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Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that Pakistan would not back down as hosts of the Asia Cup, scheduled in June. Ashraf has reacted to an offer by his Sri Lankan counterpart Arjuna Ranatunga to host the tournament due to the security situation in Pakistan following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.”There is no way we would withdraw as Asia Cup hosts, then I don’t know why they [Sri Lanka] had to make such an offer,” Ashraf told the in Karachi.Ranatunga confirmed that Sri Lanka was willing to act as a back-up should both sides agree on a neutral venue but left that decision to Pakistan.”We have written and asked Pakistan if we can host the Asia Cup,” Ranatunga told in Colombo on Thursday. “It’s a sensitive issue, but we will understand if Pakistan refuse us.”The PCB had earlier ruled out hosting Australia in a neutral venue for the home series in March and April. General elections were due to be held in the country on January 8, but have now been postponed to February 18. A security delegation from Australia is expected to arrive after the elections and Ashraf has expressed confidence that both series would go on as planned.

“I thought about this in Sydney in 2004,” said Anil Kumble with a smile, “but I think this time it will be my last match in Australia for sure.” The final Test in Adelaide offers India a chance to draw level but also promises to be the last time the five members of the golden generation will play in a Test match in Australia.Kumble has had a roller-coaster ride through his three tours here. He was rendered ineffective in 1999 before reviving his career last time around, snapping up 24 wickets in three Tests. He’s been a big threat here too and needs just two more victims to snap up 50 wickets in Australia. Among Indians, only Kapil Dev (51) has managed more.”It’s been fantastic in Australia,” said Kumble the day before the game. “It’s my third trip here and I’ve enjoyed all my visits. In terms of results, the last one was fantastic and this one as well. We’re thoroughly enjoying this tour. We came with the purpose of winning a series in Australia but haven’t achieved that. But we can hold our heads high after this – hoping we level the series. Future Indian teams will come here and look at the past. I’m really proud of what this team has done.”It was in Adelaide that Kumble saw his Test career being revived. Harbhajan Singh injured his finger and Kumble was given a chance in the second Test last time around. He endured a hammering on the opening day but came back with an iron-willed performance. “Indeed a special venue,” he said. “It all started here in 2003-04. It was important we won the Test and the last four years have been fantastic for me personally and for Indian cricket. Here we are again, with the opportunity to level the series. Having done well in the past in Adelaide, gives us the added confidence.”Was he confident that this bunch of five players – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and himself – could be replaced? “It’s difficult to replace anybody. You can see that in the current Australian team itself. Every team will undergo a transition. The key is how you handle it. There is definitely a lot of talent in India. It’s about ensuring they get the confidence and probably 4-5 years from now, you’ll have a good set of players to ensure India goes forward.”The most heartening aspect of this tour, according to Kumble, was the manner in which the young bowlers have exceeded expectations. RP Singh has grown into the leader of the pack, Irfan Pathan has shown the desire to come back and Ishant Sharma, just 19, has got tongues wagging with his seam movement. “I remember the first press conference here and I was asked about us picking up 20 wickets. We’ve shown we can do that. Although we don’t have the senior most bowler in terms of experience [Zaheer Khan] the young fast bowlers have stepped up.”

Pakistan have included youngsters Shoaib Khan and Mansoor Amjad in the 15-member squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against Bangladesh in Karachi, the first Twenty20 international in the country.Shoaib is an opening batsman, while Amjad is a legspinner. However, it’s unlikely they will feature in the match, as the squad has all of Pakistan’s ODI regulars, except Mohammad Yousuf, who had been dropped for last year’s World Twenty20 as well. Nasir Jamshed comes in his place.Younis Khan, who had opted out of the ODI series before making himself available for the fifth one in Karachi, has been included as well.Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, both of whom who made comebacks during the ODIs following injury layoffs, have been included in the squad, along with Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz and Rao Iftikhar Anjum.Pakistan Twenty20 squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Khan, Mansoor Amjad.

