Pakistan Cricket Board chief Gen Tauqir Zia expressed disappointment and disgust over the Indian government's decision to refuse to play the tri-nation series at Sharjah in aid of earthquake victims in Gujarat. He said "This is disappointing in the sense that we wanted to play the series on humanitarian grounds. India is isolating itself from international cricket. The way the Indians are behaving I see a danger for tri-nation series in Sharjah as well," In the meanwhile the PCB will be raising the issue of India's continued reluctance to play Pakistan during the forthcoming ICC conference in Australia.
Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi has been invited to attend the seminar on Worlds Cricket Coaches scheduled to be held in England on May 1 and 2. Bedi along with former Australian Test spinner Terry Jenner will talk about the art of spin bowling. The England and Wales Cricket Board are hosting the seminar. Indian coach John Wright and consultant Geoff Marsh are also scheduled to attend. More than 2000 coaches are likely to attend.
Sachin Tendulkar is unlikely to lead India B in the Challenger Trophy tournament to be held in Chennai from February 12-15. Chairman of the selection committee Chandu Borde said Tendulkar had informed him that he did not have the motivation and was not prepared to lead any side at the moment. Tendulkar, in fact led West Zone last week for their Duleep Trophy tie against East Zone at Pune as the selectors felt that the team were not performing well as a unit. West Zone won the match by a record margin.
The India A team to play Australia in a three-day game at Nagpur will be selected in Mumbai. The conditioning camp preceding the home series will begin from Fenruary 7 as in all probability India will not go the Sharjah for the quake relief match.
Former Indian Test cricketer Pankaj Roy (aged 72) who still holds world Test record for a 413-run opening partnership, died in Calcutta. Roy contributed 173 runs to the record stand with Vinoo Mankad (231) against New Zealand in the Madras Test during the 1955/56 series. He played 43 Tests during the 1950s, scoring 2,442 runs - including five centuries - at an average of 32.56 in a career spanning nine years. Roy also captained India against England in the 1959 Lord's Test. Roy's son, Pranob, has also opened the innings for India in two Test matches.
England coach Duncan Fletcher has praised his teams enthusiasm and commitment ahead of the opening game on the tour to Sri Lanka. England begins their tour with a two-day practice match against a Colts XI in Moratuwa. "What I've found outstanding has been the attitude of the players," said Fletcher. "I think it's the best attitude I've come across since I became involved with England." Fletcher's remarks came after England's final training session before the first game of the second leg of their winter tour gets underway. England's coach believes the six-week break the players have had since their victorious tour of Pakistan has been vital in refreshing his charges.
It seems PCB will be monitoring Moin Khan's performances during the forthcoming tour of New Zealand. His future as a player and captain will solely depend on this tour, which will also include his relationship with the team coach Javed Miandad.
A 22 year old rookie batsman from the New Zealand Cricket Academy Lou Vincent has been called into the side to replace injured batsman Roger Twose. The home team is trailing Sri Lanka two-nil in the on-going one-day series.
A relatively unknown South African fast bowler was reduced to tears in the middle of a match-winning spell, after he realised that his hero, Allan Donald, was clearly in distress after being felled by a bouncer from him. The bowler Andre Nel, who had taken four wickets, got Donald duck into a wickedly rising ball, which didn't get up as high as he had anticipated and hit him above the left ear. Donald, then batting on 13 went down and took several minutes to recover, but a couple of balls later, in trying to avoid another lifting delivery he stumbled and fell yet again. Nel, was seen standing at his bowling mark, hands on his head, shedding a few tears as Donald was treated before being helped off the field and rushed to hospital. Later the UCBSA confirmed that Donald was okay.
South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has turned down an offer to play for Glamorgan in order to keep fit for his international duties. Previously Kallis had appeared for the Glamorgan and Middlesex counties.
Tasmanian all-rounder Daniel Marsh, the 27-year old son of former Australian wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh has signed a one-year contract with Leicestershire. He replaces Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble. Initially, the county wanted South African all-rounder Nicky Boje. However because of the latter's international commitments the contract was offered to Marsh.
Scores at a glance…
Duleep Trophy
At Panaji (4th and last day)
At Panaji (South Zone vs Central Zone)
South Zone: 141 (V Bharadwaj 50; DS Bundela 4-58, Jai Prakash Yadav 3-46) & 395 (S Sriram 150, V Bharadwaj 40, Sunil Joshi 45, J Srinath 30, Hemang Badani 48; ND Hirwani 3-115)
Central Zone: 550-7 decl (G Khoda 300 not out, A Khurasiya 51, M Kaif 69, Y Goud 85; V Raju 3-133)
Result: Central Zone won by an innings and 14 runs
Central Zone finish runner-up behind North Zone
| Final Points Table |
| Team |
Mts |
Pts |
| North Zone |
4 |
23 |
| Central Zone |
4 |
19 |
| West Zone |
4 |
17 |
| East Zone |
4 |
13 |
| South Zone |
4 |
8 |
Carlton Series (12th match)
At
Perth
Australia: 302-5 in 50 overs (A Gilchrist 30, D Martyn 144, R Ponting 32, M Bevan 44, I Harvey 37; HH Streak -63)
Zimbabwe: 301-6 in 50 overs (S Carlisle 119, G Flower 85; G McGrath 2-46)
Result: Australia won by 1 run.
Man of the match: D Martyn (Aus)
This was Australia's eighth win in a row since its 20-run loss to India in the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi in October last year. Mark Waugh became the third Australian and the sixth fieldsman overall to take 100 catches in One-day international matches.
| Final Points Table |
| Team |
Mts |
Pts |
| Australia |
8 |
16 |
| West Indies |
8 |
6 |
| Zimbabwe |
8 |
2 |
Australia and West Indies qualify for the best of three finals, which begins on February 7.
England U-19 in India
At Vijayawada (2nd one-dayer)
England U-19: 248-9 in 50 overs (N Peng 60, I Bell 91, SK Trivedi 4-26)
India U-19: 217 in 47.2 overs (M Bisla 93, Arjun Yadav 35, Maninder Singh 31 not out; R Ferley 4-32, Nadeem Malik 3-33)
Result: England U-19 won by 31 runs (series now tied one-all)
THEY SAID IT…
"As a batsman I faced the fastest bowler of all time, Frank Tyson, and he never hurt me. Now I've been laid low by a simple pen"
-- Former international umpire Dickie Bird after signing 775 copies of his latest book.
Yesterday's News
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Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
