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The West Indies Cricket Board has denied holding any discussions over the contracts issue with the players in the absence of the West Indies Players’ Association. The denial comes in the wake of allegations by Dinanath Ramnarine, the president and chief executive of the players’ association, claiming that the board acted in “bad faith” and went against “good industrial relations practice”.Roger Brathwaite, the chief executive of the WICB, who met with the players along with Tony Howard, the team manager, was quoted as saying in The Trinidad Express, “… as any responsible employer, the board thought it fit to let the players know about matters which affect their interests. With the Digicel home series ended, we took the opportunity to speak with them briefly as a group before they departed for their respective homes.”I told him [Ramnarine] that I took the opportunity to inform the players that the WICB has been trying without success to meet with WIPA since the start of the Digicel home series, but this had not proved possible.”Braithwaite further mentioned that the contract for next month’s series in Sri Lanka had been forwarded to WIPA, and hoped that a swift agreement could be reached on the terms and conditions for that tour. West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests followed by a triangular one-day tournament, also involving India.

India 211 for 3 (Sehwag 90, Tendulkar 44) beat Zimbabwe 208 for 6 (Streak 59*) by 7 wickets with 12.2 overs to spare
Scorecard

Heath Streak top-scored for the second match in a row for Zimbabwe © Getty Images

The third match of the VB Series, at Hobart, resulted in a comprehensive win for India, after yet another worrying top-order collapse prevented Zimbabwe from reaching a competitive total. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar put on their second century stand of the series as India achieved the 209-run target with 12.2 overs to spare to take home a bonus point as well. Heath Streak top-scored for Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 59 and troubled the Indian openers early on, but was let down by most of his team-mates.India’s opening pair initially approached batting with caution. Having done that, Tendulkar got into his groove and split the field with languid ease, bringing out a range of strokes that had gathered cobwebs during the Test series. The cut over point, the expansive drives, and a loft over mid-off were all on display. At the other end, Sehwag, who had lost his touch temporarily, found his variety of strokes again, much to the bowlers’ chagrin.After surviving when Tatenda Taibu put down a difficult chance, Sehwag rubbed in the mistake that very over, picking a delivery from Sean Ervine and putting it into the stands at midwicket. Sehwag brought his wrists into play often, pulling balls from outside off stump to midwicket, and standing high and punching through cover. And when Raymond Price bowled to him, spectators at midwicket were under constant threat.But Price wasn’t exactly powerless. He nearly had Tendulkar caught at cover, but for a straightforward chance being put down by Streak. Tendulkar’s masterclass ended the next over, when he played down the wrong line and was bowled by Ervine for 44 (129 for 1). After missing out on Tendulkar’s wicket, Price had his sights set on Sehwag (90), who played one shot too many, and spooned a catch to cover (158 for 2). Hemang Badani (15) made a minimal contribution, before playing an expansive drive and nicking a ball to Taibu (172 for 3). Sourav Ganguly then came out to score 32 of the 37 runs India needed, and took the team home by seven wickets.Earlier, though Streak held firm at one end, he needed support. It came in the form of Ervine, who smashed an unbeaten 48 off just 33 balls. Both batsmen took their chances, and raised a rambunctious 93-run partnership off only 72 balls. They ran hard, hit harder, and India’s bowlers, who had given a good account of themselves so far, didn’t know what to do. Anil Kumble bowled eight overs for 19, but then ran into Ervine, who hit a six over cover, and helped himself to 19 more off Kumble’s last two overs. Ajit Agarkar’s last over was taken apart for 20, after the first seven had gone for 19. A spectacular six over long-on preceded an even grander hit out of the ground over midwicket. Later that over, Streak flayed one to deep extra cover to reach his fifty. It was the kind of batting display that made you forget the bad start, until India put the target in perspective.India’s bowlers choked the runs and took wickets at regular intervals to keep Zimbabwe on the mat. The openers played watchfully for three overs, before Vusi Sibanda ran for a single that might have been on if Inzamam had been the fielder. Instead, Yuvraj Singh, at point, dived, stopped, and flung the ball to the bowler’s end, and Sibanda (12) was found short of his crease (14 for 1).Stuart Matsikenyeri played tentatively throughout his stay and scored 9 before attempting a full-blooded whack off Irfan Pathan to the leg side, only to loop it up gently for Badani to take a simple catch at cover (36 for 2).Shortly after, Kumble slipped a googly through Mark Vermeulen (2), bringing an end to a scratchy 24-ball innings (48 for 3). The next three batsmen got themselves out: Stuart Carlisle (37) played across the line to a straight one from Sehwag, Grant Flower (15) patted a ball back to the bowler, and Taibu somehow converted a full-length delivery from Badani into a yorker (114 for 6). It was at this stage that Ervine walked out to join Streak, and show the top order how things should be done. But it wasn’t enough, as India bludgeoned their way to victory, turning the three-team series more and more into a two-horse race.

