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* Asia Cup in Pakistan from August 23 next yearThe Asia Cup featuring India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE andHong Kong would be held in Pakistan from August 23 to September 7 nextyear under a new format.The official news agency, APP said that according to the rules, allthe matches would be day and night fixtures and will be played atKarachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.The teams were divided into two pools with Pakistan, Bangladesh andUAE in pool A, while India pitted with Sri Lanka and Hong Kong is inPool B. The top two teams from each pool would move into the superleague where each team will play the four other sides. The top twoteams will play the final to be played on September 7, it said.* Kumble unlikely to be fit for Lanka tourIt now seems highly unlikely that ace Indian leg spinner Anil Kumblewill be available for selection for the tour of Sri Lanka commencinglater this month. The 30-year-old Karnataka captain, recuperating fromshoulder surgery, told a news agency in Bangalore on Monday that hehad been bowling at the nets and regularly following therehabilitation programme. But he indicated that he was not likely tobe fit for the tour of Sri Lanka."I am yet to inform the BCCI about my fitness," he said. In April,after consultations with shoulder specialist Mark Fergusson of SouthAfrica, Kumble had said that it would be a bonus if he would be fitfor the Sri Lankan tour. The team for Sri Lanka is to be selected onJuly 9, immediately after the Indians come back from their currenttour of Zimbabwe. India will play three Test matches against Sri Lankabesides taking part in a tri series involving New Zealand.However, Kumble expressed confidence of being match fit for the SouthAfrican tour which starts from the first week of October. Kumble hasbeen out of action since he was injured in the three nation tournamentat Sharjah in October last year.* Solkar offers to coach Bengal juniorsFormer Indian Test cricketer Eknath Solkar has expressed his desire tocoach the junior cricketers of Bengal. Solkar had called up the jointsecretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Debdas Bannerjee andhad expressed his intentions. The latter however, asked him to contactthe CAB President Jagmohan Dalmiya. After failing to contact Dalmiya,Solkar sent in his application to the CAB. Talking over the phone fromMumbai, Solkar said, "I have coached the junior teams of Orissa andAssam. So when I came to know that the CAB was looking for a coach, Iapplied for it."Solkar’s application however, may not be reviewed at the present asthe CAB has appointed MP Parmar as the coach for the juniorcricketers. Parmar was the coach of the senior team that had won theRanji Trophy in 1989-90.The CAB is also on the look out for a coach for the senior team. Thenames that have been shortlisted are those of Madanlal, Karsan Ghavriand Roger Binny. Of the three Ghavri stands the best chance of gettingthe post as the other two are busy with various assignments.* Chamundeswarnath is Andhra selection committee chairmanFormer Andhra Ranji captain V Chamundeswarnath was elected chairman ofthe senior selection committee at the executive committee meeting ofthe Andhra Cricket Association in Vijayawada on Sunday. The followingare the various selection panels for 2001-02:Senior selection committee: V Chamundeswarnath (Chairman), JugalKishore Ghia, N Bose Babu, VB Satya Prasad, Coach: Syed Abid Ali.Administrative Manager: KS Bhaskara Ramamurthy.Under-25: D Suresh Kumar (Chairman), BJJ Raju, A Sai Ram, GGowrishankar, Coach: M Chandrasekhara, Administrative Manager: KVVSatyanarayana.Under-22: D Vincent Vinay Kumar (Chairman), V Janaki Ram, GSMallikarjuna Rao, S Krishna Mohan, Coach: GVS Raju. AdministrativeManagers: K Bapiraju and MV Krishna Murthy.Under-19: KVSD Kama Raju (Chairman), Sher Singh, UM Gandhi, PR AnandaMurthy, Coach: MN Ravi Kumar, Administrative Managers: MS Reddy andKoka Ramesh.Under-16: D Nageswara Rao (Chairman), P Bhogendra Babu, VVijayasaradhi, Ch Subrahmanyam, Coach: PV Krishna Rao, AdministrativeManagers: T Mahesh and N Nirmal.Under-14: M Vasudeva Raju (Chairman), R Narayan Rao, D Vinod Kumar, MAIspaan, Coach: JKM Raju, Administrative Managers: P Seshu Babu and LNaga Bhushanam.

