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	Shoaib Malik: “Our series win over Sri Lanka and runners-up finish to India in the Twenty20 were the bright points and if we keep that sort of intensity we can also improve our Test performance” © AFP

Shoaib Malik hopes Pakistan will put the miseries of 2007 behind them and bounce back with strong performances in the next 12 months.”Apart from a few positives the last year was not very good for us, but I am sure that the team will settle and do well in the new year, in which we have to play Australia and [compete] in various important tournaments,” Malik said.Pakistan had a year to forget, crashing out of the World Cup in the first round, where their coach Bob Woolmer also died. Woolmer’s death came a day after Pakistan’s loss to Ireland and overshadowed Pakistan’s premature ejection.The defeat prompted Inzamam-ul Haq to relinquish the captaincy and quit one-day cricket. Malik, 25, took over after first-choice Younis Khan declined to take charge citing personal reasons, while Mohammad Yousuf was not considered for the job.Malik led Pakistan to a one-day series win over World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka before his team reached the final of the Twenty20 World Championship held in September in South Africa. “Our series win over Sri Lanka and runners-up finish to India in the Twenty20 were the bright points and if we keep that sort of intensity we can also improve our Test performance,” he said.Pakistan lost all three of their Test series – two against South Africa (home and away) and to India in India late last year. They also lost the one-day series against South Africa and India and were relegated to sixth in both one-day and Test rankings.”It’s not that we lost one-sided contests, but the notable thing was that we made minor mistakes and if we have learnt from those mistakes, which I am confident we have, then we can do well in this new year.”Pakistan face Zimbabwe in a five-match one-day home series later this month before playing hosts to Australia – a series which Malik hopes will raise his team’s confidence. “Whenever you play against Australia your confidence rises because they are a world-class team and I hope that if we do well it will help us in the Champions Trophy later this year,” he said.Malik also played down fears that Australia could pull out of the tour after last week’s assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the ensuing unrest in the country. Ricky Ponting said he was keen to play Pakistan, but at a neutral venue. “I don’t see the series being disturbed over security fears because things will settle down and the Pakistan Cricket Board and players like me will do our best to have this series on our grounds,” Malik said.

ScorecardEngland A came close to an improbable victory on the third and final day of a hard-fought contest against a BCB Academy XI at Mirpur, with the Durham seamer, Graham Onions, capitalising on Michael Carberry’s unbeaten century to grab three top-order wickets in seven overs.England had started the day with the slenderest of one-run advantages after bowling the Academy out for 326 on the previous evening, but Carberry and Michael Yardy demonstrated the friendly nature of the batting conditions to add 71 for the first wicket. Yardy was eventually dismissed by Mosharraf Hossain for 21, but Steve Davies picked up where he had left off to add a further 122 for the second wicket.Carberry reached an excellent century from 187 balls but retired hurt immediately afterwards, leaving just enough time for Adil Rashid to become Hossain’s second victim of the innings before Yardy declared on 226 for 3. That gave England’s seamers 20 overs to make an impression, and they took their opportunity instantly, with Onions dismissing the first three batsmen inside the first eight overs.Stuart Broad, England’s first-innings bowling star, then removed Nasiruddin Faruque for 10 before Tom Smith grabbed the captain, Nadif Chowdhury, caught behind for 4. Marshall Ayub was on hand to prevent a complete meltdown with an unbeaten 23, but the performance will have given England’s tourists heart at the start of a tough tour.

Scorecard

Deep Dasgupta will need to carry on his impressive innings as Bengal look to build a lead © Getty Images

