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The England team after putting the Sri Lankan team into bat on a rainaffected first day of the second under-19’s Test match at Northamptonfailed to press home the advantage.Sri Lanka, one down in the series, were at one stage 79 for 3 butrallied to make 223 for 5 at the end of day thanks to a stand of 98between Thilina Kandamby (58) and Jehan Mubarak (46) in 34 overs. Theopeners Ian Daniels (38) and Nimesh Perera (27) put on 51 runs in 12overs when the latter was out to Tim Murtagh. Malintha Gajanayake wasthe next to go, dismissed by Justin Biship for 1. Then Daniels left at79. The fourth wicket stand between Kandamby and Mubarak initiated arecovery before left arm spinner Monty Panesar bowled Mubarak for 46.Finally Kandamby succumbed to Bishop.Kaushalya Weeraratne and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara played out tillthe end of the day.

Boeta Dippenaar underwent a successful two-and-a-half hour operation on his right wrist in Cape Town last night. “It lasted a little longer than we expected due to a complex nature of the ganglion,” said the South African’s physiotherapist, Shane Jabaar.Dippenaar was diagnosed with a dorsal ganglion ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand at Cape Town.”He stayed overnight for observation and he is in high spirits,” Jabaar said. “He will return to Cape Town after ten days for a follow-up consultation with the surgeon, thereafter, a decision will be made on the type of rehabilitation he will undergo. This rehabilitation process will determine for how long it will take him before he can return to competitive cricket.”

Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to say today:

Imran Khan believes that this tour will help heal the long and bitter divide between the two countries. The Nation reported: “When the two countries are trying to become friendly, trying to ease tensions, then cricket plays a healing role, cricket becomes a cement in bonding the countries together. It transcends sport, it is much more than cricket, it is passion.”Imran added that the series assumed greater significance because it came against a backdrop of decades of mutual hostility which nearly boiled over into a nuclear war two years ago. “Therefore people are really skeptical, is it really heading towards peace? I feel that the two governments have realised that war is not an option. This is a realisation which came after their forces were eyeball to eyeball for so many months in 2002.”Imran, while assuring a friendly atmosphere throughout the tour, said, “There will be a lot of rivalry and competitiveness on the cricket field but there will be intermingling of civil society. Lots of Indians are coming here to watch cricket. This will help ease the tensions. Even an incident does occur, then the two governments will quickly smother over it.”* * *There has been frenetic activity among the punting community as they prepare to leave Mumbai towards the outskirts. The Mumbai Age quotes a leading bookie from the city as he said, “Though we take in bets for all the matches played around the world throughout the year, this is a money-making tour for us and we don’t want to take any chance that could spoil our party. The police will not spare any effort to track us down, so we have decided to stay away from the city and operate in peace.”Apart from betting on which team wins the game, the bookie spoke about `session betting’ being more popular. “In session betting, there will be bets taken on how many runs will a side score in 15 overs, 30 overs and then in the last 20 overs.” Most of their operations will be from Gujarat and the reason offered is fascinating. “Gujju’s have a lot of money, they are very calculative and are inclined towards such things. Even if there is a 10 paise profit, they will latch on to it, as they have plenty of black money to pump in. So the entire Gujarat belt is going to be our prime location for business.”* * *Javed Miandad, the Pakistan coach, has urged the citizens of Karachi to show exemplary behaviour during the opening match of the one-day series at the National Stadium on Saturday. Dawn reported him making a passionate appeal to the people of Karachi to show that they are truly hospitable and good hosts. “This series is being played at a time when both governments are trying to bring about peace in the region. We should set examples by playing excellent hosts to the Indian cricketers, their people and the media. Since Karachi is hosting only one match, the onus is on people to make it an unforgettable and memorable occasion.”Miandad felt that there will a huge amount of emotional tensions that the players will be subjected to. “We must be ready to play under pressure. The political pressure, the pressure of the matches itself and above all, the pressure of the public in both countries. But we must not let our emotion get the better of us.”* * *Balwinder Singh Sandhu, the former Indian swing bowler, has some sound advice for the Indian team. Rediff.com reports him urging the players to completely neglect whatever Miandad had to say, especially once they got on top of Pakistan. “If they [Pakistan] lose, he will get very tough on the team. He is a bad loser and will start mouthing a lot of stuff. Ignore him. The madder he gets, the better for us.”He also provided Sourav and his team with some shrewd tactical advice. “The Indian team should go and wish the man sitting next to Miandad, but not wish him. He was a great cricketer, but if we wish to win we must ignore him on and off the field.”Bishan Singh Bedi had a word of caution about the crowds as well. The Asian Age quotes him as saying, “What they’ve got to be careful about is the crowd. Let us not forget that the crowd cheering would be for the home team. So stuff cotton in your ears and play the game, that is it.”* * *Shahbaz Ahmed, one of the legends in Pakistan hockey, says he cannot wait for the tour to kick off. AFP quoted him as saying, “I am as excited as anyone else. India have not played a Test in Pakistan in 15 years so this is obviously a very special moment for our two countries.”He predicted the intensity in these encounters to be of a high voltage and said, “Look, India and Pakistan just don’t want to lose to each other, be it cricket or hockey or any other sport. Our mindsets are like that. The public reacts horribly when we lose so the players are always on their toes. It becomes more than just sport. It should not, but it does. I don’t believe a word when people say an India-Pakistan match is just another game.”Interestingly he didn’t think the series was going to be closely contested and predicted one of the teams to win comprehensively. “But my gut feeling is that it will not be a close contest as everyone predicts. My experience of playing hockey against India shows that once a team starts to win, it is very difficult for the other to catch up. The initial edge lasts for the entire tour. I can’t tell you why it happens, maybe it is psychological, but it happens.”

