Standing in the centre of the picturesque Beausejour Stadium at St Lucia, one’s confronted with numerous shades of green. High up in the surrounding mountain range are okra-tinged tree growth; further down is some dense foliage that’s predominantly bottle-green; and the field is more like a giant circular velveteen emerald green carpet. Yet, what the players will concentrate on is the generous sprinkling of green on the 22-yard strip in the middle, one which Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid have examined closely several times in the last two days.Kent Crafton, the chief curator, has had his share of criticism. The slow nature of pitch resulted in largely attritional contests, reducing the two previous Tests here into high-scoring draws. The fact that three Bangladesh batsmen manage hundreds in the same match must tell you something. “We didn’t leave live grass on the pitch on previous occasions,” said Crafton, “it used to be completely rolled. With better equipment and more training, the grass now stays firm for the entire game. So we leave it on the pitch.”Lara understood Crafton’s predicament: “It’s a situation where maybe the groundsman is looking for a result – he’s never produced one.” In a survey conducted by a newspaper a few months back, where players ranked Test pitches in the Caribbean, the surface at St Lucia was apparently right at the bottom. Local observers are quite baffled by the luxuriant greenery and Lara echoed the sentiment: “It’s certainly different to wickets of the past in St Lucia.”The curious part of the pitch is the bare patches alternating the tufts of grass. Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, said it looks like the SCG pitch of old. “If it’s anything like that it will help both the seamers and the spinners” Sreesanth’s injury has pretty much paved the way for Irfan Pathan’s return to the side. Unless the pitch changes composition overnight, it’s tough to imagine him sitting out.A stiff groin kept Harbhajan Singh out of practice but Chappell hoped that he would be ready for selection tomorrow morning. If not, India might hand Ramesh Powar a Test debut. Powar’s offspin will come in handy in the second innings, with Anil Kumble applying pressure at one end. Also, Powar can chip in with the bat, a factor that could be vital if the top order crumbles.Going purely by the second innings at Antigua, India’s batting looks in fine health. But it’s a poorly kept secret that it takes just the minimum amount of movement to unsettle them. Chappell said that picking five bowlers was an option. Pathan’s imminent return would bolster the batting but whether they will take the risk remains to be seen.Lara has a problem in the bowling department. Edwards is gone, Collymore is a doubt and Dave Mohammed got pasted in the first Test; Pedro Collins and Ian Bradshaw are both left-arm seamers of similar style; Jerome Taylor has speed but is just four Tests old. With the squad reduced to 13, there is nobody else. Lara may want his bowlers wrapped in cotton wool, just in case one of them wakes up with a stiff neck. In the worst-case scenario, there’s 38-year old Ian Bishop, in the commentary box, and 53-year old Colin Croft, in the press box. India beware.At a micro level, the toss will be vital. At the macro level, it may not even matter. Lara, who was wearing a Soca Warriors T-shirt when he addressed the press on the eve of the game, said that he wouldn’t mind losing the toss if he could trade it for a Trinidad & Tobago victory in their first match of the football World Cup. The kick off, in the game against Sweden, is around noon here. The showpiece event of the day will begin when umpires call lunch on the first day. Sadly, only the flies on the dressing-room walls can watch it unfold.TeamsWest Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Ian Bradshaw, 9 Dave Mohammed, 10 Pedro Collins, 11 Corey Collymore.India (probable) 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Ramesh Powar, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Munaf Patel, 11 VRV Singh

