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Glenn Maxwell has compared the Indian batsmen’s approach unfavourably to the Australians’ when nearing a milestone, but Cricket Australia have been quick to do damage control.It began after the third ODI in Melbourne with a question quoting Matthew Hayden from 10 years ago. Maxwell, who had scored a match-winning 96 in that match, was noncommittal in response but before the Sydney ODI, he eliminated the doubts around what he said.”They were probably just making sure they got to a milestone,” Maxwell had said in Melbourne. “Some people are milestone-driven, some people aren’t. If it means that much to you, you go for it. But it’s not something that drives me too much. Each to their own.”In Sydney though, Maxwell went from generic to specific. He told : “I knew it [the comment] was going to blow up. It didn’t really bother me. I was sent a photo the other day, it said Virat was 84 off 63, and then 100 off 89 or something like that. He got his last 11 runs off 22 balls to get his hundred. I thought about that and I was like, ‘Jeez, he did it so easily all the way up until then, and then you just lose a bit of momentum.’ I have been thinking about that.”Then you look on the other hand, when you watch David Warner get into the 90s and he tries to hit Ishant Sharma for a slog sweep for six. It’s just, to me, that’s two complete different ends of the spectrum. And then you look at the scoreline and you see 4-0. And to me, I’d much rather be 4-0 basically.”Maxwell said his side didn’t care about milestones. “The way Boof [Darren Lehmann, the coach] has talked to us always has been: ‘Take the game on, take the game on, take the game on. I don’t care if you’re on 90, I don’t care if you’re on zero, take the game on.'”Cricket Australia and BCCI enjoy a fruitful relationship under the new Big Three arrangement. CA’s website was quick to do an interview with Maxwell to clarify his statements, but he didn’t quite take them back.Maxwell would, however, tweet that they were “taken out of context” and said he was in awe of how Kohli almost single-handedly chased down 349 in Canberra.”I was asked to give a bit of an assessment of who was dominating with the bat in this series, and I said, ‘I don’t think anyone in the world is hitting the ball better than Virat at the moment,'” Maxwell told .”The point that I was making, and it related more to when India were setting totals and had plenty of wickets in hand, is that the scoring rate seemed to slow as milestones got close, which can sometimes be the case, especially when teams are batting first.”Maintaining a constant scoring rate can be less straightforward batting first than when you’re chasing and you know what the required rate has to be, and there have been times when batters just seem to have slowed a bit to make sure they reach those milestones. Sometimes that wins you games, and sometimes it doesn’t but that was the only point I was trying to make. I’ve got a really good relationship with Virat off the field, and I’ve already had a chat with him.”The clarification doesn’t make it disappear that he compared the Indian batsmen’s efforts with that of Warner, who too, was setting a total and got out in the 90s trying to play a big shot.Steven Smith, Australia’s captain, said the slowing down near a milestone was natural. “I think that can be natural for anyone around the world,” Smith said. “When you see that sort of milestone coming, in the back of your mind you might slow down a little bit. I think Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are quality players and they’re batting beautifully, and I don’t see any problem with any selfishness there.”Aaron Finch distanced himself from Maxwell’s comments. “The talk of Indian players being selfish was obviously Glenn’s view; that’s not my personal view,” Finch said. “Virat Kohli got a 100 off 80-odd balls the other day. There was nothing selfish about that innings. That was an extraordinary, extraordinary innings. Shikhar Dhawan got it off about 95 balls, I think. He took the game on at the start for India along with Rohit, and got them off to an absolute flyer. Gee, there are some seriously good players in India. Virat… 25 ODI hundreds now. That’s an unbelievable achievement.”In the three ODIs that India batted first, they scored 67, 67 and 60 from overs 31 to 40. These have been the overs when their set batsmen have approached their hundreds. In Perth, Rohit took 24 balls from 83 at the start of the 31st over to reach his century. Similarly in Brisbane, between the 30th and the 40th overs, Rohit took 21 balls to move from 86 to 100. Virat Kohli took 15 balls to score the last 16 runs to his century between the 38th and 43rd overs in Melbourne.Team director Ravi Shastri, though, had defended his men before the Canberra ODI. “If they were focusing on milestones, Virat Kohli wouldn’t have been the fastest to 7000 runs; he would have taken another 100 games,” Shastri said. “If that was the case, Rohit Sharma would not be having two double hundreds, and a score of 264.”

