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It is still not certain whether Justin Langer will bat on the final day of the Johannesburg Test, even though the match itself looks like going down to the wire. At the close of the fourth day Australia still needed 44 runs to complete a clean sweep with four wickets in hand.But whether Langer, who was poleaxed by Makhaya Ntini in Australia’s first innings, will bat if needed remained a doubt.”He (Langer) wasn’t going to bat tonight if it came down to that,” said Mike Hussey. “I’m not sure how he will pull up tomorrow. As we all know he’s a pretty tough sort of character but at the end of the day it is just a game of cricket, and he’s got a lovely wife and four children at home.He will be monitored again in the morning but we will have to see how we go and see how he feels about it.”Philip Pope, the Australians’ media manager, was less optimistic, telling reporters that Langer was “more unlikely than likely to bat”.And Mark Boucher upped the already heated atmosphere by stating that if Langer was needed, he would be shown no mercy. “We’ve got a Test match to win … so if that means bowling short balls at him, so be it,” he said. “We can’t lay off, and I don’t think he’d expect us to lay off.”If I get hit on the head and expect half-volleys after that then I shouldn’t be playing the game. If there’s a Test match up for grabs, we’ve got to win it.”

England will use the taste of success they experienced in the Champions Trophy in September, where they reached the final, to push their bid to regain the Ashes, according to Andrew Flintoff. Flintoff, in an interview with the Sun, said it would be the “closest-fought series they’ve had in a while”.”Hopefully, by September, we shall have won the Ashes,” he told the United Kingdom tabloid. “In the past 18 months, under Michael Vaughan’s captaincy, we have improved to such an extent that we believe we can beat anybody.”Flintoff said Australia were a great side and deserved to be No. 1 because of their treatment of other teams. “We got the taste against them last year by beating them in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy and now we want those Ashes back,” he said.Returning to bowling for Lancashire after an ankle operation, Flintoff is ready for the two Tests against Bangladesh. He will be further rehabilitated in preparation for his first Test against Australia during the two one-day series before the Ashes begins at Lord’s on July 21. “No matter what I have achieved before in my career, I know I shall get judged on what I do against the Aussies,” he told the paper.

England 157 for 8 beat West Indies 156 for 5 (Chanderpaul 84) by 2 wickets
Scorecard

Chris Read helped England to snatch an unlikely and exciting two-wicket victory in the opening one-dayer against West Indies at Bourda. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided his side to 156 for 5 from their 30 overs, Read smashed England to victory with 17 runs off the penultimate over when they seemed dead and buried.The start was delayed by four hours while the groundstaff, with the help of an army helicopter, mopped up the soggy outfield. As a result, the game was reduced to 30 overs a side on a slow, sluggish pitch difficult for batsmen, and the drama which unfolded was well worth the wait.After a middle-order collapse, England still required 21 from the final two overs, with only three wickets left. Read and Darren Gough were at the crease and you could have bet your house on a Windies win – the packed crowd at Georgetown certainly thought so anyway. However, they were stunned into silence as the batsmen stole victory in the fading light. Corey Collymore was the man entrusted with that penultimate over, and unlike his younger, less experienced team-mates, he couldn’t keep things tight when it mattered.Read smashed the third ball over mid-off for six, sliced the next delivery for four over point, and then completed the set with a towering blow over midwicket. England then needed three from the final over. In keeping with the drama, Read was bowled by Chris Gayle, but Gough held his nerve to hit the winning runs in his comeback game. It was a cruel ending for West Indies, especially after the local hero, Chanderpaul, had got the joint jumping early on.The only batsmen to master the conditions, Chanderpaul’s innings was a tale of two parts. The first half was boring, the second breathtaking. He isn’t the most prolific runscorer at the best of times, and at his worst he’s a stonewaller supreme – as he was for 17 overs today. Out of synch in the Test series, he laboured to 9 from 50 balls – all in singles – with little feet movement and no timing. However, he hit Stephen Harmison over midwicket for his first four, and then smacked the next ball over mid-on and into the Rohan Kanhai stand. That shot was the kiss of life he and his side desperately needed after their rocky start.The boundaries started to flow like champagne. He thrilled the crowd with a remarkable flick-sweep for six, the first of three successive boundaries off the expensive Paul Collingwood. He passed his half-century off 72 balls, and the momentum had suddenly swung West Indies’ way as Chanderpaul improvised in his own impish way. In all, Michael Vaughan used seven bowlers, and it was his most experienced, Gough, who finally got Chanderpaul, who chipped him to Rikki Clarke at extra cover in the penultimate over (151 for 5).It was an amazing turnaround and that innings gave West Indies a sporting chance of winning the game – especially after their nightmare start in which they slumped to 64 for 4. The top order – bar Chanderpaul – all fell cheaply, and at that stage, West Indies were drowning fast. However, Sylvester Joseph steadied the ship with a sensible 23 not out and gave Chanderpaul vital support.

