India in South Africa

India are looking to Harbhajan Singh to provide them the magic in the second Test beginning at Port Elizabeth today. Like the first Test India go into this one too with little or no preparation after rain prevented any possible play in the practice game that was scheduled. The opening combinations are yet to be worked out and it could be any one from Dravid, Dasgupta or Ganguly walking out with Shiv Sunder Das.

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South African express paced bowler Nantie Hayward has taken offence to Virender Sehwag’s harmless comments that Glen McGrath was the best bowler he had faced so far and the face off between the two in the second Test promises to be an interesting one. While rating Hayward as the fastest bowler he ever faced Sehwag said he was nowhere near McGrath in terms of variation. Stung by the comparison Hayward has promised to do the dishing out to Sehwag in the Test match.

Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka

After a rain ruined first Test, Zimbabwe began the second Test at Chittagong on a positive note. Put into bat by the home side Zimbabwe ended the day at 236-4. Zimbabwe were helped in their cause by a superb 112 by opening batsman Trevour Gripper and useful scores from Ebrahim (41) and Grant Flower (33). Zimbabwe will be looking at putting up a solid first innings total and exerting the pressure on the hosts when they bat.

West Indies in Sri Lanka

Wicket keeper Kumara Sangakkara got to his second hundred of his Test and Mahela Jayawardene missed out on his following a tragic run out on 99. At 343-3 when stumps were drawn for the day Sri Lanka were looking good to take the lead on West Indies on the fourth day in what looks to be petering out into a rare draw these days. Sangakkara unbeaten on 126 posted the highest score of his career so far. West Indies made 448 in their first innings.

England in India

The England skipper Nasser Hussain said the immediate task of his team was to get acclimatised to Indian conditions as soon as possible. He said he was keen that the team played in as much heat as possible in order to be prepared for the Test matches. He agreed that the absence of experienced pros like Gough, Stewart, Caddick and Croft made this the most inexperienced England team ever to tour India, but said he and his boys were up to the challenge.

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Airtight security surrounded the England team as they took their first practice session at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai yesterday. Overlooking security arrangements were the two watchdogs bought down by the English team. The team was also treated to a social gathering later in the evening at the British High Commission in Mumbai.

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Baroda middle order batsman Jacob Martin and Karnataka spinner Sunil Joshi will lead the Board President's XI and India A teams to play the practice games against the visiting England side at Hyderabad and Jaipur respectively.

The teams are:
India A: Sunil Joshi (Capt), Dodda Ganesh, Vinayak Mane, Ramesh Powar, Abhijit Kale, Iqbal Siddique, Narender Pal Singh, Shivaji Yadav, Gautam Gambhir, Yere Gowd, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Ajay Ratra, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Gagan Khoda.

Board President's XI: Jacob Martin (Capt), Irfan Pathan (Junior), Rakesh Patel, Wasim Jaffer, Sridharan Sriram, Dinesh Mongia, Pankaj Dharmani, Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Rohan Gavaskar, Tinu Yohannan, Sharandeep Singh, Surender Singh, R. Druv.

Miscellaneous

Four English umpires David Shepherd, John Hampshire, George Sharp Peter Willey are the likely candidates to be on the eight member elite umpires list to be announced in January next year. ICC’s CEO Malcolm Speed said it was not important which country the umpires came from or their age, he said he was just keen to have the best umpires in the panel. Selections are to be made on the basis of assessments by captains and the top two rated umpires will be given two-year rolling contracts and standing in 12 Tests each a year.

The eight will be backed up by an international list of 20 umpires, two each from the 10 Test-playing nations. These will mainly officiate with one of the elite at limited-overs internationals. Initially the panel will not be allowed to officiate in matches in their own country but that may change in the future to ensure the best umpires are available for Tests regardless of their nationality. The ICC will also appoint five full-time match referees under Sri Lanka's Ranjun Madugalle, to ensure the smooth conduct of all matches.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

Sri Lanka v West Indies (1st Test, day 3)
Galle International Stadium
Toss: West Indies

West Indies: 448 (D Ganga 47, RR Sarwan 88, BC Lara 178, CL Hooper 69; Vaas 4-95, Muralitharan 6-126)

Sri Lanka: 343-3 (M Atapattu 61, K Sangakkara 126 not out, M Jayawardene 99, R Arnold 18; D Ramnaraine 2-85)

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Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh (2nd Test, day 1)
Played at Chittagong
Toss: Bangladesh
Zimbabwe: 236-4 (DD Ebrahim 41, T Gripper 112, G Flower 33, A Flower 40, not out; Enamul Hoque 2-65)

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