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Security personnel yesterday foiled an attempt by miscreants to vandalise the pitch at the Mohali Stadium, which is scheduled to host the first Test between India and Pakistan.It appears to have been a politically-activated move, but one that was curtailed quickly as the men shouted anti-Pakistan slogans upon entering the ground, which alerted the staff to their presence. Police said the damage to the pitch was minimal.IS Bindra, the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, was quoted by as saying, “This kind of thing has happened for the first time in Mohali. But our security staff did a commendable job. One should not take an alarmist view of the situation. I have spoken to the DGP [Head of police] and we will further tighten up security.”

A superbly constructed 171-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten completely swung the match South Africa’s way, as they levelled the series 1-1 with a convincing six-wicket win at Wellington. Needing 152 on the final day with seven wickets in hand, Smith led the way with an unbeaten 125, but Kirsten, in his last Test innings, played an equally crucial hand, battling his way to 76 before being dismissed in the last over before lunch.The story of the day was the matchwinning stand, but the most poignant moment came off the last ball of the morning session, when Kirsten left the field for the final time in Test cricket after being trapped in front by Scott Styris. Normally not given to emotion, Kirsten passionately kissed his helmet before walking off in tears, while all the New Zealand players stood aside and applauded the effort of the man who had – one last time – helped steer his team to the brink of victory.When play began on the final day, both sides had an equal chance of victory, but Smith and Kirsten shut New Zealand out with a nerveless batting display. Smith carried on from where he had left off on the fourth evening. Pilloried for everything from lack of mental toughness to lack of tactical acumen in the last month, he hit back in style. The feature of his knock was his leg-side batting, as he repeatedly took balls from around off stump and effortlessly clipped them to midwicket, a stroke which, fittingly, brought South Africa the winning run. It would normally be termed risky cricket, but so fluent was Smith that it seldom appeared so.Kirsten, on the other hand, was far more scratchy at the start – he mistimed drives, played and missed at a few, and generally struggled with footwork and timing. Hardly the sort of person to be bothered by it all, he just knuckled down, soaked up all the pressure, knocked around the singles, and gradually got back into the groove. By the end of his innings he was in excellent form, stroking drives through cover and back past the bowler, and even executing a couple of delightful late-cuts for four.With early wickets so crucial to their chances of victory, New Zealand started proceedings with Chris Martin and Jacob Oram. However, both began by straying towards leg stump, and were picked off for easy runs by Smith, who flicked fours off both bowlers to reach his half-century in style. Martin failed to get the swing that had made him such a potent force in this series, which meant that the deliveries which were supposed to pitch on leg and move late across the left-handers now became regulation runscoring opportunities.Twenty-four came off the first seven overs, but New Zealand gradually tightened their line, as Chris Cairns and Daniel Vettori were pressed into the attack. The next nine overs produced only ten runs, but both batsmen survived that period patiently, knowing that with plenty of time in hand, the onus would be on New Zealand to force the issue. Cairns, in possibly his last home Test, bowled with plenty of fire and tried every trick in his bag, bowling from round the wicket, teasing the batsmen with wide half-volleys and then with the short stuff, but today, he came off second-best.The highlight of the session was the way Smith and Kirsten neutralised the threat of Vettori. On a pitch that – despite some rough areas outside the left-handers’ off stump – was still an excellent one for batting, both used their feet regularly against him, not to tonk boundaries but to work him with the spin just wide of mid-on for ones. And when Vettori altered his length, the batsmen were waiting on the back foot to turn it away behind square for more singles. It was risk-free cricket, and it added to the frustration for Vettori and Stephen Fleming.After working their way through a critical runless phase, Smith and Kirsten slowly turned it on: Cairns was slashed through gully for four by Kirsten, ending a sequence of 19 consecutive singles by both batsmen, while Vettori was lofted for four over mid-on.The over that completely shifted the momentum was the 55th, Vettori’s tenth and last of the match. Smith creamed an on-drive and a flick for two fours, in between chopping one past slip for two, as 12 came from the over. Vettori went into the drinks break – the second of an extended morning session – completely demoralised; Smith and Kirsten went in for the breather with victory well in sight, and the target whittled down to 73.The personal landmarks for both batsmen came immediately after play resumed – Kirsten clipped one from Oram to square leg for three to bring up his 34th Test fifty, and next ball, Smith eased a four to midwicket for his seventh century. Kirsten’s wicket was a bit of a dampener, but he had done enough to ensure that his swansong would end in a memorable victory for South Africa.

