As Pakistan prepare to take on India, both sides revitalised in recent months, in a series of considerable cricketing significance, both Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq were adamant that the entire Indian team and no one individual player will pose the greatest threat. Speaking at the press conference at Gaddafi Stadium before the first Test, scheduled to begin on Friday, Inzamam said, “There’s not been too much change in the Indian team from the last time they visited. They are an experienced team. They are all experienced batsmen and all capable of playing long innings. We have to work very hard to win this series and especially hard against their batting line-up.” Woolmer agreed, “All eleven Indian players are threats as will all our eleven. This will be a hard-fought series.”India’s batting line-up in particular will be a concern to Pakistan. As strong as it has been, it has also recently lengthened considerably with Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar batting as low as number nine. Woolmer, however, was quick to point out that it isn’t a situation new to Pakistan. “All international sides have long batting orders now. Every team has to plan for that. Quite a lot of the time, the late order doesn’t get exposed to often to genuine spinners or fast bowlers. When they do, even they struggle.”The identity and composition of the Pakistan XI, for once, are the subject of little speculation. Inzamam confirmed noises from the camp in previous days that Shoaib Malik will open the innings, as he did against England. It means that Imran Farhat, recalled to the Pakistan squad after a year on the sidelines, will miss out on the opportunity to partner Salman Butt. Inzamam explained, “Regular openers are good but Malik has played well for us. In his innings against England, he stuck around and he has shown that he can play a long innings. He also gives us a big edge with his bowling.”There has been talk, over the last few days and in the build-up to the series, of the nature the pitch. Former players, among them Wasim Akram and Aaqib Javed had said Pakistan would do well to prepare seaming, bouncy tracks to combat India’s strong batting line-up. Nothing of the sort has happened and Inzamam was quick to dismiss any notion that the pitch was designed to suit his bowling attack. “It’s not a special wicket or anything. We have a wicket that is sporting and that helps everyone, fast bowlers, spinners and batsmen. Winning the toss will be an advantage obviously but I don’t think the wicket is such that the toss will make such a big difference.”Woolmer did point out, however, that spinners are likely to play a part at some stage in the proceedings. “Spinners will play a part especially if you look at the quality of those we have on tap here. Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Danish Kaneria, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi are all going to have some say in a game of cricket. I think there is enough moisture in the air and underneath the ground to allow the ball to grip at some stage during the game. The ball will swing and seam as well and come onto the bat so some fantastic cricket can be played.”Unusually for Pakistan, the weather has also attracted undue attention in recent weeks. A colder than normal winter hasn’t helped preparations but as temperatures have steadily risen over the last day or so, Inzamam said his fast bowlers would benefit from it most. “The weather improving over the last couple of days is a good thing. It will help players in the game and spectators watching it as well. Mostly fast bowlers will benefit from the change in weather and I think Shoaib’s form and discipline is a good thing for the team in that sense.”Pakistan’s recent record at Lahore is promising; they have won the last four Tests at Gaddafi Stadium. That, however, said Inzamam is unlikely to play any role. “It doesn’t matter that we have won our last four tests here. It only matters that we perform well on the day and through the five days. Two years ago when we played India here our team was young and didn’t have that much experience of international cricket. They have that now, from playing in Australia and against England. We have learnt a lot from that and it is an advantage. We still want to improve more because there is still a lot of scope for improvement.”

Cricket may not actually be the new football afterall, but one man who knows a thing or two about the other game is Yorkshire’s new chief executive, Stewart Regan. He joins the county from the Football League, where he has been the director of the Championship division for the past two years.Regan, 41, will succeed Colin Graves in the role, with Graves continuing to serve on the board. His exact start date is yet to be confirmed, although the club say that they are hoping Regan will be in the job before the season begins.”We were looking for someone with a strong business background who could lead this club as we enter a new phase in its development,” explained the club’s chairman, Robin Smith. “Stewart’s extensive experience, both in corporate business and football, will be invaluable. I am delighted he has accepted the role.”Regan brings with him experience from the brewing industry; he is a former director of strategic planning for Coors Brewers, owner of the Carling and Worthington brands.”I am delighted and honoured to be joining one of the biggest names in the world of cricket at such an exciting time in the club’s history,” said Regan. “Yorkshire has a huge potential to grow on the back of its acquisition of the Headingley cricket ground, promotion to the First Division of the County Championship and the securing of a 15-year staging agreement to host Test Cricket in Yorkshire.”

