Yonis happy to return as a captain

Yonis Khan has taken back his resignation, paving the way for his return to the Pakistan captaincy, satisfied that the environment in which he will continue leading the side is now more conducive than before.

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said on Monday that the board had rejected the resignation Younis handed in last week. At the same time he offered Younis the stability that he has wanted since becoming captain in February this year, saying that, if fit, he will captain Pakistan till the 2011 World Cup.

Younis said he was overwhelmed with the support he had received in the week after he handed in his papers at a National Assembly committee hearing in Islamabad. "I am very happy right now," Younis told Cricinfo. "The faith that the chairman and the board has placed in me again, it's good to know. The support that I have received from the board and the country through this time has been fantastic."

Younis kHanThere were believed to be various reasons behind Younis's resignation, though he never openly stated them. It is believed that as well as the suspicions of match-fixing raised in the aftermath of Pakistan's Champions Trophy semi-final loss to New Zealand, murmurs about factions in the team and management working to undermine Younis spurred the move.

Younis met Butt last week and it is understood that he set down some conditions which would have to be implemented before he could come back. Stability of tenure was one, though those close to Younis insist he didn't want an assurance till the 2011 World Cup. A streamlining of the selection process, as well as changes in the team management were thought to be the other conditions.

Younis refused to go into details, however, maintaining only that, "the environment is good right now and I am very happy with it. All that has happened over the last eight months, all the effort is worthwhile now." Younis said he expects to be fit for Pakistan's next assignment, an ODI and Twenty20 series against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

T&T unity lesson for Caribbean

the captain of the Trinidad & Tobago side that has remained unbeaten throughout an impressive Champions League campaign, believes that the unity and team spirit shown by his island nation must serve as a warning to the warring factions within West Indies cricket. Unless the players and administrators can resolve their differences, Ganga believes it is "inevitable" that the region's individual countries will seek to go it alone in the future.

Ganga, who stood in as West Indies captain on their tour of England in 2007 only to be dumped from the squad before the end of the summer, has encountered at first-hand the politics and factionalism that mar the region's cricket at international level. But such concerns could not be further from the thoughts of the band of brothers who have progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a succession of never-say-die performances.

"The passion and the efforts that the guys have shown on the field of play have got us through to the semi-finals," Ganga told Cricinfo's Switch Hit podcast. "A lot of people never really expected us to go so far in the competition, but if you look at the framework of our cricket and of our club, and of all the other teams that have competed, one thing going for us is our national pride and patriotism.

"That is a hallmark of this team, being able to separate themselves, and realise they are not just representing the 11 players on the field or the 20 guys that are travelling, but all the rest of the people back in Trinidad, and by extension the wider Caribbean."

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when Trinidadian cricket was synonymous with one Brian Charles Lara, arguably the greatest batsman of all time, but a man to whom a team ethos did not come naturally. In recent years, however, Trinidad have swept the board domestically, across three formats, and they also trounced Middlesex in last year's Stanford Super Series in Antigua. With a pool of talented players such as Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, the Bravo brothers and Ravi Rampaul, the days of relying on a single star performer are long gone.

"In the years gone by, we've created an environment where competition is healthy," said Ganga. "We have guys on the side who want to be part of the action, and when they get their opportunity they come to the fore and deliver. That is the best position to be in, and as captain of the team I am very happy with the way things have gone. We have not had a smooth run [through this competition], there have been challenges along the way, but you have to make the right decisions."

Making the right decisions is a knack that the administrators of West Indies cricket seem to have mislaid long ago, but Ganga believes that, at a time when the regional side has been crippled by pay disputes and strike action, there are valuable lessons to be learnt in the cohesion shown by his Trinidad squad.

"There are a whole lot of different philosophies and schools of thought about our team compared to the current West Indies team," he said. "But ask any champion team, and they'll say that having the right chemistry - a togetherness and a team spirit - is essential for any sort of success. If you have a situation where everything is surrounding one or two individuals, you never get the sort of output that you want as a team, and that is one of the things we inculcate as a team.

"No one individual is bigger than the team, and to be successful it's not going to take the efforts of two or three individuals, it's going to take the efforts of all 15 guys here, plus our technical staff," he added. "That's been ingrained, and all the guys understand that this is the approach that will bring us success."From Dwayne Bravo's nerveless final over against Deccan Chargers, to Pollard's sensational 18-ball fifty against New South Wales, Trinidad's players have come up with performances that would have graced any international fixture. Which begs the question, would the island be able to hold its own as a bona fide full-member country? Ganga has no wish to incite a revolution, but he is nevertheless realistic about the state of the game within the region.

