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According to Tuesday’s edition of The Guardian, Ed Giddins, the former Surrey and England seam bowler, is thought to be the man at the centre of gambling allegations, after it was revealed on Monday that the England & Wales Cricket Board is investigating claims that a player placed a bet on a county match.Although the ECB refused to name either the player or the match concerned, The Guardian has pointed the finger at Giddins, who retired from county cricket at the end of last season. It is suggested that he stood to earn £7,000 after allegedly betting that Surrey would lose a Norwich Union League game against Northamptonshire in August 2002.In the event, Giddins did not actually play in the match, although Northants nevertheless won by 102 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method. Surrey had fielded a weak team because most of their first-team players were at Headingley, preparing for a C&G Trophy semi-final against Yorkshire.”An allegation of betting has been made against a player,” said Andrew Walpole, the ECB’s media relations officer. “That matter is now in the hands of Gerard Elias, chairman of the disciplinary committee, and it is now up to him to make a decision.”ECB rules state that “no person may bet, whether directly or indirectly, for reward on any match, matches or series of matches, or any aspect of any match, matches, or series of matches”. In the wake of cricket’s match-fixing scandal, all international players, and all English county players, are required to sign an agreement to that effect. Rule-breakers face a ban of up to five years and an unlimited fine.Giddins is no stranger to controversy. In August 1996, he was sacked by Sussex and banned for 18 months after traces of cocaine were found during a routine blood test. He later joined Warwickshire, and played four Tests for England between August 1999 and June 2000, taking a remarkable 5 for 15 against Zimbabwe at Lord’s.

Shoaib Malik has threatened to sue an Indian family for alleging that he married their daughter in a ceremony conducted over the telephone five years ago.In a hurriedly-arranged press conference in Lahore on Tuesday, Malik confirmed he had a relationship with the girl, Ayesha but denied a (wedding ceremony) ever took place. “I liked Ayesha and I told my family about that,” Malik said. “Elders of both families discussed the matter but the chapter was closed after they couldn’t agree on certain things. I can never think of cheating on a girl and since it was something that disturbed me, I am here to clarify the matter.”Ayesha’s father, Mohammed Ahmed Siddiqui, claimed last week that Malik married her on June 3, 2002 before all but abandoning her and should be punished for it. “There should be a fatwa (legal religious announcement) against him. My demand to him is to accept the marriage and divorce my daughter. She does not want to go back to a cheater like him. And we want our life back,” Siddiqui told an Indian newspaper.Siddiqui claims that Ayesha met Malik in 2002 during a cricket match in Dubai, where she was working as the vice-principal of an international school. “It was Malik who called me up and asked for my daughter’s hand. Although I had objections to my daughter marrying a Pakistani boy, I agreed because both of them were keen,” Siddiqui said.Siddiqui said the couple married over the phone after a two-month courthship, with witnesses from both sides. “I have the (proof of marriage) issued by a judge in Sialkot,” he said. Siddiqui, however, was not willing to produce that proof of marriage: “I will not give it now because my lawyer has asked me not to say anything about it as my case might not succeed.”Malik’s camp, however, insist they were lied to over the identity of the girl and that the family is exploiting Malik’s fame and status as Pakistan captain. “We are not denying the fact that Malik had an affair with a girl named Ayesha on the internet almost six years ago,” Imran Zafar, Malik’s brother-in-law, said.”He had planned to marry her and Mohammad Siddiqui claimed she was his daughter. But the photographs they showed of Ayesha to Malik were not those of their real daughter. They had been cheating Malik.”He added that Malik will go to India soon to file a case for fraud against the Siddiqui family. “We cannot allow anybody to defame Malik like this,” he said.

India’s chances of fighting back from the 1-0 deficit against Australia have been dealt a huge blow with the news that Zaheer Khan, who missed the second Test in Sydney with a left heel injury, has been ruled out of the entire series. He has been ruled out for four to six weeks and will leave for India tomorrow while his replacement VRV Singh, the right-arm medium fast bowler, will fly to Australia on Friday.Zaheer has been India’s leading bowler over the last year – in nine Tests in 2007, he took 41 wickets at 25.73, including a nine-wicket haul in India’s win in Nottingham. However, he has also been plagued by fitness concerns. His current injury, which cropped up during practice a day before the second Test, was the same one that kept him out of the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore last month.Zaheer first picked up the injury during the one-dayers in England in August. He had a similar fitness problem on India’s last tour to Australia in 2003-04, pulling out of the second Test in Adelaide with hamstring trouble, playing the third match and then missing the fourth. He also pulled a muscle in his right leg during India’s next tour, to Pakistan, and was forced to fly home after the first Test in Multan.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said Sreesanth and Munaf Patel were not considered as neither had proved his match fitness. Munaf is recovering from back spasms that had ruled him out of the third Test against Pakistan.A shoulder injury has kept Sreesanth out of international cricket since the ODI series against Pakistan in November. He has ignored doctors’ advice to undergo surgery and has instead opted for ayurvedic treatment. The two have been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Friday, where they will work with Dav Whatmore. Sreesanth said he has been bowling at the nets and feels good about his recovery. “Even today I bowled at the NCA indoor nets,” Sreesanth said.These injuries are the latest in a series of fitness concerns for India’s fast bowlers. John Gloster, the team’s physiotherapist, had sent a 14-page report to the Indian board regarding the injuries suffered by the players. He said most players were forced to go through games carrying niggles because there was simply no time for them to either recover from injuries or do the rehabilitation work needed.VRV last played for India in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in May last year. He has taken 15 wickets at 33.26 in four Ranji matches for Punjab this season. He said the call-up was a godsend and that his experience of Australian conditions – he was one of three to receive the annual Border-Gavaskar scholarship in 2005 – would be valuable.”I was in Australia two years back and have some knowledge about the nature of pitches there,” he told . “I will play according to my strength and bowl according to the nature of the wicket. I hope to perform and do well.”

It may not have looked so at any stage of the seven days of Test cricket between India and South Africa so far, but the visiting batsmen did everything they could to prepare for their trial by spin.Led by Hashim Amla, who assistant coach Adrian Birrell has called “the most precise preparer for a match that I have ever met,” they conducted “very specific training,” to try and simulate the Indian spinners. Their specialist slow-bowing consultant Claude Henderson “threw,” in the words of Birrell, left-arm spin to get them used to facing Ravindra Jadeja. Birrell himself rolled back the years to his legspinning days to bowl like Amit Mishra although he was “not even close.” They brought in youngsters at every venue of the series to try and mimic R Ashwin’s threat. They batted on scuffed up pitches and put themselves under match pressure. Yet after all that, they have not been able to answer the challenge. Why?”Unfortunately, we are not quite as good as Ashwin,” a resigned Birrell said. In these conditions who is?”He is tighter than anyone else. He doesn’t give us any bad balls and maybe that’s been the difference,” Birrell said. “We dished up a few easy runs and yet we’ve had to fight for every run. He doesn’t give you those bad balls. He keeps the pressure on all the time, and he’s at the top of his game. He’s really in form and he’s an outstanding bowler. He can bowl on any surface.” And if South Africa can get the better of him, even in a dead rubber, they will leave India somewhat satisfied they achieved something.”We are here to fight,” Birrell said. “I like Hashim’s words – win or lose you need to put up an honourable fight. That was the case in this last Test and we’ll put up an honourable fight again in this Test. The guys are determined to put in a good performance.”South Africa may have conceded the series, but they have enough reason to regard the Delhi Test with as much importance as they would any other match. Another defeat would make it the first time since 2006, the same year they last lost a series away from home, that they have come second best thrice in a series. To win would require an effort in adaptability that seems beyond this South African line-up on although Birrell begs to differ.Like others in his camp, including Amla and du Plessis, Birrell expects turn again but unlike them, he was optimistic of an even contest. “We are playing in India so we expect the pitches to turn. This one looks like it will go more than three days. We are happy with what we see,” he said, referring to a strip which seems harder and less cracked than the one in Nagpur.Birrell also tried to distance the South African team from the criticism that clouded the Nagpur match, which seemed designed not to go full term. “We are not complaining. We are playing in India and we are playing in India’s conditions.”Instead, Birrell focused on the changing nature of Test cricket which has become more cut-throat and intense. “Look at it beyond India and more worldwide. There are a lot of Tests not going the full five days. There are very few draws,” he said. “The game is a lot faster. Runs per over are a lot quicker. I don’t think there are too many easy games. Every Test I have been involved in over the last two-and-a-half years has been very competitive and very tense. I think that’s good. It’s probably the way that Test cricket should be. It’s got to be tense and be competitive and there is a lot on the line.”With so much at stake, South Africa remain hopeful they will be able to use their premier pacemen Dale Steyn. who has not bowled since the first innings of the Mohali Test when he suffered a groin strain. Steyn will undergo another fitness test on Wednesday to determine his availability.The same wide berth may not be given to a few others. Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Vilas may be sweating over their sports, especially after Birrell hinted South Africa may make use of some their reserves. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were one or two other faces in the XI.”

Andrew Leipus has announced that he will be replaced by John Gloster as physiotherapist for the Indian team within a week’s time, but the BCCI denied this, saying that a couple of names were up for discussion, reported.”Yes,” said Leipus, “my replacement is ready. I will be handing over the charge to John within the next week and then go back to Australia to start my post-graduation studies.” Gloster was formerly the Bangladesh physiotherapist. He was one of two choices for the board, Leipus said. “Alex Kontouri and John were the people in mind. But since Alex was unavailable, John was the logical choice.”But SK Nair, the BCCI’s secretary, said he didn’t know why Leipus took names. “He is going and must have said something on the basis of the discussion we had with him.”The office-bearers will be meeting in Kolkata over the next couple of days. We have a couple of names in mind, but we will make a decision only after discussions.”

A few minutes into the tea interval at the North West Stadium on Sunday, just as the clouds above Potchefstroom started to look really threatening, a chirpy public address announcer declared that there was no need to worry, she’d phoned the weather bureau and it wasn’t going to rain. Talk about tempting fate.Within 10 minutes the covers were on and that was it for the day with Australia 218 for three in their first innings on the first day of their three-day game against South Africa `A’. Usually a bit of rain wouldn’t arouse a great deal of alarm, but this has not been a good summer for touring teams. India had the two first-class games outside the Test matches entirely washed out earlier in the season, and while the Indians’ lacklustre tour could not be entirely blamed on this, lack of preparation certainly didn’t help their cause.In this light, the Australians might already be ahead of the game. They had 60 overs at the crease and while the `A’ attack managed something their elders and betters had failed at in Australia – dismissing Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden cheaply – there was also time enough for Mark Waugh to find some sort of form with an attractive 62 while, weather permitting, new captain Ricky Ponting is poised to score the first century of their tour.When bad light forced the players off the field five minutes before the scheduled tea break, Ponting was not out on 93. It was not an entirely unblemished innings – he enjoyed a couple of slices of good fortune just after lunch – but it was the performance of a man wholly at ease with his game.He said afterwards that he had relaxed after the understandable excitement of his elevation to the one-day captaincy, and had slept well on Saturday night. It looked like it on a pitch that offered few favours to the batting team.Steve Waugh’s decision to bat first almost certainly had less to do with the conditions than to give his batsmen a feel of South African soil. By any standards the pitch is underprepared (through no fault of the North West authorities – the groundsman has been able to work on it for only one-and-a-half days out of the last 10 because of rain) and the Australians had to work for every run during the morning session as they ground out 74 for two.Well almost every run. Ponting announced himself with three successive boundaries off Charl Langeveldt, a passage of play all the more remarkable for what had come before.This South African `A’ attack is an oddly shaped beast with two frontline quicks and a third seamer, Andrew Hall, who has played one-day cricket for South Africa mainly as a batsman (he has bowled fewer than 40 overs in 18 ODIs). These three are backed by two spinners, Claude Henderson and Gulam Bodi and to suggest that, given the conditions, the whole is rather less than the sum of its parts, is to understate the case.Still, while Andre Nel, Langeveldt and Hall were all fresh, life was not easy for the Australian openers on a pitch that offered some movement off the surface, some swing through the air and uneven bounce on the first morning. Hayden made 18 before Hall straightened one down the line at him to trap him lbw and six balls from Hall later Langer dragged an attempted pull down onto his stumps for 12.In between the two wickets Ponting had clobbered his three boundaries off Langeveldt, but at lunch Australia would have felt they had been made to work for it. After the break, however, it was a different game. Ponting and Waugh smashed Hall out of the attack, 35 coming off four overs, and Dale Benkenstein’s gentle medium-pacers served only to allow the batsmen to adjust their timing.The chief spinner, Henderson, persisted in dropping one short an over, usually allowing a free hit through the off, and the Australian pair put on 125 in 122 minutes for the third wicket before Waugh contrived to chop another short one from Henderson straight to backward point.Ponting produced a pair of classic on drives off Henderson and Steve Waugh had one or two decent hits before the light went and although the captains agreed to turn on the floodlights during tea, rain had the final say.

Alton will clinch the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 championship tomorrow – provided they avoid their 13th match of the season proving unlucky on Southsea seafront.Leaders all season, Alton have swept to 12 successive wins, but are unlikely to find Portsmouth II much of a threat.The city club has lost its last six matches and are probably favourites to go down, alongside Flamingo, who host Hungerford at The Holt.If Australian Chris Baumann shines, fellow strugglers Waterlooville could end their relegation worries with a win over Hook & Newnham Basics.Also in the mire, but ten points clear of Waterlooville, are South Wilts II, who visit Southsea.Ventnor will all but clinch the runners-up spot behind Alton if they win at Leckford, but Trojans plan to battle it out until the end and need to beat Havant II at Stoneham Lane in order to stay up.Nigel le Bas returns to the Stoneham side.Paultons, aiming for a top five finish, visit Bashley (Rydal) II, with all-rounder Tony Richman in peak form.

KARACHI, Jan 22: Dogged half-centuries by Hanif-ur-Rehman and Imran Javed lifted National Bank out of trouble on a fluctuating opening day of the four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy pre-quarterfinal tie against Habib Bank at National Stadium on Wednesday.Opener Hanif struck a patient 81 and all-round Imran contributed an unbeaten 63 as NBP reached a commendable 276 for seven in their first innings at stumps.Test wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal also played a vital role to consolidate the innings. He made a breezy 49 off 69 balls during the seventh-wicket stand of 94 in 95 minutes with Imran. He stroked seven boundaries.NBP were off to horrendous start after HBL skipper Akram Raza inserted them in on a track that offered early life to the bowlers. Test reject Imran Nazir was caught in the slips off the second ball of the match for a duck.In the fourth over, Shahid Anwar, who played in One-day Internationals, also went without scoring. But Hanif and Naumanullah (25) then put on 59 for the third wicket.Stand-in captain Sajid Ali scored 27 while adding 49 for the fifth wicket with Hanif on either of lunch interval after another Test discard Qaiser Abbas went without troubling the scorer.Hanif’s 236-minute vigil finally ended just before tea. His 159-ball knock contained 11 fours and one six. Imran has so far hit seven fours in his 146-ball innings in 198 minutes.NBP went into this game without regular skipper and ex-Test leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who stayed back home because he was indisposed.ScoreboardNATIONAL BANK (1st Innings):Imran Nazir c Akram b Shahid 0Hanif-ur-Rehman c Tahir b Irfan 81Shahid Anwar c Akram b Sajid 0Naumanullah c Hasan b Asad 25Qaiser Abbas lbw b Irfan 0Sajid Ali c Tahir b Asad 27Imran Javed not out 63Kamran Akmal c Akram b Sajid 49Mohammad Javed not out 9EXTRAS (B-8, LB-9, W-3, NB-2) 22TOTAL (for seven wkts, 83 overs) 276FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-1, 3-60, 4-65, 5-104, 6-168, 7-262.TO BAT: Shabbir Ahmed, Zahid Saeed.BOWLING (to-date): Shahid Nazir 20-8-40-1 (1nb); Sajid Shah 16-4-41-2 (2w); Asadullah Butt 25-6-66-2; Irfan Fazil 13-1-67-2 (1nb, 1w); Akram Raza 3-0-20-0; Abdul Rehman 6-2-25-0.HABIB BANK: Riffatullah, Khaqan Arsal, Asadullah Butt, Hasan Raza, Mujahid Jamshed, Abdul Rehman, Akram Raza, Tahir Rasheed, Sajid Shah, Irfan Fazil, Shahid Nazir.UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Athar Zaidi.MATCH REFEREE: Mahmood Rasheed.

Sourav Ganguly has renewed his contract with Percept D’Mark for the next five years and the deal is believed to be in the region of Rs 50 crore. The agreement meant that Percept D’Mark will take care of Ganguly’s endorsements, appearances, interviews and promotional campaigns till 2008.The finalisation of the deal ends a contractual row between the Ganguly and the company that cropped up during their three-year association from 2000.Percept D’Mark’s CEO, Sanjay Lal, declined to share financial details of the agreement in the course of a conference at Bangalore. However sources said the deal is in the region of Rs 50 crore.Ganguly admitted that Nimbus had approach him with a deal, but conceded “we decided to continue with this commitment. This association till 2008 will be till I finish my career." This however was not a reference to his retirement and Ganguly pointed that even in 2008 he could renew the contract.

Durham have signed Ashley Noffke for the English season in 2005, making him the second overseas player in the team, after Mike Hussey. Noffke is no stranger to the rigours of county cricket, as he took 45 wickets in eight games for Middlesex in 2003. His consistency with the ball and reliability with the bat in the lower order – averaging 25.86 – made him a target when Durham were recruiting.Noffke was keyed up about the appointment, and spoke of performing well enough to help earn Durham promotion: “I am really excited about joining Durham. Their performance in the Totesport League this year indicates that there is huge potential in this squad and promotion should be in our sights for both forms of cricket next season. I am looking forward to playing a major role in helping the squad to achieve this.”Durham, for their part, were happy to have signed Noffke. “We are delighted that Ashley will be joining the squad next season,” said Martyn Moxon, their coach. “As well as being a superb bowler he is an enthusiastic fielder who will contribute immensely to our team in the field and to next year`s assault on the leagues. Ashley is an experienced cricketer who will bring an element of leadership to the squad that will help our local talent flourish.”David Harker, Durham’s chief executive, felt the same way: “Ashley and Mike’s commitment to Durham certainly brings us a step closer to becoming a strong force in domestic cricket. Between them they bring a great deal of talent and a wealth of knowledge to the squad which will undoubtedly help us to progress in a positive direction.”