Muttiah Muralitharan has been picked by Wisden as the Leading Cricketer of the Year ahead of Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Mohammad Yousuf. The Almanack, which is published today, awarded Muralitharan the prize after taking 90 Test wickets at 16.90 last year.Yousuf was named as a Cricketer of the Year alongside Monty Panesar, Paul Collingwood, Mark Ramprakash and Mahela Jayawardene based on their influence in an English season. Jayawardene led a striking Sri Lankan fightback in their Test series against England; Yousuf, with 631 runs in four Tests, saved Pakistan from complete disaster in theirs; Collingwood and Panesar established themselves as England matchwinners, while Ramprakash, aged 36, had an astounding summer for Surrey.In his article celebrating the new No. 1, Simon Barnes attacks Murali’s critics: “They are a familiar type: sneerers and begrudgers, the pusillanimous possessors of small minds and large opinions. Muralitharan is a truly great cricketer, and those that cannot go along with such a sentiment have something lacking in their souls. The spirit of cricket, perhaps.”However, Murali does not make the cover of the 144th edition of the Almanack, which instead carries Warne for the second year in a row. Last year he shared the space with Andrew Flintoff, but he has the front to himself after retiring from Tests after the 2006-07 Ashes series. “The heart of this year’s is the dramatic tale of the Ashes and Warne’s last hurrah,” the editor Matthew Engel said. “It’s a great picture and it conveys the year’s biggest cricketing story.”The new Wisden takes the leading cricketer award a step further and considers what might have been had it been invented more than a century earlier. A panel of 16 writers and historians researched back to 1900 and picked an outstanding player for each year.With no ban on repeat winners, an extraordinary coincidence emerged when only five players won the title more than twice. Don Bradman (ten times), Garry Sobers (eight) and Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne (three times each) were the multiple victors and each was named as a Cricketer of the 20th Century in Wisden seven years ago.

Tom Moody, the Sri Lanka coach, says Australia should keep out of the debate over Sri Lanka resting three bowlers during the Super Eights to keep them fresh for the finals. Ricky Ponting said Sri Lanka, who face Australia in the decider on Saturday, missed a chance to maintain their momentum when they left out Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga for the match on April 16, but Moody said the issue had nothing to do with Australia.”The return shot is why does Sri Lanka have to be told who to play against Australia?” Moody, who won two World Cups with Australia, said in the Courier-Mail. “What is it to do with Australia who we play in a game which is essentially a dead rubber?”The cricket world did not stick their nose into the fact that half the Australian team didn’t tour New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Series. That was Australia’s choice. It is the way you prepare your players for a long World Cup.” Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting had games off during the CB Series while Ponting and Adam Gilchrist did not tour New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Series.Moody was confident Sri Lanka could spring an upset in the final, despite predictions the pacy and bouncy pitch would suit the Australians. “I think we can win,” he said. “What Australia has done has no relevance to Saturday. If Sri Lanka bring their A game it is good enough to beat Australia.”The Sri Lankans have a huge amount of respect for Australia but are not in awe of the contest. They actually welcome that. During my time with the team it has never seemed they were in fear or starstruck about Australia.”

Irfan Pathan, the fast bowler who has been out of the Indian team since January, believes that he has regained his rhythm and is confident of making a comeback to international cricket.Pathan was training at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai for six days and said that he had made some technical changes to his bowling. “I am back to my usual bowling rhythm,” Pathan told PTI. “You see the light in my face. I am happy to come back to the Academy to take corrective measures.”He felt he had lost the rhythm during India’s tour of Pakistan in 2005-06 and taking advice from too many experts did not help.”It took just two seconds for Sekar [the chief coach at the Academy] to tell me where I am going wrong. He worked on a few technical aspects of my bowling. From last Monday, I have been trying to make amends. I have been bowling with old, semi-old and new balls at the nets here.”Sekar will never have nice words but he is clear about what he says. Today, he told me that he was satisfied. I had to work hard to get back to the team by proving myself in the domestic circuit. I am oozing with confidence to play competitive cricket after my stint here.”Pathan last played a Test in the West Indies in June 2006 and did not play a single match during India’s 2007 World Cup campaign .