England’s reply got off to shaky start, when Vaughan fell in the first over nibbling at a pearler from Merv Dillon. The ball landed on a perfect length, held its line, and Vaughan nicked it through high to Ridley Jacobs for a duck (1 for 1).Andrew Strauss, in only his second one-dayer, impressed from the start. He scored five stylish boundaries until he spoilt all his hard work when, instead of playing straight, he tried to whip the debutant Dwayne Bravo through the onside and was clean bowled for 29 (60 for 2).Trescothick was less assured, and just when England needed him to see them home after Flintoff’s departure, he was bowled by Bravo. The ball kept a little low, but Trescothick played a horrible swipe across the line (75 for 4). Flintoff started with a bang, clipping Ravi Rampaul over square-leg for six. However, he again gave his wicket away when he tried to pull a quicker ball from Gayle and bottom-edged to Jacobs (75 for 3).Collingwood and Ian Blackwell were immediately thrown in at the deep end with England requiring over eight an over. Collingwood was dunked under the surface by a sparkling catch by Dwayne Smith, running from deep midwicket to take a sliding catch (108 for 5). Blackwell struck two meaty blows off Dillon and Rampaul, the second of which hit someone in the stands, before he was bowled by Rampaul trying to launch another bruising boundary (119 for 6). Clarke was then run out by a mile after a gormless mix-up with Read (120 for 7), and just when England seemed down and out, Read, likely to be the forgotten man of the Test side, took centre stage to see England home.

Carl Hooper, the current West Indies cricket captain should do the right thing and step down as captain for both the One Day and Test teams…. and immediately.This, following the West Indies’ dismal performance during the preliminary round of the 2003 Cricket World Cup (CWC), in South Africa. Failure by Hooper to voluntarily leave office, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), should insist that he does so.In other professional sports, when teams perform as poorly as the West Indies did during their recent campaign at the 2003 CWC, heads are expected to roll. There should be no deviation from this practice in professional sports. It simply cannot be business as usual. The West Indian public deserve much better than the lackluster performances that the team seem capable of producing while on overseas tours.The management team, all of whose contracts with the WICB have come to an end during the course of this month also should go. This is the absolute minimum that should be expected as a result of the team’s poor showing.The early exit from the 2003 CWC is especially hurtful, since the West Indies will play host to the next CWC in 2007. Many of the countries vying to host matches during the 2007 CWC were hoping to use the opportunity to start sensitizing the rest of the cricketing world of the facilities and amenities that can be expected for the next CWC. But, all these plans have to be either shelved or scaled down since the West Indies team has made an early exit from the sports biggest tournament.It is also apparent that the West Indian players have no sense or appreciation of what it means to represent nearly 10 million people – both at home and abroad. Their lack of commitment and understanding even of their roles as ambassadors of the Caribbean is also evident.One calypsonian summed up the significance of cricket to the West Indian peoples this way: "It [cricket] is like a tattoo on the heart of every West Indian." The fact that our players seemingly lack understanding as to their roles as ambassadors is also a reflection on their preparation by the Board might explain the team’s sustained poor performances abroad.The WICB is not without blame in this situation either. It was the same Carl Hooper who previously `resigned’ from the West Indies team just days prior to the team’s departure for the 1999 CWC in England. It was the same Carl Hooper, who, along with Brian Lara was also at the center of controversy prior to the West Indies’ tour to South Africa in 1998.After all, Jimmy Adams was `relieved’ of his position as captain of the West Indies team following a series of poor performances by the West Indies especially abroad. The same standard must therefore be applied to Hooper and nothing less would be acceptable.Also, with the player revolt taking place just days before the team’s departure for the 2003 CWC, it begs the question: what was the state of mind of the team going into the most prestigious competition of the sport? Where is their commitment to the 10 million people of the Caribbean who pay their salaries? They should be made to show more resolve and purpose whenever they put on the West Indies colours and take the field.It is therefore time that the WICB start looking towards a more youthful player who can (a) command a place in the team, and (b) inspire the team to many successes in the future. The West Indian public has been hearing since 1991 that the West Indies team is in a "rebuilding phase". Certainly, it does not take 12 years for an all-conquering team to revamp and retool. The patience of the West Indian public is beginning to wear out, and the team needs to start performing much better – both at home and abroad. The first step in this though, is for the current captain to step aside and take a few of his worn soldiers with him. The young players now playing in the Carib Beer Cricket Series can therefore look forward to the 2003 Cable & Wireless home series against Australia, then Sri Lanka with much hope and expectation. The West Indian selectors cannot afford to keep faith with these `tried and proven’ failures. This simply cannot be business as usual.

