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Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain in the shorter versions of the game, hopes the authorities will check the sequence of events rather than go by what television footage in the Harbhajan Singh-Sreesanth controversy.Comparing the row to the one between footballers Zinedine Zidane and Marco Matterazi at the last World Cup final, Dhoni felt that the act of provocation needed to be checked too.Harbhajan was temporarily suspended from the Mumbai Indians side for allegedly hitting Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday. His hearing, today, is based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster’s 21 cameras at the match. In the World Cup final, Zidane was sent off the field for head-butting Matterazi after the latter allegedly provoked him with personal remarks.”What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right,” Dhoni wrote in his column for the . “Harbhajan is a very aggressive cricketer who plays hard and is there for his team-mates whenever they need him. Even Sreesanth has seen this supportive side of Harbhajan in the Indian dressing room. Sreesanth is also a very aggressive cricketer who likes to express his highs and lows very passionately on the cricket field. Off the field, you will not meet a more soft-spoken guy than Sree.”Dhoni was happy to know the two players had sorted things out between themselves and said the incident was unlikely to have any effect on the Indian dressing room.”The incident … was unfortunate because I know both of them, and they are not bad guys at all. Everybody is passing judgment based on what is reported in the newspapers, and I am too far from the scene to actually comment on it.”

Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel have been left out of India’s Test and one-day teams for the tour of Ireland and England, starting later this month. Irfan Pathan also misses out, with inexperienced faces like Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose bolstering a pace attack that will be spearheaded by Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth.Sachin Tendulkar, named Dravid’s deputy for the series in England, and Sourav Ganguly have returned to the one-day side while retaining their spot in Tests, while Bose is the only new face in either squad. Gautam Gambhir also makes both teams, and will most likely be back-up to the current opening pair of Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik in the Tests.Mahendra Singh Dhoni was picked as the one-day vice-captain, and the need for one-day revitalisation sees the inclusion of Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma and Piyush Chawla, so impressive on the recent tour of Bangladesh.With Ramesh Powar having acquitted himself well in the same series, there’s no way back for Harbhajan Singh, while Munaf Patel’s lack of fitness has gone against him. And despite the remedial work that he put in at the bowlers’ camp in Mysore, Pathan too remains on the sidelines.The big omission though is undoubtedly Sehwag, who had shown signs of returning to form during the recently concluded Afro-Asia Cup. It was in England in 2002 that Sehwag was asked to move up the order and open, and the move paid rich dividends with scores of 84 at Lord’s and 106 at Trent Bridge. For a man who was vice-captain at the start of the South Africa tour late last year, this is a huge setback.Neither Bose nor Sharma is especially quick but Bose’s ability to move the ball and Sharma’s height have seen them surpass other pace contenders like VRV Singh. Sreesanth and Zaheer won India a Test at the Wanderers last December but adequate back-up will be vital if India are to have any chance of becoming the first touring side to win in England since Australia in 2001.The other Sharma, Rohit, who was rewarded for the 531 runs he racked up from eight matches at 48.27 in the previous domestic season, was delighted to hear of his call-up for the one-day side. “It is a dream of every cricketer to play for the country, and I am delighted that the chance has come to me,” Sharma said. “I know the conditions in Ireland will not be like in India, where the ball might seam a lot. But I am prepared for the challenge as I believe I am in the best shape – mentally and physically – at this time. I am viewing this as the biggest challenge in my life.”India’s one-day squad (Ireland games) Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth.India’s Test squad Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-capt), Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Ramesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose.

Graeme Smith has been ruled out of South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka meaning that Ashwell Prince will become the country’s first coloured captain. Smith tore ligaments in his right ankle when he slipped while running on Saturday in Knysna and could be out of action for up to 12 weeks.After an X-ray and a scan as well as a consultation with the team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar, Smith was diagnosed with two torn ligaments. He under underwent surgery on Tuesday, at a Pretoria hospital, to repair the damage and”The stress X-ray conducted by an ankle specialist in Pretoria confirmed that Graeme had torn two ligaments on the lateral side of his ankle,” said Shane Jabaar, South Africa’s physiotherapist. “He will wear a cast for a period of six weeks. Graeme will be out for a period of eight to twelve weeks depending on rehabilitation.”Haroon Lorgat, the convenor of selections, said Prince will lead South Africa in the two-Test series with the one-day squad and captain being named after the first Test and Lorgat admitted: “This is surely not an ideal way to start our season, but if we are to experience any misfortune during this year, I would rather have it now than later.”Jacques Rudolph, who had a successful tour of Sri Lanka with the A team last year and was surprisingly omitted from the original squad, has been named as the replacement for Smith. South Africa were already without Jacques Kallis for the tour after he underwent surgery on his tennis elbow problem.

