Counties in India's shadow - BBC

Counties in India's shadow

By Oliver Brett & Arlo White

A rainy start to the county season contrasts with excitement on offer in India

On Wednesday, the County Championship will splutter into existence for another year with a round of matches at familiar provincial outposts such as Chelmsford and Bristol.

Forty-eight hours later, the floodlights will be switched onto full beam at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium (capacity 55,000) as the Indian Premier League explodes into life.

It has never been that difficult to mock county cricket, with its sometimes comically awful weather and ever dwindling (and ever aging) supporters.

But this year, with the IPL set to showcase a blueprint for cricket's future, the English domestic game seems as out-of-date as black-and-white TV.

One problem is that instead of allowing Twenty20 to become the centrepiece of the domestic season, the ECB has retained the three other competitions - one a 40-over league which an internally-commissioned review group wanted scrapped.

I don't know much about it, but I've heard people talk about it... I'm not interested Ravi Bopara on the IPL

Even before the counties have embarked on their campaigns this season, the effects of the IPL are already noticeable.

Where are the big name players we have become accustomed to seeing, like Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Andrew Symonds? Playing IPL of course.

Instead, counties have brought in a glut of unheralded foreign pros, many sidestepping qualification quotas because of loopholes in European Union law.

Come September, only one English player will be able to compare the IPL with the traditional county game.

Dimitri Mascarenhas, of Hampshire and the Rajasthan Royals, told BBC Sport: "The only big names who aren't playing [IPL] are the English big names - the Pietersens and Flintoffs.

"We have seen how much Twenty20 cricket has grown over the years.

"The players love it, the crowds love it and all the chairmen love it because it creates so much money for their club.

"We have to embrace it so why can't we bring as much of it as possible here into this country and generate as much money as possible here?"

Mascarenhas - the only Englishman to sample the IPL this season

Mascarenhas's Utopian view stands in extreme contrast to Ravi Bopara's feelings.

Both men are all-rounders on the fringes of the England set-up, but when asked what he felt about the IPL, Bopara was almost in denial.

He said: "I don't know much about it, seriously I haven't read about it but I've heard people talk about it, not at Essex just around... normal fans, mates and stuff.

"But I'm not interested. I'm more interested in what I am doing right now."

Bopara has already set aside a target of being his county's top run-scorer this season, and his mantra is that he will "keep pushing and keep pushing" to get back into the England squad.

For a 22-year-old with no dependents it's perhaps not entirely surprising.

But for a player towards the end of his career, with a mortgage and children, it might be a different story.

And it might lead to players retiring from the county game early - whether to accept the cash from the IPL, or its unofficial rival the Indian Cricket League.

Bopara's batting coach at Essex, Graham Gooch, is realistic about the money that top English players want to earn.

He feels there can be no guarantee the current format will remain, especially if the ECB develops a franchise-style league to mimic the IPL.

And he is worried that some of the smaller counties will just get trampled underfoot.

"It will affect everything if an enhanced Twenty20 competition comes to this country," said Gooch.

"That will bring with it, I would have thought, further players from outside this country but we must protect the integrity of bringing our players on, both in Test cricket and the one-day format.

"There are traditionally 18 counties. Some people will put forward a new approach in slimming down the number of teams.

"If that does happen in Twenty20 cricket in this country that will be a precursor to it happening in all cricket."

Sussex captain Chris Adams, whose team won the County Championship on the final day of the 2007 season, is also extremely conscious of the IPL's implications.

"The wind of change is not just upon us, it's blowing a gale at the moment," he said.

Adams believes both his county, and the ECB as a whole, have been "reactive rather than proactive" in responding to the growth of both the IPL and the ICL.

And he feels strongly that something must be done to ensure English cricket continues to have a strong global presence within the game, though he confesses he does not have "all the answers".

The future of world cricket is going to rely heavily on the IPL. It's to be embraced, not pushed away Sussex captain Chris Adams

"We have to make sure the administrators worldwide get it right. If you turn your back on [the IPL] and go into trench warfare you are going to lose out," said Adams.

