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A domestic Twenty20 tournament will be held before India’s tour of England, Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the selection committee, said in Dhaka.The domestic series would offer the selectors a chance to see which players are best suited for the shortened format and thus help them choose the team for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa starting on September 11.The competition begins just three days after India’s seven-match one-day series against England – the final game is slated to be held on September 8 – and the players of the one-day side who are retained for Twenty20 will fly to South Africa directly from England.The domestic series is set to be similar to the Challenger Series, India’s premier one-day competition. However, the composition of the sides will not be as skewed as it normally is for the Challengers, where India Seniors is normally the strongest side with India A and India B relatively weaker. Here the teams of 13 each will be more evenly matched.India’s cricketers haven’t had too much exposure to Twenty20 cricket. The national team has been involved in just one Twenty20 International, against South Africa at Johannesburg in December 2006. India was also the last country to adopt Twenty20 cricket at the domestic level, with the inaugural series this year, but going by the lukewarm response, it didn’t appear to have too many takers.

Roger Harper, the Kenya coach, has stated that the country has a lot more work to do before they can return to international cricket. Harper, who was appointed Kenya’s coach in January 2006 shortly after the country was stripped of its international status, acknowledged the pool of talent that exists in the region, but cited the endless one-day matches as a potential crippling factor to the future development.”There is no doubt that there is a lot of talent in Kenya,” said Harper at an awards ceremony on Saturday. “It is not enough to have the talent alone. A lot of work has to be done.”Kenya has to show it is the best associate member both in the short and long version of the game and unless the players get used to playing longer cricket, it will be difficult to compete at the international level.”Harper, 42, has already led the team to two international tours of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and in the drawn ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Holland in Nairobi. Kenya are to host the Atul Shah Memorial Cup in June, a tournament involving Kenya A, Uganda, Tanzania and a Coast XI to be held in Mombasa.

Alok Kapali, the allrounder who was recently dropped from the Bangladesh team for consistently failing with the bat, has been given a chance to claw his way back into the national team. He was named captain of the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI that will take on New Zealand in a tour opener later this month. Kapali was dropped from the team during the second Test against West Indies but came back into the side for the Asia Cup. Then, upon registering a string of low scores, he was dropped from the team.The BCB XI squad includes three others with Test experience – Talha Jubair, Alamgir Kabir and Anwar Hosain Monir, all medium pacers. Jubair returns to the scene after a gap of two years, having been laid low by a back injury.Jamaluddin Ahmed, the offspinner who has played one-day cricket, has also been included in the squad, as have four cricketers from the Bangladesh under-19 team. Shahadat Hossain Rajib, the 18-year old considered to be the fastest bowler in Bangladesh, may also get a look in.New Zealand are expected to arrive in Bangladesh on October 8 and play a three-day match at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) from October 14-16. The first of the two Tests start in Dhaka on October 19.BCB XI squad
Alok Kapali (captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Hannan Sarkar, Nafees Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Jamaluddin Ahmed, Talha Jubair, Alamgir Kabir, Anwar Hossain Monir, Dhiman Ghosh, Shamsur Rahman, Nadif Chowdhury, Nasiruddin Faruque and Shahadat Hossain.

Surrey’s miserable start to the season is rapidly taking on crisis proportions, and not even the return of their Test stars could save them from humiliation at the hands of Warwickshire. Chasing a total of 241 for victory, Surrey slumped to 7 for 4, with Scott Newman, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe and Rikki Clarke all making ducks. Meanwhile at Taunton, Anthony McGrath put his winter of frustration behind him with a matchwinning 58, as Yorkshire crushed Somerset by 145 runs.

National League Division One

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Surrey’s big guns spiked – The Daily Telegraph

