The Indian team is having some trouble implementing a rotation policy when it comes to resting players but they’ve certainly managed to stick to it when it comes to fronting pre-match press conferences. Each time a different cricketer has come to the customary pre-match press conferences and it was Zaheer Khan’s turn in Nagpur. To his credit, he managed to keep his sense of humour despite being at the receiving end of some serious punishment in a tough series.When asked how India planned to stop Andrew Symonds, Zaheer said, “first we’ll have to tackle the Aussie openers.” But on a more serious note, he believed that putting Australia under pressure was the key to doing well. “We have to put them under pressure, that’s the key. We did that in Chandigarh and got the result in our favour and there is no reason why we can’t do it here tomorrow.”Spearheading a pace attack that includes two other left-armers in RP Singh and Irfan Pathan, Zaheer did not believe that it was a bit one-dimensional. “Even if we all are left-arm bowlers, you can’t say our style of bowling is the same. We do have our variations. All over the world in one-day cricket, the importance of left-arm bowlers has increased. We have three and it’s a very good sign.”Zaheer believed that the Indian bowling was doing well, given the tough conditions for fast bowlers in the subcontinent. “On the whole as a bowling unit we have been doing well and that’s the general feedback I have been getting in the team meetings and we are maintaining that,” he said. “We are playing in the subcontinent and wickets are not going to be that helpful to fast bowlers. You have sort of a fair idea that it’s very important to win the toss; that becomes very crucial. It is different playing in the subcontinent compared to abroad. So keeping all this in mind, I think we are competing well.”Despite losing heavily in the last match in Vadodara, Zaheer murmured the truism that “each match was a new one”. “We are looking very positive, putting in all our efforts in our net practices and we are gelling well as a team. Obviously we all knew it’s going to be a tough series and we are responding well to it. The main thing is to be positive, go out in the field and give your 100%, your best, and just see in the evening how you have gone in the match. That’s how you go about it.”

Garnett Kruger, the South Africa and Lions opening bowler, has been found guilty of breaching Cricket South Africa’s Code of Conduct and has been suspended for one SuperSport Series match.The disciplinary action arose from statements made by Kruger in newspaper on September 7, under the headline: “Proteas are being run by a clique”. In addition, Kruger made other comments on SuperSport’s television program on October 3 which were considered to breach the Code of Conduct.In amrecent interview with Graeme Smith denied there was any clique operating in the game. “I do find it ironic that people have accused me of not consulting the senior players and being a dictator. Then, when I do consult them a lot, I’m accused of having a clique!”But I know I haven’t always got the balance right and I am determined to spend more time with each player and not so much with one group, even if they are close friends. And I’ll do that because I want to, not because I have to.”Kruger pleaded guilty to the charges will miss the Lions’ match against the Cape Cobras on November 8.

Greg Chappell believes he was the victim of a racist attack during his difficult two-year tenure as India’s coach, and in an ABC documentary to be screened next week, hits out at the Indian authorities who he feels attempted to play down a serious breach of security at Bhubaneswar Airport, in the eastern state of Orissa.The team had just arrived to play a one-day international against West Indies in January this year when a fan burst out of the crowd and threw a punch at Chappell. “I got hit on the side of the head and my immediate reaction was ‘he’s broken my jaw’,” Chappell told the documentary team.Although there was a suggestion at the time that the lack of local representation in the Indian team was the motive for the attack, Chappell was not so sure. “Indians are very quick to complain about racism,” he said. “There are plenty of Indian cricketers the guy could have attacked but he chose to attack me.”According to a report in the Chappell elaborated on the events that followed the incident, in particular the lack of action from the Indian board. “As I said to the BCCI in a letter, had it been one of the players who was attacked there would have been an outcry, but because it was me no-one seemed to care. The reply came back talking about my racist comments.”There was a cover-up,” he added. “Everyone went into cover-up mode. It was quite obvious it was a serious assault. It wasn’t just a push in the back as the media was led to believe. The whole thing was played down. The only phone call I got from the BCCI asked me whether it really happened.”As far as Chappell was concerned, there is no question what happened. “This bloke came in from behind and gave me a whack in the right ear,” he told the Australian. “Luckily he yelled out as he was leaping through the air to punch me and gave me enough warning to pull away a little bit.”It was still a fairly solid blow. My legs buckled, but I had a briefcase on wheels with a long handle and I was able to use it as support to stop me from going down.”Chappell quit as India’s coach four months later, following a disastrous World Cup campaign, but he claims that the incident cemented his decision to walk away as soon as his contract expired. In fact, he felt he should have gone sooner, after the BCCI reversed his attempts to inject new blood into the Indian squad by recalling older players such as Sourav Ganguly.”I probably had the chance to walk away at that stage but you can’t walk out halfway through something you’ve taken on,” said Chappell. “In hindsight it may have been the better thing to do but I had committed to be there for that period of time so I decided I’d see it out.”

