Andrew Leipus, India’s physiotherapist, has asked to be relieved of hisday-to-day duties with the national team after the home series againstSouth Africa, which ends on Dec 2. Leipus, who has been with the Indianteam since late 1999, wants to spend more time with his family, and alsowants to improve his professional qualifications by studying.The Australian-born Leipus, 34, was recently offered a contract until2007, but it is understood that he has not yet signed that, and has made acounter-proposal wherein he would still be involved with the team, butwould play second fiddle to someone else who did the job on a morehands-on basis.Leipus has suggested that the load on the physio is increasing all thetime, and feels that two professionals are needed to do the jobefficiently. In his letter to the Indian Board he has suggested that JohnGloster, the former Bangladesh physio, be considered for the post he wouldbe vacating. Gloster, who has also worked with Surrey in the past, spentabout two years as the physio of the Bangladesh team, but left them onOctober 9 when his contract ran out.However, Leipus does not want to make a clean break from his duties withIndia, and hopes to be involved occasionally in the future. A sourcewithin the Indian team confirmed that Leipus has always meant to take timeoff from his job to pursue further studies to enhance his professionalqualifications. However, it had been expected that he would take a breakat the end of the current season, and not immediately after the homeseries against South Africa.Leipus is likely to meet with board officials soon to discuss the matter.He succeeded Andrew Kokinos as India’s physiotherapist, after beingrecommended for the post by Dr Mark Ferguson, the South African surgeonwho treated Javagal Srinath.

Minolta South Africa, a Bidvest Group company, have announced a R1.5million sponsorship deal with the Highveld Lions side for the next year.A long-standing supporter of South African sport, Minolta SA has decided to shift its focus to cricket and Alan Griffith, their managing director, said that the agreement with the Highveld Lions reflects Konica Minolta’s ongoing support of local and national sport initiatives. “We are proud to be associated with a well-established sport like cricket, a team like the Highveld Lions and our co-sponsors, 94.7,” he said.Minolta had been involved with cricket earlier as well – they sponsored West Indies’ first tour to South Africa in 1998-99; they have had a major sponsorship in cycling, with the successful Conica Minolta team; and have also been involved with with the Free State rugby team. Alan Kourie, the CEO of New Heights, the governing body of Gauteng Professional cricket, said “We are grateful to have two such prestigious companies joining forces to support our team”.Both Minolta SA and the Highveld Lions are looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship and hope to renegotiate the sponsorship once the one-year agreement comes to an end.

John Buchanan considered walking away from his record-breaking role as Australian coach in the aftermath of the Ashes defeat. A month later he has convinced himself to stay and today extended his contract until the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.Buchanan, who replaced Geoff Marsh in 1999 and immediately enjoyed a 16-Test winning streak, was reappointed on the recommendation of a Cricket Australia review committee that began assessing the game’s direction between the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests. In England, Buchanan was criticised for a lack of off-field intervention as Australia struggled with reverse-swing, no-balls and an inability to raise their game.With his current contract expiring this month, Buchanan said he thought about stepping aside. “That was one of the things that crossed my mind during the Ashes campaign and at the end of it,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be sitting here if I hadn’t reached the conclusion that I wanted to continue, and I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have the support of Cricket Australia and the players.”Winning the Champions Trophy, the Ashes in 2006-07 and the World Cup remain Buchanan’s goals and he said he would reconsider his coaching methods in a bid to making it possible. “We’re all looking at the way we operate,” he said. “One of the things that I always champion is that we’re never satisfied and we’re always looking for improvement.”The review committee, which includes Allan Border, Mark Taylor and the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, will also decide whether Buchanan will be given a team of specialist coaches after the success of Troy Cooley as the ECB’s bowling mentor. “England set some benchmarks there which we can hopefully improve on and one of those is support staff,” Buchanan said. The committee’s findings will be released at a Cricket Australia board meeting in December.

