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Brendon McCullum is looking forward to more opportunities to bat up the order in Tests as he sets his sights on becoming the world’s best wicketkeeper-batsman. McCullum has been pencilled in for the No. 5 spot on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh, having filled that same role in the recent series in England.Prior to that McCullum was typically used at No. 7, but New Zealand’s relatively inexperienced batting line-up means he will become a more important middle-order man in the next few years. The captain Daniel Vettori has supported McCullum’s desire to settle at No. 5 in Bangladesh, in a middle order likely to feature the uncapped Jesse Ryder.”Dan knows what I’m trying to do in the game and my motives for doing it,” McCullum told the . “I want to be the best batsman-keeper in the world and by moving up the order it gives me a greater opportunity to do so, and to make a contribution to my team.”He will be hoping for big runs in next month’s two-Test series in Bangladesh, where he made his maiden Test century four years ago. New Zealand’s squad was departing on Tuesday and McCullum said having a couple of months off following the England tour was ideal.”I think sometimes when you’re continually playing, or on a playing-training regime, you lose a bit of focus in terms of what you’re trying to achieve,” McCullum said. “So the time out was great from that perspective. It freshened the body and mind and gave a bit more clarity.”The Bangladesh trip will act in part as preparation for New Zealand’s Test series against Australia in November. McCullum said entering the Bangladesh series as favourites was a situation not terribly familiar to New Zealand and they needed to embrace the opportunity.”If we want to get to the point we want to, which is to be the best team in the world, we have to start playing as frontrunners, and that’s a challenge this series presents,” he said. “This is a pretty good lead-in to a great summer and we’ve got to make sure we do the job clinically.”

The lead-up to this Test had been full of distractions – Anil Kumble’s injury, the players still fighting like children over who brought forward moral victories from Bangalore, the unseasonal rains in Mohali raising doubts over the match going the distance. Around a quarter past one on the first day more distractions were about to unfold. When Rahul Dravid played Brett Lee onto his stumps, the Test sort of took a back seat and another aside started: Sachin Tendulkar’s progress towards Brian Lara’s record.It was a pretty edgy hour and a quarter – so edgy it was surreal – that followed, during which Tendulkar made his way to the record and India lost two more wickets. What followed immediately after was more distraction from Test-match cricket: fire-crackers went off at the PCA Stadium and continued for three minutes. The Australians rushing to congratulate Tendulkar was expected but when it happened it felt unreal coming from a team that plays its cricket hard.There would be other milestones to follow, too: Tendulkar would go past 12,000 runs and Sourav Ganguly past 7000. But when Tendulkar bats as he did for the next two hours, distractions don’t matter. Effortlessly, he brought people back to the actual game and, with Ganguly’s help, India into the match.India had a confident, brisk start on a pitch conducive to one; the bounce was true but not big and there was no sideways movement. The immediate assessment was a total close to 500 would be par for this track. Gautam Gambhir and Dravid looked to put India on the way, but failed to score centuries – crucial for both of them, for different reasons – that appeared there for the taking. This was a pitch on which a batsman, once settled, would kick himself for not reaching three figures.Gambhir is due a big score. He has done well since forcing his way back to the Test side following his limited-overs success, and has been a good foil to Virender Sehwag at the top. He has scored 427 runs in nine innings on comeback, against tough opposition and in trying conditions, but his best has been 72. That he gets starts points to his form – perhaps the best of his career – but he also leaves the team in a spot of bother by not converting those starts into big innings, as he did today and during the first innings at the PSS in Sri Lanka this summer. In 19 Tests Gambhir only has one century, against Bangladesh. That should be enough to rile and inspire him.The way he batted in the first session today, it seemed certain Gambhir would end that century drought. For some reason, despite being an excellent rotator of strike in limited-overs cricket, he got bogged down when the field spread and the bowling became accurate. Having eased to 25 from 39 balls, Gambhir slowed down. He went into lunch on 53 from 90 balls and in the next hour or so he faced 50 balls for just 14 runs.If this was uncharacteristic, so was Dravid’s innings. Instead of the patchy starts he’s had recently, Dravid began, instinctively speaking, the way he did when at the top of his game. But this was his 11th score between 30 and 100, to go with one century, in his last 15 Tests. When scoring was made difficult, Dravid didn’t seem to show the kind of patience one associates with him. Once he went after a delivery wide outside off stump, and missed. In his prime Dravid would have left such deliveries alone for the next half hour; today, he went for the next delivery and failed to connect properly. Three overs later he went to cut another wide one, which was marginally too full, and chopped it onto his stumps.At this point Australia had taken three wickets, only one of them earned. A fourth followed, amid the frenzy around Tendulkar, but Mitchell Johnson should consider himself lucky to dismiss a quality batsman like VVS Laxman with a leg-side ball that didn’t deserve a wicket. Suddenly India had lost three wickets for 13 runs and were in danger of getting bowled out for a below-par total on a good batting track.Thankfully for India Tendulkar, once he’d acquired Lara’s record, batted with fluency. There was nothing circumspect about the way he played after tea. Ganguly took the initiative, but it was Tendulkar who showed Australia how hopelessly unhelpful the pitch was on the first day. There was no discrimination: no bowler nor shot escaped Tendulkar. Ganguly, in distinct patches of quietness and aggressive intent, was solid throughout. The difference in India’s approach after tea was clear: the first time Tendulkar faced the new ball he deposited it to the cover boundary.Australia were reduced to being honest witnesses who relied on the batsmen’s mercies and mistakes. And a mistake is what they drew from Tendulkar towards the end of the play. As a result, while they didn’t have any say in the way the game progressed, they ended the day pretty much even. India need a big partnership tomorrow morning to take a clear advantage. And tomorrow, there won’t be as many distractions from Test cricket.

