that we can win at home and abroad. It’s important that wedon’t get carried away.”The second Test now starts on Wednesday in Kandy, the antithesis ofGalle for Sri Lanka. They have now won four out of the six Testsplayed in Galle by thumping margins. In Kandy, however, they have losttheir last two games. That, at least, should provide India with somehope, even though their performance in Galle doesn’t even justifywishful thinking.

Saurav Ganguly described the strip used for Friday’s ICC KnockOut semi-finalas the worst of the three strips played on by India during the tournament.This was probably just as well for South Africa. Had the match been playedon a good pitch by the Indian captain’s standards, the winning margin mighthave been even more than 95 runs to India.Ganguly’s 141, off no more than 142 balls, was the outstanding innings ofthe tournament and it carried India to a formidable 295 for six in their 50overs. They might have gone beyond 300 but for a final over from AllanDonald from which only two were scored as three wickets fell.Ganguly said that the pitch “stopped a bit” and South African captain ShaunPollock confirmed that it had been a little slower than the tracks used inthe early matches. You wouldn’t have noticed it as India stormed to 293before their third wicket fell to the last ball of the 49th over.On the day India earned their place in Sunday’s final against New Zealand bybatting, bowling and fielding better than South Africa. Neither side reachedthe standards set during their respective quarter-final matches, but Indiawere a good deal closer to the pace than the South Africans.Sachin Tendulkar was the senior partner in a 66-run opening stand, but afterhe had gone for 39, Ganguly gradually started to shift through the gears. Upto the halfway point, the South Africans had more or less been able to keepIndia in check, but the introduction of left-arm spinner Nicky Boje into theattack in the 25th over was the signal for Ganguly to move into overdrive.Ganguly carted Boje for three sixes during two overs that cost South Africa26 and the tone of the innings – and the match – had changed. With RahulDravid a willing ally, India were able to add 74 between the 25th and 35thovers and set themselves up for the highest total of the tournament.Dravid eventually went for 58, but his departure served only to bring YuvrajSingh, the find of the competition, to the wicket. Boje should have caughtSingh when he had one, but the fielder lost the ball in the sun and he wenton to crash 41 off 35 balls.Ganguly, meanwhile, had his slice of luck on 75 when he chopped a LanceKlusener no ball into the hands of Jonty Rhodes at point, but when it’s yourday, it’s your day and only the fact that he couldn’t get on strike duringDonald’s last over probably kept him under 150.Throughout the tournament captains have been talking about 280 to 300 as parfor the pitch and the ground and South Africa didn’t believe themselves outof it. They needed a start, though, and they didn’t get one.Andrew Hall was yorked in the third over, Gary Kirsten run out in thefourth, Boeta Dippenaar caught behind in the fifth and Jacques Kallis caughtoff a leading edge in the eighth. Runs had been coming, but at a price. Thescore was 50 for four.There was a 56-run stand for the fifth wicket between Rhodes and MarkBoucher and 55 were added for the sixth by Boucher and Klusener, but theSouth Africans did not have enough wickets in hand and each Indian successwas a further nail in South Africa’s coffin.Ganguly found time to bring himself on to claim Boucher’s wicket for 60 andthen dropped two successive dolly catches at slip off Nicky Boje who simplycouldn’t fathom which way Anil Kumble was turning it.But the match had long since shifted India’s way and Tendulkar wrapped it upwith the last two wickets in three balls.There was talk beforehand that India might field an additional spinner,Sunil Joshi, on Sunday, but a virgin strip is to be used in the field and itmight have just a little more pace. Changes are not expected in the Indianteam while New Zealand are again likely to be without allrounder ChrisCairns in the field.India will start the final as favourites, but New Zealand were able to weardown Pakistan and they won’t mind being seen as underdogs. They’re quiteused to it, in fact.

