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Cricket Australia chief tells Aussies to behave

SYDNEY, Oct 4: In a mild censure to the world champions, Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive James Sutherland has described the on-field behaviour of Ricky Pontings’ men as an "area of concern" and has called on them to play the game in the right spirit.

"I know it’s something the players have talked about in recent times, even at the camp to address areas of concern, areas of susceptibility. I am sure they are making conscious efforts to keep the slate clean and play the game in the right spirit," Sutherland told the ‘Herald Sun’ in an interview.

His statement comes after the Australians, once again, came in for criticism for their behaviour in the recently concluded tri-series against India and West Indies in Malaysia. Ponting himself was penalised for showing dissent to an umpire’s decision.

Sutherland said he expected the world champions to improve their behaviour, which, according to him, has been mild in the recent times.

"In a broader sense, that (the reports) is concerning. If you have a look at a case-by-case scenario, I think they have been relatively minor," he said.

"I am not in any way condoning that behaviour, but they are level one," he added. The CA chief also felt that the Aussies have made a conscious effort to improve themselves but since the standards of behaviour have been raised further by the ICC, the world champions would have to be extra careful.

"My strong feeling is that the bar has actually been raised a little bit by the ICC over the last 12 months, 18 months. Mentally we need to continue to keep up with that," he said.

"They are very aware it’s more than just what you do out on the field. That has improved," the CA chief added.

Sutherland, meanwhile, was not worried about the other major issue facing the team in the seemingly widening rift between Shane Warne and coach John Buchanan and said the recent reports and comments made by the leg-spinner did not suggest any major problem.

"It’s just not an issue. They agree to disagree on a whole lot of things. One of the things that was really good about the (recent boot) camp was that they had an opportunity to spend some time together. I think they even shared a tent for a few days.

"I get a bit tired about reading about it in the newspapers. I know the players are focused on achieving what they want to achieve this summer and the coach is an absolute critical part of that," he reacted on being asked about the issue.

Sutherland rejected suggestions that Warne’s comments about Buchanan ‘lacking common sense sometimes’ were derogatory to the long-time coach and felt that the matter had been blown out of proportion.

"I thought, ‘what was the big deal?’. The comments he made I didn’t see in any way (as being) inflammatory or suggesting there was a break in the relationship," he said.

The CA chief said Buchanan had served the Australian cricket well in his tenure and despite all the criticism, he had come out with the results.

"John Buchanan’s record with the Australian team in one-day and test cricket has been phenomenal. I read, at times, comments criticising John Buchanan. The thing that I like and really respect about John (is) he has got this team to never, ever be complacent in their standing as number one," he elaborated.

Speaking about the Darrell Hair controversy, which dominated international headlines, Sutherland said the beleagured umpire will have opportunities in Australia if shown the door from the ICC elite panel.

"If you have a look at performances, he is one of the best in the world. My view is he still has plenty to offer international cricket. I hope that’s the case. Providing he is in Australia — he lives in England — i am sure there will be opportunities," Sutherland said.

The CA chief also vowed to stamp out racism from cricket in the country and said any abuse by the spectators would not be tolerated.

"It’s damaging and disappointing, to be frank. There are people out there who we don’t want at the cricket," he said. (UNI)

Randhawa, Kapur ready for Dunhill Links Challenge

ST ANDEWS, Oct 4: Ace Indian golfers Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur are up against the best in the world at the Annual Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland beginning tomorrow.

The two Indians, who have been dividing their time between Asian and European tours this season, are among a host of Asian tour stars at the USD 5 million event, which is uniquely played on scotland’s three most famous courses, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the old course at St Andrews.

Apart from Randhawa and Kapur, the Asian Challenge will include Thongchai Jaidee, who was ninth at the WGC Amercian Express last week.

Randhawa will look forward to a good finish to try and squeeze into the top-60 on the European order of merit for a spot at the Volvo Masters in Spain. Last week, Randhawa, the 2002 Asian tour number one, shot a 69 in the final round and finished tied 17th at the WGC American Express in England.

In 2002, Randhawa finished sixth in the Dunhill Links event.

Kapur, who was the Asian tour’s rookie of the year last season, will continue his exciting quest for glory in Europe. He enjoyed his maiden appearance at the British Open this year and has earned his European Tour Card for 2007 with some solid performances earlier this season.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship features top players including defending Champion Colin Montgomerie and his Ryder Cup winning European team members Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, David Howell, Paul McGinley, Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson, Jost Maria Olaz-Bal and Henrik Stenson.

