Now that Dr Nasim Ashraf is at the helm of affairs, he should look into this genre of cricket and produce a special package and award system for female cricketers
While women cricket quietly worked wonders worldwide in 2006, Pakistan's female cricketers have miserably failed to impress in the 'men's game'. They rather seem to have retrogressed as far as their perforamcne is concerned. It's now quite apparent that women's cricket did not get significant boost from the patronage of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The recently-concluded 3rd Women's Asia Cup at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, India, is a case in point. Pakistan women cricketers exhibited a pathetic show at this mega regional event, losing all the four games in bizarre fashion.
Winning and losing are part of the game, but the way they lost was presenting a win on a platter to their opponents, with no resistance and fight at all. A 'definite' loss and that too with whopping margins was the name of the game as far as their play in the Asia Cup on Indian soil was concerned.
In an inconsequential match for either team, Pakistan crawled to defeat after defeat. On the contrary, their Indian counterparts exhibited an excellent display of their skills, winning all their four matches in the three-team tournament, contested on a double-league basis, collecting 19 points at a net run-rate of +1.427 and also winning the tournament in style for the third consecutive time after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
Sri Lanka Women were second, with two wins and two losses in four matches that got them nine points and a net run-rate of -0.092. The Pakistan Women led by Urooj Mumtaz lost all their four matches. They didn't get any points and had a poor run-rate.
On December 13, India beat Pakistan by 80 runs at the same venue here. The next day, they were defeated by Sri Lanka by seven wickets. Last Sunday, Sri Lanka beat them again by five wickets while India hammered them on December 19 last by a 103-run difference.
India rounded off a sensational year with an unsurprisingly one-sided victory over Sri Lanka to take their second Asia Cup title in 12 months. They stormed through the tournament with win after win and eventually rolled Sri Lanka over to win by eight wickets in the final.
India's grand win in the 3rd Asia Cup caps a year of prosperity both on and off the pitch. In fact the Indian women left their mark on cricket in 2006. They beat England in a Test for the first time, and on English soil too, to take the series 1-0.
The reality is that they have benefited in the real sense of the word from their board's merger with the richest cricket board, the BCCI, which has provided them with better fees, facilities and rewards.
For the first time in its history the BCCI is taking its role in the development of women's cricket seriously, and has announced that each player who was part of the women's team that beat England and then won the Asia Cup would receive a bonus of one lakh rupees (US$2000). This would prove quite encouraging for the female cricketers, who have been good in the entire region.
When the side embarked on their 40-day tour of England in 2006, each was handed travellers' cheques and currency worth £1100 (US$2000), an unheard of thing in women's cricket. India's captain Mithali Raj is confident that with the new cashflood, the women can up their game to play more exciting, attacking cricket in the coming years.
In 2006 they have touched new heights and attained few a milestones. No team can touch them in the regional encounters particularly in the prestigious Asia Cup. They have lifted the title three times out of three -- but already they will be working towards their next big target: to lift the World Cup.
They became the first team in the subcontinent to reach the final last year, but fell away drastically to Australia. They will now be aiming to go one better, in Australia in 2009.
It may be mentioned here that last year the ICC merged with the IWCC. But it seems that Pakistan female cricketers have hardly benefited from the merger as they have disappointed the followers with their continued bad show.
As far as India is concerned, they long before the mergers have been benefiting from huge improvements -- getting to play in better stadiums, with better facilities and vastly increased match fees.
India's Anjum Chopra was also on the Award list of the ICC Awards in the category of first ICC Female players of the Year, which was won by Australia's captain Karen Rolton. On the contrary Pakistan female cricket did not get any boost from the patronage of PCB. Now that Dr Nasim Ashraf is at the helm of affairs, he should look into this genre of cricket and should produce a special package and award system for female cricketers on the lines of the BCCI to give a boost to women's cricket.
It may be mentioned that Pakistan is staging the qualifying tournament in 2007, but that is not enough as staging an event is something different from giving performance. Female cricketers should also work hard to impress with their performance to help convince the decision makers to allocate more and more funds for them.
To conclude one may say that women's cricket in India is heading in the right direction but in Pakistan it lags far behind. The irony is that it also does not promise any signs of improvement in the near future. Only through sincere efforts on parts of those at the helm of affairs and dedication on part of female cricketers the situation can lead to a change in the long run.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Pakistan's leadership: Inzamam-ul-Haq's predicament
Inzamam is not the philosopher like Mike Brearley or as aggressive and impetuous as Ricky Ponting or as shrewd as Stephen Fleming but still he has done his bit.Inzamam-ul-Haq makes an unusual choice for the captaincy. Talk of Pakistan cricket and the image that floods the mind's eye immediately is of a village gale force. Unpredictability like fire makes for the strongest imagery, even beating that of batsmen with wrists of steel playing instinctively and to entertain. But now one thought of Inzamam as captain until the selectors and PCB ran out of choices. Inzamam subsequently changed all that. For the first time Inzamam was required at his matured best. The complete cricketer who may have been really satisfied if he had been able to score a hundred in every innings he had played in Tests.
He always set high standards for himself and by the time Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed were out of international cricket and with people like Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan left as his most talented lieutenants, Inzamam started to bat without his causal approach. He wasn't the Inzamam known to world cricket, a man filled with lazy elegance.
From 2002 until now, he has led Pakistan from the front. In spite of his outstanding batting deeds, his captaincy was always on the rack. There were people, who are still standing up and sloganeering against Inzamam the captain. He has done enough to keep them quiet when it comes to his amazing ability with the bat but due to the soft, lazy looks and his inability to converse fervently with his subordinates and colleagues he has often been subjected to relentless criticism.
One must add here, Inzamam is not the philosopher like Mike Brearley or as aggressive and impetuous as Ricky Ponting or as shrewd as Stephen Fleming but still he has done his bit. One must not forget that Pakistan cricket was absolutely parched with aces like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Saeed Anwar, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan and the rest leaving almost simultaneously. Inzamam was left alone and he had a truck load of responsibility to put cricket back on track. Was he really capable of doing that? There was an air of skepticism, one that of uncertainty. Inzamam needed to rise to the occasion.
Inzamam came to the captaincy scaffold after Rashid Latif suffered from his typical 'frustration blues'. Very few people know that Inzamam was immensely patient when it came to the captaincy. He had been offered to take over as the country's captain after Moin Khan had fallen apart with the Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia run PCB at the conclusion of Pakistan's tour to New Zealand in 2001.Inzamam at that juncture thought he wasn't ready and he wanted to achieve more with the bat and was not eager to let distractions impede his growth. Waqar Younis took over, even Azhar Mahmood was considered. Inzamam was aloof, juggling the bat in his hand and biding his time.
To some, he was shrewd enough to peek into the future. He wasn't ready to sacrifice his career with team politics rampant during 2003. Nevertheless, as Rashid Latif quit in between the Pakistan-South Africa series in 2003-04, Inzamam had to take over.
More than the unusual nature of the appointment, it was the unusual nature of the man which could make his choice a surprising one. When he was made Pakistan's captain, the selectors and the PCB were not left with much options -- Mohammad Yousuf (then Yousuf Youhana) was too laid back and humble and Younis Khan was busy rejuvenating his fledgling career. Moin Khan was not the administration's premier choice and was also making a comeback. His return to the team was also largely dependent upon Inzamam's future.
When Inzamam took over, there were ex-colleagues thinking how easily distracted he could become when batting or fielding. There were instances when captains had to yell at him when the ball headed in his direction. For such an easy going cricketer, captaincy could be a quaint challenge. Still, Inzamam was no stranger to the job. His stint at Hamilton against New Zealand when Moin opted out due to a niggling knee injury had ended in a disaster. Inzamam was expected to goad an unfashionable team, a team that had inexperienced cricketers.
The dressing room view was different. Most of the young cricketers appreciated the leadership qualities of their soft-spoken captain who led them valiantly against India in India in 2004-05. Inzamam subsequently showed that his feet remained on the ground when it came to leading Pakistan. He has very few words to say but then he has gone through life competing against the internal politics, administrative wrangles and player-power and so an economy of words is understandable. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Moin Khan and Rashid Latif were from the top drawer, all ahead of him, as he was trying to make an impact as the main force in Pakistan's often inconsistent pecking order.
Since World Cup 1992, Inzamam has been one of the cogs in the wheel of Pakistan cricket. Writers always thought of him as the work horse, coming on to relieve Javed Miandad and Saleem Malik, staying on to provide middle order resistance. The laconic Inzamam was actually more than a mere workhorse.
An intelligent purveyor of quality strokes, he was also a brutal destroyer. He was at times a cynical battering ram. Eleven times he was penalised for breach of discipline, the last one being at the Oval as he rammed into Darrell Hair. A high-quality rhythm batsman Inzamam sometimes seemed to brutalise batting.
Sparing as he is in the use of the words, he may even seem to make things worse by never attempting to explain himself. He is truly deserving of the title of the strong and silent man of Pakistan's batting, although it is quite possible, the critics will remember him as a silent slayer of top bowling; one hell of a batsman he has been.
Why didn't Inzamam achieve world fame until very late in his career? The truth is that someone who has always lived in the shadow of more glamorous colleagues in any cricket team may find their own ways to assert themselves. And when you are one in the pack, and also relatively inconsistent and not fulfilling what the actual talent suggests, opportunities present themselves far less frequently.
But, in terms of runs, Inzamam has done so well as to stir everyone with his contribution over the years. A tally in the vicinity of nine thousand runs in Tests and almost twelve thousand in One-day Internationals clearly indicates that he has been a great batsman. He got many runs with his cleverness and unprecedented talent more than brute force. Maybe, that is why he has survived so long as to become captaincy material. The thinking, amazingly talented even less consistent batsman is guaranteed career longevity.
There must be something of a paradox in his approach to the game. The debate has been raging in Pakistan over who should be in the party to South Africa and the World Cup 2007. While the popular line of thinking has been to pick a dogged opener on the premise that such batsmen should do well in South Africa, others are pleading that Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hafeez have done the job effectively, though inconsistently and so why pick a naÔve new dogged orthodox batsman for the sake of conventionalism.
Truly, due to a complete absence of bench strength, the selectors' job is quite easy. They have nothing much in store, not even a high quality orthodox batsman to open Pakistan's innings in Tests in South Africa; that's the dilemma leaving the onus of rebuilding the innings on Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq. And now Inzamam has a say not only in who is to be picked. He has to run the batting himself.
Yousuf and Inzamam are the duo who can do the most on bouncy pitches in South Africa. In that sense, Inzamam's position as captain is unenviable. This is no simple assignment although the most challenging time may come only in the World Cup. The two, Yousuf and Inzamam, have taken a very major share of the workload. They are not the ones complaining of the acute fatigue syndrome. They will have their work cut out. More so Inzamam with his batting on the wane will have an extra-load of captaincy worries to top all demands on what is certain to be an arduous tour.
