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Ravi Shastri believes that Muttiah Muralitharan is being needlessly victimised mainly because he is an Asian. While admitting that Murali’s action wasn’t without its kinks, Shastri said that there were quite a few bowlers who were “no different from him”.”I don’t find anything wrong with his bowling action,” said Shastri, speaking at a function to promote the ICC Champions Trophy in Bangalore. “I have no problems with his offbreak. He is an Asian, and that has ruffled quite a few feathers.”A week ago, Murali became the first Sri Lankan to sign with an India-based company when he joined hands with Showdiff Worldwide – Shastri is a vice-chairman – to “explore commercial interests”.According to Shastri, Murali wouldn’t have been singled out if he hadn’t taken a significant number of wickets in his career. “Muralitharan is being targeted because he is a very successful bowler,” he said. He was also critical of the different degrees of flexion that were allowed for fast bowlers and spinners and didn’t think there was a need for “different yardsticks”.On a different note, he acknowledged that the present Indian team was getting close to being one of the best Indian teams of all time. However, Shastri reckoned that the Indian one-day team that played between 1983 and 1986 was right on top. That bunch ended up winning the World Cup, the Asia Cup and the World Championship of Cricket in Australia.”The present team of Sourav Ganguly is close to being one of the best,” he said, “but it needs to be consistent, especially in big games.” He didn’t go along with India’s decision to play seven batsmen in one-dayers, and felt that Rahul Dravid should play purely as a batsman. “If six batsmen cannot win games, what can a seventh do?”

All day two of fourCounty Championship Division OneMiddlesex v Lancashire, Lord’s
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Andrew Flintoff smashed a run-a-ball 111 in Lancashire’s imposing total of 565 for 7 declared against Middlesex at Lord’s. The overnight centurions Mark Chilton and Stuart Law also piled on more runs, Chilton made 119 and Law fell an agonising two runs short of 200. Jimmy Anderson then warmed up for England’s first Test by taking two wickets as Middlesex finished on 163 for 4, still 402 behind.Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Trent Bridge
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Azhar Mahmood’s blistering 98 put Surrey on course for a comfortable win over Notts at Trent Bridge. Taking a leaf out of Alec Stewart’s book, Mahmood hit 12 fours and four sixes, to help Surrey to a first-innings lead of 182. Martin Bicknell trapped his brother, Darren, lbw for 0 in the second ball of Nottinghamshire’s second innings, and soon added the scalp of Jason Gallian. Then James Ormond followed up his five first-innings wickets with three more – including Usman Afzaal for a second-ball duck – as Notts ended on 94 for 6.Warwickshire v Sussex, Edgbaston
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Mo Sheikh (57*) had a day to remember against Sussex at Edgbaston. With the help of No. 11 Alan Richardson (47), Sheikh added a valuable 74 runs for the last wicket as Warwickshire were all out for 422. Richard Montgomerie and Murray Goodwin made a steady start to Sussex’s reply, but both they, and Chris Adams, fell to Sheikh’s medium pace as he finished with the sparkling figures of 3 for 16 off 17 overs, including 10 maidens. Sussex trail by 306 runs with seven wickets remaining.Division TwoGlamorgan v Gloucestershire, Cardiff
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Heavy showers meant that only five overs and one ball were possible at Cardiff. Gloucestershire advanced their total by 15 runs, but lost Jonty Rhodes, lbw to David Harrison for 47.Yorkshire v Derbyshire, Headingley
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Dominic Cork played a captain’s innings of 92 as Derbyshire finished the day in a strong position. Luke Sutton top-scored for Derbyshire with 127, as he and Cork shared a sixth-wicket stand of 159. Worryingly for the England selectors, Matthew Hoggard, Chris Silverwood and Richard Dawson failed to take any wickets, but Ryan Sidebottom took 7 for 97. Better news was Michael Vaughan’s return to runs with his 47, as Yorkshire ended on 203 for 4.Worcestershire v Zimbabweans, Worcester
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Only two weeks of the Crusade left and it promises to be very tense as we push for one of the three promotional spots that are for grabs.Twenty-one points cover the top four teams so there is still plenty of room for some last minute shuffling.While I can look positively towards the finale of our four-day cricket, the same cannot be said about our one-day performances this year.This week has seen us lose heavily to Essex and Sussex which leaves us with only two wins from 14 games.We have, to be fair, had a few games washed out but our position, second from the bottom, is very disappointing.From my point of view it has been an incredibly frustrating experience with my scores reflecting my troubles.I have struggled on most occasions to adjust to the conditions, an example of this was against Essex when I was caught at slip looking to hit