On what makes a good batsman
I suppose everybody has their own definition. There are those who prefer the Geoff Boycotts and the Sunny Gavaskars – batsmen with a great defence, who wear down bowlers. My definition is a bit different – to me it’s about domination and being able to assert yourself in a reasonably good time. This requires skill, obviously, and it requires precise footwork and the ability to simplify things. To me it’s not about an endless procession of letting balls go to see what the bounce is like, what the weather’s like and so on….Someone like Sachin [Tendulkar], he’s got enormous skill, he’s got a simple technique, he’s not complicated with his shot-making, and he’s got belief in his own ability. He has all the constituents of a good batsman….I think the ability to analyse your game and overcome your shortcomings is very important. You don’t always have to be brilliant, but if you have a deficiency, you have to develop the ability to not get out because of it. That requires practice, skill, dedication and all the other things that everybody who is at the very top of his field requires.

On the batsmen he considers ‘great’
Garry Sobers, Graeme Pollock, Viv Richards. And Sachin Tendulkar. I think Brian Lara has got the skill to be a great, but whether he has got the drive I am not sure. He is up and down. To me, someone like Sachin is more consistent and really wants it more. He’s a more complete package. In my lifetime nobody springs to mind apart from these names….When I think of Graeme, I think of timing and domination. The sheer domination of the man – not just the high volume of runs, but also the speed at which he got them – was incredible. He hit the gaps better than any player I have seen in my life, including Sachin. I mean, you might as well have had stones as fielders – hit the stone, you get nothing; miss the stone, you get four.I never saw bowlers containing Graeme. I remember he once got a 124 at the Wanderers in 1975-76 and even Dennis Lillee (playing for the International Wanderers) was being taken for six runs an over. Graeme didn’t look like he was taking a risk, but every over, relentlessly, he’d whack a four somewhere. They said he didn’t play the bouncer very well, and he probably didn’t, but he would find a way to get a four. If nothing, he had that little short-arm jab over midwicket….Garry was more a back-foot player. He was not quite as tall as Graeme, and he played the short ball much better than Graeme ever did. Garry was all flourish, and with that extravagant back-lift he used to just power the ball away. He’d back himself in all situations, in all conditions. He had this great ability to play the ball late, to be able to adjust if it spun or swung away from him. And he had great wrists. Graeme was much more of a through-the-line hitter; Garry was more flourish with the wrists. You could think of Graeme as a Matthew Hayden, but a much better timer. Sachin is also like Graeme in terms of those short-arm punches. Garry was more a Lara type….Viv was awesome; at times you just couldn’t bowl to him. During World Series Cricket (WSC) he was at his peak, and I was on the decline, getting towards my middle-30s, and he played some fantastic knocks against some of the world’s quickest bowlers….Viv used to swagger. He used to do it on purpose. It was all that body language on the field working for him. When I think of Viv Richards, I think of arrogance at the crease. That was his way of dominating the bowler. His confrontations with Lillee during WSC were fantastic. Both used to bristle with belief in their own ability. It was a great contest. Very fascinating.On modern cricket
…All you have to do on a lot of surfaces [these days] is hit through the line. I mean, on some of the pitches you have to be a blind man to miss the ball. You very rarely see the ball seaming; you very seldom see it swinging. The only time you see severe swing nowadays is reverse swing, though that could be because of the ball manufacturers.I really don’t mind seeing a low-scoring game once in a while – a 110- or 120-game – if there is quality bowling on view. I fear for the general status of bowlers. You’ve got half-a-dozen quality bowlers at the moment, but if you took them out of world cricket there wouldn’t be much left.What also worries me is the increased weightage to stats and figures nowadays. They don’t tell the full story. Adam Gilchrist, for example, doesn’t get the kudos as a batsman that some of the others do, and yet to me he has got an entertainment value and that’s what’s counts. How do you laud a chap like Gilchrist who encourages so many kids to play the game, so many people to be interested in the game, but his [one-day] average is only 34? On the other hand, you get somebody who’s bored the pants off the people, driven them away from grounds, little kids wouldn’t go near him and he’s averaging much higher….I don’t really know how players wield the heavy bats they use these days. And it makes you think about the slowness of the tracks. I just couldn’t think of anybody, even Viv, hooking Lillee and [Jeff] Thomson with a three-pound bat. I used a two-seven. I suppose someone like Sachin, since he is short and he holds it right near the bottom, has more ability to manipulate it. I’m sure Gilchrist couldn’t use a three-pounder with his grip, high on the handle. I think the trend started because of the wickets in the subcontinent, which are not quick enough; the batsman needs to generate the pace on the ball himself. It’s also because the guys train more nowadays and are stronger….You also don’t see too many horizontals [horizontal bat shots], which is a pity because it’s a very exciting part of the game.What’s in the latest issue of Wisden Asia CricketSubscribe to Wisden Asia Cricket

