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John Gloster, the Indian team’s physio, is confident that Sachin Tendulkar would return to international cricket as scheduled in September. Gloster said that Tendulkar, who is currently recovering from elbow surgery, had started to practice with a light bat and was making satisfactory progress.”He is on course, there is little doubt,” Gloster told when asked about Tendulkar’s path to full fitness. “I speak to him every day and we are constantly monitoring his progress, it is on schedule.” Tendulkar isn’t expected to be fit before India’s tour to Zimbabwe, starting later this month, but Gloster was hoping he could return for Sri Lanka’s series in India in October.”The thing with tennis elbow is that if you keep treating it from outside, or from occasional injections, it would not go away in a hurry. But Sachin was operated upon in England which is the foolproof method of getting rid of tennis elbow. It takes away the weeds and wasted part of muscles and then over a period of time and structured process, the elbow would be back to normal.”Tendulkar has been dogged by tennis-elbow injury for nearly a year and it forced him to miss one-day tournaments in Holland and England apart from two Tests against Australia. After the home series against Pakistan last season, Tendulkar decided to get his elbow operated.

The USACA has announced its team for the Intercontinental Cup match against Canada scheduled to be played at the Brian Piccolo Park in Florida between May 29 and 31.Richard Staple from New York has been retained as captain, with Nasir Javed serving as his deputy. All the 12 members of the team were part of the squad that returned with top honors from Sharjah earlier this year.USA squad Richard Staple (capt), Nasir Javed, Rohan Alexander, Steve Massiah, Clayton Lambert, Charles Reid, Zamin Amin, Jignesh Desai, Howard Johnson, Donovan Blake, Aijaz Ali, Mark Johnson.

Commanders of Pakistan Cricket by Dr Tariq Raz.
Published by Saad Publications, KarachiIt was a pleasant surprise to read a new book on Pakistan cricket that crossed my desk the other day; another in a series by Dr Tariq Raz. His “Commanders of Pakistan Cricket” is a welcome addition to the few good books on this game published in Pakistan.

He has chosen a novel way to survey Pakistan cricket – through all the Pakistan captains over the years. It has a chapter on each captain who led Pakistan in test matches and One-day Internationals.First comes a biographical sketch on each captain, his achievements in the field, and the essential statistics about his performance, without which no book can be called complete.Pakistan’s famous cricket commentator and a former ambassador, Jamsheed Marker, while writing the book’s foreword has said, “All might not be in complete agreement with all of the author’s assessment”.A book about Pakistan captains is bound to flare emotions for the fact there have been so many, so often changed after short stints, and at times several playing in the team at the same time.Even the Pakistan President has had something to say about this in a remark to the team currently touring England: “You can run your unit when you have one commander and I am glad that this team has one captain who calls the shots.”Tariq Raz has tried to avoid controversial remarks or subjective observation that could termed in bad taste, but still his appreciation of Imran Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, Javed Miandad and AH Kardar is tinged by his admiration for the quartet. The book leaves no doubt these four were the best of the lot that led Pakistan but there were others not far behind.Before penning the achievements of Pakistan captains, Tariq had written “Cricket Scene”, on cricket in Sharjah, “Focus on Pakistan Cricket”, a summary of cricket played by Pakistan, “Winning Account of Pakistan”, a book encapsulating the wins achieved by Pakistan in Tests and one-day cricket and “Pakistan Test Cricket Sojourn”, a summary of all Tests played by Pakistan.All his books were well received and “Focus on Pakistan Cricket” has found an important place in International Cricket Council’s (ICC) library at Lord’s.Going through the book one discovers that in all 25 captains have led Pakistan in both forms of cricket and have their own chapters. The write up is quite comprehensive despite being brief and highlights the high or low points of each one.Their performance as a player and as a captain has been surveyed. Career records of the players as captain in both forms of cricket have been given at the end of the write-up. Each captain’s sketch is accompanied by couple of his photographs in action.Some of these photos are rare and help enhance the value of the volume. The one showing Hanif Mohammad returning to the pavilion after his memorable 337 is one such. Another interesting photo is the one in which Hanif Mohammad and Inzamam-ul-Haq, the two Pakistan triple-hundred makers are seen standing together. However, some of the photos are rather small and the reader has to make an effort to recognize the faces.A very interesting feature of the book is the statistical section at the end that should interest any cricket statistician. It covers the individuals’ performance in great detail as a captain against each country in tests and one-day internationals. It also provides a summary of their performance in all matches they played as captain.The hardbound book is neatly laid out with an attractive cover, naturally the Pakistan green.To me it is obvious Tariq and his team has taken pains to compile the volume and it’s not just a cut-and-paste job. A venture involving records and statistics is tough in itself and one must appreciate the effort involved especially in Pakistan where very few books of this nature are published or researched.All cricket lovers would hope Tariq Raz will continue his mission of enriching the stock of cricket books about Pakistan.

