Australia’s batsmen say they are planning to dominate Monty Panesar from the outset of this year’s Ashes series. Panesar was one of the stars of England’s recent home Test series win over Pakistan, and is generating considerable interest ahead of the Ashes, with Australia’s cricketers singling him out in their pre-series talks.”He’s a terrific young bowler, a terrific young character and has an obvious passion for the game and he’ll add a real flavour and touch to this series,” Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said. “Like any new spinner we haven’t seen before we’ll try to get on top of him before he gets on top of us but a lot of that will be dictated by the conditions and the match scenario.”Simon Katich, who is trying to bat his way back into the Australian Test team after being axed after the first Test against West Indies almost a year ago, rates Panesar highly. “I faced him last year on the Ashes tour and I was impressed,” Katich said at the Australian team camp. “Monty is a bowler who tries to give you a bit of air. He does try and turn it. He is bowling genuine wicket-taking balls and knocking good players over.”Panesar may have his critics as a batsman and an out-fielder, but he is highly rated by national team coach Duncan Fletcher. “As a finger spinner there is probably no one to match him in world cricket at the moment – his control is very, very good,” Fletcher said.Stuart MacGill, the Australian legspinner, believes Panesar’s guile and variety will add plenty to the England bowling attack, which was dominated by its reverse-swinging pace attack in the last series between the two teams. “I think the more variations in personality, approach and background that you can incorporate into your team set-up, the more able you are to deal with a variety of situations,” MacGill said last week. “Monty’s certainly got an approach that will help any team he’s in. He’ll definitely help the England side out just by being there. His approach is different to the other guys in the side and I think that’s very valuable.”

Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, has said that Ricky Ponting was “out of order” when he questioned the umpire’s decision in the recently-concluded DLF Cup. Chappell was talking about Ponting’s argument with umpire Mark Benson, during the final league game of the tournament, when he recalled Sachin Tendulkar after incorrectly declaring him out.Though Chappell didn’t think highly about the Spirit of Cricket pledge championed by Australia and encouraged by the ICC, and called it “nonsense”, he felt that Ponting had crossed a line. “I know when I was a captain that the law stated the captain was able to check with an umpire on a point of law, and I think this is where Ricky’s wrong,” Chappell told , a Melbourne-based daily. “If you’re arguing on a judgement call, then I don’t think you should be doing that. I think it’s also in the way that you ask the questions.”Ponting was not reported for the offence because he had been called over to discuss the issue by the umpire and hadn’t broached it himself. But another offence like this one could see him miss a Test match. He had, previously in the same match, questioned a wide call too.”The spate of things seems to have been quite recent. Up until then, I thought he was controlling his temper pretty well. I’m pretty sure he’s aware of it, and he’s going to have to continue to be.”Chappell also added that the Ashes would be a decisive series for Ponting as a captain. “Particularly if England play well again, how he copes with this series will give us a really good clue as to whether his captaincy has gone up a level or two.”Australia won the DLF Cup by beating West Indies by 127 runs in the finals at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur. They will next head to India for the Champions Trophy beginning October 7.

Scott Styris is likely to miss the first Test against Sri Lanka due to an ongoing back problem. Styris managed only two games in the Champions Trophy before his injury flared up again.New Zealand team manager Lindsay Crocker said Styris was suffering from a small rupture to a disc in his spine and the priority was to ensure he was fit for the World Cup starting next March. “It’s not in anyone’s best interests for Scott to play when he isn’t 100 percent right, so it’s unlikely he’ll be considered,” Crocker told the .”We just need to be patient and get him back to full fitness,” he said. The injury first appeared in September when Styris was playing for the English county side Middlesex. The opening batsman Michael Papps will also not be considered for the first Test in Christchurch starting on December 7 due to a broken finger.New Zealand will play two Tests against Sri Lanka, followed by two Twenty/20 matches and five one-day internationals.

