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Before the home season started, revenge was a word frequently bandied about – a desire to get even against the upstart New Zealanders who had drubbed India in both Tests and one-day internationals last winter, not to mention a chance to exact a measure of retribution – however tiny – against Australia for what happened on March 23.After two consecutive defeats in the Tri Series, the idea of settling scores has been replaced by the far more pressing need for survival. If India don’t outperform Australia tomorrow, and New Zealand in Hyderabad three days later, they’ll most likely be locked out of their own party, in front of traditionally frenzied support at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.Australia arrived here with what most reckoned was a B-grade bowling attack. Five matches and four wins later, the likes of Nathan Bracken – a genuine contender for a Test place against India in Brisbane – and Brad Williams are evoking respect instead of derision. That particular emotion has been reserved for an Indian team that has lost its way horribly since a tremendous win under lights against Australia in Gwalior.The pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore appears pretty similar to that used during the Challenger Series two months ago. The grass cover, as it was then, is deceptive, mere window dressing on a pitch that will definitely aid the strokemakers.The last time these two teams played here, two and a half years ago, Virender Sehwag – then a virtual unknown – shot to prominence with a 54-ball 58 and 3 for 59, as Australia fell 60 runs short of India’s 315. The team that wins the toss tomorrow will be eyeing a similarly mammoth total.India should revert to their strongest line-up for the game, with Sourav Ganguly and Ashish Nehra playing their first games of the tournament. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have been battling respiratory problems, in a city notorious for its pollen-heavy and polluted air, but both should be fit for the game. That means a relegation to the players’ balcony for Murali Kartik, Hemang Badani and Sairaj Bahutule.If Nehra is risked, and he hasn’t played a competitive game since the World Cup final, that also means Ajit Agarkar will miss out. Rahul Dravid, despite his reluctance, will take the wicketkeeping gloves, with Ganguly having made no secret of his preferred combination. Parthiv Patel can spend time in the nets, sorting out the myriad problems that have taken him from blue-eyed boy to the butt of some ridicule in recent weeks.Australia go into the game with no worries, and are likely to play their strongest eleven with one eye on the final a week from today. That means that Jimmy Maher, Michael Kasprowicz and Brad Hogg will miss out, despite playing key roles in the defeat of New Zealand two days ago.The onus is on India to deliver, a day after their finest modern-day fast bowler surrendered in his battle against a chronic knee injury. If the team does likewise, and rain on their own parade, they’ll go to Australia like lambs to the slaughter – not that wolves’ clothing is much help against these implacable Australians.Teams
Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Bevan, 7 Michael Clarke, 8 Ian Harvey, 9 Andrew Bichel, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Brad Williams.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid (wk), 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Australian players will be allowed to opt out of the tour to Pakistan if it goes ahead following CA’s security team visit to the region in February. The tour, doubtful due to the political unrest after the imposition of emergency by President Musharraf, was dealt a severe blow after Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, was assassinated on Thursday.Paul Marsh, Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, said that a briefing will take place on the crisis in Pakistan while the players are in Sydney for the second Test against India. According to Marsh, each player was legally entitled to make an individual decision abouttouring Pakistan without breaching his contract.”We want to reach a collective decision but the players obviously have thatultimate right,” he said. “We would rather it’s a one-in, all-in either way, but if a player comes to us and says that if the tour was to proceed they don’t want to go, then we would supportthat and we believe the players are entitled to do that.”The players have the right to make a decision. If Cricket Australia decided the tour should proceed, the players will obviously then be faced with the decision, do we go or do we individually or collectively decide not to go?”However, Marsh said Cricket Australia and the ACA had a track record of making theright calls about security and it was premature to make a decision on Pakistan. Although Cricket Australia are prepared to wait for a decision, Andrew Symonds seem to be reluctant to be part of the team if the tour was to go ahead.”I’m not interested in going into a situation that’s dangerous, where people are getting killed and hurt,” he told the . “At the end of the day it’s a game of cricket. I take my cricket very seriously and I love playing for Australia, but I’m not going to put myself in a situation where I can be harmed.”You personally choose whether you want to play for Australia,” he said. “If you’re selected, you can choose to decline the offer of going on a tour or playing a game.”Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner to Australia, Tanveer Akhtar, said Cricket Australia should do everything it could to ensure the tour happened. “We hope and we wish that they come and visit because people in Pakistan love cricket and they’ll be more than happy to welcome the Cricket Australia,” he told the . “We wish and hope things settle down quickly and as soon as the elections happen and new government is formed things will be business as usual.”The tour is scheduled to include three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 match. If the tour goes ahead three Tests are expected to be played between March 17 and April 6.