ScorecardDavid Warner was playing after over seven weeks•Getty Images

Tactical declarations and new-ball bowling under lights will be prevalent during the Adelaide day/night Test if a seesaw day one of the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia is anything to go by.The Redbacks’ top order was destroyed by likely Test bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood after the NSW and Australia captain Steve Smith closed the Blues’ faltering first innings shortly before the scheduled close.Starc and Hazlewood had the new pink ball bending around corners on a muggy evening, accounting for Kelvin Smith, Callum Ferguson and Mark Cosgrove within the first three overs.The Blues had squandered a strong start after Smith chose to bat in natural light, watched by a small crowd notable for its many key broadcasting and cricket operations observers testing out Adelaide ahead of next month’s historic five-day fixture.After Ed Cowan squandered a start, Smith and the fit-again David Warner combined for the sort of stand they may need to make a habit of to keep a young Australian side afloat this summer. Warner managed the pain of a still healing thumb well enough in his 77, while Smith mixed watchful defence with the odd fidgety flourish.SA’s pacemen gave way to spin and medium-pace as the pink ball grew soft, and the Warner-Smith stand was broken by the spin of SA captain Travis Head, who claimed the wickets of both senior men plus Nic Maddinson in an impish display.Joe Mennie followed up sturdily, as the NSW middle order struggled to find any momentum against tight bowling and ring fields. Ultimately Smith preferred to declare before stumps rather than letting a meandering innings play out, a decision that would be richly rewarded.Twelve wickets and 265 runs illustrated that the day/night format will be a test of patience but also a game of fortune, as the new ball at night is likely to be the 21st century equivalent of being caught batting on an uncovered wicket.

An unbroken 56 run ninth wicket stand between Vijay Prajapati andRajiv Dutta lifted Tripura to 213/8 on the first day of their EastZone Ranji Trophy clash with Bihar at the Keenan Stadium inJamshedpur. Play was called off five overs before the scheduled closebecause of bad light.Bihar won the toss, put the visitors in and quickly took control,Dheeraj Kumar bowling Pranab Debnath with the fourth ball of the day.The wickets which fell regularly were shared among five bowlers. Thestoutest resistance was provided by Mridule Gupta who swiftly moved to61 (84 balls, 9 fours) before having his stumps rattled by seamerMihir Diwakar. The end of the innings appeared near when the eighthwicket fell in the 58th over but Prajapati (37) and Dutta (23) heldout for the last hour and a half.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will probably take another month to appoint a coach for the national team.”We contacted our counterparts in cricket boards in England and Australia telling them our requirement. If they have someone who matches what we need, they will recommend some names to us,” Sharad Pawar, president of the Indian board, said in Bangalore on Friday. “There is a committee appointed to look into this and it will probably take a month’s time before we can make an appointment.”On the issue of the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which has seen some heated words being exchanged in the media, Pawar said the BCCI was not against former cricketers running coaching programs or playing matches but insisted it was the board’s prerogative to organise all official cricket in India.One of those exchanges has involved Kapil Dev, who heads the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and has also joined the ICL. When asked if Indian cricket might be better served by Kapil Dev developing young cricketers through the NCA rather than through the ICL, Pawar said, “He seems to be very busy elsewhere.”Asked if the appointment of high-profile cricketers to committees and academies was causing more trouble than good, Pawar said, “We appointed Kapil here at the NCA in good faith. He was a great cricketer and won the World Cup for India. But he’s busy with other things. Even Sunil Gavaskar has been head of committees and they have a lot of experience and expertise. So I won’t say it is trouble.”The prime reason Pawar addressed the press conference, though he insisted this was not the case, was to show support to the powers that be in Karnataka cricket with elections round the corner. Flanked by Brijesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and Gundappa Viswanath, the presidential candidate from the Patel panel, he said, “I have got some reports regarding the BCCI president’s involvement in the KSCA elections. When I took the responsibility of leading the BCCI, this time I was elected unopposed. I have to act in such a way that I don’t, directly or indirectly support any one group or the other.”Having said that, Pawar made it clear where he stood: “I must say that some state associations have been continuously doing good work in the development of cricket, cricket infrastructure and promoting young cricketers. The KSCA is one of them, so also the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Mumbai Cricket Association and the Punjab Cricket Association.”The work in Karnataka, both here in Bangalore and in the districts, has helped