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Shane Warne might be serving out a 12-month ban for using a banned diuretic, but his presence in the Australian team for the 2005 Ashes series is being keenly awaited in England. That’s the conclusion from a survey conducted by magazine.Seventy percent of respondents to the survey said Warne should be picked for Australia when he’s completed his 12-month ban. He might be the bane of English batsmen, but fans can’t wait to see the great leg-spinner back in action.John Stern, the editor of The Wisden Cricketer said, “People who love cricket want to see the big names and Warne is one of the greats. People will say [when] he’s served his ban, bring it on. Most English fans would love to see Warne play here again.”Not quite as many – 50 percent – believe England can win the series, with or without Warne, and slightly more than half would be happy if some on-field verbal conflicts were part of the entertainment.

48.4 overs Sri Lanka 201 (Kaluwitharana 54, Dillon 3-39) v West Indies 91 for 5 in 25 overs Chaminda Vaas and Prabath Nissanka exploited heavy overcast skies and cutdeep inroads into the West Indies top-order with the new ball. Despite beingasked to defend a below-par 201 after a stop-start display with the bat,their efforts left Sri Lanka with the upper-hand mid-way through with WestIndies on 91 for 5 after 25 overs.West Indies anticipated the major threat to come from Muttiah Muralitharan,a fact reflected in Brian Lara’s surprise decision to drop down the order,but it was Vaas and Nissanka who caused the problems with penetrativeopening spells.Vaas led the way with an immaculate first over, swinging the ball away fromthe left-handed Chris Gayle, who would not have survived had MahelaJayawardene clung onto a low chance at first slip. But Sri Lanka did nothave to wait long for their first wicket, as Nissanka bowled Wavell Hindsbehind his legs for a duck (2 for 1). Hinds could do no wrong against theAustralians, scoring two successive match-winning tons, but he paid thepenalty here for shuffling too far across his stumps.Gayle could not capitalise on his first over reprieve as he nicked acarbon-copy outswinger from Vaas in the next over (4 for 2). Ricardo Powell,promoted up the order as Lara relinquished his normal No. 3 spot, startedwith a firm legside clip but he never settled. Vaas, now swinging the ballsharply back into the right-handers, trapped him leg-before on the back legwith an inswinger which would have knocked back his middle stump (15 for 3).When Ramnaresh Sarwan crunched a boundary through the offside, MarvanAtapattu moved Kumar Sangakkara into a short square-point position. And nextball, Sarwan blazed a similar square-drive off the middle of his bat, onlyto see Sangakkara cling onto a fine head-high reaction catch (19 for 4).A short break for rain provided the West Indies with a chance to regroup,and after the interruption Lara started the repair-work with Marlon Samuels.The pair had to negotiate increasing variations in bounce, but they saw offNissanka and Vaas and became increasingly confident as the sun started toshine once more. Lara was the more circumspect of the pair, although he didproduce the shot of the day: a spanking cover-drive.Muralitharan was eventually introduced into the attack in the 18th over ofthe innings to resume a longstanding rivalry with Lara, the man he rates asthe best player of spin in the world. But it was Dharshana Gamage, Sri Lanka’s new bald-headed seamer, who broke through. Samuels, on 29, wasthreatening a destructive innings, but he was caught behind off a thick edgeas he tried to force powerfully through the offside (73 for 5).West Indian hopes were left resting on the shoulders of Lara, West Indiesfinest batsman and the last recognised specialist, who has laboured hard forhis runs. He was unbeaten on 22 from 72 balls, batting with Ridley Jacobs,who was on 11.Sri Lanka Innings48.4 overs Sri Lanka 201 (Kaluwitharana 54, Dillon 3-39) v West IndiesWest Indies dismissed Sri Lanka for a below-par 201 in 48.4 overs in thefirst game of a three-match series on a slow Kensington Oval pitch. It was astop-start innings dominated by Romesh Kaluwitharana at the top of theorder, who scored 54 from 75 balls, and later by Kumar Dharmasena, whochipped in with 40 valuable runs in the lower order.West Indies clasped a clear advantage after Sri Lanka had slipped to 112 for5 after the loss of Kaluwitharana, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dharmasenarescued the innings with a consolidating 59 partnership for the sixthwicket. However, West Indies finished the innings strongly, runningthrough the Sri Lanka tail in the final overs.Whether the total will be enough to test a West Indies batting line-upbrimming with confidence after three straight wins against Australia isunlikely, but Sri Lanka will take confidence from the low-scoring recenthistory at the venue, and the prospect of assistance for their key matchwinner, Muttiah Muralitharan.Sri Lanka were forced onto the back foot in first over after a poor decisionfrom Billy Doctrove. Sanath Jayasuriya greeted Doctrove’s raised finger witha resigned smile, knowing that Mervyn Dillon’s third ball had missed theedge by a fair distance (0 for 1).But Marvan Atapattu, who had top scored with 99 against a Shell Academy XIin Sri Lanka’s only practice match, and Kaluwitharana played positively.They were made to hop around on a pitch offering some early life -especially Kaluwitharana who was hit on the helmet by Corey Collymore andlater floored by a blow to his midriff – but also found the boundary as 46runs were added in 54 balls.Brian Lara conjured up a breakthrough with a surprise bowling change,calling on Marlon Samuels’ offbreaks in the 10th over. A similar move hadworked against the Australians, when Samuels had dismissed Adam Gilchristafter opening the bowling in Grenada, and it foxed Atapattu too, who clippedback a simple return catch. He had scored 22 from 36 balls (46 for 2).Lara kept ringing the changes as he replaced Dillon with Collymore. Were itnot for the fumbling hands of Ricardo Powell at second slip, Kumar Sangakkarawould have gone third ball. He continued to ride his luck, frequentlyplaying and missing. But he also showed his class, clipping one sweetboundary through the legside and another majestic cover drive. At the otherend Kaluwitharana chipped in with some flamboyant strokes.Sangakkara’s luck ran out in the 21st over as David Bernard, the fifthbowler used, claimed his first wicket in one-day cricket. Sangakkara wascaught on the point boundary by Ramnaresh Sarwan after a wild swing to oneof Bernard’s straighter deliveries – he bowled five wides in his firsttwo-over spell (83 for 3).With Sri Lanka’s shaky middle order exposed, Lara swung back onto theoffensive. Dillon was hauled back into the attack and afforded two slips. Anunconvincing Mahela Jayawardene survived Dillon’s burst, but did not outlast long, succumbing to the innocuous medium pace of Wavell Hinds as he top-edged a pull (106 for 4).West Indies stole a clear initiative soon afterwards with the run-out ofKaluwitharana, who reached his 23rd one-day fifty before becoming boggeddown after the departure of Sangakkara. Slipping on the turn as he pushedfor a second run, Kaluwitharana could not beat Hinds’s throw from theboundary despite a desperate dive (112 for 5).Dharmasena and Dilshan (27) started their repair job slowly, nudging singlesand twos. They were fortunate that West Indies’ throwing radars were notworking properly, the fielders missing the stumps on half a dozen occasions.Gradually they started to tick along more easily and Sri Lanka were set fora competitive total on 171 for 5.But they lost their way after Vasbert Drakes flattened Dilshan’s stumps, asthe last five wickets folded for 30 runs, leaving the full house at theKensington Oval with high hopes of another West Indies victory.

