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Glenn McGrath has made a last-gasp plea to Australia’s selectors to try and convince them that he his fit for the Sri Lanka series. The squad is due to be announced on Friday.McGrath has been out of action with an ankle injury since July, during which time he has undergone two operations. He was due to make a comeback for New South Wales at the weekend but pulled out.”I have had a number of excellent net sessions over the past week and the ankle feels fantastic,” he said. “I have been training hard over the past month with my personal trainer and I am the fittest I have been for a long time.”I’ll speak to the selectors this week and find out just what they are thinking. It would be nice to have a chat with them and see what is expected of me.”McGrath’s inclusion would have been a gamble even if he had played for his state, but without any meaningful work-out, the selectors are unlikely to take the risk. And although he reportedly came through a 40-minute net without any side effects, his withdrawal from the weekend’s game is likely to count against him.But Ricky Ponting refused to rule out the possibility. “You’d want him in the team but you’d like to know he was 100 per cent fit as well,” Ponting said. “I doubt he’d able to say that without a game under his belt and I don’t know if the selectors are thinking about that … but sometimes you have to take the player’s word for it. Being the champion bowler he is you’d have to consider it.”Warren Craig, McGrath’s manager, was as keen to promote his client’s cause. “He’s ready to play and then it’s up to the selectors as to whether he’s got enough cricket behind him to select him,” he said. “He’ll be playing for his club and seeing where it takes him.”

The publication of confidential correspondence between the Anti Corruption Unit and the PCB, detailing the former’s concerns over match-fixing in the Pakistani camp during two ODI tournaments in 2002, raised some uncomfortable issues, and leaves more questions than answers.The two letters, both written by Lord Condon – the Elliot Ness of international cricket – highlighted concerns the ACU have over the activities of senior Pakistani players during the Champions’ Trophy in Colombo in 2002 and the Morocco Triangular preceding it. The letters were written in response to an inquiry from the PCB, who at the time was reviewing an appeal filed by Wasim Akram against the recommendations of Justice Qayyum’s report on the match-fixing scandal.Tauqir Zia, at the time the PCB’s chairman, acknowledged the correspondence, but stated that it was part of the PCB’s ongoing cooperation with the ICC against corruption, and no further action was taken because, as the letters clearly state, no proof or evidence of wrong-doing was available. That, then, would have been that, but the leaking of these documents throws a different light on the matter.Rameez Raja, the PCB’s chief executive, speaking to Wisden Cricinfo, expressed concerns about the leak. “It is an old story that doesn’t concern anyone now. We have been in contact with the ICC but if there is no proof, what can we do? The timing of the leak is bad, with a big series coming up. We will be carrying out an investigation at our end to find out what happened with the leak and will be making an official announcement in a couple of days.”It is difficult to ascertain whether the content of the leaked letters or its source is of more significance. If the players involved also include members of the current setup, then the matter holds menacingly disturbing implications.Raja’s comments, that it is an old story raked up in the name of sensationalism, suggest that current players are not involved. If this is the case, then the leak, and the motive behind it, becomes important. Ostensibly, it appears that someone within the PCB is trying to derail a new administration or further blacken the name of the previous one. Either case should not be surprising to followers of the political games often played out in the corridors of the PCB.The ICC and ACU released an official “no comment” statement after the documents came to light, and have refused to budge from that position. Waqar Younis, who was captain at the time, has strongly condemned the ACU for making “allegations or raising suspicions without proof.” However, as it was the PCB which had initiated the correspondence for the purposes of its own inquiry, there is little wrong with the ACU providing any information they felt was relevant to the inquiry – solid evidence or not. That the letters were leaked can hardly be blamed on the ACU.With the ICC leaving the matter to the PCB, the whole affair stands now at a temporary impasse. The PCB will examine the issue of the leak itself through an official inquiry, one that will be launched in the next couple of days.More than the nature of the story itself, one suspects the key may lie with the person responsible for the leak and his motives. Pakistan’s match-fixing closet apparently has some skeletons to drag out still.

