Ajay Jadeja, the former Indian middle-order batsman, is due to return from the USA without playing in any of the American Pro Cricket (APC) matches. This came about after the Board of Control for Cricket in India instructed the players to keep off the event following instructions from the International Cricket Council.The ICC had clearly said that the only body that they recognized was the USA Cricket Association (USACA), an associate member of the ICC, which would mean that this tournament would not come under their purview.The Indo-Asian News Service quoted Jadeja’s wife, Aditi Jaitly as saying, “Ajay is not playing in the matches over there and he is coming back home within a week. He is coming back because there is no clarity in the instructions issued by the board.”Aditi confirmed that Jadeja had not played in any of the matches in the league. “I was also in the US until June 29, and to the best of my knowledge, he has not played any match of the league. He only played an exhibition match on June 19. Subsequently, he withdrew after the BCCI issued its instructions. But I don’t know if there was any written contract between APC and Jadeja.”Besides Jadeja, Rahul Sanghvi and Nikhil Chopra – both former Indian cricketers – were also in the USA to take part in the eight-team league, which began on Friday. Whether both of them will be returning along with Jadeja, is not known at the moment.The same agency reported LK Sanghvi, Rahul’s father, as saying, “I don’t think he will be returning home soon, but I have not talked to him.” The official site of APC, mentions that Jadeja, Sanghvi and Chopra, will conduct a three-day cricket camp for Under-15 cricketers.However, the BCCI’s stance is still unclear and whether this ruling holds for contracted players from the Test-playing countries or for all first-class cricketers is not certain. “The instructions from the ICC were very clear,” said SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI. “The contracted players cannot play in the league, and we put that out in a press release last month.”Several cricketers – including Vinod Kambli, Sanjay Bangar and Deep Dasgupta – had initially sought permission from the BCCI to play in the league.

ARY Digital, a Dubai-based multi-channel cable television operator, has bida record US$48 million for Sri Lanka’s broadcasting and sponsorship rightsfor the next four years.ARY Digital’s bid was larger than WSG Nimbus(US$46.6 million), ESPN Star(US$40.6 million) and Taj Television, the current rightholders, who bid lessthan US$40 million, according to cricket sources. However, Taj Television, another Dubai-based broadcaster which runs TEN Sports, arenot completely out of the running having secured “matching rights” clause intheir current contract. They can win the bidding process by agreeing to payUS$48.5 million.The bids represent a substantial jump in income for Sri Lanka Cricket whichhas been facing financial difficulties during the past two years because ofa legal wrangle with WSG Nimbus. The stiff competition for the rights – which include television, radio, internet, wireless and title sponsorship rights – follows the announcement that the four-year period, from Jan 2005, will include three tours by India.India are due to play triangular series in 2005 and 2006 as well asundertake a full Test and ODI tour in 2008. England and Australia, the twoother most popular visitors, will also tour during the contract period. The bidding, for the first time managed by an independent auditor, was completed onJuly 22.

Graeme Smith
On the team performance
I said before we came over here that we were going to have to be on the top of our game for ten days of cricket, and the whole five days here we were on the back foot. We didn’t play well enough. There was one session where we performed well with the ball, but the rest of the time we were behind the eight-ball. We didn’t bowl well on day one here, and Kumar [Sangakkara] came out positive and put us on the back foot. Looking back on the Test match and how the wicket played, I don’t think it was a 460-470 pitch. Then batting the way we did in the first innings really put us under pressure. We put a lot of emphasis on the first innings in Sri Lanka, and to leave ourselves with a deficit like that makes things very difficult.On Chaminda Vaas’s 6 for 29
We have the ability to bat all day, but credit to Chaminda for showing up some of our fast bowlers on how to come and do it on these kind of pitches. He never complains – he just comes in and gets the job done, and does what he needs to do to get the wickets. It’s certainly an eye-opener for some of our guys.On what’s wrong with the team in general
A two-match Test series was always going to be tough for us, coming out of along winter. I thought we did really well in the first game, but we really let ourselves down here in a lot of departments. People may talk about the preparation, but the players need to have long hard look at themselves and our performances. The players on the field just haven’t performed well enough in the last couple of games, including the end of last season. We were not hungry enough, and did not want to win as much as they wanted to win. We let ourselves down. We have definitely got the skills. We have got guys who are at the top level of the game, their records show you that, so there is something else missing. They didn’t beat us just in the cricketing department – they beat us with the commitment and passion. That’s an area that we have to look at. We need to match our skills with the belief that we can do well here. And we also need to embrace the culture and country. It is very different to what we experience at home, but as a team it is important that we embrace where we go.On the bowling attack
There are not a lot of guys back home pushing for places in the bowlingdepartment. It is easy to sit here and complain and talk about replacements,but there is no point if the replacement comes and does the same stuff. Wehave got to be a bit more patient with our bowlers, and perhaps a bit harderon them, demanding and challenging a bit more.On the upcoming one-day series
I do believe that we can regroup and bounce back in this one-day series. Iwould like to have some time to think about it before we start preparing forour one-day games, as I still pretty emotional about what has gone on [in the Tests].