Kevin Pietersen will be available to bat in England’s second innings in Kandy despite breaking a bone in his finger.Pietersen suffered the break to his right little finger during Sri Lanka’s first innings and has not been on the field at all during their second innings. However, as he sustained the blow during the match he will be able to bat in his usual position because the rules state that it is an “external” injury.Had he pulled a muscle, however, or suffered any other type of internal injury he would have not been able to bat higher than No. 7.

Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, has defended the decision to replace Steve Bucknor with Billy Bowden for the third Test in Perth, saying it was done for the better of the game and not to please India. “We could have taken a confrontational tone but we took a diplomatic approach,” he told the . “We have got an international sporting incident where countries are polarised. What we are seeking to do is avoid having that turn into an international crisis.”We have taken away one of the points of issue that has caused this passionate response in both countries. If Bucknor had been umpiring, commentators and public would have pored over every decision Steve made.”Speed also felt the Australian side need to realise the brickbats they are receiving for their behaviour. “They are a great cricket team; I would hate to see them remembered for any reason other than that,” he was quoted in the . “The team is being criticised, members of the team are being criticised and they need to to be aware of that – they need to respond to that.”Meanwhile, ICC president Ray Mali also backed the decision to remove Bucknor from officiating in Perth. “We recognised from the outset that the umpiring in the second Test was below the very high standard we have come to expect from our Elite Panel and we noted with concern the enormous reaction to it and realised that we could potentially have a serious international diplomatic incident on our hands,” Mali said. “By standing Steve down for the third Test we have successfully defused the situation, at least for the time being, and so what was a sporting issue has not become a political crisis.”We could easily have taken an inflexible stance and gone toe-to-toe with those who were calling for Steve’s withdrawal but instead we chose to adopt a more diplomatic and reasonable approach. And on balance it was the right thing to do, for the game and for the series.Mali also issued a reminder that Bucknor’s removal had nothing to do with Harbhajan Singh’s appeal. “It is also worth reminding people that the decision to replace Steve for this match had nothing to do with the Harbhajan Singh Code of Conduct hearing. That process is ongoing and will run its full course.”As is his right, Harbhajan has appealed the guilty finding of the hearing. The appeals process has been part of the ICC Code of Conduct for seven years so there is nothing new or unusual about this.Mali said he expected all parties to accept the decision of the findings of the appeals’ commissioner and hoped the attention would shift to the game . “Over the past few days there have been too many emotive comments from too many people and it’s now time for the focus to return to the cricket.”Speed dismissed suggestions that the appeal on Harbhajan Singh’s three-Test ban will be delayed so as to ensure the series will go on without further controversy.”We may have the hearing before the third Test. If not, we are hopeful we can have it before the fourth Test,” Speed said. “I am very pleased the tour is going ahead, there is a process in place for appeals and Harbhajan has appealed,” he said. “India have signed off on the appeals process. They were there when all the discussions took place.Speed said the ICC won’t budge under the pressure of the Indian board. “We can’t have one set of rules for the India team and another set for everyone else,” he said. “We will follow the process and and I hope whatever the outcome all parties will be able to say they have had a fair hearing.”

