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The touring Zimbabwean team is in a confident mood ahead of the five-match ODI series against Pakistan starting next week, according to Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwe’s captain. The Zimbabweans folded meekly in their only practice match before the series, not only losing to Patron’s XI side by an innings and 34 runs but also failing to impress with either the bat or the ball.”We didn’t play to the best of our abilities [in the tour match] but we did manage to get a lot of positives out of the loss,” Utseya said at a press conference today. “Our bowlers got a chance to bowl long spells against good opposition and a couple of our batsmen scored over fifty, so that is a good sign.”Utseya, who had to sit out the match due to an ankle injury he picked up in South Africa, will face a fitness test on the eve of the first ODI. Rating his chances of leading the side for the opening ODI as very good, Utseya warned doubters not to write off his team on strength or age.”We are young in age but a few of our players have played over 50 ODIs and with victories over Australia and West Indies behind us, we are in a positive frame of mind and in a confident mood.”Utseya welcomed the return of senior players to the fold, especially RayPrice – who got four wickets against Patron’s XI in the tour match – andGary Brent – who put on a defiant 96-run seventh-wicket partnership withKeith Maruma – adding that experience was a key ingredient if Zimbabwe were to make a successful Test comeback.”We obviously want to return to Test cricket and for that, we need to put some wins under our belt. Price forms a good spin bowling partnership with me and together with Brent, they bring in a lot of experience.”We have a good all-round team and these guys can help us get more experience. We need to put ourselves in a good position not only for this series, but also for the future and the only way we can do that is by winning.”Zimbabwe will get a chance to work on Utseya’s words on Monday when theytake on the home side under lights at the National Stadium, Karachi.

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, has hit out against the stream of criticism directed at the team after their humiliating defeat against Australia at Perth. Pakistan were thrashed by 491 runs and were then subjected to a fearful backlash, as the media, fans and former players vented their ire – effigies of players were burnt, while a crowd of around 150 apparently smashed a television set.Among former players, Javed Miandad, the previous coach of the side, has been most vocal in his criticism, but Woolmer said that such comments helped no-one. “It’s the criticism before the match and the criticism continually of everything that undermines the players and everyone around the team,” he said, according to a report in ABC Sport. “I don’t see the point of it, quite frankly – what are people trying to achieve?”For example, the burning of the effigies… are you trying to burn the people who are doing their job, instead of encouraging them? It’s obviously something I will have to get used to – I don’t want to get used to it, so we’ll have to perform better. It’s a strange world we live in when people criticise you for not doing things you’re already doing, because they don’t know – they’re six or seven thousand miles away.”In the aftermath of the defeat, Woolmer spoke to a number of experts, and while some – most notably Bob Simpson – offered to help, Woolmer said that the team was keen get out of the rut by themselves.”Part of the team meeting we had (after Perth), we discussed the role of a sports psychologist,” Woolmer said. “The team was adamant that they were very disappointed about what happened and they would like to handle it themselves. It doesn’t mean I can’t talk to these people and see if there’s anything new on the market that might help the team. Inzamam specifically was adamant that it’s not outside help we need, we need to help ourselves and that was the most important thing I think that came out of the meeting.”

In an interview to ABC radio, Shane Warne has hit back at Dick Pound, World Anti-Doping Agency president. He said: “As far as I’m concerned it’s got nothing to do with these guys (WADA).””I’m an employee of the Australian Cricket Board and both the ACB (now called Cricket Australia) and us have come to a decision," said Warne. “I’ve abided by their rules and had an arbitration meeting and they said I can play in charity games, I can train with the team, I can do all those things.”Pound and David Howman, WADA chief executive, earlier criticised Cricket Australia’s (CA) decision to allow Warne to play in charity matches and train with the team, saying that it was “bizarre” and “anti-ethical” to “allow a cheater to play”.Jason Warne, Shane’s brother and manager, said today that Shane didn’t have immediate plans to play charity games anyway, putting to rest rumours that he had a game lined up for the rich Lashings club in England on August 18.”The first thing is, Shane has no charity games booked in at the moment – no, he’s not playing for Lashings, simply because he’s unavailable,” said Jason. “Right from the word go, not once has Shane been told he can’t train with the team, as long as he’s invited.”CA ruled Warne was ineligible for any form of cricket when it suspended him in February for testing positive to a diuretic.But in July an independent arbitrator gave Warne the green light to take part in charity fixtures, forcing CA to comply.Warne will finish his ban on February 10 – just before Australia leaves for a tour of Sri Lanka.In the meantime, he can be invited to train as a guest with the Australian team – another development the WADA hierarchy disapproves of.Warne, who hasn’t bowled a ball since a guest appearance at a net in June, will be commentating on Channel Nine during Australia’s home Test series against Zimbabwe in October.

