After two series dominated by talk of building bridges and cross-border bonhomie, the cricket will push itself to the forefront at the third time of asking. While goodwill stays on the periphery, this will be a keenly contested series between two teams that couldn’t be separated in India ten months ago, and which have since gone on to consolidate and improve their positions in the ICC Test table.After victory against England which was as emphatic as the 2-0 scoreline suggests, Pakistan must surely start favourites on home soil. Until the victories at Multan and Rawalpindi in 2004, India hadn’t even won a Test across the border and there will be no hospitability on offer from a side that Inzamam-ul-Haq has transformed with the help of Bob Woolmer.As has traditionally been the case when these two old rivals meet, Pakistan’s hopes are centred on a fearsome pace attack and a middle order that looks full of runs. Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif – the back-up – can all comfortably exceed 140 kmph, with Rana also proving a dab hand at exploiting any juice there may be in the pitch.Shoaib, you sense, will be the key. Out in the cold when Pakistan toured India, and shredded by the Indian batsmen on their last visit to Pakistan, Shoaib has found a second wind in his fourth decade. England’s batsmen were often undone by his searing pace, but they were equally flummoxed by the slower delivery that he has worked on to such telling effect in recent months. With speed his calling card, Shoaib doesn’t need a seaming, grassy pitch to be an influence, and that makes him especially dangerous.Just as hazardous to Indian hopes will be Rana, who can combine genuine pace with swing. An innocuous trundler at first glance, he’s anything but, as India’s batsmen discovered to their cost in the one-day series last year. Even Sami, derided so often for bowling figures that would embarrass a part-timer, was a key performer when Pakistan restored parity at Bangalore last year.The batting, which came to the fore in that game, also appears formidable, with Inzamam in prime form. Salman Butt played with tremendous assurance against England, while Younis Khan has been a different batsman since his century at Kolkata last March. Then, there’s the stylist formerly known as Youhana. Mohammad Yousuf answered many critics with his displays against England, and his performances against India last year banished the ghosts of 2004 when he so often appeared clueless against Irfan Pathan.The Indian batting order is even more formidable on paper, but Virender Sehwag’s recent fallow run and the lack of a consistent opening partnership remain concerns. Sehwag has been peerless against Pakistan, and his turbo-charged starts are paramount if India are to upset the rhythm of a pace attack looking to draw blood. Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman will also be expected to harvest their fair share of runs, after two seasons in which India have ridden piggyback on Sehwag and Dravid.Having led India to victory at Multan last year, Dravid knows better than most how important it will be to unsettle the opposition at Lahore. There will be no better way to do that than to produce an innings comparable to the ones he played at Rawalpindi (2004) and Kolkata (2005), when his unruffled accumulation of runs sapped both Pakistan’s energy and spirit.Sheer weight of runs will be imperative for India given the threadbare look of the pace attack. Irfan Pathan remains on the learning curve, while Ajit Agarkar has yet to convince that he can derail an innings. Zaheer Khan and RP Singh represent little more than a gamble, as India once again look set to rely on the slow-bowling duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Kumble was magnificent on the last tour here and his importance can be inferred from the result at Bangalore last year, when he had a poor outing in front of his home crowd.Fronting up against him will be Danish Kaneria. Frequently targeted by the Indians in the last series, Kaneria impressed everyone with his ability to keep coming back. His repertoire has expanded, but he will still need all his wits about him to take on a line-up that plays legspin far better than England ever could.There will be many eyes trained on the pavilion too, with Greg Chappell and Woolmer being old Ashes adversaries. Chappell proclaimed yesterday that neither coach could influence the result of the series – “That will be decided out on the pitch” – but he was just being modest. In contests of this intensity, the coaches’ primary job will be to ensure that their wards keep cool heads in situations where a moment’s agitation and over-eagerness could be the difference between glory and ignominy. Just ask Chetan Sharma.