Ricky Ponting could yet play in the final Australia-West Indies Test starting in Antigua tomorrow.The Australian vice-captain, who did not play the last day of the third Test in Bridgetown due to a virus-like illness, has rested since arriving in Antigua.He hasn’t trained at all but was at a team meeting to discuss the match tactical options and his condition will be assessed before the game.

Gujarat notched up a quick-fire five-wicket win over Bengal in their 40-over tie during the ongoing HSBC National Cricket Tournament for the Blind, getting to their target of 187 in only 23.2 overs.Winning the toss, Bengal opted to bat first at the SPIC-YMCA ground in Chennai, but only one batsman was able to cross the 30-run mark. T Maity scored 53 off 47 balls, hitting three fours in his knock. The next highest score was made by number 10 batsman P Mondal, who hit an unbeaten 30 off 44 balls.Along with 58 extras, it was these two knocks that contributed the majority of the 186 runs that Bengal made in 37.2 overs. For Gujarat, 10 bowlers were used, with RP Bhola picking 3-30 off eight overs.Bhola then chipped in with the bat as well, hitting 60 off 51 balls, including six fours. His knock at the top of the order went a long way towards taking Gujarat towards a win, a task that SB Patel finished off by making 54 off 38 balls.Gujarat cantered to a five-wicket win off only 23.2 overs, ruining the bowling figures of each of six bowlers that Bengal employed.

