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Robin Singh, coach of the India A team, felt that the team’s upcoming tour of Australia for the Top End series next month would serve as an ideal opportunity to build reliable bench strength for the national side. India A will play a series of four-day and limited-overs matches against the A sides of Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia in Darwin and Cairns.”It is basically an extension of what most of the cricketers had already proved”, Robin told before a week-long preparatory camp for the squad in Hyderabad. “India A tours are essentially feeder exercises which should help the country build a very strong senior team.”Robin indicated that recent tours such as the Eurasia Cup in Abu Dhabi have been instrumental in identifying fringe players and fast-tracking potential players into the big league when the need arises. For the upcoming tour, as many as seven out of the 15 players have already represented India. He said, “After the recent Abu Dhabi tournament, I had an useful interaction with India coach Greg Chappell and gave him important inputs on the players. And I am happy that three from that tour went on to play for India almost immediately.”I have an eye on everyone. It is important that everyone in this team is ready to grab the opportunity. There is every possibility of slots coming up for grabs at any given point of time.”Robin also revealed that Venkatapathy Raju, former India left-arm spinner and Kanwaljit Singh, former Hyderabad offspinner, have been roped in to train the squad during the camp. “I had a word with Raju and having played with him, I know his worth. It should be a good experience for the boys too.”

Glamorgan 56 for 2 v Gloucestershire
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Only 24.3 overs were possible at Bristol where there was a delayed start and then a complete washout soon after lunch. Jon Lewis and Steve Kirby both took 1 for 13 in niggardly opening spells when the ball moved around off the seam. Lewis accounted for Gareth Rees, who was caught behind for 2, while Kirby removed Matthew Wood, well held low down at third slip by Grant Hodnett for 4. Glamorgan were then 15 for 2 but David Hemp and Mike Powell guided them through to the interval, and the rain returned for good three overs after the resumption.Warwickshire 128 for 4 (Bell 42) v Leicestershire
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There was a little more play at Edgbaston where Warwickshire made 128 for 4 in 50 overs against Leicestershire. Conditions were far from friendly for the batsmen, and they found the going hard under leaden skies and between three interruptions for showers. Dillon du Preez, signed as a Kolpak yesterday, got his Leicestershire career off to a flier, removing Darren Maddy’s off stump with his second ball as the batsman shouldered arms, and then having Ian Bell dropped at third slip off his seventh. Bell and Ian Westwood added 70 for the second wicket before Bell was trapped leg before half forward, and then Westwood became du Preez’s second victim – he finished with tight figures of 13-5-21-2 – care of a good catch at third slip soon after he had been struck on the jaw by a lifter. Michael Powell quickly followed, caught behind off James Allenby’s third ball, and Warwickshire were wobbling on 102 for 4. But Jonathan Trott and Tim Ambrose held firm until bad light ended play. Geoff Miller, England’s head selector, watched the day but with no fewer than ten South Africans on show, he cannot have learned too much.

