West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said his team is prepared to face the challenges posed by Sri Lanka ahead of the first Test starting at Galle on Monday

Sa'adi Thawfeeq14-Nov-2010West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said his team is prepared to face the challenges posed by Sri Lanka ahead of the first Test at Galle starting on Monday.”Sri Lanka is a place where lots of runs have been scored. If you look at the last few series played here, the batsmen have scored the runs. It looks like a very good wicket. In Sri Lanka the ball also spins so we have to take that into account and plan accordingly,” said Sammy who will be making his debut as West Indies Test captain.He was disappointed that West Indies were denied much-needed practice out of the three-day game which was washed out by bad weather after the first day, but added, “We put in some good work coming from Barbados and even the opportunities we have got here to practice our guys have worked hard. We are ready to go out there and face the challenges Sri Lankans pose.”Sammy felt the presence of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the only two members of his team to have played Tests in Sri Lanka, gave his side important experience. “They have played here before and we are sharing information and getting as much information as possible to compete well in this series.”We want to play according to our strength. The management and coaching staff will meet and we’ll select the best team to pose a challenge to Sri Lanka,” Sammy said. “I am not predicting anything, our guys are confident and they know the task ahead.”It’s not easy to beat Sri Lanka here. Not only West Indies but most teams find it. We are confident that if we put in hard work we can be consistent in our performance. Like you saw Sri Lanka just won in Australia and they’ve never won in Australia. It’s a motivation for our guys to come up with some consistent performances.”Sammy said that it was a massive honour for him to captain West Indies. “West Indies cricket carries a great history and a legacy. To lead any West Indies team is exciting. I know the players and they have prepared mentally and physically to take up the challenge. We are quite excited and looking forward for tomorrow.”

Graeme Smith paid tribute to his team for a “dominant performance” after their innings-and-25-run win over India in the first Test in Centurion

Firdose Moonda at SuperSport Park20-Dec-2010Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, paid tribute to his team for a “dominant performance” after their innings-and-25-run win over India in the first Test in Centurion. “We controlled the game throughout the five days,” he said. “We were ahead of the game the whole time.”South Africa put in a superior performance and there was only one passage of play in the Test where they felt under threat – during Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni’s 172-run seventh-wicket stand on day four. “That was the one time that we really put in the yards. The wicket flattened out a lot, it was hot and windy and the guys showed a lot of character in that situation, especially Dale’s spell at the end,” Smith said. Steyn clocked close to 145kph to remove Dhoni late in the afternoon and swing the advantage firmly in South Africa’s direction, a position they held from the first session of the first day.MS Dhoni, India’s captain, placed a lot of importance on the toss and the way the pitch played during the first two sessions on day one but Smith thought it was a case of too much hype. “I don’t think the wicket actually did that much. For a wicket that was under covers for four days, I thought it would do a bit more.” He added that the expectation of a bouncy wicket, and not the wicket itself, may have been what undid India. “In my mind, I think India expected more from the wicket than what actually happened. They were tentative and were on the back foot a lot of the time.”Although the pitch was thought to have played a big role on first day, with India losing nine wickets in 38 overs, Smith said most of the credit belonged to his bowlers. “Our bowlers bowled well. When you bowl on a wicket that you think is going to do a bit, you’ve got to get the ball in the right place. We were very controlled.” Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the only bowler that India could pick on but Smith did not label the left-armer the weak link. “He’s inexperienced, he has to grow as a cricketer and we have to give him the tools to do that.”The main battle of this No. 1 versus No.2 ranked Test teams has centred on South Africa’s bowling against India’s batting and after the first match, it’s clear that South Africa won the tussle by some stretch. South Africa have not forgotten about the lesser clash, between their batsmen and India’s bowlers and Smith said it’s important that the line-up doesn’t take for granted that India did not manage to bowl them out once.”Who knows how the wicket will play in Durban? There’s been a lot of rain there around this period also. We’ve got to be realistic,” Smith said. Kallis talked up the Kingsmead pitch as the one that offers “the most bounce in South Africa” and it’s also become known for its swing. With Zaheer Khan likely to spearhead the line-up, South Africa will face a different threat to the one they had in this match. Smith thinks they have done a good job at adapting to bowlers on various pitches over the years. “We’d like to think we are a strong, powerful batting unit and we can cope with conditions wherever we go.”India will look to prove they too have a similar batting unit after a match in which everyone except Tendulkar and Dhoni underperformed. Dhoni said the focus will be on levelling the series in Durban, before entertaining any thoughts of how they are going to win it from this position. Smith had said India were under pressure from before the first Test, now he thinks they face even more strain. “When you go 1-0 down in a three match series, there’s always extra pressure. The build-up to the next Test becomes crucial – the decisions you make, how you train, the selection, how the squad moves to the next Test. I know the Indian team always plays under pressure, and there are high expectations on them.”

