Hayden slams century as Australia fightback .....

Sustralia are scared to lose match, says Sehwag ...

Hayden blasts Indians for ‘defensive bowling

ADELAIDE, Jan 26: In an outburst that might lead to a bitter war of words, Australian opener Matthew Hayden today lashed out at the Indian team for adopting "defensive tactics" to slow down the host side’s scoring rate on the third day of the fourth and final cricket Test here today.

"They decided to bowl four stumps outside the off-stump, we had to reach out to play deliveries," a livid Hayden, who scored a patient hundred to keep Australia’s innings stable, said at the end of the day’s play.

"I would say they adapted wide tactics. It was indicated when they didn’t take the second new ball, it was for us to stop scoring. It was perfect for us how not to lose the game. We didn’t have to play the ball."

Hayden’s comments are bound to open up old wounds between the two sides as Virender Sehwag had earlier claimed that Australia’s slow scoring was a result of their fear of losing the Test.

Meanwhile, Hayden termed his century, his third successive against India, the most satisfactory.

"It was a beauty. It came on the Australia day, the conditions were challenging and we were facing huge first innings target. We needed a sound start. We could have easily been 300 for eight at the draw of stumps today which we are not," he said.

"It was important to set up a platform for Australia. We needed to occupy the crease," he emphasised.

Hayden claimed that it also became difficult to hit the ball after it became soft.

"It’s a very abrasive surface. It made the ball go soft in 15 overs time. It did make it very hard to score," he said.

Hayden, comparing his innings with one of Sachin Tendulkar on the first two days, said the conditions were more suited to batting earlier than it were today.

The burly left-hander said the first session tomorrow would be crucial as Australia chased a mammoth Indian first innings total of 526.

"It’s now important how we bat tomorrow. It’s a huge first session tomorrow. We are ready to play out the full day if we can.

"We want to catch up with India inch by inch and then look to build lead," he said.

Hayden also paid tribute to Adam Gilchrist who announced his retirement today.

"It’s a massive and a surprising news. We were privileged to play with a remarkable Australian who held the baggy green with great pride and passion. He truly is one of the greatest to have ever played the game," he said.

"He told us individually this morning. It was an overwhelming feeling. He gave a great dimension to Australian cricket and fulfilled everything that was asked of him.

"He entertained not only himself but everyone globally. He was statesmanlike and was keen to build relationships all the time. He bonded cricketers and changed world cricket."

Gilchrist’s retirement leaves Hayden as the oldest member of the side now but he had no desire to retire as yet.

"I am now the oldest within the team but I am also enjoying my cricket. Like Adam I am sure I would retire when the time is right. It’s not my time yet," he said. (PTI)

McGrath wants to return to cricketing fold

MELBOURNE, Jan 26: Almost a year after quitting international cricket, most successful Test paceman Glenn McGrath wants to return to cricketing fold by mentoring Australia’s new generation of fast bowlers to help the team maintain its dominance in the world game.

"I’ve spoken to Cricket Australia and they’ve said when I’m ready to do something they’re keen to have a chat and see what we can work out," McGrath said.

"I’ve had good chat with (fast-bowling coach) Troy Cooley about what I could offer the team and we’ll see what we can come up with," he was quoted as saying by ‘The Australian’.

"My first thing was to have 12 to 18 months out of the game, get it out of the system, spend some time at home and then go from there," he added.

The 37-year-old McGrath, who has been devoting a lot of time to the McGrath foundation for breast cancer research but found it impossible to walk away from the game, is one of the star signings in the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 series starting in April.

McGrath also said that he stays in regular contact with the Australian team, and is unofficially giving assistance to the fast bowlers.

"I speak to the boys quite a bit. I chat to them or text them before and after each Test. I went to the Sydney Test match and spoke to the bowlers then. I’m always available. Whether further down the track I’ll be more involved with the team, we’ll wait and see."

On Shaun Tait’s flop show at the WACA grounds in Perth, McGrath said "it’s a bit of a shame that Taity didn’t have more bowling under his belt going into the Perth game. The wicket wasn’t as quick and bouncy as they first thought. But it’s just one of those things.

