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Floppy luck
A face allergy forced Sachin Tendulkar into the indoor nets on Tuesday and prompted him to wear a floppy hat, probably for the first time in internationals, while fielding at the SCG. It brought him some luck with the Australian left-handers edging three balls towards him at first slip off RP Singh. He moved quickly to his left to get rid of Matthew Hayden before diving low to the right to end Michael Hussey’s innings. The best catch was reserved for Adam Gilchrist when Tendulkar dropped forward for a cool take.Benson and edges
The umpire Mark Benson didn’t spot two edges off Ricky Ponting, who should have been out on 17 and not out on 55. Sourav Ganguly slid one down the leg side, which Ponting glanced to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, before the batsman inside-edged on to his pad off Harbhajan Singh. Adding to the shocker list was Steve Bucknor, who missed Andrew Symonds’ nick to the wicketkeeper in the second session. Anyone for hearing aids?Strangest decision
Benson’s and Bucknor’s calls were pretty weird, but none was more confusing than Michael Clarke’s option to pad up to Harbhajan. The ball pitched outside off stump and Clarke must have thought it would go straight or the other way. Instead it turned, thudded into his pad and he was lbw in his most embarrassing dismissal since shouldering arms and being bowled by James Franklin at the World Cup.Grounds for improvement
It was a magic day for Brad Hogg, who has posted career-high scores in each of his three innings since returning to the Test team. His 17 in the first innings at Melbourne equalled his previous best before he collected 35 not out in the second. The 79 here almost doubled his aggregate of 90 in his first five Tests.Slippery Yuvraj
Yuvraj Singh, India’s best fielder, has had some sloppy days during this series and they continued in Sydney. He slid into the extra-cover ropes in the first session, allowing a four when there should have been only three, and conceded overthrows a little later. There were also a couple of lazy dives and late in the day he misfielded two balls on the boundary that went for four.Dhoni misses one, the umpire misses another
Dhoni had two stumping chances, fluffing the first, a tough one down the leg side when Ponting was 31, but displaying rapid reflexes when Symonds was 48. Unfortunately for India, Bruce Oxenford, the third umpire, flashed “Not Out” after taking a look at five different angles. However, one of those shots, from the square camera, indicated through the positioning of Symonds’ shadow that his foot was in the air when the bails came off.

Today a new batting star came into bloom in Bloem. Kevin Pietersen, in only his sixth one-day international for England, clouted his first century. It arrived at better than a run a ball, and he was rarely troubled. Each milestone in his innings – and the extravagant kiss of the badge on his England helmet – was a jolting reminder to the South Africans of what they lost when Pietersen turned Pom. It was a performance that deserved to bring victory – although he won’t be too upset after a thrilling tie.The Pietersen technique is fairly simple: an initial press forward, bat ready to kiss pad, then a rock back if the ball is short. He is especially strong on the whip to leg – one off his old sparring partner Andre Nel disappeared over the head of the leaping Jacques Kallis on the square-leg boundary, and his other six went roughly the same way off a blinking Shaun Pollock, in an over that cost 14. But Pietersen isn’t just a leg man – when the gurning Nel overpitched outside off he howitzered it through the covers before anyone could move.There’s a hint of nervousness early on as Pietersen sashays across his stumps, but once set there’s a solidity about his stance and approach that brings to mind Graeme Hick on one of his better days, with the same kind of intimidating Incredible-Hulk power. None of the South African bowlers – their first-choice Test attack, minus Nicky Boje and plus the chunky Justin Kemp – made much impression, all disappearing for more than five an over.The support came mainly from Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood. Vaughan helped add 80 for the fourth wicket after three quick dismissals derailed England’s handy start, before coming second to AB de Villiers’s A-plus throw from the boundary. But then Collingwood proved the perfect foil for the bludgeoning Pietersen, chipping and charging to 40 from 41 deliveries, somehow carving well-pitched-up balls that seemed set to arc in and remove his off stump down to third man.It is remarkable to think that Pietersen probably wouldn’t even have been here if it hadn’t been for the untimely injury to Andrew Flintoff. He did well as Flintoff’s stand-in in Zimbabwe, and he has certainly looked the part since his late call-up here. That technique ought to work pretty well in Test cricket, too.The one downer was the sight of large swathes of the Bloemfontein crowd turning their backs on the South African-born Pietersen as he walked off. A case of bad sports at Goodyear Park.Steven Lynch is the editor of Cricinfo.

