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South Africa 340 for 3 (Smith 131, de Villiers 98, Kallis 54) lead Zimbabwe 54 (Kallis 4-13, Pollock 3-9, Ntini 3-23) by 286 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Zimbabwe were routed for 54 in a little over a session on the opening day of the first Test at Newlands, nine runs short of their previous-lowest score in Tests, 63 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1999-2000. The pitch held few demons, and as if to underline the point, South Africa raced to 340 for 3 by the close. Their lead of 286 is the highest that a side batting second has established by the end of the first day in any Test.In the history of Test cricket there can rarely have been a day as obscenely one-sided as this. Zimbabwe had the look of a very average club side, and by and large the technique to match it. The wickets which they claimed both owed more to boredom on the part of the batsmen – all three fell trying to hammer the hapless Graeme Cremer over Table Mountain – than any cunning plan. If the first session was depressing as Zimbabwe’s batsmen succumbed, the last was embarrassing, as AB de Villiers, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis hit boundaries at will – in all South Africa piled on 249 runs in 33 overs after tea.Although South Africa’s seamers bowled well in the morning, the batsmen’s techniques were largely to blame for the humiliation. This was Test cricket in name only. The paltry crowd – some 1600 imported schoolchildren more than doubled the attendance – showed that the locals knew that this was always likely to be a one-sided encounter. But even they must have been surprised and ultimately depressed at what they saw.

On a hot and sunny day, Tatenda Taibu won the toss and batted on a pitch which appeared to offer little to the bowlers apart from a hint of early moisture. But so fundamental were the flaws in his players’ techniques that the bowlers had to do little more than put the ball on the spot and wait. The muted celebrations – only Makhaya Ntini’s 200th Test wicket produced anything resembling delight – underlined that the South Africans knew the value of their achievements. Ntini, Kallis and Shaun Pollock took some of the easiest Test wickets they will ever collect. As if to underline the unevenness of the contest, Kallis, usually reluctant to bowl these days, has rarely been so keen.Heath Streak briefly showed that he was not out of his depth, one cracking cover-drive merely emphasising the inadequacies of what had gone before. But even other more experienced colleagues, such as Dion Ebrahim, were all at sea.Pollock started the rot when he turned Barney Rogers square and had him caught behind, and thereafter it was a procession. Ntini claimed two in his opening eight-over burst, Stuart Matsikenyeri fending to third slip (20 for 3) and Mark Boucher taking his 300th Test dismissal when he caught Brendan Taylor (22 for 4). Kallis snapped up 4 for 13 with no more than gentle outswing which was still too good for the middle order.

In comparison with what was to follow, South Africa started sedately, as Smith and de Villiers saw off the new ball and Streak, the only bowler who asked any serious questions. Smith twice drove loosely, edges narrowly missing his off stump, but that was as close as Zimbabwe got to the breakthrough.After tea, the floodgates opened and dot-balls became rarer than boundaries. Smith brought up his eighth Test hundred and look set to fill his boots before he wearily skyed Cremer to Hamilton Mazakadza for 131. de Villiers was also left ruing a missed opportunity when, two short of what would have been his second successive Test hundred, he tried to drive Cremer against the spin and lofted to Andy Blignaut in the covers.Kallis and Jacques Rudolph set off with all the gusto of children let loose in the sweet shop but who feared teacher would come in to spoil their fun at any moment. Kallis hammered three successive sixes off Cremer, and the usually circumspect Rudolph cracked four fours in five balls off Elton Chigumbura. Even Streak, was savaged and Taibu looked bewildered as he ran out of bowlers to stem the flow, or fielders to plug the gaps.Kallis’s fifth six brought up his fifty in 24 balls – the fastest-known in Test history – before he became Cremer’s third wicket, again courtesy of a top-edge attempting an even bigger hit. Cremer ended the day with the remarkable figures of 9-0-86-3.Kallis departed into the lengthening shadows. The integrity of Test cricket had disappeared some time before that.Martin Williamson is the managing editor of Cricinfo.

