Black clouds scudding over New Road put another dampener on Worcestershire’s slender hopes of escaping to victory over Second Division champions Northamptonshire.Needing a win to have any chance of promotion, the home side could ill afford a complete wash-out for the second day in succession following downpours overnight and again this morning.Already facing an uphill task at 50 for five in reply to Northants’ 260, they were close to accepting their promotion challenge is over when the umpires abandoned the third day after lunch.Coach Bill Athey said: “It’s looking less and less likely because we really needed a couple of batting bonus points as well as a win.”The bad weather also knocked Glenn McGrath’s prospects of becoming the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship.Tied on 68 with Shane Warne after the first innings here, he lost ground when his Australian team-mate struck twice in Yorkshire’s second innings at Southampton on Thursday.

Australian cricket in the time of Michael Clarke has seen great success but also great upheaval. Stunning innings and achievements have alternated with unsavoury stories, with relationships strained behind the scenes then patched up time and again in public.This duality was never better illustrated than last year, when on the day Clarke and the selectors were in open conflict over his fitness, the blow that felled Phillip Hughes turned into a circuit-breaker that compelled the two parties to co-exist until day three of the Trent Bridge Test. It was always a tenuous balance.As the reality of a humiliating Ashes defeat sank in, a tabloid despatch from the British Isles spoke of divisions in the team, feuds among the players’ partners and of the retiring Clarke’s peripheral role in the squad’s social life. Whatever the merits of the story, results turned in at Cardiff, Birmingham and Nottingham spoke loudly enough – the team needs regeneration but also revitalisation and even reunification. It is a lot for a new leader to take on.Into this breach will step Steven Smith, he of 26 years and 32 Tests. A popular and respected team-mate, Smith will carry little of the baggage possessed by Clarke, but will instead have a different set of difficulties. He has already captained the Test team, but as a caretaker in an XI speckled with experience. When he officially takes over for the tour of Bangladesh in October, Smith will lead a side shorn not just of Clarke but also Ryan Harris, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Chris Rogers. The question of who becomes vice-captain – David Warner, anyone? – is a pointer to the team’s looming gaps.Smith will be a different leader from Clarke, more pragmatic than his predecessor, but he mimicked the older man in quickly asserting his distance from selection duties. Whoever is chosen for Bangladesh, Smith will have a challenge ahead of him to mould the group successfully without the sorts of strong characters who co-habited the dressing room with Clarke. Haddin, in particular, has been a major mentor to Smith.”Obviously it’s not my job to pick the team, but there is a possibility there could be some changes and some younger guys coming in,” Smith said. “I think Bangladesh is gong to be quite a tough tour, it’s another place that is quite foreign to us as Australian batters I guess. So we’re going to have to find ways to adapt to those conditions, like we haven’t done well here. Hopefully we can do that and have some success over there.”Nothing is confirmed yet either with anything, in regards to the captaincy. But if it works out that way and I am the next captain, then it’s a lot of responsibility. There’s obviously a few guys on this tour, the senior players that haven’t been taking part in the last couple of games. So it’s always tough when you lose those guys. But I think it’s exciting for Australian cricket, we’re going to have some younger guys coming through.”It remains to be seen how Smith will fare under the extra pressures of permanent captaincy. He has been a voracious user of one-on-one net sessions with the batting assistant Michael Di Venuto, but must now divest greater time for others. He has also shown increasing confidence as a spokesman for the team, but can still slip up at times, as he did in asserting that England would not get close to Australia this tour. Mainly he will need to lead as a batsman, something he did with hundreds in each of his three stand-in Tests against India last summer.Those games also saw Smith show a conservative streak in not allowing India back into the Melbourne or Sydney Tests with carrot-dangling declarations. It was the antithesis of how Clarke operated, as shown during the 2013 Oval Test when he angered the selector on duty (now chairman) Rod Marsh by offering England a relatively gettable target in a rain curtailed match. It took bad light to prevent the hosts securing a chancer’s victory.Smith has spent plenty of time alongside Clarke in the slips on this tour, and on day two in Nottingham he dived across and tipped a potential catch out of the reach of the captain. Such eagerness had been evident years ago at the 2011 World Cup when Smith collided with Ricky Ponting after both went for a high catch despite the captain’s loud call. Clearly Smith is eager to get stuck in as a leader, and demurred when asked whether he had served an “apprenticeship” under Clarke.”I wouldn’t say that,” Smith replied. “You can learn a lot from the way he captains [from] just being out there. Standing next to him at third slip, where I’ve been fielding, it’s nice to be able to talk to him and learn different ways as to how we’re trying to get the batters out and thinking ahead of the present. That’s pretty important as a captain and something that he’s done really well, and something I’ve been able to learn off on the job.”I was very surprised that it [Clarke’s retirement] happened, I didn’t see it coming. But I guess when you get to the end of your career you make the decision and Michael’s done that, so hopefully we can send him off on a high note at the Oval. He’s put so much hard work into playing cricket for Australia. He’s definitely been a great servant of Australian cricket. He was a great captain and a terrific player, so he’s going to be missed, that’s for sure. Hopefully we can send Michael off on a high note at the Oval.”The Oval was where Smith first signalled his arrival as a Test batsman of heft by making his first Test hundred in a dead match. Two years on and the farewell match for Clarke will give Smith time to think about how he wants to take the Australian team forward. Towards success he will expect. Towards unity he will hope.