"The bottom line is we have an obligation to provide England with the best talent possible to play Test cricket, first and foremost, and one-day internationals.

"We need a place for those cricketers to go and play their cricket and to develop as players.

"In the last five years we have had fantastic competitions in this country, with Warne, Muralitharan and Andrew Flintoff all playing against each other.

"On the back of that we've had reasonable success in the international arena.

"Twenty20 is growing bigger and stronger by the day, IPL is taking it even further and the future of world cricket is going to rely heavily on it.

"It's to be embraced and not pushed away."

How will the IPL change cricket?

By Simon Austin - BBC

Dhoni, Symonds and Kallis are three of the stars taking part

It has been described as the Indian revolution, the tournament that will change the face of cricket forever.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) introduced new levels of glitz, glamour and wealth to the game as soon as its first auction was held in February.

Since then it has overshadowed the start of the English county season and dominated the cricketing agenda.

BBC Sport talked to some of the main protagonists in the IPL to ask what effect they think it will have on world cricket.

PLAYER: SOURAV GANGULY

This is such a big tournament and players are giving such importance to it, that the ICC has to work out a time when all the players are available to take part.

I'm sure all the Test-playing nations can sit down and find a time for the IPL.

Why should the English players be deprived of the financial benefits of taking part?

I can certainly see England players like Kevin Pietersen taking part in the IPL next year.

The IPL will be a threat to county cricket, but I don't think Test cricket will lose its importance.

The players give importance to Test cricket. We know it is the real cricket and always will be.

IPL will be something new, a new format and a new type of team. When we started, Test and one-day cricket was always the priority, but people have realised it sometimes gets a bit long.

Twenty20 is basically a revenue earner. Now we will have to wait and see what the ability of players and the turnout for the matches is.

I'm sure it will kick off well and we'll have to see if the interest can be sustained.

Sourav Ganguly is captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders and has played in 106 Tests for India.

COACH: JOHN BUCHANAN

It's crucial that the administrators understand what they've got here.

Everybody has to allow a window for players to come into the IPL, earn their money, and then go back to their countries.

I foresee a situation where we have eight to 10 zones around the world and you have zonal play-offs in a three or four-week period.

Then you would have a world series, in a roofed stadium in say Dubai, Australia or America, which would be a carnival of cricket.

Administrators need to understand some of the potential dangers. Cricketers are professional people with a professional skill that doesn't last a lifetime.

Take the West Indies. They are almost bankrupt as a cricketing nation, yet you've got wonderful players over there.

What will they say if they get an offer from the IPL? Chris Gayle was signed by us for $800,000 but would struggle to probably earn a 20th of that back home.

England, India and Australia players are relatively well remunerated, but virtually every other country struggles.

Countries need to understand that their players will be subsidised by this short tournament and then go back and play in their country competitions.

But Test cricket will always have a following. Maybe not a following that comes through the turnstiles, but a latent following that listens to, reads about and understands the game.

John Buchanan is coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders and a former coach of Australia.

OWNER: MANOJ BADALE

Any tournament that aspires to have the best players in the world is going to be poorer for not having access to England, one of the major cricket-playing countries.

But it's a reality that the IPL was always going to clash with at least one domestic season, because the calendar is so packed.

And when you look at the players who are on show and bear in mind that each team can field only four foreign-based players, there's plenty of talent there.

I think it's critical for the IPL that all the franchises operate within the rules of the various cricket boards around the world.

We have the only English player currently in the IPL, Dimitri Mascarenhas.

His county, Hampshire, were incredibly supportive, pro-active and flexible and looked for a way to make it work for the player.

We conducted the conversation with the full knowledge and involvement of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and they saw it as very much a decision for Hampshire.

Manoj Badale is the chairman of Emerging Media, which owns the Rajasthan Royals.

AGENT: DAVID LIGERTWOOD

I would be very surprised if there isn't a big increase in the number of English players in the IPL next season.

