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.Ganguly belongs to the hall of fame which includes the likes of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Bedi, Vishwanath, Vengsarkar, Amarnath, Prasanna et al. But it is time that Ganguly, if he wishes to continue in the present team, proves himself and what better way to do that than to go back to Ranji Trophy cricket. One century on a placid wicket against a weak bowling attack doesn’t prove anything. The Indian team is more important than a person, no matter what the record books say about that person. Lakshmi Challa FloridaLet Ganguly be India’s vice-captain. Keith Massay UKI guess everyone will agree that a team of 10 good players is better than 11 individual performers. Ganguly has been the only Indian captain in history to mould a team out of individual players. If not for anything else, Ganguly deserves a place in the team for that. When people say that Ganguly should step down for the likes of Yuvraj and Kaif, I must remind them that the same Yuvraj and Kaif have had long bad patches and they are today in the team because of Ganguly’s backing. He backed them because he believed that they had potential. Does Ganguly himself not deserve the same backing from the public and the media? And lastly, even if people believe that he should be replaced, do we have better players to replace him with. When Venugopal Rao and J P Yadav can play in the Indian side, is a place for Ganguly so unimaginable? Shobhit Aggarwal IndiaChappell has been appointed coach for the Indian cricket team and he should focus on that. He seems to be crossing his jurisdiction getting involved in matters like the selection of captain and the team — there is no harm in an informal consultation by a captain for selection of the final eleven with the coach, but nothing beyond that. The BCCI needs to intervene immediately and deal with the conflict between the captain and the coach. If this conflict persists, it would hurt the very soul of our team. Ram Chopra TorontoGanguly should go. Chappell knows what he is doing. Eshwar IndiaIt is sad to see that even the media is taking sides. Cricinfo is probably the only media outlet which has reported fairly on the issue. Observation is something very different from judgment. And I don’t really understand as to why the media is taking potshots at Chappell. Chappell is an honest guy, and he should be given the best team if he wants to make any meaningful contribution to Indian cricket. Partha IndiaGanguly has done enough damage to the Indian team over the last couple of years due to his egoism and continuous failure as a batsman. It’s time he should be shown his place. If Kaif has to sit out of the playing eleven, let’s not talk about building the team for the next World Cup. Instead let’s call it an employment exchange to keep non-performing bozos in business. Anand Chitre IndiaHe needs to speak out and get some support. Maybe it’ll help his form. Ann Singh IndiaIt pains my heart that a person of Ganguly’s stature can stoop to such a low level and unnecessarily stir a hornet’s nest. It was Ganguly who originally backed Chappell as the coach of Team India. Ganguly’s obsession with the captaincy, which is of course a much-prized possession, is like a small baby refusing to part with a toy. Mukul Maheshwari IndiaClick here to send us your feedback on the issue

The exodus from the England & Wales Cricket Board has continued, with the news that John Read, their director of communications, is to quit his post. His announcement comes only weeks after Tim Lamb, the ECB’s chief executive, tendered his resignation in the wake of the Zimbabwe affair."I’ve enjoyed enormously working for the ECB and being part of the executive team that has helped to drive the game forward," said Read in a statement. Among his achievements in his time in office, was the inception of the Twenty20 Cup, which has exceeded all expectations with its popularity, and a drive towards marketing cricket as a young and stylish and socially-inclusive sport.At the boardroom level, it was Read who, earlier this year, warned the ECB that they faced dire financial consequences if they undertook a boycott of their Test tour to Zimbabwe, and with that in mind, he issued a cautionary piece of advice. "The Board has achieved a great deal since its inception in 1997, but there is also no doubt that the ECB needs to move to the next stage of its development and modernise its corporate governance processes."Lamb himself was fulsome in his praise for Read’s contribution. "John has been an immensely popular member of the executive team and has always managed to maintain both his sense of perspective and his abiding good humour even during the most challenging times."In particular he played a pivotal role in the promotion of the inaugural Twenty20 Cup competition in 2003, and did as much as anyone to ensure its successful launch as an innovative and exciting new form of the game. I wish him every success for the future."