Deep Dasgupta, the former India wicketkeeper, feels that Bengal’s cricketers do not get their recognition and that was a main reason why seven from the state, himself included, signed on with the Indian Cricket League (ICL).”Our Bengal team has talent but are the players getting justice? Take the India A team that is currently in Kenya; it has no players from Bengal, despite the fact that Bengal have been in the Ranji Trophy final two years running,” Dasgupta wrote in his column for , a Kolkata-based daily. “Nor does the squad for the Twenty20 World Championship. So what do the likes of Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Subhojit Paul hold on to, how do they remain hopeful? I came to Mumbai and saw Under-19 players had also signed up with the ICL. Money can’t be the only factor for them; the opportunity to play and compete in different environments also plays a part.”Dasgupta, Jhunjhunwala, Paul, Subhomoy Das, and Shibsagar Singh were among the players who signed up with the ICL, leaving the Bengal side depleted. It is widely believed that the Indian board (BCCI) will slap bans on players who have joined.”The Bengal team may find replacements for us; cricket doesn’t stop for individuals,” said Dasgupta. “But some questions need to be asked. Do we give cricketers their due respect? Once he retires he’s thrown on the rubbish-heap, so what’s the harm if he settles his dues before that?”Dasgupta, who said he joined the recently-floated league because he has “always liked a challenge” and also for financial reasons, did not feel the ICL was in conflict with domestic cricket. “Even after coming to Mumbai and signing up with the ICL, I still consider myself a Bengal player. Whatever I’ve got in cricket I’ve got because I played for Bengal.”But once we took this huge decision, it seems a huge gap has opened up. A gap that could have been had both sides wanted it. A problem can be solved only if there is dialogue. There should be charges, counter-charges, the feelings should come out in the open. Where there is no discussion how can there be any chance of a solution?”

Australia’s cricket authorities are determined that England’s Barmy Army supporters won’t outnumber the home supporters during next winter’s Ashes series, as the jostling for position continues ahead of the most eagerly anticipated tour in years.The Australia press has been speculating that as many as 40,000 English cricket fans will descend on Australia, raising concerns among some players that England’s Ashes defence will be like a virtual home series for the visitors. But Cricket Australia says it is confident Australian fans will not be shouted down by the vociferous Barmy Army.”The Aussie players are going to want to play in front of Australians, and we confidently expect that most people in the stands will be Australians barracking for Australia,” said Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman.”That’s the way it should be, because it’s our country, and Australians should have as good an opportunity to see their team first-hand as we can provide.”There have been projections of huge crowds for the five Tests in November, December and January, and officials believe the refurbished Melbourne Cricket Ground – the principal venue for the Commonwealth Games in March – may break its own world record of 90,800 for the first day of the Boxing Day Test.”It’s going to be phenomenal,” Shane Warne told AFP on Wednesday. “We’ve just got to make sure it’s not a home Test for England. “[If] they’ve got 40,000 or 50,000 at [the MCG] and you’ve only got 20,000 or 30,000 Aussies it will be like a home ground for them.”CA’s marketing people have not yet projected a total crowd figure, but it is expected to be the most watched Australian Test series in history. Young said the reason for the delay in ticketing pricing was the complexity of dealing with “the most extraordinary customer interest we’ve ever encountered”.He said ticket prices and on-sale dates were the responsibility of the individual state associations and CA wanted to make sure everything was right before any announcement. “They own the pricing of the tickets and to get all of that lined up is bloody hard work and we’re not there yet.But Young was not about to turn the English fans away. “We hope that lots of UK visitors come Down Under,” he said. “It adds to the colour and excitement. We also hope that they leave lots of their pounds sterling here, and also that little urn here at the end, because we want it back.”England regained the Ashes against Australia for the first time in 18 years last September with a 2-1 series win.

