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Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, South Africa’s top stars in the Indian Premier League, feel that age and their reputation as Test players will not be a barrier when they enter the field for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Twenty20 tournament starting April 18.”We have done it throughout our career, adjusting to Test cricket, one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket,” the 32-year-old Kallis said in Bangalore three days ahead of their inaugural home game against Kolkata Knight Riders. “So the players are used to it, it is a different mindset. It is probably easier to go from Test cricket to one-day cricket than it is the other way around. We are looking forward to some exciting cricket.”Shaun Pollock, a former team-mate of Boucher and Kallis playing for the Mumbai Indians, also indicated age was not a barrier by stating the IPL had come as a boon for players close to retirement. “It does give another avenue for the older guys who can just get through the shorter version of the game to continue and extend their career,” the allrounder, who recently retired from international cricket, pointed out.”We have got a few tricks up our sleeve,” Boucher, 31, said. “We have got a side that on paper has a lot of good Test players but that’s a bonus. If you can play Test cricket, you can play any form of the game. It’s just a matter of mindset. If you look at those players called Test players, they have also played some unbelievable innings in one day cricket for their countries. I would rather have a couple of guys who can see off the new ball and post a competitive total than have guys who can smack the ball out of the park and also get out.”The Royal Challengers had bought Kallis for US$ 900,000 and Boucher for US$450,000 during the players’ auction in February. Both played the three-Test series in India that ended on Sunday and were cleared to play for the IPL after they were dropped from their domestic teams for the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament in South Africa.”Obviously, it was a tough couple of weeks playing Test matches, and then we were told that we were going home and now we are staying,” Kallis said. “Eventually, the board [Cricket South Africa] released us from our franchises back home. Probably there are six to seven guys who play for our franchise back home, the Cape Cobras. And instead of keeping all the internationals back home, they have released Mark and myself. Therefore we are now part of the IPL contract which allows us to play here.”When asked whether the ICC should find space for the IPL in the international calendar, Boucher said, “We do play a lot of cricket these days. May be the way forward is to go ahead with the IPL and cut down the number of one-dayers we play every year. But ultimately the fans will decide and Twenty20 does create the finance for the ICC.”Boucher and Kallis have had discussions on the 44-day-long tournament with Rahul Dravid, their IPL captain, and said they were excited by the opportunity.”We spoke to Venkatesh Prasad [the coach of Royal Challengers] the other day and spoke to Rahul last night,” Boucher said. “It is difficult to discuss things when we guys are competing with each other in a Test series. So we kept it formal on the field but now the chats are going on and it is exciting.”Boucher is also looking forward to meeting Virat Kohli, his team-mate and captain of India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team. “It would be nice to talk to him and may be share a few whispers about his success against South Africa in the Under-19 World Cup.”

After lasting 205 balls and not having played a shot in anger, S Badrinathdanced down the pitch to Rahul Sanghvi and hit him straight back over hishead, clean as anything, and the ball thudded into the sightscreen,signalling the only six on a day where the scoring rate was just in excessof two runs per over. It was an amazing moment not because Badrinath isincapable of the big hits, but simply because it was a startling shot on aday when batsmen had to shelve their shots.Indian cricket these days is full of cricketers who want to make aninstant impact – and the best way to do that is to be a strokemaker. ButBadrinath is different, and is proud of the fact that he began as a grafterand from that solid base has grown into something more. “I started off asa grafter,” he told Cricinfo at the end of the day’s play. “My range of strokes hasincreased over time, has become broader. Now I think I’ve got all theshots. It’s basically a question of shot selection – which shots to playon which wickets, that’s important.”Badrinath has made eight first-class centuries, and some of them have beeninvaluable to Tamil Nadu’s cause, but this was perhaps the most critical,and he acknowledged that. “Given the circumstances I went out to bat in,11 for 2, and the fact that this was not the easiest wicket to bat on, Iwould rate this innings among the best I’ve played,” he said. “Perhapsthis isn’t my best-ever, but I’d rate it very highly.”There was another grafter on display on the day, in M Vijay, the debutant,who played almost five hours for his 59 and shared in a critical 127-runpartnership for the third wicket after an early wobble. “He looks a goodplayer, and has made plenty of runs in league cricket in Chennai,” saidBadrinath of Vijay. “He’s a bit inexperienced in that he’s playing hisfirst Ranji match, but he’s definitely a player for the future.”There is plenty of experience the team, though, with the likes of SSharath and Ashish Kapoor having played domestic cricket for years, andBadrinath is not ignorant of this. “There are times when I can talk tothese guys and get some inputs,” he said. “I’ve played a bit of cricketmyself, but you must remember this is just my third match as captain. Soit certainly helps to have the right blend of guys, like we do.”Badrinath was also not especially concerned that his team had only managed184 after winning the toss and choosing to bat. “The wicket was reallyslow and the ball was just not coming onto the bat,” he said. “Consideringthat you had to be patient and look to play long. The runs will eventuallycome. Losing only three wickets in the whole day was a good effort, evenif we only made 184 runs.”With the bounce not being consistent, it was hard work for the batsmen allround, and it’s only going to get tougher as the pitch wears down. “It washard to play both the spinners and the fast bowlers,” he said, refusing tobe drawn out on what was the easiest type of bowling to make runs againston this pitch. “The bounce isn’t true, so the horizontal bat shots arecompletely ruled out. This makes it hard to get boundaries. In suchsituations you just have to work, work, work and try and pick up the onesand twos wherever you can.”The hundred was a timely one for Badrinath, with Dilip Vengsarkar, thechairman of selectors, watching the game from near the players’ enclosure.When asked if Vengasarkar’s presence put any added pressure on him,Badrinath laughed off the suggestion. “It wasn’t a distraction,” he said”I’m just going to go out there and play my game, whoever is watching orisn’t. It wasn’t any added pressure on me.”

