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Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chief, revealed that measures have been taken to curb the overdose of India-Pakistan cricket, saying that the two boards have reached an understanding to have the series only once every two years. “We are playing each other too much now. We don’t want the edge to go out,” he told .He was confident that the proposed Twenty20 charity match to raise funds for the earthquake victims would take place in the current tour. He said: “It is now just a question of working out the date once Mr. Sharad Pawar (BCCI president) arrives here next week.”Khan watched Pakistan A take on the Indians on the second day of the three-day practice match at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore. He said that although the two sides, India and Pakistan, were evenly matched, the Pakistan bowlers might just have the upper hand. He said, “Always remember that bowlers win matches. You got wonderful batsmen. But if we can find a chink in the armour, then that will be the decisive factor in my opinion.”He also expressed his satisfaction over his team’s performance in the recently concluded series against a strong England side. He said, “Our team spirit and discipline have optimised our potential. And the fact that we have a captain (Inzamam-ul-Haq) who is such a wonderful man, such a great cricketer, and such a great leader, you don’t have to be upfront all the time to be a great leader, has helped immensely. Inzamam and Bob Woolmer (the coach) have done a tremendous job.”Khan added the Pakistan public had shown a lot of maturity of late, taking victories and defeats in its stride, marking the transition from seeing cricket as a `pitched battle’ to just a game between two sides.

Usman Khawaja has been drafted into the Australian squad for the second and third ODIs against India as cover for David Warner, who goes on paternity leave. Warner and his wife Candice are expecting their second child very soon.Warner had said the baby was due towards the end of January during a media interaction after the Sydney Test against West Indies. “I’m just looking forward to playing the first couple of one-dayers first and obviously I’ll be by the phone to wait for that phone call.”Now that it’s arrived Australia have swapped one in-form left-handed opener for another. Khawaja has been stunning over the last few months in competitive cricket. Four of his last seven innings in Test and Big Bash League cricket have been hundreds. He hit them back-to-back against New Zealand in Brisbane and Perth, but missed out on the Day-Night Test in Adelaide with a hamstring injury. A century in the BBL on his return proved there was no lingering discomfort and then plundered 144 and 56 in the Melbourne Test against West Indies a few days later.”Usman has been in fantastic form this season and was unlucky to miss out on a place in our squad for the ODI Series in the first place,” national selector Rod Marsh said. “This call-up is a reward for that form and it is great to have someone of his quality to step into the squad in David’s absence. We wish both David and Candice well and look forward to welcoming David back into the squad when circumstances allow.”Khawaja will join the Australian side in Brisbane, where the second ODI takes place on January 15. He will not be available for Sydney Thunder duty during this time.

Two English county umpires, Jeff Evans and Trevor Jesty, have signed contracts to stand in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which begins next week.Both officials have been told that their future contracts with the ECB, which run from April to September, won’t be affected although the ECB have said they’d prefer their umpires not to take part because of the lack of anti-corruption safeguards in place.”I saw this as an opportunity to visit India and to gain experience umpiring in a major competition,” Evans told . “I’ve had many sleepless nights about it, but I have consulted my solicitor, the Professional Cricketers’ Association solicitor and sought advice from anyone and everyone in the game.”Ray Julian, who retired from first-class umpiring six years ago, has also agreed to travel to the ICL but Ismail Dawood, the former Yorkshire and Glamorgan wicketkeeper, has turned down an offer as he wants to ensure he is included on ECB’s reserve list next season.”I would like to umpire in first-class cricket in England and I didn’t want to jeopardise my prospects,” said Dawood. “It was a tough decision because the ICL contract was extremely lucrative.”