Indian cricket in that it has produced someone who is leading the country, in Rahul Dravid, and a record-breaking bowler in Anil Kumble, and now Robin Uthappa has come into the side,” said Pawar. “The BCCI doesn’t want to take any sides in the KSCA elections, but this development work must continue.”However, Pawar had recently met Vijay Mallya, the industrialist and Rajya Sabha MP, who has thrown his weight behind Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the man opposing the ruling Patel faction. When asked about this Pawar made light of the matter, saying, “I fly on Mr. Mallya’s plane and I know him as someone who has been acquiring many companies. But when we had a chat recently I was surprised when he [Mallya] told me of his interest in entering Karnataka cricket.”The date for the KSCA elections is yet to be announced although the constitution stipulates that elections must be held on or before September 30 and that the date for the election must be announced at least 15 days before they are to be held.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, and his team-mate Daren Ganga were the toasts at the 50th Annual Prize Giving and Awards Ceremony of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.Lara, who in November 2005 broke the world record for the most runs in Test cricket, walked away with the International Cricketer of the Year Award, while Ganga, the Trinidad captain, won the Senior National Cricketer of the year title.Ganga, who led Trinidad to their first ever double title in the regional competition, was joined by Rayad Emrit, Richard Kelly, Denesh Ramdin and Dave Mohammed as the five outstanding cricketers of the year. PowerGen Sports, winners of the Carib National League Division One competition, was adjudged Club of the Year.Gerard Ferreira, chairman of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago, delivered the feature address and showered accolades on the administration of the TTCB for the efficient manner in which they were handling their affairs and for the several initiatives taken this year with respect to their youth development programmes.In his welcome address Deryck Murray, president of the TTCB, claimed that his organisation did exceedingly well this year and praised Trinidad for their outstanding success in this year’s regional series. Murray said that with the help of corporate sponsors and the Sports Company, the TTCB were able to wipe out the financial deficit which his executive met when they came into office.He said that apart from Trinidad’s success, he was very pleased with the several new youth development programmes which the board had embarked upon. These include the Star Programme, the High Performnace Centres for under-15 cricketers and three youth development tours.

A new season of one-day cricket on the subcontinent kicks off on Saturday inDambulla, a market town surrounded by some of Sri Lanka’s most ancientheritage sites. But while the idyllic lakeside setting harks back to thepast, drawing in tourists by the thousand each year, the tournament openerprovides a fascinating glimpse of the future, as India try to plug enormousholes in their top order and Sri Lanka experiment with a new opening partnerfor Sanath Jayasuriya.The unavailability of Sachin Tendulkar (elbow injury) for the entiretournament and Sourav Ganguly, at least for the first two games after hisICC match ban was reduced from six to four games after much legalhuffing and puffing, leaves India in new territory, as they will be shorn of 23,587 ODI runs and 618caps’-worth of experience. India have rarely missed both at the same time in thelast ten years and their absence has triggered animated debate as to thelikely shape of the new top order.The safe money is being put on VVS Laxman jumping up the order to partnerVirender Sehwag. This is the entirely sensible and boring option that willbalance the top six. But there are still many secretly hoping that theyounger and longer curls of MS Dhoni accompany Sehwag to the middle. Itwould be a high-risk but potent alliance that would have the potential forcreating major headaches for Marvan Atapattu, who will be missing ChamindaVaas and Nuwan Zoysa, his most experienced pace bowlers.While the ball is hard in the first 15 overs, India have their best chanceof stamping their authority on the game. The Sri Lankan injuries mean thatthe pace attack now has a fragile look about it: Lasith Malinga is exciting andunusual with his round-arm action, but far from polished after just fourmatches; Farveez Maharoof is struggling to find his best bowling form;Dilhara Fernando is under pressure after a long layoff; and DilharaLokuhettige, the new allrounder, is untested.In such circumstances, playing Dhoni – the one batsman to click into form onthe tour thus far – might be a gamble worth taking. But the old hands whofollow India around the world with their laptops, the people who decode theteam’s poker-faced press conference sound-bites for a living, say Dhoni is likely toappear in the middle order with Rahul Dravid, the new captain, at No. 3 andMohammad Kaif at No 4. Yuvraj Singh’s position at No. 3 in both practicegames is considered a red herring – although Greg Chappell has mentioned’flexibility’ so many times this week that we should mentally prepareourselves for the unexpected.India are also set to give an international lifeline to Jai Prakash Yadav, a30-year-old