In a move targeted at wooing female fans, Cricket Australia has declared that one day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne is to be dedicated to women. Cricket Australia and Melbourne Cricket Club officials have been concerned about the decline in attendances after Boxing Day.”Ladies Day” will fall on the second day of the Melbourne Test and women will be educated on field placings and cricket tactics as well as being invited to sip champagne in an enclosure of the new northern stand. The move is seen as an attempt to acknowledge the role of women in everyday life.”At last year’s Test the crowd was around 135,000 and of those about 8000 were children under 16,” Ken Jacobs, Cricket Victoria’s chief executive, told . “The crowd normally falls away by about 50% a day [after Boxing Day]. You’re building up to the result of the match and yet the crowd is falling away.”Cricket Australia even announced that the boundary enclosure would feature a big screen – much like the popular marquees at racing spectacles – a children’s playing area, and a brunch hosted by Cricket Victoria and the MCG. Officials have also invited Belinda Clark, the former Australian captain, to make an appearance. The third day’s play of future Tests over the course of the Australian summer have also been designated as family days, during which children will be admitted free.Jacobs said the idea was inspired from other Australian sports events, such as horse racing, the Australian Open tennis and the Adelaide Test. “We want to ensure the crowd is still strong over days two, three and four, and five if necessary, but also to ensure that the Boxing Day Test is an event for everyone,” he said. “It’s not just about what goes on in the centre of the ground.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet taken any decision on retaining Mushtaq Ahmed, the legspinner, as the assistant coach of the senior team for the home series against India. According to Shaharyar Khan, the board Chairman, although Mushtaq worked as a bowling analyst in the one-day series against England only the ad-hoc committee was authorised to take a decision on retaining and promoting him as assistant coach of the senior team.”We have taken no decision on the assistant coach so far. It is true that Mushtaq’s credentials are strong and he did a good job against England according to the team management. But we have some other candidates in mind and the final decision would only be made by the ad-hoc committee,” he said.Mushtaq was first selected as a member of the Pakistan squad for the Test series against England but was then dropped for the five one-dayers. But the Board on the recommendation of the team management then appointed him as a bowling consultant. Shaharyar said the next meeting of the ad-hoc committee would be held soon when all members were available. “Obviously we would want to reach a decision on this issue before the first Test against India from January 13,” he said.However, although Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, both support the appointment of Mushtaq as the assistant coach there is a hitch to this happening on a permanent basis because Mushtaq has a lucrative playing contract with English county Sussex and is signed up for them next season. “We have to see whether he can make himself available for the Pakistan team’s tours to Sri Lanka and England after the home series against India because their dates clash with the county season which runs from April to September,” another board official said.He also maintained that not everyone in the board or the ad-hoc committee was in favour of appointing an assistant coach with the team as they felt that this post was not really necessary in the presence of a well paid and full-time professional coach in Woolmer. “The coach is someone who should be able to manage everything,” the source said.

The Carib Beer Cricket series match between Windward and Leeward Islands has been abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled at the Mindoo Phillip Park on Monday. The rain, which left the pitch and outfield under water, prevented play on all four scheduled days.Both teams have collected four points as a result. In the next round of matches Leeward Islands host Barbados in St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands; Trinidad & Tobago entertain the Windward Islands at Shaw Park in Tobago and Jamaica face Guyana at Chedwin Park, Jamaica.

Another top-order failure, another loss and a first ODI series loss in over a year; Pakistan’s top-order starts in this series have made for some horrific reading. After a 50-run stand in the first ODI at Peshawar, Pakistan collapsed to 68 for four at Rawalpindi and 82 for four at Lahore. In Multan, they disintegrated quicker, stumbling to 29 for four and this time, there was no Shoaib Malik-inspired rescue, as they fell for 161.With all games thus far won by the team batting second, losing the toss in the morning and being put in wasn’t the best start. Inzamam admitted he would have fielded first had he won the toss but although India bowled accurately throughout, the majority of batsmen were out to rash shots; some like Kamran Akmal’s cut to short point were poor, others like Imran Farhat’s ugly pull to mid-on, awful. An understandably dejected Inzamam-ul-Haq said later, “Today we just didn’t put enough runs on board. It’s disappointing to lose such a big series against team like India at home. We made some mistakes early on and that’s why we lost too many early wickets.”Inzamam refused to blame the absence of key players such as Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar for the loss, instead highlighting his own side’s fallibility and India’s strength. “One or two of our players were not there, but I will say my team was capable of doing much better than what we did today. The boys have tried hard but we couldn’t succeed. We were weak in some areas but India outplayed us in all three departments of the game.”Despite the rash of injuries and the poor run of form some players were in, only one change was made to the playing XI today; Mohammad Sami came in for Afridi. Umar Gul, also suffering from side strain, missed out. Salman Butt, under pressure after two successive first-over ducks, was under some pressure and many thought he might be replaced. But Inzamam was phlegmatic about changing the line-up. “Salman Butt had given us good scores in the series and it was not possible for me to drop him after just two bad knocks. I don’t think if I had made some changes it would have made a difference. I don’t think we played the wrong combination here.”He also ruled out that his side was under extra pressure after two defeats at home, either from the public or the media. “There is always pressure on the home team in a series, but all the players are used to it and I don’t think that was the reason for losing the series. Sometimes the team does not play well. We played well when we toured India and this time they played well against us – the performance doesn’t remain the same all the time.”Karachi beckons now and only face-saving remains at stake for Pakistan. When Inzamam said before this series began that he might become more selective in the matches he played due to his back injury, he would not have envisaged the rotation policy coming into effect in a dead rubber game. Changes seem likely however. “We will give a chance to some of the bowlers who haven’t got chance in the four matches. It will be difficult to motivate the team but we will try our best to win the last match.”