West Indies 269 for 3 (Gayle 99, Hinds 82) beat Bangladesh 131 (Khaled Mahmud 34*, Dillon 5-29) by 138 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Another day, another mismatch. The good news is that the minnow element has now been fished out of the Champions Trophy: the bad news is that another paltry crowd watched another one-sided encounter at the Rose Bowl today. West Indies, put in, overcame a lively pitch to score 269 for 3, but Bangladesh had more difficulty. Only some tailend resistance took them into three figures, and West Indies coasted home by 138 runs in the end.It was a second chastening experience for Bangladesh, who were rolled over for 93 by South Africa in their first match. They were never in the hunt today, after a combination of bad luck and shoddy fielding let Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds pile on 192 for West Indies’ first wicket.Gayle became the 22nd player to be dismissed for 99 in an ODI, while Hinds fired 82 on his return from injury. Their stand, a record for any wicket against Bangladesh in ODIs, started with a bang – they reached 50 in the first 10 overs. Hinds smacked Mohammad Rafique for two big sixes, but Gayle was uncharacteristically restrained – he hit only six fours in all – but applied himself well on the testing Rose Bowl pitch.Both openers could count themselves lucky to survive early on, as Bangladesh spurned chance after chance. And when Khaled Mashud, the wicketkeeper, finally did hold on to one – a clear edge from Hinds off Khaled Mahmud – a confident appeal was surprisingly rejected by Jeremy Lloyds, whose new earpiece to the stump mike presumably let him down.The hapless Mahmud, though, only had himself to blame with the next chance, when Gayle smashed a full-blooded straight-drive back into his shins. Gayle also survived a stumping chance, when he danced down the track and whiffled a big drive which he completely missed. But Mashud, who never looked comfortable, fluffed this opportunity as well, and then put down a healthy outside edge, this time from Hinds off Mahmud. He floored another one, late on, when Shivnarine Chanderpaul tested him with a difficult edge.Bangladesh eventually broke the deadlock in the 40th over, as Hinds came down the wicket to Tapash Baisya but failed to clear Nazmul Hossain at long-off (192 for 1). Gayle fell shortly afterwards. He was frustrated at times: there were only three fours in his half-century. But it wasn’t for want of trying – he had tried to bludgeon as usual but failed to connect properly. The ultimate frustration came when he edged Tapash, to be stranded one short of his 10th ODI century (201 for 2).