the ball through square leg. The pitches we have played on throughout this season have been diabolical!If we are not playing on old used wickets then we find ourselves on local club grounds that have been given an opportunity to host a one-day match.This is the problem that Middlesex faces as Lord’s is not always available due to finals or other occasions such as Test matches.Testament to this is that I have had only one bat at Lord’s in my coloured clothing. The rest of our home games have been scattered around the greater London area, similar to Sydenham Park in Christchurch for those of you who have played there.The frustration comes from wanting to play a brand of cricket that is attractive to watch and spectators can see some genuine entertainment.Instead we are forced to continually scrape and scratch on low, slow seaming wickets inching our way to scores between 100 and 150. I hear the argument that players should be good enough to adjust and I agree which adds to my frustration. But there is a bigger issue and that is competition.With many an activity now on offer during the weekends, players and officials must realise we are competing for the entertainment dollar. Bringing a family along to watch a game where a good score is below 150 with only a handful of boundaries does not make a good day out!We now have nothing to play for in this competition apart from the ole favourite of pride. The club needs to look now towards next year and I will be promoting the use of younger players into the side to gain precious experience.I, on the other hand, will be putting all my time into finishing the season on a positive note and then joining the New Zealand boys in Pakistan.This week, between games for Middlesex, I made my way up the M1 to Sheffield to play a benefit game for Darren Gough. It was an International XI versus an English XI made up mostly of Darren’s Yorkshire team mates. The International side had a nice blend – Viv Richards (captain), Mathew Sinclair, Fleming (New Zealand), Stuart Law, Greg Blewett, Ian Harvey (Australia), Franklyn Rose, Junior Murray, Phil Simmons, Ricardo Powell (West Indies) and Paul Strang (Zimbabwe). Rain ruined what could have been a big earner for Goughy but, we still managed 30 overs-a-side that attracted around 5000 Yorkshiremen to the ground.For the record we scored a healthy 316 only to be pipped in the last over by a Darren Gough six that left him 63 not out. I hope the Anti-Corruption Unit weren’t watching!

Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh has said that he and the coach Darren Lehmann had no choice but to retain Peter Nevill ahead of Brad Haddin for the Edgbaston Test match.In one of the most vexing selection decisions to confront the panel for some time, Haddin was not reinstated for the third match of the Investec Ashes series after withdrawing from the team for the Lord’s Test as his ill daughter Mia was in hospital. It is a decision that effectively ends Haddin’s 68-Test career, barring injury to his replacement.Nevill took seven catches and scored a fluent 45 on debut, playing a key role in Australia’s 405-run victory over England that levelled the series after Haddin endured a poor match in Cardiff. The performances of the two glovemen in their respective appearances left Marsh to conclude that the younger man had to be chosen.”We’ve made the call to stick with the same XI that played at Lord’s and we were hoping we were able to do this,” Marsh said. “Obviously we had to wait on Chris Rogers but we decided that Nevill had such a good game at Lord’s, the team played that well, won by 405 runs, it was very hard to change a winning side.”Haddin has taken the decision as well as could be expected, but others including Ricky Ponting have criticised the selectors’ choice of Nevill. As coach, Lehmann has always emphasised the importance of “family first”, and there is some disquiet at how Haddin could have been in line to play at Lord’s but then fallen behind in the space of one match. Marsh, though, cited Haddin’s recent loss of batting form.”He’s a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude,” Marsh said, “but he’s averaging 15 in his last 12 Test matches, we needed runs down there, he didn’t keep well and he’ll admit that at Cardiff and the new boy did very, very well at Lord’s, so in my way of thinking, we didn’t have an option.”The omission of Haddin was difficult for numerous members of the squad to deal with, not least the captain Michael Clarke. Marsh has also known Haddin for a long time, referencing their time together at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide more than 15 years ago.”It was amazingly hard call, but we have to try and do the best thing for the country and the selection panel believe that was the best thing for the team, for the country,” Marsh said. “I’ve known Brad for a hell of a long time. I had Brad at the academy back in Adelaide at the turn of the century, even before that.”The opening batsman Chris Rogers looked uncomfortable when asked about whether there was unease within the team over the decision. “I don’t really want to talk about that,” he said. “That’s something for the selection panel. Maybe at the end of the series I can think about that, but at the moment I don’t really want to.”

