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Australia has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for fast bowlers, who relish the extra bounce on that the pitches offer. However, the true nature of those tracks places an extra premium on accuracy. Damien Fleming, the former Australian swing bowler, spells out the skills needed for a fast bowler to succeed in Australia.

The best way for an Indian fast bowler to adapt here is by not doing or thinking much about it. Both the Indian left-arm fast bowlers – Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra – if they bowl well, will pose problems for the Australians.In India the ball swings more, whereas here the bounce is the most vital weapon. There might be periods when the ball will swing, but it won’t swing consistently throughout the five days. India are lucky that both Zaheer and Nehra swing the ball, but they need to deploy change of pace, and be accurate and patient because the Australian batsmen score quickly. You will have the bounce, but that will only work if you pitch it in the right place. For an Indian fast bowler it is much better than bowling back home. In Sydney and Adelaide bowling cutters – rolling your fingers across the seam for an offcutter or a legcutter – could work as the ball really grip on those tracks.As for the possibility of injuries while bowling in Australia, I should be the last person giving any kind of advice, having hardly played two Tests together. But to me there are three categories of injury prevention. The first is having the correct action: you need to have the shoulder and hip aligned side-on, as opposed to having the hip side-on and the shoulder front-on or vice-versa.Second, the need for physical strength: good core stability, and strength in the legs and shoulders. And third, to watch your workload: once you are into a Test you may be required to bowl upto 50 overs. And if you have bowled that many overs then there is the need to recover by doing some weights training, kick your strength up, and get some bowling done in the nets to get back to peak fitness again before the next game.Bowling on Australian soil will no doubt be harder on the feet for the Indians. However, they will enjoy the weather in Australia: the humidity levels, especially, will be far more bearable than places like Chennai and Kochi. Physically the Indians should be fine. The bigger task will be the mental battle of keeping the pressure up for the entire 90 over in a day, and making sure that they win more sessions than the Australians.

West Indians 334 & 263 beat Easterns 313 & 251 (Seymore 79) by 33 runs

ScorecardWest Indies avoided an embarrassing defeat ahead of the final Test against South Africa, thanks to Vasbert Drakes, who took 3 for 37 to add to his important second-innings stand with Ramnaresh Sarwan.Easterns had been set an eminently gettable 285 for victory, but were always up against it after resuming on a wobbly 28 for 2. But with Andre Seymore leading the way, they slowly ate into the target. Seymore added 43 for the third wicket with his captain, Daryl Cullinan (15), and 66 with Pierre De Bruyn (34), and the run-rate continued to rise, even when De Bruyn was caught behind off Ravi Rampaul.At 196 for 4, Easterns were slight favourites. But Drakes applied the brake when he dismissed Seymore for an excellent 79, and followed up with the wicket of Geoffrey Toyana, caught by Dave Mohammad in the very next over.Easterns were far from finished though, especially with their first-innings centurion Albie Morkel at the crease. But the tail was unable to provide the support that Morkel required, and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Morkel hammered Drakes over long-on for six, but that was his last shot in anger, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul took the catch that won the match.

There has been no shortage of rumour-mongering regarding the TV rights for the forthcoming India-Pakistan series. In this light, Shahryar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has issued a lengthy clarification in the form of a media release. The first step he has taken is the constituting of a two-man team to look into the marketing contracts from a legal and commercial point of view."An independent marketing consultant, Mr Riaz Mahmood, who is assisted by a legal consultant, Mr Ahmed Hossain, has been appointed to review PCB’s marketing contracts from a legal and commercial standpoint. Both the independent consultants enjoy impeccable reputations in their respective fields," began the release. Perhaps more importantly, it went on to say, "After a meticulous review of the contract for television rights between PCB and Ten Sports the independent marketing and legal consultants have confirmed PCB’s initial view that the contract is commercially valid and legally binding on PCB. Accordingly, potential applicants for television rights for Pakistan-India series have been informed that PCB would abide by its contract with Ten Sports. In turn Ten Sports have undertaken in writing that Pakistan TV would be given terrestrial rights to telecast the matches in Pakistan," thus quashing all speculation about who would telecast the series.Further, the release adds that Pepsi has agreed to forego title sponsorship of the series in exchange for compensation of US$375,000. This allows the PCB to invite tenders from various companies in the international market and secure the best possible deal.The PCB has also announced the dissolution of provincial cricket associations that were formed on an experimental basis in 2003. According to the release, "The basic reasons for the dissolution are that adding an additional tier to cricket’s hierarchy was considered to be counter productive. Moreover, the Chairman is of the view that the existing constitution, though temporarily suspended, should be respected as far as possible."