Andrew Symonds was due to have surgery in Melbourne today on a minor but long-standing wrist problem. Errol Alcott, the team physiotherapist, told the Symonds had a “flake” lodged in his left hand.”It’s just a lining of the bone which in the complicated movement of swinging the bat around at different positions and angles and forces, there can be inflammation and soreness,” Alcott told the paper. “It’s a bit of an occupational hazard of course, particularly for someone like him fielding in close.”Symonds should be training fully in six weeks and his manager Matthew Fenton said now was the ideal time for the operation. “It’s something when he plays a lot of cricket, he notices,” he said. “It’s something that he has had for a quite a while.” Symonds played eight Tests and 22 ODIs in 2005-06 and also struggled with a hip problem on the tour of South Africa.

Kenya’s players met with board officials at Cricket Kenya’s headquarters on Thursday after expressing unhappiness at not receiving their match fees for the abandoned tri-series match against Canada at Mombasa last month.The game was called off after Canada informed match officials that they were unable to field a side because of illness in their squad. Under ICC regulations, that means the game was deemed never to have started and, as such, Cricket Kenya did not pay its players appearance fees of between $60 and $90 each. The players, however, believed that this money should have been forthcoming even though the game was scrapped the day before and they never even left their hotel. They still received their $30 daily allowance on the day concerned.”We were concerned about our allowances for the Canada match,” Thomas Odoyo, the Kenya allrounder, told Kenya’s , “but that matter has now been resolved. With that issue now behind us, we can now focus all our attention on training.”Cricinfo has learned that the board agreed to pay the fees as a one-off, on the understanding that this did not set a precedent.The news comes days after Cricket Kenya announced its players would each receive $5000 bonuses for their success in the World Cricket League last week.”We will pay them this appearance fee soon and they have agreed to resume training,” Tom Tikolo, Cricket Kenya’s chief executive said. “They are now settled and we don’t anticipate any more issues. They [the players] also expressed concern regarding the issue of World Cup bonuses and we assured them they would get paid on time.”

by 182 runs
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Rumeli Dhar slammed a career-best 92 and the bowlers backed her up with a superb performance as India crushed Pakistan by 182 runs. This was India’s third successive win in the tournament while Pakistan have lost all three of their games.After choosing to bat, India lost two early wickets but recovered through a 50-run stand between Asha Rawat (69) and Priyanka Roy and then moved into a position of strength as Dhar and Rawat put on 89 runs. Rawat remained unbeaten scoring at nearly a run a ball and with the help of some lower-order hitting from Amita Sharma and Jhulan Goswami took India to 275 – the highest total of the tournament.The Pakistan batting never got going and they lost their openers with the score on 5. Only two of their batsmen got into double digits as they laboured to 93 in their quota of overs with even that meagre total reached with the assistance of 33 extras. Three of the Indian bowlers sent down their ten overs with an economy-rate below one and Gouher Sultana bagged the Man-of-the Match award on debut with figures of 10-7-9-3.
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It was a day of one-sided encounters as Sri Lanka trounced Bangladesh by eight wickets after restricting them to 94. Bangladesh, fresh from their memorable triumph over Pakistan two days ago, were unable to repeat their performance as only two batmen, Shathira Jakir and Ayesha Akhter , managed to cross 20. Left-arm spinner Suwini de Alwis was the most successful bowler and she sparked a collapse, starting with the dismissal of Ayesha, as four wickets fell for one run and Bangladesh slid to 68 for 9. The last pair resisted for more than 14 overs and added 26 runs but Sri Lanka chased down the target with eight wickets and more than 30 overs to spare with the help of de Alwis and opener Chamari Polgampola.

