Andy Moles will take over as the coach of New Zealand domestic side Northern Districts in the 2006-07 season. The chief executive of Northern Districts, David Cooper, announced today that Moles will begin his stint in September.Moles is currently in England coaching the Under-19 squad for a series against the touring India U-19s starting later this month. As a player, he served 12 seasons with Warwickshire and three with Griqualand West in South Africa as an opening batsman. After retiring, he took to coaching and was in charge of South African domestic side Orange Free State from 1998 to 2002, where he worked with international players like Hansie Cronje, Boeta Dippenar, Nicky Boje and Allan Donald.He also served as coach of Kenya and Scotland, guiding Scotland to victory in the ICC Trophy last year before quitting in January 2006.

The Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) annual general meeting at the Eden Gardens began this evening amidst unprecedented security.Jagmohan Dalmiya, CAB president, is locked in a prestige fight with Prasun Mukherjee, the Kolkata police commissioner, who has the backing of West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, for the post of president.The elections, which have generated interest across the country following Bhattacharjee’s statement on June 19 that he wanted Dalmiya to stay out of the presidential contest, is the fourth item on the agenda.Dalmiya filed his nomination on July 21 ignoring Bhattacharjee’s express wish that he stay away from the contest. In a break from CAB tradition, polling for all the posts – president, two joint secretaries, treasurer, and four vice presidents – would be held simultaneously, under court-appointed observer Justice (retd) S K Phoujdar. The results would be announced together.Heavyweights from several fields are participating in the AGM which would see 118 affiliate units of the CAB voting to elect the office bearers of the game’s governing body in the state.Among those present are Ajit Panja, Trinamool Congress leader and former union minister, M J Akbar, Editor-in-chief of , Srinjoy Bose, Executive Editor of , besides several political leaders and police officials.&

A fluent half-century from Yuvraj Singh, and defiant batting from the lower order spared Indian blushes as they eked out a three-wicket victory over a strong Sri Lankan A side at the Colts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. A fair gathering peered through the railings at the tree-fringed venue in Havelock Town as the Indians were given just the sort of test that they needed ahead of the tri-nation tournament that starts on Monday.Chasing 203 for victory, they slipped from the relative comfort of 128 for 3 to the crisis scoreline of 153 for 7, before Ajit Agarkar’s resolute 32, and a doughty knock from Ramesh Powar saw them home with 33 balls to spare. After Nuwan Zoysa had triggered an early slump with the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, both caught clipping the ball to midwicket, the slow bowlers came to the fore, with Malinga Bandara’s legspin and Mohamed Suraj’s offbreaks causing hesitancy in the middle of the innings.Yuvraj, though, carried on as he had for much of last season, stroking the ball sweetly off his pads and crunching some lovely drives through the covers in his 57-ball 61. His 65-run partnership with Rahul Dravid, who made 47 after opening with Tendulkar, set the game up for the Indians after Sehwag’s penetrating spell of 3 for 16 restricted the Lankan A side to 202 for 9.Upul Tharanga continued to mine a rich vein of form with a classy 88, but with the exception of a sedate 31 from Jeevan Mendis, there was little support from the top order. The Indian bowlers – apart from Ajit Agarkar who went for 45 in his seven overs – gave little away and only a late charge from Akalanka Ganegama, who thumped 29 off 27 balls, took the run-rate past four an over.After all the scrutiny of his recent form, Irfan Pathan could feel satisfied over a 10-over spell that cost just 31, though he would have been less than thrilled with his 13-ball stay in the middle after being sent in at the fall of the first wicket. Several outside the gates had also congregated to watch Mahendra Singh Dhoni – a familiar face on Reebok advertising hoardings here – but despite a trademark loft for six, he could make only 10 as the Indian chase went from cruise to crisis. Rahul Dravid said afterwards that he was reasonably happy with the outing, and with another game pencilled in for tomorrow, the Indians had every reason to be optimistic that it would be all right on the [Wednesday] night.

Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has insisted that he is still good enough to play international cricket and is disappointed with his continued exclusion from the team.Ganguly, who has not played for India since February, was included in the preliminary 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy to be played in India in October. On Sunday the selectors will pick the final 14-member squad for the tri-series in Malaysia starting on September 12.”It hurts, it does hurt to be out of the team,” Ganguly told CNN-IBN. “I still feel I am good enough and that’s the way it is. There must be something wrong which has kept me out.”Ganguly, India’s most successful Test captain with 21 wins, was sacked from captaincy in October 2005 and later eased out of both the Test and one-day squads following a row with coach Greg Chappell. Chappell described Ganguly as a “disruptive influence” in an email to the Indian board last September which was leaked to the media.”It is difficult for me to pinpoint any particular reason but the bottom line is that I am out of the team for whatever reasons and that’s what matters,” said Ganguly. “I have just played two games in the last 12 months for India. Obviously when I am not a part of the team, somebody does not want you to be in the team and that could be anybody. The captain, coach, selectors, everybody is involved so it’s very difficult to pinpoint any particular person.”Ganguly said that to be out on the sidelines was tough. “Obviously I feel sad because this is a team you have commanded for long,” Ganguly told . “Eleven years and captaining India in more than 50 Tests and a large number of ODIs, you will miss cricket because there are players of your age, around 33-34, and playing decent cricket. So you want to be a part of it.”He also said that there was no point thinking about whether politics had anything to do with him being removed as captain. “Dalmiya, Pawar, is there any point in discussing or pondering over what people are saying? Cricket is big in this country and people form their own opinion by saying a host of things.”

No depth. Not so much in the batting order or the available talent so much as in character.West Indies’ capitulation against Sri Lanka on October 14 may have been disappointing, even deflating, but only those who just became followers of the roller-coaster ride that is contemporary West Indies cricket would have been shocked by the manner of the surrender in the last preliminary match of the Champions’ Trophy.The match report of the debacle in the , T&T’s Sunday edition, was less of an eye-opener as the sidebar on “Windies ups and downs” which highlighted exactly why the batting demise is par for the course, simply because the Caribbean side spend as much time these days bogged down in sand traps, unplayable rough and water hazards as sitting pretty on the fairways in sight of a birdie or an eagle.Even then, with just a short tap-in needed to seal the deal, there is always the persistent fear that they will blow it, as in the opening match of the DLF Cup in Malaysia against Australia. Now the next opponents will again be Australia in the opening Group A match for both sides on October 18. But this will be a settled, full-strength Aussie side, quite different from the one of four weeks ago that was almost an experimental unit with a handful of players given a rare run out at the top level.This doesn’t mean automatically that the West Indies have no chance. Far from it. The abbreviated nature of one-day international cricket guarantees a greater degree of unpredictability, and when that is combined with the mercurial nature of the regional side, it really isn’t stretching the imagination to any great degree to suggest that anything good or bad can happen when the teams clash in Mumbai in two days’ time.If you’re seeking consolation in fairly recent history, just go back ten years ago to the 1996 World Cup, which was also played on the Indian subcontinent, when the West Indies crashed to their most humiliating defeat in the tournament’s history, being bundled out for just 93 by newcomers and still minnows Kenya in Pune. Yet in the aftermath of all the weeping and wailing following that embarrassment, the same side rallied to defeat Australia in a critical final group match a few days later, beleaguered captain Richie Richardson guiding his team into the quarter-finals with an unbeaten hundred.They eventually fell to the same Australians in the semi-finals in Mohali by just five runs, a result that remains the most painful that I have ever, ever experienced for reasons so wide and varied that one column cannot suffice.But, in the immediate aftermath of the latest setback, most fans will probably accept a narrow semi-final defeat in this Champions Trophy hands down because it would mean that team responsible for their fluctuating blood pressure had claimed a top two spot in a group that also includes India and England.None of this, of course, deals with the fundamental issue of just why players blessed with such phenomenal individual talent cannot perform at a consistently high level.

