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The 2003 Irani Trophy has been billed as a match worth going miles to watch. A full-strength Rest of India (RoI) team attempts to defend their trophy in Chennai against Mumbai, who have been rejuvenated by Sachin Tendulkar’s return to the captaincy. A three-hour shower on Thursday night delayed the morning practice session of the Mumbai side, as the RoI players arrived in a trickle from various parts of the country, with Sourav Ganguly, the captain, bringing up the rear. It’s to be hoped that this isn’t a sign of things to come.”Let me say on behalf of the Mumbai team that we’re here to win,” said Tendulkar in the sweltering Chennai heat. “We will fight all the way. It will be a tough match – Rest of India is almost the full Indian side. The youngsters in our side have a lot to learn, but the idea is to win.” Mobbed by photographers, television cameras and journalists, he spent more than a few minutes overstating the obvious.When it came to practice, though, Tendulkar was very much in his element. Playing a headmasterly role, he marshalled his team into small groups and took a hands-on approach to the drills. Sairaj Bahutule and Wasim Jaffer were stretched to the limit, spilling a few tough chances as Tendulkar sliced slip catches to them. The RoI will be hoping that the practice session has put Tendulkar in the edging frame of mind.Apart from Tendulkar, the Mumbai team looks adequate rather than impressive. Vinod Kambli, a sleeker version these days with tramlines running wild across his bald pate, must prove once more that he is a class above the average domestic cricketer. The batting, traditionally a Mumbai strength, has an unusually shaky look. Jaffer, with a keener eye on an Indian opening slot than Mumbai glory, teams up with Vinayak Mane to see off the new ball.Nishit Shetty, the left-hander who has played just one full first-class Ranji season, has impressed observers. Although a late bloomer – he’s 30 now – he has made rapid strides of late. His two centuries came at a time when Mumbai really needed runs, especially in the second innings of the Ranji final against Tamil Nadu.Over the last season, however, Mumbai have been bolstered by their late-middle order. The tenacious batting of Vinayak Samant, the wicketkeeper, Ramesh Powar and Bahutule kept opposition attacks at bay, although the retirement of Paras Mhambrey, who chipped in with valuable runs himself, has opened up a pivotal slot in the team.Tendulkar will have a tough choice ahead of him on the morning of the match. He might be tempted to play Nilesh Kulkarni as the third spinner, but would be hard pressed to leave out Bhavin Thakkar. An RoI attack including Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble is likely to force him to prop up the batting. After all, he has the pace of Ajit Agarkar and Aavishkar Salvi, the spin of Powar and Bahutule and, well, just about anything he wants from himself.”We all know each others’ strengths and weaknesses, but I don’t want to discuss them,” said Tendulkar. “We’ll leave it to tomorrow. You only need one ball to get a batsman and whoever makes a mistake will pay the price. We all have to be on our toes.” Tendulkar will be hoping, though, that reports about Zaheer’s stiff back are true. If Zaheer does not play, it will be up to Amit Bhandari and L Balaji to take the new ball on a Chennai pitch that’s difficult to read. It’s like a Perth wicket for the first four overs, then gets flatter and slower and, according to a local scorer, by the third day is a typical Indian wicket.Kumble and Harbhajan will be a major factor, especially against some of the inexperienced Mumbai batsmen, who would have played very little competitive cricket against spinners of this quality. The batting of the RoI team is a Who’s Who of Indian cricket: Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar open, with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh making up the middle order.This is a big break for Yuvraj, who signalled his return to form with a dominating hundred in the Challenger series after a disappointing run with Yorkshire in county cricket. For the others, there’s little more than pride at stake. The bowling looks well settled, with only a question-mark over Zaheer’s fitness. Rohan Gavaskar, whose contentious selection must have brought personal joy, will probably have to be content carrying drinks for his more illustrious peers.”The Irani Trophy is a very prestigious competition. It’s not a practice match. We want to grab the title from Rest of India and I’m sure they too will want to win,” said Tendulkar. With luck it will be hard-fought match, unlike the Challenger series, which some people reckon had more in it for selectors than spectators.Teams
Mumbai (from): Wasim Jaffer, Vinayak Mane, Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Nishit Shetty, Vinod Kambli, Bhavin Thakkar, Vinayak Samant (wk), Ajit Agarkar, Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Aavishkar Salvi, Nilesh Kulkarni, Swapnil Hazare, Vinit Indulkar, Robin Morris.Rest of India (from): Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, Murali Kartik, Amit Bhandari, Rohan Gavaskar.

