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What should be made of Glenn McGrath? With the ball he’s all accuracy – zeroing into a good length, just outside off, moving it away, cutting it in. He plays the percentages like nobody else and if ever there’s a robot that bowls seam, it better be named “Pidge”. It’s the reason why he’s unique.With a journalist facing him, things are different. He’s gung-ho, has no qualms about making predictions and throws punches left, right and centre. Yesterday he thought Australia would clean up the Ashes 5-0; today he’s “in the best form of his life”. Soon he may start talking about leading Australia to the soccer World Cup.McGrath was asked a number of questions about his fitness at Australia’s pre-tournament media briefing at Delhi. Just a few minutes earlier Ricky Ponting, his captain, had spoken about “monitoring his progress” through the tournament, keeping in mind the Ashes. McGrath seemed to have no such worries.”The way my body and everything is going at the moment, it’s as good as I’ve ever felt,” he said casually. “I’ve had a lay-off after my ankle injury, it’s been six or seven months. It was late in my career but I’ve got over any niggles, strengthened up and had a good off season. I want to be in basically the best condition of my life and knock a few over, get a few more wickets. Look out for me.”But surely there’s no way he’s going to risk an injury before an all-important Ashes campaign? “I’ll be going 100% flat out,” he said. “I’d like to improve with each game. I haven’t considered the Ashes or World Cup. For me it’s about getting overs under the belt – the more I bowl the better I get. I want to get overs in the nets and bowl a lot of deliveries.”When asked about his bowling partners and whether they could handle the challenge of the Indian conditions, McGrath was confident again. “You look at the team we have at the moment – Brad Hogg is doing really well, Dan Cullen has a lot of talent, Brett Lee is doing great, Nathan Bracken has experience in these conditions, Mitchell Johnson is such an exciting prospect,” he said. “We have every base covered. These are exciting times for us.”My biggest strength is knowing my own game completely,” he said. “The advice I give to any youngster is to know your game well – work on your weaknesses and rely on your strengths. To me it’s a simple sport we tend to complicate. I think with this team we have the experience of the older guys and enthusiasm of the young guys. It’s a great mix. Hopefully, in a month’s time we will be flying back to Australia with the trophy under our belt.”The moment he said “hopefully” will remain one of the highlights of the media session. Just when we expected something like “we’re going to win every single game by a margin of 100 runs at least”, McGrath actually gave a small allowance for Australia winning the Champions Trophy. Surely the chaos in the hall had got to him as well.

A delegation has completed running a six-day course for 30 university-level coaches in China as part of an ongoing programme to establish the sport in the country.China, who were admitted as an Associate Member of the ICC last year, have ambitions to play international one-day cricket. Cricket Australia (CA) joined forces with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003 to assist Asian countries develop their own coaching set-up to help with their talent identification structure.Zhang Xioaning, the director of the Multi-ball Games Administration Centre, said: “There are 96 sports in the State Sports Commission but what makes cricket special is that it is a game of the physique, it is a game of the heart, and it is a game of the mind. It is a game for the individual within the team. It is truly a noble game that is perfectly suited to the Chinese people. It is being introduced in China at the perfect time.”During the six-day course, participants were coached by representatives from the ACC and CA. “We were very excited to learn about this great game and we have enjoyed the experience immensely”, said Liu Jingmin of Peking University. “Cricket is a very enjoyable sport for boys and girls, young and old alike.””Never in my life have I seen any country’s children pick up the game so quickly”, said Rumesh Ratnayake, the ACC’s development officer for China. “They had the basics of the game – hitting and throwing – within just five minutes.”Syed Ashraful Huq, the ACC’s chief executive, was very upbeat, claiming that China would be playing in the World Cup within 15 years. “All the talent and determination is here already and with the hard work and support of the State, I am sure that cricket will be one more sport with which the Chinese people can bring honour to their country.”Ross Turner, the head of the Australian delegation, was equally impressed. “All the coaches here in the playground and classroom are now my colleagues in the world of cricket. Having seen them work, I too firmly believe that China will one day, sooner rather than later, have a team that will play Australia in a World Cup.”

