• Andrew Strauss says he may sit out Bangladesh tour
• ‘I’m not going to say I’m definitely on it or definitely not on it’

Andrew Strauss has admitted he may sit out England’s tour of Bangladesh in February in order to stay at the peak of his powers in the run up to the Ashes defence next winter.

England’s upcoming schedule is comparably frenetic, with a tour to South Africa followed by the Bangladesh trip and another World Twenty20 in the West Indies before the English domestic programme gets under way.

England appear likely to use the lower-profile February tour as a chance to rest some key players and although Strauss fell short of confirming he would not be in the squad, he conceded it was a possibility.

“I can’t guarantee anything, I don’t know what will happen in the next few months. We only select one tour at a time,” the England captain told BBC Radio 5. “The South Africa tour is a massive one and then we’ve got Bangladesh in February and March. When we select that we’ll sit down and see where we are as a side with injuries, niggles and all that stuff. We’ll sit down and decide the best course of action.

“We have a busy summer of cricket before the Ashes in Australia so there’s a lot of cricket ahead. The key is to make sure the players are fresh but at the same time you don’t want to be tinkering with the side too much.

“The Bangladesh tour is quite a useful one in our development in terms of playing on subcontinental wickets … I’m not going to say I am definitely on it at this stage and I’m not going to say I’m definitely not on it; we’ll just need to see where we are as a side.”

Should he not be part of the touring side, Alastair Cook would appear to be next in line to lead the team but Kevin Pietersen, whose acrimonious departure from the captaincy led to Strauss’ appointment, still has his supporters.

While it would seem unlikely for the South Africa-born Pietersen to make a return to the job so soon after his spat with the former coach Peter Moores, Strauss believes he may yet captain his adopted country again.

“I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. He’s got some attributes that make him a very good captain,” said the Middlesex opener. “He’s very confident in his own ability, he’s got strong views on the game and he’s got the ability to lead by example. I wouldn’t rule it out completely.”

“The timing [of Pietersen's appointment] wasn’t ideal because he and Peter Moores didn’t really see eye to eye and I think that is fundamental to being a successful coach or captain.”

Reflecting on the turbulence that led to his installation as England captain, Strauss said: “It seems like a long time ago but it was a pretty unpleasant time. I don’t think anyone liked the atmosphere in the team at that stage. It came to a head in a dramatic fashion and I suppose for a while English cricket was in the headlines for the wrong reasons. You knew there was a frosty relationship between the two of them and it just didn’t feel quite right.”
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British Basketball has signed a five-year deal with Standard Life, the Edinburgh-based FTSE 100 asset managing business, as their title sponsor.

Basketball’s partnership with Standard Life is akin to rowing’s partnership with Siemens and swimming’s recently agreed partnership with British Gas.

In the case of basketball, Standard Life has recognised the potential in working with the third largest team sport in the country – in terms of participation, only football and cricket have a larger playing base.

And with top NBA stars now committing to play for Britain it is clear that there is a realistic chance of medal glory as the London Olympics approach.

The deal will see Standard Life support all four of British Basketball’s world-class teams; senior men, senior women, men’s U-20’s and women’s U-20’s.

While the partnership will run from 2009 to 2013 its impact has been felt immediately with the necessary funding now being available for television coverage of Game On At The O2 this weekend.

Highlights of the four-nation tournament, which is a symbol of the sport’s progression over the last three years, since British Basketball’s inception, will be aired on Sky Sports 3 on Monday 17 August.

Simon Tuckey, Commercial Director of British Basketball, said: ‘We have worked hard over the past three years to attract a partner who would not only benefit the sport but more importantly believe in the goals we have set, and we feel that Standard Life more than fits those criteria.

‘We are delighted that they have come on board as we prepare to host Game On At The O2 and look forward to a long and successful relationship between British Basketball and Standard Life.

‘The senior men’s and women’s programmes have made impressive strides since 2007, indeed the men will play at the European Championships this September, and Standard Life’s involvement shows that people are taking note of our results and our desire to be a force to be reckoned with in three years time.’
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Captain Yuvraj Singh bagged his second hat-trick of the series while Irfan Pathan bowled a brilliant last over to steer Punjab to victory in a thriller at Wanderers in Johannesburg, .

Singh first removed Herschelle Gibbs on 26 from the last ball of the 12th over before returning in the 14th over to get rid of Andrew Symonds for 25 and Venugopal Rao for a duck with his part-time, left-arm spin.

