14 Monday 17th October, 2011

The first Test between India and Australia is scheduled to Where do they have time and to address them- commence, as usual, on Boxing Day, December 26, 2011 at the selves to ‘chin music’ or defects in techniques Ground (MCG) when India starts a four which invariably creeps in over a period of time? Test series there. Have anybody thought of that, Chairman of Prior to that, India play a two-day game on 15-16 December Selectors, Technical Committee Chairman, against Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Manuka Oval at BCCI President including? Dhoni and Raina Canberra and a three-day match against the Chairman’s XI at With regard to bowlers, India was mortally the same venue. crippled in England when Zaheer Khan walked have been playing This is a slight improvement over their previous tour to out on the first day of first Test, never to return ‘Non-Stop Cricket’ England, but it is nowhere near playing a full-fledged Sheffield for the whole tour. (NSC=Test Shield side. India will face even bigger a humiliation in Having lost its Number 1 position, India is currently placed Australia if they gamble on Zaheer’s fitness once Match+ODI+T20+IP 3rd, behind England and South Africa, but ahead of Australia again. One major concern will be the drop in speed of at 4th. Lack of preparation, coupled with an air of casualness most of India’s fast bowlers. L+CLT20+CT ) all Raina through the year seemed to have brought about the downfall. If India loses the Javagal Srintah remains the fastest bowlers ever series here, they are in danger of sliding down further and fur- from India at 156 kmph which he clocked in 1999 tour of and whether their ther. South Africa. bodies and spirit How are the teams preparing for the most important series All the bowlers who started off around 145 kmph somehow have time to adjust in 2011 and 2012? have lost their pace in a very short time the most worrisome Have a look. being young Ishant Sharma who is losing his pace and form themselves to play India’s last ODI match against England is on 25 October, at an alarming rate. any more cricket 2011 and a T20 match on 29th October 2011 at Kolkota. India has Sreeshanth, minus temper tantrums is the best bowler been busy with a clutch of ODI and CLT-20’s. of the remaining, but there is no guarantee when he will effectively remains Australia will play a two-Test series in South Africa from 9- flare up; R. P. Singh who came to England as a tourist to be seen! At the 13 and 17-21, November 2011. After coming home, they have a replacement to Zaheer was a total misfit, having not rate they are going, two Test series against New Zealand from 1 to 5 December 2011, played competitive cricket for over a year. at Brisbane and 9 to 13, at Hobart. Munaf Patel though accurate often looks predictable. cricket administra- After having played Test matches in November and first Praveen Kumar can swing the ball both ways early tors please note, half of December Aussies are Test match - ready, rearing to though lacking in pace. there is a good play Boxing Day Test at MCG! Aaron perhaps is the fastest among current bowlers On the other hand, India having played their last Test but it may be unwise to straight away throw him into chance they may match against England in August 18-22, 2011, a good three the Boxing Day arena. beat James Last! months back, come to the Boxing Day match with an overdose For the first time in many years India’s spin played of ODI and T-20! second fiddle to England’s in summer. Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. looked very ordinary and listless compared to Swann. Laxman, who have not Bowling, pace or spin will remain a worry. played any form of cricket In , Australia will raise their bar and India’s will be returning for the fielding will be put to a severe test again. Tests in December. Whether If Australia seizes the initiative, catching up is not injuries to Sachin easy as we saw in England. Tendulkar, Virendra This tour will be the last for the Fab Four and Sehwag and Gautham whether they can make it count, remains to be seen. Ghambhir would have com- With not a perfect preparation for a hard and grind- pletely healed and will be ing tour, injuries to key players both in and ‘Test- match fit’ remains to bowling staring at the face, how the team fares against be seen. Australia will be anybody’s guess. In the 60s and 70s, James But miracles do happen in cricket... That remains Last, a German Composer, India’s fondest of hopes. released an Album called (cricketnext.com) ‘Non-Stop Dancing’, a brief recording of popular songs all tied together by dance beats and crowd noises. It became a big hit and he became an international star. He made 190 such Albums. Dhoni and Raina have Non Stop been playing ‘Non-Stop Cricket’ (NSC= Test Match+ODI+T20+- IPL+CLT20+CT ) all through the year and whether their bodies and spirit have time to adjust Cricket=ODI+T20 themselves to play any more cricket effectively remains to be seen! At the rate they are going, cricket administrators please note, there is a good chance they Dhoni may beat James Last! +IPL+CLT20+TEST

