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Baroda may be Ranji Trophy champions in the running for their second successive title. They may also be playing on their home ground coming off a resounding win over Hyderabad. But on the first day of their semi-final against Punjab, they belied those appearances, putting in a poor batting display that will handicap them in the remaining four days.Batting first on a home pitch must have been a pleasant scenario for Baroda, but only Ajit Bhoite was able to capitalise on it. Quarter-final giants Connor Williams and Jacob Martin only managed 13 and 7 respectively, and, aside from Bhoite, Nayan Mongia was the only batsman to cross the 20-run mark.Bhoite seemed to play on an entirely different pitch. Making 85 off 103 balls, he struck boundaries with consummate ease, hitting 11 fours and four sixes in his knock. He had to bat, for the large part, with an unsteady tail, but he did it well, succumbing only as the 10th wicket, with the score on 222, after a stalwart innings.For the visitors, Harbhajan Singh was the most successful bowler, unleashing his bag of tricks to take 4-68 off 25 overs. Amit Uniyal took 3-77 off 20.2 overs.Baroda’s bowlers, however, did not take the situation lying down. Four batsmen were back in the pavilion with the scoreboard reading 39, three of them falling to a Zaheer Khan keenly hoping to catch the eye of the national selectors for a recall to the Indian team.The situation stabilised somewhat after Zaheer was taken out of the attack, and Dinesh Mongia and Vikram Rathour then put on 56 runs for the fifth wicket. Punjab went in at stumps on 95/4, with Mongia and Rathour on 36 and 16 respectively.After a bad start, Punjab will be hoping to regroup enough on the second day to garner a sizeable first-innings lead. Given Baroda’s relatively small score, that should not be too difficult if the current pair get stuck in, and Baroda’s bowlers will have to do their best if their side is to retain the title this season.

Salahuddin Ahmed (Sallu) Photo © CricInfo

Of its two NatWest Series fixtures so far, the Pakistan team has won the first and lost the second, while Aussies have won both theirs. Against England in the first match, Pakistan seemed to be in an all-conquering mood, and made it their business to demolish the demoralised hosts in their second successive outing. In such form, the Pakistanis look really threatening. Unfortunately, they let it slip a bit against the Aussies, who ultimately proved why they are the best side in the world, as they made no fuss in reaching a competitive target with relative ease.

Saeed Anwar with a pull through the leg side field Photo © CricInfo

First, let’s look at the England game, whom Pakistan meet again on Tuesday. Pakistan batted well, and posted enough runs on the board, with Saeed Anwar for the first time on this tour finding form and Inzamam continuing to plaster the England attack. Both added 150 for the third wicket, and while 273 in the end seemed to be a few runs less than Pakistan may have expected, it seemed good enough. Then with all the Pakistan bowlers, Wasim Akram being the sole exception, getting amongst the wickets, England capitulated for the second time in the week to lose by a huge margin – an identical 108 to Old Trafford Test.England was depleted in the absence of Graham Thorpe and Andrew Caddick, with Nasser Hussain already out, but even that is no excuse keeping in view the margin of defeat.This was a remarkable win, and showed that Pakistan’s ascendancy at Old Trafford was no fluke. More so because Pakistan seemed superior in all departments in that game. In my view the only disappointing things in that match were Razzaq and Youhana getting run out.

Inzamam is far out of his ground as Gilchrist effects the stumping off Warne for nought Photo © CricInfo

In the second match, against Australia, I was frankly disappointed. I thought with the newly-inculcated fighting spirit and with Aussies not having been in great form and with injuries to a couple of their bowlers, evident from their outings against the counties, Pakistan stood a better chance of winning the game. But then Pakistan gave it away, with Razzaq and Inzamam gifting their wickets to a rather overweight and ordinary looking Shane Warne.Azhar Mahmood followed suit, and Saeed Anwar having done the hard work gave his wicket away too, rather casually. Younis Khan was given leg before by Peter Willey when he was not; the star-crossed Younis must be wondering what he has to do to get the umpires to rule in his favour! That too, when he is in form and can make a really useful contribution.Since he has been ‘adjudged’ three times in last five visits to the crease, I do hope he does not lose confidence or start believing in conspiracy theories.A word about Inzamam. The way he got out trying to blast Warne out of the ground was really distressing. He is the vice-captain and a batsman on whom the team banks on to perform. He should show more responsibility, and especially because he is in fine fettle these days. He has made the most of it so far, but he shouldn’t loose his composure, even once.

