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Wasim Akram has urged Australia not to pull out of their scheduled tour of Pakistan despite further unrest in the lead-up to next month’s elections. Australia have a tentative plan to play three Tests and five ODIs in Pakistan starting in mid-March but the visit will not go ahead unless a Cricket Australia security delegation decides the players will be safe.Despite further bomb attacks in Pakistan this week, Akram believes Australia’s cricketers would have nothing to fear. “I think everything will be fine after the elections,” Akram told the . “Things will settle down.”Australia should play in Pakistan. They will be safe there, and there will be so much security around them. It is not sporting figures who are being targeted.”After the assassination of the former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto in late December some Australia players were concerned about proceeding with the tour. However, Stuart MacGill was one who remained keen to go ahead with the visit, provided the unrest in Pakistan eased after the February 18 elections.

It wasn’t the most exciting of matches, but the win helped Pakistan clinch the Mobilink Cup and reverse the trend of recent losses in Multan. Convincing but not attractive, the unassailable 3-0 lead will be a relief for Pakistan, given their decision to field a young and inexperienced bowling attack.The home side were greatly indebted to Shahid Afridi whose 52-ball 85 not only bailed Pakistan out of a hole – 78 for 5 – but also provided a holiday crowd precious moments to make their presence felt. Equalling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of 245 sixes in ODIs, Afridi’s knock showcased his increasing maturity of late.”It was a tough situation to come and bat in,” Afridi said after thematch. “We had just lost quick wickets and we needed to rebuildeffectively and post a good total.”Known for his aggressive batting irrespective of the situation, Afridi initially relied more on singles and twos rather than using the long handle. A mishit did bring him his first boundary but Afridi managed to play himself in with plenty of twos, cutting the spinners and driving straight down the ground. From then on, it was all power hitting.”After a cautious start, I played my natural game. There was no pressure on me and the situation demanded quick runs. Fortunately, my attacking ploy worked and it ended up as a positive innings. Zimbabwe have a good bowling line-up and it was not a case of taking them easy. It was merely playing the bowling on merit and even though getting a century would have been a huge honour, I’m happy with my effort in helping Pakistan post a good total.”Zimbabwe could take a lot out of their much-improved bowling performance – before Afridi intervened, that is. Robin Brown, Zimbabwe’s coach, put the failure to contain Pakistan after a brilliant effort by Tawanda Mupariwa down to a lack of experience.”We basically lacked the killer instinct that is required to polish things off,” Brown said following the 37-run defeat. “Obviously (we are) disappointed by the effort we put in, it would take a lot of skills and effort to contain the strong Pakistan line-up, something we are lacking.”Mupariwa, in his first match of the tour, was Zimbabwe’s best bowler, finishing with 4 for 46, his best ODI figures. After the wicket of Younis Khan off his first ball of the day, he added the scalps of Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Yousuf, courtesy of a sharp caught-and-bowled.”It was hard work paying off,” Mupariwa said. “They have an experienced top order and it was something special to get those wickets that early on. The plan now is to work harder and get as many wickets in the next two matches to hopefully make the scoreline look 3-2.”

Zimbabwe’s effort with the bat was rather surprising. Adopting a defensive approach, it seemed batting practice was what the touring side was after rather than overhauling Pakistan’s total. With Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams – promoted to No. 3 – untroubled under lights, and with Pakistan keen to limit boundaries rather than look for wickets, an earnest chase might have spiced things up.After both batsmen made fifties, Zimbabwe required 128 off 17 overs with seven wickets in hand. Instead, they only managed 235, hit only nine fours and failed to clear the boundary even once. Brown, however, dismissed claims of a defensive approach.”I wouldn’t say it was a negative approach. Pakistan bowled really well. They bowled in the right areas and there weren’t that many bad balls,” he said. “Therefore, it made things really difficult for us and although the batsmen were well set, hitting boundaries became really difficult and the asking-rate kept climbing.”There are, however, things to be improved upon,” Brown admitted. “Most of our batsmen have been among the runs. Two of our batsmen scored fifties today. We need to look to get 6-7 fifties in a match and only then will we be able to win. Hopefully, we can learn quickly enough to win the next two matches.”