Sourav Ganguly has said that India’s performance in the next four to five months will be a clear indicator of how good a captain he really is. After a humbling seven-wicket loss to England in the opening game of the NatWest Challenge at Trent Bridge, Ganguly hoped that the batsmen would get their act together before the Champions Trophy.”I will find out how good a captain I am in the next four-five months,” he was quoted as saying in a report by the Press Trust of India. “It’s easy to captain the side when everything goes well like in the last two years. It has been a little rough in the last four-five games. We have to get together as a side. We would find out how good we are.”He also touched upon the lack of application on the batting front. “I know it is a matter of one innings for things to fall in place. It is not quality of the batsmen that is in question. It is just a matter of getting the mindset right.”With the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, out with a tennis elbow, Ganguly said that there was no need to tinker with the batting order. “We do not need to look at the batting order now since Sachin is not available. Viru (Virender Sehwag) is a quality player and we need him to fire. I have to back him.”And it became almost certain that India would stick to the seven-batsmen strategy in the second game at The Oval when he said, “It is not a formula and you cannot take it at face value. It has delivered the results for us and I have to back the batsmen who have done well for India in the past.”

Graeme Smith has admitted that he felt “angry” at the way South Africa were beaten in the third Test at Trent Bridge on Monday. Despite dominating the series from the very first ball, South Africa enter Thursday’s fourth Test at Headingley at 1-1, after a narrow 70-run defeat that owed a great deal to England’s good luck at the toss.”In many ways it doesn’t feel like we’ve been beaten,” Smith told reporters at Headingley. “Losing at Trent Bridge was more of an angry feeling. We showed immense character to take the match into five days. It didn’t feel like we were beaten in the last game because conditionswere not even-stevens.”But Smith, 22, was eager for his side to start afresh in Leeds. “We’ve put that behind us,” he said. “As far as we are concerned it is as if the series hasn’t started yet. We’ll have to perform to our abilities as we did in the first two Tests.”South Africa’s problems have been compounded by the absence of Shaun Pollock, who took 6 for 39 in England’s second innings, but has returned to Durban for the birth of his daughter. “Shaun’s a senior member of the squad,” said Smith. “He’s a world-class performer day-in and day out. Obviously we’ll miss him a lot as we did Jacques Kallis in the first two Test matches.”Someone else has got the opportunity to perform and hopefully they’ll do that and take responsibility,” he said. “The other bowlers have an extra workload, they realise that.” The man who is most likely to benefit from Pollock’s absence is the fast bowler Dewald Pretorius. “The wicket is in his favour,” admitted Smith, who added that Gary Kirsten had recovered from an arm injury and would be fit to take his place again.The uncapped Monde Zondeki is another candidate for Pollock’s place, and his inclusion, alongside Makhaya Ntini, would give South Africa anall-black new-ball partnership for the first time in their history. But Eric Simons, South Africa’s coach, played down that possibility. “Monde’s time will come,” he said, “and if it’s tomorrow [Thursday] then so be it. But it won’t be for any other reason than he is the right bowler.”

His body and baggy green cap may not go the distance, but Steve Waugh wants to continue playing Test cricket into his 40th year to complete “unfinished business” in India.Waugh, 36, made the revelation today while announcing a bat sponsorship worth an estimated $750,000 over three years with Indian tyre and sporting goods manufacturer MRF Limited, which also looks after Sachin Tendulkar.Despite being one of the great Test series, Australia’s 2-1 loss this year in India left a sour taste in Waugh’s mouth and extracting revenge in 2004 would be his ideal way of bowing out.He has fond memories of India from the tied Test in 1986, a World Cup win in 1987, his work with the Udayan home for children of leprosy sufferers and this year’s epic contest.”I’m looking forward to the World Cup (in 2003), that’s probably the next major goal for the Australian cricket side,” he said.”Particularly myself, I’d love to go back to the World Cup and win a World Cup – that’s not to say I’m guaranteed selection from now until then.”But that’s definitely a goal of mine and I guess way down the track, it’s three odd years I think, is another tour to India, that may be a possibility.”It’s almost sort of unfinished business for the Australian cricket side … we went so close and it’s the one place where we haven’t managed to win.”Australia will play three Tests against India from September, 2004.If he lasts that long, Waugh (9,289) will almost certainly pass Allan Border (11,174) on the all-time run scorers list but Tendulkar (7,089) is not far away and he’s eight years younger than Waugh.”He’s the No.1 in the world at the moment and rightly so, he’s the best batsman that I’ve ever seen,” said Waugh, despite Zimbabwean Andy Flower being top of the world ratings.”I’d like to also challenge him (Tendulkar) to the No.1 position in the future and score a few more runs.”While he was looking into his crystal ball, Waugh rejected calls for video umpires to rule on lbw decisions in the wake of the incorrectly favourable ruling for Justin Langer at the Gabba.”You don’t want it to become Americanised and for us to be looking to the monitors to adjudicate on everything, it would take up a lot of time and you need that human element,” said Waugh.”There’s always going to be those decisions that mightn’t be the right way, but in the long run it does tend to even out.”Waugh light-heartedly suggested he knew it was time to finalise the MRF deal when No.11 Glenn McGrath was the only other player without a sponsor in the first Test.What kind of blade does he like?”People probably don’t understand it but bats pick up a certain way and they feel good in your hand in the way they lift and come down – it’s more of a feel thing,” said Waugh.”If I had to say a weight it would be two pounds, eight ounces with an oval-shaped handle.”I don’t use a round handle, which is probably unusual and I like a bit of curve in the bat, a bit of a bow.”Waugh will lead NSW in a one-dayer against Queensland at the SCG on Sunday.