Other Asian tour top guns who will be challenging for the top prize include Australia’s Terry Pilkadaris, winner of three Asian tour titles, and compatriot Marcus both. (PTI)

Sania storms into second round of Tashkent Open

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN, Oct 4: Sania Mirza stormed past French Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-1 to enter the second round of the the WTA 0/tier IV Tashkent Open here today.

The third seed Indian will now take on Czech Hana Sromova in the second round.

The Hyderabadi player was in her elements from the very start and hardly put a foot wrong as she pocketed the first set with ease. Sania was facing parmentier for the first time in her career and the French woman had no answer to the Indian’s powerful strokes.

The next set saw Sania decimate parmentier and the Indian ace dropped just one game before sealing the issue in her favour and enter the next round of the 650,000 dollar tournament.

Sania is seeded behind Maria Elena Camerin of Italy (47) and Elena Vesnina of Russia (51).

The Indian comes here after a quarter-final finish in the Korean Open at Seoul, losing to Spaniard Virginia Ruana Pascual, after upsetting world number nine Martina Hingis in the previous round.

Sania will not compete in the doubles event of the tournament. (UNI)

Zaheer in, Ganguly out of rest of India squad

CHENNAI, Oct 4: Sourav Ganguly’s chances of returning to the national team took a knock today after he was left out of the rest of India squad for the Irani Cup tie.

Baroda pacer Zaheer Khan got the nod ahead of Tamil Nadu’s Laxmipathy Balaji in the 14-member rest side that will be led by Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer against Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh at Nagpur from October 9 to 13.

VVS Laxman was another big name that was missing from the list, but the Hyderabadi batsman suffered a hamstring injury a few days ago and did not play in the Challenger Series.

Ganguly had scores of 23 and three in the two matches he played for India Green in the Challenger Series, but Chairman of Selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said the former test captain still had a chance to make a comeback.

"Everybody, including Ganguly, who played in challenger was discussed. Players like Ganguly, Balaji and a few others will be playing in Zonal Tournament and depending on their performances they will come in for contention," Vengsarkar told reporters after the first meeting of the new Selection Committee here.

Vengsarkar, who replaced Kiran More in the committee, said the left-arm seamer’s impressive showing in the English county season was the reason behind picking him ahead of Balaji.

"Both bowled extremely well at the Challenger Trophy. The committee gave recognition to Zaheer’s performance in county cricket as Balaji came to this tournament after recovering from an injury," he said.

Reiterating that the doors were not closed on any player, the former India skipper said consistency would be the key for selection.

Vengsarkar said Laxman would be in contention once he recovered from injury and started playing competitive cricket.

"Laxman was not discussed. But once he recovered (from injury) and played in zonal tournament, he will also be considered for selection," he said.

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said that Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina and Rudra Pratap Singh, who featured in the Champions Trophy squad, would not be available for the UP team.

Rest of India squad: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Venugopal Rao (vice-capt), Robin Uthapa, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthick, V R V Singh, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, P Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Sourashish Lahiri, Yo Mahesh. (PTI)

Deepak Memorial Volleyball Tournament concludes

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Oct 4: Rathore Volley Ball Club, Udhampur won championship trophy by defeating Volley Ball Club, Ramnagar by 3-0 set on the concluding day of a Week long Deepak Memorial Volley Ball tournament played at Mini-Stadium, Udhampur.

In all 16-volley ball teams drawn from different volleyball clubs including teams of CRPF, 1-FOD, 323 -AD Regiment took part in the tournament.

The Tehsildar, Udhampur was the chief guest while District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Udhampur, Ashok Kumar was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Udhampur recalled the services of late Deepak Verma of Udhampur who worked hard in achieving excellence in the field of sports. Extending his sincere thanks of organizers and the players who did their best in the tournament said that such events boost the morale of players besides keeping the physically fit and mentally sound.

The tournament was organized by Anil Gupta of Housing Colony Volley Ball Club, Udhampur in collaboration with Youth Services and Sports Department and Rotary Club, Udhampur.

All round best player award went in favour of a budding player, Dinesh Khajuria of Rathore Volley Ball Club, Udhampur.

Trophies arranged by the Rotary Club, Udhampur were given to the winners and participants with certificates of merit.

