Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has denied reports circulating in Pakistan that the PCB’s newly drafted constitution has been rejected and sent back by the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf.The draft copy has been with the President – who is also Patron-in-Chief of the cricket board – awaiting approval since June 2005 when it was sent for vetting. There it still remains, in limbo and not, as a local newspaper reported a few weeks ago, rejected and sent back.Shaharyar told Cricinfo, at the National Stadium Karachi, that the draft had not been rejected and was still with the President. “We sent the draft on June 9 last year. After that we were told it had to be vetted by their legal authorities. In the meantime, three members of our ad-hoc committee, Ali Raza, Moeen Afzal and Naseem Shah, said the constitution is not taking into account properly the corporate culture. I told them to make a paper on it, which has also been sent to the President. They now want to scrutinise this as well.”The board has also come in for criticism from, among a plethora of others, members of the senate for being so guarded and secretive about the draft constitution and not allowing members of the public to see it before it is approved. But Shaharyar revealed that if it were up to him, he would have allowed the document to become public.”My own feelings were that the draft which Justice Karamat Bhandari wrote should be made available to the public so they can offer suggestions. This is my own view, not that of the President or the Justice – they say it may become politicised – but I felt it would have been a good idea.”But it is still uncertain when the board, without a constitution since 1999 and being run on an ad-hoc basis, will finally have one. Shaharyar could only say, “I have a feeling there is movement there so maybe in the next few weeks or months they will say something on it.”The drafting and implementation of a constitution was one of the chairman’s top priorities when he took over in December 2003; since then it has failed to see the light of day despite various deadlines being set. It will be of some concern to the board that, despite having a draft ready by the middle of last year, the status quo remains, although what they can do about it – Shaharyar said, “I can hardly push the President on it so much, as I am sure he has more pressing matters to deal with” – is unclear.

Munaf Patel, the Indian fast bowler, has acknowledged the rapid change in his lifestyle since stepping into international cricket. After having his mobile number changed and his house in the tiny village of Ikhar in Gujarat hounded by the media, Munaf, 23, admitted that he was learning to deal with fame.”I have lost my privacy,” Munaf told a day before the Indian team left for the Unitech Cup in Sri Lanka. “There is someone always at the door wanting to meet me or my phone is ringing. As it is, as an international player there is so much travelling involved and I get so less time to spend with my family.”As India prepare for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, also featuring South Africa, Munaf singled out the home side as the bigger threat. “They leave nothing to chance while playing at home,” he said. “They know their conditions and take full advantage of that. Lanka just had twin series wins against England and South Africa and have hit a good patch.”Munaf felt that bowling in the West Indies would definitely be an asset in the tri-series. “Surprisingly the wickets in West Indies this time were very slow and low. That has helped me figure what line and length to bowl on slow wickets, like the ones we’ll get in Sri Lanka,” he said.”On tour I had fruitful chats with former West Indies greats like Andy Roberts too. As for the future I plan to bowl stump to as per coach Greg Chappell’s instructions. I know I will have to work hard to get wickets on the slow tracks and am ready for the challenge.”I can still bowl as fast whenever I want to,” he continued. “But speed is not always important, one needs to out-think the batsmen and that’s possible with accuracy and consistency. I am working towards that.” And as far as reverse-swing was concerned, Munaf was straightforward: “The fact is that in one day matches the white ball reverse swings well, but the opposition batsmen usually get it changed before it reaches the stage where you can make it swing the wrong way. So it’s wise to stick to the conventional swing and get wickets.”

Scotland have followed Ireland’s lead by naming their World Cup squad seven months before the start of the tournament.Officials explained that the early announcement was made to allow the largely amateur squad to negotiate time off work for not only the tournament but the plethora of fixtures in the lead-in to the event.It is a largely experienced squad, although Warwickshire’s Navdeep Poonia has been picked with just one appearance for the national side under his belt. He has impressed selectors with his efforts for the county, however, and his opportunities for Scotland have been limited by those commitments. Majid Haq, the spinner, wins a recall after not playing since 2005.”The nucleus of this squad has performed consistently for Scotland over the last couple of seasons,” Peter Drinnen, the national coach, explained. “They fully deserve the opportunity to represent their country on the biggest stage in the world.”Of the Scotland squad which competed in 1999 only John Blain and Gavin Hamilton remain, although Dougie Brown returns after nine one day internationals for England.Scotland squad , Craig Wright (capt), John Blain, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Paul Hoffmann, Omer Hussain, Douglas Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Navdeep Poonia, Neil McCallum, Dewald Nel, Colin Smith, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts.Reserves Asim Butt, Kyle Coetzer, Gordon Goudie, Gregor Maiden, Neil McRae, Qasim Sheikh, Simon Smith, Ian Stanger.

