According to , Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has indicated that the board is considering hiring specialised coaches to improve the national team’s performance."We are seriously considering hiring not only a bowling coach, but also a fielding expert and a physical trainer as well to overcome weaknesses in these departments," he said, with reference to a below-par performance in the last game. "But we cannot do it all of a sudden, as it would take some time to implement these decisions. Hopefully, we will be making some decisions after the India series."* * *Javed Miandad is not enamoured with the idea of a bowling coach, and says that the will to improve can come only from within, reports the Press Trust of India (PTI)."What can a bowling coach do when the player himself does not want to improve? A coach can only offer guidance from outside. It is up to the bowler to improve and overcome the flaw," said Miandad. "Bowlers like Imran, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis used to work hard at the nets and sort out their problems. The current lot of bowlers need to work harder and show some discipline."However, the The News quoted Miandad as saying, "We might have to think about seeking specialist help if this problem [of wides and no balls] is not contained soon."Earlier, Imran Khan had questioned whether a batsmen-dominated management team could help Pakistan’s bowlers, suggesting that a bowling coach would prove beneficial.* * *Omar Kureishi jumps on to Imran’s side of the bowling-coach bandwagon in his latest piece in The Indian Express. Writing about the lack of bowling discipline, he states that in their quest for wickets, the bowlers gave away too many runs.He suggests that Wasim Akram could be a bowling coach, but the PCB was uncomfortable with him around. And since Waqar Younis hadn’t yet given up hope of playing for Pakistan, that option was out. Instead, Aquib Javed made for a worthy bowling coach, as he had worked well at the junior level. But while Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed could benefit from his experience, would Shoaib Akhtar care to listen?Kureshi reckons that Javed Miandad considers the appointment of a bowling coach a threat to his authority, and writes that Miandad would do well to reconsider, because his confidence – bordering on overconfidence – was blinding his judgement.* * *While Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif were building a partnership during the fourth one-dayer, superstitions were rampant in the Indian dressing room. The Indian Express found out that VVS Laxman could not leave his seat till the game was over, while Yuvraj Singh was ordered to stay horizontal on the massage table until the game was sealed. Amrit Mathur, the media manager, was persona non grata in the dressing room while the match went on, because of the belief that a wicket would fall if he were around.* * *Part of Rahul Dravid’s match preparations centre on visualising his success, according to The Times of India. Dravid’s biographer, Vedam Jaishankar, was quoted as saying, "He replays all the games that he has played against the opposition. He then keeps thinking of all his best moments and the shots that he has hit against them until he starts feeling good. I’ve seen Rahul since his school days. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a club game, a Ranji or an international match. He follows the same routine."* * *Sourav Ganguly had a night out after India beat Pakistan in Lahore, with two friends and a plainclothes security guard for company. Rediff reported that Ganguly stopped by Food Street, and gorged on kebabs and chicken. He then posed for photographs and signed autographs, and the crowd warmed to him, despite their team having been beaten just a few hours earlier.While much was made of the boredom the players would encounter due to a thick security blanket in Pakistan, a number of team members have gone shopping and sightseeing. However, Sachin Tendulkar fell victim to a more common danger – daylight robbery. He paid 1000 rupees for a pair of Peshawari slippers that were worth only 300 rupees.

After a week of heavy downpours, the fourth one-dayer in Grenada went the way of the previous two, and was abandoned. Heavy rain in the morning yesterday, compounded by showers in the afternoon, meant that at dusk on the eve of the match the outfield at Queen’s Park was saturated. Further showers today ruled out the possibility of even a 30-overs knockabout.The umpires were worried enough to inspect the ground at 5pm last night. They quickly came to the conclusion that there was no chance of a prompt start, and by 9am this morning, the match was abandoned. It is a massive blow to the cricket-mad population – more than 10,000 tickets had been sold for the match on an island where the total population is around 90,000.The mood of the players was not helped when they were told that conditions in St Lucia, where there are back-to-back matches this weekend, were also poor after more heavy rain. Even Barbados, where the final game is to be played in a week’s time on May 5, is wet. Of all the Caribbean islands, that is the one where good weather can usually be guaranteed at this time of year.The England camp is struggling to stay upbeat after two washouts last weekend. “I’ve never known such a period in my career,” shrugged Marcus Trescothick. “You might lose a game in England or a National League match but I’ve never known anything like this when the forecast is consistently bad for the next week. Who knows, it could potentially rain for the rest of the games. It’s not the ideal situation but if we are still leading the series 1-0 by the time we get on the plane home next Thursday I’m sure we won’t be that worried about it.”England’s increasingly desperate attempts to stay fit – including head tennis – backfired on Paul Collingwood yesterday when he broke his nose in an accident playing basketball.Trescothick admitted that boredom was causing problems. “We just have to do what we can, when we can,” he said. “It is a case of anything to get the blood flowing, to stop us feeling lazy and lethargic in our rooms.”