Kent batsman David Fulton took his season’s tally to 1,892 runs to boost his side’s third-day fightback against Division One strugglers Northamptonshire in Canterbury.The 29-year-old Kent opener hit his ninth century of a prolific summer and was just four short of his second double ton when his six-hour stay came to an end to possibly the worst ball he had faced.Attempting to flat-bat a wide, short ball from Michael Strong he could only pick out Graeme Swann at cover point who claimed a good low catch to send Fulton on his way.Fulton’s demise also ended a Kent record sixth-wicket stand worth 219 in 74 overs with Mark Ealham, who went on to score a 264-ball century – his first in Canterbury since 1997 – to finish unbeaten on 109.Together the pair had wiped out Northamptonshire’s first innings lead of 249 and helped the hosts to relative riches in reaching 463 for six at the close for an overall lead of 214.With nine centuries to his name, Fulton is now aiming to become the first Kent bat since Frank Woolley to hit 10 in a summer.Any dampness in the pitch that enabled Northamptonshire to dismiss the hosts for 108 in the opening session of the game, has long since disappeared and Northamptonshire’s bland attack struggled to prevent Kent’s comeback.John Blain took his match tally to nine with the wicket of Matthew Walker in the seventh over of the day, while Strong sent back Paul Nixon just before lunch, but the visitors were thwarted throughout the mid-session when Fulton and Ealham dug in.

Unmukt Chand, the former Under-19 captain, will lead India A in the upcoming tri-series against Australia A and South Africa A, while Ambati Rayudu has been named as captain for the two-match unofficial Test series that follows against South Africa A.Legspinner Karn Sharma, who missed the recent Zimbabwe tour due to a fractured finger, was picked in both squads and Karnataka batsman Karun Nair was chosen as the vice-captain for both the tri-series as well as the unofficial Tests against South Africa.Himachal Pradesh batsman Ankush Bains, 19, was selected on the back of a strong domestic performance – 568 runs in 11 first-class matches at an average of 47.33, with a highest score of 156. Saurashtra batsman Sheldon Jackson was picked after a stellar 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, during which he made 819 runs in eight matches.Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra and KL Rahul, who were part of the India A squad for the unofficial Tests against Australia, were not available because of the Test series in Sri Lanka beginning on August 12.Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary, who played in all the ODIs against Zimbabwe, were not picked for the tri-series.All the matches of the tri-series will be played in Chennai between August 5 and August 14. The two-match series against South Africa A begins three days later on August 18 in Wayanad, Kerala.India A squad for tri-series: Unmukt Chand (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sandeep Sharma, Rush Kalaria, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rishi Dhawan.India A squad for unofficial Tests: Ambati Rayudu (capt), Karun Nair, Abhinav Mukund, Ankush Bains, Shreyas Iyer, Baba Aparajith, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shardul Thakur, Ishwar Pandey, Sheldon Jackson, Jiwanjot Singh.

A match that’s already witnessed a slew of records saw Rahul Dravid become the sixth batsman in Test history to break the 10,000-run barrier. He reached the landmark with a clip towards midwicket off Morne Morkel and raised his arms aloft mid-way through the run.He reached the milestone in the 119th over of the first innings, when he went from 79 to 80. There was a standing ovation from the audience at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, a ground where he is yet to get a century. He acknowledged the cheers from the dressing-room and also received a congratulatory hug from Sourav Ganguly at the non-striker’s end.Dravid joined two other Indians – Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar – in the list, which also contains Steve Waugh, Allan Border and Brian Lara. Dravid managed to reach the mark in his 120th Test, in a career that began in 1996. 23 of those runs, though, came for the ICC World XI against Australia in October 2005During the course of the innings Dravid also became the first batsman play 150 innings while batting at No.3. Though his was a sedate knock, his 268-run second-wicket partnership with Virender Sehwag allowed India a chance to harbour hopes of an unlikely win.

Worcestershire’s Twenty20 Cup fixture against Warwickshire at New Road has had to be cancelled after unseasonal rains caused the Severn and Teme rivers to break their banks and flood the county ground at New Road.”Around half of the ground is flooded at a depth of at least a couple of feet,” explained David Leatherdale, the commercial manager. “It is up to the engines of cars parked on the ground.” Games against Northamptonshire on Friday and Gloucestershire on Sunday are also in doubt.Although county officials immediately sought an alternative venue to stage the game, the Twenty20 regulations as they stand require all matches to be played within the county boundaries. Worcestershire had hoped to play at either Kidderminster, Ombersley or Barnt Green, but were forced to admit defeat.”Regrettably no other venue within the county with the facilities to stage the Twenty20 match could be identified in spite of the very best efforts of the home club,” said an ECB statement. “ECB has indicated that it wishes to consider changes to regulations which could provide increased options for the 2008 season but recognises that the weather conditions experienced in June have been exceptional.While the ground, which is on a flood plain, is often submerged in the winter, it is rare that it suffers during the season. In June 1931 Worcestershire had to move their match against Kent to Stourbridge because New Road was underwater. On that occasion the local fire brigade were called in to help mop up. In August of the same year heavy rain meant that a small lake formed in front of the ladies stand and the boundary had to be brought in by 25 yards midway a game against Warwickshire. It also flooded in August 1957.