Kevin Pietersen has always prided himself on being the man for the big occasion, but in his estimation, nothing that he’s experienced in his career to date can rival the prospect of playing in a potential Ashes decider in front of nearly 100,000 spectator

Andrew Miller in Melbourne22-Dec-2010Kevin Pietersen has always prided himself on being the man for the big occasion, but in his estimation, nothing that he’s experienced in his career to date can rival the prospect of playing in a potential Ashes decider in front of nearly 100,000 spectators at the MCG on Boxing Day. With the series perfectly poised after Australia’s emphatic victory in Perth last week, and expectation levels in both countries at fever pitch, the grandest stage awaits for a player who loves nothing better than to be right at the centre of attention.In 2005, Pietersen played the defining knock of the series, and of his life, as he hauled England out of a final-day tail-spin with a brilliant, counter-attacking 158, to ensure a draw and secure the return of the Ashes for the first time in 16 years. Going into last week’s WACA Test, he looked in the right form and frame of mind to administer a similar coup de grace, having put the Adelaide Test way out of Australia’s reach with a career-best 227, but in the event he was scythed down on a lively deck for scores of 0 and 3. That experience, however, has not dented his desire to be right in the thick of the action.”Leading 2-1 in ’05 going into an Oval Test was pretty big, but this is huge,” said Pietersen. “Having won a Test, lost a Test, two to play, and one to win to take the Ashes home is an incredible opportunity for the team. I don’t know what ticket sales are like but it could be potentially around 400,000 people watching the five days. That is so exciting.”I’ve played a little bit, and I get goosebumps thinking about it,” he added. “Everyone in the team including the management and the Australians are really looking forward to what should be a great week’s cricket if the sun shines. Any day of Test cricket is amazing, but if you get 100,000 watching you on a particular day, you’re pretty pleased.”It’s a sentiment shared by the only Victorian in the Australian squad, Peter Siddle, who is desperate to make the cut for this match, despite being the likeliest seamer to miss out should the selectors opt to play the debutant spinner, Michael Beer. “Any Boxing Day Test is going to be big but an Ashes series just makes everything a lot more exciting,” said Siddle.”All this talk about the big crowd, you can’t stop to think about it,” he added. “There were 60-70,000 for South Africa [in 2008-09], they are predicting another 20,000 on top of that. It’s a big increase and you want to be a part of it and hear the roar. All the boys are looking forward to it and hopefully it does turn out to be a record.”The Melbourne curator, Cameron Hodgkins, has already set about preparing the grassier of the two MCG strips that had been earmarked for this Test, which implies that another all-seam attack might not be the worst idea for Australia, especially given that they’ve got Steve Smith’s legspin waiting in reserve. But whatever happens, Pietersen is confident that England will be better prepared for the challenge that awaits them, particularly from Mitchell Johnson whom, he admitted, had bowled an exceptional spell of inswing bowling that exposed a few unprepared techniques.”He took us by surprise for sure,” said Pietersen. “He bowled well, really, really well and had a good game of cricket, and we’re going to have to prepare ourselves for that swinging ball. We knew he could swing it, but we didn’t realise he would swing it that much. He did some really good work in the week off he had, but we will be a lot better prepared for it here in Melbourne so we will play him a lot better.”As for the row over the choice of wickets, Pietersen said he had no issue with Australia