Kevin Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach, has said that he does not feel the rift which emerged between him and the players during the recently-concluded strike will be an issue as Zimbabwe prepare for a five-ODI series against Kenya at the end of the month.In an exclusive interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Curran said the rift was largely caused by his strict disciplinarian approach. “Where that comes across is that I have strong work ethics, and there are players who did not like that,” he said. “The likes of Duncan Fletcher are like that. We have to do it the way the best cricket nations in the world do it. If any of the players do not want to put up with these ethics, there is no place for them in Zimbabwe cricket.”I’m not there to be liked by players. I’m there to get results. But anyhow I do not think that that will still be an issue. I’m the one who helped them to sort out their contract problems. They owe me something. I have helped to incentivise the players. If they play well, they will earn more money.””We have a plan for Kenya. If we stick to that, there is no ways we can lose to them again. The bottom line is that we need to prove ourselves. There is also the series involving Kenya, Bangladesh and us coming up. We need to measure ourselves against these sides.”Curran also explained that he had a good relationship with the new interim board. “They have listened to us and we have listened to them,” he told the paper. “They have left the cricket matters to the cricket brains like me and Andy Pycroft [the Zimbabwe A coach]. As long as they do that, there is no problem. There seem to be trust between us and them.”Curran also revealed that he had been given the task of trying to persuade some of the players who had walked away from Zimbabwe cricket lately to return. “I have spoken to a few of them.. There are a few factors to consider, such as the Kolpak agreement. Under the Kolpak, players who have contracts elsewhere cannot play for us. We are going to ask the ICC to give us a special dispensation.”The one area where there remained some confusion, however, was that of selection. While Curran maintained that all players who had signed contracts were eligible, that seemed to clash with the views of Bruce Makovah, the head of selection. Makovah was the man responsible for the recent shambles in Mashonaland when he banned the six major clubs and picked a dire provincial side which did not contain players from any of those sides. He told the Independent that anyone picked had to play in the “official system” which seems to contradict Curran’s view.”There is an official system and people will be selected from that system,” Makovah said. “We now have selection based on value, not on popularity. We will not prejudice anyone. If you prove your value you will get selected.”

In Durban, KwaZulu-Natal beat Border by 11 runs thanks to 71 from Rivash Gobind who, almost single-handedly, took Natal to 201. After a solid start, Burton de Wett caused Natal to collapse from 155 for 4 as he took 3 for 19 to clean up the tail. Border made an indifferent start but a 67-run partnership between Kevin Bennett (53) and Laden Gamiet (62*) brought them back into the game but in the end there was just too much to do as they finished on 190 for 5.In Potchefstroom, North West registered an exciting one-wicket win over Free State, which went down to the last over. Set a target of 288 to win, North West were almost out of the game at 187 for 9 with 10 overs remaining. A last wicket partnership of 102, with 51 coming off thefinal three overs, allowed them to win with two balls to spare. Diminutive ThandoBula struck four boundaries and three sixes in his career-best 76 notout, while Friedel de Wet smashed seven fours and three sixes in hiscareer-best 56 not out. Bennett Sekonyane (4 for 38) and Quinton Samson(3 for 51) also achieved career-bests, but still ended on the losingside. Having scored 287 for 7, thanks to an innings of 127 fromJonathan Beukes and forties from Riel de Kock and Craig Thyssen, FreeState must have been confident of a win.In Cape Town, Western Province had to work hard to gain a controlled six-wicket win over their unbeaten neighbours Boland. Boland were asked to batand were soon in trouble at 20 for 3. But 49 from Gerhard Strydom and a career-best 96 not out from Warren Swan put them back on track for a good total. A further 43 from Godfrey Stevens allowed Boland to reach 242 for 8 in their 45 overs. Western Province’s innings was never in any real trouble as they controlled the chase with Alistair Gray (70) and John Geoghegan (77), the Supersub, scoring their first limited overs fifties. A further 43 from Bob Homani, another career-best, saw Province pass the target with six wickets and three overs in hand.

