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ScorecardEoin Morgan made 128 in 86 balls•Getty Images

Eoin Morgan smashed a brilliant 128 not out from 86 balls to lead Middlesex to a morale-boosting six-wicket victory against London rivals Surrey in the Royal London Cup at Lord’s. Morgan swept his side past Surrey’s total of 286 for 6 with a breathtaking assault which saw Middlesex score the last 101 runs of their 292 for 4 from a mere 8.5 overs to win with 31 balls in hand.In all, Morgan hit five sixes and 13 fours – reaching his 12th List A hundred with a six off Tillakaratne Dilshan and also finishing the match by swinging Zafar Ansari into the Warner Stand for a maximum. His performance overshadowed the earlier batting of Dilshan, who made 115 from 128 balls to ensure Surrey posted a challenging total.The 44th over of the innings, bowled by Dilshan, disappeared for 22 runs as Morgan clubbed the Sri Lankan for two more fours and two sixes. Morgan was joined in an unbroken partnership of 166 in 20.3 overs for the fifth wicket by Neil Dexter, who also batted well to finish on 47 not out from 58 balls with a six and three fours.But Dexter’s own effort was nothing compared to Morgan’s fireworks, which meant that Middlesex could at last celebrate some limited-overs joy. They had begun their Royal London Cup Group B campaign with two defeats, against Glamorgan and Warwickshire, after losing 11 of their 14 NatWest T20 Blast group games earlier this summer.Yet when Middlesex slid to 126 for 4 in the 25th over, despite Chris Rogers’s 44-ball 42 at the top of the order, it seemed as if they would be hard-pressed to win the game. Rogers had top-edged a sweep at Dilshan’s offspin, stalling Middlesex’s reply after he and Dawid Malan had provided a sound start with a 56-run stand in nine overs.Nick Gubbins was then run out for 20 and Ryan Higgins gave left-arm spinner Ansari a return catch on 16. Morgan and Dexter, however, made the remaining chase look ridiculously easy.Earlier Dilshan’s hundred, his first for Surrey, anchored the innings and was a skilful effort featuring 11 fours. He was joined in stands of 119 for the second wicket and 81 in eight overs for the fifth by Vikram Solanki and Azhar Mahmood respectively.Solanki launched Neil Dexter’s medium pace over long-on for six and there were also seven fours in his 80-ball 59, while Mahmood provided late impetus with 52 from just 34 balls. The former Pakistan all-rounder drove left-arm spinner Ravi Patel straight for six besides thumping seven meaty fours before he skied an attempted big hit off Steven Finn to wide long-on.Steven Davies went early for Surrey, edging Tim Murtagh to slip on 13 as he tried to force the ball away on the back foot, and after the Dilshan-Solanki partnership was ended when Solanki missed a sweep at Malan’s legspin the innings wobbled a little, as Rory Burns was run out for nine and Wilson caught behind for 10. Burns slipped in mid-pitch after being sent back by Dilshan and Morgan’s flipped throw from midwicket, as he lay on the turf following a smart stop, hit the stumps before the batsman could regain his feet.Mahmood’s arrival pushed Surrey on and, by the time Dilshan was out in the 47th over, edging a slash at the impressive Finn to the wicketkeeper, Surrey knew they would be defending a decent total. They had no answer at all to Morgan’s brilliance, though.