Indian domestic cricket is not throwing up the finished product as it used to previously, MS Dhoni has said. On the eve of India’s five-ODI series against Australia, Dhoni was thankful he could use this time to groom the newcomers, but the noises were not very optimistic.A case in point was his mention of the absence of a seaming allrounder in the squad, and then another that there was no point just making up numbers until a really good one was found. Some might wonder if Rishi Dhawan, the allrounder who opens the bowling for Himachal Pradesh and batted at No. 4 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, needs to carry a placard to the nets to be spotted. Others might say Dhoni knows a thing or three about spotting talent, and that he has given Rishi chances in both the warm-up games.It is a time of transition for Indian limited-overs cricket. Dhoni is himself nearing the end. Yuvraj Singh is not there. Suresh Raina has been dropped. There are only five established specialist batsmen in the squad. The lower middle order and the lack of a seaming allrounder remain problems. In analysing the Australian team, Dhoni gave away what he thought India were missing.”If you see what makes life easy for an international team is the kind of domestic cricket… if you see the Australian first-class cricket, it is very good, which means the players who come up from the ranks of domestic cricket or first-class cricket have already got good exposure of playing cricketers who have played international cricket or are playing international cricket at that point of time. I feel that way Australian cricket is blessed.”The corollary came through when Dhoni was asked about how big a loss Mohammed Shami was, and if his replacement Barinder Sran was ready for international cricket. Sran has played only eight List A games, and not even a handful in the IPL. After expectedly praising Shami, Dhoni said: “As far as the newcomers are concerned, we will definitely feature them and see where they stand. Also we have to slightly get ahead of time. If you see Indian cricket, more often than not, we are used to getting the complete product. Right from the late ’80s onwards we have got cricketers who were ready to play international cricket. Once they made their debut they were there for like 10 to 15 years.”I think the trend is changing slowly. Even if you see the batsmen nowadays, they have been part of the side for quite some time and we have had to groom them. I feel the same applies to the bowlers. We may not have the luxury of just picking up the complete product to come into international cricket and start delivering from the very first game. It is important to identify talent and at the same time give them games quite quickly so that they get that exposure of international cricket. And we also see get to see how they handle pressure and the areas where they need to improve.”Rishi’s presence was ignored when Dhoni was asked for a possible combination. “Most likely it will be three-two [quicks-spinners],” he said. “Because we don’t really have a seaming allrounder so most likely it will be a three-two combination. Who are the players, we will wait and watch.” That most likely means R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and a possible debut for Barinder Sran.Australia, on the other hand, have announced their XI, and it includes five quick bowlers. Dhoni again felt they could do so because they had seaming allrounders. “It’s not only about the pitch,” Dhoni said. “That is their strength. When they come to the Test series in India, they actually went in with four proper fast bowlers in the first game. Their strength is fast bowling so no good reason why they will go in with two spinners. One part-time spinner is enough for them. Also not to forget they have got seaming allrounders. We don’t really have… we are still looking for a seaming allrounder that can fit in that slot. Even when we are looking to play with four-fast-bowlers-and-a-spinner combination. Till we don’t find a really good one, there is no point playing somebody for the sake of it.”Another problem Dhoni has is that he wants a flexible batting order, but he can’t really play around with the top four. When Dhoni himself started out, he would bat anywhere between three and six. That was one of his main arguments against a fixed line-up. That you have batsmen ready to go out at any position in the batting order provided the number of overs left calls for their game. Yet the highest he can send a newcomer in is No. 5, which again leaves him playing at No. 6.”Yes I admit a lot of batsmen find it very difficult to do it [move up and down the order] but at the end of the day if everyone becomes very rigid with their batting order it becomes very difficult for the team,” Dhoni said. “If you see the success of the Indian team, a lot of it is down to batsmen who could bat at different numbers. If you see history, we have had batsmen who open in first-class but bat at 3 for us. They used to bat 4 or 5 for their first-class team but they end up being openers for the international side. That flexibility has to be there, and that adaptability has to be there.”I feel it’s very important that youngsters who get a chance get a good opportunity to bat. That’s why I have always been in favour of giving the youngsters a chance to bat at 5 because that’s the only place I have. That’s the only place I can trade. If they consistently bat at 6, on a very good day they will score 30-odd runs. On a bad day they will score 10 runs. After 15 games, the media will be like, ‘He averages only 15, get him out of the side.'”Now is the time, though, to throw all these youngsters into the deep end, for better or for worse, whether they are the finished article or not. For the selectors have not left Dhoni many options. Either Gurkeerat Singh or Manish Pandey will get a taste of what it is like. Sran, and even Rishi, might need to be looked at at some point in the series. When Dhoni spoke glowingly of Australian domestic cricket, he also said the ability to handle pressure mattered more than the talent. He will hope that the raw youngsters he has been given have that quality.

