Fearing protests against Kiran More, the Indian selection committee chairman, and Greg Chappell, India’s coach, following Sourav Ganguly’s exclusion from the Indian team for the one-day match against South Africa in Kolkata on November 25, the authorities are taking no chances with the security situation.”All police stations have been asked to be on alert,” said NR Babu, deputy commissioner (south) of Kolkata police. Both More and Chappell are now in the city. In 1996, India’s World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka could not be completed due to crowd disturbances and Sri Lanka were declared winners.Crowd violence again erupted during the Asian Cricket Test championship outing between India and Pakistan in 1999 and the last few minutes of the game had to be played before empty stands after police used force to clear the galleries. Asked if special security would be provided to Chappell, who has been specially targetted during the protests, Prasun Mukherjee, Kolkata’s police commissioner, said his men would be fully alert to any eventuality.Meanwhile, a thick security blanket has been thrown around the two teams, both at the hotel and the match venue, with the deployment of a large number of commandos, armed policemen, detective department sleuths, plainclothes cops and women police personnel. Commandos are escorting and trailing the buses of the two teams on their journey from the hotel to the Eden Gardens, with around 2000 policemen lining the entire route.The police have virtually taken over the team’s hotel, where three to four commandos have been deployed on each floor. Eden Gardens has been put under a multi-layered security ring, with Mukherjee announcing that nearly 4,000 police personnel, including top police officers, would be deployed in and around the stadium.Mukherjee, who inspected Eden Gardens yesterday, said police would make arrests in the event of any demonstration inside the venue during the match.”Those wanting to hold any such demonstration should better keep off the stadium and also the match, otherwise such acts will prompt the police to make arrests,” he said.

On whether there had been moments when he felt it was all overProbably the shoulder injury. It was tough to even think of coming back then. It took me almost two months just to be able to lift my hand. But that’s where support from my wife and family helped. They egged me on, and it’s been good ever since.On whether Rahul Dravid was missed at the morning functionI’ve seen Rahul debut for Karnataka, and it’s unfortunate that he missed this. It’s the first Test he’s missed, but illness is not something that you can do much about.On receiving the memento from Sachin TendulkarReceiving it from Sachin [who played alongside him on his debut at Old Trafford in 1990] and the team was very special. Sometimes, words not spoken say a lot. And the respect that they show me when they interact with me says a lot.On his most cherished memoryThe first day that I walked out to play for India.On the biggest influences in his careerI’ve interacted with so many people, and spoken to various cricketers down the years, so it’s hard to pick out one. When I first came in, Azhar was the captain and he played a major role. Ajit Wadekar was the coach then, and Bishan Bedi was coach when I made my debut. Obviously, John Wright was a big influence these past four years. And then there’s Rahul, Sachin, Sourav and Laxman…I’ve played most of my cricket with these guys.On whether he ever regretted not becoming a pace bowler after starting out as oneNot at all. I wouldn’t have lasted 100 matches.On what it took to become a great legspinnerIt takes time and patience to get the kind of control that you’re looking for. Legspinners are attacking bowlers, and I think that the captain, the people who watch, those who write and the ones that pick and choose all need to be aware that it’s a special art. It takes time to settle in.On the future of Indian spinHarbhajan [Singh] is only 24. And there are some good spinners in the U-19s and in domestic cricket. I’ve heard good things about Piyush Chawla. But it’s important not to put too much pressure on a 17, 18 or 19-year-old spinner. It’s important that he gets the time he needs to settle.On whether Gautam Gambhir and Mohammad Kaif had been guilty of playing rash shotsIt’s always good to know in hindsight whether you played a bad shot or not. It was a short ball, and those need to be punished. That’s how they play, and it was just bad luck that it went to the fielder.On whether Sri Lanka’s overdependence on Murali could cost them in the long runIt’s very tough to replace someone like Murali. The results that Sri Lankan cricket has been able to achieve are almost entirely down to Murali, and Vaas as well. But each team undergoes changes, and you have young players coming in. Bandara looks pretty good for a guy playing only his fourth Test.On how he saw the match goingIt’s always nice to bowl having some runs on the board. Laxman batted brilliantly today, as did Dhoni and Pathan. Both are very positive players, and when someone can come in at No.7 or 8 and get runs quickly, it always helps.On whether he expected such a sedate effort from LaxmanThe situation demanded that. We were 97 for 5 with Dhoni at the other end. And I thought he handled it wonderfully well.