Mumbai 476 (Mazumdar 51, Raju 6-139) beat Hyderabad 166 and 158 (Rayudu 53, Bahutule 6-53) by an innings and 152 runs
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Sairaj Bahutule weaved his web around the Hyderabad batsmen as Mumbai romped into the final with a massive victory at the Wankhede Stadium. Hyderabad capitulated for just 158, to follow up their first-innings debacle, and were whipped by an innings and 152 runs. Bahutule, who engineered the collapse, finished with 6 for 53 with his legspin.Mumbai began the day with an imposing 389 for 3 and Amol Mazumdar soon completed a confident half-century. The Hyderabad bowlers had suffered a severe mauling yesterday, with Vinayak Mane and Vinod Kambli smashing hundreds, and a total in excess of 500 was very much in sight. But they struck some vital blows this morning and restricted Mumbai to 476. Venkatapathy Raju, the left-arm spinner, picked up three important wickets and the offspinner Shivaji Yadav spun out the tail.The Hyderabad batsmen put up a sorry show in the second innings as well. Ambati Rayudu and Anirudh Singh put on 71, but that was the only consolation in a miserable batting effort. The last six managed only 15 between them as Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner, and Bahutule got stuck in. Rayudu also played the lone hand in the first innings, but his elegant 95 was the solitary light in a dismal batting show.Railways 251 for 5 (JP Yadav 73*) trail Tamil Nadu 481 by 230 runs
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Tamil Nadu tightened their grip on their semi-final at Chennai as they prised out five Railways batsmen on the third day. Chasing a daunting 482 to gain the first-innings lead, Railways went about their task in a very patient manner. Sanjay Bangar survived 255 minutes for his 47 and got them off to a solid start. But Somsetty Suresh and Ramakrishnan Ramkumar, the left-arm spinner, picked up two wickets each and put Railways in trouble at 122 for 4. But they managed to wriggle out due to Jai Prakash Yadav’s unbeaten 73, which included eight fours and three sixes. But Yadav will need plenty of support from the tail, if Railways are to grab that lead.Orissa 318 and 110 for 3 (RR Parida 74) lead Madhya Pradesh 258 (Ojha 74, Patwardhan 71) by 170 runs
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At Cuttack, the pendulum swung back Orissa’s way as they sat cosily on a 170-run cushion by the end of the third day. Things had been completely different at the end of the second day, though, with Madhya Pradesh coming back well into the game. MP began the day at 132 for 2, still 186 runs behind, but they were reduced to 177 for 8 as lunch approached. Nikhil Patwardhan’s 71 was largely responsible for lifting them to 258. Earlier, Naman Ojha was run out after a well-made 74. The Orissa bowling was led by Deepak Mangaraj (3 for 61) and Sanjay Satpathy (4 for 75). Orissa finished on 110 for 3 at stumps with Rashmi Ranjan Parida anchored the innings with a 145-ball 74.Maharashtra 546 for 7 (Kanitkar 180, Jadhav 132, Satbhai 84) lead Haryana 236 by 310 runs
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Maharashtra, as they have done in most matches this season, piled on a mammoth total at the Nehru Stadium in Pune. Hrishikesh Kanitkar hammered 180 and Satyajit Satbhai, the wicketkeeper, contributed 84 as Maharashtra went about batting Haryana completely out of the match. Kanitkar stroked 19 fours in his 498-minute innings, before he was caught behind off Gaurav Vashisht, the offspinner. Satbhai remained unbeaten at the end of a day in which Haryana were given a thorough hiding.