On a day when the Nagpur surface for the third Test between India and South Africa was rated ‘poor’ by the ICC, and less than a week after Rahul Dravid delivered a stinging critique of pitches used in the Ranji Trophy, the first day of Tamil Nadu-Punjab game saw 21 wickets fall. Seventeen of them went to spinners, but TN coach M Sanjay blamed his side’s batting, and not the Dindigul pitch.Punjab were dismissed for 206 in 57 overs and Tamil Nadu were shot out for 68 in the 24th, their second-lowest total in Ranji Trophy history. While Sanjay admitted to the TNCA rolling out a turning track to strengthen Tamil Nadu’s chances of a knockout berth in a must-win game, he denied it was an underprepared pitch. “Basically we played too many shots too early thinking that the wicket is going to do [something],” Sanjay told ESPNcricinfo.”There is turn and bounce, it is a spinner-friendly wicket, but they have got 200 [206], so it’s not like it’s a bad wicket. I think it’s more in the mind than in the wicket.”The odd ball kept low, but it was prepared to be a turning track just like India are preparing wickets for home games. We had to because we need to have to six points.”So did the ploy backfire after Punjab took the chance to bat first? “The toss doesn’t matter at all on a wicket like this actually,” Sanjay insisted. “In fact, it might be better bowling first on a wicket like this because the bounce is there. We didn’t bowl too well also and we didn’t field well, missing three-four chances.”Sanjay said the concept of an ‘ideal’ surface – one that assists the seamers initially before flattening out and eventually crumbling on the last day to bring the spinners into play – however noble was largely impractical. “We have seen pitches all over India in the last few years; it doesn’t happen like that in reality.””I don’t think the curators really know to do that. Earlier they might have done it when the pitches were uncovered. But then they have standardised the preparation of pitches after experts were brought in from abroad and lot of scientific things went into it,” Sanjay said. “Anyway India is preparing turners. You have to know how to counter that with certain skills that are different from playing seam bowling but they are skills anyway.”Dravid had recently come down heavily on poor pitches in this season’s Ranji Trophy after several two- and three-day finishes. Sanjay felt it wasn’t fair to generalise like that, and stressed on the need for tighter technique to succeed on such tracks, something Ravi Shastri had advocated recently as well.”People are not understanding the differentiation. Because it’s getting over in two or three days they are clubbing underprepared wickets with prepared ones [where matches finish because of other factors],” he said. “The Nottingham pitch [in the Ashes], which got over in three days, wasn’t underprepared, for instance.”[For an] underprepared wicket, you don’t water it, roll it, you just leave it like that, and it takes its course. The ball rolls, one kicks up, that becomes dangerous. These wickets are not dangerous; the bounce is consistent but for the odd ball.”This generation, not just cricketers, doesn’t have patience and perseverance. In today’s game as well there were four or five soft dismissals. Other than R Sathish – he got a ball which literally rolled – and R Prasanna, who Harbhajan got out with a beauty, there were many soft dismissals: Dinesh Karthik out lbw deliberately padding; Abhinav [Mukund] top-edging a pull off a rank short ball; [B] Aparajith trying to sweep top-edged one; and Vijay Shankar being caught brilliantly on the line.”Dravid had spoken of the importance of looking beyond wins and develop cricketers for the international stage. While Sanjay agreed with this philosophy, he said the ground realities of the competition’s structure couldn’t be glossed over. “An outright [win] gets you double the points [as a first-innings lead]. The administration or the coach, team captain, especially when it comes to the last league game, are desperate for a win. You wouldn’t have seen so many such matches in the beginning.”It’s true that if you keep getting wickets like this, you won’t get runs and you will lose confidence. That’s true. But out of eight games, you will play two or three games maximum. Otherwise five games are on phenomenal pitches,” Sanjay said.