Bangladesh A 214 for 4(Nazmus Sadat 90, Mehrab Hossain*) beat Zimbabwe A 211(Masakadza 45, Farhad Reza 3-29) by six wickets
ScorecardOpener Nazmus Sadat was the hero again after his half-century inspired Bangladesh to a six wicket victory in the third one-day match against Zimbabwe played at Queens Sports Cub. The result means that Bangladesh have secured the five-match series 3-0.Sadat followed his hundred in the opening match with 90 today, sharing in a third-wicket stand of 106 with Mehrab Hossain, who scored an unbeaten 65, as the visitors reached their target for the loss of just four wickets in 46.3 overs after restricting Zimbabwe to 210 in 50 overs.Zimbabwe A made one change, bringing in pace bowler Trevor Garwe for fellow seamer Admire Manyumwa, while Bangladesh named an unchanged XI.Stuart Matsikenyeri won the toss for the second time in a row and again elected to bat.Zimbabwe were in trouble as early as the second over when they lost Chamu Chibhabha. After realising the success that slow bowlers have enjoyed in this series, Bangladesh brought left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak into attack in the second over and he struck with his first ball when Chibhabha shuffled across to be trapped leg before wicket for 5.Hamilton Masakadza joined Mawoyo and the two shared in a stand of 63 which was broken when Mawoyo fell to Farhad Reza, playing a wild hook to be taken at leg gullyby Enamul Haque.Matsikenyeri joined Masakadza and the two most experienced batsmen in the team contributed 51 runs for the third wicket, broken soon after the second drinks break whenMasakadza was given out leg before wicket to Haque for 45. Matsikenyeri made 42 before he was bowled by Tushar Imran and the remaining batsmen only added 62 runs.Bangladesh got off to a fine start with their openers Sadat and Nafees Iqbal putting 71 forthe first wicket. Sadat was give his first life on 28 when he lifted a delivery from Garwe but Sean Williams appeared to have had his vision blocked by the sun as he dropped the catch at backward point.Bangladesh A lost their first wicket when Iqbal was bowled by Matsikenyeri for 28 with the bowler first appealing for leg before wicket before realising that the bails were down.Sadat was again given a let off on 47 off Bradley Staddon, Williams putting down the catch at backward point and the left handed Sadat went on to reach the half century markafter facing up to 50 balls, stroking eight fours in 95 minutes.Williams was introduced into attack and made amends for his poor fielding with a wicket with the third ball of his first over when he had Imran brilliantly taken in the deepby Ryan Higgins for 19 runs. Saqibul Hassan lasted six minutes at the crease before hefell to Staddon, caught by Williams for 1.With the tourists needing two runs to win the match, Sadat lost his leg stump trying to reverse-sweep Staddon, but Hossain drove Garwe four a straight four in the next over to seal the match and the series.

The fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval has been forfeited as an England win, after a joint statement between the ICC, ECB and PCB.”After lengthy negotiations which resulted in agreement between the teams, the ICC match referee and both ECB and PCB to seek to resume the fourth npower Test match on Monday, it was concluded with regret that there will be no play on the fifth day. The fourth npower Test match between England and Pakistan has therefore been forfeited with the match being awarded to England.In accordance with the laws of cricket it was noted that the umpires had correctly deemed that Pakistan had forfeited the match and awarded the Test to England.At a meeting between the captains, ECB, PCB and match referee, the players, ICC match referee and boards indicated that they would offer to resume play if at all possible on day five.The umpires having awarded the match to England and having consulted with the Pakistan captain reconfirmed their decision to award the match to England.The Pakistan team was aggrieved by the award of five penalty runs to England. The award of those penalty runs for alleged interference with the ball is under review by the ICC match referee Mike Procter, whose report will be considered in due course.ICC will be issuing a separate report concerning action which may be taken in relation to the forfeiture of the match by Pakistan.ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: “The ECB expresses great regret that the actions taken resulted in spectators, television viewers and radio listeners being deprived of play.”In light of the reduction of play on day four ECB has determined that all spectators who purchased tickets should be eligible to a 40 percent refund on their fourth day ticket and a full refund will be paid to all spectators who purchased tickets for day five.”Surrey issued this statement: “Customers are advised that tickets (for Monday) do not need to be returned. For further information customers should call 08712 461 100 (calls charged at 10p per minute) or visit www.surreycricket.comSurrey Chief Executive, Paul Sheldon, stated, “as the venue responsible for hosting this event, Surrey County Cricket Club and the Brit Oval deeply regret the inconvenience caused to members and spectators as a result of this decision. This was beyond our control.”11.15pm An ICC statement adds: “ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed also spoke to umpire Darrell Hair by phone from Dubai.”Following these meetings the umpires decided that, having made the decision to awardthe match to England, to change that decision would not be in keeping with the Lawsof Cricket. The ICC backs the decision of the umpires.”The issue of a charge or charges to be laid against Pakistan under the ICC’s code ofconduct will now be dealt with at the earliest possible opportunity. Pakistan has been charged under level two of the code of conduct, 2.10, which relates to changing the condition of the match ball.”