The ICC has asked the West Indies board (WICB) to investigate the alleged bookie connections against allrounder Marlon Samuels, which were raised by the police on West Indies’ tour of India in February 2007.After receiving a report from its anti-corruption and security unit, the ICC asked the WICB to submit the results of its investigations by January 31, 2008. The ICC said that the report contained allegations that Samuels indulged in “inappropriate activity” and behaved in a manner that was “prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket”.On February 7, the Nagpur police had charged Samuels with sending team information to Mukesh Kochar, an alleged bookie, on the eve of the first one-dayer in Nagpur on January 21. At the time, Samuels defended himself and said he had known the man for many years and he was a family friend. The ICC allowed Samuels to take part in the World Cup and beyond, pending a final assessment.Julian Hunte, the WICB president, told the that the board would have to look at the matter very closely, as it was a delicate issue. The WICB will submit its report to an official enquiry, comprising Code Of Conduct commission Michael Beloff, QC, and two other Code Of Conduct panel members not connected with West Indies cricket.

A comfortable 199-run win in the third and final Test at Karachi allowedPakistan to wrap up a fourth series win out of five in the last 12 months.Given the turbulence of the last three months, it will matter little thatit came against an improving West Indies side that still struggles awayfrom home: a win, and a comprehensive one ultimately, was needed.At the heart of the triumph was Mohammad Yousuf, multiple record-breakerand serial run-accumulator. With four hundreds and 665 runs from theseries, Yousuf’s batting was critical for Pakistan, especially withInzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan not in particularly prolific mood. ButInzamam, in commendable socialist spirit, was keen to spread the plaudits.”Mohammad Yousuf was exceptional throughout the series and he rightly isbeing praised by everyone for doing so well. But I also want to point outthat the entire team should get credit for the victory. There is always alot of pressure in a home series especially after we didn’t play well inEngland so this was a good win,” Inzamam told reporters after the day’splay.First among equals was Umar Gul, who ended the series with 16 wickets.Three of those were the especially crucial ones of Brian Lara, and mosttimes Pakistan needed a wicket, Gul delivered. Denied the services ofShoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Gul’s continued progress could not havebeen better timed for Pakistan.”Gul really bowled superbly for us,” admitted Inzamam. “To get 16 wicketson such tracks is a major achievement especially considering that we werewithout our main bowlers. He was also well supported by Shahid Nazir andDanish Kaneria too.”In a series replete with records, one achievement stands out. Pakistanwent through the entire series with an unchanged playing XI for only thesecond time in their 54-year history, the first being the 1964-65 homeseries against New Zealand. Not that there weren’t any calls for change.Before the final Test, calls for another specialist in place of anallrounder had been aired but Inzamam held firm in the name of stability.”You can’t play with four fast bowlers on such low and slow wickets. Youneed one bowler who can also contribute with the bat. And anyway there hasbeen enough criticism heaped on me in the past for changing the team allthe time.”Changing the side in each of the three Tests didn’t help his counterpartLara. Though this defeat was the West Indies’s 17th in the last 25 Testsaway from home, Lara insisted some positives could be drawn.”Pakistan is a tough place to play cricket and playing a Test series couldonly be a positive and improve us. A couple of younger players came out ofthis series well, including Denesh Ramdin and Jerome Taylor. We have stillsome young players coming out like Ramdin. We are not down in the dumpsabout it.”Of course it’s disappointing to lose a series, but you have to givecredit toward the end to the Pakistanis for playing tough cricketthroughout. I’m still proud of my team, they worked very hard after theLahore Test match and played pretty good cricket in Multan.”The good cricket would have paid more dividends had catches been taken.Mohammad Yousuf was dropped six times through the series and in total, atleast a dozen were spilled. “Yeah, we dropped a few important but we stillmanaged to play some tough cricket. At the end of the day, ourperformances in Tests still need to be improved.”With the ODI series due to begin from December 5, fortunes may swiftlyturn around. West Indies have been a much-improved limited-overs sideunder Lara’s captaincy, and the focus, said Lara, will switch seamlesslyto the longer-term now.”In the one-day arena, we have played some very good cricket in the lasttwo to three months, reaching the finals of the DLF Cup and the ChampionsTrophy. Our main focus is now to the final at Barbados in the World Cup.Ramnaresh Sarwan will be missed in the series but we have some goodplayers coming in.”