It will be difficult to resist, because the players want to play and there will be pressure from the Indians.

If you get someone like Vijay Mallya (owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers) wanting Pietersen to play for Bangalore, he could make that happen by offering a very lucrative package.

Pietersen would command a salary in the $1m plus bracket, there's no doubt about it.

I don't see any point in the ECB being dogmatic about it. In all new ventures, you need to be open minded.

If the scheduling can be worked so that England players can be made available, even for a few weeks, people need to have a positive approach to that.

I think it's purely a scheduling issue. I don't think anyone wants to see people playing in the IPL instead of for their countries.

The ECB will need to be more flexible, particularly when there aren't Test matches or international games on, for example at the start of the county season.

David Ligertwood is the main agent for the IPL. He has brokered 24 player deals for the competition.

ICC CHIEF: HAROON LORGAT

I think the IPL will be a real challenge.

Whenever there are large sums of money at stake, the possibility of conflict is a lot stronger and one would have to be very careful in managing it.

That's a genuine risk. But hopefully member countries will adhere to the principles they have agreed to.

As long as the BCCI maintains the right of the ICC to control the game internationally, I think it will work well.

I would love to see the Twenty/20 as an opportunity to grow the game around the world.

Haroon Lorgat was appointed chief executive of the ICC on 4 April and will formally take over from Malcolm Speed on 1 July.

IPL CO-FOUNDER: INDERJIT SINGH BINDRA

We want to function as part of the global cricketing family.

In the long run, we will do a lot of good to cricket and make it truly a global sport.

We would love to see English stars like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff as part of the league - they are the only players missing for the time being.

We will be very happy to do anything to accommodate the requirements of the ECB and ensure that these players can participate, but not by disrupting the system.

We don't want to be a rebel league, we want to be part of the system, with the support of the ECB.

Unfortunately, the only season the IPL clashes with is the English one, so we have to find some way of accommodating their requirements as we go along.

The ICC have said they will try and find a permanent slot for the IPL, which will make it a lot easier for the players to know what the calendar is and what the options are.

IS Bindra is a co-founder of the IPL and sits on its governing committee. He is also a special adviser to the ICC and former head of the BCCI.

LEGEND: KAPIL DEV

If English players want to play in the IPL, I'd say please come and play and work out a better life for yourselves.

How can you stop anyone getting education and learning more in life? Do you say that unless someone gets educated in a certain school, they cannot be educated?

Let's not be hypocritical. Contracts should be very open. Whenever a player's country or county is playing, they should turn out for them, but when they are free, they should be allowed to do whatever they want to do.

People from all around the world are coming to play in England. Is that wrong? When we say we are coming to play in England, you people are happy.

Nobody stops us, no board comes forward and says 'no'. When cricket is being played in India, that's also good.

Kapil Dev was India's captain when they won the World Cup in 1983. He is now head of the Indian Cricket League, a rival to the IPL.

---

Interviews by BBC Sport's Arlo White, Rahul Tandon and Simon Austin.

West Indies claim series victory against Sri Lanka

Second one-day international, Trinidad: West Indies 125-3 bt Sri Lanka 112-5 by seven wickets (D/L method)

Match scorecard

Sarwan and Sammy celebrate a West Indies wicket

West Indies pair Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels combined superbly to guide their side to a seven-wicket win in the rain-hit second ODI in Trinidad.

The win gave the home side a 2-0 winning lead in the three-game series.

Chanderpaul (52) and Samuels (54) hit six fours and five sixes between them as they made light of their revised target of 125 from 25 overs.

Sri Lanka had earlier reached 112-5 from 30.3 overs but rain twice interrupted their innings.

Opener Upul Tharanga's 40 from 82 balls was the best effort from the Sri Lankans with the bat, while Kumar Sangakkara made 28.

Sri Lanka started solidly but Mahela Udawatte was caught at backward point off Jerome Taylor in the ninth over.