Inzamam will be needed to explore the finer facets of captaincy in South Africa and then taking them to the World Cup in the West Indies. Since the arrival of Bob Woolmer Inzamam was able to form a compatible team running Pakistan cricket dogmatically. There were instances when the environment was stirred. Until Shaharyar Khan was at the helm, Inzamam's future as captain was absolutely secured but once he left there were interruptions and tribulations in between.
At one point of time Inzamam was set to lose Pakistan's captaincy. He had been banned after playing as the main tool in forfeiture of the Oval Test and Younis Khan, his much famed deputy, was set to take the team to India for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Ironically, as it so frequently happens, there was a tangle that resulted in Younis Khan declining to lead Pakistan to India. Younis then had come up as a crafty, impressive, intelligent and effervescent stand-in captain for Inzamam. Nevertheless, after all the drama that saw Younis being removed and then re-installed and Shaharyar Khan tendering his resignation, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif testing positive for Nandrolone, a contraband drug, and Pakistan losing miserably to New Zealand and South Africa, Younis's future as Inzamam's natural heir nose-dived to see the latter re-emerging as a compulsive choice at least until the World Cup 2007.
With Dr Nasim Ashraf in place and Inzamam not that close to him, the way he was to Shaharyar Khan it seems that he'll need an extra bit on the field, winning the series in South Africa to ensure that he lasts longer than expected, come what may in the World Cup. At the moment, it seems Inzamam's is Pakistan's only choice, or the best possible option, howsoever one puts it. It will, anyway be an arduous task. Better it will be for Pakistan to have Inzamam a consistent batsman rather than Inzamam a moderately successful captain.
And for Inzamam personally World Cup 2007 should be his swansong. He has been Pakistan's greatest batsman. He needs to bow with grace preferably with the glittering trophy, that at the moment, considering Pakistan's unpredictability, lack of bench strength and resource looks a far cry.
One feels, it would indeed be great if Inzamam follows the likes of Damien Martyn, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Not that Inzamam the batsman is finished but he needs to change the trend -- legends in Pakistan have mostly been axed or shown the door, very few have gone with grace. And Inzamam is too good a cricketer to be asked to leave. He is the one who still has it in him but it seems he is treading slowly and steadily towards an end; let it be peaceful and equally graceful.
South Africa tour: A challenge for Pakistan cricketers
The Pakistanis need to demonstrate their true potential and mental toughness if they want to put an end to discouraging results in South AfricaThe Pakistan cricket team is set to fly to South Africa in a couple of days' time for a tough tour featuring three Tests and five One-day Internationals. The upcoming trip is no less than a challenge for the Pakistan cricketers since they have never won a Test or ODI series in South Africa.
In the recent series against the West Indians, Pakistan took full advantage of the home conditions and won the Test and ODI rubbers comfortably by 2-0 and 3-1, respectively. Pakistan managed to regain their winning touch against West Indies at a crucial time after the painful debacles in England and then in the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Pakistan cricketers need to demonstrate their true potential and mental toughness if they want to put an end to discouraging results in South Africa. The record-breaking Mohammad Yousuf will have to exhibit the same high profile performance against the South Africans and, to be very frank, the Pakistan team is looking for just such an inspiration from somebody in South Africa.
Fast bowlers Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir, who did wonderful jobs in England and then on the flat surfaces at home, can play an important role for Pakistan. Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, who exhibited his quality bowling against West Indians, can prove to be a trump card in both Tests and ODIs in South Africa.
Right now the South Africans are busy with India but strangely they are struggling in spite of playing on home grounds. This kind of ordinary performance from the hosts particularly in the Tests is definitely a good sign for Pakistan, who must use this advantage to the maximum.
This time Pakistan would compete in the series under a formerly South African-based coach Bob Woolmer which is definitely a big advantage. Woolmer, who transformed the South African team into a winning unit a decade ago through his sensible coaching, can play a key role in evolving an effective game plan against the hosts. The Pakistan camp must be very happy to know that the Kanpur-born coach, who played his Test cricket for England, is well aware of every strong and weak point of the hosts.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan have won a One-day International title or series or Test rubber in every Test playing country but the highly unpredictable outfit has been unable to perform the same feat in Southern Africa so far.
In all Pakistan have played 31 One-day Internationals and six Tests in a 13 years time from 1993 to 2006 in Nelson Mandela's country. Out of these one-dayers, Pakistan were triumphant in as many as 18 games against different opponents but despite having such a good winning ratio, Pakistan returned home empty-handed from South Africa every time. In the Tests too, Pakistan's record has not been satisfactory and is read as played 6, won 1, lost 4 and drawn 1.
Pakistan were involved in four one-day tournaments on South African soil out of which they reached the final stage three times but could not convert these finals into titles.
From this kind of performances one can imagine that Pakistan had some problems when they played in the decisive and crucial matches. In all Pakistan have made five trips to South Africa -- in 1992-93, 1994-95, 1997-98, 2002-03 and 2003 -- during the last 13 years.
Pakistan made their first-ever tour to South Africa under all-rounder Wasim Akram in 1992-93 for an iInternational ODI tri-series. Apart from the hosts, Pakistan and West Indies were the other teams in the competition. During this historic event Pakistan won three and lost four matches including the final against West Indies. Interestingly, Pakistan beat hosts South Africa in all their three encounters.
In the 1994-95 season, dashing batsman Saleem Malik was the captain when Pakistan toured South Africa for a quadrangular tournament and a solitary Test, the first-ever between the two countries. South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand were the participating sides in the four-nation event. In this tournament, Pakistan remained unlucky when they could not bag the title in spite of winning five games out of eight. Unfortunately, our cricketers couldn't rise to the occasion in the best-of-three finals and surrendered to South Africa in the first two games without any notable resistance.
In the historic Test match at Johannesburg, Pakistan suffered a 324 runs defeat at the hands of South Africa. The South Africans simply knocked them out in all the departments of the game. The Pakistan bowlers played their due part in this massive loss conceding 64 extras in the first and 32 in the second innings. Our 'generous' bowlers gave their opponents a huge aggregate of 96 runs free of cost.
Pakistan, after a gap of three years, again made a trip to South Africa in 1997-98 now under wicket-keeper Rashid Latif. Besides an international triangular series, Pakistan also featured in a full three-Test rubber for the first time on South African soil. This time Pakistan could have won the Test series but they failed to maintain their winning sequence and a 1-0 lead in the third Test.
There were a few controversies and mismanagements that played a major part in disturbing Pakistan's winning rhythm in the Test series. Pakistan suffered the first blow during the side game when captain Rashid Latif injured his neck seriously and was ruled out for first two Tests of the series. Then it was in Johannesburg a day before the first Test that a mugging incident took place just outside the hotel where the Pakistan team was staying.
Then came the most important tour in the last month of the year 2002 when Pakistan reached South Africa under pacer Waqar Younis for a five-match one-day series and a short two-Test rubber. It was an ideal opportunity for the Pakistan team to make amends for disorders if any and get themselves familiar with the conditions where a few weeks later the grand World Cup event was to be played.
Pakistan entered South Africa after winning all the Tests and one-dayers against Zimbabwe quite comfortably but their excellent form altogether turned into a complete nightmare soon after landing in South Africa owing to the professional game of the hosts and a non-serious approach from our cricketers.
After a disastrous South African tour, the PCB had a month's time to streamline its affairs and remove in-house differences. At that time some radical steps were needed to make the dressing room atmosphere a friendly one but sadly the PCB high-ups and senior players wasted that short period in making baseless claims and promises and the same battered and shattered squad was named with minor changes for the showpiece event.
As was expected, Pakistan maintained their run of poor performances in the World Cup and our green flag-bearers could not advance to even the Super Six stage. Interestingly, Pakistan managed to seize the initiative in all their matches against big teams like Australia, England and India but unfortunately they could not maintain their hold and resultantly lost these matches with big margins.
Leading ICC umpires face burn-out issue
LONDON: Former Test umpire David Shepherd has warned that leading umpires face burn-out unless the ICC tackles the issue and appoints more officials to its Elite Panel.Shepherd’s comments came after Mark Benson was forced from the field with heart palpitations on the third day of the Durban Test between South Africa and India. He spent the night under observation in a local hospital.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Shepherd, who stood in 92 Tests, said that the number of umpires should be increased. At the moment there are nine elite officials - Darrell Hair has yet to be replaced - who have to stand in an increasing number of Tests and One-day Internationals (ODIs).
While the ICC recently produced figures intended to show that umpires were not being asked to stand too many times, there is an increasing argument that they, like the players, are facing burnout.
“With independent umpires you are always away from home,” Shepherd said. “The players at least get to play in Test matches at home but umpires are travelling all the time,” he added. It was a refusal to spend so much time away from his family that led to Peter Willey, one of the leading officials, to refuse to join the panel.
“It is tough for the players because they are playing high grade cricket all the time and careers will not last as long as they did,” Shepherd continued. “I can see the same thing happening with umpires. There will be umpire burn-out. The guys are under so much scrutiny. Television is so good these days and so intrusive,” he said.
PCB working to avoid embarrassment defending pacers
KARACHI: Publicly, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is defying World Anti-Doping Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on the case of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif.
But privately, the Board officials are making behind-the-scenes moves to avoid any embarrassment if they had to defend the dope-tainted players in front of the CAS after the New Year break.
A PCB official told this correspondent that though the Board is hoping that its stance that WADA or CAS has no legal right to challenge Pakistan’s decision to clear Shoaib and Asif would help end the doping saga, it is in the meantime, in constant touch with legal experts including a leading British sports lawyer Mark Gay.
The lawyer has been working for the PCB on a few cases since helping them out in the aftermath of The Oval Test fiasco. The official said that the idea is to be fully ready for any kind of scenario that emerges in the next couple of weeks.
He said that the PCB is ready to go all the way to defend Shoaib and Asif in a bid to keep them in contention for next spring’s World Cup in the West Indies. Asif is seen as a key figure in Pakistan’s bowling attack and would be spearheading it during next month’s tour of South Africa. Shoaib has been overlooked for the trip but because of his sheer pace, he is regarded as an important player in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign.
Both the players were banned after testing positive for illegal performance-enhancing substance nandrolone but later won their appeals and are eligible to play international cricket. However, there is some uncertainty over their future because WADA has appealed against Pakistan’s U-turn over the doping bans in the Lausanne-based CAS.
The high-powered CAS arbitrates international sports’ disputes and WADA officials believe that it can help punish the Pakistani pacers who did fail dope tests in October but were let off by an appeals committee on the grounds that they were not told about possible contamination of protein supplements.