1:10pm
Scorecard

Damp conditions at Guwahati meant that the only game of the series that was scheduled on a Sunday had to be called off without even a single ball being bowled.Yesterday afternoon’s downpour, accompanied by thunder, lightning and hail enveloped the ground with a soggy film. Even the efforts of the groundstaff, with a super-sopper and a helicopter being put to use, turned futile. Rudi Koertzen and AV Jayaprakash, the on-field umpires, conducted three inspections before deciding that the conditions were not fit, but had left it to the captains to decide whether they wanted to go ahead and play anyway. The contest was finally abandoned at 1:10pm local time.Close to 1pm, ugly scenes erupted at the Nehru Stadium as the sun beat down. The crowd, which had waited all day in the hope of play beginning, grew restless and began throwing bottles onto the field. In sections of the stands banners, placards and newspapers were heaped together and burnt.Some of the Indian players were tossing a tennis ball around on the outfield and they went off the field as the police were called in to try and control the spectators. This was greeted by a further volley of bottled both full and empty, some of which travelled about 50 yards, landing well inside the field of play.On the eve of the game, a group of young cricket buffs held an exotic ritual by planting red and green chillies on the ground outside the Nehru Stadium, a ceremony conducted to invoke supernatural forces to keep the rains away. They and many more at Guwahati, which staged its last ODI around two-and-a-half years back, will have to brace themselves for another long wait.

Powered by Mohammad Sami’s five-wicket haul, Faisalabad routed National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) a paltry 97 and then gained a first innings lead of 95, on the opening day of their third-round Pentangular Cup encounter at Multan.The two third-round matches, the other one in Lahore, both started after a day’s postponement due to the Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi holiday on Tuesday. National Bank, whose only game so far in the competition fetched them the full nine points, won the toss and put Faisalabad in to bat.Sami’s figures of 5 for 31 was his second five-wicket haul in as many games. Yesterday, he was ably supported by his new-ball partner Wasim Khan (3 for 27) and Yasir Arafat as Faisalabad were bowled out in only 33.3 overs.National Bank were off to a good start with the openers adding 70, but Faisalabad wrested the initiative, restricting them to 192 for 7 at stumps. Still, a lead of 100 and over could prove crucial in this match.Faisalabad were in all sorts of trouble at 51 for 7, before Shahid Nazir, the former Pakistan pace bowler, top-scored for them with 29. Later, he took 3 for 65 when National Bank batted while Asad Ali got 3 for 57.Whichever team goes on to win this game will have a very good chance of claiming the Pentangular Cup, when the tournament comes to an end on April 26. With successive wins in their previous two matches, Faisalabad currently have 18 points to their credit. But National Bank still have two more matches left after this one.Karachi Harbour recovered to make 326 runs in the first innings on the opening day of their third-round Pentangular Cup match against Sialkot, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday. By the close of play, Sialkot lost two wickets with 43 on board.Sialkot won the toss and put Karachi Harbour in to bat. The fast-bowling pair of Asim Butt and Kashif Daud combined to reduce Karachi to 176 for 7 till they were rescued by their eighth wicket pair of Mohammad Hasnain and Rajesh Ramesh, who put on 107. Butt struck four crucial blows early on as they slumped to a poor 97 for 5.Mohammad Hasnain, the pace bowler, produced his career-best score — making only his second half-century in 62 innings in first-class cricket — scoring 72 off 103 balls with 13 boundaries. Ramesh, another pace bowler, played the perfect second foil. He remained unbeaten with 73 to his name, that came off only 94 deliveries and included 12 boundaries.Earlier, Daud, the 20-year old medium-pacer playing in only his fourth first-class match, ended with figures of 5 for 80 in 20.4 overs as Karachi Harbour were eventually bowled out for an adequate-looking total of 326 runs.Hasnain then went on to dismiss Sialkot’s in-form opener Atiq-ur-Rehman while Faraz Ahmed Khan accounted for Majid Jahanagir.While Sialkot have lost both their previous matches in the Pentangular tournament, being placed at the bottom of the table, Karachi Harbour too were beaten in their opening fixture.