Multan. A city of dust, heat, beggars and burial grounds, according to an old Persian proverb that is swiftly becoming a well-grooved cliché. And it is true, Multan is hot – though not oppressively so as the Asian winter draws in – while the dust is omnipresent, not least during England’s final practice session, as an army of jharoowallahs work the stands with their brooms in preparation for the fans who may or may not turn up to claim their share of a 70% free ticket policy.As for the begging and burials that may occur here, the next five days will reveal all. An England team high on confidence after the Ashes but shorn of their captain and short of batting form, take on a young and eager Pakistan side with renaissance at their fingertips. It is the most timely challenge that either side could wish for at this stage of their respective developments.England, for their part, have arrived in this country with a self-confident strut, visibly emboldened by their summer’s exploits against Australia. Not even two indifferent warm-up matches have been enough to disturb their equilibrium, while the loss of their captain for one Test, and possibly more, seems but a fly in the ointment. Rarely can such a calamitous start to a tour have been given such benefit of the doubt. From tomorrow, however, there can be no more mitigating circumstances.England have said all along that the atmosphere of a proper Test match would be all that was needed to get their juices flowing, and Marcus Trescothick, the acting captain, encountered his first true whiff of cricket, subcontinent-style, at this afternoon’s press call. As he was herded into a cramped attic-room at the top tier of the media enclosure, he was welcomed by a blaze of cameras, cables and questions that left him in no doubt as to the universal significance of tomorrow’s tussle.Trescothick, however, remained unfazed by the challenge and the responsibility, and was adamant that England’s approach would be far removed from the cling-on-at-all-costs approach that served Nasser Hussain’s squad so proudly five years ago. “We are a totally different team,” he insisted, “We’re a more youthful team, with a little bit more positiveness about us. We’ve gained confidence from winning big series over long periods of time, and we will go out to express ourselves.”That urge for self-expression has arguably been at the root of England’s problems so far on this tour, as a host of top-order batsmen have self-destructed in their haste to play their big shots. But one look at the wicket would imply that England’s reasoning in the warm-ups has been correct. The seaming greentops of Rawalpindi and Bagh-e-Jinnah have been replaced by a familiarly dry and grassless strip, on which India’s Virender Sehwag launched last year’s epic series with a national-record 309.Officially, England will not be unveiling their team until the morning of the match, but in his best media-speak, Trescothick conceded that there was a “pretty good chance” of England playing two spinners to match the conditions. That roughly translates as a first Test cap for Hampshire’s veteran, Shaun Udal, who toured with the Ashes squad more than ten years ago, before sinking back into the morass of journeymen tweakers who have been tried and tested over the past decade.Udal might have envisaged a rather earlier baptism than this, but it promises to be no less fiery than the one he had braced himself for in Australia all those years ago. Given the respect and recognition that Ashley Giles has earned for his efforts here in 2000-01, Udal can expect to be targeted from the word go, and in Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and the captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, he will be up against a middle-order who eat slow bowling for iftar.England’s own middle-order, by contrast, has an alarmingly threadbare look to it now that their captain has been ruled out. It is easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen, so imposing at The Oval, has just five Tests to his name and if, as expected, he is to be flanked at Nos. 3 and 5 by Ian Bell (eight Tests) and Paul Collingwood (three), that would leave the entire middle order with the same number of caps combined as Asim Kamal and Hasan Raza, the two relative rookies fighting it out for Pakistan’s No. 6 berth.For all his superlative talent, Pietersen’s lack of runs on this tour is a worry, for the simple reason that he has never yet failed and is undoubtedly due to do so. His early-tour assertion that he wished to develop his bowling was shot down in flames by his coach, Duncan Fletcher, who reminded Pietersen of the pitfalls that await the over-confident, not to mention his additional responsibilities now that he has moved up to No. 4 in the order.Bell, by contrast, lacks nothing in humility, although in his case that is hardly an asset. His Ashes tribulations have been well-documented, and his body language on the early days of the tour has been woebegone in the extreme. But he now has an unanticipated opportunity to restate his credentials, and a chance for an anonymous return to form that, to judge by the faith that England kept all summer, should have been his from the start.With Collingwood providing a 21st Century, professional-era, return to the bits-and-pieces allrounders of yesteryear, it is clear where the bulk of England’s runs must come from. Trescothick and Andrew Strauss have enjoyed a prolific alliance since Vaughan’s last knee injury threw them together in unexpected circumstances 18 months ago, and they represent the one area in which England have an indisputable weight advantage. In the absence of any experienced openers, Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, is expected to opt for the youth of Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt.Andrew Flintoff lurks down the order, ready to cash in as the shine comes off the new ball, but before that can happen, Trescothick and Strauss must first withstand the cut-and-thrust of Pakistan’s new-ball attack – an attack that is not only fully fit for the first time in six Tests, but needs to fire as the pressure for places hots up from below.”It’s going to be a tough challenge for us,” said Trescothick, and although it sounded almost as much of a cliché as Multan’s dust and beggars, these were no mere platitudes. England are in for a battle royal against a side still smarting from that twilight robbery five years ago, and as Trescothick admitted, the burden of the captaincy may force him to reappraise his own approach to the game.”There are different areas I’m going to have to make sure I’m stronger on,” he said, “and certain things will crop up that I’ll have to deal with. But the boys are in good shape, and we’ve switched on a bit in last few days, which generally happens when you get into the warm-up days before a Test match. We’ve done a lot of preparation, we’ve talked a lot as a unit, and we need to make sure we’re really comfortable come tomorrow.”The afterglow of Ashes victory has shielded England’s cricketers ever since their appearance in Trafalgar Square. But come 9.30 tomorrow morning, it will be time to step, once again, outside of the comfort zone.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick (capt), 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Shaun Udal, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Steve Harmison.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shoaib Malik, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Hasan Raza, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Sami, 9 Naved-ul-Hasan Rana, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Danish Kaneria.

Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan president, has ordered an inquiry into Sanath Jayasuriya’s axing from the Test squad for the ongoing three-match series in India.”There were many requests for an investigation over the selections and I have asked sports minister Jeevan Kumaratunga to look into the matter,” said Rajapakse. Saman Amarasinghe, a former umpire and currently the chairman of the sports council, was assigned to conduct the inquiry.Jayasuriya, 36, a veteran of 100 Tests, was dropped after Sri Lanka suffered a humiliating 6-1 loss in a recent one-day series in India. He had problems with both form and fitness and could manage just 85 runs in six outings. “I have asked to investigate why Jayasuriya was overlooked for the Tests in India,” said Rajapakse. “Why did they select him for the one-day series if he was not fully fit ?”Jayasuriya, who has 6,580 Test runs and 10,207 runs in one-day internationals, aggravated a shoulder injury just before the one-dayers in India. But his omission from the Test squad created a stir in Sri Lanka with former players and enthusiasts arguing that Jayasuriya had recovered sufficiently from the injury and should have been picked for the Tests.The first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Chennai has seen the first two days washed out due to a cyclone sweeping through the region.

Bangladesh 221 for 4 (46.4 overs, Saqibul Hasan 100) beat Sri Lanka 217 (49.4 overs, Mathews 65, Saqibul Hasan 3-39) by six wickets
ScorecardSaqibul Hasan produced an allround performance to grace any stage as Bangladesh surged to a six-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the final of the Under-19 triangular tournament. They have been the form side throughout the competition and the result confirms them as the rising stars at this level.If the 15-year-old continues to perform as he did in this match, with a sparkling 86-ball century and three vital wickets, it will not be long before he is mixing it on the biggest stage. His century was studded with ten crisp boundaries as he dominated the attack after arriving at 51 for 1. He unleashed his trademark pull off the seamers and was not afraid to sweep the spinners.With him providing such a dominate force the other batsmen were able to play second fiddle. Raqibul Hasan and Shamsur Rahman both acted as valuable support, content to work the singles and rotate the strike, in consecutive stands of 74 and 72. Although Saqibul Hasan fell just four runs short of the target he rightly received huge applause from the crowd, and his team-mates, after leaving a lasting memory on the tournament.His wickets ensured Sri Lanka never found the going easy and struggled for momentum throughout their innings. The ball swung in the early stages and both openers were gone by the seventh over. Saqibul Hasan’s first influence on proceedings came when he trapped Hans Fernando lbw. He then halted a threatening knock from Shalika Karunanayake, having him stumped for 37, as Sri Lanka stumbled for 90 for 4. The captain, Angelo Mathews, held the middle order together with a composed 65, including a thumping flat six over extra cover.The Sri Lankans must have felt Saqibul Hasan was everywhere they looked as he added a catch and a run out to his match-winning contribution. His efforts put the seal on a stunning tournament for the allrounder. Never mind the Man-of-the-Match award being a formality, it won’t have taken too long to decide that he also was the player of the tournament – 280 runs in seven matches and 10 wickets makes impressive reading.This tournament has shown Bangladesh are blessed with some terrifically talented young players. Along with Saqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim has confirmed his promise while Suhrawadi Shuvo is developing into a useful spinner. If a handful can transfer these performances on to the full international stage Bangladesh cricket will be the better for it.