When India and Pakistan clash, the buzz is generally around the players who could turn in the match-winning performance, but thanks to all the rain around Durban the weather has taken centrestage on the eve of this high-profile game – the forecast predicts 60% chance of evening showers.Pakistan have already qualified for the Super Eights and can, if they choose to, take this as a practice match before the next stage. India, though, have more at stake: if they lose such that their run-rate is more than 2.55 lesser than Pakistan’s (by more than 51 runs if Pakistan score 160, or if Pakistan chase down India’s 160 in 15 overs or lesser), they will be knocked out of the Super Eights stage of a World Cup for the second time inone year.Despite all the talk by Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the contrary, the Indians will be feeling the pressure when they step out at Kingsmead on Friday.Bat play: The Indians missed out on an opportunity to get a hit in the middle, but Dhoni mentioned after the wash-out that the same 12 have been chosen for Friday. That probably means the same XI will play, and the batting line-up will be exactly the same as well. There are potential match-winners there, but the challenge will be to step it up against a dangerous bowling attack in conditions which will be unfamiliar for theIndians.Pakistan’s batting wasn’t entirely convincing either, but it always looked like they weren’t pushing the accelerator at full throttle. Even with qualification not on the line, expect them to come hard at the Indian bowlers. A promotion up the order is on the cards for Shahid Afridi.Wrecking ball: Umar Gul had a field day against Scotland, and if conditions remain overcast – and forecasts suggest they will – expect Gul and Mohammad Asif to ask plenty of questions of the Indian batsmen. India have Sreesanth, RP Singh and Ajit Agarkar in their ranks, but if conditions assist swing, Irfan Pathan, who already has a hat-trick to his name against Pakistan is Tests, could be the one to watch out for.Keep your eye on: Asif. The Indians have generally struggled against him, and even in a batsman-dominated game, his four overs could push them back significantly.Shop talk: Most players like to play down the significance of an India-Pakistan match, but Salman Butt, the Pakistan opener, made no attempt to pass it off as just another game. “It’s the biggest game there is,” Butt said. “The whole nation will be depending on us to do well. There are two sides to the coin. You can either see the match as a pressure situation or as an opportunity to perform.”Dhoni, on the other hand, refused to believe the washout against Scotland had placed his team under extra pressure. “There is so much pressure in international cricket that a little extra expectation makes no difference.” The Indians will also be putting on the line their record of never having lost to Pakistan in a World Cup match: they have beaten them four times, though they were all in the 50-over format.Pitching it right: If the first two games here were any indication, the pitch should offer a few challenges to the batsmen – there was sideways movement on offer, which could be exaggerated under cloudy skies.Teams
India (likely): Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir,Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), IrfanPathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Sreesanth.Pakistan (likely): Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir,Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal,Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif.

Having been banished from the world cricket community by the ICC, US cricket has returned, literally and figuratively, to its grass roots. It is doing what it does best – opening up its far frontiers to an exciting brand of cricket, and breaking many records in the process.Not that too many people, even in the Pacific Northwest, were paying much attention. Most Northwest cricketers were glued to their newly acquired broadband TV receivers as they followed the World Cup. Those who could afford it had made the 6000-mile flight to Jamaica and Barbados, and were sending back “wish-you-were-here” e-mails to folks back home.Those who did descend on the Kirigin Cellars in Morgan County, CA found themselves in an idyllic setting for cricket. Here are two first-class cricket grounds, not one; being built to professional standards by the wealthy owner of the Kirigin Cellars, one of the largest distributors of fine wines in Northern California. Here also is a major sponsor for the Northern California Cricket Association who is committed to the long-term development of cricket in this unlikely part of the world, called “Cricket’s Northwest Passage” by Chris Sandford in Cricketer International. Only the Woodley Park grounds in Los Angeles can claim to have similar facilities for staging major national tournaments and exhibition matches. And for a place that is closer to Japan and Hong