Then needing 11 runs to win from the final over after Punjab had scored 7-134, Pathan bowled Rohit Sharma for 42 with a slower ball as he tried to lead Deccan home.

Pathan then caught Rudra Singh off his own bowling, leaving Deccan needing four runs off the last ball with Ryan Harris on strike. But Harris could only manage two, sparking Punjab celebrations.

Punjab now have 14 points, the same as Deccan, but lie fourth because Deccan’s net run rate is superior.

The Delhi Daredevils secured a semi-final place with a comfortable 14-run victory over the Rajasthan Royals in Bloemfontein.

Kings XI Punjab also stayed in the running for a semi-final spot with a thrilling one-run victory over the Deccan Chargers.

Delhi’s win takes them to the top of the IPL standings with 18 points from 12 matches.

Delhi posted 3-150, led by AB de Villiers who hit an unbeaten 79 and shared a solid 87-run stand for the third wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (33 off 41 balls), having lost openers Gautam Gambhir (8) and Virender Sehwag (2) cheaply.

De Villiers, who smashed eight boundaries and a six in 55 balls, contributed 48 runs from 21 balls in an unbeaten fourth wicket stand with Dinesh Karthik (23 off 11 balls).

Pace bowler Munaf Patel suffered in particular, giving up 25 runs in his penultimate over.

In reply, Rajasthan never threatened the Delhi total and were restricted to 9-136 from their 20 overs.

Johan Botha top-scored with 37 and Ravindra Jadeja added 24 to briefly offer Rajasthan some hope, but their dismissals sparked off a late collapse with leg-spinner Amit Mishra taking three wickets in one over, including two in successive balls, to return figures of 3-33.

Mishra was supported by seamers Aavishkar Salvi and Farveez Maharoof, who took 2-19 and 2-27.

Defending champions Rajasthan are in fifth place in the standings on 13 points but still have a chance of making the semi-finals.
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Skipper takes two wickets as Bangalore beats play-off rivals Chennai

Indian Premier League
Durban
Chennai Super Kings 129 (M L Hayden 60) v Bangalore Royal Challengers 132-8
Bangalore Royal Challengers beat Chennai Super Kings by 2 wkts

Anil Kumble produced a captain’s performance with the ball to help take the Bangalore Royal Challengers to a two-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings on Thursday.

Former India captain Kumble recorded stunning figures of two for 12 from his four overs as the Super Kings were restricted to just 129 all out batting first.

The Super Kings had been going along well, despite the fall of two early wickets to Jacques Kallis (2-18), before Roelof van Der Merwe’s stunning caught and bowled dismissal of opposition skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18) turned the innings.

Kumble accounted for the ever dangerous Matt Hayden soon after thanks to another fine catch – this time by Vinay Kumar on the boundary at deep mid-wicket – and Bangalore slumped to 101-4.

Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter with the last seven batsmen collapsing for the addition of just 28 runs and all failing to get into double figures.
Crucial

New Zealander Ross Taylor then hit a crucial 46 in the reply and added 56 runs for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (38) to help steer Bangalore to an exciting victory.

Man-of-the-match Taylor fell in the final over, but his team needed just five to win at that stage and Vinay Kumar smashed Jacob Oram for a four to seal the triumph with two balls to spare.

Victory keeps Bangalore’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive, with Delhi, Chennai and the Deccan Chargers just ahead in the current Indian Premier League (IPL) standings.
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A new shopping mall on the outskirts of New Delhi is the closest that fans of the city’s IPL cricket team get to attending a home game this year.

In an open-air square between fashion shops and chain restaurants, a huge screen shows every Delhi Daredevils match live from South Africa to a few hundred cheering supporters.

The loss of the Indian Premier League abroad this year has dented public support for the tournament, which in its inaugural season last year attracted massive fan loyalty to its eight city-based teams.

‘Last year was great, and everyone was watching every evening,’ Shashank Sharma, an 18-year-old student, said.

‘But this time there is less excitement.

‘It is better when there are Indian crowds in the stadium, they are very noisy.’

Sharma watched the match at the mall with six of his friends, as huge speakers blared out the commentary and loud music.

Every time the Daredevils — led by captain Gautam Gambhir — took a wicket or scored a boundary, four scantily-clad, female dancers jumped onto a stage in front of the screen to lead the celebrations.

