Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the Indian board, has slammed the Kalighat Cricket Club, an affiliate of the Cricket Association of Bengal for taking the BCCI to court. “We have got 250 clubs, schools and district associations. If everybody goes to court then how can we function?” said Dalmiya, who is also the president of the CAB. The Kalighat club went to court and succeeded in having an observer appointed for the BCCI elections to be held tomorrow.Interestingly, Bablu Kolay, a former CAB joint secretary and Dalmiya loyalist, is the general secretary of the Kalighat club, which filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court seeking appointment of an observer to deal with any dispute during the election process.In a separate but related development the Madras High Court restrained the board from holding elections till 12.30pm tomorrow. Justice M Thanickachalam gave this interim order on a civil suit filed by Netaji Cricket Club, seeking appointment of a neutral person to conduct the elections and to decide the eligibility of the voters and the contestants. Reserving his order, the judge said he would pronounce his verdict at 11am tomorrow.Dalmiya publicly condemned the new tendency among clubs to move the court against the country’s apex cricketing body. “Suddenly clubs have started going to courts. Time has come when the board should say that all affiliate units should come and and talk with it and work out solutions to their problems,” he said. On the Kalighat club moving the court and getting Suhash Chandra Sen, a retired Supreme Court judge, appointed as observer, he said “I cannot welcome this. It shows bankruptcy of the quality of administration in BCCI”.Asked whether he was in favour of elections at the board’s AGM, Dalmiya replied, “People should not be allowed to go away without elections. An election must happen. If we have to wait for seven days for elections to take place, we should wait”.

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.”

The Titans were denied the chance to push for victory amid controversial scenes on the final at East London. The Warriors were struggling at 118 for 7 – still 26 behind – when bad light arrived and then rain started to fall with an hour remaining. The ground staff were slow to cover the pitch and, as a result, when the rain stopped the umpires would not allow play to restart because the pitch would have been dangerous. The Titans built up a huge 586 for 9 – to lead by 144 runs – with Zander de Bruyn reaching 175 before he was stumped off Robin Petersen. The Warriors were left with two sessions to survive but lost early wickets against the new ball. They slumped to 78 for 5, although Burton de Wett held firm for three hours. Paul Harris, a 26-year-old slow-left arm bowler, sent down 21 impressive overs, before he was denied the chance to have a match-winning role.The Lions completed a comprehensive six-wicket win against the Eagles at Potchefstroom with Stephen Cook stroking 63. His innings ensured the Lions had few alarms chasing their target of 173. Justin Ontong made 36 in a third-wicket stand of 65 before the captain, Neil McKenzie, guided them over the winning line.Hashim Amla completed a satisfying match by notching an unbeaten 58 as the Dolphins and the Cape Cobras played out a painstaking draw at Paarl. Amla and Doug Watson took the opportunity for an extended net session on the final afternoon against some unthreatening bowling. The most notable performance was a five-wicket haul for Ugasen Govender as the Cape Cobras were dismissed for 332.

Brian Lara has spent his cricketing life exciting fans with spectacular deeds and he marked his step into Test run-scoring’s unknown with an extraordinary single. A swept boundary moved Allan Border past Sunil Gavaskar’s record in 1993 and Lara used a similar method when he bravely shuffled across his stumps to paddle Glenn McGrath to fine-leg for a single, his 214th run of the innings and his 11,175th over 15 years.The beautiful ground rose again and Australia’s players formed a casual line to offer their congratulations as Lara’s team-mates stood with hands high in the dressing room. Lara was pleased but calm – and probably tired after making 202 on day one – and hugged Daren Powell before accepting the opposition’s compliments.”It’s a great feeling,” Lara said at lunch. “With stuff like this you’d like to do it in front of your home crowd but it’s special with Allan Border being an Australian. The reception this morning was excellent and it’s really touching to be appreciated by a country I’ve had great battles with throughout my career.”Before play Lara said the record was “testimony to the longevity I’ve had in the game”. “I’ve had my ups and downs but I’ve stuck it out,” he told . “And at 36 I’m looking forward to passing AB.”Lara had watched Border add to his tally as a youngster at Queens Park Oval in his native Trinidad and was impressed with his style of play. “I’ve seen him defy the West Indies fast bowlers and I enjoyed watching him,” he said. The world has enjoyed watching Lara.Border, who missed the innings to watch his son in an under-10s match, was quick to pay tribute to his successor and said Lara was a “very worthy” record holder. “I played against Brian when he made his century in Sydney in the season of 1992-93 and I would rank him as one of the best three batsmen in the world,” Border said. “I have had the pleasure of seeing him play a lot of cricket and there is no doubt he is a genuine genius. I am sure I am not the only Australian who is pleased to see him hold this record.”Border’s moment of history was sealed on February 25, 1993 in Christchurch when he hit Dipak Patel for a boundary as his team-mates huddled in the dressing-room under blankets. Border fell 12 runs short of a century and Lara was also disappointed when he stepped away to McGrath and lost his off stump. It was a minor blemish and November 26, 2005 will always be Lara’s day to treasure.