Kong than to New York or Miami, this has to be a major achievement.The Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA), hosts of the tournament, made a risky decision–they chose to hold the InterLeague Tournament early in 2007, not late August or September.The “later” months are favoured by most US leagues, when their “regular” seasons have been completed. Playing early puts a great deal of pressure on the leagues, who have to select promising talent to be supported in the season ahead.The weather, too, could have proved to be the tournament’s undoing. There were brief showers and overcast skies through much of the tournament, and a bone-chilling breeze even in bright afternoon sunlight made spectators and reporters huddle underneath procured blankets, warmed by some very spicy curry served by the hosts during innings breaks. But it worked out for the best, and a good time was had by all.Below, in Rohan Chandran’s words, is a match-by-match commentary as our selected eyewitness to the InterLeagueTournament. We hope folks will find it almost as enjoyable as if they were at the new Kirigin Cellars cricket complex in the first place.******************************************************************************************The NorthWest InterLeague Cup tournament was held at Kirigin Cellars winery, in Morgan Hill, CA. It featured representative sides of the Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA), Bay Area Cricket Alliance (BACA), California Cricket League (CCL), and the North West Cricket League representing Washington State, Oregon and Idaho (NWCL).The host team, NCCA, ultimately prevailed, beating all three of their opponents, but it was a success that was threatened several times along the way. Particularly promising for all concerned was the fact that the architects of the triumph were two young cricketers just starting out on what will hopefully become long and fruitful careers.Medium-pacer Sunny Singh Baidwan was, along with BACA’s U-19 off-spinner, Saad Khan, the pick of the bowlers on display; whilst 18 year old Shoaib Saleem displayed a maturity beyond his years with match-winning knocks in both his trips to the middle.Game 1: NCCA vs. BACA
After winning the toss and electing to bat, BACA got off to a flier, thanks to an aggressive display from Iftikhar Khan, and a generous helping of extras from the NCCA opening bowlers. Wickets kept falling however, and at 74 for 6, BACA looked down and out. However, some selective counter-attacking by another Under-19 player, Randhir Kalsi, coming in at number seven, helped his side eke out a total of 146 before he was trapped by the offspin of Nirav Shah. That the entire innings lasted just 29 overs paints a clear picture of the tactics adopted, unsuccessfully, by the BACA batsmen. The NCCA reply began in the best possible fashion, with Rohan Dutt pulling the first ball of the innings high over mid-wicket for six. His 66, in an opening partnership of 95 with skipper Arjun Thyagarajan, laid a solid platform as the medium pacers were easily dispatched to all corners of the field. Some injudicious strokeplay from the middle order gave BACA a glimmer of hope, but 146 was never going to be enough, and NCCA emerged victorious by five wickets with 19 overs to spare.Game 2: NWCL vs. CCL
In contrast to that one-sided affair, NWCL needed all their mental strength to see off CCL by just one run on the adjacent field. Half-centuries for Srikanth Sundaragopalan and pugnacious legspinning allrounder Saurabh Verma led NWCL to a defensible total of 239 for 7. Having elected to field first, CCL let themselves down with a poor catching display, and the concession of 24 wides. They then lost three early wickets before the scoreboard had really got moving, leaving NWCL scenting victory. Former NCCA skipper Nauman Mustafa then took charge, driving his way to 70 runs in a century partnership with Saad Hasan. A mini-collapse left CCL needing 68 in 9 overs with four wickets in hand. USA national squad member Fauad Hasan, the CCL captain, batted with the clear intent of finishing the game off as quickly as possible. With 16 needed in 18 balls, with three wickets in hand. A tame caught and bowled saw the end of Hasan. At this stage 12 balls remained, two runs were needed to win, one run to tie. But a slight hesitation over a tight single was pounced upon by NWCL, and they stole back a game they had once dominated and then nearly thrown away at the death.Game 3: NCCA vs. CCL
