Australia praying for rain and the English media heralding a bright new dawn? Something strange has come to pass at Old Trafford over the past three days. For all the faux-excitement in the British tabloids about the start of the football season, one needed only peel a couple of pages beneath the surface to discover the story that’s really got tongues wagging this summer.”Make no mistake: England are on top in the Ashes now, and we LOVE it,” bellowed Mike Walters in The Mirror, under a banner headline that paid due reference to England’s star turn of the second day. “We’re Giles ahead!” cackled the paper, after our Ashley had produced his own imitation of Shane Warne’s ball of the century to bowl Damien Martyn for 20.”Spinball Wizard,” agreed The Sun. “Same place, same spin and the same devastating result,” elaborated their correspondent, John Etheridge. “The King of Spain’s incredible fizzer landed on a leg-stump line before turning so wickedly it clipped the top of the off pole.” even diverted their chief sports writer, Steven Howard, away from his football duties to pass comment on the proceedings. “Suddenly it’s all gone quiet over there,” he intoned. “The Poms were giving their boys one hell of a beating.”Such incendiary comments really got the Aussies’ goat during the one-day series, with The Australian newspaper suffering a back-page sense of humour failure following ‘s depiction of their fast bowlers as “Sheilas”. Today, however, they were meekly resigned to their fate.”If any slim doubts remained as to the uphill battle Australia faces to retain the Ashes, they were duly erased by England’s further domination,” stated Andrew Ramsey in The Australian. “The poise and self-belief displayed by the home team’s middle-order was in marked contrast to another slipshod effort by Australia’s bowlers and fielders, who are showing frailty under sustained pressure.””Australia were battling for survival in the third Test on Friday evening,” agreed Chloe Saltau in The Sydney Morning Herald, after enduring “one of their worst days in the field” on Thursday, and losing Justin Langer to “a stroke of brilliance before tea”. These are words that could have summed up any given England performance of the last 20 years. When they are applied to Australia it is confusing in the extreme.And hot on the heels of the poor performances … come the recriminations. Michael Slater, currently a commentator for Channel 4, decided that, following a spate of costly dropped catches, the object of his ire would be Australia’s coach, John Buchanan.”It makes me question their practice regimes at the moment, which is the coach’s responsibility,” he told The Courier Mail. “Are they practising with enough intensity, because if you don’t you won’t be able to take it on to the field. The big moments are taking those catches and Australia have prided themselves on taking even half-chances. It surprises me how many let-offs Australia are giving England.”Slater’s co-commentator, Geoffrey Boycott, pinned the blame on Jason Gillespie, the undoubted weak link in a hitherto invincible bowling attack. “Gillespie was ineffective and hardly moved the ball all day,” he wrote in The Daily Telegraph. “At this level of Test cricket you have to be able to swing or seam the ball or do something with it. It’s all right saying that Gillespie has a good reputation (but) all players have to live on facts and figures and Gillespie’s are not very good at this moment.””Any decision to axe Gillespie would be taken with a heavy heart,” said Ramsay, because he is “one of Australia’s most respected and best-loved players for his willingness to bowl his heart out in any conditions or circumstances,” but Peter Roebuck, in The Sydney Morning Herald, believed his form brooked no argument. “Jason Gillespie has looked a spent force and can no longer command a regular place in the side. Nor is it surprising. Not even the greatest sportsman can stop the clock.””It is way, way too early to gloat,” Matt Price, in The Australian, warned England’s fans. But it wasn’t too early for the vitriol to start spouting. “Adam Gilchrist seems to have morphed into Geraint Jones, spilling everything and appearing to have seven thumbs jammed into each margarine-coated glove. Perhaps the transformation has been mutual, so by the time you read this Jones will have knocked up 150 in a session to steer England to 700 and beyond.”But the real target of Price’s wrath was the most convenient scapegoat of all, Billy Bowden. “Bowden is a pain in the neck,” he raged. “I’ve never been the slightest bit enchanted by the New Zealand umpire’s contrived antics, leaping about and waving his arms like some kind of unco-ordinated, computer-generated tai chi exponent.”Officials should be permitted their quirks,” he conceded, “The Bucknor pause, the Shepherd hop. But Bowden oversteps the line between idiosyncratic and idiotic. Umpires, like children and John Howard’s backbenchers, should be seen and rarely heard.”