In two crucial World Cup games on successive days, the weather gods had the final say, knocking South Africa, England and Pakistan out of contention for the Super Six. On Monday night at Durban, the Proteas were at the receiving end, and on Tuesday morning intermittent rain forced the abandonment of Pakistan’s crucial encounter here at Queens Sports Club against Zimbabwe, which gifted the hosts two points to allow them to pip England for the third Super Six slot from Pool A.It is an irony of fate that two African teams – Kenya and Zimababwe, one from each pool – have gone to the next round, but neither is South Africa, who hoped to be the first side ever to win a World Cup at home. High levels of expectation and unrealistic optimism have again done for a home side.Pakistan’s task was steep anyway, and there was too much rancour and instability in their eleven to to achieve it. But the rain reduced the match to a farce anyway, eventually forcing its abandonment after a delayed start and two interruptions, the last coming when Pakistan were 73 for three after 14 overs, with Saeed Anwar unbeaten at 40.Though Zimbabwe were fortunate to qualify without beating a front line cricketing nation, Pakistan were left to lick their wounds. They too had a dismal failure – not beating any of their three worthwhile rivals, and managing only scrappy wins against minnows.It will remain a point of conjecture whether they would have done any better had rain not deprived them of another two points, and afforded them a late opportunity to beat England on net run-rate. But the fact is that though Anwar stuck around until the final interruption, Pakistan had lost three batsmen rather cheaply.Yousuf Youhana made just 17 and Inzamam-ul-Haq three. Inzamam, Pakistan’s premier batsmen, made the sum total of 19 runs in six innings. That was plumbing the depths, but it pretty much sums up the performance of the big guns – most of them failed to fire throughout the tournament, and never when it mattered.There will be explanations and excuses for Pakistan’s premature exit, but it was not unexpected from a fractious outfit in which everyone was for himself and none for the team.Mercifully the whole sorry business is over. A few prima donnas who held the cricketing destiny of the nation hostage in the last decade will be gone. It is a shame that they are going of their own will; many feel they should have been forced out a long time ago.And if tomorrow comes for the present set-up in the PCB (again a moot point for no Pakistani Board has survived a World Cup failure in the previous two instances – that is, post-1996 and post-1999), it will need to sit down and do a lot of soul-searching before rebuilding a strong team from scratch.