Lahore, August 18 – The Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Lt. General Tauqir Zia on Saturday granted the Lahore Country Club Muridke the status of the first class centre and desired the venue an ideal place for such ventures.He visited the club where a 17-member Qatar junior team is under training to prepare for future ICC Trophy tournaments. “I am delighted to see such suitable place equipped with all the necessary facilities including a lovely ground”, he said.General Tauqir Zia said a due share of first class matches will be allocated to the LCC in the coming domestic season. “I will hold a meeting with the members of the Management Committee to discuss this issue and to advise them to allocate first class matches to this centre”, he observed. Chairman PCB said, the board will extend all the necessary help in the departments of coaching, technical support and laying of pitches to help LCC become more attractive venue.”It is the responsibility of the Board to help such centres which are capable to stage first class matches to make them further improve”, he said.Tauqir Zia who was accompanied by Director Marketing Zahid Bashir and former acc leg spinner, Abdul Qadir demonstrated his skill in the role of a batsman playing some delightful strokes off the bowling of googly bowler.He said the PCB was endeavouring to motivate players from overseas to come Pakistan and to prove their talent for getting a place in the national junior and senior sides. “Such institution like LCC can help in sharpening the skills of overseas players and we must encourage them by extending all out help”, he said.Chief Executive of the LCC, Chaudhary Shujat in his address of welcome highlighted the facilities available in the club and said a modern cricket academy under the same roof was functioning very successfully. “A team from Qatar and a few player from UAE and America are ample proof to our struggle and hard work for giving the LCC a status in cricket coaching”, he said.He said the LCC offers all the necessary facilities and have the services of former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam for imparting finer points of the game to the aspiring cricketers. “It is just beginning of our journey and we hope to put in more efforts with the untired zeal to make this institutions a well known name in the game of cricket”, he said. Director Coaching, Intikhab Alam in his brief address requested the Chairman PCB to grant LCC the status of a first class centre. “Establishing a cricket academy was my long awaiting dream which has now turned into the reality and I hope that PCB will extend its help for making this institution a success”, he said.Later the Chairman, PCB, went around the different parts of the LCC and was also introduced to the young foreign players.

Otago’s success in taking the first innings points proved invaluable. With the abandonment of play, it secured the four points from the game and took an 8-4 points lead in the Southern Zone competition, which has two games to be played, in Ashburton on Friday, and Westport on Sunday.Otago did well to pass a solid Canterbury total, especially when without Chris Gaffaney, the star of the game the day before in Gore. Andrew Hore’s good form in club cricket was reflected in the early part of the innings while Lee Germon showed he was well on the way to making a significant impact for the side in the latter part of this series and in future commitments for the side.Craig Cumming’s form was welcome after some disappointment in Gore and the sight of Karl O’Dowda guiding the side to victory with a controlled innings was a hint of the role he might have in the Shell Cup later in the summer.Canterbury enjoyed a profitable assault when Warren Wisneski was at the crease and there’s no doubt when he gets cracking from the outset the impetus is well and truly applied to the innings. With some hard-hitting players further down the order like Darren Reekers, Cleighten Cornelius and Stephen Cunis there is a hint that a huge score is not far away for Canterbury, but it needs to produce the goods soon.It’s not really fair being a bowler in these games, but for the bowler’s who get their length right the rewards are to be had and Otago’s Kerry Walmsley, who conceded only one run in the ninth over of the Canterbury innings, and Canterbury’s left-arm spinner Danny Bulman, who was sitting on a hat-trick, showed rewards could be had.The pressure goes on Otago in the last two games, as it will be without Walmsley, who is off to South Africa.

