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Andhra completely dominated the opening day’s play in the South ZoneCooch Behar Trophy (under-19) tournament match against Kerala at theUkku stadium in Vishakapatnam on Monday. After skittling out Keralafor 56 runs, Andhra replied with 164 for one wicket at stumps.Opting to bat after winning the toss, Kerala struggled for 37 overs tocompile their meagre total. Only NJ John (18) reached double digits.Three batsmen failed to score. Md Faiq was quite unplayable andfinished with the excellent figures of 13-5-15-5. He was wellsupported by Appala Raju (two for 10) and Gnaneswara Rao (two for 9).Kerala had the comfort of an early wicket when D Vinod was out fornine when the total was 27. But for the rest of the day, the otheropener Tahir Hussain (79) and Gnaneswara Rao (61) batted confidentlyto register 137 runs for the unbroken second wicket partnership off38.1 overs. While Hussain faced 175 balls and hit eight of them to theropes, Rao faced 94 balls and hit six fours and a six. Andhraoverhauled the Kerala total in 26.2 overs.

In appreciation of his bowling feats in 2005, Shane Warne has been named the BBC’s Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.Warne, 36, was the most successful bowler in Australia’s losing campaign in this past summer’s Ashes series in England with 40 wickets, and he is also Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker with 645 victims.”Shane Warne has entertained cricket fans for years with his outstanding talent and contributed enormously to a thrilling Ashes series,” said Philip Bernie, a BBC programme editor. “His extraordinary achievements on the field, combined with his charismatic personality have made him a true sporting superstar, and an extremely worthy winner of this award.”Warne pipped rivals Fernando Alonso, the Formula One champion, Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, and Roger Federer, the current Wimbledon champion, to bag BBC’s accolade. “I am very proud of this achievement and am delighted to receive this award,” said Warne to BBC Sport. He is set to receive the award from Richie Benaud, the former Australian legspinner.

