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Australia showed they could survive without their resting captain as a Simon Katich half-century and crucial middle-order contributions steered them to a victory that gave them a five-point lead at the top of the VB Series table. The team had a strange look with Ricky Ponting relaxing on the Australia-Day holiday, and Adam Gilchrist assumed the captaincy, keeping and opening roles in a batting order containing a handful of batsmen under pressure. However, Australia overcame the regular dangers to conquer a tricky and slow pitch and achieve a familiar result.

Restricting Sri Lanka to 8 for 218, Australia were made to work hard over the first 30 overs of their chase before they gradually eased away during a 60-run partnership between Andrew Symonds and Damien Martyn. But just as safety appeared, Muttiah Muralitharan conjured a crucial double blow to remove Symonds and Martyn and drop Australia to 5 for 177.

The successes sparked a flurry of close-in catchers and rejected appeals, but Michael Clarke (16 off 18 balls) and Michael Hussey (26 off 30) erased the flutters of a tight finish and secured the four points with nine balls and five wickets to spare. “It’s always tense till you get that last run,” Hussey said. “We were certainly nervous out there,” Clarke added, “but we played well.” (more…)

Allan Donald has withdrawn his application for the vacant England bowling coach position after meeting with South African board officials.

Donald’s announcement came after he held talks with Gerald Majola, the board’s CEO, and Vince van der Bijl, its general manager of professional cricket.

The meeting was called by Majola to discuss comments in the media last weekend that Donald, who is employed in CSA’s high performance programme as a specialist bowling coach, that he had applied for the English post. (more…)

Ricky Ponting’s rest will include a second match as Adam Gilchrist was confirmed as captain for the VB Series clash with Sri Lanka at Perth on Sunday. Ponting missed Australia’s five-wicket win at Adelaide on Thursday and the result vindicated their controversial rotation policy, which has also included breaks for Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath.

However, Australia’s plans for an unchanged side for the WACA were hit by Nathan Bracken’s return to Sydney for personal reasons. Bracken was the team’s most successful fast bowler at Adelaide with 2 for 45, and his departure from the squad should allow Stuart Clark to play. (more…)

The National Stadium would be a virtual fortress when the third cricket Test between India and Pakistan begins here on Sunday, with extra-ordinary security measures being put in place for the crucial tie.

Karachi Police is not taking any chances and has charted a comprehensive security plan which includes installation of hidden cameras and aerial surveillance of the Stadium.

Inspector General of Police, Sindh, Jahangir Mirza, was given a detailed report on the security plan, which also includes deployment of gun-toting security officials at the stadium and the team hotel, a report in local daily ‘The News’ said.

Commandos of elite force would also be on guard at the hotel and the stadium and a central control room would be closely monitoring the activities within the ground.

The IGP has asked the CCPO Karachi Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui, to ensure foolproof security arrangements but also keep in mind that media personnel are not inconvenienced.

Special arrangements have also been made for smooth movement of traffic on match days. Public would be informed about parking areas and alternate routes in advance.

See also India vs Pakistan, 2006.

For some reason, the Indian cricketers did not celebrate the country’s Republic Day at their hotel before leaving Faisalabad for Karachi on Thursday afternoon, the team’s media manager said.

“There was no Republic Day function at the hotel. And we are now at the airport on our way to Karachi,” the Indian team’s media manager G.S. Walia told IANS on his mobile phone from Faisalabad.

He did not say why the function was not held.

Walia had said that the 26-member Indian squad touring Pakistan would celebrate Republic Day by unfurling the national flag at the Serena Hotel where the two teams were staying for the second Test that ended on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan will play the third Test at the National Stadium here starting on Sunday.

On Friday, Indian cricketers will play a round of golf and have lunch at the Arabian Sea Country Club.

After two drab draws and ten days full of yawns, even the umpires, who thanklessly stand in the middle with utmost patience and focus, have decided that enough is enough.

South African Rudi Koertzen, a member of the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of umpires, has supported a change in rules to allow calling off a Test match at tea break on the final day if a result is not possible.

“There is nothing wrong if the ICC considers a change in laws that allows such Test matches to be called off at tea with the consent of both captains when a last-day result is not possible,” he was quoted as saying by The News.

Koertzen, who supervised the first two Tests between Pakistan and India, confirmed he and Australian umpire Simon Taufel had spoken to both captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Rahul Dravid at tea time on the final day in Faisalabad.

He said both had agreed to the match being ended at tea time, since no result was possible.

“We tried to do a similar thing at tea break on the final day of the second Test but we didn’t succeed,” he said and added that match referee Ranjan Madugalle, however, did not want to take a call on it and asked the two teams to carry on until eight overs were left in the game.

With Lahore and Faisalabad tracks yielding runs by tons, a desperate Pakistan Cricket Board is making all-out efforts to prepare a green top for the series decider starting in Karachi on January 29.

Ehsan Arain, the curator at the National Stadium, the venue for the third Test, has already finalised two pitches which have much more grass and moisture than the ones in Lahore and Faisalabad, which produced two run feasts with 10 centuries so far.

The tracks in Karachi should help seam bowlers find some help from the wicket, provided these are allowed to remain the way these are at the moment.

The PCB has also sent its chief curator Agha Zahid and senior groundsman Haji Bashir to look after the final preparations in the lead up to the match.