David Hussey enjoyed a cleansweep of Victoria’s state awards on Tuesday, just hours after he was chosen in Australia’s ODI squad to tour the West Indies in June. It will be Hussey’s first trip with the national team and it comes after a prolific season that resulted in him being named as Victoria’s best player in the Pura Cup, FR Cup and KFC Twenty20.Hussey was the state’s leading run scorer in all three competitions and was an integral part in them reaching every final in 2007-08. He took home the Bill Lawry Medal as the Pura Cup Player of the Year after recording his best tally in a season, 1008 runs at 56, which was second only to Simon Katich across the country.He added the Dean Jones Medal to his stack of prizes thanks to an FR Cup campaign that brought 484 runs at 44, including the second-fastest century in Australian domestic one-day history. The Twenty20 honour was a formality after he scored 237 runs at 47.40 and was named as the tournament’s Player of the Year at last month’s Australian Cricketers’ Association awards.The Ryder Medal, awarded to the best player in Melbourne’s premier grade cricket competition, went to Steven Spoljaric, a Hawthorn-Monash University allrounder who has been the runner-up twice in the past three years. He beat the sometime Victoria one-day player Grant Lindsay by one vote, while Sarah Edwards was named the top women’s cricketer having scored 214 runs at 30.57 in the WNCL.

Khaled Mashud, the veteran wicketkeeper, has been included in the Bangladesh team for the two-Test series against India. Allrounders Saqibul Hasan and Mehrab Hossan jnr find a place in the Test side for the first time while batsman Tushar Imran earns a recall two years after his last appearance. Mohammad Ashraful, has been named vice-captain, which follows his appointment as the same for the ODI team.Aftab Ahmed was a surprise omission, having taken part in Bangladesh’s previous Test campaign, when they took on Australia early last year. Enamul Haque jnr takes the place of Abdur Razzak, who has been a regular at the one-day level. The series will have added significance to Mashud, who will be looking to re-establish himself in the Bangladesh side after losing his place in the ODI team to the young Mushfiqur Rahim and as a result missing the World Cup as well.The first Test begins at Chittagong on May 18 and will be followed by the second at Mirpur starting on May 25.Bangladesh Test squadHabibul Bashar (capt), Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omar, Shahriar Nafees, Saqibul Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Tushar Imran, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque jnr, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mehrab Hossain jnr

