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As an Indian cricket writer, there are few better things than watching India on tour. And when the tour is Bangladesh, it is obviously India winning on tour. Yet, when India had just wrapped up a comprehensive but largely unexciting 2-0 win in the Test series, it was tough to focus on the one-dayers. Not because the work was any less demanding, or because the matches were any more one-sided – if anything, Bangladesh had a better chance to make a good fist of things in the shorter version of the game – but because VVS Laxman wouldn’t be about.At a time of bounty for Indian cricketers – every one of the newcomers on this one-day tour have been guaranteed at least two matches by the captain and coach – it is unbelievable that Laxman was not given a go. It is now common knowledge that he did not want to be ‘rested’. Even the remarkably media-shy Laxman went on record to say that he was remembered only when he scored runs. That no-one backed him when he was going through a lean trot and needed the support most.The merits of his omission barely merit mention. But, because the selectors routinely seem to pick him as the fall guy, the one person to leave out when they need a spot to either try out youngsters or make way for one of their zonal candidates, it bears repetition. Not long ago – but obviously too long ago in the fickle minds of selectors – Laxman scored three one-day hundreds in the VB Series in Australia, and a further crucial ton in a deciding match in Lahore. For most in the Indian team this would have been enough to cement a place in the team.Many reasons can be advanced for Laxman’s omission, and the selectors are the obvious target. But, Sourav Ganguly has fought harder for lesser men. Could this have anything to do with the fact that Laxman’s value to the team is best utilised at no. 3 and that the captain wants this very spot? This is not an effort to further conspiracy theories about unrest in the team, and yet, this is the only reasoning that bears any scrutiny. With Sachin Tendulkar not budging from the opening slot, and Virender Sehwag being a sure-shot to open, Ganguly has to bat at no. 3. Is this the real reason why Laxman is missing out?The logic that Laxman was being rested may be good enough for the board secretary to announce soon after a selection meeting, but it will not stand up to to questioning by a serious cricket enthusiast. With a tough home series against Pakistan looming, Bangladesh would have been an ideal platform for Laxman to get some runs under the belt, and confidence going. But no, the selectors would rather plump for Dinesh Mongia and Sridharan Sriram.Mongia has done well in county cricket, but no-one should forget he went to England to play league cricket for a little-known club team, and then got his chance at a decent level because Carl Hooper else was unavailable. He was nowhere in the reckoning then. Sriram has put in impressive performances with with Tamil Nadu and India A, and deserves another go at the highest level. But, if you sat a table with Mongia and Sriram, they would be the first to admit that they are not in the same class as Laxman. They deserve a chance, but not at Laxman’s expense.When Laxman left Dhaka, he did so in the full knowledge that he was going to return home and turn out the next day for Hyderabad in a Ranji Trophy match against Punjab, who have done exceptionally well this season. He rattled off 79 in a first-innings total of 233 and then 60 out of 149 to lead his team to victory. Will Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, please tell us why a man who was "rested" needed to go out and play for his state side?Laxman does not need rest. Not when there is a month-and-a-half gap between this one-day series and India’s next assignment. He needs time out in the middle. He needs scores. And for once he needs to be told that he is an invaluable member of this Indian team. But perhaps no-one will give him that because he is not the sort to demand it, either directly or indirectly.His rare outburst, when he was "rested", should have been enough of a warning to the selectors. This is a man who is crying out for help, but has too much pride to ask for it. And why should he, after the matchwinning performances he has put in? It is typical of the man. Not a week ago, I tried to re-introduce myself to Laxman, thinking he may have forgotten the few times we’ve met. "You first interviewed me at the India Pistons ground in Madras in 1999, during the Buchi Babu tournament, and wrote something about me being an enigma," he said. That was before the 281 in Kolkata that changed his life. I barely remembered it, and yet, countless media interviews later, he did.Perhaps that’s why all of us – selectors, team-mates, coaches and reporters – take him for granted. Because he won’t, for a second, blow his own trumpet at a time when, it seems, words speak louder than deeds.

