R Ashwin will lead Tamil Nadu in the MJ Gopalan trophy to be played in Colombo between September 26-29. The Tamil Nadu District Cricket Association (TNCA) has announced a 14-man squad for the match for this once-prestigious tournament which is being revived after a gap of six years. It was last conducted in 2001 in Chennai.When last played Tamil Nadu defeated a Colombo District Cricket Association side at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai to win the trophy – which Gopalan himself attended, after which the tournament went into hibernation. In the interim, Gopalan had died aged 94 on December 21, 2003.The Gopalan trophy, named after MJ Gopalan, the double-international who represented India in both cricket and hockey, was once a fixture in the domestic calendar and has now been revived. The inaugural match was played in 1953 and became a regular fixture in Sri Lanka’s domestic calendar. But with Sri Lanka receiving Test status in 1983, the trophy was discontinued, only to be revived 17 years later in 2000.Tamil Nadu, in the absence of S Badrinath, who is with India A, and Dinesh Karthik, who is doing national duty, is led by Ashwin, an offspinner, who has played in four first-class matches claiming 31 wickets at an average of 16.93. He was also the recipient of the ‘CEAT India Bowler of the year’ award for 2006-07.The tournament was revived after a discussion between Bandula Warnapura, the chief executive of the Sri Lankan board, and N Srinivasan, the president of TNCA, on the sidelines of the Afro-Asia Cup held in June, according to a report in the , a Colombo-based newspaper.The Tamil Nadu team arrive in Colombo late on September 21 and play a two-day practice match starting on September 23. The four-day match for the MJ Gopalan trophy – in which Tamil Nadu will take on a Sri Lankan side comprising players from the A team and under-19 level, starts on September 26.Meanwhile, Napolean Einstein, the right-hand opening batsman has been included in the squad in place of S Anirudha, who will join the India A team for a three-match one-day series against South Africa A.Tamil Nadu squad
R Ashwin (Capt), K Vasudevadas (vice-captain), Napolean Einstein, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, R Srinivasan, E Suresh, H Gopinath (wk), S Suresh Kumar, C Ganapathy, R Avinash, R Naresh, P Amarnath, C Suresh
Coach: WV Raman
Manager: PC Prakash
Physio: PK Naveen Babu
Physical Trainer:Ramji Srinivasan

Sreesanth, the Indian seamer, is hoping a good showing at the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 will help him earn a recall to the ODI team to play against Australia and Pakistan at home.Sreesanth was dropped from the squad for the ODI series in England after his indifferent form in the Tests. Also, he has an unimpressive ODI record, having bagged 38 wickets in 29 games at an average of 34.94 and economy of 5.66.”I’m hoping to have good games in South Africa. I’ve been working on my bowling,” Sreesanth told . “I haven’t done greatly in one-dayers but I’ll try and come back hard. Hopefully I’ll do well in the Twenty20 and get back into the one-day team.”Sreesanth said he’s aiming at picking up wickets with the slower ball in South Africa. “I’ve basically been working on my slower ball. Twenty20 is about four overs per bowler and if I get my slower balls in the right areas, you end up getting a lot of wickets.””I’m hoping to stay relaxed [n South Africa] because things happen quickly in Twenty20 and as a bowler one has to think and try it at the right time for results,” said Sreesanth, who might lead India’s attack with Ajit Agarkar and RP Singh in the absence of spearhead Zaheer Khan.Sreesanth has also been working on his action. “I am working on my left arm [non bowling arm], which I almost lost during the tests in England,” Sreesanth told .India open the ICC World Twenty20 against Scotland on September 13, and will host Australia for a seven-match ODI series after the tournament, commencing with the first match in Bangalore on September 29.