Ben Smith’s story is an old one – as old as cricket. A lean spell breaks and at the most opportune moment and a player out of form reveals his true talent with a century.Not just a century but one which is redolent of class and technical excellence and one which has no vestige, no hint of the poor run of form that has preceded it.And the reasons ascribed by the player to his change of form are again as old as sport. Smith no longer has the cares of the captaincy, responsibilities which caused him to subordinate the needs of his own game to the needs of the team.But the greatest begetter of form and the oldest is hard work. Smith has addressed the shortcomings of his own game and, after overcoming a limited preparation, has come out of his slump stronger and more confident, has begun to harvest the fruits of his labours.There was the consideration today, as well, that Smith had a challenge in front of him when he came to the crease and that challenge provoked the competitor in him to bring out his best form.Central Districts were two for two when Smith came to the crease at 4.05pm this afternoon, replying to Canterbury’s imposing first innings of 428. They had lost both openers and there was not yet a run from the bat. Neither Richard Scragg nor David Kelly had scored – both were out lbw – and the only runs against Central’s name were from no-balls.Then Jamie How was out, also lbw, and Smith found himself alone – about to be joined by Glen Sulzberger – and Central were seven for three. This was a crisis. Central were yet 275 runs from the follow on and their top order was reduced to rubble.But Central found in Smith a man whose moment had come.Nor should Sulzberger’s contribution be under-rated. There was irony in the fact the Central captaincy has passed this season between Smith and Sulzberger. Smith had not asked to be relieved of the responsibility of leadership – though he felt the duties of captaincy had begun to impinge on his form – but the decision had been made to make Sulzberger captain in Smith’s place.Smith said that decision had been taken for sensible and understandable reasons – because he is an Englishman based here temporarily and because Sulzberger, relatively young and indisputably local, is likely to serve Central Districts for many years in the future.Smith believes he has a role to play for Central, not just as a batsman but in passing on the fruits of his experience to younger players. But he supports the decision to move the captaincy onto a man whose long term future is with the province, an association Smith has come from Leicestershire to serve.Smith was able to rise quickly above the crisis in which he found himself immersed when he came to the crease. He batted from the outset with fluency and confidence and as he prospered, so too did Central’s trial lessen.Smith reached his half century from only 53 balls – the fastest of the five half centuries the match has seen so far – and then to a century – a very satisfying century – from 132 balls.He reached his century, or at least he thought he had reached his century, when he hooked a ball from Wade Cornelius forward of square leg. Smith turned, even before the ball fetched the boundary, and raised his arms in triumph towards his team-mates gathered at fine leg.In fact, the scoreboard had overstated Smith’s total by one and he was only 99. There were no further alarms and he achieved his hundred in the scorers’ estimation from the following ball.”The fact is I didn’t have the best preparation for the start of the season and having the captaincy, while it offered me another challenge, didn’t always have a positive impact on my form,” Smith said.”I spent a lot of time thinking about that, about the needs of the team and I put my game to one side to help in other areas.”But I also put a lot of work in the off season at home into getting right back and getting right forward, to put it in a technical sense. I felt that had helped my game and it was a matter of time before it began to show.”Smith’s effort was to ensure he played both lengths decisively and he did so today. Many of his runs were scored in an arc between midwicket and backward square and that also reflected a change in his game, in his strokeplay, occasioned by study and hard work.Smith realised he had become a player who relied, for many of his runs, on width outside off stump and he recognised, equally, that bowlers had begun to take account of that fact. So he adjusted his game to be less reliant on that area and his success was revealed today in the success of his leg-side strokeplay.He began to work that arc most obviously when New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin, who bowled his first 10 overs consecutively from the city end, began to tire and to stray from a full length. Martin had taken the wicket of Scragg with the second ball of his first over.Warren Wisneski, who cut his teeth in Taranaki, took the two other wickets to fall – those of Kelly, who offered no shot to a full in-swinger and was caught on the back pad, and of How.Smith was 102 not out at stumps – Central were revived at 166/3 – and Sulzberger, who batted with the quaint seriousness of a captain come to the aid of his team, was 48 and batting with impressive soundness.Canterbury were earlier all out for 428, having resumed at 301/5. Chris Harris went from 46 not out overnight to 52 and was out when his innings had seemed full of promise. He didn’t recover the form today he had begun to show before stumps on the first night when he had six fours and three sixes.Paul Wiseman held together the tail of an impressive innings with 59, batting more than two hours.

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has been accorded the privilege by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to conduct the third one-day international between India and Zimbabwe at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, on March 13, 2002. This is the third one-day international that the KCA is conducting at this venue.The fixture will be a day match, played with coloured clothing and white ball.The KCA has made elaborate arrangements to make this event a success.Tickets this year have been priced reasonably and are currently in the process of being printed. The rates are as follows:Patron: Rs 1000
Chair: Rs 600, Rs 400, Rs 250
Gallery: Rs 100
Students Gallery: Rs 80
Both teams will arrive in Kochi on March 12. They are expected to have a practice session and pre-match press meet in the evening.The State Bank of Travancore has been appointed as official bankers for the event. Tickets will be available at their branches throughout the State.This year the KCA has awarded rights of in-stadia advertising to 21st Century Media Publications, New Delhi. All interested advertisers should go through them to place in-stadia advertising.As in previous years, extra effort has been made to provide suitable amenities to the public on the day of the match. Toilet facilities, drinking water, and food at reasonable prices will be made available at various points in the stadium.

India A 181 and 70 for 0 (Das 22*, Jaffer 32*) trail Warwickshire 537 by 286 runs
ScorecardIndia A’s impressive tour was in danger of coming to an ignominious end, as Ian Bell swung his way through their batting with career-best figures of 4 for 12 from nine overs. India, whose batsmen have been the star performers of an unbeaten tour, were forced to follow on and salvaging a draw is now the best they can hope for.India had resumed at 5 for 0 in reply to Warwickshire’s formidable 537, and had reached 117 for 1 when Bell began his wicket-spree. With Graeme Wagg chipping away at the other end, India folded for 181, with four batsmen recording ducks. Only Parthiv Patel, with a composed unbeaten 46, was able to keep his head.They faced a tricky 20 overs in their second innings, but Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer prevented any further mishaps by reaching 70 for 0 at the close. But Bell, who made a fine 75 in Warwickshire’s innings, has yet to be unleashed for a second time.