Wally Langdon, an early giant of West Australian cricket and one of the unluckiest batsmen never to play for Australia, has died in Perth at the age of 81.A classy left-hander, Langdon was judged by the legendary Test opener Arthur Morris to possess "an ideal temperament for big cricket". He hailed from the gold-mining town of Boulder, and stockpiled his runs most effectively in the summer of 1952-53, when centuries against Queensland and the touring South Africans were not enough to win him Test selection.WA fans, suspecting yet another eastern-states conspiracy, were miffed. Their sense of injustice rankled further when Langdon missed out on Lindsay Hassett’s 1953 Ashes squad behind Graeme Hole, from South Australia, and the New South Welshman Jimmy de Courcy – "and Wally Langdon," his old team-mate Ken Meuleman noted last night, "was a long way better than Jimmy de Courcy."Meuleman told The West Australian newspaper: "There is no question that had he played for Victoria or New South Wales he would have played Test cricket. If he had played today he would be the equal of Justin Langer or Damien Martyn."Langdon’s lack of baggy-green recognition did little to diminish his legend in WA. He was an integral member of their inaugural Sheffield Shield-winning side of 1947-48 when WA, to widespread bewilderment, pilfered the prize at their first attempt. Twenty years went by before they repeated the feat, in 1967-68 – and Langdon was again at the forefront, this time as coach.A schoolteacher by profession, Langdon went to war in 1944, flying over Germany in a Lancaster Bomber. Returning home, he was 25 and considered an automatic selection when WA were at last granted Shield status. He starred against Don Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles when they detoured to the WACA en route to England, hitting 112 – and so impressing The Don that he was invited to play in Bradman’s testimonial match the following season.Batting in front of around 60,000 people, hordes undreamed of by a young man from the WA bush, Langdon distinguished himself with 60 and 42. He went to India in 1949-50 as part of the Commonwealth team led by Jock Livingston, playing in two of the five unofficial Tests. In 1952-53 he was put in charge of the WA side, despite never having captained even his club team. Alan Edwards, another Langdon contemporary, described him last night as "a helluva fighter".Despite his latish entry to first-class cricket, Langdon scored five hundreds for WA and averaged in the mid-thirties. A useful left-arm medium-pacer, he also played two seasons in England for Burnley in the Lancashire League. For more than a decade he commentated for ABC Radio, cementing his household status among Sandgropers. He cut a dapper and familiar figure around the WACA right up to his death.It was Langdon who brought a young Barry Shepherd to the big smoke, luring him from the small country town of Donnybrook to play grade cricket in Perth. Shepherd eventually went on to become the first WA-born batsman to represent Australia. Of his own failure to achieve that mantle, Langdon did not like to grumble. But Anthony Barker, in his book The WACA: An Australian Cricket Success Story, wrote: "He was devoid enough of false modesty to believe that he was at least as good as one or two of the batsmen who toured in Hassett’s Ashes-surrendering team of 1953."Langdon had suffered from kidney problems in recent times, and passed away on Sunday night. He is survived by five members of WA’s shock all-conquerors of ’47-48.Christian Ryan is the Australasian editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, has drawn positives from India’s three-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the first match of the Indian Oil Cup. Dravid has said that he was impressed by the way the bowlers very nearly won the match for India.He said the fact that they had scored 30 runs too little and that they could not contain Sanath Jayasuriya, who made 43, proved decisive. “If we had enough runs on the board we could have won, but the batsmen did not particularly do well. We could have got Sanath and got 30 more runs,” said Dravid quoted by PTI. He said that the bowlers, who made Sri Lanka toil for their 209 runs, and the youngsters, had done well after a three-month break from cricket. “I am proud of the way the bowlers bowled. I could not have asked for more from them. We have to come back strong from here on”.Dravid admitted that the back spasm that VVS Laxman suffered on the morning of the match had caused some selection problems. He defended the decision to drop Anil Kumble and JP Yadav, even though India were a bowler short, saying that they needed the extra batsman because the batting line-up lacked experience. “Frankly I don’t think the combination was an issue. It was our top order who didn’t come good, I do think it was a 250-run wicket,” said Dravid. “We picked three seamers because the wicket did assist swing bowling and there are lights here. The bowlers did well and fought hard.”Marvan Attapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, admitted that there was scope for improvement and admitted that India had fought well. “They fought back well. But we were fortunate to have Sanath,” he said. “There is room for improvement in all the areas. We will try to improve in our next match which is on August 3.”Sanath Jayasuriya suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Indian innings but came back to play a crucial role in steering Sri Lanka to victory. “That’s [opener] my place. I am happy to bat at number five and win the match for the country,” said Jayasuriya. “I told them [batsmen] to stay at the crease and runs will come.” He said that he was in pain at the start of his innings. “Initially I was in pain since I had just taken the injection and it takes 20 minutes for it to work. I couldn’t cut or pull,” said Jayasuriya who rated his knock as one of his most memorable. “We needed to win and my approach was to occupy the crease and bat till the end.”Dravid was all praise for Sanath Jayasuriya and said that his innings was a lesson for all cricketers. “He was terrfic. To do what he did with his dislocated shoulder was outstanding. He is a champion cricketer,” said Dravid. Atapattu said that Jayasuriya would not have batted had Sri Lanka been in a comfortable position instead of 112 for 5. “But we wanted to be in a position where if something goes wrong we could send him in with an injection.” He said it sometimes became tricky to chase a low total. “A low target could be a tricky one. The approach becomes different and you don’t know whether to score fast or get the run rate going.”

