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Ajay Sharma, a former Indian middle-order batsmen, has moved a Delhi court seeking relief from his ban on playing cricket. Sharma is currently serving a life ban on alleged match-fixing charges.In his petition, Sharma has urged to restrain the BCCI from preventing his participation in cricket matches and related activities organised by the board. Sharma has also sought the release of over Rs 5 lakhs accrued under provident fund, contribution and match fees.Sharma may have been prompted to take this legal recourse after Ajay Jadeja was allowed to play domestic cricket recently.

Muttiah Muralitharan, the man of the series against England, has urged SriLanka’s team management and selectors to give him sufficient time torecuperate and prepare for Australia’s Feb/Mar tour of Sri Lanka.

Muralitharan was the key to Sri Lanka’s 1-0 series win, producing one of hisfinest performances of his career as he unveiled a newly mastered wrong’unthat turned wickedly and regularly deceived England’s batters.But it was hardwork for Muralitharan, who spent much of the tour nursing asore shoulder. In all, he reeled of 231.4 overs to take 26 wickets and 12.30apiece. Only in the final test did the rest of the attack support himproperly.Deep down, Muralitharan, now 31, knows that his body is now feeling thestrain and he’s concerned about the longevity of his career. His stated aimis to bow out after the 2007 World Cup providing injuries don’t force himout of the game sooner.Now he wants the selectors to allow him to play less domestic cricket (weassume he will not then go off to the UK to play more County Cricket) sothat he’s in peak condition for his international commitments."They made me play in the Premier League and I suffered a sore shoulderduring the England series," he said after the third Test. "If they are goingto play me in the Provincial Tournament as well it is going to be difficultfor me when the Australians come. I love bowling but I need more rest andshould play less domestic cricket."Muralitharan took Graham Thorpe, England’s hero during the 2002 tour andtheir most skilful player on the subcontinent, out of the equation,dismissing him five times out of six, mostly with the wrong’un that eithertrapped him lbw or had him stumped between bat and pad.Michael Vaughan admitted that England had struggled against the delivery:"The new delivery he has got caused us a lot of problems. All our batsmenhave struggled against it. It’s one thing picking it and another playingit."Muralitharan also believed that the delivery had been crucial to hissuccess: "It troubles batsman like Graham Thorpe. The last time he played meeasily because the ball was not coming in. He was waiting to cut and pullme. This time the ball was coming as well so he got out to me five out ofsix times. Batsmen now don’t know which way it is going to turn and thatmakes it very hard for them," he explained.Muralitharan now has 485 Test wickets from 85 matches. He’s six wicketsshort of drawing level with Shane Warne (491) and 35 wickets away fromCourtney Walsh’s (519) world record. Barring injury, he should have claimedthat record by April 2004, sometime during Sri Lanka’s tour of Zimbabwe."I think breaking Courtney’s record is now in my hands. I am just 30 or 40wickets behind it and with 3-4 years I will easily go past it now. Itdepends on how well Shane Warne bowls as to who gets there first though."If Muralitharan continues bowling like he did during the England series, andassuming he is not sidelined by injury, then Muralitharan can be expected towin the race.

