Bangladesh 171 for 6 (Mushfiqur Rahim 46) beat Pakistan 170 (Saqibul Hasan 4-34) by four wickets
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A composed captain’s innings from Mushfiqur Rahim, which oozedinternational class, steered Bangladesh to a comfortable four-wicket winagainst a disappointing Pakistan side at the Nondescripts Ground. Rahim’s46 carried his side to the brink of victory, after Pakistan’s batting hadimploded – losing all ten wickets for 104 runs.Bangladesh, with one group match remaining against Uganda,can start thinking about the Super League stage. Pakistan, however, nowneed to beat New Zealand to keep their hopes alive of reaching the quarter-finals and will now be regretting their reckless approach earlier in the day.Mansoor Rana, the Pakistan coach, acknowledged his batsmen’s failings.”Their four spinners bowled well, but obviously I would blame my wholebatting side for playing unnecessary shots,” he said. “We were 80 for 1 and we shouldhave built some partnerships. Making the same mistakes again and again isunacceptable.”Rana, though, refused to be to downbeat, claiming his side will learn.”Sometimes we try to be perfectionists and that is wrong,” he said. “Theboys will go away, think about this, and try to put things right againstNew Zealand, which we know is now a vital game.”After speeding to 66 without loss, with positive stroke play against theseamers, there was then a collective loss of common sense from thebatsmen. It is a fine line between being aggressive and reckless – in thisinnings, Pakistan crossed firmly into the latter.Bangladesh’s four spinners – all left-armers – did the damage, claimingthe nine wickets to fall to bowlers. Familiarity obviously bred contemptamong the batting. There was no extraordinary help from the pitch, butthey flighted the ball intelligently, while the batsmen obliged bylocating the fielders.Saqibul Hasan, who claimed the Man-of-the-Match award for his fourwickets, halted the opening charge by removing Ali Khan when he slapped acatch to point. When Nasir Jamshed fell in the next over, as he attempted to loft one the over the infield, you would have thought the middle order would have learnt a lesson.However, instead of restraining themselves and building another stand – therun-rate was still above five-an-over – they continued to try and hit theball into the neighbouring SSC ground. The Bangladesh outfielding was assafe as houses, pouching each chance that came their way.The Pakistan running was not too smart either, a common trait of this tournamentso far from most teams, and the comical mid-pitch mix-up that resulted inImad Wasim’s run out summed up their innings.The senior side may have found a new level of consistency, but Pakistancricket still has the inbuilt ability to implode at any given moment.Failing to use up 41 balls of the innings was a major waste, especially asanother 30 runs could have made a significant difference in the chase.Rahim, with a Test cap at Lord’s behind him, showed them the way do it,after Bangladesh were wobbling at 88 for 4 and 119 for 5. Jamshaid Ahmedstruck twice, sustaining useful pace while bowling his ten overs straightthrough with impressive heart. However, his fielders let him down in a bigway; four went down and misfields aplenty occurred in the covers.But the key difference was the Bangladesh captain – cleverly used to bringstability to the middle-order – and he produced the most technicallycorrect innings of the match. With a straight bat he threaded the ball throughthe covers, without ever attempting to thrash the cover off it. When he opted togo over the top he did so with conviction, levelling the scores with astunning flick off his legs into the pavilion.He deserved to hit the winning runs, but picked out midwicket trying tofinish the match. That will only have been a minor disappointment.Bangladesh came into this tournament billed as one of the favourites. Theyhave, so far, managed to live up that standing and, one senses, are readyfor further challenges.

