The Indians began their conditioning camp in Chennai under the watchful eyes of coach John Wright. Anil Kumble, former Indian off-spinner S Venkatraghavan, MRF Pace Foundation Director TA Sekhar, physio Andrew Leipus and consultant Geoff Marsh were also present.
The Australian Cricket Board announced a 14-man squad for the three Test tour of India starting next week.
The Team: Steve Waugh (capt), Adam Gilchrist (vice-capt), Damien Fleming, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Michael Kasprowicz, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Colin Miller, Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh.
The lawyers for former Indian batsman Ajay Jadeja have challenged in Delhi High Court the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to ban him for five years from playing for the country as well as a notice from Government regarding the withdrawal of the Arjuna award bestowed on him. In his petition, he has also questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) report, which had indicted him for his alleged involvement in the match fixing scandal. Challenging the findings of the BCCI Anti-Corruption Commissioner K Madhavan, Jadeja said it was entirely based on the CBI inquiry, which had come to a wrong conclusion about him. Former captain Mohammed Azharuddin who was banned for life by the BCCI, has already challenged the Board's decision in a Hyderabad Court.
The Asian Under-17 tournament will be held in Bangladesh from February 15 to 24. Including India, ten countries will be participating in the tournament. India take-on UAE in the first match and meet Malaysia the next day. They then play Oman on February 19 and Sri Lanka on February 20. All matches are to be held in Dhaka. The semifinals and final will be played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) has decided to sack eleven members of their national cricket team. Accusing them of indiscipline, KCA has also cancelled a proposed tour of India and Bangladesh. The players, whose contracts have been terminated, include captain Maurice Odumbe and opening batsmen Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Otieno. The KCA chief Jimmy Rayani said the players had held the country at ransom when they threatened not to appear in an international match against the visiting Sri Lanka A side in January. On the eve of the match at Mombasa, the players made a number of demands, including a salary hike, before taking on Sri Lanka. The KCA has accussed the 11 players of breaking their obligations as per clause 3 of the contract, which demands that the players should be available to play all the time. In the meanwhile the players led by their captain Maurice Odumbe have defended themselves by saying that they were forced to do this because they felt neglected. "Cricket is our livelihood and they cannot deny us the game. It's inappropriate for them to terminate our contracts. Why can't they sort out our issues and let us continue with our livelihood," he said.
Last Sunday Free State and South African fast bowler Donald was sent to hospital for a brain scan after being hit by a bouncer from a young Easterns fast bowler Andre Nel during the SuperSport Series Super Eight clash at Benoni. It is now rumoured that Easterns coach Ray Jennings had put a Rand 1000 price on Donald's head. Although Donald has remained silent on the issue it seems he is determined to find out the truth behind the matter. In the meanwhile, Jennings said that the entire matter had been blown out of proportion and that Nel was part of an incentive scheme in which he receives Rand 1000 for every wicket he takes. He further added that had any other batsman had have been hit it wouldn't be an issue.
Two former Test coaches believe that New Zealand can emerge from its current predicament by placing less emphasis on sports psychology and more on the basics of playing the game. Glenn Turner and Warren Lees, who represented their country with distinction before taking to coaching, have dismissed the value of what they describe as "psychobabble" Lees also claimed that skipper Stephen Fleming wasn't being treated with due respect and expressed surprise at his elevation to open the batting against Sri Lanka in Thursday's fourth One Day International. "It's like he's not allowed to be captain," Lees said. "He has to make his own decisions, he should be the one to say way when they're having breakfast and what they'll do first at practice. The local media have been clamoring that New Zealand should cancel their forthcoming Pakistan tour to save embarrassment.
The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) has called for a review of boundary safety after West Indies fielder Ricardo Powell was hurt by concrete guttering at the Sydney Cricket Ground while fielding in the first final of the Carlton Series on Wednesday. Powell was not seriously injured. However the accident came almost a year after Australian batsman Ricky Ponting damaged his ankle after crashing into a fence at the SCG, forcing him to miss the ensuing New Zealand tour. A uniform policy on a safe distance between the rope and the fence, should be maintained at all grounds and the matter is to be taken up with the ICC for standardization.