Mathew Sinclair has been called into the New Zealand squad ahead of the second Test at Headingley, as cover for Craig McMillan, who has re-fractured the little finger on his left hand and will make a decision on his fitness on Tuesday.McMillan has struggled for form all tour and managed just six runs in two innings in the first-Test defeat at Lord’s last week. He suffered the injury after being struck by a Darren Maddy delivery, during New Zealand’s 328-run victory over Leicestershire."Craig has re-broken the finger in the same place," confirmed the team manager, Lindsay Crocker. "It is still pretty sore and swollen at the moment, and we are waiting for it to settle and the bruising to die down a bit. The plan is that he will have a bat tomorrow and see how he feels."Sinclair, who scored a double-century on his debut in 1999-2000, was a surprise omission from New Zealand’s tour party, after he marked his Test recall with 74 against South Africa at Wellington earlier this year. He has since been honing his technique in the East Anglian League, and was the obvious choice to step up.

Thilanga Sumathipala, Sri Lanka’s embattled former cricket chief, has been released from police custody after being granted bail by Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal on Friday. The three-judge bench asked him to post a Rs 250,000 (US$ 2500) bond and retained his passport as a security.Sumathipala, a high-profile businessman who recently resigned as chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom, was arrested in January after police investigations into allegations that he helped a suspected underworld criminal, Dammika Amarasinghe, travel to England to watch the 1999 World Cup on a forged passport. Amarasinghe, a man implicated in 28 murder cases, was later shot dead by a gunman dressed as a lawyer while attending court for another case.Sumathipala spent over 150 days in police custody but avoided a prison stay, spending the entire spell in hospital after complaining of chronic back pain and other ailments. He did not stand for re-election as cricket board president in the annual elections in March, but the new cricket board wants him to be an international envoy and their ICC representative.

Scorecard

Graeme Smith played a captain’s innings of 85 not out as the South Africans secured a draw in their tour match against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in Colombo. After Michael Vandort had scored 129, and Russel Arnold 83, in their total of 286 for 3 declared, Smith ensured his side didn’t make a losing start to their tour of Sri Lanka.Resuming at 123 for 1, the President’s XI made steady progress, with Vandort and Arnold taking advantage of some rusty bowling as Smith used nine bowlers in all. A total of 14 players were allowed to be played in the match, and all the South African bowlers in the squad had a chance to impress, but not with much success.Vandort, who has played two Tests for Sri Lanka, and Arnold added 187 in all before both were out caught by Andrew Puttick off Nicky Boje. In between their dismissals, Romesh Kaluwitharana punched a quickfire 54 not out to boost the total before Thilan Samaraweera declared the innings leaving the South Africans needing an academic 312 to win.Puttick completed a disappointing match when he was bowled by Asanka Welegedara for 12, and Martin van Jaarsveld was shortly out, caught and bowled by Rangana Herath and the South Africans were teetering a touch at 66 for 2. However, Smith knuckled down to spend a little over two hours at the crease and hit 12 fours to deny the attack. Jacques Kallis also got in some good batting practice with 25 not out from 42 balls.

Scorecard
Glamorgan hit back on the second day of their tour match against Sri Lanka A at Swansea. After Sri Lanka posted a healthy 367, Matthew Elliott and Ian Thomas helped to guide Glamorgan to 118 for 1 at the close, 80 runs behind.After Sri Lanka A resumed at 178 for 3, Jehan Mubarak was out early on, caught by David Hemp off Mark Harrison for 66, Jeewan Mendis was soon run out for 5, and Sri Lanka had stuttered to 195 for 5. However, Bathiya Perera continued the momentum, adding 22 quick runs before he was caught by Robert Croft off Darren Thomas.Then came Charith Sylvester and Gayan Wijekooon, who put on a fifty stand to further frustrate the Glamorgan attack. Sylvester scored a bright 44, including four boundaries. He was finally bowled by Croft, but Ranga Dias and Nuwan Kulasekara chipped with a couple of 20s down the order to boost the total to 367 with Ramyakumara left not out on 60.Elliott and Thomas, however, then made a better fist of things second time around, as they added 113 for the opening stand. Thomas was the more aggressive of the two, reaching his half-century from 76 balls, while Elliott cracked four fours and a six in his 53. It was Kulasekara who eventually made the breakthrough, with Elliott caught by Fernando shortly before the close.

