A draw appears to be the inevitable outcome of the First Test, which enters its final day tomorrow on the slow, lifeless wicket at Lahore.It is not the result that England will deserve after their splendid effort but a defiant, unbroken ninth-wicket stand between Yousuf Youhana and Saqlain Mushtaq not only ensured that Pakistan avoided the follow-on, but also reduced England’s first innings lead to 147 by stumps.England needed to take quick wickets when Pakistan resumed their innings on the fourth morning, but the overnight not out batsmen, Salim Elahi and Inzamam-ul-haq put on 98 before Elahi played-on to Craig White for 44.Play had started half an hour early to make up for lost time the previous day. By the time Elahi was dismissed he had taken up two hours of what was valuable time for England in their quest for wickets.It was White who achieved the breakthrough with only his second ball after he had come back for a second spell. Earlier Elahi was dropped by Nasser Hussain at silly-point.Inzamam batted beautifully, playing fluent strokes that brought him nine boundaries in his 28th Test fifty, but he was out with the total on 203. He fell to Ashley Giles who spun one sharply away and on to his off-stump as he attempted to force the ball to leg against the spin.White was brought on for a third spell and with his first ball, on the stroke of lunch, he had Qaiser Abbas held at gully for two as he chased one outside his off-stump. It has not been a happy debut for Abbas, who had dropped Graham Thorpe on two, a simple chance in the slips on the first day, only to see the batsman go on to hit a century.After lunch, which was taken on 210 for five, Andy Caddick trapped Moin Khan lbw. An hour and 36 runs later, White struck for the third time with Abdur Razzaq padding up to a ball that was going on to his stumps.When Giles had Wasim Akram taken at short mid-wicket from a half-hearted push, Pakistan were 273 for eight. Their last six wickets had gone for 74 and raised England’s hopes of enforcing the follow-on.But with just eight runs required to make England bat again, Youhana and Saqlain put on sixty runs to take Pakistan to 333 for eight. With Youhana compiling an unbeaten 77, of which 39 came in the last session with a combination of graft and stylish stroke-play, England’s chances of forcing a victory tomorrow were gradually diminishing.Craig White, successful with both bat and ball for England, said afterwards:”It was a good performance today. We pushed them to the limit. We need to get them out early in the morning – we need early wickets.”White added: “We would rather be in our position then theirs, but we are not going to get carried away. We’ll just see what happens.”

Australia’s triumph against India, coming as it did by a big margin of 51runs, did not actually depict the true picture of the way the game went on.India did put up a good fight but in patches they let the pressure they hadput on the Aussies ease away. This, in the final analysis, cost the matchfor India.The absence of Mithali Raj, down with viral fever, dented India’s chanceseven before the game commenced. Raj has had a string of good scores in theCricInfo Women’s World Cup with scores of 69 not out, 51 and 32 and herabsence in the key match against Australia was acutely felt.Australian captain Belinda Clark’s failure, by her standards, was more thanadequately covered up by the other opener Lisa Keightley who has been veryimpressive thus far in this competition with her consistency. She, alongwith the left handed Karen Rolton, took the Australian score to a positionfrom where they could take off for some big hitting towards the end.The measure of success of the Indian bowlers can be gauged only when theyare up against some top performers like the Australian batswomen. TheIndian bowling was hit but to the credit of the bowlers, they alwaysbounced back with some inspired spells. The 110-run partnership for thesecond wicket notwithstanding, India at one stage had the Australiansrestricted to 181 for 5.It was at this stage that the Indian fielding wilted under pressure and thesixth wicket pair enjoyed a charmed life with both Olivia Magno and JuliaPrice both getting reprieves with the fielders dropping easy catches in thedeep. They added 42 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket, which in theultimate analysis took the match away from India’s grasp. The Indianfielding just caved in with no backing up for throws to the bowler’s end.While Purnima Rau did bowl well for her 2 for 35, India’s concern is thelack of form of left arm spinner Neetu David who once again went for runs.Set a target of 224 runs, India got off to a good start with skipper AnjuJain setting the trend with some confident batting. When things looked likegoing well for India came about the needless run out of Jain with theIndian score reading 59. One couldn’t but admire Anjum Chopra’sdetermination in staying at the wicket though she consumed a lot ofdeliveries in the process. Her 47 off 105 balls and her partnership withPurnima Rau (25 off 44 balls) virtually made the game drift away from Indiawith the asking rate crossing seven.As a consequence of this, the Indian middle order had very few overs toscore from and eventually ended at 172 for 8, thanks to a fast pacedinnings from Chanderkanta Kaul who goes about the business of getting runswith minimal fuss. Therese McGregor was again the pick of the bowlers withfigures of 3 for 38 from her stipulated 10 overs.India were defeated by a convincing margin but there were moments in themiddle when the latter felt the pressure and even their famed fieldingwilted. It was not as smooth sailing as the score would suggest as therewere tense moments in the Australian camp though their better experienceand preparation helped them to register a victory. Only Australia hasremained unbeaten so far in this competition with both India and NewZealand having lost to them.The next match between India and New Zealand will decide who will be placedsecond and third. But this match scheduled for Saturday may well be arehearsal of the semi-final as these two teams are likely to meet again andonly one can proceed to the final for a date with Australia who are likelyto ward off the South African challenge in the other semi-final. SoSaturday’s match between New Zealand and India assumes great significance,as a victory here will be a big morale booster. The last time these twoteams met was in the 1997 World Cup in India when the match ended in a tieand pitched India against Australia in the semi-finals at which stage thehome team bowed out of the competition.

