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PAARL, Feb 25: Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram on Tuesday had reasons to celebrate after he became the first bowler to scalp 500 batsmen in One-day Internationals when he dismissed Holland’s opener Nick Statham.Wasim had to wait a bit longer for his 500th victim as Holland decided to field first after winning the toss but he wasted little time in achieving the milestone. He has now taken 502 wickets in 354 one-dayers.Incidentally, Wasim’s first scalp was Australian opener Robbie Kerr when the demon left-arm speedster began his international career in late 1984.Wasim intends to quit international cricket after the World Cup but was undecided when to make the announcement.”I am talking to my family, friends and well-wishers about the retirement. It (the decision) will not be a hasty one as I do not want to regret it afterwards,” he told Dawn.Wasim said he was lucky to have won every honour the game could bestow on a player and would not like to become a liability and quit when on top.”I am no longer getting younger and I am fully aware that it is getting difficult every day to keep yourself motivated and fit to give your best at both limited over and Test versions of the game,” he said.The former Lancashire captain also revealed that he was considering an offer from English county Hampshire to skipper their team this season as a replacement for the banned Australian spin king Shane Warne.Wasim also disclosed that after quitting the game he would be signing on with television channel ESPN as a commentator as cricket had been his life and the only job.Reuters adds: The 36-year-old admitted he was a relieved man. “I was really under pressure last night and, like any youngster, although I am not a youngster, I couldn’t get to sleep. But now I’m relaxed and, yes, relieved… It was a feeling more of relief than ecstasy.”Statham out for a duck after playing a typically inswinging Wasim delivery back on to his stumps.”I’m very excited but in the end what matters is that Pakistan should qualify,” added Wasim, who later returned to the attack to take two more wickets and help his side to a 97-run victory. “I think we are going in the right direction.”I would like to dedicate this to all the people who have supported me in the last 18 years.”Wasim said two former Pakistan captains as the biggest influences on his career.”Imran (Khan) was the main man who helped me, and Javed Miandad,” he said. “Imran and Javed Miandad taught me how important it was to work hard and do it with passion, and I am still doing that.”Pakistan captain Waqar Younis is the only other player to take more than 400 One-day International wickets.

Coach Duncan Fletcher has set England a target of 350 in the first innings of the Second Ashes Test at Lord’s.With the home side on 121-4 after a first day punctuated by weather interruptions, that may seem a tall order but Fletcher believes his batsmen have so far performed well.And, of course, Graham Thorpe is still there on 16 off 38 balls and he looked confident on the first day despite his seven-week lay-off because of a calf injury.Fletcher said: “Mark Ramprakash’s was an important wicket; we’d have been alot more comfortable going into tomorrow only three down.”I thought after they way we looked at Edgbaston they batted well. Out of thefour dismissals, three were to really good deliveries.”Maybe Marcus Trescothick would look at his and say it was a bit of a rashshot. The one that got Ramprakash came back up the hill. Mark Butcher got a goodone. I thought the guys batted well.”Obviously we are looking at 350. That’s the score we should try and get to,but it’s a wicket that’s offered something and hopefully it will continue thatway for the next couple of days.”With Graham, we realised it was a bit of a risk because he hadn’t played forsome time.”The most important thing was that Graham was very confident, he wanted toplay, he wanted to go out there and do battle with the Aussies. The mental sideis very, very important. I think he looked pretty good.”Tomorrow will be very important. Hopefully Stewart and Thorpe can put on agood partnership and we can build towards that 350.”Australian coach John Buchanan said: “It was a day when it was hard for anyside to build any momentum.”I suppose having sent England in, getting four wickets on reasonably benignwicket, we are reasonably pleased.”Overall our bowling performance was better than the First Test. The areas webowled in were much better than at Edgbaston.”Thorpe and Stewart will be our first priorities tomorrow, obviously.Thorpe’s come to the crease handled himself reasonably well. There are areasthere we hope to exploit tomorrow.”Mark Waugh’s catch of Mark Butcher at second slip was his 157th in Tests,equalling the world record of his former captain Mark Taylor, and Buchanan paid tribute to the player’s consistency in the slip cordon.Buchanan added: “I think Mark’s taken some amazing catches in the time thatI’ve been associated with the team.”This one was a nice one to have and I’d say there’s plenty more catchesround the corner for him in this series.”One of the key words for him is anticipation; no matter what position hefields in, he actually watches the ball from the bowler’s hand – not many players do that.”He has a feeling of the way it is going. No matter whether he’s on theground or standing still, the result’s still the same the way he catches theball.”I think that’s one of the secrets, he’s an athlete when the ball’s nearby -good reflexes.”