Inzamam-ul-Haq acknowledged that the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi will hamper Pakistan’s chances in the remaining two one-day internationals against India.”The Pakistan team is poorer due to the absence of players like Shoaib and Afridi,” he wrote in his column for . “Both have very important roles to play as bowlers. Because both Shoaib and Afridi won’t be playing in the next two one-day internationals, this would surely have an adverse effect on the team’s combination. But in this time of crisis we really are helpless. Still, we’d try our best to win the last two one-dayers.”Inzamam also chose to clear the air about Shoaib’s injury, maintaining that the fast bowler had been ruled out purely on a fitness basis. “Shoaib has been ruled out of the Pakistan team because of his fitness problems,” he said. “His injury has given rise to a new controversy within the country as well as internationally. Almost everyone has termed his injury as something `mysterious’ and rumours have started to fly around in a sickeningly rampant manner.” Inzamam remained skeptical, however, about Shoaib’s chances for the immediate future. “Shoaib’s stress fracture of his left ankle is infinitely more serious and I have a feeling that he won’t be able even to make next month’s tour of Sri Lanka,” he added.Refuting calls for himself and Younis Khan to bat higher up the order, Inzamam said that Pakistan’s gameplan would remain the same. “In the series against India, we have been playing our matches with a long batting line-up,” he said. “We took a chance with Shahid Afridi by sending him to open the innings. Unfortunately, this decision back-fired. In the remaining matches, we plan to send Shoaib Malik at one-down, Mohammad Yousuf at number four, I will come in at the fifth spot and Younis will bat at the number six position.”Lamenting Pakistan’s poor performance in the field, Inzamam called on his players to step it up.”Both matches at Multan and Karachi are going to be crucial for us. Where the last two games were concerned, I would lay the blame on our sub-standard fielding for our defeats,” he said. “In Lahore, our fielding was so pathetic that the players couldn’t even block straight fours on eight occasions. We have been trying during our practice sessions that our fielding ability improves. If we are unable to manage that, then I’m afraid we won’t be able to defend the series.”The remaining fixtures are at Multan on Thursday and on Sunday at Karachi.

Darren Lehmann and Daniel Harris led a strong South Australian reply to a commanding Western Australian total at the WACA, as the batsmen continued to dominate. The pair added 133 for the second wicket to give the Redbacks a fair chance of matching WA, who had been boosted by Marcus North’s century and Brett Dorey’s 53.Lehmann scored at nearly a run-a-ball, striking 14 boundaries, but Harris didn’t loose much in comparison, hitting 13 fours during his 139-ball innings. However, Harris couldn’t quite play out the day, falling two overs before the close to North’s off spin. He had earlier played second fiddle in an opening stand of 79 with Shane Deitz, who scored 48 of his 55 in boundaries.WA consolidated their innings during the first half of the day, despite the best efforts of the South Australian attack to chip away. Jason Gillespie, Paul Rofe and Dan Cullen took a wicket apiece, and at 7 for 323 the home team were in danger of not building on their solid work from the opening day.However, North remained firm and reached his second hundred of the season. The total was then given a somewhat unexpected boost as Dorey clubbed a maiden first-class fifty, carrying WA towards their declaration.

Guwahati’s standing as an international venue is under serious threat in the aftermath of the fifth India-England ODI where crowd trouble erupted when the umpires called off play because of a wet outfield. There was rioting in the Eastern stands and the police had to fire tear gas shells to break up the mob which was breaking down stands, burning paper and plastic, pelting the ground with any missiles they could lay their hands on, and trying to break down the fence dividing the stands from the playing area. The lack of a swift or efficient response from the police cast a blackmark on the venue that will take some erasing.The real trouble began at approximately 12 noon when Rudi Koertzen and AV Jayaprakash went out to the middle to inspect conditions. There were many areas of concern, including but not restricted to, the bowlers’ run-ups, patches in the 30-yard circle, and the outfield. With the sun shining intermittently, fans in the stands could not understand why play was not getting under way. Although from afar the field appeared dry, it was far from fit for an international match, as Cricinfo verified, walking around the ground, up to the pitch, after the match was called off.”Announcements were being made from time to time on the public address system in Assamese, so the crowd was being kept updated about the situation,” Bikash Baruah, honorary secretary of the Assam Cricket Association, said soon after the match was called off. The fans, however, grew restless, and gave vent to their steadily increasing anger, first by throwing water bottles onto the field and burning scraps torn from advertising hoardings, newspapers and placards. When they ran out of bottles they improvised, breaking down wooden advertising panels and uprooting bamboo poles used for scaffoldings. They then proceeded to attack the short walls that hold the fencing, prying loose bricks and further breaking these down to hurl into the field of play.The crowd lit bonfires, piling on whatever flammable material they could find, and began to throw these lit items over the fence. While all this was happening, the police made brief forays towards the stands causing trouble but retreated swiftly when pelted with missiles. Some policemen were even taking cover behind the sightscreen, using an advertising hoarding as a shield to protect themselves.