Essex’s Will Jefferson and the Worcestershire batsman Kadeer Ali are among 15 players, named today by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who will be considered for the 2003-04 National Academy intake.”As with last year, we wanted to concentrate our minds on the kind of players who might be invited to the National Academy this winter," said Rod Marsh, the ECB National Academy Director. "Creating such a list allows us to concentrate our resources and to film, study and analyse these players in-depth, which will enable us to create individual programmes for them in advance.”This is by no means an exclusive list and if other players perform well in the remainder of the season then they will also be considered for selection. Injured England players or other cricketers with international experience, not selected for next winter’s England overseas tours, will also be considered.”As this year’s National Academy programme and tour coincides with the Under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh, no U19 players are being considered, however we are planning a series of joint training sessions with the squad prior to their departure.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, will announce the final Academy squad, along with the England winter touring parties, at the end of the season. They will start their programme on Sunday, October 12, and will be based for the first time at the new facility at Loughborough University. The squad will tour Malaysia and India in the New Year.Provisional list of Academy players Kadeer Ali (Worcestershire), Simon Francis (Somerset), Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire), Will Jefferson (Essex), Shaftab Khalid (Worcestershire), Michael Lumb (Yorkshire), Tom Lungley (Derbyshire), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Philip Mustard (Durham), Graham Napier (Essex), Kevin Pietersen (Nottinghamshire), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Bilal Shafayat (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Graham Wagg (Warwickshire).

Andrew Caddick is expected to miss the rest of the season with a back complaint, a development that leaves his future in some doubt. Caddick, 34, has spent the last six weeks recovering from a stress fracture of the right foot, but this latest injury is potentially far more serious.”There is a distinct possibility that Andy could be out for the season,” said Somerset’s chief executive Peter Anderson. “We should know more after he sees a specialist in Bristol tomorrow. He has had a problem with his back for a couple of years and it seems that wearing an air-cast on his foot because of the stress fracture has accentuated the back condition.Caddick has made only one County Championship and one National Leagueappearance for Somerset this season. He had been expected to play against Zimbabwe in May, but he had reported pain between the toes of his right foot. At first the problem was diagnosed as ligament damage, but a later scan revealed a stress fracture.Anderson added: “We must await the result of the examination before knowing whether or not the injury is career-threatening.”

Sri Lanka 713 for 3 dec beat Zimbabwe 228 and 231 by an innings and 254 runs
ScorecardPreview – Zimbabwe face another uphill struggleDay 1
Bulletin – Ebrahim’s 70 lifts Zimbabwe to 228Day 2
Bulletin – Atapattu and Sangakkara pile on a record standDay 3
Bulletin – Sri Lanka show no mercy
Verdict – Whatever this was, it wasn’t Test cricket
Quotes – Disappointed I didn’t get more, says Sangakkara
News – Ebrahim banned for one match
Day 4
Bulletin – Sri Lanka complete victory by a massive margin

The ICC could force Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to play a shorter programme of Test cricket in a shake-up of the current Test itineraries. ICC executives will meet in Lahore on October 15-16 to discuss possible changes to the Test programme, in which the ten Test nations currently play each other home and away over a five-year period.One option is to allow the top eight nations to continue with this structure, while Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, the two lowest-ranked sides, are handed a “modified programme” which could mean them playing only home Test matches.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told a news conference in London today: “It may be that there is an option for radical change to the structure. We set out to challenge the current thinking and assumptions.”Speed’s statement follows a review conducted by the ICC after broadcasters and players complained about the high volume of cricket being played. But the ICC have decided not to remove Zimbabwe and Bangladesh from the future tours programme, having interviewed leading officials from all ten Test-playing nations, players’ association representatives, commercial partners and players.Another idea, for four teams to play in a second tier of Test cricket, was thrown out because of insufficient interest in the proposal and the financial implications on world cricket.”A small number of teams drive the economic health of cricket,” confirmed an ICC spokesman, “and if we pushed one of those out into a lower division, we risk cutting cricket off at the knees.”The ICC also took on board complaints from players – including the England captain Michael Vaughan – who had voiced concerns over the number of back-to-back Test matches they are expected to play. Speed confirmed: “The boards will seek to avoid back-to-back Test matches, and when that is not possible an extra day will be introduced so that we do not have a Monday finish followed by a start to the next Test the following Thursday.”Speed concluded: “That’s the decision of the chief executives and they are the people who put the schedules together – they are fully aware of the problems that back-to-back Tests present.”