Shane Warne, Australia’s legendary legspinner, arrived home on Thursday pleading for the media to respect his privacy as he attempts to save his failed marriage.Warne, who was outstanding in a beaten Australian side in the Ashes series loss to England earlier this month, told reporters at the airport here that he is seeking a reconciliation with his estranged wife Simone. Warne separated from Simone, the mother of his three children, following a string of lurid tabloid newspaper revelations.Warne asked the Australian media to give him and his family space while he tried to settle his personal issues. He said he had spoken to his wife and children at least twice a day since they returned to Australia.”It’s not an easy situation to be in. It’s something I haven’t experienced before in my life,” Warne said. “I tried to concentrate as hard as I could when I was at the cricket ground but away from that there were some tough times. There were nights when you would sit in your hotel room and think about all the different things.”Warne said he had never wanted to separate from his wife and would try hard to repair the marriage. “It’s not the way I wanted it to be,” he said. “We’re still friends, we still speak all the time, but we’ve just got to work out what we both want, which way we’re going to go and which road we go down. That’s on the agenda – we’ve got lots of things to talk about.”Warne said the Australian media hounded him and urged them to give his family privacy. “Hopefully, you guys [reporters] will respect that and leave us alone, not following us and camping outside our house but I doubt it,” he said. “I doubt whether you guys will, so that will probably make it harder.” Warne said lurid stories about him in the British tabloids were lies, rubbish and fabrication. “I’m not going to sit and defend myself every time some silly person makes up lies and talks rubbish,” he said. “What am I supposed to do, call a press conference? You’ve got to live your life. The public are not dumb, the public understand what is absolute lies and rubbish when it happens. They know exactly what the truth is.”Warne hinted he was nearing the end of his international career, saying the constant travel was beginning to tire him. “I enjoyed living in England but I have to weigh up the whole package, the travel and so on.”

The fracas surrounding Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly escalated on Sunday when several members of the Indian team stood up for their captain, on return to India. Newspapers around the country were awash with stories of how certain members of the team were unhappy with the manner in which Chappell was handling matters. There has been a clear polarisation in the team, into pro-Ganguly and pro-Chappell camps.The most vocal member of the pro-Ganguly camp has been Harbhajan Singh, who became the first member of this team to come out in defence of Ganguly, accusing Chappell of instilling “fear and insecurity” and slamming him for “double standards” in a Press Trust of India report. Cricinfo has learned that Harbhajan is not alone in feeling this way and that there is indeed a fair bit of anger within the team. “You can’t just talk to the Indian captain like that, asking him to stand down on the morning of a Test. Sourav has led India for long now and that’s not the way a coach should talk, no matter what his stature is,” said one player, who obviously did not want to be named.But it is not so much what Chappell has said, as the manner in which he has put things across that have irked members of the team – a mix of senior and junior players. “He’s a bit too rough in his approach. He’s just come to the job and he’s being ruthless. We all know that we have to work hard on fitness and all that, but you can’t just push people away the first time they struggle with a fitness regimen,” said another player.In all this though, it is not as though the whole team has turned against Chappell. “He’s very direct in his approach and some of the guys don’t like that. But the point really isn’t how he puts things across. He is trying to implement some plans and there’s some resistance to that. There’s always bound to be some resistance to change,” said another player.With the whole issue being thrashed out in the media rather than the dressing-room, it has become increasingly difficult for any of the concerned parties to back down from a stance. Had the matter been kept inhouse – as it has been when there have been disagreements in the past – the situation is unlikely to have deteriorated to this extent. In two days a panel including former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, will hear from Chappell and Ganguly, and they have their hands full.

Scorecard
Reon King took a wicket off the last ball of the match as Guyana and Leeward Islands played out a thrilling tie in a high-scoring game at Windward Cricket Club in Barbados. Leeward Islands, chasing 292 to win, required nine to win off the last over when King induced Carl Simon to edge to the wicketkeeper to effect a tie.Earlier, Ramnaresh Sarwan scored his second successive century of the tournament to enable Guyana to reach 291. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine both pitched in with 52.