SYDNEY, Dec 15 AAP – Australia A centurion Jimmy Maher has urged Ricky Ponting’s senior side to remember Sri Lanka remain a threat despite the tourists’ heavy defeat at the Gabba last night.Maher, who has enjoyed a prolific season against the touring teams, added a 106 to the twin double-centuries he scored against England as Australia A racked up 8-312.Sri Lanka’s reply stuttered early and died as Sanath Jayasuriya’s side lost its opening tour match by 102 runs.But fewer than three months ago, it was Australia that was on the receiving end, slumping to a seven wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.And Maher has warned they remain a threat, particularly in the latter stages of the triangular tournament – that also involves England – when off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is expected to return from injury.”They will be a threat. On wickets like Adelaide and Sydney that turn a bit more, and certainly in Melbourne, I think they can be very competitive,” he said.”When Murali comes back in their side, (Aravinda) De Silva, Chaminda Vaas – you’ve got to remember the last time we played them in the Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka they comprehensively beat us.”They are a good cricket side and you never underestimate a Sri Lankan one-day side, with the likes of (Sanath) Jayasuriya, (Marvan) Atapattu and (Romesh) Kaluwitharana – they are all exciting players, hit the ball very hard and to all parts of the ground.”If they get away to a good start in a couple of games it’ll be very tough.”Complacency is not something Australia have been guilty of in the past and despite predictions of another unbeaten summer, Maher insists ponting will not allow any let-up in intensity.”You can never walk out and think it’s all going to happen. Obviously Australia are a fantastic unit, playing very good cricket, but on their day both these sides (Sri Lanka and England) could cause some problems.”I don’t think its going to be a walkover like everyone says. Sri Lanka have generally been a very good one-day outfit”.

Ricardo Powell

Ricardo Powell the young West Indian batsman is turning out for Hampshire 2nd XI this week, in the Championship match v Essex at the Hampshire Rose Bowl (Nursery Ground) this week. The match is a four day contest, starting Tuesday 6th June.Powell who is playing League cricket in the North is short of match practise, and under Michael Holding’s recommendation turns out for the County.Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket is happy to give him the opportunity. “With a few of our Academy players taking exams at this time of the year, and the University members of the staff still unavailable, our resourses were stretched.”Details of this match and all 2nd XI cricket played throughout the season can be seen on the Hampshire Web Site.

Kyogo Furhashi’s return to action will ‘rattle’ Celtic’s title rivals Rangers, Frank McAvennie has claimed. 

The lowdown

Furuhashi sustained a hamstring injury in a Europa League group stage game against Real Betis in December and then aggravated it against St Johnstone on Boxing Day.

The 27-year-old has been out of action since, though The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin did reveal on Monday that he had resumed running at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training facility.

Devlin previously wrote that Furuhashi may be back ‘scampering about in the jersey’ after the international break, and he may be on schedule.

The Hoops are due to face the Gers twice in the space of a fortnight when the season resumes.

They travel to Ibrox on Sunday, 3 April before locking horns with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side once again in the Scottish Cup semifinal at Hampden Park on 17 April.

The latest

McAvennie says it will be a ‘brilliant’ boost for Ange Postecogolou when Furuhashi is available again.

And he thinks Rangers will be nervous about the impact the Japanese forward will have, particularly against their ‘far from solid’ defence.

“It still looks like he will be back for these games against Rangers and that is brilliant for us,” he told Football Insider.

“Just having him there will rattle Rangers a bit. They will know he’s ready, waiting on the bench for his moment.

“That will be a massive blow to that team because their defence has been far from solid recently.”

The verdict

In quotes that will offer further encouragement, the player himself told Celtic supporters this week that he was feeling ‘very good’ and would be back in action ‘soon’.

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Furuhashi is the team’s top scorer with 13 goals even though he hasn’t kicked a ball in 2022, so his impact on the side is clearly massive.