Sri Lanka seamer Akalanka Ganegama bowled his side into a commandingposition with six for 43 as England were dismissed for only 112 on the firstday of the crucial third Under-19 Test at Worcester.Although the home side bounced back immediately, reducing Sri Lanka to sixfor four, the tourists ended the day 12 runs ahead with three first-inningswickets standing.Essex left-armer Justin Bishop did the damage for England, taking threewickets in the first four overs of the Sri Lanka innings.Had left-hander Jehan Mubarak not got himself out for 49 just before theclose, cutting Chris Tremlett straight to point, Sri Lanka would have beenin a stronger position.Ganegama picked up four of the last six England wickets and was instrumentalin reducing England to 46 for eight before Hampshire all-rounder Tremlett,on his England Under-19 debut, helped add 66 for the last two wickets andremained unbeaten on 39.Play did not begin until 12.15 because of damp patches on the square but SriLanka made up for lost time, reducing England to 26 for five at lunch.Before the match, England replaced Mark Wallace as captain with Ian Bell.Bell had skippered the side for the three one-day internationals and thefirst Test when Wallace, the appointed captain, was injured. England won allfour games and Bell led the side well whereas Wallace had a poor match atNorthampton in the second Test, which Sri Lanka won by 151 runs.

ScorecardHe glaring sun bore down on the Trinidad and Tobago fielders at Sabina Park, Jamaica, in the first session of the second day of the Carib Challenge final. So did the weight of a substantial 172-run first innings deficit against the Jamaicans, built on the back of an inspired knock of 116 from Brendan Nash, his second for Jamaica, and second versus T&T this season.At the close, T&T were trying to make inroads into a challenging deficit, very aware that they must first overhaul a daunting lead before they can think about setting Jamaica a competitive fourth innings target. Openers Daren Ganga and Adrian Barath set about on a rescue mission and, by the close, had given T&T a good start of 43 without loss, a three-wicket improvement over Thursday’s first session. They might have had something in the vicinity of 20 more runs, but the Sabina Park outfield, which has seen much better days, was effective in slowing up the ball towards the boundary.Their reply was not without blemish, though, as both batsmen were let off, Ganga dropped by Nash in slip on eight and Barath put down by Jamaica’s first day hero, left arm spinner Nikita Miller, on 14.What made Nash’s knock-he was unbeaten overnight on 56-special in Jamaica’s first innings was not dazzling strokeplay, but disciplined application at a time when Jamaica were 29 for three on the first day. Then he featured in a partnership of 65 with Brendan Parchment, before batting throughout the morning session to put on 106 with Jamaican captain Tamar Lambert-who scored an even 50-raising a well-deserved century in the process.With that batting effort handing Jamaica a handsome advantage, it will be an uphill task for T&T’s batsmen to get them back on track. They did get that slim chance, though, thanks to pacers Mervyn Dillon, Ravi Rampaul and Richard Kelly, who prised out four of Jamaica’s last six wickets in the space of 93 runs just after Nash had brought up his fifth first-class ton.Lendl Simmons was one bright spark for T&T behind the stumps replacing Denesh Ramdin, who did not return to the field yesterday after suffering heavy bruising and swelling around his right eye. He was hit by a Daren Powell bouncer while batting on the opening morning. Simmons snapped up whatever came his way, holding onto four catches provided by the Jamaicans, including the prize scalp of Nash, and wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh Jr.The other good news for T&T w as that Ramdin seemed to be okay yesterday evening, with just a swollen eye, and even managed to toss up a few balls to number three batsman Darren Bravo during some batting practice after play.In Jamaica’s innings, Nash and Lambert were content to wait patiently for T&T off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth to make the odd mistake. They preferred the pace offered by Rampaul and Dillon, though, and scored easily. Even when the runs dried up, with the spin duo of Jaggernauth and chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed operating in tandem, they still played within themselves, picking up the odd boundary in the process.The pudgy Jamaican skipper was no slouch between the wickets, running all but four of his runs, while Nash was severe on anything just outside off stump and left alone anything that bounced, or was fairly wide.At the 200-run mark, Lambert, who had been living a charmed life in the latter part of his innings, found T&T skipper Daren Ganga, who took a brilliant right-handed catch just off the ground at wide mid on off Dillon. Just 31 runs later it was Baugh heading back to pavilion for 17, top-edging Rampaul behind to Simmons.Jerome Taylor came and played an enterprising unbeaten cameo of 27 (four fours, 29 balls), drilling boundaries off Rampaul and Kelly, but lost the rest of the Jamaica tail, Dillon removing Powell (14) caught Mohammed at backward point, in between Kelly’s caught behind dismissals of Nikita Miller (11) and Odean Brown (4). Once T&T had mopped up the Jamaican tail-not without resistance-it was time to attempt some repair work after their first innings collapse.The question is, with the pitch more conducive to stroke play than on the first morning, can their batting improve well enough to allow them to challenge Jamaica?

