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New Zealand may have produced a flawless performance in the first Test at Hamilton, but on the second day at Wellington the cracks in their confidence began to show. With James Anderson leading the way with 5 for 73, they were dismissed for 198 and conceded a hefty first-innings lead of 144. But their wicketkeeper, Brendon McCullum, remains confident that – with three days of the match remaining – there is still plenty time for a turnaround.”It wasn’t how we had that part of the day planned out,” said McCullum. “But in saying that we have the opportunity to come back tomorrow and resurrect the mistakes we made today. To win this Test match we knew we’d have to bat well once and, whether it’s the first or second turn, it doesn’t matter. If we can bowl well tomorrow and set about chasing 350 on the final two days, then we have every opportunity.”To achieve that aim, however, New Zealand will need to better the efforts that England’s bowlers put in, and McCullum conceded that it would be a tough act to follow. “Our batting wasn’t as good as it should have been, but in saying that I thought they bowled very well,” he said. “I think the previous day we went past the bat a lot, but we were never in play. We probably bowled a touch short and they bowled that little bit fuller which brought the nicks into play.”The pick of the bowlers was Anderson, who endured some rough treatment in the recent one-day series, but found his form during a state game for Auckland last week. “I think Jimmy is a fine bowler,” said McCullum. “The game for Auckland helped, but he is a quality bowler and we knew the one-day series is different.”In one-dayers you try and be aggressive and try and dominate his style of bowling, but in the Test version, where he has a wicket that is conducive to where he likes to land a ball, he was always going to be tough to play. I thought he was brilliant. We didn’t play as we could, but in saying that I’ll take nothing away from the way he bowled.”He did, however, admit he was slightly surprised to be facing him at all, after Matthew Hoggard was dropped on the eve of the match following his one-wicket display at Hamilton. “I was surprised Hoggard didn’t play,” said McCullum. “He has been a fantastic bowler for England for a long, long time and he’s had probably just one below-par performance in a while. It was pleasing not to see him in the opposition, but when you can call Stuart Broad and Anderson then you’re not too bad.”Anderson’s only moment of discomfort came when McCullum and Daniel Vettori climbed into a counterattack midway through New Zealand’s innings. He was taken for 15 in one over that was reminiscent of the one-dayers, but McCullum paid England an extra complement when asked about his tactics during that period, and admitted he was trying to play in the manner of his opposite number, Tim Ambrose.

“You have to be aggressive when you’re in a situation like that,” he said. “Playing on a wicket like that, when the bowler can land the ball in the right place for long enough, he’ll eventually have your number. I thought that if I could come out and be aggressive and hopefully knock them off their length a little bit, then the good balls would be a lot fewer and further between. Obviously it was short and sweet.” He made 25 from 21 balls before edging Broad to first slip.At the halfway mark of the match, the single biggest difference between the sides is the 164-run partnership between Ambrose and Paul Collingwood. Though Ambrose added only five runs to his overnight 97, he did enough to bring up his maiden Test century, and McCullum said it was richly deserved.We were pretty happy at 136 for 5, so to have that counterattack and the way they did it was outstanding,” he said. “It really changed the momentum of the game. When we kept beating the bat a lot I thought there was an opportunity to deny him, but he deserved to score a hundred for the way he played. The intent he came out with, and the courage to play that way when things aren’t that rosy on the scoreboard is a fantastic effort. I’m sure he’ll cherish it for a long time.”All in all, New Zealand are up against it in this Test, but McCullum said it was not for want of effort on their part. “We’re playing a very good Test team,” he said. “The opposition are allowed to play well. It would have been crazy to turn up here and expect to turn out a below-par effort, and still carry out a victory. There is certainly no complacency in our camp.”We talked long and hard about the need to dominate form the word go and, to England’s credit, they have done that to us. But the game has still got a long distance to travel and it’s about us maintaining the belief that we can get a result out of the game. If we didn’t genuinely believe we were capable of winning this game, we may as well not turn up tomorrow.”

