Sri Lanka have called up Russel Arnold for the forthcoming A team triangular series also involving Pakistan and England. Arnold is one of eight frontline batsmen picked in a 15-man squad captained by Jehan Mubarak.Arnold injured his finger during the recent Provincial Tournament and was then overlooked for the two unofficial Tests against England A although he also failed to make an 18-man training pool for New Zealand.But Arnold was in good form prior to Christmas and Sri Lanka’s abandoned tour to New Zealand, and he will be looked at closely as the selectors work out their one-day squad for Sri Lanka’s five-match tour to India in late April.Saman Jayantha will also have an opportunity to find some form and cement his place on the tour, although several others, including Avishka Gunawardene and Thilna Kamdamby, will be eying an opportunity to break back into the one-day squad.

Ryan Hinds, who missed the second Test against South Africa with a viral infection, is likely to rejoin the squad for the third Test in Barbados, which starts on April 21. West Indies will also be boosted by the return of Fidel Edwards and Tino Best, who have regained full fitness.Jacqui King-Mowatt, a member of the medical panel of the West Indian board, was quoted in as saying: “There was mild swelling that has gone and he [Hinds] is feeling a lot better than he was. As with any viral infection, it left him feeling tired but he has got progressively stronger. There are still five days before the team assembles in Barbados and a week before the Test and he should be fit enough by then. I’d say we would know by Sunday.”Hinds was replaced by Donovan Pagon, the Jamaican batsman, who is likely to be dropped after he had a miserable second Test, scoring 0 and 2 and also spilling a catch.King-Mowatt said that Best and Edwards had resumed practice. Both have been out of the squad since the Test series in England last August with back injuries, and returned to first-class cricket only in the later stages of the regional Carib Beer tournament. Best also had to remodel his action because of a persistent back problem. “It was discomfort caused mainly by the kind of boots he was wearing,” Kind-Mowatt explained. “He has been practising diligently and looks sharp and keen.”Both have been included in the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI, which will play the South Africans in a practice match in Trinidad tomorrow.

The name Fazal Mahmood conjures up much; folklore, legend and awe. His legcutters are the stuff of legend, always extravagant, always moving from leg stump to take the off bail, his metronomic line and length of folklore. and his stamina – he bowled 677 overs on the 1954 tour of England – awe-inspiring.Many compared him to other names about whom there is as much folklore, legend and awe. Alec Bedser was a contemporary master of cutters, but Frederick “The Demon” Spofforth and Sydney Barnes, who cut with the best of them, were of a different time and eraentirely – when cricket was still prone to statistically freakish occurrences.Many will also say that Fazal was the first great fast bowler of many that Pakistan produced, maybe the constructor of a legacy which moved from Sarfraz Nawaz to Imran Khan to the two Ws and has now passed on to Shoaib and Sami. In truth, there was little connecting him and the rest.Modern Pakistani fast bowling, of pace and swing – reverse and conventional – has more to do with Sarfraz and Imran than it does with Fazal’s medium-pace cutters. Yes, the confidence, the steadfast belief that any situation could be salvaged, any match won, that coursed through Wasim and Waqar could be traced back to Fazal’s conviction (he said of the 1954 Oval game, “even though we were bowled out for 133, I did not think for a second we would lose”).For those who didn’t see him play, pictures of him show he was impossibly debonair, with a magnificently thick crop of wavy hair grown as if for the Brylcreem which he went on to model, the bluest of eyes to accompany his filmstar looks. He was Imran Khan before Imran Khan.There is a picture of him in his recent autobiography, , with cravat round neck and cigarette in hand, standing alongside the Indian screen legend Raj Kapoor. Even in a photograph, he managed to out-dash the most dapper of actors.Those who didn’t see him play might wonder if he was really accurate and wholeheartedly committed … Did his legcutter really, as Frank Tyson once wrote, jumpfrom leg stump towards the slips regularly? Did it really spin more than Richie Benaud’s legspinner, as the man himself claimed? (Ken Barrington, bowled by one such miraculous delivery, was prompted to call him, pint in hand and sorrow in tow, “the bloody greatest”).Well, cold numbers tell a big story: he took 13 five-wicket hauls in just 34 Tests, and he took ten in a match on no fewer than four occasions. A further six times, he ended with four in an innings. Add to that his impressive economy rate – just over two an over – and the picture looks even better.He played a key role in each of Pakistan’s first, and most celebrated, victories. Whatis set in stone – in cold, hard numerical fact – is his part in first ensuring Pakistan’s entry into Test cricket, and then making it among the most accomplished of any new nation.Towards the end of 1951, Fazal took 6 for 40 in the first innings for Pakistan against the MCC, leading to victory in an unofficial Test match which sealed Pakistan’s promotion to the international stage. Pakistan’s first-ever Test victory, at Lucknow, was built on his 12 wickets. Victory at The Oval in 1954 remains Pakistan’s greatest moment in Test cricket and, at the centre, with 12 wickets, was Fazal Mahmood. How Bangladesh, also scrapping to eke out an on-field identity and hammered on their first tour of England this week, would have wished for a figure like Fazal.Thirteen Australian batsmen succumbed to him on their first trip in 1956, at Karachi, on the matting wicket on which he was supposedly lethal. On the run-infested tour of the West Indies in 1957-58, he took eight wickets in Pakistan’s first win at Port-of-Spain. When West Indies toured the following year, he took 19 wickets in the first two Tests, including 12 in the second at Dhaka, to ensure Pakistan won the series.It is impossible to argue against the fact that, with Hanif Mohammad and Abdul Hafeez Kardar for company, he made Pakistan into a Test nation worthy of that status, only five years after the country itself had been traumatically created. At every moment in their early history, he shone among pioneers. More than just Pakistan’s first great fast bowler then,Fazal Mahmood was Pakistan’s first true great. And as he departs, he takes with him a significant portion of Pakistan cricket’s glorious, heady beginnings.

