Stuart MacGill, who watched helpless as Australia crashed to an Ashes series defeat to England, said on Sunday that his omission from the losing team made no sense. The legspinner, who has taken 160 wickets in 33 Tests, went through the entire Ashes series without receiving a word of explanation from selectors about why he was overlooked for all five Tests.MacGill looked on as England’s batsmen showed a dislike for the turning ball with fellow legspinner Shane Warne snaring 40 wickets. MacGill said the selectors’ decision not to choose him was a mystery. “There was no explanation whatsoever,” MacGill told Sydney’s newspaper. “Warney took 40 wickets when he’s supposed to be past it. He had 16 wickets in two Tests, before the (third) Old Trafford Test, when I thought I might have been a good chance of getting in there somewhere. None of it made much sense to me.”I’m looking at the tour now in two ways. There was the cricket side of it and the general experience. If I remove cricket from the tour, it was great. It was a nine-week, well-paid holiday. Obviously, I wish it hadn’t been that way, but it was. If you add cricket into the mix, it was a debacle.”I was sitting there watching us go downhill without being able to help.” MacGill said the gruelling workload on Warne took its toll on the champion leg-spinner by the fifth and final Test at The Oval earlier this month. “The workload that Warney had during the series … you just can’t expect someone to carry the attack, statistically and physically. It’s a big mental drain.”There was obviously some conservative thinking there and some nerves in the decision-making. I can understand it to a point, particularly when you consider that maybe my forte isn’t keeping the runs down, but thinking like that isn’t how you win Test matches.”MacGill and Warne are likely to be paired on the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground when Australia play the Super Series Test against the Rest of the World from October 14.

A superb hundred from Gareth von Hoesslin gave Border the edge over Boland at East London. They closed the day on 248 for 8, a lead of 68, but with much of the first day lost to rain, a draw still looks the likely outcome. Murray Ranger took another three wickets, finishing with 6 for 30 as Boland slumped to 180 after resuming on 149 for 4. Border then suffered an even more dramatic collapse, but from 44 for 6, Gareth von Hoesslin blasted a brilliant 101 not out to turn the match around. He found an ally in debutant Darryl Brown (77), who helped him add 141 for the ninth wicket before Boland declared at stumps.Griqualand West were within sight of victory over Free State thanks to a career-best 6 for 37 by Alan Kruger. Griqualand West had failed to build on a strong overnight position, losing their last seven first-innings wickets for 60, a lead of 47. Free State overcome an uncertain start to reach 108 for 3 before Kruger took six of the last seven wickets to fall. Set a target of 127, Griqualand West need just 54 runs with 7 wickets remaining.A green Newlands pitch was to largely to blame as the match between Eastern and Western Province barely lasted four sessions, Western winning by six wickets before tea on the second day. After 24 wickets fell yesterday, things returned to normality, but the damage had already been done as far as Eastern Province were concerned. Resuming on 115 for 5, they crept to 168, but had no answer to Rory Kleinveldt, who took the last four wickets to fall and finished with 6 for 57, the first five-wicket haul of his career. Set 107 to win, Western Province started cautiously, and although Grant Howell took two wickets, Myles Williamson (35) and Warren Wyngaard (37) ensured their were no further alarms.

