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Glenn McGrath and Brad Hodge have joined the Australian backlash over Sunil Gavaskar’s linking of David Hookes’ death to poor on-field behaviour. McGrath said Gavaskar “crossed the line” while Hodge was “pretty disappointed” his former coach, who died in 2004, had been brought into the argument.Gavaskar warned the Australians could get “whacked” in a bar if they operated the same way off the field as they did on it and his comments followed Ricky Ponting’s complaint Gavaskar acted badly during his playing days. Allan Border and Darren Lehmann were also upset by Gavaskar’s response.”Fair enough, if that’s what [Gavaskar] thinks, he’s allowed to comment on the team,” McGrath said on Sydney’s 2KY. “But I think when you start bringing David Hookes into it that’s crossing the line. It’s very disrespectful. Sunny was an amazing cricketer, but I think this time he’s gone beyond.”McGrath agreed Gavaskar’s words could damage Australian cricket’s relationship with the ICC official. “I think potentially it could be, we’ll wait and see,” McGrath said. “The comments in themselves are very disappointing when he’s mentioning David Hookes and you really feel for Hookesy’s family.”McGrath said Gavaskar must feet Australia were a threat to India and “he’s trying to put us off our game”. He also said the current side’s behaviour was not “any worse than any other teams”. “It’s fine to say that we are, but at the end of the day I think the Indian team does it as well as every other team,” he said.Hodge made a brief statement at the team hotel in St Kitts. “I’m disappointed about comments made about my former coach David Hookes,” Hodge told AAP. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

The match between Knights and Cape Cobras in Kimberley was tied after rain ended play with the scores level on the D/L method during the chase. Pursuing 182, Rilee Rossouw made an explosive start, scoring 29 at a strike-rate of 241 to lead Knights to 40 in 2.5 overs, when he was dismissed. Wickets began to fall before partnerships could be built after that, and though they maintained a run-rate of close to 10, Knights had slipped to 119 for 5 when rain ended play after the 13th over. As it turned out, they were on par with the D-L score. In their innings, the Cape Cobras top three produced quick and substantial contributions to lead their team to 181 for 4. Andrew Puttick made 51, Stiaan van Zyl 48 and Owais Shah 45.Half-centuries from Martin van Jaarsveld and Farhaan Berhadien helped set up Titans‘ 29-run victory against Warriors in East London. The pair lifted Titans from 45 for 3 in the sixth over, after they had decided to bat, with a 94-run partnership. van Jaarsveld made 77 off 46 balls and Behardien an unbeaten 54 off 37. Both batsmen hit three sixes, and Titans finished with 174 for 5 from 20 overs. Titans’ decision to open the defense with Roelof van der Merwe’s spin paid off as JJ Smuts was dismissed in the first over. van der Merwe went on to have figures of 2 for 21 in four overs. Left-arm spinner Paul Harris also had a good outing, taking 3 for 22, his wickets being those of the Warriors’ top-scorer Ashwell Price, for 49, and middle-order batsmen Justin Kreusch and Kelly Smuts. The Warriors lost wickets at regular intervals and were restricted to 145 for 7 in their 20 overs.Impi made their debut against Lions in Potchefstroom and it was not a happy one. They were restricted and dismissed for 92 in 19.5 overs in pursuit of 154. Only two Impi batsmen – Cobus Pienaar and Ryan Canning – made double-figure scores. Ethan O’Reilly had figures of 4-1-4-2 for Lions, and Aaron Phangsio and Dwaine Pretorius also took two wickets apiece. Lions did not perform impressively with the bat either, slumping from 89 for 2 to 108 for 7 in 16.3 overs, before Chris Morris blasted 31 off 13 balls to lead them to 153.