Mr President, ladies and gentlemenThere may be some among you who on receiving the invitation to this evening’s lecture must have seen who was going to speak and said “Oh! Yeah! Only if he is allowed through the gate!”There must have been a question in your mind whether the lecture would take place at all. It’s a bit like getting an invitation to a party on 1st April; you don’t know whether it’s for real or if it’s an April Fool’s joke. Having now got to the podium which does afford me a better view than my natural height, I can see that you all did take the chance that I would be allowed in!I had, of course, made sure that there would be at least a couple of people attending by requesting MCC to invite a few of my friends, who are present here.As you can see, I am here – let in by the stewards who over the years have become quite charming. No more does one hear “Oi! Where do you think you are going?” Instead, now we hear “Excuse me, sir, can I help you?” Now this is a tremendous change and the MCC needs to be complimented on the remarkable improvement in the attitude of those manning the various entrances at the ground.Unfortunately, while there has been this most welcome change in the attitude at the gates, there has been a marked decline in the behaviour on the field – especially in the last 15 years or so, and not just at the international level. I will come to that in due course.I know from experience that a quick breezy innings brings a lot more smiles and is remembered more than a long one, irrespective of its utility to the team’s cause, and so here I will try and play a quick one. In any case, my throat does not last long, so you can relax – it’s not going to be a typical opener’s innings.It is apt that this lecture is named after Colin Cowdrey who, on and off the field, epitomised all that is good about this great game of ours. Colin showed that it could be played with great skill and grace in the toughest of conditions and against the hardest of opponents, and still have a smile and appreciation for the opponent. Colin is perhaps the only cricketer to have played Test cricket for 20 years. He played from 1954 to 1974 and the only other cricketer who I can recall having a similar span is Mohinder Amarnath, who first played for India in December 1969 and played his last international in April 1990.Steve Waugh, who has now appeared in the maximum number of Tests, has played for 18 years and, when you look at how many more Test matches he has played than Colin, you will know how much more Test cricket is being played today.Way back in 1986, Colin was the one with the record for the most appearances in Tests, when yours truly went past him. On the first morning of that game, I was pleasantly surprised to see Colin being ushered into the Indian dressing room by Raj Singh Dungarpur, the team manager. He had come all the way from his home just to congratulate me and wish me luck. He was most effusive in his congratulations and wished that I would celebrate the occasion with a century.I guess it wasn’t so much that Colin was wishing England ill luck as much as his Indian roots, having been born in Bangalore. The thing about Colin was he was always anxious to know what the players felt about the game they were playing and how to improve it. He was most keen to meet the newcomers and youngsters in the team and would have a word of encouragement for all of them.Years later, I had the pleasure of being in the first-ever Cricket Committee formed by the ICC to look after the Laws and Playing Conditions of the game. Colin was the first chairman, and his main concern was how to make the game grow, and one of the reasons he felt it was losing out on popularity was that the players were not playing in the spirit in which they ought to – which, in turn, meant that the parents of young kids were reluctant to have their children play the game, and the kids themselves were not too keen to play a game in which there seemed to be so much animosity between the participants.The MCC is the custodian of the Laws of the game, and thanks to the initiative of men like Colin, Ted Dexter and Tony Lewis, to name just three, they have now put down in writing the Spirit of Cricket, which for more than a hundred years was only spoken about and observed, too, until the late 1980s, and now has been put down in print so that not only Test and international cricketers know what it means, but also youngsters who are taking up the game.But what does it tell us to have to put the Spirit of Cricket in black and white? It tells us that the old adage “It’s not cricket”, which applied to just about everything in life, is no longer valid – and that’s a real pity. In the modern world of commercialisation of the game and the advent of satellite television and the motto of winning at all costs, sportsmanship has gone for a six.Will we ever get the likes of Sir Garfield Sobers and GR Viswanath again? That greatest of cricketers, Garry Sobers not only indicated more than once to umpires that he had caught the ball on the bounce but also declared his innings closed once in a Test match in spite of having two of his main bowlers injured and left a challenging target for England to get – which they did, thanks to Colin Cowdrey. If a captain does that today, of course, the Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC would be breathing down his neck, but all Garry wanted was to enliven a dead series.GR Viswanath was the captain who recalled Bob Taylor when he was given out by the unpire. Vishy, who was at first slip, immediately realised that Bob’s bat had brushed the pads, which had misled the umpire into giving him out caught behind. Like the true sportsman he is, Vishy walked up to the umpire and politely withdrew the appeal. The match was delicately poised then and the subsequent partnership between Ian Botham and Bob Taylor took England to a winning position. India lost the Test, but Vishy is remembered for that and loved all the more for it.Today, thanks to the win-at-all-costs theory, appeals are made even though the fielders know that the batsman is not out. There is the other side, of course, where a batsman knows he is out but stays put and rubs some other part of his body if it’s