The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that Inzamam-ul-Haq will lead Pakistan in the home series against West Indies next month. Younis Khan, the stand-in captain for the ongoing Champions Trophy in India, will be his deputy. Dr Naseem Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, announced the news after the board’s ad hoc committee meeting in Lahore.Inzamam was banned for four matches by the ICC for bringing the Oval Test into disrepute – owing to the ball-tampering controversy – which forced him out of the Champions Trophy. Younis initially refused the captaincy, stating that he did not wish to be a “dummy captain”, but was quickly reinstated after Shaharyar Khan resigned from his post as PCB chairman. The new regime, under Ashraf, also sacked Mushtaq Ahmed as assistant coach for the tournament.Ashraf announced that Pakistan would have a paid selection committee immediately after the World Cup next year in the West Indies. He added that there was no need to revamp the selection committee at this stage.”The ad hoc set-up considers the long standing issue of the paid selection committee and has unanimously decided that it is not the appropriate time to make any changes in the committee,” he was quoted in , a Karachi-based daily. “The present selectors who raised the team should be given time to see the ultimate results of their selection in the World Cup.”Immediately after the World Cup, the paid selection committee will be formed for which the board will suggest the job description and they will be watching the entire domestic season to pick the best lot for the different teams.”Among other issues, Naseem said that the committee had also recommended the appointment of a chief operating officer in the PCB to give it a corporate setup and that an advisory council would also be formed in which cricket experts and former cricketers would be included to get their inputs. He added that the PCB would take steps to make the National Cricket Academy more effective, in order to identify talented players for the national team.

England’s Ashes campaign has been given a boost with the news that Ashley Giles has been passed fit after completing his rehabilitation from hip surgery.Giles, who took 10 wickets and contributed useful runs to England’s victory in the 2005 campaign, was a non-playing member of England’s one-day squad in India for the ICC Champions Trophy.The team flew back to England yesterday, and the team physiotherapist Kirk Russell said: “Ashley has been through a tough time, but he worked extremely hard in India and the medical team is very pleased with the progress he has made.”He bowled for extended periods in the nets, completed all the drills we set him without any reaction and is now fully fit and able to take his place in the Ashes squad.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, added: “It’s excellent news that Ashley has come through the final stage of his rehabilitation programme and is available again for selection. He played an important role in helping England regain the Ashes in 2005 and I am sure that he will be keen to make an impact in Australia this winter.””It’s been a long, hard road back for me,” said Giles. “I am grateful to the staff at the National Cricket Centre who helped with my rehabilitation and to the England team management for giving me the opportunity to go to India and work with the one-day squad.”It was always my goal to be fit in time for the Ashes tour and now that the moment has arrived I am really looking forward to being part of the Test squad again.”

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, was full of praise for the West Indies ona day when the tourists established a firm foothold in the second Test.Pakistan succumbed to a second career five-wicket haul from Jerome Taylorand Corey Collymore in the morning session, losing their last six wicketsfor only 94 runs, all out for a disappointing 357.Adding to their discomfiture, no West Indian wickets fell as Chris Gayle andDaren Ganga put on 151 runs by the end of the day, both men scoringfifties. Woolmer acknowledged the swing in fortunes to reporters after theday’s close. “West Indies had a very good day today. I thought Gayle andGanga batted extremely well and made it hard work for our bowlers. Theyplayed Danish Kaneria well because I thought he bowled a good spell.”The damage was done though by the West Indian bowling and Woolmerrecognized their efforts with the new ball, taken first thing in themorning. “The ball started swinging and that was crucial. They bowledextremely well with the new ball and produced some excellent deliveries.We would have obviously liked to score more runs.”The collapse was initiated early, Taylor removing Inzamam-ul-Haq with oneof the excellent deliveries Woolmer mentioned. Speared in to his pads, itcut away sharply and caught his edge; squared up, Inzamam looked to havebeen beaten by a fast leg-break. Taylor happily called it a prize wicket.”We all know how dangerous Inzi is and I was very happy with it.”At the other end, Collymore pulled out an unstinting, behemoth spell of 15overs. Taylor said, “He kept up the pressure from the other end and reallybowled well.” He might have added without any fortune, as two catches weredropped off his bowling and batsmen beaten regularly. It has been his fatethus far in the series.The tourists moved into a robust position by the end of the day, at 151for no loss, 206 runs behind. A first Test victory in Pakistan for 16years is more tangible than it has been at any time since, during whichthey have suffered four heavy Test defeats on the trot. Much work remainsto be done and the pitch is showing no signs of offering help tobowlers.”The wicket is not conducive to fast bowling and there is still a lot ofwork to be done. It actually gets better for batting. But we just have tobowl in the right areas and if we can do that again, then we aredefinitely in with a chance,” said Taylor.