Somerset have boosted their chances of gaining promotion in 2003 by announcing that they have signed batsman James Bryant to strengthen their top order.Earlier in the winter the Cidermen were linked with Tasmanian batsman Michael Dighton, but he failed to meet the ECB requirements to play English cricket.Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "We were very disappointed that Michael Dighton couldn’t meet the E.C.B. qualifications required to play in the championship, but every cloud has a silver lining and we have now signed James Bryant who does meet the requirements."Once they heard that Bryant was interested in playing cricket in England, Somerset wasted no time in signing the right hander who plays domestic cricket in South Africa for Eastern Province.Twenty six year old Bryant is a quality player and since making his debut for Eastern Province in 1996-7, has played in 48 first class matches and scored nearly 3000 runs at an average of just over 38. He has hit six centuries and has a highest score of 234 not out.Bryant’s one day record is also impressive. He has played in 46 matches and scored almost 1400 runs, including one century at an average of nearly 38.This season in first class cricket the right hander has an average of over 57.The Somerset boss continued: "James Bryant does have British citizenship and we think that he will bolster our top order and obviously he will be keen to show us that he is what we are looking for."Somerset Head Coach, Kevin Shine said, "As everyone knows, we need a proven top order batsman and we think James is a good signing for the Club".James Bryant said, "I am very happy to have the chance to play in England for Somerset and I know I have a lot to do to prove myself to the knowledgeable Somerset fans. Jimmy Cook has warned me that they are very demanding".Bryant completes the trio of new players who have been signed by Somerset, joining West Indian paceman Nixon McLean and all rounder Aaron Laraman who was signed recently from Middlesex.After suffering a double relegation at the end of the 2002 season the management at the County Ground in Taunton promised that they would bring in some new faces and they have been as good as their word.Somerset have wasted no time in snapping up these three classy players whose presence will certainly ensure that there is fierce competition for first team places in 2003 as well as hopefully putting the Cidermen in contention for promotion back to the top flight in both the county championship and the National League.

Simon Jones enjoyed an outstanding debut with both bat and ball in Test cricket duringEngland`s 170 run victory over India at Lord`s.On Friday, Jones marked his international debut with a most entertaining 44 offjust 43 balls, with seven fours and one towering six that after the match was adjudgedthe champagne moment of the match by the B.B.C. Test Match Special commentary team.As the table below shows, it was the also the best score a Glamorgan player had ever made intheir first ever innings for England in Test cricket, and remarkably, Simon in the course ofhis debut innings scored more runs for England than his father Jeff made in 17 knocks in Testsbetween 1964 and 1968.On Saturday, Simon produced a most impressive spell, and might have dismissed Sachin Tendulkarwith only his second ball of the morning, as the Indian maestro almost chopped the ball into hisstumps. A few overs later, Jones` raw pace hurried Tendulkar into edging the ball into the slips,but Graham Thorpe spilled a catch inches above the turf.Jones finally got the wicket his bowling deserved, as wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra slashed at afast rising ball and edged into the safe gloves of Alec Stewart. Then Ajit Agarkar snicked adelivery from Jones into Andy Flintoff`s hands at second slip. As the table shows, Jim McConnon`s haulof 3-19 from 13 overs against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 1954 remains as the best bowlingfigures on debut for England in Test cricket.

DEBUT PERFORMANCES BY GLAMORGAN PLAYERS IN TESTS FOR ENGLANDMaurice Turnbull 7 v New Zealand, 1929/30Johnnie Clay Dnb and 0/30 v South Africa, 1935Austin Matthews 2* and 1/52 v New Zealand, 1937Allan Watkins 0 and 0/19 v Australai, 1948Gilbert Parkhouse 0 v West Indies, 1950Jim McConnon 5* and 3/19 v Pakistan, 1954Peter Walker 9 and 0/13 v South Africa, 1960Jeff Jones 5 and 0/48 v India, 1963/64Tony Lewis 0 v India 1972/73Greg Thomas 0 and 82/2 v West Indies, 1985/86Matthew Maynard 3 v West Indies, 1988Steve Watkin 2 and 2/55 v West Indies, 1991Hugh Morris 3 v West Indies, 1991Robert Croft 5* and 2/116 v Pakistan, 1996Steve James 10 v South Africa, 1998

Simon picked up a further two wickets as England bowled out the tourists on Monday afternoon.As well as a place in the Test record books, Simon`s hostile bowling won a host of plauditsfrom the media.Peter Roebuck, the former Somerset captain, also wrote “he continually pushed the batsmen backand troubled them with pace and hostility. Nobody looked comfortable against him. His bestdeliveries are hard to play and he must go to Australia.Former England captain Mike Atherton also said “On first showing his selection for thewinter tour is assured.”

