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Graeme Smith had to seek refuge in humour when asked about a pitch thathas put his team in an unenviable position heading into the final two daysat Newlands. Smith showed the way with a superb 94, but no other batsmanbuilt on a start to construct a substantial innings, leaving South Africa41 adrift at the end of the first innings. With the pitch affording sharp turn, albeit ofthe slow kind, South Africa will need to bowl out of their skins on dayfour to keep alive slim hopes of victory.”Never ever,” said Smith when asked if he had ever seen a pitch such asthis in South Africa. “Never ever, and hopefully never again,” he addedwith a rueful laugh.But having set such a good example with the bat, Smith was in no mood toconcede victory to the Indians. “It’s not hard to win,” he said. “We justhave to play well. I think the wicket deteriorated a lot more than what weexpected. It took a lot of turn from both ends. There was more turn to theright-handers.”I think the other key to their success was the reverse-swinging ball.They got it to reverse early and that’s going to be the key to our successtoo. There has not been a lot of natural swing around with the dryconditions. We have to come up with a plan and get that. Obviously, howour spinner and part-timers bowl will also be key. But with a 40-odd lead,they have their noses slightly ahead.”India waited till the 116th over before Sreesanth was given the second newball, but Smith admitted that the decision to keep going with the old ballhadn’t surprised him. “We were going well and the ball was reverseswinging a lot,” he said. “The ball was quite soft and it was difficult toscore freely. They were creating pressure with the swinging and turningball.”Though the association between Smith and Hashim Amla realised only 29 moreruns in the morning, vital partnerships between Jacques Kallis and AshwellPrince, and Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher, got South Africa within rangeof India’s total. And though he regretted not pushing on past 414, Smithpraised his batsmen for the manner in which they had adjusted to achallenging surface.”Talking to the guys who were batting, they were saying that the ball wasquite soft and to create any pace on it was difficult,” he said. “Therewere some soft dismissals today but we shifted into a subcontinental frameof mind. It was also important to keep them under pressure.”Despite his reluctance to make any sort of excuse, there was no hidingSmith’s irritation at his team’s predicament on a pitch that Wasim Jafferadmitted was like a New Year gift to the Indians. “It’s like playing inIndia,” said Smith candidly. “Batting fourth is always going to be thetoughest part of the game and I think this wicket will break up a little.”A lot of the guys got starts, got to 50, but unfortunately no one took iton today. Those were the positives for us going forward. If we can takethe initiative and put India under pressure [with the ball], it will giveus an opportunity. The turning ball is going to be an issue.”Anil Kumble wasn’t at his best on day three, but still finished withfigures of 4 for 117. It would surprise no one if Smith has the oddnightmare contemplating what he might do on a fifth-day pitch.

Here’s to you
As soon as he had stepped out against Muttiah Muralitharan and hit him over mid-off for four, Sachin Tendulkar pointed his bat towards India’s dressing room in celebration of his first fifty of the series. It was, perhaps, a gesture of thanks to his team-mates for showing patience as he walked out of the shadows of doubt that had enveloped him in the tri-series till now. Before this match Tendulkar could muster only 128 runs in seven innings but chasing a small target, he dazzled a relatively small Hobart crowd.Getting out of the web
Humour is never lost on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Having neatly completed an easy offering off Kumar Sangakkara’s outside edge, Dhoni flapped his gloves and mocked at the webbing, making sure there was nothing wrong this time after he had to change his gloves because in India’s previous game, against Australia, the webbing was against the laws of the game.Ripper!
Point is the toughest position to field in the game. The fielder is moving in and normally the ball travels at a high speed. Reflexes and agility are the key. Mahela Jaywardene slashed hard at a short one from Praveen Kumar and it went straight and low to Rohit Sharma, who picked it up cleanly shoe-laces level. Calm, poised, alert – full marks to Rohit, in a position previously occupied by Yuvraj Singh, now placed at mid-off.Free falling
Speaking of Yuvraj, one of the best fielders inside the 30-yard circle till a niggling knee injury acted up further, he has been abysmal by his standards. Its obvious that Yuvraj, knee brace in place wherever he’s been for over a month now, has been slow to move and that has allowed opposition batsmen to capitalise. Today was one such case again: Chamara Kapugedera drove uppishly off Munaf Patel towards mid-off, but a static Yuvraj dived on top of the ball. It sneaked past him and the batsmen ran four. Munaf was understandably disgusted, while Yuvraj had his head down.Converting a six into two
The ball was sailing over the square-leg boundary when Gautam Gambhir, running a few yards to his left, leaped, caught the ball with both hands, but realised he would cross the rope in trying to regain balance, so he flicked it to the ground. A catch dropped, but a six avoided.

