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Indian fans have seen plenty of Sachin Tendulkar’s hundreds, long Rahul Dravid innings, more of Ricky Ponting than they would have liked, but so little of Brian Lara, that it’s a crying shame. Although he has played 128 Tests and 275 one-day internationals – a massive number by any reckoning – it is more than ten years since he last played an international game on Indian soil. Sure, he has been here ever so often, but that has been for commercial endorsements and celebrity appearances. The last time the high back-lift and flashing blade were in action in an ODI was in the 1996 World Cup semi-final, against Australia at Mohali. The last time he played a Test in India was even before that, in December 1994, at Chandigarh.If there is some hope that the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad will get some sort of a crowd in for this qualifying match in the ICC Champions Trophy, it is that people will take this rare chance to catch Lara in action. The fact that the ground is quite far from the city – about 10 kilometres from the city centre – will be a deterrent, as will the dry heat, but it is a Sunday. And people have long said that the one batsman they would pay good money to watch, and travel far to watch, is Lara. Time will tell if they can walk the talk.But for Lara, crowds or no crowds, India, and playing here, certainly holds some charm. “Unfortunately the time the West Indies came here I was not well and I couldn’t make the tour a few years back,” he said at a pre-match press conference, when asked about the long gap since he last played here. “To me the passion that is shown for cricket in India, and the way the public receives cricketers – not just the Indian team – is just tremendous.””They talk about Lord’s being the home of cricket in terms of a cricket ground, but in terms of the actual game, cricket is definitely at home here in India. It’s unfortunate that it’s been a pretty long time, but there’s no better time to make up for that than now. I’m hoping to put my best foot forward and entertain the Indian crowd.”The crowds will be hoping that he doesn’t just put his first foot forward, but that he bats high up in the order. People would not have forgotten the one time when he slipped down the order to No. 9, in the recent DLF Cup, to give some of his team-mates the chance to show some responsibility. They failed utterly, however, falling short of a small target of 162. But Lara was clear that there would be no more experimenting for the moment. The West Indies’ first task was to qualify for the main draw of the Champions Trophy.To do so, they need their top-order, led by Lara, to fire. This means that Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are crucial to their fortunes. The likes of Runako Morton and Wavell Hinds – in whom Lara has shown tremendous faith – need to pick their games up. Fortunately for them, though, the bowling is coming through nicely, with Ian Bradshaw developing into the quintessential one-day performer, backed up ably by the two Dwaynes – Smith and Bravo, leaving the genuinely quick Fidel Edwards to express himself fully.Zimbabwe should not really pose West Indies any serious problems, but those following West Indian cricket in recent times won’t take anything for granted. They’ve managed to turn just-about invincible positions into losing ones at the least prompting. For now, though, it’s all eyes on Lara, and the magic he can produce with his bat. It’s unlikely that he’ll get a crowd as large as his artistry deserves, but who knows, one day, that might happen. Like he said, “My dream is to play a Test match at Eden Gardens. Hopefully I can last that long.”

Division One

Points TableOnly 58 overs were possible at Edgbaston on the second day of Warwickshire’s match against Surrey. James Anyon and Dougie Brown both took three wickets to leave the visitors on 225 for 9. Both sides need points to secure their first-division status for 2006.

Division Two

Points TableThe match at Grace Road between Leicestershire and Derbyshire ended in an inevitable draw. After rain prevented any possible play yesterday, there were further interruptions to the final day’s play, but not enough to prevent Derbyshire being bowled out for 193 to confirm their place at the bottom of Division Two. Stuart Broad took 3 for 46 for Leicestershire.Murali Kartik took ten wickets to give Lancashire a comfortable victory, and promotion to Division One. Full report here.