Having been sent in to bat, NCCA got off to a terrible start, losing Rohan Dutt for a duck, and finding themselves 54 for 4 with the last recognized batsmen at the crease. Fortunately for them, Jay Kashalikar and the youngster, Shoaib Saleem, on debut, forged a partnership that was an object lesson in batting at this level. NCCA’s innings evolved into a series of very smartly taken singles and twos. Just when things looked to be getting back under control, Fauad Hasan induced a leading edge to send Kashalikar back to the pavilion, and the innings teetered on the brink at 143 for 9. That was the moment that Saleem chose to show everyone watching just how to play the game. Number eleven Sandeep contributed just one run to a last wicket partnership of 48, which was only ended by a needless run-out off the final delivery of the innings. The CCL reply never really got off the ground once Sunny Singh Baidwan had struck twice in two overs early in the innings. Ayan Banerjee fought hard for his 42, but none of the other batsmen got going against a disciplined attack, and they could only muster 131 in their reply, despite some poor catching by the NCCA fielders.Game 4: NWCL vs. BACA
In the day’s second game, NWCL collapsed to 117 for 6 after winning the toss, and it was only Saurabh Verma’s 47, following on from his half-century the previous day, that took his team to a respectable 217. The spin attack of Saad Khan and Mayank Pradhan captured three and four wickets respectively for BACA. It was Verma’s day in fact, and in nine overs of legspin he snared 5 for 21, decimating the BACA middle order, and ensuring that Jaswinder Singh’s valiant 46 was in vain. BACA fell 54 runs short, thereby setting up a straight knock-out for the championship between NWCL and NCCA on the final day.Game 5: BACA vs. CCL
In what was a fight to not finish last, BACAs spin twins of Saad Khan and Mayank Pradhan were once again amongst the wickets, taking 4 for 19 and 4 for 30 respectively as the CCL top order all failed to capitalize on good starts. A total of 180 seemed eminently reachable, but a very tight spell of spin bowling from Fauad Hasan, and five catches behind the stumps for Nauman Mustafa, put a stranglehold on the batsmen, and once again it was only Jaswinder Singh who resisted, scoring 59 as his team spluttered their way to 147, not once looking like posing a serious threat to CCL.Game 6: NCCA vs. NWCL
The hosts were favourites going into this one, and they started out in determined fashion, making the NWCL openers struggle for every run. Wickets fell regularly to the medium pace of Badiwan, Patel and Kashalikar, and it was only some very determined batting by the tail that turned 94 for 6 (with David Hoyle retired hurt as well) into 162. That score was not thought to be sufficient to test the NCCA batting line-up, but when Rohan Dutt fell for his second successive duck, and skipper Arjun Thyagarajan and Jay Kashalikar followed him to leave the home side reeling at 15 for 3, all bets were off. The left-right combination of Sikander Khan and Sunil Chandrupatla steadied the ship, but it was left to young Shoaib Saleem to once again play the winning hand, his undefeated 49 guiding his more experienced colleagues home with six overs to spare.All four teams in the tournament showed the rust-inducing effects of a long winter without cricket, but in the strong performances of several debutant youngsters, the first stones in a foundation for a successful future may well have been laid here.

Shoaib Akhtar may face more action from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his alleged outburst at the board’s headquarters in Gaddafi Stadium on Friday, following the imposition of a fine of approximately US$5000.On Friday, Shoaib reportedly clashed with several board officials over the fine, and specifically because he felt he wasn’t provided a chance to clear his position. The board announced his punishment on Wednesday, after Shoaib did not turn up on Tuesday to clarify why he was absent from the national training camp in Karachi on August 4.Shoaib has reportedly insisted that he received the letter for the original disciplinary hearing on Friday, and not Tuesday as the board claims. Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer, however, contradicted this, telling that he had been in touch with Shoaib earlier.”Shoaib rang me up and admitted that it was wrong of him not to attend the camp in Karachi and the PCB had rightly imposed a fine on him,” said Naghmi. “He expressed annoyance over the manner in which one of the PCB officials had inquired of his whereabouts from his family.”Naghmi said he will be looking into the matter now personally. “I will be in Lahore on Monday and will inquire from the PCB staff about the actual incident which happened on Friday,” he said. “After that, we will then decide on a course of action.”