Jacques Kallis, the South Africa captain, was proud of the way his side came through a testingrun chase against India at Stormont. He anchored the pursuit with a116-ball 91, but received vital support from Vernon Philander in thematch-winning seventh-wicket stand of 55.”I thought it was a competitive score then once we got a good startthat set the base for us,” he said. “The key here is getting throughthe new ball, the openers played pretty well then we just neededsomeone to bat through and guys to bat around him to get close tothem. Vernon did extremely well there at the end to finish it off.”The chase was shaping up well at 99 for 1, but then Rahul Dravidbrought on his spinners which cut through the middle orderand brought India right back into the contest. “It was the nature ofthe wicket – it just got slower and slower as the innings went on,” Kallis said. “We tried to do the same thing towards the back end of our innings [take the pace off] but certainly the spinners did come into play and bowled pretty well to put the pressure on us.”South Africa made two changes from their win over Ireland on Sundaywith the experienced pair of Andrew Hall and Andre Nel coming into theside. However, it was still a relatively inexperienced side andKallis was full of praise for the way they handled the situationdespite the lack of cricket since the World Cup.”We came in very cold and for the guys to play the type of cricketthey did today was very impressive,” said Kallis who was also delightedwith his Man of the Match form. “It was nice to get some runs andwickets again to carry on the form from the World Cup and hopefullythat will continue for the rest of the week.”After excelling with the ball against Ireland with 4 for 12, Philandershowed a level-head with the bat. When he came in South Africa stillneeded 53, but he calmly partnered Kallis to the final-over win.”To come in and perform the way he has shows big character. He’s doneit back home in domestic cricket, finishing off a lot of games for theCape Cobras and today he did it at the highest level. He’ll gain a lotof confidence and he’s setting himself some high standards tomaintain.”India did well to put up such a strong performance considering thevirus which has been running through their camp for the last few days.They managed to field a strong eleven, but some of the players werestill struggling, and Dravid admitted Kallis’ innings was thedifference.”There were aspects of the game we were quite happy with, not leastthe fact that a lot of the guys were still not 100% right,” saidDravid. “They went out there, tried their best and fought really hard.There were some good performances with bat and ball and it was a closegame.”It was just a little frustrating that having played some good cricketwe couldn’t pip them at the post. Kallis was the wicket we needed butwe just couldn’t get it.”South Africa are going to spend a day playing golf on Wednesday whilethe Indians will, no doubt, be dosing up on the cold and flu remedies.The second match of the series takes place on Friday.

ScorecardPeter Borren struck his maiden first-class century as Netherlands staged an outstanding fightback against Canada in their Intercontinental Cup match in Toronto. With four wickets remaining, Netherlands’ lead stood at 98 but Borren and the lower order extended it to a healthy 270.Two early wickets from Henry Osinde plunged Netherlands into trouble on 66 for 5 before Borren, born and brought up in New Zealand, set about his recovery operation. He added 72 with Mudassar Bukhari and 73 with Jeron Smits, who faced 107 balls for his 8. Borren’s century included 17 fours and a six, but even when he and Smits fell within the space of three balls Canada couldn’t wrap up the innings.Mark Jonkman struck seven boundaries in his 43 as the last two wickets added a priceless 99 runs. However, Canada didn’t help themselves by dropping four catches and conceding 44 extras.Borren’s fine day continued when he removed Shahzad Khan early in Canada’s run chase, following Geoff Barnett’s run out for 0, leaving an intriguing final day in prospect as Canada search for a further 227 runs.

Marcus Trescothick’s return to international cricket could come a step closer this week when David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, speaks to him about being available for the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa.Trescothick hasn’t played for England since mid-way through last season’s one-day series against Pakistan. After the third match at The Rose Bowl he announced he wouldn’t be available for the Champions Trophy. However, he was selected for the Ashes tour before having to return home two weeks into the trip.Since then he’s returned to action for Somerset and has struck 715 runs at 65 in the County Championship including a career-best 284 against Northamptonshire. With England’s top-order struggling in one-day cricket the calls for Trescothick’s recall have been growing louder, but there has been understandable caution from all parties.Trescothick was named in the England Performance Squad at the start of the summer, but now though the selectors’ hands are going to be forced because a 30-man preliminary squad for the Twenty20 needs to be named by Wednesday.Graveney told the : “We have to name our preliminary squad by Wednesday. We want to be able to consider Marcus and I will be contacting him to find out where he stands.”Peter Moores, the England coach, added: “Watch this space. Marcus is a very good one-day player and when we announce that 30, if he’s in it, you will know the time is right for him to come back in.”England’s series defeat against West Indies again highlighted how much they miss Trescothick’s experience in the top order. In 123 ODIs he has 12 centuries; the England side at Trent Bridge had nine in total, split between two players – Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.England shared the Twenty20 series against West Indies 1-1 and Moores said he hadn’t ruled out drafting in specialist players who have succeeded in county cricket.”The challenge with the schedules is fitting everything in but we will pick what we think is the best team to win that tournament,” he said. “We will be very keen to go there and win it and that could be a mixture, it could be the same team, we are moving on all the time with those discussions.Names such as Darren Maddy and Mal Loye have been mentioned for the top order while a number of spinners, including Leicestershire’s Jeremy Snape and Surrey’s Nayan Doshi have been successful.”The first job is to pick the 30 players we can select those from,” added Moores. “If you are a good one-day player you are going to become a good Twenty20 player. When you shorten games it just tends to heighten the skill levels needed. People say Twenty20 is a bit of a lottery but it is certainly not a lottery, it is a skillful game that you need a high level of skill to be successful in.”The trip to South Africa would last a maximum of 16 days if England reach the final and it starts on September 11, three days after the final ODI against India. England’s first match is against Zimbabwe, in Cape Town, on September 13.

