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Sir Pelham Warner’s comment best summed up the Indian sojourn of England in 1946. “Their grace on the field was equaled by their manners of it.” Viewed from any angle ­ the quality of play they provided, the overall results, the gate receipts ­ the 1946 tour was a whopping success, wiping off the memories of the unhappy tour 10 years before.The Indian team itself was a fairly strong one. Adorning it wereplayers of the calibre of Vijay Merchant, Lala Amarnath, MushtaqAli, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Rusi Modi and the captain – thesenior Nawab of Pataudi. The side was managed well by the genialPankaj Gupta, who was a welcome change after the autocraticBrittain-Jones.In such a congenial atmosphere, the Indians played up topotential, and this was reflected in the results. Out of 29first-class matches, the visitors won as many as 11, lost onlyfour and drew 14. Further, this was achieved in one of thewettest English summers on record. If India lost the Test series,they certainly were not disgraced. After all, the first Test waswon by England thanks largely to the batting of one man, thesecond ended in a thrilling draw, and it was possible to arguethat India was in a stronger position in the rain-affected finalTest at the Oval, which was also left drawn.The first post-war Test in England at Lord’s was thankfullyplayed in bright sunshine and was watched by large crowds. India,after being bowled out for 200, did well to get England at 70 forfour, all the wickets being taken by Amarnath. And what a prizebag it was too ­ Sir Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Denis Comptonand Wally Hammond!Joe Hardstaff and wicket-keeper Paul Gibb (60) got the inningsback on track with a fifth-wicket stand of 182. Hardstaff hit 205in 315 minutes with 16 fours. India, 228 runs in arrears, put upa better display in the second innings, but they found AlecBedser, in his first Test, tough to handle. The tall Surrey swingbowler had a match haul of 11 wickets as India were all out for275, leaving England to get only 48 runs for victory. The hometeam got these without losing a wicket.In the second Test at Old Trafford, Mankad and Amarnath, takingfive wickets each, bowled out England for 294. Merchant (78) andMushtaq Ali (46) brought back memories of their famous stand atthe same ground 10 years before by putting on 124. Astonishingly,however, India thereafter lost 10 wickets for 46. Englandstretched their lead of 124 by declaring the second innings at153 for five. India, set to make 278 runs in three hours, lostwickets at regular intervals, and the last pair – Hindlekar andSohini – had to bat out the last 14 minutes to draw the matchwith the score 152 for nine.At the Oval, India, after a delayed start, led off with 331,thanks in the main to Merchant’s 128. England were 95 for threewhen further rain stopped play. From England’s point of view, themain gain was Bedser, who in his first series took 24 wickets inthree Tests, a harbinger of many great deeds over the nextdecade.In keeping with their good showing in the Tests, the Indians’record in the first-class games was admirable. None impressedmore than Merchant, who scored 2,385 runs at an average of 74.53with seven hundreds. His batting was a veritable lesson in how tobat in the generally difficult conditions encountered on thetour.Vijay Hazare was not very far behind. The two were already in themidst of a run-getting rivalry in the Pentangular and RanjiTrophy tournaments in India, and happily they carried this toEngland too. A week after Merchant hit an unbeaten 242 againstLancashire, Hazare scored 244 not out against Yorkshire. Hazare’saggregate was 1,344 runs at an average of 49.77. Rusi Modi wasanother to top the 1,000-run mark, finishing with 1,196 runs at37.37.But in a way, perhaps the biggest success of the tour was Mankad,who had the rare distinction of completing the double ­ the onlyIndian to do so on a tour of England. In scoring 1,120 runs at anaverage of 28.00 and taking 129 wickets at 20.76 apiece, Mankadproved that he was among the leading players in the world.Indeed, as a left-arm spinner, he had no equal. Amarnath, with800 runs and 56 wickets, lived up to his reputation, while Hazaredid his bit with the ball too, finishing second in the averageswith 56 wickets.In addition, the Indians performed feats that were either eyecatching or have stood the test of time. Against Sussex at Hove,they hit up 533 for three declared on the first day with all fourbatsmen ­ Merchant, Mankad, Pataudi and Amarnath crossing thethree-figure mark. But it was the feat against Surrey that is themost famous. The Indians, batting first on a Saturday, were 205for nine. Last man Shute Banerjee joined number 10 ChanduSarwate, who had yet to score. The Surrey captain deferred thetea interval in the hope of taking the last wicket quickly.He had to wait till Monday morning.With batting that was of the highest order, Banerjee and Sarwaterewrote the record books. Against an attack that included Bedserand Alf Gover, the two set up the highest last-wicket stand inEngland and the second-highest 10th-wicket partnership of alltime, putting together 249 runs in 190 minutes. Moreover, itremains unique in that it is the only time in first-class cricketthat numbers 10 and 11 have hit hundreds. While Banerjee got 121,Sarwate remained unbeaten with 124.Mushtaq Ali, who was a member of both the 1936 and 1946 teams,maintains in his autobiography that,man-to-man, the 1936 team was the stronger side. But many veterancritics gave the palm to the 1946 side, and on results it isdifficult to argue with this view. Also, the popularity of theside is best illustrated by the touching gesture of LevesonGower, the 73-year-old president of the Surrey Cricket Club, whocame all the way to the London docks to wish the team farewell.He made it clear that he had come in his personal capacitybecause he wanted to say goodbye to those who had given thelovers of cricket such great joy. “They gave pleasure on and offthe field, and never has there been a more popular team,” he saidechoing the view of many.