Match facts

Monday, October 5, 2015
Start time 19:00 local (13:30GMT)4:00

Agarkar: India might be tempted to try three spinners

Big picture

The balloon often pops after a big build-up but that did not happen in the series opener between these two teams. A competitive curtain raiser set the tone for what should continue to be a fiercely contested series, and if all the fixtures play out like the first one, fans are in for a fun two months.Already, one side could scoop early honours with South Africa 40 overs away from a trophy. India will want to make sure they get to Kolkata with the possibility of claiming the series. The hosts’ major concern will be the way their batsmen slunk away after a strong start against a South Africa attack that did not seem to get a measure of the conditions. Their bowlers did not find the going easier either, and may want to consider both tactical and team changes.The visitors are likely still basking in satisfaction over the way they coped with pressure, especially as it was some of their lesser lights who shone in Dharamsala. A firmer middle order and a more determined grip on key moments mean South Africa are shaping up well as they prepare for the World T20. Consistency will also be on India’s mind – they have lost four of their last five T20s and will want to turn the tide on what could become a real problem ahead of the challenges in the next two months.

Form guide

(last five completed games, most recent first)India LLWLL
South Africa WLWWW

In the spotlight

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis had hailed R Ashwin as the best spin bowler in the world and after Friday few can argue with that assessment. Ashwin was the only bowler to concede less than seven runs an over and the only one to demonstrate real guile. He was particularly astute in removing AB de Villiers, who he drew forward and then deceived with a change of pace. Ashwin will want to have similarly smart plans for the rest of the South Africa line-up in the second game.David Miller did not have the opportunity to do anything in the first match and that may be exactly what will worry him as the series draws on. Farhaan Behardien was promoted ahead of him to see South Africa through a tricky period and he ended up providing the perfect foil to JP Duminy, who finished the game in the way Miller may have wanted to do. Miller has not scored an international fifty in fifteen innings and although chances don’t come often in the middle order, he is at risk of being crowded out and will want to stake a proper claim soon.

Team news

India are unlikely to fiddle with their batting department. They may consider playing another spinner though – they have Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh – instead of one of their seamers.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 Axar Patel/Stuart Binny, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 S Aravind/Harbhajan SinghThe success of the de Villiers-Hashim Amla opening combination could mean more time on the bench for Quinton de Kock, especially as the rest of South Africa’s top order looks settled. They may consider making a change to the allrounder’s spot, bringing in Albie Morkel for Chris Morris, who struggled in Dharamsala, but other changes are unlikely unless South Africa opt to play both specialist spinners.South Africa (probable) 1 AB de Villiers (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 JP Duminy, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris/Albie Morkel, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Kyle Abbott, 10 Marchant de Lange/Eddie Leie, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

Bounce and carry is possibly a thing of the past as South Africa inch into the cauldron of spin that India will likely stir throughout the series. A slow pitch will not be the main concern for either team though. The pitch and square were under cover from the persistent rain on Saturday and the met office predicted more rain over the following 48 hours. All the tickets for the fixture have been sold out.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first T20 international played in Cuttack. It has hosted two Tests and 17 ODIs, none featuring South Africa
• JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien’s unbeaten 105-run stand on Friday equalled the highest fourth-wicket partnership in T20Is in 2015, between Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman against Pakistan in Mirpur

Quotes

“We have to play to the South African weakness. We know they are not so good against spinners. We have got some learning done against their batters.”
“We are not as high up from an altitude point so the ball won’t travel as far. We may have to run a lot more ones and twos. From a bowler’s view we may need to protect certain pockets of the field because of the bigger dimensions. It is a lot warmer here so we will have to be smart with the way we manage our energy.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:12

