Jaffer builds base for Indians

After three days of off the field action, India's practise game against the Australian Captital Territorial XI got off to an unprecedented start with Wasim Jaffer leading the Indian charge. Jaffer, who has been in dreadful form Down Under and has fallen prey to Aussie spearhead Brett Lee four times in the two Tests played so far, stroked an unconquered 50 as India reached 111 for one at lunch.India lost one wicket in the form of Virender Sehwag (24) after the Delhi dazzler played an uncharacteristic watchful innings. Jaffer and Sehwag got India off to a solid start with the duo adding 66 runs for the first wicket. Karthik (22) and Jaffer (50) were in the middle at the stroke of lunch.India rested VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and RP Singh while all rounder Irfan Pathan, pacers VRV Singh and Pankaj Singh were given an opportunity. MS Dhoni will be leading the Indians in the Australian capital

Ponting draws flak from Australian sporting legends

Some of Australia's legendary athletes have joined the chorus of criticism against the unsportsmanlike behaviour of Ricky Ponting's team in the Sydney Test with India.Sport Australia Hall of Fame members, John Bertrand, Herb Elliott and Rob de Castella, now plan to take the matter to Cricket Australia (CA), which they feel is damaging Australia's international reputation. Hall of Fame chairman, Bertrand, who led an Australian yacht team to America's Cup win 25 years ago, said the group would seek an urgent meeting with CA because Australia's Test team was damaging international relations with its "win at all costs" attitude."Sport is only sport. It's not war. Their desire to win at all costs is beginning to blur their moral compass," Bertrand was quoted saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'."We will be seeking a meeting with Cricket Australia to seek to get the Australian team to readjust their behaviour so that they do show respect for their opponents," he said.
Bertrand's views were echoed by world champion marathon runner Castella and Olympic gold medallist Herb Elliott, regarded as one of the world's greatest middle distance runners ever."We don't like what we are seeing and hearing at the moment," Elliot said.Australian Football League hero Ron Barassi agreed with the Hall of Famers and said, "It concerns me that the Australians are regularly being referred to as being arrogant and because it is mentioned so often, you begin to wonder."Legendary Australian batsman Neil Harvey Tuesday joined the wave of criticism against Ponting and questioned his team's on-field conduct and the strength of his leadership. Harvey, the Invincibles member, said the present Test team didn't play with the right spirit and criticised Ponting for allowing his players to go too far with sledging."Certainly the captain needs to be stronger and keep his guys in line. He needs to look at himself," Harvey was quoted as saying in "The Australian".Harvey was also angered by the team's failure to shake India captain Anil Kumble's hand at the end of the Test on Sunday."I don't think they are very sporting," Harvey said.He agreed with the International Cricket Council's decision to withdraw West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor from the third Test in Perth next week, saying he was "past his best". "He has been making a lot of mistakes for the past five years." Former England captain turned commentator Tony Greig said the time had come for players to be accountable for the state of the game and walk when they know they are out.He said improved technology would continue to expose players who didn't walk and umpires who made wrong decisions."When we walked in county cricket, the game was much better for it," Greig said.

ICC asks CA to reign in Ponting and his team

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has urged Cricket Australia (CA) to reign in Ricky Ponting's men in the light of all-round criticism of their on-field behaviour during the ill-tempered second Test against India in Sydney.ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said CA needs to take notice of the criticism being directed at its team by the public, former players and commentators. "The team is being criticised, members of the team are being criticised and they need to be aware of that -- they need to respond to that," Speed was quoted saying in the 'Herald Sun'."All national teams should play cricket in the right spirit. We need to be clear what that means," he said.Speed said he was relieved that the replacement of umpire Steve Bucknor prevented an international crisis."We could have gone in banging the table and playing `who blinks first', we could have turned what is already an international incident into an international crisis.""What we have elected to do, and we have given some serious thought about this, is to take one of the issues out of play," he said.Speed said the Sydney Test was played in an atmosphere riddled by racism claims, player behaviour issues and umpiring controversy, but expressed confidence that after Bucknor's replacement and roping in of Ranjan Madugalle to work with the two captains, the unprecedented crisis would tide over."There was unhappiness about the umpiring; we put a new umpiring team in place. And we start again from the umpiring perspective in Perth and, hopefully, focus on the matters on the pitch rather than exacerbating the crisis," he said.

Tour is on, BCCI tells Cricket Australia

Indian cricket board, before it began its' emergency meeting in New Delhi, informed Cricket Australia (CA) that the tour would go ahead, according to team sources.The Indian Board softened its stance once controversial umpire Steve Bucknor was replaced by Billy Bowden and chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle was sent an SOS by the ICC to head for Australia and plaster over the cracks between the two sides. The two opposing captains, Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, would be told in no uncertain terms that intemperate behaviour on the pitch or outside would not be tolerated from now on.The BCCI has now agreed to fulfill its commitment and told CA that the meeting in New Delhi is only a formality, the sources said. Accordingly, the visitors would now move to Canberra tomorrow where a three-day game against ACT XI will begin from Thursday.Meanwhile, Indians have pressed forward their complaint against left-arm spinner Brad Hogg for abusing Kumble during the final hours of the second Test.ICC's chief executive Malcolm Speed has confirmed that Hogg would face a code of conduct charge in Perth.The Indians have spent the last two days at their hotel in Sydney, refusing to leave for Canberra, till the issue of Harbhajan Singh and Bucknor was dealt with quickly and firmly.