The hearing over the alleged ball tampering incident that led to the forfeiture of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan Test at The Oval will take place on September 27 and 28. Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council, announced this in Mumbai on Thursday at a function to launch the Champions Trophy.Speed, who had earlier addressed a similar function in New Delhi, said that Ranjan Madugalle would be able to chair the hearing at the end of the month. He also clarified that it was not entirely accurate to say that Pakistan would be cleared of charges of tampering simply because there was no evidence on videotape. “If video evidence was the only criteria, taking the analogy of crime, we would not be able to prove a lot of murders and half the jails would be empty,” said Speed. “I cannot say much, except that there are other forms of evidence, and all will unfold at the hearing.”When pressed to explain what he meant by other forms of evidence, Speed said, “There is the ball, [the accounts of] other people who were present, and there’s the umpires’ version, which is the most important.” This means that the testimony of Darrell Hair, the man in the centre of all the controversy, and Billy Doctrove, his colleague, could prove crucial should there be no evidence on tape. Mike Procter, the match referee, will also be a key player in the proceedings.”The whole issue has gotten out of hand a bit,” Speed added. “It should have been dealt with then and there by the match referee.”The pre-launch function for the Champions Trophy, due to be played in India next month, was held at the Cricket Club of India and was attended by several functionaries of the Board of Control for Cricket in India including Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, and Ratnakar Shetty, an executive secretary of the board. Milind Rege and Suru Nayak, former Mumbai cricketers, were also present.

Venkatapathy Raju, the former Indian left-arm spinner, is most likely to be South Zone’s representative in the National Selection Committee as a replacement for VB Chandrasekhar. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will announce the members of the new selection panel when it meets in Mumbai on September 27 and 28 for its Annual General Meeting.Raju, a Hyderabad stalwart who retired from first-class cricket in 2004, has the strong backing of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) as its representative from the South Zone, based on the rotation policy followed by the zone’s three major associations – the HCA, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). One candidate from each association is nominated for a two-year period. Brijesh Patel of the KSCA held the post before Chandrasekhar of Tamil Nadu. The other zones do not follow the same rotation system.”He is our choice for the post and there is no doubt about that,” Shivlal Yadav, the HCA secretary and former Indian offspinner, told . Raju is also the chairman of the HCA’s senior selection committee.Of the five-man selection panel only two slots are vacant – from the south and west zones. The names of Dilip Vengsarkar, the former Indian captain, Dhiraj Parsana and Karsan Ghavri are doing the rounds for the West Zone slot.Sanjay Jagdale (Central Zone), Ranjib Biswal (East Zone) and Bhupinder Singh Sr. (North Zone) are the other three members of the current selection panel but whose tenure continues. Once the two new members join the panel the senior-most among all five will take over as chairman of selectors.

In the 1975 World Cup, West Indies clashed with Sri Lanka for the first time in an ODI. The Sri Lankans were greenhorns then, and they played according to the script, being bundled out 86 in 37.2 overs as West Indies romped home by nine wickets with 236 balls to spare. Thirty-one years later, the Sri Lankans returned the favour in spectacular fashion at the Brabourne Stadium, clinching victory by an identical margin with 220 balls remaining.The advent of so many minnows into one-day cricket has meant many more one-sided games, but taking into account only matches involving the top eight teams (excluding Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the other non-Test-playing teams), today’s margin of victory – in terms of balls remaining – was the third-highest ever in ODIs. Only England and Pakistan have suffered more crushing defeats, and incidentally, West Indies were the side that inflicted that Cape Town hammering to Pakistan in 1992-93.

West Indies’ 80 all out was their second-lowest total in ODIs, next only to their 54 against South Africa, again at Cape Town. Click here for a list of West Indies’ lowest totals in ODIs.While it was day of dismal lows for West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Farveez Maharoof, had plenty to celebrate. It was their 17th ODI win against West Indies in 42 matches, and while they have lost 24 times, the gap is gradually narrowing – in the last nine matches, they have won seven.Maharoof, meanwhile, recorded his best figures in ODIs, and became only the fourth Sri Lankan bowler to take six wickets in a one-day international. (Click here for the best bowling performances by Sri Lankan bowlers in ODIs.) Only Anil Kumble has conceded fewer runs while taking six wickets in an ODI – Kumble took 6 for 12 against West Indies in the final of the Hero Cup in Kolkata in 1993-94. The table below lists the five most economical six-fors.

Andrew Flintoff has unsurprisingly brushed off suggestions England will now be under more pressure going into next month’s Ashes series after losing to Australia in the Champions Trophy on Saturday.England’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals virtually ended on Saturday when they crashed to a six-wicket defeat, their second successive loss. They will now clash with West Indies in their last league game at Ahmedabad on October 28.”We took this match in isolation,” he said, “as a must-win game for both the sides to stay in the tournament.” Regardless of Flintoff’s attempts to play down defeat – “In the build-up people were trying to link it to the Ashes,” he said, “but the Ashes start when we go to Australia” – the Australians will be boosted greatly by their victory in India.Flintoff did concede his young side needed to improve considerably if they wanted to give a good account of themselves in coming months. “It is an exciting time in one-day cricket. But we need to improve,” said Flintoff. “It is a young side. We have to step up as a team if we have the aspirations of doing well later in this winter.”