The trouble escalated when the crowd began to target the television cameras, in place to cover the match. The television crew moved as many cameras as they could to safer positions, but there was nothing they could do about the two fixed cameras in place square of the wicket to judge run outs. When one of those cameras was totally wrecked by stones and other missiles, the police realised that the situation was fast growing out of control and began considering counter measures. By this time, however, the crowd had literally taken apart one of the six cameras used to generate Hawkeye images. The camera and its stand were dismantled and dumped in a bonfire, totally destroying it.”We are just in the process of assessing the damage. As the cameras are taken down and our engineers inspect them, we will have a fair idea of how bad the situation is,” James Rego, executive producer of Nimbus, said. “At the moment, I can tell you that at least four cameras have been badly damaged.” In all 31 cameras are used in the coverage of these ODIs. Whether Nimbus can source replacements in time for the next match is not entirely clear.”Hawkeye will definitely be affected for the next game as we have to get replacements from England,” said Rego. What is an area of immediate concern is the run out cameras, which are High Density cameras and far more expensive than the regular cameras used in other positions. If these are irreparably damaged, and suitable replacements cannot be found in time for the Jamshedpur ODI, on Wednesday, April 12, that match will be affected as the ICC has ruled that international matches cannot take place without the third umpire in place.”The damage is likely to be in the region of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Rego, while slamming the security apparatus in place. “This is a total security disaster,” he said, referring to the fact that the police were slow to take action even after the first camera went down. It was later revealed that the damage was around 6.5 to 8 million rupees (US$146,000 to 180,000).

The police attempted to defuse the situation by firing tear gas shells into the stand but both shells they fired lobbed well over the stands and out of the ground. Finally the police’s hand was forced as a gate in the Eastern stands was breached and fans started to come onto the ground. Then the police charged and grabbed hold of two young men while most of the rioters made good their escape through gate No. 11. The two who failed to make it received a severe thrashing in full view of the media and public as policemen took out their frustration. In the resultant melee, two policemen were also severely injured and later had to be taken away on stretchers.”The frustration was obvious because the spectators had waited since morning. They were expecting to see some action but once they realised the match had been abandoned, some of them indulged in pelting stones and bottles,” said Avinash Joshi, the District Commissioner “It was controlled quickly by the police and we ensured the trouble did not last by taking some effective measures. We have taken two men in custody and will interrogate them before taking further action.” The men are likely to be formally charged for destroying government property.

Suresh Raina and Sreesanth have been offered Group C player contracts with a retainership of Rs 20,00,000 ($44,618).Niranjan Shah, the Indian board secretary, told PTI that the contracts for both Raina and Sreesanth would be as applicable as they are to the other members of the Indian team, meaning it would be backdated and run through to the end of 2006.Raina made his debut against Sri Lanka in July 2005 and has played 21 one-day internationals so far. He impressed during the recent seven-match series against England with scores of 24, 81 not out, 61, 21, 2, 53 and 40.Sreesanth has 22 wickets after 15 ODIs with his best performance, 6 for 55, coming the final match against England at Indore. He also took four-wicket hauls in the first innings of both his Tests against England at Nagpur and Mohali.Player contract detailsGroup A Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Sourav GangulyGroup B Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajit AgarkarGroup C Murali Kartik, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Suresh Raina

