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Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, is yet to take a decision on returning to Pakistan following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.Lawson is currently in Sydney and is scheduled to leave for Pakistan in two weeks. He said he was waiting for advice from people inside the country before deciding what to do.”I’ve sent a few emails this morning to people I know in Pakistan in different areas to get their opinions,” Lawson told . “I’m very open [to what they say] and I’m more likely to take into account what they’ve got to say rather than any officials. I’m just seeking advice, I’m not pre-judging anything.”Pakistan are scheduled to play five ODIs against Zimbabwe at home beginning January 26. But rioting and unrest in many parts of the country have put the tour in doubt.

The Indian Premier League’s player auction on Wednesday saw the eight franchises battle with bids, but the process of building a team has only begun ahead of the tournament in April.The IPL’s Bangalore franchise, Royal Challengers, are on the verge of signing Martin Crowe as part of their strategic management team, Cricinfo has learned, with only the paperwork left to be completed. Hyderabad have snapped up Robin Singh, India’s fielding coach. Vijay Mohanraj, the team’s chief executive, confirmed Singh’s appointment as the team’s coach.Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, is expected to be a backroom player for Bangalore, handling key responsibilities in cricket and marketing, while Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, is likely to play a more visible, hands-on role.Crowe, Prasad and Singh join a high-profile list of names of IPL support staff, which includes John Buchanan, the former Australia coach, for Kolkata, and Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach, for Mohali.Among the other franchises, Delhi had already designated Victoria’s Greg Shipperd as their coach. Mumbai, Chennai and Jaipur are yet to reveal their cards.Bangalore believe Crowe is the kind of innovator and out-of-the-box thinker the team, led by Rahul Dravid, needs for the Twenty20 format. Apparently, Crowe’s record of having invented the Cricket Max format as far back as 1996 has gone in his favour. Besides, some of the innovations in Cricket Max have found a place in the Twenty20 format.Crowe as New Zealand captain was also the prime mover behind launching the burly left-hander Mark Greatbatch as an aggressive opener during the 1992 World Cup, and even got offspinner Dipak Patel to open the bowling in that tournament.Bangalore will hope that Crowe lends just the right kind of drive to a team that’s currently leaning on the traditional batting foundation of Dravid and the two signings from the auction: South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and India’s Wasim Jaffer.Hyderabad, who bought Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds for US$1.35 million, said Singh was their “logical choice” for coach.”Former Hyderabad offspinner and domestic veteran Kanwaljit Singh will assist Robin,” Mohanraj, a former Ranji opener for Hyderabad, said. “Robin is a logical choice as he understands the Indian conditions. The tournament is just over a month away, and he wouldn’t need any time to adjust to the situation here, unlike maybe some of the foreign coaches. He has also worked with our Indian players [VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma and RP Singh], which makes it easier.”The Bangalore franchise, meanwhile, will unveil their team logo on Friday evening at their home ground, Chinnaswamy Stadium, which will also host the IPL’s opening ceremony on April 18.

This was a day so tense and full of unexpected twists and turns that it would have been no surprise had Al Gore turned up to demand a recount. It finished with Auckland 74-2 in their second innings, a lead of 42.The highlight was a gutsy tenth wicket partnership of 80 by Bruce Martin and Graeme Aldridge for ND. This swung the game ND’s way, but Blair Pocock and Richard King did much to move it back again in the final session.With thirteen wickets having fallen on the first day the batsmen had as much trust in the pitch as in a Florida election official. Their lack of faith appeared justified as the heart of ND’s middle order was removed in the first hour.Auckland’s left-arm seamer Richard Morgan was the main destroyer, removing Bradburn caught behind from a bouncer, Bailey caught at short leg and Hood, off stump removed for a debut duck. Morgan demonstrated the twin dangers of the pitch. There was bounce and there was movement. It was difficult to deal with one while remaining alert for the other.Morgan finished with career best figures of 5-44.At 49-7 ND faced a substantial first innings deficit. Simon Doull began the recovery. Doull has a good record with the bat against Auckland, mostly by adopting the no-nonsense aggression he showed here. His 27 included a six over mid-wicket.When Doull’s departure was followed shortly afterwards by that of Robbie Hart, clearly annoyed to have been given out caught behind, it seemed that Auckland would have a lead of forty or so.Martin and Aldridge were soon to prove that to be a false assumption.Their partnership contained strong elements of good fortune, particularly in the early stages. But it contained a good deal of skill too, as well as a large slice of bloody-minded determination. There were few memorable shots, though Martin’s effortless lift over square leg to level the scores was one. The way in which both men resolutely stood up to short-pitched deliveries will be recalled as will their discipline in leaving as much as possible alone.The innings ended when Barnes found the shoulder of Martin’s bat to have him caught in the gully by Canning with the score on 178.Both batsmen left the field with personal highest scores (Martin 51, Aldridge 21 not out). They were only two short of breaking ND’s tenth wicket record against Auckland, set up by Martin in partnership with Simon Doull in the Shell Trophy final last April. Most importantly, they handed ND an unexpected lead of 32.Auckland’s second innings got off to the worst start when McIntosh was caught at second slip by Bailey off a Doull delivery that moved from leg to off. No runs were on the board.A quiet, but important phase of the game followed. Pocock and King put on 70 for the second wicket. It was slow at first, but gradually the shots came more freely. A slow outfield helped to keep the scoring rate down.Almost imperceptably, the balance of the game shifted towards Auckland. Joseph Yovich was the most dangerous bowler, twice having appeals for legside catches to the wicketkeeper, one for each batsman. However, Yovich was limited to one four over spell and may be injured.Doull returned to remove Pocock lbw to one that kept low shortly before the close of play.Today was first class cricket of a high order, not in terms of shot making, but as a contest in which concentration and determination are allied with skill to overcome the opposition and the conditions.These are the factors that will decide the outcome of the game, but in whose favour? To use the phrase with which we have become so familiar in recent weeks, it is too close to call.