Jacques Kallis, the South Africa allrounder, has said the upcoming tour of Australia might be the best chance for South Africa to end their Australian jinx. South Africa haven’t won any of their eight Test series against Australia since readmission – they also haven’t ever won a series in Australia – but Kallis believes they can buck the trend this season.”Australia are probably at their most vulnerable yet,” Kallis told Sport24.co.za. “It may be the best chance that we have had. But everything will have to go right for us to win.”Australia were comprehensively outplayed in in Mohali, where their their 320-run loss to India was one of their biggest defeats in recent years. But Kallis said that was not necessarily an indication of how Ricky Ponting’s men would perform at home.”They may be struggling a little in India, where they are playing in difficult conditions,” Kallis said. “To beat them over there [in Australia], everything must go right, such as winning the toss and performing better than they do at crucial stages. They’ll be at home, in conditions they know well and where they have not been beaten in years. It won’t be easy.”Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, was also keen on making history, as the team did with the recent Test series win in England. “We’re on the brink of the most important season South African cricket has ever experienced,” Smith said at the South African Cricket Annual Cricketers of the Year banquet in Johannesburg on Monday. “This is a realistic opportunity for us to beat Australia in a Test series.”Australia are obviously not easy to beat in any form of the game, regardless of the amount of outstanding players who have retired in the last few years. We respect them enormously for the way they’ve dominated world cricket over the past decade. Nevertheless, I believe there’s enough experience in our team and that we have closed the gap in terms of talent and form.

“Our build-up to this coming Australian series has been carefully planned and we proved that everything is on track when we drew the Test series against India. We then won the away Test series in England for the third time in our nation’s history.”We’ve got an established top six batting order, statistically the best wicketkeeper the game has ever seen and a bowling attack that has proved its ability to take 20 wickets in a Test match on a regular basis in differing conditions.”South Africa play three Tests in Australia in December-January before hosting them for three in February-March. Led by Smith, the South Africa Test side has had a successful 12 months, with away series wins against Pakistan, Bangladesh and England.They have also enjoyed home successes over New Zealand and West Indies and a drawn series in India. The team’s 2008-09 season will begin with an ODI series against Kenya, starting October 31, followed by a one-day and Test series against Bangladesh.