Hampshire v Glamorgan, Cardiff ScorecardCaptains past and present, Robin Smith and John Crawley, added 123 for thesecond wicket as Hampshire enjoyed the better of the first day at Cardiff.Crawley’s share was 65, and though Smith eventually fell eight runs short ofhis 62nd first-class century, Nic Pothas ensured his good work was notwasted by reaching the close on 81 not out. Alex Wharf was the pick of abeleaguered Glamorgan attack, finishing with two wickets.Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire, Wantage Road ScorecardNorthants survived a trial by spin to close on a creditable 338 for 8 atWantage Road, a considerable improvement on their woeful efforts againstYorkshire last week. Gloucestershire’s pair of Martyn Ball and Ian Fisherbowled a staggering 73 overs between them, and picked up but one of theeight wickets to fall. But they were thwarted by regular contributions alldown the order. Mark Powell and David Paynter put on 126 for the firstwicket, David Sales added a gritty 59, and the ninth-wicket pair of TobyBailey and Andre Nel reached the close unbeaten after a 63-run stand.Somerset v Durham, Taunton ScorecardFifteen wickets fell on the first day at Taunton, as Durham and Somersettraded blow for blow. Jon Lewis scored a composed 78 and Marcus Trescothickresponded in kind with 60 from 81 balls, but overall it was a day for thebowlers. Richard Johnson was the pick for Somerset, with figures of 5 for64, although Vince Wells struck two vital blows in the final over of theday, as five Somerset wickets fell for 35 runs.Kent v Leicestershire, Canterbury ScorecardKent made a stuttering start to their Championship campaign, as they werebundled out for 245 after winning the toss at Canterbury. Greg Blewett andMichael Carberry picked up a brace of fifties, but three wickets for CharlieDagnell made the difference. When their turn came, Leicestershire slumped to48 for 3, with Mark Ealham, the stand-in Kent captain, grabbing two wickets,but Darren Maddy, and the returning Paul Nixon stood firm to the close.Lancashire v Nottinghamshire, Old Trafford ScorecardMal Loye made history as the first batsman to score centuries in each of hisfirst two innings for Lancashire, but Nottinghamshire fought backimpressively in the evening session. Loye, who signed from Northants in thesummer, scored 113 and added 137 for the fifth wicket with Andrew Flintoff(97). With a few overs of the day remaining, Lancashire were cruising at 340for 5, but Steve Elworthy (5 for 71) and Greg Smith (3 for 50) ripped outthe last five wickets for 14 runs.Middlesex v Sussex, Lord’s ScorecardJason Lewry and James Kirtley were Sussex’s heroes with bat and ball, on aday of fluctuating fortunes at Lord’s. Middlesex had the upper hand earlyon, with Joe Dawes and Paul Weekes taking three wickets apiece to reduceSussex to 172 for 9. But Lewry clubbed a run-a-ball 45, and Kirtley kept hisend up for 55 deliveries in a vital last-wicket stand of 67. They followedup by each grabbing an early wicket, as Middlesex closed on 79 for 4.Warwickshire v Essex, Edgbaston ScorecardJim Troughton and Dougie Brown picked up a pair of centuries as Essex weregiven the run-around on a day of high-scoring at Edgbaston. Troughton (107not out) and Brown (120) added 201 for the sixth wicket after Scott Branthad kept the top-order in check with three early wickets. Ronnie Iranigrabbed two wickets as well, including his England team-mate Nick Knight,and though Brown fell before the close, Troughton will resume in themorning.

