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Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will face a disciplinary committee on April 1 and could be handed a life ban for breaching the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Code of Conduct. Legspinner Danish Kaneria will also face the committee after his criticism of the board’s central contracts policy.”I can confirm that the hearing will be conducted in Rawalpindi on April 1,” head of the five-man committee, retired lieutenant-general Muneer Hafeez told . Shoaib has also reportedly confirmed he would appear before the committee to present his case.Shoaib is on a two-year probation and if found guilty of violating the PCB code, could face a life ban. Last month he accused the PCB of double standards over the awarding of central contracts to players and criticised the facilities provided during a first-class match. He was not offered a central contract after a year plagued by injuries.In October last year, Shoaib was fined Rs 3.4 million (US$52,000 dollars) and banned for 13 matches for hitting his team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat, just days before the start of the ICC World Twenty20.He was also dropped from the 16-member squad to face Bangladesh in a five-ODI series at home, starting April 8.

Day 2
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

An outstanding spell of new-ball bowling and a resolute opening partnership changed the complexion of the Multan Test, putting West Indies in a comfortable position at the end of the second day. Jerome Taylor’s fiery five-for – his second in Tests – loosened Pakistan’s grip on the game before Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga, with a methodical 151-run partnership, consolidated the advantage.Pakistan didn’t look like the side that dominated the proceedings yesterday. A combination of Taylor’s fizz and Corey Collymore’s metronomic accuracy felled them from a commanding 263 for 4 to 357 all out. They didn’t have much joy on the field either with Gayle and Ganga blunting the new-ball pairing before frustrating the rest. Combining for their fifth century partnership, they cashed in on a belter of a pitch to become the first pair of West Indies openers to go past hundred in Pakistan.Both began uncertainly – three of Gayle’s four fours flew off the edge – but settled upon a sturdy foundation once they saw off the new ball. Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir, the matchwinners in the first Test at Lahore, had their moments but with the pitch easing out and both batsmen resolutely biding time, West Indies were in control.Danish Kaneria gained appreciable spin, nearly bowling Ganga behind the legs on one occasion, but the slow nature of the turn allowed the batsmen enough time to adjust their strokes. The faster men lost their bite once the ball got older and the introduction of Mohammad Hafeez, bowling his generous long-hops, didn’t help matters. Having plodded to his half-century in 101 deliveries, Gayle opened out emphatically towards the end of the day. Ganga maintained a steady rate but his ability to put away the loose balls allowed him to tick along just fine.It was a partnership in keeping with the methodical theme of the day after the bowlers had executed their plans splendidly this morning. Brimming with energy, Taylor exploited the life on the pitch. He ensured the line was outside, and sometimes wide, of off stump; he varied his length sensibly; and, most importantly, steamed in hard and hit the deck regularly.At the other end was the untiring Collymore, pounding in 15 overs on the trot, and finally, after what seemed an age, being rewarded for his efforts. He found the nick several times and endured a couple of grassed chances – by Runako Morton at gully and Dwayne Bravo at third slip – but hardly wavered in accuracy.Both bowlers realised that Pakistan would try and attack – which any team would’ve done when perched so comfortably – and used the conditions to their advantage. The tenth ball of the day, when Shoaib Malik edged a legcutter from Collymore, should have produced a wicket but Morton put down a sharp low catch. It didn’t take too long for the breakthrough to arrive: Taylor struck in the next over, squaring up Inzamam-ul-Haq with a good-length delivery outside off and inducing a healthy edge to the wicketkeeper.Having received the reprieve on 20, Malik decided to make the most of his luck and smashed four more fours. His luck finally ran out on 42 when Bravo, at third slip, dived right in front of Brian Lara at second and pulled off a sensational one-handed catch. Kamran Akmal chose the breezy route, falling after a 12-ball 17, but Abdul Razzaq chose to stagnate. His adhesive methods yielded just 16 in 89 balls and he didn’t show any intent to step up the rate, even when he was partnered by tailenders. He made no attempt to farm the strike and preferred to stonewall rather than shift gear. That he scored two fours at a time when Pakistan would have given anything to accelerate didn’t help matters.

Nottinghamshire’s Chris Read has been given a suspended one-match ban by the ECB as a result of his boundary bust-up with Mushtaq Ahmed at Hove earlier in the month. If Read transgresses again before the end of the 2007 season, the ban will be implemented.Read, who had already been given three penalty points for his part in the incident, will keep those on his record for two years. Under ECB disciplinary rules, any player who accumulates nine or more points in any two-year period automatically receives a ban.”I reiterate the apology I made on the day of the incident,” Read said after the hearing. “I would like to apologise again to all concerned for my actions. They were completely out of character and it won’t happen again.”Mushtaq, meanwhile, said that “these sort of things can happen”. He added: “People get angry when they are disappointed and I have every sympathy for Chris, who is a fine cricketer. We’ve shaken hands and as far as I’m concerned that is the end of it.”