Major League Cricket has thrown down the gauntlet to its detractors and made clear that not only is it not going to disappear, but that it is upping the ante and looking for a bigger role in US cricket.It announced the appointment of eight State Development Officers (listed below) to help promote and develop the game at all levels and to implement the US Cricket Development Programme. The State Development Officers all report to one of the eight Divisional Operations Officers of which MLC will be announcing in 2006. These eight Divisional Operations Officers all report to the National Development Manager who reports directly to Parag Harolikar, MLC’s Vice President of Cricket Operations.”MLC’s U.S. Cricket Development Program is slowly unfolding,” said Harolikar. “This is a defining moment in US cricket and we intend to be solidified and structured in our approached. The appointment of these eight SDOs is a great step in that direction and we will be appointing more SDOs in the coming months. We thank them for their commitment and believe in the MLC business process and look forward to exciting developments in cricket for 2006 as we continue working together.”And despite many obstacles and attempts by some factions within US cricket to deter teams from participating, MLC’s recent National Interstate Cricket Tournament (NICT) in Broward County, Florida was widely reckoned to be a success, and Bernard Cameron, MLC’s CEO, has announced plans for the 2006 tournament.”We intend to make the 2006 NICT better than 2005 by learning and capitalizing on last year,” Cameron explained. “From sponsorship negotiations, hospitality management, itinerary scheduling for both local and international teams along with the use of better publicity and the media, we intend to work closely with our State Development Officers along with our governmental and commercial partners to put in place the necessary business processes that would allow for deeper pockets that would provide the cricketer with a much better managed tournament.”Cameron added that pre-registration for the 2006 NICT could now be completed via MLC’s newly-launched website at www.mlcus.com/.Finally, in a move likely to antagonize supporters of the Gladstone Dainty-led USA Cricket Association, MLC announced a 26-man US national cricket squad based on the best players at its recent NICT.MLC squad Mahesh Nanda, Sanjeev Singh (Pennsylvania); Shane Ford, Mark Izsac (Florida); Srikanth Sundaragopalan, Bardan Chalise, Shehryar Butt, Phani Chitneni, Mehul Dave, Arnab Mitra Washington; Hasan Waqas, Ajay Sharma, Waqas Qader, Ameeq Khan, Vicky Chanaraj, Hashim Khan Virginia; Sushil Nadkarni, Tejas Sanghvi, Usman Shuja, Arjun Rajagopalan, Niraj Shah, Amir Nanjee (Texas); Aqeel Sabri, Kamran Khan, Ani Khandekar, Abhi Patel (North Carolina).SDOs Kuldeep Patel (Texas), Naveed Khan (Tennessee), Shailesh S. Bokil (Pennsylvania), George Gordon (Maryland), Shashi Desai (North Carolina), Raghu Misra (Florida), Phani Chitneni (Washington) and Irfan Hasan (Virginia).