A Cricket Australia opinion poll has confirmed what has been evident Down Under since last September – that the Ashes loss to England hurt Australians more than any other sporting defeat.The survey of 1200 sports fans, conducted by pollsters Newspoll, found that 63% regarded the Ashes as the nation’s most-coveted sporting trophy, well ahead of the nearest contender, football’s World Cup, which recorded 8% of the votes.Cricket’s World Cup was next, with 7%, followed by the Davis Cup (6%) and the rugby World Cup, which polled 5%.”When it comes to Australian team sporting prizes, it’s clear that the public consider the Ashes to be the pinnacle,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said. “We expect the whole country will be gripped by Ashes fever when the Ashes series begins later this year.”An in-form Australia will attempt to avenge its first Ashes loss in 16 years this southern hemisphere summer when England travel Down Under for the five-Test series.

Saleem Mukuddem, the Bermuda allrounder, is one of three injured players to be missing from Bermuda’s training week in Trinidad.According to the Mukuddem, the lone highlight of an otherwise forgettable tour of Kenya last year, has suffered a lower-back injury and will stay in the country to undergo a CT scan. The other absentees are Stephen Outerbridge, the opening batsman and Stefan Kelly, Bermuda’s fast bowler, who have foot and thigh injuries respectively. All three players, however, are expected to be fit for the World Cricket League in Nairobi at the end of this month.The squad, now reduced to 14, are training in Trinidad to prepare for key battles later in the month. They return home on January 19 before heading straight back out to Kenya, where they play a warm-up match against Uganda on January 28.

Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, is determined to rekindle Warwickshire’s winning spirit of the 1990s which made them such a force in county cricket. Donald has been persuaded back to the club by their director of cricket, Ashley Giles, and although his official title is bowling coach, he will effectively be the first-team coach.Donald spurned the opportunity to become England’s full-time bowling coach after a brief stint last year, and in spite of a number of media offers he is delighted to be back at Warwickshire.”For me, it really doesn’t get any better than this,” he told . “I’m excited to be working with Ash, to be working with the first team and to be back at Edgbaston.”To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have taken the England job even if this role at Warwickshire hadn’t come up. Working with the England team was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel I made a positive impact and, I have to say, the ECB were brilliant. They are a highly professional organisation and, in many ways, everything about the job was great.”But I’d been on the road for years. At some stage you have to put the family first. I want to see my children grow up. The thing with the media side is you still have to do the travelling. Besides, I’m more at home in tracksuit and shorts than I am with microphone and tie.”Warwickshire have suffered two dreadful seasons, despite having – on paper at least – a number of gifted players on their books. Last season, they crashed to the bottom of the Pro40 league and were relegated to the second division of the Championship.”It’s difficult when a team has been hammered for a couple of years. But there is a good spirit emerging and I’d like to think the team will have that cockiness you need by the start of the season. I was around enough last season to see how low people were. That decision to leave Ian Bell out of the side for the C&G semi-final was ridiculous but they are a good bunch and you can feel spirits rising already.”There was a great spirit with those teams in the past at Warwickshire. We laughed a lot. We enjoyed each other’s company. It meant something to play for the team. You don’t get that everywhere and it is a special club. We want to get that back.”