Graeme Smith will miss Wednesday’s Twenty20 against Bangladesh in Johannesburg to enable him to concentrate on his rehabilitation programme after his elbow injury. Johan Botha, who led South Africa to a 2-0 victory over Kenya over the weekend, will continue as captain.South Africa will be boosted by the return of pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who missed the Kenya ODIs after suffering from severe headaches since mid-September. The hosts go into the match with five quick bowlers: Steyn, the Morkel brothers and two newcomers, Rory Kleinveldt and Johann Louw.”Graeme is keen to get back on the field in the one-day games but it depends on the medical team,” media officer Michael Owen-Smith said. “He will definitely play in the Test series.”Gerald Majola, the acting convener of the selection committee, said no replacement had been named for Smith in the squad. “We do not want to disrupt franchises preparing for the next round of SuperSport Series matches starting on Thursday,” he said.Besides the Twenty20 match, South Africa take on Bangladesh in three one-dayers and two Tests this month.South Africa team
Johan Botha (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Johann Louw, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Dale Steyn.

The opener Phil Jaques is hopeful of being fit for Australia’s tour of South Africa in February and winning a spot as the reserve batsman after undergoing back surgery in October. Jaques left the trip to India early after being dropped for Simon Katich, but he has revealed he was suffering with the injury for years.At its worst, the bulging disc meant Jaques had to get up at 5am to prepare for warm-ups and could not sit in a chair for more than 10 seconds. “It got to the point where I couldn’t get up until about lunchtime with my back,” he told the . “It stopped me from everything I like doing, all the hobbies.”Jaques is not a chance of being considered for any of Australia’s home Tests over the next two months, but he is looking to play two Sheffield Shield games to push for a spot in the South Africa tour party. “I want to try and get some cricket in before then and prove I’m right to go and then hopefully the selectors’ policies on injured players will count for me as well and I’ll come back into that side as a reserve batter,” he said.”There’s still a really big slab of cricket coming up and I’m only going to miss two series really and I’ll be back in the fray for South Africa. I’m seeing it as a half-time break in my career and I’m looking to come back stronger and better than ever.”Jaques became Justin Langer’s permanent replacement in 2007 but the injury affected him during a run of nine Tests against Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. “It was something that I was able to live with but not perform as well I could have or would have,” he said. “I wasn’t able to hit through the covers as well as I had in the past.”Jaques, who scored a century in the last of his 11 Tests, was forced to cut out some of his attacking shots. “I was pretty well resigned to playing off my pads or down the ground and playing off the back foot,” he said. “I was struggling with my stride. I wasn’t able to get the ground that I wanted to. It’s going to be great to go back and be able to be attacking and aggressive like I’d built a reputation for being in the past.”He said he was suffering from the same problem in 2006, when Trevor Hohns, the then chairman of selectors, told him to improve his fielding. “It goes back that far and I think I definitely had an issue and I’m sure I’m going to move a whole lot better when I come back,” he said. “There were times during that time when I would have liked to have put my hand up and say I’ve got a bad back and can’t quite move as well as I would like.”

