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July 28, 2001
Cricket |
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Coca-Cola Triangular in Sri Lanka India slid deeper into the quick sand after they were struck by two telling blows yesterday. Firstly, match referee of the tournament West Indian Cammie Smith suspended Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly for the game against Sri Lanka for showing dissent on the field after being given leg before in the last match against New Zealand. To top this VVS Laxman, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan are unlikely to play today's encounter as they are all unfit. India have to win all their remaining matches to qualify for the final. Rahul Dravid will lead the side in Ganguly's absence.
West Indies in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe are once again in trouble in the second and final Test at Harare against the West Indies on the first day. The home side 62 for three and 72 for seven were finally dismissed for a paltry 131 in 57.1 overs. Left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell claimed four wickets. The visitors at close were 126-2. Both sides made changes from the first Test with 17-year-old batsman Hamilton Masakadza making his debut for the home side in place of the injured Stuart Carlisle. Wicket-keeper Courtney Browne was included in the West Indies side because Ridley Jacobs is serving a one-match ban.
Asian Test Championships (ATC) The only Test match played at Multan has been between host Pakistan and the West Indies way back in January 1981. Now 20 years later this city in the Southern Punjab province will play host to the first Asian Test Championship match on August 29 when Pakistan take on the babes of international cricket, Bangladesh. Although the venue has a new stadium, there are no five-star hotels available here. As per the ICC norms this is a requirement. However Bangladesh, making their first official visit to Pakistan, has agreed not to make this an issue because the Cricket Boards of the two countries enjoy very cordial relations. Meanwhile the BCCI will be writing to the Sports ministry seeking permission to play the Asian Test Championships against Pakistan at Lahore in September.
Miscellaneous The Pakistan Cricket Board will enter into a contract with the current cricketers for the coming season. The contract is being drafted in accordance with ICC instructions, and the interesting the relevant clauses regarding match-fixing are also incorporated. Similar contracts will also be offered to manager Yawar Saeed and physiotherapist Dale Naylor. The contracts are likely to be signed by the players during the training camp, which commences from August 1st.
It seems the cricket bat can come as an handy weapon when a 16-year old boy chased away five gunmen attacking his father at their Pretoria home in South Africa on Wednesday. Five intruders forced into the house in the early hours of the morning waking up the 38-year-old home owner. One of the gunmen fired a shot at him but missed. They were trying to tie him up when the man's son charged the attackers with a cricket bat. The thieves could only steal a wallet before fleeing the house. No one was injured and no arrests were made so far.
SCORES AT A GLANCE
ZIMBABWE v WEST INDIES (2nd Test) - 1st day Yesterday's News ......................... News Roll archive |
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Indian cricket coach John Wright is a very unhappy man. With India losing four matches in row, including the final at Harare, Wright feels the team's failure to learn from their mistakes have cost them dearly in the recent one-day matches. According to the coach the mistakes were simple ones, such as not preserving wickets, bad running and not making an effort to get at least four runs every over. However vice-captain Rahul Dravid disagrees saying that it was just that all the batsmen were going through a bad patch.
The Madras Rubber Factory (MRF), the Chennai based tyre company has signed Australian captain Steve Waugh to sport their logo on his bat. Sachin Tendulkar is the other batsman who the company had signed in a similar deal several years ago. Waugh will be sporting the logo for the first time during the third Ashes Test match at Nottingham.