Shane Warne: ‘To get the most wickets ever in the history of the game, it’s a carrot that’s dangling for two Test matches’© Getty Images

Shane Warne is raring to go, even if not 100% fit, spurred on by a belief that time is running out and that every chance to play has to be seized.Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne to confirm that he is fit to face Sri Lanka in the forthcoming Test series, Warne admitted that the clock was ticking, and that he had to take advantage of the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan. Warne, currently on 517 wickets, needs just 11 more to break Murali’s world record.Warne said that he was disappointed by Muralitharan’s decision to stay away, but admitted that it handed him an opportunity. “Murali’s only 32, so he’s probably going to play for another five or six years and if he keeps taking 70, 80 wickets a year he’s going to be pretty close to 1000 when he retires. I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near 1000, so I might have to jump on this opportunity in the next couple of Test matches and get some wickets.”I might get on the phone to Punter [Ricky Ponting] and make sure he bowls me at Nos. 9, 10 and 11 or something like that.”And Warne admitted that the prospect of breaking a world record was a tremendous incentive. “It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to do that,” he smiled. “To get the most wickets ever in the history of the game, it’s a carrot that’s dangling for two Test matches, and that’s pretty exciting.”Although his left hand, which he broke while batting for Hampshire, remains bandaged, Warne is confident that he will not be restricted by it come the first Test at Darwin on July 1. “It will be a little bit like if you get punched in the leg and you’re a bit bruised, it doesn’t stop anything you actually do, but there’s still a little bit of discomfort,” he said. “So as far as I’m concerned, it’s all good news.”

Jagmohan Dalmiya: ready for another challenge© AFP

After holding posts as the president of the ICC and the Indian board, Jagmohan Dalmiya is all set to head the Asian Cricket Council. According to a report in The Indian Express, Dalmiya will take over from Mohammad Ali Asghar, currently president of the ACC and the Bangladesh board, when his term ends on June 29.The post of ACC president works on a rotation basis, and it is now India’s turn to take the chair. The election, which is expected to be a formality, will take place in London, where the heads of boards will be present for an ICC executive board meeting.Dalmiya’s term as president of the BCCI ends only in September, which means that there will be a period of three months when he will head both, the ACC and the BCCI. Dalmiya had earlier been the secretary of the ACC between 1993 and 1996.

Advance Australia Fair to England© Getty Images

After edging out Pakistan in the final of the Videocon Cup in Amstelveen, Ricky Ponting reckoned that Australia were in fine shape to go on to England and annex the ICC Champions Trophy, the one bauble missing from a glittering trophy cabinet. “We have never won the Champions Trophy,” he said. “We want to win it this time.”In the aftermath of the victory, Ponting doffed his cap to the bowlers who engineered a collapse after Pakistan had appeared to be cruising at 148 for 4. He also suggested that Australia’s total of 192 for 5 had been more than adequate on a pitch where strokemaking was never easy. “Our bowlers bowled well,” he said. “We successfully defended the total. We had hoped to make somewhere around 200. It was very difficult to play the new ball on this surface.”Ponting was impressed however with the manner in which Pakistan – a seemingly reformed outfit under the guidance of Bob Woolmer – acquitted themselves. “They are a very good team,” he said. “We took some good catches. They had a couple of run outs in the middle. But still they batted and fought right up to the end.”A disappointed Inzamam-ul-Haq rued the middle-order collapse that cost his team victory. “Our bowlers bowled really well. 193 was not a big total,” he said. “But we could not reach our target as the middle-order batsmen did not play well. The two run outs took the game away from us.”He also defended the slow start – Pakistan made only 47 in the first 21 overs – saying, “It was difficult to play the new ball. So, we wanted see off the new ball and go for the shots.” He was optimistic though about the challenges that lay ahead. “My boys worked hard here. The batsmen did well in the first game. The bowlers performed well in the final. I hope to continue to play well in the Champions Trophy.”

Will Australia unleash Lee on a suspect Pakistani batting line-up?© Getty Images

Australia’s selectors have retained faith in the 12-man squad that routed New Zealand 2-0 in the Test series last month. Ricky Ponting will lead the side in the first Test against Pakistan at the WACA in Perth, with Brett Lee once again the most likely candidate to miss out, even on a pitch tailormade for fast bowling.Lee has made an impact during the one-day internationals against New Zealand, but with Michael Kasprowicz having bowled so magnificently on tours of Sri Lanka and India, there is unlikely to be a change in the Australian mindset, with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne being the other components in a formidable four-man bowling attack.Pakistan struggled with the bat on the opening day of their tour game against Western Australia, and were ruthlessly dismantled by Steve Waugh’s side when they played at the WACA in 1999-2000.Australian squad for first Test
Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee.