Derbyshire have signed former Surrey left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi and Leicestershire batsman John Sadler as they continue to remodel their squad for the 2008 season.Doshi walked out of Surrey during August citing a lack of first-team opportunity and initially tried to sign for Sussex. However, he couldn’t obtain written permission from Surrey – required for a mid-season switch of counties – and didn’t play again during 2007.Sadler, the left-handed top-order batsman, played a key role in Leicestershire’s 2004 and 2006 Twenty20 titles.”I am delighted that we have been able to bring these two quality players in the prime of their careers to Derbyshire,” said head of cricket John Morris. “They will be outstanding additions to our squad in terms of their ability on the field but also what they will add off it.”Statistics don’t tell you everything but if you look at both of these players their careers were flourishing before disrupted seasons in 2007, even then they both managed to turn in some outstanding performances.”According to the the club are also hopeful of securing Rikki Clarke’s signature as their new captain and are still chasing Mahela Jayawardene as an overseas player.

Tim Nielsen, Australia’s new coach, believes the three replacements for the holes left by Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer have still not been decided. While Phil Jaques seems to have sealed the opening batting place, Mitchell Johnson the bowling spot and Stuart MacGill the spinning vacancy, Nielsen said there was still time for other players to be considered for the first Test against Sri Lanka from November 8.”I don’t think the Glenn McGrath position has been finalised and it’s the same with the spin position,” Nielsen said. “There are also a lot of contenders for the opening position and Phil Jaques has done well over the past couple of weeks.”Jaques strengthened his claim with 13 and 167 against Western Australia in Perth last week while Chris Rogers struggled before his chances were ended when he was hospitalised with appendicitis. Brad Hodge, who has also signalled his intention to partner Matthew Hayden at the Gabba, managed only 61 runs in eight games in India while Michael Hussey is recovering from a hamstring strain and the Australian management wants him to stay at No. 4.Nielsen said the round of Pura Cup games over the next week would be crucial as the Australian one-day players switch from limited-overs to Test mode. Ideally he wants his batsmen to spend long periods in the middle and the bowlers to deliver two or three spells a day.”This first game will be important for the guys,” he said. “They have four days of playing, getting up and playing again. It’s something they haven’t done for a while.”The fixtures will also be important for Stuart MacGill and Shaun Tait, who are coming back from off-season operations. MacGill, who is coming back from a knee surgery, will be part of the New South Wales team which will host Queensland from Friday, the same day Victoria begin their contest with Western Australia. Tait, who is fighting to prove his fitness from an elbow problem, will have a one-day match against Tasmania on Saturday before the Pura Cup game starting next Monday.Despite the loss of the three greats, Nielsen is confident Australia will be able to provide cover. “I want to make sure there is heaps of depth to do a great job,” he said. “There’s a new focus in the team and it’s the start of a new era. It will be positive and challenging time.”

