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Muttiah Muralitharan, who became only the second bowler in Test history to take 700 wickets, said that his main focus was not on breaking Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne’s world record but for Sri Lanka to win the two-Test series in Australia later this year.Sri Lanka’s next Test assignment is against Australia in November and Murali who took 12 wickets in the third and final Test against Bangladesh at Kandy on Saturday said: “It’s a big achievement taking 700 wickets. I knew anyway that I would get the 700 wickets. I want to go to Australia and try and win the series because we have never won one there. Also I have not taken five wickets in an innings in Australia. They are the No. 1 team in the world but we can also be better than them if we play to our strengths.”Muralitharan finished the three-Test series against Bangladesh with a haul of 26 wickets bringing him nine wickets closer to breaking Warne’s world record of 708. “I think I can achieve a little bit more than the world record. I hope to play until the next World Cup in 2011 and the challenge is before I retire I am thinking of taking 1000 Test wickets,” said the 35-year-old spinner.He described today’s victory by an innings and 193 runs as more special than taking 700 wickets. “If you are winning a match in less than 2 ½ days [taking into account disruption by rain] it is special. The way we batted and the way we bowled in the first innings was amazing. We played good cricket and didn’t allow Bangladesh to raise their heads. We wanted to knock them off every time we bowled and batted. That’s what we have done.”Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene praised his team’s all-round performance. “When you perform to that level it is always tough for a team like Bangladesh to keep up. Credit should go to the whole team, the way we played, the way we executed our game plan was brilliant. We should not take anything away from them. I am surprised the way we finished the series especially today after two days of rain. Mainly the way we bowled in the first innings and scored 470 run in a day put pressure on Bangladesh,” Jayawardene said.Bangladesh coach Shaun Williams said that Sri Lanka had basically given them lesson on how to go about playing good Test cricket. “They allowed us nothing and that’s what you expect from a top quality team. We don’t have enough to challenge top-shelf Test teams. It was very difficult to get many positives out of this sort of result. We were inconsistent in our batting although there were some individual performances. There were good signs here and there. But there were only little things we can take back. We got a lot to learn from Sri Lanka cricket, the way they’ve gone about building a side,” said Williams.”Sri Lanka’s got some superstars like Murali, Mahela and Sanga. The way they have built their A team and youth programme there’s a lot to be learnt from that. It hasn’t happened overnight. If Bangladesh cricket can learn from that then in time we can go forward,” he added.Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful said his side would put up a better performance in the one-day series starting next week. “Playing Test cricket was very tough in Sri Lanka. We know Test cricket is very difficult because Sri Lanka is a very good side especially at home. I am very confident we will put up a better performance in the one-day series,” he said.

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has refused to rule out the possibility of England’s leading players joining the Indian Premier League (IPL). Only Dimitri Mascarenhas has so far signed up to the IPL, while the likes of Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen have poured water on suggestions that they and their team-mates could be lured to the IPL by money.Currently, the IPL clashes with England’s county season but Lalit Modi, its chairman, maintains his willingness to shift the dates of future tournaments in order to accommodate English players. The ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, strongly believes that England’s players would rather play for their country than an Indian franchise, but Sean Morris, the PCA chief executive, is aware of the need for a balance.”We will ask the players how they feel,” he said. “We need to sit them down and ask their personal views – some might have different opinions to others. But I would like to think on behalf of the players we would be able to take advantage of this concept and allow them to reap the benefits.”There may be a very strong collective view but there may also be different circumstances for each individual which would affect their decision. We have a very open dialogue with the ECB right now, we met this week and will be meeting with them again next week, so there is a strong channel of communication.”Mr Modi is saying that he’s prepared to move his tournament to accommodate English players and that is music to everyone’s ears in this country.”The issue the PCA are trying to address with the ECB is the potential restriction of employment.”Their priority is England, they’ve all said that,” Morris said. “But I just hope we can come to a point where they’re comfortable with their arrangement with the ECB as their employers and take advantage of the increase in income into the game, because you’re a long time retired.”Restricting employees anywhere will cause friction in a relationship – over a period of time that will break it down.”Meanwhile Dougie Brown, the PCA chairman, insisted that for all the players’ loyalty to England, “IPL is not something that is going to go away – it’s going to be around for 10 years” and the ECB need to act sharply.”So we have to compartmentalise it within our own calendar, create a window of opportunity, or it will be a precarious situation that the ECB will find themselves in. You might find guys coming to the end of their careers will not sign a central contract, they will go and sign with the IPL instead. Suddenly you will be losing people a couple of years earlier than you might have.”