New Zealand and Sri Lanka have each won a Test and Twenty20 match and the five-match one-day series beginning on December 28 at Napier will decide who takes the winner’s position.Nathan Astle has been cleared to play the first match after it was confirmed that he had only bruised his hand, and not broken it, during the second Twenty20 match on Boxing Day.Astle was relieved that the injury, which occurred when Marvan Atapattu tried to run him out, wasn’t serious. “It would have been a funny way to break a bone. I didn’t know he was going to throw it – I was two metres past the stumps,” he told AFP.Due to a rotational policy to keep the top players fit for the World Cup in March, Stephen Fleming will miss the first two games and Daniel Vettori, who was himself rested for the Twenty20 matches, has been appointed the stand-in captain. Shane Bond will also miss the first two games while Kyle Mills, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram are out of contention due to injuries.Back-up bowlers Michael Mason and Mark Gillespie are doubtful to play and though Vettori remains hopeful Iain O’Brien, a medium-pace bowler, has been recalled into the squad. “We’ll leave it as long as we can,” Vettori said adding that the two bowlers, along with James Franklin, had troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen with pace and bounce in the Twenty20 game at Auckland. “It’s always been a criticism of subcontinent batsmen when they come to this part of the world – if you get up to them it unsettles them,” he said.New Zealand hosted Sri Lanka for four ODIs last December-January and won the series 3-1. Vettori wants to better the result this time round in preparation for the World Cup. “We’ve talked about the fact that if we want to consider ourselves as one of the favourites for the World Cup, we’ve got to start winning consistently — and if we’re not winning in our own backyard we can’t be put up as favourites.” But Vettori has been criticised for picking an inexperienced side that includes Ross Taylor, who has played only two ODIs, and James Marshall, who has played five.Tom Moody, the Sri Lanka coach, also looked at the five matches as part of Sri Lanka’s build-up to the World Cup. “This is part of the process, another hurdle. We want to look at a couple of combinations,” he said. Having tied the Test series, the Sri Lankan team will be confident about their chances in the ODIs. Sri Lanka play four ODIs in India in February before heading to West Indies in March.New Zealand squad: Daniel Vettori (captain), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Iain O’Brien, Jeetan Patel, Ross Taylor.Sri Lanka squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Malinga Bandara, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ruchira Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga, Chaminda Vaas

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formed a three-member committee to review the effectiveness of last season’s players’ contract, and submit a report to the board for the 2005-06 season. The previous season’s contract has expired and the new international season kicks off with the home series against Sri Lanka on October 25.The committee comprising of Jyoti Bajpai, the board’s treasurer, Gautam Dasgupta, the joint secretary and Ratnakar Shetty, executive secretary-in-charge, would submit a report to SK Nair, the board secretary. The Kolkata-based daily quoted BCCI sources as saying, “No time frame has been fixed for the matter. The committee has to compile a report on how the contracts have worked and whether there was any need to change any existing clauses and send it to the board secretary. If there’s a camp before the Sri Lanka series it would help the committee members to have a discussion with the senior players before preparing the report”.The paper reported that the committee’s findings would be discussed by another committee convened by SK Nair that would comprise Ranbir Singh Mahendra, BCCI president, Greg Chappell, the Indian coach and Kiran More, chairman of the selection committee. Last season, 17 players were given contracts by the BCCI after dividing the players into three groups, with the annual retainership per player pegged at Rs 50 lakh, Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively.

South Africa have been fined for their slow over-rate in the first Test against India in Chennai. Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, found the side was two overs short of its target after time allowances were taken in to consideration.On day three South Africa managed only 85 overs as India pushed to gain a first-innings lead. It was the day Virender Sehwag raced to the fastest Test triple-hundred, his second in 55 Tests.According to ICC Code of Conduct players are fined 5% of their match fees for every over lost while captain is fined double of that. Consequently South African players lost 10% of their match fees and Graeme Smith lost 20%. The team cannot appeal the fine.After a dull draw in the first Test the two sides now move on to Ahmedabad for the second one starting on April 3.

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, believes the DLF Cup against India and Australia in Malaysia provides ideal preparation for his side as they aim to defend the ICC Champions Trophy crown they won in England in 2004.”This tri-series is a good lead in to the Champions Trophy preliminary round, the quality of opposition is the strongest in the world so it is a good test against the best,” King said shortly before departure from the Caribbean.King, coach since late 2004, is looking forward to the team building on the progress of their suprising, and exhilirating, 4-1 series victory over India in the Caribbean in May. “In the last few games the team played as a team and we need to build on that learning experience to move forward.”The tri-series also marks the beginning of a lengthy three-and-a-half month tour of South Asia and the subcontinent; after Malaysia, West Indies will travel to India for the Champions Trophy before hopping next door to Pakistan for a series of three Tests and five ODIs immediately after. And King is looking forward eagerly to the sojourn.”What this whole combined tour will do is give us extended access to work with the players. It will be a test of the players’ durability and their ability to maintain quality and high levels of performance for a long period of time.”The 14-man squad is scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 9th and take on Australia in their first game on September 12th.