MELBOURNE, Dec 26: Australia kept the leash on South Africa on a frustrating opening day of the boxing day cricket test here today where the elements had the final say.........more

Captain warns Sri Lanka
against complacency

COLOMBO, Dec 26: Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has warned his players against complacency ahead of a three-test series against Zimbabwe starting tomorrow.................more

Pakistan opener Anwar
out of Bangladesh tour

KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec 26: Pakistan’s prolific opening batsman Saeed Anwar has been ruled out of a tour of Bangladesh starting next week after suffering a wrist injury............more

Bhupathi and Paes
determined to regain
number one ranking

BANGALORE, Dec 26: Reigning French Open doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are determined to regain the number one ranking in doubles in the world in the coming season. "If we set off to a good start, I think we can finish number one this year. We are going to try and become number one again in doubles," Bhupathi told reporters today.....more

By Sanjeev Sharma

JAMMU, Dec 26: With little professional approach coupled with non-seriousness of the concerned committees......more

National School Games in Football
Hosts J&K wins first
match against NVS

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 26: The hosts Jammu and Kashmir made a positive start when they defeated Navodya Vidyalaya....more

Open Chess Tournament
Vankim, Master Chela
Ram at top as third league
round completes

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 26: Vankim Chander and Master Chela Ram Dogra topped the points tally with three wins each, out of as many matches....more

Sonu’s unbeaten knock
helps HSS Udhampur
beat APS by 8 wkts

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Dec 26: Sonu’s fine unbeaten knock of 49 runs helped Higher Secondary School, Udhampur beat Army Public.....more

South Africa under pressure but rain the ultimate winner

MELBOURNE, Dec 26: Australia kept the leash on South Africa on a frustrating opening day of the boxing day cricket test here today where the elements had the final say.

Only 40 overs of a scheduled 90 were possible as heavy showers sent players from the field three times and delayed the start by 80 minutes.

At the close, the South Africans, one down in the three-match series and needing to win to keep the series alive to the new year third test in Sydney, were 89 for three with Jacques Kallis unbeaten on 22 and Neil McKenzie on 14.

Shaun Pollock’s team, attempting to regroup after their humiliating 246-run drubbing in the first Adelaide test, lost the toss, were sent in to bat and struggled to build the foundations for a sorely needed big first innings.

South Africa looked to veteran fast bowler Allan Donald to instill some confidence into the team, dropping Makhaya Ntini to make way in the only change to the team. That was despite Donald appearing troubled by a foot injury in a tour match in Sydney last weekend.

Australia’s Premier fast bowler Glenn McGrath gave the home side the impetus of a key wicket when he snapped up Herschelle Gibbs in between rain interruptions.

Gibbs, who scored 78 in the first test, edged to Ricky Ponting at third slip to be out for 14.

Three balls later torrential rain swept the ground forcing the players from the field for the second time.

An early tea was taken but 15 minutes into extended evening session, Gary Kirsten became McGrath’s second victim when he chopped on to his stumps for 10.

Both openers were gone for 36 with Australia’s three pace bowlers applying the pressure with tight line and length.

Boeta Dippenaar, who kept his test spot with a slashing century against New South Wales in Sydney last weekend, was out for the second time in the series to a blinding catch.

Ponting took a diving screamer to dismiss him for three in the first innings of the adelaide test and he was out again to another super catch, this time by Mathew Hayden in the gully.

Hayden flung out his right hand to pluck a diving catch to give Brett Lee Dippenaar’s wicket for 26.

Dippenaar had looked in good touch, hitting four fours in his 71-minute stay.

Kallis had two early lives. Ponting got a hand to a hard chance in the slips when Kallis was on six and just after last drinks Lee put him down on 11 when he hooked Andy Bichel to fine leg.

Lee did well to get to the ball, but distracted by his close proximity to the boundary rope he spilt a running chest-high chance.

Kallis made good his two let-offs to crack leg-spinner Shane Warne for six over long-off, just a ball before the onset of more rain which forced umpires to abandon play for the day at 6:27pm (1257 hrs ist).

The boxing day test is regarded as the showpiece of the Australian cricket calendar but it has a history of abysmal weather and a crowd of almost 62,000 once again endured the worse of it today.