"West Indies cricket has a great legacy," he said, "and there's a great amount of pride and respect for it, because of what our great teams have accomplished in decades gone by. I am not one to jump on a bandwagon and say Trinidad & Tobago should go on its own, but there has to be some involvement on the part of all stakeholders to protect West Indies cricket. It has to be invested in, in the right manner, and some firm decisions need to be taken about moving our cricket forward.

"And those are issues that need to be addressed now," he added, "because I tell you, if that doesn't happen, it is inevitable that countries may go separately. That is a fact because West Indies cricket cannot continue to have the turmoil that it is in right now. I think it's very important for that to be seen. Looking down the road, if decisions are not made sooner than later, that may be the only direction that territorial boards have left to take."

Ganga, however, was careful not to get carried away by a version of the game that has not won the approval of all cricket-lovers. "A lot of people don't have a lot of respect for Twenty20 cricket and they are right in their approach to some extent," he said. "If you are looking at a nation competing, it's not just about assessing the performance from a Twenty20 perspective. A lot of countries in the world have a bigger population than the Caribbean, and more finances, and still they struggle at Test cricket. I'm not one to advocate going on your own. It's important to set things in perspective, to look exactly at where our cricket is at this time, and what needs to be done to start turning things around."

It is a measure of the incompetence of the various Caribbean boards that Ganga believes that the involvement of disgraced billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford, is still the best thing to happen to cricket in the region for years. Trinidad have certainly benefited from his largesse. They won his US$1million jackpot in 2008 after finishing as runners-up to Guyana in the original Stanford 20/20 in 2006, and went on to supplement that windfall with a further US$280,000 in last year's one-off victory against Middlesex. Regardless of the subsequent revelations about the man, Ganga still believes he and his ilk owe Stanford a debt of gratitude.

"We must thank Sir Allen for his introduction of Twenty20 cricket in the Caribbean, it has caught on and I'm sure it will continue to inspire a new generation of West Indian cricketers," said Ganga. "There's a whole lot of positives that he brought to the region, but then now when you reflect on the situation, you see all the different negatives that his actions have cost. We are not the ones to judge, but what I can say from a cricketing point of view is that we the players have benefited a lot, and I can surely say the WICB and all the territorial boards have benefited a lot in terms of infrastructure and facilities.

"He made a huge investment in WI cricket for years, and the dividends of that are showing now, and will continue for a couple more years. It's important for someone in the Caribbean to identify the huge and positive investment he made in West Indies cricket, and it is important for someone now to take up that slack now."

Tendulker Targets 15000 test runs

Sachin Tendulkar during a training session, Auckland, March 24, 2009
Sachin Tendulkar: "I am not pleased yet with what I have done"

Sachin Tendulkar has said he is not satisfied with his achievements and hopes to accumulate 15,000 runs and win the World Cup in 2011.

"I am not pleased yet with what I have done," Tendulkar, who has scored a record 12773 Test runs at an average of 54.58 from 159 matches, said in an interview with the Wisden Cricketer. "Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs. He said he would be angry with me and would come and catch me if I didn't. I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement, but that is not the only aim." His other big cricketing ambition is to "win the World Cup in 2011".

Tendulkar, 36, also spoke about how he has been consistently playing with pain. "I always play in pain, all the time. I played with a broken finger for the last three months, but you know when pain is manageable or not, and most of the time I can do it," he said. "I can still do what I did when I was 25 but the body is changing, so your thought process has to change too. I have had to change how I think, which is about taking less risk."

Tendulkar also disagreed with John Buchanan, former Australia coach, who felt Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork. "It is only his opinion; John Buchanan doesn't have to be right all the time. If I couldn't handle short deliveries, then I wouldn't still be scoring runs," he said. "Maybe he needs to change his opinion. There must be something very wrong with all the bowlers around the world that they have allowed me to score so many runs."



"I would say Virender Sehwag comes closest to my style."



Don Bradman had said Tendulkar reminded him of himself and the Indian batsman was the only modern player in Bradman's all-time XI. Does Tendulkar think the same way about anyone? "I would say Virender Sehwag comes closest to my style."

Tendulkar said he was not thinking about retirement yet but he would know when to quit cricket. "I will know when it is the right time, I won't have to be dragged away. I am the person who will make the decision and I will know whether I still belong."

