India in Sri Lanka

Undoing all the good work of the day the Indian middle-order batsmen reduced the team to a not so comfortable 163-5 at stumps after being 95-1 at tea. Losing the toss and being put in was probably a blessing in disguise as the openers got stuck in to crawl to a score of 79 before Ramesh (42) was dismissed.
Useful partnerships followed between Das (40) and Kaif (37), but the new ball once again (Zimbabwe too had similar success in the last Test at Harare) did the trick for the home team as the Indians lost two wickets immediately after it was taken. Rain resulted in about 61 minutes of play being lost and scheduled close was extended for a while to make up for the lost time.

Australia in England

England all-rounder Craig White who has been dropped for the 4th Test against the Aussies said he was never really fit enough to take on a team as strong as the Australians. He revealed a back problem that had cropped up earlier in the season, prevented him from playing to his full potential and that was not enough for a team like Australia. White hopes a period of rest and recuperation will help him find form before England makes their tours to Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand later this year.

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Young Western Australian batsman Simon Katich is all set to make his debut for Australia in the fourth Test against England at Headingley on Thursday. Katich, 25, who already has a century (168 in 167 balls) on the tour against a MCC XI is likely to be the first batsman to make his debut for Australia in the past three and a half years.
Kaitch replaces skipper Steve Waugh who tore a calf muscle and is unlikely to play the remaining two Tests. Incidentally, Kaitch becomes the first Australian batsman to make debut since another left-hander Darren Lehmann made his first appearance against India at Bangalore on March 25, 1998. Since then 37 Tests have been played by the Australians without including any new batsmen.
The last Australian player to make debut was fast bowler Brett Lee also against India at Melbourne on December 26, 1999.

Miscellaneous

Former Indian batsmen turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar said he refused to believe that the Dream XI released to the media recently was actually a team selected by the late Sir Don. He said he refused to believe it, as Sir Don was a man who steered clear of controversies all his life during his playing days and after.
He never uttered a word during the infamous Bodyline series that was targeted solely at him, or during the chucking controversy that hit the team in the 60's or even when business tycoon Kerry Packer was making waves for his innovative methods. The former Indian opener felt Sir Don would never have stuck his head out on a controversial topic such as an all time best XI.
On being asked why he considered it untrue, Gavaskar said a lot of things attributed to Sir Don came out only after his death, even defending Muralitharan's supposedly chucking action; and strongly believes the Don would never make such statements.

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England fast bowler Andy Caddick believes it would be a good idea if the players contracted to play for England were excused from playing county cricket. He felt this was necessary as Test matches drain the player both physically and mentally and only rest would help bring back the spirit.
Caddick felt it would be a good idea for the contracted players to continue playing the domestic one day games as the shorter version would help them keep their form, rhythm and remain fit. Caddick's remarks are likely to stir a hornet's nest among those who believe that the decline in county cricket was due to the absence of the top quality international players.

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) will soon recruit a manager for its panel of referees and umpires to meet the ever-changing needs of the game on the international circuit. The new manager who will be in charge of the elite umpires panel that is to be effected from April 2002.
He will also be required to monitor the umpires and match referees on all aspects of their roles, including training and development. He will be based at the ICC London office. The ICC also announced another new post - a High Performance Consultant - whose job it will be to improve the competitiveness among the four non-Test nations that have qualified to play in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa (i.e. Canada, Kenya, Namibia and the Netherlands).
The Consultant will have to make assessment visits and study the preparation plans for each of these countries and report to the ICC on their performance.

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In an exclusive interview to an Indian news channel Sachin Tendulkar said he hopes to be fit and ready for India's tour of South Africa beginning in October. Dr Ananth Joshi who is treating the master batsmen said the final prognosis could be stated only after another CT scan will be taken in another 3-4 weeks. He said he was also working on providing the batsman with a protected footwear so the injury does not recur.

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The Development Committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) met in Kolkata yesterday to discuss a wide range of topics affecting the game in the Asian region. The meeting was chaired by former Sri Lankan cricketer Duleep Mendis.
The members discussed Asian Development Plan prepared by the ACF and discussed ways of implementing the project in its affiliate countries. Mazhar Khan (United Arab Emirates), Anil Kalavar (Singapore), Jaykumar Shah (Nepal), T Krishnaswamy (Malaysia), the ACF chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya (a special invitee) were those who attended the meeting.
The members also discussed ways to improve the standard of the game in the Asian non-Test playing countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Nepal, UAE, Thailand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

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Former Pakistani batsmen and coach Javed Miandad returned to training after a brief illness. Miandad is the batting coach for the Bangladesh team and assists chief coach Australian Trevour Chappell.
Miandad who rested for a day before resuming said he was happy with the preparations of the team so far. Bangladesh play their first Test match of the season in the Asian Test Championships against Pakistan at Multan beginning August 29.

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England's tour of Zimbabwe next month may be in jeopardy following the volatile political situation in the country. Violence all over Zimbabwe has resulted in farmers being attacked and their property looted. Labour party member Gareth Thomas, also the secretary of the parliamentary sports group, said the tour should be cancelled if there was no improvement in the political situation. The ECB however says they still plan to go ahead with the tour as scheduled under the guidance of the foreign office, who have been appraising them regularly of the situation in Zimbabwe.

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Former New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe is reported to have invited Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta to his house for lunch during the 1992 World Cup. According to the CBI, Gupta was able to give a detailed description of Crowe's house, which is enough proof that Crowe had dealings with the Indian bookie. This statement however comes just when the New Zealand Cricket Council have released the former skipper from all charges of match fixing against him due to lack of evidence.

Brief Scores

INDIA v SRI LANKA (1st Test)
Played at Galle International Stadium , Galle (1st day)
Toss: Sri Lanka
India: 163-5 (SS Das 40, S Ramesh, 42, M Kaif 37, S Ganguly not out 10, S Dighe not out 2; Muralitharan 2-41)

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