England allrounder Ben Stokes has insisted there was no wilful intent when he gloved away Mitchell Starc’s throw at the stumps at Lord’s and that he was purely thinking of protecting himself.Stokes’ reaction, as he spun away from the throw, came when he was out of his ground and led to him becoming the first England batsman – and sixth overall – to be given out obstructing the field in a one-day international.Law 37, which governs obstructing the field, states: Either batsman is out obstructing the field if he wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action.”A guy was standing there five feet away from me and it was just a complete reaction,” Stokes told ESPNcricinfo. “I didn’t put my hand there wilfully, it was purely out of human reaction to protect myself. But the decision was made, there’s nothing I can do but it wasn’t wilful whatsoever.”Former England captains Michael Vaughan, Alec Stewart and Paul Collingwood were among those to criticise the decision. Collingwood, who was involved in controversy against New Zealand in 2008 when he refused to recall Grant Elliott after he was run out following a collision with Ryan Sidebottom and later admitted he had made an error, tweeted that Steven Smith “will regret that decision in the future.”There were heated scenes in the middle as the decision was made by third umpire Joel Wilson after the on-field officials, Kumar Dharmasena and Tim Robinson, had indicated to England captain Eoin Morgan, who was at the crease alongside Stokes, that their initial reaction was that it was not out.Morgan later said he would have withdrawn the appeal in the same situation, but Smith was adamant the correct decision had been reached. It led to the remainder of the match being played out to the sound of significant booing around Lord’s and during the post-match presentation. Stokes, speaking at a Chance to Shine Street Cricket event in Birmingham, said the reaction may have got a little out of perspective.”The crowd maybe got a bit out of control, there was a lot of booing going on with the incident. It’s one of those decisions where you can’t look back and have any regrets because it’s been made, you can’t change what’s happened it’s just a shame it came to the uproar it has.”It probably took away from the fact that we haven’t actually played very good cricket in the first couple of games which is the biggest thing for us so we just have to put it behind us.”Fast bowler Steven Finn had earlier said it was important that England do not dwell on the dismissal as the series heads to Old Trafford for the third match on Tuesday with them needing a win to stay in the contest.”I think we’d be foolish to let the Stokes dismissal nag away at us,” Finn said. “We have a young side – we have some quite emotional guys in that team. If we let that emotion come into our cricket, I don’t think that it will serve us well.”If we stick with the mantra of going out there and enjoying it, trying to show off and deliver our skills as best we can with a smile on our face, that will serve us far better than getting fired up and angry.”Ben Stokes took part in the Chance to Shine Street cricket programme in Birmingham, which is supported by Lycamobile.