The Pakistan government has told the foreign office to relax visa regulations for Indians travelling to watch the upcoming Pakistan-India series.A report from India Abroad News Service quoted an official of the foreign ministry as saying, “We have received instructions from the prime minister’s secretariat to make special arrangements for issuing visas for the cricket series.”The Indians arrive in Lahore on March 10, and will play five one-day internationals and three Tests, in addition to a one-day warm-up game. The one-day series will start in Karachi on March 13.According to the official, the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi had been given instructions to the effect that all Indians carrying “valid documents, bookings in Pakistani hotels, and tickets for the matches will be given visas”.The visas will be issued on a “first-come, first-served” basis, and the number issued would depend on the capacity of the stadiums where matches are to be played. For a one-day match, three-day visas would be issued, while for Tests, they would be for seven days.Meanwhile, officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have said that Indians too can purchase tickets online. “Different organizations have already started the online sale of tickets for next month’s series,” said the official.Only 20 per cent of the tickets have been allotted for sale on the Internet, with the remaining to be sold at the gates.There has been tremendous interest from Indian and Pakistani expatriates living in Britain, the USA and the Middle East.

There will be an early start to the one-day final between Queensland and Western Australia on Sunday. The match will begin at 11 pm GMT (Saturday). The early moisture and humidity will present the bowlers with the opportunity to make an early assault on the opposition.However, the wicket at the Gabba was rated by Kevin Mitchell Jnr, the curator, as good for batting, and is the same pitch where Queensland smashed their way to 4 for 405 against Western Australia a fortnight ago. Considering this, neither captain – Jimmy Maher nor Michael Hussey – thought that the toss would be the deciding factor.Maher, who belted a record 187 in that 207-run demolition of WA, believed that plenty of runs would be plundered despite the early start. “The Gabba is arguably the best one-day wicket in the world,” he said. “The toss doesn’t really matter too much, but the thing that sticks out the most in my mind is that we’ve had most success batting first this season.”WA have the talented Ben Edmondson in their ranks, and he is set to be given the new ball for the first time. Hussey conceded that WA would consider bowling first.The decision is tougher for WA as their batting, including five national or A representatives, is their strength and, barring the Brisbane pounding, they have had success chasing large totals. Hussey said, “We don’t want to chase 400 again but I personally don’t believe the toss should have much to with the result at the end.”WA took confidence from New South Wales’ three-year run as one-day champions, where they won all three finals away from home. Coincidentally, WA’s last domestic success was also away from home – at the Gabba – in the 1998-99 Sheffield Shield.Maher shrugged off a hamstring injury on the eve of the final, training strongly in the nets and out on the field. WA have learnt from experience that Maher can be a dangerous proposition. In that match at Brisbane earlier this season, Hussey – who was dismissed by a sharp Maher catch in the covers – was astounded by Maher’s recuperative powers: “Look at him. He drinks, he smokes and he’s out there running around like a three-year-old!”

Damien Martyn completed an emphatic return to form with his second hundred in consecutive matches against Sri Lanka, as Australia manoeuvred themselves into a strong position on the third day at Kandy. And afterwards he was a contented man when he spoke to the press.”The sub-continent is always a tough place to play your cricket,” he said, “but these have to be two of the hardest hundreds Ihave ever made. But it is satisfying to have done it in the second innings when it has really mattered.”You need a bit of luck,” he conceded, after being dropped in the morning session,” and you know you are going to play and miss a few times. You’ve just got to take the good with the bad, and it was satisfying that I spent a long time at the crease.”Despite a healthy lead of 229 at the close of play, Martyn accepted that Australia’s approach to Muttiah Muralitharan would be crucial to their chances of sealing the series. “We have all got different gameplans against him,” he said, “depending on whether he is bowling over or round the wicket. All the batsmen have played him pretty well. We have been positive but patient, which you have to be over here.”Every innings on the subcontinent is a learning curve,” added Martyn. “It’s one of those frontiers that is great to make runs on, especially against quality spin bowling. I will take the good things from this innings and go forward hopefully to score more runs in the future.”With two days remaining, a result is highly probable, even though the third day was cut short by rain. “We want to get as big a lead as possible,” said Martyn, “because we know it is going to be hard for them to bat last. It is definitely going to spin still and if you hit the seam on a good length there is still something in the wicket.”Sri Lanka’s coach, John Dyson, conceded that it had been a tough day for his bowlers, but insisted that his side were not out of the running just yet. “Today’s cricket was really tough,” he said. “There were no easy runs or wickets out there. But if we get one out early tomorrow morning then we are right back in the game. For me, this match is still on a knife-edge, and hopefully the break will freshen up our bowlers for tomorrow.”