An explosive cameo from Brian Lara, who fired 20 from seven balls before he was run out, propelled West Indies towards a handy total of 269. Bangladesh desperately needed a good start – but Merv Dillon made sure they didn’t get one. He exploited some extra bounce, and Bangladesh crumpled to 24 for 5.Javed Omar (2) was the first to go, when Dillon angled in a good-length delivery which squared him up, and he could only fend it limply to gully, where Darren Sammy pulled off a tremendous catch, diving full stretch to his left, and knocking the ball up with his fingertips before finally clinging on (13 for 1).Ian Bradshaw struck at the other end as Mohammad Ashraful pulled straight to Dillon on the fine-leg boundary. Dillon continued his bowling demolition: another well-pitched-up one moved off the seam and shatter Nafis Iqbal’s stumps. The captain, Rajin Saleh, pitched in with 7, before Dillon removed his off stump (24 for 4).Khaled Mashud, before he had scored, edged a regulation catch to first slip for what should have been Dillon’s fourth wicket. Gayle floored that one, but Mahmud’s luck ran out just one ball later as Sammy made no mistake in the covers. Bangladesh had lost three wickets for three runs, and were floundering again.Aftab Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahman, who both made 21, repaired some of the damage with a stand of 45, but the game was as good as over. Dillon returned to claim his third wicket, as Rafique provided Sammy with a third catch (94 for 8). Mahmud hung around for 34 not out from 51 balls, but Gayle rounded off a good day – and wrapped up the Man of the Match award – with the last two wickets as Bangladesh folded for 131, less than halfway to West Indies’ total.And so Bangladesh’s Tigers slunk off to lick their wounds again. But this West Indies team – with Hinds and Dillon back, and a new wicketkeeper – were a different proposition to the sad bunch who slumped to four straight Test defeats in England. They have their tails up for their winner-takes-all clash against South Africa at The Oval on Saturday.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

The South African captain Graeme Smith says Australia do not have the strength in depth to rest key players and Arjuna Ranatunga believes the policy is “cocky and arrogant”.”From what we have seen in the past few games, they are more than capable of missing out on the final with the way Sri Lanka and South Africa have played,” Ranatunga told the . “You can see the way they crumble under pressure. When there is no pressure, they look really good and are tough to beat. But they panic under pressure and they looked awful and vulnerable the other night.”Ranatunga said Sri Lanka had a good chance to finish the VB Series on top after beating Australia in Sydney on Sunday. “I don’t think our players will worry if Australia are being arrogant. If they are cocky, that’s their problem, not ours.”Smith, whose side is preparing to take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday, said the Australian attack was exposed without their spearhead Glenn McGrath. Australia chose to rest McGrath at the SCG and Sanath Jayasuriya smacked 114 off 96 balls.”It shows how important McGrath is to their set-up … McGrath and [Brett] Lee,” he said. “I know McGrath hasn’t got many wickets but they’ve really bowled well up front this series and created pressure. It just maybe shows the depth is just like ours, it takes a while to get those guys up to a level they need to be.”The allrounder James Hopes was hammered for 65 runs off six overs by the Sri Lankans while Brett Dorey was substituted by Ricky Ponting after being smashed for 35 runs off four overs. Smith questioned why the Australians continued to ignore Jason Gillespie, despite his poor form in Australia’s Ashes tour of England. “I know he struggled through the Ashes but he’s a world-class bowler, and certainly it has been a surprise that he hasn’t even been spoken of much.”Smith was also surprised at the decision to rest Phil Jaques, who blasted an Australian one-day debut record of 94 against South Africa in Melbourne on Friday. “It’s a bit harsh on the boy,” he said, “but I guess they’ve backed Simon Katich from the start and it’s important to have a degree of consistency.”Consistency was a strength of ours through our success winning 20 games in a row in the last six to eight months, now we’ve lost a lot of those guys going home and it takes a while to build that experience and confidence at this level.”

Kenya has been waiting for this, but it was only when Samir Inamdar,their chairman, received rapturous applause for his speech that werealised just how much the World Cricket League means to the country.”I think I speak on behalf of many associates that, to many a fullmember – perhaps even a cricketer – the cream of Associate cricketremains a mysterious enigma,” he said at the WCL opening ceremony, atParklands in Nairobi. “No one really knows how good they are, how wellthey will perform in the World Cup. Over the next two weeks we standto learn just how good they are and that alone is a huge step forward.The eyes of the world will be on us today.”Inamdar was speaking at a lavish, marquee ceremony in the district ofParklands on the eve of the first match between Kenya and Bermudatomorrow. Cultural dancers, local to the district, performed adazzling display of hamstring-tweaking manoeuvres to a large audience,made up of the six participating teams, media, administrators andalmost anyone with even the vaguest connection to cricket in Kenya.There was a strong sense from the group of people collected that herethey all were “in it together,” fighting the once spiritless cause oflower-tier cricket. Recognition at last.”Kenya is proud to host this event because, for too long, the countryhas been in the news for precisely the wrong reasons,” Inamdar said.”I’m not prepared to dwell on the past, but what I do say is we havemade enormous progress in the way our cricket is managed. But we arestill not out of the woods and an enormous amount of work remains tobe done. We are in for an exciting time in the next 10-12 days.”It is too early for congratulatory back-slapping – the opening game ofthe tournament is still some 12 hours away. But tonight confirmed thezeal and fervour for cricket in Kenya. Win lose or draw, it is animmensely encouraging sign for the future.