choosing a livelier deck. “Of course they are going to do it,” he said. “They’ve just had success in Perth on a bouncy wicket, but we’ve had success around the world on bouncy wickets. We lost that Test within half an hour, 5 for 20, that’s where we lost it. Full swinging balls knocked over our top order. We didn’t lose it to a bouncy wicket. We lost it to balls that swung that we didn’t prepare ourselves properly for. We will be prepared fully for everything come Saturday morning so I don’t think the wicket will play any different part.”An added aspect of the Perth contest was the renewed chirpiness of Australia’s cricketers, after a subdued performance in the one-sided match at Adelaide. From the moment Mitchell Johnson started trading verbals with James Anderson during his half-century on the first day, the tensions between the teams were cranked up an extra notch, and it was Australia who came out on top in every respect. Right at the heart of it all was Siddle, whose confrontation with Matt Prior on the second evening was especially fiery, and who admitted he’s at his best when let off the leash a little bit.”It’s part of my game anyway,and I think that’s when I’m at my best,” said Siddle. “That’s how Ricky goes about it with me, he knows that if he can get me up and firing and at my best, I can get the rest of the boys going. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t, but in this case it has and no doubt down the track it won’t. But hopefully we can keep it going down the series and we can keep on top of them.”It was a bit different from Adelaide,” he added. “When you’re 1 for 500 [sic] the sledging isn’t going to look as obvious, you’re not going to have much to say, and you’re not going to be out there as much. But both teams are going hard at it, it’s good fun out there. They’re at us, we’re at them, and it makes it lively out there. And no doubt the spectators like to see it.”Pietersen, however, played down Australia’s fighting talk, and suggested that things had been rather more intimidating in past series. “I’ve played against Australia in I don’t know how many Test matches, and believe me, the first time I played and the second time I came out here, with the likes of Warne, McGrath etc, there were some pretty big verbal contests. I haven’t seen or heard anything different from what’s happened in the first two Tests, let alone last year in England. There are not really any big chirpers or sledgers.”It’s England v Australia, an Ashes series,” he added. “Blokes get the red mist occasionally and you’re allowed to do that, things happen. You’re playing for that little urn and it’s historic, it’s huge. But there’s nothing that’s been overboard, and if things go overboard match referees deal with stuff like that and there’s been nothing like that. There’s not been anything close to it.”Either way, Pietersen is determined to move beyond the Perth experience, and concentrate solely on the challenge that awaits in Melbourne. “You can’t live in the past or think about things in the past,” he said. “You have to focus your attention on what’s to come and that’s what all the team are doing. We took momentum into Perth and we got hammered, so we’re not thinking about things that have happened.”The key to us being successful on this Ashes trip would just be to forget about last week,” he added. “Learn from the mistakes we made, but just forget about last week. The open and honest meeting we had the evening the game finished was a very good meeting. We have left that and it’s time to look forward now. We’ve got to learn from the mistakes we made and we’ll be better prepared come Sunday.”

Michael Klinger made a battling century but it was not enough to prevent Western Australia from taking a 53-run first-innings lead over South Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2011
Scorecard
Michael Klinger held South Australia’s innings together•Getty Images

