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Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be the eighth West Indian to reach the 100-Test milestone when he takes the field for the second Test against Pakistan at Multan. He said he was “very satisfied” to have reached the 100-Test milestone because it is a “goal he had set himself” when he started to play Test cricket.”It’s obviously a great achievement, to actually make it to a hundred Tests knowing how my career has been with a lot of injuries and a lot of ups and downs it is very satisfying,” said Chanderpaul. “I feel happy to make it there yet the game tomorrow is still a Test match and you have to go out there and play so your mind has to be focused on going out there and playing another game.”Twelve years after his debut against England at the Bourda Oval, his home ground, Chanderpaul has accumulated 6617 Test runs and 14 hundreds at an average of 44.70 but still felt he “loves batting more now”. He said that it was desire to “bat all the time” that helped him through the difficult periods in his career.On the eve of his 100th Test and a wealth of experience in his safe, Chanderpaul felt that being more experienced made it easier to bat. “When you’re young it is easier to come out and bat freely with nothing on your mind,” he said. “Now you know more about the game you feel more mature, you feel a little more confident in doing things, you understand more about everything that comes with the game.”Chanderpaul career has had its fair share of troughs because of injuries and other issues. He said it took “a lot of determination and perseverance” to pull through the difficult times the most recent being his resignation from captaincy after the tour of New Zealand in March.”In cricket and in life you have to be disciplined. You have to keep fighting for what you want because nobody is going to get it for you. Even when you make mistakes you cannot sit back and relax, you have to get out there and work on it and avoid making the mistakes again. It’s good to make one or two mistakes, you learn from them and you get better.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain in the limited-over formats, has urged his team-mates to respect the international guidelines for on-field behaviour in the wake of the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds controversy. He said there would be some allowance for “chit-chat” between players as long as there was nothing untoward being uttered.”Whoever the players are, they know the international guidelines that are set out to be followed,” he said, when asked about the importance of player behaviour in the forthcoming limited-over games. “Each and every player should respect it. It is the responsibility of an individual more than their skipper to know the limitations and to know where they stand.”It was reported that the Australian players were unhappy over Harbhajan’s reprieve, given that he had been handed a three-match ban in the first hearing. Dhoni would also remember the World Twenty20 match in Durban last year, a match that marked the start of the fractious relationship between the two sides.”We don’t really care about whatever has happened so far,” he said a day before the Twenty20 international in Melbourne. “It’s a fresh start and we’re going to play some good cricket. There’s always chit-chat going on between the players. If nothingcontroversial is said, I think both the teams will be happy with it. We can’t just shut up and play. It’s cricket and you’ve got to do lots of things with the bat and the ball and there should be chit-chat out on the ground.”Dhoni preferred that contentious catches be referred to the third umpire, a procedure which was used in the final two Tests of the series. Before the first Test in Melbourne, Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting had agreed to take the fielders word but reviewed the pact after the controversial Sydney Test. “I believe in referring it to the third umpire,” Dhoni said. “A fielder can mislead so it’s important that it’s referred to the third umpire.”Was he expecting a hostile reception from a crowd that’s expected to be close to 90,000? “If they are not on the field it does not really matter,” he said. “We don’t care whether we receive a hostile reception or not. In Eden Gardens there are 100,000 spectators, in Kochi there are 80,000 spectators. Still, this is a huge ground and playing in front of such numbers would be exciting.”