Dale Steyn, the South African fast bowler, said he has grown in confidence through the first Test against New Zealand at Centurion. Playing his fourth Test, Steyn took 3 for 35 as New Zealand were reduced to 98 for 7 in their pursuit of 249.”I went for five an over in the first innings, but I had opportunities,” Steyn told News24.com. “This time the opportunities that came my way were taken. The more I bowl, the more confident I become, and my rhythm also improves.”Steyn played support act to Makhaya Ntini who took 4 for 41 during a searing spell. He was confident that South Africa would wrap up the victory but acknowledged New Zealand’s batting depth.”Makhaya makes it look so easy,” said Steyn. “I really enjoyed bowling with him. We were able to work in tandem. We knew that the new ball was going to play a role, and it worked for us today.”We only need three more wickets and it only takes three balls, and the way the deck is playing it could be the first three balls tomorrow morning,” said Steyn. “[However] it could go to tomorrow afternoon, they showed in the first innings that they can bat all the way to No.10.”New Zealand promoted Kyle Mills to No 3 to see off the new ball. “We looked up at the dressing room stairs and there was Kyle Mills,” said Steyn. “He was coming in to be a new-ball watchman, or something like that. We knew the new ball does a bit even to the best of batsmen so we thought if we put it in the right place he’s bound to make a mistake.” Mills lasted all of two balls as New Zealand lost their first six wickets for 28 runs.Daniel Vettori, on 18, and Hamish Marshall, on 24, were unbeaten when bad light and rain interrupted play on the fourth day. Vettori explained the reasoning behind promoting Mills. “We thought it would be toughest against the new ball and if someone could use up a few overs it would be easier for the guys following,” Vettori told Stuff.co.nz. “Kyle’s a pretty good batsman, he bats high in the order [for Auckland]. He’s done well for us in the past and we had a lot of faith in him but unfortunately it didn’t come off.”We were confident this morning, we thought we could chase down anything under 250. I’m not saying we’re completely out of the game, but being 28 for 6 doesn’t help our cause.”

New Zealand Cricket has cut a Test from Sri Lanka’s tour later this year and replaced it with two Twenty20 internationals.Martin Snedden, the NZC chief executive, said that the decision was made because of concerns over the weather. “It would have meant starting the first Test on November 29 and with our weather we were asking for trouble.”He added that preparations for the World Cup was also a factor. “The focus is clearly on the World Cup and there is a strong view among us that playing the Twenty20 game helps develop certain aspects of the one-day game.”It is likely that the first Test will now start on December 7 and the second the following week. The first Twenty20 game will be held on December 22 and the second on Boxing Day. The tour will conclude with five ODIs.New Zealand are virtually out of the Test circuit, with only these two matches scheduled between now and November 2007 when South Africa tour the country. They have no matches of any kind arranged until the Champions Trophy in October.

Latest tables

North

Michael Lumb out-shone Andrew Flintoff in the big-hitting stakes as Yorkshire stormed to a seven-wicket win against Lancashire, at Headingley, and secured a place in the quarter-finals as one of the ‘lucky’ third place teams. Lumb’s 49-ball 84 included 13 fours and three sixes as Yorkshire raced home with more than six overs to spare. Earlier, Flintoff had hit 47 off 28 balls but Richard Dawson and Darren Lehmann pulled the innings back with some tight spin bowling.Leicestershire finished top of the group after an overwhelming 79-run win over Durham at Chester-le-Street. HD Ackerman led the way with a composed, unbeaten 87 balls and Durham, who had nothing to play for and put out a weakened side, were never in the hunt after falling to 21 for 5 and just batted out their overs.Nottinghamshire also gained a home draw in the quarter-finals after powering past Derbyshire by nine wickets at Trent Bridge. Stephen Fleming and Samit Patel added 111 for the second wicket as the Derbyshire total was made to look fairly paltry. Michael di Venuto had top-scored for the visitors but in the end Nottinghamshire easily maintained their 100 percent home record.

Midlands/Wales/West

After appearing one of the form sides early in the qualifying stages, Glamorgan failed to progress after a 13-run defeat against the already dethroned champions, Somerset, at Taunton. David Hemp gave them a chance with a 36-ball 74 but the chase fell away from 143 for 2 after 13 overs. Justin Langer had continued his prolific Twenty20 season with a 39-ball 78 as Somerset passed 200 but it was an all to rare consistent showing from their batsmen.Northamptonshire’s upturn in fortunes continued as they confirmed their place in the next stage with an eight-wicket win against Gloucestershire at Bristol. Rob White and David Sales did most of the blasting, hitting nine sixes between them as Northants eased home with 14 balls to spare. It would have been an even more comfortable victory had it not been for Mark Hardinges’ unbeaten 94, which held a flimsy Gloucestershire effort together.Warwickshire missed out the quarter-finals on run rate despite an impressive 11-run win against local rivals Worcestershire at Worcester. Alex Loudon was the star as he took 4 for 20 with some intelligent offspin, meaning that Vikram Solanki’s 90 wasn’t enough. Nick Knight and Jonathan Trott had formed the backbone of Warwickshire’s innings but they were beaten to the final berth in the next round by Yorkshire from the North group.

