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Rahul Dravid has been sidelined for two to three weeks following a hair-line fracture to his right middle finger, an injury that forced him to retire on the morning of the final day in Adelaide. Dravid was struck on the glove by a Brett Lee bouncer and walked off after showing signs of discomfort.Dravid hasn’t been included in India’s one-day squad for the CB series and is expected to be fit for the home series against South Africa, starting in March. Dravid couldn’t grip his bat too well after the injury and, after receiving regular treatment from physio John Gloster, decided to leave the field in what will probably be his last appearance in Australia.He was taken for an X-ray soon after and spent the day using ice-cubes to heal the finger. A final report is awaited but he is unlikely to be ready for action before at least another couple of weeks.

Mahela Jayawardene made no excuses after his team was shot out for only 141 and lost to South Africa by 78 runs, virtually ruling them out of a spot in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. Instead, he complimented the South Africans on their bowling performance. “The wicket had something in it for the fast bowlers. It was definitely good bowling from South Africa,” said Jayawardene at the post-match press conference. “They bowled to a good line and length and kept the pressure on us. It is not that the batsmen played bad shots and got out. But none of us could stay at the wicket for any length of time.”However, Sri Lanka are still hanging on to the slender hope that Pakistan can win their matches against South Africa and New Zealand – and do so convincingly – bringing a three-way tie into place for the second semifinal spot and reducing it to a matter of net run rates.Graeme Smith, for his part, did not specifically think that this was a good toss to lose. “It was still a good wicket to chase on. With the dew it was difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball and bowl,” he said. “We always knew that 220-230 was a good total and we wanted to knock a few over in the first fifteen overs. There was a bit of juice for the first 10 overs and Makhaya [Ntini] and Shaun [Pollock] bowled really well and got us the important breakthroughs. After that everyone got aggressive and we kept the pressure on them till the end.”The combined performance of Ntini, Pollock and Nel – they picked up seven wickets between them – meant that there was no need for Smith to even use Robin Peterson, the young left-arm spinner. “It was going to be very difficult for him to bowl after the ball had got wet in the dew,” explained Smith. “The fast bowlers were bowling really well. It was a risk to keep bowling the pacers because we would run out of them by the 40th over. But luckily it paid off.”Smith also suggested that it was the preparation that the South Africans had done in the days leading up to the game, combined with the manner in which they executed their plans, that made all the difference on the day. “We wanted to win the first 30-35 overs of the [second] innings because we had done a lot of homework and knew that Sri Lanka score a lot of runs during that period,” he said. “It was important for us to get people like Sanath early. Makhaya and Shaun bowled really well first up and Nel continued from where they left off.”The ageless Shaun Pollock, who walked away with the Man of the Match award for his superb spell of 10-0-21-2, said South Africa’s success was not a result merely of his own efforts, but also that of his new-ball partner, Makhaya Ntini. “We were really good together,” he said in typically understated fashion. “We had looked at videos in the last few days and sorted out the areas where we wanted to bowl to them. It was good that we carried out the plans we had devised. After myself and Makhaya did our bit, Nel also did his job. It was great for us that he managed to dismiss [Marvan] Atapattu with a great delivery in his first over because Atapattu is the kind of batsman who can play the anchor.”

Gus Logie, the Bermuda coach, says he knows “what the problems are, now we are interested in finding solutions” to his side’s constant bickering and sniping, and their consistently poor form on the field.In an extensive interview with the Logie bluntly accepted that a change of mindset would be vital if Bermuda are to ever seriously challenge the upper echelons of cricket’s established order. But he also offered an explanation to their continually poor results.”The island suffers from having a results oriented society,” he told the newspaper. “In the shorter version you can see an instant result. In the longer game you can have a draw, and sometimes that doesn’t sit very well with some people. But you have to be mindful of what cricket is about, you have to appreciate the fundamentals of the game.”The reality of the situation is that life goes on, and we [the Bermuda Cricket Board] are here to help. We know that cricket can make a difference in people’s lives. Yes we are criticised, and we have taken are fair share of criticism, but we know that some players need our support. “But they have to let us know,” he said. “We are in a position where we can afford to provide support, be it financial or social, and if we do, then we can get more out of the individual.”Some of the older players can adapt, and some of the younger players can’t. But if we can teach them to love the game, to understand it, then they will want to play in a longer game, not just get it over and done with.”The players can be taught to play the longer version, it’s just a case of repetition . . . constantly teaching them to concentrate, build an innings, and understand how to play for longer.”Lionel Cann, one of Bermuda’s most talented batsmen if not the most consistent, withdrew himself from the national squad earlier this month citing personal and family commitments. In addition, the country still doesn’t possess an international pitch; their National Sports Centre is due for yet another inspection in the next few months to ascertain whether the wicket meets ICC standards.