With the Indian government having given the go-ahead for the tour of Pakistan, Sourav Ganguly insisted that it was one that he and his players would look forward to. Speaking to the newspaper in Mumbai, Ganguly said, “Most of the team members have not played any Test cricket in Pakistan. So we are kind of keen to go there.” Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut there in 1989, none of the Indians have played a Test match in Pakistan.The go-ahead for the tour came last Saturday after intense media speculation that the home ministry would seek a postponement until after India’s parliamentary elections were completed in May.Ganguly had been quoted earlier as having concerns about the security, but he appeared to be satisfied following the visit of a three-member BCCI delegation last week, one of whom was a security expert from the home ministry.There had also been much innuendo about several top players skipping the tour, but Ganguly suggested that wouldn’t be the case. “I will not force anybody to come,” he said. “If any cricketer is concerned about security in Pakistan, I think we should accept that.” According to Mid-Day, All the senior players they spoke to, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, were prepared to make the trip.Ganguly’s biggest headache will be putting together a penetrative bowling attack, with several frontline bowlers nursing injuries. Harbhajan Singh will miss the tour, having had surgery on his bowling hand just over a month ago, while Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble are doubtful with shin and shoulder injuries respectively. And it remains to be seen whether Zaheer Khan will recover in time from the hamstring injury that cut short his Australian tour.”I think if we go at full strength, we can beat Pakistan,” said Ganguly. “Pakistan will be formidable rivals at home. We have to seriously think about the fitness of the bowlers. We should go with an off-spinner. In the absence of Harbhajan, we should find one off-spinner who can produce big turn.”The itinerary for the tour has yet to be finalised, and it’s understood that the Indians aren’t too thrilled with the prospect of having to play in Karachi and Peshawar. The Indian squad will be finalised later this month, and it’s expected that the players will assemble for a short training camp before crossing the border.

Group A Sri Lanka U19 162 for 8 (Kulasekara 37*) beat Zimbabwe 161 (Maharoof 4-28) by two wickets
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Farveez Maharoof put in a captain’s performance to sweep through Zimbabwe’s batting order with figures of 4 for 28, as Sri Lanka got off to a winning start in Bogra. After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, Maharoof justified his decision by topping and tailing a disappointing innings. Only two Zimbabwean batsmen made an impression. Sean Williams top-scored with 47 and Colin de Grandhomme chipped in with 41, while the No. 10 Tinashe Panyangara gave the innings a late flourish with 23 from 35 balls.A target of 162 was never looked like being enough to stop Sri Lanka, but when Elton Chigumbura got in on the act, an upset was suddenly on the cards. Chigumbura’s medium-pacers had Sri Lanka in a muddle, and they slumped to 65 for 6. But Kosela Kulasekara and Gihan de Silva added 83 for the seventh wicket to stem the jitters.Group B England U19 192 for 2 (Davies 78*) beat Nepal U19 191 (Vesawkar 82) by eight wickets
ScorecardEngland eased to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Nepal at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, but not before Sarad Vesawakar had battled his way to 82 to ensure England would be set a competitive target of 192. Vesawakar lacked support, however, and Nepal had slumped to 102 for 6 before Manoj Katuwal came to his country’s aid with an unbeaten 30. The pick of England’s six bowlers was Samit Patel, who took 1 for 15 in his ten overs.In reply England lost their captain Alastair Cook for 9, but Ravinder Bopara and Steven Davies added 124 for the second wicket to break the back of the run-chase. Bopara eventually fell for 59, but Davies finished unbeaten on 78, as he and Patel secured the victory with seven overs to spare.Group C New Zealand U19 204 for 8 (McKay 40*) beat Bangladesh U19 202 (Smith 4-43) by two wickets
ScorecardBangladesh were left to rue a disastrous batting collapse, as their Under-19 World Cup campaign got off to a losing start at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh’s opponents, New Zealand, eventually squeaked home by two wickets with just four balls to spare, thanks to an unbeaten 40 from the Man of the Match, Sam McKay.But the story might have been very different if Bangladesh had managed to bat out their full quota of overs. Instead, having reached a very promising 170 for 4, they lost their last six wickets for 32, to be bowled out for 202 with 21 balls remaining. Craig Smith was New Zealand’s enforcer, with 4 for 43. In the field, Bangladesh started urgently, and at 46 for 3 in the 20th over, the Kiwis were wobbling. But Anton Devcich’s rapid 36 gave them back a semblance of control … although it was a little close for comfort.Group D Pakistan U19 63 for 2 beat Papua New Guinea U19 60 (Riaz Afridi 4-15) by eight wickets
ScorecardOver 6000 people turned out to watch a rather one-sided encounter, as the Pacific islanders of Papua New Guinea were bundled out for 60 by Pakistan at the Khulna Divisional Stadium.The damage was done by Pakistan’s opening bowlers Riaz Afridi (4 for 15) and Wahab Riaz (2 for 27). Monsoor Amzad then wrapped up the innings with three wickets in only 11 balls. Pakistan needed just 14.5 overs to reach their modest target – exactly three overs less than the PNG innings.

Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to say today:So what will Andy Atkinson serve up for the India-Pakistan series? Atkinson is the curator hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to get its pitches in shape for the series against India, and he was as enthusiastic about the next month-and-a-half as the players are. “An Englishman developing pitches for a high-profile series like an India-Pakistan series is a great honour, although there will be pressure,” he said, speaking to The News. “But I promise the pitches will help create the excitement the fans seek from this series. All the pitches will be sporting, with equal chances for batsmen and bowlers. Pitches in Pakistan have been relaid in the last two-three years and they have improved a lot in that period.”Atkinson, an advisor on pitches for the ICC, worked in South Africa between 1993 and 2001. He denied that there were any specific instructions on the pitches from the Pakistan board or captain.* * *Bishan Bedi, speaking to Press Trust of India, has some advice for the Indians on how to deal with partisan crowds in Pakistan. “Stuff cotton in your ears and play the game,” he said. Bedi pronounced India capable of beating Pakistan, because “we have three batsmen who [can] show stars in the day to Pakistani bowlers. They are Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and, finally, Sachin Tendulkar.” Bedi wasn’t too impressed with Ganguly, though. “Short-pitches balls continue to trouble him as [they did] about three years ago,” he said. “It is a problem of mindset, which he would have to address himself.”* * *Virender Sehwag is not worried about reverse-swing. Sehwag, displaying his form with 109 off 69 balls in a practice game at India’s conditioning camp in Kolkata, told The Asian Age that he wasn’t worried about what Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Sami could get up to with the old ball.”So much talk is going on about how reverse-swing will play a role in Pakistan,” Sehwag said. “In the one-dayers there is virtually no scope of exploiting this art. In Test matches, maybe it can be a factor, provided conditions favour reverse-swing.”Sehwag also said that, in the absence of Harbhajan Singh, he would look to do more bowling in both forms of the game. Sehwag bowls offspin, and was looked upon as a batting allrounder when he made his international debut for India.* * *Zaheer Khan is aware that the burden of being India’s spearhead rests on him after the retirement of Javagal Srinath. Speaking to the news agency, AFP, he said, “I don’t want to say that I am leading the attack but there is definitely additional responsibility on me and I will try to carry out my job as best as I can. There is extra pressure on me only because of my injury as I have missed a lot of cricket this year. But I am quite fit now and hope to do well in Pakistan.”Zaheer said the time he has spent with Dennis Lillee and Kapil Dev has helped him develop as a bowler. He told The Asian Age, “Lillee gave me some invaluable tips about run-up and other technical aspects of bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation recently. Kapil Dev also advised me about stretching and mental aspects.”Like Sehwag, Zaheer was dismissive of reverse-swing. “There’s nothing hidden about reverse-swing any more,” he told The Times of India. “It depends on the ground and the conditions. I think we’ll have to swing the ball first [and then worry about reverse-swing].”* * *Rameez Raja, the chief executive of the PCB, has written a column for Gameplan, the syndication agency, where he has spoken effusively about the Indian batting line-up. “This is not a robotic line-up where every player is a replica of the other,” he has written. “Tendulkar’s genius and Sehwag’s impetuosity is tempered by the solidity of Rahul Dravid and [Mohammad] Kaif. In between, you have the flair of VVS Laxman, the time of the captain [Ganguly; presumably he meant `timing’ and not `time’] and the flamboyance of Yuvraj Singh. It’s a batting line-up worth coming miles to watch … It’s this combination and variety that Pakistan’s batting lacks at the moment.”* * *Even artists use technology. VVS Laxman has told PTI that “I have prepared myself to face the Pakistan bowling with confidence. I have watched video recordings of Pakistani bowlers in action in New Zealand and South Africa.” Laxman also said that his good form during India’s tour to Australia had filled him with confidence. “I have gained a lot of confidence through my performance,” he said. “I will continue my form in Pakistan. Australia was a world-class team and we played well against them, but Pakistan is another team.”* * *The News reports that tickets for the first one-day international between India and Pakistan, at Karachi on March 13, have “sold like hot cakes”. Unlike Sunday, when there had been angry clashes between authorities and disgruntled ticket-seekers, the sale proceeded smoothly on Monday. Zakir Khan, the general manager in charge of cricket operations for the PCB, said, “We would have liked to have more seating capacity for the people who are so eager to watch this match. But the fact is that the stadium capacity is [a] maximum [of] 32,950, and 20% of these were sold out on the internet. We also had our obligations towards our sponsors and companies, which left around 23,000 tickets for sale to the public.”

