In another rejoinder to Sourav Ganguly’s scathing email, Jagmohan Dalmiya has claimed it was a witch-hunt devised by his detractors in the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). Dalmiya has accused Inderjit Singh Bindra, the PCA president and a friend-turned-rival, of attempting to alienate and neutralise him.Speaking to , Dalmiya highlighted his far-from-amicable relationship with Bindra. “Isn’t it an open secret? This is nothing but a witch-hunt,” he said. “I know who is behind all this. Mohali is the epicentre of all my troubles. He [Bindra] tried to implicate me in a false case, accusing me of financial irregularities. We are witnessing a blatant misuse of power.”Since last year’s BCCI election, where Dalmiya’s candidate for the president’s post was defeated, Dalmiya has found the going tough even in his home city of Kolkata. With the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) set to hold elections soon, Dalmiya has labeled Ganguly’s attack as “pitiable”.”I can’t believe it’s genuine…if it is then it’s very sad,” he said. “When I was in power I tried to help him as much as I could. The Board appointed top lawyers to hear his appeals against match referees. I don’t know much about this e-mail, but if he [Ganguly] indeed feels I have ruined his career, it’s pitiable. In my entire career as cricket administrator, I have never harmed anyone knowingly, nor have I resorted to any witch-hunt something that is going on against me. I will surely bounce back.”Dalmiya even questioned Bindra and Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president’s, ascendancy to power. “Let us not get into the ways used by them to grab power,” he said. “Everyone [in the Board] knows what ethical and unethical ways they used to woo voters.”Bindra, in response to the accusations, said: “If Dalmiya feels Mohali is the epicentre of his troubles, he should not forget that he was the epicentre of our troubles. After having gone through so much, I will be the last person to get vindictive. It was Dalmiya who claimed that he can never lose a BCCI election as he knew all about manipulating the voters. I don’t think he should be talking about this.””It is surprising that of all people Dalmiya is talking about ethics. I just want to tell him one thing – he must understand that if he has any sympathiser left in the BCCI, it is Inderjit Singh Bindra,” he added. “At any stage, if he wants my help, I shall readily do so for the sake of an old friendship.”In regards to the legal action taken against Dalmiya earlier this year, Bindra was cutthroat: “Where have the Board accounts disappeared? Why is he not submitting them? It was he who threw me out of the BCCI because I spoke in my personal capacity about match-fixing – among others things – something that was later proved by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He stopped the Board money that was due to PCA. Was that not witch-hunting?”

No one, perhaps not even the billionaire originator Allen Stanford himself, could be certain what impact the first regional Twenty20 tournament would have on West Indies cricket.The participation of 19 teams, big and small, strong and weak; the significant developmental grants to each, the mind-blowing prize money and the appointment of 14 past West Indies greats as directors guaranteed the interest of the players and those individual associations not so insecure as to feel threatened by the involvement of a private investor.But the public had to be convinced and matches confined to 20 overs an innings had to be shown to be relevant in the overall scheme of things and not simply a glorified form of tip-and-run.The innovative promotions and live television coverage have stirred interest, especially in those islands unable to boast of first-class status, far less superstar cricketers.Theo Cuffy, the former Trinidad and Tobago batsman who has been Cayman Islands coach for a decade, noted that it was the first time people there had ever seen their team perform on television. It was a thrill that held true for more than half the others. After Grenada advanced to the semi-final, captain Rawl Lewis said there was a buzz about the tournament around Grenada he had not experienced since the island’s world-rated 400 metres runner, Alleyne Francique, was on the blocks at the Olympics and World Championship.It was a pertinent comment, for cricket is being strongly challenged as No.1 sport throughout the West Indies after the past decade of disputes, debt, and decline.But Antigua itself, at Stanford’s ideally suited grounds next to the airport, with its grassed banks and its floodlights, is where the effect of 20/20 cricket is best gauged.Antigua’s geographical location and its wide cross-section of immigrants from the cricketing Caribbean – along with the free entry – meant capacity attendances and noisy, good-natured, flag-waving support for most teams, Guyana and Jamaica most of all. One lady turned up for the Guyana-Jamaica semi-final bedecked in a dress designed as the Guyana flag. An entire family came in Jamaica colours, from head to toe. Indeed, the most striking change in the composition of the crowds has been demographic. Women and children have been by far the majority, a welcome new fan base for West Indies cricket.