Richmond Mutumbami played the anchor role in Zimbabwe’s six-wicket win, with a career-best 74, against Afghanistan in the third ODI for a 2-1 lead. The fifty and the win didn’t come easy for Zimbabwe. Mutumbami was dropped twice – on 36 and 68 – and the hosts’ middle order stuttered fleetingly before captain Elton Chigumbura steered them home in the last over.”Maybe they can say it was my day, it was my lucky day,” Mutumbami said cheerfully about the drops. “I just kept telling myself that I should keep going on and see where I get to. Every win is important for the team, I actually feel great about it.”

Our aim was to score 250 – Noor Ali

Afghanistan opener Noor Ali Zadran, who top-scored with 56 and gave his team a steady start, rued the loss of quick wickets in the middler order and said they were looking to score much more than their score of 223 for 8.
“[Our] target was to score 250 on this wicket and get them out,” he said. “[In] our first session we were 124 for 1, after second wicket fell we lost five wickets for only 17 runs (25 runs). We didn’t achieve the target [we wanted to set].
However, Noor Ali was not completely disheartened about trailing 2-1 in the series and said they were known to bounce back.
“We are very good in bouncing back because first match we lost, after that we bounced back. we will bounce back and win the series 3-2.”

Mutumbami came back to the Zimbabwe squad only recently, in place of Regis Chakabva, after he was dropped for the home series against New Zealand in August. A poor run of scores from Chakabva helped him back into the side, and Mutumbami started the series with scores of 30 and 35, before bringing up his third ODI fifty today.When asked if one could expect more match-winning performances from him, Mutumbami said: “Yes, I’m sure they are coming. I’m sure more such performances are on their way.”We had to bounce back and today the guys showed good character and I thought we played good cricket. The guys were calm out there and they executed their skills better than the last game, so hopefully we can do the same thing on Thursday. There’s one or two things that we can improve as well like in any game there’s always one or two mistakes that you do.”When Mutumbami was dismissed in the 29th over, Zimbabwe were still 107 runs away from their target. Chigumbura took them over the line with an unbeaten 49, and he was not unhappy about not reaching a fifty.”Obviously the team comes first,” Chigumbura said. “It’s good to have a win under our belt, at the end of the day that’s what you’d be looking for. Obviously, personal achievements can come after [that].”The way the foundation was set by Richmond and Sean [Williams] out there, it was good. Hopefully we can carry on with the good things that were done today and do the same thing on Thursday.”Chigumbura has not won a toss even once in the series and said he would rather focus on the things he can control, such as his team’s performance on the field.”I’m not really worried about the toss, it’s about how we go out there and execute our skills,” he said. “Obviously it’s one game at a time, it’s going to be important to win the series on Thursday and obviously finish well.”