It was the perfect one-day performance by Pakistan. If Bob Woolmer had written an over-by-over script for how this match should go, he would have struggled to come up something to beat this display.For a start, they put in a clinical batting performance. It isn’t often that such an adjective is used for Pakistan, but today their discipline stood out as much as their flair, and no-one epitomised it more than Salman Butt, who recorded his second one-day century against India in four matches. In both the earlier matches, Butt had thrown it away attempting audacious strokes after getting starts; here, free of the pressure of batting in a run-chase, he did the sheet-anchor’s job superbly, eschewing risks, finding the gaps, and running like a hare.Butt’s exclusion from the side for the last two Tests was one of the more inexplicable decisions taken by the Pakistan team-management in recent times, but here was proof, once again, of his ability. Performance in a one-dayer might not necessarily indicate much about a player’s Test-match ability, but he has shown his skills in the longer version too, against Australia, no less. Pakistan’s selectors would be fools not to give him an extended run in both forms of the game.For a long time in Pakistan’s innings, it seemed they had missed a trick by not forcing the pace earlier. The first 27 overs yielded just 14 fours and 134 runs in all, fractionally less than five an over. Going by the trend in the series, that was well below par. However, by constantly nudging the singles and taking no chances, Butt and Shoaib Malik laid a solid foundation upon which an explosive middle and lower order could build on – the last 23 overs disappeared for 185, with 16 fours and three sixes.The real surprise of the day, though, came from Pakistan’s bowlers. Pummelled to all parts in the earlier games, here they obtained pace, bounce, and, quite amazingly, appreciable seam movement, something they’d struggled to achieve throughout the Test series. Naved-ul-Hasan, another highly under-rated player, performed like a champion, striking the early blows from which there was no comeback for India. The curator at the Keenan Stadium deserves plenty of praise for preparing an excellent pitch. It had pace and bounce to facilitate strokeplay, but it also offered joy to the pace bowlers who were prepared to bend their backs – how often do you see Rahul Dravid get out fending a short ball in Tests, leave alone ODIs – and to spinners, who obtained turn and bounce.One-dayers have been reduced to a bowler-bashing extravaganza far too often, rewarding batsmen with little skill. Pitches like this one redress the balance somewhat, but the sad part is that this track might be the anomaly – Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Delhi, the venue for the last three games, are all likely to be heartbreakers for bowlers.For the Indians, this result, especially their debacle with the bat, was a disaster waiting to happen. The 2-0 lead they held coming into this match owed a great deal to Virender Sehwag, Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but their huge scores had hidden the failures of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif – the four had contributed 53 from eight innings in the series before this match. It was only inevitable that the three Indian batting stars would fail at some point – they did today, and the rest of the cast were found badly wanting.Not only was the Indian batting effort lamentable, they were also shockingly lackadaisical in the field, bringing to light once again a problem which keeps rearing its head, and about which the team management seems to be doing absolutely nothing. With nine overs to go and just 13 minutes to bowl them in, Sehwag ambled towards the umpire to hand over his hat, while the rest of the fielders walked towards their fielding positions without the slightest bit of urgency. The stifling heat is clearly a factor, but that might excuse a delay of five, maybe ten minutes; when a team is 25 minutes late, it shows an utter disregard for rules. Ganguly will be lucky to get away with anything less than a suspension.For now, though, it’s time for Pakistan to savour the win. It should go down as one of Pakistan’s finest all-round performances, one that should be canned and pulled out whenever the players needs reaffirmation of just how good they can be.