India had reached a World Cup final for the first time since 1983. Quirky statisticians were quick to point out that India had never lost after making it this far. From the quirky to the ridiculous, there were others who put forth more compelling reasons for India to win the World Cup. For every tournament since 1979, the Cup has been held aloft alternatively by leftand right-handed captains, they proposed. In 1979, it was Clive Lloyd, a left-hander; in 1983 – Kapil Dev, the right-hander; in 1987 – Allan Border; in 1992 – Imran Khan; in 1996 – Arjuna Ranatunga; in 1999 – Steve Waugh. Hence it only followed that this was the year of Ganguly, they insisted.There were others, even more scientific, who believed that India would win because Australia came into the final with a 16-match winning streak in one-dayers. When the all-conquering Aussies achieved the same landmark in Tests, India stopped them dead in their tracks in Kolkata and went on to win the series. On that occasion – and I was lucky enough to watch every ball amidst the booing and baying of Kolkata fans at Eden Gardens – VVS Laxman played a flawless 281, an innings of a lifetime, stealing the match and soon after the series away from the Australians.When Indian fans congregated at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, they were about to witness yet another once-in-a-lifetime innings. Amidst the flag-waving, emotion-swelling, partisan Indian crowd, Ricky Ponting played his very own version of the ‘innings-of-a-lifetime’ theme song. The man who once threatened to throw all his talent away being the lovable rogue; the drunkard who got into a brawl at the Bourbon and Beefsteak in Sydney’s King’s Cross, now reformed and re-invented, showed why Australia can afford to let go of Stephen Waugh.An innings that will serve as a perfect illustration of one of cricket’s favourite terms – ‘a captain’s innings’ – saw Ponting bludgeon an unbeaten 140 off 121 balls, taking Australia to a mammoth 359/2 in 50 overs.Out walked Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.Just 5′ 3″ in his socks, the little man would have been further weighed down by the burden of expectation that a country of more than a billion placed on its heroes.There’s simply no way you can be expected to chase 360 against Australia in a World Cup final. Even with over 12,000 one-day runs and 34 centuries behind you, you’ll be hard pressed to live up to expectations.All India clung on to hope.If only more of India had read that evocative poem that Ernest Lawrence Thayer wrote as far back as 1888. While baseball might be a far cry from cricket, it’s worth visiting ‘Casey at the Bat.’

Forget McGrath, write off Lee, there’s always Tendulkar, thought the Indian fans.India just need Sehwag to fire, Kaif to run, Dravid to steady and Ganguly to persevere. But first and foremost, Tendulkar, for he will deliver the knock out punch.