Pakistan announced a 15-man squad for the World Cup shred of major surprises but seeped in uncertainty with the selection of three fast bowlers none of whom, for varying reasons, may make it to the Caribbean.After extensive deliberations, the PCB announced a squad that includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul. The announcement was delayed through the day as medical reports of the three players were examined, before finally the squad was unveiled in the afternoon.Of the trio, Shoaib and Asif are still under a cloud over the doping issue. Both players, like the rest of the squad, are due to undergo internal PCB drugs testing on February 17 and if, as experts fear, they still retain traces of Nandrolone, they are likely to face immediate bans.Salim Altaf, director operations, PCB, said that Shoaib and Asif are selected subject to clearance in the dope tests of which results are expected during the first week of March. “We will cross that bridge once the results come in,” said Altaf of what happens if they do test positive again.Additionally, all three are carrying injuries. Shoaib has just flown to London to consult specialists about what could be a recurrence of the serious knee injury which kept him out of cricket for most of last year.Concerns about Asif’s physical wellbeing are also enhanced, following a grueling workload during the current tour to South Africa. The niggle is a flare-up of the elbow troubles that forced him to miss three Tests in England last year.Gul missed the entire South Africa series with an ankle injury and though he maintains he is fit now, it has emerged that he was carrying a stress fracture which may or may not heal in time.Altaf added, “Shoaib and Gul are subject to clearance of injuries. We are having a second opinion on Shoaib in London because he has shown signs of wear and tear. As for Gul, enough time has elapsed now since he got the injury. He is bowling six overs with a full run-up and the panel feels he will be fit for the World Cup so he has been included in the team. If anyone is unfit he will be replaced.”The Pakistan board has been assured by the ICC that injured players named in the squad can be replaced before the World Cup begins.

Otherwise, the only eyebrow-raising selection is that of Danish Kaneria. The Karachi leggie, an integral component of Pakistan’s Test team, has rarely been part of Inzamam-ul-Haq’s ODI plans. He has only played 16 ODIs in a six-year career and since Inzamam and Bob Woolmer came together in June 2004, has appeared in only seven matches.Imran Nazir has also made a late burst into the squad, edging out the likes of Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat for the opening slot. Nazir was recalled to the Pakistan side during the current ODI series in South Africa, having been out of favour for over two years. He returned in some style, scoring a blazing 39-ball 57 in Pakistan’s win at Durban.And despite speculation, and mounting pressure on selectors to act, no wicketkeeping back-up is being taken for Kamran Akmal. Through the last year, Akmal has suffered a horrendous blip in form behind the stumps leading to suggestions, from Pakistan’s chief selector no less, to rest him and groom an understudy. It hasn’t happened and though Akmal has struggled as opener, his glovework in the ODIs against South Africa has shown some improvement.Azhar Mahmood, who made a surprise comeback to an injury-ravaged squad in South Africa, will not be given the chance to extend his fairytale return any further. With the nature of the injuries suffered by the fast bowlers, and those that Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed, as potential replacements, are suffering, a return cannot be entirely ruled out.Squad: 1 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 2 Younis Khan (vice-captain), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Imran Nazir, 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Kamran Akmal, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Mohammad Asif, 12 Umar Gul, 13 Danish Kaneria 14 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 15 Rao Iftikhar Anjum

Two eras will end at the SCG this week and the speed that Australia and England deal with the new beginnings will determine how they recover from the losses. In the green and gold corner Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne walk away with more than 1250 wickets that have won Australia every trophy on offer to them. And now Justin Langer is also stepping aside. For England this is the week when they officially hand back the Ashes.Warne’s goodbye began in Melbourne and now it is McGrath’s turn to wave to his home crowd and end a career that began in Perth 13 years ago. Together they have pushed Australia to No. 1 – and kept them there – but they have never been part of a 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Only one team, Warwick Armstrong’s 1920-21 outfit, has been responsible for such a demolition and the doubts of a repeat are created by rain, an unexpected England fightback or Australia re-discovering their dead-rubber syndrome.Showers are predicted for the first two days and are the most likely method of slowing Australia’s charge. England have talked of improving throughout the series without results – the fourth Test in Melbourne was given up in three days – and there is only a tiny chance the home team will relax for such a huge occasion.Australia got their hands on replicas of the Ashes after the third Test in Perth but at the end of the fifth game they will celebrate with the true prize, which is much larger and made of crystal, and will hope to do it with another win. Two of Australia’s greatest bowlers will be desperate to exit on a record-breaking high and it will help to dilute further the memories of 2005.