A dramatic day at Newlands witnessed 18 wickets fall, but the bat finally dominated during the final session as the Cape Cobras took a firm grip against the Titans. The day began with Alfonso Thomas tearing through the Cape Cobras with a career-best 7 for 54 as the last six wickets fell for 40 runs. However, the Titans then collapsed in more spectacular fashion as they crumbled for 103 with Vernon Philander rushing through the tail with 4 for 6. But sanity prevailed as the Cape Cobras built on their first innings lead with Andrew Puttick striking a measured half-century and Herschelle Gibbs a boundary-studded 56.Matthew Harris hit his second hundred in two matches as the Lions gained a 104-run lead over the Warriors. The wicketkeeper came in at 161 for 4 and was last-man out after facing 143 balls. His hundred built on the solid work from Justin Ontong and Neil McKenzie, who added 130 for the third wicket, but it would not have been possible without the obdurate support of Gerhard de Bruin who made 16 in almost two hours. Harris and de Bruin added 90 after the Lions slipped to 226 for 8. Johan Botha, the offspinner, enhanced his international claims with four wickets as South Africa considers their spin bowling options for the tour of India.An impressive performance from the Dolphins’ top order put them on course for a sizeable lead against the Eagles. They already hold a 74 run advantage following Imraan Khan’s 118. His century was the major contribution while Hashim Amla and Dale Benkenstein also passed fifty. Benkenstein will aim to build on today’s work, ending the day unbeaten on 71. Nicky Boje kept a semblance of control on the scoring rate, toiling through 26 overs and claiming 2 for 55.

Shane Warne, who holds the world record for the most wickets in a calendar year, believes the “cheap” offerings in Test cricket will limit the length of his new mark. While not naming Muttiah Muralitharan, who is Warne’s closest rival on the overall wickets list, Warne told he expected his new record to be overtaken soon.”It would be nice if it [the new record] lasted another 25 years, but I don’t think it will,” Warne told the paper after passing Dennis Lillee’s 85 victims. “There’s a lot more cricket being played these days and you have teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in there, with some teams playing them a lot more.”I’ve never played a Test against Bangladesh and only one against Zimbabwe, but there are some teams out there that play them a lot. And some blokes bowl at one end all day against those sort of countries and take lots of wickets. I’m sure that whoever those people are, they might get it [the record] next year,” Warne said, leaving little to the imagination about the identity of the principal contender for his record.Muralitharan, who has a tally of 578 Test wickets, has 34 dismissals in four matches against Bangladesh and 89 in 14 Tests against Zimbabwe. Warne will have a chance to play his first Test against Bangladesh when Australia makes its first tour there in April 2006.Warne attributed his 2005 tally to his decision not to play one-dayers and its beneficial effects on his body. “The demands of one-day international cricket come because there are so many tournaments of three weeks or so here and there,” Warne said. “In international cricket, it’s the back-to-back games and all the diving and throwing at training. In one-day cricket, you need to be good in the field, you need to dive around and have a good, flat throw. I hardly throw at all now, so that keeps my shoulder strong.

The annual central contracts for Indian cricketers were announced today, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India announcing a three-tier structure for 15 players.As expected Irfan Pathan was the only addition to the premier Group A category while Zaheer Khan, selected for the Pakistan tour, was demoted from Group B to Group C. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was given a central contract and was slotted in Group B while Parthiv Patel’s contract was not renewed. Ashish Nehra and Lakshmipathy Balaji, the former contracted players, were also ignored while Murali Kartik, who was not picked for the Pakistan tour, was retained in Group C. Gautam Gambhir was included in Group C, replacing Aakash Chopra from last year’s contract.At the moment the BCCI has allocated 26% of total profits towards payment of players’ salaries. Of this, 13% goes towards payments to the national team, while 13% goes to payments of domestic cricketers, cricketers who go on A-tours etc. It is expected that the premier slab A will fetch Rs 80 lakh to 1 crore (previously Rs 50 lakh), the second slab Rs 60-70 lakh (previously 35 lakh) and the last slab Rs 30-40 lakh (previously 20 lakh).Player contract detailsGroup A:Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan PathanGroup B:Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajit AgarkarGroup C:Murali Kartik, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer khanLast season’s contractsGroup A:Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh.Group B:Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Lakshmipathy Balaji.Group C:Parthiv Patel, Aakash Chopra, Murali Kartik.