The matches of the round
Nishit Shetty, who moved from Mumbai to Tripura, fell 13 short of masterminding an incredible run-chase . Vidarbha had set Tripura 301 runs to get in 81 overs on the final day. Shetty scored 130 in 137 balls but the later half of the Tripura innings came apart. At one point, they needed 60 runs in more than 10 overs and had five wickets in hand.At Silchar, S Suresh scored 102 runs out of the 350 Assam scored in both innings and also took six wickets to help them beat Kerala, his former team, by 32 runs . Kerala, who were bowled out for 85 in the first innings, put up a stiff fight in the second innings, ending the third day needing 66 out of the 267 they were set. But they lost their last four wickets for 33 on the final morning.At the Barabati Stadium, Orissa, needing 295 runs on the final day, lost five of their wickets for 111 but their tail put up a commendable fight to almost eke out a draw . In the end, Niranjan Behera and Debasis Mohanty’s efforts failed as Andhra dismissed the last Orissa batsman with 23 balls to spare. The partnerships for the eighth, ninth and 10th wickets lasted 15, 8.2 and 5.1 overs respectively.Oh for some enterprise
Punjab and Tamil Nadu, who had secured first-innings leads against their respective opponents, could have ensured two more close matches had they made sporting declarations. As it happened, they chose to bat the opposition out, and then some more. Punjab set Uttar Pradesh 358 to get in 60 overs, while Karnataka were given 438 to chase in 75 overs. After some hitting in the first few overs, both teams shut shop after initial dismissals and played out safe draws. Punjab and Tamil Nadu are not to blame entirely as the team making a declaration has more to lose than gain by going for an outright win. Because if they happen to lose the match, they lose all the points they have gained for the first-innings lead. There should be some incentive that a team should be able to retain some points for the first-innings lead, irrespective of the result.Fight club
In Chandigarh for a Ranji game in Mohali, Mohammad Kaif went to watch Om Shanti Om, the movie somehow every Indian player wants to watch (remember Dhoni and the boys at the premiere). One can’t be sure if Kaif found it an utter waste of his money and time, but he didn’t want to get caught in the act of coming out of the theatre. So much so that he roughed up an over eager photographer. It didn’t sit well with the journalistic fraternity in Chandigarh and they had to knock the doors of Home Secretary Krishnan Mohan, who finally got an FIR lodged against Kaif.Kaif, in the end, buckled down under the pressure and made a resolution to move on in life. “Kaif shook hands with Ravi Kumar (the victim of his aggression), wishing him ‘the best’,” the Tribune reported. “Everyone commits mistakes. It is not my life to go to the police and courts… My life is in my game and I should focus on it,” Kaif was quoted as saying. The paper went on to say: “He said he could not sleep last night and had received calls from his parents and friends. The way the incident had been projected had upset him and he would be returning with bitter memories of the city.”When he did move on to the real purpose of visit to the city, Kaif collected mixed memories from the cricket as well. After having restricted Punjab to 103 for 4 and 92 for 4, Kaif’s Uttar Pradesh let Punjab score more than 350 on both occasions. And when they batted they fell short by six runs of a first-innings lead. The only solace for Kaif: he scored two half-centuries in the match, the second one to ensure a draw and with that a point. One can only hope that Kaif looks at the positives from the visit to Chandigarh.Most difficult place to field
It’s official: the Mumbai crowd is equally hostile to local players. Ramesh Powar, the homeboy who has been one of their best players this season, had to go through the torture of having to field at the boundary near the Garware Pavilion, which is fast becoming one of the most unpleasant fielding positions in world cricket. To his credit, Powar endured the Motu Powar and Jadeya (both meaning fat in Hindi and Marathi respectively) chants and other abuse all day. But it turned out he had marked his men in the crowd and bashed them up after the day’s play. “They abused me personally and that is what upset me. I could not help but react,” Powar told Mid Day, the local tabloid. Well, it is only human to react, as did Dilip Vengsarkar during the Ranji Trophy final in 1994-95, the paper didn’t fail to remind us. But it couldn’t have been worth Powar’s time and effort to get physically involved.Bat-ter luck next time
Virender Sehwag, back to playing Ranji games, had in his kit one of Sachin Tendulkar’s bat, autographed by Tendulkar. At the nets, on the eve of the Delhi-Mumbai game, he put the bat to good use, Mumbai paper reported. “Dear Viru, wishing you the best always,” read the message, according to the paper. Sehwag, though, refused to talk much about the bat. “Sachin may get upset [if he did talk]. If he gets upset he may not give me his bats anymore.”One can’t be sure if he batted with the same bat in the match. He scored 16 in the first innings and when he batted for the second time, there was no bat involved: he was out lbw on the first ball.The fan request of the week
A lot can change in a year. Irfan Pathan, fresh from a successful comeback to Indian ODI side, was back to representing Baroda in a Ranji match at Hyderabad. The crowd turned matchmaker and chanted, “Irfan bhai, please marry our Sania Mirza.” A welcome change, one can be sure, from the Chappell ka chamcha chants he had to endure in Baroda at the start of this year.Quotehanger
Guess who’s back. The incomparable Ashish Nehra. He is not playing the Ranji Trophy just as yet. Quite to the contrary, his ankle injury will take two more months to heal, by when the Ranji Trophy will have ended. But our man is optimistic, so optimistic he seems to have made a basic error. “I am sure to play the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies and one-dayers.” Just to break the cruel news, the zonal Duleep Trophy teams comprise some of the best performers in the Ranji Trophy and Nehra is not playing in that.