Sri Lanka’s top-order batsmen, blamed for the team’s dismal showing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Bank Series, showed outstanding form ahead of their tour of the Caribbean in the Premier League competition matches played over the weekend.Leading the run parade was top-ranked Test batsman Kumar Sangakkara who carved out the season’s highest score of 285 for Nondescripts against Moors at Maitland Place. Sangakkara tore into the Moors bowling which comprised two bowlers in the national squad for the series against West Indies – Chanaka Welegedara and Rangana Herath – hitting 31 fours and three sixes in his 292-ball innings. His knock improved on team-mate Chanaka Wijesinghe’s 250 made against Tamil Union which had stood as the season’s highest since January. Thanks to Sangakkara’s exploits Nondescripts recorded their second win of the season beating Moors by ten wickets. Despite their second defeat of the season, Moors held onto second place.Tillakaratne Dilshan was the other in-form Sri Lanka batsman, stroking a run-a-ball 121 featuring nine fours and six sixes for Bloomfield in their drawn encounter against Tamil Union.Pace-setters Sinhalese were the only other club from Tier A to record a win on a rain-affected weekend. They trounced Chilaw Marians by eight wickets at the R Premadasa Stadium, their fifth win of the season to extend their lead at the top to 28 points. Left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara was Sinhalese’s match-winner with a haul of ten wickets – a performance that should give him a lot of confidence for the Caribbean tour.Two Test discards performed outstandingly for Ragama. Indika de Saram stroked a stylish 188 off 152 balls (19 fours, 12 sixes) and legspinner Malinga Bandara captured nine wickets in the match as Ragama forced Badureliya to follow-on, but had to be satisfied with a draw.Defending champions Colombo Cricket Club lost further ground to leaders Sinhalese when they were held to a draw by Colts despite a long-overdue century from Sri Lanka one-day batsman Chamara Kapugedera. Colombo remained in third slot just ahead.Army took another step towards winning Tier B, which would assure them of a promotion to the elite Tier A next season, when they beat Police by six wickets, the match ending inside two days. It was their seventh win in as many matches. Army’s spinner Ajantha Mendis picked up eight wickets in the match to become the first bowler this season to take 50 wickets.Player of the Week: Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is reaping the benefits of the hard work that he’s put in at practice over the years. There was no cricketer who worked harder at his game than Aravinda de Silva when he was representing Nondescripts and Sri Lanka. Sangakkara seems to have taken over that mantle from the great man and last weekend carried the brilliant form he showed in Australia into the domestic scene by compiling the highest score of the season – 285 for Nondescripts against Moors.Success for Sangakkara has not come overnight. He has worked hard for it. One of his greatest attributes is that he works hard at practice to perfect every shot in the book.Sangakkara admitted that under coaches Tom Moody and Trevor Penney, and John Dyson and Shane Duff before them he had got a good understanding of what his strengths were, and how he could get better. “Moody and Penney always pushed us out of our comfort zone, and that made me want to raise my game,” said Sangakkara.”Penney would talk to me about practising every single shot I could possibly play so that I could use them in a game and have options. Everything from a forward defensive to a lofted drive to a sweep to a reverse-sweep was practised in the years leading up to this patch.”Not satisfied with working on his batting alone, Sangakkara has also talked to people like Sandy Gordon, the sports psychologist, on how to build an innings and improve his game.The secret to Sangakkara’s batting is he tries to keep everything as simple as possible. “I try and watch the ball and I try and make sure I am balanced. Those are the two most important things for me. Everything else I have is usually covered through practice.”