England face a Herculean task if they are to stave off defeat by Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series. With two days’ play remaining at Lord’s England, following on 280 behind, are 53 without loss. At one point placed promisingly at 203 for three in their first innings, they lost five wickets for 34 runs, enabling Sri Lanka to take a vice-like grip on the game.After a 20-minute delay this morning because of rain, England began under grey skies in conditions far removed from those of the first two days. Butcher and Vaughan exchanged sharp singles, and the former also made the most of a legside delivery from Buddika, clipping it through midwicket. But the bowler extracted full retribution in his next over as the Surrey left-hander edged to third slip, where Jayawardene took a fine catch moving to his right.Hussain, after squeezing Buddika to the rope at third man, immediately took four more with the shot of the morning, rattling the boundary board at extra cover. As Buddika’s line wavered, he was dispatched through square leg to give Hussain three boundaries off three balls. Vaughan took two boundaries off consecutive overs from Vaas, the first squeezed between third slip and gully, the second a pedigree cover drive. A double change by Jayasuriya introduced the third left-armer, Ruchira Perera, whom Hussain greeted first with a perfectly-timed drive through long off, then with an exquisite cut backward of point. A push to leg from Vaughan hoisted the 50 partnership off 81 balls, and another classic off drive from Vaughan brought up the 100.The England captain completed his eighth 50 in nine Tests with a single to long leg off Zoysa. The hundred partnership came up in the 36th over, as Hussain again took advantage of the lack of a third man with four wide of second slip. Spitting rain prompted a conference between umpires Venkat and Harper, and it might have been better for Hussain if they had gone off. As Zoysa moved the ball away up the hill he found the England captain’s outside edge for Sangakkara to take a fine catch diving to his right.Vaughan went to his 50 with a well-timed clip for three to mid-wicket. An edge from Thorpe flew wide of second slip to give him his first boundary, but the Surrey left-hander then looked more composed as he clipped Zoysa to the rope at mid-wicket. Another peach of a cover drive from Vaughan brought up England’s 200, and the Lord’s crowd were beginning to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately for them and for England, that was as good as it got.Apparently well set on 64, Vaughan got underneath a hook off Perera, the ball finishing in the hands of Zoysa at long leg. Thorpe was lbw to Perera’s next ball to leave England back in the danger zone at 203 for five. Stewart avoided the hat-trick, seeing England through to tea with Crawley. But England began the final session suicidally, as Crawley set off for a non-existent single after pushing Buddika into the covers. A direct hit by the substitute fielder, Upul Chandana, left Stewart well short of his ground, and there was no need to call on the third umpire for a decision.As the cloud gave way to broken sunshine, Flintoff began with three meaty boundaries, before driving firm-footed at Buddika, Sangakkara pouching the resulting edge. Cork made almost the briefest of appearances, his second-ball dismissal a near carbon copy of Flintoff’s.Caddick kept Crawley company for as long as could reasonably be expected, dispatching Vaas impressively through extra cover. Attempting something similar off Perera, he edged to Sangakkara. Joined by the number 11 Matthew Hoggard, Crawley farmed the strike as Perera was warned by umpire Harper for running on the pitch, but was then last out for 31, caught behind (Sangakkara’s fifth catch of the innings) off Vaas.When England went in again, their plight seemed hardly imaginable. After a booming drive to the long-on boundary, Trescothick took another to third man after a diving Atapattu failed to get a hand to a half-chance at gully. Four more followed though mid-wicket, and Vaughan took advantage of a Zoysa half-volley with a boundary through extra cover.As the close approached the two batted with increasing caution, and Jayasuriya turned to spin for the first time in the form of de Silva. A Trescothick square cut off Perera brought up England’s 50, but when bad light ended play seven overs early they were still 227 runs behind.