`Aisa koi saga nahin, jisko hamne thaga nahin.’ (There is no relative whom we haven’t conned); `Badnam kulfi.’ (Infamous kulfi). Caught your attention? These banners definitely caught mine. There are numerous ways of marketing a brand, but I have never seen one like that. Thaggu ke laddu is the name of the shop, renowned for its delicacies – mostly dairy products like sweets and kulfis. Kanpur is famous for many things, but your reporter was not prepared for this.Even though it is the biggest industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, there is hardly anything modern here. And the best way to guage that fact is the mode of commuting: the simplest, fastest and the best way to get to a place is by the cycle rickshaws.Initially you feel bad, seeing a fellow human grind and sweat and work his way through the busy streets to take you to your destination. But you end up in a cycle rickshaw anyway, as the other common modes of transport – buses and tuk-tuks – are very badly maintained and always drop you midway at the chourahas (crossroads). After having experienced a ride in the bus, where I had to park myself on a seat which stood on a vertical line of bricks, I decided to opt for the lesser mode of transport. No wonder the kids were shouting “phatichar” as the bus went past, which means atrocious.Once famous for its leather production, Kanpur, which was Cawnpore during the British rule, is one of the most polluted, dirty, messy and unregulated towns in the country. It votes in six Members of Parliament, and was named one of the eight metropolises in India, but still doesn’t have an airport. But it is an attractive town to visit.One of the chief attractions in the small towns of India are the people. Complete strangers stop you, strike up a conversation, ask you for an autograph, wave at you and treat you as if you are a celebrity. Their simplicity is heartening for a person living in the woeful big cities.This simple fact was visible when the Aussies umpiring duo of Simon Taufel and Daryl Harper, here to officiate the game, were invited to a UNESCO function to spread the polio immunization awareness campaign at the team hotel. As if the grown up men don’t test their patience on the field of play, parent after parent put their young ones into the hands of the umpires to take photographs. It was an endearing moment to see both men playfully chat with the kids and their parents, and patiently answer all the questions. The way the umpires transformed themselves into baby-sitters was the attraction of the evening.A young girl of 12 insisted on meeting Irfan Pathan. Why Irfan? Blame it on television Irfan has acted in commercials that show children around him, with Irfan becoming one of them, joining them in their games. The girl was attracted to that simplicity, and she wanted to meet him because of that. She goes away disappointed. But she will come back again. Just like her hero.Outside, the haziness in the air refuses to vanish, and the cycle-rickshawallah lounges on his breadwinner, smoking a bidi, waiting for the next customer. This time even I am waiting for my next ride.