"Hopefully he’ll learn from it. Sometimes the games where you don’t perform as well as you like are the ones you learn the most from. He’s got huge potential. There are not many people who bowl at his pace, and he’s such an awkward guy to face if you haven’t seen a great deal of him." (PTI)

Aussie players agitated over lingering wait

MELBOURNE, Jan 26: While the cash-rich Indian Premier League has taken a step forward by selling off their eight teams for USD 724 million, the Australian players are still waiting to know if they would take part in the Twenty20 competition.

Top players like captain Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke have all signed expressions of interest, but are keen to ink playing contracts before a bidding war begins for their services on February 8.

The players are growing increasingly agitated that Cricket Australia and the IPL are still working on several aspects of the contracts, the league’s Australian-based manager Neil Maxwell said.

"FICA (Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association are keen for the players to be involved but they can’t be involved if there are are no specifics around the contracts," Maxwell said yesterday.

"That’s got to do with things like unlimited endorsements, sponsorships and player rights," he was quoted as saying by the ‘Herald Sun’.

CA is also concerned about a potential conflict of interests between one of its major sponsors, Foster’s group, and IPL backer Kingfisher Brewery. (PTI)

Anand beats Carlsen, joint second now

WIJK AAN ZEE (The Netherlands), Jan 26: World champion Viswanathan Anand delivered the goods when it mattered the most, defeating leader Magnus Carlsen of Norway in a complicated 11th round game of the ‘A’ group in the Corus International Chess tournament here.

Anand showed tremendous poise in handling a direct attack from Carlsen right from the beginning and the Indian himself conceded that "though I could not find a forced win for white, but I will be surprised if it isn’t there."

Carlsen’s loss was a big gain for Levon Aronian of Armenia who outplayed Loek Van Wely of Holland to emerge as the new sole leader in the category-20 super event.

The Armenian is now on 7 points, a half point clear of Anand, Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan who all have 6.5 points apiece.

With just two rounds to go, Anand’s chances will depend largely on how he fares against Van Wely in the next round again with black pieces.

In the final round, the Indian ace is slated to meet Kramnik with white and a victory over Van Wely will definitely prompt the Indian to go for a ‘bloody battle’ against Kramnik and overtake Aronian who is set to meet Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Judit Polgar of Hungary in his last two games.

It was some good news for P Harikrishna in the ‘B’ group as he converted a better endgame in to a full point against Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria. The Indian was pretty happy with his effort.

"I have missed so many good positions in this event, so this was a welcome relief, I hope to be able to well in the remaining rounds and add some ELO points", Harikrishna told after the game.

The victory, however, did not help Harikrishna much as he could jump just one place up in the list of his group.

Overnight leader Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia played it safe against Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia to inch to 8 points while English Nigel Short and French Etienne Bacrot defeated Jan Smeets of Holland and Michal Krasenkow of Poland respectively to take their tally to 7.5 points.

Harikrishna is now sole fourth with 6.5 points to his credit. The other Indian in the fray — Koneru Humpy — drew with Daniel Stellwagen of Holland and is now on 5 points.

Parimarjan Negi signed peace with Dimitry Reinderman of Holland in the ‘C’ group to remain within striking distance of the Italian leader Caruana Fabiano who defeated Anna Ushenina of Ukraine.

With Fabiano on 8 points Negi, Reinderman and Friso Nijbhoer of Holland share the second spot jointly with 7 points each in this section.

Anand played the sicilian defense and as if in a hurry, Carlsen threw everything at the Indian’s king. A piece sacrifice in the middle game by Carlsen led to Anand’s collapse in the king side but the Indian remained in contention with necessary saving moves.

Carlsen sacrificed another piece and had a draw in hand towards the final stages, but the overambitious-play caused the Norwegian dearly. Anand won in 42 moves.

"A slightly undeserved loss for Magnus but that’s how it goes," Anand said. (PTI)

GHSS finishes first in cultural item

UDHAMPUR, Jan 26: GHSS Udhampur finished first in cultural item followed by Little Flower High School and Happy Model High Secondary School who stood second and third respectively during Republic Day celebrations here today.

Brooklyn Mission School bagged consolation prize. Bhartiyam display by BBSV Peth, HSS Udhampur was the main attraction of the programme besides Bhangra display by NITL, HSS, Udhampur and Kud display by NV, Rakh Jaganoo.

In flag troups, HSS Garhi secured first position while Bharti Vidya Mandir and GHSS Udhampur finished second and third respectively.

