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As a young bowler Brett Lee did not understand why it was necessary to pace himself, but over the past two years he has worked on picking the moments to go flat-out. Since taking over from Glenn McGrath as Australia’s bowling leader he has collected some crucial breakthroughs to swing the momentum back to his team and on the opening day he did it on three occasions.Having chosen the wrong end in an effort to run with the breeze, he switched after four overs and quickly picked up Wasim Jaffer. Later in the day he stepped up to capture the crucial wicket of an on-song Sachin Tendulkar, although the lbw dismissal was unfair, and VVS Laxman was forced into an ugly pull shot with the second new ball.”I now know when to go up and down a gear,” Lee, who finished with 3 for 64, said. “There are times when you’re bowling at 95% and trying to get the right line and length, but there are times when you have to go full tilt, like when you need a wicket. You’ve just got to work out when to do it and when to pull back.”Lee’s first spell went for 25, but as soon as he sprinted in from the Lillee-Marsh End his day changed. “I wanted to take the wind first up, but the ball didn’t swing for the first couple of overs because it was coming over my left shoulder instead of my right,” he said. “I asked to go to the other end after four overs and it started swinging immediately and I took the wicket of Jaffer. If the wind is coming over your right shoulder it’s always happy days.”Temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and the Australians were drained by the heat, which contributed to them managing only 84 overs. Lee was not concerned by the slow over-rate – “When four quicks are steaming in off 30-odd metres on hot days it’s tough” – but the weather was more of an issue.”When you see seagulls walking around with their mouths open you know it’s a pretty hot day and a few of our guys were doing it as well,” he said. “It was tough out there and you’ve just got to hang in.”India finished at 6 for 297 and Lee was hoping for a quick clean-up on day two before putting his feet up in conditions expected to reach 39C. “If we had them four-down for 300 it might have been a different story, but with those two late wickets, making it six-down, Australia are in a pretty good position.”Rahul Dravid, who top scored with 93, thought Lee was at the top of his game. “Over the last year and a half he has had pace, but he has also bowled in the right areas and been thinking about his dismissals,” he said. “He has been improving all the time since I first came here in 1999.” Lee will probably never be as thoughtful as McGrath, but he has done an outstanding job of covering for him.

ScorecardJamaica enjoyed an excellent day at the Beausejour Stadium. Resuming at 69 for 3, they posted a total of 244, and their afternoon got even better as Windward Islands slumped to 64 for 7 at close of play on the second day, still trailing by 180. Daren Powell, David Bernard and Nikita Miller took two wickets each, with Miller, a left-arm spinner, returning astonishing figures of 14-9-7-2. Earlier, Bernard had starred with the bat too, scoring 49.
ScorecardBarbados were comfortably placed at close of play on the second day of their Carib Beer Cup match against Trinidad and Tobago at Crab Hill. They restricted Trinidad to 280 in the first innings, and were then coasting along at 120 for 1, with Dale Richards unbeaten on 54. Earlier, two of Trinidad’s batsmen had the misfortune of being dismissed for 99. Tishan Maraj, the opener playing in only his third first-class match, missed his maiden century by a run, and the same fate befell Imran Jan a little later.
ScorecardThe second day’s play at Charlestown was washed out due to rain.

The Indian team will prepare for their home series against New Zealand with a camp at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Stadium at Bangalore. According to a report by the Press Trust of India, the month-long camp, to be held in August, will be attended by all the probables. The list of probables will be announced later.The report also indicated that Greg Chappell was likely to assist John Wright, the Indian coach, in the batting and fielding departments during the preparatory camp.New Zealand arrive in India on September 23, and will play two Tests and a triangular one-day tournament which will also feature Australia.

National League Division TwoDivision Two table Northamptonshire 206 for 6 beat Somerset 202 for 9 by four wickets
ScorecardPhil Jaques and Mike Hussey, Northants’s Australian pair, continued their sparkling form as they led the charge to a four-wicket win against Somerset at Wantage Road. Jaques and Hussey have been at the fore of Northants’s impressive season in the National League, and they put on 104 for the second wicket to set them on their way to a ninth win. Chasing Somerset’s 202, in which Carl Gazzard top-scored with 42 and Jason Brown took 3 for 28, Jaques hit 73 from 95 balls while Hussey scored a more sedate 53 from 79. Gazzard, the Somerset wicketkeeper, took five catches in all, including Hussey off Steffan Jones, but neither he or the bowlers could prevent Jeffrey Cook smashing a cameo 29 from 20, including five fours, as Northants got home with nine balls to spare.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has hired Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain, as a consultant to their national team and their cricket academy. According to sources in the PCB, Chappell has telephonically given his consent to accepting the offer, but the contract remains to be signed.As per the terms of the proposed contract, Chappell will have to set aside 30 days per year to work with the PCB. He will be required to deal with players from the national team, and perhaps even the national cricket academy as required.When Chappell was contacted at his Sydney residence he preferred to play it safe. “I don’t think it’s right to comment on this until the contracts are signed, sealed and delivered,” said Chappell. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the PCB has said that Daryl Foster, a bowling coach also from Australia, will have a similar contract with the PCB. He is set to take up his first on-site assignment by conducting a 16-day coaching camp from June 24 onwards. The board was also considering using the services of Barry Richards in a similar fashion.Foster has worked with the Pakistan team before while Chappell has been evolving his own brand of coaching, called Chappellway, over the last few years. He has also been coach of the South Australian team and has conducted various coaching seminars in India and Australia.