Geoff Miller, England’s newly appointed National Selector, has disagreed with the views of Nasser Hussain who last week accused England of going soft since winning the Ashes in 2005. Miller, who replaced David Graveney as the chief selector yesterday, welcomed Hussain’s opinion but sees England’s slump as a “hiccup”.”Nasser is entitled to his own views and I know what he is saying, but I don’t think we have gone soft,” Miller told . “We have had a hiccup, I will accept that, and as soon as there is a hiccup there are going to be comments made about what the problems are.”I understand Nasser and know him very well from our days at Essex so I will approach him about it and find out exactly what he means by that. I talk to experienced players and to umpires and all kinds of people who have some relevant views. That is one of my strong points – communication.”Miller was Graveney’s apprentice for eight years, and reportedly had to be persuaded to take the new salaried position, since he already has a profitable career as an after-dinner speaker. And although England’s record under Graveney included an Ashes win, the 5-0 trouncing they received in Australia and the disappointing loss in Sri Lanka in December leave Miller with a tall task to rebuild England’s fortunes ahead of the next Ashes – in a little over a year.”There have been contributing factors. We have had injuries, we have to accept that, and there has been a change of personnel,” Miller said. “We are in a transitional period now in both kinds of cricket but the curve from 2000 has been pretty good.”It has been an upward curve. We have taken a couple of backward steps but I don’t see, with the experience and the quality we have in the side and the excitement of the youngsters we have got coming forward, why we can’t get back on an even keel again.””We have got to win matches and series to get some momentum back again. There is lots of excitement round the corner.”

The Australian team held a round-table discussion on the spirit of cricket on Sunday night, the first such meeting after the ill-tempered Sydney Test against India.The reported that leadership consultant Ray McLean, a former officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, moderated the session. Tim Nielsen, the coach, and the manager Steve Bernard attended along with the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and operations manager Michael Brown.The focus was on the messages and criticism directed at the team after the Sydney Test, with all involved invited to trace their feelings on the match and the Spirit of Cricket pledge that was devised during Steve Waugh’s captaincy in 2003.”I think it will be a general chat about what we live by, what we stand for, the spirit of cricket that the Australian cricketers sat down and wrote down,” Michael Clarke said before the meeting. “I think it will be a general reminder of what we do to be the best team in the world and the things we can continue to improve on. It’s probably why Australia have been so successful, because we never say we can’t improve.”The session came a day before the meeting between opposing captains Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, convened by Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief match referee, who has been appointed to mediate. Brad Hogg, the left-arm wrist spinner, is due to attend a hearing on Friday concerning offensive remarks made to Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Sachin Tendulkar has offered valuable technical tips to the younger members of the Indian team in the training sessions in Melbourne ahead of the ODI against Australia on February 10.Tendulkar advised Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina on techniques to adapt to the conditions and the pitches in Australia, suggested tips to Rohit Sharma to improve his front-foot drives and counselled Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary on their stance.Gambhir was told not to have a completely side-on position at the crease, and instead open up his stance for a slightly two-eyed look at the bowler. This would allow him to offer the full face of the bat, and help him play through the on side more effectively.”The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the ‘V,” Gambhir had earlier revealed his theory of batting in Australia. “The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes, though you need a lot of courage and determination. It’s difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the back foot.” Tendulkar’s tips are designed to enable Gambhir score more freely in his preferred area down the ground.It is learnt that Tendulkar, while praising Rohit for his back-foot play, was keen that he leans more on to his strokes while driving through the off side to add more power and punch. After his session with Tendulkar, Rohit had his batting video taped by the team’s computer analyst Dhananjay.Rohit considers Tendulkar his favourite player and has sought his advice in the past too. In an earlier interview with Rediff, Rohit said, “It [Tendulkar’s advice] was very different from what you always hear from coaches. I mean what he said was practical, based on his own vast experience. He also told me when to take singles and twos and also when and how to accelerate, and so on and so forth. Believe me, it was very, very different from what we juniors hear from others almost every day.”Tendulkar worked with Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary too. Uthappa’s tendency to commit himself to the front foot came in for scrutiny, and Tendulkar suggested a slight sideways trigger movement instead of a big stride forward.Tendulkar noted that Tiwary places his feet too close to each other in his stance, which inhibits his movement either forward or back. Like he did with Gambhir, Tendulkar suggested that Tiwary open up in his stance which would help him drive towards mid-off and mid-on rather than committing himself to a cover drive.Tendulkar has also advised the youngsters to opt for lighter bats on the bouncier pitches of Australia as it would allow them to move more quickly into position.