It may be incomprehensible that a team capable of scoring a world record 418 to defeat Australia in a Test match can crash for just 47 against England a year later. Within the space of three weeks at the start of 2004, the audience in Cape Town saw the West Indies threaten a seemingly impossible target of 441 – a chase highlighted by Dwayne Smith’s spectacular hundred on Test debut – and then fold for 54 under lights in the opening one-dayer, their lowest-ever ODI total. Many at Newlands for those matches thought they were watching two very different teams.The list of such dramatically erratic performances grows longer and still you ask: Why?Well, with a few notable exceptions, these are just gifted boys playing a man’s game, where ability without character, commitment and dedication will only take them so far. Yes, we are the Champions Trophy holders, but only because, as Brian Lara has said more than once, we played four one-day matches well, and still it required an heroic ninth-wicket partnership to pull us out of a seemingly hopeless position in the final two years ago.From the repetitive manner of dismissals to the almost casual errors in the field to the inability to follow one disciplined spell of bowling with another, these are players capable of incomparable feats of brilliance but who really have no sense that they are just part of a greater whole, the latest in a lineage that has brought pride and dignity to the people of the former British West Indies and immense respect from opponents.They say all the right things, how defeats hurt and how they must do better next time, but they don’t really mean it. Maybe they think they do, but at the superficial level at which most of them function, there is no real association between words and meanings, far less appreciating their place in an historical context.Victory or defeat, hundred or duck, five wickets or licks around the ground, it is just another performance on just another day. Throughout the region, we bemoan the deterioration of values and principles yet are surprised when our cricketers reflect that level of decay and disconnection from the bigger picture.Again, none of this precludes a reversal on the 18th or a victory in the final on November 5. But turnaround? Not for a long, long time.

England have been encouraged to target Glenn McGrath during the Ashes by both the bowler and Ricky Ponting. McGrath showed he was approaching peak form during Australia’s semi-final win against New Zealand on Wednesday and quickly began talking about the England series.”I think [Michael Vaughan] targeted me last time, and I knocked him over four or five times,” he said in . “So I’m happy with that.” Ponting agreed with McGrath’s feelings when he said: “Let them go for it, that’s all I’m going to say.”McGrath was criticised in the lead-up to the semi-final but said it did not affect him and that he still had room for improvement before the opening Test on November 23. “To me, it’s all about how I feel I’m going,” he told the paper. “And if I’m happy with the way I’m progressing then that’s all that matters. I’ve got a little way to go.”He said he has “put a little piece of the puzzle back together” in each game he has played since returning from a long lay-off to be with his sick wife. “It’s feeling pretty good at the moment, and I was happy with [the semi-final],” he said. “There were a few little errors I can still improve, but it’s looking pretty good. If I keep doing that, there’s a few more games until the Ashes and I shouldn’t be too far off 100%.”

