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Bangladesh Football Federation will think about holding more matches of the Nitol-Tata National Football League in Dhaka cutting down the regional venues due to the technical problem of live telecast of the matches from outside the capital city.
   The BFF bosses led by its president SA Sultan, general secretary Anwarul Huq Helal and deputy general secretary Monzur Hossain Malu met the minister for information, M Shamsul Islam, and the high officials of the BTV on Tuesday.
   The BTV officials informed the OB Van on which the telecasting equipment are mounted is not in proper condition to travel a long way. They also echoed their apprehension of lack of security. The BFF officials after finding no other alternative took a back-step by rescheduling the tournament.
   Monzur Hossain Malu, also the organising committee secretary of the tournament, however, was upbeat about his opportunities.
   ‘We have to be realistic about the available facilities, as per our agreement with the sponsors we have to arrange the live telecasting of 20 matches and it is possible if we cut down the number of matches to be held outside Dhaka.
   Another option is reducing the venues and holding most of the matches in Dhaka as the BTV has no objection to transmitting the matches from the capital. We will sit with the sponsors and take a final decision on Wednesday,’ said Malu.
   The Super-Six phase will have 12 matches and the BFF has to arrange another eight games to make it 20. So the BFF will have change the fixture in order to keep the sponsors happy and keep the tournament running. Moreover, arranging more matches in Dhaka is more convenient for the BFF.

India’s teenage tennis star Sania Mirza celebrated her 19th birthday on Tuesday with a pledge to continue the hard work that has resulted in a meteoric rise through the world rankings this year.
   ‘I am delighted that I have achieved more than what I dreamt of. I hope things will continue to improve,’ said Mirza, who has climbed from the 206th spot at the start of the year to her current ranking of 31.
   ‘It gives me a chance to achieve my lifetime goal of being out there at the top. I have not set any targets for the forthcoming year. I just wanted to break into the top 50 by this year-end.’
   Asked how she will celebrate her birthday, Mirza said, ‘It is my birthday. Let me celebrate it the way I love to.’
   Media reports said Mirza was spending the day with her parents, Imran and Naseema Mirza, kid sister Anam and close friends in her home city of Hyderabad.
   She said the best birthday gift was the news that Australian legend Tony Roche had agreed to a 14-day training stint with her ahead of next year’s Australian Open.
   ‘I am really excited about that,’ she said. ‘Roche will work on my serve, the weakest link in my game. He is the best in the business. That is why we picked him.’
   Mirza has set up a full-fledged gymnasium in her home to ‘take physical conditioning more seriously’.
   Till the teen sensation burst onto the international scene, Indians rarely looked beyond their obsession with cricket, but tennis - and Mirza - have quickly transfixed the country.
   Sponsors, attracted as much by Mirza’s good looks as her powerful strokes on court, have flooded her with the kind of offers usually reserved for top cricketers.
   Her face smiles from billboards around the country, endorsing a range of products from jewellery to petrol, designer sports gear to cycles.
   Mirza was ranked second behind cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in a recent magazine poll on India’s youth icons, but her short skirts on court have also earned her scorn from Muslim clerics.

Epyllion and Beximco set up the final showdown in the GrameenPhone Corporate Cricket League after winning their respective semifinal matches, though in a different manner, on Tuesday.
   At the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium, Epyllion dominated Acme Laboratories all through the game but had to remain content with just a one-wicket win as they loosened their grip on the match at the last moment only to get the scare unnecessarily.
   Acme paid the price of their poor batting as they were all out for 185 with 29 balls remaining despite a typical half century from Javed Omar, who struck 58 runs facing 115 deliveries.
   Javed should not be blamed for his lethargic innings as most of his partners at the other end failed to give any acceleration except their overseas recruit Tareq Mahumd, who added a twitchy 31 off 59 balls. Although Tareq hit three fours and a six in his cameo innings, the regular faces in the domestic cricket looked very nervous in every bit of his innings.
   As Javed, Tareq and Rafique all departed leaving the team teetering on 131, Acme needed a Hercules to lift them to respectable position against a spirited Epyllion attack of Tareq Aziz, Shahadat Hossain Yasir Arafat, Navil Samad and Sabbir Khan, who all got some kind of success with the ball.
   Batting in an unusual position of number seven, Hannan Sarkar looked to take up the role, but in the end he could score only 30 off 22 balls despite having a life.
   While chasing the target, Epyllion may have lost three wickets for 59 but they were well on course as young Shamsur Rahman was batting superbly. Once he got out for 62 (74 balls, four fours and three sixes) holing out at mid-off playing an overambitious shot, Yasir Arafat took his role.
   The Pakistan under-19 hit four fours and two towering sixes to make 40 off 35 balls to take Epyllion near the victory. As spinner Mohammad Rafique bowled him as the eighth batsman with six runs away from the target, Acme saw a glimmer of hope for a very dramatic win.
   Their chances increased further when Dollar Mahmud trapped number nine Navil Samad only after adding just one run. But the last pair of Tareq Aziz and Shahadat Hossain fended them off and took Epyllion to the final.
   At the Fatullah Stadium, however, there was no such drama as Beximco captain Akram Khan coolly guided his team to a six-wicket win over Gazi Tanks.
   Nazmul Hossain, Mahbubul Alam, Abdur Razzak and Steve Tikolo, all four frontline bowlers of Beximco, took two wickets apiece to restrict Gazi Tanks to 160 with only their skipper Khaled Mahmud giving any kind of resistance.
   Playing at number eight, Mahmud scored highest 43 for Tanks clubbing three boundaries and two sixes.
   Mahmud later shared four wickets with Manjarul Islam to rattle the top order of Beximco, who lost first four wickets for just 34 runs. However, in-form opener Rajin Saleh kept one end intact and found a worthy partner in Akram Khan finally.
   After Rajin got out for 44 leaving Beximco on 106, perennial match-winner Akram shouldered all the responsibilities to guide the team home safely with a solid 59 runs from 81 balls with nine boundaries. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahin also played a key role with an unbeaten 36.