South Africa’s convincing 4-0 series win against India has pushed them up to within five points of the Australians, while the Indians slid back to sixth place in the latest ICC team rankings for one-day internationals.India were third on the table as recently as April this year, but since then they have fallen after a sharp drop in form which has resulted in just three wins in their last 17 matches. South Africa, on the other hand, have reached their highest rating since January 2003. If they continue their form against Pakistan early next year, and if Australia slip up in the VB Series against England and New Zealand, South Africa could even be the top team going into the 2007 World Cup.India, meanwhile, are in danger of slipping to seventh place – where they were in October 2005 – if West Indies snatch a series win against Pakistan in the five-match series which starts on December 5. West Indies are currently only marginally behind India.Among the individual ratings, Shaun Pollock had plenty of reason to celebrate after his outstanding display against India. Pollock, who won the Man-of-the-Series award with ten wickets at 8.30 apiece, moved up to 910 points in the bowlers’ ratings, an astonishing 111 points ahead of the second-placed Glenn McGrath. In fact, Pollock’s rating is the fourth-highest in the all-time list for ODI bowlers. Only Joel Garner (940 points in April 1985), Richard Hadlee (923 in June 1983) and Muttiah Muralitharan (913 in April 2002) have ever had more points.Click here for more details.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Short Cuts

The first of five days of Australian celebrations were interrupted by asolid England batting performance as they tried to upstage the hosts. Thetourists’ main plan at the SCG is to avoid becoming only the second team tofall to a 5-0 Ashes defeat and they made a strong opening attempt. A fourthhalf-century of the series to Ian Bell and useful contributions from therest of the top order drove England to a healthy 4 for 234 at stumps.However, anything England do in the game will be overshadowed by the exitsof Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. If they feel unloved by thetime the match is over something will have gone seriously wrong.The teams walked out this morning to see the three players’ namesspray-painted on the ground in a mixture so thick the rain that delayed thestart for 70 minutes could not wash it away. Each time McGrath or Warnetouched the ball or walked to grab their caps they were cheered likereturning heroes and at tea the trio stood at the balcony of the dressingroom listening to Time to Say Goodbye. Only the title words are sungin English and the players were unable to mouth the lyrics of the Italianoperatic rendition like they did for the national anthem in the morning.On the field McGrath had the most impact with two important wickets thatupset England’s move from trouble to safety. In Stuart Clark’s second overafter lunch he removed Alastair Cook to an inside edge, leaving England at 2for 58, and Bell and Kevin Pietersen did a sensible job in directing themfrom danger with a 108-run partnership.However, just as Bell seemed set to break his century drought in the seriesand Pietersen was ready to muscle his way out of Australia’s restrictivefields, McGrath stepped in to dismiss both of them in two overs. The hometeam’s bowlers delivered tight, testing lines and the ball moved off theseam throughout the day, making Pietersen step down the wicket regularly inan attempt to push them off their lines.The tactic didn’t work very often and when he was starved of the strikeafter tea he made a terminal error by walking at McGrath and miscuing a pullto Michael Hussey, who took a back-tracking catch at midwicket. Until thatover Pietersen had stayed largely in control with his hot-stepping, but hedeparted with 41 and Bell followed quickly.Bell, who has played with purpose throughout the summer, was again lookingcomfortable and countered much of the movement before being undone by aMcGrath delivery that angled in and caught the edge on the way to thestumps. Had it missed the bat it would have cleared the wickets, but Bell’stentative push away from his body created a crucial deflection.

It was an unnecessary end to another brave innings from a batsman who is oneinnings of unbroken concentration away from his first Test century againstAustralia. He worked the ball strongly through midwicket and was happy toplay and miss – many of the balls were so good he had no choice – in a153-ball stay, which included eight fours. His loss for 71 left England at 4for 167 and more irritation was averted by Flintoff and Paul Collingwood.Knowing his name would forever be linked with a 5-0 defeat, Flintoff, whowon the toss, produced his smoothest batting of the series with 42 not outas England finished in a mood that was much brighter than the gloomy lightthat ended play seven overs early. Flintoff lifted Clark for a hefty sixover mid-on to signal he would not be tamed and was also comfortable leavingthe ball in a way he had not discovered over the first four Tests. WithCollingwood he combined in an important stand of 67 that England must buildon in the morning if they are to threaten Australia’s dominance.The hosts will not be too bothered by their opponents’ efforts and willconsider themselves unlucky not to have found more nicks. In the secondsession Clark, McGrath and Brett Lee were superb but were unable to makeregular breakthroughs. McGrath finished with 2 for 57 while Clark and Lee,who collected Andrew Strauss’ edge, each picked up a wicket.Warne delivered 19 overs without success and Langer spilled an early chanceoff Strauss at third slip as the retirees were led by McGrath. The other twohave four more opportunities to shine before they sign off.