After his century at Brisbane in last week’s first Test, Justin Langer told the assembled scribes how grateful he was to have been “under the pump” throughout his Test career. “I’ve had a lot of distractions and people questioning my ability,” he said, “but it’s meant that I’ve had to eliminate all those distractions and become very mentally strong.”A variation on the same theme could apply to Paul Collingwood. England’s perpetual understudy has risen above the doubters to become the linchpin of their batting, no less, and yet still it seems he doesn’t quite fit. Today’s nuggetty knock of 98 not out was typical of the man. At times, in partnership with Ian Bell, he became so immersed in the business of survival that his vigil seemed almost counterproductive. And yet he endured, in the manner that few of his team-mates have come close to matching. And that, ultimately, was all that counted.”Mentally, I think he’s a gutsy cricketer, and I think that’s the difference between him and others who have gone out there in the past,” said Bell, who added an invaluable 60 to England’s cause. “He gives it everything, and he’s not frightened of tough situations. He’s shown already on this tour that when it’s tough he’ll get in there and fight for England.”That’s because Collingwood, like Ashley Giles, has been fighting public perception much longer than he’s been fighting the Australians. He is the fall-guy in England’s batting line-up, the man who makes way when everyone is fit and available, and that inherent insecurity is what keeps him honest in even the toughest of situations. “I’m feeling more secure than I have done in the past,” he said at Lord’s last summer, and that was after reeling off the small matter of 186 against Pakistan.Collingwood is now in his sixth year as an international cricketer, and yet at no stage has he been allowed access to the comfort zone. His Test debut, in Sri Lanka in 2003-04, came as a replacement for Nasser Hussain. His recall at The Oval last summer, after 24 Tests on the sidelines, was as a poor man’s Simon Jones. His retention in Pakistan came about through a combination of Michael Vaughan’s knee injury and Andrew Strauss’s paternity leave. And his omission for Brisbane would have been a done deal had Marcus Trescothick not flown home early.But in the midst of his uncertainty, he has finally started to forge a tidy Test career. This is his 13th consecutive Test since his breakthrough game at Lahore, exactly 12 months ago. On that occasion he scored 96 and 80 in a desperately lost cause, and responded to the realisation that he had blown a golden opportunity by creaming a glorious unbeaten 134 against India at Nagpur, in his next Test. He’s still two runs from achieving a similar feat at Adelaide, but the mental fortitude of the man is already on full display.Australia still think he’s weak though, which is something of a paradox. He was suckered by Warne’s mind games at Brisbane, and Stuart Clark today admitted that Australia would be climbing straight into his head when play resumes tomorrow morning. “Batters get a bit tense in the nineties,” he warned with a glint in his eye. “Hopefully we’ll go there in the morning and keep him out there for a couple of overs and get him out.”All of a sudden though, Collingwood epitomises England’s position in this series. He’s the man with his back to the wall; the man who – along with Bell in 2005 – didn’t quite fit in in the Trafalgar Square celebrations and the mass awarding of MBEs. When Andrew Flintoff instigated a team meeting on the eve of the game, and called for his players to show a bit of “fight”, you can bet it was Collingwood’s inspiration that he was seeking to draw on.In England last summer, it was all too easy – a fit and focussed squad with a sprinkling of destiny guiding their steps. This time it’s different. It’s a bar brawl, not a breeze. That should suit Collingwood down to the ground. He’s not a man who is used to getting things easily.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
West Indies how they were out
Pakistan how they were out

Just when it appeared as if West Indies had assumed a vice-like grip on Multan Test, Pakistan hit back through an assertive batting performance, leaving a draw the most likely result. Led by Lara’s cracking double-century, West Indies managed an imposing first-innings lead but the flat nature of the surface, and lack of a quality spinner, thwarted their bid to force home the advantage.Facing a 234-run deficit, Pakistan chose to smash their way out of trouble with three of their top-order batsmen easing to half-centuries. Imran Farhat’s stylish 70 not out was buttressed with aggressive, yet contrasting, half-centuries from the two Ys – Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf – and it would require a sensational collapse for either team to force a result from here on.Farhat’s was an innings of two halves. The first 64 deliveries he faced produced just 15 runs and, uncharacteristically, not a single boundary. He endured a few jitters – swishing at the air with his customary wafts outside off, uncertain about whether to play or leave – and often preferred the edge of the bat rather than the middle. The eye-catching part of the innings followed, with spanking cover-drives pinging the advertising hoardings. His innings should have ended on 44 but Shivnarine Chanderpaul, despite a fine attempt, couldn’t latch on to a smoked cover-drive. Once let off, there was no stopping him; the extravagant flourish at the end of each drive made them that much more elegant.He was probably helped early on by Younis’s urgency. The duo came together at the fall of the first wicket – Mohammad Hafeez couldn’t keep out a speedy incutter from Jerome Taylor, in a post-lunch spell where he incessantly targeted the stumps. Younis telegraphed his intentions the moment he entered, scampering a single off his first ball, attempting an ambitious pull off his second, and flicking to midwicket off his fourth. He didn’t hold back against the wide ones, cutting fiercely to the point boundary; with one such shot he became the tenth Pakistani batsman to cross 4000 Test runs.Aggressive fields helped – West Indies had no other option but to put fielders around the bat and hope for an edge – and the belter of a surface provided a perfect stage.Yousuf, the other half-centurion, managed the most fluent innings of the day. On his way to becoming the highest scorer in a calendar year, he simply carried on in his magnificent form, easing effortlessly into drives. He was lucky on 51, not offering a stroke and being rapped on the pads, but Daryl Harper, somewhat inexplicably, preferred to give him the benefit of the doubt. That moment of uncertainty over, he continued his torment.Pakistan’s bowlers found some joy as well, once Brian Lara had brought up his ninth Test double-century. He needed to be cautious early on in the day to counter the dangerous reverse-swing that Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir were generating. He brought up his double-century with a pushed three through cover-point and continued to bide his time against accurate bowling.On 216, though, when he was just one run short of the highest score by a West Indian batsman in Pakistan (Rohan Kanhai’s 217 at Lahore in 1958-59) he was tempted into a false stroke, inducing a leading edge off Kaneria to long-on. Kaneria went on to earn a pyrrhic victory, finishing with 5 for 181 while Abdul Razzaq, who was also taken apart yesterday, cleaned up the last two wickets.

September 29, 2004The BCCI elections. Dalmiya is on a cliff-edge. He’s held every post there is to hold, and names his man Ranbir Mahendra as a candidate for the president’s post. Neither Dalmiya nor Mahendra’s opponent Sharad Pawar has ever lost an election. Dalmiya survives, but only just – and only by virtue of his casting vote as incumbent president. The first signs of his mortality.June 2005Appoints major threat Inderjit Singh Bindra to the marketing committee in a move designed to appease opponentsSeptember 2005The BCCI elections, yet again. Dalmiya can see the winds of change blowing. He tries his best to get the election postponed; Mahendra declares the AGM adjourned sine die. Amid all this, the infamous Chappell e-mail is “leaked”November 2005The AGM finally happens, with an independent observer overseeing the election. Pawar wins by a landslide. End of Dalmiya’s reignDecember 2005Resigns as president of the Asian Cricket Council and the Afro-Asian Cricket CouncilFebruary 2006Pawar appoints a committee to investigate alleged financial irregularities in the PILCOM [Pakistan-India-Lanka Committee] account. PILCOM was formed when the three countries hosted the 1996 World CupMarch 2006BCCI files FIR against DalmiyaApril 2006Bombay High Court grants bail to Dalmiya but BCCI`s Working Committee suspends Dalmiya from participating in any affairs of the board on charges of misappropriationJune 2006BCCI decides to withhold payments and subsidies to the CAB in the light of allegations of misappropriation of funds against DalmiyaJuly 2006Survives at the Cricket Association of Bengal elections, with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya famously backing his opponent, Kolkata police chief Prasun MukherjeeOctober 2006Dalmiya abstains from the BCCI’s three-member disciplinary committee while questioning the neutrality of its chairman and board president Sharad Pawar and also claiming that the validity of the adjudication process against him had expiredDecember 16, 2006BCCI expels Jagmohan Dalmiya for embezzlement of funds