The Ashes are looming once again for Ian Bell, but this time he is ready to look his opponents in the eye, as he continues his remarkable resurgence as an international batsman. As the final Test of the English summer approaches, and thoughts begin to drift towards the rematch in Australia in three months’ time, Bell, it would seem, is one big innings away from guaranteeing himself a place in the line-up for the first Test at Brisbane in November.It’s quite a turnaround from the situation he faced on his last visit to The Oval, the Ashes decider last September, when an overawed Bell recorded a pair to complete a traumatic personal series. “Looking back now,” he recalled, “it’s something I wouldn’t change. Obviously I’d have loved a hundred or some runs personally, but I’d still rather have won the Ashes and got a pair. To be involved at such a young age was something special.”One year on and Bell has got no such worries now. He in in the midst of a golden run of form that has earned him three centuries in as many Tests, and the subtle but unmistakeable change of approach has forced even those who doubted his mental fortitude to reassess their man. Among the doubters, it seems, was Bell himself.”I’ve always enjoyed my cricket, but I don’t know whether I believed I was good enough at this level,” he explained. “Now I believe I am. [In the past] I was a young player in the presence of world-class players and I wasn’t looking them in the eye. Now I’ve worked on my body language, and I’ve got a bit more presence out there. It’s about walking out there with your chest out and believing in yourself.””I’m feeling more positive and I’m feeling as if I belong,” Bell added, as he sized up the prospect of scoring a hundred in four consecutive matches – a feat that has only ever been achieved by ten other batsmen, and only one other Englishman, Ken Barrington (who managed it twice, in 1961-62 and 1967-68).”In the past my consistency has been lacking,” he said. “I’ve scored some runs and then made some low scores, but this series I’ve backed that up with real consistency. I’m very pleased with what I’ve achieved in three Tests, but if I start changing the way I’ve been preparing and start thinking of another hundred, it’s not going to happen. I’ll just prepare like I have been all along and not expect it. If it happens, then great.”The turning point of Bell’s summer – and maybe even his career – came at Lord’s in May, when he was omitted from the starting line-up for the first Test against Sri Lanka. “Being left out and driving away that morning was quite hard,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be doing that again, but it was a real chance to look at things and work out areas that I could do better. I definitely think that set-back has helped me.”If the experience really has made him stronger ahead of the winter’s campaigns, then so much the better for England’s prospects. “I just need to keep scoring the runs,” he said. “It’s a big match for us all, our last before Australia, and so it’s an important one personally for everyone. There is competition for places, which is good, but I believe I’m a lot more experienced now. I’ve had a winter in the subcontinent, and I’ll have 18-19 Test matches under my belt [when we get to Australia], instead of three.”As for being back at The Oval, Bell admitted that the memories were still fresh from last September. “That series was something we’ll never forget,” he said. “It was great to be involved and when you walk into the dressing-room, you do remember. Given the highs we were on that time, if we can finish this series 3-0, that would complete a great 12 months.”

ScorecardFile photo – Mohammad Shahzad hit four fours and three sixes•AFP

Mohammad Shahzad struck 60 off 46 balls and the bowlers throttled the chase as Afghanistan beat Oman to take the T20 series 2-0 in Abu Dhabi.Having been inserted, Afghanistan had a strong start despite the early loss of Usman Ghani. Shahzad was circumspect early on before launching sixes off Ajay Lalcheta and Mohammad Nadeem. Shahzad then went onto reach his fifty off 38 balls with a lofted six over midwicket. Asghar Stanikzai and Karim Sadiq assisted Shahzad with useful contributions before Shafiqullah gave more impetus at the death with an 18-ball 32. Afghanistan plundered 51 off the last five overs to finish with 160.After picking up two wickets, Zeeshan Maqsood started the chase with a six and four fours but was dismissed in the third over for 24. Aaqib Sulheri’s scratchy innings came to an end three overs later. Khawar Ali and Jatinder Singh fought but struggled to keep up with the asking rate. Yamin Ahmadzai took three wickets while Rokhan Barakzai and Sayed Shirzad collected two wickets each as Oman eventually came up short by 12 runs.