ScorecardNishit Shetty almost masterminded an incredible run-chase, but the latter half of the Tripura innings came apart in the last 10 overs as they lost to Vidarbha by 13 runs with 10 balls to spare. Shetty scored a century at almost a run a ball to bring Tripura to within 60 runs of the required 301, with five wickets and more than 10 overs to spare.At that point, a 75-run sixth-wicket stand between Shetty and Subal Chowdhury was ended with Chowdhury’s run-out. After that, the batting collapsed, with Shetty being the last batsman to fall for a 137-ball 130. Sandeep Singh took five wickets for Vidarbha, including two at the death.Earlier, Tripura had done well to take the last four wickets in 6.3 overs. Shetty ended with fine figures of 3 for 31.
Scorecard
Bichitra Baruah, the Assam left-arm spinner, came up with a match-winning spell as Kerala, needing 66 more on the final day with four wickets in hand, added only 33 to their overnight total. P Prasanth, whose overnight 80 had helped Kerala get close to the 267-run target, added only three to his score on the fourth morning and was the first man out. Baruah then stifled the scoring as Kerala managed only 9 runs in the ensuing 22.3 overs and lost three wickets. Baruah ended with figures of 18-8-13-4.
ScorecardRequiring another 291 runs at the start of the day, Jammu & Kashmir lost six wickets for 40 runs to lose to Jharkhand by 250 runs. It took Jharkhand 20.1 overs to finish the game, as Shankar Rao and Santosh Lal shared four wickets apiece. None of the last five in the J&K batting line-up could make it to a double-digit score.
Scorecard
Set 400 to get in 84 overs, Goa held on to a creditable draw against Madhya Pradesh, with their opener Swapnil Asnodkar scoring his second half-century of the match. Goa never really looked like going for the target, as they lost two quick wickets for 51. Asnodkar dug in and found good support from captain J Arunkumar and former India wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra. Asnodkar missed his century by 10 runs, while Arunkumar and Ratra put up thirties. Earlier, MP had added 31 to their overnight 186 for 4 before declaring.

News – Murali breaks Warne’s record
Interview – ‘No spinner has Warne’s thinking power’
Andrew Miller – Murali sparks delirium in Kandy
Rob Steen – An undiluted champion
Timeline – Spinning his way to success
Stats – The Murali story in numbers
Records – World-record holders over the years
Archive – The challenges of facing Murali
Surfer – In praise of Murali
Gallery – Magical Murali

West Indies’ tour of Australia has suffered another jolt, with the players demanding US$500,000 as appearance fees and the board subsequently rejecting that demand. The West Indies Players’ Association wanted the money for the 14-member team in addition to match fees, tour fees and incentives, according to Chetram Singh, a board official.According to an Associated Press report, Singh, who is also the president of the Guyana Cricket Board, said that the demand “puts the tour in jeopardy”. Singh also termed it as “absolute madness”, hours after the players’ representative, Dinanath Ramnarine, lay it in front of the board. The players were paid a total of US$390,000 in appearance fees for 2004, which included four Tests and seven one-dayers against England before two Tests and five one-dayers against Bangladesh.West Indies’ tour of Australia was almost called off last month after most of the senior players, including Brian Lara, stayed away from a training camp because of a conflict over personal endorsements. The players felt that they risked losing their image rights because of their contracts with Cable & Wireless, the rival company of Digicel, the board’s new sponsor.The board barred the players from the camp but both parties soon agreed, after mediation, to resume the camp on November 29 and allow an arbitrator to sort out the issue.