Goolam Bodi’s fourth first-class hundred helped put the Titans in a dominant position against the Warriors on the second day at Benoni. He stood a lonesome figure for much of his team’s innings; only Justin Kemp (39) and Albie Morkel helped forge significant partnerships. However, the Titans already hold a 161-run lead which, going into into the third day, could help determine the outcome of this match.A hundred from Derrin Bassage and 65 from Alan Dawson gave Cape Cobras the upper hand on day two of their match against the Eagles. Bassage, who started the day on 75, was bowled by Ryan McLaren for exactly 100, but the rest of the middle-order failed to offer any substantial innings, with only HD Ackerman reaching 30 before Dawson came to the crease. Dawson pulled a hamstring while bowling yesterday, and required the use of a runner (JP Duminy); he hardly needed him, though, as his innings of 65 contained 12 fours to lead the Cape Cobras to 324. In reply, the Eagles lost Ryan Bailey for seven, and trail by 108 runs.The Lions squandered the strong position they held yesterday on the second day against the Dolphins at Johannesburg. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s fine knock ended on 125 and he was the first to fall with the score on 209 for 5; they then collapsed to 269 all out, with Andrew Tweedie picking up 4 for 74. In reply, the Dolphins ended the day within touching distance of the Lions’ total, thanks to Imraan Khan (56) and Hashim Amla who fell one short of his 11th first-class hundred. The Dolphins trail by 31 going into day three.

Shoaib Malik has undergone successful surgery on his elbow to correct his suspect bowling action. He should now be fit for the tour of England later this summer. Malik has been reported twice by match officials in the last two years and has primarily played as a batsman, though he has occasionally bowled. He was reported last in the Test series at home against England last year.Malik, backed by the Pakistan board, has unsuccessfully argued that his damaged elbow has caused his action to appear suspect but now that he has undergone surgery to rectify it, the problem should not crop up again.Malik went to Cape Town for the operation, which involved removing floating bones from his right elbow and repairing tissues. He has been advised to rest for six to eight weeks before batting and bowling again.”I suffered pain in my right elbow while batting or bowling and it was one of the reasons why I had problems extending it properly,” Malik told . “I am happy that this problem is done with now. I am confident I will be fit by the time the team leaves for England in late June. It is a tour I have been looking forward too for a long time.”Malik damaged his elbow in a road accident in 2003 but due to busy playing schedules he has been unable to find time to have the problem seen to. Although he cemented his place as a versatile top-order ODI batsman some time ago – and has now played 117 ODIs – he only recently secured his place in the Test side. Malik has been transformed into a Test opener in the last eight of his 15 Tests and he scored his first Test century – a match-saving one – against Sri Lanka recently.

Michael Atherton, the former England captain who was part of the commentary team for the India-England series, has said that commentators had been asked to stay clear of “sensitive” issues by the production company.”The Indian cricket board treat Nimbus, the production company to whom they sold the television rights, like an in-house production company,” Atherton wrote in his column in the . “Nimbus are petrified of upsetting their ’employer’, for fear of not getting any future rights, so any criticism of the BCCI is strictly frowned upon.”Local commentators are already asked to wear the BCCI logo and are asked not to mention sensitive subjects like the spat between Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly, or controversial selection issues, no matter how germane they might be to the action. There has been talk that eventually the BCCI will have their own cricket channel. No doubt the viewers will get to see only what the BCCI want them to see and, with compliant commentators on board, they will hear only what the BCCI want them to hear.”Harish Thawani, promoter of Nimbus, denied these claims. “I am the producer of the series and I have not issued any instructions to this effect,” he was quoted as saying in . “In fact, the commentators were very critical of the amount of cricket being played and of the board overusing certain cricketers. There’s no question of gagging anyone.”Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, rejected the claims made by Atherton, referring to it as a misunderstanding. He said cricketers, once out of the field, have a platform to criticise people as openly as they can write in newspapers and express in other ways. He added that the board was willing to clarify all concerns the commentators may have.Javagal Srinath, the former Indian fast bowler who was also one of the commentators during the series, had a different view. “I don’t know what was told to them [the Sky team],” he told Cricinfo, “but we had no restraint as such.”

