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An 11-member Australia A cricket squad arrived in Pakistan for a five-match tour early Friday, the first tour by any Australian team in seven years.Australia’s senior cricket team, which last toured Pakistan in 1998, refused to return in 2002 over security fears sparked in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the ensuing troubles in neighbouring Afghanistan.Only a pre-tour security assessment cleared the Australia A tour, during which they will play only in Rawalpindi – near the capital Islamabad – and the eastern city of Lahore. A security officer is also travelling with the team.”Cricket Australia and the Pakistan Cricket Board discussed and agreed to the security arrangements for the players and we are delighted to be here,” Robertson told AFP on the squad’s arrival. “I don’t think the players have anything on their minds other thancricket and it’s a great opportunity for them to make their mark.”Australia A captain Brad Haddin, understudy to current Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, and two other players – Brad Hodge and Stuart Clark – will arrive from England later. Shaun Tait, who was required to play in the fifth Test against England at The Oval, was replaced by upcoming Queensland quick bowler Mitchell Johnson.Australia A will open their tour with a four-day match against Pakistan A at Rawalpindi from Sunday while the second four-day match, also at Rawalpindi, will be played from September 17 to 20. The three one-day matches are all scheduled in Lahore on September 23, 25 and 27.Pakistan named Test discard Misbahul Haq to lead the Pakistan A side, which also include Test openers Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt, allrounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowlers Mohammad Sami, Umer Gul and Shahid Nazir. “PCB has approached this series very seriously by naming a strong squad and I hope it’s going to be a very exciting series played in the true spirit,” said Robertson.Australia A – Brad Haddin (New South Wales – captain), Michael Hussey(Western Australia), Nathan Bracken (NSW), Stuart Clark (NSW), Daniel Cullen (South Australia), Brad Hodge (Victoria), James Hopes (Queensland), Phil Jaques (NSW), Michael Lewis (Victoria), Marcus North (Western Australia), Dominic Thornely (NSW), Shane Watson (Queensland), Mitchell Johnson (Queensland), Cameron White (Victoria).

A dozen years ago South Africa were a team with few stars, and only one man who knew anything at all about playing Test cricket. That man was Kepler Wessels, and he had faith in the old-fashioned adage that a captain’s first and foremost duty to his country and his team was to make sure they could not lose before they even contemplated victory.Wessels believed that if he could make his inexperienced South African team hard to beat then they might have a chance of actually winning matches. But first, he believed, they needed to inherit some of the bloody-mindedness he had learned while playing for Australia, maximise whatever talent they did possess, and then learn to play for each other.Fast forward 12 years … and where are we now? Exactly the same place. Almost. Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis have played 86 and 81 Tests each, but the team, collectively, has lost so much. The attributes of toughness and determination are one thing, but there is the talent to think of, too. Particularly the bowling talent.In the early and mid-1990s, South Africa fielded a quartet of fast bowlers all capable of taking wickets, and there was no respite for the batsmen. Behind Allan Donald was a queue of good men just waiting to take their turn – Brett Schultz, Craig Matthews, Brian McMillan, Fanie de Villiers, Richard Snell and then, in 1996, Pollock himself. But now there are just two – and Pollock is overworked and suffering because the batsmen are content merely to keep him out, while Makhaya Ntini is struggling through over-exertion and an impatience to break through.The batsmen are missing Gary Kirsten as badly as a ten-year-old misses his mum on the first day at boarding school, and they are subdued by the knowledge that, without a huge first-innings total, they have no chance of victory and are probably doomed to defeat.So what you see today is what you get. South Africa aren’t suddenly going to find the magic solution and bounce back to being the second-best team in the world, as they were for three or four years.If they have looked like underdogs scrapping for a bone and hanging onto it for dear life over the first four days at Kanpur, it’s because they are. And you can expect more of the same at Kolkata.

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The third day of the third Test at Bridgetown will probably decide the outcome of this match, and much depends on whether Brian Lara can find his touch. After two wretched matches in Jamaica and Trinidad, he looked to be finding his form in the first innings, and was out on the ground early today to familiarise himself with the conditions. He had the look of a man with a point to prove.The first session will be crucial. Neither side’s batsmen – with the marked exception of Graham Thorpe – have managed to really stamp their authority, and runs have been at a premium throughout. Today will probably offer the best conditions for batting, and West Indies must make the most of that and look to set England a target in excess of 250.Another full house – once again predominantly sunburnt and English – packed into Kensington Oval before the start, and there were a few more clouds than there had been on the first two days to give them some relief from the sun.