Pool A: Border 278 for 8 dec and 240 for 7 (Bradfield 52, Smith 70, Tshbalala 3-46) lead Free State 138 (Hinkel 4-25) by 380 runsFree State were bowled out for 138 by Border after Warwick Hinkel took 4 for 25 and engineered a collapse. Two scores in the thirties from Corne Linde and Christo Feris saved the Free State team from total embarrassment.Batting for a second time Border raced to 240 for 7 at the close with Carl Bradfield (52) and Michael Smith (70) setting a 123-run platform for the rest to launch from. Michael Matika, the hero of the first innings was still at the crease on 49 when time was called. As in the first innings Thandi Tshabalala was the main wicket taker with 3 for 46.Eastern Province came back strongly in Port Elizabeth as they took a 100-run lead over Western Province with Bob Homani scoring an undefeated 72 in the second innings. Earlier Western Province had been bowled out for 228 with Ryan Canning and Farhaan Behardien both scoring fifties. Lyall Meyer took 4 for 52, and helped keep the Western province lead to 50 in the first innings.Pool B: Griqualand West 414 for 5 dec (Brooker 115, McLaren 69,Bossenger 88*) and 81 for 1 lead North West 350 for 8 dec (Khan 78, leRoux 58, Coetsee 65, Arthur 3-104) by 145 runsGriqualand West continued on their merry way scoring a massive 414 for 5 when the declaration came after 85 overs in Potchefstroom. Wendell Bossenger took his score from 64 to 88 to maximise the bonus points on offer. North West emphasized what a good batting pitch Sedgars Park had produced by also participating in the run-fest in totalling 350 for 8 in the 85 overs. Alarm bells rang at the start of the innings, when they lost two wickets, but soon Imraan Khan (78), Werner Coetsee (65) restored order. Juan le Roux (58) made sure that North West finished only 61 runs behind on the first innings.In a bid to make a game of it Griquas raced to 81 for 1 off 18 overs to extend the lead to 145 runs when bad light once again stopped play.

England have recalled James Anderson into their squad for the third Test at Trent Bridge which starts on Thursday.Anderson pulled out of the side for the Leeds Test with a heel injury, but scans showed that there was no serious damage. He passed a fitness test at Old Trafford this morning, and will travel to Trent Bridge to join the England squad tomorrow.”The heel feels fine,” said Anderson. “It’s only really troubled me whenI’ve bowled and the medical staff here are very pleased with it.”Paul Collingwood, who was in the squad for the first two Tests, has been released to play for Durham against Yorkshire in the County Championship.England squad
Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Mark Butcher, Michael Vaughan (capt), Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Martin Saggers, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson

Contrasting centuries from Brian Lara and Daren Ganga gave WestIndies a handy lead by the end of the third day at Bourda. Some moreapplication is needed, though, as the pitch is benign and the new ball,just a few overs old, is swinging appreciably. Australia, who will have asecond bite of that new ball tomorrow morning, are still slightfavourites, although their fallibility in fourth-innings run-chases will beunder scrutiny again.Lara’s was the innings of the day, studded with trademark whippedstrokes and some savage sweeps. He took a good look at the bowling,taking 73 balls to reach 40, but then cut loose ­ sweeping orpull-driving the spinners ­ and sprinted past Ganga, his partner in astand eventually worth 185. It was Lara’s 19th Test century, and one ofhis finest, played under pressure from the match situation and thecrowd, which again gave him a mixed reception when he came out tobat, because he has replaced the local hero Carl Hooper as captain.For a while it was Trinidad v Australia, as Lara and Ganga battedthrough the middle session without being parted. Lara passed 2000runs against Australia on his way to his seventh century ­ and hisfourth in successive home Tests ­ against them. He had reached alyrical 110, with 20 sumptuous fours, when he was out in a peculiarway. He tried to sweep the left-arm spinner Brad Hogg, but the balllooped up off his forearm and was caught by Matthew Hayden, runninground from slip. The fieldsmen appealed for that, but Adam Gilchristhad noticed something even more final: Lara had lost control of his bat,which just brushed the stumps and dislodged a bail (295 for 3).Marlon Samuels didn’t last long, edging Stuart MacGill low to a divingRicky Ponting at second slip (303 for 4). Samuels then nearly featuredin an even odder dismissal than Lara’s. While acting as ShivnarineChanderpaul’s runner, Samuels dozily wandered over the line asGilchrist whipped off the bails with Chanderpaul firmly rooted in thecrease. But the TV cameras were watching the batsman, not the runnerat point, and the case was not proven. Chanderpaul, the first-inningscenturion, lived to fight another day.Shortly after that Ganga’s long vigil came to an end after 511 minutes.Ganga had underachieved in his previous 17 Tests, making only threefifties and sometimes struggling to get the ball off the square. Buttoday, in his first home Test, he found his feet and moved them smartlyto the pitch of the ball. He happily played second fiddle to Lara, butoccasionally unrolled a classic cover-drive or perky pull. He extendedhis maiden Test century to 113, with 19 fours and a clunking six off aMacGill long-hop, before he tired of being tied down by Lehmann andchipped to midwicket (295 for 3) ­ a rare case of Darren bewitchingDaren.Lehmann was only bowling because the Australian attack ­ lackingthose 400-wicket men McGrath and Warne ­ had an off day. Therewere more no-balls than usual ­ 18 in all, 10 of them from Brett Lee ­and even the fielding was uncharacteristically leaky. Waugh had atrundle himself, despite having to leave the field for a while to havestitches in the webbing of his left hand after a misfield in the covers.The batsman who inflicted that injury was Devon Smith, the 21-year-oldGrenadian playing in his first Test. A toothy left-hander with a tendencyto forget his feet-movement, Smith’s aggressive 62 included a dozenmeaty fours, the pick of them a perfect straight-drive that whistled backpast Lee before he could react.Smith eventually feathered Jason Gillespie to Gilchrist (110 for 2). Hehad put on 58 with Ganga, and earlier had dominated an openingstand of 52 with Wavell Hinds, who plodded to 7 in 55 balls beforeMacGill turned one across him. He was adjudged lbw by Asoka deSilva although the ball seemed to be turning a long way down the legside. He didn’t have too much to complain about, really ­ in the firstover of the day he was trapped plumb in front by Lee, but de Silvashook his head that time.West Indies are not out of the woods yet: an early wicket or two with thenew ball will expose the injured Ridley Jacobs and that oh-so-flimsytail. But honour has been restored, and at a pretty fair lick of more than3.5 an over. The scoring rates have been so fast in this match that it’shard to believe there are still two days to go. It all means that thereshould still be a result, if the weather holds.