“Given the present condition of the tracks in Karachi, if these are left as these are, 90 per cent chances are these will produce a result in the final Test,” a PCB source was quoted as saying in The News.

A lot has been said about who has the final word on the nature of pitches in the series with PCB chief Shaharyar Khan and Zahid blaming the cold weather and lack of sunshine in Punjab and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq insisting he has had no role to play in this matter. (more…)

World cricket’s governing body has welcomed the level of attention given to the 2008 Champions Trophy.
India have expressed doubts about the worth of the bi-annual event but five Test nations have shown an interest.

Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies and the United Arab Emirates have until the end of February to submit formal applications.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: “Interest exceeded our expectations and demonstrates the Trophy’s potential.”

India had complained about the scheduling of the Champions Trophy towards the end of a calendar year, and intimated they would not be available to compete at that time for three years following this year’s tournament. (more…)

MATCH referee Ranjan Madugalle has told Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan to keep his players in check after several were involved in verbal exchanges with the India team during the drawn second Test.

“Yes, Younis was called for a meeting and the match referee said he wanted the series to be played in a good spirit between both sides and would take action if any future incidents occurred,” said Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar were among some of the Pakistan players involved in verbal confrontations with Indians. Umpires Rudi Koertzen from South Africa and Australia’s Simon Taufel at one stage spoke to Younis on the field.

“I think the players were a bit frustrated out there given the hard conditions but it is not something that will get out hand,” said Inzamam.

“If it had been serious the ICC (International Cricket Council) match referee would have taken action against the players.” (more…)

Ashley Giles’ chances of making it to the India tour look bleak with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief medical officer admitting that the lanky spinner has not been recuperating fast enough.

Giles, who had a hip operation last month, has not bowled since and was referred back to a London-based specialist.

Talking to Daily Telegraph, ECB’s chief medical officer Peter Gregory admitted time was running out for the Warwickshire slow left-armer.

‘’Ashley hasn’t made the progress that we’d want him to make and he’s got some concerns that we share,'’ he said.

‘’Before we start to push him too hard we thought it sensible to seek a further opinion from the specialist,'’ Gregory added. (more…)

Sachin Tendulkar capped his recent batting failures with gifting his wicket to Pakistan when his team was struggling to save the second cricket Test match in Faisalabad on Monday.

The seniormost international cricketer with 128 Test matches, walked back to the pavilion in India’s first innings after a Shoaib Akhtar delivery brushed his right glove and was caught by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. The irony is that the glove was not in contact with his bat which means he was not out.

In his last six Test innings he has failed five times, the only exception being 109 against Sri Lanka in New Delhi which enabled him to reach his cherished record of 35 Test hundreds.

Tendulkar’s generosity followed a crucial error from his skipper Rahul Dravid who may have averted his run-out if he had grounded his bat after a gritty 103. He has now been run out eight times in Tests.

See also India vs Pakistan, 2006.

Kenyan officials have said they were willing to host Zimbabwe in a series of one-day internationals after the country withdrew from Test cricket for the next 12 months.

“We are prepared to play Zimbabwe in March,” said the Cricket Kenya (CK) chairman Samir Inamdar. “We have already talked with Zimbabwe with the view of having their team come here before we leave for Bangladesh.” The proposed itinerary is set to involve three ODIs.

The tour of Bangladesh, which may also involve Zimbabwe will start on March 10. The Kenyans are also scheduled to play three one-day internationals against their hosts during the tournament, which has been organised through the initiative of the ICC.

Last week, the interim committee of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) announced they would not play any more Tests in 2006 although they were still committed to honouring their one-day commitments. It is likely that one of the conditions placed on Zimbabwe was that they play matches against the likes of Kenya and Bangladesh during the following year.

Adam Gilchrist will lead Australia against Sri Lanka on Thursday after Ricky Ponting joined their band of rested and rotated players. Brad Hodge, who smashed a century in the domestic Twenty20 final on Saturday, has been added to the squad and Trevor Hohns said it would be reviewed after every match for the rest of the season.

“We feel that Ricky needs and deserves a break,” Hohns said. “He has played every match for Australia in all forms of the game for the past ten months, and we think this is the right time for him to allow his body to rest.” (more…)

The Indian Cricket Board insists it will not definitely withdraw the team from future Champions Trophy campaigns.

India host this year’s tournament in November and December but were thought to be opposed to the bi-annual event, believing it was played too frequently.

“We have not decided anything regarding future Champions Trophies but we are concerned that in a crammed calendar, it takes away a month,” the BCCI said.

They now plan to discuss the issue with International Cricket Council chiefs. (more…)

It’s been a series crying out for a genuine combat between bat and ball, rather than the batsmen having it all their way, and, barring a brief spell between lunch and tea, the third day of the Faisalabad Test took a similar course. However, two separate sets of incidents provoked some debate, serving as an interesting sidelight on an eventful day.

Firstly Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar walked. Dravid’s case was the simpler of the two, beaten by a direct hit from square leg and heading back to the pavilion even though the third umpire was asked to make a decision. He waited for a minute or so just before he headed upstairs to the dressing-room, made sure he was indeed out and left. “A batsman knows when he’s out and that’s why I walked but waited on the line for the decision. It was disappointing,” he said while speaking to the media at the end of the day. (more…)