seam bowling allrounder who played the last of his two ODIsagainst West Indies in 2002. He disappeared for a couple of years but strongperformances in the 2004-05 domestic season have given him hope of a secondcoming. With Ganguly set to return for India’s third game next week, he mayneed to make an impression fast.The Dambulla pitch started its international life in 2001 as a batsmen’shellhole; the ball dancing around for the pace bowlers and spinners. But inthe years since the pitch has bedded down and runs flowed last evening whenan Atapattu XI tussled with a Jayawardene XI. However, there is enough helpfor the seamers to persuade both team’s to play three frontline quicks.India will have to choose between Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble onceagain.Sri Lanka, too, have been giving their opening combination some deepthought. Tom Moody, their new coach, has made it clear that the time hascome for more stability at the top. In the past 17 months Jayasuriya has hadfive different partners. But Sri Lanka believe that may have unearthed theanswer, Upul Tharanga, a wispy left-hander blessed with sweet timing and anarray of strokes. His classy 35 in the practice match shone with potentialand he is certain to play.The middle order has a familiar feel with Atapattu, Sangakkara andJayawardene ensconced in their normal positions. Tillakaratne Dilshan’sperky batting during the Test series against West Indies should be enoughfor him to get the nod over Russel Arnold, who has been pushing hard for arecall with stacks of runs for the A team. Upul Chandana will then occupythe pivotal No 7 position with Dilhara Lokuhettige set for debut after somelusty blows last night and a mean spell of seamers. Sri Lanka are desperateto unearth a seam bowling allrounder and he is the latest to be tried.With Muttiah Muralitharan, back to full fitness and good form during theWest Indies series, and Malinga already pencilled in then Fernandoand Farveez Maharoof will sweat over the final place. Fernando’s greatercutting edge with the ball and reputation as a wicket-taker may put his nosein front, but it’s a close-run contest because Maharoof, in his short career,has shown and cool head under a pressure and Atapattu needs strong mindswithout Vaas and Zoysa. Maharoof also offers more with the bat.Teams
Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Marvan Atapattu, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 LasithMalinga.India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 VVS Laxman, 3 Rahul Dravid (Capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 MS Dhoni, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Jai P Yadav, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji

As more rain swept the country only the matches at Cardiff and Headingley started promptly, but eventually three more games got under way as well – only Surrey’s match against Hampshire was completely abandoned, although Essex and Warwickshire could only squeeze in a 10-over thrash.Glamorgan took advantage of Hampshire’s inactivity to go top of Division One after their third win in three outings, while in Division Two Leicestershire also lead the way with a 100% record after three matches. The batting star of the day was Matthew Elliott, who stroked 112 not out from 116 balls – and put on 169 with Matthew Maynard – as Glamorgan overhauled Northamptonshire’s handy total with 5.1 overs to spare.

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ScorecardSurrey v Hampshire at the Brit Oval – match abandoned
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It is difficult to find suitable words to describe Pakistan’s dismal performance in the opening encounter against Australia. A match so eagerly awaited by the whole nation, ended in thorough disappointment. The Australians showed the mental strength they are so well known for, bouncing back so professionally after injury setbacks and the Shane Warne affair which would have set any other team back.Waqar Younis’ decision to put the opposition in after winning the toss was a complete shocker. Pakistan’s inability as far as chasing totals is concerned, is one that has been talked of for ages, and surely the team management must have been well aware of it too? The pitch may have had some early life but not enough to warrant the decision of fielding first. Pakistan in the past has folded up while chasing meagre totals let alone the mammoth 311 set by the Aussies this time.While half of the battle may have been lost at the toss, the Pakistanis also lost the initiative they had gained early on through some mediocre captaincy. When Shoaib Akhtar got rid of Ponting, Australia were in a vulnerable position, and it was the ideal time to go in for the kill by employing Wasim Akram. Instead, Waqar opted to stick with Afridi and later on, even introduced Younis Khan. While it is obvious Younis Khan was brought on to improve the appalling over rate but had the lower order been cleaned up it may not have been a factor. It would have been better chasing a total like 250 in 45 overs had a few overs been docked, rather than a massive 310. By letting the Aussies off the hook, he allowed Andrew Symonds to put the match out of reach and that he did in no uncertain fashion.To top it all off, Waqar was even disallowed from completing his final over after producing two beamers, certainly not acceptable at