Sangakkara joined Tharanga and they built on the work of the openers, but the West Indies' bowlers kept a tight rein on the scoring before Tharanga was caught at deep fine leg hooking at a short, rising delivery from Dwayne Bravo to leave Sri Lanka 78-2 in the 23rd over.

Rain soon stopped play with Sri Lanka on 83-2, but they resumed an hour later with a reduction in the number of overs to 47.

But the visitors struggled after that, losing Sangakkara, Kaushalya Weeraratne, and Chamara Silva for seven runs in the space of 13 balls before rain came down for a second time.

Nuwan Kulasekara boosted Sri Lanka's chances of winning when he dismissed West Indies opener Bravo, captain Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan early on.

But the home side quickly gained control thanks to Chanderpaul and Samuels, with man-of-the-match Chanderpaul securing the win when he sent a delivery from Tillakeratne Dilshan into mid-wicket for a single.

The third and final ODI in the series will be conteste

Bar star Kash back four Sri Lanka

Bar star Kash back four Sri Lanka

March 2008

Kash Weeraratne bowling for Potters Bar against Hertford last summer

WITH the cricket season fast approaching, Potters Bar players will be keeping a keen eye on the fortunes of Kaushalya Weeraratne, despite the all-rounder being unavailable for selection for their 2008 campaign.

Weeraratne, known as Kash by his Bar team-mates, has been selected to play for Sri Lanka in the three match, one-day series in the West Indies, which starts next month.

This means the right-arm medium-pace bowler and destructive left-handed batsman will be unavailable to play in the Home Counties Premier League Division Two (East) for the coming season.

The selection of the Gampola born-Weeraratne is all the more interesting in that he could well come face to face with another ex-Bar player in Patrick Browne.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Kash Weeraratne batting for Potters Bar against Hemel Hempstead

Wicketkeeper-batsman Browne is set to be called up by the West Indies and should the players face each other, it will be the first time that two players who have represented a Herts club cricket side have met at international level.

Mark Shepherd, of The Walk cricket club's committee, said: "The fact that Potters Bar will be mentioned should this actually happen shows how we are developing for the future.

"There is a good chance it will, and we're proud that both have represented our team in the last few years."

Weeraratne, 27, has spent five years on the sidelines of the Sri Lanka team, but he has forced himself back into the reckoning after successfully remodelling his action.

West Indies international Patrick Browne batting for Potters Bar

Kash also scored a blistering half-century off just 12 balls, which was the fastest 50 in one-day cricket, during a domestic match in 2005.

In his first game for Bar against Hertford back in 2006, he showed the difference between good club cricketers and professionals as he blasted an amazing 118 not out from just 92 balls.

He finished the 2006 campaign as the leading scorer in the division with 837 runs to his name at an average of 55.80 after hitting two tons and six half centuries.

The Sri Lankan also took 22 wickets during the campaign.

Last season Weeraratne took 8-27 with the ball when Potters Bar faced Sawbridgeworth at The Walk.

Barbadian Browne, 26, was called into the West Indies pre-tour squad ahead of the 2007-08 South Africa trip and made his ODI debut as a specialist batsman.

A Potters Bar cricketer in 2004, Browne played in three matches in South Africa and finished the series with a batting average of 59.

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Sri Lanka confirm one-day series in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) — Sri Lanka have agreed to play a five-match one-day series in Pakistan to help fill the gap created by the postponement of Australia's tour over security fears, officials said.

"We are thankful to the Sri Lankan board, who have agreed to tour for a series of five one-day internationals on our invitation," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf told reporters Thursday.

The series is likely to take place after Mahela Jayawardene's Sri Lankan team ends a tour of the West Indies on April 15. The only hitch could be the Indian Premier League (IPL) for which top Sri Lankan players have signed up.

The inaugural IPL is due to be held from April 18 until June 1.

Pakistan have already convinced Bangladesh to take part in a tour that includes a five-match one-day series and a Twenty20 international from April 7 to 22.

