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After leading East Zone to a resounding win over a Bangladesh Board XI in a Duleep Trophy game, Sourav Ganguly said that India required to stretch themselves to beat Pakistan. Shrugging off Shoaib Akhtar’s absence from the Pakistan squad, he acknowledged that there were other players who could prove difficult for India.”[The] Pakistan team is a good side and India will have to do very well on the field to win the upcoming series against them,” Press Trust of India reported Ganguly as saying. He said that despite Shoaib’s withdrawal, Pakistan had “a lot of good players on their side and is still a strong side. India will have to do hard work.”The first-innings century stood him in good stead, said Ganguly, for he spent time at the crease, which was important after a lengthy period away from cricket. “It is very important for me to play in…domestic cricket after a long gap. I played for almost five-six hours and that’s good enough for me to prepare before the forthcoming series against Pakistan. International cricketers hardly get a chance to play in…domestic cricket and I utilised this before leading the side against Pakistan.”

The Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva and Steve Davis of Australia have been promoted to ICC’s Elite Panel, following the body’s decision to expand the pool from 10 to 12 umpires.de Silva, the former legspinner who played 10 Tests and 28 ODIs between 1985 and 1992, was one of eight full-time umpires selected for the ICC’s Elite Panel when it was first introduced in 2002. de Silva has stood in 33 Tests and 76 ODIs after making his debut in 1999 and has served previously on the Elite Panel between 2002 and 2004.Davis, 56, has stood in 11 Tests, 71 ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals having made his top-level debut in 1992.”Their promotions are a result of perseverance, hard work and commitment and I am sure these two umpires will serve as an inspiration to the other international umpires who are striving hard to break into the Elite Panel,” Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, said. “For Asoka, it will be his second time in the Elite Panel and he has returned after performing outstandingly on the international panel over the past 12 months.”Asoka brings with him a combination of playing and umpiring skills and that combination is one that we believe will serve him well in the months and years to come.”Steve has served an apprenticeship on the fringes of the Elite Panel and his elevation reflects not only his consistency during recent years but also his excellence over the past year in particular.”I have no doubt that the elevation of these two quality umpires will strengthen the Elite Panel.”de Silva was understandably delighted in his promotion, adding: “It has required a lot of hard work leading to good decision-making on a consistent basis and I am glad my efforts have been recognised. I am now keen to ensure I maintain the high standards I have set myself.””I am thrilled to be appointed to the Elite Panel,” Davis said, “as it has to be the aim of every umpire to be appointed to this select group. I have worked hard for this and now I look forward to concentrating on umpiring on a full-time basis. I have always enjoyed the company of those umpires already on the Elite Panel and now I have the chance to work with them all on a more regular basis. I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Lancashire have said a final decision on whether they will relocate to East Manchester will be made by the end of the summer. The idea was first suggested towards the end of 2003, but the timing of a final announcement has been constantly put back by feasibility studies and negations with Trafford Council.Jim Cumbes, the chief executive, said: “I can’t see it dragging on much longer. We will definitely have made a decision by mid or late summer.” After the initial excitement created by the idea, the chances of the move going ahead have rapidly diminished. It would have seen Lancashire join Manchester City at the Sportcity complex, used for the Commonwealth Games.The current location of the club, just half a mile away from Manchester United, has its advantages. The Metrolink tram stops just outside the ground, and the association with a famous football club has boosted the club’s finances, especially during the winter months, with hospitality and the Old Trafford Lodge being particularly successful.Recent work at Old Trafford has also suggested that the prospect of a move is disappearing. Another stand as been demolished, temporary seating will take the capacity to 22,000 for the Ashes Test, and the likely decision will be to plough more money into the current ground.

In the same week that the England & Wales Cricket Board is likely to announce that it is happy with security arrangements surrounding its tour of Zimbabwe, a protester who was beaten by police after waving an anti-government banner during a World Cup match last year said that he was planning another demonstration during England’s trip.The Sunday Telegraph reported how 19-year-old Kindness Moto was arrested and tortured after protesting against Robert Mugabe during Zimbabwe’s match against Netherlands at Bulawayo in March, 2003. The newspaper said that he was held by the police for four days and “raped by officers, starved, electrocuted and beaten on the soles of his feet before being thrown from a moving car.” He has subsequently been arrested and beaten on three more occasions.Moto’s story reflects that of Edsion Mukwasi, the 29-year-old former official of the Movement for Democratic Change, who was arrested outside the Harare Sports Club – where England will play three ODIs – during Zimbabwe’s match against Pakistan in November 2002 for distributing leaflets highlighting human rights abuses. While in custody it is claimed he was repeatedly tortured, and he died three months later from lung and liver injuries resulting from those beatings.Moto claimed that potential protesters are already being rounded up ahead of England’s visit, although he insisted that the demonstrations would still go ahead. With no free media inside Zimbabwe, and with foreign journalists subjected to considerable restrictions, opponents say that this rare exposure to the international community has to be seized on.And, Moto added, with few locals likely to attend – recent one- day internationals have been played out in front of dozens rather than even hundreds of spectators – the ruling Zanu-PF are planning to fill the stands with schoolchildren to give the impression that all is well.