an appeal for a catch or shows his bat if there’s an appeal for lbw. With the game being marketed aggressively by TV, the rewards have become high, and rightly so, but it has to a great extent taken away from the Spirit of the Game, where bowlers applauded a good shot and batsmen acknowledged with a nod a good delivery from a bowler who beat them. While today, in order not to give any psychological advantage to the opposition, there’s hardly any applause from the fielding side when a batsman reaches a fifty or a century.It’s hard to understand how applauding concedes any advantage to the batsman, but we see it increasingly where, barring the odd fielder, the others feign total ignorance of the batsman reaching a landmark.This is in stark contrast to my first series in the West Indies, where one could sit with the greats like Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Lance Gibbs at the end of a day’s play and ask them about batting and how to improve. They were more than happy to give good sound advice, even though it was to an opponent and could be used against them the next day to their team’s detriment. Rohan Kanhai occasionally grunted his disapproval from first slip if I played a loose shot. It wasn’t that these great cricketers did not want their team to win. It was just the fact that they had supreme confidence in their own ability and believed that helping an opponent only produced good cricket and was good for the game.How about the England team under Norman Yardley raising three cheers for Don Bradman when he came out to play his last Test innings? Mind you, if the England players knew that such gestures brought tears to the great man’s eyes and got him bowled for a duck, then they would have done it every innings!Such a gesture is unthinkable today where the opponents hardly greet each other and if there’s anything to say it’s invariably not very pleasant. The thinking is that with the stakes being so high, any friendly overture takes away from the competitiveness of the player.Now I have heard it being said that whenever there’s been needle in a match, words have been exchanged. That may be true, but what was banter in days gone by – and which was enjoyed by everyone, including the recipient of it – today has degenerated to downright personal abuse, and which is why the Spirit of Cricket had to be written.They say sledging has always been part of the game, but is that true? I am not so sure. I played more than one Test match for my country with and against bowlers who took hundreds of wickets and there was hardly a word uttered in anger on the field. Yes, towards the end of my career I did get referred to a couple of times by a part of the female anatomy and, more than anger, it saddened me to hear that.In fact, one of those instances led to the most regrettable incident of my career, when I almost forfeited a game by asking my fellow opener to walk off with me. I was given out lbw in spite of getting a thick inside edge to the ball and, though I showed my disappointment, I was going back to the pavilion and would have ended up like all disappointed batsmen do – by throwing my bat or screaming myself hoarse in the privacy of the dressing room.But as I had gone about 15 or so yards towards the pavilion I heard the abuse which made me explode and take that stupid action of asking my partner to walk off with me. Fortunately, the manager of the team stopped my partner from crossing the boundary and so we didn’t forfeit the game but went on to win it. That and another time later on are the only instances that I have come across sledging and it’s simply distasteful.Let’s get the origin and the definition of the word “sledging” to find out if it has always been part of the game, as its apologists claim. To sledge is to convey a message as subtly as a sledgehammer. With that definition, one can clearly see that’s its a modern phenomenon and not been part of the game since the 19th century. Yes, there has been banter but it has invariably been good-humoured. For example, who would ever take objection to what Freddie Trueman said on the field? There was a dig about the batsman’s ability but no personal abuse.Freddie was the master of the banter, as Richie Benaud told us a couple of years ago, in the inaugural Cowdrey Lecture. My first commentary stint in England was in 1990 – the year in which Graham Gooch got that massive 333 at Lord’s and young Sachin Tendulkar scored the first of what will be a record number of centuries. The manger of that Indian team was Madhav Mantri, my maternal uncle, who had toured with the Indian team here in 1952, when Freddie made his debut.Having heard that Freddie was doing commentary, my uncle asked me to convey his best wishes to Freddie, which I dutifully did. Seeing Freddie’s quizzical look, I elaborated and said that my uncle was one of the four Freddie victims when India were famously four down for zero. Freddie looked up and growled at me “I wouldn’t remember him then, would I?” No, of course not, but who could take offence at Fred when he had such ready explanations?Javed Miandad was another with a sharp sense of humour. In fact, he was one of those rare species of batsmen who talked to the bowlers. Remember, I said “talked” and not “talked back”. He would do anything to get under the skin of the bowlers and work it to his advantage. In a Test match at Bangalore, he was batting against Dilip Doshi, who was one of the hardest bowlers to hit. Javed had tried everything – the drive, the cut, the sweep and even going down the pitch to the crafty left arm spinner – but he simply wasn’t able to get him away. Suddenly, in the middle of a fresh over, Javed started asking Dilip his room number.This went on every other ball and even when he was at the non-striker’s end. After some time, Doshi, who was making a comeback to the side, and so was concentrating hard on his bowling, couldn’t take it anymore and exasperatedly asked him why he wanted his room number – to which Javed replied “Because