Anand Vasu, an assistant editor of Cricinfo, has won the award for the Best Interview of the Year in the inaugural Indian Sports Journalism Awards held in Mumbai on Saturday night. The awards function, organised by the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India, was attended by Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Agarkar and several notable personalities from other sporting fields.Vasu, who has extensively covered both international and domestic cricket over the last six years, was nominated for the category for his Talking Cricket with Jonty Rhodes, which appeared in the February 2005 issue of Wisden Asia Cricket, and walked away with the prize ahead of Clayton Murzello from , a Mumbai-based tabloid, and G Krishnan from Deccan Herald, a Bangalore-based daily. Vasu was also nominated for the Best Cricket Writer of the Year but lost out to Kadambari Murali from Dravid, one of the guests of honour, spoke about the importance of journalism and how “good performances on the field turn into memorable ones once journalists write about it.” Michael Ferreira, the former billiards world champion who was one of the three judges, said that the standard of journalism had improved in the country and added that it was a very tough task to choose the final winners.

Seldom does an A tour act as a forerunner to a Test series. That unexpected opportunity has been given to 29 cricketers from Sri Lanka and West Indies when the first of three four-day unofficial Tests starts at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium tomorrow.The 14 players named for Sri Lanka A and the 15 that comprise the West Indies A squad are being given the chance of making the maximum use of the series. They have the opportunity to enhance their chances of getting selected for the senior teams ahead of the two Test series between Sri Lanka and West Indies, which is scheduled to start on July 15.The players certainly won’t be short of motivation knowing full well that all they have to do is to produce some eye-catching performances with bat and ball to attract the selectors’ attention.From the Sri Lankan side there is a lot to prove for players like skipper Russel Arnold fast bowler Dilhara Fernando and Kaushal Lokuarachchi, the legspinner. They have been drifting in and out of the senior team for various reasons ranging from lack of form to injuries. Then there are the fringe players such as Jehan Mubarak, Michael Vandort, Prasanna Jayawardene, Avishka Gunawardena and Gayan Wijekoon who need to show consistency at this level to gain selection into the senior side.Sri Lanka A are beset with a few injury problems and have put back finalising their final XI until the morning of the match. Fernando who had recovered from a long standing back injury, and had been bowling well in the practice games, is fighting a bout of flu. Ian Daniel, the opening batsman, will undergo a fitness test after dislocating his right finger, during the three-day practice game, at the R. Premadasa Stadium last week.Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, explained that in the event of Daniel failing the fitness test Vandort would move up to open with Gunawardena and Malintha Gajanayake would fill the middle-order slot. Kaluperuma said: “Daniel may not have a problem batting, but the question is whether he is able to field with an injured finger.”Fernando, who bowled in the nets yesterday despite running a temperature, is expected to be fit to spearhead a three-pronged seam attack. This would leave the selectors with the choice of who to leave out between newcomer Danushka Lokuhettige and Priyankara Silva with Wijekoon taking on the role of the second seamer.Silva is a late addition to the squad, replacing Test fast bowler Ruchira Perera, who is awaiting a disciplinary inquiry on his behaviour during a practice session. Unfortunately for Perera the inquiry was not held as scheduled on Wednesday, following the sudden death of the chairman of the disciplinary committee Walwin Goonatillake.The Sri Lanka A bowling line-up is expected to comprise three seamers and two spinners. The spinners vying for places are Lokuarachchi, offspinner Suraj Mohamed and left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon.As West Indies A captain Daren Ganga indicated at the press conference, on Monday, there are several players in his side also vying for places in the West Indies Test team. With the West Indies selectors leaving room for two players to be included from the A squad, by choosing only 13 for the Sri Lanka tour, there is bound to be stiff competition among individual players.One hopes that selfishness does not creep into their play for places at the expense of team performances. And that applies to both sides.Sri Lanka A (from) Russel Arnold (capt), Avishka Gunawardena, Ian Daniel, Michael van Dort, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Gayan Wijekoon, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Suraj Mohamed, Dilhara Fernando, Priyankara Silva, Danushka Lokuhettige, Sajeeva Weerakoon, Malintha Gajanayake.West Indies A (from) Daren Ganga (capt), Narsingh Deonarine, Carlton Baugh (wk), Ryan Ramdass, Xavier Marshall, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Runako Morton, Dave Bernard jnr, Dave Mohammed, Nikita Miller, Dwight Washington, Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson, Kerry Jeremy.