Mohammad Ashraful has been recalled to the Bangladesh squad for their series against Zimbabwe a week after he was controversially omitted from the 13-man party.Ashraful, 22, was not named for the Twenty20 or one-day internationals with Faruk Ahmed, the chief selector, saying it was because of his lack of form. Ashraful had been inconsistent at the Champions Trophy and was dropped for their final qualifying match against Zimbabwe.However, Ashraful slammed 263 for Dhaka Division against Chittagong Division in the domestic four-day competition and has earned an immediate recall. His omission had sparked protests from around 300 fans outside the Bangladesh Cricket Board offices.Ahmed said: “We had kept him out of the squad to create pressure on him so he could regain his form and I think he has proven himself again.”Bangladesh will now choose from a 14-man squad for the matches against Zimbabwe, which start with the Twenty20 at Khulna on Tuesday before the first ODI at the same venue on Thursday.

It’s been an interesting few days since the Perth Test match, trying to work out what the Ashes urn actually means. Since 2005 it’s been an amazing thought process for a lot of us to think about what actually happened to try and get the urn and those Ashes back.For me it was a mission to try and get that urn back and today I sit here a very happy man at getting that urn back and I’m going to announce my retirement from international cricket, domestic cricket for Victoria and St Kilda as well. It’s been unbelievable. I think my journey and my ride in international cricket has been phenomenal.I don’t think I could have written my script any better. It’s been an amazing journey, an unbelievable ride. There’s so many people to thank. Today I thought I’d be sad. A lot of people said “you’ll know when your time’s up, you’ll know when your time’s right”. And I sort of doubted that, I didn’t really understand what they meant, and I sit here in front of you today and I know exactly what they mean.I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better. The script leading up to these last two Test matches – I’m going to retire at the end of the Sydney Test match – the reason for doing it that way, I wasn’t going to do anything ahead of the team. The team always came first and once the urn was back then it was going to be time to announce the retirement.If that had to wait until the end of the Sydney Test match then it would be then. But as it’s worked out, the script’s been written, three-nil, we’ve got the urn back from Perth. [It’s a] good opportunity to play out here at the MCG in front of my family and friends who I’ve grown up with and spent a lot of time with and then to Sydney where it all started. Sixteen cricket seasons ago – or nearly 20-odd years of first-class cricket ago – it started in Sydney and it’s still my proudest moment, playing my first Test match.It’s an amazing feeling, so to have that opportunity to walk off in Sydney, where it all began a long time ago, where the ride began, then I think that’s a great opportunity and something to celebrate with the team.I sit here today with every single trophy available in international cricket in the Cricket Australia offices. So I think as a player I like to think I’ve played my part in helping those trophies getting to Cricket Australia. I sit here today a very happy man, it’s been on my chest for a while. I probably would have retired at the end of 2005 Ashes series if we had’ve won but it wasn’t to be.My life has been unbelievable, to be honest. Cricket is a statistic-based game but it’s not about statistics and money and financial and those types of things. For me if it was about that sort of stuff I would keep playing because I feel like I’m still bowling well enough to keep playing. It’s about knowing the right time and I’d like to go out on top. I think I’m going out on my terms – I’d like to think I’ve earned that right to go out on my terms. But it’s a day of celebration, celebrating a wonderful ride.

The South African board (CSA) has said Herschelle Gibbs will appeal against the two-Test ban imposed on him by the ICC for alleged comments made by him during the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan. The decision has led to the CSA’s hearing of the issue being postponed till the ICC appeal process is completed.The CSA’s hearing, chaired by Judge Mervyn King, is to determine whether the alleged remarks were in breach of the Rules and Code of Conduct of Cricket South Africa. If found guilty, Gibbs would have breached the board’s clauses on abuse “on the basis of race, religion, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin” and on “unbecoming conduct which brings the board or the game into disrepute”.”As the ICC findings and suspension have a bearing on CSA’s disciplinary matter, I have postponed the hearing until after Herschelle Gibbs’s appeal proceedings have been completed by the ICC”, King said.Gibbs comments came shortly before lunch on the fourth day of the Test. According to the ICC Rules, all fines and punishments are suspended till a decision is taken on the appeal. Gibbs had 24 hours to appeal against the ban handed down by Chris Broad, the match referee.Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the South African board, said that the CSA’s charges against Gibbs were laid before those of the ICC. “As Judge King has pointed out, the ICC procedures have a bearing on our own hearing and so no further statements will be forthcoming from CSA on this matter until after the ICC and our own disciplinary procedures have been completed,” he said.