ScorecardPakistan Under-19s took a 2-0 lead in the series against England Under-19s with a 36-run win at Northampton. The varied Pakistan attack, led by Mohammad Aamer’s four wickets, proved too much for the home side as they chased 236 to stay in with a chance of winning the series. Umar Amin and Usman Salahuddin added 123 to form the base of Pakistan’s innings before Rory Hamilton-Brown’s offspin caused a dramatic late collapse.However, the England top order also disappeared in a hurry, undone by the pace and swing of Pakistan’s new-ball attack. It’s been a summer for left-arm fast bowlers and the damage was started by the rapid Aamer as Karl Brown feathered an attempted upper-cut through to the keeper.Billy Godleman played some classy shots in his positive innings, but was comprehensively bowled by Mohammad Rameez with one stump left standing. Aamer then struck his second blow when Adam Lyth was trapped lbw by a delivery which swung back into the right-hander. England’s problems mounted further when Alex Wakely was run out by a direct hit.Hamilton-Brown and Tom Westley tried to rescue the innings but couldn’t afford to take too many risks. With boundaries drying up, the required rate climbed towards a run-a-ball with Pakistan’s spinners continuing the good work of the quick bowlers. The pressure brought Hamilton-Brown’s downfall as he tried to steal a quick single, but was beaten by a strong throw from the in field. Hamilton-Brown knew the importance of his wicket and he slammed the bat into the ground in frustration.England’s last main chance of staying in the game went when Westley edged the left-arm spin of Ahmed Iqbal. Pakistan were impressive in the field and Liam Dawson fell to a fine running catch by Salahuddin at deep square-leg.Their innings was well-placed for a more demanding total after Amin and Salahuddin added 123 for the third wicket. They began circumspectly, but soon opened their shoulders as England turned to spin. Amin, a compact player on both sides of the wicket, picked the gaps impressively against the spinners. Salahuddin – who offered a tough chance to midwicket on 41 – cleared the boundary three times, including two in two balls off Hamilton-Brown before another attempt found deep midwicket.Pakistan then lost their way with the last eight wickets falling for 50 balls as Hamilton-Brown collected six wickets. Ali Asad was early on a ball and popped a return catch while Amin charged and missed as he looked for the boundary route. Some of the late shot selection was poor, but England deserve credit for keeping their heads when the innings appeared to be running away from them. However, once again the batting let them down and now, with two matches left, they are left with just a series draw to play for.

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, will not play the fourth Test against England starting on August 17 at The Oval. However, he will be available for the five one-day internationals that begin on August 30.Asif, who had fully recovered from his elbow injury last week, was scheduled to join the team along with Mohammad Hafeez, the offbreak bowler. But Shoaib Akhtar’s inclusion in the Test squad seems to have influenced the decision to hold Asif back. “The tour selection committee comprising coach Bob Woolmer, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and manager Zaheer Abbas informed the PCB on Tuesday that they now require Asif just for the ODIs,” Saleem Altaf, PCB’s director of cricket operations, told . “Akhtar has now been inducted into the squad while other fast bowlers Shahid Nazir and Umar Gul have been bowling well.”Hafeez is still scheduled to play at The Oval and has already left for England. Pakistan lost the third Test by 167 runs and have thus lost the series 2-0 ahead of the final Test.