Pakistan have called up Sohail Khan and Khalid Latif, both of whom are uncapped, to their squad for the third ODI in Multan against Zimbabwe on January 27.Sohail, a right-arm fast-bowler, replaces an unimpressive Samiullah Khan, who failed to pick up any wickets in the two ODIs, and Latif has been called up in place of Sarfraz Ahmed, the reserve wicket keeper.Sohail was widely tipped to make his ODI debut in Karachi after grabbing 65 wickets in nine first-class matches this season, while also impressing in the four-day tour match against the Zimbabweans. He troubled batsmen with both pace and bounce in that match but was advised a week’s rest after feeling a slight niggle in his right shoulder while throwing the ball.Sarfraz has been sent to a specialist wicket-keeping camptaking place in Lahore as the selectors are keen to persist with KamranAkmal for the third ODI. They, however, have not ruled out Sarfraz’sreturn to the squad if Pakistan wrap up the series at Multan.The inclusion of opener Latif will put pressure on Salman Butt, who hasfailed to impress in the series so far. Run out for four in Karachi, Buttmade only 17 in Hyderabad.For the second match running, he was overshadowed by the 18-year-old Nasir Jamshed, who has marked his start in international cricket withconsecutive half-centuries. Latif scored 593 runs in therecently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the Patron’s XIsquad that took on the Zimbabweans in the tour match.Squad – Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan,Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, SohailTanvir, Iftikhar Anjum, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Hussain, KhalidLatif, Sohail Khan

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The Patron’s XI openers put on an unbroken 65-run partnership after their legspinners grabbed seven wickets to bowl out the Zimbabweans for 209 on the opening day of the tour match in Karachi.Opting to bat, the Zimbabweans failed to capitalise on a 62-run third-wicket partnership and lost their last six wickets for only 27 runs. After Hamilton Masakadza, their stand-in captain in place of the injured Prosper Utseya, fell on the seventh ball of the innings, the Zimbabweans were carried past 50 by Brendan Taylor and Vusi Sibanda. While defensive play was the order of the morning, Taylor made it a point to latch onto anything wide of off stump. Cutting an impressive Sohail Khan to bring up his first boundary, Taylor then creamed Kamran Hussain through extra cover to ease off some pressure.While Sibanda perished to a catch behind the stumps, Taylor shifted gears and smashed Afridi over long-on for the first six of the morning. He then guided Sohail through gully and then dispatched an overpitched delivery through extra cover for another four. Tatenda Taibu, too, was in no mood to hang around. Following Taylor’s dismissal to a loose stroke off Yasir, Taibu, sensing Yasir as the weakest link in the bowling attack, swept the legspinner over midwicket for four before a similar shot fetched him a couple. However, with the next four deliveries reverse-swept – resulting in two fours, a dot ball and a leg-before appeal – Taibu made hisintentions quite clear.While Sean Williams was particularly harsh on Afridi – driving him through the covers and sweeping him over midwicket for a six – a reverse-sweep too many resulted in Taibu’s dismissal – taken at slip off Afridi – for a 60-ball 46. That was as good as it got for the touring side as the spincombination of Afridi and Yasir, as well as Fawad Alam – who managed Williams’ wicket in his first over – ran through their lower order. In search of quick runs, the Zimbabweans missed out on an ideal opportunity for batting practice in their first outing of the tour.In reply, Nasir Jamshed and Khalid Latif started aggressively as Jamshed – with 800 runs in the recently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy behind him – drove Christopher Mpofu through extra cover before pulling Elton Chigumbura through midwicket for fours. The introduction of spin failed to break the partnership, with Ray Price’s flighted delivery duly dispatched overlong-off by Jamshed.With a strong batting line-up, Patron’s XI will look to score quick runs on the second day and aim to use a a pitch which is expected to deteriorate with time to their advantage.

