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Reconstruction of the Galle International stadium will continue after a heritage dispute over a three-storey building that would block a historic 16th century fort was resolved by Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lanka president.”The president [ Rajapakse] called all the relevant parties and had a discussion at which everything was cleared,” Jayananda Warnaweera, the stadium curator, told AFP.Duleep Mendis, the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket, confirmed that the rebuilding was on schedule. “The ground will be ready for the Third Test [against England in December],” Mendis said.The stadium had been destroyed by the tsunami on December 26, 2004.Earlier, Parakrama Dahanayake, the president of the Galle Heritage Foundation, had expressed concern over the the blocking of the fort. “The view of the fort will be completely blocked by the new building that is coming up,” Dahanayake said. “The view is obscured and the Galle Fort may find itself struck off the World Heritage list as a result.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The opening day of this series turned into a nip-and-tuck battle between two sides aiming to consolidate mid-table respectability in the Test rankings. In the final reckoning New Zealand sneaked the points after four wickets for Kyle Mills and three for James Franklin, although they were balanced out by some gusty batting from South Africa on a surface that offered encouragement for the seamers.New Zealand’s attack was impressive, especially in the way they overcame the loss of Shane Bond to yet another injury before the match, but South Africa’s total could yet prove to be about par – the judgment will have to reserved until the Kiwis begin their reply. Given the way that Mills and Chris Martin got the second new ball to bounce and move the New Zealand top order will not have an easy time.However, Stephen Fleming could not have asked for much more from his bowlers after Graeme Smith opted to bat. The opening overs were well directed from Mills and Franklin, but South Africa weathered the early passage of play and would have been highly satisfied with their lunchtime loss of just the one wicket. Smith and Boeta Dippenaar had settled into their roles and begun to locate the boundary as the New Zealanders appeared low on firepower without Bond.Franklin changed the complexion of proceedings shortly after the interval when he removed Smith in a manner that won’t surprise anyone – falling across a straight ball. Smith’s dismissal continued his run without a half-century and, once again, he had done the hardwork before failing to press on. This would also become the story of South Africa’s day – batsmen and partnerships being terminated each time one threatened to develop. The first seven stands all reached double figures but none exceeded the 79 of Smith and Dippenaar.

Mills, who would have been the likely seamer to miss out if Bond had played, turned one person’s bad luck in another’s fortune with two further strikes during the afternoon session. Dippenaar’s pleasing half-century – studded with ten crisp boundaries – was ended by a limp pull then Ashwell Prince was undone by some extra bounce. That double blow left South Africa in a familiar position – relying on Jacques Kallis to steady the innings, something he is used to after 100 Tests.He needed a pain-killing injection into his troublesome elbow shortly after arriving at the crease, and with South Africa’s batting currently as creaky as Kallis’ elbow this was the crucial passage of play. He was struck on the helmet by Martin, but at the beginning of the final session crunched a series of powerful fours square of the wicket before Franklin made a timely intervention for New Zealand.With Kallis’s bat growing broader by the minute it was going to take something special to dislodge him and right on cue Franklin pulled out a stunning yorker. The Kiwis’ smiles grew wider when Franklin produced another peach to take de Villiers’ off stump.But this South African side certainly doesn’t give in easily. Even against Australia they fought every inch of the way and the lower order again played a vital role. Mark Boucher fell to a sharp piece of teamwork in the slips after a fast edge flew off the hands of third and Fleming clung onto the rebound at first. Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje used the extra pace of the second new ball to strike some meaty boundaries and Dale Steyn, recalled in place of Andre Nel, unfurled a brace of legside flicks that belied his position at No. 10.New Zealand will be pleased with their tally of eight wickets, especially after their morning effort had produced a solitary scalp. Mills began his day by cleaning up Herschelle Gibbs in a manner that it is becoming an unwanted trademark. Gibbs had been returned to his traditional opening slot but the lack of footwork that haunted him against Australia was still evident and he heard the familiar rattle of timber. New Zealand continued to make life tough throughout but, after scrapping against the best for most of the summer, South Africa won’t give this up with a fight.How they were outHerschelle Gibbs b Mills 6 (21 for 1)
Graeme Smith lbw b Franklin 45 (95 for 2)
Boeta Dippenaar c Fulton b Mills (118 for 3)
Ashwell Price c Styris b Mills 9 (130 for 4)
Jacques Kallis b Franklin 38 (177 for 5)
AB de Villiers b Franklin 27 (197 for 6)
Mark Boucher c Fleming b Martin 18 (229 for 7)
Shaun Pollock c Styris b Mills 24 (233 for 8)