Play will start half-an-hour early tomorrow and finish 30 minutes later to make up for some of the lost time. (AFP)

SCOREBOARD

South Africa first innings

H Gibbs c Ponting b McGrath 14

G Kirsten b McGrath 10

B Dippenaar c Hayden b Lee 26

J Kallis not out 22

N McKenzie not out 14

Extras (nb-1, lb-2) 3

Total (for three wickets) 89

Fall of wickets: 1-24 2-36 3-59

To bat: L Klusener, M Boucher, S Pollock, C Henderson, A Donald, M Hayward

Bowling: McGrath 13-4-28-2 (1nb), Lee 16-6-38-1, Bichel 10-4-15-0, Warne 1-0-6-0. (AGENCIES)

Captain warns Sri Lanka against complacency

COLOMBO, Dec 26: Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has warned his players against complacency ahead of a three-test series against Zimbabwe starting tomorrow.

"We cannot be complacent against the Zimbabweans because you never know when they will come back and play well," said Jayasuriya.

"They’ve had a lot of international cricket. We can’t relax at all just because we’ve been winning. Everything we have done so far is history. This is a new series."

Sri Lanka beat west indies 3-0 in a test series this month and won the final of a one-day Triangular Tournament, also including Zimbabwe, by beating the Caribbean side last week.

Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore backed his captain’s comments. "It’s a test against any team you play, whether it’s a really good side or one that seems to be not as good — your performances still have to be the same," said Whatmore.

"Temperamentally the players need to know that. A lapse in concentration and a bad passage of play could result in something disastrous. That’s what we have to guard against.

"We are now starting to play the sort of test match cricket that we have been threatening to do," said Whatmore.

"There are always little things in a game you can improve on. But generally speaking, our batting and bowling in the longer game has been good."

With the likelihood of a dry pitch, Sri Lanka look set to go into the first test with two seamers and two spinners, with left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake making the final 11.

Questions still remain about who will partner Chaminda Vaas with the new ball. Judging by the recent form of Nuwan Zoysa, Buddhika Fernando stands a good chance of selection.

The Zimbabwe team is not considered the strongest to tour Sri Lanka and lacks the experience of former captain and batsman Alistair Campbell and the leg-spin of Paul Strang.

They have also been badly hit by the absence of batsman Murray Goodwin, who on the last tour of Sri Lanka scored 184 runs at an average of 46 in the test series.

Zimbabwe lost their only three-day practice match against a Board XI by five wickets on Sunday, and coach Geoff Marsh was unable to hide his disappointment.

"Obviously we would have liked to have gone into the test with a win or a winning draw," Marsh said.

Despite Sunday’s loss, Zimbabwe’s batting showed some form as trevor gripper scored a century and former captain Stuart Carlisle made 98.

The series is likely to provide a fascinating contest between Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower, ranked number two in the world.

Muralitharan enjoyed his duel with another great left-hander, Brian Lara, in the series against West Indies.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Tilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Budddhika Fernando, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Chamara Silva, Prabath Nissanka.

Zimbabwe (from): Brian Murphy (captain), Hamilton Masakadza, Trevor Fripper, Stuart Carlisle, Grant Flower, Andy Flower, Gavin Rennie, Craig Wishart, Heath Streak, Travis Friend, Henry Olonga, Douglas Marillier, Gary Brent, Dion Ebrahim, Tatendra Taibu. (AGENCIES0

Pakistan opener Anwar out of Bangladesh tour

KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec 26: Pakistan’s prolific opening batsman Saeed Anwar has been ruled out of a tour of Bangladesh starting next week after suffering a wrist injury.

"He has been advised (to take) two to three months rest by doctors who have diagnosed a stress fracture in his wrist," Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Khalid Butt said from Lahore.

Anwar suffered the injury in a tournament in Sharjah in November. Doctors in Abu Dhabi put his injured wrist in plaster but during a training camp in Lahore for the Bangladesh tour he again complained of wrist problems.

"It is bitterly disappointing to suffer this injury at this stage, with a lot of cricket coming up," Anwar told newsmen.

He will not only miss the Bangladesh tour, where Pakistan are due to play two tests and three one-dayers from January three, but probably also the home series against the West Indies in February and March.

"It is just one of those things, nothing can be done about it. I just hope I can make a comeback quickly," said Anwar.

Anwar, 33, has scored 4,052 runs in 55 tests and 8,348 runs in 230 one-day internationals. His last test appearance against Bangladesh in August saw him notch a run-a-ball century.

Anwar has been plagued by health problems. A knee injury kept him out of the team for nearly six months last year.

He also suffered from a mysterious stomach bug which forced him to return home early from a New Zealand tour this year. (AGENCIES)

Bhupathi and Paes determined to regain
number one ranking

BANGALORE, Dec 26: Reigning French Open doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are determined to regain the number one ranking in doubles in the world in the coming season.