Michael Klinger made a battling century but it was not enough to prevent Western Australia from taking a 53-run first-innings lead over South Australia in their Sheffield Shield encounter at the WACA. Western Australia then extended the lead to 73 before the end of play, losing opener Liam Davis for 4 in the process.Klinger and James Smith began positively on the second morning, stretching their partnership to 92 before Michael Hogan snuck one through Smith’s defence to bowl him for 66. That sparked a minor collapse, with the next four wickets falling for the addition of just 35 runs, with Ryan Duffield picking up two wickets. Klinger continued to provide resistance and found enough support in Graham Manou (25) and Nathan Lyon (37) down the order to reach his hundred, but was promptly trapped leg-before by Nathan Coulter-Nile. Left-arm spinner Michael Beer then picked up two wickets, to help wrap up South Australia’s innings for 271. Duffield was the best of the bowlers, finishing with 4 for 56.Western Australia lost Davis early but Marcus Harris and Beer, who came in as nightwatchman, batted out the remaining overs without incident.

Zimbabwe’s goal during the upcoming World Cup is “to make sure we play as well as we can

Firdose Moonda in Chennai10-Feb-2011Zimbabwe’s goal during the upcoming World Cup is “to make sure we play as well as we can.” That’s the mantra coach Alan Butcher brought with him to the team’s arrival press conference in Chennai. “We haven’t set any targets regarding the quarter-finals,” he said.For a team that has only twice progressed out of the group stages and has won just eight of 46 World Cup matches, that ambition seems to fit just right. Zimbabwe are among the stronger of the minnow teams but will have to beat at least one of the big names as well as earn convincing victories over Kenya and Canada if they hope to progress. For them, the results are not as important as the method. “If we can play five out of six games to our plans and to our targets, it will represent a good step forward for our team,” Butcher said.Butcher brings with him a team whose last notable World Cup achievement came in 1999, when Zimbabwe beat India and South Africa to advance to the Super Six stage of the tournament. The team that took to the field then formed what was considered the old guard of Zimbabwean cricket, with the likes of the Flower brothers, Alistair Campbell, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga. Those glory days, just like the Springsteen song says, have passed them by in the wink of a young girl’s eye.Now there’s a team of young hopefuls, the Chris Mpofus and Charles Coventrys of the country who have big talent and big hearts but a lot to learn. “We’ve got some way to go to say that we are back at that level (of 1999) but there is every reason to think that that can happen in the future,” Butcher said. This World Cup is more about planning for that future than anything else.”Zimbabwean cricket is in the process of a turnaround,” Butcher said. “They have gone through a period of poor results and difficult times for the players. At the moment, everyone is working very hard not only in this squad but in the first-class system to improve themselves.” Since voluntarily withdrawing from Test cricket, Zimbabwe have pumped resources into their limited-overs formats, which has included a sponsored twenty-over franchise competition that has attracted the likes of Andrew Hall, Lance Klusener and Brian Lara.”He (Lara) helped us a lot and shared some of his experience with us while he was working with us as a batting consultant,” Elton Chigumbura, the Zimbabwe captain, said. “The guys are ready to express themselves during this World Cup, show how they can play and win a couple of games.” Zimbabwe have every reason to be positive because it was just last June that they qualified for their first tri-series final in 10 years, albeit against second string Indian and Sri Lankan sides.It’s the preparation in and against teams for the subcontinent that will serve Zimbabwe best in this tournament. In December, they played against Bangladesh in a five match ODI series, and in the last two years have played in Dhaka and Chittagong 10 times. “There are players with experience of the conditions from when we played in Bangladesh,” Butcher said. “We’ve been playing and practicing in Dubai as well, where they’ve tried to simulate Indian wickets.”Zimbabwe also have a strong arsenal of spinners to make up for their lack of firepower in the fast bowling department, which could serve them well in the subcontinent. “The balance of our attack will be favoured by the conditions here. There’s a fair chance we will go with more than a couple of spinners which puts us at less of a disadvantage.” Butcher said.The search for the next Zimbabwean quick or the next batsman in the Andy Flower mould is still on, but Butcher is convinced that the 15 men he has to work with now will be the start of a permanent turnaround in the fortunes of the team that has for so long been the little brother of African cricket. He hopes the World Cup can help them to illustrate that point. “Zimbabwe cricket is on the up and hopefully we can prove that in the next six weeks.”