Geraint Jones is still hurting from his disappointing Ashes debut, but he hopes to pay back his team-mates if picked for the second Test. While his performance was highlighted by two simple dropped catches in the second innings, Jones was criticised by commentators for a performance that included an irresponsible dismissal – he pulled Glenn McGrath to Jason Gillespie at mid-on – when England wanted to hang on for a draw.However, Jones, who will face pressure from Nottinghamshire’s Chris Read, said he deserved a spot at Edgbaston next Thursday. “There are always those worries but I hope that one performance will not be detrimental to the way I’ve performed,” Jones told the . “It still hurts. I was disappointed to miss those two chances but the rest of the summer I’ve been keeping as well as I ever have.”Allan Border, a former Australia selector, said the display of Jones was “clearly a worry”. “He will need to improve or I would be looking closely at his position within the team,” Border told .Jones hoped the bad patch was just a “blip” after earning his spot against New Zealand last year and holding it through the successful South Africa series. “I know myself that I’m good enough,” he said. “To miss those two chances did hurt a lot, but that’s part of the game. When you think you’ve got everything under control, cricket bites you hard.”

The India hangover didn’t make it to a third day. Australia drank away 35 years of frustration with their series win last month, but in celebration there were no lands except Bangladesh left to conquer. Revisiting the same territory is often challenging and rarely as fun.Australia expect their pesky Trans-Tasman rivals to morph every time they meet, but their start to a series that concludes in less than two weeks was worryingly sluggish. As the first Test venue, the Gabba is a ground where rust is shaken off, but the Baggy Greens have been together for most of six weeks.Catches were dropped and overthrows conceded on day one, and the opening bowlers took only one wicket in an innings that allowed 147 for the last three combinations. Australia spent most of the second day struggling for parity. By stumps they were two wickets away from an almighty fight.The Berocca tablets and raw-eggs breakfast finally kicked in through Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist. Their bouncing, high-energy display returned Australia’s attacking spirit and the summer’s opening style was restored, allowing the traditional thunderstorm alerts to arrive on cue.Horizontal bat shots as hard as the wicket flooded the ground once Clarke and Gilchrist exploded. Clarke, nicknamed pup, overshadowed his vice-captain in a 216-run partnership that was a sixth-wicket record between the teams. Once Clarke departed Gilchrist held the stadium’s attention for his 12th Test century and the New Zealanders had the headaches with muffed catches and haemorrhaged lower-order runs.Stephen Fleming’s only break came in the morning when he moved a loose man in the cordon to leg gully, opening up Damien Martyn’s favourite region. Next ball Martyn lifted a short ball from Chris Martin and Craig McMillan barely needed to steady himself at third man. It was a small victory on a day of heavy losses.Worse came for Fleming when Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie pushed the score past 500 before setting about 550 and personal bests. A slog-swept McGrath six sent the dressing room into fits of shock and laughter, and the pair knocked back offers of the light. McGrath’s 62-ball fifty was scarcely believable on the ground or the dressing-room – Darren Lehmann cheered so hard he threatened to re-injure his hamstring.Fleming remained stern and kept striding around as he wondered how the day, the match, and probably the series had turned. New Zealand were in with a shout in the morning but instead had shaken and stirred Australia into action.Peter English is Australasian editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Shoaib Akhtar, Moin Khan and Abdul Razzaq have appeared before a four-man medical commission. The commission includes Dr Riaz Ahmed, the Pakistan team doctor and Dr Sohail Saleem, a member of the PCB panel of doctors and two other leading doctors. The three players underwent a series of tests and were also given rehabilitation plans.The medical commission is expected to submit a report to the Pakistan Cricket Board in a week’s time. A spokesman of the cricket board reiterated that the commission had not been set up to find a scapegoat. “It has been constituted to find why so many players got injured and what can be done in future to prevent so many injuries. The other objective is to help the players get their names cleared from the general perception that they faked their injuries, if they were genuinely injured.”

After unprecedented scenes during last year’s Somerset-St George’s Cup match, the Bermuda Cricket Board has brought in two top English umpires to officiate in this year’s game.Retired Test umpires David Shepherd and Mervyn Kitchen will take charge of a two-day game which in among the most fiercely competitive in the world.Randy Butler, the secretary of the local umpires’ association, was less than thrilled at his men missing out, and he had a warning for both teams:”I just hope they realise the seriousness of abiding by the ICC’s code of conduct because these guys are very experienced and will not tolerate any of the nonsense that we saw in Cup Match last year or fans running onto the pitch.”

Damien Wright, the Australian fast bowler, has been forced to pull out of his contract with Derbyshire next season because of a knee injury.Wright, who plays for Tasmania, will undergo surgery at the end of the Australian season, and could be out of action for up to nine months. “It’s obviously disappointing because we planned the team around him, but we’re not going to rush into replacing him,” said Dave Houghton, Derbyshire’s coach. “Whoever we get has got to be available for six months because we don’t want to have to replace him mid-season.”Houghton added that he is looking for another bowling allrounder in the mould of Wright, and could look again at Australia for a replacement.