Glamorgan CCC will confirm today the appointment of John Derrick as firstteam coach for the coming season.

Watch these pages for further details.

MRF thrashed Andhra by 161 runs in a lopsided encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore today to move into the quarter finals of the KSCA Diamond Jubilee tournament for the Coromandel Cement Trophy. When Andhra captain MSK Prasad got the better of his counterpart, M Senthilnathan over the spin of the coin, he invited MRF to take first strike. They posted a total of 225 which proved more than adequate in the circumstances as Andhra crumbled to a miserable 64 in just under two hours.In the morning session, MRF were bowled out in the last of their allotted fifty overs, with five balls to spare. They suffered a poor start when Aashish Kapoor was caught off the bowling of former India A seamer N Madhukar for nought. In the fifth over, one of the heroes of India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph, Venugopala Rao was thrown out to leave the tire manufacturers at 18/2.Hemang Badani and Hrishikesh Kanitkar then steadied the boat with a 82 run third wicket stand before the former was trapped leg before one run short of his half century. Badani had struck six boundaries in his run a ball knock. Kanitkar duly went past the fifty mark but was given the marching orders by Ram Mohan for 61 (77 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) in the 31st over.All rounder Rajat Bhatia also showed his mettle with a useful 46 but when he tickled one through to Prasad off Madhukar, the lower order fell apart and MRF settled for a score of 225. Madhukar ended with the creditable figures of 4/48 but it was Watekar who combined both potency and miserliness to finish with 4/24.Andhra began their reply in disastrous fashion as both openers, one of whom was the captain Prasad, were removed for ducks by Mumbai medium pacer Sriram Kannan and Baroda paceman Zaheer Khan respectively. A Pathak and YG Rao managed to enter double figures but after Khan took a return catch to despatch the former, a steady procession began to and fro the crease.The last eight wickets slumped for 31 as the Andhra innings terminated in the 24th over. All five MRF bowlers were among the wickets but it was Kannan who produced the best analysis in the end with 3/26 from his seven overs. MRF now goes through to a quarter final clash with Indian Airlines at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on August 8.