ScorecardMichael Yardy leaves the field for the final time in first-class cricket•Getty Images

Since this match was played during the university term, the large press box at Headingley, which is situated in a complex owned by Leeds Beckett University, was being used for lectures on the final day of this game.Thus, while the mighty Yorkshire bowling attack sent Sussex’s rather stunned cricketers down to the Second Division, students sat in serried rows with the blinds firmly down in the Kilner Auditorium and listened to no doubt worthy lectures on important subjects such as thermodynamics or computer science.Quite right too, perhaps, but for the undergraduates, many of whom were keen cricket fans, it must have been frustration itself. Jack Brooks removed the top three in Sussex’s order in one of the finer new-ball spells you will see and all they could hear were muffled cheers amid the theorems. “There’s music in the names I used to know / And magic when I heard them long ago”, wrote Thomas Moult in “The Names”, a golden age poem written in the persona of a cricket-loving adult remembering his schooldays.Certainly drama students might have learned something from watching the cricket on this last day of the season. Sussex began their innings needing to bat out 92 overs for the draw or score 309 runs to win. The achievement of either goal would have prolonged their five-year stay in the First Division, but they never looked like reaching either objective. Yorkshire’s bowlers saw to that.First it was Brooks, cruising in as smoothly as a sports car from the Kirkstall Lane. First he bowled a swinging full toss at the dreadfully out-of-form Ed Joyce and the Sussex skipper inside-edged it onto his stumps; then makeshift opener Chris Jordan was leg before on the back foot for 20; and in what was only Brooks’s sixth over, Matt Machan chased a wideish ball and feathered a catch to Jonny Bairstow. Sussex were 39 for 3 in the 12th over and there was already a horrid gash below their waterline.The crowd at Headingley enjoyed it all hugely, of course, but the students in their lecture theatre, whatever they were thinking, saw none of it. “Drone on, O teacher, you can’t trouble me,” Moult’s poem continues. “If you choose to keep us here while cricket’s in the air, / You must expect our minds to wander down the roads to Leicester, Lord’s and Leeds …”And at Leeds this final morning, things got rapidly worse for Sussex as Tim Bresnan joined in the fun. He bowled Chris Nash through the gate for 17 and induced Luke Wright to drive most unwisely at a wider delivery of full length. Sussex were 63 for 5 at lunch and the writing was as clear upon the walls as the equations were on the flip-charts. When you only win one of your final 11 games, as Sussex have done, you are going to struggle; and when your seam bowlers – James Anyon, Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Jordan – are not fit for most or all of the season, while your batsmen are not in form, you are going to find it desperately hard.Hampshire may have produced a great escape worthy of Steve McQueen on his motorbike but Sussex’s relegation is hardly an enormous surprise.There was some resistance, though, and it came from Michael Yardy, who was batting for the final time in his career, and Ben Brown, who passed a thousand runs for the season during his innings of 42. The pair added 79 in 20 overs that offered some hope that a defence worthy of mythology might be mounted. Their partnership stretched deep into the afternoon, by which time a party of schoolchildren had joined the crowd, a splash of purple amid the dark anoraks and fleeces.Indeed, many spectators at Headingley probably had mixed feelings this final afternoon. They were watching their team achieve a record 11th Championship victory and win the First Division by 68 points, which is greater than the margin between runners-up Middlesex and bottom-placed Worcestershire. This is a great Yorkshire team and it must be a wonderful time to follow the White Rose.At the same time there were many who might empathise with the phrase , the evocative title chosen by the John Arlott for one of his books. For it connotes not just a physical presence but a deeper commitment. “Where’s John?” friends would ask Arlott’s mother, only to receive the answer: “Oh, he’s gone with the cricketers.” And so he was, for much of the rest of his life.And so they were at Headingley when they stood to applaud Yardy as he left first-class cricket after gloving an attempted hook to Alex Lees at first slip. There was no more touching sight than the Yorkshire team queueing up to shake the hand of the player they had just dismissed.Yardy’s dismissal by Bresnan for 41 was followed twelve balls later by that of Brown, the Sussex wicketkeeper clipping Adil Rashid straight to short leg, where Jack Leaning grabbed a brilliant catch. That left Sussex on 142 for 7 and, although the last three wickets took a shade under an hour to fall, there was now no doubt which way the river was flowing. Rashid helped himself to a couple more scalps and Adam Lyth, on his 28th birthday, had Ashar Zaidi leg before for 47.At ten past three Chris Liddle was plumb enough to Rashid and the celebrations began on the outfield even as the dull realisation sunk in among the Sussex players. Dickie Bird presented the County Championship trophy to Andrew Gale, who has now received it three times in successive games. Mark Robinson, the Sussex coach, offered dignified congratulations to both Yorkshire and Hampshire; he refused to make elaborate excuses; he is a cricket man.The supporters gathered on the outfield and watched their players begin the latest of what have already been many celebrations. And, as is often the case at this time of year, the spectators were slow to leave, reluctant, perhaps, to leave one home for another. Eventually they drifted away, though, and soon they must follow the different rhythms of autumn. But it will not be long before they are thinking of next April when there will be music in the names once again and we shall be gone with the cricketers.