Points tablesLancashire virtually assured themselves of a quarter-final berth with another fine all round display against Durham, Mal Loye’s 55-ball 100 forming the cornerstone of their 37-run win. Loye and Brad Hodge added 160 for the second wicket to put Lancashire on course for their second total over 200 in two matches. It was Loye’s first Twenty20 ton, and the second by a Lancashire batsmen in successive matches following Stuart Law’s century against Yorkshire. Despite Nathan Astle’s brisk 55 from 37 balls Durham couldn’t maintain a required rate of over 10 runs an over. Dominic Cork was again economical, taking 2 for 25 from his four overs.Nottinghamshire gained their second win of the season, with a well-paced six-wicket win against Yorkshire, who are now struggling to secure a quarter-final spot. However, Notts’ win has probably come too late for them although they will take heart from a 101-run opening stand between Will Smith and Graeme Swann. Their partnership put Notts within reach of the target of 181 and Chris Read guided them home with two balls to spare. Yorkshire’s total was built around Phil Jaques’ 55 from 33 balls and a late surge from Richard Pyrah, who made 31 from 17.

St Cross Symondians will be remembering popular New Zealander Mark Parker at a special memorial cricket weekend in Winchester tomorrow (SUN) and Monday.Parker lost his life in the Bali bomb atrocity last October on his way home to Wellington after spending a third and very successful promotion season with St Cross when he was so tragically caught up in the horrific events that saw nearly 200 people killed.St Cross and their sister New Zealand club Onslow have initiated a Trust Fund in Mark’s memory.His father Murray and uncle John, both former New Zealand Test cricketers, will be at a Super 6’s tournament at the Royal Green Jackets Ground tomorrow, from 10am to 7.45pm.And at an all-day "England v New Zealand" match at Winchester College on Monday, 11am.Twelve teams, drawn from the Winchester area, visiting New Zealanders and other local clubs, will participate in the six-a-side tournament, after which there will be a grand sports auction.Several Wellington-based cricketers have flown across from New Zealand for Memorial weekend.BAT Sports opener Neal Parlane, Ben Jansen (Alton) and Rhys Morgan (St Cross) are playing in Monday’s `international’ match, which is being played on the main College ground.

This season’s Carib Beer Series, which begins on January 7, will be contested between six teams who will play each other home and away. The series will include the Carib Beer League and the Carib Beer Challenge. Significantly, no international teams will participate in the competition.Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands will compete in the league. The top two league teams will then play in the five-day Carib Beer Challenge game after the league stage is over, with the winner taking US$5000. A cash prize of US$12,000 has been announced for the winner of the League Cup.The home-and-away format ensures that each team will play ten four-day games in ten rounds over a nine-week period, after which the finals – the Challenge – will be held from March 18 to 22. The League Series begins on January 7. But the early stages could be affected by the absence of top players, who will be playing the VB Series in Australia, which ends on February 8.