Listen to Greg Chappell at the press conference

Greg Chappell, the coach, was candid in his assessment of the gains andlosses after yet another Indian campaign overseas ended with the bittertaste of defeat. Chappell addressed India’s batting failures in the lasttwo Tests, while praising the likes of Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan and SouravGanguly for their contributions. And though he didn’t say it in so manywords, a few major changes are likely ahead of the eight one-dayinternationals at home in January and February.After having much the better of the first three days, India surrenderedthe initiative on the fourth afternoon when they could add only 48 runsfor the loss of four wickets before tea. “We lost momentum during thatmiddle session,” said Chappell. “That certainly didn’t help the situation,and was a significant contribution to not winning the game. I also thinkwe failed to get as many as we should have got in the first innings [thelast five wickets contributed 19].”The bowlers have done a pretty good job through the series and to missout on the opportunity to win it is a little disappointing. I don’t wantto overstate things but I think it’s fair to say that our batting wasdisappointing in the last two Test matches, having won the first Test.”Asked about the mood in the dressing room after South Africa knocked offthe 211 needed with five wickets still standing, Chappell said: “We are alittle bit flat, disappointed in the fact that we got away to such a goodstart and then let it get away from us. You have got to look at thepositives as well. We have won [a Test] for the first time in South Africaand that in itself is something to be enjoyed. But the edge has been takenoff it a little bit by the disappointing batting in the last two Testmatches.”While South Africa’s big-name players came back with a vengeance in thefinal two Tests, Graeme Smith leading the way, India’s big guns neverboomed. “It’s hard to escape, but that’s the case,” he said. “I don’t wantto make too big a point at this stage. It’s posed quite a few questionsfor us and there are things we are going to discuss over the next week orso.”The positive side of it is that some of the young boys performed verywell. They showed they have got some skill, some temperament and goodpersonalities for international cricket. Sree’s bowling has beenoutstanding, Zaheer has been very good as well. Kumble has done a prettygood job for us, I don’t think he can be criticised for today. It justwasn’t a wicket that gave any of the bowlers a great deal of assistancewhich probably highlights how disappointing our batting was yesterday.”One man whose lack of form has come under most scrutiny is VirenderSehwag. After dropping down to the middle order in the first innings,where he scored 40, Sehwag continued his dismal run at the top with asecond-innings failure. “He’s certainly a concern but I don’t think he isour only batting concern at the moment,” said Chappell. “We are just notgetting enough consistent runs. We seem to be losing wickets in batches,which is something you try and avoid in international cricket,particularly in a Test match.”Looking at the tour as a whole, there are more questions than answers.Over the next week or so, when we get back to India and have a chance todigest what’s happened and discuss and debrief, we’re going to have tomake some decisions on which direction we go. There will be a few guysunder a bit of pressure, there’s no doubt.”At the same time, Chappell refused to accept that the decision to openwith Sehwag was the wrong option. “I don’t know that you can say that anydecision is a wrong decision,” he said. “It was a calculated decision. Hehas been an opening batsman, he made 40 in the first innings, and it was apretty slow, Indian-type wicket. We felt that if any wicket in SouthAfrica was going to suit him, this one would. With a lead of 40, if we hadgot an hour or so of Virender playing the way he can, all of a sudden thatlead would have been 100, and the whole game would have changed.”The other thing you have to take into consideration is that Karthik did afabulous job in the first innings, and then kept for 130 overs. I don’tthink we can ask too much of a young man. We asked a lot of him in thefirst innings and he delivered as well as anyone could. But you don’tnecessarily expect a stop-gap opener to be able to do the jobcontinuously.”

Even then, India were still in the game when South Africa went off on thefourth evening with 156 still needed. But Smith and Shaun Pollock came outand flayed the bowling, making the most of many gaps in the field and someatrocious ground-fielding. “What Rahul [Dravid] was trying to do wasminimise the number of boundaries to try and stretch that 211 as far aspossible,” said Chappell. “Obviously, we didn’t need them to get away witha string of boundaries early in the day. But to be fair, the wicket didn’tdeteriorate like a lot of people expected, including ourselves.”I’m not sure it changed greatly. There were some targets for the spinbowlers but it wasn’t a minefield by any stretch of the imagination. Thecentre areas, the major landing areas, were still pretty good, so Isuppose it makes our batting performance of yesterday that much moredisappointing. There weren’t that many gremlins in the wicket, thereweren’t that many balls flying around. It wasn’t up and down, or stayingdown. If you were prepared to get in and not do anything silly, thenbatting was not that difficult.”The team management will no doubt attract considerable flak for selectingMunaf Patel, who bowled just one over in the second innings, ahead ofHarbhajan Singh, though there were no indicators that the pitch wouldprove to be so spin-friendly. “It was never a choice between Munaf andHarbhajan,” said Chappell. “We wanted the batting that we had and wewanted the balance of the bowling that we had. To be fair, Harbhajanhasn’t bowled for a month, so it was going to be a big ask to push himinto the team as well.”It’s very easy to look at things in hindsight and say what if, what if.We made the choices based on what we saw and what we had. It wasn’t afitness thing at all.”One of the stories of the tour was the return of Sourav Ganguly, whoturned out to be the senior batsman who acquitted himself best. Gangulystarted with a vital half-century in the Johannesburg win, and was India’sleading scorer in the series with 214 runs. “He has done what he waschosen to do, which is to get in there and get runs,” said Chappell. “Ithought his performance yesterday in the difficult circumstance of havingto be rushed in at the last minute was exceptional.”The same couldn’t be said of most of his compatriots. Even as Australia’sversion of Dad’s Army signed off with an epic Ashes triumph, India’sappears to be on its last legs. Thankfully, the likes of Sreesanth andKarthik should ensure that the future isn’t as grey as the Cape Town skieswere this morning.