Like his German composer namesake, Neil Wagner does not mind a hint of the dramatic. Where New Zealand have gained a reputation for even temper and a lack of on field histrionics, Wagner’s Afrikaner blood gets up at times, as shown by an on-field posture that can look more Dale Steyn than Tim Southee.

‘Olden days’ WACA pitch in prospect

With as few as two Test matches left for the WACA Ground to host before major international cricket moves to the drop-in pitches of the nascent Burswood Stadium, the curator Matthew Page is as intent on keeping things as retro as possible.
“With us being the WACA, it’s all about trying to replicate the olden days and provide a traditional WACA wicket,” Page said. “It goes back to the 70s, that sort of thing, so for us every wicket we do we’re trying to replicate those conditions.”
Page replaced Cameron Sutherland only a matter of weeks before the Ashes Test two years ago, and his knowledge of the surface has grown since, including the constant historical comparisons.
“They changed the clay back to what it originally was about six or seven years ago, and I guess the pace and the bounce has returned since then,” he said. “We’re always compared with the olden days. For us, it’s about trying to get it as close as we can.”

Given New Zealand’s poorly display in Brisbane, where they were bullied by an Australia side as aggressive in deed as they are infamous for being in word, Wagner’s occasionally fiery countenance may be a useful tonic for Brendon McCullum’s side as they seek to fight their way out of the hole they find themselves in.Wagner certainly likes the look of the WACA, a place at which he has never bowled but can vividly recall the exploits of many a fast bowler at the ground. Plans to shift major international matches to the Burswood Stadium and a drop-in pitch mean all pacemen are running out of chances.”I’d love to play Australia, I’d love to get that chance,” Wagner said. “I had a training session yesterday at the Melville club and they told me it was the last two Tests at the WACA or something like that because they’re talking about a different ground. That’s a bit of a shame because it’s quite a nice ground, I loved watching it growing up, a lot of history over there and I’d love to play there. It’s pretty awesome, a very special place for fast bowlers.”Just watching cricket here over the years, I think overseas teams have come here and bowled a bit too short. They get carried away with the bounce and the pace sometimes. Sometimes you’ve got to bowl a touch fuller length, sort of top of the stumps. For us I think the thing is to not get carried away with it. Hit consistent areas and ask good questions for longer periods of time and things will happen.”Even though Southee bowled soundly in the morning at nets to prove his fitness after suffering from an irritated disc in his back at the Gabba, Wagner is still a chance to play. The New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has forecast a five-man bowling attack for the WACA Ground with the spinner Mark Craig batting at No. 7, meaning the pace options for McCullum will be many and varied. New Zealand are also sustained by the knowledge they are chronically slow starters to Test series, but invariably improve as they go on.”As a bowling unit we’ve always complemented each other quite well over past times and our success over the past two years or so is we’ve bowled in partnerships and other guys have stepped up too,” Wagner said. “I think that has made Tim and Trent bowl really well in the past. It was just a little bit inconsistency and a bit of a tough start.”We have had that in the past as well, our first Test we haven’t always started that well and we’ve picked it up as the series has gone on. Lucky for us it’s a three-match series, there’s a lot more cricket left to be played and hopefully we can set it back from ball one in this next Test.”Overall the team will be better for that hit [in Brisbane], being out in the heat and humidity and bouncy wickets, just adapting to everything, it’s now for us to go out and set it right in the second Test from day one.”One man Wagner may be asked to confront should he get the nod to play, is David Warner, the dominant batting force of the Gabba Test and now one of only three batsman ever to have thrice scored a hundred in each innings of a Test match. That sort of scoring can force opposition teams to re-think their strategies, but Wagner said it was simply a matter of being tighter for longer.”I think we still stick to our guns and our plans. If we execute it better for longer periods of time, I’m sure we’ll get more rewards,” he said. “I think our attack is up there with the best in the world. When Tim, Trent and Dougy and the rest of them all get it right – they’re pretty good bowlers. If we can be more consistent for long periods of time, we’ll definitely show that. The boys are up for the task and the challenge in this Test.”Richard Wagner’s operatic Ring Cycle is a 15-hour affair. Success for Wagner and New Zealand this week will require a similarly sustained effort.