Kevin Pietersen has been included in the squad of 12 for England’s first Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s, which starts next Thursday. Pietersen has been included ahead of Graham Thorpe, who has been struggling with a back injury. Ian Bell and Christ Tremlett have also been included in the squad.David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, admitted that the decision to include Pietersen caused much difficulty. “This has been the most difficult decision that I have been party to in my time as a selector,” said Graveney, “with both Kevin and Graham making compelling cases for selection.”Ultimately, we have opted for Kevin because of the form he showed against Australia in The NatWest Series and The NatWest Challenge, his excellent first-class career record and the energy and enthusiasm he brings to the England dressing room. We have no doubts that he will be able to transfer his one-day form into the Test arena and firmly believe that he has the potential to become a world class player in England’s middle order and a genuine match-winner.”The selectors do not view this decision as marking the end of Graham Thorpe’s international career. He has been one of our most impressive performers with the bat since he returned to Test cricket in 2003 and, subject to form and fitness, he will continue to come under consideration for the remainder of the Ashes Test series.”We did consider other possible permutations with the batting order. But Ian Bell has made an excellent start to his Test career, is currently averaging over 60 for Warwickshire in first- class cricket this season, and we feel that he has the temperament and the technique required to succeed against Australia. Chris Tremlett made a promising start to his international career with the one-day squad. His selection will give us another bowling option once we have had a chance to assess the wicket and the conditions at Lord’s next week.””I’m delighted,” said Pietersen. “I’m the happiest boy in the UK this morning. I’ve got goosebumps – it’s a special feeling. I ticked the right boxes, thank goodness. It’s big shoes to fill, Graham Thorpe’s shoes, but it’s an opportunity for me now to go and cement my place in the England side and reward the people for selecting me. I put a lot of pressure on myself going into bat [at the Oval on Tuesday]. For the first time in cricket, I was really, really nervous going into the game. I put a lot of pressure on myself in terms of going out there to do well. Thank goodness I got there.”Pietersen ummed and ahhed about whether or not he would be nervous heading into the first Test next Thursday. “I’ve been given a positive boost by Grav and the selectors and all the public saying I should be penciled in. I said before I keep things very, very simple. It’s a different game, yes, but I’m not going to blow it up and say it’s a massive something. I will just give it a go. I went to South Africa and played a series there, there was loads of pressure on me but I came out all right. There was loads of pressure I put on myself on the other day but I came out of that OK. That was a difficult situation – 55 for 3 at Lord’s. I’m not going to get worried about it – I’m just going to enjoy the moment keep it simple and enjoy the moment. “However, a few moments later he admitted that he was bound to get nervous: “You’re always nervous. I always knew – with missing out on a few occasions recently – that I had to make a few on Tuesday. I’m not going to say I’m not nervous because it’s huge. It’s the Ashes, it’s Lords, and my family will be there. It’s ridiculous to say I’m not going to be nervous.”Graveney said he had rung Thorpe ahead of Pietersen, to explain that there were several factors which worked against him – but mainly Pietersen’s good form. “As phone calls go it was easier than some – that’s to Graham’s credit,” said Graveney. “He was fit for selection. He’s not played a lot of cricket over the last few weeks. He’s not available for Test matches from the end of the season. I don’t think there have been too many instances where people have indicated they are going to finish three or four months ahead. But in the end Pietersen was the decisive factor. We are looking to beat Australia – the selection of Pietersen gives us a better chance.”Graveney touched upon why Tremlett had been chosen ahead of Jon Lewis. “Chris has won the nod in this instance – but that doesn’t mean that Jon won’t feature in the future, and that underlines the quality in our squad.” He added that he wasn’t too perturbed by the fact that England have only played one-day internationals recently and no Tests since early June. “It’s not a major concern. England have been playing international cricket against the best side in the world.”And he dismissed suggestions that he was worried that Australia were peaking just at the right time. “They’ve played some exceptional cricket in the last few matches. They played some good cricket in the last few games of the NatWest Challenge, but when the Australians arrived here we surprised them with the quality of our players. They raised the bar and we need to do that leading up to Thursday.”England squad Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (capt), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Chris Tremlett.