South

Ronnie Irani played a true captain’s innings to confirm Essex’s place in the quarter-finals and earn them a home tie with a last-ball, four wicket win against Sussex who were edged out of the competition at Hove. Irani left it late, but timed his innings to perfection by pulling Yasir Arafat for four to win the match and bring up his century off 61 balls. Matt Prior hit Sussex’s highest individual score in Twenty20 cricket, but his 73 proved in vein.Both teams were winners at Canterbury as Surrey took the spoils on the night, gaining a quarter-final berth, while Kent also progressed as one of the best third placed teams. Surrey’s batsmen were at their destructive best, especially James Benning and Ali Brown who added 112 in 9.5 overs for the first wicket. The middle order all exploded and Kent’s chase was in a hopeless position after they lost their first four wickets for 43 inside five overs.Middlesex gave their Twenty20 campaign some cheer with a nine-wicket win against Hampshire at Southgate but it wasn’t a match to capture the imagination of the public. Hampshire’s dismal batting effort produced just 111 in as Johann Louw grabbed a four-wicket haul, then Paul Weekes and Nick Compton knocked off most of the target.Quarter-final drawTies to be played Monday July 24Essex v Yorkshire at Chelmsford
Leicestershire v Kent at Grace Road
Gloucestershire v Surrey at Bristol
Nottinghamshire v Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge

The Indian board has decided to telecast some domestic cricket matches live from the 2006-07 season. “At least 70 days of domestic cricket will be shown live on television,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said. “We will choose the important matches which would be broadcast.”The matches, involving Ranji, Deodhar, Duleep and the Challenger Trophy — comprising 93 first-class games, 83 one-day games and a number of Twenty20 games — would be marketed to provide fillip to domestic cricket.”It will encourage the domestic teams because when the matches will be telecast live on television they will get sponsorships also,” Shah said. Asked which channel would telecast the matches, Shah said the rights were with Nimbus and they would decide about it. “I don’t know because the right are with Nimbus and they will decide about it. We will be able to give a detailed information only after 10-15 days.”There has also been speculation that Nimbus would soon launch a channel of its own and the matches would be shown on it.

Charlie Shreck has been rewarded for his productive season with the ball with a new two-year contract at Trent Bridge.Shreck, who stands at 6ft 7ins, had 55 wickets in 10 matches before the start of the current Championship matches. That haul includes last week’s hat-trick against Middlesex at Lord’s and he is currently seventh in the first-class averages.He has battled back from a career-threatening back injury to become a vital member of the Nottinghamshire attack as they fight to avoid relegation one season after winning the Championship. Shreck only began his county career in 2003 after being spotted playing league cricket in his native Cornwall but missed the whole of last season after surgery for a stress fracture.He is now contracted at Trent Bridge until the end of 2008 and said: “This season has gone far better than I could have hoped, because after my injury I knew I had a job to do to earn my place back in the side.”Thankfully Mick Newell [the director of cricket] and Stephen Fleming have shown their faith in me and I’m delighted to have been able to justify that.”I’m really pleased about signing a new deal as there’s no other place I’d want to play. The whole package here is fantastic – the fans, the home ground and my team-mates in the dressing room. It’s top class and I’m aiming to help the team get back up and challenging for the Championship title again, as I believe that’s where we belong.”Shreck was also recently awarded his county cap and Newell added: “Charlie has been making up for lost time this summer and the fact that he’s come back so well from his injury is a great credit to him.”He overcame a lot of frustration missing out on playing last year and has returned as a better bowler. He’s been a consistent performer and I’m sure that he can go on to better things in years to come.”