Zimbabwe beats Bangladesh for third time in T20Is

Zimbabwe’s batting line-up put up a power-packed performance, something they hadn’t done earlier in the series, to keep it alive with a 31-run win in the third T20 against Bangladesh. Zimbabwe’s spinners continued to pick wickets, like they had done earlier in the series, and derailed the hosts’ chase around the halfway mark despite their strong start.Marshalled by Vusi Sibanda at the start and Malcolm Waller later, Zimbabwe’s sustained aggression took them to a challenging 187 after stand-in captain Hamilton Masakadza had said the “160-mark” would be decent on this pitch in Khulna. Tendai Chisoro, Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza took all six wickets and conceded only 40 runs in their 10 overs.There were useful contributions from all of Zimbabwe’s top five batsmen, and each of them had a strike rate of over 120. Sibanda showed his intent from the first ball he faced by charging at left-arm pacer Abu Hider, one of the four Bangladesh debutants, to drill him through the covers for four. He carved out a pretty wide ‘V’ on both sides of the pitch by dispatching meaty drives and flicks. Masakadza also got going after a slow start, and hammered Mohammad Shahid, another debutant, for four consecutive fours, but fell for 20 when in search of a fifth.Hider and Shahid were punished for 45 runs in the first four overs and Sibanda welcomed the third debutant Muktar Ali with a four as well. Zimbabwe were 59 for 1 when rain interrupted and Shakib Al Hasan had Richmond Mutumbami and Sibanda caught at deep midwicket after the break, in consecutive overs, to drag the run-rate from over ten to under eight.Meanwhile, Waller and Williams were getting themselves set. And having faced about ten balls each, they unfurled a barrage of boundaries to help Zimbabwe swindle 85 runs from the last seven overs; six of those went for at least ten an over.Mosaddek Hossain dropped Williams on 12 at backward point, but it was Waller who caused more damage. Shahid, Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib – all were punished for sixes before Waller eventually holed out to deep midwicket, for a 23-ball 49. Williams continued till the last over and some late strikes from Peter Moor too meant the Bangladesh bowlers got no respite.Chisoro dented Bangladesh’s chase in the first over to dismiss Imrul Kayes, playing his first match of the series, for 1 but Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman kept the hosts in the hunt. Sarkar used his wrists to find gaps and Sabbir targeted the leg side, just like he had done in the second T20, with pulls and slogs. Sabbir mirrored Masakadza by dispatching three straight fours in the sixth over that hauled their run-rate over nine. Zimbabwe also paid the price for Mutumbami’s mistake when he missed Sarkar’s stumping off Williams’ first ball. That over cost 12 runs and the visitors seemed unsettled.Zimbabwe caught a break when Sarkar top-edged a slog sweep for an easy catch at midwicket in Cremer’s first over that broke their most productive and threatening stand, of 67 runs. Masakadza rotated his spinners for the next nine overs, the asking rate shot up and the wickets came down. Sabbir brought up a 31-ball fifty with a four in the 11th over but fell two balls later by holing out in the leg side.Their hopes fell on Shakib, but he found Waller at long-on with 86 required from 36. Mahmudullah top-edged Cremer in the same over to give Mutumbami an easy catch. As well as Nurul Hasan scooped during his 17-ball 30 and Muktar supported him with 19 from 15, it just wasn’t enough.

Zimbabwe’s selectors are not expected to spring any surprises when they name their 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship to be held in South Africa next month.Although Zimbabwe has staged a domestic Twenty20 competition of sorts, the pool of players available for selection is shallow and so the squad will be based on recent one-day performances.The only surprise could be the inclusion of Charles Coventry who has not played international cricket for over a year. Coventry, a hard-hitting batsman, is better suited for the Twenty20 game and was named in a provisional 30-man squad that was never made public. Also in that group was Gregory Strydom, who is playing club cricket in England at the moment.Coventry walked out on Zimbabwe during their tour of the West Indies in May last year after he fell out with coach Kevin Curran and Andy Pycroft, at the time the team manager. He failed to resolve his differences with Curran and never reported for camp ahead of the World Cup, missing out on the prestigious event.

