Sachin Tendulkar has appealed to India’s fans and media to not get carried away by the hype around the Pakistan tour. Speaking to Reuters at the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra, Mumbai, Tendulkar said, "I want to tell the people to keep a balanced mind. There will be some good days, there will be some bad days."I think everyone should take responsibility," he continued. "Not only players, but spectators and the media too. Whatever anyone speaks or writes should be correctly thought out. Just as players are trying their best so that they can play a good game, everyone should try to enjoy the game well. This is my request."A number of India players have spoken out in the last few days about how they are in a positive frame of mind, and are looking forward to the cricket without worrying about security. Tendulkar, in similar mode, said that he was eager to just get on with the game. "It’s a great feeling and I am really excited."Part of the excitement, of course, came from the fact that India is touring Pakistan after a passage of more than 14 years. Tendulkar is the only member of the current Indian squad who played on that tour. "At that time I was 16 years old, I was very young," he said. "Now, having been around for 14-and-a-half years, it’s exciting [that I am] getting an opportunity to play in Pakistan."Tendulkar, typically, downplayed suggestions that the battle to watch would be the one between him and Shoaib Akhtar. "It’s not like that. One factor which is always common is India v Australia or India v Pakistan; two countries playing against each other rather than two individuals playing against each other.”Man v Machine
As always before a major series, Tendulkar spent a lot of time in the nets preparing for the challenges ahead. The Times of India reported that Tendulkar has spent the last ten days practising with a bowling machine. "This [is] better than 10-15 bowlers coming at you," said Tendulkar, after one of his sessions. "It becomes a different ball-game when you are playing against [a] machine because you don’t see the bowler come charging in. Sometimes, even 70mph seems like 90 mph. It’s much faster than normal." That did not mean, of course, that the machine was set to bowl at 70mph – some of the balls reportedly flew out at as much as 100 mph.Interestingly, Tendulkar also practised playing reverse swing against the machine. "You can make the ball do what you want on the machine," he said. "I was just trying to practice different things to prepare myself."Remembering that first time
Tendulkar also spoke to The Times of India about his debut Test in Karachi, in 1989. "I was totally overawed by the situation," he said. "Everything seemed to be going against me. I had come straight from [the] Ranji Trophy into Test cricket, against the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis. It was not easy to handle. The experience will always remain there. It’s probably the highlight of my career."Tendulkar made just 15 in that first Test, but notched up his first half-century in the second Test, at Faisalabad. About that innings, Tendulkar said, "I stayed there long enough to know [that] I can handle this."Having handled pressure, Tendulkar learnt how to handle pain in the fourth Test, at Sialkot. "I was hit on the nose [by Waqar] when I was on one. But I carried on batting for three-and-a-half hours and saved the game. That made that tour special. My confidence level really grew."Power to Powar
Tendulkar had a few words of encouragement for his Mumbai team-mate, Ramesh Powar, who is all set to make his international debut in Pakistan. "I must congratulate him," said Tendulkar. "He is a hard-working player. He has struggled all through his life to be where he is. It is a credit to his determination and focus. He seems sincere, honest, and a great fighter."I heard from my Mumbai team-mates last year that he [Powar] had twisted his ankle really badly," Tendulkar continued. "But he put on a plaster cast and played on before taking a break. Certainly, he is not one to run away from the battlefield. That’s what we need while playing in Pakistan – a big heart."

Arjuna Ranatunga has reacted angrily to Chris Broad’s decision to reportMuttiah Muralitharan for having a suspect bowling action when he bowls hisdoosra, suggesting that the decision may have been racially motivated.Ranatunga, who fiercely defended Muralitharan during controversial tours ofAustralia in 1995-96 and 1998-99, told newspaper: “I can’t understand why Murali is having problems only when he plays against Australia. He had problems in Australia just before two World Cup tournaments and now, just as he is nearing a crucial milestone, here they go again.”Murali phoned me last night [Sunday] and sounded pretty down. The point Iam trying to make is that he bowled the doosra even while I was playing.Today he has mastered that delivery and it is total nonsense to suggest thatthere are any problems with it.”Ranatunga believes that Broad was not only out of order in acting unilaterally at such a crucial juncture in Muralitharan’s career, but also out of his depth:”The ICC should appoint those who are experienced and have an impeccablerecord in such positions. What experience does he have? Look at his background. His actions are a huge let down to the ICC’s reputation. This is all to totally discredit the achievement of a great player. Murali is chasing the world record with Shane Warne, and the Australians and English do not want one of our players getting there [first].”