Sri Lanka will send their A team to take part in India’s Duleep Trophy domestic inter-zonal tournament which starts next month. Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, said that the opportunity to participate came after South Africa, who were expected to send a team, pulled out.The tournament will provide Chandika Hathurusingha with his first assignment as Sri Lanka A coach. Hathurusingha, a former Sri Lankan Test cricketer, took over from Stan Nel on September 1.After the Indian tour, Sri Lanka A are due to tour the Caribbean in December-January and then England in the summer of 2007.The Duleep Trophy tournament consists of six teams, divided into two pools, which play each other in four-day matches. Five of the competing teams are Indian, while the sixth is an overseas side. Last season a team from Zimbabwe had participated.

Scorecard

Rain and bad light prevented either side from making a sustained assault on victory as South Australia and New South Wales settled for a draw at the SCG. Phil Jaques laid the platform for the Blues to make a late push but the situation deteriorated once he departed for 79, which confirmed his Man-of-the-Match performance following his first-innings 163.New South Wales began at 0 for 13 in search of 294 and were travelling comfortably at 2 for 145 when Jaques was removed by Darren Lehmann with the forecast showers approaching. Brad Haddin promoted himself to No. 5 in an effort to increase the scoring rate but he was bowled by Paul Rofe and the rain caused a 30-minute delay.When play resumed Aaron O’Brien fell to Shaun Tait to give South Australia a chance to add to their two first-innings points, but Dominic Thornely (35) and Moises Henriques (13) accepted a bad-light offer that ended the match. Cullen Bailey, the legspinner who opened the bowling last night, started the day strongly with the wickets of Greg Mail and Ed Cowan in the first session, but was unable to make further dints in the New South Wales order.

Shoaib Akhtar has been banned from cricket for two years and Mohammad Asif for one, after both were found guilty of using the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone, by a three-man drugs tribunal formed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).Both men tested positive after dope tests conducted internally by the PCB at the end of September. They were pulled out of Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy on October 16, the day before their opening game.”We gave a full chance to both the pacemen to fight their cases and after a thorough inquiry we feel they failed to prove their innocence,” said Shahid Hamid, the chairman of the panel that also included former captain Intikhab Alam and Waqar Ahmed, a medical expert. “The process of doping was investigated carefully. We made sure the tests were conducted properly, samples reached the laboratory in Malaysia safely and there was no error in testing in the laboratory.”Both the players were satisfied and accepted the tests and gave their point of view but after a thorough inquiry and bound by the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) we reached the decision.” Bob Woolmer, Pakistan coach, told AFP the ban “was not good news for Pakistan.”Hamid elaborated why the two had received different sentences: “Akhtar contested the case saying that he has been on a high-protein diet which contained beef, chicken meat and other dietary supplements and he also said he took some herbal medicines from a Hakim (herbal expert) but he couldn’t prove them.”Asif’s case was different…. Pakistan physician Darryn Lifson confirmed he stopped him from taking a banned substance a few months back.”Under the ICC’s doping rules, a two-year ban is the minimum penalty for a first offence. However, the PCB had insisted all along it will take its own decisions, since the tests were conducted internally. As a younger member of the squad, Asif, 24 next month, has been let off comparatively lightly, and can be expected to fight again for his place next year. For Shoaib, however, the final curtain could be falling on an eventful and controversial career. Both players do, however, have the right to appeal and, if they do, a separate tribunal will be conducted.Both had been recovering from injuries in the weeks and months building up to their positive tests, with Shoaib suffering from knee and ankle problems and Asif fighting back from an elbow problem that forced him to miss much of Pakistan’s tour of England last summer.Shoaib initially denied any misconduct, saying: “I have not knowingly taken any performance enhancing drugs and would never cheat my team-mates or opponents in this way.” But earlier this week, both men declined the offer of a retest on their B samples, which implied that they did not question the results. Both men are, however, entitled to appeal against their ban.For Pakistan cricket as a whole, the verdict marks the end of an unpalatable three-month period, which began with the ball-tampering controversy at The Oval, leading to the first forfeiture in Test history and a four-ODI suspension for their captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq.Younis Khan, Inzamam’s stand-in, then resigned on the eve of the Champions Trophy, claiming he did not wish to be a “dummy” captain, only to be reinstated following the resignation of the PCB’s exasperated chairman, Shaharyar Khan.

