The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Auckland

New Zealand's cricketers have been told to shape up or face the axe in the one-day series against Bangladesh which starts on Wednesday as they look to recover from a torrid past nine weeks.

New Zealand have never lost a one-day international to Bangladesh in eight encounters.

But such has been their wretched form in New Zealand's recent back-to-back tours to South Africa and Australia that they cannot look towards this three-match series against the reputed easybeats with confidence.

With the batsmen out of sorts and the bowlers unable to find a line, captain Daniel Vettori has called for a complete form turnaround against Bangladesh before England arrive early next year.

"The pressure's on us to win now," said Vettori, reflecting on the 1-2 ODI loss and 0-2 Test drubbing in South Africa followed by the 0-2 defeat in Australia.

"We have to win comfortably leading into a tough England series. There's not more pressure than playing Australia but there's a lot of pressure on guys to actually step up and perform."

Former New Zealand great and now national selector Sir Richard Hadlee told a Sunday newspaper there was a clear need for all-round improvement.

"Clearly, we've been disappointed by a number of the performances in the one-dayers and a number of those guys are a part of the Test set-up, so we need to see some improvement in both the batting and bowling," Hadlee said.

"They've got a couple of games to really impress."

But when given a chance to impress when playing under the guise of a New Zealand XI against Bangladesh in a Twenty20 match on Sunday, the Kiwis again capitulated.

With their confidence gone, the batsmen struggled to 133 for seven which Bangladesh easily overhauled with three overs and four wickets in hand.

Discarded international James Marshall top-scored with an unbeaten 33, while the best of the incumbent internationals was Scott Styris who made 29.

All of the New Zealand wickets fell to bowlers, with

Bangladesh paceman Shahadat Hossain taking an impressive three for 15 off four overs.

In contrast, when Bangladesh launched their energetic run chase three of their dismissals were run outs.

Stephen Fleming, who captained the composite New Zealand side, pinpointed Bangladesh's fearless approach to run gathering as a potential danger.

"They've got good strokemakers. There's not a lot of fear in some of their players and on their day they can come off-we've seen that in some of the upsets they've caused at World Cups," Fleming said.

Bangladesh beat India and South Africa at the World Cup in the West Indies earlier this year before losing by nine wickets to New Zealand.

"Their batting is probably almost the opposite of where our batting unit is," Fleming said.

"They seem full of confidence, and they don't really have a lot of fear. The consequence of them playing a bad shot and getting out doesn't seem to be there."

The reverse applies for New Zealand's current top order.

Jamie How (10) and Ross Taylor (15) never fired on Sunday while Peter Fulton, returning from knee surgery, made a ponderous three.

PTI, Karachi

Matching the political turmoil in the country, another tumultuous year laden with controversies ended on a disappointing note for Pakistan cricket.

It was a period that most Pakistan cricket fans would like to forget quickly. The irony was that 2007 was notable more for off-field news with the retirement of batting stalwart Inzamam-ul-Haq and the death of coach Bob Woolmer in mysterious circumstances, plunging the team into disarray.

Both events came in the wake of Pakistan's shock first round exit from the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies brought about by an upset defeat to minnows Ireland.

The team bounced back to reach the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa before losing narrowly to India. But successive Test and ODI series defeats to the Proteas at home and India away ended 2007 on a bitter note.

It was after 28 years that India managed to win a Test series against Pakistan at home.

Given what unfolded during the year, it is not surprising that Pakistan cricket fans remain concerned about the future.

It was a year when Pakistan cricket had several opportunities to dress itself in glory but none of these were taken with the national team winning just one and losing four out of eight Tests played.

In one-dayers, it managed to win only eight out of 23 matches.

"The turmoil which hit our cricket in 2007 highlights the need for radical steps to be taken to put things right. But unfortunately the Board is avoiding taking honest and strong decisions for the future," former captain Mushtaq Mohammad said.

The unsatisfactory results were on the cards following a series of selection shenanigans earlier in South Africa where Pakistan lost the Test series 1-2 and were drubbed in the one-dayers.

If this was not enough, in September maverick fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar brought more infamy to Pakistan cricket by striking teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat after a practice session before the T20 World Cup.