Darren Lehmann, the captain of South Australia, has been elected president of the Australian Cricketers’ Association and is the first person to hold the post while still a player. The members of the ACA voted Lehman in for a two-year term replacing Ian Healy who retired after five years as president.”The fact I’m still playing will allow me to still be hands-on in communicating with the players nationwide,” Lehmann told the . “I reckon that since I’m still playing with and against other state players, if they have any concerns I’ll hear about them pretty quick.”Lehmann said that programming was perhaps the major issue behind concerns of too much cricket and also hoped to develop support structures for the families of cricketers who spend several months of the year away from home.Lehmann had aspired to become a national selector while still playing for South Australia last summer. However, he was overklooked as Cricket Australia chose Merv Hughes as Allan Border’s replacement during his brief retirement. Lehmann, who played 27 Tests for Australia, just completed a prolific season for Yorkshire scoring 1706 runs at an average of 77 including a career best 339.

Ricky Ponting will miss the one-day international against India to be played on February 1. Cricket Australia has decided to rest him so as to ensure that he is fresh for the finals, which will be contested between Australia and India. Adam Gilchrist will captain the side in his absence, and Simon Katich will replace him in the squad.Announcing this, Trevor Hohns, the chief selector, said: “Just as Matthew Hayden and Gilchrist have benefited from a short layoff during this VB Series, we felt that a break would help Ricky in the lead-up to the series finals and upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Gilchrist is a proven leader and is the right man to captain the side in Ricky’s absence.”

Sri Lankan left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas has agreed to join Hampshire Cricket on a short-term contract to the end of the 2003 season.Vaas, who has not played county cricket before, arrives in England over the weekend and is expected to make his debut in the National League Division Two match at the Rose Bowl on Monday August 4 against the Scottish Saltires.First-team manager Paul Terry was delighted that the man who has played 68 Tests and 227 one-day internationals for his country has agreed to join Hampshire.He said, before the start of the floodlit National League match with Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Wednesday evening, “I am delighted that Chaminda had agreed to join and received clearance from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to do so.”It is especially pleasing that we have a player of such quality coming to join us.”It is left-arm bowler for left-arm bowler, as Vaas replaces Pakistani Wasim Akram, who left the county two weeks ago.

The Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 championship trophy is the prize for victory in tomorrow’s winner-take-all clash between Old Tauntonians & Romsey and St Cross Symondians at the Romsey Sports Centre, 1pm.Three points separate the pair who have fought a season-long battle for the leadership – and now the championship itself.OT’s will certainly want to forget their mid-June visit to St Cross, when they were shot out for 98 and thumped by a massive 135-run margin."That was as bad as its got this season, although mixed in with some top performances, we have had some we’d rather forget – and that was one of them," reflected OT’s skipper Stuart Tulk.Charles Forward (699 runs) and Indian all-rounder Raj Naik, whose 20 wickets have come alongside 544 runs this summer, will be the main OT’s player tomorrow.Nick Wood (hamstring) remains sidelined, but fellow spinner Mark Padwick is missing for St Cross, who recall Marc Rees.St Cross are holding a Memorial Day on Sunday (10.30am) for New Zealander Mark Parker, who was killed in last September’s Bali terrorist bombings.They have helped set up a Trust Fund and proceeds from Sunday’s six-a-side tournament at the Royal Green Jackets Ground will go towards it.Desperate to pip Easton & Martyr Worthy to a third-place finish, Lymington bid to field the SPL’s tallest wicketkeeper against United Services at Burnaby Road."Lee Savident kept for Portsmouth last weekend (and took five victims), while we’ll have Ben Craft donning the gloves tomorrow. They’re both big six footers," said Lymington captain Dan Peacock.Glyn Treagus hopes for a repeat of his 152 for Dorset (against Wiltshire this week) as Lymington bid to boost Sparsholt’s prospects of avoiding the drop.It’s a must win situation for Sparsholt at Purbrook, who have won three of their last four games – and haven’t given up hope of staying up.Without a win for five weeks, Sparsholt lie second from bottom, five points adrift of United Services."We could go bottom if we lose at Purbrook. We’ve got to win. It’s as simple as that," skipper Ian Stuart said.Former Hampshire wicketkeeper Adrian Aymes plans to boost his claim for the Premier 2 batting prize as Hursley Park entertain Easton & Martyr Worthy.A win against Burridge at Botley Road should be enough to keep Gosport Borough out of the relegation zone.