However, the PCB has rejected the intervention of both WADA and CAS on the grounds that it is not a signatory to any international anti-doping code. “The dope tests though which Shoaib and Asif were caught were carried out internally by the PCB.
We allowed proper legal procedure through which the players were initially banned and later cleared by committees formed by competent judges, cricketers and doping experts. The case is closed and we believe WADA or CAS is not authorised to challenge it,” said the official.
He said that the PCB has consulted the matter with expert lawyers who agree that the Board has a point. However, if the case does come up for a debate in the CAS then the PCB would support the players through all possible measures.
“Shoaib and Asif are two of our leading cricketers and they have been exonerated by an appeals court. If there is a danger of them getting banned against for the same doping offence then the PCB would use all its resources to help them,” said the official.
He rejected the impression that Shoaib has fallen out of the PCB good books after refusing to wear a sponsor’s logo in this month’s Twenty20 Cup in Karachi and might be ditched by the Board. “Shoaib got punished for what he did,” said the official.
The maverick pacer was fined Rs10,000 for his refusal to wear the logo but there was a whispering campaign that the Board might have handed Shoaib the real punishment for his act of defiance by ignoring him for the tour of South Africa. “It is a false impression. The only reason why Shoaib was dropped was his lack of match fitness,” said the official.
But privately, the Board officials are making behind-the-scenes moves to avoid any embarrassment if they had to defend the dope-tainted players in front of the CAS after the New Year break.
A PCB official told this correspondent that though the Board is hoping that its stance that WADA or CAS has no legal right to challenge Pakistan’s decision to clear Shoaib and Asif would help end the doping saga, it is in the meantime, in constant touch with legal experts including a leading British sports lawyer Mark Gay.
The lawyer has been working for the PCB on a few cases since helping them out in the aftermath of The Oval Test fiasco. The official said that the idea is to be fully ready for any kind of scenario that emerges in the next couple of weeks.
He said that the PCB is ready to go all the way to defend Shoaib and Asif in a bid to keep them in contention for next spring’s World Cup in the West Indies. Asif is seen as a key figure in Pakistan’s bowling attack and would be spearheading it during next month’s tour of South Africa. Shoaib has been overlooked for the trip but because of his sheer pace, he is regarded as an important player in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign.
Both the players were banned after testing positive for illegal performance-enhancing substance nandrolone but later won their appeals and are eligible to play international cricket. However, there is some uncertainty over their future because WADA has appealed against Pakistan’s U-turn over the doping bans in the Lausanne-based CAS.
The high-powered CAS arbitrates international sports’ disputes and WADA officials believe that it can help punish the Pakistani pacers who did fail dope tests in October but were let off by an appeals committee on the grounds that they were not told about possible contamination of protein supplements.
However, the PCB has rejected the intervention of both WADA and CAS on the grounds that it is not a signatory to any international anti-doping code. “The dope tests though which Shoaib and Asif were caught were carried out internally by the PCB.
We allowed proper legal procedure through which the players were initially banned and later cleared by committees formed by competent judges, cricketers and doping experts. The case is closed and we believe WADA or CAS is not authorised to challenge it,” said the official.
He said that the PCB has consulted the matter with expert lawyers who agree that the Board has a point. However, if the case does come up for a debate in the CAS then the PCB would support the players through all possible measures.
“Shoaib and Asif are two of our leading cricketers and they have been exonerated by an appeals court. If there is a danger of them getting banned against for the same doping offence then the PCB would use all its resources to help them,” said the official.
He rejected the impression that Shoaib has fallen out of the PCB good books after refusing to wear a sponsor’s logo in this month’s Twenty20 Cup in Karachi and might be ditched by the Board. “Shoaib got punished for what he did,” said the official.
The maverick pacer was fined Rs10,000 for his refusal to wear the logo but there was a whispering campaign that the Board might have handed Shoaib the real punishment for his act of defiance by ignoring him for the tour of South Africa. “It is a false impression. The only reason why Shoaib was dropped was his lack of match fitness,” said the official.
Australians dominate the year in cricket
Australians were at the heart of two of the biggest cricketing stories of 2006.Controversial umpire Darrell Hair was banned after Pakistan blamed him squarely for their forfeiture of the Oval Test against England in August.
And Australia's world champion team proved the strongest of the year, winning eight out of eight Tests (so far) and clinching the Champions Trophy, the only one-day title to have previously eluded it.
Pakistan became the first country in Test history to forfeit a match after refusing to take the field after tea on the fourth day against England.
Hair, no stranger to controversy, and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove had penalised Pakistan for alleged ball tampering, docking them five runs and changing the ball.
In a move which divided world cricket, Hair was sacked from the International Cricket Council's (ICC) elite panel of umpires.
Pakistan captain Inzaman-ul-Haq was cleared of ball tampering although the ICC banned him for four one-day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute.
In a difficult year for Pakistan, their fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif became the first international cricketers to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Shoaib and Asif were banned from cricket in November after testing positive for nandrolone but were cleared a month later when a Pakistan tribunal ruled they had not received sufficient warning that supplements they were taking could be contaminated by the banned steroid.
Top 10 Ashes Moments
1.2002-03: Steve Waugh's hundred at the SCG :
With his place in the Test side under threat, Waugh strode onto the SCG at the start of 2003 with his team and his career in the balance. What followed was a masterpiece. Starting without conviction, Waugh grew in stature with the bat as the afternoon progressed. As he approached his hundred, the Australian skipper raced the clock to try to reach his hundred before stumps on day four. He achieved the goal from the last ball of the day, which he punched to the cover boundary - beautifully called on ABC Grandstand by Jonathan Agnew and Kerry O'Keeffe. Ultimately Australia lost the Test, but that innings was one of Waugh's finest.
2.1993: Shane Warne's "ball of the century" :
Cricket fans in both Australia and England can probably tell you exactly where they were when Warne bowled his first ball in an Ashes Test. Mike Gatting was the unfortunate batsman, made to look clueless as the ball swerved from outside the off stump to pitch outside leg. Gatting pushed forward, only to see the ball fizz past his outside edge and clip the top of the off stump. The look on the former England captain's face was priceless. And a legend was born.
3.1948: Don Bradman bids farewell to Test cricket with a duck
An innings more remarkable for what preceded and followed it than for the two balls it lasted. Famously, Bradman required just four runs to finish with a Test batting average in three figures, but he was bowled by a googly from Eric Hollies. Both on his way to the wicket and back to the dressing room, the crowd at The Oval stood to a man and woman to applaud a true genius - a batsman whose record has never been approached, let alone matched.
4.1982-83: Allan Border and Jeff Thomson fall agonisingly short at the MCG
Proof positive that glorious failure can linger longer in the mind than run of the mill success. Border and Thomson took Australia to within four runs of an unlikely victory before their luck ran out. And who can forget the bizarre mode of Thommo's dismissal - his edge bounced out of Chris Tavare's hands at slip, only to lob in the direction of Geoff Miller who gratefully accepted the catch.
5.1974-75: Doug Walters' 100 in a session at the WACA
Scoring a century in a session is remarkable enough a feat - but to rack the milestone up by hooking the final ball for six takes it to a whole new level. That's exactly what Walters did in 1974-75. Having gone to tea with less than a handful of runs on the board, he put the final ball of the day from Bob Willis into the crowd to go to 103.
6.1972: Bob Massie destroys England with 16 wickets on debut at Lord's
Massie produced arguably the most devastating demonstration of the art of swing bowling to take eight wickets in each innings of his debut Test. Bending the ball in both directions, he left the England batting line-up bemused and it seemed a long career beckoned. Sadly, the secrets of swing left him soon afterwards but while his Test career was brief, at Lord's in 1972 it burned bright.
7.1970-71: Greg Chappell's century on debut at the WACA
The middle Chappell brother announced himself on the international stage with an imperious 108 in his first Test innings. He joined with Ian Redpath (171) to put on 219 for the sixth wicket as Australia replied to England 397 with 440. Interestingly, Chappell bowled 24 overs as a first change medium pacer in England's first innings, taking the wicket of Colin Cowdrey caught and bowled.
8.1961: Richie Benaud bowls Australia to victory at Old Trafford
With the five-Test series level at 1-1 and having set England a modest victory target in the fourth Test in Manchester, Australian skipper Benaud was facing the prospect of losing the Ashes. But bowling his leg breaks around the wicket into the rough he took 6 for 70 to bowl Australia to a 54-run victory. Quite superb, that.
9.1997: Glenn McGrath's 8 for 38 at Lord's
In the first innings of the Lord's Test in 1997 McGrath was near unplayable. In a match ruined by rain, he routed the English batting line-up taking 8 for 38 from 20.3 overs as the home side was skittled for just 77. It was a great performance by one of the all-time great fast bowlers.
10.1993: Michael Slater's maiden 100 at Lord's
Slater and Matthew Hayden were in direct competition at the start of the 1993 tour to join Mark Taylor at the top of Australia's order. Hayden made the early running, but his modest return in the one-dayers opened the door for Slater who was selected for the first Test. He made a half-century in that match, but sealed his place as Taylor's long-term partner with a swashbuckling hundred in the second Test. It was a performance famously sealed with a kiss on the coat of arms on his helmet.
ABC sports production
With his place in the Test side under threat, Waugh strode onto the SCG at the start of 2003 with his team and his career in the balance. What followed was a masterpiece. Starting without conviction, Waugh grew in stature with the bat as the afternoon progressed. As he approached his hundred, the Australian skipper raced the clock to try to reach his hundred before stumps on day four. He achieved the goal from the last ball of the day, which he punched to the cover boundary - beautifully called on ABC Grandstand by Jonathan Agnew and Kerry O'Keeffe. Ultimately Australia lost the Test, but that innings was one of Waugh's finest.
2.1993: Shane Warne's "ball of the century" :
Cricket fans in both Australia and England can probably tell you exactly where they were when Warne bowled his first ball in an Ashes Test. Mike Gatting was the unfortunate batsman, made to look clueless as the ball swerved from outside the off stump to pitch outside leg. Gatting pushed forward, only to see the ball fizz past his outside edge and clip the top of the off stump. The look on the former England captain's face was priceless. And a legend was born.
3.1948: Don Bradman bids farewell to Test cricket with a duck
An innings more remarkable for what preceded and followed it than for the two balls it lasted. Famously, Bradman required just four runs to finish with a Test batting average in three figures, but he was bowled by a googly from Eric Hollies. Both on his way to the wicket and back to the dressing room, the crowd at The Oval stood to a man and woman to applaud a true genius - a batsman whose record has never been approached, let alone matched.
4.1982-83: Allan Border and Jeff Thomson fall agonisingly short at the MCG
Proof positive that glorious failure can linger longer in the mind than run of the mill success. Border and Thomson took Australia to within four runs of an unlikely victory before their luck ran out. And who can forget the bizarre mode of Thommo's dismissal - his edge bounced out of Chris Tavare's hands at slip, only to lob in the direction of Geoff Miller who gratefully accepted the catch.
5.1974-75: Doug Walters' 100 in a session at the WACA
Scoring a century in a session is remarkable enough a feat - but to rack the milestone up by hooking the final ball for six takes it to a whole new level. That's exactly what Walters did in 1974-75. Having gone to tea with less than a handful of runs on the board, he put the final ball of the day from Bob Willis into the crowd to go to 103.
6.1972: Bob Massie destroys England with 16 wickets on debut at Lord's
Massie produced arguably the most devastating demonstration of the art of swing bowling to take eight wickets in each innings of his debut Test. Bending the ball in both directions, he left the England batting line-up bemused and it seemed a long career beckoned. Sadly, the secrets of swing left him soon afterwards but while his Test career was brief, at Lord's in 1972 it burned bright.
7.1970-71: Greg Chappell's century on debut at the WACA
The middle Chappell brother announced himself on the international stage with an imperious 108 in his first Test innings. He joined with Ian Redpath (171) to put on 219 for the sixth wicket as Australia replied to England 397 with 440. Interestingly, Chappell bowled 24 overs as a first change medium pacer in England's first innings, taking the wicket of Colin Cowdrey caught and bowled.
8.1961: Richie Benaud bowls Australia to victory at Old Trafford
With the five-Test series level at 1-1 and having set England a modest victory target in the fourth Test in Manchester, Australian skipper Benaud was facing the prospect of losing the Ashes. But bowling his leg breaks around the wicket into the rough he took 6 for 70 to bowl Australia to a 54-run victory. Quite superb, that.
9.1997: Glenn McGrath's 8 for 38 at Lord's
In the first innings of the Lord's Test in 1997 McGrath was near unplayable. In a match ruined by rain, he routed the English batting line-up taking 8 for 38 from 20.3 overs as the home side was skittled for just 77. It was a great performance by one of the all-time great fast bowlers.
10.1993: Michael Slater's maiden 100 at Lord's
Slater and Matthew Hayden were in direct competition at the start of the 1993 tour to join Mark Taylor at the top of Australia's order. Hayden made the early running, but his modest return in the one-dayers opened the door for Slater who was selected for the first Test. He made a half-century in that match, but sealed his place as Taylor's long-term partner with a swashbuckling hundred in the second Test. It was a performance famously sealed with a kiss on the coat of arms on his helmet.
ABC sports production
Under-fire Pietersen shrugs off criticism
England batsman Kevin Pietersen says he wishes he could have done more to prevent his country's horror run in the Ashes, but has laughed off suggestions from Australian coach John Buchanan that he is not a team player.
The tourists are 4-0 down in the series and facing a whitewash as they arrive in Sydney today to prepare for the fifth Test, which begins on Tuesday.
Pietersen has faced criticism for his reluctance to move up the batting order from number five, with Buchanan saying he shows no evidence of being a team man.
But Pietersen says a lack of mental preparedness stopped him from an earlier move up the order.
He moved up to number four in the second innings of the MCG Test, only to be bowled by Stuart Clark for 1.
Pietersen says it would not have been in the team's best interests to make the move any earlier.
"I know there's been a lot of hype in the media and it's just a case of me getting myself mentally tuned in and mentally right," he said.
"I found that in the last couple of days I have been right and I have felt good for it and I was never ever going to put the team in jeopardy of me going in to bat at four, knowing I wasn't right."
Pietersen said he will take it as a compliment that Buchanan is still trying to ruffle him up.
"It obviously still just means quite a lot to the Australians to be still trying to chuck a bomb into the England camp," he said.
"They've done it six to eight months leading up to this Test series, they'll probably be doing it after the series and I'm not going to get involved in a slanging match between me and the coach of Australia.
"They obviously want to win 5-0 and maybe he's trying to get into my head to make me wonder if I am a lone ranger - which I am not. We are a team.
"I give everything I have for this England team - on the field, in the dressing room and in the nets.
"To suggest I play for myself, don't care about my team-mates or the team or choose exactly where I want to bat is total rubbish."
Pietersen lamented England's heartbreaking defeat in the second Test in Adelaide, where they posted over 500 in their first innings and still lost.
He said he had batted for just half an hour longer in the second innings, England would have won.
He said there was plenty of incentive for the team to win the final Test at the SCG.
"To know that that stadium's going to be full, it's going to be full in a great arena, there are going to be thousands and thousands of Barmy Army, it's going to be fantastic," he said.
"That picks us up enough and with such a huge Test match, knowing that we've got to try to salvage some sort of pride or something towards it, it will pick the boys up."
The tourists are 4-0 down in the series and facing a whitewash as they arrive in Sydney today to prepare for the fifth Test, which begins on Tuesday.
Pietersen has faced criticism for his reluctance to move up the batting order from number five, with Buchanan saying he shows no evidence of being a team man.
But Pietersen says a lack of mental preparedness stopped him from an earlier move up the order.
He moved up to number four in the second innings of the MCG Test, only to be bowled by Stuart Clark for 1.
Pietersen says it would not have been in the team's best interests to make the move any earlier.
"I know there's been a lot of hype in the media and it's just a case of me getting myself mentally tuned in and mentally right," he said.
"I found that in the last couple of days I have been right and I have felt good for it and I was never ever going to put the team in jeopardy of me going in to bat at four, knowing I wasn't right."
Pietersen said he will take it as a compliment that Buchanan is still trying to ruffle him up.
"It obviously still just means quite a lot to the Australians to be still trying to chuck a bomb into the England camp," he said.
"They've done it six to eight months leading up to this Test series, they'll probably be doing it after the series and I'm not going to get involved in a slanging match between me and the coach of Australia.
"They obviously want to win 5-0 and maybe he's trying to get into my head to make me wonder if I am a lone ranger - which I am not. We are a team.
"I give everything I have for this England team - on the field, in the dressing room and in the nets.
"To suggest I play for myself, don't care about my team-mates or the team or choose exactly where I want to bat is total rubbish."
Pietersen lamented England's heartbreaking defeat in the second Test in Adelaide, where they posted over 500 in their first innings and still lost.
He said he had batted for just half an hour longer in the second innings, England would have won.
He said there was plenty of incentive for the team to win the final Test at the SCG.
"To know that that stadium's going to be full, it's going to be full in a great arena, there are going to be thousands and thousands of Barmy Army, it's going to be fantastic," he said.
"That picks us up enough and with such a huge Test match, knowing that we've got to try to salvage some sort of pride or something towards it, it will pick the boys up."
Langer 'on brink of retirement'
Opening batsman Justin Langer could be the next Australian veteran to announce his retirement.Langer is set to play his 105th Test this week and could follow Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath into retirement.
His father Colin told the Sunday Age newspaper his son was "not going to hang on for the sake of hanging on".
"What he's done to get fit for this series is unbelievable, the physical effort, the time spent with his batting coach," said the senior Langer.
"People don't see all that, but we do. He's worked hard with the ability he had. He's had to work so hard to get where he is."
The left-handed Langer, who is also a BBC Sport columnist, indicated after Australia regained the Ashes in Perth that he was nearing the end, but he insists he will announce his retirement after his final match, not before.
The Western Australian opener has scored 7,650 runs at 45.26 and has made 257 runs in the current Ashes series.
His 100th Test, played against South Africa in Johannesburg, will be remembered for Makhaya Ntini crashing a bouncer into his head which forced his withdrawal from the tour of Bangladesh.
Scorecard-2nd ODI between Srilanka Vs Newzealand
31-12-2006 at Queenstown
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 1 wicket
New Zealand won the toss and decided to field
Sri Lanka Innings
224 for 7 (50.0 overs)
New Zealand Innings
228 for 9 (50.0 overs)
Srilanka
note:Click on the scorecard to enlarge.
Umpires: G A Baxter, S J Davis
New Zealand: B B McCullum, R L Taylor, P G Fulton, H J H Marshall, C D McMillan, J A H Marshall, J E C Franklin, A R Adams, D L Vettori, M R Gillespie, M J Mason.
Sri Lanka: W U Tharanga, S T Jayasuriya, D P M D Jayawardene, K C Sangakkara, M S Atapattu, L P C Silva, T M Dilshan, W P U J C Vaas, S L Malinga, M Muralitharan, M F Maharoof.
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 1 wicket
New Zealand won the toss and decided to field
Sri Lanka Innings
224 for 7 (50.0 overs)
New Zealand Innings
228 for 9 (50.0 overs)
Srilanka
note:Click on the scorecard to enlarge.
Umpires: G A Baxter, S J Davis
New Zealand: B B McCullum, R L Taylor, P G Fulton, H J H Marshall, C D McMillan, J A H Marshall, J E C Franklin, A R Adams, D L Vettori, M R Gillespie, M J Mason.
Sri Lanka: W U Tharanga, S T Jayasuriya, D P M D Jayawardene, K C Sangakkara, M S Atapattu, L P C Silva, T M Dilshan, W P U J C Vaas, S L Malinga, M Muralitharan, M F Maharoof.
NZ claim dramatic last-ball win
One-day international, Queenstown:New Zealand 228-9 bt Sri Lanka 224-7 by 1 wicket
[Scorecard]
New Zealand hit a four off the last ball of the innings to secure a desperately close win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international.
With the scores level, number 11 batsman Michael Mason hit Sanath Jayasuriya for four after having failed to score off the previous five balls.
Sri Lanka reached 224-7, mainly thanks to Kumar Sangakkara's 89.
But the total proved to be just within reach as Mason's heroics took his side to 228-9, levelling the series at 1-1.
Needing just a single to win the match, Mason looked to have missed his chance after failing to make contact with a misdirected waist-high full toss outside off-stump from Jayasuriya.
But the tailender, who had team-mate James Franklin unbeaten on 45 at the non-striker's end, made amends with a lofted drive to long-on at the death.
New Zealand put the visitors in to bat after winning the toss, and made early inroads with the cheap dismissals of Jasyasuiya and Jayawardene.
But Sangakkara's superb 89 - the highest score in a one-dayer at the Queenstown Events Centre - anchored Sri Lanka's innings, and included 10 boundaries.
Sangakkara provided the lion's share of the runs in partnerships with Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu and Chamara Silva before being run out to leave the score at 176-5.
Lower order batsmen Farveez Maharoof (29 not out) and Chaminda Vaas (nine not out) both made quickfire runs to bring Sri Lanka's total up to 224, with Mason taking 2-50 and Mark Gillespie 2-46.
Makeshift opener James Marshall top-scored for New Zealand with a composed 50 from 80 balls, while his fellow opener Brendon McCullum made 32 before falling lbw to Maharoof with the score on 57.