Riding on vital contributions from Subhomoy Das and Deep Dasgupta, Bengal overhauled Baroda’s first innings total with a good performance on the second day’s play of their Elite Group semi-final at Kolkata. Das’s 115 was the standout innings of the day, even as Baroda kept a steady check on proceedings with wickets at key intervals.Though he chipped in with useful runs this season – he averages over 40 – Das had not gone on to make a hundred. An 83 against Railways in his previous match was his best return, and he could not have timed his first century of the season – and third in first-class cricket – better. His 115, from 215 deliveries and with 15 hits to the fence, put his side in a position from which they can build a lead.It was not all smooth sailing, however. With their medium-pacers moving the ball around throughout the first day’s play, Bengal’s batsmen had enough reason to be wary of the grass remaining on the Kotla pitch. Those worries became a reality as Bengal were left reeling at 2 for 10 following a twin strike from Rakesh Patel, Baroda’s opening bowler. Arindam Das was the first to fall, edging one to Pinal Shah, the wicketkeeper, while Abhishek Jhunjhunwala followed 10 deliveries later, trapped leg before for 0. Baroda had their tails up, but in Manoj Tiwary, Das found an able ally and the two were able to stave off any further threat. Tiwary showed good composure in his 37, and with Das steady at the other end, the duo added 98 for the third wicket.At lunch, Bengal were 93 for 2, Das having brought up his fifty off 78 deliveries in good time. Following the interval, however, Baroda fought their way back thanks to Rajesh Pawar, the slow left-arm bowler, who prised out Tiwary and Kamal Mondal as Bengal slipped to 128 for 4. Dasgupta, known for his ability to stick it out when the situation arises, put his head down and by tea Bengal had progressed to 161 without further loss.Das brought up his hundred – and the 50 partnership with Dasgupta – immediately after play resumed, but fell thereafter as Yusuf Pathan snapped up a return catch. Dasgupta, batting on 50, will need to carry on as the third day’s play resumes tomorrow. Baroda, for their part, stuck to a plan – Patel, Pawar and Pathan were economical – and broke partnerships at key junctures.Bengal’s batsmen, who have not fared well in two previous first innings against Railways and Tamil Nadu, needed to show enough resolve and diligence to make their path to the title round easier. Speaking to the in Kolkata yesterday, Paras Mhambrey, Bengal’s coach, said: “The target tomorrow would be to overtake 241 and then build on from there. A score around 450-plus should be enough to seal the game.” While the first half of this plan has been accomplished, it is up to the remaining batsmen to follow the lead of Das and Dasgupta.

Bernard Julien: cancer battle© The Cricketer

The former West Indies Test allrounder Bernard Julien is battling throat cancer, according to a report in the Trinidad Express newspaper.Julien, 54, was diagnosed almost a year ago. He had been working as a government coach in Trinidad & Tobago, but had to stop because of persistent coughing and a lump in his throat.He is determined to beat the disease, and doctors have apparently given him a 90% chance of doing so, provided he takes his medication and stops drinking and smoking. “I want to live. It is life you are talking about,” he was quoted as saying. “I want to beat this thing. I am not giving up.”Julien, who played for Kent as well as T&T, was a lively left-arm fast bowler and an attacking right-hand batsman. He took 50 wickets in 24 Tests, and also scored 866 runs, with two centuries – the first of them a memorable 121, as Garry Sobers stroked 150, in the Lord’s Test of 1973. Julien was also a member of the West Indian side that won the first World Cup, in 1975.

Mushtaq Ahmed: PCA player of the year

Mushtaq Ahmed was last night named player of the year by the Professional Cricketers Association. It caps off a memorable season for Mushtaq, who took 103 first-class wickets for Sussex and helped them to win the Championship for the first time in their history.Chris Adams and the Sussex squad received the award on Mushtaq’s behalf at the PCA’s annual end-of-season dinner in London. Meanwhile, Kabir Ali took the young player of the year prize in recognition of his 54 wickets for Worcestershire, who won Division Two of the County Championship, while Alec Stewart was given a lifetime achievement for his contribution to the game.Richard Bevan, chief executive of the PCA, said: “These awards are special because the players decide the winners, based on playing with or against them during the season. The players rewarded Mushtaq’s outstanding record this year, and with some truly devastating bowling spells he can take a great deal of credit for Sussex’ Division One success.”Other winners included:
Slazenger Sheer Instinct Award: Ed Smith
MCC Spirit of Cricket Award: Glamorgan County Cricket Club (voted for by the umpires)
PCA in the Community Award: NatWest Cricket with the Princes Trust
Special Merit Award: Stuart Robertson for his work on Twenty20 Cricket with the ECB
Umpire of the Year: Neil Mallender
Groundsman of the Year: Mick Hunt (Lord’s)

Dhaka Division got full points in their 4-day match against Chittagong Division in Ispahani 3rd National Cricket League 2001-2002 held in M A Aziz stadium, Chittagong today. They defeated the hosts by 24 runs as Chittagong were all out for 179 in their second innings.Winning the toss Chittagong Division sent their opponents to bat first. Dhaka piled up 285 runs with the help of Mehrab Hussain (60), Halim Shah (57) and Neeyamur Rashid (37). Tareq Aziz Khan captured 5 wickets for 68.Chittagong failed to capitalize the advantage of the home ground and they managed only 237 thanks to veteran Minhajul Abedin’s 78 and opener Azam Iqbal’s 63. Ex-Bangladeshi captain Naimur Rahman claimed 4 wickets giving away 68 runs.Dhaka batted again having a 48 run lead, but could not fend off the hostile deliveries off Tareq Aziz. In the second innings they lost all their wickets having 155 runs on the board. Neeyamur Rashid top scored with 37. Tareq Aziz caused the havoc once again removing 5 Dhaka batsmen for 44.Chittagong Division, having a target of 203 to win, lost dependable opener Azam Iqbal for 4 only. Local hero Masum-ud-Dowla made the highest 38. Akram Khan scored 30. Spinner duo Naimur Rahman and Mosaddek Hossain made the task impossible for Chittagong. They restricted the hosts to 179 all out. Both naimur and Mosaddek captured three wickets each.Tareq Aziz Khan was adjudges the man-of-the-match for his 10-wicket haul in the match.

