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Pranab Roy, the deposed senior national selector, said Sourav Ganguly was included in the Indian team for the just-concluded Chennai Test not as an “allrounder”, but as a specialist batsman.”Ganguly has all through been a specialist batsman,” he said. “When we discussed his name,we considered him as a specialist batsman, who can occasionally bowl.”When it was pointed out that Kiran More, the selection committee chairman, had announced to the media that Ganguly had been taken in the side as a batting allrounder, Roy said “I cannot comment on what More has said. I don’t know what he has said and in what sense.”After being sacked as captain and kept out of the squad in the back-to-back one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Ganguly made it to the team in the rain-hit Chennai Test against Sri Lanka.Roy, a member of the national selection panel from East Zone then, had been strongly arguing Ganguly’s case at selection meetings during the period when Ganguly was out of the side. “We never considered him as an allrounder,” he said, referring to the deliberations at the November 23 selection committee meeting where Ganguly was recalled to the side. However, Roy refused to give details, saying “It will be improper on my part to leak what happenned at the selection meeting”.Roy and two other selectors, Gopal Sharma and Yashpal Sharma, who had played a key role in ensuring Ganguly’s return to the Indian team, were sacked the very day the new Sharad Pawar-led regime took over the reins of the BCCI.

Reports that the multi-million dollar deal between Allen Stanford and the ECB is under threat because of problems with Stanford’s black bats were dismissed as “rubbish” by an ICC spokesman.It was claimed that Stanford’s trademark black bats, which are central to his marketing strategy, would be outlawed by the ICC and, as a result, he would withdraw his offer to put up to US$100 million into matches in the Caribbean and London.However, matches played by Stanford are not under the jurisdiction of the ICC, who oversee international cricket, and, as such, the sides involved can agree to their own playing conditions and amendments to the laws.The Times quoted a source close to negotiations between the ECB and Stanford as saying that “we have been told that the ICC put forward this recommendation about the colour of the blades at the request of the BCCI”. The ICC spokesman pointed out that coloured bats were not even discussed by the cricket committee.

Kevin Curran, the former Zimbabwe coach, has been appointed head of the country’s cricket academy. Curran’s coaching tenure began in September 2005 and ended with the recently concluded home ODI series against South Africa, after which he was replaced by Robin Brown, the former Zimbabwe captain.In an interview to , a Zimbabwe daily, Curran reflected on his years in charge of the side and what the new role meant for him.”When my contract ended, Zimbabwe Cricket asked me to rebuild and restructure the academy,” Curran said. “It was a new venture and new challenge for me and one that would allow me to spend more time with my young family – something I have not managed to do of late because of all the travelling of international cricket.”Curran coached Zimbabwe for 42 one-dayers since taking over from Phil Simmons; in that period, the team won nine games and lost 28. Disputes between the board and its players led to the exodus of seniors like Heath Streak and the vacuum created by their departure saw the team plunge in world rankings. A self-imposed one-year suspension from Test cricket followed.Despite the lows, Curran reflected on the positives and said he’d observed a genuine improvement in performance over the last two years.”Everyone who has played for the country since I took over has improved in the true sense of the word,” he said. “I am not one who looks at negatives. Coaching a young and inexperienced side, as I was doing, demanded constantly looking at the positives. I was presented with the youngest international squad in the history of the game and I am very proud of the way they have all developed.”Curran dismissed reports of a rift with Tatenda Taibu, the former captain who returned to the side after a premature retirement in November 2005. Taibu made an immediate impact on his return and made a fighting century in the third one-dayer against South Africa as Zimbabwe made a fist of the target of 324.”Tatenda was not my player for very long because he left after I had just taken over. However, he came back a month ago and since then he has played his best cricket. His averages have more than doubled, his work ethic been outstanding, and he is one of the fittest in the team. He is always the last in the nets and is an excellent role model for our young team.”If he can maintain this rich vein of form, he will develop into one of the finest cricketers Zimbabwe has produced. I cannot afford to have clashes or differences come between me and a player because I need all players to perform well for my team as that is what I am judged on.”Curran said that his last series in charge was one of the best moments in his coaching career. Zimbabwe recovered from a dismal 72 for 7 to post 206 in the first match in Bulawayo and then posted 247 and 323 in the next two.”During the last series against South Africa, ranked second in the world, all the players showed their class. They showed character and passion – something for which I have been working for some time. These players were really at the top of their game. Their future is bright as results will follow if they continue in this vein.”

