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Gary Kirsten has signed a two-year deal to coach the Indian national team. He will start work on March 1, 2008, almost a year after his predecessor, Greg Chappell, resigned from the post.Kirsten signed the contract after clarifying a few last-minute details pertaining to his young family and also to the feelings of senior players in the team who had been anonymously quoted as saying that the appointment of a coach was “unnecessary.”Sharad Pawar, the Indian board president, told Kirsten on Tuesday afternoon that all the senior players were looking forward to having him on board and agreed with Kirsten’s suggestion that he meets up with the team before they depart for Australia.”I will go back to India soon to meet up with the squad before they fly to Australia on December 17 and then I will join them again in a transition phase for the third and fourth Tests against Australia in the New Year,” Kirsten said. The Indian board, in a press release, has confirmed that Kirsten would interact with the squad during the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore.”It is a huge honour and I’m looking forward to the challenge with as much enthusiasm as any challenge I’ve ever faced. I’m not naive – I know how big the job is and I know it won’t be easy, but it’s also something I really want to do, and do well,” Kirsten said.When Kirsten takes over full-time, his first assignment will be a three-Test series against South Africa. “That’s exciting. I really don’t think it will feel strange or odd. I will be doing everything I can to help India win. But Australia comes first and everybody’s energy must be focussed on producing success on what is the hardest tour in cricket,” Kirsten said.

ScorecardDay 4
Bulletin – India wrap up series win
Quotes – ‘Ashraful played the best innings of the series’ – Ganguly
The Big Picture – Consolation Prize
Day 3
Bulletin – Ashraful heroics delay the inevitable
Verdict – Blossom in a bed of weeds
Quotes – ‘I’m disappointed that I could not save my team’ – Ashraful
Feature – The Rafique Story: Someone to emulate
The Big Picture – Remembering a legend
Day 2
Bulletin – India in command after making 540
Verdict – Little sparks in darkness
Roving Reporter – The difference a day makes
The Big Picture – No.35 can wait
Day 1
Bulletin – Gambhir and Dravid pile it on
Verdict – Toddler’s candy and the Ugly Sister
Exclusive – Dravid on his endurance
Stat of the day – Dravid’s hundreds in all Test countries
The Big Picture – That sinking feeling

Kent’s director of cricket, Ian Brayshaw, has turned down the offer of an extension to his contract, and will not be returning to Canterbury next season.”I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Kent,” said Brayshaw, who is to return home to Perth after two years. "I shall take with me many happy memories and am confident that the club will continue to perform at the top of English county cricket for many years to come.”Kent finished third in the Championship last season, and put a bad start to 2003 behind them to finish mid-table in Division One, although they still face relegation in the National League unless they can beat Warwickshire on Sunday. “The playing staff contains some highly talented cricketers who offer the club a really exciting future,” said Brayshaw. "In Simon Willis and Chris Stone the club have two excellent coaches.””Ian has made a huge contribution during his two years at Kent," said their chairman of cricket Mike Denness. “He has left us with his thoughts regarding the best possible coaching structure for the future. We will be giving these full consideration over the next few weeks before making any decision regarding his successor.”

The controversy sorrounding the alleged bribe offer to Indian selectors fromIndian cricket was been rocked by a potentially damaging controversy involving Abhijit Kale, a prolific batsman in domestic cricket. Allegations surfaced this evening that he had offered two Indian selectors Rs 10 Lakh (approx. US$21,860) for a place in the India A side. Kale denied the charge emphatically, but the Maharashtra Cricket Association said that Kale would be barred from turning out for the state until his name was cleared.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian board, refused either to deny or confirm the allegation, saying that the BCCI’s lawyers were studying the matter seriously. “This matter has serious legal ramifications,” he told Wisden Cricinfo: “I will make a statement on it tomorrow.”Earlier in the day, NDTV, a news channel, had reported Professor Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s joint secretary, as making the allegations against Kale. The Press Trust of India, a news agency, quoted Shetty as saying: “The player had offered to pay money to a couple of selectors for a place in the India A team. I can assure you that stern action will be taken against the player.”Kale went on television and denied these charges vigorously. Speaking to NDTV, he said, “I am surprised by these allegations. I have played cricket for ten years and have scored 24 first-class centuries, and my record speaks for itself. There is no need for me to do all this.” Asked by Zee News if he had offered money to the two selectors concerned, Kiran More and Pranab Roy, Kale said, “I have never spoken to them.”Balasaheb Thorve, the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, said that Kale would not be considered for selection again until he was cleared by the BCCI. “We shall not consider a tarnished player for selection,” he said. “However, we shall go by whatever the BCCI decides.” Maharashtra are scheduled to open their Ranji Trophy season with a plate-group match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Nov 23. India A’s first match against the Sri Lankan tourists is also scheduled to begin on the same day, at Ahmedabad.Yajurvindra Singh, a former India player and the chairman of selectors of Maharashtra, told Wisden Cricinfo: “I am surprised by this news. I do not think Kale has the resources to offer this kind of a bribe.”Abhijit Kale started out as a prolific batsman in Mumbai’s age-group teams, but shifted to Maharashta where he soon became their leading batsman. After a couple of prolific Ranji seasons he made his way into the Indian set-up, but was discarded after a solitary one-day international, in which he scored 10.

