The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Khulna Division made a solid start in the opening four-day match of the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 9th National Cricket League Friday as they declared their 1st innings at 303 for 9 in 82 overs on the first day against holders Dhaka Division.

In response, the hosts Dhaka Division were struggling at stumps on day one scoring 17 for 2 in 6 overs in their first innings at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

After the departure of openers Javed Omar 5, Mehrab Hossain Jr. 2, Anwar Hossain not out 2 and Mohammad Sharif not out 0 spent out the rest of the day for Dhaka Division. Pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Syed Rasel shared both the wickets for Khulna Division.

Earlier, two nice half centuries from national coloured Shakibul Hasan and lower order Abdur Razzak enabled Khulna Division to have a good start after being sent in to bat first.

Number five Shakib scored 78 runs off 125 balls with four fours and a six while Razzak contributed an unbeaten 78 off 80 balls clobbered with seven fours and four sixes.

Number three Tuashar Imran 36, Mashrafe 35 and Sahagir Hossain 24 also made some handy contributions in posting a big total.

Spinner Mosharraf Hossain Rubel and pacer Shahadat Hossain Razib took two wickets each for the reigning champions while Nadif Chowdhury, Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Ashraful and Mohammad Rafique took one wicket apiece.

In another match at the Bogra Shahid Chandu Stadium, Chittagong Division, after being put in to bat first by Barisal Division, made a shaky start on the first day as they managed only 176 for all in 62.4 overs in their first innings.

Dashing national top order batsman Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury contributed the innings highest 61 off 110 balls with six fours while number five Nazimuddin made 2nd highest 47 off 105 balls, including eight fours.

Sajedul Islam captured four wickets for 42 runs in 18 overs while pacer Talha Jubair bagged three wickets for 57 runs in 16 overs.

In reply, Barisal Division scored 61 for 2 in 20.2 overs in the first innings when the bails were drawn for the first day.

Skipper-cum-left-hand opener Shahriar Nafees and number five Raqibul Hasan were at the crease with 37 and 3 runs respectively.

Pacers duo Tareq Aziz Khan and Ashiqur Rahman took one wicket each.

In the day's other match at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium, runners up Rajshahi Division bowled Sylhet Division for only 141 in 77.4 overs in their first innings. There was a delayed start to the match due to wet outfield.

Sent in to bat first, opener Imtiaz Hossain's 35 and middle order Mushfiqur Rahim's 32 enabled Sylhet Division to reach around 150-mark.

Delwar Hossain and medium pacer Farhad Reza did the major damage as they scalped three wickets each for 31 and 33 runs respectively.

Mohammad Shahzada took two wickets while Mushfiqur Rahman and Suhrawardy Shuvo shared the other two wickets.

Brief score: Khulna Vs Dhaka:

Khulna 1st innings - 303 for 9 (dec) in 82 overs, Nazmus 2, Imrul 9, Tushar 36, Habibul 1, Shakib 78, Sahagir 24, Jamal 0, Mashrafe 35, Razzak 78*, Dollar 13, Rasel 11*; Mosharraf 2/60, Shahadat 2/67, Nadif 1/7, Sharif 1/38, Ashraful 1/47, Rafique 1/57.

Dhaka 1st innings - 17 for 2 in 6 overs; Javed 5, Mehrab (Jr) 2, Anwar 2*, Sharif 0*; Rasel 1/1, Mashrafe 1/14.

Chittagong Vs Barisal:

Chittagong 1st innings - 176 for all in 62.4 overs, Aftab 61, Nazimuddin 47, Sajidul 4/42, Talha 3/57.

Barisal 1st innings - 61 for 2 in 20.2 overs, Shahriar 37*, Raquibul 3*; Tarek 1/26, Ashiqur 1/26.

Sylhet Vs Rajshahi:

Sylhet 1st innings - 141 for all in 77.3 overs, Imtiaz 35, Mushfiqur 32, Farhad 3/33, Delwar 2/31.

BBC Online

England fast bowler Simon Jones has joined Worcestershire on a two-year deal after deciding to leave Glamorgan.

Jones, 28, starred in England's 2005 Ashes win, taking 18 wickets in four Tests against Australia.

But he has not played international cricket since then because of ankle and, more seriously, knee problems.