The two unscheduled tours will fill the gap created by Australia, who were due to be in the country between March 27 and April 29.

Cricket Sri Lanka chairman Arjuna Ranatunga praised Pakistan's support for his country and said he was ready to send his team.

"India and Pakistan have always supported us in our needs like big brothers so I am ready to send my team whenever Pakistan want," Ranatunga said.

The PCB said dates of the series will be finalised shortly.

West Indies v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Guyana

West Indies v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Guyana

West Indies and Sri Lanka seek to end long wait

The Preview by George Binoy

	Chris Gayle has recovered from injuries sustained in South Africa and has returned to lead his side © Getty Images

At the launch of West Indies' home season earlier this month, a senior official of the West Indies Cricket Board said its goal was to "regain the pinnacle of world cricket by 2012." Given West Indies' current form, and their results over the last ten years, they are probably a bit behind schedule. Yet if they are to start now, the portents are favourable: their last series victory against strong opposition, with due respect to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, was in 2003 - at home against Sri Lanka.

Their last Test series showed a flicker of unprecedented promise when a fully fit fast-bowling attack led by a new captain, Chris Gayle, spurred West Indies on to their first-ever Test victory in South Africa in December 2007. That elation, however, was deflated by injuries to key members and they were crushed in the remaining two Tests, squandering the opportunity to record a historic series victory. That performance, though, led the management to retain Gayle as captain for the home series against Sri Lanka, though he was only a stop-gap replacement for the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has now joined the ranks to bolster a middle-order heavily reliant on Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

On paper Sri Lanka will have a tough task combating the experience of Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul; the hot and cold form of Marlon Samuels; and a three-pronged pace attack formed by Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor. The attack could have been stronger if not for Pedro Collins' decision to choose county over country and honour his contract with Surrey. There were rumblings of three key players missing the Australia series because of lucrative IPL contracts but for the Tests against Sri Lanka, West Indies' squad is at full strength while their opponents aren't. A first-choice squad combined with the home advantage of quick pitches that would aid their fast bowlers could combine to produce the ideal scenario for West Indies to beat Sri Lanka, like they did in 2003. That, however, is in theory and theory counts for precious little.

To say Sri Lanka and West Indies have a rivalry would be over-stating the contest. Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan have had their moments against each other but the history between the two countries has been astonishingly brief. Sri Lanka have been a Test-playing nation for 26 years but have played just ten Tests over four series against West Indies. They have a favourable overall record with five wins and two losses but all five wins were achieved in Sri Lanka. They are yet to win a Test in the Caribbean and the two defeats - one each in 1997 and 2003 - led to 1-0 series defeats.

	Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan will bear a lot of responsibility in the absence of experienced support bowlers © AFP

However, to expect Sri Lanka to be a relatively easy opponent to beat away from home would be an injustice to the amount they've improved in the last two years. Their most recent results have been poor, a 2-0 defeat in the Tests in Australia and a awful CB Series, but in 2006, they drew a Test series in England and won the one-dayers 5-0 after which they drew the Test and one-day series in New Zealand. They also registered convincing Test wins at home against South Africa in 2006 and England in 2007.

Those victories were built around solid batting performances from experienced hands - Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene - and the reliable bowling partnership of Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. What has given Sri Lanka an edge in recent times is the development of Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando as potent Test bowlers to back up Vaas and Murali. Their absence from the touring party to the West Indies will be felt if the new faces in the squad fail to grab opportunities caused by injury and change.

Malinga is out with a knee injury, Fernando with a long-standing ankle problem and Farveez Maharoof with a side strain. The depleted bowling resources adds to the responsibility borne by Vaas and Murali but presents the bench-strength bowlers - Ishara Amerasinghe, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara and Chanaka Welegedara - to stake a claim for a regular spot in the squad.

The major change to the squad, however, is the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya, who retired from Tests and was axed from the ODI squad, at the top of the order. Upul Tharanga has also been cut because of indifferent form, which means that Sri Lanka will open with the inexperienced pairing of Malinda Warnapura and Michael Vandort. Warnapura scored 132 and 50 in a warm-up match against Guyana but the bowling attack he faced comprised of several under-19 players and was below the standard that awaits in the Test series.