The team management sent him back as a disciplinary measure and Akhtar had to serve a 13-match ban and pay a fine of 3.4 million rupees for four violations of the code of conduct for players.

But the paceman appeared not to have learnt from his past indiscretions despite promises to turn over a new leaf when he made a comeback on the Indian tour.

In India, he made the headlines more for his off-field activities than his bowling and the result was Pakistan's defeat in the series.

Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were forced to miss the 2007 World Cup because of fitness problems but had some good news when the World Sports Arbitration Council cleared them of doping charges on technical grounds after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency filed against their exoneration in December 2006 by Pakistan Cricket Board.

Hardly had the humiliation of a first round exit in the World Cup sunk in, when came the news off Woolmer's death in Jamaica after he was found unconscious in his hotel room a day after the defeat to Ireland.

The death highlighted the contempt with which the outside world viewed Pakistan cricket.

The international press made every effort to prove the involvement of Pakistan cricketers and the match-fixing mafia in the death terming it as murder.

The players were treated as suspects before they returned home and Inzamam took his final bow.

The master batsman, who gave yeoman service to the national team since 1992, was allowed a chance to make a final appearance in the second Test against South Africa but fell short of Javed Miandad's record of the highest Test run aggregate for Pakistan.

His successor Shoaib Malik, after enjoying one-day success against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and in the Twenty20 World Cup, soon learnt that captaincy is not a bed of roses with two back-to-back series losses.

Under fire for his captaincy and form, the authorities have backed Malik as captain for 2008 but questioned the contribution of the Australian coach Geoff Lawson.

On a brighter note, Misbah-ul-Haq arrived as a worthy successor to Inzamam belting 464 runs in India after getting a second chance at the age of 33.

Misbah formed a formidable middle order with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf but the captaincy issue did not help with Younis playing musical chairs.

After the World Cup, Younis refused to accept captaincy which then went to Malik.

But in India, he reluctantly led the side in the final two Tests after Malik was injured.

On returning home, Younis did a turnaround saying he was ready to lead the side but the Board said his decision had come too late.

UNB, Dhaka

A 14-member of Bangladesh U-19 cricket team, led by Suhrawardy Shuvo, left here on Monday for South Africa take part in a triangular four-match one-day series.

During the two-week tour in South Africa, the U-19 team will play a three-day warm-up match against the hosts on December 27-29 before the tri-nation series with India and hosts South Africa.

Bangladesh youth team will play the first one-day match *against South Africa U-19 team on January 1, the 2nd against India U-19 team on Jan 3, the 3rd against the hosts on Jan 4, and the 4th and last match against India U-19 team on Jan 6.

Talking to the reporters prior to the team's departure, skipper Suhrawardy Shuvo said they are taking the series as a preparation ahead of the ICC U-19 World Cup to be held in Malaysia February next.

He said: "We are passing a good time as we won the series 3-2 against Pakistan U-19 team and Sri Lanka U-19 team recently. We want to keep up the trend in the upcoming series in South Africa."

He added: "Our main target (in SA) is to prepare ourselves well before the World Cup."

Bangladesh U-19 squad: Suhrawardy Shuvo (captain), Dollar Mahmud, Marshall Ayub, Ashraful Aziz, Shuvashish Roy, Rubel Hossain, Syed Golam Kibria, Rony Talukdar, Mahmudul Hasan Limon, Nasir Hossain, KM Shakil, Nadimuddin Mintu, Mithun Ali and Hamidul Islam Himel.

Reuters, Melbourne

India are a stronger side than when they last toured Australia in 2003 and will push Ricky Ponting's team all the way in their four-match test series, said former captain Saurav Ganguly.

The 35-year-old batsman, who is making his 100th test appearance when the sides meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Dec. 26, captained the team in 2003 when India drew the series 1- 1 and outplayed the hosts for prolonged periods.

"The last time we came to Australia in 2003 we had a weaker bowling attack and a few injuries," Ganguly told reporters on Monday.

"We have a better bowling attack this time and with (Mahendra) Dhoni coming in at number seven we have a deeper batting lineup. "Last time we came as underdogs and performed really well. It is the same this time but what happened in 2003 will have no bearing, it is what we do in these test matches."