"This has the potential of being the club's biggest signing since the days of Ian Botham and Graham Dilley," said club director of cricket, Steve Rhodes.

"He is a proven strike bowler with the ability to reverse swing the ball very effectively.

"He has proved himself at the highest level but what has impressed me most during our discussions is his overwhelming desire to regain his England place."

The 28-year-old hopes the move will provide a fresh start to his career after injuries over the past two years.

"I'm really hungry to get back playing; to prove points to people," Jones told BBC Hereford & Worcester.

"There was quite a lot of interest and I had to turn down a couple of offers because I liked the Worcester offer so much.

"It's never been a financial thing; I wanted a new start and I think Worcester is the best place for me."

Jones said leaving Glamorgan after 12 years had been "very tough".

He continued: "It wasn't a nice feeling when I went in to see the chief executive, Mike Fatkin, to tell him - it was probably the hardest 10 minutes of my life.

"But he respected my wishes. He was obviously disappointed, but it was something I felt I needed to do."

Jones said having so many injuries had been "pulling your hair out stuff" but he was now working to hard to keep himself in "good nick".

And on his future international ambitions, he added: "I would never give them up and if things start well here with Worcestershire, you never know what could happen."

AFP, Mumbai

Holders India will renew their rivalry with Australia in the shortest form of the game when they square up here today (Saturday) in their first Twenty20 international after the world championship.

The Indians upset 50-over champions Australia in the semi- final before winning the inaugural competition in South Africa last month with a victory over arch-rivals Pakistan.

But a rude shock was in store for India as they were thrashed 4-2 by Ricky Ponting's men at home in the seven-match series, the last game of which the hosts won here on Wednesday.

Captain Ponting said the series had provided a good build-up to the Twenty20 outing but the thought of avenging their defeat in South Africa was not a motivation.

"We are looking forward to the game against a team that has just won a World Cup," Ponting told reporters here on Friday.

"There's nothing about trying to get even. We lost to the Indians in the T20 World Championship. We also lost the last game of the ODI series after being in a strong situation here. You lose some and win some.

"There would not be any sort of revenge, what is important is enjoying the game. It's an entertaining format."

Ponting also played down the talk around racial abuse of hard-hitting all-rounder Andrew Symonds-Australia's only black player-by sections of the crowd during the one-dayers.

"We are not concerned about crowd behaviour. The talk has been going around for the last one-and-a-half weeks for no fault of his (Symonds). We will just focus on playing good cricket and hope the crowds will enjoy it."

The Indian cricket board has promised stricter crowd-control measures for the game in the wake of the incidents in the last one-dayer where a photograph captured some fans making monkey gestures at Symonds.

Ponting also said that opener Matthew Hayden would most likely play after missing out on the last two matches because of a hip injury.

The Indians are without three celebrated seniors-Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid-who were also not part of the winning squad at the world championship.

Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and paceman Zaheer Khan, the two bowlers who impressed against Australia in the one-dayers, are also not part of the Twenty20 side.

Coming into the squad are aggressive openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who was the top scorer for India with 227 runs in seven matches in South Africa.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rohit Sharma.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee.

AFP, Lahore

South African cricket officials will meet to assess player safety before deciding whether to continue their tour of Pakistan after deadly blasts in Karachi, officials said Friday.

Two blasts ripped through a homecoming parade for former premier Benazir Bhutto late Thursday in attacks that killed at least 130 people and injured more than 400.

South Africa are due to play four more day-night internationals in Pakistan, including the final match scheduled for Karachi at the end of this month.

Their next match is in Lahore on Saturday.

"We will consult on the situation with Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials, with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and with the security officials on tour with us and then take a decision," team spokesman Michael Owen-Smith said.

CSA only agreed to send South Africa on the tour after receiving assurances of safety from their Pakistan counterparts.

New Zealand cancelled the remainder of their tour when a bomb blast outside their hotel killed 14 people, including nine French naval staff, in May 2002.

Owen-Smith said the safety of the players was paramount.

"The safety and security of the players are paramount at all times and everyone is shocked by the news. Our thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones and with those who are injured," the spokesman said.

Asked if the blasts had endangered the rest of the tour, Smith would only say: "At this point we can't speculate on this and will only decide after consultation with the CSA and PCB," said Smith.