The Pakistan board has decided against allowing Iftikhar Anjum, the medium-fast bowler, to join Glamorgan after the county showed an interest in signing him up as their overseas player for 2008.”We have told them [Glamorgan] that Pakistan have a busy international season coming up and cannot afford to release any of their players from the core squad,” Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer, told the .Pakistan are due to host Australia in March and April next year for a Test and ODI series before hosting the Asia Cup in June and according to Naghmi, Pakistan will be needing Iftikhar’s services throughout.The PCB is also reluctant to allow a fit fast bowler play for a county with most of the national team’s bowling line-up on the injured list. Mohammad Asif has just undergone an elbow operation, Umar Gul is recovering from back spasm that ruled him out of the Test series against India while Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami were both below par due to illness during the tour to India.There are reports, however, that Glamorgan have agreed terms with Iftikhar’s agent and are prepared to wait until March for a final decision by the PCB before following up other potential targets.If the deal goes through, Iftikhar will be the first Pakistan player to sign for the county since Waqar Younis over a decade ago. He has made 39 ODI appearances and taken 42 wickets with an economy-rate of under five an over. Iftikhar last featured for Pakistan in the ODI series against India before being surplus to requirements for the Test series. A spate of injuries and illness, however, prompted the PCB to send Iftikhar back to India as cover for the other fast bowlers ahead of the final Test in Bangalore, which he didn’t play.

The new State League Twenty20 competition, which kicks off the women’s season in New Zealand, will be played on Friday nights. Each team plays five State League Twenty20 matches with players in contention for international honours.”The 20-over matches will act as a taster for the State League programme and give existing White Ferns more Twenty20 experience, while undoubtedly helping more talented young players emerge,” said New Zealand Cricket women’s manager Catherine Campbell.The opening round of both tournaments sees defending State League champions State Canterbury Magicians travel to Blake Park, while Mt Maunganui will play State Northern Spirit.The State League retains last season’s format, with ten matches played in pairs over the course of the season. The top two sides in the table after ten rounds will compete in the State League final on Saturday 9 February, which will be hosted by the first-placed qualifier.

Yuvraj Singh has been cleared of serious injury after twisting his left knee during a practice session on the second morning of the Perth Test.Yuvraj, who was left out for the Perth Test after a string of poor scores, sustained the tweak when the team took part in a friendly soccer game.He collapsed holding his left knee and there were immediate fears his tour could be over. It was the same knee which he had injured during the Champions Trophy in October 2006, an injury which ruled him out for close to three months.He was taken to a local hospital for scans and was cleared of any major damage, according to MV Sridhar, India’s assistant manager, and has been advised one week’s rest.

Malik Mohammad Qayyum, Pakistan’s attorney general, has attacked the Pakistan Cricket Board for its firm stance against players who have signed up for the Indian Cricket League (ICL), saying it restrains them from earning their livelihood. Qayyum said the board could be in big trouble if the players decide to take them to court.Qayyum, a former Lahore high court judge, led an inquiry into allegations of match-fixing among Pakistan players in the 1990s.”The ban is a clear-cut case of restraining someone from earning from his trade,” Qayyum told Geo TV, a Pakistan-based television channel. “If these players decide to seek redress from the court then they have a strong case against the board as the ban is not justified.”The board can’t stop a player from earning his livelihood. The ban on playing domestic cricket can be challenged by the players.”The PCB had reaffirmed its earlier stance that the six ICL players – Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Shabbir Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood – would not be eligible to represent Pakistan internationally or play in the domestic tournaments. The players hit out at the board’s decision, arguing that it was an attempt to destroy their livelihood, and said they would discuss the issue with Inzamam before taking legal action.The ICL completed its inaugural season in November last year.