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.

Adam Gilchrist is confident of reversing a worrying batting slump as Australia eye-ball South Africa in the third and final Test at the SCG. While Gilchrist’s wicketkeeping has been so good Ian Healy recently rated it the best of his career, his run-scoring has been dramatically reduced and he has passed double figures only twice in his past five Tests.”You go through three or four low scores and you say, ‘Oh, nothing’s wrong. It’s no big deal’,” he said in . “But it’s continued on and it’s definitely been the longest run of low scores I’ve had to endure in my international career. I desperately want runs but I don’t feel pressure from anything external.”Gilchrist said his biggest frustration was finishing a game and knowing he had not contributed with the bat. “That’s new for me,” he said.Focusing on wicketkeeping has helped Gilchrist through the slump. “I’ve always said that is my No. 1 job, and I stand by that,” he said. “I have that belief [runs] will come eventually. Through my career if I have been batting well I have kept well. This is a nice scenario for me because the runs aren’t coming but I feel like I’m managing the other side of things pretty well.”

ScorecardMartin van Jaarsveld blazed a half-century as the Titans walked away with a nine-run win in a rain-interrupted match against Dolphins in the first game of the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament at Durban.Winning the toss and batting first, the Titans got away to a flyer withAB de Villiers (27 off 19) and Goolam Bodi (20 off 18) setting the pacefor the innings. van Jaarsveld increased the tempo, scoring his runs off just 44 balls,before a few quick wickets brought the Dolphins back into the picture.The final onslaught came from Pierre de Bruyn as he struck a six and a four inhis 19 off nine balls to take the Titans to a creditable 179 for 7 in20 overs.Zahir Abrahim was the pick of the bowlers for Dolphins, taking 3 for 30 inhis four overs while Nantie Hayward picked up 1 for 25 in his fullallocation.The Dolphins innings never gained any momentum, as they lost four wickets in the opening nine overs. They managed to keep abreast of the asking rate, though. Dale Benkenstein and Ahmed Amla (22 off 22) put on 33 in four overs to leave the game evenly poised after 15.1 overs when rain had the players off and the Dolphins on 126 for 5.With the rain not letting up the Titans were declared the winners by nine runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

A batting masterclass from Sachin Tendulkar gave India the initiative in Lahore, and a 2-1 series lead. Having chased with such aplomb in the last two games, confidence clearly isn’t a problem in the Indian camp. Pakistan, bereft of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, suddenly look vulnerable, but even a cursory look at the nation’s cricket history will tell you that it’s at such moments that they have dug deep and come up with some of their best cricket. India, at the receiving end after leading the corresponding series 2-0 last year, certainly won’t allow any trace of complacency to creep in. After the humiliation in the Test series, victory here would offer something by way of compensation.Better bowling?:
Pakistan’s superior bowling resources, ultimately decisive in the Test series, were expected to tilt the scales in their favour in the one-day games as well. But with Shoaib Akhtar not around to lead the line, India have piled on the runs at an astonishing rate of 6.29 over the first three games. With the exception of Mohammad Asif, who appears to get better with every outing, the rest have been caned by Indian batsmen ruthless against any waywardness in line and length. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, hugely impressive in Pakistan’s 4-2 triumph on Indian soil last year, was pulverised in the last game, while Umar Gul is only finding his way back from a long-term injury. Abdul Razzaq continues to snag Tendulkar, without ever looking likely to run through a side. With no Danish Kaneria in the squad, the slow-bowling options are also distinctly mediocre. India’s attack has fared little better, with the notable exception of Irfan Pathan, but the expected Pakistani superiority has yet to manifest itself.All change:
Two consecutive losses have forced the selectors’ hands, and Pakistan could see as many as four changes for tomorrow’s game. Salman Butt’s last two innings have lasted four balls, and Imran Farhat is likely to take his place. Faisal Iqbal has the onerous task of replacing Afridi, while Umar Gul’s back injury has resulted in a call-up for Rao Iftikhar Anjum. Mohammad Sami, in the cold since the Lahore Test, is another certainty provided he recovers from fever, with Rana likely to feel the cold shoulder. India have few such worries, with Ajit Agarkar having recovered from his back strain.Pitch perfect:
The last time India played here, Virender Sehwag thumped 228 on the opening day of a Test to inspire an innings victory in a Test match. Sehwag may be back in Delhi, resting his shoulder before taking on England, but another run-fest is on the cards. The pitch is the colour of caramel cream, and the smattering of dry grass on top won’t worry anyone. With the weather also perfect, sunny without being too warm, a batsman that gets set won’t be in the mood to leave in a hurry. In such conditions, the toss is unlikely to have much bearing either.Absent Afridi:
While he didn’t fire in the first three games, Afridi clearly preys on the Indian psyche. His 330 runs from just 272 balls in the Test series pretty much ensured that. His loss for the final two games is a massive blow, even if Pakistan can call on Abdul Razzaq and the relatively untested Iqbal for late-innings acceleration.The Malik factor:
Starting with his stunning innings against India in the Asia Cup of 2004, Shoaib Malik has pillaged the attack remorselessly. And while the bigger names like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan have yet to make an impact on the series, Malik already has 293 runs stashed away. He made the most of the reprieve that Gautam Gambhir granted him at Lahore, and India simply can’t afford such generosity towards a man who truly has the Indian sign on their bowlers.