Thanks to Mohammad Asif, the Pakistani fast bowler, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) qualified for the tournament’s Quadrangular Stage round as they beat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by 100 runs on the final day of their Patron’s Trophy match at the Arbab Niaz Stadium at Peshawar yesterday. It could be said that the result was contrived as both sides decided to forfeit their first innings and the match was reduced to a single-innings affair. There had been no play at all on the first three days due to heavy recent rains in the city and then because of the unplayable condition of the ground.On the fourth and final day yesterday, Rao Iftikhar , the ZTBL captain, won the toss and put NBP in, who went on a run blitz, hammering 268 for 9 in a mere 40 overs. ZTBL were bowled out for a poor 168 in reply.Budding youngster Shahid Yousuf, formerly on the ZTBL rolls, hit 10 fours and a six as he took a mere 85 balls for his 99 in seven minutes short of two hours. Yousuf, 19, was unlucky to miss out on what would have been only his third century in first-class cricket. With Faisal Athar, who hit 45 off 62 balls with five fours, Shahid’s third-wicket stand was worth 117. The fact that Bilal Asad, the fast bowler, took 5 for 64 in 11 overs became secondary in the face of a run-glut.From there onwards, it was Mohammad Asif’s show. In 11 overs, the young batsman from Sheikhupura captured 5 for 70, with great help from Mohammad Sami (2 for 46) and Mansoor Amjad (2 for 30). The only bright spot in the ZTBL innings was a 61-run seventh-wicket stand between Naved Ashraf, who scored 66 off 54 balls with seven fours and three sixes, and Bilal Asad, who hit 35 runs off 37 deliveries with six fours and a six.The match, originally scheduled to be played at the Lahore City Cricket Asociation Ground, was shifted because of the poor conditions there mainly due to heavy fog and poor visibility. In Peshawar, there was no play possible on the first three days. NBP, five-time winners of the tournament, have now moved to the Quadrangular Stage round. Four-time champions ZTBL were content to finish at fourth place in the five-team Group B table. Service Industries, after having gained no points from their four matches of which they lost three and drew one, had already suffered demotion to the non-first-class Patron’s Trophy Grade-II circuit. Ironically, they had qualified for the ongoing tournament after having won the last season’s Grade-II championship.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) retained their top position in Group A, as their final-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) ended in a draw on the final day at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex at Karachi. For this drawn result Faisal Iqbal, PIA’s captain, had to play a determined and grim match-saving knock of 80 not out as his team reached 196 for 7 in their second innings after having had to bat out the entire day yesterday.Earlier on Wednesday, PIA had gained the crucial first-innings lead against SNGPL which was significant, even if it amounted to just 8. They then lost two quick wickets before the close of play on the third day.With Samiullah Niazi, the left-arm fast bowler, bowling at his best PIA were tottering at 54 for 5 early yesterday. Faisal was helped by the in-form Mahmood Hamid, with back-to-back unbeaten centuries in his last two innings, in a sixth-wicket stand of 38. However, PIA’s seventh wicket fell with the score at 130. Faisal and Tahir Khan, who followed up his first-innings 47 with an unbeaten 29, then took their team to the safety of stumps by batting resolutely for just over an hour. Faisal remained unbeaten on 80, made off 202 balls in just short of four hours with eight fours. Samiullah finished with figures of 4 for 59 to add to his first-innings 3 for 75.PIA have now qualified from the five-team Group A for the Patron’s Trophy Quadrangular Stage round that starts from January 15, along with second-placed Habib Bank. SNGPL, with nine points from their three previous matches, also needed to win here to take their tally to 18, something which could even have taken them into the Quadrangular Stage ahead of PIA. They eventually had to settle for fourth place. PIA, who have never won the Patron’s Trophy but shared the title last season with Habib Bank after the final was rained off, ended with a total of 18 points that kept them ahead of the rest.Pakistan Customs batted stubbornly in their follow-on innings to reach 292 for 5 as their final-round Patron’s Trophy match against Habib Bank ended in a draw at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 at Karachi. This splendid display, however, came as no consolation to them in real terms as, having finished at the bottom of the five-team ranking table, they had already suffered relegation to the non-first-class Patron’s Trophy Grade-II circuit of the next season.Habib Bank, record seven-time Patron’s Trophy winners, took three points from the draw to take their total in four matches to 15. They have now qualified for the Quadrangular Stage round that starts from January 15 alongside Group A table-toppers PIA.Customs were forced to follow-on by Habib Bank, after they had fallen 223 runs short of the latter’s big first innings total of 506. Resuming at 49 for 1 in their second innings yesterday, Customs batted throughout the day scoring 292 for 5.The second-wicket stand between Kashif Siddiq (42) and Azhar Shafiq (45), both left-handers, produced 91. Another 109 came for the fourth-wicket partnership that took the score beyond 200.The experienced Afsar Nawaz top-scored with 83 that took him just short of three hours while he faced 123 balls and hit 16 fours and a six. Fawad Alam, the young left-hander, followed his first-innings 94 with an unbeaten 71. Fawad, 20, was part of the Pakistan team at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in early 2004. He hit seven fours in his knock that came off 165 balls in almost three and a half hours. With Rashid Ali, he added an exact 50 for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand when the match was called off.Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) took the first-innings lead and the three points on offer over Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on the final day of their match at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Thursday, but still failed to move to the next stage. PTCL continued to lead the points table with a tally of 18 but WAPDA, even though they came at par with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) with 15 points, slumped to third place in the five-team table on the basis of more wins and the net run-rate.NBP won two of their four matches, also beating Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in Peshawar yesterday, after either side had forfeited its first innings. WAPDA won only once while drawing the other three matches. Moreover, NBP finished with a net run-rate of +1.427 while WAPDA’s figure was +0.957. Their efforts here yesterday were thus of no avail. WAPDA were the Patron’s Trophy runners-up in 2003-04 while PTCL have never won a national title. Alongside NBP, the latter have now qualified from Group B for the Quadrangular Stage round.With the first two days of the match washed out because of heavy rains and their aftermath in the city, play started only on the third day on Wednesday. Put in to bat, PTCL were reeling at 108 for 8 in 54.3 overs by the day’s close. Yesterday, PTCL were all out for 134 in 66.2 overs, with Farooq Iqbal, the slow left-armer, finishing with figures of 6 for 46 runs in 23.2 overs.WAPDA then spent the rest of the time compiling a score of 232 for 6 in 73 overs and taking the first-innings lead. Adil Nisar, the captain, top-scored with 87 off 178 balls with nine fours and two sixes. His second-wicket stand with Tariq Aziz (28) produced 83 runs, and another 51 were added for the third wicket with Aamer Sajjad (38). Mohammad Hussain, a former Pakistan left-arm spinner, collected five of the six wickets to fall.