On the evening before Australia start their eagerly awaited three-Test series in Sri Lanka, there were two main talking points in Galle. The big philosophical one is whether, after an unexpected drawn series against India in January, the first cracks have appeared in Australia’s cricketing empire. The more immediate one is the biscuit-dry, mosaic of a pitch at Galle’s International Stadium. The cracks in that are a bit more obvious.The wicket is the only patch of baked brown in an otherwise lush outfield and square. From the press box, it is like looking at an oasis in reverse. Baked by the fierce south Sri Lankan sun and dried by the breeze off the nearby Indian Ocean, the pitch does not have a blade of live grass to hold it together.”It will certainly turn, virtually from ball one,” said John Buchanan, Australia’s coach, at the ground on Saturday. “There is a question as to how long it will actually last.” In truth there’s not much question at all: this pitch will break up quickly and favour the spinners.Sri Lanka will play just one seamer – Chaminda Vaas – and pack their attack with slow bowlers. Tillakaratne Dilshan will probably share the new ball – he bowls quickish offbreaks – with back-up from legspinner Upul Chandana, another brisk offspinner in Kumar Dharmasena, and the slow left-armer Sanath Jayasuriya. Their seventh batsman, Thilan Samaraweera, also bowls offbreaks, when he can get a look-in. And then there’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 7 for 46 here against England in December, on a pitch less favourable to slow bowlers than this one.”We are not scared of fast bowlers, but we are playing to our home advantage,” said Hashan Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain, on Sunday. “We want to give our bowlers the best wickets they could bowl on.”For Australia, Shane Warne, who has now served his 12-month drug ban, will return at the very first opportunity. (Ordinarily, players are made to battle to regain the baggy green, but Warne is no ordinary bowler.) Warne’s fellow legspinner, Stuart MacGill, also looks set to play.Brett Lee’s ankle had not recovered enough for him to train on the eve of the match. So Michael Kasprowicz, who can reverse-swing the ball on dry wickets, is set to open the bowling with Jason Gillespie. It’s almost three years since Kasprowicz, 32, last played a Test – in India’s sensational VVS Laxman-inspired comeback at Kolkata in 2000-01. By Australian standards this is not a strong attack, and Ricky Ponting, whose debut as Test captain has almost been overlooked, will probably have to summon up some Stephen Fleming-like inventiveness in the field.Andrew Symonds will make his debut, batting at No. 6 and filling in a few overs (he can bowl either medium-pace or flattish offspin). That is tough on Simon Katich, who made a hundred in Australia’s only warm-up game, and another in their last Test. Of course there is no Steve Waugh. Still, the local Sunday Leader‘s claim today that Australia have a huge vacuum in the middle order seems a touch optimistic.The evening before the match, Sri Lanka were leaving no part of their spin-based game plan to chance. Locally they say cricket always brings rain at Galle, and as evening fell, tarpaulins were placed not only over the controversial square but also on almost every inch of the outfield. The match is scheduled to start at 0430 GMT.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Kumar Dharmasena, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Australia (probable): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Michael Kasprowicz, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Stuart MacGill.Paul Coupar, the assistant editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, will be following Australia in their Test series in Sri Lanka.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has lashed out at Pakistan’s bowlers, after his team suffered a humilating defeat in the first Test at Multan. In a column that appeared in Mid Day, Inzamam claimed that the bowlers were far from “world-class” and that the “hype balloon” had finally burst after they got carted around on the first two days. “In my book, Imran Khan was world-class; so was Wasim Akram. In my book, Anil Kumble is world-class. On a dry, bald, flat wicket he got eight Pakistan wickets without match practice. My flock of pacers is nowhere near that class.”He went on: “You could trust Wasim and Imran to bowl out the opposition on any surface. They didn’t rely only on pace. They had lots of ammunition to suit every surface. The same cannot be said of my pace quartet, who have bowled well only under helpful conditions.”Inzamam was critical of the mental approach of the bowlers, and accused them of getting carried away. “The pre-series hype about our pace bowling versus India’s batting seems to have gone straight to their heads. They have forgotten how to bowl straight. Some former players have added to the hype by subscribing to this theory. When people like Imran say that our attack is world-class, everyone is bound to believe him. But right from the start of the one-day series, it is our bowlers who have let the side down.”But he ended on a hopeful note. “In Multan, the hype balloon finally burst and all the hot air has escaped. Hopefully, it will bring my pacers down to earth, and they will be able to pick themselves up and perform to their potential for a change.”