A diplomatic incident occurred at the ICC Under-19 World Cup today between the Indian and Pakistan sides – but it was not the sort of incident to cause antagonism or shame.It was a moment of pride, for both countries, as they put aside the differences being experienced on the Kashmir frontier.It was a moment of joy, as the two teams went into a marquee at the ground after the game and embraced, each player, manager, fitness trainer, the works.It was a statement for the moment, and it was a vision for the future, as the players who will surely be competitors again, if the politicians can allow two of the most competitive nations in the cricket world to play each other, when cricket ties between the two are normalised.They had each just played a rattling good competitive game. It was won by Pakistan by two wickets, but India also triumphed as they have qualified for the semi-finals.There was tension on the field, but there was delight also that the spirit in which the game was played was outstanding.Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who had led his side to victory with an unbeaten 85 summed it up afterwards when he said the players taking part in the match did not want the problems associated with the border tensions.”We don’t want this, this is our game.”We are not at the border, we are not at the war.”We are going to play at the next level of the game against each other. We want to play in a brotherly manner,” he said.The Pakistan manager Brigadier Javed Tipu said at the beginning of the day he had approached the Indian management to see if representatives from one side could address the others to point out that despite whatever else might be happening, they were here to play a game of cricket and that it should be played in the best traditions of the game.”After mutual consultation it was decided we should each speak to our own boys and that after the match we could get together,” he said.”We love our cricket on the sub-continent, in Pakistan, in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”Cricket is the game of the future and I feel cricket’s future is more in Asia,” he said.”These boys are the future of Indian and Pakistan cricket. Most of our players in these teams go on to represent the national side and they will face each other, hopefully, in tournaments many times in the future.”We wanted them to make friends and to be on friendly terms because they played each other.”Cricket should be kept away from politics, unfortunately we have not been able to do that.”We hope and pray that today’s match is the beginning of coming back to normal cricket relations between our two countries,” he said.

* Tendulkar not sure that he can make an early returnLittle master Sachin Tendulkar is not sure if he can be fit in time for the South African tour.Tendulkar, who has an injured toe, was talking to mediapersons after his return following check-ups by South African surgeon, Dr Mark Fergussen.”My injury does not need treatment as such. But the toe has to be rested for some more time,” he told the Press Trust of India in Mumbai. “I don’t want to predict the time it will take for me to start playing again,” he added.Dr Fergussen had prescribed special inner soles for Tendulkar’s shoes which he says will have to be worn for some time. The critical area is the ball of his right foot which has not healed completely after a hairline fracture suffered during India’s tour of Zimbabwe.”I know that injury is part and parcel of the game but it has been a bit disheartening knowing that the injury has not healed properly. I was very relieved to hear that I do not need surgery. I am now keeping my fingers crossed that I will be fit for the South African tour and I promise that I will be trying very hard to be ready,” Tendulkar said.* Indian captain for South Africa to be named on September 6The Indian selectors will meet on September 6 to name the captain for the tour of South Africa. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jaywant Lele also told cricketnext.com that the rest of the team would be named the next day.The indications are that Ganguly will retain his job despite the now certain prospect of India losing the Test series in Sri Lanka. The five wise men reportedly feel that South Africa will be far too demanding an assignment for a new captain. The big news on September 7 will concern the availability of Sachin Tendulkar. India will desperately need the little master to be fit and playing if they are to put up any fight on the hard and bouncy wickets in springbok country.The day would also bring us further news about VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. The twenty players who will be offered contracts could also be named by then.The cricketnext.com report says that the Indian squad will now leave for South Africa four days earlier. They are expected to land in Johannesburg on September 24. This follows a request from the Indian team management that they be given a week to ten days to come to grips with the pitches and conditions in South Africa.India will play their first practice match against a Nicky Oppenheimer XI at Randjesfontein. On October 5 they would feature in a one-dayer against South Africa in Johannesburg. That match will be the curtain-raiser for the one-day tri-series that will feature Kenya as the third team. The Test series starts on November 3. You can get the most comprehensive coverage of the matches here at cricinfo.com.