Hayden under injury threat for rest of the series

Australian opener Matthew Hayden could well be ruled out for the remaining two Tests against India following a hamstring tendon strain which he suffered during the second Test at Sydney.Hayden who scored 123 in the second innings of Sydney Test was forced to bat with a runner during the innings and there is some uncertainty over the seriousness of his injury that will be assessed this week. Australia's team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said, ''It could take one week to heal, it could take five weeks. We are waiting to see how it looks in a few days.'' If Hayden is ruled out from the remaining two Tests, it will be a big loss for Australia as he has been a prolific scorer against the Indians.''The thing with tendons is sometimes they don't heal too well because the blood supply around them isn't too good,'' the physio added.However, Kountouris did not completely rule out the possibility that Hayden will miss the remaining two Tests.''He has a chance to play in Perth but we are waiting to see how his symptoms are.'' Hayden, who has also been battling a back injury, will rest in Brisbane for the next three days before starting a rehabilitation program and is then expected to fly to Perth with the team and be assessed by Kountouris.If Hayden is ruled out, West Australian left-hander Chris Rogers who was a contender to take Justin Langer's opening position until a bout of appendicitis paved the way for Phil Jaques, could make his Test debut on his home ground.Kountouris further added that all-rounder Andrew Symonds (ankle spur) was not in doubt for the Perth Test.Along with Hayden left-handed Chinaman Brad Hogg too is under a fitness threat and had scans yesterday after it was feared he had broken a finger while fielding in Sydney. Scans, though, revealed no fracture, but Hogg still remains in pain.Hogg's loss would not hurt Australia a great deal as the spinner returned with unimpressive bowling average of 51.50 in the two Tests against India.Australia would prefer to unleash pacer Shaun Tait on the fast and bouncy WACA pitch.

I requested Ponting not to report Harbhajan: Kumble

Indian skipper Anil Kumble today revealed that he had requested Ricky Ponting to withdraw the "racist abuse" charge against Harbhajan Singh but his plea was not taken too seriously by the Australian skipper, who was perhaps unmindful of its implications.Kumble said he made the request before the hearing began in Sydney last week but the Australian captain let it go. "I did make a request to Ponting, if it can be sorted out before it went up to the match referee. But he said a report has already been made," the Indian skipper disclosed. "Having played cricket for this long, I knew such allegations could spiral into something bigger, I envisaged it could become a larger issue," Kumble said, reflecting on the issue, which still has the potential to disrupt the tour.Harbhajan was slapped with a three-Test ban for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds, outraging the Indian Board and fans. An appeal against the ban will come up for hearing soon.Kumble said the Indians, who arrived in Canberra for a three-day practice match against ACT XI, are trying to move on from the controversy, which cast a threat on the tour itself."I think it's important to move on, cricket is larger than individuals and I respect that and it's important that we move on," he said on being asked whether the two captains will sit down for a chat to sort out thorny issues."The focus for us is to ensure that we get the best possible out of this game,” he said after arriving here for a three-day practice match against ACT XI starting on Thursday.Kumble also did not commit himself on whether the captains' agreement, to go by the fielder's word on close catches, before the start of the tour would remain in practice for the rest of the series.He also refrained from commenting on his team's stance on the charge they have pressed against Australian spinner Brad Hogg, saying, "we would wait for the hearing and then let you know." Kumble reiterated that Harbhajan never used the word for which he was accused and punished by match referee Mike Procter last week. "It is a serious charge. From what we gathered from our teammates, the two people who were in the middle, that remark was never made," he asserted."Whatever people believe the word was said, he didn't say it," he added.The Indian skipper said his side wants to put the controversy behind and move on with the tour."It's nice to be playing cricket again. I look forward to this game (three-day Canberra game). It's important to move on", he added. "Hopefully, whatever happens to the appeal, we would get the right decision," Kumble said.Looking back at the two days spent in Sydney, Kumble admitted it tested his side's patience."It's been tough, very difficult, because it's a very serious issue. The entire team is together in this. Board is backing us fully, we are all with Bhajji, its not easy but he seems to be in a good mood," he said.On the third Test, Kumble wanted his team to make good use of the three-day practice game and sort out a few niggling positions in the composition of the side."We need to be on top of our games to beat Australia. We have done that in patches in this series, we had a chance to draw the Sydney game, it didn't happen," he said."I am sure there will be moments in Perth where we need to seize those opportunities," he signed off.