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

A fighting century from Kumar Sangakkara set it up but it was an outstanding spell of death bowling and brilliant catching under pressure that enabled Sri Lanka to pull off a tense five-run win in a Rajkot heart-stopper. Needing 23 in 4.3 overs, with five wickets in hand, India looked set to wrap it up but they were thwarted at the finish line by a team that simply refused to give in.The old firm of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar combined in an exciting counterattacking stand, allowing India to overcome a couple of early blows, but their dismissals allowed Sri Lanka a sniff. The 66-run stand between India’s two wicketkeepers – Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni – appeared to be the last act of the day but it took a fast, searing, yorker from Lasith Malinga, the quickest bowler on show, to instigate a twist. Farveez Maharoof, who was justly rewarded with three wickets, continued the choke operation before Sanath Jayasuriya, the king of stranglers, completed the asphyxiation.A top edge from Harbhajan Singh was pouched splendidly by Mahela Jayawardene running back towards third man but the catch that sealed the match arrived in the penultimate ball. Dhoni, who’d declined two singles in Jayasuriya’s final over and needed six runs in two balls, received one which was in the slot and swatted it high to extra cover. That was when Maharoof, running back from cover, braved a possible head-on collision with Upul Tharanga, running in the opposite direction, and pulled off a sensational catch to seal the match. Sreesanth will rightly argue that the last ball should have been signaled wide but even he will admit that Javed Miandad-esque heroics are beyond him.Until those final moments, Sri Lanka never appeared in line for a win but the ingredients were always promising. Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan turned a potentially modest total into a competitive one, the former through a skillful century and the other through a dashing 58. Once his colleagues had made their exit with some leaden-footed strokeplay, too eager to play their shots when caution would have served them best, Sangakkara gave a master lesson in handling a crisis. Blending peachy drives with solid defence, he ensured that he saw out the fast bowlers before taking on the spinners. He didn’t spare the loose offerings – tonking a long-hop from Anil Kumble over the midwicket fence and thumping half-volleys majestically through the covers – and found an able ally in Dilshan.Both went after the spinners, on a pitch that offered just a hint of turn, and put Sri Lanka on track at the halfway mark. Dilshan was the more attacking of the two, quick to pounce on anything short and pummeling drives through a speedy outfield, and their 108-run stand came at just the right time for Sri Lanka. It took a mesmeric doosra from Harbhajan to undo Dilshan – clueless against the one that turned away and clipped top of off – but nothing could halt Sangakkara’s surge.

He stepped it up once he was past 75, clattering Sachin Tendulkar for a six over midwicket. Kumble was mangled in the 48th over – hoicked for two towering sixes, one of which brought up his hundred – before Munaf was at the receiving end of a furious hit over long-on. It was his sixth one-day hundred, and second against India, and had the satisfaction of making his first matchwinning hundred against major opposition.Yet, 257 didn’t appear enough on this pitch, especially when Tendulkar and Ganguly got going. The pair came together with India wobbling at 29 for 2 and made the most of Malinga’s errant line. Tendulkar just needed to flick his wrists and see the ball speed away to the square-leg fence while Ganguly was quick to latch on to anything wide, freeing his arms and bisecting the off-side field. Tendulkar brought up his half-century, 76th of his career, in just 51 deliveries, cracking nine fours in the process, while Ganguly was the calmer partner, assured in his approach, yet emphatic in strokeplay.Their dismissals, followed by a sloppy late-cut by Virender Sehwag, created a few flutters. Sri Lanka, who until then, appeared to be nowhere in the contest found an opening and exploited it smartly. Almost all their bowlers contributed. Malinga, who is right there at the top in the fast bowling stakes, possesses a lethal bouncer and yorker – Dhoni was lucky to hear a no-ball call after being bowled by a searing toe-crusher. Maharoof’s two early blows showed the lift and cut he could generate from this pitch – Robin Uthappa, on the front foot, flinched at a short one while Rahul Dravid had no answer to a peach of an incutter that deflected off his inside edge. Malinga Bandara, the legspinner, produced a most effective and under-stated effort.It’s not often that legspinners succeed against Indian batsmen but his variation of pace, and sharp legbreaks, proved vital. In the course of his spell, he forced Tendulkar into a few indiscretions before earning the distinction of becoming the first legspinner to get him stumped either in Tests or ODIs. But for the matchwinning spell one can’t look beyond Jayasuriya, keeping his head at the dying stages and frustrating India till the end.