Given the unpredictable form of West Indies and the fact that they have their three most experienced batsmen back in the side to balance their pace attack, they should have enough to match a below-full strength Sri Lankan outfit, who will rely heavily on the batting of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara and the brilliance of Muttiah Muralitharan. The downside is that the two-Test appetizer could be over just as the contest heats up.

George Binoy is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Sri Lanka make most of inexperienced attack

Sri Lanka make most of inexperienced attack

PROVIDENCE, Guyana (AFP) — Malinda Warnapura and Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene warmed-up for the first Test against West Indies later this week when they took advantage of an inexperienced Guyana Cricket Board President's Select XI attack on Monday.

Warnapura retired out on 132 and Jayawardene was dismissed for 99, as the visiting Sri Lankans reached 343 for five when stumps were drawn on the opening day of their three-day, non-first class, tour match at the Guyana National Stadium.

Warnapura struck 14 fours and one six from 184 balls in just over four hours and shared in significant partnerships with opener Michael Vandort, who scored 29, and Jayawardene, whose knock contained a dozen boundaries from 110 balls in just over two hours.

No GCB President's Select XI bowler distinguished themselves, as they were made to toil in sweltering heat, after allowing the visitors to bat first.

GCB President's Select XI captain Patrick Browne is the most experienced player in his side, since choices for the composite West Indies side were restricted by the involvement of more established players in the sixth round of the West Indies first-class championship which ended on Monday.

As a result, Kemar Roach, playing his first full season of first-class cricket for his native Barbados, and uncapped, teenaged, fellow fast bowler Jason Dawes, a Jamaican member of the West Indies Under-19 side that won the Plate Championship of the ICC Youth World Cup in Malaysia, were the new-ball bowlers.

This failed to dampen the desire of the Sri Lankans for solid batting to send a strong message to their opponents for the upcoming Test and One-day International series, and Warnapura and Jayawardene made sure they achieved this objective.

Warnapura added 115 for the first wicket with Michael Vandort, but they were both fortunate to have survived until lunch, when Sri Lanka had reached 102 without loss.

After the interval, Sri Lanka lost Vandort to leg-spin bowler Davendra Bishoo when he was bowled for 29.

Kumar Sangakkara came to the crease and added 59 for the second wicket before leg-spin bowler Shamarh Brooks, the West Indies Under-19 captain at the Youth World Cup, bowled him behind his back for 22.

Jayawardene joined Warnapura and fortune also favoured him, when Roach dropped him on six on the mid-wicket boundary off Steve Jacobs, the West Under-19 vice-captain at the Youth World Cup.

The Sri Lanka captain continued to play as languidly as he always does and reached his 50 minutes ahead of tea, but not before Warnapura reached his hundred.

At tea, Sri Lanka were 253 for two, and Warnapura retired his innings during the break to allow Thilan Samaraweera to join Jayawardene.

They continued to dominate the bowling and put 68 for the third wicket before Jacobs bowled Jayawardene and Samaraweera was run out just before the close.

The first Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka will contested from March 22 at this same venue, and the second Test will be from April 3 at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.

The first two One-day Internationals will be on April 10 and 12 at Queen's Park Oval, and the third ODI will be a day/night affair at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia on April 15.