Michael Vaughan will not play in the final two Tests of the Ashes series and a decision on whether he will lead England’s one-day campaign will be made this week. Vaughan, who is recovering from a serious knee problem, fell for 14 in his latest match for the England Academy today and the selectors will decide whether he is fit enough to captain the side through the tri-series starting next month.Duncan Fletcher said the news on Vaughan was “positive, very positive” and he had been working with Nigel Stockill, the squad’s fitness trainer while England were losing the Ashes. “He’s been moving around freely and he says he hasn’t felt so good for some time,” Fletcher said. “It’s very pleasing news.”England’s selectors will speak with Vaughan and other senior figures after today’s match to determine whether he is ready to rejoin the senior squad in the lead-up to the World Cup. Vaughan’s presence was severely missed as the team handed back the Ashes in Perth on Monday and there have been concerns with Andrew Flintoff’s captaincy.However, Fletcher said the players have been “happy with Flintoff”. “We will have to take that into consideration when we pick the squad.”Fletcher said Flintoff, who was chosen ahead of Andrew Strauss as leader for the Test series, had “done a good job” over the first three matches. “He led from the front, but he hasn’t got the runs he would have wanted. The decision was between him and Strauss, but he’d led only six Tests before he was thrown on to a tour of Australia, which is really difficult. Considering all that he’s done as well as he can.”One of Fletcher’s few certainties in a 15-minute interrogation in Perth today was on Vaughan’s chances of appearing in the Boxing Day and New Year’s games. “He’s definitely not playing in the Test series.”

After consistently hitting half centuries since his comeback, Sourav Ganguly today said he would try to convert his fifties into hundreds if he got a chance in the two-Test cricket series against Bangladesh.”I was the highest run getter in Tests in South Africa recently. The good thing is I have been consistent. Here if I get to the eighties I will surely try to convert them into 100s,” Ganguly told reporters after the nets.Asked how he was feeling on his “comeback”, Ganguly said “I don’t think of it as a comeback. We [Sachin Tendulkar and he] were not dropped, but officially rested. This also gave a few youngsters to perform.”Ganguly said he had no preferences for batting order or bowling during the Test. “I always work hard at the nets. It’s the decision of the team and what the situation demanded,” he said when asked if he would bowl in the Test. About opening the innings, he said “that is again up to the team management. If they deem fit I’m game.”On his huge popularity in Bangladesh, Ganguly said “I don’t consider Bangladesh as a different country. I captained in my first Test here. So, Bangladesh will always be special.”At nets Ganguly looked a picture of concentration when Rudra Pratap Singh, Romesh Pawar and three local bowlers bowled at him. Initially, he looked a bit tentative, but later his form returned. He also stepped out a few times to lift the spinners. Cricket Manager Ravi Shastri stood all along watching Ganguly. At first, he stood at the umpire’s position and then watched him from the point region. Ganguly also bowled at the nets to Wasim Jaffer and Sachin Tendulkar.Ganguly also vehemently denied that he was linked with the breakaway Indian Cricket League and also lashed at the media for being irresponsible with their reporting. “It’s not true. I think there are too many stories going around in Indian cricket,” said Ganguly. “Anybody speaks anything and that’s getting printed. The time has come to clarify things because this is not good for the individual as well as the team. I have not had any discussion with anyone, nor am I willing to have any discussions.”

To choose his favourite Test matches over 15 years Shane Warne looked to the beginning and the end. Until less than three weeks ago, his best memory was his third Test, against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 1992, but it was eclipsed by Australia’s remarkable comeback win at Adelaide to all but seal the return of the Ashes.”I didn’t think I’d ever top 1992 but Adelaide definitely pipped that,” he said during his retirement announcement. “That’s the best Test match I’ve played in.”The Colombo game, however, has always remained special for Warne and it was where he first realised he could make an impact at Test level. After taking 0 for 107 in the first innings, Warne watched on in the second as Sri Lanka pressed towards the 181 they needed for victory. Greg Matthews claimed four important wickets and with about 30 runs remaining, Warne, 22, weaved his magic.”Allan Border told me to warm up and I thought ‘oh no, we’re in trouble here’,” Warne said. “I came on and I bowled a maiden and I thought ‘it’s not over yet’. As the next couple of overs went on I took 3 for 0 and I sort of felt like I’ve actually finally contributed.” He finished with 3 for 11 as Sri Lanka fell 17 short. It was the first of countless match-turning performances.Warne said he could not have performed his great feats alone. Terry Jenner’s influence has been well documented, but the man who has affected Warne the most is somebody he could end up sitting next to in the Channel 9 commentary box. “Ian Chappell has probably been the biggest influence on my cricket career,” Warne said. “I would have loved to have played under Ian Chappell. I could listen to his stories and listen to him talk forever. Of all the people I’ve spoken to about cricket, he makes the most sense.”Australia’s last great legspinner before Warne, Richie Benaud, also had a significant impact. “Richie is the man isn’t he?” Warne said. “He knows everything about everything. He’s great to talk to, he’s good company, he’s fun and he’s a legspinner as well. He’s helped me out through some tough times too, just the odd phone call here or there.”It could be Warne who Australia’s next generation of slow bowlers turn to for advice. The spin stocks might look thin, with the exception of Stuart MacGill, but Warne said there were plenty of potential Test players itching for a chance. Dan Cullen, Cameron White, Cullen Bailey, Nathan Hauritz and Beau Casson are some of those who will compete to take his place.”We’re very lucky that we’ve got some excellent spin bowlers in the country,” he said. “It’s a matter of those guys taking their opportunities. It’s probably a pretty good time to get some younger players into the side because we’ve got a very experienced side at the moment.”

Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden are among an extensive list of Australia’s frontline players who have signed with the Indian Premier League, according to a report in the . The paper said the BCCI had outlaid more than $2 million to secure the stars for the Twenty20 tournament.Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were also reportedly on the list. The IPL has already attracted Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, with Simon Katich and Jason Gillespie also set to play.The paper reported that Neil Maxwell, a player agent, will hand the groups’s IPL contracts to Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, in Dubai on Sunday. Next year’s tournament is likely to take place in April, meaning several of the Australian-contracted players might be unavailable as the team will tour Pakistan and West Indies around that time.Australia’s states also have questions over who an Australian player would represent if their Indian franchise and their home state both reached the Champions League following the IPL. “We’re still very much at the thrashing-out stage, but I’ve been led to believe that if that happens, someone like Brett Lee’s first commitment would be to his home state,” Dave Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales said.”These sorts of things must be spelt out at the start, so there can’t be any grey areas. It would be good to get this worked out as soon as possible.”

It’s quite intriguing that despite having played 15 one-dayers in the West Indies, India are yet to play a game at Sabina Park. The two games that were scheduled on their previous tour, in 2001-02 were both washed out and a spate of showers on match eve, and forecast for thunder showers, threatened to ruin a much-anticipated clash. The locals, though, were confident that the match would carry on uninterrupted and spells of bright sunshine added weight to the same.Now to the 22 yards that usually receives most of the attention. Charlie, the groundsman who’s been around since 1959, delivers an obituary on the bounce at Sabina Park. “It’s the clay you know, they change it sometime in the early ’90s. Then they relaid it and it lost its main quality. Now it’s slowly coming back. The pitch for the one-day games will have decent bounce, but the ball comes on to the bat. The Test match pitch will be different. More bounce, more pace.”Jeffrey Dujon, the legendary wicketkeeper who grew up playing on this ground, thought similarly. “This pitch will be different compared to what the Indians encounter at the other venues,” he told Cricinfo. “It can get a bit lively out here and bowlers will definitely have a say.” Would he pick a favourite? “For the sake of the series, I’d like to see it 1-1 after two games.”For that to materialise, Brian Lara’s boys may need to pull out a special performance. “One must remember,” Dujon points out, “and that’s the bottom line – it’s going to be No.3 against No.8. West Indies’ might have comprehensively beaten Zimbabwe but they weren’t up to the mark in all departments.” India, on the other hand, were coming off a sizzling run. In case he’s a numbers man, and is aware of India’s recent chasing record, Lara wouldn’t like to be fielding second. Dravid might not mind it either way and the game at Montego Bay would have given them a good workout while batting first.In all probability, this series might turn into a battle of flexibility with Dwayne Bravo, Dwyane Smith, Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle on one side pitted against Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh on the other. Barring a minor miracle, Ramesh Powar will not play and Dravid hinted that Sreesanth would be allowed time to recuperate as well.Yet, none of these players’ performance may matter if one man decides to take matters into his own magical hands. Lara remains the talisman and has often made a mockery of plans and strategies. He’s back as captain and this series provides him a chance to assert himself and to inspire through personal performance.Kingston is abuzz. Most haven’t seen too many players in this side and there’s an anticipation to watch Irfan Pathan bowl, to watch Yuvraj Singh blast. But the real excitement surrounds Dhoni, especially because of his instinct to dominate, his audacity to invent new strokes, and his attacking methods even when under pressure. “This boy born in the West Indies maan,” said one spectator when Dhoni spanked a six outside Jarrett Park in Montego Bay. “You stole him away from us.” It’s that kind of endearment.There’s a small matter of the Indian coach as well. Greg Chappell, Dujon felt, wouldn’t have forgotten the hammering that Australia took against the mighty West Indian side of the ’80s. “He had a terrible time against us in the only series I played against him. He could not score a run and people keep such things in mind. He would surely try to get back at us.”India (probable)
1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Rahul Dravid (capt), 3 Yuvraj Singh, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Venugopal Rao, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 Rudra Pratap Singh, 11 Munaf PatelWest Indies (probable)
1 Chris Gayle, 2 Runako Morton, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Corey Collymore.