With the end result of a modest first innings lead secured, Sussex spentmuch of this day doing little more than trying to grind and claw its way ontop of Middlesex in the teams’ willing County Championship struggle atSouthgate. Their slightly more resourceful opponents, meanwhile, used theoccasion first to prevent this deficit from extending to hefty proportionsand then to launch a spirited second innings assault on the back of theefforts of its best two batsmen.Aside from three forceful cuts from Michael Bevan in the opening over ofthe day, this was predominantly an occasion for the steady accumulation ofruns. The ray of hope offered by the Australian was dimmed in the secondover when Phil Tufnell (4/88) lured him out of his crease to have himstumped; ended with Middlesex grimly preserving its remaining seven secondinnings wickets; and generally offered little in the way of attackingshotmaking in between.For an action-filled day to have eventuated, the best prospects lay in theemergence of substantial contributions to the Sussex first innings fromeither of their two premier batsmen, Bevan and Chris Adams. That pairscored just thirty runs between them though, they were both gone early inproceedings, and the die was cast. The pitch, and the probing turn andflight extracted by Tufnell in foty tight overs, rendered scoring difficultand Sussex’s batsmen in particular exhibited little willingness to dominateat any stage. Robin Martin-Jenkins (44) and Tony Cottey (42) emerged astheir mainstays in a generally disappointing performance.When Middlesex’s turn came, strokeplay was slightly more abundant, and itwas their captain, Justin Langer (48), who was chiefly responsible for theturnaround. Before playing one lofted on drive too many, he gained goodsupport first from Mike Roseberry (28) and then his team’s other main starwith the bat, Mark Ramprakash (27*), as they worked hard to overcome theearly departure of Andrew Strauss (3) and lift the score to 125/3 by theclose. As for Tufnell, the reward for his control today came in the formof the wickets of James Kirtley (21), Bevan (30) and Adams (0). It was aheartening exhibition and one which breathed some life into the home team’sambitions of clawing its way off the bottom of the Division Two table. Inits favour too, of course, is the fact that the Southgate pitch is showingmarked signs of increasingly yielding to spin. Chasing a decent fourthinnings target – no matter its exact dimension – is unlikely to be an easyproposition.

Manchester United have been surprisingly quiet thus far into the summer window; alarmingly quiet for some. David Moyes is yet to really signal his arrival as the new manager, while failed bids for Cesc Fabregas and an apparent lack of interest in Thiago can only add to the frustration.

But, big-name signings can come in the form of young talents from across Europe. United have regularly been linked with some of the leading names in football, and there is no reason why any of them wouldn’t want to further their education at Old Trafford.

United have the pulling power, the financial backing and the history of taking youngsters to the next level. Picking one or two from the myriad of young talents currently available in Europe would be a perfect marker for Moyes’ intent at the club.

Click on Lucas Moura to see FIVE wonderkids for Manchester United

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Younis Khan: “If the board feels I can be a good Test captain, I am willing to do it” © AFP

In a surprise change of heart, Younis Khan has said he is now willing to lead the Test side if the Pakistan board asked him to do so.Younis has long shown a reluctance to lead Pakistan. He gave up the captaincy – and swiftly took it back – last year before the Champions Trophy, and then turned down the post again after the Caribbean World Cup this year.And he was again an unwilling stand-in captain after Shoaib Malik’s ankle injury ruled him out of the last two Tests against India. “If the board wants me to lead the team, I can do it. But first we [himself and the officials] need to sit down, discuss and finalise some things,” Younis told .Younis had been the official vice-captain for two years under Inzamam-ul-Haq and was widely expected to take over once Inzamam resigned. At the time of his refusal, he also stepped down from the vice-captain’s role, before surprisingly accepting for the tour to India.”I only agreed to be vice-captain for the Indian tour because of the importance of the series. If the matches had been against any other team I might not have accepted this responsibility.”But now if the board feels I can be a good Test captain, I am willing to do it but after talking to them,” he said. “If the team can do well under my captaincy I would be very happy but I am not asking anyone for the job. This is the board’s prerogative whatever they want to do.”The board has, however, responded by saying that Younis’s offer is too late and that they are happy with the incumbent. “Younis was our first choice as captain but he refused the responsibility,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, told . “Now we have appointed Shoaib Malik as our captain till December, 2008 and have complete faith in him which is why there is no need to change the captain,” he added.Ashraf said that Younis is yet to talk to him about his change of heart. “I’m not aware about Younis’s comments that he is willing to take up captaincy but even if he is, we already have a captain.”