The BCCSL is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Charnika Munasinghe as the Media Manager with effect from today.Ms. Charnika Munasinghe is a Journalist by profession with 20 years experience in the Media field. She has been a Sub Editor, a Feature Writer and a Columnist in the Print Media and has also Produced, Directed and Presented many programmes for the Electronic Media.In the Capacity of a Media Consultant she has also excelled in Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing.She takes over from Niresh Eliatamby who resigned from the BCCSL on 31st October 2002.

Match facts

Saturday, June 14, 2008
Start time 15.00 (local), 9.00 (GMT)

The Big Picture

Ancient history favours Pakistan, but more modern events give India the edge going into Saturday’s encounter. Pakistan have usually fared better in ODI finals between these traditional rivals, winning five of the seven tournaments where the two sides met in the title clash – but the last of those was in 1999. India have had the upper hand in recent matches, winning five of their last seven games and with their rampaging top-order firing, have steamrollered their way to the final.A victory on Saturday would add to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s growing reputation as an ODI captain, having already tasted success at home against Pakistan and in the CB series in Australia.On the other hand, Shoaib Malik is yet to win a ODI series against significant opposition since beating Sri Lanka last May. His side’s 12-game winning streak was emphatically snapped by a 140-run defeat in the league match against India, prompting a stinging and public rebuke from PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf.While this is a battle between arch-rivals, the frequency of matches between the two sides has taken the edge off this game. As Shahid Afridi said, “some of the (magic) has gone out of the atmosphere and build-up.” A win here, though, will be the perfect tonic ahead of the Asia Cup.

Form guide – India

Last five matches: WWWWW (most recent first)
Player to watch: Praveen Kumar’s ability to move the new ball both ways has made him a tricky customer for batsmen to deal with. He dismissed Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting cheaply in both finals of the CB series and continued the good work in this series – running through the Pakistan top order and stifling the Bangladesh batsmen. With India’s batting in top form, another incisive spell from Praveen could prove very costly for Pakistan.

Form guide – Pakistan

Last five matches: LWWWW (most recent first)
Player to watch: Mohammad Yousuf has perfected the art of scoring quickly while rarely seeming flustered or hurried at the crease. An array of conventional shots has ensured the runs keep flowing with minimal risks. He’s averaging a phenomenal 81.76 in his last 21 matches, and with Younis Khan and Afridi not in the best of form, he is the lynchpin of the Pakistan middle-order.

Team news

With the team progressing smoothly to the finals, India may not tinker too much with their combination. The only change could be Ishant Sharma coming back in place of RP Singh.India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rohit Sharma, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Ishant Sharma.

Besides Malik and Afridi, Fawad Alam is the only spinner in the squad and he might not be risked in the final as he hasn’t made much of an impact in his limited chances at the international level. Pakistan are likely persist with four fast bowlers in their XI.Pakistan: (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik (capt), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9, Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz / Sohail Khan, 11 Iftikhar Anjum.

Pitch and conditions

The pitches used in the tournament have come in for praise from Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach. “The ball has not spun much but it has good bounce. It has been a terrific pitch to play on,” he said. India’s coach Gary Kirsten was also satisfied with the pitch and felt it would remain good for batting through the match, reducing the importance of the toss.