The Jamaican authorities have ordered an inquest to be held into the murder of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach. Woolmer’s family was informed that his body would remain in Jamaica till the inquest was over.Coroner’s inquests are held in cases of sudden or unexplained deaths.The reported that according to the Commissioner of Police, Lucius Thomas, the coroner had directed the inquest be held “as soon as possible”.According to Les Green, the police officer heading the Major Investigation Task Force, no date has yet been set for the inquest. “We don’t know when it will begin at this point,” Green told the on Friday.But a release from the government’s public relations arm, the Jamaica Information Service, stated that the coroner gave an assurance that the inquest, which is to be held with a jury, would be conducted “as soon as practical”.The police also denied reports appearing in the foreign press that a man was arrested in connection with the case in Jamaica on Thursday night and that phone numbers of Pakistan and Indian team members were found in a cellular phone taken from the man.TVJ, a local television channel, reported that Darren Lifsun, the Pakistan team physiotherapist, and Murray Stevenson, the trainer, would stay back in Jamaica till the inquest is completed. “We promised the family to stay until everything is sorted out,” Lifsun told AFP. “The police informed the family first, then us, with everything, and then we told the team.”Woolmer died on March 18 in his hotel room in Kingston and five days later the cause of his death was confirmed to be asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation. The Pakistan team were fingerprinted and asked to provide DNA samples as part of the investigations.

7
Kevin Pietersen
The only Englishman with the desire to compete as an equal to the Aussies and in the end, even he was ground down by the futility of his resistance. Spent too long loitering at No. 5 in the order, however, which invariably meant that the fate of the innings had been determined before he got to the crease. His hubristic dismissal at Adelaide was his only real embarrassment, however. He could hardly be blamed for being fed up by the end of it all.6
Paul Collingwood
If Adelaide was heartbreaking for England as a team, then spare a thought for the forgotten star of the show. Paul Collingwood gave his heart, soul and everything in between to become only the third English batsman to score a double-century in Australia, and then, when he had nothing left to give, his still gave it second-time around, clinging on for dear life while Shane Warne demolished his life’s work on that dreadful final morning. He made 329 runs at 109.67 in those first two Tests, and 104 at 17.33 in the last three. Nuff said.6
Monty Panesar
What difference might Monty have made had he played from the start? It’s all conjecture really. His magnificent impact at the WACA was diluted by two performances at Melbourne and Sydney in which he bowled to defensive fields and paid the price with two wickets at 71. What Monty did provide, however, was the sort of joie de vivre that was so palpably missing at Brisbane and Adelaide. England took the field in those matches like condemned men to the scaffold. What they really needed were competitors like Panesar, who genuinely wanted to get stuck into the contest.6
Matthew Hoggard
He was slightly slow on the uptake at Brisbane, but from the moment he found his length in that match, Hoggard resumed his role as England’s most reliable seamer. With a bit of support from his colleagues, his performance at Adelaide ought to have been a series-leveller. Four years ago, he was bludgeoned off a length by Hayden and Co. but he returned older, wiser and with the experience of the subcontinent to guide his tactics. Was sorely missed at Sydney, where a side-strain ended a run of 40 consecutive Test appearances.

5
Ian Bell
Bell had a twin problem on this tour – making starts and converting starts. On four occasions he passed 50 without going onto a hundred; on four occasions he failed to get into double-figures in the first place. But this was a huge personal series for the one man with a massive point to prove after his traumas in 2005. He stood firm amid the wreckage of England’s first innings at Brisbane, and even earned the admiration of his old tormentor, Glenn McGrath. His sheer appetite for runs could make him England’s kingpin come 2009.5
Alastair Cook
He is young and he will learn, but this was a torrid baptism for a man who only turned 22 on Christmas Day. Glenn McGrath and his bowl-alike Stuart Clark dismissed him in seven innings out of ten, invariably probing that troublesome corridor outside off stump – in fact his failings were remarkably similar to those of Marcus Trescothick in 2002-03. Unlike Trescothick, though, Cook did record a gritty hundred at Perth. It was the fourth of a career that began only in March. Come 2009, he will still only be 24, which is younger than the youngest Australian on display in this series.4
Andrew Flintoff
There was only one way that Flintoff was going to lead his side, and that was by example. Alas he was over-stretched and under-prepared for the ordeal that came his way. His ankle undermined his bowling, his batting was so out-of-sorts that England’s tail began at four-down, and the rest of his game fell away like needles from an unsold Christmas Tree. He found no words of inspiration in either the dressing-room or his increasingly banal press conferences, and was helpless at the crunch moments in the field – not least the Adelaide run-chase. But he was badly let down by his senior colleagues as well. On the first day at Brisbane he led with a stirring bowling performance … but no-one followed.4
Chris Read
Given his belated chance for Melbourne and Sydney, Read proved everything that we already knew about him. His glovework was exemplary and he twice equalled the Ashes record for dismissals in an innings (six). His batting, however, was unconvincing at best, with three single-figure scores out of four, and a soothing 26 not out when the pressure was off in the second innings at the MCG. Fletcher couldn’t rate him any less highly if he tried although, barring any Jones-esque meltdowns, he now has until the end of the World Cup to convince his many doubters.