In middle school category, Nalanda Academy finished first whereas Middle School, Gopa Mandir and City Middle School had to content with second and third positions respectively.

In HSS/HS category, GHSS Udhampur secured first position while GHS Garhi, City HS, BBSV Udhampur and HS Malhar jointly finished second.

Sharon Public High School bagged third place.

HSS Boys, Udhampur and Women College, Udhampur secured first and second positions respectively in NCC senior division.

In junior division, KV No 1 and NV,Rakh Jaganoo jointly secured first position while HSS Garhi stood second.

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Pak insists on hosting Australia series, Asia Cup

KARACHI, Jan 26: Pakistani cricket authorities have made it clear they were not interested in either shifting the Australia’s cricket tour anywhere else from their country or surrendering the hosting rights of the Asia Cup to Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan cricket board has said it had written to the Pakistan Cricket Board that it was willing to host the Asia Cup in June if Pakistan could not hold it because of the security conditions in their country and with countries reluctant to play in the country.

But PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf has said he had received no such offer from the Sri Lankan board and was not interested in surrendering the hosting rights of the tournament as it was perfectly safe to have international matches in Pakistan.

"We don’t know why there is so much concern and talk about the conditions in Pakistan. Zimbabwe is touring at present without any problems and we have had no problems with any team in the past. We are perfectly capable of taking good care of all visiting teams. We will definitely host the Asia Cup on schedule," Ashraf said.

He was also candid on the Australian tour in March-April insisting they would have to come to Pakistan to play the series.

"If they don’t come that is up to them. If they don’t accept our assurances we can’t do anything. But we will not shift the series to any other place including Australia," he said.

Pakistan has got the Australian series insured by Llyods of London for an estimated 7.4 million dollars in case it is not held for any reason.

Ashraf said there was no question of playing Australia anywhere apart from Pakistan in March-April.

"I am going to Dubai and will meet with the Cricket Australia chairman and convince him the tour must go on as per schedule," he said.

Sources within the board have said that preparations and contingency plans are already being made in case the Australians pull out of the Pakistan tour due to security concerns and one of them is to also approach the ICC for compensation and seek legal redress with the ICC disputes committee.

Ashraf pointed out that teams had been touring every year to Pakistan without any problems.

"We are also not happy with this Sri Lankan board offer. I don’t know why they even thought about such a thing. We fulfil our commitments and we expect all other member countries to do the same with us." (PTI)

ICL event from today

CHENNAI,Jan 26: Chennai Superstars, winners of the inaugural Indian Cricket League 20-20 international tournament last month in Punchkula, will take on Chandigarh Lions in the ICL domestic tournament here tomorrow.

The Essel group, owners of both international and national ICL tournaments, were enthused by the success of the Punchkula event and decided to hold the domestic event here at Mayajaal Resorts.

As per its calender of events for 2008, this event was scheduled to be held here from tomorrow and Hyderabad.

Apart from Chennai Superstars, Chandigarh Lions, Hyderabad Heroes, Delhi Jets, Mumbai Champs and Kolkata Tigers would be competing for honours in the tournament.

The organisers have not announced any prize fund for the winners but awards for man of the match and players of the tournament would be announced.

Six teams would play each other once in the fifty overs-a side tournament and the top two teams would play the finals to be held at Chennai on February 10.

Following is the schedule at Chennai:

Jan 27: Chandigarh Lions vs Chennai Superstars,

Jan 28:Chennai Superstars vs Hyderabad Heroes,

Jan 29:Delhi Jets vs Mumbai Champs,

Jan 30: Kolkata Tigers vs Hyderabad Heroes,

Jan 31:Chandigarh Lions vs Mumbai Champs,

Feb 1: Delhi Jets vs Kolkata Tigers,

Feb 2: Delhi Jets vs Chennai Superstars,

Feb 3:Kolkata Tigers vs Mumbai Champs,

Feb 4: Chennai Super Stars vs Mumbai Champs,

Feb 6:Kolkata Tigers vs Chennai Superstars,

Feb 8: Chandigarh Lions vs Kolkata Tigers and

Feb 10: final

Matches at Hyderabad:

Feb 3: Chandigarh Lions vs Hyderabad Heroes,

Feb 5:Delhi Jets vs Chandigarh Lions,

Feb 6: Mumbai Champs vs Hyderabad Heroes

Feb 8:Delhi Jets vs Hyderabad Heroes. (PTI)

Upbeat Ivanovic learns from experience ..