But the innings soon began to wobble, slipping from 89-1 to 141-6 as Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Marshall, Craig McMillan and Daniel Vettori all departed.
Marshall's twin brother Hamish helped to steady the ship as he made 29 from 35 balls at number seven, sharing an important partnership of 34 with Franklin.
Franklin made 45 from 46 balls to take New Zealand to the brink of victory before Mason grabbed the winning runs.
The third game of the five-match series gets under way in Christchurch on Tuesday.
Smith lavishes praise on bowlers
South Africa captain Graeme Smith applauded his battery of five pace bowlers who, led by Makhaya Ntini, wrapped up the Test win against India.
The hosts won by 174 runs in Durban to set up a decider in Cape Town.
Smith said: "Makhaya has been searching for one or two things and today it was fantastic to se him in full flight.
"We really showed a lot of discipline and a lot of charcter and I think the wicket was good so the bowlers did outstandingly well through the Test."
Ntini took five wickets in the second innings for match figures of 8-89, good enough to give him man-of-the-match honours over Ashwell Prince, who scored a century on day one.
But South Africa were almost denied victory by the weather in Durban, with India's tail-enders desperate to come off for bad light in the final session.
Smith said: "The adrenaline is pumping a lot at the moment. It got a bit fiery at the end there because the boys wanted to win really badly.
"But there were a lot of top performances and I'm just over the moon."
Having lost the series opener in Johannesburg, South Africa had endured a tough build-up to the Durban Test.
"It was pretty difficult," said Smith."There were, rightly, a few criticisms thrown at the team and I think some unjust ones also. Some people really went to town.
"I'm really proud that we stood up to the criticism and showed what we can do. This is what Test cricket is all about.
"We didn't play well enough in the first game but we have performed well here.
"There's still a lot of improving to do but hopefully we can find that in Cape Town to make it a fantastic end to the series."
Ntini said he had worked hard since the one-day series to make his bowling more effective.
He said: "A lot of hard work has been done adjusting from the one-dayers to the Tests.
"In the Tests we bowl 20 overs a day, in the one-dayers only 10.
"I would like to say thank you very much to the crowd of Durban, who have been fantastic. They support us very well.
"They want to see wickets falling and [fellow pace bowler] Andre Nel at the other end is always keeping them up and awake.
The hosts won by 174 runs in Durban to set up a decider in Cape Town.
Smith said: "Makhaya has been searching for one or two things and today it was fantastic to se him in full flight.
"We really showed a lot of discipline and a lot of charcter and I think the wicket was good so the bowlers did outstandingly well through the Test."
Ntini took five wickets in the second innings for match figures of 8-89, good enough to give him man-of-the-match honours over Ashwell Prince, who scored a century on day one.
But South Africa were almost denied victory by the weather in Durban, with India's tail-enders desperate to come off for bad light in the final session.
Smith said: "The adrenaline is pumping a lot at the moment. It got a bit fiery at the end there because the boys wanted to win really badly.
"But there were a lot of top performances and I'm just over the moon."
Having lost the series opener in Johannesburg, South Africa had endured a tough build-up to the Durban Test.
"It was pretty difficult," said Smith."There were, rightly, a few criticisms thrown at the team and I think some unjust ones also. Some people really went to town.
"I'm really proud that we stood up to the criticism and showed what we can do. This is what Test cricket is all about.
"We didn't play well enough in the first game but we have performed well here.
"There's still a lot of improving to do but hopefully we can find that in Cape Town to make it a fantastic end to the series."
Ntini said he had worked hard since the one-day series to make his bowling more effective.
He said: "A lot of hard work has been done adjusting from the one-dayers to the Tests.
"In the Tests we bowl 20 overs a day, in the one-dayers only 10.
"I would like to say thank you very much to the crowd of Durban, who have been fantastic. They support us very well.
"They want to see wickets falling and [fellow pace bowler] Andre Nel at the other end is always keeping them up and awake.
Dravid hopes for exciting finale
India captain Rahul Dravid refused to dwell on his team's defeat in Durban, instead turning his attention to the series decider against South Africa.Dravid said: "It's exciting. We've been competitive with the South Africa team.
"We've stayed with them over the course of both these Test matches so we are quite excited about the next Test match and hope it's a good one."
Dravid's team were beaten by 174 runs 11 days after winning in Johannesburg. The Cape Town Test starts on 2 January.
The Indian skipper failed with the bat in Durban, making scores of 11 and 5, but received rough umpiring decisions on both occasions.
However, Dravid was gracious in defeat. He said: "South Africa played some very good cricket right through the five days.
"Ashwell Prince's century in the first innings and Makhaya Ntini's spell this morning was the key to their success.
"But it's been a little bit disappointing from us. I think our bowlers have been doing a fine job, but we could have batted a lot better than we did, especially in the second innings."
Benson recovers after heart scare
English Test umpire Mark Benson is recovering in his hotel after suffering heart palpitations and being admitted to hospital in Durban on Thursday.
Shortly after play began on the third day of the second Test between South Africa and India at Kingsmead he was taken ill and replaced by Ian Howells.
Cricket South Africa spokesman Gordon Templeton said Benson, 48, had been discharged from hospital on Friday.
"He is doing well but is still receiving treatment," he said.
Benson, who played in one Test for England, was appointed to the International Cricket Council's elite panel in April 2006. He was standing in his 12th Test match.
He left the field in the fourth over on day three of the second Test and at one stage was admitted into intensive care.
Shortly after play began on the third day of the second Test between South Africa and India at Kingsmead he was taken ill and replaced by Ian Howells.
Cricket South Africa spokesman Gordon Templeton said Benson, 48, had been discharged from hospital on Friday.
"He is doing well but is still receiving treatment," he said.
Benson, who played in one Test for England, was appointed to the International Cricket Council's elite panel in April 2006. He was standing in his 12th Test match.
He left the field in the fourth over on day three of the second Test and at one stage was admitted into intensive care.
Vettori demands better bowling
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori wants a vastly improved performance from his inexperienced bowling attack in Sunday's one-dayer against Sri Lanka in Queenstown.The tourists cantered to an easy seven-wicket victory in the opening match in Napier on Thursday, overhauling New Zealand's 8 for 285 with 10 overs to spare.
Veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya did most of the damage, smashing 111 runs from just 82 balls against a wayward attack missing most of New Zealand's frontline bowlers.
Vettori, who is replacing regular captain Stephen Fleming for the first two one-dayers in the five-match series, said that New Zealand's bowling attack needed to get the basics right.
"The bowling plan is exactly the same, it's just about the implementation, which we let slip in Napier," he said.
"Sri Lanka bat down to seven and eight, so you've got to take wickets at the top and try not to buy those wickets, which we tended to do in the first game."
Another potential hurdle for the home side could be the loss of experienced batsman Nathan Astle, who suffered bad bruising to his thigh as he returned to form with 83 runs in the series opener.
After a shaky start, Astle grew in confidence and controlled the tempo of the New Zealand innings, passing the milestone of 7,000 one-day international runs before being unluckily run out.
"If we lose that experience and we lose that form it's going to mean someone is going to have to step up to cover it," Vettori said.
James Marshall, who was out first ball in Napier, is likely to step into Astle's opening spot if the 35-year-old is ruled unfit to play.
Inzy expecting weaker Australia
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq believes Australia will be a much weaker team when Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath retire next year."Everybody in cricket will miss them but more importantly I think Australia will miss them a great deal because they are big performers and take most of the team's wickets," he said.
"It is not good news for Australia as I can remember a couple of occasions when they didn't play and they found it very tough.
"Every batsman will breathe a sigh of relief when they are gone."
Leg spinner Warne will retire from international cricket after next week's fifth and final Ashes Test against England in Sydney.
Fast bowler McGrath bows out after the World Cup in the Caribbean in March and April.
"Both are great players, great bowlers," Inzamam said.
"Without them Australia are definitely going to be a lot weaker and teams will now be much more confident about beating them.
"Both players always seem to perform when Australia win and it's no coincidence."
Inzamam's first task in the New Year will be to lead Pakistan on their tour of South Africa.
England keen to ruin Aussie retirement party
England off-spinner Jamie Dalrymple says he wants to the chance to break up Australia's retirement parties in the final Ashes Test if he can earn a place in the tourists' team.
Dalrymple is in line to bowl in spin tandem with Monty Panesar at the SCG which has a reputation as a spin-friendly pitch.
Dalrymple, 25, said spirit remained upbeat despite England trailing 4-0 in the series and threatened by a humiliating series whitewash.
He said the tourists wanted to ruin the retirement of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, who will play their final Tests in Sydney, starting on Tuesday.
"There are resilient guys here and they want to go out and win in the Test next week," Dalrymple said.
"There are a couple of retirement parties to break up and the team are burning to put down a marker."
Dalrymple has been a part of the England squad since the end of the third Test in Perth, when he replaced Ashley Giles, who flew home to care for his seriously ill wife.
The Middlesex player came on to the field at the MCG during the fourth Test as a substitute fielder while the Barmy Army of English travelling fans was in full voice and said he would love the chance to play at the SCG.
"I'm desperate to play," he said.
"If I get the chance to play at Sydney it would be superb. It would be great experience playing against a very good side."
Dalrymple is in line to bowl in spin tandem with Monty Panesar at the SCG which has a reputation as a spin-friendly pitch.
Dalrymple, 25, said spirit remained upbeat despite England trailing 4-0 in the series and threatened by a humiliating series whitewash.
He said the tourists wanted to ruin the retirement of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, who will play their final Tests in Sydney, starting on Tuesday.
"There are resilient guys here and they want to go out and win in the Test next week," Dalrymple said.
"There are a couple of retirement parties to break up and the team are burning to put down a marker."
Dalrymple has been a part of the England squad since the end of the third Test in Perth, when he replaced Ashley Giles, who flew home to care for his seriously ill wife.
The Middlesex player came on to the field at the MCG during the fourth Test as a substitute fielder while the Barmy Army of English travelling fans was in full voice and said he would love the chance to play at the SCG.
"I'm desperate to play," he said.
"If I get the chance to play at Sydney it would be superb. It would be great experience playing against a very good side."
Saturday, December 30, 2006
PCB reacts sharply to CAS letter
ISLAMABAD: While challenging the jurisdiction of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) strongly refuted claims for the start of Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar’s appeal case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), writes Abdul Mohi Shah.
In a hard-hitting reply to a letter received on Friday from the CAS, PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf said that the court had no legal or moral right to approach the PCB.
The content of the letter available exclusively to ‘The News’ says: “It seems to us to be direly plain that the CAS lacks jurisdiction to entertain any appeal and WADA lacked the standing to launch one. Therefore we do not understand how you can entertain such an application still less make peremptory orders providing for compliance within short time scales over the holiday period,” the letter addressed by the PCB to CAS’s David Caslerly says.