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Afro-Asian Cricket Cooperation Chairman, has announced that the first of the three-match Afro-Asian Cup between Asia XI and Africa XI will take place at Supersport Park, Centurion, in South Africa, on August 17. The second and third matches are scheduled to be held on August 20 and 21 at Durban.Dalmiya also said, in a report, that the matches, which have been given official status by the ICC, would be played under lights and would begin at midday. The proceeds from the series, which will involve top cricketers of the participating countries, will be used to develop cricket in Asia and Africa at all levels after meeting the tournament expenses.The selection panels for the two teams will comprise a representative from each of the participating nations. The Asia XI selection panel includes Majid Khan (Pakistan), Ravi Shastri (India) and Sidath Wettimuny (Sri Lanka). Bangladesh are yet to name their representative. Mike Proctor (South Africa), Psyche Nkala (Zimbabwe) and Tom Tikolo (Kenya) are the selectors for the African XI.The winners of the series will get US$100,000 in prize money. US$25,000 will go to the winners of each of the individual games, US$5000 for the Man of the Match and US$10,000 for the player of the series. Dalmiya added that talks were on with several media companies for the games to be telecasted live and that discussions with sponsors were yet to reach a final agreement

Harbhajan Singh, whose injured right-hand middle finger was operated upon yesterday, has been officially ruled out of competitive cricket for five months.Andrew Leipus, the physio of the Indian cricket team who had accompanied Harbjajan to Melbourne for the surgery, said the ligament rupture on the knuckle of the finger would take two to three months to heal. That will be followed by rigorous physiotherapy for a couple of months. Leipus said, “It will be four to five months, before he can start bowling again.”However, the positive news for the Indian camp is that Zaheer Khan looks good to play in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne after missing out the second Test due to a hamstring niggle. “He had a sprint this morning and felt good,” Leipus said, “He should be okay for the third Test. I’ll be upset if he doesn’t play at Melbourne.”There have question marks over whether Harbhajan should have been allowed to be on the tour, but Leipus said that the team management had banked on him pulling through the series. “He was fine before the tour began, but the injury flared up during the first Test.”Leipus added, “I was aware one day he would require to do an operation. I thought if he gets through the tour I would be happy. Sports medicine is all about balancing, keeping the guy going. He would’ve been better off with an operation then [last July].”Harbhajan will stay on with the team until the end of the tour under the care of Leipus, who said that the follow up and rehabilitation was critical to the success of the operation.

Scotland have named a 15-man squad for their match against Australia at Edinburgh on August 18.The one-day friendly international will be the first Scottish cricket match outside the World Cup to be televised live throughout. It will be shown on BBC 2 Scotland from 11am, with an hour of highlights in the evening, both on BBC 2 and on Sky Sports.The selectors have included all available players from the squad which won the ICC Trophy last month. However, none of the four English County players involved in Ireland is available. The two overseas professionals contracted for 2005 season are also included.”This game is officially classed as a friendly,” said Andy Moles, Scotland’s coach. “But you can be sure the Australians will be playing it seriously – particularly those players who have yet to be selected for their Test side. With the match being televised, it is important that Scotland fields its fittest and strongest available team, and we will be reviewing all options right up to the day of the match itself.”All 4500 tickets for the game were sold more than two months ago.Scotland squad Craig Wright (capt), Yasir Arafat, Jonathan Beukes, Cedric English, Gordon Goudie, Paul Hoffmann, Douglas Lockhart, Gregor Maiden, Dewald Nel, Colin Smith, Ian Stanger, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Sean Weeraratna, Greig Williamson.

Alan Butcher has been announced as Surrey’s new coach, with a two-year contract starting with immediate effect. He replaces Steve Rixon who held the post on a one-year contract.Butcher has spent most of his professional life with the London club, and has been coaching the Surrey Second XI side since 1998, nurturing players such as Scott Newman and Rikki Clarke into the first team. His eldest son, Mark, played Test cricket for England and is Surrey’s current captain, and his younger son, Gary, played for Surrey and Glamorgan.In a statement released on Wednesday, the chairman of Surrey, Micky Stewart, commented: “This has been a difficult season for the club; a strong, knowledgeable man who is dedicated to cricket in Surrey will be in charge during what will inevitably be a period of transition for the club in the immediate future. Alan is a Surrey man and the ideal candidate to take us forward.”