Boeta Dippenaar will lead South Africa A on their tour of India beginning on September 13. Ashwell Prince and Hashim Amla, the other candidates, have indicated that they preferred to concentrate on their batting without the responsibility of captaincy.Lions offspinner Werner Coetsee, Cobras allrounder Rory Kleinveldt and Dolphins left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdullah were the new faces that have been picked for the tour.South Africa A are scheduled to play two four-day games and three limited-over games against India A. However, changes will be made to the squad after the four-day games because some of the players would be needed for the Test tour in Pakistan.South Africa A: Morne van Wyk, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Boeta Dippenaar (capt), Hashim Amla, Justin Ontong, Ashwell Prince, Werner Coetsee, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile, Friedel de Wet, Yusuf Abdullah, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt.

Anura Tennekoon, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief executive, has announcedthat he will be standing down after England’s tour of Sri Lanka. Tennekooncited personal reasons for his decision to step down.Tennekoon, a former Sri Lanka captain and opening batsman, announced hisdecision on Friday. “Due to personal reasons I am relinquishing my duties aschief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket,” he said in a media statement. “Iwould like to take this opportunity to wish Sri Lanka Cricket the very bestin the future.”Tennekoon was appointed in Dec 2000 after the controversial sacking ofDhammika Ranatunga, the brother of World Cup winning captain Arjuna.Although widely respected for his honesty and integrity, he had facedgrowing criticism for not being forthright enough in various commercial andcontractual negotiations.”Anura is a man of great honesty and integrity and we needed someone likethat at that controversial juncture,” said Mohan de Silva, the SLCsecretary. “He always had the game at heart and he made a big contributionto the development of the game in Sri Lanka.”According to de Silva, the search for Tennekoon’s successor will beginimmediately. The SLC will headhunt a top business leader with a cricketingbackground.

At the end of day two, Sourav Ganguly had said that South Africa’s collapse in the first innings, during which they lost nine wickets for 113 runs, boosted India’s confidence in the second. Perhaps he knew the bowlers had got the measure of the Green Park pitch, something Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captaining in his first Test, reiterated today after the dramatic win.”In the second innings, everybody knew what lengths to bowl, and from what spots they would get variable bounce,” Dhoni said, “The fast bowlers especially deserve a lot of credit in the second innings.”A major change from the first innings was that India opened with Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma, neither of whom gave anything away. They made sure there were no free runs on offer to let off the pressure that a 60-run deficit would have put on the South Africans. India applied what Dhoni termed as ‘mindgames’ with that lead in their bags, and delayed its erasing as much as possible, knowing the wickets would just be a matter of time if they could push South Africa into a shell. The approach was rewarded fully, as South Africa had lost four of their best batsmen by the time they were only 12 ahead. “Although this was the third day of the match, this was not a third-day pitch,” Dhoni said. “The way Harbhajan and Viru [Virender Sehwag] bowled, we knew it was going to be just a matter of time. There were no easy singles on offer, so we put a lot of pressure on them. We made sure they didn’t take a single and go off strike.”This is where the efforts of Ganguly and VVS Laxman provide a stark contrast to the South African batsmen, and also proved crucial in the final equation, as they controlled the innings, consciously looking to score more often than they usually would. “To play positively on this wicket is very important,” Dhoni said. “You can get out irrespective of whether you are playing your shots or not, the way it happened to Rahul Dravid. So you have to keep scoring on such tracks. It was very crucial the way Sourav batted on this track, and the 60-odd lead was very crucial, because it changes the whole mindset of the team that is batting next.”Almost all the bowling changes he made seemed to work. In the first innings, Piyush Chawla got wickets in his first over on two occasions. In the second, Sehwag got a wicket with his first ball and Ishant got two in the first over of his second spell. But Dhoni said it was easier to captain on this pitch, especially with the way the bowlers bowled.”Viru is much more than a part-timer on this kind of wicket. He continuously kept bowling the right areas, in the rough. It was a deliberate move, and we knew that with him and Yuvraj in the team we would not need an extra spinner.”He had a pretty difficult job of replacing Anil Kumble as captain, and also playing without Sachin Tendulkar and Kumble for the first time since the latter’s debut. “It’s pretty hard to replace a man like Kumble, and especially on such a wicket,” he said. “Had he been playing, I don’t think this would have lasted three days.”Well we did well, but it doesn’t mean we are better off without Sachin or Anil. Who is there to replace Sachin? Who is there to replace Kumble? It is better to have them in the side than not, but the credit goes to the boys who stood up in their absence.”It was also an extremely difficult match for Dhoni the keeper, and to his credit he did himself no shame during the last three days. “The wicket was turning square, and most of our spinners were bowling in the rough,” he said. “So you find yourself keeping to some balls that would spin and some that wouldn’t. I was quite happy with the way I kept, because some balls were kicking and some were keeping really low. The way our fast bowlers were bowling, it could hurt your fingers pretty badly. It was good fun though.”This series was part two of a potential rivalry that India had started in South Africa last year. India needed a tailor-made track to come back on level terms on a series that they were expected to win easily. Dhoni, though, agreed with the South African coach Mickey Arthur that there was nothing wrong in playing to your strengths. “If we go to Australia, we get bouncy tracks; when we go to England, we get swinging tracks. When you come to India, you expect turning and bouncing tracks, and that’s what this one was. It’s better to stick to the specialties of certain places.”India fighting South Africa on a greentop at Kingsmead should make for an equally gripping a battle, if India can fight as hard as South Africa did at Green Park.