Indian team manager Vinod Phadke has been fined 40% of his match fee by the International Cricket Council for making “inappropriate comments” on a number of contentious umpiring decisions by Vineet Kulkarni, following India’s loss to South Africa in the first ODI in Kanpur on Sunday.ICC match referee Chris Broad held a hearing at the end of the second ODI in Indore on Wednesday, as Phadke pleaded not guilty to the charge.”I have not seen the captain’s report, but I am going to mention him (the umpire) in my report,” Phadke had said on Tuesday. “It is obvious to everybody that the umpiring has not been good.”Phadke was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match official or team participating in any International Match.”Phadke had commented on Kulkarni’s umpiring decisions during the first T20I in Dharamsala and the first ODI in Kanpur. India were reportedly unhappy with Kulkarni’s decision of denying JP Duminy’s wicket after an lbw appeal off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the T20, and the decision of giving Shikhar Dhawan out lbw off Morne Morkel during the ODI.Kulkarni’s stint as an on-field umpire for the series came to an end in Indore. He will now return as the third umpire for the final ODI of the series in Mumbai.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPakistan were circling a wounded opponent as the fourth day in Sharjah drew to a close with England two wickets down in pursuit of a seemingly distant target of 284. A century from Mohammad Hafeez had underpinned Pakistan’s fightback after conceding a first-innings deficit and only the presence of Alastair Cook and Joe Root, England’s two best batsman, at the crease gave the tourists slender reason to hope for an historic victory.Hafeez’s outstanding 151 laid the sturdiest of foundations and left England facing a battle to avoid a 2-0 defeat in the series. Although the scores have gone up in each innings so far in this match, the chase was much steeper than anything England had previously achieved in Asia and Pakistan’s spinners looked far more adept than their English counterparts at taking advantage of a wearing pitch.The injury suffered by Ben Stokes on the first day, effectively reducing England to 10 fit men and a bloody-minded No. 11 with a strapped-up shoulder, has added to the challenge. Even getting close would represent one of England’s greatest achievements in the UAE, where they have yet to win a Test in five attempts and counting.Pakistan are the masters of their domain, for all that England have run them hard throughout the series. Endeavour can only get you so far, however, and a skills deficit in certain areas – spin bowling, most notably – has allowed Pakistan to exert themselves at key moments. Several missed chances in the field on the fourth day, most damagingly a stumping before Hafeez had added to his overnight score, also served to undermine what was an admirably wholehearted effort.England began their chase with a degree of elan. Moeen Ali overcame what looked a nasty blow to the back of a the helmet when ducking into a Wahab Riaz bouncer to help take 23 off the opening four overs from Pakistan’s quicks. But the battle was only really joined when Misbah-ul-Haq turned to his spinners. This was where the Test would be won and lost.Zulfiqar Babar’s second ball snaked menacingly past Cook’s off stump, the low bounce amplifying the sense of danger, and the cries of the men around the bat, led by the ever-excitable Sarfraz Ahmed, began to echo louder and louder around the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as England’s momentum dissipated. It took 18 overs of spin for England to double their score.For the second time in the match, Moeen fell to the offspin of Shoaib Malik, a review failing to save him after being caught on the crease by one that would have skidded on to hit leg stump. Malik, on his farewell Test appearance after announcing his retirement at the close of the third day, then breached Ian Bell’s defences in his next over.Mohammad Hafeez’s century was the backbone of Pakistan’s innings•Getty Images

In between, Cook narrowly avoided being dismissed by Yasir Shah for the fourth innings in succession, when hit on the pads trying to sweep; Pakistan reviewed, with the on-field decision upheld via umpire’s call. They resorted to the DRS again, searching for another lbw decision against Root off Babar, with the same result. Given the amount of chances created, the loss of both reviews did not look like being a major hindrance.For England, it was a day of might-have-beens. Hafeez was nearly dismissed twice in the first over but he escaped to record his ninth Test hundred and strengthen Pakistan’s grip on the Test. Although England steadily worked through the line-up, taking the last four wickets for 43 after Hafeez was sixth man out, the chase had already ballooned beyond manageable proportions. A fifth-wicket stand of 93 between Hafeez and Misbah was pivotal.Only three batsmen have managed to pass 50 in three completed innings but Hafeez rode several moments of fortune to post by far the most significant individual contribution of the match so far, almost double the next best score. This was his fourth hundred in the last 12 months and made him the fifth Pakistani to record a three-figure score in the series; England still only have one, Cook’s monument to concentration in Abu Dhabi.England needed a steady trickle of wickets, if not an outright torrent, but although the nightwatchman, Rahat Ali, was sent back in the second over, their hopes evaporated during the morning along with a succession of half-chances. In a session that seemed crucial to the direction of the match, England’s luck was of the desert variety.It has supposedly been cooler in Sharjah but the breeze was blowing Pakistan’s way. Hafeez had survived a review for lbw from the first ball of the morning and that seemed to trigger a rare bout of nerves, perhaps recalling his dismissal for 98 on the first day of the series in Abu Dhabi. Adil Rashid’s opening delivery trapped Hafeez in front but Hawk-Eye adjudged it to have pitched outside leg stump; his third was a well-disguised googly that beat the batsman’s charge, turned past leg and left Jonny Bairstow grasping at thin air with Hafeez yards from safety.Finally, having faced 16 deliveries and lost his partner, Hafeez was able to sweep the single required to bring up his first Test hundred against England. He gave another clear chance when on 109 but Stuart Broad was unable to grasp a reflex caught-and-bowled low to his left off a leading edge.While Hafeez forged on, Misbah erected a wearyingly familiar roadblock at the other end and it was a surprise when he fell to the second new ball for 38, failing to post a half-century for the first time in five innings. Broad set him up for the short ball with a cluster of leg-side fielders before trapping him in front of the stumps with a full, straight delivery.Asad Shafiq marshalled Pakistan’s tail to set England a daunting 284•Getty Images