Kevin Pietersen has found himself at the centre of a storm after comments made in an interview with the South African edition of GQ magazine led to the South African board (CSA) writing to the ICC and England board (ECB) demanding that action be taken.At the heart of the furore are comments made by Pietersen concerning events that led to him leaving South Africa and moving to England. He claimed that he was forced out of the game in South Africa because of racist policies against white players. There is a quota system where each first-class team in South Africa is expected to contain at least four non-white players.What is more surprising about the timing of CSA’s complaint is that Pietersen’s comments have been aired many times before, including in his autobiography Crossing The Boundary published in September.If the ICC decide there is a case to answer then he could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute, which covers inappropriate public comment. It carries penalties ranging from a ban of two to four Tests or four to eight one-day matches.It emerged yesterday that CSA demanded an ICC investigation, claiming that his comments amounted to accusations of racism against the country’s cricket system. CSA also asked the ECB to take action against Pietersen for his constant criticism of Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain.The South African authorities are also thought to be livid at implications made by Pietersen over match-fixing. “At the end of the day (cheating) is wrong,” he was quoted as saying. “But I can see how it happens. Hansie copped a lot more than he should have. I think he took the brunt for the players. There are a lot of people who I think that have done stuff that people don’t know about and got away with it.”Pietersen’s comments about the appointment of Ashwell Prince as South Africa’s stand-in captain also rankled. “I just thought it was further evidence that things were going downhill … it’s got nothing to do with the colour of his skin. It’s just that better players are being left out for political reasons and until that system changes, South African sport will continue to go downhill.”I’ve got some mates who are now on the fringes of playing domestic cricket in South Africa who are better than three or four of those players in the South African side. I’ve got a very good mate who is actually a better player than me, who is now working for SA Breweries, because he can’t get into the side for political reasons and that’s wrong.”

Pakistan’s fast bowling resources might hold the key to a tough series in South Africa, according to Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach. At their disposal, as the squad is finalised, will be the likes of Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan and the returning trio of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Shabbir Ahmed.Woolmer told the Karachi-based daily , “The tour will be a tough one but our bowling — assuming all our bowlers are fit and selected — will be a force. Our batting, however, will have to cope with the pitches in South Africa and that will be a major task. But I believe we have the ability to do well. Let’s wait and see what happens. Touch wood, all will depend how quickly the lads get used to the conditions.”Though an appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) still hangs over the heads of Shoaib and Asif, Woolmer is confident that the back up is strong. “I have no information as regards WADA’s action. But even then, we have a good back up attack with Shabbir Ahmed available again and Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir and Mohammad Sami doing well.”(Rana) Naved’s form was also exceptional and it was so nice to see this really great guy doing so well against the West Indies in the ODIs. It will be great to have him available for the Test matches and I hope he can carry that form into the Tests.”Hope can also be drawn from South Africa’s struggles in the ongoing Test series against India. Widely acknowledged as favourites heading into the Tests, following a 4-0 thumping of India in the ODI series, South Africa were bundled out for 84 by India’s pace attack in the first innings of the first Test at Johannesburg, on the way to a 123-run defeat. Having prepared a fast, bouncy track to exploit India’s supposed weaknesses against pace, the ploy backfired on the hosts.Woolmer said, “That result in Johannesburg is a good example since it shows that South Africa can be bowled out and secondly, they can be beaten at home. I believe that the Wanderers pitch was a contributory factor, which backfired on the tactics that the Proteas wanted to employ.”In fact it allowed India to expose technical frailties in the South African line-up. However, knowing the South Africans as I do, I think they will come back strongly in the remaining Tests against India.”Woolmer pointed out that South Africa’s Test performances recently had been poor by their standards. “They are a team that fights hard and has some fine players. Part of their current problem could be behind the scene wrangles but there recent Test match performances have been poor by their standards. In the one-day game, though, they are still a force to reckon with.”Mind you, the team is the key. We have to play against the whole South African team and not the individuals. Naturally, players like (Jacques) Kallis and (Shaun) Pollock and (Mark) Boucher are key members as are (Makhaya) Ntini and (Herschelle) Gibbs. There are no easy games at this level.”The fact that we are playing a tough team is important. It means we will have to prepare the best way we can. It is exactly what we need. I was very heartened by our performances against the West Indies who are a good one-day team. The World Cup is still far away and the South African tour will boost our preparations.”