The top spot was a no-contest. VVS Laxman’s coruscating, series-turning, once-in-a-lifetime 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001 emerged the overwhelming winner in the Greatest Indian Test Innings survey conducted by Wisden Asia Cricket magazine on the occasion of its third anniversary.Laxman’s 281, that turned a hopeless situation for India to a match-winning one, garnered 268 points, more than Rahul Dravid’s 233 against Australia at Adelaide in 2003 which was ranked second. However, Sunil Gavaskar emerged the most valuable batsman. Though his highest ranked innings – a stirring 96 against Pakistan on a crumbling pitch at Bangalore in 1987 – came at number six, Gavaskar had two other innings in the top ten, underscoring his worth to Indian cricket in a period when the team’s batting revolved around him.Rahul Dravid, whose stellar performances have underpinned India’s recent success, came out shining too with all four of his nominated innings being ranked in the top 25. Sachin Tendulkar – whose unbeaten, match-winning 155 against Australia at Chennai in 1998 occupied the number nine position – won five nominations in all, and three of them in the top 25.A total of 63 innings were nominated by the 35-strong jury comprising former players, broadcasters, sportswriters and analysts. They were asked to nominate their own top ten, and each selection was assigned a point value in descending order – 10 for the top-ranked innings, nine for the next, and so on all the way down to one for the tenth-ranked innings.Gundappa Viswanath, rated by many of his contemporaries, including Gavaskar, as the best Indian batsman of his generation, won five nominations. His gutsy 97, a bulk of which came in the company of tailenders, against West Indies at Madras in 1975, was ranked third. One place lower was Virender Sehwag’s thrill-a-minute 309, the highest individual score by an Indian batsman. Performances from the early era were not ignored either, with Vijay Hazare’s 145 against Don Bradman’s Australians at Adelaide in 1948 being rated fifth and Vinoo Mankad’s towering 184 against England at Lord’s in 1952 at number seven.The 40-page cover story feature in the December issue of Wisden Asia Cricket features eyewitness accounts of the top 25 innings as voted by our jury. Those contributing their memories of these performances include: Justin Langer, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Bishan Bedi, Glenn McGrath, Madhav Apte, Rajan Bala, Angus Fraser, Scyld Berry, Ramachandra Guha, Tony Cozier, Saqlain Mushtaq, Ajit Wadekar, Mike Whitney and many others.The top 25

Player	Score	v	Venue	Points
VVS Laxman	281	Australia	Kolkata, 2001	268
Dravid	233	Australia	Adelaide, 2003	133
Viswanath	97*	West Indies	Madras, 1975	132
Sehwag	309	Pakistan	Multan, 2004	118
Hazare	145	Australia	Adelaide, 1948	115
Gavaskar	96	Pakistan	Bangalore, 1987	106
Mankad	184	England	Lords, 1952	104
Gavaskar	221	England	The Oval, 1979	83
Tendulkar	155*	Australia	Chennai, 1998	81
Gavaskar	220	West Indies	Port of Spain, 1971	58
Dravid	148	England	Leeds, 2002	56
Viswanath	139	West Indies	Calcutta, 1974	54
Dravid	180	Australia	Kolkata, 2001	46
Pataudi	75	Australia	Melbourne, 1967-68	40
Vengsarkar	102*	England	Leeds, 1986	37
Tendulkar	114	Australia	Perth, 1992	34
Sardesai	112	West Indies	Port of Spain, 1971	29
Mushtaq Ali	112	England	Manchester, 1936	28
Tendulkar	136	Pakistan	Chennai, 1999	26
Dravid	270	Pakistan	Rawalpindi, 2004	26
Lala Amarnath	118	England	Bombay, 1933	25
Azharuddin	121	England	Lords, 1990	22
Mohinder Amarnath	91	West Indies	Bridgetown, 1983	22
Vijay Manjrekar	133	England	Leeds, 1952	17
Chandu Borde	96	West Indies	Delhi, 1959	17

The Jury
Khalid Ansari sportswriter, Madhav Apte former Test player, Abbas Ali Baig former Test player, Rajan Bala sportswriter, Bishan Bedi former Test player, Harsha Bhogle sportswriter and broadcaster, Chandu Borde former Test player, BS Chandrasekhar former Test player, Chetan Chauhan former Test player, Nari Contractor former Test player, Raj Singh Dungarpur former cricketer and administrator, Gulu Ezekiel sportswriter, Anshuman Gaekwad former Test player, Karsan Ghavri former Test player, Ramachandra Guha historian and cricket writer, Mukul Kesavan novelist and cricket writer, Boria Majumdar cricket historian and writer, Sanjay Manjrekar former Test player and broadcaster, Madhav Mantri former Test player, R Mohan sportswriter, Ayaz Memon sportswriter, Suresh Menon sportswriter, Clayton Murzello sportswriter, Bapu Nadkarni former Test player, H Natarajan sportswriter, Vasu Paranjpe former cricketer and coach, Mudar Patherya Sportswriter, Sandeep Patil former Test player, K N Prabhu sportswriter, Vasant Raiji cricket historian and writer, G Rajaraman sportswriter, V Ramnarayan former cricketer and writer, Suresh Saraiya broadcaster, Sharda Ugra sportswriter, Ajit Wadekar former Test player.