England might – that word again – have dismissed him without scoring, had they posted a short leg during James Anderson’s opening spell. When Misbah strode out, Anderson having speared another precision inswinger through Rahat’s defences, Pakistan’s lead was 80 and England could sense their opportunity. But Misbah was able to fend away a pesky bouncer and settle into his rhythm, clobbering Rashid over long-on for his 12th six of the series.England removed both batsmen within four overs, Hafeez chipping Moeen somewhat lackadaisically to long-on, but there was more in the tank, as Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz added a scurrying 55 in short order. That took the target beyond England’s highest successful pursuit in Asian conditions, 209 to beat Bangladesh in Dhaka five years ago.Cook’s spinners could not offer any control and the dismissal of Sarfraz by Samit Patel with a sharply turning delivery during an over that also leaked three boundaries summed up their problems as well as the challenge to come.Patel should also have removed Shafiq for 29 but Anderson, normally one of England’s most reliable catchers, unsuccessfully juggled a straightforward chance at mid-on. The dismissal of Yasir finally gave Rashid a wicket on the stroke of tea and Broad then castled Shafiq shortly after the resumption before a run-out in the following over brought England’s toil to an end.

Karachi, March 13: Muttiah Muralitharan continued to be an enigma forthe Pakistan batsmen as Sri Lanka pulled themselves back intocontention of the third and final cricket Test being played here onMonday at the National Stadium.Muralitharan pushed Pakistan on the backfoot when he picked up twocrucial wickets on Monday evening after the home team appeared to runaway with the match after Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Naveed Qureshihad provided them with the best opening start of the series by scoring70 in 18 overs.But Muralitharan trapped Naveed in front of the wickets and thenearned a controversial decision against Ijaz Ahmad to restrictPakistan to 88 for three at stumps on the second day.Ravindra Pushpakumara had provided Muralitharan the inroad by sendingShahid Afridi’s off stump cartwheeling.Pakistan had earlier dismissed Sri Lanka for 227 to secure a 29-runfirst innings lead. It was the first time Pakistan snatched the firstinnings advantage after surrendering a 171-run lead in Rawalpindi and69-run lead in Peshawar. Sri Lanka won both the Tests by two wicketsand 57 runs respectively.Pakistan, who have never lost a Test here in 33 matches, lead thetourists by 117 runs with seven second innings wickets in hand. Thematch, which was heading Pakistan’s way 14 overs before close, is nowevenly balanced.Nevertheless, Pakistan bowlers aggressive approach was undone byMuralitharan’s menace who now has taken his tally of wickets in theseries to 24. When Sri Lanka won the series here in 1995-96,Muralitharan had picked 18 wickets.Interestingly, most of Muralitharan’s victims in the series havefallen to bat and pad catches which proves the Pakistan stroke-makersinability to counter his spin and overcautious approach.Muralitharan, the undoubtable spin king, achieved a personal milestonewhen he reached 250 wickets in 51 Tests by accounting for Naveed. Theopener, who was looking compact in defence while scoring 27, foundhimself a bit unlucky to be declared leg before as the ball wasapparently