3
Andrew Strauss
The most improbable failure of the series … and he had some competition. Maybe Strauss was missing Trescothick’s meaty strokeplay at the top of the order, because his approach seemed as muddled as some of the umpiring decisions that hastened his demise. In South Africa two winters ago, he had passed 600 runs for the series by playing precisely within his limitations – with barely a hint of a hook or a pull. This time he was flailing at everything, all too aware of his duty to set the tone for England’s innings. Nine starts, but not one score in excess of 50.3Ashley Giles
Deep down, he never wanted to be involved, and nor – sadly – did anyone in the country want him to be involved. Whether he was Fletcher’s pick or Flintoff’s pick is immaterial. Giles had not played in a first-class match for a year when he was thrown into the Gabbatoir on November 23, and mentally he wasn’t even close to full fitness. His candid newspaper diaries were arguably the best read of the tour, but what they revealed was a tortured soul whose personal doubts translated into an on-field performance notable only for what he didn’t do at Adelaide – ie, hold onto that catch.3
James Anderson
Redeemed himself partially with a spirited new-ball performance at Sydney, but for the first two Tests he was as nakedly out-of-sorts as he had been at Johannesburg in 2004-05 – and that is saying something. Just another of England’s odd picks in the series, although when the pressure was off in the tour matches at Adelaide and Perth, he zipped in with pace, swing and panache. Still young enough to come good in the future. He would benefit from a long chat with Hoggard about how to recover from such a chastening tour.

2
Steve Harmison
When asked at the start of the series for three factors that would define England’s defence of the Ashes, Mike Atherton presciently offered: “Harmison, Harmison and Harmison.” In the absence of so many key performers, Harmison was the one man who had the height, pace and talent to rip the throat out of Australia’s ageing batsmen. Instead, he served up that grotesque delivery at the Gabba, as a prelude to a supine performance. We all know he hates touring, but honestly. The man has now played 50 Tests.2
Sajid Mahmood
Nobody’s quite sure what Mahmood was doing on this tour. He didn’t play when he ought to have done, at Brisbane and Adelaide, when he was still a man with some memory of his part in the series win over Pakistan. And then, when he was thrown in at Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, he was rarely allowed a spell of more than two overs in any Test. Admittedly, he was targetted mercilessly by the Australians, but if he’d been given the same sort of indulgence that Harmison received, he might have had a chance to bowl himself back to form.2
Geraint Jones
Hard as it is to believe, Jones’s selection for Brisbane did make some kind of sense. He was, after all, a man with experience of the unique pressures of an Ashes series, and it was thought that his cross-batted style would come into its own on the bouncier wickets Down Under. What wasn’t taken into account, however, was the undiluted glee that his presence caused the Australians. Derided as a “club pro”, he was dissected mercilessly, and at Perth, he slumped out of the contest with the most miserable pair imaginable.

When Claire Taylor struck a matchwinning 156 at Lord’s this summer, it was a shame that her feat of eclipsing Viv Richards’s fastest one-day hundred at the ground in the 1979 World Cup final wasn’t to be recognised in the official record books.But Lord’s has taken the onus upon itself to honour Taylor’s achievement and on Thursday the ECB gave her a champagne reception before presenting her with her very own honours board at the ground which is installed by the Compton Stand.Taylor is the first female cricketer to be honoured with such a board at Lord’s which marked her 156 from 151 balls, as England swept to victory against India. She also received a commemorative bat.This step is the latest in a long line of very encouraging news for the women’s game this year. One highlight came over the summer, when Taunton became the official home of women’s cricket, providing a base for international matches and domestic finals for the first time.