Shane Warne, the Australia legspinner, has quashed rumours of a ODI return by confirming his retirement. He said he is more intent on preserving himself rather than touring the West Indies for the 2007 World Cup.In an interview with Warne said: “At this stage, I’m retired. I’m 37 later this year and I think I know my game pretty well. I know I can’t bowl for hours in the nets like I used to because when I wake-up I won’t be able to move the next day.”Warne took a three-week break from the game, spending part of it in Thailand and Fiji, before returning to represent Victoria for a Pura Cup match against South Australia starting February 2. “I needed three weeks off,” he said. “I could probably have done with a few more weeks to be honest, but I really wanted to play the last few games for Victoria. I wanted to get back in the groove. I’ve missed the game. It’s always nice to have a few games, especially with Victoria.”In 2003 Warne announced that he would retire from ODIs after the World Cup, but he failed a drugs test before the tournament started, and has focussed on Tests ever since.

The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) has won the rights to broadcast the 2007 World Cup on television and radio around the Caribbean. The deal includes ball-by-ball coverage of 36 matches on radio, including all games involving West Indies, and broadcasters throughout the region will have access to live TV pictures, daily highlights and a discussion show called At The Wicket.The CMC also has the rights to provide clips for its news packages on the Carib Vision satellite channel and Errol Clarke, CMC’s chief operations officer, was delighted with the extensive deal. “In this very competitive environment, this is truly a huge achievement for CMC.”We are delighted that the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) had enough confidence in the CMC to give us another opportunity to strengthen our partnership with the ICC.”Clarke believes the deal provides further evidence of the CMC’s commitment to the game and is another example of how every effort is being made to make the 2007 tournament one of most memorable and accessible. “The World Cup is the crown jewel of the CMC’s acquisition of marquee sports properties for the simple reason that the tournament is being played in the Caribbean.””In much the same way the local organising committees are stepping up to stage this global event, the CMC is making every effort to ensure quality coverage for viewers and listeners.”A lot of people are working tirelessly right now to ensure that everything is in place to host the best World Cup ever, and if they achieve their goals, it is important for people of the region to see another shining example of Caribbean excellence.”Ian Frykberg, the managing director of the GCC, said: “It is fitting that a Caribbean company has secured the rights against rivals from overseas. This is going to be a fantastic event for the people of the Caribbean, and we look forward to working closely with the CMC.”The World Cup will be launched with an opening ceremony on March 11 at the new Greenfield Stadium in Jamaica, with the final being staged at the redeveloped Kensington Oval in Barbados.