Jaffna Blind Youth in BY JOSEPH WILSON minute opener when he slid the ball over for Messi to shed two defenders winning start BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel and bring the goalkeeper to the ground Messi scored a double to lead Barcelona with a feint before rolling home. Debutants, Jaffna Blind Association, to a comfortable 3-0 win over Racing The Racing defense scrambled to recorded a convincing 67 run win over Santander on Saturday, while fellow deny Messi moments later but did not the fancied Sri Lanka Council for the nothing to stop Xavi from charging into Blind, in the 4th Annual Dilmah Argentine international Gonzalo Challenge Trophy tournament match Higuain netted a hat trick in Real the area to head Pedro Rodriguez’s conducted by the Sri Lanka Cricket Madrid’s 4-1 win over Real Betis. cross into the back of the net in the Association of the Visually Madrid had provisionally moved 27th. Handicapped. The match was played at ahead of its fierce rivals, but Messi kept In the second half, Racing appeared the Weeraketiya Pradeshiya Sabha the defending champions top of the more concerned with not receiving a Grounds. standings and a point ahead of Madrid thrashing than scoring, but Messi was Umakalan hit seven scorching with a goal in each half while Xavi well-placed to volley in a rebound of a boundaries and top scored with 50 and Hernandez added another in strike by Iniesta in the 68th. Kadishan, 30 with four bound- Barcelona’s third straight win. “We figured out how to get ahead in aries also batted well. Surprise pacesetter Levante can the first half and that helped us the rest Skipper Madhushankar bagged 3 for draw level with Barcelona with a victo- of the way,” said Barcelona midfielder 24 and Lalithkumar 2 for 17 for the Thiago Alcantara, whose team has Council. ry over Malaga on Sunday. SLCB were demolished for only 126 With 196 goals for Barcelona in all outscored its league opponents at Camp runs by Pullentherana, 3 for 24 and competitions, Messi moved past Laszlo Nou this season 21-0. Prakash 2 for 6. Kubala (194) into sole possession of sec- In the Spanish capital, Higuain Brief Scores: Jaffna Blind ond place on the club career scoring scored his third hat trick in 14 days Association 193 allout (Umakalan 50, list, behind only Cesar Rodriguez (235). after trebles for Madrid against Kadishan 30 not out, Madhushanker 3 “The only thing I have to do is give Espanyol and for Argentina against for 24 and Lalithkumar 2 for 17) him a shirt with the No. 10 on the back SLCB 126 all out in 22 overs and send him out to play,” Barcelona FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, (Lalithkumar 29 not out; Pulendrana coach Pep Guardiola said about Messi, ofArgentina, centre, reacts after scor- 3/24 and Prakash 2 for 6) who has 16 goals in 12 games overall ing his second goal against Racing this season and leads the Spanish Messi scores 2, Santander, during a Spanish La Liga league with 10 goals— two more than School for the Blind Tangalle, Higuain. soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium trounce Jaffna Blind Also Saturday, three of Spain’s “sec- in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 15, ond tier” teams all failed to win. Barcelona beat 2011. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Association Valencia was held to a 1-1 draw at Opener Mahesh smashed 174 not out Mallorca, Villarreal drew 0-0 at Getafe (27 boundaries) and put on 200 for the as both teams continue to disappoint, first with Janitha Vimukthi 80 and Atletico Madrid failed to score for Racing 3-0 (seven boundaries), which enabled the the third straight game as it finished 0-0 School for the Blind, Tangalle, to amass at Granada. ties I have,” Higuain said. “After all the a massive 363 for 4 , in their 4th As was expected against a team that Chile. Jorge Molina fired in a pass from Annual Dilmah Challenge Trophy crick- time I had to wait to play, now I am had only won twice ever at Camp Nou Following an evenly matched first strike partner Ruben Castro to give et tournament match played at the Sri enjoying it even more.” half, Madrid brushed Betis aside after Betis a moment of hope in the 69th, but Lanka Weeraketiya Pradeshiya Sabha stadium, Barcelona dominated Racing Elsewhere, Tomar Hemed’s injury- Higuain broke through less than a Higuain finished off a pair of assists in grounds on October 8. from the start, although the European time penalty kick salvaged a point for minute into the second half. the 70th and 73rd from fellow Argentina Kasum (4 for 20), destroyed their bat- champions had to cope with the early Mallorca against visiting Valencia in exit of defender Gerard Pique, who Marcelo the Betis defense international Angel Di Maria to keep ting for a paltry 75 all out in 23 overs to the debut of coach Joaquin Caparros. walked off with an injury to his right flat-footed with a long pass over the top Madrid perfect at home. give Tangalle a massive 283 run win. France defender Adil Rami scored Warnakula 2 for 12 and Erishan 2 for 15 thigh. that Cristiano Ronaldo chased down “I am happy, very happy for having from a corner to put Valencia ahead in also well. Pique had only recently returned inside the area and laid on for Higuain scored and helped the team,” said the 39th, but Hemed converted his third Brief Scores: from a muscle injury in his left leg and to tap home. Higuain, who had lost his starting role spot kick in two games to split the School for the Blind Tangalle 363 Barcelona is already without new sign- Once ahead, Madrid rolled. Kaka to Karim Benzema after a back injury points in the 93rd after Mehmet Topal for 3 wickets (Mahesh Ruwan 174 not ings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez extended the lead in the 59th with a sidelined him for a large stretch of last out, Janith Vimukthi 80 and Kasum 22 due to muscle tears. trademark curling right-footed strike season. handled the ball in the area. not out) Andres Iniesta, himself just back around the goalkeeper into the far side “A few weeks ago I wasn’t playing, Rami was shown a red card for Jaffna 75 all out (Jaheevan 13, from a leg injury, cued Barcelona’s 11th- of the net. but I am in the same form as before, insulting the referee following the Kasum 4 for 20, Warnakula 2 for 12 and just taking advantage of the opportuni- match. Krishna 2 for 15)