spinning down the leg-side.But it was heartwarming to see Shahid Afridi stroke the ball on meritand show patience. He played sizzling drives until he was beaten by areal beauty from pacer Pushpakumara. Afridi’s 59-ball 34 was spicedwith six boundaries.Until Pushpakumara dismissed Afridi and Muralitharan got his actstogether, the Sri Lankans, for the first time, appeared a disjointedunit. Their shoulders were drooped and the body language showed thatthey had run out of steam.The reason maybe that they had already clinched the series inPeshawar. The other reason might be that they are at the fag end of awonderful tour and consequently keen to return home early.Sanath Jayasuriya’s leadership also came into question for the firsttime in the series when he delayed the introduction of Muralitharanuntil the 17th over. A bowler, who has mentally destroyed the Pakistanbatsmen, should have been brought into the attack much earlier.Nevertheless, Sri Lanka’s belated fightback on the second day’s cannotdiscredit Pakistan who dominated six of the seven hours play. Day’splay was extended because Pakistan’s over-rate was well below therequirement. Only a miracle can save them from being penalized bymatch referee Brian Hastings.Waqar Younis showed his experience of bowling on a green top track bypitching the ball upto the batsmen while Shoaib Akhtar displayed hisspeed with controlled line and length. Shahid Afridi exhibited hisutility by snapping up two wickets.The double change in the team management was also evident as thereappeared a set plan and purpose behind the bowling. The Sri Lankanbatsmen were not given much width or room to play their trademarkextravagant shots. Field placings were near perfect while the bowlingchanges were timely and calculated.But Pakistan’s strategy was nearly pierced by pint-sized RomeshKaluwitharana who punctuated nine boundaries in his 29-ball 42. Butalert fielding restricted the little dynamite from inflicting furtherdamage when Naveed’s accurate throw from square-leg beat the SriLankan wicket-keeper by yards who tried to steal an impossible secondrun.Jayasuriya was deliberately fed outside the off-stump before theskipper perished when Ijaz took a sharp catch off Shoaib Akhtar. WaqarYounis kept the ball on the right spot until he found the outside edgeof Mahela Jayawardena’s bat after having trapped Marvan Atapattu infront of the wickets off a sharp banana-like inswinger.Russel Arnold, who missed a century by one run in Peshawar, was notgiven free strokes on his favourite leg-side. He eventually lost hispatience and slashed a wide delivery off debutant Irfan Fazil to besmartly caught at third slip by Younis Khan.Indika de Saram, who had just two scoring shots in his 22-ball five,tried to take liberty against Shahid Afridi and was caught at mid-on.Tillekeratne Dilshan tried to cut a ball too close to his body andcaught by Moin Khan who had given him a life three runs earlier.Dilshan masterminded Sri Lanka’s revival after they had slumped to 46for three in the first hour. He added 54 runs for the fourth wicketwith Arnold and remained a silent spectators in another partnership of54 with Kaluwitharana.Waqar Younis finished as the most impressive bowler with two for 39but Shoaib Akhtar was the most successful bowler with three for 52.Shahid Afridi bagged two for 40 but Irfan Fazil had a nightmare debutwhen he was hit for 35 runs from his four overs for a solitary wicket.