Jacques Kallis was the night’s big winner at the inaugural South African Cricket Awards on Thursday night, as he collected four trophies including the prestigious Mutual and Federal South African Cricketer of the Year Award.Kallis’s peers also recognised his achievements this year, in which he scored 1354 runs in 12 Tests, including five centuries in consecutive matches against West Indies and New Zealand. He also received the Players Player Award, as well as the SuperSport Fans’ Award, and the Castle Lager/MTN Player of the Year.”Jacques is without doubt one of our finest-ever cricketers,” said Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board. “His performances in the last year have been phenomenal and put him among the game’s current greats. These awards show not only what a fine year he has had, but also how well-respected he is by his fellow players and by our loyal fans. We should all be very proud of him, he is a great ambassador for our game and South Africa.”Among the other notable award-winners were Jacques Rudolph, the International Newcomer of the Year; Makhaya Ntini, the Standard Bank ODI Cricketer of the Year; and Adam Bacher, a double winner in domestic cricket. “I congratulate all the winners on their fantastic achievements,” added Majola. “Theyall richly deserve the accolades and praise for the hard work and dedication they have put in to reach the top in their respective fields ofexpertise.””The last year has been one of great challenges for all of us in cricket,” he continued. “There has also been tremendous growth in the game around the country and these winners reflect that. They have pushed themselves to reach the top and succeeded and we look forward to further growth and even greater achievements over the next twelve months. The UCB is very proud of these young South Africans.”Two lifetime achievement awards were also handed out. South Africa’s most-capped Test player, Gary Kirsten, was honoured for his achievements and contributions to the game over the last ten years, along with the previous South African team manager, Goolam Rajah, who received the UCBPresident’s Award in recognition of his service over the past decade.

Brad Hodge unbeaten 154 outgunned Ian Ward’s 136 in the outstanding match of the latest round of National League matches, as Leicestershire held out for a one-run victory over Sussex at Horsham. Elsewhere, Shane Warne celebrated his unexpected early return from Zimbabwe with four wickets and a useful 48, as Hampshire beat Gloucestershire, while Scott Newman’s 106 gave Surrey a long-overdue victory to bring an end to their disastrous start to the season. At Old Trafford, Sajid Mahmood and Alex Wharf preserved Lancashire’s unbeaten record, and at Derby Somerset’s wicketkeeper, Carl Gazzard, cracked an impressive 157 to secure a 114-run victory.

National League Division One

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Aussie imports overpower Gloucs The Times
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Loye sweeps Lancs to victory The Guardian
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Northants collect first points of the season The Telegraph
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Newman leads Surrey to first winThe Guardian

National League Division Two

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Gazzard century leads Sabres’ victoryThe Times
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Klusener grabs last-ball win for Middlesex The Times
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Foxes steal narrow win over Sharks The Times
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Batty restricts Yorkshire The Times

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A century from Geraint Jones, along with 4 for 50 by Amjad Khan on the third day of the tour match gave Kent a realistic chance of victory against the New Zealanders. After the batsmen added a further 136 to their overnight score, Kent bowled out New Zealand for 211 to leave them needing 165 more runs for victory tomorrow.Jones, resuming on 43, sent out the perfect signal ahead of next week’s Test at Lord’s with an eye-catching century. He hit 101 from 107 balls, including 11 fours and five sixes. He added a handy 58 with Min Patel, who made 44, to keep the New Zealand bowlers toiling away in the Canterbury sun.Jones eventually fell, caught by Shane Bond off Chris Martin, but it was little reward for the bowlers, who all felt the force of the Kent batsmen during the innings, especially Daniel Vettori, the left-arm spinner, who went for 100 from 15 overs. He did take two wickets, though, including that of Patel, as Kent declared on 432 for 9, and with a lead of 23.New Zealand then had Chris Cairns to thank for another meaty innings of 73 after his side had spluttered to 81 for 6. Khan, a right-arm fast bowler from Denmark, dismissed all top four batsmen, including Nathan Astle for a second-ball duck to rock the New Zealanders. However, Cairns and Vettori added a valuable 49 together to make Kent’s task a little harder.David Fulton and Robert Key, Kent’s openers, played out to the close unscathed.