Former England captain, Tony Greig, has dismissed England's chances of winning back the Ashes this summer. "Five-nil is a distinct possibility," Greig said. "I think there's a very good chance that if everyone is fit, England are going to have a dreadful time against this Australian side." Greig admitted that although England had performed well in the last year, the current Australian team is likely to be too strong. "I have to give England some credit for beating Pakistan away, I think it was a fantastic effort to win that Test match," he conceded. "But this Australian cricket team is a wonderful side. I've heard over the years on numerous occasions how England have turned the corner, how they've started doing things, but I have to be practical." Greig did offer some hope to England, suggesting that Australia may not be able to field a full strength side.
Former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Fred Trueman is to auction off his collection of cricket memorabilia including the ball with which he claimed his 300th Test wicket. Trueman was the first man in Test history to reach the 300-wicket milestone decided to sell the remaining items after much of his collection was stolen in a burglary at his home 18 months ago. "My children are not mad on cricket and I can see no point leaving things hanging on the wall or in the wardrobe," he said. "Everything I did, when I did it and whom I did it against, is firmly etched in my mind." The auction will be held at a Gala Dinner in London to mark his 70th birthday. The auction has been organised by former England captain Chris Cowdrey, whose late father Colin took the catch which gave Trueman his 300th wicket. The entire collection is expected to raise around £150,000, with the ball he used to dismiss Australian Neil Hawke at The Oval in 1964 likely to fetch around £20,000. Following his retirement, Trueman was a member of BBC Radio's Test Match Special team for 26 years. He was also awarded an OBE in 1989 for charity work. The money raised by the sale of his collection will be divided between his five children and six grandchildren.
Controversial former Pakistani Test batsman Qasim Omar is in the news yet again. He now says he took money from a leading Perth businessman in return for throwing away his wicket in matches against Australia during the 1980s. Nairobi born Qasim, whose international career came to an end when he was banned for seven years after accusing teammates of taking drugs claimed that the businessman, whose name has not been published for legal reasons, called him 'son' and gave him a number of gifts including a gold watch before suggesting that he help fix games.
An indoor one-day series may be held at the Melbourne's Colonial Stadium in May this year. Australia's opponents could either be Sri Lanka or New Zealand. Last August South Africa took on world champions Australia in a three-match one-day series at this venue. The hosts had lost the series 1-2. There is also a possibility of this indoor stadium staging the next ICC Knock-out tournament.
Lancashire County Cricket Club are set to become the first English Test ground with permanent floodlights. They have submitted plans to Trafford Borough Council for eight 50-metre pylons around Old Trafford ground at Manchester. They are hoping to gain planning permission within the next two months. Lancashire have been staging day-night matches for three years and will host a second one-day international under lights between England and Australia in June. Lancashire will have to raise around £750,000 to pay for the lights. Sussex incidentally is the only county to have installed permanent lights so far. Warwickshire have also applied for the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham, but have been refused planning permission because of complaints by local residents.
Karnataka XI scored a three wicket win over Rest of India in a star studded 38-overs-a-side benefit match for senior coaches Salus Nazareth and Keki Tarapore in Raichur on Tuesday. The proceeds of the match would also be utilised for construction of a stadium in Raichur. Opting to bat, Rest of India scored a massive 327 for 8 in the 38 overs. Skipper Sourav Ganguly (98) and VVS Laxman (70) were the top scorers. Ganguly set the ground alight hitting eight sixes and eight fours. Javagal Srinath and Yere Gowda took two wickets each. In response, Karnataka reached the target in 37.3 overs losing seven wickets. Yere Gowda (108), Vijay Bharadwaj (51) and Rahul Dravid (49) were the main run getters for Karnataka. During his stay at the crease Gowda hit 15 fours and four sixes.
Scores at a glance…
Carlton Series (1st Final)
At Sydney
Australia:253-9 in 50 overs (AC Gilchrist 44, RT Ponting 33, SR Waugh 38, IJ Harvey 47; CE Cuffy 2-45, LR Williams 2-55)
West Indies:119 in 37.2 overs (BC Lara 35; G McGrath 2-25, D Fleming 2-34, IJ Harvey 2-5, A Symonds 2-18)
Result:Australia won by 134 runs (Australia lead the best of three finals 1-0)
Man of the match: IJ Harvey (Aus)
Yesterday's News
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Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