Young Bushranger all-rounder Andrew McDonald is to lead Victoria’s 2nd XI in game two of the Cricket Australia Cup in Western Australia from October 13-16.The team for the match at Richardson Park, South Perth has been confirmed and is as follows:

Andrew McDonald (C)
Matthew Albers
Liam Buchanan
David Hussey
Michael Klinger
Bryce McGain
Matthew Mott
Sean Pietersz
Peter Roach
Graeme Rummans
Tim Welsford
Allan Wise

A battling, unbeaten innings of 85 from Craig White could not prevent England from being asked to follow on in the fourth Ashes Test at Melbourne. White’s innings salvaged a measure of pride for England after the tourists had been reduced to 118 for six in reply to Australia’s 551. England were eventually bowled out for 270, and an unbeaten 55 from Michael Vaughan took them to 111 for two in their second innings, still 170 behind.England, 97 for three overnight, were soon in dire straits. Nightwatchman Richard Dawson departed in the fourth over of the day, edging a turning delivery from Stuart MacGill to Martin Love at slip. Robert Key fell six balls later, lbw to an inswinging Brett Lee yorker.Nasser Hussain was MacGill’s second victim, brilliantly caught by a diving Matthew Hayden at short leg. The England captain got an inside edge on to his pad as he tried to sweep, and the ball ballooned up off his forearm.White then joined John Crawley to forge a 54-run partnership that initiated England’s fightback. It ended when Jason Gillespie was brought back, inducing a skyer from Crawley as he tried to pull. Justin Langer ran in from mid-on to take the catch.James Foster joined White, and another 55 runs were added in 23 overs before the next wicket fell. Steve Waugh eventually brought himself on, and ended Foster’s valiant effort by trapping the Essex wicket-keeper lbw for 19. Andrew Caddick and Steve Harmison were both dismissed by Gillespie with the new ball.Gillespie ended with four for 25, and White was left unbeaten after hitting MacGill for three sixes and scoring nine other boundaries in a stay of more than three hours.Sent in again by Waugh, Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick continued to attack before an umpiring howler by Russell Tiffin triggered Trescothick, adjudged lbw to a ball which hit him outside the line. Mark Butcher also fell before the close, playing firm-footed at Gillespie and edging to Love at slip.Vaughan and Hussain saw out the nine overs remaining, as Vaughan took his tally of Test runs scored this year to 1,397, overtaking Dennis Amiss’s England record.

The Australian first-class domestic competition will be called the Pura Cup for another three years after National Foods renewed its sponsorship yesterday. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said Australia’s success at the elite level relied on the talent emerging through the ranks and the importance of the Pura Cup as a foundation stone was vital."The quality and skill of the players, the healthy rivalry among states and the desire to achieve success ensure that the Pura Cup thrives and attracts the public’s interest," he said. "Running a national cricket competition is not a profit driving exercise by any means – it costs money. But that money must be spent so that we can continue to prepare and promote our players through the cricket system and maintain Australia’s success at the elite level."National Foods, through its Pura Milk brand, made its initial investment into Australian cricket in 1999, and the current renewal marks the company’s second extension of that contract.