Holders Karnataka State Cricket Association XI could not have beenvery happy at stumps on the first day of their Buchi Babu All Indiainvitation tournament quarterfinal against National Cricket Academy atthe CPT-IP ground in Chennai on Thursday. They struggled during theday to score at two runs an over and when play was called off with 4.5overs still left to be bowled because of bad light, they were 182 forfive wickets.After KSCA won the toss, Mithun Beerala was off to a confident start.He hit four boundaries and out of the first wicket stand of 22 runsoff 10.5 overs with Roland Barrington, he scored all but one beforebeing caught by Sharandeep Singh off medium pacer RB Patel.Joined by Amit Kumar, Barrington continued to struggle and by the timehe was second out, leg before to skipper RS Sodhi, at 56 in the 21stover, he had batted 104 minutes and faced 61 balls for his 18.Vijay Bharadwaj did not last long. He was bowled by Sriram for sixruns for which he took his time – 48 balls. Amit Kumar who haddominated the scoring till then was fourth out at 86. For his 34, hebatted two hours, faced 67 balls and hit six fours.AR Mahesh and RC Shanbal then brought about a recovery of sorts byadding 40 runs for the fifth wicket but the runs continued to bescored at a tardy rate. The association lasted all of 25.4 oversbefore Shanbal was caught by Gambhir off Kaif. During his stay of anhour and a half, Shanbal faced 74 balls and hit two fours.The recovery process continued with Mahesh and SN Shiraguppi adding 56runs for the unbroken sixth wicket partnership which has so far lasted29 overs. When stumps were drawn prematurely, Mahesh had come throughunbeaten with 40 for which he had faced 180 balls. He had only threeboundary hits. Shirugappi was not much more enterprising scoring 25off 93 balls with just one four.Sodhi tried eight bowlers in all including himself and five of themcame through with one wicket each. At the end of the day’s play, theyoungsters from the Bangalore based academy would have no doubt lookedback at a job well done.

Disadvantaged children in Christchurch have benefited from a donation of $17,750 by the Queen Street Cricket Club.The club funds its operation by asking each of its 250 members to donate $5 every time a member of the New Zealand Test team makes a duck in a match. QSCC chairman Roger Brittenden said: “Some jokingly describe it as a guaranteed form of cash flow. But we like to think we are the team’s biggest supporters and if a player should unfortunately fail, well, somewhere a needy child is going to benefit.”The donations made this year were: $12,250 to Allenvale School for children with special needs and $5500 to the Mary Moodie Respite Care Centre. The donations were made by New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond on behalf of the QSCC.Allenvale School offers a wide range of programs for children with autism, Prada Willi syndrome, Down’s syndrome, Fragile X and attention deficit disorders.”Allenvale School is enrolling an increasing number of students with severe multiple disabilities and have had to establish another class. The Queen Street Cricket Club will be providing essential equipment for this class, including a hoist for lifting children for showering, toileting and other needs, a shower changing bed and two side liers.”Bond said it was crucial organisations like the QSCC continued to make these types of contributions.”The children and the staff who work with them on a day-to-day basis deserve to work in, and have access to, the best conditions and equipment possible. It’s about identifying ways to help, like the QSCC has done, and then providing practical assistance.”Bond also said he has only scored one Test duck so far in his career but “promised to do better”. It was his maiden Test innings, in the third Test against Australia in Perth in 2001-02.This is not the first time the QSCC has aided Allenvale School. Several years ago three specially-built tricycles were stolen. The club came to their aid and provided the money to replace the popular cycles the next day after the story was aired on national television news.The Mary Moodie Respite Care Centre in Christchurch provides care for the most handicapped and difficult children on the weekends, allowing parents of these children an essential rest. The items financed include a small trampoline, two small bikes, puzzles, drawing sets, recorder, mini sound system, DVD player, outside furniture, a barbecue, VCR and a PC along with educational computer games.The club, which was officially formed in December 1989, has raised over $125,000 for disadvantaged children’s groups such as Heart Children of New Zealand, Kidz First Hospital, Project K, The Royal Foundation for the Blind and children with immune deficiency syndromes.

Duncan Fletcher is excited by the prospect of the rule changes to one-day internationals, which will come into effect for the NatWest Challenge against Australia, starting at Headingley on Thursday.The new format for fielding restrictions, which requires the fielding captain to chose when he used two blocks of five overs, and the introduction of a substitute during a match will give Fletcher plenty to think about during his planning.Fletcher is renowned for his detailed preparation and attention to detail and has already been talking to Michael Vaughan about the new innovations. All of it is going to be interesting,” Fletcher told the Press Association, “Selection is going to be very difficult and then once play gets going it’s going to be very tricky – I believe that’s going to make it interesting.”The main variable was constant with the first 15 overs of fielding restrictions and no thinking had to take place aside from the captain moving a few fielders around, but now there are so many variables and then it becomes very complicated.”It’s going to be tricky and it’s going to be some time before a pattern settles if it ever does settle. One day cricket has become predictable and somewhere along the line they had to make changes and this will make it pretty interesting.”The use of a substitute will mean extra consideration will have to be given to the players chosen for a match. England’s NatWest Challenge squad includes Matt Prior and he would be the type of player who could be used as the replacement.”We have got to take into consideration these new rules they are bringing into the game – it might have some effect, especially the 12th man thing,” explained Fletcher. “It gets more and more complicated when you look at all the scenarios and that’s what probably makes it so exciting – if there is going to be all these scenarios it will make the game a lot more interesting.”