Langeveldt: ‘I’m in a lot of pain but I try not to think about it’© Getty Images

You can see tomorrow’s headlines already – “Former screw turns the screw”.Charl Langeveldt, a former prison officer from Boland, defied the pain ofa broken hand to grab five wickets on debut as England crashed to 163 allout in a calamitous morning session.”I’m in a lot of pain,” admitted Langeveldt, who is receiving twoanaesthetic injections a day, one at 3am in the morning, another at 6pmafter play has finished. “But I try not to think about it. My adrenalinwas pumping and I was confident of bowling in the right areas. When theblood’s warm, it’s warm!”But the pun will only run so far because Langeveldt, understandably, doesnot much fancy having any screws inserted into his hand in the event offurther injury, and has more or less ruled himself out of the remainder ofthe series. “Ideally I would have liked to play,” he said, “but I’mthinking long-term, and it would be stupid to risk getting hit and beingout for probably six months. I’m seeing a specialist tomorrow, and I’llmake a decision from there.”Langeveldt, who switched to full-time cricket four years ago, has playedsix one-day internationals, but had to wait a long time for his Testdebut. “You get labelled in South Africa as a one-day bowler,” heexplained, “and with the likes of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and MakhayaNtini, it is difficult to get into the Test squad. But it’s awesome totake five wickets on my debut. Any cricketer would want that, and it’shappy days today.”Langeveldt burst into contention for this series with his seven-wickethaul at Potchefstroom, where South Africa A shocked England in theiropening tour match. It was no coincidence, for he is well acquainted withall things English. His wife is from the Isle of Wight (they met on a tourto Barbados), while he has played several seasons in the LancashireLeague, most recently for Morecambe.”I just try to bowl as full as possible, and swing it,” he explained. “Itdid more late in the innings, and there was hardly any wind as well whichhelped. It was the same in Potch, because [the English] like to get bat onball, and with the extra bounce the ball carried to the slips and keeper.”A simple philosophy, but it has left England deep in the porridge.

Stumped … the remains of the old tree at Canterbury© Getty Images

Kent are to replace the famous lime tree within the playing area at their ground in Canterbury, after the original blew down in strong winds last week. The short ceremony will take place at 11am on Tuesday, March 8.Carl Openshaw, Kent’s chairman, said: “There has been a lime tree on the boundary’s edge for as long as cricket has been played on the St Lawrence Ground. In 1999, when the future of the original tree was first in doubt, it was decided to plant a replacement tree so that this tradition could be preserved. We have received overwhelming support and interest from within Kent and from far afield, and we propose to stage a formal planting ceremony in March.”Kent are also hoping to make a range of mementos from the wood of the original tree, which was over 200 years old.

Incessant rain at Hobart forced the umpires to call off the ING Cup match between Tasmania and New South Wales. The result gave both teams two points, leaving Tasmania in second place with 24, and NSW languishing on just 9.5. Queensland lead the table with 35 points, and are assured of a place in the finals.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Ricky Ponting left New Zealand gasping in the final one-dayer at Napier© Getty Images

Australia finished the one-day series as they began the tour to sweep an empty contest 5-0. Ricky Ponting’s clean-hitting dominance, which lit up the inaugural Twenty20 match, was again displayed in a near-perfect 141 at Napier that grabbed Australia a massive 347 for 5, and New Zealand, as they had been in the previous four matches, were flattened. Martin Snedden, the NZ Cricket chief executive, called it “the series from hell”.The damage from this result will last until the 2007 World Cup for New Zealand, who dropped a spot to No. 3 in the ICC’s rankings and will probably now line up in the same group as England in the West Indies. But the more pressing concern is how much this disaster will affect them in the Test series, which starts at Christchurch on Thursday. “We’ve been well and truly thumped and it’s hard to take,” admitted Stephen Fleming. “We’ve got to cop it on the chin and we will become a better side.”Since the close first game at Wellington, Australia have dismissed all challenges with frightful disdain, and must have considered a tilt at the magical 400 after Adam Gilchrist brutally bashed 91 from 61 balls and departed by the 19th over. Instead Australia settled for 53 less than that, and victory by 122 runs.Ponting collected a brilliant century that was the one aspect missing from Gilchrist’s opening, and lifted the highest score for an Australian against New Zealand. While Gilchrist went berserk Ponting’s play was overlooked, but it was appreciated once he departed.Opening with a burst of back-foot boundaries, Ponting was more patient than Gilchrist, and increased his pace as he grew more comfortable, signing off in style with consecutive sixes from the final two balls. The second landed on the square-leg grandstand roof before bouncing over the back – like New Zealand’s morale. His 17th one-day hundred came from 110 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, and he finished with a ground-record score from 127 deliveries.

