Asian Test Championship
The Indian sports minister Ms Uma Bharati said on Saturday that concern over the safety of the top players was the primary reason for not allowing the Indian cricket team to cross the borders to play Pakistan in the Asian Test Championships. She added that with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim having his base in Pakistan and kidnap threats looming large over some of the top cricketers the government did not want to risk sending the team.
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The Pakistan Cricket Board are to reorganize themselves and formulate a strategy to counter India's constant refusal to play them. He said some strategy would have to be worked out as Pakistan had planned a number of events over the next two years involving India. As it stands the quadrangular tournament in Pakistan planned next year in February or March also featuring West Indies and Zimbabwe is in doubt following the recent developments.
India in Sri Lanka
A delightfully innings from the local hero Muthiah Muralitharan helped Sri Lanka set India a decent target for victory on the third day of the second Test being played at Kandy. The medium pacers Prasad and Zaheer bowled with fire to have the home side tottering at 157-9, a lead of less than 200, before Muthiah Muralitharan came out to play like a champion in front of his home crowd. Set to score 264, the match was poised delicately at stumps with India: 55-1.
Australia in England
Australia continued their run making spree as both Waugh brothers got to hundreds on the second day. Australia declared their innings after tea at a mammoth 641-4. Four of the English bowlers went for more than hundred runs. England in reply were 80-1 with Trescothick making a quick half-century. Mike Atherton perhaps playing in his last Test match was the batsman dismissed.
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The doctors have given an all clear to Justin Langer, who was hit on the head by a Caddick bouncer and taken off the field on the first day of the fifth and final Test.
Langer who was struck just after he got to a hundred said it felt like he had been whacked by Lennox Lewis (the British heavy weight boxer). Langer came into the side after missing out on the four previous Tests and went on to score 102 before being struck on the head.
Miscellaneous
The West Indian cricketers will be able to spend their first Christmas at home in six years following the announcement of the country's tour of Sri Lanka that ends on December 19. Sri Lanka play three Tests and a triangular series featuring the hosts and Zimbabwe. The full itinerary is as follows:
4-6 Nov Three-day game Colombo
9-11 Nov Three-day game Matara
14-18 Nov 1st Test Galle
23-27 Nov 2nd Test Kandy
1-5 Dec 3rd Test Colombo
8 Dec v Sri Lanka Colombo
9 Dec v Zimbabwe Colombo
14 Dec v Sri Lanka Colombo
16 Dec v Zimbabwe Colombo
19 Dec Final Colombo
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The former President of the BCCI Raj Singh Dungarpur shrugged off media reports that he humiliated the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly at the dressing room in Galle on the second day of the first Test.
He said he has served cricket in various capacities for over 30 years and respects cricket and cricketers too much to behave in a high handed manner as claimed in the newspaper report. He said the current outburst against him was only a part of the larger bubble, that is Board politics.
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Gayatri Arts, a Mumbai-based firm has filed a motion in the Mumbai High Court challenging the award of rights to IMG (TWI) who in turn has awarded the clothing sponsorship to Sahara India, saying that the BCCI was attempting to compensate Sahara for the losses incurred due to the cancellation of the Sahara Cup in Toronto last year following Indo-Pak conflicts.
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Former Indian off-spinner and stumper Earapalli Prasanna and Kiran More have been invited by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to conduct coaching clinics at Dhaka this December.
English County Cricket
Yorkshire won the first CricInfo County Championships by recording its ninth win of the season. Yorkshire had last won the title in 1966, 1967 and 1968.
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Another brilliant performance by Pakistani Shahid Afridi helped his side Leicestershire beat Northamptonshire in a National League match. His 36 off 18 balls enabled his team reach 100 in the 11th over. Leicestershire now need only two wins from their last four games to guarantee their first one-day league triumph for 24 years.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka v India (2nd Test)
at Kandy (3rd day)
Toss: India
Sri Lanka: 274 (M Atapattu 39, M Jayawardene 104, C Vaas 42 not out; Zaheer Khan 3-62)
221 (M Atapattu 45, M Muralitharan 67; Zaheer Khan 4-76, V Prasad 5-72)
India: 232 (S Ramesh 47, Harbhajan Singh 44, S Dighe 28; C Vaas 4-65)
55-1
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England v Australia (5th Test)
at Oval, London (2nd day)
Toss: Australia
Australia: 641-4 decl (M Hayden 68, J Langer 102 retd hurt, R Ponting 62, M Waugh 120, S Waugh 157 not out, D Martyn 62 not out)
England: 80-1 (M Trescothick 55 not out)
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