Andrew Strauss has been appointed as England’s captain for the entire tour of the West Indies, 24 hours after being unveiled as the new Test skipper. He will work alongside the current coaching set-up, headed by Andy Flower, although according to an ECB statement, his one-day captaincy will be reviewed at the end of the tour, leaving open the possibility that England could yet seek their fourth captain in 12 months should results not go to plan.”The selectors feel that it is important to have stability and continuity on the Caribbean tour given the events of the last few days,” said England’s national selector, Geoff Miller. “Andrew and I have also agreed that we will review the one-day captaincy at the end of the tour. Andrew is extremely comfortable with that.”Strauss was the stand-out choice to succeed Kevin Pietersen in the longer form of the game, but admitted that the situation regarding the one-day job remained “in a state of flux”. He has not been a part of England’s ODI set-up since being dropped during their ill-fated World Cup campaign in the Caribbean two years ago.In 78 ODIs to date, Strauss averages 31.98 with a strike-rate of 75.82 runs per hundred balls, which compares favourably to the record of his former captain, Michael Vaughan, who averaged 27.15 from 86 matches, with a strike-rate of 68.39.His efforts also compare favourably to the current ODI opener, Ian Bell, whose average (35.47) is higher, but whose strike rate (72.36) is lower. One of England’s current top-order will have to make way to accommodate the new captain, and that man could be Bell, whose form fell away badly on the recent tour of India. Strauss has two ODI centuries to his name, with a highest score of 152 against Bangladesh in 2005.”I am delighted to lead the team in the one-day Internationals and Twenty20. I know I haven’t played an ODI since the end of the World Cup in 2007 but I do feel that I have something to offer in that form of the game,” Strauss said. “Now this situation has been resolved we can now all unite and get about the business of winning cricket matches for England and winning them consistently.”Should the West Indies series, which comprises five ODIs and a Twenty20 international, not go to plan, the other alternative would be to revert to the split captaincy format, with Paul Collingwood the likeliest choice to resume the role he relinquished in favour of Pietersen back in August.Strauss will be supported in the Caribbean by Flower, England assistant coach, and Phil Neale, England team operations manager as well as England’s other specialist coaches and support staff. Although no official interim appointment has been made, Cricinfo understands that Flower will be the senior man in the coaching hierarchy, and has been named, along with Strauss, as one of the three selectors on tour.The ECB refused to comment on reports in The Guardian that Pietersen had wanted Flower removed from his post along with Peter Moores, though Cricinfo understands that Flower has since sought assurances from the ECB about his long-term future in the England set-up, and remains in the frame to take over the role on a full-time basis.Hugh Morris, England cricket’s managing director, said: “We have a backroom team with a proven track record. They will all work very closely with Andrew Strauss during this tour with the sole aim of securing success in the Test, ODI and T20 matches.”A successful tour will enhance Flower’s prospects of securing the full-time role, although competition could yet come from the Western Australia coach, Tom Moody, who did not rule out his candidature while speaking to reporters in Perth.”You’d look at anything,” said Moody. “This day and age, you’re not going to turn your back on any opportunity, [but] I’m very happy here in Perth, [the] family is settled, I’ve got a great job, enjoying what I’m doing. I’ve got no reason to be looking further afield.”Meanwhile Moores has spoken for the first time since losing his job. In a brief interview with Sky Sports News, Moores described the events of the past week as “interesting” and said that a full statement would be coming out shortly. On the subject of Pietersen, Moores buried any animosity saying: “Kevin’s got to go on, hopefully, and I want to see a successful England team.”

Victoria 4 for 204 (McDonald 55*, Haberfield 3-42) beat South Australia 200 (Ferguson 89, Harwood 4-33) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Callum Ferguson made a well-timed 89 two days before his likely ODI debut but his South Australia side went down to Victoria by six wickets at the MCG. Andrew McDonald, who is hoping for a spot on the Test tour of South Africa, guided Victoria home after Shane Harwood’s four wickets restricted the Redbacks to 200.The Bushrangers earned a bonus point after securing the victory in the 38th over and it all but confirmed a spot in the FR Cup final. The only positive for South Australia in the second innings was the 3 for 34 picked up the fast bowler Jake Haberfield in his third game.He found some swing and it was especially useful against the left-handers Rob Quiney and Chris Rogers, who were bowled and lbw from deliveries that moved back in. Cameron White made 33 after being left out of Australia’s past couple of ODIs but the key was McDonald, whose unbeaten 55 made the victory a certainty.McDonald likes to bat at his natural pace and a small target meant he could work the ball into the gaps and he timed his drives superbly. Things picked up in the finish when he was joined by Aaron Finch, who ended up on 25 and brought up the win with a six slammed over midwicket off Haberfield.However, the real star for Victoria was the Man of the Match Harwood, whose outstanding new-ball spell reduced the Redbacks to 4 for 32 and it was effectively five-down as Tom Cooper had retired hurt after being thumped on the back of the head by a Harwood bouncer. It was such a severe blow that scans revealed a small fracture to the back of Cooper’s skull and he will consult a specialist in Adelaide on Thursday.Harwood had Michael Klinger and Daniel Harris caught when they failed to get on top of his quick, short deliveries, and Graham Manou was brilliantly caught and bowled when Harwood dived forward to collect a leading edge with one hand. Harwood returned to collect Ferguson, who picked the gaps and was cool and calm ahead of Friday’s one-day international at the same venue, where he should debut against New Zealand.