The vultures are circling round Darren Gough. Although endless rain has limited him to three and a bit appearances in the Caribbean, many people have seen enough to convince themselves that Wednesday’s seventh and, mercifully, final one-dayer will be the last of his illustrious career.It’s not that Gough hasn’t been trying. As always, he has given his all, but his all is no longer good enough. As a one-day bowler, he will be remembered as one of England’s finest. But whereas in the past he mixed pace with guile, now all that’s left is guile, and even then there hasn’t been too much evidence of that.On Sunday, Gough commanded no respect from the West Indies batsmen – several times he was smacked back over his head. Until recently that would have been answered with a snorter, either a yorker or bouncer, to remind the batsman how unwise his actions had been and just who he was dealing with. But in St Lucia there was no response. Gough ended with 1 for 67 off 8.1 overs, conceding more than eight an over for the first time in his ODI career.The decline has been alarming, and it must be causing a few jitters with his new employers in Essex. As recently as last summer, he was at his chest-pufffing best against South Africa. But less than nine months later, the cupboard looks bare. In fairness, it is hardly surprising, given the seriousness of the injuries he has suffered in the twilight of his career, that his body is packing in fairly rapidly.He worked hard in the gym after the end of the English summer and convinced the selectors that he was fit. But he was like a shot heavyweight – physically looking as good as ever, but with no punch. They say a boxer can ‘lose it’ alarmingly quickly, even in the course of one fight. So, it seems, can fast bowlers.In a sport with an increasing emphasis on youth, the inclusion of Gough in the England side was seen as the possible exception to the trend. The older head, a legend to encourage the young guns, to lead by canny example. Even though he still has enthusiasm by the bucketful, he simply cannot hack it where it matters.It might be foolish to write him off – many have done so in the past, only to have to eat their words. This time, however, there is a feeling that the writing really is on the wall.He should be allowed a final tilt at the windmill, and despite mediocre performances he ought to play at Bridgetown, bowing out in front of a full house and, hopefully, with respectable figures. He deserves nothing less.

Zaheer Khan has announced that he has regained complete fitness, and only needs more bowling practice to get back his rhythm. Speaking to the media on the last day of the fitness camp in Bangalore, Zaheer said: “My fitness is fine now, but I’m at a stage where I just need to bowl more and more. Injuries have been a worry for me, but this is just a phase and I’m confident it will soon go.”Zaheer was plagued by injuries for most of last season – he missed two out of four Tests in Australia due to a torn hamstring, and then pulled out midway through the first Test against Pakistan.Commenting on the recovery process, Zaheer said: “For any player, staging a comeback is very difficult and I am analyzing how not to get injured as well as maintaining my length and speed. I don’t think I really have to cut down on my pace.”In an attempt to regain match-fitness, Zaheer briefly tried his hand at county cricket, playing as an amateur for Surrey. He was supposed to figure in one-day game and two four-day matches, but pulled out of the last four-day fixture after a disappointing game against Kent. Speaking on the arrangement with Surrey, he said: “They wanted me to stand in for Saqlain Mushtaq and I wanted to have a go at bowling because I had already spent two weeks in England training. But after the first [four-day] match I realised that I needed to bowl much more in the nets before I started bowling in matches.”Zaheer’s priority will be to get ready for the six-nation Asia Cup, which starts on July 16.

Toby Bailey has been released by Northamptonshire after ten years on the County Ground staff.And when he leaves at the end of the season, he plans to quit cricket entirely.Bailey, 28, took over the gloves from David Ripley in 2001, but he lost his place to Gerry Brophy who is more competent as a batsman although Bailey has a first-class hundred to his name.”It is unlikely I will continue to play cricket,” Bailey told Northamptonshire’s official website. “This will give me an opportunity to try another career.”Adam Shantry is also set to leave Northants to join Warwickshire.Shantry, a 21-year-old seamer who took four wickets with successive balls during a second XI game against Warwickshire, has signed a two-year-contract.”Adam has been given a brilliant opportunity,” said Northants chief executive Mark Tagg. “We wish him all the best for the future.”

Steve Tikolo, who led Kenya in the Champions Trophy, has said that he intends to resign from the captaincy following his side’s seven-wicket defeat against Pakistan at Edgbaston. Tikolo, 33, felt that it was time to move on and hand over the mantle to someone else while he remained in the team as a player.Kenya, a semi-finalist at last year’s World Cup, were bowled out for just 94 in their second game against Pakistan. The defeat meant that Kenya lost both their group matches, having succumbed by 98 runs against India last Saturday.Up until the match against India, Kenya had not played a one-dayer for 18 months and after today’s loss Tikolo said that the team was not due to play one of cricket’s leading nations again until the 2006 Champions Trophy.AAP reported Tikolo as saying, “I spoke to the selectors back at home and they said we’ll let the case rest until I get back home. I think there are other players who are capable of stepping into the captain’s shoes. I’ll be around. I’m not totally retiring from cricket. I’m still around. Immediately we get back home I’ll have another meeting with the selectors again.”Kenya’s next match is in the Inter-Continental Cup, a four-day competition for teams outside the elite Test nations, against Namibia in October. If they win that, they would qualify for the semi-finals in Sharjah.But a downcast Tikolo added, “With the scenario we have in Kenya, with a lack of games, we can’t feel optimistic anymore.”