Moreover the chairman said, “We would not abide by any orders made by any CAS panel as we do not wish to take any step which might be seen as having accepted that CAS has jurisdiction.”
The reply came following a letter received by the PCB headquarters in Lahore from one David Caslerly of Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Caslerly in his letter addressed to the PCB chairman demanded all the relevant material and dates suited to the board for the start of Shoaib and Asif case hearing in CAS.
While Shoaib was banned for two years, Asif got one year ban for using performance-enhancing drugs called nandrolone.
Both Shoaib and Asif were cleared of charges by appeal panel a month after ban was imposed by the PCB commission headed by Barrister Shahid Hamid. The day the two were given reprieve by the PCB appeal panel, the matter was taken up by WADA, which filed an appeal against the lifting of the ban in Luciana-based court.
However, the PCB always maintained that WADA or the CAS has no jurisdiction to hear such an appeal.
“The PCB is not a signatory of WADA code and thus does not abide by its rules.”
It is also strange to note that while almost all the European courts are closed due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the CAS still pursues the appeal matter to possibly appease WADA or those who are interested in solving the case at earliest.
Asif on Friday was named in the Pakistan team for the tour of South Africa while fitness problems kept Shoaib out.
In a hard-hitting reply to a letter received on Friday from the CAS, PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf said that the court had no legal or moral right to approach the PCB.
The content of the letter available exclusively to ‘The News’ says: “It seems to us to be direly plain that the CAS lacks jurisdiction to entertain any appeal and WADA lacked the standing to launch one. Therefore we do not understand how you can entertain such an application still less make peremptory orders providing for compliance within short time scales over the holiday period,” the letter addressed by the PCB to CAS’s David Caslerly says.
Moreover the chairman said, “We would not abide by any orders made by any CAS panel as we do not wish to take any step which might be seen as having accepted that CAS has jurisdiction.”
The reply came following a letter received by the PCB headquarters in Lahore from one David Caslerly of Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Caslerly in his letter addressed to the PCB chairman demanded all the relevant material and dates suited to the board for the start of Shoaib and Asif case hearing in CAS.
While Shoaib was banned for two years, Asif got one year ban for using performance-enhancing drugs called nandrolone.
Both Shoaib and Asif were cleared of charges by appeal panel a month after ban was imposed by the PCB commission headed by Barrister Shahid Hamid. The day the two were given reprieve by the PCB appeal panel, the matter was taken up by WADA, which filed an appeal against the lifting of the ban in Luciana-based court.
However, the PCB always maintained that WADA or the CAS has no jurisdiction to hear such an appeal.
“The PCB is not a signatory of WADA code and thus does not abide by its rules.”
It is also strange to note that while almost all the European courts are closed due to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the CAS still pursues the appeal matter to possibly appease WADA or those who are interested in solving the case at earliest.
Asif on Friday was named in the Pakistan team for the tour of South Africa while fitness problems kept Shoaib out.
History repeating itself in Shoaib Akhtar’s case
KARACHI: Shoaib Akhtar must have felt like deja vu on Friday when he failed to make it in a 17-member squad for next month’s South African safari, writes Khalid Hussain.
The fast bowler was left out of the squad on grounds that he is not fully match fit even though most experts believe he just needed a little more time to get back in rhythm and could have been an asset for Pakistan on fast and bouncy tracks in South Africa.
But it is a sort of situation which Shoaib is quite used to by now.
During the best part of this summer, Shoaib made continuous efforts to play for Pakistan in the second half of the four-match Test series against England but was not fielded in a single match by the team management which believed he needed more match fitness. Pakistan lost that series 3-0.
Shoaib, 31, was later drafted in Pakistan’s one-day squad and he turned out to be their best bowler in a 2-2 draw in the five-match One-day International (ODI) series against England in September.
During the summer, Shoaib spent his time on the sidelines in the aftermath of a double injury blow - a knee problem that was followed by an ankle injury.
This time, the national selectors and the team management finally concluded that more than three months of absence from international cricket has left him rusty.
Shoaib missed the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India in October and the home Test and one-day series against the West Indies in Nov-Dec because of a drug-related ban. He, along with medium pacer Mohammad Asif, was however exonerated by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appeals committee earlier this month.
Sources close to Shoaib say that the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ was guaranteed of a return to the national team by a section of the Pakistan team think tank. He was told to play a few matches and attend a brief pre-tour conditioning camp that got underway in Lahore from December 26 before returning to the Pakistan squad.
He did play in a Patron’s Trophy match for KRL and later featured in a lost cause for Islamabad Leopards in the recently-concluded Twenty20 Cup. Shoaib was unable to come out with a sensational performance but, at times, he did look sharp.
The maverick speedster showed further improvement during the conditioning camp but was still unable to convince the selectors and more importantly his captain Inzamam-ul-Haq that he deserved a recall.
Sources say that though the selection committee was divided over Shoaib’s case, it was a negative vote from Inzamam that decided the pacer’s fate.
Forget the pictures that were taken during the Lahore camp showing Shoaib and Inzamam talking like close friends, there is no love lost between the two star cricketers.
Inzamam is the sort of person who cannot allow anyone to challenge his authority. Shoaib, on the other hand, loves to do exactly the same. In addition, top PCB officials have also been unhappy with Shoaib’s attitude.
Sources said that the Board people wanted Shoaib to show more gratitude for the help he got from the authorities in his legal battle against a two-year doping ban.
But just weeks after getting an all-clear from an appeals committee, Shoaib defied the authorities by refusing to wear a sponsor’s logo during the Twenty20 Cup.
Whether you could afford to ignore a bowler of Shoaib’s pace on such grounds, however, is a different question.
Without him Pakistan had a disastrous tour of England and the same story could get repeated in South Africa.
The fast bowler was left out of the squad on grounds that he is not fully match fit even though most experts believe he just needed a little more time to get back in rhythm and could have been an asset for Pakistan on fast and bouncy tracks in South Africa.
But it is a sort of situation which Shoaib is quite used to by now.
During the best part of this summer, Shoaib made continuous efforts to play for Pakistan in the second half of the four-match Test series against England but was not fielded in a single match by the team management which believed he needed more match fitness. Pakistan lost that series 3-0.
Shoaib, 31, was later drafted in Pakistan’s one-day squad and he turned out to be their best bowler in a 2-2 draw in the five-match One-day International (ODI) series against England in September.
During the summer, Shoaib spent his time on the sidelines in the aftermath of a double injury blow - a knee problem that was followed by an ankle injury.
This time, the national selectors and the team management finally concluded that more than three months of absence from international cricket has left him rusty.
Shoaib missed the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India in October and the home Test and one-day series against the West Indies in Nov-Dec because of a drug-related ban. He, along with medium pacer Mohammad Asif, was however exonerated by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appeals committee earlier this month.
Sources close to Shoaib say that the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ was guaranteed of a return to the national team by a section of the Pakistan team think tank. He was told to play a few matches and attend a brief pre-tour conditioning camp that got underway in Lahore from December 26 before returning to the Pakistan squad.
He did play in a Patron’s Trophy match for KRL and later featured in a lost cause for Islamabad Leopards in the recently-concluded Twenty20 Cup. Shoaib was unable to come out with a sensational performance but, at times, he did look sharp.
The maverick speedster showed further improvement during the conditioning camp but was still unable to convince the selectors and more importantly his captain Inzamam-ul-Haq that he deserved a recall.
Sources say that though the selection committee was divided over Shoaib’s case, it was a negative vote from Inzamam that decided the pacer’s fate.
Forget the pictures that were taken during the Lahore camp showing Shoaib and Inzamam talking like close friends, there is no love lost between the two star cricketers.
Inzamam is the sort of person who cannot allow anyone to challenge his authority. Shoaib, on the other hand, loves to do exactly the same. In addition, top PCB officials have also been unhappy with Shoaib’s attitude.
Sources said that the Board people wanted Shoaib to show more gratitude for the help he got from the authorities in his legal battle against a two-year doping ban.
But just weeks after getting an all-clear from an appeals committee, Shoaib defied the authorities by refusing to wear a sponsor’s logo during the Twenty20 Cup.
Whether you could afford to ignore a bowler of Shoaib’s pace on such grounds, however, is a different question.
Without him Pakistan had a disastrous tour of England and the same story could get repeated in South Africa.
India Vs SA 2nd test scorecard
Umpires: Asad Rauf, I L Howell
South Africa: G C Smith, A B de Villiers, H H Gibbs, A J Hall, H M Amla, A G Prince, M V Boucher, A Nel, M Ntini, M Morkel, S M Pollock
India: V Sehwag, W Jaffer, R Dravid, S R Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, S C Ganguly, M S Dhoni, A Kumble, Z Khan, S Sreesanth, V R V Singh
Ntini propels SA to series-levelling win
South Africa levelled their home series against India at 1-1 by winning the second Test in Durban by 174 runs.Makhaya Ntini led the way with 5-48 as the South African seamers ran through the tourists for 179 on the final day.
Mahendra Singh Doni offered the main resistance with an innings of 47, which included 10 fours, before falling to Andre Nel in the final over before tea.
Nel supported Ntini well with figures of 3-57 but it was all-rounder Andrew Hall who picked up the final wicket.
Makhaya Ntini got the man of the match for is awesome bowling.
He said that he is 150% sure that capetown is their hunting place and they are going to win the series winning the last match at capetown.
Likewise,the Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said that they are very excited about the last match.They have been a competetive team throughout this series and they are gonna bring their 100% out to win the series!
Best of luck to both SA and India.
Awaiting u comments:
Here is the scorecard!
Day 5-Southafrica Vs India
The match has started again and the latest scorecard is as follows:
Weather has finally given India some hope!
Weather has finally given India some hope!
Day 5-Southafrica Vs India
Bad Light Again.
Update: 11.15 local time Keith Lane, our man at the ground, says "With very little wind around the ground the chances of the low cloud being blown away is very slim. There is also rain in the area which makes the prospects of prolonged play almost impossible. At the moment the gloomy conditions will keep the players off the field for a while yet. We do however have Ganguly out in the middle, walking from crease to crease it what apparently seems to be an attempt to get his eyes adjusted to the conditions."
Howell checks the reading again, goes across to have a chat with Asad Rauf. They check again. They offer the light, the batsmen walk off. It is pretty dark out there. Smith doesn't wait to have a chat with the umpires this time, leads his men to the out field. They sit on the grass, still inside the arena. Meanwhile Laxman is first to get over that ropes, Ganguly follows him.
Cricinfo report.
Update: 11.15 local time Keith Lane, our man at the ground, says "With very little wind around the ground the chances of the low cloud being blown away is very slim. There is also rain in the area which makes the prospects of prolonged play almost impossible. At the moment the gloomy conditions will keep the players off the field for a while yet. We do however have Ganguly out in the middle, walking from crease to crease it what apparently seems to be an attempt to get his eyes adjusted to the conditions."