England’s rise was as sudden as their fall and Andrew Flintoff is in danger of joining JWHT Douglas, who suffered his fifth loss of the series in four days at the SCG. “We don’t want to leave this country having been turned over 5-0,” Flintoff said after the Melbourne loss. He also replied it was “a stinking question” when asked about avoiding the same result of 86 years ago.Despite the heavy list of defeats, England have few options for change apart from adding the offspinner Jamie Dalrymple to join Monty Panesar in a twin-spin attack. Australia did not bring Stuart MacGill, an SCG specialist, into their squad to avoid disrupting the fast-bowling balance and Andrew Symonds’ slow offerings will become useful if the pitch shows signs of turn.England enter the final Test of the tour in the same predicament as 2002-03, when Andy Caddick found some energy with ten wickets and they won despite Steve Waugh’s century to save his career. Andy Bichel, who was batting at No. 3, top scored for Australia in their second innings as they slipped for 226 and lost by 225 runs.England cannot rely on the trend continuing. With Ricky Ponting in charge, Australia have lost only one dead game and that was on an awful pitch in Mumbai. If Australia do find some trouble expect the team to rally around McGrath, Warne and Langer to send them off in fitting style.Australia (probable) Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Glenn McGrath.England (probable) Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff (capt), Chris Read (wk), Jamie Dalrymple, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Monty Panesar.

Shane Warne wants Australia’s next cricket coach to have international playing experience to bring on the country’s new generation of players.On Monday John Buchanan announced he would be ending his seven-year tenure as coach at the end of the World Cup in April. Warne, whose relationship with Buchanan was often strained, said he saw an opportunity for Australia to employ a coach with a Test-playing background.”I don’t have a preference, but I would like to see someone in the job who has international playing experience and understands actually what the guys are going through,” Warne said during the squad’s camp at Coolum, adding the role should be more of a manager than a coach.”We’ve gone through a stage where someone like John Buchanan thinks outside the box,” he said in a clear swipe at some of Buchanan’s less conventional methods. “Now we need a coach who has a cricket background. You need someone to reinforce some of the stuff that got you there in the first place, to make sure that you are doing that day in and day out.”Australian cricket is about to go through a transition stage where a lot of us will be leaving the team for one reason or another in the next couple of years. There will be lots of younger players coming through, so it will be nice to have someone who has played at international level to help teach the younger guys what the game is about because we are going to lose a few of the senior players.”Cricket Australia said the process of finding a successor to Buchanan would start next month, and those already tipped to be among the favourites are Tom Moody (Sri Lanka), Tim Nielsen (Australia’s centre of excellence), Greg Chappell (India) and Dav Whatmore (Bangladesh).

Ravi Bopara has turned down a lucrative offer to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in a bid to regain and cement a place in the England team. Bopara, who isn’t centrally contracted to the ECB and thus free to sign on with the IPL if Essex agree, said he was tempted by the money on offer but put his county first.”Of course when figures like these are put in front of you it is tempting, but my goal is to play regularly for England so I am confident that if I continue to score runs and take wickets for Essex then I will hopefully play for England this summer and for many years to come,” he told .”If I do this, and with the current talk of new competitions and one off matches to sit alongside the IPL, then I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy the financial benefits in years to come.”Bopara, 23, has reportedly declined a six-figure contract from an unnamed IPL franchise. Dimitri Mascarenhas, the Hampshire captain, is the only England player participating in the IPL but others, namely Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom, have expressed interest in signing on in the future.”Ravi is a highly-talented cricketer with bat and ball so it was inevitable he would be wanted for a competition like the IPL,” said Paul Grayson, the Essex coach. “We appreciate the loyalty Ravi has shown as he wants us to continue the progress we have made here at Essex after a good start to the season. I believe he has made a wise decision because if he keeps producing the goods for us he will have a long and successful career with England ahead of him.”Bopara has enjoyed a superb start to the county season, with 150 and 137 in the Championship and 99 in the Friends Provident Trophy. Six wickets at 18.00 are a boost to his hopes of an England comeback after he was dumped on return from a woeful tour of Sri Lanka last year.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Twenty20 victory over Australia would give his team momentum as they prepare to take on Pakistan in a one-day and Test series starting next month.”This victory, as well as the last ODI victory, will give us a lot of confidence. International cricket is more about confidence than technique,” Dhoni said after India beat Australia in the one-off Twenty20 International at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.”Gautam (Gambhir) and Robin (Uthappa) have matured and played aggressively,” he said while praising his side for coming out with a fearless outlook. “They are aggressive but at times they may fail trying for shots and they may be criticised for playing rash shots but that’s how it is.”The virgin pitch used for the game helped the spinners; Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik did not disappoint despite having to bowl in tough situations. “Kartik was preferred over Joginder because of conditions,” Dhoni said. “In India, we have to generally sacrifice the fourth seamer for second spinner. Today we batted well and bowled well but fielding was not good because of the bumpy ground. Everyone responded well to responsibilities given to them and that is why we won.”Dhoni’s counterpart, Ricky Ponting, felt his team did not get enough runs on the board. “We fell short by 15 runs. We gave away too many extras – 23 extras means four extra overs. We did it the other night also and we need to buck up,” he said. “Harabhan and Kartik bowled well. Gambhir batted well. We would like to play more matches against the new generation Indian players.”