West Indies have called up Omari Banks for their second Test against Bangladesh that begins on June 4 at Kingston, Jamaica. Dave Mohammed, the left-arm spinner who was in the squad for the first Test but did not make the playing XI, has been left out.Banks missed West Indies’ tour of South Africa after suffering a stress fracture to his back. He proved his match-fitness with a four-wicket haul against Bangladesh in a first class game at St. Vincent a week ago, and has been captaining Anguilla in the ongoing Leeward Islands championship.Squad Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Jermaine Lawson, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Omari Banks.

Canada 250 for 9 dec (Bagai 66, Codrington 48, Mukuddem 3-28) and 91 for 2 (Davison 55*) lead Bermuda 107 (Romaine 40, Patel 3-13, Davison 5-19) by 234 runs
Scorecard

Canada took firm control of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match on the second day at Sunnybrook Park in Toronto, bowling Bermuda out for 107 and opening up a lead of 234 by the end of the second day.It was an allround effort by the Canadians, who had been in some trouble on the first day, which they finished at 158 for 6. But the overnight pair of Ashish Bagai, the wicketkeeper, and fast bowler Austin Codrington took their seventh-wicket stand to 87. Bagai eventually fell to Dwayne Leverock for an obdurate 66, from 177 balls. He hit five fours, but Codrington collected six in his 48. Canada finished with 250 for 9 before John Davison declared.Davison then made inroads with the ball. Oliver Pitcher fell to Ashish Patel for a duck, and although Delyone Borden (18) and Irving Romaine (40) put on 40, after that only one batsman – Saleem Mukuddem – managed to reach double figures. Patel took three wickets, but the main damage was done by Davison. He had taken 17 wickets with his offspin in Canada’s victory over the United States, and winkled out five more here, conceding only 19 runs in 14 overs.Davison then pushed home Canada’s advantage, sprinting to 55 not out, with five fours and two sixes, by the close, which Canada reached at 91 for 2 despite losing Desmond Chumney for 11 and Zubin Surkari for a duck.

Bob Woolmer has already worked some minor miracles in his short stint as Pakistan’s coach, but he is well aware that something special will be required on the final day at Faisalabad, if Pakistan are to avoid slumping to defeat against Sri Lanka, Woolmer’s first home Test at the helm.Sanath Jayasuriya set Pakistan up for the fall with a rollicking 253, before Dilhara Fernando completed a deflating day with a four-wicket burst before the close of the fourth day. The upshot was that Pakistan needed a further 314 for victory, with six wickets standing. “It’s going to be tough work to save the game,” admitted Woolmer, “but we will have a go.”We’ve had enough bad sessions to be on the wrong side of this game,” he added. “Our batting was disappointing in the first innings to say the least.” Pakistan had a golden opportunity to take command of the match after Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami dismissed Sri Lanka for 243, but they could muster no more than 264 in reply.”We are looking for players to bat for two days in Test matches just like Jayasuriya did,” added Woolmer, although he admitted that Pakistan’s recent schedule had not been in their favour. The team has had a glut of one-day matches since the series against India back in April, and there have been no domestic four-day games in the meantime.”I would like to see more Test matches,” he continued, “so you are not always just playing 15 one-day internationals. Surely there should be three or four Test matches and then five one-day internationals so that players can alternate better.”The Sri Lankan camp was a much happier place, and Jayasuriya was beaming after carrying his side into a winning position. “I have never thought about individual landmarks,” he said, “but getting such a score obviously is very pleasing. I hope my innings helps us win this Test match because all of us want to show everyone that Sri Lanka is a team capable of winning abroad.”It is always important for me when I get runs outside Sri Lanka but I am satisfied today because I scored runs when my team needed it the most.”

Marcus Trescothick’s double-century against South Africa at The Oval has propelled him nine places into ninth spot in the PwC ratings for batsmen. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s matchwinning hundred against Bangladesh took him up three places to No. 5. There wasn’t much to celebrate for Michael Vaughan, though, who slumped to 15th place after a disappointing series against South Africa. Graeme Smith fell back to No. 25 after managing a mere 93 from his last six innings.The top three slots in the bowlers’ list remained unchanged, but Shoaib Akhtar and Jacques Kallis both leapt four places after impressive performances in the recent Tests. Three of the South African bowlers who played the series figured in the top 15, while none from the England squad made it to the top 30. In fact, the top three England bowlers in the list were Andy Caddick (No. 10), Matthew Hoggard (No. 22) and Dominic Cork (No. 30). Among the bowlers who played for England this season, Steve Harmison was the highest ranked, at a modest No. 32.