I want to hit you for a six in your room”. Now those who have been to Bangalore – and know how far the hotel is from the ground – know what an impossibility it was. Yet it worked: Doshi, anticipating Javed to give him the rush down the wicket, bowled it short, and Javed gleefully pulled it to the boundary and added for good measure that he was bowling from the wrong end, else he would make good on his promise.Nobody minds such banter. In fact, it adds to the stories of the game. But all this banter was always a small part of the game and happened may be a couple of the times during five days of cricket and not just every other over, as is happening today.When West Indies were the dominant force in the game in the 1970s and 1980s, with their line up of star-studded batsmen and army of lethal quick bowlers, administrators moved to curtail their domination by making Laws that muzzled the pace bowlers with a restriction on the number of bouncers to be bowled per over.Today, though, there is a Code of Conduct, the verbal bouncers go on pretty much unchecked and, unless something is done quickly done about it, the good name of the game that we all know will be mud. Just look at any school games anywhere in the world and we will see bowlers having a go at the batsman. They see it on TV from their heroes and believe that it is a part of the game, and so indulge in it.Here it is crucial for the coaches to step in and tell them, while the kids are at an impressionable age, that this is wrong and cricket has been played for years without indulging in personal abuse. Maybe we should tell TV producers that, just like they don’t show any of the streakers at the ground anymore, they should not show close-ups of players verbalising each other. With the cameras being so good it is easy to lip-read and kids can see that it is not the Bible nor the Koran nor the (Bhagvad) Geeta which is being quoted on the field.The sad part is that very little is being done about it. If a player even so much as glares at the umpire or stays a micro-second longer at the crease after being given out, he is hauled up and in trouble. If there is protection for the umpire from the players, why not protection to players from abusive players?They say there is so much money in the game and that is what makes players resort to these tactics to win at all costs and forget good manners – but there is more money in other sports like golf and tennis but, thanks to tough laws, one does not find mis-behaviour or bad language there. There is today simply no such things as a silence zone in the game, right down to the school encounter. If it had enhanced the game, then it would had been welcomed – but it hasn’t and, even at the highest level, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.The problem also is mainly due to the fact that those at the receiving end of the abuse feel that they will be called wimps if they report it to the umpires or the match referee. In fact, by not reporting it, they are accessories to the “crime”, if one is allowed to call it that. Their favourite defence is “Let’s what has happened on the field stay there” – even if it is wrong and bad for the image of the game. Imagine if a murderer were to say that since murder was committed in the house, he should be allowed to walk the streets free.Lest I sound pessimistic, let me say that out of a possible 150 Test cricketers from 10 Test-playing countries, there are perhaps not even 15 who indulge in this verbal abuse and intimidation, but unfortunately most of these belong to a champion side and it makes others believe that it’s the only way to play winning cricket. Did Bradman’s all-conquering side of 1948 practise these tactics? I don’t know, though I know for certain that Clive Lloyd’s champions of the 1970s and 1980s never uttered a word on the field to an opponent. A glare and raised eye brow were enough to put the scare in to you!Still, while there is life there is hope, and to see both the England and South African teams take the field on the first day of the Test last week sporting black armbands, to mourn the passing away of Jacques Kallis’s father, is enough to show that there are people within the game who understand human emotions and who believe that sharing in a fellow player’s grief does not take away anything from their competitiveness but does help to lessen the grief.Cricket is a game that envelops all manner of people from various countries, colour, language, faith and age. The good doctor WG Grace played Tests when he was nearly 50 and Sachin Tendulkar began when he was barely 15. In all this diversity, it is the skill of the player that stays in the mind’s eye long after their age and eras are over.MCC needs to be congratulated for the initiative in starting this Lecture series, which is aimed mainly at the young impressionable minds, and to tell them that one can be winners without showing disrespect to an opponent, and one can enjoy the game even when one is not doing well.The diversity that this great game has can also be seen by the different accents and ages that have delivered the Cowdrey Lectures over the last three years. The Aussie drawl of Richie Benaud, the South African accent of Barry Richards, and the sub-continent accent of your truly. Even the ages of the speakers show that the love for the game has not diminished. Richie 70-something, Barry Richards 60-something, and yours truly 20-something …Let me end by repeating part of what Sir Don Bradman said about the game. We are all custodians of the game, and the game will prosper if we can leave it better than we found it. It is something that we must all endeavour to do – and it is achievable if we work sincerely towards it. I am confident that we can do it and when – and not if – we do it, then Colin sitting up there with the gods will smile and say “Well done, chaps – that’s the spirit.”Mr President, ladies and gentleman, many thanks for the opportunity, and especially for the patience. May the force be with you.