Usually by the end of March Ashley Noffke knows what is happening with his off-season plans. Previous winters have involved stints in England or business duties, family time and fishing trips, but this one threatens to include the tour of the West Indies in May.Noffke’s outstanding first-class collection of 51 wickets at 19.03 and 741 runs at 46.31 – he became the third Australian behind George Giffen and Greg Matthews to capture the 50-wicket, 500-run season double – has him hoping to be part of his second Caribbean adventure with the national team. After such a strong campaign the expectation is he will be in the squad when it is named this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.While picking up a host of trophies at the Queensland awards dinner on Saturday, including the Player-of-the-Year prize, Noffke made it clear he was ready to add to the one-day and Twenty20 debuts that came in 2007-08. “Throughout the year I was thinking, ‘how am I going to get into the Test team?’ Halfway through I came to the conclusion Test cricket wasn’t going to happen this summer.”I love playing one-day cricket and I love playing Twenty20, but I want to play a Test and I want to show my wares over the long game. Whether or not I get an opportunity for that soon, or if I’ve got to wait another season, I don’t feel age is a barrier.” Noffke turns 31 in April but is not concerned when he looks at players such as Stuart Clark and Michael Hussey, who received later-in-life-opportunities.A remodelled bowling action and extra attention on his always-productive batting has turned Noffke into a major force. Even Simon Katich, who struck a record-breaking 1506 Pura Cup runs, could not feel more upset than Noffke if he is omitted from what will probably be a 15-man touring party.If Noffke is picked it will be his third trip with the squad after being a late call-up for the 2001 Ashes tour and completing the 2003 visit to the Caribbean. Injuries over the next few years intervened and led to the technical overhauls.Noffke returned to the international set-up for the Twenty20 against New Zealand in December, taking 3 for 18, and hit back from a poor opening in his ODI debut on his home ground in February. “The first two and a half overs were some of the most regrettable bowling I’ve bowled,” he said. “It’s funny how body and mind can let you down at times. I’d worked so hard over a long time to achieve that specific moment.”Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting offered support, but it was Adam Gilchrist’s advice that was memorable after Noffke let 19 runs escape in 12 balls. “Gilly ran up to me and said: ‘If you took a wicket in your first couple of overs we would have thought you were a big head.'”The good-natured teasing was successful. “It calmed me down a little bit,” Noffke said. “I was thinking, ‘if I don’t pull my socks up and start bowling like I know I can, I’m not going to get another opportunity’. After those couple of overs I settled down and bowled as well as I’d done throughout the year.” He finished with 1 for 46 off nine, but was squeezed from the side when Clark came back.The rest of the season was spent trying to revive Queensland without squad success, but his individual results remained strong. While some of his team-mates considered deals with the Indian Premier League, Noffke hid himself from the talk and did not register for the second auction. “At end of the day I didn’t want to let myself know too much about it,” he said. “I just want to play cricket for Australia at the moment.”Another season with the English county Middlesex is a possibility, but that depends on the events of the next week. “I’m waiting to see what’s happening with the tour,” he said. “I’m still contemplating going to Middlesex as long as they want me, but that’s if I’m not selected for the West Indies – I’d be pretty disappointed if I didn’t go.”

Six players missed out on the opening day of the Cricket Skills camp for the players selected for the ODI series in Ireland which started in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy today. Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj Singh, and Ramesh Powar couldn’t join the camp and all are expected to arrive in the city in the night.The players had a three-hour session of bowling, batting and fielding in the afternoon. In the absence of Chandu Borde, the newly appointed manager of the Indian team, Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach, and Robin Singh, the fielding coach, are overseeing the camp. Team trainer Gregory King and physio John Gloster were also present. Even during the Bangladesh tour where Ravi Shastri was the cricket manager, Prasad used to take complete charge of the nets. It is learnt that Borde will not attend the camp.The Indian board had conducted a bowlers’ camp at Mysore from June 4-8 and a batsman’s camp in Bangalore which concluded yesterday. Prasad had expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the two camps. “We wanted to keep the players going soon after the Bangladesh tour, which was tough because of the heat and humidity,” Prasad said on June 12th.”These camps were basically for improving fitness but me and Robin wanted to break the monotony and introduced batting and fielding sessions too, but briefly. In Mysore the players tried bowling at one spot and also some variations. In these eight days the players did core training, strengthening of body and built up endurance,’ he said.The players also took time off on Tuesday to interact with physically challenged children from ‘Mathru Foundation’, a charitable organisation, run by special Olympics medalist Malathi Holla.