When Shivnarine Chanderpaul walks out to toss at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo on Wednesday, he has an interesting challenge ahead. How, minus the likes of Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, is his team going to answer the questions posed by Muttiah Muralitharan and company? One thing’s for sure – it’s not going to be easy. His team is by far the least experienced West Indian unit to take the field. And Sri Lanka, notparticularly overjoyed at having the gloss taken off a big series, will come at them all guns blazing.West Indies have traditionally relied on Lara to show them the way when playing against Sri Lanka. He has done so admirably in the past, playing Muralitharan with more finesse and control than any other batsman in world cricket. At the best of times it is hard to play Murali, but it might just prove to be too much for this team. Leaving aside Chanderpaul, no batsman has the experience needed to counter the unorthodoxy of Murali’s prodigious spin. Dwayne Smith has the next most experience – a mere six Tests – and the less said about the rest the better.West Indies can take some consolation from the fact that their bowling has a bit of firepower left. Jermaine Lawson and Tino Best have been around a while, and their genuine pace through the air could pose some problems even on slow Sri Lankan pitches. But the key to doing well in Sri Lanka is spin, and West Indies can only hope that Omari Banks can shoulder the workload.For what it’s worth, Chanderpaul has said that his team was raring to go. “We would not have been here if we did not think we could compete,” he said, on the eve of the match. “This is a young bunch we have who are determined to make a name for themselves. They are very keen to get on with it. Don’t write them off even before the series has started. Everyone needs a chance to prove themselves.”Bennett King, the coach, has also expectedly thrown his weight behind Chanderpaul. “You find diamonds in coal,” he said. “It takes a little pain to get joy. West Indian cricket may be in a state of flux but the system is in place for a brighter future.”Keeping with the spirit of things, Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, insisted that his team would not take things lightly. “We are not complacent at all,” said Atapattu. “There is a Test match to be played and I am certain the West Indians are as much ready for the challenge as we are. We have to do the job once we get there. We can’t be thinking who isthere is their line-up and who is not. There are runs to be scored and 20 wickets to be taken to win.”All that may be well, but if form sheets ever meant anything, there will only be one team on the park capable of scoring enough runs and taking 20 wickets to settle the issue.Sri Lanka Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Gayan Wijekoon, RusselArnold, Rangana Herath.West Indies Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Powell, Omari Banks, Kerry Jeremy, Deighton Butler, Sylvester Joseph, Narsingh Deonarine, Dwayne Smith, Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton, Ryan Ramdass.

After a few hours in hospital including some time on a drip, Matt Horne has been left to contemplate what might have been.Looking forward to continuing the form that catapulted him into the record books on Monday at Eden Park, and remind the national selectors what they are missing, Horne will instead sit out Auckland’s last round-robin State Championship match against Central Districts, starting today, because of a suspected viral infection.”I’m not enjoying it. I can’t sleep, can’t eat and I’m aching and constantly dehydrated,” said Horne. “I felt run down on Monday. My flatmate, who is a nurse, said I needed to get to hospital. You want to keep playing but your body says you can’t.”In Horne’s absence, Mark O’Donnell, Auckland’s coach, has recalled Sam Whiteman to the team for the match, in which Auckland must take the maximum eight points and hope results in other games go their way if they are to progress further.”We want to finish the season strongly,” said O’Donnell. “We have to worry about our game and not be too concerned about what’s happening elsewhere.”O’Donnell is looking to his four batsmen at the top of the order to score much-needed runs. “They haven’t been doing it this season,” he said. “It is a huge opportunity for players like Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Tim McIntosh and Rob Nicol to show they are capable of a big score.”Central Districts have the same 12 who lost in under three days, and by 231 runs, to Wellington in the last round. Wellington, at home to Otago, lead the championship race with 23 points – one ahead of Canterbury, who meet Northern Districts at Gisborne needing only two points to end Auckland’s slim hopes. Otago, on 19 points, could make the final if they beat Wellington outright and have other results go their way.ND have an added incentive: unless someone scores a century, they face the prospect of being the first ND team in 19 years to complete their first class programme without any player reaching three figures. They have kept the same 12, but have Jamie Lee on standby if Grant Robinson fails a fitness test.