Zaheer Abbas has denied that he was replaced as Pakistan team manager because of the way he handled the crisis at the Oval, instead blaming internal cricket board politics within the PCB as the reason behind his dismissal.Abbas was criticised for an apparent lack of involvement in the events leading up to Pakistan’s protest and eventual forfeiture. Newspapers repeatedly referred to the image of Abbas speaking on his mobile phone, sitting outside the dressing room while the team devised a course of action to protest the allegations made by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove.Zaheer was replaced by Talat Ali, who was handed the manager’s post for next month’s Champions Trophy. “This came so suddenly, though I knew that change would be there one day because a team manager is only on a tour-by-tour contract,” Zaheer was quoted as saying by the London-based .”The reason my contract was not renewed was nothing to do with what happened at The Oval, it’s because [PCB director of operations] Saleem Altaf was totally against me and for no rhyme or reason. He had wanted to make Talat Ali manager for so long and he saw this as the right time to make the change,” said Abbas, referring to speculation before the tour to England this summer that Altaf wanted Ali as manager.”They try to say that I was on the phone when this ball issue was taking place but that was my job. I was there to help the media and that was what I was doing.”I have and always have had an excellent relationship with the English media and I wanted to cooperate with them, and overseas media. They reported fairly on Pakistan all tour and I hope some of that was because of my role.”When contacted by Cricinfo, Altaf refused to comment on the issue.

South Africa believe they are getting closer to matching Australia on the Test match field but, each time the divide threatens to get a little smaller, familiar foes have stood in the way. However, today they faced up to the challenge and counterattacked with a verve that deserves much praise. They showed similar fight on the second day at Cape Town before capitulating, but the key here is the day ended on a positive note rather than a late fall of wickets.At 10 for 2, with Brett Lee consistently hitting above 150kph, the South Africans could have gone like a pack of cards, especially after a frustrating time trying to wrap up the Australian innings. But Jacques Kallis, who is playing under constant pain from what has been diagnosed as tennis elbow, refused to wilt. He was made to hop about, and was not always convincing against the short ball, but to beat Australia those are the periods batsmen have to battle through.Ironically, it was Ricky Ponting’s decision to bring Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds into the attack – so that the umpires wouldn’t offer the light – that enabled South Africa to finish on a more level playing field than had appeared likely for most of the day. Ponting’s move was another subtle way of Australia making a further statement of intent; they are already 1-0 up and could quite easily have headed for the dressing room, but this is not a team that plays for draws. South Africa are the ones who need to force the pace, yet would have been quite happy to kick their heels as the clouds rolled in.Kallis clearly wasn’t happy with the conditions and a couple of his boundaries were a release of frustration, but he and AB de Villiers soon realised that Warne and Symonds were not posing a huge threat. Kallis is certainly not considered a dasher among the world’s leading batsmen, but followed his aggressive intent from the first Test. He hasn’t had a huge amount of cricket of late, after sitting out the majority of South Africa’s recent one-day matches, and the benefits of an extended period in the middle showed as his balance and footwork returned to something near their best.The same can’t be said of Herschelle Gibbs who, despite his astonishing 175 in match at Johannesburg, continues to have a tough time in Tests against the Australians. He should have gone second ball today, Ponting shelling the chance at second slip, and there was an air of inevitability about his dismissal to Michael Kasprowicz. For the seventh time in nine knocks against Australia this summer he stumps were rattled – an unbelievably high number for a top-order batsman. Gibbs has always been prone to being bowled, given his keenness to free the arms at hit through the offside, but he has drifted further to leg and the Australians now aim to hit his stumps.If Gibbs’ manner of dismissal is becoming an unwanted similarity for South Africa, so is the identity of the man who held them up earlier in the day. Following a courageous draw at Perth in December, their winter began to unravel when Mike Hussey – never mind being Mr Cricket he is certainly Mr Fix It – and Glenn McGrath added 107 for the tenth wicket at Melbourne. The stand hauled Australia around from 248 for 9 and South Africa never fully recovered.Hussey’s intervention today was less dramatic, but no less important following Andre Nel’s burst which left Australia 259 for 7. A repeat of his 122 at the MCG was looming with Stuart Clark providing combative support and the South African bowlers growing increasingly agitated. If Ponting had continued with his quicks Hussey would have been the story of the day, but his thunder was stolen by a courageous recovery. South Africa have shared the honours for two days, but for that gap to become permanently smaller it must continue for the next three.