The Australian camp have laughed off suggestions, from an English tabloid, of a rift between Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne during the second Test at Edgbaston.According to a report in . “The crowd are all over us and the press have started again and there’s something in today’s papers that is an absolute fabrication and totally made up. I don’t know where people make up these lies but we know that’s the way this machine operates.””I think it’s quite funny,” said McGrath while speaking to the press after the fourth-day’s play. “I’ve been around the changing rooms the whole time and I haven’t heard or seen anything like that. It’s disappointing that it’s in the papers when it never happened.”McGrath has a column with the Mail on Sunday and said he was “keen to have a chat” with the writer of the story, Peter Hayter. “The biggest disappointing thing is that it’s not the first time something’s been in the papers over here that actually didn’t happen … It’s a blatant lie.”The row, which the London-based paper said took place in the dressing-room and could be overheard by the England team next door, stemmed directly from Ponting’s decision to bowl first in that match. In Glenn McGrath’s last-minute absence, Warne was his side’s most likely matchwinner and would therefore have benefited from last use of a turning track.He went on to take ten wickets, including a magnificent 6 for 46 in the second innings, but at the close of play on the penultimate day, he gave an indication of his sour mood at the end-of-day press conference. “To take 10 wickets in the match doesn’t mean anything if you lose,” he told reporters. “I don’t like using the word hate, but I hate losing.”Warne’s mood had not improved over the weekend, added the paper, and he was also alleged to have sworn at autograph hunters in the team hotel. And things got significantly worse for him on the fourth day at Old Trafford, where he missed out a maiden Test century, allowed a catch to pass straight between himself and Ponting in the slip cordon, and then watched Gilchrist miss two stumpings off his bowling.

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If two heavy losses in the Test series weren’t bad enough for the West Indians, then a humbling day at the hands of Derbyshire didn’t exactly help matters. On the opening day of their tour match at Derby, they were shot out for 223, with the offspinner Nathan Dumelow taking 5 for 51 before Derbyshire completed a good day’s work, closing at 102 for 2.With Brian Lara having a breather, Ramnaresh Sarwan took over the reins, and he decided to bat first after winning the toss at the County Ground. Chris Gayle and Sylvester Joseph made a bright start, putting on 52 for the first wicket until Gayle was bowled by Paul Havell for 42 from only 24 balls.Havell then removed Joseph for 23, and Dwayne Bravo’s recent poor run of form continued when he was caught behind off Nicholas Walker for 3. Then Dumelow took centre stage with the first of his five scalps when Devon Smith was caught by Chris Paget, the 16-year-old left-arm spinner making his debut, for 33.Dwayne Smith and Ridley Jacobs put on a stand of sorts, adding 50, but they were both caught off Dumelow, with Smith departing for the top score of 55. In between those wickets, Sarwan was leg-before to Dumelow for 6, and Omari Banks became victim No. 5 when he was caught behind by Luke Sutton, also for 6. Neil Gunter then polished off the tail with the wickets of Carlton Baugh and Dave Mohammed.In Derbyshire’s reply, Andrew Gait was lbw to Dwayne Smith for 13, but Stephen Stubbings and Hassan Adnan put on a steady 54 before Adnan was caught by Baugh off Gayle for 31. Stubbings and Steven Selwood then saw Derbyshire through to the close with no more losses, with Stubbings on 37 not out, and his side only 121 runs behind.

PERTH, March 21 AAP – West Australian cricket coach Mike Veletta has been axed following his team’s disappointing finish to the summer.The former Test batsman is understood to have lost the confidence of his players.WA’s results reflected the camp’s discontent with a second-last placing in the Pura Cup this season, and a humiliating home loss in the ING Cup final to NSW.Veletta had two seasons in charge of the Warriors and will be paid out for the third and final year of his contract.Senior players Michael Hussey, Ryan Campbell and Matthew Nicholson are all considering moving interstate for next season.The decision to fire Veletta was taken following a recommendation from the WACA’s international and interstate committee.”The I&I committee has made an extremely tough decision not to continue with Michael Veletta as our state coach,” WACA chief executive Kath White said in a statement.”This decision was not taken lightly. But it has been made in the best interests of Western Australian cricket.”White said the WACA will immediately start looking for a new coach.There was no obvious successor to Veletta although speculation has surrounded former Tasmanian coach Greg Shipperd and former WA coach Wayne Clark.However Clark, whose son Michael plays for WA, is understood to be eyeing off a more lucrative offer in England after being sacked from Yorkshire last year.Current Zimbabwean and former Australian coach Geoff Marsh is also a name being thrown up and his son Shaun also plays for the Warriors.