Michael Vaughan’s first-class comeback for Yorkshire lasted just 13 balls, as he was dismissed for 1 by Hampshire’s Billy Taylor in their County Championship fixture at Headingley.Opening the innings, Vaughan was caught behind by Nic Pothas, as Yorkshire slumped to 13 for 3 on the opening morning of the match. He had tested his knee during his 67 against Scotland on Monday in a limited-overs match, his first game since undergoing surgery just before Christmas last year. But while he was happy with that innings he wouldn’t make any big statements about when he aims to come back for England.”I’ve been quiet because I was very confident and I didn’t want to come out with any rash statements,” he told reporters. “And I won’t now because I know the knee is still a bit of a problem and I have a lot of hurdles to overcome before I’m available for England.”This is the beginning. I need to get through a few games and test it out over two or three weeks. I’ll try to play all the games I can for Yorkshire and see how it reacts to some four-day cricket.”

The LA Open is celebrating several years of operation as the longest-running tournament of its kind in the USA. Following on the 2005-6 Interstate Tournament staged in Florida , the action now shifts to the West Coast. The LA Open is the second major tournament of the US cricket season to feature first-class cricketers as part of its format, and the tournament promises the usual excellent facilities and administration that has become a hallmark of Los Angeles cricket.Calling itself (not without some justification!) the “Premier Cricket Tournament in the United States,” the LA Open has announced its line-up of teams and players scheduled to compete from Saturday, July 1 through to Monday, July 3 for over $25,000 in prize money.The Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board is sending their current national team with players such as Ricardo Powell, Lendl Simmons and Dave Mohammed, along with several up-and-coming young stars. Also from Trinidad are the Division One league champions, Alescon Comets, with several cricketers from Trinidad, Guyana and other local regions.Air India, the top corporate cricket team in India, will have several players who have represented India in international matches, including Sameer Dighe, Pravin Amre, and Narendra Hirwani among others.From Southern California will be teams such as Punjab Blues, with several well-known cricketers such as Richie Richardson, Stuart Williams, Curtly Ambrose, and Adam Sanford, and Packers XI, with players such as Mohammed Azharuddin, Nikhil Chopra, Rohan Gavaskar, Arvind Shetty, Romesh Kaluwitharna and Kumara Dharmasena.There will also be a SCCA XI represented by local California cricketers. In addition, there will be teams arriving from New York, Florida, Chicago, Northern California and Washington DC.In past years, the LA Open has seen an average of almost 200 runs scored in each 20-over innings, creating much excitement and entertainment for spectators and attendees. “There is no other place in the US where you get to see so many good quality cricket players, assembled in one location, playing action packed cricket for three days,” says Kamal Doshi, one of the organizers.For those not familiar with cricket activities in United States, there are currently over 9,000 cricketers, some of whom have played international and first-class cricket for their home countries, now residing and playing in the US. Many of the US teams participating in the 2006 LA Open will showcase a collection of the best first-class players from their particular region.The event will be held at Woodley Park Cricket Fields in Van Nuys, California, a site that offers four international-class cricket fields in one centralized location. Hamilton Brewart Insurance Services is the tournament sponsor and will present the Hamilton Brewart Trophy to the winning team. In its brief three-year history, the LA Open has come to be known as one of the best showcases for cricket in the United States.