Michael Kasprowicz produced the best bowling figures of the season, and thesecond best in Glamorgan`s history as he took 9-36 in a remarkable spell after tea on the third day of Glamorgan`s Championship match against Durham atCardiff.At the interval, Durham were 30 runs ahead with nine wickets in hand, and with Jon Lewis and MartinLove well set, it looked as if the Durham batsmen were likely to build a substantialsecond innings total. But their resistance was blown away by the mighty Queenslander, whosepost-tea spell saw Kasprowicz take nine wickets in succession to finish with his careerbest figures and an analysis only surpassed for Glamorgan by Jack Mercer`s 10-51 againstWorcestershire at New Road in 1936.He began by trapping both Jon Lewis and Martin Love leg before, before earning a thirdleg before decision against Nicky Peng, the first innings centurion who this time faced just six balls.With his next delivery he won a fourth l.b.w. as Vince Wells departed for a golden duck, and thenin his next over Phil Mustard was caught by Jonathan Hughes to make it 144-6.Graeme Bridge and Gary Pratt then offered some brief resistance, before Bridge was bowled by Kasprowicz,who shortly afterwards had Pratt caught in the slips by Matthew Maynard to make it 165-8. Fourmore had been added when Kasprowicz bowled Killeen, and then with the total on 174 the Australianfinished things off by uprooting Nicky Phillips stumps, and he deservedly left the field to a standingovation from the sun-drenched crowd, many of whom could hardly believe what they had seen in theprevious 80 minutes from the wholehearted seamer.This left Glamorgan needing 86 to win, and with Jimmy Maher in assertive form, Glamorgantook the extra half-hour in a bid to wrap up the game inside three days. They had raced to fifty inonly the seventh over when Maher was caught behind off Nicky Phillips, but the loss of theAustralian ended the victory charge, and Glamorgan ended the day needing just a further 12runs to win.Earlier in a dramatic day, the Glamorgan first innings had continued for a further two hours during the morning session,before the Welsh side were dismissed for 444. This gave them a useful lead of 89, thanksto the efforts of Mark Wallace, whose 117 was not only a career best, but also thehighest Championship score by a Glamorgan wicket-keeper since 1968.Wallace also received useful support from the lower order, with the last four wicketsadding an invalubale 110 runs. Alex Wharf raced to a 75 ball fifty – the fastesthalf-century of the innings – with his aggressive innings containing seven firmlystruck fours plus two huge sixes struck straight against both of the Durham spinners.Kasprowicz also opened his broad shoulders with a quick-fire 24, but it was four hours laterthat the Australian left his mark on the Durham side, with an astonishing performance that will surelysee his side tomorrow rise into the top three in Division Two and the promotion race into Division One.

Tom Moody, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, is to sign a 12-month extension to his current contract, keeping him at the club until the end of 2005. Moody spent eight seasons there as a player, and since becoming director of cricket in 2000, Worcestershire have thrived under his leadership.They are currently top of Division Two of the Frizzell County Championship and made it to the final of the C&G Trophy final at Lord’s, where they were beaten by Gloucestershire. Moody has a year left of his current contract and has been in talks with John Elliott, the chairman, about his future, which will be confirmed by the county committee next week.Elliott said: “Tom Moody will stay here all the time he wants to be coach in county cricket. When he came here he said give me three years and I will produce a side that is capable of winning things."He is now in his third season and we are 99% certain to gain promotion in the County Championship and we also reached the final of the C&G Trophy. Things are going the right way. It is what Tom anticipated and it is what I hoped for this year and things are going well.”

Central Districts have named their squad to take part in a preparation week at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre at Lincoln University starting on Sunday. The side will play two two-day games, have a day off, and then two one-day games.The squad is: Jarrod Englefield, Bevan Griggs, Lance Hamilton, Brent Hefford, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Bradley Patton, Andrew Schwass, Glen Sulzberger (captain), Ewen Thompson, Greg Todd.Brendan Diamanti will help out in the two-day games while Patton will play in only the two-day games. Campbell Furlong and Regan West will play in the two one-day games. Mathew Sinclair will play in the two one-day games on his return from the Hong Kong sixes.Michael Mason, Jesse Ryder, Richard Sherlock and Ross Taylor will play for the Academy team.