Short CutsFarewell of the day
Steve Waugh went out to working-class choruses of John Williamson’s in 2004, but the farewells of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer took a step up in class with an operatic rendition of at tea.Dead ball of the day
In his final Test McGrath found a way to do something new. Kevin Pietersen was walking down the pitch at him and the unfamiliar tactic caused McGrath to misfire when the ball stuck in his hand at delivery, ending up near the non-striker. It didn’t happen again.Shock of the day
Alastair Cook barely had to time to acclimatise to the fresh sunshine that had replaced the morning rain when Brett Lee’s first delivery of the day struck him a nasty knock in the groin. Lee’s response appeared to be something like “Happy New Year”.Crowd contest
Australia’s Fantatics are in a bay under the scoreboard and they started to flex their vocal muscles with a 4-0 chant after lunch, but their shouts quickly became whispers as the Barmy Army roared into action.

5.5 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sanath Jayasuriya enjoyed a field day at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium, picking up three key wickets as Sri Lanka derailed New Zealand’s batting onslaught, and then playing a blitzkrieg of an innings to propel his side to an 18-run Duckworth-Lewis victory. Rain forced everyone off the field with one delivery left in the sixth over of Sri Lanka’s chase of 163, just as Jayasuriya slammed Andre Adams for 18 in four balls. With no respite in sight, Sri Lanka were declared winners based on their excellent run rate, despite being 101 runs adrift of their target.Jayasuriya set off in manic fashion, slamming 51 from 23 deliveries. By the time Shane Bond removed Upul Tharanga for six, Jayasuriya had raced away to 27 from 15 deliveries with a brutal attack on Bond and James Franklin. Adams, in his first over in New Zealand colours since October 2005, was welcomed with the following greeting: four over backward point, four through square leg, six over wide long-on, and four more through extra cover. It was just as well that rain intervened, from Adams’s perspective.Led by their spinners, Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka clawed their way back into the first of the two Twenty20s to restrict New Zealand to 162. After taking a solid hammering from Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum – 80 runs were added in just over seven overs – Murali and Jayasuriya turned the game on its head with some controlled bowling and waited for the hosts to hit the self-destruct button.Dressed in 1992 World Cup grey, both openers set the tone of proceedings with scorching shots, and some thick outside edges, as 29 runs came off the first two overs. In the first over, Chaminda Vaas was slammed hard over extra cover for six by McCullum, and in the second Fleming picked up three fours – one sweetly creamed through covers, two edged through the vacant slip region – to make it 17 from the over. Dilhara Fernando, playing his first game on tour, was taken for 16 from his opening over, with McCullum rounding it off with a pulled six over deep backward square leg.Maharoof came back well to bowl Fleming with a well-disguised slower ball, and Muralitharan, though smoked for two huge sixes in his first three deliveries, got McCullum to mistime a slog-sweep out to deep midwicket. From here on, it was Sri Lanka’s turn to dictate terms.While Murali plied away with a great length from one end, Jayasuriya kept it simple yet clever; there was no room offered, he controlled his spin, and kept it flat. Franklin, sent in as pinch-hitter, played some good shots before Jayasuriya trapped him leg before; a great catch at midwicket – Chamara Silva timed his jump to perfection and took the catch on the second attempt – took care of James Marshall; and Nathan Astle was bowled neck and crop by a straight delivery. It was a pretty good effort considering there was rain in the air and that the ball must have been pretty slippery when he bowled.The run rate dropped as the spinners continued with a controlled length, and even Silva, called on for just one over, gave away just four runs and removed the debutant wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan.Where Fleming and McCullum had blazed 80 in no time, the remaining batsmen could only muster 82 in double the overs. Sri Lanka tasted success in their Twenty20 debut, against England at Southampton this summer, defending 163, and today, in pursuit of the identical target, they came up trumps – with a little help from the weather gods.