National League Division Two

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Bresnan exposes soft centre – The Guardian
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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia has appointed former test cricketer Naushad Ali to review the poor performance of the team in the ICC World Cup 2003.The committee in which former Test cricketers Aaqib Javed and Sultan Rana are included as members will submit its report within 15 days.The well informed sources told Dawn that after the report of the committee a new look team would be formed to take part in the Sharjah Cup to be held at Sharjah from April 1. Former skipper Moin Khan has been tipped as captain of the new look team, the sources said. But the surprising factor behind appointing the committee is that PCB chairman by himself formed the selection committee and also appointed Waqar Younis as captain for the World Cup despite severe criticism.The chairman has been working at this post after World Cup- 1999, without any barriers and so far he took all his decisions without the opposition of constitution and any council as both are not existing in the board.Instead of this committee, the government should set up an independent commission under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. In the last World Cup held in England, the Pakistan team lost the final to Australia. But the press and public raised hue and cry which forced the government to set up a commission headed by Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari to probe the defeat in the final and also stunning defeat at the hands of minnows Bangladesh.According to a PCB spokesman the committee will start its working from March 8 and will complete it within 15 days.”The committee which has been assigned the task to work independently has been authorised to interview any player or official they want and will have access to any material required by them including the match tapes”, the spokesman said.The spokesman while quoting the PCB chairman said that the poor performance of the team during the World Cup matches, its failure to qualify for the Super Sixes and defeats at the hands of Australia, England and India had been source of serious widespread concern both to the public at large as well as the PCB management. This despite intensive preparations by the PCB and making available all possible resources to the team for the prestigious event.The committee will thoroughly review the performance going into each and every aspect including the selection both before and during the Cup matches, the role of captaincy, individual performances and suggest suitable measures to remedy the situation.The following are the terms of reference of the World Cup review committee: To review the selection criteria of the team for each match of the World Cup 2003. To review the selection of the team for each match of the World Cup.To review the strategies and game plans formulated for each match. To review the roles of players and officials particularly the Coach and Captain of the team in the overall dismal performance.To give opinion on the causes for the below standard performance. To give recommendations on penalties to those found responsible for the poor performance.To recommend steps for improvement to avoid such performance in future.

We went into the Galle Test with a psychological edge and full ofconfidence. We had just won the one-day series, knew that India werenot at full strength and also had the home advantage. We were stillwary though and aware that we needed to do the basics well.

That confidence wasn’t misplaced, however, as we outplayed them in alldepartments of the game. The bowlers made scoring very difficult andbowled plenty of wicket taking balls too, whilst Sanath (Jayasuriya)led from the front and Kumar (Sangakkara) played brilliantly with thebat.In the days leading up to the match there was some concern that theremay have been too much grass left on the wicket. We were prepared,though, having been practicing for the last two months on surfacesthat seamed all over the place. In the event there was not too muchsideways movement and batting, though not easy when the bowlers putthe ball in the right areas, was far from impossible.India started with a plan of survival and that negativity kept us inthe game, when we took only one wicket in the first two sessions. Wehad bowled adequately – though were guilty at times of dropping atouch short – but India never capitalised on their good start. In theevening we started to turn the screw, as “Dili” came to the party.I remember facing Dilhara (Fernando) when he came on to the scene acouple of years ago. He could be sharp, but also very wayward. When hetoured South Africa and New Zealand, we never knew whether he wasgoing to grab a wicket or bowl a ten-ball over.The management, however, knew a good thing when they saw one andpersevered. A softly spoken and unassuming man, he is a quick learnerand worked hard with fast bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake andbiomechanical expert Terry Oliver. His improvement in just six monthsis quite astonishing. Nowadays he is far more accurate, consistentlyhits the seam, reverse swings the ball and has a very deceptive slowerball. He still has a lot to learn of course, but he is willing to dothat, which is tremendously encouraging.In fact, Dilhara is one of a small young group of Sri Lankan fastbowlers, who have the ability to bowl really quick. Prabath Nishanka,a tall right armer from Matara, has just returned from a knee injuryand he has been a real handful at the nets. Ishara Amarasinghe, ateammate from Nondescripts Cricket Club, is another speed merchant tolook out for.Having bowled India out we needed to make sure we batted well. Soundsobvious, but we did not want to have to score many in the fourthinnings. There was already plenty of rough by the end of the firstinnings and the ball would have turned square by day four and five.The pace and bounce would have also become more unpredictable.India didn’t do themselves any favours on the second day. They bowledpoorly and Sanath (Jayasuriya) was able to get after them. Kumar’s(Sangakkara) innings was also impressive, even if it was not asexplosive as Sanath’s. He had come into the match without much formand although he is a naturally confident player, his confidence haddropped. Normally a free flowing stroke maker he was workmanlike anddetermined on this occasion.With the middle order collapsing (I played a half hearted stroke. Withhindsight I should have been more positive and square cut the ballproperly), he retained his discipline and ensured that we were able toput the Indians under a lot of pressure in the second innings;pressure that eventually told, as India collapsed for the second timein the game.We now then go into the second Test in Kandy full of confidence. Indiawill be down after such a convincing defeat and we need to re-createthe pressure that we put them under in Galle. We know that we havelost two close encounters in Kandy in the last 12 months, but alsorecognise where we went wrong. In those two matches we were not strongenough at the crunch moments. This time we need to hang in there thewhole match and make sure we ram home the advantage that we created inGalle.