Khan Research Laboratories were propelled to the top of the table with 12 points after securing a draw against State Bank of Pakistan. KRL put SBP in, with the decision seemingly vindicated after Yasir Arafat bowled opener Raheel Majeed for just 1. A 53-run stand for the second wicket between Kashif Siddiq and Umair Khan saved early blushes, before an imperious 202 from Usman Arshad wrested the match in SBP’s favour. SBP finished their innings on 420, with Sadaf Hussain and Umaid Asif taking three wickets a piece.KRL’s effort proved even between, led by Ali Khan’s 187 at No. 6, with a pair of seventies from Shoaib Ahmed and Nayyer Abbas book-ending the innings. KRL finished on 481 despite Mohammad Naved taking 5 for 129. Facing a deficit of 61 runs, SBP did well to get past the mark with just a wicket lost. Majeed scored 50 while Umair Khan just missed out on an eight first-class ton when he was out for 97. SBP were 199 for 5 when stumps was called and the match was declared a draw.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited beat Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited by 93 runs in Islamabad to register their first win of the tournament. ZTBL batted first, but found themselves in a jam when they were placed at 42 for 3. Haris Sohail and Haseeb-ur-Rehman steadied the innings with a 75-run stand. However, once both batsmen departed, the rest of the order failed to put up a fight as ZTBL were dismissed for 210. Imran Ali led the bowlers with 5 for 31 while Hussain Talat chipped in with 3 for 24. SNGPL’s innings was marked with the inability of their batsmen to push past double figures, with only Naeemuddin and Azhar Ali the exceptions. ZTBL needed just three bowlers to dismiss SNGPL for 80, giving them a lead of 130 runs. Usman Khan took four wickets, while Imran Khan and Mohammad Khalil chipping in with three a piece.ZTBL posted a strong second innings when Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam put on 166 runs for the second wicket, with Azam having to retire hurt on 80. Sohail remained unbeaten on 50 as ZTBL declared on 236 for 2. SNGPL were given a target of 367 to chase, with things started abjectly when SNGPL were 35 for 3. Things got even worse when they were placed at 103 for 7, but a stunning counter-attacking 106 from Bilawal Bhatti scored 106 at No. 9, but despie that performance, SNGPL still ended up falling short by 93 runs.A nerveless unbeaten 49 by Naeem Anjum in the second innings saw out a tricky 178-run chase for Pakistan Television as they held on to a four-wicket victory over Port Qasim Authority in Lahore. PQA batted first, with the openers putting on 64 for the first wicket. Innings from Faraz Ali (69) and Mohammad Waqas (88), pushed them to 316. Mohammad Ali’s took best figures of 5 for 75. Despite losing their openers with the score on just 11, and then suffering further set backs to be reduced to 51 for 4, Pakistan Television looked under the cosh, but Zeeshan Mushtaq (105) and Yasim Murtaza (70) rallied the team, helping them secure a slim 43-run lead. Mohammad Sami and Sohail Khan chipped in with three wickets a piece.PQA’s second innings didn’t go to plan as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Despite a stirring effort from Shahzaib Hasan, with 105 off 110 balls which included seven fours and four sixes, none of the other batsmen, aside from Sami’s 30, were able to contribute significant scores as PQA were rolled for 220. Waqar Ahmed and Wasim Murtaza did chief damage, taking three wickets each. With 178 runs for victory, Pakistan Television lost opener Haroon Ahmed with the score on just 17. Imran Ali and Nawar Ahmed also went out in quicktime, before a double-strike of consecutive balls from Mohammad Sami left them at a precarius 102, with 76 still required. A calm 59-run partnership between Fahad-ul-Haq and Naeem Anjum ensured they got to the mark, with Anjum finishing off the chase with consecutive boundaries.United Bank Limited beat Water and Power Development Authority by 176 runs to post their first win of the tournament. UBL batted first, with Abid Ali leading the way with his 76. Each of the UBL batsmen chipped in, but failed to go on to post a meaningful total. A couple of forties from Asif Raza and Tariq Haroon were the only notable performances other than Abid Ali as UBL reached 319. WAPDA started promisingly with some good stands up front, but lost their way after reaching 218 for 6, losing the remaining four wickets for the addition of just 42 runs. Aamer Sajjad, the captain, top-scored with 84 while Mohammad Ayub chipped in with 50. Both Mohammad Irshad and Tariq Haroon picked up four wickets each to lead the UBL bowlers’ efforts.UBL’s second innings was anchored by Abid again as he bettered his 76 in the first innings with an unbeaten 101. Khaqan Arsal scored 70 at No. 5, as UBL declared their innings at 242 for 6 with a lead of 302. WAPDA were never really in the chase, as they succumbed to 68 for 7. Only their captain, Sajjad, fought valiantly with his 64 as WAPDA were bundled out for 125, giving UBL a 176-run victory.Some imposing first-innings totals resulted in the match between Pakistan International Airlines and Habib Bank Limited finishing as a stalemate. Both sides were seeking their first win after losing their respective tournament openers. It was PIA who batted first, where innings from Fahad Iqbal (52), Anop Santosh (51) and Anwar Ali (61) helped PIA to 343. Sarmad Anwar and Ehsan Adil took seven wickets between them.Habib Bank’s innings started well, with opener Shan Masood and captain Imran Farhat adding 114 for the second wicket. Masood and No. 6 Rameez Aziz then put on 169 runs together, with Masood finally falling for 140. After Rameez was out on 78, Mohammad Aslam and Abdul Ameer were left not out as the match petered to a draw, with Habib Bank on 411 for 8.