As is seemingly mandatory at every major sporting event, there have been the side-shows of pop music (Chickie transferred from his usual base at the Antigua Recreation Ground) and live star turns, here by Beenie Man and Patrice Roberts.Yet, none of this is especially new. The same has occurred wherever Twenty20 has become a part of the cricket landscape; in England and South Africa where the teams each have a mascot, captains are driven to the toss in limos and golf buggies, and dancing girls gyrate during the break.The upcoming semi-finals and final in England have been sold out for weeks. County grounds that are usually as silent as cemeteries are filled to cacophonous capacity. Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan have followed the lead with similar results. India have reluctantly joined the queue.The first International Cricket Council-sanctioned Twenty20 World Championship is scheduled for South Africa next year. Osman Samiuddin, the Pakistani writer, informs me by e-mail that it has provided “a tremendous boost to the domestic game in Pakistan which has long needed just such an injection of money, energy and, most importantly, attention”.That’s all quite fantastic, but what of the repercussions of such abbreviated, all-action matches on traditional cricket? Will it not create out-and-out sloggers and cowed, economy-minded bowlers?A few fresh-faced youngsters have immediately debunked the former theory in the Stanford 20/20, and some more experienced fast bowlers have emphasised the truth that applies to bowling in all cricket: that taking wickets is the surest way of limiting totals.Keiran Powell, the 16-year-old left-hander, and Tonito Willett, 21, both of Nevis; Chesney Hodge, the left-handed Anguillan who, at 15, is the youngest player in the tournament, and William Perkins, the Barbados-born Trinidadian, 19, have thrilled everyone with the purity of their strokes. No cross-batted brute force has brought them their runs. And Jerome Taylor, John “The Dentist” Maynard, Pedro Collins, and Nixon McLean made early inroads into opposition batting that proved decisive.

Other attributes are being increasingly discovered in England after four seasons of the Twenty20 county tournament. “Hit-and-giggle has given way to plan-and-think and the repercussions are being felt beyond the realms of the (Twenty20) competition,” Lawrence Booth wrote in The Guardian last week.Leicestershire captain Jeremy Snape believes it has “changed perceptions of what’s acceptable in run chases”.”Players have become much better at managing risk,” he said. “They’re hitting boundaries and accumulating twos with fewer problems. No longer is six-an-over out of the question as it once might have been in 50-overs cricket.”South Africans attributed their record 50-overs run-chase of 487 to beat Australia in an ODI earlier this year to the experience of three seasons of Twenty20.Nor is it the batsmen alone who are using the urgency of Twenty20 to their advantage. Hylton Ackerman, the South African who plays for Leicestershire, speaks of bowlers “developing the ability to get batsmen off strike if they are playing really well” to get at one who has just come in or is struggling. It’s a novel approach but it makes sense.The weakest component in the Stanford tournament has been the running between the wickets. Prior to yesterday’s quarter-finals, there had been 32 run-outs in the 13 matches. It’s a part of the game they’ll have to get worked out before long.So is 20/20 here to stay or is it a passing fad? Will it be still going in 20 years time? Here is the answer given by Scyld Berry, the much traveled writer of the London Sunday Telegraph, in July’s Wisden Cricketer. “It’s the 50-overs game which might have died out. Administrators have tried in vain to soup-up 50 overs games with power-plays and super-subs but Twenty20 has done it already by cutting out those boring middle overs when batsmen push the spinners around for singles.”It’s an interesting theory. In the meantime, the players are trying to get used to it in Antigua and a new fan-base has emerged to enjoy it.

Faisal Iqbal has admitted that he’s happy to carry on a family tradition of Test match backchat. He has been engaged in a summer-long battle of wits fielding at short-leg during the ongoing series against England prompting comparisons with fiery, former captain Javed Miandad… who is his uncle.”I enjoy fielding close in, I have always talked to the opposition,” Iqbal said. “They give it back too me when I’m batting. It must be in my genes. It’s natural and normal. I like to have a chat.”Iqbal hit an unbeaten 58 on Saturday in Pakistan’s 504 all out in the first innings of the fourth and final Test at The Oval as the tourists look to salvage some pride after already losing the series 2-0.The middle-order batsman Iqbal had endured a poor series up until Saturday making just 91 runs at an average of 15.16. But he was in fluid form on Saturday making the most of some wayward England bowling.”The skipper [Inzaman-ul-Haq] has always supported me and encouraged me to do well,” said Iqbal. “I have been learning from my mistakes. I enjoyed the short ball today and getting on the front foot. You have to be courageous and positive.”