Champions Trophy is not a big deal

By Kevin Pietersen

The ICC Champions Trophy may not come across as too exciting for the English supporters yet but interest is bound to be high when we play India and Australia. Even though some critics back home have suggested that we should get too worked up about the event in India, our young side is eager to do well in the tournament. Of course, we want to do our best in every game that we play for England.

Personally, I don’t think that this tournament is such a big deal, considering that we start our campaign to retain the Ashes next month and with the ICC World Cup 2007 not too far away. Then again, we will dig into our reserves and be at our most competitive when we take on India and Australia in Jaipur and a qualifier in Ahmedabad.

We have had a busy time, playing 13 Test matches and 22 one-day internationals in the sub-continent and in the United Kingdom in the last 12 months. We haven’t had a great time in the limited-over format, winning just six games but we are pleased with the manner in which we bounced back to tie the series against Pakistan 2-2 after losing the first two games.

I believe Freddie Flintoff’s return to the side can make a difference, though at this point of time it is unclear whether he will be bowling in the ICC Champions Trophy. I can sense his enthusiasm when he says he is desperately looking forward to getting to India, having missed nearly three months of international cricket and having trained hard to regain fitness after an ankle surgery.

Of all the teams in the ICC Champions Trophy, we are the ones who toured India most recently. Even if we lost the seven-match series 1-5, with the Guwahati match being rained out, we took home lots of lessons. The biggest was that you cannot get into good positions and let the opposition come back. On flat pitches, you have to be ruthless and must go through with the domination. When I think of the one-dayers on that tour, I can easily recall the first two games in Delhi and the neighbouring Faridabad. We were chasing a score of just over 200 runs in the opening match and after Freddie and I shared a good stand, we lost our way and lost quite comprehensively. And in the next game, we had India on the ropes but young Suresh Raina and that man Mahender Singh Dhoni swung it away from us. We will try and remember that there is no point in getting to winning territories and losing it.

We are coming off an intense home season, featuring so much international cricket against Sri Lanka and Pakistan that we have been off cricket for over three weeks. But that does not mean we stopped our individual training. We realise a big season lies ahead of us with our focus on the Ashes in Australia as well as the World Cup in the West Indies.(TCM)

I’ve to achieve something for my country: Jayasuriya

NEW DELHI, Oct 4: Having recovered full fitness, Sri Lankan swashbuckler Sanath Jayasuriya is determined to make his presence felt in the Champions Trophy, saying he wants to achieve "something special" for his country.

"I am completely fit and confident of doing well. I have to do well. I have to achieve something special for my country," said a determined Jayasuriya.

The veteran batsman, who was struggling with injuries as well as loss of form, had announced retirement early this year but came out of it for the one-day series against England where he was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s 5-0 win in the one-day series. He scored 322 runs with two centuries against England.

"There are no fitness problems. My confidence is back after the England tour. Now I want to play well in this tournament. I have always played my natural game and tried to win matches for my country," said the 37-year-old batsman who is specially effective on the less bouncy sub-continent pitches.

Despite being former joint winners with India, playing qualifying was not an issue with Jayasuriya and he said his team would not take chances against any country.

"But first we have to do well in the qualifying round. We cannot take chances against any team," said Jayasuriya, who became only the fourth batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket. The former Lankan captain said he was satisfied with the team’s performance of late and praised the middle order batsmen for the improved show.

However, he refused to name anyone as a "key player" and said "cricket is a team game and 4-5 players have to do well on a given day to win the match".

"We have a good chance, but first we have to qualify," he added. (PTI)

Bakshi Nagar Club enters QFs of A S Jasrotia Cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 4: Bakshi Nagar Cricket Club today defeated Samoon Cricket Club and entered the quarter-final of the ongoing 6th Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia Memorial Tournament.

Bakshi Nagar Club won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 94 runs in the stipulated 12 overs. Lara and Vicky scored 27 and 31 runs respectively.

For Samoon Club, Atul took three wickets while Anoop and Pardeep clinched two wickets each.

Samooh Club could not chase the target as all its batsmen were bowled out at a total score of 85 runs. Bunty and Atul scored 24 and 21 runs respectively while Anoop scored 13 runs.

For Bakshi Nagar Club, Nita clinched three wickets whileas Honey took two wickets.

Vikas was declared man of the match.