Five doves flew to freedom, colourful balloons floated in the air, and a thunderous applause went around the arena as the picturesque Gangothri Glades in Mysore hosted its first Ranji Trophy match. Two of the doves were released very gently by two legends from Karnataka, one who’d made a name with his caressed drives and the other who is one of India’s finest spin bowlers. Brijesh Patel and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar.The Ranji Trophy returned to Mysore after an 18-year hiatus; though a Ranji match was played last year here, at the Infosys campus, it was organised entirely by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and no local hand was involved. This time, the local crew ran the show completely. Balachander, the local convenor was a proud man and for a reason other than the obvious: His father, K Sethuraman, was the convener in 1988 when Karnataka last played here.”You can’t find a better venue”, Patel said, and it’s tough to dispute that sentiment. The Chamundi Hills provide an idyllic backdrop, the Kukkarahalli Lake just a big-hit away and the ground itself has lovely trees ringing the boundary.It’s the perfect argument for cricket in India moving to smaller centres – a policy, Patel pointed out, that Karnataka had long followed. “In the ’70s and ’80s we played all over Karnataka. That’s when stadiums came up in all the districts. Now, though, many have athletic tracks so they can’t be used for cricket. Mysore is well suited and we have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mysore University for 20 years. We spent Rs 3,500,000 [US$ 80,000 approx] to build the pavilion and open stands for the crowds to come in and enjoy a good game.”There’s an element of charm when cricket is staged at smaller venues. “I have always loved playing in the smaller towns, because there is more enthusiasm,” Patel agreed. “When Rahul Dravid scored a double-hundred in Bangalore, there were only 10 guys watching the game. Here you can see the crowd watching some good cricketers. There is tremendous enthusiasm in Mysore and we have to tap that.”Chandrasekhar, quiet and shy as ever, also showed he’d lost none of his trademark wit. “I last came here during a women’s cricket tournament and this venue has only grown more charming.” The thought of a big six stirred his curiosity. “Will the ball return if it flies over this ground surrounded by hills and lake?” Balachander’s solution: “No problem. There are open spaces around but we have a bunch of volunteers to do the job!Balachander’s efforts weren’t restricted to the ground structures – the right authorities were approached to give schools a day off, which they agreed to. That explained the hundreds of enthusiastic school kids who cheered every four and every negated appeal with a huge roar.

The only concern for the authorities was the newly-laid pitch, which they’ve handed to Ravindra, a former state cricketer. “This is a good result-oriented wicket,” said Ravindra. “I have worked on it for nearly two months and I am confident it will last five days.” Bharat Chipli, Karnataka’s No 3 batsman who got for a first-ball duck, couldn’t offer first-hand experience of the track but added: “The ball stops a bit on some patches, but there is good bounce and carry overall. The players are happy.”So were the crowd, whose pre-match entertainment included the song , in praise of the goddess Chamundeswari, who slayed the demon king Mahishasura (after whom Mysore is named). The song was composed by Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the last king of Mysore – and his main cricket connection is that when EAS Prasanna was picked for the Indian team, and his father was reluctant to send him, the king cajoled him into changing his decision.That wasn’t the only song today. The first ball from Joginder Sharma landed on a length, Robin Uthappa leaned forward, covered his stumps before shouldering arms, and Mahesh Rawat collected the ball behind the stumps. Chandrasekhar leant back in his seat and hummed a famous Mukesh number.

Mark Butcher, the Surrey captain, has extended his contract with the club to keep him at The Oval until at least the end of the 2008 season.”Securing Mark’s services until the end of 2008 is great news for the club,” said Alan Butcher, Mark’s father and Surrey’s cricket manager. “Having his leadership is a huge bonus as he is very well respected by all of the squad, not to mention his invaluable contributions with the bat.” Butcher was instrumental in leading Surrey back into Division One of the Championship last season, scoring 1418 runs at 59.08.In addition to Butcher, Surrey also extended the contracts of Neil Sake, Jade Dernbach, Richard Clinton and Stewart Walters.

Michael Holding believes that Glenn McGrath should bring the curtain down on his Test career at the end of the Ashes series and retire completely following next year’s World Cup.McGrath returned to the Australia Test line-up to face England after taking time out to care for his ill wife and has faced questions about his long-term position in the team. Despite six wickets in the first innings at Brisbane, there have been clear signs that he is not the force of old, especially when conditions offer little encouragement.”I think Glenn has been magnificent for Australian cricket and no one can ever question his contribution,” Holding told Sydney’s . “I’d say he’s in the top three fast bowlers I’ve seen, alongside Dennis Lillee and Malcolm Marshall, but he’s at an age where he cannot produce what he did two years ago.”Obviously it’s up to Glenn but he has nothing left to prove. I hope he recognises when it is time to go. The World Cup would be a great time for Glenn to say goodbye.”Holding, who retired at 33, thinks McGrath should leave the game before it gets to the stage where he is taken apart by batsmen. “It’s a fine line,” he said. “I hope he doesn’t hang around too long. It’s better to get out when you have a little bit left rather than hang around and end up past your best. McGrath doesn’t need that.”

At the start of the CB Series there were mutterings about Australia’s outfit being so dominant – and the opposition so poor – that they would quickly regain the world record one-day score. While part of the belief is Australian chest-beating after the Ashes cleansweep and a strong limited-overs start, Adam Gilchrist insists scores of 400-plus will become more common as a flow-on effect from Twenty20.Gilchrist, who will lead the side against England in Brisbane on Friday, is likely to have a strong say in any massive Australian total and is convinced they will get bigger. “I do believe 400s are going to become parts of the game,” he said. “Slowly but surely they may become the norm, but they’re a little way off yet.”Batsmen are power hitting earlier and Twenty20 is going to show teams how expansive they can be.” However, he does not expect too many repeats of Australia’s mind-blowing game against South Africa last year when 872 runs were scored in 99.5 overs and Australia held the world mark for only an innings.As Gilchrist talked in the Gabba gym he was asked by Angus Fraser, the former England seamer, whether it was a good thing for the game if the batsman had an unequal advantage. “I can’t see why bowlers have got such a raw deal,” Gilchrist said. “The powerplay changes it a lot, but there was always an overs restriction. The bowlers will adapt and they are adapting. Looking at bowling now in one-day cricket compared to 20 years ago, they are smarter about it.”Australia will regain two of their most knowledgeable fast men for Friday’s match with Glenn McGrath cleared of a groin problem and Brett Lee recovering from a chest infection that ruled him out of the first two games. The pair’s inclusion forces Ben Hilfenhaus out of the squad – he will play for Tasmania in the Pura Cup game against Queensland in Hobart – and Stuart Clark and Brad Hogg will also be missing.