This is more like it. All England’s tour needed was a change of scene. After days of downpours so predictable you could set your watch by them, the England squad have pitched up in Galle, where the rains have temporarily lost track of their movements, give or take a sprinkling of a shower in the late afternoon. Today’s practice session at the international stadium was stiflingly hot – so hot, in fact, that one half-longed for the usual claps of thunder and one of those refreshing ten-minute deluges.Instead, the team got stuck into a three-hour sweatathon, at the end of which Michael Vaughan was edging his thoughts towards a spin-based attack – which would represent quite a U-turn in strategy after the dominance of England’s seamers in Bangladesh. “We have to consider all options at a venue like this,” said Vaughan. “Galle is one of those horses-for-courses grounds, and in the next 36 hours we will have to come up with the best formula to approach a one-off Test.”If visualisation has been a big part of England’s preparations in the recent rain-blighted fortnight, then the sight of a typically flat, dry, grassless pitch will have given many of the squad the heebie-jeebies. It was on this ground, two and a half years ago, that Marvan Atapattu sailed serenely to 201 not out in 170 overs, as England lost their tempers and several gallons of sweat, en route to an innings-and-28-run defeat.”The conditions are very similar to last time around,” confirmed Vaughan, who did not play in that match, but watched from the sidelines as his current opening partner, Marcus Trescothick scored 40% of England’s runs and, according to Michael Atherton, made the rest of the batsmen “look like fools”.”The pitch should play well for the first two days, ” added Vaughan, before admitting his first and most important job will be to win the toss on Tuesday morning – a tough ask for a man who has lost seven out of eight tosses in all international cricket since the Trent Bridge Test last summer. Thereafter, it will be over to England’s posse of spinners. Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty seem to have cemented the first two slots. It remains to be seen whether Robert Croft’s late charge amid the Colombo showers will sway the selectors.In keeping with their try-anything-once attitude for this match, Andrew Flintoff was handed the new ball in a tough nets session, just so that all options were covered. “A wicket like this would definitely favour three fulltime spinners,” said Vaughan, who seems strangely reluctant to bowl himself these days. Then again, once you’ve bowled Sachin Tendulkar through the gate, as Vaughan did at Trent Bridge in his annus mirabilis of 2002, everything else must pale in comparison.Another contender for the new-ball role, and the most unlikely option since Mark Waugh filled in for Craig McDermott in the 1993 Lord’s Test, would be Rikki Clarke. “He definitely has a chance of playing,” enthused Vaughan, although James Kirtley’s late burst of form in the warm-up game in Colombo has caused one of those habitual selectorial headaches.In fact, the only man who has not been mentioned in dispatches is Richard Johnson, England’s nine-wicket hero of the Chittagong Test. It is unlikely that he would displace the industrious Matthew Hoggard if there were only a solitary seamer’s position up for grabs, so Johnson faces a nervous wait before he can add to his 15 bargain-basement wickets in two Tests against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.”We need to be a bit lenient on the seamers,” said Vaughan – an interesting choice of words, seeing as Sanath Jayasuriya and co. will have no intention of that sort. “Gough, Caddick and White were all outstanding [in 2001], but none of them are here this time.” But it is a measure of how decimated England’s fast-bowling stocks have become that they can countenance such a drastic change of policy.Then again, it is equally unusual that an England touring side has taken their cue from the opposition. Every indication from the Sri Lankan camp suggests that they intend to shoehorn three spinners into their starting line-up as well. “Kumar Dharmasena and Upul Chandana are a pair of experienced bowlers to partner Muttiah Muralitharan,” said Sri Lanka’s captain, Hashan Tillakaratne, “and I am sure they will surprise a few people.”Jayasuriya is likely to resume his spinning allrounder’s role – with 16 English scalps, he was the top wicket-taker in the series last time around – and this Test is beginning to resemble, on paper at least, a throwback to the 1950s, with perhaps as many as eight frontline spin options to get the purists purring.For that comparison to be completed, however, there will need to be an improvement in on-field relations – something that both captains have been keen to emphasise since the filthy-tempered fracas in 2001. “We will be playing it hard but fair,” confirmed Vaughan. “A bit of banter is good for the game, so long as it doesn’t get out of hand.””We are keen, fresh and ready,” added Tillakaratne, whose team has not played a Test since June. “We know England are a well-balanced side with a world-class top six, and we fully expect a high-scoring series.”Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 6 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 7 Kumar Dharmasena, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dinusha Fernando, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.England (possible): 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Robert Croft, 10 Gareth Batty, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