It’s not even the silly season but sport’s pre-occupation with the production of lists, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, has produced a couple of pearlers over the last month.The Sir Donald Bradman Memorial XI announced as part of the latest book on the recently-deceased legend of cricket has taken pride of place. It was only one man’s opinion, but what a man. It is no wonder he didn’t want it named until after his death.Suffice to say that it was an interesting selection.More intriguing has been the release of the Wisden 100 lists for batting and bowling.Wisden, the name, carries an inordinate amount of weight on these matters. It is an institution in the game.But it has left itself wide open to criticism for the manner of its choices in this exercise. Every country in the world will take exception to some of the selections.New Zealand is but one example of this. Each country will no doubt have several efforts not listed that meant more to people in those countries than can be represented by bald statistics. That is why cricket holds its local appeal.By making its choice as long as 100 in both sections, it is also leaving itself open to more criticism.Before getting down to specifics it is worth noting that the 12 factors Wisden has used in making its assessment are: Batting base points, pitch index, bowling quality, percentage of score, point of entry, after point of entry, wickets falling during innings, support, shepherding the tail, highest score, match status, result contribution.Then for bowling the eight factors considered vital are: Bowling base points, pitch index, batting quality, dismissed batsman quality, bowling accuracy, most wickets, match status, result contribution.All worthy aspects of any list.However, many of the factors are capable of differences in assessment, after all what is one umpire’s leg before wicket decision is not always that of another. What is one man’s assessment of the quality of a side is not automatically that of another.And therein lies the risk in compiling such lists.Everyone sees things differently. Memorable shots or deliveries are remembered by people in different ways.There is also the prospect when dealing with nations whose teams have fluttered around the middle to lower order of cricketing ranks that assessment is based on figures alone without regard for the facts and emotions of battle.One of the great appeals of cricket is that victory is not always the vehicle of achievement. Numerous are the examples of an honourable draw being achieved by outstanding effort.The emphasis on results being achieved rather than draws, points are awarded in favour of result matches on the ratio of 10:3, is flawed.From a New Zealand perspective it is interesting that the only batsman from this country to be included in the top 100 innings is Bryan Young for his 267 against Sri Lanka at Carisbrook. It was a memorable innings, but the best by a New Zealander?Not on your life.New Zealand’s bowlers are better represented by Richard Hadlee (5th), Simon Doull (64th), John Bracewell (89th) and Chris Cairns (91st).An immediate point of contention concerns the difference between Hadlee’s 9-52 against Australia at Brisbane in 1985, a match won by an innings and 41 runs and the batting in the match.If Hadlee’s nine wickets are worthy of fifth place on the order, why is Martin Crowe’s 188 in New Zealand’s innings not a feature of the batting list?The fact that Crowe’s 299 or Andrew Jones’ 186 during their world record stand of 467 against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in 1991 is not included is a reflection of the emphasis on winning results rather than match-saving innings in drawn circumstances.Similarly, why no place for one of the great defensive innings of all-time played by Mark Greatbatch at Perth in 1989 when he scored 146 not out to deny Australia victory? His working with the lower order on that occasion was a textbook demonstration of the craft. It came after a lengthy performance in the first innings of the game.What also of Bevan Congdon’s 176 in New Zealand’s fourth innings total of 440 in its quest for 479 to beat England at Trent Bridge in 1973?Again, what of Glenn Turner’s century in each innings on the occasion of New Zealand’s first Test victory over Australia at Lancaster Park in 1974?It is this overlooking of lesser-ranked nations’ achievements by outside-based assessors that upsets the rationale of these sorts of lists.For sheer drama and guts, the effort of Bert Sutcliffe at Ellis Park, Johannesburg on Boxing Day in 1954 might, again, have helped ensure a draw, but what an innings, what a draw.What of wicket-keeper Ian Smith’s brilliant dismemberment of a rampant Indian attack at Eden Park in 1990 when his 173 off 136 balls faced helped New Zealand recover from 131/7 to reach 391? Sure the Test was drawn, but what an innings!Then there is Nathan Astle’s 102 not out during his memorable 106-run unbeaten last wicket stand with Danny Morrison at Eden Park in 1997 to deny England victory.Emotion still has a role to play in assessment, both for the player concerned and for the spectator or interested fan. There is no room for this quality in the guidelines listed.Similar complaints could be made of the bowling assessments.What of a 21-year-old left-arm spinner in Daniel Vettori taking 12-149, including his 100th Test wicket, against the undoubted world champions in a losing match?And what of Bruce Taylor’s 7-74 against the strong West Indian batting line-up at Bridgetown in 1972 in another drawn match?Hadlee’s six wicket bag in New Zealand’s first victory over, admittedly, a weakened England team in 1978 would still mean far more to many local people than, with all due respect, some of the other New Zealand performances listed.What is one man’s drama is definitely not that for another.The manner of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack choice of the players of the century, when involving an electoral panel drawn from around the world, seems a far more appropriate format.If, as seems likely, it is the Wisden intention to develop a rating formula before every Test match played, it should seriously reconsider aspects of its analysis.

