Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the second day of the Antigua Test
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Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAWest Indies finished the second day of the Antigua Test on 318 for 6, 77 runs ahead of India. Amit Varma discusses the day’s play with S Rajesh, who wrote the bulletin for it on Cricinfo. They discuss how West Indies’ positive attitude was the difference between the two sides – India’s run-rate yesterday had been 2.67, while West Indies batted today at 3.88. They also talk about how India’s selection mistakes, such as the inclusion of VRV Singh and the omission of Harbhajan Singh, have been exposed.Listen in!Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
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After losing several of their key players because of injuries earlier this summer, Pakistan are now facing further fitness problems with allrounder Abdul Razzaq suffering from a back problem following the first Test at Lord’s.”Razzaq says he has a painful back after his final day’s outing,” said Zaheer Abbas, the Pakistan team manager, who added that Razzaq had requested the team management to rest him in the four-day game against Northamptonshire beginning on July 20. Zaheer said that Razzaq’s injury didn’t seem serious and that he should be fit in time for the second Test at Old Trafford from July 27.Razzaq, though, is not the only player who is unfit to play at Northampton. With the mercury soaring in the thirties, Zaheer said that around five to six players want to rest ahead of the Old Trafford Test. With just 15 players available for selection, the team management would find it difficult to have 11 willing players for the match against Northamptonshire under the blazing sun.Zaheer said that the team management might ask some of the discarded Pakistan players settled in England to fill in if they are unable to find enough players from their camp to play the four-day game. “We might call players like Arshad Khan to come and play for us at Northampton.”Mushtaq Ahmed, the legspinner, also received the backing of Pakistan selectors for a possible recall for the Old Trafford Test.”It all depends on the team’s planning for the Test. Inzamam knows Mushtaq better than anyone else. If he wants to play him because of special circumstances, we will support him,” Wasim Bari, the chief selector, told Reuters. “We have four to five injuries in the team and we have to look at things very differently and we need special thinking. By and large we support the captain.”Bari added that Asif and Shoaib Malik, who returned to Pakistan earlier in the week with elbow injuries, would require at least four weeks to make full recoveries.

Bangladesh’s cricketers landed in Harare after a grueling 31-hour trip from Dhaka which included a 12-hour stopover in Doha and a second stop in Nairobi. They have five days to acclimatise before the first ODI in Harare.The original schedule would have meant the side stopping over in Kenya for a few days but that was amended when a warm-up match in Zimbabwe on July 26 came up.Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, was less bullish than he had been last week about the five-match series between one-day cricket’s basement sides. “I have noted that the Zimbabwean team are also keenly looking forward to this visit and they have sent their players to South Africa for three practice matches before Bangladesh come and I get the feeling that they are really keen to even up the score from when they played in Bangladesh last year. So it’ll be a hell of a contest.”Most judges would say that Bangladesh would start favourites and I would agree despite our ICC ranking in one-day format. Bangladesh have played some good cricket and are probably in all honesty are a little bit better than Zimbabwe but the conditions might put us back on a level playing field. I think both teams would feel that they have a chance of winning.”Asked about the dominance of spin in matches in Zimbabwe, Whatmore was equally open. “During the Bangladesh A tour of Zimbabwe our spinners have done well but if you are good enough as a quick then it is better to bowl there than here. I think we have the pace attack and if we need to lean towards the slower bowlers then we have the manpower to do that as well.”Zimbabwe have yet to name their squad, but the nucleus is expected to come from the side in South Africa. Terry Duffin, the captain, is flying in from the UK where he is playing club cricket, as is Brendan Taylor. What is less certain is whether others who are in the UK will return, and it is rumoured that Ed Rainsford, the team’s leading strike bowler, has not made himself available.The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that the Zimbabwe board’s media department repeatedly refuses to answer questions put to it by Cricinfo.