Just four days into the one-day series and both India and Pakistan have injury concerns ahead of the second one-dayer at Rawalpindi on February 11. Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh, who both missed the first one-dayer at Peshawar, appeared unlikely starters while India had further worries with Sreesanth and Greg Chappell, the coach, also rendered ill-disposed.Harbhajan, who is yet to play a one-dayer in Pakistan, had a brief knock with the bat at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and took part in fielding drills, but refrained from bowling. “Unfortunately, Harbhajan hasn’t bowled today and we’re monitoring the situation,” Dravid said after a nets session. “We’re keeping in mind the forthcoming series and need to handle the situation accordingly. It’s a sort of injury where it’s tough to put a finger on the time-frame of recovery. We will take a decision keeping in mind the future matches.”Sreesanth and Chappell also aren’t well. They’ve come down with a sore throat and are feeling feverish. We didn’t want other guys getting ill as well. As a precaution we decided it’s better for them to skip it.”Pakistan too may have a worry with regard to Shoaib Akhtar, whose ankle has been a worry since early December, limped off after a bowling stint during Pakistan’s practice session, and was visibly in pain. His problem began during the Lahore Test against England but wasn’t serious enough to stop him from playing all three games against India, though he was an unlikely starter for the Karachi Test. It was the first time in his career that he played six Tests on the trot but a need for rest, combined with the side’s rotation policy, kept him out of the opening ODI. There will be an advantage of playing on his home ground and Shoaib would no doubt be raring to help Pakistan carry on the momentum.The pitch, with a greenish tinge, might have encouraged him as well but Dravid felt that one could get a clear picture only tomorrow. “There’s a bit of cut grass and it’s been watered but there’s still 48 hours to go and anything can happen,” he said. “When we playedhere last more than 300 runs were scored and it could be a similar story here.”He added that India’s inability to defend a big total was a concern and hinted that there may be a few changes in the bowling line-up. “We could probably do a few more things with the bowling,” he said. “We have a young and inexperienced attack and are trying to improve in every game. It’s tough to bowl on these conditions and we’re looking to get better. Pakistan have a good batting side, they bat low down and are very effective in sub-continental conditions.”Both teams finished practice by 11:00am to avoid being held up by Muharram processions in and around Rawalpindi. The Indians had a relaxed schedule on Wednesday with a few members of the side playing some golf, while the others visited a Gurudwara near Islamabad. Pakistan had an optional net session yesterday with some players preferring to spend time in their homes.

Vijay Hazare will go down in history as one of the greatest cricketers to wear the Indian blazer. He died today at the age of 89, after a prolonged illness. Raj Singh Dungarpur, a cricket aficionado with a keen sense of history, who also played against Hazare towards the end of his career, shared his memories with Anand Vasu:

You can safely say that Vijay Hazare stands very tall in the long line of great Indian cricketers, from 1932 to 2004. And if you pick out the five best Indian batsmen of all time, Hazare would be in the first three. About that I have no doubt.As a batsman, there were several things that made him special. The first was his grip. The manner in which he held the bat, hands spread slightly apart, made him different. He had great hands, and could move them up or down the handle, like a flute player. This meant that he could make minor adjustments to ensure that the correct hand dominated, depending on the stroke he played. The second thing was the long stride he took forward. This meant that he almost had to hop twice to get back to his stance when he had taken a full stretch forward.He had an impregnable defence and a wide array of strokes. And remember, he played his cricket on uncovered wickets, and lost ten years to the war. You have to keep this in mind when you compare his record with that of other Indian cricketers. In his crisis-management abilities, I think he can be compared to Steve Waugh. The way he handled people in a crisis spoke volumes of the man.I remember bowling to him – on matting wickets that made even medium-fast or fast-medium bowlers look good – and I always thought he had an unfair bat. The good balls you bowled to him somehow seemed to find the middle of the bat. Thus, in some way or the other, many of his strokes were a product of playing a lot of cricket on matting. This was terribly unfair! The only other person I can think of that compared to him in this light was England’s Ken Barrington.As a mark of his fierce concentration, you need only to look at two examples. Firstly, his ability to make runs even when his team were in tatters at 0 for 4 at Headingley in 1952. Secondly, the separate centuries he scored against Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller in 1947-48. But there is a story that Polly Umrigar once told me that illustrates a point about his concentration.There was a time when Hazare and Umrigar batted together. It was against AH Kardar’s Pakistan team in 1952-53. Both batsmen were in their nineties, but Umrigar got to his century first. Then, somewhat relieved to reach his century, Umrigar signalled to the dressing-room to bring some water. “Your calling for water now has disturbed my concentration,” said Hazare, suggesting that Umrigar could have waited for his senior partner to reach his own century before asking for water.”I felt small and apologised,” Umrigar told me. Such was the intense concentration of the man. And today batsmen out in the middle can tell you where in the stands their wives or girlfriends are sitting!People talk about the fact that Hazare did not like to lift the ball. But there is one incident I have heard about so much, it is worth repeating. I can’t be 100% sure because I was not there, but the story goes that Hazare was nearing 300 and Chandu Sarwate was bowling to him from the Churchgate End at the Brabourne Stadium. Realising that he needed to hurry, he lifted the ball straight back over the bowler’s head and it pinged the sightscreen! And they say he couldn’t lift the ball …Apart from his batting, he was a very useful bowler. Don’t forget he took Sir Don Bradman’s wicket twice in the 1947-48 series. But his batting took such a heavy toll on him that Hazare never gave his bowling the time and attention it needed.As a person, he was mild-mannered, a man of few words. Dattu Phadkar once told me, “We didn’t listen to Hazare enough. Perhaps this was because he was so mild-mannered. Had we listened to him, we would have won at least three Tests in times when we won nothing.” He came from a humble background and was a God-fearing Christian. As far as I know, he tried his best to attend Sunday mass for a long time. He was also very family-oriented, and the fruits of that were there to see. Since the time that Hazare became very ill, his grandson Kunal took care of him like no-one else could have.When we opened Polly’s Bar & Diner, in honour of Umrigar, I was drawn aside. “I learned all my batting from the two Vijays – Hazare and Merchant. Yet, there’s no portrait or photograph of Hazare in the bar. How then can I call it my bar,” Umrigar asked me. Such was the impression Hazare had made on him.

