Close Australia 262 for 2 (Langer 115*, Ponting 52) v India
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The best part of Sourav Ganguly’s day lasted for a few minutes, first thing in the morning. He won the toss and put Australia in. But winning the toss against Australia is about as useful as using an umbrella to keep dry under the Niagara Falls. Australia rattled up 262 for 2, on a rain-interrupted first day in which Justin Langer clattered 115, and the closest thing to batting failure was Matthew Hayden’s breezy 37.Langer’s innings formed the backbone of a strong Australian score, both literally and figuratively. He was gritty, solid, no-frills and vitally important for the stability of the innings. Around him there were batsmen of greater panache and ability who played dreamy drives and powerful thumps. But no runs look better than the ones on the scoreboard. The way Langer paced his innings put the Indians on the back foot, and kept them there all day.To begin with, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled too full, floating the ball into just the right place for Langer and Hayden to drive. And drive they did, in contrasting styles. Hayden stood tall and bludgeoned, Langer punched and pushed, almost apologetically. Hayden’s booming drives pinged the advertising hoardings, while Langer’s shots trickled over the ropes, often with a ragged Indian fielder in tow.When Akash Chopra caught Langer smartly at short square leg off a Nehra no-ball, and the Indian fielders had to rein in their delight, it set the tone for the day. Lady luck turned her face away from the carnage. The ball beat the bat more than once, when Zaheer bent his back and produced a good spell, but did not result in an edge. The ball tricked the bat and hit pad more than once, but did not result in an lbw.But, as they say, you make your own luck. Australia kept their run rate hovering around the four mark with unwavering certainty. Hayden reached 37 from 52 balls before flashing a delivery from Zaheer into VVS Laxman’s lap in the slip cordon (73 for 1).India needed to tighten the screws at this stage. They had to slip in a few quiet overs and put pressure on Ricky Ponting, the new batsman. Ajit Agarkar achieved the exact opposite, with a string of half-volleys that Ponting pummelled back down the ground for boundaries. Ganguly, frustrated and sheepish in equal measure, removed Agarkar from the attack after a first spell of 5-1-40-0.

Since pace clearly did not work, Gangly turned to Harbhajan Singh, his lone spinner. Harbhajan, picked ahead of Anil Kumble for this Test, was welcomed to the attack with a savage Langer cut that raced to the point fence. Ponting, who was dismissed no fewer than five times by Harbhajan when Australia last toured India, made a bold statement by coming down the track and smashing Harbhajan into the stands over long-on.Spin and pace had both failed in the face of the Langer-Ponting combination, which added 89 runs for the second wicket. Almost against the run of play, Ponting (52) then dismissed himself, when he top-edged a pull to Parthiv Patel behind the stumps (162 for 2). Zaheer allowed himself a smile, having taken Ponting’s wicket with the unlikeliest of deliveries, a short one.Damien Martyn began his pleasurable stay at the crease with a tickle down to the fine-leg boundary. He waited on the ball, was in no hurry, and built his innings. With Australia scoring as quickly as they were, Martyn didn’t need to take any risks. Playing his natural game, treating the bowling on merit, Martyn helped himself to 36 runs. Langer, unbeaten on 115 (175 balls, 16 fours), was happy to walk off the field when Steve Bucknor offered him the light. Although only 62 overs were bowled in the day, Australia scored quickly enough, at 4.22 runs per over, to reach 262.The Indians were also happy to walk off, as that was perhaps the only way they were going to get any respite from this onslaught. Ganguly walked off just behind Langer, applauding him as he crossed over the ropes to a waiting Hayden. That might be just about the shape of things to come for the Indians in the gruelling weeks ahead.

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Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana needed just 3.5 overs to knock off the 28 runs Pakistan needed to win the Test and wrap up the series 1-0. On a cold and blustery day at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the weather briefly threatened to ruin Pakistan’s party – play was initially delayed for 30 minutes, and when the players did walk out, another passing shower sent them back to the pavilion without a ball being bowled.However, the clouds passed quickly and play started just after noon. Inzamam showed that he was in no mood to hang around, as he pulled the first ball of the day from Daryl Tuffey to the square-leg boundary for four.Ian Butler suffered a similar fate at the hands of Inzamam when he bowled his first ball, and Yousuf Youhana joined in the fun, creaming two more fours as 13 came from Butler’s first over. The final blow was delivered in Butler’s next over when Youhana smashed a wide ball behind point to secure the victory that takes Pakistan to third place in ICC’s Test championship table.Both teams will now clash in the five-match one-day series, with the first of those games to be held at Auckland on January 3, 2004.