Vijaya Malalasekera, Chairman of the Interim Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, explains why the BCCSL changed international broadcasters, answering questions that have been asked recently by the media.Question: Who first moved to terminate the contract for international television rights between the BCCSL and WSG Nimbus?Answer: The then Executive Committee of the BCCSL, which was running affairs before the Minister of Sports dissolved it. That Committee went before the Commercial High Court of the Western Province in January of 2001 and said that the contract had ceased to exist due to WSG Nimbus failing to give required bank guarantees.Q: Who signed the contract with WSG Nimbus in the first place?A: It was that same Executive Committee of the BCCSL, on 3rd December 2000. They went to court within two months of signing the contract with WSG Nimbus.Q: What happened to that court action?A: WSG Nimbus agreed to a payment schedule and the case was settled. It was agreed that if a single payment was delayed, the contract would cease to exist.Q: What happened after the present Interim Committee was appointed?A: The Interim Committee tried its best to make the relationship work. But WSG Nimbus continued to delay payments. For six and a half months, we negotiated with them to no avail. We wrote more than 60 letters to them, requesting them to pay on time. Payments are scheduled to be made for each tour played in Sri Lanka. They delayed in making payments for tours by New Zealand, India and the West Indies, one after another.Q: Did the Interim Committee consult anyone else in this regard?A: We repeatedly briefed and consulted the Minister of Sports and subsequently the Attorney General. Attorney General S. Kamalasabayson gave a written opinion that due to the delay in payments, the contract with WSG Nimbus had ceased to exist, as per the court settlement between the previous Executive Committee and WSG Nimbus. Even prior to that, Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella had urged us to end the contract due to the delay in payments. At the Minister’s request, we had discussions with Taj Television and TWI (Trans World International).Q: Was the delay in payments such a serious issue?A: Definitely. The BCCSL is completely dependent on television revenue in developing cricket in Sri Lanka. Delays in payments directly affect the BCCSL’s ability to fund everything related to cricket in this country, including coaching programmes, developing clubs and schools, organizing tournaments, and constructing and improving grounds. The only revenue to the BCCSL was from WSG Nimbus. All our eggs were in one basket.Q: Did the Interim Committee find anything unusual about the WSG Nimbus contract?A: It’s interesting that the same English newspaper that is criticizing us for ending the WSG Nimbus contract, earlier ran a series of articles saying that the WSG Nimbus deal was corrupt and disadvantageous to the BCCSL. The Interim Committee was appointed to run the BCCSL and has a policy that we will not dig into the past. But we did find that no company by the name of WSG Nimbus applied at the time of pre-qualification of bidders when the previous Executive Committee called for bids. In fact, WSG Nimbus has a share capital of only two dollars. It is also not a subsidiary of the World Sports Group (WSG), as is popularly assumed. This was the case when we did a search in Singapore on 31st October 2001. Also, the original calling for bids was for four areas, namely TV rights, radio rights, title rights and 40 advertising boards. But the contract signed with WSG Nimbus was for unlimited commercial rights. There is also a lot of controversy over the fact that WSG Nimbus was chosen over TWI, which had made what appears to be a better offer, according to the minutes of meetings that we have discovered at the BCCSL as kept by the auditors SJ Associates.Q: What did you do next?A: We informed WSG Nimbus that the contract was no longer valid. On the recommendation of the Ministry of Sports, we then called for fresh bids for TV rights, from all companies from which the previous Executive Committee had received bids, except WSG Nimbus of course. There were nine companies plus Taj Television, which hadn’t been involved earlier. At the same time we got an injunction from the Commercial High Court of the Western Province, restraining WSG Nimbus from interfering with the new bids. Even the previous Executive Committee took WSG Nimbus to court and not to arbitration, as critics say we should have.Q: Has WSG Nimbus sued the BCCSL?A: Yes. They have filed action in the Singapore High Court as well as filed the arbitration before the Singapore Arbitration Centre.Q: What were the rights offered to WSG Nimbus?A: WSG Nimbus had been given all rights to title sponsorships of tournaments and series, international radio and TV broadcasting rights, and all commercial rights of the BCCSL. They will even receive the money from the sponsor of the Sri Lanka team, and all 70 advertising boards at grounds. The list of things they were given was endless. The BCCSL had virtually nothing left to market, except a few areas that were nowhere near as lucrative as what was given to WSG Nimbus. The BCCSL even had to pay WSG Nimbus 4,000 dollars a day to allow matches played in Sri Lanka to be televised to viewers in Sri Lanka. This is a staggering fee of approximately Rs. 40 million for the whole period. WSG Nimbus could also claim from the BCCSL all costs that they incurred in production of the TV and radio broadcasts, up to 10 million dollars. WSG Nimbus would also receive the sponsorship monies that would be paid to the BCCSL by the clothing sponsor, product sponsors, merchandizing rights, and promotional rights. The BCCSL even had to bear the cost of producing, transporting and repairing the advertising boards. In summary, what was put in the offer calling the tenders was not only what was given to WSG Nimbus, but in fact all commercial rights of the BCCSL were given in complete violation of all accepted tender procedures.What the Interim Committee offered the new bidders was only title sponsorships, international radio and TV broadcasting rights, and 40 of the 75 advertising boards which was what was put out on tender. Nothing else. We didn’t have to pay for local TV stations to broadcast matches, and we don’t have to pay any part of the production costs.Offers were called for by BCCSL which were to be forwarded to PriceWaterhouse Coopers. The offers were opened in the presence of representatives from the bidding companies, Ministry of Sports, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, and our legal advisors Julius & Creasy. Offers were evaluated by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, which is one of the world’s largest accounting and auditing firms. The offer from Taj Television was found to be the best.Q: Is it true that the BCCSL suffered a loss of 6.1 million dollars by scrapping the WSG Nimbus deal and signing up with Taj Television?A: Definitely not. The BCCSL will gain at least 1.9 million dollars from November 2001 to 2003 than we would have from WSG Nimbus. I have given a chart explaining how this is so.