Northerns, Easterns and Gauteng maintained their fight for semi-final places in the Standard Bank Cup, registering away wins. Western Province, who are due toplay on Sunday, still the head the table while Griqualand West and Borderhave a remote chance of slipping in through the back door. For the rest, there will be no trophy in the cupboard.PointsTableNortherns 216 for 6 (du Plessis 67, Kemp 56) beat Border 195(Bruyns 46, Kemp 4-38) by 21 runs
ScorecardAfter a slow start by Northerns – they scored only 75 for 2 in the first 23overs – runs started to flow when Justin Kemp joined debutante Francois duPlessis at the crease. Kemp, in good form this season, scored a quick 56 off48 balls while du Plessis finished on 67 off 85. The recovery helpedNortherns to finish on 216 for 6.Mark Bruyns fought a lone battle against the Northerns bowlers but when heattempted to up the run-rate he was caught at the midwicket boundary for46. Tyron Henderson put up some late resistance with a hard-hit 52 not outbut it was all to no avail as Border were bowled out for 195. Kemp continuedhis form with the ball taking 4 for 38 in his nine overs. Boland 177 for 5 (Hendrikse 63, Deacon 3-35) beat FreeState 176 (van der Wath 53, Deacon 56*, Groeneveld 3-33) by 5 wickets
ScorecardFree State made a disastrous start in Paarl, with both openers being dismissed by the second over. Johannes van der Wath steadied the innings but three morewickets had them struggling at 72 for 5. Van der Wath chanced hisarm once too often to be bowled for 53 leaving it to Cliff Deacon, who scored56 not out, to bring some respectability to the Free State score. They were finally bowled out for 176 in 41.4 overs. Ryan Groeneveld ended up taking 3 for 50 whileMatthew Friedlander took his first wickets of the season for Boland.A score of 176 was never going to be enough as Boland paced themselves well, knocking the runs off in the final over with five wickets in hand. Erasmus Hendrikse’s career-best 63 was enough to win him the Man-of-the-Match award. Deacon continued his good work in the field as well, and had a hand in all the Boland wickets to fall: two run-outs and three wickets with the ball.Gauteng 231 for 8 (Bacher 81, van Jaarsveld 68, Botha 3-32) beatEastern Province 230 for 2 (Bradfield 109*, Jacobs 93*) by 2 wickets
ScorecardA record partnership between Carl Bradfield, the former captain, and Arno Jacobs, the current one, wasn’t enough to save Eastern Province from a two-wicket defeat against Gauteng. Bradfield and Jacobs put together 173 for the third wicket – the best for any wicket for Eastern Province – including 87 in the last ten overs to help their team to a solid total of 230.Helped by a 144-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Adam Bacher (81) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld (68), and by some fielding errors by the opposition, Gauteng kept up with the asking rate and required seven off the final over. The first ball went forsix, but wickets off the next three deliveries, two of them run-outs, left Gauteng with one run from two balls. A misfield allowed them to steal that vital single to celebrate a win that was much closer than it should have been.Easterns 184 for 8 (Z de Bruyn 47, Veenstra 3-40, Tweedie 4-37)beat KwaZulu-Natal 120 (Reddy 3-10) by 64 runs
ScorecardZander de Bruyn was the star for Easterns, scoring 47 and taking two wickets, as KwaZulu-Natal were beaten by 64 runs in a low-scoring match. On a pitch which afforded plenty of seam movement, Natal never threatened to even get close to their target of 185. For Easterns, Brendon Reddy was the most successful bowler, returning career-best figures of 3 for 10 in seven overs.Earlier, Andrew Tweedie ripped through the heart of the Easterns middle order, taking 4 for 37 after Ross Veenstra had dismissed both openers. Veenstra ended with 3 for 40, to leave Easterns on 184 for 8 at the end of the 45 overs. Zander de Bruyn, scoring 47, the only batsmen to come to grips with the seam bowling of Natal.The defeat meant that Natal have no chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.North West 196 for 9 (Jacobs 43, Celliers 41, Gidley 3-27) beatGriqualand West 193 for 3 (Gidley 62, Mahimbyi 40, Moleon 4-42, vander Merwe 3-34) by 3 runs
ScorecardUseful contributions from Davey Jacobs (43) and Grant Celliers (41), plus somelusty blows from the diminutive Thando Bula helped North West post a score of196 for 9. Martyn Gidley’s offspinners gave him excellent returns of 3 for 27 in his nine overs.Gidley set the Griqua innings up well with his 62, and with Mandla Mashimbyi, who scored a career-best 40, put the team in sight of victory. The 76-run partnership came to an end when Werner Coetsee brilliantly caught Gidley at deep midwicket. A target of 11 runs off the last over proved too much, giving North West their first one-day win sinceDecember 2002. Eugene Moleon registered a career best 4 for 42 while Francois van der Merwe took 3 for 34.