"If we set off to a good start, I think we can finish number one this year. We are going to try and become number one again in doubles," Bhupathi told reporters today during a visit to mini tennis camp, being held here.

Bhupathi said Paes and he would play together for the whole year and compete in 20 doubles matches. "Whenever we are not playing doubles, we will try to play as many singles as possible".

Referring to the season that had gone by, he said it had been a pretty good-year doubles-wise. "We finished fourth. With all that bad start and not winning matches in the first four months, we did a good job to finish fourth".

Bhupathi said they had nothing to defend before the Monte Carlo event in May.

Asked if the players were going to suggest for a change in the venue — Lebanon — for India’s Davis Cup tie in February in view of security concerns in that country, he said: "we are going to suggest that. But we are sure we are not going to win that argument. I am sure we are going to go there and play".

"We would like to win against Lebanon on the second day itself (3-0)", he said.

Bhupathi said he would also focus on singles with an eye on the Davis Cup and that’s one of the reasons he was taking part in the coming Tata Open Championship in Chennai.

He said it would be tough in the first three doubles matches at the Tata Open as they had not played together in the last two to three months. "The field is more tougher in doubles".

Bhupathi picked out Rohan Bopanna, the runner-up in the recent National Championship in Delhi, and Harsh Mankad as India’s bright prospects. "People have been asking....Who after leader and Mahesh..... Rohan and Harsh have shown promise and results".

Bhupathi said both Paes and himself were "definitely going to participate in next year’s Asian Games".

Bopanna, who was also present, said he would take part in two future tournaments in Dubai as well as in a few challengers. Another upcoming player Prahlad Srinath said he was dogged with injury in the last season but managed to perform well and enjoyed the game. (PTI)

DYSS holding tournament for the sake of
tournament, observers

By Sanjeev Sharma

JAMMU, Dec 26: With little professional approach coupled with non-seriousness of the concerned committees, the Directorate of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) is hosting the 47th National School Games in Football not to explore the talent, but for the sake of tournament.

These were the views of the expert people, who have been sent by the School Games Federation of India and Sports Authority of India to observe various aspects of the tournament.

One of the observer talking to EXCELSIOR on the condition of anonymity said, "no serious thought has been given to these prestigious national competitions by the organisers, wherein non-technical people have drawn the basic things like pools".

If one goes through the draws, he can find a team which has no match in the first two days, has been forced to play two matches in a day in the later stages of the league round. Similar is the case with the host team, Jammu and Kashmir which has been place in pool-D, which has to play two matches today, one in the morning and another in the afternoon session, he added.

This was the tip of the ice burg in the ongoing National School Games in Football being held presently at different venues.

The venue, where Jammu and Kashmir played its first match, GGM Science College ground, was depicting the clear picture of the sheer non-seriousness of the hosts in preparing the venues and providing the facilities to the players.

The ill prepared ground at the Science College and Mini-Stadium, Parade, was depicting the true picture of how much home work was done before hosting the competitions.

Fully torned nets fitted on both the goal posts, pool of water inside the penalty area, the only football to play (that too an old one), arrival of medical team an hour after the first match began and non-availability of drinking water for the playing teams, was all what this Correspondent had to see at the GGM Science College ground.

The non-seriousness of those incharge of the competitions was that they paid no heed to the referees’ objection over torn nets and asked them to start the match with whatever facility available.

In the meantime, when the only ball was kicked out of the field during a match between Punjab and Jharkhand, the referees had no other option but to stop the match and it resumed only when Punjab team incharge gave team’s personal ball.

Extra players from both Punjab and Jharkhand had to search the drinking water in the Science College premises for the teams, who had no other option but to make it a 15 minutes break to wait for the water bucket to come. No groundman was present to bring drinking water for the playing teams.

The medical team arrived at the venue only after the half-an-hour from the first scheduled match. As soon as the medical team arrived, the injured J&K players, who had completed their match against NVS, were getting the treatment on the dried wounds.

At the penalty kick point, there was water all over the spot. The nets were fully torn making it difficult for the referees to give judgments.

At the Mini-Stadium, Parade, the ground was full of dust and the observers, who were watching the match, were of the views that such dusty ground leads to breathing problems to these young footballers. The only appropriate venue was that of University of Jammu, where infrastructure is being provided by the Director, Physical Education, University of Jammu.

It may be recalled that the patron-in-chief of the organising committee is Dr Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister, J&K and the Minister for Sports, Harbans Singh is the patron. Vijay Bakaya, Principal Secretary, Department of Education, is chairman and Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and Inspector General of Police, Jammu are vice-chairmen.