The National Team Management Committee members officially withdrew their resignation letters on Tuesday vowing to serve the game with their heartiest efforts.
   Former national stars - Kazi Salahuddin, Salam Murshedi, Golam Rabbani Helal, Imtiaz Sultan Johnny, Saeed Hasan Kanan - and the advisor of the committee Monir Ahmed met the BFF president, SA Sultan at the BFF Building and informed him about their decision to withdraw their resignations.
   It may be mentioned that all the members of the NTMC had resigned from their jobs after the BFF president overruled the committee's recommendation regarding selection of the officials of the Myanmar-bound national team. Later the president accepted the NTMC recommendation and requested them to return.
   Sultan was a happy man after the incident. 'We have succeeded in keeping our family united, all the NTMC members are back with the same level of commitment, there was just a misunderstanding, nothing more, we pledge to work together for the betterment of the game,' said Sultan.
   Salahuddin praised the federation's move regarding the situation. 'We appreciate the goodwill gesture of the federation and vow to work for the country's football. I hope the bonding will continue till we reach the goal.'
   He also said he has received a report on the performance of the national team in Myanmar and informed the new national coach will change all his strategy when he sees his team is in a fully competitive condition. 'We have to give Cruciani more time to settle and to make an impact,' said Salahuddin.

England, chasing 198 to win, lost Marcus Trescothick for five after pace trio Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard bowled Pakistan out for 341 on the fourth day of the first Test on Tuesday.
   At the close, England were 24 for one. Andrew Strauss was on seven and Ian Bell 12 when play was called off nine overs early to poor light.
   Stand-in captain Trescothick, who scored 193 in the first innings, went cheaply second time round, dragging a ball from outside the off-stump from Shabbir Ahmed on to his wicket.
   Strauss and Bell survived some anxious moments as Shoaib Akhtar and Ahmed steamed in on a flat track.
   A thick edge from Strauss fell just wide of keeper Kamran Akmal before Bell hooked Shoaib for a six over fine leg. Strauss also survived a close run-out chance.
   Flintoff (4-88), Harmison (3-52) and Hoggard (2-81) had earlier sliced through the Pakistan second innings to bowl them out in 25.5 overs with the second new ball.
   After opener Salman Butt hit a fine 122 and shared a fourth wicket stand of 135 with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (72), the home team subsided.
   From 266 for three, Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 75 on a pitch still good for batting and on which Flintoff company really bent their backs.
   Hoggard stuck with only his second ball with the new ball when he trapped Inzamam leg before, the captain offering no shot to an in-dipper.
   Butt, who survived a caught behind on the first ball of the day off a no-ball from Flintoff, went on to complete his second Test hundred on the second ball after lunch, playing Ashley Giles down to fine leg with Pakistan looking comfortable.
   Butt, top-scorer in the first innings with 74, batted for 410 minutes and 256 balls, hitting 12 fours in his best Test score before falling to Hoggard, caught behind.

India and South Africa clash in a five-match limited-over series from today, hoping to build on their recent success by playing positive and aggressive cricket.
   Rahul Dravid’s India are buoyant after a brilliant 6-1 win over Sri Lanka in the recent series which dethroned the islanders as the second-best one-day team in the world behind Australia.
   Graeme Smith’s South Africans, the new number two in the official rankings, are unbeaten in their last 19 one-dayers, including a 4-0 rout of powerful New Zealand at home earlier this month.
   ‘It is going to be an awesome series against India,’ said South African coach Mickey Arthur ahead of the opening international at the newly-built Rajiv Gandhi stadium here.
   ‘India are playing well these days and so have we. We have never won a one-day series in India, so this is a good time to set the record straight. We can expect some positive and attacking cricket from both teams.’
   India’s Dravid said the victories over Sri Lanka had boosted his team but there was no room for complacency. ‘This is a new series and we will start from scratch,’ he said. ‘We have beaten one second-best team and are now geared to take on another second-best team.
   ‘Hopefully we will continue our giant-killing ways.’
   India, World Cup finalists in 2003, are ranked seventh, but a series win over South Africa will catapult them to the top four in the International Cricket Council one-day rankings. India’s coach Greg Chappell was confident the hosts can pull it off against the Proteas.
   ‘I am reasonably buoyant and confident that we can cope with whatever they throw at us,’ the former Australian captain told the Cricinfo website.
   ‘It’s a challenge for them to adapt to different conditions. We still have the home advantage but South Africa are a tough team. They don’t get beaten easily.
   ‘But if we can shock them the same way we shocked Sri Lanka, there is no reason we can’t push them back and make it hard for them to play to the best of their ability.’
   The tourists are without prolific opener Herschelle Gibbs and spinner Nicky Boje, who withdrew from the tour after failing to get a guarantee from Indian police that they will not be questioned or arrested in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal dating back to 2000.

Glenn McGrath’s spectacular return from career-threatening bone spurs on his left foot has won him the Wisden Australia Cricketer of the Year award. McGrath, who was forced out of the game for 12 months in mid-2003 and recovered from two operations, was 34 when he came back as ‘an ancient among fast bowlers’, and he beat Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist for the prize recognising performances in 2004-05.
   ‘What the Wisden year, leading up to the Ashes series, proved was that McGrath makes Australia complete,’ Greg Baum, the editor of Wisden Australia 2005-06 who presented McGrath with the award in Hobart today, said.
   ‘Two injuries in the Ashes series underscored it, to Australia’s regret.’
   From his comeback against Sri Lanka in Darwin to the final Test against New Zealand in March, McGrath took 69 wickets at 18.17 before claiming his 500th victim at Lord’s in July.
   ‘McGrath is like his bowling: it should never be presumed that he is gone,’ Baum said.
   Geoff Lawson wrote in Wisden Australia that having Shane Warne in the side was handy, ‘but before Warne gets the ball, the swing, seam and snarl of McGrath comes into play’. ‘It is something that has happened with astounding success for more than a decade,’ he writes.
   Lawson compares McGrath with the golfer Ernie Els and also pinpoints his secret. ‘Simply, it is simplicity,’ he writes.
   ‘He puts a minimal amount of stress on his body, because he has an action that doesn’t have a lot of stress points. He doesn’t bowl fast because he doesn’t try to bowl fast.’
   Michael Bevan, who scored 1464 runs including eight centuries, was the Wisden Australia Pura Cup Cricketer of the Year.