Courtney Walsh, West Indian fast-bowling legend, has finally been approached by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to help reverse the continuing decline in fortunes of the team.Speaking to , Walsh said: “I have been asked to be on a committee to be headed by Sir Garry [Sobers] and it will also include among others Desmond Haynes for an input on what should be done before next year’s World Cup so we can get back to the golden days.”Walsh, the first man to break the 500-wicket barrier in Test cricket, laid the blame for the decline of West Indies cricket on poor planning and management.”There was definitely a lack of foresight and planning. There was also a lack of professionalism and the desire to win by the team,” said Walsh, who is being honored in Toronto by the Jamaican community for his contributions to West Indian cricket. “As you know, when cricket suffers the entire West Indies suffers. We have the talent and there is no reason for how poorly the team has performed in recent years.”While West Indies cricket fell rapidly from the heights of the glory days, Walsh didn’t see Australia’s loss in the Ashes as a beginning of a similar decline.Dubbing the Ashes series as “fantastic”, he said, “They are going through a transitional cycle and I think will rebound quickly. Apart from England, one must remember teams like India, Pakistan and South Africa are also on the rise after a few poor years. All credit to England as they performed as a team and ran out deserved winners. They are definitely on the rise as their players have improved their competitive skills.”Walsh, whose tally of 519 Test wickets was a world record, retired in 2001, after hurling down 30,019 balls during a 17-year stint with the national team.

England 1973

The first World Cup – which came two years before the men’s version was born – was held in England, and won by the hosts in a one-sided final against Australia. The brainchild of Sir Jack Hayward, who paid £40,000 of the costs, the 60-over tournament comprised Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, England, Young England and an International XI, and the cup was awarded to the team at the head of the points table after the round-robin.The competition was dogged by rain in the initial stages, but the weather held fair for the final match between the two top teams, England and Australia. It was a stroke of good fortune that the 21st and final match proved the decisive tie – and England defeated Australia by 92 runs at Edgbaston. The victory was given a royal seal of approval: the trophy was presented by Princess Anne.India 1978
Australia got their revenge against England, completing a comprehensive eight-wicket win with more than 18 overs to spare in the final. This time the competition was played in a 50-over format and was contested by only four teams – India, England, New Zealand and Australia – after West Indies and Holland had to withdraw because of financial difficulties.Only six matches were played, held between January 1 and January 14. But that was six more than many people had expected: fears that the tournament would not go ahead were only ended when India – the only country which would attract large enough crowds to make it financially viable – agreed to host the tournament. The buildup was marred by controversy when England’s captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was dropped amid rumours of jealousy of her popularity, with the older Mary Pilling replacing her in the leading role. Nevertheless, England managed to make the final, although they were soundly beaten after crawling to 96 for 8 at less than two an over.New Zealand 1982
The same four teams that ran out in 1978 – plus an international XI – contested the third World Cup, and the format reverted to 60 overs. Australia took the honours once more when they faced England in a repeat of the 1978 final. The result went the same way when – in the penultimate over – Australia reached their target with three wickets to spare. More than 3000 spectators watched the match at Christchurch, and the game was also televised.Australia 1988-89

Yet again the old firms of England and Australia met in the final, but Australia extended their advantage, scooping the title for the third time in a row. The match was held at the MCG, where England eked out a painfully slow 127 from 60 overs. Australia’s batsmen responded in equally slow, yet ominously deliberate, fashion, losing only two wickets in reaching their target with 15 overs to spare. Ireland reached the third-place play-off.England 1993
A giant leap for womankind: at last, a different finalist – New Zealand. They took on England, the hosts, for the trophy after winning all seven of their qualifying matches and conceding only 1.6 runs an over. Australia failed to qualify for the final for the first time, but England marched there thanks in no small part to Carole Hodges’ match-winning century against the old enemy in the qualifiers.England proceeded to scoop their second trophy in front of 4,500 at Lord’s: lorry driver Jo Chamberlain was the hero of the hour with a spanking 38, a run-out, wicket and a catch. Denmark managed to win one match in what was an otherwise disappointing first World Cup, while Holland also won only one match.India 1997

The sixth World Cup returned to India in 1997, and the 50-over format made a comeback as one-day cricket was standardised worldwide; it is a format which has endured. Playing in front of vast crowds, Australia picked up their fourth World Cup when they overhauled New Zealand with three overs to spare in a thrilling final at Eden Gardens. Belinda Clark played a captain’s knock with 52 as opener.New Zealand 2000
New Zealand, the hosts, pulled off a shock four-run win over the favourites Australia in a nail-biting contest at Auckland. After scoring only 184 New Zealand seemed to have blown their chances, but offspinner Clare Nicholson turned events in their favour when she bowled Belinda Clark for 91 with Australia on 150 for 7. They lost two more wickets and started the final over needing five runs, but Charmaine Mason fell on the first ball of the over. Finally, the World Cup trophy had a new name on it.