Tamil Nadu 269 for 9 (Karthik 102*, Sriram 51, Kulkarni 5-82) v Mumbai
ScorecardAn unbeaten hundred from 19-year-old Dinesh Karthik saved Tamil Nadu as they struggled against Mumbai on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group final at Chennai. At the close, Tamil Nadu were 269 for 9, with Karthik 102 not out.It was Nilesh Kulkarni’s 5 for 82 which broke the backbone of arguably the strongest batting line-up in the country. But most of the batsmen were guilty of irresponsible shots, and Tamil Nadu squandered a great chance to drive home the advantage of winning the toss. Were it not for Karthik, who was dropped at long-off on 45, it would have been so much worse.His innings showed tremendous maturity, and he was quickly into his stride with some neat drives. And it was not all dour defence – he had the tiny crowd on their feet immediately after tea as he laced Aavishkar Salvi for four fours in an over, in the process hitting him out of the attack. A flick off his pads was executed without fuss, a late-cut glided effortlessly. But two majestic cover drives made those who were still sitting stand up and applaud. He batted sensibly despite losing partners at regular intervals.The morning belonged to Mumbai. Munaf Patel found the spot immediately, inducing an edge from Sadagoppan Ramesh to Vinayak Samant, the wicketkeeper, in his second over (5 for 1). But Somasetty Suresh, dropped by Wasim Jaffer at second slip, and Sridharan Sriram guided Tamil Nadu to a comfortable position within sight of lunch. Suresh latched on to a few wide ones and slapped a few crisp drives through the covers.As expected, the pitch was a belter and a big total appeared to be on the cards until Suresh needlessly wafted at Kulkarni, was undone by the extra bounce, and gave Jaffer the first of five catches in the slips (74 for 2). And like a champion that had sniffed blood, Mumbai drove home their advantage when Kulkarni forced Subramaniam Badrinath to prop forward and Manoj Joglekar completed a sharp chance at forward short leg (74 for 3).Hemang Badani’s first four was a flourishing cover-drive off Kulkarni, but thereafter he grew increasingly frustrated. When Kulkarni threw one up, Badani didn’t hold back but only edged to Jaffer at first slip (122 for 4). And then Sriram’s impetuosity got the better of him. He had twice got himself into a tangle while attempting the reverse-sweep, and the third time he only succeeded in slapping it to Jaffer. His five fours were elegant, but his innings will be remembered for those three atrocious shots.As Karthik ploughed on, the rest succumbed. Sreedharan Sharath was unlucky to be given out caught in the slips – TV replays showed the ball struck his pad (207 for 6). And the tailenders were too intent on playing their strokes and hardly put up a fight, with Bahutule taking 3 for 46 in his final spell.But the day was Karthik’s. He reached his hundred off the final over, squaring up and carting Munaf over midwicket. Every Mumbai player shook his hand before he walked off and as far as the mood was concerned today, the kid had done his college proud.Syed Kirmani, chairman of selectors, termed it as a “gutsy, timely knock.” Chandrakant Pandit, the Mumbai coach, was more effusive. “I was looking at restricting them to 225 during the tea break. But Karthik played a fantastic innings. I don’t think we bowled too well after tea, but Karthik’s was a special knock.”But on this pitch, and given Tamil Nadu’s thin bowling resources, Mumbai already hold all the aces.

Hampshire Cricket announced today that Australian allrounder Shane Watson is to join them as backup overseas player for the 2004 season. Both of Hampshire’s two overseas signings Shane Warne and Michael Clarke are expected to be needed by the Australian national side during the UK season. Watson would also be available for injury cover.Originally from Queensland, 23 year old Watson accepted an offer to move to Tasmania in late 2000 as part of a recruiting coup that enabled the Tigers to blood him as a first-class cricketer at the tender age of 19. He has rarely had cause to look back. His maiden first-class century (a superb innings of 105 against South Australia in Hobart) arrived in just his fifth first-class match and a string of successes have marked his progress thereafter. Most notable were his distinguished performance in a one-day match for Australia ‘A’ against New Zealand in early 2002; an 11-wicket haul against his former state; and selection in Australia’s 15-man Test squad to tour South Africa in February 2002.A fluent and stylish top order batsman with a full range of shots, a tearaway pace bowler and a brilliant close-in fieldsman on either side of the wicket, Watson’s talent was also evident in earlier years in his appearances for a vast array of state and national underage sides. He was the outstanding performer at the Under 19 World Cup of 1999-2000 in Sri Lanka, top scoring in five of his six matches.