Indian bowling spearhead Anil Kumble on Saturday said that the regional cricket academies started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India was a good step in developing the game.”I have only been to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) at Bangalore. It is really good and I hope that it will help in producing talented cricketers”, he said speaking to reporters in Mumbai.The ace leg spinner, who was in the city to give away prizes of Brunswick bowling tour, was of the view that there was a need to nurture talent and these academies were one way of doing it.However, Kumble refused to comment on the much talked about contract system for the players. Speaking about his fitness after the shoulder operation he said he was hoping to be fit for the forthcoming Sri Lankan tour from July 1 to August 3.”Though my shoulder is getting better, it is too early to say when I will be fully fit”, the ace leggie said and added that he would play some matches before deciding anything.

Inzamam has been fined half his match fee and slapped a two-match ban after showing dissent against Peter Willey’s decision in the NatWest Series final. This means the Pakistani vice-captain would sit and watch the first two matches of the up coming Pakistan-New Zealand ODI series from the pavilion.It’s not the first time that this veteran of 74 tests and 248 ODIs has allegedly shown dissent on an umpiring decision. Hence, match referee Brian Hasting’s words were: “This penalty follows similar incidents involving Inzamam in April 1998 and May 2000. He was also warned about the same offence after the first Test here against England”.

To be equitable though, it’s not the first time umpires, let alone Willey, have made controversial decisions. The majority of people I’ve talked to, maintain, the way Inzamam stretched forward to that Shane Warne delivery, at least a yard or more outside the front crease, it was extremely doubtful the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps. No doubt, Inzamam was rapped very low on the front pad, yet it had to travel 6 feet or more before hitting (or missing) the stumps. Take a look at the side angle picture. There was enough doubt in it and that should’ve gone in the batsman’s favour, instead of the other way round. Also note that almost every umpire in international cricket declines the vast majority of ‘front-foot’ decisions for ‘benefit of doubt’ law going in the batsman’s favour. I have elaborated this not to quibble about decision but to make a case for equal treatment.Cricket players are mortals and when they make mistakes, are punished in return by being sent back to the pavilion or suffer other penalties of the cricket laws. Likewise, umpires are human and do make mistakes but are not penalised. True, one hears vibes (unconfirmed) that some of them are punished ‘behind-the scenes’ by not being allowed to officiate many more matches. To me, it seems this ‘hidden punishment’ is applied more to sub-continental umpires, for as far as I know no non-Asian umpire has yet been accorded such punishment?In reply, some might argue it was a fair decision by Willey. Ok, so be it, I accept. But what about so many of those headlined decisions, including the overlooked no-balls, during the recently concluded 2-Test series between England and Pakistan?On TV one saw, instead of slapping similar bans on the umpires or even a public admonishment that a player receives, the authorities conferred them medallions. What stark injustice! Those doing all the hard work on the field for spectator and the sport’s benefit are slammed with bans and what not, when they do something against the rules of the game. And those who help cause these hard workers break the law by dissenting decisions by ‘human error’ are honoured with medallions.I don’t as much as disagree with referee Hastings verdict. A player be punished, if his action or behaviour places the game into disrepute or blatantly stands up against the authorities that are supposed to be the upholders of cricket laws.But the point is: fairness should not be compromised at any cost. If a player is punished on showing dissent, then others indulging in similar activities should not be let off the hook. Justice should be fair and square. One cannot be made to feel wrongly or unfairly penalised while others doing the same are left free.

