The WPCA today released its club fixtures for the 2003-2004 season electronically.Click here for all the new seasons club fixtures.Refer all queries to Russell Adams email [email protected]

Both captains will know that winning the toss could be the deciding factor as no team has lost a day-night one-day international at the Wankhede Stadium after scoring more than 226. In the last one-dayer played on this ground England won the thrilling encounter by five runs after scoring 255.

The last few matches on this ground have brought the spinners to the fore and India will be hoping for Harbhajan Singh to strike it rich. In the last match against England Harbhajan spun his web around the English batsmen with a controlled spell of 5 for 43. Anil Kumble too has had his moments at the Wankhede, when he destroyed the backbone of the Bangladesh batting with a spell of 3 for 17 in 1998.

The Australians will be weary of Sachin Tendulkar, playing in his own backyard, who averages 45.43 at this stadium and has begun the tri-series in blistering form. However they will take consolation from the fact that Tendulkar’s last three matches here have yielded only 12, 33 and 2 respectively.

On this ground, the fast bowlers have been more successful while defending a total under lights than while bowling first. The average for the fast bowlers bowling second is 21.86 and is considerably lesser than the corresponding 31.45 while bowling first. The Australians will remember the last time they played here, during the 1996 World Cup, when the swing and nip of Damien Fleming (5 for 36) undid the Indian run-chase.

Considering that this pitch was re-laid for the Test match against the West Indies and this will be the first one-dayer played on the new turf, past performances may not count for much.

There’s something ironic about the fact that Stephen Fleming’s abdominal injury has given the perennially crocked Chris Cairns a chance to lead New Zealand against India at Hyderabad. Fleming admitted defeat in his fitness battle, leaving Cairns with just over 24 hours to plan his second bite of the captaincy cherry. The first taste was sweet enough – a 23-run victory over a heavily fancied Australian side at Sydney in the VB Series (2001-2002).For India, most of the injuries have been to the psyche, a result of the Adam Gilchrist-Ricky Ponting blitz in Bangalore two days ago. A week ago, you knew this would be a crucial game, with a place in the final at stake. But now, with India’s selectors having delayed the announcement of the Test squad to Australia until after this game, there’s far more at stake – shades of in fact. The likes of Aavishkar Salvi, Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh and Hemang Badani will be under the microscope in more ways than one, an unwelcome distraction in a match that India simply have to win.The TVS Cup has been a sobering experience for both teams. At the press conference to unveil the trophy, both Fleming and Rahul Dravid, India’s stand-in captain, had talked of how evenly matched the three teams were. On the field, they turned out to be anything but that, with an Australian outfit comprising second-string bowlers far superior to brittle opposition.New Zealand’s batsmen let them down badly in the games against Australia, while for India, it’s the bowlers who have been culpable. That should make for a fascinating contest, on a pitch where India piled up 376 for 2 the last time they clashed here.New Zealand don’t have any selection dilemmas, with only 12 fit players to choose from. For India, the onus is on the management to decide whether or not a place in the final is a bigger priority than taking a look at hopefuls for Australia. If Agarkar and Salvi both play, Zaheer Khan – a dreadful disappointment so far this home season – will drop to the bench. For Badani to get a look in, VVS Laxman or Mohammad Kaif will have to make way. Given his abysmal record with the bat over the past year, Kaif appears the favourite for the chop.The batting order will also be tinkered with. Now would be as good a time as any to reunite Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order, with an out-of-sorts Virender Sehwag being asked to provide a late-innings impetus if needed. To be fair to the Indians, they batted magnificently for 40 overs in pursuit of a mirage against Australia. A repeat will most likely guarantee victory.There’s also likely to be a change on the spin front, with Harbhajan Singh coming in to partner Murali Kartik. Kartik is another player on the fringes, and a strong performance from him could leave the selectors with a major headache.Fleming’s injury gives Chris Nevin a reprieve, but much will depend on how well Cairns, Scott Styris and Craig McMillan perform in a pressure situation. New Zealand fretted and fumed about the pitches at Faridabad and Pune. On what appears likely to be a perfect batting strip, excuses won’t be an option. They can only hope that certain Indian players are looking too far ahead to have their eye on the ball.TeamsIndia (likely) Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly (capt), VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid (wk), Virender Sehwag, Hemang Badani, Yuvraj Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, Aavishkar Salvi.New Zealand Chris Nevin, Lou Vincent, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Chris Cairns (capt), Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Daryl Tuffey.

Former West Indies batsman Runako Morton will not play in the 2004 Carib Beer Series following an negative medical report. Morton, who completed a year-long suspension in September, has not been named in a 22-member Leeward Islands training squad.Carlisle Powell, president of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, recently disclosed that Morton was given an unfavourable report after an examination by a clinical psychologist.Morton was suspended by the West Indies Cricket Board for misconduct on the A team tour to England. Then, he asked to return home early from the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka to attend his grandmother’s funeral, a story which later turned out to be untrue.Morton, who has played two ODIs for West Indies, both against Pakistan, and has scored 1,736 runs (ave.33.86) in 34 first-class matches, made a return to the Leewards side for the regional Red Stripe Bowl in October.