David Hussey, the Victoria batsman, may have been purchased for US$625,000 by the Kolkata franchise in the Indian Premier League’s auction, but his county side Nottinghamshire have insisted he is contracted to play for them this season. Hussey’s participation in the IPL, which runs from April 18 to June 1, would mean he misses the first five County Championship matches and eight games in the Friends Provident Trophy.Mike Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, said: “We are currently talking to David and his advisors, so I would prefer not to comment at this stage other than to say that he signed a new two-year contract with us after the end of last season.”Hussey was one of the surprise buys at the IPL auction, being picked up well above his initial base price of $125,000. He even outdid his more famous brother, the Test player Michael, who went for $350,000. Unlike Michael, David was reportedly available for the entire tournament, which perhaps was one of the reasons why he sold for a higher price than the likes of Ricky Ponting and Matthew HaydenMeanwhile, Justin Langer, the former Australian Test opener, has indicated he will play for Somerset and won’t turn out for the Jaipur franchise. Langer collected his base price of $200,000, but Jaipur paid only $75,000 for him, with the Indian board covering the difference.”I have made a commitment to Somerset and I intend to honour it,” Langer told the . “I made that clear when I first signed with IPL and I have no hesitation sticking to it.”Langer fears the IPL will damage the game. “When you go to your grave,” he said, “people will remember what you did with your life rather than how much money you made.”The newspaper also reported Luke Ronchi, the Western Australia wicketkeeper, is considering an A$100,000 (approx US$92,000) offer to join the Mumbai franchise, while his team-mate Luke Pomersbach, who earned a car park call-up to play a Twenty20 international for Australia, is also set to join an IPL team. The Mumbai franchise failed to buy a wicketkeeper-batsman at the auction held on Wednesday.

Aaron Bird is in line for his first state match since clearing his name over a suspect bowling action. Bird, the New South Wales fast bowler, has been included in the Blues’ squad for their FR Cup game against Western Australia at the SCG on Wednesday.Last season Bird’s whippy action was reported by several umpires but it took until September for his bowling style to be passed as legal after stress fractures in his back significantly delayed his biomechanical testing. Bird replaces Mark Cameron, who has a side strain, in the New South Wales squad.He said facing a potential ban from state cricket had been devastating. “It was the worst point of my career,” Bird told the . “For something you love so much, and you work so hard for, to be taken away like that breaks your heart.”I always knew I was right to go and I proved that. Whenever there is a different action, people are going to have questions or queries on it. When there is enough mud thrown, sometimes it sticks.”What has come out of all of this is how much I love the game. Even though I was struggling so much with it all, I was still enjoying playing.”Wednesday’s one-day game is followed by a Pura Cup match between the two sides that starts on Friday. Western Australia have regained their captain Marcus North for both encounters, and he is set to play his first state games for the season after missing more than half the summer with a degenerative knee condition.New South Wales FR Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich (capt), Daniel Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger.New South Wales Pura Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Greg Mail, Simon Katich (capt), Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Grant Lambert, Moises Henriques, Beau Casson, Matthew Nicholson, Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Shaun Marsh, Marcus North (capt), Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Sean Ervine, Theo Doropoulos, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson.Western Australia Pura Cup squad Chris Rogers, Justin Langer, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Marcus North (capt), Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi (wk), Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson, Mathew Inness.