A wretched 24 hours for the England & Wales Cricket Board, which started with the resignation of Des Wilson, ended with its plans for the reform of domestic cricket being rejected by the county chairmen.The chairmen met on Monday to discuss the proposals – which centred on the merging of the four-day Championship and the one-day National League, as well as a reduction in the number of players – and unanimously kicked the idea into touch. Not only that, they then voted to set up their own review committee, leaving the official Domestic Structure Reform Group (DSRG), which put forward the proposals, marginalised.Mike Soper, the chairman of the First-Class Forum, told the Daily Telegraph that the “DSRG paper didn’t seem to reflect the views of anyone within the county game. And after discussing it … the chairmen have decided to take matters into their own hands. I have spoken to David Morgan [the ECB chairman] and he has accepted that decision.”The DRSG paper appeared to be taking one paragraph from the Editor’s Notes in this year’s Wisden Almanack and riding on the bandwagon. It said the new system would encourage counties to build a squad which was strong in both four-day and one-day cricket. But you only have to look at England’s international squads to see that they are two completely different games.”A third body looking at the way forward, the self-appointed Cricket Reform Group (CRG), dismissed both its rivals’ plans. “Frankly the DSRG proposals beggar belief,” said Bob Willis, a founding member of the CRG. “Equally, though, we know the county chairmen have little interest in the two biggest problems facing the domestic game – the inadequate grass-roots structure, and the 100 or so first-class players who are not qualified to play for England. All the chairmen are interested in is providing entertainment for their members.”

Brian Lara, only seven weeks after smashing the world Test batting record, has promised to resign as captain if West Indies do not beat lowly Bangladesh in the second Test at Sabina Park, starting today.”If we don’t win,” Lara announced at a pre-Test news conference, “then I don’t think I’m going to lead the team to England. If we don’t beat Bangladesh in five good days of cricket in Jamaica, I think we need another leader.”Lara was urged by many in his homeland to give up the job during West Indies’ recent 3-0 thrashing by England. He appeared to have fought off his critics with his brilliant and unprecedented 400 not out in the fourth Test of that series.Now, after trailing Bangladesh on the first innings on the way to a scratchy draw in St Lucia, his leadership is again under intense scrutiny. Even a draw in the second and last Test, it seems, will not save him.His former coach Bryan Davis, the West Indian Test opener of the 1960s, criticised the timing of his threat to quit. “Lara must shoulder some of the burden for the poor showing of the team but I don’t think he should have spoken out at this time,” said Davis. “The timing of the decision is poor.”While I understand how Lara feels, I can’t agree with his statement at this time. I feel it is premature. Certainly to say this before the match is not good. A statement like that is putting a lot of pressure on himself and his team.”Lara has lost nine, drawn six and won only two Tests since beginning his second stint as West Indies captain a year ago. His overall record is almost as dismal: 19 defeats, nine victories, seven draws. But if his leadership has not inspired his troops it has at least had an uplifting effect on his own batting. In 35 Tests as captain he has hit 10 hundreds and averages 61.72.Lara is hopeful the bouncier Sabina Park track will suit his team, although he did make a point of offering the following cautionary advice to his four-man pace attack.”I hope what they don’t do is think that because it’s quick and bouncy we need to intimidate the Bangladeshi batsmen,” said Lara. “We are going to get the bounce and the pace out of it. We just need to bowl the right line and length.”Fail to do that and the repercussions for Caribbean cricket scarcely bear thinking about.

Shoaib Akhtar has said the ghosts of Pakistan’s recent loss against India have been laid to rest and promised a barnstorming return in the Asia Cup. “I am always there to play for my country and have left all that happened in the India series behind me,” Shoaib told AFP after arriving in Pakistan from England.Shoaib, who has been in and out of cricket because of niggling injuries, cut short a stint with Durham to join the Pakistan team’s training camp at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. “The last two months were full of mental stress but through the well-wishes of my family, fans and supporters I have overcome all the problems,” said Akhtar, who earlier claimed he was not mentally ready to play. “I am duty-bound to play for my country but it was a tough decision after all the mental stress I had to go through.”Shoaib sustained a rib-cage injury during the final Test against India at Rawalpindi, but doubts arose about the severity of the injury when he played in England soon after. “I was really hurt, my integrity and commitment to the team and country was questioned but it was proved in tests in England that I was injured. I have never been short on commitment and will prove this in the coming Asia Cup. People alleged that I play county for money but I am returning home for national duty and do not care about financial losses.”Bob Woolmer, the newly-appointed coach of the Pakistan team, played a vital role in brokering an uneasy peace between Shoaib and the PCB, but he has warned that there would be no special treatment for Shoaib. “There is no secret that Akhtar has a difference of opinion with the PCB but if Akhtar wants to play for Pakistan he has to be here and join the bus. That is the bottom line.”