Division One

First day

Lancashire‘s Championship ambition suffered a dent on the opening day at Old Trafford as a slow and low pitch hindered their efforts to bowl out Durham who set about grinding out a first-innings total. The opening pair, Jimmy Maher and Gary Scott, went along at two per over in the front session, Scott benefiting from a tough chance shelled by Luke Sutton behind the stumps. Other than that there were precious few alarms for the batsmen. Lancashire eventually made the breakthrough when Gary Keedy trapped Scott for a painstaking 53 off 158 balls. But Lancashire were unable to make further rapid incisions. Gary Park, a young Kolpak player, increased the tempo before falling to Tom Smith for 45 and Maher then fell five runs short of a hardworking century when he was caught behind off Glen Chapple. Lancashire were given a late boost by dismissing Dale Benkenstein shortly before stumps but they have only 22 more overs to gain their remaining two bowling points.A series of consistent performances from the Kent top order manoeuvred them into a promising position on the opening day against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Joe Denly, the 20-year-old opener who replaced David Fulton in the starting eleven, led the way with an impressive 86 from 105 deliveries. He added 132 for the second wicket with Martin van Jaarsveld, who continued his fine form with 79. Warwickshire fought back by removing van Jaarsveld and Matthew Walker during the afternoon session but a timely return to form by Geraint Jones, who made his first half-century since being dropped by England, and Darren Stevens’s 61, put Kent on target for maximum batting points.Craig White led a spirited Yorkshire fightback on the opening day against Nottinghamshire at Headingley with a fine captain’s innings of 141 not out. Yorkshire had slumped to 42 for 3 against the new ball but White found an able ally in Adil Rashid who confirmed it’s not only legspin at which he can excel. Rashid helped White to add 130 for the fourth wicket and struck a Championship-best 63, his maiden first-class century, before another slump brought Nottinghamshire back into the match. Graeme Swann grabbed two middle-order wickets but none of the bowlers could shift White, who brought up his ton off 241 balls and will be relying on some support from the final two wickets to extend Yorkshire’s innings beyond 300 on the second day. Yorkshire had to do without Matthew Hoggard who withdrew from the game shortly before the start after pulling up with a side strain.

Division Two

Second daySomerset batted themselves into a strong position on the second day against Northamptonshire at Taunton thanks to a fine century for James Hildreth in an otherwise quiet season for him. They built on the solid work of the overnight pair of Arul Suppiah and Sam Spurway, who was acting as nightwatchman. The pair batted through the morning before Rob White made the breakthrough with his occasional legspin and Suppiah was run out two short of a deserved ton. Hildreth, though, took the innings under his wing and added 94 with Ian Blackwell in his first Championship innings of the season. Blackwell showed no ill effects off his shoulder injury and slammed 43 off 35 balls, while Hildreth moved to his century off just 94 deliveries as Somerset closed with a healthy advantage.

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, was forced to defend his reputation after it was claimed South African players tampered with the ball when he was in charge of the team 10 years ago.Woolmer’s Pakistan team have been at the centre of the row which began with last weekend’s forfeiture of the fourth and final Test, and continued with Darrell Hair’s demand for $500,000 to resign in the wake of the uproar.Now, on the eve of the Twenty20 international against England in Bristol, Woolmer reacted to claims that South African players lifted the seam.The claims were made by the former ICC match referee Barry Jarman who alleged that during a triangular one-day tournament involving South Africa, Zimbabwe and India in early 1997 a match ball confiscated after just 16 overs – still in Jarman’s possession – bears the ravages of tampering by Woolmer’s team.At a loss to recall anything of the sort, Woolmer said: “I just cannot, and do not, understand why Barry Jarman has said this. As far as I’m concerned, it’s fiction.”As far as I know, I don’t ever remember a ball being taken off after the 16th over. I surely would have remembered it. I wasn’t ball-scratching. I’m the coach. What does he think … that I teach ball-scratching?”A mystified Woolmer has even taken the step of contacting the officials in the match he believes is in question – and he reports they are unaware of any wrong-doing. “Go and ask the two umpires in the same game that I’m supposed to have done this,” he advised. “They will say that they don’t know anything about it.”

