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West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan called on his team to be more consistent after they crashed out of the ICC World Twenty20 in the first round.”One of the things I’ve stressed on since I became captain is consistency and that is something we need to focus on,” Sarwan said. “It is a matter of us going back and working hard. I know we’ve been saying this for the longest while about our fielding and bowling and sometimes our batting.”Sarwan was critical of his team’s fielding and bowling in the tournament. “I don’t think we executed our plans very well, we didn’t bowl well and you saw how we fielded,” he said. “We bowled wides today [Thursday] again and dropped a vital catch. Nevertheless it’s important that we work on our game because we have a tour coming up to South Africa.”Sarwan said his side lost against Bangladesh because of a poor start and that the toss wasn’t a crucial factor in the match. “I don’t want to blame anything on the toss. I think we should have played better in the first six overs [of our innings] although Chris [Gayle] got out.”We didn’t set a momentum there in the first six overs and that set us back and I thought they [Bangladesh] bowled really well. They utilised the surface really well. When I went in the ball was still gripping from the left arm spinner but apart from that the opening batsmen said there wasn’t much movement.”Sarwan had words of praise for Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels, whose cameos lent respectability to the West Indian score. “Both Dwayne and Marlon played well in the end but it was asking a bit too much of them at the end. We lost out on a few runs at the start of the innings and in the middle overs as well.”West Indies’ next international assignment is a full tour of South Africa which starts in December.

Mohammad Yousuf will have to wait till April 30 to know whether he will be allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The final decision of the arbitration panel hearing the case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL would not announce its final order till then, ICL lawyers said.The announcement is a setback for Yousuf as, with the IPL slated to begin on April 18, he is likely to miss a major chunk of the IPL even if the panel rules in his favour. ICL legal adviser Hitesh Jain was quoted by as saying that since the arbitration panel had reserved its order for final pronouncement the stay order on Yousuf from playing in the IPL remained.The ICL also challenged Yousuf’s claim that he had returned the advance payment amount he got from ICL to one of its agents in Pakistan.”Our case is that Yousuf has not returned the advance amount to ICL or to an authorised agent of ICL,” Jain said. “The person to whom Yousuf claimed to have returned the money is not ICL’s agent in Pakistan and therefore ICL has not received any money from Yousuf.”ICL still holds that there is a binding contract between ICL and Yousuf and he can’t participate in any competing league during the term of the contract.”The uncertainty surrounding Yousuf’s availability ensured that his services were unsold during the IPL auctions.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) may be cash-strapped at the moment but there are riches lying ahead of them during the rest of the year with a whopping US$ 17 million expected from international commitments at home and abroad.Arjuna Ranatunga, the SLC chairman, recently revealed that the board’s coffers were empty and that it was surviving on bank borrowings. Ranatunga had also appealed to the Indian board to help alleviate the financial mess and it appears some revenue has been projected by way of an Indian visit from July 12 to September 2.A series of three Tests and five one-day internationals is expected to net SLC US$ 16,014,446 from television rights alone. The three Tests are likely to be played at Galle and in Colombo and Dambulla is likely to host at least one ODI. Zimbabwe are the other country Sri Lanka will be hosting during 2008 and the turnout for a series of three ODIs is US$ 218,101.Sri Lanka are currently touring Australia for the CB Series against the hosts and India. Their next assignment will be a full series in the West Indies, starting with the first Test in Guyana on March 22.From April 18 to June 17 Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Zoysa are expected to feature in the inaugural Indian Premier League. Given the amount of interest and money the IPL has already gathered, it remains to be seen if the proposed Asia Cup in June and July materialises. If it does, SLC will received US$ 200,000 for their participation.It is more likely that they will receive US$1 million for taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy, also scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September and October. Only the top eight ODI teams in the world will be invited to play in the Champions Trophy, the venues for which are Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. Islamabad was initially touted as a possible venue, but it is unlikely that the stadium, which is currently being developed, will be ready for the tournament.The advent of the IPL has also thrown the Afro-Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Kenya in June, in doubt. There is also uncertainty surrounding the Stanford 20/20 tournament taking place in the West Indies in June, due to the IPL.SLC are also due to get revenue when they host Bangladesh for a series of three Tests and three ODIs starting at the end of the year.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A new-look Pakistan, without a handful of senior players, drove Zimbabwe into the ground with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Sheikhupura to clean sweep the Mobilink Cup 5-0. The overcast and bitterly cold conditions didn’t faze debutant Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan as they chased down a meagre target of 182 with 19 overs to spare.The win was set up by Pakistan’s sprightly young bunch – which included four debutants – who showed exemplary commitment in the field to keep Zimbabwe in check for much of their innings. The overcast conditions were tailor-made, it seemed, even for Pakistan’s untested seam-bowling attack, and Hamilton Masakadza’s decision to bat first was perplexing. After a top order wobble, Zimbabwe were lifted by a rearguard from Elton Chigumbura and Brendan Taylor, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as Pakistan quickly clawed back to shoot them out for a woefully inadequate score.Sharp reflexes – a refreshing change from earlier games – handed Pakistan their early wickets as Abdur Rauf managed to hang on to a low return catch, literally off his toes. Debutant Rizwan Ahmed’s athleticism contributed to the next two wickets, first running out Vusi Sibanda with a fiery throw to the wicketkeeper from deep backward square-leg, and then holding onto a stunner to his left at cover to send back Tatenda Taibu. Wahab Riaz, one among an assembly line of left-arm quicks in this series, was the beneficiary for the second, a wicket in his first international over.As the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the mercury dipped in Sheikhupura’s first international match for nearly a decade, the situation got worse as Zimbabwe lost half their side before the halfway stage. Chigumbura and Taylor, however, buckled down and produced a stand of 85, against the run of play. Pakistan allowed the game to drift a little as bowlers were made to pay each time they erred. The boundaries were interspersed with intelligent running and before anyone knew it, the pair had added fifty.Taylor, who’s had an inconsistent series with the bat, punished anything on full while Chigumbura, a proven allrounder, took on Fawad Alam’s left-arm spin and punished anything full and wide outside off stump, unfurling forceful drives. Rizwan, the legspinner, excelled in the field but had a forgettable debut with the ball as the pair feasted on his half-trackers.