Organisers were forced to move the five-week event out of India due to its clash with general elections, which meant security arrangements could not be made for the cricketers.

With the action exported to South Africa, interest among India’s massive cricket following has not matched last year’s event — even though games have been scheduled in television prime time.

Viewing figures were down in 18 of the first 27 matches compared with 2008, according to Audience Measurement and Analytics, an independent ratings company.

Last year the IPL’s blend of dramatic, short-format cricket and Bollywood glamour proved irresistible to millions of Indians for whom the games became an evening fixture and the biggest talking point in the country.

Sponsors hope the teams, including the Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers, will develop passionate fan bases similar to those enjoyed by British football side such as Manchester United.

S.C. Vohra, a retired diplomat, watched the Delhi Daredevils beat the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday evening at the mall with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

‘The big screen makes this a good place for a family evening out, but there is not the same atmosphere with the team playing so far away,’ he said.

‘In theory it is the same on television wherever you watch it, but the IPL is about entertainment and they will have to be careful that interest doesn’t decline year after year. The novelty factor has gone already.’Also among the crowd was Nani Kapur, a 25-year-old who works in marketing.

‘I went to the stadium to see the Daredevils last year and it was fantastic. The atmosphere around the tournament is less this year,’ she said.

‘Of course people still watch it on TV but definitely the general mood is down. It can’t be same without the team playing here.’

One person counting the cost was Vicky Suri, a manager for Genesis, the official merchandise partner for the Delhi Daredevils.

‘We’ve lost a lot of sales, we can’t deny it,’ he said. ‘We sell replica shirts for 600 rupees (13 dollars) and the games going outside India has been a real blow.

‘We sell a lot of goods at the stadiums and that opportunity has just disappeared. We’ve been shipping shirts to South Africa, but that very expensive.’

I just hope there will now be a hunger when the teams finally come back home and play here next year.’
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Chris Lewis, the former England all-rounder, smuggled £140,000 worth of cocaine into Britain inside his cricket bag, a court heard.

The 41-year-old ex-cricketer was stopped by customs officers at Gatwick airport and found with the drug hidden in liquid form in five tins of fruit and vegetable juice, stashed in his kit bag, jurors were told.

Mr Lewis was on his way back from the Caribbean island of St Lucia in December, where he told officials he had been visiting family.

As well as the tins, border officials discovered a cannabis grinder and a paperback book containing Rizla papers which both tested positive for traces of marijuana, it is alleged.

When questioned at Gatwick, Mr Lewis, who was also carrying a Prada “man bag”, said he had packed the luggage himself and was not carrying anything for anyone else.

But when told his luggage had tested positive for cocaine he asked: “Could there be some mistake?” before answering no questions during interviews, Croydon Crown Court heard.

The cricketer was allegedly smuggling the cocaine alongside associate Chad Kirnon, 27, who was found with three tins of dissolved cocaine in his luggage, it was claimed.

Prosecutors said that the pair knew each other well and alighted the plane at Gatwick just after five in the morning on December 8. Both claimed they had been flying alone even though Mr Lewis’s luggage had some luggage with Mr Kirnon’s name on the label, it was alleged.

Mr Kirnon had been stopped by officials on his way into St Lucia, who discovered £7,000 cash which may have been used to buy the drugs, jurors were told.

Tom Wilkins, prosecuting, said: “They were in a joint enterprise to smuggle into this country a quantity of cocaine – at 100 percent purity it weighed a little over 3.37 kilograms.

“While his luggage had Kirnon’s name on it Lewis confirmed all of the luggage was his.

“Officers went through the bag and they found a number of tins of fruit and vegetable juice which upon closer inspection were revealed to be liquids containing cocaine.

“At 100 per cent purity it is a little over 3.37 kilograms in weight – that is a retail value of something in the region of £100,000. The street value is a little over £140,000 – a very valuable consignment.”

Mr Wilkins added: “When he [Mr Lewis] was questioned rather than offer an explanation or say what he was doing in St Lucia or say what the tins were doing in his luggage he answered no comment to all the questions put to him.”

The court heard both defendants were blaming each other for the smuggling.

Mr Wilkins said: “The one-time accomplices it would seem have fallen out and are each saying their co-defendant set them up.

“There s overwhelming evidence each of them knew they were smuggling cocaine when they came back into Gatwick.”

