The New Nation - Internet Edition

South Africa leapfrog England in rankings

AFP, London

South Africa have moved above England in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship standings on the eve of their four-match series.

Graeme Smith's men will head into Thursday's opener at Lord's in second place in the Reliance Mobile table with England, who had been third, now in fourth place. India have dropped one place from second to third.

The annual update discards series concluded before August 1 2005 and that benefits South Africa because their recent fine form is included while losing series against Sri Lanka, India and England no longer have an effect.

This latest table also takes account of the recent decision to change England's win by forfeit against Pakistan at The Oval in 2006 into a draw.

South Africa remain 23 points behind clear leaders Australia and a drawn series or better against England would see them stay in second spot.

A 4-0 whitewash for England would see them go second with India third and South Africa fourth.

Were Michael Vaughan's team to win 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0, that would leave India second, but see England go third, with South Africa fourth.

England and South Africa are closely matched in the player rankings, reflecting the tight nature of their contest since the Proteas' return to international cricket in the 1990s.

Both teams have two batsmen inside the top 20 with Jacques Kallis (sixth) and Smith (12th) keeping company with England's Kevin Pietersen (10th) and Andrew Strauss (16th).

It is a similar story just beyond the elite where England are represented by Alastair Cook (21st), Paul Collingwood (24th) and captain Michael Vaughan (30th) while AB de Villiers (25th) Hashim Amla (26th) and Neil McKenzie (32nd) are South Africa's three next best batsmen.

In the bowling stakes, England have four men in the rankings but South Africa have the best ranked players of the two sides.

South Africa quick Dale Steyn is close to toppling Muttiah Muralitharan at the head of the bowling standings. He starts the England series just five points behind the extraordinary Sri Lanka off-spinner.

And in fifth place is Makhaya Ntini, another member of South Africa's pace attack. Ntini, who has 344 Test wickets, is currently 16th in the list of all-time Test wicket-takers with Australia pace great Dennis Lillee's 355 wickets now in his sights.

England have four bowlers inside the top twenty - Ryan Sidebottom is sixth, spinner Monty Panesar 11th and Matthew Hoggard - out of the side since being dropped after the first Test away to New Zealand in 16th position.

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who hasn't played Test cricket in over a year because of ankle and side injuries but who could feature in the second match of the South Africa series at Headingley next week, is still in 19th spot.

Kallis has retained his place as the world's leading all-rounder with Flintoff third. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is in second place.

BCB likely to announce squad for Australia tour by July 20

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is likely to announce by July 20 the national squad for Australia tour in August-September.

Ahead of the Australia tour, the national team will go to Canada next month for a four-nation 20/20 tournament involving Pakistan, West Indies and the hosts.

Talking to UNB Wednesday evening, chief selector Rafique-ul Alam informed that he along with the other two selectors would sit today (Thursday) to discuss about the composition of the squad.

He said: "We still haven't been informed officially about the Canada tour, but we hope to finalise the squad before July 20 considering the visa formalities."

Asked if there will be different teams for the two tours, he said they have to think over the matter, as the two tours will be of different formats.

Bangladesh is likely to leave here for Canada on August 11. The four-nation tournament will be held in Toronto on August 14-17 involving Pakistan, West Indies and the hosts.

Meanwhile, for participation in the 20/20 meet, the BCB is expected to sign a MoU with the organizers -- Sports International Marketing (SIM), a Pakistan based event management company -- within a day or two.

BCB cricket operations committee chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu said they have tentatively agreed to the offer of SIM and are having a close look about the financial aspect of the offer. "Hopefully, we will approve the tour in the Board meeting scheduled for next week."

He said the BCB thinks this tour would be a "great exposure for our boys as they will be playing against sides like Pakistan and West Indies." This will help them during the tour in Australia, he added.

If the Tigers participate in the 20/20 meet in Canada, they have to drop the four-day warm-up match against their Australian counterparts before the three ODIs.

The three one-day matches against the world champions are scheduled for August 31, and September 3 and 6 at Darwin.

First 3-day match between Bangladesh A and England U-19 team ends in draw

UNB, Dhaka

The rain-affected first three-day match between visiting Bangladesh A team and hosts England Under-19 team ended in a draw on the third and final day at the Hazelgrave Ground in Loughborough on Tuesday.

More than half of the playing time of the three-day match was lost due to inclement weather with not a single ball played on the first day (Sunday).

Replying to second string Bangladesh team's first innings total of 195 for 7 declared just before lunch on Tuesday, the England Under-19 side scored 142 for 6 in 45 overs in the first innings when bails were drawn on the final day.