South Africa have already played in Karachi during a two- match Test series which they won 1-0, and won their first one- dayer against the hosts in Lahore this week.

PCB director of cricket operations Zakir Khan said a meeting had been arranged to discuss the situation after the blasts.

He declined to say if the match in Karachi would be shifted to another city.

The southern port city has been considered a danger zone for international teams since the 2002 blast.

South Africa refused to play a match in Karachi on their last Pakistan tour in 2003. England refused to play a Test there in 2005.

AFP, Jamaica

Several attempts to save the life of former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer were unsuccessful, a nurse told the Coroner's Inquest here on Thursday.

Novelette Robinson, a registered nurse, who was assigned to the medical team for the Jamaica leg of the World Cup, said several attempts were made to save Woolmer's life after he was found in his hotel room unconscious on the morning of March 18.

Robinson said when she rushed to Woolmer's room she was surprised not to see him on his bed. He was found naked in the bathroom.

Before entering the bathroom, she said blood stains were seen on the bed.

She said she made her way into the bathroom, which first proved difficult because Woolmer's body was blocking the door.

"The first thing I felt for was the pulse, but there was none, then there was no response from the chest," she told coroner Patrick Murphy and the 11-member jury.

She said she administered CPR and chest compression, but "this did not work".

Robinson added that Dr. Asher Cooper arrived shortly after and he too administered CPR, this again failed.

She also told the inquest that the ambulance did not arrive at the hotel until about 11:40 a.m., almost one hour after she entered the Woolmer's room.

The coach, whose team, the day before was eliminated from the World Cup by an embarrassing defeat to Ireland, was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Dr. Herb Elliott, in a television interview on Tuesday, said when he entered Woolmer's room, the coach was still alive. It is not clear if he arrived before or after the nurse, but he is expected to testify later at the inquest.

An autopsy report by government pathologist, Dr. Ere Seshiah, ruled that Woolmer died from asphyxia caused by manual strangulation. But another examination by Dr. Nathaniel Cary, of the Metropolitan Police in London, showed he died from heart failure.

In an interesting situation, the hotel's information systems manager Lorraine Taite, who also took the stand, told the inquest that the team's physiotherapist Maurice Stephenson's room was opposite Woolmer's, but requested to be relocated.

Stephenson reported that he could not take the noise that was coming from near by and thus his request was granted.

Taite said after he was relocated, the key (swipe card) was use to enter the same room he removed from, but could not say who would have re-entered the room.

She was unable to say if another guest was given that room. The inquest continues on Friday.

BBC Online

Andy Murray put in a game performance against world number two Rafael Nadal but fell to a 7-6 6-4 defeat in the third round of the Madrid Masters.

Murray had the better of the opening exchanges but missed five early break-point chances and eventually lost the first set 7-5 on a tie-break.

The British number one then broke in the first game of the second set and had further chances to extend his lead.

But Nadal levelled at 4-4 and broke again to seal a thrilling victory.

"I had chances and I didn't take them," said Murray.

"It could have gone either way. I'm disappointed to lose but it was a good match, I learned from it.

"I'm happy that I'm back playing at this level and giving the world number two a great match."

Nadal had said before the match that Murray would be in the world's top six if he had not missed most of the summer with a wrist injury.

Murray produced a performance worthy of that billing, but ultimately Nadal showed the bit extra that takes you to number two in the world.

He staved off five break-points when Murray was dominating early on in the first set and turned up the heat to break as the set reached its climax.

Murray broke back impressively to force a tie-break, but once again Nadal found an edge when it mattered.

The first three games of the second set all went against the serve leaving Murray with the advantage.

He held two points for a double break at 4-2 but missed both with backhands that drifted wide.

And from that point on Nadal took over, breaking twice to seal a hard-fought victory.

Beckham returns in LA Galaxy draw

BBC Online

David Beckham returned from injury for Los Angeles Galaxy as the side extended their unbeaten run to seven games.

Beckham, who has been out with a knee injury since 29 August, came on after 68 minutes in the 1-1 draw with New York Red Bulls.

The midfielder failed to help his side to a sixth straight win but they still have a chance of making the play-offs.

LA now have to win their final game of the season against Chicago Fire on Sunday to keep their season alive.

Beckham lacked match fitness but his return could be the boost the side need after their recent good form has breathed new life into their season as they aim for a play-off spot.