Steve Waugh will become the youngest man in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame when he is inducted on Tuesday, less than a month after he passed the minimum requirement of being out of the game for five years. At the MCG on Monday, Waugh was announced as the 30th member of the body and said it was fitting to speak of the honour at the place where he played his first Test in 1985-86.”It’s nice to be here at the MCG,” Waugh said. “That’s where it started 20-odd years ago. Walking out to bat for that first time, I was just happy to play one Test. To be here today to be inducted in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is quite amazing when I look back on it.”Waugh, 43, went on to play a world-record 168 Tests – a mark that still stands – and he is fourth on the Test run tally with 10,927. Waugh is also the most successful Test captain of all men who led their side in at least 20 matches, with a winning ratio of 71.92% from his 57 Tests in charge from 1999 to 2004.The success later in Waugh’s career was a significant change from when he first appeared in the Australian side at the age of 20. At that time, the team was struggling in the years following the retirements of key players and also lost members who were suspended due to the rebel tours of South Africa.”I feel fortunate I’ve played in a couple of different eras,” Waugh said. “One where we’re rebuilding the side in the mid-80s and I guess we took over as the dominant side after we beat the Windies in ’95. I was lucky that I was part of two very different eras, I learnt a lot of lessons along the way.”What I used to judge myself on was coming back from adversity. That’s what most players really pride themselves on. It’s not so much the good times – you’re going to have some of those and it’s quite easy to do things well when things are going smoothly – but when there’s a few spanners in the works, they’re the real times when you test yourself.”Waugh, whose final Test was in January 2004, will join one of his team-mates from the same era, Ian Healy, in the Hall of Fame after the wicketkeeper was inducted last year. Players are selected for their status as “sporting legends” as well as their outstanding records.Waugh will officially receive the honour at the Allan Border Medal presentation in Melbourne on Tuesday. Favourites for the award, which Waugh won in 2001, include Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting.Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
1996
Fred Spofforth, Jack Blackham, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill Ponsford, Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee2000
Warwick Armstrong, Neil Harvey, Allan Border2001
Bill Woodfull, Arthur Morris2002
Stan McCabe, Greg Chappell2003
Lindsay Hassett, Ian Chappell2004
Hugh Trumble, Alan Davidson2005
Clem Hill, Rod Marsh2006
Monty Noble, Bob Simpson2007
Charles Macartney, Richie Benaud2008
George Giffen, Ian Healy2009
Steve Waugh