What have baseball-style throws, golf balls, baseball bats and gym-style mats got to do with cricket? On the surface, not a lot, but India’s elite cricketers have made use of all of the above at various times during the innovative training camp that will come to a close tomorrow as the team gears up for cricket’s most arduous challenge – contests against Australia (and West Indies), albeit in the neutral environs of Kuala Lumpur.After a mishap that involved overenthusiastic fans and a barbed wire fence yesterday, it was expected that the six players assembled for the last leg of this camp would go through the training drills in the empty concrete bowl that is the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But in the morning, with fielding practice first on the agenda, the more sylvan settings of the B ground adjoining the main venue once again rang out with adrenaline-fuelled shouts as the players worked on throwing the ball.Dinesh Mongia, who spoke to the media later, said: “Greg [Chappell] spoke about the use of the hips, not just the shoulder and the arms. He spoke about using the whole body in a throw, and how it’s much better than just using an arm or something like that. So we are working on that.”Greg said that if the skill is right then there would be less injuries and the outcome is much better. So today’s morning session was about that.”Thilak Naidu, once on the verge of national selection and a Karnataka stalwart, watched the goings on with great interest, and spoke of the influence of Mike Young on teams worldwide. The old-timers may have considered it sacrilegious at first, but the American baseball coach undoubtedly played an enormous role in taking Australia’s ground-fielding – and especially the throwing – to another level.Naidu himself couldn’t speak highly enough of Young, whose methods he has watched in person once while in Australia. Mongia, when pressed to mention the major difference between this and previous camps, spoke quite animatedly about the greater emphasis on skill, and not just in the fielding department.”Previously, two or three years back when John [Wright] was there, he was more into physical fitness and all that. I guess that was also very crucial because John brought all that in. Now I think that Greg and Rahul [Dravid] are very keen for the skill work.”The skill-work that Mongia spoke off involved a session with golf balls and a stump in the morning. The batsmen fronted up on a concrete pitch, and played their shots armed with a solitary stump as the dimpled ball was pinged down at them from a distance far less than 22 yards.The extra bounce tested both footwork and reaction-time, and there was more of the same later in the afternoon when the bowling machine came into play on the main ground, with the ball coming down at the batsmen from the sort of height once associated with the likes of Joel Garner and Vincent van der Bijl.Mongia, who has been around a while, added that the extra height from which the ball was delivered made all the difference. “It is something new because with the bowling machine at that height. I think it’s about ten feet and with the ball coming out at that height, it’s really good practice.”

Considering that Australia will most likely play the tall trio of Glenn McGrath, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson, the practice certainly won’t go waste, even if the pitches in Malaysia aren’t expected to replicate the trampoline bounce that once characterised the WACA in Perth.And as Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar took their turn in the nets, and in front of the bowling machine, Dravid, Mongia and Sachin Tendulkar moved back to the B ground for slip-catching practice. Ian Frazer, armed with a baseball bat, kept the edges coming, and a narrow cordon struggled initially to get their bearings. Once they did though, there were some stunning reflex takes, with Mongia – who has never looked like a consummate athlete – earning applause from the two legends for a couple of audacious one-handed grabs.He knows though that it’s his batting and bowling that will come under intense scrutiny with many others biding their time on the sidelines. “In last two to three years, I have worked hard on my bowling, batting and fielding, so I obviously want to prove a point as an allrounder,” said Mongia, who earned a recall largely on the strength of his performances for Leicestershire in the county season. “I have spoken to Greg and Rahul and they think that I have a role to play as a bowler as well.”With Australia having struggled at times against more guileful left-arm spin from Murali Kartik, Mongia may yet have a crucial role to play in Malaysia. And after the Sri Lanka triangular fell victim to bomb blasts and poor weather, the opportunity to swap baseball bats and stumps – innovative as such drills may be – for a 3lb willow and 5 ½ ounces of stitched leather will be a welcome one indeed.

England emphatically retained their Hong Kong Sixes title by passing Sri Lanka’s total of 61 in just 3.1 overs after Kabir Ali walloped 34 off 11 balls in the final.Accurate bowling from England stifled Sri Lanka’s batsmen, with only two Sri Lankans reaching double figures. Graham Napier conceding just six runs and took one wicket in his one over.Matthew Maynard, England’s captain, was clear about how the victory was achieved: “We bowled magnificently. Our bowlers won the game for us.” Only Pakistan, in 2002, and England themselves in 1994, have won the Hong Kong Sixes in successive years before.To reach to final England had beaten United Arab Emirates by 15-runs in their semi-final. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to by 10 runs in the other semi, as Dilruwan Perera, an offspinner, took a hat-trick.In the final of the Plate Competition, for the sides that were knocked out yesterday, Hong Kong’s total of 135 proved too much for Kenya, who lost by 50 runs.