Far from being disappointed, Ana Ivanovic said her Australian Open final defeat to Maria Sharapova today was a great learning experience and forecast many more showdowns with the Russian.

The fifth seeded Sharapova came out on top 7-5, 6-3, but th Serbian was not too disheartened.

"It’s a little bit disappointing because I thought I had a lot of chances in that first set but didn’t use them," said the fourth seed, who had the crowd in the Rod Laver arena firmly onside.

"But, still, it’s a leaning experience for me. I fought hard. I just felt a little bit let down with my forehand, made some big mistakes in crucial moments."

"I already felt much better in today’s final than I felt in the French Open final. So it’s something very positive," said the Serbian, who has an infectious giggle reminiscent of drug-tainted Swiss Martina Hingis. (AGENCIES)

Hayden slams century as Australia fightback .....

ADELAIDE, Jan 26: Australia fought their way back in the fourth and final cricket Test against India with an unusually sedate batting response to take their first innings total to a comfortable 322 for three, largely built around Matthew Hayden’s 30th century here today.

Resuming at the overnight score of 62 for no loss in reply to India’s mammoth first innings total of 526, the generally fast-scoring Australians adopted a cautious approach as they curbed their natural stroke-making instincts to give a suitable response to the visitors.

Captain Ricky Ponting, who hung in resolutely with a laboured unbeaten 79 and Michael Clarke (37) were at the crease at close on the third day with the hosts still trailing by 204 runs.

With the Adelaide Oval track expected to deteriorate to some extent in the remaining two days, the home team has still some work to do to feel completely safe in this crucial Test which India desperately needs to win to level the series 2-2.

After the towering opener Hayden (103) had done the spadework with his sixth century against the Indians, skipper Ponting, who has been struggling to find peak form in the series, held the innings together with his painstaking knock which came off 150 balls.

The Aussies managed to score just 260 runs today, which is quite a slow rate for their standard, but they ensured that they still have plenty of wickets intact.

Hayden and fellow opener Phil Jacques (60) provided the platform for the Australians with a 159-run partnership on a day which saw the Indians bowling well in patches.

The Indians were also greatly handicapped by the absence of pace spearhead R P Singh who did not take the field today because of a hamstring pull.

To make matters worse, off spinner Harbhajan Singh was far from impressive which made life much easier for the Australians who showed good application right through the day.

One of the highlights of the Aussies’ batting was Ponting’s hard-fought half century form 197 minutes, which was the slowest of his distinguished career eclipsing the 181 minutes he took for his knock in Bridgetown during the 1991-92 tour.

The home side captain, however, has scored his highest score of the series. His previous best effort was the 55 he made in Sydney during the second Test.

The Australian captain has so far put on 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Clarke, who survived a close appeal for the catch in the slips off Virender Sehwag towards the closing minutes of the day’s play.

Ponting has so far batted for 248 minutes and hit six fours while Clarke has survived for 114 minutes and struck three fours from 98 deliveries.

India met with scant success in the day as they picked up two wickets in the second session and one in the third after Hayden and Jacques gave Australia a fabulous start.

Hayden produced his third successive hundred of the series. The burly left-hander, who hit 124 and 123 in the first two Tests and missed the third one in Perth due to an injury, struck a vigilant 103 batting for 273 minutes and facing 200 balls. His impressive knock included 10 fours and a six.

Hayden ensured that India, despite their tight line of attack, did not taste any success in the first session and along with Jaques laid a soild foundation for Australia.

The experienced opener never quite freed his arm except for a brief moment when he hit Anil Kumble down the ground for a massive six.

He relied mostly on sweep and it was only fitting that his century came off one against Harbhajan.

The left-hander survived an outstanding spell of fast bowling from Sharma in the afternoon who bowled nine overs on the trot for a mere 10 runs and in the end succeeded in going past the defence of Hayden.

Sharma got one to jag back a long way from outside the off stump. The ball not only seamed but also swung, as it sneaked past the defensive bat of Hayden and rattled his stumps.

Hayden was the second wicket to fall as Kumble had accounted for the other opener at the start of the second session when the crass sweep of Jacques could not prevent a spinning delivery from hitting his stumps.