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Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India in the World Cup final afteroverwhelming Australia at the Premadasa Stadium. Their triumph representsa stirring revival after they had slumped to 80 for 5. However a stunningpartnership of 160 between Riaz Kail and Ali Asad powered them towards adaunting 287 for 9, then Australia’s much-vaunted top order failed todeliver in the face of a huge run-chase.Jamshed Ahmed removed the two key elements of Australia’s batting, TomCooper and Moises Henriques, in a fiery opening burst. Cooper has been keyin anchoring Australia’s batting efforts so his early demise was a hugeboost for Pakistan and when Henriques played an airy drive, the mainplayers were back in the hutch inside 10 overs.Henriques said the situation had affected some of his players: “We werecertainly on top of our game at that point and it’s unfortunate that wecouldn’t keep it going as we have done against the last few sides we haveplayed. It was the first time the guys had played under lights and maybethe pressure got the better of them.”But the real damage had been done in the second half of Pakistan’sinnings. Kail and Asad began by ensuring the team would have something todefend. Then, as their partnership and confidence grew the strokeplayexpanded, forcing Australia to retreat.Kail launched Pakistan back into life. He attacked the Australian spin pairingof Jack McNamara and Jon Holland, then as the field was pushed back, bothbatsmen ran well between the wickets, leaving Australia looking flustered.Mansoor Rana, Pakistan’s coach, always believed his side had the abilityto turn around the poor start: “We just needed a partnership and the twoin the middle-order did that with the rebuilding process. We have depth inour batting and just needed to go up to 35 or 40 overs and it workedreally well for us today. My bowling has been very good for the lastcouple of months and here our batting wasn’t really coming up to the markbut our bowling was superb.”Even when the pair were dispatched by Simon Keen in the 46th over – Kailfor a 99-ball 84 and Asad an 86-ball 69 – the swinging didn’t stop.Australia’s bowling figures, which had earlier been so impressive, took aserious hammering with Imad Wasim keeping the pace going until the endwith 29 off 15 balls.The shift in momentum was demonstrated as Pakistan hit the ground runningin the field. Australia couldn’t gain any foothold against the impressiveJamshed, while Anwar Ali bowled his ten overs straight through without anyluck. Usman Khawaja made a battling half-century from 65 balls, but couldnot find anyone to stay with him. Once he was dismissed the end was near.The lower order swished around, but the fight was going out of theAustralians. Each batsman trooped back with their head down knowing that,despite being one of the two best teams in the tournament, they weren’t goingto be making it to the final.

Rana saved special praise for the efforts of his fielders. “Today I wasreally happy with the fielding. The nature of Pakistani people is thatthey do things when they are really required, and today was the example ofthat, but I wasn’t really expecting this fielding from them.”There had been a very different feeling for the first hour and a half ofthe day. Henriques and Adam Ritchard claimed two wickets apiece asPakistan’s batsmen displayed their wasteful side. Anwar Ali’s dismissalwas tinged with controversy as it appeared the slip catch to Finch hadn’tcarried, but the run-out of Rameez Raja was just plain careless as hechanced a second to David Warner in the covers.However, in exhilarating style, they found two heroes in the middle orderand their bowlers found the consistency to back up those efforts. ThePakistan supporters – finally some fans had turned up to watch thistournament – jumped for joy as the final wicket fell, but as the teamcelebrated they will have known the biggest challenge is two days away.How they were outPakistanMohammad Ibrahim c Wade b Ritchard 2 (9 for 1)
Nasir Jamshed st Wade b Ritchard 15 (26 for 2)
Ali Khan c Ritchard b Henriques 18 (62 for 3)
Anwar Ali c Finch b Henriques 1 (68 for 4)
Rameez Raja run out (Warner) 29 (80 for 5)
Ali Asad c Ritchard b Keen 66 (240 for 6)
Riaz Kail b Keen 86 (241 for 7)
Sarfraz Ahmed c Cooper b Henriques (262 for 8)
Jamshed Ahmed run out (Warner) 2 (284 for 9)
AustraliaTom Cooper c Sarfraz b Jamshed 1 (3 for 1)
Moises Henriques b Jamshed 8 (20 for 2)
Matthew Wade run out (Anwar Ali) 11 (53 for 3)
Aaron Finch lbw b Wasim 11 (99 for 4)
David Warner lbw b Malik 1 (104 for 5)
Usman Khawaja run out (Ali Asad) 59 (109 for 6)
Simon Keen st Sarfraz b Malik 3 (118 for 7)
Adam Ritchard b Malik 1 (122 for 8)
Tom Stray c Anwar b Wasim 10 (124 for 9)
Jon Holland lbw b Wasim 0 (124 all out)

Glenn McGrath, the Australia fast bowler, is considering returning to play county cricket again after opting out of Australia’s tour of Bangladesh. McGrath, who ruled himself out of Australia’s current tour of South Africa, is in Australia with his wife, Jane, who is suffering from cancer.Despite having not played a Test since January McGrath’s manager, Warren Craig, insists that his career is certainly far from finished. “Absolutely – he’ll be back,” he said.”Things are going well at the moment [with Jane]. I can’t say great because we won’t know for a few months with all the tests, but Glenn is certainly expecting to be back next summer.”We’ll talk to the selectors about whether it might be best for him to play a month of English county cricket before then.”A return stint this summer in county cricket, assuming his wife is well enough, would enable him to find some form in the off-season ahead of Australia’s summer later in the year. Clearly, McGrath’s aim is to be fit – and, crucially, in form – for the Ashes which gets underway in November before which Australia host New Zealand in October.McGrath is no stranger to county cricket, having played a season with Worcestershire in 2000 and six matches with Middlesex in 2004. During the Ashes last year, he indicated where his allegiances lay.”I’ve played for two counties and I don’t really want to make it three. I would say that Worcestershire are probably still top of my list.”