Shane Warne has announced his retirement from first-class cricket while ending his eight-year association with the county side Hampshire. Warne, 38, had been a regular with Hampshire since 2000 and led them from 2004. Dimitri Mascarenhas will succeed Warne as captain.Both sides reached a mutual agreement after prolonged discussions between Warne and Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman. Warne’s diverse business interests, his participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – where he is captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals – and his need to spend time with his children in Australia meant he would not be able to commit time to Hampshire over the coming seasons.”This was not an easy decision to make,” Warne said. “But due to some exciting business opportunities I had to make this call. My eight years with Hampshire have been a wonderful experience, memories that will last with me forever, and likewise the friendships that have been formed at the club.”Unfortunately I am retiring from all first-class cricket but will participate in the IPL with the Jaipur franchise as captain and coach. Good luck to all involved at the Rose Bowl. I wish you all the best.” Warne will be joined in the Rajasthan Royals by the Hampshire players Mascarenhas, one of his best friends, and Shane Watson, the Australian allrounder.”I know this will be a major disappointment to many fans of both Hampshire and Shane but, after much discussion and soul-searching, it has become clear to both of us that Shane can no longer make the commitment required to continue to lead Hampshire,” Bransgrove said. “After the commitment and loyalty he has shown to this club over the past few years, I can only wish him all the success and happiness he deserves.”Hampshire Cricket has been hugely privileged to have enjoyed the unstinting loyalty of this living legend since 2000. The most effective and entertaining bowler of all time, Shane was also a brilliant leader and strategist. As our captain, his influence was instrumental in the development of Hampshire into one of the country’s top sides and he enriched the game wherever he played.”Warne took 276 first-class wickets at an average of 25.59 for the county and scored 2040 runs. He retired as Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker after the Ashes early last year, but Muttiah Muralitharan surpassed the mark of 708. Warne is undoubtedly one of the game’s greats and in 2000 was named among the five Cricketers of the Century

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has approved a plan to add three more Test venues to its existing two. The move comes after Bangladesh successfully hosted the Under-19 World Cup at eight venues, including the Bangabandhu National Stadium and MA Aziz Stadium, the two grounds where all home one-dayers and Tests are staged.The stadiums short-listed by the board are Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra and Khulna Divisional Stadium. Rafiqul Islam Babu, the secretary of the board’s ground committee, was hopeful of staging a match at the new venues in the near future, even though the ICC inspectors had yet to assess the grounds.”If everything goes accordingly we are hopeful of holding at least one one-day international each in Bogra and Khulna during our home series against New Zealand,” Babu said. “I think there is little chance to get a negative response from the ICC inspectors because the three venues have already impressed the high-ups of the game’s ruling body during the U-19 World Cup. Ehsan Mani has already spoken highly of the Khulna Divisional Stadium. The ground staff have already put everything in place and I think all the venues are ready to hold international matches. Besides, the media committee is also working out details of the facilities needed for each venue.”The three new grounds will ease one major problem the board currently faces – it has to share its current stadiums with the country’s football and hockey boards, a factor that makes preparing pitches a difficult task.

ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) has put forth a fresh proposal to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, saying that if they were awarded the right to broadcast the four-Test India-Australia series, they would pass on all profits (after costs) from advertising, and payments from Doordarshan, to the BCCI. However, this is unlikely to have any impact till the Supreme Court gives its ruling on the whole matter on September 28. There is an urgent need to resolve the impasse before Australia’s tour of India, which begins with a tour match against Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions, on September 30.The Supreme Court is expected to rule tomorrow and determine whether Zee’s original bid for the rights was valid. If the court rules in favour of Zee, ESS could go to court once more, contending that Zee are not eligible in the first place. If the court rules against Zee, then the question of who will produce or broadcast the series comes into play.In a letter to Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, ESS offered their solution. The BCCI received the letter early on Monday, September 27. The letter, sent by Rik Dovey, the managing director of ESS, reiterated the ESS claim that Zee Networks was ineligible to be one of the contestants for the telecast rights. “As you know, it was our contention before the Bombay High Court that Zee was hopelessly ineligible in terms of your tender, in that, as admitted by Zee’s counsel, Zee had not done a single day’s production of a clean feed for an international cricketing event,” says the letter. “Equally, it was our contention that not only had it not produced a cricketing event, it had not telecast a single cricket event either live or delayed.”The letter goes on to explain the rationale behind taking the matter to court and then withdrawing the petition. “We were confident of success in our petition but since it was expressed on your behalf that the Australia tour might be jeopardised in view of the ongoing litigation and since your counsel made a statement that there was no concluded contract and that the tender would be cancelled, in the larger interest of cricket, we agreed to and did in fact withdraw our petition.”Then the letter explains, in three points, the fresh proposal ESS have tabled before the BCCI:”1.ESS will undertake the production and telecast of the India-Australia series on our networks. As you are aware, we have our own production unit and in-house production capability and leading commentators. (As you are aware Zee has neither in place).”2.We have an agreement in place with Prasar Bharati to carry the signal on Doordarshan. (As you are aware Zee has claimed only to have an “in principle” agreement, which has so far not been disclosed.)”3.We will give the BCCI all the net advertising revenues earned on our channel and our net share of the DD revenues net of costs.”The BCCI has so far not reacted to ESS’s latest offer. The marketing committee of the board is set to meet tomorrow, and sources indicate that the board could produce the pictures themselves, if the court’s ruling opens a door to such a possibility, through World Sports Group. If this happens the series will be telecast on Doordarshan in India and sold to interested parties worldwide.