Marvan Atapattu
On the team performance
We all knew that we had not won a series against these guys, and we were determined to achieve it this time. Everything seemed to work well. We have come together as a group and we are performing well as a unit. Had South Africa batted well in the first innings, which they didn’t, I don’t think we would have won so easily. They lost a couple of early wickets and that was the key. Chaminda [Vaas] and [Lasith] Malinga got us off to a bright start yesterday, and this morning they took three more quick wickets.On not enforcing the follow-on
There were 2½ days left, and having so many spinners in our side one would always expect the wicket to take some turn on the fourth and fifth day. We never wanted to face them on the fifth day chasing 150, and wanted to bat them out of the game instead.On Vaas and the other bowlers
Having people like Vaasy is fantastic because he is not only effective with the new ball. He can also be dangerous with the old ball, as he showed today. It was also encouraging to see Malinga and the spinners chipping in.On the weather yesterday
The weather was just out of our control. [If it had rained today too] it would have been sheer bad luck. It was very frustrating for us to stay inside the dressing-room and in the hotel. I am sure everyone had their curtains opened looking at the skies every half-an-hour. We were that frustrated.On winning without Murali
It was a big ask to win a series without Murali. We haven’t won many without him. It showed how focused the guys are.

The rewards are rolling in for Glenn McGrath, following his Test-best 61against New Zealand in the first Test at Brisbane. He has netted theMcGrath Breast Cancer Foundation AUS$10,000 (£4,200) from one sponsor, andthe same amount for himself from Sommers, his bat manufacturers.Prior to the innings, McGrath had been in danger of finishing his careerwith more wickets than runs – his tallies in the run-up to the BrisbaneTest had been 454 and 477 respectively. But he revealed in Sydney’s newspaper that New Loan, one of his sponsors, hadpromised to give $10,000 to the McGrath Breast Cancer Foundation if hereached a Test half-century. McGrath’s English-born wife Jane underwenttreatment for breast cancer in 2003.Mark Waugh had famously bet Shane Warne that McGrath would never make afirst-class fifty, which he achieved in July 2000 when he made 55 forWorcestershire against Nottinghamshire at New Road in July 2000, as he puton 103 for the last wicket with Kabir Ali.But further incentive was needed for him to repeat the feat in Tests.McGrath therefore negotiated a clause in his batting contract that ensuredhe’d win a similar bonus himself for reaching a Test half-century.John Rennie, the managing director of Sydney-based Sommers, was delightedwith the exposure his client won for him, but indicated that he thoughtthat, like many, the chances of McGrath ever making a fifty were slim. Hischeque will be presented before the start of the second Test, starting atAdelaide this Friday.

Hopes that Zimbabwe’s remaining striking players might soon return to the fold appear to be stalling, according to a report in the local Independent newspaper.The stumbling block appears to be the rebels’ demands over the selection process, although other sticking points are said to include their demands for three-year contracts. Few countries give such long-term commitments and it is hard to see Zimbabwe Cricket doing so if that is what it is being asked to do.At the moment the rebel players are in ongoing talks with a committee under the leadership of Addington Chinake. Only when this committee presents its findings will the full board discuss the matter.But one of the rebels told The Independent that some of the reported conditions had never been raised. "It’s mischievous for anyone to claim that we have demanded tax-free salaries and three-year contracts," he said. "So far our discussions with the committee have been promising, though I’m bound not to say much."What appears to be factual is the stalemate over the choice of selectors. The rebels have demanded all along that the national selection panel should be made up of people with first-class cricket experience, or at least a good level coaching qualification. Crucially, that would rule out Max Ebrahim, currently the senior selector, as he has no such background."All we want are selectors with a cricketing background like in any other country," the player told the newspaper. "We’re hopeful everything will work out well because we hear [Peter] Chingoka has been really good and has already tasked a constitutional committee to review the whole selection policy. If Zimbabwe Cricket does not accede to our proposals, that’s it. No rebel will return."