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.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
It might be tempting to call it one of the biggest upsets, but the manner in which Bangladesh pulled the rug from under India’s feet at Port-of-Spain, for their third win in World Cup games, came with a touch of the inevitable. Mashrafe Mortaza inspired a clockwork bowling effort, helped largely by a slew of sloppy strokes, before three teenagers displayed confidence, verve and composure beyond their years to turn a tricky chase into a stroll, winning by five wickets.To lay the entire blame on Rahul Dravid, for choosing to bat first on a juicy pitch, will be foolhardy. India were confronted by an efficient bowling attack and crumbled, first against Mortaza and then against a group of zippy left-arm spinners. Sourav Ganguly’s half-century lent some sort of respectability but during the run-chase, India were upstaged by a trio that has a combined experience of 35 games and an average age of 18.Tamim Iqbal, the youngest member of the side and in just his fifth one-dayer, led the charge of the youth brigade with an audacious 53-ball 51, oozing confidence from every pore and charging the fast bowlers with gusto. What followed was a clinical finish, led by Saqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, two batsmen widely touted as the stars of the next generation. Their 84-run stand – laced with cool and class – clinched the victory. With nine deliveries left, Mushfiqur caressed Munaf Patel through the covers to trigger off joyous celebrations at the Queens Park Oval.Tamim’s approach encapsulated Bangladesh’s poise. He copped a vicious blow on the neck, when he attempted to take on Zaheer Khan’s shorter one, but responded with a brand of rapacious strokes straight out of the Sanath Jayasuriya textbook. The shot of the day, if not the shot of the tournament so far, came in the 11th over, when he charged down the track to Zaheer and blitzed an almighty pull way over midwicket. The temerity behind the stroke symbolised Bangladesh’s day.India’s toothless bowling attack, barring a good opening spell from Munaf, was accompanied by some sloppy fielding – dropping two sitters and two half-chances. It was a stark contrast to Bangladesh’s effort on the field, when they pounced and dived around like panthers on a prowl. Tamim’s dismissal, followed by Aftab Ahmed’s wicket soon after, reduced Bangladesh to 79 for 3 but Bangladesh unleashed a couple of relative unknowns who arrived on the biggest stage and came into their own.Mashrafe Mortaza, who got the ball to seam consistently and hit the high 130s repeatedly, took 4 for 38 to restrict India to 191•AFP

Mushfiqur, the 18-year-old wicketkeeper selected over the experienced Khaled Mashud, displayed tremendous composure, during his 107-ball 56. It was clear that his primary role was to blunt the new-ball threat and he went about his task in an accomplished manner. There were some wonderful moments of dash as well – a couple of sixes off the spinners, lofting straight with a neat swing of the bat, showed his aggressive capabilities – but the signature moments were when he pierced the gaps and hustled the quick singles.Saqibul opened out a bit more freely – pinging the square boundary with some electric drives – and reeled off a couple of gorgeous straight hits of Munaf in his second spell. A half-century capped off a fine allround performance, after he’d done his bit with his left-arm spinners earlier in the day. He wasn’t rewarded with a wicket but he maintained the pressure at one end as Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzak, the other two left-arm menaces, snared six victims between them.It was Mortaza, though, who was at the heart of the impressive performance. He hit the straps straight away, extracting considerable movement from the pitch and skidding it through at around 130 kph. He removed Virender Sehwag in his second over, jagging one back from outside off and forcing him to play on, before gobbling up a reckless Robin Uthappa. He returned for his second spell, nailed a wicket off the first ball – Ajit Agarkar edging limply to the wicketkeeper – and finished it with the wicket of Munaf in the final over. It was a Man-of-the-Match winning performance as he punished India for their blasé approach.The spinners complemented him beautifully. Razzak began the choke with a peach of an arm-ball to get rid of Sachin Tendulkar – foxing him with the straighter one and seeing the ball deflect off the inside edge and pad before bobbing up for the wicketkeeper. Rafique picked up the baton with a characteristically efficient spell. He teased out Dravid with a straighter one that was crashing into leg, tempted Ganguly into the big shot, and out-thought Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a wide delivery [the batsman was made to look foolish when he slashed straight to short third man].India’s most promising moments of the day arrived when Ganguly and Yuvraj got them out of trouble. Ganguly’s was a cautious effort, managing only four fours in a 129-ball knock, but he had no other option than to drop anchor. This was his fourth half-century against Bangladesh in as many games and he appeared more comfortable against the left-arm spinners than the rest. Yuvraj’s 47 was a more aggressive knock, cracking three fours and a six, but he fell just when there was a chance to step it up. It pretty much summed up the day – India missing out on the openings and Bangladesh seizing the moments brilliantly.