Enver Mall has been elected the fourth selector on the national selection panel in South Africa. This decision was taken by Ray Mali, the president of the South African board, at Tuesday’s meeting in Johannesburg. Mall will join Omar Henry, the convener of selectors, Eric Simons, the national team’s coach, and Gary Kirsten – who was recently appointed as the high performance manager – on the panel for a one-year term.Mall, 42, represented Natal and the SACOS XI as an opening batsman between 1980 and 1990. He is currently a selector for the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins, and was chosen ahead of Mustapha Khan and Joubert Strydom.The board was notified that Haroon Lorgat, who was originally nominated, had withdrawn his candidature in order to focus his attention on the upcoming election to the treasurer’s post. The selection panel will meet on Friday to select a squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in July and August.There were other developments too, including the resignation of John Blair, the treasurer of the board. Blair had served on the board for the last 11 years and was elected treasurer in 1999. Blair had also worked in the ICC Audit Committee.Meanwhile, it was also announced that the audit committee of the board was looking into the report on the alleged financial irregularities by Diteko Modise, the the former finance and administration general manager. The committee will make their recommendations to the general council on July 10.

The Lancashire opening batsman, Alec Swann, has decided not to renew his contract, and is set to move on after a three-year stint at Old Trafford.”I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent at Lancashire," said Swann, "but I feel I am at a stage in my career where I need to move forward and seek pastures new.” It has been a frustrating year for Swann and Lancashire alike. As the county plunged towards relegation, Swann played just five first-class matches all season, with a top score of 34.”Alec has been a reliable opening batsman," said their manager, Mike Watkinson. "He has provided the club with a valuable three years’ service.” He emulates his brother Graeme, who has moved on to Nottinghamshire from Northamptonshire on a three-year deal.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the names of the players who will play in the two side games against Zimbabwe later this month. A PCB Chairman’s XI will play a two-day game at Sheikhapura from September 20, and that will be followed by a four-day match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore featuring the Patron’s XI, which starts on September 23.The Patron’s XI will be led by Misbah-ul-Haq, and features talents like Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Bazid Khan, both of whom harbour hopes of making the tour to Australia later this year. The PCB Chairman’s XI will be captained by Hasan Raza, who came into the Pakistan team as a precocious teenager before losing his way.The Teams
Patron’s XI Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Bazid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(capt), Naumanullah, Aamer Bashir, Yasir Arafat, Adnan Akmal (wk), Mansoor Amjad, Riaz Afridi, Qaisar Abbas, Iftikhar Anjum, Faisal Athar, Wahab Riaz, Tariq Mahmood, Wasim Khan.PCB Chairman’s XI Asif Zakir, Ashar Zaidi, Shahid Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Hasan Raza (capt), Zulqarnain Haidar (wk), Salman Qadir, Tahir Mughal, Mohammad Khalil, Nasir Khan, Azam Hussain, Irfanuddin, Bilal Asad, Jannisar Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Imran Pasha.

Ray Jennings threw a few punches at the post-day press conference on day three, in a move that may soon come to be known as the Jennings counterattack. Irked yesterday by remarks that South Africa had batted too defensively and looked like they were playing for a draw, Jennings remarked, “I didn’t see too much attacking cricket from the Indians today. Basically there’s been one batsman who’s batted really differently in this Test match. That’s Virender Sehwag, who played a lot of one-day cricket out there. The rest of the Indian batsmen looked like they had fallen asleep. We’ve put a stop on the momentum they had yesterday.”Jennings said that South Africa had decided not to take the new ball because the old one was reverse-swinging (the South Africans have used just the one ball for an innings that is now 125 overs old). “We felt the new ball would go off the bat quicker, while the old one was reverse swinging and was also harder to hit because it was softer. We might take the new ball tomorrow morning.”Jennings also gave an optimistic take on his team’s prospects in the match, saying the wicket was getting harder to bat on, and India would have to bat last on it. “I’m looking forward to seeing India bat on the fifth day chasing around 250.”Rahul Dravid said that India would like to extend their lead, 54 overnight, to about 120 or 130 on the morrow. “With a lead like that we could really put them under pressure. Ideally we’d have liked to make another 40 runs in the day, but they made us work hard for their runs.” He defended Sachin Tendulkar, who made another low score today, saying that people needed to remember that Tendulkar had been out of cricket for several months early in the season and was only just recovering his touch. “I’ve seen Sachin struggle before and he’s always come back strongly. I expect the same this time.”