The West Indies Cricket Board is reportedly attempting to salvage the A-team tour to Zimbabwe despite being faced with players refusing to tour and confusion over the safety advice given regarding the wisdom of the trip even happening.Cricinfo has learned that Sylvester Joseph, who was originally named as captain last week, has declined the invitation to lead the side or take part. It now emerges that Daren Ganga was offered the role on Thursday and also turned it down. The latest name in the frame is Rawl Lewis.There is also increasing speculation that the West Indies Cricket Board is struggling to find enough players of a decent standard to fill the squad without it losing credibility. They are due to leave in a week and yet nobody has been named, despite daily assurances that an announcement is imminent.What is certain is that if the tour does happen, once again, as happened with the senior side before their tour of England, a West Indies team will set out with little preparation.Meanwhile, assurances from the West Indies board that CARICOM had given its blessing on player safety have been denied by Eddie Green, CARICOM’s assistant secretary general. He said that Tony Deyal, the WICB’s corporate services manager, had been told that “the Bureau of Heads the opinions were split and we need to send out a formal request to all Heads which we did two weeks ago. I have not spoken to him since and the official decison will be made on June 30.”Yesterday, Deyal told reporters that the WICB had “received a no-objection letter from … Greene”. That now seems to be incorrect, even though Bruce Aanensen, the WICB’s chief executive officer, said last weekend that a response from CARICOM had been delivered on June 13.The other documentation relied on by the WICB is from Zimbabwe Cricket and the Zimbabwe Republic Police. A source inside Zimbabwe told Cricinfo that any assurance from the police “was not only worthless but was a sick joke”. He added: “The police are the people to be afraid of, and the Zimbabwe board might not be the most objective party.”Deyal told Cricinfo that player safety was of paramount importance to the WICB and that nothing would ever be done to threaten that. He earlier said that unless WIPA passed over their documentary evidence that it would be unsafe to travel to Zimbabwe, then the tour would go ahead.”We want WIPA to send us what they have so we can make the best decision in the circumstances and that both parties can agree to it,” he said. “WIPA never sent us anything. We are anxious to get information. We have sought information from a variety of sources.”However, WIPA officials have told Cricinfo that much of the evidence they have has come from sources who do not wish to be identified as many of them fear for their own safety. In view of that, it will not be passed to the WICB for fear that it will find its way into the hands of the Zimbabwe authorities.”We are not in agreement with the tour as stated before because of concerns over players’ safety and the volatile situation in Zimbabwe,” Dinanath Ramnarine told The Nation. “That’s still our position. As far as we are concerned, the players’ safety is of paramount importance to us. We are a responsible organisation and we want to look after the interest of our members. We don’t see the benefits of the tour.””We are left to interpret the actions of WIPA to be nothing more than a play for power,” Deyal countered. That the two sides are again at loggerheads less than 24 hours after an arbitration panel, which yet again found in WIPA’s favour in a dispute with the board, stressed the need for the two parties to work together, does not bode well.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa has scored a major boost for amateur cricket by securing a sponsorship by SA Airways for both the inter-provincial and associate regions’ leagues that were launched last season for three and one-day cricket.Gerald Majola, the chief executive, described the sponsorship as a breakthrough for South African cricket. “This is the first major sponsorship of its kind in South African cricket. It is an integral part of our strategic plan to broaden the base and sharpen the pinnacle of our cricket.”It will be used to fund the UCBSA inter-provincial leagues for three-day and one-day cricket that were successfully launched last season, with all 11 UCBSA Affiliates and the five new Associates participating. The SAA sponsorship means that we can provide even more cricket for top amateur players. It will be a breeding ground for franchise and international cricket.Majola added that this grass-roots funding would have benefits right the way up the South African domestic system. “We have linked high-performance programmes to these amateur competitions to give a clear path for those who have the talent and commitment to go to the top.”The SAA sponsorship will also go a long way to help us keep up the traditions of provincial pride and identity through the leagues. We are very grateful to SAA for giving cricket yet another meaningful stepping stone towards nation-building.”Nozipho Japhta, SA Airways Executive Manager: Corporate Sponsorship, said: “South African cricket is a major nation-builder, and SAA is delighted to be part of their development programme. We are supporting amateur cricket because it is the feeder for the national teams of the future.”