Rahul Dravid admitted that he hadn’t played in a more convincing one-day series victory and said that he was privileged to captain the current squad of players. On the eve of the seventh and final game at Baroda, Dravid and Greg Chappell, the coach, hailed their players for pulling off an emphatic series victory and acknowledged the crucial role played by the support staff throughout.”We hadn’t won a home series in a long time,” said Dravid while speaking to the press on the eve of the match. “We started off well and kept the momentum going for the rest of the series. The first two games were crucial. It’s important to have a good squad of players with several options so that we can use them as and when we need to. Even though we’ve sealed the series, winning every game is important. Irrespective of the score, we need to go out there tomorrow and perform and try all we can to win.”While praising the efforts of youngsters in the side, Dravid quickly pointed out that the support staff had played their part as well. “It was tough for players like Gambhir and RP Singh to come into the side from the sidelines and perform immediately,” he said. “But even when they haven’t been playing, they have been put through a lot of routines. Some of the drills that Greg and Ian Frazer have introduced have been really good. You get to see some of them on the field, but even off the field they have introduced new methods that have helped.”Chappell too echoed Dravid’s sentiments, adding that he was happy with the effort and energy with which the team was preparing for games. “We’re happy with the squad,” Chappell said. “We have had both immediate and long-term plans and we are happy with the way we are executing both. It’s important to keep the group in a good mental and physical state and make sure that all the players are constantly on their toes. We are developing a large pool of players so that those in the team are under pressure from the fringe players. We still need to be rigourous in our methods.”We’re not a great team by any means but are getting close to being a very good side. The good thing is that different players are showing up in each game. They are taking turns to perform and that is a sign of a good side.”He wasn’t too perturbed by Sehwag’s recent lean patch in one-dayers and elaborated a bit on the important role he is performing in the side. “I’m not overly concerned about Sehwag’s form,” he said. “Yuvraj went through a similar phase and came back really well in the last game. Sehwag is an allrounder, contributes with his ideas as a vice-captain, and performs a mentoring role for the youngsters. He should ideally be scoring runs for us but even without that, he is playing a vital part.”

USA 141 for 4 (Johnson 46, Leverock 3-34) and 297 for 9 dec lead Bermuda 201 for 8 dec (Smith 62, Nasir 3-62) by 237 runs
ScorecardThe USA will take a commanding lead of 237 runs with six wickets in hand into the final day’s play of their Intercontinental Cup match against Bermuda. On the second day at the National Sports Centre, they finished at 141 for 4 in their second inningsm after Bermuda had declared their first innings closed on 201 for 8.The home side carefully navigated their innings on a pitch that has occupied the minds of the batsmen for what it might do rather than what it is doing. Bermuda started the day’s play at 18 for 0, having already faced 13 overs. By lunch, the scoring rate had only improved slightly, but four wickets had fallen. It took a brilliant knock from Clay Smith, the captain, to start a recovery.His innings of 62 off 142 balls finally ended when he miscued a hook shot back to Howard Johnson, the bowler. But the eighth wicket partnership with Dwayne Leverock produced 67 runs, and brought the home side close to attaining the maximum bonus points for scoring 200. Once that target was reached, the Bermudans declared, with 3.1 overs remaining and two wickets intact.But any hopes of Bermuda picking up early wickets were firmly quashed by Mark Johnson and Jignesh Desai, the two USA openers. Both took turns in smashing the opening bowlers to the boundary at will. The injured Johnson led the way, stroking 3 fours and 2 sixes in his knock of 46. The scoreboard ticked over rapidly, with the 100 put up in the 21st over.Leverock, the left-arm spinner, continued his fine allround display, though, capturing the wickets of Steve Massiah (12), the first innings centurion, and Richard Staples, the captain. However, Naseer Javed and Aijaz Ali got together and put on an unbeaten 38 as the lead swelled to a commanding 237.With the hard hitting Clayton Lambert and the very capable Charles Reid left to bat, the third morning should be an interesting one. The USA must give themselves enough time to bowl Bermuda out, as only an outright win will give them any chance of advancing to the semi-finals in Dubai, after an earlier defeat to Canada.As for Bermuda, they must hope for a draw here, and victory when they meet the Canadians in Toronto next month.

