Virender Sehwag, who celebrated his home captaincy debut with an emphatic win at Rajkot, hailed his bowlers for sticking to a good line and length and restricting Sri Lanka to just 196. He said he was “very impressed” with Rudra Pratap Singh, who set up the win with a fine spell, and S Sreesanth and also acknowledged the contributions made by the spinners in the middle overs.On a pitch that both captains admitted was on the slower side, Rudra Pratap, playing just his third ODI, was rewarded for sticking to the nuts and bolts of medium-pace. Coming on to bowl in the 12th over, he began with a maiden and had Upul Tharanga flinching and edging one that reared superbly from a good length. “RP is a very talented bowler,” Sehwag added,” and his specialty is that he can bring the ball into the right-handers and swing it both ways.”Despite being struck for a few fours early, Rudra Pratap, who made his first class debut on this very ground against the touring New Zealanders two years back, didn’t waver too much with his rhythm. Known around the domestic circuit as a bowler who can prodigiously swing the ball, he showed that he could deliver even when the atmospheric conditions weren’t on his side. “In Zimbabwe [where he made his debut] there was more swing for me, here I needed to concentrate on my length. I’ve been learnt a lot from Irfan [Pathan] and he’s advised me on bowling in different situations.”Even with Ajit Agarkar ruled out with flu, India found all their moves paying off yet again. Sehwag said that he was confident that his bowling attack could do the job, a fact which had partly influenced his decision at the toss. “In the past we had won games while chasing and our bowlers were doing well. Also the Sri Lankan bowlers were not in form and I felt we could chase any target. We had planned to cut down on the number of extras and I’m glad we conceded just three in this game.”He added that his inability to convert 20s to 50s and 100s was both “difficult and irritating”. However, he said that he really enjoyed his role as captain during the game and said that he was learning with each experience. “Captaincy is something which one needs to get used to,” he said. “I learnt a lot from the Ahmedabad game and made sure I didn’t repeat the same mistakes here.”

Jason Gillespie is on track to force his way back into the national side, according to South Australia’s coach Wayne Phillips, but he admitted that next month’s Test series against South Africa might come too soon. Gillespie grabbed 7 for 35 against Victoria at the weekend to give the selectors a timely reminder that he is not finished despite being written off by many after a dreadful Ashes series.Nathan Bracken is expected to claim the third quick-bowling berth at the WACA, but Gillespie’s nine-wicket haul in the match put him back in the frame along with Michael Kasprowicz. “Bracken probably has the inside running and that is probably fair enough, but what Gillespie brings is different, but pretty exciting too,” Phillips told AAP. “I never thought the national selectors had written him off at all, but they do need him if he continues to provide the selectors and team management with these sorts of performances, there is no reason why he can’t force his way back.””I don’t expect to get any call up to the Australian side anytime soon,” Gillespie admitted. “I think the selectors have shown their cards and basically put me at the back of the queue, I know that, I acknowledge that and I have no problem with that.”I am not seen as one of the best seven or eight fast bowlers in the country at the moment because there is a team going to New Zealand today and they have rested Glenn McGrath from that trip and picked four fast bowlers and I am not among them.”But there was encouragement from Ricky Ponting. “Dizzy’s done nothing wrong since he’s been back,” he said. “It’s great to see him back bowling well and taking the wickets, and being the sort of bowler that we know he can be.”