SOLID FORM

India arrived in Australia last week having beaten Pakistan 1-0 in a test series they could have won 3-0, and also beat the English in England. Ganguly said the results were indicative of their high standard of play in recent years.

"We have beaten everyone over the last six or seven years. We are the only team to have really competed well against them (Australia) both home and away.

"If you look at the record over the last five years we have beaten them, so I think it is going to be a good series.

"We all know they are a tough side but we also have the side to play well."

Australia's Michael Clarke also expected the series to be closely fought, particularly with an Indian batting line-up that includes Sachin Tendulkar and Vanigipurappu Laxman.

Middle-order stalwart Rahul Dravid could also be promoted to open to allow Yuvraj Singh to slot into the middle order.

"India has a fantastic batting lineup, all of whom have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge," Clarke told reporters.

"They're coming off a fantastic win and I think it will set up a great test series."

Australia's biggest selection worry will be the balance of their bowling attack with Mitchell Johnson or Shaun Tait competing for the third pace bowler position if selectors include left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg.

"They (Tait and Johnson) have been bowling very well and it will be a tough decision on either one of them," said Clarke.

"The pitch looks a bit damp t and has a bit of grass at one end and is a bit bare at the other t but hopefully we will get some sun on it on Christmas Day that will dry it out.

"I think with some sunshine it might make a difference."

BBC Online

Pakistan have banned six players from domestic cricket, including former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, for playing in an unauthorised Twenty20 tournament.

The six were all involved in the Indian Cricket League, which took place earlier this month.

And they could now take legal action to try and force the Pakistan Cricket Board to reverse its decision.

"Cricket is our bread and butter. This is a violation of our fundamental rights," said batsman Imran Farhat.

Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmed, Taufiq Umar and Azhar Mahmood were the other Pakistan players involved in the ICL, which featured six teams and was bankrolled by broadcaster Zee Telefilms.

But the league was not recognised by the International Cricket Council or the boards of its full member countries, including Pakistan.

"It is a policy decision that players who play in unauthorised leagues cannot be allowed to play in any domestic competition organised by the PCB.

"We cannot allow violation of our rules and regulations by anyone. We don't think it is a harsh decision," said PCB domestic general manager Shafiq Ahmed.

AFP, London

England spinner Monty Panesar is convinced his miserable tour of Sri Lanka can help him become a world-class bowler.

Panesar, 25, took only eight wickets as England lost their recent three-Test series in Sri Lanka 1-0.

The Northamptonshire star's lacklustre displays were interpreted as a sign that he is stagnating after an impressive start to his international career.

"There has been a lot of focus on my bowling in this series but let me tell you straight away that I am looking at the whole experience in a very positive way as I head home to reflect and rest before we go to New Zealand at the end of January," Panesar told the Daily Mail.

"I want to experience tough conditions and I want to bowl a lot of overs at high-class players of spin in their own country, to test myself against them and see where I am at in my career. That is what has happened to me here.

"I may not have taken as many wickets as I would have liked but I see this tour as a crucial part of my learning curve. I needed the examination of my progress that this tour has brought.

AFP, Sydney

Australia's top-ranked women's tennis player Samantha Stosur will miss next month's Australian Open after failing to recover from a lingering illness, Tennis Australia said Monday.

Stosur, ranked 46 in the world, struggled with illness for the last half of the year and said she was not fit enough to compete on the Australian summer circuit, due to start this weekend.

"I am very disappointed I won't be able to compete during the Australian summer," Stosur said.

The 23-year-old was hospitalised in Florida in September after being diagnosed with viral meningitis, an illness which inflames the soft tissue membranes surrounding the brain.

She also contracted an unrelated virus in July that forced her withdrawal from Australia's Fed Cup tie against the Ukraine and ruined her US summer campaign.

Stosur was unable to compete on the WTA Tour for most of the last half of the season and only resumed training this month.

"I have been back training for the last three weeks, but I've realised that I won't be fully ready to compete at the Australian Women's Hardcourts, which starts in six days, and I've also withdrawn from the Australian Open," she said.