The pension scheme announced by the Indian board last month for retired Test players and umpires will be launched across the country simultaneously on May 21.Announcing this, the BCCI said in a statement: “Functions will be organised across the country to hand over cheques for the first month’s pension to retired Test cricketers and umpires on the same day and same time.”The functions will be held at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Jaipur, Indore, Baroda, Chandigarh and Pune. The statement also clarified that in case the player was unable to attend the function at any of the venues, a representative of the board would deliver the cheque to the his residence the same day.Under this scheme, 174 former players and officials will receive a monthly amount of Rs 5000 (approx UD$ 113). Currently, only those who have played or officiated in Tests are eligible for the benefit.

ScorecardAshok Dinda’s six-wicket haul put East Zone in the driver’s seat as Central Zone crashed to 130 at the end of the second day of the Duleep Trophy match in Indore. Rohan Gavaskar continued his good form with the bat, remaining unbeaten on 79 at stumps as East Zone stretched their lead to 319, with six second-innings wickets in hand.Resuming on 40 for 3, Central Zone suffered an early setback as Dinda struck with the wicket of Tejinder Pal Singh. Abbas Ali was the only batsman who looked in control, scoring 57, while the rest failed. Sourav Ganguly, who failed with the bat, bowled an impressive spell, claiming the wickets of Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla, both trapped leg before. Dinda wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Ali, finishing with his best first-class bowling figures of 6 for 52.East Zone got off to an encouraging start in their second innings, with the openers adding 51. However, they were pegged back by the loss of three quick wickets for just 14 runs, with Kumar picking up the first two in quick succession. Gavaskar and Ganguly consolidated with 58 for the fourth wicket, before Ganguly was dismissed by Chawla for 25. Gavaskar and Deep Dasgupta remained unbeaten till stumps to take the score to 204.
ScorecardThe Indian duo of Anil Kumble and Sreesanth shared eight wickets between them as South Zone restricted West Zone to 180 at the end of the second day of their Duleep Trophy match in Gwalior. Kumble finished with 5 for 42 and Sreesanth 3 for 65 to give South Zone a first innings lead of 111, after they were bowled out for 291 at the start of the day.Earlier, Rohit Sharma led West Zone’s recovery, taking the score to 70 after the early loss of Cheteshwar Pujara. However, the wickets began to tumble as Kumble and Sreesanth cut through the middle order, with Ravindra Jadeja the only batsman to cross fifty. Jadeja attacked the bowlers, as his entertaining knock of 53 came off only 49 balls. In their second innings, South Zone lost Robin Uthappa early to Zaheer Khan but ended the day at 65 for 2, with VVS Laxman and Venugopal Rao at the crease.

Scorecard

After four days of clubbing records, Victoria set Queensland the biggest of them all – pull off the biggest run-chase in 110 years of domestic cricket to win the Pura Cup. Queensland began their second innings needing 576 to win, and stumbled to 2 for 56 by the end of the fourth day.With a Queensland victory as close to an impossibility as sport can produce, Victoria appeared certain to seal their first first-class title since 1990-91. The wickets of Jimmy Maher (0) and Martin Love (14) made it even more likely that, on a wearing pitch on the fifth day, Victoria would have no trouble finishing things off.Not content with posting a monumental 710 in their first innings, Victoria bowled out Queensland for 275 and then, instead of enforcing the follow-on, batted again. Perhaps chasing revenge for years of away losses to Queensland, Victorian captain Darren Berry opted to inflict more misery on the bowlers and let Matthew Elliott and Jason Arnberger slog for two hours.Berry’s declaration at 1 for 140 left Queensland a victory target of 576 in 105 overs and any whiff of a successful chase disappeared on the first ball when Michael Lewis had Maher brilliantly caught at first slip by Cameron White, who dived to his right and stuck out a right hand after the ball bounced off Berry’s left glove.Lewis then bowled Love before Queensland steadied to 2 for 56 at stumps, with Clinton Perren 32 not out and Stuart Law 8 not out, with another 520 runs required.Berry’s decision to bat again raised eyebrows but allowed his bowlers to freshen, as the left-arm fast bowler, Allan Wise, was missing from the roster because of stress fractures in his left foot. It also allowed Elliott (55 not out) and Arnberger (72) to post their second 100-plus partnership of this game.Arnberger was savage on Nathan Hauritz, smashing three successive sixes and a four off his sixth over. Elliott broke another record, this time for the most runs in a first-class season by a Victorian batsman – if one includes his 48 against the touring Indians.He finished the season with 1,429 runs – the most by a Victorian and the most by any player in a Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup season (1,377). Law, who will bow out of Australian first-class cricket at the end of this match, after 16 seasons, was given a guard of honour off the ground by his teammates after Victoria’s declaration.”I was trudging off [thinking], ‘Thank Christ we’re not fielding again’, and all of a sudden I look up and see my teammates and I’m still in the middle of the pitch,” he said. “Our guys have been brilliant to me all year, I’ve had four or five farewells now in different situations and we just kept managing to get another game in.”It was special, it meant a lot to me, it means I’ve got respect from a lot of people who’ve played with me and against me.”