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Sri Lanka will be picking from a full-strength squad when they start their three-match one-day series against Bangladesh after Farveez Maharoof, who had been resting a hamstring niggle picked up during a practice game last week, passed a fitness test this morning.Bangladesh, meanwhile, will be without Mashrafe Mortaza who is expected to be available only for the second game on Friday after suffering from back spasms during the team’s only warm-up match on Sunday, a match they lost by 10 wickets.”He is suffering from lower back pain and the assessment is that it’s a muscle type injury,” team physiotherapist Paul Close told reporters on Monday. “He made the right choice by pulling himself out of the game. It was not severe but enough to be worrying for him. But the move was a precautionary thing from his point of view. I think we are looking forward to get him back within four or five days.”Bangladesh have called Tapash Baisya, who was originally left out of the squad due to injury, over from Dhaka. Coach Dav Whatmore said that Baisya was “an additional player and not a replacement” in an interview with The Daily Star. Baisya, due to arrive on Tuesday, has been named in a 12-man squad for the first game. Bangladesh are set to play Syed Rasel, and Manjural Islam Rana, a spinning allrounder, has been named as Bangladesh’s super-sub.Bangladesh start the series as the overwhelming underdogs, but will be looking to rebuild on the progress made during their recent tour to England when they played a substantial part in bursting the aura of invincibility around the Australia team with a shock win in Cardiff. Whatmore, once again, is downplaying the importance of results.”The win against Australia has prompted lots of comments around the world, but, never more than now, we have to totally focus on each individual’s performance,” Whatmore told Reuters. “The reality is that we are still ranked 10th and we are playing a team ranked second in the world, who are playing at the top of their game and in home conditions.”Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have promised a ruthless approach with Tom Moody – who has quickly settled as head coach to gain the confidence and respect of the players – promising no complacency after their recent victory in the Indian Oil Cup.”We are far from complacent and have been preparing as we would against any team and we will be playing as a hard cricket as we would against any team,” Moody told reporters. “From our point of view, this is an important stepping-stone towards our development as a one-day and team and we are taking it very seriously indeed.”While Maharoof is available for selection and almost certain of playing after his fine Indian Oil Cup, Sri Lanka will not be calling on the bowling services of Sanath Jayasuriya during the tournament. He has not fully recovered from his dislocated shoulder and will play only as a frontline batsman.Sri Lanka have picked nine specialist batsmen in their squad, dropping two pace bowlers in the process, and are expected to use one of those extra batsmen – Upul Tharanga, Avishka Gunawardene or Thilan Samaraweera – as their super sub. They will start with a full-strength batting line-up and then consider experimenting only if they win the first two games.”The slight change in the balance of our squad reflects the new regulations,” said Moody. “We have a fair idea as to how we would like to approach it but we are going with a little bit of uncertainty as to what is the perfect way of approaching the new regulations.”Whatmore, who introduced aggressive pinch-hitters as Sri Lanka’s coach back in 1996 after the first introduction of fielding restrictions, believes the new regulations will provide more entertainment. But he predicted that the laws will make chasing targets easier and favour the side batting second on a good pitch. “If the pitch is going to deteriorate batting second then I don’t think it is going to make too much of a difference, but in good conditions an extra batsman will certainly help chasing down the score.”Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Russel Arnold, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Farveez Maharoof, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omar, 2 Rajin Saleh, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Habibul Bashar, 6 Shahriar Nafees, 7 Khaled Mahmud, 8 Mohammad Raffique, 9 Khaled Mashud, 10 Nazmul Hossain, 11 Syed Rasel.

Khaled Mashud, Bangladesh’s veteran wicketkeeper, has welcomed the challenge of a second wicketkeeper during the forthcoming ODI tours of Zimbabwe and Kenya. A regular behind the stumps for the last decade, Mashud was confident of what he could bring to the table despite the presence of the young Mushfiqur Rahim and criticism of his batting recently.”I don’t think my position in the team is at stake,” he said. “I will definitely welcome if anybody throws a real challenge to me. Do you honestly think there is anybody who can replace me now? Yes, there is a whispering about my position ahead of the tours but I am not worried.”I want to clear one thing that I will not stay for a single day in the national team if everybody thinks that I have very little left to serve the side,” Mashud added. “I don’t want to stay without respect. It’s my lifelong dream to say goodbye international cricket with my head high.”He hinted, though, that the selectors’ decision to include two wicketkeepers for just eight ODIs was an indecisive one. “It is not my duty to comment on team selection. The selectors must have some plan and only they can say better,” he said. “I think if any new boy is to be tested it should have been done during a relatively easier home series against Kenya. However, you can’t reach a conclusion about someone’s potential after watching him against a team like Zimbabwe and Kenya because the real challenge always lies against the big teams.”Mashud, with 41 Tests and 112 one-day internationals, has been widely recognised as a committed cricketer. However, a recent dip in form with the bat, at both the domestic and international levels, has raised voices over his importance in the side. He admitted his batting against Australia recently was not his best but refused to call the curtain on his contributions to the side. “I don’t think my batting was very poor,” he said. “I failed to serve against Australia but how many were successful against the number one team? Nowadays wicketkeepers play a very important part as an allrounder and I also need to perform.”Mashud’s own expectations of the upcoming series remained simple. “I am determined to perform well during the series. I know performance is the key to keep my place in the team,” he said. “If I can perform, nobody will dare dropping me. In my career I have played for small clubs on most occasions and that have not played any part behind my selection for the national team. I was picked because of the performance.”