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has said that it would adopt the same stance as the ICC with regard to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is threatening to sign up some of the top cricketers in the game. The board arrived at this decision at their monthly meeting held at its headquarters in Colombo on Monday.Kangadaran Mathivanan, the board secretary, said the ICC was due to meet in October where a decision is expected. “We will follow the lead given by the ICC,” he said.Mathivanan also stated that no Sri Lankan player had approached the board with regard to joining the ICL, with the exception of former captain Marvan Atapattu who had requested to be released from his contract. The board accepted his request and Atapattu will be released from his contract from October 1.When asked about Atapattu’s future as a Test player, Mathivanan said that it depended on his availability and also whether the national selectors are in favour of him. Atapattu has not been in good terms with the selection committee headed by Ashantha de Mel, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler. Although a part of the World Cup squad, Atapattu was cold shouldered and not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches. He was left out of the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and when the selectors finally picked him for the home series against Bangladesh, he snubbed them by saying he was unavailable due to family commitments. He proceeded to England where he is currently playing for Lashings in the English league. He is one of the Sri Lankan players whose name has been strongly linked with ICL.Mathivanan further stated that all national players, who are currently on a month’s break from cricket after the Bangladesh series, will have to report to Colombo by August 20, with the exception of those playing county cricket. Sri Lanka are due to leave for South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship on September 5.”There is no point getting them down here at this stage because they are already at training and playing matches for the counties,” said Mathivanan. “They can come at a later date.”Mathivanan said that Sri Lanka would announce the final 15-member squad for the championship soon, before the ICC’s deadline of August 15. Sri Lanka’s new coaching staff are due to arrive by mid August and commence training and practice from August 18. Trevor Bayliss has replaced Tom Moody as coach, Paul Farbrace from Trevor Penney as assistant coach and Jade Roberts from CJ Clarke as the team’s trainer.

Shandre Fritz has been announced as South Africa’s captain at the age of just 21. Fritz will take the reins for the five-match ODI home series against Pakistan which starts on January 20 and takes place in Pretoria.She has vowed to play brave cricket and follow her male counterpart – and fellow young skipper – Graeme Smith by leading from the front. “I am not a big talker,” the allrounder Fritz admitted, “but will try to lead by example. I am young and leading an inexperienced side, but there are some very old heads in the team, too.”One of those is the 17-year-old Johmari Logtenburg, who has been announced as vice-captain for the series. Logtenburg, a hard-hitting batsman of natural talent, already has considerable international experience under her belt, having played two Tests and 19 one-dayers.There are four players lining up for their debut against Pakistan. Annelie Minnie, Marcia Letsaolo, Tricia Chetty and Sunette Loubser have all been included.But there is no place for the up-and-coming wicketkeeper Yolandi van der Westhuizen of Western Province: while she was invited to the national training camp, she could not attend. Yet the national coach Noor Rhode expects her to be pressing for national honours and to put pressure on Chetty and Shafieka Pillay.South Africa could also tour India in 2007. The BCCI have invited the South Africans over but the South African board has yet to approve the tour and offer funding.Squad Alicia Smith, Annelie Minnie, Ashlyn Kilowan, Claire Terblanche, Cri-Zelda Brits, Daleen Terblanche, Johmari Logtenberg, Marcia Letsoalo, Shafeeqa Pillay, Shandre Fritz (capt), Sunette Loubser, Susan Benade, Tricia Chetty (wk).Fixtures
1st ODI – 20 January (Laudium)
2nd ODI – 22 January (Harlequins)
3rd ODI – 23 January (Sinovich Park)
4th ODI – 26 January (Sinovich Park)
5th ODI – 27 January (Harlequins)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The second day of the match between the domestic champions from India and Pakistan ran along similar lines to the first. Uttar Pradesh’s bowlers reduced Sialkot to 96 for 6 but Imran Nazir’s cavalier century from No.7 boosted them to a competitive 261. UP ended the day on 14 for no loss with an overall lead of 69.Nazir had initially opened the innings but was forced to retire after just two balls because of a shoulder injury sustained during fielding. He returned to the middle after the top order capitulated to some disciplined bowling and outstanding catching from Uttar Pradesh. Sialkot’s batsmen were guilty of the same error committed by UP’s top order on the first day: they were too hasty on a slow pitch that offered little bounce. As a result several wickets were lost to indiscreet shots.When Shoaib Malik departed for 24, one of many Sialkot batsmen who frittered starts, Nazir decided it was time to get a move on. He broke loose when given the chance while at the same time played his percentages to ensure minimum risk. He lofted Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner, down the ground repeatedly and got stuck into the fast bowlers. When his shoulder caused him any sort of discomfort, he merely gave it a short massage and continued pummelling the boundary hoardings. He steamed to his century off just 96 balls and formed the mainstay of a 122-run partnership with Tahir Mughal for the seventh wicket.UP had Sialkot by the scruff of the neck before Nazir arrived. In the first two sessions they bowled a tight line and forced the batsmen into mistakes. RP Singh, India’s left-arm seamer, got one to lift suddenly on a dead pitch and Shahid Yousuf, who had raced to 24 off 17 balls, nicked an attempted cut. Mansoor Ahmed had his middle stump uprooted by a shooter and Shezhad Malik was struck in front by another that kept low but they should have known better than to play back on a pitch with such low bounce. To compound Sialkot’s woes, Suresh Raina pulled off an acrobatic catch – diving one-handed to his left at cover – and Ravikant Shukla matched it at slip to dismiss Malik.Then began a spectacular fightback typified by Nazir’s flashing blade. Though the boundaries flowed from Nazir’s bat, Mughal’s support was invaluable. Once Mughal fell, deceived by Chawla’s googly, Asif followed and Sialkot were hobbling at 218 for 8. Nazir then proceeded to farm the strike and propelled the score to 261.Thirteen wickets fell on the day and three of those were of UP’s first innings which resumed on 268 for 7. Sialkot started perfectly when Sarfraz Ahmed snared Amir Khan with the second ball of the day. However, Rizwan Shamshad marshalled the tail and his innings of 84 helped UP cross the 300 run mark.In spite of Nazir’s innings UP ended the day with the upperhand. Their openers Rohit Prakash and Shivakant Shukla negotiated eight overs to see them through to stumps without any damage. They even managed to keep out Mohammad Asif who had recovered from a back problem that allowed him to bowl only 6.4 overs in the first innings.