Zimbabwe Under-19 captain Sean Williams is targeting a victory over Group D rivals England as the key to his side’s progress to the Super League at the U-19 World Cup.The group, that also includes Associate sides Ireland and Nepal, appears to be the most wide-open of the four in the tournament that starts in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday. And Williams, who has already played four ODIs at senior level, believes a victory over the group favourites, who they face on 10 February, could go a long way to ensuring the African side reach the knock-out stage.”England are my main target – I really want to beat England,” he said on Monday. “I think if we beat England then we are close to the Super League and I would say if we can beat them then we can beat almost anybody. I know and believe we can beat them.”This tournament comes less than a month after Zimbabwe Cricket withdrew from Test matches for one year following a period of poor results and internal strife that has rocked the game in that country. The situation has prompted speculation about the future of cricket in Zimbabwe and so Williams acknowledged a solid performance from his team was vital to show that future is bright.”The U-19 team we have got has a lot of fight in it and the incentive for us is huge,” he said. “People do not expect a lot from Zimbabwe but at the last U-19 World Cup (in Bangladesh in 2004) we proved a lot and we’ve come to prove a lot again. In an individual way it is important for each and every (Zimbabwe) player that has come across to be seen by the rest of the world,” he added.The importance of the team being in Sri Lanka and also proving the vitality of the game at this development level was echoed by team manager Dilip Chouhan. “We know all eyes are focussed on us in the cricketing fraternity because of what has happened at home,” he said.”As a result we believe we are playing an important role as far as the future of Zimbabwe cricket is concerned.”Coach Walter Chawaguta said he had encouraged his players not to think about the internal problems that have affected cricket in Zimbabwe in the build-up to this tournament. “From day one we’ve said this is U-19 cricket,” he said. “A lot of them are schoolboys so not a lot of them have been affected. They may be worried about their futures but we have made it very clear they should only worry about things that are in their control – that has been our focus. Our future lies in the development of the game and our U-14, U-15 and U-16 sides right up to U-19 level are well developed. If we can be competitive at these levels then it means there is light at the end of the tunnel.”Zimbabwe lost all five of its matches in November’s Afro-Asian U-19 Cup in India but Williams said part of the blame for those losses was down to some players being unavailable because of schooling commitments. He said since that tournament the players had been in a training camp interrupted only by a break for the Christmas holidays in December ahead of the trip to Sri Lanka.Chawaguta added they knew little about their opening Group D opponents Ireland but said that was not a major concern. “Our focus is on making sure we play well on any particular day,” he said. “If we do that then we will put the opposition under pressure.”Zimbabwe face Ireland on Sunday on the opening day of the ICC U-19 CWC before further matches against Nepal (February 7) and England (February 10) complete their group stage.The top two sides from each of the four groups in the tournament will progress to the Super League stage, which consists of knock-out quarter- and semi-finals and a final on 19 February.Zimbabwe squad Sean Williams (capt), Gary Balance, Ronald Benade, Justice Chomunorwa (also known as Cham or Chamu Chibhabha), Graeme Cremer, Ryan Higgins, Friday Kasteni, Tarisai Mahlunge, Prince Masvaure, Keagan Meth, Taurai Muzarabani, Ian Nicolson, Donald (also known as Kuda) Samunderu and Glen Querl.

Well placed at 158 for 2, Northern Districts would have been happy with their progress against Canterbury on a revamped Seddon Park ground in Hamilton. At the end of the day and all out for 269, the smiles would have long faded as Northerns collapsed woefully against Chris Harris’s wobbly deliveries. Opener Nick Horsley (60) and Alun Evans (53) laid the platform, but nobody in Northern’s notoriously fragile batting line-up could capitalise. Harris took 4 for 46 and Brandon Hiini 3 for 46 as Canterbury polished off the tail before stumps.Mathew Sinclair and opener Geoff Barnett put on a record second-wicket partnership for Central Districts against Otago at New Plymouth. However Central will be disappointed with their stumps position of 275 for 6 when you consider Sinclair (121) and Barnett (94) were together for 213 of those runs. The day was truncated by four overs due to showers but Otago had bowled themselves back into the game with two wickets apiece to Warren McSkimming, David Sewell and Bradley Scott.Top met bottom in Wellington and that was obvious as the home team bundled out woeful Auckland for 235 with Tim Lythe (66) the only player to pass 50. James Franklin, the discarded New Zealand swing bowler, took 3 for 46 and national prospect Mark Gillespie continued his impressive wicket-taking form with 3 for 66. In reply Wellington reached 59 for 1 at stumps with Matthew Bell not out on 32 and Michael Parlane on 14.

Bangladesh have confirmed their place in October’s Champions Trophy in India with their 20-run victory over Kenya at Fatullah.Only sides in the top 10 of the ODI championship table on April 1 will take part in the tournament and the win by Habibul Bashar’s side means they cannot be overtaken by the eleventh-placed Kenya ahead of the cut-off date.Bangladesh will now play in the preliminary round alongside Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. The top two sides from that first, round-robin, stage will then go forward to join the top six sides from the ODI table in the second round of the tournament.The only matter that now needs to be decided ahead of the announcement of the draw for the Champions Trophy is the final placings of the teams in the top six spots in the table by the cut-off date as that will affect who they play.India and England are currently fifth and sixth respectively in that table but could swap places if England win both matches between the two sides scheduled to take place before April 1.