But just when a lower-order revival threatened to push the score over 200, the spinners struck back, breaking up the stand. Thereafter Rauf returned to clean up the last two wickets with inswinging yorkers to end the innings with over four overs to spare.Zimbabwe’s attack lacked the sting and pace to cause Pakistan any trouble. Nasir Jamshed threw his wicket away early when the going was good, but Younis and Manzoor were determined not to miss out.Manzoor was impressive, the bridge between domestic and international cricket seemingly invisible as he sized up his first ball with a firm backfoot punch to the cover point boundary. Busy at the crease, he was particularly strong with his bottom hand, unfurling another punch on the hop, this time beating the covers.But Manzoor soon took a backseat as Younis arrived and the chase progressed at pace. Chigumbura suffered as Younis announced himself with a punchy square drive and then blazed three consecutive boundaries in his next over, immediately after the second Powerplay began. Each was classic improvisation, beginning with a scorching square drive, following it up with a straight six after exposing all stumps on the walk, and then ending with a biff over midwicket.Younis didn’t slow down once the spinners came on. Ray Price was welcomed with a reverse sweep and Keith Dabengwa’s long hops were bludgeoned to the on side. He soon brought up his fifty with a sweep to fine leg. Manzoor, meanwhile, was providing solid support.Both looked set to see Pakistan through, before recklessness set in. Younis fell slogging, while Manzoor was cleaned up sweeping across the line, just after reaching his half-century. By that stage, however, the deal had been sealed as Pakistan, after four unconvincing victories, ended on a high before taking on the Australians.