Frizzell County Championship Division One
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Kent 535 v Surrey 125 and 169 for 7 at Canterbury (Day 2)
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Surrey’s title hopes took a massive dive as they spiralled to almost-certain defeat against Kent. Surrey were forced to follow on and then made a right mess second time round as well, ending up 241 runs behind with only three wickets left. Replying to Kent’s 535, Surrey crashed to 125 all out in 28.5 overs. Martin Saggers started the rot by ripping through the top order as Surrey lurched to 64 for 5. Saggers, who took 4 for 40, was on the mark right from the off. He bowled Ian Ward (2), Jonathan Batty (28) and Mark Ramprakash (4), then trapped Nadeem Shahid lbw for 4. Then Amjad Khan took over. He winkled out three further wickets, including the battling Rikki Clarke for 26, then Muttiah Muralitharan polished off the tail with Surrey still trailing by 410. Saggers then took another two, and Murali three, as only Ian Ward (53) and Ally Brown (40) provided much resistance in Surrey’s second innings.Essex 335 and 154 for 1 beat Nottinghamshire 284 and 204 by nine wickets at Chelmsford (Day 3)
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Alastair Cook and Andy Flower led Essex to their second Championship victory of the season, both of which came against Notts. While the win kept alive Essex’s slim hopes of surviving relegation, it confirmed Nottinghamshire’s drop to the second division. Chasing 154, Cook scored an assured 69 not out on his first-class debut then, after Will Jefferson departed for 38, Andy Flower cracked a brisk 45 from 35 to help Essex home. That target of 154 would have been even less if it hadn’t been for Jason Gallian, who rescued Notts with a fighting 79 from 245 balls. Andy Clarke (4 for 34) picked up three quick wickets in the morning as Notts stumbled 108 to 5. Bilal Shafayat then became James Foster’s fourth catch of the innings, but Gallian held firm. He got some help from Paul Franks, who made 23, but once he was out, Essex wrapped up the last three wickets for 31 to set up their nine-wicket win.Warwickshire 449 v Lancashire 781 at Edgbaston (Day 3)
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Lancashire passed 700 for the second time in a fortnight as Stuart Law and Carl Hooper added to their mountain of runs this season with a stand of 360 – a fifth-wicket record for Lancashire – against Warwickshire. Law and Hooper are becoming a very prosperous double act for Lancashire and they followed their stand of 282 against Middlesex last week with another batting masterclass. Law started play on 11 not out, and Hooper with only a single, but they both raced to their centuries as Lancashire ended the day on a massive 781, and a lead of 332. Law biffed his way to 168, including 23 fours, while Hooper smashed 16 fours and eight sixes in his 177 before he was caught shortly before tea. Glen Chapple then smacked a quick 60 from 85 balls to add to the Warwickshire attack’s dismal day. Melvyn Betts finished with 0 for 151, while Mark Wagh took seven wickets, but for the small matter of 222 runs.Sussex v Middlesex 392 at Hove (Day 1)
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With Surrey in all sorts of trouble at Canterbury, the Championship favourites Sussex failed to put Middlesex under the same kind of pressure, as Andy Strauss and Owais Shah added 219 in Middlesex’s healthy 392. Strauss continued his purple patch with 138 from 172 balls, while Shah creamed 140, featuring 25 fours and two sixes. Jason Lewry did strike twice early on to leave Middlesex teetering on 33 for 2, but then the Strauss-Shah duet held things up. However, when Shah was finally out to Mushtaq Ahmed, the last five wickers tumbled for 18 as Mushtaq cleaned up the tail and took his tally to 95 scalps this season.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
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Northamptonshire 538 for 7 dec beat Durham 190 and 263 by an innings and 85 runs at Wantage Road (Day 3)
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Jason Brown led Northants to an emphatic win against Durham which all but guarantees their return to Division One next season. Brown took his season’s tally to 55 with a matchwinning spell of 5 for 90 as Durham surrendered for 263 in their second innings. Martin Love top-scored with 84, and Phil Mustard (35) and Graeme Bridge (33 not out) put on 51, but once that partnership was broken, the end came quickly as Durham lost their last four wickets in seven balls to Brown and Graeme Swann (3 for 77). Yorkshire 410 and 132 for 1 beat Somerset 228 and 313 by nine wickets at Headingley (Day 3)
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Matthew Wood and Anthony McGrath led Yorkshire to a comfortable win against Somerset, to give their side a sniff of promotion back to Division One. Wood (53 not out) and McGrath (67 not out) added 103 while chasing their target of 132. The Yorkshire attack, boasting four England internationals, shared the wickets between them, but Steve Kirby grabbed the two most important ones. He dismissed Neil Edwards for 90 and Jamie Cox for 59 as Somerset were bowled out for 313.Gloucestershire 401 and 209 for 8 v Derbyshire 321 at Bristol (Day 3)
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Jon Lewis and Craig Spearman put Gloucestershire in a strong position going into the final day against Derbyshire. Lewis took a season’s-best 7 for 117 in Derbyshire’s 321, in which Steve Stubbings scored a valuable 103 before the last four wickets added 87. Derbyshire still trailed by 80, and Spearman then rubbed in Gloucestershire’s advantage as he walloped a quickfire 87 from 85 balls. Graeme Welch and Paul Havell took three wickets apiece, but Gloucestershire were in charge with a 289-run lead at the close.Worcestershire 364 and 313 for 9 dec v Hampshire 265 and 91 for 2 at the Rose Bowl (Day 3)
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Worcestershire, whose promotion was confirmed when Durham lost to Northants, are likely to be celebrating again after they moved into a winning position against Hampshire. Resuming on 50 for no loss and with a lead of 149, Kadeer Ali scored 79 and Vikram Solanki hit 77, including 13 fours, as Worcestershire raced to 313 for 9 before declaring. That set Hampshire an unlikely 413 to win, and even though they made steady progress to 91 for 2, they still require another 321 tomorrow.

Centuries by JP Duminy and Lloyd Ferreira put Nashua WP in the driving seat against Free State in a 3 day friendly match in Bloemfontein.Summarised scores at lunch on day 2 are as follows;Nashua WP 284/3 dec after 72 overs vs Free State in Bloemfontein.Lloyd Ferreira 100* (retired), JP Duminy 100* (retired), Derrin Bassage 32 and Andrew Puttick 28Free State 220/6 dec (75 overs)Charl Willoughby 2/30 in 18 oversNashua WP 2nd inns – 10/1 (Puttick out)Nashua WP return to Cape Town on Thursday evening. All players are eligible for the opening series of WPCA club fixtures on Saturday.WP play Boland in a pre-season friendly in Paarl starting next Tuesday.

Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe Test batsman now with Essex, has fractured his finger while playing for South Australia.Flower sustained the injury towards the end of December in a Pura Cup match against Queensland. It is hoped that he will be able to return in the match against Victoria on January 23.He had just been coming into some form before his injury with scores of 82 and 56 against Queensland. However, in the return fixture, he picked up his finger injury during an innings-defeat.Flower will be returning to Chelmsford in 2004 for his third season with Essex, and he is now an EU-qualified player, meaning Scott Brant and Danish Kaneria will play as the two overseas players.

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has pledged to put South African cricket back on track following a disappointing World Cup campaign. Prior to the team’s departure to England for the triangular NatWest Series, Smith was quoted in the Beeld newspaper as saying: “The entire group realises the importance of this tour — to excel as individuals, but also to form a united front.”A negative image has been created in the wake of our failure in the World Cup, and as a result of recent events highlighted in the media. Many of our supporters have lost confidence in us. That’s why we’ve got to accept responsibility for the current situation, and do everything in our power to restore the pride and passion that were once trademarks of South African cricket.”In sport, there are many variables that have a bearing on results, but there are also many aspects that can be controlled, and we cannot afford to fail in that respect. As a young team, we’re very aware of the enormous challenges we face and that we are not the favourites in either of the two series. However, we accept the challenge with the pride and passion that our supporters expect of us. It was not so long ago that we were supporters ourselves, encouraging the players from the stands.”Promising the South African fans total commitment and integrity, Smith said: “We can give the assurance that we share the joy of every victory and the disappointment of every defeat. We are the selected group that has the honour of representing our country on the cricket field, and we acknowledge the responsibility that we carry in that respect.”We are the torch-bearers for SA cricket … each of us is determined to hand over the torch while it’s still burning brightly. Our message to the entire country is that we realise we’re not perfect, and that we disappoint ourselves and our supporters from time to time. Still, we represent our country and we’ll give it our all, on and off the playing field.”The South African one-day squad arrived in Dublin on Monday, without Jacques Kallis and Nicky Boje. Kallis stayed back due to a bereavement in the family, while Boje remained at home for the birth of his first child. Both are expected to join the squad in England on Saturday.