Andhra Cricket Association skipper Amit Pathak won the toss andelected to bat first against Indian Oil Corporation in their fourthround clash. However, things did not go too well for them as theskipper was trapped in front of the stumps by left arm seamer ZaheerKhan. With just 23 on the board, LN Prasad Reddy and Gnaneshwara Raocame together and steered the hosts towards a good total. Prasad Reddycompiled a steady 59 (114 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) while Gnaneshwara Raopicked the bowlers off for runs.Rao made a 78 ball 60 that included two hits that cleared the ropesbefore being caught behind off Iqbal Siddiqui. The pair had takenAndhra Cricket Association to a position of relative stability, beforethey were separated with 140 on the board.Stumper MSK Prasad, recently discarded by the national selectors,cracked an unbeaten 39. Perhaps he was making a point or two to theselectors. Young all rounder Venugopal Rao missed a half century byjust 3 runs as he became Zaheer Khan’s second victim. The speedstermade it a 3 wicket haul when he got rid of YS Ranganath before hecould open his account.At the end of their allotted 50 overs, the Andhra Cricket Associationside had compiled a more than useful 249. This left Indian OilCorporation chasing 250 at an even 5 runs an over.They were however not up to the task. Despite a 100 plus partnershipfor the second wickets, Indian Oil Corporation could manage only 221.Promising young opener from Karnataka, Mithun Beerala helped himselfto 52 as Abbas Ali hurried to 51.After the fall of the Beerala and Ali, no one stayed at the wicketlong enough to score more than 36. Raj Mohan snared 3/48 and sawIndian Oil Corporation slip to a 28 run loss.

Haryana were in command of their Ranji Trophy North Zone clash againstServices at the Air Force Station ground in Delhi after the latterbegan their first innings disastrously in reply to their opponents’tally of 389. Services lost three wickets without a run on the boardbut recovered to 84/4 by stumps.After Haryana resumed on the second day at 234/3, Ishan Ganda, on 83overnight, completed his century in the morning. His fourth wicketstand with Rajesh Puri had reached 120 when he was stumped by wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh off medium pacer Sudhakar Ghag for 122 (282balls, 16 fours). Puri fell eleven short of the three figure mark,being sixth out, in identical fashion as Ganda, for 89 (142 balls, 14fours). When Ghag removed Ajay Ratra to terminate the innings, he tookhis tally of scalps to seven in a marathon 50.1 overs at a cost of 122runs.Haryana opening bowlers Vineet Jain and Feroze Ghyas scattered theServices top order as D Sehrawar, HK Bhaskar and Sarabjit Singh wereall back in the dressing room off the sixth, seventh and eighth ballsof the innings. Ghyas took his third scalp by taking out M Reddy at 33but skipper Sanjay Verma (40) and KK Dixit (25) prevented any furthersetbacks, restoring a semblance of order at 84/4.

The four Test playing nations of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) whichdecided to enter into a pact with the provision to compensate for thelosses suffered by the ACC in the event of non-participation, willfinalise the agreement within two months, Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairmanof the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF), which implements the ACC’sprogrammes, told a press conference in Kolkata on Wednesday.Dalmiya said that the decision to sign an agreement was mainly aimedat avoiding any embarassment or losses to the ACC in the event of acountry pulling out of a tournament.Dalmiya said that participation in any tournament was an internalmatter between the country’s Board and its government but pulling outof the tournament entailed heavy financial losses for the tournamentorganisers.The former ICC president said that the representatives of the fourAsian test playing nations will work out the agreement in detailbefore it is put in force ahead of the Asian Test Championship.Dalmiya said that the 1996 World Cup in the sub-continent which sawAustralia and the West Indies refusing to play their matches in SriLanka citing security reasons had taught the ACC "some lessons"."That was a bad experience for us. It puts the organisers and thesponsors in an embarassing position. We just want to avoid such asituation", he explained.Dalmiya said that the ACC’s Lahore meeting also decided to invitetenders for marketing and sponsorship rights to the events. The Lahoreconclave also approved the Asian Development Plan that was prepared bythe Asian Cricket Foundation in consultation with the ACC DevelopmentCommittee.In order to improve the standards of the game in non-Test playingcountries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Nepal, the ACC willsoon appoint three Development Officers with considerable cricketingbackground. An elaborate scheme of coaching would be taken up in thesecountries with simultaneous emphasis on physical training and sportsmedicines, he said.Stating that ACC had earmarked 2.5 million dollars for developmentwork in the current year, Dalmiya said that ACC had teamed up with NewZealand Sports Turf Institute to implement a curatorship programme inthese countries.The ACC will organise a curatorship seminar of June 3 and 4 in HongKong for its member countries while it also had plans of setting up acricket academy in the near future.