After South Africa bowled out West Indies in a day, and followed that up with two second-innings wickets, they were on the brink of another series win. Andre Nel and Shaun Pollock bowled with fire, but the star of the day was Makhaya Ntini, with his third five-wicket haul of the series. He attributed his – and South Africa’s – success to keeping things simple, and each member’s clearly-defined purpose.”We stuck to our basics, creating pressure, working together as a team and supporting each other,” Ntini said. “Mentally, we have adjusted and know what our jobs in the team are. We each have a role in the team, and we all fulfil that role. Mine is to take wickets. In the past my role was to support and learn from Allan Donald and Shaun, but now I have to take wickets as the strike bowler.”With 27 wickets in the series, Ntini has filled the void created by Donald’s departure from the game. To keep himself going, he set targets. “I set a goal of 150 career wickets and 20 wickets in the series. Whatever I get above that is a bonus and pushes me more and more.””All players go through up and downs, and as a bowler it is more difficult to keep your place in the team. You have to work hard to get over the bad periods, and by believing in yourself you will get through it. Since Australia I have bowled well,” Ntini said, referring to the home series against Australia two years ago, when he picked up 11 wickets in three matches at 41.73.He picked up the pieces of that tour and laboured to ensure a better future for himself. “I worked towards those goals and attained them. I always believed that I could be a strike bowler. My chance came when Steve Elworthy got injured and with me opening the bowling I showed most people and the team that I can be a strike bowler.”When Ntini stepped up, Andre Nel filled in the support bowler’s role with conviction, almost bullying batsmen into submission. And he’s waiting for the day he shares the new ball with Ntini. “I would like to bowl with the new ball with Makhaya when I get the chance, but you have to bide your time and follow and learn from a awesome bowler like Pollock. You have to try your best, believe in yourself and gain experience first until the chance of the new ball comes along.”While he waits patiently, he’s convinced West Indies didn’t utilise the pitch fully. “They maybe bowled too many short deliveries while we might have been more patient. There has always been something in the pitch, some swing and some movement. We have just been patient in bowling to our areas.”The patience paid off, and how! “Getting married was very special and hard to explain, but getting Brian Lara out twice in one day is very special. It has not really sunk in yet, but I am sure it will. Those two wickets are very special. I don’t think that I can intimidate a batsman like Lara very easily. He has played against a lot better bowlers than me. I was just determined to get him out. Getting him out just keeps me going and seems to help me not getting too tired. That way I help the team.”We were determined to do well in this test. We did not want what happened in England to happen over here. This time, we had the series won, but said to ourselves that we are going to go out there and perform. We did not want to relax. We had a deep desire to do well for our pride, the team and our country.”

At least four or five black cricketers could be selected for South Africa’s Test tour to India next month, after Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board, urged the national selectors to be “more adventurous” when sizing up the contenders.Majola, who had a meeting with the selectors on Thursday, told them not to rely on “tried and tested” players, but instead insisted that the team take a broader view. “I really believe that we should have four or five players going to India in a squad of 14 players,” he told a South African parliament committee. “I will be shocked if the team is not representative.”It is increasingly likely that the side will be without the services of two of senior players in Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, who fear prosecution by Delhi Police for their part in the match-fixing scandal that dogged South Africa’s last tour to India in 1999-2000, and so an opportunity has arisen for some new faces to be included.Furthermore, the fading fortunes of South Africa’s Test and one-day sides provides an opportunity for such change to be implemented without causing a massive public outcry. The team has slipped from second to sixth in Tests, and from second to eighth in one-dayers, and such a downturn has not gone unnoticed.”That is not where we belong as South Africans. We believe we belong in the first two,” added Majola. “We should be either beating Australia or coming second to Australia.”