He admitted life after cricket wouldn't be easy. "It's a scary thought. It has been there for my whole adult life, it will be difficult, I have been around for a long time, I can imagine when I finish I will long to face just 10 more balls but you have to move."

ICC Bowlers Rankings

1 N Kulasekara
2 K Mills
3 Shakib Al Hasan
4 D Vettori
5 M Muralidaran
6 N Bracken
7 M Johnson
8 M Mortaza
9 S Broad
10 A.Flintoff

ICC ODI Batmans Rankings

1 MS Dhoni
2 Yuvrav Singh
3 Michael Hussey
4 S Chanderpaul
5 Chris Gayle
6 AB de Villiers
7 V Sehwag
8 G Smith
9 H Gibbs
10 J Kallis

ODI Ratings

Team Rankings


POINTS
1 South Africa 127
2 India 126
3 Australia 119
4 England 111
5 New Zealand 110
6 Pakistan 107
7 Sri Lanka 106
8 West Indies 78
9 Bangladesh 54
10 Ireland 27

Murali To Retire from Test In Late 2011

Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has said he will retire from Test cricket next year. Murali, who is the highest wicket-taker in Tests with 770 wickets in 127 Tests, announced that the two-Test home series against West Indies in November 2010 would be his last.

Speaking at the end of the first ODI against Pakistan, in which he won the Man-of-the-Match award, the 37-year-old Murali said he would focus on playing one-day cricket until the 2011 World Cup, to be held in the subcontinent, and would thereafter stick to Twenty20 cricket.

"I am not going to play for a long time. Next year's West Indies series will be the last two Test matches I will be playing," Muralitharan said. "That's the right time for me because I will be 38 years old. The 2011 World Cup is my aim, but I will enjoy playing Twenty20 cricket for a few more years. "The hardest game in cricket is Tests. The hardest part is you have to take wickets and get batsmen out and sometimes you have to spend two days on the field. You have to mentally prepare yourself for every game. In Twenty20, you look to contain the batsmen and he tries some shots and gets out. Fifty-over cricket is also the same. In Test cricket you have to read the batsmen, set the fields properly and get the wickets."

Muralitharan missed Sri Lanka's 2-0 win in the recent three-Test series against Pakistan due to a torn tendon in his right knee, which could be one of the factors in his decision.

"I put in a lot of effort in the last one month to be fit," said Muralitharan. "I trained very hard with the physio Tommy [Simsek] and trainers Jade [Roberts] and Mario [Villavarayan] who helped me to get through the difficult period. I also enjoyed the rest. I trained hard although I knew my knee was not right.

Top Curve
Murali's milestones

* August, 1992 - Murali made his Test debut against Australia at the Khettarama Stadium and took 3 for 141.
* December, 1995 - No-balled by Darrell Hair seven times for a suspect action during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
* March, 1997 - Became the first Sri Lankan to reach 100 Test wickets.
* January, 2002 - Became the fastest to reach the 400-wicket landmark. It took him only 72 Tests.
* May, 2004: Went past Courtney Walsh's record for the most Test wickets when he claims his 520th wicket.
* July, 2007 Reached the 700-wicket milestone in his 113th Test. The last 100 wickets came in 12 Tests.

Bottom Curve

"The doctors said that I have to go through with it and train harder. I can't go for an operation because I will be out for six to seven months. That will mean my career is almost over and that I am not going to play for a long time.

"A torn tendon is a very big injury and it will take a long time to heal. The best suggestion was for me to rest for two to three weeks, train hard and play with a little pain. I was prepared to go through with it. The doctors said that I can definitely play with the injury for about one to two years but in the end when I finish I will have to operate on it."

Muralitharan, who once harboured hopes of becoming the first bowler in Test history to take 1000 wickets, said the lack of Test cricket for Sri Lanka had made it difficult for him to achieve the milestone.

"If I am to get 1000 Test wickets we have to play Test matches regularly," Muralitharan said. "These days we play fewer Test matches."

In 2010, Sri Lanka have only the two-Test series at home against West Indies to look forward to. However, Muralitharan said 800 wickets would be a more realistic target as Sri Lanka are due to play two home Tests against New Zealand starting next month, followed by three Tests in India at the end of the year.

Muralitharan made his Test debut against Australia in 1992, and became Test cricket's leading wicket-taker when he went past Shane Warne's record of 708 wickets against England in December 2007, fittingly on his home ground in Kandy. He achieved the grand double of being the highest wicket-taker in ODIs as well when he went past Wasim Akram's record of 502 wickets in 2009.

