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ARL spinners Alamgir Khan and Sohail Tanveer restricted Saga to just 200 in their first innings on the first day of their Kardar Trophy match at ARL Ground here Thursday.Alamgir, bowling to a fine line and length, picked up five for 66 while Sohail proved equally good with the ball, conceding 67 runs for his four wickets.Shahzad Malik was the main scorer for Saga with 65, followed by Ashraf Ali who hit 45.In reply, ARL were 138 for four at the close of play, strike bowler Tahir Mughal inflicting the early damage with three for 43.Asim Butt and Manzoor Ali were together at the crease having collected 24 and 29 runs respectively.Centuries by opener Hasnain Alam (108) and Zia-ul-Haq (101) helped Army reach 385 in their first innings against PTV at Pindi Club Ground.Shiraz Khalid also batted well to contribute 61 while Ahmed Shah scored 47.Slow left-armer Nadeem Sikander captured six for 121 in 30.5 overs.PTV, in reply, were eight for no wicket in as many overs at stumps.Our Sports Reporter adds from Karachi: A superb opening partnership of 129 between Ali Hussain (87) and Mohammad Hafeez (84) led Sui Gas to a reasonable 293 for nine in their first innings against Karachi Port Trust (KPT) at UBL Sports Complex.KPT were 12 for no wicket at draw of stumps.Left-arm spinner Mohammad Sarfraz claimed five for 60 as Navy restricted Pakistan Education Board (PEB) to 210 for eight in the game at PCB Regional Academy Ground.Navy reached 42 for one at close of play.Pakistan Air Force (PAF) did well to curtail a strong KESC side to only 243 in their first innings at National Stadium.KESC, in fact, struggled for most of the day and only managed to recover thanks to a robust knock of 54 by tailender Tabish Khan.Tabish, who recently represented Karachi Whites in the National Under-19 Cricket Championship, slammed six fours and one six in his 44-ball innings.Wicket-keeper Amin-ur-Rehman was the other major scorer. He made 42 off 43 balls with the aid of four fours and a six.Mohammad Riaz, the slow left-armer, was the pick of PAF’s bowlers by returning splendid analysis of five for 89 in 34.1 overs.The airmen lost opener Shahid Khan cheaply to end the day on 22 for one.

The form book was well and truly thrown out of the window in the fourth round of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five as Singapore blew Group B wide open with a 69-run win over Afghanistan. With Jersey, USA and Nepal booking their semi-final places, it left Afghanistan and Singapore battling for the remaining spot.Afghanistan had been expected to maintain their unbeaten record against Singapore and, in a 30-over match, they appeared to be on course when they bowled Singapore out for 145. But in reply Afghanistan were skittled for 76, Chris Janik producing outstanding figures of 5 for 9 off just 3.2 overs.”It feels great, although it is all about the team. Afghanistan don’t lose every single game so it is a great win for us, especially since the game yesterday was rained off” Janik said adding “for a small country like Singapore with four million people it would be absolutely fantastic for us [to reach WCL Division Four]”.Taj Malik, coach of the Afghanistan team was extremely disappointed with the performance and believed the damp Jersey conditions were unfavourable to his side. “The weather has caused a lot of problems for us. We are never sure when we will start and whether the matches are reduced in overs,” said Malik. “The weather is the enemy of the Afghanistan cricket team.”But he still believes that his side is capable of qualifying for the semi-finals, although they will face a massive test against Jersey tomorrow knowing that even a win will not guarantee them a place in the top four. “I have told the guys they are still in the tournament and if we want to get a place in the semi-final then tomorrow is do or die.”The equation is further complicated by the washout of Singapore’s game against Japan on Sunday which might be replayed on Thursday, the official rest day.In other matches today, USA skipper Steve Massiah helped his side into the semi-finals of the competition with a solid all-round performance. Massiah was in excellent form with both bat and ball in a comprehensive six-wicket win over Germany to ensure that his side remains unbeaten at this event. Bowling first USA dismissed Germany for 104, with Massiah taking 2 for 11, before they reached their target with 4.5 overs to spare in a 33-over per side game.Nepal joined the USA in ensuring a top two place in Group A with a comfortable 137-run win over Vanuatu, although once again it may have been slightly disappointed with its batting performance. Mahesh Chhetri made 65 and Mahaboob Alam scored 34 as Nepal struggled to reach 220 for 9 in 46 overs in another game which had been reduced due to a delayed start. But once again Nepal’s bowling helped them recover and they never looked in any trouble as they bowled out Vanuatu for 83, with Paras Khadka the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 26. Nepal play the USA tomorrow to decide who finishes top of Group A.In Group B, Ryan Driver and Peter Gough were the heroes for Jersey as they coasted to a seven-wicket win over Botswana. “Four out of four … I couldn’t ask for anything more. We’ve got Afghanistan next so I hope we keep our winning run going and make it five from five,” said skipper Matt Hague. Another disciplined bowling performance, which saw Ryan Driver (3 for 10), Tony Carlyon (2 for 12) and Andy Dewhurst (2 for 19) share the wickets, dismissed Botswana for 66. And although Jersey didn’t look entirely comfortable, Peter Gough’s outstanding run with the bat continued as he made an unbeaten 39 not out.Hague admitted that he was looking forward to the challenge of taking on Afghanistan but believed his side had nothing to be afraid of. “We haven’t looked at them that much but looking at their scores they seem to quite go quite hard, but we fear nobody at the moment,” he said.There was a thrilling tie between Japan and Bahamas in another game which was reduced overs due to bad weather, with Japan narrowly failing to reach their target of 116 with a run out off the final ball of the match as they desperately tried to gain the second run that would have sealed the win.Mozambique registered an outstanding win over Norway by three wickets to gain their first victory of the tournament.