Scorecard

Australia are on course to inflict Sri Lanka’s first whitewash in a home Test series, after Darren Lehmann and Ricky Ponting combined to produce their best first-innings performance of the series so far. Australia, who won the toss for the third match running, weathered a sticky first hour and a post-lunch wobble to close on 314 for 6.Ponting led from the front with a forceful 92, his first substantial score in a lean maiden series as Test captain, while Lehmann, who has been a constant thorn in the flesh of Sri Lanka’s spinners, compiled 104 not out from 186 balls – an innings that was belligerent at the start and defiant towards the close. It was Lehmann’s second hundred of the series, and the fifth of a career that is belatedly coming to fruition.Ponting started the tour in prolific form during the one-day series, but had failed to deliver his customary big scores in the first two Tests, making 21, 28, 10 and 27 at Galle and Kandy. But here, at a near-empty Sinhalese Sports Club, he finally cashed in with a 138-ball innings that included 11 fours and one lofted straight six.Australia were precariously placed at 96 for 3, after Damien Martyn had fallen for 14 just after lunch, but Ponting stole back the initiative quickly with a 121-run stand for the fourth wicket with Lehmann, who was relaxed at the crease under his wide-brimmed sunhat. Like Ponting, Lehmann used his feet frequently and expertly to dominate the spinners.Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when Nuwan Zoysa pulled up with a calf injury in his fourth over of the morning. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, ultrasound scans revealed no tear and he may still bowl again later in the game, but in his absence Chaminda Vaas proved the most penetrative of the bowlers. He picked up 3 for 76 from 20 overs, spread over three separate spells.

Vaas took one wicket in the morning – Justin Langer for 19 – and two more in the afternoon, including Martyn just after lunch and Ponting, who mistimed a cover-drive and spooned a catch to mid-off, with the last delivery before tea (217 for 4).Muttiah Muralitharan has a phenomenal record at the SSC – 103 wickets in 16 Tests – and he had come into the match expecting to enjoy some extra pace and bounce, which would theoretically make his doosra more potent. But Ponting and especially Lehmann knocked him onto the back foot as he conceded 56 runs in 13 overs without taking a wicket.But he did strike back in the afternoon, when Simon Katich chipped up a return catch which Murali gleefully gobbled up as he dived two-handed to his left (244 for 5). Katich had been preferred to Andrew Symonds as Australia switched back to a more traditional three-pronged pace attack.Lehmann and Adam Gilchrist (22) slowed the tempo slightly in the final houyr and a half, consolidating a good day’s work with a 55-run stand. Murali, though, struck as the light faded when Sanath Jayasuriya at slip clung onto an edge from Gilchrist (312 for 6).In the morning, after the luckless and under-pressure Hashan Tillakaratne had lost the toss again, Sri Lanka failed to make early inroads with the new ball despite overcast conditions and a heavy swing-friendly atmosphere. Langer and Matthew Hayden made a solid start with a 43-run stand in 50 minutes.Zoysa’s injury gave Tillakaratne an unwelcome headache, but Vaas soon provided some cheer for Sri Lanka, as Langer top-edged an attempted pull to Tillakaratne Dilshan at midwicket (43 for 1). It was another disappointing effort from Langer, who has made just 75 runs in five innings in the series.Thilan Samaraweera, back in the team after a groin injury, came into the attack ahead of schedule as a replacement for Zoysa, and was rewarded with the prize scalp of Hayden, who shuffled down the wicket and miscued a lofted drive to Upul Chandana, the substitute fielder, running back from mid-off (60 for 2).Ponting and Martyn soon settled, adding 36 runs for the third wicket toreach lunch on 96 for 2, before Vaas produced a perfectly pitched legcutter to remove Martyn (96 for 3). But Ponting and Lehmann reacted positively to the fall of the third wicket, raising the tempo against the spinners with a series of powerful lofted drives to rock Sri Lanka back onto the defensive.Ponting cracked Muralitharan, who was used sparingly during the first half of the day, through the off side to bring up his fifty, while Lehmann produced a series of bellicose drives. Muralitharan would also have broken through had Mahela Jayawardene clung onto a very difficult one-handed chance off a scything cut when Lehmann had 20.Lehmann celebrated his letoff by tucking into Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers as he raced to his half-century in 75 balls. He slowed down in the evening session, and enjoyed a run-out reprieve on 62 when Kumar Sangakkara got himself in a tangle. But by the close he had soldiered on to his hundred, to leave Australia in a healthy position.