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Darren Lehmann, who selflessly offered his Test place to Michael Clarke, is Cricketer of the Year. The award is recognition of Lehmann’s belated, unlikely and romantic international purple patch, which is currently on hold after he injured his hamstring in the third Test at Nagpur.The 2004-05 edition of , published today, is a history-making edition: the front image of a roaring Shane Warne is the first full-colour pictorial cover in 141-year history. mourns the modern trend towards “McCricket”, calling for a stop to “back-to-back Tests, whistlestop tours, two and four-Test series and all other dunderheaded attempts to jam Test cricket into a polystyrene carton and shove it down our throats as quickly as possible”. For its first 125 years, the five-Test series was cricket’s prestige forum. But Australia have played only one in the past three years and India one in the past seven. New Zealand last played a five-Test series 33 years ago, Pakistan 12 years ago and Sri Lanka have never played one. new editor Christian Ryan writes in his Editor’s Notes: “Only when Australia play England are we now assured the unique thrill of a five-Test series. And beware the hardheads: with their calculators for brains and cash registers for hearts, they are plotting to take even that away from us. Cricket tampers with its own crazy, bewitching rhythms at its peril.”The disappearance of the five-Test series is one of several troublesome issues confronted by a feistier, revamped edition. Cricket Australia (CA) comes in for the fiercest criticism. Of the board’s eagerness to play against a race-based Zimbabwean side, and its description of this year’s tour to Zimbabwe as “a tick in a box”, wonders: “Have Australian cricket administrators no heart, no moral existence at all?”Of the Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s refusal to come to Australia last July, it says CA did not try hard enough to change his mind. “Anything, everything should have been done to make sure he felt comfortable … Australia is the only cricketing nation Murali has felt compelled to stay away from. History will judge us accordingly.”Kerry Packer’s Channel Nine network, the long-time broadcaster of Australian cricket, also comes under attack for televising its quiz show at the moment Shane Warne equalled the world bowling record in Darwin. It was Channel Nine, again because of rival scheduling commitments, who insisted on the bizarre 9.30am starts to this year’s Tests in Darwin and Cairns.”Packer’s priority has only ever been his own prosperity, not cricket’s,” it says. “But so long as the two went hand in hand, all was hunky-dory. In the past year, Packer has appeared happy to suck the game dry and give very little back … It makes you wonder whom cricket belongs to: Packer or the people. Maybe it’s time Cricket Australia reminded a certain billionaire who’s really Boss.”The 2004-05 edition of is at 976 pages the biggest ever and the first – in Australia or England – to incorporate balls faced and boundaries hit in Test scorecards. Among several innovations is a new section called “Farewells”, women’s player profiles, a beefed-up back half and two new tables listing the full career records of every Australian Test and one-day player in order of appearance.

Ian Chappell, the legendary Australian captain, has come out with his thoughts on the Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly controversy and feels that Ganguly should have been prepared for an honest and ruthless answer the moment he asked for a “frank opinion”. Ian Chappell, Greg’s elder brother, described the manner in which they had been brought up and said he was least surprised by the way events unfolded.”Greg can be a very patient man, much more diplomatic than either his father or his elder brother,” wrote Ian Chappell in his column in ,a Mumbai-based tabloid. “However, if you don’t want to hear the truth, then don’t ask him for a frank opinion. Greg Chappell grew up in a household where frank opinions were served up at the breakfast table more often than cereal and fruit juice.”If Indian cricket wanted someone who would passionately seek to help players who wanted to improve, would do his utmost to put the best team on the field for every match without fear or favour and would offer a frank opinion when asked, then they were on the right track with Greg Chappell.”He mentioned Greg Chappell’s insistence on a high standard of fielding and fitness and said it was ingrained in them from an early age. “We all [Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell] had reputations for being either a good catcher or an excellent ground fielder,” he said. “As a player Greg maintained an exceedingly high standard in both facets of fielding and it used to get right up his nose when he felt others were being lazy in the field. It probably still does.” These comments come in the wake of Greg Chappell’s e-mail to the Indian board which said Ganguly was “no longer able to meet the standards of mental and physical fitness that international cricket demands.”The elder Chappell also pointed out the tough decisions in pursuit of success that Greg had taken when he captained Australia and later when he was appointed national selector. “Greg was part of a panel that took some tough decisions that eventually led to the lengthy period of success,” he wrote. “In drawing up the blueprint for a successful future, that panel sacked some talented but undisciplined players. They replaced them with skilful cricketers who had pride in their own performance as well as an extreme desire to achieve victory for the team.”