ScorecardFile photo – Nikhil Gangta hit 12 fours and five sixes•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A century from Nikhil Gangta powered Himachal Pradesh into an innings lead against Jammu & Kashmir in Dharamsala. J&K could add only 19 runs to their overnight score of 274 for 8 before being bundled out 4.5 overs into the day, leaving Parvez Rasool unbeaten on 114. The visitors, however, immediately fought back, strikes from Rasool and medium-pacer Umar Nazir Mir reducing Himachal to 77 for 4. Gangta and Robin Bist led a counterattack, batting together for 44 overs to string a 157-run partnership, helping the team to 300. Bist hit seven fours for his 66, but was trapped lbw by Ram Dayal towards the end of the day. Gangta was not out on 111, with 12 fours and five sixes, when stumps were called.Rohan Prem made his maiden first-class double century, which contributed to more than half of Kerala’s total. Prem, who began the second day on 106, added another 102 runs before he was the eighth batsman dismissed. Prem had good support from Raiphi Gomez (41), Monish Karaparambil (37) and Fabid Ahmed (37) as Kerala built solidly but slowly. Legspinner Akash Bhandari collected his second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket but by then Kerala had reached 400.Karaparambil further strengthened Kerala’s advantage by nipping out Hyderabad opener Tanmay Agarwal for 6. Akshath Reddy and Hanuma Vihari, though, survived till stumps, with Hyderabad finishing at 40 for 1.
ScorecardResuming on 230 for 3, Services posted 402, with No. 6 Sufiyan Alam becoming the fourth half-centurion for his side. He was aided by handy contributions from Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (23) and Diwesh Pathania (26) after overnight batsman Rajat Pailiwal added 36 runs to his tally. Paliwal was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Darshan Misal and in the following over Shahshank Sharma fell to Shadab Jakati. Alam struck seven fours before he became the first of pacer Rituraj Singh’s three victims.In reply, Goa lost opener Amogh Desai in the first over when he was out lbw to Diwesh Pathania before tea. Swapnil Asnodkar and Sagun Kamat managed to grind out 32 together before Poonam Poonia struck to remove Kamat for 24. Asnodkar and Dheeraj Jadhav, however, ensured that the hosts ended the day without any further damage. Goa still trail Services by 340 runs.Saurashtra v Jharkhand – Jadeja topples Jharkhand in under two days

Seventy-six years after Bill Brown was run-out without facing a ball on his first-class debut at the Gabba, he was given a farewell at the same ground by the cricket community who considered him the grandfather of the game. Brown died on March 16 aged 95 and the memorial service in Brisbane followed a private family funeral last week.Sam Loxton, a fellow Invincible, headed the guest list that also included Allan Border, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Brown’s wife Barbara and his family. “The world was a better place for Bill Brown being in it,” Healy told the gathering of about 150 people who had been touched by Brown’s batting, kindness and gentlemanly demeanour.Loxton, who is 87 on Saturday, is one of four players remaining from the undefeated England trip of 1948 – Ron Hamence, Arthur Morris and Neil Harvey are the others – and he smiled as he spoke of his rise to No. 2 in the rankings. He remembered Brown always carried a book under his arm. “Bill was the only one on the ’48 tour who gave the impression he could read,” he said.During the visit the Australians were playing at Lord’s and Loxton, who felt under-used during the early stages of the visit, was looking for someone to practise with. Brown decided he would have a bowl and Loxton spent an hour in the nets. “I was in for the next game and got a few, then in the third Test they dropped Bill and picked me,” Loxton said. “He was heard to say ‘never give a sucker a break’.” Brown would not add to his 22 Tests.Brown, who grew up in a one-bedroom home in Sydney and had to share a bed with his brother, was a cautious right-handed batsman who represented Australia between 1934 and 1948. Only one of his Tests came at the Gabba – he scored 11 against India in 1946-47 – but he appeared there regularly for Queensland, the state of his birth, after returning from New South Wales for the 1936-37 season.In retirement he would take his grandchildren to the ground, arriving two hours early for a Test to get a good seat. Then the stories about his playing days and big-name team-mates would begin as he answered questions from those around him.Jamie Brown told how his grandfather occasionally played social games and was a great asset during a father-and-son match at high school. Brown was 72 so the schoolboys felt they should ease up on the old man, but they were soon looking in creeks for his boundaries before he purposefully got out on reaching fifty.During his trips to the Gabba in the 1980s Brown spotted the talent in a young Steve Waugh and was pleased when they later became friends. Waugh believed Brown embodied the spirit of the baggy green while Hayden said he respected the modern player and “relished in their success”.”He was always on my side or was there for a quiet word,” Hayden said. “And he could console you about opening.”The cricket writer Mike Coward delivered the eulogy and was played at the end of the service to recognise Brown’s time as a flight lieutenant in the airforce during WWII. Coward described Brown as “a cricketer of the people” and “the grandfather to the cricket community”.