A leading British newspaper has claimed the London bombers were initially ordered by Al-Qaeda to target the England and Australian teams during the 2005 Ashes series.Quoting a friend of one of the terrorists, said Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer allegedly received the orders at a training camp near Kotli, in Kashmir, during December 2004. The claims have been made by a family friend of Hasib Hussain, the bus bomber who killed 13 people. The friend, who is willing to pass his information to the police, uses the pseudonym Ahmed Hafiz.According to Hafiz, 32, the bombers were instructed to get jobs as stewards at Edgbaston and spray sarin gas inside the changing rooms. The second Test between England and Australia began on August 4.Hafiz, whose family have known the Hussains for 25 years, said he had received details of the bombers’ visit from members of his extended family, who were involved in running the camp. He claimed Tanweer, 22, objected to the plot, possibly because he himself was a cricketer. He was told by a witness Tanweer argued with Khan, 30, and a scuffle between them had to be broken up by a minder.

Rahul Dravid has been named captain of the World Team of the Year, an award to recognise the best international players of the last 12 months, at the annual ICC Awards ceremony in Mumbai.Six teams are represented in the 12-man line-up, four of which – Ricky Ponting, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath – were also named in the World Test Team of the Year in 2005. “It feels great to be back here, accepting an ICC Award,” Dravid said. “It’s the second time I have got into this team and it is a huge honour and privilege. I think to lead this time would be a pretty easy job – you would just have to throw the ball to someone and they would do the rest.”We had some very good results for a while,” Dravid said of India’s achievements in the past 12 months, “and we have stumbled since then a little so the upcoming tour to South Africa will be a great opportunity to get things back on track. I am a little disappointed that we are not in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy – it would be great to be feeling nervous ahead of that final on Sunday.”The team was chosen by a specially appointed expert panel made up of Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Healy, Allan Donald, Waqar Younis and Arjuna Ranatunga.World Test Team of the Year 2006 (in batting order):
1 Matthew Hayden (Australia), 2 Michael Hussey (Australia), 3 Ricky Ponting (Australia), 4 Rahul Dravid (India, capt), 5 Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan), 6 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff (England), 8 Shane Warne (Australia), 9 Makhaya Ntini (South Africa), 10 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), 11 Glenn McGrath (Australia), 12 Brett Lee (Australia)

On the start his bowlers gave him
I think we stuck in well throughout and kept the pressure on them all the time. They had to play some big shots in the last part of the innings, which as you saw some wickets fell. I thought 258 was gettable and the guys talked before the match about actually chasing. They thought the pitch looked very good and it would stay that way for the entire 100 overs. So first of all, it was a good toss to lose. It’s a situation where we have to just move on from here, with the same sort of a game plan. Everyone’s trying to make a contribution.On the resurgence in West Indian cricket
I just think that we had a tournament in Malaysia recently, and even before that we played India and won the series 4-1. Our one-day game has always been pretty good. It just [needs] a little bit of fine tuning. We did that in Malaysia. We were forced to play the qualifying round here, and that in itself gave us a little bit of competitive cricket. So I think it’s the fact that we are building up momentum, and the guys are believing in themselves, believing in the plans and executing it well. It’s great to see the guys go out there and stick to the plans, work hard and get the results. We just have to keep the momentum going now, analyse each game even if you have to lose. Win or lose, just go back and think about it. I think it is going to be exciting times ahead for us, in the one-dayers especially.Australia and West Indies have won two matches each in the last four encounters between the two teams. Did Lara think there was unfinished business with the Australians?
I wouldn’t say it is unfinished business. I just feel it’s nice to be playing the world champions inthe final. It says a lot for our effort – getting past South Africa in the semis and beating the likes of India and even Australia in the first part of the tournament. So we are looking forward to the challenge. Australia, of course, have gained some momentum since they lost to us in the first match. I am sure they are very, very buoyed and confident of their chances on Sunday. I think we have to go back to the drawing board again, work on a few things and realise that we are going to play a completely different opposition to the one we played against. In that first game in Mumbai, Australia were playing their first match on that pitch and so we had a sort of an advantage. It’s not unfinished business. It’s a game of cricket, we are looking forward to the challenge and we will back ourselves.