Over eleven hundred runs scored, only eight wickets taken and over half the number of scheduled overs lost to rain and bad light; only two subjects were ever going to be talked about at Inzamam-ul-Haq’s post-match press conference – the pitch and the weather.Inzamam denied rumours that Pakistan’s batsmen had asked for a flat pitch. “I always want to have sporting wickets, where fast bowlers, spinners and batsmen all have a chance,” he said. “In today’s Test matches, it’s not just that one team scores 400, another team scores 400 and the match is drawn. ODI cricket and the pace means that batting is so quick, if you get90 overs in a day then there shouldn’t be draws. The wicket has to be better than this.”But Inzamam was also quick to point out that the pitch shouldn’t take any credit away from the batsmen, six of whom scored centuries and three of whom did it at more than a run a ball. “On this type of wicket, it is difficult to contain run-making but the credit should go to the batsmen aswell because even though it was so flat, they have to bat well and score runs.” But he insisted that batsmen won’t have it this easy in the remaining Tests. “They will have some confidence definitely but I don’t think a wicket like this will be seen again for this series.”He also pointed out that his bowlers didn’t perform as well as they might have done, although it is unlikely changes will be made. “The wicket wasn’t so flat that over 400 runs are scored for the loss of only one wicket, the bowlers will also have to bowl a little better than this. Wewill keep the same team for Faisalabad. ” Ultimately, however, too many questions – most of them not dissimilar – prompted Inzamam to reveal that “I am a captain not a groundsman.”As both teams now make the short journey to Faisalabad, Inzamam said his bowlers will take their pre-series confidence with them, despite the hammering they received here, but also hinted that the weather may yet continue to play its part. “The weather was a disturbance obviously andFaisalabad isn’t too far away so there is a chance of disruption there as well. There were so many stoppages here that we weren’t getting any rhythm but I don’t think there will be any effect on the confidence or morale.”He also had praise for Virender Sehwag, although typically, it was brief and to the point. Pakistan have yet to find a way to mute Sehwag’s boisterousness and he has now made over a thousand Test runs against them, including a triple century and two double centuries in consecutive Tests.”We have tried to find ways of stopping him, but it isn’t working. If a batsman like him gets a wicket like this, then it is difficult to contain him.”

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Pakistan’s tour of Australia threatened to get off to a wretched start as their batting imploded on the second day of the tour opener against Western Australia’s 2nd XI at Perth. Chasing a modest target of 94, the Pakistanis were reeling on 6 for 44 at the close.Justin Coetzee did the damage with 5 for 23 as the Pakistanis slumped to 5 for 25 before Yousuf Youhana, with an unbeaten 28, checked the collapse.An hour and a half before the close the match appeared to be drifting to a tame conclusion. Danish Kaneria ripped apart Western Australia’s second innings with 7 for 45 after Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq had struck early blows. Craig Simmons held fast with 65 as wickets tumbled, and Peter Worthington (25), Justin Coetzee (30) and Aaron Heal (20) each made a decent start but Western Australia were bowled out shortly after tea for 192.Earlier in the day, Pakistanis were dismissed for 257 with Younis Khan finishing on 142. Coetzee collected 5 for 66 and Matthew Petrie 4 for 26.And, despite not being in the 12 selected players for the match, Razzaq was allowed to bowl to gain some vital practice ahead of the three-Test series against Australia which starts in two weeks. Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi have also been given practice. The tourists will also play a Chairman’s XI and the Western Warriors before the first Test starts at the WACA on December 16.