In what is turning into a battle of the wicketkeepers, Adam Gilchrist has edged ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to recapture the top batsman’s spot in the ICC one-day rankings. Gilchrist leapfrogged his captain, Ricky Ponting, as well as Dhoni thanks to his performances in the recently-concluded three-match series in Bangladesh.Gilchrist now holds a slender advantage of just three rating points over Dhoni, who himself assumed the top position from Ponting for the first time less than two weeks ago. Ponting’s modest series in Bangladesh saw him slip to third. Australia now has four players in the top five of the ODI batsmen’s rankings with Gilchrist and Ponting joined by Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey in fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Shaun Pollock retained his spot at the top of the ODI bowler’s list with Irfan Pathan close on his heels in second. Australia’s highest-ranked player was Glenn McGrath – who was absent from the Bangladesh series for personal reasons – in fourth position.

Australia’s 3-0 success in the series means it held its 13 point lead over South Africa at the top of the ODI table, with India a further three points back in third spot. There will also be a basement battle unfolding in the Caribbean as West Indies and Zimbabawe begin their seven-match one-day series on April 29. The two sides are currently in eighth and ninth places respectively in the table. If the West Indies achieve a clean-sweep of the series they will improve their rating by two points, going 12 behind seventh-placed England. But if Zimbabwe can win the series, it will close the gap considerably on the home side.Brian Lara, recently re-appointed as the West Indies captain, will be making his first ODI appearance for the side since May last year, although he did play three matches for the World XI in the Super Series against Australia in October. Lara will also be anxious to improve on his current position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen as he begins the series in 33rd spot, one place below Chanderpaul.

Click here for the full list of ODI rankings.

It’s been a long time coming, so I guess being a West Indian, I share the joy of people of my region. It’s a series triumph which nobody had foreseen, certainly not by a 4-1 margin.It adds to the zing if you remember that in the last nine or 10 matches West Indies have won, Brian Lara has contributed only one half-century. For long, people have held that this team cannot do without Lara’s hand. Now others too are beginning to make a difference.I would not rush to say this team is a world-beater yet, but certainly they have men who can perform more than just one role. There are a growing number of allrounders in the side and senior batsmen are putting up their hands more often. The string of wins is beginning to bring the best out of these guys.I have watched this Indian team from close quarters in the last few months and I can sense the disappointment of millions of their fans. There is now a pointed concern if they have gone about preparing for the World Cup in not the most ideal way.I personally feel that looking at the World Cup at this stage could complicate things. India needs to worry about the forthcoming Tests and not lose sleep over a tournament which is still nine months away.India needs to look at the balance of its Test side. I worry if they have the right blend of youth and experience and whether they could pull it off. It would be a major cause to cherish if Rahul Dravid’s men emerge victorious in Tests. It still is the booty which is closest to cricketers’ hearts.The win in Tests could also restore the sense of well-being in this side. This is the one-day side which has been the toast of the nation in the past few months and there is no reason why they cannot still be the darling of the masses. But they need to do a few things differently than they have been doing at home.It is not a major ask. If you are a good cricketer, you should be able to make that sort of adjustment. Otherwise, perhaps you were not good enough in the first place.I can understand if the bowlers’ find themselves at their wits’ end in these games because you cannot overnight find an alternative to seam and swing which these conditions do not support. But there is no excuse for the batsmen. These are still slow wickets and they ought to find a way of manoeuvring the ball rather than attack it all the time.This, I think, has been the most disappointing aspect of the Indian team on this tour. It might be unfair to pick on somebody like Suresh Raina who is young and undeniably talented but, for the second game running, he perished trying to play that stupid shot. He came in in a situation when, just by pushing the singles in the gaps, India could have come closer to victory.In that sense, even Harbhajan Singh cannot escape the blame. He had brought India into a situation where, if the eighth-wicket pair had continued to pick its singles and brought the matter to a head in the final two overs, India would have been deemed favourites. Instead, he tried a mighty loft when a long off fielder was perfectly positioned for such indiscretion.Still, I would say that India has missed the experience of someone like VVS Laxman on this trip. India needed men who could play long innings and experience is the key in such issues. Laxman is the kind of batsman who can work the ball around and consolidate the score without having to take recourse to big, indiscreet hitting. He is like Rahul Dravid in this regard.If India wants to be positive in this defeat, they can look at it as part of the learning curve. Defeats are only terminal if you do not have the mettle and I do not think that is the case with these young Indian boys.Men with less talent and weak minds can be shattered by setbacks but in the Dhonis and Rainas, the Sreesanths and Pathans, hopefully, that is not a worry.