Youhana with a delicate leg glance in his innings of 91 not out Photo © CricInfo

That Pakistan eventually posted a somewhat competitive total was thanks to Yousuf Youhana (unconquered 91) and Rashid Latif (66 off 68 deliveries). Both were simply magnificent, and saved their side many a blushes. They were helped in their task a bit by Steve Waugh quite inexplicably, as he didn’t employ a fielder at long leg, where both these batsmen scored many a run turning the full length deliveries into flicks and milking the spinners on sweeps.Rashid Latif has more than justified his selection by his performance, both in front of the wicket and behind it. He is a tremendous fighter who never says die. This is also one reason why he keeps resurrecting his career when it seems to be all but over. But he seems to have health problems at this point and it would be advisable to keep a replacement handy. I think Moin Khan in the circumstances deserves a recall, and the selectors should look into sending him over to England.The Aussies, thorough professionals as they are, went about the task of getting the runs by going after the Pakistan attack. They were helped along by the fact that with Shoaib and Waqar’s pace, batsmen only need to get a reasonable touch and the ball disappears to the boundary, particularly in the first 15 overs. Waqar should have brought Saqlain Mushtaq on much earlier than he did, and once the off-spinner was given the ball he removed Ricky Ponting but by then the horse had bolted.As Pakistan seem determined to do well, when they take on England on Tuesday, they would need to keep things tight while bowling and the batting order requires a change or two as well. For instance, why not promote Younis up the order, to number three? Razzaq has not been contributing many runs, and Younis with his characteristic aggression may make a difference. Going up the order may also change his luck with the umpires. It might relieve Razzaq too, for down the order he may discover the form while batting aggressively, which he perhaps cannot, going into a defensive groove at number three.

Ed:Salahuddin Ahmed (Sallu) is a former Test cricketer, and has served as a PCB selector nine times; his last stint (1999-2000) was as chief selector.

Taking to Twitter, Sky Sports news reporter Keith Downie has raved over Newcastle United whilst making an ‘extraordinary’ claim.

The Lowdown: NUFC hit their stride…

Magpies boss Eddie Howe has overseen quite the turnaround at St. James’ Park as Newcastle take huge strides away from the Premier League relegation zone.

Unbeaten in nine straight English top flight matches, with their last defeat coming in mid-December at the hands of frontrunners Manchester City, Newcastle are now a huge 10 points clear of the drop.

Winning six of those matches, Howe has seemingly transformed Newcastle’s fortunes, with Downie now making a claim on Twitter.

The Latest: Downie makes ‘extraordinary’ claim…

Indeed, the Sky journalist has raved over Newcastle on social media whilst bringing attention to one ‘extraordinary’ achievement in particular.

“Who would’ve thought before Newcastle faced Leeds on Jan 22nd they’d be a massive 10 points clear of the relegation zone less than 7 weeks later,” Downie exclaimed.

“19 points out of 21 in that time is a quite extraordinary achievement.”

The Verdict: Major…

A near-perfect league record over these last two months should certainly warrant major praise for Howe with the future looking very bright on Tyneside.

As Newcastle edge closer and closer to safety this term, what is set to be a very interesting summer transfer window is also right around the corner.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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Superstars like Harry Kane have even been linked, perhaps an indicator of PIF’s ambition for the club, with there being plenty of reasons for supporters to be excited after the turbulent Mike Ashley era.

In other news: Staveley already working on free Newcastle transfer deal, target has the same agent as Fraser! Find out more here.