KARACHI, July 26: All the major Test centres of the country require minor modifications to help the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) fight against the menace of match-fixing.Col Nooruddin Khawaja, ACU’s regional security manager, Friday said the National Stadium and the Gaddafi Stadium were upto mark. But added that a little more improvement was essential.”I have surveyed and inspected all the stadia of the country, except the Multan Cricket Stadium. And except for minor improvements, the stadia look fine and in accordance to ACU’s universal procedures,” he said.He, for the sake of confidentiality, refused to highlight the `minor’ adjustments but emphasised that the stadia were built when the game was not marked by unsporting activities.”The stadia will be upgraded, not only in Pakistan but everywhere in the world because of something ugly things that have happened in the recent past. ACU’s task is to keep the sport as clean as a whistle and in that context, it has taken several measures. Upgradation of the stadia, including installation of surveillance or spy cameras, if required, is one of the standard procedures,” he said.He said the home board would be responsible for installation of modern equipment. He further said during international matches, he would report directly to the ACU if he had any suspicious.Noor said he would also be talking to the Pakistan players and would be informing them about the latest measures the ACU was taking to deter foul play. But he insisted that the ACU was not suffocating the players.”The cricketers will be briefed about the steps the ACU was taking and the cooperation it would be expecting from them. At the same time, the players will be given assurances that the ACU would neither be spying nor shadowing them.”The players are entitled to free movement and the ACU would maintain that sanctity. But the players need to be explained as to what happened in the past, and what needs to be done in future.”He said most of the recommendations of the ACU have been enforced. He said the contracts the players were signing nowadays with their parent boards included fresh clauses, including penalties and punishments the players were liable to, for violation of code of conduct.Interestingly, the ACU, that has a four million pounds budget and include highly paid officials from Scotland Yard, has failed to identify one single cricketer of being involved in match-fixing.Sir Paul Condon, chief of the ACU, recently claimed that the game was now free of corruption. But everyone believes thatmatch-fixing was still ripe but as always, without any proof.

Roger Telemachus and Andrew Hall have been recalled to the South African squad for the Standard Bank One-Day International Series against Australia which starts at the Wanderers on Friday.Also back in the side is captain Shaun Pollock, who missed all three Test matches against Australia because of injury, as well as the Free State pair of Boeta Dippenaar and Nicky Boje, who played in the first Test match but lost their places thereafter.There are no real surprises in the squad except, perhaps, for the inclusion of the occasionally inconsistent Telemachus, but with Allan Donald not considered and Nantie Hayward still making his way back from an ankle injury, he has been given another chances to resurrect a career that has had more than its fair share of stutters.Despite losing the Test series 2-1 to Australia, South Africa recently won the VB Series in Australia and will start favourites in the shortened form of the game against an Australian team rebuilding under new captain Ricky Ponting.The South African selectors also named a President’s XI to play India A in Chatsworth from March 22-24.South African squadShaun Pollock (captain), Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher (vice captain), Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Jonty Rhodes, Roger Telemachus.President’s XI: Loots Bosman, Arno Jacobs, Ahmed Amla, Justin Ontong, Hashim Amla,Gerald Dros (captain), Robin Peterson, Kruger van Wyk, Alfonso Thomas, Brendan Reddy, Mornantau Hayward. 12th Man: Lucky Dladla KwaZulu-Natal. Manager/Coaches: Hylton Ackerman and Raymond Booi

The Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath is understood to be on the verge of retiring from Test cricket. He wants to play solely in one-day cricket, with next year’s World Cup in South Africa as his target.”He spoke to me today and said he wants to retire from Tests,” said India’s chief selector Chandu Borde.Srinath, 32, has taken 232 wickets in 64 Tests, 13 of them in the recent five-match series in the West Indies.Srinath has been a mainstay of India’s attack for the past eight years, and was on India’s previous tour of England in 1996. If confirmed, his retirement would deplete India’s squad for the forthcoming four-Test series in England.

Herschelle Gibbs scored his seventh career century as South Africa outclassed Pakistan by 54 runs in the first match of the Morocco Cup Monday.Gibbs struck a flawless 114 and nullified Waqar Younis’s five for 38 to propel South Africa to an imposing 283 for nine. Pakistan, in their turn, never succeeded in building partnerships and were finally dismissed for 229.It was an excellent allround performance by the South Africans who were initially expected to be rusty after coming from the four-month lay-off. In their last assignment, there were routed by the Australians in both the Tests and one-day series.For Pakistan, it must be a timely wake-up call as they have entered into the competition as odds-on favourites after having won everything this year, including a 2-1 victory over Australia in the Super Challenge-II.When Shaun Pollock decided to make first use of the wicket after winning the toss, many thought he had made a mistake as the pitch was new and nobody was convinced how it would behave. And although Gary Kirsten was a victim to double paced wicket, the South Africans kept their cool. Gibbs controlled the proceedings and rest of the players just provided him the support from the other end by rotating the strike.South Africa were on course for a 300 plus score when Gibbs and Jonty Rhodes were batting. But a late charge by Waqar restricted South Africa to 283 when he picked three of his five wickets in the death overs.Gibbs struck everything from the centre of the willow and produced eight exquisite boundaries. High winds in the open area also allowed him to fetch three elegant sixes that had all the timing and minimum of power.Gibbs featured in two fruitful partnerships. For the third wicket with Nicky Boje (52), he added85 off 82 balls while for the fourth wicket with Rhodes (46), he put on 120 runs from 112 balls.Gibbs completed his century in style when he hit Saqlain Mushtaq gracefully and against the spin for a boundary. He picked up a boundary and a six off successive balls in the same over.Besides a disappointing performance from Saqlain, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq were also below-par, although it would be unjustified to blame Afridi because he is not a specialist bowler. He is a batsma-cum-bowler but the team management is bent upon making him a bowler-cum-batsman.When Pakistan batted in better and warmer conditions, Saeed Anwar and Imran Nazir provided them a good start when they posted 55 before things started to go wrong.Imran was worth watching when he played glorious drives during his 31-ball knock that produced nine boundaries. He scored 40 before being trapped in front of the wickets by Jacques Kallis who also accounted for Saeed.Afridi threw his bat around and picked up three fours and a six in his 29-ball 34 but he was fighting for a lost cause. Pakistan slim hopes ended when Rashid Latif was adjudged leg before by nudging the ball down the fine-leg and a couple of balls later Abdul Razzaq had his stumps shattered by Allan Donald.