It has already been a winter of hard work for England’s cricketers, and that was just to get past the easy bit. But now, with Bangladesh successfully put to one side, and the West Indies tour still a dot on the horizon, it is time to get stuck into arguably the toughest six weeks of England’s three-pronged campaign.The heat and humidity of Dhaka and Chittagong might have seemed oppressive, but it is as nothing compared to the furnace that awaits England at Dambulla tomorrow, where their tour of Sri Lanka will begin in earnest. Up till now, England’s gravest threat has come from the elements (and their own fears of an upset). Tomorrow, however, they face a side that is brimful of talent, and more importantly, one that is gunning for vengeance after the last, fractious, tour early in 2001.On that occasion, England had already wrapped up an historic 2-1 Test series win by the time the one-day circus came to town, and they treated the three matches as something of an afterthought. Nasser Hussain had already flown home early to reap the plaudits of back-to-back series victories in the subcontinent, and in his absence, England were led to a 3-0 defeat by Graham Thorpe. But the current England squad takes its one-day cricket far more seriously than it did back then. A repeat performance would be a massive disappointment.England were the opponents in Dambulla’s inaugural fixture, on March 23, 2001, and for the second time in two tours they will be facing an unknown quantity at the venue. A belated decision was taken this month to install floodlights at the ground – they only received the OK on Thursday – and, after Sri Lanka had tested the conditions in a warm-up game on Saturday, their captain Marvan Atapattu gave them a guarded thumbs-up.”The floodlights were OK,” said Atapattu. “But personally, I did not feel they were as bright as the ones at the Premadasa [in Colombo]. There was also a bit of dew later on, which will be a factor. My feeling is that the ball will move around a bit more in the early evening.” The toss, in other words, will be crucial. The match starts at 0830 GMT.With the onus on seam bowling, Sri Lanka have already indicated that they will be giving a debut to their 21-year-old quickie, Nuwan Kulasekara, as back-up to the established new-ball pairing of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa. England, on the other hand, are unlikely to jeopardise the balance of their batting by including James Kirtley at the expense of one of the spinners, but one change that is highly likely is a new opening partner for Marcus Trescothick.Vikram Solanki looked to have cracked international cricket when he laced a wonderful century at The Oval last summer, but he was all at sea against Bangladesh last week, scoring only 11 runs in his three innings. He followed that up with a fifth-ball duck in Saturday’s warm-up game, and it cannot be long before Andrew Strauss is given an opportunity to prove his mettle. By his own admission, Strauss will never be a big hitter in the mould of Trescothick or Andrew Flintoff, but his 83 from 88 balls on Saturday was not the effort of a sluggard.No series against Sri Lanka, however, can be contemplated without due deference to Muttiah Muralitharan. “He is the best spinner in the world today,” said Trescothick, one of a posse of left-handers who got the better of him last time around. “We have our game-plans for combatting him, and without giving too much away, it’s about countering his spin, not nullifying him completely.”That is just as well, because Flintoff, England’s man of the moment, doesn’t know the meaning of the word “nullify”. Flintoff and Murali are two good friends from their days at Lancashire, and when they come across each other in the middle, it promises to be a contest to savour. It might even be the defining contest. For years, Sri Lanka have been accused of being a one-man side. In Bangladesh last week, so were England. If one or other gets the upper hand in the coming days, it will serve as a potent marker for the rest of the tour.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Kumar Sangakkara, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Nuwan Zoysa, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Nuwan Kulasekara.England (probable): 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Gareth Batty, 10 Richard Johnson, 11 James Anderson.