Bowler of the day“I don’t have too many secrets,” claimed Daniel Vettori on the eve of the match, and it’s true, he’s not a bowler of the mysterious variety, a la Warne, Murali or even Harbhajan. Even so, England struggled to make head or tail of his subtle variations of pace and flight, and he conceded his runs at less than one-and-a-half an over, while ripping out two priceless wickets in Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. He allowed himself a good look at the track during his second-day 88, and demonstrated a knowhow that none of England’s bowlers came close to matching. All in all, he’s having a pretty good game.Crass dismissal of the daySo many to choose from, but Strauss’s has to take the biscuit, seeing as it came just three balls after lunch, at a time when he had done the hard graft and could look forward to a lengthy afternoon of accumulation. Strauss was recalled to bolster a batting line-up that mustered a solitary century in their last series in Sri Lanka, but he himself has now failed to reach three figures in 26 attempts. Vettori floated one up into the blockhole, Strauss launched himself into a reckless drive, and the ball dipped, bit and span into the stumps.False dawn of the dayWhen Kevin Pietersen launched his third delivery, from Jeetan Patel, straight back over the bowler’s head for six, it was easy to assume that the tempo of his innings had been set. Not a bit of it. That shot was entirely out of keeping with what followed. Pietersen didn’t reach the boundary again for another 90 deliveries, and only three times in all in a 131-ball stay that was his slowest ever for any score above 30.Debut of the dayTim Ambrose has been anonymous in this match so far, which in wicketkeeping terms is a very good thing. He kept flawlessly for 138.3 overs of New Zealand’s innings, then finally appeared for his first Test innings with England precariously placed on 245 for 6. By the close he was still sitting pretty on 23 not out, an innings of compact certainty that bodes well for his future. He endured an agonising first 18 deliveries, as Patel and Vettori denied him that cathartic maiden run, but in the end he tucked Vettori off his hips for one, then celebrated with boundaries from each of his next two deliveries.Scoreline of the dayEngland reached the close on 286 for 6, which was almost identical to New Zealand’s first-day 282 for 6. Paul Collingwood will have to convert his overnight 41 into a rare England century, and Ambrose will have to emulate New Zealand’s No. 8, Daniel Vettori, if they intend reaching parity before the second innings gets underway. Because the men to come, with all due respect to the obdurate Ryan Sidebottom, are not in the class of New Zealand’s lower order.Hymn of the dayThe Barmy Army were pretty subdued for most of England’s travails, but they had clearly put their down time to good use when they finally burst into voice after tea. “Ambrose. We’ve got Tim Ambrose,” they declared. “Just like Ambrosia. They made good custard. When we were kids.”

The Bangladesh Under-19 squad will leave for their tour of Pakistan on November 18 after their departure was postponed by over a week because of the imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan followed by a change in flight schedule.The dates of the tour had been pushed back on the advice of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Karachi. The team will now reach Karachi on November 18 and play a four-day game in city from November 20 to November 23, followed by five limited-overs matches from November 26 to December 7 in Hyderabad and Karachi.Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opening batsman, will serve as the deputy to captain Sohrawadi Shuvo for the tour.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

India stood on the brink of a series win in England – 2-0 was as a real possibility, 1-0 a virtual certainty – as they piled on a massive 664, with Anil Kumble scoring his maiden Test hundred on the back of impressive performances from several of his team-mates. India’s batting fired all through, with each of the 11 batsmen getting into double figures, and eight partnerships of 50 or more. England lost Andrew Strauss in the eight overs they had to negotiate, ending on 24 for 1 to cap a near-perfect day for India.With India “getting out of jail” in the first Test at Lord’s, saved by the rain, and decisively winning an exciting game at Trent Bridge, the two teams came into the final Test fairly well matched. By the end of the second day, though, India were far ahead, with England battling hard to stay in the hunt.Added to the pressure that the series scoreline put on the English batsmen was the pressure of the huge Indian total. The question Michael Vaughan will be asking himself is, “How can England win this game?” For if they can’t visualise a positive result, it might just become too difficult to bat three days and keep the negative one away.The day was well set up when it began, with India narrowly ahead on points at 316 for 4. Sachin Tendulkar quickly got to his half-century, Matt Prior dropped VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni carted the ball around for a lusty 92, and all seemed to be going according to the Indian script. Then came the event of the day, something that was 36 years and 297 days and 118 Tests in the making. Kumble got to his half-century, off 109 balls, playing second fiddle to Dhoni. Then slowly, as he crunched one unassuming cover drive after another, the maiden century became a real possibility, even with Dhoni gone.Zaheer Khan played with care and common sense for 52 balls to score 11 but he could take Kumble only as far as 67. RP Singh hung around 21 balls for his 11 and left Kumble on 76. With 24 still needed, Kumble was visibly nervous as Sreesanth strode out to bat. Miraculously, Sreesanth kept his cool – something he hasn’t always done with the ball in hand – and Kumble speared one from Kevin Pietersen through Matt Prior’s legs, off the inside edge, to reach three figures.Scrambling to regain his crease, Kumble saw that the ball had evaded the keeper and before Steve Bucknor, the umpire, could signal the boundary, he had his helmet off and waved his bat towards the Indian dressing-room. To a man the Indian team – already crowding the balcony – rose to their feet, celebrating Kumble’s moment. It was one of cricket’s romantic moments, a popular hero achieving a milestone that appeared to be evading him in a 17-year-old career.For those less inclined to the game’s romance, there was still enough to savour on a day the statisticians had little respite. India’s innings was the first instance of eight partnerships crossing the 50-run mark. James Anderson conceded 182 runs, more than any Englishman has conceded against India in an innings. All eleven Indian batsmen got into double figures. Kumble took more Tests than any batsman in history to reach a maiden Test hundred, beating Chaminda Vaas (96), and, till he got there this was the highest score without a century.And if you had no interest in either romance or statistics, and wanted pure cricket, you couldn’t have asked for a refund on your ticket money at the end of the day. Laxman batted pleasingly for 51, barring the ball that got him and the one that should have when Prior shelled the chance. Tendulkar played more shots in the second half of his innings, including a near six – a hook off Anderson – and well-constructed punches through mid-on and cover. He was on target for a century when Anderson produced a delivery that swung late and, for the second time in the innings, got rid of a well-set top-order batsman.Anderson’s ball to dismiss Tendulkar, almost as good as the one that got Rahul Dravid on the first day, was no fluke. England’s bowlers tried hard, hampered as they were with the loss of Sidebottom after the 102nd over, and it wasn’t as though they bowled especially badly. It was just one of those days when almost everything India did went their way.