If one were to go by the ICC one-day rankings, this series has seen a struggling David maul a Golliath on the roll. To have begun the series as the second ranked team and to then have to endure defeat after crushing defeat has left the Sri Lankans somewhat flat. Atapattu explained how it is doubly hard to beat an opponent who has seized the momentum: “South Africa were in a similar situation when we beat them 5-0. Whatever we tried worked. Even the part-timers won us matches.”Even at Ahmedabad, when India were so light on bowling ammunition, Sri Lanka were stretched to the limit and the implosion at Rajkot was a sort of debacle that can leave a side completely deflated. Now they need to summon every ounce of fuel to get through the last game of the series at Baroda, try and snatch a win, forget about the last few weeks and then return for the Test series stronger and wiser. When they were 0-4 down in the series, Mahela Jayawardene spoke about how they would approach the last three games as if it was another three-match series. With that logic, this is their final.Murali and Maharoof unlikelyIt is very unlikely that Sri Lanka will risk playing both Muttiah Muralitharan and Farveez Maharoof for the game. Regarding Murali, Kumar Sangakkara said, “He’s always willing to play but it’s important to look at how to handle him right throughout. We need to take the long-term plans into consideration.” Maharoof sustained an injury while bowling in the previous game and Sangakkara added that he had four sutures between his thumb and forefinger. “The physio is monitoring him and we haven’t yet taken a final decision.”For India, Gautam Gambhir, who had a slight fever for the last few days, was left out and Jai Prakash Yadav, recalled to the squad recently, will also not get a chance tomorrow. The ground, which was flooded two months back, looked in top shape on the eve of the game and the curator predicted that it was a “280 pitch”. And like most of the pitches in this series, which have been lop-sided towards the batsmen, this one too adheres to the Ivan Lendl principle – grass is meant for cows.Out-run, out-thought
Sri Lanka have been exposed in several areas – including poor shot selection and spinners not being able to come to grips with the conditions – but they’ve faltered on two more basic counts. The fielding has plummeted and the team, as Atapattu himself admitted, has struggled to come to terms with the Powerplay rule. While the first can be attributed to the low morale in the side, and considered an aberration, the second is probably a more serious concern. For long, Sri Lanka turned games in the middle overs as their bowlers followed a set template to choke the opposition. India have not only out-run them in the field, but they have out-thought them with the strategies used in the Powerplay. Winning these two minor battles at Baroda will be a big step in their path to redemption. However, nothing will come easy as India seek to maintain all the impetus ahead of another important series – a five-match rubber against South Africa, who, ironically, are presently the second-best side in the world.Welcome to Pathan countryBaroda awaits as Pathan gears up for his home debut. Auto-rickshaw drivers have dropped him to nets, shop owners have seen him play in the gullies, waiters in restaurants rattle off his favourite dishes, the mosque where he grew up is one of the most famous landmarks, and teenage girls emphatically state that he is “our Irfan” irrespective of what the rest of the girls in the country think. “But he may be rested,” says one of the journalists to get the reaction from a bevy of young ladies. The reply is tinged with outrage: “Then the stadium will be empty and we will also rest at home.”Teams
India (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Yuvraj Singh, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Murali Kartik, 11 Rudra Pratap Singh, Supersub: Suresh RainaSri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Upul Tharanga, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Russel Arnold, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Dilhara Fernando, Supersub: Thilan Samaraweera.

Viv Richards has called on the Caribbean’s governments to get behind West Indies and help rebuild them into a force to be reckoned with.Speaking to the London-based Voice newspaper, Richards was typically forthright, calling on those running the game at the moment to stand down.”In order to create confidence there are many individuals who are in administrative roles in West Indies cricket who need to vacate their positions,” he said. “What we are seeing on the field is a result of administrative failures. As long as that problem remains the belief factor among the players will be minimal.”There seems to be no desire to win at the boardroom level. Results don’t matter. And there are people there who are just hanging on until after the World Cup in 2007. They should vacate their positions now and not drag West Indies cricket down any further.”And he warned that unless there was change, things could continue to slide. “If we keep these individuals running our affairs we will only get worse. We need leaders in every department and the evidence is there that those who are now required to carry out certain functions are just not up to the jobs.”Richards did not rule himself out as being someone who could led West Indies’ recovery, even though his time as head of selection was not overly successful. “I am willing to accept any opportunity that presents itself. When I was involved there were many decisions that I wanted to take but I did not get the support. That was why we were not clicking as a unit.”I am deeply concerned about the path we are taking at the minute. Everyone is hoping that we will host a good World Cup and that the West Indies will do well. But what will happen after that? We need a fresh administration at this point that will have to look beyond 2007 and create the vision which will put West Indies cricket where we should be in world cricket.”