On whether Lara thought West Indies would win so easily
Of course not. It’s a semi-final and you are going to think that South Africa will come and throw everything at us, if not for the first 15 then for the entire 50 overs. I think it’s the way Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul started, they transferred the pressure on South Africa. They came out ready to apply pressure on with the likes of Pollock, Ntini and Nel. The fact that in 15 overs or so we were almost close to our 100 put them on the back foot. They just had to play catch-up cricket after that. So it was a good effort and everybody must be commended.On captaining a batsman like Chris Gayle
He is excellent. Chris Gayle has always been a top player – with the bat, with the ball and in thefield. He is very chirpy as well, and he has a great influence on the guys, which is tremendous. He might seem a bit comical on occasions, but he takes his cricket very seriously. In the practice sessions, his preparation is great and he is reaping the rewards right now.On what advice he gave to his batsmen
South Africa’s two win in the tournament was actually bowling second. The fact that in the first 15 or 20 overs, the game is almost over for the opposition – they got five, six wickets against Sri Lanka and also Pakistan. Our first decision was to try and stay out there, see the pitch. But maybe in the first over, the guys realized that there wasn’t much in the pitch, nothing like Mohali or Ahmedabad for South Africa, and we played accordingly.On Gayle firing in the final
It’s a brand new game and the fact that we have certain requirements of the opening batsmen – if it is Chanderpaul or Gayle, they have to fulfill those requirements. Chris has done that on a few occasions in this tournament and I am almost sure that he does not want to leave the centre-stage to anyone come the final. He will be eager to go out there and replicate what he did today.On starting the World Cup as favourites if they win here
Favorites or not, we have to play the World Cup. We are the hosts and we will be in Jamaica for the first, hoping to come out of with maximum points and move on. A lot of teams have said we are very unpredictable and maybe that is a fact. But the fact is then they are not going to take us easy. We have played very good cricket, we have beaten Australia on a couple of occasions recently and I don’t think anything is going to be different in the Caribbean. I am almost sure the likes of South Africa, India and Pakistan – whoever we play against – know what we are capable of. I don’t mind whatever tag they place on us. We still got to go out there and execute, we still got to play better than the other team on the day.

The shock at Ramnaresh Sarwan’s omission from the eleven for the second Test yesterday was surpassed only by Brian Lara’s frank explanation for the decision.”It’s a time for Sarwan to reflect and come back strong,” Lara told the world at the toss. “He is one of our main players. We know that. There’s no doubt about it. It’s an opportunity for him to spend some time off the field and see what it’s like and come out back into the middle maybe more energetic and more purposeful.”It marked an unmistakable change in a policy that readily accommodated deceptively talented underachievers in the West Indies team in recent times. The names Carl Hooper and Marlon Samuels spring readily to mind. Lara’s message was loud, clear and long overdue. It would have registered large, not only with Sarwan but with everyone vying for selection.It was that, from now on, no one is guaranteed a place, not even the vice-captain, not even a quality batsman with 64 Tests and over 4,000 runs to his name recently ranked No 2 at ODI level. Sarwan’s character will be sternly tested by this development.Only a few days before the Test, he was acknowledging his slump in form and saying that he was “more determined than at any other time…to put together a score in this Test match”. Now he must wait, perhaps even until next summer’s tour of England, for his next Test.He has come through adversity of different kinds before – the death of a cherished girlfriend midway through his first overseas tour, several blows to the helmet from unsympathetic fast bowlers, the initial loss of the vice-captaincy – and ought to come through this as well. But it is a unique experience for him, watching a Test match from the pavilion. It is the first time he has been dropped since his difficult period in Australia in 2001.A Test average of 38 – and falling – after six years in international cricket is unworthy of a batsman blessed with the special touch. Most irritating, after all this time, is his failure to eliminate the errors that have repeatedly brought his downfall. He has been caught 13 times in Tests off the hook or pull. His square-on position early in his innings has exposed him to slip catches and lbws. Repeatedly, rank carelessness has cost his wicket at crucial times, most recently in the second innings of the first Test and the first innings of the last against India last season.All of this would have been noted on coach Bennett King’s laptop and in Lara’s consciousness. There is a lesson to be learned from the player who took Sarwan’s place in Multan. Runako Morton is short on genuine class, big on heart and determination. There is no certain selection for him. He has had to depend on the shortcomings of a batsman with twice his ability and his own hard work to squeeze in.