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A century stand between Matthew Bell, the Wellington captain, and Jesse Ryder gave way for a middle-order collapse at the hands of Central Districts on the third day at the Basin Reserve. Bell struck a patient 93 and Ryder 73 before Central Districts came to the party and left Wellington on 284 for 8, still 28 runs adrift of their first-innings 312, on day curtailed by bad light.Bell began the day on 51 and pushed himself towards a third hundred for the season while Ryder progressed to his own fifty. What began as a positive start to the day turned to a chalky collapse as Ryder was bowled by Min Patel’s slow left-arm spin with the score on 174 for 3.Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton then struck further blows to send back Michael Parlane and Chris Nevin before Patel trapped Grant Elliot lbw. Bell and Stu Mills (24), the Wellington wicketkeeper, began to forge a useful partnership before Mason returned to dismiss Mills lbw. Mills struggled to score but spent valuable time and the crease where his middle and lower order team-mates struggled.Mason finished with 3 for 63, Hamilton 2 for 60 and Patel 2 for 57 as CD restricted Wellington from a strong position. Dewayne Bownde (13) and Scott Rasmussen (0) were at the crease when bad light ended the third day.

Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, has said the corporation is considering bidding for the television rights when they next come up for tender in 2009. Last year, the ECB sold the rights to BSkyB who, from this year, hold an all-encompassing exclusive deal for the next four years.Thompson, who was appointed director general in 2004, believes the BBC “should look very closely at cricket again,” while refuelling the debate that the ECB’s asking price was too high.”I thought that the last round the amount the English cricket board were asking for the rights was very high [sic],” he told BBC Radio Five Live. “It’s a more specialist audience – it’s not as big, for example, for live Premiership football.”We have to think about value. If you buy one thing, you can’t buy another so what you’re trying to do when you’re thinking about the portfolio of rights is what’s your priority.”The decision to sell the rights to BSkyB caused an uproar among supporters and even in government. John Grogan, a Labour MP, tabled an early-day motion in the House of Commons calling for home Test matches to be returned to free-to-air TV. And lobbyists, notably Keep Cricket Free, campaigned for the decision to be overturned.Last November it was revealed that the BBC did attempt to reach a deal with the ECB by pushing for a “dip in dip out” basis; their proposal was to show shortened portions of the day’s play allowing Sky to retain their ball-by-ball live coverage. However, as Thompson concedes, the limiting factor was the money involved.”It depends not just on the choice of the sport, he said, “but also on how much it’s going to cost.”

Caribbean Memories: Charlie Davis on West Indies v India 1971
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAWe’ve already heard about India’s famous win against West Indies at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad from Salim Durani, and now it’s time for a West Indian point-of-view on the same historic game. Charlie Davis top-scored for his side in both innings, and remained unbeaten through the series. Chatting with Cricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi, he reveals the secret of his success in that game.He also talks about how S Venkataraghavan thrived against the three West Indian left-handers, Roy Fredericks, Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers. He tells us what he thought of Sunil Gavaskar, whose debut Test it was, and shares with us a delightful West Indian theory about why Bishan Singh Bedi was such an accurate bowler. It has to do with his long hair and the threat of scissors! Listen up.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA

Inzamam-ul-Haq believes that Jonty Rhodes’ brief stint as Pakistan’s fielding consultant is going to show positive results in coming months.”I am not going to say that we will become very good fielders within three or four days but there is going to be an improvement in a few months once we start implementing drills being taught to us by Jonty,” Inzamam said.Rhodes, counted among the best fielders of his era, began his short coaching stint with Pakistan earlier this week with an eye on raising the standard of their fielding ahead of this summer’s tour of England.Inzamam said that he was very pleased with the initiative taken by the PCB saying that he and fellow teammates are looking forward to benefit from the tips given by the former South African Test cricketer and from the fielding drills being carried out by him at the training camp for the England series.”Jonty knows what he is talking about,” he said. “He has been a great fielder and we can learn a lot from him,” said Inzamam, who is counted among one of the poorer fielders in the Pakistani squad.But he made it clear that nobody should expect overnight results. “We are going to include the drills being taught by him in our training schedule and it would be after three or four months that the results will become clear.”Inzamam said that he wants the Pakistan team to improve in all areas of the game, especially fielding, in the lead up to next year’s World Cup.”There is always room for more improvement and I can assure you that all my boys are striving to get better with more and more hard work and commitment,” he remarked.