Pakistan 426 for 7 dec (Baluch 242) and 58 for 2 drew with West Indies 147 (Shaiza Khan 7-59) and 440 (Gregory 118, Shaiza Khan 6-167)
ScorecardKiran Baluch smashed 242, the world record for the highest score by a woman in a Test, but it wasn’t enough to secure Pakistan victory in the one-off game against West Indies at Karachi. Despite being made to follow on 279 runs in arrears, West Indies dug deep to score 440 second time round and so draw the match.Baluch, 28, beat the previous record of 214, held by India’s Mithali Raj, as Pakistan declared on 426 for 7. With Sajjida Shah, her fellow opener who made 98, she put on 241 for the first wicket as Pakistan dominated the first day. They closed on 242 for 1, with Shah dismissed in the penultimate over of the day.”I am delighted on creating a world record and credit this record to all the women players in the world,” said Kiran. “It’s a great moment in women’s cricket in Pakistan and I am delighted that such records will give us the due recognition which has been missing.”The second day also went Pakistan’s way, as they progressed past 400 before declaring and then reduced West Indies to 72 for 5.The third morning was notable for Shaiza Khan, Pakistan’s captain, becoming only the second woman to take a Test hat-trick – the first was Betty Wilson for Australia against England in 1957-58. Shaiza removed Verena Felicien (47) and Doris Francis (0) with the last two balls of her 14th over and then Stephanie Power (19) with the first delivery of her 15th. Shaiza finished with 7 for 59.Forced to follow-on, West Indies fared far better, led by a battling hundred from Nadine George in extreme conditions . Her century, West Indies first in a Test, came off 150 balls and contained 13 fours. Exhausted, she retired hurt shortly after reaching the landmark with a muscle problem. But with Verena Felicien (55), George added 97 for the fourth wicket and West Indies closed on 230 for 4.Pakistan needed early wickets on the final day, and when West Indies slumped to 371 for 7, only 38 ahead with George dismissed for 118, they looked on course. But Power and Francis, who both scored 57, added 105 for the eighth wicket in 115 minutes and effectively batted Pakistan out of the contest. Shaiza, followed her first-innings heroics with 6 for 167 in 55 overs, ending with match figures of 13 for 226, the best in a Test.Set an unlikely target of 162 off a maximum of 31 overs, Pakistan had crawled to 58 for 2 when the match was called off.

Australia’s cricketers have been briefed on the latest situation in Zimbabweand will fly out to the country on Thursday with neither fear nor regret,John Buchanan, their coach, has declared.”I wouldn’t think there is any concern,” Buchanan said at a pre-tour camp inBrisbane. “Basically Cricket Australia, and virtually all the information wehave from a security point of view, has allayed anybody’s fears. I thinkthat’s pretty fair to say.”The players were updated on Monday on the state of play in Zimbabwe by TimMay, head of the players’ association, and Cricket Australia’s operationsmanager Michael Brown.”I’m sure every player and all of us think about the issues and come totheir own conclusions,” Buchanan said. “But in the end we’re invited there as cricketers, we’re invited there through the ICC programme. Zimbabwe cricket wants us there and Cricket Australia honour those commitments. We go there as cricketers and that’swhat we’re trying to do.”It is only a week since batsman Darren Lehmann hinted at a deeper clash ofconscience within the Australian team: “We are not a political side,”Lehmann said, “but I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a concern aboutthe whole scenario.”However, Buchanan indicated that if any players had serious concerns theywould have expressed them by now. So far, only Stuart MacGill has pulled outof the tour. Lehmann did not attend yesterday’s briefing because he isplaying county cricket in England.Buchanan made his comments before last night’s latest dramatic twist, whenZimbabwe’s 15 rebel white players were sacked by the national board for notreturning to work. The move seemingly ensures that a third-string Zimbabwe side, similar to the team slaughtered recently by Sri Lanka, will meet world champions Australiain a farcical mismatch. Apparently it matters nought.”I guess we’re still waiting to see what the make-up of the [Zimbabwe] teamwill be once we get to Zimbabwe,” Buchanan said. “But whatever that is we’regoing there to tour and play Test matches and one-day cricket and everybody’s committed to doing that.”Indeed they will not only play but help out where possible, with players andcoaches willing to stage coaching clinics and offer any other off-fieldassistance where desired. “If that presents itself and security is not anissue,” said Buchanan, “we’ll dive at it.”Buchanan meanwhile stood up for Sri Lankan’s champion offspinner MuttiahMuralitharan, who has been lauded and besieged in equal measure sincebreaking the world Test bowling record last week.”He’s a class bowler,” said Buchanan, “and class bowlers should be able tobowl how they see fit.” He described the recent biomechanical testing ofMurali’s doosra as “more a bit of a grease and oil change than anythingelse”.The Australians leave for Zimbabwe on Thursday morning, playing two Testsand three one-day internationals.