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, has admonished Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee for being reported on misconduct charges during the third Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground.McGrath was officially reprimanded by Chris Broad, ICC match referee, for using obscene language and Lee was also officially reprimanded for showing dissent. Ponting said it was “not acceptable” to have the players appearing before a disciplinary hearing to defend their conduct. “It’s obviously not ideal. It’s not anything any of those guys or I as captain are proud of that’s for sure,” Ponting told AFP. “We have worked hard on it over the last couple of years and the guys really pride themselves on what they’ve done over the last couple of years.”Ponting said frustration was at the heart of the disciplinary breakdown amid widespread criticism of the performance of Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar, the match umpires. “Frustration is the big thing that comes into it. A lot of it is game-related and happens in the heat of battle on the field. A lot of the guys are quite tired at the moment as well. It’s something we have to look at and talk about there’s no doubt about that. As I’ve always said, it’s not acceptable that we have guys up on report. You’d like to think that that won’t happen again.”Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, was also hauled up before the match referee but was found not guilty of making public criticism of the umpires at a press conference during the Test.

The Victoria coach, Greg Shipperd, and assistant coach, David Saker, have been charged with dissent by Cricket Australia following a breach of the code of conduct. The charges relate to the ING match between Victoria and Tasmania at Launceston on December 18.However, after originally being reported for severe dissent the charges were downgraded to level one for both coaches. Shipperd has received a severe reprimand while Saker was fined $1000.The Cricket Victoria chief executive, Ken Jacobs, said everyone was pleased the charges had been reduced and that both coaches had received a fair hearing. “We were heartened by the downgrading of the charges for both Greg and David, but are naturally disappointed with the result.”

Jeremy Snape has been named the new captain of Leicestershire following the surprise decision of HD Ackerman to stand down. Snape, who played 10 one-day internationals for England, will form a new management team with Tim Boon, who has recently been appointed as coach.Snape admitted to being surprised by his promotion, having featured primarily as a one-day specialist last season. “It’s been a surreal few days for me in considering this new role,” he said, “but I was very impressed with the ideas which Tim and chairman Neil Davidson put forward and it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to be involved in shaping the club’s future.”Snape has been preparing for his life after cricket by studying for a Masters degree in sports psychology over the last two years. He now hopes to put that knowledge to good effect with Boon.”I was certainly very impressed with Tim’s work as a coach when I was playing for England. He’s been working with the most improved and successful team in world cricket in recent years and Tim’s attention to detail and technical analysis means he will bring very high expectations to Leicestershire.”Ackerman, who joined Leicestershire under the Kolpak ruling in 2005, has said he wants to concentrate on his batting, despite scoring 1027 Championship runs last summer and topping the Twenty20 run chart.”It’s with great regret that I’m standing down from the captaincy, but I feel that freeing myself from the burden of responsibility in the coming season will enable me to make a bigger contribution with the bat.”However, apart from reaching the Twenty20 semi-finals, Leicestershire had a poor season. They finished second-bottom in Division Two of the Championship, were beaten in the second round of the C&G Trophy and narrowly missed out on promotion in the National League.Now, Ackerman feels it is the right time, with a new coach on board, for the club to start afresh. “I strongly applaud Tim Boon’s appointment and both he and the new captain will have my wholehearted support. My decision to step down means Tim can start with a clean sheet.”

Jehan Mubarak, the Sri Lanka batsman and Bangladesh’s Khaled Mashud have both been fined for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during their one-dayer on Wednesday.Mubarek was fined 25 percent of his match fee for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision, while Mashud was fined 20 percent after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.”Disputing an umpire’s decision shows a lack of respect for the umpire and there is no place for this type of behaviour in international cricket,” Alan Hurst, ICC match referee, said. “[Mubarak] has recognized the inappropriateness of his actions.”Sri Lanka and Bangladesh meet again on Saturday for the third and final one-dayer, before the first Test begins at Chittagong on February 28.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The SuperSport Series trophy has been shared after a soporific stalemate in the final at Durban. Needing 378 to win, the Titans never realistically attempted the run-chase, while the Dolphins managed to take just two of their ten required wickets.The light at Kingsmead once again had the final say, with more than five hours of play lost over the five days of the final. Not even the early start times could help the situation.Starting the day at 11 for 0, the Titans did not take up the chase as they ambled along to 170 for 2 just 15 minutes after the tea break, when the light was once again offered and accepted. With no real chance of either team winning the players shook hands as they left the field to share the trophy.Martin van Jaarsveld did manage to put together a very good 72 not out but that was not enough for the Man-of-the-Match award which went to Dale Benkenstein for his magnificent 151.With the teams sharing the trophy there is, however, still no indication from the United Cricket Board as to who will represent South Africa in the first-class competition in India later this year.