Steve Gilmour and Jayde Herrick led an all-round effort from Victoria that earned them an 85-run first-innings lead against South Australia at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2011
ScorecardDaniel Harris and Aiden Blizzard struck half-centuries but the rest of the South Australia line-up flattered to deceive in Melbourne, allowing Victoria to gain an 85-run first-innings lead.Steve Gilmour and Jayde Herrick, who had tormented the visitors with a stubborn eleventh-wicket stand on the first evening could add only three more runs on the second morning. Ben Edmondson dismissed Gilmour caught behind as Victoria closed at 345.Peter Siddle, vying for a call-up to the Australian World Cup side in the injured Michael Hussey’s place, struck early to send James Smith back. Harris and Cameron Borgas made light of the loss and took charge of things with a 98-run stand, before Gilmour and Herrick returned to torment South Australia. Gilmour removed both batsmen within the space of 21 runs, reviving Victoria’s hopes of getting a lead. Tom Moffat was then consumed by spinner John Holland, leaving South Australia in need of a revival at 188 for 4.Blizzard was up to the task, scoring a cautious 59, before Gilmour sent him back. Thereafter Herrick took centre-stage, picking three wickets including the key scalps of Daniel Christian and GrahamManou as the innings floundered. South Australia lost their bottom half for just 10 runs, to put Victoria on top. By stumps, they extended their lead to 102 without losing any of their second-innings wickets.

After Australia’s quicks blew New Zealand away in Nagpur, their coach had said the top order needed to bat for 35 overs, but against Sri Lanka, the entire line-up was gone by then; this time to spin

Nagraj Gollapudi at the Wankhede Stadium18-Mar-2011New Zealand may wonder how far they have progressed after the seven-wicket defeat against Australia three weeks ago. Then, as now, their batsmen failed to build partnerships. Then, as now, New Zealand collapsed without putting up a fight. The only difference: back then they were tried by pace, while today the noose was tightened by the spinners. Just replace Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee with Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga.So have New Zealand become such an easy picking? Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, was confident that New Zealand never liked the variety in his bowling attack. And it was not a recent allergy they had developed. “We kind of understand that they find the variation in our bowling attack a bit troublesome,” Sangakkara said after the 112-run victory. “They find Mendis, Malinga and Murali quite difficult, so we try to maximise on that particular fact.”The only time New Zealand’s batsmen showed some promise was when Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor were steadily beginning to rebuild the innings after the early loss of the openers. Ryder was timing the ball well, while Taylor showed the same spirit visible during his match-winning century against Pakistan. But it was not an easy pitch – it was taking sufficient turn, and coupled with a good bounce, it was a shot in the arm for the spinners. Also the dew made the ball skid. Patience was New Zealand’s life vest. Sadly their batsmen left too many loose ends and lost their way pretty quickly.After the demoralising loss to Australia, John Wright, the New Zealand coach, had imposed a condition that it was mandatory the top order lasted for at least 35 overs. The other rider was that not more than three wickets could be lost. On Friday, the New Zealand innings folded in exactly 35 overs. “We just did not get there,” Taylor, New Zealand’s stand-in captain for the game, said. “We put plans in place to try to achieve them and today we did not do it.”Jesse Ryder timed the ball well before he edged one from Ajantha Mendis•Getty Images

It would be harsh to single out Taylor because he was only filling in for the injured Daniel Vettori, who has been sidelined by a knee injury. Also, the absence of Kyle Mills, a frontline bowler, has not helped matters. New Zealand’s problems were aggravated when Hamish Bennett, Mill’s replacement, was forced to leave the field midway into his fifth over after he picked up a calf strain.Taylor felt that Bennett’s absence in the crucial middle overs allowed Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to establish themselves and lay a good foundation. “In losing Hamish Bennett, we lost a little bit of firepower during the middle stages. But the way we came back to restrict them to 260 with a bowler down was not too bad. But we just kept losing wickets. At the end we were up with the rate but when you keep losing wicket 260 becomes a big target.”The loss will not hurt New Zealand’s cause much as they have already booked a quarter-finals’ berth. Even if it is not yet clear who their opponent will be, Taylor felt that it was important for the players to regroup fast and start from a new page. “The confidence would have taken a dent. But we have played some good cricket over the last little while. We have got to think positively. In the next couple of days we will know who our opponents are and then plan accordingly. The break allows us to recover from the injury toll.”