Bangladesh looked like continuing their discouraging streak of failures since their inception into Test cricket in the second Test against Pakistan at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. The hosts found themselves blown away for 148 just before the tea break and, by stumps, Pakistan had steadily advanced to 99 for just the loss opener Shadab Kabir.Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who bowled little and unsuccessfully in the first Test at Dhaka, was the chief architect of the Bangladeshi collapse, luring five Bangladeshi batsmen to their doom and conceding only 35 runs in the process. At the other end, continuing his strategy of torment against Bangladesh, was Danish Kaneria, who claimed 4-62.Bangladesh were most comfortable in the day only between Khaled Masud winning the toss and the openers taking strike against Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. First strike on a flat, dry batting surface that promised to aid spin later in the match was an advantage that Bangladesh badly needed. It was also an advantage that was to be squandered.Javed Belim, the right-handed opener playing in place of Mohammad Ashraful, opened with an injured Al-Sahariar. The pair added 21 runs for the first wicketbefore Waqar induced a nick from Al-Sahariar and sent him back for 13, caught behind by Rashid Latif.Mehrab Hossain and Belim then proceeded to give their supporters a rare moment of cheer. Batting patiently and steadily, they saw off the opening pace salvo and then looked comfortable when spin was introduced into the attack. Just before lunch, however, Belim, then on 17, misread the bounce from a Saqlain delivery, offering a catch to silly point Shadab Kabir.One of Bangladesh’s more dependable bats disappointed on the day. Habibul Bashar’s dismissal mirrored Belim’s, with Shadab Kabir taking yet another catch at silly point off the bowling of Saqlain. Their best batsman gone for just 2, the remaining members of the batting line-up crumbled in the face of fine spin bowling from Saqlain and Kaneria.Aminul Islam and skipper Khaled Masud did offer some resistance further down the order, adding 27 runs for the seventh wicket. Aminul ground out 27 runs, while Masud top-scored in the innings with 28.Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis was in particularly attacking vein on the day, setting suffocating close-in fields to entice the batsmen into playing big shots. The plan worked brilliantly, with almost all the batsmen fell into that very trap. The home side’s innings lasted only 56.4 overs.Mohammad Sharif brought slight cheer with his early success, removing Shadab Kabir caught behind in the sixth over. Shadab appeared suspect outside the off-stump from the very start, prodding at deliveries that were meant to be left alone. His mode of dismissal, thus, came as little surprise.That was to be Bangladesh’s last success of the day. Younis Khan and Taufeeq Umar consolidated their side’s position to run up 99 runs by the close of the play. Both were unbeaten on 47, taking eight boundaries each off a Bangladeshi attack that appeared unlikely to set things up for a series-squaring win by bowling Pakistan out twice.