To foster the friendship and the camaraderie between the social clubs of the subcontinent Dhaka Club along with three other clubs organize the Dhaka Sports Carnival 2005 starting from the 26th of this month.
   The three day sporting extravaganza will co hosted by Uttara Club, Gulshan Club and Kurmitiola Golf Club. The events are double wicket cricket, squash, snooker, bridge, golf, swimming and tennis. Three foreign clubs The Saturday Club Ltd, Kolkata Club, Kolkata Cricket and Football Club and Bhubaneswar Club have confirmed their participation with the organizers hope Lahore Club will be another addition. About 150 participants, among them 70 foreigners are expected to test their sporting skills in the event.
   Apart the four host clubs Balisera Valley Club, Cadet College Club of Dhaka, Chittagong Club, Comilla Club, Khulna Club, Naryanganj Club will be among the participants. A welcome ball, a grand finale and prize distribution ceremony and routine cultural programs will also take place.
   Leading conglomerates Banglalink, City Cell, Partex Group, Samah Razor Blades Industries, Ispahani Group, Standard Chartered Bank and Prime Bank are the co-sponsors of the event.
   In a press briefing held at the club lounge the president of Dhaka Club Geeteara Safiya Choudhury hoped the event will a grand success. 'winning or losing is not the motto our main motto is to prosper the friendship' said Geeteara.

Sir Garfield Sobers, arguably the greatest all-rounder in cricket history, says Andrew Flintoff has already surpassed Ian Botham.
   England ace Flintoff, favourite to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, is a more conscientous batsman than 1980s hero Botham, says the West Indian.
   'Flintoff builds his innings more so than Ian,' Sir Garfield said in an interview for BBC Radio Five Live.
   'That's the reason why I feel Flintoff is a better all-rounder than Ian.'
   He said, 'Ian would go in and play a lot of shots and if he got out people would say that's the way he plays. ‘

Pakistani cricket authorities said Tuesday they hoped a car bomb that killed three people in Karachi would not affect England’s plans to play a one-day match there next month.
   The attack outside a KFC fast food restaurant was just 200 meters (660 feet) from the hotel where the England team are scheduled to stay for their December 15 one-day international against Pakistan.
   ‘We are in constant talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board and with our government and hope the Karachi blast does not affect the England tour,’ Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan told AFP.
   ‘When Australia can play despite the London bombings in July and Sri Lanka can play in India despite two blasts in New Delhi earlier this month, then we can have a match in Karachi as well,’ said Khan.

Abdul Jalil is using cricket to pursue his mission in life: bringing joy into the lives of his fellow Pakistanis.
   ‘There is so much poverty and illiteracy in Pakistan. They are unemployment problems and people remain in tension. I think cricket is a good way to lift their spirits,’ Jalil told Reuters.
   The 57-year-old Jalil is a familiar sight at Pakistan cricket matches, wearing his green robes and cap and waving a national flag.
   Jalil, known as ‘Chacha Pakistani’ (Uncle Pakistani), has travelled around the world as the cheerleader of the team and is now paid by the Pakistan Cricket Board to rouse the supporters.
   Cricket remains Pakistan’s number one sport and the performances of the national team are passionately followed by the population of 150 million.
   Jalil saw his first cricket match at Lahore in 1969 when England played Pakistan.
   ‘It has been 36 years now since I have been following cricket and 19 years since I first decided to don this green cloak and cap,’ he recalled during the first Test against England in Multan this week.
   Jalil made his first appearance as the official cheerleader of the Pakistan team at Sharjah in 1986.
   It was the match when former captain Miandad hit a last-ball six against India to give Pakistan their first major one-day title.
   ‘That match and moment remain memorable for me. It lifted the profile of our team,’ said Jalil. ‘I used to travel from Abu Dhabi, where I worked, for the matches in Sharjah.’
   ‘Now the Pakistan cricket board has appointed a 10,000 rupees (126.2 pounds) monthly stipend for me and they also sponsor some of my trips abroad or else it is not possible for me to carry on like this,’ Jalil said.
   Jalil has been to the last three World Cups courtesy of the board.
   Jalil, who hails from the Punjab city of Sialkot, went to India earlier this year when Pakistan toured there and said the response of the Indian people towards him was fantastic.
   ‘They were very good to me. I travelled a total of 58 hours by train around India and everywhere they greeted me with love and affection,’ he said.
   The series was the first on Indian soil in six years between the two countries, who have fought three wars since being divided along religious lines when they were freed from British rule in 1947.
   In Multan this week, Jalil is waving two flags instead of one, having decided to add the Union flag in honour of the visitors.
   ‘Cricket should bring people and nations closer together,’ he said. ‘After all it is just a game and not war.’

Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio triumphed 6-3, 7-5 on Monday against fellow Argentine Mariano Puerta, a last-minute Masters Cup replacement for injured second seed Rafael Nadal.
   In a match overshadowed by the shock withdrawal of both Nadal and US veteran Andre Agassi, Gaudio’s formidable backhand and accurate serving led him to his sixth victory against his childhood friend in their last six meetings.
   The hard-hitting Puerta, who has denied recent newspaper allegations that he tested positive for the stimulant etilifrine, did not help himself with 25 unforced errors.
   He later explained that he was surprised by the call-up and not properly prepared for the game.
   ‘It was a complete surprise and I tried to do my best,’ said Puerta.
   ‘It was not a great game and I felt I made a lot of mistakes, in part due to the situation that I was suddenly in, and I also had a friend in front of me so it was not easy.
   ‘On Wednesday, I’ll be able to play a lot better.’
   Puerta will play Chilean Fernando Gonzalez on Wednesday, another call-up after Agassi’s withdrawal.
   Buenos Aires native Gaudio, ranked ninth, sat on the baseline most of the match, waiting for the overly aggressive Puerta to make a mistake.
   However, a double fault in the seventh game gave Puerta a break and allowed him back into the match.
   But after slamming his racket to the ground in frustration, the occasionally temperamental Gaudio regained his composure, breaking back two games later for victory.
   Gaudio faces another powerful hitter in his next match of the 4.45 million-dollar tournament Masters in Shanghai, Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
   ‘For sure it will be a tough match,’ Gaudio said.

Australia are expected to play two spinners in the second Test against West Indies starting at Hobart on Thursday.
   Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill were both named in a 12-man squad that also includes three seam bowlers, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken.
   MacGill carried the drinks in Australia’s first Test win in Brisbane but Bracken is likely to be given the duties in Hobart after Bellerive Oval curator Cameron Hodgkins said the pitch was certain to favour the spinners.
   ‘I expect it to be slowish day one, day two and three,’ Hodgkins told reporters.
   ‘When it hardens up a bit the ball should come onto the bat a bit.
   ‘And if it does go to four and five then you would expect with the natural deterioration of the wicket, you would expect some variation and turn out of footholes.’
   McGrath said Australia’s selectors faced a difficult decision picking the team after all the bowlers were among the wickets in Brisbane.
   ‘Whichever guy misses out it’s going to be tough,’ McGrath said. ‘The way Bracks bowled up in Brisbane was great and Magilla has always bowled well for Australia.
   ‘Andrew Symonds is coming into the team and maybe Brad Hodge making his debut, so there could be a pretty special Test for a lot of guys.’
   West Indies opener Wavell Hinds missed the first Test because of a broken finger but is hoping to be reunited with Chris Gayle in Hobart.
   Gayle was criticised for some poor shot selection in Brisbane but Hinds said he did not want his team mate to curb his natural aggression.
   ‘Chris is our number one opener of course and he has played very aggressively throughout his career,’ Hinds said.
   ‘I think the last game he played two cricket shots that were not the best cricket shots in terms of opening batsmen.
   ‘But having said that I back Chris to come out and do the job as efficiently as he can, to play his style of cricket which is to make a statement and try and get the advantage as early as possible.’

When South Africa toured here last year for a Test series, Mahendra Dhoni was just another aspirant for the Indian cricket team and played a tour game against them.
   Exactly a year later, when they are visiting for five one-dayers starting today, not only is he a frontline player but a more swashbuckling batsman than even the likes of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
   The 24-year-old wicketkeeper with shoulder-length locks and rugged looks is now the scourge of bowlers, the darling of millions and a potential model for scores of advertisers.
   Dhoni may not have played a Test yet but in 26 one-dayers since his debut in Bangladesh late last year he has shown great potential both as a wicketkeeper and a destroyer of both fast and slow bowling.
   In a team bereft of genuine all-rounders, Dhoni is the only claimant to the spot with consistent performances and match-winning efforts.
   A man of the series award in a seven-match one-day series against Sri Lanka last week proved that a flamboyant knock of 148 against Pakistan in April was not a flash in the pan.
   If the 15 boundaries and four sixes he hit in Visakhapatnam against their arch rivals sounded his potential, an even more devastating 183 not out at Jaipur in the third match of the recent series proved it.
   Dhoni felled record after record as he unleashed a flurry of sixes much to the chagrin of the Sri Lankans, who went on to lose the series 6-1.
   His knock was the highest by a wicketkeeper in one-day internationals, the highest by a number three batsman and also equalled the second-highest score by an Indian.
   His 10 sixes in the match was the most by an Indian batsman and just one short of the world record held jointly by Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi hit on smaller grounds in Singapore and Nairobi.
   Dhoni plays the traditional attacking shots with a high backlift and the bat swinging hard at an angle from the slips, but coupled with superb footwork, his shots have been hard to curtail thus far.
   His tally from boundaries in Jaipur was 120, also a world record, as he justified the faith of the new captain-coach combination of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell, who promoted him to number three.
   That slot got him both the memorable tons but he also displayed against Sri Lanka the capability to finish matches with cameo knocks down the order.
   ‘I have been given different responsibilities and I am trying to play accordingly,’ said Dhoni, who is the first from the eastern state of Jharkhand to represent India.
   ‘I have had to bat differently because of different slots. At Jaipur, we were chasing a big target (299) and I went for my shots. In other matches I had to finish off the game and played according to need.’
   Dhoni, who played domestic cricket for four years before breaking open the doors of international cricket with two centuries against Pakistan A in a tri-series in Kenya, felt experience had proved vital.
   ‘I have played a lot of domestic cricket and batted at different slots in the four-day games and that has helped me,’ said Dhoni, who comes from a humble background in Jharkhand’s capital of Ranchi.
   Dhoni’s batting has got rave reviews but his work behind the stumps too has been appreciated at a time when India have been trying a number of wicketkeepers in an effort to balance glovework and batting capability.
   ‘I have improved my wicketkeeping since our tour of Sri Lanka (for a tri-series also featuring the West Indies) earlier this year and am keen to do better in the coming days,’ he said.
   Dhoni’s tally of 871 runs may not be intimidating but his average of over 50 and a strike-rate of over 108 is bound to be a source of worry to many.
   Graeme Smith’s South African side, on a 19-match unbeaten spree, will be the ones needing to watch out for Dhoni in the immediate future.