So goes the poem that will tell you that there was as much expected of men before as there is of Tendulkar now.With mean McGrath standing at the top of his run, Tendulkar took watchful guard, establishing exactly where his off stump was and where the gaps in the field were.

Just as Sachin was forced to wait for the loose ball, the legendary Casey bided his time. Tendulkar managed an awkward pull off the fourth ball of the game. Not quite like Casey, though, who had haughtily watched two strikes go by, waiting for the right pitch to strike glory with.Soon the time for Tendulkar to stamp his authority on the game arrived.

At the same time that Mumbai mourned, Kolkata cussed and Delhi despaired, you could be sure that the celebrations went over the top from the Darling Harbour in Sydney’s harbour foreshore and Southbank in Melbourne, from little Byron Bay in New South Wales to King’s Park in Perth.A mere miscued pull was all it took, for Tendulkar’s World Cup final to land in McGrath’s waiting hands. While other batsmen may have tried hard, India’s dream ended then and there.Spare a thought for the man himself. After scoring 673 runs in the tournament and fuelling India’s efforts, he might still be remembered for failing in the final. And cruelly enough, If India don’t reach a World Cup final for the rest of Tendulkar’s career, he will have to live with four runs in a major loss as his best effort in a World Cup final.Spare a thought for Casey, spare two for Sachin.

With only two days to go for the start of the first Test against Australia, at Bangalore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India seems to have wriggled out of the mess it had got itself into with regards to television rights. The BCCI has sold the television rights for the next two series to Doordarshan.A Times of India report claimed that Doordarshan will telecast the series while TEN Sports may produce the feed and Sony may market it. The deal apparently cost Doordarshan Rs100crore and includes four Tests against Australia, a one-dayer against Pakistan and two Tests against South Africa.This has not been confirmed by BCCI officials, but the report quotes SK Sarma, CEO of Prasar Bharati, the parent company of Doordarshan, as saying: “BCCI has agreed to give us exclusive telecast rights. We will show the matches on our television and sports channels.”If you thought this was finally the end of the saga, with two days for the start of the first Test, hold on a minute. Doordarshan will still go to court, but only to assert its position as the appropriate group to telecast the match in the current situation.

Under lights at the Gaddafi in Lahore, Sri Lanka held aloft the Paktel Cup. They had won when it mattered most, and had weathered every crisis of the day. The dew factor, that scourge of bowlers under lights at this ground, was made irrelevant as they kept the pressure on Pakistan’s stroke-makers, who stumbled, crumbled and hit the dust.It was a redemption of sorts for Sanath Jayasuriya (5 for 17), for he made the ball dance, and the Pakistanis who took him lightly fell flat. He had failed earlier that day, as his teammates set about building a total of 287, but now he and Upul Chandana struck repeatedly, thrusting, bouncing, turning, and the batsmen committed one folly after another on their way to a 119-run defeat.Pakistan had started hopefully with bat and ball, first removing Sri Lanka’s openers for little and then nullifying the opening attack with youthful vigour. In both cases, Sri Lanka first got a toe-hold in the door, before blasting it wide open. The morning recovery was steady. The one later was more dramatic. Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed raced away because the bowlers were unsteady in line and length, offering width and the boundaries that went with them. Soon 40 runs had been scored.Dilhara Fernando then took the ball in his hands, and after making the sign of the cross, dismissed a bewildered Hameed with his very first ball: a straight ball clipped his bat and slammed into leg stump. Then Chandana floated a delivery that Butt drove at, and he missed, but it turned in and hit the wicket. He had played comfortably, with arrogance even, but it was a misjudgement that later made clear how difficult the conditions and the bowlers were.Inzamam-ul-Haq swung at Chandana on his second ball, and dismissed it with power to midwicket. Chaminda Vaas was brought in, and Sri Lanka’s most experienced bowler immediately sold Inzamam a dummy. He inserted a slip, but swung the ball in to have him leg-before (91 for 3). Then Yousuf Youhanna wandered out of his crease and was stumped off Jayasuriya, who removed Abdul Razzaq and a disdainful Shahid Afridi as well. Moin Khan (14) swept powerfully but valiantly; he needed men to fight alongside. Chandana had him too (150 for 8).The morning had not started well for Sri Lanka. They were nervous. And why not? Their away record was skewed. They had lost to Pakistan twice in recent days. And the Gaddafi was supposed to be hell for bowlers under lights. Eager to get off the mark, Saman Jayantha ran down the wicket in the first over but Jayasuriya, who fell soon after for a scratchy 21 (35 for 2), turned him away too late.Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara joined hands and carefully settled in. They drove with caution, and ran runs with great risk; Pakistan’s fielders hurled themselves around, and threw the ball with frightening power. While Atapattu eschewed risk at other times, Sangakkara cut, swept and drove the ball with the smile of a man who had crossed a thousand runs for the season. Shoaib Malik had Atapattu (66) stumped off a wide, but by then the batsmen had put on 106 runs.The ground resonated with the sound of their languid strokes, and a few spectators cheered them on. Sangakkara (68) fell soon after, knocking a ball onto his stumps, but Mahela Jayawardene (49) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (39) hurried, and used the pace of the ball to score boundaries; the region between point and third man was active towards the end of the innings. To the bowlers’ credit, they did not lose the plot. To a man, they stuck to their task, and perhaps it was this rigidity that did them in.