At tea, Bangladesh were in the driving seat dismissing five English batsmen for 94 runs, but two down batsman Dan Redfern pairing with number seven wicket-keeper Ben Brown played sensible cricket to contribute 55 runs in the 6th wicket stand to rescue the home side from an awkward situation.

After the departure of three formidable batsmen -- opener Taylor (26), number three Westley (14) and middle order AD Hales (24), Redfern confidently stayed at the crease to score 43 not out off 93 balls with seven fours.

Wicket-keeper Brown contributed 32 runs off 45 balls with six boundaries before he was caught by Suhrawardy Shuvo off an Arafat Sunny delivery.

Pacer Mahbubul Alam Robin grabbed two wickets for 56 runs, while Arafat Sunny, Suhrawardy Shuvo and Nazmul Hossain took one wicket apiece for 12, 19, 27 and 27 runs respectively.

Earlier, Bangladesh resumed the third day with overnight 115 for 4 in 38 overs and declared the innings at 195 for 7 in 63 overs that featured a superb 62-run innings by opener Imrul Kayes.

Middle order batsman Nayeem Islam (40) pairing with wicket keeper Dhiman Ghosh (29) added another useful 63 runs in the 5th wicket stand for the tourists.

BW Sanderson was most successful bowler for the England Under-19 side claiming four wickets for 52 runs in 17 overs, while Harris, Fletcher and Saxelby took one wicket each.

Bangladesh A team will play the 2nd three-day match against Warwickshire on July 11-13, the 3rd against Leicestershire July 16-18, the 4th against Derbyshire July 21-23 and the 5th three-day match against a South African selection on July 25-27.

After the three-dayers, Bangladesh A will play three one-day matches -- against Lancashire on July 30, Marylebone Cricket Club on August 1 and Durham on August 3.

The Bangladesh A side is expected to return home on August 4.

Army promotion for Mendis after Asia Cup victory

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis has been given a double promotion in the army after his exploits in the Asia Cup final, officials said on Wednesday.

Mendis, 23, a gunner, was promoted to 2nd lieutenant by President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Mendis destroyed India with record-breaking figures of 6-13 as Sri Lanka won Sunday's Asia Cup final in Karachi by 100 runs.

It was the best bowling performance in the continental tournament, surpassing Pakistani Aaqib Javed's 5-19 against India in Sharjah in 1995.

Mendis, who hails from the Colombo suburb of Moratuwa, finished with 17 wickets in the tournament.

"I am delighted to have played a part in Sri Lanka's victory," Mendis said after returning from Pakistan.

"I just want to bowl as best as I can every time I come to the bowling crease. I did that on Sunday."

The young Mendis uses an unusual grip in which he appears to squeeze the ball out of his fingers, bowling off-spin, leg-spin, googly, the top-spinner and the flipper.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the first to concede that Mendis was simply unplayable.

"We just could not read him and we knew he was a surprise bowler," he said.

"You need to be there in the middle to understand what he bowls. It was tough to pick his deliveries. It is not that the batsmen played badly, they played expecting something and the ball did something else."

India will face Mendis again when they tour Sri Lanka from next week for three Tests and five one-day internationals.

ICC Test rankings

AFP, London

International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship ratings issued Tuesday:

Test Championship - for series completed up to August 1 (rank, previous, team, rating, previous)

1 (1) Australia 138 (141)

2 (4) South Africa 115 (109)

3 (2) India 113 (111)

4 (3) England 106 (110)

5 (5) Sri Lanka 103 (106)

6 (5) Pakistan 100 ( 94)

7 (7) New Zealand 83 ( 88)

8 (8) West Indies 81 ( 77)

9 (9) Bangladesh 0 ( 1)

Notes:

Figures in brackets denote positions and ratings of teams prior to the annual update.

Zimbabwe have a rating of 19 but have not played sufficient Tests over the period covered to be ranked on the main table.

Office Handball League begins July 24

UNB, Dhaka

The Second Office Handball League, organised by Bangladesh Handball Federation, will begin on July 24 at the Outer Stadium handball ground.

Three teams -- defending champions Bangladesh Rifles, runners-up Bangladesh Police, and Prisons Directorate -- so far confirmed their participation in the second version of the meet, restricted for the Services and office teams.

"We've sent invitation letters to some 25 Services, office and bank teams," Handball Federation General Secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor told UNB Wednesday.

Draw programme of Fed Cup Football held

Sports Reporter

The draw programme of Federation Cup Football Tournament was held at the conference room of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) House on Wednesday.