Lewis, of Brent, north London, and Kirnan, of Islington, both deny one charge of smuggling.

The case continues.

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DURBAN, South Africa — The Delhi Daredevils went top of the Indian Premier League with a nine-wicket rout of the Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday, while the Rajasthan Royals stayed in contention with a 78-run win over Kings XI Punjab.

Stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir hit an unbeaten 71 and Tillakaratne Dilshan was 42 not out to give Delhi the win with an over to spare. Delhi reached 157-7 after Kolkata had made 154-3.

Gambhir was dropped twice, first by Brendon McCullum when he was on 21, then in the final over by Moises Henriques when victory was already assured. The 27-year-old Indian opener punished Kolkata, smashing seven boundaries in 57 balls and putting on an unbeaten match-winning stand of 93 for the second wicket with Dilshan (42 not out).

Kolkata batted first after winning the toss and had looked on course to a big total, led by Morne van Wyk who led with 74 runs. Delhi’s medium pacer Pradeep Sangwan took 2-29 from his four overs while opening bowler Ashish Nehra varied his pace to end up with an economical 1-23 from four overs.

In the first match at Kingsmead, openers Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha scored half-centuries while pace bowler Amit Singh took an impressive 3-9 to steer Rajasthan to a clinical win over Punjab.

Smith top-scored with 77 runs, hitting 12 boundaries and a six, while Ojha faced 52 balls and truck five boundaries and five sixes for his 68 runs as Rajasthan reached 211-4, scaling the 200-run mark for the first time in the 2009 IPL series.

Punjab managed 133-8 in reply.

Smith and Ojha batted solidly to put on 135 for the first wicket, often coming down the wicket to the Punjab opening bowlers, off-spinner Ramesh Powar and pace bowler Irfan Pathan. There was little swing as expected for the first of the Kingsmead doubleheader, and the seam bowlers in particular fell short on length.

Smith and Ojha capitalized, mainly on the leg side, with Sree Santh and Yusuf Abdulla both costing 44 runs without a wicket.

“For them to play the way they did and set the tone was fantastic,” Rajasthan captain Shane Warne said of his openers.

Rajasthan kept up the pressure when it came to bowling, with Singh taking two wickets in the first over, removing Sunny Sohal and Karan Goel. Legendary leg-spinner Warne chipped in with 2-38 from his three overs.

The win propelled Rajasthan to joint-second with Chennai Super Kings, who have a better run rate. Delhi leads with 10 points, while Kolkata are at the basement with three points.

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Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals staged a dramatic fightback to upset Adam Gilchrist’s table-topping Deccan Chargers by three wickets in their Indian Premier League match on Saturday.

Defending a competitive 5-141, Deccan looked set for victory when they reduced Rajasthan to 3-3 in the second over.

But some sloppy efforts in the field saw the defending champions steal a sensational win with two balls to spare.

It was only the second defeat for Deccan from six matches while Rajasthan registered their third win from seven outings to throw open the tournament.

Charismatic all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, tactically brought down to No.8 in the batting order, once again did the trick, hitting 24 from 14 balls with two fours and two sixes.

Pathan, named man of the match, came in with Rajasthan needing 49 from 35 balls but reduced the asking rate to a mere 11 from 12 balls.

Abhishek Raut, who remained unbeaten on a 23-ball 36, and Lee Carseldine (39) were the other contributors with the bat.

Tirumalsetti Suman earlier top-scored for Deccan with an unbeaten 41 after captain Gilchrist gave the side a blazing start, scoring a 41-ball 39 with five fours and two sixes.

Suman paced his 30-ball innings intelligently and also shared a rollicking stand of 59 runs off 49 balls for the fourth wicket with Rohit Sharma (38) to rescue the side from a shaky 3-58.

Sharma’s knock was laced with two fours and two sixes while Suman hit one six and two boundaries.

Australian paceman Shane Harwood, making his IPL debut, took a wicket off his very first ball and also scalped another at the death to finish with impressive figures of 2-25.
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Australian acting captain Michael Clarke says the team will take time to enjoy their stunning comeback win over Pakistan before preparing for the next game in the series.

Clarke starred with bat and ball as Australia pulled off a remarkable turnaround in Abu Dhabi on

Monday night.

Pakistan looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory at 0-95 after 22 overs, in reply to Australia’s disappointing 7-198.