In the least likely of all scenarios, South Africa and New Zealand share top spot on the VB series log with four points apiece after two matches in the tournament. Australia, hosts, World Cup champions and outright favourites, have still to break their duck after slipping to their second defeat in three days, this time by four wickets to South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.As was the case when Australia went down to New Zealand on Friday, the home team’s batting failed to spark. On this occasion they were bowled out for 198 in 48.5 overs, a total just about big enough to keep their bowlers interested, but surely insufficient to seriously challenge a confident chasing side.But by no stretch of the imagination could South Africa be regarded as a confident team after their dismal form in the Test series. Shaun Pollock’s side desperately needed someone or something to kick-start their tour and it duly arrived in the shape of Jonty Rhodes.Rhodes missed the Test matches by his own choice, sticking to a decision to spend more time with his family. It might seem impolite to point out the obvious, but the Rhodes family’s gain was quite clearly South Africa’s loss.He started the match a little edgily, missing a square drive from Matthew Hayden early on and then dropping the left-hander at backward point off the last ball of Allan Donald’s first over. From there on in, however, he barely put a foot wrong and his contribution to the South African batting effectively won the match for his side.He has made higher scores than his 43 not out, but the great value of his innings was his reading of the situation and his calmness as the pressure gradually built on the South Africans. He shared a 65-run fourth wicket stand with Neil McKenzie (34) that prevented Australia capitalising on a mini-collapse which saw the chasers slip from 51 for none to 71 for three and stayed there until the end, the winning runs coming by way of four leg byes off his elbow.As well as Rhodes played, though, Australia will feel they didn’t do themselves anything approach justice. They lost Adam Gilchrist to the first ball of the match, rebuilt through Ricky Ponting (51) and Steve Waugh (62) and then lost their last six wickets for 34 from the 40th over onwards.South Africa, it must be said, bowled and fielded with far greater purpose and commitment than they had shown at any stage of the Test series. And again, you have to wonder whether the presence of Rhodes made the difference.Still, South Africa had to make 199 before winning and they were given a respectable start by Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten who put on 51 for the first wicket. Of course, Australia will wonder what difference Glenn McGrath might have made, but their three quick men, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel, all bowled decently enough.Gibbs, who made a 38 which included eight boundaries, never entirely settled, mixing carelessness with a number of handsome strokes, but it was through the McKenzie-Rhodes partnership that South Africa managed to get on top.The South Africans were watchfulness personified against Shane Warne, but Andrew Symonds had clearly been identified as the weak link in the attack and while Warne barely conceded two runs an over through his first nine-over spell, Symonds’ first six overs went at a run a ball.And then Waugh found himself having to pick between Symonds and Michael Bevan to bowl two of the final three overs; this after the 47th over had been a maiden-wicket from Lee.Ultimately Australia had given themselves too much to do and Rhodes was able to take South Africa home with more than an over to spare. What effect this win will have on the remainder of South Africa’s tour remains to be seen, but their relief at breaking a losing habit was almost palpable.

Players competing in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand were given a traditional welcome at the formal opening ceremony held in Christchurch today.All 16 participating teams gathered in the city for the function before taking up residence at the three venues in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin for the tournament which has its first game on Saturday.The function was held at the Christchurch Convention Centre and before entering the auditorium for the opening function, teams walked through a specially constructed representation of New Zealand’s geographical background which featured glow-worm caves, the famed pink and white terraces which were buried beneath a volcanic eruption in the 19th Century, boiling mud pools, rain forest and rolling farmlands.They were greeted by a formal Maori welcome before all team captains and visiting dignitaries completed the hongi, the traditional Maori greeting where local Maori rub noses with the visitors.New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden said NZC was “proud and privileged” to be hosting the World Cup.”This World Cup represents the most diverse assemblage of nations ever to gather for a cricket competition in New Zealand,” he said.Hosting the tournament was a welcome opportunity for New Zealand because of the work being done here to grow and foster the game at junior level.”This Under-19 World Cup delivers a unique opportunity to showcase the game to a new generation of aspiring athletes, and to demonstrate to them the skill, the commitment, the athleticism and the energy that combine to make cricket such a complete sport,” he said.The president of the ICC, Malcolm Gray, had two congratulations to deliver to New Zealand, the first for its victory in the VB Series opening game over Australia on Friday, and the second for its organisation of the tournament.The ICC was extremely grateful for the willing and enthusiastic way NZC had gone about organising the event.”It is a wonderful opportunity for players to make it a stepping stone to full international cricket,” he said.Cricket had recently provided some fantastic incentives to be involved in the game – the third Australia-New Zealand Test in Perth and the deciding of the ICC Test Championship between the heavyweights Australia and South Africa recently.He asked players in the tournament to enjoy not only the cricket but the companionship of their opponents.Gray reiterated the stand the ICC was taking to lift the spirit of cricket and reinforced to team captains in the youth tournament that much of the onus for protecting that spirit lay with them and he asked them to consider their responsibilities.The deputy Prime Minister, Jim Anderton, in opening the tournament, recalled some of his own cricket experiences including facing former New Zealand fast bowler Gary Bartlett, regarded as the fastest bowler New Zealand has produced, during a Hawke Cup challenge match while Anderton represented Wanganui.Having to come to the wicket second ball, after the first batsman was bowled first ball, Anderton said he saw Bartlett start to run in, move his shoulders and saw nothing until he turned to see the ball in the wicket-keeper’s gloves.”I never saw the ball, but I have not been scared of anything since that day,” he said.Anderton said sport in New Zealand had the ability to swell or diminish the national morale.”You will come to know the pride and pressure of representing your country,” he said.Anderton hoped the players would remember the spirit of cricket during the tournament and that it would bring the countries competing closer together in the way that only sport can achieve.