Sri Lanka’s weary cricketers slip back into their blue-and-yellow pyjamas on Friday for the start of a five-match series against a wounded South Africa team. Buoyant but exhausted after two months of non-stop cricket, Sri Lanka sense an opportunity to prove that, while life may be sweeter with him around, winning is now possible without Muttiah Muralitharan.A short while ago, the withdrawal of Murali, who will be out of action until Christmas, could have had a devastating impact upon the team, as shown by their sharp slump of form just prior to the 2003 World Cup when Murali was recovering from a hernia operation. But Sri Lanka’s confidence has mushroomed in recent months and the success of the team, in the Asia Cup and the South Africa Test series, has been built around a solid team effort."We will miss Murali," admitted Marvan Atapattu, the key figure in Sri Lanka’s rising fortunes. "His bowling aside, he is such a good team player. Just having him in the dressing-room motivates guys. I wouldn’t mind him there even without him playing. But without him the other guys have come forward and shouldered much more responsibility. It is encouraging to see and they have shown great promise for the future."Atapattu is anxious now that his team doesn’t let the momentum slow. The Champions Trophy is looming on the horizon – a tournament in which Sri Lanka have high hopes, having been grouped with Zimbabwe and England, both of whom have woeful one-day records in the recent past – but Atapattu is focusing first and foremost on South Africa. He has been urging his players to keep working, improving and, above all, stay mentally sharp."We have played some good cricket in the recent past, but the key word is "past"," Atapattu said after training under lights. "That has now all gone and this is a new series. If we keep playing the way we are then we will do well, but there are enough and more areas in which we need to improve, including our running between the wickets and the fielding."We will also have to make an effort to keep the energy and enthusiasm levels high. We have been playing a lot of cricket since Australia and have never had more than three days’ rest at any time, so it is hard to keep the boys always alert and mentally alive."Sri Lanka’s selection is relatively straightforward. Avishka Gunawardene is likely to retain his place alongside Sanath Jayasuriya and the other four batters – Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekaratne Dilshan – are picked without debate. The allrounders follow: Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof and Chaminda Vaas. Finally, Nuwan Zoysa walks into the team after his heroics in the Asia Cup, leaving one space for two spinners – Rangana Herath and Kaushal Lokuarachchi.South Africa, meanwhile, are desperate to bounce back after the drubbing in the final Test, a defeat that prompted a fearful tongue-lashing from their captain, Graeme Smith, who tore into them for a lack of commitment, passion and hunger.Their recent slide down the ICC one-day championship table, from second to fourth position after their 5-1 defeat to New Zealand in March and a long layoff, has also prompted some re-thinking within the management team. Eric Simons, the coach, has promised new ideas and a revamped strategy for a new season.Quite what changes he will make remain to be seen. But one option is the better utilisation of some of the firepower hidden in the lower order. Lance Klusener, fighting for his future, might be given anopportunity early against the hard new ball.There should also be a new face, Jean-Paul Duminy, or JP as he is called, who is expected to make his one-day international debut. Duminy, a Western Province left-hander, churned out runs last season, averaging 75 in domestic cricket, but the challenge of batting against Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers in the middle overs will be a test.Bowling selections have been made easier by the departure of Andre Nel,although the choice between Nicky Boje and Alan Dawson might be a tricky decision on the spin-friendly Premadasa pitch. Robin Peterson, the drinks waiter for the first three weeks of the tour, is expected to be the first-choice spinner.South Africa (from) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Jacques Rudolph, 5 Lance Klusener, 6 Jean-PaulDuminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Alan Dawson,10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Shaun Pollock, 12 Robin Peterson, 13 Andre Nel, 14 Martin van Jaarsveld.Sri Lanka (from) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Saman Jayantha, 7 Avishka Gunawardene, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Upul Chandana, 11 Lasith Malinga, 12 Nuwan Zoysa,13 Dilhara Fernando, 14 Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

The Indian Premier League has extended its co-sponsorship deal with Hero Honda, India’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, from three to five years. The five-year deal is worth US$22.5 million.Hero Honda had earlier lost out on the title sponsorship rights for the IPL to real-estate developer DLF, who won the five-year contract for $50m. Last month, they had negotiated a three-year co-sponsorship deal, reportedly worth $4.5m per year.”I am very pleased to have the country’s largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda extend its co-sponsorship deal from three to five years,” Lalit Modi, the IPL’s chairman and commissioner, said. “Hero Honda have a long association with cricket both at the domestic and international levels and their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricketing calendar.”Incidentally, Hero Honda were represented for both the title sponsorship bid and the negotiations for the co-sponsorship deal by World Sports Group, who in alliance with India’s Sony Television network, secured the television rights for ten years at a cost of more than US$1 billion. The bids for the IPL’s eight-city based franchises had generated proceeds of $723.59m.The first edition of the IPL starts on April 18, with 59 matches to be played over 44 days.