Kapil Dev has reacted to his sacking as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) by criticising the BCCI’s refusal to talk to him.”They [BCCI] did not bother to talk to me before announcing this. I think they felt it was below their dignity to talk to me. They have been doing this for the last 70 years and I’m afraid they will continue like this,” Kapil told Aaj Tak, a Hindi news channel. He was removed from the NCA post for his involvement with the Indian Cricket League.”But I’m not shattered or surprised. It’s not as if lightning has struck me,” he said. “This was surely not a bolt from the blue, for such a possibility was doing the rounds for quite sometime.””It feels bad that though I wanted to teach them [his former wards at the NCA] a few things, I can’t do that any more. They have to learn things themselves. I did not get the opportunity to help them learn.”The BCCI sacked Kapil – who is chairman of the ICL’s executive board – a day after the league announced a host of new recruits, including 44 domestic cricketers and a few international cricketers such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Lance Klusener, who will take part in a Twenty20 competition.The domestic cricketers who have signed up for the ICL have been barred from playing in tournaments affiliated to the BCCI and they will not be able to derive any benefits from the board.

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At 127 for 3 off 16.3 overs, needing 20 more off 21 deliveries to triumph in a Twenty20, most would have gone with the Mumbai Champs to cruise to a convincing win. But two quick wickets from Andre Adams sparked the Tigers back into the hunt; another five fell in the space of three overs, and even if No. 11 Avinash Yadav’s attempt for the third run off the final ball had been successful, the Champs would have fallen short by the one run instead of the two.If it was his bowling at the death that snatched the win, Adams had earlier provided the much-needed thrust at the end during his team’s innings to set up a competitive target. Kolkata Tigers choose to bat, and got the momentum going with openers Subhomoy Das and Lance Klusener hitting four fours in the first two overs.But after West Indian Tino Best removed Klusener in the fourth over, things went quiet for the Tigers. Subhomoy fell to Ranjit Khirid, and when Michael Kasprowicz dismissed Craig McMillan for 8, the side were 62 for 3 at almost the halfway stage of their innings.Abhishek Jhunjhunwala made a 29-ball 33 but at 93 for 4 after 14 overs, the Tigers needed at least ten an over from then on to post a challenging total. Rohan Gavaskar kept the score ticking during his unbeaten 41 off 36, and it was Adam’s cameo 12-ball 21 that ensured the Tigers reached 146. Sixteen of those runs came off the final over by Best, in which Adams struck two sixes.Soon after Adams struck again, with the ball, removing former Sri Lanka international Saman Jayantha for a duck. But the next partnership, and a blazing fifty from Raviraj Patil, set up the platform for the chase. Patil smacked 52 off 31 deliveries, with eight fours and two sixes, and by the time his fusillade was over, the Champs looked on course, needing 71 more with a little over half the overs remaining.Nathan Astle, the Champs captain, almost put the Tigers out of the game when he began the final flourish with two sixes off Adams in the 17th over, but another run down the track only saw him being bowled by his fellow New Zealander, and opened the door for the Tigers to fight back.Johan van der Wath fell in the same over, and the remainder of the Champs batting line-up couldn’t keep their head to get a run a ball in the final three overs, bowled by Nantie Hayward and Adams. They panicked, three perished to run-outs – although the last being an optimistic try – as they fell prey to the pressure applied by the Tigers.

Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka offspinner, is offering his fans the opportunity to bid on eBay for the chance to face him.The charity auction, at ebay.co.in, ends on December 11, and all the funds raised will go to Muralitharan’s own charity, the Foundation of Goodness which was set-up in 2004 following the tsunami which devastated the country.The highest bidder will face ten deliveries from Muralitharan on December 16 at the Seenigama Oval in Galle.

Only 20 minutes were possible in today’s scheduled second day of the Otago-Northern Districts Shell Trophy match at Carisbrook in Dunedin today.Steady overnight rain turned to drizzle for much of the day and it wasn’t until four hours after the usual start time of 10.30am that play started.In the time available, Northern Districts added nine runs without the loss of their last wicket to go into the third day tomorrow on 232/9.