SYDNEY, Dec 16 AAP – The repercussions of Shane Warne’s shoulder injury will be felt next week, next year and, possibly, by the next generation of Australian spin bowlers.Warne underwent surgery today on his dislocated shoulder and will be out of action for at least four to six weeks, opening a huge hole in the world’s best cricket side.The first job for the national selection panel will be finding a replacement for Warne ahead of the tri series match against Sri Lanka on December 22 in Perth.Then it has to find another spinner for the fourth and fifth Test matches in Melbourne and Sydney.After that it’s the rest of the one-day series which lead to the World Cup.Australian team doctor Trefor James said Warne was a good chance of being fit for the World Cup which starts in seven weeks.But the selectors will have to be prepared for an Australian team without the famous No.23.National selection convenor Trevor Hohns admitted the next few days would be tough for the selectors.”We’ve certainly got a lot of thinking to do,” Hohns said.”We, as a group of selectors, have several options.”Hohns said it was hard to make decisions about Warne’s immediate successor.He emphasised the selectors’ attitude was to pick the best available team each time rather than use upcoming matches to test credentials of those in the queue.”We pick the best team – it’s not a matter of giving someone an opportunity for the sake of it.”We’ll be picking the next best spinner.”Finding a replacement for the Perth match is the least of the worries as the bouncy WACA ground suggests the addition of pace bowler Andy Bichel would be a way around the matter, with Darren Lehmann’s occasional spin as a back-up.For the Test matches, there’s really only one option – Stuart MacGill.MacGill’s Test career has been brilliant with 82 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 25.Against England he’s been phenomenal with 27 wickets from four Tests at an average of 17.That gets the selectors through to the New Year.But what happens for the World Cup if Warne doesn’t regain full fitness, or reinjures the shoulder?The big problem the selectors face is that MacGill is not in the Australian 30-man World Cup squad.The legspinner included in that squad is Victorian youngster Cameron White.The squad also includes leftarm spin bowlers like Mark Higgs, Brad Hogg and all-rounder Michael Clarke, who is already close to inclusion in the final 15-man squad.White is an ideal one-day prospect, he’s a good bowler, he can bat like a top-order player and he led the Australian under-19 side to victory in the youth World Cup.But he’s only 19.Whether he’s ready for the big stage on the high veldt is a tough question.That’s why the national selectors have been trying to get in touch with the International Cricket Council (ICC).”We’re seeking a bit of clarification from the ICC about bringing in someone from outside that 30-man squad,” Hohns said.And he’s not talking about Steve Waugh.If the Australian Cricket Board gets the green light to bring in a player from outside the 30-man squad, bet on it being MacGill.MacGill is regarded as an expensive one-day bowler because of his attacking style.But in three one-dayers for Australia, he has taken six wickets and conceded only 3.5 runs per over.In one-dayers for NSW and Australia A he’s taken 94 wickets at 21.70 and conceded 4.79 runs per over.

South Africa, Kenya, the West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will all be praying the rain gods spare their remaining matches in Pool B because if any of them suffer uncompleted games their chances of making the Super Six will be gone, unless the rains affect more than one match.As it stands at the moment, the West Indies needed to beat Sri Lankaafter their rain affected match against Bangladesh. The West Indies last match is against Kenya and they should be too strong for them, despite all that has happened in this tournament – and what happened when these two sides met in 1996. If they beat Kenya it would leave the West Indies on 14 points.Should Sri Lanka win against South Africa they would end on 20 points and finish at the top of the group. That would mean South Africa would be left on 12 points. If Sri Lanka lose to South Africa they would finish on 16 points.The best New Zealand could do is finish on 16 points – whether that isenough depends on Sri Lanka’s fortunes, and whether Kenya can beatBangladesh.South Africa, quite simply need to beat Sri Lanka to keep their chancesalive. But South Africa would have to hope that Bangladesh had beaten Kenya, because if South Africa, Kenya and New Zealand ended on 16 points, and Sri Lanka, having beaten the West Indies to also be on 16, South Africa would go through, and it would be left to Kenya, New Zealand and Sri Lanka to contest the final two positions.The competition rules state: “When more than two teams have equal points and equal wins, the team which was the winner of most number of matches played between those teams will be placed in the higher position.If still equal, the team with the higher net run rate in the group matches will be placed in the higher position.If still equal, the team with the higher number of wickets taken per balls bowled in the group matches in which results were achieved will be placed in the higher position.”So, in effect, a mini-league would come into operation with results between the relevant teams the deciding factor. Then, should teams still be equal, it would come down to run rate, followed by wicket-taking rate. If teams cannot be separated in any other way, the ICC has made an allowance for lots to be drawn.And then there is the damage that rain could do.Pool A is a little more straightforward, but not by much.Australia are guaranteed a place in the Super Six by virtue of having 20 points already. However, India could also finish on 20 points if they beat Pakistan in their final group match.India have 16 points at the moment, while England could also reach 16 points if they beat Australia. The interesting thing from England’s point of view, however, is that England could beat Australia and still go out of the tournament, or lose and make progress to the Super Six. Their fate is in the hands of others.England, India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe all retain an interest in those two places alongside Australia, for all can get to the 16-point mark.Remember, if just two teams finish level on points, the number of wins is the first deciding factor, then the result between the two teams concerned. It is only when more than two teams finish level on points and they have all beaten one another that run rate comes into play.Even run rate is not a simple calculation. It is not a case of merely dividing the runs scored by the overs taken to accumulate them. It is the average number of runs per over scored, less the average number of runs per over conceded that produces a net run rate.And then there is the added complication that if a side is bowled out inside its full allocation of overs, the run rate for the batting side’s innings is calculated as if all the overs had been bowled. On the other hand, the bowling side takes only the actual number of overs bowled when calculating the run rate conceded.To get back to the possible permutations, if Zimbabwe beat Pakistan, they move to 16 points. If Pakistan beat Zimbabwe and India, they move to 16 points. If England find themselves level on points with either India or Zimbabwe for the last qualifying place, England go out on the basis that they lost to both in the group matches. If level on points with Pakistan, having both had the same number of wins, England go through having won the match between the two sides.The form line for the remaining matches suggests that Australia will beat England and India will beat Pakistan. However, this is a match that involves far more than just the allocation of points and it would be difficult to make a conclusive comparison on form alone, but it would make the Zimbabwe v Pakistan fixture extremely interesting.If this form has prevailed right through to the very last of the group matches, Zimbabwe would go into the game with 12 points and Pakistan with eight. England would have 12,India 20 and Australia 24. A Pakistan win would move them onto 12 alongside England and Zimbabwe with all sides having the same number of wins and having beaten each other. The run rate comes into effect.And, as we said about Pool B, it would only take a little bit of rain to throw the whole equation into confusion. Or perhaps that should read “even more confusion.”