The Sri Lanka Under-19 team will be arriving in Bangladesh on Monday for a five-match ODI series against the Bangladesh U-19s. The 15-man squad, coached by Roger Gerard Wijesuriya, will play the first match at Bogra on December 12 followed by two more matches at the same venue. The teams will then move on to Fatullah for the final two matches on December 18 and 20 before the visitors head back to Sri Lanka the following dayBangladesh U-19 have just returned from a successful tour of Pakistan where, after drawing the one-off Test in Karachi, they staged a remarkable comeback to win the five-match ODI series 3-2 after losing the first two matches.Bangladesh U-19 squad Sohrawardi Shuvo (capt), Dolar Mahmud, Marshall Ayub, Ashraful Aziz, Shubhashis Roy, Rubel Hossain, Syed Gulam Kibriya, Rony Talukder, Mahmudul Hasan Limon, Nasir Hossain, K. M. Shakil, Mohammad Nadimuddin Mintu, Mithun Ali (wk), Hamidul Islam Himel, Ashraful HossainSri Lanka U-19 squad Ashan Priyanjan Subasinghe (capt), Sachith Shanaka Pathirana, Rumesh Lahiru Thirimanna, Imesh Udayanga Rajapaksha, Dinesh Chandimal Lokuge, Roshane Shiwanka Silva, Kusal Janith Perera, Dilshan Yasika Munaweera, Hasitha Nalinda Ekanayaka, Chatura Madusanka Peiris, Kashapa Wimanga Kodikara, Lahiru Shashendra Gunatilaka, Dasun Madumal Dinayadura, Navin Madushan Kavikara, Harsha Denuwan Fernando

Michael Clarke will start at No. 4 in the one-day side © Getty Images

With only two months until the World Cup each team’s preparations should be ready for the final polish. However, the three sides contesting the month-long CB Series, which starts with Australia facing England at the MCG on Friday, still have many experiments to complete as they countdown to the Caribbean.Australia seem to have less to worry about than England or New Zealand and they already benefit from the momentum built from the Ashes whitewash and the rust-shaking limited-overs win in Tuesday’s Twenty20. Despite the smooth progression through the first half of the season, Ricky Ponting’s outfit is still tinkering with its bowling attack and the No. 4 spot while Matthew Hayden is due to return to the unstable opening slot opposite Adam Gilchrist.Michael Clarke will nestle into the spot behind Ricky Ponting following the retirement of Damien Martyn and the move will be crucial in giving him more time in the middle following shifts lower down the order. “We think that’s a really well-balanced side then with Clarke at four, Andrew Symonds five, Michael Hussey six, that sort of line-up,” Ponting told . “[Clarke] has been dying to get a chance up the order, his chance has come now.” In this team of powerbrokers he must perform almost immediately or risk being shifted by the might of Symonds or Hussey.Brett Lee has a chest problem and will miss his second match in a row, giving some of his younger rivals a chance to settle. Ben Hilfenhaus, the swing bowler, has joined the squad but Ponting said he would miss the opening affair along with Brad Hogg, allowing Mitchell Johnson and Cameron White opportunities alongside Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark.Ponting has outlined his starting plans but the tactics of his initial opponents are in such doubt even the team management must be unsure of their preferred line-up. Michael Vaughan is back as captain and trying to lift a squad that has struggled for the past two months.”That’s our biggest challenge – to make sure we get them in a good mental state for Friday,” Vaughan said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “We realise it’s going to be tough but when tough times come about you need tough people, and that’s what we need from all the players.”