Dropped catches cost Minor Counties dearly, together with some wayward seam bowling on a pitch of variable bounce and slow pace, enabling Northants to score 271 for 8 in their 50 overs. Chris Brown was again on top form, taking 2-13 from his 10 overs.This was always going to be a stiff target especially when Howitt was caught at cover off his first ball. Adshead and Dawson batted aggressively, adding 54 for the second wicket in just 6 overs. Trower again showed his class and together with Mann proceeded to keep up with the clock. When Trower(45) was well held driving uppishly to fly gully and Mann(29) spooned a catch to extra cover, the target proved out of reach, in spite of some determined batting from Brown(30) and Kidner.

The BCCI is toying with the idea of inviting Sri Lanka to tour India early next year, in order to meet its contractual obligations to Doordarshan, the national broadcaster.According to a report on rediff.com, the BCCI’s agreement with Doordarshan stipulates at least 27 days of international cricket on home soil in a season. India’s engagements for 2003-04 allow for only 20 days, inclusive of two Tests against New Zealand, and a triangular series also involving Australia. Unless the BCCI can find seven days from somewhere, they stand to lose about Rs 460 million – the last installment of their deal with Doordarshan, which expires in April 2004.Doordarshan clinched the contract, beating off competition from the likes of Sony Entertainment Television, in 1999, anticipating more matches between India and Pakistan in the wake of Pakistan’s tour of India earlier that year. The Kargil conflict put paid to those hopes.According to KS Sarma, CEO of Prasar Bharti, “BCCI this year hasn’t been able to fulfill its quota of 27 days of international cricket because the scheduled trip of Pakistan to India didn’t materialize.”Discussions are on to facilitate a tour of Pakistan early next year, but the BCCI’s contractual bind means that they might well sacrifice that in order to accomodate a touring side.India return from their tour of Australia only in February 2004, when Sri Lanka are scheduled to host the Aussies. With the international calendar so tightly packed, it’s difficult to see where a tour could fit in. That said, unless Sri Lanka or Bangladesh – very much the last resort – oblige, the BCCI could be kissing a lot of money goodbye.

Zimbabwe A 18 for 0 trail South Africa A 272 (Morkel 94, Hondo 4-46) by 254 runs
Scorecard

Douglas Hondo was the star performer for Zimbabwe A, taking 4 for 46 as South Africa A were bowled out for 272 on the first day of the four-day game at Bulawayo. Had it not been for some spirited resistance from Albie Morkel, who made 94 from 141 balls, and his 102-run last-wicket partnership with Charl Langeveldt, it could have been much worse for the South Africans.Hondo rocked them early in the piece, taking four of the first five wickets. He started the slide by dismissing Abraham de Villiers, who had scored 91 and 84 in the first match, which South Africa A had won by seven wickets. de Villiers made just 8 this time before being bowled (20 for 1). Hondo then got rid of Loots Bosman, the other opener, for 23, before nailing two crucial middle-order wickets – Ashwell Prince (5) and Neil McKenzie (25) were both bowled as South Africa A slumped to 105 for 5.Worse was to follow as three more wickets went cheaply, reducing them to 137 for 8, before Albie Morkel stepped in. He added 32 for the eighth wicket with Paul Adams, but the partnership which really frustrated Zimbabwe A was his last-wicket stand with Langeveldt, who remained unbeaten on 37. Morkel was finally dismissed by Tinashe Panyangara just six short of a hundred. His innings included 14 fours and a six.Stuart Matsikenyeri and Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwean openers, saw off the seven overs in the evening, ensuring that they had all ten wickets in hand going into the second day.