Howell checks the reading again, goes across to have a chat with Asad Rauf. They check again. They offer the light, the batsmen walk off. It is pretty dark out there. Smith doesn't wait to have a chat with the umpires this time, leads his men to the out field. They sit on the grass, still inside the arena. Meanwhile Laxman is first to get over that ropes, Ganguly follows him.
Cricinfo report.
Day 5-Southafrica Vs India
Bad light delays start
Bad light delayed the start of the final day's play. The umpires, Asad Rauf from Pakistan, and Ian Howell, the South African who is standing in for Mark Benson who was taken ill with heart palpitations, looked at the heavily overcast conditions and had their light meters out. The readings showed that the light was poorer on the morning of the final day than it had been when the players came off on the fourth day. The umpires decided to inspect conditions periodically - perhaps every 15 minutes - and then take a decision on when a start of play was possible.
Fianally,the play has started now and India at the moment are 38/3 falling greatly behind the SA.
Here is the scorecard of the Indian batting.
Click on the scoreboard to enlarge.
India in a huge huge trouble....Awaiting ur comments?
Bad light delayed the start of the final day's play. The umpires, Asad Rauf from Pakistan, and Ian Howell, the South African who is standing in for Mark Benson who was taken ill with heart palpitations, looked at the heavily overcast conditions and had their light meters out. The readings showed that the light was poorer on the morning of the final day than it had been when the players came off on the fourth day. The umpires decided to inspect conditions periodically - perhaps every 15 minutes - and then take a decision on when a start of play was possible.
Fianally,the play has started now and India at the moment are 38/3 falling greatly behind the SA.
Here is the scorecard of the Indian batting.
Click on the scoreboard to enlarge.
India in a huge huge trouble....Awaiting ur comments?
Day 5-Southafrica Vs India
The news from the centre is that the match has still not started due to the heavy cloud cover.the lights are on but still the condition are not permitable for play,Remember this is the red cherry we are playing with.
Stay tuned for latest updates.
Stay tuned for latest updates.
Fans refunded after Poms fall short
Cricket Victoria has missed a potential windfall of several million dollars after the fourth Test at the MCG finished inside three days.
Some 47,000 tickets and a series of hospitality packages had already been purchased for day four.
They will now be refunded by Cricket Victoria, with money returned minus an administration fee of $2.50.
Cricket Victoria's Jason Backhouse says despite missing the massive cash injection, they did not miss out entirely.
"We'll make money on the event. We're pretty close to reaching budget forecast, so overall we're happy with that result," he said.
"We've got to pay a refund, which doesn't really come out of the bottom line.
"I guess its more a case of what could have been. In saying that it's been a fantastic three days with 75,000 fans-plus on all three days, so it'll have been a successful Test."
Some 47,000 tickets and a series of hospitality packages had already been purchased for day four.
They will now be refunded by Cricket Victoria, with money returned minus an administration fee of $2.50.
Cricket Victoria's Jason Backhouse says despite missing the massive cash injection, they did not miss out entirely.
"We'll make money on the event. We're pretty close to reaching budget forecast, so overall we're happy with that result," he said.
"We've got to pay a refund, which doesn't really come out of the bottom line.
"I guess its more a case of what could have been. In saying that it's been a fantastic three days with 75,000 fans-plus on all three days, so it'll have been a successful Test."
England unhappy over leak explanation
The English cricket team says it plans to hold its own investigation into how secret bowling plans were leaked to the ABC yesterday.An initial investigation by Cricket Australia (CA) and the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) ruled that the document, which was aired during commentary on Wednesday and is available online here, was not stolen.
The plans, compiled by England team analyst Mark Garaway, listed each of Australia's batting line-up and cited the various tactics to be used to try and dismiss them.
The CA/MCC investigators accepted fan Nick Ruthry's explanation that he found a copy of England's plans on the ground in the members' area on Wednesday before emailing them to the ABC.
But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) says it is unhappy with that explanation and is continuing its own probe into the leak.
The ECB says it wants to know how confidential documents found its way to the public.
Arthur bemoans time lost, Benson in intensive care
South Africa coach Mickey Arthur is frustrated by the amount of time lost on day three of the second Test against India in Durban.
Bad light ended play 30.3 overs early, a power failure dimmed the floodlights, the ball had to be changed and umpire Mark Benson was admitted to intensive care after leaving the field early with heart palpitations.
South Africa reached stumps on 64 without loss in their second innings, a lead of 152 runs.
"It was hugely frustrating (to have the day's play ended prematurely), because we obviously wanted to push the game forward tonight," Arthur said.
"We were also frustrated by the amount of stoppages through the day for changing the ball, and doctors running onto the field."
"Some proper control needs to be taken, otherwise it could spill over into something very frustrating for us. It took 20 minutes to change one ball today, and that type of thing is almost unacceptable, we need to speed that up."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith, 28 not out, was visibly disappointment by the umpires' decision to end play early.
"We tried to get cricket on the field, but we felt the light had gone to such an extent that it was unfit for cricket," said third umpire Ian Howell, who replaced Benson on the field.
Cricket South Africa said Benson had been admitted to an intensive care unit in a Durban hospital, where he would remain overnight for observation.
Indian left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan said the visitors remained positive they could regain the advantage on day four.
"Tomorrow is very important for us, and hopefully we'll be able to put up a good performance to set the match in our favour because the game is still wide open," he said.
India were dismissed for 240 in reply to South Africa's first innings of 328.
Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman resumed on 3 for 103 and took their partnership to 64 before Tendulkar attempted to cut an angled, short delivery from fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and was caught behind by wicket-keeper Mark Boucher.
Tendulkar, who was dropped on 21, hit 11 fours in his 63, India's top score.
Three balls later Sourav Ganguly fended a rising, short delivery from Ntini to Herschelle Gibbs in the gully to be dismissed without scoring.
India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series by winning the first Test in Johannesburg by 123 runs.
Bad light ended play 30.3 overs early, a power failure dimmed the floodlights, the ball had to be changed and umpire Mark Benson was admitted to intensive care after leaving the field early with heart palpitations.
South Africa reached stumps on 64 without loss in their second innings, a lead of 152 runs.
"It was hugely frustrating (to have the day's play ended prematurely), because we obviously wanted to push the game forward tonight," Arthur said.
"We were also frustrated by the amount of stoppages through the day for changing the ball, and doctors running onto the field."
"Some proper control needs to be taken, otherwise it could spill over into something very frustrating for us. It took 20 minutes to change one ball today, and that type of thing is almost unacceptable, we need to speed that up."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith, 28 not out, was visibly disappointment by the umpires' decision to end play early.
"We tried to get cricket on the field, but we felt the light had gone to such an extent that it was unfit for cricket," said third umpire Ian Howell, who replaced Benson on the field.
Cricket South Africa said Benson had been admitted to an intensive care unit in a Durban hospital, where he would remain overnight for observation.
Indian left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan said the visitors remained positive they could regain the advantage on day four.
"Tomorrow is very important for us, and hopefully we'll be able to put up a good performance to set the match in our favour because the game is still wide open," he said.
India were dismissed for 240 in reply to South Africa's first innings of 328.
Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman resumed on 3 for 103 and took their partnership to 64 before Tendulkar attempted to cut an angled, short delivery from fast bowler Makhaya Ntini and was caught behind by wicket-keeper Mark Boucher.
Tendulkar, who was dropped on 21, hit 11 fours in his 63, India's top score.
Three balls later Sourav Ganguly fended a rising, short delivery from Ntini to Herschelle Gibbs in the gully to be dismissed without scoring.
India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series by winning the first Test in Johannesburg by 123 runs.
Pietersen's move permanent
Although the experiment was an initial failure, England captain Andrew Flintoff says Kevin Pietersen's move to number four in the batting order is permanent.Pietersen was promoted from number five on what turned out to be the final day of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at the MCG, but was bowled for just 1 in a rare failure for the series.
The tall and powerful batsman received an almost unplayable delivery from Australian seamer Stuart Clark, the ball jagging back off the pitch and spearing straight through his defences.
Paul Collingwood has batted at number four and made a double century in that position in the second Test, but Flintoff said Pietersen would again be given the role in the fifth Test in Sydney, starting on January 2.
Flintoff said the supremely confident Pietersen himself had instigated the change.
"Kevin asked if he could bat at number four and he's been in good touch," Flintoff said.
"The way's he's been playing, you wouldn't say no. He's been fantastic all trip, so why not give him that opprtunity he wants?"
England are unlikely to make many changes for the Sydney Test, with few selection avenues left after a disastrous series.
Opener Andrew Strauss battled the flu in Melbourne but is certain to play.
Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard looked troubled by a side strain when he bowled on the second day and could be a doubt, which could open the door for James Anderson to return.
Wicket-keeper Chris Read was sharp in taking six catches in the Australian innings and showed impressive resilience with the bat in England's second innings.
Ashes whitewash now a reality, says Ponting
Australian captain Ricky Ponting says his team's dream of completing an Ashes series whitewash is a reality after their crushing win over England in the fourth Test.Australia sealed their biggest home win over England since 1954 when they humiliated the tourists by an innings and 99 runs inside three days to head into next week's final Test in Sydney with a 4-0 lead.
The only time a team has won an Ashes series 5-0 was in 1920-21 when Warwick Armstrong's Australians demolished England at home, but Ponting said his side had a real chance of emulating that success.
"You can't ever take for granted winning a Test match, it's not an easy thing to do," Ponting said.
"It's hard work, but we have an opportunity now to create something very special for this team in Sydney and we'll be giving it the best shake we can to try and win that game."
Sydney is looming as an emotional occasion for Australia's players with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath both retiring from Test cricket, but Ponting said all his players would approach the match like any other.
He said they would be given two days off training before focusing on their build-up for Sydney.
"There's a great feeling among the guys in the team and we're playing some great cricket," he said.
"I don't think we have to focus on any outcomes, we just have to focus on the process and if we get that right along the way.
"We have a great opportunity now with a couple of days to really get away from cricket and when we do hit the training track in Sydney, we make sure that we're ready to go and carry a bit of that good training and feeling into the game."
Demoralising effect
Ponting was reluctant to criticise England's lacklustre performance in Melbourne but said the manner of their defeat could have demoralising effect on the tourists.
"After losing a game like they have here in three days after winning the toss, then I think they would be pretty demoralised at the moment," Ponting said.
"I guess when you're in a situation like that you just have to play for personal and team pride, that's about all you can do.
"England wouldn't be happy with their performance here, no doubt about that.
"When we are playing as well as we are and we're on a bit of a run then I'm sure all those little doubts they have in their mind after the first and second Tests, those little doubts turn into big doubts through this series."