In spite of a forgettable outing against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy final, former India captain Sourav Ganguly sounded optimistic about his comeback to the national side.
   Ganguly, who got a pair in the match, told reporters after his team East Zone’s defeat, ‘I am disappointed with this game. Though I did not score, I have made a Test hundred in the last Test series (against Zimbabwe).’
   ‘I have also won the previous few matches for my side in the first class matches (Zimbabwe XI and North Zone). I have also scored a first class hundred recently’, Ganguly said, adding it was ‘up to to the selectors’ to decide his future.
   India’s most successful Test captain was ignored by the national selectors for the first three ODIs against the visiting South African team. The southpaw was also left out of the just-concluded seven ODIs against Sri Lanka.
   Asked about the low-scoring Duleep Trophy final which ended in under three days the East skipper, who was dismissed by another India discard Zaheer Khan in both the innings of the final, said, ‘I cannot give an exact reply as to why it happened. First class games are known to finish inside three days, like it happened against Zimbabwe XI.’
   At the presentation ceremony Ganguly congratulated West Zone for their performance and said in a lighter tone, ‘I told my boys that you have kept my record of losing finals intact’.
   West Zone captain Sairaj Bahutule said, ‘It was a tough match and East Zone made us work for out for victory’.
   He also wished Ganguly the best for his future games.

Pakistan batsman Salman Butt insisted they could still win the first Test against England despite a disappointing batting collapse on the fourth day.
   The tourists will resume on 24-1, needing only 174 more for victory, after dismissing Pakistan for 341.
   ‘We can still win this game because it is never easy batting on a final day pitch, no matter what the target. We just need a couple of good spells from our pacers,’ said Butt, who hit 122 to follow his first innings 74.
   Despite losing their last seven wickets for 75, his performance at the top of the order provided a positive note for Pakistan.
   ‘It is satisfying to get these runs as an opener cause this area has been a problem for Pakistan. Unless you have a good opening pair, you can’t win matches,’ he said.
   Butt’s century surpassed the 108 he made against Australia in Sydney at the beginning of the year.
   ‘This second hundred is more important for me because I am still not sure of my place in the side. I would be more happy if my runs help us win the Test,’ he added.

Offering his services to a top order currently in woeful form, Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand spinner, says that he is ready to open the innings in the one-day format of the game.
   Speaking to the website stuff.co.nz. Vettori said he would be happy to open alongside Astle if given the nod. ‘If the chance came I would grab it,’ he said.
   ‘If I got a chance I could apply the things which worked for me with ND [Northern Districts] last season. I think I’m better prepared now.’
   ‘With the way our ranking has slipped, Australia and Sri Lanka will be a huge series.
   ‘If we beat Australia everything will be forgiven but we’ll have to perform exceptionally well against them and Sri Lanka.’

Captain Darren Lehmann scored his highest first-class score with an unbeaten 301 as South Australia took command of their Sheffield Shield cricket game with Western Australia at Adelaide Oval Tuesday.
   Lehmann, smashed 116 runs from 87 balls in the afternoon session, after going to lunch on 185, and went to his chanceless triple century with a six over mid-wicket as his team declared at 552 for seven just before tea.
   By reaching 300 in 488 minutes and 400 balls, former Test batsman Lehmann made the first triple century on Adelaide Oval since his mentor David Hookes slammed 306 not out against Tasmania in the 1986-87 season.

Controversy is plaguing today’s World Cup play-off second leg ties – the final hurdle of a 26-month qualifying campaign to determine the cast list for next year’s finals in Germany.
   The last five places of the 32-team competition are up for grabs and the tense build-up has been taking its toll.
   The Swiss team were booed by Turkish supporters on their arrival in Istanbul, a Slovak player has accused FIFA of favouring Spain, a Uruguay player has said they have a divine right to play in the finals and their match against Australia will be tense anyway because of a history of controversy.
   And the Australians are claiming a psychological edge over their Uruguayan rivals by enjoying the comforts of a charter flight home Monday from Montevideo.
   The Uruguayan contingent arrived early Monday travelling in plain old economy class on a commercial flight two hours ahead of the Australian party, which flew home on a specially-chartered plane equipped with massage tables and medical staff.
   The two-time World Cup-winning Uruguay are taking a 1-0 lead into the second leg at Sydney’s Olympic stadium after Dario Rodriguez’s first-half goal at Estadio Centenario on Saturday.
   Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive John O’Neill said the Australian team’s easier flight may prove decisive in their chances of ending a 32-year wait to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in Germany.
   ‘I think it worked perfectly. Qantas should be congratulated – the whole trip went unbelievably smoothly,’ O’Neill told reporters upon arrival at Sydney airport.
   ‘The players were well rested and they’ll be very well prepared for Wednesday night. The charter flight could really be the difference between Australia getting there and not getting there.’
   As well as the extra massage and video facilities, two doctors, a physiotherapist and massage expert accompanied the squad on the charter flight for the 11,865-kilometre (7,373-mile) journey.
   Meanwhile Slovakian midfielder Miroslav Karhan accused football’s world governing body FIFA of not wanting his country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals at the expense of Spain.
   Spain thrashed Slovakia 5-1 in the first leg on Saturday and VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Miroslav Karhan claimed the result, and some dubious refereeing decisions, smacked of a conspiracy against Slovakia.
   ‘FIFA does not want Slovakia at the World Cup,’ Karhan told the Wolfsburger Nachrichten. ‘Spain have more influence and would be a better guest in Germany. It is a disgrace and a catastrophe.’
   Slovakia’s sense of injustice was further exasperated when their coach Dusan Galis picked up a touchline ban for his
   overly enthusiastic protests after Spain’s second goal in the
   first leg.
   The Swiss team, who lead Turkey 2-0, only left Istanbul’s Ataturk airport after a two-and-a-half hours wait under police protection on Monday.
   Television images on the CNN-Turk station also showed several dozens of Turkish fans shouting insults at the players.
   And the Anatolie press agency reported that airport personnel had even displayed a Turkish flag with the slogan ‘Welcome to Hell, 5-0.’
   The Turkish football federation has even made an official complaint on Monday about Swiss supporters whistling the Turkish national anthem in Berne on Saturday and about coach Fatih Terim having physical force used against him as he tried to get to a press conference.
   Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky, who was injured in their 1-0 victory over Norway in Oslo on Saturday, is doubtful for Wednesday’s return match in Prague.
   Borussia Dortmund’s Rosicky is suffering from ankle and knee injuries after being hit hard by the ball from a kick by Liverpool’s John Arne Riise. ‘My injury has not got any better since Saturday although the doctor and physio have been trying to assure me,’ Rosicky said.
   ‘Even if I don’t play at all till Wednesday, I would love to play. This is not just another match.’
   Czech coach Karel Bruckner must already do without captain Tomas Galasek, suspended
   after receiving a second yellow card.
   The other encounter is a finely-balanced affair concerning Bahrain against Trinidad and Tobago, who drew 1-1 in the first leg, with the return in the Middle East.