Close West Indies 264 and 18 for 0 (Hinds 7*, Ganga 4*) trail South Africa 658 for 9 dec (Kallis 177, Gibbs 142, Kirsten 137) by 376 runs
Scoreboard

Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten rattled along to the highest fourth-wicket partnership in South Africa’s Test history, as West Indies were torn limb from limb on the third day at Durban. By the time Graeme Smith eventually took mercy and declared with 10 overs of the day remaining, South Africa had compiled a humungous first-innings total of 658 for 9. It was the highest total ever recorded at Kingsmead, and South Africa’s second-best score – second only to the 682 for 6 dec. with which they thumped England at Lord’s last summer.After Herschelle Gibbs’s mighty performance on Saturday, Kirsten and Kallis were the mainstays of today’s effort. Their eventual stand of 249 was 35 more than the previous record for South Africa’s fourth wicket, set by Herbie Taylor and Nummie Deane against England at The Oval in 1929. When Kallis eventually fell, moments before tea, for a superb 177, the final session was a joyous romp for the likes of Neil McKenzie, Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hall.Kallis recorded his 13th and second-highest Test century, and it was a fine follow-up to his matchwinning 158 in the first Test at Johannesburg. But it was Kirsten who really made the dents in the record-books, as he joined the elite band of cricketers who have scored 20 Test hundreds. He followed hot on the heels of Ricky Ponting, who yesterday became the 21st member of the club, and by the time he was caught at midwicket by Vasbert Drakes, he had also become the first South African to reach 7000 runs.It was another ragged day’s cricket from West Indies, who missed three catches in the first hour of play, and thereafter it was merely a case of shutting the stable door. The first life came in the fifth over of the morning, when Brian Lara fluffed a head-high chance at first slip, as Kirsten carved at Merv Dillon. He had made 22 at the time, and had progressed to 41 by the time Drakes in the gully failed to cling onto a fierce cut.The ball very nearly rebounded to Carlton Baugh, but it was clearly wasn’t West Indies’s morning – moments earlier, Kallis had pulled loosely at Fidel Edwards, only for Drakes again to be left sprawling as the ball evaded his grasp.After this flurry of let-offs, the rest of the morning was a breeze for South Africa. Kirsten celebrated his survival by smacking Edwards for consecutive fours, and by the drinks interval, Ramnaresh Sarwan had been drilled past point for Kallis to bring up his hundred from 205 balls.Drakes’s woes were compounded when Kirsten crashed him for four fours in consecutive balls – a cut, a pull and two sweetly timed drives – and Kirsten’s only other moment of good fortune came when he under-edged Wavell Hinds past his stumps for four. It was a sign, however, that the pitch is starting to behave mischievously.The mid-afternoon drinks break eventually did for Kirsten – two balls later he miscued Sarwan to Drakes at midwicket. In any ordinary circumstances, the incoming batsman McKenzie would have been on a hiding to nothing, but after taking a moment or two to get his eye in, he launched into the bowling, and clubbed three fours and a six in eight deliveries.Kallis then fell in the penultimate over before tea, cutting Dillon straight to Ganga at point, but McKenzie signed off the session by slapping Fidel Edwards for another six over fine leg, as South Africa marched past their highest-ever total against West Indies – beating the record they set at Johannesburg earlier in the month. McKenzie fell soon afterwards, swishing at Drakes outside off stump, who followed up by trapping Boucher lbw for 12. But Pollock and Hall unfurled some fine declaration-hastening strokes, with Adam Sanford (3 for 170) taking a particular battering.Daren Ganga and Hinds limped to the close without too many alarms, but with two days of this match remaining, there is little prospect of salvation for the West Indians, not even with Lara itching to celebrate his 100th Test in style.

Shane Warne has rubbished reports in an Indian magazine that he was seen in the company of a known bookmaker during the 1999 World Cup. The magazine Outlook claimed that Warne and Brian Lara were seen leaving a London pizza restaurant with Ratan Mehta, a man who is accused in the same article of fixing the Super Six match between India and Pakistan at Old Trafford.”This story is total rubbish and completely untrue,” said Warne. “The only time I have had dinner with Brian Lara in London was at the Pizza Pomodero with his manager, David Manassi, and my good friend Dwight Yorke. As far as Ratan Mehta is concerned, I have never even heard of him before.”Cricket Australia has come out in support of Warne. “Shane Warne has emphatically denied the reports which have surfaced out of India overnight,” said the acting chief executive David Fouvy, “and at this stage, Cricket Australia does not consider these current allegations credible to warrant any formal investigation.””Cricket Australia is fully committed to ensuring cricket remains free from corruption. If we are presented with any credible allegations of misconduct against Australian players or officials, these will be fully investigated.”