Inzamam-ul Haq, the Pakistan captain, termed Pakistan’s overall performance in England as “unsatisfactory”, saying that the team needed to improve its fielding in one-day cricket.”Our overall performance was unsatisfactory and we should have performed better than we did,” Inzamam said on returning from the two-and-a-half month tour. Pakistan lost their last one-day international at Birmingham on Sunday, which left the five-match series level at 2-2 after the first game at Cardiff was hit by rain. Earlier, Pakistan lost the four-match Test series 3-0, which included an unprecedented result after they forfeited The Oval Test following a ball-tampering row. It was Pakistan’s first loss in a Test series in England since 1982.The only positive outcome from the tour was experience gained by the youngsters in Pakistan team, Inzamam said. “Several youngsters toured England for the first time and the tour provided them with a wealth of experience and I hope they build on this experience in future.” Inzamam singled out fielding as his team’s main weakness. “If we need to progress we must improve our fielding, which plays a crucial part in one-day cricket.”Bob Woolmer, the coach, was also unhappy with the result. “It was disappointing not to do as well as we hoped. Probably it was the toughest tour of my career for many reasons,” Woolmer told AFP from Cape Town. “Some positives did come out of the tour and they were Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and Younis Khan – who all did well on the tour but overall it was a disappointing tour.”Pakistan’s next international assignment is the Champions Trophy in India next month.

ScorecardFile photo: Sulieman Benn’s six-wicket haul in the second innings dismantled Windward Islands•Associated Press

A second-innings half-century from the captain Paul Palmer helped Jamaica chase down 150 for a three-wicket win against Leeward Islands in Kingston. Jamaica made the early running in the game, as Leeward Islands, after opting to bat, were dismissed for 164 in 63 overs, thanks to a five-wicket haul from the seamer Sheldon Cottrell (5 for 38). The hosts fell to 68 for 6 in their reply and looked in danger of missing out on an innings lead, but Carlton Baugh (73) and Nikita Miller (51) counterattacked by putting up a 110-run stand. Rahkeem Cornwall picked up four wickets for Leeward Islands, but Jamaica managed to compile 243 to earn a lead of 79 runs.Leeward Islands showed more fight in their second dig, scoring 228 on the back of Shane Jeffers’ 61 and Orlando Peters’ 52. However, no other batsman was able to produce a score of note, as Miller collected 4 for 71 to run through the line-up. As was the case in their first innings, Jamaica found themselves on the back foot even in the second, precariously placed at 84 for 5. Cornwall was once again the pick of the bowlers, taking 5 for 39, but Palmer helped weather the storm, stroking six fours for his 127-ball 51, as Jamaica held on for victory.
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Sulieman Benn’s second-innings six-for fired Barbados to a 181-run win against Windward Islands in Grenada. Barbados, opting to bat, were guided by handy knocks from their top-order batsmen as the team posted a total of 296; Kyle Corbin and Sharmarh Brooks chipped in with fifties. Fast bowler Kevin Stoute ensured Windward Islands remained on the defensive by collecting 4 for 30 to wreck the team’s line-up, as the hosts folded for 179, with no batsman managing a half-century.Brooks then compiled his second half-century of the game – a 183-ball 66 – and added 130 for the fourth wicket with Roston Chase (71), as Barbados eventually declared at 261 for 7, setting Windward Islands a target of 397. Despite starts from their top three batsmen – Tyrone Theophile, Miles Bascombe and Johnson Charles all made forties – the hosts did not get anywhere close to the target. Benn took 6 for 55 in 26.2 overs as Windward Islands were bowled out for 197.
ScorecardA century from Assad Fudadin, and an eight-wicket match haul from Veerasammy Permaul were the cornerstones behind Guyana’s innings and 49-run win against Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain.T&T, batting first, were wrecked by Chris Barnwell’s five-wicket haul, and only a fighting partnership of 108 for the ninth wicket between Marlon Richards (53) and Uthman Muhammad (53) got the team above 200. Guyana, though, remained unfazed and collected a massive first-innings lead, as Fudadin, Leon Johnson (92), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (82), Raymon Reifer (64) and Barnwell (79) all got in among the runs. Their efforts lifted Guyana to 475, with a lead of 265 runs.Kyle Hope (74) and Narsingh Deonarine (47) put up a 104-run partnership for the third wicket in T&T’s second innings, but once Permaul (5 for 62) got the breakthrough by dismissing Deonarine, the team subsequently folded. Gudakesh Motie provided support to the attack by taking 4 for 43, as T&T were dismissed for 216, falling to their second defeat of the season.