Matthew Elliott, the Victorian opening batsman, has been recalled to the Australian team to fill the gap left by Ricky Ponting, who has had to drop out of the squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka because of a bereavement.Cricket Australia announced that Elliott would be Ponting’s replacement for the first Test, which begins at Darwin on Thursday. Elliott, 33, returns to the Australian team after a gap of more than five years: he last played against West Indies in Barbados in March 1999. His selection comes on the back of a run of fine form in the 2003-04 Pura Cup season, where he made 1381 runs from 11 matches at an average of 81.23.”I’m in a bit of a spin at the moment, but I’m just really excited to have this chance to be involved with the Australian team again,” said Elliott. “Even if it is for one match, it’s something that I’m thrilled about, and I’m looking forward to whatever opportunity presents itself over the coming days.”Trevor Hohns, the chairman of the national selection panel, justified Elliott’s selection by saying, “In this one-off situation, we felt that Matthew was the right replacement, given he has just come off a stint in the UK playing county cricket, and that has followed on from a fine summer in Australia. His form in the Pura Cup over the past few seasons has certainly turned heads.”This, however, is a selection that will raise the hackles of many cricket followers in Australia, who believe that Michael Clarke should have been selected. Clarke, although only 23, is widely regarded as the next bright batting prospect in the Australian firmament. Another player who might count himself unlucky is Martin Love, who made a century in his last Test, albeit against Bangladesh, only subsequently to lose his place in the national team.

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Shivnarine Chanderpaul warmed up for Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s with an unbeaten hundred, as West Indies took the chance for some useful batting practice on the final day of their three-day match against Sri Lanka A at Shenley.By stumps, Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 104 from 146 balls, which represented a welcome return to form seeing as he had not topped 32 since the beginning of the NatWest Series. Sylvester Joseph also gave the selectors a nudge with his 68, to follow on from a first-innings 114, although he is less likely to feature at Lord’s.Omari Banks produced his second assured innings of the match, an unbeaten 29, as West Indies closed on a healthy 283 for 5. Earlier they had decided against enforcing the follow-on, despite securing a first-innings lead of 188, after bowling Sri Lanka out for 346. That effort owed much to Tino Best, who ripped out the tail to finish with 4 for 47 in his 11 overs.Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper, Prasanna Jayawardene, was left stranded on 48 not out, as West Indies took control. But, on the plus side for the Sri Lankans, they at least preserved their unbeaten record, after sweeping to seven wins out of seven in the one-day leg of the tour. They now have two matches of their stop-over remaining, against Glamorgan and Somerset.

ScorecardA stubborn innings from Mushfiqur Rahim boosted Bangladesh to 273 on the opening day of their Test match against England U-19 at Taunton. After Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat, they made a shaky start with Mark Turner taking 5 for 57, but Rahim held things together with 88. England then closed at 33 for 0.Adam Harrison and Ravi Bopara both made early breakthroughs for England, with Harrison removing both openers in the 20s, including Nafis Iqbal, who was called up for the national squad to play in the ICC Champions Trophy in England next month. Bopara then had Aftab Ahmed, who has also been called up, and Dhiman Ghosh caught behind by Steven Davies, the wicketkeeper, in quick succession, and Bangladesh had slumped to 84 for 4.However, Nazimuddin and Nadif Chowdhury forged a recovery stand of 104 to put Bangladesh back on track until Bopara struck again for the third time when he trapped Nazimuddin for 35. Nafid then fell almost immediately when he was caught by Samit Patel off Turner for 36.Turner then pegged Bangladesh back further with two more wickets. Nazmul Hossain and Enamul Haque jnr both fell cheaply, caught by Davis, to leave the score at 167 for 8. But during that time, Rahim was quietly going about his business. He hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings, which lasted over three hours.He received good support from Shahadat Hossain, who became Turner’s fourth victim for 12, and from Ashim Chowdhury, who hung about until Rahim was lbw to Turner shortly before the close.