While Muttiah Muralitharan’s record-breaking achievement in the first Test overshadowed the enormity of Zimbabwe’s defeat, there will no hiding place for them this time in what promises to be another one-sided whopping, starting at Bulawayo tomorrow.If the sacking of the rebel players, coupled with the innings-and-240-run defeat at Harare weren’t bad enough, Zimbabwe will be without Blessing Mahwire, one of their more experienced bowlers with all of six Tests, for the second match. He was reported to the ICC for having a suspect bowling action during the first Test and has been dropped.Mahwire is now in Stage One of the ICC’s process for dealing with bowlers with suspect actions. This allows him to continue playing international cricket while working with specialist advisors, but the selectors have decided to scrap him. His place has been taken by Mark Vermeulen, who has recovered from a head injury sustained against Australia early on this year. Meanwhile, Prosper Utseya has failed to recover from a shoulder injury, and will be replaced by Tawanda Mupariwa, who is set to make his Test debut.Sri Lanka are expected to name an unchanged side, with the likes of Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya expected to rack up their run-tally, and Murali sure to stretch the gap at the top of the Test wickets list. However, he won’t be bowling his controversial doosra after it was outlawed by the ICC. “I have done all the tests that are required and the reports have gone to the ICC,” Murali said. “At the end of the day, what matters is what the report, the expert, my cricket board and the ICC say.”Geoff Marsh, Zimbabwe’s coach, admitted that it was going to be another tough battle for his side. “The guys are in good spirits even though we got beaten pretty well, and they’re looking to this Test match to improve,” he said. “We’re up against a very good side and we didn’t play well enough in any areas.”One stat to give Zimbabwe an ounce of encouragement, however, is that Sri Lanka have failed to win at Bulawayo in two attempts, but then again, Zimbabwe have yet to record a victory against Sri Lanka anywhere. And that is unlikely to change in the next few days.Zimbabwe 1 Tatenda Taibu (capt, wk), 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Brendan Taylor 6 Alester Maregwede, 7 Tawanda Mupariwa, 8 Mluleki Nkala, 9 Douglas Hondo, 10 Tinashe Panyangara, 11 Elton Chigumbura.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Thilan Samaraweera (wk), 7 Prasanna Jayawardene, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Scorecard

Canada, somewhat surprisingly, held the upper hand after the opening day of the Intercontinental Cup match against the USA. This was in no small part due to an outstanding allround performance from their captain John Davison. Davison opened the batting, making 84, despite being forced to retire hurt. He then proceeded to devastate the American innings, taking six of the eight wickets to fall. At the close the USA were on 110 for 8, 121 behind Canada’s first-innings total.Canada won the toss and chose to bat in perfect conditions. Canada omitted Manzoor Chaudry and Kevin Sandher from their squad of 13, and the USA included Leon Romero as a last-minute replacement for Rohan Alexander. Davison opened with Desmond Chumney, and appeared to have made a good decision as Canada advanced to 57 without loss. This promising start soon stumbled, however, as Davison was forced to retire hurt, and the Canadian wickets tumbled against the American spinners. Zamin Amin and Javed Nasir each took two wickets as Canada struggled to 107 for 5 at lunch.Davison returned after the interval and built a good partnership with Hani Dhillon. Davison eventually fell for 84, just two short of his first-class best, and Dhillon for an excellent 69 on an impressive debut. Dhillon faced 148 balls and hit 6 fours and two sixes.The brand-new turf wicket – possibly to be used in the next World Cup – was low in bounce and clearly favoured spin bowling. Javed Nasir, the legspinner, excelled with 5 for 78, and Canada were dismissed for 221.The American reply got off to a disastrous start when Johnson was dismissed first ball in the first over lbw to Patel. Richard Staple, the captain, who scored 30, and Romero stabilised the innings. With Clayton Lambert, the former West Indies Test batsman, to come, the Americans were in a strong position, but that was before Davison got in on the act again. America had no answer to his offspin as he recorded his best first-class figures of 6 for 42. He was well supported by Sunil Dhaniram who kept the pressure on with tight, accurate bowling, and was rewarded with the wicket of Reid. Davison took the prized scalp of Clayton Lambert, caught by Billcliff for just 2.