Bangladesh’s budding fast bowler, Tapash Baisya, has suffered an injury setback at an intensive training camp in Dhaka, after dislocating his left shoulder in a boxing match.Baisya, 21, was impressive on Bangladesh’s recent tour to the Caribbean, where he took 4 for 16 in the rain-shortened second one-day match in Jamaica, before contributing with bat and ball during the drawn first Test in St Lucia, as Bangladesh were able to declare for the only time in their first 30 Tests.But Bangladesh’s injury jinx has struck again at the BKSP, the national academy. The squad members had been paired off to face each other in the boxing ring, in an exercise designed to help their "instantaneous flexibility". According to reports, Baisya sustained his injury after apparently missing a left jab on his fellow paceman, Tareq Aziz.In the absence of Mashrafee bin Mortoza, Baisya is the leading pace bowler in the country, but has now been advised to rest for three weeks, and may miss the forthcoming Asia Cup.

ScorecardCraig Philipson was the destructive, decisive influence in a match that seed, sawed and then seed again, before Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) overpowered the Australian Indigenous team. The 170-run victory was misleading, because for most of the first two days, the game was even.QAS had first put on 310 for 8 before declaring, and the Australian Indiginous team went 57 runs ahead. Three centuries were scored in the two innings, and the only one which had a hint of violence was Lachlan Stevens’s unbeaten 116, loaded with 17 fours and three tonks over the boundary. His innings, by far the highest score, was chiefly responsible for getting QAS past 300. Daniel Payne (109) and Daniel Christian (105) then shared a 192-run partnership after the Australian Indigenous team were 2 for 9. Their stand and a few late-order blows put the team ahead, but nothing could have prepared them for what came next.QAS created a result out of thin air. After losing two wickets for 35, a loss was more than probable. Philipson came in and created such an impact, that by the end of the day, QAS had scored 2 for 222 in 28 overs. He scored 132 in only 73 balls. He was dismissed the next day for 146, after five sixes and 21 fours. In 81 balls, he destroyed Barry Weare (71 in 10 overs), Ian Redpath (49 in four) and Christian (30 in three). Queensland declared at 364 for 5 in less than 60 overs.In another 40 overs, the match was wrapped up. The Indigenous team crumbled for 137, and there were no more fightbacks. Wickets fell regularly, and though this score was the lowest of the match by far, the Australian Indigenous team was ultimately done in by Philipson.

Simon Katich has been included in Australia’s one-day squad to take on New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, beginning at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on December 5. Despite having a very good tour of India, when he made two crucial half-centuries, Katich was left out of the side that whitewashed New Zealand in the Tests. He replaced Ian Harvey in the one-day squad, who will be returning to domestic cricket after recovering from a groin injury.Katich’s inclusion was the only change that the selectors made to the side that had lost in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in England a few months back. Commenting on the selection, Trevor Hohns, the chairman of the selection panel, said, “With Ian Harvey on his way back from injury, we felt it was important to give him some more time at state level before considering him for international duties. We’ll certainly be keeping close watch on him during his comeback for Victoria. Katich performed well in his return to ING Cup cricket and deserves his place in the squad.”Hohns also justified the decision to pick a 14-man squad for such a short series: “Not only to give us flexibility over the three games but to balance player workload in the lead-up to the Test series against Pakistan.”After the first game at Melbourne, the teams will clash at Sydney on December 8 before before concluding at Brisbane on December 10. All matches are day/night fixtures and will be broadcast live around Australia on the Nine Network and ABC Radio.Australian squad
Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath.

Individual statistics for Tests played in 2004

Individual statistics for ODIs played in 2004