Hampshire’s Pakistan overseas star Wasim AKram was rested for the Frizzell County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Bristol today. James Tomlinson took his place as the only change from the side that drew with Yorkshire last week.Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket told the Hampshire Web Master that Wasim had received a couple of niggling injuries after Yorkshire, and having played the three one day matches last weekend it was decided to rest him for the Oxford UCCE and the Gloucestershire matches.”Wasim has also gone back to Lahore for a week to sort out some business and family affairs”, said Tim “and is expected to play in the ECB National League match this Sunday at Old Trafford”.Hampshire had a good days batting on the first day at Bristol, despite losing Kenway (8) and Smith (a rare 0), four batsmen reached half centuries, with Simon Katich top scoring with a classy 96, before being decieved by the left arm spin of Ian Fisher just 4 short of a well deserved century. John Crawley spent the first 90 minutes of the day scoring three, before opening out after lunch, posting an second wicket stand of 142 with the Aussie.The afternoon following the loss of 3mwickets belonged to Will Kendall and Nic Pothas. Kendall following on his century against the Oxford students battled well for 69, and Nic Pothas showing off the form that has made him one of the countries leading run scorers this season, against proved what a wonderful asset he has become to the county.Hampshire reached their fourth batting point just before the close.

Central Districts cricket has been caught between a rock and a hard place.It has suffered a $75,218 loss this year, its worst performance in 51 years of existence.Yet part of the reason for that loss resulted from its success in winning the Shell Cup.CD executive director Blair Furlong said: “We spent more on the Shell Cup than we did last year, but at least we won it.”We also invested in our development programme which involved more costs and was lacked the international cricket to make the most of that.”As a result, CD will be taking the opportunity to discuss its situation with New Zealand Cricket at this week’s annual meeting at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University near Christchurch.Furlong said one significant emphasis in realising more from a financial perspective this year would be maximising the opportunity provided by the One-Day International against England this year.A number of tour parties are expected for the tour and CD will be looking to work in opportunities with the visitors.The charitable trust operated by Central Districts is in much better shape with $420,000 which it is hoping to boost to $500,000.Former New Zealand wicket-keeper and long-time CD identity Ian Colquhoun has been named the association’s patron after the death last year of Justice Joe Ongley.Former CD opening batsman Dermot Payton has been elected president while the management committee is: John Fluker – chairman (Horowhenua), Bob Rankin (Manawatu), Graham Sherlock (Nelson), John Smith (Nelson), Trevor Smith (Taranaki), Viv Stephens (Hawke’s Bay), David Townend (Manawatu). Scott Briasco and Graham Morrison did not seek re-election.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal stroked eight fours during his 51-ball 67•BCB