Despite the presence of Dinesh Karthik, a specialist wicketkeeper-batsman in the squad, Rahul Dravid will continue with his role behind the stumps as India take on England in the NatWest Challenge. Sourav Ganguly comfirmed as much on the eve of the three-match series, as he defended his team’s tactic of playing with seven batsmen.”I think we need a good wicketkeeper-batsman,” said Ganguly, in a tete-a-tete with the media. “Good teams have good wicketkeeper-batsmen and if you look at the one-day games we have played, we have won with seven batsmen. We don’t have a genuine all-rounder as other sides have and so we cannot afford that liberty. It has worked for us.”He made it clear that the specialist wicketkeeper had been included as a fall-back option just in case Dravid suffered some sort of injury. “Rahul is doing a good job behind the stumps and we do not need to change something that is not creating a problem,” said Ganguly. “It gives us an opportunity to include an extra batsman and increase the batting depth of the team. We travel with a specialist keeper in case Rahul gets injured but to start with we go with Rahul Dravid as our keeper.”India will face a selection dilemma or two in the run-up to the Trent Bridge game. With Sachin Tendulkar ruled out by tennis elbow, Rohan Gavaskar appears certain to be given a run in the middle order, and that leaves Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to fight for the lone spin slot, assuming that the team stick to the seven-batsmen philosophy.Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji – who bowled his way back into form in Amstelveen – are near certainties to play, and Ashish Nehra, who destroyed England with his swing bowling at the last World Cup, should edge out Ajit Agarkar for the final spot.Ganguly suggested as much. “Pathan and Balaji have been bowling well. They are both good swingers of the cricket ball. It is a first trip here for both of them and I hope they do well. Ashish Nehra has been bowling well. The guys who will swing the ball in these conditions will do well.”While it’s Pathan first tour with the senior side, he has been to England three times previously with various representative sides, including the U-19s last year.India’s last one-day assignment here resulted in a memorable triumph in the NatWest Series final, but Ganguly suggested that England – who have won 16 of their last 23 Tests – would pose a far sterner test this time round. “I think we have played well over the last two years but that does not guarantee we will play well in this tournament,” said Ganguly.”We will have to be at our best. That is the past and we will have to raise our game. Winning 10 out of 11 Test matches is an outstanding achievement. England are a good side and we will have to play well to beat them.”

Jogesh Khattar, a member of the Bhopal Cricket Association, has served a petition in the Bhopal High Court alleging that the BCCI has committed contempt of court by electing Jagmohan Dalmiya as its patron-in-chief.Khattar had filed a petition last week asking the court to prevent the BCCI from making the appointment, on the grounds that there was no provision for it in their constitution, and the court had accordingly directed the board to refrain from any activity that was not in accordance with their constitution.The crux of the matter lies in the interpretation of that order. Professor Ratnakar Shetty, joint secretary of the board, told Wisden Cricinfo, “There is a provision in the constitution. We have taken a decision and it is within the rules.”Khattar’s contention, meanwhile, is that the board’s constitution allows only for an outsider to be made chief patron, and not an incumbent president. The court had accepted that argument had prima facie merit, but they have yet to rule on it.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced outline details of a forthcoming three-way one-day series, also involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, to be played in Pakistan from September 30. There will be seven one-day internationals in all, plus two Test matches against Sri Lanka.In a sponsorship deal worth over Rs17million, the mobile-phone provider Paktel has been awarded the title sponsorship of the series, while Super Asia are the co-sponsors. Transmedia Advertising has won the rights to in-stadium advertising. Prizemoney, totalling over a million rupees, will come out of the Paktel sponsorship.Akbar Khan, Paktel’s national marketing manager, said: “Paktel is sponsoring this mega-event because we understand the love that this nation has for this game and for us the people of Pakistan are more important than anything else. This is our way of thanking the people of Pakistan for the huge support they have given to Paktel over the years. Cricket is the first love of every Pakistani and watching three countries of the cricketing arena is a sure treat for all of us.”Paktel was the first cellular mobile service operator in Pakistan, and for a long time the word Paktel was commonly used as another word for mobile phone.

The teleconference to hear Sourav Ganguly’s appeal over his two-match ban has taken place.Ganguly was hopeful about his chances after the hearing. “It was a very long telephonic conference and it went well,” Rediff quoted Ganguly. “I’m hopeful. We’ll come to know only by tomorrow. It’s the ICC’s decision. It looked very good and I hope everything works out.”Ganguly was joined by his legal counsel Siddhartha Sankar Ray, a former chief minister of West Bengal, UN Banerjee, a representative for the BCCI, and Clive Lloyd, the match referee in the game in question and who is currently in the US.Tim Castle, the ICC Appeals Commissioner, will now consider this evidence, paperwork from Lloyd, and a video of the match itself before making his decision.Castle has to authority to decrease, increase, amend or otherwise substitute his own decision to that of Lloyd, who meted out the ban after Ganguly’s India had bowled their overs too slowly in the ODI against Pakistan that was celebrating the 75th anniversary, the platinum jubilee, of the BCCI on November 13.