South Australia 1 for 21 & 254 lead Victoria 223 (Rummans 63, Joseland 51, Tait 5-39) by 52 runs
ScorecardShane Tait collected five wickets as South Australia took first-innings points on day two of the Pura Cup match against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.Victoria were dismissed for 223, 31 runs short of South Australia’s total, after Tait grabbed 5 for 39 and the debutant spinner Dan Cullen chipped in with two wickets. Graeme Rummans top scored with 63 for Victoria while the opener Brendan Joseland made 51.At stumps South Australia were 1 for 21 with Greg Blewett unbeaten on 11 and Ben Cameron not out seven.

Rahul Dravid has expressed his confidence in the Indian batting line-up despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Speaking to the media before leaving for Colombo for the triangular IndianOil one-day tournament also involving the hosts and West Indies, Dravid said: “There is still a lot of quality in our batting. Both Sourav and Sachin are experienced players. It [their non-availability] gives an opportunity to some of the other guys to show they can play at this level.”Tendulkar, the leading scorer in one-dayers with 13,642 runs, has been ruled out of the tournament following an elbow surgery. While, Ganguly provisionally included in the squad, is doubtful as he is serving a six-match ban for his team’s slow over-rate during the home one-day series against Pakistan in April. A decision on his suspension is expected to be announced next week.”The composition of the side gives us the option to play whatever combination welike,” said Dravid. “We do have two specialist spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. If the conditions permit, we might play both of them or it will be three pacemen and one spinner.”Suresh Raina, the all-rounder, and Venugopal Rao, the middle-order batsman, are the uncapped players in the team.Greg Chappell, the new coach, said his team needed to show consistency if theyaimed to begin the fresh season on a bright note. “Our aim in the series is to play consistent cricket,” said Chappell. “The players will have to do the basics right day in, day out. If they can do that, the outcome will look after itself.”India is scheduled to take on Sri Lanka at Dambulla on July 30 and West Indies the following day.Indian squad:Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Jai Prakash Yadav, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, Mahender Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Laxmipathy Balaji, Sourav Ganguly.

India will be happy to get moving in the tri-series with a facile win against Zimbabwe though from our Test experience here, the wicket seems to have slowed down. Our guys call Harare a slower version of the Gabba where there is little assistance and movement for the bowlers. It is a kind of pitch where those who swing the ball stand a better chance of succeeding than purely seam bowlers.That makes us look forward to the next game against India, a side we would most probably meet in the finals. Their fast bowlers have done exceptionally well as a unit and it is something similar to what’s happening with us in New Zealand. James Franklin swings it well and we have a nice balance in our pace department. Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar, give the Indians a good crop of impressive young bowlers. They can be exceptionally dangerous in these circumstances and I have a feeling whoever bowls better and tighter, will hold the edge.Purely from a personal point of view, I would like to push home the advantage I have gained over the Indians from the first game. My job is to try and do better than the Indians, to outperform the likes of Nehra, Pathan and Agarkar. It’s a challenge that I look forward to.In the game against India at Bulawayo, we knew from the start that taking good care of the top three Indian batsmen, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, could keep them under pressure. We realised that coming from low wickets of the sub-continent, they could find it difficult to adjust to these conditions. So bowling short-pitched deliveries was the obvious choice. We definitely tried to do it against Ganguly, as well as against Sehwag who can be a devastating batsman if he is afforded the width. It is the same when the ball is pitched up to him.It feels good that success is coming to me with the new ball for in the Test matches against Zimbabwe, I bowled a fair deal with the older ball. In a way it was good that I played Tests before the one-dayers for it upped my confidence and improved my rhythm. I am able to swing it a lot more and that is most welcome. It has been the kind of return I have been hoping for in the international arena. There are a lot of things which I am now doing differently, including my action and approach to the game. No longer do I strive to be a tearaway bowler. I am a lot smarter bowler who can bowl reasonably fast when I want to but I don’t need to do it all the time.Previously I was an emotional bowler who would just be fired up with the ball in his hand and try to bowl as hard as I could. Sustaining such methods throughout was tough to follow up and the harder I tried, the more I opened myself to injury. Now I am smarter and can switch to speed because my energy levels are better spaced. It is also a good protection against injury. I have mixed emotions to New Zealand’s light Test schedule in the next few months. The run of one-day internationals could allow me to settle into a nice groove and when it is time for Tests against West Indies and South Africa next year, I could be better prepared. Every cricketer looks forward to Tests and I am no different. However for a bowler returning from injury, it is important he is not over-bowled all too quickly. Frankly, I am just glad to be back on the field.It would be all too easy and stereotype for me to declare that I hate batsmen and perhaps blood on the pitch is not too bad an idea. But that’s not the truth and besides, Indians and Zimbabweans are truly very nice fellows. It is just that I am very competitive with the ball in my hand and try to do as well as I can for my team.