All Today’s Yesterdays – July 10 down the yearsJuly 9 | July 111949
In Bombay, one of the greatest openers of all time is born. Sunil Gavaskar was exhibiting little-mastery before Sachin Tendulkar was even born. A genius whose technique was absolutely immaculate and powers of concentration unending, Gavaskar had a career chock-full of highlights. He began with the most sensational debut series imaginable, in West Indies in 1970-71: four Tests, four centuries, 774 runs at an average of 154. That started Gavaskar’s Caribbean love-in. In 13 Tests there he made seven hundreds and averaged over 70. (By contrast, he averaged only 38 against England, his lowest against any country.) He made a record 34 Test hundreds – 22 of them in draws – although that doesn’t include one of his greatest knocks. In his last Test innings, in the series decider against Pakistan on a raging Bangalore turner in 1986-87, Gavaskar made a brilliant 96, and India lost by a heartbreaking 16 runs. There was the odd lowlight too – that infamous go-slow in the first World Cup match at Lord’s in 1975, being dismissed by the first ball of a Test a record three times, and a Test bowling average of 206. Zaheer Abbas made for a decent sole wicket, mind you.1976
Eighty minutes of sheer hell for Brian Close and John Edrich. England needed the small matter of 552 to beat West Indies at Old Trafford, with two days and a bit left. That bit turned out to one of the most terrifying passages of play in Test history. West Indies’ over-zealous pace attack landed virtually everything in their own half of the pitch, and Close in particular took some sickening blows, a process not aided by his penchant for chesting the ball like a centre-back. The venerable pair – at 45 and 39 respectively, Close and Edrich were both playing their last Test innings – were still there at the close, though. Edrich’s 24 was the highest by an England player in the whole match. The Wisden Almanack called it “disquieting cricket … [the bowling] was frequently too wild and too hostile to be acceptable”. West Indies’ captain Clive Lloyd said simply: “Our fellows got carried away.” Not much consolation for Close as he counted his bruises.1940
In Victoria, Keith Stackpole is born. A sanguine opener whose idea of seeing off the new ball involved hooking and cutting the life out of it, Stackpole actually started his Test career at No. 8. That nonsense didn’t last long, though. His highest score was a punishing 207 at Brisbane in the first Test of the 1970-71 Ashes series, although he should have been given run out on 18. If Stackpole made a century – there were seven in 43 Tests – Australia did not lose. But he ended his Test career with a pair, against New Zealand at Auckland in 1973-74. In 78 previous innings he had made only three ducks.1971
The slowest day of Test cricket in England. It was cool to play the tortoise all of a sudden as England and Pakistan crawled to only 159 runs off 107.4 overs on this, the third day of the third Test at Headingley. In a masterful piece of understatement, the Wisden Almanack described it as “poor fare for the Saturday crowd”.1990
The last day of Test cricket for Sir Richard Hadlee – and a rare series win for England, their first at home for five years. They beat New Zealand by 114 runs, with the unlikely pair of Devon Malcolm and Eddie Hemmings sharing 15 wickets. Hadlee bowed out with an immaculate performance – his 5 for 53 in the second innings gave the Kiwis a sniff after they trailed by 186 on first innings. And his last ball produced a wicket: Malcolm, lbw for 0. Hadlee nailed Malcolm for 0 in each innings – and then signed Malcolm’s rather bald run-chart.1975
The end of Mike Denness’s troubled reign as England captain was as good as assured once he put Australia in to bat after winning the toss in the first Test at Edgbaston. Australia rattled up 359 and then even the elements seemed to conspire against Denness. Heavy rain left the pitch treacherous, and seven wickets each for Dennis Lillee and Max Walker and five for Jeff Thomson sealed an innings victory. Denness resigned and was replaced by Tony Greig. It was also the debut for a moustacheless Graham Gooch who bagged a pair.1900
A dasher is born. South Africa may have been a poor side in the 1920s and `30s, but that didn’t affect Bob Catterall’s approach. He went after the bowling from the start, and was a high-class driver through the off side. He made back-to-back 120s in England in 1924, at Edgbaston and Headingley, even though South Africa lost on both occasions. Four years later Catterall did help win a Test against England, with 119 at Durban. He died in Transvaal in 1961.1975
A debut centurion is born. New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris was originally marked down as a bit of a one-day player, and made 45 appearances before his Test debut. That finally came in Antigua in 2002, and he marked it with 107, 69 not out – and the wicket of Brian Lara. Had rain not intervened on the final day, he might well have only the second man after Lawrence Rowein 1971-72 – ironically for West Indies, against New Zealand – to make two centuries on Test debut.1884
Persistent rain ruling out any play on the scheduled first day of a Test in England isn’t exactly unusual. But this one was to be the first day of Test cricket at Old Trafford. Washouts don’t come much more prescient – Tests in Manchester have been dogged by the weather ever since.Other birthdays
1928 Jack Nel (South Africa)
1934 Munir Malik (New Zealand)
1970 Klaas van Noortwijk (Holland)

I was expecting a closely contested final at Durban on Friday but evenas the Indian innings drew to a sorry close, I knew that my hopes weregoing to be dashed.After both Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly fell cheaply, only Sehwaglooked capable of taking the fight to the South African camp. The Delhilad impressed me a great deal during his sweet cameo. The way in whichhe played some of the shots gave me the impression that he will be readyto lead the Indian batting when Tendulkar and Ganguly hang up theirboots.