As Herschelle Gibbs prepares to face Delhi Police’s questioning in connection with match-fixing allegations, South Africa have sought early disposal of the case, saying a ‘sword’ should not hang over the cricketer’s head indefinitely.”It is a matter of Delhi Police and we as government would not want to interfere a great deal in the legitimate legal process,” Francis Moloi, South African High Commissioner, told PTI regarding the questioning of Gibbs when he comes to India next month to play in the Champions Trophy. “However, we would want processes like these to have some form of finality,” he said, stressing on the need for an expeditious conclusion of the case.”Frankly, we can’t have this issue hanging like a sword for a long time. Speedy resolution of the issue will be most welcome so that we get on with the business of cricket which people of India love a great deal,” Moloi added.Delhi Police in 2000 claimed to have uncovered a match-fixing racket involving top players, including the then South Africa cricket captain, the late Hansie Cronje, as well as Nicky Boje and Gibbs.Boje and Gibbs have so far not been questioned as they have avoided visiting India. Delhi Police has maintained that their quizzing is essential in the case. On his part, Moloi said South Africa respect the legal processes in India and feels that “whatever is there must be laid on the table”.Gibbs, who will tour India with his lawyer, will not come with the team but will join his team-mates a few days later. He is likely to leave for India from South Africa on October 11 and be questioned on October 12 and 14 by the Delhi Police, according to cricket officials in South Africa. He has previously opted out of two tours of India, in 2004 and 2005.

Shoaib Akhtar, banned for two years for having tested positive for Nandrolone, has filed an appeal against the ban. “We have lodged an appeal to review the ban with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) through our lawyer Abid Hasan Minto and hope to hire some foreign experts to contest the case,” said Tauseef Razzaq, Shoaib’s doctor.A three-member doping tribunal constituted by the PCB had banned both Shoaib and Mohammad Asif last week. The punishments came after internally conducted dope tests revealed that the A samples of both men showed excessive limits of the banned anabolic steroid, nandrolone.The pair appeared before the tribunal and accepted the reports, declining to have their B samples examined. Earlier on Monday, Asif also lodged an appeal to have his ban reviewed. Shoaib reiterated that he was not guilty of intentional wrong doing. “I cannot say much at this time about what has happened but I just want to assure everyone that I am innocent of doing anything I shouldn’t have,” Shoaib said.Shoaib insisted he would never cheat his opponents or team-mates. “I have always played the game fair and I give 100 per cent and do not feel that I need to take drugs to help my bowling.”The appeals will be heard by a new three-member committee set up by the PCB specifically for the purpose. It inclujdes former high court judge Fakhruddin Ibrahim (head of an earlier inquiry into match-fixing), former Test player Haseeb Ahsan and doping expert doctor Danish Zaheer. The tribunal is expected to meet next week.

Amol Muzumdar, the 32-year-old middle-order batsman, has been named captain of the Mumbai team for the forthcoming Ranji Trophy season. Muzumdar replaces Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner, who led the side last season.Explaining the decision, Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, said: “The selectors wanted Nilesh to concentrate on his bowling. He is our main strike bowler and captaincy was affecting his bowling.” also quoted Vengsarkar as saying that the four-member selection committee – which also included Sanjay Patil, Milind Rege and Abey Kuruvilla – unanimously decided to opt for Muzumdar. Pravin Amre, the Mumbai coach, supported the decision as well, saying that batsmen usually made better captains than bowlers.Muzumdar had been in contention for captaincy last season as well, after Sairaj Bahutule left for Maharashtra, but Kulkarni was handed the job instead. Reacting to the decision, Muzumdar said he was “thrilled and excited”, and hoped to pass on his experience to the younger players. “I would like to display whatever I have learnt over the past 13 seasons in my stint. Guiding the youngsters will be my primary task.”Muzumdar has played 113 first-class matches and averages 51.23, with 20 centuries. He was especially prolific in the Ranji Trophy last season, finishing sixth in the averages list in the eight matches he played.

Somerset have confirmed that Justin Langer, who is retiring from Test cricket after the final Ashes Test at Sydney, will be their captain for the 2007 season. In a brief period at Taunton last summer Langer scored a career-best 342 against Surrey and amassed more than 400 runs in the Twenty20.The Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose told the Press Association: “I was delighted to agree a provisional contract with Justin at the end of his highly successful five-week spell with the club in 2006, which he has now confirmed.”We are absolutely delighted that Justin is coming back to join us as captain for the whole season, initially on a one-year contract with a provision that he may come back again for a further year in 2008.”Somerset have endured a barren period despite having the short-term assistance of players such as Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Sanath Jayasuriya and Langer. The Twenty20 title in 2005 is their only recent silverware.”Over the last four seasons, Somerset have lacked consistent leadership -and this is what we expect Justin to bring, especially after his vast experience inTest match cricket and as captain of Western Australia,” Rose added. “His presence and influence on the side will boost our experienced players as well as helping us develop the younger players we have on the staff.”During his press conference at the SCG, Langer said: “I can’t imagine not playing for the next couple of seasons. There’s an amazing challenge at Somerset. They’re at the bottom of everything, and I’ve got a great regard for the coach over there and I’m looking forward to that challenge.