West Indies nearly upset the pre-tournament predictions with a brave rally at the weekend, but India scraped through by seven runs to give the organisers, broadcasters and spectators the final they wanted: a heavyweight sub-continental clash between Sri Lanka and India, a re-run of the Asia Cup final last year and the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2002.Once again, on the back of their good form in this tournament and remarkable record in one-day tournament finals on home turf (they have lost just two of the 13 finals played in Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka start as the favourites. And Rahul Dravid has been quick to seize the tag of underdogs for India, claiming that Marvan Atapattu’s team are the ones with all the pressure weighing down on their shoulders.”Sri Lanka are a dangerous side but this is a final and the pressure is obviously going to be on them,” Dravid told reporters in Colombo. “They are the form team of the tournament and they are going to be expected to win at home – hopefully we can have a good day and create some more pressure for them.”As far as pre-match hype goes, this is hardly in the Don King league. It is, of course, nonsense too. The fanaticism for cricket in India, fuelled by a population over 1 billion, means that every time their players step onto the field they are the ones under most pressure wherever and whoever they play. Sri Lanka’s cricket following is passionate but more laidback. A defeat is shrugged off easily and Sri Lanka’s players need not barricade their homes.In any case, this contest revolves around the toss and crucially the performance of the top orders, a problem area for both sides. Neither India nor Sri Lanka are yet to produce a really robust batting display. So far individual brilliance has papered over the failure to build consistent partnerships up top. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif rescued India against West Indies last night and Mahela Jayawardene excelled against India in Dambulla. Both camps have admitted to concerns.Greg Chappell repeated his “I am reasonably comfortable” theme for the tour: “The top order batting has been a concern but every game is a different game and Yuvraj [Singh] showed yesterday that there is no reason why good players cannot get runs out there. The guys at the top of the order are all keen to make runs and I am reasonably comfortable with where we are at the moment.”Marvan Atapattu, who will open with Sanath Jayasuriya after resting himself in the last game, has taken confidence from the fact that all the batsmen, barring Upul Tharanga who will be omitted, have starred in one game. But the failure to cobble together a cohesive performance remains a worry. “The fact that all of the batsmen have not clicked in one match is a bit of a concern. But all of our top-order batsmen are experienced enough to put up a better show and it has to happen tomorrow.”History tells us that 75% of the finals played at Premadasa International Stadium are won by the team batting first and whoever wins the flip of the coin tomorrow afternoon will immediately be in the driving seat. If their top-order then fires then the chasing side are faced with a mountainous challenge. The only caveat to the record book is West Indies near-success last night, one of the highest chases in the venue’s history, which will give the chasing team hope.India have been boosted by the news that Sourav Ganguly, their top scorer against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, did not fracture his arm after being hit by a nasty short ball from Daren Powell on Sunday night. “The X-rays revealed no structural damage,” Chappell told reporters, “and only some soft tissue damage so he should be fine.”India’s main selection dilemma will then be whether to include two spinners after Anil Kumble’s fine performance against West Indies (3 for 38). “Playing two spinners is definitely an option we have but we will need to take a closer look at the pitch,” Rahul Dravid told the media. If they don’t play then they are left with the even trickier task of choosing between Kumble and Harbhajan Singh – Kumble appears to have his nose in front.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are set to welcome back senior left-armer Chaminda Vaas after injury. “Chaminda [Vaas] has had a couple of good net sessions and he is now 100 per cent fit,” Atapattu revealed. He could have played against West Indies on Saturday but the selectors preferred to wrap him in cotton wool and save him for the final, trusting him to deliver without a single game in the tournament thus far. Vaas was not anticipating any hiccups at training: “I have been playing so many matches and my mind is strong enough for me to come back after injury and perform straightaway.”Farveez Maharoof has impressed with bat and ball in the tournament and his place is assured. Nuwan Zoysa’s waywardness and rustiness against West Indies will leave him carrying drinks and then Dilhara Fernando or Dilhara Lokuhettige will fight it out for the third seamers slot – unless Sri Lanka’s selectors pull a bunny out the hat and throw the ball to Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s smiling slinger who is a relatively unknown quantity for India’s top order.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Farveez Maharoof, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammed Kaif, 7 Mahendra Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Ashish Nehra.