Pakistan now has two players in the top five of the Test batting rankings following the drawn first Test against England at Lord’s. Inzamam-ul-Haq has climbed one place to third in the list after twin half-centuries and he has been joined in the top five by Mohammad Yousuf, who made 202, his second successive Test double hundred against England.Yousuf is up two spots to fifth place and now has his best-ever ranking and his highest tally of points. Completing a trio of Pakistan batsmen in the top 10 is Younis Khan, who missed the Lord’s Test through injury. He lies seventh in the table.The only players Inzamam now trails in the rankings are his opposite numbers Ricky Ponting of Australia and India’s Rahul Dravid. England, by contrast, has just one batsman in that top 10, Kevin Pietersen in 10th position, but below him, several of his team mates are making positive moves.Andrew Strauss’s ninth Test hundred has seen him rise two places to 12th (overtaking team-mate Marcus Trescothick in the process) while Paul Collingwood’s Test-best 186 has boosted him up to joint 34th position, a climb of 16 places.Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, two more century-makers from the Lord’s Test are up to joint 42nd and 51st place respectively, and the duo – along with Collingwood – have career-best ratings.The bowling ranks have seen no changes in the top 20 with England’s Matthew Hoggard still the highest-placed player from either side. He remains in fifth spot, ahead of injured team-mate Andrew Flintoff in sixth and another injured player, Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, in seventh position.Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan remains top rankings, clear of South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.

Holland claimed the final qualifying place at the 2007 World Cup, and with it $500,000 of funding and ODI status, by beating United Arab Emirates by 145 runs in the ICC Trophy fifth-place play-off at Clontarf. They join the four teams who have already qualified from the event – Bermuda, Canada, Ireland and Scotland.Having narrowly missed out on automatic qualification during the group stage, Holland bounced back with two emphatic victories to seal the final place in the Caribbean. They beat Denmark by 89 runs on Saturday to reach today’s play-off and proved far too strong for UAE under a cloudless sky to claim a victory that will see them compete in a second consecutive World Cup and third in total.The key to Holland’s victory was the composure under pressure of their batsmen. After being put in to bat, the swinging white ball made the opening overs a struggle for the top order. Luuk van Troost and Dan van Bunge were both back in the pavilion with only 15 runs on the board.But Bas Zuiderent, Holland’s outstanding batsman of the tournament, took responsibility for anchoring the innings. In tandem with Tim de Leede, he set about steering the Dutch into the ascendancy. By the time that de Leede was out for 65 Holland had a solid platform so in the final overs Zuiderent and Ryan ten Doeschate were able to play without inhibition to push the score to 287 for four in 50 overs.Ten Doeschate finished on 65 not out while Zuiderent was unbeaten on 116. It was Zuiderent’s third century for his country, all of which have come in this tournamentUAE chased a bigger total than this to beat Holland in the ICC Six Nations Challenge, on home soil in 2004, but never came close to emulating that feat today. They took an attacking approach from the start, which kept them in touch with the run-rate, but at the expense of valuable wickets as too many players took chances against the disciplined Dutch pace attack.Five different bowlers picked up wickets as Holland rattled through the UAE batting line-up. The game was wrapped up when Ali Asad Abbas was clean bowled by Billy Stelling with the third ball of the 32nd over to leave UAE all out for 142.Canada v BermudaCanada claimed third place with a comfortable five-wicket victory over Bermuda. Though both countries had already qualified for the World Cup, victory in the third/fourth play-off puts Canada into a group with England, New Zealand and Kenya for 2007 while Bermuda faces the prospect of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Bermuda elected to bat after winning the toss at Malahide but found the going tough against a Canada side determined to demonstrate regional superiority. After losing two wickets for three runs at the start of the innings a series of batsmen failed to capitalise on solid starts. Irving Romaine was alone in making an impression but without significant support his 71 runs were only enough to lift Bermuda to 195 all out in 48.5 overs.Canada has the most explosive top order in the tournament with captain John Davison charged with leading the line. The early dismissal of Davison for 5 had little impact as Desmond Chumney and Zubin Surkari put on 95 for the second wicket. Both men fell just short of their half-centuries but, with wickets and overs in hand, Canada completed the victory for the loss of three further wickets with nine overs to spare.Playoffs for 7 – 12Namibia ended the tournament on a high with an emphatic 103-run victory over Denmark to finish in seventh place. But the most thrilling cricket of the day came in the matches that decided the rankings of the sides from ninth to twelfth.The final positions of teams in this tournament will have qualification implications for future events and Oman captured the crucial ninth place with a spectacular victory over USA.USA’s medium-paced bowling attack has struggled to contain sides in this event but they must have felt confident of defending a total of 345 for 6 against Oman. It seemed to be going America’s way when Oman were reduced to 82 for 4 and then 211 for 7 but an astonishing eighth-wicket partnership turned the match on its head.Azhar Syed contributed an essential 44 runs but the match-winner was Farhan Khan who smashed 94 not out from 47 balls in an innings which included four fours and an incredible nine sixes as Oman won by two wickets with five balls to spare.Khan’s heroics overshadowed a tense climax in the final play-off between Papua New Guinea and Uganda. After labouring to 203 all out from 49.5 overs, PNG managed to restrict Uganda to 202 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs to claim eleventh place by a single run. Uganda’s batsmen have struggled to come to terms with the Irish conditions but their bowling and fielding indicate great promise for the future.