Now the question is: where was referee Hastings when Jason Gillespie showed his dissent against umpire Mallender’s decisions on a couple of wides? Let’s see what transpired at Trent Bridge before the fateful final at Lord’s.After conceding two wides, both on the off, Gillespie pitched the third one closer to off-stump and it was not called. He then immediately turned towards the umpire and taunted him to go ahead with his signalling. To me and to the TV commentators, he seemed to be saying, “C’mon ump, so signal this one too…!”Yet not only the concerned umpire and the referee but also the print media remained mum about the incident. Could I dare say, had it been a Pakistani bowler in Gillespie’s place another censure would’ve been round the corner? I apologise, as this sounds bad but am only trying to make my point clear.Compared to Gillespie, Inzi’s reaction to what he thought was a bad decision was nothing but sheer disbelief and he did not even open his mouth. I’m sure he would have wanted to say, “Willey sahib, I’ve stretched so far forward and anymore would split me in half…you’ve given me out!” But in truth, he did nothing except stay there for the photographers, not utter a word of dissatisfaction or signal anything to the umpire and then, albeit at snail’s pace, drag himself off.So was ‘something’ emanating from Inzi’s stroll, and perceived only by the umpire and referee, that became the reason for his punishment? And did a very different ‘something’ emanate from Gillespie’s obtrusive wide-arm gesture, so that no penalty was worth imposing on the Aussie speedster?I feel all this boils down to one thing: the solution to the problems of injustice and unfairness is the use of technology. When we admit that umpires are human and thus prone to errors, why let them keep making mistakes and, as a result, cause players to show dissent.Also, if technology takes over, biases (like my silly comment about a Pakistani bowler more likely to be penalised), accusations of prejudice and calls for neutral or ‘elite’ umpire panels will soon become a thing of the past. We would all go back to watch and enjoy this game once again. We would even see Inzi walking off briskly!

The confusion over Ridley Jacobs’ suspension by ICC match refereeDennis Lindsay reached a conclusion yesterday. Or so it seemed.He will now be banned from the second Test against Zimbabwe at theHarare Sports Club July 27 to 31.Courtney Browne is expected to arrive in Harare this week to prepareto take Jacobs’ place in the relevant Test. Wicketkeeper Jacobs hadbeen originally suspended for the three One-Day Internationals on thetour of Kenya next month following an incident in Wednesday’s One-DayInternational against India here.But Lindsay did not know at the time that Jacobs had not been selectedfor the Kenya tour.West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt said he had not advised him becausehe had not been notified of the Kenya team by the West Indies CricketBoard (WICB). A statement issued yesterday by the Zimbabwe CricketUnion said: As a result of having been advised of certain mediainformation, it has been confirmed by Gregory Shillingford, chiefexecutive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), that RidleyJacobs will not be touring Kenya after the completion of the Zimbabwetour.As a result, Lindsay changed the suspension.The match referee penalised Jacobs after the television replay showedhe had stumped batsman Viren Sewag without the ball in his right glovethat broke the bails but in his left glove that was nowhere near thebroken wicket.

Mark Ramprakash is in line to return to the England squad after he was forced to withdraw from the First Test side because of a hamstring strain.With England badly needing to bolster their middle order for the Lord’s Test, the Surrey right-hander is almost certain to be named in the squad to be announced on Sunday.He hit a half-century against Yorkshire in the C&G Trophy this week and is poised to play in the Benson and Hedges Cup final tomorrow against Gloucestershire.”I was very happy to get through the game on Wednesday,” said Ramprakash.”I still have trouble with the leg, I’m still aware of it and I’m looking afterit, but if I’m picked for next Thursday I should be all right.”Things have gone well with the injury since I came back and I’m just lookingforward to playing as much cricket as possible at the moment.”It was very disappointing to miss out on the last Test but if I make it backin the squad this time, that would be a fantastic consolation.”Ramprakash, who averaged more than 40 on the last Ashes tour, would add much needed experience to a middle order that folded badly at Edgbaston where Usman Afzaal was making his debut and Ian Ward was playing in only his third Test.His main rival for a place would probably be his former Middlesex team-mate Owais Shah, though he was overlooked for the First Test in favour of Afzaal.And coach Duncan Fletcher is reluctant to throw in too many inexperienced players at the same time – particularly against the might of the Australians.England could also be boosted by the return of Graham Thorpe who resumed training yesterday after a five-week lay-off because of a calf injury.Though he would go into the game desperately short of match practice, the selectors might feel his experience and form before his injury would compensate for that.With skipper Nasser Hussain and batsman Michael Vaughan both out until at least the Third Test, England suffered another setback this week with the loss of Matthew Hoggard through a stress fracture in the foot.It is possible that his Yorkshire colleague Chris Silverwood could be brought in as cover for the pace attack. And Robert Croft may be added to the squad as cover for Ashley Giles who has been suffering for some time with a sore Achilles heel.Squad (possible): Atherton (capt), Trescothick, Butcher, Thorpe, Afzaal, Ward, Ramprakash, Stewart, Giles, White, Gough, Caddick, Croft, Silverwood.