Not even a career-best 169 from Liam Dawson could save Hampshire from providing Somerset with their first win of the season at the Rose Bowl.

30-Apr-2011
ScorecardNot even a career-best 169 from Liam Dawson could save Hampshire from providing Somerset with their first win of the season at the Rose Bowl. Somerset had little trouble in chasing a target of 114 and, despite the early loss of their captain Marcus Trescothick, they got home with nine wickets to spare.Hampshire’s defeat was their second of the season and leaves them in trouble after a second innings collapse. They were still 16 behind when play resumed on the fourth day with Dawson 103 not out and the score 212 for 3.But apart from Dawson’s defiance, Hampshire put up little resistance, losing their last seven wickets in adding 129 and that was never going to be enough. Pace bowler Peter Trego did most of the damage ending with figures of 4 for 74 as Hampshire quickly fell away, their last four batsmen being dismissed for just 13 runs.James Vince was the first to go at 245, leg before to Trego, and from then on Hampshire’s batting became processional. Nic Pothas was fifth out at 264, again leg before but this time to Steve Kirby, armed with a new ball.Sean Ervine was caught at the wicket off Charl Willoughby attempting an extravagant pull but Hampshire still had hope all the while Dawson was at the other end. Hampshire’s captain Dominic Cork was bowled by Trego at 328 and Dawson’s efforts came to an end finally at 333.Again Trego was the bowler and Dawson was leg before pushing forward and with Hampshire now in a hopeless position at 105 ahead. Dawson’s innings included 26 fours and came off 308 balls.The end was not long in coming, Danny Briggs was bowled by Kirby for one and in the next over David Griffiths was another leg before victim for the hard-working Trego. Hampshire were all out for 341 leaving Somerset plenty of time to wrap up a morale-boosting victory.Trescothick, who scored 228 in the first innings, pulled Briggs for six and looked in imperious form again until he was beaten for pace by Friedel de Wet after making 23. But there was no respite for Hampshire with Arul Suppiah and Nick Compton knocking off the 83 runs still required without semblance of a chance.

Durham allrounder Ben Stokes will be out of action for six to eight weeks after badly dislocating a finger during his team’s innings-and-125-run thrashing of Lancashire on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2011Durham allrounder Ben Stokes will be out of action for six to eight weeks after dislocating a finger on Tuesday during his team’s innings-and-125-run thrashing of Lancashire at Chester-le-Street.Stokes, who turns 20 on Saturday, damaged his right index finger while attempting to take a catch that would have dismissed Paul Horton in Lancashire’s second innings. X-rays revealed joint damage and a piece of bone fragment, and will require surgery to be pinned.The injury brings an end to a season in which Stokes has blossomed as a cricketer. He made four hundreds, including a career-best 185 during a 331-run stand with Dale Benkenstein in the win over Lancashire. It bettered the 315 for the seventh wicket between Benkenstein and Ottis Gibson, against Yorkshire at Headingley in 2006, as Durham’s highest partnership in the Championship.In April, Stokes took 6 for 68 and scored a hundred that included five sixes in an over against Hampshire, and just over a month later, he registered his maiden limited-overs ton, cracking 150 not out against Warwickshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40. There had even been talk of Stokes being added to England’s one-day squad this summer, but he now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The batsman Adrian Shankar has been released by Worcestershire after barely two weeks with the club and there is more to the departure than a simple change of mind