On paper, New Zealand begin the three-match one-day series starting tomorrow in Auckland as overwhelming favourites, given the home conditions and the hunger to reverse a shoddy away season against South Africa and Australia. However, the picture doesn’t look as rosy as they would have liked; their opponents, Bangladesh, are far from pushovers and one false move could spell further embarrassment for the home side.New Zealand’s batting has been an obvious struggle, particularly in South Africa, where they failed to cross 188 in the two-Test series, and had no answer to the pace and swing of Dale Steyn. Shaun Tait compounded their woes during the Chappell-Hadlee series in Australia, and the absence of a collective effort in the batting was primarily responsible for ending their twin tours with just a solitary win in seven international games.Captain Daniel Vettori recognised the need for his batsmen to step up and help build enough confidence ahead of England’s visit in February. However, the players may not have the luxury of time to find much-needed form, after selection chairman Richard Hadlee announced that the Test squad against Bangladesh will be announced after the second one-dayer. While Hadlee didn’t single out any players, he hinted that the top performers at the domestic season could be in for call-ups sooner rather than later.”I’m not prepared to single out a player,” Hadlee told the . “If we need to reward players at domestic level at the expense of the incumbent players, then that’s the professional environment. We want some results and we have to find methods of getting results.”The return of Peter Fulton – one of their most consistent players last season – from a knee injury should come as a boost, though he failed in the Twenty20 charity match against the Bangladeshis on Sunday, scoring 3. Returning after a lay-off since the World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka, Fulton has been in good touch for Canterbury, scoring a hundred and two fifties. He is likely to bat at No. 3, with Jamie How and the in-form Brendon McCullum set to open.”Sometimes when you miss out through injury you give someone else an opportunity, and if they take it then it can take a long time to get back in,” Fulton told the . I’m just relieved that, in a way, no-one took the opportunity to stamp their mark on the side. I got a couple of hundreds last week in club cricket as well, so it has been a pretty good three or four week period with the bat to be honest.”Bangladesh have had mixed results, starting the tour with defeats to Auckland and Northern Districts by the same margin of seven wickets. However, they managed to round off their last practice game ahead of the one-dayers with a four-wicket win in the Twenty20 against New Zealand XI. The bowlers – led by Shahadat Hossain – managed to keep it tight and the middle order chipped in to wipe out the target of 134 with three overs to spare.Openers Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique have impressed so far with a century and half-century respectively but the rest have failed to carry on after making starts. In all probability, Bangladesh may go in with the same winning combination at Eden Park tomorrow.Interestingly, Bangladesh will be playing their first ever ODI on New Zealand soil. Their last tour, in 2001-02, included just two Tests.Teams (likely)
New Zealand: Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Chris MartinBangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Javed Omar, Shakib Al Hasan, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain Jnr, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sajidul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza

Daniel Vettori has been ruled out of both Twenty20 internationals against England after he failed to recover from an ankle injury. Brendon McCullum will captain the side in both games, in Auckland on Tuesday and in Christchurch on Thursday.Vettori suffered the problem while training with Northern Districts on Friday. Jeetan Patel, the offspinner who was placed on standby while Vettori was being assessed, has now officially been called into the squad.New Zealand’s captain has nearly a week to prove his fitness ahead of the first ODI against England, in Wellington on Saturday. His absence from the attack is a big blow to a side that has already lost its most lethal weapon with Shane Bond’s decision to sign with the Indian Cricket League.The two Twenty20 games are followed by five ODIs and three Tests. England opened their tour with a victory over Canterbury in Christchurch on Saturday.

New South Wales 394 and 4 for 122 drew with Victoria 394 and 240 (McDonald 64*, Casson 5-97, Cameron 4-86)
Scorecard

Mark Cameron enjoyed his first ten-wicket match and Beau Casson regained some bowling form but the top-of-the-table clash between Victoria and New South Wales petered out to a draw at the SCG. The remarkable first-innings tie secured both teams a place in the Pura Cup final, however neither side could claim an advantage on the fourth day.New South Wales were set a chase of 241 from at least 44 overs but they were in no hurry to overhaul the target as Greg Mail took half an hour to get off the mark. Andrew McDonald and Bryce McGain picked up two wickets each but neither side looked like pulling off a win and the game was called off after 46 overs with the Blues at 4 for 122.Victoria had been dismissed for 240 halfway through the middle session as Casson grabbed 5 for 97, which were his best first-class figures since moving to New South Wales from Western Australia. Cameron collected 4 for 86 to finish with a match haul of 10 for 187 and the Blues could not call on Doug Bollinger and Moises Henriques, both of whom had injuries.David Hussey returned to the Victoria line-up following his fruitless call-up into Australia’s ODI squad, however he only managed 9 batting in the unfamiliar No. 7 position and left the Bushrangers at 6 for 143. McDonald top scored with 64 not out and put together a handy 60-run stand with Matthew Wade (36) when it seemed the Blues might run through the lower order.Both teams are on 33 points and hosting rights for the decider will now come down to the final two rounds of Pura Cup matches, to be played over the next three weeks. The Blues take on Tasmania in Hobart and finish with South Australia at the SCG, while the Bushrangers face a trip to Western Australia before ending their season at home against Queensland.