He currently has 507 ODI wickets from the 330 ODIs played, at an average of 22.74. He has also featured in eight Twenty20 internationals, picking up 11 wickets at 16.81.

Clarke being treated for stomach strain

Michael Clarke, the Australia vice-captain, has joined Andrew Flintoff as a key injury concern ahead of the crucial fourth Test in Headingley from Friday. While Flintoff, who was named in England's 14 man squad, is having his knee problem monitored daily, Clarke has begun regular treatment for a stomach strain picked up during his unbeaten 103 at Edgbaston on Monday.

Clarke's century, his 12th in Tests, ensured Australia left Birmingham with a draw and kept them within one match of levelling the five-game series. He will not train at Headingley on Wednesday and pulled out of a promotional appearance in Leeds on Tuesday night.

Alex Kountouris, the Australian physiotherapist, said Clarke felt the injury after the game finished. "He will continue to be treated with a view to him being fit for the fourth Test," he said.

Australia are also waiting to see whether Brad Haddin's broken finger improves enough for him to regain his spot. Graham Manou stepped in at the last minute and put in a strong performance behind the stumps after Haddin was hurt in the warm-up shortly before the match.

Haddin was able to put his glove on the injured hand on Monday, but previously had struggled to hold a bat. He will visit a specialist in Leeds on Wednesday. Brett Lee, who hopes to bowl at full pace throughout this week, is another Australian on the comeback trail following a rib injury picked up before the series started.

Razzaq Ruled Out Of Zimbabwe Series

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has been ruled out of Bangladesh's upcoming tour of Zimbabwe beginning next week. Razzak, who strained his hamstring while batting in the third ODI against West Indies at St Kitts on Friday, will be returning home to continue with his recovery.

Enamul Haque jnr has been named as his replacement for the tour scheduled between August 9-18 and comprising a warm-up match and five ODIs.

Razzak, 27, was reported for a suspect action in November 2008 and he was suspended from bowling in international cricket. The ICC cleared him the following year and soon after, he was picked for the World Twenty20 in England. He was also Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker during their recent 3-0 ODI whitewash of West Indies, picking up seven at 22.85.

Enamul, who last played an ODI back in 2005, against the same opposition in Dhaka, will be joining the squad in Dubai on Wednesday and will fly to Zimbabwe thereafter.

Jawawardena Plays A big Knock and Takes Srilanka to A Series Win

The morning may have belonged to the Akmal brothers and Pakistan, but it was all Sri Lanka in the afternoon, with an imperious century from Mahela Jayawardene central to a commanding six-wicket victory which clinched the series with two games to spare. The pursuit of 289 was made to look like child's play as Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga put on 202 for the first wicket, and not even a brief wobble thereafter could stop Sri Lanka's inexorable progress. Jayawardene's 123, his first hundred since 2007, took only 108 balls, and even cramps failed to curtail the boundary barrage as the bowlers were treated with disdain.

Jayawardene's driving down the ground, and over cover, was majestic, and any shortness in length was ruthlessly punished by the most elegant of pull shots. But for a huge leg-before shout from Shahid Afridi which he survived - the umpire suspecting a bottom edge - Jayawardene made few mistakes, finding the boundaries with elan as the bowling started to fall apart. There was even a cheeky reverse-sweep for four off Saeed Ajmal, as he cruised to his century from only 91 balls.

Tharanga had slowed after getting to his own half-century from 55 balls, content to work the ball around, but there was more than a measure of misfortune about his dismissal, with the Ajmal delivery clearly striking him outside the line of off stump. When Mahela followed, after a tired miscue to cover, Pakistan scented opportunity. And the feel-good factor increased when Thilan Samaraweera played one back to Ajmal off the leading edge.

But Sri Lanka weren't about to squander such a start. Thilina Kandamby and Kumar Sangakkara wrested the initiative back with a slew of boundaries, with Abdul Razzaq proving especially disappointing. Kandamby fell to Mohammad Aamer shortly before victory was clinched, but it was all too easy in the end.

North And Clarke Put Australia Safe

After a rain-affected draw at Edgbaston, in which England's push for victory fell as flat as the fifth day pitch, the question now stands: who takes the momentum into Headingley? The temptation is to give the nod to England given their 1-0 series advantage and flashes of brilliance between the spells of drizzle in Birmingham. But, on closer inspection, the matter may not be so clear-cut.