Stats and trivia

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly grinned from ear to ear when he met the press after his side waltzed to an eight-wicket win over England to set up a semi-final clash against South Africa.Centuries from Ganguly and Virender Sehwag ensured that that India overhauled the target of 271 with more than 10 overs to spare.”We should not have allowed England to get to 270, but Sehwag’s 100 took the game away from England,” began the Indian captain.Not too many people expected India to beat England with such ease and Ganguly echoed this. “This game is never easy,” said the skipper.He was effusive in his praise of Sehwag’s knock, saying, ” Sehwag’s innings was absolutely brilliant and took the pressure away from us. The way he played was took the sting out of the game. By the time he was dismissed the game was already in our pocket. Unless something went terribly wrong, we were going to win from that position.”Nasser Hussain for his part admitted that his England side were totally outclassed on the day.”Nothing went wrong really. India just played exceptionally well on the day. The first eight overs they bowled were very difficult for our batsmen and again when they batted their first 15 overs were very good. Sometimes you just have to give credit where it’s due.”The England skipper seemed powerless to stop the onslaught of the Indian batsmen and conceded that nothing he tried on the day worked for him.”We’ve played against India a lot and have studied their game carefully. We know what areas they do most of their hitting in and have thought of a few ways to restrict that. It just didn’t work today though.”Both openers came at us strongly and we didn’t have an answer. We need to show more character in situations like this. We’re all right when teams don’t quite come at us as strongly as this and we’ll have to work out ways to counter this.”Hussain acknowledged that his side had problems when batsmen came at them and pointed out a couple of areas where England need to improve to counter this.”We need to show more character in these situations. And variations become important too. We tried a few variations today, slower balls and bumpers and the like. But today everything we bowled seemed to go for four. In English conditions where the ball does a bit more off the wicket and in the air you don’t need to do much more than put the ball in the right place. In conditions like this you need more variations.”Not totally distraught at the loss, Hussain did look back positively at the way the batting fared.”As far as the batting is concerned I’m quite pleased with the way we’ve done. In the last year or so the batting has not been a cause for worry. Even today I thought the middle-order batted exceptionally to take us to 270.”Ganguly has now led India to more than one dramatic win against England. He did however say that there were other wins that gave him more satisfaction.”Every win is satisfying really, at the international level. But I would have to say that the win at Lord’s in the NatWest trophy final and the Test win at Headingley probably mean more to me.”

Resuming at 294 for four and in a promising position, England lost their last six wickets for the addition of 47 runs inside 27 overs, with four wickets falling to Jason Gillespie and two to Shane Warne. Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer got Australia off to their customary flying start, but both were out when in sight of fifty and it was left to Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn to take their side through to a position where they trailed by 95 runs with eight wickets in hand at the close of the second day.Mark Butcher has been vulnerable when resuming his innings on this tour, and suffered again as Gillespie ran in with gusto. Playing on his home ground, Gillespie induced a nick from the left-hander and he was caught behind by Adam Gilchrist without adding to his overnight score.Gillespie struck again when Craig White hooked him to long leg where Andy Bichel took the catch. White had been subjected to a good deal of pressure by persistent bowling and when the ball was banged in short could not resist the attacking shot when given the opportunity.Richard Dawson played a sensible supporting role for Alec Stewart, but the introduction of Warne into the attack proved his undoing. Dawson was out lbw when the ball hit the pad right in front before making contact with the bat and the decision was a good one.While Dawson had survived to face 39 balls, Andrew Caddick lasted just four. In Warne’s next over, he bowled Caddick behind his legs sweeping and time was running out for England.Warne had done his job and when Gillespie was brought back into the attack he trapped Stewart in front first ball. Stewart had put the disappointment of his pair at Brisbane behind him and batted solidly for his 29, with only one boundary in his 72-ball stay at the crease.Matthew Hoggard edged Gillespie to the `keeper for the bowler to finish with four for 78 to show how important it is to keep going on this pitch. Wicketless overnight, he stuck to the job in hand to take four for ten as England saw their hopes of a total in excess of four hundred blown away.Had England’s new ball bowlers, Caddick and Hoggard, applied the same pressure to the Australian openers, they might have made up for the disappointment of the morning. However, Hayden and Langer launched into some wayward offerings and Australia were racing away. Hoggard went at five an over, Caddick at six an over and the tempo was set.It fell to the other three bowlers used to drag the scoring rate back to reasonable bounds and show what could be done with controlled bowling. Even so, 125 runs were scored between lunch and tea, but England did claim two wickets.Hayden looked set for yet another massive score when, four short of a fifty, he went to hit White back over his head but only succeeded in lofting it to mid-off where Caddick made no mistake. Three overs later, Langer was adjudged out caught behind off Dawson, though replays suggested that lbw might have been the correct decision.England would have been delighted to have dismissed the Australian openers for under fifty apiece, and they could have made further impressions on the batting order. Dawson found the outside edge of Martyn’s bat only to see Stewart ground the chance. Then, when Steve Harmison came back for a second spell towards the end of the day, his second ball was deflected by Martyn to Stewart’s right at a comfortable height but the `keeper failed to lay a glove on the ball.Dawson bowled very tidily to finish the day with one for 63 from 20 overs, Harmison and White impressed, but Ponting was batting with ominous ease towards the end of the day as he went past his fifty and on to 83, while Martyn was just two runs shy of his first milestone when stumps were drawn.The third wicket pair realised that Australia would not want to lose further wickets after the openers had fallen within 13 runs of one another in three overs and, while they did not spurn any run-scoring opportunities, they progressed at a steady rather than frenetic pace.Now they will want to continue in similar vein on the third morning with a view to leaving Australia as small a target as possible in the fourth innings on a pitch already offering turn to the spinners and the odd instance of unpredictable bounce. That is, indeed, if there is a fourth innings in the match.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reacted cautiously to Kenyan sports minister’s statement which Tuesday said next month’s triangular one-day tournament cannot be held in Nairobi.PCB director Chisty Mujahid said shortly before his departure for Colombo that as far as his board was concerned, the tournament was on.”I am leaving for Nairobi on Aug 5 to inspect the facilities there. We have not been informed about the sports minister’s statement by the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA),” Chisty said.Chisty added: “Like the International Cricket Council (ICC), we recognize the KCA and would prefer to deal with them instead of the sports minister. What happens between the two is their internal problem. But so far, the tournament is on between Aug 29 and Sept 7.”However, Chisty kept the options open to shift the series to another venue in case the infighting between the KCA and the government intensifies. “Naturally we will look for an alternative venue if things do get serious. I mean we have to be convinced by now that the series is being played at Nairobi.Chisty said he would be meeting Australian team manager Steve Bernard in Nairobi, adding that he would try to convince him to go-ahead with the tour to Pakistan in October.”President Gen Pervez Musharraf has given security assurance. I don’t think the Australians can ask for anything more than that. “But even if there are any apprehensions, I would invite the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) inspectors as PCB guests to visit Pakistan and see for themselves.”AFP adds: Kenya’s acceptance to host the triangular one-day series involving Pakistan and Australia here next month may have hit a snag after the Kenyan sports minister advised against it, local cricket officials said Tuesday.Kenya had been asked by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to replace New Zealand, which withdrew from the series originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan in March.The Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) willingly accepted to host the Aug 29 to Sept 5 tournament as the third country. However, Sports Minister Francis Nyenze advised the PCB, through the Pakistan High Commission in Nairobi, that it would not be possible to stage the event here since the KCA was not recognised by the government.Nyenze dissolved the entire KCA executive in May and appointed a caretaker committee to run the sport for a period of three months. But the KCA moved the court and obtained an injuction against the minister’s intervention, claiming their eligibility as the rightly-elected body.The move was supported by the sports governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), which said it would abide by the court ruling.”This is just being too personal. It’s the country’s name which is at stake here,” KCA Cricket Committee chairman Sharad Ghai told AFP.Nyenze and his senior staff left Nairobi on Monday to attend the Commonwealth Games which open Thursday in Manchester, England.Ghai said the KCA would convene an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the matter.Kenya are scheduled to host New Zealand and Sri Lanka in two matches of the 2003 World Cup in February next year.The tri-series was originally planned for the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, which saw two bomb blasts in May and June that left 26 people dead.New Zealand had to cut short a tour of Pakistan after the first suicide blast outside their hotel on the morning of the Karachi Test on May 8.

Will the unbeaten century at Lord’s be the turning point in Ajit Agarkar’s career? Not only Agarkar himself, but also the entire country will be wishing just that. For while Agarkar needed that knock to consolidate his place in the Test team ­ no one doubted his immense capabilities as a limited-overs cricketer ­ what India has required for a long time now is a genuine all-rounder. The lack of one has caused an imbalance in the side, and how one wishes that Agarkar is the answer to our prayers.