There isn’t much that Shane Warne hasn’t achieved during his illustrious career, but one of the few missing accolades is a medal from a domestic Lord’s final. In 2005 he was with the touring Australians when Hampshire beat Warwickshire in the C&G Trophy – keeping in touch by constant text messages – but this year he has the chance to play a leading role himself.”Last time I had some very important duties to do at Essex as 12th man,” he said. “I was a little disappointed they didn’t allow me to play but I understood the reasoning that there was one Ashes Test to go and I may have got injured. It’s not just another game, we’ve worked hard to be here.”He has a history with Lord’s finals. His previous appearance with a trophy at stake was the 1999 World Cup final when his 4 for 33 paved the way for Australia’s crushing victory over Pakistan. Now, with his international career over, Warne’s focus is purely on steering Hampshire to more silverware over Durham – who like Warne, are making their first appearance in a domestic final.It is rare for any team including Warne not to be favourites and with Kevin Pietersen and Chris Tremlett back in county colours, plus Daren Powell’s strong form, Hampshire start with their noses in front. However, Durham have made a habit of proving people wrong. Last year they almost made the final and this season overcame Essex in an extraordinary semi-final at Chester-le-Street to take another major stride in their cricketing development.They have come a long way since Ian Botham, Wayne Larkins and David Graveney lined up for them during their debut season in 1992. The county now provides regular players to the England side and has an impressive turnover of youngsters. But they aren’t afraid to tap into the overseas market, either, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul has strengthened the batting for the latter third of the campaign – his run-scoring feats for West Indies in the first half of the season are still one of highlights of the summer.Steve Harmison’s withdrawal with a back problem is a major blow, not necessarily because he has strong recent form with the white ball but because it will deny the crowd a contest with Pietersen. However, there are other match-ups to whet the appetite.Warne has enjoyed enthralling duels with Chanderpaul and Paul Collingwood. During the winter Warne was always quick to have a few words to Collingwood, often involving MBEs, even after he hit a double-century at Adelaide. “The Friends Provident Trophy would look better on my mantelpiece, and my knighthood is on the way,” joked Warne. “Whatever Paul wants to say is fine, if he thinks the trophy would look good next to his MBE, good luck to him.””I’m just going to get on with my business, he came out and said stuff, if that made him feel better and helps him prepare – good old tough Paul – then good luck to him. We’re just going to go out and play.”Collingwood continues to be a vital part of the England side and now leads them in one-day cricket, but he remains immensely proud of his North-East roots and encapsulates Durham’s spirit. Collingwood, like Durham, has made the most of every ounce of talent.Nowhere is that more true than with Ottis Gibson, who is having a golden twilight of his career. Earlier this season he claimed all 10 wickets in an innings against Hampshire and is the second-leading bowler behind Mushtaq Ahmed. Not bad for a 38-year-old. At the other end of the age spectrum is Phil Mustard, 24, who is making a strong claim to be considered as England’s wicketkeeper, and he won’t hold back from attacking Powell and Tremlett with the new ball.Hampshire, too, have plenty of experience to fall back on. John Crawley has played in six previous Lord’s finals (five for Lancashire and one for Hampshire) winning them all, while Shaun Udal captained the team to their 2005 triumph.With 16 players who are either current or former internationals it has the makings of an outstanding final, and is another chance for county cricket to shine. The romantics will want Durham to claim their first silverware, but Warne doesn’t like losing.