If indeed he is able to feature in some capacity against Rangers, he’ll be hoping to make amends for his miss at Ibrox in August. Furuhashi was set through one-on-one with Gers keeper Robbie McCrorie but spurned his chance to equalise, and Rangers eventually won the match 1-0.

In other news, Paddy Kenny reacts as Celtic injury update emerges.

	Aravinda de Silva: “Playing on matting wickets will create much better players because that extra bounce will encourage batsmen to play shots square of the wicket and produce more gutsy players.” © Getty Images

Blaming the mediocre standard of batsmen in school cricket today partly to the preparation of substandard pitches, Aravinda de Silva, the former Sri Lanka batsman, is of the opinion that playing school matches on matting surfaces than on turf pitches would improve the quality of batting significantly.Being appointed consultant coach to the Sri Lanka under-19 World Cup team enabled de Silva, who retired from international cricket five years ago, to make a close study of the declining standards of school cricket in Sri Lanka and this is what he observed.”As I see it, playing on matting wickets will create much better players because that extra bounce will encourage batsmen to play shots square of the wicket and produce more gutsy players,” de Silva said. “One thing we should look at is that some of the fast bowlers of today can’t get the ball to rise waist high.””We played most of our cricket at school on matting wickets. It is easier to switch over from matting to turf. There are two sides to playing on matting. On turf you get use to playing on different sort of surfaces. But at a younger age I don’t think that is necessary. You must allow them to go and play their normal cricket, to play with aggression. The advantages are greater to develop batsmen than bowlers on matting.”Throughout his illustrious career he remained the most feared batsman in the middle-order, capable of single-handedly changing the course of a match. He was renowned for being a fearless hooker and cutter of the ball even against the fastest of bowlers in the world. He had the freedom and confidence to play shots all around the wicket because of the quality of cricket he played at DS Senanayake MV where his natural talents were allowed to flow.”Playing tough competitive cricket on good wickets is what our youngsters lack. They lack a lot of confidence because of poor wickets. Arjuna [Ranatunga] made a triple hundred at the age of under 15 and players used to get double hundreds regularly during our time. Today as a team schools are averaging totals of 190-200 except for some schools that play on good wickets.””That is perhaps mainly because the batsmen lack in confidence to play their shots. The only way to give them the confidence is to prepare good batting surfaces. But most schools cannot afford to maintain turf wickets and therefore play on substandard surfaces.”Even for the bowlers why we don’t develop good spinners is because the wickets are all crumbling. Also there is no competition to create situations because they play safe games. Some of the coaches go round setting fields and not allowing the players to think on their own. More than winning competitions coaches must get players to think and make decisions on their own. This would allow the boys to study the game from a young age.”De Silva’s remedy to overcome this shortcoming is to field a schools team in the inter-provincial tournament. “They will gain a lot of experience from the exposure that will be given to them. Playing with guys like Mahela [Jayawardene] and Kumar [Sangakkara] will give them competitive cricket and a chance to learn the game.”Having watched how the under-19 World Cup teams of Pakistan and England played in the recently concluded tri-series in Colombo, De Silva said: “The Pakistan and England sides are very much matured. They have more thinking cricketers than our guys. The Pakistan bowling attack is a lot better that Sri Lanka and England because most of the bowlers have got exposure at first-class level. Every bowler was able to move the ball, which is a very good sign at that age. Our batsmen found it difficult to face up to the Pakistani bowlers when the ball started to move around because they play on flat and slow wickets at school.”Sri Lanka lost all three fixtures (including the final) to Pakistan in the tri-nation series. de Silva suggested that as the Junior World Cup is played every two years, Sri Lanka should pick a pool one year ahead from the under 17 squad and prepare for the event.

Percy Sonn, like his predecessors, will take the one-year extension available to him © Getty Images