With most Indian fans basking in the euphoria of what happened in Brisbane, and with Les Burdett having promised a batting-beauty pitch at the Adelaide Oval, it’s easy to forget that India were bundled out for 110 here just four years ago. Back then, a good pitch couldn’t quit counterbalance India’s lack of quality, or some decidedly dubious umpiring against Sachin Tendulkar.Four years on, Tendulkar’s thunder, and just about everyone else’s, has been stolen by the Indian team management’s decision to fly in Murali Kartik. Considering that he gets into Adelaide only late Thursday night, it’s unimaginable to think of him starting the match – jetlag and all – if India have to bowl first.Sourav Ganguly wasn’t revealing too many cards at the pre-match press conference, saying that the team would have a good look at the wicket tomorrow before deciding on whether to play two spinners or not. It was blistering hot in Adelaide two days ago, and though it has since cooled down, the wicket is expected to be dry, and full of runs over the first three days.Anil Kumble, reduced to a stock bowler the last time India toured, could be given a chance to make amends. “He’s a handy customer if the pitch is dry,” said Ganguly. “He’s also a bit of a skidder off the pitch. But I’m not sure it’s right to say that he’d be doing the third seamer’s job. He’s a spin bowler at the end of the day.”If Kartik’s midnight-hour finds him a spot in the XI, Harbhajan Singh, who finished with 1 for 169 from 35 overs at the Gabba, might be the one to make way. “He’s been working hard in the nets, and is a quality bowler,” said Ganguly about someone he has always backed wholeheartedly. “But he has to improve, that’s the way we’re looking at it.”Steve Waugh wasn’t overly worried by the fact that India might go in with two spinners. “We’ve got two of our own in Simon Katich and Stuart MacGill,” he said. “The pitch looks very good, with lots of runs. I can see both sides making lots of runs batting first. It should be a good wicket for three days at least.”Brad Williams, who flew in from Perth yesterday, will come into the side, replacing Andy Bichel, who was carted around by the Indians at the Gabba. It was a tough call for Australia to make, given that Bichel had taken ten in his last outing at the Adelaide Oval, in a Pura Cup match against South Australia two weeks ago.Waugh reckoned that India’s strength lay in their middle order, and said that early wickets were essential to put pressure on them. Speaking of Tendulkar, who got another dodgy decision in Brisbane, he said, “There’s always pressure when you fail in an innings. Adam Gilchrist also made a duck at the Gabba, and no matter how good a player you are, there’ll be a few nerves when you walk out to bat the next time.”He also singled out VVS Laxman as a player to watch. “He’s an amazing player with a great eye,” said Waugh. “When the ball isn’t moving too much, he’s a real danger, but we’ve got a plan for him.”If the pitch deteriorated over the final two days, Waugh reckoned that MacGill could be a possible matchwinner. “He’s always been a wicket-taking bowler, and he’s very confident. The Adelaide pitch will help him, and I can sense a big performance from him. He’s been building up to that.”Ganguly accentuated the positives from Brisbane – “On previous overseas tours, we have usually lost the first Test and been under pressure” – but whichever attack he goes in with, there will be no margin for error. The Adelaide Oval has the shortest square boundaries in Australia – 63m from the middle to the rope – to compensate for what is possibly the longest straight boundary in the world at 95m.

Even a miscued sweep from Matthew Hayden could go for six in the general direction of the river. There will be no safety in spin numbers for India, not here. Unless the bowlers are spot on, they’ll be chewed up and spat out. And the same applies for their Australian counterparts.If the team that wins the toss makes in excess of 500, they might not have to bat again. So watch that spin of the coin carefully tomorrow. It could well determine the outcome of a series that is no longer as cut-and-dried as everyone thought it would be.TeamsAustralia (likely) 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Jason Gillespie, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Brad Williams, 11 Stuart MacGill.India (likely) 1 Akash Chopra, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajit Agarkar, 8 Parthiv Patel (wk), 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Harbhajan Singh.

Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, has insisted his team are not getting the praise they deserve as they sit one win away from clinching the one-day series against South Africa.After celebrating their six-wicket win at Dunedin to put them 3-1 up in the six-match series, the squad are now targeting Saturday’s day-nighter at Eden Park as the biggest game of the summer.However, Styris, who scored 69 off 62 balls at Dunedin, said it was taking time for the team to get the credit they deserved from commentators and the public. “We know we’re a good team, we’ve got a lot of good players and with so many guys standing up to be counted we should have this confidence,” Styris said. “The typical New Zealand way of praising the opposition and not us, we don’t buy into that. We feel it’s always "they didn’t play well" or "the wicket doesn’t suit them". It’s not "we played well", and that’s been disappointing.”Styris added: “The attitude’s changing a little bit with the clinical performance last night, and hopefully it will continue to change and people will now say this is a good New Zealand side rather than saying South Africa played poorly.”New Zealand had an optional training session at Eden Park today, and there was excitement building already about Saturday’s match, not only because Chris Harris, the popular allrounder, will be joining the squad, but also that South Africa are the only side New Zealand have never won a Test or one-day series against.”We’re hugely excited. We’re trying to tick off everything we haven’t achieved in New Zealand cricket history and we’re really set on achieving this goal,” Styris said.”This is another one, if we can do that then we move on to the Test series and tick one more off.”