Peter Bowler and Mike Burns inspired Somerset to a four-wicket victory over Surrey in the floodlit NUL relegation tussle at Taunton.Belligerent batting from Ali Brown (98) and skipper Adam Hollioake (70) guided the visitors to 236-8 in their 45 overs.But Somerset openers Ian Blackwell and Peter Bowler put on 44 in six overs and they always kept on top of their run-rate thereafter.Bowler led the way with his fifth half-century in the competition this season.He received good support from Matt Wood in a third wicket stand of 49, which ended when Wood cut a catch to wicketkeeper John Batty off Tim Murtagh.Then Burns helped Bowler put on 87 in just 12 overs as Surrey’s attack, who had to contend with a wet ball for part of the innings, were taken apart.Burns twice reverse swept Gareth Batty to the boundary on his way to 53 from 47 balls, with seven fours.Bowler finally fell for 86, with eight fours and a six, when he was caught behind off Ed Giddins in the 39th over.Earlier Ali Brown and Adam Hollioake had taken charge for Surrey with a third wicket partnership of 155 in 24 overs, after Steffan Jones had claimed a double-wicket maiden in the 8th over when Ian Ward was caught at slip and Gareth Batty edged to wicketkeeper Rob Turner.Hollioake struck five fours and a six over the Ian Botham stand, in his 77-ball innings of 70, before Dutch had him stumped by Turner.Brown was on course for his second century in the competition this season when he fell for 98 to a good return catch by left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell.His 89-ball innings included five fours and four sixes, three of which were driven straight over the short county ground boundaries.Surrey, who looked on course for 300 at one stage, ended on 236-8 as Blackwell, in particular, restricted the runs in the closing overs.Blackwell also bowled Gary Butcher behind his legs and had Ben Hollioake caught by Dutch at long off in a six over spell of 3-16.