The inexperience of an Eastern Province bowling attack missing Mornantau Hayward, Meyrick Pringle and Garnett Kruger was ruthlessly exposed on Monday as Easterns cantered to a five-wicket victory in their Supersport Series match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, their second in as many weekends.The win virtually ensures that Easterns will campaign in the Super Eight phase of the competition next year, while EP must be fearful of being the side to miss out from Pool B, which also includes KwaZulu-Natal, Western Province and Border.Easterns’ target of 276 had seemed like a tall order on Monday morning, when they resumed on 40 for one, having lost Brad White for 15 overnight, and it looked beyond them by the time Mike Rindel was caught behind for 14, to leave them reeling on 93 for four. Considering the home side’s brittle display with the bat in their first knock, the men from Port Elizabeth had a strong sniff of victory in their nostrils.It would have been even stronger had Dave Callaghan caught Pierre de Bruyn at second slip when he had 12, but the veteran allrounder grassed the chance. As it turned out, sadly for Callaghan, De Bruyn and Derek Crookes went on to add all but six of the 183 runs still required for victory when they had come together.Crookes was the chief aggressor, going to lunch on 40 to De Bruyn’s 14. But the sharing out of the runs mattered far less than the fact that they proved an ideal pairing, with good communication and speed between the stumps ensuring that numerous tight singles were safely negotiated.The Willowmoore Park pitch had been expected to hold a few terrors for the batsmen and it certainly contributed to captain Deon Jordaan’s dismissal, when he played back to a delivery from slow left-armer Robin Peterson which stayed low and shot through under his bat to bowl him.However, Crookes showed the value of a positive approach when the pitch is not entirely trustworthy as he raced towards his century. The introduction of the new ball after 80 overs, when Easterns had 197 for four, was the visitors’ last throw of the dice, but far from halting the home side’s run spree it contributed to its acceleration as youngsters like the highly ratedMfuneko Ngam and strapping debutant Dewald Senekal failed to get the basics right, bowling far too many balls wide outside the off stump.In the second over with the new ball, Ngam saw himself cut square for six by Crookes and in his next over, after a fielding error had gifted Easterns three overthrows to give Crookes an all-run four, the right-hander cut him to the boundary backward of square to go to his ton.Without three of their pace kingpins, EP’s attack was proving desperately short of penetration and it was no surprise that the only other scalp they managed to secure came from a run out. Crookes and De Bruyn eventually attempted one sharp single too many at a time when it had become unnecessary and Graham Grace dispatched an irritated Crookes for 117 with a direct hitfrom cover point.Just six more were needed and De Bruyn got the lot off the first two balls of the next over, from Peterson, to take his team to exactly 276 for five and his own score to an unbeaten 71, ensuring Easterns picked up 15 points for the victory.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBabar Hayat led the way with an unbeaten 65•HKCA/Bridget Rive

Unbeaten half-centuries from Babar Hayat and Mark Chapman helped Hong Kong to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the third T20 with Oman. The series had already been decided, however, with Oman winning the first two games.In the highest-scoring of their three encounters, Oman set a target of 150 to win, which Hong Kong achieved in the 19th over, Chapman finishing the game with his third six. Hayat and Chapman put on a unbroken stand of 127 to guide their side home after early wickets for Ajay Lalcheta and Mehran Khan had left Hong Kong on 28 for 2.Oman’s innings had got off to a fast start before congealing in the middle overs. Opener Zeeshan Maqsood struck five fours in 23 from 15 balls but he was third man out in the eighth over, with the score on 48. Oman also lost No. 3 Aaqib Sulehri to injury after facing just one ball.Adnan Ilyas and Aamir Kaleem put on 101 for the fourth wicket, both players opening their shoulders towards the end as 22 came off the 18th over, bowled by Haseeb Amjad. Another 15 came off the last over before Haseeb picked up his second wicket by having Ilyas lbw for 49 off the final ball.

The Pakistan board has decided to carry out dope tests on the 30 players in the provisional Twenty20 World Championship squad before the final 15-man side is announced next month.Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has instructed the board officials to get the tests carried out as soon as possible so that the results are received from a laboratory in Malaysia before the final squad is picked on August 10. The tournament takes place in September.”We will begin dope testing on the players as soon as possible,” said Ahsan Malik, PCB’s Communications Director. “It will take up to ten days to get the results of the tests, which is why the players’ urine samples will be obtained over the next few days.”Malik said that the board may take samples from some players in Lahore and the others in Karachi. Most of the players on Pakistan’s provisional squad are currently in Lahore but will move to Karachi later this week for the final phase of training before leaving for South Africa.Malik said he was confident all players would pass the tests but the board wants to be certain before announcing the final squad. He said it was the board’s policy to carry out internal dope tests ahead of major ICC events, a practice that would be continued.