Craig McMillan, the middle-order batsman, has been left out of the 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy to be played in India from October.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, said that the 29-year-old McMillan, who has played 55 Tests and 175 one day internationals, was dropped because of a lack of fitness. “Craig McMillan was omitted from the 30 because of concerns about his fitness,” Bracewell said. “This does not mean Craig has been ruled out of contention for next year’s World Cup but he will need to focus his efforts if he is to be selected for the Black Caps over the summer.”McMillan’s international form has been poor in recent seasons but he scored a century for New Zealand A against India A in Darwin last month. The squad includes seven players yet to represent New Zealand in seamer Mark Gillespie, Otago offspinner Nathan McCullum – brother of Test wicketkeeper Brendon, wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan, seamer Warren McSkimming, allrounder Mark Orchard, batsman Jesse Ryder and seamer Bradley Scott.The squad will be reduced to 14 next month ahead of the tournament.New Zealand squad Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Stephen Fleming (capt), James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan (wk), Warren McSkimming, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mark Orchard, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Bradley Scott, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori.

John Wright has given England some Ashes series advice by telling them not to let the Australians know if they are overawed. Wright was in charge of India’s drawn series with Australia in 2003-04 and he has used his new book John Wright’s Indian Summers to outline his successful plan, which was initially devised from his time as a New Zealand opening batsman in the 1980s.”You don’t look up to them, you look down on them – if you give any hint of being overawed you are gone,” Wright told the India team as he stood on a chair to deliver his series address. “The players looked up at me with bemused expressions probably wondering if I planned to jump or fly.” The tactic worked as Sourav Ganguly guided India to a 1-1 result in Steve Waugh’s final series, although Australia gained revenge with a 2-1 win on their tour in 2004.Wright told The Courier-Mail the New Zealand teams of the 1980s just stood and watched the “guys in green and gold track suits”. “As soon as you start doing that you are losing the battle,” he said. Despite the attitude to their opponents, New Zealand won four of 16 Tests between the teams in the decade and beat Australia in consecutive home-and-away series in 1985-86.Wright, who scored two hundreds and averaged 38.69 in 19 Tests against Australia, told the paper touring teams also had to accept they would be targeted by the media. “It’s so predictable it really should be on the itinerary,” he said. “Some well-known ex-players start to talk then one of the current team chips in with his view. Depending on your view it’s either psychological warfare, cheap pointscoring or the same old bullshit. We were never intimidated in that series [in 2003-04], which is the key to playing in Australia.”England showed in the first session of the 2005 Ashes series that they would not be overawed, with their fast bowlers striking Hayden, Langer and Ponting. Despite losing the opening Test, the side recovered to seal a 2-1 victory that set up a thrilling rematch that starts at the Gabba in November.

With a replica urn positioned a few metres from the table, as if anyone needed reminding of the impending announcement, David Graveney confirmed England’s squad of 16 to tour Australia this winter, to be captained by Andrew Flintoff, in a press conference at The Oval, a year to the day since England regained the Ashes.There were no major surprises, either. In fact the only source of contention Graveney was forced to alleviate was the decision to choose five players returning from injury (and, with Marcus Trescothick’s fitness still uncertain, six). Such concerns were roundly straight-batted and quashed, however.”We believe they will be fit by the time we go to Australia – it’s as simple as that,” Graveney firmly insisted. “If I can refresh your memories to four years ago, Flintoff arrived at the academy hardly able to walk – Darren Gough was in a similar condition. We are confident that all the injuries will be resolved. The situation now is that our medical team is much more professional and much better organised.”Graveney, who at times answered in quite a prickly fashion, said Ashley Giles would be on the plane to India for the Champions Trophy but only to assess his fitness. Prior to today’s announcement it was expected England would fly five reserves out to Perth under the wing of Paul Terry, who runs an academy there. Perth is sufficiently detached (by time zones, if anything) from the main squad to avoid treading on their toes, but close enough for the players to be called upon when required. However, the decision to shift the entire academy squad out there leaves England with, effectively, a squad of 30 to choose from.

“We’ll arrive on the 15th or 16th of November and will stay there until, roughly, December 22, Peter Moores, the Academy director, confirmed. “This enables us to prepare, get them bowling and [have them] ready should they be needed. It’s a high-performance camp – a training camp – to have players on standby. Paul Terry will help us out if we need to play any games but, in general, it will be a training base.”After months of speculation, Flintoff – looking mean and trim – was clearly delighted in his appointment as captain, but refused to send a message to Ricky Ponting or Australia.”Last summer was something special and some of the lads who are going want it again, some probably watched it and want to experience that euphoria,” he said. “There will be a lot of excited young lads. We’re going out there to play good cricket and compete with Australia who are the best team in the world.”Both James Anderson – who has missed the entire season with a back injury – and Liam Plunkett, whose side injury forced him out of the remaining Tests in the Pakistan series, were named – but there was no place for Simon Jones. Such a key figure in England’s win last summer, he underwent knee surgery in America during the summer and will not return to first-class cricket until next season.The first Test at Brisbane gets underway on November 23.