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, has opted out of the Test series against South Africa, indicating he did not want to play while fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector confirmed that Afridi had asked to be rested for the Test series and his request had been accepted. “Afridi asked the board to give him a rest because he wanted to fast during the remaining part of Ramadan,” Salahuddin said. “We have decided to accept his request and allowed him a rest. He will be in consideration for the one-day series.””I asked the Pakistan board to allow me to skip the two Tests against South Africa because it would be difficult to fast and play in Ramadan,” Afridi told .Afridi dismissed suggestions that he had withdrawn because of his poor show in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 against India. “We lost the final due to poor batting and I apologised to the fans for not doing my part in the final but that did not influence my decision of not playing Tests.”Afridi was named Player of the Tournament in South Africa with 91 runs at a strike rate of 197.82 and 12 wickets at an economy rate of 6.71.Pakistan’s squad for the first Test against South Africa is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Shahryar Khan, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has denied reports that he made Inzamam-ul-Haq a dictator while expressing disagreement over the findings by the Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC).The PEC, formed by the PCB in order to dig into the World Cup debacle, released its report earlier this month and claimed that the former chairman had backed Inzamam during the Oval fiasco that made him a dictator and, in turn, led to Pakistan’s poor performance in the World Cup.”The PEC, in its proceedings, has discussed my tenure and criticised me, but its claim that I made Inzamam a ‘dictator’ is absolutely wrong,” Shaharyar told the daily . “I am not saying Inzamam was an ideal captain but he was a better choice. He had been performing well with the bat and as captain, too. There was not a single true cricket lover, who could say two years ago to change Inzamam as captain because he is a ‘dictator’ or more religious.””I believe Inzamam was Pakistan’s only reliable batsman during the critical period as Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan improved later to strengthen the middle order,” he said. “There are some shortcomings in Inzamam but his collaboration with coach, the late Bob Woolmer, had lifted Pakistan from seventh to the third spot in world rankings.”As a captain Inzamam has the right to make a demand to the PCB. But on many occasions I did not accept his demands. For example he wanted to retain Moin Khan in the team but we introduced Kamran Akmal and similarly the selectors had called up Yasir Hameed from the last tour of India, though Inzamam did not agree to that.”He dispelled the impression that he supported Inzamam, even after The Oval Test. “After the Oval flop, I did not support Inzamam,” Shahryar said. He also said that Inzamam was not only the team’s leader but their spiritual head as well.Shahryar resigned as PCB’s chairman last year. He was under pressure due to the handling of The Oval forfeiture and following Younis’s refusal to act as captain when Inzamam was unavailable for the Champions Trophy.

Marlon Samuels has been dropped from the 15-man squad for the four-Test series in England which starts next week. There are few surprises in the choices, although there is no back-up wicketkeeper or specialist spinner in the side. Ravi Rampaul returns while there is an overdue call-up for allrounder Darren Sammy.Gordon Greenidge, the former opener and current convenor of selectors, put his faith in the side when he explained the selection. “The task has not been easy, especially given the fact that the performance for the recently-completed World Cup wasn’t as great as we had all hoped,” he said during the announcement on local television. “We feel that this squad should perform credibly. We feel we have a good mix, and we’re hoping that this mix will start the ball rolling as far as the redevelopment or the re-defining of West Indies cricket for the future.”Greenidge also said he would address the squad prior to their departure regarding reports of indiscipline during the World Cup.Former West Indies selector Joey Carew expressed some surprise at the squad. “I can’t criticise the selections. The fact that [Marlon] Samuels and [Pedro] Collins are not there is noticeable,” he told . “I thought they would have chosen a spinner, Dave Mohammed, but they may think he is not up to Test standard.”Ramnaresh Sarwan, the newly appointed West Indies captain, insisted that the team needed support. ” I think it is important that the team gets the support which it needs to take West Indies cricket forward,” he said, while indicating that the team would struggle in the absence of Brian Lara.”I think it is an opportunity, obviously Brian was a tremendous player for us and a tremendous player for the world. I think that it is an opportunity for the younger players to actually show their skills and what they are made of. I am sure that they will be looking forward to it. It is very important for us to play as a team, as I have said before, and it cannot be a one-man show. I am sure that we will be able to pull together as a team and that the other players will be able to mature on the tour.”In regards to criticism of his game, Sarwan said the captaincy was an opportunity to step up. “Obviously, I have got out in different fashions – playing rash strokes – and maybe this is a blessing is disguise to give me more responsibility and this is something which I think that I need. So it is something which I am looking forward too and I am going to try and make the best of it.”The side leaves the Caribbean on May 8 and plays one three-day warm-up match against Somerset before the Lord’s Test on May 17. The squad for the three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches which follow the Tests will be named later.West Indies squad Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul.