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Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, is trying to hire the services of Dr Graham Durgan, a sports medicine expert from England, to plead his case against the dope charges after he tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League.”Nothing is final as yet,” Shahid Karim, Asif’s lawyer, told . “But we are holding talks to secure the services of Dr Durgan.” Asif had also tried to hire Mark Gay, who is an anti-doping expert, but didn’t receive a response from the British lawyer.Asif had asked for the B sample test, which was scheduled for July 28 at a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Switzerland, to be postponed in order to give him time to prepare his case and make travel arrangements. Karim said that they had sent two requests for postponement to the IPL, who hadn’t accepted or rejected the request.The IPL doping case is not the only cloud currently hovering over Asif. His 19-day detention in Dubai for allegedly carrying a banned substance is also the subject of a separate inquiry within the Pakistan board. Reports from Dubai authorities on the matter have finally been received by the PCB and Asif has been asked to attend a hearing in Lahore on Thursday.”We have received reports from Dubai regarding Asif’s detention there and will now be hearing the player’s side of the story,” PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi, one of the committee members, told . He said that the committee could take a decision on Asif after the hearing.Asif was in detention in Dubai from June 1 to 20 for suspected possession of an illegal substance. The case against him was dropped by the Dubai public prosecutor on the grounds of insignificance, though it was speculated that behind-the-scenes help had been provided by the Pakistan government and the board, who share close ties with the monarchy in the UAE.

Ricky Ponting was understated in his reaction to a day which saw Australia take a vice-like grip on their old enemy in the second Ashes Test at Adelaide, and a personal score of 154 to help them do it. Ponting shared a 242-run third wicket stand with Damien Martyn (95).”It was another pretty good day,” Ponting said. “We fought back hard on the second day and did really well today. Our main goal was to get through the morning session with as little damage as possible and we managed to do that and post a big first innings.”I was not that happy with the way I batted. I didn’t hit that many balls in the middle but I occupied the crease for a long time and had a good partnership with Damien and that has put us in a good position.”It was not getting any easier to bat and we still had wickets in hand and we wanted to bowl at them tonight, which is how it worked out. We scored quite quickly through the course of the game and we set the game up and hopefully we can bowl them out tomorrow.”It was a nasty little session (for England). It is always hard to bat in those sort of situations when you have been out in the field for a day-and-a-half. That was the reason behind our declaration and it worked for us.”Meanwhile England all-rounder Craig White urged his team to stay positive, while admitting that the loss of three wickets before the close was a damaging blow to their slim hopes of saving the Test.”It’s not an ideal situation for us losing three wickets at the end,” heconceded. “The people who got out are pretty down, but we’ve all got to front uptomorrow, it’s another day and we’ve got to try and stay as positive as we canbecause we have a massive challenge ahead of us now.”We have got a bit of batting to come. You can only do your best and try tosave the Test match. They’ve proved they are the best team in the world and all we can do is try and compete against them, control our game and put the ball in the right areas and as batsman try and be positive and try and play some decent cricket.”White confessed to some sympathy for his sister Andrea, wife of Australian batsman Darren Lehmann, at having to watch him dismiss her husband earlier in the day.”It was a strange situation,” White said. “It’s Test cricket and I’m trying to get him out and he’s trying to hit me for runs – I’d just like to know how mysister was feeling at the time. At first all I could think about was celebrating a Test wicket and then it sunk in and I wondered how Andrea was feeling at that moment.”

Indian left-arm fast-medium bowler Zaheer Khan is likely to miss the match against Central Districts starting in Napier on Friday.Khan badly bruised his knee while attempting to field a ball during India’s 21-run loss to New Zealand in a Super Max game in Christchurch tonight.Khan misjudged the ball and had it lift slightly on him, deflect off his knee and go into the Max zone, where runs scored are doubled.He left the field immediately and coach John Wright reported after the game that he was quite badly bruised and would probably be rested from the three-day game in Napier.

Two blistering partnerships set up an outstanding Australian Academy score of 332/8 to shut New Zealand’s Academy out of their one-day match in Townsville yesterday.Darren Wotherspoon played the cornerstone innings of the game, of 126 runs off 118 balls.Coming together with the score 8/1 in the fourth over, Wotherspoon joined Chris Simpson in a 106-run stand off a withering 11.4 overs.Simpson was out for 87 scored off 53 balls with three sixes and 12 fours, when he gave Jamie How a catch from Mark Gillespie’s bowling off the last ball of the 15th over.Three runs later Joseph Yovich had Liam Buchanan caught for one, but it proved a short-lived breakthrough as George Bailey helped Wotherspoon add another 118 runs before Bailey was caught of Yovich’s bowling by Jeetan Patel for 43.Wotherspoon carried on to be the sixth wicket to fall for 285 with his score on 126 when the How/Gillespie combination got together again. Wotherspoon hit four sixes and six fours in his innings which allowed Australia to finish their 50 overs on 332.All the New Zealand bowlers suffered. The previously economical Kyle Mills was wicketless for 70 runs off his 10 overs. James McMillan had two for 60 off 10 and Gillespie three for 57 off eight overs.New Zealand set out with intent, getting to 32 in the seventh over but they lost the promoted Mills and How off successive balls, and then when Jesse Ryder, a key man in any assault, departed for 23 when the score had crawled through to 40 by the 12th over, the cause was lost.Rob Nicol took the chance to score 58 off 79 balls but the only other double figure contributions were 19 from Yovich and 15 from Stuart Mills and New Zealand were dismissed for 165 in the 40th over.Brett Geeves took two for 20 off seven overs, Aaron Bird two for 31 off eight and Simpson two for 42 off 10.

Australia’s leg-spinning maestro Shane Warne has sent out a huge warning to England as they prepare for the Ashes series, smashing more Test records in what has become a rejuvenation of his career against Pakistan.Pakistan were 47 runs behind Australia’s first-innings score of 444 with only two of their second innings wickets remaining in the third Test. Warne has three for 56 in the innings and Glenn McGrath three for 18.Playing in Sharjah, where the black gold of oil has created great wealth, Warne has bowled into a rich vein of his own and has smashed the Australian record for most wickets in a three-Test series.He has taken 27 wickets so far to move past Dennis Lillee, who took 23 in the 1979/80 series against England. Warne’s wickets have come at an incredible average of 12.66 runs per wicket.Warne has given himself every chance of becoming only the second player to take 500 wickets during the Ashes series, as he has now taken 477 wickets in his 104 Tests at an average of 25.73. Only West Indian Courtney Walsh has taken more Test wickets – 519.Warne has also moved into equal seventh place on the list of wickets taken in three-Test-match series, a position he shares with Pakistan’s Waqar Younis.Warne’s best figures in any series are the 34 he took on his first tour of England in 1993.If getting some respite from Warne is not enough, pace-man Glenn McGrath moved past the 400-mark in the same innings, only the second Australian to take that many wickets.McGrath, in his 87th Test, has now taken 403 wickets at 21.52.Those ahead of him are: Walsh, Warne, Kapil Dev (434), Richard Hadlee (431), Muttiah Muralitharan (430), Wasim Akram (414) and Curtly Ambrose (405).Most wickets for Australia in a three-Test series:

Runs  Wkts Avge342   27   12.66   SK Warne             Australia v Pakistan         2002/03388   23   16.86   DK Lillee            Australia v England          1979/80388   23   16.86   R Benaud             Australia v India            1956/57261   21   12.42   CTB Turner           Australia v England          1888438   21   20.85   GD McGrath           Australia v Sri Lanka        1995/96452   21   21.52   DK Lillee            Australia v India            1980/81540   21   25.71   DK Lillee            Australia v Pakistan         1976/77417   20   20.85   SK Warne             Australia v South Africa     1997/98442   20   22.10   SK Warne             Australia v South Africa     2001/02446   20   22.30   B Yardley            Australia v West Indies      1981/82Most wickets by all countries in three-Tests:Runs  Wkts  Avge203   35   5.80   GA Lohmann           England v South Africa       1895/96401   33  12.15   RJ Hadlee            New Zealand v Australia      1985/86545   32  17.03   Harbhajan Singh      India v Australia            2000/01294   30   9.80   M Muralitharan       Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe         2001/02437   30  14.56   Abdul Qadir          Pakistan v England           1987/88315   29  10.86   Waqar Younis         Pakistan v New Zealand       1990/91342   27  12.66   Shane Warne          Australia v Pakistan         2002/03373   27  13.81   Waqar Younis         Pakistan v Zimbabwe          1993/94270   26  10.38   C Blythe             England v South Africa       1907401   26  15.42   WPUJC Vaas           Sri Lanka v West Indies      2001/02

Left-arm paceman Dan Goldstraw sank Bashley (Rydal) with season’s best figures of 6-26 as ECB Southern Electric Premier League champions BAT Sports toasted a 60-run victory at Southern Gardens.Goldstraw ripped out five of Bashley’s top six batsmen as the frail Foresters suffered another all-too-frequent batting collapse, tumbling to 47-8 and an eventual 85 all out after BAT had posted 145.It was a major disappointment for skipper Neil Taylor, whose Bashley side had clawed their way back into the game after BAT had eased to 139-4."We bowled well and caught our catches, taking BAT’s last six wickets for just six runs. But Dan (Goldstraw) was superb for them."The fact that he bowled two of our guys and trapped another three leg before is a testiment to how accurate he was," Taylor said.BAT looked to be heading towards a total around the 185 mark when Bashley broke through. Opener Damian Shirazi (57) and Chris Thomason (30) had shared a half-century fifth-wicket stand when Taylor (3-15) and Luke Ronchi (4-42), bowling medium-pace, broke the back of the innings.But BAT’s late collapse, which saw the defending champions sink from 139-4 to 145 all out, was just the start of a remarkable wicket fall.Bashley, masters of the collapse scene, were torn apart by Goldstraw, who removed Andy Sexton, Steve Latimore and Neil Thurgood before Kirk Stewart (2-33) bowled Ronchi.The visitors lurched to 11-4, 29-6 and 47-8 as a combined total of 14 wickets fell for only 53 runs.Shaun Lilley (23) and Dale Middleton (27) spard Bashley’s blushes before Goldstraw returned to the firing line to trap Ross Grierson leg before and end the agony at 85 all out.Stephen Snell and Dominic Carson produced the key knocks which guided Havant to a three-wicket win over South Wilts – and to top place in the table.Teenager Snell (71) lost four partners as Havant slipped to 78-4 chasing South Wilts’ 197 all out, but found a reliable ally in skipper Carson (43 not out) as the 2000 league champions gradually turned things around.Adam Smith (3-24) and Tom Caines (3-29) created an uncomfortable final journey as Havant, needing 34 off the final ten overs, got home in less than confident fashion.Caines (60) earlier produced a binding innings as South Wilts gradually recovered from two early blows by Mackie Hobson (4-64).The former Burridge all-rounder dropped anchor and received support from the enterprising Jamie Glasson (37), Simon Woodhouse (22) and Jon Nash before South Wilts lost their last four wickets for seven runs, reaching 179 (Mark Copping 3-30).Bournemouth aren’t getting much luck from the weather – a prolonged rain break effectively ending their chances of beating Calmore Sports at Chapel Gate.The Totton club escaped with a draw after Bournemouth – at 95-1 seemingly on course to better Calmore’s 160 all out – ran out of time."We lost 11 overs just at the vital stage," groaned Bournemouth skipper Matt Swarbrick, whose side have already been frustrated by three weather postponements this season."We were very well placed at 95-1, but the rain break meant that we really had to accelerate and that wasn’t easy on a pitch that was already soft after all the recent rain."James Elliott-Square (4-18) celebrated his first Premier League successes as Calmore, tied down by the nagging Jo Wilson, wobbled at 19-3 before teenager Mark Archer (47) and James Hibberd (39) began the repair work.David Kidner (3-29), enjoying his first bowl of the season, broke the stand but, after sending Calmore into deeper trouble at 131-9, suffered a recurence of his long-term back problem and withdrew from the attack.Evergreen Steve Brandes and South African Christof Bothma squeezed out 29 priceless runs as Calmore rallied to reach 160.With Tom Webley (38) and Swarbrick (37) prominent, Bournemouth eased themselves into a strong position.But the untimely rain break threw Bournemouth’s off the victory scent – wickets falling, three each to Bothma (3-35) and Hibberd (3-44) – as the Sports Club’s President’s Day ended in a soggy draw. Bournemouth closed at 131-8.Burridge’s rain saturated outfield caused the postponement of the key bottom-of-the-table clash with Liphook & Ripsley.

It took 15 years of Test cricket, one retirement, and 93 Tests before Carl Llewellyn Hooper repaid fans at his home ground at the Bourda Oval in Georgetown, Guyana with a handsome century. The 11th of his career, it could hardly have come at a better time – rescuing West Indies from 44/3 to a healthy 270/4 at the end of the first day’s play of the first Test of this series.Someone once famously said: “If batting was a beauty pageant, Hooper would be Miss World.” Simply on the merit of today’s innings, one would be hard-pressed to disagree. Beginning with an edge that was almost a nervous first step, Hooper grew in confidence, driving through the covers in the twinkle of an eye. The nimble footwork a veritable sashay down the ramp and silken timing the poise and elegance of the world’s finest. An unbeaten 108 (226 balls, 14 boundaries) resulted – the third century in as many first class matches for the Guyana and West Indies skipper.Dasgupta said before the start of this Test that it was imperative for him to improve in a hurry – and that this series could make or break his career. When Hooper laced Anil Kumble through cover-point to register three figures against his name, Dasgupta’s heart would have, or at least should have, sunk to the bottom of his wicketkeeping boots. Having dropped the West Indian skipper off Srinath, from the very first ball he faced, the Bengal stumper was treated to an exhibition of fine batting.Aesthetics apart, Hooper’s innings assumes vital proportions in the context of the series. After winning the toss and electing to bat, things went badly wrong for the Windies. Chris Gayle (12), ever the dasher, delighted before nicking Srinath to the keeper. Stuart Williams (13) making a comeback, followed in Gayle’s foot steps, crashing three boundaries before playing a false shot and being trapped plumb in front.Then came the dismissal that gave the morning session to India. A buzz went across the ground as Brian Lara walked out to bat. The much-hyped contest between the flowing Lara blade and the Indian bowling was all set to begin, and lasted just five balls, thanks to umpire Daryl Harper. Prodding at a ball outside the off Lara brushed his pad, the resultant sound sending signals to all the Indian fielders. The appeal was vociferous and umpire Harper upheld it. Television replays suggested that the ball missed the outside edge by a bit. Lara was clearly unhappy with the decision – who wouldn’t be, given out for a duck at the start of a series?44/3 and the West Indies were looking down the barrel. And the Guyana brigade came straight to the rescue when called up to show some guts.Ramnaresh Sarwan began the repair work, putting his head down, cutting out the risky shots and picking up runs at will. The attacking field slowly spread and run gathering became easier. With the composed Sarwan, Hooper settled down after a shaky start. The pair added an invaluable 113 runs for the fourth wicket before the tea interval destroyed young Sarwan’s concentration. Returning from the break on 53 (180 balls, 6 fours) he drove Sarandeep Singh on the up and straight to Zaheer Khan at mid off.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, another local boy, took over seamlessly where Sarwan left off. Clipping the ball off his pads in characteristic fashion, Chanders, as he is known, was positive. He disturbed the line and length of the bowlers, with Sarandeep Singh getting a bit of stick. Lashing 15 off one over from the offie, Chanderpaul took the initiative away from the tourists. A patient yet fluent unbeaten 57 resulted, studded with 10 boundaries, coming off 112 balls.If anything was representative of the day’s play, it was the 76th over. In the nervous nineties, Hooper looked keen to take on Kumble. The leggie did his best to keep things tight, sending the ball down wicket to wicket and flat. A couple of swishy sweeps disturbed the air around the batsman but failed to result in anything positive. The fourth ball of the over saw `King Carl’ dance down the track, get to the pitch of the ball and deposit it with one neat swing into the stands over long-off. Amidst playing and missing, there was moments of sheer class, sheer joy.No single moment was more poignant than the instant when Hooper reached three figures. The Clive Lloyd Stand erupted in unbridled joy, fans from other parts of the ground, exuberant but well behaved, made a small dash onto the playing area – running in about 20 yards in celebration before returning to their seats. And Hooper’s wife, sitting in the stands, gestured out to the middle. “That’s my man,” she mouthed with pride, to a companion.You can be sure, most of Guyana would have felt the same way of one of their favourite sons, as Hooper led West Indies to a strong position against India at the start of this series.

Punjab, by taking an overall lead of 222 runs, pushed holders Mumbaito the wall in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal encounter at theWankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. On the third day, Punjab ranthrough the hosts’ line up and then extended the first innings lead of98 by a further 124 with all their wickets intact. At stumps Punjabopeners Ravneet Ricky (47) and Manish Sharma (68) were at the crease.Resuming at 162 for two in reply to Punjab’s 383, Mumbai slumped to285. Overnight batsmen opener Vinayak Mane and Shriram Kannan took thescore to 195. Kannan who came in as night watchman did not add a runto his overnight score of five and was the first to be dismissed inthe 64th over. He was caught by Sandeep Sanwal off Sharandeep Singh.Mane then found himself in the middle with his captain Amol Mazumdar.But the prospect of a good partnership was nipped in the bud byGagandeep Singh. Mane was sent back after being trapped leg before byGagandeep. During a six hour stay at the crease, Mane faced 244 ballsfor his 97. His innings was studded with ten boundaries.Kambli who replaced the Mumbai opener stuck around for just elevenminutes before he was caught by Sanwal off Gagandeep Singh for five.Thereafter there was just a procession of batsmen as Mazumdar kept oneend going. He was finally the ninth batsman to be dismissed for 48. Hebatted patiently for 210 minutes before Yuvraj Singh caught him offthe bowling of Sodhi. He faced 123 balls and hit five of them to theropes. Gagandeep Singh (3 for 51) and Sodhi (3 for 63) were the pickof the bowlers.The Punjab openers then rubbed salt into Mumbai’s wounds. In the 40overs that were bowled in the innings, the duo plundered 124 runs.Ricky has so far faced 104 balls and hit six boundaries and a sixwhile Sharma has faced 139 balls. During the course of the innings hefound the boundary ropes eight times, besides hitting two sixes.

New Zealand’s new international cricket coach is likely to be known by the end of June.Applications for the position closed yesterday and a shortlist of applicants will be drawn up with interviews taking place over the next month.The interview is made up of, Terry Jarvis, Peter Sharp, Martin Snedden, Jeff Crowe and John F Reid. All but Sharp have played international cricket. Jarvis and Sharp are New Zealand Cricket board members, Snedden is the new chief executive of NZC, Reid is the NZC operations manager and Crowe is the manager of the CLEAR Black Caps.New Zealand team captain Stephen Fleming will be consulted during the process. The number and names of applicants will not be advised.Reid said: “There is a clear process to work through now and a recommendation will be made to the Board at its next meeting.”For reasons of personal privacy NZC has decided not to identify those who have applied or been shortlisted, although we accept that some candidates have made their applications public.”In terms of the number of applicants we will not be making the specific number public but are pleased to report that it is significantly more than the various numbers reported in the media last week,” he said.

England lost the important wicket of Marcus Trescothick after Sri Lanka declared on 555 for eight at Lord’s in the first Test. Although their bowlers kept to a more consistent line than yesterday, England again found wickets hard to come by as Marvan Atapattu (185) Aravinda de Silva (88) and Russel Arnold (50) kept the crowd entertained while amassing their team’s highest-ever Test total on this ground. England closed on 27 for one in reply.After a starting with a flourish (and two off-side boundaries) off Nuwan Zoysa, Trescothick was undone by a ball that left him down the slope, edging a catch to Sanath Jayasuriya at first slip. Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher then saw England through to the close.This morning Atapattu picked up from where he left off last night, flicking the first ball from Hoggard to the mid-wicket boundary. He completed his 150 with a rasping cut, and Hussain then missed de Silva on 37 at first slip. It was academic, as Flintoff had over-stepped. Sri Lanka’s doyen of batsmen celebrated with a dreamy drive to the cover boundary.Hoggard replaced Caddick but was punished again by Atapattu, with boundaries through square leg and extra cover. The Sri Lankan opener was missed (on 163) in the same over, Flintoff failing to hold on to a low chance to his left at second slip. He then missed de Silva off Caddick in the next over, an edge from a flashing cut finishing at the third man boundary. On reaching his 50 de Silva enjoyed further good fortune, edging a flashing drive off Cork wide of second slip to the rope at third man.It took a short, leg-side delivery from Cork to break through, as Atapattu failed to get on top of a hook and Marcus Trescothick had plenty of time to position himself for the catch at long leg. Atapattu and de Silva had added 146 for the fourth wicket, just three runs short of Sri Lanka’s best against England. Atapattu’s 185 included 24 fours and came off 351 balls.The left-handed Arnold then resumed normal service, finding the cover boundary twice off Flintoff, then cutting another as the same bowler dropped short in his next over. Caddick’s return lasted just four overs for 20, including a fierce hook from de Silva, which was deflected several yards off a boundary board. As the sun broke through the haze Arnold responded warmly, taking two to third man with a delightful cut.A push to mid-wicket off Vaughan took Arnold through to 50 (87 balls, seven fours), and in celebration de Silva swept Vaughan behind square to the rope beneath the Father Time clock tower. Arnold perished as he had lived – in pursuit of quick runs – as an upper cut off Hoggard unerringly pinpointed the ubiquitous Trescothick, who again made no mistake at third man. The return of Cork resulted in de Silva (88) following Arnold back to the pavilion eight balls later. It was a soft dismissal, a short, leg-side delivery brushing the batsman’s glove on its way through to Stewart.Vaas fell for six, driving loosely at Cork for – guess who – Trescothick to pick up the catch at gully. Zoysa then delighted the crowd – doubtless arousing rather different sentiments in Hoggard – with a brace of hooked sixes into the Tavern in one over.Zoysa (28) was out in similar fashion to de Silva earlier in the day, getting an inside edge as he tried to glance an innocuous-looking delivery from Flintoff to give Stewart a straightforward catch. Tillekeratne and Buddika then saw Sri Lanka to 555 for eight before Jayasuriya declared. The England bowling figures did not make pleasurable reading.