April 13, 2001
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India and Australia could clash yet again for a one-day series at the Colonial indoor stadium in Melbourne this September. The Australians obviously are looking to restore some pride this time in their own den. Though Australia won the one-day series in India it was not after initial hiccups. The first series of the magnificent Super series at the Colonial Stadium was played last year August between Australia and South Africa, which the latter won 2-1. Although the BCCI has not confirmed its participation, they are likely to accept the invitation. India had a miserable tour of Australia last season when they lost both the Test and one-day internationals series.  Nicky Boje whose all round performance was crucial in South Africa's victory over West Indies in the on-going Test series, will return home. Boje has suffered shoulder and knee injuries and requires surgery. He will miss the final match of the series. The South Africans who have won the Test series are leading the five match series two-nil. In an unprecedented move the umpires who officiated in the fifth and final one-dayer at Goa between India and Australia called for a press conference. The duo - Francis Gomes and Subroto Porel - decide to come out in the open and admit an error in giving Sourav Ganguly out, caught off a above shoulder height ball from Glenn McGrath. Both the umpires hail from Kolkatta. Porel said that his house had been pelted with stones, while Gomes who happens to be the neighbour of the Indian skipper said he faced ostracism in the colony. The BCCI officials sounded dismayed at the reaction of the two umpires. The matter is likely to be taken up at the umpires committee meeting. Incidentally the Goa match was the first international for Porel since the infamous abandoned match at Indore in December 1997, when he along with DD Sharma had to call off play due to a dangerous wicket. Pakistan raced to their second consecutive victory in the tournament by eight wickets against New Zealand at Sharjah. The highlight of New Zealand's total of 266 was a maiden century by New Zealand opener Mathew Sinclair (117). The Pakistan reply was helped by a quick fire start given to them by Shahid Afridi who made 70 in 43 balls, while scoring his fifty in only 24 balls. In today's crucial match Pakistan meet Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will be looking for a win to try and get on top of the points table. New Zealand off-spinner Grant Bradburn who was hit for 27 runs in one over by the Pakistani openers, created a world record by making a come-back to the side after a gap of more than eight years and three months, while missing a record 184 matches. He last appeared against Sri Lanka at Colombo in December 1992. He bettered the previous record of 157 matches which was held by Indian offie Ashish Kapoor, when he made his comeback recently against Zimbabwe at Kanpur in December last year.
The Goa Cricket Association has sacked its treasurer Rama Shankar Das following his arrest in the fake ticket scam during the fifth and final ODI match at Goa on April 6. The South African Cricket Board had to cut down the salary of Daryll Cullinan by 30 percent after the batsman had decided not to play in the one-day internationals with a view to conserving himself for playing in Test matches only. In a reaction to the pay cut Cullinan went on to sign up for the English county Kent as their overseas player. Cullinan has now come up with a new proposal to the Board by opting to play in Tests on a match-by-match basis and receive the fee per match instead of a fixed salary. The South African Board's reaction is not known as yet. Incidentally Cullinan is one of the most successful batsman in South Africa's ongoing tour of the West Indies. The Pakistan Cricket Board is now looking towards Australian Daryl Foster to coach its unpredictable yet highly talented national team. This comes after former Australian captain Greg Chappell refused to accept the offer. Pakistan has sacked seven coaches in the last three years, one of them being South African Richard Pybus. The others were all Pakistani coaches. Foster was the former coach of Western Australia and later was associated with the English county Kent for several years. Top order batsman Justin Langer and Michael Slater could face the axe for the all important Ashes tour to England this summer. The 15-man squad to tour England will be named today. The duo had toured India and did not have much to show in terms of performance. Slater was also involved in an ugly row with umpire S Venkatraghavan and Rahul Dravid as well in the Mumbai Test match. Newcomers Simon Katich and Jamie Cox could make the team along with experienced Damien Martyn and ang Greg Blewett. The Australians will also play a one-day series in England along with the home side and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Shane Warne, who had a poor tour of India is another player who may miss out the tour if the selectors decide on the other leggie Stuart MacGill. Tom Moody who retired from cricket last year and is now Worcestershire's chief coach, said he had no intentions of coming out of retirement even as Worcestershire's overseas player. Australian fast bowler Andy Bichel, the county's overseas player is likely to be called upon for national duty in the Ashes series. Moody who had served Worcestershire well since 1991 as an all-rounder and also as a captain said he had no plans to come out of retirement as an emergency replacement. The Sharjah Cricket chief Abdul Rahman Bukhatir lashed out after the ICC announced that it would be sending two of its investigators to Sharjah as a follow up on the charges of betting and match fixing. Meanwhile, the ICC's chief investigator Sir Paul Condon clarified this move to send in the investigators since it made sense to visit the place when a tournament was going on. Bukhatir however said his organisation had nothing to hide and that Sharjah was being targeted purely because it had become a high profile venue. The Chairman of the Railway Sports Board Ashok Kumar announced a cash incentive on Rs. one lakh for the Railways cricket team for entering the final of the prestigious Ranji Trophy. This is the second time the Railways are entering the final of the national tournament. In 1988 they had lost to Tamil Nadu in the final. Railways take on Baroda in the final at Baroda from April 19-23. ARY GOLD CUP, Sharjah Pakistan vs New Zealand(3rd match) New Zealand : 266-7 in 50 overs (M Sinclair 117, CD McMillan 46) Pakistan: 270-2 in 42.1 overs (Imran Nazir 35, Shahid Afridi 70, Saeed Anwar 81 not out, Inzamam ul Haq 71 not out) Result: Pakistan won by 8 wickets and with 7.5 overs to spare Man of the match: Shahid Afridi (Pak) Points table:
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Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
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