The West Indies board has announced a list of 25 players, from which a squad will be picked for the tri-series in Australia in January. After a triumphant Champions Trophy campaign, West Indies face another stiff challenge against Pakistan and Australia in the VB Series, beginning on January 14.Many players, like Runako Morton and Xavier Marshall, were rewarded for their good performances in the ongoing Regional Tournament. Strangely there was no specialist spinner in the whole list.The squad also included other newcomers like Deighton Butler, Sherwin Ganga and Denesh Ramdin. Carlton Baugh, the wicketkeeper, and Sylvester Joseph were the surprise exclusions. All the 13 players who were part of the Champions Trophy win were included.List of 25 probables
Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Brown, Deighton Butler, Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Narsingh Deonarine, Sherwin Ganga, Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Reon King, Brian Lara, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton , Ricardo Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwight Washington.

Herschelle Gibbs has withdrawn from the World XI to take on Australia next month due to a knee injury. Gibbs was set to line-up alongside fellow South Africans, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock for the matches in Melbourne and Sydney.However, despite undergoing extensive treatment Gibbs has had to admit defeat in his race to be fit. The trouble initially occurred during the tour of West Indies in April and May and was then exacerbated during his stint with Lashings, the celebrity team based in England, during the summer.Gibbs told News24: “I am withdrawing from the World XI side. I have just told the manager Goolam Rajah (who is also the South African manager) that I won’t be able to play. I have worked with the Western Province physio since my return from my Lashings duty, but I am still feeling pain. I have also gone for an MRI scan where it showed that I had damaged the cartilage behind my right knee cap.”The other problem facing Gibbs in the near future is South Africa’s one-day tour of India in November. Indian authorities have said that they are unable to grant Gibbs and Nicky Boje an amnesty as the match-fixing case remains open.Gibbs has said that he will once again be forced to miss the tour – he pulled out of the Test series last year – if the Indian police do not co-operate. “It’s never nice to miss games, but I don’t think it would be a very wise decision to risk it. We have done everything we can on our side, so it is really up to them. It’s up to them and whatever our CEO (Gerald Majola) can convince them to adhere to. But if they don’t want to co-operate, then we are going to have to remain at home.”

Damien Martyn’s graceful Test career is not finished despite being dropped from the Super Series squad, according to the captain Ricky Ponting. Ponting said Martyn’s omission was the “biggest shock” during the squad announcement that also included the dropping of Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie.”Damien is 33 but as far as I’m concerned he’s been a champion player for a long time and there is no doubt he can bounce back,” Ponting told the . “I know he’ll be missed because he’s a terrific guy and a good mate of mine.”Ponting, who launched Atari’s Ricky Ponting computer game at the SCG yesterday, told the Australians needed to recover their winning “habits” for the Super Series after the Ashes “hiccup”. “It’s important to get those back again and I am sure if we do you will see us win lots of Test matches,” he said.Ponting said being beaten by England was a new experience and it would “toughen me up as captain”. “Things had been going along well for a long period and this has been a hiccup and something we have got to get over pretty quickly,” he said. “None of this squad has been involved in a losing Ashes series before and some of the players have never been part of a losing Test series before.”The Super Series begins with the one-day matches on October 5, 7 and 9 in Melbourne and the Super Test starting in Sydney on October 14.