Australia’s attempt at reclaiming the Ashes lost in September will begin with the first Test at the Gabba on November 23 next year. Cricket Australia released the highly anticipated schedule today, which includes five Tests, the one-day VB Series and a Twenty20 international.England begin the tour with a one-day fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on November 10 and will play matches against New South Wales and South Australia before the first Test. The second Test will be at Adelaide starting on December 1 and the third in Perth beginning on December 14 before the Boxing Day and New Year matches conclude the series in Melbourne and Sydney. England, Australia and New Zealand will then play in the VB Series in January and February.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said the Ashes would be the biggest event in Australia since the 2000 Olympics and ticket details would be announced on January 10. “Ordinarily we don’t release the program dates until six months out from the start of the season,” he said. “But we were conscious of the high interest in this tour and the number of people trying to make travel arrangements so we moved to get the dates finalised and announced as quickly as possible.”The Ashes urn, which has returned to Australia only once in 1988, is also expected to tour with MCC planning to exhibit the prize during the Test series. “The MCC has completed restoration work over the past few years to ensure the precious urn is safe to travel,” Sutherland said. “It will be a fantastic experience for Australian fans to be able to see this iconic piece of sporting history.”John Carr, the ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said it had been a challenge for the two boards to agree on a schedule, which falls in a relatively tight window between the Champions Trophy and the 2007 World Cup. “It has been agreed that the opening three-day match of the tour against New South Wales will allow participation from our full squad to help ensure that all players participate,” he said.”The schedule is unusual in not providing a one-day warm-up match between the Test and ODI series. This step has been taken as it is in the interests of all three teams participating in the VB Series to ensure that there is a minimum of a two-week break between the end of the series and the report date for the World Cup.”Sutherland also confirmed Australia would travel back to New Zealand for the 2006-07 Chappell-Hadlee Series but the dates for the three fixtures have not been finalised. “We are hoping to schedule the series early in 2007,” he said, “in between the end of the VB Series and the start of the World Cup.”Tour dates

Despite a year in which they lost the Ashes, Australia have ended 2005 with the top-ranked batsman and bowler in the world. Ricky Ponting took the No. 1 spot in the batting, following his 117 in the Boxing Day Test, while Shane Warne is secure at the top of the bowling rankings following 96 wickets in the year.Ponting also topped the table of Test run-scorers for 2005, finishing with 1544 – the closest a player as been to Viv Richards’ record of 1710 runs in 1976. He takes over from Jacques Kallis who has slipped to fifth following his double failure in Melbourne.Matthew Hayden also leapfrogs Kallis into third after his 65 and 137, completing a stunning recovery which began with his century in the final Ashes Test at The Oval. Since that match he has made 855 runs in six Tests with four centuries to regain a firm grip on one of the opening positions in the Australian side.Warne and Glenn McGrath head the bowling table after Warne broke Dennis Lillee’s calendar record at Perth against South Africa and finished just four short of a 100 wickets after the Melbourne Test. South Africa’s highest ranked bowler is Makhaya Ntini at No. 5, although Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel are also in the top 10.For the complete rankings click here

Otago defeated Central Districts by 24 runsat the University Oval in Dunedin on Sunday. Batting first, Otago were powered by an 82-ball 72 by Jonathan Trott and a half-century by Craig Cumming, the captain. Both batsmen were dismissed by Greg Hagglun, the right-arm fast bowler, who picked up four wickets in an expensive spell. Gareth Hopkins, the wicketkeeper, played a cameo innings of 44 off just 28 balls before being dismissed by Brendon Diamanti, the medium pacer. A late-order collapse saw Otago dismissed for 250 before playing out their full quota of 50 overs. Diamanti picked up 3 for 49 off nine overs.In pursuit of 251, Centrals lost in-form opener Jamie How early and barring Jacob Oram who made 60, the rest of the batsmen were guilty of not converting their starts into bigger scores. The lower order were unable to step up the run-rate towards the end and finished on 226 for 9.