Stuart Robertson, the man who pioneered the concept of Twenty20 cricket, has resigned from his role as head of marketing at Warwickshire, to take up a new position as commercial director of Hampshire’s Rose Bowl plc.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Edgbaston and feel that I have been able to contribute significantly to this great club,” said Robertson, who joined Warwickshire from the ECB in 2003. “The time is right for me to move on and I now relish the opportunity to develop my skills at … one of the most exciting and progressive cricket grounds in the country.”Dennis Amiss, Warwickshire’s chief executive, said: “We are naturally very sorry to lose a man of Stuart’s qualities, especially after the excellent job he has done for the club over the past two-and-a-half years. Nevertheless, this is a chance for him to progress his career, and we take this opportunity of thanking him for his contribution to our successful operations in the past, and wish him every success in the future”.

Muttiah Muralitharan has struck back after years of suspicion about the legality of his bowling action, by accusing three of Australia’s leading pacemen of being chuckers.Last week, an ICC panel announced that, after extensive studies of the actions of the leading bowlers in international cricket, up to 99% of fast bowlers occasionally exceed their permitted 10-degree leverage.Murali, whose entire career has been clouded by accusations of an illegal action, has latched onto these findings, and in an interview with Melbourne’s Radio Sport 927 he pointed the finger at three of Australia’s finest – Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee.”McGrath is bowling about 13 [degrees], Gillespie about 12 and Brett Lee about 14 or 15,” he said, “so what about them then, the Australian players? And what about other international players?”Murali, whose world-record tally of 532 wickets was recently surpassed by Shane Warne, has endured a rough time at the hands of Australia’s fans and umpires over the past decade. He has been no-balled for throwing twice, in 1995-96 and 1998-99, and earlier this year he declined to travel to Darwin and Cairns for a two-Test series, because of the abuse that he expected.”The [Australian] people are not a problem, it is the cricket-playing people that are a problem, they are a little bit ignorant,” added Murali. “When you perform well from an ordinary country rather than a big country, then people think there is something wrong. That’s not my problem, they have to clarify themselves.”Unsurprisingly, Murali’s comments did not go down well with Cricket Australia, which hit back in an official statement. “In standing behind the good name of current players such as McGrath, Gillespie and Lee, we call on all observers to examine the detail of the ICC’s draft findings. This includes the ICC’s own comment that it is false to suggest its expert bowling panel’s work has labelled a number of great bowlers as chuckers.”

Scorecard
Points table

Shane Warne’s career-best 7 for 100 could not stop Victoria from being overpowered by Queensland in the top-of-the-table clash at Junction Oval. The Bulls’ lower order rushed to 408 as they chased hosting rights for the final, and by stumps the legspinner Daniel Doran had dismissed the prolific Brad Hodge and Jason Arnberger.Warne has played only 43 Sheffield Shield-Pura Cup matches – Hodge is appearing in his 111th and Matthew Hayden in his 86th – and this was his seventh domestic five-wicket haul. He was the one bowler to trouble Queensland, who added 122 to their overnight 7 for 286, mainly through Andy Bichel and Ashley Noffke.Bichel moved to 436 runs for the season with his unbeaten 76 and he put on 87 for the eighth wicket with Noffke (49). Noffke became the fourth batsman of the innings to fall caught Cameron White bowled Warne, who then collected his seventh victim with the dismissal of Doran for 12. Warne’s previous best figures for his state were 6 for 42 against Western Australia 12 years ago.With a pitch offering little to the fast bowlers, Doran struck the two important blows of Hodge (20) and Arnberger (35) after Michael Kasprowicz collected Lloyd Mash for 37. James Hopes, the Australia one-day allrounder, struck late in the day to dismiss Nick Jewell and the Bushrangers ended at 4 for 155.