Dhoni’s frightening assault was one such thing. He walked out to bat with India in a strong position at 354 for 5 but there was still a long way to go. India’s first task was to score enough runs to eliminate the risk of defeat and then press on to a score so big that England would have to fight to save the game. Dhoni ensured that this gap was bridged. He did that with a typically marauding 92, including four huge hits for six and nine fours, off only 81 balls. He’d helped save the Test at Lord’s with a doughty, uncharacteristic innings; here he’d set things up with an idiosyncratic, bustling knock.Amid all that, Kumble ended up unbeaten on 110, scoring the only Indian century of the series so far as India eventually closed on 664. Then, in the eight overs that remained a tired Strauss pulled Zaheer from well outside the off and only managed a catch to fine leg, leaving England at 12 for 1. Alastair Cook stayed largely away from the strike, and trouble, as England ended on 24 for 1, a staggering 640 behind with three days to play.And that’s the key, as the man of the day put it. “I always knew I could bat and I didn’t think it would be 17 years coming,” said Kumble. “I’m really satisfied, and we’ll celebrate, but there’s still a lot of work to be done in picking up the remaining 19 wickets.”Kumble couldn’t stop smiling when he gave that TV interview but it is over the next three days that he has to be in his element – making sure the English batsmen are not enjoying their time out in the middle. After all, a 2-0 series-win in England beckons. And that’s almost as much of a once-in-a-lifetime event as Kumble’s hundred.

Scorecard
Seamer Tonito Willett took a career-best 5 for 31 to help Leeward Islands to a 34-run victory against Windward Islands in St Georges. Overnight on 183 for 6, chasing 289, Windwards were dismissed for 254 shortly after lunch. Allrounder Liam Sebastien scored a defiant unbeaten 54 but ran short of partners. His stand of 43 with captain Deighton Butler for the eighth wicket took Windwards closer, before Willet ran through the tail. The victory was sealed when Willet trapped Nelson Pascal lbw, swinging across the line. It was the second loss for Windwards after their nine-wicket defeat against Barbados. Leewards are now tied at third spot with Trinidad & Tobago on 12 points.
Scorecard
Suleiman Benn and Dwayne Smith shared seven wickets between them to help Barbados to a comprehensive innings-and-57-run victory against Guyana at the Kensington Oval. Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan found form with a half-century and his 87-run partnership with Assad Fudadin defied Barbados till lunch, but it wasn’t enough to make Barbados bat again.The overnight pair of Sarwan and Leon Johnson buckled down and took the overnight score of 85 for 3 to 122 before Benn dismissed Johnson. Sarwan survived a very confident appeal for a catch on 36 off Kemar Roach and proceeded to his half-century. Fudadin, who provided solid support to Sarwan in his 33, fell shortly after lunch, caught by wicketkeeper Carlo Morris after the ball rebounded off Jason Haynes at short leg. Benn returned to dismiss Sarwan for 82, caught at forward short-leg while Smith cleaned up the lower order to finish with figures of 3 for 66. Benn, who bowled 36 overs, ended with 4 for 96. The defeat left Guyana at the bottom of the table with the Combined Campuses & Colleges and Windward Islands.Points table