Jason Molins, Ireland’s victorious captain, hopes his side’s shock five-wicket win against Surrey in the second round of the C&G Trophy, as well as victory over Zimbabwe last summer, might help them to be inlcuded in the National League.Molins believes Ireland have the capacilty and ability to follow in the footsteps of the Scotland, who are in Division Two of the National League. "It would be great to compete in the National League," Molins, who top-scored with 58, said. "I think we are more than capable, as we proved here, and beating Surrey certainly won’t harm our credentials."This win can only raise our profile, and the third-round game should attract lots of publicity. There are lots of things we compete against like football, rugby and Gaelic sports, but the interest is there."He added, "The wins against Zimbabwe and Surrey are great, but they won’t get us to the World Cup – that is the priority."

Next week’s ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Florida between the USA and Canada (May 28-30) will mark 160 years of cricket competition between the two countries.In a revival of one of the world’s oldest sporting rivalries, Canada and the USA will play each other in their opening match of the ICC Intercontinental Cup – a new tournament giving leading Associate Member countries exposure to the longer version of the game.The long standing rivalry between the nations – which began in New York in 1844 – will resume in a three-day game at the Brian Piccolo Park in Florida beginning on May 28.The 12-match ICC Intercontinental Cup is being played across four continents between March and November 2004. It is the first time a first-class competition has been staged for countries below Test-match level.The USA and Canada have previously met on four occasions in major ICC tournaments – at the 1982, 1986 and 2001 ICC Trophy competitions, and the recent ICC Six Nations Challenge in March – with the record standing at 2-2.The contest at the ICC Six Nations Challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) saw the USA prevail by six wickets before going on to win the tournament and qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy in England this September.USA captain Richard Staple said his team was looking forward to renewing the rivalry and gaining experience in a first-class competition. “The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a tremendous opportunity for the game to excel among the associate membership of the ICC,” said Staple. “Being exposed to playing in a first-class atmosphere can only improve the status of the sport as well as the players.”Canada is always a challenge for us and on this occasion, they will have a more experienced and rounded complement of players than they had when we last played in Sharjah in March. There is now a little more focus on us because of our recent results so we will have to be ready physically and mentally to play and win.”The ICC Intercontinental Cup sees the top-ranked team from the matches played in each of the four regions (Asia, Africa, Europe and America) progress to the semi-finals and finals in the UAE in November.The chance for teams to play three-day matches is a major development opportunity for players to improve and become better equipped to handle the progression to the next level of competition.The ICC Intercontinental Cup features innovative playing conditions including a points system specifically created for the event.Teams receive 14 points for a win plus any bonus points accumulated, while teams that draw or lose a match receive only their bonus points. Only in the event of a tie will teams pick up seven additional points.Bonus points can be accumulated in both innings with a maximum of six batting points per innings awarded on the basis of 0.5 points for every 25 runs scored up to 300 runs. A maximum of five bowling points are available per innings allocated at 0.5 points per wicket taken.To encourage teams to play for a result, the first innings of each side is restricted to 90 overs unless the team batting first does not use its 90 overs in which case the team batting second can bat for its 90 overs plus the overs short of 90 not used by the team batting first.A minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the opening two days of the match.Three matches have so