Ireland are aiming high at next month’s Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka according to their coach Brian O’Rourke.”Our aim is to make it through to the Super League stages of the tournament which would be a first for an Irish team,” he said. “We are also looking to repeat the very good performances of our team at the last World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004 and establish our position as the top associate nation in the world. We aim to beat a Test nation at this World Cup.”Those goals might sound ambitious but close examination of the Ireland squad, their results in that previous tournament and the draw for this one, shows why O’Rourke is so positive.To start with, Ireland have been drawn in Group D, a group that looks, on paper at least, to be wide open. It does contain England, semi-finalists two years ago, but they are hardly brimming with confidence after losing all 11 matches on their tour of Bangladesh before Christmas.And with Zimbabwe, something of an unknown quantity at this level after their recent internal strife, and Nepal, which was hardly stretched in winning the Asian Cricket Council U-19 Cup last November to complete the line-up, it is a very tough group to predict.If that draw is enough to convince Ireland they can achieve something special at this tournament, then the fact they also have an experienced side is another reason for optimism. They have retained five of the players that took part in the tournament in Bangladesh two years ago and the form of one of them, the captain Eoin Morgan, could be crucial to their chances.Morgan, a left-handed top-order batsman and right-arm seam bowler, gave a glimpse of his talents in 2004 when, as a 17-year-old, he scored 65 in 69 balls against Australia in the Plate semi-final, an innings that followed 117 against Uganda.Since then he has played a key role in the Irish senior side’s qualification for next year’s World Cup in West Indies, made his first team debut for Middlesex in county cricket and scored a brilliant 151 against the United Arab Emirates in the semi-final of last year’s Intercontinental Cup.If that is not enough, he also spent two months late last year at the ICC’s winter training camp in Pretoria, South Africa honing his skills in readiness for this tournament.So Morgan will be a key figure for Ireland but they are far from being a one-man team with the other survivors from the 2004 line-up also capable of making substantial contributions.There is the legspinner Greg Thompson, who has played second team cricket with English county Lancashire, wicketkeeper-batsman Gary Wilson, opener Gareth McKee, who made 129 against the Netherlands last July, and left-arm spinner Gary Kidd.Thompson, who took 5 for 49 against West Indies two years ago, Kidd and the offspinner James Hall mean that Ireland are well-blessed with spinning options and that style of bowling is always likely to play a role in Sri Lanka.In the seam bowling department they have right-armers Neil Gill, Richard Keaveney and Niall McDarby with all of them playing in the European U-19 Championships last year, when the side finished as runners-up to Scotland.Morgan’s talents with the bat will be supplemented by Wilson, together with Andrew Poynter, who was born in London but qualifies to play through his Irish mother, David Rankin (whose brothers Boyd and Rob played in 2004) and the left-handed Fintan McAllister.If Ireland are searching for further encouragement then they are likely to find it by looking back at several of their performances from two years ago, which was their third time in the tournament after previous appearances in 1998 and 2000.In that previous event in Bangladesh they lost by only six runs to the eventual runners-up, West Indies, when chasing 266 for victory and in the Plate competition they thrashed Uganda and Canada to book a semi-final spot. Although they lost to Australia, conceding 340 for 5 in 50 overs, they showed plenty of spirit to respond with 291 for 9.O’Rourke thinks performances like that, or even something better, are what Ireland are after in this World Cup. “We are looking to further bridge the gap in playing standards between the leading associate countries like ourselves and the Test-playing nations.””Realistically we are not looking to win this World Cup but rather to establish ourselves as the leading associate country in world cricket. A win against a Test-playing nation at this World Cup would help us achieve this aim.”The team will arrive in Colombo on 28th January for three days of acclimatisation before they join the tournament on 31st January. They will then play two practice matches on February 1, against Scotland and February 2, against Uganda.Ireland squad Eoin Morgan (capt), Gary Wilson, Neil Gill, James Hall, Richard Keaveney, Gary Kidd, Fintan McAllister, Niall McDarby, Gareth McKee, Gavin McKenna, Andrew Poynter, David Rankin, Richard Stirling and Greg Thompson.

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been fined 10 percent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his country’s third one-dayer against India.Asif pleaded guilty to excessive appealing after he failed to direct his appeal to the umpire. The hearing was conducted by ICC match referee Chris Broad in Multan on Wednesday.”Asif is new to the international arena and is trying very hard to change the way he appeals but he must learn to respect the umpire and turn to ask if the batsman is out for all dismissals,” Broad said.All Level One breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought by 3rd Umpire Zamir Haider and on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Asad Rauf.

Pakistan’s strike bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, has passed himself fit for the third Test against India at Karachi on Sunday, after overcoming an ankle problem he sustained during the two drawn matches at Lahore and Faisalabad.”I’m fit, it’s all good,” he told Cricinfo, as Pakistan prepared for their first Test in the city for 15 months.Shoaib was the bowler of the series in the Tests against England last month, picking up 17 wickets in three matches. But he has struggled to make any impact on the current series, with just one wicket in 41.2 overs.Earlier in the week, Pakistan’s captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, had been cagey about Shoaib’s prospects of playing. “Yes his ankle is bothering him and right now we are not sure if he will be completely fit for the Test,” said Inzamam. “But he is very keen to play and take some wickets which is good news.”In spite of his poor returns at Lahore and Faisalabad, Shoaib’s absence would have been a huge blow to Pakistan’s prospects of victory, especially as Karachi is widely expected to offer more assistance for the bowlers on both sides.”Hopefully things will be different in the final Test,” said Inzamam. “I do feel sorry for Shoaib and the other bowlers because in my entire career I have not really seen Tests turning out this way and the batsmen dominating the way they have done so far in this series.””We are keen to get a result from this series because the last two series have been very well contested and it would be a pity if we didn’t have a clear winner.”

The Canadian Cricket Association has appointed Andy Pick to coach the national team in the build-up to the 2007 World Cup.Pick was coach to the England team in the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka last month.As a medium-pace bowler he played for Nottinghamshire between 1983 and 1997 before moving into coaching after retiring.