Eric Cantona has been voted the greatest player in the history of the English Premier League in a global survey of football fans.
   The inaugural Premiership Global Fans Report, commissioned on behalf of league sponsors Barclays, one of Britain’s leading banks, analysed the opinions of more than 26,000 fans from 170 different countries.
   France international Cantona, who starred in England for Leeds and Manchester United, received 17 per cent of the vote.
   However, fans in Singapore (34 per cent) and Thailand (29 per cent) preferred former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, a team-mate of Cantona’s at United.
   The survey also asked fans for details of their ideal Premiership match with 22 per cent of respondents saying it should be played at United’s Old Trafford ground.
   Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho topped the poll for ‘favourite Premiership manager’ with 28 per cent.
   Meanwhile, the survey revealed that Brazil striker Ronaldinho, currently at Spanish giants Barcelona, was the footballer fans would most like to see join the Premiership.
   Arsenal and France forward Thierry Henry was voted favourite current player with 17 per cent of the poll.
   Meanwhile, nearly half of the respondents from Brazil (46 per cent), whose ‘samba’ style of football is admired the world over, revealed they followed the Premiership because of the way the game was played.
   Old Trafford was voted the greatest football stadium in the world but fans in France, Germany, China and Hong Kong put Liverpool’s Anfield ground in first place.
   According to the survey, United had the biggest overall global fan base (25 per cent) but Arsenal and Chelsea have a bigger following in Kenya, Nigeria, Italy and Portugal.
   ‘Over 500 million people across the globe regularly tune in to watch Premiership games,’ said Barclays managing director Jim Hytner.
   ‘It’s clear that the world class footballers, style of play and the history of our clubs are what make the league so appealing. As a Man U fan, I’m also really chuffed Cantona has been voted the favourite player of all time.’
   The Premier League replaced the old First Division as English football’s top division from the 1992-93 season following a breakaway led by leading clubs unhappy with the structure of the Football League which up until then controlled all four divisions of the professional domestic game.

Mike Tyson has urged Wayne Rooney to keep living life on the edge.
   England livewire Rooney, 20, has had his disciplinary problems.
   But hellraiser Tyson said, ‘He can’t be a mature adult, a scholar and all dignified at this stage of his life.
   ‘He’s young, he’s successful and probably gets a lot of sex. Some people might not think it’s cool but it’s what they want to do.
   ‘It’s almost like he is living everybody’s dream. A lawless life, living on the edge. I like the way he acts.
   ‘He is supposed to act that way.’ Manchester United striker Rooney has run into trouble with officials in his short career.
   He was dismissed for mocking referee Kim Milton Nielsen with sarcastic applause in United’s Champions League clash at Villarreal in September.
   And he received his marching orders for the first time after a wild challenge on Steve Vickers while playing for Everton at Birmingham in December 2002.
   The burly, one-time amateur boxer also smacked Turkey defender Alpay on the nose following England’s stormy draw in Istanbul two years ago.
   Rooney managed to keep his cool in a national shirt on Saturday. He was inspirational once again, scoring in England’s 3-2 win over Argentina in Geneva.
   But his antics are nothing compared to Tyson’s life story.
   The former world heavyweight boxing champion, 39, was dubbed The Baddest Man on the Planet and spent three years in prison for rape - an offence he continues to deny. It was one of two jail terms he has served.
   He has been diagnosed with depression and was disqualified for chewing Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight in 1997. Yet he still hugely popular with fans.
   The American also clashed with Lennox Lewis at the Press conference to announce their world title bout in 2002.
   Tyson hopes to meet Rooney one day, a fellow international superstar with a notoriously short fuse.
   He said, ‘The masses will always be with guys like Roon, not with the straight guy.
   ‘What they do with him is they take a kid and they tell him, ‘Be a kid, but act grown up’. How are you going to do that?
   ‘Sport is all about immaturity. That’s why guys stay in it too long because they want to stay children.
   ‘How many guys do you know, like me or Roon, who can curse a guy out, probably get fined but not really get our a*** kicked?’