Sourav Ganguly may have scored a stirring century and inspired an incredible day for India, but the column inches in Australian dailies were dominated by an incident which was unfortunate but dramatic, and which made the Indian fightback even more memorable. Steve Bucknor’s shocking lbw decision to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar for a third-ball duck, was received with outrage by the entire Australian media.”Thankfully, Steve Bucknor is Jamaican. If he was an Australian citizen, one hell of a diplomatic row would be under way following his astonishing leg-before verdict against Sachin Tendulkar,” announced Mike Coward in The Australian, before adding: “This was an aberration and an insult to the peerless Tendulkar.”Commenting on the decision in the same daily, Robert Craddock brought into focus Bucknor’s performance in recent years, which he felt had been steadily deteriorating. “World cricket does not need electronic help to sort out lbw decisions. It just needs better umpiring. Steve Bucknor shouldn’t have needed a camera to give Sachin Tendulkar not out when he was struck high … Bucknor, a delightful fellow, was a great umpire at his zenith but there have been signs in recent times he is slipping and there is a gap emerging between his still high reputation and his performance.”Meanwhile, Rajan Bala of the Asian Age had his own take on Bucknor the umpire: “In an earlier birth Bucknor might have been one of those Roman emperors who ensured that the crowds at the Coliseum were kept in suspense before he gave the thumbs-down signal to end the life of a gladiator or a Christian.”The lbw decision also opened old wounds of Tendulkar being wronged the last time he was in Australia. “Given the fate which befell him on his last visit to Australia four years ago, Tendulkar had every right to be enraged,” fumed Coward, reminding readers of the rough decisions – there were arguably three of them in six Test innings – he had copped in 1999-2000, the worst being an lbw verdict when he ducked into a bouncer.As on that occasion, Tendulkar received this blow with amazing grace, something that wasn’t lost on the Australian media. “If there was ever a definitive example of the spirit of cricket, the creed which has so occupied the Australian cricketers and their governors in recent times, this was it,” said Coward, while Craddock gushed: “Tendulkar proved he is a Sir Donald Bradman clone not just in technique but in spirit. As he left he did not look back at Bucknor, nor shake his head or even try and look up at the big screen waiting for a television replay. It was inspiring stuff. In a season where we have heard some fairly pretentious chest thumping about the spirit of cricket there we have a stellar example of what it all means.”Meanwhile, there was the small matter of Ganguly’s century. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck extolled not only the batsmanship of Ganguly and VVS Laxman, but also the mental strength that both – especially Ganguly – displayed.”Because he does not look gritty and tends to wander around with his head apparently in the clouds, Ganguly has been underestimated. He has been mistaken for one of those toffs who featured prominently in the drawing-room dramas of the 1930s. Ganguly’s career tells another story, a tale of determination and commitment … He is an inspirational figure within his team, the only place that matters.”Talking about the innings itself, Roebuck accorded it perhaps the highest accolade: “At times, he resembled Brian Lara, though his shots lack the Trinidadian’s brilliance and violence. Throughout, the momentum was carefully controlled and though the climax was exciting the previous passages were more significant because they indicated a weighty and undefeated mind at work.”Laxman’s vital innings didn’t go unnoticed either. “In his hands, a bat becomes a wand … He played some sumptuous strokes off the back foot and also flicked the ball to leg with a roll of the wrist so late it was almost a postscript. Watching him bat counts among the joys of the game,” wrote Roebuck, before concluding, “This match might peter out but interest has been aroused in the ensuing contests.”

Marvan Atapattu has been retained as Sri Lanka’s captain for thethree-match one-day international series in the West Indies, despite failing to take Sri Lanka to the final of the recent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.Sri Lanka’s early knockout ended a five-year run in which they won every one-day series and tournament at home, but the four-man selection panel refused to hold Atapattu accountable, blaming the top-order batting instead. “You can’t judge a man on one series alone,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “It was the batting that lost us the trophy. The top order just needs to regain its form.”The selectors, though, have lost their patience with Russel Arnold, whoscored 13 in Sri Lanka’s opening match before ferrying the drinks for the remainder of the tournament. “Russel [Arnold] has been struggling for his form and we decided that it is best for him to regain it before returning to the national side,” said Kaluperuma. “He will play in a three-day practice game next week and if he scores he will be considered for the Test team.”Naveed Nawaz, a 29-year-old left-hander who played the last of his three one-day internationals against India at The Oval in 2002, replaces Arnold. Dinusha Fernando, a 23-year-old uncapped swing bowler, replaces Kaushalya Weeraratne, who played just one game in the recent tri-series.Dilhara Fernando was not considered for selection after failing to recover from a lower-back injury, although the selectors hope that he will have regained his fitness in time for the Test series.Sri Lanka are due to play three one-day internationals, starting on June 7 in Barbados, followed by two Test matches. The squad for the Test series will be announced late next week.Squad
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan,Naveed Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, PrabathNissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan,Dinusha Fernando.