Luke Wright, the Sussex allrounder who is part of England’s Twenty20 World Championship squad, has been called into the one-day squad to cover for Andrew Flintoff, Ravi Bopara and Chris Tremlett.England are still hopeful that Flintoff will be available for the sixth one-day international against India, at The Oval, on Wednesday after he was ruled out of the fifth match at Headingley with a sore left ankle.Bopara took a blow on his right thumb when he tried to take a return catch off Gautam Gambhir during India’s innings. He immediately left the field, one ball into his second over, and went to hospital for x-rays where a dislocation and minor fracture were confirmed. He batted after taking a painkilling injection, but bowling and fielding will be the problem.Meanwhile Tremlett, who missed the Headingley match with an injury to his right foot, had an injection on Monday and won’t be available at The Oval. He will be reassessed ahead of the final ODI, at Lord’s, on Saturday.However, Ryan Sidebottom has been cleared to rejoin the squad after recovering from the side strain he picked up during the final Test at The Oval. He was denied match practice on Sunday when Nottinghamshire’s Pro40 match against Lancashire, at Old Trafford, was washed out.Flintoff is expected to rejoin the England squad for training at The Oval on Tuesday. “I feel for him,” said coach Peter Moores. “He has been great since he has been back. He has had a real buzz about him, a real energy and people have seen that when he has been on the field.”You could see he had his passion back which is what he is like when he plays his best cricket. He has been a real boost for the squad and has been involved in deciding how we should play in one-day cricket, which has been really helpful for myself, Paul Collingwood and the team.”The people I have spoken to so far are still pretty optimistic and he may be okay on Wednesday, then he can get on and play the sort of cricket he loves to do. All we can do is go through the right processes and keep our fingers crossed that the ankle will settle down. It isn’t too major and he can get himself away, then it becomes a manageable problem.”Both Flintoff and Bopara are now in doubt for the Twenty20 squad which will fly out to South Africa the day after the final ODI against India on September 9. England’s first game is against Zimbabwe, at Cape Town, on September 13.

The future of Headingley has again been thrown into doubt after the local council unexpectedly stalled on financing Yorkshire’s planned purchase of the ground, just two weeks after appearing to come to an agreement.The county has agreed to buy the venue for £12million to comply with one of the ECB’s requirements for grounds wishing to host England matches. But the move depends on Leeds City Council providing a loan of £9million.The financing was expected to be rubber-stamped this week but the council’s executive board has decided it needs stronger guarantees on repayment. Mark Harris, the council leader, said: “It is public funds we are talking about and it would be irresponsible for us to accept what is currently on the table.”In a statement Yorkshire said: “This is a position which the club understands and we shall therefore employ every endeavour on our side to ensure that agreement is reached in the course of the days ahead. Since we have already reached agreement on all matters of principle, the club believes that the remaining points of detail can be resolved quickly and without difficulty.”Yorkshire now face a race against time to secure the financing and complete the purchase of Headingley, which is currently rented from the owners of the adjacent rugby club, by the end of the year. If they do not they will invalidate an agreement with the ECB under which Headingley was assured of the right to host England matches for the next 15 years, provided they took ownership of the ground by 2006. Yorkshire plan to increase the ground’s capacity from 17,000 to 20,000 with significant developments of the Grandstand and Kirkstall Lane ends.