But off-spinner Nathan Hauritz and then left-arm finger-spinner Clarke each took two wickets in two balls in the space of three overs to spark a Pakistan collapse of 10-77 and notch a 27-run win.

Clarke had earlier top-scored with 66 and followed that with figures of 3-15 on the spin-friendly pitch.

The win gave Australia a 2-1 lead in the five-game series, with the remaining two matches to be played this coming Friday and then two days later.

But Clarke said while Australia still had areas of their game that needed work, they would take time to enjoy the victory first.
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“We definitely have a lot to work on but I can guarantee we won’t be thinking about it tonight,” Clarke said after the match.

“We have a few days off or a few days with no cricket, which will be nice.

“The boys should be very happy, very proud, it was a wonderful performance.

“I thought our bowlers, the way we fielded, was fantastic, they showed plenty of courage and I’m very happy with how we performed.”

Falling short

Clarke said Australia should have made at least 20 runs more than they did.

But on a pitch that had slow bounce and inconsistent turn, particularly with the old ball, he always believed they could make the chase difficult for Pakistan.

“I knew if we bowled and fielded well we would get enough opportunities,” he said.

“Even though they were 0-95 at one stage, I was still confident that on that wicket once the ball got a little bit older we could win the game.”

He introduced himself to the attack in the 26th over, in what proved a masterstroke as he took wickets with his first two balls, then a third in his third over.

“I tried to wait as long as possible before I had to bowl, to be honest,” he said.

“It’s always good to bowl in conditions like that, when the ball’s spinning, obviously it makes it a little bit harder to score.

“For me it was just about trying to put the ball in a half-decent area and hope some spun and some didn’t and fortunately I had a little bit of luck tonight.”

Reckless batting

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said too many of the side’s middle order batsmen had thrown their wickets away recklessly.

“I don’t think that Australia got us out, we got ourselves out,” Alam said.

“We made things difficult for ourselves.”

But he said it was a good experience for his team to be put under pressure by the Australians and a situation they needed to learn how to handle.
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Twenty20 was considered a spinners’ graveyard till a skilful band of slow bowlers changed it all with bewitching shows in the ongoing Indian Premier League in South Africa.

Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh have proved that the shortest form of the game is not only about batsmen whacking the ball out of the park with audacious stroke-play.

Batsmen have so far struggled against quality spinners on pitches offering turn and bounce, with Indian leg-spinner Kumble and his Australian counterpart Warne setting the trend on the tournament’s opening day.

Kumble suprised himself as much as the opposition when he grabbed 5-5 off just 3.1 overs in Bangalore Royal Challengers’ win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals.

“I was quite intrigued with my performance,” said the 38-year-old Kumble, who quit international cricket last year with 619 Test and 337 one-day wickets.

“I am coming off a long break and may be retired but the moment I’m on the field, ball in hand, the feeling is the same as always. And in any format, a five-wicket haul makes you feel you are in the thick of things.”

Kumble has now completed a unique Indian hat-trick — best figures in a Test innings (10-74 v Pakistan in 1999), one-day internationals (6-12 v West Indies in 1993) and a Twenty20 game.

Warne retired from the game in 2007, but can still outwit batsmen with shrewd variations. He was Rajasthan Royals’ best spinner against Bangalore, finishing with 2-18.

“You really need to pinch yourself to believe that he (Warne) can still spin a web around the best of batsmen in the world,” said Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

“He retired in 2007 and now spends more time on the poker table than on cricket pitches, but give him the ball and the magic resumes.”

Harbhajan was on target in the opening game itself as he took 1-15 off three tight overs in Mumbai Indians’ win over Chennai.

“Harbhajan’s performance was the first sign that spin could be a factor in this competition,” said Sri Lankan off-spinner Muralitharan, the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests (770) and one-day internationals (505).

“Since then we have seen Warne rip leg-breaks like the old days, Vettori turned a game for Delhi Daredevils and I had a good night against Bangalore.”

Muralitharan was named man of the match for his 3-11 effort in Chennai’s victory over Bangalore.

“The fact that we are playing on tired squares at the end of the season may also be having an impact. Whatever the reasons, as a spinner, I’m delighted,” said Muralitharan.

New Zealand left-arm spinner Vettori took 3-15 off three overs to help Delhi beat Punjab in a rain-hit tie.

Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has yet to establish himself at international level, but has made an impact in South Africa. He has so far bagged six wickets in three matches for Deccan Chargers.
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