Adam Gilchrist: a savage assault© Getty Images

It was a powerful end, built on an explosive start from Gilchrist. Before the game Allan Border, the selector, was worried that Gilchrist hadn’t played well in the past 15 games, but he can stop frowning. When Australia had picked up 107 from 15 overs it seemed like 400 was a possibility as Gilchrist plastered nine fours and four sixes. The rate slowed when he was dismissed to a tame pop-drive to Craig Cumming at cover, and he was upset to lose the chance of pocketing rarely considered individual and team records (129 for 2).Ponting settled himself, and then set about lifting the rate with entertaining stands alongside Damien Martyn (40) and Michael Clarke, with whom he added 43 in a closing partnership of 94 in 10.2 overs. New Zealand’s fast men were again treated like junior net bowlers, and the situation was not helped when Chris Cairns hobbled off with a hamstring injury and stayed in the dressing-room. Daniel Vettori managed the incredible feat of giving up only 37 runs from his ten overs when there was carnage all around.Tama Canning’s comeback was forgettable apart from Gilchrist’s wicket, and he spilled 80 runs, while Kyle Mills went for 67. Lance Hamilton was also treated badly for 76 on his home ground. A real-estate agent, Hamilton closed his first international sale in his second meeting when Simon Katich under-edged a pull (37 for 1). He started well but sagged when attacked by Gilchrist and then Ponting. He was not the only one to suffer.The batsmen were quickly facing equivalent pressure when they were caught between Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee in their final jostle for favour before the first Test. Kasprowicz collected more wickets, but Lee was the scarier as they combined for three early blows that shut down New Zealand.Lee’s early pace was the fastest of the series and his first over contained a wide recorded at 160kph and a 160.8kph (100mph) outswinger to Cumming, who fell lbw in his fifth over (39 for 1). Fleming fought past Lee and then made the mistake of relaxing to Kasprowicz, edging him to Adam Gilchrist for 35. Kasprowicz followed next ball with the wicket of James Marshall, playing on to his pad and then the stumps, and was denied a strong hat-trick appeal by David Shepherd to an inswinger than hit Craig McMillan’s pad before his bat (60 for 3). It was a timely reminder of his worth, and he collected 3 for 36 off ten overs.Producing his side’s best batting performance, McMillan hulked 63 from 69 balls in an innings that could have ended when Andrew Symonds caught him at cover. Shepherd appeared to give McMillan out, but he held his ground and doubt swept over the ground. He stayed before holing out thinking of a six off Symonds, who then collected Brendon McCullum to a similar thought process (196 for 6). The match drifted towards its conclusion, but the overall upshot was strikingly clear.Finishing the series with a record one-day ranking of 140 points, Australia drive into the three Tests with immeasurable momentum. For New Zealand, though, the suffering has continued over a contest that rarely reached the intensity of a top-of-the-world battle.

Balaji’s control
Lakshmipathy Balaji returned to international cricket with a bang, dismissing five Pakistani batsmen by sticking to the basics. He has often spoken of his reliance on accuracy and on the first day he had the numbers to prove it. His discipline against the right-handers was impeccable. He pitched 97% of his balls were on or outside the off stump, tying down the batsmen and making them play at deliveries that cut and swung marginally. While Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan were fiery and swung it more, Balaji’s dedication to the rudiments fetched him 5 for 76.

Inzamam’s cool
From the first few balls of his innings, it was clear that Inzamam-ul-Haq was in great touch. Where his openers struggled to lay bat on ball, he played swinging deliveries with time to spare. The result was that he and Taufeeq Umar steadied the team after their rocky beginning, and even after Umar’s dismissal, he carried on with such comfort that nearly 70% of all the deliveries he faced hit the middle of his bat. Even more remarkably, he was beaten only 2% of the time during his stay on a pitch that afforded the bowlers huge swing.

As the pitch dried up and the ball swung less, Pakistan’s in-control percentage against the bowlers rose in the afternoon and then fell. This had much to do with some loose batting by the lower-middle order and the tail as well as accurate bowling.

Pathan v ZaheerBoth Pathan and Zaheer swung the ball in their first spells, but Zaheer seemed the more hostile, the more likely to make a breakthrough. He induced numerous edges off the bat and conceded three times as many runs as Pathan in the morning, but as the day went by, Pathan began pitching the balls in the right areas and made the batsmen play.

Zaheer continued to bowl with hostility throughout the day but could not discomfort the batsmen as he had in the morning. As a result, the in-control percentage of the batsmen against him rose: they were not in control of 17.1% of the time against Zaheer, while the figure bloated to 29.3% against Pathan.