Tough talkers: Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff are two key men for England © Getty Images

Questions remain over Vaughan’s recovery from a knee injury and there are doubts over whether to choose Paul Nixon or Chris Read as wicketkeeper. Andrew Flintoff is also a concern as he attempts to recapture the all-round form that deserted him when he led the Test side to a 5-0 loss. The batting order is noticeably stronger with Vaughan at the top, but the bowling is less assured even if Monty Panesar gets a chance to prove himself in what should be his debut series.England have 16 players in their squad but the options don’t drip with class and if they reach the three-match finals they should be considered a success. They managed only five wins in 20 ODIs last year and one of those was against Ireland. Australia succeeded in 20 of 29 games in 2006, including the Champions Trophy final, while New Zealand started the year by drawing a five-match series with Sri Lanka.New Zealand enter the tournament on Sunday against Australia at Hobart and they will try out a squad without three of their regulars. Stephen Fleming’s side, which was dismissed for 73 on Saturday, has landed in Tasmania missing Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills, who may appear in the squad if they recover.However, they do have Shane Bond, who has 24 wickets against Australia in seven games, and he will attempt to scare the local batsmen during the four preliminary encounters. Each team plays eight matches in the qualifying round before two progress to the finals in what could be the last season of the three-team format.Squads
Australia Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Cameron White, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn McGrath.England Michael Vaughan (capt), Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Jamie Dalrymple, Ed Joyce, Paul Nixon (wk), Chris Read (wk), Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Chris Tremlett.New Zealand Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum (wk), Andre Adams, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.

Scorecard

Duoble trouble: Brendan Nash congratulates Martin Love on his century © Getty Images

Centuries by Martin Love and Brendan Nash left Queensland in total control at the end of the second day of their Pura Cup match against Western Australia at the WACA. They ended on 9 for 415, a first-innings lead of 225 runs. There were runs, too, for Chris Hartley who made 73.The day had started well enough for WA, who captured two early wickets with the cheap dismissals of Clinton Perren and Lachlan Stevens, who were both caught behind (127 for 4).But Love stayed firm and marked his return to form with a stylish 106 which he carved out over four hours. He played particularly well through the offside, teasing the ball through the gaps despite a heavily loaded offside field and will be relieved to have finally come good, having averaged 14.88 in his nine previous innings this season.The Bulls’ other centurion, Nash, also had a point to prove: it is his first match this season and his 107 should ensure that it won’t be his last. He put on 94 runs for the fifth wicket with Love to hand Queensland the advantage. Hartley and Nash then extended the lead, sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 114.Steve Magoffin was the pick of WA’s attack, taking 3 for 76 against his old side, although his showing was marred by 13 no-balls. WA’s hopes of appearing in the Pura Cup final are fast receding. They need an outright win to have any hope, but their chances are looking slimmer and slimmer against Queensland who have not conceded a point to the Warriors at the WACA in six years.

Daryl Tuffey admitted to the charge of serious misconduct© Afp

Daryl Tuffey has been fined NZ$1000 after he admitted to a charge of serious misconduct by New Zealand Cricket (NZC). A misconduct inquiry was initiated by NZC after reports arose of an intimate video clip involving Tuffey and a Christchurch woman. He admitted to the event, and said that he had deleted the video, which was filmed by two English tourists.Hugh Rennie, who conducted the inquiry, said in a statement that Tuffey was repentant at the matter and that his admission of guilt was made “immediately and voluntarily”. According to the report, what made a private matter public was the existence of the recording. “Mr Tuffey accepts that the existence of this recording takes his conduct outside his private rights in respect of his off-field conduct”.Keeping in mind Tuffey’s frankness, the scale of his misdemeanour and the action he took of deleting the recording well before the inquiry had been initiated, Rennie said, “I have considered whether, on the face of facts of this case, termination [of the contract] should be imposed. Taking into account all the matters I have summarised above, I am certain that it should not be imposed and so I find. I have considered whether a warning and councelling may be sufficient. The finding itself may be a warning…”Rennie understood that the publicity this case had received brought its own set of tribulations, but considered that “a financial penalty is the only effective way of condemning the serious misconduct which has been admitted”, and directed Tuffey to pay the amount to NZC.The film segment at the hub of the inquiry was reported to last between 20 to 30 seconds, according to the findings, and was “associated with other video material of a similar nature, which did not involve Mr Tuffey…” The two British men who had filmed Tuffey showed the video clip to numerous people, one of whom protested and asked them to delete it immediately. This was not done, for when Tuffey met them soon after, he was shown the clip, which he deleted.Rennie accepted Tuffey’s version of events, including his statement that while the encounter with the woman was of a sexual nature, it did not involve sexual intercourse. Tuffey said he had no prior knowledge that a video would be made. Rennie stated, “He first became aware of this while the clip was being made.” What made matters worse for Tuffey, besides becoming involved in the first place, was that he did not take immediate action to have the recording destroyed, according to the report.