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In a must-win clash for both teams in Hyderabad, the ICL Pakistan XI were thoroughly outplayed by the ICL World XI, who booked their place in Tuesday’s final with a comfortable six-wicket win.A disciplined opening spell from Johan van der Wath and Daryl Tuffey put the Pakistanis on the back foot, and Abdul Razzaq and Inzamam-ul-Haq were dismissed with only 19 runs scored in 4.5 overs.Imran Farhat scored a quickfire 13-ball 20, but that was the only innings of note among the specialist batsmen as the World XI bowlers ran through the Pakistan XI line-up. A collapse reduced Pakistan XI from 52 for 2 to 62 for 6.Humayun Farhat and Naved-ul-Hasan managed to reach double figures, but left-armer Matthew Elliott accounted for the duo. Andrew Hall then took two tail-end wickets as Pakistan XI were bowled out for a disappointing 113. Elliott and Hall took three wickets apiece, while legspinner Upul Chandana scalped two.Elliott then raced away in the chase along with opening partner and fellow Australian Ian Harvey; he contributed a run-a-ball 26 as World XI scored at nearly ten an over. Riaz Afridi then struck twice to get rid of Elliott and Lou Vincent, but Harvey found company in Damien Martyn.A 47-run stand took their side further towards the target before Afridi once again struck twice in the same over. Harvey, though, compiled an unbeaten 52 to steer his side into the final, with victory achieved with 22 balls to spare.The World XI will meet a red-hot India XI, who have won three consecutive games, in the final.

Sri Lanka, who are hosting the fourth Women’s Asia Cup, are confident they can stop India’s domination of the event. India have won the last three tournaments, something the home side are determined to turn around.Shashikala Siriwardena, Sri Lanka’s 23-year-old captain, said that her team have been in intense training for seven months and that they are in a good position to win the tournament. “We have a strong batting and fielding department and the team comprises six all-rounders,” she said. “Our final target is to qualify for the Asia Cup final and win it.”India’s winning captain of 2006, Mithali Raj, agreed that the 2008 version of the Asia Cup was going to be very challenging. “We are looking for a good game with the rest of the teams,” she said.Indian team manager Mukherjee said that opening pair Jaya Sharma and Neetu David, a senior member of the team, would play a vital role in the team’s fortunes. “Anagha Deshpande is a very talented cricketer and has a bright future whereas Asha Rawat is an efficient performer along with Devika Palshikar,” she added.Urooj Mumtaz, Pakistan’s captain, also predicted a close tournament. “We are expecting to have very tough games and we are expecting to put up a good performance,” she said.Bangladesh captain Salma Khatur admitted her side will need to perform brilliantly to make an impact in the tournament. Bangladesh are taking part in the Asia Cup for the first time having qualified by beating Hong Kong last month. “We are hoping to give our team at this age group [a chance] to play, learn and gather knowledge through experience,” said Khatur.Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Duleep Mendis said that the board had taken charge of women’s cricket to help raise the standard. He pointed out that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh had already gone a long way towards improving the standard of the game by introducing the sport to the schools and that Sri Lanka should also take steps in that direction.The tournament gets underway on May 2 at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium and Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala. The four teams will play two series of round-robin matches at the two venues. The top two sides in the league standings will qualify for the final on May 11 in Kurunegala.

Victoria’s fast-bowling stocks have been bolstered with the recalls of Shane Harwood and Dirk Nannes for the Pura Cup match against the leaders New South Wales on Friday. The Blues hold a two-point advantage over the Bushrangers after four games, but the home team won the FR Cup match at the MCG on Wednesday night.”It’s a top-of-the-table clash and the Blues have obviously got some big names, but if you try to play the reputations, you’re already dead in the water,” Victoria’s Andrew McDonald said. “We’ve had some good wins of late so that gives us some confidence and hopefully we can put it together in this clash.”Harwood and Nannes, who took 3 for 28 on Wednesday, come in for Cameron White, the captain who has a broken foot, and Clint McKay, who has an ankle injury. Brad Hodge will lead the side again in White’s absence.New South Wales have been hit by the withdrawal of Phil Jaques, who has the mumps, while Brett Lee will miss the match to rest. Michael Clarke is also in some doubt due to hamstring soreness.Victoria squad Michael Klinger, Robert Quiney, Brad Hodge (capt), David Hussey, Nick Jewell, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Gerard Denton, Shane Harwood, Allan Wise, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes.New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Peter Forrest, Simon Katich (capt), Michael Clarke, Dominic Thornely, Brad Haddin (wk), Grant Lambert, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Beau Casson, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger.