England 253 and 416 for 5 (Strauss 173*, Bell 110) lead New Zealand 168 by 501 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Andrew Strauss guaranteed himself a place in England’s Test side for the foreseeable future with a career-best 173 on the third day in Napier as McLean Park finally produced the volume of run-scoring that had been expected. Ian Bell contributed an expressive hundred of his own as England piled up a huge 501-run lead leaving New Zealand’s brittle batting line-up with a two-day battle to save the match and share the series.This was England’s most dominant day of batting since they flayed a hapless West Indies side almost a year ago and the top order began to answer their critics after a winter that, before this match, had produced just two hundreds. Kevin Pietersen’s 129 on the opening day was a return to form that everyone believed was around the corner, but the second innings performance will have been more satisfying for everyone involved as it came from the two players with most question marks hanging over them.A true judgement of Strauss’s innings is tough because some of New Zealand’s bowling was extremely friendly. The way he played and missed against the second new ball when approaching three figures showed that the technique is still not perfect, but the cry he belted out after driving Chris Martin through the covers to bring up his hundred was proof of the emotion and pressure that came with this knock.The 226 balls Strauss took to reach his landmark is the most he has needed for any of his 11 hundreds, but that’s nothing like the time he has had to wait between three-figure scores. His last century came 16 Tests ago, against Pakistan at Headingley in 2006, and the strong feeling was that it was the minimum required to retain his place for the return series against New Zealand in May. A zipping new ball on an early-season green-top will be the next stage of his rehabilitation, but it has taken a huge amount of fight to even earn the chance.When he resumed on his overnight 42 it was still a struggle and he had to bide his time early on. One streaky edge flew through gully rather than the covers, but the shot with which he moved to his fifty was a much classier blow – a flowing straight drive that burst through Martin’s hands in his follow through. Occasionally there was a glimpse of vintage Strauss including a strong back-foot drive against Martin and two late cuts off Daniel Vettori, and once past his hundred he became more expansive.Apart from the second new ball there was little threat from the bowling as Martin and Tim Southee looked tired and the pitch didn’t offer much for the spinners. Strauss made sure he took full advantage, passing his previous highest score of 147 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2004-05 and breaking the 150-mark off 300 balls. Strauss began the day knowing an early dismissal could have made this his last Test innings for some time, but instead walked off having batted throughout and four runs away from his first-class best.

Unlike Strauss, who took a long time to find his groove, Bell was into his stride as soon as he replaced Pietersen, who fell to an outstanding slip catch by Ross Taylor. Bell’s innings was precisely what England were crying out for in the situation, where the lead was already healthy, and was the commanding performance he needed to produce to silence his doubters. His post-lunch acceleration with Strauss, which brought 135 runs in the afternoon, was perfectly timed as runs started to flow at four an over. He flicked Patel over midwicket for six and tucked into the gentle offerings of Grant Elliott as Vettori tried to race through to the new ball.Bell’s cover-driving was the highlight of his innings and a scorching shot carried him into the 90s. He brought up his hundred from a brisk 150 deliveries, his first since the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s last May, and the 187-run stand was the best by England since Bell and Matt Prior added 190 in that same Test. People will point out that the going was easy, but England have been criticised for not cashing in before so this was a step in the right direction.Bell eventually fell to the persevering Vettori, the only successful bowler, as he lofted a catch to mid-off, but Paul Collingwood and Tim Ambrose produced breezy efforts to keep Strauss company during the final session. New Zealand had long since given up trying to bowl England out, resigning themselves to trying to save the match. On recent evidence they are unlikely to be up to the challenge.

Security has been increased in Kanpur, and especially around the India and South Africa teams, following the threat of an attack during the third Test, which begins there on Friday. The threat is believed to have been made two days ago by a fundamentalist organisation banned by the Indian government.”Security has been beefed up,” Vikram Singh, the Uttar Pradesh director-general of police, confirmed. “We are using trained police personnel and manpower, new technology equipments, interceptors and taking other steps to make the Test match safe and secure.We ask spectators to come and enjoy the match without worrying about security.”Intelligence agencies had warned the Delhi and UP police of the possibility of an attack on cricketers. Local newspapers reported a threat from the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, an outfit banned by the government.Logan Naidoo, the South Africa team manager, said they were monitoring the situation but indicated that at the moment the tour would go ahead as scheduled. “It is still early days but if we feel threatened in any way then we will have to seriously consider what we want to do. For now all we want to do is let people know that, although there has been a terrorist threat, we do not feel under threat at the moment and we have been assured by the BCCI of our security,” Naidoo said. He said that additional security had been provided at the team hotel.”There are more checkpoints around the hotel and people are being frisked more than usual,” Naidoo said. “We have been in touch with the top brass of the Indian police in Delhi and their Intelligence Bureau is aware of what is happening.”Although they don’t see any possibility of the threat taking place, they want to make sure all possible security measures are put in place and that we feel comfortable with our security,” he said. “We are not taking this lightly – the players are worried – so we will respect our hosts’ (BCCI) word on this but keep in touch with the situation. We have asked our own intelligence back home, Nicholls Steyn and Associates, to look into the matter and they are doing that through their London branch. They are also sending an extra member of their security team to India and he will be with us by Thursday.”