Sehwag has modeled himself after Tendulkar and on occasions thesimilarity between the two is striking. He is a pronounced backfootplayer and a side-on batsman, which makes his batting look veryimpressive. Sehwag’s partnership with his idol following the dismissalof the Indian skipper sure made for interesting viewing.Ganguly was dismissed when he tried to break the shackles that ShaunPollock and Nantie Hayward had imposed. The two South Africans quicksbowled with great discipline, keeping the ball where the fourth stumpwould have been. This made it difficult for the Indian duo to unleashtheir wide array of shots. Starved of any width for six overs, Gangulyin desperation tried to make room for himself and hit over the top. Buton a pitch where the ball was not coming on to the bat, he onlysucceeded in edging a catch to Boucher. Pollock, for his part, couldn’tcontain his joy when his policy of denial finally worked.Tendulkar too was not allowed to dominate – he only made 17 off the 40balls he faced despite stroking three elegant boundaries. He too fell toa desperate shot; trying to cut a ball that was not quite there for theshot to be played. The South Africans had done excellent groundwork andthey carried out their plans to a T on the day. Once they had silencedthe two big guns the match was theirs for the taking.Rahul Dravid again made a fighting 77, displaying his solid battingtechnique and cool temperament. But then his innings was never going towin us the match. His technical excellence is going to be more importantin the Test series that is to follow. If you were to ask me, Rahulshould bat at No.3 in the three-match series ahead of VVS Laxman.This also brings me to another important point I would like to make.Considering the vital role that my fellow Karnataka statemate will playas a batsman in the Tests, I was baffled to see him ‘keeping in thefinal two one-dayers. Was the risk worth the gains; I, for one,definitely don’t think so.In my opinion, Deep Dasgupta should have done the job that was entrustedto him by the selectors. The young man from Bengal is a specialist’keeper and only by giving him greater exposure can we turn him into abetter player. Dasgupta is also in the Test side and by telling him towarm the benches, the team management was not doing his confidence anygood. The think-tank would do well to remember that two of the world’sfinest ‘keepers – Rodney Marsh and Ian Healy – were also never thoughtto be any good during their salad days. It was only with experiencegained by greater exposure in the international arena that they maturedinto the world-beaters they later proved to be.As for the squad announced for the Tests, I feel that the selection offive seamers was totally unnecessary. In any case, we can play only amaximum of three seamers and so I felt that five were one too many. Theselection of Connor Williams as an opener too was a huge surprise to me.The Baroda Ranji captain has no experience playing in the internationalarena and I feel that it is not a very clever idea to expose him to theSouth Africans quicks.Coming to the selection of Sameer Dighe as the first-choice ‘keeper, Ifeel it must serve as a wake-up call to Dasgupta. Nayan Mongia wouldmost definitely have been the best choice but then it is commonknowledge that he is not in the good books of either the Indian captainor the senior players.

Before signing off, let me say that that though the tri-series might nothave not given much joy to the Indian team it has at least underlinedthe fact that our best chance of winning the Tests lies in playing bothour spinners. All the South Africans have struggled to read bothHarbhajan and Kumble. I can therefore confidently predict that if weplay the duo and if our batsmen do their bit, India will at last havethe chance to savour their first win in the rainbow nation. Here then iswishing Sourav Ganguly and his men the very best ahead of the Testseries.