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Fortunes ebbed and flowed on an intriguing second day at Mumbai, at the close of which the match was superbly poised, with England perhaps marginally in front. Despite a powerful hand by debutant Owais Shah, who fell just 12 short of a hundred on debut, England collapsed to 400, before hitting back strongly with the ball. India were reduced to 28 for 3 – the casualties included Sachin Tendulkar – before Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid revived the innings with a fluent 61-run stand, leaving India 311 adrift at close of play.After only three wickets fell on the opening day, there was plenty more excitement on the second. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel led India’s fightback with the ball, ensuring that seven wickets fell for 74 to limit England to a manageable total, but then the Indian batsmen themselves struggled against a hostile and incisive England attack, till Yuvraj and Dravid pulled the innings back on track.The Wankhede Stadium pitch was still a fine one for batting, with even pace and carry, but it has afforded the bowlers encouragement by way of bounce, and Matthew Hoggard and co. exploited that to the hilt when India came out to bat just before tea. Sehwag’s position as Hoggard’s bunny was further reinforced, as was his shortcoming against the short ball. Hoggard has now nailed him six times – more than any other bowler – but more than that, it was the manner of dismissal – gloving a bouncer to slip – that will cause the Indian think-tank plenty of concern.Wasim Jaffer was quickly consumed by a short ball as well, and when Tendulkar, the other home boy, pottered 20 balls and then reached out and nicked a wide ball, India had managed all of 28 runs in 18 overs, with three top-order batsmen in the hutch.England’s strategy was superb, and the implementation even better. Hoggard, Flintoff and even James Anderson – the least threatening of the three bowlers – gave the batsmen little to drive on the front foot. The good-length balls were mixed with a generous dose of short deliveries, keeping the batsmen pinned back. And despite taking early wickets, Flintoff refrained from over-attacking and over-crowding the slip cordon, ensuring there were enough fielders in the ring to cut off the singles.The advent of Yuvraj, though, shifted the momentum completely, with 61 coming off the next 18.5. The sublime form he has been in over the last few months showed immediately, as he launched into sumptuous drives and flicks – one extra-cover drive off Anderson, early in his innings, was especially glorious. His first 30 runs came off 27 balls, and with Dravid playing his anchor’s part to perfection, Flintoff was suddenly forced to post fielders on the boundary. England’s second spin option, Shaun Udal, was a liability too, and England quickly switched back to pace to keep a lid on the runs as India ended the day breathing far easier.If the third-wicket stand would have pleased Dravid, then so would have the team’s performance with the ball, after an ordinary first day. Despite reprieving Flintoff thrice off Munaf Patel – including drops off successive balls – the bowlers fought back superbly, with Sreesanth in the forefront. He got rid of Paul Collingwood, ending an 84-run stand for the fourth wicket, which started the slide, and then quickly got rid of Geraint Jones as well, paving the way for the other bowlers to make their mark.And Munaf did, with two wickets in two balls to further dent England’s hopes of a total in the vicinity of 450. Any bowler might have felt that the force wasn’t with him after his run of bad luck, but Munaf bowled with heart and courage, and ultimately deserved more than just the two wickets in his bowling analysis.Through the mayhem at the other end, Shah stood his ground. Resuming on 50 after an attack of cramps the previous day, he played with skill, flair, and plenty of common sense. His strokeplay was sumptuous, the defence solid, and his batting with the tail extremely purposeful. Unbeaten on 65 when the eighth wicket fell, Shah assumed the role of senior batsman, nurdling the singles towards the end of the over to keep strike, but also not missing out on opportunities to crunch a couple of powerful boundaries despite a well spread-out field. Just 12 short of becoming the 17th centurion on debut for England – and second in this series – Shah fell, caught quite brilliantly at slip by Dravid. Harbhajan then wrapped up the innings to finish with three – a rich haul given his poor form – though by close of play England had struck back to leave the match perfectly poised.How they were out
IndiaVirender Sehwag c Shah b Hoggard 6 (9 for 1)
Wasim Jaffer c Jones b Hoggard 11 (24 for 2)
Sachin Tendulkar c Jones b Anderson 1 (28 for 3)
England
Paul Collingwood c Dhoni b Sreesanth 31 (326 for 4)
Andrew Flintoff c Tendulkar b Kumble 50 (328 for 5)
Geraint Jones c Kumble b Sreesanth 1 (333 for 6)
Shaun Udal lbw b Munaf 9 (356 for 7)
Matthew Hoggard b Munaf 0 (356 for 8)
Owais Shah c Dravid b Harbhajan 88 (385 for 9)
James Anderson c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 15 (400 all out)

Sourav Ganguly is unlikely to play in the crucial fifth one-day international against Pakistan, despite being free to do so after the Indian board appealed against his six-match ban. Sources in the board have indicated that Ganguly was likely to sit out the match.Halfway through Thursday, even after the team had concluded its practice session at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur, they did not know whether Ganguly would be playing or not. He had not reached Kanpur, and Rahul Dravid, who will lead the team in Ganguly’s absence, was unable to say with certainty whether he would play or not. “We have not been intimated about it and we are preparing as normal,” Dravid told the press at a routine pre-match briefing. Saddled with leading the team at the last moment, Dravid did not complain, only saying: “It’s a great challenge [to captain India]. The team is looking forward to the game, and I hope to get support from the squad.”This comes subsequent to Ganguly appointing two lawyers to handle his appeal. Sidhartha Shankar Ray, the veteran lawyer, and Usha Nath Banerjee, the board’s counsel, will be representing him once again. These two successfully handled Ganguly’s previous appeal, when he was banned for one Test match by Clive Lloyd for India’s slow over rate in the Platinum Jubilee one-dayer against Pakistan.”I am happy to argue for the Indian captain again,” Ray was quoted as saying in a Bengali newspaper. Ganguly also found support for his appeal from the board in the form of Rajeev Shukla, the vice-president. “The appeal is justified because banning the captain for six matches is too harsh,” Shukla was quoted as saying by AFP.