Harbhajan Singh successfully underwent surgery on his injured right index finger in Melbourne on Friday (Dec 19). In all likelihood, the rest and rehabilitation process will take three months, putting him out of the tour of Pakistan.Dr Greg Hoy, a finger specialist, operated on the injury Harbhajan sustained during a one-day international in Dhaka earlier this year. Harbhajan was described as being “in a cheerful mood” by Shivlal Yadav, the Indian team manager, after the hour-and-a-half-long surgery. A decision on his return to India will be taken when the squad reaches Melbourne on December 22.The operation could have taken place earlier, but for Harbhajan’s fear of going under the knife. The aggravated injury forced him to sit out the Adelaide Test.

When Thilan Samaraweera was succoured into a cover drive off a floated legbreak from Danish Kaneria and caught at slip, a momentary lapse that ended along and determined resistance, it precipitated a sudden rush of anger, notwith Samaraweera for he had batted bravely, but with Asantha de Mel, SriLanka’s chief selector.De Mel’s decision to discard Tillakaratne Dilshan from the Test team, notbecause of an alarming slump in form but because he had become “frustrated”by the team management’s apparent reluctance to blood new players, turnedout to be of crucial significance.There can no doubt that Jehan Mubarak has talent. He also has displayed gutsin the past, most notably against South Africa at Centurion in 2002 when hewas thrown into the deep end and scored a gritty 48, but this was not thetime to throw him back into the fire. His time should have come naturally,against weaker opposition or after injury to one of the top six.His case for immediate inclusion was hardly overwhelming: a first-classaverage of 29.04 and one century in 92 visits to the crease. Statistics canbe misleading – Kumar Sangakkara’s first ever first class century was in aTest match – but there was simply no need, or indeed point, in thrustingMubarak into the limelight at the expense of Dilshan, a player who hadseemingly just cemented his place.Mubarak was put under intense pressure. Deep down he would have known in hisheart that his team-mates, although they may have tried to make him feelwelcome, were surprised and shocked by Dilshan’s omission. Mubarak foughtbravely in the first Test, scoring 34 important runs, but thereafter it wasall downhill with scores of 0, 13 and 2. It would be a true tragedy if hewas to become the second innocent victim of de Mel’s “frustration”.When Samaraweera snicked to slip it was a pivotal time in the Test match.Sangakkara, with help from Mahela Jayawardene and Samaraweera, had resistedfor two and a half sessions. The score was 333 for 4 and Sri Lanka hadfinally established a slim lead. It was the perfect time for Dilshan toenter the arena. Since returning to international cricket he has played hisnatural aggressive game, with some notable success against England andAustralia.An injection of energy into the innings would have eased the pressure onSangakkara’s tired shoulders and carried Sri Lanka away from Pakistan.Instead, though, the innings stagnated and then nosedived with three morewickets tumbling in the final hour. Pakistan were left jubilant at theclose, aware that only a miracle could prevent them from levelling theseries. The duly did so.Sri Lanka though can be proud of their performance. They were put into baton a tricky damp pitch and forced onto the backfoot from the start. But theybattled hard, session after session, refusing to be broken as the Pakistanlead ticked up. Certain doom appeared inevitable but the likes of ChamindaVaas, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were heroic in their refusal to surrender.If you measure results in with results it mattered little, Sri Lanka werethe losers and a series was shared, but this was a performance to celebrate.Once again, it showed how well Atapattu has bonded together and inspired histeam. They are once again a tight unit, committed to fight for each otherand for Sri Lanka until the very end. This spirit is so precious.Unfortunately, their task was undermined by a selector. De Mel may well beupset with the attitude of John Dyson, who has taken a stronger stance onselection than Dav Whatmore, and Atapattu, both of whom are focused onwinning, but he must understand that they are accountable for results. Theirjob is to win series and to carry Sri Lanka to the top. Their mission was tobeat Pakistan.De Mel may have had some sound reasons for his frustration, but there was noneed for a public attack two days before a tri-series final, and there wasno need for Dilshan to be sacrificed. De Mel made a misjudgement, a seriousseries-wasting clanger, but will he be held accountable? Only the SportsMinister can answer that. But he should go, and go soon before more damageis done.