Sri Lanka have been one of the in-form teams in this tournament, quellingwith ease challenges from Kenya and New Zealand, but Pakistan, who beatthem in a warm-upmatch, could offer a tougher challenge. Of late, Pakistan have had themeasure of the Sri Lankans, losing just two of the last ten ODIs betweenthem, and while Sri Lanka will still start off as favourites, there could bean upset on the cards.Bat play: Sri Lanka’s top order has been in rip-roaring form so farin the tournament, scoring 260 against Kenya and then chasing down 164with plenty to spare against New Zealand. Both those games were inJohannesburg, which means they are accustomed to the conditions. SanathJayasuriya has been pick of the lot so far, scoring 149 runs from 88balls. His recent ODI form against Pakistan hasn’t been so flash, though:in his lastten games against them, he only averages 20.50, and the challenge forSri Lanka – and the chance for Pakistan – will be if he falls early.Pakistan’s batting has been iffy so far, struggling a bit against Scotlandand then making a mess of what should have been a comfortable chaseagainst India. The openers, Imran Nazir and Salman Butt, have failed inboth innings, and Mohammad Hafeez might get a look-in at the top of theorder on Monday. Misbah-ul-Haq has been the man in form, and deserves tobat higher than his No. 6 slot.Wrecking ball: Mohammad Asif destroyed India’s top order and stillfinished on the losing side in Durban, but in the excellent battingconditions that have been a constant here, even Asif might struggle. Withslow bowlers doing so well here, Hafeez is a near-certainty to play, andhis canny offspin will bolster Pakistan’s bowling strength.Sri Lanka’s weak link in their game against New Zealand was GayanWijekoon, the left-arm medium pacer who has neither the pace nor theconsistency to cut it in this format. Expect him to be replaced, possiblyby Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who was the 12th man against New Zealand.Keep your eye on: Mahela Jayawardene. He played a little gemagainst New Zealand, scoring 35 from 18 balls, and is in good enough formto play a match-winning hand.Shop talk: Jayawardene has singled out two men from either side to play a key role in the match. “I think much will depend how Jayasuriya handles Asif and if he overcomes him [Asif] then we can make a big difference against Pakistan. The clash between the two best players of both the teams will be a rare exhibition of skills and they [both] can be vital for giving their teams the advantage.”Pitching it right: It doesn’t matter which strip in the square isused, it’ll still be superb for batting. Under light, the ball should comeon to the bat even better.TeamsPakistan (likely): Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir,Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik (capt), Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, KamranAkmal (wk), Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad AsifSri Lanka (likely): Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, KumarSangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Chamara Silva, Jehan Mubarak,Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga,Dilhara Fernando

Saqlain Mushtaq, who signed a two-year deal with Sussex last February, has been released at his request for personal reasons.Saqlain had not featured much this summer and made only four Championship appearances taking 14 wickets.”I would like to thank the whole team at Sussex for all the opportunities they have given me this season,” he said in a brief statement. “The club has been wonderful and it is with a heavy heart that I am having to say goodbye for my own personal reasons.”As recently as July, Saqlain, 30, who qualifies for England next April under residency rules, was taking about possibly playing for England. But he has been increasingly troubled by knee injuries and this latest news now raises doubts about his future in the game.

Harbhajan Singh has claimed Australia targeted him with “personal and vulgar” words during the second one-day match in India while Andrew Symonds was “disappointed” with the behaviour of Sreesanth. Sreesanth attempted to run-out Symonds in a move even Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain, initially thought was a joke.After the match Harbhajan was not laughing and said the Australians had shown themselves to be bad losers after their defeat to India in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup. “They clearly did not like that,” Harbhajan said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “They are a very good cricket side, but that does not mean that they can do whatever they want to do.”They say they play the game in the right spirit, but they don’t in reality. There is nothing gentlemanly about the way they play.”After being dismissed by Michael Clarke in the 84-run loss, Harbhajan waited mid-pitch and pointed his bat. “I was responding to a lot of vulgar words that were said to me,” he said. “I don’t have any problem with chitchat on the field, so long as it is about the game. But when it is very personal and vulgar, that is not on. They think you cannot fight back and they do not like it when you do.”The Australians were also upset with the opposition’s actions and Symonds said Gilchrist had spoken to Sreesanth during the match. “[He] tried to explain to him it’s best to try and get on with the game and try not to get tangled up with some of the childish exchanges,” Symonds said in the Australian.Symonds, who hopes to get a mental edge over India before they tour Australia in December, said he was disappointed when Sreesanth attempted to run him out when he was going to speak to Brad Haddin. Dhoni told Sreesanth: “That is not the way you get the batsman out, you get him out some other way.””I went back and made my ground,” Symonds said, “and I just went down to give Brad some support. He was doing his best and failed to make contact with that particular ball, and I didn’t see the need for him to be at Brad like he was. When I go to another sport I like to see confrontation, I’ll admit that, but you don’t want to see ugly confrontation and you don’t want to see confrontation that degrades your sport.”Shane Warne, who is in Melbourne, did not think Sreesanth’s overall behavoiur was “over the top”. “It’s going to add a bit of spice to the summer,” Warne told AAP. “Everyone’s going to be looking for Sreesanth to do his stuff and it shows with a bit of passion. I think it’s going to be good for the summer.”