After a frustrating winter on the fringes of England’s tour of the Caribbean, James Anderson took 6 for 49 in his first match of the season, as Lancashire took control against Worcestershire. Afterwards he spoke to the press at Old Trafford:

Are you doing anything different now to what you were doing six months ago?
No, I’m just concentrating on bowling pretty straight – keeping things wicket-to-wicket. The ball seemed to be coming out quickly, but it didn’t swing at all and the breeze wasn’t helping me. I just had to keep it tight. I’ve felt quite good all winter, to be honest, and I had a decent rhythm in the nets. But it’s a totally different situation when you get out into the middle.Were you apprehensive about playing in this match?
Yeah, I’ve had four one-day internationals over the winter, so it was a bit of a different situation today, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it turned out to be exactly what I needed – a long bowl and a good couple of spells to get back into it.Are you feeling refreshed after a winter on the sidelines?
That’s one way of looking at it – I am feeling pretty fresh, yeah. Some of the guys here are saying I look fresher than they are, and that’s only a couple of games into the season. I’m definitely feeling fit and strong.There must have been some doubt about you playing for Lancashire today – Sajid Mahmood has been in good form …
He has. Someone asked me this week whether I was worried about getting my England place back, but I said: “First things first, let me get back in the Lancashire side”. Kyle [Hogg] and Sajid have been playing exceptionally well, and just because I’ve come off an England tour, it doesn’t mean I have a right to walk into the side.Does England status create extra pressure?
Not really. I was just out to bowl well, not necessarily even to take wickets. All I wanted was to feel good in myself again. That will do me fine. But six wickets under my belt is certainly not going to do me any harm with the selectors.Did you bowl as well as the figures suggest?
Maybe not, but I’ve definitely bowled better for less. But that’s cricket. You need a bit of luck, and when your second ball of the day is nicked down the leg-side, you know you’ve just got to cash in.How frustrating was your experience this winter?
At times it was extremely frustrating, sitting there watching the other guys taking all the wickets and wishing it was you out there. But that’s the way it goes. I was happy, because it was my mates who were doing the job, but I was happy and sad at the same time.Did it get you down?
Sometimes, but I tried not to let it show. I just got on with my training and practising with Troy [Cooley] and the other coaches. After that, it was just a case of getting back to the County Championship and taking wickets.Will you be a better player for the experience?
Hopefully. It’s not done me any harm at all to be out there and not playing. It should stand me in good stead for the future.What have you done in the four or five days since you returned from the West Indies?
I went home to see my friends and family, then had a net with the 2nd XI on Tuesday before the game.It’s been a rollercoaster 12 months – sometimes you’ve been taking wickets galore, and other times you’ve been getting none. Has your bowling form been tied in with that?
It’s really hard to explain. It’s the same for batters and their bad runs of form – sometimes it’s a poor decision, other times a stunning catch. As far as I’m concerned, I might be bowling well, but if I don’t take the wickets, everyone assumes I’m bowling badly.Are you a better bowler now than 12 months ago?
Definitely. I’m more experienced now. I adjust more quickly to each batsman, and I’m getting to know their strengths and weaknesses as I play more. Everyone ought to get better with experience, and as long as you’ve got the right coaches on hand, you should progress.It must be exciting to be part of this England team at the moment?
Yeah. My job now is to put pressure on the guys in the side. If I keep taking wickets, then hopefully they’ll have to perform even better as well.You might not be seeing much more of Lancashire this season?
Yeah. There is so much international cricket at the moment. It was sad to miss out on Lancashire’s one-day trophy last season as well, but unfortunately you can’t be in two places at once.Do you expect to play at Lord’s?
I haven’t a clue. All I know is I’d love to play for England again anywhere, whether it’s Lord’s or Turf Moor.