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

Cool hand Astle led New Zealand safely home © AFP

Stuttering, stumbling, bumbling, New Zealand eventually managed to find a way home, beating Sri Lanka by five wickets at Eden Park to ensure that the two match Twenty20 series was shared one-all. After James Franklin and a menacing all-pace New Zealand attack had bundled out Sri Lanka for 115, New Zealand squandered a flying start, losing their way, before the experience of Nathan Astle eventually guided them home with nine balls to spare.It should never have even gotten that sweaty, especially after Franklin had sashayed his way through the top order as Sri Lanka were put into bat by Stephen Fleming. From the very first ball of the match, he was at it, a thin edge from Upul Tharanga unnoticed by everyone, apart from technology. Not that it mattered for two balls later, he was bowled. That set a pattern for the rot that followed.It helped that the surface had both pace and bounce, lifelong enemies of subcontinent teams, but arguably the zest with which New Zealand’s grey shirts (a tribute to their 1992 World Cup innovators) bowled and fielded helped even more. Chamara Kapugedera tonked an impressive six over long-on in Franklin’s second over but Mahela Jayawardene fell in the same over.Kapugedera went himself next, slicing Michael Mason to third man, where Franklin – who seemed to be everywhere all at once at that stage – made a difficult chance look easy. Kumar Sangakkara, in regal touch all tour, briefly fought, hoicking and then flicking consecutive boundaries through leg in the sixth over.As it turned out, those were the last boundaries for nearly seven overs, a veritable lifetime. Batsmen, meant to be lords of this format, were reduced to paupers. They fed off stolen, surreptitious singles and boundaries, their staple diet, all but vanished. Franklin came out of the attack, having dismissed Marvan Atapattu only for Mark Gillespie and Andre Adams to take over.Gillespie charged, a quicker, less stocky Mick Lewis – touching 140kmph and getting bounce, he was altogether more threatening. Adams was skiddier, a mutant version of Imran Khan’s action, but both picked up wickets during the middle overs and choked runs. At that stage the only bad news for New Zealand was Gillespie limping off with a knee injury in his last over.Nathan Astle replaced Gillespie, a change that allowed Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando a worthy tailend punt. Malinga hoisted a massive six over midwicket off Astle. Almost like a top-order batsman, he dabbed him through point for four before lifting him for another six over long-on. Fernando played the wonky sidekick, inside edging and outside edging a couple of boundaries as a hundred was belatedly brought up. Two more conventional boundaries arrived, but they were merely a last, meek hurrah, Malinga falling to Jeetan Patel’s off-spin with ten balls still left to go.

Stephen Fleming holes out to Chamara Kapugedera © AFP

As often happens in these type of games, the pitch took on a different hue when the other side bowled. Sri Lanka were missing thousands of wickets’ experience in Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya (all rested) and it showed.A worse Boxing Day was difficult to imagine for Ruchira Perera, smashed liberally to all parts of the ground as New Zealand began in a hurry. Brendon McCullum, in particular, recreated his hustling, bustling, all-action persona from the first game. Perera’s action looked rickety but his bowling was even worse, McCullum and Fleming taking six boundaries from his first two overs.As he was taken off, Sri Lanka briefly recovered. For as long as there is limited overs cricket – of ten, twenty or fifty overs – there will remain the Sri Lankan spinners’ mid-innings choke and Tillekeratne Dilshan and Malinga Bandara did it here. Boundaries momentarily dried up, singles evaporated and two run-outs in one Dilshan over pegged New Zealand back. At 65 for three, Sri Lanka squeaked.But Astle simply played smart. Content to pick up singles and doubles where he could, he bided his time, waiting for the pacers, especially Perera, to return. When he did, in the 16th over, Astle immediately drove him over extra cover for four. And in his next over, he pulled him first for four through long-on before lifting him for a giant six over long-on: 15 from the over and the deal, with a little negotiating, was sealed.