Ponting was extremely cautious and looked primarily for survival before pulling Irfan Pathan for a four off his 53rd ball.

He put on 55 runs for the third wicket with Mike Hussey who, while making his 22 runs, looked in good touch.

Hussey confidently drove Kumble and swept Harbhajan with aplomb before Pathan came back to hit the off-stump of the left-hander.

India took the second new ball after 107-odd overs but the four overs with it also did not yield any success.

SCOREBOARD India 1st innings V Sehwag c Hayden b Lee 63 I Pathan c Gilchrist b Johnson 9 R Dravid c Ponting b Johnson 18 S Tendulkar c Hogg b Lee 153 S Ganguly lbw b Hogg 7 VVS Laxman c Gilchrist b Lee 51 MS Dhoni c Symonds b Johnson 16 A Kumble c Gilchrist b Johnson 87 Harbhajan Singh c Gilchrist b Symonds 63 RP Singh c Johnson b Clarke 0 I Sharma not out 14 Extras (b 8 lb 21 w 3 nb 13) 45 Total (in 152.5 overs) 526 all out Fall of Wickets: 1/34, 2/82, 3/122, 4/156, 5/282, 6/336, 7/359, 8/466, 9/468 Bowling: B Lee 36-4-101-3, M Johnson 37.5-6-126-4 S Clark 31-6-92-0, B Hogg 31-2-119-1 M Clarke 10-0-39-1, A Symonds 7-0-20-1 Australia 1st innings P Jaques b Kumble 60 M Hayden b Sharma 103 R Ponting batting 79 M Hussey b Pathan 22 M Clarke batting 37 Extras (b 5 lb 8 w 1 nb 7) 21 Total (in 111 overs) 322 for 3 Fall of Wickets: 1/159, 2/186, 3/241 Bowling RP Singh 4-0-14-0, I Pathan 24-1-70-1 I Sharma 22-5-47-1, Harbhajan Singh 28-4-70-0 A Kumble 21-3-78-1, V Sehwag 8-1-18-0 S Tendulkar 1-0-6-0, S Ganguly 3-1-6-0 (UNI)

Sustralia are scared to lose match, says Sehwag ...

ADELAIDE, Jan 26: India’s dashing middle order batsman Virender Sehwag believes Australia were "scared" to lose the fourth and final cricket Test against India and were therefore very defensive in their approach.

"They are scared and playing very defensively. It’s not like Australia (of old). Last time we played them here they made 400 runs in a day," said Sehwag as Australia scored only 260 runs on the third day of the crucial Test.

Australia ended the day on 322 for 3, still 204 runs adrift of India’s 526 but Sehwag obviously was not very impressed with their approach.

"They are worried about defeat, they are scared. It was definitely a surprise considering they lost only three wickets and yet batted defensively on a flat wicket.

"Something is wrong about their batting line-up, their thinking," he said.

Sehwag also cited Ricky Ponting as an example of slow batting on the third day as the Australian captain made 79 runs in a very slow manner.

"He is not in a good form and that’s why he is trying to play like that, it’s not his natural game. May be he is playing for a draw", he said.

"It’s a very unconventional approach by Australia who usually try to force the issue and not go into a game with an intention to draw the match.

"Indian bowlers, I think, deserve praise. In RP Singhs absence, the pressure was on four bowlers. We went into the game with five bowlers but if RP was there, the workload would have been evenly distributed", he said.

Sehwag deflected any criticism on his bowlers as questions were asked whether Indian bowlers and field placements were defensive.

"If someone is playing defensive, we can’t do much. Wicket is so flat that its not easy to get them out. You have to work hard for each and every wicket."

Sehwag chose the moment to describe Ishant Sharma as a find of the tour for India. The young fast bowler from Delhi picked up just one wicket but during the afternoon he bowled nine overs for a mere 10 runs and the wicket of Matthew Hayden.

India delayed taking the second new ball and Sehwag said it was because they realised that at least the ball was reverse swinging. With the new ball "it was unlikely to have any seam or swing movement."

Sehwag was hopeful that India would be able to take a sizeable lead over Australia and put pressure on them on the final day.

"Hopefully the cracks would open up on the final day. If we can get two sessions to bowl at the Australians, they could be in trouble," he added. (PTI)