Graeme Smith has voiced concerns about the exodus of leading players from South African cricket. Several cricketers including Jacques Rudolph and Vaughn van Jaarsveld have signed Kolpak contracts while others such as Andrew Hall have recently quit international cricket.”The main concern is that players who can still mean a lot to the national team are turning their back on South African cricket,” Smith told news24.com, a South African news website. “Those are the ones we have to keep and whom the administrators should think about.”Guys of 21 and 22 years are leaving because they just do not have the patience to play their way into the national team,” Smith said. “Some players who are near the end of their career are also taking that route.”It is hard to stop them because the money they will earn in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) is a major consideration. But it does prove that there are other problems in our cricket that have to be solved. The administrators have a major task and I just hope they take it seriously.”Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje have signed with the ICL while Hall is almost certain to join once his contract with Cricket South Africa comes to an end in April next year.Though Jacques Kallis, who resigned from the vice-captaincy after being dropped for the ICC World Twenty20, is back in the side for the Pakistan tour, his replacement as vice-captain has not been announced. “I wish I knew. I’ll let you know when I find out,” said Smith. “But it seems that sort of information is not meant for me.”The South African team is currently in Pakistan on a two-Test and five-ODI tour.

Shoaib Akhtar has been dropped from the Asian team for the Afro-Asia Cup due to lack of fitness. Mohsin Khan, a member of the Asian Cricket Council’s selection committee has said that Akhtar had not yet fully recovered from a knee injury.”We have dropped Shoaib Akhtar from Asia’s squad because it has been reliably learnt that he is facing fitness problems,” Khan said. He cited Akhtar’s unavailability from the Pakistani squad for the three-match Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka. “If a player doesn’t think himself to be fit enough to play for his own country then how can he play for any other team,” he said. Khan added that he had spoken to Pakistan Cricket Board officials to ascertain Akhtar’s level of fitness.Interestingly, Akhtar was selected for the Afro-Asia series after he had made himself unavailable for the Abu Dhabi series and despite having not played in the recently concluded World Cup due to injury. In fact he had played a solitary Test and four ODIs in the past year. Soon after being selected he said he was considering dropping out of the Afro-Asia Cup, citing personal commitments, but changed his stance a few days later, making himself available.Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Asif are the remaining Pakistani representatives in the Asian squad after Akhtar’s exit. The Afro-Asia Cup, comprising a Twenty20 match and three ODIs, will be held in India between June 5th and 10th.

Victoria have signed Matthew Wade, the Tasmanian wicketkeeper-batsman, in a move Wade hopes will increase his chances of playing state cricket next season. Wade, 19, made his limited-overs debut for the Tigers in 2006-07 as a specialist batsman but managed only one match.With Sean Clingeleffer re-establishing his place in the Tasmania Pura Cup team and Tim Paine looking settled behind the stumps in the one-day competition, Wade believed his opportunities in his home state would be limited. “Tasmania has a strong squad and I’m really grateful for the time I spent there, but the reality for me was that I was third in line as far as the keeping position was concerned,” Wade said.”I’m hoping that with a fresh start with Victoria and more hard work, I can create greater opportunities to play state cricket. I’m really looking forward to joining the Bushrangers.” Wade, a left-hand batsman and former Australia Under-19 representative, could pose a serious threat to Adam Crosthwaite, who has established himself as Victoria’s first-choice wicketkeeper over the past two seasons.Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach who has also led Tasmania, saw Wade’s development as a young player and was thoroughly impressed. “He’s a pocket rocket,” Shipperd told the . “What he does do is score hundreds, and he has consistently done that since his junior days. He’s got a good technique, really solid. He could really challenge as a batter and a keeper. And it will present Adam with a serious challenge with healthy competition for a place in the side coming into the group.”Tim Coyle, the Tasmania coach, said Wade was a talented player and the Tigers had offered him a two-year senior contract to entice him to stay. “We understand that Victoria guaranteed him selection in its Pura Cup team to win his signature,” Coyle said.”We are not in a position to guarantee any player a game of first-class cricket as we prefer to see people earn the right to represent Tasmania at this level. But in saying this, we wish Matthew all the best for the future.” Wade, who was named Tasmania’s Young Player of the Year in March for the second consecutive season, is part of the 16-man Australian Institute of Sport intake for this year.