India's tour of West Indies

Fourth Test, St John's, Antigua, day two:
India 462-6 v West Indies.

VVS Laxman struck an important century as India took control of the fourth Test against the West Indies at St John's.

Laxman hit an unbeaten 124, his third Test ton, to rescue the tourists after the Windies pacemen had struck three early blows.

Accompanying Laxman in an unbroken 205-run stand for the seventh wicket was Ajay Ratra, who chipped in with a career-best 93.

The previous seventh-wicket record for India against the West Indies was 186 between Eknath Solkar and Dilip Sardesai at Barbados in 1971.

Scorecard | Match report | Statistics

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VVS Laxman admits he fulfilled a childhood dream by scoring a Test century in the West Indies. The 27-year-old batsman stroked an unbeaten 124 on Saturday to take India to 462 for six on the second day of the fourth Test.

Laxman shared in a record 205-run unbroken stand for the seventh wicket with Ajay Ratra, who finished on 93 not out.

"It was always my dream to score a hundred in the West Indies," Laxman said. "I'm really thrilled that I achieved it."

Sri Lanka in England

Surrey paceman Alex Tudor says he feels in fine form and is raring to resume his Test career when England take on Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday.

Tudor earned his call-up to the England squad after a successful start to the season, taking 15 wickets in three championship matches.

The 24-year-old, who played the last of his five Tests against Australia last summer, has been plagued by injury throughout his career, but hopes he has put his fitness troubles behind him. "Playing for England is something that I've wanted as soon as I came back from Australia - I'm over the moon," he told BBC Sport Online.

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Alec Stewart will keep wicket and there are recalls for Dominic Cork and Alex Tudor in an England squad of 13 for the first Test against Sri Lanka, beginning at Lord's on Thursday.

But the biggest surprise is the return of batsman John Crawley, taking the spot occupied by Mark Ramprakash against New Zealand.

Miscellaneous

Former Pakistan captain-turned-politician Imran Khan said yesterday the terror bomb blast in Pakistan that scuppered the New Zealand tour would haunt Pakistan cricket in the future.

"The blast is a body blow to Pakistan in general and cricket in particular and it will be difficult to attract teams in the near future," said Imran, who now heads Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice).

"It was a traumatic experience for the NZ team and I understand their fears, but for us it is one of the very common things as we have been subjected to terrorism," the former skipper said.

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David Graveney, the amiable chairman of selectors, joked that he would be pulling his tin hat on for a couple of days after announcing this team.

And that was a sure sign that he knows he faces a barrage of criticism for what can only be described as a backward step.

Privately, Graveney would probably agree with that observation, too, but would also point out that form is important.

And England need to win the series after the bitterly disappointing defeat at Auckland last month.

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Former South African captain Kepler Wessels, who has been nominated for the new selection panel, has criticised how the national cricket team was selected last season.

Speaking at a fund-raising dinner on Wednesday night, Wessels said selection is one of the key issues that needs attention for SA to bridge the gap with Australia.

"The selectors need to be in touch with modern cricket. The Australian selectors are David Boon, Allan Border, Andrew Hilditch and Trevor Hohns, all of whom played on the international stage in the last decade."

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