England have arrived in Antigua for a week that could well make or break their World Cup campaign. They face two matches in the space of five days against Sri Lanka and Australia – two of the four teams who, along with New Zealand and South Africa, have been all but inked into most pundits’ semi-final shake-downs. Victory in either, or preferably both, will propel England ever closer to the next round. Back-to-back defeats, on the other hand, will all but ensure their early flight home.On current evidence, however, England have no right to be anywhere near the semi-finals. They have been ponderous and uninspiring in their four matches to date, not least in their 48-run victory over Ireland in Guyana on Friday – a match that Duncan Fletcher, their coach, admitted had been laced with a tinge of complacency.”I don’t think we played as well as we could have, there’s no doubt about it,” said Fletcher. “It was still an important win from our point of view, because we could have slipped up. But there are areas we can work on. We got a little complacent at times, and we need to make sure don’t get that complacent against better sides.”It’s an extraordinary admission to make, especially in light of Australia’s furious trouncing of Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday. “There are no easy games in this tournament,” Ricky Ponting said after that ten-wicket victory, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And yet, if Australia’s next opponents are to be believed, this whole World Cup campaign is a bit of a breeze really.Maybe it is preferable from Fletcher’s point of view to give the impression that England are a good side going through a slack phase, rather than a bad side struggling to stay afloat. Last week, the 144th edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack was published, and featured a broadside against a coach under whose leadership England had managed, at once, to be “worn out but under-prepared; complacent yet over-apprehensive; inward-looking yet dysfunctional as a unit; closeted yet distracted.”Fletcher himself brushed aside the criticism, insisting his focus was on the tournament and nothing else, but listening to him talk about England’s need to master the basics was further evidence of the gulf that exists between the best and the rest in this tournament. “The most crucial thing is that we must play to our strengths with the players available to us,” he said, implying that England are still – even at this crucial juncture of the biggest tournament of all – hankering after the men who did not make this trip; the likes of Marcus Trescothick, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison and (knowing Fletcher) Ashley Giles.”Maybe we’ll change a few things,” Fletcher added, hinting that Andrew Strauss could come into consideration for a recall, “though maybe that would be dangerous at this stage. But we mustn’t ask players to do things that are foreign to them, because that could really be pretty disastrous. All our players must play to their strengths.”Quite what those strengths are, however, remains a moot point. England’s sluggish scoring and scattergun new-ball bowling has provided cause for concern ever since the opening defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia, and though Fletcher rightly extolled the importance of building partnerships and bowling “in the areas discussed at the start of the match”, the orthodoxy of his team’s approach is sure to be challenged on Wednesday when Sri Lanka, arguably the most flamboyant of England’s remaining opponents, arrive in town.

Sri Lanka, who marmalised England 5-0 last summer, haven’t looked this impressive at a World Cup since their victorious campaign in 1996 – a tournament in which England, again, were the fall guys atFaisalabad. And now, spearheaded by the maverick slinger, Lasith Malinga, who grabbed four wickets in four balls in a searing spell against South Africa last week, Sri Lanka are even more potent opponents than ever before.”Malinga is a threat, he is unusual to any other bowler,” said Fletcher, referring to the vicious round-arm action that delivers the ball from in front of the umpire’s chest. “Once you get out there and it hits you, it’s completely different to the talk. When you’re under pressure, the way you think is you always fall back on what you’ve done before. It’s hard to ask guys to suddenly change to something they haven’t really done consistently.””As long as the top-order can build some partnerships, that’s the crucial aspect,” added Fletcher, in defence of his under-performing top three of Michael Vaughan, Ed Joyce and Ian Bell. “We must be very careful we don’t put too much pressure on them. They are experienced, they’ve been around a bit, but they’ve got to build partnerships. Once it’s set they can accelerate from that platform.”As true as it may be, the need to reiterate such basic disciplines was alarming. At a time when the big guns of this tournament are applying a glossy finish to months and years of groundwork, England – rather like the stadiums in which they are appearing – are frantically trying to disguise their skeletal framework.