John Buchanan, the Australia coach, has warned his players not to get too complacent in the Ashes later this year against an England side hampered by injury worries to key players. His comments follow the news of Michael Vaughan pulling out of the tour due to a knee injury.Besides Vaughan, Simon Jones too is likely to miss the Ashes after the ECB confirmed last month that he will need five months to recover from his knee injury knee. Ashley Giles is yet to recover from a hip injury while Andrew Flintoff is currently nursing a crocked ankle, which has ruled him out of the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s next week.However, with the tour still four months away, Buchanan was well aware of the likelihood of the players recuperating in time to defend the Ashes. “England would probably be really relishing this sort of challenge, trying to beat us without him [Vaughan],” Buchanan told . “However, they will have months to prepare and plan for not having him for the Ashes and there are plenty of other dangermen in their side.”Buchanan added that England’s recent poor form could make them more determined to beat Australia. England lost all five one-day matches to Sri Lanka at home after drawing the Tests 1-1 and will be up against a strong Pakistan side for the rest of the summer.”Have a look at the way they have approached things, you can’t read too much into the way they are playing,” he said. “A number of their best players aren’t on the field, but one would suspect that 90% of their players from last year’s Ashes will be here this summer.”

Division One

Darren Lehmann cracked a fine century as the honours were shared between Yorkshire and Lancashire on the opening day of the Roses clash at Old Trafford. Mark Chilton made the surprising decision to bowl first and Yorkshire were just one wicket down at lunch. However, Glen Chapple and Tom Smith fought back after the break as Yorkshire slipped to 164 for 5, although no one could shift Lehmann. He added 103 with his South Australia team-mate, Jason Gillespie, and support from the lower order helped him push the total past 300 as he reached his fourth Championship century of the season.Three half-centuries ensured Middlesex formed a useful first-innings total against Hampshire at Lord’s. Owais Shah led the way with 91 before he became one of Shane Warne’s three victims. Dimitri Mascarenhas had struck twice with the new ball, leaving Shah and Ed Joyce to steady the innings with a stand of 103. Jamie Dalrymple struck an aggressive 40 then Scott Styris took over with 63 off 104 balls. Warne used seven bowlers and ended the day with the best figures, but Hampshire really need to force a win in this match to stay in touch with Lancashire and Sussex at the top of the table.Luke Parker hit his first Championship half-century of the season as Warwickshire fought back against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston. Despite 81 from Ian Westwood, Warwickshire slipped from 142 for to 180 for 5 with Mark Ealham and Ryan Sidebottom in the wickets. But Parker and Tim Ambrose joined forces to lead the fightback as they added 106 for the sixth wicket. Parker missed the chance to convert his 73 into a century when he was trapped lbw by Graeme Swann shortly before the close.

Division Two

Chris Rogers struck an electric career-best double-century as Northamptonshire flayed the Gloucestershire attack all over Northampton. He and Stephen Peters added 179 for the first wicket but that was only the start of the carnage. With Usman Afzaal playing the anchor role, he and Rogers then added 203, with Rogers sailing past the 200 mark. The Gloucestershire bowlers had a day to forget, especially Will Rudge who went at nearly seven-an-over, although at least he picked up one of the rare wickets on offer.Anil Kumble followed his eleven wickets against Northamptonshire last week with another bag of five as Surrey bowled Worcestershire out for 304 at Worcester. The home side were well placed at 138 for 1, with Phil Jaques in typically flamboyant form, when Kumble removed Vikram Solanki. His leg-spinning partner, Ian Salisbury, then removed Jaques and Worcestershire stumbled 192 for 5. Daryl Mitchell held the lower order together with a fighting half-century, but given Surrey’s batting power they will expect to overhaul the total.Steve Stubbings held Derbyshire together on the first day against Somerset at Derby but fell three runs short of a century. Travis Birt also hit a 63-ball 50 and the home side were well placed on 222 for 3. However, Cameron White and Charl Willoughby cut through the middle and lower order as Derbyshire fell to 316 all out. But after a brief stoppage for bad light, Steffan Jones hit back to remove Matthew Wood and leave the match interestingly poised.