Drop of the day
Jamie How tried to pull James Anderson on 4, the ball looping andskying to where a short fine leg would have positioned himself.England’s diminutive little wicketkeeper, Tim Ambrose, joggedbackwards quickly and made excellent ground, steadying himself all thewhile. The ball plopped into his gloves, panged off the middle fingerof his right hand, and plopped out again. England’s body languagehuffed disappointment and anger, as Ambrose plodded and moped,doubtless realising there were 46 more overs left in New Zealand’sinnings. Fortunately for him, How only lasted another four overs.Bat-snapping of the day
Several years ago Michael Atherton, the former England captain,wondered why someone couldn’t do the honourable, justifiable thing andbreak Glenn McGrath’s arm. It was a perfectly reasonable request,never more so when considering McGrath had dismissed him a record 19times. A similar tactic was employed today by Anderson, thoughchoosing to snap Brendon McCullum’s bat, not his arm. McCullum hadonly nudged the ball to midwicket yet the blade almost split in two,hanging on by the bat’s thin outer covering. Perhaps the replacementdidn’t feel right for McCullum, as he fell in Anderson’s next over,edging to first slip. “That’s the sign of a bat that has been kept fortoo long in a dry place,” Atherton noted. Perhaps he should havelocked McGrath in a greenhouse.Rookie mistake of the day
Welcome to captaincy, Kevin. Jacob Oram had calmly, almost anonymouslymoved onto 36 from 34 balls, and together with Scott Styris helped NewZealand recover from 124 for 4. Pietersen’s decision to stick withOwais Shah’s only occasional offbreaks, rather than the greaterability of Ravi Bopara’s nagging seamers, raised a few eyebrows, notto mention the spirits of the outnumbered New Zealand fans. Oramheaved him into the Mound Stand over midwicket before opening hisshoulders and depositing another six into the Edrich Stand to bring upa brutal fifty from 37 balls. Pietersen’s said yesterday that he would”be smoking a cigar at mid-off” if they achieved all their goals, butthere wasn’t hope of him even enjoying a spivvy little roll-up withOram (and later Stryis) threatening as they were.Completely in, emphatically out
It is nothing short of perplexing watching Ian Bell attempt to asserthimself. He began England’s chase in silky, oozy fashion, flickingKyle Mills for two beautifully timed fours through midwicket.Immediately, he showed his intent, class and authority at the crease,and he continued in the same vain against Mills later in his inningswhen he stood tall to drive him crisply off the back foot. The moresettled he looks, the more complacent he becomes, the greater theinfuriation for his fans. Rather predictably, on 27 he walked acrosshis stumps to Mark Gillespie and that was that; a soupcon of aninnings, once again leaving England impatiently hungry for more.

The suspense drama surrounding the Pakistan team for next month’s tourto England ended late Saturday evening when Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) named a 17-man squad, including former captain Wasim Akram.The PCB caught the cricket scribes wrong footed after saying earlierin the day that the announcement would be made next week after nonconsensus on the composition of the squad was reached.The team, which was undecided until 7.30pm, was given the final shapeby the PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia at 10.20pm who, using his vetopower, included Wasim as the 17th player.Wasim’s inclusion meant that Fazle Akbar, the Peshawar pacer who wasexpected to serve as the workhorse, missed the bus after asatisfactory performance in New Zealand last month.Also out of the 20-man provisional list announced Tuesday were openersImran Nazir and Shahid Afridi while left-handed opener Imran Farhatsneaked into the team by the skin of his teeth.Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar was also named in the side thoughhis fitness was still unknown. Shoaib, who has twice been reported fora suspect bowling action, was supposed to undergo a fitness test. Buthe didn’t, leaving big doubts whether he would survive the tour whichinclude four county matches, two Tests and the tri-nation one-dayseries.Shoaib hasn’t played competitive cricket since Feb 28 when he hobbledfrom the Dunedin ground during the fifth and final one-dayinternational because of a hamstring injury.Previously, Shoaib had also failed to complete the tour to the WestIndies and missed rest of 10-month cricket because of multipleinjuries.Interestingly, Australian Darrell Hair and Englishman Peter Willey whofirst reported him in November 1999 in the third Test at Perth, willbe officiating in the Lord’s Test starting May 17.A spokesman of the PCB said the team for the one-day series would beannounced later. He revealed no further details as to why there was adelay in the announcement of the team.The inclusion of Wasim Akram, even though as 17th member, confirmsthat the former captained played his cards right and made it into thesquad despite the fact that Waqar Younis was stubborn and adamant notto include him.However, it is a different issue altogether with Wasim finds a placein the playing line up in the presence of Waqar, Shoaib, MohammadSami, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmad.The demon leftarm pacer should have been an automatic choice as someof those selected are very ordinary pacers specially at Test level.The left-hander, who has 409 Test and 440 one-day wickets, has claimed53 wickets at 29 in his previous four Test tours to England. Besides,he has more than a decade experience of playing in English conditionswith Lancashire.Wasim, who will celebrate his 35th birthday on the penultimate day ofthe Old Trafford Test, his adopted county ground, has also scored2,815 runs at 22.52.While there were no other surprises, Mohammad Wasim earned theselectors nod after missing 13 months of international cricket.Wasim, who burst into international scene with a century on debut, hadplayed 18 Tests in five years which proves that the opener was notbeen allowed to establish in the Test side.Continuous reshuffling of his batting order and lack of propertechnique had combined to affect his overall performance at thehighest level.The team includes three openers, five middle-order batsmen, awicketkeeper, four fast bowlers, two allrounders and two spinners.Squad:Saeed Anwar, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Wasim (openers), Yousuf Youhana,Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Faisal Iqbal, Salim Elahi(middle-order batsmen), Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), Waqar Younis(captain), Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami (fast bowlers),Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razzaq (allrounders), Saqlain Mushtaq and MushtaqAhmad (spinners).Manager: Yawar SaeedBowling coach-cum-consultant: Daryl FosterTrainer: Dayle Naylor.

Surrey have offered Graeme Smith, South Africa’s Test captain, a lucrative long-term deal that could potentially require him to give up international cricket.ESPNcricinfo understands that Smith has been identified by Surrey as the perfect man to lead their rebuilding process after a season that saw the retirement of senior batsman Mark Ramprakash, the death of the talented Tom Maynard and the departure of former captain Rory Hamilton-Brown. Smith would open the batting and lead the side.It is not hard to see the attraction from Surrey’s point of view. Smith, who will be 32 in February, has played more than 100 Tests and, as captain, overseen South Africa’s ascent to No. 1 in the rankings. He averages almost 50 in Test cricket and scored a century in his 100th Test, against England at The Oval earlier this year.After years on the road, a period of relative stability in London might well prove attractive for Smith too. He has recently married – his wife is from Ireland – and had his first child. But, while Smith has achieved almost everything he could have wanted as a Test player and no longer warrants selection in South Africa’s T20I side, the ambition to win a World Cup remains strong.While it is possible that Surrey would consider signing Smith simply as an overseas player and be happy for him to continue his international career, it is understood from a source in South Africa that the club are looking for a long-term option and would be reluctant to accept a situation where a player comes and goes according to the international fixture list. South Africa are scheduled to play in the Champions Trophy in England next June and then tour Sri Lanka in July and August.Surrey declined to comment.

Rob Quiney, the Victoria opening batsman, is likely to become Australia’s 429th Test cricketer after he was called up as cover for the injured Shane Watson ahead of the first match against South Africa in Brisbane.John Inverarity’s selection panel chose 30-year-old Quiney as an in-form top order batsman rather than picking one of several allrounders who took part for Australia A against the South Africans at the SCG.His first innings 85 demonstrated confidence and poise, before an undefeated 11 in the second showing some steel against a revved up Dale Steyn.”It was good to have a good hit out against them, albeit the wicket in Sydney compared to the one we’re going to play on is going to be a bit different and to see Steyn crank it up today,” Quiney said. “It’s good to have a little taste of it but obviously you’re going to step up even more from this game.”I think I’ve been fairly consistent in the last 18 to 24 months, so that’s something I’ve been working on. Not such a great start in the Shield stuff for me this year but it’s an opportunity, it comes through timing, and if it does eventuate then I’m hoping to enjoy it, soak it up and do as best I can.”Given Watson’s calf injury history and the captain Michael Clarke’s preference for the allrounder to capable of bowling and batting whenever he plays, Quiney’s chances of being handed a baggy green cap on the first morning of the Test appear strong. No replacement player was named for Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, as he is making rapid progress in recovering from a hamstring niggle.Inverarity indicated that a call on Watson would be made “sooner rather than later”, and lauded Quiney for his consistent run-getting in recent summers. Last season he compiled 938 runs at 49.36, to follow up 724 at 42.58 in 2010-11. He had made a quite modest start to 2012-13 with only 68 runs in three matches, but there was plenty of fluency at the SCG.”Rob Quiney has impressed the NSP with his performances in all formats in recent years. He was particularly impressive in the Australia A game that concluded at the SCG today,” Inverarity said. “His 85 from 113 balls against the strong South African attack demonstrated a good range of shots and a sound technique. He is in good shape at the moment and he is ready to grasp his opportunity should he get the nod for Friday.”Rob is a mature player with an equable temperament who has been on the verge of higher honours for some time, and I note his achievements for Victoria were recognised last year when he was named State Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal evening.”Quiney’s first taste of national duty came when he was chosen in the squad but did not play any matches in a Twenty20 series against New Zealand in 2009. He has flown up from Sydney to Brisbane on Sunday night to join Australia’s Test 12.