Steve Stubbings, the Derbyshire batsman, has been awarded a benefit by the club for next season.Stubbings, 29, has served Derbyshire for 11 years, scoring 6,755 first-class runs at 32.01. He was handed his county cap in 2001 and has captained the side on several occasions over the past two years.”This is a thoroughly deserved accolade for Steve who has been a terrific servant to Derbyshire for over a decade,” Don Amott, the Derbyshire chairman said. “Not only has he been an outstanding and reliable player, he is also one of the nicest and most genuine guys you will meet in cricket.”I hope he has a very successful benefit year and that the members and supporters come out and support his events throughout the year 2008.””I have been very proud to represent Derbyshire over the last 11 seasons,” Stubbings said, “and to be given a benefit year is an incredible honour and is very humbling.”Being awarded a benefit year is something that doesn’t happen to everybody and I feel extremely privileged to be selected, particularly when you look at the list of previous beneficiaries in recent years which is pretty exclusive company to be in.”

Saket Bhatia and Sanjeev Sharma, with a sixth wicket partnership of112 runs, were instrumental in Rajasthan gaining a first innings leadof 26 runs on the third day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy leaguematch at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday. Replying to UP’s270, Rajasthan were all out for 296. In their second innings, UP were81 for three at stumps.Resuming at 183 for five, Rajasthan lost their sixth wicket only at253 when Bhatia was leg before to Salabh Srivastava for 79. Bhatiafaced 184 balls and hit ten fours. Sanjeev Sharma kept going till hewas ninth out at 296. For his 85, he faced 180 balls and hit 11 fours.The bowling honours were cornered by opening bowlers AW Zaidi (5 for84) and Srivastava (4 for 98).Openers Rohit Prash (26) and Jyoti Yadav (28) gave UP a good start byputting on 46 runs. But in the last hour, UP lost three wickets to bein a position of some anxiety at close.

Darrell Hair has admitted he can be “stand-offish” and has vowed to improve his communication skills after being reinstated as a Test and one-day international umpire. Hair is back after being demoted following his role in the forfeited Pakistan-England Test in 2006, but he believes it is time to “move on”.”Well it caused me a lot of stress, I suppose it caused a lot of people some stress along the way,” Hair told Sydney radio . “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. So, it’s time to move on.The ICC ruled Hair’s “rehabilitation”, which included a course at Sydney University, has been completed and he remains contracted for another 12 months. “Every day in life you like to pick up something and move forward,” he said. “So 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.”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. I’ve always been a little bit … stand-offish in that I’ve always preferred to let them play the game themselves and only get involved when things go overboard but maybe there’s a case to be made for a little bit more work in that area.”The ICC will keep Hair away from games involving Pakistan, who are upset with the official’s elevation. “I’ve got no comment on anyone else’s reaction really,” he said. “I’m just going to look after my own patch and go out there and umpire the matches that I’m appointed to and do that to the best of my ability, which is what I’ve always done.”

Twenty20 internationals will continue to be a support act for Test and one-day cricket in Australia with the national body not planning a push for more matches. Australia will play one of their two shortened games on Tuesday against New Zealand in Perth, but despite the popularity of the format it will not be expanded past the ICC limit of three home matches a summer.”Our emerging view is that Twenty20 has to find a place that complements but does not compromise Test and ODI cricket that already exists,” the Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young told the Daily Telegraph. “We have started to move towards the view that there is a lot of potential to develop it as an interstate style of product.”The domestic competition starts on New Year’s Eve and lasts for two weeks. Each team will play five matches before the final on January 13 and the top two sides will be part of a global tournament next year.”That’s where our focus is at the moment,” Young said. “But there is obviously an international place. The ICC has played the Twenty20 World Cup and there will be Twenty20 international games.”