Pakistan will officially voice its concerns over the increasing workload on international players during the next ICC Executive Board Members meeting in Dubai later this month.According to Saleem Altaf, a PCB director, one of the main issues to be discussed in Dubai will be whether to extend the current FTP (Future Tours Programme) cycle from five to six years.Altaf told The News that Pakistan would like to see the cycle extended to six years, as the current schedule was too hectic, increasing the chances of injuries to players and reducing the amount of time between series for them to recover.”We would like to see a more spread out programme which allows the team some reasonable gaps between the series so that the players can recover well,” Altaf explained. Given the crippling spate of injuries Pakistan has had to endure over the last year, particularly to its fast bowlers, Altaf will have more reason than most to argue for a relaxation in the international schedule. Shoaib Akhtar (hamstring), Mohammad Sami (heel), Shabbir Ahmed (knees) and Umar Gul (back) have all missed a number of matches in the season just gone and have yet to play together in an international match.His comments are also timely; Pakistan are preparing to begin a hectic season of international cricket from October, one of the busiest in recent memory with 13 Tests and potentially 25 ODIs between November 2005 and September 2006.The season begins with England’s visit for a series of three tests and five ODIs. After their departure at the end of December, Pakistan host India for another full series followed in swift succession by the Asia Cup in February, a tour of Sri Lanka in March-April followed by a long return tour to England during the summer. Some Pakistani players will also be involved in the Super Series matches between Australia and the Rest of the World XI in October.The ICC meeting is being held days after the last of three ODIs of the much-maligned Afro-Asian Cup. The series, the brainchild of the Afro-Asian Council and given official status by the ICC, has been criticised by some for its timing, adding one more commitment – of questionable value – for many to an already cramped international schedule.Partially, as a result of this, the tournament has been hit by a number of high-profile withdrawals; some like Makhaya Ntini and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan pulled out due to county commitments in England, while others such as Rahul Dravid cited personal reasons. The majority of pull-outs, however, are injury-related.And despite the appearance of as many as five Pakistani players in the Asian XI, including skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and the injury-prone Shoaib Akhtar, the PCB had stated before the tournament began that it would not force any of its contracted players to participate.

ScorecardSairaj Bahutule bowled valiantly to take 4 for 64 in 31 overs, but none of his fellow bowlers could back him up, as the South Africans strode to 226 for 5 declared on the first day of their tour game, in reply to which the Indians were 4 for no loss. Graeme Smith made a laboured 86 while Justin Ontong struck 70, but none of the other batsmen got the batting practice they needed before the first Test.The South Africans began at a crawl, with Smith and Jacques Rudolph adding 72 in 174 balls. Rudolph showed little aggressive intent in his 26, compiled painstakingly off 103 balls, and was the first batsman to depart, run out by Amit Bhandari.Smith and Ontong then added 92, before Smith, in sight of a century, was stumped by MS Dhoni off Bahutule’s bowling (164 for 2). Ontong kept an end up, but wickets fell regularly, and Smith eventually declared a few minutes before the close. The timing of the declaration was a bit strange, as newcomer Hashim Amla, who has a first-class average of 50, was unbeaten on 2, and would surely have craved some more time out in the middle. He will, no doubt, bat higher up the order in the second innings.The Indian openers batted out the three overs left in the days play safely. On the first day, the focus was on how the South Africans adapted to Indian conditions. On the second, a whole slew of Indian batting hopefuls would be on view.

Kevin Pietersen, who is currently playing for the World XI in the ICC Super Series, left the field towards the end of Australia’s innings with cramp in his leg. But David Graveney has dismissed suggestions that England would have preferred three of their key players – Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison – to miss the series, ahead of their forthcoming tour to Pakistan.”He’s a fit young lad,” Graveney told . “I think it is a great occasion for our lads to be involved in. We’ll be keeping fingers crossed he has not suffered serious injury.”At the post-match conference, Shaun Pollock, Pietersen’s captain for the series, said: “He [Pietersen] wasn’t sure whether it was cramp or a tear. It was still a bit sore when he went out to bat which is why he had a runner. he will have a scan tomorrow and if it’s a tear he will be in doubt for the third game but if it’s cramp he should be ok.”Pietersen, despite still being new to international cricket, is already an integral part of the England one-day and Test teams. He finished the Ashes series as England’s leading scorer with 473 runs, including a remarkable innings of 158 in the final Test at The Oval.