Stuart MacGill is tired of hearing that his style does not complement Shane Warne’s. At the SCG the pair operates as well as clock hands and MacGill has pleaded for a chance to continue a successful partnership that has appeared in only ten Tests.”Somebody needs to look at the numbers and realise this is not the first time Shane and I have worked well together and that after a certain number of wickets we have made a strong case to be a regular feature,” he said. “It’s disappointing that other bowlers can bowl in partnership and Shane and I can’t.”The combination bowled Australia to victory with 13 wickets against Pakistan in January and today seven wickets were harvested, MacGill capturing 4 for 39 and Warne 3 for 23 as they sparked a stunning collapse. In an era of abundance for Australian legspinners, the two first-rate performers have been used together sparingly, but the case for retention is growing, especially as the team is experimenting with back-up bowling options.In Tests where both bowlers have played MacGill has 48 wickets at 23.57 and Warne has 41 at 30.15. MacGill said he still wished he was given a chance during the winter in England. “Shane took 40 wickets on the Ashes tour and as far as an advertisement for a second spinner that’s as good as you are going to get,” he said. “It’s a question that will remain unanswered. I may not have fired a shot over there but we’ll never know.”While Warne and MacGill blew the World XI over, Glenn McGrath made the early indents with a testing pre-lunch spell of 2 for 11 from seven overs that pushed him passed Courtney Walsh’s fast-bowling world record of 519 wickets. McGrath said overtaking the mark was a “big honour” and he was already looking for the next milestone.”Courtney was a cricketer that I looked up to and admired, a freak of a player who competed for 21 years straight, hardly taking a break,” he said. “I can’t see myself catching the next two [Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan] but without doubt my next goal is to reach 600 Test wickets.”

Zimbabwe are pinning their faith on the unpredictable nature of one-day cricket as the 2007 World Cup prepares to get underway in the West Indies. Zimbabwe’s coach, Kevin Curran, told Cricinfo on the eve of the squad’s departure from Harare: “Anything can happen in one-day cricket, and when it does it’s up to your players to perform on the day, we’ve had the players to do so in the past.”Although they have been perennial underdogs and have won only eight of their past 42 World Cup games, history shows Zimbabwe have a knack of upsetting more fancied opponents. They beat Australia by 13 runs in their debut World Cup match in Nottingham in 1983, thanks to the exploits of their captain (and current England coach) Duncan Fletcher, not to mention Curran himself, who scored 27 and picked up the valuable wicket of Allan Border.And in 1992, after losing 18 consecutive World Cup matches over a nine-year period, Zimbabwe beat the eventual finalists, England, by nine runs at Albury in Australia in 1992. They then followed that by beating South Africa by 48 runs in Chelmsford in 1999, a result which was instrumental in South Africa’s elimination after they tied their semi-final with Australia.At this year’s World Cup, Zimbabwe are pitted in Group D and will take on Ireland before facing Pakistan and West Indies, with Curran hopeful his team will prove competitive. “We won’t be taking Ireland lightly because they have guys who have played at a decent standard of cricket,” Curran said, “but I’d like to think we could beat them on our day.”West Indies have great players like Brian Lara and Chris Gayle, but they can’t fire every time. And as we’ve seen in Pakistan’s series in South Africa [which South Africa won 3-1], they can be very average. We know we have to win two games to have a realistic chance of reaching the Super Eight round.”Disputes with administrators have drained most of the experienced players out of Zimbabwe, and as a result, the batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri is the only member of the squad who has featured in a previous World Cup. Curran tried to impart a positive spin to Zimbabwe’s lack of experience saying: “Sometimes you can use that to your advantage, West Indies and Pakistan will be under pressure to play well against us, while our guys can go out and play with a bit of flair and hopefully produce the goods.”Zimbabwe play two warm up games at Arnos Vale in St Vincent prior to the main tournament which starts on March 13. The Zimbabwean’s first warm-up is against the wounded Australians on March 6, followed by Bermuda on the 8th. Zimbabwe leave for the Caribbean on Wednesday.