Tamim Iqbal and Tillakaratne Dilshan struck fifties and toyed with Sylhet Superstars’ attack as Chittagong Vikings broke their four-match losing streak with a 10-wicket win, their first at home. This was only the second 10-wicket victory in the BPL since the inaugural match in 2012.Shahid Afridi had earlier hit his first T20 half-century after three years to resurrect Sylhet after they were reduced to 22 for 4. Afridi’s 41-ball 62 set Chittagong a 140-run target but his effort ended in vain as Tamim and Dilshan helped Chittagong ace the chase thanks to the biggest opening partnership in this year’s BPL and the third 100-plus opening stand in two days.Tamim set to work immediately, clattering three fours off Mohammad Shahid’s first over. Tamim then took Dilshan Munaweera for back-to-back fours in the fourth over. Tillakaratne Dilshan soon laid into Abdur Razzak who had returned after recovering from a hamstring injury. Dilshan followed a slog-swept six over midwicket with a brace of fours through the offside. He then unfurled his signature Dilscoop for another six, this time off Rubel Hossain, as Chittagong raced to 69 in 6 overs.Afridi was welcomed into the attack with a cut past backward point and Tamim reached his third fifty in the competition, off 36 balls, when he drove Sohail Tanvir past cover. An over later Dilshan brought up a fifty of his own and went on to claim six fours, the last of which was the winning blow, to add to three sixes.The match would have finished much earlier had Afridi not hauled Sylhet from trouble. Dilshan Munaweera, Nurul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Ravi Bopara all fell inside four overs. Munaweera was run out, courtesy some brilliant direct hit from Mohammad Amir. Bopara was also run out while Nurul skied Bilawal Bhatti and Mushfiqur was out leg-before to Taskin.Mominul Haque and Nazmul Hossain Milon also failed but Afridi rallied with the lower order to give his side some late boost. The first of his four sixes came off Shafiul Islam in the seventh over before the same bowler was creamed over mid-on in the eleventh over. Afridi also struck two sixes off Asif Hasan and Bhatti and reached his fifty off 33 balls, after being reprieved at square leg and fine leg on 14 and 25.Amir finally got rid of Afridi with a peach of a ball that skidded from outside leg to hit the top of off, in the 18th over. Dilshan and Tamim then combined to hand Sylhet their fifth loss in six games.

Mark Boucher felt a bit sad breaking Ian Healy’s Test dismissals mark this week, but the former record holder is now excited to see how far South Africa’s wicketkeeper can take it. Healy, who held the prize until Wednesday with 395, said Boucher could add another 200 and achieve a tally that might never be passed.”He has been a great, solid performer who is held in the utmost respect by his team-mates,” Healy said in the Courier-Mail. “He has been a great competitor and now it will be interesting to see how far he can take it. That record may never be surpassed if they decrease the amount of Test cricket played.”Healy, who appeared in 119 Tests, had a bottle of champagne ready to give to Boucher, but the record “snuck up on me a bit”. Instead he sent a note of congratulations via the umpire Simon Taufel, who is standing in the match in Karachi.Boucher moved ahead of Healy when he stumped Umar Gul in Pakistan’s first innings and had mixed emotions about the achievement. “In a way it’s a great feeling, but it is also sad to break such a good keeper’s record,” he said.”Ian Healy is someone I used to watch on television as a schoolboy and I used to love the way he kept.” While Boucher is only 30, Adam Gilchrist, who is the closest current gloveman with 381 dismissals, is 35 and nearing the end of his wonderful career.

Ajit Agarkar has passed a fitness test on his left thumb and been cleared for India’s forthcoming tour of South Africa, starting in a week’s time.Agarkar, who injured himself while fielding during India’s Champions Trophy game against West Indies at Ahmedabad, was tested in Mumbai under the supervision of Dr Anant Joshi, the Indian board’s doctor, and John Gloster, the Indian team physio.”Agarkar has been declared fit. He has been practising with the Mumbai team for the last two days,” Ratnakar Shetty, the board’s Chief Administrative Officer, told , after Gloster submitted the fitness report.Agarkar’s injury forced him out of India’s virtual quarter-final against Australia at Mohali. The selectors had named VRV Singh, the Punjab fast bowler, as a standby in case Agarkar was unfit to travel.Agarkar said that he felt “perfectly alright” and that the pain had reduced considerably. “It was a bit painful in the first week and then it subsided,” he said. “I was doing some fitness work and bowling was not a problem. Fortunately it [the injury] was not in my bowling arm. It did not stop me from bowling but it was painful to grip the bat or even take catches.”Agarkar has been one of India’s most consistent bowlers in one-dayers in the last year, leading the inexperienced pace attack. In 28 matches since November 2005, he has taken 40 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 4.67, an improvement from his career rate of 5.03. Following an impressive showing in the five one-dayers in the West Indies earlier this year, his omission from the Test squad was questioned, especially with Irfan Pathan struggling for form, and the likes of Sreesanth, Singh and Munaf Patel with barely any experience at Test level.