After the Durban drizzle decided the series – it’s still 3-1 to South Africa with just one to play – the final match at Centurion won’t quite be the nailbiting occasion the marketing men would have hoped for. Instead, assuming the fickle weather holds off, it will be an entertaining end to a compressed carnival of cricket.No tour has ever had an itinerary quite like it: since the five-Test series started the only non-international game was a one-day warm-up for the seven-match ODI series. Marcus Trescothick has played in every match of te tour, and although he probably wants to hang on to that record he has looked increasingly tired in the last couple of matches, and may be given an overdue break.England have persisted with Geraint Jones as a pinch-hitting opener, and although the experiment hasn’t been an abject failure the feeling remains that he is a better bet as a perky presence down the order. He also disrupts a top order packed with people used to opening – Vikram Solanki and Andrew Strauss, as well as Michael Vaughan – and also pushes Ian Bell down (when he plays) to No. 7, behind the find of the series, Kevin Pietersen. It’s time for Bell to be given a chance to show what he can do.And, with the series decided, there might be an outing for that loyal drinks-waiter Gareth Batty, and a recall for the former golden boy James Anderson.Similar thoughts will be going through the minds of the South African selectors. Will Adam Bacher be given another – and surely last – chance? Or does the precocious AB de Villiers come back in on his home ground, where he collected 92 and 109 in a final Test that seems an awfully long time ago now.South Africa’s bowlers have done a sterling job, but Nicky Boje is likely to return at Centurion, to give the spin option that Graeme Smith might well have missed if the rains had held off at Durban.There’s not much previous history to go on. England and South Africa have only played one previous ODI at SuperSport Park, back in 1995-96. South Africa won that one, overhauling a decent England total of 272 with two overs to spare, mainly thanks to an opening stand of 156 between Gary Kirsten (116) and Andrew Hudson (72). Three of the survivors of that match are likely to play again here: Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis (who was in at the end of that first game nine years ago) for South Africa, and the seemingly ageless Darren Gough, who has been easily the most impressive of England’s faster bowlers in this series. Gough, however, is in some doubt after reporting slight breathing difficulties when he woke up on Saturday.South Africa (from) Graeme Smith (capt), Adam Bacher, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp, Jacques Rudolph, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher (wk), Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock,Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel.England (from) Marcus Trescothick, Geraint Jones (wk), Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ashley Giles, Kabir Ali, Gareth Batty, Alex Wharf, Darren Gough, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, James Anderson.

Perhaps because we’re not used to seeing it, we don’toften acknowledge it anymore. Pakistani teams, especiallyduring the 1990s, were many things; freakishly butfitfully brilliant, electric now, flat then. The linebetween success and failure was often thin enough tobe impoverished, delicately balanced on feats ofstupendous individual skill; a spell from Wasim here,one from Waqar there, a virtuoso from Saeed Anwar’swrists or an Inzamam special. Performances wereethereal and success came from an explosion of anindividual or two, while failure from an implosion ofthe collective. If a win often resulted in a streak ofthem, so too did a loss. Not often was there anythingtangible – solidity or resilience – in between.The loss of the two Ws and Saeed has been muchmourned in Pakistan – it still is. But since the WorldCup, and especially over the last year, a squad ofplayers has emerged within Pakistan with a spinesteely enough to cope with positions and situations ofdespair, often made worse through makeshift resources.Mohali last week was an exceptional and spectacularaddition to a growing body of evidence. The wins inLahore against the Indians, after the Multan massacre,and at Karachi against Sri Lanka after SanathJayasuriya had mauled them at Faisalabad wereadmirable demonstrations. Even within the 3-0whitewash in Australia, there were glimpses afterPerth that this Pakistan is not as ready to roll overas previous sides.Tellingly, they have found this spirit collectivelyand through a variety of sources, players such as AsimKamal, the leader Inzamam, Danish Kaneria, YounisKhan, Yousuf Youhana and recently Kamran Akmal andAbdul Razzaq. Calcutta, over two days, has highlightedthis trait most emphatically. They were written offafter the first two sessions had yielded 225 runs andtwo wickets; a big total on the cards, Harbhajan Singhin tow and a heavy defeat to follow. But the responsewas communal, conceived by Shahid Afridi’s dismissalof Tendulkar, continued by Abdul Razzaq’s two wicketsin two balls and concluded yesterday by DanishKaneria’s extraction of Rahul Dravid. Not a starryindividual performance in sight, it was fitting thateach of the three picked up a wicket today to end theIndian innings.Maybe because they are not as extravagantly gifted astheir predecessors, they succeed occasionally byconcentrating on the basics. They chased leather muchof yesterday but they did it with commitment,discipline and passion. Afridi’s bullish presence atthe faltering top of the order today was crucial, butmore so was the recognition by Younis Khan and YousufYouhana of the most underappreciated of cricketingbasics; the art of running as a weapon.Zaheer Abbas, in a recent interview with WAC, recalledhow Asif Iqbal and Javed Miandad had run the Indiansragged when chasing 164 during the memorable chasein Karachi in 1978-79. They had, he said, run singlesthat should never have been run, they converted twosinto threes. It was, reckons Abbas, the invention ofmodern day one-day running as we know it. The Australians,of course, have reclaimed the aggressive, cheeky runof an ODI and refashioned it for the Test game.Today, Youhana and Younis stole, created, nurdled,Deflected and angled runs, cheeky in nature but decisivein spirit. With three in the covers, a slip and shortleg, they relentlessly pursued an internationalversion of tip and run, interspersed freely withboundaries. Each run chipped away at a sizeable totaland at India’s patience. In an innings of 66 overs,there were seven maidens. Not since Miandad himself,and usually against India, had there been such anexhibition.There is, of course, a proviso – there still is withPakistan – and the threat of disintegration alwaysloiters. It has happened also in the last year and theprospect of chasing runs on this pitch remains anuneasy one, but what you cannot do is write them offeven after that. They might go down here, but theywill not, you suspect, be out. What must now beacknowledged, after Mohali, after Calcutta, afterKarachi and Lahore, is that this vintage ofPakistanis, while not possessing the sparkle ofbefore, is made of sterner stuff.