The first round of the Federation Cup Football begins on July 25 in Dhaka. A total of 11 teams splitting into three groups will participate in the first round. Of them, five teams will move into the second round. The representatives of the participating clubs were present during the draw programme.

Fazlur Rahman Babul, the member of BFF conducted the draw programme while Vice-President of BFF and Chairman of the B League Committee Abdus Salam Murshedi picked up the names of the participating clubs from the glass jar. Member of BFF Ajfar-uz-Zaman Sohrab was also present at the time.

Jatrabari KC, BKSP, Bangladesh Police, Diganta Prashari Club of Rajshahi have been placed in Group-A, Victoria Sporting Club, Bangladesh Navy, Dhaka Wanderers Club, Bangladesh Air Force have been billed in Group-B, Sunrise Sporting Club, Bangladesh Customs, Bangladesh Army have been taken place in Group-C.

The final round is scheduled to be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium from July 31. The eleven teams of the Premier Division Football League and five teams, which will qualify from the first round, will take part in the final round.

The champions will be awarded Tk three lakh while the runners-up will get Tk one lakh and the fair-play-trophy winner will be given Tk fifty thousand.

Swapan emerges champion in C Division of Delta Life Open Squash

UNB, Dhaka

Swapan of British Club emerged champion in the C Division of the Delta Life Open Squash Tournament with straight 3-0 sets win over Sadaf of Gulshan Club in the final at the Dhaka Club here Wednesday.

In the Premier Division, Swapan Parvez (Bashundhara Group) beat Dilu (Gulshan Club), Masud Rana (Dhaka Army Club) defeated Zein Omar (Dhaka Club) and Bishunath (Gulshan Club) beat Ram Gopal (Chittagong Club), all by 3-0 sets.

After the day's premier division matches, Bhola Lal of Sonargaon Hotel retained the top slot with 21 points. Swapan Parvez remains in the 2nd position with 16 points, while Masud Rana and Bishunath are in the joint 3rd slot securing 15 points.

Meanwhile, the final matches of the Under-18 Division, B Division and the semis of A Division will be held on Thursday.

National Junior Boxing begins today

Sports Reporter

The 20th National Junior Boxing Competition begins today at the Muhammad Ali Boxing Stadium. Southeast Bank Limited will sponsor the boxing meet. Bangladesh Boxing Federation will arrange the competition.

The different services teams, divisional sports associations, district sports associations, education board, BKSP and boxing clubs will take part in the boxing competitions.

The events of the boxing meet wil be held on seven weight categories. They are : 25 kg, 29 kg, 35 kg, 42 kg, 45 kg, 48 kg and 51 kg.

Managing Director of the Southeast Bank Limited Neaz Ahmed will formally open the boxing meet today at 4.00 PM as the chief guest while President of Bangladesh Boxing Federation Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, ndc, psc will preside over the programme.

The tournament will come to an end on July 14.

US Open boosts prize money payout

AFP, New York

The US Open base purse will jump one million dollars this year to 20.6 million dollars with up to 2.6 million dollars more in bonus money available, the US Tennis Association announced Tuesday.

US Open men's and women's singles champions will each receive 1.5 million dollars, a record, with the chance at up to one million dollars more in bonus money based upon performance in a series of US Open tune-up events.

Swiss world number one Roger Federer claimed the largest payoff in tennis history, 2.4 million dollars, for taking last year's US Open crown after winning the most points from tune-up events across North America starting next week.

An extra 1.2 million dollars in bonus money was paid last year, bringing the 2007 total pay-out to players to 20.8 million dollars.

Barca ready to prevent Ronaldinho's Beijing ball

AFP, Madrid

Barcelona said Tuesday they are ready to play hardball and prevent Ronaldinho from joining the Brazil squad for the Beijing Games.

Brazil coach Dunga on Monday included the Brazilian wizard along with Real Madrid's Robinho in his squad but Barca, who have already made it clear that Ronaldinho is surplus to requirements, are nonetheless demanding he turn up for pre- season training on July 14.

"FC Barcelona have called on Ronaldinho to join training on July 14 along with the rest of the first team squad," a club statement indicated on the Barca website.

Barcelona noted that "the (Olympic) Games do not form part of the FIFA calendar t therefore the club is not obliged to make its players available."

Argentine forward Lionel Messi is also in a similar bind and Barca have already written to the Argentine Football Association requesting that he be available for pre- season training with the Catalan club having to compete in the Champions League preliminaries.

Brazil compete in Group C in Beijing where they face Belgium on August 7, as well as hosts China and New Zealand.