The Zimbabweans will start the NatWest Series in much better heart after an adequate, rather than dominating, five-wicket victory over Essex at Chelmsford. Ray Price excelled with the ball while Grant Flower overshadowed his brother – and opponent – Andy to make sure of victory with the bat.The most pleasing aspect for Zimbabwe was their bowling performance, which, with a little help from the overcast and humid conditions, was their best of the tour. For once extras were rare as line and length was consistent. Nasser Hussain, playing and missing, continued to struggle for runs and took 38 balls to reach double figures, as Darren Robinson did most of the early scoring for Essex.Hussain then fell to a senseless run-out in the sixteenth over (56 for 1), and Price followed that with three quick wickets. First he found a bit of turn and bounce to have Robinson (37) caught by the wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu (68 for 2), and two balls later he trapped Aftab Habib lbw for a duck with his arm ball. Shortly afterwards Ronnie Irani gave Price his third wicket when he drove a low catch to midwicket to leave Essex struggling at 71 for 4 in the 24th over.That led the way for the strange sight of Andy Flower – captain for the day – walking to the wicket wearing the glaring Essex Eagles uniform rather than the Zimbabwe red. However, he brought some much-needed stability to the innings as he had done so often for the Zimbabweans.Travis Friend continued to bowl with more fire and control than at any previous time on tour, troubling Ravi Bopara and eventually having him fending a vicious lifter off his face to be caught by Taibu for 18 (118 for 5). And that performance may well have booked Friend’s place in the opening NatWest Series match after a disastrous bowling record for most of this tour.James Middlebrook settled in impressively while Flower played a typically accumulative innings, working the ball around the field so skilfully and unobtrusively that the unaware would miss it. But after passing his fifty, he was run out for 52 after fine work in the field by Richie Sims as he attempted a third run (154 for 6).There was little fight in the tail, and two suicidal run-outs were more reminiscent of the village green than first-class cricket. Much credit belongs to Middlebrook who made a valuable unbeaten 42, but Essex never recovered from Price’s three top-order wickets.Chasing only 190, Zimbabwe soon lost Dion Ebrahim, caught at first slip off Tony Palladino (13 for 1), but Douglas Marillier cashed in against some erratic Essex bowling and the fifty came up in the eighth over. Then Friend, doing his frequent job as a pinch-hitter, soon got into his stride, and Zimbabwe were on their way.Friend made 44, including 10 fours, before being bowled playing down the wrong line to Middlebrook (91 for 3). Richie Sims and Grant Flower then settled in to play quietly and without difficulty, until Sims (18) fished at a ball from Palladino to be caught by Andy Flower behind the stumps (123 for 4). And when Stuart Matsikenyeri was also caught behind off Grant for 11 (138 for 5), Essex sniffed they were in with a chance of a surprise victory.However, Grant Flower was determined to be there at the end and he took no chances while occasionally unleashing a handsome drive through the covers as his 50 came off 65 balls. It was a welcome return to form for Flower, and a welcome win for Zimbabwe ahead of their match against England on June 26.