February was a quiet month for Tim Ambrose, which is strange when you consider he was in the throes of his first senior England tour. But now that the calendar has clicked round to March, there’s no hiding from the limelight any longer. After running the drinks as Phil Mustard’s understudy throughout the one-day series, Ambrose is at last ready to take centre stage. On Wednesday, he becomes England’s latest wicketkeeper and No. 7 batsman, as the first Test against New Zealand gets underway in Hamilton.Wicketkeepers are, as a rule of thumb, a highly-strung fraternity, but to judge from his outward appearance, Ambrose bucks that particular trend. During England’s final warm-up in the Antarctic chill of Dunedin, he was quietly confident in all that he did, easing five fours in an attractive 33, and holding onto four fuss-free catches behind the stumps. The only taut strings that Ambrose displays are those of his travelling companion, his trusty guitar, an instrument he’s been playing since the age of 14.”I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” said Ambrose, as England checked into their Hamilton hotel with three days to go until his Test debut. “I haven’t felt too many nerves so far, but I’m generally excited and looking forward to getting a chance. My game is in good order. Dunedin was a good opportunity to get some rust out and I’m very pleased with the way I’m catching.”There are few roles in international cricket that come with as many caveats as that of the England wicketkeeper. Ever since the retirement of Alec Stewart, that No. 7 position has been a merry-go-round of the tried, tested, and discarded. James Foster, Geraint Jones, Paul Nixon and Chris Read are among the players to have been chewed over and spat out, and then of course there’s the most recent incumbent, Matt Prior, a man to whom Ambrose needs no introduction. The pair sparred over the gauntlets at Sussex for five seasons from 2001, until Ambrose eventually bit the bullet and moved to Warwickshire, the battle for supremacy seemingly won and lost.Not so, it turns out. Prior impressed intermittently with his pugnacious batting, and averaged over 40 for his first year of Test cricket, but it was as a gloveman that he was found wanting. Three ugly fumbles during the must-win Galle Test in December meant that his shortcomings could no longer be overlooked, and he was axed so unceremoniously at the beginning of the year that the England selectors couldn’t even locate him to let him down gently.Ambrose may have been the beneficiary, but there were no hard feelings from his friend and rival. “I’ve spoken to Matt a couple of times since we got here,” said Ambrose. “He sent a text before we left, and he was very supportive because he’s a good friend. But as cricketers me and him are very different. We’ve learned things from each other, but I know how I play and I’ll focus more on what I can do and what I’ll bring to the side.”Part of the reason for the high turnover among English wicketkeepers has been the freakish genius of Adam Gilchrist, whose career has entered its final week with the culmination of Australia’s CB Series campaign. Suddenly every pretender to the role has to average nearly 50 while clinging onto all edges that fly their way, but Ambrose didn’t see his influence as a negative one.”I would never say he’s been detrimental, he’s been inspirational,” said Ambrose. “He’s raised the bar and it’s great to have someone at that level to aim for. There’s no reason why people can’t try to achieve what he’s done in the past. He’s an exceptional performer, and he’s been brilliant for the game and for that skill as well, but there’s nothing wrong with aiming high and trying to achieve those sorts of things.”

Now however, there’s a more immediate distraction as Ambrose embarks on his international career. In Brendon McCullum, New Zealand have unearthed the nearest thing to a Gilchrist clone – as confirmed at the recent IPL auction in Mumbai where Kolkata splashed out a cool US$700,000. In Sunday’s State Shield final in Auckland, McCullum smashed Otago to their first victory in 20 years with an incredible innings of 170 from 108 balls.The innings was being shown in the foyer while Ambrose was waiting to speak to the media, but if he was daunted by the match-up, he didn’t show it. “He’s played very well, and is striking the ball very well, so I’ll be watching him to learn as I have done for the last month,” said Ambrose. “But my game is based on a very simple technique because there is less that can go wrong that way, my keeping in particular, and it seems to suit me.”Wednesday promises to be a special occasion in more ways than one for Ambrose. If an impending debut is not enough emotion to be dealing with, he’s got a long-overdue family reunion in prospect as well. He was just 17 when he first came to England in the summer of 2000 in search of broader horizons, and ever since then his cricketing duties have denied him many opportunities to get back to his native Sydney. This week, however, his parents, Ray and Sally, are due to fly across the Tasman to witness his big moment.”Dad was over for a month last year, but I’ve not seen my mum for a few years so it’ll be good to catch up,” said Ambrose, “though she’ll probably be hiding out the back because she’s not a good watcher. But the whole occasion will mean a great deal. I was talking to Stuart Broad last night, and he was telling me about his debut in Colombo. It sent shivers up my spine, as it was a very proud moment. I’m sure I’ll feel the same.”