A win can change a team’s perspective and inspire them to reach for heights that seemed very unlikely not long ago. And ever since Mohammad Ashraful dared to challenge the previously “unplayable” Indian bowlers on a third day at Chittagong, and made his team-mates understand that the opponents, despite their reputation, are still just cricketers, there has been a makeover in Bangladesh’s body-language and approach.The new-found dash was evident when they stunned India in the second one-dayer of he recent series at Dhaka and more proud during the first Test against Zimbabwe where the Tigers gave a polished display to win by 226 runs, a victory margin which fully justified their tag as pre-series favourites. Although there is a celebration hangover for the final Test at Dhaka, the players are eyeing a new chapter in Bangladesh’s cricket.”The first Test is in the past now. Another piece of history beckons – if we don’t lose here we win a series for the first time. But we will go out for a victory,” promised Bangladesh’s captain Habibul Bashar. “It will not be easy and we have to be prepared to work really hard. Our job is only half-finished. Zimbabwe will come hard at us and they have some pretty good batsmen. They played very well in Chittagong, and some of the performances probably did not get noticed because of our domination.”The Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, more relaxed now that the weight of expectation for a Test win has finally lifted, was trying to get familiar with a new kind of burden. “This is the first time the complacency might refer to us,” he explained, “unlike in other games when the bigger teams were guarding against it. We have to be careful against these sorts of things and continue our gradual progress. It’s a different pressure. Now we can’t lose the series. That’s one good thing. But the pressure is to maintain the form and finish it off on a high note.”Zimbabwe’s batting resistance took Bangladesh by surprise at Chittagong, and the opening bowler Mashrafe Mortaza warned that in two years’ time, they could be a real handful. But Zimbabwe’s bowling failed to make an impression. “Although I could not make runs, it was still the weakest bowling I have faced in my Test career,” said Ashraful. “I did not make much of a contribution and that was disappointing from a personal point of view.”

Bangladesh have stuck with the side that won in the first Test, and Mohammad Rafique himself quelled the last-minute concerns regarding his minor hamstring injury: “I’m ok, although the physio has told me to avoid sprinting too much.” Tapash Baisya suffered bruises on his right palm at Chittagong, but an X-ray on Wednesday revealed nothing serious.While the Bangladeshis were enjoying a day-off on Tuesday, Zimbabwe’s coach Phil Simmons had training scheduled for them at the Bangabandhu National Stadium which had to be postponed because of a sudden bout of rain. And so they had extensive practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday to make up time.”I think experience made the difference between the two teams in the first Test,” said Simmons but Zimbabwe’s captain Tatenda Taibu did not quite agree: “Maybe the Bangladeshis have more experience but that is not an excuse for the loss. I think we only played well in bits and pieces. We have to gel together. I would like to see a few more runs from the top order. The spinners did not come to the party in Chittagong, but the seamers bowled tightly and if they bowl like that here on another flat track, they will create opportunities. And if we can take the catches, I think we will win.”It is a must-win situation for Zimbabwe who were giving nothing away and delayed naming their team until late on the day before the match. They were, however, boosted by the availability of Tinashe Panyangara, their most promising fast bowler, and the opening batsman Dion Ebrahim. Panyangara was sidelined with an injury in the first Test while Ebrahim, the only batsman in the squad with over 1000 runs in Tests , was serving a suspension for making disparaging comments about Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action in May last year.As ever, the pitch prompted a few questions after the one at Chittagong had stayed firm even on the last day. “Ideally I would like to see turn from day three onwards but we can’t predict anything, can we?” said Bashar. Taibu agreed: “I have not come to Bangladesh expecting the pitches to be green. This is just another flat wicket.”Bangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafis Iqbal, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Tapash Baisya, 11 Enamul Haque jnr.Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Barney Rogers, 4 Hamilton Masakadza, 5 Graeme Cremer, 6 Brendan Taylor, 7 Tatenda Taibu (capt, wk), 8 Elton Chigumbura, 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Douglas Hondo, 11 Chris Mpofu.