Uttar PradeshAmir Khan c Mashood b Sarfraz 23 (269 for 8)
RP Singh b Mughal 15 (306 for 9)
Rizwan Shamshad lbw Rehman 84 (315 all out)
SialkotShahid Yousuf c Amir b RP Singh 24 (24 for 1)
Mansoor Amjad b Kumar 3 (15 for 2)
Majid Jehangir c Raina b Chawla 15 (45 for 3)
Abdur Rehman c Mashood b Kumar 0 (55 for 4)
Shezhad Malik lbw Srivastava 14 (89 for 5)
Shoaib Malik c Shukla b Srivastava 24 (96 for 6)
Tahir Mughal b Chawla 29 (218 for 7)
Mohammad Asif b Chawla 0 (218 for 8)
Sarfraz Ahmed b Kumar 4 (236 for 9)
Imran Nazir c Raina b RP Singh 123 (261 all out)

The Scottish Saltires are hoping to sign Sanath Jayasuriya, the former Sri Lankan captain, as an overseas player for 2005 – their third season in Division Two of the National League.Jayasuriya will not be the Scots’ first big-name signing – last year they enlisted the services of Rahul Dravid. This season Sridharan Sriram, the Indian allrounder, turned out for the Saltires, although he failed to make an impact as big as Dravid.”We have had initial chats with various agents, and there are one or two big names who are interested in coming over,” said Craig Wright, Scotland’s captain. “Jayasuriya is one of several we are talking to.”He went on: “I think that whoever comes would appreciate the fact that it is not a full county season. That was one of the things that appealed to Rahul. With 18 one-day games there is not so much stress or strain, and with the amount of international cricket that is played now, coming here would give a player a rest while keeping him ticking over. It is the lifestyle options that make our situation appealing.”Jayasuriya, 35, has been a mainstay of Sri Lanka’s top order for almost 15 years, scoring 9782 one-day runs, including a whopping 185 sixes, at an average of 31.96. His Test stats are equally impressive, and Jayasuriya is also a more-than-useful left-arm spinner.Scotland do not have the financial backing to compete with the English first-class counties when it comes to attracting star talent, and Dravid’s wages were partly paid for by an enthusiastic Indian community in Scotland. It will cost around £30,000 to recruit a world-class player such as Jayasuriya.”Obviously we would like to be able to make a decision as soon as possible, because it would encourage season-ticket package sales and create a buzz,” said Wright. “The names we are targeting are high-calibre, so it makes it all the more frustrating.”Meanwhile, Scotland are preparing for the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals in United Arab Emirates next month. They will take on Kenya in the semi-finals, having beaten Ireland by eight wickets to qualify from the European group. “This is pretty much the strongest squad we have ever had available,” said Wright. “On paper we are at full strength, which is exciting.”