The long-serving Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, whose last stint with the team was in 2010, has died at the age of 80 in Lahore.Saeed was the son of Pakistan’s first captain Mian Mohammad Saeed, who led the country in unofficial Tests before they gained full status, and the brother-in-law of former captain and paceman Fazal Mahmood. Of his 59 first-class games, 50 were for Somerset on England’s county circuit.He stepped down from the team manager role after the spot-fixing debacle in England that saw three Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir jailed and banned from playing cricketing for five years.Born in Lahore before the partition of India, Saeed’s cricketing career lasted between 1953 and 1959. He played against MCC and had also featured in a match against West Indies in 1958-59. He picked up 106 wickets at 34.05 as a seamer and contributed 1547 runs at 15.47 with the bat. He also represented East Pakistan, Amir of Bahawalpur’s XI and Pakistan’s Central Zone.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a policy on its cricketers to officially retire before acquiring a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the upcoming Masters Champions League. The move has sparked more friction between the PCB and the MCL as earlier they had a long-standing dispute on securing the venues in the UAE for their respective T20 leagues.At least a dozen Pakistani cricketers including Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Saleem Elahi and Yasir Hameed are among the ones selected for the MCL with all of them already discarded from international cricket. The PCB, however, urged them to sign a letter to announce retirement from international cricket, which would be irrevocable in the future.Earlier, when the idea of the MCL had emerged, its dates clashed with the PCB’s plans to host the Pakistan Super League in the UAE. But since the MCL organisers had already booked the three UAE venues before the PCB, it led to a dispute between the Pakistani board and the Emirates Cricket Board, which is the sole regulator of cricket in the UAE.The PCB was forced to look for an alternative venue and considered Qatar but the venue was probably not going to fulfill the requirements of hosting a T20 league involving international cricketers from around the world. Zafar Shah, the chairman of the MCL, and Najam Sethi, the head of PSL, then held talks and the PCB pushed the MCL organisers to reschedule their league and allow the PCB to utilise the available window in February. But the talks fell through and the PCB announced Qatar as the venue.Months after that, the PCB chose the UAE as the venue again, after finding a middle ground with the MCL. ESPNcricinfo understands the two leagues will be run concurrently with the PSL to hold matches in Sharjah, the MCL in Abu Dhabi, and Dubai to be shared by the two leagues. However, the MCL website currently states Sharjah and Dubai as the venues, and not Abu Dhabi. The dispute appeared to have ended then but the PCB has now asked its cricketers to fulfill the retirement criterion if they want to play the MCL.The MCL is for retired players but the PCB has said any Pakistani player active in domestic cricket who has signed up with the league will be considered retired, regardless of his prior announcement regarding retirement from international cricket. There is a long list of players from other parts of the world who might have not announced their retirement but signed with the MCL, such as South Africa’s Richard Levi and West Indies’ Fidel Edwards. But PCB said they have their own policy which is based on their direct competition with the privately-run MCL.”It is clarified that PCB will issue NOCs only to those cricketers who have announced and confirmed their irrevocable resignation and retirement from international cricket on behalf of Pakistan, in writing to PCB,” the board said in a press release. “Such cricketers will, however, remain eligible to play in domestic cricket as per rules.”Keeping in view this direct clash in dates and venues and the resulting consequence that any Pakistani players featuring in the MCL poses a direct competition to the PSL and the PCB. The Policy did not allow for NOCs to be issued freely to Pakistani players wishing to participate in the MCL and instead a criteria was put in place.”While Mohammad Yousuf refused to accept this unique policy, some other players have reportedly accepted it, including Humayun Farhat, who last played for Pakistan in 2001, Yasir Hameed (last played in 2010), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (2010) and Mohammad Khalil (2005).”I don’t mind doing it but I have no idea what is the purpose of it,” Hameed told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s not like we are getting some retirement benefit from it or any provident funds so that doesn’t make any sense but what can we do. I am not selected in PSL, never been considered for national team since 2010, then for us it’s like we are retired already so I have no issue of signing it.”Yousuf, who last played for Pakistan in 2010, said: “If I am not playing any kind of cricket at any level from club to international then what is the point for me to announce? I think it is an opportunity for those cricketers who are not in international contention and MCL is the platform where they can play and keep their livelihood on.”Players in contention for MCL: Abdul Razzaq, Saleem Elahi, Mohammad Yousuf, Saqlain Mushtaq, Naved-ul-Hasan, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Azhar Mehmood, Hasan Raza, Humayun Farhat, Mohammad Khalil.

The ECB has outlined a timetable for the re-run of the election for a new ECB chairman. The first ballot ended in a tie between Mike Soper and Giles Clarke, who polled nine votes each with one abstention, and now the process starts again on August 20 with a call to nominations.New candidates could appear in the race and nominations close at 5pm on September 3. Ballot papers will then be issued by the Electoral Reform Society on September 10 with that stage closing two weeks later on September 24.The results of the ballot will be announced September 25 and the new chairman will begin his role in October 2007.After the initial result Soper, who had been favourite, admitted that he had failed to make a strong enough case for his election. “I have to take responsibility for this result and acknowledge that I didn’t work hard enough to convince the counties that I was the right man,” he said. “I’ve got to go out and do that now and I am determined to win the second round.”