Shoaib Akhtar is “going through hell” after failing to make it to the World Cup in the Caribbean. He was withdrawn from Pakistan’s squad on fitness grounds a week ago, after failing to recover from knee and hamstring injuries.”I can’t describe it in words what it means to miss an event like the World Cup,” Akhtar, the pace bowler, told AFP. “I am going through hell. I have been waiting for this event for two years and to play in a cricket-loving region like the Caribbean was my dream. Not being able to play in the World Cup is like taking all my dreams away.”Akhtar said he had played only one match in the West Indies in 2000 and was anxious to play because every paceman wanted to do well in the Caribbean, which is known as a fast bowlers’ paradise. Already 31, this is also likely to be his last World Cup, a fact he appeared to confirm. “I wanted to be in the Caribbean and I wanted to help my team win but unfortunately my injury forced me to miss the big event and the chance will never come again.”His new-ball partner Mohammad Asif was also pulled out of the 15-man squad due to an elbow injury, badly hitting Pakistan’s chances in the World Cup. Though injuries remain the official reasons for their withdrawal it is understood that continuing doping-related concerns clinched the issue. The pair tested positive last year for Nandrolone in internal dope tests conducted just before the Champions Trophy got underway, but their bans were eventually overturned, much to the chagrin of the global cricket community.But Akhtar said it was not new that people doubted his injury. “I have always played to the best of my abilities but people have doubted my integrity. My injuries are always doubted as if I am feigning it and I always had to prove that I am unfit. People don’t understand. Why would I not the play the game I love?”He has plans to start training again in two weeks, once the knee injury has healed. “My next target is the Twenty20 World Cup and then we have two good home series against South Africa and Australia, so I will gear up for them.”

Dr Kato Sebbaale, the new chairman of the Ugandan Cricket Association, has spoken about his plans for the future after ousting William Kibuuka Musoke at a heated AGM last weekend.”My victory wasn’t a surprise because it looks like everyone was looking for a change,” Sebbaale told the New Vision newspaper. “It’s like people were suffering deeply before and they are kind of happy that there is a change and that’s a challenge because I must really show them the change.”Musoke’s time at the helm ended in bitterness – at the AGM he unsuccessfully attempted to block votes from clubs supporting Sebbaale on minor technicalities and then is believed to have been behind an advertisement in a national newspaper immediately after his removal announcing “the death of Ugandan cricket”. He was also widely accused of squandering advances made in Ugandan cricket and there is no doubt that the sport’s image has suffered in recent months.”One of my major mandate this year is to try and clean up our image because without it you lose it all,” Sebbaale admitted. “Thankfully, I have got a strong team who are very big corporate people, are in business and know how to handle people.”I have travelled with Uganda for every tournament in the last five years and it’s clear it is highly talented but the issue is moving from one level to the next,” Sebbaale said, adding that he was not going to “rock the boat”.He also explained that a high-profile national coach was a priority, although that would take time and the existing behind-the-scenes team would remain in place for the high-profile tour by the MCC which starts this week. “If the team goes professional and money allowing I want to put a squad on a payroll but they will have to be accountable for being national players.”

Scorecard

Darren Lehmann moved to equal fifth on Australia’s list of first-class century-makers but South Australia were in desperate trouble after losing three late wickets. Set 360 for victory after New South Wales closed their second innings at 2 for 187, South Australia showed the same signs that ruined their batting last season when they were reduced to 3 for 14 in eight overs from three Test bowlers.Brett Lee struck first when he trapped Matthew Elliott with his fifth ball and Glenn McGrath claimed Shane Deitz before Stuart MacGill bowled the nightwatchman Cullen Bailey in the last over of the third day. Callum Ferguson was sent in ahead of Lehmann and survived his only delivery.Lehmann towered over the Blues in the first-innings as he reached his 71st first-class century, putting him on the same line as Justin Langer and Stuart Law, and scored almost half his side’s runs before he was last man out. Greg Chappell (74), Steve Waugh (79), Mark Waugh (81) and Don Bradman (117) are the only Australian players more prolific than Lehmann, who hit 23 fours and stayed for 203 deliveries before being caught at third-man by Lee off McGrath.South Australia began the third day at 5 for 190 and gave up a 172-run first-innings lead following a 91-run partnership between Lehmann and Mark Cleary. Simon Katich, the New South Wales captain, did not enforce the follow on and then shared a 139-run stand with Phil Jaques before declaring for the second time in the match.