A Western Australia squad will trade the bounce of Perth for the spin of India during a 12-day pre-season tour next month. Wayne Clark, the Western Australia coach, hoped the trip, which includes stops in Bangalore and Mysore, would help the Warriors avoid the slow starts of recent summers.”This is a great opportunity for the boys to get some really good match practice against high quality opposition,” Clark said. “We’ve been pretty slow out of the blocks for the last couple of seasons so hopefully this will help us to turn that around and get us set for a good start to the season.” The 15-man squad will play three one-day fixtures and a three-day match against the first-class side Karnataka, which is the home state of Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.Western Australia also announced their captain for the summer, with Justin Langer appointed for the fourth season in a row. Michael Hussey has relinquished his role as the state’s deputy due to his expanded international commitments and been replaced by Marcus North. “We will be looking not only for success this season,” Langer said, “but also to build the foundations in our young, talented squad for sustained success in the next five to ten years.”Tour schedule
September 23-25, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 27, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 29, Western Australia v Karnataka
September 30, Western Australia v Karnataka

Scorecard

Travis Birt and David Dawson rescued Tasmania from a disastrous start as they ended a wind-swept opening day of their Pura Cup match against Victoria on a respectable 5 for 299. Gerard Denton, the right-arm fast bowler, snaffled both openers, Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto, for ducks, but Birt (93) and Dawson (73) put together 171 for the third wicket to steady the Tasmanians at Bellerive Oval.After the early success, Victoria had to wait more than 50 overs for their next wicket, when Cameron White, their captain, nailed Birt. White claimed two more dismissals as well, ending the day with fine figures of 3 for 48, but Tasmania continued to build useful partnerships – Scott Kremerskothen and Sean Clingeleffer added an undefeated 71 for the sixth to frustrate the Victorians. At the close of play, Kremerskothen was on 32, with Clingeleffer unbeaten on 44.”It would have been nice to get three figures up on the board … as it turns out we’re in a fairly strong position,” Birt said. “We were going to bat first anyway but how it turned out … me and ‘Daws’ really stuck together and really fought it hard out there and yeah, we’re pretty happy with that.”The strong winds may have been to Dawson’s advantage as the umpires were forced to remove the bails after they kept blowing off. At one stage, Dawson appeared to play the ball into his stumps, but neither umpire could be sure that it had actually struck the wicket.

Scorecard

Australia warmed up for the fourth Test by dismissing Northamtonshire for just 169, on day two of their tour match, before allowing Simon Katich to make some useful runs ahead of the fourth Test on Thursday. Shaun Tait, who replaced Jason Gillespie and who is fighting for a Test place with Mike Kasprowicz, bowled with menace and took the first two wickets of the day, to improve his hopes of inclusion at Trent Bridge.Tait was expensive, conceding 52 runs from his 14 overs, but his pace was too much for Tim Roberts. He struck the opener on the head with a brutal ball, which drew blood and caused Roberts to retire hurt for 18. Tait then removed Usman Afzaal, shortly followed by Northants’ captain David Sales for a duck, perishing to a yorker. Kasprowicz, meanwhile, only picked up a single wicket, that of Riki Wessels. Wickets continued to tumble, with Glenn McGrath back to his metonomic best, taking three for 24 from 11 overs, and Northants were grateful for a battling innings by Ben Phillips, who remained unbeaten on 37.Phillips, like Roberts, was struck on the head – this time by McGrath – and he too retired hurt, albeit briefly. He struck a clutch of boundaries on his return to the crease but, despite his brave innings, he ran out of partners and his side were bundled out in just 50 overs for 169. The encouraging display of Tait was tempered, however, when he was forced off the field after being struck just below the knee in his follow-through, by Phillips.Australia promoted Simon Katich to open the innings, and they cruised to their hundred at 4 runs per over. Katich’s top score, in his last four Test innings, is 17, so his knock of 63 today was a welcome relief to the left-hander. He fell to Jason Brown, but Justin Langer continued his good form with an undefeated 86, in a partnership worth 114 runs with Damien Martyn, as Australia ended on 226 for two.