Clearly something has to change. Sri Lanka’s most precious natural resource,Muttiah Muralitharan, is in danger of being mined into an early retirement.His bowling shoulder, packed with ice after every practice session andmassaged continuously by the fitness team, is hurting more each week.

Natural joints can only take so much wear and tear. The longevity of hiscareer, and the size of the world record he eventually posts, depends uponSri Lanka’s second spinner in particular and Sri Lanka’s support bowlers ingeneral.Muralitharan’s workload during this England tour has been phenomenal.Already, in the first two Test matches, he’s bowled 164 overs out of the 459sent down by Sri Lanka – that’s a 36% share of the workload. His totalseries figures are: 164-79-217-19. Not bad!The problem that Hashan Tillakaratne faces is that his spin wizard isbowling quite brilliantly. England’s batters had arrived in Sri Lankaquietly confident of decoding his trickery, but they now admit that he’sbeen fiendishly difficult to read from the hand. The ball has been spittingboth ways and all the batsman to score runs have lived charmed lives -except perhaps Michael Vaughan who played him expertly in Kandy.But Muralitharan appeared to wane during that final day. He bowled 56 out ofthe 140 overs in the innings. It was an unreasonable and unacceptableworkload. Although he loves to bowl and bowl, Tillakaratne should have usedhis support bowlers more.Chaminda Vaas’s workload in the final two sessions was, for example,strangely light: nine overs spread over 4 ½ hours in the field. At first wethought he was poorly after he vomited on the outfield at the end of his runjust after lunch. It turns out though that that was merely a badly timedhelping of fruit salad. Tillakaratne surely missed a trick.The unwillingness to use Dinusha Fernando – who was given just one over withthe second new ball after Tillakaratne delayed taking it until the finalhour – was also surprising. One wondered how many overs Dilhara Fernandowould have bowled – certainly more is the answer. I have no doubt thatDilhara will play in Colombo on his home ground.

© AFP

But it was the relative ineffectiveness of the second spinner, KumarDharmasena, which caused most concern. Dharmasena’s offbreaks providedEngland’s batters with few problems. Perhaps, with hindsight, Upul Chandanashould have played? The legspinner had in fact been announced in the finalXI at the pre-match team meeting but a last-minute change on the morning ofthe match saw Dharmasena being drafted in.The more controversial view is that neither should have played. Instead,Rangana Herath, a left-arm spinner that has been hauling in wickets in SouthAfrica and India with the A team, should have been in the squad.The argument against his selection is that Sanath Jayasuriya provides asound slow left arm option. But such thinking is flawed. You don’t pickvariation for variation’s sake; you pick the best bowlers. Jayasuriya is auseful spinner, someone who is capable of nicking out a wicket or too, butis not in the same class as Herath. On the evidence of the first two tests,Chandana and Dharmasena are also no match.Unfortunately we also have to be honest, Herath is no world-beater. When hebowls in tandem with Muralitharan he will no doubt look ordinary. The factis that Muralitharan is truly exceptional. His standards are so far abovemost bowlers in the world that comparisons are unfair. Nevertheless, Herathmay well be a better bet, possibly even for the third Test in Colombo.In the long-term though, the selectors must intensify their search forbowlers. The Muralitharan era is, I’m afraid, slowly drawing to a close. Hebelieves he can last until 2007, but with his current workload burnout mighthappen much sooner. A premature end to his career would be a travesty. SriLanka must protect him.