Q: What assistance has Taj Television given to Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket?A: They have already committed 750,000 dollars over a 3-year period to the benefit of former Sri Lankan cricketers. They will also explore the possibility of arranging `A’ team one-day tournaments in Sharjah and Morocco, to which the Sri Lanka `A’ side will be invited. They also wish to jointly stage a triangular in Sri Lanka, which Taj Television and the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series will underwrite.Q: What was the BCCSL’s experience with WSG Nimbus?A: WSG Nimbus repeatedly delayed payments, and delayed in submitting bank guarantees. They were unable to find suitable sponsors in many areas such as team sponsorship, clothing sponsorship, and hospitality packages. They have consistently acted in bad faith. They also didn’t furnish to us the sub-licensing agreements that they had negotiated.Q: Couldn’t the BCCSL have claimed interest on the delayed payments from WSG Nimbus?A: There is no provision for this in the contract signed by the previous Executive Committee. Any delay in payments means the end of the contract! Besides, how could we expect to be paid interest when the guaranteed fee was not coming on time?Q: Has Taj Television made its payments on time?A: To date, payments have been on time. The contract with Taj Television has a very favourable schedule of payments, compared to the contract with WSG Nimbus.Payment Schedules

* All payments from the West Indian and Zimbabwean tours have been received.Q: Do you honestly believe that Taj Television is a better deal than WSG Nimbus?A: We firmly believe that the cessation of the agreement with WSG Nimbus and entering into an agreement with Taj Television, is commercially advantageous and favourable financially and administratively.Q: Are you ready to face any inquiry into the matter?A: The members of the Interim Committee are men of honour and integrity who are performing a duty without any payment whatsoever, simply for the love of the game and Sri Lanka cricket. We would never intentionally do anything to harm the sport, especially Sri Lanka cricket. We have been completely transparent at all times, and have sent out a number of media releases during the last few months on this matter. We even held a 2-hour press conference last month where there were nearly 50 journalists and we answered every question. At that press conference we said that any journalist could have access to any document regarding WSG Nimbus and Taj Television. Yes, we are definitely ready to explain anything and everything that we have done, because we did it in the best interest of cricket in Sri Lanka.

Sunil Gavaskar has predicted hard times for India in Australia, on the eve of the team’s departure for a three-month tour that will consist of a four-Test series, followed by the VB Series also involving Zimbabwe. India’s last Test victory in Australia came in 1981, and they have lost seven of their last eight Tests there, dating back to 1991-92.India slumped to a 37-run defeat in the TVS Cup final against Australia last Tuesday, a third defeat in succession against a side that was nowhere near full strength. Chasing a target of 236, gettable even on a wearing pitch, they disappointed a capacity Eden Gardens crowd by capitulating meekly in the final stages.The manner of surrender infuriated Gavaskar. In his column, he wrote, “If they can’t get 236 against a second-string bowling attack what will they do against the fully fledged attack?”India were the last team to beat Australia in a Test series, back in 2001, but Ricky Ponting, who masterminded the TVS Cup triumph, reckoned they would struggle in Australia. Even Sourav Ganguly acknowledged that his team’s recent displays – a drawn two-Test series against New Zealand and the indifferent showing in the TVS Cup – were a worry.In the same newpaper in which Gavaskar had aired his views, Ganguly said, “Our performances in the recently concluded Test and one-day series have been below par. The situation requires everyone to put up their hands and be counted.”India go into the tour with a five-man pace attack that is woefully short on experience, with only Ajit Agarkar having played in Australia before. The batting will once again be heavily reliant on Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, with Ponting suggesting that the Australians had worked out the likes of VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.The selectors have also come in for much criticism in the build-up to the team’s departure, because of their decision to omit Murali Kartik – the only Indian slow bowler to show consistently good form in the recent past – in favour of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, both of whom did little of note in the home season.

Sales of Pakistan’s one-day strip from the 2003 World Cup are expected to reach £1million following some unexpected exposure from British comedian Peter Kay on Channel 4’s comedy show according to newspaper. Kay wore the shirt in all six episodes of the series, which finished last Friday.The World Cricket Store, which holds the UK licence to make the shirts, has been overwhelmed by the demand. It outsells England strips. A few months ago, the shirt was proving so unpopular that the line was dropped. “We’ve been inundated,” Mark Whitehead, the firm’s managing director, told chortle.co.uk. “It’s amazing the effect a TV show as popular as Peter’s can have. He’s made our Christmas.”The sitcom sees two ex-bouncers take the road in a motor home, but it hasn’t yet been made clear why Kay’s character wears the shirt.