this level of the game. Andrew Symonds was quite justified in being furious, and umpire Shepherd had really no other option but calling Waqar off.Even the most optimistic of Pakistan supporters would find it hard to pick positives out of the game, but its time for the team to sit down and think about what they can do in the future matches. Firstly, putting the opposition in after winning the toss would be a dangerous move if it is repeated, especially against the stronger teams.Secondly, the team structure needs analysis, as that might have cost us the game. I think its wrong to go in with five bowlers, two of them being Razzaq and Afridi who are virtually incapable of completing their quota of 10 efficiently. Saqlain’s exclusion was unjustified, and one hopes to see him in the line-up in future games. Afridi unfortunately is contributing neither with bat nor ball, so it is pointless to include him as an all-rounder.Saleem Elahi looked to be in good touch, so he deserves to be retained, to open with Saeed Anwar, who is expected to be fit for the next match. Taufeeq Umar on the other hand looked too unsettled in his brief knock. He may have brilliant technique, but in one-days he fails to rotate the strike which builds pressure, causing him to play some wild strokes. The number three position needs to be filled by Youhana, as he is the best batsman in the side on current form, and sending him in at five is wasting his potential.The practice of hiding the best batsman from the new ball is a poor one. If anyone can be expected to deal with the early pace onslaught, its got to be Youhana and Inzamam, so they must be put in at number three and four respectively.Another matter that needs attention is who should take the new ball? Shoaib Akhtar looked good at the start, but the problem is that with Waqar and Razzaq bowling first and second change there is no pressure in the middle overs. Shoaib Akhtar is far more effective in the middle overs as the pressure exerted by him helps the bowler at the other end and in picking up a few key wickets. Waqar in the middle overs is not as consistent as he was in line at length and with Razzaq not bowling as well these days, the batsmen can cash in.Another important issue that needs to be addressed is the poor over rate. The Pakistani fielders are very casual in the early overs, strolling between their field positions at the change of overs. The excessive extras do not help matters either. The bowlers can’t be expected to cut down their run ups on such short notice, so the captain must try and make sure the fielders hustle through in the change between overs, something the Australians do very well.All in all, there needs to be a lot more thinking in future matches if the team are to progress in the tournament. The team was not short of spirit and enthusiasm, as was evident early on, but that alone is not going to win us games. The captain must put in more thought, and be a little more aggressive rather than sit back and wait for the opportunities to present themselves.Ed: If readers wish to correspond with the author, please email Taha Noor

The Board of Control for Cricket in India tour, programme and fixturescommittee meeting will be held at the residence of Kishore Rungta, theRajasthan Cricket Association secretary and treasurer of the BCCI, inJaipur on July 7.The meeting will take a final decision on India’s proposed tours toPakistan (for the Asian Test Championship) and Australia (for thethree match indoor series). It will also decide on the venues anddates of the Tests, one day internationals and first class matches forthe Zimbabwe tour of this country. Zimbabwe are scheduled to tourIndia early next year after England completes its tour. It is alsolearnt that Jaipur will get either a three day game or an ODI againstEngland in November this year.The committee will also have a look at the domestic calender. Theconvenor of the commitee is the BCCI secretary JY Lele. Other memberswho will participate in the deliberations include GK Kelkar, SharadDiwadkar, MP Pandove and Venkat Rao.

A side strain to offspinner R Ashwin has forced India to call up Harbhajan Singh as back-up for the second and third ODIs against South Africa. It is not yet clear for how long Ashwin would be out with a BCCI release saying, “After making a detailed assessment of the injury, the BCCI medical team will confirm the time frame required for Ashwin to fully recovery from the injury.” Harbhajan will join the team in Indore, the venue for the second ODI on October 14.The problem occurred in Ashwin’s fourth over, when he dived to his right to stop a drive down the ground. He got up, showing signs of pain, but went on to bowl a couple of more deliveries before talking to India captain MS Dhoni and walking off the field.However, with AB de Villiers taking control of the game, Ashwin tested himself on the sidelines and after a word with the support staff, came back on the field in the 38th over. He was not allowed to bowl immediately though because, even though he had hurt himself while playing, it wasn’t an external injury so he had to wait until 11.55am to bowl again. After bowling one more over, however, he walked off the field again.In addition to Harbhajan, India do have legspinner Amit Mishra and left-arm spinner Axar Patel as slow-bowling options for the next two ODIs. The squad for the final two games is yet to be announced.