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.

Yorkshire often expect a frosty reception at Old Trafford but the scene that greeted the players on Monday was taking it to the extreme. The one-day friendly, if a match between these two teams can ever be classed as such, was delayed for 45 minutes as the ground staff hacked mountains of ice off the covers.Despite the chilly start, a decent crowd was able to watch a full match although the temperature never threatened to hit double figures despite wall-to-wall sunshine. Yorkshire warmed the hearts of their supporters, completing a 24-run win despite the match being their first serious cricket of the season.Lancashire have spent 10 days in St. Kitts, but laboured with the bat after restricting Yorkshire to 200 for 8. The top order struggled to find the boundary as Yorkshire’s young attack kept control. Stuart Law’s wicket – brilliantly caught at second slip by a flying Matthew Wood – put Yorkshire in command and they didn’t let up. Andrew Crook and Dominic Cork struck combative forties, but they had been left too much to do.The second of two matches, scheduled for today, fell victim to more seasonal conditions as heavy overnight and morning rain led to it being abandoned by 10am. Lancashire start their Championship season against Hampshire, at Old Trafford, on April 18, and Yorkshire a day later against the defending champions, Nottinghamshire.

Musharraf’s handshake
Musharraf, bhai-bhai and corny graphics of superimposed flags have been all over the telly. We hear that Musharraf will watch the game for little more than an hour before talking shop with Manmohan Singh. Then someone says no, it’s two hours. Another says it’s 45 minutes. We give up guessing.Finally the day arrives. There are men with machine guns everywhere. They are just outside the boundary, watching the game with a passing interest in security. A man from the prime minister’s security office turns up to film the press box. Then, at ten to nine, the teams line up before the pavilion in one-day garb. The two heads of state emerge, hustled by bodyguards in dark suits. Both leaders give us their best smile and wave at us before meeting the teams. Manmohan greets the Pakistan team before Musharraf, who touches every Pakistan player at the back of the head and the shoulder. Then Musharraf says hello to the Indians and while shaking hands he holds their elbow. We think Bill Clinton mentioned he did that to express personal warmth to unfamiliar people.Then they turn to the crowds and wave happily. Such happy waves! Such dazzling smiles! They all but somersault and do a lap of honour.Like any other ground
One enters the Ferozshah Kotla imagining skeletal stands and workmen applying one last dab of paint before the spectators pour in. Gruesome images and news anchors on 24-hour news channels in the weeks preceding the game had sadistically emphasised that the stadium would be far from complete on April 17. Upon entering it we realise they were partially correct. Yes, the ground was not ready, but no, it did not appear as if the game would be affected in any way by it.What does the stadium look like? Well, the dirt has been swept under a rug. Blue cloth and advertisements hide the construction work. There are incomplete pillars wrapped by the cloth, but if you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought it was installation art: bamboo poles poke out from beneath the cloth. Three floors above the dressing-room is a packed enclosure missing a wall.Heat stroke, danger to life and advertising everywhere. This is like any other ground in India.The heavy burden of protection
With the visit and the threats by the Shiv Sena the security turn out is immense. There is the rapid-action force that mans the gates, the ordinary cops with batons that, thankfully, they aren’t using, as well as other stern-looking men armed with an assortment of weapons. They are everywhere, especially up your nose.”Pass by this bar,” shouts one cop to a crushing wave of fans attempting to enter the ground. The bar is held horizontally at a height, no, depth of about three-and-a half feet. So you have the sight of face-painted limbo dancers. Once you are past, hands of security men reach out to grab your press pass, checking its authenticity. Then come the gates, swarming with security and framed by metal detectors. A beep sounds as you walk through it. A lengthy check entails, an embarrassing pat-down follows.”Frisk everybody thoroughly, all up and down,” says a senior policeman to no one in particular. This means heavier pats from heavy-handed friskers.In view of such security, what chance does any one with evil intent have of entering the ground with, say, a banned device? “I could have brought anything in here, man,” a cheery television news reporter professes in the press box. “Those metal detectors? I just walked around them. Here, you can do anything.”A while later, after failed attempts to bring water bottles into the press box – “Sorry, water bottles are not allowed” – the cheery TV reporter returns with bottles of much needed liquid. “See? I just walked in through an entrance with no security. Boss, anything’s possible in Delhi.”American intervention
Interesting. There are Indian flags of all lengths and sizes, and there is a flutter of Pakistan green when a boundary is hit. And then there is a solitary American flag, waved wildly during a drinks break.