Chris Gayle may rue hitting a powerful six in the second innings at Auckland as it was a hit that not only lost the ball, but could have cost his side the game. The match-turning incident came midway through the fourth day of the first Test between West Indies and New Zealand at Eden Park, resulting in West Indies frittering away a great position.The big-hitting Gayle, who put on a 148-run opening stand with Daren Ganga, swung Daniel Vettori into the stands, losing the ball in the process. Alarmingly the replacement cherry started to reverse swing, something the New Zealand bowlers were unable to extract with the previous ball. From having all wickets intact and needing just 143 to win, West Indies were rattled by the reverse-swing and crumbled to a close 27-run defeat.Shane Bond, the wrecker-in-chief with four quick wickets, including that of Brian Lara, acknowledged the turn-around provided by the replacement ball. “The turning point was Chris [Gayle] whacking the ball up on the roof and we got a new ball and it reversed a few overs later and we exploited it well, we never gave up and we got the result,” Bond told AFP.Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, concurred: ”We were able to get more swing and put more pressure on them. We finally started to hold our catches and we got into them a bit. ‘Shane Bond bowled very well with the swing he was able to achieve and that let us get wickets and keep the pressure on.”Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies’s captain, also reckoned the change of ball made a difference. ”I don’t want to say much about that but the new ball did swing around,” he added. ”The lost ball was 35 overs old and this ball was 12 or so but there’s not much I could say about it.”

Suggestions circulating inside the US to the effect that the ICC would again withdraw recognition of the USA Cricket Association because of its failure to meet certain deadlines have been dismissed.While the ICC did impose deadlines, and ICC spokesman pointed out that none of these were imminent.The conditions under which the USACA was readmitted to the fold were as follows:

Shane Warne launched another attack on his former coach John Buchanan, who he said was responsible for Australia’s CB Series loss to England on Sunday. Warne said Buchanan must be held accountable for Australia’s gruelling taper-training program, which appeared to leave the side flat at the end of the one-day program.”From what I hear, the boys trained really, really hard, probably too hard and it affected them,” Warne told . “They got tired for the finals and didn’t perform really well so John Buchanan has to take responsibility for that.”Warne famously questioned the worth of coaches in general last September, with the line: “I’m a big believer that the coach is something you travel in to get to and from the game.” He said such hard practice sessions were not ideal preparation for a team constantly aiming to perform at their best.”If you’re playing international cricket, all you want to be is fresh and happy,” he said. “You don’t want to be trained into the ground. But that’s the way he wanted to do it but it didn’t work out. Hopefully it will hold them in good stead for the World Cup.”Buchanan admitted the heavy workload and Australia’s desire to be well prepared for the World Cup had affected their performance during the CB Series. He also said complacency and an expectation the side would keep winning contributed to Australia’s decline.

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, insists that there will be no “Ashes let-down” for his side when they play Pakistan. On the eve of England’s departure for a three-Test and seven one-day match tour, Vaughan told reporters at the team’s hotel that his side would have to be at their best to win in Pakistan.”The Ashes are a massive goal and we attained that in the summer. It was great to play the cricket that we did in England. We’ll certainly keep our feet on the ground but we have to draw confidence from the fact we beat Australia and played some fantastic cricket in the summer.”There are only five players from England’s successful 1-0 win in a three Test series on their last tour of Pakistan in 2000-01 – Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard, Ashley Giles, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff – in the current squad and Vaughan said his team would have to adapt quickly to the conditions.”It’s a big challenge and opportunity for the team to continue the progress we made in the summer,” said Vaughan, who doubled up as a sightscreen pusher when England won five years ago in fading light at Karachi to clinch a dramatic series win. “The last two years the England team have played some good cricket and the tour to Pakistan is really going to test our skills in conditions which some of the players haven’t played in.”Pakistan’s pitches traditionally offer plenty of assistance to spin bowlers and although Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach and former England batsman, said he wanted to play the series on good rather than turning wickets, Vaughan was in no doubt about what sort of surfaces would confront his men.”I would be very surprised if we go to Pakistan and it doesn’t spin. But we have become decent players of spin over the last few years,” said Vaughan. “Look at the World XI team (in the recent ICC Super Test in Australia) and the success Stuart MacGill and Shane Warne (both leg spinners) had against the best players in the world. That shows what success we had against Warne. He managed to take 40 wickets but we took him for a few an over.”Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, said the lack of hype in comparison to the Ashes would also work in the squad’s favour. “After what took place it should be one of the best tours to go on. There should be very few distractions and I think that will be good for the side.”England will be without injured reverse swing specialist Simon Jones, one of their Ashes stars. “He will be missed because he has become a fantastic bowler with reverse swing, but it creates chances for Liam Plunkett, James Anderson and Alex Loudon,” admitted Vaughan. “It will be a real challenge, but an exciting challenge. We just need to stick to our basics and get our plans right.”England play their first tour match in Rawalpindi, a three-day game, starting on October 31 with the first Test at Multan commencing on November 12.