AC Muthiah, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been appointed chairman of the six-member ICC Nomination Committee which will choose the next president of the ICC in 2007.The committee includes Bob Merriman, Mueen Afzal, John Blair, Stephen Camacho and Imran Khwaja. The deadline for filing the nominations for Percy Sonn’s successor as president has been fixed for January 1, 2007.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, confirmed Muttiah’s appointment and added that he was the unanimous choice for the post, once Blair proposed Muthiah’s name at the committee’s first meeting on August 31.”Muthiah has a stature,” Shah told reporters, “and is known to all permanent and other members of the ICC since he had been maintaining good rapport with them during his presidentship of BCCI.”Commenting on his appointment, Muttiah – who served two terms as the BCCI president between 1999 and 2001 – maintained that it was an honour.”I deem it a great honour done to Indian cricket as I have been known to administrators of the game in the world as president of the BCCI,” he said. “The other committee members and myself will surely adhere to the code of ethics in selecting the right candidate for the post of ICC president.”

Steve Rixon, the former Australian wicketkeeper and New Zealand coach, has joined the call for Matthew Hayden’s exclusion from the Australian team for the fifth Ashes Test, which starts at The Oval on September 8. Hayden has struggled throughout the series, scoring only 180 runs in eight innings at an average of 22.50, and Rixon reckoned it was time for Simon Katich to move up the batting order as Justin Langer’s partner.”I’d be leaving Matthew Hayden out and letting Simon Katich open,” Rixon told . “I’ve no doubt Ricky [Ponting] will want him in the team, but it shouldn’t happen. I’m a fan of Matthew Hayden. He’s been sensational for Australia. But this is a one-off Test with everything – and I mean everything – at stake. It’s the biggest match Australia has played for as long as I can remember. Matthew is a frustrated batsman. Even he would have to admit he’s out of form. It’s been too long since he’s made a big score.” Hayden hasn’t scored a hundred in his last 15 Tests, and averages only 30.23 over that period.”He can come back for the next Test, but he shouldn’t be in this one,” Rixon continued. “I’ve never seen him play the way he is at the moment. Some of the balls he misses, he wouldn’t have hit it with two bats.”If Hayden plays, I hope he gets runs and proves me wrong. But we need batsmen to go out there and fight to save the series. Katich will do that. He was ready for the innings of the life before he was taken out through no fault of his own,” Rixon said, referring to Katich’s 183-ball 59 at Trent Bridge, an innings which was cut short by a dubious lbw decision. “Simon showed that’s it’s possible to bat for a long time against these bowlers when you get tough. The selectors need to be strong on this.”Meanwhile Jason Gillespie, another Australian who has been struggling throughout the tour, rejected suggestions that there will be wholesale changes to the Australian team after the current series. Gillespie was dropped from the fourth Test after taking just three wickets at 100 apiece in the first three.”I honestly don’t believe there is a feeling of a sea change within the team,” Gillespie told . “There is talk of this being an older team but you’re only as old as you feel. We all feel fresh, the batsmen are hitting the ball well, the bowlers are doing well, it’s business as usual.”So, I don’t know if I buy into that sort of talk. That sort of talk always happens when you’re not playing well. “We’ve played a couple of bad games, we haven’t played to our usual standards, and you have former players in the media having their bit to say, which is fine. We know we can do better, it’s time for us to fine-tune our skills and we’ll silence [the critics] when we win at The Oval.”

The second phase of the bidding process for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies has begun. The Venue Assessment Team (VAT), the ICC and the World Cup organising committee began the tour yesterday and will visit all the countries bidding to host matches in the tournament.The VAT, comprising experts from various sports, began the tour with a two-day visit to Lauderhill in Broward County, Florida. They will then move on to Antigua (June 8 and 9), St Kitts (June 9 and 10), Jamaica (June 10 and 11) and Bermuda (June 11 and 12).The touring party had covered St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent, Trinidad, Guyana, and Barbados in the first part of the tour from May 24 to 29. After the first leg, the VAT had held private meetings with local bid committees while the officials had discussed venue arrangements and related matters with the governments and cricket officials.Expressing satisfaction with the work done so far by the VAT on the verification tour, Chris Dehring, the managing director of the organising committee, said: “This tour is a critical phase in the venue selection process following which the VAT will prepare a technical report for submission to the CWC [Cricket World Cup] board who they will also fully brief on their findings.”The VAT will present their technical report on June 24 to the board who will make the decision on the venues and allocate matches. That will require an approval from the ICC, who will then announce the list of venues to host matches on July 4 and allocate matches on July 13.