The three-match one-day series between India and South Africa due to take place in Belfast at the end of June is in doubt after the broadcast deal between Zee TV and the Indian board reportedly fell through.”We have decided to scrap the deal,” Ashish Kaul, senior vice-president of Zee Group, told Press Trust of India. Zee and the BCCI signed a five-year deal worth around US$219 million last year, the terms of which obliged India to play up to 25 “home” ODIs outside the country. The deal was believed to have been scrapped after a meeting yesterday – it is not clear at which side’s instigation – and the BCCI are now in discussions with another broadcaster. The Irish board told Cricinfo that a statement will be released soon.Kaul said “the attitude of the BCCI” was to be blamed for the fall-out. “This is because of the double standards adopted by the BCCI. While Nimbus [who hold the telecast rights for matches played in India till 2008-09] were given a hefty rebate on the renegotiated price, they have not even bothered to discuss the issue with us. Also, apart from the Ireland and Scotland matches, they have not intimated us the whole calendar.”Nimbus are in talks with BCCI to reduce the rights acquisition amount from US$612 million for the losses incurred by the company due to the encryption row. However, no rebate figure has been agreed upon on yet.Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, was non-committal, though. He told Cricinfo: “Nothing is finalised yet. We’re working on it. Regarding the cancellation of the Ireland series, we can’t comment at this stage.”The series in Ireland was arranged by Warren Deutrom, the Irish Cricket Union’s CEO, and would have earned his board around US$600,000. The move had caused friction between the ICU and the ECB as the dates clashed with international matches in England.India and South Africa were both due to play one-off ODIs against Ireland before the main series, and those matches are also in doubt. South Africa will almost certainly not travel for that game alone, but India might still be persuaded to play games in Ireland as they are due to start their tour of England with a game against Pakistan in Glasgow on July 3.

Peter Fulton believes New Zealand’s final Super Eights match against Australia on Friday will be anything but a meaningless game even though both teams have already qualified for the last four. New Zealand have yet to reach a World Cup final, although they are now in their fifth semi-final.Ricky Ponting said New Zealand were playing “as well as anyone” in the Caribbean and represented a major danger to his side’s hopes of winning an unprecedented third straight World Cup title. “They set the benchmark, they’ve got a fantastic record in World Cups and they’ve been playing very well in this tournament,” Fulton said.”That’s going to be a big game for us. In some ways it will give us a pretty good indication of where we are.” Fulton said he didn’t care who New Zealand played in the semi-finals. “To be honest if you’re going to win the World Cup you’ll have to beat Australia at some stage,” he said. “I don’t think it really matters.”Fulton, who made his name as a middle-order batsman, was left on the sidelines at the start of the tournament but found himself drafted in to open alongside Stephen Fleming after a broken wrist ended Lou Vincent’s campaign. “Every time I go out there I’m feeling a little better adjusted to it,” said Fulton, who is averaging 31.50 in the World Cup.”I think if Stephen and I can get a big partnership going it’s going to increase our chances with our strong middle order. I haven’t done too much batting with him in the past but he’s a good guy to bat with, he’s pretty relaxed and keeps it pretty simple.”New Zealand bounced back from their six wicket-defeat by Sri Lanka on Thursday when they returned to Grenada’s National Stadium 48 hours later and beat South Africa by five wickets. That match saw New Zealand exploit early moisture in the pitch and helpful overcast conditions as they held South Africa to 193 for 7.”The first five to ten overs here are pretty crucial sometimes because the wickets are a little bit damp,” Fulton said. “So the onus is on the opening batsmen to get through that period to assess what’s going to be a good score and also maintain a strike rate.”As we saw South Africa got themselves in a little bit of trouble. The wicket was doing a bit but the fact they were so slow [after 10 overs they were 12 for 2] early on probably cost them in the end.”