Haryana right arm medium pacer Nitin Aggarwal (5 for 16) and legspinner Amit Mishra (5 for 10) reaped a rich harvest of wickets asHimachal Pradesh collapsed to 52 allout in their first innings on theopening day of their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy cricket match atMaharaja Aggarsain Stadium here on Sunday.Put into bat, Himachal Pradesh made a disastrous start. None of theHimachal batsmen looked in touch as both Aggarwal and Mishra ranthrough the side. Their domination was so complete that five of thebatsmen failed to score. Only Shashi Kumar (13) could reach the doublefigure mark. Himachal innings’s folded in just 25.5 overs.In reply, Haryana made a solid reply in the remaining 240 minutes toscore 230 runs for the loss of one wicket including an unbeatencentury by opener Manvinder Bisla. Bisla (143 not out, 205 balls 214s, two 6s) in the company of Bhuvanesh Sharma (62) put Haryana incommand with a 158-run opening stand in 49 overs. After a 163 minutestay Bhuvanesh departed, falling leg before to Shashi. Then IshanGandha (16 not out) joined Bisla to and the two remained unbeaten tillstumps.

The players in St Kitts currently seem to exist in a parallel universe. Upsets may be raining down in Jamaica and Trinidad, but the status quo in the World Cup’s smallest base camp hasn’t come close to being rattled. As Australia went through the motions ahead of their clash with The Netherlands at Warner Park on Sunday, Adam Gilchrist gave an indication of the relaxed mood in their camp, by admitting he didn’t even know how crushing South Africa’s 221-run victory over the Dutch had been.It’s a safe bet that this match won’t be providing the next great upset of what is already proving to be a spectacular World Cup. Herschelle Gibbs’ historical onslaught has left the Dutch morale dangling at their bootstraps, and their captain, Luuk van Troost, conceded that they would be hard-pressed to get over such a beating in just 24 hours.”We must clear our minds and try to forget what happened on Friday,” van Troost said. “We didn’t enjoy what happened against South Africa, there weren’t many positives, and I don’t want any more world records against my team. We need to do the basics right against Australia. If we bowl well and field with discipline we can be a better side.”Gilchrist did his best to avoid any complacency, although his confidence was understandable. “No result is a given, we’re well aware of that,” he said. “But winning is expected of us and we’d be disappointed if we lose. Some of the wickets here are going to provide assistance to slower bowling and that brings everyone into the game a bit more than an absolute flat road does where batsmen can swing freely. But securing the victory is the main thing.”Australia are unlikely to risk a recall for Andrew Symonds for such a low-key battle, although his return cannot be far off. In the nets on Saturday he was bowling his offbreaks for the first time since tearing his right bicep seven weeks ago, and to judge by some of the straight drives that scudded into the sightscreen, his big hitting has not been diminished by surgery.”It’s been really good solid progress from Symmo,” Gilchrist said. “He is right on track from where we had planned and plotted [he would be] prior to coming over here. When he gets back to playing an actual game, I’m not sure when that it is, but as far as being where we would like him to be, he’s progressing well.” The South Africa game next Saturday is the most likely option.

As for Australia making their own assault on the record books, Gilchrist wouldn’t be drawn into a six-hitting competition with the South Africans, although he was pretty confident his team-mates would put on a similar show. “Most of the top teams have got power hitters now in one-day cricket,” he said. “I don’t see any team really having an advantage. Most of the grounds in this region are pretty small, and such is the way that batsmen approach the closing overs in one-day cricket, there is going to be a lot of sixes hit.”As for the Dutch, to judge by van Troost’s resigned air, they are braced for the inevitable. “We haven’t decided on our final line-up,” he said, although having omitted both of their spinners, Adeel Raja and Mohammad Kashif for the South Africa match, that mistake is unlikely to be repeated. “We have a meeting coming up in the evening and only then we will decide. As for whether we bat or bowl first, we have no idea.”Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.The Netherlands (probable) 1 Darron Reekers, 2 Bas Zuiderent, 3 Alex Kervezee, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Daan van Bunge, 6 Eric Szwarczynski, 7 Tim de Leede, 8 Adeel Raja, 9 Luuk van Troost, 10 Billy Stelling, 11 Jeroen Smits (wk).