Hometown hero:
The impressive Inzamam-ul-Haq enclosure dominated one sides of this superb venue, and much is expected from one of Multan’s favourite sons. His captaincy in the last game was bizarre at times, with a clearly crocked Afridi asked to bowl at a crucial stage, and Rana, who served up tosh all day, entrusted with two vital overs at the end. There have also been three successive failures with the bat, including the Obstructing the Field dismissal at Peshawar. The Indians know better than most though that when he’s good, he’s nearly peerless. That perfectly executed chase at Ahmedabad last year certainly won’t be forgotten anytime soon.Last but not least:
Such was the resplendence of his batting at the Gaddafi Stadium that it was easy to forget the pressure that Tendulkar had been under before the one-day series. The century at Peshawar was special in its own way, but it was the 95 at Lahore that showcased everything that’s best about his batting – the ability to gauge a situation, judgement of length and a range of strokes that most can only dream of. It remains to be seen now whether he can go on and magnify the purple patch, rediscovering the mind-boggling consistency that has eluded him for two seasons.Teams:
Pakistan (likely): 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 ShoaibMalik, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Younis Khan, 7 FaisalIqbal, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Mohammad Asif.Super sub: Rao Iftikhar Anjum.India (likely): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 IrfanPathan, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Mahendra SinghDhoni, 8 Suresh Raina, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 S Sreesanth, 11 Rudra PratapSingh. Super sub: Ramesh Powar.

England A 283 for 9 (Joyce 85, Clarke 58, Solanki 47) beat West Indies A 226 (Joseph 45, Richards 39, Mahmood 4-37, Batty 4-40) by 57 runs
ScorecardSajid Mahmood and Gareth Batty grabbed four wickets apiece to bowl England A to a 57-run series-leveling win over West Indies A under the lights at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia on March 11.Rikki Clarke spurred England with an allround effort: he rattled a breezy 44-ball 58 to lift the visitors to 283 for 9 and then strangled the hosts, after they had run away to 95 for 1 in 15 overs, with a miserly 10-over spell – conceding only 26 runs and picking up Dale Richards’s (39) wicket in the bargain. Richards’s wicket opened up the gates for Batty and Mahmood to barge through, and the duo kept striking at regular intervals: seven wickets fell for 94 runs as West Indies folded up for 226.Ed Joyce, who top-scored for the second successive match, and Vikram Solanki, who missed the first game, got the visitors off to a great start, racing away to 97 in only 15.4 overs. However, their march was halted by Ryan Hinds, the left-arm spinner who bowled his 10 overs on a trot, grabbing 4 for 38. Hinds got rid off Solanki in his first over and removed Alex Loudon and Ravi Bopara cheaply before nailing Joyce to leave the visitors at a wobbly 168 for 5.It was then that Clarke stepped in, counterattacking his way out of trouble. Gavin Tonge came in for special attention from Clarke who hit him for four fours in succession in the 48th over. However, Tonge soon got his revenge, removing Clarke off the last ball of the over.The battle will now resume in Barbados on Tuesday where the final three matches of the series will be played.

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.