Australia will take tremendous confidence from their second-innings batting performance, in which three batsmen passed 50 and one, Michael Clarke, a stoic century in his 50th Test to limit England to just five wickets from 112 overs. Shane Watson's returns of 62 and 53 in his first Test as opener will prove particularly encouraging as will the final-day efforts of Michael Hussey (64) and Marcus North (96), both of whom were in need of a confidence boost.

The Australians will also be buoyed at the possibility that Mitchell Johnson's nightmare might just have been confined to the month of July. Johnson is clearly not back to his wrecking-ball ways from South Africa, but he did manage to make the necessary adjustments to his wrist position to allow him to rediscover the at-the-body line and subtle swing that has made him so effective in past series.

England clearly have grounds for optimism, too. Were it not for the five-and-a-half sessions lost to rain, bad light and the water-logged outfield, they might have better capitalised on their 113-run first-innings advantage. That lead was established after James Anderson and Graham Onions befuddled Australia's batsmen with prodigious aerial movement on Friday, and with Headingley considered among the better swinging grounds in the country, England will hope to probe Australia's barely-healed wounds from Friday.

The hosts will also be satisfied by the manner in which they covered for Kevin Pietersen, but Andrew Flintoff is looming as a major concern. The England allrounder, who is understood to have had two further pain-killing injections to his troublesome right knee prior to this match, fell awkwardly on his left ankle when delivering the final ball of his 13th over. Flintoff required the better part of 30 seconds to climb back to his feet and appeared in significant discomfort, but managed to bowl two more overs in the session. His condition will be monitored with only three days between the third and fourth Tests.

Australia signed off the match with Clarke notching his second century of the campaign and usurping Strauss as the highest run-scorer in the series. For the satistically inclined, it also took his Test average above 50 for the first time since 2005 - and this, in his 50th Test. The pragmatists, however, will note that his unbeaten 103 was not so much important for the runs scored as the 192 balls it soaked up, denying England any chance of forcing a result.

Pakistan taking away the game from Srilanka In 3rd Test

Pakistan, who lost the first two Tests to hand Sri Lanka a decisive lead in the series, finally flexed their batting muscle to pile up 300-5 in their second innings by stumps on the third day.
Kamran Akmal returned unbeaten on 60 after adding 114 for the unbroken sixth wicket with Malik as Pakistan established an overall lead of 366 runs with five wickets in hand.
Sri Lanka will need to put on their best batting display in the series to record a 3-0 sweep over the remaining two days after failing to cross 300 in any of the five previous innings.
Pakistan appeared to have thrown away the advantage of a 66-run first innings lead when, starting the day at 16-1, they lost three quick wickets to slip to 67-4 before lunch.
Malik and Misbah-ul Haq led the fight-back with a 119-run stand for the fifth wicket, staying together for the entire post-lunch session to frustrate the Sri Lankan bowlers on a hot and humid day.
Misbah made 65 before he gifted his wicket after tea, attempting a wild heave off seamer Angelo Mathews that took the edge to wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.
Malik reached his second Test century just before close by lofting left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for a six, having survived a missed stumping by Sangakkara in the bowler’s previous over.
‘We have learnt our lessons,’ said Malik. ‘All of us have been working hard on our game and trying to get the basics right.’
‘This wicket is a lot flatter than the ones in the previous two Tests, but we still needed to put our heads down and put up a big score.’
‘There could be some turn on the last two days. The captain and coach will decide on when we need to declare, if at all.’
Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss conceded the hosts missed a second spinner alongside Herath after dropping Ajantha Mendis to accommodate veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas for his final Test.
Vaas, who claimed one wicket in the first innings, was kept out of the firing line till the 33rd over on Wednesday before sending down 14 unsuccessful overs for 29 runs.‘We lacked a bit of variety in the attack,’ said Bayliss. ‘But we stuck it out there. Pakistan batted very well and showed what we need to do when our turn comes.’
Pakistan had added just six runs to their overnight score when Fawad Alam fended at a short ball from left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and spooned an easy catch to the bowler.
Left-handed Alam, who hit 168 on his debut in the second Test, scored 16 in each innings here.
Younus Khan looked solid while making 19 when he was unfortunate to be given leg-before to Nuwan Kulaksekera by umpire Ian Gould. Television replays showed an inside edge off the bat.
Younus walked back dejected as Pakistan slipped to 54-3, just 120 runs ahead.
Veteran Mohammad Yousuf was on 23 when he poked at a good length delivery from left-arm spinner Herath and edged a catch to wicket-keeper Sangakkara.