All season, as England have racked up Test win after Test win, the murmurs have gathered voice and volume. Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff have struck notes so strident that the pundits dared to join the punters’ chorus of “Bring on the Aussies, bring on the Ashes.” Well, on a cold day at Edgbaston, when an ICC Champions Trophy semi-final turned into an Ashes clash, the crowds stayed away.One journalist walking into the ground an hour after play started wondered if the match was really on at all. And you couldn’t blame him: a tea party in a geriatric ward on a good day would have had more atmosphere. Only about 8000 of the 23,000 seats were taken, and, while the crowd at the India-Pakistan match here two days ago was over the top in its hooting and honking, this crowd was downright polite. Even Michael Vaughan finding one-day form and caressing four boundaries in a Brett Lee over – including a pair of the most gorgeous cover-drives you could hope to see – failed to get the fans going.The odd Warwickshire member sitting in the stands at the City End, listening to commentary on a pair of headphones large enough to double up as ear-muffs, was occasionally stirred into apologetically bringing his hands together in appreciation. The clearest measure of the silence was the fact that you could hear Adam Gilchrist’s encouraging chirps as far as the boundary line.Many reasons have been put forward for the lack of crowds. It was a working day, and people could not book tickets in advance because England only qualified to play this game a few days ago. The football season has begun. This match came at the end of a long and bountiful season of cricket for England. But none of these cut much ice. England had not beaten Australia in a one-dayer in more than four years, and this was their best chance.On the eve of the match, Vaughan called on England supporters to back their team. “It is always very special to play Australia, and both teams have shown good one-day form during the Trophy. We’ve had fantastic support this summer from England fans and we’ll need them on Tuesday when we measure ourselves against the most successful one-day team in the world. We’re ready for the challenge.”In the end, England did all right without the support, but such a plea is unheard of in places like India. Why, even the India-Pakistan match at Edgbaston was sold out months in advance, and £35 tickets were being flogged for as much as £120 on the black market. But today, when England set up a famous win, and are in sight of winning their first major competition, the fans failed their team.Some old-timers reckon that the best indicator of the health of a sport in a country is the patronage it receives at grounds. Vaughan has felt time and again recently that he has let his team down – he came into this game averaging just 18.07 in his last 15 one-dayers. The day he turned things around, and played an innings of true character, he deserved better than a one-thirds-full ground. His flowing cover-drives, off front and back foot, and his authoritative pulling against one of the world’s fastest bowlers demanded a more fitting celebration.When Vaughan finally fell, ballooning up a catch while trying to pull Brett Lee, he had made 86. He fully deserved to reach his maiden limited-overs century, but perhaps it was better that he fell 14 runs short. When one of the most beautifully brutal batsmen in world cricket lifts his game to reach a special landmark, it deserves to be treated as more than just another good knock.The Oval, where England will play either Pakistan or West Indies in the final, promises to be a sellout. England will be desperate to end their successful season on a high note. Whether the fans can rise to the occasion, like their team, remains to be seen.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Despite a brief statement from Highveld Lions that HD Ackerman had resigned as captain and was being replaced by Neil McKenzie, it is now being sugested that he was sacked.An article in the South African Star said that Ackerman was given a "resign or be sacked" ultimatum at a meeting on Monday following the weekend’s 45-run defeat against Western Province/Boland in the Standard Bank Cup. The report explained that Ackerman had considered resigning there and then, but had been persuaded to think things over by Shukri Conrad, the Lions coach.But Ackerman was then summoned to meet with Alan Kourie, the Lions CEO, where he was given the ultimatum. Ackerman refused to quit, insisting that Kourie needed to make the decision, which he did. “I think a number of factors contributed to his decision, such as the team’s performances and frustrations," Kourie said. "He will stay as a batsman.”Ackerman’s own form has been sound, and the news of his removal emerged on the day he was asked to lead South Africa A against England this weekend.

Herschelle Gibbs, one of South Africa’s opening batsmen, has been fined 40% of his match fee (approximately £800) for a “deliberate attempt to mislead an umpire” during the closing stages of the fourth day’s play of the second Test between South Africa and England at Durban.The umpire Darrell Hair reported Gibbs for gesturing at the top of his armand pointing towards him after facing a rising delivery that led to acaught-behind appeal from Steve Harmison. Gibbs pleaded guilty to theoffence, which breaches the ICC’s code of conduct, and the match refereeClive Lloyd handed him the fine.Gibbs was undefeated on 11 at stumps, having survived a chance off Harmison in the fourth over that Geraint Jones put down.

Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s wicketkeeper-batsman, is fit for theirforthcoming one-day and Test series against Sri Lanka.McCullum, 23, was hit on the knee twice in a row by Jason Gillespie in the second Test against Australia last month. Although precautionary tests revealed a minor fracture, Warren Frost, NZ’s medical co ordinator, said that X-rays showed that it had healed. “He did suffer some pain in Australia but it is showing signs of good progress,” Frost said. “It is more of an inconvenience than anything.”The first one-day international against Sri Lanka is on Boxing Day, and the one-day series is followed by two Tests.