The Otago Cricket Association (OCA) has denied claims that security was heavy-handed during Wednesday’s one-dayer between New Zealand and South Africa at Dunedin. The problems arose with the way that the security guards dealt with people bringing alcohol into the ground.”There always seem to be some complaints but, overall, we thought security did an excellent job,” Graham Elliot, president of the OCA, told reporters. “But we had a blanket rule in place and we also advertised that no liquids would be allowed into the game.”I understand there were several instances where security were a bit heavy-handed. But it is very difficult when you’ve got this large number of security staff. You try to give people discretion, but it is sometimes difficult to get common sense.”The Otago Daily Times carried reports from disgruntled spectators. “I stood and watched for a while and it seemed to me, every time someone was trying to have a bit of fun, they stifled it,” one said. “The guy with a whistle who tried to get a Mexican wave going was told to settle down; I mean, what harm is that doing?”Another said he was told he could not enter the ground unless he either drank his thermos flask of milky coffee first or tipped it out, because of the ban on liquids. The man said he had gone home instead.Elliott said that he was unaware of these instances, although he revealed that student ingenuity was alive and well. One group arrived at the game with hollow plastic cricket bats filled with alcohol.Elliott admitted that he was disappointed with the small crowd, but inisisted that Carisbrook had underlined its claim to be a major venue. “It really proved again what a top-class cricket facility we have,” he said. “The New Zealand team love playing here. I think their success here really gives them a psychological edge.”

Sri Lanka’s team management has reacted furiously to match fixing suspicionsfollowing their shock defeat to Kenya.A news wire report had earlier claimed the sport’s Ant-Corruption Unit (ACU)was scrutinising the game closely.The report said that a special request had been made for a videotape,although the ICC later said this was simply normal procedure.”It’s an insult to this side,” said Sri Lankan manager Ajit Jayasekera.”The reason we lost was because we batted badly. It was a gettable total,and the batting let the side down.”We vehemently deny this allegation. Just because we lost the match to ateam like Kenya it is disgusting to be accused of match fixing. I am veryannoyed.”Kenya Cricket Association chairman Jimmy Rayani was also disappointed by theallegations.”What is the point of having a World Cup if everybody knows the results ofall the games?” he said.”Don’t insult us every time we beat a big team.”An ICC spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the ACU had spoken to teamrepresentatives and reassure them that normal procedures were beingfollowed.