George Dobell26-May-2011Worcestershire have released batsman Adrian Shankar after barely two weeks with the club – and passed his registration documents to the police after it emerged there was more to the departure than a simple change of mind.The background of Shankar, who represented Worcestershire in the CB40 and County Championship last week, and whose deal was terminated without further comment on Thursday, has started to unravel. It has emerged he is actually three years older than he told the county and talked his way into a two-year contract through a mixture of bluff and bravado.Worcestershire only signed Shankar on May 10. In the press release that announced this, the club stated that Shankar was 26 years old and had just returned from a prolific winter in Sri Lanka. It also stated that he was in demand from several other counties.None of it is true. Shankar is actually 29 and, while he may have played some cricket in Sri Lanka, it was not at first-class or an equivalent level.”Adrian Shankar was signed by Worcestershire CCC on the 10th May after agreeing terms,” said the club in a subsequent statement. “It quickly became evident that documents provided in order to satisfy the club’s obligations to the England and Wales Cricket Board were unacceptable. This documentation has now been passed to West Mercia Police for investigation and no further comment will be made by the club while the investigation is taking place.”Shankar left Bedford School (he played in the same team as Alastair Cook) after his A Levels in 2000, made his second XI debut in 1999 (for Nottinghamshire) and his first-class debut in 2002. He’s subsequently played second XI cricket for Sussex, Worcestershire, Lancashire and Middlesex.Were the details he gave Worcestershire correct, it would have meant he made his second team debut aged just 14. But when Shankar registered at Cambridge and Bedford, he gave his date of birth as May 1982. Only much later did it change to May 1985.It seems he produced identification proving that he was born in 1985, but he has explained his past by suggesting he might have been the youngest Cambridge University captain in history. Until yesterday, even the Cambridge University Cricket website (www.cucc.net) carried that version of events. Meanwhile, a little research proved that several of the players he was supposed to have played against in Sri Lanka were actually playing elsewhere on the same days.Shankar has also said that his career progression has been held-up by an 18-month bout of glandular fever, that he played tennis to national standard as a junior and that he was in the Arsenal academy at the start of Arsene Wenger’s tenure.On the field Shankar is, at best, an ordinary player. After a decade in the game, he had a first-class average of just 19 and has passed 50 only once in 21 innings. He made 143 in the Varsity Match of 2002 (as a 17-year-old, if you believe his version of events) but, as Chris Scott, the Cambridge UCCE coach, said: “The bowling was unbelievably bad. He was a poor player and there’s no way I would have recommended him.”Oddly, however, when Shankar signed for Lancashire, the Cambridge coach was quoted in a press release referring to him as one of the finest young players the side had seen since John Crawley. “I phoned Lancashire and made it clear that I’d never said anything of the sort,” Scott said. “No-one at Worcestershire or Lancashire asked my opinion before they signed him.” Instead of smelling a rat, however, Lancashire simply removed the offending paragraph.Does any of this matter? Is it just an example of a determined man refusing to give up on his dream?Perhaps. But Shankar was also taking another man’s place in the Worcestershire team. And, by claiming to be 26, Shankar slipped in under the threshold to qualify for the young player incentives handed out by the ECB to first-class counties. He therefore gave himself an unfair advantage in the fight for a place in the Worcestershire team. His swift release was no surprise.The episode also raises questions about Worcestershire. It seems incredible that no-one at the club thought to check Shankar’s story. Five minutes spent on the web would have been enough to raise suspicions; ten minutes on the phone would have confirmed them.Instead, however, Worcestershire contented themselves with a photocopy of a passport and took Shankar’s word for his former achievements. They even threw Shankar straight into their first team – as an opening batsman – without even taking a look at him in a Second XI game (though he did play for their second team in 2003). He was out for a third-ball duck against Middlesex and, batting in the middle-order in the Championship against Durham, was unbeaten on 10 when injury ended his innings.