The chief executive of the Irish Cricket Union, Peter Thompson, has resigned after three years in the role. He will return to England to take up the post of commercial manager of the League One rugby union outfit Pertemps Bees.Thompson leaves Irish cricket in good shape having overseen the biggest commercial deal in Irish cricket, the Bank of Ireland Sponsorship of the seniors, and been in charge while Ireland qualified for the World Cup.The board paid tribute to Thompson’s efforts in a statement. “His three years in charge saw unparalleled growth and success both on and off the field and he leaves the union in a very strong position.”No decision has yet been made as to who will take over from Thompson, who leaves on March 3.

The latest ICC player rankings in Tests reflect the contrasting fortunes of two big stars following the recent Mumbai Test between India and England.Sachin Tendulkar’s lean trot has seen him slip to No.16, his lowest career ranking while Andrew Flintoff, the Man of the Series, has moved up one notch to No.6 among the bowlers and is second behind Jacques Kallis in the allrounders’ list.Matthew Hoggard and Flintoff emerged the top-two wicket-takers for England in the series with 13 and 11 wickets respectively. Hoggard retains his place at No.5, behind Makhaya Ntini in the bowlers’ list, as the top-five remain unchanged.Tendulkar slipped four notches from his previous ranking after ending the series with an average of 20.75. The dismal showing against England followed a poor average in the Pakistan tour as well. Rahul Dravid, who played his 100th Test at Mumbai, has slipped one notch to No.5, while Andrew Strauss made big strides after his century at Nagpur to claim the 12th spot, thus moving up nine notches. Marcus Trescothick remains at No.9, despite missing the entire series.Among the newcomers, Owais Shah’s memorable debut saw him at No.62 while India’s new pace-bowling duo of Munaf Patel and Sreesanth were ranked at 51 and 55 respectively, following an impressive performance in the series when they shared 19 wickets.Australia’s Ricky Ponting retains his place at the top among batsmen while Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka leads the bowling table.For the full list of rankings, click here.

Marylebone Cricket Club, the former governor of the world game and the guardian of its laws, has renewed its drive to become an influence on the modern-day game by forming a committee of leading Test cricketers from eight of the ten member countries.The MCC World Cricket Committee will be under the chairmanship of the former England captain and MCC president, Tony Lewis, and its remit will be to lobby the ICC and guard the fundamental aspects of the game at all levels, particularly those concerning the laws and the spirit of cricket.”MCC, in my time, has always been a chamber of fair debate and seriously democratic,” Lewis told The Times, as he attempted to do away with the traditionally stuffy image of the club. “Everything [is] decided in what was believed to be the best interests of cricket and cricketers.”The first meeting will take place at Lord’s on April 24, with a committee that comprises five former England captains in Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting, Michael Atherton, Geoffrey Boycott and Alec Stewart; Australia’s Steve Waugh and Tony Dodemaide; India’s current captain, Rahul Dravid; Martin Crowe from New Zealand; Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower; Majid Khan from Pakistan; Barry Richards from South Africa; Courtney Walsh from West Indies, and the former Test umpire, David Shepherd.Crowe, Shepherd and Gatting will not be able to attend the inaugural meeting, but between them, the committee members have 1,183 Test caps. Items on the agenda will include an investigation into laws 24.2 and 24.3, which deal with unfair deliveries, and the question of whether umpires should be permitted more assistance through the use of technology.The idea is for the committee to “constructively question or challenge changes to the game”, and Lewis was delighted to have attracted so many influential names to join. “They will be well qualified to discuss matters relating to national and international cricket,” he said, “from the lowest level to the ICC, and to provide support or to challenge as appropriate.”The forum will replace the Laws, Spirit and Ethos sub-committee, which was created under the chairmanship of Ted Dexter in 2000, when MCC streamlined its committee structure.