Wolves could head into next season without veteran midfielder Joao Moutinho, with the 35-year-old’s contract set to expire at the end of the current campaign.However, they could keep his compatriot and midfield partner Ruben Neves, which would provide a huge boost to manager Bruno Lage’s plans for next term and indeed to the Molineux faithful.What’s the news?Wolves’ technical director Scott Sellars has revealed that the club are in talks with the 25-year-old over a new contract, after it was reported by the Daily Mail that Barcelona were interested in signing him this summer.Sellars said in an interview with the Express & Star: “Ruben is having a fantastic season and everybody should take a pat on the back in terms of how well he is playing.”We’re obviously talking to him and we all know how much he loves playing for the club. We know how much he has settled here, but he is also an ambitious young man.”As with all players, you try and have an open dialogue with them and their representatives to come to the best scenario for the club and the player.”Rightly so, elite clubs all over Europe will have Ruben on their radar, but we have an excellent relationship with him and will do things properly, and collaboratively, when the time is right.”Wolves’ most important playerThe 25-year-old has averaged a 7.20 Sofascore match rating in the Premier League this season, the best of any outfield player at the club, with only goalkeeper Jose Sa bettering him with an average match rating of 7.22.Having provided six goal contributions in 28 games, only centre-forward Raul Jimenez has had more than Neves, who has as many as fellow midfielders Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker combined (WhoScored).An accomplished passer of the ball, he ranks in the top 1% among midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions for long passes completed per 90 (14.92), top 6% for passes into the final third (7.16) and top 3% for switches per 90 (4.49).Keeping hold of Neves would nearly feel like a new signing to Lage given the recent transfer speculation, and having him around for next season could help Wolves to make another push for European qualification in 2023.In other news: Wolves must avoid disaster on “instrumental” £8.1m-rated gem, he’s “brilliant to have”

Scorecard

Brad Hogg did his Test chances no harm with 4 for 37 to confirm Western Australia’s 47-run win over Victoria after Justin Langer’s century set the Warriors up. The Bushrangers just managed to avoid conceding a bonus point as they struggled to 8 for 222 chasing 270 for victory.Victoria never quite got into top gear in their reply, although the opener Aiden Blizzard’s 44 from 45 balls initially gave them a chance. David Hussey top scored with 54 but by the time he found his rhythm the asking rate was already unrealistically high.Hogg helped restrict the hosts by trapping the out-of-form Brad Hodge lbw for 13 from 27 balls. He then deceived the debutant Aaron Finch, who was stumped off a wrong’un, and in his final over he had Clinton McKay caught in the deep and Hussey lbw to a conventional wrist-spinner.Victoria’s frontline slow bowler, Bryce McGain, also bowled well but he had no luck as Langer and Adam Voges guided Western Australia to 269. Langer’s 105 came from 106 deliveries and he took few risks, only letting loose towards the end.Voges also ticked the score over at nearly a run a ball in compiling his 51, while the Australian stars Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey teased the crowd with starts of 22 and 12 respectively. Western Australia are on top of the FR Cup table with three wins from three games and Victoria sit in third place.

It was a depressing end to a superb innings. As Alastair Cook trudged despairingly from the crease after recording his maiden Ashes century, he was so crestfallen he could barely raise his bat to acknowledge a deserved standing ovation. He was seen in the dressing-room being consoled and congratulated in equal measure by his team-mates, and afterwards he admitted to mixed feelings about what he proclaimed to be the finest innings of his fledgling Test career.”I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t get that nagging feeling I could be walking out to get a bigger one and get us closer to the target,” said Cook at the close. His departure, caught behind off Glenn McGrath with just 16 balls of the day’s play remaining, turned a day of genuine hope for England into another one of grim resignation. With just five wickets remaining and an entire day to survive, Australia seem certain to regain the Ashes by the close of play tomorrow.Even so, Cook can and should be immensely proud of yet another performance that belied his tender years. This was his fourth Test century in 12 matches, an achievement that brackets him alongside Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Pollock and Vinod Kambli – all of whom made that many hundreds before their 22nd birthday. “I think it helps being 21,” he said of the way he survived yet another intensely humid day, batting for six-and-a-half hours and 290 balls for a nuggety 116.”I’ve felt in quite good nick throughout the series but I haven’t got a score,” said Cook, whose highest to date had been 43 in the second innings at the Gabba. “It’s been frustrating to keep making starts but if someone had offered me a hundred, I’d have taken it, especially against Australia in Australia on a turning wicket. But it would be nice if I was not out this evening, and could come back tomorrow and get an even bigger one.”Quite apart from the effort that he showed, his composure at the crease was the most striking feature of his innings. “Lessons had been learnt from Adelaide,” he admitted, as he and Ian Bell – who greeted Shane Warne with two sweetly struck sixes – made a concerted effort to stay positive in the face of huge Australian pressure. “We had a change of mentality,” Cook said. “The balls come on a bit better here and it’s easier to score runs, which was hard at Adelaide.