Mahela Jayawardene has urged his side to adopt a smarter approach following Sri Lanka’s 63-run loss to Australia in the sixth CB Series match in Perth.Sri Lanka were in with a great chance to notch up their first win over Australia but a meek batting performance put paid to their chances. “We need to go hard, but the shot selection has to be a bit better,” he said after the loss. “In world cricket a lot of guys do go hard up front, with the power plays and all that, but the guys have got to be a bit smarter.Kumar Sangakkara played a lone hand in the Sri Lankan run-chase but the rest gave it away with some poor strokeplay. “The way we lost wickets was not good,” he said. “At crucial times, we keep losing wickets and you can’t do that in a run chase.”The tailenders once again failed to make an impression – the last five wickets put together only 14 – and Jayawardene wanted to see Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chamara Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekera take up more responsibility with the bat. “These guys can bat and they have scored runs and we need to get their confidence back,” he said.Sri Lanka, who were off to a poor start in the series, revived their chances with a thumping eight-wicket win against India on Tuesday. However, Sri Lanka’s batsmen are yet to fire against Australia – having collapsed against them on both occasions. Sanath Jayasuriya has shown only glimpses of form, with 46 runs at 15.33, while Jayawardene, Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan all fell cheaply when up against Australia.Sri Lanka take on India in their next match in Adelaide on Tuesday.

The last round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches, which were indefinitely put on hold following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will not be replayed. Instead, Habib Bank (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), who topped their respective groups going in to the final round, will now contest the final of the tournament, to be held in Karachi from January 7-11.The decision represents a u-turn of sorts from the Pakistan board, who earlier had said that the affected matches – ten in all, of which eight were in progress – would be replayed.But Zakir Khan, PCB’s director cricket operations, told reporters after a board meeting that according to domestic rules under which the tournament operates, matches could not be replayed. However, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sialkot played out a replay of an earlier game that wasn’t completed due to an unsuitable pitch, a move which drew protests from several teams in the tournament.The last round of matches would have made little difference in Group B, where SNGPL were already assured of their place in the final. And HBL were on the verge of securing their place in the final in any case; they were about to win against Karachi Whites, a result that would’ve sent them through ahead of NBP.Some repercussions might have been felt for the relegation spots in each group though it still isn’t clear how many teams will be eventually relegated. All matches will now be considered drawn though no points will be awarded to the teams.The meeting also decided to postpone the domestic Twenty20 championships indefinitely. The tournament, among the most popular domestically, was originally scheduled to be played from January 8-14. It was then rescheduled to February 9, but has now been put on hold altogether.However, the Pentangular trophy, played among the top five teams of the country, will go ahead from February 10. It will have a break between as the country goes to the polls from February 18, before resuming again from February 22 and running till March 15.The board will also hold a two-day High-performance camp from January 12, for players who impressed during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Twenty-four players are expected to attend the camp, to be held in Karachi.