Clive Lloyd has denied that he ever discussed the feasibility of a managing director for the West Indies team in an interview with .The article quoted Lloyd as saying: “Politics-wise, that might be a little difficult,” before adding, “Probably they [West Indies board] might come to that if they could find somebody that could carry those duties.” Lloyd, though, denied making those statements, and instead lashed out at Orin Davidson, the journalist who had conducted the interview.”I am surprised that a journalist of Mr. Davidson’s experience and competence should have attributed to me words which I never uttered during the interview he had with me in New York,” he said in a statement. “At no time did I discuss with him the question of a managing director for the West Indies cricket team. It was in an attempt to avoid any such misunderstanding that I had requested my sister to ask Mr Davidson to let me have a look at the article before it was published. Unfortunately, Mr. Davidson thought that this was not necessary.”The journalist, though, maintained that Lloyd’s comments were in the context of West Indies cricket having one individual in charge of all decision making. A note by the sports editor said: “Mr Davidson says although he might not have used the words managing director, Mr Lloyd was asked his opinion of West Indies cricket having a sole individual making all the cricketing decisions.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Bangladesh were left to rue five catches and three run-out opportunities as they allowed Sri Lanka to recover from 61 for 4 to 196 and then squandered a manageable run chase to go down 3-0 in Colombo.Put in to bat on a sluggish pitch, overnight rain and early morning showers in Colombo delayed the start and reduced the game to 40-overs a side with Sri Lanka’s top order collapsing to an inspired attack. However, a generous dose of dropped catches all around the ground allowed Jehan Mubarak and Tillakaratne Dilshan to build a vital 78-run partnership. Mubarak stuck around for a career-best 72 before an inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling attack used the short deliveries to secure a 39-run win.Bangladesh began horribly chasing 197. The first 11 runs came from wides, but Farveez Maharoof’s double-strike did the damage. Javed Omar got a game but didn’t contribute, pushing the fourth ball of the innings to Mahela Jayawardene at second slip. Mushfiqur Rahim was promoted to No. 3 but, like Omar, failed to inspire any confidence. Fifth ball he faced, Rahim chased a good length delivery and edged into Kumar Sangakkara’s gloves.After a brief 42-run fightback, Mohammad Ashraful (20) could consider himself unlucky to be given out leg before to one from Nuwan Kulasekara that was missing leg stump. Shakib Al Hasan could offer no such excuse, fishing at a short-pitched delivery from Fernando and getting the faintest of nicks to Sangakkara. Aftab Ahmed didn’t last long either as he got glove on an attempted pull shot against Kulasekara.Faced with the somewhat unfamiliar role of Bangladesh’s last glimmer of hope, Tamim Iqbal mixed caution with lunacy and aggression during his 74-ball 55. He danced down the track wildly and missed completely in between some sweet back-foot punches and one delicate flick for six. Dilhara Fernando gave him a work over with the short stuff, and as wickets fell at one end, Tamim held back on the big shots and worked the singles instead. A hamstring injury forced him to resort to a runner before he crossed fifty.Having added 60 for the sixth-wicket with debutant Mahmudullah (35 from 53) Tamim tried to hit Sanath Jayasuriya out of the park but instead rewarded Jayawardene’s decision to introduce the veteran in the 31st over. In a jiffy Jayasuriya then plucked out three the remaining four wickets and Fernando returned to york the No. 10 batsman.After winning the toss, the first of Bangladesh’s blips in the field came in the second over when Shakib, at cover, failed to clutch an airy drive off Jayasuriya when he was yet to get off the mark. Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga fell cheaply to the impressive Shahadat and Syed Rasel but Chamara Kapugedera was dropped on 0 and 5. Though the first was too thick an edge for Rahim to take while standing up to the stumps the second was deplorable, Reza grassing a waist-high chance at second slip. You didn’t need a lip reader to make out what Shahadat said after seeing that catch go down.Bangladesh removed Kapugedera and Sangakkara in relative succession, but their butterfingered fielders allowed Mubarak and Dilshan to stitch together a match-winning partnership. At the 20-over mark, Bangladesh appeared in command amid a tight bowling display, but two alarming lapses in Ferhad’s sixth over ultimately made the difference between victory and defeat. Dilshan was let off by Rahim when on 11, as the wicketkeeper failed to hold onto an outside edge off a cramped cut shot. A boundary later, Mubarak’s mis-timed slog down the ground was misjudged by Abdur Razzak at mid-on, and landed safely between two converging fielders.The two batsmen didn’t need another invitation to lead the revival. While Mubarak was more watchful, having to graft against the spinners initially, Dilshan walked out in a situation tailor-made for his fidgety, ‘I’m-going-to-get-under-your-skin style’. In no time Bangladesh were on the back foot as Dilshan spread the field with his cheeky dabs and cuts. Mubarak grew in confidence, using his feet to the spinners, swept hard, and constantly looked for singles. While he crease ticked along to his third ODI fifty, Dilshan threaded the ball into the gaps before he finally failed to carry off a cheeky reverse pull and gave Mahmudullah his first wicket. Razzak finished with 3 for 47 as Bangladesh bowled Sri Lanka out for the first time all tour, but Mubarak’s presence until the last over proved the defining innings, something Tamim would have done well to emulate.