Percy Sonn will continue as president of the International Cricket Council, extending his term at the helm to three years till June 2009. The announcement came at the end of a two-day board meeting of the ICC at Cape Town.The normal term of a president is two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension, and Sonn followed the precedent set by Jagmohan Dalmiya, Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Gray.Interestingly, the nomination committee did not make a recommendation to the board on the identity of Sonn’s successor. The committee was deadlocked on the merits of the two candidates, David Morgan of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and Sharad Pawar of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The matter now goes back to the governance committee.”I am delighted to accept the Board’s invitation to remain as President for a third year. I have had a busy but immensely enjoyable first year in the role that has seen many pluses for our great game,” said Sonn.He was keen to point out the advances made by the ICC in the recent past. “Chief among those have been the adoption of our new strategic plan and the WADA [anti-doping] Code, a successful Champions Trophy in India and our new broadcasting agreement with ESPN STAR Sports which will play a major role in promoting cricket and safeguarding its future by offering all of our members financial certainty.”Now, on the verge of a historic first-ever World Cup in the Caribbean and with the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships to come in September, I look forward to continuing as president for another two years as we seek to ensure our strong sport continues to grow stronger.”The ICC board also made a significant change in the laws of the game: the match referee, and not the on-field umpires, will now be the judge of when a match will be terminated, should such a circumstance arise. This follows the fiasco at The Oval involving England and Pakistan, where the first instance of a match being forfeited was recorded.”The board’s decision reflects the fact that the match referee is the chief executive of the match, the person who has overall responsibility for the way the game is played and officiated,” explained Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC. “This decision does not, however, detract from the on-field role of the umpires and they would, of course, remain an integral part of the process of awarding a match in those circumstances.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Andrew Strauss notched up his first hundred in the subcontinent as England took control at Mumbai © Getty Images

Battered and bruised on and off the field after defeat, injury and illness, England performed well beyond expectations on the opening day at Mumbai, laying the foundations to launch a serious attempt at a series-levelling win. Powered by a fantastic century by Andrew Strauss, and a curious decision at the toss by Rahul Dravid, England finished on 272 for 3.A severe personnel problem for England became even more critical on the morning of the match, when Alastair Cook was ruled out due to a stomach bug. Perhaps the Indian think-tank believed they could capitalise on the unsettled opposition top order; perhaps they were swayed by the tinge of green on the track, or by a bowling attack which included three seamers. The decision was strange, but England, to their credit, grabbed the opportunity with both hands, with Strauss’s 128 easily the highlight.Over the last few months, Strauss has struggled – his last nine Test innings have fetched him 150 runs in all. He threatened to match that number in just one hit today, with a superbly planned knock. When the ball was new and moving around, he was content to see off the bowling, scoring just 35 at lunch. The horizontal-bat strokes were closeted away, replaced by drives in the V and through the covers. Then, after he had done the hard yards, he capitalised – unlike makeshift opener Ian Bell, who threw it away in a moment of indiscretion.As the pitch eased up in the afternoon, Strauss opened out and unfurled his full range – the drives became more extravagant, and the slightest error in length was punished with crisp cuts and pulls.He did have a couple of moments of good fortune, though. On 92, a hard slash off Harbhajan flashed past slip before Dravid could get his hands to the ball, and on 123, Mahendra Singh Dhoni dropped a more straightforward chance off Kumble. Strauss celebrated the first escape with a superb sweep to bring up his hundred – his eighth in Tests, and his first in the subcontinent – but could manage only five more after the second reprieve before nicking one off Harbhajan.

Owais Shah struck a fine half-century on his very first Test outing © Getty Images

If Strauss’s knock was the story of the day, then Owais Shah’s performance on Test debut was a close second. From the outset, he oozed confidence, mixing intense defence with powerful drives and cuts. He started his innings with a smashing cut off Harbhajan, then stroked him delightfully through covers to bring up his fifty, and in between took full toll of the other bowlers as well. The fourth over after lunch was his highlight, as Shah waded into an utterly listless Pathan, slapping him down the ground, then flicking, and then driving through mid-on for three glorious fours in an over. Cramps in his hands curtailed the knock, but with an overnight rest, Shah should be back to try and inflict more damage to the Indian cause tomorrow.Kevin Pietersen ensured that Shah’s departure didn’t halt the momentum, playing with typical flair. The front-foot drives off the fast bowlers boomed as powerfully as ever, but there were moments of good fortune too, when top-edged pull shots evaded the fielders. And when he fell, Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood were around to ensure that all the good work of five hours weren’t undone in a few minutes.Having erred at the toss, Dravid tried all the tricks to limit the damage, rotating his fast bowlers in short spells, getting the spinners on early when the fast bowlers proved ineffective, and changing the ends for Anil Kumble. However, India’s three-man pace attack was effectively reduced to two, with Pathan, bowling at medium pace with no swing, seam or accuracy, being completely off colour. Sreesanth was all fire and heart, but the best spell of the day came from Munaf Patel, after tea. Generating pace and bounce, he had the batsmen in plenty of bother, rapping Strauss on the pads, cutting him in half with an indipper, and forcing Pietersen to fend awkwardly. England survived all those moments, though, and ended the day with enough runs on the board to put pressure on India when it’s their turn to bat.

Ian Bell c Harbhajan b Sreesanth 18 (52 for 1)
Andrew Strauss c Dhoni b Harbhajan 128 (230 for 2)
Kevin Pietersen c Dhoni b Sreesanth 39 (242 for 3)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Photo Gallery
Bulletin – Pakistan level series after fantastic run-chase
Verdict – Clinical and full of steel
Roving Reporter – Cut to the chase
Quotes – ‘My contribution was very small’ – Inzamam
News – Ganguly banned for six matches
Plays of the Day – Can’t do nothing right
Preview package
Preview – Series comes alive before Ahmedabad clash
Quotes – ‘Can’t say anything till the game begins’ – Ganguly
Stats – A high-scoring trend

Nasser Hussain anticipates a tough challenge © Getty

For the first time since England arrived in Sri Lanka two weeks ago, the rains failed to materialise yesterday afternoon. The irony was not lost on the England camp, who had looked on forlornly as the one-day series died the wateriest of deaths on Sunday. Instead, as attention shifted towards the first-class leg of the tour – which begins with tomorrow’s warm-up match against the Board President’s XI – Colombo was being basted in the sort of ferocious heat that England encountered on their previous visit in 2001.England’s 2-1 victory on that trip is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Nasser Hussain’s four-year tenure as captain, and though he is back in the ranks this time around, he was on hand yesterday to remind everyone just how tough the next month is going to be. “This is the most difficult place in the world to play cricket,” he said. “It is harder even than taking on Australia in Australia. The wickets are different to anywhere else in the world. The outfields are slow and, with the heat, you have to work hard for your runs.”Hussain is keenly aware that this is not his show any more, and he was at pains to stress than Michael Vaughan is his own man as captain. Nevertheless, it would be a surprise if England chose to deviate from their tried and trusted game-plan on the subcontinent. “My idea was always to stay in the game,” explained Hussain. “To still be in there on days three and four, when the pressure then shifts to the opposition. Whether it’s the crowds or the expectation that they ought to have beaten us already, they seem to feel the pressure more if you hang on to the end. All our victories came right at the death.”England’s top five are all familiar with the subcontinent, while Andrew Flintoff is a more rounded player of spin than the man who scraped 26 runs in five innings in India two years ago. But Hussain, who has returned from a three-week break after missing the one-dayers, warned that no amount of preparation can make up for time in the middle against the greatest bowler in the world today, Muttiah Muralitharan.”It’s a lovely game for Murali,” said Hussain. “He’s got that touch of genius, and a wicket is always somewhere around the corner. The rest of us have to work at our games. With him, it is never a matter of demolishing his bowling – it’s more a case of keeping him out. If he is going to take five wickets in a innings, make sure those are spread over 50 or 60 overs.””I don’t think there’s any harder job in world cricket, than when you first go out to bat in Sri Lanka, when Murali’s got men around the bat, with the ball spitting both ways out of the footholes. Every wicket out here is different so it’s a case of learning on your feet. As far as preparation goes, all you can really do is visualise your innings – decide what shots you can and can’t play – because the angles he achieves with his offspinners are unique.”If England had it tough in 2001, they were at least a team at the peak of their powers in the bowling department. This time around, however, Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, and even that subcontinent specialist, Craig White, are all missing. “Those guys had a lot of experience,” said Hussain. “They could change their game-plans in a session. In the first Test at Galle, for instance, they came out after lunch and were bowling offcutters. This time we’ve got a lot of inexperience in our team, and you can’t win a Test unless you take 20 wickets.”It will take a repeat performance of the 2001 victory to wrench public attention away from England’s rugby heroes, something of which Hussain was wistfully aware. “It was obviously a great feeling watching that final, but at the same time I couldn’t help wishing we had done the same in our own World Cup. I’ve always felt the country are right behind us wherever we’ve played, and what hurts the most is thinking that you’ve let people down. We would do anything to have that feeling of going home as heroes.”It is a lesson to us all,” added Hussain. “If you put all your plans in place, if you get a great coach in Clive Woodward, and a superstar in Jonny Wilkinson, a good side can become a great one. Cricket, football, it can happen to all of them. From what I’ve read, we got plenty of credit for our victory in Sri Lanka last time. But there are two things that are permanently etched in people’s memories, World Cups and Australia. The rugby boys were very fortunate – they nailed them both in one afternoon!”Those are the two things that I didn’t put right as a captain. Now it’s up to someone else to do so.”