Jason Gillespie has been recalled to the Australian squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. Gillespie, 30, was dropped from the side during last summer’s Ashes in England, but has been added along with Phil Jaques and Mitchell Johnson, who could make his Test debut. The trio will replace Shaun Tait, Michael Kasprowicz and Justin Langer who picked up injuries in Australia’s 3-0 Test series win in South Africa.Trevor Hohns, who announced his resignation as chief selector yesterday, announced the squad today. “The players coming into the squad deserve their opportunity to tour,” he told AAP. “Our advice was that the players would be definitely unavailable for the first Test and maybe the second, too.”Jaques has made a solitary Test appearance, against South Africa last Boxing Day. Johnson, 24, has played two one-day internationals and is in line for his Test debut.”Given that it is only a two-Test series, we thought it would be in the best interests of the players concerned to give them a full recovery,” Hohns said.”We also felt it was important to have a squad in Bangladesh who were all available for the first Test.”The two-Test series starts in Fatullah on Sunday.Gillespie admitted he was surprised to be chosen, but still believes he will not feature in either Test. “I thought I was no hope,” he said, an attitude which contrasts with Jaques, who announced: “I’m going over there expecting to play.”

Sialkot suffered a setback when they lost seven wickets for only 154 in their first innings against Karachi Harbour, at the National Stadium. After Karachi Harbour posted 293 yesterday, Sialkot were still 139 behind with only three wickets in hand.Anwar Ali scored his maiden first-class half-century, scoring 59 to take Karachi Harbour close to a total of 300. He scored seven fours and a six in his knock and his ninth-wicket partnership with fellow seamer Faraz Ahmed (16) was 63. Anwar then started Sialkot’s slump by trapping opener Atiq-ur-Rehman for a duck second ball. There were pockets of resistance later on, but none lasted long enough. Mohammad Ayub and Tariq Mahmood added 43 for the fifth wicket.With Shahid Yousuf having to retire hurt without scoring and seamers Faraz Ahmed and Uzair-ul-Haq bowling effectively, Sialkot don’t appear to have much of a chance to take the first-innings lead.Points for Karachi Harbour will help them hold on to their spot in the Gold League. They already appear to have avoided demotion to next season’s Silver League circuit.Karachi Urban held the upper hand with a first-innings lead of 154 after wrapping up Faisalabad for a modest 200 at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1. The only real resistance from Faisalabad came from their captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Coming in at 22 for 2, remained unbeaten till the end with 83, off 161 balls with nine fours and a six. He also added 63 for the fifth wicket with Naved Latif (39) was significant.Faisalabad were tied down by offspinner Tahir Khan who took 4 for 64 in less than 20 overs. Seamer Imran Javed took 3 for 40 in 11 overs and young left-arm spinner Azam Hussain 2 for 54 in 21.Karachi Urban are currently at second place in the Gold League table behind Sialkot, who too have an identical points tally of 24. Karachi Urban will now most probably join defending champions Sialkot in the final, if they go on to beat Faisalabad here.No play was possible for the second day running in the match between Peshawar and Lahore Shalimar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