Away from the field where his behaviour can be decidedly eccentric,Sreesanth exudes a certain calm. After a potentially match-winning spellof 5 for 40 on Saturday, he spoke to the media about how a chat with AllanDonald in the morning had helped him to produce the sort of spell thatmost young quick bowlers fantasise about.”This is like a dream come true,” he said, “but I have many more dreams toattain. We are well set, we have a very good lead and should be able towin from here.” He did qualify that by saying that the match wasn’t overyet, but the confidence which has percolated through the ranks wasunmistakable.According to him, the chat with Donald had definitely played a part. “Ireally admire him,” said Sreesanth. “Even though Dennis Lillee is my idol,I want to be like Donald. The talk definitely helped me understand whatneeds to be done here.”The prospect of talking to one of the game’s all-time greats would oncehave been an intimidating one, but after a promising start to hisinternational career, Sreesanth is no longer a wallflower. “In thebeginning, I used to be very shy,” he admitted. “Now, I have no fearsabout walking up to former greats and taking their advice.”He also admitted that the pitch had played its part in his success. “It’sa very good wicket to bowl on,” he said. “It was particularly nice to take[Jacques] Kallis’ wicket because I’ve watched him so much on the [TV] screen, andgrew up admiring him.”He started wonderfully well, with the wickets of Graeme Smith and HashimAmla, but some loose deliveries before and after lunch set the alarm bellsringing. “I wasn’t really bowling well after my first three wickets,” hesaid. “I was spraying down the leg-side, mainly because I was trying toohard.”In the lunch break, the coach and captain spoke to me and simply asked meto calm down. They wanted me to be patient and just stick to the rightline and length. That helped me tremendously and I could come and finishit off.”The mood in the dressing room, visibly alleviated by the last-wicketpartnership between VRV Singh and Sourav Ganguly, also played its part.”We have remained positive throughout,” said Sreesanth. “We had faith inourselves and in our hard work. We also decided not to think of the past;we just focused on the future.”Right now, that future appears to be as bright as the Kerala sun at theheight of summer.

Veterans Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana have been named in Sri Lanka’s preliminary 30-man World Cup squad but there is no place for the batsman Thilan Samaraweera.Arnold and Chandana have played over 200 ODIs between them and are joined in the squad, which will be trimmed to 15 by February 13, by Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lankan captain who is continuing his comeback after injury.Sri Lanka, who have just returned from a tour of New Zealand, continue their World Cup build-up with a four-match series against India.Squad Mahela Jayawardena, Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Avishka Gunawardena, Mahela Udawatta, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Malinda Warnapura, Russel Arnold, Prasanna Jayawardena, Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Fernando, Ishara Amarasinghe, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Nuwan Zoysa, Akalanka Ganegama, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Malinga Bandara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Gayan Wijekoon, Upul Chandana and Dhammika Prasad.

Male spectators, except those attending with family, will be banned when Pakistan hosts the eight-team Women’s World Cup qualifiers in November, officials said.But officials hailed the decision to stage the matches in this conservative Islamic republic as a sign that the country is becoming more moderate and making efforts to allow women to play sport.The qualifiers will be played in Lahore between November 19 and 25, the ICC said in a statement from its headquarters in Dubai. Besides the hosts, teams from Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea, Bermuda, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland and the Netherlands will all vie for the two available slots in the 2009 ICC Women’s World Cup.Defending champions and hosts Australia, India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies have all earned automatic qualification following their top-six finish in 2005 when the World Cup was held in South Africa.”The decision proves that women’s cricket is progressing in our country and through this event we would promote a softer and moderate image of Pakistan,” said Shamsa Hashmi, secretary of the Pakistan Cricket Board women’s wing.Players will wear the standard international dress code, unlike earlier matches in Pakistan that have been played in the traditional uniform of baggy trousers and long shirts, she said.But she added: “Males can come to watch only as part of families of those that are playing.” Male officials may also be allowed. Pakistan held its first national women’s championship two years ago and the national team toured South Africa last month, losing the five-match series 4-0. The fifth match was rained off.Hashmi said the Pakistani team would put on its best show against some experienced opponents. Zimbabwe, making their debut, qualified from Africa, Papua New Guinea from East Asia-Pacific, Bermuda from the Americas, Scotland and the Netherlands from Europe.The top teams have launched their preparations for the 2009 World Cup, Australia, India, England and New Zealand competing in a quadrangular series currently underway in Chennai.Betty Timmer, chairwoman of the ICC Women’s Committee, said she was delighted with the interest shown by Pakistan in hosting the qualifiers. “We are very pleased with Pakistan’s involvement in the organization of the event. We are looking forward to this tournament in Lahore,” said Timmer.The 2009 World Cup will be the first to be played under the auspices of the ICC since its merger with the International Women’s Cricket Council in 2005.