It’s finally time for the best venue in India to host internationalTest cricket. The rotation policy adopted by the Indian Board bringsthe touring England team to the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium atMohali for the first Test match. With temperatures dipping to thelowest the England team have experienced on this tour, they should beextremely happy on the eve of the Test. Nasser Hussain has enjoyed allthe attention his team has received so far but acknowledges that theaction will not be easy out in the middle.For his part, the Indian skipper too looks fairly relaxed. The factthat the team has been on the road in South Africa and returns after abit of a thrashing does not weigh too heavily on the Bengal lefthander. Everyone is resigned to the fact that India are two sides -one that take things quite lightly and yet comes out right on top athome, and yet another that can’t seem to put a foot right abroad.That, perhaps, has more to do with the conditions than anything else.And in that regard, England certainly get their Test series off to acomfortable start. The wicket at Mohali was once easily the quickestin the country, before curator Daljit Singh re-laid the topsoil in1996. The hard clay however still retains much of the pace and bounceof old. Overcast conditions will assure that the ball moves around abit early on. However, the lack of much live grass on the wicketsuggests that it will ease up into a good batting strip on the secondand third days, before taking a bit of spin.The pitch in turn dictates the kind of teams that will be chosen. Inkeeping with recent times, there is a big question mark at the top ofthe Indian batting order. While Shiv Sunder Das has cemented oneopening slot, the other remains wide open. The Indian team could stickwith regular opener Connor Williams, who impressed in his last essayin South Africa. There is word however that in the interest ofaccommodating another bowler Sanjay Bangar might open. Bangar opensfor Railways and averages more than 35 with the bat, having scoredfive hundreds and fifteen half-centuries at the first-class level.The Indian middle-order of course is packed with Rahul Dravid, SachinTendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly all queuing up to have a batin familiar home conditions. Deep Dasgupta dons the gloves and there’sa bit of a toss up in the bowling department. Harbhajan Singh and AnilKumble are sure to play. Depending on composition, the Indians couldgo in with either two or all three medium-pacers from Sanjay Bangar,Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui.The English have their team almost lined up, although the captainHussain did not say so in as many words. Mark Butcher and MarcusTrescothick will open the innings, with Michael Vaughan being out ofform. Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash form thenucleus of the batting with all-rounders, Craig White and AndrewFlintoff, to follow. James Foster looks likely to make his Test debutbehind the stumps. The bowling department has Matthew Hoggardpencilled in, with James Ormond likely to share the new ball honourswith him. Richard Dawson looks set to roll his arm over bowling offspin. Martyn Ball has an outside chance of making the eleven but thatseems unlikely at best.Hussain, speaking to scribes, described India as the “best sideplaying at home” and reminded colleagues of the treatment Australiareceived earlier this year. While one rated Australia’s chanceshighly, it would be unfair to afford this England side the samerespect. Predicting a whitewash at the beginning of the series isnever too clever, but it has to be said that England’s best chance ofavoiding the same begins and ends at Mohali.

Scorecard
The left-arm spin duo of Suhrawadi Shuvo and Mehrab Hossain jnr captured seven wickets between them to lead the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy to an innings and 68-run win over the South Africa Cricket Academy in their four-day match at the Shamshul Huda Stadium in Jessore.The South Africans were left to bat out a little less than two sessions on the final day after Bangladeshis declared their first-innings on 507, but they folded up an hour after tea. Nazmul Hossain trapped Sammy-Joe Avontuur, after which Shuvo claimed three wickets in succession as the South Africans fell to 39 for 5. Wicketkeeper Bradley Barnes scored a 59-ball 54 and added 61 runs for the sixth wicket with Richard das Neves (21) but once das Neves was bowled by Mehrab, the Bangladeshis quickly wrapped things up.Earlier, Naeem Islam, who began the final day on 96, extended his innings to 136 while Mushfiqur Rahim struck an unbeaten 53 off 63 balls to take Bangladesh past 500. Dolar Mahmud, batting at No. 9, ensured some late-order fireworks by blasting three sixes in his 26.Bangladesh were in total command on the third day, as they rode on Imrul Kayash’s 151, which featured 25 fours and a six, to amass 319 runs for the loss of four wickets in 92 overs.Prior to that, the South Africans put up 311 in their first innings after the entire first day’s play was washed out. Reeza Hendricks did the bulk of the scoring with 131 off 188 balls and was partnered by Shadley van Schalkwyk (54) in an 84-run fifth-wicket stand. Nazmul, the right-arm seamer, stood out with figures of 4 for 63.

The MCC has backed Australia’s decision not to tour Zimbabwe and has called on the ICC to suspend Zimbabwe’s Test and one-day status due to the sharp decline in their playing standard. The MCC’s World Cricket committee, chaired by Tony Lewis, was reluctant to comment directly on the political situation in Zimbabwe but said the rebuilding of cricket infrastructure was needed for Zimbabwe to again become competitive.”[The committee] believes the standard of cricket played by Zimbabwe, a full member of the ICC, has deteriorated to such an extent that its Test and one-day international playing status should be permanently suspended until such time as the cricket infrastructure is rebuilt,” the group said in a statement.”While it is not for the MCC World Cricket committee to make judgments on the politics of any particular country, the committee believes the decline in the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe is directly related to the political situation there, and that an improvement is unlikely while the current regime is in place.”The committee, therefore, welcomes the decision of the Australian government in preventing its cricket team from touring Zimbabwe later this year. Once the social unrest has been addressed, ICC should, by means of regular review and guidance, assist the Zimbabwe Cricket Union in rebuilding as a serious cricketing nation.”The committee includes six former England captains as well as international representatives such as Andy Flower, Steve Waugh, Courtney Walsh, Rahul Dravid and Barry Richards. Although the MCC does not have an official role in running world cricket, it is responsible for the game’s laws.