North Zone

Ashish Nehra took a hat-trick which sent Punjab crashing from 21 for 1 to 21 for 4, a position from which they never recovered against Delhi in Dharamsala. Nehra had begun his spell by bowling Sunny Sohal off the first ball of the match and returned to strike thrice in the seventh over. He had Ravi Inder Singh caught by Shikhar Dhawan, trapped Pankaj Dharmani lbw, and had Ankur Kakkar caught behind. Despite Uday Kaul’s 107, Punjab could only reach 202, a target which Delhi overhauled in the 39th over. Virat Kohli starred in Delhi’s chase, smashing 119 off 110 balls while Rajat Bhatia contributed 53.Yashpal Singh scored an unbeaten century to ensure that Services clinched a thriller off the last ball against Jammu and Kashmir at Una. Chasing 232 for victory, Services had slumped to 14 for 4 before they were rescued by a fourth-wicket partnership of 157 between Yashpal and Sarabjit Singh. Sarabjit contributed 61 to the stand before he was bowled by Ahmed Nizam but Yashpal remained firm and added 59 with Abhimanyu Singh to secure victory. Earlier Ian Dev Singh and Parvez Rassol had scored 81 and 59 respectively to get J&K off to a steady start, reaching 147 in the 36th over. However, they lost their way thereafter and lost eight wickets for 84 runs to finish with 231 for 9 when they looked like getting much more at one stage. Narender Singh took 4 for 32 for Services while Digamber Attri picked up 3 for 44.A strong all-round performance from Himachal Pradesh helped secure a seven-wicket win against Haryana in Una. Rahul Dewan and Dhruv Singh scored half-centuries for Haryana but they were restricted to 201 by Vishal Bhatia and Mukesh Sharma, who took three wickets apiece. Sangram Singh led Himachal’s strong reply, scoring 80 off 93 balls with three sixes. He steered his team to 126 before he became Amit Mishra’s second wicket. Paras Dogra and Vinit Indulkar added an unbeaten 76 for the fourth wicket to complete Himachal’s victory.

East Zone

An unbeaten century from wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha steered Bengal to an eight-wicket win against Assam at Eden Gardens. Chasing 270 to win, Bengal openers, Saha and Abhishek Banerjee, added 98 for the first wicket, a partnership which was dominated by Abhishek who scored 68 off 71 balls before he was trapped lbw by offspinner Arnald Konwar. Sourav Ganguly ensured that Kolkata didn’t lose momentum after the wicket, scoring a quick 64 in a 136-run stand with Saha for the second wicket. Ganguly too fell to Konwar but Saha remained not out on 102 as the winning runs were scored in the 46th over.Earlier, Assam opener Sibsankar Roy had also scored a century – 111 off 120 balls – to lead his team to 269 for 8. He didn’t get much support from the top order and Assam stumbled to 92 for 4 before Roy and Deepak Sharma, who scored 79 off 74 balls, added 147 for the fifth wicket.A weak batting performance from Tripura allowed Orissa to complete an easy run-chase with seven wickets and 97 balls to spare at the Jadhavpur University Complex in Kolkata. Having won the toss, Orissa struck early, reducing Tripura to 35 for 2 before a second wicket partnership of 67 between Sourav Dubey and Nishit Shetty offered some resistance. Their partnership was broken when Dubey was run out and thereafter Orissa struck regularly to dismiss Tripura for 179 in 44 overs. Orissa’s openers Natraj Behera and SS Das, who top scored with 73, provided their team with a solid start and laid the foundation for an easy run-chase.

Central Zone

Sanjay Bangar was agonisingly stranded one run short of his century as his team, Railways, crushed Vidarbha by eight wickets in Indore. Chasing 191, Bangar scored 99 not out off only 110 balls and received solid support from opener V Cheluvaraj and No.3 Dhiraj Salvi, who contributed 48 to the run-chase. Earlier medium-pacer Anureet Singh and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik had taken three wickets a apiece to cripple Vidarbha’s innings. Anureet took three top-order wickets to help reduce Vidarbha to 37 for 5, and Kartik broke the resistance offered by half-centurion Ranjit Paradkar and claimed two more lower-order wickets to restrict them to 190 for 9.A strong performance from Uttar Pradesh’s spinners, Praveen Gupta and Piyush Chawla, set up a comfortable seven-wicket win against Madhya Pradesh in Indore. Chawla took 4 for 36 and combined with Gupta, who picked up 3 for 23, to run through MP’s middle and lower order. Faced with a target of 152, UP captain Mohammad Kaif scored an unbeaten 51 to lead his team to victory in the 39th over.

Pakistan’s status as an international sporting venue has come under doubt after masked terrorists attacked the team bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricketers to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, and Kumar Sangakkara, his deputy, received minor injuries. Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana were also injured in the attack which killed six security men and two civilians.The Lahore Test was quickly called off and the tour cancelled, with the Sri Lankan players evacuated from the Gaddafi stadium and taken to a nearby airbase. The squad, including Samaraweera and Paranavitana, whose injuries were more serious, flew out in a chartered plane around 10pm Tuesday and landed in Colombo early on Wednesday. Samaraweera and Paranavithana went by ambulance to a private hospital in the city, a senior official said.There have been terror strikes on the sidelines of cricket, but this is the first time players have been directly targeted. The attack is the first major strike against an international sporting team since Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.In its first official reaction, the PCB said the attack was “beyond the control of the management”. Opposition MPs said in the Pakistan government officials received specific warnings from local police that terrorists were aiming to ambush the Sri Lankan squad.The paper reported a letter dated January 22 that said an attack was planned on the team, either at their hotel or between the hotel and the sports stadium. However, a change of government in the Punjab province meant a meeting about the threat was not followed up.”Intelligence reports said there might be an attack on the cricket team,” Pervez Rashid, a senior member of the sacked Punjab government, said. “They made no appropriate security arrangements.”

The PCB’s statement is unlikely to cut much ice with other cricket bodies. David Morgan, the president of the ICC, described Pakistan as “a very dangerous place” at present. Speaking about the World Cup, he said: “Things will have to change dramatically in Pakistan in my opinion if any of the games are to be staged there. I think that international cricket in Pakistan is out of the question until there is a very significant change, a regime change I guess.”The Sri Lanka cricketers were on their way to the Gaddafi stadium when their bus was attacked by 12 armed terrorists near Liberty market, Habibur Rehman, chief commissioner of police, said. A grenade was also thrown at the bus but it missed.”The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium, the gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus,” Mahela Jayawardene said. “We all dived to the floor to take cover. About five players have been injured and also Paul Farbrace [a member of the support staff]…”Describing the injuries, Sangakkara said: “Thilan [Samaraweera] has a shrapnel wound in his leg, but he is fine. [Tharanga] Paranavitana had shrapnel in his chest, but thank God it wasn’t very deep and just on the surface.”I had shrapnel injuries in my shoulder, but they have all been removed and I’m okay now. Ajantha [Mendis] had shrapnel in his neck and scalp, but he too has had medical attention and is fine. Everyone else is perfectly all right.”The reserve umpire Ahsan Raza was also injured in the attack. Nadeem Ghauri, the TV umpire, who was travelling in a bus behind the Sri Lanka team coach said the firing continued for some time. Umpire Steve Davis, who was on the team bus, called the terrorist attack “terrible”. “I’m lost for words,” he said.Speaking on Geo TV, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, said: “This is the first time that a cricket team has been seriously targeted… Pakistan’s image will be hit and only time will tell how much damage has been done to Pakistan cricket. The World Cup too might be affected… no country would want to come now to Pakistan… I am worried where Pakistan will get a chance to play, not only in Pakistan but outside as well. This is all so sad.”In Napier, the New Zealand and Indian teams donned black arm bands midway through their one-day cricket match as a mark of respect for the Sri Lankan cricketers.The Indian cricket board, which had called off a scheduled tour of Pakistan last December, expressed its sorrow over the attack. “We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured cricketers, and sympathise with their families and compatriots,” BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in New Delhi.Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan coach, said his team escaped the attack because “the Sri Lankan team left [the hotel] five minutes before us”.The Sri Lankan team only stepped in after the Indian government had barred the Indian team from touring Pakistan after the terror attack in Mumbai.