ScorecardDay 4Bulletin – England romp home after Harmison’s stunning burst
Verdict – Harmison’s magnificent seven
Roving Reporter – A rum day for the locals
Quotes – “One of the best spells by an England player”
Stats – Best bowling figures at Sabina Park
The Paper Round – The tale of Grievous Bodily Harmison
Day 3Bulletin – Hussain and Thorpe resume the fight
Verdict – The Best just got better
Day 2Bulletin – Fidel Edwards rattles England
Roving Reporter – A morning on the mound
Verdict – England’s odd couple
Day 1Bulletin – Smith and Hinds revive West Indies
Verdict – Smith pops England’s bubble
Roving Reporter – Subdued in Sabina
Quotes – ‘This is what I’ve waited for’

Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to say today:

Kapil Dev has announced that the upcoming tour will be a matter of life and death for the players, The Times of India reports. “It may be a goodwill series for some, but for the boys, it’s life and death,” Kapil said. “It’s about their careers. The players need to win for the team as well as for themselves.”He had a few words of advice to counter the pressure. “The boys must learn to enjoy the game and savour the opportunity. They have to just concentrate and work hard for the results to show up.” Kapil spoke about his role during the three-day camp: “There is no chance of making big changes in three days. I just wanted to get them more confident before the series. Of course, there were some technical aspects as well, but I wouldn’t like to talk about them now.”* * *Shoaib Akhtar played down his impending duel with Sachin Tendulkar, saying that cricket was not about individuals. “Cricket is a team game. The Indians now have more than one Tendulkar, and we have to get five Tendulkars out to win matches, but we are up to it.”Shoaib spoke to Press Trust of India about the additional responsibility of leading Pakistan’s attack, and the country’s expectations of the team. His personal goals, however, hadn’t changed from the start of his career. “I want to be the best against the best. That has been my endeavour since I started my career. So I am gearing up.”* * *Ten Sports and India’s cable operators have been involved in a confrontation that could affect viewers when the first Indo-Pak one-dayer gets underway on March 13, PTI reports. The channel had been blacked out because of a dispute over a 400-500% rise in subscription payments. “Not only Ten Sports, most pay-channel broadcasters have asked for four-five times the present subscription payments and they want this agreement for the next one year,” a cable operator said. “We cannot sustain such payments.” However, Ten Sports was confident that the matter would be settled soon.* * *Irfan Pathan is waiting eagerly for the day he opens the bowling with Zaheer Khan, according to a report by PTI. “I am enjoying the prospect of bowling alongside Zaheer Khan. He is a great help and always gives me tips. We vibe pretty well … it will be fun bowling with him.” While training on the last day of the three-day camp in Kolkata, Pathan said he was working on getting his basics right, which was essential for the tour to Pakistan. “Sharing the new ball has thrust greater responsibility on me. I am aware of the demands that come along with it. I am working on the basics and trying to perfect the line and length to get the little things in order … It is these things which will help in Pakistan.”* * *Ramesh Powar came in for praise from John Wright, The Indian Express reported. On the verge of representing India for the first time, Powar’s all-round ability and hard work was commended by Wright. “Apart from being an offspinner, he is a good fielder and can also bat. It’s an advantage to have a player like him in the team,” Wright said. “He has a lot of energy and let’s see how he shapes up for the tour.”* * *The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken steps to ensure that spectators are given every chance to watch matches without untoward incidents taking place.According to The Indian Express, the PCB has put up huge TV screens at various points in Lahore to lessen the pressure on the Gaddafi Stadium. Bar-coded tickets were issued to avoid forgery and the custom of giving away complimentary tickets was done away with. Meanwhile, tickets were issued for the warm-up game in Lahore on March 11.* * *Yuvraj Singh’s father, Yograj, wants his son to marry “someone of the calibre of Steffi Graf.” Why? Genetic preparation’s the answer, according to The Indian Express. “I have read some books on genetic preparations and I want to ensure that Yuvraj, whenever he decides to marry, ties the knot with a strong, athletic woman irrespective of where she comes from.” Yograj also had the country in mind when he said, “Look how he’s [Andre Agassi] planned his generations. He is already talking about careers for his children. It’s an approach everyone should have, only then India can boast about being a sporting powerhouse.”

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.

The South African board (UCBSA) has rejected the Indian cricket board’s itinerary for their tour of India in November, on the grounds that they want to play two Test matches and not the seven one-day internationals that are scheduled. According to SABC News, Brian Basson, the general manager of cricket affairs in the UCBSA , has said that it would be pointless to go back to India again at a later date to play the two Tests.The packed schedule of both sides has meant that it is not possible to schedule both a Test and one-day series, as would normally be the practice, and with one-dayers being far more profitable for the home board than Test matches, it was always likely that the Indians would opt to omit the Tests. However, there is a sign that the distressing emphasis on one-day cricket may finally be changing in the subcontinent. India’s series against Australia in October, it is being speculated, may be revamped to accommodate one extra Test, with the one-dayers being scrapped.The ICC’s stand on this matter is that the dispute should be sorted out through bilateral negotiations, and there is no need for them to get involved. “It’s not unusual for these discussions over schedules to occur,” said Brendon McClements, their general manager, “and they can split the Test and one-day series if they want to. Besides, their only obligation is to play each other in a Test and one-day series, home and away, at least once in a five-year cycle.”South Africa last played a Test series in India in early 2000, which does not leave much space in the five year cycle to play another one.