Australia's determination to complete a series whitewash is a direct result of the disappointment they felt at losing the Ashes in England last year.
The Australian players all took note of England's wild celebrations with their players paraded around London on open-top buses, drinking champagne and meeting the Queen, and decided on a ruthless and calculated plan to exact their revenge.
"I think we are playing very well. When there's big moments in this series we've won them very convincingly," Ponting said.
"That was one thing we didn't do in the last series. Whenever a big moment came up, we made a little mistake and allowed England back into the game and we haven't done that this time.
"When you are playing cricket at the standard we have without making mistakes, it really doesn't matter who you play."
Clark ready to fill McGrath void
Australian bowler Stuart Clark says he will have massive shoes to fill once Glenn McGrath retires from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes series.Clark's bowling style has often been likened to McGrath who will play his final Test match in the fifth Test against England at the SCG beginning next Tuesday.
Clark has been one of the stars of the Ashes series so far, taking 21 wickets in four Tests, but says team-mate McGrath will be missed.
"He's irreplaceable, I don't think anyone will ever replace him as they won't ever replace Warnie," Clark said.
"If I can do some of the job that Glenn has done over the years then I'll be more than happy with that but I don't think we're ever going to replace Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne."
McGrath is expecting that he will experience different emotions to Warne when the pair play their final Test together next week.
But McGrath said his decision to continue playing one-day cricket meant it would not be his final farewell to Australian fans.
"I've still got one more Test match to go but then I am into the one-day series so it's a bit of a strange feeling," he said.
"Whereas Warnie's finishing up here in Sydney I am continuing on for a few more one-dayers so they won't quite be the same."
Pietersen on the England outer, says Buck
Australian cricket coach John Buchanan has questioned whether South African-born England batsman Kevin Pietersen is a team player, saying he seems "distanced" from the rest of the team.
Buchanan was speaking after England crashed to defeat inside three days at the MCG yesterday, with Pietersen making just 1 in the second innings after being promoted to number four in the order.
England coach Duncan Fletcher has confirmed that Pietersen had been asked to make the move up the order at the start of the tour but was reluctant to make the move.
Buchanan said Pietersen was one of England's key strike players but said he always seemed to be removed from his team-mates on the field.
"That might be because that's where England want him to field, they want him to field out on the boundary, but he's a good fieldsman," he said.
"Somebody that's good around the ring - it surprises me that he always seems to be distanced from the rest of the group."
Pietersen has also been criticised for taking singles to rotate the strike when batting with tailenders at the end of the innings.
"[Pietersen] certainly talks about himself as a team player - I don't personally see any evidence of that, but that's from a distance," Buchanan said.
"I'm not in their dressing rooms and he could be one of the greatest team men of all time."
Buchanan was speaking after England crashed to defeat inside three days at the MCG yesterday, with Pietersen making just 1 in the second innings after being promoted to number four in the order.
England coach Duncan Fletcher has confirmed that Pietersen had been asked to make the move up the order at the start of the tour but was reluctant to make the move.
Buchanan said Pietersen was one of England's key strike players but said he always seemed to be removed from his team-mates on the field.
"That might be because that's where England want him to field, they want him to field out on the boundary, but he's a good fieldsman," he said.
"Somebody that's good around the ring - it surprises me that he always seems to be distanced from the rest of the group."
Pietersen has also been criticised for taking singles to rotate the strike when batting with tailenders at the end of the innings.
"[Pietersen] certainly talks about himself as a team player - I don't personally see any evidence of that, but that's from a distance," Buchanan said.
"I'm not in their dressing rooms and he could be one of the greatest team men of all time."
Friday, December 29, 2006
Australians unchanged for Sydney
Australia have named an unchanged 12-man squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test against England, which starts in Sydney next Tuesday.
The hosts, who won by an innings to go 4-0 up in Melbourne, need a win for the first Ashes whitewash since 1920/21.
They are set to go with the XI used in the last two games, meaning Mitchell Johnson will be 12th man again.
Leg-spinner Shane Warne and paceman Glenn McGrath - whose home ground is the SCG - will bow out of Test cricket.
It will be the first time in seven years that another leg-spinner, Stuart MacGill, has missed a Sydney Test.
He has taken 53 of his 198 Test wickets at the SCG, where he averages 24.47, below his overall average of 27.21.
"Stuart was carefully considered and remains very much in the thoughts of the national selection panel," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said.
"However, to include two specialist spinners in Sydney would have meant changing the attack which has performed so well in the first four Tests."
Meanwhile, Australia coach John Buchanan has urged England to give his team a real fight in the finale.
The tourists have yet to win a game on tour, a year after beating the Aussies 2-1 to regain the Ashes.
"It's not the side we faced in 2005, clearly there is something missing," Buchanan said.
"I'm hoping they enjoy the New Year and come back with a new resolve.
"They would like to kick off 2007 very well, as we would, there's one test up for grabs here and I would certainly like to see England come out and just take us head on."
Buchanan believes Australia have widened the gulf between them and England after winning 15 and drawing one of the 16 Tests since the 2005 series.
"That was one mission of this series - to re-establish the gap between Australia and what is supposed to be the second best Test side in the world," he added.
England coach Duncan Fletcher insists his side gave everything in Melbourne
"Those guys are trying their damnest as a unit to try and put up performances," he said.
"You go into the changing room afterwards and you just see how despondent they are."
Australia squad:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Johnson.
The hosts, who won by an innings to go 4-0 up in Melbourne, need a win for the first Ashes whitewash since 1920/21.
They are set to go with the XI used in the last two games, meaning Mitchell Johnson will be 12th man again.
Leg-spinner Shane Warne and paceman Glenn McGrath - whose home ground is the SCG - will bow out of Test cricket.
It will be the first time in seven years that another leg-spinner, Stuart MacGill, has missed a Sydney Test.
He has taken 53 of his 198 Test wickets at the SCG, where he averages 24.47, below his overall average of 27.21.
"Stuart was carefully considered and remains very much in the thoughts of the national selection panel," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said.
"However, to include two specialist spinners in Sydney would have meant changing the attack which has performed so well in the first four Tests."
Meanwhile, Australia coach John Buchanan has urged England to give his team a real fight in the finale.
The tourists have yet to win a game on tour, a year after beating the Aussies 2-1 to regain the Ashes.
"It's not the side we faced in 2005, clearly there is something missing," Buchanan said.
"I'm hoping they enjoy the New Year and come back with a new resolve.
"They would like to kick off 2007 very well, as we would, there's one test up for grabs here and I would certainly like to see England come out and just take us head on."
Buchanan believes Australia have widened the gulf between them and England after winning 15 and drawing one of the 16 Tests since the 2005 series.
"That was one mission of this series - to re-establish the gap between Australia and what is supposed to be the second best Test side in the world," he added.
England coach Duncan Fletcher insists his side gave everything in Melbourne
"Those guys are trying their damnest as a unit to try and put up performances," he said.
"You go into the changing room afterwards and you just see how despondent they are."
Australia squad:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Johnson.
Younis Ahmed expects Pakistan to shine in South Africa
KARACHI: Former Pakistan Test cricketer Younis Ahmed sees Inzamam-ul-Haq’s men in a perfect position to come out with a “good showing” in what is generally predicted to be a tough tour of South Africa next month.“From the itinerary of the tour to the composition of the two teams, I believe that this Pakistan side has a solid chance to do well in South Africa,” Younis told ‘The News’ in an interview here on Thursday.
As a man who has spent the best part of the last 13 years coaching cricket in South Africa, Younis says he knows what he is talking about.
And his piece of advice for Pakistan is to show the sort of aggression that is a hallmark of the current Australian team during the tour of South Africa starting from January 3.
“We have a solid pace attack and our middle order has some of the world’s top batsmen. All we need is to play with some calculated aggression and I am sure that we can come out with at least an honourable draw in the Test series,” he said.
Younis is expecting Pakistani batsmen, especially the in-form Mohammad Yousuf and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to score well in South Africa even though he believes they will have to work hard against the likes of fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Shaun Pollock.
“Yousuf and Inzamam are solid batsmen and should get some runs in the series,” he said.
Younis said that the Pakistani batsmen would find it hard to make the first 20-30 runs at Centurion and Port Elizabeth, which host the first two Tests, but once they managed to bat themselves in, things would get much easier.
“There would be no easy runs in South Africa, no flashy boundaries, nothing of that sort. The South Africans would mostly keep us on the back foot and scoring would be as hard as it can get initially. But once you are in there for an hour or so, things would become much easier,” he explained.
Younis predicted that the South Africans would target Yousuf, who made a record-breaking 1788 runs in 2006, during the series.
“They would go all out against Yousuf who would be under extra pressure after having done marvellously this year. They are going to bowl a lot of short and fast stuff at him. He just needs to be patient and careful,” he explained.
Younis, who played four Tests and two one-dayers for Pakistan during an international career that spanned over 18 years, has been running a cricket academy in Johannesburg since settling down in South Africa in 1993.
He has been following the Proteas’ performance graph and believes that it has taken a dip in recent times.
“This is not the best of South African teams,” he said. “Their captain Graeme Smith is struggling for runs while most of the other batsmen have been quite inconsistent in recent times and there has been too much reshuffling in their batting order to allow much stability,” added Younis who was a part the rebel tour of South Africa in 1973-74.
Younis pointed out that the tour schedule made by the South Africans suited Pakistan more than the hosts.
“We play the first Test at Centurion where the wicket favours batsmen. Batting is easier there than any other Test venue in South Africa and this is one factor that suits Pakistan. It would help our batsmen settle easier than they had done had the series began at some other venue like Cape Town,” he explained.
He added that similarly Port Elizabeth, which would host the second Test, also does not have a very bouncy wicket. “Our batsmen would not find the wicket very difficult because the track is low and slow and should suit them fine,” he explained.
Younis said that Pakistan can take a decisive advantage by making use of the favourable conditions before going into the final Test that would take place in Cape Town from January 23.
“The wicket at Cape Town is tailor-made for bowlers like Ntini and Nel and Pakistani batsmen might struggle with the bounce there,” he said.
He said that for Pakistan the key to success in South Africa would be their top and middle order batsmen. “I think our pace battery is very strong and what we need is our batsmen to click in the series,” he added.
Younis said that with bowlers like Mohammad Asif, Shabbir Ahmed, Umar Gul and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Pakistan have the firepower to bowl South Africa for under-300 on any venue during the three-match Test series.
He, however, is sceptical of the tactics Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has been employing in recent times. “Bob is a very defensive coach and at times his style doesn’t suit our players who are naturally aggressive,” said Younis who played with Woolmer, a former England Test batsman, in the seventies.
“I believe he should shed away his pessimism and show more belief in his team which I believe is a very capable unit,” he added.
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