Australia’s usually impeccable preparation ahead of big tournaments has taken a hit after they were troubled by the amount of swing fast bowlers achieved in the warm-up matches for the ICC World Twenty20. However Tim Nielsen, the coach, said Australia’s loss to South Africa and narrow win against New Zealand in the practice games had been valuable learning experiences.”The fact that the ball has swung quite a bit has caught us off guard,” Nielsen said after Sunday’s defeat. “It was good for the batsmen to get out in the middle and there might be some benefits in the fact that the lower order did get a bat because if we need them later in the tournament, they’ve had a bit of a chance to have a hit.”The movement in the air was a positive for Australia in the New Zealand game, when Ben Hilfenhaus’ outswing brought him 3 for 11 from three overs. Against South Africa, however, Australia’s attack failed to have the same impact.AB de Villiers, who blasted 65 from 35 balls in South Africa’s win, said their performance would give them confidence leading into the tournament. “Victory is always important, especially against Australia because they’re a well-drilled side,” de Villiers said. “It wasn’t just a warm-up game. It’s a bit of a psychological advantage to beat the Aussies.”New Zealand’s confidence took a blow after their practice games brought convincing losses to Australia and West Indies. Daniel Vettori, the captain, said it was reasonable to expect his side would take a while to warm up.”We have come out of a winter with two months of not much action and being indoors all the time,” Vettori said. “It’s been good to get some action and whilst we are getting some things right we need to get our game all together to challenge in this tournament.”In New Zealand’s loss to West Indies it was Daren Powell who troubled them the most, finishing with an incredible 3 for 4 from his four overs. Powell said even though Twenty20 was a batsman’s game the early season conditions in South Africa might help the fast bowlers.”Never in your dreams you can think of bowling a dream spell like that,” Powell said. “Basically I went out there to bowl line and length and pick up wickets, the pitch was assisting me with the areas I was bowling but what I also tried to do was vary my length.”

Queensland have looked back in their bid to move off the foot of the Pura Cup table by picking the batsman Martin Love after his lengthy comeback from knee surgery. Rather than blooding a new player in the final three games, the Bulls, who have not won in seven attempts this season, have recalled Love, 33, in place of another veteran in Clint Perren for the match against Western Australia from Monday.Love, the state’s leading run-scorer, made 0 and 10 against the Warriors in November and re-proved his fitness with 187 for the Queensland Academy of Sport. He will be joined in the squad by Shane Watson, who has recovered from another hamstring injury. Watson will not bowl in the match to help his fragile body.Aaron Nye has been dropped and Scott Brant, the Gold Coast swing bowler, has come into the squad. The game will be Michael Kasprowicz’s final first-class appearance for the Bulls after his decision to retire.Adam Voges, who was in the national squad last week, will miss the contest for Western Australia with a slight hamstring injury. However, Marcus North, the captain, has regained fitness from a degenerative knee problem and will lead the Warriors, who are in third spot, 12 points behind the leaders New South Wales and Victoria.Queensland squad Ryan Broad, Jimmy Maher (capt), Greg Moller, Martin Love, Shane Watson, Chris Simpson, Chris Hartley (wk), Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Daniel Doran, Scott Brant, Grant Sullivan.Western Australia squad Justin Langer, Chris Rogers, Marcus North (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi (wk), Liam Davis, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Ben Edmondson, Mathew Inness, Steve Magoffin.

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