Displaying exemplary grit and determination, Hamish Marshall and JamesFranklin rescued the New Zealand Cricket Academy from a tight spot onthe opening day of their three day MRF Buchi Babu all India invitationtournament semifinal against Oil and Natural Gas Commission at the MAChidambaram stadium on Monday.Shortly before lunch, the New Zealand team lost their fifth wicketwith the total on 92. But for the rest of the day, Marshall andFranklin batted in commendable fashion in a rescue act that won theadmiration of the sparse crowd present. Not until shortly before closewas the partnership broken with Marshall being held by wicketkeeperSandeep Dogra off Amit Bhandari. But by that time he had got a welldeserved hundred and the New Zealand Academy were able to end the daywith the cushion of having made 252 for six off 95 overs.And yet if the afternoon and the evening belonged to the New Zealandside and Marshall and Franklin in particular, the morning’s honourswere claimed by ONGC and Bhandari in particular. Winning the toss, theNew Zealand Academy soon ran into trouble. Off the last ball of thefifth over, JAH Marshall was caught at point by Mithun Minhas offBhandari for ten in a total of 16. In the eleventh over – his sixth -Bhandari struck again. The other opening batsman MHW Papps who hadstruggled for 52 minutes and 27 balls to score five was leg before.That made the Kiwi team 20 for two.L Vincent who came next tried to counter attack but at 37, he hitRahul Sanghvi to substitute Amit Sharma at mid on and departed for 11.AJ Redmond and skipper JDP Oram seemed to have steadied the boat a bitby adding 38 runs for the fourth wicket off 11.2 overs. But Oram whohad dominated the partnership was then bowled by Sanghvi for 20.Bhandari then came back and had the obdurate Redmond caught at slip byGagan Khoda for 25, compiled off 92 balls and inclusive of five hitsto the ropes.At 92 for five, the back of the New Zealand team’s innings seemed tobe well and truly broken. But then followed the partnership betweenMarshall and Franklin which came as a blood transfusion for a sidesinking fast. Battling both the accurate bowling and the intense heat,the right handed Marshall and the left handed Franklin batted withassurance. They nursed the innings through the afternoon sessionadding just 64 runs but more important coming through unbroken. In thepost tea session the pair applied the pressure on the now wiltingbowlers.In the first round game against Districts XI, the 21-year-old Marshallfrom Northern Districts had scored an unbeaten 155. He then missed histeam’s quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. Carrying on from where heleft off against the Districts XI, Marshall played a number ofpleasing strokes. His batting was a blend of power, elegance andtiming. He was very much the dominant partner in the partnership butthe role of Franklin was no less important.Taking three boundaries off one over from Sanghvi, Marshall made hisintentions clear. The 20-year-old Franklin from Wellington too pressedon the accelerator and under pressure, the bowling became wayward.Showing no signs of nerves even in the 90s, Marshall raced to his 100shortly before close. He did not add another run though, the new ball,taken after 90 overs, getting rid of him. Marshall batted almost fivehours, faced 195 balls and hit 12 of them to the ropes. The sixthwicket partnership, which added 158 runs off 57.2 overs, has broughtthe New Zealand side right back into the game.Franklin however could not be dislodged and came in unbeaten with 64invaluable runs when stumps were drawn for the day. He has so farplayed 174 balls and has hit eight fours. But the chief honours of theday were still with Marshall. So impressed was manager Richard Hadleeby his performance that he got the entire team out of the dressingroom to enthusiastically cheer Marshall when he got to his hundred.His gesture, besides symbolising teamwork, was also a handsome tributeto a batsman who had done the most to revive the New Zealand side’shopes in the match.It must have been galling for ONGC to come out second best in a daywhich they had dominated for the first half. Bhandari however put in afine performance, borne out by his figures – 15-8-23-4. Unfortunatelynot much can be said in favour of the other bowlers. Both Sanghvi andVirendra Shewag, in particular were expensive and wilted under therelentless pressure put on them by the Franklin-Marshall association.