Ricky Ponting has been ruled out of today’s Twenty20 match against India in Melbourne as he continues to struggle with a back injury. Ponting batted in the nets on the morning of the game but Australia decided not to risk him and will now attempt to have him ready for Sunday’s opening CB Series match against India at the Gabba.”He pulled up pretty sore this morning,” Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen said. “His back is just not 100% and with the uncertain nature of Twenty20 cricket and the frantic nature of it we’re just a bit concerned that if he has to dive in the first over if we’re fielding and pulls up very sore it could leave us one short.”Michael Clarke will captain Australia for the second time in two months and he is set to lead a side with one debutant after Nielsen confirmed David Hussey would play his first match in Australian colours. Brad Hodge will slot into Ponting’s No.3 position and Ben Hilfenhaus has been named the 12th man.Nielsen said with the first tri-series match only two days away there was no guarantee Ponting would be available, and the travel to Brisbane was a concern. “Today’s decision was all about today,” Nielsen said. “We’ll have to keep assessing him and see how he goes each game from here.”Nielsen was confident his players could move on from the controversial Test series and he was impressed with the resolve of the individuals in the team. “Don’t for a second think that this is an easy thing to go through for anybody,” Nielsen said of the aftermath of the Sydney Test. “It’s been draining on our whole group. To be able to continually come out and play as well as we have as a group of individuals and as a collective team is something we’re very proud of.”

The on-going schools cricket season in Sri Lanka has been thrown into chaos as a result of the government imposing an indefinite ban on all school sports because of an escalation in the on-going war in the north against the Tamil Tigers.The ban came into effect on Wednesday when an education ministry circular announced an indefinite cessation in all school competitions. Almost immediately the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association postponed all matches. The final of the Under-13 tournament scheduled to be held at weekend will be the first casualty.The move followed a suicide bombing at the Fort Railway station in the heart of Colombo which killed several students and the coach of DS Senanayake College baseball team.This ban will seriously affect the on-going schools cricket season and also the major matches of leading schools in Colombo, including the oldest contest between Royal and St. Thomas’, St. Peter’s and St Joseph’s, and Ananda and Nalanda, which are scheduled to be played next month. The period January to first week of April is the height of the school cricket season with more than 130 schools being involved in competition around the country.The England Under-19 cricket team, which stayed back after the one-day triangular against Pakistan and Sri Lanka to play some practice matches, made a hasty departure ahead of schedule for Malaysia to take part in the Under-19 World Cup.According to the original schedule, they were not due to leave until February 9.Sri Lanka Cricket’s director of operations, Bandula Warnapura, stated: “I don’t know the exact reasons why England left earlier than schedule. They wanted one of their practice games to be rescheduled for an earlier date and we obliged them. They however played the three practice games before departure.”

All rather quietly, Zimbabwe’s national league started last week, overshadowed by the board’s secret annual general meeting.The national league is now being played under a new two-day format though it has done little to spice up the image of the flagging tournament. Although all the national sides are taking part, matches have been so one-sided that they have offered little of real value to the selectors.Despite some obvious talent in clubs, most of the participants in the league are very young and in need of guidance from more experienced players: the average age of players is 20. Except for a few older players, such as Gary Brent and the returning Ray Price, there is almost nobody over 25 in Zimbabwe domestic cricket, a state of affairs reflected in the national side.Sources says the national league is likely to act as a feeder for the Logan Cup, the country’s first-class competition, which itself has been hit by falling standards and may also undergo an overhaul.The Logan Cup was put on hold as Zimbabwe was preparing to play in South Africa’s SuperSport Series, a plan which fell through because of the reluctance of the franchises to take time to play an additional fixture in Harare. However, the Zimbabwe board has been assured by their South African counterparts that they will “definitely play” in the domestic limited-overs and Twenty20 events.