LONDON – A mooted one-day cricket series between Australia and India inSeptember has been scrapped.Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland made theannouncement with regret at Lord’s today.”India has withdrawn from the Super Challenge series,” he said.”From an ACB point of view we are quite disappointed, given thatpreviously we had undertakings from the board in India that it would goahead and we had put plans in place for it to go ahead.”It was a great opportunity for Australian fans to see the great Indianplayers that we saw in the series just gone.”Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president AC Muttiahinformed the ACB by fax that his players were unavailable because of analready congested schedule.The three-game series would have been held in Brisbane and Melbourne,indoors at Colonial Stadium.A replacement for India will not be sought.Australian captain Steve Waugh had previously questioned theavailability of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and himself because theirwives are due to give birth in September.”They were all available to play and they were all going to play subjectto nature taking its course,” said Sutherland.”It was a full strength Australian side but if someone went into labourat a time that clashed, we were going to be as understanding aspossible.”Sutherland also said playing Test and limited overs matches in winter intropical areas like Darwin, Cairns and Alice Springs was “a goodoption.””One of the great things about the country we live in is that we canplay cricket all year round if we find the right place,” he said.”I wouldn’t like to put time frame on it, wouldn’t like to be definitivebut we’ve certainly looked closely at it.”

After dominating the match throughout, Indian Railways predictablycompleted an emphatic innings and 120-run victory over Maharashtra onthe final day of their MRF Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournamentfirst round tie at the Southern Railway ground in Chennai on Tuesday.Resuming at 365 for four, Railways piled on the agony for Maharashtrabefore declaring at 527 for nine off 131.5 overs. Yere Goud, 157overnight, went on to get 221 before he was fifth out at 472. He andthe other overnight batsman Santhosh Sahu added exactly 200 runs forthe fifth wicket off 39.4 overs. The 29-year-old captain who battedalmost 7-1/2 hours, faced 329 balls and hit 26 fours and four sixes.Sahu who had in the meantime got to his century, was out in thefollowing over. For his 100, Sahu faced 117 balls and hit 13 fours anda six. Kulamani Parida chipped in with a bright unbeaten 30 off 37balls with four hits to the ropes before Goud applied closure. Tenbowlers were tried out by Maharashtra skipper Abhijit Kale but onlyMandar Sane who took four for 100 did anything of note.The first innings deficit of 260 runs knocked the fight out of theMaharashtra ranks. With off spinner Sanjay Satpathy in fine form,wickets fell at regular intervals. About the only show of defiance wasprovided by Ranjith Khirid who had top scored in the first inningstoo. This time he made 58 off 73 balls with nine hits to the fence.Coming in when the first wicket fell in the first over, he was fifthout at 121. He and opening batsman Jaideep Narse (25) added 58 runsfor the second wicket. Thereafter it was all downhill as Satpathyfinished with seven for 52 off 13.2 overs for match figures of ninefor 129. Opening bowler SD Kannan took the other three wickets for 18runs off 10 overs.All India Associate Banks in quarterfinalsContrary to expectations, the final day’s play in the MRF Buchi Babuinvitation cricket tournament first round match between Tamil NaduDistricts and All India Associate Banks at the MA Chidambaram stadiumin Chennai was rather uneventful. At stumps on Monday, with Districts164 for four in reply to AIAB’s total of 344, the stage seemed set fora keen battle for the all important first innings lead. But it was ananti climactic final day. Districts, who collapsed towards the closingstages of Monday’s play, after a century stand for the first wicketbetween Noorul Riaz and Haroon Basha, slid further and the side wereall out for 238. Only R Satish with 44 off 143 balls with four hits tothe fence put up a show of defiance. Left arm spinner Sridhar was thewrecker-in-chief and ended with five for 33 off 30.2 overs.In the second innings during a truncated day (play started 90 minuteslate in the morning because of overnight rain), AIAB scored 105 forone off 33 overs when play was called off after the first mandatoryover.AIAB now await the winner of the first round match between IndianAirlines and Jolly Rovers in the quarterfinal.