Brian Lara has scored only 102 runs in four innings in West Indies’ series against Australia, but has a backer in Shane Warne, who has tipped him for big runs. “Lara has got at least one big innings in him somewhere and he hasn’t had that quite yet, so hopefully it’s [the] Test match after this one,” Warne said. “To me he is probably the most destructive player in my 15 years in cricket that I’ve played against.”Lara surpassed Steve Waugh as Test cricket’s second-highest scorer during the second match at Hobart, and is only 213 away from Allan Border’s tally of 11,174. Eight of his 30 hundreds have come against Australia, who were menaced by him as early as his fourth Test, when he struck a memorable 277 at the SCG. “I remember in that Sydney Test when he got 277,” said Warne. “If you didn’t run him out I think he would still be batting now. He was hitting the gaps every time.What prompted Warne to speak out for Lara was the sign of old form: a less shuffly, more assured approach. “He looked good in the second innings in Hobart, he looked a lot more settled, he wasn’t moving as much and he looked in ominous form, hopefully for us it’s not the game where he makes a big one.”Lara has looked back to his last Test at Adelaide for inspiration. “I remember playing the Youth World Cup semi-finals here in 1988 but, most importantly, my last Test match here I got 100,” he said in the . “It would be really nice to come to Adelaide again and get some runs finally. I’ve been here for two months and unable to get any sort or runs. I’m looking forward to it and optimistic that things can turn around for me.”

At the Wanderers, Johannesburg the decision to put the Eagles in to bat first paid off for the Lions as they successfully chased down a target of 221, winning by 5 wickets and closing the gap at the top of the Standard Bank Cup table.Stephen Cook, batting right through the Lions innings, scored a match winning 87 not out while Dumisa Makalima waded in with 40 not out off 30 balls as the pair put on 68 for the sixth wicket to take the Lions through in 42.3 overs. Thandi Tshabalala, the 21 year old offspinner, was the most successful Eagles bowler picking up 3 for 51.The Eagles innings never gained any momentum until Johan van der Wath came in at number seven. Smashing 70 not out off 48 balls with four boundaries and five sixes he shared a 74-run partnership with Boeta Dippenaar (42) as the two brought some respectability back to the Eaglestotal of 220 for 7.The Titans retook the lead on the Standard Bank Cup table after a six-wicket win against the Warriors at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.Sent in to bat first the Warriors could only manage 186 for 8 as Dale Steyn, taking 3 for 29, made things very difficult at the top of the innings. Robin Petersen put together a useful 56 but could not find a willing partner as wickets fell at regular intervals.The Titans innings started exactly as ordered with Goolam Bodi (56) and Alviro Petersen (72) putting on 133 in 21.3 overs for the first wicket. Petersen, building quite a reputation for himself, hit 10 boundaries and a six. Two wickets from Robin Petersen was never going to be enough tosave the warriors with the Titans winning in 34.1 overs and earning the bonus point.Rain interruptions at Kingsmead, Durban saw a reduction in overs in an exciting tied match between the Dolphins and the Cape Cobras. To add to the rain the lights also failed reducing the overs even further.The Dolphins nearly blew away a semi-final spot as they set after the target of 195 off 39 overs and then 185 off 36. Doug Watson scored a solid 55, but scoring it off 88 balls increased the pressure on the following batsmen. With the crowd calling for Lance Klusener at the fallof every wicket, he left it till there was six wickets down, 39 runs and 26 balls remaining before he came to the crease and was run out for one. It was left to Duncan Brown, 27 off 25 balls, and Robert Frylinck, 18 off 8 balls, to get the Dolphins to within one run of victory.The interruptions had not done the Cobras innings any good as they lost wickets at each resumption of play but Derrin Bassage maintained his concentration scoring 81 out of a total of 193 in the 39 overs available. He was well supported by Con de Lange (30) and VernonPhilander (33 not out) while Andrew Tweedie was the pick of the Dolphins bowlers taking 3 for 47.