Sanath Jayasuriya’s Test career ended on a painful note after dislocating his right thumb during the second Test against Pakistan at Kandy. He also needed several stitches after splitting the webbing when he attempted to catch Imran Farhat in the gully during the morning session of the second day.”It looks like he will be out for at least four weeks,” Tommy Simsek, the Sri Lankan team’s physiotherapist, told reporters after returning from the Kandy Central Hospital. “There’s also a dislocation near the joint. It is very unlikely he will take any further part in the Test.”Jayasuriya announced his retirement from Tests last week, but will continue to play ODIs in the lead up to the World Cup in West Indies, which will be his last outing in international cricket. He made 14 in the first innings at Kandy and, if he doesn’t bat again, will finish with 6613 runs and 14 hundreds. His left-arm spin has picked up 92 wickets.

Scorecard

Six wickets from Mohammad Akram helped Surrey romp to a thumping innings-and-297-run victory over Gloucestershire at a sun-drenched Oval. Barring something remarkable, this game was only heading one way when play resumed today, but Surrey were clinical in disposing of a disappointing opposition.The early exchanges were all about Mark Ramprakash, who only added 16 to his overnight 276, but that was enough to enable him to post a career-best score. He made his intentions clear from the off, smacking Martyn Ball for six, before holed out to long-leg off the same bowler.Facing a massive deficit of 432, Gloucestershire needed to show more fight than they had on the first day. If anything, they were even more feeble.They reached 20 before Akram swung one in to trap Craig Spearman leg-before, and it was one-way traffic from then on in. Although Surrey did bowl well, some of the batsmen contributed to their own downfalls, none more than Matt Windows who perished to an ugly shot off James Benning.The last remnants of hope – and there still was a glimmer as heavy rain was forecast for tomorrow – disappeared immediately before lunch when Nayan Doshi had Chris Taylor caught behind for 0 and then Phil Weston, who had been dropped three times, well caught for 28 by a diving Mark Butcher at silly mid-off. At 45 for 4, that was that.Alex Gidman and Stephen Adshead frustrated Surrey for over an hour with a fifth-wicket stand of 71, but the return of Akram at the Vauxhall End brought a swift conclusion to proceedings as he took the last five wickets to finish with 6 for 34, his best figures for Surrey.

Misbah-ul-Haq has been appointed captain of the Pakistan A squad for the tour of Australia in July. The selectors decided against naming Hasan Raza for the post, reportedly due to an incident in Abu Dhabi in May.Raza led Pakistan A to victory in the Eurasia Cup in Abu Dhabi but was guilty of violating the code of conduct along with three other players, for travelling to Dubai without permission from the manager. Two other notable exclusions from the squad are openers Taufeeq Umar and Yasir Hameed, as the selectors felt the need to try out new players.”Players like Yasir Hameed and Taufiq Umar have been tried and tested at the highest level which is why we decided to bring in some new players in their place to give them valuable exposure,” Wasim Bari, the chairman of selectors told . Bari added that Misbah was handed the captaincy in order to try out a new player in his role.The squad contains a lot of deserving players who have performed consistently in the domestic circuit. They include fast bowler Wasim Khan, Fawad Alam, the left-hand batsman and Mohammad Salman, the wicketkeeper. Akhtar Ayub, the fast bowler who impressed in the Under-19 World Cup, has also been included.Pakistan A will play a series of one-day, four-day and Twenty 20 matches against the A sides of Australia, New Zealand and India at Darwin and Cairns.Pakistan A Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Bazid Khan (vice-capt), Hasan Raza, Mohammad Hafeez, Rafatullah Mohmand, Shahid Yousuf, Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rahman, Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Khalil, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Irshad, Wasim Khan, Akhtar Ayub; Reserves: Samiullah Khan, Shahzad Malik and Tahir Khan.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, feels that Anil Kumble would make a huge difference to the Indian side for the Tests after they got beaten 4-1 in the one-day series.”India are a great opponent and they have two very good spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble and they are not going to be easy,” Lara told the . He urged the authorities not to prepare pitches that favour spin. “I’m expecting hopefully we can get something more sporty for our fast bowlers.”Greg Chappell, India’s coach, also said that Kumble would add value to the attack but emphasised that one good bowler wasn’t enough. “He’s a fine bowler, one of the best going around, very experienced and one of the great competitors. I think he’ll enjoy the conditions here, but obviously he has to bowl well and has to be supported by bowling at the other end – we can’t rely on one bowler.”India’s 1-4 defeat in the one-day series was their worst in recent times. “We’ve got a little bit of work to do mentally, to regroup and get ourselves prepared for the Test series,” said Chappell.Having led West Indies to two successive one-day victories against Zimbabwe and India since taking over as captain from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lara said that it was important to stay grounded because Tests were completely different. “The confidence is high but we can’t get carried away,” said Lara. “We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and we have to focus, or refocus, on the five-day game to ensure we do well.”The first Test begins in Antigua on Friday, followed by Tests in St Lucia from June 10-14, in St Kitts from June 22-26, and in Jamaica from June 30-July 4.