Stephen Fleming insists he will not copy Sri Lanka’s controversial tactics and rest key bowlers for Friday’s clash against Australia. Both sides are already through to the semi-finals, but the dead rubber will not prevent them from playing their best outfits in their final Super Eights match in Grenada.Fleming said New Zealand would not compromise their chances of making it four straight wins against Australia after a 3-0 Chappell-Hadlee home triumph in February. “We’ll go in with the best possible team bar injury scares,” Fleming said in a clear indication Shane Bond would play. “If someone needs to be rested from an injury point of view we’ll be cautious with that.”We want to continue where we left off against Australia in New Zealand. They’re a tough side if they get on top of you and they’ve got a point to prove.”New Zealand bounced back from defeat by Sri Lanka, their only loss in the tournament, with a five-wicket victory over South Africa on Saturday. Barring an extraordinarily huge win against Australia that would force them to swap first and second places on the table, they will face Sri Lanka in the first semi-final in Jamaica on Tuesday. Australia are set to take on South Africa in the other semi-final in St Lucia on Wednesday.”It’s a great opportunity before the semi-finals start to maintain the standards we had against South Africa,” Fleming said. “Part of the selection [against Australia] is looking forward to Sri Lanka and assessing what conditions we’ll get in Jamaica and Barbados and just make sure the team picked for Australia covers those bases.”Australia, who are defending a 26-game unbeaten record at the World Cup, face a key decision over the allrounder Shane Watson, who is recovering from a calf strain. If he doesn’t take the field against New Zealand it will place a huge question mark over his participation in the rest of the tournament.New Zealand have never won a World Cup, or even reached the final, but Ricky Ponting is in no doubt about their quality. “They love a fight,” Ponting said, “they love a scrap.”

Haafiz Majid Jahangir compiled a career-best 156 as Sialkot came from behind to attain a three-wicket win over Karachi Harbour on the final day of their third-round Pentangular Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium.Chasing a stiff target of 369, Sialkot finally got there for the loss of seven wickets. Starting from their overnight score of 160 for 2, still needing another 209 runs to win their first match in three appearances, Sialkot were put on the right path by a third-wicket partnership of 145 between Jahangir and Ayub Dogar.Dogar followed his first-innings 77 with another invaluable knock of 61 that came off 150 balls with nine fours. The 25-year-old Majid, playing in only his third first-class match of the season, scored his 156 runs off 351 deliveries in almost seven and a half hours and hit 25 fours.Tahir Mughal (42 off just 43 balls with nine fours), the captain, promoted himself up the order and helped add 74 runs for the fourth wicket with Majid. At 351 for 3, only 18 more runs were required for victory.Sialkot then lost four quick wickets in the space of 14 runs but the issue had already been settled. The win was finally achieved with three wickets still standing. As they had earlier surrendered a first innings lead of 99, they collected only six points instead of the full nine.Sialkot, who are the current national champions, have managed to lift themselves up from the bottom of the five-team table after having started the tournament with two straight defeats. They now have only one match in hand and absolutely no chance of winning the Pentangular.In the fourth-round that starts from Monday (April 17), Faisalabad will play against Karachi Harbour at the Gaddafi Stadium while table leaders National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) will face Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the Multan Cricket Stadium.