Nagpur is the home base of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, the right-wing fundamentalist group that spawned the Bharatiya Janata Party, the leading opposition group in the Indian Parliament. Not surprisingly, nationalistic fervour is high in the stadium, especially in the East Stand, where the roving eye read the words F-A-N-A-T-I-C-S, written in bold green across a pale yellow banner and spread across the railings on the top tier of the stands.A group of about 30 people dressed in the Australian Baggy Green colours was sitting among the locals, waving Australian flags and, surprisingly, tossing a green-vest-clad rubber crocodile instead of the famous kangaroo to cheer on their team. Surrounding them were the teeming locals waving the Indian tri-colour.The situation in the ring beneath was not in India’s favour, and one could sense the crowd’s desperation. The strains of “Dizzy, Dizzy, Dizzy, you make me Dizzy, my head is spinning …” came out loud and clear. One of the Fanatics gestured to an Indian fan, who was running across the stands with flag in hand, to sit down. Annoyed by the gesture, some of the Indians began a slanging match, and it required intervention from the police to calm proceedings.One of the Fanatics was wearing an Indian-style turban, bright yellow in colour, embellished with false stones, and the rudraksha (a bead necklace) around his neck. The word “Pistol” was written on his vest. With the kangaroo painted on his cheeks and a saffron-coloured “tilak”, Pistol and rest of the gang appeared to be dressed for an Indian wedding.Pistol’s actual name, it turns out, is Peter, but among the group he is known as Pistol Pete after you-know-who. The Fanatics is a troupe of Australian fans, similar to many others which enable fans from all over the place to gather on a trip to tour with their national team around the globe. This group made their first tour in 1997 during the US Open tennis, which the Aussie Pat Rafter eventually went on to win – he later called the group to thank them. The aim was to form an organised, passionate and patriotic support group that would follow Australian sport at home and around the world.The Fanatics began by supporting Australian tennis players, but then moved into other popular sports such as rugby, cricket and soccer. “Basically we have more fun than those people out there,” says Pistol, pointing to the stand on the left where the “Waving-the-flags” group was seated. “They are more passionate about the game and follow it thoroughly, whereas we are more interested in having fun and travelling.” The Fanatics have come for this Indian tour in two batches, with each one getting to watch two Tests. Before coming to Nagpur, this bunch had gone for a jaunt to Goa, where they revelled in the sun and sands of Kalungute Beach.Dan, another Fanatic, adds that the group is enjoying the local food and the hospitality of the Indians. “We have some cases where guys were down with stomach upsets, but it has been fun,” he says with a smile, before going on to add “though we have taken our Imodiums along with us as a precaution.” To gauge the severity of the upset tummies, you only need to watch a banner which reads “Mum, send Imodium”.Outside the stadium, Nagpur moves at a leisurely pace. Though it is the winter capital of Maharashtra, the pace and the stress of city life is absent. Life, like the old two-seater gas-spewing auto-rickshaw, moves at a sedate pace. Darkness falls early and dawn breaks at even greater speed. The journalist in me yearns for a break, but the man outside just goes on with his life in the same slow, comfortable fashion.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Sri Lanka made short work of Zimbabwe in the first encounter between the two sides in the Paktel Cup, finishing the match off in less than 52 overs, just over half the scheduled amount. Their victory was set up in the field: after winning the toss Marvan Atapattu put Zimbabwe in on a grassy Rawalpindi pitch and his attack, featuring four seamers, rolled them over for 104 in 33 overs. Sanath Jayasuriya produced some fireworks as Sri Lanka coasted to their target, and gave themselves an afternoon off with an early victory.Zimbabwe would have had no inkling of how quickly their innings would unravel while Stuart Matsikenyeri was batting in the first hour. Matiskenyeri ignored the early loss of Brendan Taylor, his opening partner, and played the game he knew best. Ball on bat sounded like a rifle shot as he fired off a string of boundaries in the first few overs, and Zimbabwe raced to 50 at nearly five an over. But having reached 37 out of a total of 54, Matsikenyeri grew a shade too adventurous against the accurate medium-pace of Farveez Maharoof, swung across the line, and was bowled.Thereafter the Zimbabwe batsmen gifted away their wickets with a series of ill-chosen strokes. Maharoof picked up a second wicket, that of Vusi Sibanda with a cutter, and Dilhara Fernando, out of the Sri Lankan side for a while, teased out Mark Vermeulen with the slower ball, bowled with a split-finger grip – one of his specialities. Atapattu saw his chance and brought back Chaminda Vaas for a second spell, a move that brought him another two wickets. Only Dion Ebrahim held one end up as the Sri Lankans easily finished off the tail, and Upul Chandana picked up some cheap lower-order wickets to finish with 3 for 15.With only 105 to chase, Sri Lanka threw their bats at the bowling and lost a couple of wickets in getting home. Saman Jayantha, who replaced Avishka Gunawardene at the top of the order for today’s game, again gave evidence of more than one chink in his technique – hard hands, and a tendency to play across the line of the ball – in making 21 before he miscued a flick horribly and skyed a catch to Tatenda Taibu. Jayasuriya was in better touch, and sent several deliveries searing through the infield on the way to 40, but Zimbabwe had the small satisfaction of picking up three wickets in all before Sri Lanka got home.The two sides now play each other a second time on October 11, and Zimbabwe will want to put this disappointing performance behind them, and try to demonstrate that they can indeed compete at this level.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has promised to implement the recommendations of the inquiry panel which was set up to look into the causes for Bangladesh’s miserable performance in the World Cup. Ali Asghar, president of the BCB, stated: "We have the report and we will correct the loopholes."Bangladesh went through the entire World Cup without registering a single win. They lost to Kenya and Canada, and their only points came from a rained out fixture against West Indies. The inquiry committee was scathing in its criticism of the board and the team management.”The truth remains that there was noticeable inadequacy and complacency on the part of both the [present and past Bangladesh Cricket] Boards,” the committee said in its report after an inquiry lasting nearly three months. “[This had been] adequately reflected in the quality of our team’s performance. The sooner things are put right, the sooner cricket will improve.”The report said that Khaled Masud, the captain who has since been dropped from the team, “fought with the manager on the issue of tickets, and there were instances where he spent nights out of the hotel.”In particular, the night before the Kenya match, [Masud] was seen outside the hotel at well past midnight, and this obviously contributed to the deterioration of his ability as a player and it is no wonder that he dropped three regulation catches against Kenya the following day. It appears that his conduct and captaincy do raise questions about his motives.”However, Asghar rejected suggestions that Mashud had deliberately underperformed. “Both the International Cricket Council and the BCB had found no basis to carry out further investigation into his role.”The report added that there was no consultation among the captain, physio and trainer over the team line-up. Bangladesh’s Pakistani coach Mohsin Kamal, now succeeded by Australian Dav Whatmore, had a communication and language problem with the team. “One gets the impression that the selection of the coach, to say the least, was poor and gives the impression it was more a political choice rather than a selection of an able and competent hand.”Following interviews with Kamal and his assistant Ali Zia, the committee concluded that “neither of them was really competent, dedicated, sincere or committed enough to perform their duties. The fact is, they were being paid well and were quite happy.”Whatmore, whose first assignment with the team will be an overseas series against Australia in July, was under no illusions about the task at hand. “Taking charge of the team is a privilege, but I am not day-dreaming nor want anybody to do so,” he said after signing the contract with the BCB last month.