“We stuck to our gameplans and tried not to get overawed by the situation,” he continued, after the pair had added 170 for the second wicket in a partnership that lasted for 56 overs. “Playing Australia in Australia is quite tough. You’ve got guys with 700 and 500 Test wickets coming at you at two ends, so you are made to work for every run.”That hard work was exacerbated by another typically theatrical performance from Warne, whose appealing was insistent and at times excessive, as he toiled through 31 overs for figures of 1 for 100. “He’s always a bit unlucky isn’t he?” joked Cook. “There was a bit of banter, but that’s just the way the Aussies play their cricket. They play it tough but if someone does well they congratulate them. They’ve been very good like that.” Sure enough, Cook was shaken by the hand by Warne when he notched up his hundred.Though he was still disappointed by his late dismissal, Cook still held out hopes of the draw, an achievement that South Africa managed in similar circumstances last year at the WACA. “It would be nice if we were still three-down, but we’re still in there fighting hard,” he said. “I think the pitch will hold up, because there’s only a couple of balls that did anything all day. One to KP didn’t bounce and a couple have gone through the top, so we hope it’ll stay together.”Unfortunately those last two wickets set us back a bit, but there’s a lot of fight in here. KP and Freddie don’t hang around, so who knows what can happen if we get through the first hour, first session, like we did this morning. Some people are due some runs, and hopefully they can perform tomorrow.”

Michael Vaughan is expected to return for the second Test against Pakistan at Faisalabad on Sunday. Vaughan suffered a recurrence of a knee injury in England’s warm-up match against Pakistan A which ruled him out of the first Test defeat at Multan.Despite rumours at the start of the first Test that his tour was over, Vaughan has been batting in the nets and jogging on the last three mornings before play.”He seems to be coming along fine. There’s a very good chance he could play in that Test,” Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, told BBC Sport. “We’re pretty confident that given another couple of days of work on it he will be ready.”Ian Bell replaced his captain in the first Test, but Bell’s good form – he struck a gritty 71 in England’s first innings, and took an outstanding catch at short-leg – could force Paul Collingwood to make way for Vaughan. Collingwood made just 13 runs in the Test, and his medium-pace was sparsely used by his acting captain, Marcus Trescothick.”The knee is improving. It’s always been a bit of a problem and it might still be,” Fletcher added. “But he feels comfortable, he’s running around and feeling no pain.”

Dennis Lillee has left his coaching post in Australia after a fallout with Australia cricket authorities, according to Sydney’s .Lillee, 55, who has helped shape the careers of many bowlers, including such established stars as Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, had been involved with developing and coaching players for Australia for 15 years.”They didn’t want me to do the states, so I would have no contact with the ones who really need the help, the under-17s and -19s,” he told the newspaper. “They wanted me to focus on the academy and the Test players, and wanted to cut my days down from 30 to 15 per year and for me to take a discount on my daily rate.”I am disappointed from the point of view that I felt the work I was doing there was bearing fruit. I loved what I did there. I wrote to them and said ‘nothing goes down’ and I am not at all happy. But life moves on and I have got plenty to do.”Cricket Australia has advertised for the post at their Academy, and there are a number of coaches who learned their trade in Australia, but have gone elsewhere, such as Bennett King, who recently took over as West Indies chief coach. Others include Steve Rixon who is at Surrey, John Dyson, Sri Lanka’s coach, and Rod Marsh, who is head coach at England’s academy based in Loughborough.In the meantime, however, it is likely that Damien Fleming, the former swing bowler who retired 17 months ago and who shared some of Lillee’s duties, will take over in the interim.

Yuvraj Singh had a shabby county season, but he got some valuable advice from a player whom he is very likely to come up against in the near future – Stephen Fleming, the captain of New Zealand.Yuvraj returned from England last week and, speaking to the press on the first day of a week-long training camp at Bangalore, said that he became “good friends” with Fleming during his Yorkshire stint. “I learnt a lot from him, he helped me a lot. He’s a very experienced player and an excellent captain. I’ve picked up lots of important tips for the future,” said Yuvraj.The tips may have helped before the season; Yuvraj made only 145 runs from seven first-class matches for Yorkshire. “It was a good experience playing county cricket. The first month was pretty good, I played a couple of good knocks, but later on I was struggling,” he said.He was confident of regaining form soon enough, and with India’s international season starting soon, he will need all the form he can get. “I’ve done well in domestic cricket,” Yuvraj said. “I just have to try and be consistent in India’s one-day games and then try to get into the test team.”