When Agarkar burst upon the scene in the late ’90s, he was reckoned by some in Indian cricket to be potentially the most exciting player since Kapil Dev. The lad had loads of talent, and it remained to be seen whether he had the temperament for the big occasion.But over the years, Agarkar remained the prime example of the maxim that talent alone is not enough. While he remained an effective enough performer in one day cricket, he was in and out of the Test side, unable to cement his place despite his obvious skills – nippy bowling that could be disconcerting for the best of batsmen and aggressive batting that could lay any bowling low.While his bowling fulfilled, at least to some extent, the early promise ­ he did head the averages in the disastrous series in Australia in 1999-2000 ­ his batting became something of a joke, particularly after he got five ducks in a row in the same rubber. There was also a pair in his next Test against Australia at Mumbai the following season, and the critics by now were unsparing in their derisive comments, comparing his batting to BS Chandrasekhar’s and reasoning after numerous opportunities, his Test career must be near its end.By this time, talk about Agarkar being the country’s next all-rounder had also ceased. The Indian Test team had been without an all-rounder since Manoj Prabhakar had been axed after an indifferent World Cup in 1996. Since then, Sunil Joshi had shown some qualities as emerging as a competent utility cricketer, if not an all-rounder, and early in the 21st century, it seemed that Agarkar could at best be just another such utility player.There is of course a marked difference between a genuine all-rounder and a general utility player. An all-rounder is termed as one who can hold his place in the side solely on the strength of his batting or his bowling. He is the kind who can win matches virtually on his own, can smite a hundred or take 10 wickets in a match ­ or better still, do both in the same Test like some of the greatest names in the game have done. A utility player, on the other hand, is one who scores 30 or 40 runs and takes two or three wickets. Once in a way, he steps on the bigger stage with a near-hundred or a five-wicket haul.Indian cricket has had the good fortune of producing all-rounders of the calibre of Lala Amarnath, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar, Gulabrai Ramchand, Bapu Nadkarni, Chandu Borde (till a shoulder injury caused him to give up bowling his leg-spinners), Salim Durrani, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and Manoj Prabhakar. These players all have at least one Test hundred and – except in the cases of Ramchand and Borde – more than one five-wicket haul.But it is not possible for everyone to be genuine all-rounders, and again it has been Indian cricket’s fortune to have produced a number of utility players who have served the country admirably. Players like Amar Singh, Rusi Surti, Abid Ali, Madan Lal, Karsan Ghavri and Roger Binny would fall into this category. Not one of them scored a hundred, and all finished with averages in their early or mid-20s with the bat and in the 30s or early 40s with the ball. Barring Ghavri, none of them took over 100 wickets in Tests. After Binny played his last Test in 1987, Arshad Ayub flickered brightly for a brief while, but he faded away too soon, and since then only Joshi can be termed as a utility player.

By getting a hundred at Lord’s the other day, Agarkar would seem to have leapfrogged the utility level and proceeded straight to all-rounder status. Going into the Test, his batting average was 7.81 with a tally of 125 runs from 11 games and a highest score of 41 not out. His bowling average was 41.84 from a tally of 26 wickets with a best bowling of three for 43. As I said, his bowling is quite nippy, and the pace and bounce he generates belies a bowler of his wiry frame. But even here, Agarkar is often wayward in length and direction, a weak spot in his bowling armoury that was spotted even at Lord’s.But the main problem concerned his batting. Now having broken away from those shackles, the Shivaji Park product has it in him to live up to his early promise and emerge as the all-rounder the country has been praying for. He certainly is a fiercely competitive and potentially even exciting cricketer. In addition to all the laurels he has garnered in limited0overs cricket – the quickest bowler to get 50 wickets (surpassing Dennis Lillee), the fastest half century (off just 21 balls) by an Indian, surpassing Kapil Dev’s record ­ there is little doubt that he has the talent to succeed in the longer version of the game too. Sometimes just one performance can be a major turning point for a cricketer. Will the hundred at Lord’s be the watershed in Agarkar’s career?