As with all the greatest sporting derbies, matters are never routine when India and Pakistan come together. Strange things, not always clasped to the fortunes of form, class and temperament, happen.A match is stolen off the last ball with a mighty six, a match is won off the third last ball with an equally grand stroke; 350 is nearly chased down yet 126 proves too far; a fast bowler of repute is smashed for 40 runs in two overs but an opener with a tidy line in slow-medium wobblies cripples a side; people flock to see them play in deserts, against abackdrop of windmills and even in Canada, a country as au fait with cricket as India and Pakistan are with ice hockey.And we should be glad for it. Such previews generally carry all the weight of a feather floating in space but for what its worth, here is a punt. Home advantage and a stodgier feel to their personnel tips the balance in India’s favour, albeit gingerly. Then again Pakistan don’t mind the other tag, one they wore so ebulliently on their last tour two years ago. Does that tip the balance back?Citizens of two nations they may be, but certain truths are shared. One, Bollywood cuts across the Line of Control as does indigenous Pakistani classical and pop music. Two, democracy works for one, maybe not the other. Lastly, and most importantly, India’s batsmen have always been unchallenged kings of the region and Pakistan’s bowlers its’ undisputed lords.

Much like the Rolling Stones, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly roll on. They don’t surf the zeitgeist as they once did, but like the band, they still provide solid value. Suresh Raina may be yesterday’s news, but Rohit Sharma might be tomorrow’s. The real spunk, however, comes from Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and the captain himself. Mahendra Singh Dhoni may command Shahid Afridi-like fan fervour and he may have the strike-rate to match, but he is a cerebral giant by comparison.The Wall is resting, fatigued no doubt from the support it has provided in recent times. But if and when India falter at 15 for 2 with nothing to lean back on, Pakistan will be happiest to not see Rahul Dravid walking out. It leaves the middle order thin rather than lean, especially given the presence of five openers in the squad.Perhaps they can pass on the surplus to Pakistan. New era, new captain and coach, same opening strife: Pakistan went through five openers and three combinations in five matches against South Africa and are still likely to draw names from a hat come the first ODI. In fact, their batting has rarely been as brittle as this, relying essentially on Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, with a little help from Shoaib Malik, the captain.But even as it has become a pre-tour ritual for at least one Pakistan fast bowler to drop out from injury, drugs or bust-ups just before the series, on their bowling still rests the winning and losing of this. In Mohammad Asif’s absence, Shoaib Akhtar will carry much the attack and though he is eminently capable, never before has it been as important for him to remain fit and preferably confined to his hotel room with no possibility of mischief.

Just in case, the force is strong with Umar Gul and Iftikhar Anjum presently, especially the latter who provides, as first change, an adept, thoughtful option. India hasn’t suited Afridi the bowler, but his craft is at its peak and strong enough to make up for his batting. As vital as the fast men will be Afridi’s middle-overs spread.For once, however, India’s pace is in comparably rude health. Zaheer Khan and RP Singh’s bowling is a different game from when Pakistan last played them in an ODI. Zaheer is leaner and wiser, more rounded and a better bowler. RP is broader, quicker, bouncier, spikier and altogether more dangerous. Behind them, Sreesanth will dance, pump fists, sledge, stare and occasionally bowl mean spells. But it says much for their strength that India choose to play without Munaf Patel, who is possibly the most gifted of them all.Will fielding make a difference? Both sides are bad enough for it to cancel itself out, as Sanjay Manjrekar points out in Cricinfo’s Round Table. But leadership will. Both captains are young, both have had their honeymoons and both have been brought back to earth swiftly by vastly superior sides.Dhoni feels the more settled, if only because his place in all forms is unquestioned. Malik, meanwhile, is still gamely battling off lingering doubters. It is also easier to be a young captain of India than to be one of Pakistan. Malik’s calm will come in handy in times of stress, as will Younis as deputy. Dhoni’s feistiness, his wily, upmarket bravado will serve him likewise.As parting, heed this: if this were on paper, you would be wise to crumple it and chuck it away. So turn off the monitor instead, for come tomorrow all of it and none of it will matter.

Mike Atherton will replace Christopher Martin-Jenkins as cricket correspondent of after England’s tour of New Zealand early next year.Atherton, who has made his name as a journalist on , and is considered one of the major successes of a player becoming a writer, will continue with his Sky Sports commentary alongside his new brief. Martin-Jenkins, who was handed the Peter Smith memorial award at the Cricket Writers’ Dinner in September, will take a role as senior cricket columnist.It is the first major reshuffle of the broadsheet newspapers since 2002 when Angus Fraser retired from playing to take up the main role at and Derek Pringle moved to .