Australia 152 for 3 (Rolton 96*, K Blackwell 43*) beat England 151 for 7 (Edwards 42) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Karen Rolton produced a stunning allround performance, as Australia’s women finished their tour on a high with a seven-wicket victory in the one-off Twenty20 international at Taunton. Coming to the crease at a disastrous 6 for 3 in pursuit of England’s impressive 151 for 7, Rolton romped to an unbeaten 96 from just 53 balls, to seal victory with 14 balls of the match to spare.She was aided and abetted in her onslaught by Kate Blackwell, who opted not to mess around with victory in sight and hit the winning boundary to finish not out on 43, and deny Rolton a much-deserved century.The win followed hot on the heels of Australia’s series-clinching four-run win in yesterday’s fifth one-day international, and ensured that a host of Australian stars, including Belinda Clark, Lisa Keightley and Cathryn Fitzpatrick, completed their final tour of England on a high.Victory looked a long way off for Australia for much of the match. Laura Newton and Charlotte Edwards gave England the perfect start with an opening stand of 77, but Rolton then made the first of her interventions, picking up 2 for 13 in her last three overs to stifle England’s innings just when it seemed set to take off.Their total of 151 looked ample, however, once Katherine Brunt had got stuck in with the new ball. She took three wickets in quick succession as the top of the Australian order imploded, but Rolton soon made mincemeat of the rest of the attack to complete a memorable tour.

Rod Marsh, the outgoing England selector and coach of the ECB Academy, has been appointed director of coaching at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.Malcolm Speed, ICC’s chief executive, said: “Rod’s rich experience as a top-class international player and highly-respected academy coach in England and Australia will be an invaluable asset to this exciting project.”Marsh will initially provide input into the design and construction of the project before taking a hands-on role in running the academy once it is launched in 2007. The ICC Global Cricket Academy will be a focal point for the training and development of players, coaches, umpires, curators and administrators.