Sarwan back for Sri Lanka series

Sarwan back for Sri Lanka series

By Simon Evans Daily Mirror MIAMI (Reuters) - West Indies return to home international action for the first time since last year's World Cup when they take on Sri Lanka in Guyana from Saturday in the first of a two-test series. Since their poor showing at the one-day showpiece, West Indies have shown sparks of a revival only for disappointment to quickly follow. Following last year's 3-0 test defeat by England, the Caribbean side claimed their first ever test win in South Africa - their first test win since May 2005 - but then lost the next two tests and all five matches in the one-day series. Spinners Sulieman Benn and Amit Jaggernauth are included in the squad for the first time, while captain Chris Gayle has Barbados all-rounder Ryan Hinds back in the side for the first time in nearly three years. The biggest boost though is the return from injury of Guyanese batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who will share the top-order pressure with Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. "It is a pretty balanced team, it's a good all round team, the expectation is high and we're looking forward to it," said Gayle. "Sri Lanka is a good team, they have been playing terrific cricket and it is up to us now to play some good cricket and back our talent," he added. Sri Lanka are without two of their most consistent performers of recent years --Sanath Jayasuriya, who has retired from tests, and explosive pace bowler Lasith Malinga, who is injured. But with the prolific wicket-taking ability of spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and the reliable swing bowling of Chaminda Vaas, Gayle sees no reason to underestimate the Sri Lankan threat with the ball at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown. "They have a good bowling attack without Malinga, they have Vaas and Muralitharan who have been taking most of Sri Lanka's wickets so hopefully we can make the adjustment necessary," said Gayle. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara provide the experienced core of the Sri Lankan batting line-up and despite several new faces the captain is hoping for his country's first test win in the Caribbean. "We're very good at home. In our conditions we dominate but away from home we've also been winning games recently. If we can keep competing away from home, challenging ourselves to be better cricketers every day that's the way forward. It's going to be a great challenge," Jayawardene said. The second test follows on April 3 in Trinidad and the tour is completed with three one-day internationals.

Umpire Hair plans to communicate better with players when he returns

Umpire Hair plans to communicate better with players when he returns

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Darrell Hair says he hopes to communicate better with the players when he returns to international test cricket umpiring after an absence of nearly 18 months.

"I've always been a little bit ... standoffish in that I've always preferred to let them play the game themselves and only get involved when things go overboard," Hair told a Sydney radio station Thursday.

Hair, reinstated as a test match umpire this week by the International Cricket Council, had been banned since November 2006 because of his conduct during a test between Pakistan and England that led to the first forfeit in test cricket's 129-year history.

"I won't say my whole attitude to umpiring has changed but I think I have picked up a few things that are going to be very helpful to me in the future," he said. "Probably just ... having a broader understanding of what everybody else is thinking and the old communication issue of making sure that what you say and what you want is understood by the other people."

His return comes after he completed a so-called "rehabilitation program" him handed him in September when he agreed to drop a claim of racial discrimination by the ICC.

Hair accused Pakistan of ball tampering and, when the team refused to take the field after a break, he and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove awarded the forfeit.

The ICC declined to say if the 55-year-old Australian could umpire any match involving Pakistan. Hair's position will be reviewed at the end of March 2009, the ICC said.

On Thursday, Hair said the incident "caused me a lot of stress. I suppose it caused a lot of people some stress along the way."

"The laws now have been changed to take those decisions out of the hands of the umpires and I fully support the way that that's going to happen in future," he added. "So, it's time to move on.

Hair said he would be available to umpire in Pakistan.

"Part of my contract is that I'm available now to umpire test matches and one-day internationals," Hair said. "Now whether that (umpiring in Pakistan) is going to happen I think you'll need to ask the people who make the appointments."

Sri Lanka follow Tigers tour lead

Sri Lanka follow Tigers tour lead - BBC

Captains Ashraful (left) and Malik will play a one-day series

Sri Lanka have joined Bangladesh in agreeing to fill the gap left by Australia and tour Pakistan in April.

Australia called off this month's tour because of security concerns following a spate of bombings in Pakistan.

The Tigers will play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match from 6-22 April in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Karachi.

And Sri Lanka will play a five-match one-day series, probably after their tour of the West Indies on 15 April.

Pakistan chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said he intends to blood youngsters during the forthcoming one-day series with Bangladesh.

"We want to try out more rookies in the home series," he said.

"Bangladesh can be a dangerous team on their day. For us, the most important task would be to win the series and win comfortably."