Ryan Hinds, who struck a patient 48 in the first innings of the opening Test against South Africa, has been ruled out of the second game due to a viral illness. His bowling, though largely unincisive – his only wicket came late in the game – was economical.The selectors called up Donovan Pagon, who played the first Test and was released from the side when Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara chose to return.The second Test begins on April 8.

The Indian board has suggested that it will seek legal opinion over the six-match ban imposed on Sourav Ganguly for India’s slow over-rates in the one-day series against Pakistan. “We are getting the issue legally examined,” Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president-elect of the BCCI, was quoted by Indo-Asian News Service. “We will do as our counsels advise.”Ganguly was handed the ban by Chris Broad, the match referee, after India fell behind in the over-rates during two consecutive matches of the one-day series, at Jamshedpur and at Ahmedabad. He then lost his appeal against the verdict when Michael Beloff QC, the ICC appeals commissioner, ruled that Broad’s decision was justified. Ganguly missed the last two games of the series, and will miss most of the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in August if the decision stays.Radha Rangaswamy, a BCCI counsel, indicated that the board needed to spell out the next course of action. “They have to tell us [about exploring the legal option] after their meeting, possibly, by the end of this month.”Speaking to the media before leaving on a vacation to Europe, Ganguly himself stated that the matter was now in the board’s hands. “The matter is not in my hands. I have left it to the board. They’ll do whatever is necessary. There is no hurry. There is time till July. The BCCI bosses will take an appropriate decision in due time.”When asked for his opinion on who might be India’s next coach, Ganguly’s reply was quite non-committal: “There is a six-member team to select the new coach. I am not in any way involved in influencing their choice. I have no opinion on the selection.”Ganguly is expected to catch a few days of action at the French Open Tennis Championships in Paris, and is scheduled to return home on June 10.

In another bizarre twist to the US cricket saga, meetings called by the two organisations claiming to represent US cricket – Gladstone Dainty’s “official” USACA Board, and the extraordinary general meeting of the USA Cricket Association called by the USA Council of League Presidents and the so-called “dissidents” – will be held at the same time, in the airport hotels of two cities close to each other, New Jersey and New York.The EGM has been scheduled for several months, and has been the topic of discussion on the internet as well as in Cricinfo’s recent interview with Gladstone Dainty. Dainty’s announcement of a board meeting was made last week, and it is a fair bet that the date of the EGM was known in advance.Both meetings are intended to deal with important issues in US cricket. The EGM will be considering constitutional amendments for the USACA which would, if implemented, signal a fundamental reform of USACA’s “system of governance” and set standards of accountability for its executive and other officers. This is an aspect that has come in for severe criticism from the ICC.Dainty’s meeting, on the other hand, has a somewhat more modest purpose. It is intended to make appointments of the USACA executive for the 2005-06 season, meaning that the “new” officers would have two years before they would need to be reappointed by the Association.Unlike previous elections of the USACA executive, there have been no listings of the candidates who have applied for the various positions, let alone their credentials and qualifications. In the past, the announcement of candidacies had led to lively and animated discussions of their merits, and in fact Dainty himself was elected USACA president following just such a discussion.The absence of any such announcements this time is leading opponents to believe that these so-called elections are meant to be a rubber-stamp to help Dainty and his group retain control of the USACA’s administrative process for another two years, thwarting the efforts of reformers to bring about changes in the USACA. On the other hand, the EGM is drawing a lot more interest and attention across the country, and (if successful) could make a significant difference to the US cricket landscape.