There is little to play for at the Telstra Dome tomorrow save individual pride and records. The cynics were predicting a contrived dream finish for the series on Friday morning, but Australia had little regard for the ideal script, and their clinical demolition of a star-studded World team has robbed the final match of all significance and occasion. The only tangible gain for the World XI could be some meaningful practice for some of their leading batsmen before the Test that starts at the Sydney Cricket Ground next week.The performances of some of the leading World batsmen has been the most disappointing factor in this one-sided series so far. Between them, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid have managed only 81 runs in two innings, 22 less than what Adam Gilchrist scored in one. These four will form the backbone of the Test XI, where they will come up against a more formidable Australian bowling attack that will include Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.Lara and Kallis came to the series with very little competitive cricket in recent times and looked completely out of sync. Lara has lasted only 15 balls so far, being dismissed in identical fashion twice, driving Nathan Bracken to Andrew Symonds’s lap at cover. Sehwag, whose continued failure in one-day cricket should be a major concern, got out in a manner that that should be a cue for the Australian bowlers in the Test. He has a tendency to be caught on the front foot against sharp short balls and Brett Lee got him fending one in front of his face.Ironically, the World XI are set to lose their most successful batsman in the series so far after the one-day games because the selectors reckoned Mark Boucher was a better bet behind the stumps than Kumar Sangakkara on a potentially turning pitch at Sydney. That Sangakkara has far greater experience in keeping to Muttiah Muralitharan was apparently of little consequence before Boucher’s expertise against a line-up of spinners where Nicky Boje is the most distinguished member. Coincidentally, Chris Gayle, the only other World team batsman to have scored a fifty so far, will also head home after Sunday’s match.The World team failed to announce their 12 the day before the match because they are still unsure about the fitness of Kevin Pietersen, who left the field clutching his hamstring in the last over of Australia’s innings on Friday and later batted with a runner. His condition was not serious, said John Wright, the World team coach. A scan has shown a slight strain and a decision will be made on Sunday morning. It might be a folly to risk him in a meaningless match considering England are about to embark on a significant tour to Pakistan shortly.Australia have their own injury worry with Simon Katich – who has been a successful replacement for Matthew Hayden, scoring 58 and 47 in the first two matches – receiving treatment for a groin injury. If Katich is found unfit, Australia might field James Hopes, the 26-year old allrounder, who has opened in one-day cricket for Queensland.But Australia will be boosted by the return of Glenn McGrath who sat out the second match and he will be doing no favours to the World team batsmen before the Test.Likely teamsWorld XI1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Jacques Kallis, 6 Brian Lara, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Shaun Pollock (capt), 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan, 12 Makhaya Ntini.Australia1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Andrew Symonds, 9 Cameron White, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Glenn McGrath, 12 Nathan Bracken.

Kevin Pietersen, England’s middle-order batsman, has said he has gotten used to the glare of the media limelight after the “life-changing” Ashes triumph last year and has admitted that he wants to become the best in the business. Pietersen’s match-saving and Ashes-winning 158 in the final Test at the Oval took him to new levels of popularity, and has accepted that “everyone wants a piece of him”.”I’ve got used to the attention, it’s now a way of life,” Pietersen told .”It was quite daunting at first but it’s bearable now. I’ve just got to smile and look as though I’m happy all of the time. It’s not just on the field I have to put in 110 percent but it’s off the field too. I can’t go out of the house without dressing up just in case I get snapped by the paparazzi but I don’t do many things I shouldn’t.”I’m just ultra polite and ultra nice now because I’m not just representing English cricket but I want to be a good role model for kids.Everyone wants a piece of Kevin Pietersen now but it is easy for me to fit people in. If I’m not working then I’ll do it, if I’m working they can take a hike.”The South-African born Pietersen – who was voted the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year and received a prestigious Wisden Cricketer of the Year accolade for 2005 – admitted that he wanted to hog the headlines for a longer period. “The attention on me is massive, but I haven’t let it have a detrimental effect on the way I train or the way I perform. I know what has made me successful and it has given me a rather nice roof over my head,” he said.”I’m not interested in being a short-term success, I want long-term success. I want to be the best batsman in the world and that requires complete determination, hard work and making sure I keep doing the right things.”That Oval innings apart, Pietersen impressed with a second hundred on a tough tour of Pakistan and fifties in England’s 1-1 series in India recently. He also admitted that he had no intentions of slacking. “I play every game as if it’s my last whether it’s for county or country,” he said. “So much so that I only took a few days off after the tour to India before I was back training. Then I scored 98 in Hampshire’s win over Essex in the week so that shows I’ve no intention of getting complacent.”