Wisden Asia Cricket“There was a motorcade around the island for me.”

“From the time I was 12, my coach would tell me that I had it in me to play for West Indies – but then coaches always tell you positive things. The first time I really it this might happen was when we lost the first two Tests against Australia in the home series and the talk throughout the Caribbean was that we needed a spinner in the XI.”I was at my girlfriend’s house when the captain called me. I knew Brian Lara somewhat from earlier – I had got him out once! He rang and said, “Congratulations”, and I said, “For what?” even though I knew exactly what it was for. I was really excited inside, but wanted to appear calm.”I kept telling myself not to get caught up in the moment. It was only a cricket match, and I had played plenty before. The debut didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. But though I conceded more than 200 runs, I knew I hadn’t bowled that badly, and I batted okay. I was just happy playing for West Indies. Then came St. John’s and that record chase: the best day of my life, on or outside the cricket field. When I was waiting to go in to bat in the last innings, I kept reminding myself of the team’s objectives. The worst that could happen was that I could get out; the best was we could win the Test – which we did. That night, I celebrated by playing with Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson’s band – my dad is a musician, and I play some guitar too. Anguilla was all excited when I returned. There was a big reception for me at the airport, and then there was a motorcade all around the island, which is only 35 square miles.”I look back happily at my first international season. Playing with spinners like [Stuart] MacGill and [Muttiah] Muralitharan was a great experience. Murali is awesome, something special.”There are no international matches for a while now, but I’ll play some club cricket. I like to play the year round. And even if there is a break from matches, I don’t like to ever take a break from practice.”

The highest individual score in Test cricket – batting’s blue-riband record – has only changed hands ten times since the first Test of all, 127 years ago in 1876-77. Here’s how the bar has been raised:

165* – Charles Bannerman
Australia v England, Melbourne, 1876-77
Neatly, the man who scored the first run in Test cricket extended his innings to 165 before being forced to retire hurt with a hand injury. Charles Bannerman, 25, dominated Australia’s innings in this inaugural Test, scoring 67.3% of his side’s total – still a Test record for a completed innings.211 – Billy Murdoch
Australia v England, The Oval, 1884
Bannerman’s record lasted seven and a half years, until Billy Murdoch hit Test cricket’s first double-century, in a huge Australian total of 551. But England hung on for a draw in what was only a three-day match. Murdoch, who later played a Test for England too, was 29, and Australia’s captain, at the time.287 – Tip Foster
England v Australia, Sydney, 1903-04
Reginald Erskine “Tip” Foster, the only man to captain England at cricket and football, marked his Test debut with an amazing innings. It remains the highest score by a player in his first Test, and is still England’s highest in Australia. Foster, 25, put on 130 for the tenth wicket with Wilfred Rhodes (40*) as England posted a matchwinning total of 577.325 – Andy Sandham
England v West Indies, Kingston, 1929-30
Playing in what turned out to be his last Test, three months short of his 40th birthday, Surrey’s Andy Sandham scored 325 as England ran up 849 in a supposedly timeless Test – ironically, though, the match was left drawn when the England team had to catch the boat home. Despite a first-innings lead of 563, the England captain, Freddie Gough-Calthorpe, didn’t enforce the follow-on: his eventual declaration left West Indies just 836 to win. They made 408 for 5 …334 – Don Bradman
Australia v England, Headingley, 1930
Three months later the record changed hands again, and to no-one’s great surprise it was Australia’s “Boy Wonder” who broke it. Don Bradman was only 21, and in the middle of a record-breaking tour of England in which he made those who had doubted his ability to score runs on English pitches eat their words. He scored 974 runs in the Tests – still a record – 309 of them on the first day at Headingley.336* – Wally Hammond
England v New Zealand, Auckland, 1932-33
Hammond, second only to Bradman as a batsman at the time, eclipsed The Don’s record with a murderous innings against a weak New Zealand side in 1932-33. Hammond, 29, smashed ten sixes and 34 fours, and his 300 came up in 288 minutes, still Test cricket’s fastest in terms of time. Since Hammond had made 227 in the first of the two Tests that followed the acrimonious Bodyline tour of Australia, he finished with a series average of 563.364 – Len Hutton
England v Australia, The Oval, 1938
Hutton, 22, took advantage of a benign pitch and a toothless Australian attack to beat the record in what had become, with the series undecided, a timeless Test. Hutton hit 35 fours in what was England’s 100th century against Australia, and their eventual 903 for 7 remains the highest in Ashes Tests. Hammond, by then England’s captain, apparently didn’t declare until he was assured that Bradman, who had injured his leg while having a rare bowl, wouldn’t be able to bat.365* – Garry Sobers
West Indies v Pakistan, Kingston, 1957-58
Sobers had played some promising cameos before he extended his maiden Test century past 300 to come of age as international cricketer (well, he was 21 at the time). He hit 38 fours, and piled on 446 for the second wicket with Conrad Hunte (260) as West Indies took advantage of a depleted Pakistan attack – one opening bowler pulled a thigh muscle in his first over, and another fractured his thumb – to set a record that lasted for 36 years.375 – Brian Lara
West Indies v England, St John’s, 1993-94
Sobers was there to see his record go, in Antigua in 1994. Lara, 24, batted for 768 minutes and hit 45 fours, and very nearly trod on his stumps in hitting the boundary that took him past Sobers’s old mark. A few weeks later Lara, in the form of his life, completed the double by breaking the first-class record as well, with an innings of 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham.380 – Matthew Hayden
Australia v Zimbabwe, Perth, 2003-04
A perfect pitch, and a friendly attack in which all five bowlers used eventually leaked more than 100 runs, added up to the ideal recipe for Matthew Hayden, the solidly built left-hander, to annexe the record. Hayden, 32, bludgeoned 11 sixes and 38 fours as the Zimbabwe bowlers wilted (slow left-armer Ray Price, who did well in the next Test, had figures of 0 for 187).400* – Brian Lara
West Indies v England, St John’s, 2003-04
Ten years after his 375, Lara returned to Antigua. The circumstances were different: West Indies had been walloped 3-0, and Lara himself, by now 34 and captain, was under intense pressure to avert an unthinkable whitewash. And Lara, with barely a false stroke, became the first man to regain the top spot, hitting 43 fours and four sixes as he reclaimed the record – and West Indian pride – on his way to the first Test quadruple-century.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Marvan Atapattu has said that he expects the final to be a fiercely contested affair. While maintaining that the toss could be a crucial factor, Atapattu also felt minimising errors would be the key to the contest.”There are two good sides playing well at the moment,” Atapattu was quoted as saying in the . “I expect the final to be a close contest. The team that makes the lesser number of mistakes will win.”Meanwhile Sanath Jayasuriya was keen to make amends for his reckless shot at a crucial juncture during Tuesday’s four-run loss to India. “It is disappointing that I couldn’t finish off the game against India,” Jayasuriya told . “I don’t want to get a hundred and Sri Lanka to lose the match. This is the first time it has happened when I have got a hundred and Sri Lanka have lost [while chasing].”It was very disappointing. I’m not worried about getting a hundred; I’m not that kind of a person who goes after hundreds but I would have been happy had we won.”Jayasuriya also felt that Sri Lanka still held the psychological edge, since they made a fist of the chase after being in a precarious situation. “We had lost the match halfway through and then we came back so strongly and almost won it. We also didn’t play [Chaminda] Vaas and Murali. I think we have the advantage.”