far been completed in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Nepal drew with hosts the UAE in March, with the home side earning 18 points to Nepal’s 14.In April, Nepal bounced back from its first-up loss to defeat Malaysia by nine wickets and receive 27.5 points, while Malaysia earned 9.5 points.Uganda collected 32 points to lead the African regional table after defeating Namibia by five wickets, while the hosts received 16 points.The ICC Intercontinental Cup is part of the High Performance arm of the ICC’s Development Program launched in 1997 to develop cricket as a global sport.Since its inception, the Development Program has helped the number of ICC members increase by over 40 in the past seven years. The ICC now has 89 member countries; 10 Full, 27 Associate and 52 Affiliate members.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is reported to be having serious doubts about going ahead with this October’s planned home series against Zimbabwe.The PCB will discuss Zimbabwe’s status at this month’s ICC meeting in London, and while it has not yet formally made any overtures to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, sources close to the board indicate that there is a growing feeling that the tour should be scrapped.Officially, Rameez Raja, the PCB’s chief executive, maintained that the series was on, although he admitted that “We are waiting and watching. We have some other options in mind that we will put forward to the ICC board this month if the crisis in Zimbabwe cricket is not resolved.”Unofficially, the PCB is believed to be looking at the international schedule to see who can be lineed up to replace Zimbabwe. The PCB is committed under its existing television contracts to schedule a certain number of home series each year, and so needs an alternative.West Indies and Sri Lanka are free to step in, and were England to withdraw from their own tour to Zimbabwe, they could be looking for something to fill the void before they travel to South Africa. A multinational one-day tournament could be the solution.Another option would be for Zimbabwe to be included in the one-day tournament, a compromise which would be acceptable to the ZCU. “We would be amenable to that” Vince Hogg, its chief executive, told the AFP news agency. “We haven’t discussed it yet with the PCB, but I’m sure that would be a practicable course to take.”The source told Pakistan’s The News that the PCB was “not keen on playing a Test series against a depleted Zimbabwe side, and will ask the ICC to reschedule the Test series instead of playing against a second-string side.”

Ricky Ponting, Australia’s captain, has played down the comments made by Adam Gilchrist about the state of the Darwin pitch, on which Australia beat Sri Lanka by 149 runs in the first Test.Gilchrist led the Australians in place of Ponting, who didn’t play in the match due to family reasons, and he labelled the pitch as not up to Test standard. However, Ponting had a different opinion on the matter: “You don’t want drawn Tests. We need players who can adapt and play to different conditions.”He added, “There’s no doubt we were spoiled last year. Last summer the pitches were as flat as I’ve seen in Australia. The West Indies last year was exactly the same. You don’t want batsmen dominating the ball as much as they did last summer. Better cricket wickets will make it a better spectacle for the fans and more enjoyable to play.”However, cricket and the state of the Darwin pitch were far from Ponting’s mind this week. His Aunt passed away during the Test, and he insisted he had no regrets at missing the match. “It’s been a pretty tough week for me and my family, but as far as it being a tough decision to miss the Test, it wasn’t a tough decision at all,” Ponting said. “Fingers crossed I’m going to play a lot more Test matches, but I’ve got only one family, so that was where the decision was made.”He also brushed aside any fears that he might be under prepared for the second Test, starting at Cairns on Friday (July 9). “I won’t be going in cold,” he said. “I had a really good workout for a few days in Brisbane. I got a lot out of that and I’ll be able to do that the next few days here as well. As it turned out the batsmen didn’t get too much time in the middle anyway, so I don’t think I’ve missed out on too much.”