Afghanistan’s climb up the world stage continued as they sealed promotion from World Cricket League Division 4, moving into the final alongside Hong Kong, in Dar-es-Salaam.Going into the final day of the group stage, three sides were in contention for promotion but Italy, knowing they needed victory over Afghanistan to finish in the top two of the table, lost by 93 runs, thereby ending their dreams of playing in the 2011 World Cup.Hong Kong defeated Jersey by 100 runs to seal second place in the group stage, while Fiji’s dramatic four-run win over Tanzania means that Jersey and Fiji will be relegated to Division 5 on net run-rate, as all three teams were tied on two points.For Afghanistan and Hong Kong the aim is to finish in the top two of the six-team Division 3 tournament in Argentina in January, which would mean they join 10 other sides at the World Cup Qualifier, where four Associate or Affiliate Members will qualify for the 2011 tournament in Asia.At Leaders Club, Afghanistan posted an imposing target of 235 for Italy to win after another solid, mature and at times flamboyant batting performance. Rais Ahmadzai led the way with an excellently paced innings, scored at more than a run-a-ball, and hit two of the seven sixes scored in the innings, while Ahmad Shah (52) also played an important role.In reply, Italy lost Thushara Kurukulasuriya to his first ball, before the Northcote brothers added 61 for the second wicket. But Italy’s hopes suffered a blow when Andy Northcote (29) was run out by an excellent throw from man-of-the-moment Ahmadzai.Then, Hamid Hassan changed the game permanently, first deceiving Nick Northcote with a cleverly disguised slower ball, and then earning the vital wicket of Joe Scuderi with a superb throw to gain a run out. When Hemantha Jayasena was also run out in the next over without facing as panic spread through the Italian batting line-up. In the end Afghanistan, were able to enjoy a comfortable victory.Ahmadzai, who was named the Man of the Match after his crucial 68, was delighted with his side’s promotion and said he was determined to win the final against Hong Kong.”We are very happy. It’s true that there was a little bit of tension amongst the guys last night, but the coach said we should go and play positive cricket,” Ahmadzai said. “I was just concentrating on reading the wicket when I came into bat and then hitting the bad balls. The boys have done very well with the bowling, batting and fielding. We will try our best to win the final – we’ve already beaten Hong Kong in this tournament and we will try our best to do it again.”Immediately after the game Scuderi announced his retirement as a player, although he said he would continue as a coach. “You can’t keep playing for ever – I’m 40 in December and my time has come now,” he said. “Perhaps it is time for Italian cricket not to rely on me as much as it has done for the past 10 years.”In the other key promotion game, Butt Hussain missed out on his century in agonizing circumstances, run out backing up on 99, but his innings was instrumental in securing Hong Kong’s passage to Division 3 with victory over Jersey. “It was a pleasure to play such an important innings at a crucial stage for our team. It was due as I was only scoring 30 or 40 runs in my innings – I wasn’t scoring big scores,” Hussain said.After some excellent opening bowling from Ryan Driver and Anthony Kay, Hong Kong stuttered their way through the early overs. But a 119-run partnership between Hussain and Skhawat (47) transformed the game as Hong Kong’s experience and class began to show as it made a challenging 234.Jersey needed a good start, but a fine bowling display, particularly from Irfan Ahmed (3 for 10), ended any hopes as they were reduced to 134 all out.In the other match of the day, Fiji finally registered their first win with a dramatic four-run defeat against Tanzania, with Simon Jepson’s five wickets helping him win the Man-of-the-Match award.

West Indies Under-19s’ four-match one-day series against their Bangladesh counterparts got off to a damp start when rain forced the first one-dayer in Savar to be abandoned.The second one-day match will also be held at the same venue on Saturday. The series provides an opportunity for both teams to gain practice ahead of the Under-19 World Cup which begins in Malaysia on Ferbuary 17.

There will be a tendency to dismiss as inconsequential India’s2-0 Test series victory over Zimbabwe. After all, it was a winachieved against the ninth-ranked Test nation – out of 10, it maybe added. Also, as I stated in an earlier column, it does notmatter that India is rated number seven or eight in the currentTest rankings. In home conditions, the Indian team makes forrather formidable opposition, borne out by the fact that only oneteam has won a Test series here in the last 15 years. Even topranked Australia came a cropper in their bid to cross the “finalfrontier” a year ago.That said, it must not be forgotten that India won both thematches in the series, something they were unable to achieveagainst the same team in their last series played here some 15months ago. Andy Flower thwarted India from registering a secondvictory on that occasion, and the left-hander’s failure this timewas certainly one reason why India made a sweep of the seriesfairly comfortably, the rather unconvincing achievement of theNew Delhi win notwithstanding. With all the huffing and puffingat the Feroz Shah Kotla, one must remember that the victorymargin in the first Test was an innings and 101 runs.