Harbhajan Singh conceded that India had an uphill task to get back in the game, but expressed his happiness at taking a five-wicket haul. Here’s what he had to say after close of play on the second day of the Bangalore Test:

On the state of the game
Australia batted really well, and we have to do something special tomorrow to get back into the game.On Michael Clarke’s innings
Clarke played a sensible innings. He’s a good young player who uses his feet well, and even though he’s playing his first game, he’s very confident.On his passionate reaction after dismissing Adam Gilchrist
It was good to take that wicket. I was glad to break the partnership, because it had been great for Australia but not so good for us. I reacted with anger, because I like to be fired up. Sometimes you play best when you’re angry, but sometimes it doesn’t work.On the state of the pitch
The wicket was difficult to bowl on, because we were not getting much response from it. On the first day it was good for batting, but now it’s turning a bit but is still slow. We’ll have to see how it goes in the second innings. We have the kind of batsmen and the right bowling attack to put Australia under pressure.On the reminder his haul sends to Australia
To take five wickets was definitely a boost to my confidence. It was my first Test back after injury, and five wickets is always good, especially against Australia. It doesn’t matter how you play or how many runs you concede, it always lifts the confidence, and it will be fun to play in the next match and the next innings. I can’t predict what will happen next, but to get five wickets is always special.On whether India can turn it around
That all depends on how we bat in the second innings. We have done it before, and we’ll be doing our best to make a game of it. You never know, we could be capable of doing it again. The key is to stay positive, and play to our potential. If we can do that, then no matter how the wicket breaks up, we’ll hold on.On the impact of Glenn McGrath’s early wickets
McGrath is a great bowler, and his wickets came at a very good time for Australia. It was very good for him, but not for us.

Less than five days after Pakistan’s 1-2 defeat by England in the NatWest Challenge, the voices of dissent have already started against Rashid Latif, the captain, and the entire team management.Imran Khan suggested that Latif wasn’t a good bet as a long-term captain, and recommended a bowler or an allrounder as the next captain, as he would have a better understanding of when to bowl specific bowlers.Speaking to reporters while on a visit to a cricket clinic at Peshawar, Imran opined: “We need to have a man who knows how to field the bowlers during the tough matches. The approach of the captain must be aggressive. He has to accept every challenge and should take bold decisions and should go all out for victory. The fighting and challenging approach is a key factor in crucial encounters,” he said. “I accept the qualities of Latif as a wicket-keeper but as captain, he cannot run the team for longer duration.”Earlier, Aamer Sohail, the chief selector, had held Pakistan’s team management responsible for the series defeat, saying that the inclusion of too many allrounders resulted in the losses. Latif refused to respond to Sohail’s charge. According to The News, a Pakistan daily, Latif said: “I don’t want to make any comments. It is for the board to look into this. The series is over and we were expecting such things. It is not a big surprise for us.”Reiterating the fact there was no lack of commitment from the team, Latif stated that he had no idea what had prompted Sohail’s comments. “The defeat at Lord’s was heartbreaking but we went down fighting and showed we can challenge any team.”I didn’t ask for the captaincy, but once the board gave me this responsibility I have tried to do my best with a team which is a blend of some experience and youth. I don’t know why people are criticising my captaincy or want me out. It really does not bother me because they are also a lot of other people who have called me up and encouraged me and appreciated the hard work put up by the team.”

Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How they were out

India entered the final of the IndianOil Cup after scoring a tense seven-run victoryover West Indies in Colombo. A century by Yuvraj Singh and a well-paced knockby Mohammad Kaif helped India reach 262 for 4, the tournament¹s highestscore, following which a fatal mixture of mounting run-rate and inexperiencesaw the West Indians stumble out of the competition.Denesh Ramdin, let off luckily when he was caughtplumb in front by Anil Kumble off his first ball, fought until the end, striking boundaries andinventing strokes to throw the bowlers off. Ashish Nehra went at seven anover, Zaheer Khan narrowly evaded being called off for bowling beamers.Ramdin ended unbeaten on 74, an admirable knock from a man who had keptflawlessly in the sweltering heat all afternoon. He followed Runako Morton,whose controlled 84 kept West Indies in the running until the final stretch,even while wickets fell all around him. In between there was Dwayne Smith, whocrashed 26 off 12 before Kumble did him in.Ramdin¹s wonderful innings was a fluent one, full of fight, and while hestruggled to comprehend Kumble’s variations, he persisted and dealtwith the more straightforward bowlers with ease. Most batsmen before himfailed to do even this, though their troubles against Kumble wereanticipated. Kumble has a way with newcomers unused to this brand oflegspin; they remain motionless in their crease, trapped by indecision, andare easily undone by a man who preys on uncertain minds. He dismissed threeof them in a flash, and would have had three more if Daryl Harper saw what he, the fielders, the television, and Hawk-Eye all saw; straightforward decisions were turned down, and this assisted West Indies’ survival. It is debatable whether the match would have run this close otherwise. Against a team more capable of grabbing chances, India could have suffered dearly. In any case, Rahul Dravid bowled Kumble through his quota in one go, and then watched Nehra and Yuvraj leak runs to the tune of 82 in 12 overs.But Yuvraj was India¹s man of the hour earlier, and Kaif his support, whenthe team had effectively lost four batsmen and were in trouble. At 51 for 3,with Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman out, and Sourav Ganguly inhospital after a short delivery thudded into an unprotected arm, Yuvraj andKaif had quite a task ahead. Neither the flow of the game nor their formfavoured them. But bit by bit, they pulled it India’s way with pinched runsand angled bats that frustrated and deflated West Indies. The slower bowlerswere nudged and pushed for singles and once the time for acceleration came,the two managed it seemingly without effort. The India of the 1990s had AjayJadeja and Robin Singh to fight fires and twist thrust swords. This team hasthese two. They were followed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose daring againstTino Best’s 140kph deliveries – a sweep, for example – added a touch ofbravado to the Indian innings. The last ten overs yielded 89 runs. But thefirst ten had seemed a repeat of India’s most recent experiences in SriLanka: India managed only 24 for 2.But it was the bowlers’ accuracy and persistence that forced Ganguly’s injury andthe general unease early in the innings. They weren’t exactly the fearsome four, theterrible three or even an ominous one, but Daren Powell, Deighton Butler andBest put on a fine show to have India hopping and falling about theircrease.Sylvester Joseph, the West Indies stand-in captain after ShivarineChanderpaul pulled out due to illness, began with an attack of Powell’s paceand Butler’s swing. Sehwag and Ganguly both lost control of their feet asballs swung late and rose awkwardly. Powell, in particular, alternatedbetween aiming for the stumps and Ganguly’s ribcage. Butler rapped Sehwag’spads twice and even bowled him off a no-ball, but was finally lucky with histhird appeal. After a brief stay Laxman nick one, and Dravid played aloose stroke on to his stumps.India became the second international team to walk off a cricketfield relieved today, but West Indies ran them far closer than they would have liked. The final, two days away, is an opportunity to start afresh.

IndiaVVS Laxman c Ramdin b Powell 7 (21 for 1)
Virender Sehwag lbw Butler 6 (21 for 2)
Rahul Dravid b Banks 10 (51 for 3)
Yuvraj Singh c Best b Deonarine 110 (216 for 4)
West IndiesXavier Marshall lbw Pathan 19 (37 for 1)
Sylvester Joseph c Harbhajan b Pathan 4 (44 for 2)
Narsingh Deonarine c Kumble b Nehra 6 (59 for 3)
Omari Banks lbw Kumble 6 (70 for 4)
Dwayne Smith lbw Kumble 26 (98 for 5)
Ricardo Powell c (sub) Rao b Kumble 4 (112 for 6)
Runako Morton c Dravid b Nehra 84 (195 for 7)
Tino Best b Sehwag 3 (208 for 8)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)

Ross Emerson, whose no-balling of Muttiah Muralitharan at Adelaide in 1999 caused a near melt-down, has turned his back on cricket, blaming the lack of support from the game as the reason for his disenchantment.”Cricket gave me the arse, didn’t they? I didn’t have a future in cricket, so I retired a year after Adelaide,” Emerson said to . “They sacked me from the next two games and then just didn’t reappoint me.” It wasn’t the first time Emerson had called Muralitharan. It had happened earlier, during the infamous tour in 1995-96, when Darrell Hair no-balled him seven times. Ten days after the incident, Emerson called him in a one-dayer. The tour initiated an acrimonious relationship between Muralitharan and Australian crowds, and matters came to a head when Muralitharan reacted to comments ascribed to the Australian Prime Minister.Emerson refused to comment on the new bowling recommendation, and said he enjoyed his new role as the president of Swimming Western Australia. “Swimming has helped fill the void cricket left,” said Emerson. “I love the swimming job and it means I’m present when my daughters are swimming. I’m actually able to be a father again, rather than travelling around.”