Frank Lampard has revealed that Argentina players refused to swap shirts after England's 3-2 friendly win in Geneva on Saturday.
   England won an exciting encounter thanks to two late headers from striker Michael Owen but by that stage an off-field row was already developing after Argentine players were accused of singing anti-English songs on their team coach as they entered the stadium.
   'You have to try to keep a cool head against these teams because they do try to wind you up,' Chelsea midfielder Lampard, who was booked against Argentina, told Monday's edition of the London Evening Standard.
   'I thought we did that well. There were some cool heads among the players after the win, happy heads but cool.
   'I didn't swap shirts at the end. They didn't seem too willing to do it for some reason. If there's any needle between the two sides it's not from us. This win did mean a lot, though. You could see the way we celebrated the goals and the way the bench got excited.
   'It's always special to beat Argentina but the main reason was that we've taken a bit of criticism this season and sometimes rightly so,' added Lampard of a campaign which has seen England lose 1-0 to minnows Northern Ireland.
   Matches between England and Argentina have often generated their fair share of controversy. On their way to winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966, England beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarter-finals in a match where the South Americans' captain Antonio Rattin was sent-off.
   So incensed was then England manager Alf Ramsey by what he regarded as the losers' over-physical approach, he stopped his players from swapping shirts and later branded the Argentina team 'animals'.

Bryan Robson insists Steven Gerrard must play in the centre for England to win the World Cup.
   The former England skipper believes Liverpool ace Gerrard is wasted playing wide and has all the tools needed to claim a regular slot in the middle.
   Gerrard himself says he will play anywhere for England as long as it means more caps.
   And England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has taken full advantage of Gerrard’s willingness by tinkering with his midfield in a bid to solve problems down the left.
   But West Brom chief
   Robbo said, ‘Gerrard has the ideal ability to play central midfield.
   ‘When he has played there for England he has turned in terrific performances and does it for Liverpool.
   ‘I don’t think there is anybody who can do it better than him.’
   Robson said if Eriksson plays Gerrard in the centre it would be a carrot for the squad’s fringe players.
   He explained, ‘If Gerrard moves over and the manager sticks with 4-4-2, it would
   present an opportunity for
   other players to take on the wide role.
   ‘Kieran Richardson has done well when he played there and Joe Cole of Chelsea has been successful.
   ‘The carrot is still there for those kinds of players to make a regular place their own.’
    Robson captained his country 65 times – a total
   being chased by David Beckham who moved to 50 against Argentina.
   Becks has designs on Robson’s total, but it would mean carrying on beyond the World Cup and denying other players like Wayne Rooney the captaincy.
   But Robson said, ‘I’d leave Wayne alone to concentrate on his own game.’

Chelsea are on a collision course with Argentina over crocked Hernan Crespo.
   The Blues striker has a calf strain - but Argentine boss Jose Pekerman still plans to play him against Qatar today.
   And he blames Jose Mourinho for the problem.
   Pekerman said, 'Crespo's injury is because he has not been playing regularly for Chelsea and, if he had, this would not have happened. It is difficult to understand how a world-class striker like Hernan is not playing very often.
   'Of course I would like to see him sharper and fitter.
   'We're six months away from the World Cup but I only hope he now plays more games for Chelsea.' Crespo picked up his injury during Saturday's 3-2 defeat against England.
   Pekerman added, 'What happened against England will not force me to change the line-up against Qatar. I hope to start with the same team that took the field against England.'
   Chelsea gave Crespo, 30, permission to play against England to help improve his match fitness.
   But they want assurances he will not be involved against Qatar unless he has completely recovered from his strain.
   And Blues boss Mourinho will be furious if Crespo is unavailable for Saturday's Premiership clash with Newcastle, particularly as Didier Drogba is suspended.
   But the £90,000-a-week Argentine is not due to return from Qatar until Friday.
   Mourinho said, 'Once more there is an international stampede and again I have my heart in my mouth.
   'England seem the only intelligent nation to me. They thought about the burden of the Premiership and opted for just one game in Europe.'
   Chelsea legend Ron 'Chopper' Harris has hit back at Crespo's sick taunts against England at the weekend and blasted, 'We don't need you at Stamford Bridge.'
   Crespo led his Argentina team-mates in chants branding England's stars a bunch of poofs and whores before the 'friendly' in Geneva.
   The lyrics of another chant were, 'Y ya lo ve, el que no salta es un ingles.' This translates as 'Let everybody see, whoever doesn't jump is an Englishman.'
   That was why the Argies were leaping up and down on their team coach as they arrived at the stadium.
   Harris insisted, 'What the Argentinians are supposed to have said is out of order.
   'Crespo might have said things like that because he is trying to move back to Italy.
   'It doesn't look like we need him and I wouldn't shed a tear if he left in the summer.
   'We won the Premiership by 12 points without him. And we look like we will win it by even more this season - and he hasn't been much help.'
   Adolf Ogi, the UN envoy for Sport, on Monday demanded FIFA take action and punish Argentina for their vile songs.
   He said, 'It's not possible for the UN to stake steps. But FIFA and UEFA must take action.'

Frank Rijkaard says Barcelona’s glittering form in recent matches will count for little when they meet arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday.
   ‘We are playing well at the moment, but this is always a very special game and there a lot of tiny details that can decide a match like this,’ said the Dutch coach.
   ‘People say that we have got the better team, but everyone knows that games like this are won because of attitude. These are games where courage, mental approach and pride are very important,’ he told the Barcelona website. Barcelona are second in the Primera Liga with 22 points from 11 games, two behind surprise leaders Osasuna and one ahead of Real.
   The Catalans have scored 18 goals and conceded just one in their last five matches in all competitions, while an injury-plagued Real have ground out two efficient but unimpressive victories in the league. Rijkaard said that Real were under greater pressure to win the game.
   ‘Real are only a point behind us but they will be under a lot of pressure because they will want to put in a convincing performance in front of their own fans. For them it will be a very important game.’
   Barca’s only absentee is midfielder Mark van Bommel, who damaged ankle ligaments while training with the Netherlands last week.
   Real, who won 4-2 the last time the sides met at the Bernabeu, have a lengthy list of players on the treatment table, including Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Julio Baptista, Ivan Helguera, Jonathan Woodgate and Thomas Gravesen.
   The club is confident that Zidane will be ready to play on Saturday while Ronaldo also looks to be making good progress with his ankle injury.

Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf was robbed at knife point at his home near Milan last week and had about 110,000 euros ($129,000) worth of jewellery and other valuables stolen, investigative sources said on Tuesday.
   They said four masked men broke into Seedorf’s villa late on Thursday while the AC Milan player, his wife, three-year-old daughter and maid were in the house.
   They grabbed a knife from the kitchen and forced Seedorf to open his safe.
   The thieves, who spoke with a Slavic accent, then ran away, the sources said.
   Bands of burglars have broken into dozens of villas across the wealthy north of Italy over the last year.
   Earlier this year, police
   arrested a group of Albanians linked to some of the robberies, including an attack on industrialist Gianni Marangoni, whose family was held hostage and beaten in their house in the north-east town of Rovereto.

Mischief-Maker Patrick Vieira has told Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he would be the ideal choice to replace midfield veteran Roy Keane. Vieira, 29, who left Arsenal for Juventus in a £13 million summer move, hinted that he would be interested in joining United as Roy Keane’s long-term successor.
   Ferguson revealed he did not pursue Vieira last summer because he had been led on too many times in the past by the former Gunners skipper when he had tried to sign him.
   ‘You never know what’s going to happen in the next few years,’ said Vieira Monday. ‘I have signed a contract with Juventus but anything can happen and then the door will be open to anybody.’ Vieira revealed his admiration for United but admitted it would have been impossible for him to make the direct switch from Highbury to Old Trafford because of the intense club rivalry. When you are a player you always look at the best and that Manchester United team was the best in the country,’ Vieira told BBC Radio Five Live.
   ‘United are interested in all the big players. Was I tempted? No, you can’t say that because when I was at Arsenal it was very difficult to go to United.
   ‘Even if United are not doing well now they are always going to bounce back.’ Vieira, 29, has a history of hedging his bets, twice came close to joining Real Madrid.
   In a bizarre twist, Vieira’s sworn enemy Ruud van Nistelrooy could be leaving Old Trafford. He’s wanted by AC Milan.

Bayern Munich have withdrawn their offer to extend Germany captain Michael Ballack’s contract beyond the end of the season.
   ‘We officially withdrew our offer today,’ Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Monday at the club’s annual meeting in Munich.
   Rummenigge said the club had met with 29-year-old Ballack on Monday and the midfielder told them he had still not reached a decision about his future.
   ‘(That) does not necessarily mean that Michael will leave us but I say point blank that we will immediately sound out the market to look for a replacement,’ Rummenigge said.
   Ballack, Germany’s Player of the Year, is reportedly a target for Europe’s top clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, AC Milan and Juventus.
   If he decides not to re-sign with the German champions Bayern could sell Ballack during the January transfer window before his contract expires at the end of June.
   Ballack has won two Bundesliga titles and two German Cups with Bayern Munich but has repeatedly
   said his major ambition is to win the Champions League.

A campaign to bring the 2018 World Cup to England is ‘imminent’ and has the support of the British government, it was reported Monday.
   Daily tabloid The Sun claimed that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown were expected to announce that the bid has full government backing.
   The newspaper said the government had already held talks for a ‘masterplan’
   with the English game’s governing body the Football Association.
   ‘Rumours around the football world and Westminster say a full-scale operation is ‘imminent’,’ they stated, but added that government and FA officials had refused to comment.
   The World Cup was last staged in England in 1966, when England won the competition, beating West Germany 4-2.

Second day of transfer remains dull
As most of the attraction has gone out on the first day, the second day of the cricketers’ transfer was relatively calm with only 27 players participating in the process. The day’s single notable feature was the arrival of once giants Abahani, who looked like a pauper when they signed Faisal Hossain, Golam Mortuza, Zahirul Islam and Anwar Hossain. Another two big names, Brothers Union and Victoria SC, also had stepped into the transfer bazaar but none could manage to sign a star player on the day. Brothers signed Marshal Ayub and Rezaul Islam Rajon while Victoria roped in Farhad Hossain and Mahbubul Alam.
— New Age

BU-Mukti practice match today
Current Premier League Football champions Brothers Union Club play a practice match today with Muktijoddha Krira Sangha at the Brothers Union Club Ground as a part of warm-up for the second round of the forthcoming Nitol-Tata National Football League. They made a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh Army in their first practice match at the Bangladesh Army Stadium Monday.
— BDNews

BKSP team honoured
State minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman accorded a warm reception to the BKSP Under-18 hockey team on Tuesday for clinching the Neheru Under-18 Hockey Tournament in India at the conference room of the ministry. BKSP Under-18 Hockey Team defeated Alipur Khalsha of Jalandhar by 5-4 goals in New Delhi. The keeper of the team Mehrab Hossain Kiron was adjudged as the best player of the tournament. The state minister donated Tk 10,000 to the each member of the team including officials of the team. Secretary of the Youth and Sports Ministry Dr AK Mahbubul Alam, the Director General of the BKSP Brig Gen Najib Hasan and other officials were also present on the occasion.
— BDNews

Bangladeshi golfers tee off in Shillong
Five Bangladeshi golfers taking part in a golf tournament in Shillong, capital of the Indian state of Megahalay, have decided to give a percentage of this tournament’s total prize money of Indian Rs one million towards battling the HIV/AIDS in India’s northeast. More than a hundred professional golfers, who are taking part in the tournament, Tuesday teed off from an elevated pine grove in Shillong, with a pledge to help the paramilitary Assam Rifles combat HIV/AIDS in the region. Among the prominent participants are Champion Golfer of the Year Mukesh Kumar and Indian golf legends Rohtas Singh and Basad Ali. Bangladesh’s Brig (retd) Anwar, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, Iqbal Mahmud and two others are the representatives from Kurmitola Golf
Club.
— BDNews