In the ultimate analysis, the series victory, besides underliningthe fact that India continues to be awe-inspiring opposition athome, also served to confirm the strengths and weaknesses of thehosts. Touching upon the former, one must first mention theHarbhajan Singh – Anil Kumble duo. The two look well on coursefor taking their place in the honoured list of the great Indianspinning pairs of the past ­ Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad, BSChandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi, and Erapalli Prasanna andBedi. The two complement each other perfectly, and notunexpectedly, they have showered praise on one another.In his 32nd year, Kumble, with over 300 wickets in the bag, is atthe peak of his powers, while his partner, 10 years younger,obviously has his better days ahead of him. Indian cricket’sstrongest point, for some years now, has been its middle-orderbatting, but the time is not far off, I venture to guess, whenthis accolade passes on to the spin duo, who shared 28 wickets inthe two Tests.Speaking of the middle-order batting, the series against Zimbabwesaw this mighty aspect lose nothing of the aura surrounding itfor some time now. Sachin Tendulkar made his customary hundred,while Rahul Dravid used the opportunity to get into his groovefollowing treatment to a shoulder injury. If there is a suddenquestion mark over VVS Laxman, who only a year ago had scaled newpeaks and was hailed as a Messiah, it is heartening to know thatVirender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar are around to fill that vitalnumber six slot in the middle order.But what was most encouraging was Sourav Ganguly finally strikingform. The Indian captain has always been a classy player, but hisextended bad run saw some critics baying for his blood. I, forone, did not join the growing list of detractors. To me,Ganguly’s case will always be paralleled with that of GundappaViswanath who too, more than once during his 91-Test career, wentthrough a bad patch that led to the “experts” calling for hisremoval. The selectors, however, displayed more wisdom than thedetractors, and the Karnataka stylist repaid this confidencehandsomely. Similarly, I can only see Ganguly getting better andbetter from here on.Shiv Sunder Das, I have always believed, is on course toovertaking Navjot Singh Sidhu as the finest Indian openingbatsman in the post-Gavaskar period. The just-concluded seriesconfirmed this view. It can also be taken as confirmed that DeepDasgupta has played his last Test match. The doors are now wideopen for Ajay Ratra, who can grab this opportunity to cement hisplace in the side as a specialist wicket-keeper whose batting isa bonus. Bangar, who opens the batting for Railways, could be asuitable contender to become Das’ partner at the top of theorder.

There was little wrong with the new ball attack, with JavagalSrinath and Zaheer Khan capable of making the earlybreakthroughs. The latter was particularly impressive, his speed,swing, line and length all having the Zimbabwe batsmen hopping.As far as home conditions go, I emphasise, there seems to be noproblem with the Indian attack, and it is to be hoped that Bangarwill work on his bowling skills to become the kind of all-rounderthat Indian cricket has needed for so long.A word about the visitors. In a nutshell, they proved to begallant losers. They were badly outplayed at Nagpur, but within afew days, they were able to raise the level of their game severalnotches to run India pretty close at the Kotla. Overall, however,their batsmen found Kumble and Harbhajan too hot to handle, whilethe bowlers were no match for the run-hungry Indian batsmen.But a bright future surely awaits Ray Price. The 25-year-oldleft-arm spinner displayed tenacity of purpose, a tantalisinglength and line, besides biting turn on a pitch that was onlyslightly helpful. Even the reputation of being the best playersof spin did not aid the Indian batsmen in overcoming the guilesof Price, and however long he plays the game, the fact that hedismissed Tendulkar three times running ­ twice for scores lessthan 50 ­ could remain his proudest achievement.

Sri Lanka have lost a long-standing umpire following the death of Stanley Kuruppu. Kuruppu, 82, father of former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Brendon Kuruppu, was renowned for his services to the umpiring fraternity in Sri Lanka. He was a pioneer in forming the umpires committee for the board in the mid-sixties.Kuruppu was a qualified Grade One umpire and officiated in division I club cricket and important school matches. He was also the vice-president of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers Sri Lanka (ACUSL), who later became a life member for his services to umpiring.He did a lot to promote the game and popularise it. Kuruppu had thorough knowledge of the laws of the game and conducted many seminars on umpiring for the benefit of up and coming umpires. A government servant in the clerical grade, he also served as president of the Sri Lanka Softball Association. He was ailing for a long time and is survived by his second wife Dulcie and two children.