If ever there was a good time to be a first-class cricketer in India, it is now. Breaking with tradition, the Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) has named a mammoth 36-man squad for a pre-season trainingcamp. Virtually anyone who has performed well – in domestic cricket or on A tours – has been rewarded with the chance to train under the vigilant eyes of John Wright and Greg King, the newly appointed physio.The Indian board doesn’t lavish much attention on domestic cricketers – unless, of course, they make it into the national side. Recently, though, It has taken many steps to nudge Indian cricket along in the right direction. The Challenger Trophy is being held at a time when India is not playing international cricket; the Irani trophy has been made virtually a must-play event for the big names in Indian cricket.In some ways, the naming of 36 probables to attend two camps – one forpre-season conditioning and another for practice – is the board’smanner of formally kicking off the domestic season. In recent years, the beginning and end of seasons has been increasingly blurred, with amind-numbing number of one-day tournaments being played.The camp starting on August 14 will miss one man. Few people seem toknow what’s going on with Javagal Srinath’s mind and body. These days he seems to be either announcing a retirement, an injury or a comeback,depending on the time of the month. Despite all this, he remains one ofthe most valuable medium-pacers in Sourav Ganguly’s armoury. He may notbe missed much in the home series against New Zealand, where thetyros, along with the spinners, can shoulder much of the load. But inAustralia, where the pitches are true and the batsmen fairly fearless,Srinath’s loopy slower ball and new-found probing line outside the offwill be invaluable.For the moment though, it’s not Srinath that Ganguly and co will be focussed on. There are a few slots in the Indian team that remainunclaimed, and a healthy number of contenders to step up and fill thebreach. Parthiv Patel’s glovework might be effortless and natural, buthis batting remains a worry, and with this in mind the selectors havegiven Thilak Naidu a chance to impress. In and out of favour with theKarnataka team in recent years, Naidu was once the hot thing in SouthZone cricket, scoring runs by the bucketful with his honest biffing,backing it up well with safe performances behind the stumps. Thisyear’s Challenger series represents Naidu’s best chance to finally makethat transition to the highest level.If wicketkeeping proves a spot of bother, the opening slots have beendownright troublesome. Sanjay Bangar and Virender Sehwag have done aneffective job at the top of the innings, but this is a band-aid fixrather than a cure. Realising that, there’s a spate of youngsters competing for the two spots.Gautam Gambhir is a frontrunner, adding A team runs to a highlysuccessful Ranji season. Wasim Jaffer may struggle to drive off thefront foot, but timing has never been his problem. After playing a vital role in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy success, Jaffer capped a prolific A tour of England with 218 in the last game. Then there’s that youngster John Wright rates ever so highly: Shiv Sunder Das. After a promising India debut, and inevitable comparisons to Sunil Gavaskar, a run of bad form cruelly exposed technical flaws in his game. Over the last season, he’s worked hard to iron those faults out, and will almost certainly be a part of Wright’s plans.Siddharth Trivedi might have been overjoyed at seeing his name on thelist of probables, but he should be realistic. Despite his relaxed,almost Venkatesh Prasad-esque run-up and action, he’s far down thepecking order in the list of aspiring seamers. Aavishkar Salvi, havingalready played for India, looks very much the item. Lakshmipathy Balaji is better than his one-day debut against West Indies last year would indicate. Irfan Pathan Jr keeps the selectors on their toes, regularly serving up wickets by the plateful. And there’s Amit Bhandari, trying desperately to prove that he’s not the same bowler who got belted for 75 runs from 10 overs in an Asia Cup game against Pakistan two years ago.And what of Hemang Badani? Once thought of as the Michael Bevan ofIndian one-day cricket, Badani has failed to cement his place in theside. He simmers in the sidelines with noteworthy performances thatinclude a century in the Ranji final. Add to this list the allroundcapabilities of Reetinder Sodhi and Ramesh Powar, as well as the live-wire batting of Mithun Manhas and you’ve covered virtually every cricketer worth his salt in the country.