10.15am England 568 and 71 for 0 (Trescothick 34*, Strauss 27*) lead West Indies 416 by 223 runs
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Despite an iffy weather forecast it dawned fine in north London today, and England’s openers will soon be out in the middle again, looking to build on a lead which is already substantial at 223. In an ideal world Michael Vaughan would pile on another 250 runs or so and declare around tea-time, giving himself at least four sessions to bowl West Indies out again on a slowish pitch which is taking a little turn.But Plan A, as Brian Lara has discovered, doesn’t alweays work. Despite the currently cloud-free sky, the weather may yet intervene. But piling on the runs isn’t impossible on this pitch, as England’s openers demonstrated last night, putting on 71 in 22 overs without apparent effort. Marcus Trescothick’s first two shots, which he eased through the covers for fours, might have caused the bowler, Tino Best, a restless night.In the first innings West Indies’ bowling was wayward, and their fielding worse. Lara will want a better collective effort from his men today, and maybe a little help from the clouds, which have largely deserted him since that overcast first morning, when he put England in only for the cumulo-nimbus to roll away amd reveal acres of blue sky.

Canterbury posted their second win over Central Districts in a week and had Michael Davidson to thank for the success in Christchurch, which pushed them to the top of the table. Playing his third first-class game, Davidson captured nine wickets for the match and his first half-century as his side sealed an eight-wicket, three-day victory.Half-centuries to Peter Ingram (83), Bevan Griggs (55) and Timothy Lythe (52) pushed Central Districts to 226, but they managed only 148 in the second innings as Davidson added a career-best 5 for 39 to his 4 for 55 on the opening day. Michael Mason, the New Zealand bowler, hit 39 not out to extend the home team’s target to 89 and then took the only two wickets to fall. Davidson’s 56 and 82 not out from Kruger Van Wyk were essential in getting Canterbury to 286 and they did not let go off their first-innings advantage.The previous leaders Wellington slumped to an embarrassing two-day defeat to Otago after their first-innings 76 was followed by 150 in Dunedin. Wellington needed 267 to make the home team bat again and the total was a long way from their reach as Bradley Scott picked up 4 for 36 and Nathan McCullum captured 3 for 20 to end the match before its scheduled halfway point.After their successful first day, which was sealed with James McMillan’s four wickets, Otago showed there were no problems with the pitch by making 342. The opener Craig Cumming fell seven short of a century and was well supported by Aaron Redmond in a stand of 134. Redmond finished with 56 while Greg Todd, the No. 3, added 48. Michael Burns and Charlie Shreck limited the damage with three wickets each, but Wellington were soon in more trouble when they batted for a second time. They stay on 24 points while Otago move closer to the top three with 16.It took six rounds but the defending champions Northern Districts finally have their first win on the board after beating Auckland by seven wickets in Gisborne. In a low-scoring match Gareth Hopkins was the only man to threaten a big score, before he fell for 99 in the first innings as Auckland reached 186.Peter McGlashan (51) helped Northern Districts secure a handy lead as they made 283 despite Colin de Grandhomme’s 4 for 65. Another Hopkins half-century – he made 52 – could not mask Auckland’s troubles and Tim Southee’s seven wickets for the match left the home side needing only 101 for victory. James Marshall and Daniel Flynn guided them home early on the fourth day.