Muttiah Muralitharan’s exploits on Wednesday were put firmly in perspective on Thursday as India’s bowlers toiled fruitlessly while Sri Lanka’s batsmen cruised past the tourist’s first innings total. At the end of the second day’s play, the home side were in a position of seemingly indomitable strength in this decisive final Test in Colombo.Indeed, apart from Muralitharan, no bowler has consistently threatened on an easy paced SSC pitch that is by far the best batting strip of the series. Even so, Sri Lanka’s batting has been decidedly shaky in the recent past and no sensible person could have ruled out another meek performance today before the start of play.They, though, showed none of the recklessness that had lost them the Kandy Test and, led by a seventh Test century by Marvan Atapattu and an unbeaten 95 from Mahela Jawardene, they batted resolutely to end the day on 323 for five, already leading by 89 runs.Atapattu had previously made scores of 33, 39 and 45 in the series, but this time he didn’t throw away his wicket after getting set set and ground his way to a five-hour 108. It was typical Atapattu, full of text book cover drives played with a perpendicular front elbow, and efficient clips off his pads. No frills, just unyielding, determined, compassionless batsmanship.He batted as if he expected to score his fifth double century. When he finally reached his hundred he only half waved his bat in acknowledgement of the applause, before tying up his bootlaces and preparing for his 202nd ball.It was no surprise then that he was only dismissed after another poor decision by South African umpire David Orchard (earlier in the day he had refused calls for a replay when Jayasuriya had been caught off his boot), who upheld a bat-pad appeal when the ball had brushed pad and thigh, to end a 133-run third wicket partnership with Jaywardene.Jayawardene’s innings, in contrast, may have been built upon a sound technique, but it was full of glossy shots, including delicate late cuts, punching on-drives and one imperious lofted straight six off the first ball after tea.After the demise of Atapattu, Russel Arnold came to the crease with his place in the team no longer guaranteed after a string of low scores and no Test century for 16 months. He showed no signs of pressure, though, as he raced to 31 off 39 balls in an entertaining 58-run partnership with Jayawardene. He, though, was dismissed by an excellent delivery from Venkatesh Prasad that cut back off the seam and rattled into Arnold’s off stump in the final hour to leave Sri Lanka on 310 for four.Strangely, Sri Lanka then tried to protect number six batsman Hashan Tillakaratne, who should have been itching to bat on such a featherbedof a pitch. The plan backfired and India were gifted the wicket ofnight-watchman Dulip Liyanage moments before the close.Earlier in the day, Sanath Jayasuriya had scored a breezy 30 before he chopped a delivery from Prasad onto his stumps, as the openers added 35 runs in the first 38 minutes of the day, extending their opening partnership to 48.Kumar Sangakkara and Atapattu then played studiously until the lunch interval, determined not to throw their wickets away. They scored 27 runs in the second hour of the morning. After the break Sangakkara started with a spurt of boundaries, but as his half-century loomed he flashed loosely at a wide delivery from Prasad and edged to Hemang Badani at second slip, to make way for the Jayawardene-Atapattu partnership. He had scored 47 and hit nine fours. Sri Lanka were 119 for two.Prasad was India’s best bowler, maintaining a consistent line and length to pick up three for 54 in his 20 overs. He was not given much support, though, by his fast bowling partner Zaheer Khan, who repeatedly over pitched and was severely punished, conceding five runs per over in his four spells.Harbhajan Singh too was disappointing. For much of the day he looked like he was going to end up wicket-less and he would have, had it not been for the blunder from Orchard and the appearance of a sacrificial night watchman. Amazingly, his two wickets today represents his best haul of the series and his wicket tally is just five. He rarely threatened, as he failed to extract anywhere near the degree of turn that Muralitharan conjured up on Wednesday. He was too flat and frequently dropped short.Leg-spinner Bahutule, at least, gave the ball some loop and he could so easily have ended up with a wicket in his first over if Sameer Dighe, who had a messy day behind the stumps, had not fumbled a stumping chance off Sangakkara just before lunch.Sri Lanka’s 89-run lead looks ominous, but Ganguly will be revving up his team tomorrow by reminding them of Sri Lanka’s second innings slump on the third day in Kandy, when they had fecklessly thrown away the initiative. India can still get back into this match by dismissing the Sri Lankan lower-order cheaply in the morning. The pitch remains excellent for batting and Sri Lanka won’t be comfortable chasing a sporting target.

Hampshire announced today that they are holding talks with Neil Johnson about his return as the club’s overseas player for 2002.Johnson was a popular member of Hampshire’s promotion squad this year and the only player to reach 1,000 first-class runs. Although his bowling was limited due to a shoulder injury, the club feel he made a valuable contribution.The former Zimbabwean international returns today (Tuesday) to Cape Town where he will be playing for Western Province.Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket, said that an announcement will be made in about two weeks time.