Reports that Stephen Mangongo, the former head of Zimbabwe’s selectors, had been suspended from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) were confirmed in the weekend’s newspaper in Harare.Mangongo, along with Givemore Makoni, the general manger of Mashonaland Cricket Association (MCA), were suspended for unspecified reasons, although it is thought that it relates to the recent move by the MCA to bring a vote of no confidence against the ZC board.The unrest against the board surfaced last week, and it is believed that senior MCA officials want to take their case to the ICC. The official meeting to discuss the vote of no confidence is due to take place on Wednesday (December 22).But Peter Chingoka, ZC’s chairman, sought to turn the tables on the dissenters, claiming that the MCA’s move was no more than a bid to cover up an investigation into the conduct of some officials, including Mangongo, at the Takashinga club.A local reporter told Cricinfo that the news of Mangongo’s suspension was not surprising. "They are out to fix him," he said, pointing out that his position and influence within the board had been weakening steadily in recent months. He was replaced as head of selectors at the AGM in August, when it was stated that he would be in India on a coaching course for most of the year, but he has remained in Zimbabwe. "That was a way of getting rid of him," the source added, "and it succeeded."There are also reports – unsubstantiated – that was an attempt to remove Max Ebrahim, the current head of selectors, as chairman of Masvingo.

Adam Gilchrist is being rested for Australia’s next two matches in the one-day VB Series. His place will be taken by the New South Wales wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.The selectors decided to leave Gilchrist out of the matches against Pakistan at Sydney on Sunday (Jan 23) and West Indies at Adelaide on Wednesday.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, explained: “Upon selecting the squad for this series, we said that certain players would be rested from time to time. That was the reason we opted for a larger squad. Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath have had short spells so far in this series, and we felt that it was in Adam’s best interests to have some time out prior to the end of the VB Series and the tour of New Zealand. Brad Haddin has been in very good form so far this season and deserves this opportunity.”Glenn McGrath, who missed today’s match against West Indies at Brisbane, rejoins the squad for Sunday’s match at the SCG.

Andrew Symonds loves playing for Australia but believes his heavy one-day load threatens his chances of another Test call-up. A fixture in the limited-overs side, Symonds misses the opportunity for regular first-class action that could help or hinder his case for a third match in the baggy green.”That is the difficult part of playing one-day cricket for Australia only,” Symonds said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “You don’t get to play domestic cricket and try and score big hundreds. It’s not the worst position to be in. I’m happy earning a crust the way I am. It’d be nice to play a bit more four-day cricket.”The Test squad for New Zealand will be named next week and Symonds is an outside chance if Darren Lehmann is dropped for good and Shane Watson remains unavailable with a side strain. “I’d love to have another crack at Test cricket and I feel as though I could do a good job,” he said. “Hopefully I can score a few more runs before this series is out and try and throw my name up there.”Symonds, who has played 113 matches, will have to rely on his one-day form to boost him into contention. Picked ahead of Simon Katich, he played two Tests in Sri Lanka last year and scored 53 runs and took one wicket. Katich is favoured to make the squad while Mike Hussey and Brad Hodge will also be discussed.Some New Zealand batsmen spoke to Gilbert Enoka, the team psychologist, on Wednesday following the two losses and Symonds said the move was worth trying. “Psychologically I’d rather be in our position than theirs, but by no means have we backed off the gas,” he said. “Whatever it takes to win. If they call a psychologist and they knock us over 3-2, it will be the greatest move of all time.”The third match is at Eden Park on Saturday and an Australia win will seal the series.

Scorecard

Baroda’s Satyajit Parab stroked a back-to-the wall century as West Zone cruised to a comfortable nine-wicket win against South at Hyderabad and stayed in contention for a spot in the Duleep Trophy final. The first two days were a riveting contest with the balance of power constantly shifting but Parab’s composed 103, while chasing 222, enabled West to take the game by the scruff of the neck.Resuming at 141 for 5 this morning, with a lead of 121, South were pegged further back by Ajit Agarkar’s double strike. Venugopal Rao battled on despite a loss of partners and he strung together a stand of 34 with Lakshmipathy Balaji. Rao was the last to fall, after making a gritty 79, and West were set a tricky target of 222 in their final innings.However, Parab and Wasim Jaffer, the openers, soon made the target look inadequate as they raced along at a rapid rate. Jaffer fell to Anil Kumble for 28 and, in a surprise move – which proved a masterstroke – Irfan Pathan was promoted to No.3. Pathan carted seven fours and a six on his way to 61 and, along with Parab, who caned 18 fours himself, pushed West Zone towards the target.Pathan capitalised on VVS Laxman’s largesse – he dropped him twice in the same over off Rajamani Jesuraj – and remained unbeaten when the winning runs were scored. Parab, 30, has been one of the pillars of the Baroda line-up in recent years and completed his 13th first-class hundred just before the celebrations began.