Points Table
Scorecard
Alfred Absolem and Pragyan Ojha pocketed four wickets apiece as Hyderabad registered their first win over Mumbai, triumphing by nine wickets at Uppal and leapfrogging to the top of the Group B points table. Set a target of 30, Hyderabad had a great chance to add a bonus point to their tally – a ten-wicket win would have ensured that – but the loss of Ravi Teja’s wicket went against them.Their bowlers had set it up earlier. Ojha set the ball rolling with the wickets of Vinayak Mane and Nishit Shetty while Kaushik Reddy and Absolem, the new-ball bowlers, complemented him with three between them. Rohit Sharma, with 95, ploughed a lone furrow but Mumbai fell 87 runs short of the first-innings lead. The reversal meant that Mumbai’s poor season got worse – after conceding first-innings leads in their opening two games, they lost here – and would need something special from here on to qualify for the semi-finals.
Scorecard
Azharuddin Bilakhia ground out a maiden first-class century as Gujarat confidently batted out the final day of the drawn encounter at Kolkata. Having already been assured first-innings points, Gujarat concentrated on batting out time with all their top-order gaining batting practice. Bilakhia dropped anchor, striking 15 fours in his 303-ball effort, while Bhavik Thaker weighed in with a stroke-filled 61. The two Patels – Niraj and Parthiv – chipped in with 41 and 35 respectively. With this result Gujarat, who had just two points from their first three games, doubled their tally.
ScorecardSyed Sahabuddin snaffled the 13th five-wicket haul of his career to enable Andhra to gain two points from the drawn encounter at Baroda. Resuming on 262 for 3, Baroda were firm favourites to gain the first-innings lead but Sahabuddin picked up four wickets to shatter those hopes. Rakesh Solanki, 104 overnight, added only 13 to his score before falling to a run-out and then Pinal Shah and K Panchal succumbed to Sahabuddin. P Vijay Kumar, the debutant medium-pacer, added two more wickets before Sahabuddin mopped up the tail in no time. Andhra batted out the rest of the day, as SK Prasad accumulated an unbeaten 61, and, with 10 points from four games, are now perched on top of the group along with Karnataka.
Scorecard
A solid batting performance from Karnataka ensured two points from a drawn encounter at Delhi. Having gained the first-innings lead yesterday, and with chances of an outright result remote, Karnataka’s batsmen gained batting practice. Robin Uthappa and Thilak Naidu followed up their first-innings centuries with fifties while Yere Goud, their captain, added a dogged unbeaten 56. Karnataka, with 10 points from four games, surged to the top of the table while Delhi had an uphill battle on hand, with only six from four.
Scorecard
Offspinner Rajesh Sharma thwarted Maharashtra’s hopes of a first-innings lead as Punjab got the better of a draw at Kolhapur. Sairaj Bahutule and Yogesh Takawale, Maharashtra’s overnight batsmen, added 112 for the sixth wicket and gave their side a sniff but Sharma’s double-strike put an end to those plans. Satyajit Satbhai carried on the fight with an obdurate 24 but lack of support from the tailenders left Maharashtra 98 runs short.
Four wickets apiece from Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh and Rajamani Jesuraj, the medium-pacers, dashed Saurashtra’s hopes of gaining a first-innings lead at Rajkot. Saurashtra, who began the day on 325 for 4, lost their way completely with their last seven batsmen adding just 26. Pujara, overnight on 145, ploughed through the wreckage but received little support from the other end. Tamil Nadu batted out the rest of the day, ending on 110 for 2, with Anirudh Srikkanth top-scoring with a 59-ball 56.