The national one-day tournament will be played between March 8 and April 7 with 28 teams to compete for top honours.The teams will be equally divided into four groups with top two teams from each group qualifying for the final rounds. The semifinals and the final will be played under lights.Only three matches have been slated as day/night fixtures despite the fact that three stadia are equipped with floodlight facilities. Furthermore, the stadia have hosted private day/night matches as well as musical concerts. But when it has come to hosting domestic one-day matches, the officials claim they don’t have the funds.It is an irony that since floodlights were installed at Karachi and Rawalpindi in 2000, only two one-day matches involving Pakistan and England have been played.The lights at Gaddafi Stadium have also not been properly utilized.Officials said smaller cities, preferably the participating association, will host preliminary round matches. “To curtail expenses of the associations, preliminary round matches have been awarded to competing association.”The officials argued that the change has been made after Pakistan Railways lifted their 50 percent waiver for sportsmen. That’s besides the point that the associations are so cash strapped that they can not afford their players travelling. It may also be pointed out here that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gives a Rs 6,000 daily allowance to each team during its organized tournaments.Officials said the format and draws of the competition have been sent to the PCB chairman for approval.It will be after a long time that 18 associations and 10 departmental teams will compete in the one-day tournament.Invited teams are:Associations: Lahore Blues, Lahore Whites, Karachi Blues, Karachi Whites, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, Gujran-wala, Sialkot, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Rest of Sindh, Rest of Punjab, Rest of NWFP, Rest of Balochistan.Departments: PIA, HBL, NBP, ABL, KRL, Customs, Wapda, Sui Gas and Pak PWD.

South Africa’s bowlers, not least among them the 21-year-old debutant Mfuneko Ngam, vindicated Shaun Pollock’s decision to bowl first on the second day of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test match at the Wanderers with a disciplined effort on a fast and bouncy pitch that broke the spine of the New Zealand batting.With the whole of Friday’s first day lost to the weather, the South African seam attack moved the game along quickly when it finally got going, bowling out New Zealand for just 200. By stumps, the home side had reached 18 for the loss of Gary Kirsten’s wicket.Ngam bowled with impressive pace and control in his first outing at this level, but the pick of the seam attack was another product of South Africa’s development programme, Makhaya Ntini, who again demonstrated just how much he has learned in the past two years.With the help of four dropped catches in the first session, two of them off Ngam, both from Adam Parore and both spilled by Daryll Cullinan at first slip, New Zealand reached lunch reasonably comfortably at 83 for one. By tea they were 121 for six as the middle simply fell out of the batting.Eight balls into the afternoon session the tourists were already 83 for three with Ngam finally, and deservedly, getting his first wicket in the over after lunch when Mark Richardson, on 46, couldn’t cope with one that got big on him and was caught at the wicket.The other not out batsman at the interval, Mathew Sinclair, went four balls later, generously providing a tame edge to Lance Klusener at third slip, one which was finally held.From there on New Zealand were struggling all the way. Ntini came back for a terrific second spell to york Stephen Fleming and have Nathan Astle caught at second slip and when Jacques Kallis had Craig McMillan also taken at second slip, the innings was in tatters.There was some resistance down the order, most notably from another debutant, Hamish Marshall. Whatever his faults as a Test player, impatience cannot be counted among them. He took 61 minutes to get off the mark, a record, apparently, for a player in his maiden Test, and was still there at the close of the innings, unbeaten on 40.But it probably won’t be nearly enough. There is, thankfully, pace and bounce in this pitch, but it is by no means unplayable. The South African bowlers, however, seldom strayed from a threatening line around off stump, they bowled the right length and none of the New Zealanders was able to break the shackles.All of this has moved the game along quickly and despite the loss of the first day, a result is entirely possible in this match. But if South Africa are to push their first innings along on Sunday, they will have to do so without Kirsten.He was clearly unamused at getting out with the light fading in the evening, and must have been positively seething when the umpires called off play two balls after his dismissal.For all that, South Africa are very handily placed and their bowlers must take all the credit. Ntini finished with three, Pollock, Ngam and Kallis got two each and Lance Klusener accounted for Brooke Walker, who made a brave 17 in an 18-over partnership with Marshall. It’s unlikely, however, that this will prove enough.