The ICC has sent a three-man group to identify bowlers with flawed actions at the Under-19 World Cup as part of its new measures to deal with the problem.The group arrived in Bangladesh yesterday to inspect and report any bowlers with suspected illegal actions before they mature to full international level. The team comprises Waqar Younis, Bob Woolmer (the former England player and South Africa coach who now works for the ICC), and Bruce Elliott, an expert in biomechanical analysis who has worked with a number of players on their bowling actions.Dave Richardson, ICC’s general manager, said he believed their presence at the World Cup is an important step towards dealing with the problem of throwing. “The game’s elite young cricketers are all in Bangladesh and it is expected many of them will graduate to full international cricket over the coming years,” he said. “By identifying any player who has a flaw in their technique now, there is the opportunity to address the problem before they graduate to senior international cricket.”The panel will travel to Dhaka and Chittagong, where they will be able to watch all the participating teams. Any players reported by the panel will be referred to their relevant national board for remedial action before being considered for selection at full international level.

Shabbir Ahmed’s hard work, Yasir Hameed’s determination and Abdul Razzaq’s big heart combined at a crucial time to give Pakistan the edge in this five-match one-day series. The trio turned in sterling performances to put Pakistan 2-1 up, leaving India under extra pressure in the fourth one-dayer at Lahore (which starts at 0900 GMT on Sunday).This series, like most modern limited-overs tournaments or series, has been underscored by the amount players have had to travel in a short span of time.Between March 11 and 24 – just 13 days – India will have played six matches in four cities. Now, though, it’s crunch time, and both teams settle down in Lahore for two day-night clashes.In the warm-up match here against Pakistan A, the Indians got a taste of what was in store. On a flat pitch, they piled on a massive 335, only to see it easily overhauled by some brash youngsters. This time around, though, they go to Lahore in a much better frame of mind. At Peshawar the bowlers got some much-needed respite from the monotonous thrashing of earlier matches.Zaheer Khan, who started the series as India’s spearhead but quickly became a liability, is rediscovering the rhythm that brought him so much success at home and away. Irfan Pathan showed he was not overawed by the big occasion. And Lakshmipathy Balaji, after beginning well and then fading a touch, rediscovered his line and length.What’s more, Balaji has contributed with the bat on the two occasions he has been called to do so. His 21 from 12 balls at Peshawar included a flicked six that landed in the press box, and prompted John Wright, the coach, to say he was “more than pleasantly surprised” by Balaji’s batting.Murali Kartik has not had the best time of it of late, and was replaced by Ramesh Powar, who is yet to take a backward step. Amit Bhandari’s arrival in Lahore gives the team an extra option they’re unlikely to exercise immediately.Most batsmen in the top order have runs under their belts. Sourav Ganguly has twice looked good for big scores and thrown it away. VVS Laxman is back in business, and was unlucky to be given out lbw at Rawalpindi. Mohammad Kaif is yet to show the form that makes him India’s preferred No. 7 batsman, but the team has adequate cover in Hemang Badani.Pakistan have it a touch easier than the Indians at this stage. Their bowlers are firing on all cylinders. Shoaib Akhtar has bowled far better than his figures indicate. Shabbir Ahmed’s return to the team, and wicket-taking form, has given Pakistan the luxury of bowling Mohammad Sami at first change. Sami is far more comfortable bowling with an older ball, and is lethal when he gets it right.Before the tour started, Pakistan’s major worry was their batting. So far, though, things have gone well in that department. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana, the captain and vice-captain, have shown the way, but the others have picked up the gauntlet magnificently. Hameed has provided the solidity up the order that allows Pakistan to unleash Shahid Afridi on hapless bowlers.In Peshawar, Razzaq showed that he still believed in himself enough to change the course of a match. Every time India threatened to crawl their way back into the match, Razzaq stamped on them.This series has provided three close finishes so far, and for it to remain alive to the end, India must win this fourth one-dayer. History does not favour the Indians – they have never won at Lahore – but, Ganguly insists he has no interest in reading about history. He is more concerned with rewriting it.Pakistan (probable): 1 Shahid Afridi, 2 Yasir Hameed, 3 Yousuf Youhana, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Younis Khan, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Moin Khan (wk), 8 Shoaib Malik, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Shabbir Ahmed.India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 5 Rahul Dravid (wk), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Irfan Pathan, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Clive Eksteen has announced his retirement from first-class cricket, after playing for Gauteng for 19 seasons. Eksteen, a left-arm spinner, was part of South Africa’s squad on their re-admission to international cricket in 1991-92.In an international career spanning six seasons, Eksteen played seven Tests and six one-day internationals. A regular for Gauteng, he claimed 468 wickets in 162 first-class games at an average of nearly 30, and had 176 limited-overs wickets at a rate of 28.After Eksteen’s announcement, the Gauteng cricket board invited him to serve on the board’s marketing committee.