ScorecardBengal fell agonisingly short of obtaining a first-innings lead against Gujarat at Kolkata, after they were bowled out for 326. The partnership between Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Rohan Gavaskar took Bengal closer, before A Singh bowled Gavaskar for 74, ending their 138-run stand. Shukla looked set to score a century but gradually ran out of partners as seamer Hitesh Majmudar mopped up the lower order to record his third five-wicket haul. Shukla fell for 93, when his side were five behind Gujarat’s first-innings score of 329. Parthiv Patel had a good day behind the stumps, taking five catches. Gujarat got off to a solid start in their second innings with Azharuddin Bilakhia leading the way with an unbeaten 63.
ScorecardA rearguard action by Puneet Bisht and Virat Kohli lifted Delhi out of dire straits against Karnataka at the Feroz Shah Kotla, as Delhi were dismissed for a more respectable 308. Bisht’s career-best 156 and Kohli’s 90 stood out in a string of single digit scores, as the pair contributed to nearly 80% of the team total. It was a courageous innings by Kohli, who lost his father the night before, putting the tragedy behind him for the team’s cause. Bisht piloted the innings after Kohli was dismissed at 211, adding 59 with Chetanya Nanda, who provided good support. B Akhil was the most effective of the Karnataka bowlers, finishing with figures of 5 for 58. Karnataka in their second innings took their score to 32 but lost Barrington Rowland off what was the last ball of the day.
Scorecard
The Kolhapur run-fest continued with Hrishikesh Kanitkar scoring 131 to take Maharashtra to 308 for 5 but Punjab took crucial wickets late on the third day and were in a strong position to claim the first-innings lead. Although the possibility of an outright result is remote, Maharashtra still need 242 runs with five wickets in hand to draw level in the first innings. They began the day on 50 for 1 and Kanitkar found solid support in Dheeraj Jadhav who scored 72. However, Jadhav and Nikhil Paradkar fell in quick time and Maharashtra were 176 for 3 before Sridharan Sriram added 105 with Kanitkar for the fourth wicket.
ScorecardRakesh Solanki’s unbeaten 104 put Baroda within 82 runs of securing the first-innings lead against Andhra on a turgid third day at the Moti Bagh Stadium. Solanki batted the whole day, faced 260 balls for his century, and steered Bardoa to 262 for 3. He received support from Jacob Martin who ground out 78 off 222 balls. With just one-day remaining the likelihood of an outright victory for any team is faint, but the first-innings points are well within Baroda’s sights.
Hyderabad strengthened their grip over the contest at Uppal, extending their score to 354 and nailing three Mumbai wickets before the end of the day. D Vinay Kumar, on 64 overnight, completed his fifth first-class century and extended his partnership with Ibrahim Khaleel, the wicketkeeper. The duo added 126 with Khaleel managing a patient 68. Offspinner Ramesh Powar, who sent down a marathon 41.2 overs, ended with 7 for 89. Mumbai lost three wickets, all to medium-pacer Alfred Absolem, before stumps were drawn.
Scorecard
Cheteshwar Pujara led an inspired Saurashtra riposte to Tamil Nadu’s first-innings 500, ending the day on a healthy 325 for 4 at Rajkot. Pujara cracked 23 fours on his way to his second first-class hundred and shared an excellent 216-run partnership with Shitanshu Kotak, who chipped in with 84. Tamil Nadu struck back with two late wickets, including R Naresh removing captain Jaydev Shah, and set up an interesting battle for first-innings points.

Public broadcaster Doordarshan and private network Nimbus have failed to reach an agreement on telecast of ongoing India-West Indies cricket series, dampening hopes of a resolution to the dispute before Wednesday’s match at Cuttack.Criticising the “rigid line” taken by the Indian information and broadcasting ministry and the state broadcasteing corporation Prasar Bharati, BCCI rights holder Nimbus challenged the public broadcaster to produce its own programme and go live.”We offered Prasar Bharati a deal where they could have live feed of the matches if they encrypt signals or they could go in for a 15-minute delayed feed”, Digvijay Singh, the CEO of Nimbus, told PTI immediately after the talks with Prasar Bharati. “However, since they do not agree to both these, all I can say is they can come to the stadium with their equipment and go live if they believe they are so entitled under guidelines.”Asked if this would not be illegal, he said: “Let them first do it, then we will see.”L D Mandloi, the director-general of national broadcaster Doordarshan (DD), ruled out any live recording from the stadium, saying, “How can we do it without an agreement? It is not possible.”Today’s talks between the two broadcasters came even as both approached the courts to resolve the matter and swing things in their favour. Nimbus went to the Delhi High Court, challenging the Centre’s uplinking guidelines that make it mandatory on private broadcasters to share feed of sporting events of “national interest” with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. The Delhi High Court has fixed the matter for hearing tomorrow.On the other hand, Prasar Bharati filed caveats in the Supreme Court and Delhi and Bombay High Courts, pleading that it be heard whenever the matter regarding the telecast row would be taken up.While the BCCI has thrown its support behind Nimbus, the Indian government has taken a serious view of the public broadcaster being denied telecast rights. P R Dasmunshi, the information and broadcasting minister, who has said the government will take steps to bring in a law making mandatory to share feed of sporting events of national interest with DD, questioned the BCCI rights award to Nimbus, saying terrestrial rights cannot be sold to any private broadcaster as they were not under the jurisdiction of the cricket board.”Terrestrial rights to Doordarshan and radio cannot be overshadowed by any private marketing company. I will not be under pressure of any sort in this regard”, he said, adding that once the law was in place there would be no scope for the broadcaster to violate it.