McGrath was rested for the 105-run win over New Zealand in Hobart on Sunday and did not bowl in the nets today. “They are just managing his workload and monitoring him closely,” Gilchrist said. “We’re sure he’s 100% fit.”Gilchrist will captain Australia for the 14th time in one-day games as he replaces the resting Ricky Ponting, and he downplayed the prospect of the side’s invincibility. “There’s every chance we could lose a game to England or New Zealand,” Gilchrist, who will play his 250th ODI, said. “It’s the nature of one-day cricket. That’s what we’re trying to guard against.”Not for a minute are we thinking we have wrapped up this tournament. Far from it. But if we maintain the standard and keep progressing we shouldn’t lose too many.”Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt, wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Cameron White, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Stuart Clark has been cleared by the ICC to play in the World Cup after being picked as Brett Lee’s replacement for the tournament starting on March 11. The ICC’s World Cup technical committee has also received a request from the Pakistan board to switch the allrounder Azhar Mahmood for Abdul Razzaq after he suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of the contest.Clark was added to the 15-man squad last Friday subject to the approval of the committee and he will leave for the Caribbean with the outfit today. “Clark is the first replacement player called up for the tournament after each of the 16 teams taking part nominated their final squads,” an ICC spokesman said. Lee suffered the ankle injury before the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand and the problem did not improve over the next week.David Richardson, the senior ICC official, will also chair the committee when it rules on Mahmood’s case. The ICC spokesman said the application would be “considered in the very near future”.

Andrew Flintoff faced the media in St Lucia today, a day after he was dropped and stripped of the vice-captaincy following a late-night drinking session which ended with him being fished out of the sea in the early hours of Saturday morning.Flintoff, flanked by Duncan Fletcher, admitted that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” by his behaviour, although he was reluctant to go into details.”I had a few drinks on Friday. There has been maybe a bit of poetic licence but I’m not denying it happened,” he said. “It’s something which I don’t want to go into in too great a detail but something I am not very pleased about.”I have apologised and I want to redeem myself and pay back the faith people have shown me in the last few years and the only way I can do that is to go out there and perform with bat and ball. I want to get back in the nets, have a bat and a bowl and get back on the field and hopefully that can be the first steps in redeeming myself.

“Probably for me the stakes have gone up a bit more. I desperately want to perform. I feel I have something I have to give back to the team. I have to make sure nothing like this happens off the pitch again.”It’s something I am not proud of and it should not have happened and I’ve suffered the consequences,” he continued. “The feeling of being left out for those reasons is something I am upset about and something I never want to repeat.”I have missed games through injury but to miss it through this… I was upset, embarrassed and ashamed of what I did.”It was a horrible feeling. I enjoy playing cricket for England and I want to continue to do that. Not being able to play for reasons such as these is something I cannot describe in words.”

Daryl Tuffey has been ruled out of the World Cup after injuring his right arm during New Zealand’s 114-run win over Canada and will be replaced by Chris Martin. Tuffey will return home on Sunday after being released by the ICC medical panel and New Zealand have asked the body to approve Martin’s entry.Tuffey had an ultrasound in St Lucia on Friday that revealed the problem and he is due to have a MRI scan when the team arrives in Antigua to prepare for the Super Eights. The match against Canada was Tuffey’s first of the tournament and the injury is in the same shoulder that forced him to miss two years on the international scene.”Our understanding, having gone to the doctor yesterday, is that he won’t be able to take any further part in the tournament and we need to replace him,” Lindsay Crocker, New Zealand’s general manager, told reporters. “We need to go through procedures with ICC to put that into effect.” Martin is due to arrive in Antigua on Sunday.Tuffey, 28, did not appear for New Zealand between playing against Australia in February 2005 and his return for the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series in New Zealand last month. Crocker said the injury was slightly different to the previous problem. “It’s in the bicep itself rather than the attachment of the bicep muscle to the shoulder,” he said.New Zealand also have fitness concerns regarding Mark Gillespie, who hasn’t played in the World Cup because of a shoulder problem caused by a viral infection. Crocker said Gillespie has until Sunday to prove his fitness.