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

Mahela Jayawardene played an innings of immense class, skill and fortitude as Sri Lanka made huge strides towards chasing down an imposing fourth-innings target and sewing up the series 2-0. Set a target of 352 after Muttiah Muralitharan’s 7 for 97 helped restrict South Africa to 311, Sri Lanka rode on Mahela’s unbeaten 77 and Sanath Jayasuriya’s 73 to finish the fourth day on 262 for 5, needing only 90 more for victory.Over the first three days, fortunes ebbed and flowed for both teams, and that trend continued on the fourth. Muralitharan equalled his own record of ten or more wickets in four consecutive matches and grabbed his 56th five-for, but Mark Boucher neutralised the Murali effect somewhat, striking an enterprising 65 to ensure that South Africa’s lead topped 350. Sri Lanka then got off to a scorching start after losing an early wicket, but just when they seemed to be running away with it, Nicky Boje struck three crucial blows in the middle, only for Mahela to thwart South Africa with a resolute 61-run stand for the sixth wicket with the other Jayawardene, Prasanna.South Africa didn’t have everything going their way, but they stuck to their task through the day: Makhaya Ntini’s effectiveness was drastically reduced by a hamstring injury, while Hashim Amla spilled a regulation chance off Jayasuriya, who returned to form after a lean spell just like Herschelle Gibbs, the South African opener, had in their second innings. The most crucial lapse, though, was from Gibbs himself – when Mahela was on 2, he cut Andrew Hall hard but straight to gully, where Gibbs failed to latch on. Both the dropped catches happened in a particularly enthralling 15-minute passage of play, during which period the South Africans had appealed for handled the ball against Jayasuriya as well.That neither team could take charge was also because of the pitch, which the ICC could probably preserve as the ideal pitch for Test cricket. The bounce remained largely consistent, ensuring that the batsmen could go through with their strokes, but there was plenty of turn and bounce for Boje, while Dale Steyn – who bowled one particularly fiery spell in the last session, consistently topping 140kmph – and Hall got the ball to zip through to the keeper with good pace and carry.The one batsman who held it all together for Sri Lanka and stood between them and defeat was Mahela. Over the last few months he has been in a rich vein of form, and that continued here, with an exhibition of outstanding calm and serenity in the face of extreme pressure. He did play his trademark elegant shots – the standout ones being the inside-out lofted extra-cover drives off Boje, which twice went for sixes – but more than that, his composure and defensive technique were impeccable. His partnership with Prasanna – who showed excellent technique and temperament for the second time in the match – he added crucial runs for the sixth wicket which kept South Africa at bay just when they seemed set to snatch the initiative.The other big contribution to the Sri Lankan run-chase came from Jayasuriya. His last ten Tests had fetched him just 237 runs at an average of 15.80, but here he was intent on taking the fight to the South Africans. After a relatively quiet start in which he allowed Kumar Sangakkara to dominate, Jayasuriya took over, smashing Steyn for two fours through the off side before taking apart a listless Shaun Pollock. The lack of pace in Pollock’s deliveries allowed Jayasuriya to do what he liked – he first pulled and drove to the fence, and then rubbed it in by sashaying down the pitch and depositing the ball over long-on for six. Though Pollock got some measure of revenge when he nailed Sangakkara, he continued to be a pale shadow of his usual self, and was eventually reduced to bowling offspin from a few paces.A fourth-innings target of more than 350 has never been successfully chased in Sri Lanka – the highest is the 326 that Sri Lanka chased against Zimbabwe in 1997-98 – but clearly no-one mentioned that to Mahela. As long as he remains at the crease, Sri Lanka will fancy their chances on the final day.

South Africa Nicky Boje c P Jayawardene b Muralitharan 15 (280 for 8)
Dale Steyn lbw b Muralitharan 0 (282 for 9)
Mark Boucher c Dilshan b Muralitharan 65 (311 all out)
Sri LankaUpul Tharanga c Gibbs b Ntini 0 (12 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara c Amla b Pollock 39 (94 for 2)
Sanath Jayasuriya c Amla b Boje 73 (121 for 3)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Gibbs 18 (164 for 4)
Chamara Kapugedera c de Villiers b Boje 13 (201 for 5)