England’s Champions Trophy preparations, already weakened by injuries, has received another blow with news that Marcus Trescothick will miss the tournament after receiving specialist medical advice.A statement from the ECB said: “The selectors have been pleased to learn that the treatment Marcus has been receiving throughout the summer has resulted in very positive progress and that he is expected to be fit to resume playing for England prior to the Ashes tour.”A spokesman from Performance Healthcare, the specialists treating Trescothick, said: “After his return from the tour of India in March, Marcus sought specialist help for his ongoing symptoms. In addition to the deleterious effects of the acquired gastrointestinal infection on his health, it later became evident that he was also suffering from an underlying stress-related illness.”He has been receiving specialist treatment, which has allowed him to resume his position in the England team. However, we believe that it would be premature for him to tour India in October. Rest is an important part of his treatment and he will need recovery time before the Ashes tour of Australia which begins in November.”Trescothick, a lynchpin of the side, had been in poor form lately and managed just 22 runs in the three ODIs against Pakistan. Despite the positive tone of the ECB statement, this must raise doubts whether Trescothick will be in a state to participate in the Ashes.To add further weight behind the theory that Trescothick’s future is in doubt, Duncan Fletcher has issued a warning about players missing tours. Fletcher, who is due to meet with fellow selectors David Graveney and Geoff Miller said: “I’ve said all along we’ve just got to come up with a method of making sure players don’t pick [and chose] these tours. I would want my players available for all tours that are played.”But, despite England’s seventh ODI defeat of the season, Fletcher insists that if they can play a full-strength team they can still compete. “When we had our full side, close to our Test side, we got to the Champions Trophy final [against West Indies at The Oval in 2004] and we competed very well with [world champions] Australia.”Since then we haven’t had that side. Continuity is important but you can’t have continuity if people keep coming in the side because of injuries.”England’s selectors meet in Leicester today to pick the Champions Trophy squad, although it will not be named until Sunday. Trescothick’s opt-out will cause them yet another headache.

Australia’s selectors responded to the Ashes defeat with a dramatic cull that included dropping Damien Martyn from the Test side and Matthew Hayden from the one-day outfit for next month’s Super Series. Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie have been cut from both squads as Australia plan to use the limited-overs matches to begin their preparation for the 2007 World Cup.After months of speculation about new faces the selectors decided spring was the right season to begin the regeneration process. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said “We consider it is time to make some adjustments to the [Test] batting line-up after some disappointing results in England”.Shane Watson joins Brad Hodge and Stuart MacGill in the 13-man Test squad for the six-day match against the World XI starting on October 14. “Watson gives the squad added flexibility,” Hohns said. “We can choose to play two spinners if the pitch looks like it will offer them something, or we can play four bowlers with Watson providing a fifth option.”Martyn, who averaged 19.77 in the Test series against England, held his place in the one-day side that has also been given a shake for the three matches against the World XI from October 5-9. The fast bowler Shaun Tait has been added while Nathan Bracken and James Hopes have earned recalls in selections that show their potential as defenders of the World Cup in the West Indies.”We are really looking to the Super Series as the start of our preparations for 2007,” Hohns said. “We have re-jigged the one-day side to what we hope will provide a range of options to take on a formidable World XI side as well as forming the nucleus of the 2007 squad.”Hohns did not rule Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Hayden out of World-Cup contention but insisted it was time to move forward. “We are looking to include players who can bat, bowl and field and Hopes fits that bill perfectly,” Hohns said. “He gives us another all-round option, and can open the batting if required. He stood out over summer – he won the ING Cup Player of the Series award – and we are confident that he can add a new dimension to the team.”Gillespie, who struggled on the tour of England, said he was extremely disappointed to miss out on both Super Series squads. “My goals are to focus on training and preparation for the start of the summer with the Adelaide Buffalos and the South Australia Redbacks,” Gillespie said, “and put some good performances together with the view to give the Australian selectors every reason to select me.”Test squad Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Stuart MacGill.One-day squad Adam Gilchrist (wk), Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait.