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Harbhajan Singh has slammed the International Cricket Council for the confusion over the legality of his bowling action and claimed that the allegations had had an adverse effect on his performance during the recent series against Pakistan. Harbhajan, 24, was reported for a suspect action twice in the space of three months and wondered how many more times he would have to undergo a similar procedure to get his action cleared.”It’s very frustrating for me,” he told the Press Trust of India, “as I have lost my mental peace for no fault of mine but just due to a mere drama by ICC. Instead of concentrating on the game, I am just passing the time to wait for a clearance from the ICC.”Harbhajan said his lukewarm performance in the one-dayers against Pakistan, where he managed just three wickets in five games, was because of the uncertainty surrounding his action. “I could not fully concentrate on the game due to my disturbed mental status,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, but such a controversy always affects your performance.”Harbhajan’s action first came under scrutiny in 1998 before he was reported in December last year, on the tour of Bangladesh, and again in March during the series against Pakistan. “How many times [should] a bowler have to undergo the test, for which he has already been cleared,” Harbhajan asked. “I am playing international cricket for the last seven years and it is really frustrating that you have to undergo the test every time, whenever you are pointed out for the same suspect action.”Under the revamped bowling review procedure, Harbhajan had to undergo a biomechanical test within 21 days of his action being reported but the ICC had delayed the appointment of a panel, thereby hampering his plans of playing county cricket in England. “I wanted to participate in the English county championship,” he added, “but in such a state of mind how will I be able to do justice to the game and the club which I am going to represent.”

Discounting the occasional one-off charity matches which have grown in quantity of late, and which often are not that representative of genuine world sides, games involving Rest of the World teams have taken place surprisingly rarely. Until the 1960s, transport was the major obstacle to assembling the top players in the same place at the same time, but the expansion of accessible air travel, allied to television providing the financial muscle to support such ventures, meant that dreams became reality.Nevertheless, the earliest recorded first-class match featuring a side promoted as a World XI took place at Melbourne in March, 1862, when, rather bizarrely, they took on Surrey. And it was hardly a global side. All but one of the World XI were born in England – John Conway being the exception – and most played regularly in England. It was the only appearance that Thomas Hearne, the captain, ever made outside England.The first genuinely representative matches took place in September 1965 when an England XI took on a Rest of the World XI in three-day games at Scarborough and Lord’s. The Rest of the World side was selected by readers of the BBC’s listing magazine, Radio Times, and 40,000 took part in the poll. There was controversy from the off as Australia’s Norman O’Neill withdrew as a protest against the selection of West Indian Charlie Griffith whose action he considered unfair. Given the lateness in the season, it was unsurprising when rain spoiled an interesting finish in the first game and then prevented any play until the second afternoon at Lord’s. It was then agreed to play a 70-overs-a-side match, which the World won by nine wickets with Garry Sobers taking 5 for 22.The following year, the World Cricket Cup, sponsored by Rothmans, was launched. The format was simple. Three sides – England, the touring West Indies, and an impressive Rest of the World XI – playing each other once in 50-over matches at Lord’s. The public response was good (13,036 paid over the three days), the weather remained fine, and England beat West Indies in the final. This end-of-season festival was repeated in 1967 when Rest of the World beat Pakistan in the final.In the spring of that year, a Rest of the World side played Barbados at Bridgetown in a five-day match which was to mark the island’s independence. The game was something of a disappointment as Barbados were bowled out for 84 and lost by 262 runs with a day to spare.In 1968, Rothmans amended the format of their sponsored event. Instead of a triangular one-day tournament, a Rest of the World side played four first-class matches, against Hampshire, Kent, the Australians at Lord’s, the final match of their long tour which they won by eight wickets, and then an England XI at Scarborough. The tour was beset by problems from the moment Colin Bland arrived only to be immediately deported, and was not considered a great success.

In 1969 a World XI by another name – they were actually called an International Cavaliers XI – took on New Zealand at Scarborough and won by 11 runs. But the advent of the John Player County League, the first domestic one-day league, meant that the end-of-season Rest of the World games were considered one-day overkill and the concept was dropped. But the interlude was brief.The cancellation of the South Africa tour to England in 1970 led to the English authorities quickly arranging a five-match series against a Rest of the World side captained by Sobers. The team played only one other match, at the end of the summer, most returning to county commitments in between games. Marketed as Tests, with caps awarded to the England side, only later were they ruled by the authorities not to be. Rest of the World won the series 4-1.Again it was the scrapping of a South Africa tour – this time to Australia in 1971-72 – which led to the biggest campaign by a world side, undertaking, at short notice, a full tour. Again led by Sobers, Rest of the World fulfilled the commitments which any touring side would have, with five unofficial ‘Tests’ and seven other first-class matches. After an uncertain start – somewhat unsurprising given that the squad was assembled at little more than a month’s notice – the crowds caught on and World XI came from behind to win 2-1. The highlights of the summer were Sobers’s brilliant 254 at Melbourne and the emergence of Dennis Lillee as a world-class fast bowler.In the early to mid 1970s, the International Cavaliers, a quasi- Rest of the World side, regularly toured Rhodesia and South Africa before international sanctions began to bite. In 1973-74, a side billed as Rest of the World, but in essence made up of largely second-string English and West Indian players, played two matches in Pakistan.The REST OF THE WORLD concept returned with the advent of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in 1977. There were enough Australians and West Indians to cobble together two teams, and a third side – the WSC World XI – was fielded from the remnants, although in the first year there were insufficient of those so a few West Indians had to double up. In the second season, the WSC World XI had a far more global feel although it was still made up from England, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies.

In 1987, MCC celebrated its bicentenary with a five-day match between it and a Rest of the World side which was probably the strongest – and certainly the most representative – up to that point. In front of capacity crowds, bat dominated ball for four days, and a thrilling finale was only scuppered by rain which washed out the final day. The Rest of the World had warmed up with two three-day games at Gloucester and Old Trafford, but the Lancashire match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.That was the last first-class match involving a genuine Rest of the World side, although there have been an increasing number of one-day matches, almost all for charity, since then. Between 1988 and 1995 various sides labelled as Rest of the World did appear in festival matches in England, but they were rarely representative nor did they feature anything like the best players, more the best who happened not to be doing anything else at the time and were in the country.The most high-profile matches between 1987 and the advent of the ICC Super Series have been the ones for the Diana Memorial in 1998 and the various Tsunami relief matches in 2005.

Charl Langeveldt seems certain to miss the remainder of the Test series against England after breaking a bone in his left hand, although he will be able to play in the remainder of the Cape Town Test.Langeveldt was struck on the hand while trying to avoid a bouncer from Andrew Flintoff. Although he continued his innings, he was clearly in some distress and he remained in the dressing-room as England’s innings started while the medical team assessed his injury. He later took the field after a pain-killing injection and with his hand in a splint.A subsequent X-ray revealed that Langeveldt had suffered a displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal, which almost certainly rules him out of the rest of the Test series and might mean that he will not play again this season.

A week on from Brian Lara’s epic quadruple-century against England in Antigua, and the backlash has begun Down Under. None other than Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, is leading a chorus of players and commentators who believe that Lara’s innings was self-centred, and has done the game more harm than good.”It’s hard to imagine an Australian player doing it,” Ponting told AAP, notwithstanding the fact that Matthew Hayden came within 20 runs of doing exactly that against Zimbabwe last October. "It’s generally not the way we play our cricket. Their whole first innings might have been geared around one individual performance and they could have let a Test match slip because of it. They ran out of time in the game – that’s not the way the Australian team plays.”Nevertheless, Ponting conceded that Hayden’s 380 at Perth did involve an exception to the team rule, as he was allowed to carry on batting with the record in sight. "It was a very rare thing, for Matty to be able to bat for as long as he did and go on and make that big score,” said Ponting. “He was given the opportunity to go on and break Brian’s record and he did that. He was going to be given another half an hour, or 20 minutes, to try to get to 400 but unfortunately he got out.”Ponting is one of a clutch of batsmen with the ability to overhaul Lara’s new record, although he was adamant that the team always comes first where Australian cricket is concerned. “Everyone will be chasing it, and it would be nice to be the world-record holder,” he admitted, "but as we’ve seen, it doesn’t necessarily win you a Test match, which is what we’re all about.” Mind you, if Australia’s Test series goes ahead against the weakened Zimbabweans next month, victory will be a foregone conclusion even before any thoughts turn to the record-books.Ponting’s sentiments have struck a chord with the former England captain and leading commentator, Tony Greig. “I’m certainly not raving about the innings,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I have to praise it for the sheer fact that he stayed in for so long but it wasn’t an innings that you could be in awe of. It was clear he had the record in mind and was just going to keep on grinding it out until he got there. As far as I’m concerned that is not a good way to play the game, especially when you’re the captain. It shows that Brian Lara is not a very good captain.””It gives cricket fans there the chance to be euphoric for a while," added the ABC commentator, Jim Maxwell, "but there are big problems in cricket over there. There’s a lack of discipline, a lack of talent and the wrong people are in charge. Lara has been an inconsistent performer as leader. He’s 34 and this innings will give him more time, that’s all. It’s a shame because there are a lot of people over there who love cricket. But it’s fallen apart.”But Derrick Nicholas, the chief operations manager of the West Indies Cricket Board, had quite the opposite view. “It’s quite extraordinary,” he said. “I was in Antigua when he broke the record. The tributes were coming in from all the [Caribbean] heads of government; the feeling around the whole Caribbean has been fantastic. We believe Brian’s innings will renew interest from children in cricket.”

An Indian fan was taken into custody in connection with an assault in oneof the hospitality boxes adjoining the Indian dressing-room at SuperSportPark in Centurion. The man, who is also alleged to have thrown a bottle atZaheer Khan, apparently manhandled a woman when she tried to prevent himfrom gaining access to the dressing-room.The Indian players had been subjected to vile abuse throughout the day,with even stalwarts like Rahul Dravid singled out forintensely personal barbs. Towards the end of the Indian innings, some fansasked Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan to come down and sign autographs. Theplayers are not allowed to do so, and the mood then turned ugly.As South Africa breezed towards the target, the abuse in both Hindi andGujarati became much more strident. And when the players came down for thepresentation ceremony, there was further heckling. According to a sourcewithin the Indian team, the same group had derided the players’ efforts atDurban and Cape Town as well.Following the presentation, Zaheer is said to have asked the securitystaff to bring the man to him. When confronted with him, Zaheer apparentlyasked him why he had thrown the bottle. He then walked away, but theindividual wasn’t prepared to let it go at that.He went around to the hospitality box and tried to force his way into thedressing-room through there. When he started manhandling the lady, herdaughter raised the alarm, and security staff apprehended him and took himinto custody. The authorities are currently trying to locate the womaninvolved in the incident to get her version of events.Corne Meyer, who handles security for the event sponsors, said that a manhad indeed been found trespassing in the dressing-room area, but declinedto comment till he had further investigated the matter.”Nothing untoward happened inside the dressing-room, and the securitypersonnel quickly got the man out of there,” said Rajan Nair, the Indianteam’s media manager when quizzed about the incident. The NorthernsCricket Union is also investigating the matter which, if true, involves aserious security breach.

After the heat of seaside Galle, the cool of hill-country Kandy. Sri Lankacome to the island’s most sacred city looking for a change in fortunes. Australia, though, have momentum on their side, and a pace attack that is pawing the ground in anticipation of a pitch that promises them greater life than the turgid surface at Galle.Sri Lanka are under pressure. They have not lost a home series since March2001, but to lose the first Test at a venue where they had traditionally beenso strong – just one defeat in nine matches prior to Australia’s 197-runwin – was a terrible start. In Kandy, their record is mixed: four wins, fourlosses and seven draws.Hashan Tillakaratne, though, says that Sri Lanka start afresh. “We were alldisappointed by what happened in the first Test, but that is all history now.We have analysed where we went wrong and we have to tighten up our game alittle. We can’t relax this time because Australia have shown that they cando extraordinary things when you do.”Shane Warne provided the greatest threat with the ball during a fairytalereturn to international cricket, claiming 10 for 159, and Tillakaratnebelieves that his top order must be bolder in their approach. “We all know what a great bowler that he is,” said Tillakaratne, “but we were a little negative against him I thought, especially on the third morning. We defended him too much and there were too many dot-balls.”Sri Lanka’s bowling – Muttiah Muralitharan apart – was also a concern inthe second innings. This time Tillakaratne, who says Sri Lanka are likely toplay two quick bowlers, wants better support for Murali. “We didn’t give the support he needed and there were not enough dot balls bowled.” Nuwan Zoysa is expected to return for the first time since Sri Lanka’s tour of England in 2002.Sri Lanka are hopeful that both Thilan Samaraweera (groin injury) and SanathJayasuriya (hand injury) will pass late fitness tests on Tuesday morning. Bothwere rated as being 80% fit on Sunday, and Tillakaratne was confident that they would be available for selection.There has also been some concern over Muralitharan himself. He is poised to join the elite 500-wicket club, but has struggling with a stomach upset. Again, Tillakaratne expects him to play. Nothing less than severe salmonella, it seems, will keep him out of a match in front of his home crowd.Australia have fewer concerns. Michael Kasprowicz is fast approaching fullfitness, and there are no other injury worries. Their biggest conundrum isthe balance of their side. Although they won so convincingly at Galle, twochanges are possible as they consider beefing up their fast-bowling attack.Kandy’s pitch traditionally offers fast bowlers greater assistance thanGalle, especially with the new ball. This surface is perhaps a little drierthan the norm, despite wet weather during recent days, but there issufficient grass on the surface for Australia to consider calling up BradWilliams in place of Stuart MacGill.That would be a very tough decision, with MacGill having taken four wicketsin the second innings at Galle, but Ricky Ponting insists that whenconditions warrant changes, you “just have to bite the bullet”. But Australiaare still not 100% sure about their strategy, because spin will play a moresignificant role in the second innings.”Its hard to say what we are going to do at the moment because we are unsureabout the conditions,” Ponting told reporters at the team hotel. “We did notreally know what to make of the wicket yesterday. There might be some moregrass than expected. If that is the case, we will have to have a look at themake-up of the side.”If Williams is drafted into the XI then that might also prompt changes tothe batting line-up. Andrew Symonds was primarily selected ahead of SimonKatich in the first Test because he offered the back-up option of somemedium-pace. “If you look back at why we made the tough call on Simon [Katich] in the last game, it was because we thought we might need another medium-paceoption,” revealed Ponting. “If we decide to go with three quicks here, thenKatich might get a chance back in the side.”Whatever way Australia go, Ponting is confident that his team can wrap upthe series. “We adjusted really well to conditions in Galle and it would benice to be able to win here. We certainly all feel in pretty good touch andare feeling confident.”Australia, though, have unhappy memories of this venue. In 1999 they lost bysix wickets. Worse, there was a horrific fielding collision between SteveWaugh and Jason Gillespie, who broke his leg and had to be airlifted toColombo in an army helicopter.But Kandy’s reputation for producing the bizarre is not reserved for touringsides. Sri Lanka lost three nailbiting and controversial Tests between 2000and 2001, and last year, Marvan Atapattu suffered severe concussion after acollision with Daniel Vettori.The preparation of both teams has been hampered by poor weather. Both sideswere unable to practise on Monday, and Sri Lanka’s afternoon net session wascut short by rain. The weather forecast for tomorrow also suggests the possibility of showers.Sri Lanka (from): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 6 Tillakartne Dilshan, 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan, 12 Avishka Gunawardene, 13 Nuwan Kulasekara, 14 Rangana Herath, 15 Kaushal Lokuarachchi.Australia (from): 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Michael Kasprowizc, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Brad Williams, 12 Stuart MacGill, 13 Shaun Tait, 14 Wade Seccombe (wk), 15 Andrew Symonds.

Duncan Fletcher has agreed a new contract that will make him England’s longest-serving coach, and will formally put pen to paper in the next few days.Fletcher’s current deal runs out at the end of the 2004 English season, and there has been considerable media speculation over his future, with suggestions that he was considering a return to county cricket. But after a few weeks relaxing in Cape Town, Fletcher has decided to commit himself further to the England cause.The England & Wales Cricket Board had been pushing for him to sign a deal which would have kept him in the job until the end of the 2007 World Cup, but Fletcher, who is 55, was reluctant to commit that far ahead. Instead the compromise of an open-ended arrangement was agreed.”We believe that the new arrangement removes the scope for distractingannual speculation,” said John Carr, the ECB’s director of cricket. “The decision to move Duncan from a fixed-term contract to a staff contractdemonstrates the board’s own commitment to him and his own commitment to theEngland cause.”Fletcher replaced David Lloyd as England coach in 1999, after successful spells with Western Province and Glamorgan. Apart from two series defeats against Australia, he is widely considered to have done a good job and the news of the new contract will be a boost to England at the start of a hectic year of international cricket.

All Today’s Yesterdays – November 13 down the yearsNovember 12 | November 141995
Another Gabba masterclass from Shane Warne helped Australia rout Pakistan by an innings and 126 runs in the first Test at Brisbane. A year earlier he had taken 11 for 110 against England, and 11 for 77 here gave him 30 wickets in three Brisbane Tests at an average of 10.40. Australia bossed the game from the start. Steve Waugh’s 112 helped them to 463, and in reply Pakistan fell apart for 97, with Warne taking 7 for 23. After they were asked to follow on, Aamir Sohail laced 99, but there was no escape for Pakistan. The nail in the coffin came when Salim Malik, who had been recently accused of attempted bribery by Shane Warne, fell to him for a fourth-ball duck. The Wisden Almanack said that Warne was “cast in the role of avenging angel”.1858
Birth of the only Greek scholar to captain Australia. Percy “Greatheart” McDonnell was a brilliant attacking batsman whose outstanding footwork and hand-eye co-ordination helped him excel on wet wickets. His best innings probably came in the third Test against England at Sydney in 1881-82. McDonnell made 147, adding 199 with Charles Bannerman, who made 70. The rest of the batsmen mustered only 29 between them. He died in Brisbane in 1896 after a long illness, aged only 37.1996
Waqar Younis sliced through the New Zealand top order to give Pakistan a four-wicket victory in the one-dayer at Sharjah. Waqar took 6 for 44 and at one point New Zealand were 60 for 6. They recovered to 192 thanks to a seventh-wicket partnership of 117 between Adam Parore (78) and Lee Germon (52). But despite a late flurry of wickets, Pakistan were never in danger of losing after Saeed Anwar slammed 54 off 37 balls. Whereas New Zealand only managed six fours in their entire innings, Pakistan hit five sixes as well as 11 fours.1951
Australia came out on top in a fascinating battle against Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin at Brisbane. They won the first Test by three wickets, scraping to a victory target of 236 in a low-scoring game. Ramadhin and Valentine bowled 129.7 of 150.4 overs, a whopping 86%. They gave the Aussies all sorts of problems – the only batsman to reach 50 was Ray Lindwall, who had fortune on his side as he swung savagely in the first innings, but they squeezed home thanks to an unbeaten 45 from Graeme Hole.1906
Charles Gregory cracked a mighty 383 for New South Wales against Queensland at Brisbane, the 12th-highest score in first-class history. At the time it was an Australian record. The Wisden Almanack described it as “a record in Australia in good-class cricket”, but said “his play was disfigured by three chances”.1990
In the third one-dayer at Multan, Gordon Greenidge became the sixth batsman to make 5000 one-day runs, but his crawling 110-ball 35 was partly responsible for West Indies’ defeat. Pakistan made 168 for 9 from their 50 overs, with Imran Khan making an unbeaten 46, but West Indies were strangely subdued in their reply. They hit only seven fours in a total of 137 for 7 and were beaten by 31 runs. It gave Pakistan a clean sweep – only the second time West Indies had lost a one-day series 3-0. The first was against England, Monte Lynch and all, in 1988.1998
The Champions Trophy final at Sharjah turned into one of the bigger mismatches in one-day history. Zimbabwe only managed 196 for 9 thanks to an eighth-wicket partnership of 58 between Paul Strang and Eddo Brandes, and Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar flashed India to victory with exactly 20 overs to spare. Tendulkar gave a regal display, carting 124 off only 92 balls, with 12 fours and six sixes. It was his 21st one-day ton.Other birthdays
1901 James Neblett (West Indies)
1940 Jack Birkenshaw (England)
1944 Ken Shuttleworth (England)

England A’s captain, Alex Gidman, is flying home from the tour to India after failing to recover from a hand injury.Gidman sustained the injury before Christmas, after being struck in the nets at Loughborough by his team-mate Simon Jones. Though he was passed fit for the tour, and made 21 not out in the opening match in Malaysia, he has been unable to practice since due to continuing discomfort.An England & Wales Cricket Board spokesman said that Gidman would be flying home from Madras later this week, while Gloucestershire’s website added that he was returning “for rest and treatment, having visited two specialists” in India.Gidman, 22, had been a surprise choice as captain, as he had only completed one full season of county cricket. But he was a pivotal figure in a successful season, and even hit the winning runs in the C&G Trophy final. One of his biggest fans was the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, who said: “I’ve been mightily impressed with Alex since I first saw him playing for Gloucestershire. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him playing international cricket sooner rather than later.”James Tredwell has taken charge of the team since Gidman’s injury, and will continue to lead them for the rest of the tour.

Persistant rain throughout the day, meant Hampshire and Durham had to sit out the 3rd day of the Frizzell County Championship match at the Rose Bowl.Umpires Graham Burgess and David Constant called an end to proceedings just after the tea interval.With just one day remaining, Hampshire chances of recording their first Championship win of the season have dropped considerably.