The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua has been given the thumbs up for World Cup games by the International Cricket Council (ICC), according to local organisers. The ICC’s Venue Tour team gave the venue of six matches in the Super Eight stages of next year’s tournament an ‘A’ grade approval.”From what we have seen here today, a tremendous amount of work has been done since we were last here in March and I can tell you that Antigua and Barbuda will for the first time get the highest ranking,” said Don Lockerbie, the ICC’s World Cup Chief Operations Officer and Venue Development Director. “We are very pleased with the work we have seen here, they are on schedule. The Chinese partners and their Antiguan counterparts are working not only fast but they are producing good quality work.”Lockerbie hit back at criticism that the new stadium would lack the character of the Antigua Recreation Ground by saying that the walls on the east and west sides would provide an inviting atmosphere. “We are working closely with the grounds staff at all three sites and, as you can imagine, they all have different work styles,” he said. “However, we need the pitches to be consistent and play in a similar manner. We are not asking that all the pitches at all the venues play the same but the practice pitches should not be so different from the venue pitch.”

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) has named a strong 15-man squad, including eight Test players, for next Tuesday’s match between the touring Indian team and Jamaica at Jarrett Park. Wavell Hinds, the West Indian batsman, has been named as captain for the one-day match.Brian Breese, the JCA’s cricket operations manager, said that there was a possibility that all eight Test players may not take part, however. “The West Indies team will be playing the Indians two days after the Montego Bay game so the West Indies Cricket Board could well ask one or two of the players named to sit out the game,” he has been quoted as saying by the . “Nonetheless, it should be a very strong Jamaican team going up against the Indians.”Breese added that Xavier Marshall, the Jamaican opener, was not included owing to a suspension from his parish team while Dwight Washington, the fast bowler, was away in the United States. “Young Washington would most certainly be under consideration for this game but he is away in the United States at this time,” said Breese. “We are in touch with him and he is still very much a part of the national programme.”Jamaica Cricket Association squad : Wavell Hinds (capt), Chris Gayle, Donovan Pagon, Marlon Samuels, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Carlton Baugh (wk), Jermaine Lawson, Tamar Lambert, Bevon Brown, Danza Hyatt, Andrew Richardson, Damion Ebanks and Donovan Sinclair.

Pakistan have indefinitely postponed a three-match ODI series with Zimbabwe originally scheduled for September this year because the tour is unlikely to be an economically viable one.The Pakistan Cricket Board had been thinking about the move for some time, though it was reluctant to make it official. It was reported in Pakistan recently that Shaharyar Khan, chairman PCB, had written to Zimbabwe cricket authorities, suggesting they play a Pakistan A team in a series of ODIs and four-day matches.A senior official in the Pakistan board confirmed to Cricinfo that the series had been “postponed, possibly till 2008, though that is not final.” Another cited the reason as the relative unattractiveness of Zimbabwe to broadcasters and sponsors alike.”Our thinking was basically that organising a tour of three ODIs will not be particularly feasible in an economic sense especially given that Zimbabwe are not attractive tourists,” explained the official. “Broadcasters I doubt will come for only three ODIs against Zimbabwe, though if it was linked with another tour then maybe they would be interested,” he added.There may still be a chance that Zimbabwe do come in that period, though only to play the A team. Reports suggest that Zimbabwe, who are under growing international pressure after a string of dismal performances, do not intend to dispute the PCB’s decision to postpone the series. Instead, they now want Zimbabwe to play a series of matches against Pakistan A in Pakistan during that time period.Meanwhile, reported that Zimbabwe are trying to attract clubs from Pakistan and elsewhere in Asia to provide a boost to its faltering first-class cricket structure.Drawing from media reports in Zimbabwe, a week after dissolving traditional provincial structures, Zimbabwe cricket is trying to import at least two top club sides from Asia to help revive a first-class competition struggling to survive after over 30 experienced players either retired or left the country.”ZC is in discussion with a number of cricket institutions with the willingness to send clubs to participate in first-class cricket in the country,” the quoted a source as saying. The source believes the clubs might come from Pakistan or India.